2026-05-14
Mark 4:35 NIV
Jesus told His disciples: “Let us go over to the other side.” Next, we read: “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat” (v. 37 NIV). The disciples turned to Jesus and found Him sound asleep! They screamed, “Don’t you care if we drown?” (v. 38 NIV). Jesus woke up, commanded the storm to shut up, and then said to the disciples, “Do you still have no faith?” (v. 40 NIV).
What a stunning rebuke! The sea was raging; the water was churning. Why did Jesus scold them? Simple: they didn’t take Him at His Word. He said they were going to the other side. He didn’t say, “We are going to the middle of the lake to drown.” Jesus had declared the outcome. But when the storms came, the disciples heard the roar of the winds and forgot His Word.
Storms are coming your way too. Winds will howl, your boat will be tossed, and you will have a choice: Will you hear Christ or the crisis? Will you heed the promises of Scripture or the noise of the storm? God told Joshua to “meditate in [Scripture] day and night” (see Jos 1:8). The word meditate means to “mutter” over what you’re reading. The image is one of a person reciting, rehearsing, and reconsidering God’s Word over and over.
Paul says: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another” (Colossians 3:16 NKJV). Begin with a prayer: “God, please speak to my heart today as I read.” Then read with an open heart until the message hits you.
Soul food: Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:1-11; Eph 4:7-10
2026-05-13
Mark 16:15 NKJV
In 1993, a group called AD2000 United Prayer Track came up with an innovative idea. To help realize their goal of “a church for every people and the gospel for every person by AD2000,” they established a program called “Praying through the Window.” The “window” referred to an area on the globe from ten degrees to forty degrees north of the Equator, from North Africa and Southern Spain eastward to Japan and the northern Philippines. Almost three billion people live in this area, where the most prominent religions are Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.
For the entire month of October 1993, and again in 1995, millions of Christians prayed for the people in “the 10/40 window.” The goal was that new churches be established, and new missionaries sent to these areas. In 1993 alone, the number of churches in Albania grew from 50 to more than 300, and the number of Christian fellowship groups formed in India rose from an average of three to seventeen each day.
If your world consists only of your loved ones, your job, and your church, ask God to open your eyes to the world beyond your world. Begin praying that He will move in those nations. “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Psalm 2:8 NKJV). You say, “Can we realistically believe that the world will turn to Christ?” Read this: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You” (Psalm 22:27 NKJV).
Soul food: Deut 32:29-34:12; Matt 10:11-20; Ps 49; Prov 12:20-22
2026-05-12
Genesis 2:22 NIV
God recognized our need for companionship when He said, “‘It is not good for the man to be alone’… Then… God made a woman… and he brought her to the man” (vv. 18, 22 NIV). Most of us are social beings who are at our best around others. We garner energy and support from them.
But there are those who feel a sense of shame over admitting their loneliness. They long for people to share their lives with but feel they must pretend they don’t need anyone. You should not feel shame for wanting love and social connection. Admitting your desire to be loved and taking a step toward involvement actually requires courage. Accepting that you are a person who needs to connect is healthy.
But problems arise when your need for companionship controls you. When you compromise your values in order to be accepted, the results are always negative. Clinging to other people without understanding who they are or what they represent is unhealthy. And the ramifications can have not only lifelong effects but sometimes also life-threatening consequences. Wise decisions about relationships are never to be made with a mind ruled by fear of loneliness or desperation. If that’s where you are, being single is a better alternative right now. It need only be temporary.
So do these three things: (1) Ask God to guide you: “God sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6 NIV). (2) Live by the values you’d want your loved one to hold as well. (3) Start with what you have to give and share with others, rather than with your unmet needs.
Soul food: Deut 30:1-32:28; Matt 10:1-10; Ps 62; Prov 12:18-19
2026-05-11
James 1:4 CEV
James writes: ‘Be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given you… But when you ask… you must have faith… Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. If you are that kind of person, you can’t make up your mind, and you surely can’t be trusted. So don’t expect the Lord to give you anything at all’ (vv. 2-8).
Note three things in this Scripture:
1) Your faith grows when it’s tested. You’ll never know the strength of your anchor until you feel the blast of the storm.
2) God will give you wisdom to handle the test. Now, He won’t answer all your ‘whys’. So instead of questioning Him, you need to pray, ‘Lord, how do You want to use this trial to develop me spiritually? How can I co-operate with You to reap the maximum benefit? What changes do You desire to bring about in my life?’ Those are questions God will answer.
3) You must be willing to obey. It’s possible to ask God for wisdom, then debate, stall, or mess around trying to decide whether or not to obey Him. ‘If you’re that kind of person… don’t expect the Lord to give you anything at all.’ When God gives you His wisdom, your first response should be: ‘Speak, for your servant is listening’ (1 Samuel 3:10 NIV).
Soul food: Deut 28-29; Matt 9:27-38; Ps 57; Prov 12:15-17
2026-05-10
2 Corinthians 5:18 NIV
Paul wrote: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (vv. 17-20 NIV).
Sometimes our first reaction to learning that a fellow believer has fallen is to rush to the phone and say, “Did you hear about?” Or point an accusing finger. Or distance ourselves from that person at the very time he or she needs our prayers, love, and support. The Bible says: “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins'” (1 Peter 4:8 NKJV). If the hurting cannot find mercy in the family of God, where are they going to find it?
Rather than join those who point accusing fingers, we should be known as those who extend a helping hand. Jesus did that with Simon Peter: “Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31-32 NKJV). Just as God has repeatedly extended His grace to you when you have fallen short of the mark, He is calling you to extend that same grace to others.
Soul food: Ps 91:1-2; Prov 3:5-6; Jeremiah 17:7-8
2026-05-09
Romans 12:6 NKJV
If you study famous musicians, you’ll often find that they learned their craft by playing in a band or orchestra. That’s because certain skills – learning to blend with other instruments, keeping tempo, learning to play louder or softer, following the conductor’s lead – can only be learned by playing with others.
And what’s true of a band or orchestra is even truer of a community of believers. Jesus illustrated this in His famous parable of the talents (see Matthew 25:14-30). One man was given five talents and ended up with ten. Another man was given two talents and ended up with four. A third man was given one talent, and he buried it. In a sense, Jesus was talking about people playing their parts and how important that is to God’s kingdom.
Not everyone plays the same instrument, and not everyone has the same part. Some instruments are louder than others, and some parts are bigger than others. It’s not how much you have that matters to Jesus; it’s what you do with what you have that matters to Him. There are no insignificant talents in God’s kingdom. Our talents may differ in amount, but they all come from the same source.
All Christ wants you to do is play your part. He does not expect the same results, but He does expect the same effort. He never compares you with anyone else. He compares you only with you. He doesn’t look at what you have; He looks at what you do with what you have. So just play your part.
Soul food: Deut 25-27; Matt 9:14-26; Ps 44:17-26; Prov 12:12-14
