“…Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. ²And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them….” – John 8:1-2

This scripture shows us that even Jesus needed to find a quiet place every once in awhile. And so do we. It would be ideal to be able to do this daily to recharge our batteries, because we all need time alone with God. It’s in those still, quiet moments that we can hear Him as God speaks to us. So often we find our lives can be so hectic, busy and sometimes even chaotic and our quiet time gets placed on a shelf like a dusty old book and is forgotten. It’s time that we pull it off the shelf and spend some quality time with the Lord. And use that time just to stop and reflect and talk with God and listen as He comforts us, encourages us and guides us.

You’ll find in doing so, that God can do some amazing things in your life and speak to you, as you are quiet before Him and listening.

Oftentimes, our quiet times is rushed, and we spend very little time spent just listening. Why is it that we are so rushed? Why is it that we tend to live our lives in the fast lane? I believe we need to “slow down” and take time out of each day to spend time alone with Jesus and take life at a slower pace.

Find a quiet place to spend some time with God today, you never know what He has for you.

“Watch ye, stand fast (Stand Strong) in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” -1 Corinthians 16:13

Now, more than ever before, we need to stand firm in our faith. With all the corruption in this world and temptations causing us to stray, we need to stand firm. With all the false doctrines and religions bringing confusion, and pulling us away from the truth, we need to be on guard and stand firm on biblical truth – and our faith. The times we live in now are hard and seem to get harder by the day! But no matter what the world says, no matter how right it may sound, we need to stand on the absolute truth – the Word of God.

There is a song by Casting Crowns that says, “….Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

What a statement! There are a lot fo voices calling out to us, trying to get us to go this way or that way, but the Voice of Truth (the Voice of God) is the one we must be trusting, believing and following.

Let me encourage you today to keep on standing and relying on the Word of God and never stray far from the truth you’ve heard Him speak to you.

Here’s the real truth: He is closer to you than you think and “feel”, He is closer than you could ever imagine, and this is why it is so important not to go by your “feelings”.

We need to continue to read God’s word and stay close contact with Him through prayer so we can recognize and dismiss the lies that Satan whispers in our ears every day.

God is with you!

By praying and thanking God for all that He’s done and doing and going to do, you will find that He is there listening. Talk to Him throughout the day, no matter how late you feel it may be. At the midnight hour Paul and Silas prayed in a jail cell. God does not sleep! He’s available to you and me 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

You don’t have to or need to wait until something goes wrong in your life to call out to God, because you can come and talk to Him about anything and everything.

Try giving Him thanks for the big things in life as well as the little things, share with Him, your hopes, your dreams, your worries, your fears and your requests, and lift up prayers on behalf of others around you. God is always near, and He is always ready to listen to your every word.

“…And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you….” – Matthew 17:20  

Jesus tells us in Matthew 17, that even if we had faith as small as a mustard seed, we could do some incredible things in God – and that nothing will be impossible because with God all things are possible. We can speak to our mountains and move and conquer them with our faith firmly placed in God. And He alone. Have you ever taken a look at a mustard seed? It’s the tiniest thing, but packs a big punch!

Don’t limit yourself. Take your mustard seed of faith today and see what God can do with it! 

It only takes a little bit of faith, to conquer those mountains that stand in our way!

“…….Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s……” – 2 Chronicles 20:15b

This is a promise from God that we can hold on to when going through a difficult time or circumstance that seems to be out of our control. There are just some battles that we simply cannot fight ourselves nor should we be fighting them in our own strength. Sometimes God will direct us to take a certain position, stand still and watch Him move and bring is the victory. But there are also times that we need to take a step back and let God fight for us.

There is nothing for us to fear what comes against us. We must learn to stand firm in our faith, as hard as that may be sometimes.

God knows the whole situation. In fact, He knows the situation better than we do! Even though we feel overwhelmed when we look at our circumstances, the Lord sees the whole picture and sees the way out. We need to let God have control of all things and allow Him to fight the battle we’re facing. Has He not promised that He will be with us until the end?

Whatever battle you are facing today, let me encourage you to give it to God and watch Him fight on your behalf. He knows what’s best and what we need in our lives and He’ll make a way when there seems to be no way!

Isaiah 43:2 has always brought comfort and encouragement to me, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2

“To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” – Ephesians 1:6

Isn’t that a wonderful thought?

Just to think that God loves and accepts us no matter how bad we may have messed up our lives in the past. And it all because of His amazing grace and favor that He has blessed us with. We can be and are accepted. And here’s another thought, there’s absolutely nothing you and I can do to make ourselves more acceptable to Him. Absolutely nothing!

During the invitation in church, we often hear the familiar hymn, “Just as I Am”. What a wonderful reminder that we can come to God just as we are! And when we come to Him, He takes us as we are, drowning, lost in our sins, defeated and beaten down. Then saves us, makes us a new creation in Christ Jesus, helps us live for Him and point others to Calvary that they might be saved too! And all of this is made possible by Jesus Christ who came and died for all of mankind.

God will, in no way, turn away anyone who comes to Him, but receives us with open arms —and He always will. Jesus tells us in John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 

 There is no condemnation – Thank you Jesus!

Because you have been set free from sin and are now a child of God, you are no longer condemned. God does not condemn you. He loves you and will all He can to help us grow as we grow into Christ-likeness. And no matter what others may tell you, there is nothing you could do or say that would stop God from loving you. Many times, we condemn ourselves. If we stumble in our walk or we make a mistake, we beat ourselves up.

Do you think God looks down on us and thinks we’re a lost cause and wondering why He would even bother trying to make us into His likeness? No! That’s a lie from the devil. He sees the treasure you are and have inside of you. He loves you, and as He thinks of you often (isn’t that a great thought?) and He watches over you…and He smiles. He doesn’t  get angry at you if you happen to stumble, but He lovingly helps you up, dusts you off and gives you the strength and confidence to carry on – God never gives up on you. So neither should you!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. – Ephesians 1:3 

We are blessed with every spiritual blessing…

What does that statement mean to you? Are God’s blessings just in the financial area of our lives?  Or can we see that His blessings are for every aspect of our lives: the spiritual, emotional and physical? I believe God’s blessings are so much more than what we could ever imagine. He goes above and beyond to fulfill His promises to His children. We have been blessed with the fullness of heaven to fulfil our purpose and destiny while here on earth. We are fully equipped and lack for nothing! Do you believe that? I hope that you can fully grasp this wonderful truth. God blesses us with HIS richest blessings!

Remember: We are blessed to be a blessing to others. God’s blessings flow from the storehouse of heaven to us, which can then flow out to others.

“…I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

God strengthens us – it’s His power within that causes us to rise above and overcome the obstacles that cross our path. But so often it doesn’t feel that way. Many times we feel we’re running on empty and simply don’t have the strength to carry on. It’s in times like these we need re-charging. Sometimes it’s impossible to get away from it all, no matter how far we may run. But what if we learned to prioritize things and simplify those things.

Spending time in God’s word really does refresh us. No matter how long you may spend in it. Even if it’s 5 minutes a day, it will make a difference. There are countless promises in the Word of God that when we speak them out, they give us a spiritual boost. We may not have much in way of human strength, but we can lean on God’s strength.

We are strong because HE is strong!

“…The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope (wait expectantly) in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him….”                           – Lamentations 3:24-25 (KJV)

Is this not what many of us are doing right now?? How many of you know that there’s a difference between waiting and waiting “expectantly”?. It takes faith to wait expectantly for the Lord to come through. How many times do we wait, and wait lacking faith and hope? When we do wait that way, we feel like God’s not going to come through us this time, so we ought to just go ahead and just give up. But we need to remind ourselves of how God is trustworthy and ever faithful! He knows every situation we’re in and everything that you and I may be facing. He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us to face those things alone. He can be trusted completely. As we keep on reminding ourselves of this and remember how many times in the past God always came through, our faith can be built up so we are able to wait “expectantly”.

We can expect the Lord to come through for us, when we wait with hope, faith and trust.