2020-10-21
Proverbs 2:6 NKJV
What are the people in your life telling you? Are they increasing your self-doubt or strengthening your faith? Just because people tell you something doesn’t make it so. In 1492 the people surrounding Columbus thought the earth was flat. The “experts” examined his travel plans and said his idea was impossible. But Columbus didn’t fall off the end of the earth as they predicted – instead, he discovered America!
Along the same lines, Thomas Edison tried to persuade Henry Ford to abandon his fledgling idea of a motorcar because he was convinced it would never work. He told Ford, “Come work for me and do something worthwhile.” Although Edison was a great inventor, it sounds like he was only positive about what he could do and rather pessimistic about what others could do. So the next time you get in your car to go somewhere, be glad Ford didn’t share Edison’s negative outlook about automobiles. Don’t let someone else’s limited thinking limit you.
Negativity is contagious; you have to pay attention if you don’t want to catch it! Even if you’re the only positive person in your family, be the one with an optimistic outlook in every situation. What we call “common knowledge” often is commonly wrong! “The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Have the people who are telling you “it can’t be done” factored God into the equation? If not, pay no attention. Instead of listening to people who increase your doubts, listen to the people to whom God has given wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
Soul food: 2 Sam 22:31-24:25; John 5:16-30; Ps 5; Prov 24:8-9
2020-10-20
Colossians 3:23 NASB
You will know that your job is your “calling” when you do what you love, and love what you do.
Philanthropist and industrialist Andrew Carnegie said: “The average person puts only 25 percent of their energy and ability into their work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50 percent, and stands on its head for those few and far-between souls who devote 100 percent.”
Thomas Edison loved work. In his latter years he established Menlo Park, the world’s first factory for making nothing but inventions. It was a forerunner to the private research laboratories now maintained by so many large companies. At Menlo Park Edison promised to turn out “a minor invention every ten days, and a big thing every six months or so.” At one point he was working on forty-seven things at once. Other inventors may have been richer, but no inventor has ever been more enthusiastic or successful.
When you believe that what you do makes a difference, you have a different feeling about what you do. When you believe your job has worth in God’s eyes, you’re no longer vulnerable to the critics or dependent upon the cheerleaders.
Paul said, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me” (Acts 20:24 NIV). One of the last prayers Jesus prayed was “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4 NIV). If you are serious about pleasing God, make that your prayer too.
Soul food: 2 Sam 20:1-22:30; John 5:1-15; Ps 15; Prov 24:7
2020-10-19
1 Timothy 4:13 NKJV
What you read and study is what you become. When you carry the right books with you, you maintain a continuous flow of truth and information into your heart and mind.
(1) Reading discourages unproductive conversation. You should always be ready to share your faith and minister to the needs of others. But have you ever sat beside someone who couldn’t stop talking? Many times people who love to talk don’t require anything significant to energize them. They talk just to avoid silence; when you keep a book handy, it solves that problem.
(2) Keep a list of books you want to read each month. This prevents unwise selections in moments of boredom, temptation, or fatigue. At the beginning of each year, select fifty-two books you’d like to read by the end of the year – one per week. Reading twenty pages a day will take you through a 140-page book every week.
(3) Carry books when you travel. When you’re away from the busyness of your daily schedule, you can withdraw into your own private world: You can dream, focus, and plan.
In mentoring Timothy, Paul wrote: “Give attention to reading…Do not neglect the gift that is in you…Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all” (vv. 13-15 NKJV).
The first book you should read is your Bible – and it’s also the one you should read most. But read other books too, because God is the source of all true wisdom and knowledge. To quote Solomon: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7 NKJV).
Soul food: 2 Sam 17:14-19:43; John 4:39-54; Ps 41; Prov 24:5-6
2020-10-18
Proverbs 12:5 NKJV
Your mind can work for you or against you. When it works for you, it helps you to stay positive, reach your goals, and enjoy each day. But when it works against you, it can make you negative and discouraged, hold you back, and cause you to think thoughts that result in self-sabotage. So teach your mind to work for you instead of against you.
An important way to do this is to make an intentional decision that you’ll begin to think positively – in terms of faith and not fear.
Now, your brain won’t be able to fulfill this new role overnight. You may be asking it to undergo a radical transformation, and that takes time. But determine that with your diligence and God’s help, instead of working against you, your brain will go to work for you and become a positive force in your life.
Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist, points out that the brain takes eighteen years to grow, and a lifetime to mature. Don’t miss this point! While every organ in your body was fully formed when you were born and got bigger as your body grew, your brain actually takes a full eighteen years to grow. And once it’s fully formed, it continues to mature until the day you die. That means no matter how old you are, your brain is still growing. This is great news, because it means you don’t have to stay stuck in old or wrong thought patterns. Your brain is still maturing, which means you can still improve in your thinking.
As the Bible says, “The thoughts of the righteous are right.”
Soul food: Matt 21:18-22; Matt 8:5-13; Mark 6:1-6
2020-10-17
Psalm 126:2 NLT
God created every human emotion you feel. He designed you to cry when you are sad and laugh when you are happy: “For everything there is a season…A time to cry and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 NLT). Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11 KJV).
Question: How often do you laugh? Doctors say laughter has incredible healing effects on your body. It also has incredible healing effects on your mind and soul. Stop and think about the days you laughed, even though you really didn’t have anything to laugh about. You were far from God and bound by sinful habits, but He set you free, didn’t He?
In the Old Testament we read: “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter…sang for joy…And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’ Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” (Psalm 126:1-3 NLT).
If God has set you free, then you truly have something to laugh about. Stop being so “heavy” about everything! Expecting perfection from yourself; your slow growth in God; your deficient prayer life; your failure to memorize more Scripture verses; your fear of sharing your faith with others, etc.
We carry around such heavy burdens. If you’re “laughter impaired” you may have to work at it. It’s easy to find plenty to worry about, but to be happy, you sometimes need to work at it a little. So the word for you today is – laugh more!
Soul food: 2 Sam 14:21-17:13; John 4:27-38; Ps 87; Prov 24:1-4
2020-10-16
Matthew 6:31 NIV
No matter what happens in life, try to keep things in perspective. When you don’t, you end up viewing minor problems as major ones. Or you do the opposite, treating significant situations as “no big deal.” Either tendency – “awfulizing” or “minimizing” – leads to problems. So do your best to see things as they really are and don’t let them get blown out of proportion. Develop the habit of looking at the big picture, instead of dwelling on the one issue that’s upsetting you.
Thinking excessively about your problems makes them appear larger than they really are. When you run up against a situation that upsets you, deal with the panic before you try to deal with the problem. Sit down quietly, calm yourself, and take time to purposely recall the good things you enjoy also.
The truth is, worry never goes away. When you resolve one issue, another one is waiting to take its place. It’s a fact of life; you can’t change it. So what should you do?
Change your perspective! Instead of focusing on your worries, factor God into the equation. Has He ever failed you? No, and He never will! The grace of God that sustained and brought you through the last worrisome situation will be with you in this one – and the next one!
Notice what Jesus said about the things we worry over most: “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (vv. 31-33 NKJV).
Soul food: 2 Sam 12:1-14:20; John 4:13-26; Ps 32; Prov 23:29-35
