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.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHAT GOD NAMES YOU OVERRIDES WHAT PEOPLE NAME YOU

In Genesis 35, just before Rachel died while giving birth, she was in so much pain and distress that she named the baby Ben-Oni, which means “son of my SORROW.” Back in those days, a child’s name set the DIRECTION for their life. She had pronounced that he would live a sorrowful, painful, depressing life. But Jacob intervened and CHANGED his name to Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand, son of my STRENGTH.” Jacob would not allow his son to see himself as a son of sorrow, as limited and defeated.

Perhaps the people who should have been speaking FAITH over you, AFFIRMING you, naming you VICTORIOUS, TALENTED, and a MASTERPIECE did just the opposite. If they named you a failure, not good enough, or not talented, the GOOD news is that what GOD names you OVERRIDES what PEOPLE name you. Don’t let the negative things PEOPLE have spoken over you, how you were RAISED, or what you didn’t GET determine your DESTINY. CHANGE your name to what GOD calls you.

Today’s Scripture:

Genesis 35:18, NLT

The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”).

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

….MORE REWARDING THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE

The prophet Joel said, “Wake UP the mighty men!” I’m here to wake up your DREAMS, wake up your TALENTS, wake up your POTENTIAL, wake up what GOD put in you. You may have let some circumstances convince you that it’s never going to happen, but I believe you’re going to rise UP and see it come to PASS. Don’t be discouraged by the disappointment, the closed door, or the bad break. That’s a SIGN that the dream is still ALIVE in you.

Get your HOPES up. Every morning, rise up and REMIND yourself to be PATIENT, to PERSEVERE, and to PREPARE. Keep HONORING God, keep being your BEST, and what He has PROMISED you IS going to THRUST you to a NEW level of your DESTINY. What GOD has put in you is going to take you FURTHER and be BIGGER than YOU could have IMAGINED, better than ANYTHING you’ve ever DREAMED, and more REWARDING than you ever thought POSSIBLE.

Today’s Scripture:

Judges 5:12, NIV

Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, Barak! Take captive your captives…