God Says “Yes”

When I am in a moment of deep prayer, feeling close to God and in tune with his Spirit, I find myself nodding a lot. “Yes, Lord, yes!” We know he can be trusted because what he promises becomes reality.

What a different picture this paints from the “thou shalt not” God that many people imagine him to be. To be sure, those “thou shalt nots” are still in Scripture and still his commands. But the emphasis in the New Testament is on the “thou shalls” and on the fulfillment of his many promises to those who love him.

God has said “Yes!” to you.

How will you answer him today?

Excerpted from Rise and Shine by Liz Curtis Higgs

---

Daily Reflection:
In what ways has God said “yes” to you?

Accepted by God

In Ephesians, Paul tells us that we have been accepted in the Beloved, and that we have become His cherished sons and daughters. In Jesus Christ, God makes possible this favored place, this place of total acceptance. Just like Jacob with Joseph, God’s favor rests upon you as His “highly favored one.” This is true of every single person who is born again into the family of God.

It is this acceptance by the heart of a loving God that sets you free to achieve. Because you are accepted, you can now excel, your performance can now be Spirit-led with the possibility of eternal consequences.

Whenever performance is elevated above the truth of acceptance—whether it’s in the home, in the church, or in your own mind—you are not free to dream. Any sense of destiny or assignment from God [ … ]

A Vision from God

When you let the Holy Spirit paint a vision upon the canvas of your heart, a picture will emerge that will stagger your imagination and test your faith. If the vision doesn’t seem impossible to accomplish with your natural ability, it’s probably not from God.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)

Excerpted from The Blessed Church by Robert Morris

---

Daily Reflection:
What vision has God given you?

How Far Can We Go?

The reality is we don’t know how far we can go in life. We don’t know how much good we can create. We can’t know for sure which stars in the night sky belong to us. Our destiny, in many ways, always remains a mystery.

And yet…while we can’t be sure about how far we can go, we do know this: we’re meant to go further than where we are today. We can’t deny the urge inside us to be different and to make a difference. We might not be able to reach the sky, but we can step into the opportunities that are right in front of us. We can take risks.

Excerpted from Spark by Jason Jaggard

---

Daily Reflection:
What risk are you being called to take today?

God of All Creation

Jesus, the greatest person who ever lived, said, “Look at the birds” (Matthew 6:26), and Solomon, the wisest man, said, “Take a lesson from the ants” (Proverbs 6:6). Both our Savior and the man renowned for his wisdom understood the deeper truths that God reveals through His creation—from foolish sheep to dangerous predators, soaring eagles, birds of prey, and even hard-working insects.

A friend once said, “If you can’t see God in everything, you won’t see God in anything.” In this book we will explore expressions of God’s love, lessons in His grace, warnings about sin, and other eternal truths as we consider our pets and other awesome residents of God’s vast creation.

Exerpted From God of All Creation by James Robison

---

Daily Reflection:
What have you noticed about God in each of His creations?

Knowing Where You’re Going

If you don’t know where your life is going, any route will get you there. One job that pays the bills will appear as good as another (even better, if the remuneration is higher). One spouse or church or house or career will seem as acceptable as another if you have no sense of where your life is headed and what help you need to arrive at your destination. But when your life is guided by a sense of purpose and direction, you recognize how profoundly every decision you make either draws you closer to or moves you away from where your life is meant to be.

When the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was still a teenager, God assured him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you [ … ]

Experiencing God’s Pursuit

In God’s all-out pursuit of my heart, of your heart, He sings through a child’s voice, speaks through a bird’s call, shouts through the claps of thunder, and calls out through the rising sun. What is the key to experiencing God’s passionate pursuit? It’s simple really. We must recognize and acknowledge His presence as we live and move and have our being in Him. Acts 17:28 must be more than a nice Bible verse; it must become a way of life. When it does, sudden glory moments will fill our lives and take our breath away. It is a divine romance of the purest kind.

Excerpted from A Sudden Glory by Sharon Jaynes

---

Daily Reflection:
How can you make Acts 17:28 a part of your everyday life?

Ready to Act

If you’re going to have the audacity to ask God for something, you’d better be ready to act. Audacious prayer must be tethered to practical obedience. Or else it’s not faith. It’s just wishful thinking and positive mental energy. No wonder so many of our prayers aren’t answered. We pray for a miracle, but we fail to make a move.

And most of the time, if you don’t move, God won’t move. That’s just the way he designed faith to work.

Excerpted from Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick

---

Daily Reflection:
Which personal prayer do you need to be ready to act on? How can you prepare yourself to do that?

God’s Hand

Have you ever shown up somewhere at “just the right time”? When you think back on your life, can you remember a person who briefly entered your life, saying something or doing something that impacted your life out of proportion to what they actually said or did? What were the circumstances that brought you together with your spouse or the detailed circumstances of other such notable events in your life? Have you ever been randomly thinking of someone who then unexpectedly shows up or contacts you? Has something ever happened that left you thinking “That’s weird”? Consider whether these are sets of “coincidences” or whether they might be orchestrated events; evidence of God’s hand in our lives.

Excerpted from To Heaven and Back by Mary C. Neal, MD

---

Daily Reflection:
When have you been most aware of God’s [ … ]

Being Passed Over

No one likes to be passed over. Something within each of us cries out to be noticed. Someone has suggested that most Americans suffer from a severe case of attention deprivation; we don’t know if anybody really cares about us. Some of the Bible’s saddest words are found in one of the Old Testament psalms when David cries out in a moment of extreme loneliness, “No one cares for my soul” (Psalm 142:4).

In a cold world that refuses to recognize a loving God, words such as the psalmist’s might be expected. But why do we hear these cries so often among believers? Is it possible that we have so focused our attention on those outside the church that we have neglected our responsibility to each other? God has given to us, His children, the solution to the lonely, hopeless [ … ]