THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOUR NAME IS TOO IMPORTANT TO LET IT BECOME TARNISHED

Solomon said, “A good NAME is worth MORE than great riches.” Your REPUTATION is one of the most valuable things you HAVE, and it is built on the foundation of your personal INTEGRITY. A person of integrity does the RIGHT thing when no one is WATCHING. You can have talent, determination, and vision, but without INTEGRITY, you won’t reach your full POTENTIAL.

Where does it start? In today’s Scripture, David was saying, “Starting in my PRIVATE life, when I COULD compromise, give in to temptation, cheat people, instead I’m going to do the RIGHT thing. I’m going be a person of EXCELLENCE and show God that He can TRUST me.” He went on to say, “I will not look at anything IMPURE. I won’t watch things that are going to POISON me. I will not have ANYTHING to do with crooked DEALINGS, things that are SHADY, not ETHICAL.” YOUR name is too IMPORTANT to let it become tarnished by not having INTEGRITY.

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 101:2, ESV

I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

QUIT LETTING WHATS ON THE OUTSIDE, GET ON THE INSIDE…..

One of our most important RESPONSIBILITIES is to keep our heart PURE. It’s easy to let what’s on the OUTSIDE get on the inside. It takes DISCIPLIN to say, “I’m NOT going to dwell on that offense. I’m not going to feel SORRY for myself because something didn’t work OUT.” Maybe you need to FORGIVE somebody, or maybe you’re still SOUR about a DREAM that didn’t work out, or maybe you’re still beating YOURSELF up over a MISTAKE you made. You only have so MUCH emotional ENERGY each day. It’s not an unlimited SUPPLY. Do you know how much ENERGY it takes to hold a GRUDGE, to go around OFFENDED? That’s wasting valuable ENERGY that you need for your DREAMS, for your CHILDREN, and for your DESTINY.

Life is too SHORT for you to live offended, unforgiving, and bitter over what didn’t work out. Quit letting what’s on the OUTSIDE get on the INSIDE; start GUARDING your heart.

Today’s Scripture

Proverbs 4:23, NIV

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO BECOME EVERYTHING YOU WERE CREATED TO BE

After Jonah’s first REFUSAL to go and preach to the city of Nineveh, God in His MERCY used a great FISH to rescue Jonah from certain DEATH. The story could have ended there, but God doesn’t want to just RESCUE you from your mess, He wants to give you another CHANCE to get to where you’re SUPPOSED to be. That mistake does NOT disqualify you. God is ALWAYS going to give you another chance AND another to fulfill His best PLAN for your life.

The SECOND time God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh, he OBEYED and saw God do AMAZING things. The POINT is, Jonah’s mistake did not stop his DESTINY. It’s NOT too late to become everything you were CREATED to be. If you’ll start RIGHT where you are, HONORING God, being your BEST, serving OTHERS, the right doors WILL open, the right people will show UP. The GOOD news is, you’re covered by MERCY.

Today’s Scripture:

Jonah 3:1–2, NIV

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

DON’T LET CIRCUMSTANCES TALK YOU OUT OF YOUR DREAMS AND POTENTIAL

Sarah and her husband, Abraham, were very old. Sarah had been barren her WHOLE life and not able to HAVE children, but God spoke today’s Scripture to Abraham. When Sarah HEARD this, it was SO unbelievable that she LAUGHED. She was out in the desert, there were no fertility treatments or medical procedures, and she was ninety years OLD. Every CIRCUMSTANCE said it was IMPOSSIBLE, and yet it HAPPENED. GOD was saying, “Sarah, what I put in you is MORE than you can imagine.”

God is saying the same thing to YOU: “What I put in you is STILL going to come to pass. There is GREATNESS in you. It’s much BIGGER than what you THINK.” Don’t let CIRCUMSTANCES talk you out of your DREAMS and POTENTIAL. YOU may not see HOW it can work out. God has ways to do it that you’ve never THOUGHT of. ONE TOUCH of God’s FAVOR will CATAPULT you to the next level.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 17:16, NKJV

“And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IF YOU WANT TO SEE GOD’S BEST, STOP LIVING IN REGRET

Too many people live feeling CONDEMNED because of past MISTAKES. They’ve asked God to forgive them every DAY for the last four YEARS. They don’t REALIZE the first time they ASKED Him, He FORGAVE them. HE’S saying, “I’ve already blotted it out through Jesus’ BLOOD.” If GOD let it go, why don’t YOU let it go? Why don’t you forgive YOURSELF? RECEIVE His mercy and move FORWARD with your life. As long as you’re living in REGRET, beating YOURSELF up for PAST mistakes, you’ll NEVER move into the NEW things God has in STORE.

After the INCREDIBLE price that Christ paid on the CROSS, it doesn’t bring Him any HONOR for us to go around feeling unworthy, condemned. I can imagine God saying to the angels, “I gave My BEST, sent My only SON, paid the ULTIMATE price. What more could I DO?” Let’s do OUR part and BELIEVE that we’re FORGIVEN, REDEEMED, that we have an everlasting RELEASE from our sins.

Today’s Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:19, TLB

For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE BEFORE

In the Scripture, Job went through a time of severe TESTING of his faith. When God had said to Satan that there was “none like Job in all the land,” Satan answered, “Yes, but I can’t touch HIM. You’ve put a HEDGE around his life. If You will remove the hedge and let me GET to him, he’ll curse You.” Notice that the enemy can’t just do whatever he wants. He has to ask God for PERMISSION. For HIS part, Job fought the good fight and in the END, not only did he NOT curse God, but he came out with DOUBLE.

When YOU go through tough times, you have a bad break, you’re facing a sickness, do NOT get discouraged. Remember, there are boundaries around your life put in place by the most powerful force in the UNIVERSE. Keep moving FORWARD, and you’ll not only come out as JOB did, but God will bring you out BETTER off than you were BEFORE.

Today’s Scripture:

Job 1:10, NIV

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IT TAKES COURAGE TO BE DIFFERENT

There’s a constant pressure trying to squeeze you into being common, into doing what everyone else is doing today. Don’t let that thinking rub off on you. Today’s Scripture is saying you’re not common. You’re not like everyone else. You’ve not only been chosen by the Most High God, but He set you apart. He made you uncommon.

It takes courage to be different. It takes courage to not compromise. People will try to make you feel weak because you don’t go with the majority, you don’t party with everyone, you don’t gossip, you don’t play politics. The truth is, you’re not weak; you’re strong. You are uncommon. People around you may be giving in to temptation, doing things you know are not the best. That’s the enemy trying to deceive you into being common. He knows that if you’re like everyone else, it will keep you from becoming all you were created to be. Don’t fall into that trap. Be uncommon.

Today’s Scripture

Deuteronomy 14:2, NLT

“You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IT IS NOT YOUR DESTINY TO GO THROUGH LIFE WITH SOMETHING LIMITING YOU

Jesus saw a lady in the synagogue who had been crippled for eighteen years. She was bent over and unable to stand up. It’s interesting that He described the infirmity as a CHAIN, that she was BOUND by it. He touched her and INSTANTLY she was HEALED.

We all have forces that are trying to hold us back, CHAINS that RESTRICT us. Chains of GUILT—beating yourself up for past MISTAKES. Chains of DEPRESSION—a dark cloud follows you around. Chains of low self-ESTEEM—you never feel GOOD about yourself. But you were NOT created to be BOUND, whether it’s by loneliness, by shame, or by negative words SPOKEN over you. The GOOD news is our God is a chain BREAKER, and He is saying, “This is your time to be FREE. It is NOT your destiny to go through life with something LIMITING you.” If you let this take root, every CHAIN that’s holding you back is being BROKEN.

Today’s Scripture

Luke 13:16, NIV

“Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOUR PRAYER CAN BRING AN ANGEL

King Herod hated believers SO much that he had the apostle James KILLED, then he had Peter put in PRISON. With chains on both wrists, Peter was guarded by four squads of soldiers to make sure he didn’t escape. Today’s Scripture says the church was in prayer CONSTANTLY for Peter, asking God to SOMEHOW bring him OUT. WHILE they were praying in the middle of the night, an angel showed up in the prison and woke Peter UP. He was sleeping, NOT praying, but he had FRIENDS who were praying. The chains fell OFF Peter’s wrists, and they walked past two guard posts and the prison’s iron gate opened on its own accord. Peter’s LIFE was spared.

Are YOU praying for others? All of your FAMILY members, FRIENDS, and RELATIVES should be like PETERS. COVER them in PRAYER. When you pray, Red Seas PART, hungry lions can’t open their MOUTHS, cancer is OVERCOME, blessings RAIN down. Your PRAYER can bring an ANGEL.

Today’s Scripture:

Acts 12:5, NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT MAKES YOU EXTREMELY VALUABLE

Life will try to make you FEEL as though you’re anything BUT amazing. Disappointments, betrayals, and rejection will try to steal your sense of VALUE. You may FEEL ordinary, but because of your MAKER, there’s something about you that makes you EXTREMELY valuable. You’re an ORIGINAL. You can’t GET any more prestigious than that. If you’re going to recognize your VALUE, you have to see yourself as AMAZING, as WONDERFUL. It’s not because of WHO you are, but because of who MADE you. You have the fingerprints of God ALL over you.

All through the day, you need to REMIND yourself, “I am AMAZING. I am a MASTERPIECE. I have been WONDERFULLY made.” Don’t discount what God has CREATED. Don’t go around feeling ordinary when in FACT, you’re EXTRAORDINARY. People may try to make you FEEL average. Are you going to believe what PEOPLE say about you, or believe what GOD says about you and move up to the next LEVEL?

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 139:14, NIV

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.