God's Image of You

My encouragement to you this week is to build yourself to beeverything you would like God to see. Build yourself to be obedient, trusting, faithful, a servant, and anything else that matters to you annd pleases God. Pray to reach your mark. Give God a servant to take joy in.

Do you ever take the time to think how God may view you? What does God see when He looks at the life you are living at this time? Does He see someone who is standing on His promises? Does He someone who is living in accordance to the precepts set for to us in the Bible? Does God see a person whom He would be pleased with? Or does He someone who has let go of His promises? Someone who is losing faith in His ability? Someone who doesn't want to obey?

I pray none of the latter applies to you. I know sometimes life can turn us around and really get us looking through a lens of hopelessness. We get so discouraged by life we stop obeying the commands set out to us by the Lord.We all will have times in our lives when we get discouraged, depressed and upset with ourselves. We will feel like we’ve let our families, ourselves and God down. But, God is a redeemer. He is waiting on us to admit where we are not strong so he can come in and fill that void and strengthen us through his word and his love. I have been there before. I let alcohol be my God. And it's sad when I think I about it. I do so much in the church. I do my best to promote the word of God and all that He stands for but behind closed doors I wasn't even standing on the very foundation I was promoting. I really had to evaluate is this the way I would want God to look at me if I were to meet Him soon? How can I really push the Word when I myself am not standing on it and all of its promises. I was very angry with life at that time. But that is no way to handle any problem. Like my favorite song in church says," Everything to God in prayer." I want God to see me as a child of His who won't quit on Him. I want to stand on all of His promises. I want to be obedient to the Word. I want to serve others with a clean heart. I want to be a doer and steward of the Word. I want God to take notice and be delighted with me. I want to handle my stress with the Word and the people He puts around me for my counsel.

I pray still to reach the mark because while I have made progress, I know that there is ways to go. I want God to be pleased when He looks down on me. So I have to actively press myself to do what pleases Him. I have to be trusting of Him. This means when hard times come, I have to fix my attitude of life. An attitude of despair in all parts of my life is not one He would be pleased with no matter how much He loves me. Why? Because that's not the spirit He put inside me. That spirit of any despair I grow in me is one I cultivated, not of God. I need to be obedient. I need God to know that I receive His word and I will follow because I know He loves me and that is a way for me to show that I love Him too. Another way is to be a servant. Jesus led a life of service to others no matter how hard He had it. He knew people were out for His life and He still pressed forward to be there for others. Sometimes when we hit hard times, we act like we can;t do a thing for others until we are OK. There is always a little thing you can do. Something as simple as a phone call to someone going through a hard time even though you are in your own mess. Can you sit self down? Think of another. What if God told you to wait in line while He took care of someone else? You see God in many lives simultaneously.

So build yourself up Saints. We are all children of God. We are to be an example of who watches over our growth. I pray everyday we think about being seen through a lens of God as we take on the day...Be Blessed...

Position yourself with God

My encouragement to you this week is position yourself with God so He can position you in places of His grace. God will soothe your doubts and elevate you when you stand firm with Him. Be obedient and persevere in prayer. God's provisions are always exactly what you need.

Have you positioned yourself with the Lord? Are you standing firm with God? Many of us will say yes we have positioned ourselves with God. Amen!!But have we actually? Let's think about it in terms of war because that's what you may be going through in some way now. There is a General and there are soldiers. We are the soldiers of course. The General sends the troops into battle. The troops know there is a chance for victory or a chance for defeat but no matter what, they trust this General to make the right call to win the war. And sometimes it may look very bleak and all will be lost but do they give up on the General? No. They keep fighting til the end. Now when bleak times come, ask yourself do you stand with the General as faithfully?? Some of us can only say this when things are looking promising. But when it isn't, we wave our white flag on the General and the battle. When you position yourself with God, our General, we see it through the whole way. The difference between God and an earthly General, God will always remain undefeated.

Like a good General, when things aren't looking their best, they will push you and try to soothe your doubts. They will continue to reassure you that something good is going to happen if you stay the course. When you position yourself with God, that's not a wish, it's a promise. Things will actually be OK. The turning point is approaching. Stay the course. God will elevate you to victory. He will place you in places you never dreamed. He will heal your situations and make you better than what you even expected. We all say, " With God all is possible" but do we live the life that represents an unrelenting faith in that statement? When it's hard, do we turn our back on the greatest strategist in history? If you have seen God in victory, then you know He can and will secure another victory when He is in charge.

Be obedient and listen to the General when He speaks. God is telling you don't fear. Listen to Him. God says cast your cares on Him. Listen to Him. God says He will provide. Trust Him. Go to your battles in prayer and persevere in prayer. There is nothing prayer can't change. Perseverance in prayer is a key means of overcoming obstacles. Don’t stop praying about something just because it hasn’t been answered yet. Keep pressing on. This is exactly what Jesus commands us to do in Luke 18:1. He says "Pray and don't lose heart.." God will supply you with all you need to win this battle. But that only comes from a firm positioning with God...Be Blessed...

Trust God with no Delay!!

My encouragement to you this week is don't be afraid to trust God completely. If you believe in the power of God & His ability to change, believe TODAY with no doubt or delay! Nothing is impossible with God! God can & will keep a promise. Believe God won't fail.

Saints, the message is loud and clear. Don't be afraid to give God the whole issue because you are afraid. There is nothing to fear. All of our help will come from God. All our hope should and will come from the Lord. In Hebrews 6:19 it says, "We have this [hope] as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain." Our hope is the Lord. Our hope is the freedom to trust God.

We cannot be afraid to trust in God! We are so afraid to trust in God because we have our doubts that what WE want will not happen. WE want a blessing our way. WE want God to show up the way WE want it. Instead of just wanting to see God show up and bless us, it has to come in our fashion. That can lead us to much doubt. A lot of doubt whether we should trust God. Stop it. Stop delaying. We have a responsibility to trust God. We are free to trust. If we lay our issue at His feet, He will make a way out of no way. It may not come on our schedule and how we want it, but if we look for God, we will see God. He may not give us what we want, but it doesn't mean we won't get what we need. Jehovah is a Provider and HE WILL provide for you!

Nothing is impossible for God. God knows no failure. Luke 1:37, "For NOTHING is impossible with God." You may not have the answer, God does. You may not know which way to go, God will show. You may feel too weak, God is always strong! Lay it at His feet and trust Him to get you where you want to go. Tell God the desires of your heart and ask Him for a victory. You can't ask God for anything unless you see where you want to be first. Envision what your victory looks like, and ask God to get you there according to His will and His way. The road may not be easy but Jehovah will provide. If you believe in His power to change, then let Him turn it around in your favor. He's going to do something to blow your mind. But you must trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understandinh: think about Him in ALL your ways and HE WILL make your paths straight." This is a promise of God told through David. Heed the words. Please Saints, don't be afraid. You were not given a spirit of fear. God will not fail...Be Blessed...

2013. New Year, New You. Refresh Yourself

My encouragement to you going into the new year is to refresh your soul, mind, heart, and passion. Be determined to leave your 2012 in 2012. Make 2013 a special year for you through prayer, action, and sacrifice. Reflect on God's faithfulness in 2012 and trust in it in 2013. Make way for God's favor!!

It's 2013 people! It's a new year to refresh ourselves and start anew! It is time to start anew! It is time to refresh ourselves for a new year of opportunity. And this year has to be a new year of opportunity for all of us. It is time to refresh our souls, our minds, our hearts, and our passions. It is time to get back to the drawing boards on all of these things.

Many of us lost a lot on encouragement last year. Many of us lost our passion last year because of a lot of our circumstances. We let so many things from 2012 tell us that we are doomed, this year isn't our year, we aren't capable. Well Friends, 2012 is over! The tear is no more. It is time to work on some real change in your life. It is time to get back to being a success. One thing I want you to remember this year as it start off is; THERE IS NO FAILURE IN GOD! Again, THERE IS NO FAILURE IN GOD!. Some of us may not want to admit it, but we gave up on God last year when our hard times came. We say that we trust Him, but our faith was no where to be found when our hard times pressed on us. 

Make 2013 a special year for you. Be Specific About Your Future.I can't any more specific than this line. Be very clear how you want your 2013 to be different for you. Figure out why you want it to be different. If you can answer what you want to be different and why do you want it to be different, I guarantee that you will figure out how to make it happen. Prayer will get you there. You may not know immediately how to make it different from 2012 but I guarantee through prayer God will show you the way if you trust Him. When we work, we work, when we pray God works! Prayer always works. Sacrifice those bad habits you picked up in 2012 and let God replace it with His goodness. Sacrifice for those dreams you have. Sacrifice for your peace. It may be letting go of the anger, others, your routine, etc. Do something different. You know the alternative.

Leave 2012 in 2012! Don't come in this new year doing the exact same thing that left you down and out in 2012. You have to look forward to a newer beginning and open your heart for God to do something special. Reflect on God's faithfulness and miracles He made for you in 2012. Even if you don't feel 2012 was a great year for you, it doesn't mean God wasn't good to you. God will always remain committed to you . Think about things that God did do for you and treasure those miracles. Treasure His faithfulness from 2011 if you have to. No matter what, God is good. God is faithful. God is wonderful. Treasure these FACTS and fuel yourself with these facts going into the New Year. Trust in His goodness. I guarantee you, this doesn't mean life will be easy. Again, THIS DOESN'T MEAN LIFE WILL BE EASY. But the battle you go into, you won't be a lone and as I reiterated earlier: THERE IS NO FAILURE IN GOD. Make this 2013 special. Even if you have met a few challenges as we are three days in, don't be discouraged. Put on a good and expectant attitude that the Lord will guide you EXACTLY where you need to be! The Lord will not fail you. Don't fail yourself by not making the changes you need to make in 2013...Be Blessed...

God Never Comes Up Short

My encouragement to you this week is to be confident God's grace is sufficient for you. God will never come up short in your life. Keep praying with confidence. God will show up with the perfect solution for you. Work on your issues. He will order your steps. Don't quit on God. He has NEVER quit on you!

God never comes up short. I had to start this blog off with that notion. Some of us are lamenting at our problems wondering why God hasn't fixed them yet. We will get a blessing but not "thee" blessing we are waiting on. But even in that God never comes up short. God's grace is sufficient for you. Sufficient means adequate for the purpose; enough. It also means competent. I look at that last word competent. It loosely means someone who understands what is going on. God is competent. Beyond competent. He knows exactly how to bless you, when to bless, and what to bless you with at that moment. The Lord is strong, mighty, and gracious. He will not come up short in your situation.

But do you believe it? Do you believe that God, full of grace, can take the best care of you and your situation? Some of us have been stuck in our mess for weeks, months, and even years. We feel God must not love us. We feel even God has abandoned us. We feel we are the problem as to why God hasn't saved us yet. Therefore, we stop praising. We stop praying. We stop our gratitude to God. We won't do anything until God shows us some kind of sign. Brothers and sisters, this is wrong. God loves us even when we mistreat Him and He won't ever mistreat us the way we do Him. We must pray with confidence God will show up because He will. We must keep a praise in our mouth because soon it's going to mean so much more. You have to keep praying that God will use you, God will change your life, and God will never come up short. God's grace is something we don't even deserve. We have done nothing to earn it. Nothing. But His grace is out of His love for us. It works!

You keep working on the issue and and know God has your back. God always has our back if we keep God in the situation! God can do much if we keep Him in the midst of the storm! God has a perfect solutionsl for you. But how can you see God if you aren't trying to put Him in the situation? How can you expect God to lead you when you won't allow yourself to be lead?? God has many blessings in store for you but you can't quit on Him. He won't quit on you. He won't turn His ear away from you. He hears your cries and He hears your prayers. God will work out the situation. Not according to our will. Because if that's the case we would have worked it out a long time ago. But we can't. We can only trust God is working on our behalf and He will come strong for us...Be Blessed..

God is always on time!

My encouragement for you this week is to accept God's timing. He has a powerful plan for your life. He knows your desires. Keep praying. Keep trusting. He will bless you on time. He will deliver you on time. He will build yourself kingdom on time. Trust God to take care of you perfectly & on time!!

Accepting God's timing is jby no means very easy because you have to wait. We are born in an impatient time where everything has become so instant. We have set our lives up this way. We hate to wait for anything. We take any piece of control in our hands. So through our actions sometimes we throw off God's timing for us through that because we can't accept God's timing. We have to submit ourselves totally to the perfect plan for us because God has one made just for us. Just for you.

God knows what is going on in your life. He knows what you really want. He knows that there are things that you want to change immediately. God has a perfect plan already prepared for you. You keep praying the way thar you should be praying. You remain waiting on God to turn it around in your favor or to open up a door. It will happen on God's time though. He will make it happen on His time so you truly learn to trust Him and to truly understand that His ways are higher than your ways. You must decrease so that you can see God increase in your life. God will build you a kingdom. He will deliver you but it is on His schedule. His schedule because He can open doors that no man can shut. He can make a way a way that no other man can make. Your plans have come to work a little while and fail. God's plan never fails. His blessings never come up short.

Trust God and His timing. Understand what trust means. It means a confident expectation of something. What are you expecting from God? Are you confident of God in for something? Do you have an unflinching hope in the ability of God? If your answer is yes, then accept His timing. Accept that His grace is sufficient. Accept God never comes up short. Trust God will be on time!...Be Blessed...

God is Ready to Build Your Kingdom

My encouragement to you this week is to let God build a kingdom for you. God delights in supplying our needs. Be confident in God! Pray with conviction. Don't be bound by worry. Be filled with assurance your Father is in control.

God wants to build each and every last one of us a kingdom. He delights in it. When we think of a kingdom, we think of a place where all your needs are provided for at your leisure. You don't have to run too far. You don't have to worry about do you have what you need. A kingdom is full of all the things we delight in. God wants to give you all of the things which give you comfortable. But all that is found through Him. We find joy, peace, and deliverance through God. He can build you something special but it comes with requirements.

You must open your heart and mind to have total trust that God can make this kingdom for you. One in heaven and on this earth. We all want to trust God but all of the bad things in our lives take all our attention. We prioritize all of our fears. We prioritize all of what makes us sad but we ask God to give us a kingdom. We ask God to give us peace, with little to no effort. It doesn't work like that saint. God has requirements. You have got to believe in His power to make you secure! We will all worry. In 1 Peter 5:7 it says," Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." He cares about you! He loves you! Let God fix the problems. Let God change it around. You do what's needed of you and I promise the Lord will not fail you. He doesn't lie when He says He will sustain you.

Be confident in God. You have done the best on your own. Give it to one who has no limits on the extent of His ability! He can change it around. And it may be a slow change because you need to grow. Some of us do. I have seen fast changes and some so slow in my life. But I will fix my heart on His plan. I know He can do incredible things for me. I know He will do it. God can supply my kingdom. He can supply for yours as well. Open your heart. You have prioritized the negative things long enough. Give God the same attention. Give God the same priority! He is in control. He is ready to take over and right the ship. Let His Will truly be your Will. Stop saying that without a heart willing to sacrifice. Sacrifice your plans in assurance that His ways will take you further. This time it will be different. He loves us. He knows how to make us a kingdom we will always want to dwell in...Be Blessed...

God's Love is Life Changing!

My encouragement to you this week is to believe God's Love will help you overcome your past. We all made mistakes. God forgives our mistakes. He has many blessings to help us overcome our past. Trust Him. Earnestly work on your change. Completely believe in His Grace!

Many of us feel shackled by our past. Many of us seems like we can't run fast enough to escape our past. Sometimes I feel it too. But I do know that His grace is sufficient for me.His grace has always been sufficient enough for all of us. We all have fallen short in some areas of our lives. We have done some things where we feel like we really let ourselves down. W have made mistakes. And unfortunately, we are going to continue to make mistakes in life. But that doesn't mean there is no hope for our lives and things can't be changed around. They can be changed. It may not, and honestly probably will not, happen in the instant that we want it but changes happen. I pray that you are turning to God to change it all around. God's love can help us overcome our past. We must look at the nature and role of God.

In 1 John 4:8,16 it says plainly that God is love. In Exodus 34:6 it says," And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." The Lord loves each and every one of us! His love will take us places. His love endures forever. His mercy endures forever. His love and mercy will endure with you forever if you stick with God forever, the way you want Him to stick with you. When you sin against God, does he turn His back on you? Never. When you make a mistake, does he hold it over your head forever? No. When you don't get what you want on your time, do you stick with God the way you want Him to stick with you? You better. Because God's love is so good and His love for us can really change our lives around. God wants us to be happy and at peace. God will move mountains for us because He loves us. Another part of God's nature is that He is personal. He knows our thought and knows our wants. That is exactly why our blessings don't always look like your neighbor's blessings. Another part of God's nature is that He is transcendent. He is not limited to anything and He knows that. You need to know that. Do not shackle the extent of His power, grace, and love. 

The role that I love the most that He plays for us is our Father. A father's role is to protect us from harm.  In Ephesians chapter 1, it talks about God the Father. First thing, He chose you! God wanted you. God will not turn His back on you. God's love for us won't even allow it. God is also described as a redeemer. He will redeem you from what ever it is that holds you and saddens you. God will turn it around. It says that he will work out our troubles in order for us to continue to hope in His son in who we find our salvation. God the spirit plays the role of ordering our steps! He will order your steps in the right direction. His love will never steer you wrong! Keep trusting God! Stick with God! Let Him order your steps. By no means does that mean you will have it easy but you will make it where you seek to go. You will see the depths of God's love because you willfully seek it. You will see the power of God's love through the change of your past. 

By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . . —1 Corinthians 15:10

Lastly, believe in all of God's grace! All of it. His grace is sufficient. His grace is powerful. His grace has already done wonders for you thus far even if it seems a bit slow. You can never deny the impact of God in your life. God's blessings are all around us. God's blessings are impacting us day by day. If you focus on the blessings of God, even when you're going through a hard time, it will be easier for you not to give up or grow weary of making the way you need to make. When we feel broken, the grace of God is the glue that mends us together. God's grace toward you is never in vain. Never! He wants to make impacts on your life and hold you together to get where you want to be in your life. But, that won't come from a part-time faith or a lack of belief in the grace of God. To settle anytime, is basically saying that "God's grace is not for me and I have not been chosen." You may disagree but it's true.God's grace has no limits so why would you settle if you believe that? God said our faith can move mountains. We all know what a mountain is but God says we can command them to move! God is telling you to hope and believe in His grace over anything! You may see disappointment and some delay but you have to keep yourself rooted in faith. Believe His grace is sufficient for you. It has been before and nothing changes today...Be Blessed...

Speak Life. Speak His Promises to Us.

My encouragement to you this week is be a mouthpiece for God. Speak hope & power into the lives of others & your own. Be a vessel of love and encouragement. Pray for others & yourself with assurance. This part of being who God wants you to be! Speak to those obstacles instead of speaking about them!

Matthew 5:13-16 NIV

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

The part of this I want you to pay attention to is where it says " You are the salt of the earth." Let's think of salt. Any time you put salt on something, it changes it in some way. On snow, it evaporates it. On food, changes, changes the flavor. On a wound, makes it hurt but helps heal it. So salt changes things. What are you changing on this earth? I say be a mouthpiece for God. Are you doing that now? Who are you changing for the glory of God? We have to be models of encouragement and hope. We have to seek a life to inspire those who need inspiration.

We all have to be building each other up on the promises of God. AND we need to be building ourselves up on these same promises! We can't lose our saltiness. We can't afford to do that or we can never accomplish all of the great things God wants us to do. We speak such high hope for the life of others. Are they empty words when we can't do the same for ourselves? I fall into this trap. I fear my life won't shape up to be successful at times like how I envision but will turn around and try and talk another saint up. Faith doesn't work like that. Faith means we believe in the promises of God in all areas possible. For ourselves and for everyone around us. We have to be vessels of love and hope. Love to be there for one another. Hope to believe for the best in the best for one another when circumstance comes. But that love and hope begins within us when our faith is supremely rooted in God.

We must pray for one another with the assurance that God can do great things that will blow our mind away. We have to speak the life in others as we would want to be spoken to ourselves. We have to meet each other with compassion and understanding. Believe for another when the other person finds it difficult to muster hope. God's promises are definite. God's promises are firm. This is how we must be when we are being a mouthpiece of His promises. Affirming God gave us a promise and His word never fails. We speak at the obstacles of our own and those of others trusting that God's word is truth. God's word works. God's word never fails. I am still working on this myself. I have not got this all figured out yet myself but I know my mission for God. I know this is what God asks of me in Hebrews 13:1. I know God will equip me to be the mouthpiece for others as well as myself through our commitments to each other...Be Blessed...

Get up and Walk in Faith.

My encouragement to you this week is don't be afraid to fall pursuing your goals. You can always get up. You must get up! God won't quit on you ever so don't you ever do it to yourself! Don't walk in fear. Walk in faith of God's perfect plan for you!

Decisions, decisions, decisions. We all have to make decisions in life. And one of the hardest decisions ironically for many of us is whether we should get up after we fall. Sounds trivial and like an easy decision but it is actually one of the hardest decisions we have to make ever. When we fall, it hurts. Think when we are running and we fall. We have to get over the pain. Sometimes we have to get over the embarrassment of who saw me fall afterwards.

Those two obstacles get to us in life. Let's address the first one: The Pain. The pain of falling can seem unbearable at times. We all hate falling too. I hate it. That means I have lost my balance. We hate losing our balance in life. We like when we have that balance in life, naturally. We have this sense of peace because we get the balance of our life. But when that balance is taken from us, it hurts to fall. The next question, and yes it is question for some of us, do we try and get up? Or do we stay on the floor? Get up. That is always the answer. It is so easy to wanna stay where you are. Get up. You must get up. When you stay down, you have impeded profess. Period. You have to rise up. God didn't make you weak or put a spirit of weakness in you. He put more power in you than you can even imagine.

Don't walk in fear of falling again. It will hurt again but don't let fear stop you from anything! Fear is not made for you. Anytime you want to do something for yourself, it comes with challenges. The challenge may seem almost unbearable. But don't be fearful. Take the falls. Take the loss of peace and press forward with your goal in mind. Keep chasing God to get your goal. Don't stop until you are blessed and don't let go until you are blessed by God. Don't give up on God because He will never give up on you. Like the song says: "God is able to do just what He said He would do. He's gonna fulfill every promise to you." Sure enough God will. May take some time but God will. Rely on God. Not on man. It is good to struggle with others who will build you up in faith. But you rely on God to get you where you want to end up.

God has a plan for you. But quitting does not get you there. Fear will not get you there. Being afraid to fall again will not get you there.  It will happen. A baby takes months to learn to walk. They fall many times but they don't stop until they learn to walk. Like a baby, they have someone watching them as they walk to make sure they don't fall and hurt too badly. Think of God. The Father who is watching us as we walk to our goals. God the Father who watches us as we walk try to make sure our fall isn't to bad but understanding we have to fall to learn to walk correctly...Be Blessed...