Power For Living

Joyce Meyer is the only one who can get away with telling people how it is having the effect where you see a change needing to take place within your heart to make you a better person.

This is how I feel about this little devotional. Total truth!

God Bless.

Power for Living

by Joyce Meyer

So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.
—James 4:7

It is not going to do us one bit of good to try to resist the devil if we are not going to submit to God, because the power to resist the devil is found in submitting to God. If you want to keep Satan under your feet, you have to walk in obedience. Don’t have any known disobedience, any purposeful disobedience in your life.

Do I ever disobey God? Yes, but I don’t do it on purpose. I might lose my temper and say something that I shouldn’t. But as soon as God starts dealing with me about it, I do what He says. I have a reverential fear of God in my life, and I think we need a lot more of that. I believe that God is God, and I believe He means business. If He tells me to do something, He means it, and when He tells me not to do something, He means it. Yes, we live under grace, but grace is not an excuse to sin; grace is the power to live a holy life. Disobedience is one of Satan’s favorite entrances by which to gradually draw us into a web of sin that is devastating for us in the end.

Lord, I know that there is power for living today as I submit my life to You. Thank You for the grace that empowers me to walk in obedience. Amen.

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From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Advent: What Can I Give Him

This advent devotional goes straight to the heart or it would if you let it.

Makes you think about what you would give back to Him and you should for He is worthy. No, he doesn't need a present but that doesn't mean we can just get sloppy and forget about what He has done for us.

So what exactly does He want? He wants everything not to be an overlord but to be the only one we will rely on from here to eternity making our hearts the most precious gift we can give.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.

What Can I Give Him?

One year those responsible for decorating their church for Christmas decided to use the theme of “Christmas lists.” Instead of decorating with the usual shiny gold and silver ornaments, they gave each person a red or green tag. On one side they were to write down the gift they would like from Jesus, and on the other they were to list the gift they would give to the One whose birth they were celebrating.

If you were to do this, what gift would you ask for and what would you offer? The Bible gives us lots of ideas. God promises to supply all our needs, so we might ask for a new job, help with financial problems, physical healing for ourselves or others, or a restored relationship. Or we might long to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind and good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled (Gal. 5:22-23).

The most important gift we can ever receive is God’s gift of His Son, our Savior, and with Him forgiveness, restoration, and the promise of spiritual life that begins now and lasts forever. And the most important gift we can ever give is to give Jesus our heart. —Marion Stroud

You will know true joy when you receive the gift of God’s Son.

-Author Unknown

Back to Back

My nephew was a soldier and he shared one time about the one wish the soldiers had when they went out to battle: to know what the enemy will be throwing at them at all times.

Unlike the soldier's who protect our country, we as Christians we have our enemy's battle plan at all times and sometimes we loose sight of that fact because we are usually in the never ending battle for our lives and our love ones.

Satan gives us no rest from his darts but thank you, God that He has given His word and this little devotional to keep us fighting, believing, and a knowledge of how we win in the end.

God Bless.


“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19

Did you know a device of the enemy is to attack back to back? You can have a season of peace where everything is going well, then you notice one thing happens, then another, and another. It’s manifold temptations that are designed to get you out of faith. If you don’t understand this tactic of the enemy of repeated attacks, it can throw you off. But thank God when the enemy comes in like a flood in that way, God lifts up a standard against him. The power of the Word of God is that standard. It is your deliverance.

If you know that God delivered you before, He will deliver you again. If He provided before, He will provide again. No weapon formed against you will prosper. Instead of saying, “If one more thing happens, I’m going to lose it!” Because one more thing is likely to happen. Let the whole kingdom of darkness know, “No matter what happens in my life, I’m going to keep on standing on the Word of God! I’m going to keep trusting in my God! I’m going to keep my mouth full of praise and I’m not backing down for nobody! No matter what it looks like in my life, I have the victory through Jesus!”

Prayer: Father, I thank you for your supernatural encouragement. It gave me the boost I need to keep moving forward despite temporary circumstances. You are my God and I thank you that no matter what comes my way, you are faithful to lift up a standard in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

(Read Job 1:1-2:10)
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A sincere thanks to our Contributing Devotional Writers.
To give into Daughters of the King International Ministries, Inc.,

Advent: The Smells Of The Stable

Yeah, I'm confident enough to say, there is no way would I give birth in a stable. I don't even go into a stable now why would I go into one to have a baby? And that is why I am not the mother of the king of the universe.

However, doesn't mean I can't appreciate everything Mary and Joesph did to bring the most important baby into the world so that is why I enjoy this advent devotional.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.

The Smells of the Stable

A stable? What a place to give birth to the Messiah! The smells and sounds of a barnyard were our Savior’s first human experience. Like other babies, He may even have cried at the sounds of the animals and the strangers parading around His temporary crib. If so, they would have been the first of many tears. Jesus would come to know human loss and sorrow, the doubts His brothers and family had about Him, and the pain His mother experienced as she saw Him tortured and killed.

All these hardships—and so much more—awaited the baby trying to sleep that first night. Yet from His very first moments, Jesus was God “with us” (Matt. 1:23), and He knew what it meant to be human. This would continue for over three decades, ending at His death on the cross. Because of His love for you and me, Jesus became fully human. And being human allows Him to identify with us.

Never again can we say that no one understands us. Jesus does. May the Light that entered the world that night cast its brilliance into the deepest corners of our souls this Christmas, giving us the peace on Earth of which the angels spoke so long ago. —Randy Kilgore

Jesus understands.

Our Daily Bread Christmas Special Devotional

Cultivating Endurance

I don't have what the endurance to run a mini race let alone a marathon. At the end of the day, I barely have enough breath to pull myself into bed.

So when I came across this devotional, it gave me hope and the push I needed to keep going. The only thing I know for sure is that this is a hard walk and I must fight with the fight of faith and keep running the race until I cross my finish line and I hear my Savior say, well done thou good and faithful servant.

God Bless.

Cultivating Endurance

Let us run the race with endurance.

This confession tells us that another condition for victory in this race is stated in Hebrews 12:1: “endurance.” It is one quality that is essential to our character, as Christians, if we are going to achieve real spiritual success and fulfillment. We must cultivate endurance.

What is the opposite of endurance? I think it is giving up, or quitting. Christians cannot afford to be quitters. When God commits us to something, we have to set our faces to fulfill it and go through with it. There is a close relationship between self-control and endurance. Without self-control, we will not achieve endurance. We must master our weaknesses; otherwise, every time we are tested in the area of endurance, some weakness—whether it is emotional, psychological, or physical—will get us down, and we will give up at the very point where we should have been holding on and enduring.

Yet another condition for a successful race is to have our eyes fixed on Jesus. As is stated in Hebrews, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2 NASB).

We have to look continually to Jesus. In other words, we cannot run the race in self-reliance. Looking to Jesus means that He is our example, and we put our confidence in Him. He is the author—the beginning of our faith. He is the perfecter—the One who will bring us through to victory.

Thank You, Lord, for helping me to “press on.” I proclaim that I do not give up, but fix my gaze on Jesus, the One who brings me through to victory. I shall run the race with endurance. Amen. 

Advent: Christmas Lists

I love this advent devotional there is so much truth in the words. What we need to remember about this season is,it isn't about the season but the reason and Jesus is the only reason for the season.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.

CHRISTMAS LISTS

By Norman Visseron 

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21 

[Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” - Luke 12:15

We know better, but we still get caught up in the retail madness of Christmas. It is hard to avoid when stores announce the countdown of shopping days till Christmas, when ads keep putting gift ideas in our heads, or when the kids give us a sad look and tell us what they really want for Christmas. It’s hard not to think that our worth is measured by an abundance of presents under the tree.

We know better. But if we are kids or teens, we also know that our friends will ask, “What did you get for Christmas?” while eagerly cataloging their haul. And while we as adults may be more subtle, we are not immune from the comparison game. We might not ask our friends, “What did you get?” but we can’t help noting someone’s remark about a vacation or new bling. Especially in December we need to be on guard “against all kinds of greed.”

A friend who grew up in a large family said that he and his siblings noticed something while remembering past Christmases: “We noticed that the stuff we did together was what stood out, not the stuff we got.” In his story about a man who built bigger barns, Jesus reminds us there is more to life than hoarding stuff. Having things will never satisfy, but waiting for our faithful God will!

Prayer:

Giving God, teach us to measure our worth in our relationship with you, not in the goods we accumulate. Help us to be as generous to others as you have been with us. Amen.

Norman Visser

Advent: Humility Looks Good On Everyone

If you truly want to understand what humility is and what it is suppose to look like just take a look at Jesus, His life, and His work. 

This advent devotional shreds a light on humility.

God Bless and Merry Christmas

HUMILITY LOOKS GOOD ON EVERYONE

REFLECTION

Jesus is the King of Kings, yet He arrived as a humble servant. Humility is not thinking you are less, it is never forgetting the fact that it is Jesus who made you more. So, how do you become like Jesus? How do you develop a spirit of humility?

Humility is the byproduct of being with Jesus. Anyone who walks intimately with Him will not think more highly of himself than he should. To be loved by Jesus and invited into a relationship with Him, is all we need to right-size ourselves and to assume His gentleness and grace.

To be humble doesn’t mean you have to be weak. God has given you all you need to live confidently as His. The proud will never truly lift up God’s name in praise. Yet He raises the humble to new heights.

MEDITATION AND PRAYER

A Private Litany of Humility

From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of comfort and ease, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being criticized, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being passed over, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being lonely, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being hurt, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering, deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, strengthen me with your Spirit.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach me your ways.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
help me put my self-importance aside
to learn the kind of cooperation with others
that makes possible the presence of your Abba’s household. Amen.

Adapted from a prayer by Rafael,
Cardinal Merry Del Val, 1865–1930