Before You Were Born

Before You Were Born

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you…

Jeremiah 1:5, AMP.

TODAY’S WORD

Did you know that God was thinking about you before you were ever born? He knew everything about you before you were in your mother’s womb. He created you on purpose, for a purpose. He carefully planned who you would be, the color of your hair, the color of your eyes and skin. He gave you gifts, talents and abilities to be used for His glory. He took one look at you and said, “Approved.”

No matter how you may be feeling right now, no matter who’s approval you didn’t get on this earth, know that Almighty God loves you and approves of you today. There’s nothing you can do now or ever to change that. You may be thinking, “I’ve made so many mistakes, how can God approve of me?” Understand that when God sees you, He separates you from your behavior. He may not approve of your actions all the time, but He desires to help you grow and make better choices.

Today, receive His love and acceptance. Allow Him to work in your life. Allow His love to empower and strengthen you because you are approved and equipped to live in victory all the days of your life!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for approving me and empowering me by Your love. I open my heart and mind to Your truth and invite You to have Your way in my life. Remove anything that would hold me back from all You have in store in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Quiet Time: Follow a Simple Plan by Rick Warren “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV) Someone has said, “If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it!” To have a meaningful quiet time, you will need a plan or some kind of general outline to follow. The main rule is this: Keep your plan simple. You will need the following three items for your planned quiet times: A Bible — a contemporary translation (not a paraphrase) with good print, preferably without notes. A notebook for writing down what the Lord shows you and for making a prayer list. A hymnbook — sometimes you may want to sing in your praise time (see Colossians 3:16). Wait on God (relax). Be still for a minute; don’t come running into God’s presence and start talking immediately. Follow God’s admonition: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV; see also Isaiah 30:15; 40:31). Be quiet for a short while to put yourself into a reverent mood. Pray briefly (request). This is not your prayer time, but a short opening prayer to ask God to cleanse your heart and guide you into the time together. Two good passages of Scripture to memorize are Psalm 139:23-24 and Psalm 119:18. You need to be in tune with the Author before you can understand his Book! Read a section of the Scripture (read). This is where your conversation with God begins. He speaks to you through his Word, and you speak with him in prayer. Read your Bible: Slowly. Don’t be in a hurry; don’t try to read too large an amount; don’t race through it. Repeatedly. Read a passage over and over until you start to picture it in your mind. The reason more people don’t get more out of their Bible reading is that they do not read the Scriptures repeatedly. Without stopping. Don’t stop in the middle of a sentence to go off on a tangent and do a doctrinal study. Just read that section for the pure joy of it, allowing God to speak to you. Aloud but quietly. Reading it aloud will improve your concentration and help you understand what you are reading better because you will both see and hear what you are reading. Read softly enough, however, so that you won’t disturb anyone. Systematically. Do not use the “random dip” method — a passage here, a chapter there, what you like here, an interesting portion there. You’ll understand the Bible better if you read it as it was written — a book or letter at a time. Talk About It Which of these guidelines goes against your nature (reading slowly, relaxing, etc.)? Ask God for help in those specific areas so that your quiet time can be more effective. How does an effective quiet time change your day?