2024-01-01
Romans 6:4 NIV
Refuse to let your past rob you of your future. This year God wants to give you a new start. Let’s face it, we all have relationships that can’t be healed, and issues that will never be resolved to our liking. But by God’s grace we can forgive, forget, and move on. You don’t have to lie awake at night digging up old bones, picking at scars, and reviving painful memories. If you give them an opening, the ghosts of your past will take up residence in your head.
You say, “But I still struggle in so many areas.” We all do. Even the great apostle Paul admitted he didn’t have it all together. Unlike those who condemn in others the very things they struggle with themselves, Paul admits: “I know the law but… can’t keep it… sin… keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I… need help!… I decide to do good, but… My decisions… don’t result in actions. Something… gets the better of me every time” (Romans 7:17-20 MSG). “Thank you, Paul,” from all of us who mistakenly thought that once we became Christians there would be no more struggles!
But Paul doesn’t stop there; he adds these two important Scriptures: (1) “Just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV). (2) “In the same way [as Christ], count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11 NIV). You ask, “How then should I handle my old issues?” Admit them, quit them, and forget them! Instead of fighting battles you can’t win, let Christ’s resurrection power sweep through your life and sever the ties between you and the pain of your past.
Soul food: Rom 13:12-14:19; Matt 1:1-17; Isa 43:18-19
2023-12-31
Jeremiah 9:24 NIV
God says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me” (vv. 23-24 NIV). The truth is, if you don’t know God it doesn’t matter how much money you have in your bank account, or what diplomas hang on your wall, or what position you hold in the company. Until you have a relationship with God, you haven’t really begun to live! And part of getting to know Him is learning the truth about yourself.
After witnessing the miracle-working power of Christ, Peter acknowledged, “I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8 NIV). When the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon His throne, he cried, “Woe is me!” (Isaiah 6:5 NKJV). But God doesn’t tell you the truth about yourself and then leave you that way. No, like a good doctor, He tells you you’re sick so that you can get the proper treatment. And the proper treatment for sin is salvation through the blood of Jesus. You will never know God until you are related to Him through Jesus Christ.
So if you’ve never accepted Him as your Saviour, start this New Year by praying: “Lord, I repent and turn from my sin. I place my life in Your hands, trusting You as my Lord and Saviour. By faith I receive the gift of eternal life. Starting today, I ask You to lead and guide me and fulfill Your will through me. In Jesus’ name I pray: Amen.” Happy New Year!
Soul food: Phil 3:8-14; 2 Cor 5:14-21; Ps 77:11-20; Prov 9:10-12
2023-12-30
Exodus 31:2 NIV
The first person in the Bible who was said to be “filled with the Spirit of God” was Bezalel. And if his name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because he wasn’t a prophet, priest, king, or apostle. He was a craftsman, skilled in design. He had an eye for color and a flair for management, and when it came time for building the tabernacle, he oversaw the job.
Here is what God said about him: “I have chosen Bezalel… and… filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 31:2-5 NIV).
Imagine being Bezalel. From your youth you loved to work with your hands. You don’t know God is involved in this – but He is! He actually placed these desires within you. When you’re working, the joy you feel is actually the presence of God. You have certain strengths; you were born with them. They will always be your strengths, and you delight in them. Wonderful things happen when you discover those strengths, put them to use, and focus on improving them.
Trying to develop in an area where God hasn’t gifted you is like trying to instruct a rabbit to swim or a snail to run. When you’re in your God-given slot, working with your God-given strengths, you’re at your best. When that happens, you are blessed, and so is everybody around you. The point is, in God’s plan, Bezalel was every bit as important as Moses. So, take heart; what you do matters!
Soul food: Malachi 3-4; John 21:15-25; Ps 139:13-24; Prov 31:28-31
2023-12-29
1 Corinthians 4:2 NIV
Most adults spend about half their waking lives at work. Your work is a huge part of God’s plan for your life. He designed a specific vocation just for you in which you should find personal fulfillment, meet the needs of your family, and help to perpetuate His purposes in the earth.
The fourth commandment covers all seven days of the week, not just the Sabbath. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work… for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth” (Exodus 20: 9,11 NIV). Sometimes you hear sermons designed to make you feel guilty about not keeping the Sabbath, but have you ever heard a sermon designed to make you feel guilty about not honouring the six-day workweek?
The point is that just as God made and loves the Sabbath, He also made and loves work. The Bible says, “The kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21 NIV). Whether you’re a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, you’re required to demonstrate integrity in the workplace.
It’s embarrassing when nonbelievers say, “I’ll never do business with a Christian again.” The Bible says, “O Lord… how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1 KJV). You should strive to be “excellent” in your work. Tardiness, clock-watching, goofing off, watercooler gossip, flirting, speaking evil about your boss – these things should have no place in your life. The Bible says, “It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” You should go to work praying, “Lord, today I want to do a good job and bring credit to your name.”
Soul food: Malachi 1-2; John 21:1-14; Ps 139:1-12; Prov 31:25-27
2023-12-28
Ecclesiastes 9:10 NLT
In the Bible, you will notice that everybody works! And most of its heroes had secular vocations. Isaac developed real estate, Jacob was a rancher, Joseph served God best by staying in his well-paying government job rather than starting a nonprofit, faith-based organization to do charity work. Daniel was an immigrant who attended Babylon’s version of Oxford and grew to be prime minister. Lydia was a profitable businesswoman in textiles.
Conceivably the ultimate expression of how much God values work is Jesus the carpenter. More than three-quarters of His life, He occupied Himself in the building profession, creating benches and tables, and was probably engaged in construction. The word we translate “carpenter” comes from the Greek word tektón, from which we get our word technology, and would contain the capability to do stone or masonry work.
The Bible was penned by workers, about workers, and for workers. Work was God’s idea. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15 NIV). The first man, Adam, was a landscaper.
By identifying what you have been called to do in life and giving yourself fully to it, you are as “ordained” as any pastor who stands in a pulpit. It’s a pity we use the word secular when it comes to any kind of work other than church work, because God doesn’t see it that way. All honest work earns His smile of approval. When it comes to work, the thing He requires from you is wrapped up in these words: “Whatever you do, do well.”
Soul food: Zech 10-14; John 20:19-31; Ps 97; Prov 31:22-24
2023-12-27
Genesis 1:28 NLT
The first thing God told Adam and Eve to do was “fill the earth and govern it.” Because Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden doesn’t mean they were limited to the Garden of Eden. God told them to “fill the earth and govern it.” Stop and think about it. God was inviting Adam and Eve to explore. Everything outside Eden was uncharted territory. They could travel 24,759 miles in any direction and never see the same landscape twice. There were 196,949,970 square miles of virgin territory to explore. One way we glorify God is by exploring and educating ourselves about everything He has created.
One author explains: “The astronomer who charts the stars, the geneticist who maps the human genome, the researcher who seeks a cure for Parkinson’s disease, the oceanographer who explores the barrier reef, the ornithologist who studies and preserves rare bird species, the physicist who tries to catch quarks, the chemist who charts molecular structures, and the theologian who studies God have one thing in common. All of them are explorers. They are fulfilling the Genesis commission. And their exploration honours God if it’s done for the right reasons and results in the right response: to know Him and to worship Him.”
There will always be some scientists who arrive at atheistic conclusions. But rather than abandon science, we have been called to reclaim it. If God created everything, then everything carries His holy fingerprint. All truth is God’s truth. Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!'”
Soul food: Zech 6-9; John 20:10-18; Ps 117; Prov 31:18-21
