Authority and Power

Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.
—Luke 10:19


Far too many believers are fainthearted, weak in determination, and diseased with an "I can't" attitude they are lacking in power.

You and I don't have to beg God to give us power. We just need to realize and accept that we have been given power and then walk in what is already ours. We must develop and maintain a "power consciousness" an aggressive, power-packed attitude.

God has given us spiritual power for spiritual warfare. Spiritual power is released when our faith is firm. When we walk in faith we can approach every situation with an attitude of enemy-conquering faith.

An attitude of confidence will exude from us when we know who we are in Christ and believe in the power that the Bible says is ours through faith.

Do you desire to be a powerful believer? Try approaching every situation in your life (no matter how large or small) with a simple, childlike faith believing that God is good, that He has a good plan for your life, and that He is working in your situation.

You have power. Walk in it!

Say This:

"The Greater One lives in me. I am full of God's miracle-working power. I am going to walk in what is mine."




Have a Faithful Friday

Guilt and condemnation

Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
—Romans 8:1


Guilt and condemnation are major problems for many believers.

It is Satan's greatest delight to make us feel bad about ourselves. He never tells us how far we have come, but rather, he constantly reminds us of how far we still have to go.

When the enemy attacks me, I say, "I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. I'm okay, and I'm on my way."

Like David, we must learn to keep ourselves encouraged in the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:6.) None of us has arrived at the state of perfection. We cannot perfect ourselves: sanctification (holiness) is the job of the Holy Spirit, and it is worked out in our lives as a process.

The Bible teaches that we can have complete forgiveness of our sins (total freedom from condemnation) through the blood of Jesus Christ. We must decide if Jesus did a complete job or if He didn't. We don't need to add our guilt to His sacrifice. He is more than enough.

Let Jesus do His job. He wants to forgive you. All you have to do is receive His forgiveness. Complete forgiveness is completely free!

Say This:

"I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. I'm okay, and I'm on my way."


Have a Thankful Thursday

Transplanted

God created us to be loved. He wants to love us; He wants us to love each other, and He wants us to love and accept ourselves. Without this foundation of love and acceptance, there will be no joy and peace.

Some of us need to be transplanted. If we started out in the wrong soil, Jesus will transplant us so that we can get rooted and grounded in His love, as the Bible teaches.

Know that you are valuable, unique, loved, and special. When this is your foundation and your root, you will produce good fruit.

Ask God to give you beauty for ashes.

Say This:

I was created for love. God loves me and wants me to love Him, love others, and love and accept myself."


Have a Marvelous Monday!

I have peace

...Let him search for peace...and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]
—1 Peter 3:11

When Jesus said, Peace I leave with you... (John 14:27), He was talking about a special kind of peace, not a worldly kind of peace. The special peace that Jesus was talking about is the kind of peace that operates all the time in every situation.

The believer who is experiencing God's peace through his relationship with Jesus can have peace even in the midst of the storms of life.

First Peter 3:11 says that we are to search for peace, to pursue it, and to seek it eagerly. The word seek means "...strive after, endeavor...desire." "Inquire." "To require or demand." It means requiring something as a vital necessity, craving, or pursuing something.

This verse mentions three areas in which we are to seek peace: (1) with God, (2) with our fellowmen, and (3) with ourselves.

Learn to love peace and to desire it earnestly. Seek peace, for without it you cannot enjoy life and the blessings of God. The Lord has said that if you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13.) I believe if you seek and search for peace with your whole heart, you will find what you are looking for.

Say This:

"I have the peace that passes all understanding. I have the peace that operates in the midst of the storm."

Have a Faithful Friday!

Nothing’s Too Small for God

Today's Scripture

“And even the very hairs of your head are numbered” (Matthew 10:30)

Today's Word

We hear all the time that nothing is too big for God. But have you ever thought that a problem was too small for God? Are there things in your life that you haven’t prayed about simply because you thought it didn’t matter to God? Every detail of your life is important to God. He knows the very number of hairs you have on your head! That’s pretty amazing to think about. If He keeps track of every hair that falls from your head, surely He cares about the things that you care about in your life. God wants to be involved in every area of your life—not just the big things, but the small things too. Don’t wait to pray until you have a major crisis. Talk to Him every day about everything. God wants to be involved in your mornings. He wants to be involved throughout your workday. He wants to be involved when you go to the grocery store. He wants to be involved in every area of your life. Open your heart and talk to Him about everything because nothing is too small for Him!

A Prayer for Today

God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for choosing me as Your child and for caring about every detail in my life. I open my heart to You and ask You to be involved in every area of my life today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Have a Blessed Day!

Triumph in Trials

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace..., Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.
—1 Peter 5:10


In John 16:33 Jesus tells us that in the world we will have tribulation. Trials and tribulations seem to be a part of life. We should learn how to triumph in the midst of them.

Trials can make us bitter or better. The devil hopes to steal our faith and leave us bitter and angry at God. God intends to strengthen our faith, purify it so it comes forth like gold, develop patience in us, and give us experience that will help others. (1 Peter 1:5-7.)

We are taught to endure patiently. (1 Peter 2:20.) To endure is to outlast the problem. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22.) It is not just waiting, it is how we act while we are waiting.

To triumph in trials we must learn stability remain the same, continue in our commitments, and walk in love. Going through hard times and continuing to be good and kind to others is a sure way to triumph in trials.

If you are in a time of trials, they don't have to defeat you let them make you stronger.

Say This:

"I will triumph in the midst of my trials by remaining stable. I will continue to walk in love and the fruit of the Spirit."

Have a Magnificent Monday!

Delight yourself also in the Lord

Today's Scripture
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart”(Psalm 37:4 AMP).

Today's Word
God knows the secret petitions of your heart. He knows every hidden dream He’s placed within you. He knows those things that you haven’t told anybody about. Maybe you thought they would never come to pass, or maybe you buried them because they didn’t happen on your timetable. Maybe, in the natural, you have every reason to give up on those dreams. Be encouraged today—God is still working behind the scenes! He still has a plan to bring those dreams to pass. Do what the verse says, and delight yourself in Him today. That word delight, actually means to make yourself soft and pliable. It paints the picture of God as the Potter and you as the clay. Allow God to mold and shape your character today. Allow Him to direct your plans and ideas. Keep an attitude of faith and expectancy today, and as you submit your ways to the Lord and open your heart to His leading, He will fulfill those secret petitions of your heart!

A Prayer for Today
Father, You said the path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter. You said no good thing will You withhold because I walk uprightly before You. You said because I delight myself in You, You will give me the secret petitions of my heart. So Father, I thank You today for being in control of my life. Thank You for the good things You have in store for my future. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Front Row Seat

Life is like a theater, so invite your audiences carefully. Not everyone is healthy enough to have a FRONT ROW seat in our lives. There are some people in your life who need to be loved from a distance. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go, or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships, friendships, fellowships, and even family!

Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention to:

Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are just going downhill or just staying still??? When you leave certain people, do you feel better or feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know and appreciate you and the gift that lies within you?

The more you seek God and the things of God, the more you seek quality, the more you seek not just the hand of God but the face of God, the more you seek things honorable, the more you seek growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the FRONT ROW and who should be moved to the BALCONY of your life.

You cannot change the people around you...but you can change the people you are around! Ask God for wisdom and discernment and choose wisely the people who sit in the FRONT ROW of your life. Remember that FRONT ROW seats are for special and deserving people and those who sit in Your FRONT ROW should be chosen carefully.

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Pass Through the Waters

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched....
—Isaiah 43:2


God wants us to be diligent and go all the way through with Him, not just go until the way becomes difficult, and then stop there. One of our greatest challenges is to face our mountains rather than trying to go around them.

Sometimes we go around and around the same mountain, and we end up like the Israelites in the wilderness who wandered around for forty years. (Deuteronomy 2:1-3.) We must learn to face our mountains, determined to go all the way through with God. That is the only path to victory.

I encourage you to go all the way through with God no matter how difficult it may seem. Let God have His way in your life. Pray for God's will and not your own will. God's way is for you to set your face like flint, dig in both heels, and go all the way through.

By the way, the attitude that you have while you are going through is most important. The Word says that it is to be a joyful attitude, otherwise you may have to make the trip again. (James 1:2-4.)

Pray This:

"Father, thank You for infusing me with inner strength so that I am ready for and equal to anything. (Philippians 4:13.) In Jesus' name, amen."

This is a Magnificent Monday!

Seeing with the Heart

Those you love become beautiful to you… just as we are beautiful to God.

Love is blind, love sees with different eyes. Love sees beyond the surface. Love opens the door for beauty. When we see with the eye, we develop the ability to refine, to judge, to discriminate. When we see with the heart, we expand the view of what it is to be human, see the common dream, see the wisdom of friends and neighbors, see there is no separation between that which is most beautiful and the everyday world. The eye of the heart sees with a wholeness that allows imperfections and idiosyncrasies to coexist with beauty. The eye of the heart knows surface and depth are not opposites. Beauty is a process, a revelation, not a finished state.

Beauty reveals itself over time in relationship. The people I love are beautiful to me. I'm not sure if my eyes are blinded by love or it is love that lets me see their beauty. Knowing them over time, my appreciation of who they are and how they appear increases. Their beauty comes from their liveliness and authentic sweetness, their intention to live lives that make some sense (and some nonsense), the spirited coherence of being who they are.

When we are most alive, we are beautiful. When we are in love, we are reminded that we are beautiful. And sometimes when we know we are beautiful, we find ourselves in love. "In love" usually means the romantic sense of being with one other person who in that moment we feel reflects us perfectly. Our songs and movies have told us such great sentimental stories about being "in love," we forget that being in love can be a state of truth as well as an illusion.

One of the most beautiful and accessible ways to address God is as Love. What is done with love is done in beauty to celebrate the God that loves. Surround yourself with people who understand what real beauty is.

Forgiving one Another

...forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
—Ephesians 4:32


When we hold things against people, are we really hurting them? Isn't it really ourselves we are hurting?

Jesus frequently spoke of the need to forgive others. If we are to walk the narrow path, we will have to learn to be quick to forgive. The quicker we forgive, the easier it is. We must do it before the problem gets rooted in our emotions. It will be much more difficult to pull out if it has long, strong roots.

Holding grudges against other people does not change them, but it does change us. It makes us sour, bitter, miserable, and difficult to be around. When we think we are holding a grudge, it is actually the grudge that is holding us. It is Satan's deceptive way of keeping us in bondage. He wants us to think we are getting even, that we are protecting ourselves from being hurt again.

None of that is true!

I want to encourage you to ask God for grace to forgive anyone against whom you are holding a grudge. Determine from this point on to keep your heart and life free from this negative emotion.

God has a great plan for your life, but you will only enter into it by staying on the narrow path.

Say This:

"I choose to follow Jesus' example by forgiving others. Therefore, I enter into a new realm of peace and enjoyment of life."