When your faith was first born, you chose to trust in God’s promises and rely on them for your eternal future. As your faith matured you learned the truth in the promises of a God who cannot lie. Step by step, decision by decision, your faith grew with each choice made to place your trust in God’s plan and not your own. The walk of faith for a believer is one filled with spiritual conflict between the carnal human mind and the spiritual heart for the Lord. You can often feel as if you are taking two steps forward and one step back, but you must persevere and endure until the end because the eternal reward will be more than worth it in the ultimate outcome. At the moment you accepted Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit was sent to dwell within your heart to begin the process of bringing your faith from its infancy to final maturity. This process takes your entire life, but the result will be so wonderful that it will be beyond your ability to comprehend. It is the Holy Spirit that called you to Christ, sanctifies you by His power, and give supernatural gifts through His baptism. He was sent to be your encourager, helper, and guide through this world of darkness and difficulty. Paul talks about Him in 1 Corinthians 12-14. You may not know all about Him or understand everything He does, but trust in Him. Regardless of your denomination He is available to you and will assist you when you need Him.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” 

The times we are living in are filled with spiritual discord. Spiritual warfare rages daily and only those who are founded on the rock will be able to withstand the enemies of God. Our mission, as the church, is to go and make disciples of those who are separated from God. We are to share the good news of the gospel with those at risk of ending up in an eternal Hell. To do this, we must be bold enough to stand for the truth regardless of the opposition and persecution we may face. Those whose faith is lacking in the knowledge and discernment of the Word of God will fall away and will be unable to be bold enough to stand firm when needed. Paul vividly describes the times we are now living in his letter to Timothy. Even though your decision to follow Jesus and accept him as Savior has saved you from eternal separation from God in Hell, the enemies of Christ will still relentlessly attack you in an attempt to prevent your witness from persuading others to believe in him. We must be bold in our faith to silence the demonic voices trying to persuade us to keep our testimonies to ourselves. The lost desperately need the good news of Christ. Have the courage to speak out against what you know to be wrong, even if no one else stands with you. If your walk is with the Lord and the Holy Spirit dwells within you, what do you have to fear? God Himself prepares the way for you to accomplish His mission through your willingness to follow Him. You have absolutely no reason to fear anything. The future God has promised to you is glorious indeed. If God is for you, who can be against you?

Acts 2:2, 3 "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them."The most important thing that my dad taught me was that Heaven’s fire doesn’t just burn in the hearts of certain people. It is available to us all when we choose it. You can be full of Heaven’s fire too. You can light yourself up with love, joy, optimism, enthusiasm, energy, vitality, and oneness with God. You can brighten up the souls, warm up the hearts, and light up the lives of those around you. You can be a flame of goodness in an often dark and cold world. You can take your flickering candle and turn it into a blazing torch for everyone to see. You can share your generous fire and light a candle inside of each person you meet as well. Don’t let yourself be a smoldering ember in this life. Live well, burn bright, and let Heaven see your fire.

Focus

When you focus your heart and mind upon God and commit yourself to fulfill His purpose through small daily steps, supernatural energy floods into your life. Sadly, many people miss that mark because they forget God until they face a crisis like COVID-19 or some other earth-shattering situation. One of the most common regrets in times of trouble is that people forsake being true to the goals they set for themselves in life. Most people admit to not honoring even half of the goals that were meaningful to them, and they end up with a life filled with regrets. Let this season of trial become your wake-up call to not forsake the things that are important to you or that you are blessed with. Good health, a good job, or the simple blessings of everyday bring a level of freedom and opportunity very few people realize until they no longer have it. As they say, there are seven days in the week and “someday” isn’t one of them. Live everyday with a focus and praise for God's abundant blessings. They are new every morning and fulfilled every day.

Restored

Elisha warned the Shunammite woman about a famine that was coming upon the land and told her to take her family to another country until it was over in 2 Kings 8:1. The woman obeyed the Word of the Lord spoken through Elisha and took her entire household to live in the land of the Philistines.  After the famine ended, the woman returned to Shunem only to find that during the time she was gone, her house and land had been seized. When she went to the king to ask for the return of her property, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, was with the king telling him how this woman's son had been raised from the dead.  When the king realized who she was, he immediately declared in 2 Kings 8:6, “Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now." God not only provided for this Shunammite woman during the seven years of famine, but He also restored all she had lost during the time that she was away from her homeland. She experienced a supernatural, divine provision because of her faithfulness to God. When you remain faithful in giving, you are positioned for financial restoration, as well as restoration in all areas equally as important or even more valuable.  God can restore your family, friends, job, possessions, and more when this crisis passes. Don't give up on God and He won't give up on you!

More than Enough

The Lord is crying out to you to expect the best, have faith through the worst, and to praise Him in all things. There seems to be a spirit of  mediocrity that has invaded many a Christians life and they have accept that being mediocre is normal. 

You may fall into that category and have continually accepted the lowest amount of God’s power needed to maintain what you have all ready received from God. 
I believe God is saying to you today not to forsake His power and recognize there's so much more to Him than you realize. He has set before us an open door and declared that He is more than enough in every situation. So don't settle for less, but expect and receive the abundance of the blessings of God. He is more than enough!

Rest In The Lord

Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass."
Negative thoughts block your creativity and problem solving abilities, as does worrying about what others do and say. Make up your mind to embrace personal changes as an opportunity to be different and rise above the commotion of life. There is always a benefit and opportunity when you replace anticipation with expectancy  You will notice a more powerful attitude of faith growing within you each passing day. So, choose your thoughts and attitudes about each change you encounter and that you make. Recognize how your positive thoughts build bridges to possibilities and opportunities in your present and future. Let your mind and spirit rest in the hope of the Lord. and quit fretting over what people do or say. It's that relaxation that allows you to deal well with any positive changes in your lifestyle and mindset. Create smart goals so you can consciously guide the changes you anticipate making. Realistic goal setting helps you decide how to make the changes happen that you need. It also helps you experience your successes through the grace and glory of God in spite of what people say and do. Your goal is to please God, rest in Him, and not let others persuade you that you can't change. Just wait patiently on Him and see Him do in you what nobody else can do.