Are you feeling pressure in your everyday life?  On the job. . .in your finances. . .at home either in your role as a spouse or a parent?

You want to get ahead but sometimes the pressure is almost overbearing.

Peter Marshal, a former Chaplain of the United States Senate, once told the Lord:

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”

Perhaps, we need to catch a visual of ourselves becoming like the Hope diamond. . .the most famous of all precious stones.

There seems to be four main causes of pressure. . .whether generated externally or internally.

First, we get overloaded with more to do than the hours of the day will allow us to complete.

Second, we allow our emotions to create worry, anxiety and frustration. . .which drains us emotionally and physically as well.

Never let them see you sweat.

Do you remember that the Gillette Corporation began using that tagline in their advertisements for the antiperspirants “Dry Idea” back in 1964?

Interestingly enough, the slogan was created by the same man who wrote the Navy’s slogan. . . “It’s not a job, it’s an adventure.”

In case you’ve forgotten or are too young to remember, the “never let them see you sweat” ads featured famous people from various professions.

For me, I never want to see satan, the enemy, Beelzebb or any of the hosts of hell...see me sweat over what the  try to perpetuate in my life.

Instead, I want to make the enemy and his horde from hell SWEAT because I know the Word of God.

Here are seven times you don’t want the enemy to see you sweat.

1.      When you’re disappointed

Here’s the great news. . .regardless of the intensity of the enemy’s attack. . .you will never be put to shame or disappointed.  I realize that’s a bold statement. . . but there are eight verses in the Amplified Bible translation which say exactly that and here are five of them.

Do you have “it”?  You should …

Romans 12:8 in the New International Version says:

“If it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

Everybody should have the gift of encouragement.

“Well, I’m not sure God wanted me to have that gift.”  Then it’s apparent that you’ve never read Hebrews 3:13 in the Amplified Bible:

“But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him].”

We’re to encourage one another. . .HOW OFTEN?. . .EVERY DAY.

So let’s look at what encouragement means.

According to Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary the word encouragement is defined as:

Have you ever heard the saying “you’re not getting older…you’re getting better?”

It’s a beautiful thought…flattering…bound to make the recipient feel good even if they question the sincerity.

Hopefully, we are all getting better…I mean it would be tragic to think we can live a day and not improve something in our mental thought processes or the quality of life.

However, the reality is…we’re getting older and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Yes, we can get nipped, clipped, tucked…having our face drawn tighter than someone sucking on a lemon…but we’re still getting older.

With all due respect…there’s a reason they call it plastic surgery…because many people come out looking plastic.

Let me hasten to add…there are some who look great.

But truthfully, I don’t even know why I’m talking about this…because I’m not as interested in a person altering their looks as I am…teaching them how to alter their lifestyles for the greater good.

Wow…let’s get back on track.

While I can’t help someone with how they look…I can definitely help them learn to take the worry out of getting older…which I believe is a far more effective wrinkle reducer.

1.         Simplify your life.

Simplify means:  “Remove anything that complicates your life and prevents you from freely pursuing your purpose for living. . .while enjoying the journey.”

My fine wife and I are moving from Fort Worth, TX to Goldsboro, North Carolina after twenty-two years in Texas.  On a direct order from the Lord I might add.

What is the most communicable disease in the world today?

Your thoughts….

Proverbs 23: 7 says:

“As a man thinketh so is he…”

For years, I’ve taught that a debt free mentality….is not determined by where you work, where you live, what you drive, what you wear or who your parents are.   Your mentality is not even determined by how smart you are … but by the dominant thoughts in your mind.

Whatever thoughts you allow to dominate your life will have a direct impact on who and what you draw into your life.

Like a magnet, your thoughts will draw to you the people and circumstances that harmonize with your dominant thoughts.

Life is not determined by outward acts or circumstances.  Each of us creates our own life by our thoughts.

Marcus Aurelius once said:

Make no mistake. . .God created you to be a leader.

You can also know that the enemy has used and is continuing to use some clever tactics to keep you from realizing that YOU ARE A LEADER.  Sadly, many believers allow him to get away with this deadly deception.

You may never have thought of yourself as a leader and truthfully, what you think will hinder what you accomplish.  Why not trust what God thinks of you over other people’s opinion.

The real question is what does God think about you being a leader. . .how does God see you?

Ephesians 2:10 in the New Living Translation says:

“For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

You are God’s masterpiece. . .does that sound like you’re a failure, a has been or a never was.  Not only are you His masterpiece. . .but He has plans for you. Don’t you want to start living up to them?

I’m going to make a statement and I want you to get it down inside of you . . . in fact, if you get nothing else from this teaching, get this:

You have much more influence in life than you know.  You are a leader.

Are you married?

It was an early morning when the Lord began this rapid fire succession of the seven worst things a person can do in the final six months of 2024. 

I try to be a positive person but the truth of the matter is this… there are some things we just don’t need to do!

I knew in due season He would help me put meat on these bones to pass along to His people and here it is.

# 1       Not believing

There is an old saying. . .if you don’t believe in something you’ll fall for anything.

More properly said, if you don’t believe in the Word of God then you’ll more likely fall for the tricks, traps, lies, deceptions and wiles the enemy throws your way.

The word believe is found in 131 verses in the King James Bible.  However, I feel led to share with you seven things you must believe.

First, You must believe He is a miracle working savior.

Matthew 9:28 says:

“And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.”

Second, He wants you and your family saved.

Acts 16:31 says:

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Romans 10:9 says:

Sometimes people grow up feeling they are the lowest person on the totem pole. Those around them seem to have a wonderful family life.  They make good grades or play sports or are popular with other kids.  They seem to have it all together.

Even if you grew up as a Christian you can feel that God didn’t outfit you with the best scenario. 

Then when you catch a vision or sense your calling, the road is not all that smooth ahead of you. So naturally, we might ask... "Why is this happening to me?"

Have you ever thought about what Jesus had to deal with or experienced?  His life certainly wasn’t a picnic.

Stuff happened to Jesus too. And if it happened to Him, it shouldn’t be strange that it’s happening to you too.  It's how you deal with the stuff when it happens to you...that makes all the difference in the world.

Here are seven things you may not have thought about Jesus.

First, He was born out of wedlock.

Up until the last few decades. . .if you had a child out of wedlock. . .or what the world calls an “illegitimate” child. . .you were viewed and treated differently by all the’ good’ folks.

So just imagine what that was like 2,000 years ago in a religious community.

In Biblical times, there was not only a stigma attached to have a child outside of marriage . . .but doing so could cost the woman her life.

God loves it when we pull close to Him. . .He wants us reading and obeying His Word.

He wants us moving from glory to glory in His marvelous image.  During a recent Rich Thoughts for Breakfast which is a conference call we do every day, we taught from Revelation 2:29 in the Message Bible.  The Lord used that scripture to show us seven keys of getting better in our spiritual walk every day.

By the way, you can go to our website:  haroldherring.com and find the way to join us each day on Rich Thoughts for Breakfast.

Now, He directed us to put some meat on the bones of the seven points and share it with our world-wide Internet audience on RICH THOUGHTS TV.

But first, the letter to the church at Thyatira is the LONGEST of the seven letters, but was written to the smallest and seemingly least important of the seven cities. The point is God cares about each and every one of us.  No one is ever left out.

Here’s our primary scripture for this teaching.

Revelation 2:19 in the Message Bible says:

“I see everything you’re doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day.”

There are seven keys in what’s being said about the church in Thyatira.

1.         God sees everything you’re doing for Him.

Hebrews 4:13 in The Living Bible says:

Make no mistake about it. . .if God promises us something. . .makes a covenant with us. . .it’s going to happen . . . unless we ignore His instructions or give up or give in first.

Our circumstances don’t matter. . .the problems that we’re currently facing don’t matter. . . but our obedience to His Word definitely matters..

Having said that. . .let me tell you there are going to be times when you wonder what’s going on. . .simply because you may not be able to perceive that God is working in and through your life to manifest His precious promises.

During these times. . .it’s critical to understand there is definitely an enemy waiting in the shadows hoping to knock you off course. . .frustrate you. . .so you NEVER manifest God’s promises.

God miraculously delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage.  His promises were confirmed through signs and wonders and finally the persistence paid off and the children of Israel were marching out of tyranny into freedom. . .destined for the Promised Land as His promises were manifested.

The children of Israel encountered some adversity in their journey to freedom and abundance.  They may have felt dismayed but nothing they did altered the promises of God.  His goal was the same as in the beginning. 

They may have wondered. They may have wavered. They may have disobeyed.  They may have limited and frustrated God.   But God never wavered when it came to His promises.

Exodus 34:10 says: