Jesus wept. (John 11:35)
Many people do not feel godly emotions because they have endured so much pain in the past that they simply "turned off" their feelings. People who have refused to feel anything for a long period of time are afraid to begin to feel again because all they can remember about feelings is pain.
Eventually, emotional pain must be dealt with in order to let godly emotions flow in our lives again. Allowing ourselves to feel again will turn a hard heart into a tender one, but i requires patience and a willingness to work with God to get those feelings turned back on.
Now matter what has caused you pain or how terrible it was, don't stay in the bondage of hard-heartedness. That will only treat symptoms, not roots, of your pain. It will not protect you from further pain, but it will hinder your ability to hear God's voice. Hard-heartedness is not from God; He created us to have feelings. According today's verse, even Jesus wept.
Anytime you allow yourself to feel, you will be vulnerable to pain, but it will be different when you have Jesus the Healer living inside of you.
If you have turned off your emotions, please realize that you have compromised your ability to hear God's voice. Open your heart to Him; ask Him to tenderize your heart and heal you so you can hear His voice and enjoy intimate fellowship with Him.
GOD'S WORD FOR YOU TODAY: If you build walls to keep people out of your life, you will live behind those walls in a self-made prison.
Page 193
hearing from GOD each morning
365 Daily Devotions
By: Joyce Meyer
And please always remember God love you.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Truth About Doubt
Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
1 Kings 18:21
When We read in 1 Kings 18:21 about halting and limping "between two opinions," we can interpret that phrase quite simply a "doubting." I once heard a story that offers valuable insight into the doubt that so often affects Christians.
There was a man who had a financial need and was confessing God's Word over his life, quoting Scriptures, and believing that God had already provided a way for him. He was just waiting for his breakthrough to become a reality. While doing so, he was intermittently attacked with thoughts of doubt. After he had suffered a particularly difficult time and was beginning to get discouraged, God opened his eyes to the spiritual world. This is what he saw: a demon (an evil spirit) speaking lies to him, telling him that he was not going to get the help he needed and that confessing God's Word was not going to work. But he also saw that each time he confessed the Word, light would come out of his mouth like a sword, and the demon would cower and fall backward.
As God showed him this vision, the man then understood why it is so important to keep speaking the Word. He saw that he did have faith, which was why the evil spirit was attacking him with doubt.
Doubt is not something God puts in us. Romans 12:3 says that God gives every man the "measure of faith" (KJV). God has placed faith in our hearts, but the devil tries to negate our faith by attacking us with doubt.
Doubt comes in the form of thoughts that are in opposition to the Word of God. This is why it is so important for us to know the Bible. If we know the Word, then we can recognize when the devil is lying to us. Be assured that he lies to us in order to steal what Jesus purchased for us through His death and resurrection.
I encourage you to be like the man who sought help from the Lord: speak God's Word because His Word is true, and because confessing the truth sends the demons of doubt away!
Page 551
The Everyday Life Bible
The Power of God's Word for Everyday Living
Amplified Version
Featuring Notes and Commentary By: Joyce Meyer
1 Kings 18:21
When We read in 1 Kings 18:21 about halting and limping "between two opinions," we can interpret that phrase quite simply a "doubting." I once heard a story that offers valuable insight into the doubt that so often affects Christians.
There was a man who had a financial need and was confessing God's Word over his life, quoting Scriptures, and believing that God had already provided a way for him. He was just waiting for his breakthrough to become a reality. While doing so, he was intermittently attacked with thoughts of doubt. After he had suffered a particularly difficult time and was beginning to get discouraged, God opened his eyes to the spiritual world. This is what he saw: a demon (an evil spirit) speaking lies to him, telling him that he was not going to get the help he needed and that confessing God's Word was not going to work. But he also saw that each time he confessed the Word, light would come out of his mouth like a sword, and the demon would cower and fall backward.
As God showed him this vision, the man then understood why it is so important to keep speaking the Word. He saw that he did have faith, which was why the evil spirit was attacking him with doubt.
Doubt is not something God puts in us. Romans 12:3 says that God gives every man the "measure of faith" (KJV). God has placed faith in our hearts, but the devil tries to negate our faith by attacking us with doubt.
Doubt comes in the form of thoughts that are in opposition to the Word of God. This is why it is so important for us to know the Bible. If we know the Word, then we can recognize when the devil is lying to us. Be assured that he lies to us in order to steal what Jesus purchased for us through His death and resurrection.
I encourage you to be like the man who sought help from the Lord: speak God's Word because His Word is true, and because confessing the truth sends the demons of doubt away!
Page 551
The Everyday Life Bible
The Power of God's Word for Everyday Living
Amplified Version
Featuring Notes and Commentary By: Joyce Meyer
Monday, July 9, 2012
Keeping Our Priorities Straight
And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent].
(Colossians 1:17-18)
I believe that one of the reasons people lose their peace and fail to have the things they want is because they get their priorities out of line. There are so many projects to which people can give their time and attention. Some of the choices we have are bad options and are easy to recognize as something to avoid, but many of our options are good. Yet even good things can get our priorities all messed up. What is a top priority for somebody else could be a problem for us. So we have to be careful that we don't just do what everybody else is doing. We need to do what God is leading us individually to do.
When setting our priorities, it's important to understand that Jesus is the holding power of all that is good in our lives. That is why He should always be our first priority. Jesus holds everything together. A couple can't have a good marriage if Jesus isn't holding it together. In fact, people can't have a good personal relationships with anybody if Jesus is not leading and influencing individuals to love one another. Finances are a mess without Jesus. Our thoughts are clouded and confused without Jesus. Our emotions are out of control without Him.
Jesus is the head of the church body; therefore, He alone, in every respect, should occupy the chief place, stand first, and be preeminent in each of our lives. That means if Jesus is not first in our lives, then we need to rearrange our priorities.
Page 191
New Day New You 366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life
By: Joyce Meyer
#1 New York Times Bestselling author
Please remember God loves you, and He is all ways there for you.
(Colossians 1:17-18)
I believe that one of the reasons people lose their peace and fail to have the things they want is because they get their priorities out of line. There are so many projects to which people can give their time and attention. Some of the choices we have are bad options and are easy to recognize as something to avoid, but many of our options are good. Yet even good things can get our priorities all messed up. What is a top priority for somebody else could be a problem for us. So we have to be careful that we don't just do what everybody else is doing. We need to do what God is leading us individually to do.
When setting our priorities, it's important to understand that Jesus is the holding power of all that is good in our lives. That is why He should always be our first priority. Jesus holds everything together. A couple can't have a good marriage if Jesus isn't holding it together. In fact, people can't have a good personal relationships with anybody if Jesus is not leading and influencing individuals to love one another. Finances are a mess without Jesus. Our thoughts are clouded and confused without Jesus. Our emotions are out of control without Him.
Jesus is the head of the church body; therefore, He alone, in every respect, should occupy the chief place, stand first, and be preeminent in each of our lives. That means if Jesus is not first in our lives, then we need to rearrange our priorities.
Page 191
New Day New You 366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life
By: Joyce Meyer
#1 New York Times Bestselling author
Please remember God loves you, and He is all ways there for you.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Take Time For God
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 [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
Isaiah 40:31
We live in a time-crunched world and just about everything we do seems to be urgent. The enemy has been extremely successful in his scheme to keep people from praying and spending time in the Word by keeping us so terribly busy. We live under incredible pressure and we run from one thing to the next to the next to the next-to the point that we often neglect the things that are really important in life: God, family and other relationships, our health, and building up our spiritual lives. Then we get more and more stressed out-and the only way to deal with that and get life back in order is to get with God and listen to what He says to us. It's true; we really cannot handle life apart from Him. We cannot handle the pressure, the confusion, and the stress without Him. Our marriages will suffer, our children will suffer, our finances will get messed up, our relationships won't thrive-if we do not spend time in the Word and in prayer. God will strengthen us and enable us to handle life peacefully and wisely if we start praying about things instead of merely trying to get through the day. When we take time with God and listen to His voice, He renews our strength and enables us to handle life and not be weary. But we have to start by using the time we have wisely by always putting God first.
God's Word For You Today: Take time to hear God's voice every day.
Page 184
hearing from GOD each morning
365 Daily Devotions
By: Joyce Meyer
And please always remember God loves you.
Isaiah 40:31
We live in a time-crunched world and just about everything we do seems to be urgent. The enemy has been extremely successful in his scheme to keep people from praying and spending time in the Word by keeping us so terribly busy. We live under incredible pressure and we run from one thing to the next to the next to the next-to the point that we often neglect the things that are really important in life: God, family and other relationships, our health, and building up our spiritual lives. Then we get more and more stressed out-and the only way to deal with that and get life back in order is to get with God and listen to what He says to us. It's true; we really cannot handle life apart from Him. We cannot handle the pressure, the confusion, and the stress without Him. Our marriages will suffer, our children will suffer, our finances will get messed up, our relationships won't thrive-if we do not spend time in the Word and in prayer. God will strengthen us and enable us to handle life peacefully and wisely if we start praying about things instead of merely trying to get through the day. When we take time with God and listen to His voice, He renews our strength and enables us to handle life and not be weary. But we have to start by using the time we have wisely by always putting God first.
God's Word For You Today: Take time to hear God's voice every day.
Page 184
hearing from GOD each morning
365 Daily Devotions
By: Joyce Meyer
And please always remember God loves you.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Keep the Devil on the Run
When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.
(John 8:44)
The devil lies to us, and if we aren't aggressive against him and don't stop listening to his lies, he will run our lives. He goes about like a roaring lion (see 1 Peter 5:8), but we have the Lion of Judah-Jesus, inside us. We are the ones who should be doing the roaring!
We should keep ourselves so spiritually attuned that when the devil makes one move toward us, we pick up exactly what he's trying to do and back him down immediately. It should take only a few seconds.
The devil is always trying to come against us. As long as we back down, he keeps on coming. If we make one move against him in the authority Jesus made available to us, the devil has to back down.
We need to continue standing in our authority against him. If we stop, he will start moving against us, backing us up. The devil is a liar, a bully, a bluff, a deceiver. He comes like a lion, but he is not the lion. We believers in Jesus Christ have the power of the Greater One inside of us. "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4 KJV)
Know the Word well enough that the minute a thought comes into your head that doesn't line up with God's Word, you can say to the devil, "Liar! No, I'm not listening to you." You can spend your life backing up and hiding from the devil, or you can spend it forcing him to back up.
Page 179
New Day New You
366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life
By: Joyce Meyer
#1 New York Times Bestselling author
(John 8:44)
The devil lies to us, and if we aren't aggressive against him and don't stop listening to his lies, he will run our lives. He goes about like a roaring lion (see 1 Peter 5:8), but we have the Lion of Judah-Jesus, inside us. We are the ones who should be doing the roaring!
We should keep ourselves so spiritually attuned that when the devil makes one move toward us, we pick up exactly what he's trying to do and back him down immediately. It should take only a few seconds.
The devil is always trying to come against us. As long as we back down, he keeps on coming. If we make one move against him in the authority Jesus made available to us, the devil has to back down.
We need to continue standing in our authority against him. If we stop, he will start moving against us, backing us up. The devil is a liar, a bully, a bluff, a deceiver. He comes like a lion, but he is not the lion. We believers in Jesus Christ have the power of the Greater One inside of us. "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4 KJV)
Know the Word well enough that the minute a thought comes into your head that doesn't line up with God's Word, you can say to the devil, "Liar! No, I'm not listening to you." You can spend your life backing up and hiding from the devil, or you can spend it forcing him to back up.
Page 179
New Day New You
366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life
By: Joyce Meyer
#1 New York Times Bestselling author
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Be Bold!
The wicked flee when no man pursues them, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous are bold as a lion.
(Proverbs 28:1)
One of the main reasons people do not pray and that they are reluctant to ask God for what they need and want is that they do not feel worthy. They do not feel good about themselves; they do not feel that they are spiritual enough, so they don't believe God would listen to them anyway. We all make mistakes and when we do we should receive God's forgiveness and mercy, which allows His blessings to flow even when we have made mistakes.
When we talk to God and make requests of Him, we must understand our position as sons and daughters of God who are made righteous through the blood of Jesus, Otherwise, we may not hear His voice clearly or perceive His answers accurately.
You see, we so often think our righteousness is based on doing things "right" -saying the "right words, behaving the "right" ways, or having the "right" attitude. The truth is that we cannot make ourselves righteous. True biblical righteousness is not based on what we do right, but it is based on what Jesus did for us. His righteousness becomes ours by faith, and once we believe that, then we progressively display more and more right behavior. But, we must always remember that God answers our prayers because He is good, not because we are. We can approach Him boldly in prayer and expect to hear from Him daily.
God's Word For You Today: God will turn your mistakes into miracles if you trust Him and pray boldly.
Page 178
Hearing from God Each Morning
365 Daily Devotions
By: Joyce Meyer
(Proverbs 28:1)
One of the main reasons people do not pray and that they are reluctant to ask God for what they need and want is that they do not feel worthy. They do not feel good about themselves; they do not feel that they are spiritual enough, so they don't believe God would listen to them anyway. We all make mistakes and when we do we should receive God's forgiveness and mercy, which allows His blessings to flow even when we have made mistakes.
When we talk to God and make requests of Him, we must understand our position as sons and daughters of God who are made righteous through the blood of Jesus, Otherwise, we may not hear His voice clearly or perceive His answers accurately.
You see, we so often think our righteousness is based on doing things "right" -saying the "right words, behaving the "right" ways, or having the "right" attitude. The truth is that we cannot make ourselves righteous. True biblical righteousness is not based on what we do right, but it is based on what Jesus did for us. His righteousness becomes ours by faith, and once we believe that, then we progressively display more and more right behavior. But, we must always remember that God answers our prayers because He is good, not because we are. We can approach Him boldly in prayer and expect to hear from Him daily.
God's Word For You Today: God will turn your mistakes into miracles if you trust Him and pray boldly.
Page 178
Hearing from God Each Morning
365 Daily Devotions
By: Joyce Meyer
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Forgive Those Who Hurt You
Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he [Stephen] had said this, he fell asleep [in death].
Act 7:60
In Acts 6 and 7 we read the story of Stephen who was called before the Jewish council and falsely accused of blaspheming God and Moses by preaching the gospel. After he had delivered a sermon that angered the council, he was taken out and stoned. But even as they were stoning him, Stephen prayed for his enemies, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit! And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]!" (Acts 7:59-60).
I am afraid that in that situation I would have been tempted to pick up a rock and throw it back. But that is not what Stephen did. He forgave his tormentors and prayed for them, saying in essence, "Forgive them, Lord they don't understand what they are doing." A large majority of the time operating out of selfishness. Years ago someone told me something that helped me. He said that 95 percent of the time when people hurt our feelings, that was not what they intended to do.
God does not want us to have a offended heart. If we do, we will not be able to minister to others. You may think this doesn't relate to you because you don't have a pulpit ministry. But every believer has a ministry. You may not be on a platform teaching, but you have a ministry to you children, your spouse, your family, and God.
How can we properly praise God with a wrong heart condition? It is easy for us to be offended. But according to the Bible love is not easily offended.
Page 178
New Day New You
366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life
By: Joyce Meyer
#1 New York Times Bestselling author
Please all ways remember God loves you, and you can call on Him anytime.
Act 7:60
In Acts 6 and 7 we read the story of Stephen who was called before the Jewish council and falsely accused of blaspheming God and Moses by preaching the gospel. After he had delivered a sermon that angered the council, he was taken out and stoned. But even as they were stoning him, Stephen prayed for his enemies, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit! And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]!" (Acts 7:59-60).
I am afraid that in that situation I would have been tempted to pick up a rock and throw it back. But that is not what Stephen did. He forgave his tormentors and prayed for them, saying in essence, "Forgive them, Lord they don't understand what they are doing." A large majority of the time operating out of selfishness. Years ago someone told me something that helped me. He said that 95 percent of the time when people hurt our feelings, that was not what they intended to do.
God does not want us to have a offended heart. If we do, we will not be able to minister to others. You may think this doesn't relate to you because you don't have a pulpit ministry. But every believer has a ministry. You may not be on a platform teaching, but you have a ministry to you children, your spouse, your family, and God.
How can we properly praise God with a wrong heart condition? It is easy for us to be offended. But according to the Bible love is not easily offended.
Page 178
New Day New You
366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life
By: Joyce Meyer
#1 New York Times Bestselling author
Please all ways remember God loves you, and you can call on Him anytime.
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