Displaying items by tag: daily devotional

Joel Osteen (January-23-2020) Daily Devotion: Step-by-Step.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105, NIV

TODAY'S WORD: God has a detailed plan for your life. He knows your final destination and the best way to get you there, but God doesn’t show you the details. The Scripture says His Word is a lamp for your feet. A lamp implies you have enough light to see the life path in front of you, but not for the next fifty years. If you trust Him and take that next step into the unknown, not knowing the outcome, He’ll lead you step-by-step into your destiny.

The question is, will you be bold and take the next step that God gives you with the light you have? The unknown is where miracles happen, where you discover abilities you never knew you had, and where you’ll accomplish more than you ever dreamed. If you have the courage to do what you know He’s asking you to do, He has the provision, the favor, and all that you need to go to the next level.

PRAYER FOR TODAY: “Father, thank You that what lies ahead and is unknown to me is well known to You. I choose to rely on Your strength and Your Word that guides me step-by-step. I trust that You will go before me and take me to the next level. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Joyce Meyer (January-23-2020) Daily Devotion: God’s Free Gift.

The word freely means “spontaneously; without constraint or persuasion.”

When the Lord, in the person of the Holy Spirit, comes to dwell in our heart, He brings love with Him, because God is love (see 1 John 4:8).

It’s important to ask what we are doing with the love of God that has been freely given to us. Are we rejecting it because we don’t think we are valuable enough to be loved? Do we believe God is like other people who have rejected and hurt us? Or are we receiving His love by faith, believing that He is greater than our failures and weaknesses?

With God’s help, we can love ourselves—not in a selfish way, but in a balanced, godly way... a way that simply affirms God’s creation as essentially good and right. God’s plan is this: for us to receive His love freely, love ourselves in a godly way, generously love Him in return, and finally love all the people who come into our lives.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for Your abundant love. Help me to freely receive Your love, love myself, then pour out Your love to those around me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Joyce Meyer (January-22-2020) Daily Devotion: Your Past Doesn’t Dictate Your Future.

Are you enjoying the life and blessings of God in your everyday life? Or have you made a series of choices resulting in disappointment, pain, or feeling that everything you do requires great effort and produces little reward? Don’t spend your time and energy mourning all the bad decisions you have made; just start making good ones. There is hope for you!

The way to overcome the results of a series of bad choices is through a series of right choices. The only way to walk out of trouble is to do the opposite of whatever you did to get into trouble—one choice at a time.

Maybe the circumstances of your life right now are the direct result of a series of bad choices you have made. You may be in debt because you have made a lot of bad choices with money. You may be lonely because of a series of bad choices in relationships or in the way you treat people. You may be sick because of a series of unhealthy choices: eating junk food, not getting enough rest, or abusing your body through working too much and not having enough balance in your life.

You cannot make a series of bad choices that result in significant problems and then make one good choice and expect all the results of all those bad choices to go away. You did not get into deep trouble through one bad choice; you got into trouble through a series of bad choices. If you really want your life to change for the better, you will need to make one good choice after another, over a period of time, just as consistently as you made the negative choices that produced negative results.

No matter what kind of trouble or difficulty you and yourself in, you can still have a blessed life. You cannot do anything about what is behind you, but you can do a great deal about what lies ahead of you. God is a redeemer, and He will always give you another chance.

Trust in Him If you have a situation that is too big for you to solve, then you are material for a miracle. Invite God to get involved, trust in and follow His directions, make one good choice after another, and you will see amazing results.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for Your wisdom and guidance to make good choices for my life. Please help me to leave past disappointments behind and begin, one by one, to make decisions that will bring a harvest of good things into my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Joseph Prince (January-20-2020) Daily Devotion: THE ANSWER FOR A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.

Hebrews 9:14 - how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Have you heard the voice of your conscience saying things like, “You deserve hell for the sins you committed against your wife three years ago” or “Why are you surprised that your child is not talking to you? You were never around when he needed you”?

You know, there are people who feel depressed all the time because of a sense of guilt, and they “pay” for their sins in terms of illnesses. In fact, doctors are discovering that many psychosomatic sicknesses are caused by guilt and condemnation because the conscience is saying, “You have done wrong. You must be punished. How can your sin not be punished?”

That is why you must have an answer that will satisfy your conscience. When your conscience says, “You have sinned. You must be punished for this sin or else God is not a just God,” you say, “Yes, I have sinned. But this sin and every other sin that I have committed were punished to the maximum in the body of Jesus Christ! So there remains no more punishment for me today, for how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse my conscience!”

My friend, the only way to bring peace to your conscience is to look to the cross. The cross of Jesus is the only answer that will satisfy your conscience.

So the next time your conscience condemns you because of sin, don’t try to silence it with your good works. Look to the cross and say, “Father, thank You for Jesus and the cross. Jesus was totally condemned on my behalf for this sin, so there is now absolutely no condemnation left for me.” Then, your conscience will look at the cross and say, “Ahhhh...peace.” My friend, Jesus’ finished work at the cross truly sets you free!

Joyce Meyer (January-20-2020) Daily Devotion: A Force for Good.

We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds if we become encouragers instead of critics.

It is the greater person who does the right thing; Christ’s righteousness dwells in you to help you do what is right. You are great in God’s eyes when you choose to do right and bless others.

No matter how rough your day is today, speak words that uplift and encourage those around you. Encourage others if you notice them doing a good job—not just those who work with you, but people wherever you go, such as store clerks, auto mechanics, and waiters.

Say something like, “I appreciate the extra effort you are making to do your job well.” You can change your life and someone else’s by choosing to speak positive words.

Prayer Starter: Father, please show me when I am being critical and negative toward others. Help me today to speak encouraging words of life to all those around me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Charles Stanley (January-16-2020) Daily Devotion: Obeying God.

Peter was a professional fisherman. He knew how to gauge weather conditions, where to cast nets for the likeliest haul, and when to end an unproductive session. Because of his expertise, he may have silently questioned Jesus’ instructions, which we read about in yesterday’s devotion—Peter may have thought, Why let down the nets when we’ve caught nothing all night?

Sometimes Jesus asks us to do something that seems unreasonable. It might involve leaving a job or ministry, taking on more responsibility when life already feels overloaded, or accepting an assignment that seems better suited for someone with a different skill set. Yet, because of the One who asks, it’s the right thing to do.

Scripture talks about many people who faced such a choice. Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:2). Noah was told to build an ark on dry land because a flood was coming (Gen. 6:14). Joshua was given a military strategy of marching around Jericho instead of attacking it (Josh. 6:2-5). Gideon, who was young and unsure, was told to send most of his warriors home before battle (Judg. 7:2-3). They all obeyed and then experienced God’s power.

Don’t let human logic dictate whether you follow the Lord. Trust in Him as Peter and these other faithful believers did.

Joseph Prince (January-14-2020) Daily Devotion: JESUS HAS BORNE YOUR DISEASES.

Isaiah 53:4 - Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…

Imagine the dreadful disease leprosy eating a man alive. The poor leper in Matthew 8:2 could stand his suffering no longer, so he came out into the open to look for Jesus. He needed to know if Jesus was willing to heal him. When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). The Son of God looked at the outcast with love in His eyes, reached out His hand, touched him and said, “I am willing; be cleansed” (Matthew 8:3).

Perhaps you are suffering from some disease and wondering if God is willing to heal you? You are not sure if He is willing because just as you have seen people get healed, you have also seen people not get healed. My friend, don’t look to people’s experiences. Look to the cross! As surely as Jesus bore away your sins, He also bore away your diseases!

I want to give you a solid foundation today for believing this truth. In Isaiah 53, the chapter on our Lord’s crucifixion, it says in verse four: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” Now, let’s learn a little Hebrew. The words “griefs” and “sorrows” here mean “sicknesses” and “pains” in the original Hebrew text. So Isaiah was referring to physical healing.

Once, I asked a Jewish friend to read this verse in his Hebrew Bible and tell me what it means. He told me that his Bible says clearly that Jesus has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.

If that is not enough, look at Matthew 8:16–17: “…they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’” Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4, saying that Jesus took our “infirmities” and bore our “sicknesses.” The context here refers to physical healing.

My friend, if you will just believe this truth, your days of sickness will be over. You will walk in greater health because the One who has surely borne your sicknesses and carried your pains says to you, “I am willing, be cleansed!”

Joyce Meyer (January-06-2020) Daily Devotion: How to Enjoy Everything You Do.

Quite often people use the phrase “I hate.” They hate driving to work, cleaning their houses, going to the grocery store, cutting the grass, paying their bills, and on and on.

I think each time we say we “hate” something, it makes it harder for us to do it with joy the next time.

Start saying by faith that you enjoy those things that are naturally more difficult for you to enjoy. Start saying it in obedience to God, and soon you will find those things to be more enjoyable.

We can talk ourselves into things and out of things. You can talk yourself into despising something you need to do, or you can have a good attitude and speak good words about it and make it a lot more pleasant.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me to agree with Your Word and begin talking myself into a joyful life. Help me to speak life-giving, positive, and thankful words. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Joel Osteen (January-05-2020) Daily Devotion: In His Presence. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11, NKJV

TODAY'S WORD: Sometimes we get up in the morning and think, I don’t feel like reading my Bible today. I’m too tired to pray. But once you develop the habit and see the benefit of how you feel refreshed and restored, make better decisions, and have God’s favor, you’ll think, I can’t afford not to do this. Spending time with God is that vital to living a victorious life.

The Scripture says that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy, fullness of peace, fullness of victory. That’s where you’re refreshed and restored. Take time to invest in your spiritual well-being by sitting quietly in God’s presence, praying and reading your Bible. When you get alone with God, the rest of your day will go much better. All through the day, meditate on God’s promises. Put on some good praise music. Put God first and you won’t be able to contain all the good things He will bring across your path.

PRAYER FOR TODAY: “Father, thank You that I can come into Your presence right now because Jesus has made a way for me. Thank You for the privilege of spending time with You and reading Your Word. Speak to my heart and show me the path for my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Joel Osteen (January-04-2020) Daily Devotion: His Love is Great.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8, NLT

TODAY'S WORD: A lot of people live with an “I think God loves me” mentality because they base it on their performance. “I went to church last weekend. I was kind to my neighbor. I think He loves me.” Sometimes we’re trying to clean ourselves up, trying hard to be good enough, and then we’ll believe that God really loves us. The problem with this approach is that when we make mistakes, when we get off course, when we don’t perform perfectly, we think God changes His mind about us.

Take the pressure off. God loves you right now with a great love. It isn’t an “I think” love or a conditional love. The apostle Paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing you’ve done has changed God’s love. There’s nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less. It’s a gift. Just receive it by faith.

PRAYER FOR TODAY: “Father, thank You that I never have to wonder about Your unconditional love for me because You’ve proven it through Jesus’ death on the cross. I believe that there is nothing I can do to make You love me more or any less than You always have. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”