THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

YOUR GIFTS AND TALENTS DON’T DO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE ANY GOOD IF YOU KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF….. COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL

God has ENTRUSTED us with gifts and talents, but too often we let FEAR hold us back. We’re hiding our GIFTS, hiding our TALENTS, hiding our PERSONALITY. We’re afraid to come out of our SHELL, afraid we may not be ACCEPTED. It’s time to QUIT hiding. If God has given you the gift to sing, start SINGING. If you can write, start WRITING. If you can lead, start LEADING. If you can build, start BUILDING. If you can teach, start TEACHING. That gift doesn’t do you or anyone else any GOOD if you keep it to yourself. It has to be RELEASED.

Your gift may SEEM small, but when you DEVELOP it, big DOORS will open. You don’t have to have a GREAT gift for God to use you in a great WAY. Today’s Scripture doesn’t say you have to have a big gift, an important gift, an impressive gift. WHATEVER you have, if you develop it and keep getting BETTER, it will open doors of OPPORTUNITY, doors of PROMOTION, and doors of INFLUENCE.

Today’s Scripture:

Proverbs 18:16, NKJV

A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOUR FAITH IS GOING TO BRING UNEXPECTED FAVOR

There are times when we’re waiting on GOD to do something, but God is waiting on US. Think of all the people in the Scripture who DIDN’T wait for Jesus to come to THEM, but sought HIM out PASSIONATELY for their needs, even pushing through CROWDS to touch the hem of His garment for HEALING. God has a perfect time for EACH of us, but today’s Scripture says, “Faith IS…” FAITH is always in the NOW. It may not bring the change OVERNIGHT, for we ALL have waiting periods. But our FAITH should stay ACTIVE. This should be our normal way of LIFE: “Lord, thank You that the secret petition of my heart is on the way. I’m looking for Your goodness and favor TODAY, not next week, not next MONTH, not next YEAR.” Stay in the NOW. Your FAITH is going to turn things AROUND. Your FAITH is going to open the right DOORS. Your FAITH is going to bring unexpected FAVOR. Live with the ANTICIPATION that it could happen TODAY.

Today’s Scripture:

Hebrews 11:1, TLB

What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

JUST KEEP LOVING AND BEING GOOD TO THEM

It’s easy to write off someone because they don’t BELIEVE as we do, they’re making poor DECISIONS, or they’re AGAINST what we stand for. Too often we try to MAKE them believe, but SOME things don’t HAPPEN overnight. Their heart may not be OPEN yet, but at the right time God will SOFTEN their heart. Will you keep sowing seeds of LOVE in that friend who shows no sign of CHANGING? Will you keep loving that FAMILY member who says they don’t BELIEVE. Will you keep PRAYING for that coworker who RIDICULES believers?

Jesus said your LOVE for one another will prove you are His FOLLOWER. It’s not by your DOCTRINE, not by how many SCRIPTURES you can quote, not by how RIGHT you are, but by how much you LOVE them. You don’t JUDGE them. You don’t look DOWN because they don’t BELIEVE as you do. You just keep LOVING and being GOOD to them. They’re in your LIFE because God is counting on YOU to help them CHANGE.

Today’s Scripture:

John 13:35, NKJV

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THERE ARE SOME ‘RUNNING-OVER’ BLESSINGS IN YOUR FUTURE

GOD’S dream for you is that His blessings will be SO amazing and ABUNDANT on your life that you have to pass them down to your CHILDREN. You can’t CONTAIN it all. He says that generational blessings are coming that you won’t have room enough to RECEIVE. Increase that goes to your CHILDREN, your grandchildren, your GREAT grandchildren. Property, businesses, and contacts that continue blessing people after you’re GONE.

You need to get RID of a barely-get-by MENTALITY. Quit telling yourself all the reasons why it’s NOT going to happen, how you’ve had too many bad BREAKS, how your OBSTACLES are too big, how your dream SEEMS impossible. That is NOT your destiny. Start EXPECTING God’s favor, start BELIEVING that new levels are COMING, start talking like it’s GOING to happen. The blessing on your life is going to cause you to LEND and NOT borrow, to have MORE than enough. You’re going to say as David said, “My cup runs OVER.” There are some running-over BLESSINGS in your future. Blessings that you cannot CONTAIN.

Today’s Scripture:

Proverbs 13:22, NIV

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children…

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IT MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED YET, BUT IT’S NOT OVER…..

You may have shed some tears of sadness over what HASN’T worked out, over dreams that haven’t come to PASS, over DISAPPOINTMENTS, over the loss of a LOVED one. The Scripture says that God is going to turn your mourning into DANCING and those tears of SORROW into tears of JOY. It may not have happened YET, but it’s NOT over. What God PROMISED you doesn’t HAVE an expiration date. It’s STILL on the way. Your morning is COMING. Your BABY is coming, your HEALING is coming, your RESTORATION is coming, your breakthrough is COMING. When it HAPPENS, it’s going to be MORE rewarding, more FULFILLING than you EVER IMAGINED.

Too OFTEN we disqualify OURSELVES. We think it would have happened if we had more FAITH, or hadn’t made so MANY mistakes, or we were just good enough to DESERVE it. But God is FULL of mercy and doesn’t BLESS us based on our PERFORMANCE. What He promised is STILL going to come to PASS. What He started, He’s going to FINISH. JOY is on the way!

Today’s Scripture:

Psalm 30:5, NKJV

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU’LL NEVER GO WRONG TAKING THE HIGH ROAD

There’s a PRICE to pay to become all we were CREATED to be. You may not be able to do what OTHERS do, to watch what THEY watch, or to do your business as THEY do business. To always do the right THING, you’ll need to go the extra MILE. People may not UNDERSTAND why you won’t talk behind someone else’s back, or why you won’t slack off at WORK with them, or why you won’t LAUGH about certain things. It’s not our business to judge THEM, but don’t become LIKE them. Don’t lower YOUR standard. Value GOD’S blessing more than what another PERSON thinks of you. If you don’t feel GOOD about something, if you have to talk yourself INTO it and make EXCUSES as to why it’s OKAY, it’s not WORTH it. You’ll NEVER go wrong taking the HIGH road.

Have a made-UP mind. “I’m going to be a person of INTEGRITY and honor GOD in all I do. I’M not going to compromise what I KNOW God SAYS.” Be the person whom GOD rewards.

Today’s Scripture:

Romans 12:2, MSG

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

FILL YOUR MIND WITH THE RIGHT THOUGHTS AND THERE WON’T BE ANY ROOM FOR THE WRONG ONES….

Sometimes we’re STUCK in discouragement, stuck in the BLAHS, feeling like a victim of our CIRCUMSTANCES. Thoughts tell you, “Nothing GOOD is in your future. You’ll NEVER get out of this.” Recognize that’s the enemy trying to get you into HIS territory. When you’re POSITIVE, HOPEFUL, and full of PRAISE, you’re in GOD’S territory. The enemy can’t CROSS that line. That’s why he works overtime in our THOUGHT life to get us down and discouraged, because that’s where negative thoughts dominate US.

You have to take CONTROL of your thought life. That’s where the battle is taking PLACE. Don’t WAIT for thoughts of hope and faith to come; think them on PURPOSE. If you fill your mind with the right THOUGHTS, there won’t be any ROOM for the wrong thoughts. ARISE from the discouragement. Shake OFF the blahs. You’re a VICTOR, not a victim. Your LIGHT has come, and His glory is RISEN on you. When you come back over to HIS side, you’ll get your joy and PASSION back.

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 60:1, NKJV

Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU HAVE TO SAY IT BEFORE YOU’LL SEE IT…..

When David faced Goliath, a giant TWICE his size, it wasn’t a coincidence that he looked at him and said, “THIS day I will DEFEAT you and feed your HEAD to the birds of the air.” He wasn’t just being POSITIVE; he understood the PRINCIPLE of speaking to mountains and seeing the IMPOSSIBLE happen. He had to RELEASE the victory with his spoken WORDS. If he would have talked DEFEAT, we wouldn’t know who David WAS. If he would have just THOUGHT positively, “I can do this. I’ve got what it takes,” he wouldn’t have DEFEATED Goliath. He knew the MIRACLE was in his MOUTH, so he spoke it OUT. “I WILL defeat you.” You may have past mistakes, or sickness, or a mountain of debt in your path. You need to ANNOUNCE to that mountain, “MOVE out of the WAY. You are NOT going to keep me from my DESTINY.” Get your heart and WORDS going in the RIGHT direction. You have to SAY it before you’ll SEE it.

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 17:20, NKJV

…if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

ASK BIG AND GOD WILL SHOW OUT BIG…..

In 1 Kings 18, four hundred and fifty prophets of the god Baal came against the one prophet Elijah in a challenge to prove to the entire nation of Israel who God was through a demonstration of POWER. After the prophets of Baal had FAILED, Elijah prayed the words of today’s Scripture, and God answered with an AWESOME display of fire from heaven. There was no QUESTION as to whether it was the hand of the TRUE God.

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you feel OUTNUMBERED. The SICKNESS seems bigger, the OPPOSITION STRONGER, or the addiction TOO powerful. It’s easy to get discouraged and shrink BACK. But you have to do as ELIJAH did and NOT be intimidated by what’s AGAINST you. The battle is NOT yours; the battle is the LORD’S. He ALLOWED that situation so He can display His awesome POWER through you. Ask BIG, and God will show OUT big. He’s a SUPERNATURAL God. Everyone will SEE His HAND on your life by what He DOES.

Today’s Scripture:

1 Kings 18:36–37, NIV

LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant…Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God…

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

SET YOUR FACE, RUN YOUR OWN RACE AND STAY FOCUSED

In Jesus’ life, when the time came for Him to be crucified, He SET His face to go to Jerusalem. There was no more PREACHING to the multitudes and FEEDING five thousand, no more WAITING at the well for the Samaritan woman, no more STOPPING by Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Those things had been for a SEASON, but now the hour had come to fulfill His PURPOSE. He would not ALLOW for any distractions.

If you’re going to reach your highest POTENTIAL, you have to do as JESUS did and SET your face. “Your HOUR has come.” You can’t get distracted by things that are keeping you from your PURPOSE. The enemy would LOVE for you to waste your TIME and ENERGY trying to win over EVERY critic and to convince someone to understand why you don’t do things or say things that THEY want to see or hear. Your time is TOO valuable. That’s a DISTRACTION. SET your face, run your OWN race, and stay FOCUSED on your GOALS.

Today’s Scripture:

Luke 9:51, NKJV

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem…