SIMPLY BELEIVE

Our Meditation: Luke 1:38-45

Blessed is she WHO BELIEVED, for there will BE A FULFILLMENT of those things which were told her FROM THE LORD.” (Luke 1:45 NKJV)

God responds to faith and not resources- ‪#‎MoQuotes‬

God celebrates faith more than anything else. Take a look at that scripture again. Mary is called blessed simply because she BELIEVED. The Bible even says without faith, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

Our part is to believe. God’s part is to fulfill. Not the other way round. Once we believe, there is a guarantee that there will be a fulfillment of the things we heard from God.

Sometimes faith is simply saying Yes to God. I don’t think Mary comprehended HOW she would have a baby without knowing a man…It’s simply absolute confidence in the one in whom our faith is placed.

It’s trusting that God’s word carries in it the power to perform what it was sent to do.

Faith is rooted in God, and never us.

Today, say YES to God. Don’t wait to understand or for the resource promised to manifest. Just say YES based on His word. Based on His character.

THE ULTIMATE TREASURE

My Meditation (Proverbs 8:10-11)

When someone mentions treasure or blessing, most of the time, I think in terms of MONEY. I get excited. I get “expectant”. Yet God is clear in His word: He has never referred to money as “the treasure” or “the blessing”, but rather, it is a RESULT of the blessing/ the treasure.

Over and over, God points to His word and His Kingdom as the “treasure” and the source of “blessing”. He tells us that if we receive His word and treasure it in us, we will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, forever fruitful. He also says if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, ALL these things we desire will be ADDED to us. (Matt 6:33)

Friends, the real treasure you and I should pursue is intimacy with God, and His word/ promises. Once we have Him, we have EVERYTHING! This means we need to spend more quality and quantity time with God and His word, allowing Him to guide every decision by His word, because where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.

Solomon, the wisest man that lived says in Proverbs 8:10-11:
“10 Receive my instruction, and NOT silver,
And knowledge RATHER THAN choice gold;
11 For wisdom IS BETTER than rubies,
And all the things one may desire CANNOT BE COMPARED with her.” NKJV

WE WILL NOT FEAR!

HE’S ALREADY PROVIDED

Our Meditation (Ephesians 1:17-19)

Ever thought about the truth that even before you ever received the life of Jesus, He had already made the provision? Our part was to simply acknowledge and receive what He had ALREADY provided. Jesus didn’t come to earth and die for us the day we decided to receive His life. He made the provision before we were born, before we sinned… Before we desired Him. Then He started drawing us. When our eyes were enlightened, we received what was ALREADY provided all along.

This should be the guiding thought of the believer: whatever I need for life and godliness, God has ALREADY given in abundance.

Our prayer should therefore NOT be “Lord, please give me peace, or joy, or wisdom or money or relationships..” Our prayer should be what Paul prayed; to ask for revelation into what we ALREADY have. Once we KNOW what we have, we pray differently, live confidently, and start to cause revival.

So, today, recognize that WHATEVER you need to live victoriously, Jesus already provided. You just need to believe that you already have it and begin to discover HOW it operates and walk in it.

Ephesians 1:17-19 (NKJV)
‘that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power’

PROTECT THE CORE

My Meditation Proverbs 4:23

Ships don’t sink because of the water outside them. They sink because of the water that gets into them. Just like the ship, the course of our lives is not determined by the circumstances around us; but rather what we let into our heart. Once the core is protected, we can be consistent regardless of the changing seasons around us.

When we go through difficult times, that’s when it’s easiest to put our guard down and allow these things to affect our core, our heart. Bitterness, offense, self-pity, discouragement  will come toward us from time to time, but we must recognize these as the enemy and refuse to let them into our core because our life flows from that place..

You may not be able to stop that storm from coming toward you but you can refuse to let it get into you.

Re-living the hurts, dwelling on what went wrong, who hurt us, that promotion we haven’t got, those negative words someone spoke, will expose us to the enemy and his plots. Only you can guard your heart. Not God; You!

How do we guard the core? Don’t spend your time speaking of the works of the devil. Instead, dwell on the promises of God. Remain expectant of God. Hold on to your peace. Shut the door on the negative. Speak the word. Let things go. Don’t listen to rumors/gossip. Focus on those that love you and what is going well. Stay in thanksgiving. Remember God is your defender.

Proverbs 4:23

²³ Guard your heart above all else,
    for it determines the course of your life.

LIVE LIGHT

Joyce Meyer says, ‘worrying is like a rocking chair; it keeps you moving but gets you nowhere.’ I would add that once we are done worrying, we are dizzy from the rocking and often worn out. No wonder Nehemiah declares that “The Joy of the LORD is your strength…” Once we hand over our joy, we hand over our strength. So it does us good to stay away from that crazy rocking chair.

Over and over in the scriptures, God calls us to live light. To let go of the heavy stuff: either cast it off or hand it over to Him. Today and through the week, I assure you there will be weights to lift from time to time, and your temptation will be to carry them, but DON’T. Recognize that you are weak and He is your strength, and then hand it over to Him. Focus on the light things: whatsoever things are true, lovely, noble, of good report, praise worthy…carry those and you will have a light week.

Live light this week. Have a great one.

Matthew 11:28

²⁸ Then Jesus said,“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (NLT)

1 Peter 5:7

⁷ casting ALL your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].(Amplified)

THE AMBUSHES IN YOUR PRAISE

My Meditation 2 Chronicles 20:22

This morning, I was reminded that when we begin to praise, ambushes are set against the enemy. Not when we FEEL like praising, or when we THINK about it, or when we decide to, or when we feel encouraged, but rather when we BEGIN to praise.
You see, an ambush is a surprise attack on an enemy made from a concealed position. I like that definition!
So, our praise is a surprise attack on the enemy. Just when he least expects it. When he thinks he has cornered you. When the devil throws you some big fat ugly hairy issues; that’s when you UNLEASH bazookas of PRAISE from a concealed position. Yeay! 

And he scatters in a thousand directions, is confused, and we are open to victory.

What are you facing today? I encourage you to take a moment and BEGIN to praise. Begin to count your blessings. Focus on what God has already done, even if all you can remember is something in 1983. Just BEGIN to praise and the enemy will be confused and defeated as you partner with God to set ambushes with your praise! I love it!

Have a PRAISE-FILLED week and a victory filled one too! REMEMBER the ambushes in your praise. Whoop Whoop!

2 Chronicles 20:22
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. (NKJV- Emphasis Mine)

PERSPECTIVE CREATES REALITY

First off, if you can read this today, you are at an advantage. You are better off than 26% of the world population who can neither read nor write. Think about that! Imagine if you were illiterate.

Our world view creates our realities. I know this to be very true. You see, I lost both my parents by the time I was 11 years old. From that point on, I took on the identity and reality of an orphan. A victim; disadvantaged, pitiful and forever dissatisfied. I adopted this perspective, and it became my reality. Please understand that my extended family took us on, educated us in the best schools our grades and their pockets could allow, but I didn’t see myself as blessed. I was AN ORPHAN. A victim. Period.

So, while my guardians did the best they could, I acted sad and sorry, I was dissatisfied, disadvantaged… I went on like this until a friend confronted my perspective. As soon as I took on the perspective of a blessed person, my reality changed. I was happier, nicer to be around and more confident about the future. Was I still an orphan? Yes. Did I have more resources? Nope. But my attitude and perspective changed, and that is powerful.

The truth is you are EXACTLY as you see yourself. It doesn’t matter what you have or don’t have. It will not be good enough as long as your perspective is that of “it’s not enough.”
Sometimes, we don’t need more stuff. We just need a new perspective.

This week, take stock of your blessings. Refuse to take on the perspective of a victim and watch your reality become better. Your circumstances will most likely be the same, but if HOW you see them changes, your reality will change too.

Have a great week 🙂

Psalms 107:1-2 
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. (Amplified)

BE FAITHFUL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

My Meditation: Luke 16:10
Since the sermon on Sunday, I have been thinking about being faithful with what I have. It is very common for us to despise what we have, and long for only what we do not have. As the saying goes, “the grass always seems greener on the other side.”

Unfortunately, as long as we think that we do not have much, we despise it and deny ourselves the opportunity to grow. When you study the stories of most successful people, you realize that they were not given much, but they used what they had (and it is often very little). They were patient, consistent and disciplined, and they made it. But we often long to make it with very little discipline or work. We want success to be handed to us.

Over and over in scripture, God asks people “what do you have?”, and then he takes whatever they have, and uses it to create more. Even in the gospels, Jesus often invited people to take part in their miracle: He asked the blind man to go and wash in the river (he had to use his legs to walk and his mouth to keep asking for directions). He asked the paralyzed man to get up, pick up his mat and walk… He also invites you and I to take part in His story that He is writing in us.

The temptation is to ask God for more, while we refuse to recognize what we have, let alone put it to use and increase it. So, this week, TAKE STOCK of what you have. What has God given you? How faithful are you with that (Faithfulness is increase)? Before we can ask to be trusted with more, let us be faithful/ let us increase what we have. As long as we value it, God will work with us to increase it.

Luke 16:10
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. (NLT)

RECEIVE CORRECTION AS A GIFT

My Meditation Today (Proverbs 15:31-32)

A wise man said “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Deep statement right there.

We are usually unaware of our ignorance. And I have often found that when I am ignorant about something, I get angry and I am tempted to raise my voice, hoping that my volume will scare off those with knowledge from the argument. But you know what? Ignorance is not equivalent to shame – but rather, it is an opportunity to learn.

However, until we realize that we do not know something and are humble enough to receive instruction, correction, knowledge or understanding, we will remain ignorant, and unaware that we are ignorant. Unfortunately, ignorance will cost us eventually.

So, let’s agree on something: “YOU DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING.” Now breathe in, and out… See? You didn’t die 🙂

I will be the first to say that receiving rebuke and correction is not the best feeling in the world, but it is necessary. Make a choice to position yourself against ignorance by being easy to correct and rebuke. How? Receive correction graciously, and tell yourself “I don’t know everything. This is an opportunity to learn.”

You may not be able to control WHO will correct you or HOW they will pass on the correction, but you can control HOW YOU RESPOND to correction and I promise you will grow. Receive Correction As a Gift.

Proverbs 15:31-32
31 The ear that HEARS the rebukes of life
Will abide among the wise.
32 He who disdains instruction despises his own soul,
But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding. (NKJV – Emphasis Mine)