2017-07-13
2 Timothy 1:5 NKJV
It’s said Timothy became an apostle when he was seventeen. He was Paul’s spiritual son, and his designated successor. And it happened because of two women: his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Interestingly, his father and grandfather are not mentioned. So as a single parent you can raise a winning child. According to a ten-year study conducted at Harvard Medical School, there are six factors related to the eventual intellectual capacity of a child: (1) The most critical period of a child’s mental development is between eight and eighteen months old. (2) The mother is usually the most important person in the child’s environment. (3) The amount of “live” language directed to the child between twelve and eighteen months is absolutely critical. (4) Children given free access to living areas of their homes progressed much faster than those whose movements are restricted. (5) The family is the most important educational delivery system. (6) The best parents are those who excel at three key functions: They are superb designers and organizers of their children’s environments; they permit their children to interrupt them for brief thirty-second episodes during which personal comfort and information are exchanged; finally, they are firm disciplinarians while simultaneously showing great affection for their children. In other words, they love their kids, talk to them, treat them with respect, expose them to interesting things, organize their time, discipline them fairly, and raise them in strong stable families. It’s a time-honoured recipe for producing bright (and happy) children.
Soul food: 2 Sam 7:18-11:27; Mat 25:31-46; Ps 118:10-18; Prov 18:7-9
2017-07-12
James 3:16 NLT
The apostle Paul writes: “Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand” (Philippians 2:2-4 TM). Strife wreaks havoc in relationships. It often stems from an inflated ego and leads to comparing, competing, and condemning. James points that out: “Where…strife is, there is…every evil work.” So be a strife-spotter! The moment it rears its ugly head – uproot it! “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many” (Hebrews 12:15 NLT). If you want to walk in God’s blessing today, try to live in harmony with others. Is that always easy? No, but the sooner you learn to do it, the better things will go for you. When God prompts you to “turn the other cheek,” or “take the short end of the stick,” draw on His grace and do it. Pray: “Lord, give me Your wisdom in this situation.” He will. “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18 NLT). Bottom line: If you want God’s blessing on your life – avoid strife.
Soul food: 2 Sam 3:22-7:17; Mat 25:14-30; Ps 118:1-9; Prov 18:4-6
2017-07-11
James 1:4 NLT
If you’re serious about changing your life, a well-known leadership expert offers this advice: “Don’t just change enough to get away from your problems – change enough to solve them. Don’t just change your circumstances to improve your life – change yourself to improve your circumstances. Don’t do the same old things expecting different results – get different results by doing something new. Don’t see change as something hard that must be done – see it as something helpful that can be done. Don’t avoid paying the immediate price tag of change – if you do you’ll pay the ultimate price of never improving.” The Bible says, “When your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” Character building is a slow process; don’t expect it to be easy. When you try to escape life’s difficulties you short-circuit the process, delay your growth, and end up with a worse kind of pain – the useless kind that accompanies denial and avoidance. A letter was once returned to the post office and handwritten on the envelope were these words: “He’s dead.” Due to an oversight the letter was sent again to the same address. This time it was returned with a note that said – “He’s still dead!” Let’s be honest, most of us don’t like change; we do everything in our power to avoid it. We want improvement but we don’t want to pay the price that goes with it. And that’s a problem, because you’ll never become what God intends you to be by remaining what you are. It’s not enough to want change, and be open to it, you must pursue it!
Soul food: 2 Sam 1:1-3:21; Mat 25:1-13; Ps 109:16-31; Prov 18:1-3
2017-07-10
Galatians 4:19 NKJV
Here are the three scriptural keys to help you grow and mature spiritually: (1) Conception. This results from intimacy between two people who love each other. Now, God’s love for you is clear and compelling (See 1 John 3:1); the question is how much do you love Him? (See John 21:15.) (2) Forming. Paul writes, “My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” God knows the tests and trials required to produce in you the character of Christ, and He will do whatever it takes to make it happen. (3) Pushing. When you’re fully committed to bringing forth what God’s placed within you, you’ll have to push against every negative thing people have done to you or said about you. You’ll have to push against Satan’s attacks in all their debilitating forms: painful memories, feelings of hopelessness, and low self-esteem. The Enemy may have spent years pushing you aside, pulling you back, and putting you down, but God will empower you to give birth to what He’s placed in you. And here’s something else to think about: When a baby is born, everything in the family changes. And the same is true for you. When you give birth to what God has put inside you, everything in your life will be affected. God’s blessing is an “overflowing” blessing; it will touch every area of your existence. Just as a mother can tell when she’s pregnant, the same is true in the spiritual realm. So don’t fail to give birth to what’s within you. Now is the time to bring it forth!
Soul food: Eph 4:17-6:24; Mat 24:36-51; Ps 109:1-15; Prov 17:27-28
2017-07-09
Galatians 1:10 NLT
We tend to fall into one of two traps: (1) Thinking too much of ourselves. Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency by the death of Franklin Roosevelt. That’s when Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House, took him aside and said, “From here on out you’re going to have lots of people around you, and they are going to tell you what a great man you are. But Harry…you know and I know you ain’t.” Truman took that advice to heart, and became a truly great president. To succeed in the assignment God has given you in life you need two things – dependence on God and confidence in God (See 1 John 3:21, 22). As long as those two things are in place you’ll succeed. (2) Thinking too little of ourselves. Many of us have made it our goal to change someone’s opinion of us; to prove to them that we’re valuable. Until you quit agreeing with the opinions of those who criticize you, you’ll remain locked in a prison of your own making. When your critic’s opinion becomes your opinion, you’ve built a prison inside your soul with only one prisoner – you. The fact is some of the people you’ve spent your life trying to impress may never be impressed. And you need to accept that from God’s perspective, it doesn’t matter! To succeed, you must be able to work alongside others without letting yourself be controlled by their moods and opinions. That’s why Paul wrote, “I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”
Soul food: Ex 20:1-17; Mat 5:1-12
2017-07-08
Proverbs 14:12 NKJV
Ever noticed how zoo keepers handle an injured animal? Even though the keeper is only interested in helping, the animal doesn’t understand because it is focused solely on the pain. As a result, it strikes out at the very one who’s trying to help. Is that what’s happening in your life right now? Perhaps people who call themselves Christians have hurt you. You didn’t expect them to be the ones inflicting the pain. You may have been hurt to the extent that you no longer trust anybody – not even God. You haven’t actually said, “Lord, I don’t trust You,” but your actions speak louder than your words. You avoid reading His Word to find an answer. You won’t pray, or allow anyone to pray for you. You try to bury yourself in your job. You move from one relationship to another. You try alcohol or mood-altering chemicals. You spend hours watching television and surfing the Internet, and some of the things you’re watching violate your conscience and leave you feeling worse. What’s the answer? (1) Turn to God. Give Him “all your worries and cares…for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT). Give Him your pain, your failures, your hang-ups, and your challenges. (2) Forgive the person who hurt you. Obsessing over what they did and trying to make them pay just keeps you chained to them. But forgiveness breaks the chain and sets you free. In your own strength you may be able to do something to alleviate your pain. But God can destroy the root of the pain and cause you to walk victoriously into the future.
Soul food: Eph 1:1-4:16; Mat 24:26-35; Ps 79; Prov 17:24-26
