2020-01-07
Isaiah 60:4 NLT
One of the lessons Jesus taught in the parable of the Prodigal Son is this: Don’t give up on someone no matter how bad things may be in their lives. We give up too soon because: (1) We see only their conduct. But we don’t know the experiences they’ve gone through that may have made them what they are. Sometimes people “act out” of the pain of unhealed wounds and unresolved issues they carry inside them. Sometimes their anger is masking deep fear. Other times, they act like the dysfunctional parents who raised them, because those are the tools they were given to work with. And until someone shows them a new and better way to handle life, they’ll remain stuck. (2) We don’t know what people are struggling with. Don’t let their façade of success fool you. Someone can live in a nice home, and drive a nice car to a nice job, yet their marriage is falling apart, their children are in rebellion, and their mind is going crazy. They need your compassion. Instead of writing them off as a lost cause, ask God for words of wisdom. Isaiah said, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed” (Isaiah 50:4 NIV). If you’ll keep praying for them and trying to help them, God will make you a paramedic of His mercy and grace. So the word for you today is: Don’t give up on them – because God hasn’t!
Soul food: 1 Cor 15-16; Matt 5:1-12; Ps 10:12-18; Prov 1:17-19
2020-01-06
Luke 8:43-44 NLT
The Bible says: “A woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, ‘Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, “Who touched me?”‘ And Jesus said, ‘Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue [healing power] is gone out of me’…And he said unto her, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole'” (vv. 43-48). This woman had an “issue” that was draining the life out of her, one no doctor could cure. So she did what you need to do – she took her issue to Jesus, touched Him by faith, and was made whole. Think about what she had to overcome. Twelve years of suffering. A sense of hopelessness and despair because she’d “spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any.” Then there was the crowd that thronged Jesus and stood in her way. Nevertheless, the moment her faith made contact with Jesus, she was made whole. So what’s your biggest issue today? Is it a long-term one? Is it at home or on the job? Is it a health issue or a stubborn habit? Don’t stop until you get to Jesus, even if that means getting down on your knees in prayer and pushing through every obstacle that stands in your way. Touch Jesus by faith today, and you too can be made whole.
Soul food: 1 Cor 12-14; Matt 4:18-25; Ps 10:1-11; Prov 1:10-16
2020-01-05
Malachi 3:10 NIV
The Bible records this interesting conversation between God and His people: “‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘But you ask, “How are we to return?” Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How are we robbing you?” In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed'” (vv. 7-12 NIV). In answer to the Israelites’ question, “How can we prove that we have truly returned to you, Lord?” He replied, “By tithing!” Here are three things the Bible says will happen when you give God 10 percent of your income: (1) The windows of heaven will open, and His blessings will pour into your life. (2) It puts a hedge of divine protection around you, your loved ones, and all that concerns you. (3) The people around you will observe and comment on the blessing of God on your life. So, if you haven’t been tithing because times are hard and you’re afraid you won’t be able to make ends meet, God’s challenge to you today is: “Test Me in this.”
Soul food: 1 Cor 13; Eph 3:14-21; John 15:1-17
2020-01-04
James 4:2 NIV
How large is your asking capacity when it comes to prayer? When Elijah asked Elisha, “‘What may I do for you, before I am taken away?’…Elisha said, ‘Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me'” (2 Kings 2:9 NKJV). Some of us may have been shocked by his response, pegged him as arrogant, and said, “You need to humble yourself and be grateful for the privilege of serving a great prophet like Elijah, and count yourself fortunate if God permits you to carry on his ministry.” But Elisha wasn’t timid, and Elijah wasn’t offended. So how did it all turn out? Elisha got his double portion and ended up performing twice as many miracles as Elijah. When you pray, God doesn’t say, “Make your request reasonable and practical.” He wants you to ask “largely and abundantly, not sparingly” (See James 1:5 NIV). How’s this for a big promise: “Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession” (Psalm 2:8 NLT)? Take the limits off God! Think about it: If He’s willing to give you “the nations for your inheritance,” He will surely save your loved ones, heal your body, give you that job, that home, or that relationship you’ve been praying for. Jesus said, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name” (John 14:13 NIV). Only two times in Scripture has someone said something that caused Jesus to marvel. On both occasions it was a demonstration of audacious faith by a Gentile, and someone the religious crowd thought had no right to God’s miraculous provision. So the word for you today is – enlarge your asking capacity.
Soul food: 1 Cor 9-11; Matt 4:12-17; Ps 90:13-17; Prov 1:8-9
2020-01-03
Isaiah 1:19 NKJV
In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria became tired of his responsibilities as king, the pressures of international politics, and the mundane worldliness of court life. He made an application to Prior Richard at a local monastery to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in prayer and meditation. Prior Richard responded, “Your Majesty, do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That it will be hard, since you have been a king?” Henry said, “I understand. The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” Prior Richard said, “Then I will tell you what to do. Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” After Henry died, this statement was written in his honor: “The king learned to rule by being obedient.” Today, and every day, you have these decisions to make: (1) Live by your own impulses, or live according to the instructions God has given you in His Word. (2) Go according to your own best thinking, or submit yourself to the rule and the leading of the Holy Spirit who lives within you. When you think about it, the answer is clear! Obeying God leads to peace, progress, protection, and promotion. His Word says, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” Note the words “willing and obedient.” Obedience is an act of your will, not a reflex of your emotions. So this year – do what God says, for He has “good” things in mind for you.
Soul food: 1 Cor 5-8; Matt 4:1-11; Ps 90:7-12; Prov 1:5-7
2020-01-02
Judges 6:12 NKJV
The story’s told of a man who put an eagle’s egg into the nest of a barnyard chicken, and the eaglet hatched and grew up with the brood of chickens. All his life he did what the chickens did: scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects, clucked and cackled, and never flew more than a few feet off the ground. Then one day he saw a magnificent bird soaring gracefully above him and asked, “What a beautiful creature. What’s it called?” The chicken next to him said, “That’s an eagle, the king of all birds. But don’t give him any mind, because you could never be like him.” So the eagle returned to pecking in the dirt, and died thinking it was a barnyard chicken. Who told you that you don’t have potential? Who told you that you won’t succeed in life or make an impact? Certainly not God! When the Angel of the Lord called Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites, he responded with a litany of excuses about why he wasn’t qualified for the job. But the angel told him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!…Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel…Have not I sent you?” (vv. 12-14 NKJV). Notice two important things in this story. First, God spoke to the destiny within Gideon, not to his present circumstances. Second, God reminded him that it was not the power of the one being sent, but of the One sending him that would win the battle. Today you are “mighty” because God is with you.
Soul food: 1 Cor 1-4; Matt 3:11-17; Ps 90:1-6; Prov 1:1-4
