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“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.” (Romans 8:28, AMP)

We need to remind ourselves daily of good things – of victories in our lives – and not allow evil to enter in!

Praise God in the midst of setbacks, failures, and disappointments. Victory is ours!  By feeding the homeless and encouraging them through the Word, we are being blessed!  We are receiving His blessing and learning to appreciate more!  It is exciting that I am learning to truly appreciate each homeless person I meet and also what we have. People who are homeless are sharing their joy in helping others. They are counting their blessings including food and safety at the Ark, power in Father God’s name, and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, God works good and bad together for His purpose. As we focus on victories and see the miracles – pallets of strawberries, carrots, bottled water and soft drinks, a truck load of (150) watermelons – we are strengthened in confidence!

Together, we are developing our faith walk!  We are being perfected and refined.  Homeless people are not just being served, they are also helping to serve others and saying they find joy in that. Together, we are learning to . give and to receive from each other.

We see the miracles of unexpected food provisions; we praise Our God!  Remember, every good and perfect gift comes from Him! (James 1:17, KJV) We praise and thank Him for His and man’s favor. (Proverbs 3:4, NIV) The same verse in the Amplified Bible says: “So shall you find favor, good understanding and high esteem…”  Thank you, Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

I am appreciating and learning more about giving with people who are homeless. As Proverbs 11:25 says: “Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped.”

Another favorite on this topic is: “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38, ESV)

Again, Romans 8:28 speaks of His Purposes – God’s purpose not ours. His fulfillment is having created the “mind of Christ in each of us” to glorify Him.  To develop Christ’s mind, attitude, and self-control we must let The Perfector (the Holy Spirit) do His work and we must seek alone time with Father God.  Worldwide, we are put in a situation where we now can have daily alone time with God. Let’s thank Him for the good and the bad. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit for help and strength to put away wrong thinking, badmouthing, and fear. Let’s do it in Jesus’ name.

God’s promise, according to Isaiah 44:3 (AMP) says: ”…I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessings upon your descendants.”  John 7:37-39 recalls that promise when telling of the feast day where Jesus called for anyone who is thirsty to come to him and drink. Are you thirsty? Come to him. Drink in His Spirit.

I am compelled to write and to encourage all believers at this uncertain time under the Coronavirus pandemic. I am asked to maintain a true servant’s heart.  We must be watchful of our needs and needs of others.  Together we can and will overcome. 

Satan comes as a thief to rob, steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:7-10) As Christians, we can’t give in to Satan’s lies or our fears and feelings.  We must continue to speak God’s word which does not go out void but will come about successfully.  (Isaiah 55:11) As we continue to practice and do God’s word, we will discern the truth and become doers – not hearers only.  (James 1:22)  

What is our individual part in overcoming this worldwide Coronavirus attack?  We are to follow the prevention rules faith, use-filled action and continue to actively speak faith daily. That means confessing that Jesus is Lord. It means claiming health by the blood of this Lamb (Jesus) and making sure the words of our testimony speak the positive promises He made instead of talking about negativity. Doing these things, we will see that we are healed. 

It is time to take control of our thoughts; to not let fear take over and express doubt and unbelief.  We need to recognize God loves each of us and each of us may be saved by the blood of The Lamb and the word of our testimony. 

I repeat: We need to take control of our thoughts!  In all this unknown, we cannot allow fear to take over. We cannot wallow in feelings of weakness or failure. We must change our thoughts to success and speak positively. We do have that control. What we say is what we get.  The results obedience to God, His Word, and the directives of those in authority will train us with experience to choose God’s will and words. 

We are told to listen to the words of the wise daily whether at work or play.  Practice makes perfect!  The more we practice seeking God’s will, the more we improve in action and response. 

The Psalmist says we must be willing to let God search our hearts. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:2-24) 

Above all, in these strange and difficult times we must not accept being overwhelmed or discouraged.  This is an ongoing process… an ongoing and step-by-step process. God’s loving grace will cover you throughout this whole process.  Our loving heavenly Father will guide each of us, all the way. In James 4:8 the scripture says to draw nigh (come close) to God and He will draw nigh to you.  

When Jesus spoke, He meant literally what He spoke.  “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall save it.” (Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23)  

I had a knee replacement. It has been a painful process and a miracle that has caused me to continue learning to hear more clearly the voice of Father God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Also, I am increasing my ability to discern the voice of the devil. You know that the devil also knows God’s Word. So, we really must learn to recognize our Father’s voice. How?

God’s Word promises peace, joy, and that we have what we say that gives us peace and joy! The Word says that we were healed. Read I Peter 2:24 discussing Jesus “by whose stripes [wounds] we were healed.” Note how the scripture doesn’t say “might be” or “going to be” healed. It says we “were” healed. Jesus already did it!  Don’t let Satan use God’s Word to deceive you!  For example, when somebody says, “I’m sick. Will you pray for me?” Satan has distorted the truth. Unconsciously, we’ve openly proclaimed: “I am sick.”

This time of my miracle healing has helped me take hold of what Jesus said! By faith and speaking God’s word, creative power is loosed (permitted) in our live.

“Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray believe that you receive, and you shall have them.”  (Mark 11:24) Useless words work against us. If we say, “I’ve got this problem”, “I’m getting worse,” and “I’m scared about,” are phrases that express doubt, not faith!

We have the power to cause our minds to be quiet. We have God’s promise of triumph, victory. Each of us have setbacks, disappointments, and failures. We are to learn from our mistakes.

From Charles Capps’ book The Tongue, a Creative Force I learned that a) I could react out of habit praying my sickness, hurt, pain… and b) praying my problems will not work to solve them – even if a whole group of people pray.  We must quit praying the problem and pray the answer.

Pray: “I am healed,” or “I have courage!” The solution to a problem is believing and confessing what God’s Word says! By faith, problems will be removed in the name of Jesus. Hebrews 10:38 says that “the just shall live by faith and not by sight.”

Don’t pray by stating that the problem or situation is getting worse. If you do, you’ve released failure by using words without faith. However, as Jesus’ disciples, we might declare: “Lord, increase our faith.” (Luke 17:56) We can pray, “Lord, give us more faith!”

Prayer does not work without faith. So, let us now thank Him for the good and the bad. (Romans 8:28) Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to put away our wrong thinking and declare victory as is God’s purpose, His will that is done at His time! The Holy Spirit continues to develop my faith in God’s word! It’s been 6 months since my surgery and this deeper lesson. Now, how about you? What are you declaring?

By faith in His spoken Word we receive healing and maturity and increase our faith. We become more bold!  Spread the Good News where you are! Having learned this lesson, I now have a greater peace and joy because I have this deeper understanding. Praying for what I know he’s already done for me is the solution. Having the more mature patience to wait for his timing is the answer.  Move in faith. Do not express doubt or unbelief.

Do you remember that the Bible says there is one time appointed by God for each of us to die? (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Trust Him! There is no need to fret about that because when it happens there will be no more pain… streets of gold… mansions… the presence of Jesus. (Read Revelations Chapter 21.)

When we ask for Him, God comes to us.  We develop a two-way dialogue. As we continue our conversation, we grow in our relationship with The Almighty. We draw closer to Him and allow Him to draw closer to us.  Thanks be to God!

There is a ‘righteous anger’.  Jesus taught this and was an example of it. Once was even in the Garden of Gethsemane with his three best friends. He asked them to stay awake and pray with him on the night before he was taken away to be tried and crucified, but they kept falling asleep. So he firmly let them know that was not OK.

Situations need to be handled with Holy Spirit wisdom – not anger!  Have you ever messed up? I have! The Spirit’s wisdom can help us discern and put into practice God’s word versus reacting out of our own emotions!

To become a better musician, poet, artist, programmer, craftsman, nurse, or any other profession we need to practice. It’s the same with anger management.

We must practice allowing the Holy Spirit to help us calm down – to wait before the Lord for the Holy Spirit’s leading. When emotions flare – PRAY! Ask in prayer for needed answers and responses rather than rudely reacting. The Bible even says surrender our all to God and trust Him. Ask for the Holy Spirit to help you; that’s exactly why Jesus asked God to send the Spirit to us. See John 14:16 (Holy Spirit is also translated as Helper, Advocate, Comforter, and Guide, depending on the Bible you are reading.)

We do not need to hinder God’s blessings in our life or the lives of others with our anger. Instead, we need to turn our lives over to Christ’s and the Holy Spirit’s authority. We do not want to be kept in the chains of anger and the prison of unforgiveness. Remember God, through Christ Jesus, is always faithful and will never leave or forsake us.

Romans 8:28 tells us God uses the good and the bad together for His purpose – if we love Him. Therefore, all our frustrations, anger, and emotional baggage can be used for His glory.

Read Romans 8:26 when you don’t know how to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for help with your sighs and groans and words you may not understand. Cry if you must. Just use your voice to make sounds. He understands. Trust Him.

Is all anger sin? Anger sometimes serves useful purposes. It can provide the fruit that leads to self-control, motivate work toward justice, or spur us to do something to help others.

Sometimes we need to sit and quietly pray until we are calmed down. Through helping other angry people calm down in bad situations and circumstances, we also will develop new ways to respond and mature. We can learn to resist the temptation to “bad mouth” others or be vindictive and lash out just because we are hurt or angry. It is a process, not an instant thing. Start today.

We need to remind ourselves daily of good things. 

Victories in our lives!  Focus on good things, cease negative thinking and talk!  Roadblocks to communication such as:  I feel like, it seems like to me, and talking when we need to be listening—hinder triumph.

Remember when we listen carefully, it does not mean we are agreeing.  It gives us another point of view.  One example is the way men and women communicate with each other: Women want to discuss things to reduce their stress; men want to skip discussion and state their solutions.

In this world we will know trials and tribulations. (John 16:33, NKJV)  Still we have God’s promise of triumph.  We all have setbacks, disappointments and failures.  Again, Romans 8:28, in love with Father God, Jesus name, and Holy Spirit leading—there is a purpose—victory is ours. Yes, both good and bad are used together for His will…purpose.

If we follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and use Jesus’ name, we overcome!  We know victory in Jesus!  We are to learn from mistakes.  Then we might be able to help someone else because of what we learned to do or not to do.

If we focus on victories, even miracles, our faith and confidence are strengthened.  This is part of the journey into perfection.

Remember, every good and perfect gift comes from Him. (James 1:17, KJV)  Take time to praise and thank Him for His favor and man’s favor.  (Proverbs 3:4, NIV)  Continue to pray and ask for His favor and man’s.  God will make a way when it appears to be no way.  (Isaiah 34:16-19, KJV)  He will open doors for you to move forward. Jeremiah 19:11 (GNB) states God “alone knows the plans He has for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.”

Roman 8:28 says He has a purpose for His way of creating the mind of Christ in each of us.  It takes both good and bad and His love to develop Christ’s mind, attitude and self-control in us.  We must let the Perfecter do His work in us.  We need to follow Christ’s examples and seek alone time with Father God and the Holy Spirit – often.  We need to freely acknowledge and thank God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  We must develop ways to confess our deepest needs and concerns about the issues of life.  Sometimes, we forget about our body language and tone of voice and confuse people.

The grace of God is the thing that helps us sustain positive attitudes even amidst suffering.  Still, evil is rampant in our world.  We must recognize this and not develop negative attitudes.  As Christians, our life in Christ must be an honest response.  God is using Psalms to help me see Him and keep an open communication with Him.

We must be honest with God about our negative attitudes and our positive ones.  We must receive the Holy Spirit’s help to express our praise and thanksgiving.

Please read Psalm 145:1-7, then follow its example of exalting God every day.  I see the Psalmists express their honest reactions in all situations, e.g., “I am in pain and distress; May Your salvation, Oh God, protect me.” (Psalm 69:29)  Lead on, Holy Spirit, lead on.

We humans make plans, but the Lord has the final word.  (Proverbs 15:1, GNB)  As Christians, we need plans for the new year 2020.  Yes, we may make our plans, but God has the last say. (Proverbs 16:1)  “We make our own plans, but the Lord decides where we will go.” (Proverbs 16:9) Read all of Proverbs 8.  But for now know and realize that, from the beginning, Jesus was. (Proverbs 8:22) At the very first, the Lord gave life to Jesus. Jesus was right beside the Lord helping Him plan and build (v. 30) …

This same Jesus waits for each of us to come to him daily. (v. 34)  Life is a moment by moment experience with Father God and Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  If you want to live, give up your foolishness and let understanding guide your steps. (Proverbs 9:6)

We need to repent and obey the Lord!  This is the beginning of wisdom. (v. 10) Father, help us to seek you daily in 2020 and move in the Holy Spirit’s strength, wisdom, and sound judgement.  Help us always to speak the truth and refuse to tell a lie. (Proverbs 8:7)

Jesus finished what He started.  He lived a God’s life. He never did or said anything He had not seen or heard the Father say or do.  This year we need to meet daily with God, spend time with Him, and put away foolish thinking and ways.  Recall that Jesus did this in garden of Gethsemane. He chose to obey and do – to mature.  If we are to be like Jesus, we should not get off into doing our own thing, making our own plans, and expecting God to do as we say.  As verse 9 & 10 indicate in Proverbs 8, we need to be well informed and choose God’s instructions instead of silver, gold, and material goods.  God is working on me, teaching me that without a plan – a decision to do – we do nothing!

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. ~Margaret Mead

“He is watching us, whether we do good or evil.” (Proverbs 15:3) “The Lord is pleased when a good man prays.” He wants us to make our plans in His presence, waiting before Him to determine clearly the direction to go.  It will be different for each of us due to our individual gifts.  Wait with and before Him until His plan for your life is clear.  Write it down! Pray! It is usually one step at a time. Some correction will most likely be needed. We will need to ask for advice from others wiser than we are. (Proverbs 15:12) We will need balance to keep us out of self will and selfishness.

If we don’t plan to succeed, we’ve chosen to fail.  It will take hard work and the Holy Spirit’s leading, moment by moment.  God does not say money is evil but that the love of money causes evil.  We need to respond to God’s love by helping others and providing for ministry.  We need to be loyal and faithful to His call and our plans made together with Him during our alone time with God.

Disappointments are inevitable but discouragement is a choice.  God has a unique plan for your life.  Never become a victim of your feelings. Choose to look to God,  listen, learn, and then, move AHEAD to the New Year!