2024-12-19
Isaiah 42:16 NIV
Sometimes following God involves leaving a secure and lucrative career. Moses left a palace, Elisha left a farm, James and John left their fishing boats. But sometimes, following God means staying where you are and maximizing every opportunity He gives you to promote His kingdom.
When David returned from battle with the spoils, some of his soldiers didn’t want to share them with those who had remained behind. But David said, “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike” (1 Samuel 30:24 NIV).
What you must seek God about is, “Am I called to go or to stay?” It’s amazing how many people you meet who don’t like what they do for a living. Why do they do it? Because we all have to make a living. But what if God is calling you to do something different? It’s a risk making a change from what you’re currently doing to what you believe God wants you to do. You might not succeed. Or discover you don’t like it to the extent you expected. Or not make as much money.
But the greater risk is staying when God calls you to go. Why? Regret! Knowing you never attempted to do what God had called you to do. You say, “I have many unanswered questions, and there is much I don’t know.” Read this Scripture: “Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These… things I will do; I will not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16 NIV).
Soul food: Job 8-10; Luke 1:19-25; Ps 57; Ecc 7:13-15
2024-12-18
Psalm 41:1 NKJV
On December 18, 1933, a curious ad appeared in a Canton, Ohio newspaper: “Man Who Felt Depression’s Sting to Help 75 Unfortunate Families. Anonymous Giver Known only as ‘B. Virdot,’ posts $750 to Spread Christmas Cheer.” All the reader had to do was describe their plight in a letter and mail it care of “general delivery.” The appeals poured in. Oddly, no one knew a “B. Virdot,” and people wondered if such a person even existed. Then within a week, checks began arriving in homes all over the area. Most were modest, about five dollars, and all were signed “B. Virdot.”
Throughout the ensuing years as the story was told, the identity of the philanthropist remained unknown. Then in 2008, long after his death, his grandson opened a tattered black suitcase collecting dust in his parent’s attic. That’s when they found the letters dated December 1933, along with 150 cancelled checks. Turns out that B. Virdot was really Samuel J. Stone, and the pseudonym was a hybrid of Barbara, Virginia, and Dorothy, the names of his daughters.
Interestingly, there was nothing privileged about Sam Stone. He was fifteen when his family emigrated from Romania and settled in a Pittsburgh ghetto. Sam’s father hid his shoes so he couldn’t go to school, forcing him and his six siblings to roll cigars in the attic. Eventually, Sam left home to work on a barge and then in a coal mine. By the time the Great Depression hit he owned a small chain of clothing stores, and lived in relative comfort. Nevertheless, he had a heart for others – and his actions proved it. Can that be said about you?
Soul food: Job 5-7; Luke 1:11-18; Ps 105:37-45; Ecc 7:9-12
2024-12-17
1 Corinthians 1:27 NLT
A pastor writes: “Poll after poll has found that most people’s number one fear is speaking in public. Death ranks number two. That means some people would rather die than speak in public. Why? It’s the fear of looking foolish… But faith is the willingness to look foolish. Noah looked foolish building an ark in the desert. Sarah looked foolish buying maternity clothes at ninety. The Israelites looked foolish marching around Jericho blowing trumpets. David looked foolish attacking Goliath with a slingshot… The wise men looked foolish following yonder star. Peter looked foolish stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake. And Jesus looked foolish hanging half naked on the cross.
But that’s the essence of faith. And the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood. Sarah gave birth to Isaac. The walls of Jericho came tumbling down. David defeated Goliath… The wise men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water. And Jesus rose from the dead… The greatest breakthroughs, miracles, and turning points in Scripture can be traced back to someone who was willing to look foolish.” Why? Read this Scripture: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV).
So here is your choice: Live by earthly thoughts and ways and be accepted by men, or live by heavenly thoughts and ways and be accepted by God. When you see it from that perspective, your choice is clear.
Soul food: Job 1-4; Luke 1:1-10; Ps 105:23-36; Ecc 7:5-8
2024-12-16
Ecclesiastes 11:4 NKJV
There is a time to be cautious and a time to throw caution to the wind. And it takes discernment to know the difference. If you’re waiting for perfect conditions before seizing an opportunity, you will be hesitating until you die. The Bible says, “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” More often than not, the only thing between you and the fulfillment of your dream is an excuse: “I’m too busy… I don’t have enough money… I’m unqualified… I’m not ready yet… I have lots of problems.”
News flash: No one is ever ready. Immediately before Christ’s first miracle, he shows a hint of hesitation: “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4 NLT). But Jesus had a mother who loved Him enough to persuade Him.
In his book Jump In!, Mark Burnett writes about his path to TV-producer prominence. Burnett created hit shows like Survivor and The Apprentice. He writes: “Nothing will ever be… perfect, and nothing can be totally planned. The best you can hope for is to be about half certain of your plan and know that you and the team you’ve assembled are willing to work hard enough to overcome the inevitable problems as they arrive.” Note the words “the best you can hope for is to be about half certain.” That’s a pretty good paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 11.
So, don’t “observe the wind,” and don’t “regard the clouds.” After you have prayed and prepared, it’s time to trust God and take action.
Soul food: Est 5-10; John 21:1-25; Ps 18:1-29; Prov 26:24-27
2024-12-15
Colossians 4:12 NKJV
Here is what Paul said about Epaphras, a disciple so obscure you probably don’t recognize his name: “Epaphras… is… always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God… he has a great zeal for you” (vv. 12-13 NKJV). James writes, “Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16 NKJV). To be fervent is to be passionate!
Bishop Joseph Hall, a seventeenth-century Anglican minister, was once imprisoned in the Tower of London for his faith. He lived his final years on a farm in the country writing devotional classics. Here is what he remarked about prayer: “An arrow, if it be drawn up but a little way, goes not far; but if it be pulled up to the head, flies swiftly and pierces deep. Prayer, if it be only dribbled forth from careless lips, falls at our feet. It is the strength of [discharge] and strong desire that sends it to heaven, and makes it pierce the clouds. It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor the divinity of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be – which God cares for. Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much.”
The Lord answers the prayers of those who pray passionately. So, get serious about prayer and give yourself fully to it!
Soul food: Heb 11:1-6; Matt 21:18-22; Matt 8:5-13; Mark 6:1-6
2024-12-14
2 Samuel 6:21 NIV
True worship calls for being less self-conscious and self-absorbed and more God-conscious and God-absorbed. After watching him dance before the Lord, David’s wife gave him an earful: “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” (v. 20 NIV). To which David replied, “It was before the Lord, who chose me… he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel – I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become… undignified… humiliated in my own eyes” (vv. 21-22 NIV).
David provides us with a picture of pure worship. Worship is undressing. It’s taking off the things in which we find our identity and security outside our relationship with Christ. It’s a reminder that our own righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God. Worship is not about what we can do for God but what God has done for us. He has loved us, saved us, and clothed us in the righteousness of Christ. It’s the truth that inspired hymnist Charles Wesley to write, “O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise.”
The Bible says we can praise God in nine different ways: speaking, shouting, singing, clapping our hands, playing musical instruments, raising our hands before the Lord, kneeling, lying prostrate in His presence, and dancing before Him. David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1 NKJV). And he tells us why. “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (v. 4 NKJV). So, the word for you today is – worship with abandon.
Soul food: Est 1-4; John 20:19-31; Ps 105:8-22; Ecc 7:1-4
