I invite you to chew on these three biblical truths today. I also ask that you apply these passages of encouragement to your NOW situation. Something supernatural happens when we apply scripture to our lives; we move from simply having head knowledge towards also having heart knowledge of God’s word.

James 1:22 in the NLT version reads, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Declaring God’s word helps to align our hearts with God’s will. Remember, when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, He spoke God’s word and put Satan in his place. Speaking God’s word has the power to help us through temptations and trials. The Bible isn’t just a book of nice sayings and inspirational stories. It’s a book that contains life changing power. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equippedi for every good work.”

Friends, God has filled us with His Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17) who speaks to us, leading and guiding us into all truth (John 16:13). For this reason, Paul instructs believers to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), for He is a very present Help in our time of need (Psalm 46:1)! The Holy Spirit will ALWAYS faithfully guide us into the will of God, always causing us to do what is right (Ezekiel 36:26-28; Philippians 2:13).

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#HeartKnowledge

I love the way the AMP version emphasizes Isaiah 26:3; “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].”

You see, it’s easy to be committed and focused on Jesus when things are going good, but for some of us (including myself) when our lives are unexpectedly turned upside down our focus will immediately shift to the problem rather than the Problem Solver.

God never said take refuge in our problems or people, rather He calls us to turn those things over to Him by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (Phil 4:6-7) and to fully take refuge in Him (Psalm 46:1).

The word “refuge” is defined as a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble. In other words, taking refuge in God means that we can find complete safety in Him because He is our shield from danger and trouble. He is the only One that can truly provide us with shelter in the midst of our life threatening storms.

Friends, trusting in God means to take refuge in Him. It also means that we must place all of our hope and confidence in knowing that He will always navigate us through life’s most vicious and turbulent waters!

Edward Bickersteth, Jr. penned these words in his hymn entitled; Peace, Perfect Peace (excerpt):

“Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Peace, perfect peace, ’mid suffering’s sharpest throes?
The sympathy of Jesus breathes repose….”

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#PeacePerfectPeace

When God created you, He placed seeds of greatness in you. Part of the reason that many of us don’t realize that we carry seeds of greatness is because so many negative things happen to us. However, God’s plans and purposes (seeds of greatness) require the right action to germinate them into action.

With that said, sometimes when you feel like you are in a dark place you think you have been buried, but actually you have been planted!

I Peter 2:9 reminds us that, “We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Still don’t believe God planted seeds of greatness in you?!

Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

God placed seeds of greatness in Jeremiah even before he was born and God knew the potential in Jeremiah to become the man God created him to be.

The words God spoke to Jeremiah germinated and brought the seeds of greatness in Jeremiah to life and into action.

Think about it…. if God did this for Jeremiah; He will also do the same for you and me! What is so amazing about the seeds of greatness in us is that they are not dependent on our past, on genealogy nor on other people’s opinion of us, but they are solely based on God’s plans and purpose for us, individually.

With God by our side, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Nothing is impossible with God and God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20).

Bottom line, God has destined us for greatness. We were born to stand out not to fit in; in our gifting, in our purpose, and in our destiny!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#PlantedByGod

Let’s face it we all fall short of being 100% trustworthy.

It’s a good thing Scripture never says to fully trust in man or we would be in a world of trouble. The Bible says to love others as yourself, put others before yourself, serve one another, but put your full trust in God.

Fact is, God never lies, He never slanders, He never makes fun of us, He understands all our pain, He promises to always be there, and faithfulness and loyalty is a part of His character. Malachi 3:6 put it this way, “I am the LORD, and I do not change!”

I get it, we all want something, or someone, we can count on that is a constant or unchanging. We long for something, or someone, that we can trust for stability and that steadfastness that holds us like an anchor. But the reality is there is only One that can actually meet and exceed these expectations or desires and He is closer than any brother (Proverbs 18:24). His name is Jesus and He is just, faithful, loving and we can always count on Him to be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).

We can take heart and have confidence in Jesus. Unlike our own wealth or earthly leaders which will disappoint and constantly change, Jesus is the one steadfast and unchanging anchor who can hold our lives together.

So let us take confidence in him. Let us cling to him. We can trust him. We can count on Him each and every day.

If this message blessed you today, please share it with someone and remember your greatest blessing is always in front of you and never behind you, so be blessed on purpose and be strong!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#PutYourTrustInJesus

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 reminds us to, “Consider what God has done: Who can straighten
what He has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”

In this passage of text, the English word consider was translated from the Hebrew word sekal (sek-al’) which means to contemplate. So effectively, Solomon’s wisdom nugget is encouraging us to meditate or to look thoughtfully with continued attention to the fact that we cannot arrange events according to our wishes or expectations; therefore not only is placid (peaceful) acquiescence (consent) a necessary duty, but the wise man and woman will never forget that on their best days they still need God as desperately as they did on their worst days!

I pray the word of encouragement reaches you in good spirits because even if things are bad for you right now, God is still working to bring out the good for His glory and your sanity!

If this message blessed you today, please share it with someone and remember your greatest blessing is always in front of you and never behind you, so be blessed on purpose and be strong!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#GodStraightensWhatHeBends

“There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might.” Jeremiah 10:6

Make no mistake, there is absolutely nothing better than Jesus! Brandon Lake along with Elevation Worship hit the nail on the head when they penned the words to their song entitled, Graves Into Gardens: (Abbreviated)

“I searched the world
But it couldn’t fill me
Man’s empty praise
And treasures that fade
Are never enough
Then You came along
And put me back together
And every desire
Is now satisfied
Here in Your love

Oh, there’s nothing better than You
There’s nothing better than You
Lord, there’s nothing
Nothing is better than You…”

Here’s another one of my favorite verses:

“You [Jesus] turn mourning to dancing
You [Jesus] give beauty for ashes
You [Jesus] turn shame into glory
You’re [Jesus is] the only one who can
You [Jesus] turn mourning to dancing
You [Jesus] give beauty for ashes
You [Jesus] turn shame into glory
You’re [Jesus is] the only one who can
You [Jesus] turn graves into garden
You [Jesus] turn bones into armies
You [Jesus] turn seas into highways
You’re [Jesus is] the only one who can
You’re [Jesus is] the only one who can.”

I hope this message stirs something in you today! If it did please share it with someone else today. The world needs to know there is absolutely nothing better than Jesus.

As I always say, “Your greatest blessings are always in front of your never behind you, so be blessed on purpose and Be Strong!”

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#NothingBetterThanJesus

There is no question our nation and most likely our world is crippled by fear and worry! Social, economic, and political ambiguities are most likely the root causes of our growing fears and worries!

With that said, I want to remind you that fear and worry are running mates and no matter how bad things get we should not allowed them to erode or deplete our faith and our peace!

If you didn’t know, worrying is a ‘catphish’ for concerns and it pretends to be necessary, but it’s not proactive and it’s not helpful. Worrying buddies up with your imagination to exploit your fears.

Fear is a natural native emotion, but you must distinguish between the good and the bad types of fear. The most successful people in life don’t live without fear, they just don’t make an enemy out of their fear. In fact, they direct that energy towards establishing healthy boundaries and creative solutions!

Paul addressed fear as spirit not an emotion. He said in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” The greatest Teacher that was, still is and is to come said this about worrying in Matthew 6:25, ““That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear…..”

At the end of the day, Fear does not stop death. It stops life. And worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles; it takes away today’s peace!”

If this message hits home for you today please feel free to share it. You never know the life you can positively impact with one postive word of encouragement!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#GuardYourPeace