2019-07-18
1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
In Catherine Marshall’s book A Closer Walk, her husband Leonard LeSourd writes about the beginning of their marriage. “Catherine had huge adjustments to make. She sold her Washington dream house to move to Chappaqua, so I could continue to commute to my job at Guideposts in New York City. My children – Linda, ten; Chester, six; Jeffrey, three – had been through a deeply unsettling two years, adjusting to a variety of housekeepers. They had mixed feelings toward moving into a new house, and especially toward ‘the new mommy that Daddy’s bringing home.’ Catherine’s son Peter, who was nineteen, was going through a period of rebellion at Yale…Catherine and I had so many things to pray about that we began to rise an hour early each morning to read the Bible and seek answers together. Her current journal lay open beside us in these predawn prayer times, recording our changing needs, and His unchanging faithfulness.” As the pressures of life mount, you need to pray more, not less. Jesus rose before dawn to pray. Sometimes He prayed all night. Other times He left the demands of the crowd to pray. Why? Because your power, peace, joy, and effectiveness are directly related to the time you spend in prayer. Then why don’t we pray daily? For the same reason people join a gym in January and quit by February. Prayer requires discipline that only you can put in place. But it brings great rewards. Hymnist Fanny Crosby wrote: “Oh, the pure delight of a single hour, that before Thy throne I spend. As I kneel in prayer, and with Thee my God, I commune as friend with friend.”
2019-07-17
Psalm 107:9 NIV
Successful people are often just people who were a little hungrier and thirstier for success than the rest of us. What we desired, they pursued. Napoleon was born in poverty. His classmates made fun of him in school. But he devoted himself to his books, excelled in his studies, and became the brightest student in class. Before his life was over, he conquered much of the world! If a seedling tree has to fight its way up through rocks to get to sunlight and air, then wrestle with storms and frost to survive, you can be sure of one thing: Its root system will be strong and its timber resilient. Nature itself teaches us that it’s impossible to succeed without going through adversity. If you’re successful and haven’t experienced hardship, you can be sure someone else has experienced it for you. And if you’re experiencing adversity without succeeding, there’s a good chance somebody else will succeed because of the price you paid. Either way, there’s no achievement without adversity. The acid test of character is determined by what it takes to discourage you and make you quit. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan tells of a man whose shop burned to the ground in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Next morning he arrived at work carrying a table which he set up amid the charred ruins. On it he placed a sign that read, “Everything lost except wife, children, and hope. Business as usual tomorrow morning.” Solomon said, “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings” (Proverbs 22:29). You say you want to succeed? The question is – how “hungry” are you?”
Soul food: Acts 18-19; Matt 10:11-20; Ps 146; Prov 16:4-5
2019-07-16
Exodus 18:23 NLT
A good general knows it’s a mistake to try and fight on too many fronts at once; that when you’re “spread out too thin” you’re vulnerable! And the same is true in life. To avoid undue stress, you must refuse to let every little thing upset you. In other words, choose your battles wisely. Don’t make mountains out of molehills. Before you devote time, energy, and emotion to an issue, ask yourself how important it is, and how much of your time, effort, and energy is appropriate. Try to discern what really matters and focus on those things. Learn the difference between major matters and minor matters. Moses was becoming exhausted because he personally handled every problem, dispute, and crisis that arose among the Israelites. Perhaps he thought he had to do so, since he was the leader of the nation. But his father-in-law said to him, in essence, “You take care of the big things and leave the small stuff to someone else.” He went on to say, “‘If you follow this advice…you will be able to endure the pressures’…Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions” (vv. 23-24 NLT). Stop and think about it: Your life already has plenty of stress and strain, so why add more if you can avoid it? When you’re tempted to take on a “battle,” step back and decide if it’s worth it and what it will require from you. Don’t go to war when there are no spoils.
Soul food: Acts 16-17; Matt 10:1-10; Ps 140; Prov 16:3
2019-07-15
Psalm 127:3 NKJV
When someone loves you enough to leave you an inheritance, you should treasure it and treat it in a way that honors them. The Bible says that your children are a “heritage” from the Lord. So here’s a prayer for them: “Lord, I cannot begin to tell You how blessed and grateful I am for my children. I recognize each of them as a beautiful gift from You. You have given them to me to love and care for, to enjoy and celebrate, to delight in and raise so that they may come to know You as the greatest heritage of all. Thank You that no one, not even me, can ever be as good to them as You are. Because You have given me the privilege and responsibility of bringing them to You, teach me the importance of lifting them up before You each day in prayer. Keep them in the center of Your love and designed purpose. Bless them with the knowledge of who You are. Help them to put their trust in You and stay on the path of life You have for them. Enable them to recognize the gifts and the calling that You have put in them, and to follow Your leading as You develop them and use them for Your glory. Make Your face shine upon them, Your grace be with them, and Your love abound in them. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.” Are your children serving the Lord? If not, stand on this Bible promise: “‘There is hope in your future,’ says the Lord, ‘that your children shall come back to their own border [the principles they were taught]'” (Jeremiah 31:17 NKJV).
Soul food: Acts 14-15; Matt 9:27-38; Ps 133; Prov 16:2
2019-07-14
Isaiah 30:21 NKJV
Jesus understood God’s strategic plan for His life – the redemption of humankind – and lived each day of His life in the light of it. At the end of His life He could pray, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4 NKJV). Strategic planning is critical to success in any undertaking. And as a redeemed child of God, your strategy should come from God, otherwise pressures and people can take you in the wrong direction. Jesus could easily have gotten sidetracked by the demands of the crowd and the misguided thinking of His disciples. How did He avoid that? By nights spent in prayer, and predawn meetings with His Father seeking guidance. Jesus lived by this principle: “The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does…I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will” (John 5:19, 30 NLT). When seeking a plan for your life, the first book you should read is the Bible. Don’t adopt someone else’s plan unless God told you to do the same thing, or you’ll end up frustrated. You ask, “You mean God has a strategy and a plan for my life and that He will reveal it to me?” Yes. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.'”
Soul food: 1 Sam 21:1-6; Hosea 6:4-6; Matt 12:1-14
2019-07-13
John 21:20 NLT
The Bible says, “Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved – the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, ‘Lord, who will betray you?’ Peter asked Jesus, ‘What about him, Lord?’ Jesus replied, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.’ So the rumor spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t what Jesus said at all. He only said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?'” (vv. 20-23 NLT). When Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” he was referring to the apostle John, who enjoyed an especially close relationship with Christ. And Jesus said, “Get your eyes off John and keep them on Me. Follow Me and you can have a close relationship with Me too.” People will disappoint you, just as you will disappoint them. But Jesus will never disappoint you if you keep your eyes on Him and follow Him. Even with the best of intentions people will give you poor advice, and you will give them poor advice. But Jesus won’t. He doesn’t merely know the way, He says, “I am the way” (John 14:6 NKJV). He says, “He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12 NKJV). So the word for you today is about one of the most fundamental principles in Christian living: Get your eyes off people and keep them on Jesus.
Soul food: Acts 12-13; Matt 9:14-26; Ps 123; Prov 16:1
