Month: February 2020

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Success: What is it? What is God’s Idea of Success?

Have you heard the saying “what goes around comes around?” God has a system in place in order to bless you, and it works on the principle of sowing and reaping. What you pour out to others, it will come back to you in increased measure. When you give generously, a generous harvest will return to you. When you help others succeed, you will find abundant success on your own path too.

Remember there are people in your life who will help you reach your full potential. These are people that God has placed in your life for you to help along, for you to sow into. The higher they rise up, the higher you will rise up too. When you give generously of your time, talent and resources, you are setting yourself up for greater success.

Today, what are you doing to invest in the lives of the people around you? Are you helping others get ahead? Step out and sow a seed, not necessarily of money. Look for ways to help others. As you sow success, you’ll reap success, and move forward and upward into the life God has in store for you!

“Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.”

 (Ecclesiastes 11:1 NLT)

Pray With Me
Jehovah, I open my heart to You and the success You have in store for me. Father, use me to be a blessing in the lives of others, helping them become successful in You. God, I believe in Your principle whatsoever we sow we will reap. Help me to sow positively, show me where to invest my time, talent and resources, to help others succeed for Your glory, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.

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What did Jesus mean when He said, “Ask and you shall receive”?

Yesterday I was thinking about one of my needs that’s not happening for me. I felt disappointed. I wonder today how many people have been disappointed simply because they didn’t pray and ask God for the big things in their hearts. You might say, “well, Ray, God is God. If He wants to bless me, He will bless me.” But no, it says in James 4:2, “you have not because you ask not.” If you’re not asking big, you are shortchanging yourself.

You will never reach the fullness of your potential if you only pray small prayers. I’m not talking about just making a wish list and praying every whim. I’m talking about asking God for what He has already promised you. The scripture says, “when you walk in God’s ways, you will lend and not borrow. With long life God will satisfy you. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Today, there are hundreds of promises that you have every right to pray and ask God to bring to pass; not only that, there are specific dreams and desires that God has placed in your heart. They didn’t just randomly show up. The Creator of the universe put them in you. I dare you to ask, and ask big, and watch what God will do in your life!

“”¦you do not have because you do not ask.”

(James 4:2, NKJV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, today I ask You to fulfil the promises and dreams You have placed in my heart. Father, I will be detailed and not limited in my asking of You for blessings. God, I believe that You are waiting and willing for me to ask big. God, I believe that You are able, and I believe that You are working things together for my good, as I put my hope, trust and belief in You, as I change my thinking from small to spiritually massive, in Christ’s Name! Amen. 

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Do You Need Hope or Faith for Something Today?

Since being back in the UK, I’ve noticed that folk look sad and down. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to give us abundant life. Not only did He come to give you life in eternity, but He desires that you experience abundant life here on earth. He wants your relationships to be vibrant and alive. He wants your dreams to be alive. He wants your body, heart and mind to be alive and full of vitality. God is the source of all life, and when you seek Him, you will find Him, and the result will be everlasting life.

Are there areas in your life that need to be resurrected? Are there things that you’ve put on the back burner that you need to revive again? Do you need hope or faith for something today?

Today, seek God and allow Him to breathe His life into you. Seek Him with your dreams; seek Him with your plans. Seek Him in all things, and you will find His abundant life, and everything you set your hand to will prosper in Jesus’ name.

“”¦Seek me and live.” 

(Amos 5:4, NIV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for giving me abundant life, both now and in eternity. God, I don’t want to just survive, I want to live a powerful, happy and excited life. So God, I give You my dreams and my plans, resurrect them and make them live. I humbly seek You today, giving You all that I am. I ask for Your hand of blessing and guidance in everything I do. In Jesus’ name! Amen.

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A NEW YOU: God can change impossible situations

Does your situation look impossible? It’s time to believe God for something that seems impossible? We serve a great and mighty God, and He can create something out of nothing! He can make a way when there seems to be no way. Before God spoke the world into existence, it was formless and void. If God can make the world out of nothing, He can take the empty places in your life and create something beautiful, too.

Today, God can speak light into your darkest hour. He can take your formless dreams and give them shape. He can resurrect your dormant gifts and talents! He can make your crooked places straight! Trust Him in all things, because He can make something out of nothing, there is nothing too hard for Him!

“The earth was formless and void”¦and God said, let there be light.” (Genesis 1:2—3, NASB)

Pray With Me

Yahweh, thank You for making a way where there seems to be no way. Father, thank You for forming my shapeless life. Now God, fill the void that is in my life today. Please, I beg You, turn on the light in my darkness today. Give me Your peace and faith, and give me a vision for all You have for me. In Christ’s Name! Amen.

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I Wish I Hadn’t Said That

Yesterday I said something I wish I could have taken back, but I couldn’t. Have you said something recently that you wish you hadn’t? The Bible says that your words reveal what’s going on inside of you. If you go around speaking negative words of defeat, putting others down and complaining all the time, it’s a sign that you need to re-focus your heart and mind. It’s a sign that your “hard drive” is polluted.

It is said that our bodies work a lot like a computer. What you put on the hard drive of your heart, will show up on the monitor of your mouth. The good news is that you can reprogram your mind the same way you can reprogram a computer. The Bible says that your mind can be renewed–or reprogrammed. The more you read and study His Word, the more it will transform you from the inside out.

Today, ask the Lord to reveal anything in your heart that needs changing. Make Him first place in your life. Fill your heart with the good treasure of God’s Word, so that blessings come out of your mouth. Let the hard drive of your heart be filled with faith, expectancy and hope, and you’ll see God’s hand of blessing in every area of your life.

“”¦For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” 

(Matthew 12:34, NKJV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, I humbly come before You, and ask that You cleanse the hard drive of my heart and mind of anything that isn’t pleasing to You. Father, reprogram me and renew me. Fill me with Your faith, peace, joy and love, so that I can overflow with Your goodness and positivity today and always, in Christ’ Name! Amen.

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You Need to Get Rid of All Your Negative Friends

All kinds of Wonderful

This is a new season, and in order for you to rise higher, you have to break away from relationships that are limiting you. Sometimes in order to embrace the destiny God has in store, you have to be willing to make some difficult changes in your life. You have to be willing to examine where you are, and what you need to do in order to move forward. This may mean that you need to change some friends you’re spending time with. Maybe they were fine for a season in your life, but you’ve outgrown them. You have to develop some new friendships with people who are going to pull you up and inspire you to rise higher.

I’ve said this many times and still maintain it today, that if you’re the smartest one in your group, your group is too small. Find people who are smarter than you, people who will challenge you to stretch to the next level. If you are not stretched, life will become boring, mundane and static.

Today, I remind you, he who walks with the wise becomes wise. Choose your friends wisely, don’t allow them to hold you back, or hold you down, or even talk you out of your dreams, so you can rise higher and walk in the dignity and in the destiny God has for you. 

“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20, NIV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for Your grace and mercy, Father, I ask You for the power to walk away from evil, small-minded, uninspiring relationships. Thank You for the plan You have for my life. God, help me choose my friends and companions wisely, so that I can continue to move forward and not backwards or sideways, so I can arrive at the destiny You have for me. In Christ’s Name! Amen.

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You Belong To The Family Of God

We all go through times when we feel lonely, or wonder where we belong. God designed family to always be a place of love and acceptance. Maybe you didn’t come from an environment like that, or maybe you’ve been away from your family. Maybe they are no longer around. God still desires to meet that need for family. He says, “He is the Father to the fatherless, and He places the solitary in families.” God wants to give you a circle of people you can trust, who will embrace and accept you.

If you are lonely or in need of a family today, ask God to meet that need and show you where you belong. Or, maybe you are the one who can open your home and heart to someone who is alone. The point is that God loves family. He designed family for a purpose. Jesus said in Matthew 12 that those who do God’s will are His family.

Today, if you are part of the family of God, you are never alone! He promises to never leave you nor forsake you. He promises to fill you with His peace and joy, so that you can live as an overcomer all the days of your life!

“God places the solitary in families”¦” (Psalm 68:6, NKJV)

Pray With Me

Yahweh, thank You for making me a part of Your family. Father, thank You for diminishing my loneliness and being my Father. Thank You for accepting and embracing me always, even when I embarrass You with my sinful behaviour. God, show me how I can reach out and be an example of family in someone else’s life, in Christ’s Name! Amen.

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Don’t Judge Me!

If you know me I can be very critical at times. Just recently I had to learn this valuable lesson, criticism given in the wrong way can make us feel anxious and in some cases, worthless. But when it’s given fairly and constructively, with real care and encouragement, not only does it show us where we’re going wrong, it fires us up to want to improve. So when we’re trying to help someone improve, let’s do it with kindness, understanding and empathy.

If it’s constructive, criticism can be a good thing. If we point out mistakes from a position of love and of wanting the other person to be the best they can be, it’s a useful tool that we can use to help others improve. Otherwise, it can easily turn into a destructive force that discourages and breaks people apart. We tend to find it easy to point out failings and weaknesses in others, while overlooking or excusing our own faults.

Jesus says: ‘How can you say to your friend, “Let me take that little piece of dust out of your eye”? Look at yourself! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye. You hypocrite!’ (Matthew 7:4-5 NCV). Strong words, so we definitely need to take notice and avoid being unfair and judging others more harshly than we judge ourselves. Sometimes we might be overly critical to try and make ourselves look or feel better. Or we might be trying to hide the wounds of past experiences by using anger and criticism as a form of defence. 

Today, whatever the reason, Jesus gives us clear instructions, ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged.’ When God looks at us and sees our faults and all the mistakes we make, He treats us with grace and gently corrects us. But what if God criticised us as harshly and as often as we criticise others? We’d soon feel completely depressed and wounded. The truth is, God, who has the highest standards of all, treats us with love and care even when we fail to live up to those standards. So when we need to correct someone, let’s do the same, and aim to encourage, not discourage.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.’

Matthew 7:1 NIV

Pray With Me
Yahweh, I thank You for this timely advice not to judge others. I surrender my negative critical mind to You. Please Father, change me so I won’t be judgemental and hypocritical. God, help me to look at myself first before looking at others. Show me how to be constructive and encouraging when I have to criticise, and never to be discouraging and cause depression and discontent, in Christ’s Name! Amen.

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Patrick Mahomes: A Second Chance

Last night I stayed up to watch Super Bowl 54 (the American football final). The Kansas City Chiefs were down by 10 points at half time. Their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, the league’s most valuable player, was having his worst game of the season. His passes had been intercepted by the opposition, his passes had been dropped and his dreams shattered. He was down but not out. Instead of focusing one his failure He trusted in his God and his coach, which gave him hope and optimism. He reminded himself of of his God-given greatness and dreams, and he went on to mastermind one of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history. Do you know, God has planted seeds of greatness in you, and He wants to see those things in your heart come to pass. You may have had more than your share of unfair things happen in your life. Maybe your dreams have shattered, and you probably have plenty of reasons to just settle where you are with no hope for the future. 

Life’s lessons from Patrick’s Super Bowl comeback. (1) It’s only half time, life isn’t over. Hallelujah! (2) The depth and difficulty of your past, is an indication of the height and blessings of your future. (3) Remember, if you’ve been through a lot of negative things in the past, it just means that your future is bigger and brighter and greater than you can even imagine, so don’t give up. (4) It’s time to step in confidence and your God-given greatness and embrace all that God has for you! (5) Those dreams and promises that you’ve let go of, those things that God has placed in your heart, but because of time, and disappointments you’ve given up on, it’s time to pray and trust your God and try again.

Today, like Patrick Mahomes, shake off those setbacks. This is the day to give your dreams a second chance. Today is the day to allow faith to rise in your heart. Remember, what’s happened to you is not nearly as important as what’s happened in you, and you are stronger and wiser than ever before. It’s your time,” it’s your season to move forward into the destiny that God has prepared for you!

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 1:6NIV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for what You are doing in my life today. Father, I receive the visions and dreams You have placed and birthed in me. I receive Your hope. Please be with those who have no hope and have decided to settle. God, I embrace today as my comeback day, I look forward with joy and eager anticipation to all You have for my future. I refuse to let my joy and dreams be stolen by the enemy, in Christ’s Name! Amen.

Patrick Lavon Mahomes II is an American professional football player who is a quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He is the son of former Major League Baseball pitcher Pat Mahomes. Mahomes initially played college football and college baseball at Texas Tech University.

 

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