2019-07-22
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
Gratitude doesn’t come naturally to us, but grumbling does. No one had more cause to grumble than Joseph. Abandoned, enslaved, betrayed, and estranged. Those are the chapter titles for his life story. Yet when he talks about it you won’t hear a tinge of bitterness. Instead, you’ll hear the opposite. In naming his two sons, he makes them living, breathing, lifelong testimonies of his gratitude to God. “Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, ‘God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.’ Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, ‘God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief'” (Genesis 41:51-52 NLT). Notice two things. First, Joseph looked at the past and gave God thanks for what He had brought him through. And you need to do that too. Whether it’s stuff others did to you, or stuff you did to them, God’s grace brought you through it. There’s only one good reason to bring up the past, and that’s to remember how God guided, protected, and blessed you in it. Second, Joseph looked at the present. “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.” Do you remember a time when you thought you wouldn’t make it? And when others thought you wouldn’t make it, too? Look what the Lord has done in your life! In spite of the obstacles and the opposition He has blessed and taken care of you. Turn off the complaining faucet and turn on the thanksgiving faucet. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God…for you.”
Soul food: Acts 27-28; Matt 11:10-19; Ps 42:1-5; Prov 16:16
2019-07-21
2 Kings 3:8 NIV
The Israelites discovered that for them, the way into the Promised Land was through the wilderness. One Bible teacher refers to it as “God’s killing field.” He says: “In the wilderness experiences of life, the things that cause you to stumble in your walk with God are permitted to die. There He weeds out those who want only a superficial relationship from those who long to know Him intimately. It’s where you learn to stand in faith and to cast all your cares on Him, because there’s nowhere else to turn. It’s where God says, ‘I finally have you where I want you.’ Sometimes He will lead you into the wilderness abruptly. This is especially so when He’s been trying to get your attention and talk to you about a calling He’s placed on your life, and until now you haven’t had time to listen. Suddenly you realize that God is the only One who can get you through the situation you’re in. He permits you to be stripped of pride so you can be clothed with humility; stripped of self-sufficiency so you can be brought to the place of total dependence on Him.” If you’re going through a wilderness experience, don’t think God is punishing you or that He has forsaken you. He’s just allowing some things to die so that other things can be born in you and grow into fruitfulness. Be encouraged; you will come through this! By God’s grace you’ll get to your destination. The truth is, the only way to reach the destination God has planned for you is through the wilderness.
Soul food: 1 Sam 5:1-6:16; Rev 11:15-19
2019-07-20
Nehemiah 6:3 NIV
When it came to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah discovered that not everyone around him wanted him to succeed. To stop the work, his enemies used two things – threats and rumors. Nevertheless he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in less than two months. How did he do it? He stayed focused on what mattered and refused to be distracted. “They were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer” (Nehemiah 6:2-4 NIV). In the parlance of today, they emailed him. They tagged him with tweets. They left messages on his mobile device. Over and over they tried to distract and detour him with dialogue. But he refused to fight. His voicemail greeting sounded something like this: “You have reached the home of Nehemiah. I’m not here. I’m carrying on a great project right now. If this is Sanballat, Tobiah, or Geshem, you’re wasting your time. If it’s anybody else, please leave a message after the beep.” When you decide what your life’s priorities are, they will help you decide everything else. They will help you keep your eye on the ball. When life seems to be against you, ask yourself, “What are my biggest priorities for this day? For this week?” Settle those in your mind and be laser-beam focused on them as you pursue the assignment God has given you.
Soul food: Acts 24-26; Matt 11:1-9; Ps 1; Prov 16:10-15
2019-07-19
Proverbs 4:25 NIV
Years ago an airliner crashed into the Florida Everglades. On its approach to the Miami airport, the light indicator for proper deployment of the landing gear failed. They flew circles over the swamps of the Everglades while the cockpit crew checked to see if the gear truly had not deployed, or if the bulb in the signal light was defective. When the flight engineer tried to remove the signal light assembly it wouldn’t budge, so the other members of the crew joined in and tried to help him. As they struggled with the light assembly, none of them noticed that the aircraft was losing altitude. As a result the plane flew right into the swamp, killing 101 people on board. All was lost because the crew fiddled with a six-dollar lightbulb and took their eyes off what mattered most. In life you’ll be tempted to choose what seems urgent over what seems important. As you try to keep your eye on the ball, this dilemma will constantly threaten your focus: “How do I choose what is best over what is merely good? Or the long-term perspective over the short-term one?” You must not lose focus; your task is too important. Solomon bottom-lines it: “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left” (Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV).
Soul food: Acts 22-23; Matt 10:32-42; Ps 65; Prov 16:8-9
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
