God's plans for you...and me

I woke up this morning and this was the verse that came up when I opened BibleGateway (electronic Bible Web page) What encouraging words! 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

Have a great day, afternoon, evening friends!

A trial of Faith

One thing that I have learned in life is that when a blessing is close, a lot of bad things happen. I usually feel grumpy, negative and am not a very positive person. It is a struggle that I must bear. And yes, I know that it is part of my personality, but that is not an excuse.

I hate being this way. Yes, hate. That is a very strong word, but appropriate. So I pray, I read my Bible and I look for better days ahead. My encouragement for the day is below. I`m holding onto this promise :)

 1 Peter 1:6-7 So be truly glad.There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Have a great day friends :)

Keep a blessing, that is your harvest !

You'll notice my latest "Tweet" talks about blessing. This is something that the Lord has been speaking to me about. Sunday morning we had a wonderful time at church. There was singing, teaching, and a lot of prayer. God is working, and moving on the hearts of people. There is a new vitality that is emerging. Good things are in store as people are pressing into God's presence. When I was praying Sunday morning, this was impressed upon me - "What ever blessing you keep - that becomes your harvest. But if you use your blessing to bless, those are seeds for a greater harvest!" 

That spoke very loudly to me. Blessing...all too often we hear of how blessing is poured out and people are so happy and joyous. I challenge you to think about this next question - What would happen if those blessings you receive were then turned around to help others?

I like this verse : "Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop." 2 Corinthians 9:6 NLT

The Message translation says it like this : "Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving."

 Have a great day - Be a Blessing :) 

Two meanings - what do you choose?

I can remember one of my friends who use to quote this verse - Revelation 12:11a ¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony - If you are reading this, thanks for making and continuing to make an impact John.

The word OVERCOME has two different applications. You can be overcome with fear, circumstances, & life. If this application is you, you will be feeling down, defeated, and hopeless. Then there is the other application. If you are the one who Overcomes, you are rejoicing, victorious, and visionary. You see, I choose to be the second. Not because of what I can do. Not because of my talents. Not because of my life circumstances. It is because of Who I believe in. There is a bigger picture friends. A bigger goal.

A lot of times I believe that we are overcome (in the negative) because we are striving for worldly goals. More money, bigger houses, nicer cars. To what end? Anxiety, stress, depression.

Instead I should be choose to focus on what the Lord has done for me. That is why I posted this song earlier to my Facebook profile. It makes me think. Really think. Here's the thing - you listen to the song, and it is beautiful. But do you know that they are singing scripture? Yes that's right, scripture. It's a song of triumph, a song of victory. I have used "The Message" translation to describe the background of this song. Please read then listen to the song. Enjoy :)

^7-12War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his Angels fought the Dragon. The Dragon and his Angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon—ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray—thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,

Salvation and power are established!

Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!

The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,

who accused them day and night before God.

They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb

and the bold word of their witness.

They weren't in love with themselves;

they were willing to die for Christ.

So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there,

but doom to earth and sea,

For the Devil's come down on you with both feet;

he's had a great fall;

He's wild and raging with anger;

he hasn't much time and he knows it.

Revelation 12:7-12

Blessings Friends,
Tim

The calm after the storm or just the eye of the storm?

Sometimes the storm of life rages. It rages hard, it rages violently, it rages and it looks like it'll never end, then there is calm. Now when the calm comes, it is one of two types of calm. A calm of the storm being over, or a temporary calm - the eye of the storm.

Either way, there is peace - even if it just for a moment. The calm after the a storm is the type of calm that is restful. You know that the storm is over. You know that it is time to rebuild, time to clean-up. 

Then you have the calm of an eye of the storm. This type of calm is often short lived. It is a temporary reprieve. You can take a breath. But the storm is still there - it is half over, but for sure there is more to come. It does however give hope. You made it through the first half. 

Today, I feel like I'm in the eye of the hurricane. The first half of the storm has been rough. My entire family is sick. Call it stomach flu, call it GI infection - it's been a rough 36 hours.  My wife and daughter are on the mend. My 2 sons are just starting to get sick, I have been sick off and on for a week, but I feel pretty good today. 

Today my prayer is this - It is found in 1 Samuel 25:6 “Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own!"

What ever peace you are experiencing, or even if you are going through a storm right now - hang in there :) Peace is on the horizon :)