2025-02-19
Ephesians 6:10 NLT
Paul tells us two things about his thorn: First, that it was a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him. The word “buffet” means “to render blow after blow.” It was not one battle, but a series of back-to-back attacks that didn’t let up. Satan knows your weakest areas, and he will repeatedly attack you in those areas. How can you defeat him? The Bible tells: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (vv. 10-12 NLT).
Second, that the thorn was in his “flesh.” You are a regenerate spirit, living in an unregenerate body. That’s why the Bible commands us to crucify the flesh, starve the flesh, and refuse to give in to the impulses of the flesh. And in God’s strength you can do it: “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT).
Soul food: Gen 47-49; Luke 11:1-13; Ps 36; Prov 5:21-23
2025-02-18
2 Corinthians 12:7 NKJV
Paul writes: “A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me… For when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 7-10 NKJV).
Paul had such great faith that when he prayed, the sick were healed and the dead were raised. Yet, he prayed repeatedly that God would remove his “thorn in the flesh,” and God said no. Why? To keep him humble and make him totally dependent on God. We don’t know what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, but we know why he had it: “Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations” (v. 7 NKJV).
When God blesses you greatly, with it comes the risk of pride. And with God, that’s a disqualifier. If you have ever had a splinter in your finger, you know it throbs with pain and constantly irritates you. Can you live with it? Yes. Would you rather not? Yes. Note what Paul says: “A thorn in the flesh was given to me.” Not only does he come to see his thorn as a grace developer, but a gift that does two things: (1) Humbles us and makes us more dependent on God. (2) Makes us more tolerant and gracious since everybody has a thorn.
Soul food: Gen 44-46; Luke 10:38-42; Ps 33:13-22; Prov 5:15-20
2025-02-17
Matthew 19:6 NKJV
This may come as a surprise to you, but the main purpose of marriage is not to produce children. Couples who cannot give birth are as married as couples who can. Jesus said, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (v. 5 NKJV). When God looks at a parent and child, He sees two. When God looks at a brother and sister, He sees two. But when God looks at a husband and wife, He sees one. “Joined together” means “to be glued to.”
Do you ever feel like you’re stuck with the person you married? Well, you are! Marrying and becoming one flesh is not what two people do for each other, but what God does for them. Marriage is not a relationship joined together by culture, or the law, or sex, or even love. Marriage is what God joins together. And the good news is, when God joins you together, He can keep you together.
Today the most popular reason for issuing a divorce decree is “irreconcilable differences.” But Jesus went to the heart of the matter – which is the matter of the heart. “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (v. 8 NKJV). God can soften your hearts toward one another, and He can open your hearts toward one another. You say, “But I’ve tried everything, and nothing works.” Try God! He can change the heart of your spouse and give you a new future together.
Soul food: Gen 42-43; Luke 10:25-37; Ps 33:1-12; Prov 5:7-14
2025-02-16
Galatians 3:6 NKJV
We think of Abraham with a halo. Hardly. Not once, but twice he throws his wife under the bus. As they traveled through Egypt, Abram says to Sarai, “You’re a beautiful woman; I’m afraid the Egyptians will want to kill me so someone can have you for a wife, so let’s tell them you’re my sister” (See Genesis 12:11-13). Pharaoh does take Sarai into his harem – giving Abram, her “brother,” a bunch of sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, and camels. Rather than feeling guilty and coming clean, Abram simply says, “Thank you very much.” And if you think that’s bad, when Abraham and Sarah are in the Negev later on, recorded in Genesis 20, he does the whole “she’s my sister” routine a second time.
Why doesn’t God just give up on him? Because Abraham doesn’t give up on God! Abraham eventually reached the place in his walk with God where his résumé reads: “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:18-22 NKJV).
Note the words “strengthened in faith.” God’s plan is not to discard you, but to develop your faith and use you to bring glory to His name.
Soul food: Exo 20:3; Acts 14:1-18; 1 Sam 5:1-5
2025-02-15
Colossians 3:15 NKJV
God wants you to have a peaceful state of mind. His word says: “Let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]” (v. 15 AMPC).
No position or possession is worthwhile if you don’t have peace; money, status, popularity – it’s all meaningless if you lack peace. You simply cannot put a price on the value of peace. Many of us spend our lives trying to climb the ladder of success, but every time we go up one more rung, we lose more of our peace and joy, not to mention time spent with our family. Our lives are consumed with the pressure and stress of trying to hold on to what we gained. But we are never truly successful unless we have peace.
Some of us work several jobs to acquire what the world dangles in front of us, saying, “You must have this to be truly happy.” We get those “things,” but we still don’t have any peace. Romans 14:17 tells us, “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink” – it is not things that money can buy or status can secure – but it is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
God wants you to have your needs met abundantly and to be in a position to bless others. But don’t seek to have anything if you cannot have it peacefully.
Soul food: Gen 40-41; Luke 10:13-24; Ps 28; Prov 5:3-6
2025-02-14
John 5:30 NIV
The third thing that defines Jesus’ relationship with His Father is this: obedience. Jesus said, “I judge only as I hear… for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” Note the words “as I hear.” When you know you have heard from God, you have confidence to handle whatever life throws at you, and to take on any assignment He gives you. Christ’s first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. In it you will find a statement that’s crucial to experiencing God’s miraculous power in your life: “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5 NKJV). That means you must be willing to obey God when what He tells you to do doesn’t seem rational, and when it’s not popular, and when it’s inconvenient, and when it’s costly, and when it requires you to walk an unfamiliar pathway.
And you will only reach this level of obedience when you’re committed to a life of intimacy with God and dependency on God. And here is something you need to know: Intimacy, dependency, and obedience are not cultivated by you trying to love God more, but on having a revelation of God’s amazing, undeserved, unfailing love for you: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NLT). So, pray for a revelation of God’s great love for you.
Soul food: Gen 37-39; Luke 10:1-12; Ps 5; Prov 5:1-2
