2025-09-09
Luke 2:43-44 NLT
The Bible says: “Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travellers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him” (vv. 41-44 NLT). This story has a happy ending because Jesus’ parents found Him. But it doesn’t always turn out that way.
Don’t “assume” your children are okay. Today they have access to drugs, guns, and pornography via the internet, where they can meet a paedophile as well. That should concern you. Jesus said Satan comes to “steal… kill, and… destroy” (John 10:10 KJV). Don’t let him have your family.
After being set free from demonic control, a man wanted to travel with Jesus as one of His disciples. But Jesus said, “Go back home to your family and tell them what the Lord has done for you” (See Luke 8:39). Your dream job or house will feel empty if you lose your children. Indeed, your achievements may taste like ashes in your mouth.
If you have been traveling the road to success and neglecting to bring your family along with you, make a U-turn! Go back and get the people who matter most. Commit yourself to making the journey only if it includes them. Pray with the psalmist, “I need your help, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should” (Psalm 101:2 TLB). Don’t assume your children are okay – be sure they are.
Soul food: Eze 46-48; Matt 24:36-51; Ps 78:40-55; Pro 20:22-24
2025-09-08
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT
In the 1996 Olympics, gymnast Kerri Strug had the weight of winning the gold medal for her team on her shoulders. All she had to do was make a successful jump and the United States would win the gold. But when she performed her first jump, she sprained her ankle and could hardly walk. She fell and did not obtain the score needed to win.
Sitting on the mat with tears streaming down her face, she cried for two reasons. First, she was in pain. Second, she could see no way to make up the score needed to win. But she had another jump! She felt like quitting, but her coach, standing on the sidelines, said, “You can do it, Kerri!” Limping as she tried to prepare for a vault, she found it difficult to move.
After the jump, she explained to an interviewer that all she could do to persist was to keep her eyes on her coach. He kept her from focusing on the pain in her ankle. She was hurting – she was crying – but her coach believed in her. And she found strength from his encouragement that she herself didn’t have. Even with the limp, she took off running and did the jump. She had to nail the landing in order to win. She had to try to do this with one good ankle and one injured ankle. And she did it!
With her coach’s encouragement holding her up, she did the impossible. She earned a high enough score for the US team to win the gold. Your encouragement – it can make the difference.
Soul food: Eze 43-45; Matt 24:26-35; Ps 78:32-39; Pro 20:20-21
2025-09-07
Joshua 1:8 NIV
If you want to change your life, you must change how you think and what you think about. When you think about the wrong things, your life goes wrong. But when you think about the right things, your life goes right.
(1) Changing your thinking isn’t easy. It’s not automatic and doesn’t happen on its own. Good ideas seldom go out and bump into someone. If you want to discover a good idea, you have to look for it. If you want to improve your thinking, you need to work at it – and when you become a better thinker, good ideas will keep coming. Furthermore, the amount of good thinking you do at a specific time relies mainly on the amount of good thinking you’re engaging in already.
(2) Changing your thinking calls for commitment. Albert Einstein said, “Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.” When someone says, “This thought is off the top of my head,” anticipate dandruff. Only people who believe thinking is easy are the ones who don’t participate in it. The media, the culture, and those around you will influence your thinking unless you decide to think for yourself.
(3) Changing your thinking brings great rewards. Paul writes, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV). When you tap into the thoughts of God and make them your own, your potential is unlimited. Gold mines run out. Stock markets suddenly decline. Real estate investments go bad. But a mind transformed by the Spirit and Word of God is like a diamond mine that lasts. It’s invaluable.
Soul food: Gen 2:7-25; 1 Cor 15:39-55
2025-09-06
Proverbs 23:7 NKJV
Good thinkers are constantly in demand. Why? Because they solve problems, always have ideas that can build an organization, and are hopeful for a better future. And good thinkers seldom find themselves under the control of bad thinkers. Adolf Hitler once boasted, “What luck for rulers that men do not think.” Those who build the technique of good thinking can manage themselves – even when under an unfair ruler or in other challenging circumstances. In summary, good thinkers are successful.
Dr. John Maxwell writes: “I’ve studied successful people for forty years, and though the diversity you find among them is astounding, I’ve found that they are all alike in one way: how they think! That is the one thing that separates successful people from unsuccessful ones. And here’s the good news. How successful people think can be learned. If you can change your thinking, you can change your life!”
The Bible puts it succinctly: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” That means you will never climb higher in life until you are ready to change your thinking. But if you change the way you think, you can change your life! It’s hard to exaggerate the value of changing your thinking. Good thinking can do several things for you, including generating opportunities, resolving problems, and producing revenue. It can lead you to an entirely new level, both professionally and personally.
Paul writes, “Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise… Then the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9 NLT). Do you want to change your life? The first step is to change how you think.
Soul food: Eze 40:10-42:20; Matt 24:15-25; Ps 78:17-31; Pro 20:15-19
2025-09-05
1 John 3:21 NKJV
When you willfully do wrong, you experience anxiety, stress, and insecurity. “‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked'” (Isaiah 48:22 NKJV). Whenever you choose a plan of action incompatible with what you believe to be right, you forfeit your peace of mind. For instance, a person may accept a job or duty that forces them to do something against their spiritual convictions, something that violates their conscience. Numerous women have faced the predicament of compromising their values so they can get a promotion or attain other advantages. To them at the time, it looked like their only option. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25 KJV).
This is when a strong spiritual foundation is essential. It takes faith and bravery to let your convictions direct your behaviour and your choices. The truth is that God is ultimately responsible for your advancement and promotion. His Word says, “Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:6-7 KJV).
Don’t think you can do right in your own power. Sometimes the temptation to manipulate or lie so that you can advance your career is just too much to withstand. That’s when you need to draw on God’s strength. David said, “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1 NKJV). Prayer: “Father, please keep me from falling into temptation, and deliver me from the Evil One. Help me to do what’s right.”
Soul food: Eze 37:1-40:9; Matt 24:1-14; Ps 78:9-16; Pro 20:11-14
2025-09-04
Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 MSG
The following definition of love and marriage is a time-tested formula that would be hard to improve on: “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It’s quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing, and forgiving. It’s loyalty through good times and bad. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weakness. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and refuses to brood over the past. It’s the day in and day out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working together toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don’t, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough.”
The Bible says, “Relish [enjoy, Savour, delight, and take pleasure in] life with the spouse you love… every day… Make the most of each one!” And if you want to make your marriage work, observe these five rules:
(1) Never both be angry at once, and never yell – unless the house is on fire.
(2) Yield to each other. If you have to choose between making yourself or your mate look good – always choose your mate.
(3) Neglect the whole world rather than each other, and never let a day end without saying at least one complimentary thing to the one you love.
(4) Never meet without an affectionate welcome, and never go to bed angry.
(5) When you make a mistake, talk it out and ask for forgiveness.
Now, since God came up with the idea of marriage, pray and ask Him for help with yours. He will do it!
Soul food: Eze 34-36; Matt 23:23-39; Ps 78:1-8; Pro 20:7-10
