John 3:8 says, “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Ruah which is pronounced in Hebrew Ruach, is the Hebrew word translated as God’s Spirit. However, the word is also translated as breath, air, and wind throughout several Scriptures. The breath of God should remind each of us of God’s creative authorship and presence in our world. Genesis 2:7 confirms, “Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath (Ruah) of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”

It’s is this very same breath (Ruah) that positively impacts our lives even when we don’t have the breath to express our pain and sufferings to God. We can find encouragement in Romans 8:26-27: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit [Ruah] Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit [Ruah] intercedes for the saints according to the will of God”

Wow, when we can not utter what’s pains our soul, the Spirit (Ruah) knows what is there and He intercedes-breathes it out-Himself on our behalf! I don’t know about you, but that’s some good news to me!

Now, if you are dealing with a deep debilitating pain, I invite you to pray this short prayer with me and allow God’s Ruah to radically to change your situation:

Merciful God, breathe into every area in my life. Heal and restore all of my broken pieces. In Jesus name, amen!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#BreathOfGod

Ironically, as I lay here battling my own bout of insomnia the word of encouragement the Lord put on my heart to share which was literally utter by my wife before she drifted off into her sweet slumber is rest; go figure!

Unfortunately, our culture basks in busyness, wearing stress and lack of sleep like a badge of honor. Sandra Dalton Smith, M.D. said, “If you’re waking up (after sleeping) and still exhausted, the issue probably isn’t sleep. It’s likely a rest deficit.” As the news regularly reports, more than half of Americans don’t use their allotted vacation days and are likely to bring work with them when they do take a vacation. Work provides our identity with busyness assuring our status. Stimulants like caffeine and sugar provide the means to get moving in the morning while sleeping pills, alcohol, and herbal remedies enable us to forcibly shut down our bodies and minds to get fitful sleep before starting it all over again because, as the adage says, “You can sleep when you are dead.”

My beloved brothers and sisters, God honors a good day’s work, but He never intended for His creation to work themselves to death. God Himself who doesn’t grow tired or weary (Isaiah 40:28) chose to rest after manufacturing creation on the seventh day (Gen 2:2-3).

In biblical context, rest is more than the absence of work (Matthew 11:28-30). Rest demonstrates where we place our trust for provision, identity, purpose, and importance. Rest is both a regular rhythm to our day and our week as well as a promise with fuller future fulfillment, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

At the end of the day, we can’t do it all. We can’t get it all done, even with 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Therefore, it behooves us to completely relinquish our attempts at earning an identity through our works and rest in the identity God provides as we are loved by Him and free to rest in His provision and care. This desire for autonomy through self-definition forms the basis for the Fall and continues to plague our functioning in relationship to God and others today.

Lastly, vocational rest is not the only thing we need to balance in our every evolving and constantly changing lives. There are 7 other types of rest we need to actually feel recharged and for the sake of time I will list them below and for validation purposes I invite you to biblically research them on your own:

Mental Rest
Physical Rest
Sensory Rest
Social Rest
Creative Rest
Emotional Rest
Spiritual Rest

Like my twin brother likes to say, “The enemy is focused on busyness, but God is focused on business and the only difference between the two is the “I” in the middle of it all!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#Rest

I don’t know about you, but I am so relieved that my life does not depend solely on me. Grit is a good thing but my own grit runs dry eventually. God’s power, love, compassion, and goodness never run out. Philippians 2:13 reminds us that, “God is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”

God is the will behind every activity of good works. God influences our activities and our will to bring about our working in our salvation. We do good works because of God’s amazing grace in our lives. The more we know God, the more we will desire to walk in God’s ways and obey His rules. Ephesians 2:8-10 confirms, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Beloved of God, trust and believe that God is doing a work in you which is bringing about good fruit in your life. God is working in all of us and changing our lives by increasing in the knowledge of God. When we surrender to Him, He gets to work, molding, and forming us to be more like Him. He gives us the desire and power to please Him.

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#GodIsWorkingInUs

Unfortunately, many want to quit or throw in the towel due to various situations and trials they are facing in their life. However, God wants to bless you and if you don’t quit you will see His promises manifest and come to fruition in your life.

Today, I’m speaking to those who are in a hopeless situation at the moment. Hopeless situation, because of what your circumstances is saying. Let me remind you that a bad day doesn’t equal a bad life and a hopeless situation does not mean that God has left you. Just because things don’t work out exactly how we planned them does not mean that God is not at work in your life. No matter what your situation is saying, I can tell you that God is at work in your life at the moment. It is not over until God says it is over. Ephesians declares, “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.”

Let’s take it back to the OT. The 37th chapter in the book of Ezekiel symbolizes people whose hope had died, and had been dead for a long time. This was a situation where there was no future, just bones, no bodies, just bones, and no signs of life, just bones!! The Lord asked him a question that perhaps God is asking you today about your situation – CAN THESE DRY BONES LIVE?

Ezekiel looks at the bones and saw no possibility of resuscitation. Ezekiel said, “Lord you know”. In other words, he was really saying, “I don’t, but God you do.” Why did he say that? The prophet knew this situation was beyond human application and comprehension. It’s only God that knows if you are going to make it or not. I know you don’t know, but God knows there are some situations we face in which human solutions will not work. The only thing that works is hearing from God!

My brothers and sisters, everyone thought it was over for Daniel when he was thrown into the lion’s den, but God didn’t say so. Nebuchadnezzar thought it would be over for Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego, but God said it wasn’t over. Job’s wife thought it was over and encouraged her husband to curse God and die, but the Lord didn’t say it was over. It Ain’t Over Until God Says It’s Over!

Keep fighting. Keep praying. Keep fasting. Keep progressing. Keep moving. Keep reading…interceding. Keep believing. Keep trusting. Keep trying. Keep travailing. Keep living. Keep giving. Keep fighting until your victory is won!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#ItAintOver

There are times in our lives where we are scared, frightened, and distressed about our present circumstances or our future. There are times where we may feel unsure about whether or not we are capable of handling what is to come or if this is the correct pathway to pursue. However, we can gain encouragement from Joshua 1:9. God didn’t fail to meet Joshua’s need. In fact God reminded him that He would be by his side no matter the situation.

Let me ask you this, how many times have God left your side in the heat of life’s many battles?

Undoubtedly, we know that the Lord will always be with us in whatever circumstance that He places us in or pathway that He calls us to pursue. Therefore, we can have peace and move forward with unwavering strength and courage, knowing that no matter what God will never leave our side.

#BeStrong

#BeCourageous

#TGBTG

Now, it’s your turn to complete the sentence below:

I serve a God that ___________!
(add to the comments)

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

In Genesis 41:51, Joseph named his firstborn, Manasseh, saying, “For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”

There are a lot of Bible translations that refer to toil as troubles, and we all know how much Joseph suffered by the hands of his own blood-related family before God blessed him (Genesis 50:20). In spite of it all, Joseph chose to let go of the past, even giving the glory to God, showing that the past can be overcome with the grace of God, which is all we really need to find present moment peace in our lives.

My beloved brothers and sisters, it’s God’s job to hold the future (Matthew 6:34) and it’s our job to let go of the past (Isaiah 43:18). God wants us to remember that He has power over the future and that our past has no power over us. Therefore, we can let go of both because we are incessantly being renewed by His agape love and redeeming grace!

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#LetGo

I know I’m not the only person that sometimes find it difficult to let ‘some’ things go! I’ve found that one of the hardest things to do in life is trying to forget about something that didn’t go the way we wanted it to. We often find ourselves up late at night running different scenarios through our mind, the scenarios that we wanted to happen versus what actually happened. We wish that we said something else, we wish we acted differently, or we wish that we weren’t in that situation at all. No matter what the situation is, we dwell on the past because we find it hard to forget about the things we wish we should have done or didn’t do.

The Bible is filled with encouraging scripture that help to combat this native ill willed nature. However, the one scripture that has helped me combat this all too familiar struggle comes out of Isaiah 43:18-19 and the prophet said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

My beloved brothers and sisters, trusting God by letting go of the things you cannot change will significantly remove unnecessary stress and negativity from your life, and it will help you tackle other situations that you will face because you won’t doubt yourself or your actions. Instead, you will face them with the confidence to know that you can handle it the right way and that there is not a better way you could handle it.

At the end of the day, I’ve learned to accept that ‘some’ things will not always go as planned and I am ok with that because one of the most liberating moments in life is when I found the strength and courage to let go of what I can’t change.

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#GodIsDoingANewThing