He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:3-4 (NIV)

Realizing that God watches over us at all times is very comforting. There is never one moment when He doesn’t have His loving eye on us. God doesn’t sleep, so even when we are asleep, He is watching us.

God is our protector and our hiding place. He is the place we run to when we are hurting, in trouble, or in any kind of danger. I encourage you to think several times a day, God is watching me right now. Remembering His watchful eye over me comforts me. It helps me to realize that nothing is hidden from God, and it increases my desire to live a life that pleases Him.

Are you afraid of anything right now? If so, just remember that God is watching over you. He is with you. If you are hurting physically or emotionally, He is with you to comfort you. All you need to do is ask Him for what you need. God loves you very much, and He delights in meeting your needs and giving you the desires of your heart.

Prayer of the Day: Father, it is wonderful to know that You are always watching over me and that You will protect me. Help me remember that You see me at all times.

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When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

Luke 10:5-7 (NIV)

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He sent some of His followers out two by two to do His kingdom work.

He said to them, basically, “Go and find a house and say, “Peace be unto you.” And if your peace settles on that house, then you can stay there. If it doesn’t, shake the dust off your feet and go on” (Matthew 10:12–14; Luke 10:5–11).

At one time in my life, I felt repeatedly drawn to these scriptures, and I didn’t know why. I finally realized that God was trying to help me understand what Jesus was saying to His disciples in today’s scripture. I needed to learn that in order to minister with His anointing (the grace and power of the Holy Spirit in me), I needed to live in peace.

As I continued to study and meditate on these verses, I realized that in order to serve Him most effectively, all of us need a peaceful base of operations, a place from which we can go out and to which we can go back. For most of us, this place is our home. If our homes aren’t peaceful, we need to do whatever we can to gain and maintain a calm, peaceful atmosphere, because strife and confusion adversely affect the anointing of God that rests on our lives. Even if you can’t have peace in your home because the other people refuse to be peaceful, you can remain peaceful in your heart.

Let me encourage you to do all you can do to ensure peace in your “home base.” That way, everyone who lives and works from that place will do so with God’s grace and peace—and they will have success.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, show me anything I need to do to establish and maintain peace in my home, and help me create a peaceful atmosphere for all who live there, including myself.

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Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]….

Ephesians 4:15 (AMPC)

You and I live in a world filled with people who are living false lives, wearing masks of pretense, and hiding things they don’t want others to know. That is wrong. But the reason it happens is that people have not been taught to walk in truth. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us; He is the Spirit of Truth, and He speaks the truth to us.

Sometimes Satan deceives us, but at other times we deceive ourselves. In other words, we fabricate lives we are comfortable with instead of facing life as it really is and dealing with issues with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit speaks to me and confronts me with issues in my life frequently, and He has also taught me to be a confronter, not a coward. Cowards hide from the truth; they are afraid of it. You don’t have to be afraid of the truth. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would lead them into truth, but He also told them they were not ready to hear certain things (see John 16:12), so He did not reveal those things at that time. The Holy Spirit will always speak truth to you, but He won’t speak certain truths to you until He knows you are ready to hear them.

If you are brave enough to welcome the Spirit of Truth into every area of your life and let Him speak to you about issues in your life, you are in for an unforgettable journey of freedom and power.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, help me to walk in Your truth and be guided solely by Your Spirit. Help me confront the areas in my life that need Your healing touch, amen.

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[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

Ephesians 3:19 (AMPC)

Today’s scripture challenges us to “become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.” This is my goal, and I pray it is yours, too. But I have found that I must decrease so He can increase (John 3:30). Too often I am full of myself, working hard to get what I want. We may blame every kind of problem on the devil, but self is our biggest problem. God’s Word teaches us to die to self, and this is not a quick or easy process.

If we will forget about ourselves and what we want and live for God and His will, He will give us more than we could ever get for ourselves. I urge you to pray regularly about decreasing while God increases. Pray to be full of God’s thoughts, His will, His attitudes, and His desires, and be empty of yourself.

This doesn’t mean you never want anything for yourself, but instead of trying to get it for yourself, ask God for it. Psalm 37:4 says to delight ourselves in God, and He will give us the desires of our heart.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, please help me to decrease, so that You might increase in my life. I definitely need more of You. Fill me with thoughts that are pleasing to You, as well as the desire to do Your will, amen.

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Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

Proverbs 18:21 (AMPC)

According to the Bible, the power of life and death is in the tongue, and we often have to eat our words.

I wonder how many times in our lives we say, “I’m afraid…” “I’m afraid I’ll get that flu that is going around.” “I’m afraid my kids will get in trouble.” “I’m afraid it’s going to snow, and I’m afraid to drive in it, if it does.” “With the way prices are going up, I’m afraid I won’t have enough money.” “I’m afraid if I don’t go to that party, people will think badly of me.” “I’m afraid we won’t get a good seat at the theater.” “I’m afraid someone will break into my house while I’m out of town.” If we heard a recording of every time in our life we have said “I’m afraid,” we would probably be amazed that our lives are going as well as they are.

If we really understood the power of words, I think we would change the way we talk. Our talk should be confident and bold, not fearful. Fearful talk not only affects us in an adverse way, but it affects those around us.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, show me the ways I need to change how I talk. Help me to break the bad habits I’ve adopted and the negative words I repeat over and over, amen.

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Do not fear [anything], for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you….

Isaiah 41:10 (AMP)

Fear is an enemy that torments the soul and seeks to steal our peace and joy. Totally conquering fear is not something that we do in one day, or even a thousand days. It is something we conquer one day at a time with God’s help.

Fear can show up quite unexpectedly in many ways. One of our goals should be to recognize it so we can deal with it promptly. You can’t defeat an enemy you don’t know is there.

Being free from fear doesn’t mean that we will never experience it or be confronted by it. It means that we are committed to not allowing it to rule our lives, and when necessary, we will do what we need to do, even if we have to do it afraid.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, Help me to recognize fear at its onset and keep moving forward in Your strength. Guide me and give me peace, especially in trying times, amen.

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All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].

Proverbs 15:15 (AMPC)

Do you have something in your life that you could be very worried about and very anxious about if you didn’t decide not to be? Most people do, and if you don’t have something today you might have something tomorrow or the next day. That’s not being negative, it’s just saying that life is real and you never know exactly what is going to come your way. But we do know God and we don’t have to live in fear. He is with us and He’s on our side.

I had a lot of bad things happen to me in the early years of my life, and I got to the point where I was afraid that bad things would happen. Proverb 15:15 calls that “evil forebodings,” which means you have this sense that you are waiting for the next disaster. I’ve learned instead of doing that to expect something good to happen in my life and to expect it on purpose.

You can choose your own thoughts. You don’t have to just think whatever falls in your head. You can cast out wrong things and choose right thoughts. Faith starts in our hearts, a gift from God, but it is released through our thinking and speaking right things. When we have a problem, we can either do what the devil wants us to do and worry about it and get anxious and try to figure things out on our own, or we can do what God wants us to do and think about the promises in His Word.

The Bible teaches us to cast all of our care on God because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7).

Throughout our married life, every time we’ve had a problem in our house, Dave has had one answer: “Cast your care.” It’s not wrong to see our problems, but we need to tell them where they stand in relation to God. Worry sees the problem, but faith sees the God Who can handle the problem.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, with Your help, I cast my cares on You. Help me replace worry with faith, and trust in Your promises. Help me to expect only good things to happen in my life, amen.

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…You were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 (AMPC)

As a believer, you are free to do anything you please: All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome) (1 Corinthians 10:23 AMPC).

God trusts you with liberty because He has also given you a new heart full of desire to please Him. You don’t have to struggle against immorality and sin when you allow Him to fill you with His Spirit each day. As a born-again, Spirit-filled believer, you have been given the liberty to lead a good life.

Choose today what is wholesome, edifying, and constructive.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, thank You for filling me with Your spirit every day. Thank You for the freedom to live a good life, according to Your will, amen.

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And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:20 (NIV)

There is power in the blood of Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus believe that He died for us, shedding His blood and suffering to pay for our sins. It is only through His sacrifice that we are reconciled to God. Through His shed blood, our sins are forgiven. His blood is referred to as “precious,” and indeed it is (1 Peter 1:19).

It is Christ’s blood that removes every guilty stain of sin and allows us to live completely forgiven, free from guilt and condemnation. According to Colossians 1:21–22, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight.” No wonder the gospel is called good news.

I encourage you to thank God regularly for sending Jesus. He has done more for us than we may realize. He freely provides every blessing to those who least deserve it, and all He asks is that we believe in Him and let His light shine through us so that others might come to know and believe in Him also.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I thank You for sending Jesus and for His sacrifice of His blood, which has cleansed me from all sin. Help me always appreciate what You have done for me through Jesus. In His name I pray, amen.

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Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.”

Exodus 18:17-18 (NIV)

Moses was a very busy man, to the point of being overwhelmed and stressed. As the leader of the children of Israel, he had many responsibilities and a lot to think about. The people looked to him to settle their disputes, solve their problems, give them advice, and provide help in many other ways. Finally, his father-in-law, Jethro, told him the work was too much for him to handle alone and helped him learn to delegate some of his responsibilities.

As you read about Moses and his father-in-law, maybe you’re thinking, I can relate! Maybe you, too, feel overwhelmed. Perhaps the responsibilities you carry have become too heavy and you don’t feel you can continue to handle them by yourself.

Being too stressed and overwhelmed is something we all face and need to manage at times. We can approach this several different ways. We can take care of ourselves physically, making sure to eat right, exercise, and sleep enough. We can seek support from the people around us. We can learn to set healthy boundaries and say no to certain things. And best of all, we can ask God to help us.

He may lead us to delegate certain tasks, give us insight into ways we can be more efficient, or give us creative ways to manage our stress. According to John 14:26, the Holy Spirit is our Helper, and we can call on Him at any time in any situation. We can be sure that when we ask, He will help us.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me know what to do when I feel overwhelmed, and send me the help I need.

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So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:5 (AMPC)

Education is important, but we must always keep in mind that the wisdom of God is better and more valuable than worldly education and human philosophy. The apostle Paul was a highly educated man, but he firmly stated that it was God’s power that made his preaching valuable, not his education. I know lots of people who graduate from college with honors and degrees and have difficulty getting jobs. I also know people who have not had the opportunity to go to college who depend on God to give them favor and they end up with great jobs. Where is your trust? Is it in God or in what you know? No matter what we know, or who we know, our trust should be in Christ alone and in His power.

Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:21 that the world with all of its human wisdom and philosophy failed to know God, but He chose to reveal Himself and save mankind through the foolishness of preaching. Sadly, we often find that the more highly educated some people are, the more difficult it is for them to have simple, childlike faith. Too much head knowledge and reasoning can actually work against us if we are not careful, because we can only know God by the Spirit and heart, not by the brain. Be sure to let your faith rest in the power of God and not in human philosophy to help in all areas of life.

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to trust in Your wisdom and power above all human knowledge. I ask that You cause my faith to rest in You alone, and that it guides my life through Your Holy Spirit, amen.

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But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.

James 1:6 (AMP)

Many times in life, we are opposed by thoughts and emotions that are intended to weaken our relationship with God. Doubt is one such feeling.

Feelings of doubt or uncertainty don’t mean that we don’t have faith and are not relying on God. It simply means that the devil is bringing temptation to stop us from putting our confidence in the Lord. We can consider the source of doubt and realize it is a lie.

We should “watch and pray” as we are instructed in God’s Word (see Matthew 26:40–41). When we are faced with doubt, see it for the deception that it is. Take that doubt to God and ask Him to give you the strength to defeat it. Don’t feed those doubts; feed your faith instead. Remember what God says about your life and your future and choose to stand on those promises.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, strengthen my faith and help me overcome my doubts by trusting in Your promise and the truth of Your Word, amen.

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…it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all.

1 Corinthians 12:6 (AMPC)

All of our thoughts, good or bad, have an effect on our physical being. The mind and body are definitely connected. Positive, hopeful thoughts energize our soul and physical bodies, whereas negative, hopeless thoughts drain our energy.

Physical tiredness is not always a result of wrong thinking. We can certainly have a sickness or disease that leads to a loss of energy, or we may even wake up tired for no known reason. But we do know that science and medical technology verify that the mind and body have a close connection, and that our thinking does have a direct effect on our body.

Our bodies are like automobiles that God provides for us to drive around on earth. If we want them to perform to their maximum ability and be energized, then we need to choose to think in ways that will help fuel them.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, please guide and direct my thoughts to be more positive and energizing, so that my mind and body can serve You well, amen.

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Adapted from Starting Your Day Right

But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].

Romans 8:9 (AMPC)

Romans 8:8 (AMPC) declares: Those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.

God wants us to enjoy the good life. Here He is saying to us, “If you walk in the Spirit, you will reap blessings from the Spirit-controlled life both now and hereafter.” Be responsible for your choices today. You cannot choose to live in the flesh and still expect everything to work out well. Choose to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, guide me to walk according to the Holy Spirit, and to make choices that honor You. I love You so much, amen.

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But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27 (NIV)

God delights in choosing and using people that the world would ignore and call useless. He does it so nobody can take the glory or the credit for what He does. Those who think they are intelligent and strong are often put in their place when they witness God using someone they would have rejected and assumed was incapable of doing anything noteworthy.

If you have been slighted by the world, don’t discount yourself from being used by God. His strength is made perfect in your weakness!

Prayer of the Day: Father, please help me to trust and believe that You can and will work through me, and that I can do great things for Your glory. I am so grateful that You use what the world sees as worthless, amen.

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You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32 (NIV)

The words of today’s scripture are so important because of the way they apply to emotional health and stability. A person with a history of out-of-balance emotional behavior may act the way they do because they’ve not faced the truth about certain issues in their lives, perhaps even long-standing problems rooted in their childhood. They’re not free but are still captive to the negative things that happened to them. Until they confront the painful issues from their past, they won’t begin to heal and move into emotional wholeness and freedom. Confrontation isn’t easy, but it’s easier than remaining in bondage all your life.

My father sexually abused me. I thought moving away from him would solve the problem. But several years passed before I realized that the abuse was still affecting my personality and the ways I dealt with everyone and everything in my life. I carried heavy burdens of fear, shame, and anxiety. My journey of healing began when I was willing to confront the pain inside me and to deal with the problems it was causing in my life.

I eventually learned that hurting people hurt people, and I was able to forgive my father. I realized that what happened to me didn’t have to define who I was. My past could not control my future unless I allowed it to. I needed a great work of healing in my soul, and as I faced the truth about what had happened to me, God brought healing, wholeness, and freedom to my life. He will do the same for you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, show me the truth about the situations that cause me pain and problems. Help me face it, so I can be set free.

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[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation….

Ephesians 1:17 (AMPC)

I want to focus today on some of Paul’s prayers. When I read his prayers in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, I felt bad about the carnality of my prayer life, and Paul’s prayers affected me so powerfully that my own prayer life has not been the same since.

I saw that Paul never prayed for people to have easy lives or to be delivered from difficulties. Instead, he prayed that they would be able to bear whatever came their way with good temper, that they would be patient, steadfast, and living examples of God’s grace to other people. He prayed about the things that are important to God, and I can assure you from experience, He releases incredible power to us when we pray that way. We should care more about our spiritual condition than we do about getting all the things that we want.

Today’s verse is one of Paul’s prayers. This verse teaches us to pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation—and that needs to be one of our primary requests. In fact, I believe that asking God for revelation—spiritual insight and understanding—is one of the most important prayers we can pray.

Revelation means “to uncover,” and we need to ask God to uncover for us everything that belongs to us in Christ. We need Him to reveal and uncover the truths of the Word revealed to us so that we will understand how to pray for ourselves and for others. When someone tells you about a biblical principle or a spiritual truth, that is a piece of information. But when God helps you understand it, it becomes a revelation—and revelation is something that makes a truth so real to you that nothing can ever take it away.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, I know that wisdom can be ours if we seek it, so here I am, seeking wisdom. Please guide me toward wisdom and revelation to deepen my spiritual life, so that I can completely understand Your truth, amen.

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He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:3 (ESV)

I think it is safe to say that the soul is a place of mystery. We cannot see our soul, but we can and do feel its impact on our lives. All kinds of feelings, attitudes, thoughts, imaginings, and desires fill the soul, and they are often in conflict with one another. We may feel that we want to do one thing, yet think we are not able to do it. We have many feelings we don’t understand or even know where they came from. Why, for example, would a woman feel intimidated when another woman she doesn’t even know walks into a room? Or why would a woman lack confidence even though she is very talented? What causes insecurity, fear of failure, abandonment, or rejection?

These problems are definitely caused by something, and we need to know what it is. There could be multiple reasons we react the way we do in specific circumstances, but we will never understand ourselves if we continue to ignore and hide from the negative feelings and strange behaviors we have. Most of them come from some emotional injury we have sustained in our lifetime that has never been healed. It is impossible to go through life and never be hurt, but whether we heal or stay wounded is up to us.

It is easy to hide from our pain and live under layers of false identities in an effort to hide the person we really are, but it takes courage to find your true self and learn to live the life you were meant to live. Have you ever thought, “I just don’t understand myself”? “What is wrong with me?” “Who am I, and what is my purpose in life?”

The way to find the answers to these questions is to look into God’s Word. In His Word, we find His plan for us and we recognize the lies we have believed, perhaps our entire life, that have been used to derail our destiny and leave us confused about our identity. I believed I would always have a second-rate life because my father sexually abused me, but in God’s Word, I found out that He could take my pain and actually make it work out for my good if I would let Him.

If you have been hurt and have a wounded soul, don’t be afraid to open your entire being to God and ask Him to heal you. Remember, healing requires facing a lot of things you may have been ignoring or hiding from for a long time. It may be a frightening thought to let the light into your darkness, but I promise that you will be glad you did.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, I refuse to live in the dark any longer. From now on, I will take Your hand, Lord, and walk into the light and seek truth and healing in Your Word, amen.

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Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4 (AMPC)

A big problem among believers today is selfishness and self-centeredness. If we’re not careful, we can get so self-absorbed that we never know the real joy of forgetting about self and serving God by helping others. When we reach out to others, God reaches out to us and takes care of our needs. What we make happen for someone else, God will make happen for us.

It is easy to judge and criticize other people, but God wants us to love them instead. He wants us to show them the same mercy that He has shown to us. Mercy triumphs over judgment according to God’s Word, so let’s get busy being a blessing and our joy will increase.

It is impossible to be selfish and happy at the same time. Joy only comes through reaching out to others with the love of God. The more self-absorbed we are, the more miserable we will be. I spent many years being unhappy simply because I wasn’t doing anything for anyone else. I finally learned that God didn’t create us for “in-reach” but for “out-reach.” When you reach out, then God will reach in and meet all of your needs.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, show me who I can help and bless today, and help me overcome selfishness and find joy in serving others with Your love and mercy, amen.

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Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes]….

Psalm 1:1 (AMPC)

The Word of God clearly teaches us not to seek or follow the advice of the ungodly. If you do need advice, get it from a true friend who will love you enough to disagree with you if necessary. Seek out someone with mature spiritual character who is making good decisions about his or her own life before asking that person what you should do with yours. Also, be sure that person can be trusted with your secrets if what you are sharing is something private.

If a person tells you someone else’s secrets, you can be assured they will also tell yours; therefore, choose your friends wisely.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, please help me to be more decisive and to seek wise, godly counsel from people that You have placed in my life, amen.

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