Daily Hope Devotional

“His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’ Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, ‘Why are you talking about not having bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your minds closed?’” (Mark 8:16-17 NCV) You’re going to miss what God is doing in your life if you remain focused on the here-and-now and not what God wants to do in your life long term. When you’re thinking about comfort rather than character, when you’re thinking about your happiness and not your holiness, when you’re thinking about enjoying now instead of preparing for eternity, you’re caught up in short-term thinking, and it will keep you from seeing life clearly. This is what happened with the disciples. Jesus was trying to teach them a lesson about pride by using yeast as a metaphor. The Bible says in Mark 8:16-17, “His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’ Knowing what they were talking abo

“Then Jesus left the Pharisees and went in the boat to the other side of the lake. His followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat; they had forgotten to bring more. Jesus warned them, ‘Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’” (Mark 8:13-16 NCV) In the Bible, yeast is often a metaphor for pride and arrogance. Why? When you put yeast in dough, what does it do? It puffs it up, and if you put in too much, it blows it up. When you’re cooking, you don’t need a lot of yeast. If you’re making bread, you don’t pour a cup of yeast in. You just need a little pinch. Just like yeast, you don’t have to have a lot of pride for it to take over quickly and get you in all kinds of problems. Recently my wife, Kay, and I had what you might call an argument. We call it a “love match.” After that argument, I wrote down in my journal, “When I’m filled with pr

“My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NIV) Some of you are in a rut, and it’s cold and dark and lonely. Some of you are on the road, and it’s scary and insecure, and you have no idea where you’re going or how long the journey’s going to take. And some of you are at the refinery, and the pressure is on. No matter where you are on the way to your miracle, here are some things you need to remember: - God is all you need. You don’t need the government or even a job. If God wants to, He can have ravens drop food on you as His way of providing. If He turns off one job opportunity, He can turn on another just as easily. Don’t trust in your bank account, which changes daily. God is all you need. - Where God guides, God provides. If God tells you to go to Zarephath, leave now! When God gives you direction, He will provide what you need to get there. - You must trust Him one day at a time. Why? Because somethin

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the LORD. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.’” (Isaiah 55:8 NLT) Most of us have some need in our lives that we want met. And many of us try to figure how to get them fulfilled. You may be looking around saying, “Maybe God could do it that way” or “Maybe I could help God along with this” or “Maybe I could give a suggestion here.” You’re trying to manipulate God, and it doesn’t work! The source of a miracle will not be where you think it’s going to come from. It’s always unexpected. God told Abraham that he was going to have a son, and that son was going to be the father of a great nation. Abraham was nearly 100 years old and had a little trouble believing God’s promise. So he took matters into his own hands and had sex with a woman who wasn’t his wife, and they had a son named Ishmael. Bu God said, “No! That’s not the one I promised. That’s the one you came up with using your plan, but that’s not my plan

“Then the LORD spoke His word to Elijah, ‘Go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.’ So Elijah went to Zarephath.” (1 Kings 17:8-10a NCV) When you’re scared to death and vulnerable, you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t know how long it’s going to take, and you don’t know what’s going to happen when you get there, what do you do? You remember that the path to a miracle is always through uncomfortable territory. The Bible gives an illustration in 1 Kings 17:8-10: “Then the LORD spoke His word to Elijah, ‘Go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.’ So Elijah went to Zarephath” (NCV). God told Elijah to walk more than 100 miles during a drought through dangerous territory, where everyone knew who he was, and everyone knew King Ahab had a price on Elijah’s head. When Elijah finally made it to Zarephath, he met a poor widow who was going to feed him, but how could she help d

“Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32 NLT) When I was a kid, any time I needed something, I’d go talk to my dad. Sometimes what I needed was expensive, but I remember that not once as a kid did I worry about where my father was going to get the money for whatever I needed. That wasn’t my job! It was my dad’s job to figure out where the money was going to come from. It was my job as a kid to simply ask. It’s not your job to figure out how God’s going to provide. It’s your job to ask. The Bible says in James 4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (NIV). Here’s the second key to stress management: Worry less, and ask more. Instead of worrying, pray about everything. Romans 8:32 says, “Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?” (NLT) If God solved your biggest problem, everything else is small by comparison. If God lov

“Don’t worry about anything.” (Philippians 4:6 NLT) The number one source of stress in your life is not work. It’s worry. Work doesn’t keep you up at night; worry does. God is very clear in the Bible what He thinks about worry. Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything” (NLT). Why do you need to let go of your worry? Worry is unreasonable for a couple of reasons. First, worry exaggerates the problem. Have you noticed if somebody says something bad about you, the more you think about it, the bigger it gets? Second, worry doesn’t work. To worry about something you can’t change is useless. And to worry about something you can change is stupid. Just go change it! — Worry is unnatural. There are no born worriers. You might think you are, but you’re not. Worry is something you learned. Since worry is unnatural, it’s also unhealthy. Your body wasn’t designed to handle worry. When people say, “I’m worried sick,” they’re telling the truth. Doctors say a lot of people could

“I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT) Happiness requires letting go and learning to forget. Worry won’t change the past, so forget what can’t be changed and focus on the future. Philippians 3:13-14 says, “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (NLT). You only have a limited amount of energy. That’s why you get tired. That’s why you get fatigued. That’s why you get worn out. Since you only have a limited supply of energy, I highly recommend you not waste any of it on the past. Every day, choose to focus your energy on what is in front of you and what lies ahead. This habit is so important to your happiness, the

“I don’t mean to say I’m perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I’m still not all I should be.” (Philippians 3:12-13 LB) Following Jesus is a decision and then a process for the rest of your life. You can’t follow without walking. You’ve got to have movement! Philippians 3:12-13 says, “I don’t mean to say I’m perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I’m still not all I should be” (LB). When Paul wrote that verse, he was an older man in prison in Rome. He’s at the end of life. He’s an incredibly mature person. Yet he says he hadn’t arrived. If anybody had the right to say, “I’ve arrived spiritually,” it would be the guy who wrote most of the New Testament. But Paul says, no, I haven’t arrived. I’m still growin

“I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Philippians 3:10 NASB) You were made to live in relationship with God, and if you think you can be joyful without getting to know Him better, you’re just fooling yourself. Happiness is found in getting to know God a little bit better every day. Paul discovered that. He says in Philippians 3:10, “I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (NASB). There is a difference in knowing about someone and knowing someone. I know more about Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian than I want to, but I don’t really know them. I know my wife and I know my kids because I spend time with them. I have a relationship with them. Paul became “deeply and intimately acquainted” with God because he had a relationship with Him and took the time to get to know Him. You don’t get to know God by accident. It’s a “d

“I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9 NLT) You can’t earn God’s approval. You can’t earn His love. You can’t earn His recognition. God is love, and He loves you unconditionally. If you want to be a happy person, you need to relax in God’s grace every day. Philippians 3:3 says, “We Christians glory in what Christ Jesus has done for us and realize that we are helpless to save ourselves” (LB). One of the things that will rob you of your happiness is legalism. Legalism is the attitude that you have to prove your love to God. Legalism is trusting in what you do for God instead of what Jesus did for you. It’s thinking that you have to follow rules and regulations and restrictions in order to prove yourself worthy. How do you know when you’re a legalist? It’s when you’re judgmental of other people. How do you know when yo

“Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace.” (Philippians 4:6-7a NLT) In Philippians 4:6-7 we find one of the most difficult verses in the entire Bible to obey: “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace” (NLT). It’s not easy to stop worrying about the often-scary, everyday parts of our lives, but God tells us how in the next part of the verse: “Pray about everything … and thank Him for all He has done.” Grateful prayer brings peace. God says, when you start to worry, pray. Parents understand the power of grateful prayers. Most parents wouldn’t appreciate their children always making requests without saying “thank you” for what they’ve already received. God sees it the same way. He wants us to ask Him for what we nee

"Sing out your thanks to Him; sing praises to our God." (Psalm 147:7a LB) Learning to thank God for what He has given us is an important part of our spiritual journey. So how do you make gratitude to God an important part of your life? One of the most important ways to do so is by singing. The Bible says, "Sing out your thanks to Him; sing praises to our God" (Psalm 147:7a LB). Nothing makes you aware of God's presence more quickly than singing your praise to God. It doesn’t matter how much musical talent you have, either. The Bible urges us to make a joyful noise. Even pigs do that as they eat! If pigs can make a joyful noise, so can you. Christianity is a singing faith. There are more songs about Jesus Christ than anything or anyone else, even love. That’s why you need to be part of a local church. It’s not just about listening to a weekly message from the Bible. At least once a week, you need the emotional expression that comes from singing thanks to

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV) In the U.S., we celebrate a day of thanksgiving once a year. But God wants us to be intentional about our thankfulness every day. He wants us to develop this spiritual habit, one that is reflected in the life of a radical believer. The truth is, the more deeply you understand God’s love, the more grateful you’re going to be. So what does it mean to be radically grateful? The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NIV). That’s radical gratitude. In all circumstances give thanks, because it’s God’s will for you. You can thank God in every circumstance because God is in control. He can bring good out of evil. He can turn around the stupid mistakes you’ve made. No matter what happens, God isn’t going to stop loving you. There are a hundred things to be thankful for in any circumstance, even

“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11 NIV) The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:11, “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (NIV). What an amazing verse! God makes you rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion, which will result in thanksgiving to God. God doesn’t bless you so you can be greedy; He blesses you so you can be generous. You give away, and God gives back to you so you can give more away and He can give more back to you and on and on and on. God doesn’t give you things so you can pile them up. When you let go of what’s in your hand, it’s now empty to receive greater blessings from God. But as I’ve said before, God’s giving to you is based on your attitude. That’s why it’s so important to live with an attitude of g

“You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.” (1 Corinthians 1:10 MSG) One skill that doesn’t seem to be taught in school anymore is how to work well with others. But it’s one of the most important skills to learn if you’re going to be a happy person. If you don’t work well with other people, you’re going to be unhappy much of your life. What do you need to learn in order to work with other people? First, you must learn to cooperate with others. Epaphroditus was a man that the church in Philippi sent to Rome with a gift of financial support for Paul while he was in prison. Philippians 2:25 says, “I feel that I must send Epaphroditus — my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier — back to you. You sent him as your personal representative to help me in my need” (GWT). By calling Epaphroditus his brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, Paul was saying that life and ministry is a family, it’s a fellowship, and

“Reliable friends who do what they say are like cool drinks in sweltering heat — refreshing!” (Proverbs 25:13 MSG) The more people trust you, the happier you’re going to be. If people don’t trust you, you’re going to live a pretty miserable life. If you want to be happy, you’ve got to become somebody that people trust. Paul uses Timothy as an example of this: “You know the kind of person Timothy is. You know he has served with me in telling the Good News, as a son serves his father” (Philippians 2:22 NCV). Paul had seen Timothy in action, in all kinds of circumstances, and he considered him genuine, trustworthy, and reliable. God’s Word translation says, “You know what kind of person Timothy proved to be.” Do people know what kind of person you really are? Have you been proven trustworthy like Timothy? Any time you go to a bank for a loan, they’re going to do a credit check. They want to know if you’re worthy of being trusted with credit. Do you pay your bills on time? Do y

“Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” (Philippians 2:4 MSG) The starting point for all happiness is shifting the focus away from yourself. If all you think about is yourself, you’re going to be a pretty miserable person. If you truly want to be happy in life, you have to care about the needs of those around you. Paul gives Timothy as an example of this in Philippians 2:20-21: “There is no one like Timothy for having a real interest in you; everyone else seems to be worrying about his own plans and not those of Jesus Christ” (LB). Most people are worrying about their own plans and aren’t looking out for the interests of others. Most people don’t get up in the morning and give their first thought to how someone else is doing. Most people are concerned with their own problems. And, that’s why most people are unhappy with their lives! If you want to be one of those rare, unselfish people, you’ve got to change yo

“If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for My sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.” (Mark 8:35 LB) God wired the universe so that happiness does not come from status, salary, sex, or success. Happiness comes from service. God designed you to be happiest when you are giving your life away. Why? Because He wants you to become like Him. It’s all about love! “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for My sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live” (Mark 8:35 LB). To have a happy heart, you have to practice service and generosity every day. Matthew 20:28 says, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many” (NLT). Jesus came to serve and give. Those are the two things that will bring more happiness in your life than anything else

“Hold firmly to the Word of Life.” (Philippians 2:16a NLT) God has promised many wonderful benefits in your life if you will meditate on the Word of God and then do it. Surprisingly, if you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate on the Word of God. Worry is when you take a negative thought and you think on it over and over and over. When you take a passage of Scripture and you think on it over and over and over, that’s called meditation. There are six ways you can get a grasp on God’s Word. - You can hear it, - You can read it, - You can study it, - You can memorize it, - You can meditate on it, and - You can apply it. But if all you do is hear the Word of God when you go to church, you have no grip on the Word of God, and it can be pulled out of your mind very easily. The Bible says in Philippians 2:16, “Hold firmly to the Word of Life” (NLT). You don’t have a good grip on the Bible unless you’re doing all six habits: hearing it, reading it, studying it

“What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.” (Psalm 32:1-2 LB) One thing that causes us to lose our happiness is feeling guilty or ashamed. You’ve got to get rid of guilt and maintain a clear conscience if you want to be happy, because you cannot be guilty and happy at the same time. Philippians 2:15 says, “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (NLT). You might say, “I’d like to be happy, but how do I keep my conscience clear when it’s not clear right now?” You need to do what Psalm 32:1-2 says: “What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record” (LB). Happiness, joy, and relief are three things everybody’s looking for in life. We

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that no one can criticize you.” Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT) Do you ever fret and fight over the small stuff? Of course. We all do! It’s a hard habit to break because we’re negative by nature. Ever since Adam and Eve, we have been going around excusing and accusing. We excuse our own mistakes and then accuse others for their mistakes — and more. We hide, and we hurl. We blame others for the problems in our lives. Philippians 2:14-15 says this: “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that no one can criticize you” (NLT). That may be one of the most difficult verses in the Bible. Would you agree? There are four types of complainers I run into all the time. First are the whiners. You can get up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord!” but whiners choose instead to say, “Good Lord, it’s morning!” Second are the martyrs. Their favorite expression is, “Nobody appreciates me!” They’re pros at throwing pity parties. T

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” Philippians 2:13 (NLT) No matter what you’re going to face this next week, you’re not going to face it alone. God is with you, He is in you, and He is for you. Philippians 2:13 says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him” (NLT). “God is working in you.” The word “working” in Greek is the word energos, from which we get the word “energy.” God is the energy driver in your life. You’re not just going on willpower. You’re not just going on your own power. God says he will give you the power you need, no matter what you’re facing. Not only is He in you, He is with you. The Bible says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” (John 14:18, 20 NIV). That’s quite a promise! The Bible says Christ is in you; the Bible says you’re hid with Christ in

“Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”  (Philippians 2:6-8 NLT) Happiness comes from harmony, and harmony comes from humility. If you want to be a humble person, you have to learn to ask yourself a question: “What would Jesus do?” What would Jesus do in this problem? What would Jesus do for that person who’s hurting? What would Jesus do at the office? On the golf course? What would Jesus do in your marriage? Ask this question, and you’ll always come up with a humble answer that builds harmony and happiness rather than difficulty, defeat, bitterness, and resentment. So, what does it mean to act like Jesus? Philippians 2 gives us three examples: 1) Don’t demand what you think you deserve. Philippians 2:6 says, “Though He was God, He did not th

“Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.” (Philippians 2:4 NCV) We live in an ADD world. It seems like everybody’s got Attention Deficit Disorder because our tools and technology have left us perpetually distracted, and we no longer pay attention to the people around us. When you walk into a meeting, how many people are sitting there looking at their phone and texting? Our heads are always down, engrossed in a video or word game, and our earbuds keep us from hearing the people around us. How many times have you been in a restaurant with friends, but you’re more concerned about your “friends” on Facebook or Twitter? If you want to have happier relationships, you need to learn the lost art of paying attention. The Bible says in Philippians 2:4, “Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others” (NCV). This doesn’t come naturally, does it? By nature, I may not care what you’re interested in. By n

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3 NIV) Every conflict that you go through in a relationship has an element of pride mixed into it. What is the middle letter of the word “pride”? I. What’s the middle letter of the word “crime”? I. What’s the middle letter of the word “sin”? I. We have an “I” problem! “I” want what “I” want and “I” want it now, and that causes all kinds of problems. In any relationship, never let pride be your guide, because pride is the root of every other sin. The Bible says in Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (NIV). Paul says that there are two conflict-creating kinds of pride. One of them is selfish ambition and the other is vain conceit. Selfish ambition says, “It’s all about me” and vain conceit means, “I’m always right.” Selfish ambition causes all kinds of problems. James 3:16 says

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 NIV) Happiness comes from service and giving your life away. Until you understand this, you’re not going to be happy for much of your life. Happiness does not come from self-gratification. It comes from self-sacrifice. Paul knew that to be happy, he had to stay focused on his purpose and not his problems. He summed up his purpose in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (NIV). If you were asked to fill in the blank, what word would you use? “For me to live is ______.” Would it be entertainment? Sports? Clothes? Family? Friends? A career? There could be a lot of good things you could answer, but nothing deserves the place of the One who created you and gave you your life: Jesus Christ. How you fill in that blank will determine how happy you are in life. Because if you answer “money” or “success” or “pleasure” or “power,” you are going to be unhappy for most of your life. There’s

“If by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose. I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing; but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive. I am sure of this, and so I know that I will stay. I will stay on with you all, to add to your progress and your joy in the faith.” (Philippians 1:22-25 TEV) When you stay focused on your purpose, not your problem, you can be happy even when life seems to be falling apart. Paul was an old man when he was in prison in Rome. He was a long way from home. He was awaiting execution. Everything has been taken from him — his friends, his freedom, his ministry, even his privacy, with a guard chained to him 24 hours a day. It wasn’t exactly a happy time for Paul. But there was one thing they could not take away from Paul: his purpose. Paul made the choice to stay focused on his purpose, even when he had lost eve