Even In The Darkest of Times
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” ~ Psalms 34:18
For all who’s heart aches with pain, you are not alone. The LORD has not forgotten you. You haven’t slipped His mind. He is right next to you with His arm wrapped around you. May you feel His love surrounding you. May you be comforted. May you have peace.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Comforted.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering” ~ Exodus 3:7
Have you been crying out to God? Has He not answered yet? Maybe you feel like He doesn’t love you or even care about you. Please be assured God HAS heard your cries, and He IS concerned about you. The time will come when He will rend the heavens and come down to see about you. The LORD God will send you a deliverer, someone who is in a position to help you or to open a now closed door. He may send someone just to encourage you, to lift up your spirit, or to let you know you are not alone. Make no mistake, God knows where you are. Keep trusting, keep doing good, keep on keeping the faith, and know for sure your good deeds are not in vain in the LORD.
Heavenly Father, I pray for persistent faith today. The type of faith that overcomes all adversities crushes all obstacles and that cannot be moved but can move mountains. LORD revive the faith that maybe dying or have died and breathe life into our dry and thirsty souls. Let Your Holy Spirit be known and let no doubt remain for it is profitable to serve You. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.
“The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God… ‘I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.’” ~ Exodus 2:23; 6:5
The Israelites were in misery, and they cried out to God, and He heard their cry and saw their misery and came to their rescue. I ask you, will He do any less for you? The only right answer is, “No, He won’t.” Keep crying out to God. He hears and sees, and He is concerned about you. So don’t be fooled into interpreting God’s (perceived) slowness to answer your prayers, for His lack of concern. God is concerned, and He cares for you, you are not a number or a statistic to Him. You are His child redeemed with His own shed blood. You are special, there is only one you and God wants you to be with him for all eternity. Don’t give up, in time God will come to your rescue and your victory will be sweet.
My Heavenly Father, many are groaning under the torment of others. Still, others are oppressed and harassed by the enemy. Even more, still are under the bondage of the evil one. Men and women are crying out to You for help today. Hear their cry, listen to their groaning, see their distress, and be moved with compassion and concern for them as You were moved for Your people, the Israelites. Come down and rescue them I prayer, and give them strength to hold on for a little while longer. Let them not lose heart or give up too soon, but keep them strong and faithful. For It is You who strengthens or weakens, it is You who exalt or abase, it is You who gives and takes away, it is You who rescues, and no one can deliver out of Your hand. Give peace today and bring deliverance in Jesus name I pray, amen.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” ~ Philippians 4:8
Paul is encouraging the Philippians to think about positive things as opposed to negative things. God is a God of possibilities. Therefore His people should always be positive. Don’t you feel drained whenever you are around people who are always negative? The very atmosphere around them feels negatively charged. We tend to gravitate towards more positive people. Why?
Because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We are more than conquerors. We are mighty upon the earth because we are children of the Most High God. Let’s make an extra effort to be positive and to encourage each other no matter how bleak things may appear.
Heavenly Father, I pray for a mighty move of Your Spirit in the lives of Your children today. May they be a source of encouragement to those around them, in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
“39 And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” ~ Mark 4:39
So if we are supposed to do greater things than even Jesus did, then we could stop more than just storms. We could stop entire hurricanes. Tsunamis. Earthquakes. Hail. We would stop anything. I guess the only probably is that when it comes to faith, we aren’t Jesus in this scenario, we’re the disciples. We’re the doubters full of fear and uncertainty.
I wonder what would happen if we had just a grain of the type of faith Jesus had. I wonder how many people would be healed. How many more prayers answered. How many more diseases we could heal. How many victims of cancer could have hope.
I wonder what would happen if we got rid of false humility. Many people don’t like to think the church could do greater things than Jesus because He is God and that’s not being humble. But humility has nothing to do with that. Humility is saying, “I can do greater things because after Jesus returned to Heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to us. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus did great things. Through the Holy Spirit, I shall do greater things according to Jesus.” Humility is about giving God the glory, not making yourself spiritually weak. Renounce false humility. Renounce fear. And together let’s build a stronger church.
When fear tells you that you can’t do something, stand strong. When doubters tell you that it isn’t possible, show them with God anything is possible. When the doctor gives you a hopeless report, lift up your eyes to Heaven and believe in the miraculous. When that family member runs farther and farther away from God, don’t lose hope, claim them in the name of Jesus. Throughout the scriptures we see that life and death is in the power of the tongue, so declare life over that family. Declare life with confidence, full of faith and in the Spirit. We were never meant to be weak targets, but strong champions. Don’t let the world’s present view dictate your faith, be encouraged today for we are destined for greatness. We are destined to do great things. We are destined to watch the darkness flee. We are destined to overcome unbelief. We are destined to stand strong and courageous. We were never destined for pain, suffering, doubt, lacking, or anything less than a Prince or Princess. Be encouraged, for you are destined for more than you see in this moment in time.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Greater Things.
“And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.'” ~ Mark 16:6
He has risen! He is no longer in the grave! He is no longer dead! He has risen! He is alive! He is alive! Jesus rose 2000 years ago and we shall rise with Him when it’s all over.
The grave has no victory. Death has no sting. Jesus has overcome them both and took their keys. Jesus is alive and we are as well! For we have crucified our flesh and our spirit has been awakened. Be encouraged this morning, for our King was dead, but now He is alive! We do not serve a dead God, but the Living God!
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live!
“17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.’” ~ Revelation 1:17-18
Jesus was dead in the grave for three days and three nights, but the grave could not hold Him. Death could not stop Him. Jesus went down to the grave dead but came back alive and with the keys to Death and Hades. What does that mean? He bought us back. He redeemed us. When Jesus was dead in the grave for three days, and three nights, He wasn’t sleeping. He wasn’t resting. He wasn’t relaxing. He was getting back the freedom for all.
He was taking back the right sin had over us. The right to take our lives and keep us trapped in Hades dead, never receiving rest. But when Jesus died and went to Hades, He took back the rights to all of mankind, giving us the chance to receive Eternal Life. Jesus not only died for our sins to be forgiven but also so that sin wouldn’t have any kind of hold on us. Jesus died so that we could overcome sin. Jesus promised us that we would be able to overcome the world, through Him, because He overcame the world.
Jesus’ death wasn’t a failure as some may try to persuade us. Jesus’ death on the cross was our victory over the world, sin, the grave, Hell, and the enemy. So never feel like you can’t overcome something, Jesus already overcame it for you, you just have to ask for help and do it His way. Your way hasn’t seemed to work, has it? What’s the harm in trying it Jesus’ way, who has already overcome?
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be The Overcomer.
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ~ Matthew 14:28-31
A lot of us are like Peter. We have the faith to ask God. We even have the faith to step out and start it. But we don’t have the faith to continue. We don’t have the faith to finish it. We lack faith. Why? Why do we lack faith? Why do we allow the storms surrounding us to overwhelm us? Why do we allow the storms surrounding us to frighten us? To freeze us? To cause us to sink? Why do we allow this to happen? We know who we serve. We know we serve The God who commands the winds and waves to cease. We serve The God that spoke, and light was. The God who spoke the Earth and the Heavens into existence. We serve The God who raises the dead. Who heals the sick. The mute. The blind. The lame. Why do we doubt?
It’s because we know God, but we know Him through knowledge. We know Him with our head. We know He’s done these things. We know He can do these things. But we don’t believe He will do these things. We don’t know Him spiritually. We don’t have that faith. We have such small faith that it isn’t as big as a mustard seed. For if we had faith as big as a mustard seed, we could speak to the mountains and they would move. Nothing would stop us. But our faith is weak. We know God on a knowledge level, but what does it take to know God on a spiritual level? I guess it takes more than just stepping out of the boat, but we must continue walking. We must continue walking until we reach Him. But how? That’s easier said than done.
Since faith is an action word, it requires action. You can’t say you have faith and not act in faith. So, imagine every step forward towards Jesus, as doing as the LORD leads us. Whether it’s quitting your job. Starting a business. Starting a company. Joining a new company. If we step out in faith and continue to do so, our faith will grow. We will continue to walk closer to Jesus. So, continue to walk. Don’t look to the right or to the left, but continue to keep your eyes on Jesus.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Continue Walking.
24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him. 26 Then He said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And He said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 Then He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there He blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ~ Genesis 32:24-31
How many of us can God say, “you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed?” Very few, right? We don’t wrestle with men to the end and we don’t wrestle with God to the end. We don’t hold on to God and refuse to let go until He blesses us. Until He heals us. Until He answers us.
We usually let go right before because we start to doubt. We start to get tired of praying the same old prayer. The prayer gets weaker and weaker each time we pray it. We don’t realize that if we just hold on a little longer our blessing is right around the corner, our healing is right around the corner, our unsaved loved one’s salvation is right around the corner. But we have to hold on.
God doesn’t just bless us in that moment and all we have to do is ask once, but instead, we have to hold on, we have to grip onto Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul. To the point that no matter what storm we have to go through we still can hold on to God. Jacob didn’t just hold on when he was strong, he held on when he was weak when his socket went out, he still held on. He didn’t let go because of pain. He didn’t let go because he couldn’t hold on any longer. He probably gripped tighter, saying I will not let go until you bless me.
Imagine if we lived our lives like that. Our prayer lives would be so much more powerful. I mean imagine if we didn’t just pray for a specific amount of time and then call it a day. Imagine if we prayed and worshiped until what we prayed for was answered. Imagine how many healings we would get, the countless blessings, the salvation prayers that would be answered.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Grip Harder.
26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. 34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. ~ Genesis 26:26-35
Isaac began to prosper in the land to the point that Abimelech sent him away from him and his people. Then every well that he dug the people claimed as theirs. But he never let any of that get to him, he kept going. He pushed on. He never allowed them to steal his blessing. When Abimelech saw how blessed Isaac truly was, he became intimidated. He became fearful, so he went to him and asked to make a treaty between them.
Imagine if the church was like Isaac, never allowing people to hold us down. Never allowing people to take our joy. Never allowing our cheap, unfair, thieving boss to steal our blessing. Instead, we continue to work hard, we continue to do our best, to the point that our boss sees that we are blessed and give you that promotion you’ve been praying for. They give you that raise you’ve been praying for.
We can pray for these things all we want, but unless we refuse to let our surroundings dictate our lives and our attitudes, our prayers are just sitting there motionless under Heaven. They are just sitting there waiting for us to do our part.
Sometimes our part is more than just praying, it’s living out our prayers and not getting discouraged, not getting disgruntled and angry because we’re being treated unfairly. Isaac dug and dug and dug, and every well he dug they took from him, but he didn’t let that stop him. He didn’t let that discourage him, and neither should you.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Continue Digging.
