According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. —1 Corinthians 3:10

Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit coming to us freely, enabling us to do with ease what we could never do on our own. You might find other definitions describing grace as God’s divine favor, and that is certainly true, but His grace is also the power you need to live in victory. Grace can be received only through faith, and that is one of the main reasons we must resist fear. When we allow fear to rule us, we unwittingly receive what Satan has planned for our lives. But when we live by faith through grace, God is able to work His divine plan in us. Whatever you need to do today, lean on God and let Him empower you to be successful.

Power Thought: By God’s grace I have the skills to do all He asks of me with ease.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

Do not say to your neighbor, Go and come again; and tomorrow I will give it. —Proverbs 3:28

Many people struggle with procrastination. As we see in the verse for today, we can easily say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” We can have the best intentions, but if we don’t act on them we will still be disobedient. Procrastination is very deceptive. We don’t see it as disobedience because we intend to obey God; it’s just that we are going to do it when—when we have more money, when we are not so busy, when Christmas is over, or when the children go back to school.

There is no point in saying, “I will be a giver when I have more money or more possessions to give away.” If you aren’t giving out of what you already have, you’re not likely to do it when you have more.

Dave and I tithed from the beginning of our life together, but it never occurred to us to “live to give,” to excel in giving. But, the closer we got to God, the more we wanted to give. We learned that true giving often means sacrificing something that we really would like to keep. We were not in a financial position to give more money than our 10 percent tithe, but strong desire caused us to search for ways to give more. So we gave away personal possessions, extra clothes, household items, and an old car we decided to pass on to a needy friend.

In the process of giving, we discovered that we did not have to have money to be a blessing to others. We could start with what we did have, and as we did God increased us and enabled us to give even more.

Love Others Today: What acts of love or kindness have you been putting off? Do them today.

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God and you will be My people…But they would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ear [to Me], but followed the counsels and the stubborn promptings of their own evil hearts and minds, and they turned their backs and went in reverse instead of forward. —Jeremiah 7:23-24

I believe you are going to act on these devotional readings and begin living boldly and fearlessly as a confident woman. It doesn’t matter how you lived before now; this is a new beginning. Every day God’s mercy is new, and it is available for all of us today. Don’t look back; look forward!

Be decisive, follow your heart, and don’t be overly concerned about what other people think of you and your decisions. Most of them are not thinking about you as much as you might imagine that they are anyway.

Don’t live constantly comparing yourself with others; be your unique self. (See 2 Corinthians 10:12.) Celebrate who God has made you to be. There is only one who has the unique traits and skills that make up who you are. Enjoy the fact that God knew what He was doing, and rely on the thought that surely God said the same thing about you as He did when He called the world into creation: “And it was good.”

Lord, I will look forward today, and I will follow Your voice and obey. I take hold of Your mercy and rejoice in who You’ve made me to be. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining and holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which will be called the Son of God. —Luke 1:35

The Virgin Mary became pregnant by the working of the Holy Spirit, Who came upon her and, according to today’s verse, planted in her womb a “holy Thing.” The Spirit of Holiness was planted in her as a Seed. In her womb the Seed grew into the Son of God and the Son of Man, Who was necessary to deliver people from their sins.

When we are born again, a similar dynamic takes place in us. The “holy Thing,” the Spirit of Holiness, is planted in us as a Seed. As we water that Seed with God’s Word and keep the “weeds of worldliness” from choking it out, it will grow into a giant tree of righteousness, “the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3).

God’s Word teaches us to pursue holiness (see Hebrews 12:14). When we set our hearts on this pursuit, the Spirit of Holiness helps us. If we want to be holy, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and permit Him to speak to us, correct us, guide us, and help us in every area of our lives.

Never forget that a “holy Thing” lives inside of you. Water that seed with God’s Word and let the Holy Spirit speak to you and teach you how to help it grow.

God’s Word for You Today: The Holy Spirit desires to be your close companion as He teaches and instructs you in holiness.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer

And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites, that they take for Me an offering. From every man who gives it willingly and ungrudgingly with his heart you shall take My offering. —Exodus 25:1-2

When we talk about a willing heart, we are basically talking about “want to.” Without it we will never do anything.

“Want to” is a powerful thing. With it you can lose weight, keep your house clean, save money, get out of debt, or reach any other goal in life you may have set for yourself. You don’t really like to face the fact that your victory or defeat has a lot to do with your “want to.”

We like to blame everything on someone or something else. But you need to sit down and take a good old-fashioned inventory of your “want to.” You need to be honest enough to say, “Lord, I didn’t win the victory because I really didn’t want to.” Tonight, ask the Lord to give you plenty of “want to.”

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer

You have put more joy and rejoicing in my heart than [they know] when their wheat and new wine have yielded abundantly. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. —Psalm 4:7-8

God has prearranged and made ready a good life for you, but that good life is a choice. You have to decide to follow God’s leading in order to walk in it.

The Bible contains guidelines for that good life. It is not a book of laws; it is about the liberty and freedom to live the life that reaps good things. It is a book of wisdom that will lead you to peace and joy. If you do what the Word says to do, blessings will chase you and find you wherever you are (See Deuteronomy 28:1-2).

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will [seriously] remember their sin no more.—Jeremiah 31:34

God not only forgives but also forgets all your sins. He does not forgive you and then say, “Oh, boy, I remember when I had to forgive Johnny for pulling his sister’s hair and making her cry. Now he wants me to forgive him for cheating on his algebra test. His list of forgiven sins is getting awfully long.”

No, if Johnny were to say to God, “I know You’ve already forgiven me for pulling my sister’s hair, but now I need Your forgiveness for cheating on a test,” God would say, “Your sister’s hair? You asked me to forgive you for that? I have absolutely no recollection of that; there’s no record of it anywhere.”

The passage above from Jeremiah, and many others you will find in the Bible (Hebrews 10:14-17, for example), is not talking about a forgiveness that happens the day we receive Christ and only takes care of all of our previous sins. God’s forgiveness is ongoing for the duration of our lives; it is for every day.

When Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago, He not only forgave everything we had done in our pasts, but He also committed Himself to forgive every sin we would commit in the future. He knows every wrong decision we will ever make, and they’re all covered. All we have to do is admit our sins, be willing to turn away from them, and stay in relationship with Him. When God looks at our sins, He sees our faith in Jesus, Who is our perfect sacrifice—not the sin we just committed.

Because of this, what God really wants from us is not perfect performance, perfect behavior, or perfect attitudes, because He already sees those things in Jesus on our behalf. What God wants from us are hearts that truly love Him.

Trust in Him: God is not surprised by anything you do. You can trust His love and forgiveness because He knew about your mistakes long before you did, and He wants you anyway. Today, determine to stop remembering what God has forgotten and focus instead on loving Him

From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. —Hebrews 3:1 NIV

Focusing on good things makes us feel good, excited, energized, and enthusiastic. When we focus our time and attention on things we find to be bad, we feel sad, angry, or anxious. That’s why it’s so important for us to “fix our thoughts on Jesus” and keep our focus on Him. God has given us the ability to choose happiness no matter what is going on around us. I am not suggesting we ignore our problems, but there is a big difference between focusing on them—worrying about them—and working to solve or resolve them.

A negative person cannot be happy, and a persistently positive person cannot be unhappy, at least not for any lengthy period of time. Choose to have a happy life by focusing on Jesus. Do what you can do to take care of any responsibility you have with your problem, and while you are waiting for God to do what you cannot do, you are free to go ahead and enjoy your life.

Power Thought: My mind is focused only on Jesus and good things.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

And Moses said to the Lord, If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here. – Exodus 33:12, 14, 15

When God called Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him, “Let My peo¬ple go,” he asked the Lord, “Who am I going to say sent me? Pharaoh is not going to listen to me and set the children of Israel free.” Moses was afraid; he was upset. But God said to him, “My presence will go with you.” I love Moses’ reply: “Okay, but if Your presence is not going to go with us, then don’t send me!”

We need to really understand the awesomeness of God’s presence. Why in the world would we not want to spend time with God? We spend time staring in store windows at the mall; we spend time on the Internet. But most people admit it is hard for them to spend regular time with God. The devil fights us when it comes to spending time with God.

Why not begin dedicating a portion of time for that purpose? Try to be as regular about it as you can. Read the Bible and any other Chris¬tian books that minister to you. Talk freely to God about anything you would talk to a good friend about. Listen to Christian music and wor¬ship; or just sit there and enjoy the silence. If you will do that, you will begin to feel and sense the Presence of the Lord and you will begin to see wonderful changes in yourself and your life.

I guarantee you, there is nothing in life you need more and nothing He would enjoy more than spending time with you.

Love God Today: Take time today to do nothing but sit in God’s presence.

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] – John 16:33

Look at each word Jesus spoke and meditate on it so that you get the full meaning of what Jesus is saying. He is telling us that during our lives we will have hard times, trials, and things that frustrate us, but we don’t have to let worry or depression be part of it, because He has given us courage (if we will take it), confidence, and assurance. No matter what comes against us, if we have confidence that we can make it through, it won’t bother us that much. It isn’t really our problems that make us unhappy; it is how we respond to them.

Jesus said to “be confident.” He did not say to “feel confident.” Start today choosing to be confident in every situation and you will begin driving fear back to Hades where it came from. When Satan tries to give you fear, give it back to him. You wouldn’t drink poison if someone offered it to you, would you? Then stop taking fear and start choosing courage.

Lord, thank You that You have overcome the world. I will be confident today because I follow You and walk in the victory You have already won. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer

Now these [Jews] were better disposed and more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. – Acts 17:11

One of my much-published writer friends taught a series of classes at a writers’ conference on beginning writing. He wanted to reach people who felt God had called them to write and show them how to get their articles and books published.

At the beginning, he asked the attendees how long they had been writing and if they had ever published. Two women, who sat in the front row, said they had both been writing for almost twelve years, but had not yet published anything.

At the end of the first lecture, my friend overheard one of the women say to the other, “Oh, we know all of that. We don’t need to come back to this class.”

They may have already known the things he was teaching, but there was no evidence they had applied what they knew. He also commented that the most eager students in the classroom were those who had already begun to publish. They wanted to learn and improve. Only people who are humble enough to continue learning will ever succeed.

That incident makes me think of an event in the book of Acts. The apostles Paul and Silas preached in Thessalonica, and the people tried to kill them, so believers helped them flee. From there, they went to the city of Berea. Luke records that the people there were fair in their thinking. They received the message “with all readiness,” or, as I like to say, they had ready minds.

That means those were people who were open to God—they were willing to hear what God said, no matter whether it was good news or bad.

If I asked any group of Christians, “Are you ready-minded?” they would immediately say that they were. That’s what we assume being a Christian means—ready, open, willing to hear God, and to be obedient to what He says.

For many people, being ready-minded means that they are ready and open if the message is what they want to hear. If it’s not what they want to hear, they don’t try to kill the messengers like the Thessalonians, but they say, “Oh, we know all of that,” and stop listening. What does it really mean to be ready-minded? It means being willing to turn away from every lie and deception that Satan offers. It means being willing to say, “I was wrong.” It means that instead of listening only for what we want to hear, we listen for what we need to hear.

To be ready-minded means we discern the source of the voice. We love to hear words that make us feel good and encourage us, but we don’t like words that make us aware of our shortcomings. In Satan’s battle for our minds, one of his tricks is to convince us that a message isn’t important or that we already know it. He may even say that the message is not correct, and by doing so, he prevents us from hearing what we really need in order to gain our own freedom.

For example, a pastor preached a sermon against gossip one day. He aimed his message at one woman—who delighted in telling people tales about others. What she didn’t know, she allowed her imagination to fill in. At the end of the service, she said to the pastor, “That was an excellent message. A lot of people in this church need to hear that.”

The pastor said she wasn’t being sarcastic or hypocritical. She simply didn’t get the message. She didn’t have that ready mind—the mind that was open to receive a message of grace and help from God. It never occurred to her that she needed the message. To have a ready mind is not always easy. In fact, the more seriously the Holy Spirit wants to deal with us, the more Satan tries to convince us that we already “know all that” or it’s not something we need to hear.

Lord Jesus, please give me a ready mind. Enable me to hear You clearly and easily. Enable me to say, “Yes, Lord,” no matter what Your Spirit has to say to me. I want to have a ready mind that pleases You in everything. I ask this in Your name. Amen.

From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer.