I Choose Today

I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to be Renewed

I am encouraged by a friend today. When she was feeling emotionally and spiritually weak, she chose to fight against that by praying God’s Word over her situations. That is what we are supposed to do. That is what Jesus did. Jesus spoke the truth of God’s Word when met with His own physical weakness in the wilderness. Satan tried to use His weakness to get Him to sin. That is what the devil does, uses our weaknesses (emotional, physical, or spiritual) to get us to sin. My friend did what Jesus did. She spoke the Word of Truth over her problems, over being overwhelmed, over her struggles. What happened after Jesus spoke the Word against the devil? Satan left Him, then angels came to comfort and fed Him. God is our source of comfort, just like David expresses in the 23rd Psalms, “He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.” He gives strength; restores our souls. “Thank You, Lord, for renewing our strength and restoring our souls. Thank You for the comfort as we walk through stresses of this

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I Choose Today to store up!

Ever heard of ‘saving for a rainy day’? Just as we stash money for unforeseen circumstances, what are we depositing in our heart bank? In Psalm 119, David emphasizes the importance of storing God’s Word to navigate life’s challenges without sinning. “How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word” (vs 9 MSG). He tells us why we need to read, study, and know God’s Word as he continues in verse 11, “I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (ESV‬‬). David was intentionally banking, or storing, God’s Word in his heart for the future “rainy day.” He knew that the unexpected issues, opportunities, and emergencies would come up in his life. So he intentionally stored up God’s Word, His teachings, His principles, His promises, His hope, His love, His breath in his heart so when those times came up, he would be ready to know what God wanted him to do, to react, to respond in the heat of the moment. God told Joshua the same thing when He said, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so

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I Choose Today to be embolden by the power of God’s Word

God: the source of all power. David spent most of his development years out with the sheep. This job was a dirty job, a lowly job, an unregarded job, a lonely/isolated job. But it was during this time where David got to love God, His Word, and see Him in action. God was David’s constant companion. David noticed God in everything he saw. David depended on God for his and his sheep’s basic needs and protection. His relationship with God was very personal (that is probably why David was torn up when people disrespected/disregarded God’s Word/laws/decrees). David relied on God’s strength every day while tending to his sheep, which served as a training ground for the challenges he would later face. I think that is why the Psalms are so encouraging. They are like a balm for our souls. They resonate with us because we can relate to David’s struggles, but we also witness his deep relationship with the Lord. David depended on God for the strength and power to make it through each day, each struggle, and to not loose hope. David used the power of God’s Word to encourage, strengthen, embolden, and comfort him through his trials. I

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I Choose Today to use my sword

It is interesting to see that Satan uses the same tactic with Jesus that he did to Adam and Eve: manipulation. He is crafty. He is trying to use God’s Word against Jesus perverting and misdirecting the true meaning of it. Just like Matthew describes in chapter 4, “During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”” (verse 3‬‬‬). It is the same thing he does with us. His tactics don’t change; they are the same. He is the master manipulator. So how do we combat the master manipulator? The same way Jesus did in chapter 4 of Matthew: He quotes/uses the Word of God! “But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ That is our offense, the Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17))! That gets me thinking about the importance of memorizing the Word of God! That way I will be ready take up the offensive by yielding the Sword of the Spirit when the devil

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To believe the truth and not the lie

I love meaning of having a life changing “AHA” moment in life: a moment of realization or understanding by being honest and then taking action (having an immediate response). This brings to mind what I was raised to believe about myself: “stupid, dumb, and would never amount to anything so don’t even try.” But I had an “AHA” moment (which I believe is God breathed) that told me what was being instilled into me was a lie (sudden awakening). I had to look at the ways I was allowing those words to live out in my life: allowing other people’s words to be the truth, not having self worth, self-medicating, running, just trying to survive. I had to break the circle of destruction in my life by the choices I made to perpetuate these lies (brutally honest). But how would I do that when I didn’t have any adult in my life speaking the truth about who I am (a child of God who is unconditionally loved)? I had no tools in my life’s tool chest to navigate this road to healing. The only tools I had were of what not to do or survival tools. But God… “For God

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