cannyben

I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury…so that the work will not stop. Ezra 6:8 In the Scripture, a man named Zerubbabel was in charge of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem that had been destroyed years earlier. Everything was going fine until they laid the foundation, then the opposition came to the point where the king of Persia shut down the work. For several years, it looked as though the enemy had won. But when the king learned of the original decree to rebuild the temple, he not only approved the restart but he ordered funds from the royal treasury to pay the full construction costs. What the enemy meant for harm, God turned for good. We may have people and circumstances coming against us, but God knows how to cause it to backfire. God does work behind the scenes. People who were against us are suddenly going to be for us.

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 118:1 Today is a special day for us to give thanks to God for the good things He has done in our land, in our lives, and in the lives of our family members. When we take the time to pause and remember, we can see those times in our life when God brought us victory, brought us success. When we remember what God has said and give thanks to God for who He is and all that He has done, it will transform our lives. And let us remember that thanksgiving is an attitude of our heart. Living with an attitude of gratitude means we don’t just thank God for what He did in the past, we also thank Him for what He will do in the future. We thank Him for opening new doors, and for bringing the right people into our life. When we thank God in advance, that’s really a declaration of faith. Live every day with an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 We all have times when we feel like we’re surrounded by difficulties, surrounded by a sickness, or surrounded by debt. When we’re in a difficult time, the enemy will do a lot of talking. Don’t believe those lies. The enemy thinks he has you surrounded, but the Most High God has him surrounded. God knows every attack, every difficulty, every unfair situation that’s going to happen. When we feel like we’re surrounded, come back to the place of peace and say, “I know my God is still on the throne, and He is surrounding what’s surrounding me. He’s bigger than this opposition, greater than this sickness, and more powerful than these enemies. The forces for us are greater than the forces against us.