Daily Hope Devotional

“We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”   (Ephesians   2:10   NLT) The reason you have value is because of what God says about you, not because of what other people say about you. Many people lack self-esteem. They don’t feel good about themselves because they’re always trying to pump themselves up by the kind of clothes they wear, the kind of car they drive, and the things they say. They’re always trying to pump themselves up to make them feel better about themselves because they really don’t accept themselves — which is rebellion against God. If God wanted you to be somebody else, you wouldn’t exist. But He wanted you! He made you to be  you . Real self-esteem comes from three facts: God created you. Jesus died for you. God’s Spirit lives in you. The Bible says,  “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we ca

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty …. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands …. And the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.”   (1 Samuel 17:45-46 NIV) How do you defeat the giants that are keeping you from being the man God wants you to be? How do you defeat the fears that keep you from being the woman God wants you to be? If you want to be a person of great faith with a great dream and a great life work, you do the very things that David did to defeat the giants of delay, discouragement, disapproval, and doubt. Remember how God has helped you in the past . David says in 1 Samuel 17:37,  “The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”  (NLT) When you remember the ways that God has helped you in the past, it gives you confidence for the future. Use the tools that God has given you now.   David used the tools tha

“Everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues His people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle, and He will give you to us!”   (1 Samuel   17:47   NLT) In the story of David in 1 Samuel, he actually had to fight four other giants before he got to Goliath. They weren’t physical giants, but they were giants in his mind. You are far more likely to have to face those giants than a Goliath, but they can be just as big and intimidating and can keep you from becoming who God wants you to be and fulfilling the dream that God has put in your heart. The first giant in facing your dream is  delay . No dream is fulfilled instantly. God gives you the dream on one day, but He doesn’t fulfill it the next day. It may be years before you see the fulfillment of your life dream. There is always a waiting period. In David’s case, his dad held him back from the dream. After Samuel anointed David as king, Jesse told David to get back to tending the sheep!

“Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.” (Luke 16:9 NLT) The best use of your money is to use it to get people into Heaven. Luke 16:9 is a problem verse that most people don’t understand. Jesus says,  “Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home”  (NLT). Jesus is saying that, just like the shrewd manager who made friends he could count on later, you need to use some of your money to make eternal friends that you will have forever in Heaven and who will welcome you when you get there. He’s not saying you can buy your way into Heaven, because you can’t. Jesus has already paid the price on the cross. He’s not saying you can purchase your salvation, because you can’t. Salvation is a free gift by grace. Jesus is telling you to use your money to build f

“The wise man looks ahead. The fool attempts to fool himself and won’t face facts.”   (Proverbs 14:8 TLB) Money is a tool to be used for God’s purposes. We’re not to hoard it. We’re not to stockpile it. We’re not to worship it. We’re to use it! Use temporary resources — what God has put in your hands — for permanent good. In the story of the dishonest but shrewd manager in Luke 16:1-13, Jesus made him the hero of the story. The manager knew he was going to be fired, so he decided to make some friends by lowering the debts owed to his master. What did Jesus like about this guy? He’s dishonest, but he did three things right, and they are lessons God wants you to learn and apply to your finances. The manager looked ahead. Most people never look ahead when it comes to their finances. The average savings in Europe is about 12 percent of income, and in Japan it’s about 25 percent. The average savings Americans had last year was minus one percent. We spent one percent m

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”   (Matthew   6:19-21NLT) God is using money to test you. He doesn’t just automatically give His blessings to anybody; He tests you first to see if you’re responsible. If He can trust you with material possessions, then He can trust you with spiritual power. But if you’re not even managing your money well, why in the world should He give you the stuff that really matters? God’s favorite tool to test you is your finances. He’s using your money to test several things. Money shows what you love most. If you really want to know what’s important to you, look at your calendar and your credit card statement, beca

“Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”   (Luke   12:15   NLT) The Bible tells a story in Luke 16:1-13 of a rich man who enlisted a manager to take care of his property. When the manager was accused of mishandling his master’s money and was called in to give an account of his stewardship, the manager devised a plan. He knew he was going to lose his job and decided to make some friends who would take care of him when he was fired. So, he summoned everyone who owed his master money and lowered their debt; if someone owed 800 gallons of olive oil, he told them to change their bill to 400 gallons. When the master heard what he had done, he  “had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light”  (Luke 16:8 NLT). In the parable, Jesus doesn’t praise the manager’s dish

“The LORD, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and the land of my relatives. And he promised Me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’”   (Genesis 24:7a NCV) The Bible has more than 7,000 promises from God to you — promises of success, confidence, health, prosperity, strength, wisdom, and more. Why does God make these promises? Because He wants you to learn to trust Him. When you set a goal, don’t focus on the problems; focus on the promises. Find a promise in God’s Word that will take you to your goal. This is what Abraham does when Eliezer, his servant, starts to worry about accomplishing the goal he is given. In today’s verse, Abraham tells Eliezer about the promise he received from God:  “The LORD will send His angel before you to help you get a wife for my son there”  (Genesis 24:7b NCV). You don’t need an angel, because dozens of time in Scripture God has said, “I’ll be with y

“Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.”   (1 Corinthians 13:7 GW) The same love that God gives to you, you are to offer to everybody else that you come in contact with. It’s not an option or a suggestion. It’s a command:  “Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other”   (John  13:34  NLT). If you are a follower of Christ, you must love everybody — whether you like them or not — in the same way that Christ loved you. That means you are to accept them completely, love them unconditionally, forgive them totally, and consider them extremely valuable. Loving others in this way will transform your relationships! The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:7,  “Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up”   (GW). This is how God loves you. God never stops being pati

“The mountains and hills may crumble, but My love for you will never end.”   (Isaiah 54:10 GNT) If you don’t feel loved by God, you’re certainly not going to offer love to anybody else. It is impossible to be loving unless you understand and remember the way God loves you. You need to remind yourself every day what God thinks about you — not what the world thinks or what you think about yourself. That is what removes your fears. Let me give you four things God thinks about you to help you remember why and how to love. You’re completely accepted. We spend much of our lives trying to earn acceptance from our parents, peers, those we respect, those we envy, and even total strangers. But you need to realize God has already settled this issue of acceptance:  “Jesus … made us acceptable to God”  (Titus 3:7 CEV). What Jesus did on the cross made you completely acceptable to God — no matter

“Surrender your heart to God, turn to Him in prayer, and give up your sins— even those you do in secret. Then you won’t be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless. Your troubles will go away like water beneath a bridge, and your darkest night will be brighter than noon. You will rest safe and secure, filled with hope and emptied of worry.”   ( Job   11:13-18   CEV) The Bible says in 1 John  4:18 ,  “ Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear”   (NCV). So how do you learn to live in God’s love so that you can live free of fear? Every day, you have to surrender your heart to God. When you wake up every morning, before your feet hit the floor, you have to say, “God, before I even start this day, I surrender my emotions to you. I want you to be Lord of my feelings. I want you to control my mind and my emotions. I surrender my heart to you. I want you to fill me with your love.”

“Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ.”   (Philippians 2:5 TLB) If you want to succeed in life, you must learn how to master your moods. When you have emotion that isn’t getting you where you want to go, you’ve got two options: You either change it, or you channel it. Sometimes you need to change what you’re feeling. Some emotions are so destructive, so damaging, so hurtful, so non-effective, the only thing you can do is change it. You’ve got to change what you’re feeling. Philippians 2:5 says,  “Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ”  (TLB). Your attitude includes your emotions, so what you’re feeling should be the same as that of Jesus. You need to ask yourself, “How would Jesus feel in this situation? Would Jesus get irritated with this waitress? No. Would Jesus yell at that person? No. Would Jesus be up all night, wringing his hands and worrying that it isn’t going to work out? No. Would Jesus b

“From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God’s will and not by human desires.”   (1 Peter 4:2 TEV) The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:2,  “From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God’s will and not by human desires”  (TEV). What are human desires? It’s your emotions and your affections. Now that you are a Christ-follower, your life should be controlled by God’s will, not by how you feel. Let me give you three questions to ask about your emotions when you’re trying to figure out how to deal with how you feel. When you’re angry or upset or frustrated — whatever you’re feeling — ask these three questions: “What’s the real reason I’m feeling this?”  Maybe the answer is fear or worry. Maybe it relates to something your dad said to you years ago, and when your husband said it to you, he got all the anger against your dad that you pent up. “Is it true?”  Is what you

“There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.”   (1 Corinthians 12:4-6 GW) In architecture, form follows function. Tell me what you want to use the building for, and I’ll tell you how to build it. But in human beings, it’s the exact opposite. Function follows form. Figure out how God shaped you and how he wired you, what he’s given you in spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experience. Then you’ll know what you’re supposed to do with your life. Did you know that God has specific work for you to do while you’re on this planet? God doesn’t put people on Earth without giving them a life’s work. Your life’s work involves your job or your career. Work is a part of God’s purpose for your life. He didn’t put you on Earth just to be placeholder and use up reso

“There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.”   (1 Corinthians 12:4-6 GW) When you know what you’re shaped to be, then you know what you ought to be, and you can start focusing on that and make better use of your life. The moment you step across the line spiritually, you say, “I’m going to go God’s way, not my own way. I’m going to let Him direct my life. I want to follow God’s purpose, not my purpose. I’m going to do what I was wired and made to do.” The moment you step across the line and put your faith in Christ, God also gives you four major gifts: Forgiveness . Romans  5:15  says,  “For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this o

“To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace. Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.”  (Romans 8:6, 8 TEV) Learning to manage your emotions is the key to peace of mind. I want to share with you four important reasons from God’s Word why you need to learn to deal with what you feel. You need to learn to manage your emotions because they are often unreliable . Your gut is often wrong. Your intuition is often flawed. Your emotions often lead you down a blind alley. You can’t depend on everything you feel! Proverbs  14:12  says,   “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death”   (NIV). You don’t have to accept everything you feel, because not everything you feel is right or authentic or will lead you in the right direction. You need to learn to manage your emotions because you don’t want to be manipulated.  If you don’t control your emotions, they will control you,

“The most important commandment is this …. ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:29-30 NLT) The Bible says in Mark 12:29-30,  “The most important commandment is this …. ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength”  (NLT). Do you hear the emotion in the Words of Jesus? He’s saying He doesn’t want you to just kind of love Him. He wants you to love Him passionately — with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God doesn’t want your head knowledge; He wants an emotional relationship with you. There are some things you need to understand about emotions. First, God has emotions . God is an emotional God. He feels joy, grief, pain, and hatred toward sin. He gets frustrated with people. The only reason you have emotions is because you’re made in God’s image. If God wa

“Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to Him. So do not get tired and stop trying.”  (Hebrews 12:3 NCV) For mental health, you must focus your mind on the right things. Think about Jesus . You’ve heard the saying, “You become what you think about most.” If you want to become more like Jesus, you have to fill your thoughts with Him. Hebrews 12:3 says,  “Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to Him. So do not get tired and stop trying”  (NCV). Think about others . The Bible says in Philippians 2:4,   “Don’t just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing”  (TLB). Do you realize how counter cultural that is? Everything in the world teaches you to think about yourself and nobody else. But Jesus was counter-cultural, and when you think about Him, you’ll more easily think of others. Think about eternity .  “No eye has se

“I have made up my mind to obey Your laws forever, no matter what.”   (Psalm 119:112 CEV) The reason why most people are ineffective in life is that they’ve never learned how to fight the battle of the mind. If you want to learn to manage your mind, you have to deliver it from destructive thoughts. That isn’t easy, because there are three enemies that keep you from fulfilling all your good intentions of changing your life. The first enemy is your old nature.  Paul says in Romans  7:23   ,   “There is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me ” (NLT). Do you ever find yourself doing things that you don’t really want to do? That’s the battle in your brain between your old, sinful nature and your good intentions. The second enemy is Satan.  Sat

“People do not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”   (Matthew 4:4 NLT) If you want to have a healthy mind, you must feed your mind with Truth. We all know the importance of nutrition. Good food and good calories make you stronger and healthier and give you more energy. Bad calories and junk food harm your body. The same is true in your thought life. You must feed your mind not with junk or poison but with truth. One time I had the privilege of lecturing at Oxford University, and while I was there, I was invited to go to a meeting of Oxford Analytica. This is a group you’ve never heard of that has enormous influence in the world. Every day at about  6 a.m.  the leading scholars of Oxford gather in a room to get reports from all around the world of what’s happened in the last 24 hours, from crop prices rising in China to more unrest in the Middle East. Then they make the decision about what needs to be said about it. By