CHOOSE FAITH

Monday, 31st May 2021

Hebrews 11:27 – By faith [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

Either we live by faith or we live by fear. Moses teaches us that living by faith rather than by fear is a choice.

He went to the most powerful man in the world and said, “You know those slaves that are building all your pyramids? I’m taking them, and we’re all leaving. You’re not going to have slave labor anymore. Let my people go.”

Moses had every reason to be afraid. He was going up against a powerful man who was considered a god, and whatever Pharaoh said, you had to do. What he said was the law. And here came Moses and declared, “We aren’t going to do what you say anymore. I’m not afraid of you because I report to a higher authority.” That took some guts!

Do you want that same kind of faith in your life so you can overcome your fear? The closer you get to God, the more you’re going to be filled with faith. The further away you get from God, the more you’re going to be filled with fear.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of faith for the rest of your life. The Bible says that whatever is not of faith is sin. The Bible also says that without faith it is impossible to please God. How many times did you please God this week?

Do you want something to change in your life? Instead of complaining, start believing. God is not moved by complaints. God is moved by faith, a truth we see in these words of Jesus: “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29). You get to choose what He does in your life.

Here’s the key: What matters is not the size of your faith but the size of the God you put it in. A little faith in a big God gets big results!

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK

Earrings diy

YOU CAN FORGIVE OTHERS

Monday, 24th May 2021

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

God calls us to forgive others, but how do we do that? Here are four ways to help you let go of your pain, hurt, and bitterness.

1. Recognise we can all make mistakes: When we’ve been hurt, we tend to lose our perspective about the person who offended us. But we need to remember that we are all prone to errors. Colossians 3:13 says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others”.

2. Relinquish your right to get even: Trust God to confront the person who hurt you and trust Him to work things out for you. Choose compassion over your desire to retaliate. The Bible says, “Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it”” (Romans 12:19 The Message).

3. Respond to evil with good: Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. Getting even only brings you down to the other person’s level. Take the high road instead. The Bible says to treat your enemies with kindness. It’s nearly impossible to do this on your own. That’s why you need the love of Jesus to fill you up.

4. Refocus on God’s plan for your life: When you are focused on the people who hurt you, you’re actually letting them control your life. When you forgive them, you find the freedom to refocus on God’s purpose for your life. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you”.

Don’t go another day with resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness in your heart. Start practicing these four choices and move on to live the life God created you to live.

HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK

LIFE IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

Sunday, 23rd May 2021

1 Corinthians 13:3 – If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.

We learned yesterday that the Bible is very clear about what really matters in life: If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you say will matter, nothing you know will matter, nothing you believe will matter, and nothing you give will matter.

Finally, if you don’t live a life of love, nothing you accomplish will matter.

You can rack up an incredible list of personal achievements. You can get your picture on the cover of Fortune magazine. You can win the Nobel Peace Prize. You be entrepreneur of the year, build a billion-dollar company, have incredibly great successes in your field of endeavor. But the Bible says it isn’t worth much if you don’t love.

Life is about relationships, not accomplishments.

It’s as simple as this: You can have the eloquence of an orator, the knowledge of a genius, the faith of a miracle worker, the generosity of a philanthropist, or the achievements of a superstar, but if you don’t have love in your heart, it is worth zero. It doesn’t count. The one thing that matters most to God is this: Do you love Him, and do you love other people?

One day you’re going to die, and you’re going to stand before God. When He evaluates your life, He’s not going to look at your bank account or your list of accomplishments or your grades. He’s not going to look at your endorsements or your resume.

God is going to evaluate your life on one basis: your relationships. He’s going to ask, “How much did you love me and other people?” That’s called the Great Commandment. Did you love God with all your heart, and did you love your neighbor as yourself?

That’s why Paul teaches us that what matters most is our faith being expressed through love (Galatians 5:6).

NB: We ain’t saying followers of Christ should be lazy and not do great exploits. But great exploits without love is worthless.

HAVE A GLORIOUS SUNDAY

DON’T BE ENVIOUS

Thursday, 20th May 2021

Mathew 20:13-15 – But he answered one of them, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

When it looks like God’s blessing somebody in a way that He’s not blessing you, relax and trust God. Believe that He knows what’s best for you, and trust Him when life seems unfair.

One of the ways you can tell envy is creeping into your life is the language you use. If you find yourself using the phrase “It’s not fair! Why them? Why not me? I’ve worked as hard as they do.”, you’ve already fallen into the trap of envy.

Today, we continue with Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers. In the story, the workers felt that they were being treated unfairly, not because they weren’t paid what they were promised but because other people who worked less were paid the same amount (Matthew 20:12). You can hear the envy: “We slaved all day under a scorching sun. We’re better than them!”

Notice the reply of the owner, who represents God: “Friend, I didn’t cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on . . . What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?” (Matthew 20:13-15).

The bottom line on envy is this: When you’re envious, you’re in a battle with God. You doubt God’s goodness in your life. You resent His decision to bless somebody else. You accuse Him of being unfair or of playing favorites. You don’t believe He has your best interest at heart.

On the contrary, God’s extravagant, unconditional, unending love is the same for everyone. God has a good reason why you don’t have what you want. He knows you better than you know yourself. Practice praying, “God, I’m going to trust that you have a unique plan for my life and that you know better than me what I need right now.”

Envy is the fever. Doubting God is the infection. Any time you start envying, it’s because you doubt God. The medicine you need is to start trusting again in God and His love for you.

When God writes your love story

My life partner

THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT

Wednesday, 19th May 2021

Philippians 4:12 – I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Instead of focusing so much on what we don’t have and what didn’t happen, we can be grateful for what we do have. This doesn’t come naturally to me, probably not for you either, and not even for the apostle Paul, who said, “I have learned to be content.”

Being content is a learning process.

Envy is based on the myth that you need more to be happy. Envy always looks at others and asks, “Why them? Why did they deserve it? I deserve what they have.” But gratitude says, “Why me? Why did God give me this? I’m blessed because I don’t deserve what I have.” It totally flips our perspective.

Although we all struggle with envy, it’s hard to admit it because it’s such an ugly emotion. When you’re envious of others, you really want them to fail, because it makes you feel better that they don’t have more than you. That’s pretty crazy, isn’t it? If we could only learn to be grateful for what we have, we could begin to get rid of these feelings of envy.

It’s important to understand that envy is not having a desire or a dream or a goal. It’s good to have those. Envy is not looking forward to something or hoping that something can happen in your life or even wondering if you should have some thing. Envy is instead resenting somebody who already has what you desire or has reached a goal you have yet to obtain. Envy says you can’t be happy until you get that desire or goal. Envy is not being grateful for what you already have.

Yet the Bible tells us that we already have more than we need and far more than we deserve. Every good thing in our lives is a gift from God, and it is up to Him to decide when and how He blesses us. It’s up to us to choose to be grateful and make the most of what we’ve been given.

As Ecclesiastes 6:9 says, “It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else” (GNT).

REJOICE WITH OTHERS

Tuesday, 18th May 2021

Romans 12:15 – Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

When we see God being kind and gracious to others, we can respond with joy rather than resentment.

In the parable of the vineyard workers we saw yesterday, that is the exact opposite of what the workers did: The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same, they began complaining to the owner of the vineyard. . . . And he said, “Are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:10-11, 15).

The guys who worked all day were paid exactly what they were contracted to be paid. They weren’t cheated; yet, they resented that other people who only worked the last part of the day were given the same amount. Instead of enjoying their pay, these workers resented it.

In Romans 12:15, the Bible says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”. The second half of this verse is much easier to do than the first half. It’s easy to weep with those who weep. When someone is having a tough time, it’s easy to be sympathetic.

But it’s much more difficult to rejoice when someone has a success. We often don’t handle the success of other people very well. In fact, we’re sometimes threatened by it, and we resent it. That’s because in our minds we think the world is a giant pie that’s divided up into slices. We think, If somebody’s slice gets a little bit bigger than mine, that must mean my slice is going to be smaller.

That kind of thinking is wrong. Because God’s got all the pie filling in the world! He doesn’t run out of blessings. He doesn’t run out of grace. There’s more than enough to go around for everybody, and just because God blesses somebody else doesn’t mean there’s not enough blessing for you, too. He wants to bless you, but it may be in different ways.

The main thing envy does is keep you from entering into the joy of other people. As a result, you don’t enjoy much that goes on in the world. Envy will make you a pretty miserable person.

But if you choose to rejoice in God’s goodness to others, you can be joyful all the time because something good is always happening to somebody.

LOVE SUPPORTS

Sunday, 16th May 2021

Job 6:14 – Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

If you have a spouse or a friend or a loved one who’s walked away from God, you cannot walk away from them. God wants you to know that they need you now more than ever!

The Bible says, “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14). When your loved one is in such a place that they say, “I am in so much pain, I don’t even know if I believe in God right now,” you can say to them, “That’s okay. I’ll believe God for you. I’ll stand by you and carry you through this until God restores what has been lost.”

Lasting love refuses to give up on someone. You can know this because Jesus modeled this kind of love for you. When you were dead in sin, He didn’t walk away. He didn’t just wait it out. He didn’t hold it against you. He didn’t even expect you to pay for what you had done.

Instead, Jesus believed in you. He saw what you could become with His righteousness. He loved you so perfectly and so unconditionally that He was willing to receive the punishment for your sin. He took on your pain and promised to walk through life with you and give you the hope of heaven.

Who in your life needs you to show them a glimpse of God’s love by extending grace, expressing faith, and enduring the worst with them?

HAVE A LOVELY SUNDAY