2017-08-30
John 15:9 TM
When someone says, “Make yourself at home,” it means you’re welcome and accepted. And that’s what Jesus means when He says, “Make yourselves at home in my love.” You never have been and never will be loved by anyone as much as God loves you. The reason you have such a hard time grasping that concept is that you have nothing to compare His love to. Nothing could make God love you more than He does right now, and nothing could make Him love you less. The great irony is that we spend our lives trying to earn His love, when it can only be received by faith. John says: “What marvellous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it – we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to” (1 John 3:1-2 TM). You may have grown up with parents who withheld their love, or weren’t capable of expressing it. God doesn’t do that. Throughout Scripture He keeps saying, “I love you. I love you. I love you!” C. S. Lewis wrote: “God created us to be the objects of His love! Sometimes our actions make us unlovely, but we’re never unloved. And because God loves us – we have value. And nobody can take that value away. God’s love revealed at Calvary fastens itself onto flawed creatures like us, and for reasons none of us can ever quite figure out, makes us precious and valued beyond calculation. This is love beyond reason. And this is the love with which God loves us.”
Soul food: Josh 1-4; Mark 9:1-13; Ps 103:1-12; Prov 22:27-29
2017-08-29
James 5:11 CEV
Observe these six things about persistence: (1) You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. (2) The first two letters in the word goal are “go.” (3) Some people dream of doing great things; others wake up and actually do them. (4) Anybody who brags about what they’re going to do tomorrow, probably did the same thing yesterday. (5) You’ll never be what you ought to be, until you’re doing what you ought to be doing. (6) If you’re having trouble thinking outside the box, it’s time to get out of the box. When Lester Wunderman was fired from his advertising job, he felt he still had a lot to learn from the head of the agency, Max Sackheim. So the next morning he went back to his office and continued working as he always had, talking to co-workers and clients, and sitting in on meetings – all without pay. Sackheim ignored him for a month. Finally he walked up to Wunderman and said, “Okay, you win. I never saw a man who wanted a job more than he wanted money.” Well, guess what? Wunderman went on to be one of the most successful advertising men of the century. He’s credited with having invented pre-printed newspaper inserts, plus subscription cards like those used by Time-Life Books and the Columbia Record Club – ideas that produced millions of dollars in profit. Now, advertising may not be your thing, but action must be. What are you willing to do to achieve your dream? Work without pay? Refuse to quit? Success belongs to those who trust God – and stick with it.
Soul food: 3 John; Jude; Mark 8:27-38; Ps 84; Prov 22:24-26
2017-08-28
Acts 20:23 NIV
About 75 percent of believers now live in Third World countries, often in anti-Christian environments. Xu Yonghai is one of them. He worked to see the legalization of house churches in China. The government responded by locking him up for two years in an eight-by-eight-foot cell in a Beijing prison. There was no bathroom, only a pipe in a corner from which water flowed onto the concrete. “My cell was the last stop for prisoners sentenced to die,” he said. “At times there were as many as three other prisoners in the tiny damp room, awaiting their date with the executioner.” Yonghai survived through prayer, meditation, and writing. Using a bar of soap to write on the walls of his cell, he outlined the major points of a book about God. When he was finished, he committed the thoughts to memory, and upon his release he turned his prison notes into a fifty-thousand-word book entitled God the Creator. More often than not, your difficulties and hardships confirm you’re in the will of God rather than out of it! Paul writes: “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (vv. 23-24 NIV). Note the word grace. No matter how difficult the will of God may be, you can accomplish it by drawing each day on His limitless supply of grace.
Soul food: 2 Chr 35-36; 2 John; Mark 8:14-26; Ps 119:169-176; Prov 22:20-23
2017-08-27
Psalm 143:10 NIV
As you look back on your life, the thing that will bring you the greatest joy is knowing you’ve done the will of God. But in order for that to happen, you must really want to do God’s will. Jesus said, “If any one is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself” (John 7:17 NAS). Note the words “willing to do His will.” More than completing your education, or getting married, or getting your house paid off, or anything else in life, you must want to do God’s will. Chuck Swindoll writes: “There have been times when I said I wanted to do His will but I really didn’t. That’s a tough thing to confess, but looking back with 20/20 hindsight, I realize that at times I resisted His will. And I’ve learned that serious consequences follow selfish resistance.” Paul writes: “Doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does” (Ephesians 6:6-8 NIV). Note the phrase “doing the will of God from your heart.” That’s about as deep as it gets. More than pleasing people, more than acquiring creature comforts and status, more than staying safe, your greatest desire should be to please God. The Psalmist prayed, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8 NIV). Your prayer should be: “In all I do this day, Lord, my desire is to please You and do Your will.”
Soul food: Jos 1:7-8; 2 Tim 3:14-17; Ps 119:1-16
2017-08-26
Ephesians 5:17 NIV
When you know you’re in the centre of God’s will for your life, you have peace in spite of adverse circumstances. You have confidence to go to God at any time, knowing that He’ll provide what you need. You ask, “But how can I tell if I’m in the will of God?” By knowing these two things, which are clearly laid out in the Bible: (1) You must be a Christian. Paul tells us, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14 NAS). Only as a believer do you have the Spirit’s presence within you. And you must have this inside help if you’re going to follow the will of God and enjoy the blessing it brings. (2) You must exercise wisdom. “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17 NIV). The famous theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards entered Yale University in 1716 at age thirteen, and at seventeen he graduated at the head of his class. By age twenty he “resolved never to lose one moment of time; but to improve it the most profitable way I can.” At twenty-six he pastored one of the largest Congregational churches in Massachusetts. And when God decided to visit New England in the “Great Awakening,” He chose to use Jonathan Edwards because he was prepared and ready. Doing the will of God calls for staying sensitive to the Holy Spirit and living in a state of perpetual readiness. So, how are you doing with that?
Soul food: 2 Chr 32-34; Mark 8:1-13; Ps 119:161-168; Prov 22:17-19
2017-08-25
Proverbs 11:30 NIV
The Bible says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15 NIV). But some of us act like loving the Lord more requires loving those around us less. We may feel awkward around them, or lose touch with them, or not know how to communicate with them, or we give off signals that we are spiritually superior to them. The Contemporary English Bible puts it this way: “If you act wisely, others will follow” (Proverbs 11:30 CEV). You are called to bring joy to people, not judge them. God has already established a time and a place for judging, and you won’t be on the throne when He does it! Jesus is called “the good shepherd” (John 10:11), and the Greek word for good literally means “engaging, attractive, fetching.” Christ was so magnetic that people were automatically drawn to Him. Are they drawn to you? Jesus said we are called to be salt and light. Salt makes the taste of food more enjoyable, and light shed on their path shows people the right way to go. Because they were wise and winsome, Isaiah the prophet spoke into the lives of kings, the three Hebrew children changed the politics of Babylon, and Joseph the economist saved Egypt from famine. Yes, Satan is at work taking Christ out of Christmas, prayer out of schools, and God out of government. But he won’t win, and he knows it (See Revelation 12:12). His strategy, however, is to convince us that he can. So today endeavour to be wise and winsome so you can lead people to Christ.
Soul food: 2 Chr 29-31; Mark 7:24-37; Ps 119:145-160; Prov 22:14-16
