THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE SOONER YOU BREAK FREE, THE BETTER OFF YOU’LL BE…..

Are you so good-hearted that you’re sacrificing your TIME and HAPPINESS to keep everyone AROUND you happy? You need to know the FREEDOM that comes when you get free from CONTROLING people. SOME people are ALWAYS having a crisis and in desperate NEED of something. It’s good to HELP people who are in REAL need. But if it seems the emergencies never STOP, you need to RECOGNIZE that’s a MANIPULATOR and you are their PUPPET. They know if they pull ONE STRING, you’ll feel GUILTY, or ANOTHER string and you’ll bail them OUT.

If someone is playing you like a puppet, it’s time to CUT the strings. No more letting them make you feel GUILTY. No more will you come RUNNING. If you feel you’ll lose their friendship if you won’t meet unreasonable DEMANDS, THAT person is a MANIPULATOR, NOT your friend. The sooner you break FREE, the better OFF you’ll be. Be BOLD, take CHARGE of your life, and pursue the dreams GOD has placed in your heart.

Today’s Scripture:

Proverbs 19:19, NIV

A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them, and you will have to do it again.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU’RE NOT AVERAGE, YOU’RE GOD’S MASTERPIECE

God’s creation is filled with magnificent scenes and THINGS, but HE says you are His MOST prized possession. Don’t go around feeling WRONG about yourself. Quit letting your thoughts tell you that you’re ORDINARY. Quit wishing you were TALLER, or had a better PERSONALITY, or looked like somebody ELSE. God went to great LENGTHS to make you exactly as He WANTED. You have what you NEED to fulfill your DESTINY. When God created you in His own IMAGE, He stepped back and stamped His APPROVAL on you.

SOMEWHERE on you, there’s a tag that STATES, “MADE by Almighty GOD.” So put your shoulders back and hold your head HIGH. You are EXTREMELY valuable. When those thoughts come telling you everything that you’re NOT, REMIND yourself, “I have the fingerprints of God ALL over me—the way I LOOK, the way I SMILE, my GIFTS, my PERSONALITY. I know I am NOT average. I am a MASTERPIECE.” Those are the thoughts that SHOULD be playing in our mind all day LONG.

Today’s Scripture:

Deuteronomy 7:6, NIV

The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD USES SHAKINGS TO GET US INTO POSITION…..

The early church was flourishing and doing great THINGS in Jerusalem. But then a persecutor named Saul came along and wreaked HAVOC against the church, SHAKING the disciples’ LIVES. Believers were forced to flee their homes and livelihoods and were SCATTERED through the regions of Judea and Samaria. I’m sure they thought, “God, why did You ALLOW this?” But sometimes God ALLOWS things to be shaken to SHIFT us. In THIS case, it caused the gospel to be SPREAD and new CHURCHES to be established.

In life, we ALL have times when things shake us to our core–an UNEXPECTED illness, a LOST loved one, a JOB layoff. All the STABILITY we were used to is no longer THERE. It’s EASY to get discouraged. But here’s the KEY: The SHAKING is not there to STOP you; the shaking is there to SHIFT you. If you keep the right ATTITUDE, the SHAKING will shift you into PROMOTION, into greater INFLUENCE, into BETTER relationships. God uses shakings to get us in position for new LEVELS.

Today’s Scripture:

Acts 8:3–4, NLT

But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church…But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

HE IS RISEN, AND WE ARE COMPLETELY FORGIVEN….FOR EVERYTHING…….

Today we CELEBRATE the resurrection day of our Lord and SAVIOR, Jesus Christ. In the first light of DAWN on that morning, as three women approached the tomb where His crucified body had been laid, they were SHOCKED to see that the stone guarding its entrance had been rolled AWAY. And even far BETTER, they witnessed an EMPTY tomb, an ANGEL, and the amazing NEWS that Jesus had RISEN from the dead just as He PROMISED!

Nothing is more amazing or significant than the POWER of God displayed at the RESURRECTION of our SAVIOR. This is what separates OUR faith from any other on earth. Jesus paid the ultimate PRICE for our sins on the cross. He lived a PERFECT and SINLESS life and GAVE it as a SACRIFICE for the forgiveness of OUR sins. And when all hope seemed to be GONE, Jesus miraculously OVERCAME sin AND death and came to LIFE again. What this MEANS is: When we accept Him as our Lord and SAVIOR, we are completely FORGIVEN…for ANYTHING…for EVERYTHING…FOREVER!

Today’s Scripture:

Mark 16:6, NLT

…but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

SURELY, HE WAS THE SON OF GOD…..

When the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus, it looked as though His enemies had finally gotten rid of Him. Hanging on the cross, beaten, bleeding, wearing a crown of thorns, spit upon, mocked–Jesus seemed to have lost. When He bowed His head and took His last breath, all of heaven went silent. There was no singing, no music, no praising, just an eerie silence. The earth was so troubled that it began to tremble, the sun turned its back and refused to shine. At three in the afternoon, darkness covered the earth. The soldiers were so overwhelmed that they exclaimed, “SURELY, He was the Son of God!”

Satan and the forces of darkness did not realize the power of Jesus’ BLOOD dripping down into the earth. He took ALL your mistakes, all your FAILURES, all your WEAKNESSES, all the times you BLEW it, EVERY WRONG THING you’ve said and ever WILL say, and He FORGAVE it. Let’s do OUR part and BELIEVE that we have an everlasting RELEASE from our sins through the precious blood of JESUS.

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 27:54, NIV

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

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.