My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12.9

God promises that he is "near to those who have a broken heart." Psalm 34.18.
We all go through difficulties, hard times, and tragedies. We feel weak and discouraged and sometimes, helpless.
God's grace is sufficient for us during difficult times and His arms are always willing to give ~ but are we willing to receive what he has for us?
Remember this: 2 Peter 1.3. For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
Trust God. Believe God, and stand firm on what He has for you.

It is important to look at things from God's point of view. I Corinthians 4.6

For most of us, the world is very busy and complicated; filled with so much turmoil that it can be overwhelming. Then we have our own personal issues and the daily grind. The title verse reminds us to slow down and turn our thoughts towards God.
Psalm 46.10: Be still and know that I am God. We need God's peace and joy in our lives! Has there been a time lately that you have carved some time in your schedule for you and God? Just the two of you, talking about world issues, personal issues and just sharing your heart with Him? Listening?
We really need to do this on a daily basis. We need God's wisdom, guidance and perspective. We need to feel His love in our lives and to share that love with others so that we can make a difference in the world.

I will hope continually and will praise You more and more. Psalm 71.14

Praise opens the window of our hearts, preparing us to walk more closely with God. Prayer raises the window of our spirit, enabling us to listen more clearly to the Father. Max Lucado
Don't be so legalistic that you have to compartmentalize your praise-time into a certain time of the day. Worship and praise should be woven into the fabric of our life, just like breathing. Not just into a corporate time of worship on Sunday mornings. The awesome-ness of our God should  ignite us in the morning with such thoughts of honor and praise towards Him that we start praising Him before we get out of bed and our feet touch the floor! Think of it, GOD is our Father!!!
In my personal life I have found that praise is the best weapon I have to defeat Satan with each morning. I can sometimes feel a "heaviness" in my spirit and turn on some praise music and the heaviness is lifted! Satan and his demons cringe at the sound of Gods kids praising their Dad!
Mrs. Charles Cowan, the author of the classic devotional text, Streams in the Desert, wrote, " Two wings are necessary to lift our souls toward God: prayer and praise. Prayer asks. Praise accepts the answer."
The best time to praise God is all day. Every day. With all of the zeal we can. And thanksgiving in our hearts!

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and mountains crumble into the sea. Psa. 46.1-2

We will encounter adversity. Its our choice how we choose to deal with it.
As believers, we know that God loves and protects us. If we are going through difficult times, he is there to comfort us. In times of sorrow, he will dry our tears. God is always with us. It is comforting to know that God doesn't permit any troubles to come upon us unless He has a plan by which blessings can come out of the difficulty.
To quote Rick Warren, "Your greatest ministry will likely come our of your greatest hurt."
Go to God in prayer with your problems. Trust Him to answer.  Believer He will answer. It will be the biggest faith builder in your life to watch Him at work. It may not be in your timing, but remember, God is never late, He's always on time.

Knowing God leads to self-control. Self control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. 2 Peter 1.6

It seems that everyday, stong negative emotions can grip us. God's will is that we don't live out of those negatvie emotions. Distrust them, test them, and give them over to God.  Emotions change, God does not.
In Hebrews 10.38, God teaches us that we should live by faith. We must place faith above our feelings. Gods intent is that we don't live on emotional roller coasters, as a matter of fact, Jesus left us with His Peace, that incredible gift to all believers!
C.S. Lewis gave us some great advice: "Don't bother much with your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them; when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters most is your intentions and your behavior."
Emotions...who's in charge of yours?

And everything ~ whatever you ask in prayer, believing ~ you will receive. Matthew 21.22

Do you carve out time each day to connect with God?  If not, I encourage you to make it a priority!  Life isn't a destination; its a journey that unfolds everyday. Who better to go on the journey with you , than God!
Daily prayer and meditaion is a matter of will and habit. God promises that the prayers of a righteous man or woman will accomplish great things. God does answer prayer, but sometimes his answers aren't in accordance with our desires. That's why He is God ~ He knows whats best for His children.
The quality of your spiritual life will be in direct proportion to the quality of your prayer life. Prayer not only changes things, it changes you. God is always listening , He is always available and He desires to hear from you.
Prayer shouldn't be casual or sporadic, dictated only by the needs of the moment. Prayer should be as  much a part of our lives as breathing. Billy Graham

I will send you the Advocate ~ the Spirit of truth. John 15.18

Before Jesus went to be with His Father, he left us promises that need to be taken seriously and that we should really be excited about!
" I am leaving you with a gift ~ peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So do not be troubled or afraid."
God gives us peace, our responsibility is to now allow our emotions to control us. This takes practice but who doesn't want to enjoy peace?
Once again, Gods goodness! What kind of witness can you be when the world around you is in turmoil and you hold your peace? You will have something that they want! How exciting!

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14.22

Some of the best things in life are the result of being wounded or hurt. Wheat must be crushed before becoming bread, and incense must be burned before its fragrance is set free.  The earth must be broken with a sharp plow before being ready to receive the seed. And it is a broken heart that pleases God.
If you aspire to be a person of consolation, if you want to share the priestly gift of sympathy, if you desire to go beyond giving commonplace comfort to a heart that is tempted, and if you long to go through the daily exchanges of life with the kind of tact that never inflicts pain, then you must be prepared to pay the price for a costly education ~ for like Christ, you must suffer.
Streams in the Desert.

Now the Holy Spirit tells us that in the last days some will turn away from the true faith. 1 Timothy 4.1a

They will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 1 Timothy 4.1b
The last blog I wrote was about holding onto the Word. Renewing your mind. Trusting God.
All prophecy is clearly pointing to the fact that we are living in the last days. So, you can believe that or not, its up to you. However, its important that we follow scripture regardless of the time period we are in.
The title verse above is stating that people will follow deceptive spirits and turn away from Christ. Are you listening to these people and how would you even know if you are? If what you are tuning into via the radio or tv isn't in line with the Word, beware. We have to be spiritually aware of what is coming into our minds. Paul warns us in Philippians 3, "that there are many whose conduct shows that they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth." He continues on to say, " But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior."
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Do everything witout complaining and arguing. Philippians 2.14

What is happening in our society?  I am not an advocate of reality tv. But on rare occasion, I tune in to see what America is watching. It flips me out! If this is entertainment, I don't need to own a tv set or subscribe to cable. Whoa, I sound old! But wait a minute. I'm not old , I just happen to read my Bible. And God says I'm not supposed to argue and complain. Hmmm. If I'm to be a light in a dark world, if I'm supposed to shine brightly for Christ in a world of wicked and perverse people, then I have to hold firmly to the Word of life; then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run my race in vain and that my work was not useless.
I'm just going to say it. I've repeated this over and over to my own children and its true: Garbage in, garbage out. How much time are you spending watching this stuff?  More time than you are in the Word?  I'm not trying to heap guilt on anyone; but the choice is clear. We renew our minds by reading the Word, and in turn , this changes us from the inside out. If you want to make a difference in your world, it starts there. Its just that simple.
My prayer for you is that you don't lead a useless life. Get in the Word, its our guidebook for life. It shows us the incredible love of God.  It is Truth. It had better stories than you can find on cable programming.
Determine in your heart to be a light, people need Jesus.

Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit? Isaiah 44.10

This is what the Lord says - Israels King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven's Armies:
" I am the First and the Last; there is no other God. Who is like me? Let him step forward and prove to you his power. Let him do as I have done since ancient times when I established a people and explained its future. Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I now proclaim my purposes for you long ago?  You are my witnesses - is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock - not one!" Isaiah 44. 1-8
God is God and there is no other. Period.

Christ has revealed God to us. John 1.18

From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law ( commandments ) was given  through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came though Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us.  John 1. 16-18
If life isn't working well for you right now, I beg you to examine the scriptures and find the promises of God that apply to your life. He loves you so much and has done amazing things to  prove it . The next breath you take is a gift from Him. Start there, giving Him  praise for sustaining you this long. The Word gives life to everything that was created, including you, His most prized child. 

So the Word became human and made His home among us. John 1.14

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God,  and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness,  and the darkness can never extinguish it.  John 1. 1-5
Christ came into the very world He created , but the world didn't recognize Him.  He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him. But to all who believe and accept Him, He gives the right to become children of God.
How amazing is that!  What a privilege to be a child of God...
Amazing...