2025-11-10
Psalm 1:3 NKJV
One key to fulfilling your destiny is realizing what season you’re in. If you don’t, you will feel exasperated and disappointed. For example, in some seasons learning to follow is more important than learning to lead. In some seasons handling failure offers more value than handling success. One of the biggest errors we make is concentrating all our energy on the next season, rather than enjoying the season we’re in, maximizing it, and gleaning its lessons. God wants to get you where He wants you to go even more than you want to get there. So, enjoy the journey, and understand that God will get you there when you’re ready. Your present frustration will give you a reason for future celebration if you stay the course long enough. God is developing emotional endurance inside you.
The key to emotional endurance is going through high levels of disappointment that break us down so God can build us back up with a holy confidence. Can you imagine how David felt as he watched his brothers go off to war while he stayed home to tend a flock of sheep? But his day was coming. And yours is too. While you wait, don’t bypass God’s plans by taking shortcuts. God is setting you up.
But the bigger the opportunity, the longer it takes. The reason we get irritated is because we think big without thinking long. Reconsider your timeline, and be encouraged when it takes longer than you estimated. That means God wants to do something considerably more than all you can ask or imagine (See Ephesians 3:20).
Soul food: 1 Chr 26:20-29:30; John 10:11-21; Ps 133; Prov 26:7-12
2025-11-09
Hebrews 10:14 TLB
Author Dorothy Littell Greco writes: “For some perfectionists, the fear of making a mistake results in a sort of paralysis, causing us to agonize over every decision… To help you discern if [perfectionism] has crept into your life… consider the following questions: (a) Are you comfortable asking for help or only offering it? (b) Are you able to receive appropriate criticism without getting defensive? (c) Do you have a nagging belief that you are falling short of some illusive standard? (d) Do you harshly critique yourself? (e) Are you able to experience joy? An absence of joy might be one of the best indicators [of] perfectionism. It slowly squeezes the joy out of life by reducing creativity, accentuating mistakes, and making us slaves of success.”
The truth is, no matter how hard we struggle, we can never be perfect enough to satisfy the sin debt against us. And we don’t have to be! “Christ gave himself… for our sins as one sacrifice for all time and then sat down in the place of highest honour at God’s right hand… For by that one offering, he made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy” (vv. 12, 14 TLB). Notice: When God makes you perfect, it’s going to be for forever, and once you get your head wrapped around that truth, it will change your life.
Gigi Graham Tchividjian says, “We don’t have to be perfect to be a blessing. We are asked only to be real, trusting in His perfection to cover our imperfection, knowing that one day we will finally be all that Christ saved us for and wants us to be.”
Soul food: Gen 14:18-24; Ps 110; Heb 5:5-10
2025-11-08
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
A perfectionist seeks to achieve nothing less than perfection. Dorothy Littell Greco writes: “I’ve been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember… I had to get A’s, had to win, and had to please everyone. Every mistake or perceived failure unleashed a torrent of self-condemnation… Perfectionism often [comes from] insecurity and a faulty understanding of grace. During the first few years… parents are meant to communicate through their words and actions that we’re… lovable, even though we do nothing to earn that love… But not all of us were the beneficiaries of such parenting. Many of our needs were met with frustration or even anger, which we interpreted as, ‘There’s something wrong with me.’ When that’s the case, over time, shame creeps in… [and] distorts our understanding of our self-worth.
The voice of perfectionism increased when I started following Jesus. I feared being judged and… excluded, [which] motivated me to prove my worth to my fellow Christians. Though I believed, theoretically, that I was saved by grace, I lived as if I had purchased salvation on credit and was accruing an enormous debt. I [lived] as if Jesus would tear up our ‘salvation contract’ the moment I made a mistake. As I began to understand that pride and a fear of mankind were driving my perfectionism, I confessed this as sin… [and] the chokehold started to loosen. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, I needed Jesus to break in and tenderly reorient me to his living water.”
Remember, you don’t have to be perfect to be a blessing to others – you just have to be real!
Soul food: 1 Chr 23:21-26:19; John 10:1-10; Ps 99; Prov 26:1-6
2025-11-07
1 Thessalonians 5:12 NCV
Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica and says, “Now, brothers and sisters, we ask you to appreciate those who work hard among you, who lead you in the Lord and teach you. Respect them with a very special love because of the work they do” (vv. 12-13 NCV). Consider these twenty-first century statistics:
(1) Fifty percent of pastors feel so disheartened that they would exit the ministry if they could, but they don’t know any other way to make a living.
(2) Fifty percent of ministers starting out won’t continue five years in the ministry.
(3) Only one out of every ten ministers will retire as ministers in some capacity.
(4) In America more than seventeen hundred pastors exited the ministry every month of 2011. There are many reasons why pastors leave the ministry. One reason is inadequate financial support and stress on the family. Paul addresses this: “Let the elders [pastors] who rule well be counted worthy of double honour [financial remuneration], especially those who labour in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The labourer is worthy of his wages'” (1 Timothy 5:17-18 NKJV).
Some pastors leave the ministry because they are the target of frequent criticism. Paul addresses this: “Do not receive an accusation against an elder [pastor] except from two or three witnesses” (v. 19 NKJV). So, pray for your pastor, and make it a point to show them your appreciation. God will bless you for it.
Soul food: 1 Chr 19:1-23:20; John 9:24-41; Ps 115; Prov 25:26-28
2025-11-06
Proverbs 4:7 NKJV
Mentor Graham was so absorbed in evaluating the assignments he had given his students that he failed to notice the youthful giant who slouched into his Illinois schoolroom one day after school. After his eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the late afternoon sunshine, causing the husky young man to be in silhouette before him, he recognized the youth as a newcomer to the community. The lad already had a reputation for “whipping the living daylights” out of all the local toughs.
Graham would have been justified in thinking, “What does he want here? Am I in danger?” Rather, he looked up and down the six foot, four inches of muscle and ignorance before him and offered to help the lad with his reading and studies. When the young man left the schoolroom an hour later, he had several books under his arm – on loan from Mentor Graham with a promise of more in the future.
There is a good chance that you have never heard of Mentor Graham, right? He was a quiet man, simply willing to do his best for any student who came his way. His pupil, however, became more famous. His name? Abraham Lincoln! Graham recognized in Lincoln a hunger for knowledge and a desire to learn, and took the time to invest in him. And as a result, Lincoln helped change history.
The greatest investment you can make is in people. Solomon wrote, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” And when you get it, don’t keep it to yourself – pass it on.
Soul food: 1 Chr 16-18; John 9:13-23; Ps 105:1-15; Prov 25:23-25
2025-11-05
Psalm 120:1 NKJV
The three-digit emergency system has amazing capabilities. In most places in America, you need only dial those numbers to be instantly connected to a dispatcher. On a computer screen, the dispatcher instantly sees the caller’s telephone number, address, and the name under which the number is listed. Also listening in on the call are police, fire, and paramedics. A caller need not say anything once the call is made. Even rasping coughs and hysterical cries have brought a quick response. The dispatcher knows where the call is coming from, and help is sent immediately.
Sometimes our situation is so urgent and desperate that we can’t put it into words, so we send up the SOS prayer, “Lord, I need your help!” And help is on the way. “It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24 NKJV).
Sometimes you feel the effects of something, but you don’t understand the cause and you can’t explain it. This is when the indwelling power of God’s Spirit comes to your aid: “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:26-28 NLT).
Soul food: 1 Chr 12:23-15:29; John 9:1-12; Ps 68; Prov 25:21-22
