2020-01-10
Isaiah 26:14 NKJV
Psychologists tell us that one out of three people has experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Most are ashamed to talk about it! They walk around filled with resentment, thinking not only about the offender, but also the people who should have protected them and didn’t. The truth is, if they don’t get help, the memory of what was perpetrated against them can end up hurting them more than the event that actually happened. If you’re a victim of abuse, here are some Scriptures you need to read, stand on, and turn into a prayer: “I cried out to You, O Lord…’You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors [memories], for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison [the past], that I may praise Your name'” (Psalm 142:5-7 NKJV). “O Lord…masters besides You have had dominion over us; but by You only we make mention of Your name. They are dead, they will not live; they are deceased, they will not rise…You have punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish” (Isaiah 26:13-14 NKJV). Now, by an act of your will (not your emotions), forgive your offender and their power over you will be broken! Once you’ve done that, place them in God’s hands and allow Him to deal with them. Refuse to remain a victim. Instead of continuing to live in secret shame, start testifying to others about the power of God that can “[heal] the brokenhearted and [bind] up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3 NKJV).
Soul food: Exo 7-9; Matt 5:38-48; Ps 46; Prov 1:32-33
2020-01-09
Proverbs 29:18 NLT
Karen Williams continues: “To function successfully as a team, each person needs to be trained in understanding how the others function. That’s the only way they’ll be able to communicate, as they all speak completely different languages. The visionary has to become the cheerleader, holding the vision out before the people over the entire lifetime of the implementation stage so they can remember why they’re doing what they do. They have to understand that the process person and the task person have different measures for their own success, and they must acknowledge progress and milestones with praise and celebration. The process person has to be able to encourage the visionary that through the processes their vision will be accomplished. And they also have to encourage the task person that each and every task is imperative to the success of the completed vision, and that performing tasks according to the defined processes is critical for success. Likewise, the process person and the task person must realize that the visionary needs encouragement via responses that demonstrate their support for their vision. The visionary can’t lead without this understanding. The process person can’t serve or lead without this understanding. The task person can’t serve without this understanding. There are different ‘measurables’ for each person, allowing them to consider themselves a success in his or her particular role. And of course, the key is placing the right gift in the right role, communicating its value to the entire team, and constantly supporting it privately and publicly.” This is why Paul wrote to his team: “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God” (Philippians 1:3 NLT).
Soul food: Exo 4-6; Matt 5:27-37; Ps 42:6-11; Prov 1:28-31
2020-01-08
Romans 12:6 NLT
In ministry, like any other field, we need to understand the individual process that comes with each person’s gifting. Karen Williams, president of Strategic Media Solutions, writes: “A ministry is composed of several gifted individuals…led by a common vision God has birthed in its leader. These individuals can typically be grouped into three categories: (1) visionary; (2) process-oriented; (3) task-oriented. There’s an emotional response for each person in their area of giftedness as it relates to the birth and successful completion of a vision. A visionary gets an ’emotional high’ when the vision becomes clear to them. When they present it to those who’ll be charged with ‘making it happen,’ they think those in attendance will be as ‘high’ as they are upon hearing this perfectly clear, world-changing vision. For a visionary, when the vision is fully clear, it’s effectively 100% complete. That’s why they can go on to create and receive other visions long before the first one is truly manifested. But for the process-oriented person, the vision that has been presented is ‘on hold’ until it can be translated it into processes. The emotional ‘high’ for them comes when the processes are clearly defined and documented and they feel they’ll successfully support the completion of the vision. So their ‘high’ doesn’t come until well after the vision has been presented. For the task-oriented person, the vision that’s been presented is also ‘on hold’ as they haven’t yet been given anything to do. Their emotional ‘high’ comes with the completion of tasks, things they can mark off their to-do list. Thus their ‘high’ doesn’t occur until the end of the completed tasks mapped out within the processes.”
Soul food: Exo 1-3; Matt 5:13-26; Ps 42:1-5; Prov 1:20-27
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
