Posted by: Shirley Frey | February 4, 2010

GUARANTEED PRESENT AND FUTURE

 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:  and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”   Psalm 23:6

How comforting to know that God has guaranteed you a present and a future.  It is not something that you have to maybe hope to be true.  No, it is a promised fact that as His child your present is great and your future is even better!

I want you to understand that your present existence mentality should not be one of just getting by in life.  Through this passage of Scripture God lets you know that surely (without doubt, indeed, with assurance, in a sure manner without danger or risk) goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life!  Do you understand what this means?  It means that the goodness of God Almighty is going to follow you blessing and favoring your life!  His love and compassion is going to follow your daily walk with provision and protection. 

You should be living enthusiastically and confidently in your present because of His promised words over your life.  Because of His Holy Spirit within every believer you can dwell today, tomorrow, and forever in His Presence! 

ENCOURAGEMENT:  Begin living today with expectation in the goodness and mercy of God constantly following your life!  You will never be the same!

GOD LOVES US, GOD IS IN CONTROL, GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO!

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | February 1, 2010

THE SEASON OF WINTER

“Behold God is my salvation:  I will trust, and not be afraid:  for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song;  He also is become my salvation.  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”  Isaiah 12:3,4

I have found the seasons of nature God has ordered for creation is also a way that we as mankind can learn to order our lives to experience life, health, and growth.  The lessons of the seasons are ones if viewed positively will enhance our lives and we will benefit from its messages.

The season of winter shows us that it is a time when creation comes down to its rest.  It is a time for nature to be still and quiet.  Creation has learned to reap from its time of dormancy.  Trees change from their normal pattern of existence and although they seem to look barren, worn, and extinct, they are actually  assuming its seasonal role learning to rest and dig its roots deeper into the earth for growth to be produced when spring arrives.  The animals and birds know they are required to change from their natural habitat and so they position themselves in advance to receive in a new way throughout the winter season.

So it should be true in our lives as part of the regeneration process.  Let winter be a time of introspection, a time of looking within and allowing our lives to dig deeper into His Word so we can be the people God has created us to be.  Let it be a season where we have moved inside ourselves for a time of refreshment, a time of reviving our spirits.  The winter months can be a time where we remind our mind, body, soul, and spirit of God’s truths letting the Word become rooted in what He says about our present and our future.  The winter season can enable our spirits to be reconnected to our God, Creator, and very best friend we will ever know!  Winter is a time where we can let our spirits be found by Him once again and we too will emerge from the winter months energized and ready to blossom in time for the spring season.

ENCOURAGEMENT:  Just as in creation, the year can take a toll on all of us.  We all have experienced life’s winds, rains, and storms.  However, when the season of winter comes we can position ourselves to turn inwardly and come down to a rest and receive once again.

GOD LOVES US, GOD IS IN CONTROL, GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO! 

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 29, 2010

CREATED FOR ADVANCEMENT

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

There will be times on your journey where you will have to set time aside to evaluate your life.  It will be necessary to examine your thoughts, your words, and your actions.  This must not be something you do haphazardly.  It must be something you do with great thought going into it for the sole purpose of advancement.  By doing this, you will advance in the natural realm of life because you have taken the time to view the spiritual side of your existence. 

This process of self-examination may at times be painful, but it is extremely beneficial.  Take the necessary time to observe yourself.  What you are allowing in your life?  What are you saying?  Are your actions positive or negative?  Are you giving entrance to things that would hinder your present and affect your future?

ENCOURAGEMENT:  God has good plans for you!  He created you for advancement!  He wants you to succeed in life!  So take time periodically to evaluate your life to make sure you are letting nothing in through your thoughts, words, or actions that would interfere in God’s plan for your life.  You were created for advancement!  Enjoy the journey!

GOD LOVES US, GOD IS IN CONTROL, GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN YOU DO!

 

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 27, 2010

STAY IN FAITH

“The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.”  Psalm 85:12

I want you to be encouraged today to stay in faith!  So many times we can gauge our present and even our future hopes and dreams on current events.  Circumstances and situations whether they are personal or universal can be powerful influences in our lives if we allow them.  At times if I am not conscious of my thought life, I can find myself regressing in my thinking to believe that my future is contingent on my present challenges.  I must quickly move from that kind of thinking and return back to God’s truth for my life, both now and for the future.  Do not define your future through the challenges of the present.

If today you believe any other report than God’s report for your life, you are in error.  You have been deceived.  I want you to know that the challenges you face today are temporary.  Don’t let challenges last a lifetime because of discouragement.  God’s mercy is new every morning! 

Whatever you are facing today, be determined to stay in faith committing your cares, concerns, fears, and failures to the One Who is able to intervene in any given circumstance at any given time and change the course of your greatest life challenge.  As you stay in faith, remember your thought life is so important.  It will either encourage you or discourage you.  That is why it is imperative to be disciplined to spend time with God daily reading His Word while you are waiting for your breakthrough.  His words will keep your thought life aligned to the truth.

ENCOURAGEMENT:  God has promised that He will do what is the best for your life.  You will reap the benefits of His promise.  Your work is to stay in faith!

GOD LOVES US, GOD IS IN CONTROL, GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO!

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 25, 2010

BELIEVE GOD AGAIN

“Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity.” Joel 2:13

There is only one person that could ever make sense of our lives, nation, and government.  He is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is Creator, Sustainer, Lover of mankind, Giver, Redeemer, Healer, Provider, and Protector.  He is joy, peace, love, gentleness, kindness, and patient.

God loves us and He desires the love of all mankind.  It is not God Who has failed us, we have failed God.  God has given us His Word to guide and direct us for living a life of abundance.  Yet, mankind has aligned itself to agree with the teachings of this present world instead of agreeing with the sayings and promises within His Word.

Let us return this day to His Word that reflects Who He truly is.  He is a God Who is gracious and is full of compassion.  He is slow to anger and abounding in love.  Isn’t it amazing that through this verse of Scripture, God says He is a God Who relents in sending calamity.  This is not what you will hear by listening to reported news programming.  This good news is only found through reading the Bible.  His Word continually tells us that His mercy and grace is toward mankind.  Why not believe God again!  He is the only One Who will report to you the truth.

ENCOURAGEMENT:  I encourage you to put your trust in His wonderful and promising Word so that hope will be restored back to the hearts of mankind everywhere.  Returning to God’s Word will remove the fear of man and his precarious ways.

GOD LOVES US, GOD IS IN CONTROL, GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO!

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 22, 2010

DON’T JUST SURVIVE, THRIVE!

“… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  John 10:10

God has always wanted His children to live a life of abundance.  So many times abundance can be misrepresented in material and financial ways.  Although God desires you to be blessed materially and financially having what you need to live life, I am talking more about abounding and living in the abundance within your soul. 

For anyone to live a life of true abundance, one must prosper first in their inner man.  Joy, peace, contentment, happiness when experienced enables us to live a more wonderful existence.  But how does one truly come into a place of abundance to reap true joy and peace in their lives?  It is in knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior! 

He alone can usher into you’re a presence of hope, provision, security, and peace.  You can live with the knowing that no matter what is going on God is in control.  You can have the assurance that He is with you and that He will take care of you not only at this moment but for all eternity.  Wow!!  This should bring encouragement into your heart!

There is nothing that you will ever go through or need that He will not supply!  You can live life not just hoping to survive, but you can live confidently knowing that God wants you to thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in any other area that is His will.  And as you live life, you will know what it means to live in abundance.

ENCOURAGEMENT:    “Father, I ask You to forgive me of my sins.  I turn from my own way of doing things to Your way of living.  I ask that You fill my heart with truth and my life with Your Presence.  Thank You for caring enough for me that You sent Jesus to the cross for my redemption, my restoration.  Thank You for forgiving me.   I want to live for You both now and for all eternity!  In Jesus Name I pray!  Amen and Amen!”

As you live your life in Him, look forward in living life abundantly in mind, body, soul, and spirit!

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 20, 2010

BEYOND UNDERSTANDING

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”  Proverbs 3:5 

Today you may be faced with things in your life that you have no understanding how they are going to be solved.  You have tried to reason them out in a natural perspective and every avenue has ended in a ‘no outlet’ passage. 

As human beings, we have been trained to look at things from only a place of human reasoning.  We spend our time only thinking of how our situations can be solved from the syndrome of what can I do or how can I do it!  I am not saying that we do not have a responsibility in our situations, we do!  Our responsibility is to trust God with our entire being when we face life’s challenges and believe Him to work the impossible. 

In these days, God wants us to trust Him beyond our own understanding.  He wants to bring forth the answers, solutions, results that would defy natural and human reasoning.  The credit will go to Him for what He will do in each of our lives as we trust Him beyond human understanding.

ENCOURAGEMENT:  As you trust God beyond human understanding and follow His direction and leading, you will discover those unsolvable details have come in alignment.

The situations of life are never bigger than our God!

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 18, 2010

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37

We can miss what God truly wants to do in our lives because we will not step out of the natural order of understanding to receive daily miracles.  God wants to intervene in your life even in the most complex of situations.  God has given to us an open door to receive things that we could never imagine or think and yet we limit His access because of trying to reason things out according to what we know or understand things to be.

The days in which we live will have to find each of us yearning for more of undefined happenings producing miraculous results.  There are many recordings within the Scriptures where God worked and moved in individual lives and nations.  He was able to do great things because there were those who looked beyond the natural understanding of things to believe Him for the impossible.

Just a few examples of impossibilities were Abraham and Sarah able to conceive beyond the natural age of child-bearing; Mary, the mother of Jesus able to conceive through the Holy Spirit; Elizabeth, a cousin of Mary able to conceive and give birth in her old age; Gideon defeating an army with three hundred men; the Red Sea opening to the Israelites so they could flee from the Egyptian army to safety. 

God still wants to do the impossible in and through your life also!  What do you need Him to do for you today?  Do not be concerned if it is something that cannot be defined by natural understanding and natural order.  He loves to do the impossible!  God tells you to ask in order to receive.  He wants you to believe Him for the impossible because nothing is impossible to Him!

ENCOURAGEMENT:  God wants to do something big in your life, don’t be afraid to ask!  I encourage you to believe God again in a way that will produce daily miracles in your life that cannot be defined by natural means!

“…nothing shall be impossible.”  Matthew 17:20

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 15, 2010

ELIMINATING WORRY!!!

 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.”  Psalm 19:14

It is said that in the day in which we live ‘worry’ is contributed to and can be linked to many health issues.  Mind, body, and soul are being affected in negative ways because of the condition of ‘worry.’  Worry deteriorates the body at a slow but progressive process and at times without realizing its destructive ways one is caught in worry’s subtle clutches.  The individual begins eroding from within emotionally, mentally, and physically.  Worry is a repetitive cycle of behavior that needs to be identified, checked, and dealt with regularly.

What do we know about worry?  Let me share a few things about worry:

  • Worry is a by-product of things you speak or is spoken to you by others
  • Worry can be entertained through a form of fear… pain, media, thoughts, uncertain future events
  • Worry is non-existent if it is not given precedence in your thought life
  • Worry is not a product you can buy off the shelf, it is produced in the mind
  • Worry is concealed, however, it can be seen through those who have allowed it in their lives
  • Worry has the ability to grow if fed and not contained

We need to know how to eliminate worry from our lives.  How do we keep worry far from our hearts?  First, I want you to know that I know of no other way than through having a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  When I came to understand that God did not want me to worry, it was the greatest day of freedom in my life.  Worry was never to have been a characteristic of living a successful life.  God knows that worry is destructive and He wants you to have no part of it and wants you to be free from it!  As you read His Word, you will find His many promises encouraging you not to worry.

Usually worry is given entrance in your life through the words you speak and the thoughts you think.  Words spoken and thoughts being entertained are two ways worry can not only be entertained in your life but also take root.  If you speak about things and think thoughts that form negative emotions, a pattern begins to exist and worry, fear, and anxiety will result in your life.  That is why reading the promises of God’s Word frees worry from your life.

The cycle of worry can be broken in your life by watching your words and processing the thoughts you think.  For me, I know that I must be deliberate and intentional on a daily basis.  In doing this, worry is continually being eliminated from my life.

ENCOURAGEMENT:  By reading God’s Word and believing His promises the words you speak and the thoughts you think will begin to change the cycle of worry in your life.  It did for me!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

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Posted by: Shirley Frey | January 13, 2010

GOD IS BIGGER

 “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me:  Thy mercy O Lord endureth forever:  forsake not the works of Thine own hands.”  Psalm 138:8

I find that at times life will present itself to me with issues that, if allowed, will try to usher in worry or fear.  It is in that moment I must decide rather quickly what I believe about the God I have come to know in a personal and intimate way.

Initially, I find myself having to be still and quiet as I process that which I have just heard.  In the past I would have reacted and responded immediately, however I have learned not to respond until I have taken the time to listen deep within determining what I am hearing.  His voice always encourages me saying,

“Do not be anxious about anything but pray about everything…”  Philippians 4:6

Sometimes the issues of life that weigh heavy on my heart will cause me to respond in silence as I contemplate the reality of its message.  One thing I have come to learn that gives me great comfort and assurance is that God is bigger than anything I am facing.  He also is bigger than any situation and He can bring about a supernatural outcome to any problem, situation, or circumstance as I place my hope in His eternal love, goodness, and faithfulness. 

ENCOURAGEMENT:  When you are first confronted with problems, identify that God is bigger than anything you are going through and you will see fear, worry, and torment leave your life as you trust in Him.

Because God is God, God is bigger than anything you will ever face in life!

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