Hope

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed

and so became the father of many nations,

just as it had been said to him,

"So shall your offspring be."

Romans 4:18

At times, life can seem hopeless.

We look around and see no sign

that our lives may be turning for the better.

During such times, we need to remind

ourselves that we serve a supernatural God.

What seems impossible to us

is possible with God.

In the Bible, God promised Abraham

that he would be the father of many nations.

In the natural, this looked impossible.

Both Abraham and his wife were too old to have children.

They had no reason to believe this would happen.

Instead of logically disregarding God's promise,

Abraham chose to believe.

One translation puts it this way:

"Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances,

he believed."

You may know how this story turned out:

Abraham finally had a son, Isaac

and Isaac's son, Jacob had 12 sons--

the twelve original tribes of Israel!

Be encouraged today

and do what Abraham did.

Go against all the odds!

Stand in faith anyway!

Keep believing!

Keep praying!

Keep moving forward!

Don't focus on the impossible circumstances,

but focus on God who makes

the impossible possible!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, today I choose to hope in You

even when everything around me looks hopeless.

I invite You to breathe Your life into the impossible

circumstances around me.

Have Your way in and through me as I dedicate

every part of my heart and mind to You.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Give Your Faith a Target

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;

it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

When our focus is on our present circumstances,

we may often find ourselves down and discouraged.

There is a tendency in all of us to dwell on our problems,

what we don't have, and what's wrong with our lives.

When we do this, we are allowing the enemy to steal our hope.

A negative mind-set will keep us from moving forward in life.

Faith, on the other hand, is confidence and assurance

about the things we hope for according to the promises of God.

Like an arrow, your faith points to the target of hope.

If you don't have hope, that arrow of faith will drop to the ground.

It won't accomplish anything.

However, when you keep your hopes up,

when you keep expecting and keep believing,

it is as if that target gets larger and larger--

and easier to hit!

Choose today to live with an attitude of expectancy.

Instead of focusing on your present circumstance,

turn your attention to your hopes!

Get your hopes up!

Take captive any negative thoughts you may have.

Discard them, as they are only anchors that drag you down.

Focus on God's goodness and faithfulness.

As you do this, you'll feel that hope inside you growing.

You'll give your faith a target,

and you will move confidently into the blessing

and peace the Lord has for you!

Have a blessed & powerful day!
Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, today I surrender every thought to You.

I choose to release my cares and concerns so I can focus

on Your goodness in my life. Thank You for the gift of faith

to see the impossible become possible as I continue

to place my hope and confidence in You.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Be a Blessing to Others

A generous man will prosper;

he who refreshes others

will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25

Every day brings opportunities to be

DISAPPOINTED

DEFEATED

DOWN

&

DEPRESSED.

Somebody is NOT going to treat you fairly today.

Odds are, someone will be rude to you.

Your boss (who you know is not as smart as you are)

will make another decision that will grate on your nerves.

Bad news may come your way, either over the news,

in a doctor's report, or on your financial statement.

When these kinds of things happen,

it's easy to sit down, sulk and pitch a pity party.

I challenge you today!

Don't lose another day of your life feeling sorry for yourself

and allowing your circumstance to overwhelm you.

One of the best things you can do

is go help somebody else in need.

The Bible tells us,

"God turned the captivity of Job

when he prayed for his friends."

I find it interesting that Job didn't see

breakthrough by sitting around feeling sorry for himself.

He didn't find healing when he prayed for himself.

He didn't experience restoration when he prayed for himself.

Now, we should pray for ourselves and present our requests to God,

but if you really want to see things change,

go out and be a blessing to someone else.

Look for ways to refresh people around you

and watch how your own soul becomes refreshed in return.

As you give, it will be given back to you,

pressed down, shaken together

and running over in every area of your life!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word

which is life to my soul.

Show me ways I can be a blessing to others,

help me refresh those around me today.

Thank You for refreshing me by Your Spirit.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Impulse Prayers

"Devote yourselves to prayer,

being watchful and thankful."

Colossians 4:2

Always respond to every impulse to pray.

The impulse to pray may come when you are reading

or when you are battling with a text.

I would make an absolute law of this

always obey such an impulse.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Have you ever purchased something on impulse?

You didn't plan on buying anything, wasn't really looking for whatever it was,

but you found yourself at the shopping center (or car lot... or boat show)

and the next thing you knew you had purchased something.

It's real fun when you're married and realize after the fact that you've

got some explaining to do!

Impulse spending can get you into trouble.

It can make a relationship rocky as well as evaporate a checking account.

There is one impulse that we should always follow:

THE IMPULSE TO PRAY.

Perhaps you've been at home and suddenly felt this need

to pray for one of your children who was away.

Or maybe at work you felt the urge to lift up a coworker,

even though you had no idea what might be going on in their life.

These are Holy Spirit impulses to pray.

When these impulses come, heed them!

Take a moment and pray about whatever it is that is on your heart.

In so doing, you'll be following the Spirit's directives,

and heeding the biblical imperative to "pray without ceasing."

Have a powerful & blessed day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, keep me sensitive to Your impulses to pray.

As I go through this day, us me to lift the people up around me in prayer.

Teach me how I can be the hands and feet of Jesus in my world.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

With All Your Might

Whatever your hand finds to do,

do it with all your might...

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Are you giving life your best?

Are you being productive right where you are today?

Are you doing everything to the best of your ability?

We are often tempted to think,

"As soon as I get a better job,

then I'll start working hard;

after all minimum wage means

minimal effort."

"As soon as my spouse changes,

then I'll start working harder

at our relationship."

God wants us to do everything

with all of our might

no matter what the circumstances are.

He wants us to be productive today!

He wants us to have a good attitude

and do the right thing even when

the wrong thing is happening to us.

We must be faithful in the wilderness

if we're ever going to make it into our Promised Land.

Remember, your faithfulness will not escape God's attention.

If you'll keep doing the right thing

with all your might, inspite of the circumstances,

then you are sowing a seed for God to bring you up higher.

You are opening the way for Him to bless

and multiply you in every area of your life!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, I humbly come to You.

Show me any area of my life where I need to rise higher.

Give me strength and courage to do everything

with all my might so that I can honor You

in all that I do.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Commitment

For the eyes of the LORD

range throughout the earth

to strengthen those whose hearts

are fully committed to him.

2 Chronicles 16:9

God is not looking for people

with perfect performance records,

who never make mistakes.

Instead, He is looking for those

who are fully committed to Him.

There is a temptation

to simply dabble in the things of God.

We play at discipleship

as if it were just a game or hobby,

and wonder why we never

experience the power and blessings

the Bible promises those who follow Christ.

Commitment on our part is paramount.

With it, nothing can stop us...

without it, we'll never accomplish anything.

W.H. Murray, put it this way:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,

the chance to draw back...

The moment one definitely commits oneself,

then providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one

that would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision,

raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents

and meetings and material assistance,

which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

God is on the lookout for you today!

He is longing to be good to those

who are whole-heartedly seeking Him.

Keep your heart turned toward Him

and allow Him to empower you to rise

above every obstacle and live in victory

in every area of life!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your grace and mercy

toward me today.

Search my heart. I commit it to You.

Strengthen me to live a life that pleases You always.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

What God Doesn't Remember

I, even I, am he who blots out

your transgressions, for my own sake,

and remembers your sins no more.

Isaiah 43:25

Here is a fantastic spiritual truth:

When you repent of your sin, God does not remember it anymore!

Once we've asked His forgiveness,

He no longer thinks about it, or brings it to our attention.

If God can let go of our past...

shouldn't we do the same?

Why is it that so many people constantly focus

on their past mistakes and wrongdoings?

Here's my challenge for you today:

Stop remembering what God has already forgotten!

Step into TODAY and let the past be the past.

In order to receive the new things God wants to do in your life,

you need to let go of the old.

Once you ask for God's forgiveness,

quit dwelling on your mistakes and failures.

As long as you're looking back,

you'll never be able to move forward.

Perhaps your past keeps coming back to your mind.

Do you know who is continually bringing it up?

The enemy.

He's called the accuser of the brethren.

His goal is to keep you focused on your past,

feeling guilty and condemned.

But Romans 8:1 tells us that

there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Don't follow the enemy down the path of dwelling on your failures.

Let the past be the past.

Receive God's mercy today so you can move forward

in the life of blessing He has for you!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for cleansing me and making me new.

I choose to turn away from my past and receive Your grace, mercy,

and forgiveness today. Lead me and guide me forward

in the good plan You have for me.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Our Spiritual Lineage

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you

as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

Romans 8:15-16 (NLT)

Do you know who you really are because of Jesus Christ?

According to the Scriptures, you are a son or daughter of the Most High God!

Do you see yourself that way today?

Oftentimes we do not expect God's goodness

because we are walking around feeling defeated, depressed, weak and unworthy.

We need to remember that God has given us a royal robe of righteousness

through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We are already approved by God.

We are already accepted by Him and adopted into His family.

We are of a royal lineage!

I know a lot of Christians who say of themselves,

"I'm just a sinner saved by grace."

The truth is, we were old sinners,

but when we came to Christ,

we were made new.

We are not sinners anymore!

We are sons and daughters of the Most High God.

We have been changed!

We have been born into a new family!

We are new creatures!

The next time you find yourself feeling defeated,

rise up and say,

"I am royalty!

I am the head and not the tail!

God has but me above and not beneath!"

Remember, you are a child of the Most High God,

and He has victory and blessing in store for you today!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for choosing me.

Thank You for making me an heir of Your promises.

I choose to stand in Your righteousness and walk

worthy of Your high calling today.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Hold on to Your Dreams

... despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours

through Christ, who loved us.

Romans 8:337 (NLT)

One of life's most challenging struggles

can be letting go of past hurts or failures.

It's easy to get caught up in how unfair a situation is.

The sad thing about this is, that since it is impossible

to focus on more than one thing at a time,

while we are hung up on past hurts,

our dreams lie dormant and unfulfilled.

One thing we must realize is that in order for a new door to open,

we must allow old doors to close behind us.

Perhaps you got off to a rough start in life.

Maybe you have had more than your share of setbacks.

Be encouraged in this:

It's not how you start, but how you finish, that counts!

Your dreams my seem impossible, or even dead;

but God can breathe life into your dreams.

Your future is not determined by your past.

However, holding on to your past will keep you

from moving forward.

God has already provided you with the victory.

His desire is for you to take hold of the dreams

He has given you.

He will see to it that they come to pass

as you obey Him and give Him your whole heart.

You can go beyond where you are today.

Your best days are not behind you,

they are in front of you.

Shake off past discouragements,

and take a step toward your dreams.

Choose today to stop looking back,

and fix your eyes forward on the new beginning

God has for you!

Have a blessed & powerful day!

Kendall

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, today I choose to let go of the things in my past.

I realize that despite circumstances, I have the victory through Christ.

I ask you to show me any dreams that are lying dormant

and bring them back to life in new ways.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.