Thursday Thought's

Good morning! I trust that your journey with God is full of the richness of the presence of God. His Word reveals that He will never leave or forsake us! Isn’t that a powerful promise that goes with us through every moment of our lives? I am learning to depend on that promise even more as I continue my journey of life. I am learning to depend on this promise even more as I see the continuing changes in our culture. I shared this thought last Sunday and I still believe it today!! “God has a Word for this generation.” Each of us needs to take heed to the Word of God and allow it to do its work in our lives!!

I read Psalm 100 this morning. Take time to read it and recognize the commands of God as well as the promises of God. The Spirit through David reminds us to shout, sing, serve and be glad in the first few words. The Spirit reminds us that we are the “sheep of His pasture” and that “He has made us.” Verse 5 spoke to me this morning. This verse reveals the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, the mercy of God as well as the truth of God. Psalm 100:5, “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

If you grew up in a Christian home, you may have been taught this childhood prayer: “God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Amen.” While simplistic, that prayer covers one key characteristic of God: His goodness. It can be hard to believe in God’s goodness for many reasons, including when we’re in pain. We forget it when we’re in conflict. We think it’s for everyone else except us when we’re depressed. And when we’re worried or stressed out, we can’t seem to find—much less think about—God’s goodness, even when it’s right in front of us.

Focusing on God’s goodness is so important to your life because it gives you perspective on your darkest days, when you need it the most. Each of us has encountered and more than likely we will encounter more dark days on our journey of life. But we cannot ever afford to forget God’s goodness. This decision can cause each of us all kinds of difficulties. Our enemy can use these difficulties as a weapon to work against our relationship with God.

Each of us can remember those moments in which the goodness of God was revealed to us when life was providing us with various challenges and difficulties. At those moments we must choose to look to God and His Word for strength, guidance and direction. The goodness of God will not fail us if we will place our complete trust and confidence in Him. I understand the challenge of making the decision to trust God but I have also personally seen the reward of trusting God and placing my confidence in Him.

I truly believe that God wants to give us a life of spiritual confidence, even on our most difficult days. He wants to give us the assurance we need that is found in the Word of God. He will provide the protection we need regardless of the situation that we may be facing. He wants to give each of us a life of spiritual influence and spiritual abundance. He will provide the guidance, direction and strength to meet the challenges of life head on and come out victorious in our walk with Christ!!

These are challenging days to say the least. The headlines on the various information sources reveal strife, stress, anxiety, difficulties, etc. in every continent in the world. We can run from these challenges and we can choose to ignore these challenges.  Or we can face these challenges and walk in the strength and faithfulness of God’s goodness.

Thursday Thoughts

Good morning on a day that appears it will be full of warmth and heat as the day moves forward. Life brings to us those moments in which we feel the “heat of reality.” But we have the privilege of taking those “moments” into the presence of God and we have been afforded the opportunity of asking Abba Father for His assistance!! I feel like declaring the words of the song that says “I will raise a Hallelujah!!” It is a blessing to know that God is not only interested in our daily journey but He is also interested in directing our steps of life.

Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord, And He delights in his way [and blesses his path].” (AMP)

The words “divine alignment” was shared in one of my recent devotionals. Those words have been “burning” in my spirit since the moment that I read them. We can certainly recognize and identify the fact that the powers of darkness are aligning themselves against the Good News of the Bible. We see the Truth of God being discarded and replaced with the opinions of men and women. The Truth of God is being placed on the “back burner” of life and our society is choosing to follow their own plan of life rather than seeking the plan of God for their life. We even see the pressure from society for the “church” to change her opinion of Truth to fit more easily into the world view of what is right and what is wrong.

But I also see another alignment that is taking place in our world. It is revealed in the passage found in Psalm 37. I truly believe that God will align our steps and order our path IF WE will follow His leadership. We can see examples throughout the Bible in which God ordered the path of various individuals as well as ordered the path of His people. The Spirit of God led Moses back to Egypt at just the right time to speak to Pharaoh. The Spirit of God led Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus to Egypt BUT He also brought them back to Nazareth at the right time. The man named Saul who would later be referenced as The Apostle Paul was born into the family of God at the timing of God. Each of us can remember times in our lives in which God placed us at the right place at the right time.

I think that I will raise ANOTHER HALLELUJAH when I reflect on the ability of God to order our steps on our journey of life. I also believe that God is at work among His people around the world. There is a “spirit of awakening” that is taking place in the lives of various individuals. I personally know some of these individuals as well as I read about this “awakening” happening in various locations both near as well as far away.

I feel the need to remind each of us that we are people of free will. God has given us the option of following His guidance or choosing to follow our own set of plans. This choice is a very serious one to make. Our eternal destination depends on us making the correct choice when it comes to the path of life that we choose. I am asking God to give me the courage and strength I need to follow His guidance and apply His Truth to my life. This may not be the most popular route to take BUT I do believe that it will be the most profitable route to choose.