2025-08-04
Acts 26:16 NKJV
In baseball, the catcher tries to distract the batter. On one occasion when Yogi Berra was behind the plate, Hank Aaron came up to bat. Yogi started in, “Hank, you’ve got the writing on the bat in the wrong place. The words should be facing you.” Yogi kept going, “You better check it.” Hank didn’t say a word. On the next pitch, Hank hit the ball over the centre field fence. He rounded the bases, stepped on home plate, looked at Yogi Berra, and said, “I didn’t come here to read, I came to win.”
It’s vital to know why you are here and not to let anyone talk you out of your calling or purpose. In the world today, people say they are trying to find themselves. Such a search is pointless. As one pastor states: “If you don’t know who you are, how do you know what to look for? And how would you know when you have found it, since you don’t know what you are looking for? Toasters don’t find themselves… A toaster… just [has] to do what the manufacturer had in mind.”
Paul had a supernatural encounter on the Damascus road when Christ said to him, “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you” (v. 16 NKJV). To discover your life’s purpose, you must start with God as your reference point. He made you; He redeemed you; He has a plan for your life – and He will reveal it to you.
Soul food: Deut 32:29-34:12; Matt 14:13-21; Ps 119:17-24; Pro 17:7-10
2025-08-03
John 5:6 NIV
What an amazing question Jesus asked this paralyzed man: “Do you want to get well?” Who wouldn’t? You might be surprised! Kay Arthur tells of passing a beggar one day on a street in the Old City of Jerusalem. As he sat begging, his trouser leg was pulled up to reveal his terrible sores.
She writes: “My nurse’s heart brought my feet to a halt. I wanted to bend down and shield the open wound from the dust… It should be washed, medicated, and dressed by someone who cared. My friend gently took me by my elbow and propelled me toward our destination. I was a tourist and did not know about these things. She then proceeded to tell me that this man did not wish to be made well. He made his living from his wound! As I looked back… I caught one last glimpse of someone who was less than what he could have been.”
The man lying helpless on a cot by the pool called Bethesda had been there for thirty-eight years. Question: How long does it take before a problem becomes a way of life? Jesus said to him, “Get up… and walk” (v. 8 NIV), the inference being that it’s time to get up and go to work – to become a father to your children, a husband to your wife, a contributor to your community, a solution to someone else’s problem – it’s time to take responsibility for your life.
Are you letting your past or present circumstances keep you stuck and stop you from moving forward? If Jesus asked you, “Do you want to get well emotionally, physically, and spiritually?” what would your answer be? Today let Jesus make you whole!
Soul food: 1 Sam 17:4-51; Eph 6:10-18
2025-08-02
2 Timothy 2:15 MSG
Graduate, here are eleven lessons to empower and inspire you:
(1) You’re here for a reason, and the most vital thing you can do is find it.
(2) Follow your passion. You may not already know what it is, but make it your mission to discover it.
(3) Although you might love Facebook, you might not like working for the company. And because you enjoy cooking doesn’t mean you will enjoy owning a restaurant.
(4) Don’t quit because the work is hard. Quit because deep inside you know there is something different for you to do, or you’re not improving yourself or the organization, or you know you’re not supposed to be there anymore.
(5) Learn from every experience. Each job gets you ready for the work you were born to do.
(6) Your present job may not be your highest purpose, but it can assist as an agent to prepare you for it.
(7) In whichever job you accept after graduation, serve. Serving in minor ways affords you opportunities to serve in major ways.
(8) Your dream job probably isn’t the one you dreamed about. Frequently we end up in remarkable careers outside the scope of our degrees.
(9) The pursuit of your purpose is filled with difficulties, wins, detours, dead ends, and postponements. Remain hopeful and faithful.
(10) You may want something to happen immediately, but if it did, would you be ready for it?
(11) Seeds yield to the ground so they can be utilized for a greater purpose. So, plant yourself, and let yourself be used for a harvest to benefit others.
Soul food: Deut 30:1-32:28; Matt 14:1-12; Ps 119:9-16; Pro 17:4-6
2025-08-01
Psalm 118:6 NKJV
Being in a position of leadership won’t give you courage, but showing courage will establish you as a leader in the eyes of others. Larry Osborne said, “The most striking thing about highly effective leaders is how little they have in common. What one swears by another warns against. But one trait stands out: the willingness to risk.” Courage isn’t the lack of fear; it’s doing what you’re afraid to do. It’s having the power to release the familiar and advance into new territory. The psalmist said, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (v. 6 NKJV).
Roman historian Tacitus wrote, “The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” Courage has the reverse effect. It swings doors open, which is one of its most amazing benefits. British theologian John Henry Newman said, “Fear not that your life will come to an end but that it will never have a beginning.” Without the courage to begin, you have no future.
Here is something ironic: Those who lack the courage to take risks and those who have the courage to take risks experience the same amount of fear in life. The only difference is that those who are afraid retreat while those who show courage advance.
So, how do you handle fear? Do you embrace it or try to escape it? Do you put yourself in situations that stretch your faith? Or have you withdrawn so far into your comfort zone that you never feel fear? Only when you have answered these questions can you begin to overcome your fears.
Soul food: Deut 28-29; Matt 13:47-58; Ps 119:1-8; Pro 17:3
2025-07-31
Psalm 84:11 NKJV
Covetousness will rob you of contentment. It works like this: You browse through a home-decorating magazine, and the home you were thankful for an hour ago suddenly seems junky. Or you see an ad on TV for a new automobile, and the car in your driveway suddenly looks like a jalopy. God expects you to have goals for your life and to provide for your family but beware of coveting things so much that you become obsessed with how to get them.
When Israel went to war with Jericho, God told them everything in the city was to be destroyed. So afterward, when Israel stormed the small town of Ai and met with a humiliating defeat, Joshua was devastated. When he asked God why they had lost the battle, He told him it was because of sin in the Israelite camp. When Joshua investigated, Achan, one of his soldiers, confessed, “When I saw… the spoils… I coveted them and took them” (Joshua 7:21 NKJV). When Achan tried to conceal his sin by hiding the stolen goods in his tent, it cost him and his family their lives. When you covet, you question God’s wisdom, willingness, and ability to provide for you. Don’t do it!
When you find yourself wanting something, pray about it and trust God to give it to you – if it’s His will. His Word assures us, “No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” God knows what’s good for you and what’s not, and all your pleading won’t change His mind. But when your desire is to do His will, He promised, “You will always have plenty” (2 Corinthians 9:8 NCV).
Soul food: Deut 25-27; Matt 13:36-46; Ps 78:65-72; Pro 17:1-2
2025-07-30
Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV
Dr. Gerald Mann writes: “Moralizers are faithful to remind us that King David’s life was all downhill after Bathsheba-gate. They list the litany of his woes: the baby of the illicit union died. He never recovered his moral stature. His sons fought over succession. One of them was beheaded for trying to dethrone him. God deprived him of his grandest dream: building the Temple – too much blood on his hands!
But take another look at the story. The opening words of the book of Proverbs silence such sanctimony: ‘The proverbs of Solomon the son of David’ (Proverbs 1:1 KJV). Solomon, the fountain of God’s wisdom, sprang from two people who had adulterated their person and privilege. For all of David’s heroic feats: giant-killing, kingdom-consolidating, hymn-writing, his single greatest achievement was the son of his old-age. Solomon is a monument of contradiction to all the naysaying moralists of the ages. Where else did Solomon get his insight, far-sight, and foresight, but at the knees of two broken souls mended by the fires of forgiveness and given the grace of a second chance…You can begin again after your Bathsheba-gate!”
The Bible warns us about the consequences of sin because anything that has the power to hurt you concerns the God who loves you and wants only the best for you. When you willfully sin, God won’t let you off, but neither will He let you go! And God’s love for you has no expiration date. He said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” The truth is, God still loves you!
Soul food: Deut 22-24; Matt 13:24-35; Ps 78:56-64; Pro 16:33
