Category Archives: Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Comfort for Mourning

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You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.—Psalm 30:11

In Isaiah 61:2 it was prophesied that the coming Messiah would “comfort all who mourn.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said those who mourn are blessed for they will be comforted (see Matthew 5:4). The comfort of God that is administered by His Holy Spirit is so awesome it is almost worth having a problem just to be able to experience it. It goes far beyond any kind of ordinary human comfort.

Let God be your source of comfort. In those times when you are hurting, just ask Him to comfort you. Then wait in His presence while He works in your heart and emotions. He will not fail you, if you will only give Him a chance to come to your aid.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Appreciate Correction

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Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences], for the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit of it better than fine gold. —Proverbs 3:13–14

Ask God to reveal areas in which you need to apply self-control. You can even enjoy the journey to becoming all that He has in mind for you to be, if you learn to appreciate godly correction from others. Remember, God loves you just the way you are, but He corrects those He loves (See Proverbs 3:12).

Only mature Christians enjoy the meat of God’s Word, and He has much to share with His grown-up sons and daughters. There will always be more to learn, so don’t make excuses for your weak points. Accepting the truth will set you free (See John 8:32), and God will give you strength to overcome in those areas in which you are weak.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – “God, This Is Just Not a Good Time!”

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. . . Felix became alarmed and terrified and said, Go away for the present; when I have a convenient opportunity, I will send for you. —Acts 24:25

The Bible tells a story about a man who did not follow God because doing so would have been inconvenient. This man, named Felix, asked Paul to come and preach the Gospel to him. But when Paul started talking to him about right living, purity of life, and controlling his passions, Felix became alarmed and frightened. He told Paul to go away and that he would call him at a more convenient time (see Acts 24:24–25).

I find this extremely amusing, not because it is really funny, but because it clearly depicts the way we are. We don’t mind hearing about how much God loves us and about the good plans He has for our lives, but when He begins to chastise us or correct us in any way, we try to tell Him that “now” is just not a good time. I doubt He ever chooses a time we would consider “a good time,” and I think He does that on purpose!

When the Israelites were traveling through the wilderness, they were led by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. When the cloud moved, they had to move. And when it hovered, they stayed where they were (see Num. 9:15–23). The Bible says that sometimes it moved during the day and sometimes it moved at night. Sometimes it rested for a few days and sometimes it rested for one day.

I seriously doubt that at night they all hung Do Not Disturb signs on the openings of their tents to let God know they did not want to be inconvenienced. When He decided it was time to go, they packed up and followed Him. And when He decides it is time for us to move to the next level of our journey in Him, we should never say, “This is just not a good time!”

God knows best, and His timing is always exactly right. The fact that I don’t feel ready to deal with something in my life doesn’t mean that I’m not ready. God’s timing is perfect, and His ways are not our ways, but they are higher and better than our ways (see Isa. 55:9).

Trust in Him Have you ever said to God, “This is not a good time”? Commit to following God’s will for your life in His timing. God’s timing may not be your timing, but you can trust Him because He knows best.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Overcome Rejection

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Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.” —Mark 12:10 –11 NLT

We all fear earthly rejection too much. Jesus was rejected, and He survived. You can too! When I say you will survive, I don’t mean you will just barely make it; I mean rejection will not leave you brokenhearted, and it will not stop you from doing what God wants you to do. No one enjoys being rejected, but we can experience it and still be victorious.

We are not responsible for our reputations; God is! So relax and keep thinking to yourself, I may not be accepted by everyone, but I am accepted and loved by God. Repeat it over and over until you believe it and are no longer bothered if people reject you.

If you have God, you have all you need. If He knows you need anything else, He will provide that also (see Matthew 6:8, 33–34). If you value the unconditional love of God more than the conditional approval of people, you will overcome rejection.

Power Thought: I can overcome rejection because I have received God’s love.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Amazing Grace

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I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. —Galatians 2:21

In today’s scripture, the apostle Paul said that if he did not receive the grace of God, he would be treating His gift as insignificant. In the Amplified Bible, the first part of this verse says, “I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose. I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate the grace (unmerited favor) of God.” In other words, the grace of God is so awesome and so wonderful that we need to highly esteem it, deeply appreciate it and allow it to work in our lives.

I discovered years ago that every time I became frustrated, the reason was that I was trying to do something in my own strength instead of putting my faith in God and receiving His grace (help). I was frustrated and struggling with something most of the time in the early years of my walk with the Lord. Receiving a revelation of God’s grace was a major breakthrough for me. Prior to that, I was constantly trying to change myself, change other people, get something I wanted, or change some circumstance I did not like. I was extremely frustrated because none of my efforts ever produced good results.

Maybe now is a time when you need to embrace God’s grace in your life. He wants you to stop trying to do things in your own strength and simply rest in Him, trusting that He will handle everything in the best possible way. Our works of the flesh (us trying to do God’s job) will always produce frustration, but receiving grace (God’s power to do what needs to be done) always produces peace and joy.

God will not permit us to succeed in life without His help. If He did, we would take the credit that is due Him. Because He loves us, He wants to pour out His grace in our lives. When we receive it, we will be thankful, joyful and amazed by what He accomplishes on our behalf.

Love God Today: Have you been frustrating the grace of God that is available to you? Relax, receive it and let God’s grace do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Will Fight for You

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Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God Who goes before you, He will fight for you just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God bore you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. —Deuteronomy 1:29–31

Dread is expecting something unpleasant to happen, and it has nothing to do with faith. Faith looks forward to something good. I believe dread is very deceptive.

Because sometimes it is so subtle that it is imperceptible, it becomes a significant problem that people really need to consider in their lives and see just how it afflicts them. The instant you begin to dread something, your joy starts to go and a “down feeling” sets in. Everything about the devil is down. It is all doom and gloom, depressing and discouraging, negative and yucky. Don’t dread anything, but instead face everything with courage and believe you can do anything you need to do and do it with a good attitude.

We know that lack of confidence, worry, dread, and other tormenting emotions are rooted in fear. Fear is the source of these problems, but you can stop fear. Listen and obey the word of the Lord, and He will fight for you.

Lord, all the dreads that come my way today are no match for You. I thank You that I can face them with boldness and overcome them with joy. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Listen More Than You Talk

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He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding has a cool spirit.—Proverbs 17:27

We have said in this devotional that in our quest to hear from God we must train ourselves to listen. Sometimes we are talking so much that we simply cannot hear what God wants to say. We can also miss the important things people say to us because we are not listening.

If we learn the discipline of keeping ourselves calm and quiet, we will hear the things that God wants to say to us. My daughter, Sandra, said that recently, after she prayed, she just sat for a minute and asked God if He had anything He wanted to say to her before she began her day. She felt in her heart that He simply said, “Go; I am with you!” She was comforted by that thought, but it especially comforted her over the next few days when she found herself needing to deal with some unexpected bad news. The word God had given her increased her faith and kept her stable and calm as she faced her trials.

If we don’t listen, we won’t hear. Give God an opportunity on a regular basis to speak to you. When you pray, you don’t have to do all the talking. You can spare your words and be considered a wise man or woman of God.

God’s word for you today: You have one mouth and two ears, so that means God wants you to listen twice as much as you talk.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Wounded Healer

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement), Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God. —2 Corinthians 1:3,4

The best healer is often the wounded healer, because he knows what he is dealing with since he has suffered it himself. That’s what Paul was saying in this passage from his letter to the church in Corinth. If you have suffered through some hard times in your life, you are going to be even more successful in ministering to those who are going through the same kind of suffering in their lives. That doesn’t mean that those who have never suffered hardship or pain cannot be used by the Lord.

Some of the greatest and most powerful ministers I know have lived almost perfect lives. But just because you and I have suffered does not keep us from ministering successfully also. Even though you may have had a rough time in your life, God can use what you have been through for His glory—if you will allow Him to do so! If I were still back where I started out, feeling sorry for myself, I would be no good to myself or anyone else.

In fact, I would probably be on the devil’s lunch plate! He would be chewing me up and spitting me out. But because the Lord gave me the grace to lay down my self-pity and take up the challenge of living for Him, now I am able to help hundreds of thousands of people all over the nation and beyond.

To me the greatest testimony in the world is to be able to say, “God took what Satan tried to use to destroy me, and He turned it around for His glory and used it for the betterment of other people in the kingdom.” It takes God to do that! No matter where you may be today or what you may be going through, God can turn your situation around and use it to further His kingdom and bring blessings to you and to many others.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Satan’s Strongholds

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For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.—2 Corinthians 10:4

A stronghold is an area in which we are held in bondage—any part of our lives in which Satan imprisons us. He does this by causing us to think a certain way—a way that is based on lies we have been told. As long as we believe things that are not true, we will remain imprisoned by those strongholds. To enjoy freedom, we must learn to use God’s mighty weapons.

In my book Battlefield of the Mind, I referred to Mary, who had been mistreated and brainwashed by her father, and by the time she was a teen, she didn’t trust men. It’s no wonder that she and her husband faced many conflicts in their ¬marriage. For years, Satan had lied to her and she believed the lies.

Mary isn’t one isolated case. I know a man named Daniel, who is quite intelligent. In fact, his family used to tell him he was the smartest man in town. God had given him a good mind, but Satan used that fact to imprison him. Until he met Jesus Christ, Daniel believed he was smarter than and superior to everyone else. Because of his pride, it was easy for him to be deceived and think more highly of himself than he should. He became critical and judgmental of others who he felt were not as brilliant as he believed he was.

Patricia was somewhat like Mary, except that her father constantly told her she was no good; that she was worthless and should marry the first man who would have her. That’s exactly what she did, and she lived a miserable life. She felt she was never good enough for anyone.

Mary, Daniel, and Patricia had been trapped in different prisons, but Satan was the jail keeper. All three lived miserable lives until they leaned what Paul meant by “the weapons of our warfare.” The Word of God is the weapon that set them free. That weapon became effective through preaching, teaching, books, tapes, seminars, small Bible study groups, and their own private studies. They also learned to turn to other spiritual weapons such as praise and prayer. They learned that when we genuinely praise God from our hearts, we defeat the devil quicker than by using any other battle plan.

They didn’t overcome every problem the first day—it was a slow process, but it was worth the wait. Patricia later said, “It took a lot of years for me to become imprisoned through the lies of Satan, so why not give God plenty of time to work His good plan into my life?” Our victory is not a one-time, big event—it is a process.

“The more I realized how badly Satan played with my mind,” Daniel said, “the more I could stand against him. The truth of God’s Word made me free.”

Praise and prayer are great weapons that God’s people should use in overcoming the power of the evil one. Praise helps us keep our minds on God, His power, and the good things that are taking place in our lives. It is proof that we believe He can and will help us.

True prayer reflects a relationship with God and shows that we depend on Him. We are His children, and He is our Father. When we pray, we open the door for God’s help. We ask Him to free our minds and give us victory over Satan’s strongholds. God answers those prayers. In fact, God is more eager to answer our prayers for help than we are to ask. Think of prayer this way: when we pray in faith, tremendous power is made available to us.

As we truly understand that we are God’s children, we will gain confidence to use the weapons of our warfare. The weapons are there. We just need instruction on how to use them and encouragement not to give up. Jesus has promised to be with us always (see Matthew 28:20). We can win with our weapons because they are spiritual weapons. The devil fights a carnal, fleshly warfare, but we can win because we have the power of God on our side.

Precious Holy Spirit, teach me to understand that the weapons of our warfare are spiritual and that we can win against every attack of the devil. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Develop Your Potential

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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.— Ecclesiastes 9:10

Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines potential as “existing in possibility, not in act.” Potential cannot manifest without form. Like concrete it must have something to be poured into, something to give it shape and make it useful. To develop potential properly you must have a plan and pray over that plan, you must have a purpose, and you must be doing something.

Many people are unhappy because they aren’t doing anything to develop their potential. In fact, many of them never develop their potential because they don’t do anything except complain that they’re not doing anything!

If you want to see your potential developed to its fullness, don’t wait until everything is perfect. Do something now. Start laying your hand to whatever is in front of you. You cannot start at the finish line. You must start at the beginning like everybody else.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Stay on Course

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Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil. —Proverbs 4:25–27

Jesus knew what His purpose was. He disciplined Himself to stay on course, living His life to fulfill that purpose for which He came. As Christians, we need to follow in His steps and focus on our purpose. We were bought with a price to live our lives in such a way that we become the salt of the earth, the light of the world (See Matthew 5).

We are to lay down our selfish, self-centered lifestyles, and gear our lives toward doing something for the betterment of someone else. Then we will experience that “joy unspeakable, and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Live with Purpose

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Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]. 1 Corinthians 15:58

Life without purpose is vanity. Webster’s definition of purpose is “something set up as an object or end to be attained.” Christians ought to be people with purpose. We are all purposed to seek the kingdom of God, which is His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (See Romans 14:17).

Today is an opportunity to willfully and deliberately seek God with the intent to know Him better than we knew Him yesterday. Today we can deliberately move forward with the intent to accomplish good things for the kingdom.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be an Example

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But now I write to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of [Christian] brother if he is known to be guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater [whose soul is devoted to any object that usurps the place of God], or is a person with a foul tongue [railing, abusing, reviling, slandering], or is a drunkard or a swindler or a robber. [No] you must not so much as eat with such a person. —1 Corinthians 5:11

The apostle Paul told the Corinthians not to associate with a believer who had a foul tongue, which included gossiping and criticizing. In order to be a good example to people who are sinning, you must be careful not to do the negative things they do or to say the hurtful things they say. You don’t want to give the impression that you think you are better than they are, but you must lovingly, humbly, and gently decline to be involved in conversation and in other behaviors you know are displeasing to God.

Don’t be passive and let other people infect you with their bad attitudes and evil conversation, but instead make a decision to be a good influence on them.

Power Thought: I will not gossip, criticize, or spread rumors about others.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Who’s Number One?

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Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” Luke 6:38, The Message

Sometimes we tend to live “backwards”—exactly opposite of the way we should live. We live for ourselves and yet we never seem satisfied . We should live for others – give away our lives – and learn the wonderful secret that what we give away comes back to us multiplied many times over.

When somebody wants to be “number one,” it automatically means a lot of people will be disappointed. Only one person can be the number one runner in the world; only one can be the president of the company or the best-known actor or actress. Only one can be the top author or the best painter in the world. While I believe we should all be goal-oriented and do our best, I don’t believe we should want everything for ourselves and care nothing about other people.

I have lived long enough to try a variety of ways to be happy and have discovered by process of elimination what is effective and what is not. Self-focus and striving to be number one at others’ expense does not make life work the way it was intended to work and is definitely not God’s will for our lives. Instead, He wants us to be aggressive about loving others and helping them get ahead.

Love must be more than a theory or a word; it has to be action. It must be seen and felt. Love is and has always been His idea. He came to love us and to teach us how to love. When we do this, life is exciting, beautiful and rewarding.

Love Someone Today: Lord, help me not to disregard or compete with others in an effort to be number one. I pray for opportunities to show love to others by helping others get ahead and reach their goals in life.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Healing in His Wings

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But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy. —Malachi 4:2

Around our world, horrible crimes and unspeakable acts happen every day to women and children who are powerless to stop them. Every act affects the life of a precious person, created in God’s image. Many women are hurt, wounded little girls trapped inside adult bodies, afraid to come out for fear of being hurt more.

I understand the feelings of these women. I was sexually abused by my father for many years. I also suffered abuse at the hands of other men throughout the first twenty-five years of my life. I developed a hardened attitude toward all men and adopted a harsh, hard manner.

But I want everyone to know that, through God’s Word and the help of the Holy Spirit, I was healed in my spirit, emotions, mind, will, and personality. It was a process that unfolded over several years, and I have enough firsthand experience to highly recommend God’s ways of restoration and healing rather than the world’s ways. It is much better to let God heal you than to spend your life being bitter about the past.

Lord, I rejoice today that You did not leave me to heal myself. I worship You alone, and I receive from You all the healing and grace that I need for this day. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – How to Gain Wisdom

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If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. (Proverbs 1:23)

We need to pray and obey God’s leading when He speaks to us. Obedience is not to be an occasional event for us; it is to be our way of life. There’s a big difference between people who are willing to obey God daily and those who are willing to obey only to get out of trouble. God certainly shows people how to get out of trouble, but He bestows abundant blessings on those who decide to live wholeheartedly for Him and who make obedience to Him their lifestyle. The only pathway to true peace is obedience to God.

Many people obey God in the big issues, but they aren’t aware that obedience in the little things makes a difference in His plan for their lives. The Bible says plainly that if we are not faithful in the little things, we will never be made rulers over much (see Luke 19:17). There is no reason for God to trust us with a major responsibility if we are not going to be faithful to do the little things He has asked us to do.

I strongly urge you to be obedient to God even in the smallest of things. A sixteenth-century monk called Brother Lawrence was well known for walking continually in the presence of God. He said that he was pleased to pick up a piece of straw from the ground in obedience to God and because he loved Him.

In the verse for today, God says He will make known His words to us if we listen to Him when He corrects us. If we follow His guidance and are pleased to do each little thing He asks of us, then He will open His wisdom to us, and we will have more revelation than we could ever imagine.

God’s word for you today: If you are faithful in little things, God will make you ruler over greater things.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Simple, Believing Prayer

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And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. —MATTHEW 6:7

We must develop confidence in simple, believing prayer. We need the confidence that even if we simply say, “God, help me,” He hears and will answer. We can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do, as long as our request is in accordance with His will. Too often we get caught up in our own works concerning prayer.

Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that prayer is simply conversation with God. The length or volume or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue, it is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence we have that God hears and will answer us that is important.

Sometimes we try to sound so devout and elegant that we get lost. If we could ever get delivered from trying to impress God, we would be a lot better off.

Several years ago God caused me to realize that when I had occasion to pray out loud in front of other people, I really was not talking to Him at all. I was actually trying to impress those listening with my eloquent, spiritual-sounding prayer. Simple, believing prayer comes straight out of the heart of the one praying and goes straight to the heart of God.

First Thessalonians 5:17 says, Be unceasing in prayer [praying persever-ingly] or as the King James Version puts it, Pray without ceasing. If we don’t understand simple, believing prayer, that instruction can come down upon us like a very heavy burden. We may feel that we are doing well to pray thirty minutes a day, so how can we possibly pray without ever stopping? We need to have such confidence about our prayer life that prayer becomes just like breathing, an effortless thing that we do every moment we are alive.

We don’t work and struggle at breathing, unless we have a lung disorder, and neither should we work and struggle at praying. I don’t believe we will struggle in this area if we really understand the power of simple, believing prayer. We should remember that prayer is made powerful by the sincerity of it and the faith behind it.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Truth in the Inner Being

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Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.—Psalm 51:1–6

The heading under this psalm reads: “A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.” David cried out for mercy because he had sinned with Bathsheba, and when he learned she was pregnant, he had had her husband murdered in battle.

After David confessed his sin, Nathan said to him, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die” (2 Samuel 12:13–14).

That’s the first lesson I want you to grasp from this incident. When you fail God, you harm yourself, but you also bring dishonor to His name. Whenever you take a false step, there are those who watch and gleefully point their fingers. The two always go together. Not only do you bring disgrace on the name of the Lord, but you fail yourself. You knew the right but chose the wrong.

As if that were not enough, the evil one also whispers, “See how bad you are. God won’t forgive you. It’s too awful.” Of course, he’s lying, because that’s what he does best. Don’t listen to those words, because there is no sin you’ve committed that God won’t forgive. You may have to carry scars or pay the penalty, but God wipes away the sin.

There’s something else to learn from this: You need to face reality. You sinned. You disobeyed God. What will you do about your sin? You can plead excuses (and most of us are good at that), or you can follow David’s example. When the prophet said, “You are the man . . .” (2 Samuel 12:7), the king did not deny his wrongdoing or try to justify his actions. David admitted he had sinned and confessed.

He wrote in the psalm quoted earlier: “For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment” (vs. 3–4).

If you follow Jesus Christ, not only are you declaring to yourself, to your family, and to the world your trust in the Savior, but you are also declaring your stand for truth. It’s easy for us to deceive ourselves, but God has called us to be totally, completely, and scrupulously honest in our inner being. Don’t look at what others may get away with or how they justify their behavior. We can’t blame others, the devil, or circumstances.

When you fail, remind yourself that the greatest king of ¬Israel cried out to God and said, “My sin is ever before me” (v. 3). Those sins, failures, or shortcomings (or whatever you may choose to call them) will always be there until you admit them and confess them to the Lord; only then can you know the joy of living with integrity and in truth.

Strive to live with truth in your inner being. You—you and God—are the only ones who know what’s in your heart. Live in honesty and truth.

Holy God, David prayed, “You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.” Through Jesus Christ, I plead with You to help me desire truth in my inner being, to live in such a way that I’m as honest and as open with You as I can become. I know that the life You honor is the life You bless. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Sleep in Peace

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In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. —Psalm 4:8

In the quiet of the evening after a long day, it’s not unusual to think about and evaluate the events of the day. But thoughts can be disturbing, especially if you faced problems that remain unsolved.

Sometimes these thoughts are not easy to turn off and can threaten to rob you of a peaceful night’s sleep. But staying awake and worrying will not change or improve the situation at all.

This is a good time to share your concerns with God and ask for His help. He tells us in His Word to cast our cares on Him, so give your thoughts to Him and trust Him to provide a solution. Then lie down and sleep in peace.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Walk in Love

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And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [ for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance. —Ephesians 5:2

Jesus said, “ If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [ forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me] (Mark 8:34, emphasis mine).

Living a disciplined life means laying aside personal feelings, deciphering which choice is most important in God’s eyes, and then allowing that choice to take preeminence over the others. As Jesus laid down His life for you, He is asking you to lay down your interests for His greater cause