But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 (NKJV) As we’ve been discussing over the past few days, when you give your life to Christ, Holy Spirit comes to live inside you. You have the nature of God in your spirit man. That new nature you have is untouchable; it’s not something you can lose by doing wrong or failing to do right. You’re a new creation. Because of this nature change, you have all things that pertain to life and godliness in you (2 Peter 1:3). You just need to know how to …

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:5–6 (NKJV) A few years after Sally & I were married, I was working as a paramedic while Sally stayed home with our first two kids. There wasn’t much money coming in, but inside of us was a desire to give. We made a decision that even to our own disadvantage, we would continue to be generous with what we had. Generosity can be hard. Sometimes giving hurts so much it puts a tear in your eye. But today’s verse promises that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Of course, we are called to …

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 2 Corinthians 9:11 (NLT) When you study people who are fulfilled and happy, you’ll always find someone who is generous. They may not even have much to give, but they know that every little bit counts, and they’re always looking for ways to bless people. God has placed a call on your life to increase and succeed. In yesterday’s devotional, we saw that God wants us to enjoy the fruit of our labour (Ecclesiastes 2:24). But there is an even greater purpose on our lives: to advance His Kingdom. Just like there is a kingdom of …

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NKJV) I love what today’s verse says. God wants you to enjoy your life and your career! He didn’t create this world for us to go through life feeling defeated and barely able to get by. There is a prevailing belief in legalistic religion that suffering is part of God’s will for our lives. When you’re going through pain, some will say God is trying to teach you something. But His Word says He loves you and is for your good! A pastor once asked me why I don’t preach on …

For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ… Ephesians 4:12 (NKJV) You are called to the work of ministry. But what is ministry? We might think it means full-time pastors, but ministry has a broader definition. Each of us is a minister of the Gospel, and this ministry must go forth into every area of our world. If we as believers want to influence this world, we must have amazing believers who excel in politics, business, education and the arts. But some believers get uncomfortable when we start talking about success. When there’s a need, they’ll say, “Just pray and God will do a miracle.” Yes, God does miracles. But often, the miracle He does is …