With God nothing is impossible. To Christians this registers deep in our soul. To unbelievers its just another “Christian saying”. Thankfully, God does not give up on us even when we don’t feel like anything is possible. We will never rise above the limitations of our character. Our character is exactly what God has to work on in order for us to handle His will for our life which is far beyond our limitations. When we finally come to realize the Spirit of God is walking with us everyday, lovingly wanting to help and not condemn, we understand God’s grace. Yes, with God anything is possible as long as we don’t put “our” limitations on His abilities. When God starts working, He works fast. He will build your character, keep you, teach you and then take you to the next level of His plan. Sometimes the “teaching” part is the hard part. We may not understand why God is allowing something to happen in our lives. This is when the Holy Spirit gives you the faith, knowledge, wisdom and most of all peace. Receive that peace the Holy Spirit offers, pray for understanding and NEVER give up on God – that is precisely what the enemy is trying to achieve. Even satan knows ALL things are possible with God!

The devil is a liar. His goal is to keep us ignorant about Grace. He wants us to continually live under the Law of the Old Testament which is impossible. Jesus is the only one who fully upheld the Law of the Old Testament and it is because of Jesus and The Cross that we now live under Grace. Jesus did not die on the Cross just to prove it is possible to live under the Law. He died so we would not have to live a life of fear and condemnation. Jesus won the battle against evil once and for all. Why? Because He loves us, He wants us to “prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth” 3 John 1:2. The only way we as Christians will win over the unbelievers is by showing them the grace of God and the love of Jesus. Christians are not religious rule keepers, we are representatives of God. We represent God in everything we do – even when we are having a bad day at the grocery store, sitting in traffic and venting on Facebook. Don’t trample on the blood of Jesus because the devil is using someone as a snare, praise God anyway and trample on the devil.

It’s not about what you’re going through at the time, it’s about what you’re going to that matters. Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, said he had 2 days on his calendar – today and “that day”, the day the Lord will come back. Our carnal minds want us to think about tomorrow; what we “have” to do, what we “have” to pay and what where we “need” to go. All of this keeps us busy. Busy, busy, busy – all of us. The enemy wants to keep us too busy for the Lord, when if it wasn’t for the Lord, we wouldn’t even have today. When we stop and take time for God, He makes our day easier. He appreciates us appreciating Him and will order your day for you. Things will still come up but when you are in tune with His Holy Spirit, He will show you which path to take. It takes faith in God not to worry about tomorrow. Faith counteracts any fear or worry that comes upon us. “Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32 Rejoice in today, praise Him for “that day” and get out of His way – for the Lord WANTS to give you His Kingdom.

There is a difference in fear and being afraid. So many of us “fear” the devil and are “afraid” of the Lord’s punishment. We are to fear the Lord, not be afraid of the Lord. Just as you wouldn’t “tug on Superman’s cape”, we should not test God. Practical fear of the Lord is knowledge. It is a healthy respect of His power which causes you to appreciate His mercy. Mercy is the motivator for love and there is no fear in perfected love. If we do not understand the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, we will never understand perfect love. God does not want us to be afraid of Him, he wants us to fully comprehend His power and what He can do FOR us, not TO us when we are in His will. Fear of the Lord will cause you to stand up for the ways of the Lord because of His unwaivering faithfulness. It will make you forever grateful for His perfected love toward us. Most of all, fear of the Lord is no longer having to fear the devil because we understand God’s power and His protection over His children.

We are never to look back except to see how far God has brought us. Everything that happens to us is also happening for us. Sometimes the answer to your prayers are answered by eliminating trials or by giving you the strength to endure. Then at other times, the answer to your prayers is right in front of you but you don’t realize that blessing until God opens your spiritual eyes. God is always preparing you for your blessing. You are a work in progress that He must prepare before you can handle what He has in store for your life. Then there is that moment when you’re chasing after God’s will and He turns around catches you. Those are the moments when we know He has been there all along.  Catching every tear and hearing every prayer.

We don’t compete with one another, we compete with our flesh and love each other. For each battle we win over our flesh, we glorify the Lord. It is tempting to quickly react in a situation. Even the smallest decisions made in the flesh can turn out to be our largest mistakes. When we are “in tune” with the Holy Spirit, He will give us that nudge we need to consult Him. Two of the nine gifts of the Spirit are wisdom and knowledge. These two gifts help us in everyday living, not just on Sunday mornings. The Lord wants us to live in the miraculous everyday and not always waiting on the emergency miracles. When we win the competition against our flesh our reward is far greater.

After Jesus performed the miracle of bread and fish He rushed to the mountain to pray. He knew “men” would try to exalt Him. When we allow our fellow men and women to exalt us it takes all of the glory away from God. Pride over gifts the Lord gives you is not of God. However, recognizing your weakness and the Lord’s strength should make us more humble and dependent on Him. We can always discern between the works of the flesh and the works of the Holy Spirit by to whom they are giving the glory.   Works of the flesh will always glorify man but fruit of the Spirit will always glorify God.   The fruit of the Spirit is never to exalt the person who is bearing the fruit, nor do they obtain God’s favor for bearing His fruit.   However, He will allow them to retain that fruit as long as they are using it to glorify Him and not themselves. In every good thing, glorify God. In every bad thing glorify God for the good things. All the enemy wants is some attention. When we exalt ourselves and don’t glorify God for bearing HIS fruit, we are glorifying evil. Receive His fruit, glorify the Lord then rush to the mountain and praise Him!

Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ?” The only thing that can separate us from the love of the Lord is us. Even then, He still loves us. We are protected from all the outside forces of evil but we are not protected from ourselves. We have a free will. Once we willingly accept Jesus and The Cross we are declared righteous by the Lord. We as sinners, still living in this world will still fall; we will never be perfect. Jesus was and will always be the only truth and light. However, God knows our hearts. He knows our struggles and has sent us His Holy Spirit to help teach and guide us back to the path of God’s righteousness when we do fall. God does not forsake us, He forgives us. For us to condemn the work of God in someone’s life is condemning God. We as Christians are not here to condemn, we are here to declare the Word of God and show the love of Jesus. Bless those who condemn you and pray for their understanding. God is the one who justifies, not us. The suffering of God’s righteous will always lead to His glory revealed when we bless those who the enemy is using.

It is such a blessing when we realize that Jesus chose us. (John 15:16) For every person He has a purpose. Even as sinners, He still chooses us and prays intercession for us to choose Him as well. Why? Just as we love our spouses, children and parents, He loves us more – unimaginable at times. He does not get “mad” at us when we backslide, He just wants us to come back to Him. We ARE that 1 in 99 sheep that He laid His life down for. When we continue thinking we are not worthy and God will never help us, we are letting the enemy control our thoughts. Fact is we are not worthy, none of us – but we are still God’s children and we are precisely the ones who He wants to bless. We just need to take that step of faith and choose Him.

None of us escape suffering but we will always have hope when we have the Word of God in our hearts. Just when we receive a blessing, the enemy will remind you of the tribulations that are yet to come. However, the devil will not remind us that “…greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4. Thankfully, because of Jesus and The Cross, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us that will remind us. The Holy Spirit will always remind us, guide us and teach us the Truth, the Word of God. Our strongest weapon against the enemy is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Close the mouth of the enemy by testifying the Grace of the Lord. Slam the door in his face by reminding Him he has already lost the battle for your soul because the Lord is greater! Don’t worry about the trials of tomorrow, praise God for His blessings today and know His mercy and grace will never leave you as long as we continue to seek His will.