Making Tough Decisions
It's important to make the right choices, especially in the middle of hurt, discouragement, frustration and confusion when the right choice is the tough choice to make. When things are stressful, we naturally like to take the path of least resistance. But those are the very moments when you need to make the tougher choice. Because to reap right results in life, you have to do right when you don't feel like it.
What's amazing to me is that Jesus knows what we feel like. When He became a human being, He struggled with all of the frustrations we struggle with. He felt like giving up and taking the easy way, but He overcame and made the tough choices.
When we grow weary and falter in our determination, we can know with confidence that we serve a God who knows what we're going through. And we don't have to make tough decisions on our own.
When you find yourself stressed-out and beat down, on the verge of giving up, remember that God is with you and He understands. Find the strength to make the tough choices in Him.
Prayer Starter: God, I'm so glad and so thankful that You understand everything I go through and struggle with. When I am tempted to take the path of least resistance, I will find my strength in You to make the tough choices.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Daily Devotion From Joyce Meyer
Don't Give in to Self-Pity
Self-pity is a destructive and negative emotion. It blinds us to our blessings and the possibilities before us and it steals our hope for both today and tomorrow. People who pity themselves think, "Why should I try to do anything? I'll just fail."
Self-pity is actually idolatry because it is self-focus carried to the extreme. When we allow ourselves to fall into self-pity, we are essentially rejecting God's love and His ability to change things.
I encourage you not to waste one more day of your life in self-pity. When you lose hope and begin to feel sorry for yourself, stop and say: 'I refuse to feel sorry for myself. I may be in a difficult season of life right now, but I will not stop hoping for better things!'
God has thoughts and plans for your good, to give you hope for your future. If you will hold on to your hope and fight for it when the enemy tries to take it away, you will see amazing things take place in your life.
Prayer Starter: God, I refuse to feel sorry for myself. Even if things are difficult right now, I know that You are bigger than my problems and that You have a good future planned for me. I want Your plans to come to pass in my life, and I trust in You to change my circumstances according to Your will.
Self-pity is a destructive and negative emotion. It blinds us to our blessings and the possibilities before us and it steals our hope for both today and tomorrow. People who pity themselves think, "Why should I try to do anything? I'll just fail."
Self-pity is actually idolatry because it is self-focus carried to the extreme. When we allow ourselves to fall into self-pity, we are essentially rejecting God's love and His ability to change things.
I encourage you not to waste one more day of your life in self-pity. When you lose hope and begin to feel sorry for yourself, stop and say: 'I refuse to feel sorry for myself. I may be in a difficult season of life right now, but I will not stop hoping for better things!'
God has thoughts and plans for your good, to give you hope for your future. If you will hold on to your hope and fight for it when the enemy tries to take it away, you will see amazing things take place in your life.
Prayer Starter: God, I refuse to feel sorry for myself. Even if things are difficult right now, I know that You are bigger than my problems and that You have a good future planned for me. I want Your plans to come to pass in my life, and I trust in You to change my circumstances according to Your will.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Ten Ways To Love
This is awesome ... I received this in a email and had to repost it.
1. Listen without interrupting. Proverbs 18.13
2. Speak without accusing. James 1:19
3. Give without sparing. Proverbs 21.26
4. Pray without ceasing. Colossians 1:9
5. Answer without arguing. Proverbs 17:1
6. Share without pretending. Ephesians 4:15
7. Enjoy without complaint. Philippians 2:14
8. Trust without wavering. 1 Corinthians 13:7
9. Forgive without punishing. Colossians 3:13
10. Promise without forgetting. Proverbs 13:12
1. Listen without interrupting. Proverbs 18.13
2. Speak without accusing. James 1:19
3. Give without sparing. Proverbs 21.26
4. Pray without ceasing. Colossians 1:9
5. Answer without arguing. Proverbs 17:1
6. Share without pretending. Ephesians 4:15
7. Enjoy without complaint. Philippians 2:14
8. Trust without wavering. 1 Corinthians 13:7
9. Forgive without punishing. Colossians 3:13
10. Promise without forgetting. Proverbs 13:12
Thought For The Day
Learn to adjust your lens in how you view things. Marcel Pagnol said, "The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be." But the truth of the matter is that the worst is over, God is good, and the best is yet to come! -Bishop Dale C. Bronner
Daily Devotion From Joyce Meyer
Are You Hopeful?
When you think about the future, are you hopeful? Or do you struggle with a sense of dread?
People who have seen God's faithfulness in the past tend to be very hopeful about the future. They know a bad situation can turn into a wonderful testimony in a matter of minutes.
On the other hand, people who have lost all hope view life from the perspective of dread. A close cousin to fear, dread steals the ability to enjoy ordinary life and makes people anxious about the future.
Hope is the opposite of dread, and a close relative of faith. When we have faith in God, it leads to hope, and our outlook on life and the future is positive.
Hope allows us to leave our unanswered questions in God's hands; it empowers us to remain at peace, and it enables us to believe the best about the days to come.
You can have hope when you trust in God's love. He has the power to provide for you and lead you through every situation.
Prayer Starter: God, I choose to put my faith in You, knowing that it will turn into hope. I don't have to dread, because You have the ability to care for me, so I put my hope in You.
When you think about the future, are you hopeful? Or do you struggle with a sense of dread?
People who have seen God's faithfulness in the past tend to be very hopeful about the future. They know a bad situation can turn into a wonderful testimony in a matter of minutes.
On the other hand, people who have lost all hope view life from the perspective of dread. A close cousin to fear, dread steals the ability to enjoy ordinary life and makes people anxious about the future.
Hope is the opposite of dread, and a close relative of faith. When we have faith in God, it leads to hope, and our outlook on life and the future is positive.
Hope allows us to leave our unanswered questions in God's hands; it empowers us to remain at peace, and it enables us to believe the best about the days to come.
You can have hope when you trust in God's love. He has the power to provide for you and lead you through every situation.
Prayer Starter: God, I choose to put my faith in You, knowing that it will turn into hope. I don't have to dread, because You have the ability to care for me, so I put my hope in You.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thought Of The Day
What are the ingredients of a happy life? Some people add a little and some people add a lot. Too much of this or too much of that can be detrimental. It doesn't take much, for me ... adding God, Family, Friends, Love, and Faith is all I need.
Daily Devotion From Joyce Meyer
Be Generous and Cheerful
As Christians, we should be generous people, giving whatever we can whenever we can. And that doesn't just mean money, we can give help, encouragement, time, talents and forgiveness.
This means we can't let selfishness get in the way. A lot of people are stingy, clinging to what they have and afraid to give it up. Others aren't stingy in their actions, but they are stingy in their hearts, giving because they feel obligated, not because they really want to.
But this isn't the way God calls us to give. Second Corinthians 9:7 tells us, "God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, 'prompt to do it') giver [whose heart is in his giving]."
If you think about it, when we give our lives to God, everything we have is His anyway, it no longer belongs to us. We should be givers, using our resources the way He wants us to.
Give cheerfully today. It pleases God, and those who give cheerfully are happy, fulfilled, and highly effective.
Prayer Starter: God, I make up my mind and purpose in my heart right now to be a cheerful giver. Show me how I can generously give to You and the people in my life today.
As Christians, we should be generous people, giving whatever we can whenever we can. And that doesn't just mean money, we can give help, encouragement, time, talents and forgiveness.
This means we can't let selfishness get in the way. A lot of people are stingy, clinging to what they have and afraid to give it up. Others aren't stingy in their actions, but they are stingy in their hearts, giving because they feel obligated, not because they really want to.
But this isn't the way God calls us to give. Second Corinthians 9:7 tells us, "God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, 'prompt to do it') giver [whose heart is in his giving]."
If you think about it, when we give our lives to God, everything we have is His anyway, it no longer belongs to us. We should be givers, using our resources the way He wants us to.
Give cheerfully today. It pleases God, and those who give cheerfully are happy, fulfilled, and highly effective.
Prayer Starter: God, I make up my mind and purpose in my heart right now to be a cheerful giver. Show me how I can generously give to You and the people in my life today.
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