THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

 

CHOOSE TO WALK IN LOVE, EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT

SPIRITUAL maturity isn’t measured by how long you’ve been a Christian, or how much you KNOW, or how often you go to CHURCH. SPIRITUAL maturity is measured by the way you TREAT OTHER PEOPLE. It’s measured by the LOVE you allow to operate THROUGH you.

First Corinthians 13 tells us about the CHARACTERISTICS of love. When we are walking in LOVE, we treat other people with COURTESY and RESPECT. Are you KIND to the person at the checkout counter that may be moving too slowly? Are you GENTLE when you are driving down the highway and someone cuts you off? Are you PATIENT with your FAMILY and COWORKERS? These are all ways we SHOW LOVE.

Scripture also tells us that love is PATIENT. It is KIND. It does NOT ENVY; it is not PROUD. It is not RUDE. Love is NOT easily ANGERED, and it keeps NO RECORD OF WRONGS. Love NEVER fails. Notice that these characteristics don’t have ANYTHING to do with FEELINGS. That’s because love is a CHOICE. You can CHOOSE to walk in love toward people even when you don’t FEEL like it–and THAT’S what being SPIRITUALLY mature is all ABOUT!

Today’s Scripture:

“Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

KEEP THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE, IT’S ALL GOOD…..

When you understand the principle that God is going to use difficulties for your BEST, life gets MUCH more FREEING. You don’t get upset when things happen that you don’t LIKE. You know God ALLOWED it, and He’s going to USE it for GOOD. It’s a part of the PROCESS. He may be developing PATIENCE in you. WHATEVER it is, He has a PURPOSE for it. Keep the right PERSPECTIVE; it’s ALL good.

We’re not going to UNDERSTAND everything that happens and doesn’t happen in our lives, but God sees the BIG picture. He knows where the dead ENDS are, the SHORTCUTS, the bumpy ROADS that are going to cause you heartache and PAIN. He’ll keep doors closed that you prayed would OPEN because He knows going through them would be a waste of your TIME. God is asking, “Do you TRUST Me with your closed doors and unanswered PRAYERS?” He’s getting you ready for the next LEVEL of your DESTINY.

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 119:71, MSG

My troubles turned out all for the best—they forced me to learn from your textbook.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD LOVES SHOWING YOU FAVOR AND DOING THINGS THAT AMAZE YOU…..

Do you ever think about the way your heavenly Father feels about you? He’s been thinking about you a long time. Jesus says, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to the give you the kingdom.” He doesn’t say, “Okay, you’re here, and I have to take care of you, but you’re a pain.” No, you’re not a burden to God. You’re not inconveniencing Him. You’re the apple of His eye. He’s saying to you, “I can’t wait to give you My world.” His world is big, abundant, full of favor, joy, peace, and opportunity. He’s going to take you places you never dreamed, open doors bigger than you’ve imagined, and bring talent out of you that you didn’t known you had. He loves showing you favor, doing things that amaze you, making you stand out. He takes pleasure in giving you His world.

Stir your faith up, believe big, pray bold prayers, and dream God-sized dreams that honor Him. Keep Him first place.

Today’s Scripture

Isaiah 30:18, NIV

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

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:

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 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.