Proverbs 3 NIV

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.
My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"—when you now have it with you. Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you. Do not accuse a man for no reason— when he has done you no harm. Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways, for the LORD detests a perverse man but takes the upright into his confidence.

The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.

The wise inherit honor, but fools he holds up to shame.

Chosen By God 2

My parents took us to the lake when I was 3 for a family picnic. My mother, her sister and brother, and we three kids, were sitting in the shallow water, and they were taking pictures. When they had finished they left us sitting in the shallow water playing as they went back up the hill to the picnic table. When my mother got back up to the picnic table she turned around. She screamed when she saw only my hair floating on the water. My oldest brother, who was 6, grabbed me, and drug me out of the water, long before they got there. This was the first time he saved my life.

The second miracle in my life.

The Window Thru Which We Look

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry she would make the same comments.

A month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband; "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life... What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

TheRightTrackKC.org: T.D. Jakes Ministries/The Potter's House

TheRightTrackKC.org: T.D. Jakes Ministries/The Potter's House

T.D. Jakes Ministries/The Potter's House

We will always have seasons of struggles and testing. There are times when everything we attempt to do will seem to go wrong. The Lord has a purpose in not allowing us to be fruitful all the time. These periods destroy our pride in our own ability and reinforce our dependency on the sufficiency of our God. (Watch live service online all day Sunday and Bible Study Wednesday night)

Chosen By God 1

All who are called by God have a story to tell. Mine begins 15 months before I was born. My mother had her third boy, and the doctor told her if she had another baby it could kill her. He cut, buried, and stitched her tubes, instead of just tying them. (My father really wanted a girl) Can you imagine the surprise when she found out the tube grew back and she was pregnant?  She spent most of the pregnancy in bed or in the hospital, and remained in the hospital for weeks afterward. She came home to an 18 month old, a two 1/2 year old, and a constantly crying newborn. Did I mention I had "intestinal colic" and was constantly in pain? (My oldest brother lived only a few days.)

The first miracle in my life. I was born against all odds.

Bishop T.D. Jakes

Why does God take such a strong stance against worry? Because worry quietly eats away at your spiritual health until bitterness comes in & destroys your faith & optimism. Since we live by faith, worry chokes the very life out of us; leaving us asphyxiating on our problems & our pain. To God worry seems like a lack of confidence in Him. Trusting Him will always relieve such symptoms & bring peace.

T.D. Jakes Ministries/The Potter's House ‎[Repost]

Christ has given every one of us grace according to the measure of the gift of God. There’s a part of that gift in you and there’s a part of the God-given ability in you. All of us have a role for which we are responsible and with that role comes accountability.

God Will Be Done In Your Life

Believe God for Your situation, He orchestrates our lives, directs His plan, a complex undertaking, arranges the performance, writes the score, engineers the circumstances, directs the participants; masterminded it all so only His will would be done.

From the book, Biblical Principles for Christian Maturity

"Therefore, my beloved people, be steadfast, immovable, always overflowing in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord".

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine,

Living with Jesus, a new life divine.

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord I am thine.

Never a trial that He is not there,

Never a burden that He does not bear,

Never a sorrow that He does not share,

Moment by moment, I'm under His care.

Never a heartache and never a groan,

Never a teardrop and never a moan;

Never a danger, but there on the throne,

Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

Moment by moment I'm kept in His love,

Moment by moment I've life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord I am thine.

From the book, Biblical Principles for Christian Maturity
John H. Stoll, Th.M., Ph.D

Being Transformed - Bishop T.D. Jakes

Only when we are weary from trying to unlock our own resources do we come to the Lord, receive Him, and allow Him to release in us the power to become whatever we need to be. Actually, isn't that what we want to know - our purpose?

Then we can use the power to become who we really are. Life has chiseled many of us into mere fragments of who we were meant to be. To all who receive Him, Christ gives the power to slip out of who they were forced into being, so they can transform into the individual they each were created to be.

Stand Up!

Grace is what brought you to the cross, amazing grace, and it is grace that will sustain you. You do not need to worry about feeling like you do not deserve anything from God. You don't and I don't. That's a snare; we have all fallen, but the Word says now we stand. Stand up against the wiles of the devil. God gets no glory in your misery, your defeat, your complaining, your hopeless feelings. He is all you need to be an overcomer. Bishop T.D. Jakes

No Complaints, Only Praise

Through years and tears and adapting to the trials and difficulties of life, you must come to the point where you make up you mind if He does not change the circumstances in your life you are still going to praise Him.

What you will find is when you get to that place, He will then move in your life because you have matured enought to realize that God is worthy regardless of all the things He does for you. It is at that point that God can move in your situation because you have grown up and stopped complaining. - Bishop T. D. Jakes

July Adventures

Bishop T.D. Jakes

You will be blessed as you look back at all the prayers you laid on the altar, seasoned with His Word and waited for God to answer completely. Encouragement will come from occasionally looking back and being reminded that as you prayed He was answering. God is a prayer-answering God!

Bishop T.D. Jakes

Surround yourself with those who won't compete with you, but see your ascent as a reflection of their own possibilities. Don't forget that success is not just cash or degrees, it is living out your life's purpose. It is being all you can be. Bishop Jakes

Don't give up on yourself!

People who allow themselves to change are free. As a result their lives are fuller and richer. If you wake up most mornings miserable, make a decision to change your life. You may be moody or even insecure during this process. These feelings are often prevalent when you tread new territory. In time, you'll be confident with the new you! Don't give up on yourself!  Bishop T.D Jakes

Plato Quote

Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. PLATO

T.D. Jakes Ministries/The Potter's House

Often we don't give ourselves permission to succeed. Nor do we appreciate people who look like us and are successful. Surround yourself with those who won't compete with you but will revel in your success and somehow see your ascent as a reflection of their own possibilities. Don't forget that success is not just cash in the bank or degrees on the wall; it is living out of your life's purpose.

The most dangerous thing that can happen is to become imprisoned by emotions. You cannot place yourself in solitary confinement. Even when you feel you don't have anyone who is sensitive to your heart's cry, you must cry out to God because Jesus is your only answer. Open your heart so God can get down into your wounded spirit and heal you. Bishop Jakes

Prayer

“Lord, teach me to live within Your boundary lines for me. Help me to use Your authority within those boundaries. I pray that You would break through any restrictions that the enemy has put upon my life. I thank You that he will not damage my inheritance. You will help me to reach my full potential in You. The enemy will not limit my vision and all that You have planned for me. Help me to stretch beyond my limitations to the boundary you have set for me. ‘I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me’ (Philippians 3:12). I choose to press through in prayer and become all that You have designed me for. I partner with You with my dreams and the desires of my heart. I refuse to let the devil squeeze me into a narrow place but I stretch forth my stakes, pushing to the limits (Isaiah 54:2). I repent of believing the lies of the devil (name any lies you have been believing). I shake off any negative feelings of hopelessness or insecurity (Isaiah 52:2). Help me to speak out Your Words of truth and worship You daily. Help me to obey You completely. I claim Your promise in Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’ Thank you for the freedom I have in You. In Jesus name, Amen.”