And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. Deuteronomy 8:2 NKJV

Years ago a blind couple wanted to come to our Wednesday night teach¬ing sessions in St. Louis. They normally took the bus, but their usual route was canceled, and they could only continue coming if someone would pick them up and take them home. Nobody was willing to do it because the people lived in an area considered “out of the way.”

In other words, providing transportation for this couple would have been inconvenient. Eventually we had to get one of our employees to do it, which meant we had to pay that person. We should not allow money to be our main motivator.

We all need money, but we also need to do things for other people without being paid to do it; in fact, often, such opportunities are “testing times” from God. If you are willing to do something kind for someone else with no pay and perhaps no credit, that’s a positive sign that your spiritual heart is in good condition.

When God wanted to see if the Israelites would obey His commands, He led them the long, hard way in the wilderness. He sometimes does the same with us. He may ask us to do something inconvenient. God may be using these things to test us. He may be looking to see what’s in our hearts and to give us a chance to prove how much we love Him.

Love God Today: Next time you feel called to do something you don’t really want to do, remember, it could be a test.

Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “It’s a man’s world, and if you want anything in this world, you have to fight for it.” I choose to believe it is my world also, and I don’t fight—I trust God that He will help me be all I can be. I don’t have to compete with a man for his position; I have my own position, and I am comfortable with it. I like being a woman, and I don’t want to be a man. But I must admit there are mornings when I wish all I had to do was comb my hair and shave instead of doing my skin care routine, putting on makeup, curling my hair, arching my eyebrows, and trying on three outfits before I finally feel it is safe to go outside.

Some women have such a competitive spirit with men that they forget to be women. Recently a minister whom I greatly respect said, “Joyce, you are a woman in ministry who still knows how to be a woman. You are not trying to act like a man or preach like one.” You can be strong but feminine, and if you try to act like men, it will lead to failure and rejection.

Lord, the competition factor has been drilled into me since childhood. I choose to trust in You and to be content in the position You have for me. Amen.

[You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, so that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Understand that every time you are tempted to be offended and upset, your faith is being tried. Peter was saying, “Don’t be amazed at the fiery trials that you go through, because they are taking place to test your quality.” Every relationship test is an opportunity to glorify the work of God in you as a testimony to those watching you endure the offense.

There is a right and a wrong way to handle the storms of life. But until I was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to learn about the power that is available to me as a believer to do the right thing, I never handled offenses right.

Jesus’ economy is upside down from what the world teaches us. He says that we can have peace in the midst of the storm. Now just think about how awesome that would be, if no matter what happened, you could remain full of peace.

Jesus said that He gives us power even “to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses].” (Luke 10:19) He promised that nothing will harm us in any way. If we have the power over the enemy, surely we can overlook the offenses of others. He gives us the energy we need to treat people right.

All things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. Romans 8:28

Life is full of unjust situations that create a great deal of pain for you, especially in your relationship with other people. You will experience some hurt and pain, but you don’t have to allow these experiences to destroy your happiness. You can’t always choose what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond to it.

If you’ve been hurt, God can take your bad experiences and make them work for your good. Believing this truth is a positive decision that can help stop your pain.

Choose to learn from the hurtful experiences instead of wasting your pain by allowing them to make you bitter. One way to do this is to overcome evil with good by making sure you don’t hurt others. It’s a good place to start!

Having eyes, do you not see [with them], and having ears, do you not hear and perceive and understand the sense of what is said? And do you not remember? Mark 8:18

I have often said I think we forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget. Jesus chastised the disciples on one of their journeys because they had forgotten about a miracle He had done. They had started out on a trip and suddenly remembered that they had forgotten to bring enough bread. They had only one loaf, and that would not be nearly enough.

In a short while Jesus began to teach the disciples to beware of, and on their guard concerning, the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Jesus of course was talking about being on their guard against deception, but the disciples reasoned among themselves that He was talking about the fact that they had forgotten to bring bread, as if that would have concerned Jesus at all. He then began to chastise them, asking if they had forgotten when He fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread. Had they forgotten another amazing miracle when He fed four thousand with seven loaves? Had they remembered, they would not be worried about going hungry because of not having brought enough bread with them.

If we would remember the miracles God has done in our past, we would not so easily fall into worry and fear when we face new challenges. When David was facing Goliath and nobody was encouraging him, he remembered the lion and the bear that he had already slain with God’s help. Because of remembering the past, he had no fear of the current situation.

Trust in Him Take time to remember a specific instance in which God provided for you. Celebrate it. This will increase your ability to trust Him.

And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You. Psalm 39:7

God’s Word says that He wants us to be blessed (see Deuteronomy 29:9). It states we can and will be blessed in every way when we walk in God’s will. Satan wants to keep people fearful and hopeless. Hopelessness steals our God-given peace and joy.

The enemy tells people they will never have anything, their life will never change, and things will never get better. And when people believe his lies, they remain hopeless and discouraged. We receive what we believe, whether it is positive or negative, so it’s vitally important for us to have faith in God constantly, like Mark 11:22–24 tells us to do.

Refuse to be hopeless and put your trust in God’s Word. Be like Abraham, of whom it is said that although he had no reason to hope, he hoped in faith that God’s promises would come to pass in his life. As he waited, he gave praise and glory to God, and Satan was not able to defeat him with doubt and unbelief (see Romans 4:18–20).

Prayer of Thanks

Father, thank You for the power of hope. I am grateful that no matter what the circumstances around me look like, I can place my hope in You and in Your Word. I am at peace today because You are the source of my hope.

Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]. 1 Corinthians 14:1

Developing a love walk like the one displayed in the life of Jesus is like digging for gold. True Christ-like love is not found on the surface of life. It cannot just be seen and picked up. The Bible says you must eagerly pursue and seek it. This means you must go after love with all your might, as if you cannot live without it.

You must learn all you can about love and familiarize yourself with everything Jesus and the apostles said about it. However, not only are you to learn about love, you are also to seek, pursue, and acquire it.

Tonight, ask God to help you seek and acquire His kind of love—the love that can make a meaningful difference in your life . . . and in the lives of those around you.

For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. Romans 12:3

It is easy to get mixed up about humility. Some people think humility means to have a low opinion of ourselves. Paul says not to have an exaggerated opinion of your own importance, but he doesn’t say to have a low opinion. Some people, in an effort to be humble, don’t know how to receive compliments graciously. We all need encouragement, compliments, and appreciation.

A good way to handle appreciation without getting into pride is to receive it when it is given, then, at the end of the day, take the compliments you receive to Jesus and say to Him, “I know whatever I do that is good or right is the result of Your working in me, so I offer You all the praise I was given today and I thank You for the encouragement.”

Power Thought: Every compliment I have ever received is because of Jesus.

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1 NKJV

It is good to have love for God in your heart, but even better to express it with the words of your mouth. Tell God several times each day that you love Him; say with the psalmist David: I love You fervently and devotedly, O Lord my Strength (Ps. 18:1). it isn’t good enough to merely think, God knows how I feel. Are you blessed when people tell you they love and appreciate you? Of course you are, and it blesses God when we verbalize our love and praise for Him. Verbal expressions of love and gratitude improve all our relationships, including our rela¬tionship with God.

Don’t offer your petitions to God without telling Him how grateful you are for what He has already done for you. As parents we are more likely to answer the request of a thankful child than we are a grouchy and ungrateful one. As an employer I want to do even more for employ¬ees who are appreciative. Offering our continual gratitude to God for His goodness and mercy in our lives moves Him to want to do even more for us. Our gratitude shows God that we are mature enough to handle even more blessing and responsibility.

Women often say, ” I know my husband loves me, but I wish he would tell me more often.” Let’s try to be more diligent in telling God and the people in our lives that we love and appreciate them and what they mean to us.

Love God Today: It is impossible to love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and not hear it come out of your mouth.