God MUST Come 1st!!!

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:8‭-‬11 NKJV

*No matter where I go in life or what I accomplish, God is my foundation and will ALWAYS come first. He is who put me there, and we have to always keep His purpose in mind in order to keep Him first. I prosper because of Him alone. When my soul prospers, I prosper. I am only prepared because of His wisdom and training, and I will always be His humble servant..All praise goes to Him.

Thankfulness

I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord , You Yourself know. Psalms 40:9 NKJV

*Praise should always come from our lips for God. The more gratitude we display, the more we understand how blessed we are and how much He loves us.

Praise Be to God Who Gives Us the Victory

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 NKJV

*Singing, "Gratefulness is flowing from my heart." If you were blessed to wake up this morning, be thankful...That means there is still much for you to do no matter the situation. Everything else is an added bonus. Glad everyone is safe.

Pre-worship

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16‭-‬18 NIV

All circumstances require an attitude of praise in order to see the good, and to remind us that we have the victory in the end. Jesus wants us to remember to be thankful and trust God by using our faith to see us through. He wants us to remember that He has already overcome the circumstance through His death and resurrection, and now we just have to take advantage of the line of communication in order to receive guidance. When we approach Him for guidance, we must give Him praise that He is with us and willing to help us. I personally have to remember to glorify Him in advance, no just wait on the "after" because it depicts that I trust Him. My praise could use more pre-worship...What about yours?

Love Concurs All Through Sacrifice

1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV)

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 

*We all have sinned and fallen short, and no sin is greater than the other...There are just different levels of consequences that may occur. I am willing to say that I still have areas to overcome, but as long as we keep pushing forward then we can't remain complacent in our sins. God saw the potential for our faults, and still wants a relationship with us.. So much so, He made a way for us to be purified to connect with Him again through the sacrifice of His Son. There is no greater form of love that deserves to be trusted more than His. Now, imagine the love we are suppose to show...Despite His unconditional love, I know I'm working on showing love...Let's remember His sacrifice and how much He is entrusting us to either come back to or go deeper in Him. Do we trust Him in the same way? How deep is our love?

Reassurance to Persevere

Colossians 1:11-12 (ESV)

11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

*For me, Hump Day feels more like a mountain to climb rather then reassurance of the fact that it's the middle of the week. No matter how we feel, even if you are on your last leg, the presence of the Lord is still near and His power can strengthen. In the midst of our weaknesses, we are suppose to have faith and give thanks in advance for the removal of our transgression. Today, let's not only pray to tap into his strength, but pray that others will find the ability to press in as well. Remember, the larger the trial the bigger the blessing...Please join your faith with mine that we see beyond the circumstance and tap into the opportunity that is at the threshold.

Praise Breakthrough

Philippians 4:4 (ESV)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

*No matter what things look like, how we feel, or what we believe in our heads we should always praise God. This keeps us in faith, and keeps negativity from dwelling in our hearts. There is always the possibility that things could be worse. However, that shouldn't keep us from striving for better. We just have to be thankful for what we have and what's going on now in order to have the motivation to move forward. Having a sense of thankfulness will motivate us and bring peace to the situation. It will also help us see more of the positive aspects of life then negativity. Let's continue to lift each other up...better days are coming. When praises go up, blessings come down....

Worship Beyond Your Words

Romans 12:1 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

*Every time we deny our bodies, hearts, and minds from participating in things that are not of God, we are worshipping Him. When we choose to do this, we are letting God know that He is more important then any momentarily feeling or pleasure that only last for a short time while His love endures forever. This is your way of TRULY showing appreciation towards Him. He loves you, and wants you to avoid unnecessary hurts, failures, and experiences. We will go through enough without adding more to it. Every time you deny the temptation of the enemy, a grace is put on you to move forward in that lifestyle...Pure, holy, and concentrated on excelling in God. This is how we move to the next level, effectively carry out His will, and receive the blessings He has for us. Therefore, next time you have a choice to do the wrong or right thing, ask yourself is it really worth it???