4GIVEN

Lord God, You are my shield, protector, rain-maker, sustainer, healer, deliverer, author, and perfecter. Lord You are perennially, incessantly, and forever consistent.   Your grace is undeserving to a sinner like me however; I readily receive it and I am eternally indebted because I can never repay it. When I am broken You always find a way to clean up my messes; You turn my failure into success and my defeat into victory! The last time I checked, Your love is incomparable, incomprehensible, and despite of the many times I have fallen short of Your glory; it has always been available! Having said that, today, I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU and THANK YOU in JESUS’ life preserving and restoring name, AMEN AND AMEN!!

I am thankful for serving an ‘Advance of God’, a ‘Despite of God’, and an ‘In spite of God’. What am I saying? A.) We can thank Him in ADVANCE because He already knows the plans He has pre-orchestrated for our life here on this planet and our life to come. (Jer 29:11) B.) God pours out His limitless mercies DESPITE the many times we fall short of His glory. (Romans 3:23) Lastly C.) God pours out His unprecedented and unmerited grace IN SPITE of the enemy.(Psalm 23). So today always thank the Lord; never stop praising him and remember even when we are faithless God is faithfully because simply put, He is just that awesome!

Whatever you might be going through stop beating your head against a brick wall. Turn every battle over to God. Check out what God did in response to Jehoshaphat’s  major dilemma in 2 Chronicles 20:14-15, “Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God! You see Jehoshaphat faced a multitude of enemies. Instead of focusing on what he would do, he prayed; He turned it over to God and God responded. So today remember you are a victor and not a victim. After God put the whooping on those boys God turned their battlefield into the Valley of Berachah. Berachah means “blessings”. The children of Israel gave the battlefield this name because it took them three days to gather all the spoils of war! God turned their situation into a great blessing and if He did it for them, He is able to do it for you!  (2 Chronicles 20:25–26)



We need to know who we are in Christ so that we can live our life as God intended and fulfil our destiny. However, words without power from the Holy Spirit are mere words! Therefore, I wanted to remind you of a few scriptures that will either enlighten or remind you that God loves and thinks very highly of you!

YOU are loved 1John 3:3

YOU are accepted Ephesians 1:6

YOU are a child of God John 1:12

YOU are Jesus’ friend John 15:14

YOU are joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him Romans 8:17

YOU are united with God and one spirit with Him 1Corinthians 6:17

YOU are a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in me 1 Corinthians 6:19

YOU are a member of Christ’s body. 1 Corinthians 12:27

YOU are a Saint Ephesians 1:1

YOU are redeemed and forgiven Colossians 1:14

You can’t tell me after reading these scriptures that you don’t have a little more pep in your step! So today remember it’s not the world, circumstances, or your current status that defines you rather, it is God’s word that defines you! We are always defined in Christ! 

When you sow a seed by faith and water it with your praise, God will bring the harvest. In Genesis 26 we learn that after matters were settled between Isaac and Abimelech, Isaac sowed in the land Gerar, and received in the same year an hundredfold harvest and the LORD blessed him. (V.6) Did you miss it? Not only did Isaac sowed in the year of famine, he also sowed in a time where nobody was reaping a harvest. (V. 8) To make matters even more difficult most of the people were fleeing to Egypt due to economic hardships. What made the difference for Isaac can also make the difference for us; obedience and willingness! Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you are wiling and obedient you will eat the good of the land.” So today regardless of the difficult times you may be experiencing be it financial, relational, emotional, physical, or spiritual God is saying sow your seeds and give me the praise in advance and I will bring the harvest! The seed (s) you sow in difficult times will touch the heart of God in a very special way, and will produce an overflow abundant harvest that far exceeds what you could every imagine.

Paul prayed 3 times for God to deliver him from his problem (pride) but God said otherwise. Make note, successfully resolving challenges, problems, or obstacles generally stem from your response to the challenge, problem, or obstacle. It’s easy to react but reaction in most cases is often the path of least resistance and the path that’s often chosen. Psalm 29:11 says, “The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.” When God said that His grace is sufficient and that His power is  perfected in Paul’s  weakness, Paul realized that God allowed the thorn to keep him in sync with God’s will for his life. (see 2 Cor  12:9) Troubles are sent to teach us to pray. Did you notice Paul’s response to God’s denial? Watch this, God’s grace is enough for us not to complain and whine every time something doesn’t go out way. God’s grace signifies the good-will of God towards us, and that in it of itself should be enough to enlighten, strengthen, and comfort in all afflictions and distresses. So today if trouble comes your way rejoice and don’t allow it to still your joy. Remember; God’s omnipotent power is being perfected in times of trouble!

God didn’t have to leave His throne to defeat Satan and his host of demonic angles in efforts to conquer death and restore humanity. He could have destroyed this angel gone rogue in the same capacity He created it; by His word. ILO exhibiting and employing His omnipotence He deployed the lowest of His limitless attributes; weakness. Check out Hebrews 2:14, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” A commentator wrote, “It is a point little considered, though one of much importance, that the Lord Jesus had, as if personally, to grapple with and overcome the prince of the power of the air, to hurl Satan from his usurped throne, to destroy his works, and overthrow his kingdom; and this not by an act of omnipotent power, but by an act of the lowest weakness, for He was crucified through weakness.” So today remember it was by the death of the cross that our gracious Lord took the punishment we deserved and offered His righteousness in efforts to reconcile us back to God and to save us from eternal death! Hands down, this is the greatest love story ever told! #TYJ

Peace is not the absence of trouble, problems, challenges, pain, heartaches, unexpectedness, and storms. Peace is knowing that God’s presence is with you during times of trouble, problems, challenges, pain, heartaches, unexpectedness, and storms. Look at the ocean. The wind blows and create tumultuous surface waves however; when you go down about 30-40 feet the waters are still. What am I saying, you gotta go deeper because there you will find peace, rest, stability, and calmness! Philippians 4:6-7 says,”Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” So today remember there is nothing mightier than our God. When you get to your wits end, you will find, God lives there. It is only in this place we will find that super natural peace Paul referenced in the above scripture.

Who remembers the Nike ad campaign back in 89-90, “Bo Knows”? The narrator says: “Bo knows football. Bo knows baseball. Bo knows weightlifting.” In the meantime, Bo Diddley cranks out the notes on his guitar. Then he says: “Bo, you don’t know Diddley!” I am here to testify that God knows Mr. Bo Jackson and He also knew Mr. Bo Diddley. “God Knows”, and because of what He knows, it behooves us to trust that He is able to brings things to pass and allows things to happen. Trusting God simply means that we understand that God has already set the wheels in motion to accomplish His will in our lives. Check out Phil1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” and 2 Cor 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” St. Augustine once said, “Trust the past to God’s mercy [history], the present to God’s love [grace], and the future to God’s providence [provision].”

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When you don’t know what the future holds remember that it is God who holds the future.

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11 (msg)