…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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Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come again; and tomorrow I will give it—when you have it with you.

— Proverbs 3:28 (AMPC)

When God tells you to help someone, it’s easy to put it off. You intend to obey God; it is just that you are going to do it when—when you have more money, when you’re not so busy, when Christmas is over, when the kids are back in school, or when vacation is over.

There is no point in praying for God to give you money so you can be a blessing to others if you are not being a blessing with what you already have. Satan will try to tell you that you don’t have anything to give—but don’t believe Him.

Even if it is only a pack of gum or a ballpoint pen, start using what you have. In the process of giving, you will discover you don’t need money to be a blessing to others.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I thank You for the many blessings in my life. Please help me to strive to be a blessing everywhere I go, with whomever You place in my path, and to be generous with whatever I have to give.

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And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength.

— Ephesians 1:19 (AMPC)

Do you ever hear people say, “I’m so tired,” or “I wish I had more energy”? This is not God’s best for us. God wants us to feel good and have the passion and energy we need to enjoy our lives.

Some people do suffer with conditions requiring medication or therapy due to things they could not avoid. But many times, our symptoms are simply a result of not taking good care of ourselves. You are valuable, and I urge you to invest time, energy, and finances in doing things that will keep you healthy. Whether you need to change your eating habits, sleep more, exercise more, reduce stress, or worry less—no matter what it takes—find out why you do not feel well and do something about it. Even if you feel good, you can avoid future problems by taking good care of yourself now!

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am grateful that You give me rest. Thank You for giving me the energy to do what I need to do, the desire to improve my health, and for the motivation to reduce stress and worry.

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Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them….

— Romans 12:6 (AMPC)

God has given you the gifts, talents, abilities, and grace you need to do His will in life. God’s grace is actually His power, and He will not only give you grace but promises grace and more grace (see James 4:6). God gifted you for a reason; He has a powerful plan for your life. Whatever He has planned for you to do, He will empower you to do it. God never runs out of power—and His power is available to you!

If you don’t keep the right mindset, the enemy can defeat you with thoughts of inadequacy, but if you make up your mind that you are gifted by God and that you can do what you need to do, you’ll enjoy victory—not in your own strength, but with the strength, gifts, and grace God gives you.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am thankful for the gifts and talents You have given me. Help me to use them to Your glory, amen.

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Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

— Luke 6:38 (KJV)

Giving and living selflessly do produce harvests in our lives. There is nothing wrong with desiring and expecting a harvest. Our motivation for helping others should not be to get something for ourselves, but God does tell us we will reap what we sow, and we can look forward to that benefit.

God promises to reward those who diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6). The word reward in the original Greek text of the New Testament means, “wages received in this life” or “recompense.” In the Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament is written, the word reward means, “fruit, earnings, product, price, or result.” The word reward is used 68 times in the Amplified Bible version. God wants us to look forward to rewards of our obedience and good choices.

If we care about those who are poor and oppressed, God promises that we will not want, but if we hide our eyes from their need we shall have “many a curse” in our lives (see Proverbs 28:27). The writer of Proverbs even says that when we give to the poor we are lending to God (see Proverbs 19:17). I cannot imagine that God does not pay great interest on what is loaned to Him. I urge you to work to bring justice to the oppressed. That simply means that when you see something that you know is not right, you work to make it right.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me today to focus on helping other people, the less fortunate, and anyone who is suffering, rather than the reward, amen.

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If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

— 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Perfectionism is fueled with the tyranny of the should and oughts. It is the constant nagging feeling of never being good enough. We think things like, I should pray better, read the Bible more, and be kinder. We instinctively want to be pleasing to God, and we are deeply afraid we aren’t. As a result, we believe God is disappointed with us because we don’t measure up.

But the pathway to God is not perfection. Some people in a crowd asked what they needed to do to please God, and the answer Jesus gave was, …Believe in the One Whom He has sent… (John 6:29 AMPC). More than anything, God wants us to trust Him and believe His Word. You can stop struggling to attain perfection and be thankful that you are righteous before God because of Jesus. You don’t have to buy or earn God’s love. It isn’t for sale—it’s free!

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to realize that I don’t have to earn Your love or approval. I thank You that I am acceptable in Your sight because the sacrifice of Jesus has given me Your righteousness. I will live my life to please You today, not because I have to earn Your love, but because I want to show my love for You.

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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)

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

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

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to immediately recognize and avoid strife, and to always walk in peace and self-control, amen.

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The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed one, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.]

— Luke 4:18-19 (AMPC)

My husband, Dave, and I had been active in the church for a long time. At church, we had bright smiles and mixed well with other church members. I’m sure people thought we were the ideal couple.

But we weren’t ideal. We had a strife-laden marriage—and it showed in the home. When we arrived at church, we set aside all the strife for a period of time. After all, we did not want our friends to know what things were really like at home behind closed doors.

Dave and I had constant strife—but strife isn’t always open warfare. Strife is partially defined as an angry undercurrent.

We bickered and argued at times, but we also frequently pretended everything was fine between us. I look back now and believe that we didn’t fully realize we had a problem. The Bible teaches us that we speak out of our hearts. If we had only really listened to what we said about and to one another, we would have realized that something was wrong. For example, we made jokes in public about each other. “She thinks she’s the boss,” Dave would say. “She wants what she wants and stays on me until she gets it. Joyce wants to control everything and everybody.” Then he would pause to kiss me on top of my head and smile.

“I don’t think Dave’s hearing is very good,” I’d say. “I nearly always have to ask him four times to take out the garbage.” I’d smile, and everyone was supposed to know it was a joke.

Not everyone picked up on the undercurrents, but they were there. Those who frequently visited our home eventually saw even more chaos and underlying anger. But we smiled and said, “I’m only kidding,” when we put the other one down, so how could there be any real problems?

When the home atmosphere is terrible, the devil loves it. Division is his goal, and unfortunately, he is frequently winning in that situation. He loves it when people pretend and no one in the family actually faces the problems. That’s ideal for the powers of darkness. Satan would have kept on winning unless Dave and I had learned the dangers of strife and faced the truth about ourselves. We had to look at ourselves and admit how we had failed God and one another. We needed to acknowledge that our smiles and jokes only masked the pain.

If Dave and I were going to defeat the attacks of the devil, we had to make drastic changes. We had to fight the undercurrents and bring the darkness into the light.

This is the same message for all of us. We need to open ourselves to God’s Word and see our failings and shortcomings. We need to be able to say, “I have been wrong.”

Dave and I had both developed a bad habit—I’ll say it even stronger—Satan had made inroads into our minds. We had been justifying our behavior and blaming each other for our problems. We needed to be shown the error of our ways, and thank God, He did show us.

We had to study God’s Word extensively, and both of us had to be willing to humble ourselves in order for the atmosphere in our home to change from one of bickering, arguing, heated disagreement, and an angry undercurrent to one of peace and joy. The Holy Spirit worked with us, and we now enjoy peace. We respect each other and try to use good manners in private as well as in public.

We finally stopped listening to Satan’s lies. We began to use the weapons of God’s Word, praise, and prayer, and we have experienced great victory over the strongholds that once existed in our minds.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I’m so glad You came to deliver those who are oppressed. Thank You for helping me realize that my oppression comes from Satan, and for providing the weapons of your Word and prayer that I can use to break free from the devil’s powerful clutches. I pray, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that I will remain free both now and forever, amen.

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Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

— Psalm 85:10 (NIV)

I love today’s scripture because it teaches us that in order to have God’s mercy, we must face truth, and that peace only comes from understanding righteousness with God. Jesus says that if we continue in His Word, then we will know the truth and it will set us free (see John 8:32). Some people avoid the truth because it is often painful to face. However, it is the only thing that makes us free. Once we face truth, we can ask for and receive God’s mercy.

In order to have peace with God, we must understand what it means to be in right standing with God through faith in Christ. When we know we are made right with God and that He loves and accepts us, we can have and enjoy peace with Him. If we don’t have peace with Him, we cannot enjoy peace with ourselves or with other people.

Jesus, who was perfect and knew no sin, became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Receive your right standing with God through faith, and it will be life changing. You need not always feel that something is wrong with you, because God sees you as right through your faith in Jesus. We don’t do everything right, but God’s righteousness has been given to us as a gift, and the more we believe it, the more our actions will be right also.

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for mercy, righteousness, and peace. These are wonderful blessings from You, and I appreciate them and want to walk in them fully. Teach me to receive and enjoy the gifts You have given to me.

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For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]….

— Hebrews 4:12 (AMPC)

I have been thinking about the power of God’s Word this morning and all the changes I have seen in my life and thousands of other lives because of it. Jesus is the Word made flesh, so when we read, study, and meditate on the Word of God, we are fellowshipping with Jesus. As His Word becomes part of us, we are transformed into His image (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). His Word has inherent power in it, and it changes us!

We are instructed in the Bible to meditate on the Word of God, and that simply means to think about it, roll it over and over in our minds, speak it, and know that as we do, it is renewing our minds and teaching us to think as God thinks. Our thoughts are extremely important because they go before our words and all of our actions. God has a good plan for each of us and we will see it come to pass as we renew our minds (see Romans 12:2).

We seem to find it very easy to meditate on our problems. We call it worry! It is a bad habit that can easily be eliminated from our lives by learning to meditate on God’s Word instead. Each time a worry or a fear comes to your mind, find a Scripture that teaches you that God will take care of the problem for you and meditate on it instead of worrying. For example, if you are having financial difficulty, you can worry all day and night about it, or you can think about what God’s Word says concerning Him taking care of you: Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully (1 Peter 5:7 AMPC).

God’s Word has an answer for every need we have. I intend to spend a lot of time today just thinking about the power that is in God’s Word, and I pray that you will join me. God’s Word contains the power we need to be successful in all areas of our lives.

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me discipline myself to meditate on Your Word. Let it become a habit in my life. I ask You to continue teaching me Your Word and renewing my mind accordingly.

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I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me….

— Psalm 69:3-4

Clearly, David the psalmist was weary when he penned the words of today’s scripture. He actually says, “I am worn out.” All kinds of situations can drain our physical and emotional resources, and too much stress over a long period of time definitely causes weariness.

When we are weary, we need our strength restored, and the Bible says that God will help us: But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31 NIV).

I believe we can make ourselves weary through the way we think and talk about the situations we face in life. No doubt, some of them are draining because of all they demand from us, but we can make them better or worse with our thoughts and words.

The Holy Spirit is available to help, strengthen, and restore us. He will not help us complain or be negative about the pressures we face, but He will help us think and speak about them according to God’s Word. He will give us wisdom to deal with our problems effectively. He will give us grace and make things easier than they would otherwise be. He will strengthen us in faith, and He will help us hope in the Lord, which, according to Isaiah 40:31, is where we will renew our strength.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, when I am weary, give me the grace to hope in You, trusting You to renew my strength, amen

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And He said to them, [As for you] come away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest a while—for many were [continually] coming and going, and they had not even leisure enough to eat.

— Mark 6:31 (AMPC)

Frequently we complain and live silently angry lives while at the same time we continue to do the very things that make us angry. We cannot blame others for what is ultimately our own responsibility. A normal Christian life should be lived within the boundaries of balanced living. Once a person has a serious case of burnout, it is not easy to fix. None of us, not even those of us “called by God,” can break His natural laws without paying the penalty. Even though we may work for God, we cannot live without limits. Jesus rested. He walked away from the demands of the crowds and took time for renewal.

Many of God’s most precious and well-known saints have suffered from weariness and burnout with a tendency toward depression. We must learn that not all of our problems are spiritual; some of them are physical. We often blame the devil for things that are our own fault. We must learn to say no and not fear the loss of relationships. I have come to the conclusion that if I lose a relationship because I tell someone no, I really never had a true relationship at all.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, give me wisdom to know when I must rest and be renewed. Help me to adjust my schedule when I need to be refueled, amen.

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The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him, to those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].

— Lamentations 3:25 (AMP)

Sometimes when you’ve had a long series of painful or disappointing things happen, you can get to a point where you are just expecting more of what you’ve already had. But if you are expecting something bad to happen, those expectations will steal your joy and make it almost impossible to live a victorious life.

Instead of expecting the worst, choose to expect the best. Decide in your quiet time with God that you are going to hope for and expect good things. When you do, this opens the door to God’s plan in your life (see Lamentations 3:25).

The next time you are having a bad day, examine your expectations, and if you find they are not what they should be, you can quickly make an adjustment that will bring God’s reassuring peace and uncontainable joy back into your life.

Prayer of the Day: Father, anytime I feel discouraged or weary, help me remember that there is always hope. Help me be filled with hope in You and positive expectation. You are good, and I believe You want to be good to me, amen.

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And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude].

— Ephesians 4:23 (AMPC)

Adapted from the resource Closer to God Each Day – by Joyce Meyer1 MIN READ

God wants us to always maintain a good attitude for two reasons. First, it glorifies Him and encourages other people to remain positive when they have problems; and second, it allows Him to work in our lives, bringing help and deliverance from our struggles.

Always having a good attitude is difficult unless we receive God’s grace to do so. Jesus said that apart from Him, we could do nothing (see John 15:5), but through Him we can do all things (see Philippians 4:13).

Don’t wait until you are tempted to have a bad attitude but pray daily that no matter what comes your way, you can endure it with a good attitude. We will always be tempted, but we can pray not to give in to the temptation.

A good attitude is one of our greatest assets. It keeps us hopeful no matter what is happening in our lives.

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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