This year has been a challenging one for us all. But with every challenge God presents an incredible opportunity. Many miss it - because you can't hear opportunity knocking, when you're too busy knocking the opportunity.

Give and give freely what you have been given freely.

Today you will find strength...if you only look in the right place. "His mercies never come to an end....they are new every morning..."

Venting on social media feels good, but remember it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness 🕯️

You never know who God will save through your storm. ⚡️

Most holiday stress comes from trying to create a moment instead of just being present in one.

We spend too much time ruminating on what someone has done “to” us when we ought to be meditating on what Jesus has done “for” us.

If I am to be remembered at all, I don't want anyone to remember me for what I have done or have gained in my life - I want them to be encouraged by what I have added to theirs.

After all…what do I have that I have not received from Him?

In your last moment on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.

The way you meet and overcome your trials will help other tired souls summon the will, belief, and hope to endure and overcome their own. Your fight fuels their faith. Your victory illuminates destinies. And your integrity in the storm will glorify the One who carries you through.

Is God your accomplice or author?

When you don’t know that God loves you - you may serve him because you find Him useful. But when you know God loves you, you will serve Him because you find Him beautiful.

When an honestly mistaken man hears the truth he will either stop being mistaken, or stop being honest.

It’s one thing to be grateful; it’s another to give thanks. Gratitude is what you feel. thanksgiving is what you do. -Tim Keller

Christian: Your reward in heaven is great, but God's purpose for you in this life is just as great! The world needs you like you need Jesus, because they can only see Jesus through you!

This week if you're not quite in the grateful spirit, remember the best way to lift yourself is by lifting someone else. Go bless someone, and remember the seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart!

It is what we assume we will do with a new day that we don't have the courage to do with this day.

The areas of my life where I have had the least self-confidence & the most insecurity are the places that have left the most room for God to SHOW UP & SHOW OFF. Beneath what the world labels your weakness is often the key to unlocking the gift God wants to use powerfully beyond measure.

Educating the Mind Without Educating the Heart is No Education at All. -Aristotle

The problem is we have a tendency to make what someone did TO us a bigger deal than what Jesus did FOR us.

“God doesn’t seek the qualified. He qualifies the surrendered.”

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters today.

Your current circumstances are not an indicator of your value or destiny unless you choose them to be.

Courage is contagious but in its absence, so are fear and discouragement.

The game changes when you realize your gifts aren’t for your own affirmation but instead for His glorification.

Courage multiplies temporary influence into eternal impact.

Courage doesn’t eliminate fear, but it always confronts it.

Made A Difference > Built Different

Only character can keep you where charisma and competency can take you.

3 Questions For Times Of Uncertainty: 1) Does God have my best interest at heart? 2) Does God have a better imagination than me? 3) Is it not only possible, but probable that what God knows is best for me, and is preparing for me is something that I could never foresee on my own? Bet On It.

“Almost nothing leads me to make a judgement faster on the character of a person I have never seen or met than seeing that empty cart in a parking lot.” A short Veteran’s Day Reflection👇🏽 open.substack.com/pub/marcusst...

We often pray for God to change our life without changing us, but the truth is every new chapter He takes you to will require a brand new version of you.

We live in a time where iconic brands and ways of life are disappearing weekly. But you know what never goes out of business? People who make a difference.

Knowledge becomes wisdom when correctly applied to practice, and wisdom becomes strength when it is not abandoned in the face of adversity. Stand Fast.

God will never create for you a life that makes Him unnecessary. Just remember satan has been trying to convince you that you should have that life from the beginning.

Do your best. Recognized or ignored. Promoted or passed over. Do your best regardless of what others do or don't do. Do it because it's who YOU are.

It’s not a flaw to desire success. You were made to hear “well done”. The part we struggle with is the difference between WHO we most desire to hear it from, and WHO we were actually made to hear it from.

You will gain more by your decision to serve than you ever will through your desire to acquire.

Trust only grows when the ties are tested.

Your strongest friends are facing battles they don’t talk about. Show love and pray for them today

Real community always comes at the cost of convenience.

Ask yourself is God just my accomplice in life, or is He the author of my life? Is my reliance on God just a strategy to achieve a place of self-reliance, where I take the pen back for myself? Or is my reliance on God full trust, allegiance, & surrender beneath the pen of the author of life itself?

I see too many Christians say that lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep. We ought to say that His sheep only concern themselves with the opinion of the Lion.

Your words should be written in your footprints. In an age where all are over platformed to talk, your greatest impact will be to let them read your walk.

God has a funny way of flipping things that once persecuted you into things that empower your mission.

Your words should be written in your footprints. In an age where all are over platformed to talk, your greatest impact is to let them read your walk.

Just remember if you’re going through it, God is going to use it.

If you are struggling then it is a sign that God still intends to grow, use, and work through you. The only time you 'baby' a person, or make them comfortable at all costs - is when they are newly born, and when they are quickly dying. Your battle means you're in your prime with a purpose!

Sora is going to wreak havoc in a world filled with people who only bother to read headlines before forming and projecting emotionally charged opinions about the world around them.