2017-09-26
Philippians 4:11 NIV
Discontentment is a trap that can ensnare you and rob you of joy and fulfilment. That’s why the Bible says you must learn to be content “whatever the circumstances.” The notion that a bigger car or a bigger house or a bigger salary will bring you contentment is a myth. There will always be something “bigger and better” out there. There will always be people who have more than you, so you’ll never be able to get off the treadmill. That’s not to imply you should be satisfied with being enslaved to debt or destructive habits, or settle for complacency and mediocrity and not fulfil the call of God on your life. Not at all! You must keep working to improve yourself, while remaining totally dependent on God to bless you, promote you, and meet your needs. Contentment means not coveting another person’s position, possessions, or personality. Your security and self-worth should be based on who you are in Christ, not what you have in material assets. What a great way to live! Paul lived like that. He said, “I’ve learned…to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am” (vv. 11-13 TM). Each day you have a choice to make regarding your attitude. So the word for you today is: Learn to be content.
Soul food: 1 Cor 4-6; Mark 14:66-72; Ps 91; Prov 25:9-12
2017-09-25
Luke 22:31 CEV
Luke writes: “Jesus said, ‘Simon, listen to me! Satan has demanded the right to test each one of you, as a farmer does when he separates wheat from the husks. But Simon, I have prayed that your faith will be strong. And when you have come back to me, help the others'” (vv. 31-32 CEV). Satan’s attack proves you have an important part to play in the plan of God. That’s why he’s trying so hard to defeat you. The truth is, the intensity and duration of his attack is an indication of your value to God and the level of blessing that God has planned for you on the other side of the attack. So if you belong to Christ, view the attack as a sign of respect. And remember Who is in control. Satan needed God’s permission to attack Job. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18 NIV). And this is proof. The purpose of this test is to provide you with a testimony to God’s goodness. Jesus was allowing Peter to experience a trial so that he could encourage his brothers. Perhaps God is doing the same with you. He knows that the church, and the world, need living testimonies of His power. So your difficulty may be preparing you to be a voice of encouragement to others who are struggling. Remember what Joseph said to his brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20 NAS). Since God loves you and is in control of your life, good things will come from the difficulties you are going through right now.
Soul food: 1 Cor 1-3; Mark 14:53-65; Ps 13; Prov 25:4-8
2017-09-24
1 Corinthians 5:5 CEV
Satan’s attack can be a wake-up call. Do you know that when you refuse to acknowledge your sin and repent of it, the wall of protection around you is breached and Satan is free to come in and attack you? Paul writes to the Corinthian church: “I have heard terrible things about some of you. In fact, you are behaving worse than the Gentiles. A man is even sleeping with his own stepmother. You are proud, when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like that” (vv. 1-2 CEV). Then Paul instructs the leaders of the church, “You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.” Later the man repented of his sin and Paul said he should be restored to fellowship in the church. So what Paul was saying, in essence, was: “Let him be driven to despair that he might be driven back into the arms of God.” Again Paul writes: “Some people have made a mess of their faith because they didn’t listen to their consciences. Two of them are Hymenaeus and Alexander. I have given these men over to the power of Satan, so that they will learn not to oppose God” (1 Timothy 1:19-20 CEV). Does God enjoy seeing us suffer? No more than a parent enjoys disciplining a child. But holy love makes tough choices. (Remember, discipline should result in mercy, not misery.) Some of us are awakened by a tap on the shoulder, while others need a two-by-four on the head. And whenever God needs a two-by-four, Satan gets the call.
Soul food: Prov 25:1-3; Jam 1:2-8
2017-09-23
Job 42:11 NCV
Satan’s attack can strengthen your faith. The Devil dared to question the stability of Job’s faith, so God gave him permission to test Job. “The Lord said to Satan, ‘All right then. Everything Job has is in your power, but you must not touch Job himself'” (Job 1:12 NCV). Notice, God set both the permission and the parameters of the struggle. Job passes the test and Satan complains that Job would have fallen had he been forced to face pain. Again God gives permission, and again He sets the parameters: “Job is in your power, but you may not take his life” (Job 2:6 NCV). Though the pain and the questions are abundant, in the end Job’s faith and health are greater than ever. Again, we may not understand the reason for the test, but we know its source. Read this verse from the last chapter of the book of Job. The family of Job “comforted him and made him feel better about the trouble the Lord had brought on him.” Satan has no power except that which God gives him. Even when Satan appears to win, he loses. Martin Luther was right on target when he described the Devil as God’s tool, a hoe He uses to care for His garden. The hoe never cuts what the Gardener intends to save, and never saves what the Gardener intends to weed. Surely a part of Satan’s punishment is the frustration he feels in unwillingly serving as a tool to create a garden for God. So be encouraged today: Satan’s attack will strengthen your faith, refine it, and take it to greater heights.
Soul food: Zech 12-14; Mark 14:43-52; Ps 54; Prov 25:1-3
2017-09-22
2 Corinthians 12:7 NIV
Satan’s attack can drive you closer to God. That was true in Paul’s life. Think of Paul’s résumé: a personal audience with the resurrected Christ, a participant in heavenly visions, an apostle chosen by God, an author of the Bible. He healed the sick, travelled the world, and penned some of history’s greatest documents. Few could rival his achievements. And maybe he knew it. But God loved Paul too much to allow pride to destroy him. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” We aren’t told the nature of the thorn, but we’re told its purpose – to keep Paul humble. We are also told its origin – a messenger of Satan. The messenger could have been a pain, a problem, or a person who was a pain. We don’t know. But we do know that the messenger was under God’s control. Note what Paul says next: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 8-10 NIV). Here’s a truth that can transform every test into a potential triumph: Satan and his forces are simply a tool in the hand of God to strengthen you.
Soul food: Zech 9-11; Mark 14:27-42; Ps 52; Prov 24:32-34
2017-09-21
1 John 4:4 NCV
Satan is a fallen angel who wasn’t satisfied to worship God; he wanted to occupy His throne. Angels, like humans, were made to serve and worship God. And they were given free will; otherwise, how could they worship? But Satan said, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14 NIV). That got him evicted from heaven: “You are brought down to…the depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15 NIV). And Satan hasn’t changed. He’s as self-centred now as he was then, and he’s just as limited now as he was then. Even when his heart was good, he was inferior to God. God knows everything; angels only know what He reveals. God is everywhere; angels can only be in one place. God is all-powerful; angels are only as powerful as God allows them to be. So Satan is still subservient to God. And every time he tries to advance his cause, he ends up advancing God’s cause. In The Serpent of Paradise, pastor and author Erwin Lutzer writes: “Satan has different roles to play, depending on God’s counsel and purposes…We must bear in mind that he does have frightful powers, but knowing that those can only be exercised under God’s discretion and pleasure, gives us hope. Satan is simply not free to wreak havoc on people at will.” Satan doesn’t want you to know that; he’d rather you be deceived into thinking of him as an independent force with unlimited power. But he’s not. And he’d rather you’d never read these words: “God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil.”
Soul food: Num 29:1-6; Mat 24; Rev 11:15-19; 1 Cor 15:50-58
