Author: mary

Your faith can be the change that someone needs. Your faith can make a difference in many people’s lives that are hurting and afraid. So instead of being upset too, choose to look around and ask God how you can be part of the solution.

Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?

John 4:29

In the Bible, we see the woman at the well doing just that. She went and told others about Jesus. Her faith caused others to believe too. Because faith is contagious.

In the same way, your bold stand of faith may be what someone else needs. So be bold and willing to do what God tells you to do. You might end up leading someone to the lord or help someone stay grounded in the middle of this pandemic.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

Have you ever saved money for a long time in order to buy something you really wanted? Was it a computer or a new pair of shoes? How did you treat it once you finally got it? Chances are you went out of your way to make sure you took good care of it. Why is that? When you’ve invested your own money into something your heart is now in it. You’ve had to work for that and save. It wasn’t easy to get the money and to use discipline to put off buying other things to wait and get what you really wanted.

This is also how the things of God work. When you take the time to invest in your relationship with God, you value it. You realize how special it is and guard it. Your relationship with God is important so be sure that you don’t take it for granted. Take time out of each day to pray and read your Bible. Be sure to attend a small group and a local church. These things will help you grow in your relationship with God.

Treat your relationship with God like a treasure. If you do, you heart will be there too. Spend time and money developing your relationship with God. It will bring you lasting rewards.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

If you flip on the TV, or go online, you see lots of things that can bring fear. It is really easy to see all the horrible things happening in the world and begin to be afraid. No matter how crazy things get in the world around us, God doesn’t want us living our lives in fear.

Fear stops us, holds us back and keeps us from doing the things that God intended for us to do. Instead of being afraid, we should put our trust in Jesus. He will keep us safe. He is there to help us navigate through the troubles and the craziness that life brings.

So instead of being afraid of what is going on in the world around us, we should take heart and realize that the God we serve has already conquered everything we’re up against. We don’t have to fear, we’ve got a great God on our side!

From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained.  Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them.

Jeremiah 30:19-20

Have you ever had those moments when it felt like everything was going wrong? I recall a time when I had a friend die, my grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer, and some friends were not being nice to me. At the time, it felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. I wasn’t sure I could handle anything else bad happening in my life.

In moments where things are going bad and thing after thing seems to be stacked up against you, how do you find the strength and courage to keep moving on? One of the best ways is by being thankful. It might seem crazy, but finding ways to be thankful really helps in tough times.

So if all your friends have abandoned you, be thankful that God said He would never leave you. Be thankful that you’ve got a God who loved you when you didn’t deserve it. Thankfulness is powerful, it changes your outlook. It takes the focus off of our problems and puts it back on God.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Aren’t you glad that you can give thanks to the Lord? God is good to you. You didn’t deserve His love but He gave it to you anyway. God since the beginning of time has been chasing after you and desiring a relationship with you.

Today you can give thanks to God. Your life might not be perfect. Things might not always turn out as you’d hoped, but regardless of what you see around you, what God has done for you is a reason to give thanks.

God is good and his love endures forever. God isn’t going to get tired of you one day. His love is for you and it’s forever. That’s good news.

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

Psalm 138:1

We’ve got so many things to be thankful for. We’ve got a God who loves us, who sent His son to die for us so that He could know us.

That’s something to give thanks about. This Bible verse talks about giving thanks with all our heart. That’s easy to do when you spend time thinking about how good God is. When you focus on all the blessings you have in your life, it’s easy to be able to give God thanks.

Take some time today to think about all the things God has done for you. You’re probably more blessed than you realize!

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Have you noticed that if something is important, you guard it? If you have a wallet, you don’t leave it out where anyone can take it. If you cross the street, you look both ways to be sure no cars are coming. We spend lots of effort each day keeping our bodies and possessions safe.

In today’s verse, we’re encouraged to guard our hearts above all else. That means that we should make it a priority. We should make guarding our heart important. Just like we would guard our wallet or another important possession, we should guard our heart.

However, when it comes to our heart, many times we throw caution to the wind. We don’t pay attention to the people we date or the friendships we make. We should be taking care of our heart and making it a priority also.

If you haven’t, choose to put some effort into guarding your heart. Don’t just date any person that comes your way. Be selective and take any necessary precautions to guard your heart.

Always set an example for others by doing good actions. Teach with integrity and dignity.

Titus 2:7

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be lazy? It’s so much fun to sit around, watch tons of Netflix and Snapchat all summer break. However, living your life for only fun and what feels good won’t put you on a path for lasting happiness or success.

One of the best decisions you can make is to daily live your life striving to do your best. Daily try to push yourself to do better. It could be learning something new, reading a book, or helping someone out. When you make doing your best in everything your goal, the other things will follow.

Whatever your dream may be, striving to be an example and the best version of yourself each day will help you get there. Choose today to set laziness aside and you’ll find that you can accomplish something truly great for God.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

Luke 12:23

Do you love clothes? Maybe you like having the best shoes or having everyone compliment your new outfit.

There’s nothing wrong with having great clothes, or eating tasty food. In fact, God likes that we enjoy life.

But when we let our focus be only on wearing the right thing and eating great stuff, we’ve missed the point.