Have you ever used the words "I'm Spent" at the end of a long hard day? Have you gotten to the end of a task, or maybe finished a particular month and plopped in a chair or let out a sigh saying "man I'm glad that is over"? We all have, but what's really being communicated is that we have nothing left to give, we are done, exhausted, and in reality we have an empty tank.

When you spend yourself on a daily basis getting nothing in return constantly pouring out you're  giving out of a deficit. When you invest yourself into what you do and into others with a healthy ROI you see fruit and fulfillment in your giving and you are giving from a surplus.

"God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], A very present and well-proved  help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1 AMP

A magnifying glass doesn't actually change the size of something, it changes your perspective so that it appears larger to you. Our minds work a lot like a magnifying glass; the more you think about something, the larger you perceive it to be.

Today, I encourage you to take inventory of your thoughts. Magnify Him and watch the weight of the world disappear.

"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3, AMP).

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord,  please give us success.” Psalms 118:24-25 NLT

To seize the day, you must own the day. The first step toward owning our day is to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Your day is your responsibility. My day is my responsibility. What we each do with our day is up to us. At the end of your day, you cannot look at your husband, your wife, your kids, your parents, your teacher, or your friends and say, “Why did I waste my day?” The day is yours. Take responsibility for yourself.

There are so many Bible examples of Jesus showing up in the middle of somebody’s darkest moments and providing not only salvation (which is the most important  part) but also joy and peace and love.

“Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” - C.S. Lewis

You may feel like your life is really hard right now, and maybe it is, but I can promise you that Joy will come. Maybe not tomorrow morning but if you place your eyes back onto God, you will start to remember that He is the one who makes the sun rise and He made your heart too.

Stability is an important issue for all of us. Jeremiah 17:8 and Psalm 1:3 both instruct us to be like trees firmly planted. We are to be well-balanced and temperate (self-controlled) to keep Satan from devouring us. To withstand him, we must be rooted, established, strong, immovable and determined in Christ.

This is what God’s Church must become today: majestic, strong, grand, as tall as its roots are deep, so it is firmly planted in God’s presence, white and purified, and—most importantly—always growing, always green and always living—for eternity!

The devil will use anything and everything to derail your faith. He begins to defeat you the moment he takes hold of your worship. If he can take away your willingness to praise God, then the spiritual warfare will tilt in his favor. The enemies of truth, love, grace, and hope always come after your worship first. It’s the same as a terrorist’s first strike at the source of your power, fuel, and motivation. So cherishing, guarding, and practicing your praise must be a priority in order for you to thrive.

The Bible does not require you to be happy in order to praise God. The Bible does not require you to be smiling and joyful in order to praise the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. As a matter of fact, sometimes you must choose to praise while you’re crying. Sometimes you praise while you’re wounded. Sometimes you praise while you’re hurting. Sometimes you’re aching and you still have to praise.

As followers of Jesus who possess deep and abiding trust in Him, we are called to let His peace rule in our lives. You will never find peace if you are trying to rule your own life or rule others lives.

Peace is not found within ourselves, peace is found at the source: Jesus. Peace will come when you welcome Him to reign in your life as the Lord of your heart.

What to turn off in our lives, and what to turn on.

Peace can be described as the absence of human conflicts or battles, but we're talking about peace as a state of mind. This implies a deep, blissful. restful state that is so far beyond our normal state. For people accustomed to conflict and trouble, the promised peace of God would have been desirable, but also something they couldn't begin to imagine.

Peace surpasses understanding -- Where do you go when you are distressed or worried? Do you often look to God as a place of refuge? If we make God our refuge, we will not be afraid.

You handed the keys to your life over to a God you cannot yet see with your physical eyes. This is a true step of faith. Even though we may not see God working right now, we trust and believe that He is preparing us for blessings and relief from what we are facing somewhere down the road.

Certain decisions are easily guided by God’s will – simply doing what’s right will drive most day-to-day interactions. However, when it comes to bigger life transitions – career change, marriage, education, etc. – God’s will may not be as immediately clear.

In this episode, we'll discuss four ways to help you understand God’s will that will help guide you through difficult decisions.