People try to keep other people "in their place" so they can control them-so they can lead them to what it is that they want them to have, and to nothing else. When you are delivered by God, you may need to say no to those who have kept you in a stall of their own making.--T.D Jakes
Hebrews 11:6
God will reward those who keep on seeking Him. He may not come when you want Him to, but He will be right on time. If you will wait on the Lord, He will strengthen your heart. He will heal you and deliver you. He will lift you up and break your chains. He will give you the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (see Isaiah 61:3). He will keep all His promises.
But you have a part to play. And that part is faith. When we believe God's promises, we are counted as righteous. Righteousness cannot be earned or merited. It comes only through faith. "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:3). God wants us to understand that just because we can't see it, doesn't mean He won't do it.
By faith Sarah believed that she could conceive a baby even though she was past childbearing age. She believed that God was capable of giving her a child regardless of what the circumstances looked like. From the natural perspective, it was impossible. The enemy certainly didn't want it to happen. But God kept His promise.
Abraham received many promises from God regarding his descendants. God told Abraham that his seed would be as the sands of the sea and the stars of heaven (see Genesis 22:17). The first promise represents the natural, physical nation of Israel. These were the people of the Old Covenant. But God didn't stop there. He also promised that Abraham's seed would be as the stars of heaven. These are the people of the New Covenant. That's the Church. We, too, are seed of Abraham. We are the stars of heaven. The only thing between the seed and the stars was the woman. Can you see why Sarah had to receive strength to conceive a seed when she was old? When she believed and conceived, God multiplied her blessings.
Whatever God give you, He wants it to be multiplied in the womb of your spirit. When you bring it forth, it shall be greater than what you had. The enemy wants to multiply fear in your life. God wants to set you free from fear and fill you with faith. You must learn to trust God enough to allow Him to come in and plow up your life. He may need to root out closet skeletons and replace them with new attitudes.
Satan has assigned fear to block up your womb and cause you to be less productive than God wants you to be. Don't be afraid. You are God's. No matter the desire or the blessing that you seek, God has promised to give you the desires of your heart (see Psalm 37:4), and He always keeps His promises!
T.D. Jakes
Read Venus's testimony .
They say “When you have a dream, hold it tight”. I say, “When you dream, don’t let go of it, but hold it loosely.”
"I am a person who likes a million things, wants to be a million things and dreams about a million things. In other words, there is really no dominant thing that I want or dream about. I sometimes think its dangerous to think or desire that way. But it is amazing how God surprises us.
Surprise # 1: A few years back, about 2005, I desired to travel. I love the beach, the sand, the sun and the water. In my country, we have great beaches. One of which is found in the island of Bohol. Bohol is a very beautiful place, but also very expensive. So I started holding that dream tight, - saving, finding another job, and always setting my eye on that goal – GET to BOHOL!But nothing happened. Things worsened. I lost my job, I have not saved a penny and the chances of getting to Bohol slowly dimmed.In 2007, I volunteered to work for my city for less than a year, the government offered us a department outing. And yes!!! In BOHOL – all expenses paid!! And the best part is? I went there twice in one year!!! My cousin, got so heartbroken that she wanted to getaway somewhere, she dragged me along. And yes – it was also an ALL EXPENSE PAID TRIP!
Surprise #2: When I went to college, I stayed at an Uncle’s house in Manila. My Uncle is a very driven and motivated person. He would feed on John Maxwell. I came to love Maxwell too, read his books and listened to him. I wanted to be a speaker.After college, I was asked to speak in a lot of youth camps, tell stories to kids and lead some youth groups. The stage was my throne. I knew very well, speaking is what I am good at.But in my country, and with the career that I have, being a public speaker is only on the side. I mean, I don’t have masters, I have no credibility ( I couldn’t count the times I was asked to speak about love and courtship.. hahahha!!), I have no connections.But God made the events in my life so twisty I lost some confidence is speaking and lost that prowess on stage. Then my employer sent me to join the Toastmasters’ Club. The club’s curriculum helped me a lot , inspired me and gave me hope of recuccitating my dream.Last week-end, I won the Humorous Speech Title – District Level. That’s NATIONALS!!!! I believe I am a good speaker. But a humorous speaker????? I am so way far from being funny! But, well, that’s how God surprises! It was an experience of being nobody to being celebrity! People took turns having photo ops with me, congratulating me, some gave me their card, there was one who asked me for a dance (which I declined! Hahahah). Unbelievable!!!
Surprise #3: My now ex-boyfriend was my high school best friend. We have been best friends for years and years. It only ended when we broke up. It was painful to lose a boyfriend, but it was more painful to know that my best friend went along.Words were said, things were done. I forgave but he couldn’t forgive himself. I had hopes of being friends with him again. I dreamed of the day when we pick up where we left off – as friends. But he kept telling me , not just once, but many times over that “we would never befriends again”. Last weekend, I was in his city. We talked and he poured out his heart to me like he used to. I gave him the same stern comments I use to give him. He gave me this unbelieving look he used to give me. We laughed. We were silent. We embraced. We fought. We are friends again. And yes, purely friends again!!God is a God of Surprises. I keep singing Jars of Clay’s “Eleventh hour”. My favourite line is “I won’t give up on giving you a chance to blow my mind”. I had dreams. I tried running after them but they were elusive. Only when I gave up and held them loosely, did I see them fly. Only when I surrendered and told God to take charge, did they come to reality.Dreams should be sanctified. WE need to align them to the will of God. So I say, don’t let go of them, but hold them loosely.Isn’t it sweeter when you let go of something and then it comes back to you on its own, and fastens its hold on you? And then, it is the Dream that doesn’t let go of you.
Surprise # 4 is on its way. I know it. I just know it by heart!."
Check out her blog @ http://venuspeaksherheart.blogspot.com/2009/05/dreams.html
“We know that God will work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Today's Word from Joel and Victoria
God is working behind the scenes in your life, today. No matter what you may be facing, no matter what trial your may be going through, God has a plan to turn things around in your favor. Right now, He is working out a plan for your good. Right now, He is orchestrating the right people to come across your path. He is orchestrating the right opportunities to open up to you. You may not see it in the natural, but look with your eyes of faith today. Keep standing. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Keep following His Word. Focus on His goodness in your life, knowing that He rewards the people who seek after Him. As you meditate on the faithfulness of God and show your love for Him by following His Word, you will see His plan come to pass. You’ll experience His peace and joy, and you will live in victory all the days of your life!
A Prayer for Today
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your faithfulness in my life. I trust that You are working behind the scenes on my behalf. Give me Your strength and peace today, and fill me with Your faith to overcome.
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
When conditions change for the worse, there is no need to despair. For you have the ability to respond.
With every new problem there are plenty of new opportunities. Every setback represents a new starting point from which you can raise yourself to higher levels of purposeful achievement.
Just because things have changed is no reason to give up. In fact, that makes your worthwhile goal even more valuable.
There is always a way to get where you have chosen to go. Each challenge gives you new ways to add value to your dream.
Always, life is overwhelmingly abundant. When conditions change, you have the chance to see aspects of that abundance that you did not previously know were there.
Pause for a moment, take a deep breath, assess the situation, and re-focus yourself on the path you have chosen. Then step boldly and enthusiastically forward with more positive determination than ever.
-- Ralph Marston
We cry, point fingers, can't sleep, feel hopeless, angry, close our eyes not wanting to see or know the truth and become paralyzed with fear. That is what the enemy wants us to do when change and pain show up in our lives. Get up! We can be angry at what has happened to us or others, without abandoning our faith, praise, hope and gratitude. We can recognize our anger at life's unfairness. We can learn to see our instinctive compassion at seeing people suffer as coming from God who teaches us to be angry at injustice and to feel compassion for the hurting. There are so many lessons we can learn from our personal setbacks and from witnessing the human suffering of others. What a marvelous time to truly go beyond talking our faith and now to walk it, live it, show it and share it. Every demonstration of kindness, courage, prayer and giving counts.
Every moment you decide to get up and overcome the paralysis of fear, the isolation of shame and hopelessness and take action, you have victory. Small victories lead to big victories. Small steps lead to progress. As we keep the Gulf Port area in our hearts through action, prayers and deeds, we can learn from them how to be resilient, caring, strong and create a sense of community. Life is sending us messages to make a paradigm shift from greed, individualism, war, excess, materialism, inadequate and dishonest leadership to a nation of love, faith, caring, integrity, community, personal strength and political intelligence.
You could be facing unemployment, divorce, sickness, grief, financial struggle and feeling lost and displaced. Only the strong survive! Our national tragedy from the hurricane is a great reminder for us to get strong spiritually, mentally, physically, financially, emotionally and in our relationships with others. Whether you are facing minor or major changes and challenges in your life, gospel singer Marvin Sapp inspires us through his song, "this is not the time and this is not the place for giving up."
by Jewel Diamond Taylor, Inspirational Speaker
