Topic: Looking Forward [Joyce Meyer’s Devotional Monday September 17, 2018]

“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the LORD, “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” — Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP)

So many people live miserable lives because they are conflicted and feel burdened about the mistakes of their past. If you have been unhappy or discouraged because of the things that have happened in your past, I encourage you to change your thinking and set your focus in a whole new direction. Determine to be what God wants you to be, to have what God wants you to have, and to receive what Jesus died to give you.

Your new life in Christ means that you have been completely forgiven of all your sins. God has wiped your slate clean and taken up residence in your heart. You can let the past go and begin to get excited about your future.

When you feel discouraged, say, “I am not going to live in bondage anymore. I cannot do anything about what I have done in the past, but I can do something about my future. I am going to enjoy my life and have what Jesus died for me to have. I am going to let go of the past and go on pursuing God from this day forth!”

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift from God.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for new beginnings and for making all things new. Please help me to let go of the past and embrace the good plan You have for my future. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional HERE’’

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

When Grace is at Work By David Ibiyeomie

Topic: When Grace is at Work

There is power in Grace. It is grace that makes great. Your greatness is tied to the grace of God in your life. You cannot gain height in the kingdom of God until you appreciate the grace of God. It is grace that makes every journey of life great. When grace is absent, struggle continues.

Many people have unresolved problems in their lives because they felt they can do it by their power and might. No matter your expertise, qualification or political affiliation and connection to power, if you don’t bank on the grace of God, you will still be limited in life.

Zech. 4: 6-7 -Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Also Read: Connect To Your Source by David Ibiyeomie

Before the mountain moved, Zerubbabel cried for grace. Without grace, the Holy Spirit would not have helped him. It takes the grace of God to succeed without sweat. Without grace, mountains will not be moved. As you cry for grace today, may that grace of God make the difference in your life in the name of Jesus!

Grace is divine help; it is God taking over from where your human strength stops. Grace is simply putting God in the race of your life; and if God is in your race, you will win easily. When grace is at work, you don’t need human support. Grace is the size of God and if God be for you, nobody can be against you.

It is the cry for grace that actually makes grace to work. Grace therefore is divine leverage. Life goes on without sweat when you look up to the grace of God. Grace is not faith; neither is it effort; grace is divine reserve that enables you to start a journey when you would have given up.

Billy Graham said, “When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God”. It is God taking over when you come to your wits end. The mountain moved, not by Zerubbabel’s strength but by the grace of God. I see every mountain before you give way as you cry for grace now in Jesus name!

Grace makes you succeed where others are struggling. Unfortunately, many Christians don’t go for grace; they bank on their CVs, eloquence and connections; and then, they get disconnected in life.

Grace took Joseph from prison to palace. It took Moses from keeping sheep to leading men. It took David from being a shepherd boy to becoming a king. Grace took me from where I was to where I am and still taking me higher. Grace will take you from where you are now to where you ought to be in Jesus name!

Apostle Paul usually ends his messages to the churches by praying for the grace of God because he knew they cannot do anything in the energy of the flesh. So for grace to work for you, you must realize that you need it. Grace is all you need to become great. Where grace stops, that is where your lifting stops.

1 Sam 2:9b -…for by strength shall no man prevail.

Many Christians don’t succeed because they rely on their human effort and try to do things by their strength without considering the grace factor. If you want to enjoy sweat-less result in your Christian life, never try to do things on your own. Realize you need grace because it is not by power and might. As you do so, may the grace of God begin to speak in your favour in the name of Jesus Christ!

The next thing you should do is that you should ignore your human strength. The moment you begin to trust in your strength and connections, God will begin to withdraw Himself because He will not share His glory with anyone.

Isaiah 42:8 -I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Even if you have gotten to the peak of your success, the moment you start boasting on your strength and connections, you will start reducing. This explains why many politicians in the body of Christ don’t retain their success because they think that their money and connections got them where they are.

Eccl 9:11 – I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Rom. 9:16 -So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Your skill is not enough, your connection is not also enough; you must bank on the grace of God to make it. Thank God for your eloquence but it is not enough; bank on His grace. Every time you come to your wits end, cry for grace because grace answer to those who look for it. You have struggled enough; may grace take over! You will not struggle after now! May grace answer to you in Jesus name!

The main purpose of grace is to raise you up. When grace located Moses, it took him from keeping sheep to leading the Children of Israel.

Ex. 33:13-17 –13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. 17 And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

Every time you pray for grace, God comes into the scene. When you find grace, God takes over the battle. Moses challenged Pharaoh when he found grace. I speak into your life today – from where nobody knew you, the world will soon celebrate you in the name of Jesus!

When men lift you up, you will stop where their hands stopped but when grace lifts you up, you have no limit because God is limitless. May that grace raise you up and put you in charge wherever you are found! Grace will work for you beginning from now! Just as grace brought Jesus out of the grave, may that same grace bring you out of every dead situation in your life! Whatever that seems to be dying around you will gain life and motion right now! That forgotten and closed case in your life will resurrect back to life by the grace of God in Jesus name-Amen!!!

God bless you

Also Read: Other Inspiring Messages by Pastor David Ibiyeomie

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Topic: Our Righteousness Is In Christ [Andrew Wommack 17 September 2018 Daily Devotional]

Matthew 22:11 “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:“

Text: Matthew 22:8-14

In this time, it was customary for the host to provide their guests with wedding garments to wear to the wedding. It was an insult of the highest degree to refuse to wear the clothing provided since the guests were brought in directly from the highways and streets. The wedding garment speaks of the righteousness of Christ that God so graciously provides for all who accept His invitation into the kingdom. It must be put on by both good and bad (Mt. 22:10).

Right standing before a holy God is not to be achieved in keeping the law but in humble trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. No one, who is trusting in his own righteousness, can have the benefit of Christ’s righteousness. The righteousness that gives men relationship with God is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, and it comes freely through faith in Jesus Christ.

The way we obtain this righteousness is by putting faith in what Christ has done for us. When we place our faith in Christ, then the righteousness that Jesus obtained by His faith becomes ours.

Through faith in Jesus, we can receive the very righteousness of God as a gift. God’s righteousness is infinitely more in quality and quantity than man’s puny righteousness. No one can ever be justified in the sight of God based on his own righteousness which comes through acts of holiness. One must have God’s righteousness which only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Paul said in Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” This is “the righteousness of God.”

Also Read: Andrew Wommack Daily Devotional

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).

Topic: The Power of Words [Billy Graham Daily Devotional 17 September 2018]

The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do . . . — James 3:5 (TLB)

There is a story of a woman in England who came to her vicar with a troubled conscience. The vicar knew her to be a habitual gossip—she had maligned nearly everyone in the village. “How can I make amends?” she pleaded. The vicar said, “If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of each one you have slandered.” When she had done so, she came back to the vicar and said, “Is that all?” “No,” said the wise old minister, “you must go now and gather up every feather and bring them all back to me.” After a long time the woman returned without a single feather. “The wind has blown them all away,” she said. “My good woman,” said the vicar, “so it is with gossip. Unkind words are easily dropped, but we can never take them back again.”

Prayer for the day: Might my words about another be ones that are spoken in the spirit of Your loving kindness, Father.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Billy Graham’s Daily Devotional HERE

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.

Topic: You Will Triumph By Reason Of Grace [TREM 17 September 2018 Daily Devotional]

“So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified”. Esther 7:10 (KJV)

In the Bible days, when people are sitting down in the banqueting table they recline, the seats are positioned such that the occupant assumes a “resting” position. Esther called for a banquet and invited Haman, but Haman didn’t know it was a set up. When he came, Esther told the king about the plan to kill her and the Jews. On learning that it was Haman, the king walked out to the palace garden. Whilst pleading frantically for his life, Haman fell on that same bed where Esther was seated. By the time the king turned his face, he was further aggrieved, as it appeared that Haman tried to harass the Queen even in his presence. At that point, he was told that Haman had prepared gallows to hang the Jews, and he instructed that Haman be hanged on it. I declare that whoever has prepared gallows for you shall hang on it. Your adversary will make a mistake. You will not fall victim of their plans. Their evil plans will choke them.

Remember the story of Samson. Before he was born, there was a prophetic declaration over his life; that he was going to be a Nazarene; he wasn’t going to drink wine. This is because he was going to deliver the children of Israel from their enemies. Samson grew to become very strong, such that the philistines could not stop him. Many times, they would try to trap him but they never succeeded. He carried the gate of a city and even used the jawbone of an ass to kill over one thousand Philistines. Even when he messed up, Samson was still powerful. You would have expected that his strength would diminish every time he erred. That is the power of Grace at work.

It seemed Samson was not qualified, but grace qualified him. I have always said that we should never to approach God on the basis of our qualifications. Approach Him based on what Jesus did, not what you did. There is nothing that you do, that can suffice. Our righteousness is dead works and like filthy rags before Him. Only His righteousness can make you stand.

Further reading: Esther 7:1-10; Judges 15 & 16

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Proverbs 27-29; Evening- 2 Corinthians 10

“If you missed yesterday devotional click HERE to read TREM Daily Devotional by Dr. Mike Okonkwo’’

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.

Topic: Be Courageous [Kenneth & Gloria Copeland 17 September 2018 Daily Devotional]

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. – Joshua 1:7

Living a life of faith takes courage. Most people don’t realize it, but it does! It takes courage to stand up in the face of sickness and declare you’re healed by the stripes of Jesus. It takes courage to believe for prosperity and put your last dime in the offering plate when poverty is staring you in the face. There are going to be some days when you’d rather pull the covers over your head and hide than take another faith stand against the devil. But you can’t. Because the battle of faith isn’t fought once and then forgotten. If you want to keep living in victory, you have to fight it again and again.

There’s no way around it. Of course, some of God’s people still try to find one. The Israelites, for example, thought their battles should be over when they crossed the Red Sea. So when they heard reports of giants living in the Promised Land, they decided they couldn’t face the fight. Their courage failed them. So they took a 40-year detour through the wilderness.

But you know what? They still couldn’t avoid that fight. When the time came for the next generation to enter the Promised Land, the giants were still there!

This time, however, they found the courage to face them. Where did they find it? In the Word of God. Their leader, Joshua, had obeyed the instruction of the Lord and kept that Word on his mind and in his heart day and night. He’d meditated on it and let it constantly remind him that God was on their side.

If you’re going to fight the good fight of faith to the finish, you’ll have to do just like Joshua did. You’ll have to continually draw courage from the Word of God. So make up your mind to do it. Get into that Word and let it change you from a coward to an overcomer. Then march into battle and slay the giants in your land.

Scripture Reading: Joshua 1

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Kenneth and Gloria Copeland’s Daily Devotional Here’’

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

Topic: Legacies of Love [Our Daily Bread 17 September 2018 Devotional]

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

I was paging through my great-grandmother’s Bible when a treasure fell into my lap. On a small scrap of paper, in a young child’s handwriting, were the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:3–4 kjv). Scribbled beside those verses in wobbly cursive was my mother’s signature.

My great-grandmother had a habit of teaching her grandchildren to write out Scripture verses so they would learn them and take them to heart. But the story behind this verse brought tears to my eyes. My grandfather died when my mother was very young, and her little brother (my uncle) died just weeks later. It was in that tragic season that my great-grandmother pointed my mother to Jesus and the comfort only He can give.

Paul wrote Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5). Faith isn’t inherited, but it is shared. Timothy’s mother and grandmother shared their faith with him, and he believed.

When we encourage those close to us to have hope in Jesus, we offer them a legacy of love. Through a simple note, my mother left evidence of my great-grandmother’s love for her Savior and her family. Oh, to share Him with those who come after us!

Prayer: Thank You for those who shared Your love with me, Father. Please help me to point others to Your salvation today.

When we share our faith, we share the greatest treasure of all.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Our Daily Bread Devotionals HERE”

This message was written By James Banks [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]