I want to begin with a question: what are you believing for? I’m sure all of us have been in or are in a season of feeling like you’re lacking in an area. Maybe you’ve been battling the thought, “the healing will never come,” or “I’ll never be able to catch up financially,” or “I’ll forever be stuck at this job I hate,” or “I’ll never be able to be a parent,” or “I’ll never have a loyal friend group,” or “I’ll never truly walk in kingdom things,” or….you fill in the blank. All of us need something whether it’s for ourselves or someone else.

In Matthew 14:17-19, Jesus & His disciples face an abundance of need. They need to feed 5,000 plus people & all they had was 5 loaves of bread & 2 pieces of fish from a little boy’s sack lunch. Jesus tells the boy to bring the food to Him, He raises it up to heaven, blesses the food, & God performs a miracle! Every person in the crowd was fed AND they had leftovers. Wow! Jesus believed for multiplication & because of His faith, the Father multiplied the food & thousands of people got to see the glory of God. I want to ask you again, what are you believing for? Let your faith arise! Refuse to be inconsistent in your belief system & faith.

Our Father owns a cattle on a thousand hills, HE KNOWS NO LACK. ”Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”“ Psalms 50:14-15 . Thankfulness moves the heart of the Father & it helps destroy a lack of faith & disbelief.

Be blessed!

All because of love, God gave us The Greatest Gift of all.

John 3:16 “For God so ‘Loved’ the world, He ‘gave’ His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Love is sometimes that we feel, but it is always shown by what we do.

These last few months have been a little difficult, some life changes had to be made that required my time, a lot of thought, and energy. I’ve been overwhelmed and have had a few meltdowns that I have not always handled with grace or mercy.

Making some hard decisions that would alter life for someone that I love, not knowing what I was doing, but just trying to muddle through the best way I knew how. Even in doing all I knew to do, it never seemed enough.

Realizing that I could not do it alone, I finally gave it to God. He has answered multiple prayers during this time, and His love has shown through friends and family that have randomly called and texted just to say that they loved me and were praying for me.

The last few weeks John 3:16 has been repeatedly going through my mind,

For God so loved He gave, He gave it all because He loved, and His love is revealed in the giving of His Son. We learn in this Scripture that we are the object of His love as He has given of Himself to us. He didn’t just feel the precarious situation of a fallen world, He did something about it. As we follow Christ, we can tell people about His love, but when we show them by our actions, that’s what will make the greatest impression.

“Love is the do part of faith, love is never stationary, love doesn’t just keep thinking and planning it, ‘Love Does’ – Bob Goff

Love cannot be shown by words, love takes action.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

May we never lose sight of ‘The Reason for The Season. We have received the very best Gift that God had to give, His Son, and we as Christians have the opportunity to unwrap that Gift everyday as we pray, read His Word and reveal His love to others.

Merry Christmas

November is the month where most people concentrate on giving thanks all the way up to Thanksgiving Day. On Thanksgiving Day there is a high possibility most people go around the table and say what they are thankful or grateful for or if nothing else an attitude of thankfulness is present in some way or another. Today is the day after Thanksgiving and we are nearing the end of the month of “thankfulness”. We are getting ready to shift our minds to the busyness of Christmas and all that comes with it, but let’s all just stop now and remember our thankfulness and gratitude should not just be a seasonal thing but a part of our daily lives.

Do you ever wonder if there is a difference between being thankful and grateful? I mean they usually just go hand in hand.

Both are most definitely an intentional choice. The definition of thankful is the expression of gratitude, especially to God, for us christians. It is an earnest and thankful prayer expressing gratitude and relief.

Gratitude is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and return kindness. So I know it’s a bit of a stretch but to me I feel like to be thankful is a feeling and to be grateful is more of an action we can take. It is a way to show thanks for the things we have been blessed with and in turn we bless others. This is pleasing to God because being thankful and then showing gratitude is a part of God’s plan for us. When we have a true relationship with God, He actually expects it of us.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Thessalonians 5:18

So how do we show God our gratitude? We should walk in love. We should live in peace and forgiveness and use every breath that we have to praise God. He wants us to spread His word so that no one should perish without Him. We need to show compassion and humility and be patient and gentle with everyone we encounter.

When we have these characteristics we as christians will draw people in. People see and want to know more about why we have peace, thankfulness, and gratitude in our lives even in the midst of trials and tribulations we may be facing.Have you ever been having the best day and encounter someone who is constantly negative and critical? It kind of brings your mood down a little, right? That is why we have to choose to walk in gratitude and be mindful as to not turn someone away from the gospel by our attitude in the moment.

When we have a spirit of thankfulness and praise to our Heavenly Father it produces Godly actions that others can see.

Remember we have a Creator that created us to carry out His plan. He created each and every one of us for a unique purpose. We belong to Him and when we let His peace rule our hearts we should have nothing but gratitude. Our hearts will be full of love and we will want to tell everyone that we cross paths with. If this doesn’t cause you to want to scream Hallelujah then nothing will!! Praise God!!!!

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:15-17

November. It’s the month for thankfulness.

Do we know the power our thankfulness holds? Truly?

The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is a beautiful example.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been responsible for feeding thousands of men, women, and children who were hungry, but I can only imagine the amount of resources it would take to accomplish the task. Jesus and the disciples were presented with five loaves and two small fish as the only source of food to be found amongst the crowd, and their reactions were stark in contrast. The disciples said, “This is all we have! What are we supposed to do?!” (Luke 9:13-14 paraphrased) I have to be honest, I’d be in panic mode just like they were, because that amount of food wouldn’t feed my family of five let alone five thousand. However, it’s not the heart of the disciples we are aiming for…It’s Christ’s.

What did Jesus do when presented with an overwhelming need that he could have allowed to consume him? He gave thanks for what was provided. He could have responded the same way his disciples did. He was human after all. But, He didn’t. What did Heaven do in response to His thanks?

The Father blessed and multiplied the loaves and fish! The disciples saw and focused on the lack of their ability to successfully provide a meal for everyone there that day. And while Jesus saw the same thing, He knew the Father could do much with little. He didn’t focus on the little they had but rather what He knew the Father could do with it, and He was thankful. His thankfulness was the key that unlocked the door to the miracle that happened that day.

When we are thankful for what we hold and have trust for what HE holds, there’s no limit to what we will BEHOLD.