The works of His hands are [absolute] truth and justice [faithful and right]; and all His decrees and precepts are sure (fixed, established, and trustworthy).

Psalm 111:7 (AMPC)

Because of the promises in the Word of God, there are some things we can be sure of. Not maybe, not probably…we can be sure they are true.

• We can be sure we are children of God, and that we are loved, called, anointed, and appointed by Him.
• We can be sure that we have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
• We can be sure that we are forgiven for all of our sins and our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
• We can be sure that we have been guaranteed an inheritance, for it was purchased with the blood of Jesus.
• We can be sure that Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place for us in heaven.

These promises (and many others) are certainties that we can build our lives upon. They are sure to be true!

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for the promises found in Your Word. Help me to trust that all those promises are for me and my life, as I wait for Your leading and guidance, amen.

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But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great….

Luke 6:35 (NIV)

One of the reasons we find forgiving others difficult when we are offended is because we have told ourselves probably thousands of times that forgiving is hard to do. We have convinced ourselves and set our minds to fail at one of God’s most important commands, which is to forgive and pray for our enemies and those who hurt and abuse us (see Luke 6:35–36). We meditate too much on what the offensive person has done to us, and we fail to realize what we are doing to ourselves when we take Satan’s bait.

Though praying for our enemies and blessing those who curse us may seem extremely difficult or nearly impossible, we can do it if we set our minds to it. Having the proper mindset is vital if we want to obey God. He never tells us to do anything that is not good for us or to do anything we cannot do. He is always available to give us the strength we need to accomplish the task. We don’t even need to think about how hard it is; we just need to do it!

God is just! Justice is one of His most admirable character traits. He brings justice as we wait on Him and trust Him to be our Vindicator when we have been hurt or offended. He simply asks us to pray and forgive—and He does the rest. He makes even our pain work out for our good (see Rom. 8:28). He justifies, vindicates, and recompenses us. He pays us back for our pain if we follow His commands to forgive our enemies and even says that we will receive “double for our trouble” (see Isaiah 61:7).

Prayer of the Day: Father God, help me to renew my mind with Your Word, so that I can forgive quickly and freely. Help me to trust You to bring justice and healing in my life, amen.

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And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Galatians 6:9 (AMPC)

“I’ve been a Christian for twenty-three years,” Cheryl said. I’m just not getting anywhere. I’m as weak as I was when I first accepted Christ as my Savior. I still fail. I just don’t know if it’s worth it.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued to talk about her failures. “By now I know all the right things to do, but I don’t do them. Sometimes I deliberately do something mean-spirited or unkind. What kind of Christian am I?”

“Probably a growing Christian,” I said. A startled look appeared on Cheryl’s face. “Growing? Did you hear?”

“Yes, I heard. But if you weren’t growing, you wouldn’t lament your failures. You’d be satisfied about your spiritual level or tell yourself how good you are.”

“But I’m so discouraged, and I fail God so many times.”

I went on to tell Cheryl she was correct that she had failed. All of us do at times. None of us is perfect. If we’re not careful, we allow the devil to point to what we haven’t accomplished and where we have been weak. When that happens, it’s easy to feel bad or want to give up.

That’s not the way of the Spirit. No matter how we mess up our lives, God doesn’t give up on us. The Spirit constantly nudges us.

We can allow our thoughts to dwell on what we haven’t done, why we ought to be more spiritual, or how spiritual we ought to be after all these years in our Christian faith. That’s a trick of the devil to make us think of our defects and short comings. If we focus on what we’re not or what we haven’t accomplished, we are allowing the devil to make advances on the battlefield of our minds.

The fact that my troubled friend was upset was a healthy sign, even though she didn’t see it that way. With the Holy Spirit’s help, she can push back the devil. She can regain the territory Satan has stolen from her.

Cheryl seemed to think that holy, victorious living came from one major victory after another. Yes, we do have times when we have great breakthroughs; however, most of our victories come slowly. They come little by little. It’s as if we inch forward. Because we move slowly in our spiritual growth, we are often unaware of how far we have moved. If the devil can make us think that we must have one decisive spiritual victory after another or we’re losers, he has gained an important stronghold.

He exhorted us not to grow weary; or as another translation says it, “not to lose heart.” He’s saying, “Don’t quit. Keep fighting.”

Life is a struggle, and the devil is determined to defeat and destroy us. We don’t ever reach the place where we never have to fight. But it’s not just our fight. Jesus is not only with us, but He is for us. He’s at our side to strengthen us and to urge us onward.

My friend kept remembering the times she had failed, but I reminded her of the times she had succeeded. “You think the devil is in control, but that’s not true. You have failed, but you have also succeeded. You have stood your ground and you have made progress.”

“Don’t quit. Don’t give up.” That’s the message we need to hear. I think of the words of Isaiah: Fear not, for I have redeemed you…; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you (Isaiah 43:1-2 AMPC).

This is God’s promise. He doesn’t promise to take us completely out of troubles or hardships, but He does promise to be with us as we go through them. “Fear not,”‘ He says. That’s the message we need to ponder. We don’t need to fear because God is with us. And when God is with us, what is there to worry about?

Prayer of the Day: God, despite my failures, You are with me, encouraging me not to give up. Please help me to remember that, with Your help, I can win. In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen.

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I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 104:33-34 (NIV)

In today’s scriptures, the psalmist writes about the greatness of God and declares that he will sing to and praise God all his life. We should make the same commitment. No matter how many problems you may have right now, you have much more to praise God for. Take time often to think of the majestic things God has created, and it will help you realize that He has no problem handling your difficulties.

We meditate on something most of the time. Our meditation consists of the thoughts that run through our mind either purposely or randomly, and they are important. David prays in Psalm 19:14 that his words and meditations would be pleasing in God’s sight, and here the psalmist prays the same prayer.

Literally thousands of thoughts run through our minds, and the more we can train ourselves to choose what to meditate on instead of just meditating on whatever falls into our minds, the better off we will be. Our thoughts turn into words and actions and determine the quality of our life, so they are very important. I urge you to consider what you think about and make sure your meditations are pleasing to God.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I will praise You all my life for all the marvelous things that You do, and I ask You to help me meditate only on things that are pleasing to You.

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And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.

Luke 1:20 (NIV)

God responded in a surprising way when Zechariah struggled to believe Him after He sent an angel to tell him that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son. That’s understandable in a way, because they were way too old to have children. But God had spoken. And Zechariah questioned. That was a problem. Because of his lack of faith, God made him unable to speak until the baby was born.

This story teaches us that the way we respond to God’s promises is very important. When we pray in faith, believing He will answer, we are not to stop praying and then go about our business, wondering if He heard us and if He will move on our behalf. We are to keep our faith strong, expecting Him to answer, and we are to think and speak in agreement with our expectation. He is a God who keeps His promises and answers prayer, and He wants us to keep this truth in the forefront of our minds.

When you are praying about something, don’t let doubt enter your heart and weaken your prayers—or cause you to forget about them. Instead, let your confidence in God reinforce your prayers as you trust Him to answer at the right time and in the right way.

Prayer of the Day: Father, when I pray, help me to reinforce my prayers with faith and expectation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become…the righteousness of God….

2 Corinthians 5:21 (AMPC)

People will reject you just as they rejected Jesus and Paul and the other apostles and disciples. It is especially difficult when you are persecuted by people who are living wrong and are saying wrong things about you. Psalm 118:22 (AMPC) says, The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This passage is talking about David who was rejected by the Jewish rulers, but later was chosen by the Lord to be the ruler of Israel. In Matthew 21:42 Jesus quoted this verse to the chief priests and the Pharisees, referring to their rejection of Him as the Son of God.

Even though people may reject you, if you will hold steady and continue to do what God is telling you to do with a good attitude, God will promote you and place you where no man can put you.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, help me to find strength in Your acceptance any time I face rejection, amen.

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A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV)

God is life, and every good thing He created is part of that life. We can get so caught up in doing and accomplishing, in working and earning, that if we are not careful, we will come to the end of our life and suddenly wake up and realize that we never really lived. God desires for us to enjoy life and live it to the full, till it overflows.

We have a choice in life. We can grumble our way through our troubles, or we can draw closer to God in difficult times, going through any trouble we face with a merry heart. Either way, we will all deal with troubles from time to time, so why not take the joy of the Lord as our strength and be filled with energy and vitality?

In John 15, Jesus talks about abiding in Him. In verse 11, He says, “I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.” Jesus made it possible for us to have merry hearts. With His help, no matter what you go through, you can put a smile on your face and enjoy every day of your life in Him.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I don’t want to spend my life waiting for things to change before I can become happy. Help me make the decision to be happy now and find joy in every moment, no matter the circumstances. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity….

Psalm 94:12-13 (AMPC)

According to Exodus 13:17 (AMPC), When Pharaoh let the people go, God led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer…. There was a shorter route, but God took the Israelites the long, hard way on purpose because they were not ready for the battles they would face. He continued to work with them during 40 years of wandering, waiting for them to get to the point where they could praise Him in their adversity.

God will continue dealing with us until we learn how to stay peaceful in the storm. Nothing shows our spiritual maturity more than staying calm when our circumstances are not calm. Stability is a sign of maturity, and the more mature we are, the more God can trust us with His power and blessings.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, please help me to stay calm and peaceful in the storm and to continually trust Your timing and Your purpose in my life, amen.

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Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit. You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 12:33–34 (AMPC)

A woman I’ll call Dorothy knew more about the church and every member and visitor than anyone else did. She was fairly well known as the church gossip. “One thing about her,” a friend said, “she’s not prejudiced—she talks about everyone,” and he laughed. He also added, “She’ll probably get into heaven, but God may have to cut off her tongue first.”

One day as I stood near the front door, I heard Dorothy telling several people about one of the deacons, “But it isn’t up to me to judge him,” she said. The venom poured from her mouth, and she went on to mention several others. Of course, she was critical of each one.

I listened to her and realized something. She was only speaking from what was already inside her heart. That’s obvious, but I grasped something else. Dorothy was so critical of herself, so filled with disgust for herself, how could she speak well of others?

Too often people make promises that they’ll speak better of others and gossip less. They really try, but nothing ever changes. This is because they are trying to change their words without changing their thoughts. That’s a bad solution, because they start at the wrong end. What they need to do is look inward, asking, “What is going on inside of me?”

“For out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks,” Jesus said. As I considered those words, I felt a deep compassion for Dorothy. She had allowed Satan to fill her mind with critical, harsh thoughts. She didn’t speak much about herself, but I’m sure she was totally critical of herself as well as other people, and when she spoke, the evil words came out of her mouth.

Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit. The same is true of our lives. Everything begins with a thought. If we allow negative and unkind thoughts to fill our minds, they bear fruit. If we dwell on the bad, we produce bad fruit..

If I believe God truly loves me, and if I enjoy fellowship with Him every day, I’m planting good seeds in my own heart. The more good seeds I plant, the more good fruit I produce. The more I think kind and loving thoughts, the more I see others as kind and loving.

“Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Kind or judgmental words don’t just come to us—they come out of our mouths because we have nurtured them in our minds. The more we open ourselves to the Spirit’s positive and loving thoughts, the more we pray, and the more we read God’s Word, the more good fruit we produce on the inside—and that good fruit shows itself by the way we behave toward others.

Prayer of the Day: Dear loving God, I ask You to forgive me for all the harsh things I’ve said about other people. Also, please forgive me for allowing harsh thoughts to fill my mind—about myself or about others. I know I can’t make myself more loving, but You can. Please, help me focus on healthy, positive thoughts, for I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Psalm 100:1-2 (NIV)

If the devil wasn’t afraid of our joy, he wouldn’t work so hard to take it away from us. Even though we may not be able to find joy in our circumstances, we can always find joy in Jesus. He gives us hope, and when we have hope we cannot be defeated. Hope opens the door for joy.

You have the hope of eternal life. If you research how many promises of God are in the Bible, you will find thousands of promises on which you can stand on in times of trouble, knowing that God’s Word is always true.

Smile and laugh as much as possible, because the more joy you have, the more powerful you are.

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to pay more attention to You than I do to my problems. Help me be filled with joy as I trust You to take care of everything that concerns me.

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Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you.

Proverbs 4:25 (AMPC)

I am leaving soon on a ministry trip to Europe where I will teach nine times. I want to be totally prepared for all of the teaching sessions when I leave, so I made a plan to stay home all day today and finish the messages I had not yet completed. I finished all of them except for one and started being double minded about whether or not I wanted to finish or quit working and do something more relaxing. Does that sound familiar?

I knew that the best choice was to stay on track, so I did. When I finished the last message, I felt a huge sense of relief that everything was done and I was ready to go. I was so glad that I was finished, and I didn’t have to face tomorrow with the project still needing to be done. I still have time to relax, but now I can do it with joy rather than a feeling that I really should have stayed on track.

The next time you find yourself in a similar situation, I urge you to ask yourself how you will feel later if you quit halfway to your goal. A job half done doesn’t feel as good as a job completed!

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me stay focused and on track when I have a job to do. I want to be a person who finishes what I start.

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But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV)

We rush to get every new upgrade available for our computer and phone. We spend money, wait in lines, do whatever it takes to have the newest and best. We are very aggressive about having the best equipment available, but are we as aggressive about having the upgraded life Jesus offers us?

The Bible says that the path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter every day (Prov. 4:18). This means God is always drawing us toward better and better things. He continually offers upgrades, and we should be determined to have each one of them.

Living the best life God has for you will require some effort on your part. You will need to educate yourself on the life He offers and what it truly means to be born again. As a child of God, you have an inheritance and you have certain rights and privileges, but if you don’t know about them, you will never enjoy them. We educate ourselves through Bible study, reading good books about biblical principles, spending time with God, and being in com- munity with other people who are seeking God as we are. We also need a lot of patience because God is usually not in a hurry. He is always working in our lives, but we are not always aware of it.

Simply going to church once a week doesn’t necessarily help you attain the upgraded life you desire. It helps, but you will have to also seek God diligently every day of your life, not just once or twice a week. God has provided countless tools for us to help us grow, but we must avail ourselves of them. I want to challenge you to set aside at least 45 minutes to an hour a day and call it your “God Time.” Make it a goal, and if you need to begin with less time, that is okay because gradually you will desire more. During that time, you can study your Bible, talk to God in prayer, listen to a Bible teaching, read a book that will help you under- stand the Bible better, or simply sit in God’s presence and receive His love.

If you do this diligently, you will find over time that you have changed and are enjoying yourself and your life much more than ever before. Any good relationship requires time, and your relationship with God is no different. God has so many wonderful things in His plan for you, and during this time you will learn what they are and how to access them. You can’t use what you don’t know you have! For example, you have a Helper, who is the Holy Spirit, and He is with you all the time. Anytime you need help with anything, all you need to do is ask. This and many other wonderful things are yours in Christ, so get busy learning about them and start enjoying the upgraded life Jesus died for you to have.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, I think it’s time for an upgrade, and I know it begins with spending regular, set-apart time with You. So, here I am, asking that You help me to truly understand the importance of growing closer to You, amen.

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To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. Out of heaven He made you hear His voice, that He might correct, discipline, and admonish you; and on earth He made you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:35-36 (AMPC)

One night I was lying in bed and heard a noise upstairs. The longer I listened to it, the more frightened I became. Finally, shaking from fear, I went upstairs to see what it was. I had to laugh when I discovered it was ice cubes falling in the ice tray from the ice maker. It just happened that the way they were falling was making a noise they did not normally make.

Lack of knowledge causes fear, and knowledge removes it. Knowledge will help you have confidence. If you are going for a job interview, make sure you are prepared and have all the knowledge you will need with you to answer questions the interviewer may ask you. We live in a world today where knowledge is as close as your computer. Not only can you do online research about the company you’re applying to, but you can find tips on how to have a successful interview!

Prayer of the Day: Lord, equip me with the knowledge I need to be confident, and grant me the kind of confidence that leads to success. Point me to what I need to know to be effective for You, amen.

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Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

Matthew 6:26 (AMP)

Unless we intentionally focus on the blessings of God during our quiet time with Him, it can be easy to take those blessings for granted. I encourage you to fix your focus and begin seriously considering all the ways God is helping, protecting, and providing for you.

Are you breathing today? If so, you are a recipient of God’s goodness. Do you have a home, a job, family, and friends? If the answer is yes, then you are experiencing the blessings of God. Do you have food to eat, clean water to drink, and clothes to wear? If so, you are blessed!

Perhaps you don’t have all of these things, but you do have some of them, and you can rejoice in what you do have. I can assure you that no matter how difficult your circumstances are right now, there are many things in your life that are better than you may have realized.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, please help me intentionally focus on Your many blessings and be grateful for Your constant provision and protection. You have been so good to me. Thank You.

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Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.

Galatians 4:7 (AMPC)

As a Christian, you believe Jesus died for your sins and that when you die you will go to heaven because you believe in Him. But there is more to our redemption than that. There is a life of victory God wants for you now.

It is impossible to live victoriously in this earth without understanding your rightful authority and dominion over the devil and all his works. Your position “in Christ” is one of being seated at the right hand of the Lord God Omnipotent.

God wants to restore you to the place of authority that is yours. He has already made all the arrangements; you might say He has “sealed the deal.” The purchase price has been paid in full. You have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus. Therefore, I encourage you to go forth with confidence and enjoy the life Jesus has provided for you.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, thank You for the power that is already available to me, and the authority I have as a believer in You. Because of what Jesus did for me on the Cross, I have the power to defeat the enemy at every turn. I love You so much, amen.

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That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].

2 Timothy 1:6 (AMPC)

In our spiritual lives we are either aggressively going forward on purpose, or we are slipping backward. There is no such thing as stagnant Christianity. It is vital to keep pressing on. That is why Timothy was instructed to fan the flame and rekindle the zeal that once filled his heart. He had gotten weary, and the fire that once burned in him had become a dim flicker.

Evidently Timothy had taken a step backward, perhaps because of fear. It is certainly easy to understand why Timothy may have lost his courage and confidence. It was a time of extreme persecution, and his mentor Paul was in jail. Yet Paul strongly encouraged Timothy to stir himself up, get back on track, remember the call on his life, resist fear, and remember that God had given him a spirit of power and love and of a sound mind.

Any time we let fear dominate us, we begin to slip backward. Fear prevents our progress and causes us to want to turn and run instead of aggressively moving forward. If you are unsure, uncertain, or even feeling afraid today, receive Paul’s encouragement to Timothy. Stir up your faith, be on fire for God, and never forget that He is with you. With Him at your side, no matter how difficult things may look, you can do whatever you need to do through Him.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I never want to give up, ever! I need You to stir up my faith, and to help me move forward with courage. Help me to trust in Your power, and lean on Your presence, amen.

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For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].

Psalm 91:11 (AMPC)

A lady who works for me says that she doesn’t have a “big” testimony. She just grew up in the church, loving God. She got married, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and then came to work for us. Through our ministry, she was moved by the testimonies of drug addicts and people who have suffered abuse. One day she asked God, “Lord, why don’t I have a testimony?” He said, “You do have a testimony. Your testimony is that I kept you from all of it.” God had kept her from the pain that results from being separated from Him.

The keeping power of God is a great testimony! Some people are kept from tragic things. Some people are kept as they go through tragic things. His plan for each one of us is perfect, and we can trust His keeping power!

Psalm 91 teaches that He will give His angels charge over us, and they will protect and defend us. It’s true that some things happen in our lives that we don’t like, but what has God kept us from that we never even knew Satan had planned against us? We need to thank God for His keeping power. We can relax knowing that He is our Keeper.

I don’t know how I’ve done what I’ve done over these past years. I look back at my calendars and see how hard I’ve worked. I read some of my prayer journals and remember some of the things I’ve gone through with people, and the hurt I’ve felt. I think, How did I ever get through that? But God held me together. He strengthened me. He kept me. And I can see now that I worried about a lot of things I didn’t have to worry about because they worked out okay anyway. God will do the same thing for you as you trust Him.

God has a plan, and He is working His plan. We can trust that and relax. Psalm 145:14 (AMPC) says, The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who are falling and raises up all those who are bowed down.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, Your Word says that You never sleep nor slumber. Help me to relax and trust You to strengthen me and protect me all the days of my life. Help me to trust Your plan and find peace in Your care, amen.

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I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe….

Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)

Rather than focus on negative things in life, the Bible teaches us to see good things in Christ with the “eyes of your heart.” Ephesians 1:17–19 says that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation are important so we may:

• Have knowledge of God or know God Himself. This is not knowledge gained through education, but revelation.
• Know the hope of our calling, the eternal plan of God and how we fit into it. We can be thankful that God has called us to be His sons and daughters, and as such, we have an inheritance.
• Know that revelation knowledge of God’s power is available to us. We can do anything God asks us to do because of the greatness of His power.

Give thanks today that you can know God, have hope, and live in His power!

Prayer of the Day: I thank You, Father, that You have given me hope in Christ Jesus. Today, I will focus on the good things in my life and listen for Your voice. Thank You that You lead and guide me in the wisdom and revelation of Your Word and Your Holy Spirit.

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Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil.

Proverbs 4:25-27 (AMPC)

Jesus knew what His purpose was. He disciplined Himself to stay on course, living His life to fulfill that purpose for which He came. As Christians, we need to follow in His steps and focus on our purpose. We were bought with a price to live our lives in such a way that we become the salt of the earth, the light of the world (See Matthew 5).

We are to lay down our selfish, self-centered lifestyles, and gear our lives toward doing something for the betterment of someone else. Then we will experience that “joy unspeakable, and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

Prayer of the Day: Father God, I come to You today, in the name of Jesus, and ask You to help me stay focused on my purpose and to live selflessly. You are the best possible example to follow. Thank You, God, amen.

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…Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV)

“I’m a nobody,” my friend Gary said, “and besides, God has so many millions of people to look out for, and in comparison with some of them, my problems seem so petty.”

His words shocked me. Of course, God has millions to care for—but He can care for all of them at the same time. Gary missed something very important. God wants us to ask for help—and to ask often. Look at it this way: If Satan constantly attacks our minds, how else can we fortify ourselves? We fight back—but our major weapon is to cry out to the Lord asking for His strength to become ours!

Too many times, we think we can do it ourselves. In some instances, that may be true, but if we’re going to win continually over the attacks against our minds, we must realize that willpower alone won’t work. What we need is the humility to turn to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to strengthen us.

I realize that many people do not grasp how the Lord lovingly operates in their lives. Not only does God love us like a father, but He also has caring concern for every part of our lives. Our heavenly Father wants to intervene and help us, but He waits for an invitation to get involved. We issue that invitation and open the door for God’s help through prayer. God’s Word says, You do not have, because you do not ask (James 4:2 NKJV).

Perhaps we can think of it this way. God is watching us all the time, and He is aware of the temptations, struggles, and hardships we face—and we all face them. If we think we can do it by ourselves, God takes no action. But He remains ready to jump in and rescue us as soon as we cry out, asking for the power of the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives.

Our victory begins with right thinking. We have to be convinced that God cares, wants to act, and waits for us to cry out. When we cry out, we understand the words quoted previously, that it’s not by force or power, but by God’s Holy Spirit that victory comes. For example, take the matter of personal fellowship—daily time spent in prayer and reading the Word. As Christians, we know this is what God wants and what we need if we’re going to mature spiritually. At one time in my life, I tried to maintain spiritual self-discipline. I determined that I would pray and read my Bible every single day. I would do well for two or three days, and then something would interfere—sometimes my family or something at our church, but mostly little things that took my attention away from daily fellowship with my Lord.

One day, in desperation, I cried out, “Without Your help, I’ll never be faithful in doing this.” That’s when the Holy Spirit came to me and gave me the self-discipline I needed. It was almost as if God watched me struggle and allowed me to become frustrated and angry with myself. But as soon as I sincerely asked for help, the Spirit came to my rescue. We are too independent, and we experience a lot of unnecessary frustration simply because we try to do things without God’s help.

With the Spirit’s help, I am learning—yes, still learning—that I can choose what I want to think about. I can choose my thoughts, and I need to do that carefully. Unless I’m in regular fellowship with Him, I won’t know the difference between healthy thoughts and unhealthy ones. And if I don’t know the difference, I provide the opportunity for Satan to sneak into my mind and torment me. Spend plenty of time studying God’s Word, and you will quickly recognize each lie that Satan tries to plant in your mind.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, I want to think thoughts that honor You. I want to have a mind that’s fully centered on You, and I know that can’t happen unless I spend daily time with You. Help me, Holy Spirit; help me to be obedient and eager to be in constant fellowship with You, amen.

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