James 4:6 - "But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 


Godly humility is being comfortable with who you are in the Lord.  This means putting others first.


Being humble also means that we don't rely on ourselves, but God to help us, in all things.  Thanking God for our talents and strengths and recognizing that without God we would be nothing.


Look for someone to build up today.  Pray that God places someone in your path so that you can use the gifts and talents that God gave you to bless that person today.  


Stay humble!

2 Corinthians 5:8 - "We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."


The simple truth of the matter is that we're all being prepared for eternity.  The question is, where will your eternity be.


God is concerned about our character, and our motives.  The trials that we go through are no mistake, or any of it by chance.


God is looking at our eternal life, but we live in a world that wants everything now.  We need to see things as God sees them.  Things here on earth are only temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.


Only when we set our minds and hearts on things above, can God truly use us to the fullest extent for His glory.


Think Eternal, instead of the uncomfortable position you're in right now.

We can trust God's plans for us, if we remember God's character.  


1 John 4:8 - "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."


God is also a God of justice.  He will always make anything that is wrong right.  I can testify to this in my own life.  Generally, when someone does something wrong to me, I know that my God will make it right.  However long it takes, and through whatever means He arranges it, it will always come back around to something good.


These are just some of the attributes of God's character:


Eternality
Goodness
Grace 
Holiness
Justice
Love
Mercy
Omnipotence
Omnipresence
Righteousness
Sovereignty


With these qualities, God's character speaks for itself.  Trust God with your life.  He's the beginning and the end!

Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."


We have to learn to turn away from sin to gain more of Christ.  When we do this, obeying will come naturally.  One, is because our hearts won't be drawn to sin since we will already be satisfied in Christ.  And, two, is because we will have the desire in our hearts to obey him so that we can gain more of Christ in our lives.


This may sound foreign to you, but here's the basic simple truth (from my own experience).: When we have a pure, devoted relationship to Jesus, we communicate constantly.  When we obey what He has commanded us to do, He is pleased with us.  When this happens, power is transferred, and we can do anything through Christ.


Trust in Him.  He has power!  Obey Him and you can have power too!

Galatians 6:10 - "So then, while we have opportunity, les us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."


God wants us to rely on Him.  Fully.  Yes, we all have problems, but if we take the view of using our problems as opportunities to rely more fully on God, we could reach our highest potential in life.


I like this quote by Charles Swindoll - "We are all faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations"


This is so true, but most of us can't look beyond the problem/situation.  We feel defeated and all alone with this difficult problem.  If we stop focusing on 'us' and focus on 'HIM' (God), then we start to guide our minds toward ideas of "wonder how God will turn this around for good?'


Most people are blinded by the glimpse of an opportunity coming from problems.  They just can't see it.


Any conflict can be met with positive focus.  Think of that difficult marriage.  This could be an opportunity to love as one has ever loved before.  Think of that wayward kid.  This could be an opportunity to witness and be a Christ-like example of what it is to have hope in Christ, amongst all difficulties.


Opportunity says that hardships for those of us who are Christians, never come without hope.  


So, yes, it is possible to turn problems into opportunities.  Trust HIM.

Proverbs 28:14 - "Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity."

We all have them.....skeletons in the closet.  Past mistakes, hurts, sins that have haunted us for years.  But, when Jesus came and died for us, he removed those skeletons from the closet.

Refusing to deal with the past robs us of our future.  We have to face and accept the truth and receive grace instead of guilt. 

Remember, these skeletons of the past can be Satan's greatest weapons.  But on the other hand, they can be God's most powerful tools.

Revealing your past can show others that you're not spotless.  You're not perfect.  We're all sinners and yes, some of us have more skeletons in our closets than others, but that's why Christ came.  He came to take away those sins.  He bore the weight of all those sins so that we may be free of guilt, shame and lawlessness.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

Do you some days find yourself saying, "If this happens, then I'll do that, etc."  "If everything goes as I've planned, then I'll make the move."

As a Christian, I've learned that I don't design the path on my journey.  It's not up to me if the sun comes out today.  But that doesn't mean that I still wonder why some things happen out of my control. 

I love the verse above, because for EVERYTHING, there is a season.  This may not be your best season you've experienced, but there's a reason that God is taking you through it. 

We shouldn't depend on things to be perfect, in order to serve God.  We should be doing this each day, no matter what the circumstances.  Do you think it was perfect conditions in Jesus' daily life? 

God's timing is perfect. You may disagree, if you want things to happen on your watch, and not God's.  God has reasons for the doors He opens and closes, when He opens and closes them.

So, start living in the present.  Don't expect today to be perfect and go the way you want it to go.  Do the work God commanded us to do while we're here, and live in His presence.

2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

Sometimes when we face difficult situations, we may feel that we are in bondage to our circumstances.  That's when we HAVE to trust God and step out in faith.

There will be times when our situation or circumstances seem overwhelming or even frightening, but the Bible says that God will honor a person who depends on Him to guide and lead them.

Some have a fear of stepping out in faith, because they let the fear of not being in control take over their life.

Step out today.  Take that chance, whatever it may be.  Declare before you even start, "Thank you God for giving me favor in this situation, and giving me the assurance that 'YOU got this!"