The Good News Blog

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“He Who sits in the heavens laughs…” -Psalm 2:4, AMP

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Have you ever imagined God laughing in the heavens? Think about it for a moment. Right now, God is on the throne. He’s not mad. He’s not worried about the economy. He’s not upset with you and me. God is full of joy and laughing on the throne.

It goes on to tell us in Psalm 37 that He’s laughing because “He can see the destruction of the enemy coming.” In other words, the reason God laughs is because He knows the end of the story. He knows the final outcome. The good news is that you and I win. God always causes us to triumph!

Imagine watching the Super Bowl when you already know the outcome. You already know who is going to win. No matter how far behind the winning team falls, no matter

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands…you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country” -Deuteronomy 28:1-3, NIV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Do you want to experience more of God’s blessing in your life? Living in obedience and integrity is the key that unlocks the door to His abundance. When you put God and His Word first place in your life, the Bible says you’ll be blessed in the city and in the country—you’ll be blessed wherever you go!

This chapter in the Bible goes on to say that you will be so blessed that you will lend and not borrow. Can you see yourself in that position? Can you see yourself living in that kind of abundance?

See, God doesn’t want you to be living with a barely-get-by attitude. We don’t serve a barely-get-by God; our God is more than

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” -2 Thessalonians 1:3, NIV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

God’s desire is to see you grow and increase in every area of your life—especially in your love for others. That’s because love is the greatest thing, and it is all that matters in eternity.

The book, Love at Last Sight: 30 days to Grow and Deepen Your Closest Relationships by Pastors Kerry and Chris Shook, sums it up perfectly. It says, “At the end of the day—in this all-too-short life we all share, all we really have are relationships with people we love and who love us.

In light of relationships, the job and career we set as goals now aren’t really so important; the ladders we try to

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“…The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”  -1 Samuel 16:7, NIV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

When the Lord looks at your heart, what does He see? Every one of us has an outer life and an inner life. The outer life is our public life that the people around us see. The inner life is made up of our thoughts, attitudes, and motives. Only you and God know what’s going on inside of you.

Too many people go around today pretending—acting one way, yet on the inside they’re thinking something totally different. Their heart and their actions don’t line up. But we have to understand that God is looking on the inside. We can fool a lot of people, but we can’t fool God. He would rather us be open and honest than

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” -2 Corinthians 5:20, NIV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

As a believer, God wants to do His work on the earth through you. You are His ambassador or representative. You have been given His authority and power. It’s easy to get focused on this natural realm and all the things that we need, but do you realize that you are equipped to be somebody else’s miracle?

Every single day, we have opportunities to show God’s love and compassion to others. We have the opportunity to meet their needs, bring them healing, and offer hope and encouragement. Every day, we can sow good seed into the lives of others that will reap an eternal harvest.

I encourage you today to look for ways to be a blessing to someone else. When you pour into others and help meet their

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“It is an honor for a man to cease from strife…” -Proverbs 20:3, AMP

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Oftentimes, challenges are merely distractions meant to keep us from pursuing our destiny. Maybe someone in the office isn’t as friendly to you as you’d like. Maybe you have a neighbor who always parks in front of your house and blocks your mailbox.

Those things may be frustrating, but they have little significance when you look at the big picture. You can’t allow the little things to open the door to strife in your life.

In the Bible, just before David fought the giant Goliath, his brother Iliab tried to confront him. David knew that arguing with Iliab wasn’t even worth his time and strength.

He knew his real battle was with Goliath, and he didn’t want to be distracted. He simply “turned away” from Iliab and kept his focus on what he was

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“And the God of all grace…will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” -I Peter 5:10, NIV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Have you experienced destruction in your past? God wants to completely restore you. He wants to make you strong, firm and steadfast—He wants to make you better than before!

Sometimes, when you are in the midst of difficulty, you can’t quite see the restoration God has prepared. You can’t quite see how He can turn it around for your good. But that’s when you have to take a step of faith and trust that He is the God of restoration, and He is working behind the scenes on your behalf!

If you’re in a difficult place right now, I invite you to join our online community this Sunday at 7:00 pm CST for the webcast, “Finding God’s Favor” Come be encouraged by testimonies of God’s restoration and

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.” -Psalm 56:8, NLT

TODAY’S WORD  from Joel and Victoria

Do you know how important you are to God? He cares so much about every detail of your life. He cares about your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. In fact, what you are going through is so important to Him that He records every sorrow and collects every tear you’ve shed. Why would God record your sorrows and collect your tears?

Because He loves you so much, and He is your Vindicator. He’s keeping account of every wrong that’s ever been done to you so that He can make up for every single one of them. He wants to restore everything that has ever been stolen.

He wants to heal every single hurt and pain. He sees the longings and

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time…though it tarries, wait for it” -Habakkuk 2:3, KJV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

God has an appointed time to fulfill the visions, dreams, and desires in your heart. Just because it has taken a long time or because you’ve tried and failed doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.

Don’t give up on those dreams! Don’t be complacent about pursuing what God has placed in your heart. Our God is a faithful God. No matter how long it’s been, no matter how impossible things look, if you’ll stay in faith, your set time is coming.

Remember, every dream that’s in your heart, every promise that has taken root, God put it there. Not only that, but He has every intention of bringing it to pass. Hold on to that vision today. Declare by faith, “My time is coming. God is working

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” -Proverbs 14:30, NIV

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Did you know the best thing you can do for health is to set your heart at peace with God? Peace is such a powerful position. It is a position of life and strength. Peace literally means “to set at one again.” In other words, we have peace when our minds and hearts are in alignment with the Word of God.

It’s so easy to let the pressures and distractions of life pull our thoughts away from the Father. It doesn’t take long before we are so focused on earthly things that we feel overwhelmed and all stressed out. But, we weren’t meant to live anxious about life, we were meant to live in peace.

Today, choose to keep your heart at peace by staying focused on God