But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence with in accomplishes] is… joy. Galatians 5:22 (AMPC) We all want to enjoy life. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, many assume that the only way to enjoy life is to eliminate all problems, but that’s simply not true. As long as you believe that, you won’t know the joy spoken of in Galatians 5:22. When your joy is dependent having a lack of problems in your life, it causes you to focus on problems. In other words, you only have joy if you look for problems, and see that you don’t have any. But if you’re always looking for problems, you’re bound to find some! This is a huge issue because as …

May grace (God’s favour) and peace… be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2 (AMPC) To experience God’s grace, you have to believe. But what do you need to believe in? When you made Jesus the leader of your life, you became a member of God’s family. God’s ability and power became yours because of your right relationship with Him, made possible by Jesus. Jesus actually causes God’s favour to reign in your life (Romans 5:17). You gain His preferential treatment without earning it because Jesus earned it for you. Grace doesn’t eliminate all frustrations and difficulties in life. You still need to work hard, learn and grow in wisdom, but …

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT) We have all been through difficult times and have experienced circumstances that seemed beyond our control. I’m talking about those times when you’ve tried everything you knew how to do, but still nothing changed. As frustrating and sometimes painful as these times are, you are not alone. God’s promise to us is that in those times, we can rely on His grace! God’s grace can be yours every day, enabling you to live your life to the fullest. His grace is His power and ability at work in your life. Grace …

And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] at the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or with her; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]. Psalm 1:3 (AMPC) If you are like most people, you only retain about ten percent of a message you read or hear. If you encounter it again, you might catch another ten percent but this means you’re only retaining twenty percent of the information. However, the more you think about (meditate on) it, the more you retain. Psalm 1:2 teaches you to keep your thoughts focused on God’s Word and verse 3 reveals what happens when you do. By meditating on …

Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV) 2 Corinthians 10:5 gives us clear instruction on how to keep our thought-life healthy—by taking every thought captive. But how do we accomplish this seemingly impossible task? The key to your success lies within three simple steps: realizing when you are thinking negatively, rejecting the lie and choosing to meditate on the truth. The first two steps involve becoming more aware. Let’s pretend that you have just walked into a roomful of people you don’t know and you find yourself thinking, “these people aren’t going to like me”. Step one is to question… Is that the …