Category Archives: Inspiration

God At The Center

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“Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.” James 5:13 NIV

Dissecting the Scripture

When we suffer hardships, we are afflicted by our circumstances. Affliction is broad and covers all trials, circumstances, and situations. The answer to affliction is prayer.

Biblically, happiness is the state of joy, the absence of anxiety and fear that tears at your soul. Singing praise is a form of thanking God. Praise is appropriate when you are happy, not fearful, anxious or depressed. Praise is a state of joy, not earthy joy, but joy in your soul. Praise is also appropriate when you are struggling. In those moments it is important to become laser focused on something that is working in your life no matter how small or transitory. When you praise God for that small thing, He offers a place of calmness and peace.

Prayer and praise are forms of connection to peace. We find peace when we are connected to our Lord. God’s ears are always inclined to our cries, our shouts of praise, and joy. Our relationship with Him can overcome the afflictions of this world if we pray. We must focus on Him and not our circumstances to allow His peace to enter our souls, where we can rest in the comfort of His arms.

“pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:17-18‬ ‭https://bible.com/bible/59/1th.5.17-18.ESV

Our Lord is all truth and the truth is, God loves us and is in the center of our prayers and our praise. He is at the center of our life. Once we accept His place in our lives and we accept being dependent upon Him, our life begins to change and we begin to pray and praise as part of who we are, children of God. Praise God for being our father.

To quote John McArthur (biblereasons.com): “The more you focus on yourself, the more distracted you will be from the proper path. The more you know Him and commune with Him, the more the Spirit will make you like Him. The more you are like Him, the better you will understand His utter sufficiency for all of life’s difficulties.”

The only way we can reach God is through prayer, praise and worship. And, when we do so, we find God in the center of our lives orchestrating our path according to His will and His way. The path will not be smooth, but more like a dirt road with crooks, crannies, pot holes and mounds. However, with GOD at the center we can continue to move forward. Prayer and praise are the resources we need to strengthen our relationship with the Lord and rely on His truth that will set us free.

Scripture: Bible.com

Image: KCIS 630 Radio, Google Images; Biblestudytools.com

Is It Enough to Rejoice and Be Glad?

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We know so many partial scriptures and tend to recite them in daily conversations, but part is never the whole. Let’s dig deeper into Psalm 118.

Top-Bibleverses.com

We will begin with Verse 1, “Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, because His mercy endures forever.” ‭Psalms‬ ‭118:1‬ ‭MEV‬‬ https://bible.com Each morning we are to give thanks, why, because the Lord’s mercy endures forever. That means everyday until the end of time.

Seedsfamilyworship.com

There is so much to unpack in this scripture, it would become a thesis, so let’s focus on verses 1, 24, 27, 28, and 29 today.

“This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Palm 1818:24. It is the day the Lord has made and, yes – we are to rejoice in it. But as we read further we find that Paul is encouraging Christ’s followers to thank God for this day and rejoice in it. You see it doesn’t matter what you have lived through. It doesn’t matter who you were before Christ entered into your life. It doesn’t matter the crowd you followed, all that matters is that you are now a child of God and should be thankful for all of His blessings.

Verse 27 stresses that God is Lord, and He has given us “light”. Christ is the light. His light is nestled inside us and radiates out to those around us. The light much like a beacon, is a guiding light drawing in the lost bringing them closer to our Lord. They poise the question, what is it about you that makes you different? Our acts should represent the same characteristics as Christ. Our behavior should emulate His. Our language and disposition should reflect what we are told in Galatians 6. We should walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We should demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in our walk, and it begins with recognition of the new day as a gift from God.

Verse 27: AlivetoGod.com

Being like means that on dismal days, do we present a grey attitude or do we rejoice in the day? This day too was created by our Lord and we should rejoice. Often, I find myself complaining and have to reflect restructure my thinking to rejoice in the day, Why? It is simple, He loves me, woke me up, and gave me new mercies. I should be glad in it and rejoice. My focus should be on the things above and not on the earth which is full of sin. If I reflect on the things of this earth, it changes my inner atmosphere by giving over to the present evils.

When we look at the news, do we grumble and sink into the malaise of the day, or do we focus on the Lord? Do we get lost in the thoughts of negativity, or do we, instead, rejoice in the fact that no matter what is going on around us, our Lord is still King and remains on the throne? Do we praise Him for who He is, or cower down to the evil, consumed by what we see, experience, or feel?

Verses 28 and 29 refocuses our thoughts on our purpose. We are to continually give praise and thanks for the day, knowing that in the best of moments and the bleakest, God is still in control.

“You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.” Psalms‬ ‭118:28-29‬ ‭MEV‬‬ https://bible.com

When digging deeper we see we are blessed to awake to a new day. We are to give thanks, rejoice, and be glad (grateful). We are to recognize who God is in our life and behave in a way pleasing to Him. We are to look for God in all things and reflect on them and not what we lies before us. The Lord is the lamp that guides us through this life. We are nestled in His love and His mercy endures forever.

9News Nigeria. 9newsng.org

When Prayers Go Up, Blessings Come Down

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This is a call for continuous prayer throughout this school year. Our children go to school every day and the parents wonder, are they going to be safe. Being safe was not a daily consideration earlier in the decade or in times past, but now it seems people are intent on harming and killing children in schools. We all need to pray for school safety this year.

Dear Lord,

We are praying that you keep all school children and schools under your protection this year. Don’t let any hurt, harm, or danger affect them. We know you are our refuge, our shield, and our strength and our ever-present help in times of trouble. We come to you know in prayer, asking for your blessings.

Please protect our children, and allow them to remain children with gleeful eyes, always questioning and believing the best about people. We know you can turn anything around, and we pray that if it is within your will, let no instances of school shootings occur this year. We praise you for who you are. We thank you for a violence free school year. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. (L. Blair)

God, thank you for being a mighty warrior and a strong protector. You call us to stand firm, not in our own strength and might, but in Yours. Your power has no end and your authority demands even the demons to obey Your will. Help us, O God, to rely on your matchless power to stand firm. Grant us victory rooted in Jesus. (Paraphrased, City Life Church, Standing Firm In The Faith, August 15, 2022)

No Selfish Ambition or Vain Conceit

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As Christians we* should always be alert. Selfish ambition and vain conceit are traps. ~ Lisa Blair

When we focus on others and not ourselves, we are the servants Christ encourages us to be.

The world promotes ‘it’s about you’ in every arena. Everywhere you look the focus is on the individual. The Internet is replete with Instagrams, TikTok, Facebook and many more. We have been indoctrinated by the evil ones ploy to separate us from God pushing the ‘me first’ philosophy.

K-Love, Susie Kalous, Pinterest

God is all knowing and alerts us of the ploy of self righteousness and vain conceit through the inspired writings of Apostle Paul, the author of Philippians 2:3-4. I am inserting various versions to clarify, evil is always lurking and we must stay alert and dedicate our lives to making the world a better place by living like Christ.

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/116/php.2.3-4.NLT

“Let nothing be done out of strife or conceit, but in humility let each esteem the other better than himself. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:3-4‬ ‭MEV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/1171/php.2.3-4.MEV

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/114/php.2.3-4.NKJV

Each version is clear – like Christ, we should esteem ourselves as servants. Servitude in this instance is not waiting for instruction by the world, it is knowing that we were created to build our personal and public lives with humility. We don’t have to daily announce our greatness or victories. We possess greatness and victories as part of our DNA.

Our DNA proves we are part of the bloodline of Christ, part of the Trinity. Our DNA began before the beginning of time, before God created the earth and everything on it, including us.

Jeremiah 1:5 and Ephesians 1:3-6 informs us that God made us and therefore knew us before we were born.

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart…”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.1.5.NLT

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love; He predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:3-6‬ ‭MEV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/1171/eph.1.3-6.MEV

* When I use the plural, we, I always include me. My posts are not written excluding me from the discussion. I am also struggling to live life exuding Christlike behaviors, by applying His attitude as Christians. It is not always an easy path, we are in the battle of good and evil and often find ourselves lured by the bright lights of this world. The scriptures in the Bible is the only thing that can point us to Christ, especially in our weaker moments. The Holy Spirit is the only person that can redirect us, though our Christian friends, as the scripture informs, can pull us aside and talk truth without offense-in short help set us back on the path.

Remember, we are not our own.

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.6.19.NLT

In closing, please know that every time I think about you (my readers), I thank God for you. God knew us before we were born and knows the challenges that lie before us. I pray that He keeps you covered and places a hedge of protection around you.

RePost: Overcoming Insecurities, Next Steps, 2017

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This post is as relevant today as it was in 2017 or eons earlier. Most of us find ourselves questioning our worth, purpose, and abilities off and on throughout life.

Google Images. Kabir Singh

At times it can be overwhelming when you are pursuing God’s plan for your life. When God reveals His plan to you, it is usually beyond your current skill set or ability. It can also be beyond your level of education and outside of your financial budget. It will stretch you and challenge you to come out of your comfort zone and start becoming the person God desires for you to be.

Cloud of Fear and Insecurity. Pixabay.com

Sometimes this can leave us in a state of insecurity, as we have a tendency to feel small compared to the BIG plan that God has shown us. Yes, it can seem overwhelming at times, but you must understand and know that it’s not impossible and is in God’s Will for your life.

The key to overcoming your insecurities is to start trusting in God’s ability and not your feelings. When God called Gideon to raise up an army to defeat the enemy, Gideon was overwhelmed with feelings of insecurity. He thought for sure how could he be the one to do such a great thing. He came up with every excuse possible that stemmed from his own insecurity. I’m too poor. I’m too weak.

God didn’t leave Gideon in a state of insecurity and he won’t leave you there either. As you learn to trust in His Word and apply it to your life, you will begin to gain a level of confidence and courage that overrides any feelings of insecurity.

Remember that nothing great or extraordinary happens in your comfort zone. This means that you will have to break out of any insecurity mind-sets that you may have and start seeing yourself as God sees you. God sees you and a victor. He sees you as an overcomer. He sees you as a mighty person who is going to accomplish great things in life.

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Bible Verses to help overcome insecurity: Philippians 4: 6-7, Romans 5:1–2, 1 John 4:18, Matthew 6:25, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Romans 8:1–2, John 14:27, Ephesians 6: 10–14, Romans 12:2, 1 Samuel 16:7, 1 Timothy 6:17, Matthew 6:31-34, 1Peter 5:8, 1 John 2:15, Hebrews 4:12, Galatians 5:22–25, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Hebrews 11:1–40, Hebrews 12:1–29, 2 Timothy 2:1–26, 2 Peter 2:1–3:18

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Overcome insecurity-Christian Women Faith. By Whitney Hopler, Crosswalk.com, 10/31/17

7 Bible Verses to Help Overcome Insecurity. http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com. 10/31/17

Bible Verses About Insecurity. Bible study tools.com. 2/23/2021

Overcoming insecurity. Open Bible.info. 8/18/2022

The Bible solution for insecurity by Barbara Raveling. Barbraveling.com. Posted 9/23,2012

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Heart Surgery

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It’s amazing, man took eons to learn how to heal a heart, a physical transition from illness to becoming healthy. But, there are two types of heart surgery. ~ Lisa Blair

The heart surgery in Ezekiel 36:26 ESV is speaking about a spiritual heart surgery. This is not specific to a physical failure of the heart, the muscle is fine, it is speaking about our transition from our old way of living to our new life. Ezekiel was a priest and prophet in the Old Testament who foretold the coming of Christ. Barnes’ Notes informs us that we (individuals) would move from the letter of the law to the spirit of the law, or to put it another way, we will move from the Old Testament Law to the Gospel of Christ. For new Bible readers, we moved from the Law of Moses to the Law of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary explains, our new heart creates a change in mind and will. It changes our spirit, our motives and principle of action. He further explains, a“stony heart—(is) unimpressible in serious things; like the “stony ground” (Mt 13:5, 20), unfit for receiving the good seed so as to bring forth fruit.

“(A) heart of flesh—(is) not “carnal” in opposition to “spiritual”; but impressible and docile, fit for receiving the good seed. In Eze 18:31 they are commanded, “Make you a new heart, and a new spirit.” Here God says, “A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Thus the responsibility of man, and the sovereign grace of God, are shown to be coexistent. Man cannot make himself a new heart unless God gives it (Php 2:12, 13).”

Spiritual heart surgery opens our hearts allowing the Holy Spirit and the individual (you) to live in relationship, to coexist together in our physical being. Our heart becomes a new house, it becomes a home. As with any home, there is family and a head of the family. Our head is the Holy Spirit who guides us, directs us, and corrects us. It is the quiet voice that we here saying, go this way, do not stray, do not go to the left or right, follow me.

Wiirocku.tumblr.com

Other Posts on this subject. lisasdailyinspirations.com

*The Trinity. May 30, 2019. https://lisasdailyinspirations.com/2019/05/30/the-trinity/

*Transforming Into the New You. March 1, 2021 https://lisasdailyinspirations.com/2021/03/01/transforming-into-the-new-you/

*Let the Spirit Lead. June 29, 2018. https://lisasdailyinspirations.com/tag/holy-spirit/

*Romans 8:9 The Holy Spirit Lives in Us. https://lisasdailyinspirations.com/2018/08/31/romans-89-the-holy-spirit-lives-in-us/

Images – Brady Gibson, YouVersion.Bible.com, Ezekiel 36:26. Isaiah 30:21, wiirocku.tumblr.com

Resource – Biblehub.com/commentary/Ezekiel 36:26, specifically Barnes Notes on the Bible and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary.