2020-04-10
1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV
God dying on the cross for our sins sounds like “foolishness” to some people. Their philosophy is “If I cannot understand it, I won’t accept it.” That’s where they get it wrong. Salvation comes through faith alone. “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3 NKJV). Simple, childlike faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is all that’s required. The story is told of a college student whose professor gave him zero on a test. Upset, he said, “I don’t deserve this grade.” The professor smiled and quipped, “I agree, but zero is the lowest grade I can give.” That’s how God feels about our wisdom. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJV). One day a man stood on the roof of his house during a flood, and prayed, “God, please save me.” Soon a rowboat came by and offered to take him to safety. But he said, “No, God will take care of me.” The waters kept coming up until they were almost at his waist. Suddenly a helicopter appeared overhead and a rope ladder was lowered down. “Oh no, God will take care of me.” Soon after that the man drowned. When he stood before God, he said, “Why didn’t you save me?” God responded, “I sent you a rowboat and a helicopter. What else did you want?” At the cross, God did everything required to save you. All you have to do is trust in Christ and receive the gift of eternal life.
Soul food: Gen 22:1-18; Matt 27:45-56; Ps 22; Isa 53
2020-04-09
1 Corinthians 1:23 NKJV
Paul writes: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (vv. 22-24 NKJV). There’s no Jewish way to be saved, or Gentile way to be saved. There’s only one way to be saved – that’s the way of the cross! We all have the same need. We need to know what’s right and do what’s right. We need the wisdom to know what to do, and we need the power to do it. And Christ offers us both through the cross. In his early ministry, when Billy Graham preached to a great crowd in Dallas, Texas, there was very little response to his message. As he was leaving the platform, an old man told him, “Your message was good, but you didn’t preach the cross.” Billy went to his room, wept, and resolved, “There will never be a sermon that I preach unless the cross is central.” Starting that day, God used him to win more people to Christ than almost any other preacher in history. There’s just enough ego in each of us to want to “contribute” to our salvation by doing good works. But we cannot. Hymnist Robert Lowry wrote: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Soul food: Lev 8-10; Matt 27:33-44; Ps 49; Prov 10:1-2
2020-04-08
Galatians 6:14 KJV
It’s interesting that in the Bible Jesus doesn’t ask us to remember His birth or His resurrection, although we know we should, but He tells us to remember His death. When He instituted the Lord’s Supper, He said, “This do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19 KJV). Paul said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The cross, like the gallows and the electric chair, is an instrument of death. So why glory in it? Because of what took place there. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” all your sins from the cradle to the grave were paid for. So the cross is God’s first and last word when it comes to salvation. It’s His first word because Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8 KJV). And the cross is God’s last word about salvation, for in heaven they will sing, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9 KJV). There is no “plan B” for salvation. The only highway that goes to heaven goes through Calvary. You can’t bypass the cross or go around it if you want to be saved. The Bible says, “Without shedding of blood [there] is no remission [for sin]” (Hebrews 9:22 KJV). As you look at the cross today, you’ll see the curse of sin, the cost of sin, and the cure for sin. And as you look at the cross, remind yourself: “He did it for me.”
Soul food: Exo 12:1-14; 1 Cor 11:20-34; Ps 25:16-22
2020-04-07
Genesis 19:27 NKJV
Abraham had a special place where he met with God. So did Daniel, when his life was threatened: “In his upper room…he knelt…three times that day…and prayed and gave thanks before…God, as was his custom” (Daniel 6:10 NKJV). Jesus, too, had a special place: “Before daylight, He…departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35 NKJV). Here’s an idea: Establish a “God place” in your life. When problems and pressures threaten to overwhelm you, go to your God place. When you need guidance, go to your God place. Hymnist William Walford penned these time-honored words: “Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief; and oft escaped the tempter’s snare, by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!” In the words of Henry Ward Beecher: “Wherever you have seen God pass, mark that spot, and go sit in that window again.” Your God place can be anywhere, but it should be somewhere. After you’ve been there a while, a kind of aura will surround it. You’ll create memories of intimate times with God. It will become your sanctuary, which simply means “a place of refuge and safety.” David wrote, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Call it your God place, your secret place, your sanctuary, or whatever, but establish such a place in your life.
Soul food: Lev 5-7; Matt 27:27-32; Ps 25:8-15; Prov 9:18
2020-04-06
Psalm 113:9 NLT
Imagine the agony a single parent goes through when they are required by a court order to put their children on an airplane, alone, for an extended visitation with the other parent. Yes, it’s necessary and it’s fair, but it can be painful. One single mom described her feelings this way: “I stand in the terminal, and I watch the kids’ airplane disappear into the clouds. I feel an incredible sense of loss. The loneliness immediately starts to set in, I worry constantly about their safety, but I resist the urge to call every hour to see how they’re doing. And when they do call me to tell me how much fun they’re having, I grieve over the fact that they’re having a life completely separate from my own. My only consolation is knowing that they’re coming home soon. But I’m haunted by the fear that they won’t want to come home to me.” For the single parent who identifies with this hurting mother, there’s a way to get through the painful days of waiting. Instead of seeing this time alone as a period of isolation and deprivation, view it as an opportunity to recharge your batteries and reinvigorate your spirit. Spend time with friends. Read your Bible and pray. Return to a hobby you’ve set aside. Fill your day with things that are impossible amid the responsibility of child care, recognizing that your children will benefit when you do. They’ll return to a re-energized you, instead of one coming off weeks of depression. God says, “My grace is all you need.” Today draw on His grace.
Soul food: Lev 1-4; Matt 27:11-26; Ps 25:1-7; Prov 9:17
2020-04-05
Mark 10:27 NKJV
When you label something as being “impossible,” three things happen: (1) By giving in to the fear of failure you kill your own faith and motivation. (2) You risk settling for less than God wants you to have. (3) By excluding God from the equation you cut yourself off from the greatest power in the universe. When oil prices went through the roof in the 1970’s, automobile makers were ordered to build more fuel-efficient cars. One manufacturer asked a group of senior engineers to drastically reduce the weight of cars they were designing. They worked on the problem and searched for solutions, but they finally concluded that making lighter cars couldn’t be done, would be too expensive, and would present too many safety concerns. What was the automakers’ solution? They gave the problem to a group of less experienced engineers, and the new group found ways to reduce the weight of the companies’ automobiles by hundreds of pounds. Why? Because they believed solving the problem was possible – and it was. Every time you remove the label of impossible from a task, and include God in it, you raise your potential from “average” to “off-the-charts.” George Bernard Shaw said, “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?'” Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” In the natural world, you may not be able to accomplish it. But when you step into the realm of the supernatural, God adds His “super” to your “natural,” and what seems impossible becomes possible.
Soul food: Matt 21:1-16; Ps 118:19-29
