THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD WILL ALWAYS HAVE SOMEONE TO HELP LIFT YOU BACK UP, TO HELP CARRY THE LOAD THAT YOU CAN’T CARRY

When Jesus was being led out of the city to be crucified, the CUSTOM was that the person had to carry their own CROSS. Jesus was SO exhausted from the sleepless night, the SUFFERING and PAIN of the trial, that He fell down under the WEIGHT of the cross. God provided a man named Simon to BE there to CARRY the cross for Jesus.

God is sending US the message that we don’t have to be strong ALL the time. It’s OKAY to feel OVERWHELMED. Sometimes the weight of what WE’RE carrying gets TOO heavy. It’s okay to say, “God, I don’t think I can DO this.” When YOU’RE down, when you’re DISCOURAGED, God is NOT going to leave you there. He’ll ALWAYS have someone to help lift you back UP, someone to ENCOURAGE you, someone to help you carry the LOAD that you can’t CARRY. If it’s not an ANGEL, God will send a PERSON across your path. There will be a Simon there to help lift you back UP.

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 27:32, NIV

As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE BIGGER THE DISAPPOINTMENT, THE BIGGER THE BLESSING

When Jesus was about to feed a multitude of THOUSANDS of people, “He BROKE the loaves,” and the bread was MULTIPLIED. Notice the blessing was in the BREAKING. The more He BROKE it, the more it MULTIPLIED and fed a TREMENDOUS multitude, with basketfuls of LEFTOVERS.

There are times in life when WE feel broken. We have broken DREAMS, a broken HEART. When you feel BROKEN, don’t get bitter and give up on your DREAMS. That brokenness is NOT the end; it’s a sign that God is about to MULTIPLY. The more broken you ARE, the more God is going to INCREASE you. The bigger the DISAPPOINTMENT, the bigger the BLESSING. The more they HURT you, the more He’s going to REWARD you. That brokenness may have been MEANT to stop you, but if you stay in FAITH, GOD is going to use it to BLESS you. The hurt you feel is R,EAL but the TRUTH is that it is only TEMPORARY and is setting you up for God to INCREASE you.

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 14:19, NLT

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

YOU CAN’T THINK DEFEAT AND HAVE VICTORY. VICTORY STARTS IN YOUR MIND…..

Do you REALIZE that your life follows your THOUGHTS? You can’t think defeat and have VICTORY, or weak and have STRENGTH, or not-able-to and accomplish your DREAMS. Instead of thinking WEAK thoughts, start thinking POWER thoughts. “This sickness is no MATCH for me. This disease can NOT stop my destiny. This business trouble is not how my story ENDS.” VICTORY starts in your MIND. SUCCESS, BREAKTHROUGHS, and new LEVELS depend on your THINKING.

Are your THOUGHTS helping you or HURTING you? Are you thinking defeated thoughts such as, “I’ll never get WELL, never accomplish my DREAMS, never break this ADDICTION”? You’re CHOOSING the direction your life is going to GO. Pay attention to what your mind is DWELLING on. If it’s a negative, discouraging, fearful THOUGHT, don’t give it the time of day. Tune OUT that defeated thought and think POWER thoughts. “Something GOOD is going to happen to me. FAVOR is surrounding me like a SHIELD. Goodness and mercy ARE following me. NO weapon formed AGAINST me will PROSPER.” Think what GOD says about you.

Today’s Scripture:

Proverbs 4:23, NCV

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

GOD IS GOING TO WORK OUT WHATEVER YOU ARE FACING. HE’S IN CONTROL…..

There is always a lot of fear and PANIC in the world. Think of the feelings people STILL have when someone mentions “CORONAVIRUS.” But that virus didn’t stop your DESTINY. Challenges like that come against you, but GOD says, “It shall be WELL with you.” You had a setback in your FINANCES. Your business is SUFFERING. You don’t know how you’re going to MAKE it. GOD is your provider. HE feeds the birds of the AIR. He knows how to take care of YOU. New opportunities ARE going to come looking for you.

Let this phrase sink down in your spirit: “It shall be WELL with you.” God is going to work out WHATEVER you are facing. He IS in control. It’s just a matter of time before you make it THROUGH. Live from a place of PEACE, a place of TRUST. If you DO this, I believe and declare the forces that are trying to STOP you are being BROKEN. Things are changing in YOUR favor. All WILL be WELL with you.

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 3:10, NKJV

Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them…

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD MAKES THE ENEMY PAY FOR BRINGING TROUBLE….

We ALL face setbacks in life that we don’t UNDERSTAND. When we go through loss and disappointment, it’s easy to get discouraged and think that’s the way it’s ALWAYS going to be. But our God is a God of RESTORATION. He doesn’t keep us FROM every challenge. But in today’s Scripture, He promises that although He allows us to go THROUGH hardships, He WILL pay us back for the wrongs and RESTORE what was taken away. The suffering is a SETUP, not to make you miserable but to restore you to greater HONOR. God NEVER brings you out the same. He makes the enemy PAY for bringing the trouble.

When you’re in tough times, remind yourself that the LONELINESS, the bad BREAK, or the ANXIETY is NOT how your story ends. Greater IS coming–greater JOY, greater STRENGTH, greater RELATIONSHIPS. The setback in your finances didn’t stop your PURPOSE. Greater OPPORTUNITIES are coming. Greater FAVOR. Greater INFLUENCE. The enemy meant it for your HARM; God is turning it to your ADVANTAGE.

Today’s Scripture:

Psalm 71:20–21, NLT

You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but…You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

YOU CAN’T BE PROMOTED WITHOUT PREPARATION

There are some things you can only LEARN in the TRIAL of affliction, the TESTING of your faith. You can’t learn them by reading a book or listening to a message. You have to EXPERIENCE them. That place of testing is where your spiritual MUSCLES are developed. You can’t get stronger without EXCERSCISING those muscles during times of intense PRESSURE. That’s NOT easy. But if we stay WITH it, it WILL work FOR us, not AGAINST us. We will get STRONGER.

Your gifts may take you to a certain LEVEL, but if you don’t have the character to MATCH them, you won’t STAY there. Character is developed in the TOUGH times, when you’re NOT getting your WAY but you keep doing the RIGHT thing. You can’t be promoted without PREPARATION. God won’t give you a hundred-pound BLESSING when He knows you can LIFT only FIFTY pounds. If He gave you the HUNDRED pounds, it wouldn’t BE a blessing; it would be a BURDEN. He has to get you PREPARED for new LEVELS.

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 48:10, NKJV

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

MAKE SURE YOU’RE ‘FLOCKING’ TO THE RIGHT GROUP

Scripture talks about how Daniel had an excellent SPIRIT. If you study his life, you find that he had excellent FRIENDS–Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego–who wouldn’t bow down to the King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol even if it meant losing their LIVES. No WONDER Daniel was a person of EXCELLENCE. His FRIENDS were people of INTEGRITY, people of great COURAGE, people who wouldn’t COMPROMISE, people who had big DREAMS for their lives just as HE did.

Psychologists talk about the law of the GROUP–that we ASSOCIATE with people the way we see OURSELVES. Have you noticed how gossips find other people who like to GOSSIP? Negative people GRAVITATE toward OTHER negative people. Complainers find other COMPLAINERS. Because birds of a feather flock TOGETHER, make sure you’re FLOCKING to the right GROUP. VICTORIOUS people associate with OTHER victorious people. SUCCESSFUL people find OTHER people who are successful. HAPPY people hang around OTHER happy people. EAGELS soar with OTHER EAGLES. If you let go of the WRONG people, God will bring the RIGHT people.

Today’s Scripture:

Daniel 6:3, NKJV

Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IF IT’S NOT FOR YOUR GOOD, GOD WON’T ALLOW IT

PERSECUTION forced Philip out of Jerusalem. He was pushed out of his COMFORT zone. What’s interesting is that PREVIOUSLY God had poured out His SPIRIT upon the believers in Jerusalem. The same God who showed them that powerful sign COULD have STOPPED the persecution, but it was for a PURPOSE–a plan to push them into their DESTINY. It was in SAMARIA that Philip saw the greatest days of his MINISTRY. If he had STAYED in Jerusalem, he would never have reached his full POTENTIAL.

God knows how to get you OUT of your comfort zone. He OPENED the door; He can CLOSE the door. That closed DOOR is God PUSHING you. Maybe YOU’VE been pushed out of Jerusalem, so to speak, through a bad BREAK, a DISAPPOINTMENT, or a BETRAYAL. Don’t be discouraged. If it weren’t going to work for your GOOD, God wouldn’t have ALLOWED it. Jerusalem may have CLOSED, but Samaria is about to OPEN. God wouldn’t be PUSHING you if He didn’t already have a door OPEN.

Today’s Scripture:

Acts 8:1, 5, NKJV

At that time a great persecution arose against the church…Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHEN PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO PUSH YOU DOWN, DON’T WORRY, GOD SEES AND HEARS…..

In the Scripture, four men carried a paralyzed man to see Jesus. When Jesus saw them, He said to the man, “Your sins have been FORGIVEN.” Some of the RELIGEOUS leaders were OFFENDED and began to MURMER, “Who does He think HE is? Only GOD can forgive sins.” CHALLENGED by His critics, Jesus said to them, “Which is easier to SAY, ‘Your SINS are forgiven,’ or ‘ARISE, take up your bed and WALK'” To PROVE to them that He was the Son of God, He turned to the paralyzed man and told him to rise UP. The man stood up, PERFECTLY well, and I’m sure the religious leaders nearly passed OUT.

Jesus COULD have just forgiven the man’s SINS and moved ON, but when His enemies MURMERED about it, Jesus HEALED him. When people are talking about YOU, trying to push you DOWN and keep you in a dark PLACE, don’t WORRY–God SEES and HEARS them. They’re putting you in position for PROMOTION, to be BLESSED in a GREATER way.

Today’s Scripture:

Mark 2:10–11, NKJV

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”–He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU ARE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE, YOU ARE APPROVED

Perhaps you KNOW God has forgiven you from past mistakes and failures, but you still have a sense of UNWORTHINESS as though you don’t DESERVE it. That SHAME has held you back LONG enough. Today the strongholds have been BROKEN. Burdens have been LIFTE. GOD is saying, “Shame OFF you!” Now you have to get in AGREEMENT with Him. Quit listening to the accusing VOICES. Quit believing the LIES that you have to settle for second BEST. God’s MERCY was there for you before you made the MISTAKE. It’s time for you to shake OFF the shame, to shake off the GUILT. This is a NEW day.

Don’t let negative events–a failure, an addiction, a divorce, a bankruptcy–become your IDENTITY. That’s what you DID; that’s NOT who you ARE. That’s what happened TO you; that is not your IDENTITY. REMIND yourself, “I am who GOD says I am. I am APPROVED, I am ACCEPTED, I am VALUABLE, and I am a MASTERPIECE.” You are a CHILD of the Most High GOD.

Today’s Scripture:

2 Corinthians 10:4, NIV

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.