How often do the little lies come to you? Maybe you feel like you’re not worth enough. Perhaps thoughts that you haven’t done enough or just that God is mad at you for some reason. Those thoughts come at times and we all struggle with them from time to time.

The goal is when you have any thought of any kind that is contrary to what the Bible says is to recognize it for what it is. It’s a lie. And know that even though your emotions might not line up right away, replace that lie with God’s truth.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. – Colossians 3:2-3 (NIV)

In today’s verse, we’re challenged to put our minds on things above. So when those lies come that tell us we’re not enough or get us to question God’s word, we just determine to not spend time thinking about those things.

Instead, begin to replace those with God’s truth. This is because of what Jesus did, sin no longer has any hold on you. And walk then in the freedom Jesus provided you. Walk free from fear, condemnation, and any other thing that would cause you to doubt your worth or value to God.

since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. – Romans 1:19 (NIV)

We can often feel fearful about sharing our faith with others. If you’re like me, you probably don’t think that you know enough. You might feel like you don’t have all the answers to the questions that someone might ask you, so out of fear, you stay quiet and don’t speak up for Jesus.

Maybe you wonder whether your sharing might turn someone off to Jesus because you can’t answer all their questions.

First of all, don’t let the things you don’t know stop you. You will never know it all. And there will always be a question you don’t know the answer to. But be honest when you’re talking to someone about Jesus and tell them you’ll find the answer out and get back to them.

Secondly, you don’t need to know all the answers. Simply share God’s word with them. That’s the best answer to any question they might have. The word of God is powerful.

Finally, don’t be afraid to share your faith with others, because deep down, they know God is real. Today’s Bible verse shows us that people know God is real in their hearts. So don’t be afraid to share your faith with others. Trust God’s word to do the work, and be bold to share your faith to a world that needs Jesus.

And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him. – Hebrews 11:6 (TPT)

Do you like playing video games? A few months ago, I installed a game on my phone. I kept playing it over and over again because I loved moving on to the next level of the game. I found it rewarding to unlock a new level of the game and so it kept me engaged. As humans, we are wired to like things that are fun and rewarding.

Have you ever thought about how God finds spending time with you rewarding? The maker of the universe wants to spend time with you. He loves you and wants to get to know you in a deep way. He wants to reveal Himself to you and show you how great He is.

Today’s Truth: God finds spending time with you rewarding!

To get to know God, however, it takes faith. We can’t see God with our eyes or hear Him with our ears. We’ve got to get to know Him on a spirit level. That takes faith because we can’t touch or feel Him. However, once we come to God on the basis of faith, God rewards us. He loves us and wants to make Himself known to us. It’s rewarding to develop a relationship with God.

Today if you haven’t already, set aside some time to get to know God. Get into the Bible and read it for yourself. Get to know God through His word and through prayer. If you dig deep, you’ll find that getting to know God is really rewarding!

I remember a few weeks ago, I was irrationally scared. Thoughts of fear kept coming into my mind and even though I knew they weren’t true and based on God’s Word, I couldn’t seem to shake my fear.

Maybe you’ve experienced something similar. Where you keep having thoughts that aren’t Biblical. And those thoughts cause you to be upset even though you know they’re not true.

So how do we combat thoughts when they don’t make sense, but feel so real? Here’s what I did. I went to the verse in Mark 9 that is today’s Bible verse.

The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” – Mark 9:24 (NLT)

And I asked God to do the same thing for me as that father did. I said God, help my unbelief. I do believe you and I believe your word is true, but for whatever reason, I’m still struggling in this area. Guess what? God helped me. After a few days, I was less afraid as I reminded myself of the truths found in God’s word.

And so, if you’re facing something where it just seems hard to believe, don’t forget to go to God and ask Him for His help. He can help you in the areas where you’re weak and need Him.

A few days ago, one of our readers mentioned feeling sinful and struggling with the voices in their head that keep telling them they aren’t doing enough, or praying enough, or reading their Bible enough.

Wow! Isn’t that the truth? I know I certainly have felt that way at times. Because if we’re honest, most of us certainly don’t read the Bible enough, pray enough, worship enough, or even do enough good to really justify God’s love, do we?

We know that instinctively, but the devil likes to remind us and bring thoughts to us that cause us to think that God doesn’t really love us and that we aren’t doing enough.

But here’s the truth.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

None of us can do enough. None of us are good enough, none of us pray enough, read the Bible enough, or really do enough at all. God’s standard is so high that not one of us could ever meet it on our own. That’s why we needed Jesus.

And yes, we should try to read our Bible, pray and do good things, but it’s out of a heart of love for Jesus that we should be doing those things, rather than hoping to do enough to earn God’s love.

Then we have to realize that the thoughts that tell us were sinning, that we’re not doing enough are not godly thoughts. And we need to replace those with God’s truth. Yes, I didn’t read my Bible today, but I know that God loves me and it’s not by reading the Bible that I gain God’s love but it’s through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. So don’t let yourself feel down and bad about yourself. Yes, you should want to read your Bible and strive to do it, but when you don’t, just receive God’s forgiveness and know that those thoughts that tell you otherwise are lies.

My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. – Proverbs 1:10 (NIV)

How do you live as a Christian in a world full of sin and not get swayed by the pull of all the sin around you?

That’s a really good question. And sometimes, not giving in to peer pressure can be really difficult. You can feel lonely not following the way of others, and sometimes even wonder if it’s truly worth it. And while those feelings are natural, I want to encourage you, that standing up and not giving in to peer pressure is worth it.

You’ll never regret standing up to peer pressure. But you very well might regret giving in to it.

One of the best ways to stand firm during times of peer pressure is to remind yourself of your relationship with Jesus. Realize that He’s the one you’re living your life to please, and really when it comes down to it, it’s His opinion you should care about most.

So today, don’t give up your stand. Stay strong in your faith in your beliefs and know that your relationship with God is the most important thing there is. Keep loving Him and He will help you in your journey.

Many people in our world doubt the validity of the Bible. And it can be easy for us as Christians to pick up on those attitudes. We can wonder, can we really trust it either?

And the answer would be yes! The Bible is very trustworthy. There are many reasons to believe the Bible.

Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. – Romans 3:2 (NIV)

One of the main reasons is that the Bible tells us that it’s the very words of God. So when we read the Bible, we can trust it because it’s God speaking to us and leading us.

Reason #2 – The Bible Is God Speaking to Us

So don’t believe the lie that the Bible doesn’t matter or doesn’t still speak to you today. It’s God’s word and it’s powerful and applies to your life.

In our world today, there are many people who mock the Bible. They will spout off all the reasons why it can’t be trusted, and maybe even ask you to give some reasons why you believe or trust it. And if you’re like me, you might not be really sure why you should trust the Bible.

Maybe you know that your parents like it, and you’ve read some of it, and you feel encouraged by it. But what are some reasons why you should believe the Bible, in the middle of a world that seems to be very hostile to it?

Reason #1 – The Bible is Honest.

In the Bible verse below, we see the historical ancestry of Jesus. It starts at Adam and goes through all the people that were in the ancestry of Jesus.

Now if I was to write my ancestry, I would have put only the really great things my ancestors did. You know, like if I had one that created a new invention or one that did something really amazing.

But look at what today’s verse says.

and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife – Matthew 1:6 (NIV)

Here it is, telling us the failure of King David and spells out that David had Uriah’s killed so he could marry Uriah’s wife.

The Bible doesn’t try to hide anything. It tells it like it is. Why is that a good thing? Because when the Bible talks about other things like salvation, we know that it is telling it like it is there as well.

So when people question your belief in the Bible, one of the great reasons why you should stand up and say it’s a good book is that it’s honest and that it tells the truth in every area that it deals with.

keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.  – Hebrews 12:2 (HCSB)

You might be poor or you could be rich. You might have two parents at your home, you might have one. It’s so easy in whatever circumstances you’re in to become unhappy. You might wish that things were different at home. Often, we can let our circumstances dictate our happiness. When you base your happiness on circumstances you’ll always be disappointed.

Today’s Truth:  When you base your happiness on your circumstances, you’ll always be disappointed.

True happiness comes when you choose to put your attention on eternal things. For example, you choose to focus on giving to others or telling others about Jesus. When you do those things, you’ll experience lasting peace. So today, instead of focusing on what you don’t have, choose to focus on what you do. Remind yourself of how good God has been to you. Jesus went to the cross so you didn’t have to. He took on all the sin of the entire human race. Jesus took our shame, guilt, and punishment for all time.

When we spend our energy focused on who Jesus is and what He has done for us, it’s a lot harder to be disappointed with our lives. Sure, circumstances may come and go. Certain things may not always go the way you want them to. But when our focus is on Jesus, we can rise above our circumstances and find peace in Him.