Do your best!

**Joyce Meyer

God is excellent. As His representatives, we should be too. So it is important that we do our best in everything that we put our hands to. We must be motivated to do our very best in whatever we set out to accomplish. Paul urges us to "learn to... prize what is excellent and of real value." As we make excellence a way of life, we will sense God's joy and be good examples to the world. 

You must sow excellence in order to reap an excellent harvest. We cannot expect excellent results in life when we do not live a life of excellence. The Bible teaches us to develop diligence, steadfastness and determination, all of which will help us live lives of excellence.

So I encourage you to do your best with any project or activity that God places in your path. Be diligent. Do not leave things undone, but finish what you start to the best of your ability. Set your mind to be steadfast and determined. Commit yourself to excellent results. 

God honors an attitude of excellence. Choose to do your best, and He will always work alongside you.

Prayer starter: God, I want to live a life of excellence. Strengthen me and help me to do my best in every situation with steadfastness, diligence and determination.

Philippians 1:10

so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ

Discernment is the key to a clear conscience

**Joyce Meyer

It is critical to keep your conscience clear because nothing will keep you from enjoying life as much as guilt.

In Acts, Paul said that he pursued discipline and avoided worldly desires so that he could walk blameless and guilt-free before God. The same applies to us. Walking in the confidence of a clear conscience will keep us free and happy.

That sounds easy when it comes to clear-cut, right and wrong issues, but what about the 'grey' areas of life? How do we keep our conscience clear when we are unsure what the right or wrong choice is? What if we accidentally sin without realizing it? I have found that God's discernment solves this problem.

Discernment is spiritual understanding, and it is the key to living with a clear conscience. It takes practice, but it simply involves paying attention to your heart. God will let you know when you should not do something that will bring guilt later on.

I encourage you to live in a way that will keep your conscience clear. Do not do things you know you should not, and rely on God's discernment when you are facing an issue you are not sure about. He will never lead you wrong.

Prayer starter: God, thank You for Your discernment. Help me to pay attention to Your still, small voice speaking to my heart so I can live in a way that will keep my conscience free and clear before You.

Acts24:16

So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

Wisdom is calling out to you

**Joyce Meyer

Along the way on our journey through life, we will have to make many decisions, and we will always get into trouble if we make them emotionally or according to what we think or want.

God wants us to make wise decisions. I believe having wisdom is choosing to do now what we will be happy with later.

Proverbs says that wisdom is calling out to us. You must walk in God's wisdom and realize that the choices you make today will affect your tomorrow. So many people never enjoy life because they are always dealing with messes resulting from a lack of wisdom.

Do not do something selfish, gambling that things will turn out right. Wisdom does not gamble, it invests in the future. Wisdom does not settle for a cheap thrill. Instead, it follows God into a better tomorrow.

So what about you? Are you walking in wisdom today? If you are not, the good news is that wisdom is already calling out to you. God is ready and willing to provide you with His wisdom. Just ask Him for it and make the decisions that will invest in a godly future.

Prayer starter: God, I want to enjoy life, not constantly clean up problems that result from a lack of wisdom. Thank You for providing Your wisdom for me. I choose to receive it and make godly decisions for my future.

Proverbs 8:23

I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.

Be decisive!

**Joyce Meyer

Indecision is a miserable state to be in and certainly is not a fruit of the simple life. The apostle James said the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Never making a decision because you are afraid you will make the wrong one will get you nowhere. How much time do you think we waste when we cannot make up our minds?

We often labor over the choices before us when we just need to make a decision and let it stand. This may be a simple example, but think about it: When you stand in front of your closet in the morning looking at all your clothes, just choose something and put it on. Do not go back and forth until you make yourself late for work!

Let me encourage you to start making decisions without second-guessing yourself or worrying about the choices you make. Do not be double-minded or wishy-washy because doubting your decisions after you make them will steal the enjoyment from everything you do. Make the best decisions you can and trust God with the results.

Prayer starter: Holy Spirit, thank You for showing me that indecision does not really get me anywhere. Help me to let my "yes" be "yes", and my "no" be "no". I know I cannot go wrong when I make decisions the best I can and simply trust You with the results.

James 5:12

Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "yes" be "yes", and your "no," no, or you will be condemned.

Give him your cares and follow your heart

**Joyce Meyer

"To thine own heart be true," the old saying goes. It remains a timely and relevant life lesson that all of us would do well to remember. When we veer off the course that our heart is advising us to follow, we can make our lives very difficult.

Now I am not talking about selfish desires. I am talking about pursuing the desires that God puts in your heart. What do you want out of life? What do you believe is God's will for you? Are you pursuing it?

Some people have too many cares and worries that keep them from stepping out and following what is in their heart. They have decided it is out of their reach.

The Bible says we should cast all our cares upon God for He cares for us. Whatever worry you have that is keeping you from following your heart, you need to give it to God and let Him take care of it.

He wants you to follow the desire He has placed in you. Let God take care of your cares and follow your heart. You can trust Him. He cares for you!

Prayer starter: God, sometimes I do not pursue what You have placed in my heart because of my worries and cares, so today, I give them to You. I know You can handle them, and You want me to be free to follow my heart.

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Living for God is all that matters

**Joyce Meyer

It takes boldness to follow God instead of the crowd. Being excessively concerned about what others think leads only to torment. Although all of us enjoy being well thought of, it is not possible to be liked by everyone all the time.

In God's economy, we usually have to be willing to lose something we have in order to gain what we really want in life, and that means we have to stop comparing ourselves to other people's standards and start living for God.

People who are real friends will help you be all God wants you to be. They would not judge you for following God's call. Real friends will encourage you to make God number one in your life.

Even if everyone else walks away from you, He promises to never leave you or forsake you.

Life gets too complicated, confusing and frustrating when we try to please both God and people. You do not have to compare yourself to anyone and worry what people think about you. Live life for God and be free to be who He made you to be.

Prayer starter: Lord, I make a decision right now live for You alone. Living by other people's standards and expectations for me will get me nowhere. You are the only One who matters, and I will be the person You have made me to be.

2 Corinthians 10:12

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Get rid of unrealistic expectations

**Joyce Meyer

Unrealistic expectations can quickly steal our peace and joy. We usually visualize a perfect day, with perfect people, and ourselves being perfectly happy in our perfect little world, but we all know that is not reality. In reality, only God is perfect and the rest of us are under construction.

The devil knows what steals our peace and he sets us up to get upset when our unrealistic expectations fall apart.

After years of letting the devil steal my peace, I finally got it: Life is not perfect, and things are going to happen that we did not plan for and would rather not go through. My new attitude has become, "Oh well, that is life!" I have discovered that if I do not let those things impress me, then they cannot depress me.

Everyone has to deal with inconveniences, but we can deal with them and avoid a bad attitude. Remember today that only God is perfect and trust in Him. He can always lead you past disappointing circumstances, strengthening you and helping you to hold on to your peace.

Prayer starter: God, only You are perfect. I am so glad that even when people and circumstances fail, You never do. Instead of putting my hope in things that will disappoint, I choose a life of peace that only comes from putting my hope in You.

Mark 10:18

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good - except God alone."