2019-11-20
Acts 20:28 NKJV
Here’s another issue pastors often grapple with: They know how to feed others spiritually, but not themselves. Before leaving the church at Ephesus for the last time, Paul gathered its leaders together and said, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” Before you attempt to take care of others, learn to take care of yourself. Before God builds the ministry, He builds the minister; otherwise, you become an easy target for the Enemy. When the administrative side of church threatened to rob the apostles of their daily prayer and Bible study time, they called “time out,” saying, “We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and…the word” (Acts 6:4). Pastor, don’t just focus on preparing your sermon, keep your soul prepared! And don’t just set boundaries for your people, set them for yourself. Believing you can cut corners spiritually opens you to wrong relationships and destructive habits. As a result, you end up living on two levels – public service and private struggle. When that happens, you live with the fear of exposure, feel like a hypocrite, and forfeit the confidence necessary for God to use you (See 1 John 3:21, 22). Consequently the church gets robbed spiritually and suffers. So…what do struggling servants of God need? Spiritual fathers! Paul writes, “You might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers” (1 Corinthians 4:15 NKJV). Find a mature, seasoned friend in ministry and reach for help before your problem gets out of control. This isn’t just a good idea – your survival in ministry may depend on it!
Soul food: 2 Chr 25-28; John 12:20-36; Ps 102:12-17; Prov 27:10-12
2019-11-19
2 Corinthians 11:28 NIV
Let’s take another look at why over 50 percent of pastors quit the ministry. They love the crowd, but can’t handle the pressure. We like to talk about the power of the New Testament church, but what about its problems? The church is made up of human beings, and human beings have unresolved issues. The New Testament church had: (1) Moral problems. One man was sleeping with his stepmother, and nobody in the church seemed particularly upset about it (See 1 Corinthians 5:1-2). (2) Doctrinal problems. Some Jewish converts thought the Gentile converts needed to be circumcised. The dispute became so heated that it almost split the church down the middle (See Acts 15). (3) Immaturity and “personality-itis” problems. Paul writes: “I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it…For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly?…when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV). He goes on to say, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10 NKJV). Then he adds, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil” (2 Timothy 4:14). If you’re a pastor, here’s the bottom line: If you can’t feel the pain, you can’t heal the pain! Hidden in your everyday problems and people pressures, you’ll find the wisdom to minister effectively. So don’t get discouraged – keep going!
Soul food: 2 Chr 22-24; John 12:12-19; Ps 102:1-11; Prov 27:7-9
2019-11-18
2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV
Did you know that over half of those who enter the ministry quit before retirement? Why? There are lots of reasons – here is one of them: They discover that great revelation comes with a “thorn.” The apostle Paul, who wrote half the New Testament, says: “To keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV). Pastor, there are 168 hours in your week. The hour you spend in the pulpit on Sunday morning showcases you in the areas of your gifting and strength. So your challenge will always be to remember that it is God’s Word and God’s power, not yours, that changes lives and gets the job done. Notice what Paul said: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh.” Paul’s thorn came in the form of “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties.” What’s your thorn? You can only stand strong before people if you discipline yourself to spend time before God in prayer and Bible study. That’s how to stay effective and finish strong in ministry!
Soul food: 2 Chr 19-21; John 12:1-11; Ps 76; Prov 27:4-6
2019-11-17
Romans 8:6 NKJV
Paul writes, “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (v. 5 NKJV). Passenger planes are designed to fly in two ways – through the skill of a pilot and the commands they receive from the control tower. To “live according to the Spirit” means obeying His promptings. You do that by going through your day with an awareness of His presence. Submit, as you feel Him tugging at your heart to take a particular course of action, even if you don’t quite understand why. You may be prompted to drop a particular conversation, turn away quickly from a certain television program, walk away from a questionable environment, or even go “by another way.” (Remember the wise men in Matthew 2:12?) Whatever it is, do it immediately. The Holy Spirit may be warning you about a temptation you’ll be unable to resist unless you obey Him there and then. Perhaps there’s someone who comes to your mind during the day, and you know he or she is going through a difficult time and could use some support. Get in touch with them. God wants to minister to that person through you, and He will bless you when you do it. The Holy Spirit may guide you to do a certain thing, or take a risk you never imagined you’d take. The wisest thing is always to submit to His plan, regardless of whether or not it makes sense to you. God knows all things, including your future, and His direction is always for your benefit.
Soul food: Josh 1; Ps 27:11-14; 2 Cor 5:6-10
2019-11-16
Psalm 39:1 NIV
The psalmist has a lot to say about the dangers of the tongue. Apparently he had to guard himself in that particular area. “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3 NIV). “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord” (Psalm 19:14 NIV). Just because a thought comes up doesn’t mean it should come out! “A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back” (Proverbs 29:11 NKJV). You say, “But I didn’t really mean it. I was just sounding off!” You may not think you meant it, but the Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34 NKJV). What’s harbored on the inside inevitably shows up on the outside. Put yourself in the other person’s place, listen to what you’re saying, and ask yourself how you’d respond. When you’re talking to someone, their acceptance doesn’t come from your heightened decibel level, but from your ability to listen, understand, care, empathize, and respond with wisdom. And if none of those things work, do what Jesus did when He stood before Pilate: “He opened not His mouth” (Acts 8:32 NKJV). Amazing! He had the power and authority to call twelve legions of angels (72,000 plus) to His defense, but He didn’t. That’s strength, not weakness! Another word to the wise: Never resort to profanity. “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT).
Soul food: 2 Chr 16-18; John 11:38-57; Ps 81; Prov 27:1-3
2019-11-15
2 Corinthians 12:15 NLT
The apostle Paul wrote, “I don’t want what you have – I want you…I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me” (vv. 14-15 NLT). Paul found his greatest fulfillment in giving, not receiving. For him, giving was its own reward. For him, being successful meant making others successful. For him, being joyful meant bringing joy to others. That’s because he didn’t look to people for his reward, but to God: “Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do” (Ephesians 6:8 NLT). The hardest thing for most of us to do is to fight our natural tendency to put ourselves first. That’s why it’s important to continually examine your motives and make sure you’re not sliding backwards into selfishness. If you want to check your motives, follow the example set by Benjamin Franklin. Every day he asked himself two questions. When he got up in the morning he would ask, “What good am I going to do today?” And before he went to bed he would ask, “What good have I done today?” If you can answer those questions with selflessness and integrity, you can keep yourself on track. Seeing those in need, and giving to meet that need, keeps your priorities and your perspective right. It increases the quality of life for both the giver and the receiver. The truth is, there is no life as empty as the self-centered life, and there is no life as centered as the self-empty life.
Soul food: 2 Chr 12-15; John 11:28-37; Ps 50; Prov 26:27-28
