Category: Uncategorized
SOULFUL SATURDAY
Looking back over my life, life has knocked me down time and time again. I told myself I was going to let it go and give God the fight, but then I would try to fight again. And of course it would be another TKO! Sounds kind of like the Teddy Pendergrass song, right? I used to love this song! The song however is talking about the fight of love; I am talking about the fight between my fleshself and my spiritself. When I tried to go in the ring with my flesh self, the majority of the time I didn’t make it through the first round, mostly it would be a TKO! In boxing, TKO stands for the term technical knockout. A technical knockout is when the referee stops the boxing match to declare a winner. This could be due to severe injury of one or both of the boxers.
Notice I put parenthesis on I in my first paragraph? The problem was I kept trying to fight the battle! Stepping up in the ring of life with my strong, prideful self, thinking that I was stronger than my fleshself. Ha! I got knocked down every time. Thank God, I finally realized I can’t win the fight with my fleshself. But my spiritself can! When I let my spiritself rumble with my fleshself, trust me, the only one gets knocked out is satan himself! Hallelujah! It’s a TKO every time!
I’m not saying the fight is easy. The struggle is real. But it does not have to be. The spiritself will always win if kept in shape. We struggle when we try to get in the ring and fight ourselves! We struggle when we don’t know who we are rooting for, the spirit or the flesh! We struggle when we let our fleshself get stronger than our spiritself! We struggle when we forget to put on the whole armor of God! We know that boxers have to train for a fight. They have to get in shape; you know, eat right and exercise. They prepare mentally as well as physically. And they never go into the ring without their gloves! They prepare long before the fight. They don’t wait until the day of the fight and try to get ready! The same should apply to our spiritself. We can’t wait until fleshself challenges spiritself and think spiritself is strong enough to fight. We have to stay in the Word, study the Word and live the Word! We have to pray and fast. We must die daily; the flesh has to die so the spirit can live! And we must never send spiritself into the ring without wearing the full armor of God! We have to stay focus on the prize! (Our God). We have to train before the fight! This is what God revealed to me sisters and brothers; our job is to be the trainer, not the fighter. Our job is to keep spiritself in shape, He will fight for us! He will win the fight and we will never have to worry about a TKO! Please read what God says about this in “FOOD FOR THE SOUL.” Please give your thoughts and share on Emmanuel FB. Thank you for helping me share God’s Word. Love and Blessings….
FAITHFUL FRIDAY
| When my relationship with Jesus was new, I was very sin-conscious. I felt I had to be this perfect Christian. If I had any type of negative thoughts or actions, I beat myself up about it, even after asking God for forgiveness. Of course satin helped me out, “and you call yourself a Christian?” he would tell me in my mind. I would tell myself that I wasn’t going to do this or that because it was a sin. And I honestly made a conscious effort not to. Which means I thought about sin all the time? I spent more time trying to be this perfect Christian, than I did increasing my relationship with God! Which means I was more sin-conscious than Christ-conscious. The struggle is real! The struggle is real because of temptation. What I finally understood is that there is no trial, difficulty, challenge or temptation that we face, Jesus cannot identify with. Jesus took a human body to save our bodies. And he took a human mind to save our minds. Jesus is like us in every respect, human body, heart, mind, and will. All except for sin, for He was sinless. God allowed Jesus to be tempted so that He could be touched by our humanity, weaknesses, and our sins. Through it all He chose to do His Father’s will, and He now stands before God on our behalf.
If we are Christ-conscious, sinful thoughts and actions cannot be at the center of our mind, because our mind is so full of God. He has it covered! It’s like being on a diet, once we say that word, the struggle gets worst! All we think about is not eating, and then food becomes our main thought which makes us want to eat more! It works the same with sin. Developing our relationship with Christ and focusing on him is the key. I always say, “keep your gaze on God and your glance on the world”. When we focus on His goodness and His faithfulness, sin becomes less of an option. We just want to please Him! The good news is that God is faithful; He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Our Father will always provide a way out for us! (1 Corinthians 10:13). My brothers and sisters, we can rejoice in the fact that Jesus is our advocate. He is the reason that we can draw near to Father God and enter into His presence. How do we draw near to Him? By spending time with Him and meditating on His Word. Spending time with God helps align our desires with God’s desires for us. You want that family member saved. You want God to provide for you. You want help with a particular sin. You want God to open a door to advance His kingdom. You want God to provide you with a spouse. You have not because you ask not. And to ask you have to spend time with Him. As we draw near to Him we enter into His grace and mercy, not judgment! So let us pray that our minds stay on Jesus and our focus on His love for us. This way we can be confident that we are covered by the blood of Jesus! Please read today’s scriptures in “FOOD FOR THE SOUL” and share God’s Word. Love and Blessings….
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MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY
Every morning when God allows us to see the beginning of another day, we should remind ourselves of Psalm 118:24 and thank God for another day of life. Sometimes we get caught up in our little to do lists, the everyday highs and lows of life, and the tendency to chase many things, thinking that in them we will find meaning and purpose. We chase our dreams and goals, fame and wealth, relationships, perfect bodies, and so on. We believe once we achieve these things we will be content and happy. And somewhere along the line we lose perspective of the real meaning of life. That is why once the chase is over and we achieve these things, we are disappointed because we still feel empty, like something is missing, and then we start a new chase.
Scripture tells us that King Solomon had wealth beyond measure, wisdom beyond any man of his time or ours, hundreds of women, palaces and gardens that were the envy of kingdoms, the best food and wine, and every form of entertainment available. Solomon said that anything his heart wanted, he pursued and yet he wrote he gained nothing and was chasing after the wind. He described life “under the sun” as meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11). In other words, living life as though all there is to life is what we can see with our eyes and experience with our senses is meaningless. I believe King Solomon was disappointed because he was pursuing what he wanted instead of what God wanted for him. He writes, “I denied myself nothing, I refused my heart no pleasure, I toiled to achieve.” No wonder he would think life was meaningless, it was all about him and not about God!
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with pursuing your dreams and reaching for the stars. Neither is there anything wrong with fame or fortune. God wants us to have our hearts desires and live abundantly here on Earth. Psalms 34:9-10 says that we shall not want any good thing. “Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers;” (Deuteronomy 30:9). However, there are conditions. God just asks that we love Him, put Him first and these things shall be added. First and foremost our purpose on this earth is to glorify God! (Isaiah 43:7). If our visions and pursuits are aligned with God’s purpose for our life, then everything else will fall into place. Life is a journey. Enjoying the journey means not getting so caught up in the chase that we forget to enjoy each day that the Lord gives us. Have you ever got caught up in the little things in this life and God showed up and showed you what is really important? I know I have been guilty of this. So busy stressing over what might happen tomorrow, next week or even the next year. God wants us to not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). I have found that this journey called life is so much easier when you let God be your guide. Wow! If only I had let go and let God earlier in my life, I could have saved myself some pain and frustration. But God does not want us to dwell on the past(Isaiah 43:18-19)or the if only. I know now! If we are to enjoy the journey, we must be thankful and enjoy each day that God gives us. Each day is filled with new mercies and each day, whether or not we can see it, God is doing a new thing! Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ!
Sisters and brothers, life here, no matter how good it is, is nothing compared to the life that awaits us in heaven. The glories of heaven, eternal life, righteousness, perfection, God’s presence, rewards, and all else God has planned, is the Christian’s heavenly inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-5) and it will cause even the best life on earth to pale in comparison. Yes, let us rejoice and be glad in today as we look forward to eternity with our Lord and Savior! The real meaning of life, both now and in eternity, is found in the restoration of our relationship with God. Please read and meditate on today’s scriptures in “FOOD for the SOUL”. Love and Blessings….
TRUTHFUL TUESDAY
I have never been one for making New Year resolutions. I prefer to say I’m making lifestyle changes. Changing what I call it doesn’t make one bit of difference if I don’t follow through! It’s only been a week into the New Year and some things I said I was not going to do, I have done. And some things I said I was going to do, I have not done. Don’t judge me! I know it’s only been a week, but we all get weak at some point. I am not ashamed to say I am weak because God’s power is more easily displayed through our weaknesses. Some days we may make choices that displease God. The good news is that it is never too late to start again, as long as you have breath in your body. The bad news is that we do not know when we may take our last breath. And when we take our last breathe, none of the lifestyle changes or resolutions we made here on Earth will matter except one, our commitment to turn our lives over to God. I am determined not to fall short on this one!
Our relationship with Christ can actually help with any other lifestyle changes we want to make. Because the good news is when we are weak, our Savior is strong! If Jesus is our Savior, we have to turn our lives over to Him and rethink how we live in all areas of our life. It’s impossible to hold onto our old ways while trying to fit Jesus in. The moment that we receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts. Our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us live the Christian life. It is the Holy Spirit who draws us to Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our need of Christ. If the Holy Spirit lives within us, some things have to change. Our God is Holy and cannot live with ungodliness! Paul said “if any man is in Christ he is a new creature, the old things are passed away and behold they are become new.” Everything becomes new. And we must be careful not to go back to the old! I sometimes say, “The old me would have done…” I am going to make a conscious effort not to say that anymore. I refuse to entertain the old me; I just want to rejoice in the new me!
When we make a commitment to God, every part of our life should be dedicated to God and His righteous. We should not let our thoughts, gifts, talents, or money profit the enemy but it should all be for the glory of God and His Kingdom! We have to decide whether to work with our new beliefs and follow God or go back to our old way of life and follow man. If we know God’s Word, we know that He is Holy and He cannot abide in the same place as evil. The same mouths that we praise and thank God with should not let foul and vulgar language emerge. The mind of Christ that we strive for should not entertain evil, malicious, jealousy, envy or any other negative thoughts. If old ungodly or depressing thoughts enter your mind, think new thoughts. Believe me satin will try you, but you have a choice. God gives us freedom of choice. Today’s society have stressed our “right to choose” but have not balanced it with the message that our choices also have consequences. Scripture tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.” We can decide to put our ways before His or we can ask ourselves, “Is this what Jesus wants of me, does this please Him? And again if you are weak in a certain area, remember our God is strong in all areas!
Living for God may mean leaving people behind. When God is taking us to a new level, everyone is not meant to come. Sometimes who we love is not meant to build a life with or go to the next level with. We have to learn to leave doors shut that God has shut. We have to trust Him enough to walk through doors that He has opened even if we are scared. Stop trying to fit where you don’t fit! When it is time to move, you got to move! It is dangerous to stay in a place beyond your season! The reason there is frustration is because you’re not getting anything from that man/woman, job, or whatever. You cannot go into a new year hoping for change when you are trying to bring what don’t belong! Trust, you will have the same problems you had last year! God wanted to bless Abraham (then Abram) so He sent Abraham to a new land from his family and his father’s house. Now he told him specifically that he wanted him to depart from his family (Genesis 12:1). Abraham took his wife, his father and Lot went with him. If you read all of Genesis 12, you will see the problems Abram encountered by bringing Lot and Sarah along. Yes, God still blessed him but it created serious problems and delayed blessings for 5 years! We can avoid confusion and/or missed blessings by not taking baggage with us that God told us to leave behind. I’m just saying. This year trust God, let it go so He can send/give you your blessing! This year we will embrace change. Clear away what needs to be cleared away and toss out what needs to be tossed out. I’m not claiming it is easy because we all are a work in progress; we are spiritual beings living in fleshly physical bodies. But God! When we are weak, He is strong!!!!
Sisters and brothers, do you want a joyful new year? I say joyful and not happy because joy comes from the Lord, and happy depends on what happens this year. Let us place our new wine into new wineskins, not the old wineskins. We will make our lives a testimony to our new awareness of the glory of God! I declare and decree this is the year we will start walking it out, not just talking it out! Please read today’s scriptures in “FOOD FOR THE SOUL” and meditate on God’s Word. We must read the Word to hear the Word if we are to live the Word! This year we will live for Jesus who died for us!! If we live for Him, all the expectations that we have for 2019 will unfold! Love and Blessings….
SANCTIFIED SATURDAY
Why do we give presents to each other on Christmas day? The gifts are an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our love for each other. The beauty of Christmas is not in the Presents but in His Presence. I believe anytime we show love for one another, it pleases God. However sometimes we get so caught up in the Presents we forget about the Presence. God has already shown us that the most precious gift cannot be bought or sold. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In giving us this gift, God gave us His Son’s Presence. And all He wants from us is a portion of ourselves, for us to spend time with Him, to be in His Presence. The fact of the matter is the reward we get is much greater than the time we give. This is more valuable than any Present we could give to God; as a matter of fact it is the most valuable Present we can give to each other. And again the reward we get is much greater. Think about it, our time is precious. Tomorrow is not promised, even the next minute is not promised. It is good that we proclaim aspirations for 2019, but at 11:59 on December 31, we could cease to exist in this temporary home. I know, I know, it’s a time for celebration and no one wants to think about this! However, it is The Word (James 4:13-15) not my word. And I believe if we give it some thought, we would use our time more wisely. Our time is priceless! The Bible says make the best use of our time. First and foremost we should seek Him and to do that we must spend time in His Presence. Then we should give our Presence to others. Everyone loves to receive Presents, myself included. But the greatest gift I have ever received was the Presence of a friend when I really needed her. She has given me much, but her Presence in my time of need, I will never forget. Presence: visit someone who has no family, invite a struggling family over for a meal, volunteer,, spend time with the elderly or someone who is housebound, call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, write letters of appreciation, adopt a family, babysit for free, visit the hospitals or rest homes, just to listen. I could go on, but you get my point. Presents are good but Presence is Priceless! While celebrating the birth of Jesus, read Matthew 25:35-45. When we do these things, Jesus is pleased! It is His birthday; the best gift we can give Him is our Presence in the life of others! And not just those in our circle or those who love us, but love up on all of God’s children. As Christians, we should exhibit more fellowship, compassion, and care with one another. Trust me, life becomes peaceful and we get this unspeakable joy when we grasp the reality and goodness of God’s constant Presence living within us. This time of year can bring out the worst as well as the best in people. I love this time of year! I love the lights and decorations but more importantly for me it brings out gratitude, thankfulness, caring for others, taking time to give others my Presence. It means giving of myself because of the gift God gave me, and believing in magic and miracles! What does the Christmas Spirit mean to you? This Christmas season and throughout the New Year I pray we take time to grace someone with our Presence. Those who know me know I celebrate my birthday the entire month, but I celebrate the birth of Jesus 365 days a year!!!! Merry Christmas my brothers and sisters! Read today’s scriptures in “Food for the Soul” Love and Blessings…
MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY
Sometimes I don’t even recognize myself. I am changing. I know it’s nothing I have done but all of what God is doing. It is a subtle change. I have this peaceful calmness even when the enemy tries to attack me or my love ones. I am learning to not rely on what I feel or what this world believes to be true, but to believe God’s Word which is the only truth. My loyalty now belongs to God, not to man. I am learning to keep moving in spite of the devil’s lies and destruction. I am learning to claim my victory that our Lord God has given me. I am stronger than I have ever been. I know this new-found strength comes from God. I know the God I serve is alive and that the Blood of Jesus covers me. I know who I am because I know whose I am. I am a warrior!
We are not born warriors, we are made. We are not self-made, we are shaped and molded by the Master Himself. We become warriors through trial and error, pain and suffering. Through the tears and heartache. We are sometimes shattered into a thousand pieces. But God! We are bent but not broken. We become warriors when we still stand up after being knocked down again and again. We may not be rich or famous, we may not look like beauty queens or models, but we are much more than that. We are women of God! We have substance. We are queens. We are survivors. Each day we grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. We are purpose driven. Women warriors possess a determined spirit, an I can do attitude that drives their actions towards their goals. When faced with limitations, disappointment or opposition, we are more determined to make what we envision happen. A warrior’s prayer can move mountains! We know that when the force of our will is aligned with the will of God, we can say to the mountain, “move” and it will move! We move forward with our head high and with a strength that the Lord provides. I am a warrior!
A warrior knows God is her strength and the armor of God is her weapon. She is unstoppable, not because she doesn’t have failures, fears and doubts, but because she keeps moving in spite of them. She stands up for herself and she stands up for others. She refuses to be disrespected, mistreated or taken for granted. She is bold in the authority God has given her. A warrior knows what she brings to the table, so she is not afraid to eat alone! (come correct or not at all). Although strong, a warrior feels deeply and loves fiercely. She cries as quickly as she laughs. She is both soft and powerful, she is practical and spiritual. She is all these things because she listens to the voice of her Father God. She is the daughter of the Most High. She knows she is a winner because God does not birth failures! She is confident in her power because she is confident in God’s faithfulness. A warrior understands her purpose and what God has called her to do. She is committed to God and to being obedient to His Word. I am a warrior! Are you a warrior? I believe there is a warrior inside the heart of every woman; and with the help of God she can be set free. Please read today’s scriptures in “Food for the Soul”, Love and Blessings…
“It takes a female to have a baby,
it takes a woman to raise a child,
it takes a mother to raise them correctly,
and it takes a warrior to show them how to change the world.”
― Shannon L. Alder
WISDOM WEDNESDAY
Today someone lost a loved one, a child is missing, someone was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a hostage situation going on. Today a relationship ended and someone lost their job. Today there are many people who are in pain, homeless, hungry and in a state of depression. I am not making this up, today all these things happened. If you don’t believe me, turn on the news. Some of us don’t have to do that because we are dealing with one of these up close and personal. I can honestly say in spite of all this, I still feel blessed. But I am not going to lie; today I was feeling some type of way. I asked God, how can we still see your beauty in this world of ugliness? And what came into my spirit was to continue to keep my gaze on Him and my glance on the world. Ok God that is what I try to do every day. Yet I live in this world, I see what’s going on, and it is breaking my heart. My next thought was maybe I should try to see the ugly things through spiritual eyes instead of natural eyes. ???????. Whenever I don’t understand something, I go to the Word to study and I research. I allow God to lead me. I found a great man of faith in the Bible, Asaph, he was David’s music director, and he wrote twelve Psalms. Asaph served in Jerusalem for all of David’s reign, He was in Jerusalem when God gave David the great promise that David would have a son who would be the Messiah, and reign forever. He saw the death of David, the accession of Solomon, and the building of the Temple. After Solomon’s dedication of the Temple, Asaph saw Israel turn into something quite different from what he expected. After a promising beginning, Solomon turned his back on God and pursued power, wealth, luxury, and human wisdom, as well as worship of other gods. To finance these pursuits the people were oppressed with slavery and taxes. Asaph and his family, who had remained faithful to the truth, became victims of violence and murder at the hands of the Solomon and the Egyptians. Asaph saw Solomon become a wicked man who entrusted the administration of his Kingdom to other wicked men. After Solomon’s death, Asaph saw David’s kingdom torn in two by God’s decree. Before today, I had not read or remember hearing about Asaph. Today I feel his pain. He must have been heartbroken as he watched the Kingdom destroyed, the Temple ruined and many of his own family killed. Yet, through it all, Asaph found God’s faithfulness a strong tower of hope. And God revealed to Asaph the ultimate truth of what He had promised. It was not what man’s ignorance and David’s impatience sought, but what God’s wisdom provided. It was not about Solomon! It was not about Solomon’s destroyed kingdom and burned Temple! It was not about Solomon’s worldly despairing wisdom! It was not about Solomon’s corrupting and corruptible riches! It was about Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace who was to come! It was His eternal Kingdom, His perfect wisdom, His true riches, and the Temple of His body! I believe as Asaph looked around him and saw all this devastation and felt all this heartbreak; he asked God as I did today, “how can we see your beauty in all this ugliness?” As remarkable as our eyes are, we only see physical things. God has given us spiritual sight through the means of His Holy Spirit. When Asaph looked at events through physical eyes, he could only see unfairness as the wicked seemed to prosper and the righteous seemed to suffer and get weaker. However, as he continued to meditate on these things with spiritual eyesight, he could see the end of all things and learned to trust God for the true long-term conclusion of all things. I really want to be able to see with spiritual eyes like Asaph. We cannot open our own spiritual eyes. We have to come to Christ. He is the light! I believe we start by making Jesus the center of our lives and keeping the focus of our life on Jesus Christ. When we see through spiritual eyes, it reinforces Romans 8:28; “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
Today I was reminded by God that no matter what this world brings, pray, believe and keep the faith anyway. I pray this helps someone. Love and Blessings….
ANYWAY
In this world people are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered:
FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY.
In this world if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
BE KIND ANYWAY.
In this world if you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies;
SUCCEED ANYWAY.
In this world if you are honest and frank, they will cheat you;
BE STRAIGHTFORWARD ANYWAY.
In this world what you spent years building, may be destroyed overnight;
BUILD ANYWAY.
In this world if you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous and scorn;
BE JOYOUS ANYWAY.
In this world people who you love may disappoint you and break your heart;
LOVE ANYWAY.
In this world you will lose loved ones, trials and tribulations will come, you will get discouraged and sometimes you won’t feel like moving on;
MOVE ON ANYWAY.
In this world the good you do today, may often be forgotten tomorrow;
DO GOOD ANYWAY.
Give the world the best you have and it will never be enough;
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.
YOU SEE, IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, IT IS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD;
IT WAS NEVER BETWEEN YOU AND THIS WORLD ANYWAY!
(Original Author Unknown)
(Additions Added by Curleen Johnson)
SANCTIFIED SUNDAY
As I look out my window at this beautiful, perfect painting of a snowy, winter wonderland, I am amazed! Only God can create such a picture without paints or crayons! Just from nature, He has graced us with this beauty. I don’t care what anybody says; a God who can do this can do anything! There is nothing impossible for God; the Artist!
We all have struggled at times with the problem of little faith. Maybe like Abraham and Sarah, we have prayed for something for years, but God has not answered. We may have suffered some tragedy, such as the loss of a loved one, and we wonder where God was when this happened. Family problems, health issues, even a small thing that would be easy for God to provide and we wonder why God does not answer. Then the spirit of doubt creeps in. As humans, we tend to trust in ourselves most of the time and in God only when we really have to. If we trust in ourselves, then we glory in ourselves. But God’s purpose is that we glory in Him alone. He will graciously bring us to the place where we have no hope except in Him, so that we trust in Him and He gets the glory. He took me to that place; you would think I learned my lesson! But the problem is that even after we trust in Christ for salvation, we mistakenly think that we are competent to live the Christian life with just a little help from the Lord. And so the Lord has to bring us again and again to the point of helplessness. Because I am still a work in progress, I put the superwoman cape on and off again and again. I have to acknowledge my own insufficiency and depend on His all-sufficiency. God brings us to end of our strength so that we will trust in His ability to do the impossible. Look at Hannah, (Samuel 1); she was another barren woman who desperately wanted to have a son. The Lord wanted her to have a son, too. So do you know what He did? He closed her womb! Wait what! That’s a strange way to give a woman a son! Her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, who was not a godly woman, had many children. How frustrating for Hannah, crying out to the Lord for a son, to see Peninnah, who didn’t seek the Lord, with many children! But that’s how God works with His people. He wants us to see that without Him, we can do nothing. If Hannah could have had children on her own, like Peninnah, she wouldn’t have needed the Lord. But when Hannah finally had Samuel because the Lord gave him to her, she sang a song of praise and gave Samuel back to the Lord to serve Him.
We should never doubt God’s goodness toward His chosen ones or His power to fulfill His purpose with them in His time and way. We may not understand His ways and the reason for His delays. But that doesn’t undermine the faithfulness or power of our great God, the God with whom all things are possible. God wants each of us to see that our situation is humanly impossible without Him. That way, we’ll look to Him for His power, praise Him when He delivers us, and He will be glorified through our lives. If you have any doubt that nothing is impossible for God, look around you at the sun, moon, stars, rainbows, beaches, ocean and the snow. God is the Creator; the Artist! Love and Blessings……
THANKFUL THURSDAY
Mark 11:23 tells us that Jesus instructed us to speak to our mountain, “For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says” He instructs us to “say.” Say means to utter aloud, express in words, or give a chance to speak. Scripture says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21). Why is it that we can talk all day long to people, but when it comes to using our authority and speaking aloud to our mountains, we don’t embrace that death and life are in the power of the tongue? Jesus spoke to things! He spoke to a storm. (Mark 4:35-40). He spoke to a fig tree. “When He saw a fig tree by the road, He went to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, ‘Let no fruit ever grow on you again.’ Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt. 21:19). The fig tree responded to what He said. Jesus affected a supernatural dimension with his words. You may say, “Yes, but this was Jesus, the Son of God.” No. He became like you and I. The Bible says he stripped himself of his God-like powers and became like you and me. (Philippians 2:7).
Our words, combined with the name of Jesus have the power to move mountains. We get that we cannot be negative, critical and judgmental. We get that we need to pray and add thanksgiving to our petitions. But sometimes we don’t get that we also need to speak to our mountains in the name of Jesus, and because of our faith, expect them to disappear. We may look and feel foolish. We may sound crazy, but it will have an effect upon our mountains. When I could barely walk at all, I was told that I may not be able to walk. At that time I didn’t know how powerful my words were but I said, “The devil is a lie, and I will walk!” They thought I was crazy but I just refused to believe that, no matter what it looked liked! There is power in our words. I am a walking witness! We pray and pray about our mountains. That’s a good thing. We should pray, but there comes a time when we must speak to it. Praying is great, but don’t stop there. Go one more level and speak to your mountain. When we are faced with a mountain-sized problem, we get scared and run to tell God all about it. That’s good, no better one to run to. But the truth is, He already knows about our problems and He’s already provided everything we need to overcome it. God has supplied everything we need by grace (Ephesians 1:3). Faith doesn’t move God to do what He’s already done; faith moves mountains! So praise the Lord for carrying all your infirmities on the cross and then command your mountain to bow to Jesus! (Titus 2:15) He gave us authority. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19) The enemy will use mountains to make us lose hope and lose faith. He will use mountains to block our vision of our futures. He wants us to get upset with people and get upset with God. If he can do this, then he has won. He has kept us from experiencing all God has for us with a simple mountain. No one in the Bible ever faced an obstacle and did not advance if they handled it correctly. Your mountain has a name. Cancer, depression, or whatever, it doesn’t matter what the mountain is, if it is outside what Jesus has planned for you, command it to go in Jesus name! Jesus said we could do what he did and even more. (John 14:12).There is a miracle in your mouth! There is power in your words! There is power in the name of Jesus! Love and Blessings….
EMMANUEL 