2025-08-28
1 Corinthians 9:27 NLT
Physical exercise strengthens your immune system so that you can fight off heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, thyroid malfunction, impaired memory, and a host of maladies. The best kind of exercise is the one you like and is the most convenient. Here are the two biggest reasons we’re inconsistent in following an exercise program: First, we lose interest in it because we don’t get much satisfaction out of it. Second, it demands too much time or effort.
Whether you go for a fast-moving walk or attend a high-energy fitness class, almost any physical activity will relax and reenergize your body. Exercise at least thirty minutes a day, a minimum of five days a week. And the apostle Paul gives us the key to success in one word: discipline. “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should” (v. 27 NLT).
Additionally, physical activity can help you to reduce stress, lose weight and keep it off, and feel better about yourself. If you can’t find time for an official workout, try gradually growing the activity into your lifestyle. Park farther away from the store so you have to take more steps to enter it. Walk up the stairs instead of riding the elevator.
As a redeemed child of God, here is an all-important reason for staying physically fit: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you… therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV). Prayer: “Father, help me to do some sort of physical activity regularly.”
Soul food: Eze 16:53-19:14; Matt 22:1-14; Ps 103:13-22; Pro 19:17
2025-08-27
Psalm 118:24 KJV
When the going gets tough, and you’re tempted to complain about your lot in life, stop and remind yourself that this day is a gift from God, one you will never have again. Think about the following words and they will help you: Just for today, I will experience and enjoy each hour to the fullest and not try to tackle my whole life’s problems all at once. Just for today, I will try to improve my mind by learning more than I know; I will read something that requires effort, thought, concentration, and commitment. Just for today, I will be agreeable. I will try to look my best, speak softly, and be courteous and considerate to others.
Just for today, I won’t find fault or try to change or improve anyone but myself. Just for today, I will have a plan and a goal. I might not follow it exactly, but I will have one, nonetheless. By doing that, I will save myself from two enemies – hurry and indecision.
Just for today, I will develop my character. I will do a good turn and keep it a secret; if anyone finds out, it won’t count. Just for today, I will do something I don’t want to do. That way, I will train my spirit to overrule my flesh, and my will to overrule my emotions. Just for today, I won’t be afraid to love or to risk; I will endeavour to enjoy all God’s blessings and believe that every seed I sow in His kingdom will be multiplied back to me many times over. That’s how I will live – just for today!
Soul food: Eze 14:1-16:52; Matt 21:33-46; Ps 103:1-12; Pro 19:12-16
2025-08-26
Romans 8:37 NKJV
Have you heard of the principle of supercompensation? A pastor explains: “When an athlete is pushed beyond the threshold of pain and exhaustion, the body overcompensates. The more a muscle is broken down, the more it builds back up… The two hundred and six bones in the body are constantly going through a process called remodelling. They are being broken down by osteoclasts and built back up by osteoblasts. The process of remodelling is intensified when a bone is broken. Extra osteoblasts help rebuild the bone. There is a period of weakness where the bone is more vulnerable to re-injury. That is why we wear casts. But eventually the bone ends up stronger than it was to begin with because the body overcompensates. Very rarely does a bone break in the same place twice because the bone is thicker and stronger than it was before the break.
Almost like a broken bone that needs to be reset, God breaks us where we need to be broken. He fractures the pride and lust and anger in our lives, but He does it to remodel us into His image. and once we heal, we end up stronger than we were to begin with. [Paul writes,] ‘It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ… to suffer for him’ [Philippians 1:29 NIV]. The word ‘granted’ comes from [a] Greek root… which literally means ‘to grant a favour’… We tend to see suffering as a necessary evil at best, but Paul calls it a divine favour.”
So, maybe God is remodelling you. Perhaps the problem you thought you would never overcome will become your most effective ministry to others.
Soul food: Eze 10-13; Matt 21:18-32; Ps 84; Pro 19:11
2025-08-25
1 John 5:4 NKJV
A pastor encourages us: “Psychoanalyst Alfred Adler conducted a fascinating research project that popularized the theory of compensation. He studied art students and discovered that seventy percent of them suffered from optical anomalies. He found degenerative traces in the ears of great composers like Mozart and Beethoven. And he cited numerous examples of other people who eventually became successful in the area of their greatest weakness. Adler believed that birth defects, poverty, illness, and negative circumstances often prove to be the springboard for success…
God wants to recycle your adversity and turn it into a ministry. People go through a painful divorce or the death of a child or a destructive addiction, but God helps them climb out of the pit so they can help others in similar circumstances. One of the most paralyzing mistakes we make is thinking that our problems somehow disqualify us from being used by God… No one rolls out the red carpet and invites tragedy into their life, but our greatest gifts and passions are often the byproduct of our worst tragedies and failures. Trials have a way of helping us rediscover our purpose in life.”
The problems God has brought you through become a platform upon which you can stand and minister to others. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV).
Soul food: Eze 5-9; Matt 21:12-17; Ps 119:169-176; Pro 19:9-10
2025-08-24
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
A pastor writes: “All of us want every day to be a good day. But if every day was a good day, there would be no ‘good’ days, because there wouldn’t be any bad days to compare the good days to… Sickness helps us appreciate health. Failure helps us appreciate success. Debt helps us appreciate wealth. And the tough times help us appreciate the good times… Adversity is often the seedbed of opportunity [because it has] a way of bringing the best out of us… Adversity is often a blessing in disguise.
We dream of zero gravity. We imagine what life would be like without any problems or issues or challenges. But from a biological perspective, zero gravity is hazardous to your health. Astronauts who spend any length of time in zero gravity experience serious medical complications. Without any resistance, they lose muscle mass and bone density, they experience high pulse rates and heart palpitations, and they can barely walk after re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.
We may dream of zero gravity, but what we really need is a healthy dose of adversity. The people God uses the most are often the people who have experienced the most adversity. This isn’t necessarily… what you want to read, but it’s true. Adversity can produce an increased capacity to serve God.”
Why? Because adversity causes us to turn to God, lean on God, seek God, and get to know God in a way we otherwise wouldn’t. Some of God’s greatest promises in Scripture begin with the words “to him who overcomes.” The Bible says, “People who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11:32 NKJV).
Soul food: 2 Ki 4:42-44; John 6:1-15; Mark 8:1-9
2025-08-23
Hebrews 11:16 NIV
There is a story about an American tourist’s visit to the home of a nineteenth-century Polish rabbi. The tourist was surprised to find it so sparsely and inexpensively furnished. The living area, a simple room lined with books, contained a table and a bench. When the tourist asked the rabbi, “Where’s all your furniture?” he replied, “Where’s yours?” The man asked, “What do you mean? I’m a visitor. I’m just passing through.” “Me too!” replied the rabbi.
Passing through aptly applies to each of us; we’re creatures of time and children of eternity. In reality, Christians are citizens of heaven heading home via earth. “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20 NIV). Heaven is more than a destination or a doctrine. For the redeemed child of God, it should be a mindset; a way of thinking and living.
Paul writes: “Since… you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For… your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3 NIV).
Heaven is our North Star. Let its beauty capture your imagination, its values determine your behaviour, its endlessness redeem your brief life span, its joys alleviate your sorrows, and its almighty King own your lifelong worship! To those of us who live briefly on earth, heaven should be a life-transforming truth. We’re not here to stay. We’re pilgrims on a journey, with a glorious destiny to spend eternity in our Father’s house (See John 14:2). We’re heading to our forever home!
Soul food: Eze 1-4; Matt 21:1-11; Ps 119:161-168; Pro 19:3-8
