Joni and Friends 18th September 2022 Daily Devotional, Sunday Message
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TOPIC: The Day’s First Battle
There are moments at the dawn of each new day, brief seconds in the transition between sleep and waking, when great battles are won or lost.
Just this morning, in those in-between moments of waking from sleep but not yet opening my eyes, I had a decision to make. Can I face this day? Do I have the energy? Can I muster the strength? In those fleeting seconds, I had to choose what kind of day it would be. Would it be a good day? Would I place my trust in the Lord for strength? Joni and Friends 18th September 2022
If you’re not in your seventies and a quadriplegic, it’s difficult to explain. But when you lie in one position all night, unable to move, it makes the whole prospect of waking up so… unappealing. Some days it seems like scaling a mountain, and my mind shrinks from it. Sometimes I simply don’t want to face one more day of paralysis and chronic pain.
This morning, however, with the covers still pulled up and my eyes still closed, I connected with the Lord Jesus, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. I prayed:
“Lord Jesus, there are a zillion things I need to catch up on today: an appointment with the oncologist, a radio interview, a staff meeting, a dinner commitment. And Lord, my emotions are telling me I don’t want to do ANY of it. But I know that if I give in to my feelings, I will end up on a dark, discouraged, defeated path. Lord, help me! I don’t want that!
So Lord, right now by faith I’m laying claim to Psalm 79:8: ‘May your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.’ Lord, I claim that verse. I own it, I embrace it, and I believe you will give me, right now, all the grace available through it!”
Joni and Friends 18th September 2022 Daily Devotional
All of that flashed through my mind and soul in just seconds. And when I opened my eyes on the day… I had grace. I can’t explain it, but it was there. I had the grace of God and the God of all grace on my side. I had unmerited favor streaming straight from heaven, filling my heart with courage and giving me his perspective.
If there is one thing God wants for you and me in those first waking moments, it is the realization of our victory in Jesus. We are not to feel defeated before the day begins. He wants us to be victorious right from the get-go, to be more than conquerors. And with that realization, he wants us to extend the same grace we have received to others in our world who may be experiencing defeat and discouragement.
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