God is getting ready to restore, refresh, and reboot the lost years. The upcoming latter days in sum total will be far greater and better than the former years.

In Joel 2:18-32, God’s people had suffered the complete destruction of their entire harvest through swarms of locusts that marched like an insect army through the fields, destroying the crops, multiplying their number as they went.

For four consecutive years, the harvest was completely wiped out. God’s people were brought to their knees in more ways than one. But,“The Lord became zealous for His land and had compassion on His people.” God said, “Behold I am sending to you grain, wine and oil, and you will be satisfied…..” (Joel 2:18-27).

Now before you start to shout make note, the call to repent in verses 12-17 preceded God’s promise to deliver and restore His people.

Shortly thereafter the message of hope was declared over the people’s lives, God said in verse 28, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.”

I don’t know if you even realize that this prophecy is being lived out right now! However, when we turn our hearts back to God, He promises to restore the faithless, painful, selfish, loveless, rebellious, misdirected, misinformed, and Christ-less years lost due to personal hurt, sin, arrogance, and ignorance.

The good news is that God will restore lost years by bringing long-term gain from short-term loss. The effect of these great trials in our life will be that “the tested authenticity of our faith . . . (1 Peter 1:7). All praise, glory, and honor go to Christ because it is His power that guards and keep us strong through life’s many unexpected storms and unfortunate battles.

My beloved brothers and sister, at the end of the day, if God said He will restore the [lost] years (Joel 2:25), you better believe it because the one thing that God can’t do is fail and the other thing He won’t do is lie!

I find comfort in Isaiah 49:16 because the major prophet reminds me that God engraved my name in the palms of His hands.

Charash is the Hebrew word for engrave and according to the Strong’s concordance it means to to cut in, engrave, plow, and devise.

All of these terms requires exerting some kind of physical labor. I believe we all know that God spoke everything into existence by his word, but the Bible said in Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Did you catch that? God chose to create (construct) man’s existence with His hands which in my opinion powerfully amplifies our subject passage as stated above.

Beloved of God, not only is Your name engraved on the palm of the Lord’s hands, but He holds your hand and leads you through each day and each activity you perform with your hands.

Personally, to me this sometimes mean, I will hold the hand of someone else. I may hold the hand of my beautiful wife as a way of showing her my love and demonstrating the oneness between us. I may hold the hands of children not only to show affection but also as a way to keep them secure and away from harm. I may hold the hand of an elderly person as a way to steady him or her so they will not fall.

I’ve learn that the reason I hold another person’s hand is one of the same reasons why God hold our hands!

Before I close, I want to echo the words of David found in Psalm 63:8, “I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. I cling to you, your strong right hands holds me securely.”

I am often a little long winded with my devotional and yes, I could continue with my semantics about hands, but I know a picture can be worth a thousand words, so take a good look at the imagine I created and attached to this devotional. What do you see? I know that I see strength, power and conversely, I equally see comfort and safety.

I pray that you too find comfort in knowing that not only has God engraved your name on the palms of His hands, but He is also holding you in the palms of His hands.

Father God, today in spite of everything going on in our lives we choose to stand strong in the power of Your might. We boldly declare that we’re empowered through our union with You, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Father God, we believe that we are anointed, blessed and highly favored. We have been created and chosen by You to prosper and make a difference in this world.

Father God, we are redeemed the blood from any and all sickness and disease. We declare that we are healed, delivered, and set free! Sickness, disease, viruses and infections cannot successful live in our body. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus flows throughout every cell, organ and tissue in our bodies and by Jesus’ stripes we are made whole and healed.

Father God, we declare that we are free from fear and anxiety. We fear not, for You, O’God are with us. We choose not to fret or have anxiety about anything because as the world turns we know You are the One turning it! Therefore, we do not have a care in this world because we know that You are in control!

Father God, we elect to think on the good report and things worthy of praise. Holy Spirit, we ask that You let the peace of God rule in our hearts; deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in our minds.

Father God, we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds and we vow to let Your word richly dwell in us. We will meditate in Your word day and night, thus making our ways prosperous and dealing wisely in all the affairs of our lives.

The Lord is our good Shepherd and we do want because You make reservations for our every need according to the riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Hallelujah, the windows of heaven are open over every square inch of our lives. Your blessings are overwhelming and they are overtaking us because no weapon formed against us will prosper.

Father God, we tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the works of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us.

Through the governing and reigning authority of Jesus Christ, we lay hands on the sick and they recover. We take up our shields of faith and we quench every fiery dart of the wicked one because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

Father God, we are reigning in life as a kings and queens. Yes, we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us. We are blessed in the world with the rich, valuable, and potent resources God has placed within each of us and we are not settling for less, mediocre, average or just enough. We are only accepting the best and the perfect will of God.

Now, thanks be unto You O’God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus and through His blood we are forever victorious.

Father God, thank you for bequeathing unto us humble boldness, faith, grace, mercy, hope, power, courage, and strength. In Jesus’ matchless and perfecting name, Amen and Amen!!

The God we serve is truly unstoppable, unbeatable, and He is all together invincible! Not to mention, He is equally unchangeable! No power, no scheme, nothing in Heaven, on earth or under the earth that can stop Almighty God from doing what He has promised to do in your life.

There are many biblical scriptures that efficaciously
Illustrates God’s supreme authoritative nature, but the two I would like to highlight are found in Philippians 2:10-11 and the suffix of John 10:10.

The passages of text as stated above reads, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” and “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

It is of equal importance to recognize and then appreciate in every battle you face He is the Victor.

Although, the enemy will attack, he cannot stand against our God who is unstoppable. Psalm 24:8 says,
Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, invincible in battle.” And in Exodus 14:14 we receive this instruction, “The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

If he ever was called to testify, Job would be the first to validate and endorse that God is unstoppable. In the last chapter of the book of Job (verse 42:2), after God reveals His power Job declares, “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.”

Through personal experience I have learned that there are many battles in life that promise defeat when I try to face them in my own strength. The Scriptures do not instruct me to fight, but to stand firm, stay calm and trust God who is invincible to fight the battle. The power of God has claimed victory over sin and death. Jesus shed His blood on the cross for our sin and the tomb is forever empty.

I don’t know what you have been waiting on but don’t think for a second that something or someone could stop the promises of God from manifesting in that situation. Tweet this, ‘God’s promises tarry out of sovereignty not out of exertion, lack or neglect.’

I have listed below 5 promises that canopy nearly every ‘need’ we should ever desire in our lives:

• Promise #1: God Is Always with Me (Isaiah 41:10)
• Promise #2 God Is Always in Control (Proverbs 19:21)
• Promise #3: God Is Always Good (Psalm 100:5)
• Promise #4: God Is Always Watching ( 2 Chronicles 16:9)
• Promise #5: God Is Always Victorious (Deuteronomy 20:4)

With all that said, the question is not is God unstoppable, but rather why is He unstoppable?

God is unstoppable because He loves us and He wants nothing more than to fill us with peace and joy as we consider our God, Most High, who keeps all of His promises, fulfills all of His purposes, is mighty in battle, will never leave or forsake us and loves usbwith an eternal love that is inextinguishably
unstoppable.

Elevation Worship was spot on when they sang this verse in their song entitled, ‘Unstoppable God’:

🎵Nothing shall be impossible
Your kingdom reigns unstoppable
We’ll shout Your praise forevermore
Jesus our God unstoppable
Nothing shall be impossible
Your kingdom reigns unstoppable
We’ll shout Your praise forevermore
Jesus our God unstoppable (c’mon)
Nothing shall be impossible
Your kingdom reigns unstoppable🎵

Family, trust and believe your difficulties and crisis are just exits from where you are. It is your passage to godly promotion. Therefore, declare with me, ”Jesus, our God is unstoppable!”

The greatest joy in life is the thrill of being used by God for a purpose far greater than yourself. In this short video you will find the Bible gives us example after example of people He used to accomplish His will, plan, and purpose.

I want each of you viewing this short video to know that you were made for far more than just living for yourself. God’s grace, mercy, and favor is intended to equip, empower, and encourage you to fulfill your purpose in life.

So, don’t let your present nor your past dictate or stop you from allowing God to use you. All God needs from you is a ‘YES’ and trust me, if He used the folks listed in this short video you’re about to view, He can most definitely use you!

God doesn’t call the people who got it all together, He calls the people who are willing to obey and trust that He is able to put it all together!

You’re never to far gone for God to use your story to be a blessing to others! God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan!

#BeStrong

One of the most invaluable intangible commodities we have is time and it is something at times we all wish we had more of.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people regrettably say, “If I only had a little more time, I would have done _.”

Inarguably, time is fleeting and when God calls one of our loved ones home, the first things most people do is appraise the quality time spent or the lack of time spent that family member or friend.

It has been documented and verified that the number 1 request people who have been on their deathbed wished they had was more time. They wished they had more time to do what they should’ve done with the time that was allotted for their lives.

Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.”

In this book, she wrote the top 5 regrets she observed as follows:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my family/friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

The Bible makes reference to ‘redeeming the time‘ in both Ephesians 5:16-16 and Colossians 4:5. In both passages, redeeming the time is related to wisdom in how we “walk,” that is, in how we live.

My beloved brothers and sisters, To redeem something means to buy it back, to regain possession of it. Time is a gift from God, and none of us know how much of it we are allotted. Only God knows how much time each of us has on this earth to make decisions that will impact eternity (Psalm 139:16). When God says we should be “redeeming the time,” He wants us to live in constant awareness of that ticking clock and make the most of the time we have.

James 4:14 reminds us that our earthly lives are no more than a fog that appears and then quickly evaporates. Our money and possessions will be given to someone else. Our jobs will be filled by others. Our families may remember us with fondness but will move on with lives that don’t include us. All that remains of our lives on earth is that which was invested in eternity. In the end, all that matters is what we did or did not do to redeem the time (Psalm 102:3; 144:4).

Are you redeeming your time? If not, it’s not too late to start today! It’s not how you start—it’s how you finish that matters most!

When the pain renders us speechless and it’s impossible to verbally communicate with God, every speechless tear droplet causes God to move with compassion because only God can interpret liquid words.

We see this in the story of Hezekiah when a prophecy of his imminent death was given by Isaiah the prophet. However, Hezekiah will have none of that and turn to God in prayers and in tears, and GOD responded. Isaiah 38:5 conveyed God’s answer, ‘Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years’. Hezekiah didn’t just pray, he cried, and the tears got God’s attention while his supplication provokes God’s intervention.

Still not convince God can articulate liquid words? When Mary reached the place where Jesus was after her brother Lazarus died she began to weep and the Bible says Jesus saw her weeping and was moved with compassion (John 11:32-33).

Perhaps your wounded and you’re not having an issue with articulating words, but you’re so dumbfounded that you don’t know what to say. If that’s you, please find comfort in Romans 8:26. Paul said, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

The biggest cry baby in scripture was David. He knew the power of tearful humility because he often experienced God’s compassion throughout his life. Oftentimes, David could not hold back his tears. David said in Psalm 6:6-7, “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.” They’re several other scriptures to reference, but probably the one most cited is found in Psalm 3:4, “I cried out to the LORD, and He answered me from His holy mountain.”

Beloved of God,my word of encouragement for each of you that made it this long in reading this devotional is to never hold back your tears. Ain’t nothing wrong with crying out to God. Your emotions cannot be removed from your spiritual expressions either in worship or in prayers, we must allow the deepest of our being to be expressed to God, He takes pleasure and is moved in all of them. God not only sees all of our tears, He stores them. Psalm 56:8 reminds us that God has accounted for each and every last droplet and one day He promised us that He will wipe away every tear from off our faces (Isaiah 25:7-8).

Undoubtedly, we can truly find solace in knowing that God hears our tears!

#BeStrong

#HeHasHisHandsOnYou

#GodWillProvide

In the letter to the Philippians, Paul presented something of a paradox when he said, “Be anxious for nothing (4:6)!”

These often quoted words we love them adorned in artsy frames, on the one hand, and find them seemingly impossible to put into practice, on the other.

Let’s be honest, we secretly believe that we get a pass from obeying this particular command. We tell ourselves that it simply can’t mean anything. Not when we suffer trials that are altogether devastating. Surely God knows our human frame. He knows we can’t control the anxious thoughts that bombard us — nor the shortness of breath, the heart racing, or the restless nights that can accompany those thoughts, right?

Yes, God knows our human frame, hence the reason he inspired Paul to write those words in the first place.

Anxiety consumes. It commands the breadth of our thoughts, and fills them with dread. Unfurling its scroll of worst-case scenarios, it extinguishes hope and pummels our faith. A favorite tool of the enemy, it’s effective in the silencing and the drowning out of God’s voice, not to mention trumpeting our fears.

When we’re hit with the cares of this world, it’s hard to avoid those anxious thoughts. Our God knows. “Do not be anxious about anything” doesn’t mean we will never feel anxious. The verse is telling us what to do with it — give it to God. Philippians 4:6 reads in its entirety:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Beloved of God, when you pray basking in the presence of God, everything including every worry must take a knee in the submission of the most powerful being in the known and unknown universes.

Prayer redirects our attention from the all-consuming problem to our all-powerful God. Before our thoughts can rehearse every hopeless scenario that could attend the problem, we intentionally set our minds on things above. We’re reminded that we have hope and help. We’re reminded that even this hardship is subject to the sovereignty of God, and that he remains in control.

Henceforth let me remind you for every command God gives, He also appends a promise. In verse 7 of this same chapter Paul inspired by God wrote, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Isn’t it funny, subconsciously this is exactly what we want, but unfortunately our actions often reflects the opposite.

My brothers and my sisters, God always delivers on His promises if we obey His commands. David reminds us in Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”

This promise of peace (aka) sanity in the midst of trouble is such a powerful promise. Such grace! Such reassurance! When we look to the Lord in the midst of anxiety, His peace will guard our hearts and minds. In other words, His peace will stand at the gates, refusing to allow anxious thoughts to enter.

Perhaps, you have prayed and those anxious thoughts continues to mentally billow in like the waves in an ocean. Well, follow the prescription written in I Thessalonians 5:17, “…pray without ceasing…..” We don’t need to only rest in Jesus, we need to also cleave to Jesus. It’s to our benefit to be mindful that apart from the vine the branch can do nothing (John 15:5). We can’t fight any of life’s battles without Him, nor should we want to!! We hide and shelter in Jesus no matter what anxious thoughts may come because His unmatchable peace is our most powerful protection. In Christ, we are promised a never-ending supply of grace, an overfilling measure of mercy, and an unyielding amount of love!

Thank You Jesus for allowing us to dump all our trash on Your alter and in return, dispensing a more than enough measure of peace, protection, and promise.