JOSHUA 1:9 &
2 CORINTHIANS 9:8
"This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
… Remember how I told myself I was never going back to Arkansas? It’s funny how God laughed at what I thought was best for me. Give and it shall be given to you. I gave God the glory through the good and bad times and He blessed me as He said He would. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. With no room to receive it.
Today I am a resident of the natural state serving as an athletic trainer for the University of Arkansas Little Rock. My comparable salary doubled and I hold not one degree, not two degrees, but three degrees after recently obtaining my second master’s degree from CALU. Not bad for a kid that started undergrad with a 1.5gpa. However, I can’t take the credit. Every time He delayed my dreams, He was protecting me. I was in the position I was because God ordered my steps. The jobs that I didn’t get weren’t meant for me. I was not rejected, I was redirected. My value did not decrease based upon someone’s inability to see my worth. The devil had peaked into my future and saw what God was about to bring me into and what I thought was going to break me, He used it for His glory.
Everyone’s acceptance is not a blessing. Not everyone is going to like you. You were not created to be liked by everyone. God already likes you and that supersedes it all. My identity is in Jesus Christ, the one that created me, and I was not going to allow anyone to validate who I am or what I am capable of. When people try and limit you remember they are attempting to limit God. And the God I serve is a limitless God. I know my worth because I am created and designed by Him. So I am not a mistake. His son died for me just so that I would be forgiven. He picked me to be his own so I am chosen. He redeemed me so I am wanted. He showed me grace just so that I could be saved. He has a future for me because He loves me. It is a trick of the enemy to think you’re always going to be in your current situation. That God has given up on you. Don’t give the devil power. Trouble doesn’t last always!
If it had not been for the grace of God, His mercy, I would not be where I am today, so I don’t deserve the credit nor the praise. For I am not lucky, I am loved. When they thought that I’d be weak He made me strong. I refuse to be defeated by the things around me regardless of what it may look like. I expect miracles because of God’s promises. Nonetheless, faith without works is dead. I saw miracles in my life. When God brought me out my lowest situation, I knew He not only could do it again but that He would.
If you believe in something long and hard. If you believe in something with all your heart. It shall come to pass. Think it into existence! Speak it into existence! Faith it into existence! I know through it all, my character, my integrity, my faith in God would not fail, it would not bend, it would not compromise because I speak life and prosperity. There is no other name that puts joy where there is pain. He will do it for you but first you got to know it’s by God. It’s by God’s grace. All things through Christ Jesus!
My courage and belief in His promises has allowed me to stay strong and move forward even when most would give up and surrender. My faith in Him is being sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see. If God be for you, who dare be against you? Don’t listen to all the accusing voices telling you what you are not. The beauty of God’s grace is that you do not have to be perfect because you are accepted and approved through your faith. Don’t try and prove to people who you are or convince them to believe in you. You have already been approved by God Himself.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Understanding God’s purpose for your life and being comfortable with who He made you to be is what brings true fulfillment. The beauty of our God is that He has given every one of us a specific gift and purpose.
I am a 2 Corinthians’ 9:8 believer that God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work.