Posts with the category “breakthrough”

“Happiness” and “joy” are often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same.  Happiness is an emotion and tied to our circumstances.  Joy, on the other hand is a gift from God – a fruit of the Spirit that transcends whatever is happening in our lives. Joy allows us to rise above difficult circumstances, challenges, and heartaches. Joy comes from knowing God and His promises.  God is faithful an...  Read More

Have you ever met someone who was thankful and yet not joyful?  Thanksgiving and joy simply go together. A person who is thankful produces a harvest of joy.  All throughout scripture we see the importance of being thankful.  A heart of thanksgiving transforms a person from the inside out.  One of the keys to prayer and fasting is thanksgiving.  The more we focus in on God the more we have reason t...  Read More

In the book of Esther, we read an incredible story of how prayer and fasting bring justice and protection to thousands of people whose lives were at risk of death. The mighty king of Persia made a proclamation that would annihilate the Jewish people living in the land because a man named Mordecai’s refused to bow to Haman, the king’s chief official.Mordecai then sends a message to Queen Esther, wh...  Read More

In Exodus 33, the people of Israel were camped out in the desert.  They were waiting for God to lead them into the promised land with much of their expectation directed towards Moses.  It says that each time Moses left the camp to go to the tent of meeting, the people would stand at the entrance of their tents to watch him as he passed by. Seeking God was a regular practice for Moses.  This time o...  Read More

The Israelites had been held in captivity by the Babylonians for over seventy years, exiled from their homes and the land God had given them. After decades of displacement and servitude to foreign kings, something remarkable happened. A rival king, Cyrus of Persia, captured the Babylonian territory, including Jerusalem. Then miraculously, he let the Israelites return home. We learn in the book of ...  Read More

When we click “buy” on our Amazon app, we expect our purchase to arrive in 2 days.  We want things fast, and we want it to be convenient.  If we’re not careful, we can take these same expectations into our relationship with God – expecting God to answer our prayers the way we want Him to and in our timing.  God has made it clear that He moves in and through our prayer life, but His ways are not ou...  Read More

You get a call about the accident and you rush down to the hospital.  As you enter the waiting room you see the worry and fear on the faces of family and friends.  You would do anything to comfort and bring peace, but what can you really do?  You try to conceal your shock at the news.  Your spouse was fired today.  You see the embarrassment and disappointment on their face.  What can you do when i...  Read More

Our world has been corrupted by sin.  One of the ways we experience this brokenness is with our physical body.  The older we get the more we feel our bodies breaking down.  Eventually our bodies will wear out and we will face death.  This is true for all of us.  And yet, God encourages to bring our need boldly before His throne.  He tells us to ask for grace and mercy in our time of need!  Though ...  Read More

Someone who has been empowered is someone who has been given authority.  A judge can issue a sentence, a police officer can make an arrest, a teacher can give a grade.  When we put our faith in Jesus, God the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to live a godly and powerful life.  The Bible says, “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a ...  Read More

We use the word “love” all the time!  We love people, we love the mountains, we love sleeping in, we love a good dinner.  But when we say the word “love” do we really understand what it means?  In 1 John 4:8 it says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  God doesn’t just show us love. God is love. Without Him, there is no love. God’s love changes us.  In Mark 12:30-31...  Read More

Life can be so hard!  Have you ever felt that you just couldn’t handle one more difficult thing? Have you wondered how you will get through the next days and months?God knows the struggles of his people. Through Isaiah, God assured Israel as they were oppressed in exile. God reminded them of His power in the past, and God pointed to His sure presence for the future. The Red Sea had not swept over ...  Read More

Jesus teaches us that we need to ask God to forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  The forgiveness that we receive from God is connected to the forgiveness we extend to others.  Forgiveness sets people free!  It sets us free!  As Christ-followers we know first-hand the joy of this freedom that we receive from God. And yet, we can be challenged to extend forgiveness to others who...  Read More

Jesus called His followers to repent, but what does that mean? Repentance is more than just confessing our sin or feeling guilty.  We can be sorry for the consequences of our actions, but still not have a true desire to please God. Genuine repentance is about changing our mind, moving away from the thinking that leads us into sin and moving toward thinking that leads us into righteousness.  We hav...  Read More

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the story of the persistent widow who came to a crooked and corrupt judge seeking justice against her enemy. Day and night, the old woman came to the judge’s house, demanding justice. And for the longest time, the judge denied her justice. But the woman kept coming back, kept asking, until the judge finally gave in and granted her request.The point of the story is that G...  Read More

From the moment we wake up to the moment we go back to sleep, we make close to 35,000 decisions. How many of our decisions align with what God wants for our lives?  Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray.  He taught them to pray saying…"Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'"  Matthew 6:9-10To pray for ...  Read More

Jesus is King!  Every King has a Kingdom and Jesus talked more about the good news of His Kingdom than any other topic.  He boldly announced that God had broken into human history and that the Kingdom had arrived.  To be a disciple of Jesus is to desire His purposes in our life and in our world.  This means we must surrender to our King and ask Him to help us to be faithful in living the life He h...  Read More

In Genesis 25, we read that Esau came home famished from hunting, and noticed that his brother, Jacob, was cooking. As you would expect, he asked for some food. Jacob offered a trade – he would give Esau his stew if Esau gave Jacob his birthright (note: a birthright was the right to the inheritance and spiritual leadership of the family). Here’s the crazy part, Esau accepted the deal. It seems biz...  Read More

Praising God is difficult when we are facing problems and challenges in our life.  In 2 Chronicles 20:21, as God’s people were preparing to fight, “Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out to the head of the army saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for his Love endures forever.’”Praise paved the way for victory. The Bible says,...  Read More

Day 3 is a battle!  It doesn’t matter what you are fasting from, this day tends to be quite difficult. I bet you have been tempted with some really good reasons to quit the fast.  That’s why it’s important to remember that this is more than a physical battle but a spiritual one as well.    All of us will have battles in our lives, but the question is, how will we respond to these battles? In 2 Chr...  Read More

It was in the midst of chaos that a weary Father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus’ disciples for healing.  His hope was first met my disappointment because the disciples lacked the power to bring healing to this young boy.  It was in this moment that Jesus showed up to not only show His supernatural authority but also to give wise spiritual instruction.Mark tells us that after the boy was ...  Read More

Today we begin 21 days of prayer and fasting! Today we set our hearts and minds on the God who is with us and for us! There is nothing that our God cannot do!  Do you believe that?  Our confident expectation for God to move mountains, to give us a breakthrough in our life, comes straight from Jesus when He said, “…even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will hap...  Read More