Thoughts on Fear

God is the light in our darkness

It’s easy to allow the darkness to keep you in fear, but we don’t have to live that way. We are the sons and daughters of the most High God and He can light the way.  Dear Lord I ask You to strengthen our spirits when we are down, give us endurance during our trials, repair our souls from the damage of daily life and light our path to lead a more fulfilling life full of love with You in the center of it all.

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.                  2 Corinthians 4:6

We are reminded that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:16-38) therefore go out with God’s peace and be a blessing to someone today.  Amen

Are you feeding your fears?

Are you feeding your fears?  Are you allowing the devil to steal your peace?  Well the Lord came so we don’t have to live in fear.  He died for our sins so that we can enjoy our lives with Him and through Him.

Dear Lord fill us today with Your joy so that we may be happy.  Fill our hearts with Your light so that we may be a beacon for others to find and experience the true joy that only comes from You.  Thank you Jesus for Your love and we commit ourselves today to be the light in Your life for others to see.  Amen

Gutter Ball!

Is your mind in the gutter?

  Now I’m not referring to moral filth, I’m referring to whether or not your defeated attitude is keeping you from all of God’s glory.  Issues, problems we all have them, but how you deal with them will determine your happiness.  If you want to begin to see better things in your life then get your mind out of the gutter, off of your problems and start sewing seeds of love.

  Be a blessing to others every opportunity you have and God will continue to bless you.  Amen.

We got Spirit yes we do, we got Spirit how about you?

Reading Galatians 5 reminded me of high school pep rallies.  Do you remember your high school pep rallies?  Where one side of the gym would yell to the other, “we got spirit yes we do, we got spirit how about you?”

                              

Now that we’re older the question remains the same, how about you?  Do you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you?  Do you walk by the flesh or do you walk by the Spirit?  The Lord never said we cannot enjoy ourselves nor have fun.  But when we are not disciplined, when we give into our fleshly desires it most often leads us down a path of destruction.  These desires can lead us as scripture says to impurity, hatred, selfish ambition, jealousy and other acts of disobedience that is not in accordance to the way Jesus called us to live.  If we are to be obedient to our Father then we need to live and walk in faith.

We need to humble ourselves and ask that the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with the food and energy needed to survive.  So what is the food that is manifested in our hearts through the Holy Spirit?  It is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23).

Having Spirit in Jesus means you have faith and you express that faith through love.  I have Spirit yes I do, I have Spirit how about you?  Glory be to Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Plugging into the Network

Are you plugged into the Network?   

Are you even on the Network?

I heard this great line from Joyce Meyers the other day…There’s no recession in Heaven.  With the economy struggling the way it has and individually many of us right along with it, it would be easy to allow all the strife to rule our emotions.  I know I have many times. I realized that if we are to enjoy a victorious life, a life which is full of God’s Grace and Mercy we need to stop complaining about what we don’t have and start thanking God for everything we do have.  Complaining keeps us away from God’s Glory and allows the enemy to steal our peace.  We can’t allow this to happen!!!  No matter how big your mountain is, God’s power is bigger.  No matter how impossible or hopeless your situation may seem, nothing is impossible for God.  (see Mark 11:22-24) However, to be Plugged into this awesome power, God wants us to do so without complaining.

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without grumbling and fault-finding and complaining.

How many times has God answered our prayers and before long we find ourselves complaining about the very thing that he Blessed us with.  (my job is too far, my husband or wife is so this and so that, my child is wearing me out, my co-workers or employees are so annoying, etc…).  As brothers and sisters in Christ we need to stop complaining and blaming and instead give thanks for all that we do have.  I heard this week that if we were to stop for just a moment and count up all of our blessings, they will far outweigh the things that we complain about.  So true!!!!  Be slow to anger it only causes self-inflicted wounds.

If we want our prayers to be answered we need to be plugged into the network, God’s network!

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made to God.

Thanking God for all that we have, waters the seed that you have in your heart for a future more bountiful harvest.  But be careful brothers and sisters that when we do so that we do so with pure hearts, without conditions, for our Lord and Savior knows our hearts.  If in our hearts we are not thankful for what we have or hold contempt for someone else then why should God answer our prayers and give us something else to complain about.

Matthew 6:14-16 For if you forgive other people who sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So what I learned was that complaining and fault-finding causes our Network to run slower (prayers take longer to be answered), allows viruses to infect our computers (devil stealing our peace) and threatens a total system crash (living out of God’s favor).  So get plugged in, turn on the full Power of Jesus (the best anti-virus in the market and it’s FREE) and be a bright light that will see the Grace and Mercy of the Holy Spirit shining all around you.  Be a Beacon that others can follow.

Dear Lord, thank you for all that You have given us, thank you for being with us in times of trouble.  Forgive us when our actions and words were not pleasing to you.  Give us every day a new sense of courage, strength, wisdom and power to not only face our challenges with thanksgiving but also to be a blessing to others.  AMEN

Random Acts of Kindness

We should attack our problems the way God tells us to, in the Spirit not in the flesh. Have you ever wondered why you haven’t received that blessing that you’ve been praying for? Scripture tells us in (Matthew 7:7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Scripture also tells us that we shall receive these things in due time (God’s time). What is God’s time? Maybe we haven’t received our blessings because we ask for it with the wrong motives. I’ve come to realize that there will be times that Jesus will allow us to be tested and tried with the sole purpose of bringing us closer to him. Are your motives wrong? I truly believe that for us to begin to receive all the blessings that the Lord has for us, for Him to make us who he wants us to be, we should be focused on getting our hearts in the right place. We need to have a spirit of Love. We need to be a blessing to others no matter our circumstances.

Whenever, news worthy events (often tragic ones) take place initially we find both believers and non-believers willing to give of their time and money to help complete strangers. But sadly when the hype has died down and the storyline changes far too often many of us go back to living for ourselves and tend to forget how blessed we really are. Today, severe drought, famine, disease and disasters around the World is afflicting 100’s of millions of people, especially those most vulnerable (elderly and children). In Haiti still today more than a year after the devastating earthquake parents bathe their children in dirty, polluted water because they have no access to clean water.  In parts of Africa, entire families spend all day combing thru garbage dumps in hopes of finding anything that they could sell just so they can eat 1 meal that day. Children all over the Globe are going without basic needs daily; water, 1 nutritious meal let alone 3, education and hope. Their hopelessness and despair could be changed forever in their health, hearts and minds if we were willing to go a just a little bit further. Random acts of kindness whether it’s towards your next door neighbor, colleague or to a child halfway around the World could be the seed that restores their faith and gives them hope that tomorrow will be a better day if we were just to follow the Gospel and share the greatest of all, LOVE. 
Every act of kindness, no matter how small or insignificant, can plant the seed that one day can grow into something beautiful, full of life, love and best of all into a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Make up your mind today that you are going to stop complaining, start appreciating and start giving more love to others. Get involved and together we can make a difference in 1 or 1 million. When you do so, do it for the right reasons; (Matthew 6:3) When you give to someone in need, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
Have a Blessed Day