2019-09-01
Micah 6:8 NIV
The prophet Micah asks: “With what shall I come before the Lord…Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings…with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for…the sin of my soul?” (vv. 6-7 NIV). Do you feel like you can never be good enough to please God? Does religion look to you like a set of impossible, guilt-inducing demands designed to appease a distant deity who takes delight in making us squirm? Thank God for Micah, who comes along and dispels that notion by telling us, “He has showed you, O man, what is good” (v. 8 RSV). Because you’ve been redeemed and filled with God’s Spirit, you can: (1) “Do right” even when nobody else is. Why? In order to maintain your confidence before God! (See 1 John 3:21-22). Nothing in your life is more important than that. (2) “Love mercy.” Remember the old Nancy Sinatra hit song, “These boots were made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you”? Jesus went through life lifting people up, not walking all over them. And His Word to you today is: “Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37). (3) “Walk humbly with your God.” When God promotes you, your greatest challenge will be to make sure He gets all the glory. Every good thing you have today is a gift from Him; try to remember that! So the word for you today is: “Do right…love mercy…walk humbly.”
Soul food: Jonah 1:10-2:10; Matt 12:38-42
2019-08-31
1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
Next time you pass a McDonald’s, think about this statement from the founder Ray Kroc. “Press on! Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not: Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” As you read about the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11 you discover that they shut the mouths of lions, administered justice, fulfilled promises, and even raised the dead. It’s a spectacular list of accomplishments. But in the middle of the account you also find these words: “Whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle” (Hebrews 11:34 NIV). Notice, they started out weak and became strong. How? Through persistence and determination! The problem is we’re not always willing to fight for what we want. But without conflict there can be no conquest. An Anglican bishop once quipped, “Why is it that everywhere the apostle Paul went they had a revolution, but everywhere I go they have a cup of tea?” Paul didn’t blend in, he stood out! On his first missionary journey he was stoned and left for dead. On his second they threw him in prison. And how did he handle it? On one occasion he prayed and praised God until his prison doors opened. So the word for you today is: “Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully.” If you’re looking for a statement of purpose to live by, adopt this one.
Soul food: Ezek 22-23; Matt 22:23-33; Ps 142; Prov 19:21-23
2019-08-30
Job 1:21 NLT
Have you ever heard the saying, “Old too soon, wise too late”? Don’t let that be your story. Three of the titans who built America were Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Rockefeller. After attending Vanderbilt’s funeral, Carnegie and Rockefeller spent the rest of their lives seeing how much money they could give away to do good. Death has a way of showing us the brevity of life and changing our perspective. Carnegie died in his eighties and Rockefeller in his nineties, but they both died! We all do. The question is will you merely make a living or will you make a difference? One businessman told his friend: “I don’t think I’m trapped on this treadmill forever, but I’m certainly involved with it right now…it’s the old merry-go-round of how much money is enough? And it’s never enough. Three years ago I thought: ‘Just a little more…now I make twice as much, and it’s still not enough.'” Solomon writes, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10 NAS). Have you told yourself that when you get a certain amount of money you’ll be happy and secure? Maybe and maybe not. When you trust in anything other than God, you live fearfully because you’ll always be vulnerable to circumstances you cannot control. Jesus bottom-lined it this way: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33 NLT).
Soul food: Ezek 20-21; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 111; Prov 19:18-20
2019-08-29
Joshua 1:5 NIV
The Bible says, “After the death of Moses…the Lord said to Joshua…’Moses my servant is dead…get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to [you]'” (vv. 1-2 NIV). Joshua knew Moses was dead, and Israel knew it too. So why did God remind him? Because Joshua wasn’t just following a leader, he was following a legend. Moses had been Israel’s security blanket for forty years. He was the quintessential go-to guy. He led an entire generation out of 400 years of captivity in a single night. He parted a sea with the wave of a stick. He prayed and God rained down bread from heaven each day. When the nation was about to die of thirst, he struck a rock and water filled canteens. By any measurement, Moses was a massive success. But why? Was it his ingenuity? His creativity? His genius? No, it was the presence of God in his life. But now Moses was gone, and for Joshua that was bad news. But the good news was that God remained. “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” You say, “But that’s an Old Testament promise.” Then read this: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV). Today God has promised to be with you. Believe Him!
Soul food: Ezek 16:53-19:14; Matt 22:1-14; Ps 103:13-22; Prov 19:17
2019-08-28
Galatians 4:19 NIV
When you become a Christian you discover that part of you wants to walk “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), while another part wants to walk “after the flesh” (Romans 8:5). And you would, if it weren’t for God’s Spirit who lives in your divided house and “groans” when you do certain things, challenging you with God’s Word (See John 16:7-14). The truth is, your new heart is still living in your old body. One author writes: “When I first came to Christ I thought others had mastered a level of holiness that always eluded me. So I attacked my carnality with passion! I didn’t realize that everything that’s born needs time to grow. I was expecting an immediate, all-inclusive metamorphosis that would make me the kind of person God could really love. I now realize His love isn’t doled out on a merit system: If you do well, He loves you, and if you don’t, He doesn’t.” God doesn’t want do-it-yourself righteousness. The Bible says, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Paul writes, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” God alone knows the process it will take for the Christ who saved you to be formed in you! We each travel our own paths at our own pace, but our goal is the same: to bear a greater resemblance to our heavenly Father. And getting us there is God’s job – so let Him do it. Your job is to keep walking with Him day by day as He does it.
Soul food: Ezek 14:1-16:52; Matt 21:33-46; Ps 103:1-12; Prov 19:12-16
2019-08-27
Genesis 32:24 NLT
Some of your toughest battles in life will be with God. That’s because there’s a “Jacob nature” in each of us that resists the will of God, and it has to be dealt with. The same God who asked Jacob, “What is your name?” will ask you to identify yourself too. And until you’re willing to do an honest evaluation and answer truthfully, your life can’t change for the better. God had to break Jacob by dislocating his hip, the thing he depended on. Jacob got his blessing at the same time he got his limp. Ask yourself, “Do I really want the blessing of God on my life?” Before you answer, stop and ask yourself these questions: (1) Am I willing to let go of what I want if it’s not God’s will for me? (2) Do I covet what others have instead of waiting for God’s provision for me? (3) Do I keep talking about my rights because I haven’t fully surrendered to the Lord? (4) Do I truly love others and think of them first? (5) Am I practicing the daily disciplines of prayer and Bible reading? (6) Am I allowing God to handle my public relations instead of promoting myself? (7) Am I expressing joy in the midst of adversity and trusting God to reproduce the character of Jesus in me? (8) Am I taking risks in obedience to Christ instead of giving in to fear and playing it safe? Not only will your answers to these questions determine your discipleship, your direction, and your destiny – they will also determine your level of blessing.
Soul food: Ezek 10-13; Matt 21:18-32; Ps 84; Prov 19:11
