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 thatGod 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 thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me (as a vital necessity) and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13, AMP
There was a time when my husband and I were asking God to bless us with TWINS…okay, I know what some of you are thinking, but it was our hearts desire at that time. We diligently prayed for a double blessing, but our ultrasound made it clear that there was only one heartbeat within my womb. And although we were thankful for one healthy heartbeat, I will admit that for forty-eight hours, my husband and I moped around our home in disappointment due to what we considered “unanswered prayer.” Another time that comes to mind is with a past boyfriend. I remember praying that he would fall in love with me and choose me to be his wife – all the while – my prayers were lovingly answered with a “no” because God had my best in mind.
You see, my husband is the perfect one for me and the same is true concerning my daughter, although twins are a huge blessing, God knew what we could handle and once again we thank God for His way of answering our prayers. God knew the desire of my heart to marry and have a family and He answered our prayers with His plans for welfare and peace, to give us hope in our final outcome.
The scripture above tells us that God always hears our prayers and heeds each one.With some of our prayers requests He answers us with a “yes” (and boy do we love it when this happens!!), there are also times as in my examples above when God lovingly answers us with a “no” in order that our future outcome will be good, and other times He answers us with “wait.” Just recently I thought God answered “no” to a request of mine, only to find out a few months later that I needed to “wait” so that He could make a good situation even better! Bottom, line, we can rest in the fact that God knows about our personal situation and He has good plans for our life.
How many times have we pouted and complained to God for not answering our prayers, when He was simply answering it with a “no” or “wait?” God knows ALL things and He is the One who knows what we can handle. It comes down to knowing God’s will for our life and trusting that He has good plans for us. Our amazing God longs to bless us, heal us, restore us and prosper us. We are promised in Isaiah 5:11 that when we pray God’s Word it will never return back void.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for always hearing my prayers. I declare that You have good plans for me. Your plans are full of hope for my final outcome and I align myself up with Your Word today. I give you everything heavy on my heart and I ask that Your perfect will be done. As I seek and inquire of You this day, I will rest in that fact that You gave your life to heal, restore and bless me. I grab onto the Word of God and declare that it will not return back void, but will prosper in the thing for which You sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Amen.”
by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy, Warfare
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!” Proverbs 3:5-8, The Message
One morning last week while driving down I-285, I was pondering the difficulties in my life and those around me. Needless to say, my heart was extremely heavy, as I could not figure out “why” these challenges were going on or “what” to do about them. These thoughts led me to feelings of hopelessness, but then the Holy Spirit whispered ever so quietly to me, “Tracy, you may never know why these situations are going on but you know “Who” God is.” Within an instant I began to feel better. I got my eyes off the problem and onto God – The Solution.
The truth is:
- When my body is sick – He is my Healer.
- When I cannot pay my bills – He is my Provider.
- When my mind is filled with worry – He is my Peace.
- When my family forsakes me – He is my Father, Mother, Sister and Brother.
- When my heart is filled with anger – He is my Forgiving Father.
- When strife is all around me – He is my Protector.
- When my friend betrays me – He is my Loyal Companion.
- When I am rejected – He is my Acceptance.
- When I don’t know what to do – He is my Wisdom.
- When I do or say the wrong thing – He is my Grace.
- When I can barely get out of bed – He is the Lifter of my head.
- When I am afraid – He is my Perfect Love that casts out all fear.
I look forward to being with Cumberland Community Church on Mother’s Day! God has put a message on my heart and I am confident that He will show Himself faithful. Be encouraged today that no matter what you are going through, God is everything you need. Run to Him and as the scripture states, “your body will glow with health and your bones will vibrate with life” (Proverbs 3:8)!
Got Faith? Promo from Cumberland Community Church on Vimeo.
See you Sunday!
by Tracy | Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
“God has had it with the proud, but takes delight in just plain people. So be content with who you are and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; He’ll promote you at the right time. Live a carefree life before God, He is most careful with you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7, Message Translation
I was always the kid in gym class that was overlooked by my peers when selecting a team for softball. I will admit that if they were looking to win, it was in their best interest to not choose me. Thankfully whenever a friend was team captain she would save me the embarrassment of being last and select me simply because she liked me.
Have you ever noticed in the Bible that God also chose the least likely to do great things for Him because He loved them? Peter the stinky fisherman, Paul the Jew who persecuted and killed Christians, Zacchaeus the tax collector and Mary the simple virgin girl. While man may be quick to overlook you, God sees you! He sees your potential when no one else can. He looks down from heaven and declares, “That’s my girl and I am going to use her to bring people to Me.” Once God makes His mind up – it’s settled. God loves using the foolish to confound the wise. He hates the proud, but takes delight in the simple (that’s me alright).
The scripture above tells us to just be ourselves and to live carefree before God. You mean I can be free to just be me? That’s right! We don’t have to put on the airs of this world, but be who God calls us to be! You don’t have to look a certain way, have a particular degree, or come from a prestigious background. While God may use these things, you can trust that God will promote you and provide all the gifting you need to fulfill your destiny in Him. He has chosen you, knowing your past, present and future. You don’t have to do a thing, except live a carefree life before God. He will do all the rest.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for seeing my potential when no one else does. I now realize that You have chosen me because You love me! Help me to be content with who I am. You created me and You only create good things. I choose to accept and love myself even with all my faults. I trust you to promote me at the right time and protect me from potential harm. Thank you for loving me just as I am. Take me to the next level in You. I want to fulfill my destiny.” Amen.
by Tracy | Tuesdays With Tracy, Warfare
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” Proverbs 29:5
“Many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not con-fess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” John 12:42-43
There was a time in my life when I longed for the approval of man. I wanted to be a person of great importance. I drank in the praise of man and became intoxicated with what people thought and said of me. Yet my approval addiction was never satisfied and thankfully so because it brought me to the place of brokenness and total surrender to God. I have come to the place where I no longer desire the praise of man, but only to hear my Father say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
In our society we are encouraged to glorify the accomplishments of man. Many strive to achieve titles, positions of power, wealth and to be deemed by the world as a noteworthy person. And although we are promised much favor and success as children of God, a lot of individuals believe that the praise of man alone will bring them a sense of worth. They crave to hear man say of them, “Wow, look at them and what they have accomplished.” This is true even in the Christian culture. There is often a mixture of longing to glorify God while also enjoying the seduction of the praise of man.
Let us be reminded today that the praise of man is temporal and it will never bring true satisfaction. The only true satisfaction in this life is a relationship with God. And friend, God has already deemed you worthy! Through the Cross of Jesus, you are the righteousness of God and He loves you – the real you!
You can rest your head tonight knowing that no matter what man may think or say about you, God loves you! It is my prayer that each night you will fall asleep pondering God’s amazing love for you. Oh how He loves you! Jesus gave His life for you, what more could He give? Oh how He loves you and me!
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for loving me. I acknowledge that there is nothing this world can offer me that will bring me true peace or satisfaction but You! I will choose this day forward to meditate on what You say about me. No matter what man may say, I am the righteousness of God, I am the head and not the tail and the blessings of the Lord will chase me and overtake me (Deuteronomy 28). Amen.”
by Tracy | Tuesdays With Tracy
Their descendants will be recognized and honored among the nations. Everyone will realize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” Isaiah 61:9, NLT
Ask any of my closest friends and they will tell you that one of my mantras in life is, “Go where there is favor!” In my opinion, life is too short to spend time with those who do not celebrate you and the gifts God has placed in your life. Think about this for a moment. You are God’s unique creation in Christ and even during hard times, God’s love and favor rests upon you, as you trust in His Word.
When we choose to live for God and follow His plan for our life, we cannot help but experience supernatural favor. Our scripture above tells us that not only will we be seen as God’s favored but our descendants will also be recognized and honored among the nations. And did you know that we are promised to obtain favor even with our enemies? Proverbs 16:7 states, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.”
There was a situation a few years ago where I clearly was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was no sign of favor anywhere. I felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. Nothing I did worked, which I came to realize was a clue that I had somewhere, somehow, gotten off track. I had become so accustomed to receiving God’s favor everywhere I went that when it wasn’t there, it was a bizarre experience for me and one that I do not want to repeat anytime soon. It did not take me long before I realized that I unknowingly had stepped out of God’s path for my life. I was swayed by man’s opinion rather than seeking God for where I needed to be for such a time as this. Hence, I made a change as quickly as possible and I found myself once again living where God’s favor reigns.
I do believe there are times in each of our lives when God allows us to walk through difficult places to stretch us and show us what is really within our hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2). Yet when God leads us to a valley, He promises to provide us everything we need, including His rod and a staff to comfort us (Psalm 23). The question is, has God led us to this valley or did we unknowingly step out of the path of life and lead ourselves there? Selah (pause and think about this for a moment). If this is the case, then we can run to God and trust that He is bigger than every circumstance in our life. He loves us and will show us His path of life.
It is my prayer that we continually live in God’s favor and that when people see us coming, whether at the grocery store or in our workplace, they will declare, “Surely they are BLESSED of God.”
Prayer:
“Lord, show me Your path. I long to be where Your favor is for me and my family. Forgive me for the times when I trusted in anything other than You. You are my God and when I follow Your path I cannot help but walk in the favor of God. Make every crooked place straight in my life and may everyone around me see supernatural favor on my life. Amen.”
