You Can Do All Things Through Christ

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 NKJ
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

God often makes statements in the Bible that go against what we
feel like, or what it looks like to us at the time.

God is trying to move us to a higher plane of faith where we
depend on Him and not on what we feel like.

Others try to evade the issue by saying that a verse only
applies to someone else -- like the Apostle Paul -- not to
them.

Well, if you don't believe, you won't receive help. But help is
available. And that help and strength is just as available to
you as it was to the Apostle Paul, because the Lord does not
play favorites.

Paul didn't say, "I can do all things because I am an apostle."
No, it is "through Christ" that he was enabled to do what he
needed to do. And you, as a believer, are in Christ just as
much as the Apostle Paul was.

You choose. Either step out in faith in God and say you can do
it with His help, and watch God raise you up to that level. Or,
cower back in fear, and say you cannot do it.

SAY THIS: I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens
me.

God's Word Is Vital

MATTHEW 4:4 NKJ
4 But He answered and said, "It is written, `Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God.'"

When Jesus faced the devil's temptations as recorded in Matthew
chapter four, His first response was to quote Deuteronomy 8:3.

God wants you to learn the same lesson that Jesus knew: Nothing
is more important than God's Word. Without the Word, your life
will be less than God intends. The Word of God is vital!

DEUTERONOMY 8:2-3 NKJ
2 "And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all
the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and
test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would
keep His commandments or not.
3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with
manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He
might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but
man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the
Lord.

This lesson was what God intended for Israel to learn in the
wilderness, but sadly, most of them missed it.

When Joshua was taking command of the Israelites after Moses'
death, God wanted to make sure Joshua understood the lesson.
So, He gave him directions for success — which are: speak God's
Word, think God's Word, and do God's Word. Those instructions
have never changed. They are as valid for you today as they
were for Joshua.

JOSHUA 1:8 NKJ
8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but
you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to
do according to all that is written in it. For then you will
make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

SAY THIS: God's Word is necessary for me to enjoy life as God
intended it to be.

Overcome Evil With Good

ROMANS 12:21 NIV
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

There seems to be no lack of evil. That gives us an opportunity
to overcome.

We will be tempted to respond in kind -- to strike back at
those who hurt us. But that is a bad choice. All it leads to is
more pain and misery for more people -- including ourselves.

The answer is divine love.

With God's love inside us, and God helping us, we can return
good for evil done to us. That breaks the vicious downward
cycle and also breaks the power of evil to affect us.

Don't tell me this won't work in your case. I have personally
heard the victorious testimony of a believer who was tortured
by his communist captors yet walked in love and overcame the
evil situation. It will work!

Love is stronger than hate. Good is more powerful than evil.
You can walk in victory no matter what anyone does to you.

ROMANS 5:5 NIV
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out
his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given
us.

HEBREWS 13:6 NIV
6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not
be afraid. What can man do to me?"

SAY THIS: With God's love, I will overcome evil with good.

Jesus Will Give You Rest

MATTHEW 11:28-30 NIV
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Are you struggling? Do you feel like you are barely keeping
your head above water?

If you feel like you are struggling and striving just to make
it -- you need to turn to Jesus. He will give you rest.

If you say that you have turned to Jesus and you think His yoke
is hard and His burden is heavy -- you are deceived.

You need to cast your care on the Lord and learn of Him. So
many people are striving and struggling to get God to love them
when He already loves them and accepts them.

Living a successful Christian life is not done by our own
strength or willpower. It is the result of depending on the
Lord. Only He can do it.

Quit trusting in your plans and abilities and efforts, and
trust in Jesus instead. Turn things over to Him. Let Him be
Lord in your life.

SAY THIS: I will learn of Jesus and trust in Him. Jesus my Lord
gives me rest.

The Lord Is Guiding You

JOHN 16:13 NKJ
13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
guide you....

This article is directed to believers in Jesus Christ to remind
you there are many scriptures indicating that God IS guiding
you.

Too often we feel like we are just on our own, drifting
aimlessly, with no help or guidance from God. Just because you
are not aware of God's guidance does not mean He is not guiding
you. This is part of God's genius: to be able to do things
unnoticed.

When we don't understand God's method of operation, we easily
fall prey to the temptation to doubt God is guiding us, or even
hearing our prayers. This often leads to begging God for help,
which is not faith, and will not produce good results.

We must believe what God says in His Word concerning this
subject of guidance, if we desire to please God.

It is always wise to talk with God before making any decision.
But just because you don't hear God's audible voice answering
you, does not mean that God is not directing you. His primary
means of guiding you are His written Word and the witness of
the spirit inside you.

God will never guide anyone to act contrary to the teaching of
the Bible. That is one reason it is so important to read and
study the Bible.

All of the following are scriptures you can apply to yourself.
(Only the pronouns have been changed to make them personal.)
Saying these will strengthen your faith.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. He leads me beside
the still waters. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for
His name's sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)

God will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go. He
will guide me with His eye. (Psalm 32:8)

God will bring me by a way I did not know; God will lead me in
paths I have not known. He will make darkness light before me,
and crooked places straight. God will do these things for me,
and not forsake me. (Isaiah 42:16)

Thus says the Lord, my Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am
the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by
the way you should go." (Isaiah 48:17)

The Lord will guide me continually. (Isaiah 58:11)

I follow Jesus so I shall not walk in darkness, but I have the
light of life. (John 8:12)

The Spirit of truth has come and He is guiding me into all
truth. He will tell me things to come. (John 16:13)

I am led by the Spirit of God for I am a son of God. (Romans
8:14)

Now thanks be to God who always leads me in triumph in Christ.
(2 Corinthians 2:14)

It is God Who works in me both to will and to do for His good
pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

The Lord Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake
you." So I may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not
fear." (Hebrews 13:5-6)

SAY THIS: Thank You Lord for guiding me.

Jesus Became Poor To Make You Rich

2 CORINTHIANS 8:9 LB
9 You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was:
though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very
poor, so that by being poor he could make you rich.

Many Christians consider being poor the will of God. Scripture
actually gives a quite opposite picture.

Although there are many warnings in Scripture against the love
of money and its misuse, the fact remains that financial
prosperity is considered a blessing from God in the Bible.

PSALM 35:27 NKJ
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous
cause; And let them say continually, "Let the Lord be
magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

(Certainly there are dangers in being prosperous. With more
money you can make more choices, and buy more trouble. However,
money itself is not evil. The person using money determines
whether it will be a force for good or a force for evil.)

You do not have to convince God to prosper you. No arm-twisting
will be necessary, as He has already made the provision.
Through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
prosperity already belongs to you.

I can almost hear the objections: "If I am rich, where is it?
Why do I have all these debts and bills?"

The answer is simple actually. The devil has stolen it away
from us because of our ignorance.

You can reclaim it by faith, but you will have to feed on the
Word for your faith to continue strong and effective. So, to
receive the blessings available to us through Christ, we have
to draw near to God.

Some maturity is required to receive God's provision and to
keep the devil from stealing it. This insures that immature
believers will not have more money than they can handle and
thus have their lives ruined by it.

Nevertheless, according to the Bible you are rich. You may not
have ready access to it, but in Christ wealth is yours -- just
as surely as a young heir is rich even though his money is held
by trustees and he cannot have it until he matures.

SAY THIS: Jesus Christ became poor to make me rich. I am rich
in Christ Jesus.

You Are Strong In The Lord

EPHESIANS 6:10 NIV
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

No one can successfully argue against the statement, "You are
strong in the Lord." It is a given that if you are in the Lord,
you are strong. Nothing that is "in the Lord" could be weak.

So the only real question is whether you are "in the Lord."

I JOHN 5:20 NASB
20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us
understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and
we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the
true God and eternal life.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 NIV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the
old has gone, the new has come!

The choice is yours. You choose whether to accept Christ and
thus be identified as "in Him." God does not force this, you
must choose.

EPHESIANS 2:8-10 NASB
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in
them.

From Ephesians 2:8-10 we can see that when we are saved through
faith, we are created anew IN Christ Jesus. That is our
position. So, anyone and everyone who has received Jesus Christ
can be said to be legally "in Him" according to the Scripture.

Always remember that your strength is not in your own ability
or resources, but your strength is in the Lord. Depend on Him.
He will never fail you. (He probably will test your patience
and maybe even let the situation look hopeless, but He will not
ever fail you.)

PSALM 27:1 NKJ
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The
Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

HEBREWS 13:5-6 NKJ
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with
such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never
leave you nor forsake you."
6 So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not
fear. What can man do to me?"

PSALM 28:8 NIV
8 The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of
salvation for his anointed one.

SAY THIS: I AM strong in the Lord. In the Lord, I am strong,
for the Lord is my strength.

You Are Delivered From The Devil

COLOSSIANS 1:13 NKJ
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed
us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

Many people are afraid of the devil. As believers we have no
need to be afraid of the devil, although we should be aware and
on guard against his schemes.

The only true power the devil holds over a believer now is the
power of deception. If you do not know the truth the devil will
take advantage of you. The only way to know the truth is to
read, understand, and act on the Scriptures.

To illustrate, imagine entering the hospital room of a patient
paralyzed from their neck down. All they can do is talk. They
pose no threat to you, unless they convince you to take the gun
from beside the bed and shoot yourself with it.

(How could they do that? One way would be to convince you that
the gun was not real or not loaded, so it wouldn't harm you.)

You may think this is ridiculous, but it happens constantly
with people who do not realize that the words they speak are
powerful, and that the ideas they speak originate with the
devil. Every day the devil convinces millions of people to take
a spiritual "weapon" -- their words -- and use it against
themselves.

The devil operates against you through fear and ignorance.
God's Word gives you the information that will set you free
from both fear and ignorance.

HEBREWS 2:14-15 NASB
14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might
render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the
devil;
15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were
subject to slavery all their lives.

MARK 16:17 NKJ
17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name
they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

For believers to cast out demons, it means they must have
authority over the devil and his forces. However, unused
authority conveys no benefit.

SAY THIS: Jesus is my lord, and the devil has no power over me.
I have been delivered from the devil's authority. I am free, so
leave me alone, devil!

You Are Forgiven

2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 AMPLIFIED
19 It was God (personally present) in Christ, reconciling and
restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and
holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them];
and committing to us the message of reconciliation -- of the
restoration to favor.

Most people mistakenly think they have to beg God to forgive
them. Instead, God has already forgiven. It was His idea --
done on His own initiative.

(Whether you accept God's forgiveness and benefit from it is
another question.)

1 JOHN 2:12 NKJ
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are
forgiven you for His name's sake.

No matter what you have done -- God has already forgiven you!

God is not mad at you. Instead He loves you and desires to have
a close relationship with you. Yes, God is against sin, because
sin is harmful to humans. But He has already made provision for
you to be forgiven and set free from sin.

Jesus Christ paid the price for all your sins -- and God is no
longer holding any sin against you! You have been forgiven.
When you accept that, you can begin to receive the benefit of
Jesus' sacrifice.

EPHESIANS 1:7 NKJ
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of His grace

COLOSSIANS 2:13 NKJ
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with
Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Through Jesus we have redemption from the devil and forgiveness
for our sins.

Wouldn't it be great if you could tell someone who has messed
up their life that God is not mad at them and not against them?
That He desires to be their friend and help them?

SAY THIS: Thank You Father God for forgiving me and loving me.

You Are Healed

1 PETER 2:24 NKJ
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -- by
whose stripes you were healed.

"Time" is difficult to understand. Scientists tell us that time
is "relative," just something that seems real to us.

The Bible indicates God is "outside of time." God created time
so He is not confined to it. Can we easily comprehend this? No.

When a human makes a statement that is not true at this present
moment in time, we call it a lie -- not the truth.

But when God says something that does not seem to be true at
this moment -- we cannot accuse Him of telling a lie -- because
God is not limited to our time frame. (Also, we do not know
everything.)

Having said all that, the Bible clearly says that you ARE
healed.

ISAIAH 53:4-5 NRSV
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and
afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and
by his bruises we are healed.

So, you have a choice. You can look at it from your perspective
and say, "That is not true. I am not healed."

Or, you can view the situation from God's perspective, and
because of your faith in Him, agree with what He said.

Which choice is best? As you decide your answer, remember to
include eternity in your evaluation. Pleasing God by accepting
His Word can bring benefits to you after this life.

Here is one way of understanding all this. God made provision
for everyone to be healed. That provision must be received by
faith -- by believing and acting on what God has said in His
Word. Humans have a choice: believe God's Word and resist
anything that would try to steal their health, or, let their
feelings and circumstances control them.

If you disagree with all this, let's not argue or fight. That
will not help anyone. But remember, the Bible will still say
what it says.

MATTHEW 8:16-17 NKJ
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were
demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and
healed all who were sick,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our
sicknesses."

God made provision for your healing, but the devil tries to
steal it away from you.

Here is the bottom line: we do not understand everything. God
does. Since God loves us, it seems best to trust in Him instead
of trusting in our own limited understanding. So, I choose to
believe and say what God says, whether I understand it or not.

SAY THIS: The Bible says I am healed. I choose to agree with
what God has said in the Bible.

Hold Fast Your Confession

Your confession is what you say. The Bible tells you to hang on
tight to saying God's Word.

HEBREWS 10:23 NKJ
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

God has no reason to tell us to hold fast, or hang on tight, to
our confession, unless someone, or something, will be trying to
get us to turn loose of it — and say something else.

HEBREWS 3:1 NKJ
1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ
Jesus,

HEBREWS 4:14 NKJ
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession.

Jesus is the High Priest of our confession — what we say. He
represents us before God with the words we speak.

The Bible says:

You are righteous in Christ. Romans 3:22

You are forgiven. Colossians 2:13

You are healed. 1 Peter 2:24

You are delivered from the devil. Colossians 1:13

You can do all things through Christ. Philippians 4:13

You are strong in the Lord. Ephesians 6:10

The Greater One is in you. 1 John 4:4

The Lord is guiding you. John 16:13

God is working in you. Philippians 2:13

The Lord is your helper. Hebrews 13:6

Jesus became poor to make you rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

You may wonder why you should say what God says in the Bible
about you. First, God is looking for faith, and second, it is
the Word planted in your life that will make you free. Speaking
God's Word is a way of planting it in you.

Yes, it can take faith to say what the Bible says about you.
Especially when you don't feel like it and the circumstances
don't agree, either. But we have to choose: will we rely on our
feelings, or God's Word? Do we trust the circumstances more
than God's Word?

But you may say, "What the Word says is just not true in my
life." You are the establishing witness. God has said something
about you. Now when you come into agreement with Him, it will
become manifest in your life.

MARK 11:23 NKJ
23 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
`Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to
pass, he will have whatever he says.

Jesus told us that we will have whatever we say — if we believe
it. It will come to pass. So you see why the devil tries to get
us to quit saying God's Word, which will set us free.

SAY THIS: I will say what God says about me — regardless of my
feelings or circumstances.

Speak God's Word

EPHESIANS 6:17 NKJ
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God;

The sword, or weapon, of the spirit is not the Bible laying on
a shelf, but God's Word being spoken by a believer.

You must take it. Your spiritual weapon is speaking the Word of
God. You must take the Word and speak it — just like Jesus did
(Matthew 4:4).

Our battle is not against humans, but evil spiritual forces,
which requires us to use spiritual weapons to prevail and
prosper. That weapon is speaking the Word of God.

Jesus defeated the devil for you. However, you must enforce
that defeat by speaking and standing in agreement with God.
Only then will you see Jesus' victory manifest in your life.

Of course, before you can speak the Word, you have to know the
Word. It must be fed in before you can expect it to come out in
a time of need. And you never know when you will be attacked
with something designed to steal, kill, and destroy you.

Keep on saying what God's Word says -- no matter what.

HEBREWS 10:23 NKJ
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hang on tight to speaking the Word, because the devil doesn't
want you to stick with the Word. Count on being tempted to NOT
say what God says. The devil does not want you to use your
spiritual weapon of speaking the Word.

Speak the Word of God:
1. To yourself first.
2. To God in thanks and praise.
3. To the devil.
4. To circumstances.

SAY THIS: I will say what God says. I will keep God's Word in
my mouth.

God's Word Is Alive

HEBREWS 4:12 NIV
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes
of the heart.

The Bible is different than any other book you may read -- it
contains life. You don't have to understand it, any more than
you have to understand nuclear radiation to experience its
effects. You just need to expose yourself to it.

What is the Word of God active in doing? Bringing forth after
its kind. Producing life in you. Producing a harvest of peace,
joy, righteousness, and freedom in your life.

If you are not enjoying peace, joy, righteousness, and freedom,
then your answer is the Word of God.

The Bible, especially the message of Jesus Christ in the New
Testament, will set you free and make you whole, if you
continue in it.

However, just because you have fed on God's Word in one area,
does not mean you will be free in every area of life.

For example, you could plant hundreds of tomato seeds in a
garden and never harvest one carrot. Why? You never planted any
carrot seed!

God's Word works the same way as a seed. The Word must be
planted inside you to bear fruit in your life.

LUKE 8:11 NKJ
11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Just because you plant the seed from God's Word about spiritual
rebirth does not mean you can expect a harvest of financial
prosperity.

Scriptures about prosperity must be planted in you, and
watered, before you can expect a harvest of prosperity.

Even if you plant much seed from God's Word concerning health
and healing, you will not automatically have a harvest of a
successful marriage and family life.

Each seed of God's Word has to be planted to produce fruit in
your life in that area.

MATTHEW 4:4 NKJ
4 But He answered and said, "It is written, `Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God.' "

SAY THIS: God's Word is alive and working to produce good in my
life.

Every Good Gift Is From Above

JAMES 1:17 WEYMOUTH
17 Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from
above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all
Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest
suggestion of change.

Whatever good that you enjoy in life is because of God. Because
of His love for you, He created it.

Do you enjoy eating good food? Who designed that food? Who
planned it all out so you could have it and enjoy it?

Do you enjoy beautiful scenes in nature -- sunsets, flowers,
butterflies, wild animals, mountains? God created them all for
your pleasure.

Do you enjoy a mother's love? God created mothers and put
within them the capacity to love their children.

Do you enjoy the love of a spouse? God created them and put
within them the capacity to love you.

I could go on.

When you think this through, you realize that God actually
loves you and helps you through other people. He put the love
within them -- so He is the ultimate source of the love you
receive from others.

Everything good about life is attributable to God. Everything
that we enjoy -- He created it, or the raw materials and the
ability for humans to produce it.

As you think of all this, I hope you are struck with two
thoughts: I would like to be closer to this kind of God, and I
should be more thankful to God for more things than I have
been.

SAY THIS: Thank you God my Father for all the good you have
created, designed, and provided for me.

The Love Of Christ Is Beyond Comprehension

EPHESIANS 3:18-19 NLT
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's
people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his
love really is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great
you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled
with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

How can words describe, or humans fully understand, something
that is as deep as God Himself? God's love is greater than
words have the ability to communicate. It is impossible to put
into language.

How can you explain the unexplainable? How can you know
something that is beyond the ability of human knowledge to
comprehend? You would have to be God Himself to fully
understand why He loves you the way He does. Don't expect to
ever understand it. But you can accept it. You can believe it.
You can experience it and enjoy it.

God's love for you was demonstrated in redemption. God took
your place and suffered what you deserved, so you could be
forgiven and go free. God proved that He loved you more than He
loves Himself. He did not spare Himself to help you.

God's love for you is also evident in creation. Not just in
abundant provision, but also in all the beauty He created for
your enjoyment. What a wonderful display of the loving and
giving nature of God. Not only did He make everything we need,
but He made it in abundance -- and with great variety.

Every good thing in life was created by God for you because of
His great love for you.

SAY THIS: I accept the love of Christ: God loves me. Lord, help
me to embrace the reality of your love, which is greater than
words can tell.

Pray For Those In Authority

1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2 NASB
1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers,
petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may
lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

Believers have a responsibility to pray for their leaders.

If you live in a country where you have the privilege of voting
on your leaders, then you need to take that responsibility
seriously, be informed and vote as the Lord directs you.

Don't allow yourself to be swayed by the emotional tactics used
in political campaigns, or vote based on your selfish
interests. Vote as you believe the Lord would have you to vote.
Vote for godly leadership.

But don't stop at voting. Pray for public officials, especially
those in high office whose decisions affect many people's
lives.

PROVERBS 29:2 LB
2 With good men in authority, the people rejoice; but with the
wicked in power, they groan.

SAY THIS: Father, I pray for godly leaders in our country, and
for your blessing on them.

Be Thankful

PSALM 107:1 NKJ
1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy
endures forever.

It seems the more people have the less thankful they become.
Today complaints are abundant, but thank you's are few.

COLOSSIANS 3:15 NKJ
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also
you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Being thankful is not optional for a Christian. If it was
impossible, God would not have told us to do it.

So, why are people not thankful?

Gratitude is a mark of maturity. Ingratitude is a mark of
immaturity. Babies are never thankful.

Neither are proud people thankful. Why? Because their mindset
is that they deserve not just everything they have, but even
better. "Why be thankful for something less than what you
deserve?" describes their thinking.

A funny thing you will notice if you consider it: unthankful
people are never happy. In fact, the more thankful a person is,
the happier they are.

(This is an example of how acting on God's Word is for our
benefit. God didn't invent commands just to be bossy.)

You will not be bothered with depression if you act on the
Word of God and "be thankful." The cure for unhappiness is
being thankful. Try it.

But how can you overcome the bad habit of ingratitude? Only by
changing your core beliefs. As long as you believe you are
getting a raw deal, or less than you deserve, you will never
become a thankful person.

But if you realize that you deserved punishment and eternal
separation from God -- yet in His mercy God instead gave you
what He deserved, and EVERYTHING you have -- including every
breath you breathe -- is a gift -- then you will become a
thankful person.

SAY THIS: I give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His
mercy endures forever. I will be thankful for all God does for
me.

Sleep Is A Gift From God

PSALM 127:2 NKJ
2 . . . He gives His beloved sleep.

PROVERBS 3:24 NKJ
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie
down and your sleep will be sweet.

PSALM 3:5 NKJ
5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.

PSALM 4:8 NKJ
8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O
Lord, make me dwell in safety.

We can trust in God and sleep even when we face the storms of
life, just as Jesus and Peter did in the following verses.

MARK 4:38 NKJ
38 But He was . . . asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and
said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

ACTS 12:6 NKJ
6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter
was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers . . .

Jesus Approves Rest

MARK 6:31 NKJ
31 And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted
place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going,
and they did not even have time to eat.

MATTHEW 11:28-29 NKJ
28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.
29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

While rest is clearly part of God's will for us, we are also
cautioned in Proverbs against sleeping too much. Balance is
important. Different people may require different amounts of
sleep to function at their best. You should seek God for wisdom
in this area.

SAY THIS: God gives me sweet, sound sleep.

Keep Your Heart With All Diligence

PROVERBS 4:23 NKJ
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the
issues of life.

You have probably heard the saying concerning computers, "Input
equals output." Or, the more popular term, "Garbage in,
garbage out."

That does not apply to just computers, but also to human
beings. If what we feed in is bad, we cannot expect the results
to be good.

Today we are constantly bombarded with messages on every side.
Everyone wants to influence us to do something -- usually to
buy their product or service.

Distraction is a major problem we face. Because of the
information overload we must deal with, it is easy to be
distracted from what is most important: God's Word.

It is not so much that the information we are feeding into our
hearts and minds is necessarily bad, just that it can easily
crowd out what is most important from our lives.

PROVERBS 4:20-22 NKJ
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my
sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the
midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all
their flesh.

God's Word is not just another message, but something that has
life in it. Just because your senses are not aware of the life
emanating from God's Word is no proof. Nuclear radiation is
also unseen and unfelt -- but, as we know, can quickly kill
you. God's Word is the opposite -- it radiates life.

HEBREWS 4:12 BBE
12 For the word of God is living and full of power, and is
sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a
division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the
muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the
heart.

God is our Source of existence. In His Word there is a deposit
of life from Him that we require to live and operate optimally.
That means that without a constant feeding on the Word of God,
you are living below what God intended for you.

SAY THIS: I will keep my heart with all diligence. I will feed
in the Word of God which gives life.

Give Attention To My Words

PROVERBS 4:20-22 NKJ
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my
sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the
midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all
their flesh.

Giving attention to God's Word is not as easy as it once was.
Today we have a multitude of distractions. Busyness seems to be
a disease shared by everyone. We all have more than we can do.

Yet . . .

God doesn't change. His Word doesn't change. It still says the
same thing it did a thousand years ago -- and it will still say
the same thing a thousand years from now.

"Give attention to my words...."

We are confronted with a choice. What is most important? To
what shall we give our limited time? God, or....?

God makes promises no one else does -- or can. He created, so
He knows how things work.

Life. Life in its fullness. Life as God intended it to be. And
health. Isn't that what everyone would like? That is the
written guarantee offered by God to the human race -- for
paying attention to what He has said.

SAY THIS: I choose to pay attention to God's Word. I choose
life and health. I choose God.

The Greater One Is In You

1 JOHN 4:4 NASB
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them;
because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the
world.

There are two vital points in this verse, which is addressed to
believers. (If you have not welcomed Jesus Christ and the Holy
Spirit into your life -- none of this applies to you.)

FIRST, God is IN you -- not far off somewhere.

Yes, God is in Heaven -- but that is not the only place He is.
By the Holy Spirit, God now has His dwelling place in you! You
don't have to "try to reach God." He is right there! What you
need to do is to cultivate an awareness of His presence. This,
along with communication, is the way to develop a closer
relationship with God.

Knowing that God lives in you, and that He loves you, should
banish all fear from your life. Fear of failure should have no
place. Fear of what other people think should not bother you.
Fear of problems that may come up should be of no concern. You
have God living in you!

2 CORINTHIANS 6:16 LB
16 And what union can there be between God's temple and idols?
For you are God's temple, the home of the living God, and God
has said of you, "I will live in them and walk among them, and
I will be their God and they shall be my people."

SECOND, God, Who is within you, is greater. Greater than any
problem. Greater than any difficulty. Greater than the devil.
Greater than anything you will ever face.

1 JOHN 4:4 ICB
4 My dear children, you belong to God. So you have defeated
them because God's Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the
devil, who is in the world.

This is the Word of God. We must embrace it and live in the
light of it. We must meditate on it and speak it. We must
resist any contrary thought the enemy might try to place in our
thinking.

SAY THIS: God, Who is in me, is greater than anything I will
ever face. The Greater One is in me.

Faith Is What You Believe

Nothing more, nothing less.

A common mistake is thinking Hebrews 11:1 is a definition of
faith. It sounds like a definition, but it is not.

HEBREWS 11:1 KJV
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.

This does not define faith but tells us something that faith in
God's Word does. Faith gives substance to our hopes. Faith
provides evidence of things we can't perceive with our physical
senses.

To help understand this, think of someone who has never seen a
dog and has no idea what a dog is. You can tell them, "A dog is
man's best friend." "A dog is a wonderful companion." "A dog
can help protect your property."

These all may be true statements, but they really don't define
a dog. Nor would they enable that person to identify a dog when
they first saw one. Those statements are more like descriptions
of functions that dogs provide.

It is the same with Hebrews 11:1, which does not give us a
definition so we can identify faith, but tells us something
about faith and what it does.

God did not put a definition of faith in the Bible any more
than He put a definition of a dog in the Bible. I suppose He
thought we should know what they both were.

Some preachers complicate it. But the New Testament words for
faith and believe are the same, one is the noun and one is the
verb form of the same word.

Faith is what you believe. It is not something beyond human
knowledge that is difficult to understand. It is super simple.
If you believe something, that is your faith. Faith and belief
are synonymous.

Faith in God and His Word operates on the same principles as
faith in anything else. There are no special rules. It is all a
matter of what you believe.

And where did you get your beliefs? You were not born with
them. Every belief you now have was acquired as a decision you
made at some point in your life. You decided to believe what
you now believe.

Since every belief you have came as a result of a decision you
made, every belief can also be changed by another decision. But
to make such a new decision you need evidence. You cannot just
choose to believe something without any evidence that it is
true.

Concerning faith in God, the only evidence we should need is
His written Word, for God cannot lie.

When you have evidence that a previous belief was wrong, you
can choose to accept that evidence as sufficient to believe.
This is how faith works --in every area of life.

What you believe is a decision you make. No one else can make
it for you.

Faith is very simple. Faith is what you believe. And what you
believe can be changed by a decision you make to accept the
evidence available to you.

So you can go to the Bible and decide to believe it. Then you
will have faith in God, for the Bible is God's written Word.
It's that simple.

You never have to wonder whether you have faith. You know what
you believe.

SAY THIS: Faith is simply what I believe.

Jesus Is Lord!

PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11 NKJ
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the
name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

No matter what it may seem like at times, Jesus Christ is Lord.
He is ruler, boss, king: the One ultimately in charge.

He just hasn't exercised His prerogative and taken charge of
everything yet.

Jesus is not currently micro-managing everything on earth. He
is not responsible for every mistake, accident, and bad thing
happening in the world.

God has allowed mankind to "try things our way" so we may see
the folly of going our own way in rebellion to God.

But this won't last forever. God has a plan with a limited
amount of time allotted for this part of history.

Although God has set certain boundaries, basically human beings
are now in control on earth. We are free to choose. Because we
are free to choose, we bear the responsibility for the
consequences of our chosen actions.

All that is bad in the world today is the result of choices
people made. God is not to blame. His only blame is that He
allowed us the freedom to choose.

One day Jesus will exercise His authority and put a stop to all
evil. Not only that, but He will eliminate the curse and all
its effects. He will make all things new, whole, and sound
again.

One day everyone will see and acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. You have that privilege today.

SAY THIS: Jesus Christ is Lord and I am glad!

Control Your Words

1 PETER 4:11 NIV
11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very
words of God. . . .

When you speak what the Bible says, you are speaking the very
words of God. Anything contrary to what the Bible says, should
never be spoken by a Christian.

EPHESIANS 4:29 NIV
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but
only what is helpful for building others up according to their
needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

JAMES 4:11 NKJ
11 Do not speak evil of one another . . . .

TITUS 3:2 NKJ
2 to speak evil of no one . . . .

You are responsible for what you say. If you cannot say
something good, the Bible is clear: keep quiet.

SAY THIS: Lord please help me to keep quiet unless I have
something to say that would be acceptable to you.

God Gave Us Dominion

GENESIS 1:26,28 NKJ
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to
Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful
and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every
living thing that moves on the earth."

God made a decision when He created human beings. He chose to
give us dominion on earth.

God had dominion, and He chose to give it to mankind. Notice
that God did not say, "Let him (Adam) have dominion." God said,
"Let them (both Adam and Eve -- and their descendants) have
dominion."

This is something important for us to understand.

PSALM 115:16 NKJ
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's; But the earth
He has given to the children of men.

Dominion is the right to make decisions and to rule. Dominion
does not necessarily mean ownership but rulership.

That means what happens on earth is determined by mankind, not
by God. Otherwise, God lied in saying that man has dominion.

God honors the choices made by people. By that I mean He allows
us to have a free will and to make choices. We are not puppets
or robots. Each one of us makes choices and then we must live
with the result of our choices.

A question often asked by many is "Why does God allow bad
things to happen on earth?" What they need to realize is that
humanity allows it. God gave us dominion and with that came
responsibility.

God does not change His mind.

ROMANS 11:29 GWN
29 God never changes his mind when he gives gifts or when he
calls someone.

PSALM 8:4-6 NKJ
4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man
that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You
have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your
hands; You have put all things under his feet,

Some teach that God makes all the decisions concerning life and
death for humans, but God clearly says we are the ones who must
make the choices.

DEUTERONOMY 30:19 NKJ
19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your
descendants may live;

If you don't understand what Adam and Eve had, then you cannot
clearly understand what you have. God never goes back on His
Word. We still have the dominion God gave them because we are
their descendants.

SAY THIS: God gave me dominion that I am responsible to
exercise on earth.

Train Your Children

PROVERBS 22:6 ESV
6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old
he will not depart from it.

God's plan is that children be a great blessing in a family.
Sadly, in many homes, the children are holy terrors,
exasperating and exhausting their parents. In every case, it is
the fault of the parent(s).

All young children act exactly as they have been trained by
their parents (or other care givers). As they get older
children have additional influences that may affect their
behavior, such as peers, television, teachers, etc.

Children are smart and train easily. They are much smarter than
a cow or a horse or a dog, who all can be successfully trained
to behave.

Every parent, without exception, trains their children. A few
train them properly -- in the way they should go. But all
parents train.

If you have young children now in your home, they are acting
exactly as you have trained them to act by your past actions.

If you allow your children to disrespect or disobey you, that
is your choice. Don't blame your children. They are just doing
what they have been trained to do.

Most parents tell their children to do right, but few seem to
consistently train their children to actually do right.
Training is much more than teaching, for it requires that the
desired action be done over and over, until acting right
becomes a habit.

Don't be deceived into thinking that letting children have
their own way will promote peace -- yours or theirs. No peace
will be found in a home where the instruction of the Lord is
not followed.

ISAIAH 54:13 NLT
13 I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great
peace.

Children do not know what is best for them. That is why God
gave them parents who are responsible for training them
correctly.

But if you have missed it, God is merciful. He will help you
and your children.

SAY THIS: God will help me and I will train my children in the
way they should go.

Forgive Others As God Has Forgiven You

COLOSSIANS 3:13 NKJ
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if
anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave
you, so you also must do.

Forgiving others for deep hurts seems to be one of the hardest
things a human being can do. In fact -- very few are successful
in forgiving.

Yet, in the Bible God commands us to forgive. Is God overly
demanding, or...?

God is smart. That is why He commands us to forgive. (Also
because He loves us and desires the best for us.) God knows how
terribly destructive it is for us to harbor unforgiveness. Not
forgiving someone can literally kill you.

Unforgiveness is a poison that eats away at your spiritual,
mental, and physical health and life.

Knowing that, God strictly tells us to forgive. But how can we?
We are just human, and we don't feel like forgiving when
someone has wronged us severely.

(You may think it is impossible to forgive someone who hurt
you. With God it is possible. He never asks us to do something
we cannot do.)

The answer is in receiving God's help, enabling you to forgive.
First, you must be "born again" spiritually by receiving Jesus
Christ as Lord. That means you receive new life in your inner
being, giving you a new nature -- a nature of love instead of
selfishness.

Next, when you are wronged, you need to ask the Lord to help
you forgive the person who hurt you. Having done that, you must
make a firm decision to quit holding anything against that
person.

Forgiveness is not a feeling but a decision to quit holding
something against someone. When you forgive you must release
them and forget it.

You must forgive by faith, after asking God to help you.
Feelings always follow faith -- not the other way around.

How can we humans forgive others just as God has forgiven us?
Having God's help is necessary. Only His love in our hearts can
enable us.

You must forgive others -- no matter what they have done. To
not forgive hurts you. You must forgive.

SAY THIS: With God's help, I will forgive others as God has
forgiven me.

You Are God's Garden

1 CORINTHIANS 3:9 LB
9 We are only God's coworkers. You are God's garden, not ours;
you are God's building, not ours.

We discovered that God's Word is a seed (Luke 8:11). Now we see
that the Bible says that we, as believers, are God's garden --
the place where seed is planted.

The question for you to consider is: who determines the
harvest? God, or you?

(The harvest I speak of is the fruit, or result, of the Word of
God. The harvest of blessing that God's Word produces in your
life.)

I suggest that the harvest is mainly controlled by the one who
determines what seed is planted. Would you agree?

If wheat seed is planted, it is unreasonable to expect a
harvest of corn. If only a few seeds are planted, it is
unreasonable to expect a large harvest. Wouldn't you agree?

Yes, you are God's field, but He allows you a lot of freedom to
choose what will be produced in your life. And the main way you
choose is by choosing what seed will be planted in your heart
and mind.

You can choose something other than God's Word. You can also
choose different areas of God's Word. Planting different
scriptures will produce different results in your life.

If all you ever plant are scriptures on the new birth, you
cannot expect to have a huge harvest of healing or financial
blessing in your life. The choice is yours.

SAY THIS: I am God's garden. Lord, help me plant the seed of
your Word in me in abundance.

Expect God's Protection

We should expect God's protection, and thank Him for it.

But we must remember that we receive from God by faith. So if
we don't believe God will protect us, we are, in effect,
hindering God's protection.

So we need to feed our faith on the promises of the Bible
concerning God's protection for His people. There are many, but
here are two.

ISAIAH 54:17 GWN
17 No weapon that has been made to be used against you will
succeed. You will have an answer for anyone who accuses you.
This is the inheritance of the LORD's servants. Their victory
comes from me," declares the LORD.

LUKE 10:19 NKJ
19 "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing
shall by any means hurt you.

Then we also need to express our faith in thanks to God every
day for His protection. The ninety-first Psalm can help us do
this. I suggest you make it personal and speak it often.

CONFESSION BASED ON PSALM 91 NLT
1 I live in the shelter of the Most High so I will find rest in
the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my
place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue me from every trap and protect me from
deadly disease.
4 He will cover me with his feathers. He will shelter me with
his wings. His faithful promises are my armor and protection.
5 I will not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the
arrow that flies in the day.
6 I will not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the
disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are
dying around me, these evils will not touch me.
8 I can just open my eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.
9 I make the LORD my refuge, I make the Most High my shelter,
10 so no evil will conquer me; no plague will come near my
home.
11 For he will order his angels to protect me wherever I go.
12 They will hold me up with their hands so I won't even hurt
my foot on a stone.
13 I will trample upon lions and cobras; I will crush fierce
lions and serpents under my feet!
14 The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me. I will
protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in
trouble. I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life and give them my
salvation."

SAY THIS: Thank You Lord for protecting me and my family today.