RTTBROS

Our Doubts Are Traitors #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." — 2 Timothy 1:7

You know, William Shakespeare wrote something that has stuck with me for years. One of his characters says, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." Shakespeare wasn't a theologian, but he understood something profound about human nature.

Doubt is a traitor. It whispers in our ear just when we're about to step out in faith. And here's the thing, that voice of doubt isn't just our own insecurity talking. The enemy knows that if he can keep us doubting, he can keep us from attempting the very things God has called us to do.

I think about Peter walking on the water. He's actually doing it, defying gravity, moving toward Jesus. But then Matthew 14:30 tells us, "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." The doubt crept in, and suddenly what had been possible became impossible in his mind.

Satan doesn't have to defeat us if he can just get us to defeat ourselves. All he needs to do is plant a seed of doubt, and watch us talk ourselves out of the very thing God is calling us to do.

Think about all the "almosts" in your life. The ministry you almost started. The person you almost witnessed to. How many of those were stopped not by actual obstacles, but by the traitor of doubt?

Here's what God says: He hasn't given us a spirit of fear. He's given us power, love, and a sound mind. That means when doubt shows up and starts whispering its poisonous lies, we have the authority to reject it.

What would you attempt for God if you knew you couldn't fail? Even if we stumble like Peter, Jesus is right there to catch us. Don't let doubt rob you of the good you might win. Step out in faith and watch what God can do when you refuse to let fear have the final word.

Let's pray: Father, forgive us for letting doubt talk us out of what You've called us to do. Give us courage to step out in faith and trust Your power more than we fear our weakness. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #OvercomingDoubt #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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Fresh Word Of God #Rebuild #Nightlight #RTTBROS #Obey #BIBLESTUDY

Ruined To Rebuilt #RTTBROS #Nightlight #Repent #Rebuild #restorarion When Ruins Become Rebuilding"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." — Ezra 1:2You know, I've been sitting with Ezra chapter 1 lately, and there's something powerful happening in these verses. The temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed for seventy years. That's a lifetime. An entire generation grew up never seeing the glory of God's house, only hearing stories about what used to be.But here's what gets me, and it's something I heard recently that I just can't shake: when your life lies in ruin from the lies that ruined you, it's time to rebuild.The temple didn't fall because of some random act of nature. It fell because God's people believed lies, lies about who God was, lies about what really mattered, lies that led them away from truth. And now, all these years later, God says through a pagan king no less, "It's time to rebuild."I've been in ministry long enough to know that most of us have some ruins in our lives. Maybe you believed the lie that you weren't good enough. Maybe you believed the lie that this sin wouldn't really hurt anyone. Maybe you believed the lie that God couldn't use someone with your past, so you've been sitting on the sidelines.Here's what I love about this passage: God didn't wait for the Israelites to clean up the mess first. He stirred up the heart of a king, provided the resources, and said, "Now, let's build."Rebuilding always starts with a decision, but it continues with God's provision. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). That's rebuild language right there.Maybe you're looking at the ruins in your life today, thinking it's too late, too far gone, too damaged. But friend, if God could bring His people back from seventy years of captivity and rebuild His temple, He can rebuild whatever lies in ruin in your life.The ruins don't define us, the rebuilding does. And rebuilding always starts with returning to the truth. It's never too late to start again.Let's pray: Father, thank You that You are the God of rebuilding. Where lies have created ruins in our lives, help us to hear Your voice calling us back to truth. Give us the courage to start rebuilding today. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Rebuilding #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.

Handle The Scandal #Submission #Obey #Meekness #Nightlight #RTTBROS

More On Meekness #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Monkey Hand #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Scripture: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." — Matthew 16:25

You know, I heard a story once about how hunters in some parts of the world used to catch monkeys, and it's stuck with me for years because it says so much about human nature.

They would take a coconut, drill a hole just big enough for a monkey's hand to slip through, and put some rice or fruit inside. Then they'd secure the coconut to a tree. The monkey would reach in, grab the food, and make a fist. But here's the thing, that fist was too big to pull back through the hole. All the monkey had to do was let go of the food and he could pull his hand out and be free. But he wouldn't. He'd sit there, holding onto that food, even when the hunters came. His freedom was literally one choice away, but he'd rather lose everything than open his hand.

I think about that monkey sometimes when I look at my own life. How often do we hold onto things so tightly that we lose our freedom? Maybe it's a relationship that's become unhealthy, but we can't let go. Maybe it's a job that's consuming us. Maybe it's money, or reputation, or control over our kids' lives. We grip these things with white knuckles, and all the while, we're the ones becoming trapped.

Jesus said something that seemed backwards to his disciples: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25). That's the paradox of the Kingdom. The tighter we hold onto our lives, our plans, our stuff, the more we actually lose. But when we open our hands and surrender it all to Him, that's when we find real life.

I'm too soon old and too late smart on this, but I've learned that God never asks us to release something without giving us something better in return. But we've got to trust Him enough to open our hands first.

So here's what I want you to think about today: What are you holding onto so tightly that it's keeping you trapped? When we hold onto anything more tightly than we hold onto Jesus, we've already lost it. But when we surrender everything to Him, we find that we never really lose anything that matters.

Let's pray: Father, show us what we're gripping too tightly. Give us the courage to open our hands and trust You with the things we're afraid to lose. Help us remember that You are better than anything we could hold onto. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #Surrender #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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Strength Under Control #Nightlight #RTTBROS #Meekness #Relationships #Unity

Blind To Blessing #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Blind to Blessing

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

About 3,500 years ago in the wilderness of Sinai, the Israelites witnessed the most spectacular miracle in human history. God parted the Red Sea, they walked through on dry ground, and the Egyptian army that had pursued them was swallowed up by the waters. They saw walls of water standing on either side of them as they crossed. That's the kind of thing that should stay with you forever.

But just three days later, they were complaining. And about a month after their miraculous deliverance, they actually said they wished they had died back in Egypt. They told Moses, "Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full, for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (Exodus 16:3).

They had trained their minds to search for problems, and when you're looking for bad things, no surprise, you find what you're looking for. Even when really good things happen, you discount them or find fault with them. You essentially become blind to blessing.

The Israelites had manna from heaven, bread that literally fell from the sky every morning. They had water from a rock. They had the presence of God with them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. But their negative mindset kept them from seeing it. They were looking through a filter of discontent, and it colored everything.

I've seen this in my own life. There have been seasons when I was running on empty, when it seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And in those seasons, if I wasn't careful, I could focus so much on what wasn't working that I completely missed what God was doing. I remember a time when a friend came by and blessed my family out of the blue with some money. It left me speechless, and that does not often happen to me. It was God's way of tapping me on my shoulder and saying, "Don't worry, I got this." But if I had been consumed with my problems, I would have missed that moment of grace.

Here's what Paul teaches us: "In every thing give thanks." Notice he didn't say "for everything," he said "in everything." We don't thank God for the hard things themselves, but we thank Him in the midst of them because we know He's still on the throne, still taking care of His kids, still providing in supernatural ways.

The Israelites finally made it to the Promised Land, but it took them 40 years for a journey that should have taken 11 days. Why? Because they couldn't see past their complaints to recognize God's faithfulness. Don't let that be your story. Train your mind to see His hand, to recognize His provision, to count your blessings. Start searching for blessings instead of problems, because I promise you, you'll find what you're looking for.

Today's Growth Principle

God is always working in your life, but if you train your mind to hunt for problems, you'll miss His hand of blessing and provision.

#Faith #Joy #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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Joy in the Journey #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." — Philippians 4:11

You know, I've been thinking a lot lately about something that keeps showing up in my conversations with people. We live in a world that's constantly selling us expectations. Social media shows us everyone's highlight reel, and we start measuring our regular Tuesday against someone else's best moment. Before long, we're running on empty, wondering why we can't seem to find any joy.

I came across something recently that really stuck with me: joy is your current situation minus expectation. Now, at first glance, that might sound like I'm saying we should just lower the bar. That's not it at all.

There's a world of difference between expectation and anticipation. Expectations are rigid demands we place on life, on God, on other people. They're about control. But anticipation? That's hopeful, flexible, trusting. It's looking forward with open hands instead of clenched fists.

Think about the Apostle Paul for a minute. Here's a man sitting in a Roman prison, chained to a guard, uncertain about his future. By all our expectations, he should have been miserable. But listen to what he wrote: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

How could he say that? Because Paul had learned the secret. He had released his expectations of how his life should look and replaced them with anticipation of what God was doing. He wasn't demanding God work things out his way. He was trusting that God was working, even when he couldn't see the whole picture.

Expectations steal our joy because they're focused on what we think should be. Anticipation gives us joy because it's focused on who God is and what He's capable of doing, even in the mess we're in right now.

Here's what I've learned, and I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one: most of our disappointment comes from the gap between what we expected and what actually happened. But when we release those expectations and replace them with anticipation of God's goodness, suddenly there's room for joy.

Paul goes on to say, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11). That's not resignation. That's a man who's traded his expectations for anticipation of God's faithfulness.

So let me ask you: what expectations are you carrying today that are robbing you of joy? Maybe it's time to open your hands and start anticipating with excitement what God might do instead.

Because when you subtract your expectations from your current situation, what you're left with is room for joy. Real, lasting joy that doesn't depend on everything going your way, but on knowing that God is good and He's working.

Let's pray: Father, help us release the expectations we're clinging to and replace them with anticipation of Your goodness. Teach us to find joy not in getting our way, but in trusting Your way. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #Joy #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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Accurate Words #RTTBROS #nightlight