Topic: Preparing for the Best [Joyce Meyer’s Devotional Sunday August 12, 2018]

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].” — Isaiah 26:3 (AMP)

How we approach each new day and each new situation makes a huge difference. If we decide ahead of time that we won’t be happy or peaceful unless we get exactly what we want, then we will rarely be at peace.

I have heard people say things like, “If it rains tomorrow I am not going to be happy,” or “If I don’t get the job, I am going to be so upset.” When we think thoughts such as this, we are setting ourselves up to be unhappy and to lose our peace and joy before we even have a problem.

Instead of preparing to be upset, we can prepare to be at peace. We can think and speak things like, “I really hope the weather is nice tomorrow, and I hope I get this new job. But my joy comes from my relationship with Jesus, so I choose to be happy and have rest in my soul no matter what I come up against tomorrow. Whether it’s rainy or sunny, whether I get the job or not, I choose the joy of the Lord!”

The way we approach our lives makes all the difference in the quality of life we can have. When we can’t fix life, let’s remember that we can fix our approach toward it.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me to approach life today with a godly attitude—positive and full of faith. Help me to make a habit of preparing for the best in every situation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

Topic: Don’t Quit. Keep Believing [TREM 12 August 2018 Daily Devotional]

“Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.” Romans 4:18

According to the scriptures, Abraham was a 75-year-old man when God called him out from his Father’s house to a strange land to start afresh. It wasn’t easy for him but he did it anyway. He had to stretch himself. He refused to accept ‘qui sera sera’ (what will be, will be). Beloved, never settle for what will be will be. Something big is about to come out of you.

When Abraham stretched, new things came out. Where have you seen someone of a hundred years giving birth? Today we refer to him as the father of faith. It didn’t come easy. He stretched. They ridiculed him and called him names but he stretched. He kept on moving ahead. He moved out of the dark corners of his life and moved into Gods divine plan and purpose for his life.

Many believers quit too early. Once they encounter a small challenge they say it is no more possible and they give up. Many have thrown away million dollar businesses, great opportunities and great doors that God opened for them because they met with obstacles. Child of God, understand that there is light out of darkness. Don’t you understand that if you stay at it, by virtue of your heritage victory will be yours? You belong to a heritage where there is no defeat. A heritage in which evil bows before you and the wicked bows at your gate. A heritage where obstacles, impediments, and failure are removed.

We don’t walk by sight but by faith. We are people of grace. God goes out of His way to work things out for us. When we come to a point where there is no way out the ‘way maker’ makes the way. Don’t say you are finished because you saw an obstacle. Maintain your focus. Keep your eyes single and you will see God fight your battles. I declare to you that you will shock your generation. Sooner than you expect your testimony will happen.

Further Reading: Romans 4:16-22

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Psalms 84-86; Evening- Romans 12

“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: What’s Your Choice [Teens Open Heaven 12, August 2018]

Memorise: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9

Read: Acts 5:14-16 (KJV)

Bible In One Year: Psalm 93-95, Romans 11:22-36

MESSAGE:

God has different purposes for calling and using His people. For instance, the purpose for which He created Peter was to show the world that in His hands, a nobody can become so anointed that his shadow would heal (Acts 5:14-16). Peter never went to school. He even confessed that it was difficult to understand Paul’s writings. Yet, even when his shirt mistakenly touched the sick, there was instant healing. This is not to say the God cannot use the highly educated. He took Paul with his outstanding credentials, wore him like a garment, and began to use him. God can use you whether you are educated or not. The important thing is what you want the world to know about God through His manifestation in your life.

What do you want to be remembered for after leaving planet earth? You have the opportunity to decide. Find out the purpose for which God created you by asking the Creator Himself through prayers. Ask Him to not only reveal His purpose for creating you, but to also help you to fulfil that purpose.

Action Point: Prayerfully decide your area of specialization in God’s work.

Also Read: Teen Open Heaven Daily Devotional by Pastor Adeboye

Hymn 13

1. Is your life a channel of blessing?
Is the love of God flowing through you?
Are you telling the lost of the Savior?
Are you ready His service to do?

Chorus:
Make me a channel of blessing today,
Make me a channel of blessing, I pray;
My life possessing, my service blessing,
Make me a channel of blessing today.

2. Is your life a channel of blessing?
Are you burdened for those that are lost?
Have you urged upon those who are straying
The Savior who does on the cross

3. Is your life a channel of blessing?
Is it a daily telling for Him?
Have you spoken the word of salvation
To those who are dying in sin?

4. We cannot be channels of blessing
If our lives are not free from sin;
We will barriers be and a hindrance
To those we are trying to win.

Daily Devotional for Teen’s guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

Topic: A Supernatural Cycle of Blessing [Kenneth & Gloria Copeland 12th August 2018 Daily Devotional]

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. – Ecclesiastes 11:1

One of the most exciting things I ever discovered about God’s law of sowing and reaping was the fact that financial harvests are not seasonal. If you plant year round, you can be receiving year round.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying your harvest will come instantly. It usually won’t. You may have to wait for it for several months. What I’m saying is, if you’ll keep planting consistently, you’ll receive just as consistently. If you’ll continually cast your bread on the water, eventually it will come in on every wave!

Of course, some people never get to enjoy that kind of constant blessing. That’s because, instead of giving, they keep waiting to receive. They stand on the beach saying, “I wonder where my prosperity is? As soon as it comes in, I’ll start giving.”

God’s economy doesn’t work that way. He said, “Give and it will be given to you again. The way you measure it, it shall be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). You have to make the first move. You have to send a ship out before your ship can come in.

Think about that next time you’re tempted to complain about the things life brings your way. Remember that whatever you’ve been casting out there is always what you find on down the road. If you’ve been giving doubt, unbelief and fear, that’s what has been coming to you. If you’ve been giving nothing, then nothing is what you get.

You’re holding the seeds of your own future in your hand right now. Step out in faith and use them to put the supernatural cycle of blessing in motion. Start now planting one good seed after another. Eventually you’ll enjoy a good harvest every single day!

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:31-38

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: Help from Heaven [Our Daily Bread 12th Sunday August, 2018]

Read: Joshua 10:6–15, Bible in a Year: Psalms 84–86; Romans 12

Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! Joshua 10:14

SOS, the Morse code signal, was created in 1905 because sailors needed a way to indicate extreme distress. The signal gained notoriety in 1910 when used by the sinking ship Steamship Kentucky, saving all forty-six people aboard.

While SOS may be a more recent invention, the urgent cry for help is as old as humanity. We hear it often in the Old Testament story of Joshua, who faced opposition from fellow Israelites (Joshua 9:18) and challenging terrain (3:15–17) for more than fourteen years as the Israelites slowly conquered and settled the land God had promised them. During this struggle “the Lord was with Joshua” (6:27).

In Joshua 10, the Israelites go to the aid of the Gibeonites, allies of Israel who were being attacked by five kings. Joshua knew that he needed the Lord’s help to defeat so many powerful enemies (v. 12). God responded with a hailstorm, even stopping the sun in the middle of the sky to give Israel more time to defeat the enemy. Joshua 10:14 recounts, “Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!”

If you are in the midst of a challenging situation, you can send out an SOS to God. Although help will look different than the assistance Joshua received, perhaps help comes through an unexpected job, an understanding doctor, or peace in the midst of grief. Be encouraged that these are ways He is responding to your call for help and fighting for you.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for walking with me on this difficult journey and hearing me when I cry out to You.

As we cry out to God for help, we can trust that He will be with us.

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

This message was written By Lisa Samra [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]