Don’t Give Up! This amazing resource is filled with biblical truths, faith-filled declarations, and personal stories of God’s faithfulness – it will be an encouragement for you.
August 06, 2022 - Yankee Stadium
This August, COME HOME TO HOPE with Joel & Victoria at Yankee Stadium.
You will not want to miss this night filled with inspiring messages of God's promises and uplifting testimonies to give you new hope! Featuring worship with CeCe Winans, Tauren Wells and Lakewood Music.
Today's Word: Jul 01, 2022
After Peter and his companions had fished all night and caught nothing, he obeyed Jesus’ instructions to try again and caught so many fish that his nets began to break. Peter was a professional fisherman and had never caught so many fish that his nets began to break, and he had to call on another boat of companions to help him. He was astonished by it, awestruck by what followed his obedience to Jesus’ word.
You may have been working hard, doing the right thing, but you feel like you’ve caught nothing. There weren’t any fish out there the last time, but God controls the fish. He is saying, “Throw that net out one more time.” Start believing again, start dreaming again, start taking steps of faith. God is going to do things in your life that astonish you. It’s not going to be a normal catch, an average contract, an ordinary promotion. It’s going to be a net-breaking blessing—something unprecedented, favor so heavy that it starts to sink the boat.
Don’t get discouraged when people don’t believe in you and try to talk you out of it. It’s good to be underestimated. That means God is about to catapult you to new levels.
We hear a lot about blessing others--;being good to friends, complimenting a family member, helping a neighbor. That's all good, but it's also important to bless yourself. That can sound odd and self-centered, but the Scripture says, "He who invokes a blessing on himself shall do so by saying, 'May the God of truth bless me'" (Isaiah 65:16). The way you bless yourself is to say what God says about you. "I am strong. I am talented. I am forgiven. I am healthy. I am valuable. I am a masterpiece." Those are not just positive affirmations; you just invoked a blessing on yourself. When you speak it out, you give life to what you're saying. When you say, "I am blessed," blessings come looking for you. When you say, "I am prosperous," good breaks start tracking you down.
The Scripture says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words" (Proverbs 18:21). Whatever you're saying now, that fruit is growing. It's significant that God uses fruit as the example, because fruit doesn't develop overnight; it takes time. This is showing that you have to keep speaking it, keep blessing yourself. That freedom or health or talent or confidence you're declaring, it's growing. Don't be moved by what's not changing. Things are happening that you can't see. You're going to come to a point where you see what you've been saying. You're going to eat the fruit of your words.
That's why every day you need to spend time blessing yourself. It's good when others encourage you, but their words don't have the authority of your words. What you say about yourself, you're giving the right to come to pass. What if you took a couple of minutes every morning before you leave the house to say what God says about you? Make this declaration of faith: "I am blessed, I am prosperous, I am redeemed, forgiven, talented, creative, disciplined, focused, confident, secure, prepared, qualified, motivated, valuable, free, determined, equipped, empowered, anointed, accepted and approved. Not average, not mediocre, I am a child of the Most High God."
Life tries to push us down, to tell us what we're not, what we can't do, how we've failed. If you let those lies play, they will keep you from your purpose. But if you make this declaration several times a day, month after month, it will get down in your spirit and help you become who God created you to be. When you're constantly saying what God says about you, it will bring down strongholds that are keeping you back. You'll put your shoulders back, hold your head high, and go places that you've never dreamed.