There are paths we wish that God had not taken us down.  Some of those paths we view as a misfortune or mishap, God making a mistake, even though we know deep down inside that He doesn’t make mistakes.  Some things are just very hard to swallow.  This week, the world is crying out to God, praying for the families of the victims of the duck boat accident that happened in Missouri.  Tia Coleman has experienced terrible tragedy that no one quite has the words for her, but it is evident that The Lord is on her side, providing comfort that only He provides.

Now is the time that we put our faith into action and pray our prayers in faith, asking God to do what none of us can do, which is to be her true Comforter, her true Strength, not just today, but every day moving forward.  We also are asking God, Our Lord, to keep her heart and mind.

Some Christians would argue that you don’t question God, but the real truth is that we question God, if not externally, we question Him internally.  We ask only in hopes that The Lord will reveal to us His plan, from this point (tragedy) and onward.  Listen, God can’t lie (Numbers 23:19a) or go back on His Word (Isaiah 55:11); this means that regardless of the tragedy, God still plans to do us good and not evil (Jeremiah 29:11).

Think about it, in Jeremiah 29:11, the latter half says, “an expected end,” which signifies that God already knew that we would leave this world, in His timing.  God has a timestamp on all of our lives and when our name is called, our Spirit answers to God, yes Lord. Exiting this world is Spiritual because our souls leave our earthly bodies; our earthly bodies can’t behold Our Lord, unless in Spirit.

God will wipe every tear and He will mend every heart (Psalm 147:3) because he swallowed up death on the cross (Isaiah 25:8) – this is why Christians simply fall asleep and never die again.

How are you going to get to the other side of this pain?  As you choose to trust God, now more than ever, you are putting yourself right in God’s way.  You’re in His way because you desperately need His comfort, His peace (Philippians 4:7), His embrace (James 4:8).  Lean on Him (Proverbs 3:5) and don’t take your eyes off Him (be steadfast and unmovable (1 Corinthians 15:58).

This is important because the moment you stop paying attention to God, the moment the enemy will creep his way in and try to get you to commit suicide.  The enemy wants us to give us and stop believing in God.  This is real.  Whatever you do, keep looking at God and continue to believe in Him, trusting that His Master Plan is at work, even in this Christ hears our prayers and comes to our rescue with what we need to keep pushing forward and live until we are next in line to behold The Lord, Our Savior. Whomever and wherever you are, don’t take your eyes off of Him!

God’s Exchange Program

When you stay in God’s Will, He will allow some things to happen to you, only that you may see His goodness and glorify Him. He does things so that you know that it was nobody but Him that made a way when no way seemed possible.

Have you ever trusted The Lord when you did right by your finances and there were still bills left unpaid and you were struggling to find a way to pay them? Didn’t The Lord come in and apply grace?! It’s rhetorical because the answer is always “Yes, He did!”

It’s no cliché. For if it had not been for The Lord, who’s been on my side, I would’ve lost my mind in dealing with all the stuff that has come my way…BUT for God’s grace and mercy! [Pause: Thank You God!]

The Lord never fails us and it’s clearer the more we stay linked, connected, and bound to Him, Him only!

• Only then are we able to call things into existence, as God’s Word declares!
• Only then can we speak with assurance, in a loud voice, declaring victory in a bad situation.
• Only then can we cry out to God for His help and watch Him work it out, in our favor and for our good.
• Only then will the Heavens open and God rain down miracles over our life and we can declare in victory that our lives aren’t over because God says we shall live and not die!
• And finally, only then will we know just how great God is, in all His majesty, the beauty of Holiness, the incomparable power He possesses and His dominion be glorified as long as we live because great is His faithfulness unto us!

SO THEN, WHAT AM I EXCHANGING?

(You should make this PERSONAL, what are you exchanging? – Not only should you think on these things, but you need to stand in the mirror and declare out loud and speak, in the authority God has given you)

2 Corinthians 1:20 CEB | Common English Bible –All of God’s promises have their yes in him. That is why we say Amen through him to the glory of God.

• I’m exchanging my worries because God says that He gives “love, power, and a sound mind” as well as peace that is incomprehensible…AMEN (Philippians 4:6-7; 2 Timothy 1:7)
• I’m exchanging my past because God says “all things are made new” and there is no more condemnation, no more shame because my sins are forgiven! …AMEN (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1; Micah 7:19; Isaiah 43:25)
• I’m exchanging heartache for a mended heart because God says that He is close to me and He will repair what’s broken and replace bad relationships for God-ordained ones…AMEN (Psalm 34:18)
• I’m exchanging being frustrated over my enemies because God says that my enemies don’t matter… because God says He will fight for me and that my enemies would scatter from me and they will not hurt me…AMEN (Psalm 23:5; Proverbs 16:7)

Today’s Scriptures:

(Exchange of fear for faith) Acts 3:16 AMP | Amplified Bible

And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health and complete wholeness in your presence.

(Prophecy) Psalm 102:13 GW | God’s Word Translation

You will rise and have compassion on Zion,
because it is time to grant a favor to it.
Indeed, the appointed time has come.

(Evidence of exchange of our sins for salvation) Psalm 103:12 NLT | New Living Translation

He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.

(Prophecy) Deuteronomy 28:7 NIV | New International Version

The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

What’s the cost of sustainable energy? Our lives as a sacrifice that is Holy and acceptable (Romans 12:1)

Sustainable Energy

Sustain means to build up, to strengthen, to anchor, to support (maintain), and to preserve.  Energy, as defined by Dictionary.com is “the capacity to do work” and “any source of usable power.”  So then putting the words together goes like this: Connection to God, through Jesus Christ, gives us sustainable energy.

God will sustain us, by His power, to work for His Kingdom and to live, journey through, what seems like insurmountable circumstances.  In working for The Kingdom of God, we, as Christians, realize that we are an energy source because we are plugged (connected) to God who is the ultimate and primary source of strength and power (energy).  Knowing this, we then understand that our struggles give way to strengthening our connection to God, for as Christ suffered, we must suffer with Him, because it strengthens our faith, our testimony; we are living examples of how Christ’s power in us can destroy strongholds and tear down anything that goes against His Kingdom.

Conservation of Sustainable Energy

Sustainable energy is also about the conservation of energy (power).  We conserve energy by staying in communication with God, through Christ, in prayer.  Prayer strengthens our connection to God. Studying God’s Word (The Holy Bible) also strengthens our connection to God.  The Bible tells us to come boldly before God and ask for what we need, in accordance to His will, and He will give us everything we need to grow, to build up and to replenish our energy to minister, to witness, to those who do not know Him, and to be a light source to other Christians who may be experiencing hard times.

Benefits of Sustainable Energy

God’s energy allows us to have peace in the midst of a storm and to find assurance and protection, by/through faith, to withstand the enemy’s plot to kill, steal, and destroy us; God shields us.  God’s sustainable energy gives life!  Some of us need to unplug from bad, faulty connections and re-wire ourselves to plug into God.  Some of us are so fixated on telling others about our issues instead of taking our issues to God for Him to work out, to fix, to renew, to restore, to make whole, to destroy and tear down strongholds, and to demolish bad connections to people who drain you. 

When we plug into the right connection, we find unwavering love, forgiveness of sins, compassion, power (energy), encouragement, freedom from the ties of the enemy, deliverance, miraculous blessings, access to breakthroughs, and renewed minds.  Will you unplug from the world’s way and plug into God’s way?  Will you choose the right energy source so that you are not depleted of energy (power)?

Remember, depletion of energy, in Spiritual terms, is distress, transgression, depression, anxiety, and Spiritual malnutrition.  What are we drinking/eating?  Let’s stop putting junk in our mouths because it bleeds into our minds and infects our hearts in that we lose connection or have a very weak connection to God.  Change sockets to conserve God’s energy in you so that you will not give up when life issues arise.  You will pray and praise, worship and wait in expectation for God to make ways for you!

Today’s Scriptures:

John 11:25-26 NIV | New International Version

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Isaiah 26:3 NLT | New Living Translation

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Galatians 6:9 NIV | New International Version

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Isaiah 58:11 AMP | Amplified Bible

And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

So many Christians are Spiritually blind, which means that they are unwilling to allow God to remove the debris in their eyes and in their hearts, so they continue being caught up in things that don’t matter.  Strongholds rise up in the middle, between us and our destiny because we have been unwilling to be obedient to God.  To tear down (demolish) these strongholds (plights, struggles -addictions, guilt, hatred, malice, strife, troubles, grudges, jealousy, coveting, greed) we have to allow God into our hearts and our minds so that we can think and see clear and can decipher between what is Godly versus ungodly; the terms Godly versus ungodly are used because there is a clear distinction between good and evil.  Good has a worldly connotation and can mean something outside of right-living, as according to God.

Let’s open our lives (heart & mind) to God’s wisdom.  We start by sincerely asking God to impart His wisdom, His knowledge, so that we can go to greater heights and are able to shed old, habitual sins, and change into what He desires of us.  We can defeat the devil if we stay in The Wisdom of God.

God’s Wisdom will teach us who to associate with and will even give us insight into our enemies, not so that we can wage war against them, but so we can pray for them and be guided around our enemy’s plots of destruction; they will do us no harm when we stay in His Wisdom.

God’s Wisdom will show us how to act and how to respond; sometimes He may tell us to be still and see His salvation, watching Him work to make everything that meant to harm us, scatter and diminish!

God will untangle anything that has once entangled us when we choose Him! –Letting God show us, ahead of the storm, is much better than doing it on our own and then learning by hindsight.  God-Sight is always better!

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 11:2 NLT | New Living Translation

And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

James 1:5 NLT | New Living Translation

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Jeremiah 3:33 NIV | New International Version

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Ecclesiastes 2:26 GNT |Good News Translation

God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who please him, but he makes sinners work, earning and saving, so that what they get can be given to those who please him. It is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.

Good News! The Doctor is in!

Our eyes are the lens into our lives. If you stop and think about it, the eyes allow us to be introduced to the world.  The world is a dangerous place.  Without clear vision it is hard to navigate through and miss the bumps in the road.  Similarly, without clear vision into Spiritual Reality, one can be fooled and tricked right into the enemy’s hands where he plans to kill you, steal from you, and destroy you.  If we are not careful we find ourselves staying in destruction.

So, when we, as God’s children, take heed and listen to the instructions and are enlightened by Him to see like we have never seen before, it’s because He takes us through cataract surgery to remove the areas in our thoughts and actions that need to be cleaned up, restored, reset, and renewed.  He will remove scales from our eyes when we seek Him with all we got and acknowledge Him as Our Father.  When we submit to Him He begins the surgery.

Like an anesthesiologist and surgeon, God comes into the room and tells you ahead that He is going to give you medicine that will fix the issues you are having, by His Word, and assures you that he will apply the right amount of anesthesia (instruction, direction) and perform the surgery necessary to resolve it.  He eases your fears, little by little, by His introduction as you approach the surgery table. When you are on the table, God begins to work on your eyes.  He begins to fix them so that you are not ignorant to the enemy’s cunning ways.  He clears out old debris that was built-up, causing hurt and pain from the past, and He applies antibiotics to get rid of the filth of our pasts: Your past doesn’t have to be your present nor future!

A Prayer of Cleansing and Clarity

God, it’s me, your child. I need your help. I have fallen short and have hit some bumps in the road that I was unprepared for because they weren’t bumps I should have hit, but I hit them because of my hard-headed behaviors. Those same behaviors are still in me and they need to be removed from me so I can proceed into my destiny without scars that weren’t meant for me to have.  God, I can be so rebellious and yet I realize that I need you to be My Surgeon. Father, forgive me. I am humble before You.

I find comfort in knowing that when I’m on Your operating table, you will bring me out of it and I will recover, successfully. Every stitch has purpose in my life. Everything you apply to me makes me better!  It makes me whole! I realize I’m not empty if my money runs low or if people persecute me or run off from me.

I realize that struggles make me stronger. I realize that Your plans for me are to do me good and give me a future!  I’m comfortable in knowing that You, as My Father, loves me and wants the best for me and gives me what I need and what I want, not according to me but according to Your Word, Your Will.

So, now God, through cataract surgery, take out the film that was keeping me from seeing you fully.

Take away the mischief. Take away my sin and cause Your Face to be clear and my vision be restored! Create in me a clean heart. Renew me. I’m already getting better! My prayers to You are signed, sealed, and delivered, In Jesus Name, Amen.

Today’s Scriptures:

2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT | New Living Translation

so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes

Psalm 51:7,12 NLT | New Living Translation

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Micah 7:8 GW | God’s Word Translation

Don’t laugh at me, my enemies. Although I’ve fallen, I will get up. Although I sit in the dark, the LORD is my light.

2 Corinthians 4:9 NLT | New Living Translation

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

Psalm 139:23,24 NIV | New International Version

Search me, God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

God gives us gifts that are to be used to praise and worship Him.  They are meant to uplift the Kingdom of God, thus, glorification of His Divinity.  Similarly, those same gifts are to be used to bring others to Christ as well as be used as a testimony of His greatness to other Christians who may be down, discouraged, struggling, experiencing turmoil, are depressed and anxious.

Use the gifts God has given you for His purposes.  Stop holding back and trying to blend into a crowd.  You have been given power (authority) by God to walk in your gifts and exercise your faith while using those gifts.

Do not let fear cause you to remain stagnate.  Do not let others’ gifts scare you and cause you to hide behind them.  God wants you to step forward and be willing to walk in your calling, the purpose that He has given to you, you and only you.

It is guaranteed that if you walk into that new season, the season where you are free and are not distracted by doubt and are not ashamed to stand up among others with gifts (in humility and obedience to God).  Be eager to celebrate their gifts, too, because your life will be fulfilled through God’s Spirit.  Do not let other Christians, who are exemplifying a jealous spirit keep you from operating within your gift.  Your life depends on the exercising of your gifts; deliverance (breakthrough) is right there! Let God handle your enemies.

While in exercising your gifts, it is important to let you know that the enemy sends others to also be attracted to your gifts and you can easily be swayed to become conceited; humility will disappear, which would mean the exercising of your gifts are in vain!  Pray and remain in uniform; stay in the Whole Armor of God so that you will know ahead of them (enemies) to avoid distraction. Let God remain the reason you are in service for Him and not man nor the enemy.  God promised to help you.  God already told you that He has chosen you and given you specifics on your gifts.  You can hear Him; He will teach you how to use your gifts.  Just stand up and step forth!

Today’s Scriptures:

Isaiah 41:8-13 GW | God’s Word Translation

8 “But you are my servant Israel,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the descendant of Abraham, my dear friend.
9 I have taken you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its most distant places.
I said to you, ‘You are my servant.
I’ve chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.’
10 Don’t be afraid, because I am with you.
Don’t be intimidated; I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
I will help you.
I will support you with my victorious right hand.

11 “Everyone who is angry with you
will be ashamed and disgraced.
Those who oppose you
will be reduced to nothing and disappear.
12 You will search for your enemies,
but you will not find them.
Those who are at war with you
will be reduced to nothing and no longer exist.
13 I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand
and say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid; I will help you.’

Isaiah 43:2 CEB | Common English Bible

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched
and flame won’t burn you.

Exodus 4:12 NIV | New International Version

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

You want to know how it will get better?  How crime can be reduced? How depression can be defeated?  How we can stop the enemy in his tracks? We must acknowledge God and His position as upright, as Our Creator, Our Ruler, King of Kings and Lord above all.  We acknowledge Him by living our lives by His commandments and getting to know Him by reading His Word and through praise & prayer.  We must communicate with God more than just when we want something from Him.  We must pray just to say ‘thank you’ and to tell Him how we know that He is awesome and all-powerful, all-knowing, everlastingly present.  We learn through not just hearing the Word, but reading The Holy Bible, for ourselves.  We learn this by spending one-on-one time where we allow God to speak to us through His Word and thus are receptive to His instruction.

That’s the inside scoop!

He will not change some of our situations until we commit our ways to Him and turn away from that which draws us further from His light.  Sometimes, we get so hardheaded that God has to let us bump our heads a few times until we recognize Who He is and how much we really need Him.  The Christian walk is a hard walk because we are tempted from every side, but we have to keep coming back to something that won’t change (His Word), someone that will not change (The Almighty God).

We can’t rewrite His Word to allow for our sins to be passed off as right-living (righteousness).  We can’t scratch out His Word, add to it or subtract from it.  His Words are not wrong but are made to draw us closer to Him.

His discipline is needed because of His love for us.  This may mean that we circle the same situation until we get it, until a light goes off and we can see His light, which consumes darkness. 

• What situations are you continually circling?
• What are you not willing to give up so that God can have all of you?
• What are we willing to do to be politically correct versus righteous, as defined by Christ?
• Will we continue to parade around unholiness and ignore the fact that we are walking around like zombies, without destination, without determination to press towards Christ and obey Him?  Remember, we are all subject to Him….every knee shall bow at the Name of Jesus! (Philippians 2:10). Even satan.

If we confess our sins to God, He not only hears us but He forgives us.  How sincere are we?

Our heart and mind must be on one accord or they can’t walk together (Amos 3:3).  In other words, your heart can’t want to be obedient to God and your mind want to be obedient to the enemy…this creates dysfunction and is the #1 we circle our own tails!  There is defeat over destruction when our heart and mind agree to follow Christ!

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV | English Standard Version

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Today’s Scriptures:

1 John 1:9 NLT | New Living Translation

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV | New International Version

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Hebrews 12:6 NIV | New International Version

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Proverbs 3:12 NLT | New Living Translation

For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Proverbs 15: 5 & 24 GW | God’s Word Translation

15 A stubborn fool despises his father’s discipline,
but whoever appreciates a warning shows good sense.

24 The path of life for a wise person leads upward
in order to turn him away from hell below.

Detours are meant to keep you safe because something along the regular route has been shut down or is threatened (enemy’s tricks to kill, steal, and destroy).  The detour deters you from going down the path that can be dangerous and mean you no good; it takes you around the trap so you avoid it.

In other words, The Holy Spirit in you instructs you and shows you where to go and how to bypass the destruction by offering a detour.  God constructs a detour from the enemy’s scheme of destruction and defeat.

Discipline through improving one’s knowledge and enlightenment occurs when you take the detour route.  Sometimes we are hard-headed and we don’t listen so God allows the enemy (permissive will) to cause us to change focus, to get our minds back on God.  Remember, God loves us so He disciplines us in order to help us, in this life (Hebrews 12:6, Proverbs 3:12).

You will notice that the detour will get you back onto the road you were meant to be on, once you bypass the delay.

The detour also helps further equip you for your victory and teaches you how to operate in the power, the authority of God, which is given to you from the resurrection of His Son and acceptance into His Kingdom because of the profession of your faith – your acceptance of Christ as your Savior.

The detour is the pitstop! It is the required maintenance needed to get back onto God’s destined, victorious path, the one that He has designed for your life!  Faith increase is needed so going through tests and trials sharpens our tools and builds our character!

Our testimony increases as our faith increases so don’t get upset when God gives you a detour, because He works everything out in your favor! Just absorb His instruction. Obey and take the detour.

Recap: Taking the detour does the following:

• Protects you, if you pay attention, because you are warned ahead, by The Holy Spirit to see and take the detour,
  • Alerts you to the enemy’s tactics so that you can stop and think, using the skills learned from The Word of God and the instruction of The Holy Spirit,
• Empowers you: helps you learn from God and grow in Him, which gives you the tools of survival: strength, fortitude, stability, and
• Takes you back to the road where you are destined to keep receiving what God has for your life.
  • Deliverance – healing from ____________ (repeating destructive cycles – like addictions, past hurts, past failures, sickness, mental instability, strongholds, demonic influence)
  • Peace – refreshed Spirit, renewed mind

Today’s Scriptures:

Proverbs 15: 31-32 GW | God’s Word Translation

The ear that listens to a life-giving warning
will be at home among wise people. 32 Whoever ignores discipline despises himself,
but the person who listens to warning gains understanding.

Psalm 119:105 ESV | English Standard Version

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Luke 11:28 NLT | New Living Translation

Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 MSG | The Message Bible

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Psalm 40:2 GW | God’s Word Translation

He pulled me out of a horrible pit, out of the mud and clay.
He set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure.