Here’s my prayer for you today: May you be led by what is in you, not by what is around you.

Because what is around you is loud.

Distractions.

The invitation to live a small, defeated, mediocre life is everywhere. But daughter of God, you were never created to live looking down.

Downcast.

Down is not your direction. And here’s how I know: Because of what is in you.

Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.”

Then just a few verses later, Romans 8:15 says, “You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.”

Did you catch that? God’s Spirit lives in you. Not beside you. Not near you. Not occasionally visiting you. In you.

The mountain-moving, sea-parting, chain-breaking, prison-shaking, death-defeating power of Almighty God lives in you. Let that sink in. Because the enemy works overtime trying to make you forget it. He wants your attention on your failures instead of your Father. He wants your focus on your flaws instead of God’s power. He wants you obsessing over your weight, your money, your job, your house, your image, your circumstances—anything that keeps your eyes off the greatest reality of your life: The Spirit of God lives within you.

If you’re consumed by what you see in the mirror, you’ll forget what Jesus placed inside of you. If you’re focused on your problems, you’ll forget you already have access to the power to overcome them. If you’re drowning in negative thoughts, you’ll start believing you’re stuck.

But you’re not stuck. You’ve just forgotten what’s in you. The Spirit of God has already given you power to rise. Power to heal. Power to overcome. Power to keep going.

Don’t sacrifice your power by entertaining pitiful. I know I’ve done it. I’ve had seasons where I focused more on my problems than my power. More on my circumstances than my Savior. And every single time, I felt defeated. Because when I play pitiful, I stop walking powerful.

So let me ask you: Have you been focused on your problems? Have you been rehearsing your disappointments? Have you been sitting in self-pity? Because here’s something I learned a long time ago: You can be pitiful or you can be powerful, but you cannot be both. (Thank you Joyce Meyer.)

At nineteen years old, I suffered a massive stroke. I was unable to walk or talk. While I was in the hospital, my newlywed husband kept my family away. He told them I was okay. At the time, I couldn’t understand why my mama and daddy weren’t by my bed. But he understood something I didn’t. Pity would have paralyzed me. Pity would have kept me in that bed. Pity would have convinced me I was a victim instead of a victor. My parents would have given me pity.

So my young husband pushed me. He challenged me. He refused to hand me pity. And today I walk, talk, and live whole because I was offered God’s power instead of people’s pity.

So why would we choose pity now? Girl, pity never looks good on you. But God’s power? That looks absolutely beautiful on you.

Because of the Spirit living in you, defeat is no longer your identity. Mediocrity is no longer your calling. Fear is no longer your master. You don’t wake up expecting less. You don’t settle for surviving.

Jesus didn’t die so you could live a little life. He came that you might have life—and have it abundantly. So stop sitting in pity over everything that’s wrong. Not when the Spirit of the Almighty lives in you. Oh no.

You have every reason to get excited about today. Every reason to expect good things. Every reason to believe that what stands before you is smaller than the God within you.

Why? Because God’s Spirit lives in you.

You are not controlled by your feelings. You are not a slave to fear. You are a daughter of the King. And daughters of the King don’t walk through life defeated. They walk with authority. They walk with confidence. They walk knowing who they belong to.

So remember this today: Nothing you face is greater than the Spirit within you. You are not helpless. You are not hopeless. You are not stuck.

And if you feel that way, you’ve believed a lie that was never yours to carry. Don’t buy what the enemy is selling. A daughter of the King should never settle for the leftovers of a defeated devil.

Remember what’s in you. The same power that spoke the universe into existence lives in you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. The same power that shattered prison walls and broke chains lives in you. The same power that turned water into wine lives in you.

That means life is in you. Healing is in you. Freedom is in you. Victory is in you. Change is in you. Hope is in you. Power is in you.

So don’t let what is around you make you forget what is in you. The circumstances are real. The challenges are real. The obstacles are real. But none of them are greater than the Spirit of God dwelling within you.

That Spirit does not make you a fearful slave. That Spirit makes you a daughter. He brings you into the family. He places a crown upon your head. He declares, “You belong.” So straighten your crown, girl.

Life may have knocked you around, but it has not changed who you are.

You are chosen.

You are loved.

You are redeemed.

You are a daughter of the King.

And the power of Almighty God lives within you.

So today, be powerful.

Not pitiful.

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