2020-02-28
2 Peter 3:9 NIV
If you’re praying for an unsaved loved one, here is a Bible promise you can stand on today: “He is patient…not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Remove the word “everyone” and insert the name of your loved one. As long as there’s life, there’s hope! The last miracle Jesus worked was saving a thief who hung on a cross beside Him: “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). In the words of the hymnist, Annie Johnson Flint: “His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus – He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.” No matter how far gone your loved one may be, God’s grace and mercy can still reach them – so keep praying for them. Listen: “The arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear” (Isaiah 59:1 NIV). Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father…draws them” (John 6:44 NIV). So ask God to send someone across your loved one’s path who will show them the way of salvation. Above all, don’t get discouraged and give in to doubt. Remember, it’s God’s will to save them, and when you know you’re praying in accordance with His will, you can approach Him with confidence. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know…he hears us – whatever we ask – we know…we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15 NIV).
Soul food: Gen 13-16; Matt 18:21-35; Ps 61; Prov 6:16-19
2020-02-27
Psalm 119:130 NKJV
In December 2005, Brian Hardin says God told him to podcast the Bible. Hardin writes: “On New Year’s Eve when I read my first podcast…I said, ‘I’m Brian…I have no broadcast experience. I really don’t know what I’m doing, but I plan to read through the Bible this year. If you get this, here’s my email address.’ I expected about five people to sign up. On New Year’s Day 2006, I had 257 responses, and by June the daily audio Bible had been downloaded 200,000 times. Now, following our sixth anniversary, it’s been downloaded more than 51 million times and is still one of the top podcasts on iTunes. With more than 1.5 million downloads monthly, the daily audio Bible is one of the most listened to podcasts in the world. We’ve become a vast online family that prays and hears the Bible together. When somebody calls or goes into the online prayer line with a request, thousands of people pray for that person…We receive an endless stream of emails from disenfranchised believers who have found the place appealing…Separated couples who had nothing left to do but sign divorce papers…started listening to the Bible and found their marriages restored. I can tell you many stories of people who were hopeless – I mean suicidally hopeless – who found comfort in God’s Word and were restored. The Bible has a voice, and if given a chance to speak – in context – it will create amazing things in your heart. The Bible can transform even the most tangled life. I know. It radically changed mine.” Bottom line: Reading the Bible will change your life.
Soul food: Gen 10-12; Matt 18:10-20; Ps 58; Prov 6:12-15
2020-02-26
1 Samuel 30:8 NKJV
God’s Word promises that whatever you are addicted to today, you can be set free from. And there’s more! You can get back what you’ve lost, or something even better. How? By doing what David did when the Amalekite armies destroyed his home and took his family captive: (1) He turned to God for strength to deal with his problem. “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (v. 6 NKJV). Face it; if you could have solved the problem by yourself, you’d already have done it, right? Don’t feel bad about that, feel good. Acknowledging that you are powerless is the first step to victory. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV). Now, acknowledging that you’re powerless isn’t the same thing as giving in to hopelessness. It means acknowledging that you can’t, God can, and that He will when you surrender the problem to Him. (2) God gave David a plan to deal with his problem. “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” Armed with God’s strength and His plan, David went after the enemy and kept attacking until he recovered everything that had been stolen from him. And God wants to do that for you too. He promised, “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten” (Joel 2:25). When you turn to God, He can give you more joy and success in the years ahead than in all the years behind you. That’s His recovery plan for you!
Soul food: Gen 7-9; Matt 18:1-9; Ps 53; Prov 6:9-11
2020-02-25
2 Korintiërs 3:5-6 NLV
Jesus het vir sy dissipels gesê: ‘Wees waaksaam en bid. Anders sal die versoeking vir julle te sterk word. ‘n Mens se gees is wel gewillig, maar jou liggaam hou nie altyd by nie’ (Matteus 26:41 NLV). Wat het Hy daarmee bedoel? Hy het bedoel dat hulle sonder die bemagtigende teenwoordigheid van die Heilige Gees, wat Hy pas gesê het hulle sal ontvang, nie opgewasse sou wees teen die uitdagings waar voor hulle binnekort te staan sou kom nie. Hy het nie hulle toewyding en gewilligheid om Hom te dien betwyfel nie; Hy het net geweet dat hulle dit nie alleen sou kon doen nie. Jy kan ook nie. Hoe gouer jy dus ophou probeer, hoe beter daaraan toe sal jy wees! God sal jou net seën wanneer jy jou totale afhanklikheid van Hom erken. Dit beteken dat jy moet bid en op Hom moet leun voor jy begin; en aanhou om te bid en op Hom te leun tot jy die wenstreep oorsteek. Dit beteken ook dat as God jou nie stuur nie en jy dring aan om te gaan, of Hy sê vir jou om iets te doen en jy probeer dit in jou eie krag bereik, jy verseker sal misluk. Wat meer is, is dat Hy jou sal toelaat om aan te hou misluk, totdat jy die plek bereik waar jy soos Paulus kan sê: ‘Nie dat ons op eie houtjie iets kan bedink asof dit ons eie breinkind is nie. Ons bekwaamheid kom van God, wat ons bekwaam gemaak het…’ Dis wanneer ons die einde van ons vermoëns bereik wanneer God se krag inskop. Die woord vir jou vandag is dus: In plaas daarvan om op jou eie krag en hulpbronne staat te maak, maak volkome en alleenlik op God staat.
Sielskos: Gen 4-6; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 40:9-17; Spr 6:6-8
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NIV
Jesus told His disciples, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41 NKJV). What did He mean by that? He meant that without the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, which He’d just told them they’d soon receive, they weren’t equal to the challenges they were about to face. It wasn’t a matter of His doubting their devotion and willingness to serve Him; He just knew they couldn’t do it by themselves. And you can’t either. So the sooner you quit trying, the better off you’ll be! God isn’t looking for educated, sophisticated, well-meaning flesh, or any other kind of “flesh,” for that matter. He will only bless you when you acknowledge your total dependence on Him. That means praying and leaning on Him before you start, and continuing to pray and lean on Him until you reach the finish line. It also means that if God doesn’t send you and you insist on going, or if He tells you to do something and you try to accomplish it in your own strength, you’ll surely fail. And what’s more, He will allow you to keep failing until you reach the place where you can say like Paul: “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent.” It’s when we reach the end of our resources that God’s power kicks in. So the word for you today is: Instead of leaning on your own strength and resources, depend wholly and solely on God.
Soul food: Gen 4-6; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 40:9-17; Prov 6:6-8
2020-02-24
Isaiah 54:17 NLT
Have you been falsely accused? So was Jesus. They called Him a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of low-life sinners. They accused the apostle Paul of being a madman, a fool, and a babbler. The Bible calls Satan the “father of lies” (John 8:44 NIV). And when you’re committed to doing God’s will, he will attack you – and use people to do it. Don’t get discouraged and don’t despair. God will vindicate you. His Word says, “No weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me.” If you insist on retaliating, God will back off and leave you to it. But when you put the situation into His hands, the test can result in a testimony to His goodness and grace in your life. So instead of wasting time complaining, pray: “Let your favour shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me. Don’t let me be disgraced…Lord…I call out to you for help. Let the wicked be disgraced…Silence their lying lips – those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly. How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues” (Psalm 31:16-20 NLT). Simply pray, “Father, I put this situation into Your hands today. Vindicate me.”
Soul food: Gen 1-3; Matt 17:1-13; Ps 40:1-8; Prov 6:1-5
