2019-08-22
Deuteronomy 29:9 NIV
Two men were talking and one said, “Do you know the secret of success?” The other replied, “No, what is it?” The first man said, “I can’t tell you.” His friend asked, “Why?” The first guy said, “Because it’s a secret!” Success, as God defines it, is not a secret. He repeatedly says in His Word that He wants us to be successful in life. But as our faces differ, so does God’s plan of success for each of us differ. Success is simply discovering God’s will for your life and doing it. Consider high definition television (HDTV). This technology makes possible an additional hundred lines of resolution on a screen so that the picture is virtually lifelike. The industry calls it “super clarity.” Whether you stand ten feet away or two feet away, the picture looks perfectly clear – no fuzzy lines, no distortions, no shadows. What would a successful life look like in high definition? In order to find that level of clarity, you need to dig into God’s Word and find out what He thinks about success. “Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.” When God created man, one of the first things He told him to do was “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22). In the book of Job we read the words, “Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly” (Job 8:7 NKJV). But God-ordained success comes with a caveat, and it’s non-negotiable: God will bless you – in order to make you a blessing to others.
Soul food: Amos 1:1-5:17; Matt 20:17-28; Ps 119:137-144; Prov 18:22-24
2019-08-21
Ephesians 3:10 NIV
Seventh, try to see the problem from different angles. Paul talks about “the manifold wisdom of God.” To understand the word “manifold,” think of a diamond. Each time you turn it, the light exposes a different facet of its beauty. God’s wisdom contained in the Bible is like that; it exposes different aspects and approaches to the problem. There’s a story about a woman on trial for killing her third husband. The trial attorney asked, “What happened to your first husband?” She replied, “He died of mushroom poisoning.” He then asked, “How about your second husband?” The woman replied, “He died of mushroom poisoning too.” Finally the lawyer inquired about her third husband. She replied, “He died of a brain concussion.” The attorney asked, “How come?” She replied, “Because he wouldn’t eat the mushrooms!” Seriously, most problems have many solutions, and no problem can long withstand the assault of sustained thinking. So fire up your God-given creativity, apply sustained thinking, and pull together your resources. Included in those resources are people. Who else has solved this problem? How did they do it? Often the problems that surround you aren’t nearly as crucial as the people around you. When Joseph came up with a plan that saved Egypt from famine, Pharaoh said, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word” (Genesis 41:39-40 NKJV). Bottom line: With God’s help, you can generally devise more than one way to solve the problem.
Soul food: Lam 3:40-5:22; Matt 20:1-16; Ps 119:129-136; Prov 18:21
2019-08-20
John 16:33 NKJV
Sixth, you must try to keep your problems in perspective. You’ve probably heard the saying: “I grumbled because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.” In a Peanuts cartoon, Snoopy looks in and sees the family sitting around the table enjoying Thanksgiving dinner while he’s outside eating dog food. “How about that?” he thinks. “Everybody’s eating turkey today, but because I’m just a dog I get dog food.” Then he suddenly regains his perspective. “Of course, things could be worse – I could have been born a turkey!” How big or how difficult our problem appears to be is often a matter of perspective. Most difficulties we face are pretty insignificant in the larger scheme of things. When a friend gets cancer or loses a loved one, we’re reminded of just how petty our issues are. Author James Agee recalled how he once struck up a conversation with an impoverished elderly woman in the heart of Appalachia during the Great Depression. She lived in a tiny shack with dirt floors, no heat, and no indoor plumbing. “What would you do,” he asked, “if someone gave you some money to help you out?” The woman thought for a moment and answered, “I guess I’d give it to the poor.” Realizing there are people around you who have much bigger problems than yours brings gratitude and perspective. Jesus told His disciples, “These things have I spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Soul food: Lam 1:1-3:39; Matt 19:15-30; Ps 119:121-128; Prov 18:13-20
2019-08-19
Proverbs 16:9 NKJV
Fifth, don’t just see the problem, look for the opportunity. When President John Kennedy was asked how he became a war hero, he smiled and quipped, “It was easy. Somebody sunk my boat!” While it’s true that certain individuals have a vision and pursue it, many times adversity paves the way to success. This was the case for a man whose small business was failing: “I was paying a sheriff five dollars a day to postpone a judgment on my small factory. Then came the gas man, and because I couldn’t pay his bill he promptly cut off my gas. I was in the midst of certain very important experiments, and to have the gas people plunge me into darkness made me so mad I at once began to read up on gas technique and economics, and resolved I would try to see if electricity couldn’t be made to replace gas and give those gas people a run for their money.” That man was Thomas Edison, founder of General Electric. Problems are wake-up calls for creativity. If you choose to wake up, and get up, problems will prompt you to use your God-given abilities, rally your resources, and move forward. The truth is, without certain problems we would end up in the wrong place, with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing. “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Out of pain comes purpose, and out of devastation comes direction. So talk to God about your problem; let Him show you the potential it holds and what He has in mind for you.
Soul food: Gal 4-6; Matt 19:1-14; Ps 119:113-120; Prov 18:10-12
2019-08-18
Proverbs 14:15 NIV
Fourth, evaluate the problem carefully and prayerfully. Here’s what King Solomon said about reacting impulsively instead of taking time to get all the facts. “The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.” “To answer before listening – that is folly and shame” (Proverbs 18:13 NIV). When patients are in pain they want quick relief. But the doctor knows that the pain must be diagnosed correctly in order to prescribe the right medication and make the patient whole. For you that means asking yourself, “Who or what caused this problem? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Has it the potential to do real damage, or will I have forgotten about it this time next week?” If you don’t diagnose the problem correctly you’ll have to go back and start over again, at which point the solution will probably be more painful and costly. Mike Leavitt, former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, said, “There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve.” The key is to find the right time and be patient when implementing the solution. Inexperienced people expect problems to be settled instantly. But experienced people are like the master sculptor who keeps striking the marble block with steady blows of the hammer. Unlike the rookie who expects to split the stone with one blow, he knows if he just keeps working at it he will eventually succeed.
Soul food: Gen 6:9-8:4; Matt 24:37-51
2019-08-17
Nehemiah 6:11 NIV
Third, you must face the problem. When Nehemiah was threatened by his enemies, some of his friends told him to hide in the temple. But he replied, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” As a result Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in two months – an amazing feat. Years ago a popular television commercial about addiction and abuse showed a typical family at home. The children were playing, the mother was vacuuming, and the father was reading the newspaper. They could have been a conventional family anywhere, except for one problem: there was a huge elephant in the room with them. Even though they could see it was making life difficult and they had to work around it, they seemed to be ignoring it and pretending it didn’t exist. That ad gave rise to the slogan: “The elephant in the room.” It applies to problems we don’t want to address, so we pretend that everything is fine. We typically react to a problem in four ways: (1) Flee it: We try to escape, but the problem always follows us. (2) Forget it: We hope it will go away if we don’t think about it. But left alone, problems tend to get worse. (3) Fight it: What we resist persists. And problems are no exception. (4) Face it: We look at the issue realistically and deal with it. If we’re wise we reach for God’s assistance and “boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear'” (Hebrews 13:6 NKJV).
Soul food: Gal 1-3; Matt 18:21-35; Ps 119:105-112; Prov 18:9
