2023-06-20
Proverbs 14:29 NIV
Patience begins by changing the way you view something. When you’re impatient, you have a narrow perspective. All you see is yourself: your needs, goals, schedule, desires, and the way people are messing up your life. Basically, the root of impatience is selfishness.
Try to see things from the other person’s point of view. If you want to succeed in marriage, learn to see life from your partner’s point of view. If you want to succeed as a parent, learn to see things from your child’s point of view. If you want to succeed in business, learn to see things from your customer’s point of view. If you want to be a successful employer, learn to see life from your employee’s point of view. Try to discover why the other person feels as they do.
If you never had to deal with irritations and interruptions, you would never develop patience. You must accept the truth that God is directing your steps, and that trust doesn’t require explanations. The Bible says, “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” (Proverbs 20:24 NLT).
Patience is a mark of maturity. When babies don’t instantly get what they want, they get upset. Maturity includes the ability to wait, to live with delayed gratification. “Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly” (Proverbs 14:29 NIV). A person of understanding and wisdom who learns to see life from another’s (and God’s) point of view, is able to be patient. So, pray and ask God to give you a new perspective on things.
Soul food: 2 Kings 18:17-20:21; Matt 20:1-16; Ps 139:7-12; Prov 13:24
2023-06-19
Proverbs 16:32 GNT
The Bible says that when you pray, God can answer instantly. But nowhere in the Bible are you promised “instant patience.” Patience is a quality of character, and character is built over a lifetime of walking with God through good times and bad. One Bible teacher says, “Patience is just faith taking its time.” Here is how God develops patience in us:
(1) Interruptions. You sit down to eat dinner and your phone starts ringing. You’re in the bathtub and someone comes to the door. You’re quickly working to meet a deadline and visitors arrive. It’s said that when Brahms was writing his famous “Lullaby,” he encountered so many interruptions, it took him seven years to compose the piece. Someone joked, “When you’re writing a lullaby, you need all those interruptions to keep you from falling asleep at the piano.”
(2) Delays. We hate to wait. We have a microwave mindset – we want what we want – in seconds. We have fast food, Minute Rice, and instant coffee. We’re like the guy who prayed, “Lord, give me patience, and I want it right now!”
(3) Irritations. Long lines, lost keys, late planes, phone calls, cold food, flat tires, occupied bathrooms, traffic jams… the list is endless. Do you know that 90 percent of heart attack sufferers have the “hurried” Type A personality? The Bible says, “Impatience will get you into trouble” (Proverbs 19:2 GNT).
We speak of the patience of Job, who said, “All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come” (Job 14:14 NIV). Pray about it, exercise patience, and be confident in God!
Soul food: 2 Kings 16:1-18:16; Matt 19:15-30; Ps 139:1-6; Prov 13:21-23
2023-06-18
Isaiah 28:9 NIV
A concerned father wrote this letter to the sports coach at his son’s school. “Dear Coach, I just read your letter to our son telling us of your expectations for your athletes. Johnny’s mother and I couldn’t agree more. We’ve long recognized the value derived from high school sports. Judging from your record you must teach the game very well. But there’s another phase of coaching that’s even more important. Let me explain.
We’re giving you our most prized possession. During the next four years our son will make you one of our prime household conversations. He’ll tell us how you could’ve made the team for the Green Bay Packers if only you hadn’t hurt your knee back in ’85. He’ll tell us about your emotional halftime talk when you came from behind and beat a rival team. We’ll hear about how you can still pass or kick the ball. And while we’re hearing all this our son’s eyes will shine.
You see, Coach, he’ll idolize you. We don’t have heroes anymore. Many professionals would sell their souls for a buck. Some college athletes made the news this year in a very negative manner. We know all athletes don’t shoplift and do drugs, but that’s what we hear about. So you’re our son’s hero, and we’re relying on you. His muscles are nearly developed, but his mind is still fragile and impressionable. Your responsibilities are great. Impress him, Coach. Pour it on!”
The world’s full of gangs, drugs, and violence because a kid picked the wrong hero. You can help change all that – if only for one child. Think about it.
Soul food: Phil 4:4-13; Gen 11:1-9
2023-06-17
Galatians 5:13 NIV
Love is mostly something you do instead of something you feel. Paul writes, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (v. 13 NIV). So how are you supposed to express your love?
According to one author, as follows: “A son drives for five hours to be with his mother on her birthday. A friend mentions a book he is interested in; his friend remembers and finds a copy to give to him for no visible reason. A middle-aged couple in a restaurant see a young husband and wife with little money and secretly pay their check. A father knows how much his daughter likes having a clean car, so he sneaks over to wash it for her by surprise. People in a small group email each other throughout the week as a way of expressing their care. A wise man once said that just as the three laws of real estate are ‘location, location, location,’ the three laws of relationship are ‘observation, observation, observation.’ The people who give life to us are people who notice us. They know what we love and fear. When we work to truly notice someone else, love for them grows. When we work to truly observe another person, in that self-forgetfulness our own soul flourishes.”
Mother Teresa used to say: “If you can’t do great things, do little things with great love. And if you can’t do them with great love, do them with a little love. And if you can’t do them with a little love, do them anyway.” Love grows when you serve people.
Soul food: 2 Kings 13-15; Matt 19:1-14; Ps 73:17-28; Prov 13:20
2023-06-16
Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV
What’s your concept of God? When you pray, “Our Father,” what do you see? Do you see a parent who abandoned you, abused you, or abdicated their responsibility to you? Do you think of an angry father who accused but never affirmed you; in other words, a God waiting to zap you each time you do wrong? If so, you need to change your concept of God.
The Bible says: “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (v. 17 NKJV). Let’s break this Scripture down:
(1) “The Lord your God in your midst.” He is not a distant deity, but an up-close-and-personal Father who loves His redeemed children dearly.
(2) “The Mighty One, will save.” When you consider the word “mighty,” think of Hercules a billion times over and you still won’t even be close. Today you may be weak, but He is strong. Your sins may be great, but His saving grace is greater (See Romans 5:20).
(3) “He will rejoice over you with gladness.” Every time God looks at you, He smiles and rejoices. You make His heart glad. Did you know that?
(4) “He will quiet you with His love.” Ever watch a mother holding a crying baby and saying, “Shush, shush, it’s okay, I’m here, I love you.” The baby is comforted, feels secure, and goes to sleep. That’s what God does for us.
(5) “He will rejoice over you with singing.” God sings! What does He sing about? You! It’s time to change your concept of God!
Soul food: 2 Kings 10-12; Matt 18:21-35; Ps 73:1-16; Prov 13:17-19
2023-06-15
Luke 10:42 NIV
When Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha, their individual responses to Him were very different. Martha’s focus was on the meal. Her aim was to please Jesus. But she made a common mistake; her work became more important than her Lord. What began as a serving experience became a self-serving one. She forgot the meal was to honor Jesus, not her. She said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (v. 40 NIV). And what did Jesus say? “Martha, Martha… you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed… Mary has chosen what is better” (vv. 41-42 NIV). And what had Mary chosen? Intimacy with Jesus!
The danger of religious activity is that sometimes it’s designed to make us feel good about ourselves and look good in front of others. Choosing activity over intimacy also happens to people who love the Lord and aren’t necessarily involved in church work.
It’s amazing how many bright, successful people reach the point of burnout because they have neglected their relationship with God. They never intended to; it’s just that they have learned to make it on their own and haven’t been forced to rely on Him. Or they have bought into a “religious compartmentalization” of God – like He is just another weekly appointment on Sunday mornings.
The fact that Jesus chose intimacy over activity teaches us a very important lesson: Until you put your relationship with God at the center of your life, you will struggle to find your true purpose, enjoy the fruit of your labors, and experience God’s peace and joy.
Soul food: 2 Kings 7-9; Matt 18:10-20; Ps 80:12-19; Prov 13:13-16
