When we look at the story of the rebuilding of the wall, we see that the Israelites were full of fatigue & frustration. Many times our biggest battles have nothing to do with the size of the battle but the state of our hearts. The root of our discouragement is the fear of failure. Nehemiah 4:10 says, "Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall." The Israelites believed that failure was inevitable & it affected their attitude & perspective. How we handle failure in our lives is vital to our future success. When you fail, do you blame others or have a pity party? We need to fail forward by learning from our mistakes & problems. They are only temporary, success is in your future! The #1 issue that causes discouragement is fear. Nehemiah 4:11-12 states, " 11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." Fear produces anxiety, fatigue, frustration & a sense of impending failure. You'll notice in the story that their was a group that came & spread fear to the workers. They were negative people. Negative people & negative speech will always keep you from the promises of God because it takes away your faith. You may need to choose some new friends today! Make a decision right now that you are not going to be full of fear because of your current circumstance. The Message paraphrase of Romans 8:15-17, "This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!" Be encouraged!
Today I read a great devotional from Joel Osteen Ministries that I thought would be an encouragement to you. To often we settle for mediocrity & second best in our lives. Many times I trust God for so little when He really wants to bless me big! I want to challenge you today to remember that God can do more in & through your life than what your currently believing for! Take a step & believe big today! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21, NKJ) TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria God wants to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ever ask, think, or imagine. In another place, it says that no person has ever seen, heard, or even imagined the wonderful things that God has in store for those who love the Lord. But notice that it's according