TallyBlogs

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians‬ ‭4:6‬ ‭ Do you ever feel like your prayer goes without any notice from God? No matter how much you pray for something you don’t get an answer. We all go through seasons of God being silent and lately I have had one of those. I pray all throughout my day just talking to God as I’m doing things, but it’s like if I ask God about this one situation I am dealing with He goes silent. Today as I was in prayer and reading the Bible, I came across a verse that said “you won’t know the day or the hour.” I knew it was for me. I don’t need to know when He will fix my problems, when He will come through for me, or when He will answer me, all that truly matters is that I have faith and know that He will. Faith is not thinking God can, it’s knowing He can and will. Whatever you’re praying over that makes you feel like God won’t answer you, maybe it’s not meant to know ...

“Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭33‬ ‭ Have you ever been around someone that makes you feel like you have to water yourself down to be around them? Do you have to hide your true feelings, beliefs, and thoughts because of what they would think or say about it? That person isn’t meant to be in your life. It hurts to hear but it’s the truth. The people God has chosen to be a part of your life might not always agree with your belief but they will agree to disagree. They wouldn’t judge you for thinking the way that you do. They will instead say, I don’t think like that but that is me. The people you surround yourself with are important. It oftentimes shows people who you are by those around you and how they act.  Next time you feel like you’re having to be less of “you” around someone be yourself and see how they react, and that will show you if they’re truly meant to be in your life. Your belief is importa...

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭ Living a life that is pleasing to Christ is the best life we could ever live. Often times when we choose to live a life for Christ and pleasing to Him alone, others don’t understand and judge us for it. I grew up a Christian and lived a Christian life and was judged many times. Living life the way God wants will not always make those around you happy, but it will be a reward from God for the way you live and the example you give to others. Your life should be an example of how Jesus truly is. I’ve always been a forgiving person, even when people truly hurt me. I use to be made fun of for being that way, but eventually, I didn’t let it bother me. I let people hurt me over and over again and still chose to be kind and forgive. I know you must be wondering why, and the truth is because that is exactly what Jesus has done to me. ...

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭14‬ Do you ever look in the mirror and all you see are your imperfections? Things you’re insecure about that you constantly can’t see a way to look past them. I do it myself at times. It’s hard not to be in this cruel world. People point out things about you that aren’t good enough instead of uplifting you about the things that are. My favorite time of the day is looking at the sunset and how beautifully God made it. As I looked at a sunset the other day God gave me a revelation to it, He said “you see how beautiful that sunset is? I made it just the same way I created you. I look at you just as beautiful as you are.” Really think about that for a second! He created the most beautiful things we see in this world and thought they were just as beautiful as you are. If He wanted you to create a different way He would’ve done so. Don’t let the standards of the world change yo...

“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.” Ecclesiastes‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬ ‭ If we spend our entire lives searching for something better than the things we already have then we will do nothing but waste our time. If I’ve learned one thing it’s the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. We think people who have more money than we do are happier, but the truth is we don’t have to make millions to be happy. Being rich isn’t what makes anyone happy, Christ is the true joy in our hearts! We aren’t rich if we count ourselves rich by the amount of money we have, instead we are rich in the amount of blessings we have. If we always dream of nice things instead of the things we do have we are just chasing the wind. Life is so much more than material things. The best things in life aren’t seen, instead they are felt. Next time you feel as though someone has more than you, never judge a book by its cover. You n...

“God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭ So many times in life we feel like we can’t pursue our own ministries because we think others will judge us. We have to remember that God didn’t call them to do your ministry, He called you to do it! If He had wanted them to do it He would’ve called them. You are just as qualified as anyone else is for their own ministry. See God doesn’t call people that are qualified, He just equips us to do good work. God doesn’t look at our mistakes or our bad habits, He knew everything you’ve ever done before He called you, yet He still called you. He isn’t worried about what you’ve done in the past, He knows that you can teach someone how to get through all the things you’ve been through. Your past is your past and you cannot change it but, your future is something you can change! You can start today walking on the path that God has called you to! Your ministry isn’t about what anyone else thinks but only wh...

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭ Have you ever noticed we pray more during the difficult times in life rather than the good times in life? When we go through a valley we pray a lot because we lean on God for strength, joy, and a breakthrough. When things are going good in life oftentimes we forget Him. It shouldn’t be that way, it should be that we pray, worship, and read our Bible no matter how life is going. You can’t pray only in the storm and forget God when it passes. I use to be really scared of storms, living in the south we have tornadoes a good bit. During a storm, I would pray more than I did any other time. Although I was afraid and it was okay to come to God with my fear, I shouldn’t have let that be the most I prayed during those times. I later life learned that during a storm shouldn’t be the most I prayed, but rather when everything in my life is going good. As ...

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”Romans‬ ‭3:23‬  ‭We always think we have to come to God as people who are perfect. The truth is we can come as we all with all of our baggage, sins, and troubles, and He will love us and welcome us with open arms anyways. See we always think God is expecting us to be fixed from all things but the truth is He wants us to come to Him and let Him show us what to change. God isn't expecting perfect, if He was then why would He have sent Jesus the only perfect person to ever live. We are all human, and the Bible teaches that we all fall short of His glory. We are human, which means we will make mistakes and will sin. The truth is we will never be perfect, but we are forgiven. We are under God's grace. God doesn't think of us as people with human logic do, He doesn't hold a grudge about the things we have done, He looks at us with forgiveness. Today, surrender to God's mercy and go to Him with all you...

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” James‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬ ‭ How we handle circumstances shows our character in God. If we handle things out of anger it makes them more difficult, but a soft answer calms it. If we look at things in a positive aspect things go positive rather than looking at them negatively and getting a negative outcome. The way we should handle things is out of love, faith, patience, compassion, and joy. The world will teach us to be quickly angered but the Bible teaches us to be slow to anger. Things are always going to test our patience but we should cling to God knowing He is our ultimate source of strength and joy. When life tests you, don’t let your emotions get the best of you! The enemy tries to get us to handle things the opposite way than we should. Handling things calmly will be hard at first but the more you do it the easier it gets. If you take time to ask God before you react to ...

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭14‬ ‭ Have you ever been praying for a word from God and it feels like He is silent when you need the word the most? I went through this recently, and it felt like God wouldn't answer me no matter what I said. I learned in that time that sometimes God answers our prayers and sometimes He doesn’t because the truth is told that we don’t always need to know the whole story at the time that we want to. If we knew everything that was happening and going to happen then where would faith grow? Why would we need faith? Faith is found in the waiting, just by not knowing. In those moments where it feels like you can’t see what’s next know God is already there and has it all figured out! There is hope in your waiting. God already knew you’d feel disappointed that you can’t seem to get an answer, but He also knew the solution and will bring it to pass. We never go through a season of waiting...

“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭16‬ ‭ Today’s world teaches us to be insecure about our weight, height, acne, the way we dress, do our makeup, talk, and even live our lives. The thing we forget is none of those things matter in the end, what we are truly worth is not defined by any of those things. Our worth is found in God, not in man or any material thing. If God created us from dust then how could something that was created the same way as we were worth more than what we are? Our personality is what shines bright, when we work at having a relationship with God the fruits of our spirits grow, and we begin to see more of God shine out through us. If you meet someone and you can just see the light of God shining from them doesn’t it make you think they’re amazing and want to be around them more? I know it does me! The fruit that we bare through Chris...

““What do you mean, ‘If I can’t?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.””Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭23‬  ‭We all have been in a place where we didn’t get the report we wanted, heartbroken, tired, in need of a job, need extra money for groceries, can’t pay the bills, need to fix our vehicle, or even just in a time where nothing seems to look good ahead of us. Those are the times when God works at His very best. He takes the things that we look at from our human point of view and see no hope and turns them around in an instant! God works in ways that we couldn’t even see possible. Look at David who went up against Goliath, a giant. We must stand up to our problems and say, “I have the God who works with the impossible inside of me!” See David didn’t look at Goliath and think he was going to lose the battle, he looked at Goliath and knew this was an easy battle because of the One who lived inside of him! This is about daily spiritual battles, mental battles, fear, depression, anxie...

“Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.” 2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3:2‬ ‭ Often times we forget that not everyone is a believer in Christ. We assume everyone knows the truth and has experienced the grace that we have experienced. Some people haven’t been told the good news, or maybe rejected it. That is the reason it’s so important to tell the Good News everywhere we go. Even if it’s telling a stranger in the grocery store, telling the cashier at the gas station, telling the people you meet randomly, or even telling those around you daily. We should be so excited about the salvation we have received that we want to share it with everyone we see anywhere so they can receive it too. It’s like this if you’re in a desert traveling with all your loved ones and you come up on a huge river wouldn't you tell all your loved ones? Of course, you would! It’s the same thing as telling the Good News, we have the very best water of all to constant...

“Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭ If we focused on things of heaven imagine the difference our attitudes would be! We often times let things we are struggling with here on earth override our minds to the point we don't focus on things above. Have you ever noticed that the very best things in life are things we cannot be seen? If you spent your entire life focused on things you cannot see then where would the faith be? The Bible teaches that faith is believing even when you cannot see. If you focus on the things of the earth being the things you can see your relationship with God will never grow to its full potential. Focusing on things you can see often breaks your hopes that your dreams can come true, if you focus on things you cannot see there is hope in any and all circumstances. Think about it, if you could see the good things coming there would be hope but focusing on things above constantly brings us hope to know that our God i...

“Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ ‭ When we start our relationship with God we are so on fire for God, but often times we let that fire become dull instead of fueling it daily. Remember those times when you were so on fire for God and wanted to sit and read your Bible, listen to worship music, and pray for hours on end. Eventually, if we stop running after God and wanting to make an effort for our relationship with God, it will fade away and we will soon not want to make an effort. The Bible teaches that God comes close to those who come close to Him. If you want that fire in your soul to run after God again I suggest making reading the Bible a part of your routine until you become on fire for Him. Being on fire for God can begin in one step. If you make an effort even by just spending time in prayer, listening to worship music on the way to ...

“Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.” Galatians‬ ‭1:4‬  We all remember the story of Abraham when he took Isaac up the mountain, the story also represents how God felt when Jesus went on the cross. Maybe you spend a lot of time on your phone instead of in prayer, maybe you have put a friendship or relationship over your walk with God, maybe you've put something simple over the One who matters the most. Sometimes God doesn’t want us to give up those things completely but He does want us to put God very first in our life and all the other things to fall in line behind. I use to fast every Sunday from social media, just to have that day for God. I done it for months honestly, and I really enjoyed it. It helped my walk with God a lot, because I learned that He is the most important thing in my life. Often times we get so caught up in our life and daily things that we forget to even talk to God. I...

“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”‭‭ John‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬ ‭ Have you ever been praying for something in your life and it seems as though God is silent? So many times in my life I have been going through something and it feels like God won’t answer me, and later down the road I realize that the things I was going through was teaching me to trust in Him more. That’s why God wants us to have faith in things we cannot see. God works best in the unknown and the broken. He takes the broken pieces of our lives and brings them back to life. I went through a season of pruning in my life. If you don’t know what pruning is here is the definition “trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or over grown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth.”   Often times when you’re being used of God He will prune you. It sometimes feels like God is breaking you down instead...

“For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”” Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭20‬ ‭ Have you ever prayed with a friend and felt as though God was standing there with you? That is God in the midst! He says if we are His followers and we gather together He will be there among us. If you ever need prayer, call a friend and pray together, meet them for coffee or go out for dinner and just pray together and talk about God. The best topic you could ever bring up in a conversation is God. I have learned when hanging with my friends when we begin to pray or read our Bibles together it seems to strengthen our friendship even more. We seem to become closer with God in the middle. My family and I do this thing where if we are spiritually battling or have something going on we all get together and pray instead of doing it separately. It’s like God sits down with us. Often times, when we do this within 24 hours our problems, have been solved! Often times God wants us to gather wi...

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭14‬ ‭ We all want a knight and shining armor in our lives, someone to save us from the issues we go through to help us with our troubles. The greatest thing about being a Christian is that we don't only live to serve God, love others and be kind we also have a personal relationship with the One who saved us from our sins. We all have thought of how awesome it would be to be friends with or even just meet a celebrity, but we can have a relationship with the one who created us in our mother's womb, how cool is that? Often times we forget that the one who created the way that our smiles form, the way we laugh, and the way we talk and sing is also the person who loves us more than anyone could. The person that could truly bring the best happiness to our lives is God. It's great to have a relationship and to love someone, but they can never love you as much as the o...

 ““No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.”‭‭ Luke‬ ‭8‬:‭39‬ ‭ If every time we had a breakthrough or miracle we told all those around us and those that we meet, then imagine how fast the word of the Lord would go around? We all talk about wanting to spread the gospel and be a vessel for God but do we tell of the good things He has done for us to everyone that we see? We should tell everyone the great news of not only Jesus and His love, but the miracles He has done and is doing for us daily. Have you evean almost late billt late but God came through right on time and helped you pay it, or maybe you’ve had health issues and God healed you from it, or maybe you were praying for a loved one and God fixed the situation that seemed to have no hope, or maybe even helped you pass a test you thought you would fail, no matter what it is, God wants you to tell of His wond...

“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬ ‭ I know today’s world will teach you that what you say doesn’t matter, but what you speak over your life, your family, and your friends' lives do matter! If we constantly talk about sickness, hardship, drama, pain, and suffering over our lives and those around us then that is nor having faith, instead, that’s being led by the enemy. The enemy wants us to speak those things into existence! Faith is saying, “although I am broken and tired, I will run to God and be safe.” Or “I know life is hard right now, but God is healing me and restoring me.” If you begin to speak joy, hope, peace, and life into things around you and inside of you, you would see a huge change, then you would soon lose those doubtful thoughts that things might never get better, those thoughts the enemy has placed on you for years but you...

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭ Jesus didn’t come down onto the earth and die on the cross for us to listen to the devil’s lies. He will use any and everything he can to distract us from God and from our purpose. We have to tell him “no!”. We are not defined by what he has to say or what he thinks of us. Our worth is not found in man, what people think, say, or do to us, our worth is found in God alone! The enemy doesn’t just lie to us about our life, he also uses our emotions too. He will make us feel like we aren’t enough to be the best in our ministries that God called us to do, he will try to make us question our worth because once we think we aren’t enough then he can make us begin to question why God made us the way that he did. He will make you afraid of the future because he doesn’t want you to trust God with all things, and he will use any and every emotion to get po...

“I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.” Job‬ ‭23:12‬ ‭ When we go to a restaurant to eat we try our best to not fill up on appetizers or water because then we wouldn’t be hungry for our meal. That’s how it is in our spiritual walk with God we can’t be filled with the lies the enemy tells us, earthly pleasures, money, sin, selfishness, greed, and completely full of ourselves because then we won’t be hungry for God. We have to stay hungry and on fire for God to grow spiritually. If we only read our Bible and pray on Sunday then our spirits aren’t being fed enough. That’s like only eating on Sundays and expecting to be full all week. It doesn’t work that way. I use to be the kind of Christian myself that only was spiritually fed on Sundays, but then God started to speak to me and say “you have to discipline yourself to walk with me daily.” I then changed my life and started to do devotions, read my Bible, and pray every day sometimes mul...

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭ We each have a God given talent it might be singing, playing an instrument, writing, teaching. or so many other things. Each of us have our own God given talent, but whether we choose to use it or not, it’s left completely up to us. See God gives us free will to use our talents for His glory for our own selfish desires. If we chose to sing out of our own flesh then it would never be as good as if we were to use it for God’s glory. His plans for our future is always great, and always good for us, if we follow Him then He will open doors for us. He gave us each a talent and a purpose to go along with it, and sometimes our talents don’t even go along really with our purpose at all, and that’s okay. Maybe your purpose is teaching but you’re good at something completely different. Just use whatever talent you have for His glory and not your o...

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬  When God sends temptation into our lives, we wonder how we can get away from it. It is very difficult to run from it, in todays world sin is everywhere we turn. No matter how far we try to run from sin temptation still will knock at our door. We have to do just as Jesus done when the devil tempted Him and stand firm in God’s word! We cannot let the enemy pull us into sin. The enemy wants nothing more than to destroy us because he knows no matter what we do God will forgive us. Jesus came down to break the barrier between sin and forgiveness. We no longer had to make a sacrifice offering to be forgiven, we are forgiven through Jesus’ grace. The enemy hates that Jesus came down to save us from the sins that we mess up and do daily, because he messed up once, and was not forgiven to only be kicked from heaven. Today go to Jesus and asked for forgiveness, because no matter the temptation that you...

“Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬ ‭ So many times in life we feel that our sad times are permanent for our lives, but it is almost always inaccurate! If I’ve learned one thing in life it’s that every day there is a sunset, and although the rainy days we cannot see it, it is still there. That is how life is with God. Even when we cannot feel Him on dark days, He is still there. There is never a moment in life where God walks away. If we stay on the path that God has set before us, holding firmly to God and all of His glory then one day we will be rewarded for all a life lived for God! We all think of eternity as something that we can handle and decide on later, but that is far from true. How we live our lives daily is something we should focus on. We should strive each day to become the very best versions of ourselves for God. We aren't here to please the world, but to please God ...

“God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭ We all have heard “trust in God’s timing”, and in the easy moments of life it’s not a struggle to, but when you’re in the valley in desperate need of something now it’s hard to just sit back and trust His timing. We sometimes get so caught up in things we think have to be done now that we forget to stop and let God work it out when He feels it’s right. Have you ever been praying for something and felt like God doesn’t hear your prayers because He hasn’t answered them when you wanted Him to? That is the biggest problem that every single one of us face daily is wanting things when we want them, not when God knows we need them. We all have needs and we all have wants also, but making sure it’s aligned with God’s plan is something we tend to forget to do. It’s like going looking at a house and seeing that it’s all you want then saying,“I’ll buy it today!” Then you buy it and things began to break e...

“So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.” Ruth‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ ‭ In this verse it is right after Ruth decided to stay with her mother-in-law. They needed grain and she had to find somewhere to get food for her and her mother in law. She came across a field that belonged to Boaz. When she arrived that day I am sure she had no idea that the field she was working in would be the field she would soon own. She had no idea the man over it was her future husband. So many times in life we meet people that are meant to be in our lives but we don’t even realize it yet. Today know that even the smallest choices you make such as where you get coffee, where you get lunch or even get gas at is something that could lead you to the person you’re meant to be with. Just as Ruth maybe you have no idea that you’re about to meet the person God has set for you! Today be open...

“And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.” Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬ ‭ How many times have you made a mistake in life and God saved you from the pain that it would’ve caused? So many times in life we fall into temptation and sin, but God spares us. As I read this verse and the verses before this today I noticed that though Eve fell into temptation and Adam sinned with her, God was angry for them doing as He asked them not to! See today would be so different if they had not ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We would have never been tempted to sin evacuee we wouldn’t have been able to even think of it. They grew the knowledge of sin from the tree. That is when they began to notice they had no clothes. Then God made clothes for them although they chose sin and fell into the temptation themselves and it opened their eyes to their nakedness. God still chose to give them clothes and bless them with food to eat. This is how our lives are today, when we fa...

““So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ ‭ If we lived every day worrying only about the things that we're in the day we are in, then wouldn't we live a much happier life? We spend so much of our lives worrying and stressing over things that are in the future. When I worry about things I try and think that what I am worried about might not even exist by the time it comes around. Such as having enough money for next month's rent, for all you know, someone could walk up and hand you a million dollars before then, or you find somewhere cheaper and can move there. Stressing over life's worries does nothing but take the joy out of today. So many times I have spent weeks worried about something, dreading the day that it comes around, and once the day does come nothing goes as I worried it would, it all ends up just fine. Try to spend more time focused on the joy of today, the blessings at...

 “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” James‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭ As we start off this new year we have to remember the important things to bring with us, such as our dedication and desire to please God and His will for our lives. I know that life can be busy and stressful but that isn’t an excuse for us to put our relationship with God on the back burner. We have to think of it like this, God takes care of every person on earth 24/7 but we have to keep communicating with Him to keep our personal relationship with Him. We can’t expect God to do everything for us! God can communicate with us but if we’re not doing our part it will never be enough. Having a one sided relationship with Him isn’t what God asked us to do. The importance of a relationship with God is something I can’t stress enough. We have to keep our focus on God to have anything in life. God is the foundation ...