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
2021-03-10
Galatians 6:9 NIV
There’s no such thing as instant success, with either people or problems. Whether you need to lose ten pounds or one hundred pounds, the weight can only be shed one pound at a time. Standing on top of the mountain is a thrill, but you can only get up there one step at a time. Nothing great is created suddenly; almost every significant success in life comes at the end of a long, arduous wait. And unless you accept that truth, you’ll give up too soon and settle far short of the success God has in mind for you.
Jell-O celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary in 1997, but if the inventor were still alive, he would probably take little comfort in his product’s success. In 1897 Pearl Wait wore many hats. He was a construction worker who also experimented in patent medicines, and he went door to door selling his therapies. In the midst of tinkering and experimenting, he hit upon the idea of mixing fruit flavouring with granulated gelatin. His wife promptly named it Jell-O, and Wait had one more product to peddle. Unfortunately, the initial sales of his jiggly snack were not as strong as he hoped, so he ended up selling his Jell-O rights to Orator Woodward for the paltry sum of $450. Woodward was a savvy businessman. He knew the value of marketing, and within eight years he turned a $450 investment into a million-dollar business. Today, not a single relative of Pearl Wait receives one penny from the one-million-plus boxes of Jell-O sold every day. Why not? Because Wait couldn’t wait!
Soul food: Gen 50; Haggai 1-2; Matt 22:1-14; Ps 27; Prov 7:10-20
2021-03-09
2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV
People are intimidated by the Bible for any number of reasons. For some, it’s such a big book that it scares them, and they don’t know where to start. Others think because it’s such an ancient book, spans such a long historical time period, and includes so many themes, that they could never figure it out. So let’s try to simplify it.
Think of the Bible as a library of books that includes sixty-six volumes of widely varying length, written over a period of fifteen-hundred years, by more than forty people from all kinds of cultural and educational backgrounds. It’s extraordinarily unique and cohesive in that the words of each book were “given by inspiration,” or literally “breathed out” by God (v. 16 NKJV).
Taken together, the books of the Bible tell the story of God’s amazing love for us, culminating at the cross. As Paul wrote to Timothy: “You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (vv. 14-15 NKJV).
The Bible is principally the story of God’s love for you. So every time you read it, allow it to unfold in your heart as a love letter written to you by God. As you read and meditate on it your fears and worries will be resolved, your questions will be answered, and you’ll find strength and guidance for daily living.
Soul food: Gen 47-49; Matt 21:33-46; Ps 112; Prov 7:6-9
2021-03-08
Matthew 21:22 NKJV
You say, “If God loves me and knows what I need, why should I have to ask Him for it?” Because prayer means talking to God and listening to God, which leads to building a relationship with Him. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33 KJV).
When your prayers are based on your relationship with God, your needs get met. When you love God and spend time with Him, His Word says: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NLT). Did you get that?
God has a level of blessing in mind for you that your natural eye can’t see nor your natural mind can comprehend. And when you pray, He reveals things to you by His Spirit. When that happens, your faith grows and you’re able to receive what God wants you to have. So develop a lifestyle of prayer – praying all the time, everywhere you go, in the midst of your daily routine. “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV).
God cares about every detail of your life. So when you become anxious about something, talk to Him about it. And don’t forget to read His Word. That way when a problem comes up you can say, “Father, you said in Your Word You would do this for me,” then quote the promise and stand on it.
Soul food: Gen 44-46; Matt 21:18-32; Ps 106:24-48; Prov 7:3-5
