Tag: #GoodNews

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Good News – Part 2

When I was in middle school I ran track. Thankfully, I had an amazing coach, who taught me proper techniques for running races. Although I wasn’t the fastest girl on the team, those were invaluable lessons I carried into adulthood and apply even now to life in general.

A few of my favorites are:

1. Don’t be distracted by opponents.

2. Stay in your lane.

3. Keep your head and eyes straight forward.

4. Beat your own best time.

As I mentioned, I wasn’t the fastest girl. But I figured out, early on, there was a race I could be a part of winning. It was my favorite then and still is today: the relay.

Out on the track, there was nothing more exhilarating to me than the anticipation of seeing the runner behind me approach. I could feel my heart race even before my feet. As she got closer, I would sync in step with her, reach for the baton, grab it and take off as if running for my life.

I gave it my all, but it was never enough; because no one can win a relay by themselves. Winning this race requires team effort.

This principle links back to Part 1 of this series, where God asks Moses, “What is that in your hand” (Ex 4:2 NIV)?

“A staff,” Moses replied.

Moses couldn’t part the Red Sea alone. He knew he couldn’t gain victory for himself or others by himself. But with God’s grace-power and authority operating through Moses and his staff, he could do the impossible (Ex 15:6 NIV).

1 Chronicles 29:12 NIV tells us that God is “the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.”

So, when we receive God’s hand to do what we cannot do alone, He releases His power and authority through us to accomplish His will. We become His hands and feet on earth. We don’t have to fear when we know we are in the palm of His hand.

All through scripture, we find that God establishes His will through our hands and that our lives and times are in God’s hand (1 Sa 24:20, Ps 31:15, Je 26:14).

God is the lifter of our hands, the One who offers us victory over opposition (Mi 5:9, Jo 8:18). He even calls us His “wreath of victory” in Philippians 4:1 AMP. With God, we can move faster than we think and affect many lives.

In early October, our Lord revealed to me that there are those, like Moses, who have not given up but have persisted in “impossible” assignments (races). These persistent ones are about to finish their final segments in victory by God’s Spirit—by His power and authority.

These are people who have been matured over time. Ones who have been strengthened to run with God in abundance (Ph 4:13, Ps 67:6 AMP).

God is unveiling His beauty that He restored in them deeply. They are emerging fluidly into their time to beacon, as God showcases His glory through these deliverers (Ac 13:47).

When God highlights them, we will come to know them in a new way, on a new level and in new areas. Many of them are close to us—those we think we have known for a long time but actually only knew on the surface.

Are you one of these deliverers? What has God empowered you to do?

Philippians 1:6 ESV says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

God is able and He has made you able, because you have synced with Him in the race. He is behind you, in front of you and alongside you cheering you on.

God has placed His baton of victory in your hand to finish a final segment of a race (assignment). Know that, when this race is over, there will be another one up ahead, just on the other side of a brief rest.

God offers us a strategy to run in peace and well-being in our daily race in Philippians 4 by reminding us who we are in Him and revealing His proper techniques for running races:

Verse 1 – He calls us His beloved and instructs us to “stand firm” in Him.

Verse 2 – He tells us “to work in harmony” with Him.

Verse 3 – He advises us to help others who work “in the [cause of the] gospel.”

Verse 4 – He says to “Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him].”

Verse 5 – He instructs us to let our “gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people.”

Verse 6 – He invites us to not be anxious or worried and to bring our concerns to Him with thanksgiving.

Verse 7 – He assures us that He will guard our hearts and minds with His peace.

Verse 8 – He commands us to focus on His truth, honor, righteousness, purity, beauty, peace, goodness, excellence and praise worthiness.

On the second day of seeking God to write this devotion, I asked our Lord what else He desired to say. He brought to mind the old gospel pop song, Put Your Hand in the Hand, which I hadn’t heard in years.

As I searched it out, I realized this song was released the same year that I had begun running track in middle school.

Let’s remember these lyrics as we go forward:

Put your hand in the hand of the man

Who stilled the water

Put your hand in the hand of the man

Who calmed the sea

Take a look at yourself

And you can look at others differently

Put your hand in the hand of the man

From Galilee.

The scripture reference Holy Spirit led me to was Isaiah 41:13 AMP, which says, “For I the Lord your God keep hold of your right hand; [I am the Lord], Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.'”

He also reminded me of 2 Timothy 4:7 TPT, which says, “I have fought an excellent fight. I have finished my full course with all my might and I’ve kept my heart full of faith.”

So, friends, God’s good news is that He is about to show us greater victories than we’ve ever known as we decide to trust Him enough to run with our hand in His and finish our races (assignments) strong.

To Him be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Good News – Part 1

God’s good news is live-giving. His directives lead us into abundant life in Him.

Deuteronomy 30:19 instructs us to “choose life.” But how do we know which way offers God’s best life?

We will know by first knowing Him and His Word. By seeking Him and developing a relationship with Him that builds trust in Him and His truth (Ex 14:31). By putting His ways above our own desires. By being obedient and waiting on His timing.

The more we come to trust God and extend faith to go His way, the more His faith in us takes root in our souls (mind, will, emotions) and instills new life. This is the same everlasting life that our loved ones, who have gone before us, experience in Heaven. It is a lifeline of God’s goodness that is inherently void of harshness. It’s what Jabez prayed for (1 Ch 4:10).

So, even during hard times, we can choose to look at the sonship Heavenly Father offers to us more than our hardship. God has provided His abundant lifeline, even in the midst of difficulty. Therefore, we are not without His best option.

Choosing life in times of endurance enables us to progress with our Lord along His timeline. Even in the face of no way out, He will make a way. He will move the immovable and do the impossible. We will see it and experience it as we look to Him and obey Him.

A few weeks ago, while driving home one night, our Lord gave me a visual of a miraculous work He is doing in my life:

As I was driving on an interstate, this highway suddenly turned into a “parking lot.” GPS said the wait would be three-miles long. So, I prayed to God to make a way where there didn’t seem to be a way for myself and everyone else.

Then, I turned on Christian radio and immediately heard the lyrics, “Move the immovable. Do the impossible.” I began to sing these words in my car and thank God for doing exactly this.

Ironically, after the song, a local pastor broadcasted a message that included the lie that God doesn’t do miracles anymore, ever since He gave us His Bible. Isn’t this just like the enemy to try to counter a work of God before it happens?

Still, God got me through the road construction zone, little-by-little, where three lanes narrowed into one.

In situations like this, I have learned to pray, “Lord, what would You have me see and know in this?”

In this case, He revealed to me that this is a visual of what He’s doing in my life regarding a particular assignment—that, even though it has seemed impossible, like there is no way I’ll ever get through it, He will help me as I progress with Him.

When I arrived home, I learned that my husband, who had driven separately through the same “parking lot,” suffered through five miles compared to my three. He was up ahead of me. But, even so, God accelerated my timeline to pass through.

Over the next twenty-four hours, our Lord confirmed His promise to me through three witnesses and by highlighting His Word in John 1:16 NIV, which says, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

The Amplified Classic version says, “For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.”

Friends, God’s every Word trumps every enemy lie.

Jumbo blessings require a narrow path of truth, focus, discipline and persistence. It’s on this narrow path of obedience that we experience God’s favor to accomplish His will with Him by His grace-power and authority. Our faith is activated by our will to use what He has put in our hands to create what He desires.

Think Moses and his staff (Ex 4:2, 17; 14:16).

Good news came at just the right moment for the Israelites to cross through the Red Sea, as Moses obediently followed God’s command and extended his hand with staff over the water (Ex 14:21, 26-27).

What God put in my hand is a laptop purposed to write a book that He told me will help save many lives.

So, what has God put in your hand that will bring good news to others?

What we do for others, God will do for us. Multiplied. So, there’s no need for selfishness or jealousy. We can choose to grow in faith and be extensions of God’s goodness of deliverance when we do good to those who wrongfully blame us, like the Israelites did to Moses (Ex 14:11-13). God will protect us by His hand, and others will ultimately appreciate the handiwork (Is 49:2, Ex 14:31).

I believe we are in a special time and season where, as we speak to the mountains before us and put our hand to the task assigned us, we will see God’s manifest miracles that will enable us to progress through impossible obstacles. His weight of glory is bigger than the weight of any responsibility or pressure that we can hand over to Him. As we dwell in God and put evil behind us, we can expect to see God’s upper hand defeat the enemy’s underhandedness in our mission (Jo 11:14). So, let’s keep our eyes of faith on God, who carries our burdens, and outweighs enemy lies of defeat with His assured good-news victory (He 11:20 AMPC).

To God be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.