2025-06-17
Ephesians 6:17 NKJV
Paul warned his spiritual son and successor, Timothy: “Know this… in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV).
As you read this list, you realize Paul could easily have been describing the generation we live in today. So, what’s the answer? Men and women of God who know how to skilfully wield the sword of His Word. And if you are one of them, rest assured Satan has targeted you. He wants to blunt the sharp edge of your sword so that your message is ineffective. It’s an old trick that the Philistines, Israel’s archenemies, used to keep them in captivity. They got rid of all the blacksmiths in the land (See 1 Samuel 13:19). Consequently, the Israelites had no way to sharpen their swords, defend themselves, and throw off the yoke of oppression.
Are you getting the message? God’s people tend to grow dull and need to be sharpened spiritually. And pastor, as a spiritual blacksmith, it’s your calling to sharpen them. And it’s Satan’s job to try and stop you any way he can (See 1 Peter 5:8). So, live on your knees and live in God’s Word. The hour is late, and the need is great. Pastor, God is counting on you to keep your sword sharp.
Soul food: Jer 1-3; Mark 14:66-72; Ps 144:1-8; Prov 14:1-4
2025-06-16
Luke 4:2 NIV
In Scripture, the number forty denotes testing, trials, and temptation. God told Noah, “I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights… I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made” (Genesis 7:4 NIV). Goliath defied the armies of Israel for forty days: “For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand” (1 Samuel 17:16 NIV). On the threshold of His ministry, Jesus was attacked by Satan for forty days: “Jesus… was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1-2 NIV).
But day forty-one was coming! After forty days of rain, God gave mankind a new beginning. After forty days of Goliath’s threats, God gave David a spectacular victory. After forty days of temptation, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside” (v. 14 NIV). So, the word for you today is – hang in there; day forty-one is coming!
Don’t give in to fear and despair. Don’t quit, and don’t run. God has ordained victory for you. You may have taken a few hits and carry a few scars, but God will bring you through and make you stronger and wiser if you trust Him and stand on His Word. The Bible says, “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4 KJV). The power at work within you is greater than the circumstances that surround you and the foes that oppose you. So, the word for you today is – rejoice – day forty-one is coming!
Soul food: Hosea 11-14; Mark 14:53-65; Ps 139:13-24; Prov 13:25
2025-06-15
Ephesians 6:4 NIV
The story is told of a man in a supermarket pushing a cart with a screaming baby. He kept repeating softly, “Keep calm, George. Everything’s going to be okay, George.” A lady watching with admiration said to the man, “You are to be commended for your patience in trying to quiet little George.” The man replied, “Lady, you’ve got it wrong; I’m George!”
If you’re a parent, you can relate. Instead of saying, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children,” doesn’t it sometimes seem like the Scripture should read, “Children, don’t annoy your fathers”? But it doesn’t. That’s because parents are called to be an example of God’s love, and children learn best from observation. Shopping at the grocery store is an opportunity to show your children the proper way to behave. There is no greater role model for children than a parent. And there has never been a greater need for godly parents than today. Colossians 3:21 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (NKJV). That means being a model of patience and love to your children.
From potty training to education – parents are put in place by God to be a tool that transforms the teachings of the Bible into a living witness to their children. In a time when we’re paying a high price for the lack of real fathers in the home, Scripture reminds us, “The father shall make known Your truth to the children” (Isaiah 38:19 NKJV). Father, commit yourself to following the Lord, and leaving footprints for your children to walk in.
Soul food: Matt 28:16-20; 2 Cor 13:14; John 1:18; John 15:18-26
2025-06-14
Colossians 1:10 NLT
To grow, you must dedicate yourself to the process. Whether it’s in your career, your marriage, your ministry, or your walk with God, once you dedicate yourself to growth and development and a lifestyle of planned improvement, it becomes normal to you. And you realize when you’re not making progress. Something is missing!
It’s been reputed that the Polish American classical pianist Arthur Rubinstein refused to listen to recordings of his playing. Even only a few months afterward, he was unhappy with what he heard. Why? Because he had changed and improved – but his recordings had not.
Stop and think about the non-negotiables in your life. What are you willing to live and die for? Write down what you want to hold on to at any cost, and fully explain why. After you have done that, everything else should be open to change.
Here is how Paul prayed for the Christians in the Colossian church: “We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and… spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light” (vv. 9-12 NLT).
Soul food: Hosea 6-10; Mark 14:43-52; Ps 139:7-12; Prov 13:24
2025-06-13
Psalm 139:23 NKJV
Change must happen inside you before it can happen around you. In an old Peanuts comic strip, Lucy tells Charlie Brown she would like to change the world. So, Charlie asks her, “Where would you start?” In typical Lucy fashion, she replies, “I would start with you.” Think about it: When we have marital problems, we sometimes pray, “Lord, help my spouse to change!” But maybe things will improve when you’re willing to pray, “Lord, help me to change!” Changing the atmosphere and dynamics in your home usually starts with changing your own actions and reactions.
The Bible says, “Be tender-hearted… keep a humble attitude… Don’t retaliate… pay them back with a blessing… [and] God… will bless you for it” (1 Peter 3:8-9 NLT). When we don’t like something, we want everybody – except us – to change! The truth is, we’re resistant to change.
In The Secret Garden, Novelist Frances Hodgson Burnett puts it like this: “At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, and then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.”
To change your world, you must first change yourself. The psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties… see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24 NKJV). As you begin to change for the better, others will notice and react to you accordingly. So, make this your prayer today: “Lord, let the change I seek begin in me!”
Soul food: Hosea 1-5; Mark 14:27-42; Ps 139:1-6; Prov 13:21-23
2025-06-12
Philippians 3:8 NLT
You must be willing to pay the price for change. Dramatist and screenwriter Sidney Howard remarked, “One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.” Change always costs you, if not in money, then in time, creativity, and energy. In fact, if it doesn’t cost you anything, chances are it’s not real change!
As you consider how to make the changes needed in your life in order to improve and grow, it’s important to count the cost of changing compared to the cost of remaining the same. That means you must do your homework. Change brings growth. But it can also bring grief, especially when it means letting some things go in order to embrace others. What will the changes you desire really cost?
Paul wrote: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him… I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (vv. 8-12 NLT).
The question is: How badly do you want to change – and are you willing to pay the price?
Soul food: 2 Ki 24-25; Mark 14:12-26; Ps 73:17-28; Prov 13:20
