Faith crushes worry!

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Matthew 6:31

 

As I walked up to the cashier in a tiny coffee shop I frequent for breakfast, I picked through the coins in my purse, trying to find quarters to cover the cost of a sandwich and coffee. I sighed on my way back to the car, the cost of living is very high and like most people, everyday expenses eat a huge chunk of my salary. When I started my car, I found myself worrying about my future as I had been doing more and more recently. How will I be able to afford a house? What will I do when I am ready to have kids?  I was putting myself in a cage of doubt and defeat. But God, as always, stepped in and comforted my heart with peace and assurance in Him and His power to make the impossible, possible. Jesus’ words always insisted on us turning our attention and focus on God. In this verse He is telling the multitudes to not worry about things of this world. He says do not worry about what you shall eat and drink. He did not say that these things should be ignored, we all know we need to eat to live. But the key word He is using here is “Worry”, do not worry about where your next meal will come from. Stressed about not having a job and not being able to buy food?! Beloved, your Father rained down manna from heaven to feed the Israelites and as they are His children so are we. He will never leave you without. When Elijah the prophet visited a poor widow who had little to nothing, God blessed her “So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah” 1 Kings 17:15-16. God is your provider! Your Jehovah ireh! Your jar will never run out, your supply will never stop as David said “my cup runeth over” God will provide for you, trust Him and see. Do not waste another minute worrying, send up your prayers and thank Him, open your heart to receive what He has for you. He knows what you need and He is ready and willing to give it to you. I’ve seen it happen so many times in my life, a co-worker being tipped money for no reason, allowing them to buy lunch, finding an extra five dollar bill in my purse or someone giving a friend of mine clothes when they really needed it. It happens everyday, pray in the morning and expect God to show up, He will honor your faith and will exceed your expectations.

 

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for being such a gracious and giving Savior. As with the miracle with the fish and loaves of bread, you are able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask. We pray Oh Jesus for your powerful provision to take over our lives. Thank you for what I have dear God, I am forever grateful to you in the wilderness and in surplus because every good thing comes from you God. I expect good things Lord God and I trust you in the midst of my hardships. Thank you Jesus for the fullness I have in you, in Jesus’ name I pray Amen.

Jesus - our only hope

But emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross Phillipians 2:7-8

Photo credit: Krystal Cartwright
Blue Tango plant, local Bahamian plant show. 

In the spirit of this beautiful Easter season we must all take a deeper look beyond the commercial holiday hype to what Easter is all about. Easter is the time of year we as Christians celebrate and honor the Son of God who was sent down from heaven to be sacrificed for our sins. It's all about JESUS. Jesus, the name above all names. Who is mighty to save us. The greatest truth in the Bible, the greatest act of love by God. Sacrificing His begotten Son to stand in for us, to take our pain, sins, filth, shame, fear, wickedness, darkness on Himself, to bear it all and pay the penalty - death. To ransom our hearts from the death and destruction of sin. And all we have to do to receive this atonement, to reap the benefits of this sacrifice is to confess our sins and turn to God. Wow! Would you bear the consequence of a crime for a friend? Would you go to the judge and say "I will stand in for him and I will be punished in his place"?, would you still do it if the punishment was death? Jesus was a beautiful, compassionate person. He spoke life to all, embraced the broken-hearted and cried with the weeping. He was perfect in His doing, he never sinned and He reached out to all in love. Telling people of forgiveness, of living a righteous life, of believing in God who loves them. This gentle Son of Man was beaten, spit on, mocked and crucified - though He didn't deserve it. Jesus did this for us! He did it for you and me and everyone before us and after us. He did it so that you would have freedom from sin! "and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him"​ Hebrews 5:9 So that you will no longer live in the darkness of shame and guilt of sin, but that you might be free! Your forgiveness is not based on your merit it does not weaken or wane when you make a mistake Jesus' blood purchased a perfect, indestructible bond of perfect love. God does not see your mistakes, once you accept Christ He sees you in His glory, perfect, holy and His. God's forgiveness never falters because Jesus never faltered. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL Hebrews 10:10 Even if you are a Christian and you sin, simply confess. Do not shy away from God in guilt and shame, confess quickly and do not let the devil keep you down. Admit to God you have sinned, confess and move on. Always move on, the fact is, while we are still on earth we will always sin, our human nature is constantly fighting our spiritual nature. Even Paul said "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing" Romans 7:19. But be encouraged, Jesus came and eradicated the power of sin over you, trust Him if you battle with a particular sin, pray and ask for His guidance and strength. But always be encouraged, Jesus is always before us, pleading our case to God and constantly forgiving us. He knows our hearts and loves us through it all.


Dear Jesus,
Thank you for your finished work on the cross. You endured hardship, betrayal, pain and torture all for our sakes. You stood in for me and you took my punishment, you destroyed death and call me to a life of freedom. Thank you for continually washing me clean, for presenting me holy to God. Help me with this particular sin, forgive me and guide me to follow your will. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Expect Awesomeness!!

"But when you ask [God], be sure that you really expect Him to answer." James 1: 6-7 NLT

A new day is upon us. A bright, beautiful morning, full of possibilities, opportunities and happiness. We just have to keep our eyes open and our hearts expectant. Today might bring disappointments but let us make up our minds to keep moving forward. Life's troubles makes us stronger and for every issue we triumph over God will honor us. "But now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor" 1 Samuel 2:30 How do you have victory over everyday issues that arise to steal your joy? Prayer, gratitude and hope for a bigger and better outcome than your current situations. Got a flat tire? Thank God that it did not blow while you were driving, which could've been a major accident. Didn't sleep well? Thank God you are alive, some people go to sleep and never wake back up! Didn't get that raise you were expecting? Keep expecting and keep a good attitude while you work hard, even if your bosses don't value you God does and He will open their eyes soon or your eyes to a better working opportunity. Your kids driving you bonkers? Pray for your patience. "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3. Lift them up to Him for correction and guidance. Always look for the silver lining. In every situation that arises and you feel any negative emotion starting to brew, say a short prayer ask for strength and comfort and move forward. Always move forward. "To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" Isaiah 61: 3 This is the day that the Lord has made! We are alive, we are His and all is well for us to trust and hope in Jesus! Put a smile on, read a encouraging verse and compliment someone day. We can live in victory if we choose happiness even in the tough times!

Dear Jesus we come to you today because you are everything. You are our hope and we trust in you. You have bought love and peace into our lives and we call upon that peace. Strengthen us with your love. You are the lifter of our heads and the song in our hearts. We expect, wait and hope for amazing things today and the most amazing thing of all is that we have an inheritance with you in heaven. Thank you Jesus for all you have done.

Faith --> Blessings

And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. Luke 1:45 KJV

There is something so delicately marvelous about this verse. Let's break it down and look at it, "Blessed is she that believed", simple truth for our belief and trust in God, we are blessed. The woman this verse referred to was Mary. Her faith and her youthful, perfect trust in God by the Word of the Lord that came to her. In all sincerity she believed with her whole heart the fascinating truth that she, a virgin, would become pregnant supernaturally and bear a child - not just any child - the Son of God. Whoa!!! Could you imagine?! Mary's faith in God was not perturbed by logic, practicality or reasoning. She did not stop the angel and say, this is physically impossible! She gracefully accepted what the Lord was saying to her, and for it the Bible calls her blessed.

Blessed 

1. consecrated; sacred; holy; sanctified: the Blessed Sacrament.

2. worthy of adoration, reverence, or worship: the Blessed Trinity.

3. divinely or supremely favored; fortunate: to be blessed with a strong, healthy body; blessed with an ability to find friends.

4. blissfully happy or contented.

Our whole identity in Christ is based on our faith in Him, in God our Father and in His Holy Spirit. Faith is the root of our foundation and keeping the faith and passing it on to others is our mission on this earth. Abraham's faith in God rewarded him favor.
"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness"  Gal 3:6. Here we see how much God values faith. I think there is something really beautiful to the fact that we have to believe in Christ to be saved. Amid a world where science reigns and human knowledge is the standard, God asks us to believe in the unseen and hold fast to what we can not touch. But the realization and the knowing we have in our heart when we accept Christ is beyond any scientific proof. It's a sweet and satisfying knowledge in our hearts that what we are believing is true and right.
Blessed are we, for what we hope God for will surely be given to us.


Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you so much for faith. Thank you that you have all called us Children of God, despite our race, nationality or heritage. Thank you for giving us freedom from a life of death and destruction and thank you that we can receive that freedom by just believing. Help us to trust you Lord and help our faith to grow strong Holy Spirit so that all the good things you have in store for me will be realized. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.