THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD WANTS TO SHOW YOU HIS PLAN AND POUR OUT HIS BLESSING ON YOU

What are YOU doing to bring your dreams to pass? Are you getting PREPARED? Do you have clear DIRECTION? Are you taking steps of FAITH? Success is INTENTIONAL. You may not know what steps to take right NOW, but God has a GOOD plan for your life. If you’ll do YOUR part to seek Him and begin to make plans to succeed, God will GUIDE you. He WILL direct your steps. You don’t have to vaguely go through life. God WANTS to show you His plan. He wants to pour out His blessing on you and see you living a life of VICTORY.

Decide TODAY to make plans to succeed. Write down your GOALS. Make time to EVALUATE where you are in life. Evaluate your FINANCES, your CAREER and your RELATIONSHIPS. Don’t go ANOTHER week without having a plan for your future. Evaluate how you’re spending your TIME and MONEY. If you’ll go beyond dreaming and start making PLANS to succeed, God PROMISES that HE’s going to direct your steps. He will LEAD you down the path of His FAVOR.

Today’s Scripture:

“The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”

Proverbs 16:9, NASB

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

OUR WORDS AND ACTIONS ARE SEEDS

Have you ever looked at a large, old tree and wondered how long it has been there? It’s amazing to think that at one point, that gigantic tree was merely a tiny seed. In the same way, our words and actions are seeds. We will always reap a harvest on what we sow.

Think about the types of seeds you have been sowing. Are you sowing encouragement, hope, blessing, love? Then that’s what you’ll reap in the future. But if you’ve been sowing criticism, judgment and anger, you’re probably already reaping a bad harvest. It’s time to start changing your seed.

Today, I encourage you to pray and ask God to help you uproot any negative seeds you may have planted in the past and begin sowing good seeds for your future. As you stay obedient to the Word of God, you’ll see those seeds grow. You’ll rise up higher and enjoy the harvest of blessing God has promised you.

Today’s Scripture:

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.”

Galatians 6:7, NLT

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

AS LONG AS YOU’RE MAKING EXCUSES, YOU’LL JUSTIFY STAYING WHERE YOU ARE

It’s easy to come up with REASONS for why we can’t be HAPPY, why we can’t accomplish a DREAM, why we can’t overcome a PROBLEM. EXCUSES are a dime a dozen. As long as you’re making excuses, you’ll justify staying where you are and settling for less than God’s best.

As long as you’re blaming what was unfair in the PAST or blaming a friend for a DISAPPOINTMENT, you’ll be stuck where you are. You need to throw out the excuses and say, “I REFUSE to live with a chip on my shoulder.” If you get rid of the EXCUSES, God will pay you BACK for the hurt. Step up to a new LEVEL and have the ATTITUDE, “No more EXCUSES to live unhappy or SETTLE for mediocrity. I’m pursuing my GOALS and OVERCOMING obstacles that have held me back. I am a child of the Most High God, and I will become all He CREATED me to be.”

Today’s Scripture

Luke 14:18, ESV

But they all alike began to make excuses.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

DO LIKE JESUS AND TRUST GOD TO WORK IT OUT

The Scripture tells us to be IMITATORS of Christ. His life should be our EXAMPLE. If we’re going to be like Jesus, this means that we’re going to be misunderstood and criticized and have SOME people come against us. And we’re going to have a Judas, someone who betrays us, turns their back on us, and walks away. This is why many people get bitter.

It’s interesting that when Judas came to betray Jesus, He still called him “FRIEND.” HIS attitude was, “Judas, your poor choice is NOT going to steal my JOY. My FATHER has the final say. In the end, I’m going to come out wearing the VICTOR’S crown.” When WE go through times that seem unfair, if we’ll do like Jesus and trust GOD to work it out for our good, it WON’T get the BEST of us. At some point, we TOO will be wearing the victor’s crown and move into a NEW level of our DESTINY.

Today’s Scripture

Ephesians 5:1, NLT

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

YOU ARE ROYALTY, KEEP YOUR CROWN ON

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were living confident and secure with God. They knew they had His blessing and favor. But one day the enemy deceived them into eating the forbidden fruit, and immediately they were afraid. They ran and hid. When God called out to Adam, “Where are you?” Adam said, “We’re hiding because we’re naked.” God asked, “Who told you that you were naked?”

God is asking us today, “Who told you that you’re not good enough? That you’re just average? That you can’t accomplish your dreams?” Those negative thoughts didn’t come from our God. Those lies open the door to fear, insecurity, and shame. They focus on what we’re not, on the mistakes we’ve made, on what other people have said about us. Don’t let the enemy deceive you. You are a child of the Most High God. You are not average or mediocre; you are royalty. Keep your crown on.

Today’s Scripture

2 Corinthians 11:3, NIV

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

 

WE CREATE ‘OUR’ WORLD, WITH OUR WORDS

Scripture tells us that there is creative POWER in the words we DECLARE. In the same way that God created the world with HIS words in Genesis 1, WE “create” our own world with OUR words. We can create an atmosphere of PEACE, JOY, POWER and LOVE with our words, or we can create an atmosphere of strife, confusion and defeat.

Today, I encourage YOU to use your words to open the door for God to MOVE by declaring His Word over YOUR life. Declare that His strength IS at work in you. Declare that NO weapon formed against you is going to prosper. As you declare God’s WORD over your life, you’ll see it come to pass. You’ll feel His STRENGTH, JOY and VICTORY rising up inside of you so that you can embrace the life of BLESSING He has prepared for you.

Today’s Scripture:

“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as You have declared”

(Numbers 14:17, NIV)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU WOULD NOT BE WHERE YOU ARE IF NOT FOR THE GRACIOUS HAND OF GOD ON YOUR LIFE…..

Have you ever thought about the fact that the victories you saw in your past weren’t just your own doing? When you made it through a difficult time, when you received an unexpected break, when things turned around for no reason, it was because God FAVORED you. You wouldn’t be where you are if the gracious hand of God was not on your life!

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have as much EDUCATION as someone else. It doesn’t matter how influential your FAMILY is. It doesn’t matter what your BACKGROUND is. God’s FAVOR can take you where you could not go on your own. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He places something UNDENIABLE on the inside of you. Something that cannot be measured, can’t be put on paper, and can’t be explained—it is His Holy Spirit and His FAVOR shining down on you! Other people may not be able to figure it out. All they know is that you’ve got SOMETHING—that’s the gracious hand of God.

Today let this truth sink down deeply into your heart. Don’t be discouraged by what you can see, be ENCOURAGED by what you CAN’T see! Put your shoulders back and go out with FAITH and CONFIDENCE knowing that His gracious HAND is upon you!

Today’s Scripture:

For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.

Psalm 44:3, NKJV

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

QUIT REMEMBERING WHAT GOD HAS FORGOTTEN

Too often we get our performance mixed up with our identity. You ask somebody, “Who are you?” and they answer, “I’m a nurse.” But the truth is, that’s what they do, not who they are. You are a child of the Most High God. That’s where your value, your worth comes from—your who, not your do. You may do some wrong things, but that is not who you are. Nothing that you do changes your value because your value comes from your Creator. So feel good about who you are. When you’re positive toward yourself, you’re in agreement with God. If you make a mistake, the moment you ask God to forgive you, He not only forgives you but He forgets it.

Quit remembering what God has forgotten. Quit listening to all the accusing voices telling you what you’re not. Your performance isn’t perfect, but you are accepted and approved through your faith. That’s what matters to God.

Today’s Scripture

Romans 4:23–24, TLB

Now this wonderful statement—that he was accepted and approved through his faith—wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was for us, too, assuring us that God will accept us in the same way he accepted Abraham.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

MAN LOOKS AT YOU ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT TO GOD, IT’S THE HEART THAT MATTERS

When Jesus chose His twelve disciples, He didn’t choose people who had it all together. He didn’t choose the Pharisees, who kept all the religious rules, prayed at the right time, and gave what was required but whose hearts were not right. He chose people who had lots of FLAWS, who came out of DYSFUNCTION and weren’t raised in a religious ENVIRONMENT. Man looks on the OUTSIDE, at the PERFORMANCE, the CREDENTIALS, the BACKGROUND, but God looks BEYOND all that. He knows it’s the HEART that matters. He chose those whose HEARTS were COMMITTED to Him.

God is not looking for people who have a perfect PERFORMANCE. He’s looking for people who desire to PLEASE Him. Your behavior, attitude, and character may need some IMPROVEMENT, but just as with the disciples, God is saying, “I know your HEART is sincere; your heart is set to do the RIGHT thing. So I’m going to show Myself STRONG in your life.”

Today’s Scripture

2 Chronicles 16:9, NLT

“The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

PUT GOD FIRST, AND HE’LL CROWN YOUR EFFORTS WITH SUCCESS

A lot of people are good at taking care of the physical and emotional parts of their lives, but they don’t take care of the SPIRITUAL. There’s no, or minimal, connection to God. Your life will be MUCH more fulfilling when you’re in relationship with your CREATOR. He breathed LIFE into you. He knows what your PURPOSE is. He wants to give you the advantage for SUCCESS. When you make HIM a part of your life, His FAVOR will take you where your talents and abilities can NOT take you.

Make your spiritual life a PRIORITY. When you get up in the morning, take time to THANK God for the day. Don’t run out of the house stressed out, in a hurry. Start the day off with a GRATEFUL attitude. Read the Scripture, meditate on His promises, and fill your mind with thoughts of FAITH, HOPE, and VICTORY. Put God FIRST and He will crown YOUR efforts with SUCCESS.

Today’s Scripture

Proverbs 3:6, TLB

In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.