According to God’s Word we all sin and we all make mistakes. We’ve all made wrong choices, but as believers in God, that doesn’t change our destiny. God doesn’t kick us out of His kingdom because we’re not perfect. You may feel like you don’t deserve anything good from God, or you should suffer through life enduring problems. No this is what mercy is for, mercy will renew and restore you! Hallelujah!
Your sin didn’t surprise God, no matter what you may have done wrong, you are still the apple of God’s eye. You are still His most prized possession. You can still access God’s promises by faith today. Your weakness moves God toward you. He has enough grace and mercy to cover you and give you a new start.
Today, shake off guilt and condemnation? Put your shoulders back and say, “I may not be perfect, but I am forgiven. I may have made mistakes, but God knows my heart and it’s to please Him. I am changing my ways. I may have brought trouble on myself, but I’m going to stay in faith expecting God’s mercy to turn it around.” Please ask for His mercy today, and let it empower you to move forward in every area of your life!
“…Mercy triumphs over judgment.”(James 2:13, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for Your grace and mercy. Father, thank You for receiving me with my sins and mistakes. Please cleanse me and change me. God, I dedicate every area of my life to You, and invite You to have Your way in me, as I shake off guilt and condemnation from self, the world, and the church, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Many people miss out on the good things because they allow fear to distract them and hold them back. They say, “What if I fail?” “What if people don’t like me?” “What if I make a mistake?” However, “What if you do succeed?” “What if people do like you?” “What if you do it better than anyone else?” Let’s expect God’s goodness and favour, and not focus on the negative “what if’s.”
The Scripture talks about how time and chance will come together for every person. In other words, there are moments of favour that God has already released into your future. If you’ll let that sink down into your heart today, it will change your whole outlook on your future.
Today, go out with an attitude of faith and expectancy, you’ll see those good things He has in store, and not the negative fearful thinking the enemy wants you to have. Then you’ll walk into divine moments of favour, moments of blessing, moments of increase, and embrace all the good things God has in store for you!
“…time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for the good things You have planned for my future. Father, thank You for the positive expectations that Your Spirit brings which gives me daily peace, joy and protection. God, I choose to keep my heart and mind focused on the blessings in my future and not the negative fearful “what if’s,” in Christ’s Name! Amen
In this new year God has placed dreams and desires in our hearts. However there is always a season of waiting involved. You could be waiting for a relationship to improve, waiting on marriage, waiting for a job, or waiting to overcome an illness. A high percentage of life is spent waiting. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to wait. When things don’t happen in our time, we get down, discouraged or anxious. This is because we’re not waiting right.
Today’s verse doesn’t say if you wait, it says as you wait. Suggesting we’re all going to wait, like a farmer waits patiently and eagerly for season change. They don’t sit around discouraged, no they are hopeful, positive and full of expectancy!
Today, in the first month of 2021 what are you waiting for? Hold on with expectation and things will change. This could be the day, month or year that God turns it all around. As you wait with patience and expectancy for your season to change, you’ll open the door for God to move. He’ll fight your battles, and you will experience the abundant harvest He’s promised in every area of your life!
“Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.” (James 5:7, NLT)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for this new year, I wait with expectancy for Your answers to my prayers. Father, I trust that You are working in my life even when I can’t see You. God, at the beginning of 2021 I put my trust and hope in You, knowing that You have good things in store for my future, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Matthew 11:11-12 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (NIV)
When I was young, I could never understand that passage of Scripture. To me, it was so unlike the Spirit of the Lord. How could a God of love and peace allow this to happen? Forcefulness sounded so like the kingdom of darkness. But praise the Lord, for He is always faithful to show you the truth if you ask Him. So, why then is it, that this Scripture is there?
It all boils down to passion! You see if you are passionate about something there is nothing on this earth that will stop you from getting the thing you think about. The desire and the drive are so strong that oftentimes you will go without food and water in order to get it. It’s time to get hungry for the Lord and get your fight back and make a change.
Why do you not have the things you’re believing God for? Why is it that your life is not at the place you want it to be? Are you passionate about a change? Are you passionate to see your circumstances change? Or are you listening to the lie of Satan telling you, you need to sit and wait for your turn and accept everything that is given to you? Your turn is now! You don’t have to accept defeat because you are an overcomer. You were ordained to do great things. So, get up and make a change!
Joh 2:13-17 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Jesus was very passionate about the temple, and that passion drove Him to drive out the unclean things in His Father’s house. The Lord may have passed by that temple before; but today, the Lord had enough of their foolishness. He was the Change Maker, and He caused things to change.
Well, isn’t time you allow your passion to rise and cause a change to happen in your life? I want you to get passionate today and let that passion drive you. Allow the Lord to work in you and for you so that you can become a new creation in Him and let all these things standing in your way be blown away by the power of the Holy Spirit. By faith take back everything the enemy has stolen from you. It’s time to be a change-maker for the Lord.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When that guy cat-calls you just to get a reaction, what do you do? You ignore him and keep walking.
When that bully pushes all of your buttons just to make you mad, what do you do? you tune them out and move on.
When somebody tries to convince you of something you know 100% isn’t true, you don’t even give it a second thought before you dismiss the argument.
So why don’t we use this tactic against the father of all lies, a.k.a the enemy that is out to destroy your life? Just don’t engage. As soon as you do, he wins. He is cunning, crafty, and manipulative, and he’s only after your heart. He wants to crush it and mutate it and trample it underfoot until there’s nothing left for God to use.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” John 10:10a
I know this isn’t easy. Trust me, I’m a thinker. Overthinking is my second nature, if not my first nature. I have to think through everything, especially when faced with a conflict. If somebody challenges my opinion, my first reaction is to analyze the entire argument…
What are they saying?
Do I agree or disagree? Why?
What do I think?
How does that compare to what they think?
What is true?
What evidence affirms/denies my argument?
Is there any way there is truth in both arguments?
Why do they think what they think?
Why do I think what I think?
And it goes on …
and on …
and on.
I think you get the idea. By the way, all of that overthinking happens in about 2 seconds. It’s an intense self-interrogation until I think my way into a solution that makes sense to me, so I can feel at peace with what I believe and move on.
Sometimes this is a really useful skill, but the enemy knows exactly how to use it for my deepest undoing. The problem with using the “overthinking tactic” against Satan is that he doesn’t care about logic. His goal is not to convince me that his argument makes more sense. In fact, he doesn’t even care about what he says. He doesn’t even believe the lies himself.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.”
James 2:19
Satan knows God. He knows scripture. He knows what the truth is, and his goal is to keep you as far away from it as possible. He knows the power that God’s word can have in your life and that terrifies him. He will say whatever it takes to get you to question God and doubt His goodness, and the moment you try to reason with him, you’ve fallen into his trap.
I say all of this because I fall into the trap far too often. The devil uses people near and dear to me to convince me of his lies because he knows it works with almost 100% accuracy. Because their opinion matters so much to me, I will over-analyze their every word and body language to my own demise. Something they say – or don’t say – pricks one of my insecurities (unbeknownst to that person), and the trap has been set. Suddenly, I’m hit with an avalanche of thoughts like these:
“They just don’t care enough about you to ask about your day.”
“You’re stupid for thinking ______ would happen.”
“You’re too dramatic, emotional, etc.”
“It’s your fault that you can’t handle this feeling.”
The first step is to recognize the lie. Now, to do this, you have to know the Truth. No, that’s not a typo. I meant Truth with a capital “T” because you have to know God’s Word, and His word is Truth. Once you start to bury His word in your heart, and begin to recognize his voice, you can more easily discern truth from lies.
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
But it doesn’t stop there! That’s where I made my mistake. I thought, “If I recognize the lie, it will become invalid and it won’t sting anymore.”
False.
Satan is more crafty than that, and he was already one step ahead of me. See, he recognized how I use my interrogation process to reconcile a contradicting thought, so he used it against me. He used it to blur the lines between lie and Truth. So he takes me down this rabbit hole to confuse me and muddle the words of God until I feel so lost, confused, and heartbroken that I can’t even remember what lie got the whole thing started to begin with. He knows how I look for the middle ground to make sense of things, but there is no middle ground between what the devil says and what God says.
So no, it CANNOT end with recognizing the lie. You have to take the next step and make the choice not to engage with the lie. Now, if you’re a thinker like me, this will be hard. Like really, really hard. But you have to choose to look the other way. Change your posture to look toward your loving, protective, jealous, Heavenly Father. Tell the enemy you don’t have time for his games. Don’t try to argue with him and tell him why his lie is a lie and why God’s Truth wins, because he already knows it, and he doesn’t care. He’ll just twist everything around until you find yourself lost in a muddy mess of nothing that makes any sense whatsoever.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
To sum it up…
Study Truth, that is, the Word of God.
Recognize the lie, which is not the Word of God.
Don’t Engage. Choose to meditate on and dwell in the Word of God.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua 1:8
This is not something that my genius, overthinking brain came up with one day. This is something that the Holy Spirit whispered to me, and by God’s grace alone, I heard it. I was on the brink of yet another panic attack and fearful of going back down that dark road. I was on the brink of forming another unsuccessful argument for why the lie was a lie and trying to figure out a way to outsmart the devil this time, and the Holy Spirit simply said, “don’t engage with the lie.” Of course I tried to overthink and analyze again, but He didn’t relent. He just kept telling me, “Don’t engage with the lie. It’s not worth it. Just keep looking at Me. Lean on the love of your Father instead of your own knowledge for once.” Hey, that sounds familiar, right?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
So go ahead. Give the enemy the cold shoulder. Hit him with the silent treatment. Then you will taste freedom. Remember the second half of John 10:10…
“…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10b
Go live in the abundant life Christ bought for you. The enemy’s lies are not worth your time, precious child of God.
What I’m really asking, is what are you expecting to happen in your life? What kind of attitude do you have? If your thoughts are stuck and you’re focused on what’s wrong, or what’s not working, then it’s time to change your address! It’s time to pack up your belongings and move out of the land of discouragement. It’s time to move out of the “nothing’s-going-to-happen street” or “I-can’t-do-it road”. It’s time to pack your bags and move into the “Ray of hope close” or “by faith boulevard”, or even “expectation manor!”
Every time you get a negative thought and you want to dwell in “nothing’s-going-to-happen street,” or “I-can’t-do-it road” instead, dwell on God’s promises, pack your bags and change address.
Today, every time you declare God’s faithfulness, you are taking a step in the right direction, and you’re moving from your old address (old way of thinking) into a new one. The Bible says that those who hope in the Lord will never be put to shame. Hallelujah! As you turn your focus toward Him, you will start living in “Hope street” – a land where His peace, blessings and victory reside.
“…my flesh also will dwell in hope.” (Acts 2:26, ESV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for ordering and directing my steps. Father thank You for moving me out of “I-can’t-do-it-road” to “expectation manor”, a place of hope and expectation! God, I claim Your promises, I choose to set my mind on You, knowing that You are faithful. God, I release the past and invite You to fill me with Your peace, blessings and victory, in Christ’ name! Amen.
My inbox lately has been full of prayer requests for change and direction in the year to come. My belief is your future begins today. Today, I declare that a shift is starting in Jesus’ name! What do you need – a shift in your health, a shift in your finances, or a shift in a relationship? It may not look like anything is happening in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He’s about to move in your direction in a new way! Hallelujah!
The enemies you have seen in the past, you will see no more. The addictions or bad habits that have held you back in 2020 are being broken in Jesus’ name. God’s favour is being released in a new way that will propel you forward. What should have taken you 20 or 30 years to accomplish, God is going to do in a matter of minutes!
Today, I’ve got breaking news – ”your shift has been accelerated.” The shift means going beyond where you could go on your own. The shift is seeing Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider, do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond. Our attitude should be, “God, I’m ready. I’m taking the limits off of You. I’m enlarging my vision. I receive it. I may not see a way, but I know You have a way. I declare I’m coming into my shift today!” Hallelujah!
“You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:28, NKJV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, today I open my heart and mind to You. I ask You for a supernatural shift in my life today. Father, I claim and declare that a supernatural shift is coming my way. Change my health, my finances, my relationships, and my vision. God, I receive Your Word, I receive Your promises, I receive Your truth, and I receive the increase You have in store for me, in Christ’ name! Amen.
Anytime we speak something, either good or bad, we are giving life to what we are saying. Too many people go around saying negative things about themselves, their family and their future. Things like, “I’ll never be successful. This sickness is going to kill me. Business is so slow I will have to close it. Flu season is coming. I’ll probably get it, I always get it.”
They don’t realise we are prophesying our future. The Scripture says, “we will eat the fruit of our words.” That means we’re going to get exactly what we’ve been saying.
Today, send your words out in the direction you want your life to go. You cannot speak defeat and expect to have victory. You can’t talk about lack and expect to have abundance. You will produce what you’ve been saying. With your words, you either bless or curse your future. Make sure your words are what God says about you, so you can move forward in the life of blessing He has in store for you!
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for the ability to change my future with my words. Father, I choose to use my words to bless others, and to receive Your blessing in my own life in return. God, help me to be more positive with what comes out of my mouth, in Christ’ name! Amen.
Do you want to be changed? Meditate on God’s Word and His marvellous deeds and it will change you! It will begin to drive out old, negative thoughts and fill you with His strength and power. How does that happen? Imagine that you are holding a glass of dirty water in your hand. It’s full of all kinds of dirty particles. If you were to pour fresh, clean running water into that glass continually, and just let it overflow over and over, eventually all the dirty water would be gone. All you would have left is the pure, clean water. And, you wouldn’t have to really do anything to get rid of the dirty water, except allow the new, clean water to flow.
Today your mind is cleansed and renewed in the same way. By getting into the habit of pouring continuously the right thoughts–thoughts of faith, thoughts of victory, thoughts of praise–then before long, your mind is going to be transformed and renewed. You’re going to find yourself positive, hopeful, strong and courageous. You’ll see God’s hand of blessing and increase, and you will live the abundant, victorious life He has in store for you!
“Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvellous deeds, and devoutly praise them.” (Psalm 105:2, AMP)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, today I humbly submit my whole mind to You. Father, I choose to meditate on You and Your promises, so that You can cleanse and renew my mind. I commit to getting rid of my sinful dirty mind, by daily pouring in clean thoughts of faith, victory, praise, kindness and love. God, thank You for working in me, in Christ’ name! Amen.
There are times in our lives when the challenges we face are many. Whether there are things happening in your life or to the entirety of the world, fears can get the best of you. This can make anyone too scared to take chances and live their lives to the fullest.
Overcoming fears that are holding you back is challenging and cannot happen overnight. There are a few things you need to be able to include in your life in order for change to take place. Here are five simple tips to help you start dealing with the things that scare you and hold you back.
1. Have faith in change
One of the biggest things you need to keep in mind when trying to overcome fears is that change will take time. The fears you are facing have developed from experiences in your past, which have affected your life strongly. Trying to change the feelings these experiences have caused you is no easy matter.
Believing that you are able to change these around is the best way to start this journey. While it might take some time, change is bound to happen when there is will. Having faith in your ability to change will help you see things from a different perspective. Through this, you will manage to keep pushing yourself forward.
2. Focus on positive thoughts
Another thing that can help you come to terms with fear is focusing on the positive instead of the negative. Most of the time, being afraid of something will make you focus on everything that can go wrong. If you allow yourself to feel this way, it will be a lot more difficult for you to see things differently.
No matter what you go through and what you are afraid of, God is on your side. Instead of letting negativity impact your decisions and everyday life, have faith that something good will come out of a difficult situation. This way, you will be able to train your mind to focus on the positive outcomes and overcome the fear certain situations can cause.
3. Pray when you feel overwhelmed
The power of prayer is great and can help guide you when you feel scared and helpless. No matter what fear you are facing, praying about it can make it seem more simple and manageable. When you feel overwhelmed with emotions, taking a step back and thinking about it is important.
This is something that you can easily do through praying about a situation. During that time, you are talking about your fears and worries to God and asking for help and guidance. Praying when your fears overwhelm can help you see things clearly and get the reassurance that everything is going to be okay.
4. Discuss your fears with people that care
No matter what it is that scared you, talking about it with people that care about you is going to help you tremendously. Your family, your friends, and the members of your church are all people you can trust and ask for some of their time. Opening up about the things that scare you will make them a lot more manageable.
In addition to that, you will be able to see how someone else understands and perceives what exactly scares you. In certain cases, they will be able to relate to your fears. Other people will be able to break your fears down and help you see just why they should not hold you back.
5. Take some time off
If you find that certain fears are affecting your everyday life in a negative way, it might be necessary to take some time off. Something as simple as spending some time at home or going on a short trip can help you feel better very quickly.
It is possible that the fears you are dealing with are caused by stressful situations in your everyday life. Taking some time to reevaluate certain scenarios and situations will help you seek new ways to overcome them.
Facing your fears with the help of others
Facing your fears alone is a very difficult task. Having the help and support of other people in your church and your community is important. The best way to overcome situations and things that scare you is through finding your strength. God can provide you with a safe place where you can think about everything that scares you. This way, you will be able to think about them more logically and know that you will overcome every challenge that comes your way.
Bio:
Bridgette Hernandez is a professional writer and editor who works with websites such as TrustMyPaper and SupremeDissertations. Brid loves to educate her audience on the power of writing, and oftentimes creates blog content for platforms such as GrabMyEssay. In her spare time, she loves spending time with friends, cooking, and listening to audiobooks.
What needs changing in your life? A bad habit, a bad attitude, or even negative, evil thoughts. You have to start by changing your mind. You have to change your thinking so that your thoughts are in line with God’s thoughts. When you make the decision to follow God in every area of your life, you open the door for His supernatural power to work.
I always say, your life will go in the direction of your thoughts. You can’t just allow any old thought or image to play in your mind. Nip it in the bud, you have to choose positive thoughts quickly.
Today, the easiest way to change your thoughts is by speaking God’s Word. When you say “mango,” you probably won’t start thinking about a banana. In the same way, when you confess the Word of God, which says you are more than a conqueror, you’re the head and not the tail, it will drive those negative, defeating thoughts away! Change your mind now by changing your words!
“Repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2 AMP)
Let’s Pray
Yahshua, today I choose to take captive every thought that is contrary to Your will. Father, I repent for anything in my mind and behaviour that displeases You. God, empower me today to saturate my mind with Your Word, by Your spirit, so that I can bring honour to You, and break my bad, negative habits, in Christ’ name! Amen.
Recently it’s been hard to get motivated and to stay focused. We all have those days when we don’t feel very enthusiastic. Maybe you don’t feel like you have any reason to be excited about your life. Today is the day to change your focus! It’s time to set your mind on things above.
Often, we settle for what we see in the natural – the earthly realm, but God has so much more for us in the supernatural realm. Whatever we choose to focus on is what we will see manifested in our lives. We need to daily set our focus on the goodness of God and keep hope alive.
Today, don’t give up on your dreams, feed your dreams. That means instead of dragging around finding every reason you can to be unhappy, your attitude should be: “I am not going to live my life defeated and depressed. I may have some obstacles in my path, but I know I have victory. I know God has great things in store for me, so I’m going to get up each day, starting today, anticipating the good things He has in store for me!”
“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I want to set my mind on You. I know that Your dream for me is so much bigger than my own. God, please help me be more spiritually motivated. Draw me close to You as I daily set my focus on You. Father, I bless You today and always. In Christ’s Name! Amen.
Did you know that what you think affects your behaviour? Psychologists say “you are what you think.” Sometimes we need to just stop and think about what we are thinking about! The Bible tells us that what happens on the inside of us – our thoughts, attitudes and motives – are more important to God than what happens on the outside.
The Scripture reminds us that God is looking at our hearts. You can fool people all day long by saying the right things, but God wants our thoughts and attitudes to come into alignment with His Word, so that we can see His promises come to pass in our lives. Please understand, your life will follow the course you set with your mind.
Today, align your thoughts with God’s thoughts through meditating on His Word, and your life will follow. Jeremiah 29 tells us that His thoughts are for our good. His thoughts are for our peace. His thoughts are for our victory! Embrace His promises so that you can move forward into the life of victory He has prepared for you!
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, please change my thinking and help my thoughts line up with Your Word. Father, bring Your promises to my remembrance today as I meditate on You. Almighty God, I surrender every area of my life to You, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Nike has a slogan that says, “just do it.” Did you know that before Nike the Bible had a similar slogan? Jesus performed His first miracle, at the wedding celebration in Cana. Mary His mother knew that in order to see His power at work, there was one key: “Whatever He says, she said, do it.” It’s the same way with us today. Our obedience opens the door to see His power manifest.
Scripture says, “If we are willing and obedient, we will eat the good of the land.” In other words, we’ll experience God’s abundant blessing when we follow His commands. Sometimes, we can be so focused on one thing, that we overlook simple obedience in other areas. For example, you may need a financial miracle. Maybe you’re tithing and sowing like you should, but are you holding unforgiveness towards someone? That can block the blessing and hinder your prayers. Is there anything else you know in your heart you need to do?
Today, remember before Nike the Bible said “just do it.” Do exactly as God says, walk in total obedience, ask the Lord to search your mind and heart. Don’t let anything block His power. Follow the word of Mary in the book of John “Whatever He says, do it,” and watch that obedience open the door to His blessings in every area of your life!
“…Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2:5, NKJV)
Let’s Pray Yahweh, I humbly come to You submitting every area of my life. Father, my goal and desire is to be obedient to You. God, grant me the spiritual strength I need to honour You by doing what You say. Show me any areas of my life where things need to change. I acknowledge Your Word and bless You today and always, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
These days are frustrating and sometimes overwhelming to say the least. During times like these that we have to be especially careful about what we think and say. It is said that our lives will go in the direction of our thoughts. Do you need to change your thoughts?
In Psalm 77 the psalmist, while under immense pressure and challenges, cried out to God and said, “You know what? I’m going to focus on what You have done for me. I’m going to dwell on Your goodness. I will recall Your deeds.”
Today, you may be frustrated and facing challenges, don’t dwell on negative, self-defeating thoughts. Instead, recall God’s deeds. Focus on what He’s done for you. Thank Him for the gift of life and salvation. Make a list of all His wonderful blessings. Let your thoughts turn toward Him throughout the day, and recall His wonderful deeds!
“But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.”
(Psalm 77:11—12, NLT)
Let’s Pray Yahweh, I bless Your holy Name! Father, thank You for the gift of life both now and in eternity. God, today I give You my frustrations and challenges. Instead I will recall Your mighty works. Thank You God for loving me and setting me free. Help me to keep my mind on Your good deeds always, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Nowadays, it’s easy to forget about our faith, since our busy lives and the negativity have taken over, with people dying, many wrongdoings, and sin being evident everywhere we look. Plus, it’s hard to tell who are friends are, especially when someone whom we’re supposed to trust doesn’t really feel accountable for anything”¦ or anyone. Even when people make promises, they either don’t keep them, or they forget about them.
As you can tell by now, sin is detrimental to one’s life; and, it stops us from being that God has created us to be. Just because we don’t have faith-based friends or careers, doesn’t mean that we, ourselves, can’t be faith-based. So, here are five basic tips on how to stay faithful in your faith:
1. Remember That God Is Your Friend
“There’s no denying that God is a friend to those who believe in Him,” says Thomas Gettysburg, a lifestyle writer at Next Coursework. “As Christians, it’s important to spend time with God as often as possible, just as you would with your regular friends.”
You can welcome God as your friend by doing the following:
· Attend church each weekend. (This is just one of the things that Jesus has asked of all his disciples.)
· Speak to God, and listen for Him every morning and every night. Offering yourself to God each day and night allows you to be closer to Him.
· Volunteer to help others (e.g. helping out in soup kitchens, offering your services to homeless shelters, etc.). In this way, you’ll not only help others, but also help yourself know and love God more.
· Go to confession at least once a month. Sacramental reconciliation allows you to “begin again,” to restore and strengthen your friendship with God.
· Seek counsel from someone trustworthy (e.g. a good priest or well-informed lay person) that you can talk you whenever needed.
2. Call Up A Friend
In today’s world, most people can’t live without their cell phones for more than .003 seconds away at any given moment of the day. So, why not make some good use with your phone by calling up a friend, and checking in with them.
You may want to have someone you trust on speed dial, so you could have them on the phone within seconds. Just keep in mind: don’t vent to them if you don’t want to; you can always start a conversation about something else, in order to take your mind off the negative. And
ultimately, God knows about your personal woes; so, give up all the negativity for Him to take care of.
3. Keep Your Rosary Handy
There’s nothing wrong with carrying a rosary with your in your pocket (or in your bag or purse). Or, you can wrap your rosary around your wrist; though, don’t make it seem like a fashion accessory, rather than a scared tool. Wear it (or carry it) as a constant reminder of Mary saying “yes” to God even when times are tough. Let your rosary encourage you to say “yes” to God, even when it seems impossible. And finally, don’t be afraid to pray with it, either.
4. Remember Your “Alternatives”
Let’s face it: temptation is where. So, if you’re not with accountable people, have an alternative activity that is your “go to.” Train yourself to avoid sin.
The best way to avoid sin is to use your gifts and talents the right way. For example, if you’re an athlete, you must make it your job to keep training and exercising to stay active. Another example is that if you have an interest or hobby, find an alternative way to do these things, so that you can use your gifts to glorify God, not sin against Him with.
5. Surround Yourself With Inspiration
Looking for inspiration from your faith? Why not have visuals inspire you?
One way to do this is to change the background on your cell phone and computer to show an inspiring Scripture verse, or even a picture of Jesus. Basic? Yes. However, this will remind you of your commitment to Christ each time you might be tempted to use your devices to sin.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the key to staying faithful in your faith is to commit to being faithful, and not straying from the path. As you stay on the path with these 5 simple tips, not only will you grow in holiness, but you’ll also grow with God.
