You’ve heard the quote: “I cried because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.” We need to learn to be thankful. God is always gracious and kind to us, but we forget so easily. One day we’re happy to be blessed, and the next day we’re grumbling because something didn’t go right.

We all do it, so we need to encourage each other to remember how very blessed we are. Count your blessings. Remember that song? What a good idea. Go back and look at all the things you know God has done for you. Thank Him for it. Use that testimony to encourage someone else.

Just remembering your blessings will give you faith to trust God for the things you face today. He is always faithful. If He helped you in the past, He will do it again. All He wants is your faith.

Don’t let discouragement win. God is good. He is always good, and will be there for you again and again.

Be ready to do things out of the box.

If you want to grow in faith, to know God more, to have a deeper relationship with Him, something will have to change. You can’t have a different experience doing the same thing you’ve been doing. The problem is, most of us hate change. We’re very, very comfortable with what we know. We like our schedules and set agendas.

But God tends to work outside of our schedules and set agendas. In fact, He loves to shake us up as much as possible. When we rely on what we already know, we stop turning to Him. That’s the kiss of death right there. Complacency will always lead away from God.

But even if we’re not complacent, even when we are pressing into Him and still want more, we have to be willing to do things differently. Maybe it’s how we pray. Maybe it’s something about how we read the Word or worship. Ask God what He wants from you. Listen with your heart. Feel His nudging. He wants more of you. He wants as much as you’ll give Him, so He definitely knows how to get you closer.

Change for the sake of change doesn’t mean much. But if you want more of God, be ready to do things differently. As some people have said, faith is spelled R I S K.

Fear not, live in peace.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2Tim 1:7) Isn’t that a fantastic verse! You have power and love and a sound mind if you are in Christ. Anything that does not fit that is not of God. Fear, anger, hate, disease are of the enemy. And don’t forget that you have power, so you can tell the enemy to take a hike and he has to go.

Far too many people live not knowing that the power to live in God’s peace is already in them. All they have to do is claim what is theirs. Love is theirs. Peace is theirs. A sound mind is theirs.

The spirit of fear can take a number of forms that make it look noble. We may call it concern. We may call it being responsible, but really we’re just afraid something might go wrong. Anything that is not trust in God is going to feel fearful because we have no certain faith in anything or anyone else but God.

If fear, anxiety, concern, or anything that makes you afraid is bothering you, tell it to go in Jesus’s name. You have the power to do it. God said so. Live free and in peace. That’s you right as a child of God.