2025-08-30
2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV
In the Bible, you discover that leaders were most often trained “on the job.” A leadership expert writes: “It takes secure leaders at the top to let the leaders working for them be full participants in the organization’s leadership process. If [mid-level] leaders… question them, they don’t take it personally. When they share ideas, the leaders cannot afford to feel threatened. When people lower than they are… want to take risks, they need to be willing to give them room to succeed or fail. Leadership by its very nature challenges out-of-date ideas… old ways of doing things… [and] the status quo…
The secret to developing new leaders is to] remain secure and let them find new ways of doing things – ways that are better than yours. Instead of trying to be Mr. Answerman or Ms. Fix-it, when your leaders start coming into their own, move more into the background. Try taking on the role of wise counsellor and chief encourager. Welcome the desire of your best leaders to innovate and improve the organization. After all… a win for the organization is a win for you.
So what role are you playing in your organization? Are you ‘the expert,’ or are you more of an advisor and advocate? Ask yourself, ‘Am I providing an environment where people can ask questions, share ideas, and take risks?'” If your goal is to build God’s kingdom and not your own, you know that the answer to that question can be found in these words of Paul: “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent” (vv. 5-6 NIV).
Soul food: Eze 22-23; Matt 22:23-33; Ps 142; Pro 19:21-23
2025-08-29
Romans 12:8 NLT
There is a two-fold challenge in developing leaders: (1) Emerging leaders many times want to take the lead before they’re actually ready. (2) Potential leaders can only become mature leaders when they’re permitted to develop and exercise their initiative. How does this happen? Through good timing! Paul writes, “Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader” (1 Timothy 5:22 NLT). Again he writes, “An elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall” (1 Timothy 3:6 NLT).
So, here is the challenge: If you rush the timing, you bypass the growth process, but if you delay leaders when they’re ready to move, you inhibit their growth. Something that can help you execute the timing concern is identifying whether your mentality is one of lack or abundance. If you think you only have an inadequate amount of resources and a restricted number of opportunities, then you may hesitate to let your leaders take risks – because you may believe the organization will be unable to recoup from mistakes. But if you think opportunities are unlimited and God’s resources are renewable and infinite, you will be more inclined to take risks and have faith in your ability to recover.
Think about this: How did you become a leader? Through experience and making mistakes – right? That’s how others become leaders too! Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills said about levels of leaders, “Leaders have a say in what they are being led to. A leader who neglects that soon finds himself without followers.” Bottom line: It takes a secure leader to let others participate in the process.
Soul food: Eze 20-21; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 111; Pro 19:18-20
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
