2019-12-26
Isaiah 46:11 NIV
God has a plan for your life that requires certain things to happen at a particular time. And since He sees the big picture and you’re working with limited information, you must trust Him – even when you don’t see how it will all come together. God can take the loss of a relationship or a job and make it work for your good. The trouble is, while He’s doing all this, you can feel uncomfortable and downright miserable. Seven hundred and eighty-two years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah said that He would be born in Bethlehem (See Micah 5:2). But Mary and Joseph were living in Nazareth. So how did God solve the problem? The Roman emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken: “All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son” (Luke 2:3-7 NLT). Are you worried about the future? “Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season he will honor you with every blessing” (Psalm 37:34 TLB). Relax: the God who arranged for His Son to be born into the right family, at the right time, in the right place, is looking out for you today.
Soul food: 1 Cor 10-11; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 139:1-12; Prov 31:25-27
2019-12-25
Galatians 4:4 NLT
God doesn’t consult us to make sure His plans line up with our timetable. God sets the schedule; sometimes we have to run to keep up, and other times we have to slow down in order to get in step with Him. Mary planned to marry Joseph, then have a child, but God had a different plan. The child had to be without inherited sin, so He needed a perfect father; therefore, the Holy Spirit was called on to do the job. Humanly speaking, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Mary became pregnant before she got married, and Joseph wasn’t the father. Besides being ostracized, the law said she could be stoned to death. How did she respond? Amazingly: “Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word'” (Luke 1:38 NKJV). God has a set plan, and He is always working toward it. The trouble is, we are only working with limited information, so we become impatient and upset when He doesn’t answer our prayers when we think He should, or in the way we think He should. It’s said that George Muller, evangelist and founder of the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England, once waited on the dock for a special chair to be delivered; he had a bad back and needed the chair for his ocean voyage. When departure time came and it still hadn’t arrived, his friends offered to buy him one. But Muller said, “Either God will provide or He will give me the grace to do without.” Then, just like a Hollywood ending, the chair arrived right on time! Trust God – He knows what He’s doing!
Soul food: Isa 9:1-7; Matt 1:18-25; Micah 5:2-5a
2019-12-24
Ephesians 1:7 NKJV
Today, some people are trying to remove any public mention of Christ at Christmas, while others seem bent on secularizing it completely. So let’s look at the meaning of some of the Christmas symbols. The small holly berries are thought to have originally reminded Christians of the drops of Christ’s blood caused by the crown of thorns He wore on Calvary. The evergreen trees speak of the promise of never-ending life resulting from His resurrection. The Celtic cross has a circle surrounding the intersection of the vertical and horizontal axis of the cross. Some believe it originated with St. Patrick, who, upon seeing a round symbol of the moon goddess, drew a Christian cross over it – changing a Druid symbol into a new symbol for Irish Christianity. In the same way that St. Patrick adopted a pagan circle and gave it a new meaning, so other Christians adopted the evergreen wreath and gave it a new meaning. When early Christians changed the Roman winter solstice of the rebirth of the sun (originally on December 21), to a celebration of the birth of the “Son of Righteousness,” the evergreen wreath was adopted. Instead of simply being a garland, the round Christmas wreath now speaks of the never-ending unity and fellowship we have with God through Christ. So when you hang a wreath on your door or over your fireplace this Christmas, remind yourself that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39 NKJV).
Soul food: 1 Cor 7-9; Matt 1:17; Ps 97; Prov 31:22-24
2019-12-23
Psalm 27:13 NKJV
David was a giant killer, a psalm writer, and Israel’s most popular king. But when the stresses of life brought him to his breaking point, he wrote, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Are you at your breaking point today? When you get to that place, one of two things happens: You either break down or break through! It all depends on what you do. David experienced a breakthrough because he knew the right formula: “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart” (v. 14 NKJV). There’s an old saying – “The same sun that melts the butter hardens the clay.” When trouble comes, you can turn against God because you’ve served Him faithfully and don’t understand why He’s permitting you to go through such a hard time, or you can turn to Him for the answer! Nothing catches Him off guard, and nothing is too hard for Him. He said, “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure'” (Isaiah 46:9-10 NKJV). You may be in a state of shock right now – but God isn’t. Your circumstances can actually become a platform for Him to demonstrate His unfailing love and care for you. So don’t lose heart; He’s going to bring you through this storm and bring glory to His name in the process.
Soul food: 1 Cor 4-6; Matt 1:12-16; Ps 117; Prov 31:18-21
2019-12-22
Ezekiel 3:15 NLT
There’s a popular reality show on American television called Undercover Boss. In it, the company owner goes undercover disguised as a regular staff member, and works alongside the other employees. He or she gets to experience their daily pressures and problems, becomes familiar with their strengths and weaknesses, and finds out what is and isn’t working. Some of the discoveries are truly eye-opening, and lead to major changes that end up making the organization a more efficient, more profitable, and a more enjoyable place for everyone to work. A good definition of the word understand is “to stand in another person’s shoes.” That’s what happened to the prophet Ezekiel. He writes: “Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles…I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days. After seven days the Lord gave me a message. He said, ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman'” (vv. 15-17 NLT). When did God give Ezekiel a message for others? After he’d spent seven days and nights sitting with people who had lost everything, people in deep despair and in need of answers. Referring to Jesus, the Bible tells us, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do” (Hebrews 4:15 NLT). Your most effective ministry to others can come out of some of the experiences you’re going through right now, especially the painful ones you’d like to escape and don’t even feel comfortable talking about. The truth is, your greatest mess can turn out to be your greatest message. So let God work on you until He gets you to where you need to be.
Soul food: John 14:6-11; Acts 4:8-12; Acts 16:22-34; Matt 1:18-21
2019-12-21
Genesis 2:15 NIV
God created the Garden of Eden, placed Adam in it, and told him to “work it.” God said, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22 NIV). In other words, “Be successful.” But notice, there’s a definite sequence. First: God prepares a place for you. Second: He puts you in it. Third: He tells you to “work it.” Fourth: He says, “I want you to succeed.” This is called “the law of location.” You only flourish in the place where you belong, doing what God has called and equipped you to do. And you’ll have to work at it, so don’t expect it to be quick and easy. The law of location is evident throughout the Scriptures. After his life-changing encounter with God, we read, “Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared'” (Genesis 32:30 NIV). That’s when God changed his name from Jacob, which means “deceiver,” to Israel, which means “a prince with God.” God spoke to the prophet Elijah in the middle of a famine and said, “Go at once to Zarephath…I have directed a widow there to supply you with food” (1 Kings 17:9 NIV). Eden was the place of fruitfulness. Penial was the place of radical change. Zarephath was the place of divine supply. Question: Are you in the place God wants you to be? If you’re not sure, talk to Him today. “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17 NKJV).
Soul food: 1 Cor 1-3; Matt 1:6b-11; Ps 113; Prov 31:14-17
