Free Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer

care of us, His hands are tied by our unbelief and works of the flesh. He is a gentleman and will not just take over without being invited to do so. He waits until we give up the job of self-care and place our trust and confidence in Him. The law of faith, mentioned in 1 Peter 5:7, is this:
When you stop trying to take care of yourself, you release God to take care of you!
(Paraphrased.)
    I have discovered that it is very hard to walk in obedience to God and in love with others if my primary interest is that “I” don’t get hurt or taken advantage of. However, when I allow God to be God in my life, He honors three distinct promises He makes in Psalm 91:15: He’ll be with me in trouble, He’ll deliver me, and He will honor me.
    Honor is a place of lifting up. When God honors a believer, He lifts up or exalts that person. When we let go and do not try to care for ourselves, we are admitting that we need God’s help. It is an act of humility, and that act of faith places us in the direct line of God’s exaltation. Peter wrote, “Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you…” (1 Pet. 5:6).
    When we trust God, we are in line for a promotion. God will honor us and reward us as we place our faith in Him. In the world’s system, you work hard and then get your reward. In God’s economy, you trust Him deeply and then receive your reward.
    Trust in Him When we trust in ourselves, it leads to strife and shows that we don’t trust God to do what He says in His Word—be with us, deliver us, and honor us. When we trust God, however, it leads to the reward of peace—peace within ourselves, peace with God, and peace with others.

February 19
Make Friends with Yourself
    … love your neighbor as yourself…
    MARK 12:33 NIV
    A re you at peace with yourself? Since we spend more time with ourselves than we do with anyone else, not liking who we are is a major problem. After all, we cannot get away from ourselves. And if we don’t enjoy ourselves, we usually don’t enjoy anyone else, either.
    This was true for me. I suffered from not liking myself for many years, but I didn’t realize it. Nor did I understand that my self-rejection and self-hatred were why I didn’t get along with most people and why most people could not get along with me.
    The way we see ourselves is the way others will see us. We see this principle illustrated in Numbers 13, when the twelve spies Moses sent to investigate the Promised Land came back from their scouting expedition. Ten of the spies gave a very negative report: “There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants;
and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight
” (Num. 13:33, emphasis added).
    Because ten of the spies saw themselves as “grasshoppers,” their enemy saw them as grasshoppers, too. How can we expect others to accept us if we reject ourselves? How can we expect to make peace with others if we haven’t made peace with ourselves?
    God’s Word assures us that we have tremendous value because of who we are—God’s beloved children. What I do is not always perfect. But I still know who I am—a child of God whom He loves very much.
    You have tremendous worth and value. You are special to God, and He has a good plan for your life (see Jer. 29:11). You have been purchased with the blood of Christ (see Acts 20:28). The Bible refers to the “precious blood of Christ,” indicating Christ paid a high price indeed to ransom you and me (1 Pet. 1:19). Believe you are God’s beloved child. The truth will bring healing to your soul and freedom to your life.
    Trust in Him Are you friends with yourself? Do you enjoy your company? Trust that your worth comes from who you are in Christ and begin to love yourself as you love Him!

February 20
Your Weakness Is His Strength
    … God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is