Yogi Land

You might have planned on having an average year, but God has already lined up an extraordinary year. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past or even this year, God still wants to show Himself strong and has a plan for your life. He not only wants to meet your needs, He wants to give you the desires of your heart and even the hidden dreams that no one knows about but you. You may not see how it can happen; but remember, God has a way. You might feel like your dreams are too big, a relationship is too far gone, or you're dealing with a sickness you think you have to live with the rest of your life. But Scripture says, "Is there anything too hard for God?" It's time to get a new vision for your life this year and put on a new attitude. God is all powerful and can turn any situation around. It doesn't matter what it looks like in the natural. He is a supernatural God. You may have seen victories in your past, but what God wants to do in your future is going to supersede anything you've ever seen before. This is your year for far and beyond favor. This is your year for supernatural opportunities and connections, a new day for God's supernatural favor and breakthrough. Release your faith for a supernatural year.

You've been anointed to make it through difficult times. When God breathed His life into you, He breathed perseverance, determination, strength, courage and endurance. That means you have staying power; you can outlast every attack. God did not create us to give up when it gets hard. He didn't create us to get discouraged when we face obstacles. He made us more than conquerors. We have victory in our DNA. If you're going to fulfill your destiny and become all that God has created you to be, you have to have a made-up mind that no matter what comes against you, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times you get knocked down, you are not going to stay down. Life may throw you some curves. There may have been some bumps, but every setback is a setup for a greater comeback. Scripture says, "Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, your inheritance in the land will be double and your joy will go over." Difficulties in life were never meant to destroy you; they were meant to strengthen you, promote you, and make you better off than you were. If you will dig your heels in and have a never-say-die attitude, then no matter what comes against you, no matter how long it takes or how difficult it is, when it's all said and done, you will become everything God has created you to be. You'll receive everything He has intended for you to have, and God will turn every battlefield into a blessing field.

We don't have to go through life guessing what we should do. We have the Spirit of the Most High God living on the inside of us. We have a Counselor, a Helper, an Advisor, a Researcher, and a Guide. Jesus said, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying." God speaks to us in a still small voice. It's a knowing, a prompting, a suggestion. It may not make sense in our minds, our emotions may be telling us otherwise, but deep down in our heart, we know it's the right thing what we're hearing. God is constantly transmitting. The question is do we have our receivers tuned? When we take the time to be quiet and listen to what God is trying to show us, we gain inside information. God can protect us from danger and even warn us of the next move of our enemy. He can give us discernment to know right from the wrong, and the phony from the genuine relationships. If you will listen and take the time to be tuned into His inner promptings, letting peace be the umpire, you will continually stay on God's best path for your life and reap the fruit of living His best.

When we hear the word "invest", we often think of investing in the stock market, in real estate, or for retirement. While it's good to invest that way, the truth is, those investments will eventually fade away. The best inheritance we can leave our children and others around us is what we invested in them, not what we left for them. When we're not taking time to share what we know with the next generation, then we are not being faithful with what God has given us. God expects us to impart to others. The next generation should not have to start over. They shouldn't have to re-learn what we've already learned. We should be pouring everything we know into our children, into a young person, into that co-worker in the office. We're all leaving a legacy. Let's make sure it's an intentional legacy. The only investments that are going to last are the investments we make in other people. We didn't get to where we are on our own. Somebody invested in us. Make it a goal to invest in someone else. You can leave a mark that cannot be erased. If you will take time to invest in people; mentoring, teaching, training and modeling, then those seeds that you sow will be multiplied back to you.

Everywhere we go there are people in need. They may smile on the outside, but on the inside they're hurting. Scripture says one day God will wipe away all the tears. There will be no more tragedy, no more sickness, no more pain. But in the mean time, God is counting on us to help wipe away the tears of those that are hurting. God wants to heal, and He uses us as instruments and representatives of His love to dispense hope and healing. All around us people are dealing with family issues, health problems, rejection, broken dreams, low self-esteem. You never know what they're going through. Our job is not to judge, our job is to lift the fallen, lift the broken and heal the hurting. Everywhere we go we should dispense the goodness of God. When you see someone that's down, and you go over and encourage them, you just became a healer. You just released God's goodness into them. When you call a friend that's discouraged and you say, "Hey, I'm thinking about you. I know there are good days up ahead." You just poured in the healing oil. It can be something simple, even just smiling at a stranger. You might not even know that person, but you became a healer. God caused your smile to say to them, "You're important. I care about you." Are you lifting the fallen? Are you taking the time to help someone else? You are a container filled with God's goodness. Release His healing wherever you go.

In life, no matter how much good there is you can always find something bad if you look for it. You can develop an eye for the good or you can develop a critical eye. Scripture says, "To the pure all things are pure." If you can't ever see anything right, you drive down the freeway and only see the traffic, construction and potholes and never the beauty, if you only see the scratch on the floor and never the amazing house, if you never see what people do right and only what they do wrong, it's time to clean your window; the way you view life. When we let a critical spirit rise up and start magnifying the wrong things and think thoughts like, "Why do they dress like that? What's their problem? If I were them, I wouldn't do that", our spirit is being polluted and we're hurting ourselves in the long run. When we are critical and judgmental, we are sowing seeds for others to be critical and judgmental back towards us. God longs to continually bless us and take us higher and higher in all aspects of life, but we have to make sure we're doing our part by keeping our heart pure, our mouth free of gossip and our minds free of judgment. Make a decision not to be a faultfinder because that can keep you from your destiny. Just as one develops a habit of seeing the worst, you can train yourself to see the best in others. There is good in every situation.

The road of greatness often goes through the road of smallness. Scripture says, "Don't despise the day of small beginnings." When God has something great for you to do, He often starts with something small. During the years of doing what might be considered an insignificant task where it looks like no progress is being made, that's when you're getting prepared the most for the great things God has in store. You may feel like you're doing something right now that's insignificant. You're in the wilderness. You're not growing, and you've got bigger things in your heart. But you need to have a new perspective. When we show God we're faithful in the wilderness, He'll promote us to our promise land. Just because we might start out small does not mean we're going to end there. But we have to remain faithful even in the small things. When we're faithful with the tasks at hand, that's building character. Our roots are going down deep. We're developing strength, trust and confidence. You will only go as high as your roots go down deep. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. They lay the foundation for how far God is going to take you. You may feel like nothing is happening, but God is closely watching you. And at the right time, when God knows you're prepared, you're going to shoot up, and God is going to thrust you to a new level.

God desires to do something new in all of our lives. Even when we feel it the least, when disappointments happen and we go through hard times, He still desires to show Himself strong. Often times what keeps us from the new things He wants to do is not stepping out of our comfort zones. When we step out in faith and are willing to grow, to walk through doors when they open, to meet the new people God places in our lives and when we take advantage when new opportunities when they come, that's when God does exciting things in our lives. You're not too old, and you haven't made too many mistakes to see God do something new in your life. He knows how to get you to your final destination and how to connect the dots. When one dream dies, dream another dream. Just because something didn't work out one way doesn't mean God doesn't have another plan; nothing has to destroy your future. God has something new for you! The key is to sir up what He has placed on the inside and to be willing to get out of your comfort zone. When you get excited about life again and step out when doors open, you will see the newness of God in your life in ways you could never even imagine! It's time to believe again. If you'll stay open for something new, God is going to bring you out to your brightest hour. Your greatest victories are not behind you, they are in front of you!

Our words have creative power. With our words, we can either bless or curse our future. If you want to know what you're going to be like 5 years from now, listen to what you're saying about yourself; even the small things you say over your life from "I'll never get that promotion" to "I'm just so tired all the time." The moment we verbalize a thought, whether positive or negative, we give that thought the right to come to pass. To see God's best in your life, you have to stay on the offensive and speak victory over your life. The Bible says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." It's not enough just to "not speak anything negative." You have to take it a step further and speak victory over your life. You can't speak defeat and expect to have victory. There is a correlation between what we say and what God does, but nothing happens until we speak our faith out. When we speak God's Word, the moment His promises come out of our mouth, something happens in the unseen realm. We may not see it for a week, a year or even ten years, but God is working behind the scenes. If you will keep saying the right thing, speaking victory, speaking favor, speaking health and wholeness; the seeds you're sowing, you will reap. In due season, you will eat the fruit of your words, and God is going to make all your crooked places straight.