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 Show Up

Last week, we talked about how Satan tormented Jesus when He was in a weakened state, (see “I Choose Today to Fix My Mind”). Last year I was in a weakened state and Satan took his opportunity to torment me. I had the perception of being stuck, unmotivated by almost everything, including my work, relationships, and even my walk with the Lord. It seemed I was going through the motions without feeling. I lived like I was lost, and I didn’t know what to do about it. Satan was telling me I held no value, I didn’t measure up. He reminded me of all the negative talk spoken to me from my early years. He was tormenting me in my weakened state. I can remember taking a walk and crying out to the Lord! Literally crying out! You know what happened? He met me where I was. All I had the energy to do was show up. That is what I heard God speak to my heart. So, I would show up to quiet time and He was there. He was there to listen. He was there to start the healing of my heart. He was there to show me

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I Choose Today to live abundantly

Don’t miss the opportunity to live an abundant life because of your trauma. In the days, weeks, and months after my trauma, I can honestly say I did not have any joy, nor was I living a life of abundance. I was in survival mode. I was surviving, not thriving. My focus was on my loss. Who could blame me, right? Up to that point in my life, I had experienced a great deal of trauma: being abused, abandoned, belittled, marginalized, and having innocence stolen. God had brought me through those times, and I was beginning to thrive in a life that was finally good, more than I could have asked or hoped for. I was experiencing joy and abundance. That was until that morning in early June when I woke up to my worst nightmare. In the time following this traumatic morning, once the fog of despair and grief started to lift, I had a choice to make. I had to choose if I was going to continue to live in survival mode or if I was going to thrive with an abundant life. Jesus said in John 10:10, “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

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I choose today to be invigorated…

I choose today to be invigorated… I love words…Maybe that one of the reasons I love God’s word so much! David uses words to express his awe and wonder over God’s Word. In Psalms 119: 175, David ends this very lengthy heartfelt prayer and acclamations about God’s Word with these words, “Invigorate my life so that I can praise you even more, and may your truth be my strength!” ‭(TPT‬‬) I love this version of David’s words: “Invigorate my life.” To invigorate means to strengthen and give energy to. Can you recall a time when you have been invigorated? For me it is when I spend time at the beach, hear an inspiring sermon or song. When I have these experiences, I am ready to take on the world, to do battle, to do what needs to be done. What David is saying here is being invigorated by God’s degrees/instructions/statutes/principals that empowers him to praise God, and gives him the strength and energy to do battle, face his enemy, do what God is calling him to do. “Your truth be my strength.”  In another version it says that God’s decrees brings iron to his soul. To me iron demonstrates fortification and

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To Stay Focused

I choose today to stay focused “Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭165‬ ‭NLT‬‬ David knew the importance of being strong and not growing weary. David understood that if he stumbled, because he was being pursued, he would be caught by the enemy. He knew his strength came from God’s Word. His peace also came from keeping his focus on God and His goodness and deliverance. It is good to know who our enemy is; Satan and not others. Satan is the great deceiver. He takes the  20% of which is not good and makes that our focus instead of the 80% of what is good. He makes it seem like the bad is all there is; that there is no way out of it or getting beyond it other than to quit (give up, walk away) from relationships, neighbors, coworkers, family. He makes it seem like quitting/walking away is our only option for peace. But that is a big fat lie! God Word says (through David, Joshua, Isaiah, Jesus) that when we meditate on God’s Word, we will find new strength, prosper in all we do, not stumble but stand, not grow

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