Isaiah 43:2 says “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” You will have to control what comes into your mind. The enemy Satan is there to try to take you out and get you down in the dumps and hopeless. There is always hope with God. But you have to purpose to not think bad thought and dwell on problems of life. You have to think on what God has in store for you and the Hope that is in Him.  Deuteronomy 31:6 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Satan will put negative thoughts in your mind and get you to feel like giving up. God does not want you to give up. He is mighty to save and can get you out of the pit you are in. He has a plan for your life and will lift you up and out of your pit. Some bad things happen due to wrong choices but others you have no control over. regardless God cares for you and He will lift you up and make you victorious in Him.

In Genesis 28:15 it says ” I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Keep your mind on Jesus. He does not want you to try to get out of your pit alone. He is there to help you and be your friend when all your other friends have run out on you. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Psalm 147:3 reminds us “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Do not let the enemy lie to you and make you feel there is no hope for you.

When the storms of life are pressing in on you look to Jesus. Do not look to drugs or alcohol or run away and feel like this is it.  There is always a way out and up with God. Satan will be the one trying to get you to feel hopeless but God is the author of hope. Run to Him. He is mighty to save.

John 14:27 says “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Believe God and not the enemy. You are worthy and God is good and He has a plan for you.

PRAYER: Lord I know you care for me no matter what is going on in my life. I know Lord that your hand is on me and you are watching over me.Father help me as I struggle to get out of my pit to hang on to you. I reject the lies of the enemy. I am covered by the blood of Jesus. Thank you Lord for your promises to never leave me nor forsake me. I will put my hope in you and from this day forth reject the lies of the enemy who is out to take me down. In Jesus Name. Amen.

“good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over”

Jesus said:

Give and it will be given back to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. (Luke 6:38)

This is so plain and direct that we often are tempted to doubt that our Lord meant it. In a article in the Oprah Magazine  illustrates an example of someone who lived her life by this and other biblical principles. The article is an interview with Maya Angelou, a 72 year old woman who had overcome poverty, a broken home, childhood rape, single parenting, and the difficulties of being black in America to become a successful performer, author, and teacher. Oprah, who knows Ms. Angelou well, made the observation that “people flock to your home because of your generosity. Generosity must be a life principle for you.”
In response Ms. Angelou said: “Absolutely. I learned it by experience. When I was in my twenties I was so poor . If I had seven dollars, I would give a little more of it to the church than I could afford . I’d go to the store and buy two minute steaks with a lot of gristle. I wouldn’t eat my steak and Guy (her son) would say, ‘Ma, you’d better have some of your steak.’ I’d say, ‘No, you have that. I had something earlier.’ And he would inhale it. By nightfall, someone would phone and say, ‘Listen, I just stopped by the supermarket and I’m on my way past your house, and there was a sale on hamburger meat, so I picked some up for you and I will drop it off.’ All my life it has been that way.”
Then she went on to say, “If you have a napkin, you need another napkin to receive back all the blessings you’ll get. And you keep giving. Then you need a towel to receive all the gifts. And you continue to give, you finally have to move out to get a second house, and a third and so forth . It’s amazing. It’s a no-fail, incontrovertible reality; If you get, give. If you learn, teach. You can’t do anything with that except do it.”
This lady, in spite of her difficult situation, or maybe because of it, took Jesus at His word and He delivered. What about those of us who maybe have not had such a difficult life? Should we hoard the gifts that He has already given us through our seemingly more positive circumstances? It does not seem likely that this is God’s intention. It is more likely that we, in our abundance, should share all the more. We have already received much in this life.

Mother Gavrilia, an Orthodox nun (1897-1992) said that the reason there are poor people in the world, is so the wealthy will have an opportunity to give for their own salvation. Mother Gavrilia relates the following personal story that illustrates Luke 6:38 in action. It occurred in the 1950s when she worked in India prior to becoming a nun:

Ihad just finished working at a hospital where I had taught physiotherapy for a while. The people at this hospital were godless and very unkind. The day of my departure was very near, but I had no invitation yet from anywhere else. Nothing. They told me: ‘Your train leaves tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.’ So that was it! I took my small suitcase and one rupee (far less than one dollar) in my pocket,, I went to the railway station, which was also the terminus. From this point on I didn’t know where to go. Only God knew. So, I sat quietly in the waiting room. People moved about, walking in and out, and I waited to see whom God would send. In the meantime, two beggar boys came and I gave them the rupee to share between them. They took it and went away. Apparently, they told it to some other boys and, shortly, two more approached me. I had no money left, so I gave them a few candies I had in my pocket. Soon after, more children came. I had nothing to give them, but they would not believe me. So, to convince them, I turned my pockets inside out. And what do you think they did? They went away and climbed a mango tree and came back to offer me a beautiful mango! I took it and thanked them smiling, without saying a word. Now, what happened next? Everyone waiting at the station came to greet me, bowing to me in the Indian manner. Every single person. ‘What goes on here?’ I asked someone, and he answered, ‘In our religion, when a beggar gives you something, it means that God makes you a present and grants His blessing to you.’ You can understand how I felt. Well, after that, I just sat there and waited . And indeed, much later, a young Indian woman carrying a professional briefcase entered the waiting room. She came near and asked in English: ‘May I sit next to you?’ Now, as I have always had what is called ‘the dignity of the Christians’ – no one ever knew whether I was rich or poor. So, this lady sat next to me and asked again: ‘Where are you going?’ I said: ‘I have just finished my job at the Leprosy Hospital where I taught physiotherapy.’
‘And what are you going to do now?’ she went on. ‘And perhaps you are free? We would so much like . You know, we have a small hospital nearby and we would like to have someone teach’ . And I, who had nowhere to spend the night, was taken within one hour to my new destination and everything was fine! This is what God does! (from Nun Gravilia, The Ascetic of Love, Trans. Helen Anthony, Eptalofos SA, 1991)

Are you, like Maya Angelou was, an abused and poverty stricken young person? Or, have you been born into better circumstances such as a child of a wealthy businessman, like Mother Gravilia? Perhaps your life has parallels with one of them, but more than likely you have your own unique set of circumstances. These stories illustrate that it does not matter who you are, or what your circumstances. What matters is who the Lord is, and what you do with what the Lord has given you. God responds to those who remember that He is the source of everything that we have, and who share what He has given them with others – as these examples show!

Our ideas about prayer and God’s ideas about prayer are sometimes very different. Look at Jesus’ model for prayer offered in the Gospel of Luke

Luke 11:2-4
And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

Now let’s take a deeper look at Jesus’ model for prayer and see if we can learn something about the nature of prayer and the nature of the God who answers prayer:

Recognizing the Holy Nature of God
Notice here that Jesus begins by praising God and recognizing His holiness. He wants God’s will to be accomplished first, even before asking for anything for Himself. Now honestly, are your prayers like this? The Bible tells us that we must put God first if we want our prayers to be heard:

Ezekiel 14:3
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity Should I be consulted by them at all?

John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

We are called to abide in God first and to put aside all other idols in our lives before we come to our Holy Creator to ask Him for something. How often are we truly able to do this (how often do we even WANT to do this?)

Recognizing Our Desperate Need Related to Forgiveness
The last part of Jesus’ prayer is centered entirely on the truth about each of us as believers. Jesus recognizes our need for forgiveness and our need to forgive others. And more importantly, Jesus recognizes our natural fallen tendency to slip into sin and the need we have for God’s help in this area. Do your prayers recognize the reality of who you are? The Bible says that we must be honest about our sinful condition if we want our prayers to be heard

Isaiah 59:1-2
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Honest confession is often missing from our conversations with God, but the need for forgiveness was not omitted by the only perfect man who ever lived, Jesus Christ. If He is modeling this for us, it must be important to God. But more critically, our need to examine our fallen nature is important to us because it helps us to see God for who he really is (especially when compared to us!)

Recognizing the Simplicity of Our Material Need
And right in the middle of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus submits a simple request: “give us this day our daily bread”. Simple, immediate and humble. The request is focused more on our ‘needs’ rather than our ‘wants’, and it asks for no more than what is required in the ‘here and now’. Jesus asks for more than His own needs; His prayer is concerned with the needs that all of us have.

Proverbs 21:13
He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.

Are your prayers this humble and self-sacrificial? The Bible says that we must be concerned with the needs of others if we want our prayers to be heard.

So Why Doesn’t He Answer?
Now, even if you do pray the way that Jesus taught us to pray, you may sometimes feel like God hasn’t answered your prayer! That’s because most of us think that the only acceptable answer to prayer is “yes”. If you are a follower of Christ, you can have confidence that God will always say “yes” to your request for wisdom, forgiveness, or salvation.

James 1:5
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 10:13
for “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved”

But there may be times when God will say “no” or “not yet” to other kinds of requests. It’s not because He doesn’t love you or isn’t listening. Remember, God sees the end from the beginning:

Isaiah 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’

God has a complete understanding of what is good for us, even if it doesn’t make sense to us at the time:

Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Given this reality about the knowledge (omniscience) and kindness (omni-benevolence) of God, we are simply called to pray as Jesus taught us, expecting God to answer us:

Matthew 7:7-11
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

We are called to trust God, even when the answer to our prayer isn’t what we were hoping for:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful

There are many times when we don’t get what we ask for in prayer and then years later are glad that we didn’t get what we first wanted. Has that ever happened to you? As a parent, I’ve had the experience of having to say ‘no’ (or remain silent) to a request made by one of my children, even when I so desperately wanted to make my child happy in the short-term by simply saying ‘yes’. But I knew there was something more valuable in store if I could just help my son or daughter understand the value of waiting, or the danger of actually getting what they were asking for. In those situations, my kids needed to trust my wisdom even if they couldn’t understand my response at the time. I was confident that they would someday understand why I said ‘no’. In a similar way, we need to patiently accept whatever answer we get from God, knowing that we will someday understand why He responded the way He did.

Courtesy : pleaseconvinceme,com

Life is a series of problem-solving opportunities. The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you – depending on how you respond to them.

Unfortunately, most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.

Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you – Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.” Pr. 20:30 (GN)

2. God uses problems to INSPECT you – People are like teabags if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God ever tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you?

When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. (James 1:2-3, NCV)

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you – Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something – health, money, a relationship – by losing it.

It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws. (Ps. 119:71-72, LB)

4. God uses problems to PROTECT you – A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend of mine was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when his boss actions were uncovered.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good . (Gen. 50:20, NIV)

5. God uses problems to PERFECT you. – Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity.

We can rejoice when we run into problems they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. (Rom. 5:3-4, LB)

Here’s the point: God is at work in your life – even when you do not recognize it or understand it. But it’s much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him!

Source:CBN

Jesus said, “The things that are impossible for people to do are possible for God to do.” Luke 18:27 God’s Word Translation

And Jesus, having turned His eyes upon them and having considered them, said to them, In the presence of men, as men look at this, it is impossible. But in the presence of God, as He looks at this, all things are possible. Matt 19:26 Wuest Expanded Translation

Only faith is able to grasp the reality of the possible in the face of the impossible. Only faith has the power to move seemingly impossible mountains. Only faith has the ability to look directly at an impossible situation and know that it will change.

Abraham had a clear understanding of how impossible his situation was. Both he and Sarah were way past the age of bearing a child, but God had promised that they would. In Abraham’s heart, the reality of God’s promise was more real that the facts about their situation. He did not ignore the facts, but rather he considered the facts as temporary and God’s promise as permanent and real.

Only a heart filled with faith can face the impossible and still know that God can change it. Read how Abraham had sufficient faith to look directly at the impossible and yet be fully persuaded that God was able to perform what He had promised.

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Romans 4:17-21

Faith is not ignoring the problem. Faith is the tangible knowing that God is bigger than the problem, and that He is willing and able to help. Acknowledging the problem is the first step in obtaining faith. Faith has the courage to look at what currently is and still know what will be.

Faith ‘calls those things which be not as though they were’. This is the creative power of faith. It brings the power and presence of God into any situation. Denial, on the other hand, ‘calls those things which be as though they are not’. This is not creatively running to the issue with the power of God. This is running from the issue with the weakness of man. Run to the roar with the faith of God. He can change any situation.

How then do you receive this faith? By running to the Word of God, and by seeking Him till you get the answer. When faith comes, so comes the answer and the victory. The Bible says that, ‘Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the (spoken personal) word of God’. Seek Him till you hear Him. You are literally one hearing away from victory in any seemingly impossible situation.

Faith is the tangible knowing that God is bigger than the problem, and that He is willing and able to help.