There is a subject God has continually talked to me about throughout the month of December…the subject is, a strong spirit.

After weeks of God speaking to me about building a strong spirit within me, it seemed everywhere I turned someone was saying something about a strong spirit.

Recently, I heard Kenneth Copeland say, “a strong spirit makes a way for God to move. If you are talking doubt and unbelief, it shuts the door.”
A strong spirit makes a way for God to move…it makes a way.

But, if you begin to speak doubt and unbelief, which are indicators of a weak spirit, you close that door.

That statement alone should give us the desire for a strong spirit.

Proverbs 18:14 in the Amplified version says; The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear?

To sustain means to bear, to uphold, to keep from falling, to keep alive.

In other words, a strong spirit will cause you to stand firm in faith regardless of what is going on around you.

Why is that important? The Bible says a man that wavers will receive nothing from the Lord. Which tells me, if I refuse to waver, I will receive what I have asked of the Lord.

Hebrews 3:14 tells us that we will partake of all Christ died to give us if we do one thing; if we trust God and His word steadfast to the end.
If you have a strong spirit, you won’t begin to waver when time passes without seeing your answer manifest. Nothing will move you. You will continue to stand firm on His word knowing that He is God and He does NOT lie. You will continue to call Him faithful, even while you wait.

That’s the truth about a strong spirit, but what about a weak spirit. How do you know if your spirit is weak?

You have a weak spirit if you constantly feel overwhelmed.

Proverbs 24:10 says; if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

God never meant for adversity to destroy us, actually, He gave us all we would ever need to triumph over adversity. However, to gain victory over adversity, our spirit must become strong and remain strong.

Are you feeling weary and anxious? These too are signs of a weak spirit.

Galatians 6:9 says; Let us not become weary in well doing, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not faint.
If you are reading this and feel your spirit is not as strong as it should be, don’t be discouraged, you can begin this very day to strengthen your spirit.

It begins with the word of God.

If you want a strong spirit, you MUST read the word of God daily. Every single day. His word is our MANNA. In the Old Testament, God sent daily manna. We too, must eat of this bread, the word of the living God, daily. This will keep our spirit strong.

Many people survive by listening to teaching sermons. I love to listen to teaching, I think it is great. But it’s not the only thing we need.
I recently heard a minister say listening to sermons was the same as taking a supplement, while reading the word of God for yourself, is your true nourishment. I believe this to be truth.

Don’t allow someone else’s messages to be your only source of the word of God. You must read the word for yourself. Daily. If you want a strong spirit, that is.

This same minister went on to say if you want to develop a strong spirit begin by reading ten chapters of the Bible daily.

Now I know what some of you are thinking… “TEN CHAPTERS, who has time for that?!”

One day, I wanted to see exactly how long it would take to read ten chapters. So, I sat down and read ten chapters, it took me about 40 minutes. That is a small price to pay for a strong spirit. In less than an hour a day, you can develop a strong spirit.

As I shared this week – it’s time for us to live a victorious life – let’s begin today by developing a strong spirit. Strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Meditate on this:
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. Ephesians 3:16

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21

Over the weekend I was thinking about biblical declarations and the power of our words. I simply could not get Proverbs 18:21 off my mind.
Most of us are very familiar with this popular scripture. Many of us realize the importance of the words that come out of our mouth.
However, as I pondered on this scripture, the Lord gave me new insight that I want to share with you today.

As I stated above, Proverbs 18:21 says; Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
As I read those words over the weekend, the word that jumped out at me was power.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

I decided to look up that word and find the meaning. I fully expected it to be dunamis which is one of the more popular words for power in the Bible.

However, I found the word for power in this scripture is YAD. It means strength, power, repetition, and axle. Ahhh…interesting

An axle is a piece of iron, fitted for insertion in the hobs or naves of wheels, on which the wheels turn.

The power in our words is defined as the piece of iron on which everything else turns.

Isn’t that interesting? Our words cause everything else in our life to turn in a particular direction. All motion begins with our words. Just as it did in the book of Genesis with God’s words.

Are there things in your life that feel stuck? What are you speaking over those situations?

Are there things in your life that are not going the way you want them to go? What are you speaking over them?

It has been my experience in ministry that many people will begin speaking the right thing but then as time passes and they become weary, their words change.

Can you imagine a wheel going down the road, gaining momentum and then something happens that damages the axle or the axle comes off? Suddenly there is no movement, everything comes to a screeching halt. No more movement. No more momentum.

This is what happens when we begin speaking the word of God in faith. Our wheels of destiny begin to turn and turn. As we declare the word of God, our words are moving us toward our desired end result. However, if mid-way our words change and we begin to murmur and complain and speak the opposite of what we want to see, it stops our wheel from turning. We have no more movement, no more momentum. Our axle is now broken. When our axle is broken, we can no longer move. Why? Because the power is in our tongue – our words.

James 1:26 says; If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

In the Amplified Bible, James 3:4-5 says; Likewise, look at the ships: though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!

Our tongue has the power, the axle, the strength, to create or to burn down. The choice is up to us entirely.

I pray you think about that truth for the next few days and become aware of what is coming out of your mouth. Use your power for good. Use the power of your words to create and build up, not to burn up or tear down.

On a final note, if you recall, one meaning of the word, power, in the verse in Proverbs was repetition. Speak God’s word over your situation, over and over again, until it is so ingrained in you that you can’t imagine the outcome being any other way.

Friends, there is great power in what comes out of your mouth. The power is within you, waiting to come out of your mouth. Use that power for your advantage, not your destruction.

Meditate on this:
Surely, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply you. Hebrews 6:14

A victorious life, it’s what we all strive for.

Over the weekend an email from a partner came to mind as I was thinking about victorious living.

Nothing blesses me more than hearing that our readers have been blessed or their lives have been changed by one of our writings. That’s why we do what we do, to bless others and to hopefully add something to the lives of those who read our writings.

I want to share a portion of her email with you today…

After reading your devotion this morning I wanted to let you know one of the ways that your ministry has impacted my life. About 8 or 9 years ago in one of your devotions, you challenged readers to start the first 30 minutes of their day spending time praising God for a 30-day period. I believe that this challenge was given during the holiday season. I was delighted to take up the challenge. I decided to spend the first 15 minutes of my day in meditation and then the second 15 minutes in worship. I decided that this would be a lifestyle change and I have continued doing this from that time on. It has changed slightly because about a year ago I purchased a journal that I call my thanksgiving journal. So now when I wake up I spend the first 15 minutes with God in meditation praying but mostly listening. Then I write down 3 things that I am thankful for. Then I praise and worship. I have you to thank for this. That 30-day challenge became a lifestyle change that has caused me to live the victorious life. I know that walking through the challenge with my sister and the many other challenges in my life with a piece and assurance has been because of the morning lifestyle that I have chosen.

“This 30-day challenge became a lifestyle change that has caused me to live the victorious life.”

I love that!

If you believed that thirty minutes a day could be life changing, would you make the change?

If you felt you could do a couple things that would empower you to live a victorious life, would you take the time to do those things?

Would you make the changes and discipline yourself enough to follow through until you saw the results you wanted?

I think this time of year is a perfect time to ask these kind of questions, don’t you? It’s a great time to evaluate your life. To see where changes need to be made. And to make them.

I read dozens of emails a day from people who want things to get better in their life, sadly, many of them will not make the changes necessary to bring forth that change.

It takes effort, consistency and determination to make lifestyle changes, especially life-changing ones.

We are again at the time of year this reader made those vital changes. Most people are so busy they cannot fathom carving thirty minutes a day out of their life. It seems impossible. Yet this small adjustment took her to a place of victorious living.

Over the weekend I read an article online about anointed men and women of God who have world changing ministries. One minister pointed out that each of them were willing to pay the price to carry the anointing they possessed. He went on to say that most people, not all, but many people today are not willing to pay the price to carry that type of anointing. Sadly, it is true.

While we all want victory and breakthrough and prosperity, not all are willing to pay the price. We tell ourselves that Jesus paid the price for it all, and that is true. However, to activate that truth in our life there are some things we must do as well.

If we want to receive, we must FIRST give. If we want to reap, we must first sow. It is the principal of God. This not only applies to finances but to every area of life. If you want a powerful spiritual life you must sow to the spirit. Consistently and continually. Then and only then will you partake of a victorious life.

I don’t know who said the victorious life is easy, it is not. It takes determination and discipline. For this very reason Jesus called the twelve, His disciples. A disciple is defined in the Webster’s 1828 dictionary as; a follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another.

If you are going to walk like Jesus walked you must follow His ways, and His words. There is no other way. Perhaps today you would like to consider taking thirty minutes a day and spending that time with God. Perhaps it could become a lifestyle change for you and perhaps, it will lead you to the victorious life as well.

There is no time like the present to make a lifestyle change. Begin your walk into a victorious life today.

Meditate on this:
And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4

When I awoke this morning, the first words I heard were…blessed to be a blessing.
In Genesis 12:2, God told Abraham that He was going to bless him abundantly. He went on to say that Abraham would, in turn, be a blessing to others.

I love how the Amplified Bible says it.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].

I love that! Dispensing good to others.

This is the most wonderful time of the year – however, I think it should not only be a day or month of celebration, but a lifestyle. Celebrating Jesus! Celebrating what He did for us at the cross. A time to thank God that He loved us so much He sent His precious Son to redeem us.
Yet, in the world we live in, this is the month we celebrate these things most.

I wrote last week about being a light. One way to be a light is to be a blessing.

Today, I want you to think about the people who have been a blessing in your life this past year. Those who have been there when you needed a friend. The one who listened to your story over and again because you needed to talk it out. The one you turned to when you needed encouragement…that one. Now, bless them.

Yes, you may have to go out of your way, it may take time and effort. Still…bless them. Call them on the phone and tell them how much it meant to you.

Or, find out what they like and buy them a gift. Wrap it up. Mail it to them. Let it be a surprise blessing.

It doesn’t have to be a huge thing – just a heart thing.

I have been looking through my house lately, decluttering. In doing so, I have come across some of my favorite gifts. Things friends have sent as surprises that I treasure. Vintage pinecone ornaments, which I LOVE. A Willow Tree praying figurine. A handmade afghan. These were all gifts from the heart, and I treasure them.

I am thankful they thought of me. Each time I see them, I pray blessings over that person.

If we are not careful, this time of year can become very self-centered. God didn’t bless us because it is all about us – He blessed us to be a blessing to others.

I am challenging you today – pray and ask God to show you someone whom you can be a blessing to and then bless them. Bless them really good.

Blessed to be a blessing…those are the words God spoke to me. Today, I am going to keep my ears and eyes open…and ask God to show me people whom I can be a blessing to. I am going to pray about who I can send a gift to, someone that won’t be expecting it. Perhaps someone who will be alone on Christmas morning.

One thing Breanne and I have done for many years is make cookies, fudge and other goodies and take them around to people who have been a blessing to us through the year. It doesn’t take a lot of money, just time. And the looks on their faces are worth it.

What you do for other doesn’t have to be big – just from the heart…

Remember Jesus said…what you do for the least of these you do for Me. One way we can celebrate Christ is to be a blessing to others. We are blessed to be a blessing…lets be that blessing today.

Meditate on this:
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Today I want to share a word with you that I read by Nate & Christy Johnston. I found it encouraging, I hope you will too. – Kim

I have been sensing from the Holy Spirit that the next few weeks carry strategic keys that will unlock surprising doors of destiny that you will open and walk through. Keep your eyes open for these keys, for I heard the Holy Spirit say that they will come in dreams, visions and unexpected words in the next few weeks- even from unsuspecting passers-by. Listen attentively to His voice when He speaks and then write down what He shows you, for they are keys that will unlock these doors of destiny in the coming year. You will need to have a record of them for a reason.

In a vision I saw an hourglass running out of sand and the last speck of sand that fell through aligned with the next six weeks. Throughout December and at the beginning of January, I believe there are significant answers awaiting many who have been waiting endlessly for things to shift in order for them to move forward. This season is coming to a close, the winds of heaven are blowing in the new direction for what the Father is about to pour out upon your life and across the earth.

In what a dear friend of mine called ‘the global migration of the church,’ God has been strategically aligning His people into physical moves, as well as spiritual ones. For some, they have crossed over into their transition, but for others, they are still awaiting their moment to move. I hear the Father saying, “you haven’t been forgotten. Hold on, you are moving out of the old, it’s time to embrace the new. I am releasing strategy keys to you over the coming days and weeks. Suddenly, the answer will come. Suddenly, you will cross into what I have promised. But it won’t look like what you expected, it will be better.”

I feel it is important to keep hearts open to last minute and unexpected changes of plans. I see blueprints of destiny being dropped into laps that were not the plans you had been expecting… but they far outweighed the initial designs.

I keep hearing in my spirit, “turn-key” surprises. Blueprints that you didn’t plan for, that you thought you would have to work hard for, but the Lord is saying, this year has been a year of preparation for what’s to come. You won’t have to start all over again like you thought, you will walk into that which has been fully prepared for you ahead of time. I keep hearing the questions, “won’t I have to plough the soil afresh?” I hear the Lord saying to you… “I have ploughed the soil for you ahead of time, what you have toiled long and hard for in the past season, you are going to reap in sudden harvest in the next.”

Like a turn-key home that has every provision ready and waiting, there are doors of provision, destiny, influence and strategy that you are about to walk into. Simply keep on the path of faithfulness that you are walking, do not give up, lose sight or lose hope. Listen for the keys of strategy that the Lord is going to release to you in the coming weeks, and then when He says “go!” Follow!
This next season is not going to look like you imagined, it’s going to be better.

Meditate on this: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. … Isaiah 60

I love the Christmas season! I always have. One of the reasons has always been because it has a different atmosphere…you could almost feel love in the air.

I don’t know if it’s because of all the chaos and division in our world today – but I must say, I have not felt that same atmosphere this year.
It seems everywhere I go people are rushing, stressed and ready to plow over anyone that gets in their way. Impatience is evident. Where did the love go? What happened to the joy of the season?

While it is sad to me, I refuse to allow it to remain in my space, in my atmosphere.

Jesus said in Matthew 5; You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

We are the light in this dark world. At least, we are supposed to be the light.

We should act different. We should act different because we are different on the inside. The King of Glory lives in us. God dwells in us. Love is poured into us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We should not be walking around annoyed and stressed. We are the LIGHT.

There is no better time than today to let your light shine. There will never be another moment exactly like this one – use that moment to let your light shine before men. Take a moment and do good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Don’t allow this time and season to stress you. That only happens when we make it about something it’s not. It’s not about rushing around. It’s not about going into debt to purchase gifts that won’t even be remembered in six months. It’s about Jesus! It’s a celebration of Him. It’s a celebration of love!

God so loved you and I that He sent forth His only Son…that’s what Christmas is all about.

So, take a deep breath. Breath deeply. Let His love wash over you. Let His peace reign in you.

It’s Christmas! Let’s celebrate Jesus! Let’s be the light of God where there is darkness. Let’s be the peace in the midst of chaos.

You may not have the ability to change the entire world, but you do have the power to change your world. You do have the anointing to shift the atmosphere around you.

You can be a light. You can do good deeds and glorify your Father. There are things you can do to make the lives of those around you better. It starts with you being at peace. When you are at peace, you can bring them into peace.

Today, choose peace. Choose love. Choose patience. Choose to keep this season about Jesus. In doing so, you choose to be the light.

Meditate on this:
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

This year I have faithfully prayed for the prosperity and increase of our partners. It’s my heart’s desire to see each one of our faithful partners prosper this year and continue to increase each year.

I was thinking about this today when God reminded me of something He told me to do in 2017.

I was praying about prosperity for our partners when He gave me instruction. He told me to send out a writing each week on sowing and reaping. I ask for God to prosper our partners and He, in turn, told me to write about giving.

It is the way of God.

That year I was diligent to write as God had instructed…until I missed a week. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I walked through my house when the Lord arrested me and said; “you haven’t written on sowing and reaping this week.” Just as He said those words to me, I received an email from Kelita.

She was sharing a story with me from a friend of hers. It was about a group of lepers in India. They were in church one night and God told the minister something that forever changed him. God said, ‘I want to bless the lepers, ask them to give an offering.’

That would be like me going to the local homeless shelter and taking up an offering. It would seem to be a ridiculous thing to do. Frankly it would appear cruel, knowing they don’t have a home, how could they possibly give an offering? Yet it is the principle of God.

Luke 6:38 says; Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

We use this scripture all the time in offerings at church. But that is with people who can afford to give, right? However, the ONLY way to get out of debt and lack or to experience increase in your finances is to do it God’s way.

Proverbs 11:24-25 says; There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.

This reminds me of a woman who started giving to our ministry several years ago. She mailed in coins, dimes and nickels. She said she hated to send the small amount, but God told her to and He would bless her. Now, that same woman sends in an offering of $100 each month. God HAS blessed her, and it came through her giving.

Proverbs 22:9 says; He who is generous will be blessed.

The partner I am speaking of was as generous as she could be at the time. Now she is experiencing the continual blessings of God. But it all started with her giving what she could at the time.

Her sacrificial offering may be different from yours. It’s different for all of us. She is living proof that you can come out of lack, if you do it God’s way.

Deuteronomy 15:10 says; Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Repeatedly we see the blessing of God comes through our giving. It is God’s way of blessing us…it is HIS principle.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says; Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

The thing that jumps out at me today in this scripture is…as he has purposed in His heart. Giving and tithing is a heart issue, it always has been.
I want to end this writing with the outcome of the lepers.

They did take up an offering from those lepers. From their heart after God, they gave their best. In a short period of time, the Lord gave them a piece of property where they could live in peace…not only live in peace but He prospered them greatly and continually.

You see, God had said, “I want to bless the lepers, receive an offering.” They gave and He blessed, just as He promises throughout the word.
This is His principal. It was then and it is now. He still blesses our giving today. I have seen it over and over in my own life. May we all have a heart to hear God and to give as He leads us to…in doing so, we will be blessed, it’s His promise, it is, after all, the ways of God.

Meditate on this:
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops. Proverbs 3:9

I was preparing breakfast, while listening to preaching. All of a sudden, the man of God said something that captured my attention.
He said, “many of you are one declaration away from breakthrough.”

If we are going to see breakthrough, declaring God’s word and promises are a must.

Think about it, God created everything we see by declaring it to be so. It is the Kingdom way. If we are going to see Kingdom promises manifest, we must do the same thing.

I have not seen a year like this before. In recent years, by November 1st prophetic people are declaring words for the following year – they have already moved out of the present year.

That has always bugged me. I have felt God is not through with this year yet. He can do more in a moment than I can do in a year. But this year has been different. Most prophetic voices are in the NOW, at least the ones I have read lately. And they are all saying the same thing…Finish this year STRONG!

The Bible says by the mouth of two or three witnesses, it shall be established.

I have heard this same prophetic word from more than three sources, therefore, according to the word of God it is established.

I love it! I agree with it. And I want to see it happen for me, my family and every single partner of this ministry. Daily I am praying for a strong finish for you – I pray you are in agreement with me.

What if that minister was speaking about you? What if you are one declaration away from breakthrough?

Job 22:28 says; You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.

The Amplified Bible says it like this; You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And the light [of God’s favor] will shine upon your ways.

What have you decided? Do you believe God is still working in your life this year? Do you believe you will see the goodness of God in for yourself and your family, this year? If you have decided, have you decreed it?

Friends, I urge you to press into God this month. Don’t let go of the promise He has given you. Press in to see His favor poured out in your life. God truly can do more in a moment than we can do in a year. He created the entire world in just a few days – He can do the same in your life.

Perhaps you are one, or two, or ten, declarations away from breakthrough. Perhaps I am too. Only one thing to do…continue declaring and decreeing His word and His promises. We could only be one word away…declare that word today! And have faith. God is faithful. If He said it, He will do it.

I will leave you with Numbers 23:19; God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

In Him, all the promises of God are yes and amen.

Meditate on this:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:35-38

I love this time of year! My mind is continually on the birth of Christ. In thinking about this wonderful season, I began to think about Mary.
Her faith in God inspires me.

An angel of the Lord appeared to this young woman and told her she would give birth to a son. A young woman who had never been with a man. In the earth, this was absolutely impossible. There was just no way it could happen. That must have gone through Mary’s mind. But that is not what came out of her mouth.

She simply said, “Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

What she was literally saying is this; “I am the servant of the Lord…whatever you say is what I will do. I have no doubt.”

What faith Mary displayed that day! She took God at His word and never doubted it would come to pass.

With each passing day His promise became more evident. She became more expectant. His promise was growing in her day after day.

Mary is a prototype of how it should be when God gives us a promise. Sadly, this isn’t always the case.

Often a person will receive a promise, with each passing day they begin to become discouraged because they haven’t seen the promise fulfilled yet. Yet that promise remains true.

When a woman is pregnant, it becomes more and more evident that she is EXPECTING. So, it should be with us.

When God gives us a promise, it should become more and more evident that we are expecting that promise to come to fruition with each passing day.
I know that is not easy to do, but as the angel of the Lord said, “with God NOTHING is impossible.”

I don’t know what promise God has given you, but I do know this. God does not lie. He is faithful. If He said it, He will bring it to pass. And nothing is impossible.

It’s time to allow our expectation to show. It’s time to help it grow by spending time with God and in His word daily. Don’t allow unbelief or discouragement to overshadow you. Allow only the Holy Spirit and the word of God to overshadow you. His word will not fail.

Remember Isaiah 55:11; So, My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

If God has given you a word, it will accomplish exactly what He said it would. Expect it! Have the God kind of faith, as Mary did. Take Him at His word. His word will not fail. Neither will He.

Meditate on this:
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

This is, of course, one of my favorite scriptures! It’s the foundational scripture for our ministry. Perhaps that’s why the note on the donation caught my attention.

I was scrolling through my emails when one of the daily donations caught my eye. The note attached to the donation said, I’m sowing this seed for streams in the desert.

Even as I read the note, I could sense the full impact of the words I was reading.

Streams in the desert. To me, that means a watering of the dry places. I, if not anyone else, needed to read those words that day.

I thought back to a couple months ago. In our area, we had not had rain for a few months. The ground was hard and dry. The grass was brittle when you stepped on it. Everything looked dead and lifeless.

Sometimes that is how life feels. Even for those of us who are walking with God and trusting in His word.

We all face dry seasons. Seasons where we feel everything around us is hard and lifeless. But that is just a feeling, it is not truth.

I remember a quote I once heard from a movie. It said, “It’s not my feelings that hold me steady in life…” This is so true. We cannot be led by our feelings – we must continue to be led by peace and the word of God. His word and His faithfulness will lead us out of every dark place, into a place of rich fulfillment. We have His promise on that.

As I re-read the note on the donation – I began to meditate on this scripture.

God will make a way in the wilderness. What does that mean to you? To me, it means He will make a way where there seems to be no way. Not only will He make a way, but as we know from scripture, Jesus is the way.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6

Jesus is the way out. Jesus is the only truth, not our feelings. And all life is ultimately found in Him alone.

God will make streams in the desert. Are you feeling dry? Stop. Close your eyes and imagine a stream of cool, flowing water. How would it feel to lie down in that stream and allow the water to wash over you – bringing life where there has been dryness? Pretty good, I imagine!

That’s what His word does in our dry seasons – it washes over us, bringing life and refreshing in times of drought.

There is one more portion of this scripture I want to point out.

Now it shall spring forth. NOW. Now it shall spring forth. No more delays. No more waiting. Now it is happening. God is doing a new thing and it is happening now. I love that!

Friend, if you find yourself in a dry land today – begin to pray this scripture over your life. Begin to declare that God is making a way in your wilderness. Declare He is bringing you out into an abundant place. Begin to declare that streams of living water are flowing through the dry places in your life. Declare it! Believe it! Receive it!

I am thankful to the partner who put that short note on her donation – it has reminded me that we serve a life-giving God who rains on our parched places. Today, I am praying this scripture. Today, I am sowing a seed for streams in the desert. Today, I am declaring His word of truth over my life…and over yours. May His blessings continually rain upon every area of your life.