by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me. All that the Father has is mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever he receives from me.” John 16:13-15
Just a few years ago you would have found me on any given morning studying God’s Word for hours at a time (and I mean hours). I would arise early with my Strong’s Concordance in hand and delve into God’s Word, looking up the Greek and Hebrew to better understand the context and the root meaning of each precious word. Ah…those were the good old days. And although these hours of study were rich and powerful, I am on a new journey – the journey of motherhood and boy has things changed concerning my quiet time!!!
Now a day, you will find me asking for supernatural help just to get out of bed. Sometimes I hit my elliptical machine with my Bible and devotional propped on its stand and other days you will find me sipping coffee and thanking God for just twenty minutes of quiet to be with Him! And although I used to think that the former days of deep study were better, I have sense changed my mind.
You see, there is a time to study, but there is also a time to rest – can I get an Amen from someone? I have come to an amazing revelation that God loves me whether I spend hours with Him or just ten minutes! Spending time with God is not for His benefit, but it is for my benefit alone. And whether I have hours or just a few minutes to spend with Him, my time can be rich and powerful because my sweet Jesus will meet me where I am in life. God knows just what I need and in His omnipotence He surpasses earthly time.
Trust me, I know that our lives are hectic and that finding time with God can be a challenge, but let me encourage you that just a few minutes with God can change your day and your life! Jesus longs to be with you and all you have to do is acknowledge His Presence and spend a few moments praising Him and welcoming Him into your everyday, ordinary life. Hours or minutes ladies, it doesn’t matter, just inviting God into your daily schedule will transform you inside and out.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for Your grace and meeting me where I am in life. I choose this day to find time to spend with You, whether it is hours or minutes You will meet me when I acknowledge Your name. I need You each day. I ask for a windfall of Your Presence and Peace to fill my mind and spirit as I walk through each day with You. I love You and I will worship You all the days of my life. Amen.”
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6
Has God given you a dream that has yet to come to pass? If your answer is “yes,” then I am sure you are aware that a God-inspired dream can be fulfilled in just 20 minutes or it can take up to 20 years! The problem is that during our waiting season, we often get anxious and try to fulfill our God-given dreams without God! But our self-effort only leads to frustration and failure!
Lets face it, if God gives us a dream; it is ridiculous for us to think that we can do it without His help! Zechariah 4:6 clearly tells us that it is not by might (wealth, position or prestige) or by power (our own physical strength and intelligence), but it is by the Spirit of God (His supernatural movement) that our God-given dreams will be accomplished here on earth.
Just take a moment right now and think about the dreams and desires God has placed within your heart. Go ahead and think about it and I will wait for you right here. Okay, now let me ask you: Have you given up on your dreams? Have you tried to fulfill them on your own? Are you waiting expectantly for God to bring them to pass? No matter your response, I want to encourage you today that your God-given dream is worth the wait! It is time for you to dream again. It is time for you to wait in anticipation of your dreams because they WILL come to pass in due time. Whether it is twenty minutes or twenty years for you to see the fulfillment – God is faithful and He will fulfill His promise!
Prayer:
“Lord, I give you the dreams that you have placed within my heart. I declare that You will bring them to pass in due time. You are faithful and I trust that I will see the fulfillment of my dreams according to Your Spirit. No matter how long I must wait I declare that it will be worth it! Amen.”
by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!” Psalm 16:5-6 NLT
I think all of us have heard the phrase, “When someone mimics or copies you, it is the best form of a compliment.” And although this statement may be true, when someone imitates us in one way or another, we have a choice to make: Will we become fearful and insecure or will we remain confident that our destiny is secure in Christ and speak blessings over them?
It is sad to say that many times without even realizing it, we can give into the spirit of fear and begin to speak badly of these individuals. We can fall prey to gossip, slander and even vengeance, all of which stem from our battle with doubt and fear. Yet all the while God has promised to guard all that is ours! Selah (pause and think about this for a moment).
Our destiny is not in the hands of men; the King of Kings is guarding our destiny! Psalm 16 clearly states, “You (God) guard all that is mine.” Your life is secure in Christ. Isn’t that a breathe of fresh air to your weary soul? We can rest assured that we have a good inheritance and that Jesus is our cup of blessing.
Remain close to God in this season. Talk to him, spend time in His Word, and choose to bless and not curse. And let us continue to meditate on this truth: “My life is secure in Christ and He guards all that is mine.”
Prayer:“Lord, I am so grateful for the Blood of Jesus and for that fact that I am forgiven, healed and made whole through the power of the Cross. I declare today that I have a good inheritance. You guard all that is mine and the land that you have given me is pleasant land. I choose to give freely to others because You have freely given to me. You have not given me a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, power and a sound mind. Thank you for a wonderful inheritance! Amen.”
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
Our culture today tells us to: “Look out for #1, don’t trust anyone and I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine.” What people don’t realize is that this type of living is fear-based. 1 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Fear encourages us to horde, withhold and to only give with strings attached. But as children of God, we are able to freely give because our Father in heaven freely gave His son, Jesus on the cross for us.
Giving with no strings attached is freedom not only for you, but also for the person to whom you are giving the gift, because there is no form of control or manipulation involved. Giving freely is under the covenant of grace, but giving with strings attached is under the law. Nothing can hold us captive if we can freely give with no strings attached. No position, amount of money, title, or status symbol can have control over us if we are able to freely give.
I want to encourage you to bless someone today and when you give to him or her, do it freely, expecting nothing in return. Maybe you can help someone pay a bill, pray for someone in a time of need or drop off some groceries to a person in need – just because!
The truth is, we can give with no stings attached because we can trust that our Father in heaven will always provide for us. He will always take care of us in abundance. Psalm 37:25-26 states, “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendant begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and His descendants are blessed.” You are not forgotten. Trust in God and keep your eyes on Him. He will bring whatever you need to pass as you freely give to others.
Prayer:”Lord, thank you for loving me with no strings attached. I am secure in the fact that You love me and have good plans for my life. Help me to not give into fear, but allow Your power, love and a sound mind to change the way I think. Show me someone who is in need today. I choose to give freely because You gave freely to me. I love you Jesus. Amen.”
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11, NLT
It is one thing to say that we trust God, but it is another thing to trust Him during the darkest hours of our lives. Our faith is kind of like hand-selecting an orange to eat. It may appear that we have picked a perfect orange, but we truly do not know the state of the fruit inside until the orange is either peeled or crushed. We may think we trust God, but when our circumstances come crushing down on us, it is only then that we are truly aware of our level of faith in Him.
The truth is that I cannot boast of my faith in God, but I can boast in His faith in me. Selah (pause and think about this for a moment). Personally, I have found that the key to trusting God is for me to focus on Gods love and trust in me rather than my love and trust in Him. Lets think about this for a moment, shall we? God entrusted His only Son, Jesus to die on a cross for you and me. He did this in order to regain relationship with us. God loves us and John 3:16 clearly states that God so loved the world (you and me) that He gave His only begotten son that we might have eternal life. When life hits us hard, we can trust in God because He loves us with an everlasting love. Just let this truth sink in: God loves me. I can trust God during hard times simply because He loves me and God trusts me to carry His Presence wherever I go.
If you are struggling to trust God, be at rest my friend and begin to meditate on God’s love for you. It is out of His love for you, that you can trust Him at all times. He is a faithful father and everything you need this day.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for the cross. Thank you for praying for me daily. I long to trust You at all times. Help me to fully understand the height and depth of your love for me. I want to be still and know that You are God in my life. I can boast in the fact that You love me and that my sins are covered in Your Blood. I am the righteousness of God. I love you Jesus and I will declare Your name to those I come into contact with this day. Amen.”
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgement. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful relationship with God – all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends with God. Romans 5:8-11, NLT
Do you know that God loves you? Seriously, do you really understand that there is nothing you can do about the fact that God loves you? His love for you will never change. For years I knew that God loved me, but I thought I had to “do” things in order to keep His love, but I have come to realize that no matter what, God loves me.
This revelation has brought much freedom and peace. You see, I am a doer by nature and in the past I was totally consumed with works of self and doing things in order to please God. Don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful to spend time in prayer, to read the Bible and to fast, but these things do not make God love you. His love for us is constant and is not dependent on us participating in various spiritual disciplines. Here is the question I have learned to ask myself, “Am I doing this spiritual discipline in order to get something from God or am I doing it out of my love for Him?” If we participate in works in order to receive something from God, we are missing the point! God loves us no matter what. Spiritual disciplines are only to be done out of our love for Him, and let’s remember that He first loved us. Selah (pause and think about that for a moment).
Let me remind you today that Jesus went to the cross and bore your sin, sickness and every curse of the devil. His precious blood has given us relationship with God without the works of the law. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin, He sees us covered in the blood of Jesus. Our faith is never to be in our works, but in God’s grace. There is nothing we can “do” to be saved, but it is by the grace of God that we are saved.
It is because of God’s unconditional love for us, that we want to pray, read His Word and spend time in fellowship with Him (not out of obligation or to make Him love us), but out of thankfulness for Jesus and His blood. His grace is greater than your sin, sickness or anything you encounter on earth. He loves you my friend. I pray that you relish in this awesome truth today. Be free from works of the flesh and simply receive the greatest gift ever given – grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for your love and grace. I am amazed that you love me unconditionally. This means that even if I were to mess up today – you still love me. Help me to receive this truth. I declare Your grace over my life today. Cover me with Your blood. I am forgiven, redeemed, healed and restored through the cross. You did the last “work” ever needed. You went to the cross for me and all I need to do is enjoy my relationship with You. Your love is amazing! Amen.”
