Thought For The Day

It all starts with our thoughts, and if those thoughts are negative and wrong, and we speak those thoughts and soon we have set a trap for ourselves with our own words. I have heard people say, " you know me, I am going to speak my mind" What if the devil has placed those very thoughts in your mind, to bring hurt and pain to someone? I have experienced this many times from Christians, and I just stayed silent, that let them know something was not right in their words. We need to think before we speak. Ask ourselves, is this thought from me, God or the devil.  Is it a thought that gives me peace or does it have fear or pride attached to it? As weak as Jesus was in the wilderness in His temptation, He never allowed the devil to alter His thoughts about God's word. Every thing that the devil threw at Him, was superseded, by "It is written"  Jesus also showed us in that encounter with the devil, that in our humanity, we too can win over the barr...

There are things that need to take priority in our day. There are other things that can wait for another time. Our priority is always God first . When we awaken in the morning Jesus should be foremost on our mind. So talk to Him, we call that prayer. If you think you don't have time to sit and read God's word, make the time. My most holy place was the bathroom when my kids were growing up. I had scriptures everywhere. On the mirror, on the walls, bibles close by. We choose to make time for our spiritual food. We need the fresh baked bread of life daily. Just as we make time to have our natural food, we make time for our spiritual food. Now we are ready to face our day with the strength we need. Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we might gain a heart of wisdom. Wisdom is seeing things as God sees them. Psalm 90: 16-17 Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children. and let the beauty of the Lord our God  be a upon us; Ye...

The world is watching us daily to see if we are the real deal.  Are we responsible and consistent in our walk with the Lord. Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good A stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him. When we mess up, do we take the responsibility for it, or do we make excuses, saying,  we did this because this or that happened to me.  Excuses are only dressed up lies. No, beloved, when we mess up, admit it, and do not try to cover it up, Jesus is our mediator and He will mediate for us like a lawyer, if we are honest about our mess, confess and forsake it. Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. God already knows everything, but wants us to realize we need to confess one to another and get rid of the guilt, then the enemy cannot use it against us. James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed...

We must remember when Jesus fought the devil in the wilderness, the place of His testing, Jesus spoke the word of God to the devil. His word carries great power. Matthew 4:3-10 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the son of God, command that these stones become bread." (Jesus hadn't eaten for 40 days) But He answered and said, it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." ( Read the whole to verse 10) Three times the Lord used the word of God against the devil's temptations. One was for His natural hunger, one, was to have Jesus to leap from a high wall, and the other was to try and get Jesus to worship him. It was Jesus' humanity that was being tested. Jesus made it clear to the devil that He, Jesus is God , by the statement," It is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." To the degree that you submit to God's word, is the degree you can r...

Sometimes when the clouds seem to get darker and darker, we must remember there is light behind the clouds.  When we think things will not get worse, sometimes they do, but hold onto your faith and trust in God at those times. It is in those times that we must remember Jesus is our light and hope and strength. The children of Israel were terrified of the thick dark cloud, Moses knew it was God, so he went into the cloud of darkness. Sometimes we have to take that first step into the dark in order to get to the light, as Moses did. It takes faith to step into the unknown . When we leave this earth and step into eternity we will find that we only imagined how it was going to be, Surprise , it will be far greater in color and sounds and smells, than we could ever imagine. Our finite minds can not begin to conceive the beauty that awaits God's children. John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, "I am the light of the world.   He who follows Me shall not...

Have you ever marveled at a beautiful mosaic.  All those little broken pieces, when alone, look worthless, something you would toss out, but put them together with other broken pieces and it makes a beautiful picture, something of great value. All any of us have to give to the Lord all our broken pieces, and He, being the great creator, will make us into something new, a beautiful mosaic. Each broken piece of our life has a different shape and size. Some of our trials are very different from the others we have come through or are going through. In our mosaic, God will use different colors.  Color speaks of creation. Look at the birds, the flowers, and the sky, and oceans, all God's colors. All those broken pieces look like nothing to us, but our God saw beyond all the brokenness, He saw a beautiful creation of His making. God knows how He will use every piece and bring good from them. Romans 8:27-28 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind ...

We all have had that blindside hit us in our life. There is a way to deal with it.  Don't panic, pray and get your bearings, and have faith that God sees this and He has already made provision. God said before they call, I will answer them. Jesus is always ahead of us, He knows all that will happen in our day. Unexpected things will come, it is how we handle them, that's counts. Will we seek God and His peace at that moment, or will we go off on our emotions and try to fix something only God can fix. Is Jesus your first thought? Lord Help me, this is too big for me. I give it to you. I know this scripture is for the new creation, we are a new creation in Christ and God doesn't change. Isaiah 65:24 "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking I will hear. That is a comforting thought, just to know God's ear is tuned in to us at all times. When we are blindsided, the best thing to do is trust God , praise ...

We see in the scriptures, we are to fear the Lord, we are not to be in terror of Him, but we are to respect and honor and , be in awe of Him and praise Him. Honoring God is a conscience decision we make. Do we live in a way that honors the Lord? Are we living in a way that demonstrates our faith and trust in our all powerful God? The only way to honor God, is to honor His Son, Jesus Christ. We honor God when we obey His word and living out our life to the fullest, as He intended us to. John 5:20-23 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father, he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. You see beloved, when we honor Jesus we are also...

There is only one person who can tame the tongue, that is the Holy Spirit. James 3:5-9 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  Se how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue, it is unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. James is telling us that we create our own hell with our tongue.  We set our nature on a course of going down hill, when our words are negative and hurtful.  Yet on the other hand, we set our nature on course with healing, hope, encouragement, if our words are from God's word. We claim certain sicknesses be...

What exactly is a reprobate mind? It is a disapproved corrupt mind, calling those things that are evil good, and good things evil. 2Timothy 3:1-7 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come;  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, un forgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power , And from such turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captive of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Open your mind to the truth of the word of God . Open your mind to the work of the Holy Spirit. Open your mouth wide and never speak those things that turn people away from Jesus, never compromise wit...

We do not have to prove anything to anyone, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. So many of us believe we must prove our point about the Lord and His word. This only pushes people away from the Lord. People respond to your caring about them and showing them love. We are to make disciples not decisions . Decisions are a start, but then comes the training, the discipline. Standing with them through hell and high water. New babes in Christ Jesus, need a lot of understanding and care, patience and a lot of love. We were told to preach the good news that Jesus died for them, we do not have to prove to them that they must believe. That is their choice. That is the work of the Holy Spirit to draw them to Jesus, The Jesus of the bible .  The Son of God who came to take away the sin of the world. The Jesus that left heaven and came to this earth as a baby, to grow up in human flesh, He was born of a virgin. Discussion is an exchange of knowledge, arguments are an exc...

Sometimes we have drifted away, little by little, believing the lies of the enemy, either our fleshly mind, or the devil lies. There are times that we believe ourselves to be right, but in reality, we have drifted away on some issues in our life, issues that no longer measure up to the word of God. Psalm 139: 23-24 Search me, O God and know my heart;  try me, and know my anxieties,  And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. When you feel you are out of balance, read these scriptures. Allow the Holy Spirit to search your innermost being, and see if there is something you are harboring that does not line up with the word of God. Are you starting to compromise the word of God?  or are you harboring some thought that is leading you away from the full truth of the word of God? Causing an uneasiness in your soul. The enemy is clever, he knows what will cause us to compromise and lose our footing and get out of balance. It will see...

There are so many that follow Jesus for only what He can do for them. They get upset if they don't get what they want, and drop out of following the Lord if they don't like what they hear. The loaves and fishes, (natural blessings) are nice to have in time of need, but there is so much more to be had, when we follow Jesus, we also receive the spiritual blessings. A new spirit and love in our heart, joy and peace, that the world can never provide for us. All the world provides in temporal. Not lasting, not fulfilling, it is full of deception. The Spiritual blessings God provides for us, are lasting, fulfilling and Eternal. Yes, God wants to give good gifts to His children,  for those that are following Him all the way until the end. We are a family and we need to stay connected no matter what comes. Mark 10:28-30 Then Peter began to say to Him, "See we have left all and follow You." So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no...

God has His grace for everything we need. We can speak grace, grace, grace to our mountain of trouble. When there seems to be no way out, speak grace . It is the favor of God, whether we deserve it or not, we, as believers can call out for grace. Our dependency is in Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ, it is not in ourselves. Ezra 9:8 And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage . See, beloved, it is in our bondage that we need grace extended to us, that is when we feel the most vulnerable. When we are at a loss of what to do. When we have been humbled. Call out to the Lord for more grace. James 4:6-10 But God gives more grace.   Therefore "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit to God,   Resist the devil and he will flee from you....

Don't give the enemy the time of day.  He has always wanted to be worshipped. When we give him too much credit in a sense we are giving him the attention he craves. Jesus defeated Satan , he made a spectacle of him, Jesus triumphed over him. To many people are trying to cast out flesh, we must make certain that who we minister to has received Jesus as Savior, that's number one, I have found that it seems to take care of a lot of time counseling. You will know them by their fruit.  Be a fruit inspector. That's permitted, just don't judge them.  No fruit, no Jesus in their heart, that is unless they are a new babe, in that case it will take time for some of the attributes of the Spirit to develop. Don't ever assume just because someone goes to church that they know the Lord. I have known people that can quote scriptures and have never committed themselves to the Lord. No one comes to Jesus except that the Holy Spirit draws them . Some people just are not re...

When we include Jesus in our everyday tasks we are literally worshipping Him, we are praying without ceasing. Believers, have wondered how on earth do you pray without ceasing? Its very easy.  All you have to do is talk to the Lord as you go about your day. Prayer is talking to our Father and oh, He loves to hear our voice. What we do in our life daily should include the Lord.  As a true believer who loves Jesus and is including Him in our moment by moment life, as we go about our daily tasks, this is an act of worship, we are blessing the Lord. Worship means to show reverence to, our whole life should be an act of worship to our God. The world needs to see that we are different. Not better than they are, but different. Our motive for doing the works of the Lord are to glorify Jesus. Colossians 3 12:17 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved , put on mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering: Bearing with one another,...

Have you learned to enter into Jesus' rest? That is what He wants for us, and if we learn to enter His rest, we will live without stress. Ask yourself, what is my priority for today. What comes first and what is first on my mind.  It should be our heavenly Father and how good He is to us. Matthew 11:28 " Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. When we are under stress we tend to drive ourselves to do things we are already to tired to do. God's rest is a place of tranquility, peace for our soul. We need to stop and take a breath, and say Lord, I want to enter into Your rest.  My mind needs to experience Your great peace. If you feel you are pushed or pressured, back off, regroup and then you will see clearly what you are to do or not to do. Remember Jesus words, COME, it is a choice you have to make. (This is your part) Jesus will do the giving. We all need to learn to rest in the presence of the Lord. He alo...

In the natural, when we are hungry there is a gnawing feeling in our stomach.  The same is true in our human spirit that has been born again.  There is a gnawing for God and for the food only God can provide from His life giving word. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness , for they shall be filled. John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Proverbs 4:20-23 My son, give attention to my words;  Incline your ear to my sayings, Do not let them depart from your eyes;  Keep them in the midst of your heart;  For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh . Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Beloved, stay hungry for the things of God and for the word of God. Our hunger is filled up with Jesus. He is our Spiritual food, when we take communion, ...

Waiting on the Lord is something that our flesh wars against.  We want instant answers and we want them now. Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh , but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. When we are impatient, we can move in the flesh instead of waiting for the Lord and hearing the Holy Spirit speak to us, but, if we run ahead of God we will not be satisfied. When we move in the flesh, we give the enemy an opportunity to provide fror us  a counterfeit answer. While waiting on the Lord, Praise Him and thank Him for the answer from His heart for you for this situation. That is showing trust and faith is connected to  your  thankfulness and praise. Psalm 62:1-2 Truly my soul silently waits for God;  From Him comes my salvation.  He is my rock and my salvation;  He is my defense;  I shall not be moved. Psalm 62:5 My soul w...

The relationship with our Lord should be first and foremost. Out of our close relationship comes our mission to win the lost, and to be fruitful. We can get busy doing the work of the Lord, and not include Him in it. We need the close relationship with Jesus, in order to be truly effective. Definition of relationship  : A state of being connected by blood. (We are in Jesus) A close connection between people formed by emotional bonds and interactions, these bonds often grow and are strengthened by mutual experience. A relationship must be nurtured. Spiritual food from God's word. This will nourish  our soul. Singing praises to the Lord, prayer, just talking to God about our concerns. It clears our mind of things that are not from God.  It controls our emotions, ( one of  attributes of fruit of the Spirit is self-control, Galatians 5:22)) and it connects our will with the will of the Lord. Remember that Jesus came to do for us what we c...