A Word of Encouragement
Start your day with a word of encouragement to lift your spirit. Always remember that we are blessed to be a blessing to others.

• Give Personal Time
• Crave God's Presence
• Start Something Good
• Do What Is Right
• Get Over It
• God Does the Work
• Find Balance
• Accept God's Invitation
• Enjoy Your Whole Day
• Encourage, Don't Criticize
• Don't Let Feelings Rule
• Temptation Isn't Sin

Give Personal Time

"But, I say, walk and live (habitually) in the (Holy) Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit); then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God)." Galatians 5:16

Many believers serve God with their time, but still miss spending personal time in His presence. God wants us to abide in Him, not just visit Him occasionally, Jesus said, "If you abide in My word (hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them), you are truly My disciples (John 8:31).
Jesus will actually dwell, settle down, abide, and make His permanent home in your heart! His presence will cause you to be rooted deep in love so that you may experience His love and be filled through all your being with the fullness of God (see Ephesians 3:17-19).

Be Blessed in the Lord today!

Crave God's Presence

" My soul yearns for You (O Lord) in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly; for (only) when your judgements are in the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God). ( Isaiah 26:9).

If we are hungry enough, we will get something to eat. And if we can't eat before we leave home, we will go to a drive-thru at a fast-food restaurant. Or we will call a place that delivers food to bring us something to eat. If we are hungry enough for God, we will find a way into His presence. We should be so hungry for the presence of God that we absolutely will not go out of our house or tackle any kind of project until we have spent some time with Him.

Be Blessed in the Lord today!

Start Something Good

" For there shall the seed produce peace and prosperity; the vine shall yield her fruit and the ground shall give its increase and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things. ( Zechariah 8:12).

Start something good in someone's life today. Sow faith for a healing. Sow hope for a restoration. A sincere compliment can sow confidence in someone who is starving for encouragement. Your forgiveness of an ongoing offense can sow a seed for a miracle breakthrough in that situation.

Pray for someone else's need, or make a special offering to start something positive in the name of the Lord. Remember, God won't ask you to sow anything that He doesn't give you the grace to give. Enjoy the abundant harvest that is returned to your own life when you sow into someone else's life.

Be Blessed in the Lord today!

Do What Is Right

" Trust ( lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed". ( Psalm 37:3).

Powerful results happen when you do what is right. Doing what is right is high-tech spiritual warfare! It puts you in a position where the devil can't affect you, because you have decided to stand and not be moved.

Remain in faith and trust God. The Bible says in Psalm 37:1 that evildoers, "those who work unrighteousness (that which is not upright or in right standing with God), " will be cut down like the grass.

When problems arise against you, when your enemies attack you, or when evil makes an all out assault upon you, trust in the Lord, and do good.

Be Blessed in the Lord today!

Get Over It

"Open rebuke is better than love that is hidden". (Proverbs 27:5)

Hiding your true feelings, like resentment or unforgiveness, keeps you in bondage to them. It is impossible to get your day started right if you keep waking up with pain from yesterday's wounds. If you carry around this kind of "emotional baggage, " it will poison your day.
Sometimes you have to confront things to make them better. But use wisdom. While it is good to talk about things, don't dump all your thoughts and emotions on every person who comes along today.
Talk to God about your situation before you meet anyone. He may lead you to speak with someone you trust. But if He doesn't, learn to trust it completely to Him, and let it go.
Have a Great Day

God Does the Work

" Work out.....your own salvation.....( not in your own strength) for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you (energizing and creating in you the power and desire), both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. (Philippians 2:12-13).

The Word of God brings liberty, not legalism; promises, not laws; and guidelines to a good life, not condemnation. Many work at following a Christian lifestyle, but they are not happy because they are focused on rules instead of on their relationship with God.
If you are trudging along, believing you have to give, have to read the Bible, have to pray, have to walk in the fruit of the Spirit, I encourage you to stop thinking you have to do anything. You will discover that God will give you the grace to want to do the things that lead to a victorious life in Him.
Have a Great Day

Find Balance

" Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we drift past (them) and slip away. ( Hebrews 2:1)

When Satan finds people out of balance, he has an inroad to destroy their lives. There are people who get out of balance in everything: from not sleeping, to sleeping too much; from not cleaning their house, to trying to keep it so clean that nobody can move in it
Find balance; balance keeps your day going right. Satan do esn't much care if you don't do enough of something, or if you do too much of it, as long as you don't stay balanced. Take time to examine your self prayerfully, and ask God to show you how to remain balanced
Have a Great Day!

Accept God's Invitaion

" I (the Lord) will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you". Psalm 32:8

The devil wants to keep us believers subject to legalism. If he can't condemn us for what we do, he will try to torment us for what we don't do. He wants us to feel guilty when we don't read the Word and pray, suggesting that God isn't pleased with us, or that He is even mad at us for what we haven't done.
God never condemns us for not being disciplined, but He lovingly invites us to spend time with Him. Heaven is available to us through simple trust in Jesus, but the good life is enjoyed when we act the way Jesus acts. We should want to read the Word because it holds the keys to knowing God intimately and enjoying Him fully.
Have a Great Day!

Enjoy Your Whole Day

" I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds". Psalm 9:1.

Some Christians feel guilty when they are doing something that isn't "spiritual." Somehow or another, they feel the need to hurry through the grocery store, dash through the house cleaning, and rush through all the daily aspects of life that seem irrelevant to their faith. They want to get back to doing something "spiritual" so God will be pleased with them again.
God did not intend for you to hate the secular side of life. You can enjoy holiness and time with God even when you are doing daily chores, running errands. Don't begrudge the routine things of life; see every activity as an opportunity to serve God with your whole heart.
Have a Great Day!

Encourage, Don't Criticize

" Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another". 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds if we become encouragers instead of critics. It is the greater person who does the right thing; Christ's righteousness dwells in you to help you do what is right. You are great in God's eyes when you choose to do right and bless others.
No matter how rough your day is today, speak words that uplift and encourage those around you. Encourage others if you notice them doing a good job--not just those who work with you, but people wherever you go, such as store clerks, auto mechanics, and waiters. Say something like, "I appreciate the extra effort you are making to do your job well." You can change your life and someone else's by choosing to speak positive words.
Have a Great Day!

Don't Let Feelings Rule

" This is my comfort and consolation in my affliction: that Your word has revived me and given me life". ( Psalm 119:50)

God has shown us that we are always going to have feelings, and that denying the existence of them is not godly. We do have to learn how to manage them, so they don't managed us.
If we live by our feelings, we will be destroyed, because our feelings aren't always in line with God's truth. We are to walk by faith in His promises, and not by sight or how things appear or the way we feel (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). Ask God to keep your feelings balanced with the truth of His Word today.
Have a Great Day!

Temptation Isn't Sin

" In the day when I called, you answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self. Psalm 138:3

Temptation to do wrong can make you feel horrible. You may think, I shouldn't be going through this; I shouldn't be having a problem with this. But God teaches that temptation isn't sin; we sin when we give into temptation.
The Bible says temptation will come. It doesn't say, " Woe into him to whom it comes, " it says, Woe unto him by whose hand it comes' ( see Matthew 17:7). Jesus told us to pray that we would not give into temptation when we are tempted ( see Luke 22:40).
Psalm 105:4 is a great way to start your day right. It says, " Seek, inquire of and for the Lord, and crave Him and His strength (His might and inflexibility to temptation); seek and require His face and His presence (continually) evermore.
Have a Great Day!