What can make your life look like Jesus? If you'd like to know, this will be an important read for you!
Read More
God has a promised land for you! It's time to go in and possess it!
Read More
Knowing that God has a plan for you and that he will never leave you can give you the power not to be afraid! Take a moment to be uplifted by this Encouraging Note.
Read More
A word from God can forever change the course and destiny of a person’s life! It is usually during the most challenging times in life that the most significant instructions from God are heard. John the Baptist was a man who often found himself in the desert. But during one of those desert treks, a powerful word from God came to him. Who would’ve known that a word from God would change John from your average, everyday-Joe into a well-known, front-stage mouthpiece for a national shift? Yes, all it took was a word from the Lord!
Luke 3:2-6 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Before this time, John probably would have been known as a peculiar soul. He lived out in the desert; his clothes were made out of camel’s hair, he wore a leather belt and ate locusts and wild honey for food. He probably would have been one of those voted least likely to succeed. Based on his outward looks, you would never have guessed that he was marked as one who would be a nation changer. But because of a word from the Lord, this is precisely what happened in his life.
Mt 3:5-6 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins; they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
John’s life was so powerful that Jesus said of him, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist, yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Mt 11:11
God’s instructions are crucial to your future and ministry! Don’t despise the hard times in life because most of the time, it is in the desert places you will find God and hear his voice. The preparation needed for the most significant increases in your life will usually occur when life has thrown you its biggest curveballs!
Because I know the heart of God, I am assured that he has a wonderful plan for you! Because of God’s great love for you, a divinely orchestrated word from his heart is in store for you! Because of God’s love for you, you can be sure that this life-changing word will come to you in due season.
Do you feel like you have been in the desert? Does it seem as if life is stretching you more than what you know how to handle? Do things around you seem dark, confusing, and lonely? Do you feel like you need a time of refreshing to get you through? Be ready! Keep your Bible open and your communion with God constant because, like John the Baptist, a divine word for you is eminent. Yes, God is getting ready to give you…
A WORD IN THE DESERT
Read More
MAKE EVERY EFFORT!
God is revealing a powerful revelation in our day; it is the revelation of rest. We can access the power of this profound truth through faith in what God has declared in his word. The rest we are speaking of requires a concentrated focus on and an unconditional acceptance of the provision of God’s grace provided to us through Jesus Christ.
Heb 4:8-11 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, Make Every Effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
It may sound like an oxymoron to say that you must do your best or make every effort to enter this place of rest, but this is precisely what God is saying. The ideologies of this world based upon obedience to the law can never give you access to the beautiful rest of God because access is granted by faith alone. You must, therefore, set your mind fully on what God has declared about you; this means setting your mind on things above. Col 3:2-3 Apostle Paul told us that we can be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Rom12:2 Oh yes, we can become something entirely new through the renewing of our minds!
Please don’t miss this most crucial point: making every effort is not talking about trying to live righteously before God; instead, it is about giving the most significant effort of your life towards reigning in your mind to make it focus on the truth that you are already righteous because of the blood of Jesus, and therefore loved beyond compare. Believe it or not, this will be the most humbling and challenging road you will ever travel because there is nothing you can earn or deserve. Yes, this road requires your greatest effort because it demands that you believe that you are already righteous in God’s sight even though you still sin and have areas of failure.
To believe that you are righteous in God’s sight, outside of your works, grates against the self-righteousness of your human nature. Everything within your natural nature will try to reject this simple yet powerful truth. But make no mistake, the powerful truth of God’s rest is why Jesus came to this earth! This simple yet profound truth puts within your reach the opportunity of a lifetime! Accessing this abundant life offered by God will require the humility and faith of a child. This is why Jesus said, “unless you come like a little child, you will in no way enter the kingdom of God.” Mat 18:3 This is not about doing right: it is about believing right! The byproduct of believing right is doing right! – Not vice versa!
I want to offer you a double-dog-dare-you challenge today! I challenge you to make the most significant effort you have ever made in all of your life to receive the truth of this rest God is offering you! Yes, it will require you to give up anything you could do to impress God or others! Yes, it will require you to live a life not based upon you, but rather upon God himself!
My dearest friend, I believe this Encouraging Note is signaling that your greatest days are ahead! The purpose of Jesus coming to this earth is about to be revealed in and through you! Focus in! Fully receive! Are you ready–will you believe? Will you set your mind on what God has said is true? Today is your day to enter in! The importance of this Encouraging Note cannot be overstated! One thing I am entirely convinced of is that today, God is calling you to…
MAKE EVERY EFFORT!
Read More
Naked authenticity is necessary for a person to have a significant breakthrough. I must know who I am and where I want to go before realizing what I was born to achieve! A person’s full potential can only be reached through an honest inventory of one’s life. Often people are unwilling to undergo a sincere analysis of their life until they are forced into it through things going wrong.
The story of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15 is an excellent example of this. Things had to get especially difficult before he was willing to get nakedly authentic and honest. But what is most encouraging is that his honest evaluation aided him to make some significant decisions that brought great blessing back into his life.
Luke 15:17-20 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. ’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.
You know the story… The father restored him to a place of honor and bestowed upon him the blessing of family and provision he did not deserve. Coming to his senses meant he made an accurate, honest evaluation of his life.
Do you know that you and I are favored? Having the Word of God in our lives gives us an advantage because it is the most accurate and perfect playbook to show us what a successful life should look like.
The first thing the prodigal son did was to make a choice; he said, “I will.” Once we face ourselves and admit the raw truth, we are now in the position to make a beeline straight towards prosperity! The prodigal son’s horrible situation caused him to remember the love and provision underneath his father’s authority and care. Sadly enough, he needed those circumstances to force him to take an accurate inventory and admit the error of his way. Though it all seems harsh, sometimes harsh situations can be a gift from God that brings restoration and prosperity to the one who will bow before God under its weight!
Maybe you are in a difficult situation today. Maybe God is trying to get your attention so that he can take you on a journey into his unparalleled prosperity. I am not implying that it must be difficult for us to evaluate our lives, but rather, if you are going through something, this is your perfect opportunity!
I am praying for you today – I am asking God for the wisdom that causes authentic inventory to be upon you! May you take honest stock of your life, choosing to relinquish your desires to receive God’s desires! May you wholly surrender so that God’s supernatural ways and his abundant life can be yours! I truly believe God has an ace up his sleeve, and your best is yet to come!
Oh, I feel like I am chomping at the bit on this one! I’m ready for God to do in me and through me what’s necessary to go to the next level – how about you? We all need this! Here is our avenue to victory! In the name of Jesus, I declare that new hope is rising within you because you are encouraged by the power of…
AN HONEST INVENTORY
Read More