Daily Scripture: The Lord Helped Me

Sometimes in life we are surrounded by so much negativity, so many difficulties, so many attacks from the known and sometimes unknown enemy, that we will continue to feel like we are being pushed.  Pushed so hard that we feel like we are about to fall.  Just when you get to the edge and you just know for a fact that you are about to fall, God will step right in to help you. He will help you cut ties with the negativity in your life, help you get through the difficulties, and protect you from the attacks of the enemy.  So when you feel like giving you, when you feel like you are continuously being pushed, when you feel like you are about to fall, DON'T GIVE UP. Think back on all the times God has helped you, hold on to the strength God has provided you with, know that God will save you, He will keep you from falling, and He will always be right there to help you in your time of need!

10 All the nations surrounded me,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
    but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
    he has become my salvation.

~Psalm 118:10-14

Daily Scripture: Take a Stand

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Everyday we are under attack, under attack by the enemy.  The enemy has one purpose, to kill, to steal, to destroy.  But lucky for us we have power, mighty power to take a stand against the enemy.  Everyday there's a struggle, a struggle to overcome the continuous fight the enemy has set before us, the fight the enemy has to overtake our sanity, to break apart our families, to tear apart our friendships and relationships, to separate us from Christ.  But you have armor like no other, strength that cannot be overtaken.  So every morning as you're getting dressed for the day, remember to put on your full armor, the armor full of strength and power, the armor of God.  When you are in full armor, with God by your side you are able to stand firm, stand ground against the enemy whenever he shows up.  So stand tall and look the enemy in the eye and let him know that he can't have your family, your friends, your sanity, your breakthrough, your blessings, your increase, your future, he can't have NOTHING of yours.  So put on your armor, stand your ground and let the enemy know that if he wants war then war it is and with God on your side and with your full armor on you will be victorious!!!!

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
~Ephesians 6:10-13

Everyday Strength

Every day is a brand new start, a day to start something new, a day to continue fulfilling a goal you have set, a day to accomplish all that you dream.  Every morning you are equipped with everything you need to be successful throughout the day.  Sometimes we wake up down and out, dreading the day, but you have the strength, the ultimate strength, the strength of God to get through your day.  So when it seems that your day is going down hill, when it seems that nothing is going right, remember that God is right there with you and He has provided you with the strength you need plus more to get through.   Know that when you're in distress God is right there helping you, saving you, strengthening you, loving you.  We all have a firm foundation holding us up each and every day, a foundation full of wisdom, knowledge and strength.  So stand firm on your foundation, lean on that foundation every minute of every day because that foundation, which is God, will give you all the strength you need every morning to accomplish everything you face and to overcome any obstacle or stumbling block you may come across throughout the day.

2 Lord, be gracious to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
    our salvation in time of distress.

5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
    he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
    a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
    the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

~Isaiah 33:2, 5-6

Lessons From Our Hardships

As we begin the New Year a lot of us will want to forget all of the difficulties from the previous year and only take the good memories with us into the new year.  Even when we are going through the hardships we tend to beg God to rid us of all the difficulties.  But just as we embrace the good times we must learn to embrace the hard times as well.  There's a lesson in everything we go through, even in the difficulties.  God clearly states to us that His power is made perfect in weakness.  A lot of people see the hardships we go through as weaknesses in our lives, but in those hardships we witness the perfect power of God.  Embrace those hardships because God will use that weakness and turn it into strength.  You don't have to take the hardships from the past into the new year but take with you the lesson from it.  One lesson learned is that you can hold on in your difficult times because if God did it before, He will do it again.  So through those difficulties, hardships, insults and persecutions, learn that whatever you need  God will provide.  Learn that God's grace is sufficient.  Learn that in our weaknesses God provides us with His strength.  God uses our weaknesses to strengthen us all.  So keep on fighting and know that you are not weak because with God you have strength like no other, power to overcome everything, and the ability to learn a lesson that will help you face hardships and difficulties in the future with grace and poise. 

7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

~2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Daily Scripture: The Lord is Faithful

In the world we live in people will sometimes let you down.  Friends will turn on you, people will betray you and talk about you, break your heart, and continuously break the promises they gave you.  Those are all actions of this world but we have a friend that is out of this world that is and always will be faithful.  In the Word you will find several promises that God makes to all of us.  God promises to never leave us nor forsake us, God promises to supply all of our needs, God promises to lift up the brokenhearted, God promises that He will give us all success, God promises to be an ever present help in a time of trouble, God promises to be our strength when we are weak, and the list goes on and on.  God loves each and everyone one of you and whatever He has promised you know that it will come true.  Because God loves each of us he will lift us all up when we are bowed down and satisfy all of our desires and will remain faithful through it all.  Hold on to all of the promises of God for He is faithful to each of us and faithful to all of His promises.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
    and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
    and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

~Psalm 145:13-16

Daily Scripture: God Breaks Chains

Throughout life we become imprisoned by the hardships of life, the negative comments about us by the enemy as well as the attacks of the enemy.  We become so entangled in the negative that we feel like we are walking around in handcuffs, completely confined by chains and that we are so far in darkness that we feel we will never see the light again.  But I’m here to tell you that even in your deepest gloom God hears you, even in your darkness God will wipe every tear from your eyes.  Everything that has you bound, God will deliver you from all your distress.  So even in your darkest moments praise God, worship God and give thanks unto God because He WILL deliver you from your darkness and gloom.  Keep your faith, even when it feel like the chains are causing you to stumble and know that soon you will fell the chains begin to loosen as God breaks every chain in your life.

10 

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,

    prisoners suffering in iron chains,

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because they rebelled against God’s commands

    and despised the plans of the Most High.

12 

So he subjected them to bitter labor;

    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

13 

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he saved them from their distress.

14 

He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,

    and broke away their chains.

15 

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

16 

for he breaks down gates of bronze

    and cuts through bars of iron.

~Psalm 107:10-16

Daily Scripture: Pray First

As humans we are quick jump into a situation or into doing something without thinking it through first.  Or we will “think” about it and think that we have all the answers.  This is especially true when it comes to matters of the heart.  When somebody wrong us or say something out of the way we are quick to act and respond to their actions without thinking things through.  But there is something that we can learn from Nehemiah, before he did anything, answered or left to attempt to take care of the problem, he prayed unto God first.  Even when the king asked Nehemiah what it is that Nehemiah wanted, he prayed to God for the answer to the question.  We must all learn to go before the throne of Christ in prayer FIRST, because our lives are about His will and what He wants for us.  Before you respond to that message you received from the enemy with evil intent, pray about it.  Before you act in response to your emotions, pray about it.  Before you attempt to get yourself out of that hardship with what you think is the answer, pray about it.  Before you jump into another relationship or even friendship, pray about it.  Our answers are never valid if it is not the answer from God.  Remember in everything, PRAY FIRST AND ACT SECOND!!!

2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

~Nehemiah 2:2-5

Daily Scripture: God of Miracles

No man or woman is immune to hardships or troubles in life.  And because we are born into sin, the Bible states that we are born to trouble.  Although that may seem like bad news, there’s good news behind it all, a positive in a negative situation.  God, the God we serve, our Lord and Savior, is a God of miracles.  Whatever you are going through in life, whatever troubles may be getting you down, turn to God, appeal to Him, and lay all of your problems at His feet.  God continuously lets us know that He will provide for us, provide more than what we need. Don’t put God in a box and think that He can only do certain things, certain ways. Don’t put limitations and restrictions on the God we serve.  You must trust Him wholeheartedly and believe that God can perform in ways beyond our imaginations.  You must trust that if God said He will provide for you, if He said that He will get you out of that situations, that He will do it and there’s no limits to how He will get it done.  That problem you’re going through right now, God will deliver you from it in a way that you’ve never seen before.  Trust Him and believe that God will always be there for you, providing and covering you, lifting you to safety.  So hold on to your faith, know that trouble doesn’t last always and know that God can work a miracle, turn your situation around, and bless you with far more blessings than you can even count.

6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble
    as surely as sparks fly upward.

8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
    I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
    miracles that cannot be counted.
10 He provides rain for the earth;
    he sends water on the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on high,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

~Job 5:6-11

Daily Scripture: Are You Content?

A materialistic world is an understatement to describe the world we live in today.  We are living in a time where if you don’t truly know the true worth of life and what’s important, society will make you feel like what you have is not enough.  People are steady trying to “Keep up with the Jones” that they are never happy with what they have.  But continuously chasing materialistic happiness will leave you miserable every time.  What I’ve come to realize is that when you are truly thankful for all that you have and you know from whom all blessings come, you are able to live each day with true happiness and joy.  We can live each day calmly and in content because God lets us know over and over again that He will never leave us and He will always be right there.  There’s no need to live in fear because whatever we need, He will provide.  When we fall, He will pick us up.  When we’re in trouble, He’s right there.  When we need help, He will be our helper. Keep your faith, stand firm, and know that if God did it in the past, He can do it in the present and the future.  God will never change and will always be right there, right by our side, providing us with everything that we need. So be content in all that you have and watch the blessings continue to flow because God is the same yesterday and today and forever.

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”[a]

• 6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]

7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

~Hebrews 13:5-8

Daily Scripture: Purpose in Your Hardship

We all go through hardships and the roads of life are definitely not easy but in those tough times of life we can find strength and encouragement in knowing that God is with us.  Whenever we are on the bumpy road of life, we can hold on to our faith and trust God to provide everything we need and provide plenty or more than enough.  Hold on during this hard time, God is right there with you and although it may seem unbearable right now, God is using this hard time to strengthen you and to advance His kingdom.  Hold on to the encouragement of knowing if He did it before, He will do it again.  If he provided before, He will provide again plentiful and fully.  Stay positive and know there is a purpose for all that we go through.  God has a purpose over your life, and it may not feel like it but there’s a purpose in your hardship.  Buckle your seat belt, hold on, learn from it, grow from it, hold on to your faith and allow God to strengthen you through your hardship and turn your trials into triumph!!!

17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardshipsto enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

~Acts 14:17-22