What Are Your Thoughts About Yourself?

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God? How great is the sum total of them! If I should count them they are more in number than the sand; when I awake I am still with thee.” (Psalm 139: 17)

Where are your thoughts about yourself coming from? Are you listening to others’ comments or are you listening to the Lord? Are you measuring your worth by a worldly standard you see on TV or are you using God’s Word as the standard?

If you can believe that God carefully and lovingly molded you in the womb and covered you with His hand (Psalm 139:13), then your ears will be opened to hear what God’s thoughts are about you.

But now says the Lord that created you, and He that formed you… I have redeemed you and called you by your name; and you are mine…since you are precious in my sight, I love you. (Isaiah 43:1-4 paraphrase)

God says you are precious. His thoughts about you are precious, which means you are of great worth and value, a priceless treasure. The Psalmist David said that God’s thoughts about us are so vast that if they could be numbered they are more than the grains of sand. Just think for a moment of the sea shore and that each grain of sand represents a thought that God thinks about you. Just reach down and pick up a handful of sand. When you come into agreement with God’s thoughts about you, then the way you view yourself will change.

Today, line up your thoughts with God’s thoughts and say: “I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works and that my soul knows right well.” (Psalm 139:14)

Healing a Broken Heart

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

Connecting with people is sometimes very difficult to do.  It is heartbreaking when we can’t seem to connect with those who are closest to us.  If you have been hurt in a relationship, you may be guarding your heart and fearful of being hurt again.

It is very hard and even impossible to connect if you are unable to lay your guard down and open your heart.

If you find it hard to connect with others, you may have a wounded heart that needs to be healed.  Trust God to heal your wounded, betrayed and broken heart.  Healing comes by faith.

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. James 5:15.

The prayer of faith shall heal the sick and heal the heart.  Pray this simple prayer right now.  By faith begin receiving your healing.

Father God, It is hard for me to connect to others. I have been hurt and I want to be healed. I ask you to heal my broken heart and bind up my wounds.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Need Strength? Wait on the Lord

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.  Isaiah 40:31

Are you waiting on something and wondering why it is taking so long?  Waiting is required of us for spiritual maturity.  A child who has not yet matured, can’t sit still, they are impatient and can’t wait.  A child that can’t wait patiently demands their way, they want what they want, and they want it right now!  But God requires us to wait so we will mature in our faith.  He knows that during the waiting period we will grow stronger in our faith if we don’t give in and give up.

Think about the abundant blessings that came from waiting: Mary the mother of Jesus waited nine months and then our blessed Savior was born.  Mary and Martha waited for Jesus and saw their brother miraculously raised from the dead.

Is God requiring you to wait?  Don’t get impatient and give up prematurely; wait upon the Lord.  A person who lives in submissive obedience to the Lord must be willing to wait upon Him.

Are You Spiritually Immature?

There are many church pews filled with Spiritually Immature people.  They go to Church, but fail to really grow in their Spiritually Maturity.

Fulfilling the call of God on your life will require spiritual maturity.  We can look at Solomon and what he had to go through to prepare to build the house of the Lord.  King David wanted to build the House of the Lord, but God told him that Solomon would be the one who would build the House.  Even though David was probably disappointed, he began helping Solomon prepare himself for the task.  In 1 Chronicles 29:1 David said, “Solomon is yet young and tinder” (inexperienced), in other words he had not matured yet.  King David knew Solomon was inexperience and would need to mature in order to accomplish the call on his life.

We live in a world of immaturity.  We live in a time when the adults have more toys than the children and most people don’t want to grow up.  The first step to spiritual maturity comes as the worldly desires are put aside and the work of the kingdom becomes a priority.

Another part of maturity is learning patience.  We learn patients as we go through difficult situations that give experience.  According to Romans 5:3-4, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:”

It takes tribulation to work patience in us.  Tribulation develops patience and patience produces experience.

We gain patience as we face times of tribulation.  This strengthens our faith.  So we are to embrace tribulation as a time to grow and mature. You will actually know if you are maturing by how you handle a difficult time.

 Experience also comes as we learn to go through difficult times.  Many people will view hard times or times of tribulation as an attack of the enemy instead of learning from the difficulty.  The experience gives wisdom and the wisdom brings maturity.

Wisdom from Solomon

We will gain wisdom when we receive discipline and correction properly.  Discipline is a major part of the maturing process, so do not avoid or despise it.

Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord: neither be weary of His correction.” We get understanding when we go through correction and chastening. We understand the consequences of our bad choices. Understanding gives you the wisdom to be able to make a better choice. The problem is we all want wisdom but no one wants to be reproved and learn from their mistakes. Everyone wants to hear a prophetic word that will encourage them. But without reproof we will stay immature. When we are reproved is when we gain understanding.

Proverbs 29:15 says, “The rod and reproof give wisdom, a child left to him brings a mother to shame.” A child who is not reproved will not grow up, they become selfish and immature.

 Proverbs 13:24 says, “He that spares the rod hateth his son.” A child will actually mature through proper disciplining. All discipline should be accompanied by instruction so there is an opportunity to learn a lesson from the discipline. Proper discipline robes a child in righteousness but harsh discipline robes a child in guilt and shame.

Proverbs 15:32 says, “He that refuses instruction despises his own soul: but he that heareth reproof gets understanding.”

Many people do not understand how important disciplines are in their life. To be a disciple means: you have learned to be disciplined. The lack of spiritual maturity and discipline can hold you back from a calling God has on your life. So learn how to embrace discipline from the Lord as part of your spiritual maturing process.

Fruit From Root Issues

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:16-20 (NIV)

 Unhealed wounds create the perfect opportunity for seeds to be sown that create bad fruit many years later. We will reap what we have sown. One tiny apple seed planted in the ground will produce an entire tree filled with fruit. Good seeds like kindness produce good fruit; and bad seeds like resentment produce bad fruit. We can recognize the original seed that was sown by the fruit that is being produced. Many people are unaware that the root issues in their life today, is the result of seeds planted years ago. Jesus made it very easy to see our root issues as He taught how to recognize bad fruit.

Jesus said in Mathew 7:16, “You will fully recognize them by their fruits…” We can look at the bad fruit in our lives or the re-occurring problems to identify what needs to be uprooted. In Matthew 7:16-20, Jesus uses a tree to explain the principle of getting to the root of bad fruit or recurring problems.

 To get to the root issues we must track from the fruit (today) back to the root (when it first began).

  •  The fruit reveals areas of the heart that need healing.
  •  The trunk of the tree is the built-in structure or habits that keep the root issues producing bad fruit (Matthew 7:16-20).