More Gems for the Journey
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Journey Note
52Today’s Gem
Everybody’s talking about “No More Drama”—including me! Drama is the result of not putting the devil in his place. I Peter 5:8 tells us “to be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” The devil is after your purpose, your peace, your promise, your power and your praise. Let me give you a little nugget—drama and the devil are synonymous! If you want to understand your drama, then you need to get an understanding of the devil! James 4:7 says, “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Likewise, submit to God, resist the “drama” and it will disappear.
Journey Note
53 Today’s Gem
You are in the valley of decision. You are in between never again and never before. It’s called transition. Transition is a strange place. Transition is the vehicle God uses to shift you into the next dimension of purpose in your life. Transition shatters your illusions and disrupts your ability to continue living in drama. Transition teaches you things about yourself that you did not know. How? Transition often leads you to the wilderness and there—you come face to face with God. When God speaks—things happen. This pivotal encounter launches you into a place you’ve never been before—the outer limits of God! Here you must choose God and multiply or be drawn away and surely die! Now what? You choose!
Journey Note
54Today’s Gem
Matthew 28:20 declares, “Lo, I am with you always, perpetually and on every occasion, to the close and consummation of the age.” He was there when you were born. He was there when you played with your dolls. He was there when you entered womanhood. He was there when you made your mistakes. He was there when you messed up. He was there in the midnight hour when no one else was available to hear your pain or see your tears. He was there when you envisioned your future. He was there as you pursued your future. He is there with you right now. He will be there in your future, for Exodus 3:14 declares, “I am who I am and what I am, and I will be what I will be.” In other words, He is the future!
Journey Note
55Today’s Gem
God is at His best when He does not make sense. Have you ever been in a strange place? It’s a place between where you have been and where you are going. The waiting period comes to qualify and certify you for the promise. God is not arbitrary in His plans for you. In Isaiah 46:10, “God declares the end from the beginning and because He spoke it, He will do it.” God has a set time for you. Isaiah 30:18 puts it this way—“Blessed are those who wait for Him!” Wait with patience and undisturbed composure on the promises of God in your life. Once you pass the test of waiting, what’s yours is coming to you!
Journey Note
56 Today’s Gem
God is still in the giving business. Today He wants you to know that the more you love, the more you praise. Praise paralyzes the devil. In the midst of praise, a conversion takes place and your weakness becomes strength, your sorrow becomes joy, your turmoil becomes peace and your lack becomes more than enough. When you allow God to increase your capacity to love, it increases your capacity to praise—an increased capacity to praise, increases your capacity to become more like Him. The more you become like Him, the more you increase! Once you shift toward more, don’t look back—you are about to encounter your moment of release!
Journey Note
57 Today’s Gem
The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Too many of us have wimpy faith. When it comes to trusting God, we don’t put ourselves out there because we’re not really sure He’ll come through for us. Sis, if you live on low faith, it’s because you don’t spend enough time in God’s word. Do you want to grow your faith? If so, rearrange your priorities, take better control of your time and read the bible. His word strengthens you for tough times. Live in such a way that God has to come through for you—live by His word.
Journey Note
58Today’s Gem
God is not in the business of fulfilling dreams He didn’t give you. Psalms 37:4 declares, “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” This means that as you purpose to live a life that pleases God, God will then plant in your heart the things He has in store for you. Wow! What an awesome position to hold in the Kingdom—the more you please God the more purpose He unveils in your life. The more you allow Him to unveil, the more pleased He is…and it keeps going and going and going.
Journey Note
59Today’s Gem
Stop living beneath your privilege and begin living like the heir you are. Salvation comes with a benefits package. Psalm 103 declares, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities (that’s salvation from sin); who healeth all they diseases (that’s healing from sickness); who redeemeth thy life from destruction (that’s deliverance and protection); who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth they mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s (that’s preservation and wholeness).” Did you get it? We are saved, healed, delivered, protected, preserved, and whole—that’s your right. Now live like it.
Journey Note
60Today’s Gem
Somebody listening today has been hiding from God on the front line. You are on the front line of a war that has already been won on your behalf. But if you don’t respond to the call of God to come forth and come clean, you must face the consequence of that decision and you run the risk of being exposed. You can fool the people that you’re standing beside, but you can’t fool God. His love wants to heal you from that spirit of deception. Exodus 15:26 declares, “If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do what is right in His sight—and if you will listen and obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, He will not put on you none of the diseases brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you.” You can’t just be for Him with your mouth. God wants your mind, your heart and your lifestyle.
Journey Note
61 Today’s Gem
Joann Rosario has a song entitled “More, More, More” describing her hunger to receive more of God. Well, today, God is issuing an invitation to you to receive more. He wants to give you more love. 1 Corinthians 12:31 says “to earnestly desire the best gift. And yet I will still show you a more excellent way—the highest gift of all—which is love.” For when you walk in love, you are free to be who God says you are because it connects you to wholeness, which frees you to love others the way God loves you—unconditionally. John 3:16 says that “For God so loved the world that He gave…” Today, He is still giving and He wants to give you more.
Journey Note
62Today’s Gem
Looking at our circumstances without filtering what we see through the eyes of faith can cause us as women to be insecure. Of course it is very difficult to admit that we are not sure we can trust God to give us what we desire. In our minds, that admission is an indication to others that we are weak in our faith. God knows when our hearts ache for things that are precious to us. But He also knows that earthly things will not make us secure. Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them. Spend some quality time reading the Word of God aloud. For Romans 10 tells us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Speak the Word, woman of faith, and your vision will become clearer.
Journey Note
63 Today’s Gem
Sis, your season of lack is over. You are being positioned for multiple streams of wealth. I’m not just talking about money, either. Wealth includes relationships, peace of mind, unspeakable joy, divine health, emotional well-being and unshakable faith. Don’t worry about any deficits in these areas, they are simply distractions. God is ready to do in your life what people thought was impossible. Yes, it has been a season of
great testing—and now it’s your season to manifest great results. This place of wealth has been calling your name—respond today!
Journey Note
64Today’s Gem
Too often we cover who we are with what we do. We hide our weaknesses by learning to be something we are not. Are you living a lie trying to hide the real, true you? Do you hide behind the facade of a public image? If so, come out, come out—wherever you are! Come out from behind the veil of shame, and the cloak of guilt. You have not survived all that you have been through for it to end like this! Jesus is looking for that “little girl” who has learned to mask her pain with a smile. He wants to rescue you from drowning in the sea of “I can’t” and carry you to the safety of “I can do all through Christ who strengthens me.” Lazarus is not the only one who Jesus called forth! He is calling you back to life right now.
Journey Note
65 Today’s Gem
The place where the devil thought he destroyed you is the place where God starts to use you. God never calls you by your situation. He calls you by the promise and purpose attached to your life. If you hear someone calling you by your situation, then you know that is not God speaking to you. God looks at you and sees Himself! Consequently, God is trying to move you from where you are, to what He has for you. The pulling, the pushing, the stretching, the squeezing—that is God making you ready for what He already has ready for you. Today, God is separating your past from your present, and connecting your present to your future. Trust God! If you have made it this far, you can make it the rest of the way!
Journey Note
66 Today’s Gem
God still desires to know you! In spite of your past experiences, your present circumstances and your potential drama that is waiting in the wings for an opening, God wants to know you and He wants you to know Him. Satan’s first attack upon the human race was his sly effort to destroy Eve’s confidence in the kindness of God. The devil has continued to lie to Eve’s daughters. As a result, fear has often alienated women from the One who loves them as they need to be loved. Deep within a woman’s soul remains the longing for the gentle embrace of the God who is, not the God the enemy has deceived us into seeking. When you love someone, you give them your whole heart, the center of your being and the essence of who you are. God asks for no less. He is calling you today to slip under His wings of love and discover for yourself who He really is.
Journey Note
67 Today’s Gem
You are the apple of God’s eye! Daddy’s girl. With all of your issues—you are still loveable! With all of your hang-ups, you are already valuable! So from this point on, act like you deserve God’s best! Why? Because your Father is a King—that makes you a princess. Now, plan for your future—but enjoy your present. Value your intuition and wisdom. Develop healthy, supportive relationships. Make forgiveness a priority—please do this. Unforgiveness is holding up your destiny. I know you feel you have a right to hold on to it. But the reality is that unless you release the offense and trust God to help you forgive the offender—they are wounding you AGAIN!!! Receive this spirit of release today and let go of everything and everybody that stands between you and your Kingdom destiny. This is your season to reign, my sister! Not according to your plans, but scripted by God’s sovereignty!
Journey Note
68 Today’s Gem
The International Children’s Bible describes faith this way in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for. And faith means knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.” This childlike expression of such an abstract quality can become your daily reality as a woman of faith. Your hope cannot be put in some dreamed-up future that you have planned. Your hope must be in the God who knows your past, present and future, and who loves you enough to give you the best. Are you in a no-hope situation? I know you want to please God—therefore, reconsider your circumstances and realize that what seems like a hopeless situation is just the view from the other side of where God is about to take you.
Journey Note
69Today’s Gem
You are not a mistake! Yes, you make mistakes—but you are not a mistake. God does not make mistakes. In Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that He had made and behold, it was very good (suitable and pleasant) and He approved it completely.” Your life is a symphony with many different instruments such as pain, trouble, distress, tragedy, illness, loss and betrayal. The good news is, every symphony orchestra has a conductor to bring it all together to sound beautiful. So, to every “Queen” that is listening—Jesus is the conductor of the concert of your life, and although individually, each instrument may not be that appealing, the finished product is a masterpiece!
Journey Note
70 Today’s Gem
Get in touch with the Father’s heart. For therein lies the revelation of who you are in Christ and who Christ is in you. When you touch the Father’s heart, you find love, peace, joy, acceptance, affirmation and wholeness. When you touch the Father’s heart, you find power—not just a form of godliness. When you touch the Father’s heart you find hope, healing and happiness. When you touch the Father’s heart, you find that no one can love you like He can—for the love of God is the perfection of affection. Once you touch the Father’s heart, you’ll never settle for less than God’s best and like Stephanie Mills, you’ll be singing—“I Never Knew Love Like This Before!”
Journey Note
71Today’s Gem
Ladies, what do you do when your heart’s desire is not God’s will? Proverbs 3:5 tells us to lean on, trust in and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind, and do not rely on your own insight and understanding. When your heart’s desire conflicts with the Word of God—choose the Word! Don’t make a good choice—make a God choice. Hide the word in your heart so you won’t sin against God. The key to spiritual discipline is staying with what you know and not going with you feel. Pray and ask God to give you His heart—then you will know your motives are right in line with God’s purpose for your life. If you believe what you ask, you will respond like you have it.
Journey Note
72Today’s Gem
Patiently wait for the promise! Anything born too soon is premature and runs the risk of developmental disabilities. Premature birth has a tremendous expense attached to it. Likewise, when we push too soon in the things of God, we run the risk of experiencing complications that God never purposed for our lives. Are you driving your purpose or is purpose driving you? Hebrews 11:35–36 commands us to “not cast away our confidence, for it carries a great and glorious reward. For you have need of patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God—and thus receive and enjoy to the fullest—what is promised.”
Journey Note
73 Today’s Gem
Go on in the name of the Lord! Too often, we allow other people’s opinion—of us, about us, to us—to determine if we are going to obey God or not. Well, guess what? Go on whether they go with you or not. Go on, whether they affirm you or not. Go on, whether they agree with you or not. Choose to obey what God has declared about you! I know they can’t forget what they know about your past—but what you did is not who you are. Ephesians 1:6 says that “you are accepted in the beloved.” Girl, you’ve got it going on! Let the devil know from this day forward, it’s not your fault; it’s just your turn to walk in the favor of God. This is your season—in spite of what it looks like—by faith, believe that God is about to blow your mind right through here, right through here! Go on in the name of the Lord.
Journey Note
74 Today’s Gem
For the joy that is set before you—endure the cross! Jesus did in Hebrews 12:2 and now He is seated at the right hand of Father. Endure the discomfort of transition for it is a wisdom-gaining and maturing process. Endure the loneliness of being separated from the familiar—for God is stretching your capacity to receive more of Him. Endure the silence of having no one to talk to—God is teaching
you to hear His voice. The sooner you submit to your cross, the sooner you will be resurrected. Be encouraged Great Woman of God—for on the other side of this opposition is a tremendous opportunity that will change your life! It only takes one day for the seasons to change!