Use Your Sword

 

 

When the devil started tempting Jesus, we see the perfect example of how the Holy Spirit cooperates with us to wield His sword, which is the Word of God (Luke4:3-12). When you find yourself under enemy attack, pick up the sword of the Spirit immediately. If you cannot do anything more than hold your Bible and read it out loud, saying, “it is written,” do it—and do not stop until you get a hold of your mind. Merely speaking God’s Word out of your mouth will help you gird up the loins of your mind and enable the Holy Spirit to break in and speak to your heart with truth that will set you free from enemy attack.

 

~From 101 Tactics for Spiritual Warfare by Jennifer LeClaire

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

 

Serve Jesus With Your Life

 

 

When you came to faith in Jesus Christ, you were welcomed into God’s family. You were blessed with His strength and a secure future. Every day He gives you on Earth is another day you can express your love toward Him, and your thankfulness for Him, by choosing to serve Him with your life. Don’t waste the time He’s blessed you with by chasing after false gods.

 

~From Desiring Jesus by John Stange 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

 

You Are As God Intended

 

 

Put on God’s glasses for a moment and look into the mirror. Imagine the one who created you. He looks at you like a new father looks at his first child; like a new mother fascinated with the little hands and feet of her first baby. Picture God’s loving eyes staring back at you. Like a parent watching his or her child’s first steps, He sees you as He created you: beautifully conceived and perfectly formed. You are exactly as He intended—unique and created for specific missions to love and care for others.

 

~From Taking God to Work: The Keys to Ultimate Success by David L Winters and Steve Reynolds 

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

Be Angry But Sin Not

 

 Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

Not only had Cain acted in anger by killing Abel, but his heart was being driven by a selfish or sinful desire that motivated his anger. This is why learning to question our own angry thoughts, attitudes, and actions can help us overcome this dangerous emotion. Probing behind or underneath our anger helps us see the real reason we get angry. Anger wears many hats. Sometimes it looks like punishing others with silence, withdrawal, explosive words, or emotional outbursts. Other times it looks like pouting and sulking. And in some cases, it looks like harsh and unrealistic demands.

Not all anger is bad or sinful. God gets angry, but His anger is always good, right, and justified. His anger is an expression of what He loves. But our anger is often sinful and self-seeking.

Sometimes anger reveals not what we want, but what we have and are afraid of losing.

Maybe it’s a sense of control, someone’s approval, or security. Often times when what we value most is threatened, we act out in anger to prevent losing it.

Is your anger revealing something you are fearful of losing? What does your anger reveal that you treasure most? The next time you get angry, learn to ask, “Why?” Allow God to show you what is really driving your anger.

God wants to change us from the inside out. Not just our actions, but our hearts.

Father, show me the real cause of my anger. Through the work of Your Spirit, change me from the inside out. Root out selfish and sinful attitudes that are harmful to my relationships with others. Give me wisdom and understanding as I desire to be transformed into the likeness of Your Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

~From Settle My Soul by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!
 

God's Abundant Joy

 

 

The world may offer temporary happiness, but only God gives abundant joy that lasts an eternity.

~From Pastor Charles Stanley, Intouch.org

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

 

Thanksgiving Is The Key

 

 

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 107:1 NKJV

 

Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 106:1 NKJV

 

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:17 NKJV

 

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV

 

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV

 

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 100:4 NKJV

 

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Colossians 4:2 NKJV

 

Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 136:26 NKJV

 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

 

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 5:18-20 NKJV

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

God Is Not Disappointed In You

 

Because God knows our hearts and motives, He is never shocked or disappointed in us. People may be upset when we don’t act the way they think we should. But they are not God.

 

~From Two Scoops of Grace With Chuckles On Top by Jeanette Levellie 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

 

Spiritual Affirmations: Keeping Yourself In God

 

 

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:5 NKJV

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16 NKJV

We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
1 John 5:18 NKJV
 

 

Repeat after me:

 

The love of God has been shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, and His love abides in me richly. I keep myself in the kingdom of light, in love, in the Word; and the wicked one touches me not.

 

For more affirmations, check out Prayers That Avail Much by Germaine Copeland

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

Have Childlike Faith

 

Childlike faith is having the ability to trust the Word of God and believe in the promises of God. I think it’s possible to develop childlike faith; I think that if you went and got a book on the promises of God, and started to meditate on the promises of God, and started to believe the promises of God that you could develop childlike faith. Jesus commands you to have childlike faith, so he wouldn’t command something that isn’t possible.

 

~From The Narrow Way: The Fifty Commandments of Jesus - A Devotional by Matthew Robert Payne

 

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

 

God is Merciful

 

 

Two thousand years ago Christ demonstrated His mercy toward us when He went to the cross to take the judgment that was meant for all humanity! It’s because of His mercy that He effectively lets us off the hook from the much deserved death sentence we’ve earned ourselves, and in its place, He offers us salvation and eternal life. Now that’s grace and mercy at its best! His mercy says, “I’ll pardon you from the punishment you deserve,” and His grace says, “I’ll give you what you can’t earn!” Don’t we serve a good, good Father?

 

~From The Beatitudes  Devotional on YouVersion

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

How To Be Wise According to Jesus

 

Following Jesus is not just about what we say. In Christianity, confession of Christ and what you say about Christ is important. But mere verbal confession is not enough: “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Following Jesus is not just about what we do, not even what we do for Christ and in the name of Christ: “Many will say, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons, and do many mighty works in your name?” In our Christian lives, serving Christ and his cause in ministry is important, but it is not enough. 

Following Jesus is not about what we know or have learned. Jesus says that it’s not enough to just hear his words. It is, again, important to rightly know the teachings of Christ and the Bible itself. But again, it is not enough.

Following Jesus is about wisdom: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man.” Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. The greatest challenge of the Christian life is living the Christian life.  

~From The Sermon on the Mount Devotional on YouVersion

 

 Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

Sometimes No Is The Right Thing

 

God is not really concerned with whether we win or lose the lottery. He says no on a daily basis to the self-centered barrage of requests we make for easy money without work or responsibility. God is the wisest and most beautiful being in the universe, and He does what is best for us, even when we don’t understand why. God does not always say yes to our prayers. He is far too loving to give in to self-centered prayers that cause more harm than good.

Jesus was “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). It was in His power to say yes to every request, yet there were times He said no (Mark 1:21-39). And if God says no, what does that teach us about the need for us to say no as well?

Take a moment to reflect on your life. Has God ever said no to something you wanted? Are you able to see wisdom in that no today?

If God says no, you can be confident that there are times when you need to say no too.

~From No Is a Beautiful Word by Kevin Harney 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

Faith That Pleases God

 

It is faith that pleases God and faith that enables the Christian life. You are never closer to God than when you are trusting in, relying on, leaning on, resting in, and delighting in one of his great and precious promises.

 

~From Delight Yourself in God: A 20-Day Devotional on Four Surprising Attributes of God. Practical Steps For Drawing Near to God and Increasing Your Love For Him by D. Richard Ferguson

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!