The Plans He Has for Me Daily DevotionalSample

Romans 5:1-5 (ESV): Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Mindful Minute: The instruction and sequence for ridding ourselves of bad habits is so much clearer through these verses. Because of the Holy Spirit, we can rejoice in hope. While hope may be present in "knowledge" through His Word, it is not always a felt experience due to the shame of sin, especially when sin involves a repeated bad habit. Bad habits can be challenging to break at first because we must put real effort into redirecting ourselves to a new and better way of living.

In the beginning of this journey, there will be times when we feel the suffering as our body reacts to the removal of a substance that was harming us. How do we endure this suffering? We do it by continuing our practice of daily gratitude and we endure it because God has promised us something better. You are closer to the finish line of something better than you think or believe. Walking this path will produce endurance and endurance in turn produces character. Character is produced because it does not waver between the highs of hope and the lows of hopelessness. Our hope in Christ is a continual source of inspiration for something different. It is steady and perseveres. Hope becomes evident in our character as we persevere.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross because I am now justified by my faith. I want to experience the peace you allow me to access. I am committed to this process because I have hope and I want to get rid of all the shame. I am tired of living a life where the shame of a habit occupies more time in my thoughts than the hopes and dreams I can access through you. I want to experience those plans you have for me, to prosper and impact others through my own personal journey, and I want people to see the quality of my character through you.