THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

DON’T LIVE STRESSED, STAY AT PEACE KNOWING THAT WHAT GOD SAYS GOES…..

We all have situations that LOOK like they’re never going to work out. It’s easy to get discouraged and think it’s OVER. But God has the FINAL say. The medical report may be bad, but it’s NOT the last word. What God says GOES. You may have struggled with an addiction for YEARS, but God has the final WORD. You may have people who are trying to hold you back, but people don’t HAVE the final say. No disrespect, but neither the doctor, nor the banker, nor the financial planner is on the THRONE. GOD is on the throne, and what HE says goes. That He is FOR you is more than the whole WORLD being against you.

When you know that GOD has the final say, you don’t LIVE stressed over the medical report or try to manipulate or play up to PEOPLE to like you. You stay in PEACE, knowing that you’re NOT at the mercy of bad breaks, accidents, sicknesses, or PEOPLE who are against you. What God says GOES.

Today’s Scripture:

1 Peter 3:22, MSG

Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He’s standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD WILL WORK OUT HIS PLAN AND GET YOU TO WHERE YOU NEED TO BE

When Moses led the two million Israelites out of slavery into the desert and toward the Promised Land, I can imagine them asking him, “What ROUTE are we going to take? Where are we going to get FOOD and WATER? How will we PROTECT ourselves?” Moses answered, “I don’t know.'” Just because YOU don’t know how something is going to work out doesn’t mean GOD doesn’t have a PLAN. Moses had such a TRUST in God that he was COMFORTABLE not KNOWING. He took it one step of FAITH at a time.

When WE’RE trying to figure everything out and manipulate a solution, we’re being GOD. It’s very FREEING when you learn this principle that it’s OKAY to say as Moses did, “I don’t KNOW how it’s going to work out, but I’m at PEACE.” You’re taking yourself OFF the throne and putting God ON the throne. Take the pressure OFF. You don’t HAVE to know; GOD knows. He will work out His plan and get you to where you’re SUPPOSED to be.

Today’s Scripture:

Psalm 138:8, NLT

The LORD will work out his plans for my life–for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

BE MOVED NOT BY WHAT YOU SEE, BUT BY WHAT YOU KNOW GOD SAYS IN HIS WORD

We ALL face situations that LOOK like they’ll never change. We have BIGGER things in our spirit, and we KNOW what God PROMISED, but it seems like we’ve reached our limit in our CAREER. Our bank account says we’re STUCK. When we look at the medical report or at a broken relationship, there’s no sign of it IMPROVING. But the Scripture says, “The things we see NOW will soon be GONE” (2 Cor. 4:18). What we SEE is subject to change according to what God promises in His WORD. You can’t be MOVED by what you SEE; you have to be moved by what you KNOW He SAYS.

Are YOU believing what you’re seeing, or are you believing what you’re READING in God’s Word? What you SEE may be lack and struggle, but what God is SPEAKING to you is ABUNDANCE, HEALING, BREAKTHROUGHS, and new LEVELS. Don’t reduce what God’s PROMISED you to fit your faith. Stretch your FAITH and come up to HIS level. EVERY word He promises WILL come to pass.

Today’s Scripture:

1 Kings 8:56, NLT

Praise the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

ONE DAY, GOD IS GOING TO CONNECT THE DOTS FOR YOU

God gave Joseph a dream that he was DESTINED for greatness, but before that dream came true, he went through some very dark places. However, today’s Scripture shows how God connected the dots. Being thrown into the pit by his brothers led to being sold to Potiphar in Egypt, which led to being falsely accused and put in prison. In prison, he interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker, which led to interpreting PHARAO’S dream and being put in charge of the NATION. Every step was divinely ORCHESTRATED and moving Joseph toward his DESTINY.

As was true in JOSEPH’S life, you have to BELIEVE that a disappointment, a betrayal, or a setback is part of God’s plan. It’s moving you little by little into your DESTINY. God knows what He’s DOING. What looks like trouble is really the hand of GOD. Keep doing the right thing DESPITE the trouble, and ONE day, God is going to connect the dots for YOU.

Today’s Scripture:

Genesis 50:20, NLT

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

CHOOSE TO LIVE DOWN DEEP

When you throw a rock out into a lake that is calm as glass on the surface, it sends ripples across the whole lake. It LOOKS like it causes a big DISTURBANCE. But the TRUTH is, one foot BENEATH the surface was CALM and PEACEFUL. No fish exclaimed, “Call 911! Something’s wrong!” Nothing on the surface affects the water down DEEP. It stays CALM.

How easily do YOU get upset? If the pebbles that get thrown into your LIFE are getting you frustrated and stealing your JOY, you need to go down DEEPER in FAITH. “But the promotion at work fell through!” That’s a PEBBLE. “She offended me!” ANOTHER pebble. “The loan was denied!” Just a pebble disturbing the SURFACE. That’s not making LIGHT of those things, but when you get BENEATH the surface, you know GOD is still on the throne. Down deep where you choose to LIVE, you’ll feel a PEACE, you’ll be at REST.

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 32:18, NIV

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU CAN’T BECOME ALL YOU WERE CREATED TO BE WITHOUT ‘MESSY TIMES’

House building sites are often BIG messes of mud, discarded lumber, and trash piled high. What’s interesting is that we don’t say, “Stop building! It’s never going to be a beautiful house.” We know the MESS is a part of the building PROCESS.

In the same way, you have to see the things that are messy in your LIFE, things you struggle with, things that seem to be delays, as simply under CONSTRUCTION. You may not LIKE the mud–The disappointment, the setback, the betrayal–but it’s part of the PROCESS. You can’t become all you were CREATED to be without messy TIMES. Your architect and BUILDER, the Most High GOD, isn’t CONCERNED about the mess because He designed a specific PLAN for your life. He’s already taken into ACCOUNT all the delays, the things you don’t understand, and even the MISTAKES you’ve made. God is saying, “You’re not a finished PRODUCT. What I STARTED, I’m going to bring to COMPLETION.”

Today’s Scripture:

Hebrews 3:4, NIV

For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOUR VALUE AND SELF-WORTH COMES FROM YOUR CREATOR

It’s great when PEOPLE cheer us on and make us feel VALUABLE. We LOVE when a friend COMPLIMENTS us or a coworker HELPS us on a project. God uses PEOPLE to help move us toward our DESTINY. But you can’t become SO dependent on people that you’re trying to get your worth and value from THEM. It’s easy to rely on THEM to keep you feeling GOOD about yourself and make you feel APPROVED. But if they don’t give you their APPROVAL and meet your EXPECTATIONS, you’ll feel discouraged and inferior, and you’ll work OVERTIME to try to win their APPROVAL. The PROBLEM is, YOU’RE trying to get from PEOPLE what only GOD can give. Your VALUE, your SELF-WORTH doesn’t COME from another person–it comes from your CREATOR.

Jesus KNEW better than to rely on people. What they do or don’t do doesn’t DETERMINE your worth and cannot stop your PURPOSE. Quit depending on OTHERS’ approval and start approving YOURSELF.

Today’s Scripture:

John 5:41, NLT

“Your approval means nothing to me.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD AND BE THE FIRST TO WALK AWAY…..

When David was a teenager, his oldest brother, Eliab, spoke to him in the most condescending, disrespectful, and accusatory way in front of others (see 1 Samuel 17:28). Rest assured that David FELT like telling his brother OFF, but he kept his mouth CLOSED, turned and walked AWAY. Seeing such self-DISCIPLINE, it’s no wonder God ENTRUSTED David to do great THINGS.

You know, if you argue LONG enough with someone, you’re going to SAY things you regret LATER. A ten-MINUTE argument can set the relationship back ten YEARS. You have to learn to walk away. You’re not going to accomplish ANYTHING positive in a heated, disrespectful, contentious situation. Let THEM have the last word, and YOU keep your PEACE. The Scripture says that you “overcome evil with GOOD.” You don’t overcome disrespect with more disrespect, or overcome insult with insult, or overcome shouting with more SHOUTING. You do it by staying RESPECTFUL. YOU be the first to walk away.

Today’s Scripture

Romans 12:21, NIV

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

RECONDITION YOUR MIND AND BREAK OUT OF THE MOLD

Hezekiah’s father was King Ahaz of Judah, who set up idols for the people to worship and closed the doors of the temple. He didn’t HONOR God, and the nation went downhill and became very poor. Hezekiah was raised in an environment of compromise, defeat, and mediocrity. He could have turned out like his dad and adapted to that environment, but when he became KING, the first thing Hezekiah did was to reopen the temple. He turned the nation back toward GOD.

YOU may be in some kind of limited environment. If Hezekiah were here today, he would tell you, “You can break OUT of the mold. You can be the DIFFERENCE maker. You can be the one who sets your family on a course to HONORING God, a course of BLESSING, FAVOR, and VICTORY.” Recondition your MIND, start THINKING better, BELIEVING that you’re a CAN-DO person, knowing that you have seeds of GREATNESS, and you TOO will break barriers that you THOUGHT were impossible.

Today’s Scripture:

2 Kings 18:5–7, NIV

Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not stop following him…And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.