A Joyce Meyer devotional - "Love Out Loud"

"Break Free from Criticism and Judgment"
Joyce Meyer's "Love Out Loud" devotional
October 10

"But [as for me personally] it matters very little to me that I should be put on trial by you...I do not even put myself on trial and judge myself...I feel blameless; but I am not vindicated and acquitted before God on that account. It is the Lord [Himself] Who examines and judges me." 1 Corinthians 4:3, 4

Criticism and judgment are rampant in today's society. It is unfortunate that people choose to degrade others instead of offering encouragement and affirmation. For most people, being criticized and judged by others is difficult to bear. It's hard on us mentally, and it can be very painful emotionally. But the more we learn to love ourselves in a godly way, the less susceptible we are to the wounds criticism and judgment can inflict.

Certainly, being critical and judgmental toward others is a sin; God's Word instructs us repeatedly not to treat people this way. But, it is equally sinful to allow the adverse opinions of others to affect us negatively or influence the decisions we make.

Most of the time, people who criticize and judge others are extremely insecure. Because they are not comfortable with themselves, they struggle to be at ease with others or to accept what others choose to do. We need to be secure enough in God to be who we are and do what He has called us to do, whether people around us approve or not.

Understand that criticism and judgment are the devil's tools. He will try to use them to keep you from fulfilling your destiny, to limit your liberty, and to steal your creativity. The way to resist them is to be secure in the fact that God loves you and to love yourself appropriately.

Love Yourself Today: "Lord, I pray that I will continue to grow to love and accept myself in godly ways so the criticism and judgment of others will not hurt me or affect me negatively."

A Joyce Meyer devotional - "Trusting God Day By Day"

"Leave the Choice to God"
Joyce Meyer's "Trusting God Day By Day" devotional
October 10

"But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid!" Matthew 14:27

God will do one of two things if you have a problem: He will either remove the problem (which is always our first choice!) or He will give you the strength, the grace, the ability to go through the problem. I know we don't like the going through part, but if that is what God chooses, we need to trust Him.

If God lets us go through something, then He's got a purpose in mind; there's something we are going to get out of it that we need. If we don't trust God, we're going to be miserable. The only choices we have are trust and be happy, or don't trust and be miserable!

Trusting God is very peaceful. It is so wonderful to be able to say, "I don't understand this, but I believe God's going to work it out." When you are in a difficult situation, believe God is with you and that He will give you direction at the right time. Believe you are growing spiritually even though you might be hurting right now.

I went through many years when I tried to have enough faith to prevent myself from having problems, or when I did have problems, I wanted enough faith to resist the devil and believe God would make my problem go away. To be honest, I was under so much pressure and stress that it began to adversely affect my health. Finally I decided, "Oh! I'm supposed to trust God! And if God doesn't get rid of my problem, then I trust God to take me through it." By believing in God, I entered His rest!

We trust God's timing, we trust His wisdom, we trust His ways, and by doing that, we can enjoy every single day of the journey. We don't have to just be happy when we have no problems; we can also enough life while we are "going through."

Trust in Him: If you can say, "God, I know you'll do one of two things: You'll either remove this or You're going to give me the grace to deal with it," and trust God enough to leave that choice up to Him, you'll reap the reward.

Powerful.

"We are the daughter, the son, of a KING, who is not moved by the world, for our God is with us & goes before us. We do not fear because we are HIS."


You are the daughter/son of a KING. Embrace courage, strength, integrity. Walk with the confidence of Christ in you.

Luke 9:23

Daily Verse: "Then He said to them all: 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.'" -Luke 9:23

Daily Thoughts: Offering ourselves to God isn't easy because it means we must first die to our own selfish will. Like Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, we face our own cross and must cry out, "Not my will, dear Father, but Your will be done!"

Daily Prayer: "Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus as my Savior. Lord Jesus, I want to follow You. I don't want it to be half-hearted or hypocritical. I want Your life to be seen in me. So please, gently show me the areas where my heart needs to be softened and my character needs to be shaped by the Spirit so that I can more perfectly reflect Your glory, grace, and character to those around me. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

Gold and Silver, or Wisdom and Understanding?

I love the daily Bible verse app on my computer. The verse for today caught my attention, so I thought I would share it with you, as well as the Daily Thoughts and Daily Prayer.

Daily Verse: "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!" Proverbs 16:16

Daily Thoughts: What are the greatest riches in life? Well surely they are not silver and gold. Of infinitely greater value is wisdom, which helps us understand what is valuable, what is true, what is worthy of our heart, and what is not.

Daily Prayer: "Heavenly Father, God of the Ages and Giver of every good and perfect gift, please bless me with holy and practical wisdom so that I can more fully know how You have blessed me and so that I can be the blessing to others that You want me to be. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

Psalm 16:11

"You have let me experience the joys of life and the exquisite pleasures of Your own eternal presence."

James 5:10-11

"For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the Name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy."