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Friday 06/03/2022
Dr. Billy L. Bell
Grace morning on this festive and fresh Friday.
In the scripture Jacob was known for being dishonest, cheating people. His name means trickster, con man. He lived up to it: he tricked his brother out of his birthright, went around deceiving people. After living this way for years, he had an encounter with God, he wrestled with an angel, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. His new name means “Prince with God”, his old name meant “Deceiver”. He spent the rest of his life dealing with these two names. Jacob had a new beginning. But the scripture goes back and forth between Jacob and Israel, one moment he’s Jacob, in the same passage the next moment he’s Israel. God was showing us that the old man, the carnal desires won’t totally go away. There’s a Jacob in all of us, there are things that can hold us back. The good news is: there’s an Israel in all of us, there’s a prince in you, there’s a forgiving, righteous, favored, strong, world changer in you.
“The things that you want to do as a weak person are opposite to the things that God's Spirit wants. The things that God's Spirit wants are the opposite of what we want as weak people. Our own thoughts fight against what God's Spirit wants us to do. As a result, you are not free to do the things that you really want to do.”
Galatians 5:17 EEB
Live, love,and laugh your way through this favored and fantabulous Friday!
Grace morning on this triumphant and tranquil Tuesday.Sometimes you have to go through the pain to get to the purpose, through the weeping to get to the joy, through the struggle to get to the abundance. If you keep being faithful, and you’re going to see what God’s been working on for generations, you’re going to come into houses that you didn’t build, vineyards that you didn’t plant, promotion you didn’t deserve, mercy when you should have received judgement. But God doesn’t judge the way we judge. We look at people how they are, but God sees what they can become. We see the dirt, God sees the treasure. We see the mess, God sees the miracle. No matter how many mistakes you’ve made, how many failures, how many times we’ve blown it, God is full of mercy, he still has a purpose for your life. God never consults your past to determine your future. What you’ve done in the past does not stop what God has planned for your future. “Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me. If you do that, you will find a place to rest.”Matthew 11:28 EEBLive, love and laugh your way through this thankful Tuesday!
Grace morning on this meaningful and magnificent Monday.We all go through disappointments and things we don’t understand, we make mistakes and bring trouble on ourselves, and we don’t see how we accomplish our dreams now. We feel like we’re in captivity, we’ve had these bad breaks. That bad break can’t stop you, how you were raised, even the mistake you made, that didn’t catch God off guard. He knew about it. He’s already taken it into account. That’s why we can stay in peace. That’s why we can sleep well at night. You’re not doing life on your own. You’re a part of much bigger plan, that God has purposed things for you that he started generations ago. Now, thoughts will whisper, “It’s nothing special about you. You’re not important. You’re just one of the 7 billion people on the earth”. No, God chose you to be here. He has an assignment for your life. You need to feel this sense of destiny, this sense of purpose. Your life matters. There’s something significant for you. “You are the one who decides what will happen to me in my whole life. Save me from the power of my enemies and from the people who want to catch me.”Psalms 31:15 EEBLive, love, and laugh your way through this marvelous Monday!
Grace morning on this serene and seismic Sunday.It’s easy to worry about tomorrow, and how is everything going to work out, “I’m concerned about my children, my job. I have this problem at work”. The uncertainty can bring anxiety, where we live stressed and uptight. We look at things on the short term, but God’s been working on you for generations. He didn’t just start when you got here. Long before you were born he has lined up what you need, arranging things to fall into place so you can fulfill your purpose and assignment. God is way ahead of you. Before your father and mother even knew each other, God was working on your behalf, generations back, bringing everything into alignment, the right people, good breaks, solutions to problems, mercy for mistakes, grace for grief.It’s already planned out. While many things that happened may have been a surprise to you, they were not at all to God. He knew exactly what trials and tribulations you were going to face. God had it already planned out before it began. “God is able to make all things happen just like he decides. He chose us to be his own people, because we are united with Christ. In the beginning, God had already decided that this was his purpose.”Ephesians 1:11 EEBLive, love, and laugh your way through this superb and super-satisfying Sunday!
Grace morning on this incredible and indescribable SaturdayGod doesn’t send the difficulties, but He will use anything that comes into our lives. In those dark places is where you really grow, where your character is developed. When you trust God and lean on him, your spiritual muscles get stronger. In the dark places, you pray more, draw closer to God, get quiet and listen to what He’s saying. In those dark places, you reevaluate your priorities, spend time with your family, have a new appreciation for what God has given you. You may not realize it, but in the dark places you’re being blessed. There is something that is happening on the inside; it’s helping you to realign your vision. When you go through enough dark places, you don’t complain about small things.You’re not offended because a coworker was rude to you. You’ve been through too much to let that sour you. Don’t complain about the dark times; there are blessings in the dark places. God knows how to use affliction for your advantage. “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.”Psalm 4:1 KJVLive, love, and laugh your way through this sensational Saturday!
Grace morning on this fresh and festive Friday.Life is filled, flooded and fixed with situations that we don’t understand. The company was downsizing and you got laid off, a friend walked out of a relationship, now you’re having to start all over. All of us at some time will go through dark places: a loss, sickness, divorce, child that broke your heart. It’s easy to get discouraged, give up on your dreams and just settle there, but God uses the dark places; they are all a part of His divine plan. Think of your dark place as a seed; a seed cannot germinate in the light. As long as the seed stays up on a shelf, it will never become what it was created to be. A seed has to be in the soil, in the dark place, so that what’s on the inside will come to life. In the same way, there are seeds in you: dreams, goals, talent, potential, that will only come to light in a dark place. “In Egypt the chains on his feet hurt him. He had a heavy piece of iron round his neck.”Psalms 105:18 EEBLive, love, and laugh your way through this fantablous Friday!
Grace morning on this tranquil and thankful Thursday.God will always have the right voices, voices that will keep you from making a mistake, voices to warn you, voices to encourage you, voices to push you into your destiny. But you have to be discerning: is this a voice I should be listening to? Is this voice telling me to get revenge, to gossip, to slack off? Or is it a voice that’s keeping me from a wrong choice, a voice is calling me up higher, a voice telling me what I can become? The enemy knows, if he can get in your ear, if he can deceive you into listening to wrong voices, then he can keep you from your destiny. If you’re not disciplined to tune out the wrong voices, then you’ll start making wrong choices. Pay attention to what you’re giving your attention to, who you’re allowing to influence you. When those thoughts come telling you what you can’t do, doubt, insecurity, lack, not enough – consider the source. Where are they coming from? ““Saul answered David, You can’t go and fight this Philistine. You’re too young and inexperienced—and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born.””1 Samuel 17:33 MSGLive, love, and laugh your way through this tremendous and triumphant Thursday!
Grace morning on this wonderful and winsome Wednesday.In life, you have to be careful of people that try to stir you up. Should be a red flag when someone comes and starts pointing out all the things that are wrong, blowing things out of proportion, knocking your balls, telling you what’s wrong with your life. Don’t take that bait. They’re so in discord, they’re trying to poison your spirit. That’s someone that wants to get you bent out of shape. They’re quick to give you advice. You have to consider the source. Do they have integrity? Are they a person of good character? Is there advice something you should take? There can be many different opinions, even things that on the surface seem right, looks like a good suggestion, but you need to ask God for discernment, because every good thing is not a God thing. Every piece of advice is not for you. And they can be good people, they have good intentions, but what they’re telling you may not be God’s plan for your life. “Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.”James 1:12 MSGLive, love, and laugh your way through this winning Wednesday!
Grace morning on this tranquil and thankful Tuesday.God will not speak to other people about your life without speaking to you. Even friends that love you, family members that want you to succeed, sometimes they don’t know the right thing. They’ll give you advice that’s not the best. In the Old Testament God spoke to the people through the prophets. They were dependent on certain people, the ones God had chosen to speak to them. But when Jesus died, we came out from under the old covenant into a better covenant. In this new covenant we don’t have to go to people to see what God says, the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of each one of us. He’s called your counselor, your guide, your advisor. He’ll give you advice. He’ll help you make the right choices. It’s not that God is not speaking to us, it’s that we’re so busy listening to others. You have to get rid of the wrong voices, then you’ll hear the right voices.“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help.”James 1:5 MSGLive, love, and laugh your way through this triumphant Tuesday!
Grace morning on this marvelous and meaningful Monday.It’s so important who you’re taking advice from. We all have people that are influencing us, people that are in our ears. The question is: are they the right people? It would be best if you didn’t take advice from everyone. You must look at their track record: and ask yourself, where are they in life? Have they made good decisions? Do they honor God? Do they have your best interests at heart? If you have the wrong voices, you will make bad choices. If you hang around friends that compromise and co-workers who gossip, those wrong voices will keep you from your potential. Pay attention to who you’re taking advice from. Some people have an opinion about everything; they’re quick to tell you how to run your life. Before you take that advice, you should consider the source. Do they have credibility? Do they have good character and integrity? Are they a person of excellence? Be very selective, and pay attention to who you’re giving credibility to. “Let my cry come right into your presence, God; provide me with the insight that comes only from your word.”Psalms 119:169 MSGLive, love, and laugh your way through this magnificent Monday!
Grace morning on this serene and satisfying Sunday.In the dark times, when life feels unfair, you have to remind yourself that God is still in control, and He doesn’t always show you what He’s up to. We all go through times that we don’t understand. We’re praying and believing, but our health isn’t improving, our finances haven’t turned around, like it’s never going to change; it’s a night season. In these nights seasons, you can’t see what God is doing; it doesn’t look like anything is happening, but God is working behind the scenes. He does His greatest work in the dark. He doesn’t always show you what He’s up to. it’s easy to trust Him when you’re getting good breaks, things are going great, but you have to learn to trust Him in the night seasons, when things aren’t going your way. When we are in difficult circumstances, sometimes it’s hard to see the hand of God working directly in your life. God works “behind the scenes,” unseen by most but there nonetheless. “God is a strong place for us, where he will keep us safe. He will always help us when troubles come.”Psalms 46:1 EEBLive, love, and laugh your way through this sufficient and splendid Sunday!