2017-10-28
Isaiah 52:11 NKJV
One day a man was getting his windshield washed at a filling station. When the attendant finished, the man said, “That’s a terrible job. Redo my windshield – it’s as dirty as when you started.” So the attendant wiped it again. The man looked it over and in frustration said, “That window hasn’t changed a bit.” The man’s wife was sitting next to him in the car fuming. She reached over, pulled off his glasses, wiped them, and gave them back to him. The attendant had been doing his job correctly. The man himself was the problem all along. Spiritually speaking, the glasses you’re looking through determine what you see, and how you see it. When you look through the lens of jealousy and envy, you become resentful of the blessings of others. When you look through the lens of judgmentalism, you speak and act without mercy and grace. When you look through the lens of fear and unbelief, you limit God and forfeit what He can do for you. When you look through the lens of selfishness, you put yourself first and your loved ones suffer. When you look through the lens of negativity and cynicism, people begin to avoid you because you’re not enjoyable to be around. “Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.” Just as your glasses need to be wiped clean from the contamination around you, so do your heart and mind. How does this happen? Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3 KJV). Through prayer and daily Bible reading, your perspective on life is kept right.
Soul food: Isa 30-33; John 6:35-51; Ps 104:24-35; Prov 28:9-12
2017-10-27
Acts 9:15 NIV
Saul of Tarsus was the last person on earth you’d ever have expected to become a Christian, much less the author of half the New Testament. Describing his life before he met Christ, he wrote, “I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13 NKJV). So when God called Ananias to go and pray for Saul, he wasn’t too keen on the idea: “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel” (Acts 9:13-15 NIV). Ananias knew what Saul had done to the church. What he was about to learn, however, is that God was at work in Saul’s heart. Within a few short years God would use Paul to touch the world, but first He used Ananias to touch Paul. Has God given you a similar assignment? Has He given you a Saul? If so, don’t give up on him or her. When other people write them off, give them another chance. Ananias didn’t know about Paul’s encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road. God can go where you can’t, and get through to a person when you’re unable to reach them. Always remember: God never sends you where He hasn’t already been. So by the time you reach your Saul, who knows what you’ll find?
Soul food: Isa 26-29; John 6:25-34; Ps 104:1-23; Prov 28:5-8
1 Corinthians 13:11 CEV
People with strong faith can make you feel “less than,” when you compare yourself to them. One Bible teacher writes: “I admired those faith heroes whose flowery testimonies hung around the ceiling, like steam gathering in a shower. They seemed so changed, so sure, so stable. I thought God’s love was doled out according to a merit system. If I did well today, He loved me. If I failed, He didn’t. What a roller coaster! I didn’t realize everything that’s born needs time to grow and develop into maturity. I was expecting an immediate, powerful, all-inclusive metamorphosis that would transform me into perfection.” Do you feel that way, as if there is something wrong with you because you never seem to measure up? If so, read this: “When we were children, we…reasoned as children …But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways.” You start as a spiritual infant, then you become a spiritual child, then you become a spiritual adolescent, and eventually you become a spiritual adult. But you never “arrive.” And quick-fix, do-it-yourself righteousness will just make you try to impress others with a false sense of holiness. It will stop you from being honest before God and make you think you should be farther along than you are for your spiritual age. Do you remember when you were a child and you dressed up in your mom’s high heels or your dad’s work boots? No matter how much you wanted to fit into them, you couldn’t. That didn’t mean there was something wrong with you; it just meant you were exactly where you should have been for your age.
Soul food: Gen 13-16; John 11:45-57; Ps 118:10-18; Prov 31:10-13
2017-10-26
Psalm 103:3 NKJV
The Psalmist wrote, “Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” Notice which comes first: The consciousness that all your sins are forgiven precedes the healing of all your diseases. Note also the words “all your iniquities.” Some of us are comfortable with receiving partial forgiveness, but we refuse to allow God’s forgiveness to touch some dark areas we can’t let go of, and that we refuse to forgive ourselves for. Whatever those mistakes may be, allow God to forgive all your sins, and receive healing for all your diseases. Let the past go. Let the mistakes go. Allow yourself to be free, and learn to forgive yourself by receiving with an open heart God’s total and complete forgiveness. Stop hurting yourself, because Jesus was hurt for all your sins. Stop beating yourself up, because Jesus took all your beatings at the cross. Stop punishing yourself, because Jesus has received all the punishment due on your behalf. It’s time to stop asking yourself if you’ve done enough to earn God’s forgiveness and acceptance. They are undeserved – they cannot be achieved by struggle and self-effort; they can only be received by faith. If you gave someone you loved a birthday gift and they insisted on paying for it, how would you feel? Hurt? Upset? That’s how God feels when you try to “earn” His forgiveness, healing, and righteousness. The more you let the waterfall of God’s grace and forgiveness wash over you every day, the more you’ll receive His health for your body and His soundness for your mind.
Soul food: Isa 22-25; John 6:16-24; Ps 114; Prov 28:1-4
2017-10-25
1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT
For any relationship to work, we must accept each other’s differences. Within our family we must respect each other’s unique perspectives. We don’t need to agree on every issue, but we must always honor where the other person is coming from. Paul did that: “I try to find common ground with everyone.” Some of us who claim to follow Christ have a hard time with views and values that differ from our own. We think “compromise” is a dirty word. Some of us have turned from the most immoral lives to faith in Christ, yet after our conversion we won’t associate with anyone who doesn’t agree with us and adopt our newfound values. Sometimes our families fall apart because we try to force our opinions on the people we love, and set boundaries to keep nonconformists out. What a terrible misuse of Christianity! Jesus didn’t condemn the people who crucified Him; He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 NKJV). He didn’t view them as morally bad, but spiritually blind. He told His disciples, “No one can come to Me unless the Father…draws him” (John 6:44 NKJV). It’s your job to love people, and it’s God’s job to change them! So stop trying to do what only God can do! If you invest patiently in your relationships, respect other people’s perspectives, and sow good seed, you’ll reap a pleasant harvest in the long term. Your love, not the force of your argument, can give hope to the most severely damaged among us that there’s healing for the broken places of the human soul.
Soul food: Isa 17-21; John 6:1-15; Ps 127; Prov 27:25-27
Acts 10:28 CEV
From a Jewish point of view Cornelius, a Gentile, was a bad guy. He ate the wrong food, hung out with the wrong crowd, and swore allegiance to the wrong leader: Caesar. He didn’t quote the Torah or descend from Abraham. He was uncircumcised, unkosher, and unclean. Yet he did two things that got God’s attention. He prayed for spiritual enlightenment, and he was generous to the poor and needy. The Bible says he was “one who feared God with all his household…gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (v. 2 NKJV). Up until this point the gospel had been preached only to the Jews. But God was about to change that. And to do it He used Peter, one of the most religiously biased people you’ll ever meet. In a vision, God showed Peter a sheet being let down from heaven; it was filled with all kinds of food Jews are forbidden to eat. Peter protested, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean” (v. 14 NKJV). And since Peter was slow to understand, the sheet was let down three times. Finally a voice from heaven said, “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (v. 15 NKJV). As a result, Peter went to Cornelius’s house and preached the gospel. And before he could issue an invitation, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were present, confirming that this was God’s will. At that point Peter declared, “God has shown me that he doesn’t think anyone is unclean or unfit.” Let God show you that too!
Soul food: Gen 10-12; John 11:38-44; Ps 118:1-9; Prov 31:6-9
