Devotionals for the Heart: Why God is our stable Rock in troubled times

God is My Rock and My Fortress
A devotional by Heidi Lewis-Ivey

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

—Psalm 18:2 (KJV)

There's a verse I keep returning to when everything feels unsteady.

King David didn’t write this verse (Psalm 18:2) from a place of comfort. He wrote it after years of being chased, betrayed, and nearly killed. He wrote this verse after watching the ground shift under him over and over again. What he landed on, after all of that, wasn't a strategy or a self-improvement plan. It was not a person. He landed on the Lord. David didn’t say, “the Lord helped me build something stable.” He said, “The Lord is my rock.” The difference is everything not “God helped me get stable,” but “God is my stability.” David didn't build it. He didn't earn it. He just stopped looking elsewhere and stood on what was already holding him.

That’s the difference I want to sit in today.

Notice how many words David uses to say the same thing: Rock. Fortress. Deliverer. Strength. Buckler. Horn of salvation. High tower. Seven images, one truth, said seven different ways.

I don't think that's poetic excess. I think it's what happens when one word isn't enough to hold what you're trying to say. When you’ve been steady in some ways and shaken in others, strong in some ways and terrified in others, you reach for every word you have because no single image captures the whole of what you need God to be.

A rock holds your weight. A fortress keeps danger out. A deliverer reaches in and pulls you from where you are. A high tower lets you see what’s coming before it arrives. David needed all of it because life doesn’t threaten you in just one way. It comes at you from every direction, and so his language for God had to come from every direction too.

Here's what stands out to me most: David doesn't say God gave him a rock. He says God is the rock. That’s not a small distinction. A rock you’re given can be taken away. God the “rock” cannot. If my stability depends on a job, a relationship, a season of life going well, then the moment any of it shifts, my stability goes with it. But if my stability is God himself, nothing that changes around me can touch the foundation because the foundation was never any of those things to begin with.

I think this is why so many of us feel unstable even when nothing is technically wrong. We've built our sense of safety on things that were never built to hold that weight such as: achievement, other people's approval, the absence of conflict, the illusion of control. Those things shift constantly because they were never rocks. They were just things that looked solid until the weather changed and we realized they were like sinking sand.

David is naming something different. He says, “My God, my strength”. He isn't crediting his resilience or his track record. Not in how well he’s holding it together. He’s naming where the strength lives: in God, and nowhere else. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV), “for my strength is made perfect in weaknesses.”

I want to be honest about something: Saying “the Lord is my rock” doesn't make the storm disappear. Remember: David wrote this after the danger, not instead of it. The men were still after him. The years of running were still real. The fear in the moment it was happening was not fake just because he later wrote a psalm about trusting God through it. Faith here isn’t the absence of fear, it’s what David reached for in the middle of the fear.

That matters, because I think a lot of us quietly believe that needing to lean on God this hard means something has gone wrong with our faith. It hasn’t. King David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), needed seven different metaphors to describe how badly he needed somewhere solid to stand. If he needed that many, we’re allowed to need ours too. One of my favorite places to stand is Romans 8:18 (KJV). It says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Let’s look at our anchor text (Psalm 18:2) again and focus on where David wrote these words: in whom I will trust. That phrase sits in the middle of the verse and it’s easy to read past it, but it's doing a lot of work. Allow me to explain: Trust isn't a feeling you wait for. It’s a decision you make, often while the feeling is nowhere close. David didn’t say “in whom I feel safe” he said, “in whom I will trust.” Future tense. A choice being made in the middle of the hard place that hadn't been resolved yet. He was choosing to trust the rock before he could fully feel its solidity under his feet.

That’s most of what trust looks like, if I'm honest. Not the calm certainty we picture, but the decision to keep standing on something you can’t fully verify yet because you’ve decided it’s trustworthy, not because the ground has stopped shaking. My late pastor used to tell me, “Faith is not needing to know the details.” We learn to trust God when we can’t see nor trace Him.

If you’re in a season where everything you used to lean on feels unreliable—people, plans, even your own resolve—I don't think the answer is to try harder to make those things solid again.

I think the invitation is the same one David found his way to. Stop asking the shifting things to hold your weight. Instead stand on the thing that was never going to move. Not because it will remove what you're facing. David still had men after him. The storm doesn't always pass just because you’ve named your rock correctly.

But you can be in a storm and still be standing on something solid. That’s not nothing. That might be everything. My rock. My fortress. My deliverer. My strength. My high tower. My buckler. My horn of salvation.

Let’s say it the way David did with all seven words because one was never going to be enough. Let these words be true before it fully feels true because that’s where trust starts. Not at the end of the storm, but in the middle of it, on a rock that was never the one shaking to begin with.

Let’s Pray:

Lord,

You are my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. You are my God, my strength, the one in whom I choose to trust not because I always feel it, but because I have decided You are trustworthy. You are my buckler, the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

I confess that I have spent seasons leaning on things that were never built to hold my own strength, other people's approval, plans that felt solid until they weren’t. Forgive me for asking shifting things to do what only You can do. Teach me to lay my weight down on You instead, even when I cannot yet feel the ground beneath me.

I will not pretend the storm isn’t real. The danger David faced didn’t disappear just because he knew where his strength came from, and mine may not either. But let me be like him—afraid and trusting at the same time, shaken and standing at the same time, in the middle of the storm and still fixed on something that isn’t moving.

Where I am unstable, be my rock. Where I am exposed, be my fortress. Where I cannot save myself, be my deliverer. Where I have no strength left, be my strength. Where I need to see what’s coming, be my high tower.

I will trust You. Not because everything is resolved, but because You have never once stopped being who You said You are.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

~*~
Song of Reflection #1: “Cornerstone” by Hillsong Worship. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “Great God” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #3: “My Help (Cometh from the Lord)” by VaShawn Mitchell (ft. Maranda Curtis). Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #4: “Way Maker” by Sinach. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #5: “He Will Hold Me Fast” by Keith & Kristyn Getty. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

Heidi Lewis-Ivey is an affirmed prophet and an internationally acclaimed speaker. 

She impacts audiences with her authenticity and bold style of delivery. She has had the opportunity to minister in Trinidad, St. Thomas USVI, Manchester and Liverpool (England).

Heidi is an award-winning and bestselling author. She is the author of Can I Rest Awhile? and Black Girl Cry: What Black Women Need to Know to Amplify Their Voices. She is a co-author in Soulful Prayers (Volume 1 and Volume 2) and Soulful Affirmations. Heidi is the convener of the Encountering the Courts of God movement and the founder of Visions International, a training ground for five-fold ministry gifts.

She holds a Master of Business Administration in Organizational Leadership from Norwich University and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Boston University. Heidi is the CEO of Nael & Associates Inc and franchise owner of Patrice & Associates recruiting firm. She is a member of the Pentimenti Women Writers Group, a former mentor with Year Up, former board member for Friends of Young Achievers, and a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategist.

Heidi is the proud aunt/great aunt of 14 nieces and nephews and two bonus nieces. They are her joy. The older nephews have become her protectors.

Heidi is an NFL football fan. As a child, she taught herself the game. In 2017 she won her NFL.com fantasy football league. Heidi is an avid reader (Audible listener) of romance novels, a lover of purses and handbags, and a tea snob who believes bling is always appropriate.

She lives in Boston, MA.

~*~
Connect with Heidi:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamheidi01
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/heidi-lewis-ivey

Devotionals for the Heart: Stand Firm

Standing Firm in Our Faith
A devotional by Heidy De La Cruz

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

– Ephesians 6:11 (NIV)

I am involved in two women's groups.

One is a growth group from my church, and the other is a book group, where we read a Christian-based book together or a Bible study then we discuss the book. There is a group chat for each group, and of course, we share our prayer requests. Lately, the prayer requests have been more and more. There are prayer requests for healing, miracles, new job opportunities, and a few others. But it seems like every day, there is a new request. A lot is going on everywhere.

There has also been an increase in prayer requests online because of things going on around the world: the war ended in Afghanistan, the west of the United States is on fire, the devastating hurricane that went through Louisiana, and then aftereffects of the hurricane that flooded New York and New Jersey. It’s just so much to take in right now!

Although the world may seem crazy right now, I am here to remind you and myself that these moments are the moments when we need to stand firm in our faith, as God has called us to be. Ephesians 6:11 (NIV) is says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Many things will come our way to try to shake us, but God reminds us He is with us, and He will help us overcome anything.

How do we stand firm in our faith during these crazy times? We must read God’s Word (The Holy Bible) every day. We should pray every day. Communicating with God consistently helps our faith and our relationship with Him to grow stronger and become unshakeable. We should be surrounded with people who bring us closer to God. People who we can trust to discuss our doubts and know that they will pray for us. For example, like the groups I’m involved in. I know that if I need prayer for anything, I can ask.

There is a quote by an author whose name I could not find, that says, “When the root is deep, there is no reason to fear the wind.” I feel that this quote goes hand-in-hand with standing firm in our faith. The root is our faith, and when it's deep in God, there is no reason to fear the wind, which would be any turbulence that comes our way. I'll end the devotional with this verse from 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV), “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”

Let’s Pray: Dear God, I know these times are very uncertain. It seems like every day something new comes up, but Lord, You are in control. You know what will happen before it happens, and You help us navigate all our uncertainties. Lord, remind me to stand firm in my faith in You always. No matter what happens, my faith should not be shaken. Lord, I trust you and I love you. I know that in the end, everything will be okay. In Jesus’s Name, I pray, Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Hello, my name is Heidy (Reynoso) De La Cruz.  

I am Dominican-American and I’m passionate about writing! I write poetry, encouraging blog posts about personal experiences and any message that God has stored in my heart. I am working on publishing my first poetry book.

First and foremost, I am a daughter of Jesus Christ. I am also a wife and a mother. I have my master’s degree in Healthcare Administration through Belhaven University’s online course. I have my bachelor’s degree in Science with the concentration of Psychology and Healthcare Administration.

I currently work in the medical field as a Medical Billing and Coding Specialist, and I’ve been in the medical field for the last six years. I love my career!

My hobbies include writing, reading, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, traveling, and spending time with my family.

~*~
Connect with Heidy:
Blog: https://heidyreynoso.wordpress.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidy.delacruz13/
Read my poetry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidyspoems/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/heidyreynoso13
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidyreynoso13

Devotionals for the Heart: Jesus Christ can calm any storm in your life

When Jesus Is In Your Boat
A devotional by Julia Wilson

“They all got into a boat and began to cross over to the other side of the lake. And Jesus, exhausted, fell asleep” –Matthew 8:23 (TPT)

Since transport in Biblical times was on foot or by boat, I imagine the disciples because they were fishermen, were used to being in a boat. They would also have been used to being in rough seas. So I can only wonder what was different about this storm described in Matthew 8:24 as “a violent storm.”

There are times in life when we drift along being perfectly content. We are used to little blips and then it is calm again. But now COVID-19 has hit the whole world. It is a situation none of us have experienced before and it is frightening. Like the disciples we feel blown off course. Daily lives have changed. We cannot see our friends and family as we are in lockdown. Symptoms range from none to death. It is a scary time, but when Jesus is in your boat, you do not need to fear. In Matthew 8:26, Jesus said, “Why are you gripped with fear? Where is your faith?”

Nothing surprises Jesus. Nothing scares Him and that is why He sleeps as the storm rages. COVID-19 does not scare Jesus, and if we know Jesus, it should not scare us. Yes, we must obey the government’s rules to “Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.” But we who believe in God and know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, have unwavering hope. We know that when fear comes knocking, we can run to Jesus because by faith, we know that He will calm us, just as He calmed the storm.

There is an old saying, “Do not tell God how big your fear is. Tell your fear how big God is.” When we have wobbles, and we all do, we must “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). When we look to Jesus, He will calm the storm inside us, whether it is COVID-19 or anything else. We need to activate our faith muscle.

When Jesus is in your boat, you can rest assured He will never leave you (Deuteronomy 31:6). Whatever you face in life, Jesus will be with you.

What happens when a storm hits and Jesus is not in your boat? Cry out to Him and He will be with you. He never ever left you but sometimes in life, our fear blinds us to His presence. We fail to see, hear or feel Jesus but that does not mean He has left us, it merely means we took our focus off Him.

When I was little, the biggest, boldest, bravest person in my life was my Dad (I realize this may not be the case for everyone). My Dad protected me because he loved me. When I was afraid I could run to him. When I was hurting I could run to him. When I wanted to feel loved I could run to him. My Dad was always in my boat.

Jesus asks us to see Him in the same way. He wants to be in our boat of life. He wants to help us to feel safe, to heal us when we hurt and He wants to love us. 

Jesus is asking you today: Will you let me into your boat? Will you put your faith in Me so I can be with you through all the storms of life? Will you let Me love you?

COVID-19 is unknown and feels very scary. Jesus can help us overcome our fears when we rest in Him. In these uncertain times, why not put your faith in Jesus. If you don’t know Him, then you can, today, right where you are, just reach out to Him.

Let Jesus be in your boat today and let Him calm any storms that rage inside you.

If you have never said yes to Jesus, may I lead you in a prayer today?

Let’s Pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and I invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

My name is Julia Wilson but I also go by Christian Bookaholic.

I live with my husband and five cats in a small town in Worcestershire on the banks of the River Severn (England). We have four grown up children and three granddaughters.

I have always loved reading and have always been surrounded by books. I used to work as a teaching assistant for special needs in the local high school. Ill health forced me to stop working in December 2015. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (known as M.E.) and fibromyalgia. I now have plenty of time to read and review books!

Our eldest son set up my Christian Bookaholic blog. I review every book I read. I read over 300 books a year. I read Christian and mass market. I prefer stories set from 1850 onwards. My favourite type of books to read is stories set in WWI and WWII, and Russia under Czar Nicholas II.

I am a historian, having a Combined Humanities degree where I majored in History and minored in English. I also love swimming. I only learned how to swim in 2017 and go swimming four mornings a week for 90 minutes before breakfast, it keeps my joints going.

I am also a crazy cat lady. I absolutely love my cats. I have grown up with cats and cannot imagine life without them. My dream is to own an old fashioned seal point Siamese … but not while we have our young rescue cat as she hates other cats!

I love God and love going to a large lively church called Lifecentral. I cannot imagine life without God. He gives a peace even when life does not. He guides my life. He is my Rock.

Devotionals for the Heart: Courage

Courage, Dear Heart
A devotional by Christa MacDonald

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” –2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

This month of May is the beginning of real spring here in Massachusetts.

The garden is coming alive, the trees are budding, the bulbs are all up, the bees have come back, and all of nature is growing. If you had seen my gardens in March, you'd see that it was a mess filled with mud and twisted brown horribleness. The weather was awful, the news was worse. It was downright depressing inside and outside. But there was an unseen process that was going on. Under that mud and bracken the world was waking up.

For a lot of folks, these last few weeks have been a season of affliction. Many of us have lost loved ones, our financial health, and maybe even our overall sense of security. The world doesn’t look the same way it did just a few weeks ago. Plans have changed. Hopes for the future have changed. The world has changed. But this verse above is the reminder that the world is always changing. As Christians there is no guarantee of easy days and prosperity, because our hope is not in this earth—it is in Heaven.

There is nothing here for us that is not transitory. Our country’s history, as meaningful and epic as it is, is still a blip on the record of time. Our homes, our jobs … all of it is momentary and ephemeral when set against the eternity that waits for us.

When it all gets to be too much, when I’m too anxious about the future or panicked about a present crisis, that’s when I try to remind myself that what I’m going through might feel like everything—all-encompassing, insurmountable, the ONLY thing—but that’s my brain telling me lies. God has me in His hands. My life is His. He knows what I’m experiencing and where it’s going to end. He’s written every chapter of the book I’m living and what I need to do is to trust Him.

A big part of trusting in God during these times of affliction is the stuff that we’re all taught to do in Sunday School, but we often forget. Read your Bible, pray as often as you can, reach out to other believers and share your struggles, share the Gospel with others. It’s the basics of having our inner selves renewed. We’re in the Refiner’s fire. Let it burn away the petty things that don’t matter: the things that weigh us down. Like the hymn by Helen Howarth Lemmel says: ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus/Look full in His wonderful face/And the things of earth will grow strangely dim/In the light of His glory and grace.”

When affliction comes—and boy has it—remember that we are God’s children. He loves us. When it gets rough, raise your eyes and your heart from the earthly to the eternal. God is with us. “Courage, dear heart.”

~*~
Author Bio:

Christa MacDonald is a 2017 ACFW Carol Award finalist for contemporary Christian fiction.

A native New Englander, she was inspired by her travels through the north woods of Maine to write The Broken Trail, which would become the first in the Sweet River Redemption series published by Mountain Brook Ink.

Christa's writing focuses on the real-life challenges of the modern world, love’s sometimes crooked path, and the redemptive power of Grace.

When not working or writing Christa can be found ferrying her kids around, reading, or attempting something crafty.

She and her husband live with their three kids, two cats, and one dog along the coast of New England. Connect with Christa at www.christamacdonald.com.

A devotional about hope in the midst of our troubled times

Hope for Our Troubled World
A devotional by Alexis A. Goring

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” –Psalm 42:5 (NIV)

In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 15, CNN reported around 1:07 a.m. (EST) that there are 142,000 Coronavirus cases globally. People are getting sick from the virus and dying. The numbers of cases and deaths seem to increase on a daily basis. Fear is sweeping over the people of this world.

On their company website, CNN reported the following in a box titled “What You Need to Know” about emergency measures globally: "The US has declared a national emergency. France is closing all restaurants, cafes, cinemas, and clubs. People in Spain are restricted from leaving their homes. And the Philippines capital is about to go under partial lockdown."

Clearly, our world is in trouble and people have real reasons to be fearful. But the Bible says that this is just the beginning! However, God doesn’t want us to be fearful. The Bible says in Matthew 24:6 (NKJV), “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

Now here’s the Good News: God has promised to be with us until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20) and He means that literally!

Let’s take a moment to see what that means … The Creator of the Universe who made this Earth and your heart tells us to NOT let our hearts be troubled! In John 14:1 (KJV), Jesus Christ (God’s Son) says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

Let’s read the full context of that Scripture in John 14:1-6 (NIV). This is where Jesus comforts his disciples. He said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is The Way to our home in Heaven. He is our hope in troubled times. He is our Savior. Our Healer. Our Redeemer, and He wants to be your Best Friend. Let that sink in, the Savior of the world wants to be your very Best Friend! Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). Jesus is the only friend capable of not only calming your fears, but saving your soul (John 3:16-17).

With Jesus in the picture, you always have hope! And the good news is that Jesus is always in the picture! Unfortunately, we as humans (even those of us who believe in God and are sold out for Jesus Christ) can sometimes forget these beautiful, Bible based truths and comforting promises of God as we become overwhelmed by the troubles of this world.

Early in the morning of Sunday, March 15, my soul was troubled. I was wide awake with worry after watching the news and emotional eating just after midnight. But, then God struck me with a Bible verse then He followed up with a song. Let’s read the verse first. The psalmist says in Psalm 42:5 (NIV), “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Put your hope in God. I could almost feel God whisper those words to me.

Then the song “Find Rest” by Francesca Battistelli entered my mind and I went to YouTube and played it immediately. As the song lyrics washed over me, it helped me to renew my mind (Romans 12:2) and focus on what really matters (my relationship with Jesus Christ because only He can save me)!

Let’s examine my paraphrase of the song: The opening lyrics point to Biblical truth in saying that God never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4). He’s never off the clock. Nothing that happens to us on Earth from the shedding of our tears to our expressions of what we fear, is a surprise to Him. God never runs out of resources to rush to our aid. All He wants us to do is to trust Him. He wants our weary souls to find rest in Him. He wants us to put our hope in Him. God is strong. God is faithful. God’s love for you and me is real.

As we say in church, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good! Unlike mankind, God cannot lie. Everything that He says in His Word (The Holy Bible) is true! The Bible says in Numbers 23:19 (ESV), “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

Now the age old saying when we are living in troubled times and experience tragedy or trauma is, “How could a good God allow this?”

There are many answers that we may not receive until we arrive in Heaven, the Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:29, and even then we may not know everything. But we can be okay with not knowing everything because what we do know is that God is good, God loves us unconditionally and He has our best interest at heart. We can trust Him to take care of us. Even when you don’t feel like God is there for you, He is. Don’t be fooled into thinking that He’s abandoned you. The Bible says that He will NEVER abandon you (Hebrews 13:5).

If you are living and breathing on this planet Earth then that is proof therein itself that God loves you and is there for you! Pastor Bianca Olthoff says, “If you are NOT dead, then God is NOT done!” Every day is another chance to accept Jesus Christ into your heart, believe in Him, love Him, obey Him, trust Him and follow Him all the way to Heaven!

Yes, we are living in troubled times. No, we don’t know what tomorrow holds but as the saying goes, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow.” God holds tomorrow! Can I get a “Hallelujah, Amen?”

You are in my heart and prayers. May God continue to watch over, bless and protect you. I pray that you will trust Him to deliver you and know that He will always be there for you. God will show up right on time in your situation. If you believe in the Bible and what it says then you have hope knowing that in the end, God wins! And if you stay on His team, you will win too and receive the most beautiful gift for free!

The free gift from God is better than a winner’s trophy or cash prize, it is eternal life spent in His Presence and that life starts in Heaven. It will be a life free from sickness and sorrow. A place that does not include death and is free of pain and destruction. It will be the start of a beautiful, real story that never ends. But first, we must press forward and never give up or grow weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9)! We must live for Him (God) and not worry about or become fearful of anything. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV), “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Hold on to hope, God’s hope. Put your trust in God.

Love,

Alexis A. Goring

Founder of "God is Love" blog

Thankful Thursdays: God is Always There for you and me!

It’s Thursday and I’m thankful for the fact that GOD is always there!

Earlier this week, I had a rough night. It was well past midnight so it was too late to call most people that I knew who have expressed that they want to be there for me.

So, I decided to send a text message to my Bible study group members from church. I used the Group Me chat app on my phone to do this. I simply wrote, “Please pray for me.” Within minutes, one of the group members responded directly to me using the private chat function so that only she and I could talk.

She simply responded with a message on prayer that she found online. The original author is unknown. This is what the message said:

Prayer Is Not Passive.

Prayer is powerful. Prayer is purposeful. Prayer is intentional.

Prayer is active warfare that engages Heaven and exposes every snare and trap of the enemy. In fact, prayer has the power to destroy every generational bondage that has plagued your family for years.

Prayer destroys yokes. Prayer disarms the weapons of the enemy. Prayer disrupts the forces of Hell and engages the armies of Heaven. Prayer breaks cycles and dismantles curses. When you pray, darkness flees. 

When you pray, addiction is defeated. When you pray, rejection repels and no longer has authority over you. When you pray, bitterness breaks. 

When you pray, sickness and disease leaves. When you pray, God steps in and favor rolls out before you. When you pray, peace surrounds you and joy engulfs you. When you pray, Heaven hears you. 

Prayer is the key that unlocks doors. Decide to engage God. 

God is listening!

~*~

God knew that I needed to be reminded that He is always there for me and that He hears every single prayer. So He sent this message to me through another one of His servants who is a member of my church family.

This message on prayer encouraged and inspired my heart. I felt strengthened as I read it because I remembered that prayer should be my first and last resort when I feel troubled. Read Psalm 46.

Prayer is the ultimate lifeline because it directly connects us with the Creator of the Universe (God). He is higher than any earthly power. He is wiser than the wisest and the most able to help us in our time of trouble. Seek Him first!

In closing, I’d like to share a song by CeCe Winans. The song is called, “He’s Always There.”

Be encouraged, dear hearts. God loves you with ALL of His Heart!

Sincerely,

Alexis A. Goring
Founder of “God is Love” blog

Thankful Thursday: God is With Us

It's Thursday and I'm thankful for the fact that God is with us.

He is with us in the calm.

He is with us in the storm.

He is with us even when we cannot feel His Presence.

Why? Because He created us and He loves us with ALL of His divine heart.

We are living in troubled times with terror and uncertainty in every corner of the world. But I'm here to tell you that the Maker of humankind, the Creator of the entire Universe, is still on His Throne. Nothing goes unnoticed and at the right time, He will intervene. Until the day of His judgment, you can trust Him to be there for you as an inexhaustible resource.

So go to Him. Tell him what you want. Tell Him what you need. Express your deepest desires and most heartfelt emotions to Him and then have the faith to believe that not only did He hear you but He will answer. Read Isaiah 65:24.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

He loves you too much to leave you to figure out life on your own. Ask Him for wisdom. He's always willing to give you a healthy dose of it, freely (James 1:5)!

God is Good even when life isn't and one day, it will all make sense. But until that happens, hang on to His Word (The Holy Bible), read His Letter (The Holy Bible) and keep holding His Hand.

Here's a song for reflection, followed by a Bible passage (Psalm 46) that reminds me of God's unshakable Sovereignty and gives me hope during troubled times.

Psalm 46 ~ King James Version (KJV) ~ Source: BibleGateway.com

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.