Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation not of our choosing, and further more, it is out of our control.  In times like these, we can either go around murmurring and complaining about how bad our situation is, or we can put our faith to work and make the most of a bad situation.  The choice we make will determine whether or not we are successful.

Your present situation does not mean that you should give up on your dream.  What God allows in your life has a purpose.  Consider challenges as a test and if you pass the test you have become successful in the eyes of God.  Know that if you have a dream or goal and you are doing all you can to reach that goal, expect opposition.  Satan’s job is to aggravate the children of God so be prepared.  Know that your integrity will be on the line and what is inside of you, your attitude to be precise, will direct how you respond to adversity.

The best weapon you have when you are fighting for your life is prayer.  God honors prayer and if prayer is a lifestyle for you, God will hear you when you call and He will work everything out together for your good.  Many people will use prayer as their last resort and only when they have exhausted every other means they had at their disposal, but if you know God as your ‘friend’ and you invite Him into every area of your life, prayer will be the first thing you do.  God is limitless and that is why it is better to put your faith in God rather than in man.

The safest place to be when your world is turned upside down is to be in the will of God.  God will lead you.  God will promote you.  God will give you the desires of your heart if you just wait on Him.  What gas is to a car is what faith is to your destiny – faith moves you forward and will cause you to fight a good fight of faith.  You may not be aware of it but someone is watching how you handle tough situations and if you let your light shine every day no matter what comes your way, your testimony will help someone else find God in their trouble.

Stay true to your commitment to God and lean on Him even when you do not understand.  Walk by faith and not by sight and watch how your heavenly Father will bring order to chaos, peace to any storm and deliverance in your time of need.  You will succeed and success is the best revenge.  God has plans for you and His plans are to prosper you and bring you to His expected end.  Trust and always obey Him.

Have you ever been told that you look or sound like another member of your family – perhaps your mother or father or siblings?  There is a good reason for that because family members share DNA.  When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you received spiritual DNA from God and just as natural siblings look alike, spiritual brothers and sisters should act just like their Father God.

You became a new creation when the Holy Spirit came to live inside of you and the Spirit of God should control you and cause you to act differently than those who do not know the Lord.  God is love, therefore, Christians are to love everyone and only the Spirit of God can make that possible.  God’s gift to us created a newness of life that was made for those who choose to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

You belong to Christ because He paid the price to remove you from the curse of sin which is death and moved you into an eternal realm where you will live forever.  If your life is not your own, make sure that you are living the life the Spirit of God is leading you to.  Die to yourself and let the Spirit within you live a life that reflects your heavenly DNA.

There is a new you inside of you!  Old things have passed away and you are not the same person you use to be.  You can do all things through Christ who lives in you.  Encourage yourself today and remember that the Spirit inside of you is bigger and better than anything found in the natural.

The choices we make determine our destiny and that is why we must do all we can to ensure that our choices are made with wisdom and understanding.  Your family and friends can offer you advice when you are trying to make a decision, but it is important that you realize that, ultimately, you are responsible for every decision you make.  Some of your decisions will be good while others will not be but do not feel condemned by your mistakes just learn from them and move on.

Christians are to make their decisions in the fear of God.  The spirit of God that dwells in every believer will shed light on your path and guide you in the way God wants you to go.  Wisdom comes only from God and if we seek Him, He will cause us to have understanding.  The Bible tells us that in all we acquire in this life, the primary thing for us to get is wisdom.  Having a fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and wisdom will show us what to do or what not to do, and if we listen to God we will have the outcome we desire.

Don’t take the choices that you make lightly.  Bad choices will not only affect your present situation, but it could also affect future generations.  Meditate on God’s Word.  Surround yourself with mature believers who have already travelled the road you are now on.  God put them in your life for a reason.  Take heed and remember that every decision you make matters.  Make the right choice – your life depends on it!

Whenever you find yourself in a tight spot there is only one thing you should do and that is to pray!  God already knows your situation and you must lay your pride aside and get down on your knees and pour your heart out.  The Bible tells us that David did it many times and if it worked for him, it will also work for you.

Be bold with God.  Have the confidence to know that God will hear you, listen to you and answer your prayer.  God wants us to ask, and the only way to find your answer is to seek God with all of your heart.  You are a child of the Most High God and never forget that.  Go to God just as you are and be honest with Him about how you feel and if you do, you will find the peace of God that will allow you to lay down at night and sleep.  Sleeping when you are in a tight spot is showing Satan that your circumstances are not controlling you, but you are controlling your circumstances.  Remember, if God be for you – who can be against you?

The key to surviving being in a tight spot is total dependence upon God.  God is your source and He never slumbers or sleeps.  Look to the hills because that is where your help comes from.  You are in a spiritual battle that can only be fought with you on your knees.  Praise God!

If you were to think about the state of our economy and the condition of the rest of the world, you would be hard pressed to find anything to be happy about, but Christians do have a reason to be happy because they have Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  The world of a Christian who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is far different than the world of an unbeliever.  Jesus gave his life so that the children of God can have a new life – one filled with joy, peace and where all things are possible.  Christians are no longer subject to sin but have the power to sin less and to walk in the spirit of God that gives them life and liberty that can not be understood by the outside world.

A relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ moves you out of religion and into a state of mind that is limitless and supernatural.  Challenges are looked upon as an opportunity for a Christian to get closer to their heavenly Father and allow God to work everything out for his/her good.  The key is that Christians focus upon God; they think only about those things that are pure, lovely, just and righteous and this is what brings them happiness.  Christians have found out that the material things of this world don’t bring the happiness that is found in Jesus.  They have also found out that God created them for a purpose and they are happy only by doing God’s will.  Christians know what God wants them to do and where God wants them to be because it is in that place that they feel the security of being under a divine covering that provides a hedge around them that nothing else in this world can offer them.

Christians know that happiness comes from within and their source of happiness is knowing who God is, who His Son is and living a life where they are loved unconditionally.  This type of love is put there to be given away to those in the world who do not yet know their secret and, hopefully, others will be drawn to the light that will give them freedom in Christ and this freedom will cause them to rejoice always.  Choose to seek God and His righteousness and everything else that you need will be provided for you – especially unspeakable joy.  God wants you to be happy – are you?

Maturity is not defined by age, education or wealth but rather it is an attitude that defines who you are and what you do.  You can be 50 years old with an abundance of weath and college degrees but lack the maturity to handle life’s challenges properly.  An immature person buckles down under pressure and lacks the wisdom to find the appropriate solution for the trials they face.  An immature person is always asking ‘what is in this for me?’  They lack sensitivity to other people and do not consider that someone else just might be in need of their help.  An immature person does not have  control over what comes out of their mouth.  They gossip and are judgmental and are kown as troublemakers and lack the desire to be a peacemaker.  An immature person refuses to entertain the thought that God just might be able to help them.

A mature person holds up under pressure and is loving and kind hearted and does not speak unkindly of others.  A mature person will always take the high road and look for ways to be a peacemaker and not destroy relationships to justify themselves.  A mature person will also be patient and prayerful because they know that God is in control and He is always there to help in a time of need.  This kind of person knows that he or she is still a work in progress and knows that God has a lot for them yet to learn and they are willing to walk with God and enjoy their relationship with Him.

Do a self examination and ask yourself if you are still immature or are you making progress in the maturity side of life.  Spiritual maturity is learned and it is not given to you just because you might have been on this earth for 50 years or more.  Your attitude while you are undergoing the rough times will define how well you are growing spiritually.  Seek to be all that God wants you to be. Stay in God’s Word and love others as you do yourself.

Every Christian should meditate on Romans 8:28.  If you get this verse into your spirit and into your heart, you will be able to live the victoriously life that your heavenly Father expects you to.  In summary, Romans 8:28 says that ‘all things will work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes.’  This is not a maybe or something that you should hope for, but it is something that you should expect because it is certain to happen.

The word ‘all’ includes everything, both the good and the bad; there is nothing left out.  Many people accept the good in their lives with no problem but when they encounter the bad, they think that something is terribly wrong.  If you believe the truth of God’s word, you must realize that God has made you a promise that ‘all’ things will work together for your good.  You must trust God with your whole heart and believe that He has everything under His control and, therefore, there is no reason to panic.  Life is like baking a cake.  You probably would not like to eat just butter or baking powder separately; but when they are mixed in with everything else, you will wind up with a good tasting cake.  The experiences you encounter on your life’s journey may not look promising when taken out of context but when it is all said and done, you realize that everything you have gone through in your life this far has made you the person you are today. Life lessons are learned precept upon precept, line upon line and just like the knowledge of God, you acquire wisdom after going through good times and bad times.

Despite all the evil that Joseph experienced at the hands of his brothers who hated him, at the end he was able to forgive them and tell them that what they meant for evil, God meant for good because many people were spared in the time of famine because God’s will had been done in Joseph’s life.  Proverbs 3:5 tells us to ‘trust in the Lord at all times and not to lean unto our own understanding.’  You might not be able to figure out why you experience certain challenges in your life, but hold onto the truth that God has a plan and a purpose for you if you only believe.  Encourage yourself in the Lord today.  Satan would like for you to throw in the towel but God is saying “it will all be worth it.”

Everybody wants to win; nobody wants to lose but on our spiritual journey there are going to be times when the only way to win is to lose.  Jesus told us that ‘whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’  Letting go so that God sits on the throne of your heart is the best thing anyone can do.  We all have people in our lives and things in our lives that we love most dearly but if they should ever become more important to us that our heavenly Father, we have lost.  Losing everything and being hopelessly hopeless is the only true way to love God.  Being hopelessly hopeless forces you to be totally dependent upon God and that is the position that God wants all of His children to be in.  This position is what causes God to bless and protect those who are called by His name.

The Bible says that for everything there is a season; there is a time to seek and a time to lose and if that principle governs your life, you will always be a winner because that still small voice inside of you will let you know when you have gotten things out of order.  Obeying the word of God will require you to lose a little so that you will gain much because your eyes have not yet seen all that God has in store for you.  Holding on to people or stuff too closely will only hinder God’s will being done in your life, and if you truly love the Lord, you will always be willing to give back to God what He has placed you a steward over.  Abraham loved God to the degree that he was willing to give up his child, Isaac, because he believed that God was able to restore him back and that is exactly what God did.  Abraham showed what was in his heart and God saw that there was nothing more important in Abraham’s life than Him.

We all can learn from Abraham how important it is to trust and obey God and more importantly to realize that we are stewards and not owners of our earthly possessions.  God not only gives us the power to get wealth, but God provides us with His mercy and grace in allowing us to watch over what He has provided.  Never allow anyone or anything to have first place in your life except your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and if you have a tugging in your soul or a little voice speaking to you, please remember that sometimes you must lose in order to win.

Obviously, Christians know things that the world does not know, but there are four things that are most important and are the key to living a successful life.  These four things are:

1. Christians know that they are weak
2. Christians realize that they cannot make it without God’s help
3. Christians survive only because of the grace of God
4. Christians know that it is only God’s grace that gives them strength

No one is perfect and when a Believer is faced with problems that they are unable to solve on their own, they know that their heavenly Father is able to help them by making His power and strength available to them.  The Lord has given His instructions as to what we are to do when we are burden and heavy laden.  He told us to come to Him and exchange our burden for His because His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

God’s grace not only will cover our weaknesses, but His grace is more than enough to supply us with whatever we need when we need it.  Christians have a super-natural source of strength and power with us at all times.  Jesus has promised never to leave us alone, and to ensure that God’s grace will always be available, it is important that we live in obedience to the commandments of God.  Satan would like nothing better than to have Believers live in sin and not take full advantage of God’s power.  So living a godly life is a choice that should not be taken lightly.

Isaiah 40:31 says ‘that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk an not faint.’  Grab a hold of that promise and never look back.  Run your race; fight the  good fight of faith and remember that God’s grace is sufficient for you!

Have you ever noticed that when you are obedient and do what God asks you to do, you end up with more than enough?  When the widow woman in the Bible obeyed the prophet Elisha and borrowed vessels from her neighbors and poured her one pot of oil into them, she found out that she had not only what she needed but much more and was able to sell it and live profitably thereafter.  After Jesus fed the 5,000, the disciples discovered that they had 12 basketfuls of leftovers. God is a God of multiplication.  God is a God of more than enough.  God doesn’t just meet your need, but He will bless you with leftovers so that you can be a blessing to others.

God’s children are spiritual beings on a earthly journey and must always see things with their spiritual eyes.  Your natural eyes can only see what is in front of you, but your spiritual eyes will enable you to see that nothing is impossible with God and that God can do everything.  Life will sometimes place you in situations that might look impossible but you must believe in your heart that you are not limited because God is on your side.  Never under-estimate the power of God.  Every challenge is just another opportunity for God to show you what happens when His kingdom comes down to this earth, but only those living in faith will experience the supernatural.

Take comfort in knowing that God will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory.  Take God at His word and stand on His promises.  He is a faithful God.  The question is how faithful are you to Him?