A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

Proverbs 16:9 (AMPC)

You may have to step out to find out the right thing to do. If you don’t hear clearly from God, just step in the direction you think you should go and then wait for peace. If you lose your peace, back out of wherever you were headed.

Dave and I almost bought two different buildings to house our ministry. We were in negotiations until, one morning after praying, Dave said, “Joyce, I don’t have peace about buying that building. I feel like God is saying, ‘If you buy that building, you are going to be sorry later.’” So, we waited for peace, and now we have a building that is completely paid for with room to grow. Pray until you find peace.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, please help me trust Your guidance. Give me peace when making decisions, and the wisdom to step back and reassess when I lose my peace. Guide me in Your perfect will. All this in the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

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And He said to them, [As for you] come away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest a while—for many were [continually]coming and going, and they had not even leisure enough to eat.

Devoimage23

Frequently we complain and live silently angry lives while at the same time we continue to do the very things that make us angry. We cannot blame others for what is ultimately our own responsibility. A normal Christian life should be lived within the boundaries of balanced living.

Once a person has a serious case of burnout, it is not easy to fix. None of us, not even those of us “called by God,” can break His natural laws without paying the penalty. Even though we may work for God, we cannot live without limits. Jesus rested. He walked away from the demands of the crowds and took time for renewal.

Many of God’s most precious and well-known saints have suffered from weariness and burnout with a tendency toward depression. We must learn that not all of our problems are spiritual; some of them are physical. We often blame the devil for things that are our own fault. We must learn to say no and not fear the loss of relationships. I have come to the conclusion that if I lose a relationship because I tell someone no, I really never had a true relationship at all.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, give me wisdom to know when I must rest and be renewed. Help me to adjust my schedule when I need to be refueled, amen.

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When they had all had enough, He said to His disciples, Gather up now the fragments (the broken pieces that are left over), so that nothing may be lost and wasted.

John 6:12 (AMPC)

Don’t just give God what you are and what you feel you have to offer—give Him what you are not. If you make mistakes or feel that you are lacking in several areas, give it to God and let Him be your all. If you give God everything you are and everything you are not, He will give you everything He is and has. Victory is not about what you can do; it’s about what God can do through you.

Paul said that God’s strength was made perfect in his weakness. Jesus said to gather up the fragments, so nothing is wasted. If you will give Jesus all of you, even the worn-out, used-up fragments, He will make something awesome out of them. Let God begin to flow through your strengths and your weaknesses.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I give You all that I am and all that I am not. Please use my weaknesses to reveal Your strength and power through me, as I know I could never accomplish anything on my own, amen.

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You in Your mercy and loving-kindness have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.

Exodus 15:13 (AMPC)

God will try to guide us, but He won’t force us to do the right thing or to move in the direction He has set forth for us.

Anything God guides us to do or not to do is for our benefit, and if we trust that, then we can follow His direction more easily. God’s desire is that we want His will more than we want anything else. There is no better place to be than in the will of God.

The center of God’s will is a place of joy, peace, and rest. When these things are missing in our lives it may be a strong indication that we have slipped out of God’s will. However, God will guide us back to the right path if we ask Him to.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, help me desire Your will more than anything else. Guide me back to Your path whenever I stray and fill me with peace and joy in Your presence, amen.

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Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:22 (NIV)

There are some things you should keep between you and God, but some things must be brought out into the open. I have an example from my own life that may be helpful. When I was twenty years old—and that was a long time ago—I stole money from a company I worked for. The man I was married to at the time was a petty thief, and he convinced me to write some payroll checks since I was the payroll clerk, and we would cash them and quickly get out of town. I am not blaming him because I should have said no, but there are times in life when we let people we love talk us into things that go against our consciences. When we do, it always ends up badly.

We did cash the checks and leave town, but eventually we came back, and sure enough there was an ongoing investigation about the stolen money. I was questioned, told more lies, and escaped being accused of the crime. My husband cheated on me with other women, stole property, and eventually was arrested and went to prison. We got a divorce, and many years later, married to someone else and about to enter the ministry, I knew that I had to go to the company I’d stolen from, admit my theft, and pay back the money. Wow! What if they had me arrested? I was so frightened, but I knew I had to obey God. I could not go forward until that thing from my past was confronted.

I went to the company and explained what I had done and that I was now a Christian and wanted to ask their forgiveness and pay back the money. They graciously let me do so, and I was set free from the nagging fear that someday I might get caught. I am convinced that if I had not obeyed God, I would not be in ministry today. God is willing to forgive us for anything, but we must confess it and make restitution wherever possible.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me confront my past, seek forgiveness, and make things right, no matter how I might feel about the situation. Grant me courage to face difficult truths and walk in Your forgiveness and grace, amen.

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It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (AMPC)

One of the things we can praise God for daily with a heart full of gratitude is that He is determined to have an intimate relation- ship with each of us. The only way He can do that is if He extends grace, mercy, and forgiveness to us continually. And the only way we can have that relationship with Him is if we learn to continually receive His grace, forgiveness, and mercy.

In case you are wondering, you have not used up all of God’s mercy for you. There is still an abundant amount available to you, and there will be as long as you live. God’s mercy is new every day! And it is a gift that can only be enjoyed if it is received freely. So, thank God for His mercy today, live boldly by His grace, and be all He created you to be.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for Your mercy, Your compassion, and Your loving-kindness that never fails. I celebrate Your goodness today, and I am so grateful that I can have a personal, intimate relationship with You.

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From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.

Psalm 71:6 (NIV)

In today’s scripture, the psalmist encourages us to praise God continually. Once we seriously start praising Him, our burdens and our troubles seem to weigh less heavily on us. This is part of the power of being thankful. As we give thanks to God for what’s good in our lives, it helps us not to focus excessively on our problems. I believe God wants us to be grateful people, filled with gratitude not only toward God, but also toward others.

When someone does something nice for you, let that person know you appreciate them and what they did. Have you ever thanked the people who pick up your trash? The last time you ate at a restaurant, did you thank the server for filling your coffee cup? I could go on and on, but that’s my point: We need to develop an attitude of gratitude toward the people in our lives. Another way to express gratitude is to show appreciation toward your family members, especially your spouse. I appreciate Dave, and even though we’ve been married a long time, I still tell him I appreciate him. He’s patient with me, and he is thoughtful.

Just a few words of thanks are a great way to bless God and others. When you express appreciation, it’s good for the other person to hear it, but remember that it also releases joy in you. You enrich both your life and another person’s life when you show gratitude for anything, big or small.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I desire a thankful and praise-filled heart. Holy Spirit, I ask You to remind me every day of what I need to be grateful for.

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No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God.

Romans 4:20 (AMPC)

In Genesis 12:1-21:7, God spoke to Abraham and promised him an heir. But the problem was that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were both old— really old. He was 100 years old and she was 90, so their childbearing years were long gone! But Abraham knew God had spoken and was determined not to focus on the natural impossibility that he and Sarah could have a child. Instead, he planted his faith in God’s promise and held on to that promise by praising God, as we read in today’s verse.

Let me say again that, naturally speaking, Abraham had absolutely no reason to hope. In fact, if any situation has ever been beyond hope, it would be the possibility of two people past ninety being able to have a biological child. Nevertheless, Abraham kept hoping; he kept believing God’s promise. He looked at his circumstances and was well aware of the odds that were piled against him, but he still did not give up, even though the Bible says that his body was “as good as dead” and that Sarah’s womb was barren and “deadened.” In the face of a genuine natural impossibility, Abraham did not give in to unbelief; he did not waver in his faith or question God’s promise. Instead, “he grew strong and was empowered by faith” as he praised God.

If God has spoken promises to you and you are still waiting for them to be fulfilled, be like Abraham: remember what God has said and keep praising Him.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me stay faithful and praise You, even in the face of impossible situations. Strengthen my trust in Your promises. I cannot do this without Your help, amen.

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No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God.

Romans 4:20 (AMPC)

In Genesis 12:1-21:7, God spoke to Abraham and promised him an heir. But the problem was that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were both old— really old. He was 100 years old and she was 90, so their childbearing years were long gone! But Abraham knew God had spoken and was determined not to focus on the natural impossibility that he and Sarah could have a child. Instead, he planted his faith in God’s promise and held on to that promise by praising God, as we read in today’s verse.

Let me say again that, naturally speaking, Abraham had absolutely no reason to hope. In fact, if any situation has ever been beyond hope, it would be the possibility of two people past ninety being able to have a biological child. Nevertheless, Abraham kept hoping; he kept believing God’s promise. He looked at his circumstances and was well aware of the odds that were piled against him, but he still did not give up, even though the Bible says that his body was “as good as dead” and that Sarah’s womb was barren and “deadened.” In the face of a genuine natural impossibility, Abraham did not give in to unbelief; he did not waver in his faith or question God’s promise. Instead, “he grew strong and was empowered by faith” as he praised God.

If God has spoken promises to you and you are still waiting for them to be fulfilled, be like Abraham: remember what God has said and keep praising Him.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me stay faithful and praise You, even in the face of impossible situations. Strengthen my trust in Your promises. I cannot do this without Your help, amen.

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Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 8:13 (NKJV)

Hope is the expectation that something good is going to happen, and we all need hope. But some people are afraid to hope because they have been hurt so much in life. They have had so many disappointments they don’t think they can face the pain of another one. Therefore, they refuse to hope so they won’t be disappointed. This way of thinking leads to a negative lifestyle.

Many years ago, I was extremely negative. My philosophy was this: “If you don’t expect anything good to happen, then you won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t.” I had encountered so many disappointments in life and so many devastating things had happened to me that I was afraid to believe that anything good might take place. When I really began to study the Word and to trust God to restore me, one of the first things I realized was that my negativism had to go, and I had to believe God’s Word.

God has a perfect plan for each of us, but we must think and speak in agreement with His will and plan for us. We certainly can’t control Him with our thoughts and words, but we can think and speak what His Word says.

Practice being positive in each situation that arises and expect God to bring good out of it, as He promises in His Word (Romans 8:28).

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me trust in Your perfect plan and replace negativity with hope, knowing You bring good from every situation.

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…God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:5 (ESV)

One of the most powerful verses in the Bible is 1 John 4:8 (ESV), which says, Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In other words, God’s very nature is love, and it is more powerful than anything else in the universe. All He has to offer us is love. Everything He does is rooted in love. And it is impossible for God to be anything but loving. Whenever you think about God, read about Him in His Word, or talk to Him, you can be certain that He loves you all the time.

The apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:5 that the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. When we choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts through faith as one of God’s gifts to us. He does many things for us and works in our lives in various ways, one of which is to bring God’s love to us and to remind us of it.

A person with a wounded soul may struggle to believe God loves her. She may feel she is not valuable enough to be loved by God or she may fear that God is like people who have said they loved her and then hurt her. But what God wants is for us to receive His love by faith, believing He is greater than our fears, our failures, our weaknesses, and the pain of our past.

When we are able to stand firm in the knowledge that God loves us, our hearts are filled with confidence, peace, joy, hope, concern for others, and positive attitudes toward our future.

I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to continue to reveal God’s love to you in personal ways and to look up Scriptures about God’s love. I also encourage you to memorize these Scriptures to help yourself become more firmly established in the fact that He loves you. Here are a few to get you started:

• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).
• “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” (Jer. 31:3 NIV).
• “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ps. 86:15 ESV).
• “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8 ESV).

As you meditate on these verses and others like them and ask the Holy Spirit to make them real and personal to you, you will grow in your confidence that God loves you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me fully receive Your love and stand firm in it. Help me to completely trust that You are always with me, no matter what, amen.

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For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).

Romans 11:36 (AMPC)

Several studies show that women are more likely to be dependent on others than men are and often have more difficulty establishing their independence. These facts help form the way we cope with issues when we grow up. Men are often thought to be good at independence but perhaps not as good at relationships. Women, on the other hand are usually seen as better at relationships but not so good with independence.

Let me establish what I mean by independence. We are never to be independent from God. As I have said repeatedly, we cannot do anything properly without Him and should be dependent on God at all times for all things (John 15:5).

Needing God and needing people is not a sign of weakness. We can be dependent and independent at the same time. Bruce Wilkinson once said, “God’s power under us, in us, surging through us, is exactly what turns dependence into unforgettable experiences of completeness.” We can feel complete when we acknowledge our dependence on our heavenly Father.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I confess my utter dependency upon You for all things, and I recognize how dependent I am upon others as well. But help me to also establish my independence of others. My only ultimate dependence is upon You, amen.

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Psalm 121:1-2 (NKJV)

A lot of people look to the wrong things when they find themselves in difficult situations. They focus on the size of their problem, the risks that they’re facing, the negative things others are saying about them, or their fear of failure. Those things drag them down, and looking to them will not help them.

The Word of God gives us a much better option when we’re in need of help. Instead of looking down at the things that can’t help us, the Bible tells us to look up—to put our focus on the One who will always help us. When David was in trouble, he would turn and cast his eyes upward, because he knew his help came from on high.

When you’re going through something and not sure what to do, use your spiritual eyes and just look up. Look for the Lord. He is the One who can help you. He is the One who will rescue you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, whenever I face challenges, help me to look up to You, my true Source of strength and rescue, and simply trust in Your guidance and love.

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Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

Proverbs 18:21 (MSG)

Our thoughts affect our words, and our words affect our lives— words have power, and they directly affect our emotions. Words fuel good moods or bad moods; in fact, they fuel our attitudes and have a huge impact on our lives and our relationships.

In Proverbs 21:23 we are told to guard our mouths and tongues to keep ourselves from trouble. Proverbs also tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (18:21 AMP). The message cannot be any clearer: If you speak positive and good things, you minister life to yourself. You increase your joy. However, if you speak negative words, you minister death and misery to yourself—you increase your sadness and your mood plummets. You have the choice between life and death, being positive or negative—so choose wisely!

Prayer of the Day: Father God, please help me to always speak words that bring life and positivity, rather than death and negativity. Guide my thoughts and words to uplift myself as well as others and always reflect Your love and peace. Thank You, amen.

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Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

Proverbs 18:21 (MSG)

Our thoughts affect our words, and our words affect our lives— words have power, and they directly affect our emotions. Words fuel good moods or bad moods; in fact, they fuel our attitudes and have a huge impact on our lives and our relationships.

In Proverbs 21:23 we are told to guard our mouths and tongues to keep ourselves from trouble. Proverbs also tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (18:21 AMP). The message cannot be any clearer: If you speak positive and good things, you minister life to yourself. You increase your joy. However, if you speak negative words, you minister death and misery to yourself—you increase your sadness and your mood plummets. You have the choice between life and death, being positive or negative—so choose wisely!

Prayer of the Day: Father God, please help me to always speak words that bring life and positivity, rather than death and negativity. Guide my thoughts and words to uplift myself as well as others and always reflect Your love and peace. Thank You, amen.

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…Make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1 (AMPC)

When God asks us to do something, we often ask: What is this going to cost me? What do I have to give up? If I do this, how uncomfortable am I going to be?

The truth is that anything that is really worth doing requires a sacrifice, especially anything we do for God. Part of loving and serving Him involves a willingness to lay down our lives for Him.

Do not be afraid of sacrifice when God calls you or puts a dream in your heart. Whatever it is you have to lay down or give up is nothing compared to the reward that comes with obeying His guidance. God’s plan for you is greater than anything you can imagine. Every sacrifice you make as you follow His guidance will bring increased peace and joy in your life.

Prayer of the Day: Lord God, please give me the strength to embrace sacrifice for Your purposes. Help me trust that what I give up will be nothing compared to the joy and peace You bring. I pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.

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For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.

Psalm 149:4 (NIV)

The Bible says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6 NKJV) and that if we will humble ourselves under His mighty hand, He will exalt us in due time (1 Peter 5:5–6). God hates pride, because proud people depend on themselves instead of on Him. They have an inflated opinion of themselves, and they think more highly of themselves than they ought to.

Humble in the original Greek language of the New Testament meant lowly or to make low. It means to make yourself lower than God and depend entirely on Him. We are often independent, which is the opposite of the way God wants us to be.

Jesus says that we are to abide in Him, and that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).

To abide means to live, dwell and remain; to depend on continuously. Because I didn’t have anyone who really cared for me as a child, I became independent and repeatedly told myself that I could take care of myself and didn’t need anyone. However, when I entered into a relationship with God through Jesus, I had to let Him break my independent attitude and learn to depend on Him.

I have discovered, as you will or may have already discovered, that life is much better when we humble ourselves and let God take the lead in our lives.

Prayer of the Day: Father, forgive me for the times when I proudly depend on myself instead of on You. Help me learn to always depend and rely on You for everything.

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I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made….

Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

How do you feel about yourself? Would you say you have a healthy self-image, appreciate your strengths, and love yourself, respect yourself, and think highly of yourself in an appropriate way? Or do you have low self-esteem, think too much about your weaknesses, devalue yourself in your mind or with your words, and struggle with self-acceptance? Many people focus too much on their weaknesses and allow them to negatively influence their self-image.

We all have weaknesses, but God says His “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In other words, our weaknesses give God an opportunity to reveal Himself and work through us. For Him to flow through us, we must come face-to-face with our weaknesses and determine not to let them bother us. We need to love and accept ourselves unconditionally—weaknesses, shortcomings, faults, and all—because God loves and accepts us unconditionally.

I encourage you, when you feel unloved or unaccepted, to remind yourself that feelings are fickle. Remember that God has created you in a unique way, as a specially crafted person who is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” He loves and accepts you fully and has a wonderful plan for your life. Your weaknesses and imperfections will not stop Him from fulfilling His purpose for you or from working through you to bless others. Tell yourself that God loves you and that you will not allow your weaknesses to hinder you from following Him wholeheartedly. Soon you will have a whole new level of confidence and strength.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for the unique way You’ve made me, with all my strengths and weaknesses. Help me to love myself as You love me.

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Then Peter and the apostles replied, We must obey God rather than men.

Acts 5:29 (AMPC)

The apostles were being threatened with punishment if they continued to talk about Jesus, but they valued their reputation with God more than their reputation with man. This world is not our home. We are merely passing through, and while we are here it is important that we obey God at all times, even if that means that some people we know won’t like our choice.

We will all face times in life when we must choose between doing what a friend or family member wants us to do and doing what we truly believe God wants us to do. Always choose God and strive to keep a clear conscience. Only do what you have peace about doing and you will have a contentment in your soul that no person can give you. Let God guide you and always do now what you will be happy with later on in life!

Prayer of the Day: Father, when I have to make a choice between listening to You and listening to people, give me the courage to always choose You and Your will.

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So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return {to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), times refreshing…may come from the presence of the Lord.

Acts 3:19 (AMPC)

God manifests His presence in many ways. Most of the time we can’t see Him, but, like the wind, we can see the work He does in us. If I’m tired, weary, frustrated, or bothered about something, and I become refreshed after spending time with God, then I know the wind of the Spirit has blown on me. God wants to bring a refreshing into your life. Don’t be frustrated or worn-out in your soul when the answer is living inside of you. If you are too busy to spend time with God, you are simply too busy, so make some adjustments to your schedule. Don’t be burned out, upset, weary, and stressed out when times of refreshing are available to you.

Learn to come away from the busyness of life to spend time with God the way Jesus did. You can’t wait for the people around you to approve of the time you need to spend with God. Somebody will always find something they think you need to do! Set aside first thing in the morning if at all possible and then try taking several “mini-spiritual vacations” throughout the day.

Stop what you are doing for two or three minutes; take a deep, breath to help you relax and simply tell God how much you love and need Him. Be quiet in His presence for the remainder of the time and you will be refreshed in an amazing way.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me prioritize time with You. Help me find peace in Your presence, and experience refreshment for my soul, amen.

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