My Favorite Scriptures

The Bible is so amazing! I’ve been studying it for more than 40 years now, and throughout that time, it has been the key to experiencing real healing in my soul and revelation of truths that have set me free so I can have the life Jesus died to give me.

God’s Word is so valuable because it is the ultimate instruction book for life (see Psalm 18:30; 19:7; 119:105), it contains answers for every problem we face, and gives wisdom for each situation of our lives (see Psalm 119:66, 98, 130, 133). The Bible has inherent power to change us into the image of God when we diligently study it.

When I look back over my life, there are certain scriptures that mean so much to me because God used them to radically change my life. They’ve become foundational teachings that have helped me learn how to go beyond the point of becoming a Christian and understanding how to live like one.

Studying God’s Word…meditating on it every day…applying the principles it reveals to my life in practical ways…all of these steps of faith have led me to breakthroughs I never could have achieved on my own – no matter how hard I tried. The truth literally set me free!

In John 8:31-32 (AMPC), Jesus says, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

If you want to have the freedom to be who God has created you to be and have the life Jesus died for you to have, then you have to face the truth. And it starts by facing the truth about yourself.

I know about this from personal experience, because when I started studying the Word, the Holy Spirit went to work in my life.

I remember one day when I was praying for Dave to change. God spoke to my heart and said, “Joyce, Dave is not the problem.” I thought, Well then, who is? There’s just me and him, so if it’s not Dave, then who is it? Isn’t that amazing?! I was so self-deceived that it didn’t even occur to me that I could be the problem.

For the next three days, God showed me what it was like to live with me. I was so sorry for the attitudes I had, the way I behaved, the anger I displayed every time I didn’t get my way…and it was so hard!

But I needed to face the truth about myself so I could have freedom from sin and the things that were keeping me from intimacy with Christ.

Most changes don’t happen overnight; 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that as we look into God’s Word, we are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory.…”

Each day as I spent time with God in prayer and studying His Word, I made progress little by little. And I’m still changing as I continue moving forward in my relationship with Him!

You know, sometimes we hide things in our heart that are hard to deal with. But when we don’t deal with them, they cause problems in our relationships and steal the joy from our daily lives.

God wants us to invite Him—the Spirit of Truth—into our hearts to deal with us…to reveal the truth so we can be set free. Psalm 51:6 says, Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.

Refuse to settle for anything less than the best life Christ has for you. If you’re ready to do that, pray for God to reveal truth to you and give you the grace to change.

Now get ready, because God wants to make you everything He’s created you to be!