The Best is Next! This new hope-filled devotional calendar will be a daily inspiration to remind you that God has new and amazing things for you in the coming year and will help you begin each day of 2022 with an attitude of expectation for God’s best for you.
Today's Word: Jan 21, 2022
When life knocks you down, steps on you, takes your health, or squashes your dreams, you just have to get back up again. The way you win some battles is not by defeating them but by outlasting the opposition. You have comeback power. Some enemies are stubborn. You can't be weak and give up because it's not happening on your timetable. You have to outlast the trouble at work, outlast the slow season in your finances, outlast the difficulty in your marriage. We all want God to deliver us from attacks, but if He's not changing it, then it's really simple--you have to keep getting back up and outlast the attacks.
Sometimes we think God has forgotten about us. We've seen Him turn situations around in the past, but this problem won't seem to go away. You have to have a holy determination and say, "Staying down is not an option. I'm going to outlast this sickness, this addiction, this injustice, these critics." The victory will come through outlasting it.
While you can’t control everything that comes your way, you can control how life’s unexpected setbacks affect your attitude, emotions, thoughts and actions. Don’t settle for surviving when you could be thriving—Rule Your Day!
Friend, no matter how big the obstacle, no matter what limitations have slowed you down in the past—know that your tomorrow is good and in God’s hands! No matter what your story has been, God is writing for your future.
Have you ever struggled with saying yes to something you felt God was asking you to do? I think we all have. I'll never forget the first time Joel's father looked at me during a worship time in our church service and asked, "Do you want to do the prayer time?" He wasn't asking about next week, but at the end of the song we were singing. I was stunned. I barely had the courage to get up on the platform as a Prayer Partner. I said, "I don't think so." He smiled gently and didn't say anything to me about it later.
But I struggled with why I said no. I kept thinking, "He believed in me, so why don't I have the courage to believe in myself?" I remember thinking, "There is a yes in my heart trying to get out from under the fear and insecurity." My yes was buried in there. I wrestled with this for days and finally came to the conclusion that if he ever asked me again, I'd say yes. That day did come, and I believe that because I stuck to my yes, God gave me the grace to get up and do it.
The apostle Paul says, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God"(2 Corinthians 1:20). God has promises and purposes that He has established for us, and they are yes in Him. But we are the ones who must speak the "Amen," which means "Yes, so be it."
What is it that you need to say yes to today? Is it, "Yes, God, I'm going to forgive those people who hurt me"? Is it, "Yes, I'm going to believe that You can bring good out of this difficult time"? Maybe it's, "Yes, God, I'm going to reach out to those people whom You're asking me to reach out to even though I don't feel like I have time"? Maybe it's simply surrendering some things, letting go of a few things.
If you have said no to God in the past but wish you had said yes, get ready. Just like my father-in-law asked me again, God's going to ask you again. He's not going to hold your no against you. I encourage you to quit wrestling with that no and just say yes to God. Hold strong to the promises, knowing that God will bring it to pass. God has given you some assignments that only you can do. Stand firm in your yes, and it will accomplish everything that God intended it to accomplish.
Too often, because of disappointments, delays, things that haven’t worked out, we’ve watered down our dreams. We’ve lowered our expectations. We’re not stretching, believing for great things, believing to get well...No, pray bold prayers. God is going to fill the containers you bring Him...
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