2018-09-02
Romans 8:31 KJV
In his family’s eyes, David would never be more than a shepherd (See 1 Samuel 16:11-12). But in God’s eyes, he was Israel’s next king. It’s amazing how people categorize us the moment we’re born. Somebody says you “look exactly like so-and-so,” or convinces you that you’re “just an average student,” or a “plain Jane.” And before you know it, you end up believing their assessments and opinions. Evidently some folks considered Timothy too young to be a leader. That’s why Paul wrote and told him, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young” (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV). Our list of other people’s perceived shortcomings can be harsh and unforgiving. It includes things like being poor, uneducated, physically or mentally challenged, or ethnically different. It even takes into account the foolish mistakes they made years ago. Ask yourself, would you like to be measured with that yardstick? Didn’t think so! When Adam Clarke, one of England’s most prolific eighteenth century preachers, was young, his father told Adam’s teacher he didn’t think his son would do well in school. The teacher replied, “He looks very bright to me.” Adam heard those words – and they changed his life by letting him out of the box his father put him in. Clarke lived to be seventy-two, became a famous Methodist minister, and gave the world one of its greatest Bible commentaries. So get rid of your labels and life-limiting thoughts, and start dreaming. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” When God is in your corner, you can rise to the top like cream!
Soul food: Phil 2:5-11; Rev 19:11-16; Acts 3:1-16; Matt 1:18-21
2018-09-01
Genesis 32:25 NKJV
When you try to run from God, you keep running into Him at every turn. It happened to Jacob. He ran from his brother Esau’s anger, and when things got too hot in his father-in-law’s house, he ran from there too. Finally, when he could run no more, he ran into God at a place called Peniel. And it was there that his name was changed from Jacob the deceiver, to Israel, which means “a prince with God.” The Bible says: “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ So He said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed'” (vv. 24-28 NKJV). When God dislocated Jacob’s hip, in essence He was telling him, “Your running days are over, and your limp will be a constant reminder of your total dependence on Me.” We all need a “Jacob experience.” Oswald Chambers said when God wants to use a man, “He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him.” Everything Jacob needed, he found when he ran into the arms of God. The same is true for you.
Soul food: Josh 1-4; Luke 19:1-10; Ps 84; Prov 22:24-26
2018-08-31
Mark 14:3 NKJV
Do you remember the prostitute who anointed Jesus? “A woman…having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard…broke the flask and poured it on His head.” She gave her most precious possession to Jesus. Not only was it extremely valuable, it was also part of her sex appeal. Breaking it open was her way of breaking with her past. She was giving up her former life by giving that jar to Jesus. Remember the revival that broke out in Ephesus? Those who practiced sorcery burned their scrolls publicly. The value of those scrolls was estimated at 50,000 drachmas. A drachma was a silver coin worth a day’s wages. That’s 138 years of wages! They could have sold those scrolls and pocketed the money, but they would have been selling their souls. Instead they made a $3,739,972.50 statement of faith. Our problem is that we want God to do something new for us, while we keep doing the same old thing. We want Him to change our circumstances without having to change us at all. But if we’re asking God for new wine, we will need a new wineskin. Change is a two-sided coin that reads: Out with the old, and in with the new! Most of us get stuck spiritually because we keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Spiritual routines are a crucial part of spiritual growth, but when the routine becomes routine, you need to change it. What got you to where you are, may not get you to where God wants you to go next.
Soul food: 3 John; Jude; Luke 18:31-43; Ps 119:169-176; Prov 22:20-23
2018-08-30
Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV
Experienced runners know if they can just keep going, eventually they’ll get their “second wind.” Some refer to it as “runner’s high,” a release of adrenalin that makes you feel like you could run all day. So the word for you today is: Keep running until you get your second wind! Paul says: “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and…run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of…God…consider Him who endured such hostility…lest you become weary and discouraged” (vv. 1-3 NKJV). Note the word “endured.” Don’t let what’s going on around you sabotage what God’s doing within you. Generally speaking, your outlook is affected by what’s happening now. A drowning man isn’t too impressed with something good that’s going to happen tomorrow; he needs help today. Keep in mind that what you’re going through right now is temporary – so look for a turnaround. In the Old Testament God told Isaiah, “Comfort my people…Tell them they have suffered long enough and their sins are now forgiven” (Isaiah 40:1-2 GNT). Then He went on to make them this wonderful promise: “The hills will become a plain, and the rough country will be made smooth. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it. The Lord himself has promised this” (vv. 4-5 GNT). Claim that promise for yourself today – and keep running!
Soul food: 2 Chr 35-36; 2 John; Luke 18:18-30; Ps 119:161-168; Prov 22:17-19
2018-08-29
Acts 2:38 NKJV
A sign on a church bulletin board read, “Try God Week.” The idea was simple enough: If you try Him for a week and don’t like the results, you can go back to your old life again. Peter didn’t tell the crowd on the Day of Pentecost to try God for a week. He preached, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (vv. 38-39 NKJV). A fish doesn’t try water; it needs water in order to survive. A plant doesn’t try soil; it needs soil in order to grow. Likewise, you don’t try God; you need God because there’s a void within you only He can fill. And He wants to do more than just come into your life; He wants to take over your life! “But I struggle with certain weaknesses,” you say. The truth is we’re all born with certain proclivities; some are just more obvious than others. That’s why every one of us needs to “be born again” (John 3:3). As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, although he had a natural birth he needed a spiritual birth to enter God’s kingdom. Salvation and the guarantee of heaven take place immediately; all you have to do is put your trust in Christ. But submitting to the lordship of Jesus is a project you’ll be working on from the new birth to the New Jerusalem.
Soul food: 2 Chr 32-34; Luke 18:1-17; Ps 119:145-160; Prov 22:14-16
2018-08-28
Judges 6:26 NKJV
The story’s told of a family that wanted to have its history chronicled, so they hired a professional biographer. There was just one problem. They were worried about Uncle George, the black sheep of the family who had been executed in the electric chair for committing several murders. “No problem,” said the biographer. “I’ll simply say Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution; that he was attached to his position by the strongest ties, and that his death came as a real shock.” Seriously: When it comes to your upbringing and family tree, sometimes you can’t do better than learn from it! But by God’s grace you can do a lot about your future. Your parents may have stumbled in spiritual blindness, but you can walk in the light of God’s Word – and take your family with you. Gideon, an Old Testament hero, grew up in a family of idol-worshippers. It was a cultural thing; everybody did it. But God had plans for Gideon, so the angel of the Lord visited him one day and said, “Tear down the altar of Baal that your father has…and build an altar to the Lord your God” (vv. 25-26 NKJV). Now, that wasn’t an easy thing for Gideon to do because by nature he was a fearful person. And when he stepped out in faith to obey God, the townsfolk wanted to kill him. But because Gideon said yes to God, he ended up changing his entire family. So the word for you today is: Change in your family can begin with you. Indeed, if not you – then who?
Soul food: 2 Chr 29-31; Luke 17:20-37; Ps 119:137-144; Prov 22:11-13
