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Complete Joy

7/13/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
John 15:11 (NIV)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
God created us for joy! And where does joy come from? Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you.” What was it that He told us that would give us joy? The answer lies in the preceding verse. It says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” Jesus said that His joy would be in us and that our joy would be complete as a direct result of the love He and our heavenly Father has for us. Our joy comes from knowing this love in a personal way. It comes from the fact that God is very, very glad to be with us. As the Psalmist suggests, we can come into God’s presence with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise! Why? Because He loves us unconditionally and has bonded with us in a way that gives us true, deep down joy. Today, don’t accept some mediocre joy. Instead, meditate on the love that God has for you and let it move you deep in your soul. Today, ask God to fill you with joy.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, thank You for creating me for joy. Help me to know the extent of Your love and how happy You are to call me Your own so that my joy will be full.
AMEN

Strength

7/11/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
The LORD gives his people strength.
Psalms 28:8 (NLT)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
Strength is a mighty gift from God. With strength, you can have many options. You can have the strength to make it through a tough time. Strength to accomplish a difficult task. Strength to overcome overwhelming circumstances. Strength when all else has failed. Strength to be patient and wait on the Lord. Strength to tear down strongholds. Strength to get through another day. Strength to outlast a temptation. Strength to give it another try. Strength to accept grace. Strength to face your deepest fears. Strength to start over. Strength to admit when you’re wrong. Strength to accept your weakness. Strength to trust in God. Today God has all the strength you need. It’s yours for the asking.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, how I thank You that You give Your people strength. You know my needs. You know where I am weak and where I need Your strength. Give me all the strength I need for today. In Jesus’ name.
AMEN

Comfort and Strength

7/7/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
II Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NLT)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
God knows exactly what we need to make it in this life. He offers to us two indispensable tools for getting us through any of life’s situation. He gives us comfort and strength. Comfort calms us. Comfort gives us hope and encourages our faith. Comfort gives us the ability to trust God for the strength to press on. Strength to help us overcome obstacles. Strength needed for everyday life. Today may God comfort your heart and mind and give you all the strength you need.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, I pray that You will give me all the comfort and strength I need for this day. In Jesus’ name.
AMEN

God's Thinking of You!!!

6/23/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
Psalms 139:17-18 (NLT)
TODAY’S THOUGHT
What a mood David was in! You can hear the enthusiasm in his words. He is full of appreciation and amazement. Could he get any more excited about God? He got it! He understood that the Almighty God of the universe was aware of him. More than aware, God was constantly thinking about him. More than just thinking, David said that God’s thoughts about him were precious! Have you come to that same awareness David had? Have you stopped to consider how much God thinks about you? Today, meditate on the fact that God is keenly aware of you. You are precious to Him. In fact, if you tried to add up all the thoughts God has about you, you would never be able to do it! And here is the amazing part, every day you wake up God is still with you; He is still having precious thoughts about you. Today, live joyfully in this awareness.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, I thank You for all Your precious thoughts about me. I thank You for caring and being there for me. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus’ name.
AMEN

Treasures

6/9/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Matthew 6:21

TODAY’S THOUGHT
Where are our priorities? What is really important to us? We can pretend that we believe certain spiritual truths but what we really treasure usually gives us away. Jesus is warning us that it is easy to get caught up in this life and not really look at the whole picture. We are not just part of this physical world. We are part of a much larger system. We are part of the Spiritual realm. We are connected with eternity and therefore need to integrate what we believe in this life with a Heavenly perspective. The questions that we need to ask our self is, “What do we really care for?” “What is really important to us?” “What do we treasure?” When we answer these questions, we will find our heart. Then we need to ask ourselves a really hard question. “Does our heart reflect Christ’s values or the worlds?” If we are going to follow Christ, if we are going to be His representative in this world, then our heart needs to reflect what is important to Him. Today, might we check our heart’s priority and realign what’s important to us to be more in tune with Christ.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father help me love what You love. Help me live with Your priorities foremost in my thinking. Help live for You today.
AMEN

Praise God!!!

5/4/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
Praise the LORD! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! Revelation 19:6-7 (NLT)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
How excited are you about knowing God? You would think we would be ecstatic, but instead, our joy is minimal. I have seen sports fan get more excited about their teams winning a championship than most churches do during worship. This is because in reality most of us only know about God. Sure, we have asked Him to be our Savior, but we haven’t taken the time to really know Him. We know nothing of His power, wisdom or glory. How then can we say with John, “The Lord our God, the Almighty reigns”? If we are going to celebrate God, if we are going to rejoice because of Him, then we need to know God in a deep and personal way. This will only happen if we spend time in His presence. In His presence, He will reveal Himself to us. In His presence, we will learn of His power, wisdom and His glory. In His presence, we will learn to praise, celebrate and rejoice in Him. So today stop everything. Stop and for one moment become conscious of His presence and consider who He is. Sense that He is the Almighty one. Feel how worthy He is of all our praise. For just a moment consider how great He is and then know this; He loves you! The Almighty One loves you, so go ahead, celebrate, rejoice and give Him the glory!

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, forgive me for not appreciating You enough. You are the Almighty One and You reign on high. I rejoice that I know You and come to You with joy and celebration. You are worthy of all my praise and I give You all the glory.
AMEN

Self-Compassion

4/4/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
The Lord does not ignore me or belittle me when I come to Him suffering and am needy. He never turns His back on me. Instead, He listens to my cry for help!
Psalm 22:24
TODAY’S THOUGHT
We need to rebuild our concept of ourselves. Because God is compassionate toward us, we also need to learn to be compassionate toward ourselves. But beware—self-compassion is not easy for someone who is shame-based. It is difficult to grasp the concept, but it can be done. It takes practice. It takes self-awareness, intentional correction of our negative thinking, and consistent intake of affirmations to keep us in the practice of thinking about ourselves in completely new ways. We can’t just say it. We must drive it deeply into our psyches so that we feel it. Our body and emotions need to become believers. We need to come against the lies about ourselves; we need to resist the emotional triggers that will cause us to slip back into shame, thinking about what we should have done and self-loathing. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and fellowship with other believers to truly grasp and practice the new reality. Today, love yourself the way God loves you. Walk in that freedom.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Father God, thank you for your love and compassion toward me. Help me be compassionate toward myself the way You are. Help me love myself so I, in turn, can love You and others from a truly joyful heart. In Jesus’ name.
Amen

Everything We Need For Life And Godliness

3/30/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him. II Peter 1:3 (NIV)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
How many times have we felt inadequate in a situation? If only there was something that could help us? It is easy to feel this way about our spiritual life. How can we live for God? How can we live this Christian life the way He wants us to? By ourselves, we can’t. But the good news is, “He has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” How? Through knowing Him and His promises. What a blessing! Capture the scope of what Peter is saying, he has “given us everything we need for life and Godliness!” Today, spend time and get to know God. Talk to Him. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. If you will spend time getting to know God, you will find that He does indeed have everything you need for life and godliness.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear God, I want to live the life You want me to, but I can’t do it by myself. I need You. I need Your promises. Reveal Yourself to me today and in the days to come, so I can get to know You more and more and live the life You desire for me.
AMEN

Increase Your Inner Strength

3/4/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Ephesians 3:16 (NIV)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
Two thousand years ago, Paul the Apostle prayed this prayer for the church in Ephesus. He prayed that God would use His mighty resources to strengthen them with POWER in their INNER BEING. Can you think of anything that we need more than that? All around us, there is strife, stress, conflicts, and confusion. We often find ourselves going up and down emotionally. It is easy to get sucked into this world’s problems and forget that there is a God who cares, who loves us and who can strengthen us. In order to make it in this world, we need a mighty reservoir of strength on the inside, where we really live. And how does God impart His strength into our life? Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. According to Paul, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to give us the internal strength we need. This same Spirit that intercedes for us. This same Spirit that leads us into all truth. This same Spirit that is our comfort. The Holy Spirit will give us the strength we need on the inside. Ask Him to strengthen you with His power today.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Holy Spirit, I know You are real. You are our Holy God’s Spirit, that comes and takes residence in us upon our conversion. I confess I have ignored You. I repent and ask Your forgiveness. I ask You now, O Holy Spirit, to come in all Your power and give me strength today in my inner being. Might I live in the fullness of Your power even now. In Jesus’ name.
AMEN

His Name Is Hope

1/31/2019

TODAY’S VERSE
Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally, he will cause justice to be victorious. And his name will be the hope of all the world.”
Matthew 12:18-21 (NLT)

TODAY’S MESSAGE
You can tell a religion by the God it follows. We follow Jehovah who manifested Himself a man in the person of Christ Jesus. He could have chosen to come as a ruler, a dictator, a mighty military leader or a tyrant. Instead, He came to earth as a humble savior. Isaiah says that Jesus came to proclaim justice. He came to be our hope. He did not come to crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering flame. What a picture Isaiah is painting. Here we are – many times messy, needy and weak. We get beat up, confused, tempted and tired. What does Jesus do? Does He step all over us? Does He crush the reeds? No, not even a faint brush to disturb them. Does He rant and rave? Does He blow out the littlest bit of a flame that we have left? No, He does nothing that would cause the flame to go out. His name is Hope! Hope is what our soul thirsts for. Today, hope in His unconditional love for you.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Father, what a picture of Your love for me! I need Your love. I need Your understanding, Your mercy, and Your total forgiveness. I fully receive them right now. I praise You for Your kindness. I shout with joy even now for Your unconditional love for me. Thank you, Jesus. My hope is in you! In Your Holy name, I pray.
AMEN