2019-12-08
Proverbs 10:9 NIV
There are those who live with integrity and those who don’t, and interestingly they’re both rewarded. The first group lives with an abiding sense of God’s peace and security, the second group with the constant fear of being found out. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity” (Proverbs 11:3 NIV). A person with integrity is “complete and undivided.” They adhere to high moral principles in every area of life. Does that mean you’ll never fall? No. “A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again” (Proverbs 24:16 NKJV). Everybody falls, but people of integrity always get back up. God is patient; He’ll work with you until you get it. And if you suffer from a lack of integrity, He can still put your life back together again if you surrender to Him. Before he wrestled with the Lord, Jacob was a cheat and a deceiver (See Genesis 27:35-36 NLT). And after he wrestled with the Lord, he walked with a limp. But God would rather have someone who walks with a limp because they’ve wrestled with their issues and won, than someone living under false pretenses. Daniel, a Jew living in captivity, refused to eat non-kosher food because it violated God’s law. Joseph was single, far from home, and lonely, but he refused to sleep with his boss’s wife. Paul says, “When you are tempted, he will…provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV). God always has a way out, and when you’re committed to walking in integrity, He’ll reveal it to you.
Soul food: Josh 1:7-8; 2 Tim 3:14-17; Ps 119:1-16
2019-12-07
Mark 4:15 NIV
In the parable of the sower, Jesus said, “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” Ever notice how you can sit at home and watch a two-hour, commercial-packed movie without feeling restless or bored, yet when the pastor’s sermon exceeds thirty or forty minutes, you keep glancing at your watch and can’t wait to get out of church? And if someone asked you the next day what he preached about, most times you couldn’t tell them. Jesus said, “Satan comes and takes away the word.” So how can you retain it? (1) Write it down (See Exodus 17:14 NIV). When you make notes on what you read and hear, you’ll retain more, be more impacted, and get much more out of it. (2) Pray it through. Unless you pray over the Word you’re hearing, you’ll keep coming home from church moved but unchanged. Many of the great saints of old read through the Bible on their knees. You should try that too! (3) Discuss it with others. God’s Word is like a seed that multiplies and grows when it’s watered by conversation with others who share your faith. The Bible says, “Those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard” (Malachi 3:16 NIV). (4) Practice it daily. John tells us, “The Word was made flesh” (John 1:14). The best way to retain God’s Word is to practice its principles, or “flesh it out!”
Soul food: Neh 1-4; John 18:1-11; Ps 148:7-14; Prov 29:16-21
2019-12-06
Esther 4:14 NKJV
Moses began his ministry when he was eighty. Esther started hers as a teenaged girl. When she heard the words of Mordecai – “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” – she could easily have said, “Give me time to grow up, get married, have children, and fulfill my dreams before asking me to put my life on the line to save the Jewish people.” But she didn’t. She said, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (v. 16 AMPC). Often what God does in you while you’re waiting is more important than the thing you’re waiting for. Sometimes you think you’re ready but God knows you’re not, so He puts you into the school of faith. That’s where you learn to listen to “the teacher” (the Holy Spirit), study your lessons, pass the tests, and graduate so that God can use you. It’s not a comfortable place to be, but God is more interested in your character than your comfort. Missionary Nancy Cockrell writes: “It was God’s plan all along to bring you here to serve Him, by using your gifts to minister to others – for such a time as this. He has given you the grace to reflect the love and character of Christ, to be a light in a darkened world – for such a time as this. You have a unique place of service in God’s kingdom, touching lives as only you can do – for such a time as this.” So here’s the question: Is God telling you today – your time has come?
Soul food: Col 3-4; Philemon; John 17:13-26; Ps 148:1-6; Prov 29:11-15
2019-12-05
John 14:12 NKJV
It’s good to read about what Jesus did when He walked among us. But when you see someone living the way He did, it’s called “putting skin on Jesus.” Instead of just being a historic figure, His lifestyle becomes a reality. And isn’t that what people are looking for? Gandhi once said if he could meet Christians who were like Christ, he’d become one too. Unfortunately, the Christians he knew carried weapons and subjected him and his people to servitude. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do.” Maybe you’re wondering how we could possibly do greater works than Jesus. Here’s how: He was one man confined to one place, whereas His redeemed family is capable of multiplying His works throughout the world. So what was Jesus like? For starters, He was compassionate, not condemning. Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery? When the Pharisees wanted to stone her, He said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7 NLT). Ouch! Who was Jesus talking about? The Pharisees or the religious hierarchy? No, He was talking about Himself! He was the only one without sin and He had no stones to throw! If you want to know what “putting skin on Jesus” looks like, the Bible lists these nine “fruits” (or Christlike qualities) that the Holy Spirit wants to produce in your life: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT).
Soul food: Col 1-2; John 17:1-12; Ps 147:12-20; Prov 29:6-10
2019-12-04
Psalm 34:7 NKJV
Just as a president and a prime minister are constantly surrounded by security guards, as a redeemed child of God you are surrounded by angels. You may not be able to see the president or prime minister’s security detail, but just let someone make a threatening move and trained guards instantly form a protective shield around him. Dr. James McConnell, founder of Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was preaching one night during “The Troubles” (as the sectarian war was commonly called), when a paramilitary leader with a gun came into the church to kill him. Why? Because the man’s wife had become a Christian and her life was so radically changed that he hardly recognized her. The man only took a few steps up the aisle when he stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and ran out of the church. What happened? The man, who later became a Christian, testified that he’d seen two big angels standing on either side of Pastor McConnell! When Paul’s ship encountered a storm and everyone thought they were going to perish, Paul announced: “There stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid’…take heart…for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me” (Acts 27:23-25 NKJV). Today, you have a divine security detail watching over you.
Soul food: Josh 22-24; John 16:19-33; Ps 147:1-11; Prov 29:1-5
2019-12-03
Romans 12:2 NKJV
For a redeemed child of God, nothing in life should be more important than discovering and doing His will. But you have four options: (1) You can remain ignorant of it. Chances are this isn’t you, or you wouldn’t be reading this daily devotional right now. Clearly you have a desire to know God’s will for your life and He will help you find it (See Isaiah 30:21). (2) You can know it and choose to disobey it. Jonah knew God’s will, but he ran from it and ended up in the biggest storm of his life. What was his problem? He didn’t like the assignment God gave him. Is your problem that you know God’s will but you just don’t like it? (3) You can know it but settle for less. The truth is you can sing in the choir and serve on the church board, yet deep in your heart know you’re settling for less than God’s will. (4) You can settle for nothing less than God’s will. There are moments when God’s will seems too difficult, too prolonged, and too unrewarding. Your own ideas seem easier, quicker, and more enjoyable. In the end, you find that His plan was better than yours and there will never be an exception to this rule. So you may as well decide from now on to yield to God’s will, do things His way, and believe Him for His best. Today get down on your knees and say with the psalmist, “I delight to do Your will, O my God…Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8 NKJV).
Soul food: Josh 19:24-21:45; John 16:12-18; Ps 2; Prov 28:25-28
