So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.

James 1:21 (AMPC)

Once you are born again, your spirit has been reborn, and you will go to heaven when you die. But God is not finished—He is just beginning. You need to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12 KJV). In other words, your soul needs to be saved. The soul is often defined as the mind, the will, and the emotions. Each of these areas needs salvation.

The Holy Spirit works relentlessly to transform the whole man into God’s perfect will. This process is called sanctification. When your soul is renewed with His Word, you think His thoughts and not your own. Submit yourself to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to change every thought and motive.

Prayer of the Day: Holy Spirit, renew my mind, will, and emotions. Help me submit every thought to You. Shape my motives, guide my steps, and continue Your sanctifying work in me each day, amen.

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And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

My definition of get is to obtain by struggle and effort, and receive is to act like a receptacle and simply take in what is offered. We can receive mercy, grace, strength, forgiveness, and love from the Lord. It is a new day—and God’s mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23).

You can have a brand-new start today. Allow God’s mercy to strengthen and heal you before starting your routine activities. Receive His healing power and let its grace work in you. Today can be effortless as you depend on God’s grace to do what He has called you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, thank You for new mercy today. Help me receive Your grace, strength, and healing without striving. I depend on You to empower everything You’ve called me to do.

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And as for [the rest of] you, believers, do not grow tired or lose heart in doing good [but continue doing what is right without weakening].

2 Thessalonians 3:13 (AMP)

There are times when individuals will come to me for advice and prayer, and when I tell them what the Word of God says or what I think the Holy Spirit is saying, their response is, “I know that’s right; God has been showing me the same thing. But, Joyce, it’s just too hard.”

There were times in my past when I said the same thing to God: “Lord, this is just too hard.” But God graciously showed me that this is a lie the enemy tries to inject into our minds to get us to give up. God’s instructions are never too difficult for us to obey.

You can always walk in obedience to God because He has given His Spirit to work powerfully within us to help us at all times (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is with us, and He will enable us to do anything and everything God asks of us.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me reject the lie that obedience is too hard. Strengthen me by Your Spirit, and enable me to follow Your direction with confidence, courage, and complete trust, amen.

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[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised…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 4:18-20 (AMPC)

In our ministry we want to help more people every year, and we believe God wants us to grow. But we also realize that if God has a different plan, and if we end our year with no growth, we cannot let that situation control our joy.

We believe for many things, but beyond them all, we believe in Someone. That Someone is Jesus. We don’t always know what is going to happen. We just know it will always work out for our good!

It is reported that Abraham, after sizing up his situation (he didn’t ignore the facts), considered the utter impotence of his own body and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. Although all human reason for hope was gone, he hoped in faith. Abraham was very positive about a very negative situation!

Hebrews 6:19 tells us that hope is the anchor of the soul. Hope is the force that keeps us steady in a time of trial. Don’t ever stop hoping. Don’t be afraid to hope. No one can promise that you’ll never be disappointed. But you can always have hope and be positive.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, strengthen my hope in You. Help me stay positive even in uncertain seasons, trusting that You are working for my good and anchoring my soul with unshakeable confidence, amen.

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And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLT)

God blesses us so we can bless others. He does not want us to be needy; He wants us to be equipped to help people who are in need, and we cannot do that if all we are experiencing is lack.

When we don’t have enough to meet our own needs and the needs of our families or others for whom we are responsible, then it is very difficult to help other people. This is one reason God promises to provide for us and to do so abundantly.

I encourage you to develop the mind-set of a generous giver. Look for ways to give and for needy people to whom you can give. Study what the Bible says about God’s provision and see yourself as one who meets needs.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, make me a generous giver. Help me see needs around me, trust Your abundant provision, and use what You’ve blessed me with to bless others freely and joyfully, amen.

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…One thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on….

Philippians 3:13-14 (AMPC)

Many times, before your feet even hit the floor in the mornings, the enemy begins to remind you of everything you did wrong the previous day or everything that didn’t work out well. In doing so, the enemy’s goal is to use yesterday to keep you from living today.

You don’t have to be afraid of repeating the past. If you believe God is greater than your sins, mistakes, and shortcomings, you will have the spiritual energy and the strength and the grace of God to help you press on and do better in the future. The dreams of your future have no room for the disappointments of the past. They will keep you stuck and weighed down.

Every day can be a new beginning if we make a determined decision to press on to achieve the greater things God has for us today. God’s mercy is greater than yesterday’s mistakes.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, thank You that Your mercy is greater than yesterday’s mistakes. Help me release the past, ignore the enemy’s lies, and press forward into the new beginnings You have for me today, amen.

Jesus heeded his fears. He still does. Jesus heeds the concern in the parent’s heart. After all, our kids were his kids first.  Even as they are ours, they are still his. We forget that fact. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God. Parents, we can be loyal advocates, stubborn intercessors. And we can take our parenting fears to Christ.

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Adapted from Trusting God Day by Day

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18 (AMPC)

Have you ever been absolutely sure you were right about something? Your mind appeared to have a store of facts and details to prove you were right—but you ended up being wrong. What did you do? Did you admit your error, or did you keep pushing and trying to find a way to defend your position?

In the past, when my husband and I were watching a movie or television show, we often argued over which actors and actresses were portraying the characters. It seemed to me that Dave thought Henry Fonda played half the characters in movies.

“Oh, look,” he’d say as we watched a movie on television. “Henry Fonda is in this movie.” “That’s not Henry Fonda,” I’d answer back, and we’d start arguing and bickering. Both of us were so intent on being right that we would insist on staying up much later than we should, just so we could see the credits roll at the end. Then one of us could say, “I told you so!”

Why do we want so desperately to be right about things? Why is it so difficult to be wrong? Why is it so important for us to “win” in a disagreement?

For years I felt bad about who I was, and in order to feel any confidence at all, I had to be right all the time. So I would argue and go to great extremes to prove I was right. I lived in frustration as I tried to convince everyone that I knew what I was talking about.

It wasn’t until my identity became rooted and grounded in Christ that I began to experience freedom in this area. Now I know my worth and value do not come from appearing right to others. Trusting what Jesus says about me is enough.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, free me from the need to always be right. Root my identity in Christ so I can walk in humility, let go of arguments, and find confidence in what You say about me, amen.

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…But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:6 (AMPC)

No day will seem ordinary if we are thankful for the gift God is giving us at the start of each day. An extraordinary attitude can quickly turn an ordinary day into an amazing adventure. Jesus said He came so that we might have and enjoy life (see John 10:10). If we refuse to enjoy it, then it’s no one’s fault but our own.

I would like to suggest that you take responsibility for your joy and never again give anyone else the job of keeping you happy. You can control what you do, but you cannot control what other people do. So you may be unhappy a lot of the time if you depend on them as your source of joy. The psalmist David said that he encouraged himself in the Lord, and if he can do it, then we can do it too.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am grateful for this new day that You have given me. Regardless of the actions or attitudes of others, I am going to enjoy this day because You are the source of my joy.

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For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?—the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.

Psalm 18:29-33 (ESV)

All storms are not in the weather forecast; sometimes they take us by surprise. Life is the same way. We never know from one day to the next exactly what may come up, and this is one reason we should be glad that God promises to be our strength. His Word tells us that we can do whatever we need to do through Christ, who is our strength (Philippians 4:13).

It is amazing the things we can go through with God’s help. We may not always understand why something has happened to us or when it will be over, but Psalm 18 tells us that God’s way is perfect (v. 30), and this truth should give us comfort. Habakkuk 3:19 says that God makes our feet like those of a deer, and a deer has the ability to climb steep mountains and remain stable.

Always remember that you don’t need to live in fear, because God can handle anything that comes up in your life. He will be a shield around you and keep you safe and stable.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You that I can go through life without fear and know that no matter what comes up, You will give me the strength to handle it.

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So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

Judges 16:17 (NIV)

You may remember the Old Testament story of Samson, the Nazirite man who did not cut his hair. Not cutting his hair was part of his Nazirite vow, but it was also the secret of his tremendous physical strength.

Samson led the nation of Israel for 20 years, and his enemies, the Philistines, were curious about the source of his strength. When he fell in love with Delilah, the Philistine leaders said to her, See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him (Judges 16:5 AMP). Samson refused to tell her his secret many times when she asked him about it, but he ultimately gave in to her. After he told her, she shaved his head, and his strength disappeared.

You also have a source of strength. It’s not in your hair or in any earthly belonging or physical or mental trait. It’s in Christ alone. When you need strength, don’t seek it in any worldly source. Ask God to empower you to do whatever you need to do. He will always come through for you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, may I always look to You for the strength I need, knowing that I will find everything I need in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 (AMPC)

When I woke up this morning, I didn’t feel well. I was tired and would have loved to crawl back in bed and stay there a long time, but I couldn’t because I had a full day ahead of me. When we don’t feel well, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and start thinking negatively. But we don’t have to!

Because I understand the power of our thoughts, while I was washing my face, brushing my teeth, and making my coffee, I thought and said, “Today is going to be a great day. I am energetic and joyful. I am blessed, and I am a blessing to others.”

There was a time when I often had to take my elderly mother to the eye doctor. In the past, those visits were very challenging. She was losing her eyesight yet insisted the doctors didn’t know what they were doing, and trying to convince her otherwise frequently ended in an embarrassing scene. But on one particular trip, instead of dreading it as I usually did, I made up my mind to expect a peaceful and pleasant experience. And you know what? That simple shift made all the difference.

Whatever you might be facing today, you can still get a head start on things going well by partnering with God and believing that He is on your side and that something good is waiting to happen to you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, You are good and I am expecting You to show up in my life today and manifest Your goodness. Thank You!

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Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43:5 (NIV)

You may know that the soul is comprised of the mind, the will (ability to make choices), and the emotions. According to today’s scripture, the soul can become downcast or discouraged and disturbed, just as it can be joyful and excited. When we are happy in our souls, we simply enjoy the happiness. But when we are not, we have to deal with our emotions.

Discouragement destroys hope. And without hope we give up. It also steals our joy, and the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). In addition, it robs us of our peace, and God wants us to live in peace, not feeling anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6–7). So, it’s very important for us to learn how to manage discouragement when we feel it.

When discouragement tries to overtake you or when your soul feels disturbed, begin to break free from it by examining your thoughts. What you think about and allow to take root in your mind strongly affects your emotions. Think discouraging thoughts, and you’ll get discouraged. When you change your mindset and begin to think positively, your emotions will improve.

Instead of thinking negatively, think more like this: Well, things are going slowly, but, thank God, I’m making progress. I’m on the right path. I had a rough day yesterday, but today is a new day, and God is helping me. Practice this type of upbeat, positive, godly thinking, and you will defeat the discouragement and disturbances in your soul every time.

Prayer of the Day: Thank You for loving me, Lord. Help me to think in ways that will encourage me, give me hope, and bring peace to my soul.

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Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.

Romans 5:2 (AMPC)

Everything in our spiritual lives depends on our personal faith in God and our personal relationship with Him, which certainly includes being able to hear His voice. We can enjoy that relationship because Jesus’ death on the cross gives us free, unhindered access to our heavenly Father and our faith makes it possible for us to have an intimate, dynamic relationship with Him.

I love Ephesians 3:12 and have recently been studying it. It says: In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear). As I meditated on this scripture, I became quite excited to realize that as ordinary human beings we have free access to God at any time through prayer; we can hear His voice any time we want or need to. We can approach Him boldly without reservations, without fear, and with complete freedom. How awesome is that!

Personal faith in God opens the door to unlimited help from Him and to unhindered communication with Him. Come to God with confidence that He loves you, desires your fellowship, and wants not only to hear from you, but He desires to talk to you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for giving me bold, unhindered access to You. Help me approach You with confidence, listen for Your voice, and enjoy the intimate relationship You long to have with me, amen.

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I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 (NKJV)

Today people are very busy, but that doesn’t mean they are busy doing what will bear good fruit for God (meaning to make a positive difference in the world and to bring honor to Him, or to be productive) in their life. God has not called us to be busy, but He has called us to be fruitful (John 15:4–5).

Today’s scripture says that if we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. To abide means to live, dwell, and remain in. Meditating on God’s Word is part of the abiding lifestyle. We cannot have only a one-hour visit with Jesus on Sunday morning during a church service, not think of Him until the next Sunday, and expect to live a fruitful life. The abiding lifestyle means that we include Him in everything we do and acknowledge Him in all things. We talk to Him, think about Him, and think about His Word throughout each day.

God’s Word rules. This means that when a decision needs to be made, we make the one that agrees with His Word. There are two words that can never go together in the life of a Christian: “No, Lord!” If He is our Lord, then our answer must always be yes.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me abide in You daily. Teach me to include You in every thought and decision, bearing lasting fruit as I align my life fully with Your Word, amen.

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Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.

Romans 8:37 (AMPC)

There is no doubt that thinking positive is much easier when life is not difficult, but it is self-defeating to think that you can’t be positive in every circumstance. Be careful not to just focus on your problems but remember to also focus on and be thankful for your blessings. It is very important for each of us to learn how to have the victory in our minds in the midst of our problems. God’s Word reassures us that we are not just conquerors but more than conquerors even during life’s toughest moments (Romans 8:37).

When life gets tough, I often turn to Romans 8:35–39 to remind myself of God’s unwavering love. I try to remember that, at times, I may appear as a sheep being led to slaughter, but in the midst of these things, I am more than a conqueror.

To me, this simply means that we can always be assured of eventual victory. We may go through very difficult things, but following the principles God has set for us in His Word will bring us through safely every time. It is very helpful during difficult times to remember that they won’t last forever. That is what helps me keep my joy in adversity.

Prayer of the Day: God, I know that You love me and that I am more than a conqueror. I need you in my current situation. I believe victory is coming! I will trust You all the way to the finish, amen.

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Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you: Great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.

Jeremiah 32:17-19 (NIV)

It is always good to stir up our faith and remember that God is a God of miracles. As the prophet Jeremiah said, nothing is too difficult for Him! Because we believe His Word, we can be confident that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). You may feel that your life is a mess right now and that nothing will ever change. For a believer, that’s just not true. God can take your biggest mess and turn it into your biggest miracle.

In our natural minds, there are certain things we think of as too difficult for us. You may be thinking about a situation right now that seems too hard for you. Maybe it’s getting out of debt. Maybe it’s losing weight and becoming physically healthy. Maybe it’s doing your part to see a breakthrough in your marriage or family. Whatever your circumstances are, if there is something that seems too difficult for you, I have good news today: It’s not too hard for God.

Let me remind you that in the Old Testament, God reached down from heaven and parted the Red Sea so His people could escape their enemies and walk through it on dry land (Exodus 14:21–22). If you or I were to visit the ocean, we would not be able to hold back even a handful of water, but God held back all of it. This miraculous deliverance positioned His people to finally enter into the great promises He had for them!

Think also about how hard you may have tried to change yourself or to change other people at times. That is very hard to do! But God can take hard, wounded, sinful, bitter hearts, and make them soft, whole, strong, holy, loving, and forgiving. If He can do that, then I believe He can do anything. The salvation and transformation He does in us is truly miraculous.

In the New Testament, Jesus did all kinds of miracles. Nothing was too difficult for Him—not turning five loaves and two fish into a meal that fed five thousand people (Mark 6:41–44), not healing a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years (Luke 8:43–48), not raising someone from the dead (Luke 8:49–55), not even walking on water (Matthew 14:22–25). All of these things would definitely be too hard for us, but not for Him.

I encourage you to spend some time thinking about the things you think are too hard for you. Take each one and surrender it to God. Release it and tell Him that you trust Him with it completely and that you believe nothing is too difficult for Him.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I surrender every overwhelming situation to You. Strengthen my faith to believe nothing is too hard for You. Turn my challenges into miracles and help me trust Your power completely, amen.

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And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice.

1 Kings 19:11-12 (AMPC)

Someone once told me of a one-act play with three characters—a father, a mother, and a son who had just returned from Vietnam—who are sitting at a table to talk. The play lasts 30 minutes, and they all get their chance to talk. There’s only one problem: No one listens to the others.

The father is about to lose his job. The mother had once held just about every office in their church, and now younger women are pushing her aside. The son struggles with his faith. He had gone to war, seen chaos and death, and now is bewildered about life.

At the end of the play, the son stands and heads toward the door. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said,” is his parting remark, as he walks out of the room.

The parents look at each other, and the mother asks, “What did he mean?”

What the parents didn’t get—and the audience obviously does—is that the son struggles to believe in a loving, caring God. Every time he tries to explain, one of the parents interrupts with something they want to say. The soldier needed to hear from God. Hoping his mother or father would be the channel through which God would speak, he went to them. However, they were not available for God to use because they were not quiet enough to hear Him. All three of them were so distraught and noisy that they all left the same way they came. What might have happened had they really listened to one another, and then quietly prayed and waited on God? I am sure the outcome would have been very different and much more rewarding.

In the opening scripture, I quoted part of the story of Elijah to make this point clear. That deeply committed prophet had defied the wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel for years. The big moment came on Mount Carmel when Elijah destroyed 450 prophets of Baal. Later, when Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him, he ran away, apparently in terror.

He must have been worn out by the powerful events. Then suddenly the man was alone, with no crowds, no one trying to kill him, and no one to talk to. Just before the two verses mentioned above, Elijah had gone into a cave to hide out. When God asked him what he was doing there, he spoke of his zeal for God. Then he told God that the children of Israel had gone astray, killing prophets, And I, I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away 1 Kings 19:10 (AMPC). God brought strong winds, falling rocks, an earthquake, and fire. I think that was the way Elijah expected God to appear—in the miraculous and powerful. But the writer tells us God wasn’t in those things.

This is really the spiritual principle of God at work. We can find the devil in the noise and the shouts. We can find the devil with big attractions to lead us astray. But God likes to speak in the still, small voice—the voice that not everyone will hear—the voice that only the committed will listen for.

As long as Elijah sought the dramatic, he wouldn’t hear God. But when he pulled back and listened for the inner voice, the soft, non-demanding voice of the Holy Spirit, Elijah could communicate with God.

What kind of voice from God are you listening for? Will you recognize the still, small voice when you hear it? Do you take time to be quiet and just listen? If not, there is no better time to begin than right now.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, like Elijah and many others, I often look for the loud, the exciting, and the showy. I know that You sometimes use healings and miracles, but I ask You to help me listen most of all in the soft stillness for the quiet ways in which You speak. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Adapted from Battlefield of the Mind

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So they came to John and reported to him, Rabbi, the Man Who was with you on the other side of the Jordan . . . notice, here He is baptizing too, and everybody is flocking to Him!

John 3:26 (AMPC)

John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Lord. That was his purpose on earth and he knew it. But John’s disciples tried to incite him to jealousy over Jesus’ ministry! John replied, A man must be content to receive the gift which is given him from heaven; there is no other source (John 3:27 AMPC).

You have a unique role in the body of Christ. There is no point in being jealous of someone else’s spiritual gifts or ministry. God is the only source for gifts and His plan is perfect for each of us. If your gift is giving, then give with zeal. If your gift is helping, then help somebody! Rather than worrying about what others are doing, figure out what God wants and go do it!

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me celebrate the unique gifts You’ve given me. Remove jealousy from my heart and guide me to joyfully serve in the role You designed just for me, amen.

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My [inner] self [as well as my body] is also exceedingly disturbed and troubled. But You, O Lord, how long [until You return and speak peace to me]? Return [to my relief], O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of Your steadfast love and mercy.

Psalm 6:3-4 (AMPC)

Avoid getting negative when you look at your circumstances. Actively wait on God to give you strength to walk in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). Wait with purpose, silently listening for Him to speak, eagerly watching for Him to act.

Tell Him, “Lord, I receive strength to be Your ambassador and witness. Your Word tells me to love people who mistreat me. Though it is hard to do in the natural, I receive strength from You to be loving today.”

Then watch for the opportunity to act godly as He gives you strength to do so.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, strengthen me as I wait on You. Help me respond with love, patience, and the fruit of the Spirit, even when circumstances are difficult. Use my life as Your witness today, amen.

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