2018-03-27
Acts 27:31 NIV
Every church has problems – and the people who cause them. It has always been so. Consider the Corinthian church. Some members got drunk during communion, and others wouldn’t attend unless their favorite preacher was speaking. One guy was even having an affair with his stepmother (See 1 Corinthians 5:1). Sitting beside you on Sunday mornings are some very messed-up and dysfunctional folks. But God keeps working with us, because He sees our potential value to His kingdom. After writing about murmurers, complainers, the lustful, and the greedy, Jude ends his short book with these words: “Unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and…present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (v. 24). Noah didn’t jump ship for the same reason you shouldn’t leave your church – there’s no better alternative. Paul and 276 others were in a storm that looked unsurvivable. Nevertheless he told them, “Unless [you] stay on board the ship, you cannot be saved.” Does that mean it’s always wrong to leave a church? No, but make sure your reasons are scriptural and not self-centered. You say, “But the pastor’s sermons are too long.” Paul once preached so long that a man sitting in a third-story window fell sleep, plummeted to the ground, and died. And what did Paul do? He laid hands on him, revived him, set him back in the window and made him listen to the rest of the sermon! (See Acts 20:9-11). Seriously, if your church has problems, don’t leave; stay and pray. That’s how things get changed.
Soul food: Jer 4-6; Matt 27:11-19; Ps 55:12-23; Prov 8:19-21
2018-03-26
Ephesians 5:25 NKJV
Before you criticize your church, remember “Christ…loved the church and gave Himself for her.” He hasn’t given up on His church, so don’t you give up on it! And stop talking so much about what you don’t like. If your church was perfect, you’d be out of place! Noah didn’t sail on The Queen Mary; he sailed on a glorified cattle boat. Can you imagine the noise, the confusion, and the violent tossing of a ship in a storm big enough to destroy the world? And how about the smell? All those animals and only one funnel! But here’s the thing – everybody inside the ark was saved while everybody outside of it was lost. The story’s told of an aristocrat bragging about his lineage and pure-blooded ancestry. Irritated, one of his listeners remarked, “I suppose your forebears were on board the ark with Noah!” “No,” he replied, “My people had their own boat!” You may smile, but there’s only one craft that’s guaranteed to make it safely into heaven’s port, and that’s the old ship of salvation. Do things sometimes stink in the church? Sure. Jesus issued one of His harshest rebukes to Peter, the disciple who was destined to become a leader in the church: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest (smell) not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23). But the great thing is that when you mess up, the same grace that restored Peter will be there for you too. So the word for you today is: Love your church!
Soul food: Jer 1-3; Matt 27:1-10; Ps 55:1-11; Prov 8:17-18
2018-03-25
Hebrews 6:1 NLT
Is what worked in the past not working for you now? Maybe it’s a job you’ve outgrown, or a relationship you need to reexamine, or a method you need to change. Regardless of what it is, don’t become so settled that you can’t let go and move on when you need to. They say the hermit crab looks for a shell that fits him, and lives there until he outgrows it. At that point he has to scurry along the ocean floor and find a bigger one – a process that repeats itself throughout his entire life. So here’s the question: Are you clinging to something that no longer fits you just because it’s easy and familiar? David said, “You…freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress” (Psalm 4:1 AMPC). You must be willing to move out of your comfort zone and deal with a little “distress.” That’s what makes you grow. Patience and persistence are admirable qualities, but they don’t work in situations you’ve outgrown. Instead of “hanging in” and trying harder, at certain points in life you have to stop and ask yourself, “Is this situation good for me?” If you’re not sure, ask God for “an understanding heart so that [you] can…know the difference between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9 NLT). And when He tells you what to do – do it – even though at first it won’t feel comfortable. When God says it’s time to move on, it’s because there’s another shell out there designed to fit you even better.
Soul food: Matt 21:1-16; Ps 118:19-29
2018-03-24
Matthew 9:36 NKJV
The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines “compassion” as “being moved in one’s bowels” (the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity). It shares a root system with splanchnology, the study of the visceral [inner] parts of the body. Compassion, then, is a reaction from deep within – a kick in the gut, if you will. Perhaps that’s why we turn away when we see news reports of children starving in refugee camps, and hear about the 1.7 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day and go to bed hungry every night. It’s too much for us – especially when we perceive the need as so overwhelming that we couldn’t begin to meet it. But what if you could? What if you could make life better for one hurting person? “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand…lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength” (Acts 3:6-7 NKJV). What if Peter had said, “I have no silver or gold, so I’ll just keep my mouth shut and pass on by”? But he didn’t, and as a result a crippled man who’d sat begging for thirty-eight years rose up and walked into a new life. You say, “But I don’t have that kind of power!” No, but God does! And when you see someone’s need and reach out your hand to meet it – God will release His power! It’s your compassion that flips the switch. So, today, act with compassion.
Soul food: Hos 11-14; Matt 26:57-75; Ps 13; Prov 8:14-16
2018-03-23
Psalm 46:1-2 CEV
One day a woman was driving through the countryside when she saw a tornado approaching, so she hid behind her car and watched as it demolished a nearby house. Running over to what was now a hole in the ground, she saw a man hunkered down with his eyes closed. “Are you okay? Is there anybody down there with you?” she asked. “No,” he replied. “Just me and God having an urgent conversation!” Nothing fuels prayer like real need; in a crisis even unbelievers will pray. There are some issues in life we simply can’t resolve on our own, hence the Psalmist wrote, “When I am in trouble, I pray, knowing you…listen” (Psalm 86:7 CEV). Sometimes our prayers are simply cries for help meant for God’s ears only. When you’re out of options, your faith develops fast and emergencies become opportunities to experience God’s grace and power in a greater way. So if you’re in an S.O.S. situation today, here’s a prayer God will answer: “Father, it feels like I’m in an impossible position with no way out. Let me feel Your presence and the encouragement of Your Spirit, reminding me that with You all things are possible to those who believe. Send the answer from heaven to my earthly situation. From where I stand, things look hopeless. But You are the God who created the earth from nothing, and rolled back the Red Sea so Your children could cross over safely. You made the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear. Today I thank You that You’re my God, and that You are ‘always ready to help in times of trouble.'”
Soul food: Hos 6-10; Matt 26:47-56; Ps 116:12-19; Prov 8:10-13
2018-03-22
Proverbs 15:15 NLT
The story’s told of a wise old man. Every day he and his granddaughter would sit outside his gas station in rocking chairs, waiting to greet tourists as they passed through their small town. One day a tall man with the appearance of a tourist started looking around like he was checking out the area for a place to live. “So what kind of town is this anyway?” he asked. The old man replied, “Well, what kind of town are you from?” The man replied, “One where the people are critical of each other. It’s a real negative place to live.” The old man said, “You know, that’s just how this town is too.” Later, a family passing through also stopped for gas. The father stepped out and asked the old man, “Is this town a good place to live?” “Well, what about the town you’re from?” he replied. The man said, “Where I’m from everyone’s close, and always willing to lend a helping hand. I really hate to leave it.” The old man smiled and said, “You know what, that’s a lot like this town.” After the family drove off, the old man’s granddaughter looked up and asked, “Grandpa, how come you told the first man this was a terrible place to live, and when the second family asked, you told them it was a wonderful place to live?” The old man looked into her big blue eyes and said, “Sweetheart, no matter where you go, you take your attitude with you – and that’s what makes it terrible or wonderful.” Yes, life is what you make it! Which is why the Bible says, “For the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”
Soul food: Hos 1-5; Matt 26:26-46; Ps 116:1-11; Prov 8:8-9
