2025-08-06
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV
Why does a happy, cooperative twelve-year-old suddenly turn into a sullen, depressed thirteen-year-old? There are two powerful forces that account for some of the adolescent behaviour that drives you crazy as a parent. The first is linked to social pressures common at that age. But there is a second source of disruption. It’s related to hormonal changes that not only transform the physical body but also revolutionize how kids think.
For some (not all) adolescents, human chemistry is in a state of imbalance for a few years, causing flightiness, agitation, outbursts, and even depression. This upheaval can motivate a boy or girl to do things that make absolutely no sense to the adults who are watching anxiously on the sidelines. This hormonal firestorm can destabilize their self-concept and create a sense of foreboding. Parents often despair during the irrationality of this period. Everything they have tried to teach their children seems to have misfired for a couple of years. Self-discipline, cleanliness, respect for authority, and common courtesy may give way to risk-taking and all-around goofiness.
If that is where your child is today, there is good news – better days are coming! Your unpredictable teen can actually become a tower of strength and good judgment – if they don’t do something destructive before their hormones settle down once more.
What should you do as a parent? First, don’t draw long-term conclusions based on a short-term season. Second, let them know you love them, be patient, and pray for peace of mind. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV).
Soul food: Obadiah; 2 John; Matt 15:1-14; Ps 119:33-40; Pro 17:16
2025-08-05
Romans 12:10 NKJV
One of the real tests of character and maturity is how you react to someone else’s success. That’s particularly so when they succeed in an area where you failed or in which you’re frustrated over not having achieved greater success.
F. B. Meyer, a well-known author and minister in England, once shared the following experience to a few of his friends: “It was easy to pray for the success of G. Campbell Morgan when he was in America. But when he came back to England and took a church near to mine, it was something different. The old Adam in me was inclined to jealousy, but I got my heel upon his head, and whether I felt right toward my friend, I determined to act right. My church gave a reception for him, and I acknowledged that if it was not necessary for me to preach Sunday evenings, I would dearly love to go and hear him myself. Well, that made me feel right toward him. But just see how the dear Lord helped me out of my difficulty. There was Charles Spurgeon preaching wonderfully on one side of me, and G. Campbell Morgan on the other. Both were so popular and drew such crowds that our church caught the overflow, and we had all we could accommodate.”
No matter how well you do something, someone else will come along and do it better. So, here are your options: Compare yourself to them, compete with them, criticize them, compliment, and cooperate with them. The latter is what Paul meant when he wrote, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another” (v. 10 NKJV).
Soul food: 1 Pet 1-5; Matt 14:22-36; Ps 119:25-32; Pro 17:11-15
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
