2021-05-20
2 Timothy 2:5 TLB
Are you so eager to stay in everybody’s good graces that you comply with their every demand? You’re not alone – good people burn out every day because they can’t set boundaries. And once that happens, it’s hard to fix because none of us, not even those ordained by God, can break His natural laws without suffering.
One Bible teacher writes: “Once when I was complaining about my heavy schedule, I heard God’s Spirit say, ‘You’re the one who makes the schedule; if you don’t like it, do something about it!'” Paul told Timothy, “Follow the Lord’s rules for doing his work…as an athlete…follows the rules or is disqualified” (v. 5 TLB). Not every problem is spiritual, some are physical.
Furthermore, you can’t blame the Devil for things that are your own fault. We resent people who pressure us, yet we keep doing what they want, which feeds our silent anger. You’re allowing yourself to be pressured by not taking responsibility for your own life. The fact is, many well-intentioned folks are walking around each day stressed out and depressed because they can’t say no. They forget that Jesus is their example, and that He had regular times of rest and renewal.
The answer lies in (1) putting your life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, (2) learning to put first things first, (3) realizing you, too, have needs, and (4) not expecting everybody to understand when you set boundaries. The Bible says, “A friend loveth at all times” (Proverbs 17:17), not just when you comply with their wishes. So to fulfill God’s will for your life, you must learn to set boundaries.
Soul food: 1 Ki 1-2; Mark 10:13-22; Ps 88:9b-18; Prov 11:27-29
2021-05-19
Proverbs 10:8 NLT
If you want to walk in God’s blessing, stop making excuses and take responsibility for your life. The Bible says, “The wise are glad to be instructed…fools fall flat on their faces.”
The ability to accept responsibility is a hallmark of character and maturity. More importantly, God can’t restore you until you acknowledge and turn away from your sin. Nowhere in Scripture does God excuse our sin because of someone else’s behavior. The Bible says He will “repay all people as their actions deserve” (Proverbs 24:12 NLT). When you keep placing blame on other people, you never reach the place of honest responsibility – where real change begins!
A respected counselor writes: “All blame is a waste of time. Regardless of how much fault you find, it will not change things. The only thing blame does is keep the focus off you when you’re looking for reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making someone else feel guilty, but you won’t succeed in changing whatever’s making you unhappy.”
Blaming others is often just a way of avoiding the truth about yourself. Jesus said that knowing the truth will set you free (See John 8:32 NLT). It may make you very uncomfortable at first, but it’s the thing that will truly liberate you. And hiding from it doesn’t make it go away. In fact, until you’re willing to face your mistakes, you’ll keep having problems. Is that really how you want to live? No? Then get honest with God, and let Him help you correct the things in your life that are out of order.
Soul food: Heb 11:17-13:25; Mark 10:1-12; Ps 88:1-9a; Prov 11:24-26
2021-05-18
Job 10:12 KJV
There’s no cure for past pain like present desire. When the longing for something is powerful enough, it can wipe out the pain of the past, enabling you to rise again with renewed energy and purpose. If you ask any woman who has experienced the pain of childbirth whether it was worth everything she went through, chances are she would do it again to experience the joy of holding that little one in her arms.
Maybe you’ve experienced a tragedy that has left you feeling indifferent about the future, or a heartbreak that still has you reeling in pain. You may have tried to rationalize it by telling yourself, “As long as I don’t care, it won’t hurt.” The fear of being hurt again is very real; a burned child dreads the fire. But you can’t live the rest of your life in fear.
Job lost his health, his wealth, and his children in a single day. How did he get through it? He said, “Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” God is not finished with you. He will visit you again! Job’s story ends with these words: “The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10). And God can do the same for you.
Be encouraged – He has a better future for you: “If you devote your heart to him…stretch out your hands to him…put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by” (Job 11:13-16 NIV).
Soul food: Heb 9:1-11:16; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 75; Prov 11:23
2021-05-17
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
Next time you see a big oak tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny acorn. What you have to offer today may seem small, but when God blesses it, it can grow.
In 1912, Dr. Russell Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, told about a Sunday school student named Hattie May Wiatt. Because of overcrowding, Dr. Conwell had told Hattie May he would love to have buildings large enough for everyone to attend. When Hattie May became ill and died, Conwell was asked to preach at her funeral. The girl’s mother told him Hattie May had been saving her money to help build a bigger church. Hattie’s purse contained coins amounting to fifty-seven cents. Conwell exchanged them for fifty-seven pennies, which he put on display and “sold.” With the proceeds, a nearby house was purchased for a children’s wing for the church. Inspired by Hattie’s story, more money came in, and out of her fifty-seven cents eventually came the buildings of Temple Baptist Church, Temple University, and Good Samaritan Hospital.
Perhaps you feel your gifts, your time, your talents, and your efforts are too small to make a difference. But when you give them completely to God and ask Him to bless them, you discover that He’s both a great mathematician and a great multiplier. He can take your words, your endeavors, and your resources and multiply them beyond anything you can imagine. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (v. 20 NKJV).
Soul food: Lev 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-18
2021-05-16
1 John 4:18 NKJV
You would be surprised how many people, even successful ones, struggle each day with unexpressed fears. Maybe you’re one of them. The Bible says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV). Now if our fears don’t come from God, where do they come from?
Different sources: (1) The way you were programmed growing up in your family. (2) Overdosing each day on the news, 99 percent of which is negative. (3) Satan. The point is, your fears don’t come from God.
Recognizing the true source of your fears is the first step to overcoming them. And God has given you a powerful weapon with which to defeat them: “Perfect love casts out fear.” You say, “Yes, perhaps if I loved God more perfectly, I wouldn’t be so afraid.” No, you’ve got the cart before the horse. Try as you might, you could never love God perfectly. There’s only one “perfect love,” and that’s His love for you. And it’s unconditional, bought and paid for by Jesus Christ when He died for you on the cross.
Having a revelation of the unmerited, undeserved, unearned love, grace, and Favour of God toward you will enable you to rise up and begin to “cast out” fear, anxiety, doubt, guilt, condemnation, and worry. God’s love for you is not based on your performance, but on Christ’s. When you trust in Christ’s performance instead of your own, you are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). And when you have the assurance of that, you know you also have the power to “cast out” your fears.
Soul food: Exo 17:1-7; John 4:1-42
2021-05-15
Ephesians 1:5 TLB
In the Bible God commands us to love one another. Interestingly, He doesn’t command us to like one another. And that’s a good thing because you can love someone and not like certain things about them.
Paul writes, “We are his workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10). The word “workmanship” comes from the Greek word poiéma from which we get the word poetry. And poetry is a diversified and creative thing; it comes in many forms. That’s why the Bible says God works through different people in different ways (See 1 Corinthians 12:6). He uses all kinds of people, including the ones we may not like or want to work with.
“A spiritual gift is given to each of us” (1 Corinthians 12:7 NLT), and it’s up to us to discover and develop it. “Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving” (Ephesians 4:12 NCV). The word “prepare” is also interesting. It comes from a medical term in the original Greek. Doctors used it to describe the process of setting a broken bone.
Stop and look around you today. Have you ever seen so many broken hearts, broken homes, broken dreams, and broken lives? And if we who claim to be followers of Christ do our job right, they will find help and healing. God uses us to minister to one another, love one another, honour one another, and carry one another’s burdens.
When you think about it, the church is God’s treatment center for everything that ails us. And if you keep that in mind, it will help you to love and get along with people you don’t necessarily like.
Soul food: Heb 5-8; Mark 9:30-37; Ps 18:30-50; Prov 11:22
