DAILY INSPIRATION

“Refined through Suffering”

To refine something; is to remove impurities, unwanted elements and anything that would hinder a product or a person from fully flourishing. Isaiah 48:10 says, “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering”. I want to encourage you today and be a voice of refreshing for you this morning. I want to encourage you during your time of refining or whatever hard situation you may be facing. First of all, know that no matter what you’re facing right now; God is with you. He is with you; even in the midst of the hard thing. Yes, even when it doesn’t feel like it; He is right there.

I know it may be difficult to accept, but it is the hard times that we face in life; that cause us to “straighten up and fly right”. Our trials ultimately build our character and play a major role in making us better people. In John 17:15, Jesus prayed “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one”. The truth is, we face many trials and storms in this life that we wish would disappear; but Jesus never intended for us to be exempt from suffering but that we are NOT overtaken with evil. Jesus has a purpose and a plan for our lives and He knows exactly what he’s doing, whether we understand it or not. The storms that we face were never intended to kill us but to refine us. To be real, most of the time; our pain helps to redirect us. If doing the wrong thing didn’t cause us pain, we would probably continue in that way because it felt good. God loves us so much, that He doesn’t allow us to feel comfortable in our sin and bad habits. He will even use our suffering to redirect us back into His Will and back into His loving arms. In Psalm 119:71; King David says these words, “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees”. Wow, what an amazing revelation. He was able to see power in his pain and give praise for his progress.

I’ll leave you with this: From this day forward; begin to see your trials and suffering in a whole new way. See them as just another opportunity to grow, develop and be closer to Jesus. When you allow God to refine you; it may look like you are losing but you are actually winning!

Daily Inspiration

“Planting Good Seeds”

Proverbs 11:30 says, The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.

Isn’t it amazing to know that the things that we do, have a lasting impact on the lives of others? Wow! It’s so encouraging to know that the seeds that we plant in the lives of the people we love, have the capacity to produce good fruit, that will become a tree of life. Wait, so then, what are we saying? We have the power to build up our family members when they are acting crazy instead of tearing them down by nagging, complaining and speaking out of frustration. If the seeds of good deeds become a tree of life, then we have to assess what type of seeds we are planting. Are we planting the seeds of kindness into the lives of our family and friends? Are we planting the seeds of trust, peace, or patience in the lives of those who we find difficult to deal with? What about seeds of love in the lives of those who are behaving unlovable at the moment? Tell the truth, you’re unlovable yourself at times. If we don’t like the fruit on the trees that we are cultivating, then it’s time that we begin to plant different seeds. Don’t keep planting seeds of arguments, frustration, gossip, and bitterness while you are hoping and praying for a positive change in your household. You have the power to speak life!

You have the power to plant seeds of righteousness, joy, peace, and love! Practice planting trees that bring forth the fruit that you will enjoy having in your life! You’ll produce what you plant! Let me say that again, you will produce what you plant! There’s a saying, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. If you plant tomatoes you won’t get an apple tree no matter how bad you want it to grow, even if you pray and fast for it. So, begin to plant the right seeds!
Decide today that the seeds that you plant will be seeds of kindness, a voice of reason, a peaceful presence, you name it, as long as it’s good. Let’s bless someone, with the fruit of our positive presence, as a result of receiving the good seed planted in our hearts through this daily inspiration.

Let’s intentionally plant seeds of joy, peace, laughter and love in the life of someone that we encounter today! Have an amazing day planting good seeds! And don’t forget to plant the seed of sharing this daily inspiration with someone today. I’m sure you know someone who will be blessed by it, I sure do!

DAILY INSPIRATION

“Overcoming Sin”

Let’s be real and honest. Most people don’t enjoy talking about sin. Especially, if the subject is connected to a particular sin that they struggle with. Truthfully, if we really understood how damaging sin is; we would NOT avoid the topic and ignore it as much as we do. Sin is anything that dishonors God and His Word. Sin is vile, heinous, poisonous, foul and the very reason why the world is so dark. This is why entertaining or indulging in sin will only lead to destruction. James 1:15 says, “when lust is conceived; it brings forth sin and when it is finished it brings forth death”. This is not just a physical death but a spiritual death which is separation from God

This may seem a little scary to some; because everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s standard; But here’s the GOOD NEWS. We don’t have to be afraid because God has given us a promise, that if we put our trust in Jesus Christ; we can overcome the world and be victorious over sin and death. Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ”. When the Angel came to the virgin Mary; He told her that she would have a son named Jesus and He would save His people from their sins.

Some of you may be asking: What about those who are already Christians? Well, as believers we still have to deal with sin because we live in this life; but we are no longer slaves to sin like we used to be. It’s so important to understand the difference. Before we came to Christ; we were in bondage to sin; so we didn’t really notice that we were in slavery. Now we are free to be servants of righteousness, so sin disturbs us and the closer we get to God; the more sin disgusts us. It’s important to understand, that as born-again believers; we will make mistakes and at times we will sin against God; but that sin should never control us. 1st John 3:9 says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God”

As a Christian, if you ever find yourself struggling with sin; there are severally things that you can do to walk out the victory that is already within you. The first thing is to remember that, the very sin that you try to hold on to; is the very sin that Jesus was beaten, tortured and died on the cross for. Next, you should pray because Jesus gave us a promise that if we ask in His Name and according to His Will; then He will give us what we asked for. (And I’m sure that it’s His Will for you to overcome sin). I would also encourage you to research, study and mediate on scriptures that pertain to the sin that you are battling. After you’ve prayed, fasted and studied your Bible; hold yourself accountable through Church leadership, strong Godly relationships and Biblical confession. What do I mean by Biblical confession? 1st John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins; God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. James 5:16 tells us to confess our faults to one another so that we can be healed.

It’s also important to pay close attention to what you are feeding yourself. Pay attention to what you consume with your eyes and your ears because some things can poison your thinking and ultimately impact your actions in a negative way. Ask yourself the question: Are you fueling and giving ammunition to the very thing that’s causing you harm. Listen, if someone was trying to rob you but they forgot their gun; you would NEVER help them look around for another weapon, so that they could finish the job. 1st Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful because your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. So, since the devil is trying to destroy us and separate us from God; we should do everything that we can; to remove SIN and NOT give the enemy any ammunition against us.

With that being said; overcoming sin is NOT just about removing something, but it’s recognizing how awful, foul and offensive it is to God; then actively replacing it with the right thing. It’s replacing it with something good and pure that will cause you to flourish in your relationship with God and with other people. Philippians 4:8 says, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.

Lastly, the most important thing that you can do to overcome sin is to fall more in love with Jesus. Take time to get to know Him better by being consistent, persistent and intentional about being in His presence. As you fall more in love with the one who died for your sins; your faith will increase and you will begin yielding more to the Holy Spirit: which will give you power over anything that’s not like God.

Have a wonderful day and don’t forget to share this daily inspiration with others. Also, take some time to explore the rest of the House of Worship Church App. God bless you and see you soon.