Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional October 19 2023.

SCRIPTURE: I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.— Psalm 119:147-148 (NIV)

In today’s scriptures, we can sense the psalmist’s commitment to God’s Word. In modern language, we would say he “gets up early and stays up late” to meditate on God’s promises. Reading or hearing the Word is good, but when we also devote our thoughts to it, as the psalmist did, we begin to understand it more deeply. The Word of God is filled with power, and it has the ability to change us. Just as good, nutritious food must be chewed well and swallowed for us to benefit from it, so the Word of God must be taken in and digested to become part of us. We do this in our minds, by thinking about it and focusing on it, not allowing ourselves to be distracted while we spend time in it.

I encourage you to make a habit of choosing a Bible verse and meditating on it throughout the day, or perhaps for a week or more at a time. To choose a verse, you might think of one that is particularly meaningful to you, or you might think of a topic that is important to you right now, such as prayer, healing, or managing your finances. Then look up verses about that subject online or in a concordance. This way, biblical truth will become rooted in your heart and become more meaningful to you.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, I want to devote my thoughts to Your Word and to make time in my schedule to seriously study it. Help me, I pray.