2020-07-25
Matthew 26:41 NKJV
Why did Jesus tell His disciples, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”? Because He knows that without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we’re not equal to the temptations that come our way. Jesus didn’t doubt the disciples’ love for Him or their willingness to serve Him, but He knew they couldn’t do it in their own strength. And you can’t either. When you fight the flesh in the power of the flesh, you end up fighting yourself – and you lose every time. Note the words “lest you enter into temptation.” You’ll never be exempt from temptation, but you don’t have to “enter into” it. Indeed, your regenerated spirit can’t “enter into” it because sin has no appeal to it. But your unregenerated “flesh” will always be attracted to sin. And becoming a Christian increases the frequency, variety, and intensity of the temptations you face. Why? Because Satan, “the tempter,” doesn’t give up control easily. He will fight you constantly, and on different fronts. The Bible speaks of “manifold temptations” (1 Peter 1:6 KJV). The word “manifold” means there are “many kinds” of temptation. What’s the answer? “Manifold grace!” (1 Peter 4:10 KJV). The moment temptation rears its head, and before you have time to “enter into” it, draw on God’s grace. How do you do that? Jesus said, “Watch and pray.” The New Living Bible says, “Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you.” Sheep don’t have the strength or skill to overcome the wolf. But they have the strategy! They just draw close to the Shepherd and He deals with the wolf.
Soul food: Acts 18-19; Luke 9:37-45; Ps 42:6-11; Prov 16:17-19
2020-07-24
Psalm 27:14 KJV
David had reached his breaking point. “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13 NKJV). Can you identify? Have you reached your breaking point? If so, you have two options: Break down or break through. It all depends on what you do. There’s an old saying, “The same sunshine that melts the butter hardens the clay.” When trouble comes, you can either turn against God because you served Him and don’t understand why He’s allowing it, or turn to Him for strength and understanding. That’s why what David says next is so important: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart.” Sometimes God changes our circumstances; other times He uses them to strengthen us. Try to understand this. It’s not just about you, but those God wants to reach through you. “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others” (2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT). Nothing catches God off guard, and nothing’s too hard for Him to handle. The situation you’re in right now can become a platform for Him to demonstrate His love and care for you. “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him!’ The Lord is good to those who depend on him” (Lamentations 3:22-25 NLT).
Soul food: Acts 16-17; Luke 9:28-36; Ps 42:1-5; Prov 16:16
2020-07-23
Genesis 2:8 NKJV
First God made the garden, then He made man and woman and placed them in the garden. This is called “the law of location.” Understand this: You will succeed when you are where God wants you to be. Have you ever experienced the pain of a dislocated joint? It’s miserable. So is trying to “do your own thing” instead of doing God’s will. You can go the easy way or the hard way; God gives you that option. But eventually you’ll go, or you’ll go under. Jonah is an example of this – he decided not to go to Nineveh and preach because he didn’t like the people who lived there. Helping them was the last thing he wanted to do, so he decided to run from his God-given assignment in Nineveh. As a result he ran into a storm, caused misery and loss for everyone on board, and hit bottom before he finally got to where God wanted him to go. Learn from Jonah. Don’t repeat his foolish, costly, and unnecessary mistake. God told Adam to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Then He told him, “You have to work at it.” When you get to the right place, don’t expect your assignment to be easy or think you’ll become successful overnight. American clergyman and author Phillips Brooks prayed, “Lord, we ask You not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.” When Paul prayed for relief, God told him, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV). When you’re in the right place, doing what God wants, you’ll thrive in conditions others crumble under because you’ll be “graced” to handle it.
Soul food: Acts 14-15; Luke 9:18-27; Ps 1; Prov 16:10-15
2020-07-22
Revelation 2:7 NKJV
Nothing becomes great until it overcomes something. Paul writes, “For a great…door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9 NKJV). Great doors of opportunity come with great challenges, and those challenges will stretch your faith. If outstanding success came easy, everybody would have it. But if everybody had it, then it wouldn’t be outstanding success. How does a caterpillar develop into a butterfly? By overcoming the cocoon. Would it be easier to stay in the comfort of the cocoon? Some days the struggle is so great that the caterpillar probably thinks so. But the price of freedom, flight, and discovery, is struggle, development, and breakthrough. There is no other way. Why did Jesus send His disciples into the storm on the Sea of Galilee? To teach them to trust Him in every situation of life. Soon He’d be leaving them, so He used different experiences to equip them for the future. What are you trying to overcome today? Instead of complaining about it, or asking God to take it away, try to see it as preparation for the thing He has called you to do. Read these Scriptures. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation” (James 1:12 NKJV). “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life.” “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10 NKJV). “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Today you’re called to be an overcomer.
Soul food: Acts 12-13; Luke 9:1-17; Ps 65; Prov 16:8-9
2020-07-21
Job 42:10 NLT
In his book The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers, Patrick Kavanaugh discusses George Frideric Handel’s musical masterpiece Messiah. An unpredictable composer at best, Händel spent much of his up-and-down career moving from one failure to another. In those days bankruptcy wasn’t an option, and by 1741, Handel was drowning in debt. Without a miracle, prison was inevitable. He decided to perform his farewell concert and retire a failure at age fifty-six. But when a friend handed him a libretto on the life of Jesus based on selected Scriptures from the Bible, everything changed. Händel threw himself into writing and composing, and in a staggering stretch completed Part One in six days, Part Two in nine days, and Part Three six days later. He worked feverishly, driven by one overwhelming purpose. Servants left meals outside his door, afraid to disturb him. Once, when a servant did find the courage to open the door, the startled composer cried out, with tears streaming down his face, “I think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God Himself!” He had just finished the much-celebrated “Hallelujah Chorus.” What a comeback story – and the Bible is filled with them! The first forty-one chapters in the book of Job describe all that he had lost: his health, his wealth, and his family. Then, in the last chapter we read, “The Lord restored his fortunes…The Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning” (vv. 10-12 NLT). And what God did for George Frideric Handel, and for Job, He can do for you when you put your life in His hands.
Soul food: Acts 10-11; Luke 8:40-56; Ps 14; Prov 16:6-7
2020-07-20
Ephesians 4:2 NKJV
One day a lion met a tiger in the jungle. He grabbed the tiger’s tail and demanded, “Who is the king of the jungle?” The tiger answered meekly, “You are, O mighty lion.” Next the lion grabbed a monkey, asking, “Who do you say is the king of the jungle?” The monkey humbly replied, “You, O mighty lion.” Then the lion met an elephant and asked, “Who is the king of the jungle?” The elephant grabbed him with his trunk, whirled him around and threw him up against a tree, leaving him bleeding and broken. The lion got up slowly, and licking his wounds, said to the elephant, “Just because you don’t know the answer is no reason for you to get so rough.” The lesson in this story is: The greater your authority, the more gracious your attitude toward others should be. In Scripture Jesus is referred to as a lion and a lamb; He’s the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the Lamb of God. And in this He shows us the essence of true strength and leadership. When it comes to standing for the truth, you should roar like a lion, and when it comes to dealing with people, you should be as gentle as a lamb. Paul spells it out clearly in this Scripture: “With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” Again he writes, “Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:13 NKJV).
Soul food: Acts 8-9; Luke 8:26-39; Ps 146; Prov 16:4-5
