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 30, 2024
When Jesus was on the Earth, He did so many amazing things, and He said we would also do these and even greater works. That requires a great faith. You may think you don’t have that much faith, but it’s in you. You just have to make the decision to believe—not in what you can do, but in what our God can do through you. On your own, you may be limited. You don’t have the qualifications, the resources, or the influence. That’s okay. You’re not on your own. You and God are a majority. When He breathes on your life, you’ll go places you’ve never dreamed. You’ll discover talent that you hadn’t known you had. Doors will open that you couldn’t open. The right people will show up. If you do your part and have great faith, God will do His part and show out in your life. Take the limits off God and start believing for the greater works He has for you to do. You haven’t seen, heard, or imagined what God has in store for you.
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!
On an Easter Sunday when our kids were young, all of our family was together at church and everyone was dressed up. Seeing all the children, grandparents, uncles and aunts looking so good, I really wanted to get the perfect family picture. But by the time we rounded everybody up after the service and were positioning them for the photo, I discovered too late that my kids had changed into their playclothes. I remember how frustrated I was. This was supposed to be my perfect picture. I didn’t want green t-shirts in my picture! At the time, that’s all I saw.
It’s so easy to forget the big picture and let the smallest things in our lives, what so often doesn’t really matter, irritate us to the point of losing our joy. So often we want everything to be perfect, to look just right, to feel just right, to go our way. We forget to enjoy the beauty of the moments in our life. When we see the flaws in our life picture, especially when they fall short of our expectations, that’s all we focus on, and suddenly everything turns negative, and the joy is gone.
We’re not the first to do that. Think about Adam and Eve. They were in a perfect garden—beautiful flowers of every kind, lush fruit to eat everywhere they went, animals of every size and shape. There was no laundry to do! All they had to do was care for this amazing, God-given garden. Then one day Eve listened to the enemy and focused her eye on the one tree in the garden from which God had told them they could not eat. On that day, that tree became the most important thing that she saw and distorted her view of the whole garden. All she could see was what the enemy convinced her that God was keeping from her.
We can’t let what we think are flaws in our lives distort the whole picture. We can’t let one forbidden tree distort the amazing life God has given us. We have to focus on the whole picture, what we do have—the grace and love of God, the gifts and talents He’s given us, the loving relationships, and the abundant provisions. In the long run, the flaws don’t matter at all.
Do you know that picture with the kids in green t-shirts is one of my most treasured possessions today? It captured a memory to enjoy for a lifetime. Don’t live in regret by focusing on what you think is less-than. Don’t be like the man who asked, “Why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 4:8). Enjoy what God has given you right now. Soak in the beauty of the moment.
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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