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

— Romans 5:2 (AMPC)

Did you know that as a believer in Christ, you have 24-7 access to Him?

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

I love Ephesians 3:12 (AMPC) and have recently been studying it. It says: In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear). As I meditated on this scripture, I became quite excited to realize that as ordinary human beings we have free access to God at any time through prayer; we can hear His voice any time we want or need to. We can approach Him boldly without reservations, without fear, and with complete freedom. How awesome is that! Personal faith in God opens the door to unlimited help from Him and to unhindered communication with Him. Come to God with confidence that He loves you, desires your fellowship, and wants not only to hear from you, but He desires to talk to you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for being there for me all the time, whenever I need You. Thank You for allowing me open access, unhindered communication, and fellowship with You. I love You!

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I will clothe his enemies with shame, but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown.

— Psalm 132:18 (NIV)

We all have enemies, and our natural instinct is to seek revenge against them. But God promises to deal with our enemies and bless us if we will wait on Him and not try to take matters into our own hands. In today’s scripture, God is speaking about David’s enemies and says He will clothe them with shame.

God tells us to forgive our enemies, to bless them, and to pray for them—and this is exactly what we should do. Just this week, someone hurt me and falsely accused me, and I have been praying for that person every day and sometimes twice a day. I would much rather have God’s justice than my own.

I encourage you to follow Jesus’ commands in this area. Love your enemies and do good to them (see Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27). Don’t stoop to their level by trying to get them back. God will be your Vindicator. He will defend you, bless you, and exalt you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I want to live my life according to Your will. At times, it is hard for me to wait on You, especially in dealing with my enemies. Help me to obey You. Help me to forgive, bless, and pray for those who hurt me. Thank You.

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 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 8:37-39 (NIV)

What we all want more than anything else is to be loved and accepted unconditionally. If we have not received that by the time, we are teens or young adults, we have wounded souls and are unable to function the way God intended. He created us for love and acceptance, not abuse and rejection.

The good news is that if we did not get what we needed and should have had from the people in our past, we can get it from God now, and it will heal us. My father, who abused me, told me he loved me, but his kind of love hurt, so I grew up needing, but being afraid, of love. I didn’t trust people who said they loved me, and it was difficult for me even to learn to receive God’s love because I felt as if I were damaged and not worth being loved.

When I finally let God into my wounds, one of the first things He began teaching me was that He loved me unconditionally. I finally accepted that He loved me, but I still felt it must come with conditions, so I worked hard at being perfect so I could deserve His love. You may have experienced or perhaps are experiencing the same thing. If the people who were supposed to love us didn’t, then we are convinced there is something wrong with us that makes us unworthy of love. It actually took me a few years to become totally convinced of God’s love for me to the point where nobody and nothing could take it away from me.

This never-ending, perfect love of God is available to you and me, and it is the most wonderful thing we could ever have. God’s perfect love sets us free from fear (see 1 John 4:18). If you are anything like I was, you have many fears in your life, but you can be free from every one of them through learning to soak in God’s love on a regular basis. You may feel fear, but if you know God’s love, you won’t have to obey fear. You can move forward even if you feel fear because you know that no matter what, God will always be there for you. If you make a mistake, He will help you recover and keep moving forward.

God’s love is the healing balm we need for our wounded souls. Study Scriptures about God’s great love for you and learn to speak them aloud over your life. Before long, you will start believing the truth of God’s Word, and it will heal you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am so thankful for the healing balm of Your love and that You have given me an ability to love others. Let Your love flow through me today in ways that will help others, amen.

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But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

— Hebrews 11:6 (AMPC)

For 10 years, Robert and Mary Moffat labored as missionaries in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) without a single convert. Finally, the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of continuing the work. The thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to this devoted couple, for they felt they would see people turn to Christ in due season.

They stayed, and for a year or two longer, darkness reigned. Then one day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that he wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like. Trusting that, in time, the Lord would bless their work, Mrs. Moffat replied, “Send us a communion set. I am sure it will soon be needed.” God honored that dear woman’s faith. The Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts united to form the first Christian church in that land. The communion set from England arrived on the day before the first commemoration of the Lord’s Supper in Bechuanaland.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, such remarkable faith and perseverance seems beyond me. Help me to trust You with the work You want to do through my life. I know that the day is coming when I will see the reward for diligently seeking You, amen.

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 “…In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

— John 16:33 (AMP)

Many people live lives far short of God’s best because they expect things to always be convenient or easy. But this false expectation will always cheat us out of the rewards God has for us simply because we want to avoid difficulty.

Jesus never promised things would be easy, but He did promise us victory, because He has overcome the world. If we don’t get weary of doing what is right, we will reap great benefits.

God is a loving Father, and He wants to bless you in so many ways. Sometimes you may go through difficulties first, but there are always blessings on the other side. Remember, you can always rely on His strength to see you through, because He has overcome the world.

If you refuse to give up, with God’s help, you’ll overcome every challenge and receive God’s best for your life.

Prayer of the Day: Father, anytime I feel discouraged or weary, help me remember that there is always hope for those who are diligent. Help me be filled with hope in You, knowing You have overcome the world, amen.

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Give us this day our daily bread.

— Matthew 6:11 (AMPC)

God helps us as we put our trust in Him, not as we worry and fret about how we are going to solve our future problems. When we use today to worry about tomorrow, we end up wasting today. It is useless. Instead, we can come to God, trusting His provision, one day at a time.

Our walk with God is called a “daily walk” for a reason: We need His help every day.

We can get out of debt, exercise, lose weight, graduate from college, parent a special needs child, or be successful at anything we need to do if we will put our trust in God and take life one day at a time. Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow would have sufficient trouble of its own (see Matthew 6:34).

Prayer of the Day: Father, I trust You to grant me strength to face every difficulty I encounter. Help me keep a good attitude, filled with Your Holy Spirit, and always be thankful in every situation, amen.

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For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].

— 2 Corinthians 7:10 (AMPC)

Regret is ruining the lives of countless people by stealing their joy. Certainly, you have things you wish you had done differently. But there is no sense becoming burdened with regret over something you have no power to change at the present time. You need to understand this is the way the devil works. God will warn you so you can change your mind before you make a mistake. Satan waits until it’s too late, when you can no longer do anything about it, and then tries to heap regret and condemnation on you. Don’t allow Satan to steal from you any longer. Ask God for forgiveness, learn from your mistakes, and leave your regrets in the past!

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for showing me ways to avoid living in regret. In Your name, Father, I bind Satan and refuse to allow him to heap condemnation on me. I ask forgiveness for my mistakes and choose to leave them in the past. Please help me move on, amen.

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 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

— Psalm 34:1 (AMPC)

Some people are very thankful for every little thing that is done for them, while others are never satisfied, no matter how much is done on their behalf. Be grateful for the lessons you’ve learned, especially the hard ones because we tend to learn the most during tough times.

Choose to be a grateful person—one filled with gratitude not only toward God, but also toward people. When someone does something nice for you, let that person know you appreciate it.

Meditate daily on all the things you have to be thankful for. Speak them to the Lord in prayer, and as you do, you will find your heart filling up with His peace, love, and joy. I believe thankful people are happy people, so go ahead and increase your joy today by being thankful.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for being with me through the tough times and for the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Thank You for putting people in my life you have helped me in the past and continue to help me now. I love You, and thank You for my many blessings, amen.

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And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking.

— Matthew 6:7 (AMPC)

It is important to develop confidence in simple, believing prayer. We need the confidence that even if we just say, “God, help me,” He hears and will answer. We can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do, as long as our request is in accordance with His will. The Holy Spirit is called our Helper, and He delights in helping us.

Too often we get caught up in our own works concerning prayer. Sometimes we try to pray so long, loud, and eloquently that we lose sight of the fact that prayer is simply conversation with God. The length or loudness or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue; what is important is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence we have that God hears and will answer us.

Prayer of the Day: I thank You today, Father, that prayer doesn’t have to be long and complicated. You hear even my short, heartfelt prayers. I am grateful that I can have a continuous conversation with You all through the day, and that You hear and answer me.

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Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:20 (AMPC)

Learning how to pray prayers God can answer is very important. I spent lots of years in my morning prayers telling the Lord what I needed Him to do for me, but finally I learned to also pray: “God, what can I do for You today?” We are Christ’s ambassadors, His partners in helping people and bringing them to know Him.

I would like to suggest something for you to add to your daily prayers. Each day, ask God what you can do for Him. Then as you go through your day, watch for opportunities to do what you believe Jesus would do if He were still on earth in bodily form. He lives in you now if you are a Christian, and you are His ambassador, so make sure you represent Him well.

Recently, I was asking God to help a friend who was going through a very difficult time. She needed something, so I asked God to provide it. To my surprise, His answer to me was, “Stop asking Me to meet the need; ask Me to show you what you can do.”

I have become aware that I often ask God to do things for me when He wants me to do those things myself. He doesn’t expect me to do anything without His help, but neither will He do everything for me while I sit idly by.

God wants us to be open to being involved. He wants us to use our resources to help people, and if what we have isn’t enough to meet their needs, then we can encourage others to get involved so that together we can do what needs to be done.

I encourage you to pray prayers God can answer. You and He are partners, and He wants to work with and through you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, please show me what I can do for You and help me trust in and depend on You to give me the creativity and the resources to do it, amen.

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At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

— Ephesians 5:20 (AMPC)

Adapted from the resource The Power of Being Thankful – by Joyce Meyer1 MIN READ

Throughout the Bible, we see people celebrating progress and victory in a variety of ways. One of those ways was to specifically take the time to give an offering to God and to thank Him. Noah did it. Abraham did it. And we can do it too.

We would quickly add a lot of celebration time to our lives if we would take the time to give thanks when God does amazing things for us. An attitude of gratitude shows a lot about the character of a person. It keeps God first, knowing that He is the source of every blessing we receive. Gratitude is never about feeling entitled—it’s an attitude that says, “I know I don’t deserve God’s goodness, but I am sure grateful for it.”

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am thankful that You have blessed me with so many good things in my life. Today, I take time to meditate on Your goodness and thank You for Your blessings.

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For it is like a man who was about to take a long journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his property…. He who had received one talent also came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you had not winnowed [the grain]. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own.

— Matthew 25:14, 24-25 (AMPC)

Jesus often gave people illustrations containing life lessons that could be applied to common situations in which most anyone can find themselves at any given time. The parable of the talents is such an illustration. A talent was the type of currency used in Jesus’ day. One talent is said to have been worth more than a thousand dollars. This particular parable describes a man who gave certain amounts of money to three of his servants with the instruction to invest it.

I find two very interesting points in this story. First, the landowner distributed the money according to each person’s ability. He didn’t try to burden his workers with more than they were capable of handling. The two men to whom he gave the most money invested wisely and doubled their investments. Upon the landowner’s return, they were made full partners in the business. The second thing I realized is that the two with the most ability used it wisely and were richly rewarded. The third man—the one with the least ability—failed.

Think about this. God didn’t ask the third man to invest five talents or even three. He knew this man wasn’t capable of handling such a task. He gave the third servant the least amount of responsibility, and that man still failed. Worse, he tried to justify his failure by blaming the master! But he also said something else—and that’s the secret to understanding this story: I was afraid and hid your talent in the ground (Matthew 25:25 AMPC).

He didn’t lose the money, but he did nothing with it. And the master responded, You wicked and lazy and idle servant! (Matthew 25:26 AMPC). The spirit of fear had caused the man to do nothing.

Let’s turn that around. The owner said, Then you should have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what was my own with interest (Matthew 25:27 AMPC). Suppose the man had gone to the bank and invested as the owner suggested. He would never have made as much profit as the other two. And that would have been all right, because all that the owner asked was for him to do what he could—what was reasonably expected of him.

That’s one way the devil snares us. He causes us to compare ourselves with others and see how much money or talents they have. Or he tells us other people are given more opportunities than we will ever have. But God doesn’t ask us to do what someone else does. He asks us to use the gifts and abilities that He has given to us.

I truly believe that God has a plan for each of our lives. A life lived in faith and obedience to God’s Word causes His plan to unfold before our eyes. Clutching what little we have in fear won’t allow us to fulfill God’s plan. In fact, this kind of mindset allows the devil to lie to us and cause us to give up on our dreams and God’s plan for our lives.

Fear only supplies the characteristics of the idle, lazy, and wicked servant. When we listen to the devil, we soon believe we can do nothing. He’ll convince us that everything we attempt will fail. If we listen to God, we will hear the words of the Lord: …Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys (Matthew 25:21 AMPC). It is not how much we accomplish that is important, but it’s being faithful to the ability God has given us that makes the difference.

Prayer of the Day: Loving Father, I don’t know which of those three men I’m the most like in terms of my ability. But I pray that You will make me faithful to fulfill Your plan for my life. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I thank You for helping me. Thank You, Lord, for helping me keep the enemy from stealing the little or the much You have given me, amen.

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Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

— Psalm 9:10 (NIV)

We can expect to face various tests as God trains us in spiritual maturity. One of them is the “trust test.” We must learn to trust God in all things, even—and especially—when we do not understand what is happening in our lives.

I’m sure you have at times asked God, “Why am I going through this?” or “Lord, what are You doing in my life through these circumstances?” You may have said, “God, I just don’t understand!” Growing in spiritual maturity means not allowing situations you do not understand to cause you to give up on God or to doubt His love for you. It means learning to say, “This must be a test. God is teaching me to trust Him.”

One lesson I have learned through the years is this: There is no such thing as trusting God without unanswered questions. If we had all the answers to all the questions that run through our minds, we would not need to trust God, because we would know everything. There will always be things we simply do not understand. This is why we need to learn to say, “Lord, I don’t understand this, but I trust You.”

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to trust You always, especially when I do not understand what You are doing. I choose to believe that You are always working for my good, amen.

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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 (AMPC)

Greed is a terrible thing. No matter how much people have, if they allow greed to rule them, they will always want more and more. In addition, they will never be content with—or thankful for—what they have. We always overcome evil with good (see Romans 12:21), so I have found that the best way to prevent greed from ruling in my life is to be aggressively generous. I want to encourage you to ask God daily to show you something you can do for someone else.

Focusing our thoughts on others keeps us from being selfish and self-centered. When we ask God to help us do this, He may show us something as simple as sending someone a text message of appreciation or encouragement. He could show us something that will require a donation of time or money. When we give, we never lose anything because our generous deeds always return to bless us (see Luke 6:37–38).

God’s Word teaches us to be on our guard against greed because life does not consist of our possessions (see Luke 12:15). The more generous we are, the more joy we will have.

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me not to be a greedy person who always wants more and more, but instead help me be generous to everyone I can, in every way. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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…Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith….

— Galatians 6:10 (AMPC)

Our old nature is greedy, but our new nature as children of God craves to be generous. Each day we must decide which desire we will pursue and follow. Greed steals our lives, according to Proverbs 1:19, so we need to actively resist it. We can never defeat any sin by fighting with it or merely using self-will to resist, but we can overcome it by turning away from it and to something else.

I believe that generosity is the antidote for greed. If we purpose to be generous and live each day looking for ways to be a blessing to others, then we won’t be greedy because there will be no place for it in our lives. Start each day by asking God to show you what you can do for Him that day. Ask Him whom you can bless. The world is filled with sad and needy people who crave a kind word or some encouragement, or who have a need that we could easily meet.

The more we do for others, the happier we will be. Instead of being greedy and going through the day trying to get more and more for ourselves, we have another option. We can be generous, and our generosity will give hope and send up cries of thanksgiving to God from those who are blessed.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I want to learn more about the beauty and power of generosity. Show me people who are in need today and grant me the grace to help them.

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God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth (reality).

— John 4:24 (AMPC)

We communicate with God through our spirit. Jesus said in our verse for today that we must worship God in spirit and in truth. Being totally and completely truthful with God is one of the ways we can develop intimacy with Him. He knows everything about us anyway, so there is no reason to not be totally honest with Him. Tell Him how you feel, what you have done wrong, and what your desires are. Talk to God honestly as you would a good, trusted friend.

There are times when I know God wants me to do a thing and I tell Him honestly that I don’t want to do it, but that I will do it in obedience to Him and because I love Him. Pretense and a close relationship with God will not work. A friend of mine once told me that although she knew she should give financially into the kingdom of God that truthfully, she did not want to. She was honest with God and told Him, “I will do it, but I don’t really want to, so I am asking you to give me a desire to give.” This woman eventually became very generous and did it with joy.

Only the truth will make us free (see John 8:32). God’s Word is truth. He says what He means and means what He says. When we do something wrong, we must be totally honest with God about it. Call sin what it is. If you were greedy, call it greed. If you were jealous, call it jealousy. If you lied, call it a lie. Ask God for forgiveness and receive it by faith. When we worship God, we must do so from the spirit and do it with all truth, sincerity, and honesty. If we feel a friend is being untruthful, we often say, “Get real,” meaning that we are asking them to stop pretending and just be honest. I think God wants the same thing from us.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I know there’s no point in pretending with You. Please help me to be perfectly honest and sincere with You, so that I can move forward and be all You want me to be, amen.

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So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

— 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV)

Human beings crave love. When a woman’s soul has been wounded, that craving for love often takes one of two forms. Some women develop hard or harsh personalities so other people will not want to get close to them. If the wounds in their souls are related to men, they may make firm decisions not to trust men or not to build relationships with men at all. Other women may be excessive in their desires to have a man in their life, to the point that they are willing to enter into a relationship with any man who pays attention to them. Perhaps you know women like this, women who seem to go from one unhealthy relationship to another. Maybe you have even done it yourself. You keep thinking the next man in your life will finally be the “right” one, only to find yourself disappointed.

When a woman has a string of relationships that never satisfy her, two things are usually true. One, she has not yet found her fulfillment in God alone; and two, she has not yet learned what real love is. In order to stop the cycle of craving love, seeking it from a man, and being disappointed, a woman’s soul needs to be healed. Part of that healing involves first receiving God’s unconditional love and then understanding what it really means to love and be loved by another person.

I want to share some things I hope will help you in your love relationships with other people. Only God can love us perfectly, but 1 Corinthians 13, which is called “the love chapter” of the Bible, helps us understand what real love is. If someone says, “I love you,” but isn’t demonstrating the attributes of love in this chapter, you might want to think twice before believing that person and going very far in a relationship.

Love is something that can be seen and felt. It is displayed in a variety of ways. When you are trying to decide whether someone loves you, and whether you love that person, you can use the qualities mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13 as a guide. It says that love is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, and not arrogant or rude. It also does not demand its own way and is not irritable. It does not harbor resentment. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor. 13:6–7 ESV). Love helps others; it gives, and it is quick to forgive. This requires intentionality and saying no to self regularly.

The basic qualities of love in 1 Corinthians 13 give us plenty to think about when we consider whether we love someone else and whether they love us. Remember, only God can love you perfectly. Other human beings will let us down, but when we know what true love looks like, we can be wise in our relationships.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am so thankful that You love me and that You have given me an ability to love others. Let Your love flow through me today in ways that will be a blessing to others. Continue to show me what real love looks like and give me wisdom in all my relationships, amen.

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Therefore I tell you, her sins, many [as they are], are forgiven her— because she has loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little. And He said to her, Your sins are forgiven!

— Luke 7:47-48 (AMPC)

Mary Magdalene was a woman with a past. She had sold her love by the hour; she was a prostitute. She was called “an especially wicked sinner” by the Pharisees (see Luke 7:37). At one time Jesus cast seven demons out of her (see Luke 8:2).

In Luke 7:36–50, we see the account of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with a bottle of very expensive perfume, washing them with her tears, and drying them with her hair. Her act of love was seen by other people as being erotic because of her past, but Jesus knew it was an act of pure love.

When we have an unpleasant past, people often misjudge our actions, and we find ourselves trying to convince others that we are acceptable. People don’t forget our past as easily as God does. The Pharisees could not understand Jesus’ allowing Mary to even touch Him. Jesus said that those who have been forgiven much will love much. Mary loved Jesus greatly because He had forgiven her for her great sins. She wanted to give Him the most expensive thing she owned; she wanted to serve Him. He saw her heart, not her past.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I want to love You in the way that Mary loved You. Thank You for Your forgiveness and cleansing my heart and soul from sin. I will give You my best, amen.

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As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day.

— Genesis 50:20 (AMPC)

God wants to restore your soul. The closer you get to Him, the more you experience His healing, strengthening, restoring power. He’ll take you back to where your life got off track and make everything right from that moment forward.

Joseph is the classic biblical example of how God takes what was meant for evil against us and works it for our good. In that dramatic scene where Joseph is speaking in Genesis 50:20, he tells his brothers that the evil they meant to do to him (and it was truly evil), God had used for good to save them and their families and hundreds of thousands of others in a time of famine.

In my own life, I cannot truthfully say I am glad I was abused. But through the power of forgiveness and yielding my pain to God, He has healed me and made me a better, stronger, more spiritually powerful, and sensitive person. He has restored my soul and driven out the fear and insecurity. I can trust, love, forgive, and live with simplicity in my approach to life because God has restored my soul, and He can do the same thing for you.

Prayer of the Day: Father God, I know You can heal my soul and restore my situation. I thank You in advance for bringing something good out of my current situation, amen.

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The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.

— Psalm 23:1 (AMP)

If we want to reach our goals or find success in life, it is essential that we follow God’s lead.

There will always be people who offer us advice. Some of it may be good, but much of it may not. Or it may be good advice but simply at the wrong time, or it may be advice that will not work for us. It’s important that we always look to God first and listen for His guidance and instruction.

God has created us as unique individuals, and He does not lead all of us in the same way. God has a different, unique, individual plan for each of us. So, if you want to win your race, you will need to find your own running style.

Of course, we can learn from other people, but we dare not try to copy them at the cost of losing our own individuality. Appreciate the advice and example of others, but in your quiet time with God, ask Him for His guidance and follow the promptings He gives you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, today I ask that You help me follow your lead. Help me find the best path for me while keeping my eyes steadfastly on You, amen.

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