Trusting God Day by Day

[Aeliana]

Believing When Your Back’s Against the Wall

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided.
EXODUS 14:21

A thorough study of the Bible shows us that the men and women God used in mighty ways always had the attitude of celebrating what God had done. They did not take His goodness for granted, but they openly showed appreciation for little things as well as big ones.

Have you ever had a time when you felt that your back was against the wall: you had a big problem and no solution, and then suddenly God did something amazing and enabled you to escape safely from your problem? Most of us can think of a time like that. When the Israelites were being led out of Egypt by God working through Moses, their backs were against the wall. The Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army was behind them. They had no place to go; they were trapped! God had promised their deliverance, and what He did was amazing indeed. He actually parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites walked across on dry ground, but as the Egyptian army followed, the sea closed up over them and they drowned.

When the Israelites reached the other side, the first thing they did was start to celebrate. They sang a song that came straight from their hearts, recorded in nineteen verses in the Bible (see Exod. 15:1–19). After the song, two of the women took out a type of tambourine, and all the women followed them with their tambourines and they danced and sang some more. The entire song talked of what God had done, how great He was, how He had redeemed them and dealt with their enemies. We would probably experience more victory in life if we would take time to celebrate the ones we have already had. Once again, it is about operating on the principle of being grateful for what we have instead of taking an inventory of what we do not have yet.

Trust in Him Think of a time that your back was against the wall and God delivered you. Celebrate that victory all over again—and trust that God will deliver you the next time!


Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions

 

[Aeliana]

Revelation Sets You Free

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
PROVERBS 23:7

If we become what we think about, as this Scripture attests, it’s no wonder that the Bible teaches us we must learn how to meditate on the Word of God—to roll it over and over in our mind until it becomes a part of us. Meditation takes information and turns it into revelation. One of the problems I think we can have as Christians is that there is so much information available to us today that we can get stuck at information and never really study any one thing long enough for it to become revelation. It’s not information that sets you free. It’s revelation. It’s not what somebody else knows that’s going to help you; it’s what you know. It’s not even what you know; it’s what you know that you know that you know that you know—it is that kind of deep-rooted revelation knowledge that Satan cannot steal from you with his lies.

Romans 12:2 says not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Fear, guilt, insecurity, and worry can be let in or kept out by right or wrong thoughts. You can open your mind to fear and let it in, or you can close your mind to fear and not let it in. The mind is like a doorway. When the enemy tries to sneak in with a thought that is going to be detrimental to us or against the Word of God, we need to learn how to close our minds against that and say, “no.” No is a great word for Christians to learn.

“But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23). Shut your mind to gossip, slander, and to the idea that someone with an opinion different from yours must be wrong, and to other unedifying thoughts that will lead to strife. Fix your mind on things that are worthy: love, kindness, thinking the best about people, grace, mercy, and other edifying thoughts that are found in the Word of God (see Phil. 4:8).

Trust in Him As you think in your heart, so are you, so shut the door on any thought that is not from God. If you are trusting God, there is no need for fear.


Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions