2020-10-12
John 4:10 MSG
When the woman at the well offered Jesus a drink of water, He replied, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you…living water.” Jesus routinely showed mercy to the people who least deserved it, and this woman was no exception.
How do you measure up when it comes to extending God’s grace to others? Are you generous, or do you take it upon yourself to dole it out sparingly?
Jon Walker says: “Grace allows people to make choices…it’s free…flowing…unencumbered by guilt or shame. It says, ‘I know all about you, and I still love you’…
Most of us, if we’re honest, function as if God were stingy with His grace. We fear His punishment…we think He is like the high school principal walking the halls, taking down names…but God already knows who did what and who’s to blame, and He loves us anyway. His interest is in redeeming us, not in keeping us on the hook for our sins.
Unfortunately, many of us Christians live our lives as if we’re still on the hook…therefore we have to keep everyone else on the hook. We use weapons of the flesh – the sarcastic comment, the angry stare – to get people to straighten up and live right.
By contrast, when the woman at the well went back to her village, she said, ‘Come see a man…who knows me inside and out’ (John 4:29 MSG). Nothing was hidden from Jesus, yet He communicated in such a fashion that she left feeling loved and accepted. That’s God’s grace!”
Soul food: Eph 4:17-6:24; John 2:12-25; Ps 89:1-14; Prov 23:10-14
2020-10-11
Proverbs 22:24 NLT
Ever seen an oyster shell without an oyster inside, and wondered how the oyster got out? Look for a small hole in the top of the shell made by a whelk. This little ocean creature has an appendage that works like an auger. With it the whelk bores into the shell and sucks the oyster out through the hole, little by little, until it has devoured it.
Don’t allow somebody’s angry outbursts or critical remarks to bore a hole in your good nature and rob you of your sunny disposition. If you aren’t careful, you can become irritated to the point where anger and bitterness begin to seethe in you. And that can be dangerous to your health.
There’s a mountain of medical evidence to support the fact that certain kinds of depression are simply anger turned inward. Remember the old adage, “It’s not what you’re eating, but what’s eating you that’s making you ill.”
The Bible says, “Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul [emotions]” (vv. 24-25 NLT).
If you’re wise, you’ll try to avoid people you find continually negative or habitually angry at life, as well as those who seem to delight in needling you. In other words – avoid whelks!
John Mason writes: “One way to be free of unwanted baggage is to take your mind off the things that seem to be against you. Thinking about negative factors simply builds them into a power they truly don’t possess. Talking about your grievances merely adds to those grievances. Attach yourself to God’s forgiveness, plan, and Word. Then watch yourself become loosed from former ‘sticky’ situations.”
Soul food: Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:25-35; Luke 2:41-51; Acts 1:13-14
2020-10-10
1 Timothy 4:14 RSV
Luigi Tarisio was born in Italy in 1796. A collector of violins, he took great pride in scouting out rare finds, and purchasing only instruments of the finest quality. No one really knew about Tarisio’s passion, however, until after he died. It was while his estate was being appraised that some 246 valuable violins were discovered in his attic! One of the most expensive, hidden in the drawer of an old dresser, was a Stradivarius he’d purchased from someone who had also bought it solely as a collector’s item.
Commenting on the matter, Dr. W. Y. Fullerton, the gifted Baptist preacher, noted that in preserving the instrument Tarisio “had robbed the world of all that music.” And others before him had done the same. In fact, by the time the greatest Stradivarius in his collection was finally played, 147 years had elapsed!
One psychologist said, “Don’t die with your music still inside you…Don’t get to the end of your life and say, ‘What if my whole life has been wrong?'” God gave you gifts and He expects you to use them. If you wait until you can do it perfectly, you’ll never do it at all. Jesus said: “You are the world’s seasoning, to make it tolerable. If you lose your flavour, what will happen to the world? And you yourselves will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the world’s light – a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see” (Matthew 5:13-14 TLB).
Understand this: God will hold you accountable for discovering your talents, developing them to the fullest, and using them to glorify Him and bless others.
Soul food: Eph 1:1-4:16; John 2:1-11; Ps 110; Prov 23:6-9
2020-10-09
Proverbs 15:18 NKJV
Solomon repeatedly advises us to be “slow to anger” (Proverbs 14:29; 15:18; 16:32). Take your Bible and read those Scriptures slowly, thoughtfully, and prayerfully. Pay close attention to the occasions in Scripture when Jesus got angry (which are few), and something will immediately jump out at you. He never became angry over what someone did to Him. He never retaliated or lashed out at people who wronged Him. Even as His executioners nailed Him to the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 KJV). Pretty amazing, right?
So if you’re serious about following Jesus, you must learn to follow suit! The Bible says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1 NKJV).
Have you ever noticed how professional firefighters almost never fight fire with fire? Most times water is a much better tool. In the same way, a soft reply to an angry comment is like pouring the cool water of calmness on the fire of a hot temper.
A Kenyon college speech research unit confirmed through a series of experiments that when people are yelled at, they almost always yell back. The research also proved that you can control another person’s tone of voice, depending on the tone you adopt. If you keep your voice soft, not only will you avoid becoming angry, but most likely you will prevent the other person from getting upset too.
Do you want to be more Christlike and more successful in dealing with others? Then the word for you today is – “Be slow to anger.”
Soul food: 1 Sam 27-31; John 1:43-51; Ps 23; Prov 23:4-5
2020-10-08
1 Thessalonians 5:16 NKJV
Ever find yourself asking, “Why me, Lord? How come You don’t answer my prayers? Why doesn’t Your Word work for me like it does for others?” Well-meaning friends tell you to keep your chin up, things will get better, but you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. And just when you think things can’t get any worse, you pick up your Bible and read, “Rejoice always…In everything give thanks” (vv. 16-18 NKJV), as if you’re supposed to enjoy your situation!
Alexander Maclaren said, “Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.”
The fact is, however, when life overwhelms you the last thing you feel like doing is giving thanks, right? But as Nancy Leigh DeMoss observes: “Unless you just love the way duty feels when it wakes you at three in the morning, or hijacks your plans for your day off, or hands you an unexpected bill that wasn’t in the budget…don’t try living the Christian life without gratitude. By sheer willpower and effort you may succeed at ‘gutting out’ right responses, but your Christianity (so-called) will be hollow, hard-edged, and uninviting…If all our faith had to offer were words that only fit in a theological textbook, it would be unkind to extend them to someone struggling to survive. True Christ-centered, grace-motivated gratitude fits life’s most desperate moments and difficult situations. When there are no answers, it gives hope. It transforms overwhelmed strugglers into triumphant conquerors…Gratitude is a hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle…and [its] transforming power is reserved for those who know and acknowledge the Giver of every good gift, and who are recipients of His redeeming grace.”
Soul food: 1 Sam 24-26; John 1:29-42; Ps 131; Prov 23:1-3
2020-10-07
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
Giving thanks infuses joy and resilience into your daily life. British theologian John Henry Jowett said, “Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.”
Without gratitude your faith becomes a hollow religious practice, and your love for others crashes and burns, leaving you feeling drained of joy and acting like a martyr. When Paul says, “In everything give thanks…this is the will of God,” he’s not saying every circumstance you encounter is necessarily God’s will.
Pastor Jack Hayford observes: “In every insurance policy is this provision, ‘except it be an act of God,’ and culturally defined, [they’re] the worst things that happen. I’ve heard people interpret it, ‘Well, whatever happens is the will of God…give thanks…and praise God’…The Bible doesn’t say everything is God designed…it says in it, through it, and beyond it He can work good…’The will of God in Christ’ is that we give thanks and praise God in the middle of it. Why, because we feel good? No, but because praying without ceasing introduces a song of praise into the situation…Muddling and praying our way through the best we can isn’t going to be good enough. Whereas the best He can make of it will be something that will bring the reason the Bible tells us ‘in everything give thanks.'”
Bottom line: In any given set of circumstances you can choose to whine or choose to worship – and you can’t worship without giving thanks!
Soul food: 1 Sam 20:30-23:29; John 1:14-28; Ps 29; Prov 22:26-29
