Tamil Cinema and jesus 1

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Trust God To Guide Your Finances

Right From The Heart's - One Minute Daily Devotion

"Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom." - 1 Chronicles 29:11

Rates of personal financial insecurity continue to be alarmingly high in the United States, according to CFED’s "2013 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard." Suffice it to say that there is a ton of financial insecurity today. When the economy is good, people worry it may go in the tank. When it's bad, as it has been, pessimism reigns. All this adds up to a lot of financial insecurity and uncertainty, especially after the holidays when bills come due. (This would be a good time to start revisiting how you spend your money over the holidays.)

There is one key to financial security, and that is understanding that God owns it all. Truly understanding that is not an easy thing to do. For many, it is the toughest decision to make. That's why Jesus said you must choose where you're going to put your trust -- in God, or in money.

Trusting in money in the form of a job, bank account, or investments - without God - always leads to worry, anxiety, and a spirit of greed or hoarding.

Trusting in God brings inner peace. His principles, as found in the Bible, teach us how to be good money managers. God promises to meet our needs - not our wants - but our needs.

In these days of financial insecurity, find your security in God, not money. Remember that He owns it all, and seek to manage His money His way. Trusting Him to guide your finances will give you a sense of security like you've never known before.

 

Find Balance

by Joyce Meyer

 

Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we drift past [them] and slip away.
—Hebrews 2:1

 

When Satan finds people out of balance, he has an inroad to destroy their lives. There are people who get out of balance in everything: from not sleeping, to sleeping too much; from not cleaning their house, to trying to keep it so clean that nobody can move in it.

Find balance; balance keeps your day going right. Satan doesn’t much care if you don’t do enough of something, or if you do too much of it, as long as you don’t stay balanced. Take time to examine yourself prayerfully, and ask God to show you how to remain balanced.

 

Receive Jesus Into Your Daily Life

by Joyce Meyer

 

If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]
—Galatians 5:25

We ask people all the time if they have received Jesus, without ever really thinking about what that means. If we receive Him, then what do we do with Him? We certainly don’t put Him in a little box marked “Sunday morning,” go get Him out on that day, sing a few songs to Him, talk to Him a little, then put Him back in the box until the next Sunday. If we receive Him, then we have Him with us always.

It is not pleasing to God for people to leave Him out of their daily lives, while going through religious formulas to try to get what they need. Don’t just go through the motions. Either have a real relationship with God that is alive and meaningful, or face the fact that you don’t have one at all and do whatever is needed to get one.

Ask yourself these questions, and you will discover where you are spiritually:

·         Are you growing daily in your knowledge of God and His ways?

·         Do you look forward to going to church, or is it something you do out of obligation? Are you waiting for it to end so you can finally go to lunch?

·         Do you feel close to God?

·         In your life are you manifesting the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), and self-control (see Gal. 5:22–23)?

·         Do you have areas of your life that you have not let God into?

If you are not satisfied with your answers to these questions, throw your life entirely open to God and ask the Holy Spirit to get involved in every aspect of it. If you will do that in honesty and sincerity, He will begin to work in you in a powerful and exciting way.

Trust in Him: Are you just going through the motions, or have you fully committed your life to Christ, trusting Him with everything so that He can do a powerful work in you?

 

We Can't Do Anything Without Him

by Joyce Meyer - posted October 23, 2013

 

 

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
—John 15:5

According to today’s scripture, we cannot do anything—anything—apart from Jesus. I’ve certainly found this to be true in my life and I’m sure you have too. One time I was trying to fix my hair and had one piece that simply would not curl. The rest of my hair curled fine; my curling iron was red hot. I’d put the iron on that curl and turn it, then take it off and that one piece of hair would fall flat. I didn’t know about trusting in God and leaning on Him for everything. I was a self-sufficient, independent, strong woman. I had spent most of my life thinking I didn’t need anybody because I’d been abused and was afraid to trust people. My attitude was: “Who needs you? I’m just fine by myself!”

I knew I needed God, but I didn’t realize that I desperately needed God. I began to sense in my heart that God wanted me to pray and ask Him to help me with my hair. My first thought was, I am not going to ask God to help me fix my hair. I am a grown woman, and I have been doing my hair for a long time. I’ll try it again and put some hairspray on it, because sometimes that works. It didn’t work that time!

Finally, I conceded, saying, “Okay, Holy Spirit, would You please help me fix my hair?” I curled the same piece of hair again, and when I removed the iron that time, it had a nice little curl in it. I learned a valuable lesson from that experience: If we don’t do things God’s way, we’re not going to do them at all. We honor Him when we show our dependence on Him by asking for help for big things and little ones.

Love God Today: I encourage you to lean on God and ask Him to help you with all kinds of things, little things as well as big things.

 

Inspirational Thoughts About Worshiping God!

Pastor Chris O.

WORSHIP THE LORD WITH SONGS

Pastor Chris Oyakilome

The bible declares in Psalm 68:3-4 “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him”. If you desire a miracle in any situation this month, then you have to take your attention away from any challenge you’re facing and worship the Lord with your songs and prayers.

The Bible says Jonah prayed to the Lord out of the fish’s belly (Jonah 2:1). Right in the midst of trouble Jonah still prayed unto the Lord. He forgot about his situation and prayed. When you study the content of His prayer, you’ll discover it was all of worship and thanksgiving (Jonah 2:9). As he worshipped and thanked the Lord from the fish’s belly “The Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10). What a mighty deliverance! What of Paul and Silas? The Bible says that, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake…and immediately all the doors were opened and every one’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:25-26). I see sudden miracles and earth-shaking testimonies happening in your life this month as you worship the Lord with your songs!

Solutions come when you worship the Lord in the midst of your trouble. The Lord Jesus didn’t respond to the woman whose daughter was vexed with an evil spirit until she worshipped Him (Matthew 15:22-28).  Someone has rightly said, “Those who look at the sun don’t see the shadows.” How true! So learn to subdue your pains, disease or financial condition and worship the Lord instead. Love Him with all your heart for He’s good and real; more real than whatever situation you’re going through. Finally, when you sing this month, do it with revelation. When you worship the God who raises the dead for instance, every situation that looked dead suddenly is vitalized with divine energy! Glory to God!

We are eager to hear from you because we know that this month for you all around the world is a month of unimaginable and earth-shaking miracles. So, take advantage of this platform to share them with us.

God bless you!

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Simple Believing Prayer

by Joyce Meyer

 

And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking…. For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
—Matthew 6:7–8

We must develop confidence in simple, believing prayer. We need the confidence that even if we simply say, “God, help me,” He hears and will answer. We can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do, as long as our request is in accordance with His will. We should know that He wants to help us because He is our Helper (Hebrews 13:6).

Too often we get caught up in our own works concerning prayer. Sometimes we try to pray so long, loud, and fancy that we lose sight of the fact that prayer is our conversation with God. The length or loudness or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue; it is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence we have that God hears and will answer us that is important.

Sometimes we try to sound so devout and elegant that we get lost. We don’t even know what we are trying to pray about. If we could ever get delivered from trying to impress God, we would be a lot better off.

Prayer:

Lord, free me from the belief that my prayers must be eloquent and just right. Keep reminding me that what You really want from me is a heartfelt conversation. Amen.

The Fruit Of The Spirit

by Joyce Meyer

 

The fruit of the [Holy] Spirit...is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness, (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).
—Galatians 5:22–23

When we are filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, we see His fruit manifested through us. We have peace and joy and we are good to people. Jesus has commanded us to love one another as He loved us. It is important for the world to see this love manifested. The people of the world are hungry for truth and need to see that God can change people. They need to see God’s love in action in order to make them hungry and thirsty for Him.

The Bible teaches us that we are to be light and salt (see Matthew 5:13–14). The world is in darkness, but Christians filled with the Holy Spirit bring light everywhere they go. The world is tasteless, but Christians bring salt (flavor) to life when they are present.

We have a big job to do as Christians and we should always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit concerning how we treat people. God is in us making His appeal to the world through us; we are His personal representatives (see 2 Corinthians 5:20). In view of that fact, Paul said we should lay hold of the divine favor offered to us. We must work with the Holy Spirit to develop the fruit of the Spirit to a full measure so we can behave in a way that glorifies God and draws people to Him.

The fruit of the Spirit is developed as we go through difficulties in life and continue, with God’s help, to treat people the way He would. Stay strong in the Lord and remember that the world is watching you and they need you to be salt and light.

God's word for you today: No matter what challenges you might face today, continue to be kind to everyone you encounter.

 

A Confident Heart

by Joyce Meyer

 

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident!  Psalm 57:7

Notice that this passage says that not only must our heart be fixed and steadfast, it must also be confident. I have discovered that staying confident at all times is vital to successful ministry.

I have found that even while I am busy ministering, even while I am up in front of an audience teaching, the devil will try to introduce thoughts into my head to make me lose confidence. For example, if two or three people look at their watches, the devil whispers to me, "They're so bored they can't wait to get out of here." If a couple of people get up and leave to go to the restroom, the devil will say, "They're leaving because they don't like your preaching."

Whatever we do for the Lord, the devil will try to do something to cause us to lose confidence. He doesn't want us to have confidence in our prayers. He doesn't want us to believe we can hear from God. He doesn't want us to have any confidence concerning the call on our life. He wants us to go around feeling like a failure. That is why we need to keep a confident heart within us all the time. We shouldn't drag ourselves out of bed each day in fear or discouragement. Instead, we should get up every morning prepared to keep Satan under our feet.

How do we do that? We do it by confidently declaring what the Word says about us such as, "I am more than a conqueror through Jesus. I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. I am triumphant in every situation because God always causes me to triumph." As we will see, that not only causes the devil to leave us alone, but it also strengthens our confidence.

 

 

 

 

 

PRAYER OF SALVATION!

Dear VoiceGodsWord Blogs Reader, I  trust you have been blessed by this blog: thoughtsnuggets.blogspot.com.  I invite you to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life by praying thus:

 

O Lord God, I come to You in the Name of Jesus Christ.  Your Word says, “..whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

I ask Jesus to come into my heart to be the Lord of my life.  I receive eternal life into my spirit and according to Romans 10:9, ‘That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved,” I declare that I am saved; I am born-again; I am a child of God!  I now have Christ dwelling in me, and greater is He that is in me that he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)!  I now walk in the consciousness of my new life in Christ Jesus.  Hallelujah!”

Congratulations! You are now a child of God.  To receive more information on how you can grow as a Christian, please get in touch with us through my email id as below:

gloriouswinner@gmail.com

GOD BLESS!

Positive Minds!

by Joyce Meyer

 

Jesus said, Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed. (Matthew 8:13)

Sometimes when I stand behind the pulpit, and before I speak, I pause and my gaze sweeps across the audience. I look at the faces of the people. I love to see the bright smiles and expressions of anticipation, but there are always a few who look downtrodden and discouraged. I don’t know anything about them and I don’t want to judge them, but their faces look sad. They look as if they have lost hope and expect nothing positive to happen—and too often, they get exactly what they expect. I understand those discouraged people; I was once one of them.

Here’s a simple fact I’ve learned: Positive minds produce positive lives, but negative minds produce negative lives. The New Testament tells the story of a Roman soldier whose servant was sick, and the soldier wanted Jesus to heal him. That wasn’t uncommon—many wanted Jesus to heal them or their loved ones in those days. But this soldier, instead of asking Jesus to come to his servant, expressed his belief that if Jesus would just speak the word, his servant would be healed (see Matthew 8:8). Jesus marvelled at his faith and sent out His word to heal the servant. The soldier’s positive mindset—his faith—brought positive results. He expected healing, and that’s exactly what happened.

Too often, we cry to Jesus to heal us, to take care of our finances, or to deliver us from problems, but we don’t fully expect the good things to happen. We allow our minds to focus on the negative aspects. Doubt and unbelief war against our minds and steal our faith if we allow it.

As I wrote in my book Battlefield of the Mind, many years ago I was extremely negative. I used to say that if I had two positive thoughts in a row, my mind would get in a cramp. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but that’s how I saw myself. I lived with the same philosophy that other people have: If we don’t expect anything good to happen, we won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t.

I could have excused my negative attitude by telling everyone about my disappointments in life—and I had many. It wasn’t just my lack of expectation. It was more than that. Because I thought negatively, I spoke negatively. When people told me of their spiritual victories, I’d think, That won’t last. When people spoke of their faith, I’d smile, but inwardly I would think that they were gullible. I could always figure out ways that plans would go wrong or people would disappoint me.

Was I happy? Of course not. Negative thinkers are never happy. It’s too long of a story to explain how I came to face that reality, but once I realized what a negative person I was, I cried out to the Lord to help me.

I learned that if I kept studying the Word of God, I could push away negative thoughts. God’s Word is positive and uplifting. My responsibility was to become the kind of believer who honors God with her thoughts, as well as with her actions and her deeds.

I understood the remorse David must have felt when he wrote Psalm 51: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love . . .” is the way he starts. I especially meditated on verse 9: “Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.” I hadn’t sinned the same way David did, of course, but my negative thinking and bad attitude was sin. It wasn’t just weakness or a bad habit. When I focused on negative thinking, I was rebelling against God.

The Lord had mercy on me. As I continued in His Word and in prayer, He freed me from Satan’s stronghold.

A Step Of Faith

 

by Joyce Meyer        

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.
—Proverbs 16:9

 

There are times in life when you must take a step in order to find out, one way or the other, what you should do. Some doors will never open unless you move toward them. At other times you may take a step and find that God will not open the door. If you trust Him for guidance and the door opens easily, you can trust that He is leading you to enter into the opportunity before you.

 

Sometimes the only way to discover God’s will is to practice “stepping out and finding out.” If you have prayed about a situation and still don’t know what you should do, take a step of faith. We can stand before an automatic door at a supermarket and look at it all day, but it won’t open until we step forward to trigger the mechanism.

 

Trust God, take a step, and see if the door opens!

Testimony Begins With "Test"

by Joyce Meyer

 

Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.  —James 1:2

I’m sure you know people with amazing stories of the way God has worked in their lives. I always love to hear a great testimony, but I also know that behind every extraordinary account of someone’s life lies some kind of challenge or difficulty. No one ever has a testimony without a test.

We must pass all kinds of tests as we go through our lives, and passing them is part of never giving up. It’s vital for us to understand the important role that tests and trials play in our lives, because understanding them helps us endure them and actually be strengthened by them. Everything God permits us to go through will ultimately be good for us—no matter how much it hurts, how unfair it is, or how difficult it is.

When we encounter tests and trials, if we will embrace them and refuse to run from them, we will learn some lessons that will help us in the future and make us stronger.

One reason we must go through trials is to test our quality (1 Pet. 4:12). Often, we find ourselves wishing we had the faith of Sister so-and- so or Brother so-and-so. I can assure you, if they have a strong and vibrant faith, they did not develop it easily. Just as muscles are strengthened through exercise, firm faith comes from the furnace of affliction.

Sometimes people say to me, “Oh, I wish I had the kind of ministry you have, Joyce.” Well, I did not get it by wishing. These people didn’t see when I was feeling I couldn’t hold on one more second, begging God to help me to not quit or give up. They don’t know the tests and trials I’ve faced along the way.

No one who does anything worthwhile for God has traveled an easy road. Doing great things for God requires character, and character is developed by passing life’s tests and staying faithful to Him through the trials.

Trust in Him: God has a unique plan for your life. Trust Him when you go through tests, knowing that they are strengthening and preparing you for the great things He has planned specifically for you.

 

One Life To Give!

by Joyce Meyer

I die daily [I face death every day and die to self].  (1 Corinthians 15:31)

You and I were not born knowing how to love others. In fact, we were born with a selfish, “all about me” attitude. The Bible refers to this as “sin nature.” Adam and Eve sinned against God by doing what He told them not to do and the sin principle they established was forever passed to every person who would ever be born.

God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and to deliver us from them. He came to undo what Adam did. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He comes to live in our sprit and if we allow that renewed part of us to rule our decisions, we can overcome the selfish, sin nature of our flesh. It won’t go away, but the greater One who lives in us helps us overcome it daily (see Galatians 5:16). That does not mean we never sin, but we can improve and make progress throughout our lives.

I was greatly encouraged one day when I discovered that the apostle Paul wrote, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me approximately twenty years after his conversion (Galatians 2:20, NKJV). Learning to live unselfishly was a journey for him, just as it is for everyone else.

Paul also wrote our verse for today: “I die daily.” In other words, even this well-known apostle struggled with putting others first; he found that doing so was a daily battle and required daily decisions. Each of us must decide how we will live and what we will live for; and there is no better time to do so than right now. You and I have one life to live and one life to give, so the question is: How are you going to spend your life? I firmly believe that if each of us does our part to put the welfare of others first that we can see and be part of a revolution of love—and that kind of revolution has the potential to change the world.

Love God Today: Remember that whatever you do for others, you are doing for God.

A Happy Heart

by Joyce Meyer

 

A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. . . . A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. —Proverbs 15:13; 17:22

Most women are concerned about their looks, and a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks instantly. Ziggy said, “A smile is a facelift that is in everyone’s price range.”

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling; live your life in such a way that when you die, you will be smiling and everyone else will be crying.

You may be familiar with Joel Osteen, a pastor from Houston, Texas. He not only pastors the largest church in the United States, but he is also on television in many parts of the world. Joel is known as “the smiling preacher.” He literally smiles all the time. I have eaten with him several times, and I am still trying to figure out how he can eat and smile at the same time, but he does it. He is a great pastor and teacher of God’s Word, but I believe one of the main things that helps his popularity is his smile. People want to feel better, and anytime we smile at them it helps them do that. A smile reassures people and puts them at ease.

Lord, Your love and grace bring the deepest happiness to my heart. I receive it from You, and I ask You to pour it out to others through my smiles and care. Amen.

Faith And Favor

by Joyce Meyer

 

Man’s steps are ordered by the Lord. How then can a man understand his way? —Proverbs 20:24

When Dave and I sensed God calling us to begin a television ministry, we began to take steps in that direction by faith. We could not do it without money, so the first thing we did was write to the people on our mailing list, asking friends and ministry partners to give financially toward helping us start a television ministry. We felt God had spoken to our hearts concerning a certain amount of money we would need to begin, and that amount is exactly what we received.

We then took another step. We needed a producer and God provided. A man had applied for a job as a television producer three months before God spoke to us about being on television. Since we were not on television we told him we would not need his services. When the time came, we remembered that man and realized that God had met our need before we even knew we had one.

The next step we took was to buy time on a few stations once a week. As the programs paid for themselves and we saw good fruit from them, we bought more time. Eventually we went on daily television and now have a daily program that airs around the world and, prayerfully, is helping millions of people.

God led Dave and me one step at a time and that is how He will lead you. Every time we took a step of faith, God gave us favor, and I encourage you to expect favor also. God already knows your needs and He has your answer, so when fear knocks on your door, answer with faith and you will do great things.

God's word for you today: Be confident that God is leading you and giving you favor.

 

You Are Abraham's Seed! 12/10/2013

Author: Jerry Savelle

 

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

“Abraham’s seed” refers to people in both the Old and New Testaments who have received righteousness (right standing before God) by faith.

We receive righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ and are called Abraham’s seed.

God made many promises to “Abraham’s seed” and left every one of them an inheritance. This inheritance is available to every “seed” the moment they receive righteousness by faith.

Read Deuteronomy 28 to find of what belongs to you. God promised that you would be blessed coming in, blessed going out, blessed in the city, blessed in the field, blessed in everything you set your hand to do.

He said He would make you the head and not the tail, above and not beneath! When your enemy comes in one way, God will cause him to flee seven ways.

God loves you and wants you to enjoy the inheritance that He left for you. Determine today that you are going to find out what God has promised, and receive everything that is rightfully yours, to the glory of God.

Confession: Thank You Father for loving me enough to leave me a wonderful inheritance. As Abraham’s seed I know that I am a rightful heir to this inheritance and I determine to find out and enjoy all that is contained within it.

 

Don't Quit!

by Joyce Meyer

 

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
—Galatians 6:9

“I’ve been a Christian for twenty-three years,” Cheryl said. “I’m just not getting anywhere. I’m as weak as I was when I first accepted Christ as my Savior. I still fail. I just don’t know if it’s worth it.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued to talk about her failures. “By now I know all the right things to do, but I don’t do them. Sometimes I deliberately do something mean-spirited or unkind. What kind of Christian am I?”

“Probably a growing Christian,” I said.

A startled look appeared on Cheryl’s face. “Growing? Did you hear—?”

“Yes, I heard. But if you weren’t growing, you wouldn’t lament your failures. You’d be satisfied about your spiritual level or tell yourself how good you are.”

“But I’m so discouraged, and I fail God so many times.”

I went on to tell Cheryl she was correct—that she had failed. All of us do at times. None of us is perfect. If we’re not careful, we allow the devil to point to what we haven’t accomplished and where we have been weak. When that happens, it’s easy to feel bad or want to give up.

That’s not the way of the Spirit. No matter how we mess up our lives, God doesn’t give up on us. The Spirit constantly nudges us.

We can allow our thoughts to dwell on what we haven’t done, why we ought to be more spiritual, or how spiritual we ought to be after all these years in our Christian faith. That’s a trick of the devil—to make us think of our defects and shortcomings. If we focus on what we’re not or what we haven’t accomplished, we are allowing the devil to make advances on the battlefield of our minds.

The fact that my troubled friend was upset was a healthy sign, even though she didn’t see it that way. With the Holy Spirit’s help, she can push back the devil. She can regain the territory Satan has stolen from her.

Cheryl seemed to think that holy, victorious living came from one major victory after another. Yes, we do have times when we have great breakthroughs; however, most of our victories come slowly. They come little by little. It’s as if we inch forward. Because we move slowly in our spiritual growth, we are often unaware of how far we have moved. If the devil can make us think that we must have one decisive spiritual victory after another or we’re losers, he has gained an important stronghold.

My advice to Cheryl, and to all Christians who face those dark moments, is to listen to the words of the apostle Paul. He exhorted us not to grow weary, or as another translation says it, “not to lose heart.” He’s saying, “Don’t quit. Keep fighting.”

Life is a struggle, and the devil is determined to defeat and destroy us. We don’t ever reach the place where we never have to fight. But it’s not just our fight. Jesus is not only with us, but He is for us. He’s at our side to strengthen us and to urge us onward.

My friend kept remembering the times she had failed, but I reminded her of the times she had succeeded. “You think the devil is in control, but that’s not true. You have failed, but you have also succeeded. You have stood your ground and you have made progress.”

“Don’t quit. Don’t give up.” That’s the message we need to hear. I think of the words of Isaiah: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you… ; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you” (Isaiah 43:1b–2).

This is God’s promise. He doesn’t promise to take us completely out of troubles or hardships, but He does promise to be with us as we go through them. “Fear not,” He says. That’s the message we need to ponder. We don’t need to fear because God is with us. And when God is with us, what is there to worry about?

God, despite my failures, You are with me, encouraging me not to give up. Please help me to remember that, with Your help, I can win. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.