Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 2 Oct 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 2 Oct 2007

Today’s word of encouragement is about receiving God’s blessings. As I was praying for today’s word, I just felt that a lot of us need a miracle from God. Some of us are praying for a new job, praying for loved ones, praying for a new home, praying for a child, and the list seems to pile up. Where is our faith today? Are we fully 100% devoted to giving our lives to God, or is a part of us still living in the world? God is ready to give us a miracle, and it is a matter of where our hearts are, are we desperate, desperate for God? There is a complete difference between being desperate for God and being desperate for the world. Desperation has become one of the fastest growing problems in the world we live in today. People are mentally getting depressed, stressed, worried, and anxious, etc. It is a sad reality that the world is made of people who are miserable, and hopeless. Today, God is encouraging all of us to walk in full obedience to His voice, being 100% desperate for God. Watch before our eyes, all the needs that we have been praying for will be answered by God. When we are desperate for God, we are hearing God clearly and there is peace in our hearts no matter the circumstance. It is easy to know when someone isn’t desperate for God, because when they seek God’s answer, they expect God to answer their needs the way they want it answered. Let us choose to be desperate for God in everything that we do and are going through. God wants to bless us, and answer our prayers. May today bring peace in our souls. © Sept 2007 Shaun Lee

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 1 Oct 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 1 Oct 2007

The start of a brand new week and the word of encouragement today: Being bold and courageous, yet before our Lord we stand weak and fragile. Many people define boldness and courage as being physically strong, having a resilient and tough character, we also often define these words through famous people who exemplify these characteristics. Today, I pray and hope that we will allow God to define these words in our lives rather than let the world define what it means to be bold and courageous, yet before our Lord we stand weak and fragile. Today, let us be encouraged by God to know that He doesn’t care about worldly boldness and courage when it is achieved by our own hands and desires, but what He cares about most is the spirit man/woman inside us, is it bold and courageous before God, willing to be humble, weak, and fragile? Are we willing to give up, and surrender everything everyday for God? Believe it or not, when we stand weak and fragile before God, we are actually being bold and courageous. We are boldly giving our lives to God. To be fragile, is a powerful word because we are saying to God that I want to be easily broken by You Lord. When we are easily broken by God, it is exciting because we are seeing things from a different perspective, we start seeing what God sees. We start hearing things that we never paid attention to before, because God is speaking to us. We start saying things we never used to say, because God is using us to be His mouth peace to the world. This does not mean we are robots being controlled by God, because no matter what we are sinners and we are all imperfect. God has given us freedom to chose and make our own decisions. Isn’t it sad though, that in our world today people are being fragile and weak before “men”, weak and fragile towards their needs and desires, things that are aimless and useless. It seems as though God comes secondary, and only important in times of desperation. Today, I pray that we all would desire more and more to be weak and fragile before our Lord and watch and see that spirit in us standing boldly and courageous, desiring the things that God desires. © Oct 2007 Shaun Lee

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 30 Sep 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 30 Sep 2007

Today’s word of encouragement is about working on our blind spots. It isn’t easy for us to accept that we have blind spots because no one wants to take the effort to change. I know that I am, and most of us are guilty of that. It is important to pin-point key blind spots in our lives to fix, especially if it is causing us to draw further away from God. The reason why I say this is because, everyone has blind spots. It is important to find and focus on the key areas to work on rather than the ones that are ineffective. God has given us people in our lives, to help us discern and reveal areas to work on. Family members, friends, and wise counsel. It is important who we listen to and who we trust, because it would be pointless and ineffective if we try to listen to everyone’s suggestions. In Psalm 146:8, “The LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.” Today, let us pray that we come with open hearts to seek God, seek wise counsel of areas in our lives where we have blind spots that God wants us to work on, so that we can be fully used by God for His kingdom. © Sept 2007 Shaun Lee

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 29 Sep 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 29 Sep 2007

Heading into the weekend, let us take the opportunity to evaluate and examine our hearts. Everything that we have gone through, the good, the bad, areas in our lives that we need to work on. Write it all down, what are some of the blessings that you have received this week, what were some of the difficult moments you had to go through during the week; maybe God is saying to pray for people, people who are causing you stress in your life. Most of us have either gone through a rough week at work, a tiring week, and we feel drained. Through all this, it is important that we find rest, it is important that we spend time with friends and family. But most of all we must spend time with God, praising His name, glorifying Him, thanking Him, and listening to Him. Many of us are excited about the future, and all that we will do for God. The excitement can cause us to forget how important it is to evaluate, to seek God where He is leading and moving. Today’s word of encouragement is spending time evaluating: 1) Our relationship with God. 2) What was the toughest part about our week, the difficult moments—write them down, pray over them, seek God to bring clarity, pray blessings over these situations. 3) Write down God’s blessings through the week, and give glory to God, praise His name. 4) Pray for people that God is putting on your heart, our leaders, our nation, other nations—what is God revealing to you? Pray blessings. Psalm 26:2-3 says, “2 Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” Today let God examine our hearts, evaluating areas in us where we can work on to draw closer to Him, where we can be a blessing to others, and where we can find restoration in our souls. © Sept 2007 Shaun Lee

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 27 Sep 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 27 Sep 2007

2 John 1:9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. Today’s word of encouragement is simple; There are no shortcuts to having a relationship with God. As the Word of God clearly says to us all in 2 John 1:9, Anyone who runs ahead in the teaching of Christ does not have God. There are no shortcuts to obtain a strong and firm relationship with God. God has to be our number one, and top priority in our lives. This word is so important. I hope that we reflect upon this verse as often as we can, especially when we get too caught up with life and the trials of life. The reason why it is so important is because, it reveals to us all that it does not matter if you have been a Christian all of your life, or if you have just accepted our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior today. The fact is, we all cannot run ahead and not do what Christ teaches us. The moment we stop reading our Bible, praying, talking with our discipler, and attending our life groups, we are headed down the slippery slop. You know what is amazing, about dengue fever? All mosquitoes, when they bite us we don’t feel a thing because they have a natural antiseptic which numbs our skin; but look how many people have lost their lives due to dengue fever. The next time we fall to sin, I hope we will remember dengue fever, because it first attacks us and we don’t feel anything, but as it sucks and sucks our blood, so does sin it sucks and sucks all that is righteous and draws us further away from God. Before we know it, it is too late, and we are spiritually dead. Many of us think that the moment we except Christ as our Lord and Savior, everything from that point on is smooth sailing till we go to Heaven. Let’s be real! Life is hard, it is painful, it is a struggle, sometimes we don’t know why things happen but they do, but through all this we know one thing is for sure; GOD IS IN CONTROL. Today, I hope we would be encouraged to rebuild our relationship with God. We cannot stop, we cannot get distracted, we cannot run ahead of the game, and we cannot take bits and pieces of Christianity and feel that we are headed the right direction. What is your relationship like with God? © Sept 2007 Shaun Lee

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 27 Sep 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 27 Sep 2007

When we examine our vision for our future, which one is most like you, Nearsighted or farsighted? Today’s word of encouragement is the importance of not being too nearsighted, but having a vision which is farsighted. What does it mean to have a vision which is farsighted? Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important that what we do today, right now, is just as important, because those decisions that we make now will affect our future. But to answer that question, simply put, a vision that is not farsighted is shortsighted. The key to distinguish the difference between a person, who has a nearsighted or a farsighted vision, is the way and approach to looking at their future. Farsighted people are strategic, being tactical, deliberate, and calculated with their lives for their future. They see many roads, paths, and highways each with a different outcome; however, they are not fearful or scared because they know and are clear which road to take because God is first in their lives over their own desires. They know that what lies ahead is not going to be easy, it is going to hurt, and it will be painful, but they are not scared, because they are centered on God. Others around them may seem more successful, better, but they do not compare themselves to others, because they are secure in the fact that God has a unique plan and purpose for them. Not only are farsighted people strategic, they are planners. Planning for the future works hand in hand with strategizing, because strategizing alone is not enough, it is pointless to strategize if we don’t plan. Planning is preparation. Most of us like to see the great destiny ahead that God has given us, but they don’t like to prepare, learn other skills, gain wisdom in order to get to that farsighted vision. We need to be people who are prepared for the future; preparation includes development of areas which needs to be worked on learning to have a teachable spirit is the key. Refining of character, developing good habits, scheduling because time is precious and important. People who are shortsighted are concerned about the now and time is of no consequence. Even though they may look like they are content with life, shortsighted people are often worried about their future and what lies ahead, but they rather not think about it or talk about it. Another common trend with people who are shortsighted, they spend all their time focusing on what they don’t have today, what they lack, and compare themselves to others and all they say to themselves is, “life is not fair”. “God doesn’t love me”. “This is the life God has planned for me”. Let us stop making excuses! Lets start turning our eyes off us and on to Him. God is a God who is farsighted. Can you imagine before we were even born He purposefully planed, molded, and gifted each of us to do His will? All He asks of us, is to give our lives to Him, let Him lead, and seek Him and He will tell us what lies ahead for tomorrow. Today, I hope we would be encouraged to say to ourselves, what am I waiting for? What is stopping me for seeking God, to capture His plans for my future? What is stopping us from planning ahead? God has so much in store for each and every one of us. Time is ticking; don’t wait any longer, yes the journey maybe painful and it is hurts, but to be used by God for His Kingdom is priceless. © Sept 2007 Shaun Lee

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 26 Sep 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 26 Sep 2007

In 1 Peter 1:13 the Word of God says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."[ Today’s word of encouragement is about action, taking action when God says move, go, get up! Taking action when something that you see is not right. Taking action and confronting people, to help encourage, build, restore, and most of all correct. So often all we do is complain and complain, instead of complaining, take action, do something about it. As the word clearly says in 1 Peter 1:13, we must prepare our minds for action! God is moving and directing, don’t miss the boat. Sometimes we say to ourselves I’m too young, I’m not ready to take action. Sometimes we say I’m not good enough. Often we say, someone else better should say something, should take action, not me. Today, let us all make a choice to be people that takes action when God speaks to us about areas in our lives that we need to take action. Many of us hear God, see the Signs, see the “red flag” and yet we are not taking action to obey God. Forgiveness of past hurt is a key area where we so often don’t take action to do. Taking action to confront hurt feelings, offenses, and bitterness is common as well. Taking action to correct areas of sin in our lives that we hide from the world, but I hope we all realize that everything we do in secret God sees. Let us be encouraged to seek God, and give Him our lives, surrendering and obeying His voice. © Sept 2007 Shaun Lee