Jesus Cares

Friends, Jesus cares. Oh, the world and what we see will try to convince you differently, but He cares. No one loves you more and is more concerned about your well-being. He cares about your ups and downs. He cares about your smiles and your tears. This is your reminder today, that even if it feels like waves are crashing around you, you can still have peace on the inside because Jesus sees, He knows, and He cares: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

~Word for Life Says

Meant for Influence

 

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” 1 John 4:4

Have you ever struggled with thoughts of inadequacy? Maybe you have thought that what you do or who you really are doesn’t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, as if your contribution really wouldn’t be noticed regardless?

Oh, how I loathe thoughts such as these, and I am here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

Lies like these make people underestimate themselves and the talents and/or gifts that God has placed in them. And that, my friends, is a feeling God never intended for His people to have.  As a matter of fact, Jesus taught the exact opposite.  He compared His followers to the salt that brings good flavor to this nasty-tasting world.  Matthew 5:13 says, “Ye are the salt of the earth!”  If you are in Him, you have some flavor to offer.

You are here to make an impact.  You are here to stand out from the crowd.  To be noticed, so that the whole world will have a beacon of hope, seeing, that if God did it for them, He’ll do it for me also.  Daily, what you do in your life can affect others around you.  You have power working on the inside of you that was meant for influence.  Your actions, and the way you think, matched up with the gift of God at work in you, were meant to effect change for someone else.

Sadly, too many slide to the side of self-pity, not understanding and believing enough in who God says they are and what they have to offer.

But I am here to tell you, and the Bible confirms that “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world,” (1 John 4:4).  When we were adopted into the family of God there was a certain degree of unexplainable spiritual awesomeness that He planted inside us.  He has Himself at work in you!

What?!

Yes!

Just put up a “God at work” sign and tell all the skeptics to move out of your way because greatness is going on in me and I can make a difference!

The only one that can really stop you from doling out your influence on this world is you.  You must believe in the power of God at work in you: “What is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places,” (Eph. 1:19-20, NKJV).  The same power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work in you.  It’s there and  He wants to use it to work some greatness out in this world.  If you were the salt shaker that only flavored one person’s life, then you have changed that person forever.  God can do so much more through you.  All you have to do is believe more in who you are in Him and who He is in you.

You can make an impact. You are meant to influence.  Imagine if each of us, with the power of God in us, could touch just one life.  What would that do to the national or global landscape?  Now, imagine if we could touch one life every year, or more. Impact!  He Who is at work in you is greater than all.  All you have to do is believe it more than you do other thoughts that try to convince you otherwise.

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” (Gal. 2:20, NKJV)

Text Free Image by Evgeni Tcherkasski from Pixabay

Refuse to Be Moved

Friends refused to be moved. Refuse to allow the tempestuous seas of life to toss you about. Refuse the swaying of this way and that, but make a stand to stay. Stay in the realm of your faith. Stay on this holy course of action. Stay where your hope is sure and secured. Stay anchored in the care and belief of who Jesus Christ is in your life. Though some days may seem overwhelming and the tug of life gets hard, blessed are the ones who know “We might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…” (Hebrews 6:18b-19a).

~Word for Life Says

The Quencher of Our Soul’s Desire

Friend, there is a fountain we can freely come to satisfy our thirst that will never dry out. Spiritual refreshment for the day ahead. Hope to cling to when we feel parched and depleted. Jesus Christ is the quencher of our soul’s desire and He said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” (John 4:14). Come, and be filled.

~Word for Life Says

Billions

Friends, billions of hearts, minds, arms, and legs have walked the face of this earth. But none are you. The intricacies that consist of the makeup of your person are uniquely designed by the Creator. When He fashioned you, He saw the beauty of who you are and would become. You are a designer original who can say with King David, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Psalm 139:14). Yes, you are.

~Word for Life Says

Sharing His Goodness

Friends, sometimes it is hard to keep doing good. Sometimes, life does not play fair. But when I think about the goodness of Jesus, when I consider and meditate on His grace and mercy towards me, how can I dare not share the same goodness with my fellow man? Know this: Nothing we do for Christ will ever go unnoticed by the Father, and “Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8).

~Word for Life Says

Suiting Up

Friends, some days it seems as if peace surrounds our very life, and others it feels like war. Regardless of the circumstances we face today, the war we face daily, knowingly or unknowingly, is real, and to keep our standing sure and steadfast we are encouraged to suit up against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness (Eph. 6:12). Our Heavenly Father has supplied the means for daily victory, armament to help amid these spiritual contentions. Still, we are the ones that must “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11; for more encouragement, click here).

~Word for Life Says

Exchange

Friend, isn’t it encouraging to know that no dismal state, regardless of how low the clouds may hang or how much shade is cast over one, who we are or were, through Christ, is made totally new. The grace of His love and sacrifice given to us is a picture so wonderful, who would not want to turn to Him and receive this great exchange? For He will “Give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3).

~Word for Life Says

“Heavenly Father, take my hand…”

Heavenly Father,
take my hand,
and lead me through
this desert land.

Where hope seems dismal
and love fades.
But, You are my shelter.
Your heart is my shade.

Each step I walk,
I am found with You.
You hold me, You guide me.
You carry me through.

No matter the dreariness
of the land ahead.
I have no reason
to fret or dread.

My hand in Yours,
we keeping walking through.
Til I arrive in that City
whose destination is true.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalm 23:4

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  I and my Father are one.”

John 10:28-30

Reposted from July 2, 2018

Both Small and Great

Friend, it is the soul’s consolation to know that when we come before our Heavenly Father, there is no turning away because of background or social status. Lineage is not a prerequisite to being called His and to receive His blessings, nor is one’s economic standing. The only requirement is to believe and trust in Him, knowing that no matter who you are or where you hail from, “He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great” (Psalm 115:13).

~Word for Life Says