Good Morning Sunshine! Just Run Your Race!

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 BSB ~ “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. [25] Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. [26] Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. [27] No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

To be a faithful that Christian in this life, it’s going to take work, self-denial, and self-discipline. Today, as you start out on your race, remember what you are running for, you are running toward your heavenly reward. I absolutely love how Paul described this scripture. He told the believers to be like an athlete! Determined, dedicated and disciplined! This doesn’t mean that you are to be running against anyone else, you just need to focus on your race!

Picture this, the Olympic Games! Athletes from all over the world come to win the honor according to their discipline! They compete to win an award from man, and they believe that it’s the highest honor that one can achieve! In order to get to the games, they must train for ten months prior to the games, they are athletes in training, and they must deny themselves pleasures in order to prepare and be in top condition for the competition. As a believer you should be reaching towards the reward of God’s kingdom and not the award of man! Your gift is priceless!

As an athlete, you have to practice being discipline, you can’t do something one day and be done you have to rain diligently each and every single day for your spiritual progress depends upon it. You must do the same thing every day, prayer, Bible study, and worship will equip you to run with vigor and stamina! Do you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the man-made prize? So run to win! Even though all of them have been disciplined in their craft, they compete with one purpose in mind, to win a prize that will fade and rot! But not you, you run your race for an eternal prize, one that can only come from God and one that will never fade nor rot!

As a believer you should be willing to do whatever God says to do! You have to practice, practice, practice! As a true believer you must make the right choices between right and wrong. And at times you must even give up something good in order to do what God wants. Remember you want a God thing not a good thing, (put your agenda to the side and embracing God’s Plan!) Obeying God is easy until He tells you to let go of something you want to keep!

Ask yourself this question, “who am I?” For your character is not who you say you are, it’s who you really are! You may fool some of the people sometimes, but you can’t fool God at no time. You are your character, either you have it, or you don’t, for this is what determines how much discipline you have and how much you can deny your flesh! For without a goal, discipline is nothing but punishment, but with the goal of pleasing God, denying yourself is nothing compared to the eternal reward that you will receive from God!

For your end goal is to bring others to Jesus Christ, and if you have not practiced self control and learned how to deny your own flesh, you surely won’t be able to help anyone else in this area, Galatians 5:18-23! You see all of us are running a race towards an eternal prize and the prize is not dependent on how you run the race, but on how you run for God, because you see, the prize is already being established, you just have to be mindful of the prize and live for God with as much focus and enthusiasm as did the a runners at their games.

These athletes give up everything in order to win, to emerge as victors! For they know that in the end, there can only be one winner. But thanks be unto God, this rule does not apply to you! Each one of you gets to run your race in your lane with a future hope of an eternal reward from God! So put forth your greatest effort during this contest and set everything else in order to win the prize! Your home in eternity! This prize is so worth the race! And guess what you winning has nothing to do with someone else winning! God got this!

Do you remember when self-help books came out? There was one for everything! Fulfillment, Freedom, Satisfaction, and Awareness, but there were very if any on Discipline! I wonder why? It is because self-discipline requires you to look at you and be honest with the person who is starring back at you! You had to look your strengths and weaknesses, and vice versa. It means that you have to learn the art of No! No to self, No to your flesh and your feelings, No to others that want to lead you away from Jesus! For when you are weak, you are strong, for God’s grace is sufficient! 2 Corinthians 12:9! Remember from yesterday, God is a Sustainer!

Let’s Pray:
Father, thank You! Thank You for building up my character in You! Thank You for the vigor and stamina to run my race and to run it with You in mind. Father, thank You for making me in Your image and for protecting and persevering me through what I have endured, thank You for directing me and teaching me how to handle what I go through, with my character intact! Father, You are backbone of my success and I’m grateful to You for everything! Father, I’m blessing Your Name on my good days and on my challenging days, for I know that this too is a part of my race! Father I Thank You for showing me that nothing I’ve been through was wasted. I Thank You that You used everything to get me right here to this place with You. I Thank You for my waiting period and growing me in every area of my life that I may run my race and win my reward from You. Thank You for pouring out Your love on me. Father, everything that I do is for You and Your Glory and today I choose to run my race with Heaven on my mind, my eternal prize! In the Name of Jesus Christ! Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! God Is A Sustainer!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 AMP ~ “Therefore we do not become discouraged [spiritless, disappointed, or afraid]. Though our outer self is [progressively] wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day by day. [17] For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]! [18] So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable.”

Nobody likes pain and suffering, but it’s a part of your life, we’ve all experienced our fair share but, Thanks be unto God, this too shall come to pass! God will sustain you and see you through it! Hold on to His unchanging Hands, He won’t let go, because nothing can separate you from the love of Christ, Romans 8:35!

As you deal with the afflictions that come your way, remember that God’s Grace is sufficient for you and you and whatever you face! Philippians 4:13, is a scripture for you to stand on as you walk it out! Just know this, you never have to face anything alone, you serve a Faithful God who has promised to be with you throughout every affliction and trial that you will ever endure!

God’s Grace is Sufficient for you, no matter what! Thank God for your weakness, that is when His strength in you is made perfect! The weaker you are the more His power shows evident in your life.  If you need to boast, boast gladly in your weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities, that the power of Jesus Christ may rest upon you. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, l that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9!

Today, put one foot in front of the other and keep your focus on what is unseen and not what is seen, for all that is seen is temporary and all that is unseen is eternal and it will last forever! Remain, faithful to God and His Word and do not lose heart. Tell yourself every morning, noon and night the truth of the Word of God until you have received it and believe it in your heart, and this will give you confidence in knowing that you are cared for and have all the help you need as you endure, move and change from level to level for your good and His Glory!

Live by faith in God’s grace, knowing that He is here for you. Don’t run away from things that reveal and magnify the God on the inside of you. God will keep and sustain you, just remember, when you are weak, He is strong!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You Father! Father, today help me to focus all of my attention on You, and that all of my desires align with Your purpose. Help me to not focus on my circumstances with fear but let my faith increase knowing that what I’m facing is a part of my journey, help me to accept it and see it as part of the ultimate plan for my life and to keep in my mind that all things have been weaved together for my good. Father, I love You and I Thank You for preparing me to handle these light afflictions for Your Glory. In Jesus Christ Mighty Name. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! The God Of Grace Is Calling You Today!

1 Peter 5:10-11 AMP ~ “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be]. [11] To Him be dominion (power, authority, sovereignty) forever and ever. Amen.”

God will give you peace in Troubled Times! He will not stop challenges from bombarding or coming against you! He warned you in advance that you would experience “tribulations and trials” in this world (John 16:33), so why are you so surprised when you encountered these obstacles! You have to remember that every time God allows you to face adversity, it’s because He has a divine purpose for it, and He knows that you will profit from it!

What are you going to do with your life today? You do know that you are a force to be reckoned with! Don’t you? Let Go and Let God! God promised those that are His sheep that when you follow Him, that “all things will work together for your good”(Romans 8:28), and you will benefit from it. Remember, nothing that you went through will be wasted, all of it will be used for His purpose!

God said, “after you have suffered a little while,” so, when you have come to the end of yourself, the God of all grace, will impart blessings and favor upon you! For you have been called and you are His, now and forever more! For it is God who arms you with strength and will keep your way secure, trust Him, He got you today and tomorrow, and He won’t fall you! (Psalm 18:32 NIV)!

You have a secure place in His eternal Glory, for Christ Jesus, Himself will complete you and make you what you ought to be, confirmed, grounded, secured, strengthened, established and settle! This is God’s promise to you as His devoted child, that He is constantly working in you and on you in the midst of your trials and trouble and He is perfecting that thing so that you can fulfill the plans and purposes that He created you for!

You are anointed, appointed and ordained for goodness! You are a prayer warrior! You are strong! You are truthful! You are fruitful! You are loved! You are peaceful! And you will dwell wherever God leads you today! Don’t get comfortable in temporary places, because anything that is not sanctioned by God for you will not last, just serve in the present purpose that God has led you too and move on!

Under the Anointing of God, you are covered by the Holy Ghost! Today, deny your flesh, flush your flesh with your faith that you may be strong mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally! Pray and bind every hindering spirit that is not of God in your life, lay prostrate before Him in worship for this is your place of refuge!

Let’s Pray:
Father, Thank You! Father, help me to keep in my mind and spirit that when I face trials that You already knew about it. Father, help me to see everything through Your eyes, Your perspective, instead of mines and the world’s view. Father, I repent right now for going to others first instead of coming to You! Father, create in me a clean heart and renew Your right Spirit in me continuously! Father, teach me how to respond to every trial with a Christlike attitude, so that I can reap the benefits You have for me, and show You that I’m trusting You totally so that I can avoid unnecessary pain. Father, thank You for transforming me into a powerful force for Your Glory and my good. In Jesus Christ Name. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! Remember To Guard Your Gates!

  Proverbs 4:23-27 NLT ~ “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. [24] Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. [25] Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. [26] Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. [27] Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”

When you go to the doctor for a checkup one of the questions that they ask you is how is your heart today? Next, they want to listen to your heart to see how the rest of you is doing! Everything flows from your heart, so what kind of heart do you have today?

The Bible tells you to guard your heart above all else, for everything about you grows from there! Today there are four gates that I want you to watch: The Eye Gate (what you see), The Ear-Gate (what you hear), The Tongue-Gate (what you say) and The Feet-Gate (where you go), because your eyes, ears, tongue, and feet are gateways to your heart.

First Gate Eyes ~ Guard your eye, look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what is before you, look away from all that distracts you and focus your eyes on Jesus,” (Hebrews 12:2 Amp)! Jesus your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your entire body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body healthy and when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness, and if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep is that darkness, (Matt. 6:22-23NLT)!

Second Gate Ears ~ Guard your ears and what you listen to, God says, and stay away from listening to corrupt speech. God gave you eyelids, but He didn’t give you ear-lids, so it’s up to you to walk away from things that you shouldn’t be listening to lest you quench the Spirit. If it’s dirty, walk away! If it’s gossip, walk away! If it’s profanity, walk away! If it’s blasphemous, walk away! If you sense the Spirit grieved in you, walk away!

Third Gate Tongue ~ Guard your tongue, and be mindful of what you say, avoid all perverse talk! You do know that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue!” (Prov. 18:21 NKJV)! Jesus said a lot about the importance of words: “But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak” (Matt. 12:36 Amp). You are going to give an account for every word that you have spoken! God said that if you don’t guard your mouth-gate, your words can literally pour spiritual mud onto our soul! (Eph 5:18-20 NKJV). Be filled with the Spirit by: Speaking the Word of God to one another and thanking God always and controlling your tongue is pivotal to walking in the Spirit!

Fourth Gate Feet ~ Guard your feet, watch where you are going! The Word says, “Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil” (Proverbs 4: 26-27). And you do know that your steps have already been ordained by God! Proverbs 20:24 AMP, “Man’s steps are ordered and ordained by the LORD. How then can a man [fully] understand his way?

The quality of your life depends on how healthy your heart is, and how you protect your gates, for this protects your natural and spiritual life and everything is alight your heart! Your physical doctor can take care of your natural heart, but you need the Great Physician for your spiritual heart which controls your whole heart!

You see everything in your life flows from your heart; your hopes, dreams, humbleness, fears, forgiveness, kindness, joy, peace, and love, everything that makes you who you are flows from your heart. This is why God needs to be the Guardian over your heart! The Great Physician, fills your heart by His Holy Spirit and your faith in Him, flushes the sin out of your heart and makes room for the Spirit of God to fill you!

But this will only work if you have given your heart to God to guard. You see, the only way your heart can survive under the pressure and influences of this world, is that you have submitted your life to the One and Only Jesus Christ, and by your sincere prayer request. Now your heart is protected by God, and this gives you peace and assurance!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You Father for being a Guard over my heart. Father, give me the desires of Your heart for my life, that I may follow You with my whole heart. Give me a heart of unity, knowledge, understanding, love, wisdom, joy, peace, grace, and forgiveness. God help me to fix my affections on You and to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength in a way that it frees me to love other people in the same manner and it teaches me to live in righteousness because I sought You with all of my heart. God, help me to guard my heart, my eyes, my ears, my tongue and my feet, and help me not to be casual with where I place my affections and nurture my heart and help me to grow as I reflect on Your amazing, incredible, unfathomable love for me. Help me to keep my heart with all vigilance today. In Jesus Christ Name. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! The Breath Of God Is What Causes You To Understand!

Job 32:7-8 ERV ~ “I thought to myself, ‘Older people should speak first. They have lived many years, so they have learned many things.’ [8] But it is the spirit in people, the breath from God All-Powerful, that makes them understand.”

The Word of God is God-breathed! And it is necessary for you to understand this and to receive knowledge from God in order to move, live and function in this world! It is the Spirit of God on the inside of you that gives you understanding, not your age or experience!

God is breathing in you and on you today, do you feel it? You are being inspired by the only One who can teach you any and everything! In order to understand, you need the Spirit of God to breathe in and on you!

And since you know that you are only here today because of His breath and Him breathing in and on you, you should want to worship Him! I mean how different would your life be if you began every day with the thought of God, the One who has given you this day to glorify Him in worship, for you said that He is your Lord and Savior, right, (then act like it) for He is Great and Greatly to be Praised!

When your Almighty Father breaths in you and on you daily, He inspires you with His Word, which gives you wisdom, knowledge and understanding. And you know that the Word of God is given by His inspiration, and it’s profitable for everything that you need in order to do good a work for your Father who sent you! (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Your spirit is to bear witness to the Spirit of God that you are His child, (Romans 8:16.) This is the coming together of God’s Spirit and your spirit man, confirming that you have been saved and breathed on by the Grace of God! God’s Word is now your daily bread, and it is your source of constant nourishment, day in and day out! Because outside of His Word there can be no understanding or knowledge, there is nothing that you can do apart from Him and His Spirit!

Today, pray with a spirit of gratitude, for the Spirit of God being upon you, thank Him for all of His gifts that He has breathed in you! Every day ask Him to open your eyes and mind to understand His Word better, then ask Him to daily lead and guide you by His Holy Spirit and according to His Word!

Let the Ruach of God, The Breath of God, fall fresh on you as you follow Him today!

Let’s Pray:
Father, Thank You! Father, breath on me today, that I might be inspired by You and Your Word! I thank You for Your God Breathed Word! Father, help me to pray and to meditate on Your Word Day in and day out. Father, I want to be led by Your Holy Spirit each and every day of my life, help me to be mindful and careful, to do everything according to how and what You say! Father, my desire is to live by Your Word, Wisdom and Way and to Worship You daily for breathing life into me one more day, I’m grateful, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! God Brought You Out This And That On Purpose And For His Purpose!

Deuteronomy 4:20 NIV ~ “But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.”

The Lord done brought you out of this and He done brought you out of that! God brought out of Egypt and Jesus brought you out of sin and bondage! To God be the Glory for deliverance!

If it had not been for the Lord, who was on your side, where would you be? The Lord brought you out of the iron furnace, and out everything that had you in bondage! For the Israelites it was Egypt. They were unto him a people of inheritance, and God had to deliver them for that reason! You are a part of God’s inheritance too! God is a God of rescue, and He is calling you out of darkness and into His marvelous light, (1 Peter 2:9) where you are treasured as His own!

When God moves you out of the iron furnace, that is how much He loves you and He does not want you to suffer severely not another second. There will be no more mental and emotional harshness, bondage or slavery for you! There was a special relationship between God and the Israelites. (Sometimes it may have seemed like a one-sided friendship, as long as things were good, but at the first sight of trouble they wanted to bail on you. Do you know anyone like that, or you like that? The first time something doesn’t go your way you want to bail on God and complain instead of praying!) Learn to fall on your knees in prayer!

Moses had to continually remind the people that God had already rescued them from the harsh conditions of Egypt, and all they had to do was trust Him and take Him at His Word. They didn’t have to worry about a thing, but it’s hard getting Egypt out a person. (You have heard the saying before, you can move me out of the hood, but you cannot get the hood out of me. Well, you can be delivered from all old stuff, if you would only give your heart to God!) The same thing applies to you today, trust Him, take Him and believe His Word, He specializes in working all things out for you, (Romans 8:28!) This is why the Bible says that you are to hide the Word of God in your heart that you might not sin against Him! (Psalm 119:11.) It was hard, but God loved them, and He had made a promise to them, and He was going to keep it. For God cannot and will not lie! He is true to His Word, (Titus 1:2!)

Can you imagine the intense suffering that they were going through day and night! It was just unbearable! Have you ever been through something so painful that you thought you were in a furnace and the heat just kept getting hotter and hotter! And you needed some relief immediately! Or have you ever saw someone going through so much and you couldn’t take it anymore and you stepped in and helped them, even though they never asked you too, you were just tired of seeing them struggle! That’s what they felt, and God got tired of watching them suffer so He stepped in and delivered them! God’s act of bringing them out was not just about physical freedom; it was spiritual, He was making them into His own chosen people, His inheritance! God is a God of love and love is action on the move! God had a purpose in freeing them and He has a purpose for you too. He is setting you apart as His own, giving you a unique identity and a place in His plans.

When God says enough is enough, He does something about it. They had suffered and struggled for over 400 years, under the control of somebody else’s rule and He was tired of the cruel labor that they had been subjected to! So, He intervened and used Moses to lead them to their escape. God sent Jesus to help you escape your sin. The sad thing is that He could physically take them out of Egypt, but He couldn’t get Egypt out of them! They murmured and complained about everything when they couldn’t have their way and was always talking about going back to bondage! The old had to die off so that the next generation could inherit the promise! Everyone could not see the promise that God had in store for them.

Your old ways need to die off so that you can inherit the promises that God has for you! You can’t continue to walk in bondage and want freedom at the same time! Jesus declared in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” You have to choose to follow and do everything God says whether you understand it or like it! It’s not about how you feel, it’s about what’s best for you now and later! Now you get to walk with God and later you get to spend eternity with God because of what you chose now!

God’s power to rescue you was designed from the beginning to set you apart. Just like God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He wants to deliver you from your own bondage, fear, despair, doubt, disappointment, sin, fear, and old wounds. You have been saved by God and not to just to be free but to belong to Him and to live out His Plan for your life. You should be encouraged to know that God loves and cares for you that much, and that He wants you to be a part of His ultimate plan for the Kingdom! God brought you through for a reason! God brought you out of Egypt, and Jesus brings you out of the bondage of sin and death and makes you a part of His family. He redeemed you for His inheritance!

The Word of God declares, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.” Colossians 1:13-14. God’s deliverance is setting you free and giving you a place in His eternal kingdom and plan forever! You just have to follow and trust Him and His Way!

Let’s Pray:
Father, thank You. Father, today I receive Your full inheritance that You have for me, and I receive by faith everything that rightfully belongs to me through Your darling Son, Jesus Christ as I know that He suffered that I might surrender and serve Him forever. Father, I receive my inheritance based upon You being my Lord, Savior and King and this makes me a joint heir Jesus Christ! Father thank You for rescuing me from my bondage and from my sins. Thank You for giving me a stable and solid place to be! Father, thank You for the shedding of blood of Jesus, that purchased my inheritance for me. Father, I thank You for what Your Word says that, if I delight myself in You, You will give me the desires of my heart, Psalm 37:4, Father, let my heart desire You and only You. Father, thank You for fulfilling all the promise that You said that You would give me and the ones that You continue to bless me with. Father, thank You for giving me a bold faith to believe You and to put all of my hope and trust in You and to believe every Word that You speak!  In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Blessings,
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! Don’t Ignore The Caution Sign! It Will Save Your Life!

Psalm 130:5-6 NIV ~ “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. [6] I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Have you ever been walking or driving, and you came up on a caution sign and a barricade where you could not get through and you had to turn around or go another way? Don’t ignore it, it was God saving your life! What did you do?

As I was praying and thinking about what to write about today, and God brought an incident back to my mind from earlier. And then I was finishing up a prayer call yesterday, and she said the word that I was thinking about, she heard the word “cautious”, which was the word that I had experienced yesterday at work. So, let me tell you what happened, I was going back to my office, and I decided to go outside and walk around, as I proceeded there were some barricades, and they had caution tape connecting them to block the sidewalk where I needed to walk to be closer to my office. I had to literally walk around this space to get back inside. I said to myself, if I would have known that this was here, I would have just stayed inside and went the way that I always go, but because I was in a hurry and I didn’t have time to waste, I wanted to take a shortcut. (Shortcuts are not always shortcuts)!

I was just trying to get back in the office and here is the big caution tape sign in my way, trying to stop me from being great. All I could think about was I don’t have time to deal with this right now! At first, I walked really close to the barricades because it was so close to where I was trying go, I thought that I might be able to squeeze by it, I thought I could just walk through it, and it would be okay, wrong! There was broken glass and limbs in that taped off section that could be potentially harmful! As I pondered on this, I realized this was taped off on purpose, to prevent harm!

Now let’s look at what God does for you, to protect you from danger! There is always a warning before the danger that you just ignored because it was an inconvenience or an interruption to what you have going on in that present moment. Think about it, why would you ignore God’s warning? Is it because you have your own agenda, and you want to stick with what you have? Or does your way just seem to be a good idea? It’s at this point that you should know the Word of God, Proverbs 3:5-6, because on your own, you can’t possibly see how anything bad could happen. Or you just want to do what you want, regardless of what God wants, because you know it’s a sin and you think if you ignore God it is going to go away! It’s not going to go away; you cannot ignore God!

This can say a lot about your spiritual life. As a child of God, your Father, sends you warning signs after warning when you are getting too close to the fire, to sin! God warns you when you are about to cross over into dangerous territory. Just like the caution tape warned me of the possible danger that I was about to face if I would have kept going. God will warn you of the danger in your life! But you have to choose to listen to Him and obey! Stop trying to reason it out, it will not work out, only when you listen to God will it work for you!

God’s warnings are like alarms going off in your spirit to warn you and to protect you, and His protection comes in packages that don’t always feel like protection, but it’s all for your good! Despite this, you still don’t always want to hear what God says, do you? God will send you a warning in so many different ways, a word from a friend; a song, a sermon; a still, small voice or a piece of big yellow caution tape, to let you know that you need turn and heed the Word of God and flee the place that you are heading! You cannot escape or avoid the truth of God’s Word. Now, you do have a choice to listen to God’s warning or to ignore the warnings, but when you ignore Him, you will find yourself right in the middle of sin! And that’s not where you want to be my sisters and brothers.

Yeah, I know a lot of the time you don’t want to hear what God says because it interferes with what you want! So, what do you do when you find yourself wondering where Jesus is in your situation after He clearly warned you about going that way in the first place! First you need to repent of your sins and then strive to not do it again! Strive to live Holy and righteous lives, knowing that He is with you, Leviticus 20:17! God will personally walk you through His Word and show you His Way, which is the best Way. He will show you all the likely and unlikely places where He has been and is protecting you, right here and right now in the present! God is always working on your behalf to lead and protect you from unseen and seen dangers!

Sometimes you may not see the caution sign at first, but God did and He’s working on your behalf! God is always leading you to live a life free from sin. Ask God to open up the understanding of your heart and eyes, that you may see clearly and avoid the dangers and pitfalls that are in front of you! Tell me, can you sense God warning you about anything in your life? Are you listening for instructions on what to do? I want to encourage you to sit with God and listen to Him, He will keep you safe and send warnings your way to keep you from harm. Trust Him and not yourself! And don’t ignore the signs, they are there to protect you and keep you from danger and save your life, for you are living now to live again!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You Father! Thank You for the warning signs that You set in place to keep me safe! Father I’m listening to You as You tell me where to move and where to go! Father, I want all the days that I have to be in perfect alignment and harmony with You, in Jesus Name. Father, I don’t want to be ahead You and Your Way, I want to be right in the center of Your plans for me! Father, I thank You for Your Power and patience with me. Father, I know that everything that I do is through the power of the Holy Spirit, who gives me ears to hear Your warnings and the desire to obey what You say! Father, I thank You and I count it all joy that I can depend on Your love and protection. Father I trust You, and I put all of my trust in You. As my whole body waits for You and on You. Father, thank You for the work that You are doing in me through Your Word. Father, I thank You and I trust You, when I can see and when I can’t, for I know that You are leading me and protecting me from the caution tape, and it will all work for my good and Your Glory. In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! Get Up and Get Out of God’s Way!

Matthew 16:21-23 NIV ~ “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. [22] Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” [23] Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, He had to come to a decision, choose to do what He was wanted or choose to do what He was born to do! It was a deliberate choice to choose a natural death over life, that you may have eternal life! He had to move from a place of barely being able to face what was before Him in His preexisting humanity to accepting His next inherited change, which was irreversible, it was the final road to Him becoming The Christ! The shaping and molding that God did was fierce, intentional and deliberate!

“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.” James 1:2-4 AMP. You had to go through it, you had to go through your Gethsemane, and the only way is through Jesus! As you can see, Jesus didn’t go looking for His trials, He was born for them. So, you do not have to search for your trials, but embrace them deliberately, knowing that they will lead you to endurance, which leads you to maturity! (All I can say is, “Thank You God, You brought me through this and brought me through that! “Thank You God,” You bought me through it!) and I know that some of you have the same testimony, it might not be what I went through, but it was what you went through, and He brought you through it! You should be praising Him right about now!

Trials Come! Testing’s Come! Tribulations Come! And they all have the same purpose and power to produce in you something greater for His Glory, it’s just how you see it and face it! God wants to get the wrinkles out of you so that you can worship Him, He will press out your pain and push you into your purpose, He wants to smooth out your hurt and take you to healing, and He wants to steam out your stubbornness and bring you to a place of surrender in Him, when you release your cares unto Him, Matthew 11:28-30. Your trials came to increase your faith, patience and love that and that you will guard and sustain you. They came to grow you up! What you see as a challenge, God sees it as a way to transform you, so that you may experience a full life of joy! They come to push you to God!

Your experience is yours and nobody can do it for you or detour you! Sometimes when you see someone struggling, the first thing you want to do is rescue them, especially your children and family, your instincts tell you to jump in with both feet and try to fix it for them! But what if that struggle is the very thing God is using to draw them to Him, to strengthen them, to build their character and grow them? Get out of the way, they need to grow and so do you! Let the Growing Begin! You must let it grow in them and you. Today instead of stepping in, step out of the way, you were never meant to fiddle with what only God can fix. Your role is to pray for God to do what only God can do. Stop interfering, for this may stunt their spiritual growth and yours or slow you down from what God has said for you to do and be!

Jesus knew what He had to do, but Peter always seems to think he knew better than the Lord. Nobody knows better than God! So, Jesus told Peter to get out of His way! Today God is asking you to get out of the way for the only way to eternal life was through the gate of Gethsemane and you need Jesus Christ to accomplish this task, nobody else can do it! You need to look at God! Count it all joy “when” you face these trials, (look at the operative word, when), you will face trials, as a matter of you will face many different kinds of trials during your lifetime, but embrace them, because they will lead you into the mature Christians that God created you to be!

Remember that you serve a God who is the same, yesterday, today, tomorrow and for evermore.  When you face trials, James says, count it all joy! Are you counting your joy moments? Just take a minute and look back over your life and you should see all the times that God brought, kept and sustained you during your trials! Ask God to forgive you for trying to fix other people’s problems when they’re not yours to fix in the first place. Today, commit to pressing, watching, listening, praying and to loving God and watch Him transform you through your trials. Ask God to help you not get in the way of what He’s doing in your life today and in anybody’s else life!

Let’s Pray:
Father, thank You! Father, I’m doing like you said, I’m counting it all joy when I’m tested by trials and temptations for it is producing a greater faith in me for You. Father, I’m going to meditate on Your Word, I’m going to stand on my firm foundation which is Your Word and I’m going to walk according to the promises of Your Word.  I pray for each person reading this devotion and praying this prayer, that they receive You and Your gifts and trust You in everything they go through. May you experience the peace and joy that surpasses all your understanding, even in your our hardest and darkest of days, knowing that God got you. Father, Thank You for the gift of Salvation and the peace you make available to your children though Your son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. Father, may I experience the peace and joy that surpasses all of Your understanding, even in on my hardest and darkest of days, knowing that God got you. Father, I Thank You for Your Holy Spirit that reveals Your plans to me and how You are using these tests, trials and tribulations for my good, to give me strength and courage to face these things head on and overcome it by the word of my faith and testimony in You, for Your Glory. In Jesus Christ Name, Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! Are You Fit? Are You In Shape! Seriously?

1 Peter 1:3-5 AMP ~ “Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] [born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, [5] who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.”

So many times you don’t say what you should because you want to keep it light. But as a Christian you have probably erred in one way or another by not saying the hard things as frequently as you should have! Don’t panic this is not a beat-up moment, but you need to hear this, because it lies at the heart of this question that I’m asking you? Are you seriously fit? Let me tell you what I’m really asking you, do you know who the Executor of your soul is? Yes, it’s Serious! When you think about your last will and testament, what do you have in place? Yeah I know right now you are thinking about who is going to get what? But that’s not what I’m talking about, I’m asking you have you made plans for where your soul is going to end up? Have you really chosen God and made Him the One and True Executor of you? Seriously! (Matthew 16:26-28)! You need to have your Spiritual Will and Inheritance in place!

There are so many people who are not giving their best to God, they want to be part-time Christians and give a partial commitment to discipleship. You (we) have not given God our all, you have not afforded Him His rightful place that He deserves in your life, and in the lives of your families. And you wonder why you struggle? And why your children do not go to church, (you let them choose if they want to go or not) and thereby you are failing your next generation of committed followers and believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have not given them what they need to navigate the complexities of living in a fallen world, (Proverbs 22:6)! Does your home lack commitment to God’s Word, attending Church, discipleship and biblical growth? Ask yourself this question, where have you put demands on your priorities and the schedules of your life? What matters the most?

In our community we have become experts in “Doing God” and “Doing Church” it has become a secondary priority in your life, you see you “Do God or Do Church” when there is nothing else to do, or when your favorite team is not playing, or some other form of recreation is not taking place, you do church on Sunday, anywhere between 7:00 am and 1:00 pm, that’s all the time you have! And here’s the thing, nobody talks about it! Listen to me well, I’m not saying that you can’t do those extracurricular activities, but why does your relationship with God have to take a backseat to them! I mean you did say, first things first, and yet you do the exact opposite! But if God decided to take your breath away today, what could you do? Nothing! So why not experience those breathtaking moments with Him first and then everything else! (I’m just asking)!

So many times, you have had one bad thing after another happen in your personal life but because, you felt like they were not Serious enough about what was most important so, you ignored it and kept right on doing what you were doing! And it is that word Serious, that underlies the importance of what needed to be done! Now, when you realized how tough and strenuous your commitment needs to be, you find yourself asking this rhetorical question, “Seriously? How and when did we get here? Here lives the answer, with anything that is valuable to you, it is going to require your time, energy, commitment and resolve!

For those of you who exercise on a consistent basis, you know what it takes to keep it going, and it’s not based on how you feel! (Please put your feelings away)! In order to maintain your fitness, you have to be serious about your discipline and devotion. It is with this same principle that rings true for your spiritual fitness, you must be disciplined, devoted and dedicated every single day. Just like you prepare and take care of your physical body, by exercising, eating right and resting, your spiritual body needs the exact same thing! You need to be renewed continually in your commitment to God. This should be your eternal goal! You have to be sure of where you are going, for these is no middle ground or sidelines, either you are with God or you’re not, (Joshua 24:15)!

Let’s be serious for a minute and talk about this; do it for yourself, for your children and the for the generations that have been birth from your loins and the ones that are to come! God has given you His Word and everything that you will need know, it has been outlined and defined for you on how to achieve your goals and how to be worthy to God and faithful as a Christian! His Word will cause you to be Serious about Him and your desire to seek Him daily and to apply His Word of Wisdom to your life.  This is one thing that you need to know, knowledge leads to action, this means that what you know and believe will lead to what you do and put into practice. When you read and study the Word of God, you will act on the Word that you read! The fruit will be evident in your life!

If there is one thing, I could tell you to desire, it would be to desire to be like God in your character! I know that you have had to live in and go through some adverse conditions in your life and sometimes things may have even spiraled out of control, and then it would calm down for a little while and then the cycle would start all over again! But then you met God, and what you thought was normal was dysfunction, but thanks be unto God, that life of dysfunction is over! You have a new family, and you are living a new life, full of discipline, devotion, and dedication, you now have all the resources you need to be successful and make right choices!

All you have to do now is live it out the way God gave it to you! You see in this new place you value what comes first, your relationship with God and then everything else follows suit! When you follow the path of God you flush out the flesh! You have made a conscious commitment to enact the Word of God out in your life as a blueprint is to a pattern! I’m calling to all of you, don’t just exist as someone who possess eternal fire insurance, but make it your daily goal to Move Forward because you have God on the inside of you, learn to be present in His Presence, to make the time count, don’t just give your time away, gift it, because time is a priceless commodity and you won’t get back what you wasted, be connected to what is real and what is eternal! Seriously? This is Serious!

Let’s Pray:
Father Thank You! I thank You for Your Word, Your Wisdom, Your Discipline, Your Discernment, Your Dedication, Your Devotion and Your Love for me! Father, I am determined to walk worthy of a child of the Most-High Kin, for You are my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Father, I’m Serious about my relationship and time with You, please reveal Your revelation to me and fill me with Your knowledge and how to apply Your Wisdom and understanding in my life in every area. Father I want to be fit, physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and financially so that I can help others, for I know that everything that I have comes from You and I’m grateful! Father, thank You for going before me and taking care of everything that I will need today! Father, send someone across my path today that I can share Your Word with and pray that today becomes the best day of their lives, because they accepted You as their Lord and Savior and now, we’re are siblings in the Kingdom and can do Your Will together! In Jesus Christ Name. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean

Good Morning Sunshine! God Is Giving You Your Second Wind, To Get To Moving!

Exodus 14:21-26,28-31 NIV ~ “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, [22] and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. [23] The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. [24] During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. [25] He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.” [26] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” [28] The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. [29] But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. [30] That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. [31] And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

Today’ scripture is longer than the devotional! All I can hear God saying is, I’ve Giving You Your Second Wind, Now Get To Moving, You Have Work To Do! Read and study all of Exodus 14!

The Lord told Moses to stop crying and to start moving! Moses had to go into prayer with God. Prayer is the most vital part of who you are, and you need to give it the proper place in your life. It is time for you to take action, stop crying, pick up your feet, look up and get to moving, as you being to look up you will see God looking down at you. As a matter of fact, He had already gone before you and started preparing your new place! Stop procrastinating, for you know exactly what needs to be done in this season, God has already showed you and told you. But instead of you moving out, you rather continue asking God for more guidance as an excuse to postpone what you are supposed to be doing! Today, I’m sure that you know what you should be doing, is time to start moving! I know that you think there is no way of escape, but the God has created a dry path through a wet sea just for you to walk through!

Yeah, sometimes it might seem like it’s too much happening, or you may feel like you are not going anywhere, or there is no way out, but God is saying “don’t panic; I’m opening up a way for you, just keep moving forward!” Think about what He did for His children, now recognize how much He loves you, the seabed went straight to dry ground, it bypassed the muddy phase, so that your way would be easy! God is always protecting you! Pay attention to the shifting of the Angels of God who had been leading (in front) them with the clouds and fire, now they stood behind them as a guardian, preventing them from being overtaking by the Egyptians! God sends His Angels to watch over you, He will put a fire and a cloud between you and them so that they cannot see you, He got your front and back, (Psalm 91)!

God is fighting on your behalf today! And your enemies know it now, and it’s too late for them to turn around. God will allow your enemy to follow you so that He can take care of them, not you, you keep living your Holy and righteous life before Him and keep moving forward, (Romans 12:19!) As the Egyptians tried to escape, the Lord, brought chaos among them and broke their wheels off of their chariots so that their way would be hard and then He caused the sea to flow back to its original position and it covered the entire army, and no one survived (14:28!) Pharaoh defied the God of creation and God’s creation wiped him and His Army out!

In your time of consecration and sanctification you are being delivered from all that has held you back. Your deliverance is a true revelation of the character and nature of God, because not only does your enemies recognize who God is, but you do too, you get to know Him personally! You see His Hand at work in your life as you encounter His faithfulness towards you. You see when true deliverance takes place, you are able to see God and His Power at work, which is His very nature! It is a culmination of the Mighty Acts of God, that have shaped your understanding of who He is! And He is God and there is nobody else like Him!

This new place with God is more than what He gives to you, it is who He is at the center of your core! And this is what you will tell your children and their children, and it will continue being passed down throughout the generations forever. They will know and remember the story of how God led you through the sea and brought you out on dry land! Today, God is eliminating everything that has tried to stop you from moving forward! He has sent His Angels to stand between you and them! And the Egyptian that you see today you will see no more, for the Lord has dealt with them! Now Get To Moving, You Have Your Second Wind and You Have Work To Do!

Let’s Pray:
Thank You Father! Thank You for rescuing me! Father, I come before You with a heart full of gratitude and thankfulness for You fighting for me, when I’m aware and when I’m unaware, thank You. Father, as I go about my day, help me to lean on You, Your Word, Wisdom, Guidance and Promise, knowing that I need only be still so that I can see Your hand at work in my life. Father, help me not to complain as I’m crossing over onto dry ground. Father, strengthen my faith to trust in Your timing and Your plan. Father, help me to quiet my mind, still my soul, and find rest in Your unchanging love. Father, let Your peace envelop me, for You are my Blessed Assurance and You are assuring me that no matter what I face, I am never alone because You are always fighting for me and You go before and behind me, covering me on every side, every day, and I’m grateful. In Jesus Christ Name. Amen!

Blessings…
Love, Minister Jean