Tag: inspirational articles

“Walk on Your Unique Path”

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I don’t pray anymore for faith like Abraham’s or courage like David’s, or for any other qualities modeled by someone else.

Their lives are significant, and we can learn from them—but God is writing something personal in each of us. Every one of us carries aspects of ourselves that God wants to shape, refine, and bring to life. When we yield to His molding process, we become the version of ourselves that He intended from the beginning.

I want to become the best version of me that God desires. I’ve realized He has placed a unique beauty and originality within every person. Together, we each bring a distinct “flavor” to the larger story of humanity.

The stories of others can inspire us and offer guidance, but trying to replicate someone else’s journey can leave us discouraged when our path doesn’t look like theirs. And that’s because it was their story—not ours.

God sees the beauty in who you are and in the path you walk with Him.

We honor the footsteps of those who have gone before us, but we also embrace the truth that our road may look different. The beauty of your life rests in who God designed you to be.

The best version of you isn’t found in imitation—it’s found in His intention.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

Blessings ~

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Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, X, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc, to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

“Before there was Egypt, there was a promise!”

Many times when we discuss the land of Egypt within the confines of the Bible, our minds automatically track back to the time when the children of Israel were in bondage there.  We see them under the weight of the taskmasters, dealing with oppressive circumstances that are beyond their control.  They stand by and watch as some are beaten, others are killed; lack and degrading situations run rampant throughout their time there.  Fear, hatred, and jealousy by others drove them to the place where they are residing; a place where tough days seem like they will never come to an end.

Oftentimes, when people find themselves in a hard spot of life, or when they find themselves coming up short and just not happy with the way things are turning out at this particular time, they refer to that circumstance as their place of “Egypt.”  This is where heartbreak and troubling times lie.  This is the place where it seems everything is fighting against them, and no matter what one does, it just doesn’t appear that they will ever come out on top.  People may not have taskmasters’ whips to deal with, but other things just lash and lash out at them, making it hard to get back up again.

As hard as this may be to believe, I assure you your Egypt will not last forever.  I’m sure the children of Israel had doubts about this.  After all, their time there lasted about four hundred years.  Yet, even before this family of seventy ventured into the land and grew to the astronomical numbers we see in Exodus, God knew all about their time there before they were even there.

In Genesis 15:13 God told Abram, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.”  Outside of that prophecy God also said, “And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance,” (Genesis 15:14).  In this we see, there was a promise before they even set one foot in Egypt; before they even encountered a problem, God already had a blessing lined up for when they came out.

Today, we fight against so many unknowns.  We deal with all the this’s and that’s of life that simply weigh one down.  One might not find themselves in a literal state of captivity, but something just sits on them heavy, becoming an almost unbearable burden, and they just don’t know what to do.  With a feeling of exasperation, some just give up, content to go through the motions of life, without grabbing hold of the feeling of hope because of the fear of being let down again, just to drift back into that state of uncertainty once more.

But, I am here to tell you today, continue hoping and never give up.  Your “Egypt” is not lost on God.  God knows what you are facing.  He knows every disappointment you are dealing with.  He knows every struggle you are battling.  He knows everything that you are fighting through, and that’s fighting against you.

It may be hard to see the proverbial silver lining in a dark cloud at times or the light at the end of the tunnel, but we have something better.  We have a promise!  God told Abram that when his people came out, they would be coming out better than when they went in.  God was going to judge those who did them wrong, and God was going to bless them greatly.

Another promise Abram received was in a few verses before those noted above.  God told him, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be,” (Genesis 15:5).  Not only were they going to be blessed, but they were going to come out increased in the people they were.  To go from one individual to the millions they would come out to be, they were going to grow not only in number but in experience through their troubling times.  They would have to learn to endure some stuff to be the people who would eventually be fit to take on the Promised Land.

While it may at times seem like the hard times are breaking you, they may actually be making you.  So remember, before there was Egypt, there was a promise.  And, I don’t know about you, but I will take a promise of God over a so-called silver lining any day.  The promises of God are sure.  Through our relationship with Jesus Christ, we are told, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us,” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

In other words, no matter what you are facing today, Jesus has you covered.  No matter the obstacles or hard places that make you feel like you are in Egypt and you just want to give up, God has an unfailing promise of His love, grace, mercy, peace, and deliverance through even the most difficult circumstances.

Reposted from April 19, 2020

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.

 

 

Limiting God | Reposting Encouragement

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Today, I am reposting encouragement. May you walk in the fullness of God’s unlimited blessings, because almost everybody wants to see a mighty move of God in their life.  But often, some things get in God’s way; obstacles that act as barriers to blessings.  There are two very specific items I want to deal with in this article that the Bible clearly shows us to be things that limit God’s power to work in an individual’s or a people’s life.

But, before I move any further in this article, I want to clarify a few things: 1) Just because one may be in the waiting process, it doesn’t mean these items that are going to be discussed apply to that individual or their situation.  Sometimes, for His own wise reasons, God just has us waiting for His right time to move.  And, 2) The two items that are going to be listed here are not the only things that form themselves as a blockade to one’s blessings.  A truly seeking heart will prayerfully peel back the layers of self for a close-up examination of the inner man to see if there is anything else that may be getting in the way.

As I was reading my Bible, I came across Psalm 78:41, which states, “Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.”  This psalm recites Israel’s history, and it highlights several of their rebellious moments.  Particularly, God’s deliverance of them from Egypt, and their provocation of Him in the wilderness, through sin.  The verse above brings out those same disobedient actions as limiting God.  Their sin made a mark or drew a line, prohibiting them from the fullness of God and what He had to offer.  Rather, they ended up provoking Him to anger.

Disobedience is one thing that will definitely limit God’s ability to work in you, through you, and for you.  Disobedience evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-11) when God’s blessing was for them to live in paradise.  Disobedience turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:17, 26) when God’s blessings wanted to deliver them from that city of sin.  Disobedience caused Jonah to end up in the belly of a fish (Jonah 1:3, 15-17) when God’s blessing was for him to be a great witness to a great city.  And, there are oodles of more cases noted in the Bible.  Disobedience will always forfeit God’s best in one’s life.

As I was pondering this verse in the Psalm about limiting God, I was reminded of a time when Jesus wasn’t able to do great works in Nazareth, His hometown.  Matthew 13:58 tells us, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”  He was limited by their unbelief.

Now, we all know by now Jesus’ ability to do absolutely anything.  One thing He won’t do is infringe, encroach upon, or overstep one’s belief.  Mankind is a creature made with free will.  It is His hope and desire that one would fully believe who He is and all that He says He can do.  But it is a choice that every individual must make, by faith, for himself or herself.

The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that, “Without faith it is impossible to please him:” (or, to agree with Him), “for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” (Hebrews 11:6).

God is the God of all possibilities, but a lack of faith and belief will hinder those possibilities.  Unbelief caused the first group that attempted to enter the Promised Land to be made to turn back (Hebrews 3:19).  God’s best wasn’t for them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.  His blessing was for them to go in and possess it at that time.  Their own unbelief refused the blessing for them.  Going back to Psalm 78 in the recitation of their history, there are other noted instances where the unbelief of the people came to the forefront (Psalm 78:22, 32).

In the New Testament, if it had not been for Jesus on the boat with His disciples, they may have perished in the storm.  Jesus had already done miracles and even taught many powerful parables, but when the storm blew, they freaked out and asked Jesus, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38).  But after Jesus stilled the storm He asked them this one question: “How is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).  Faith matters.

Back to Jesus’ experience in Nazareth, in parallel verses found in Mark, the Bible tells us, “He marvelled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:6).

God, throughout the Bible, wants the best for His people.  God would rather add blessings to our account rather than subtract them.  If God blesses and takes care of the birds of the air and the grass in the field (Matthew 6:25-29), “shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith,” (Matthew 6:30).

But He says in Matthew, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” (Matthew 6:33; emphasis added).  Go after a life of obedience and faith!  Reject those hindrances to the blessings.  The things that stand in one’s way and limit God’s moving in their life have to be put down so that He can raise His people higher.

We hear a lot of inspirational messages dealing with the subject of “No Limits.”  And, that’s wonderful!  But, in order to have a life of no limits, one needs to make sure God isn’t being limited in their life through disobedience and unbelief.

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.

“Don’t Romanticize Life!”

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Cultivating Slow Living

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If you have ever spent time in a garden, you know to get the most out of what you are planting, you must first spend time cultivating the soil. This involves preparing the soil to support the life of the seed or the plant. It is about nourishing and amending the soil. This ensures it will have all the healthful benefits needed to reach full maturity and fruitfulness.

Many want fruitfulness. However, the way we have been pursuing it has left many less than satisfied. They feel deflated, worn out, and frazzled because of all it takes to reach it in this world of demands.

Our modern culture allows us to do many things. This increase in perceived productivity has been helpful in some areas while taking its toll on others.

The physical, emotional, and mental burnout that people have come to equate with success has created dissatisfaction. This has awakened a not-so-silent call for a better way to live. There must be more than this constantly rushing about.

Many have become aware of the unhealthy way our over-rushed and overworked culture has pushed us forward and the term “slow living” has regained our attention. Dealing with constant busyness and hurried lifestyles has caused some to take a step back. In this, they reflect and reevaluate what is really a priority for them to have a wholesome, balanced, and healthy life. And what many are finding out is that there is a real need to put space on the calendar or the everyday routine of life to let go, and get slow.

Slow, misunderstood, and used wrongly, can be viewed as laziness. But slow can be beautiful because you are deciding to be purposeful with your life. Moving forward at a hundred miles an hour is not your goal, rather you account that people and life, in general, are made for so much more than mere zooming by without the time for deep connections. So, you take the time to love, nourish, be intentional, and simply live and enjoy all the ways God has blessed you.

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You are cultivating, on purpose, the ground of your life to support more than agendas and achievements. The abundance you are desiring cannot be confined to such trivial things. The greatest example is in our relationship with Christ.

Jesus promised us an abundant life (John 10:10). That abundance is not about forcing or focusing on things we can gain in this world or material wealth. The richest thing one can invest in to be more intentional with the life they have been given is more of Him. That cannot happen if we are always distracted by constantly doing and never taking the time to sit and be where He is (Luke 10:40-42).

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10).

Cultivating slow living is not about shirking responsibilities or approaching life with a lackadaisical attitude. This is about valuing everything I have been given, especially the people in my life, and I want to care for each and honor each in a way that lets them know I esteem them, I am here for them, and I love them. I want to use this life in a way that pleases God by stewarding well what He has given me and not have my focus continually on climbing some invisible ladder of success.

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Think about what pursuit has you running about at a hurried pace today? The Bible tells us, “He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour” (Proverbs 21:21).

It is so easy to get caught up in what has been dubbed “the rat race,” but our daily living is made for more. These days, people, and moments are gifts to us by our Heavenly Father and we are encouraged about how we spend our time with each (Ephesians 5:15, 16).

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

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Changing what we pursue and how we pursue it will make our lives a lot less stressful. Take time today to slow down, prioritize, and recenter on what matters most. There is so much more to life, and we don’t want to miss it.

So, how do we make this change?

  • Prioritize – Look where you are now and what you want your tomorrow to look like. To achieve your desired outcome, what can you let go of or shave down some so that you don’t always feel at your wit’s end. I can attest to the fact that often we take on more than we are capable of in any given season. Laying something aside right now doesn’t mean it’s not important; it just means it doesn’t fit in with the season of life I’m in right now. So we prioritize, bringing out the best without being overburdened with things that can wait.
  • Recenter – Once you have strained out the main priorities for your right-now season, you can recenter and mark your path forward. When using a GPS, sometimes I look at the overview screen of the trip to see the highways and streets we must travel ahead of us. But when I need to get back to dealing with where I am currently on my journey, I need to hit the recenter button. While it’s okay to think about the future (the Bible encourages this often), we must also pay attention to where we are in our present moment. What needs our immediate attention right now? How much strength, time, and commitment can I put into this right now? These are important questions to ask. We often get hurried and over-stressed because we want to deal with all the right-now stuff the along with the what-ifs of the future stacked on top of it. Most of the daily things we deal with can be broken down into more manageable tasks and delegated to other times. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing (an attitude that overworks us).
  • Go slow – take a deep breath and move forward at a manageable pace. There have been times I have prayed and asked God to help me steward this day or for the best way to handle the tasks in front of me. He, who is the “Ancient of Days” (Daniel 7:9), has the wisdom and strength your day needs. Trust Him with your schedule. We are given gifts to be productive, but remember, God, who is the Author of those gifts, is also the Author of rest (Genesis 2:2,3). Not just with the Sabbath, but throughout Scripture, His call to rest is a call to trust in what He is doing in your life during this season. We become filled with ideas and inspirations and want to put the pedal to the metal and give it our all. And that’s fine. But if you are feeling burned out and extremely overwhelmed, you have to question is this what God has for me in this season, or is it me rushing ahead? And if we feel it is the Lord’s leading, perhaps we need to revisit steps 1 and 2 to be sure we have shaved unnecessary things away for now.
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Don’t be disheartened. Schedules often need to be revisited to see if everything we have going on right now is for our optimal good. Recently, I have personally had to revisit how I approach certain tasks, and it is helping me see that although I love my routines, some routines or expectations may not work for certain periods of life. We must be willing to move and adjust when feeling led or if we feel like this particular thing isn’t working for now, and trust God with the outcome.

We want to cultivate a life where we are productive under God’s grace without completely feeling exhausted and stressed as if we are being buried under the burden of each day’s demands. Sometimes, slowing down will help us to do just that. Enjoy this life God has given.

Blessings ~

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, X, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

Community of Believers | We are here for one another!

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Dear Reader, the challenges of this life come in many shapes and forms. Regardless of how it comes or what it appears like, the blow of difficulties can often be softened when another will come alongside to help shoulder the load. I am resharing this post to encourage us in our need to look out for the welfare of one another:

Races can take you through many terrains. Running uphill is hard. The more you go, the steeper the incline, the harder it gets. Breath after breath, your chest heaves for relief. Push after push, your muscles cry out for mercy. And, just when you thought you had no more in you, just when you thought you couldn’t go any farther, imagine for a moment, from behind there comes these hands out of nowhere that steady your stride and help propel you forward. On the side of you come these smiling faces with encouraging words, grabbing hold of your arms and helping pull you up that incline so that you might finish your race. They want to help you make it.

Just as runners need each other on the steepest climbs, so, too, do we need each other in our spiritual journey. We rely on our association with fellow believers to not only run well, but to finish well.

The Apostle Paul often described our Christian life as a race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). We run it. We press for it. But, sometimes the way gets hard, and if it had not been for the grace of God, we would not have made it. 

As the community of racers pushed and pulled the struggling runner uphill, so, too, God will minister to us to help us run our race. Often this is done through the community of believers who will come alongside the one who needs support.

In this world, as they say, the struggle is real. May we, as a community of believers, recognize the support that each one needs. May we join our fellow Christian race runners and offer the help and encouragement they need to make it. May we see beyond our own race and allow God to use our hands and smiling faces to help bolster someone’s faith as they strive to make it up the inclines of this life.

We all have the same goal in mind: to finish the race. We need each other to do it. As a community of believers, our job goes beyond spreading the gospel, being a light in this dark world, and all the other spiritual stuff it entails. Our job is also to seek the welfare of one another, to help those around us. We ought to be there for one another. We need to be present and involved in what they are going through, champion companions in this race, so that, as the Bible says, “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it,” (1 Corinthians 12:25-26).

The hardest climbs can be conquered when we support one another. 

More encouraging verses and quotes:

“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow . . .” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a

“God has chosen us to help one another.” Smith Wigglesworth

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But… the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, X, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

Trust

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Friends, sometimes directions can get the best of us. Be it trying to find a destination, build a creative project, or bake a new recipe – directions come in handy because they tell us the best way to perform the tasks ahead to get the desired results we are hoping for. Some directions we may not understand until we get to the middle or end of a project and then we realize why they said to do a certain thing (and if you are like me, sometimes you have to pull it all apart and start over the “right way”). What’s true in the natural is even more true in the spiritual. Every instruction, correction, direction, or command we read in the Bible we may not understand, but one thing we can always understand is, that God knows what He is doing. He knows how to get the end results we desire. Our job today and every day is to just “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6). God knows what He’s doing in your life.

~Word for Life Says

Both Small and Great

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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

Hope

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Friend, our hope is not dimmed. Nor is the flame of fire of our faith extinguished. For as long as our Lord remains on high (He always will) and remains on the throne of heaven (He always will), our reason for hope is always alive and fanning the flames of faith in our hearts. Today, don’t look around at what you may see but look up to Him who is the source of our true hope: “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).

~Word for Life Says

Quiet

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Friends, there is a stillness of heart and soul one must appreciate and long for. When the world demands noise and roars its desires, the Lord beckons us to steal away in His presence and just be still (Psalm 46:10). It is in the quietness of this moment where we shut out the world’s demands and wrap ourselves in the familiar embrace of knowing our God.

~Word for Life Says