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

Eyes on Jesus

It is so easy to get distracted and sidetracked from whatever it is we are doing. With everything going on around us we begin to take our eyes off of the positive and focus on the negative, off of our blessings on focus on the hardships, off of God and focus on the attacks of the enemy.  But in everything we are going through we must learn to fix our eyes on Jesus.  Even when it's difficult and it seems like the negative is right in front of your face, you must still keep your eyes on Jesus.  So when you are feeling down, feeling like there is no way out, feeling like everything is failing, fix your eyes on Jesus for He loves us, protects us, covers us, provides for us and much more.  Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for each one of us, so that we may have life and have it more abundantly. So don't lose heart or become weary, just keep your eyes focused on Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

~Hebrews 12:1-3

Daily Scripture: Our Own Personal Bodyguards

We are constantly under attack by the enemy, for the enemy has come to kill, steal and destroy.  Some of these attacks we see with our own eyes but there are also some attacks against us that we know nothing about.  These attacks are taken care of without us even knowing anything about them. How is that?  God has us all surrounded and regardless of whether you know it or not, you have your own personal bodyguards protecting you each and every day.  God is our shield and because we have that shield, God makes sure that we are covered and saves us from harm and disaster.  We are all surrounded by God’s angels that He has commanded to guard us in everything concerning us, that He has commanded to lift us so that we will not stumble or be harmed, that they lift us up above the enemy.  There’s a lot of snakes in this world, some that are so hidden that we don’t even know that they’re there, but because of our guard of protection we can walk among the snakes in our lives and still come out unharmed and trampling them along the way.  Keep your head up, don’t be afraid of your surroundings because you have a special group of bodyguards that’s protecting you from dangers seen and unseen.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

~Psalm 91:9-13

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: 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: He Heard Me

There have been plenty of times in our lives that we have cried out for help but felt like nobody heard us or felt like nobody was there in our time of need.  There have been times that it seemed like we were drowning in sorrow and trouble that nothing in life was going right, BUT GOD!!! God was right there to hear your cry, right there to save you from everything you were going through.  Continue to press forward and remember that your cries does not go unheard and sorrows doesn't go unseen.  You are not alone, god is right there with you, He hears every cry and see every tear, and every time you call on His name He hears you.  We serve a God that is compassionate and loving, a God that wipes every tear from our eyes, a God that saves us when we're drowning, and a God that provides us peace in the middle of the storm.  Find rest in God because He is and will always be good to each of you and will never turn His ear from you.  God hears all of your cries!!!!

1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “Lord, save me!”

5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
    our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.

7 Return to your rest, my soul,
    for the Lord has been good to you.

~Psalm 116:1-7

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: Healed Wounds

Life brings about a lot of wounds, wounds that can be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.  Sickness can wound your body.  Heartbreak or betrayal can wound your emotions.  Continuous trials and tribulations can would your mental. Those trials can lead to you questioning God and your faith which can wound your spirit.  But there’s good news within it all, God can heal all of your wounds.  It may seem like the enemy and your trials keep coming at you making your wounds bigger and bigger but God will take care of the enemy and your trials.  God will restore you and your body.  Hold on, know that a bandage won’t be there always because eventually God will restore you.  Your sickness, God can heal you.  Your heartbreak, God can mend a broken heart.  Betrayal, God will surround you with those who truly care about you.  Whatever trial you may be going through, God will take care of it.  Hold on to your faith, even faith as small as a mustard seed can bring about miracles.  Restoration is upon you and you will be fully restored. Know that God loves and care about you and He will heal every open wound.

16 “‘But all who devour you will be devoured;
    all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
    all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
17 But I will restore you to health
    and heal your wounds,’
declares the Lord,
‘because you are called an outcast,
    Zion for whom no one cares.’

~Jeremiah 30:16-17

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