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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Happy Heart

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Joyce meyer

A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. . . . A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. —Proverbs 15:13; 17:22

Most women are concerned about their looks, and a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks instantly. Ziggy said, “A smile is a facelift that is in everyone’s price range.”

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling; live your life in such a way that when you die, you will be smiling and everyone else will be crying.

You may be familiar with Joel Osteen, a pastor from Houston, Texas. He not only pastors the largest church in the United States, but he is also on television in many parts of the world. Joel is known as “the smiling preacher.” He literally smiles all the time. I have eaten with him several times, and I am still trying to figure out how he can eat and smile at the same time, but he does it. He is a great pastor and teacher of God’s Word, but I believe one of the main things that helps his popularity is his smile. People want to feel better, and anytime we smile at them it helps them do that. A smile reassures people and puts them at ease.

Lord, Your love and grace bring the deepest happiness to my heart. I receive it from You, and I ask You to pour it out to others through my smiles and care. Amen.

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; A.W. – Returning to Faithfulness

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Scholars believe this chapter in Psalms was written after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon. Because of disobedience, God allowed Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and take its people captive. Cyrus, who defeated Babylon, allowed the Jews to return home, but things were still bad. They hadn’t rebuilt the temple. There wasn’t much food. Enemies were still attacking. So once again, they asked God for help. They were reminded of God’s promise that He’ll always come to the aid of those who praise and fear Him.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

Psalm 85:9

There’s a pattern in Israel that all of God’s people can learn from. When Israel was faithful, blessings on the nation followed; when disloyal, strife and trouble arose. But God always sent help when His people returned to Him in true worship and reverence.

Do you feel taken captive? Are you experiencing trial or discord? Examine yourself to make sure you are being faithful in all God has called you to do. Then pray for yourself and the country to turn to God and praise Him with holy fear so He will allow blessings and glory to come once again to you and the nation.

Recommended Reading: Zechariah 1:2-6, 12-17

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – With Eternity in View

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But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. —Acts 20:24

Awhile back, I had a candid conversation with Billy Graham about heaven. I was speaking at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, so one afternoon we had lunch together. He asked me what I was speaking on, and I told him that I was talking about heaven.

He said, “Tell me what you are going to say.”

So I gave him a condensed version of my sermon on what the Bible teaches about heaven. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t heard these things before, but he listened with rapt attention. He and I have something in common: we both have someone close to us in heaven. His wife, Ruth, is in heaven. And my son Christopher is in heaven. When someone you love is in heaven, you feel as though you are tethered to it. You think about heaven more than you ever did before. You see the frailty of life, and eternity becomes more tangible and significant.

In his book, Nearing Home, Billy Graham writes about aging: “All my life I was taught how to die as a Christian, but no one ever taught me how I ought to live in the years before I die. I wish they had because I am an old man now, and believe me, it’s not easy.”

It’s important that we understand our times are in God’s hands. Our lives are a gift to us from God. God decides when your life starts. God decides when it stops. That is why the apostle Paul said, “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). Paul summed up what really mattered in his life.

Your life is a gift from God. Are you living it for His glory?

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Let God Do His Work

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Max Lucado

Were your growing up years hard years?  Family pain is the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early; it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn’t know how to defend yourself. Besides, the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother—they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them.

As a result, you’ve been operating on faulty data.  “You’re stupid, slow, dumb like your daddy, fat like your momma.”  Decades later, these voices of defeat still echo in our subconscious. But they don’t have to! Romans 12:2 says to let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

You are God’s child.  His creation. You’ll get through this!  You’re part of His family.

From You’ll Get Through This

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – Times Table

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Do you remember the first time you saw the multiplication table? You flipped a page in the math book and there it was – an intimidating grid of scary numbers. At first glance, committing that table to memory seemed like an impossible task. But with a closer look and some explanation, your perception changed. You also discovered that, in contrast to simple addition, multiplication of two numbers tremendously magnifies the result. The table was not really a frightening beast, but actually a powerful tool.

Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 9:31

The Bible promises multiplied peace and joy for those that fear God. Fearing God in this context does not mean hiding under the bed afraid. It means being filled with respect, awe, wonder and reverence for His holiness. When you approach God from this perspective, His presence and power are magnified in your life.

Before you pray for America, your neighborhood or your family today, stop and confess your fear of God. Acknowledge His attributes of loving kindness, generosity and peace. As you walk in this kind of fear, even the most menacing monster will be met with multiplied assurance.

Recommended Reading: Hebrews 6:10-14

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Privilege of Knowing God

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Charles Stanley

Philippians 3:7-11

God wants people to know Him. If He had preferred anonymity, He wouldn’t have inspired the writing of a multi-author book about Himself. But since He did, our becoming devoted followers and friends of the Creator requires us to delve deeply into Scripture.

First, we learn about God from His Word. In reading the Bible, we accumulate facts about His character, principles, and ways of operating. Unfortunately, churches are full of men and women who stop at this step. They know much about religion but haven’t developed their faith.

The second step is to meditate on Scripture by thinking about God’s words and allowing the Holy Spirit to interpret them. The only way to rightly understand this divinely inspired text is with the Spirit’s guidance.

Finally, we must apply what we learn. Suppose you read that God is a very present help in times of trouble (Ps. 46:1). Then, when trouble shows up, you will rely on Him for aid. When He answers—and He will answer, although not always as expected—you will learn something about God: He helps you by responding to your trust and dependence with a custom-made solution to your problem.

I frequently admonish believers to read the Bible, but by that, I do not mean for anyone to skim its pages and walk away with only facts. Scripture is a living document that will tell you how to practice faith in daily life, but you must do what it says. Only then can you see God as He truly is—not some ancient deity full of rules, but a vibrant Friend who wants to connect with His children daily.

 

 

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — I’m Invisible

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Our Daily Bread

Isaiah 40:25-31

[The Lord] gives power to the weak. —Isaiah 40:29

My friend Jane said something at a work meeting and no one responded. So she repeated it and again no one responded; her co-workers just ignored her. She realized that her opinion didn’t matter much. She felt disregarded and invisible. You may know what that’s like as well.

The people of God felt that way as a nation (Isa. 40). Only they believed it was God Himself who didn’t see or understand their daily struggle to survive! The southern kingdom had been carried away captive into Babylon, and the exiled nation complained: “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God” (v.27).

While Isaiah agreed that compared to God “the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales” (v.15), he also wanted the people to know that God gives power to the weak and strength to those who need it (v.29). If they waited on the Lord, Isaiah said, He would renew their strength. They would mount up with wings like eagles; they would run and not be weary (v.31).

When you’re feeling invisible or disregarded, remember that God does see you and He cares. Wait on Him, and He’ll give you renewed strength. —Anne Cetas

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.

Thy mercies how tender! How firm to the end!

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. —Grant

Even when we don’t sense God’s presence, His loving care is all around us.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 39-40; Colossians 4

 

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Ponder the Things of God

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Alistair Begg

I will meditate on your precepts.

Psalms 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than company, and silence is wiser than speech. We would be better Christians if we were alone more often, waiting on God and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for service in His kingdom. We ought to ponder the things of God, because that is how we get the real nutriment out of them.

Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: In order to have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser’s feet must come down joyfully on the bunches or else the juice will not flow; and the grapes must be properly tread or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth if we desire the wine of consolation from them.

Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process that really supplies the muscle and the nerve and the sinew and the bone is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening for a while to this and then to that and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning all require inward digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies mainly in meditating upon it.

Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make only slow advances in the Christian life? Because they neglect their closets and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they want the corn, but they will not go out into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs on the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it.

Deliver us, O Lord, from such folly, and may this be our resolve this morning: “I will meditate on your precepts.”

 

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Modern-Day Revelations

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John MacArthur

“Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, emphasis added).

For many years I’ve watched with deep concern as a significant number of Christians have drifted from a thoughtful, biblical, God- centered theology to one that is increasingly mystical, non- biblical, and man-centered. One of the most disturbing indicators of this trend is the proliferation of extrabiblical revelations that certain people are claiming to receive directly from God.

Such claims are alarming because they dilute the uniqueness and centrality of the Bible and cause people to lean on man’s word rather than God’s. They imply that Scripture is insufficient for Christian living and that we need additional revelation to fill the gap.

But God’s Word contains everything you need to know for spiritual life and godly living. It is inspired and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness so that you may be fully equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16). What more is necessary?

When the apostle John died, apostolic revelation came to an end. But that written legacy remains as the standard by which we are to test every teacher and teaching that claims to be from God (1 Thess. 5:21; 1 John 4:1). If a teaching doesn’t conform to Scripture, it must be rejected. If it does conform, it isn’t a new revelation. In either case, additional revelation is unnecessary.

God went to great lengths to record and preserve His revelation, and He jealously guards it from corruption of any kind. From Moses, the first known recipient of divine revelation, to the apostle John, the final recipient, His charge remained the same: “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deut. 4:2; cf., Rev. 22:18-19).

Don’t be swayed by supposed new revelations. Devote yourself to what has already been revealed.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Ask God to guard your heart from confusion and help you to keep your attention firmly fixed on His Word.

For Further Study:

According to 2 Timothy 4:1-4, why must we preach and uphold God’s Word?

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – See God’s Glory

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“Jesus saith unto her, ‘Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?'” (John 11:40, KJV).

How wonderful to behold the glory of God! And in varying degrees you and I have the capability and opportunity of doing that very thing!

Jesus here, of course, is talking to Martha about her brother Lazarus, whom He was just about to raise form the dead. The message is plain: “Because you believed, Martha, you will see the glory of God in the raising of Lazarus.”

Because you and I dare to believe God today, against all evidence and appearances to the contrary, He will let us see something of His glory. Just what is meant by that?

Most scholars agree that the glory of God in this context at least, refers to the power and goodness displayed in the resurrection. That holds endless possibilities of fulfillment.

Amazing, isn’t it, that the simple matter of believing often is so difficult for the believer, as we are called? “Ye receive not, because ye ask not.” “According to your faith be it unto you.” “Ye receive not because ye ask amiss.”

May our Lord increase our faith by driving us into His Word, since “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by His Word.”

Bible Reading: John 11:35-44

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I truly desire to experience the glory of God in my life. To this end I will, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, live a life of faith and obedience.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – R-E-S-P-E-C-T

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Everyone wants a little respect. While some demand it, wise people know you cannot force respect. It is earned – by honoring your word, putting others above yourself, or pitching in when someone needs help.

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father‘s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Luke 12:32

You can’t focus on the character trait itself; instead, you must focus on the actions that instill respect. In today’s passage, Christ cautions His listeners not to worry about their needs being met. He tells them in Luke 12:31 to “seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” God’s provision is a result of obedience and focusing on Him, just as respect is a result of a life well lived.

Are you consumed with worry for your own household or the future of America? When you give too much attention to a problem, you’ve shifted the emphasis off of God. Ask your Heavenly Father to help you put Him first in everything, and watch how it changes both your own home life and trickles out to change America. Pray, too that the president and vice-president would learn to put their focus on God and, in doing so, earn the respect of many.

Recommended Reading: Philippians 4:4-9

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Blameless

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Alistair Begg

Blameless before the presence of his glory.

Jude 24

Let your mind revolve around that wonderful word “blameless”! We are far from it now; but since our Lord never stops short of perfection in His work of love, we will reach it one day. The Savior who will keep His people to the end will also present them finally to Himself as “the church . . . in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”1 All the jewels in the Savior’s crown are pure and without a single flaw. All the maids of honor who assist the Lamb’s wife are pure virgins without spot or stain.

But how will Jesus make us blameless? He will wash us from our sins in His own blood until we are as white and fair as God’s purest angel; and we will be clothed in His righteousness, that righteousness that makes the saint who wears it positively blameless-yes, perfect in the sight of God. We will be unblameable and unreprovable even in His eyes. Not only will His law have no charge against us, but it will be magnified in us. Moreover, the work of the Holy Spirit within us will be altogether complete. He will make us so perfectly holy that we will have no lingering tendency to sin. Judgment, memory, will-every power and passion will be set free from the tyranny of evil. We will be holy even as God is holy, and in His presence we will dwell forever. Saints will not be out of place in heaven; their beauty will be as great as that of the place prepared for them.

Oh, the intense delight of that hour when the everlasting doors will be lifted up, and we, being made fit for the inheritance, will dwell with the saints in light. Sin gone, Satan shut out, temptation past forever, and ourselves “blameless” before God-this will be heaven indeed!

Let us be joyful now as we rehearse the song of eternal praise that will soon sound forth in full chorus from all the blood-washed host; let us copy David’s exultings before the ark as a prelude to our ecstasies before the throne.

11 Ephesians 5:27

 

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Self-examination

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“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

“Examine:” that is a scholastic idea. A boy has been to school a certain time, and his master puts him through his paces—questions him, to see whether he has made any progress,—whether he knows anything. Christian, catechise your heart; question it, to see whether it has been growing in grace; question it, to see if it knows anything of vital godliness or not. Examine it: pass your heart through a stern examination as to what it does know and what it does not know, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Again: it is a military idea. “Examine yourselves,” or renew yourselves. Go through the rank and file of your actions, and examine all your motives. Just as the captain on review-day is not content with merely surveying the men from a distance, but must look at all their equipment, so look well to yourselves; examine yourselves with the most scrupulous care. And once again, this is a legal idea. “Examine yourselves.” You have seen the witness in the box, when the lawyer has been examining him, or, as we have it, cross-examining him. Now, mark: never was there a rogue less trustworthy or more deceitful than your own heart, and as when you are cross-examining a dishonest person—you set traps for him to try and find him out in a lie, so do with your own heart. Question it backward and forward, this way and that way; for if there be a loophole for escape, if there be any pretence for self-deception, rest assured your treacherous heart will be ready enough to avail itself of it. And yet once more: this is a traveller’s idea. I find in the original Greek, it has this meaning: “Go right through yourselves.”

For meditation: Is self-examination a foreign concept to you? It should be done as least as regularly as we observe the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:28); God is able to assist us in our self-examination (Psalm 26:2; 139:23,24).

Sermon no. 218

10 October (1858)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Searching for Truth

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John MacArthur

“Thy law is truth. . . . And all Thy commandments are truth. . . . The sum of Thy word is truth” (Ps. 119: 142, 151, 160).

It amazes me how people can spend so much time searching for truth but ignore the Bible. In his poem Miriam, John Greenleaf Whittier reflected on the same conundrum:

We search the world for truth. We cull The good, the pure, the beautiful, From graven stone and written scroll, From all old flower-fields of the soul; And, weary seekers of the best, We come back laden from the quest, To find that all the sages said Is in the Book our mothers read.

God never intended for truth to be mysterious or unattainable. His Word is a repository of truth, containing every principle we need for life and thought.

But knowing truth begins with knowing God, who is its author. First John 5:20 says, “We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

The psalmist proclaimed, “The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are sure. They are upheld forever and ever; they are performed in truth and uprightness” (Ps. 111:7-8).

As Christians, we are those who walk in truth. That’s how Jesus described us when He prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Similarly John said, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4). In contrast, unbelievers “suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” thus making themselves targets for the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18).

To love God is to love truth; to love truth is to love the Word. May you walk in the truth of God’s Word today and every day.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Thank God for the privilege of knowing Him and being able to walk in His truth.

For Further Study:

How does Jesus describe the Holy Spirit in John 14:17, 15:26, and 16:13?

 

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Signs of Success

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And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. —Mark 16:17-18

Salvation is in the name of Jesus. You are baptized in that name, both in water and the Holy Spirit. You pray and expect your prayers to be heard and answered in that name. The sick are healed and demons are cast out in that wonderful name.

The early disciples used the name of Jesus, and Satan came against them fiercely. The devil does not want you to start anything of value—and if you do manage to get started, he does not want you to finish.

He knows well his time on this earth is quickly running out. Accomplish great things in the name of Jesus and finish strong!

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Can You Get Away with Sin?

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Charles Stanley

Galatians 5:19-25

If you planted several apple seeds in your front yard, what would grow? Apples, of course! It is foolish to plant apple seeds but then expect to reap a crop of oranges, isn’t it?

Now, let’s take that little question a step further. If you planted seeds of sin in your life, what would grow? Sadly, the result is just as logical as the consequence of sowing apple seeds.

Why, then, is the answer so obvious when we’re talking about fruit, yet so elusive when we’re dealing with sin in our own life? Many people who freely engage in wrong activities are shocked and dismayed to discover the disastrous results that always follow. Why are they surprised? It is probably because they never actually think of themselves as planting seeds of sin; rather, they see themselves as simply “having a good time.”

This is a trademark maneuver of Satan’s. With temptation, he always offers us one thing but then delivers something completely different. The good we think we are getting turns sour before we can fully enjoy it. That is because the Devil can offer no lasting joy; he serves up only lies and destruction.

Read today’s passage and ask yourself, Am I planting seeds of the flesh or seeds of the Spirit? Do I want to reap the consequences of sin, or do I want a harvest of spiritual fruit?

There is simply no comparison between the two options. As a matter of fact, you might say it is the difference between apples and oranges.

 

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Life Without Bread

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Our Daily Bread

John 6:25-35

I am the bread of life. —John 6:48

In cultures with an abundance of food choices, bread is no longer a necessary part of the diet so some choose to live without it for various reasons. In the first century, however, bread was viewed as an essential staple. A diet without bread was a foreign concept.

One day a crowd of people sought out Jesus because He had performed the miracle of multiplying loaves of bread (John 6:11,26). They asked Him to perform a sign like the manna from heaven that God had provided for His people in the desert (6:30-31; Ex. 16:4). When Jesus said He was “the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32), the people didn’t understand. They wanted literal daily bread. But Jesus was saying that He had been sent to be their spiritual bread; He would supply their daily spiritual needs. If they, by faith, applied and took His words and life into their very souls, they would experience everlasting satisfaction (v.35).

Jesus doesn’t want to be an optional commodity in our diets; He desires to be the essential staple in our lives, our “necessary” food. As first-century Jews could never imagine life without physical bread, may we never attempt to live without Jesus, our spiritual bread! —Marvin Williams

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

What are some ways you can let Jesus, the

Bread of Life, and His words satisfy the

hunger pangs of your soul today?

Only spiritual bread satisfies the hunger of the soul.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 32-33; Colossians 1

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – No More Dangerous Road

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Alistair Begg

. . . Able to keep you from stumbling.

Jude 24

In some ways the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no more dangerous road. It is surrounded with difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if grace is absent), and down we go. What a slippery path some of us have to tread! How many times do we have to exclaim with the psalmist, “My feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.”1

If we were strong, surefooted mountaineers, this would not matter so much; but in ourselves, how weak we are! On the best roads we soon falter; in the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A feather may divert us, and a pebble can wound us. We are mere children taking our first trembling steps in the walk of faith; our heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we would soon be down.

If we are kept from falling, how we should bless the patient power that watches over us day by day! Think how prone we are to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to stumble and fall, and these reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we have ever done, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.” We have many enemies who try to put us down. The road is rough, and we are weak; but in addition to this, enemies hide in ambush and rush out when we least expect them and try to trip us up or throw us over the nearest cliff.

Only an almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is involved in our defense. He is faithful who has promised, and He is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety and say with joyful confidence

Against me earth and hell combine,

But on my side is power divine;

Jesus is all, and He is mine!

1Psalm 73:2

 

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Giving Godly Counsel

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John MacArthur

“Concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14).

In recent years the question of who is competent to counsel has become an important issue in the church. Many pastors and other church leaders have curtailed their counseling ministries or stopped them altogether. They’ve been made to feel inadequate for not having formal training in psychological counseling techniques.

Behind this movement away from pastoral counseling is the subtle implication that the Holy Spirit and Scripture are incapable of addressing the deepest needs of the human heart. It is claimed that only secular psychology dispensed by trained analysts can do that.

But the truth is, the heart of man is “more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). No one. That includes humanistic counselors. Verse 10 says, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind.” Only God can understand the human heart.

David prayed, “O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways. . . . Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence?” (Ps. 139:1-3, 7).

Only God knows what’s in a person’s heart. Only His Spirit working through His Word can penetrate one’s deepest thoughts and motives to transform the heart and renew the mind (Heb. 4:12; Rom. 12:2).

Professional psychologists are no substitute for spiritually gifted people who know the Word, possess godly wisdom, are full of goodness, and available to help others apply divine truth to their lives (Rom. 15:14).

When people come to you for counsel, the best thing you can do is show them what God’s Word says about their problem and how it applies to their situation. But you can’t do that unless you know the Word and are allowing it to do its work in you first. Then you’ll be in a position to counsel others more effectively.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Thank God for the wise and all-sufficient counsel of His Word.

Reaffirm your commitment to share it at every opportunity.

For Further Study:

According to Psalm 119:24, on what did the psalmist rely for his counsel?

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Bless Yourself

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Joyce meyer

I love those who love me, and those who seek me early and diligently shall find me.

—Proverbs 8:17

Our motives are misplaced if we think we read the Bible and pray to please God, or to keep from making Him mad at us. God once told me, “You think, when you read the Bible, that you are making Me happy. I am going to be happy whether you read it or not. No, Joyce, if you read the Bible, you’re happy. If you pray, you’re happy. If you give, you receive.”

Every single thing that God tells us to do, He tells us to do so to bless ourselves. He doesn’t ask us to devote ourselves to study and prayer for Him; it is for us. The good life is our choice.