2019-02-05
Proverbs 22:6 TM
Journalist William Hodding Carter wrote, “There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other is wings.” Children who know they are loved unconditionally are children with roots. Consequently they’re able stand up to whatever life throws at them. By the same token, when you instill in your children a sense of self-confidence and encourage them to dream, you’re giving them wings. And any time children are given the will to win, they’re already halfway to success. But if you let them grow up without it, they’re already halfway to failure. That means as a parent you must demonstrate faith in your children so that they learn to have faith in themselves. Every child has within them a God-given seed of greatness, and when you let them know you believe in them, you’re watering that seed and giving it a chance to grow. Have you noticed how people generally rise or fall in accordance with your level of expectation? When you constantly criticize kids they grow up to be negative, self-doubting, and fearful. But when you believe in them and assume they will do well, they’ll go the extra mile by trying to live up to your expectations. It’s your faith in them that creates the environment in which they learn to fly! Give them money and they’ll spend it. Give them resources and they’ll squander them. But give them faith in God and in themselves, and chances are they’ll excel at whatever they do in life.
Soul food: Gen 13-16; Luke 8:16-25; Ps 120; Prov 3:33-35
2019-02-04
Acts 27:25 NIV
On his way to Rome, Paul went through a devastating storm. His story teaches us three valuable lessons: (1) Your disobedience can cause a storm. Because the captain wouldn’t heed Paul’s warning, he lost his ship, his cargo, and almost his life. Your disobedience can cause a storm in your health, your finances, your family, and your career. God doesn’t preface His commandments by saying, “If you feel like it, do this.” No. He means what He says and He intends it for your good, so pay attention! (2) You’re not alone in the storm. God is with you and He’s watching over you. Paul said: “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not…God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God” (vv. 23-25). With God on board, there’s not a storm powerful enough to take you under. (3) When you stand on God’s promises, you have His authority. Paul may have looked like a prisoner, but in reality he had more power than the captain. Though bound in chains, he was the freest man on the ship. You see, when you’ve heard clearly from God, you can handle any situation because His Word says: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper…every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17). So the word for you today is: Keep trusting God and He will bring you through this storm!
Soul food: Gen 10-12; Luke 8:1-15; Ps 108; Prov 3:31-32
2019-02-03
Galatians 6:2 NIV
Everyone you meet is hiding something, and it’s not because they’re deceptive. It’s because some wounds are too personal to talk about. When you receive a harsh word from your husband, the pain can be too deep to discuss. Or when your husband hears acid words from you, he’s crushed inside but can’t show it. So you both go off to lick your wounds, and try to avoid comments and questions from others. Is that where you are today – struggling with something too difficult to talk about? If so, remember other people are doing the same! Often their anger is a symptom of their hurt, and their seeming aloofness is just hiding their fear of being known and perhaps rejected. Jesus saw the best in people, and He went out of His way to be gracious to them and lift their burdens. Do you remember how He treated the woman caught in the act of adultery? (See John 8:1-11). He lifted her up, because with Him every weed is a potential rose! Remind yourself that others are going through things they’re not discussing with you. They’re crying tears you don’t see and feeling isolated in ways you can’t imagine. So instead of adding to their burden, try to ease it. You may be the only healer that crosses their path today. And when you help lift their burden – God will lift yours. The Bible says, “Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8). Today, ask God to make you a burden bearer.
Soul food: Exo 16:1-35; John 6:30-40
2019-02-02
Proverbs 30:8 NLT
When you think about it, you can be rich in one of two ways: either in how much you have, or in how little you want. Much of the recent debt crisis has been caused by our failure to be satisfied with enough. In a brilliant section of Proverbs penned by the mysterious Agur, we find this prayer: “O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name'” (vv. 7-9 NLT). Having read that, always try to observe these six rules when it comes to borrowing. Debt is wrong: (1) When it’s beyond your ability to repay it on a timely basis. (2) When it prevents you from giving God what’s rightfully His. (3) When the burden of debt is so heavy that you can’t save for the future. (4) When it’s used to pay for the luxuries of life. (5) When you put others at risk by having them cosign a note (See Proverbs 6:1-6). (6) When it puts your marriage under financial pressure. Financial expert Larry Burkett said credit is the motivating factor for perhaps 80 percent of all divorces. That’s not to say being rich guarantees you’ll never have family problems. It’s simply saying that putting money first and your family second can make you nothing more than a wealthy failure. So before you borrow, pray and ask God for wisdom.
Soul food: Gen 7-9; Luke 7:36-50; Ps 111; Prov 3:29-30
2019-02-01
1 Thessalonians 4:18 TM
In the movie Heaven Is for Real, Colton Burpo was only four years old when he survived an emergency appendectomy. Over the next few months, he talked of his visit to heaven. He described exactly what his parents were doing during the surgery, and told stories of people he had met in heaven – people he had never met on earth or been told about. He told his mother, “You had a baby die in your tummy, didn’t you?” His parents had never mentioned the miscarriage; he was too young to process it. His mother asked, “Who told you I had a baby die in my tummy?” He replied, “She did, Mommy. She said she died in your tummy.” Then he added, “It’s okay, Mommy. She’s okay. God adopted her.” His mother said, “Don’t you mean Jesus adopted her?” He replied, “No, Mommy, His dad did!” His mother’s eyes lit up and she asked, “What was her name? What was the little girl’s name?” Four-year-old Colton said, “She doesn’t have a name. You guys didn’t name her.” And he had one more memory. He shared it before he went out to play: “Yeah, she said she can’t wait for you and Daddy to get to heaven.” And right now someone in heaven is saying the same thing about you, looking forward to the day when God’s family is back together. And shouldn’t we be doing the same? The Bible says, “Then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.”
Soul food: Gen 4-6; Luke 7:24-35; Ps 107:33-43; Prov 3:27-28
2019-01-31
Proverbs 22:7 NLT
Albert Einstein believed the Rule of 72 (the compounding of interest) was a more important discovery than his theory of relativity. Here’s the rule: Divide 72 by the interest rate of your savings to discover the number of years in which your savings will double. For instance, one thousand dollars saved at 6 percent annual interest becomes two thousand dollars in twelve years. But credit card issuers also know the Rule of 72. For example, if you make a one-thousand-dollar purchase on your credit card at 18 percent interest and don’t pay it off, that balance becomes two thousand dollars in just four years. Instead of earning you money, your one thousand dollars is earning huge profits for the credit card company. The Bible says, “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.” Have you any idea how many marriages are in trouble, or how many people are on medication because they’re drowning in debt? God doesn’t want you to live that way. When God made the world, He established this rule: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest…shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22 NKJV). If you want a harvest when you need it, you must sow – even when you don’t feel like it. When you sow a single tomato seed you’ll get back many more in return – it’s only a matter of time. So reduce your debt and be a good steward of the funds God has entrusted to you. Then you can stand on this promise: “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Soul food: Gen 1-3; Luke 7:11-23; Ps 107:23-32; Prov 3:25-26
