In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. —Psalm 5:3 (NIV)
If you get up and do the exact same thing every morning, you may get pretty bored after a month or so. But seeking God when you first wake up is never boring. He will always have a new revelation ready for you to hear.

Keep your expectation fresh by changing what you do in your time with God. You might worship the Lord with singing one morning, listen to Christian music another morning, read God’s Word the third morning, sit in His presence or confess His Word the following morning. Let the Holy Spirit lead you as you learn to enjoy starting your day with God.

---

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2003 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. —Luke 13:24
Like most of us, you are probably tempted to take all the easy paths, but God’s path is rarely easy. The Bible describes those other paths—the ones that lead to destructions—as “broad” because not a lot of effort is required to remain on them. We are encouraged by God to take the narrow path, the more difficult one, which is also the one that leads to life.

We have to make a strong effort to push through the negativity in the world, but if we will do our part, God will always do His. Not everyone is willing to make the effort. They are addicted to ease and simply flow with their feelings. Jesus died for us so we could have a wonderful, abundant life that is filled with peace, joy, power, success, and every good thing. He was willing to go to the cross and pay for our sins even though physically, mentally, and emotionally it was very difficult. We, too, must be willing to do what is right, and our reward will surely come. God’s grace will always enable us to do the right thing if we are willing to do so.

Study the Word of God regularly, and then when trouble comes, you will already have your spiritual tank full of fuel that will enable you to make right choices. Don’t be the kind of person who prays or has time for God only when you feel like it or have a disaster. Seek God because you know you cannot navigate safely in this world without Him.

You and I can let our minds drift aimlessly day after day, and we can be controlled by our emotions, or we can strive to gird up our minds, choose our thoughts carefully, and manage our emotions. God has set before us life and death, good and evil, and has given us the responsibility of making the choice (see Deut. 30:19). Choose life!

Trust in Him: What choice are you currently facing? What path will you choose? Remember, the right choice won’t always be easy, but you can trust God, Who gives you strength and rewards you, to help you do it.

---

From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2012 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. —John 5:19 (NKJV)
I once read a story in a church newsletter that I want to share with you.

In 1949, Time magazine called him “one of the most extraordinary men of modern times.” He won the Nobel Peace Prize. One afternoon, reporters and city officials gathered at a Chicago railroad station to greet him. As passengers disembarked the train, among them was this giant of a man—six-foot-four with a bushy mustache and thick, unruly hair. Cameras flashed. City officials approached him with hands outstretched.

The man greeted them politely and then, looking over their heads, asked to be excused for a moment. He quickly walked through the crowd until he reached the side of an elderly woman who was struggling with two large suitcases. He picked up the bags with a smile and escorted the woman to a bus. After helping her aboard, he wished her a safe journey. As he returned to the greeting party he apologized: “Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary doctor who spent his life helping the poor in Africa. In response to Schweitzer’s action, one member of the reception committee said, “That’s the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”

You and I have many opportunities each week to be “sermons walking.” All we have to do is look to Jesus as our example. According to today’s scripture, Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. If we will follow Jesus’ example, we can also be like sermons walking.

Love Others Today: Take every chance you get to be a sermon walking today.

---

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

And Asa did right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father [forefather]. . . . ​Also Maacah his motherhe removed from being queen mother, because she had an image made for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa destroyed her image, burning it by the brook Kidron. —1 Kings 15:11, 13
Country singer Wynonna Judd knows what can happen when you don’t think about yourself. At seventeen, she had accepted Christ, but the whirlwind years of fame and fortune had created a deep sense of insecurity for her. She felt like she had to take care of everyone. She worked through two pregnancies so she could ensure that the thirty families of her crew would continue to have an income; she ate when she felt empty inside, and she spent enormous amounts of money on her family and friends.

The need to please everyone eventually caught up with her, and in 2004, Wynonna found herself overweight, out of money, guilt-stricken, and close to losing her 525-acre farm. She had to surrender to God and start taking care of herself again. She’s now twenty pounds lighter, she’s cut back her excessive spending, and she’s learned to say no.

Women in particular want to please people, especially their family, but they need to be very aggressive in standing against getting out of balance in this area.

Lord, it’s confusing to know when I need to pull back and restore my own self. Help me to serve and give while keeping it all in balance. Amen.

---

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

It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. —1 Corinthians 13:6Love is grieved at injustice. It always wants what is fair and right. It craves justice, not only for itself, but especially for others. I don’t like to see people mistreated. I have been hurt a lot in my life, and I well remember how it feels.

We should care about others and their pain, pray for them, and do what we can to relieve their suffering. Love is not unfeeling; it cannot look at unjust situations and just simply not care or do nothing. The worldly mentality of “don’t bother me with it, that is your problem” has no place in the lives of Christians.

Obviously, we cannot physically or financially fix everyone’s problem, but we can care. We can work with the Holy Spirit to make sure we don’t allow our hearts to become hardened by all the violence and injustice all around us.

God is love, and He loves righteousness (knowing you are right with God—acting right, talking right, etc.)—therefore, those who walk in love must also love righteousness. Psalm 97:10 states that if we love the Lord, we must hate evil. Those who love righteousness are often persecuted for it—Jesus was, and we are not above our Master (see Matthew 10:24). Don’t hate evil people, just their evil ways. God hates sin, but He loves sinners.

Keep walking in love, hating injustice and unrighteousness, and the favor of God will come upon your life in an astounding way.

---

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by InProv. All rights reserved.

[Jesus said]
You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. 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. In fact, the devil doesn’t know how to speak the truth.

Most Christians know that—and yet they still listen to his evil words. Sometimes the lies seem to just pop into our minds for no apparent reason; sometimes Satan even speaks to us through other people. He puts something critical or hurtful into their minds about us, and they speak it out for us to hear. If we listen and accept what we hear, our enemy rejoices. If we listen long enough to the deceptive information we have taken in, we will find ourselves facing serious problems. Instead of listening and absorbing the untruths and satanic deceptions, you can look at what Jesus did and follow His example.

After fasting for forty days in the wilderness, Satan tempted Him three times. Each time He defeated the devil by declaring, “It is written,” and quoting the Word of God. No wonder the devil fled from Him (see Matthew 4:1–11). Learn the truth of God’s Word, and every time Satan lies to you, quote a scripture back to him. Learn to talk back to the devil!

Too many people don’t know how to use the Word to defeat Satan’s lies. Many people—even Christians—don’t seem to realize that they can refuse to listen to that voice. Too many people don’t realize that the devil attacks their minds with negative or wrong thoughts. It’s his nature to lie; he is out to enslave everyone.

I encourage people to realize that they are not alone in their spiritual battles—their minds are not the only ones under attack. Satan comes against everyone. His entire goal is to kill, steal, and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have and enjoy our lives abundantly (see John 10:10). By becoming more conscious of the spiritual weapons the Lord has made available to us and learning how to use them, we can gain victory. We can break the strongholds the devil has built in our minds. The Bible tells us that when we know the truth, that truth will free us from Satan’s strongholds (see John 8:32).

In the illustration of Mary, I mentioned that the devil had whispered to her for years that all men were alike and wanted to hurt women and take advantage of them. As Mary read the Bible and prayed more effectively, she learned that it was the devil who had pushed her around. Now she knows she can be free.

As Mary develops in her relationship with God, she is equipping herself to win the battle for her mind. She’s learning more about God and more about how to pray effectively.

“Jesus has become my friend,” Mary said. She had known Him as her Savior and worshiped Him as God, but this was a new revelation to her. One day she read Hebrews 2:18 in a totally new light. It says of Jesus, “Because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able . . . to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted.”

That passage came alive to Mary because she saw Jesus not only as God, but as her friend—one who knows what it’s like to be tempted and who knows what it is like to suffer. “I knew He died on the cross, but I had not thought of all the pain He went through for me. To realize that He understands my pain and problems was a new thought to me.”

Mary also says that when negative, mean, or ugly thoughts come into her head, she is learning to stop those thoughts. “Jesus wouldn’t talk that way. Jesus wouldn’t be critical and judgmental, so that’s the devil fighting for my mind.”

Mary hasn’t won all the battles, but she has learned to fight the great deceiver. Every time she wins one battle, the next one becomes easier.

God of all power, thank You for giving me the weapons to defeat the lies of the devil. Help me to always make good use of them. Thank You, Jesus, for being my friend and for being with me in my difficulties and struggles. Amen.

---

From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. —Psalm 141:2
God wants to be the center of your life: the center of your conversation, the center of your entertainment, and the center of your relationships. Prayer keeps Him in the center of all you do.

Years ago I could have told you that I prayed an hour every day. But now, I couldn’t even determine how long I pray, because I just pray every time I see or feel a need. I pray while driving. I pray while working, and while relaxing. Sometimes I just stop what I am doing and praise God, and that is prayer too. I cast my cares on Him and say, “Lord, I am not going to worry about anything today; I am giving it to You.”

Prayer should be like breathing, natural to do anywhere you are.

---

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2003 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power. —Philippians 4:13 (TLB)
Recently I saw a sign on a church that said, “Trust in God, believe in yourself, and you can do anything.” That is not correct.

There was a time in my life when I would have seen that sign and said, “Amen!” But not anymore. You and I really cannot do anything we want to do. We cannot do anything or everything that everyone else is doing. But we can do everything God has called us to do. And we can be anything God says we can be.

We must get balance in this area. We can go to motivational seminars and be told with a lot of emotional hype, “You can do anything. Think you can do it; believe you can do it; say you can do it—and you can do it!” That is true only to a degree. Carried too far, it gets off into humanism. We need to speak about ourselves what the Word says about us.

We can do what we are called to do, what we are gifted to do. There are ways we can learn to recognize the grace gifts that are on our lives.

I have learned this regarding myself: when I start getting frustrated, I know it is a sign that either I have gotten off into my own works and am no longer receiving God’s grace, or I am trying to do something for which there was no grace to begin with.

---

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by InProv. All rights reserved.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart. —Psalm 51:1–6
The heading under this psalm reads: “A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.” David cried out for mercy because he had sinned with Bathsheba, and when he learned she was pregnant, he had had her husband murdered in battle.

After David confessed his sin, Nathan said to him, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die” (2 Samuel 12:13–14).

That’s the first lesson I want you to grasp from this incident. When you fail God, you harm yourself, but you also bring dishonor to His name. Whenever you take a false step, there are those who watch and gleefully point their fingers. The two always go together. Not only do you bring disgrace on the name of the Lord, but you fail yourself. You knew the right but chose the wrong.

As if that were not enough, the evil one also whispers, “See how bad you are. God won’t forgive you. It’s too awful.” Of course, he’s lying, because that’s what he does best. Don’t listen to those words, because there is no sin you’ve committed that God won’t forgive. You may have to carry scars or pay the penalty, but God wipes away the sin.

There’s something else to learn from this: You need to face reality. You sinned. You disobeyed God. What will you do about your sin? You can plead excuses (and most of us are good at that), or you can follow David’s example. When the prophet said, “You are the man…” (2 Samuel 12:7), the king did not deny his wrongdoing or try to justify his actions. David admitted he had sinned and confessed.

He wrote in the psalm quoted earlier: “For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment” (vs. 3–4).

If you follow Jesus Christ, not only are you declaring to yourself, to your family, and to the world your trust in the Savior, but you are also declaring your stand for truth. It’s easy for us to deceive ourselves, but God has called us to be totally, completely, and scrupulously honest in our inner being. Don’t look at what others may get away with or how they justify their behavior. We can’t blame others, the devil, or circumstances.

When you fail, remind yourself that the greatest king of Israel cried out to God and said, “My sin is ever before me” (v. 3). Those sins, failures, or shortcomings (or whatever you may choose to call them) will always be there until you admit them and confess them to the Lord; only then can you know the joy of living with integrity and in truth.

This is the message for you from this final meditation; this is the message of the entire book: Strive to live with truth in your inner being. You—you and God—are the only ones who know what’s in your heart. Live in honesty and truth.

Holy God, David prayed, “You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.” Through Jesus Christ, I plead with You to help me desire truth in my inner being, to live in such a way that I’m as honest and as open with You as I can become. I know that the life You honor is the life You bless. Amen.

---

From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.