Encouraging Notes

Ne 8:10 says, “Do not fear, for the joy of the Lord will be your strength.”

Sometimes you and I are faced with such frustrating circumstances that we are tempted to meditate on the problem rather than on the promises of God. Setting one’s mind on negative issues never brings about a good solution but thinking God’s thoughts does.

Philippians 4:6-8 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

God tells us through Apostle Paul not to worry or be anxious about anything. About anything? Could this really be true? The answer is an emphatic yes! When we choose to set our minds on God’s promises rather than our problems, we invoke the favor and blessing of God! I love what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 50:23 “He who sacrifices thank-offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”

Complete trust in what God has said is what releases the power of God! We must believe him! A heart of faith will help you understand the great insight of Apostle Paul when he declared that God’s kind of thinking is categorized into two words – excellent and praiseworthy. We must determine that if our thoughts don’t line up with those two categories, they are not allowed! Is this difficult? Absolutely! This is why Apostle Peter encourages us by saying, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1Peter 5:6-7

It takes a humble person to trust God! Apostle Paul told us and “rejoice in the Lord always.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16. It is important to note that an unexplainable joy fills your heart and soul when you choose to trust God! Trusting God gives you the ability to live like King David, who said, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Psalm 23:4 Apostle Paul said, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Oh yes! The secret to breakthrough is giving our cares to God and trusting him alone!

I challenge you to cast your cares upon Jesus today and allow his delightful peace to flood your soul! I challenge you to trust God enough to let go of your worries and live in His joy! Just a sip from his ocean of life, and you can never be the same! He is in you and all around you right now! I assure you that everything is going to be alright! How about it? Come on – let’s do it God’s way because in him we can have…

JOY, NO MATTER WHAT!

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Everything that we can see with our physical eyes is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2Cor 4:8 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Those who lived with her hopes and dreams based on what is natural are living on shaky ground. Everything in this world is subject to change – parents, children, finances, health, etc. The only thing you can completely count on and trust in is God and what he has said. God alone is the one who will keep you secure! He alone is entirely faithful and can help and bless you beyond what you can ask or think. His love is going out to you today! He, as Faithful God, will never leave you!

1Cor 1:8-9 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Philippians 1:4-6 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 13:5-6 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Everything natural is subject to change. One of the most significant wisdom decisions you will ever make is to put your trust in God alone! He cannot die; he cannot be taken from you; he is faithful forever! Will you trust him today? He went to the cross for you, taking all your failure and sin. He is seriously in love with you and is unwilling to let you go or let you down! Wow! Be sure, he did it all for you, and he, alone, is…

WORTHY OF YOUR TRUST!

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The Bible often uses the terms watching or waiting to speak of prayer and sleep to speak of prayerlessness. When I think about how important prayer is and the mighty things that are accomplished through it, my thoughts often wander to muse upon the job of a waiter or waitress at a restaurant. A skilled waiter or waitress always has their eye on those they are serving and is ready at any moment to do anything necessary to make their dining experience rewarding and fulfilling.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint. (KJV)

Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. Luke 22:46 (NIV)

Matthew 26:40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? (NLT)

it is easy to get focused on self and the things of this world more than God and therefore miss out on the power of waiting upon the Lord. More times than I would like to admit, I have found myself busy serving myself instead of serving God and those around me. I have realized that the more I focus my attention on God and his love, the more successful I am at serving those around me.

When it comes to the love of God, I pray you keep this thought before you; “You can never work it up – you must soak it up.” Your moment-by-moment relationship with God is the key to a life that looks like Jesus. The recognition of God within you and all around you is the beginning of life-changing intimacy with God! Those who learn to wait upon the Lord are those who will walk in the power of God! I don’t know about you, but this speaks to me! I love to be challenged and encouraged! I am taking inventory today by asking myself the question, am I...

WATCHING, WAITING, OR SLEEPING

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Wherever Jesus went, people were trying to touch him. Many believed that they would be healed if they touched him, even the edge of his garment. They were not waiting for Jesus to touch them; they were going and touching Jesus.

Mk 6:56 And wherever he went into villages, towns or countryside-they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

Wow! All who merely touched Jesus were healed! Do you need healing in your life? Is there anything in your life that could use the power of God?

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, “You will seek me, and you will find me; after that, you have sought for me with all your heart.” Seek God today! He is findable – as a matter of fact, he is very close!

Acts 17:27-28 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’

Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

You can put the full weight of your trust in God, for he has said, “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Heb 13:5 A person that accepts the reality of our ever-present God, the truth of his payment for their sin, and his radical love and compassion for them is the person who will experience the amazing presence of God!

Right now, as you read this, God is so very close to you! He is longing for you to recognize him and spend time with him! Go ahead! Now is your chance! Why don’t you...

TOUCH HIM

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Are you finding yourself hungering for more and more of God recently? I believe we are in a season where God will pour out his glory as never before! I am so thankful for what I have in God, but I can assure you, deep is calling unto deep, and I am longing for more! I want to continue to increase in God by going from faith to faith and from glory to glory! I know you feel the same!

Here is the prayer of my heart for today; maybe you can pray along with me.

“My Lord and my God, I am so hungry for you today! I desperately need you! The deepest part of me is crying out for you! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Ps 84:2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Ps 42:1-2 Father, I fully receive your love for me and love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength! Mark 12:30 Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ, your resurrected son, may your grace be upon me to live by faith today. You in me and I in you! Forever yours, my Lord and my God!”

As you are reading this Encouraging Note today, my dear friend, I want you to know that my heart is with you! As I pray this prayer for myself today, know that I am also praying this…

PRAYER FOR YOU!

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Many passionately pursue the approval of others but always seem to be disappointed with the results of their efforts. But there is one whose approval you need and whose recognition significantly impacts your life – take a look.

1Cor 8:2-3 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

Have you ever, like me, prayed for God to help you love him more? I knew that I was supposed to love him but didn’t inherently feel or experience much desire or passion in my heart for him. I continued to pray like this often until I received the revelation that my love for him was predicated upon my reception of his love for me. The Scriptures that gave me this revelation were the following.

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes FROM God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

From meditating upon these truths, my eyes were opened to the fact that the ability to love God does not come from self-effort but rather from our reception of God’s love for us. I have often said, “You will never work it up; you must soak it up.” This is why Scripture says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, for those who come to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

There is nothing that pleases God more than our reception of his love and grace for us. I believe that God’s greatest heartache is his children’s unbelief, and his greatest joy is our wholehearted trust in him.

My prayer for you today is that you would genuinely know how much God loves you! May you receive His love so deeply and thoroughly that your natural response to God is to love him back! As God has loved you with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, so may you love him back with all that you are! Receiving the love of God has been, and always will be, the key to loving God!

Are you growing in the revelation of his love for you? Do you know how precious you are to him? I can assure you of this; the more you humbly accept his extraordinary love for you, the more you will love him, and that is how you prepare to be…

RECOGNIZED BY GOD

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