Wake Up to the Word

365 Devotions to Inspire You Each Day

Joyce Meyer

• Publisher: Hodder Faith
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781473636613
• eBook ISBN:
  9781473636620
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In her uplifting new devotional Joyce Meyer provides you with powerful words -- one for every day of the year. Each devotion begins with a key word to meditate upon for better clarity and focus, which opens the door to positive change in your life. These words, along with relevant scripture and practical advice from Joyce, will help you achieve greater closeness with God and unlock the great things He has in store for your life.Through daily encouragement, guided prayer, and Joyce's structured plan for developing your faith, you can tap into God's strength to overcome life's obstacles and achieve your best.

December 1

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Breastplate

Armor for the breast

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Jesus did not die for us so we could have a religion. He died so we could be forgiven for our sins, be made right with God, and enjoy fellowship with Him.

Religion is man’s attempt to get to a place where God will accept him; it is man’s idea of God’s expectations. But Christianity is about God taking on humanity in the person of Jesus Christ and coming down to man so we could have relationship with Him.

Righteousness is described in the Bible as a breastplate that covers the heart or spirit of man (see Ephesians 6:14). Our spirits must be covered with righteousness if we are to have rich fellowship with God and walk in victory. God gives us righteousness by His grace, but we are the ones who choose to receive it by faith and walk in it.

Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God.

EPHESIANS 6:14

December 2

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Determination

Steadfast intention to pursue a purpose

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When you have determination in a particular area of your life, Satan may try to steal it, and you will need to talk to yourself in order to keep it.

Sometimes the best way to overcome the temptation to give up on something is to say to yourself, “I refuse to give up. I am going to press through and finish what I have begun.”

Over the years, there have been many times I have said to myself: “Joyce, you can make it! It may be hard, but you can make it because God is on your side.”

We may not always feel like being determined, but I guarantee that you do not want to risk missing God’s will simply because you were not determined to persevere through the difficult times in life.

Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem.

LUKE 9:51

December 3

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View

To survey; to examine with the eye; to look on with attention

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It is very important to view people the way God views them. In 1 Samuel 16:7, we see how God views us: “For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” And the Gospels tell us in numerous places that Jesus looked at the crowd and saw them with compassion.

If we are willing, we can learn to think about people the way God thinks about them. Then we’ll view each person as a valuable possibility instead of a potential problem.

To see people the way God sees them, and to think about them the way that God thinks about them, comes with spiritual maturity—it is a by-product of walking in the Spirit rather than walking in the flesh. Love always believes the best of all people, and it is our privilege to let God teach us how to do that.

When He saw the throngs, He was moved with pity and sympathy for them, because they were bewildered (harassed and distressed and dejected and helpless), like sheep without a shepherd.

MATTHEW 9:36

December 4

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Yourself

A word added to “you” to express distinction emphatically between you and other persons

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I want to ask you a question: Do you like yourself? If not, developing a good relationship with yourself will help you in many ways. You spend every moment of your life with yourself, so it stands to reason that if you don’t like yourself, then you will be unhappy and you won’t be able to love others the way God loves you.

If you struggle with a poor self-image, with God’s help, not only can you think better thoughts about yourself, but you can also take the time to do things for yourself that you enjoy.

God wants us to help others and be available for a wide variety of good works that He has planned; however, if you never take the time to do anything for yourself, you will quickly become burned-out from always giving and never receiving. You will begin to feel that people take advantage of you, but that wrong attitude can be avoided by simply taking time to do things that you enjoy, along with doing things for other people.

And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.

LUKE 10:27

December 5

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Influenced

Moved; excited; affected; persuaded; induced

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A friend who visits prisons and has spent time with various inmates shared with me that most of the inmates connected the beginnings of their lives of crime to being influenced by the wrong group of people. That shows you the power of influence.

You may not be a negative or a rude person, but if you are around others who are like this for a lengthy period of time, you will start to pick up bad habits. It is like being around people who smoke cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. You may not smoke yourself, but if you’re around the smoke, you will end up smelling like smoke anyway.

I encourage you to learn to let God be involved in choosing your friends. This way you will have godly influencers in your life, and you will have friends who make you a better person.

Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:33

December 6

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Build

In scripture, to increase and strengthen; to cement and knit together; to settle or establish and preserve

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If you’re frustrated with the life you’ve built in your own efforts and feel you need direction, I suggest you turn the construction project over to God. Study His Word, spend time in prayer, learn to listen to His voice, and do what He says.

Trust that God is good and He has a plan for you, and be willing to obey even if He says to stop what you’re doing or tells you to do it differently. If you’re struggling in your marriage, God may ask you to change—even though you want your spouse to change. If you’re having financial difficulties, God may tell you to spend less—even though you want Him to give you more. If you’re tired and moody, God may tell you to change your diet and get more rest—even though you like your sweets and a hectic schedule. The point is this: If you’ll turn the construction of your life over to God, He’ll build something beautiful.

Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

PSALM 127:1

December 7

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Called

Invited; summoned; addressed; named; appointed; invoked

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In the same way Jesus called His disciples to leave their old lives behind and follow Him into something new—something better—He calls you and me to do the same.

The life He has for you is one of promise and victory, full of new things in God, but in order to realize the full potential of that, there will be some things God will call you to walk away from. These are things that you may have grown accustomed to—bad habits, negative thinking, worry, fear, wrong confessions, and so on—but they are things that will imprison you.

You may not eliminate all of these bad behaviors from your life right away, but God will lead you daily, step by step, and you will find that as you follow His calling, you will be making progress. God has something better for you. He has new things for you to embrace. Don’t wait until tomorrow to obey God—do it today!

God is faithful … by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:9

December 8

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Remember

To preserve the memory of; to preserve from being forgotten

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It’s good for us to take time to think about all God has done in our lives. If we would remember the miracles God has done in our past, we would not so easily fall into worry and fear when we have new challenges to face.

When David was facing Goliath and nobody was encouraging him, ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Introduction
• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• About the Author
• Joyce Meyer Ministries U.S. & Foreign Office Addresses
• Other Books by Joyce Meyer