Daily Devotional

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” – James 4:6 (NIV)

Most of us don’t have a goal of humility. Why? Because it’s not something our culture deems important. We look at people who have accomplished a lot as heroes. We celebrate singers and celebrities. Often, the last thing on most of our minds is practicing humility.

However, in today’s verse, we see that God opposes the proud.

Whoa. That’s a pretty strong statement. Especially in a world that feels like we have to be right and defend ourselves all that time.

Today’s Truth: Pride is an ungodly attitude.

But the truth is, God opposes the proud and gives us more grace and favor if we’re humble. So if you want to be walking in God’s grace and getting more of it in your life, you’ve got to practice humility. It’s not always easy trusting God to bring justice and to exalt you, but it’s the best way.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)

In our lives, pride never leads to good things. However, it’s really easy to fall into pride.

Maybe you worked really hard, defied the odds, and got a great grade on your history project. You want to scream your accomplishment to every person everywhere. Or perhaps you did amazing at your school’s swim meet and you want nothing more than to be recognized for your accomplishments and hear everyone talk about how great you are.

And so you become proud of what YOU did.

Here’s the truth: pride doesn’t lead to good things.

If we begin to think about how good we are, how good we did, how hard we worked, we often leave God out of the picture. We start to think that we did it all on our own, and as a result, we deserve all the attention.

When we leave God out of the equation of our success, that’s never a good thing. We should always be looking to God, asking His advice, and seeking His approval, rather than the approval and attention of others. It’s God’s help we should want to live out each day of our lives. When we include Him in our success and look to Him to bring us the belonging and attention we crave, that’s when we will be the most fulfilled.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? – Romans 8:31 (NIV)

The things of life can easily get us down. From being in the middle of bad circumstances to having friends that aren’t sticking with us the way we think they should, day-to-day life can often feel overwhelming.

Here’s the thing we have to keep reminding ourselves. We will never be short of problems. We will always have problems and trouble in our lives. However, it’s how we deal with those things that makes a difference in our lives.

So what do you do when you’re faced with lots of the cares, concerns, and worries of life? Do you let them get you upset? Or do you remind yourself of what today’s Bible verse says.

It tells us that if God is for us, who can be against us? Wow. That’s such a great thing to be reminded about. No matter how big the problem you face, you can know that God is for you. He’s on your side through the middle of the problem, ready to help you out. That’s good news. So don’t get discouraged if you’re faced with a problem. Just be encouraged that you’re not facing it alone.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:12 (NLT)

Many times it’s easy to feel like you’re worthless. Maybe someone said something unkind about you, perhaps you didn’t get invited to a friend’s birthday party and it feels like everyone else did. It’s easy to let the things others do change the way we feel about ourselves.

When our self-esteem is low during these times, we can often get into bad self-talk. You might want to call yourself ugly, fat, or worthless. Speaking words like that over your life isn’t good. You’ve got to watch how you talk about yourself because you have value to God.

Regardless of how others treat you, you can be confident that God sees your value. When you accept Jesus, you’ve been made a child of God. To God you have value. As His child, your life means something and you have worth.

Today’s Truth: You mean something to God and have worth.

So today, if you’ve been overlooked, mistreated, or misunderstood, know that you’re important. God has made you His son or daughter. He didn’t have to do it, but He wanted to. He wanted you to be His child. To God, you’ve got purpose and worth. Choose today to speak and act like the person of value you are.

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:7 (NLT)

God’s best for us is that we live at peace. But our world often feels far from peaceful. Much is going on and it can be easy to become troubled, upset, or even afraid.

We have to choose daily to practice peace. Sometimes that means guarding what you watch and hear, so that fear doesn’t build up in your heart. Other times it might mean being aware of who you spend time around so that you don’t become troubled or upset.

Whatever it takes, be on your guard to keep your heart at peace. God wants you to walk in peace even if you’re going through a storm. So look to Him. Spend time reading the Bible and in worship. Really let the presence of God bring peace to your situation.

God’s best for your life is to walk in God’s peace and be able to share that peace with those around you every day.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. – Romans 8:14 (NIV)

Does the idea of being led by God feel overwhelming? Do you struggle with the thought of how to hear God’s voice? These feelings are normal. It can be really hard to feel like you hear from God and to know that what you’re hearing is really God speaking to you and leading you.

The first thing to remember when you’re wanting to be led by God in decision making is that you’re a child of God. According to today’s Bible verse, that means God wants to lead you. So you can rest knowing that God wants to lead you.

Today’s Truth: You can rest knowing God wants to lead you

However, you’ve got to volunteer to be led. God isn’t going to just lead you without your permission. You’ve got to tell Him that you want His guidance and be willing to listen and follow what He’s telling you to do.

Secondly, when you’re listening to God’s guidance always lines up with God’s word. God isn’t going to tell you to do something that doesn’t line up with what the Bible says. So if what you feel like God is leading you to do lines up with scripture, then you know it’s from God.

God wants to lead you into good decisions. He wants to guide you. You just have to choose to follow his leading and rest, knowing that He’s going to show you what to do.