THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS ARE COMING YOUR WAY

In the Scripture, a man named Zerubbabel was in charge of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem that had been destroyed years earlier. Everything was going fine until they laid the foundation, then the OPPOSITION came to the point where the king of Persia shut down the WORK. For several years, it looked as though the enemy had WON. But when the king learned of the original decree to REBUILD the temple, he not only approved the RESTART, but he ordered funds from the royal TREASURY to pay the full construction costs. What the enemy meant for HARM, God turned for GOOD.

You may have people and circumstances coming against YOU, but God knows how to cause it to BACKFIRE. Right now, FAVOR is keeping your enemies from defeating you. As with Zerubbabel, you’re going to see what God does BEHIND the scenes. People who were AGAINST you are suddenly going to be FOR you; problems are about to turn around. Unexpected BLESSINGS are coming your way,: INCREASE, PROMOTION, BREAKTHROUGHS, and VINDICATION.

Today’s Scripture:

Ezra 6:8, NIV

I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury…so that the work will not stop.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOUR DAYS ARE DESTINED TO SHINE BRIGHTER BECAUSE GOD IS FAITHFUL

In the Old Testament when this scripture was written, God’s people were going through a VERY dark time. They were being held captive against their will and mistreated by other nations. God sent this word to ENCOURAGE them and give them HOPE for their FUTURE. When the time came, God was FAITHFUL to His Word!

Are YOU going through a difficult time today? Let this word bring you encouragement, TOO. God wants to give you DOUBLE for your trouble. He is the God of RESTORATION—that means He’s not going to just repay you for every wrong done, He’s going to go above and BEYOND and make things even BETTER than they were before.

If you are facing challenges today or going through a time of adversity, remember, it’s ALWAYS darkest just before the dawn appears. Your days are DESTINED to shine brighter because God is FAITHFUL. As you stay in faith and are obedient to His Word, you’ll receive DOUBLE for your trouble and the BLESSINGS He has in store for YOU!

Today’s Scripture:

“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.”

Isaiah 61:7, NIV

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHEN YOU KEEP GOD FIRST PLACE, YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO OUTRUN HIS BLESSINGS AND FAVOR

God has things in your FUTURE that are much BIGGER than you’ve IMAGINED. The odds may be against you, but God is FOR you. We ask God for things that seem REASONABLE to us. We ask for our healing, to get out of debt, to meet the right person. That’s good, but God has blessings that you’ve never ASKED for or even THOUGHT of. What He has in store for you is BIGGER than you can imagine. If He showed you ALL He has in your future, it would boggle your MIND.

When you have a heart to KNOW God, and you’re being your BEST where you ARE, you won’t HAVE to go after promotion; promotion will come after YOU. You won’t have to CHASE blessings; blessings will chase YOU. New doors are going to OPEN, the right people will show UP, and the problem WILL turn around. When you keep God FIRST place, you won’t be able to OUTRUN the good things of God–favor, breakthroughs, ABUNDANCE.

Today’s Scripture:

Deuteronomy 28:2, NKJV

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD IS SURROUNDING WHAT’S SURROUNDING YOU

We ALL have times when we FEEL like we’re surrounded by difficulties, surrounded by a sickness, or surrounded by debt. When you’re in a difficult TIME, the enemy will do a lot of TALKING. He’ll tell you, “I have you SURROUNDED. You’re NEVER going to get well. You’ve had this addiction for SO long that you’ll never BREAK it. You’re never getting out of DEBT. No matter how hard you work, you’ll never get the PROMOTION. You’re STUCK.” Don’t BELIEVE those lies. The enemy THINKS he has you SURROUNDED, but the Most High GOD has HIM surrounded. God knows EVERY attack, every DIFFICULTY, every unfair SITUATION that’s going to happen.

When you feel like you’re SURROUNDED, come back to the place of peace and say, “I know my GOD is still on the throne, and He is surrounding what’s SURROUNDING me. He’s BIGGER than this opposition, GREATER than this sickness, and more POWERFUL than these enemies. I will NOT be discouraged OR worried. The forces FOR me are GREATER than the forces AGAINST me.”

Today’s Scripture:

1 John 4:4, NIV

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE MOST HIGH GOD IS STANDING GUARD OVER YOUR LIFE

In Malachi 3, God has PROMISED that when you’re a GIEVR and planted in the house of the LORD, He will open the windows of HEAVVEN for you and pour out BLESSINGS you can’t contain. It goes ON to say that He will REBUKE the devourer for your sake. That means what was GOING to harm your family and relationships, devour your finances and opportunities, and cause breakdowns, God will REBUKE. It’s ALWAYS good to PRAY and stand against the forces of darkness, but when you’re under the open windows of HEAVEN, you have the Creator of the UNIVERSE as your PROTECTER and DEFENDER.

Today you need to give THANKS for the many times God has rebuked the devourer and you didn’t know anything ABOUT it. He kept you from that accident, kept that sickness from touching you, kept that supervisor from holding you back. The Most High God is standing GUARD over your life. You don’t HAVE to live worried, on edge, OR in fear.

Today’s Scripture:

Malachi 3:11, ESV

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHEN YOU PRAY, SOMETHING POWERFUL HAPPENS

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John describes how the angels around the heavenly throne are constantly WORSHIPPING God, but he wrote in chapter 8 that there was SILENCE in heaven for about half an hour. During that time an angel came to the altar with a golden censer that represents the PRAYERS of God’s PEOPLE. Notice how POWERFUL prayer is. What could be so IMPORTANT that all of heaven came to a STANDSTILL? Heaven STOPPED to hear the PRAYERS of God’s PEOPLE. It makes a DIFFERENCE when you pray. Your PRAYERS go up like incense before the throne of GOD.

It may FEEL like nobody’s listening to your prayers and prayer is a waste of TIME. NO, just remember that when you pray something POWERFUL happens. All of heaven STOPS, and the Creator of the universe comes to ATTENTION. That’s when SUPERNATURAL things take place. When you PRAY, Red Seas PART, Goliaths are DEFEATED, hungry lions CAN’T open their mouths, cancer is OVERCOME, and BLESSINGS rain down.

Today’s Scripture:

Revelation 8:4, NIV

The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GET READY FOR AN EXPLOSION OF GOD’S FAVOR

In the Scripture, the original Greek word used for God’s POWER is “dunamis.” That’s where we get the word “DYNAMITE.” Dynamite is used to level buildings and clear out WHATEVER’S in the way. God also says He’s going to level your MOUNTAINS, those obstacles that look PERMANENT to you–not make a tunnel THROUGH them, not make a path AROUND them, not give you the strength to go OER them. God is going to do something EXTRAORDINARY. I can see God putting the dynamite in right NOW and lighting the fuse. You’ve been FAITHFUL, you’ve GIVEN, you’ve SERVED. Get ready for an EXPLOSION of good BREAKS, an explosion of HEALING, an explosion of JOY, an explosion of FREEDOM. Those obstacles that have been holding you back are about to be BLOWN away.

There is NOTHING too hard for God. He’s going to do some things in your life where you and the people AROUND you will know and have NO doubt that it is HIS hand.

Today’s Scripture:

Jeremiah 32:17, NKJV

Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOR WHERE GOD IS TAKING YOU

As a young man, Moses had the DREAM that he was supposed to deliver God’s people from their slavery in Egypt, but he made a mistake that put him into a NIGHT season. After he spent forty years in a desert place, God said, “All right, Moses, NOW you’re ready for Me to use you to deliver My PEOPLE.” Moses had learned to WAIT on God, to LISTEN to His VOICE, to walk in HUMILITY. He came up higher in his CHARACTER.

You have to be PREPARED for where God is TAKING you. Moses couldn’t HANDLE it the first time, but God didn’t write him off. He used the night season to REFINE him. In the NIGHT seasons, you need to pass the tests, change where you need to CHANGE, and deal with the areas that God is bringing to LIGHT. THEN, as He did for Moses, because your character has been DEVELOPED, God will bring you OUT of that night season and get you to where you’re SUPPOSED to be.

Today’s Scripture:

Numbers 12:3, NIV

Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

TRUST HIM WHEN YOU’RE SPINNING…..

The Scripture says that God is the POTTER, and we are the CLAY. The potter takes a lump of CLAY and spins it on his wheel. The clay could say, “I’m TIRED of going in circles. Let me OFF this wheel.” The clay doesn’t realize that while it’s SPINNING, the potter is MOLDING it. It’s rising UP from a lump of clay into a beautiful VASE. AFTER it has gone through the PROCESS, it would tell you, “I didn’t like the spinning, but WITHOUT it I wouldn’t be what I AM.”

You may feel like YOU’RE spinning today. You’re doing the same thing over and OVER and don’t see much PROGRESS. But when it feels like you’re going in CIRCLES, something is happening that you can’t SEE. You’re coming up HIGHER. God is MODLING your CHARACTER. It may seem ROUTINE, but when you’re faithful where you ARE, when you have a song of PRAISE when you could be complaining, you’re rising HIGHER. TRUST Him when you’re spinning. Trust Him when you’re in the ROUTINE.

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 45:9, NLT

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!'”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD NEVER REMOVES SOMETHING, UNLESS HE HAS SOMETHING BETTER COMING….

For forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites depended upon God’s supernatural PROVISION of manna for their SURVIVAL every day. But they didn’t realize the manna was only a TEMPORARY provision. They were SATISFIED with something to eat, but God was NOT satisfied. HE was taking them into a land flowing with milk and honey, with all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and RESOURCES. So, when they ate their first produce from the Promised Land, the manna CEASED. I can hear them crying out, “God, what’s HAPPENING?” But God was saying, “From now ON, I’m bringing you into ABUNDANCE.”

When something CEASES in your life–a FRIEND walks away or a JOB ends–it’s not the time to get DISCOURAGED. God NEVER removes something unless He has something BETTER coming. If He didn’t stop CERTAIN things, we would never get out of our COMFORT zone. It’s time to get READY, because INCREASE is coming, greater PROVISION is on the way, and God is about to take you where you CAN’T go on your own.

Today’s Scripture:

Joshua 5:12, NKJV

Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.