2025-02-13
John 5:19 NIV
The second thing that defines Jesus’ relationship with His Father is this: dependency. Corrie ten Boom used to say, “I am just the glove, Jesus is the hand that fills it and works through it.” That’s a picture of Christ’s relationship with His heavenly Father, and it’s a blueprint for the kind of relationship you can have with God. In the Bible you will notice two all-important things about Jesus:
(1) He never seemed to suffer from the fear of failing, like we so often do. Why? Because He prayed regularly and got direction from His Father. Knowing He was acting on the Father’s word and operating in the Father’s will, He never doubted. Until you have heard from God, you are a question mark. But once you have heard from God, you are an exclamation mark.
(2) Jesus knew He couldn’t accomplish anything of significance without His Father’s direction and power, so He never attempted to. We, on the other hand, say we trust God but act like everything depends on us. And the result? We fall flat on our faces and keep wondering why.
Every action of God in your life is intended to increase, not decrease, your dependence on Him. Someone wisely said, “You’ll never know that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you’ve got.” To bring you to the place of total dependence on Himself, God will allow your ego to be crushed and your self-sufficiency to be stripped away. At that point you make a life-changing discovery: When you have nothing left but God – God is enough!
Soul food: Gen 35-36; Luke 9:57-62; Ps 149; Prov 4:25-27
2025-02-12
John 5:20 NIV
These three things define the relationship Jesus had with His Father, and they are a blueprint for the kind of relationship you need to build with God: intimacy, dependency, obedience. First: Let’s look at intimacy. Jesus said, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” You only reveal yourself, including your innermost thoughts and secrets, to someone with whom you are intimate. And when you become intimate with God, He will share with you things that others are not privy to.
David’s greatest passion was to know God intimately. In Psalm 25:4 he writes: “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths” (NIV). Then he follows up by saying, “The Lord confides in those who fear [honour] him” (v. 14 NIV). Having an intimate relationship with God involves three things:
(a) Desire. The truth is that you are as close to God right now as you desire to be; otherwise, you would rearrange your priorities to make it happen.
(b) Discipline. This calls for spending time alone with God in prayer and Bible reading each day. When you pray, you’re talking to God. When you read the Bible, God is talking to you.
(c) Delight. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NKJV). Something wonderful happens when you “delight yourself in the Lord.” His desires become “the desires of your heart,” so He can trust you with them.
Do you want a more intimate relationship with the Lord? If you are willing to pursue it, you can have it.
Soul food: Gen 32-34; Luke 9:46-56; Ps 145:14-21; Prov 4:23-24
2025-02-11
Luke 7:47 NLT
The Bible says: “One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him… When a certain immoral woman… heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee… saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!'” (vv. 36-39 NLT).
Then Jesus answered his thoughts. What did Jesus tell this Pharisee? The same thing that He is saying to you today: It’s your past that qualifies you to worship God. “I tell you, her sins – and they are many – have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love” (v. 47 NLT). The depths of sin from which she had been lifted caused her to rise to heights in worship that this Pharisee couldn’t understand.
If there is a worship leader in Scripture, it’s David. Looking back, he writes: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He… heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth – praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:1-3 NKJV). So, the word for you today is – your past qualifies you as a worshiper!
Soul food: Gen 30:25-31:55; Luke 9:37-45; Ps 145:1-13; Prov 4:20-22
2025-02-10
Matthew 14:30 NLT
When Peter stepped out of the boat at the command of Jesus, he was doing something he had never done before; something miraculous – walking on water. As long as he remained in faith, he was successful, but when fear gripped his heart, he began to sink. The Bible says, “When he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him” (vv. 30-31 NLT). Peter’s mistake was that he became preoccupied with the storm. When he focused on the circumstances around him rather than on the Saviour close to him, he lost his faith and began to doubt.
Abraham faced a different but equally difficult set of circumstances: fathering a son when he was almost one hundred years old. But the Bible says, “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God” (Romans 4:20 NLT). Abraham was aware of his situation, but unlike Peter, he was not preoccupied with it. It was his determined and focused faith that propelled him forward to success.
And you can learn from Peter’s mistake and Abraham’s example. You can be aware of your circumstances, but not preoccupied with them. You can purposely keep your mind on Jesus, trusting in faith that He will provide the miracle you need. So, the word for you today is – keep your eyes on Jesus, stay focused on what He has promised you in His Word, keep walking by faith, and you will get to where you need to be.
Soul food: Gen 28:1-30:24; Luke 9:28-36; Ps 141; Prov 4:18-19
2025-02-09
Nehemiah 2:20 NLT
With its walls torn down, Jerusalem was defenseless against her enemies. So, Nehemiah assembled a team to rebuild the walls. He had no training for this job. He wasn’t an architect or a builder. Jerusalem was far away, and he had never been there. Any way you look at it, he was unqualified for the job.
That’s a common denominator with many of the people God has used in a remarkable way. Noah was a farmer, called to build a boat in the desert. David was a shepherd, called to topple a Philistine champion. Nehemiah was a cupbearer, called to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls.
When it comes to doing God’s will, God-ordained passions are considerably more important than any human ability we can contribute. In fact, God often uses us at our point of greatest inability. That way He receives all the credit. But understand this: When God gives you a “burden,” or a “passion,” or a “vision,” you have a choice to make.
Nehemiah already had a good job. Being the king’s cupbearer was like being his right-hand man. He didn’t simply enjoy job security, he enjoyed the perks and privileges of his position. He would have been comfortable staying right where he was. But if he had chosen to do that, he would have missed God’s will, missed having a book named after him in the Bible, and you wouldn’t be reading about him right now. Are you feeling unqualified? When God calls you, He equips you, resources you, guides you, and guarantees your success.
Soul food: Isa 53:1-12; Acts 8:26-40
2025-02-08
Psalm 34:1 NKJV
Whether you know it or not, you have an ongoing conversation with yourself. How does it sound? Do you encourage yourself? Or do you condemn yourself? If you are positive, then you strengthen your positive self-image. If you are negative, you weaken your self-worth. If you’re serious about improving your life, then you must improve the way you think of yourself. And to do that, you must change the way you talk to yourself.
And the older you grow, the more responsible you are for the way you think, talk, and believe. Don’t you already have enough problems? Why give yourself more by discouraging yourself with negative self-talk? Turn into your own encourager. Each time you do a good job, compliment yourself. Each time you choose discipline over an indulgence, don’t tell yourself that you should have done that anyway; appreciate how much you are helping yourself. Each time you make a mistake, don’t rehearse everything that’s wrong with yourself; tell yourself that you’re paying the price for growth and that you will learn to do better next time.
The psalmist recognized the importance of his self-talk: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” (Psalm 103:2 NKJV). “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust'” (Psalm 91:2 NKJV). The word for you today is – improve your self-talk.
Soul food: Gen 25:19-27:46; Luke 9:18-27; Ps 138; Prov 4:14-17
