Is Fatigue a Spiritual Gift?

Is Fatigue a Spiritual Gift?

Mary Southerland

Today's Truth

Then he went on alone into the desert, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree (Juniper tree) and prayed that he might die. 'I have had enough, LORD,' he said. 'Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.' Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, 'Get up and eat!' He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you.' So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:4-7, NLT).

Friend to Friend

On the seventh day of creation, God rested; a fact that always amazes me. Did He need to rest? Obviously not, but when God set aside a day for rest, He made a powerful point. Our bodies were created in such a way that rest is not really an option. Rest is a physical reality and a spiritual discipline.   

Elijah is a great example of a man in need of rest. One day he was the conquering hero, the next we find him sitting under a Juniper tree, wallowing in self-pity - and begging God to let him die. The poor man was simply exhausted. True, it was an exhaustion produced by victory, but it was still exhaustion.

Elijah had called down fire from heaven, proving the existence of the only true God, destroying idols and idol worshippers. Big stuff! In fact, it is my personal opinion that he should have been celebrating. So why was he so discouraged? It was a woman, Jezebel, who was largely responsible for his discouragement.

Jezebel was the evil and influential wife of Ahab, King of Israel, and widely known as the real power behind her husband's throne. Jezebel did not worship the one true God of Israel. Instead, she was fanatical in her worship of the pagan god, Baal, and tried to impose her beliefs on the people of Israel. One man stood in her way - Elijah. When Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown on Mount Carmel, God answered Elijah's prayer with a stream of fire from heaven. You would think that a miracle like that would have convinced Ahab and Jezebel to believe in God. It didn't. In fact, Jezebel was furious.  When she learned what had happened on Mt. Carmel with the fire and idols, she put a contract out on Elijah. Now stop and think about that for a moment.

Elijah had been in the presence of God. God had heard and answered Elijah's prayer, putting on an impressive fiery display for all to see. Idols had fallen. The prophets of Baal had either fled or been destroyed. And Elijah is worried about one angry woman? Elijah was tired and needed to rest - big time.

Discouragement often follows victory. Battle consumes energy and often leaves the warrior depleted and exhausted. Have you noticed that stress and exhaustion always produce skewed perspectives? Elijah lost his perspective and was ready to quit, which is where we find him ... sprawling under a Juniper tree ... the spoils of fresh victory all but forgotten. God's solution was simple. Elijah needed rest. Elijah slept and ate and then slept some more. It's interesting to note that the Juniper tree was common to the desert. So is stress. Deserts are filled with stress and exhaustion. Elijah stayed in the desert for 40 days, not because he had been disobedient or sinned, but because he was stressed out and needed time to rest, allowing God to replenish and restore him.

A visitor saw several shepherds in Nazareth bringing their flocks to water them at the well. When the sheep had drunk their fill, the shepherds called and their sheep immediately followed. The visitor asked the shepherds if the sheep always followed their own shepherds when they called. One shepherd responded, "Yes, under one condition. The sheep that do not follow the voice of their shepherd are the sick sheep. If a sheep is healthy, it will always follow the shepherd, but if there is something wrong with the sheep, it will follow anybody," the shepherd explained.

When we are sick and exhausted, we are in danger of following the wrong voice. Our defenses are down and our discernment is dulled by the stress of life. Rest heals and restores. Fatigue is definitely not one of the spiritual gifts, girlfriend. Rest in Him.

Now It's Your Turn

• Define "rest" and examine your life in light of that definition.
• Why do you feel guilty when you rest?
• Do you think of rest as unproductive?  Why?
• Does that thought line up with God's plan?
• Find two ways to incorporate rest into your daily schedule this week. At the end of the week, list the benefits that rest has produced in your life.

The Secret of Discipline

The Secret of Discipline

Mary Southerland

Today's Truth

Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit (Proverbs 25:28, NAS)

Friend to Friend

Discipline is obedience, a lifetime process that brings us to a state of order by training and controlling our behavior. Discipline is focusing and eliminating, zeroing in on what is important in every area of life. Discipline not only leads to right thinking, pleasing behavior and balanced emotions, but also produces a purpose driven life based on right goals and priorities.  

And that brings us to the discipline of our time - a dreaded and often ignored spiritual discipline for many of us. We have either forgotten or failed to realize the truth that our minutes, hours and days are precious commodities - gifts from God that can be unwrapped only once. Time is wasted unless it is invested in goals and priorities that are rooted in God's plan. 

A busy life is not necessarily a productive life, girlfriends. Oh, I can hear it now! "Mary, it's true that I am very busy, but I am busy doing good things." Those words were the cry of my heart just before I crashed and burned and landed in a pit of clinical depression. The problem with my list of "good things" was that it was just that - my list - the wrong list for my life. The result was exhaustion, burnout and disobedience. 

One of the most important lessons of my "pit experience" was that my perspective of time was skewed. I had poured years into making my plan successful only to discover that God resources and empowers His plan alone. Outlook determines outcome. It was painfully obvious I needed an outlook adjustment, an eternal perspective. I needed to understand the truth that my time is not really mine to do with as I please. It is a resource on loan to me from God. As a result, every plan, priority and goal should be held against the backdrop of eternity because it is from that backdrop that our priorities are validated, our calling confirmed and our time best invested.

Let's face it. If we don't set priorities - others will. Time thieves will steal our time as we allow them to impose their plans and standards on us. While it is true that different women have different priorities and different seasons of life, it is also true that one priority remains steadfast.  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." (Matthew 6:33). Once that priority is firmly established and adhered to, the rest of life will surely fall into place.  

Learning how to discipline time is a challenge for us all. I am, by no means, an expert in this area, but I do want to share some simple ideas that have worked for me.

Tithe your time. Just as we tithe our money, we should tithe our time. God blesses and multiplies the time we set aside to spend in Bible study, prayer and service. 

Get organized.  In 1 Corinthians 14:40, we are challenged to "do all in a fitting and orderly way." In other words, being organized is a spiritual discipline, freeing us from the tyranny of the urgent while making room for the eternal things that matter. Here are some organizational tips:

• Buy and keep a calendar. Writing down things keeps me from wasting time and "bunching up" activities. It takes the pressure off of me to remember everything and allows me to see, at a glance, what is important. My weeks and months are more evenly scheduled and I am forced to prioritize, doing the important things first.

• Choose one day a week to plan. Every Sunday afternoon, I plan the week ahead, recording the main tasks I need to complete and scheduling the appointments I need to make and keep.  Pray over your week, asking the Holy Spirit to make clear those things ordained for each day. 

• Simplify and eliminate. Experts advise us to approach spring cleaning by dealing with one closet at a time. Break jobs up into manageable steps so that the large tasks seem doable. 

• Tackle the dreaded task first. I have discovered that tackling the job I dread the most energizes me for the rest of the tasks.  I have also learned to use my best time, the time of the day when my energy is highest for the most important and the most difficult tasks. 

• Stop activity when it becomes unproductive. Sometimes, a 10 minute break will boost energy, refocus attention and get those creative juices flowing.

• Begin a task, even if you won't have time to complete it. I hate doing laundry and frequently long for the day of disposable clothing. As a result, I do the laundry in pieces.  For example, I will start the wash and answer email.  I then toss the wet clothing into the dryer and work on a writing assignment.  You get the idea!

• Delegate. When we delegate work to our children, we are teaching them godly discipline. The church is filled with people waiting to be pushed out of their comfort zones in service. Look for those potential leaders and delegate.

• Leave margins in your schedule. I tend to fill every time slot during the day. Therefore, when the "unexpected" comes along, I am overwhelmed and unprepared. Building margins of time into our schedules is a step of faith, trusting God to fill them in any way He chooses. 

• Yield to the seasons of life. When my children were small, I did not travel and speak like I do now. Do not sacrifice your family on the altar of any church or any ministry. Our greatest mission field is our home, our marriage and our children. It does not matter how much we do or how successful we are, if home and family get the leftovers of our time, energy, emotions and spiritual service we are walking in sin and disobedience. 

Discipline builds upon discipline, each success encouraging another. Make the commitment to cultivate the disciplines of a godly woman, then pick a corner of your life and begin. Discipline does not come naturally or easily. We will fail. But we can always begin again. Join me today in a new commitment to godly discipline. 



Let's Pray

Father, I want to thank You for your unconditional love and forgiveness. Please help me focus on You and Your presence in my life each day. I pray that any stress in my heart will be swallowed up in the reality that You are faithful and that You are in control. I know You are not surprised by anything that comes my way and will transform the good into better, the unthinkable into the unstoppable and the unbelievable into fact. I praise You for the amazing way You guide me and lift me up when I fall.  Today, I choose to focus on You.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Do it now!

Do it now!

Mary Southerland

Today's Truth

To one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him, it is sin (James 4:17, NASB).

Friend to Friend

Procrastination is one of the greatest sources of stress in life. I once heard a preacher tell the old story of three demons who were arguing over the best way to destroy the Christian movement. The first demon had it all figured out. "Let's tell all the Christians that there is no heaven. If we take away the reward incentive, their movement will collapse." The second demon responded with, "No, I have a better idea. Let's tell all of the Christians that there really is no hell. If we take away their fear of punishment, their movement will collapse." The third demon offered, "Both of those are great ideas, but there is a better way. Let's tell all the Christians that there is no hurry." The other demons applauded in delight! "That's it!" they said. "Our best weapon of all is procrastination."

Procrastination is understandable and normal - humanly speaking - but procrastination is not part of God's best plan for our lives. We don't often view procrastination as sin, but it is. Sin is not merely doing wrong. It is failing to do what you know you should do - when you know you should do it. Knowledge equals responsibility. Procrastination and disobedience are just opposite sides of the same coin.

Sin usually brings pleasure for at least the moment. If you are on a diet and want to have just one bite of a chocolate candy bar - but end up eating three chocolate candy bars - it is because you wanted more of that chocolate pleasure and simply could not make yourself stop at one bite - right? Or maybe you go shopping with a set amount you can spend on a new pair of shoes and end up buying three pairs of shoes only to realize that you need a dress to go with them, and a new purse to go with the dress, and new jewelry to match the shoes, purse and dress and ... well, you get the idea. It is easy to understand how we get caught up in sins like gluttony, lust and greed because they all bring momentary pleasure. 

Procrastination is different in that it helps us avoid doing the things we don't want to do - the tasks that require personal discipline and a commitment to godly goals. Wasting time often creates a restless feeling that produces a sense of failure. When the deadline we were supposed to meet has come and gone or the dreaded task we keep putting off spirals out of control - guilt sets in. We try to rationalize it away when the simple truth is that we have sinned. 

The key to dealing with procrastination begins with a commitment to obey God and exercise His wisdom. Joyce Meyer once said, "Wisdom always chooses to do now what it will be satisfied with later on." We can choose to be led by wisdom rather than our momentary feelings. We can choose to make right choices. We can learn to be good stewards of the time God has given us.  

I once attended a leadership conference that changed my life in many ways. The speakers did not talk about money or success. They focused on the fact that God created each one of us in response to His unique plan for our lives. One of the simplest but most powerful mottos I came away from that conference with was: "Do it now!" Do you realize that it takes as much energy to avoid a task as it does to do it? Procrastination drains energy while action produces energy. God empowers us to do what He calls us to do. 

Matthew 6:33 (NCV) "The thing you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you."

Truth is for now. God is not impressed with good intentions. Obedience today is the greatest preparation for every tomorrow. So do what you know to do today! The Proverbs 31 woman did. In fact, Scripture tells us she could "laugh at the days to come" (Proverbs 31:25). In other words, this woman fully lived in the present but carefully planned and prepared for the future. Proverbs 31:19 indicates that she made thread with her hands and weaved her own cloth: "In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers." Notice she only made thread and cloth - not the finished product of clothes. That was a task for the future. She was simply getting ready today to meet the needs of tomorrow. The result was a life filled with hope and lived out in purpose. 

Let's Pray

Father, please forgive me for putting off what I know You want me to do. Help me to be more disciplined with my time. Teach me how to find and live by Your priorities for my life. I want to do what You created me to do, Lord. Show me how to live a life of power and purpose.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Don't Scratch That Itch!

Don't Scratch That Itch!
Gwen Smith

Today's Truth
"When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed" (James 1:13-14 NIV).

Friend To Friend
I once woke up with a spider bite that was the size of a quarter. It may as well have been the size of North Carolina for as much as it itched! I was half-tempted to scratch off my arm. That nasty bite was just begging to be scratched. However, I have learned a thing or two in my thirty-something years, and one thing I know for sure: it is best not to scratch this type of itch.

It would be like opening a bag of chips with the naive intention of eating only one (yeah, right!) I knew that if I started scratching my bug bite, it would be nearly impossible to stop.  I would regret having ever started.

Super-itchy bug bites are a lot like temptations. Temptations are itchy! The call on us with urgent voices that scream, "Scratch me!  Scratch me!"  Yet, in all reality, a little scratch will not satisfy temptation's itch at all...it will just make matters worse. When we scratch the itch of temptation, the itch does not diminish. To the contrary, it increases.

The Bible teaches us that when we resist temptation, our faith is then mobilized and the muscles of our character are strengthened. Let's look at what that looked like for a guy named Joseph. (For the full account, pause here and read Genesis 39.)

Joseph was a man of integrity who did right in the eyes of the Lord, but he definitely faced some temptation! He was seduced by temptation in the form of his master's wife, Mrs. Potiphar. You see, Mrs. Potiphar wanted her husband's right-hand man to sleep with her, and she pursued him with aggression. Hers was a hand-delivered invitation for Joseph to sin that had itchy written all over it.  But he flat-out refused. His heart was determined to honor God.
"My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.  How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her (Genesis 39:9-10).

Temptation chased Joseph relentlessly. Oh, how he must have longed for the itching to stop! To give in would be sinful. To give in was simply not an option for this young man of character. So on the day that Potiphar's wife caught him by the cloak and begged again for Joseph to sleep with her, Joseph ran out of the house. He ran from that tempting situation as fast as his legs would carry him.

God was honored in Joseph's response.

He ran from temptation.

We would be wise to do the same.

What do you need to run from today? Have you determined in your heart to honor God in everything? Temptation comes in all shapes and sizes.  It might be calling your name from your pantry - or from your computer - or from a bottle - or from another cubicle in your office.  What temptations do you face today?  Name them and run the other way! Don't scratch that itch! Determine in your heart that you will choose the path that brings honor to God, and call on Him for strength.

I realize that dealing with temptation is not easy. When that nasty spider bit my arm, I struggled not to scratch the bite. I had to re-direct my thinking to persevere through the temptation. When we come face to face with temptations, God's strength is always available to us. We need God's strength. Ours will fail us. Friend, when we resist temptation, we get to experience the peace and protection of God, our faith is mobilized and the muscles of our character are strengthened.

Let's Pray
Dear Lord, I need You so much. I constantly find myself being dragged away and enticed by temptation. Please give me strength to run the other way, and give me the wisdom to run to Your arms. I want to be a woman of godly character. Help me be that woman!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Finding Hope for My Future Despite the Pain of My Past

Finding Hope for My Future Despite the Pain of My Past
Renee Swope

    "’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’" Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

"God works all things together for good."

"You were created for a purpose"

"God has a plan for your life."

What do you feel when you read these promises? Do you believe them, or do you sometimes question if they’re true for you?

I’ve doubted, and I’ve believed.

Soon after I surrendered my life to Christ, I started struggling with painful things from my past that made me doubt God’s promises. I wondered: If God loves me, why has He allowed so much pain in my life?

If He loved me, why did God allow my family to be broken by adultery and divorce, shattered by confusion and chaos, shaken by alcohol and drug addictions and so much more? And why didn’t He stop me from the pain I brought on myself, or keep me from the darkness of depression?

One afternoon I got the courage to tell my friend Wanda about my doubts and questions. I remember how she didn’t give me a pat answer, but looked at me with understanding in her eyes and told me she was sorry. Then she told me her story, which included many disappointments and heartbreaks. Yet, I didn’t sense doubt or pain in her words. Instead, I sensed confidence and hope.

Turning the pages of her Bible to Jeremiah 29, Wanda read today’s key verse as a promise to me: "’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’" (v. 11)

She then told me God wanted to heal the pain of my past and use what I’d experienced to pave the way to His plans for my future. But I didn’t want God to use my pain or my past. How would any of it do anything good for anyone, especially me?

Have you ever felt that way or asked: "If God loves me, then why…?"

These are the kind of questions that can linger in our hearts when we’ve been wounded and disappointed. And hurts that aren’t healed can lead to bitterness and bondage. Yet, in the security of a relationship with Jesus, God invites us to ask hard questions and look for answers that usher us into the depths of His redeeming love and healing power.

Can I whisper some hope into your heart today? If you are living and breathing, your purpose has not yet been fulfilled. No matter what you have done or what has been done to you, God does have a plan for your life.

So, how can you discover those plans? Let’s read the premise that follows the promise in Jeremiah 29. After God declares He knows the plans He has for us, He says, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (v.12-13)

We find God’s plans when we surrender ours to Him each day. It’s a moment by moment process of coming to Him, talking to Him, believing He listens and letting Him love us into a place of hope and healing.

God’s love is not a quick-fix for our wounds, but it has the power to redeem and restore us into confident hope. When we allow the Holy Spirit poured out like Living water to go deep into our pain, He can heal our hearts from the inside out.

As we process the pain of our yesterdays and live through the disappointments of our todays, doubts may still creep up, threatening to steal our hope. But each time that happens, we can stop and seek God in that place. We can ask Him to show us His purpose by revealing what is true about who we are and what we have been through to make us start doubting.

Then we can ask Him to help us re-define our future, not through the filter of our past and pain, but through the power of His life-giving truth. And do you know what happens when we do that moment by moment, day by day, doubt by doubt? God tells us in Jeremiah 29:14, "I will be found by you…and will bring you back from captivity."

We find Him again and again. We find the One who longs to lead us out of captivity to our doubts into a place of freedom and hope. I know this is true because I have walked it, wrestled with it, resisted it and finally surrendered to it.

God’s love is not only unfailing, it redeems and restores. His Truth cuts to the core of our struggles, bringing purpose to our pain, redemption from our past and hope for our future!

    Lord, heal my hurts and give me hope as I learn to trust the plans You have for me. I’m coming to You and seeking You with all my heart today. Please set me free from my doubts and lead me into a place of confident hope. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

When God Hurts Your Feelings

When God Hurts Your Feelings
Lysa TerKeurst

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV 1984)

Has God ever hurt your feelings? I’ll be honest, sometimes I’ll read those verses from Philippians listed above and think to myself, “This is a tough pill to swallow.”

Content in any and every situation?

Really?

Several years ago my daughter was a state champion gymnast. To see her do gymnastics was like looking at God smile. She was beautiful, graceful, and captivating to watch.

One night while practicing for one of the largest tournaments she’d ever compete in, she fell. It was a move she’d done hundreds of times with the greatest of ease. But this time something went terribly wrong and that one mistake ended her gymnastic dreams.

We spent a year going from doctor to doctor only to be told she’d never be able to support the weight of her body on her injured shoulder again.

I’ll be honest, this was heart wrenching. Watching a 14 year old girl wrestle with the fact her dreams were stripped from her doesn’t exactly lend itself to feelings of contentment. Now, I know in the grand scheme of life, people face much worse situations. But in her world, this was huge.

It was so tempting to wallow in the “why” questions and tell God He’d hurt our feelings.

Why did this happen?

Why didn’t You stop this God?

Why weren’t my prayers answered?

Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a big situation in your life where you just couldn’t process why God would allow this to happen? Or maybe even a small annoyance like losing your keys or having a flat tire on a morning you really needed to be somewhere.

It’s so tempting to wallow in the why.

Asking why is perfectly normal. Asking why isn’t unspiritual. However, if asking why pushes us farther from God rather than drawing us closer to Him, it is the wrong question.

If asking why doesn’t offer hope, what will?

The what question.

In other words: “Now that this is my reality, what am I supposed to do with it?”

Philippians 4:8, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (NIV)

I like to call this verse “directions on where to park my mind.”

And that’s exactly what Ashley has had to do with her dashed gymnastics dreams. Instead of wallowing in why did this happen, I’ve had to help her say:

This is my reality, now what am I going to do with it?

What can I learn from this?

What part of this is for my protection?

What other opportunities could God be providing?

What maturity could God be building into me?

Switching from the why to the what question paves the road to parking our mind in a much better place.

Is it always easy? Nope.

But is it a way to find a perspective beyond situations where we feel God has allowed something in our lives we don’t understand and we absolutely don’t like? Yes.

I pray this helps you today. You can also download a free resource on how to change your why questions into what questions. Just go to my blog, www.LysaTerKeurst.com and click on the button “When God Hurts Your Feelings.”

Dear Lord, I want to process everything I face in life through the filter of Your love. I know You love me. But sometimes it’s just hard to understand the circumstances that come my way. I find myself consumed with trying to figure things out rather than looking for Your perspective and trusting You. Thank You for this new way to look at things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

My Thoughts vs. God’s Word

My Thoughts vs. God’s Word
Melissa Taylor

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 (NKJV)

Do you ever question if you are good enough? Are you more likely to dwell on what’s wrong with you than what’s right with you?

One day I realized I was scrutinizing myself to find out what my problem was. The more I picked myself apart, the more it dawned on me another voice was egging me on; the voice of the enemy, Satan. As I listened to his lies, my sense or worth and security were zapped.

For a long time I didn’t even recognize him for who he was. The negative thoughts and deceitful suggestions simply sounded like my own voice.

The Bible opens with a serpent slithering into the lives of Adam and Eve. He filled their heads with lies they believed which separated them from God. Jesus, too, was tempted by this liar. He was ready though, with the Word of God, to defeat the evil one.

We too can have this weapon in our arsenal. As we fill our hearts and minds with Truth, we can defeat the lies we tell ourselves and the lies Satan whispers to our hearts.

When I compare my negative thoughts to God’s Word, the differences amaze me:

My thoughts: I want to give up.

God’s Word: Be committed. Matthew 5:33-37

My thoughts: I’ll feel lost.

God’s Word: He watches my paths and establishes my ways. Proverbs 5:21, 4:26

My thoughts: No one loves me.

God’s Word: He loves me more than life. John 3:16

My thoughts: I’m ugly.

God’s Word: I’m wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14

My thoughts: I’m all alone and no one understands me.

God’s Word: He will never leave me. He has plans for my life. Deuteronomy 31:6, Jeremiah 29:11

My thoughts: I’m just not good enough.

God’s Word: I was created in His image. Genesis 1:26

Are you ready to replace lies with God’s truth, so when the enemy tries to slither back in with false accusations, you’ll be ready to combat him with what God’s Word says about you?

To get started, evaluate your thoughts and pray for wisdom to distinguish the voice of the enemy. Condemning thoughts that steal your confidence of who you are in Christ aren’t from God. Let’s commit today to renew our mind with the Word of God each day, and replace those worn-out, deceitful lies with Truth.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your life-giving truth. Please fill me with Your Word so that I can live in freedom and confidence! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.