2021-01-19
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV
Is there a particular temptation that’s constantly meeting and beating you at every turn? God has made a way for you to turn temptation into triumph. Satan is called “the tempter,” and he knows which temptations you succumb to most easily. But Paul writes: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.” Jesus Himself was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NKJV). And here’s the reason: “In that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18 NKJV).
Many young Christians think that when they get saved they no longer have to face temptation. No, when you get saved you will face more temptation than when you were lost. The same wind that blew at your back on your way to hell will blow in your face on your way to heaven. Temptation never takes a vacation. And if you take a vacation, it will go with you. It will hit you when you feel strongest, knock you down and kick you when you feel weakest. That’s why the Bible says, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV).
What’s the answer? “But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” (v.13 NKJV). Note two things: First, you will be tempted. Second, you will never face a temptation greater than you can bear because God is faithful. He answers prayer. Particularly the prayer Jesus told us to pray: “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13 NKJV).
Soul food: Isa 1-3; Matt 8:18-27; Ps 89:1-14; Prov 2:20
2021-01-18
Isaiah 50:7 NKJV
Prize fighter James Corbett was once asked: “What’s the most important thing for a man to do to become a champion?” He replied, “Fight one more round.” Successful people have different talents, but they all have these qualities: perseverance, tenacity, and stick-to-it-iveness.
Thomas Grey wrote seventy-five drafts of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” before he was satisfied with his poetic masterpiece. S.N. Behrman, the American playwright, wrote plays for eleven years before he sold a single one. Somerset Maugham earned only five hundred dollars in his first ten years as a writer. While working full time in a factory, Enrico Caruso studied voice for twelve years before becoming a successful performer. George Gershwin composed almost one hundred melodies before he sold his first one – for five dollars.
There’s an important lesson for you in each of these stories: If your dream doesn’t come true immediately, don’t get discouraged. Continue to pursue your craft and develop your talent. Study and learn. Grow by experience. Keep working. Victory goes to the man or woman who is willing to “fight one more round.” When you quit, God can do no more for you. But when you persevere, He will come to your aid.
Note what His Word says: “The Lord God will help Me; therefore I shall not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.” When does God promise to help you? When you set your face like a flint.
Soul food: Exo 39-40; Matt 8:10-17; Ps 84; Prov 2:16-19
2021-01-17
Proverbs 23:7 KJV
It was a long hard road that took the Chandler family out of the cotton fields and out of poverty in Mississippi. All nine children have memories of the share croppers’ cabin and having nothing to wear or to eat. But today, all nine are college graduates!
Here’s their inspiring story: Their parents borrowed two dollars to buy a bus ticket for their son Cleveland, who worked his way through school, and became Chairman of the Economics Department at Howard University. Luther went to the University of Omaha, and became the public service employee manager for Kansas City. He helped his brother James get to Omaha, and then to Yale for graduate work. James, in turn, helped Herman, who is now a technical manager in Dallas. Donald works in Minneapolis. The children also helped themselves – picking cotton, pulling corn, digging potatoes. Fortson went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, and became a Baptist minister in Colorado. Princess earned an M.A. from Indiana University, and became a schoolteacher. Gloria is also a schoolteacher. Bessie has an M.A. and is a dietician at a veterans’ hospital. Then in 1984, all the children got together and bought a home for their parents.
The Bible says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” If you convince yourself that you can’t, or allow others to convince you of that, then you won’t. But if you believe that by God’s grace you can, then you will! If the Chandlers can do it, you can do it too. Forget what has happened in the past! Every day God gives you the choice to begin your life over again.
Soul food: Gen 5:22-24; Heb 11:5; 2 Kings 2:1-12; Acts 1:9-11
2021-01-16
Romans 12:6 NKJV
The Bible teaches that God gives each of us certain gifts, and the grace to use them. And when we are not operating in our area of giftedness, we struggle. We need to keep that in mind when we see a great achiever, or become a great achiever ourselves. Paul spoke five languages and wrote half the New Testament, but he constantly struggled with what he refers to as a “thorn in the flesh.” When he prayed and asked God to remove it, God said no. “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV). So we need grace in the areas of our gifting, and grace for the areas in which we’re not gifted at all.
The story’s told of a man who went to hear a great speaker, and ended up seated beside the speaker’s wife. During the speech, the man noticed that the great speaker had monogrammed socks. Intrigued by this, he looked closer and saw that instead of the usual two or three initials were the letters “TGIF.” When the speech was over he complimented the speaker, then turned to the speaker’s wife and said, “How come your husband’s socks say, “TGIF: Thank Goodness It’s Friday?” She replied, “Oh, that’s not what those letters mean; the monograms are there to help him get dressed. They stand for Toes Go In First.”
As long as you live you will soar in some areas and struggle in others. And you will find that God’s grace is sufficient for any challenge you face. And that’s the word for you today.
Soul food: Exo 36-38; Matt 8:1-9; Ps 81; Prov 2:11-15
2021-01-15
Matthew 6:34 TLB
The story’s told of a clock that spent a great deal of time worrying about its future, reasoning that it had to tick twice each second. “How much ticking might that be?” the clock thought. So it began to calculate that it would tick 120 times each minute, which is 7,200 times each hour. That meant in a twenty-four-hour day it would have to tick 172,800 times, and 63,072,000 times every year. By this time the clock began to get overwhelmed and sweat profusely. Finally, it calculated that in a ten-year period it would have to tick 630,720,000 times – and at that point the clock collapsed with a nervous breakdown.
Psychologists reckon that about 95 percent of all we worry about never happens. What about the other 5 percent? Four out of five times things turn out better than we anticipated, including a lot of outright blessings! In the end, only 1 percent of all the bad we think might happen actually does, and of this it’s rarely as bad as we feared. That’s why Jesus said, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.”
The apostle Peter gives us the right perspective to live by in these words: “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (1 Peter 5:7 AMPC). So the word for you today is – don’t obsess over the future.
Soul food: Exo 33-35; Matt 7:15-29; Ps 79; Prov 2:9-10
2021-01-14
Psalm 100:4 NKJV
One Sunday a plainly dressed, scholarly-looking man went to a church in the Netherlands and took a seat near the pulpit. A few minutes later, a lady approached the pew. Seeing a stranger sitting in it, she curtly advised him that this was “her seat.” He graciously apologized, and moved to one of the pews in the back of the church reserved for the poor. There, he joined in the service and left afterward without further incident.
When the service was over, one of the woman’s friends asked her if she knew who it was she had ordered out of her pew. “No,” the woman replied casually, “only some stranger, I suppose.” She was shocked to learn from her friend that the stranger was King Oscar of Sweden, who was in the country visiting their queen.
There’s a lesson here for you. Whether you go to a big church or a small one, Jesus the head of the church, said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew18:20 NKJV). That means, Jesus, the King of Kings, will be present. You must recognize His presence, worship Him, and make Him your central focus. Otherwise, you might as well join a social club or just stay home.
The psalmist gives us the protocol for church: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5 NKJV).
Soul food: Exo 30-32; Matt 7:1-14; Ps 74:12-23; Prov 2:7-8
