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Post by Hosanna on Jun 26, 2023 4:44:12 GMT -8
June 26 - Comfort and Encouragement
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you need comfort and encouragement, whom do you go to? Have you ever had the experience of going to a friend or family member for encouragement and went away disappointed because they didn’t seem to understand your need? I think we have all had that experience, but there is a better way. Learn to go to God first because He is the God of all comfort. When we go to God first He is honored, but when we run to people and leave Him out it can be offensive to Him. Remember: when we go to God, He quite often uses people to comfort or encourage us, but He chooses who to use and when to use them.
I wasted a lot of time and emotional energy over the years getting angry at Dave and other people because they didn’t understand some of my emotional needs, and finally I learned that I needed to go to God first. Sometimes God uses someone we don’t even know and sometimes it is someone we would have never thought to go to. But, quite often He divinely comforts us Himself.
I recall a time when my father really made me feel rejected by something he said. There were people with us, but most of them wouldn’t have even understood or been able to make me feel better, so while still in my father’s presence, I quietly asked God to comfort me and heal my feelings. I continued to pray for a while and soon felt better. He helped me realize that my father was not a sensitive man and didn’t even realize what he had done, and I was able to let it go.
Another thing we do at times is run to food, shopping, or some other substance for comfort and we create other problems in our lives. God desires to comfort us, but we must go to Him. If you need comfort or encouragement, take some time right now and ask God specifically to minister to you in that area.
Trust in Him Going to God first shows that we trust Him. When you’re hurting, run to God, not away from Him.
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Hosanna on Jun 27, 2023 6:48:43 GMT -8
June 27 - Cast Your Care
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
Obeying this Scripture is a bit more difficult for some of us than others. Because I care about most things in life and want them to go a certain way, my care can easily turn into worry if I am not careful.
For example, I really can’t do anything about what people think of me, so being overly concerned about it is a total waste of time and energy, but that has not always stopped me from worrying. My husband certainly does not care what people think of him. On occasion when I have asked him how he feels about some negative thing someone has said about us, he tells me he doesn’t feel anything, but instead he just trusts God to take care of it. I have gotten very upset at times when unkind articles have been written about me in the newspapers or we have been judged unfairly, but Dave just says, “Cast your care.”
We have had a lot of arguments in the past over that statement. I want him to share my feelings, but he really can’t because he simply isn’t bothered by the things that bother me. I know he is right when he tells me to “cast my care,” but since I am already in the midst of caring, that is not the answer I want. Thankfully, God has helped me and continues to do so, and Dave has been a good example to me.
If you are a more emotional person, I’m sure the less emotional people in your life have frustrated you at times. Nothing seems to bother them and lots of things bother you. I get it! I have been there and I do know how you feel, but I have also lived long enough to realize that living by feelings is a big mistake. It is true that the best way to live is to learn to cast your care and let God care for you.
Trust in Him Do you trust God enough to cast your cares? What burden are you carrying today? Cast it on Him—He wants to take it from you because He can carry any load.
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Hosanna on Jun 28, 2023 10:11:04 GMT -8
Cast Your Care
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
Obeying this Scripture is a bit more difficult for some of us than others. Because I care about most things in life and want them to go a certain way, my care can easily turn into worry if I am not careful.
For example, I really can’t do anything about what people think of me, so being overly concerned about it is a total waste of time and energy, but that has not always stopped me from worrying. My husband certainly does not care what people think of him. On occasion when I have asked him how he feels about some negative thing someone has said about us, he tells me he doesn’t feel anything, but instead he just trusts God to take care of it. I have gotten very upset at times when unkind articles have been written about me in the newspapers or we have been judged unfairly, but Dave just says, “Cast your care.”
We have had a lot of arguments in the past over that statement. I want him to share my feelings, but he really can’t because he simply isn’t bothered by the things that bother me. I know he is right when he tells me to “cast my care,” but since I am already in the midst of caring, that is not the answer I want. Thankfully, God has helped me and continues to do so, and Dave has been a good example to me.
If you are a more emotional person, I’m sure the less emotional people in your life have frustrated you at times. Nothing seems to bother them and lots of things bother you. I get it! I have been there and I do know how you feel, but I have also lived long enough to realize that living by feelings is a big mistake. It is true that the best way to live is to learn to cast your care and let God care for you.
Trust in Him Do you trust God enough to cast your cares? What burden are you carrying today? Cast it on Him—He wants to take it from you because He can carry any load.
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Hosanna on Jun 29, 2023 6:44:27 GMT -8
Don’t Fight Correction, Celebrate It
Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten . So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].
REVELATION 3:19
God views conviction, correction, and discipline as something to be celebrated rather than something to make us sad or frustrated. Why should we celebrate when God shows us that something is wrong with us? Enthusiasm sounds like a strange response, but the fact that we can see something that we were once blind to is good news. For many years of my life I was able to be rude, insensitive, and selfish and not even know it. I had a master’s degree in manipulation, but actually had myself convinced that I was only trying to help people do what was right. Of course I did not see the pride I had that caused me to think my way was always the right way. I was greedy, envious, and jealous, but I did not see any of it. That is a sad condition to be in, but people who have no relationship with Jesus and who do not study God’s Word are blind and deaf in the spiritual sense.
My heart was hard from years of being hurt by people, harboring bitterness, and doing things my own way. When our heart is hard we are not sensitive to the touch of God. When He convicts us, we don’t feel it. Therefore, when we make enough progress in our relationship with God that we begin to sense when we are doing something wrong, that is good news. It is a sign of progress and should be celebrated joyfully. The longer we serve God and study His ways, the more sensitive we become. We eventually grow to the place where we know immediately when we are saying or doing something that is not pleasing to God and we have the option of repenting and making a fresh start.
How do you respond when the Holy Spirit convicts you that you’re doing something wrong? Do you feel bad and guilty, or do you realize that the very fact that you can feel God’s conviction is good news? It means that you are alive to God and growing spiritually.
Trust in Him Lift your hands in praise and say, “Thank You, God, that You love me enough not to leave me alone in my sin.” Trust that His correction is always a sign of His love
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Hosanna on Jun 29, 2023 6:45:33 GMT -8
Believing When Your Back’s Against the Wall
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided.
EXODUS 14:21
A thorough study of the Bible shows us that the men and women God used in mighty ways always had the attitude of celebrating what God had done. They did not take His goodness for granted, but they openly showed appreciation for little things as well as big ones.
Have you ever had a time when you felt that your back was against the wall: you had a big problem and no solution, and then suddenly God did something amazing and enabled you to escape safely from your problem? Most of us can think of a time like that. When the Israelites were being led out of Egypt by God working through Moses, their backs were against the wall. The Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army was behind them. They had no place to go; they were trapped! God had promised their deliverance, and what He did was amazing indeed. He actually parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites walked across on dry ground, but as the Egyptian army followed, the sea closed up over them and they drowned.
When the Israelites reached the other side, the first thing they did was start to celebrate. They sang a song that came straight from their hearts, recorded in nineteen verses in the Bible (see Exod. 15:1–19). After the song, two of the women took out a type of tambourine, and all the women followed them with their tambourines and they danced and sang some more. The entire song talked of what God had done, how great He was, how He had redeemed them and dealt with their enemies. We would probably experience more victory in life if we would take time to celebrate the ones we have already had. Once again, it is about operating on the principle of being grateful for what we have instead of taking an inventory of what we do not have yet.
Trust in Him Think of a time that your back was against the wall and God delivered you. Celebrate that victory all over again—and trust that God will deliver you the next time!
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Hosanna on Jun 30, 2023 5:56:16 GMT -8
June 30 - Revelation Sets You Free
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
PROVERBS 23:7
If we become what we think about, as this Scripture attests, it’s no wonder that the Bible teaches us we must learn how to meditate on the Word of God—to roll it over and over in our mind until it becomes a part of us. Meditation takes information and turns it into revelation. One of the problems I think we can have as Christians is that there is so much information available to us today that we can get stuck at information and never really study any one thing long enough for it to become revelation. It’s not information that sets you free. It’s revelation. It’s not what somebody else knows that’s going to help you; it’s what you know. It’s not even what you know; it’s what you know that you know that you know that you know—it is that kind of deep-rooted revelation knowledge that Satan cannot steal from you with his lies.
Romans 12:2 says not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Fear, guilt, insecurity, and worry can be let in or kept out by right or wrong thoughts. You can open your mind to fear and let it in, or you can close your mind to fear and not let it in. The mind is like a doorway. When the enemy tries to sneak in with a thought that is going to be detrimental to us or against the Word of God, we need to learn how to close our minds against that and say, “no.” No is a great word for Christians to learn.
“But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23). Shut your mind to gossip, slander, and to the idea that someone with an opinion different from yours must be wrong, and to other unedifying thoughts that will lead to strife. Fix your mind on things that are worthy: love, kindness, thinking the best about people, grace, mercy, and other edifying thoughts that are found in the Word of God (see Phil. 4:8).
Trust in Him As you think in your heart, so are you, so shut the door on any thought that is not from God. If you are trusting God, there is no need for fear.
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Hosanna on Jul 1, 2023 15:37:58 GMT -8
July 1 - Be Open and God Will Teach You
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said concerning him, See! Here is an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor falsehood nor duplicity!
JOHN 1:47
In some instances I think we need to open our minds. I think we should be single-minded (focused on the will of God), but not narrow-minded (unwilling to be open to new teachings).
There is a man in the Bible, in John 1:45–51, who Jesus had some very complimentary things to say about. His name is Nathanael. When we first meet Nathanael, Philip tells him that they’d found the Messiah and he was Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (v. 46). He was saying that he knew what the people were like in Nazareth and no Messiah would be born of that stock. To which Philip tells him simply, “Come and see!” (v. 46). In other words, don’t make a judgment before you’ve seen for yourself. So Nathanael went to see (v. 47).
God showed me that one of the reasons Jesus liked Nathanael so much was because even though he had a preconceived opinion that nothing good could come out of Nazareth, especially not the Savior, he was open-minded enough and humble enough to at least go see. I think a lot of people would get a lot further in their walk with God if they wouldn’t have so many preconceived ideas. What we all really need is to believe the Word of God.
You should read your Bible and see what it says. Be open to letting God teach you and to learning. It’s amazing what we could learn from God and other people He places in our paths if we didn’t already think we knew it all.
Trust in Him Don’t spend too much time listening to what other people say and miss out on the great blessings God has for your life. Let go of your preconceived notions and be humble enough to see for yourself. Trust God to teach you—and keep teaching you—through His Word.
Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions
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Post by Aeliana on Jul 3, 2023 12:21:58 GMT -8
Good One  |
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Post by Hosanna on Jul 8, 2023 8:25:48 GMT -8
Good One Glad you liked it. July 8
You Were Made for Something More But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles. ISAIAH 40:31 Do you ever feel you are like an eagle in a chicken yard—grounded and pent up when you should be soaring? You know there is much more within you than you are experiencing and expressing in your life right now. You know God has a great purpose for your life—and you cannot escape or ignore the inner urge to “go for it.” Know this: all eagles are uncomfortable in a barnyard; they all long for the clear, blue, open skies. When you are living in a place that keeps you from being who you were made to be and doing what you are meant to do, you will be uncomfortable, too. But also realize that people around you may not understand your desire to break out of the box. They may want to clip your wings. When you hear their comments and questions, something inside of you may ask, “What is wrong with me? Why do I think as I think? Why do I feel this way? Why can’t I just settle down and live a normal life like everybody else?” The reason you cannot just settle down is that you are not a chicken; you are an eagle! You will never feel at home in that chicken yard, because you were made for something bigger, more beautiful, and more fulfilling. I encourage you today to fan the flame inside of you. Fan it until it burns brightly. Never give up on the greatness for which you were created, never try to hide your uniqueness, and never feel you cannot do what you believe you were made to do. Realize that your hunger for adventure is God-given; wanting to try something new is a wonderful desire, and embracing life and aiming high is what you were made for. You are an eagle! Trust in Him Is there a longing inside of you for more? Begin to value yourself, because God values you. Walk out of any “chicken mentality” you may have, trust Him, and soar like the eagle you were created to be. Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions |
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