Anthony

VERSE: But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:  anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Colossians 3:8

THOUGHTS: I don't know about the rest of you, but some days this is a huge job for me.  I am still trying to learn to not allow these things to enter my heart, then I don't have to get rid of it them.  Sounds so simple doesn't it?  With God it truly is.  We struggle when we allow self, pride, wanting control to get in the way and that is when it becomes difficult.  It's almost easier to leave it there; it may feel like to much work to rid ourselves of these things.  That is when it is difficult.

Isn't it wonderful to know that God understands us completely?  He knows that we can't keep these feelings and thoughts from our minds.  He gently reminds us to "get rid" of things that are not from Him.  His Word gives us direction, guidance, knowledge and instruction that these things are destructive to us and others.  His word gives us assurance that we can get rid of these things through Him.  His Word reveals He understands, but wants us free.

Dear friends, please don't ignore these feelings and thoughts.  Don't fool yourself, thinking that because you are a Christian, you couldn't possibly have any of these ugly things in your life.  That would be a lie.  We all have thoughts that are not Godly, we all slander through gossip or in the name of "sharing", we all struggle with one or all of these things listed in this particular scripture at some time.  Anger is probably the one we "pretend" about the most.   We use words like, I'm a "little stressed", or perhaps "someone ticked me off", maybe we use the excuse, "he just irritates me", etc.   We minimize these feelings and don't want to address them for what they are. ANGER.  However, anger is exactly what we feel.  Only God can reveal these things to you if you've learned to hide them as well as I did.  Only through prayer and Godly obedience can we remove them from our hearts.  I pray today that God will help you rid yourself of anything keeping you away from being the Christian God wants you to be.  GET RID dear friend, GET RID.  What a refreshing feeling when you do.  God bless.

Encourage Yourself
 

VERSE: “David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him…But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (I Samuel 30:6).
 

THOUGHTS: It’s good to have friends and family around to cheer you up when you’re down, but in order to truly live in victory, that encouragement has to come from the inside. When your mind is telling you it’s not worth it, when your circumstances seem difficult, deep down inside, your spirit has to have the resolve that says, “I refuse to settle where I am.” That’s what David had to do. He was facing a major setback. His family was killed, his city was destroyed, and his own people were now against him, but he still managed to encourage himself in the Lord. How did he do that? He replayed in his mind the victories from the past. He recounted God’s faithfulness. As he rehearsed over and over the goodness of God, strength began to rise in his heart. There are so many places you can see the hand of God at work. Thank Him for saving you today. Thank Him for the miracle of life. Thank Him for His faithfulness. Focus on the fact that God didn’t bring you this far to leave you now. Stir up that inner strength and encouragement. As you do, you’ll rise higher and higher and live the life of victory the Lord prepared for you.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank You for Your faithfulness today. I choose to focus on You and the good things you have prepared for my future. I thank You for making a way out of no way, and I will bless You always. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

GIVE YOUR FAITH A VOICE

VERSE: “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13).


THOUGHTS: Every believer has been given a measure of faith. In order to see the promises of God come to pass in your life, you have to give your faith a voice. You must declare what God says about you in His Word. Those seeds of faith inside you are activated when you speak them out into the atmosphere. That’s why the scripture tells us, “Let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich.” When you give your faith a voice and send forth the Word of God out of your mouth, the Bible says that He watches over His Word to bring it to pass in your life. Don’t dig up your seed by speaking against His Word. Don’t allow words of defeat or negativity to come out of your mouth. Instead, water your seed by continuing to declare the Word of God. When you wake up every morning, thank Him that His promises are coming to pass in your life. As you do, you will see those things come to pass, and you will live the life of victory God has prepared for you.


PRAYER: Father in heaven, I humbly come before You giving You my thoughts, my actions, and my words. Help me to activate my faith by speaking Your Word daily. May my words and thoughts be pleasing to You always. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Thanks for all the LOVE while I was gone!

VERSE: Seek Me and live” (Amos 5:4).


THOUGHTS: The Bible tells us that Jesus came to give us abundant life. Not only did He come to give you life in eternity, but He desires that you experience abundant life here on earth. He wants your relationships to be vibrant and alive. He wants your dreams to be alive. He wants your body, heart, and mind to be alive and full of vitality. God is the source of all life and when you seek Him, you will find Him, and the result will be everlasting life. Are there areas in your life that need to be resurrected? Are there dreams that you’ve put on the back burner that you need to revive again? Do you need hope or faith for something today? Seek God and allow Him to breathe His life into you. Seek Him with your dreams; seek Him with your plans. Seek Him in all things, and you will find His abundant life, and everything you set your hand to will prosper in Jesus’ Name.


PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus so that I can have abundant life, both now and in eternity. I humbly come before You, giving You all that I am and ask for Your hand of blessing and guidance in everything I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen