Our experiences, whether because of our own decisions or circumstances that we had nothing to do with, do not have to control or label us. But let them be a learning experience that grows us and prepa... View MoreOur experiences, whether because of our own decisions or circumstances that we had nothing to do with, do not have to control or label us. But let them be a learning experience that grows us and prepares us for future success. God uses us when we have a teachable spirit. We should not have to go around the same mountain over and over again. Our growth should plow us a new path.
I have also found that through my past experiences, and success in overcoming, God has given me the opportunity to minister to others that may be going through the same things. So, in retrospect, others are depending on us to overcome, to conquer, to succeed, because in the future they are going to need our experience to be encouraged.
Keep pressing on! Don't give up! Learn from past mistakes and don't repeat them. Learn from past successes and duplicate those. Walk with God through the trial and the blessing. He does not plan failure!
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
Sometimes we limit ourselves because we think we don't have enough to offer. We feel like we can't make an impact because we are rich enough, smart enough, etc. when all that is needed is to sincerely... View MoreSometimes we limit ourselves because we think we don't have enough to offer. We feel like we can't make an impact because we are rich enough, smart enough, etc. when all that is needed is to sincerely care.
Pastor Cherri Burks and I were just discussing yesterday about how America has become so fake. It is like some kind of warped movie where truth is no longer truth and the population just walks around in this fantasy world. Hurting people are looking for something real, something tangible to hold on to. Fake doesn't cut it when you are in a time of need and crisis.
Want to make a difference in someone's life? Just genuinely care. Set all of the platitudes and puffed up fantasies aside and just care.
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
When learning to snow ski, they teach you to look between the tress. You will tend to go where your focus is. If you are focusing the tree, inevitably you will end up hitting the tree.
The same is tru... View MoreWhen learning to snow ski, they teach you to look between the tress. You will tend to go where your focus is. If you are focusing the tree, inevitably you will end up hitting the tree.
The same is true with life. Where we place our focus is where we will end up. Have you ever noticed that people always talk about their problems, always complain about their illnesses, and always have a story about how they were a victim, always have problems, are always sick and are always being victimized?
The words we speak have power and one of the things they do is confirm our conditions once they come out of our mouths. When we hear someone that we trust speak, we tend to believe what they are saying. We believe ourselves and trust ourselves, so when we constantly hear ourselves say "how bad things are for us", then we walk in that belief.
Hard to imagine that just by changing our words, thus changing our focus, we can alter our condition...But it works. Where we decide to put our focus is where we will end up. What direction we are headed depends on us.
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
The farmer digs up the ground by faith. He goes back and plants the seed by faith. He covers it back up believing it will do exactly what he planted it for. Then even though he can?t see what is happe... View MoreThe farmer digs up the ground by faith. He goes back and plants the seed by faith. He covers it back up believing it will do exactly what he planted it for. Then even though he can?t see what is happening under the soil, he will continue to water and fertilize that seed BELIEVING that it is alive and growing just like he expected it to. He doesn?t give up on that seed, even though he doesn?t see the progress for a season of time, because his livelihood depends on that seed producing.
Are we as adamant about the seed of faith that we plant? Many times we struggle in the season of waiting. Instead of watering and fertilizing what we have planted, we tend to dig those seeds up to check and see if they are growing. We can even hinder the growth of our seeds by constantly disturbing the process that it takes for them to come to fruition.
If the farmer will trust a $1 package of seeds, from a company he doesn?t know, packaged by people he never met, to supply and meet his needs, how much more should we have faith in the one who created us, knows the beginning to the end, has numbered every hair on our head, knows our every need before we even ask?
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen
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Most of us have a key ring (sometimes several) laying around, in a drawer, in the console of our vehicle or in a tool box somewhere that has multiple keys on it that we have no idea what they go to. W... View MoreMost of us have a key ring (sometimes several) laying around, in a drawer, in the console of our vehicle or in a tool box somewhere that has multiple keys on it that we have no idea what they go to. We may not have any idea where they belong but that does not change the fact that there is a lock somewhere that they open. Every so often we will take one of that rings of keys and try it on every lock that we think they might open. Sometimes we have success and sometimes they go right back into their "hiding" place.
Every now and then we will find that one key that fits, it works, it opens a lock or a door and it is like a huge victory. We found the missing key!
The truth is that the key was never missing. We had the answer the whole time. It was actually "hiding" in plain sight. I am telling you today that you already hold the key to your victory. It is already within you, hiding in plain sight. Don't stop trying, don't stop pressing forward, don't be deterred because the last key didn't work. It is for a different door, a different gate, a different lock.
Why is it always the last key we try that opens the door?
Because once we find the one that works, we quit looking. Don't quit looking until you get to the right key.
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen
www.nvministries.org
Repeat after me: "It is not all about me!"
We are a me first society. We think everything reflects and revolves around us. We all have our rights (even when sometimes it doesn't agree with God's word ... View MoreRepeat after me: "It is not all about me!"
We are a me first society. We think everything reflects and revolves around us. We all have our rights (even when sometimes it doesn't agree with God's word and we have to explain to God why we have the "right" to act one way, or the "right" to feel another way). But the truth is, not everything is about us.
When Jesus friend Lazarus died, Jesus made the statement in John 11:4 "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it".
When we deal with a trial or a challenge, do we EVER think first thing... "Maybe this is to glorify God"? Probably not. We usually go through the "Why me?", "Where are you God", "God's not hearing my prayers", etc.
I have come to learn over the years that when I overcome some trial in my life, I always get to use that as a testimony later down the road and someone else going through the same thing gets to see that there is victory on the other side.
Maybe, just maybe, it is not always about us???
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends. And may this also be a day of thanks to all of my sons and daughters around the globe. Today is a special day set aside for the purpose of reminding... View MoreHappy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends. And may this also be a day of thanks to all of my sons and daughters around the globe. Today is a special day set aside for the purpose of reminding us to give thanks, but let it become a daily habit. Let each day begin with us taking inventory of what we are blessed with instead of focusing on what we are lacking in. Let it be a new mindset as it says in Romans 12:1-2.
In this hustle bustle world that we live in, I pray that we will all set aside some time today to reflect on the things that are really important. That the surface things won't take priority, at least for this day, but that we might refocus on what is really important. May today be a day of forgiveness and restoration in relationships and families.
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
Our moms always tried to tell us this as kids, but most of the time we didn't listen. But, Oh how right she was about the importance of choosing our friends. It is so important who we "hang out" with.... View MoreOur moms always tried to tell us this as kids, but most of the time we didn't listen. But, Oh how right she was about the importance of choosing our friends. It is so important who we "hang out" with. There are those that encourage us, fulfill us, bring out the better in us, challenge us, make us stronger and make us better.
Then there are those that drain us, discourage us, bring negative into our lives, make us weak, make us tired, keep us in chaos.
Now which of those two groups better our lives? Which of those two groups put us in a better position to succeed? Which of those two groups are going to be in the fight with us and which would be the first to disappear?
Choose to hang with those in the first group AND choose to be a friend like those in the first group. Divine connections work both ways.
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
We tend to think we have to make a big splash to make a difference. That there has to be some kind of grand gesture to really make an impact. But to the one person that we are able to bless, the one i... View MoreWe tend to think we have to make a big splash to make a difference. That there has to be some kind of grand gesture to really make an impact. But to the one person that we are able to bless, the one individual that we are able to touch, the one family that we are able to "give a hand" to, a simple thing to us could be the most important thing in their lives.
We may not can meet the need of a whole nation, a whole state, a whole city, but we might be that biggest blessing that walked into one persons life. Now what if each of us took that same attitude? To be a blessing to one person or one family? To just meet one need? My small impact, added to your small impact, added to someone else's small impact, adds up to a big impact.
If you have been blessed, don't miss the opportunity to be a blessing. Not everyone in need is looking for a "hand out", many are looking for a "hand up". Think about this..."Today could be that day that YOU get to change someone's life for the better!"
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
Happy Monday!!!! I read a t-shirt at Walmart a couple of days ago that said "The first 5 days after the weekend are the hardest". So many people go into the week dreading Monday. But Monday is nothing... View MoreHappy Monday!!!! I read a t-shirt at Walmart a couple of days ago that said "The first 5 days after the weekend are the hardest". So many people go into the week dreading Monday. But Monday is nothing more that another day that amazing things can happen in our lives. There are many folks that would have given anything for one more Monday, but here it was given to us. What will we do with it?
We have a choice to start this day with a negative attitude and to receive everything that comes with that outlook, OR we can begin this day looking for what incredible things lie ahead for us this week. Thursday is Thanksgiving day, but what if we took this whole week, including Monday, to just be thankful about the blessings in our lives? What if we determined this week not to focus and dwell on the negatives, but to look for the positives?
What if we made it a point not to complain this week, but made it a point to search for the good and not the bad? What if???
And it all starts with this great Monday.
Love you all. Have a blessed day. In Jesus name. Amen.
www.nvministries.org
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