Quit being defined by your mistakes. Do yourself a favor and remove those labels. Instead, wear the labels God gives you.
Your words have transformative power and give life to what you're saying. When you declare God's Word and speak blessings over your relationships, health and future, life-changing possibilities are unlimited. This month, Joel would like to send you his new book so you can declare faith-filled words that invite blessings, favor and success into your life.
Today's Word: APR 28, 2024
One of the most powerful prayers we can ever pray is, “God, help me to be honest with myself. Help me to look inside and see where my soul is not healthy. Help me to see where I need to change, where I need to forgive, where I need to be more kind and understanding. Help me to see where I need to quit letting people take my joy, where I need to get over what happened three years ago, where I need to quit beating myself up for mistakes I’ve made. Help me to see myself as valuable, as attractive, as a masterpiece.” My prayer is, “God, don’t let us go through life lying to ourselves.” It’s one thing to be dishonest with others, which is certainly not good, but don’t lie to yourself. Don’t sweep things under the rug, make excuses for why you’re angry, bitter, jealous, and hard to get along with. There’s no fault in being there today, but there is a fault in staying there. It may be your explanation, but don’t let it be your excuse.
As you face circumstances in life, sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged. But what if you could believe big and know that by this time next year, you’re going to see things turn around. This month’s ministry thank you will help make the coming year a time of expectation, hope and above all…belief!
It’s easy to be frustrated when something we’re waiting for is taking so much longer than we thought. It’s tempting to take matters into our own hands and try to force doors to open, to manipulate a situation, to live striving and straining. But the Scripture says, “Through faith and patience we inherit the promises” (Hebrew 6:12). You have to trust God’s timing. Without patience, you can miss God’s best. It may be taking longer because what God has in store is much better than what you have in mind.
Jesus told His disciples, “I’m going away to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). God has some prepared blessings for you, things He’s already lined up—good breaks, the right people, healing—that will come at His appointed time. Isaiah 40:31 says, “They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles.” Waiting on the Lord is waiting in faith, in peace, from a place of rest. You do your best, then you step back and let God fight your battles, open the doors, bring the right people, vindicate you.
In John 21, Peter was so discouraged, not knowing what he and the other disciples were going to do after Jesus’ resurrection, that he took matters into his own hands and went back to fishing. But after he and the other disciples had fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus, whom they couldn’t recognize in the early morning light, called out from the beach and told them to throw their net on the other side of the boat. When they did, they caught so many fish they had to drag the net to shore. Here they found that Jesus had a charcoal fire burning and fish already grilling on it. He said, “Come and have some breakfast.” What the disciples couldn’t catch, Jesus was already cooking. What they had worked all night for, God already had on the grill. This was a prepared blessing—fully cooked, seasoned, and ready to eat.
Like these disciples, you may have worked hard, done your best, but you haven’t caught anything. You haven’t caught your healing, so to speak, or the right person, the good break in your business. Your nets are empty. Can I encourage you? What you haven’t caught, God is already grilling. While you’re stressed thinking the business problem or the medical report isn’t changing, He’s putting more charcoal on the fire and seasoning the fish. Something’s cooking. You’re about to taste and see that the Lord is good. You’re coming into a prepared blessing. God knows what He’s doing, so just rest. When the fish are ready, when it’s just right, He’ll call you.
READ BLOG ENTRYQuit being defined by your mistakes. Do yourself a favor and remove those labels. Instead, wear the labels God gives you.
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