Fresh Start Ministries

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

1 Corinthians 2:12, 16 - What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us…we have the mind of Christ.

The apostle Paul warned the Corinthians to be on their guard lest the enemy deceive them and lead them astray. He was saying that you have to recognize the enemy’s lies and schemes. The enemy can be convincing, but you have the advantage. Because you have the Holy Spirit inside, and you have the mind of Christ. The Spirit of truth will check every lie that would try to stop you. Every morning, it’s good to pray that God will give you a spirit of wisdom and discernment. Pray that you’ll have wisdom that comes from knowing God’s Word and make decisions that honor Him. Discernment has to do with recognizing where a thought is coming from, what’s right and what’s not. God’s still small voice inside will alert you to things that are deceptive. It may sound and look fine, but the Spirit of God will rise up in you and you’ll feel a check, an uneasiness. Something says, “It’s not right.” When you’re sensitive and listen to that inward witness, that’s the Spirit of truth revealing the lies. God will always speak to your spirit.

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You for giving me the Holy Spirit to be my helper, my counselor, and my guide. Thank You that You’ve promised to lead me on the right path. Help me to be discerning of any distracting voices. Help me to be sensitive to hear how You are speaking to me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

06/03/2026

Matthew 22:39 - “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

One thing that holds us back from seeing changes in our life is when we don’t love who we are. If you’re not happy with the way God made you, there’s a constant battle going on inside—never feeling good enough always feeling wrong, with vague feelings of disapproval. If you don’t learn to like yourself as you are, weaknesses and all, you’ll always feel like you should be better. Added to the problem is that you have to live with you. You can never get away from yourself. If you don’t like yourself, life is going to be miserable. It’s very powerful when you can say, “I like myself. Yes, I need to improve in some areas. I need to do better. But I’m at peace with who I am right now. I accept myself. I approve myself. I am not a finished product. God is in charge, and He’s still working on me, making me and molding me. It is not just up to me. I’m going to relax and enjoy life while God is in the process of changing me.”

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You for making me in Your image with gifts, talents, and abilities to enjoy life and accomplish Your will. Help me to love myself, with all my weaknesses and shortcomings and things I wish were different. I declare that I am happy to be who You made me to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

06/01/2026

Genesis 41:14 - So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.

For thirteen long years after Joseph’s brothers betrayed him, he was enslaved, lied about, mistreated, imprisoned, and forgotten. Given Joseph’s environment, the dream that God gave him of leadership and the identity that he was going to do something great could have easily been lost in bitterness. But rather than play the victim, Joseph was faithful to be his best, and the day came when God suddenly turned things around and made him the ruler of Egypt. We all have opportunities to lose who we really are. You go through a relationship breakup, a job layoff, or a financial setback, and thoughts will tell you, “You’re not valuable. Nobody wants to be around you. You’re nothing but a failure.” People will tell you to be content and make the most of it. Don’t take on that defeated identity and let it change you. What happens to you is not who you are. You’re a masterpiece. You’re made in the image of God and crowned with favor. Keep trusting Him, and you’re going to break out of the dungeon and be brought to the palace.

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You that what so often looks like a setback is really Your hand moving me toward Your purpose. Thank You that what’s wrong is going to push open doors and bring opportunities I could never experience without it. Help me to keep trusting while You work things out. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

05/31/2026

John 16:22 - “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”

Jesus says that no person can take your joy from you. He is saying that no bad break, no disappointment, no storm, no calamity can take it; you have to give it away. It’s your choice. You’re in charge of your joy, and you have to guard it because you need it for your destiny, to raise your children, to accomplish your dreams. It’s designed to strengthen you and to empower you. But too often when we’ve had a disappointment, someone did us wrong, or we’ve done wrong, we make the mistake of giving away our joy. Then we wonder why we’re discouraged, why we don’t have the passion for our dreams, why we don’t have stamina for our children. It’s because we’re low on joy. The good news is that you can get your joy back. It’s a decision that you can make right now and say, “No matter what comes against me, I’m going to live this day in faith. My God is on the throne and is for me. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and I will rejoice and be glad.”

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You that I have the power to remain full of joy and stay in peace when circumstances and people try to take them from me. Thank You that You made this day, and I’m not going to live sour and defeated. I’ve made up my mind I’m not giving away my joy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

05/30/2026

Job 1:10 - “Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”

It’s interesting that when Satan wanted to test Job’s faith, he acknowledged that God had put a hedge of protection and blessing around Job and his family that he couldn’t pe*****te. Job had no idea of how God had kept him from trouble. You’re not at the mercy of fate and happenstance. God has a hedge around you and your family as well. That’s not to say that nothing harmful or evil will ever happen. God doesn’t stop everything, but know that nothing can touch you without His permission. How many times has God protected you when you didn’t even know about it? He stopped that car from hitting you, stopped the sickness before it got to you, stopped the setback in its tracks. His favor, protection, and mercy are watching over you, keeping you from harm’s way. We can all find reasons to live afraid, worried, and uptight about what might happen to us. But when you understand who’s watching over you, who’s ordering your steps, who’s fighting your battles, who’s holding back the darkness, you can say with confidence, “I will not fear.”

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You for Your protection and blessing over my life and my family. Thank You for watching over me and controlling my times of testing. I believe there is a hedge about me and that as I move forward in faith, You will bring me out better off than I was before. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

05/29/2026

Genesis 3:10 - He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they immediately felt guilty and hid. They went from loving God to being afraid. They lost their innocence, their joy, their wholeness. Too often, we do the same. We make a mistake, have a disappointment or a broken relationship, and we go into hiding. You can lose part of yourself. Things happen that have taken your joy, limited your vision, stopped your creativity. Now you’ve settled in that area. You’re not pursuing your dreams, not enjoying your family, not passionate about life. God is saying, “Come out of hiding and go back to who I created you to be. Let Me love you back to wholeness and give you a new beginning.” Get your fire back, get your dream back. No more isolating, checking out, pretending to be there but not engaging. This is a new day. That lost part of you is coming back—the creative you, the outgoing you, the compassionate you, the generous you, the successful you, the victorious you. You haven’t seen the best version of you yet. It’s still in front of you.

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You for entrusting me with my life, with gifts and talents and dreams. Thank You that I have greatness in me because You put it there. Help me to come out of hiding and have You restore all that You’ve given me. I believe that wholeness is right in front of me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

05/28/2026

Daniel 3:28 - Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

In the book of Daniel, because three Hebrew teenagers refused to bow down to the king’s golden statue, they were thrown into a fiery furnace. They said, “The God we serve is able to deliver us from the fire, but even if He does not, we will not worship the image of gold.” Miraculously, they not only survived, but they came out unharmed and without even the smell of smoke. There are two kinds of faith. There’s delivering faith, when our all-powerful God instantly takes you out of the problem, keeps you out of the fire, parts the Red Sea. Then there’s sustaining faith, when God makes you fireproof and takes you through the fire as the pathway to your destiny. Most of the time, you’re going to need sustaining faith for when you don’t see anything improving, when the opposition’s bigger. The good news is that God is sustaining and strengthening you through the trouble, through the sickness, through the breakup. Stay in peace. Trust Him that you’re in the middle of your miracle. You’re going to come out without the smell of smoke.

Prayer For Today:
“Father, thank You that no matter what the situation is, I can trust You to take me through difficulties and unfair situations. Thank You that You are my vindicator and that You are right there with me to sustain my faith. I believe I will come through without the smell of smoke. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”