2021-01-24
Proverbs 3:13 NIV
Here are three reasons we don’t experience personal growth:
(1) We think it comes strictly from experience. Believing personal growth comes only from experience, is like an archer shooting arrows off-target and thinking he’s improving simply because he keeps on shooting. Experience is only profitable if you learn from it and start hitting your target. Pulitzer prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti said, “Hell begins on the day God grants us a clear vision of all we might have achieved…the gifts we wasted…and all we might have done but didn’t do.” Don’t end your life regretting the time and opportunities you wasted. Use every opening God gives you to grow, starting today.
(2) We think growth comes strictly from information. Have you ever known someone who was absolutely brilliant yet never seemed to accomplish anything of benefit for God, themselves, or others? They’re like an encyclopedia filled with knowledge that has no value because it’s never used. The greatest obstacle to personal growth isn’t ignorance; it’s the illusion of knowledge! The Bible says, “Be…doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).
(3) We assume growth is automatic. When we are children growth comes naturally. During that time there are parents, coaches, and teachers challenging us to develop on a daily basis, so we get used to growth. The problem comes when we get out of school and nobody is pushing us to grow or go any further. The price of growth is always less than the cost of ignorance and stagnation. And the truth is, if you don’t take responsibility for your personal growth – it won’t happen!
Soul food: Dan 6:1-24; Acts 12:1-19
2021-01-23
1 Corinthians 12:14 NIV
You cannot determine your spiritual gift any more than you can determine your eye color. The Holy Spirit gives us His gifts “as He wills” (v.11 NKJV). Notice three things:
(1) We are different from one another. “A body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body” (v.12 NIV). Why are there different gifts? Because there are different needs!
(2) We are dependent on one another. It takes every part working together to have a healthy body that will function properly. Paul writes: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!'” (v. 21 NIV). Not only is every member of the body equally needed, they are equally important. Some of us are verbal and others are quiet. Some are dynamic and others laid back. Some are leaders and others followers. Some are high profile and others are inconspicuous. But all of us are equally needed and equally important. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit, as long as the job gets done and God gets the glory.
(3) We are to be devoted to one another. “God has put the body together…so that there should be no division…but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it” (vv. 24-27 NIV).
Soul food: Isa 17-21; Matt 9:27-38; Ps 96; Prov 3:5-6
2021-01-22
Romans 12:6 NIV
Don’t say, “I’m of no use to God,” or “I’m not needed in the church,” or “There’s no way God could use me.” You are gifted by God! You are called to use your gift to bless others, build up the church, and display His kingdom to a watching world. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised” (1 Peter 4:10-11 NIV).
Every Christian is a minister, and has a ministry. The ministry of the church is to be carried out as individual believers exercise their spiritual gifts in ministering to one another. And to the extent that you don’t exercise your spiritual gift, you hinder the ministry of your church.
And since the Holy Spirit decides which particular gift each of us receives, there’s no place for jealousy and competitiveness. Paul writes: “For who makes you different from anyone else? [obviously, the answer is God!] What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7 NIV).
Each of us is gifted differently, and each of us is gifted perfectly. The Holy Spirit in His divine wisdom has given to each of us the precise gift, or gifts that will enable us to function most effectively in the body of Christ. So start using your gift today!
Soul food: Isa 12-16; Matt 9:14-26; Ps 91; Prov 3:3-4
2021-01-21
1 Corinthians 12:11 NKJV
The Bible says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” (v. 4 NKJV). The word gifts comes from the Hebrew word “charis,” which literally means grace. That means you cannot earn, qualify for, work for, or deserve a spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit gives them to each of us “individually as He wills.” They are not something you get by study, practice, or inheritance. They are not highly developed natural talents. They are supernatural endowments that enable you to carry out God’s will in God’s way. And you will never discover God’s way until you realize that you are not meant to serve Him by drawing on your own abilities, but by depending upon the indwelling power of His Spirit. In a sense, you are like a glove; the Holy Spirit within you fills that glove, moves it and accomplishes through it what needs to be done.
A young pastor once said to an older pastor, “I’m discouraged because God expects the very best from me, and as hard as I try I can’t always give it to Him.” The older pastor said, “Son, God expects nothing from you but failure!” Then he added. “But he has given the Holy Spirit to you so that you need not fail.” Jesus told His disciples, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NKJV). The secret to success is not just in activity, but in abiding! Your job is to learn the ways of God, and lean on the power of God.
Soul food: Isa 8-11; Matt 9:1-13; Ps 89:38-52; Prov 3:1-2
2021-01-20
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV
God’s plan for turning temptation into triumph is not to “endure” temptation, but to “escape” temptation. That calls for two things:
(1) Don’t get into a tempting situation. Too many people are like the little boy sitting under the farmer’s apple tree. When the farmer asked him, “Son, are you trying to steal my apples?”, he replied, “No sir, I’m trying not to.” His problem was being under the apple tree in the first place. Martin Luther said, “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.” You can’t keep pornography off the internet, but you can avoid it by obeying God’s Word which says, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes” (Psalm101:3 NKJV).
(2) If you get into a tempting situation, get out of it quickly. The Bible never says we are to fight temptation, it says we are to flee from it. Paul tells Timothy, “Flee also youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22). He warns the Corinthians, “Flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV). Potiphar’s wife repeatedly tried to seduce Joseph. “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice…and said, ‘Come to bed with me!'” (Genesis 39:7 NIV). But Joseph fled, leaving his coat behind.
God does not provide a way of escape before the temptation or after the temptation, but with the temptation. Are you being tempted today? Pray and God will strengthen you. “The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations” (2 Peter 2:9 NKJV).
Soul food: Isa 4-7; Matt 8:28-34; Ps 89:15-37; Prov 2:21-22
