This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! What a mighty God we serve. He is God, our Creator, who knew us before He formed us in our mothers' wombs (Jeremiah 1:5). He goes before us and makes crooked places straight, and rough places smooth to make a way out of no way so that we may live the lives He has planned for us (Isaiah 43:19). Knowing and thanking God for all of this, we must be cautious not to create plans and shape identities of our own making for our lives that we elevate above the plans and personality that God has set for us (Genesis 5:1-2). Our lives are not our own. We each have a unique purpose that is part of God's great plan for Mankind. According to the word of God in, Romans 11:29, God's gifts and the call on each of our lives is irrevocable. I like the definition given by Dictionary.com for irrevocable: "not to be revoked or recalled; unable to be repealed or annulled; unalterable"

We cannot change God's plan. We cannot use our God given gifts to suit our own self-determined ambitions. It is what it is. 

We live in a world that encourages us to believe in ourselves first and most. We hear messages all the time that cheer us on to dream the impossible dream and to go get it. We literally make plans and real life decisions based on the desire to have it all, and the notion that we deserve the "it" that we are chasing. The inherent failure of such plans is that our lives are not our own. No matter how shrewd we may be, and fail safe we think our best plans are, they are plans set on a framework of a life in a world that is all in God's hands. He is the Creator and we are His creation. It is simply unwise and will prove futile to create desires for ourselves that honor the ideas and illusions of this world, and ignore or dishonor the desires of the Creator. 

Romans 1:25 NIV
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.


My encouragement today is for us all to do a heart check, to consider our ways (Haggai 1:5-6). Let's give thought to what our lives are about. What dreams are we chasing that are in conflict with the plan and personality that God has set within us? Are we hell bent on achieving what we hold up as a good life based on desires conceived for us and planted in us with the wisdom of the world, giving no consideration to the plan of God? Are these goals that we are trying to crush ones that require us to take on the selfish, proud, arrogant, immoral, lustful, envious attitudes of the culture, or does the mission for our lives thrive as we live in the wisdom and humility of Christ? I pray that every reader of this message will take time with an open heart to consider these questions today, with help from the word of God in James 3:13-17 NIV:
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

I pray today that we would each know God for ourselves and seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). "We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5 AMP). In the strong and powerful name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Be Blessed!
~Nina

I thank God today for the comfort and blessed assurance of His promises. "For all the promises of God in [Jesus Christ] are Yes and in [Jesus Christ] Amen, to the glory of God through us." (1 Corinthians 1:20) It brings so much joy to my soul to know that no word of God's will every return void,  and that His word will always succeed in the matter for which it was sent (Isaiah 55:11 AMP). I rest easy and sleep well at night knowing that while the grass withers, and the flower fades, the word of our God will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). 

My heart is full today with the assurance of God's promise in James 1:12, the focus scripture for today's message. I am beaming with belief and barring all doubt that the current trials of life are an amazing opportunity to produce through faith the character of Christ in our lives (James 1:2-4). A life that is lived by the Spirit--mature and fruitful in faith--is one that is adorned with the crown of life, the reward for enduring trials and living in the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4). In pursuing the crown of life our endurance through trials is essential.

James 1:2-8
2 Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. 3 Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind. 7 For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].

My encouragement today is simply four things we can do to run the race of endurance, keeping our focus on the crown:

1) Be Wise 
Proverbs 4:5-9 AMP
“Get [skillful and godly] wisdom! Acquire understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation]! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. “Do not turn away from her (Wisdom) and she will guard and protect you;
Love her, and she will watch over you. “The beginning of wisdom is: Get [skillful and godly] wisdom [it is preeminent]! And with all your acquiring, get understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation]. “Prize wisdom [and exalt her], and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her. “She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty and glory.”

2) Be Obedient 
2 Timothy 2:5 AMP
And if anyone competes as an athlete [in competitive games], he is not crowned [with the wreath of victory] unless he competes according to the rules.

3) Be In Good Company 
2 Timothy 4:7-8 AMP
I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith [firmly guarding the gospel against error]. In the future there is reserved for me the [victor’s] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that [great] day—and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and longed for and welcomed His appearing.
1 Corinthians 15:33 AMP
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

4) Bless The Lord
Psalm 103:2-5 AMP
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
Who forgives all your sins,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.

Be wise. Be obedient. Be in good company. Bless the Lord. Let us run our race of faith with endurance with our hearts and minds fixed on the victorious intended outcome, the crown of life in Jesus Christ.

Be Blessed!
~Nina
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I thank God today that He is God alone, who does great and wondrous things (Psalm 86:10). How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation (Daniel 4:3). It is God who has the final say in our lives. He is the one who chooses to bless, at his discretion. He will show mercy to anyone He chooses, and compassion to anyone He chooses (Romans 9:15).  

My heart is focused today on knowing that God will bless whomever He chooses. Many of us may not have reported for duty to serve God early in our lives. For many of us it has taken a lot to come to the place where we can truly say that we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Learning as we go, we surrender our hearts to God with a sincere desire to live a life that is pleasing and productive to Him. I find comfort and hope in knowing that living by faith is pleasing to God and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Let's trust God's judgement and His timing to choose us to receive His mercy, compassion, and favor. He has dominion and power over all things. Promotion comes from Him (Psalm 75:6-7).  We may not be deemed by people to be next in line or qualified for the blessing of our hearts' desires. But because we believe and live by faith with hearts that desire to please Him, God can choose to make us first to receive the greatest blessings of our lives. He can bless us without us having put in the time, done the work, or passed the tests required to receive the blessing.

His word in Deuteronomy 6:10-11 declares:
So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant...

His word in Psalm 37:4 declares:
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

My encouragement today is simply a reminder that by seeking first the Kingdom of God and all righteousness, we create lives by our faith that are pleasing to God. Making this way of life our priority get's the attention of God--Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). Let's position ourselves in the heart of God to be His choice to receive unmerited mercy, compassion, and favor.

Be Blessed!
~Nina
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What a blessing it is to know that the blessedness of our lives did not begin with our birth. We are each an inheritance from the Lord, an extension of God's grace and favor in the lives of those who came before us, established to be blessed before we were ever conceived in our mothers' wombs (Psalm 127:3, Jeremiah 1:5).  What a mighty God we serve! The prayers uttered before God and the acts of faith performed by our ancestors, great grandparents, grandparents, and parents have allowed us to be born into a bloodline established by God to be blessed. Not one of us was an accident. We are each the answer to a prayer, and we each were born for a purpose to magnify the name of God through our lives (Romans 11:29, Proverbs 18:21). Our blessed lives are the products of people before us who declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." My encouragement today is that we thank God for the prayers of those that came before us, the faith that produced through us the lives of abundance that we have the privilege of living today, and the promise of blessedness for our children and future generations. Let us stop today and consider our own contributions to the legacies of faith that we glean from. What can we do to perpetuate blessedness for our families, and future generations?

Perhaps you don't perceive that you come from a bloodline that is blessed. Maybe everyone you know that is related to you are people who have not demonstrated righteousness or who don't have a history of magnifying the name of God. Maybe you don't feel like the life you are living is blessed at all. This is all the more reason to use the power of prayer to break the cycles of blocked and unrecognized blessings. We know that the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much (James 5:16). We have the power and opportunity through prayer with hearts of righteousness and acts of faith right now to contribute to and enlarge the blessed territory of not just our own lives, but the lives of our children and their children, and beyond (Deuteronomy 19:8, Hebrews 11).
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In the book of 1 Chronicles we find the genealogies of Israel beginning with Adam, and the covenant that God made with David to establish his house and bless it forever in 1 Chronicles 17. The blessed house of David later comes to include the life of Jesus, as God had always intended (Isaiah 11:1-3​, John 3:16). I want to encourage anyone today who may feel like they are not from a blessed bloodline to consider the mention of a man named Jabez, in 1 Chronicles 4. While the genealogical account of the family of Judah does not tell us who fathered Jabez, nor does it note his mother's name. All we know about him from the text is that "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, 'Because I bore him in pain' (1 Chronicles 4:9). I am encouraged and empowered by the report that although he was labeled by his mother as one who causes pain, Jabez called on God with a powerful prayer of faith to have the hand of God be with him and for him to not be one who causes pain, and God granted his request (1 Chronicles 4:10). We each have the power through prayer to ask God to bless our lives and overturn any negative legacies handed down to us. 

Let us pray to God in the way of Jabez...
Oh, God of Israel, I pray that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!

I encourage you to modify this prayer to uproot and overturn any negative legacy on your life. 

Be Blessed!
​~Nina

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As we shelter in place experiencing restricted movement and required physical separation from one another and the culture of this world, let us be thankful that we as believers dwell in the shelter of the Most High God.  Those of us who have made the Lord our dwelling place are not disturbed or dismayed by the requirement to shelter in place, because we know that the safest and most powerful place to be is in the shadow of Almighty God--rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks to God in all circumstances (Psalm 91:1; 9-10).

My encouragement today, anchored in Psalm 91, is for us all to give thanks to God and dwell peacefully in the sacred spaces of our homes in a posture of prayer and study of God's word. Without the distractions of traffic, travel, meetings, social obligations, parent meetings, and such other matters, we are much more available to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). While grave dangers to our health, our economic status, and life as we know it are ever present in our lives, let's take comfort today in knowing that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and that God is our shelter and our fortress. As we watch the news reports of the Coronavirus death toll and the declining status of the world's structures  from the safety of our fortress in God's presence, let's be comforted today by the word of God in Psalm 91:7-10:
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
    and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place--
    the Most High, who is my refuge--
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
    no plague come near your tent.

Stay safe at home--rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and and giving thanks in all circumstances--while enjoying God's presence.

Be Blessed!
~Nina
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Can you remember the first time you recognized the voice of God speaking to you? If this is an experience that you have not yet had, I pray that you will use this time of quarantine to quiet your spirit and to seek God in prayer to hear what the Lord wants to speak to you right now. The scripture above from 1 Samuel 3:9-11 is the account of the Prophet Samuel receiving his first prophecy from God. He didn't realize that God was speaking to him. He thought that his mentor was calling out to him, until his mentor perceived that it was God looking to connect directly with Samuel and told him what to do to  receive the word of the Lord. We can read 1 Samuel 3 about Samuel's experience with hearing from the Lord and take the very same instructions that Samuel received in 1 Samuel 3:9-11 and put them to use in our own lives today.
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I always appreciate when God puts a song in my heart. Today the oh so memorable song "Maybe God Is Trying To Tell You Something", from the classic movie The Color Purple is in my spirit. My encouragement today is simply this, maybe God is trying to tell you something. In this perilous and unprecedented time it is important to be able to hear and obey God's voice to receive unique guidance from Him about your own life or others He may be speaking to you about. 

In Deuteronomy 28:1-14 we receive clear guidance in the word of God about the blessings promised to us for hearing and obeying Gods commands in our lives. Those of us familiar with this passage of scripture know that this is where we can find the promises of God to make us the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower, blessed in the city and in the field, and many more. But, in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 we can read God's promises to curse those who disobey His word. The list of consequences set forth in this passage of scripture is an exhaustive list covered in 53 verses. 

In your time of prayer today, simply let God know that you are listening by saying "Speak Lord, for Your servant hears."

Be Blessed!
~Nina

At some point we all either have been or will find ourselves at our lowest position. It doesn't matter how we got there. The thing is, once you find yourself there on the ground having been knocked or pushed down, having been tripped and fallen down, finessed down, finagled down, or fraught down...it is hard to get back up from there. But right there, immobilized in your lowest position, you have a unique vantage point that will bless you if you let it.

When your station, your assigned seat, in life has become a seat on the ground that you cannot seem to pull yourself up from because of your impairments, your daily experience is one of complete disregard. Just in case you've never found yourself in such a low and lingering position, here are a few things that you are blessed to perceive from that point of view:

1. There are people who hated you on your feet. You may have never perceived this standing shoulder to shoulder with people. But with your station being a seat, not at the table nor the door of opportunity, but on a mat set on the hard, hot concrete ground--unprotected from the trash and traffic of the world around you--you get to experience the truth of people's hearts. People say and do the most treacherous things to you when they think that there's nothing you can do for them or there's nothing you can do that would hold them accountable. They are content with your condition and they tell you how they really feel based on their belief and desire that you will never get up from there (Proverbs 26:23-26 AMP). To know this is a blessing of protection for when you walk again.
2. There are people around you who will consciously interfere with your opportunity for healing to get what they want instead. Some folks are not just okay with you being stationed down there in a low position because of your impediments, but they will see you using the remaining abilities that you do have to get the healing you need to restore your stride, and will seek to steal your limited opportunities for their own gain (John 5:5-7, Jeremiah 9:8). Let that be a lesson to you that no matter what impairments you suffer, because the enemy still see's something to steal from you, you still have a treasure on the inside of you. Praise God for that!
3. If you want to be well and walk upright, Jesus will meet you at your need and heal you. When your impairment has you in an inescapable seated position on a mat on the ground and people have you impaled on society's terms, you are in the perfect position to get to know God for yourself (Leviticus 26:12-13). When you worship in your low position it puts you at the feet of Jesus, which is right where you need to be in order to be healed. When you love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength in your impaired and low position, God will send someone to you who has His heart and the mind of Christ to discern your need who will help you get up and receive your healing (Deuteronomy 6:5, John 13:35, John 5:1-7). You can be in lowest and last position in life, but when you put God first He will cause you to move to first place (Matthew 25:31-36, Matthew 19:23-30). Be healed of your impairment and choose to walk upright with the stride of a life in Christ (John 5:14-15). Go and live your blessed life!

No matter your current station in life, I encourage you to assume and maintain a posture of reverence for the risen Savior, Jesus Christ (John 12:1-3).

Be Blessed!
~Nina