2021-03-16
Genesis 3:10 NKJV
We tend to think that successful people are exempt from fear. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every generation in history has experienced fear. The first person God created was Adam, and the first recorded words Adam spoke were these: “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Fear is genetic; it’s part of human nature. Studies confirm that our seven greatest areas of fear are these: (1) finances, (2) health, (3) career concerns, (4) parenting struggles, (5) family relationships, (6) accomplishing personal goals, and (7) death. Are you fearful and anxious in any of those areas?
Fear can be a destructive force in your life. One of the old English words for fear means “sudden attack.” It’s akin to an old German word for fear that means “ambush or snare.” That’s what fear does; it attacks us and takes us captive.
So what’s the answer? Faith in God! Fear weakens, but faith strengthens. Fear imprisons, but faith liberates. Fear paralyzes, but faith empowers. Fear disheartens, but faith encourages. Fear sickens, but faith heals. It’s been said that the words “fear not” are recorded in Scripture 366 different times. If that’s so, God has given us a “fear not” for every day of the year – and one for leap year! And here’s one of them: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1 NKJV).
Today God is with you and He promises to strengthen and guide you in every situation you face.
Soul food: Job 11-14; Matt 23:13-22; Ps 11; Prov 8:4-5
2021-03-15
Psalm 118:6 NKJV
During the Great Depression unemployment hit 25 percent of the American population. Savings accounts were wiped out by bank failures, farmers lost their land to foreclosures, and people were having trouble just feeding their families.
During this dark time Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation in these words: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
What most people didn’t realize is that the president himself had experienced some dark hours during which fear paralyzed him. Roosevelt was born a child of privilege and educated in Europe, at Harvard, and at Columbia Law School. But at age thirty-nine, he was stricken with a case of polio that left him severely disabled. During his recovery he developed an extreme fear of fire. He worried he wouldn’t be able to escape because of his disability.
But in time he overcame his fear, regained the use of his hands, and even learned to walk again with the aid of braces. He reentered the political arena – fearlessly campaigning to become the governor of New York, which he did in 1929. He then went on to become one of America’s greatest presidents and guided the nation to victory in World War II. In his memoirs Roosevelt recalls how when he turned to God for help, courage, and guidance, he received them.
Are you afraid today? If you are, stand on this promise: “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Soul food: Job 8-10; Matt 23:1-12; Ps 115; Prov 8:1-3
2021-03-14
Proverbs 31:28 MSG
Throughout history poets and orators have been lavish in their praise of motherhood. George Washington said, “My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her.” Abraham Lincoln wrote, “My mother’s prayers…have always followed me. They’ve clung to me all my life.” And Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemn word of my good mother.”
Official observation of Mother’s Day in America is credited to the tireless letter-writing and lobbying of one persistent woman. When Anna Jarvis’s mother died in 1905, Anna determined to devote her life to a crusade for giving public recognition to the mothers of the nation. On learning that designation of an annual “Mother’s Day” required an act of Congress and a presidential proclamation, Jarvis became a one-woman lobby.
Evasion, indifference, and hostility didn’t deter her. Nine years later she rejoiced in the success of her efforts. President Woodrow Wilson, acting on a Congregational resolution, declared an annual observance of Mother’s Day, the first one on May 9, 1914. Since then, observance of Mother’s Day has spread to many countries around the world. In 1948 Jarvis died, blind and penniless, in Philadelphia, but her dream had been realized.
The Bible says, “A good woman is…worth far more than diamonds…She senses the worth of her work and is in no hurry to call it quits…When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say and…always says it kindly…Her children respect and bless her” (vv. 1, 9, 17, 28 MSG). Could there be a more worthy tribute?
Soul food: Isa 61:1-9; Luke 4:16-30
2021-03-13
Proverbs 18:8 NIV
Gossip can be a “choice morsel” that’s hard to resist. So what’s the solution?
Catch yourself before you indulge in it! Ask yourself why you’ve decided to be a bearer of bad news. Is this the only way you know to establish camaraderie with others? Do you enjoy being the center of attention? Does it make you feel superior to know something negative about somebody that the listener doesn’t know? Are you envious of the subject’s accomplishments? Why are you willing to use the temple of God as a “garbage can” by receiving gossip? (See 1 Corinthians 6:19). What do you plan to do with what a gossip told you? Are you bored and need more significant activities?
People who know their God-given purpose in life and are committed to it find they don’t have time for gossip. So if you’re serious about eliminating it from your life, wage an all-out war against it. Let everyone know you won’t be the bearer or hearer of “choice morsels” anymore. Declare your environment at work, at home, at church, or at play to be a “gossip-free zone,” and make every effort to avoid gossipmongers. Solomon writes, “A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers” (Proverbs 20:19 NLT).
When your tongue is used as an instrument of righteousness, your stock in heaven rises. You’ll be able to humbly declare with complete dependence on the Father, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14 NKJV). Bottom line: Don’t be a gossip!
Soul food: Job 5-7; Matt 22:34-46; Ps 26; Prov 7:26-27
2021-03-12
1 Peter 1:5 NKJV
If our salvation is assured when we place our trust in Christ, might not some people take advantage of this assurance? Yes, they might, for a time. But as grace goes deep, and as God’s love and kindness sink in, they change.
Grace fosters obedience. “The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say, ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:11-12 NIV). God’s grace does more than comfort you in your troubles; it convicts you in your disobedience. Let it convict you. If you ever catch yourself thinking, “I can do whatever I want because God will forgive me,” then grace isn’t happening to you. Selfishness, perhaps. Arrogance, for sure. But grace? No.
Grace creates a resolve to do good, not permission to do bad. And one more thought. Look to Christ for your beginning and ending. He’s Alpha and Omega. He will hold you, and He will hold on to the ones you love. Do you have a prodigal son or daughter? Do you long for your spouse to come to God? Do you have a friend whose faith has grown cold? God wants them back more than you do. Keep praying, and don’t give up.
The truth is, we don’t always know if someone has trusted God’s grace. A person may have feigned belief but not meant it. It’s not ours to know. But we do know this: where there is genuine conversion, grace never stops working. So today, trust God’s saving and keeping power.
Soul food: Job 1-4; Matt 22:23-33; Ps 24; Prov 7:24-25
2021-03-11
Psalm 29:11 NIV
Increasing our pace, has decreased our peace. There’s an old joke about a stressed-out personal assistant who told her boss, “When this rush is over, I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. I’ve earned it, I deserve it, and nobody’s going to take it from me!” We smile, but chances are you can relate.
Not long ago we marked the passing of time in seasons. But seasons begat monthly calendars, which begat day-timers, which begat one-minute managers, which begat handheld personal organizers. And what does it all lead to? As our productivity goes up, our quality of life seems to go down.
An article in USA Today describes how therapist Ofer Zur staged a conference called “Speed.com: The Search for Meaning in the New Millennium.” And guess where he staged it? In the heart of stressed-out Silicon Valley, California! As the attendees gathered, Zur noted the drawn faces, worried looks, and preoccupied demeanor of his audience. He said his personal alarm sounded when he noted they had brought cell phones and laptops – and began using them during the session. Here’s what he said about it: “We’ve become obsessed with speed. We end up with lots of plans that we can’t execute and a full schedule that can’t be followed. The paradox of our timesaving tech gadgets is that we’ve wound up with no free time.”
Sound familiar? So where can you go to find peace? To the One whose name is “Prince of Peace.” Today He’s saying to you: “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea” (Isaiah 48:18 NIV).
Soul food: 1 Thes 1-5; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Prov 7:21-23
