– Scripture:

                          Failure Is Needed

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now, I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations cut me down to size abuse, accidents, opposition, and bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

                                                2 Corinthians 12:9-10 MSG

 – Reflection:

Failure refines us. We mature through failures because we learn from them much more than successes. Through failures, our character is formed (Romans 5:3-5). No man can become who he’s supposed to be without experiencing some failure. Failure also fuels us or, instead, the potential for failure. While we may not like failure, we like to face its potential. We like to be tested. It’s why we like competition. It’s why we want risk. The excitement of uncertain outcomes often drives us to learn from failures and improve, hoping to avoid more. However, the potential for failure must be accurate. And when it is confirmed, we will sometimes fail.

Where do we go from here?

The danger is getting stuck in the shame of failure’s past, the fear of failure’s future, or maybe both. When we do, failure defeats us: we live dull lives devoid of daring. But we need not get stuck. We can, instead, reject the shame of failure and learn to deal with it by acknowledging fault, confessing and repenting if sin was involved, facing any consequences, allowing God to teach us what we need to learn, and then moving on. Are there any risks that you have thought about taking but haven’t? Write them down, pray over them, and ask GOD about the next steps.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, we all fail, and fail again even though we are never going to enjoy it I believe that we all know at some point something isn’t going to go our way. Thank you for being there to manage that space between the gap between Failure and Prosperity. It is because of you that we all can have something to look forward too. Amen.

– Scripture:

                Never Waste Anything

When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

                              John 6:12–13 MSG

– Reflection:

When Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand, it says He blessed and multiplied five loaves of bread and two fishes. Everyone had enough to eat, and there were still twelve baskets full of bread left over. That’s because we serve a God of abundance. Then Jesus told the disciples to collect all the leftovers so that nothing was wasted. With God, nothing is ever wasted. He’ll never waste an experience, never waste a hurt, never waste a dream, never destroy even a piece of bread. 

Where do we go from here?

If you’ve felt you’ve wasted years of your life in the wrong job, hanging around the bad people, or doing the wrong things, God will gather those years and restore them. He’ll take those experiences the enemy meant for your harm and turn them around for your good. Every scenario you’ve gone through has deposited something inside you. He’ll make you stronger, wiser, and better off than you were before. Be encouraged today because, with God, all things are possible! He is your provider, and nothing is ever wasted. 

Our Prayer for Today

Father, thank You for being able to take every bit of our lives, past, present, and future, and turn it around for our good. Thank You for having the power to bless and multiply so that we are better off than before. We know that with You, nothing is ever wasted. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

– Scripture:

                A Living Knowledge of God

The wolf will romp with the lamb, and the leopard sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them. Cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent. Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

                            Isaiah 11:6–9 MSG

– Reflection:

I think this passage will be for everyone, there should be something in here for everyone. Getting older and growing in wisdom and thought I now know a lot more about how the animal kingdom functions. A wolf would absolutely munch on the lamb, the leopard would inevitably snack on the goat, and the lion would surely make a meal of the calf. No parent would place their little child in the middle of all of these animals. As you get older you start to lose the hope and faith that all of these diverse creatures could live together in harmony. This passage is not about what would happen if all these animals and us were placed together in actual life. We all know that the predators of the group would kill everything that the ones bigger than them didn’t get.

Where do we go from here?

There are people in our lives who are wolves, who are goats, and who are lions. I think this passage is like a dream. A dream that all people, from all backgrounds and walks of life can truly live together in harmony have had. That is if they are of the Kingdom of GOD, that they can all exist in a state of content(togetherness). May we all work together to make this dream a reality. That every person has enough to live in love and acceptance of one another. Instead of choosing anger, choose love. Instead of choosing conflict, choose peace. May we all work to make this dream a reality.

Our Prayer for Today

Father thank you for allowing us to live in peace with one another with our differences. May we continue to look past conflict and look to peace in our communities, and the world. Amen.

 – Scripture:

                 Heart of Compassion

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

                                1 John 3:16-17 MSG

 – Reflection:

Thinking of of something that happened in the Bible that I read in Matthew 20 about two blind beggars crying out to Jesus to have mercy on them. It says that he stopped and called them, then healed them. Jesus always had time for people, never too busy for anyone or any problem; his compassion was immeasurable. He didn’t just hold everything to himself and walk around thinking of who he was and who his father was; he made a real change because of who he was. Not in name but by his actions. How many of us can say that at this time? This morning, as I write this message and reflection. I think of how it would have been to see him walking the streets helping people, and I know I would be right there with the man I am today.

Where do we go from here?

Make sure that you keep your heart open. We need to be willing to be interrupted and inconvenienced if it means we can help meet someone’s needs. Sometimes, if we would just take the time to listen to them, we could help initiate a healing process in his or her life. If you can open your heart of compassion and be that person’s friend without judging or condemning and simply have an ear to listen, you have the opportunity to make a difference in that person’s life. 

Our Prayer for Today

Father, thank you for giving us a heart of compassion for people in our communities. Thank you for being a light in my heart that burns for others to see and for allowing me to reach others in prayer and the sport of basketball. I know the work started small, and I can appreciate that because we will be able to reach more as we grow together. Thank you for honoring us all this morning. May everyone have a blessed day. Amen.