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
2018-08-27
Daniel 6:27 NLT
One Bible teacher writes: “There have been times when I wanted God to rescue me from certain pits, but He didn’t. Why? Because He wanted me to learn that His grace was sufficient in the pit. The question is never, ‘What will God do when all around me spells destruction?’ The question is, ‘What will I do?’ I may not be able to conquer the lions, but I don’t have to – that’s God’s job. Daniel said, ‘My God sent his angel, and…shut the mouths of the lions…because I was found innocent in his sight’ (v. 22 NIV). I may not be able to stop legislation from being enacted against me, but like Daniel, I can call on my God. ‘He prayed three times a day’ (v. 10 NLT). Stop exhausting yourself fighting the Enemy and the conditions around you; they are too many. Just lean on God and be innocent of the charges made by those who are jealous or afraid because of your position with God and man. God didn’t rescue Daniel from the pit; He delivered him from the power of the enemy while he was in the pit. The lions were still there when Daniel left, waiting for their next victim. But they had no power over him – and as a redeemed child of God they have no power over you either. Daniel went on to prosper in the kingdom, and that’s what God plans for you too.” The Bible tells us, “He rescues and saves his people…He…rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” When you walk with God you can count on Him to protect you.
Soul food: 2 Chr 25-28; Luke 17:11-19; Ps 119:129-136; Prov 22:8-10
2018-08-26
Acts 2:17 NKJV
Jesus was called a “friend of…sinners” (Matthew 11:19). Why? Because He didn’t analyze and label people. He didn’t seek out the well-heeled and well-behaved. He included them, but He didn’t limit Himself to their company. He sought out those who were marginalized and ostracized by society, and reached out to them with God’s love. “But what about their sinful practices?” you ask. “Mightn’t it look like we’re excusing their lifestyle?” One day the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus, saying, “This woman was caught in adultery, in the very act” (John 8:4 NKJV). Notice what Jesus did; He stooped down to her level and brought her back up to His! Only then did He say, “Go and sin no more” (v. 11 NKJV). The fact is, if people could clean up their act before coming to the Lord, they wouldn’t need Him. The church was born when God’s Spirit was poured out on people from every race, culture, tradition, and background. You can’t have a genuine outpouring of the Spirit where people are alienated and excluded. When the world sees us coming together in unity under one anointing, they’re going to run again to the Upper Room crying, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Paul wrote: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first (the insiders) and also… the Greek (the outsiders)” (Romans 1:16 NKJV). As believers we have the formula for making broken people whole. But before we can share it with them and have credibility, we must first be united by the Spirit.
Soul food: John 10:1-18; Rev 7:13-17; Ps 23; Luke 15:1-7
