Start your week off right by joining me in this prayer today:

Lord God, today and for the rest of my life, I commit all of my plans to You. Please have Your way in my life. Do what only You can do through my finances, relationships, family, job, future, and my service to You. Align all of the desires of my heart with Your desires. Lord God, I decrease so that You increase over every affair known and unknown in my life! In Jesus’ name, I humbly release, relinquish, convey, and bequeath everything all to You…Amen and Amen!!!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#TGBTH

#TGBTP

#HaveYourWayJesus

#YourWayAlwaysWins

Great strength is found in unbearable pain! In fact, the pain you experience today will build the strength you need for tomorrow.

Paul learned a thing or two about pain. In 2 Corinthians 12:8, after praying (NLT says ‘begging’) three times for God to remove a metaphorical painful thorn from his side, God didn’t remove it. In fact, in verse 9 Paul changed his tune completely. He discovered after three failed attempts that God gives strength to endure pain, not escape it. He also learned that God’s power is perfected in his weakness!

The truth of the matter is that God doesn’t promise certain limits to suffering(s). He doesn’t guarantee personal happiness. He doesn’t ensure our escape from pain. His people are often crushed beyond measure and we know that scripture makes this abundantly clear.

However, we mustn’t forget that we serve a God that never ends on a negative. Here are some guarantees God’s word does give us:

*Suffering will come, but we will also share in Christ’s glory (1 Peter 4:12-13).

*All that happens will be for our good, to make us more like Jesus (Rom 8:28-30).

*Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love (Rom 8:38-39).

*He won’t let us be tempted – that is, tested – beyond what we can bear, but will provide a way for us to endure it (1 Cor 10:13).

*He will give us all we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3)

*In our weakness, he will give us strength (2 Cor 12:9-10 cf 2 Cor 4:7-12; Phil 4:11-13; Col 1:11-14).

Welp, that’s enough right here to chew on for the rest of our natural lives. But, I will close this message with repeating what Paul said to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally [my brothers and sisters], be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” To be strong doesn’t mean that you won’t experience any pain! However, it does mean that you refused to give up even when the pain becomes unbearable.

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#TGBTH

#TGBTP

In this season stop praying for your enemies to die! David said in Psalm 23:5, “God prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies….”

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#TGBTH

#TGBTP

#StrongMessage

Let’s face it, no one has nor will anyone ever catch God slipping! God knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. This is why we can boldly and confidently say God already had a plan in place before the problem, plight and/or predicament ensued!

The problem many of us face embracing this proverb is that:

We want perfect health NOW!

We want perfect relationships NOW!

We want suffering to go away NOW!

We want control NOW!

We want pain to stop NOW!

We want all of our hopes to be realized NOW!

We want a perfect world – but it’s not!

Let me gently remind you this planet we are all living on is not heaven. We live in a fallen, troubled and broken world. We live in a world of toil and suffering and affliction. Unfortunately, we are forced to come to terms with the fact that we live in a world that is far from perfect.

With that said, there is still hope! Romans 8:28 confirms, “God causes EVERYthing to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

I recently read the phrase “What would Jesus do?”, often abbreviated to WWJD, became popular particularly in the United States in the late 1800s after the widely read book by Charles Sheldon entitled, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do.”

If I remember correctly, this acronym was trendy back in the early 2000’s but you rarely see it referenced on any of today’s social media platforms.

The reason I mentioned this is because ultimately God’s plan is for us to be more like Jesus and to respond to life’s many hurdles and obstacles like Jesus (WWJD).

Jesus is our future and He is our only hope in times of great tribulation. It is in these ominous times we are being made more like Him. It is there we are fulfilling His plan.

In the middle of our long-suffering – we become more like JESUS!

In the middle of our waiting – we become more like JESUS!

In the middle of our gasps of urgency for heaven to break open – we become more like JESUS!

More like JESUS!

That is at least God’s plan in all situations; good, bad, or indifferent!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#TGBTH

#TGPTP

#GodsPlanWillAlwaysPrevail