Creflo Dollar Ministries
One Ministry, One Church, One Message Worldwide
One Ministry, One Church, One Message Worldwide
Would you like to read the Word daily, but don’t know how to begin? Reading our Daily Devotionals is a good way to develop the habit of studying the scriptures. Visit this page to find a scripture for every day of the year, complete with practical advice for applying the principles to your everyday life. It is possible to enjoy reading the Bible. Simply set time aside each day, and soon daily Bible reading will become a lifestyle!
“Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread” (Proverbs 20:13).
What we see in our lives is often the result of what we do or don’t do. Honest work leads to abundant blessings, but laziness brings its own punishment. We’re responsible for much of what we have or don’t have; “there are no free lunches.”
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass” (Psalm 37:7).
The world is full of fretful, anxious people caught up in restless, ceaseless striving. Resting in God involves faith and trust in Him, and is the only way to find peace in a turbulent environment.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12, NIV).
The hope we receive from God is a gift from Him; it empowers us to be joyful even in tough times. Patience is also necessary to keep us moving forward in the face of adversity. Being faithful in our prayers when things look bleak ties it all together and keeps us connected to God.
“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:25).
God’s promises operate in the spiritual realm and are just as real as physical objects we can see and touch. The hope God gives us is filled with a confident expectation of good things; patience is a facet of endurance, a godly trait we all need on our Christian walk.
“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee” (Psalm 91:5-7).
The world may have good reason to fear, but God’s children have His promise of protection. Regardless of when, where, or how evil presents itself, no harm will come to us when we trust in His Word.
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17).
Life is risky and dangerous without divine protection. Trusting in God’s promises to keep us safe shields us from harm.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand” (John 10:27-29).
Just like sheep depend on their shepherd, we’re completely dependent on Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to protect us and take care of us. Trusting in God and listening to what He says keeps us completely safe; no power in the universe is strong enough to tear us away from His loving embrace.
“So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19, AMPC).
Repentance is a change of heart and mind that leads to a subsequent change in behavior. The heat of an unrepentant, sinful world is always beating down on us; for spiritual renewal and refreshment, all we need to do is turn to God.
“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).
Life has many paths; choosing one apart from God’s guidance and leadership greatly increases the chance that we’ll go down the wrong one. When we’re at a dead end, He gives us new direction.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Jesus offers new life on both the physical and the spiritual levels; anyone who accepts Him receives a new identity as a child of God. Regardless of what we’ve done in the past, trusting Him makes us holy and blameless.
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18, 19).
When we feel beaten down and held back by the mistakes we’ve made, God gives us a new beginning and a second chance. Leaving our past behind and moving forward allows Him to bless our future.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23, 24).
The world judges us by our deeds; if God judged us by its standards, we would all be found guilty in His sight. Thankfully, He sees believers through the lens of Jesus Christ; we were sinners before we accepted Christ, but we’re now sinless and perfect because of His blood and our faith in Him.
“The light of the [uncompromisingly] righteous [is within him—it grows brighter and] rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked [furnishes only a derived, temporary light and] shall be put out shortly” (Proverbs 13:9, AMPC).
We have God Himself living inside us; in an unrighteous world, He sees us as righteous because of our faith in Him. Believers refused to compromise or deviate from doing what they know is right. We rejoice because the light of the world shines in us.
“The appetite of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the appetite of the diligent is abundantly supplied” (Proverbs 13:4, AMPC).
Lazy people often have a “give me” attitude, wanting whatever good things in life they see while lacking the drive or motivation to work honestly for them. By comparison, God abundantly blesses the work of diligent people willing to put forth a good effort.
“The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute” (Proverbs 12:24).
In the Old Testament, Joseph was appointed as a leader in Potiphar’s household because of his diligence and honesty and eventually was promoted to second in command to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Being lazy and slothful carries its own punishment; conversely, hard work combined with a good attitude brings favor from God; this still applies today.
“He becomes poor who works with a slack and idle hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Proverbs 10:4, AMPC).
In our imperfect world, we see lazy people with the ability to hold a job, but choose not to. God gives us the power to get wealth, and He rewards diligence and a willingness to put in an honest day’s work.
“Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?” (Ezekiel 34:18, 19, NIV).
God issued this reprimand to the Old-Testament leaders who selfishly put themselves first before the people they were charged with leading, but this still applies today. There are self-centered leaders not only in the world who only care for their own interests, but sometimes even in the church.
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The world relies on its own brand of intellectual knowledge to get by; this type of knowledge is devoid of God’s wisdom and can shift and change at any time. The gift of spiritual discernment is required for us to understand His teachings.
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9).
Trouble is part of life. We all feel discouraged occasionally; even the apostle Paul felt it from time to time. However, having a biblical perspective on this emotion helps us maintain our authority over it.
“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (1 Kings 3:9).
King Solomon, known far and wide for his wisdom and faithfulness to God, prayed this. Solomon could have asked for and received anything he wanted, yet he was wise enough to ask God for the gift of discernment.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
Spiritual discernment is a gift from God and is something every wise person should earnestly pray for. Without this supernatural ability, it’s impossible to tell the difference between the lies the world passes off as truth, and the eternal truths that undergird His spiritual laws.
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:4-7, NIV).
Jesus rescued us from having to live under the Law of Moses, which focused on self-effort and punishment. Because of His death and resurrection, we’re now living under grace, which focuses not on what we do, but on what He did through His love for us. Believers are now God’s children.
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
Without faith in Jesus and in what He did to give us eternal life and reopen the gates of heaven to us, we are part of a dying world. Our trust in God changes our family tree on a supernatural level, making us brothers and sisters to Christ Himself.
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility” (Proverbs 18:12).
A proud, haughty attitude displeases God, and we create problems for ourselves when we operate in pride. We demonstrate true humility when we agree with what His Word says.
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:18, 19).
Adopting a proud attitude sets us up for a fall. Pride is a spirit not from God; letting it infect our thinking can bring us down.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15).
As believers, we must be careful about who we develop a relationship with. We can be strongly influenced by people who we spend time with on an extended basis. The wrong influence causes us to stumble on our faith walk; this is especially important for single Christians to remember.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV).
We’ve been blessed with sound minds and strong intellects we can use for good in the spiritual fight that all believers are engaged in. Protecting our thought processes from evil influences by meditating on the Scriptures gives us access to supernatural power to overcome philosophies and thoughts that go against God’s Word.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
On our own and without Jesus, we have no hope at all. When we get born again and Jesus comes to live inside of us, our sins are washed away; we can then truthfully say we’ve been made holy and righteous in God’s eyes.
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11, NKJV).
When we’re first born again, we’re spiritual children needing the simple basics of God’s Word. The more we study it and apply it to our lives, the more we grow in Christ. Diligently continuing to meditate on it brings us to a point where our once-childish understanding of it matures.
“Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel” (Proverbs 20:17).
The phrase “honesty is the best policy” may have originated with this biblical truth. We often bring punishment onto ourselves by giving in to the temptation to be dishonest. Even if we think no one noticed, we’re left with a guilty conscience that follows us everywhere.
“Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” (Proverbs 20:9).
Under the old-covenant Law of Moses—which was entirely works-based—no one could ever truthfully say they were free from sin because no one could make their own heart clean. Jesus did everything that was needed to cleanse us; we no longer have to rely on our own efforts to be holy.
