4GIVEN

The enemy always fight the hardest when he learns that God has something good in stored for you! God has a plan for your life, but the devil has a plan for you too. As a result, I Peter 5:8 (AMPC) says, “Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.)” Rule# 1: When you are under attack always ask God for wisdom. James 4:7 reminds us to resist and the devil will flee. However, James was referring to various temptations not spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6). I get it, the enemy’s threats may seem real and fierce, but he’s not all powerful. He wants to be. He pretends to be. In fact, his disposition is what got him deported in the first place. Only God possess the Omni(s)[potent, presence, and scient]. The enemy may try every scheme possible to distract, tempt, or lure you away with fear, lies, and manipulation, but as believers, he does not hold our future in his hands. Only God does that. And we are forever secure in His power, grace, and favor. The good news is whatever you face, God is with you (omnipresence), He knows you (omniscient), and He fights for you (omnipotent)! May God’s grace and strength fill you today, as you live aware of His constant covering and protection.

Prayer w/me: God, I choose Your plan, not the enemy’s. Show me the areas where he is attacking me and guide me in defeating him. In Jesus’ enemy defeating name, amen!

So what does God want from us?? Well, Amos 5:24 of the MSG Bible offers a vivid picture; “I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.” God’s cry for justice is spoken through the prophet Amos. God saw beneath Israel’s external prosperity and power, internally the nation was corrupt to the core. The sins for which God through His prophet chastens the people stemmed from their neglect of His Word, idolatry, pagan worship, greed, corrupted leadership and oppression of the poor. Do you see any similarities in our church and state today?? Hence the need for us to heed to the words written in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Romans 8:28 is a great memory verse to keep handy in times of struggles and hardships. In this passage of text God reminds us that He loves us in adversity, through adversity, and beyond adversity. God is bigger and stronger 💪🏾 than your struggles. All things may not seem good right now but He will work it out for good. I know sometimes our struggles may seem bigger than God, but God will overcome them. How do we know?? Well, hello………………………🅡🅔🅢🅤🅡🅡🅔🅒🅣🅘🅞🅝 🅢🅤🅝🅓🅐🅨!! God took the most despised and torturous form of death and made it a symbol of victory and hope. If He can do it with a cross, He can do it in our lives. We don’t want to undermine our struggles. Neither does God. Fortunately he cares so much He wants us to know He is bigger than all the pain in our lives. As born again believers, knowing God is in our corner is the foundation to Romans 8. This is a beautiful chapter that encourages us to draw closer to Jesus in our adversity, struggles, and hardships. My suggestion…..read it! In fact, read it regularly and remember; the struggle ✊🏾is real, but so is God!

Ok, you want me

to 🅜🅐🅚🅔 🅘🅣 🅟🅛🅐🅘🅝? Well, it just don’t get any more str8-fwd than this:

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.” (John 3:16 MSG) Hallelujah, in Christ and Him alone, l am no longer an enemy of God, 🅘 am now His son, His friend, and apologist! St8 up…I 🅛🅞🅥🅔 me some 🅙🅔🅢🅤🅢!

Father God, bless the work of my hands, the ideas of my mind, the strength/ healing of my body, and the passion in my heart. I need -You in my life today and I choose to place my trust in Your perfect will, plan and purpose for my life! In Jesus’ name! Amen and amen!

We all pray that God will pour out His irresistible 🅖🅡🅐🅒🅔 but how do we know that His limitless grace is flowing in our lives? Well, Jesus gave us the ‘how-to’ in Matthew 6:6 (MSG] and He said, “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The [Your] focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” In other translation we are instructed to pray in our ‘inner rooms’. The Greek used here for “🅡🅞🅞🅜” is tameion, which means “an inner storage chamber or a secret room. You’re quiet place might be a daily commute, a bench in the back yard, or the kitchen table. Simply put, a quiet non-babbling prayer, directed at God and not passers-by, will reap spiritual blessings. Furthermore, any act, be it praying, giving, or serving, should not be done for the purpose of gaining approval from others. Praying, giving, and serving should always be responses to our 🅡🅔🅛🅐🅣🅘🅞🅝🅢🅗🅘🅟 with 🅖🅞🅓 and the grace He pours in and through our lives!!

T⃣R⃣U⃣S⃣T⃣ G⃣O⃣D⃣!! Keep you head up!! Don’t look back rather look forward. Remember, God is never up to something bad and He is always up to something good because the Lord is good and His mercies endures forever!

H⃣a⃣v⃣e⃣ a⃣ b⃣l⃣e⃣s⃣s⃣ o⃣n⃣ p⃣u⃣r⃣p⃣o⃣s⃣e⃣ f⃣u⃣l⃣f⃣u⃣l⃣l⃣i⃣n⃣g⃣ d⃣a⃣y⃣!

Did you know that patience is connected to trust, hope, faith, love and good character? Proverbs 15:18 reminds us that, “Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace.” Additionally, most biblical scriptures points to PATIENCE as being the quality or virtue of presented as either forbearance or endurance. In the former sense it is a quality of self-restraint or of not giving way to anger, even in the face of provocation; it is attributed to both God and man and is closely related to mercy and compassion. So if 2019 is challenging your patience copy/paste this link and read:

https://www.unitedbiblesocieties.org/10-bible-verses-patience/

Anytime you reach your breaking point remember Romans 12:12, “Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.” If God is patient despite our sins, transgressions, and iniquities, then we ought to be patience with others….right?

🅜aybe this day isn’t 🅾ne of your favorite, but 🅽ever forget that every 🅳ay is an 🅰mazing day and it’s up to 🆈ou to make it count! Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” This passage teaches us to:

◉ Be careful about our time and choices.

◉ Be an “on-purpose” person.

◉ Live a life worth living.

◉ Really think about what we are choosing to do and make wise decisions.

◉ Make the most of our time.

◉ Don’t let opportunities pass us by.

◉ Don’t be passive, vague, thoughtless and foolish.

◉ Know the will of God and cleave to it firmly!

Whether we live for only a few years, or to be 100, the time we have is still relatively short. We only have one life to live, so let’s be sure we 🅜🅐🅚🅔 🅘🅣 🅒🅞🅤🅝🅣!

Yes, today and forevermore for sure!!

Everybody timelines should have this status! If you don’t and you’re still breathing….I got good news for you! It’s not too late to make Jesus Lord of your life!

If I am talking to you repeat after me:

Jesus, I believe in my heart that You rose from the grave and I confess with my mouth that you are my Lord and Savior. Come into my heart and make me whole and complete. Amen!