2025-01-06
Isaiah 65:17 NKJV
Satan is called “the accuser,” and he will try to keep you focused on your past. He can hurt you every day unless you accept God’s forgiveness, forgive yourself, and move forward. At the cross, Jesus bore both your sin and shame, but Satan wants you to keep carrying them. Where can you find an answer? Look at these Scriptures:
(1) “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind” (v. 17 NKJV). You say, “But that’s in the future.” True. But the Bible says we have already “tasted…the powers of the world to come” (Hebrews 6:5 KJV) and that our lives can be like “days of heaven upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21 KJV).
(2) “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV).
(3) “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth” (Isaiah 54:4 NKJV). You say, “I can’t help but remember!” Yes, you can! Paul, who killed and imprisoned Christians before becoming an apostle, said: “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV).
God can heal your memories, so let the healing begin.
Soul food: Isa 17-21; Luke 1:57-66; Ps 42:1-5; Prov 1:20-27
2025-01-05
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
Your God-given assignment in life comes with three things.
(1) A plan. “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” As you spend time with the Lord in prayer, He will reveal His plan to you. And He will do it one step at a time. You say, “But what if I make a mistake? What if I stumble?” The Bible says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (Psalm 37:23-24 NLT).
(2) A time frame. Not only does God have a personal plan for you, He schedules certain things to take place in your life at certain times. “For the time to favour her, yes, the set time, has come” (Psalm 102:13 NKJV). That’s why you must stay in step with God and in sync with the beat of the Holy Spirit who lives within you.
(3) Victory in spite of the odds and the opposition. “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith” (1 John 5:4 NLT). Keep your faith strong. Keep trusting God. You say, “But the circumstances don’t look good.” God is in control of your circumstances. He made the sun stand still to give Joshua extra time to win the battle over his enemies, and He can alter the circumstances for your good and His glory.
Soul food: 2 Chr 7:12-16; Matt 6:5-15; Luke 18:1-8
2025-01-04
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
In his book, How Successful People Grow, John Maxwell identifies three kinds of people:
“(1) People who don’t know what they would like to do… They lack a strong sense of purpose… They dabble. They drift. They… have no idea what to shoot for. I believe the main reason is that they don’t know themselves as well as they should and thus remain unfocused in their growth.
(2) People who know what they would like to do but don’t do it… Sometimes they aren’t doing what they want because they worry that it will cause them to neglect other responsibilities, such as providing for their families. Sometimes they aren’t willing to pay the price to learn, grow, and move closer to where they want to be. Other times fear prevents them from changing courses to pursue their passion. No matter what the reason, they, too, miss their potential.
(3) People who know what they would like to do and do it. [These people fulfill the Scripture: “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”] The third kind of people know themselves, possess a strong sense of passion, are focused on purpose, grow in areas that help them move closer to their purpose, and do what they were created to do. The best word that describes them is fulfilled.
Finding yourself and growing to your potential can be a bit of a catch-22. You have to know who you are to grow to your potential. But you have to grow in order to know who you are.” The solution is – spend time with God and let Him direct you.
Soul food: Isa 12-16; Luke 1:39-56; Ps 10:12-18; Prov 1:17-19
2025-01-03
John 15:5 NKJV
If serving the Lord stresses you out, read what Jesus said: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (vv. 4-5 NKJV). When you see grapes on a vine, it’s a picture of effortless growth.
One day when the great missionary J. Hudson Taylor felt overworked and worried, he read a letter from a friend who had found the secret of abiding in Christ. The letter profoundly moved Taylor, and he realized that his unity with Christ should create joy and fulfillment, not worry and stress.
Soon afterward, Taylor wrote his sister, saying, “As to work, mine was never so plentiful or so difficult: but the weight and strain are now gone. The last month has been perhaps the happiest in my life; and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul… I looked to Jesus and saw that He had said, I will never leave you. Ah, there is rest. For has He not promised to abide with me? As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured into my soul!”
So pray: “Lord, instead of me striving to see how much I can do for You, I’m going to abide in You and see how much You can do through me.” That’s a prayer God will answer.
Soul food: Isa 8-11; Luke 1:26-38; Ps 10:1-11; Prov 1:10-16
2025-01-02
Matthew 14:23 NKJV
Jesus was both human and divine. Because we tend to think of Him as the Son of God more than the Son of Man, we overlook what we can learn from His human experience. When Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people, His divine power and prerogatives were on display (See Matthew 14:13-21). Yet after the event, we see His humanity in ways we should be able to identify with.
After dismissing the crowd and sending the disciples away, Jesus withdrew to a solitary spot on the mountainside to be alone with God. After such a miracle, most of us would be celebrating. And those around us would have a hard time understanding why He sent them away. But Jesus understood that His power did not come from the crowd but from His Father, so He created time and solitude to be alone with Him.
The relationship Jesus had with His Father is a picture of the relationship you, too, can have with God. Three things describe it:
(1) Intimacy. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does (John 5:20 NKJV).
(2) Dependency. “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (v. 19 NKJV).
(3) Obedience. “I can of Myself do nothing…I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (v. 30 NKJV). What do you need to send away in order to have such a relationship with the Lord?
Soul food: Isa 4-7; Luke 1:11-25; Ps 90:7-17; Prov 1:5-9
2025-01-01
Ephesians 4:32 NIV
If you would like to start the New Year with a clean slate and traveling lighter, let go of the old grudges that are weighing you down. Philip Yancey describes forgiveness as “an unnatural act.” He says, “You don’t find dolphins forgiving sharks for eating their playmates. It’s a dog-eat-dog world… not dog-forgive-dog.” Bitterness and hatred come naturally when you have been hurt. Forgiving is supernatural and requires the grace of God, but remember, Jesus said, “If you do not forgive…your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15 NIV).
Think about it – there is not one single, solitary reason God should ever forgive our sins, yet the offenses He pardons us for every day far outweigh anything we will ever be asked to forgive our parents, spouses, and friends for. The Bible says forgive “each other… as… God forgave you.”
Forgiveness opens the doors of a prison, where you are both the prisoner and the jailor. Grudges not only isolate you from people who were once friends, they shorten your life by producing deadly enzymes that contribute to a host of physical ailments.
One man told his counselor, “I wish my brother could come to my wedding, but we haven’t spoken in years.” The counselor asked, “How come?” Pausing, the man replied, “It sounds ridiculous now, but I don’t even remember!” Drifting apart is the natural result of an unforgiving spirit; forgiveness reverses the trend by healing broken relationships.
It’s a scientific fact that forgiveness adds years to your life. As a rule, when you talk to individuals who have passed the eighty-year mark, you find they’re at peace with themselves because they have learned to forgive and let go.
Soul food: Isa 1-3; Luke 1:1-10; Ps 90:1-6; Prov 1:1-4
