Tag: daily

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Enemies of the Heart | Guilt

Subscribed to this devotional recently and I’m just gonna leave Day 2 here. Just in case you stumble across this, read up.

Andy Stanley: Enemies of the Heart 

Devotional Day 2

“Fessing Up”

Scripture: 1 John 1:5-10

The first enemy of the heart is guilt. Guilt is the result of having done something we perceive as wrong. The message from a heart laden with guilt is, “I owe!”

Consider the man who runs off with another woman and abandons his family. Without realizing it at the time, he has stolen something from every member of his family. He has robbed his wife of her future, her financial security, and her reputation as a wife. From his children’s perspective, this man has stolen their Christmas, traditions, emotional and financial security, dinners with the family, and so on.

Now, the man who did all this doesn’t think in terms of what he has taken. Initially, he thinks in terms of what he has gained. But the first time his little girl asks him why he doesn’t love Mommy anymore, his heart is stirred. He now feels guilty. Dad owes.

Nothing less than paying that debt will relieve a guilty heart of its burden of guilt. People try to work it off, serve it off, give it off, and even pray it off. But no amount of good deeds, community service, charitable giving, or Sundays in a pew can relieve the guilt. It’s a debt. And it must be paid or canceled for a guilty heart to experience relief.

How do you get your guilt canceled? The answer comes in one of the first Bible verses I memorized as a child: 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (kjv).

Confession has the power to break the cycle of sin. And like most medicinal remedies, it works when applied properly. Proper application happens when we confess our sins, not just to God, but also to the people we’ve sinned against.

Guilty people are usually repeat offenders. And as long as you’re carrying a secret, as long as you’re trying to ease your conscience by telling God how sorry you are, you’re setting yourself up to repeat the past. However, if you start confessing your sins to the people you’ve sinned against, odds are that you’re not going to go back and commit those sins again.

Confess both to God and others, and you will slay this enemy of your heart.

What are you feeling guilty for? Confess your sin to God and to whomever you have hurt. Do it today.

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:5-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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Don’t Give in to Self-Pity 

Sharing what my bestfriend sent to me first thing this morning. Very comforting especially to those who’s feeling down and “under the weather.” This is from one of the devotionals available at the YouVersion Bible App 

Don’t Give in to Self-Pity 

Self-pity is a destructive and negative emotion. It blinds us to our blessings and the possibilities before us and it steals our hope for both today and tomorrow. People who pity themselves think, “Why should I try to do anything? I’ll just fail.”

Self-pity is actually idolatry because it is self-focus carried to the extreme. When we allow ourselves to fall into self-pity, we are essentially rejecting God’s love and His ability to change things.

I encourage you not to waste one more day of your life in self-pity. When you lose hope and begin to feel sorry for yourself, stop and say: ‘I refuse to feel sorry for myself. I may be in a difficult season of life right now, but I will not stop hoping for better things!’

God has thoughts and plans for your good, to give you hope for your future. If you will hold on to your hope and fight for it when the enemy tries to take it away, you will see amazing things take place in your life.

Prayer Starter: God, I refuse to feel sorry for myself. Even if things are difficult right now, I know that You are bigger than my problems and that You have a good future planned for me. I want Your plans to come to pass in my life, and I trust in You to change my circumstances according to Your will.

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His Mercies Are Always New 

Every day is an opportunity to start over. How fortunate of us, we should be grateful.

Sharing Day 339 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

His Mercies Are Always New

Each day is a new opportunity to close the door on the past and experience a brand-new start. Even the fact that God divided the days into twenty-four-hour segments is evidence that we need to start over on a regular basis. There is always a new day, a new month and a new year. But in order for us to make use of these new beginnings, we must make a decision to do so.

Are you battling guilt and condemnation? Do you feel bad about something you did years ago or something that happened yesterday? No matter how much time has gone by, the past is still the past. What is done is done, and only God can take care of it now. Your part is to admit your mistake, repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and go on.

In Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah encourages us with the news that God’s mercy is new every morning. Every day He gives you a fresh start. I’m so glad that God sends a new batch of mercy daily – we can decide to have a new beginning every day!

Prayer Starter: God, I’m so glad that You’re mercies are new every morning! I can start fresh every day because of Your love, mercy, compassion and faithfulness to me!

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. (‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭22-23‬ NLT)

 

xx

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Processing Your Anger

Sharing Day 332 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

Processing Your Anger

All anger, regardless of its cause, has the same effect on our lives. It upsets us, causing us to feel pressure. Keeping anger locked inside and pretending it doesn’t exist can even be dangerous to our health. Most of the time we’re only hurting ourselves, and the person who angered us isn’t even aware of it.

I struggled with terrible anger until God grabbed my attention. I eventually had to find a positive way to process my anger. That was a place of new beginnings for me.

When you face your anger and decide to deal with it God’s way, you can overcome it. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to be stable and walk in the fruit of the Spirit. We have the power to forgive those who do injustices in our lives and to love the unlovely.

So we must take responsibility for our anger and learn to deal with it. Instead of keeping it all bottled up inside, seek the Lord and ask Him to help you release it. Process it and bring closure to it, and that will relieve the pressure.

Prayer Starter: Lord, I don’t want to keep my anger inside of me because that will only damage me and it’s not pleasing to You. I ask for Your help. Help me to relieve the pressure of anger in my life.

Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool. (‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭7‬:‭9‬ NLT)

xx

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a-quick-temper-will-make-a-fool-of-you-soon-enough(Photo courtesy: Google Images)

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The Greatest Gift You Can Give

I never imagined that following Christ’s example could be so hard because being self-centered is being human. You cannot deny that most of the time, all we think about are our selves. It’s always about us. It’s always us that need to be taken cared of, to feel comfortable, to be understood. Being human is being insensitive and selfish. And being human opens up to disappointments and frustrations because, reality check, we don’t always get what we want.

I won’t be a hypocrite and deny that I do not enjoy watching the lives of people who’ve hurt me fall apart. But then, I know I am in no place to judge. After all, I am oblivious to whatever it is that they are going through. As the bible says in Romans 12:18-20,  “As much as it is possible, live in peace with everyone. Don’t take revenge, dear friends. Instead, let God’s anger take care of it. After all, Scripture says, “I alone have the right to take revenge. I will pay back, says the Lord. But, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will make him feel guilty and ashamed.”

My journey to finding and being with Christ is far from accomplished. I will always act human. But knowing Christ and his teachings bring you to a place wherein you interact with peace. And being selfless, being sensitive, being considerate, being compassionate to not just your self brings about peace; peace of the heart and peace of the mind.

Being merciful and good, especially to your enemies, may be one of the most powerful things you have ever done. – Joyce Meyer

Sharing Day 243 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

The Greatest Gift You Can Give

It’s the most outrageous thing. The more I think about it, the more amazed I am. It gives blessings that are undeserved and withholds punishment when it is deserved. It’s absolutely the greatest gift you can give someone.

This gift is called mercy. See, Jesus came to earth and gave us mercy, so we need to learn to give mercy to others.

By Christ’s example, we’re taught to love and pray for our enemies. We’re taught to be friendly to those who do not treat us as we would like to be treated. We are told to give to and care for the poor and helpless who will never be able to pay us back.

We can give to people who will give us gifts in return. But we’re more blessed when we choose to give to those who cannot pay us back, that’s giving mercy.

The greatest gift you can give God is to become more like Jesus. You can do that by treating others the way He treated you. Give those around you the greatest gift they could ever receive from you: mercy.

Prayer Starter: God, I thank You for the mercy that You selflessly give me every day. I choose now to give that mercy to others. Every chance I get, I will show them the mercy that You have shown me.

You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. (‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭36‬ NLT)

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(Photo courtesy: tumblr)

xx

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God Can Clean Up Any Mess

No matter how disastrous your situation is right now, cling to that last string of hope and know that God will clean up your mess no matter how gross and disgusting it is. God loves us that much. All we need to do is reach out to Him.

Sharing Day 227 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

God Can Clean Up Any Mess

I was seriously abused throughout my childhood. My life was horrible! I don’t remember ever being really happy until I was in my twenties. My mind was a mess, my emotions were a mess…everything was a mess!

But it didn’t stay that way. God has dealt with me, changed me and brought me through it all. Now I have a great relationship with God, real peace and joy, good relationships with family and friends, and I’m doing what God has called me to do.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. I’ve discovered that anything I sacrificed to get closer to God and obey Him, I received back from Him many times over what I gave. And what He gave me was always much better.
You may be thinking, “But Joyce, you don’t know what I’m dealing with. It’s so hard!”

I understand, I’ve been through some really hard stuff. But God will reward those who seek Him. Be determined to seek Him in the midst of your hardship. He is more than able to clean up your messes!

Prayer Starter: God, I believe that You can clean up my messes. Instead of staying stuck in my troubles, I earnestly seek You today.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ NLT)

xx

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Living Life Free of Strife

Sharing Day 165 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

Living Life Free of Strife

Strife is one of the main weapons the enemy uses against Christians. I believe there are three things that open us up to a spirit of strife.

1. Our lips: Wrong words spoken at the wrong time can certainly start a firestorm. The more wrong words we pour on the fire, the bigger it gets. One way to stop a fire is to remove the fuel.

2. Our pride: Although wrong words may open us up to strife, it is a proud heart that refuses to be quiet in order to have peace. Pride demands that we have the last word, but the Word says it will lead to destruction (see Proverbs 16:18).

3. Our opinions: We can often get into strife by trying to convince others of our own opinions. When we realize we have much to learn and stop passing out our opinions, we will begin to gain the knowledge we need.

These are the three biggest areas that Satan uses to infiltrate our lives with strife. Make a decision to honor God and others by resisting strife and instead pursuing unity and understanding.

Prayer Starter: Holy Spirit, help me to stay on guard against strife. I give You my words and my opinions. I desire to walk strife-free in my relationships with others.

Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭14‬ NLT)

xx

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Face the Truth About Yourself

In attaining peace, the first step is acceptance. Human as we are, we find fault in other people, things or situations when something goes wrong. What we fail to see is that we are given the choice to make happen what we want to happen; our misery and our joy depends on the decisions we make. Our tainted past or blurry present all have an impact on how we choose to live out the rest of our lives but it doesn’t define us, it is not reason to stop pursuing dreams or do good, it is not a hindrance but instead an opportunity to discover ourselves, our weaknesses and capabilities and what we can do about it. We have to accept that we are not perfect, the world is not perfect, but there is hope for all of us if we learn, let go and move forward. Things always happen for a reason and if it doesn’t work out like we expected it should, believe that you are called to a better purpose. Choose to accept these obstacles, these challenges, and peace will be in your heart.

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Sharing Day 137 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

Face the Truth About Yourself

Someone once asked how I live free from my oppressive past. My answer is very simple: God has given me the grace and the willingness to face the truth about myself.

I grew up in a war zone. Because of my quick temper, I was upset most of the time. Because of being upset, I grew up depressed, disappointed and discouraged. I wished I could have a better life, but my wishing didn’t solve anything. It wasted my time as I kept blaming my problems on my bad family background.

Finally, God helped me realize that I had to stop wishing and start taking responsibility, to quit blaming other people and my circumstances, and quit making excuses for myself.

You might be in a similar situation. Facing the truth about yourself is scary, but you don’t have to do it alone. All your flaws are exposed to God, and if you ask Him for His perspective, He will help you pick yourself up, take responsibility, and live a peaceful life. Today, don’t be scared to face the truth about yourself, but let God guide you into a new tomorrow.

Prayer Starter: Holy Spirit, I need Your help to face the truth about myself. It’s time to stop blaming my problems on my past and on other people, and to meet them head-on with the power of Your Word. Empower me to take responsibility and to change for the better.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ NLT)

xx

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Photo courtesy: SDL

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You Can’t Add One Inch to Your Height!

STOP WORRYING! 😉

Sharing Day 136 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

You Can’t Add One Inch to Your Height!

Worrying does us absolutely no good. It doesn’t change one thing, and we waste time by being upset over stuff we can’t do anything about, things only God can change.

The Bible says we can’t even add one inch to our height by worrying. Yet, we worry, worry, worry, which gets us nowhere.

Every time we get really upset, it takes a lot of emotional energy, tires us out, messes with our health, steals our joy, and still doesn’t change one thing. We need to stop trying to fix things that only God can fix because the only one who’s clapping is the devil, saying, “Ha, ha, ha! Got ’em again!”

Jesus tells us to “calm down” in John 14:27 and”cheer up” in John 16:33. I think it’s a one-two knockout punch to the devil when we do. When you realize you can’t fix everything, that calms you down, and when You know that God can, it cheers you up!

So don’t worry. Instead, calm down, cheer up, and send the devil running!

Prayer Starter: Lord, my worrying really doesn’t accomplish anything, so I leave it behind. I’m so thankful that You can fix what I can’t. You calm me down and cheer me up!

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭27‬ NLT)

xx

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Does God Love You When You Make Mistakes?

God loves you despite whatever idiocy, whatever abomination, whatever nonsense, whatever unimaginable offense you have done.

God ALSO loves the alcoholic, the drug addict, the swindler, the corrupt politician, the hypocrite, the rapist, the murderer, the thief, the sinner.

Yes God loves us, EACH and EVERY ONE of us, irregardless of whatever, because His love is infinite and unconditional.

God is your pedestal, your reliance, whatever mistake you have committed, that there is still hope for your life, that there is something good within all of us and that the good within you will eventually surface and prevail.

Sharing Day 131 of the reading plan I am currently on from http://www.joycemeyer.org/ Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional

Does God Love You When You Make Mistakes?

Have you ever wondered if you are good enough for God to love you? Unfortunately, many people believe God loves them only as long as they don’t make mistakes.

Perhaps it was this outlook that caused the psalmist to ask, “What is man that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4 AMP). Yet the Bible tells us that we are God’s creation, the work of His hands-and that He loves each one of us unconditionally.

Let’s face it: Jesus didn’t die for you because you were great and wonderful; He died for you because He loves you. Romans 5:8-9 confirms this truth by telling us that He died for us while we were still sinners.

God loved you enough to give His only begotten Son, not only to die for your sins, but also to cover your daily mistakes. He loves you enough to get you through each day in power and victory.

God loves you, and He wants you to believe it and receive it all the time…even when you make mistakes.

Prayer Starter: Lord, Your love is incredible. You love me even when it doesn’t make sense to me. When I make mistakes, You are still with me. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, my mistakes are covered. I receive Your love today.

But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us. We have been made right with God by the blood sacrifice of Christ. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger. (‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8-9‬ ERV)

xx

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