Thought For The Day

Loving your enemies is a hard pill to swallow. Loving your enemies will transform your mind and keep you from becoming bitter, in involves dying to self-will. Matthew 5: 43-44 (Jesus speaking) " You have heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, and do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Jesus is telling us something here that we are not to think and react as the world.  His ways are superior to the mindset of the world and the religious crowd. We are to reach beyond ourselves and reach into the power of God.   There is no way that we could love our enemies, without the power of the Holy Spirit imparting that love to them through us. When you love your enemies, you disarm them, they cannot argue with God's love. We must let go and grow!! Forgive and live! Love will do more than you can imagine.  I have experienced this persona...

We all have so much to be grateful to God for, we should remember to be thankful to Him daily. Thank Him for the very air we breathe, thank Him for the fact we have loved ones and friends, and thank Him for the body of Christ, (the church) and all the beloved that minister all over the world to bring, love, comfort and help and provision for others. Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Beloved, be a person who is thankful for Jesus and all He means to you.  Be thankful, for the simple things in life, that was placed there by our Father in heaven. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus our Lord, that you be enriched in every thing by Him in all utterance and all knowledge , given as a testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiti...

As we all get ready to greet loved ones and celebrate with a feast, showing our Lord, this day is set aside to celebrate His goodness and for us to be  thankful. Beloved, everyday is a thanksgiving day to those of us who love the Lord, and who know that God loves us. We thank the Father for sending Jesus, to die in our place so that we can live the abundant life on this earth.   Abundance of His love, Joy, peace, and the provisions that we need to have as His family,  Born of His Spirit, given a new life, a new fresh start, being delivered from darkness into the light of His love. Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, ( First and foremost, we are to come before the Lord with thanksgiving)  And into His courts with praise.  Be thankful to Him , and bless His name. The Holy Spirit who is the author of the word of God, He penned, that we are to be thankful first. Then we are to praise the Lord.  Being thankful, gives you a peac...

When we understand that we are the church, a living organism, carrying life wherever we go, then, our life will take on a new meaning. Going to church fellowship is nice and needed, to gather with those of like mind, pray and worship. However going to church does not save you, only receiving Jesus as our Lord, are we saved by grace through faith.  (Unmerited, undeserved favor of God) That is His grace. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God , not by works, lest anyone should boast. I have known people who have gone to church all their life and yet, they just experienced religious activity, trying to work their way into God's good graces. Every time the church asked for a volunteer, these people would jump in, believing that they are pleasing God, the more that they do.  God is already pleased with us, because of Jesus. Sometimes, it is just pleasing man, we want to look good, and show we a...

Beloved one, we have so much to be grateful for. Thanking God for the little things in life reveals that we are seeing His hand even in the simple things. Be appreciative for anything you encounter and see God's hand in. Remember He is creator, and has His plan for you, He is in control of our life. Psalm 105:1-5 Oh, give thanks to the Lord!  Call upon His name ; ( the name o Jesus carries such great power)  Make known His deeds among the peoples! (all His mercy and compassion and forgiveness) Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; (He gave us song, He loves to hear the words He has penned for us, to be sung back to Him)  Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His Holy Name:  Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength;  Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth. Those that have a grateful  attitude, have a song in their heart for the ...

We can get so busy in the worlds traditions, that we forget to spend quality time with our Lord. This will cause our wick to get smoky and dull where you can barely see the light shinning. The wick needs trimming! When we hold offences in our heart, that will dull our light. When we become critical and mean spirited, that will dull our light. When we hold unforgivness in our heart, that can cause us to have a dull light. Matthew 25: 1-7 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them , but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  "And at midnight a cry was heard; Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him! "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Five of the virgins were p...

As I was reading the story about Joseph again, I realized something. Another story came to mind about Abram and Sari.  Who, after the covenant with God, their names were changed from Sarai, to Sara h , and Abram to Abra h am.  Genesis 17:5 "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abra h am; For I have made you a father of many nations. Notice the H in their new names, could this now mean that the Holy Spirit is present to help produce nations? Just a thought! God is certainly with them now. I asked myself, if there had not been an Ismael, then there would not have been Ismaelite's to buy Joseph and take him to Egypt? God's plan? God said, His ways are not our ways, His ways are higher.  Had Sarai, not encouraged Abram to take Hagar her maid, things might have been different. But God! Genesis 16:4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived.  And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. ...

We can sense it in the air and all around us, when someone that is filled with God's love, (His agape love, His unconditional love) walks in, the atmosphere changes. Love is the most powerful emotion on this planet. God's word says, love covers a multitude of sin. 1 Peter 4:7-8 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Such love was demonstrated for us, when Jesus went on that cross and paid for all our sins, past, present and future. If we would remember that, the next time we decide to allow anger to invade our mind, back up and think, what a price the Lord paid so we could live in peace. Anger, pride, and fear, are fleshly traps. It is alright to be angry for a good reason, but do not hold onto that anger, it is poison to your flesh. Take it to the cross and leave it there. Give it to Jesus! Human love s...

We hear all the time, we should not judge, this is true to a point. We are not to be fault finding, being critical, looking for wrong doing.  If we see wrongdoing, remember from where we came from, before Jesus saved us and after salvation when we were just babes in the Lord. Matthew 7: 1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. In other words you are setting yourself up for the very trial that you are judging, with a critical spirit or attitude. We can judge a situation, without being critical and prideful, thinking that we have it all together, because none of us do, and we won't until we see Jesus face to face. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him;  nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things , yet he h...

When you see a field of roses, do you see their beauty or are you concerned with the thorns? Can you see the wildflower in the weed? When you see the clouds gathering for a storm, do you see the cold wind blowing, or do you see the nourishment the earth needs, in order to produce beautiful trees and flowers and water to give the animals a drink. What is your perspective on whatever your eyes see?  Do you see the good that can come from it? Is it positive or negative?  Genesis 1:29-31 And God said,"see, I have given every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life.  I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. So the evening and morning were the sixth day. Beloved, al...

Allow only the Holy Spirit to lead you, because when God does the leading there will be no confusion, only a clear cut knowledge of what we are to do. People can encourage you to look to Jesus, but they are not to control you and tell you what to do, unless it comes from God's word, as part of their encouragement for you. I love Psalm 23. It tells us that the Lord does the leading. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. (my provider) He makes me lie down in green pastures. (Takes me to the place for rich nourishment)  For Christians that is His word in the bible. He leads me beside still waters. (Still waters are like a mirror, we can see our reflection, but we can also see the reflection of Jesus with us) He restores my soul. (healing takes place at the still waters, my mind, emotions, and will are healed and set back in the right place) He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name sake . (To be in right standing with the Lord, we must know what it me...

We all have to make daily choices, how we will spend out time, what chores are to be done right now, and which ones can wait. Who has the Holy Spirit placed on our heart to call and encourage or send a card to. What foods are we going to eat, and what will be our place to share Jesus with others today. Our number one choice should be at the throne room of God, before we start anything. Luke 10:38:39 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard His word. This tells us that at one point Martha also sat and listened to Jesus' words as well as Mary. But Martha got distracted with much serving.  She accused the Lord of not caring about her chores. Then she proceeded to tell the Lord what He should do.  Yet, He did not rebuke her, instead explained what was the best choice. Such love! Luke 10:41-42 And Jesus answ...

God has given us boldness to come to His throne anytime we need to come in prayer,  then being His child, we can be filled with boldness to fulfill our calling. Ephesians 3:8-12 To me who am the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery , which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ,  to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. If we need to confront the enemy, we have the boldness to do so. Beloved, Satan and his imps are terrified of us when they see that we know who we are in Christ, and we have the boldness to deal with his...

Knowledge can be a stumbling block to one who has not walked out what they already know. There are some things that God is not ready to reveal to us yet, until we have learned certain things.   When we grow in the Lord and can handle His word correctly, and have bore fruit from our growth, then we are ready for more knowledge to walk out in our Christian life. 2 Peter 3:16-17 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction , as they do also the rest of the scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with error of the wicked; Beloved, we are to grow in the grace of God, backed by the love of God, and the knowledge, knowledge of Jesus and how He does certain things, always out of love. We know knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The knowledge that Paul's doctrine of gr...

Intercessors are believers who will take on the needs and burdens of others in prayer.  Those prayer warriors that have a true love and heart for God and people. God always has people in the front lines of the battles.  In every generation, there  has been  faithful men and women that have battled for the healing, protection, and growth of those in the church and outside of the church. Those intercessors need the power of God, they need to always be build up in the Spirit.  They cannot pray from their head, only from their heart, it is the heart, God is listening to.  Jude 1:20-23 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. and on some have compassion , making a distinction; but on others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. When we are p...

Are you fully persuaded that God will hear your cry and answer you? Are you fully persuaded that God is faithful to His word? We can pray for years for something to happen that is important to us, yet the enemy will come and say "maybe that is not God's will for you."   Remember, Satan is a liar" He doesn't just lie, his very nature is liar. 2 Timothy 1:12-13 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that day. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. So ask yourself, Am I fully persuaded that God will answer my cry to Him? or does God have something else in mind for me?   Always beloved, it will be better than what we have asked for. (Ephesians 32:20) One thing we Christians need to remember is that God is never in a hurry.  Whi...

We live in a world that is full of all kinds of noise. It is amazing to me, how we can adjust our hearing and get so use to all the noise, that we go on our merry way not realizing that the noise is shutting out the voice of God. Yet God tells us that we need quietness in our life in order to hear His voice.  Turn off everything you can and spend quiet time with the Lord.  You will be greatly blessed at what you hear from the voice of the Lord. God is not going to compete with your TV, or your computer or face-book, He wants your undivided attention. Psalm 46:10 Be still , and know that I am God ;  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. We can hear the voice of the Lord as we read His word, we can also hear His voice in quiet times of focusing on Him, praising Him and in prayer. Recently, I had a problem that seemed difficult, I asked the Holy Spirit what should I do, the answer came into my spirit immediately, I followed throu...

When we want to be obedient, we will make every effort to tune in to the word we are hearing from God's word. Hearing ears are ears that belong to one who desires to be obedient. We are told in the last days there will be a famine in the land, not of food or water, but of the hearing of the word of God. Amos 8:11-12 "Behold the days are coming," says the Lord God. "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, nor of water, But of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it. When we ignore what we have heard, we will hear less of the word, soon it will be that we are immune to what we have heard so often, and did not apply it to our life. Its is very important that a child of God has spiritual ears to hear and retain what they hear, so they can apply it to their life. There is plenty of word of God out there, but ...

When we find ourselves murmuring and complaining, we only spoil our day and we can always find something to praise God for, Right? What is so important that you are willing to risk your peace and contentment for? Things happen and we have to look for something good to praise God for in them. Be thankful, thankful people are rarely complaining people. If you complain, you will remain  right where you are, in your soulish realm, where your mind, and your will and your emotions are heading downward ! Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you shine a lights in the world. Psalm 106:25-26 But they complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the Lord. Therefore He raised up His hand in an oath against them, to over throw them in the wilderness. Complaining is a big deal to the Lord, especially when He ...

God has given each one of us gifts and blessings that we are to bless others with. Think about what the Lord has placed in you since your new birth. All that Jesus has is yours. He has placed in you all that Jesus is, according to 1 John 4:17. As He is so are we in this world. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant;  You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led, Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation is given to each one for the profit of all;   for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowle...