Worry

"And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?" Matthew 6:27 (Amplified)

        What to do when the unexpected happens? When what you didn't see coming came? I know what most people do... they worry. They spend their time thinking about the unexpected and try to solve the problem themselves. Problem is, there can really be no contingency plan for what you cannot see. So what is a person to do? Simple. Pray. 

          The Bible says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6) By bringing everything at the feet of Jesus and laying it down you lose worrying about what you cannot control, and run to the only sure thing in life. Don't give in! Don't ever let your inhibitions to worry overcome you! Leave it at the cross where Jesus paid it all for you, so that you can expect the best results to come to pass.

In Whom do you Believe

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”- John 1:12-13 (NIV)

        In John 3:16 God made it very clear to this world that anyone who would believe in His Son would not perish but have eternal life. God's intent for the human race was not to condemn it. For us to be born in sin was not the way He devised the masterful plan of mirroring us in His image. Our unbelief in Him caused sin to enter this world. Had Eve truly believed that she would surely die if she ate of the tree, the thought of eating from it never would have entered her mind even with being pressured by the serpent to at least give it a try. 

      God sent Jesus in this world to right a great wrong, and the only thing He asked in return that we would believe in His Son. I mean look at how Jesus marveled when Peter identified who He was, "Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Matthew 16:17-18 Jesus entrusted Peter with the greatest of responsibilities because Peter could relay the message of belief to all mankind. 

     God is willing that we would believe so that we can accept a life of being His children. The question always remains in whom do you believe. If you do believe in Him, do everything you can to spread the word to others.

Destined to Reign

"You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus." Philippians 4:19 (MSG)


      I will never tire of this verse for as long as I live, for it shows every characteristic of God that is necessary for us to navigate the most difficult terrain. It also demonstrates the foolishness of your efforts to figure out all your problems on your own knowing full well that God can always go above and beyond anything you ask think or desire.


       Consider for a moment Adam in the garden of Eden. How God said to him, "Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground." (Gen 1:28b) His desire for us was to rule, but not in ways that were just enough to get us by... but to have to dominion. Yet some of us have dominion over nothing, and that's simply because we've turned away from the One who has always desired to give that very dominion to us. Don't let your circumstances get the best of you, Let Him get the best of your circumstance. That's been His desire since the dawn of time!

To Obey

"If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy." Job 36:11 (AMP)

       God's sole desire since the dawn of creation was always to be obeyed. He gave Adam dominion over everything. He told him you can eat of every tree but only one. It was the very one that Adam would fall to eventually, but God gave him an opportunity to have everything and be blessed with joy if only he would have obeyed.

       Similarly God gave the kingdom of Israel to Saul, He only asked Saul to obey some simple instructions. These instructions Saul willfully disobeyed and God took the kingdom from him. It's interesting how truly important obedience is to God.

       I've seen that those who are obedient to God are truly blessed, because God loves those who are submitted to Him. Obedience is the outward expression of your inward love for God. It doesn't matter how much you say you love Him, but it does matter to Him how you show it. Jesus was obedient to the point of death, and God exalted Him above every other name (Phillippians 2:9). This represents true evidence of how God honors obedience. You should try it.

God's purpose

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. (Psalm 145:18-19 KJV)

       A great Pastor once said referring to what God desires for us to do, "...God won't make you do something you don't want to do... He'll give you a desire in your heart to press on with His will...." Such a profound admonition is found in this verse. When Jesus asked us to cast our cares upon Him for He will care for us, He wasn't just trying to appease the masses with flowery words, He said it because He meant it.

      As we desire to see God's purpose in our lives fulfilled its incumbent upon us to seek God with tremendous determination and purpose. In doing so, we'll not only find out that He is near, but perhaps He was closer than we thought He'd be. In turn, He'll save us from situations we didn't have an answer for on our own. I endeavor to give my desires over to Him, so that He in turn may grant me the desires of my heart. Will you do the same? I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Our Ally

"[But] to this day I have had the help which comes from God [as my ^[d]ally], and so I stand here testifying to small and great alike..." Acts 26:22a (Amplified)

      Paul at this point is suffering persecution on account of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. The Jews are as outraged with Paul as they were with Jesus and are demanding his death. Paul is appealing to the Romans for his justice, but reminds them all that his defense is not provided by earthly means but through heavenly realms.

      Throughout the books of Acts Paul's boldness in the gospel is evident. He preaches with fire as though there is no doubt that God is by his side, and he unashamedly proclaims it to even the highest Roman officials. So compelling is his argument that the Romans can find no cause to put him to death.

       Our takeaway from this is the same ally that Paul had is our Ally today. We can confidently proclaim the word of God to others because no matter how much persecution we may face, we have an Ally who always protects, and guides us in the paths that we ought to take. Let us like Paul be bold in our confidence in God who has been so good to us throughout our lives in good times and in bad.

Step Out

"...But when he (Peter) perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased." Matthew 14:30-32 (Amplified)

        When Peter delved into the innermost depths of his faith he focused only on Jesus, "So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus." (v.29) As He walked toward Jesus his direction was secure and no outside circumstance could derail the arrival to the destination.

         Until... he lost his focus, "But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened." (v.30) All was fine and dandy until perception entered the picture and his sense of focus was diminished altogether. Now instead of using his tunnel vision to arrive to where Jesus was calling him he...began to sink.

          Doesn't this seem eerily familiar to our own lives? Where we are seeing Jesus do the impossible and for a moment we get carried away in the euphoria of our faith and dare to dream for the impossible. Jesus tells us to come, and we do for a moment until... the moment of true faith comes when we percieve our surroundings exactly like Peter did. The best part of this story however, is how Jesus ends it as when Peter begins to drown Jesus reaches down to save him. That's definitely something we can all identify with.

           If we ever find ourselves out there on the sea using impossible faith, remember one thing... focus intently on Christ because if you do there is no question you will reach your goal.