GOOD NEWS DAILY - NOVEMBER 23 | Lara Love's Good News Daily Devotional

*******PLEASE SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO SEE TODAY’S ENTIRE ISSUE OF GOOD NEWS DAILY! THERE IS PLENTY IN IT ALL FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD! MAY YOU FEEL LOVED AND BE HELPED, ENCOURAGED, INSPIRED, & BLESSED. ENJOY!*******………

LARA’S LATEST UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST……

Dear friend,

I am so desperately in love with and devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ and so exceedingly desirous to fulfill my life’s ministry calling that I struggle sometimes with wanting to be outdoors when I’m indoors and indoors when I’m outdoors. I am called to the streets to spread the Gospel message and help people find and follow the Lord as I hand out my Gospel tracts, talk to people, minister to them, pray for them, and simply love them. And I’m also called to sit behind my computer and write and publish tracts, devotionals, and books along with using the telephone and Internet to talk to people about Jesus and pray for them and minister to them. And, yes, I have my beloved handicapped streets ministry doggies to care for who require an extraordinary amount of work. Oh, how blessedly full and rich my life is with loving, serving, worshiping, and glorifying the Lord and telling the world about Him!

My greatest desire in all this is to be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit and so committed to obey Him that I know when He wants me indoors and when He wants me outdoors – and that I am where He wants me to be doing what He wants me to do!

Your prayers would be appreciated as I enjoy the amazing honor of living and breathing day in and day out to love and glorify the Lord and to proclaim Him to the world!

PLEASE ENJOY TODAY’S EDITION OF GOOD NEWS DAILY AND REMEMBER TO SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO SEE THE FULL ISSUE!

IF YOU NEED HELP BEGINNING OR PRESSING ON IN A FOREVER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT AT 843-338-2219 OR lara@GoodNews.love

love & blessings,

lara

TODAY’S LITTLE LETTER FROM LARA

Dear friend,

This morning I stumbled upon one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible I have ever seen. Of course, every word is beautiful and I love the whole of God’s Word. But this verse simply blew me away. It sums up so very much of my life as a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ going through the trials of this life.

“In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:3

I am the weakest, neediest, broken, struggling, desperate woman I have ever known, and I have come to find the amazing blessedness of knowing this about myself and being utterly willing to bring this brokenness continually before the Lord. For the more desperate I am, the more I bring my desperation to Jesus, the more I humble myself and cry out to the Lord, the more I seek and follow Him, the more alone time I spend with Him, the more I read His Word, the more I surrender myself to Him, the deeper and more beautiful my personal relationship with Him and the more He gives me His strength.

The weaker I am, the more I bring my weakness to Jesus, the stronger, the bolder, and the more courageous I am in Him.

I encourage you to give your whole heart and life to Jesus – weaknesses, neediness, brokenness, desperation, and all!

Please read the apostle Paul’s words here: “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor. 12:8-10

love & blessings,

lara

TODAY’S DAILY INSPIRATION

OPEN THE CURTAINS!

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”” John 8:12

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Colossians 1:13

So many times in the about 2.5 years I’ve been on the road for Jesus and ministry I’ve stayed in hotels where I’ve kept the curtains closed so strangers couldn’t walk by and peer in at me and my beloved handicapped streets ministry doggies. As much as I love the outdoors and fresh air and sunlight, I got used to keeping the wonderful daylight out.

Now that I’m in an apartment temporarily in New York City for my season of ministry work here, I can open the curtains but find most of the time I forget to open them because I’m so accustomed to keeping them shut.

When we turn from our sins and believe in Christ as Lord who died to pay our sin punishment and was raised from the dead, truly devoting our lives to God and His ways, we are forgiven and promised everlasting life with Him. We are delivered from the bleakness, blackness, and darkness of our sin-ridden lives and welcomed into the glorious everlasting light, love, peace, hope, joy, grace, and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ and forever fellowship with Him.

But if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves shutting the curtains and backsliding into the darkness and familiarity of our old life of temptation and ungodliness.

Throw open the curtains, friend, and live in the wonder and blessedness of Jesus the Christ’s everlasting light! If you have fallen back into darkness in any area of your life, repent and return to His blessed everlasting light!

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT

DO YOU TRUST ME?

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” Proverbs 3:11-12

“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”” Psalm 31:14

A beautiful friend of mine told me one day as she went through a fiery trial that the Lord had spoken to her heart this question:

Do you trust me?

She answered yes.

Friend, the Lord has asked me that question a number of times. I believe He asked me so I could see the truth. For oftentimes I said no. I was not trusting Him.

As much as I love the Lord beyond description, follow Him to an exceeding degree, and am unfathomably devoted to Him, at times I do not trust Him as I should because I am looking to my circumstances, staring at the past, afraid to trust, trusting in me or others instead, prideful, or whatever the reason may be.

The Lord spoke these words to my heart one day:

Return your trust to me when you find you have removed it from me.
Turn back to me when you find you have turned away.

There is only one right, perfect place for our trust to be. In Christ.

TODAY’S 365 BLESSINGS

365 BLESSINGS is a devotional book I wrote that is available in print by contacting me at 843-338-2219 or via lara@GoodNews.love.

Blessing #210

““Known to God from eternity are all His works.” Acts 15:18

How can it possibly be? Oh, but everything is possible with the Lord, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Great Shepherd, Good Shepherd, mighty God, all powerful God, all knowing God, perfect Lord, precious God, glorious Father, the one who knew everything He would ever do for all of time – yes, forever – from eternity. His works – His awesome, awesome, immeasurably stunning works – He has always known He would do. Even now, even as you read this, the Lord already knows all that He will do in the future. Isn’t it refreshing, isn’t it comforting, doesn’t it give us a feeling of safety and security, to consider the Lord in whose hands we place ourselves when we receive Him as Lord knows absolutely everything before it even happens? Including all His works He will perform!

TODAY’S THE CROSS DEVOTIONAL

MORE THAN I CAN HANDLE

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Cor. 10:13

“casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

The Lord has given me far more than I could possibly handle. If I told you the intricate details of my everyday life of being on the road for Jesus full-time with my beloved handicapped streets ministry doggies doing streets ministry and writing and publishing Gospel tracts, devotionals, and books with no staff, no salary, and a bare-bones ministry budget, I am quite sure you would say what the Lord has given me is simply impossible. Truth is that it is. One of the most dangerous falsities concerning the Bible people often perpetuate is that the Lord doesn’t give us more than we can handle. This is simply not true!

From start to finish of the Bible, He gives people more than they can handle. Same with my life. Same with countless other people’s lives throughout time all around the world. In the first verse above, per Thayer’s Greek Lexicon online, the word translated into “temptation” includes in its definition, ” the trial of man’s fidelity, integrity, virtue, constancy, etc.”

The Lord most assuredly gives us trials and responsibilities greater than we can bear and allows temptations too much for us to handle. BUT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL GIVE US EVERY OUNCE OF HIS PRESENCE, LOVE, STRENGTH, GRACE, MERCY, PEACE, JOY, HOPE, WISDOM, COMPASSION, COMFORT, DIRECTION TO GET THROUGH WHEN OUR HEARTS AND LIVES ARE SURRENDERED TO HIM!

Let us cast our cares on Him, let us put our trust in Him, let us cry out to Him with our needs, and let us persevere as He leads and carries us on!

We can’t do the impossible in our own strength, but in, through, and for Christ we can!

TODAY’S SERVING JESUS IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”” John 13:34-35

I looked down at the phone to see who was calling. A friend.

“Don’t answer it!” my flesh cried out. Tired. Drizzly, grey, fall-in-New-York-City day. A long but good week.

The Holy Spirit compelled me to pick up the phone. I did.

A friend in big need of love, prayer, and encouragement. We spoke for quite some time. I was blessed to pray for her and point her to Jesus and scriptures.

My flesh had almost won out. I had almost missed my opportunity to serve the Lord.

How often, do you suppose, do we miss opportunities to love and serve the Lord and others because we bow down to the flesh and live for self instead of bowing down before the Lord and live for Him and humbly love and serve others?

Let us not miss our opportunities. Let us not follow our flesh. Let us follow Jesus – now and forevermore!