APR. 25, 2026 Permissible or beneficial? "'I have the right to do anything'...but not everything is beneficial." 1Co 10:23 NIV God can deliver you from anything in a single day, but you've got to back it up with daily discipline. If you don't practice spiritual discipline day in and day out, your deliverance will be short-lived. You'll fall back into whatever it was that God delivered you from. Anybody can set a life goal; the hard part is going after it every day. You get

APR. 24, 2026 Rahab: redeemed and redirected. "By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish." Heb 11:31 NKJV Much could be said about Rahab without mentioning her profession.  She was a Canaanite.  She provided cover for the spies of Joshua.  She came to believe in the God of Abraham before she ever met the children of Abraham.  She was spared in the destruction of her city.  She married a contemporary of Joshua's, bore a son named Boaz, had a great-grandson named Jesse, a great-

APR. 23, 2026 Always acknowledge your dependence on God. "Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us." 2Co 3:5-6 NLT In his classic book called Prayer, Dr. O. Hallesby wrote: "Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only those who are helpless can truly pray...Prayer therefore consists simply in telling God day by day in what ways we feel helpless. We are moved to pray every time the Spirit of God...emphasizes anew to us our helplessness, and we realize how impotent

APR. 22, 2026 Raise the bar. "Jonathan..David's brother, killed him." 2Sa 21:21 NIV After David killed Goliath, four other men, including his nephew Jonathan, killed giants that rose up against the Israelites. "In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot— twenty-four in all. He was also descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him" (2Sa 21:

APR. 20, 2026 Keep running! "O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!"  Hab 3:2 NKJV The Bible likens the Christian life to a marathon. The writer of the book of Hebrews said: " Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured"  (Heb 12:1-2 NKJV).  Paul wrote to the Philippian

APR. 19, 2026 Resurrect your dream . "For God does speak...in a dream."  Job 33:14-15 NIV God is the giver of dreams. "For God does speak...in a dream, in a vision...when deep sleep falls on people" (vv. 14-15 NIV).  Unless you want to spend the rest of your life being unfulfilled and uninspired, take your dream out of the closet and blow the dust off. It's easy to get caught up in the "have tos" of life—working; caring for children, spouses, and aging parents; taking care of

APR. 18, 2026 Stay positive . "Whatever things are...of good report... meditate on these things." Php 4:8 NKJV Marcial Losada is an organizational psychologist who studies the power of positivity. He argues that we need a negative feedback loop to survive. Without midcourse corrections, we mindlessly make the same mistakes. But if you want to thrive, you also need a positive feedback loop. His studies have produced what is known as the Losada ratio: it's the ratio of positive

APR. 17, 2026 Pray about it. "You will...find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jer 29:13 NIV Fanny Crosby, the noted hymn writer, said she never attempted to write a hymn without first kneeling in prayer. Given that she wrote about 8,000 songs, she was obviously a woman of prayer! Beloved hymns such as "Blessed Assurance," "To God be The Glory," and "I am Thine, O Lord" were born from times of prayer.  But like many creative people, she was often under pressure to me

APR. 16, 2026 You can outgrow the problem. "But none of these things move me."  Ac 20:24 NKJV Before leaving the leaders of the church at Ephesus for the last time, Paul told them: " The Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy"  (vv. 23-24 NKJV). There are two ways to deal with a problem: ( 1 ) Pray and believe God to remove

APR. 15, 2026 God has more in store for you . "Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord."  Hos 6:3 NKJV The Lord charged the church at Ephesus with having "left your first love " (see Rev 2:4) and the church of Laodicea with being "neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm " (see Rev 3:15-16).  R. T. Kendall said, "The greatest opposition to what God wants to do next comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God did last." Read the following Scriptures carefully and praye

APR. 14, 2026 Pray for a revelation of God's love (3) "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"  Ro 8:35 NIV Paul asked: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" And the answer is-nothing! Then he came up with a laundry list of worst-case scenarios, from trouble to danger and anything in between: " Trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword"  (NIV).  When Paul wrote " hardship ," he was back in the Mediterranean Sea during a te

APR. 12, 2026 Pray for a revelation of God's love (1). "I pray that you...may...know this love that surpasses knowledge."  Eph 3:17-19 NIV In the realm of general relativity, an event horizon is the point of no return. It's the point at which gravitational pull becomes so great that it's impossible to escape. The most obvious example is the black hole-a celestial object so massive that light can only enter but never exit its gravitational field. The escape velocity of a black

APR. 11, 2026 You can pull down that stronghold. "The weapons of our warfare are... mighty in God for pulling down strongholds."  2Co 10:4 NKJV Just as Jericho was a stronghold in Canaan, we have strongholds in our lives. Paul wrote: "The weapons of our warfare are...mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God"  (vv. 4-5 NKJV).   A stronghold is an"argument" or a "high thing" that "exa

APR. 9, 2026 Practice God-confidence rather than self-confidence . "It was not I but God who was working through me by his grace."  1Co 15:10 NLT Pride promotes self-reliance. It tells us we can indeed do things on our own. In our attempt to walk in self-confidence, we slam the door in God's face and shut out the work of the Holy Spirit, our Helper. Paul was educated, sophisticated, and consecrated, yet he humbly declared, " I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I'm no

APR. 8, 2026 God will give you knowledge and understanding. "From his mouth come knowledge and understanding."  Pr 2:6 NIV Bill Gates predicted: "There will be 'two societies' in the future; high-paid knowledge workers and low-paid service workers." The saying "knowledge is power" is true. And it's even more dynamic in the spiritual realm. The more you know about God, the more confident you'll be.  Knowledge of God's Word can give clarity to the puzzling issues of life. When

APR. 7, 2026 The life-giving Word . "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."  Jn 6:63 NKJV Jesus was called "Rabbi" eleven times in the Gospels. But He wasn't like any other rabbi. Rabbis quoted others, but Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you..." In the gospel of John, He said it twice: "Truly, truly, I say to you..." The reason Jesus wasn't like any other rabbi was because He was God manifested in the flesh. And Paul says, " Christ, in whom are hidden all

APR. 5, 2026 Jesus conquered death for you. "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said."  Mt 28:6 KJV One day your heart will give a final pulse, and your lungs empty a final breath. And barring the return of Christ, you will die. The psalmist asked, " What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?"  (Ps 89:48 NKJV). Young and old, good and bad, rich and poor; neither gender is spared; no class is exempt. " No one has power over th

APR. 2, 2026 Believe God for abundance . "The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand." Dt 30:9 NKJV A young artist called her aunt one day to let her know she was leaving on a trip to a fashionable resort to try and sell her wood carvings of seabirds to the owner of a gift shop. She asked her aunt to pray that her venture would be successful. Her aunt assured her that she would pray for the largest order she had ever received! That evening, the young

APR. 1, 2026 P.R.A.Y. (Pause, Reverence, Ask, Yield) "We will give ourselves continually to prayer."  Ac 6:4 NKJV In her book 30 Days to a Stronger, More Confident You, author Deborah Smith Pegues uses the word "pray" as an acronym:  " Pause . I stop all activity and focus completely on God. Worship is total preoccupation...The greatest honor and respect we can give to anyone is our undivided attention… Reverence . I express my admiration for all His attributes...At this poin

MAR. 31, 2026 Today God is "with you" "I am with you always."  Mt 28:20 NKJV To have a personal relationship with someone, there must be two-way communication. Even the most uncommunicative husband has to grunt every once in a while, or it isn't a marriage-it's a monologue. So, the Lord being with you, and you being with the Lord, takes place primarily in your mind.  Two people may occupy the same room, but if one of them is sleeping or engrossed in television, they're not re