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
2020-07-19
Matthew 5:10 NLT
Jesus said: “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it!…For a great reward awaits you in heaven” (v. 11 NLT). If you’re thin-skinned you’ll always be an easy target. Endurance, not popularity, is the secret to long-term success. Paul endured desertion by his friends, ugly letters from the Corinthians, disappointment with the Galatians, mistreatment in Philippi, mocking in Athens, and beheading in Rome. He writes, “Be on the alert…stand firm in the faith…act like men…be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13 NAS). Let’s break this verse down: (1) Be on the alert. The Devil is out to get you. What’s he after? Your value to God’s kingdom. Your life is a seed capable of producing a harvest for God in the earth, so protect yourself. (2) Stand firm in the faith. You can’t stand on your circumstances or other people’s opinions, because those things constantly change. You can stand only on the Word of God. (3) Act like men. Immaturity will hurt you when the attack comes. The Bible says you must “[leave] the elementary…[and] press on to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1 NAS). If you’re still making the same mistakes twenty-five years later, you’re not learning enough. (4) Be strong. Weakness is an invitation to the Enemy. It always precedes surrender, and quitting isn’t an option. God told His people that the Promised Land was theirs, but they had to fight for it. And only those who were willing to fight got to enter it. The same goes for you.
Soul food: Heb 11:8-12; Gen 17:1-27; Gen 22:1-18; Jas 2:21-24
2020-07-18
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
James writes, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown” (James 1:12 NIV). Are you thinking of quitting? Life is full of quitting points, but if you throw in the towel on your marriage, your career, or your dream, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Only by staying the course can God strengthen you and make you a winner. F. B. Meyer says, “You never test the resources of God until you attempt the impossible.” Quitting doesn’t build character, endurance does. It develops something in you that nothing else can; that’s why God calls it “blessed” (James 5:11 NKJV). It stustains courage, gives staying power to discipline, and turns dreams into reality. Nobody knew more about endurance than Jesus. He endured all the way to Calvary: when they plucked the hair from His face, when the whip tore His flesh, when they nailed Him to a cross, when His friends forsook Him, when bystanders mocked Him, when God turned His face away, and when hell rose up and cried, “Quit!” The Bible says, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured.” God rewards those who diligently seek Him (See Hebrews 11:6). He promises that when you seek Him with all your heart, you’ll find Him (See Jeremiah 29:13). And those promises apply to you. So tell God, “I plan to keep going, and trusting You for the strength to break through.” When you pray that way, you’ll find your quitting point isn’t as solid as you thought.
Soul food: Acts 6-7; Luke 8:16-25; Ps 140; Prov 16:3
