Dear Friend,

I am so excited about what I have to share with you! I have been studying how to maintain peace in difficult times, and I want to share with you the importance of living one day at a time.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34,  “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” But how is living one day at a time — the way that Jesus is telling us to live — going to help us maintain our peace in difficult times? Oh, friend, there is so much power available for us in just one day of living.

Do you remember the story of the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness? In Exodus 16:21, we see that God provided manna for them one day at a time, not days or weeks at a time. Every morning God would provide fresh manna for the Israelites to eat, and that happened day after day. Think about it: You can wish and you can worry and you can be anxious, but you can only live one day at a time. Let me use myself as an example.

Years ago when I was invited to sing somewhere, I would start worrying at least a month or two before the day of the performance. I would worry that my voice wasn’t going to be strong and clear, and I would worry what it would sound like. I would worry that I might mess up in front of everyone and think about how embarrassed I would be if that happened. Worry, worry, worry. It was stealing my sleep, and it was not helping me prepare for the performance. I was worrying about something that might or might not have happened a month or two in the future when God’s Word says that I am to live only one day at a time.

Finally, I got to a place where I realized that I was upsetting myself and giving myself undue worry and needless sleepless nights. The enemy was lying to me and building a stronghold in my mind that I would fail, and believing that I was going to fail before I had even tried was causing me to believe a lie. I was allowing the enemy to paint a picture of my future in my mind. And I began to understand that I was wasting my time “worrying about tomorrow” and that the devil was trying to intimidate me before I even stood on the stage. He is such a liar. But there is a good lesson for us in this example and in the example of the manna in the wilderness. We truly need to live one day at a time.

A second example of our need to live one day at a time is found in the Lord’s prayer — a prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray. It says, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). In this verse, Jesus is giving us wisdom about living one day at a time. We are not made to carry on our shoulders all the cares of tomorrow. Jesus didn’t carry it — so we shouldn’t either. He said that each day has enough trouble of its own so we only need to focus on today.

Let’s think about Jesus and the importance of Him giving us this instruction. The fact that Jesus told us to “ask for our daily bread” means that is what He did and how He lived — one day at a time. If anyone could have worried about the future, it would have been Jesus because He had so much in front of Him. But Jesus took hold of the power that God provided for Him every single day. Oh, what a lesson for us in maintaining peace in difficult times!

There have been times in my life when I have held on to Matthew 6:34 so tightly, as tight as I could, every day. You may ask, “Denise, why were you holding on to this verse?” Well, I was in a difficult situation, and I knew if I could adjust my attitude and think about making it through that one day — not two days, not the rest of the week, just that day — then for the next 12 to 16 hours that I was awake, I would think to myself, Okay, I can do this. It’s just 12 hours.

Friend, there is so much wisdom and power in this verse. Jesus told us to do this, not just in Matthew 6:34, but also in Matthew 6:11 — right in the middle of the Lord’s prayer. And He gave us an example in the Old Testament when the children of Israel trusted God for their supply (manna) every day. There is so much wisdom for us in these examples.

In my situation, which was very difficult at the time, it gave me peace to look at just one day at a time. And I didn’t let the enemy speak to my mind and say, “What if this happens?” or “What if that happens?” or “What if that doesn’t happen? What are you going to do?” It was when I turned off the what-ifs and recognized the power of the Holy Spirit inside me that I realized I had enough of His power and strength to make it through the day. And then the next day, He would give me the strength and the power to live that day too.

Lamentations 3:22 and 23 reminds us, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” His compassions never fail! Wow! New mercies are extended to you every morning — like a package that is lying at the foot of your bed, waiting for you to wake up and open it and receive those mercies. They are brand new, and they are designed just for you. These are not yesterday’s mercies — those have passed. These mercies are created new every day, just for today and just for you, exactly like that manna.

Friend, I’m not saying we are not to be mindful of the responsibilities we will have tomorrow. But if we are consumed and weighed down about tomorrow, it takes away our ability to experience the mercies, wisdom, strength, and power that God has for us today. Rest assured, tomorrow He will equip us with new mercies, wisdom, strength, and power that we’ll need for that day.

Jesus faced many different situations every day. He was tempted by the devil for 40 days. He was hated, ridiculed, and criticized by the religious people of that day, and some people even said He was the prince of devils. Some believed in Jesus, while others tried to plan His death and coerce Him into their trap. Jesus was tried and condemned in an illegal trial; He endured the horrible scourging of the Romans and the ultimate punishment of the Cross, hanging there with criminals. He took our sins, sicknesses, and shame and paid the price of judgment that should have come on us. He faced all these things, and He was VICTORIOUS!

But what if Jesus had worried about tomorrow and not taken the power of God that was available for Him to live one single day at a time? Think about how different things would have been.

So how do we recognize the power that is available to us every single day? The Bible says that He lives in us and He knows all things. He knows what tomorrow holds, but He wants us to take and possess His power for today. In all that you’re facing at this moment, whether it’s health or financial problems, heart-wrenching relational problems, or any other concern, what would your day be like today if you were not already trying to live tomorrow? What would happen if you took hold of the peace that God is offering you right now to be able to make wise choices today? Can you see how much power is available to us if we will take hold of what God is offering us today?

Dear friend, we need the power of the Holy Spirit and to recognize the resurrection power that is inside us every day. We need to take hold of that power, and we need to take hold of that power every day for today. We need to recognize the great mercy and love of God extended to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is giving us exactly what we need for today. You and I can — every day, by our own choice — take hold of the power, encouragement, and wisdom that we need for today and believe God for His provision, His peace, and His mercy that is coming toward us to help us live one day at a time.

So why is living one day at a time — living as Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 — so powerful for us in maintaining our peace in difficult times? Because we were made to take this power daily. We were made to live daily and to use our faith daily for those 24 hours that we were given.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me. I hope you will join me for my program, TIME With Denise Renner. It airs on Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. CT on YouTube and Facebook — it’s a podcast as well on Spotify, Apple, and Google! And you can also find me Saturdays at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. CT on GospelTruthTV and Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. CT on PTL.

And if you need prayer, please be sure to let us know how we can pray for you. You can call us at 1.800.742.5593 or email prayer@deniserenner.org. Our faith-filled prayer partners are ready to join their faith with yours for the Word of God to be manifest in your life!

We are moving forward together — one day at a time!

Denise Renner