The Lord is my Shepherd ... Psalms 23:1

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. - Psalms 23:1 

       Psalms 23 is one of the more famous Psalms and each verse gives us a picture of God as the good shepherd. Today, I just want to focus on the first verse.
       I have been praying for months for God to help me receive a scholarship to go off to school. However, these past couple weeks, I've found myself in deeper communion with the Lord. I prayed more, read my bible more and acknowledged God more throughout the day. I had moments when I doubted if God would allow this to happen. I cried, I prayed, I talked about it with my mom who prayed with me and encouraged me daily. Every time I had a moment of doubt, she reassured me. Every time I felt helpless and frustrated,

To obey is better than sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22

Thought-provoking Thursday 
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1Samuel 15:22

        Samuel spoke those words to Saul after God had given him specific instructions to wipe out the Amalekites and everything that belong to them. What Saul did instead was spare the life of King Agag and he kept the best of the best for himself and the people. God rejected Saul as king from that point on and although Saul wanted Samuel to go worship with him, God had already rejected him.
        It's interesting that King Saul was rejected immediately after not following God's orders. Saul's heart was not in the right place. As king, he was more concerned with hearkening to the voices of the people instead of the voice of the Lord. By pleasing the people, he in turn disobeyed God.
       In life, serving God and living according to His word must

Be strong and of good courage... Deuteronomy 31:16

Motivational Monday!

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

       The words of God will live forever and ever. What He said to His people then, He is saying to us now, if we would just follow Him.

      These words are repeated over and over when He was speaking to the Israelites because they needed encouragement, they needed to know that God was with them regardless of

Walking in the Spirit / The fruits of the spirit Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

      As followers of Christ, believers or Christians, there is a continual battle between our flesh and our spirit and Paul in his writings speaks of this candidly. In Galatians 5:17, Paul writes, "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." As followers of Christ, we cannot do what we want to do according to our flesh but we must now walk in the spirit.
      Why walk in the spirit? Well, walking in the flesh is walking in our sinful nature or being of this world. As believers, we know that we are in the world but not of the world. Furthermore, we cannot please God, our Heavenly Father, by walking in the flesh. In John 4:24 it states, "God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." We are called to leave our fleshly desires behind and strive towards a road that leads to God.
       Therefore, to walk this road that leads us to God, there are fruits that we must bear as believers. Fruits that will identify us not only as his followers but as walking in the spirit and not our flesh. These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
       Each one of these fruits will be elaborated on here, on our blog and we have already started with kindness and not growing weary in well doing. Look out for more on this series.

God bless you! If this has been a blessing to you, share it with someone.

Kindness goes a long way....Ephesians 4:32

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Its been a while....Thank you for all the encouragement and all the love. We here truly appreciate it.

Today I feel compelled to share with you a life lesson I learned a long time ago. It's fairly simple. Be kind to others. Kindness goes a long way.

Sometimes we may not know how much our acts of kindness might affect the other person or even ourselves. Have you ever thought about how it may even affect your grandchildren or your great grandchildren or future generations to come? We honestly don't know the great impact our simple acts of kindness truly has.

So I implore you today to be kind to others no matter how small the act may be. It will make you feel better and it doesn't take anything from you, in fact you are storing up blessings in heaven. It doesn't cost much if anything to be kind. While being kind also remember to do it with a good, clean heart and with all sincerity. Be true in being kind.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Eph 4:32

God bless you. If this was a blessing to you, please share.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! -Philippians 4:4

Always find delight in the Lord, in whatever circumstance. The Lord wants us to be happy always and true contentment comes from Him. People look for it in worldly things and still are unhappy because true happiness comes from the Lord. 

   Rejoice in the Lord! Make a joyful noise and praise Him! Be happy in Him continuously, no matter what your circumstance is in life may be whether rich or poor, happy or sad, find contentment in God. The first thing to do is to start reading His word and find reassurance in the Lord that you serve.

    God wants you to be happy and that true happiness is within Him.

Praise the Lord! God bless you.

But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

Chariots and horses were used in battles and war and persons relied on them as a means of gaining victory. Therefore they trusted in those things to bring them victory. But King David is reminding us that although this is true to some, we will remember the name of the Lord our God! 

    Why will we remember the name of the Lord our God? When we remember His name, we will remember He is our true defense against battles and wars. He is the one who can give us true victory over all that come against us. So while others trust in things that they think will make them victorious, we will trust in God where our true victory lies. The name of the Lord is that powerful. Praise God!

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22

     Two things that go hand in hand here are praying and having faith. It is doesn't make sense to pray and not believe that what you ask for God will grant to you. We have to know that one cannot work without the other.

     So next time we pray brothers and sister, let us have faith that God will give us what we ask for.

Be blessed!

In all things, give thanks! 1Thessalonians 5:18

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

       When we look at our lives, believe me there is always something to be grateful for. The mere fact that the Lord has blessed us with breath is something to be thankful for. Paul is telling us know to always be thankful no matter what is happening around you or within you. Give thanks to God. It is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Therefore it is God's will magnified through Jesus Christ for you to give thanks to Him.
        Before we can become negative, think on God's blessings and what His will is for you and lift your hands up and say "Lord, I thank you!"
       Why would God want us to give Him thanks? It's because when we take our eyes off our circumstances, we can truly praise Him for what He has done for us. We can stop focusing on the negative in our lives and focus on the positive. When we focus on the positive it brings us joy and some peace of mind from the knowledge that God loves us enough to bless us, in spite of.

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy one, give thanks because He has given us Jesus Christ his son. And now let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us, Give thanks!

God bless you and share this with a friend. Thank you!

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

     As believers, our lives, our daily walk with Christ should be based on this scripture. For we cannot see those things that are ahead therefore faith lights our path to the future that only God knows. When we rely on our faith in the Lord to guide us, believe that it will be an awesome future. 

    Let this be the foundation for our lives and be strengthened by your faith. God bless you!

Thank you in advance for sharing this with someone. 

Matthew 5 - Believers are Salt and Light

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus sermon continues with comparing believers as Salt and Light.

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

In today's world, there is a constant search for purpose and meaning of this life. As believers, we should know our purpose, we should know who the Lord has called us to be and