And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:19

Paul tells us God will “liberally supply” all of our needs. He doesn’t promise God will give us everything we want, but he does assure us God will meet our every need.

Many times we think of needs in terms of the basic necessities of life. These represent our physical needs, but I believe God created us to need more than these essentials. We don’t simply need money, nourishment, a roof over our heads, and clothes to wear. We also need wisdom, strength, health, friends, and loved ones; and we need the gifts and talents and abilities to help us do what we are supposed to do in life. We need many things, and God is willing to meet all of our needs when we trust and obey Him.

Power Thought: God liberally supplies all of my needs.

Then what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind and understanding. – 1 Corinthians 14:15

I really want to encourage you to pray persistent, persevering prayers by the leading of the Holy Spirit—not mere repetitious prayers that do not come from your heart, but prayers that refuse to give up. It is possible to use your mouth to speak words of prayer that have no meaning behind them at all, and those prayers are nothing but dead works. I could quote the entire Lord’s Prayer while I am thinking about something else, and that would not bless God or do me any good, but if I am sincere and pray from my heart, God hears and works in my behalf.

Lip service doesn’t do anything for God or accomplish anything in our lives, so even when we pray about the same thing over and over again, we need to be careful not to fall into meaningless repetition. Instead, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in a fresh way, even when we are addressing a subject about which we have prayed for a long time. Sometimes He will lead us to be diligent and persistent about a matter, but there is a difference between Spirit-led persistence and repetition.

Words spoken in prayer that are not connected to our hearts are words without power. When we pray we should focus and concentrate on what we are saying. We should never merely verbalize things we have memorized while our hearts are far from God. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man avails much and makes tremendous power available (see James 5:16).

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! – Psalm 91:2

At various points in our lives, all of us feel we’re getting “out of our depth” or “in over our heads.” There are problems all around: A job is lost, someone dies, there is strife in the family, or a bad report comes from the doctor. When these things happen, our temptation is to panic because we feel we’ve lost control.

But think about it: The truth is that we’ve never been in control when it comes to life’s most crucial elements. The only thing that holds us up—and the thing we can be most grateful for—is the grace of God, our Father, and that won’t change. God is never out of His depth, and therefore, we’re safe when we’re in life’s “deep end” because we can trust that He will always carry us in His arms.

Prayer of Thanks

Thank You, Father, that You are a refuge for me. I know that because You are with me, I can feel safe and secure. Thank You that no matter how difficult life may seem, I can be at peace because You will never let me go.

And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you? – Matthew 18:33

In Matthew 18:23–35, Jesus tells a story about one man who refused to forgive another. At the end, He makes the clear and strong point that those who do not forgive others get “turned over to the torturers” (v.34). If you have, or have ever had, a problem forgiving others, I’m sure you can attest to this truth. Harboring hateful thoughts and bitterness toward another person in your mind is indeed torturous.

You may have heard the saying, “Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and hoping it kills the other person.” We are not hurting the one who hurt us by being angry at them. The truth is that most of the time people who offend us don’t even know how we feel. They go on with their lives while we drink the poison of bitterness. When you do forgive those who offend you, you are actually helping yourself more than you are helping them, so I say, “Do yourself a favor and forgive!”

We think, But, it is so unfair for me to forgive them and then they just have no punishment for what they did. Why should I have the pain while they get the freedom? The truth is that by forgiving, we are releasing them so God can do what only He can do. If I’m in the way—trying to get revenge or taking care of the situation myself instead of trusting and obeying God—He may sit back and allow me to try to handle things in my own strength. But, if I allow Him to deal with those who offend me by forgiving them, He can work good out of it for both parties concerned.

The book of Hebrews tells us that God settles the cases of His people. When we forgive, we put God on the case (see Hebrews 10:30).

Trust in Him Is there a situation in your life that you are trying to take care of instead of trusting God to work it out? If so, do yourself a favor and forgive so God can settle it.

[Jesus] stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. — Philippians 2:7

You have an inner life and an outer life. Your outer life is your reputation with people. Your inner life is your reputation with God. The Bible says Jesus “made himself of no reputation” (Philippians2:7 KJV) because the inner life is what is important to God.

The apostle Paul said, Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah) (Galatians 1:10). In other words, trying to please people gives them control and can cause you to lose the call that God has on your life. Focus on your relationship with God rather than your reputation with people.

Power Thought: My relationship and reputation with God are more important than my reputation with people.

But the path of the [uncompromisingly] just and righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more (brighter and clearer) until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day [to be prepared]. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. – Proverbs 4:18-19

Maybe you’re still thinking to yourself, Joyce, I’m a timid and shy person, that’s just my nature. I don’t think I can change. You may feel timid and shy, but you can choose to walk boldly through life. The main thing I want you to remember is that you can feel afraid, you can feel timid, you can feel downright cowardly, and yet you can make the choice to walk boldly and as if fear did not exist! Your free will is stronger than your feelings if you will exercise it.

You may be like thousands of others who have catered to their fearful feelings for so long that the fear has taken control. Your will, like a muscle, becomes weak if not exercised. As you begin to ask God to help you and exercise your willpower against your feelings, it will get easier and easier to be the person you truly want to be, the person God has designed you to be.

Lord, there are certain feelings that control my life and tear down my confidence. I trust that as I exercise my willpower, You will strengthen me and make my path brighter and clearer and easier to walk. Amen.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!…It is like the dew of [lofty] Mount Hermon and the dew that comes on the hills of Zion; for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.- Psalm 133:1, 3

When you have been praying about something and do not seem to be hearing God giving you answers or making any progress, you may need to get someone to pray in agreement with you. That kind of unity is a powerful spiritual dynamic, and according to today’s verses, it is good and it commands God’s blessing.

When two or more people come into agreement, Jesus Himself promises to be with them, and His presence exerts more power than we can even imagine in our lives and in our circumstances. He says in Matthew 18:19–20: Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them.

God is also with us as individuals, but our power increases as we come together in unity and agreement. The Bible says that one can put one thousand to flight and two can run off ten thousand (see Deuteronomy 32:30). I like that kind of math!

Because God’s blessing rests on unity and His presence is with those who agree in His name, the enemy works diligently to divide people, to bring strife into relationships, to provoke anger and jealousy and to keep people at odds with each other. We need to understand the power of unity and agreement and, though we do need private times of intimate communion with God, we also need to exercise the power of agreement by talking to God and listening for His voice with others.

He who is of a greedy spirit stirs up strife, but he who puts his trust in the Lord shall be enriched and blessed.- Proverbs 28:25

Probably 80 percent of the places we visit in our ministry have church members who are riddled with strife. Strife is the devil’s tool against us. It takes personal self-control to stay out of strife.

If you want to keep peace, you can’t always say everything you want to say. Sometimes you have to control yourself and apologize even when there is nothing in you that wants to do so. But if you sow the godly principle of harmony and unity today, a time will come when you will reap the blessings of all it can bring to you.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).- John 10:10

Although we do not always have the power to change every unpleasant circumstance in our lives, we do have the power to change our outlook. We can look out at life from our inmost being with our hearts filled with positive thoughts and attitudes, or we can allow the events of life to shape how we think and feel. This is a decision only we can make-no one can make it for us!

I firmly believe that the bottom line of what we want from life is to be happy. We want to enjoy it! Sadly, we can waste most of life with the misconception that joy and enjoyment come from our circumstances. The truth is that they come from our attitude toward each circumstance rather than the circumstance itself. Obviously, nobody enjoys a troubling or painful circumstance, but if we look at it in a hopeful, faith-filled way, we can watch God work all things out for our good (see Romans 8:28).

Enjoying life begins with the thoughts you choose to think. Yes, it’s that simple! No matter what is going on in your life today, if you will choose happy, hope-filled thoughts, you will feel happier.

Our thoughts are connected to our feelings, so if we want to feel better, we need to think better. Nothing good comes from thinking sour, critical and negative thoughts, but something good always comes when we think according to God’s plan for our life. God offers each of us an opportunity to have a good life. His promises are for all who will believe! We all believe something, so why not make it something good?

Good thinking begins with a choice. I urge you to make yours today and every day of your life.

Be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].- Ephesians 6:10

Most of the things that are truly worth doing are never easy—we are not filled with the Spirit of God to do easy things. He fills us with His Spirit so we can do impossible things!

If you want to develop your potential and succeed at being all you can be, keep your eyes on the prize and press on! It won’t all be easy, but it will all be worthwhile. Most of those who blame everyone and everything for their failures had potential, but either did not know how to develop it or were unwilling to meet its requirements. When things don’t work out in our lives, it is not God’s fault. It isn’t really circumstances or other people who are to blame, because if God is on our side, they are not mightier than He is (Romans 8:31).

The truth is, when things don’t work out for us, it is because we have not obeyed God, not pressed on and been willing to take giant steps of faith. The world wants us to conform, but the Lord wants to transform us, if we will do things His way.

Lord, I ask You to fill me with Your Spirit right now so that I am fully equipped to do Your will in this world. I will press on and fight my way through all the fear and doubts that stand in my way. Amen.