2025-04-24
Psalm 18:36 NKJV
Read these enlargement Scriptures: “You enlarged my path.” “Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would… enlarge my territory'” (1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV). “Enlarge the place of your tent… lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes” (Isaiah 54:2 NKJV). God wants to enlarge you spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and in every area of your life. But to experience enlargement, you must learn from people larger than you.
Dr. John Maxwell writes: “The first ten years that I was intentionally pursuing personal growth, I was always behind trying to catch up. I had to get over the comparison gap. I recognized I needed to be exposed to bigger and better leaders outside of my own small circle, but when I stepped out of my comfort zone, I was intimidated. It was clear that I was not in their league. Their organizations were six times the size of mine, and they had many more and much better ideas than I did. I felt like I was in over my head and trying to swim.
Despite that, I was encouraged. Why? Because I discovered that great men were willing to share their ideas. And I was learning so much. You can only learn if others are ahead of you. It was a difficult transition, but it was well worth it. So if you are aware that others are better than you, don’t be discouraged. Be glad others are there to help show you the way. Growth is not a rocking chair you sit in, it’s a mountain you climb each day. But there is good news. As Jim Rohn said, ‘You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.'”
Soul food: Num 7; Mark 1:21-45; Ps 94:12-23; Prov 10:27
2025-04-23
Psalm 5:12 NKJV
The Bible says that God will surround the righteous with favour. If you are trusting in the finished work of Christ, God sees you as “righteous” (See Romans 3:22). So, you qualify; you can pray, “Lord, I need your favour in this job interview,” or “in selling this house,” or “in making this deal,” or “in going on this date,” etc. Be prepared for your old programming to kick in, where you think about the word “righteous”; you begin to wonder if your thoughts, words, and deeds are good enough to deserve God’s favour.
Here is a truth you need to keep in mind: The only righteousness that God responds to is the righteousness of Christ. And since He has placed you “in Christ,” you are always qualified to ask God for favour and believe He will grant it. You are saved by grace. And the word grace means “unearned, unmerited, undeserved favour.” The world’s concept of favour is misleading: “She owes me a favour,” or “I don’t owe you any favours!” In other words, the world’s concept of favour is totally performance based.
But the only performance God looks at when it comes to granting you His favour is Christ’s performance on your behalf and the fact that you are trusting totally in Him. His life covers all your sins of omission, and His death covers all your sins of commission. And since God always sees you “in Christ,” in His eyes you are always qualified for favour. “Righteousness… shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus” (Romans 4:22, 24 NKJV). So, today expect God’s favour.
Soul food: Num 4:34-6:27; Mark 1:14-20; Ps 94:1-11; Prov 10:24-26
2025-04-22
2 Corinthians 5:14 KJV
The most powerful incentive to overcoming sin is not our love for Christ, but His love for us. Even with the best of intentions, our love for Him is subject to fluctuations. Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, “You have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4 NKJV). He said to the church in Laodicea that their love had become “lukewarm” (Revelation 3:16).
Many of us grew up in churches where we were told that the reason we yield to certain carnal traits is because we don’t love the Lord enough. So, we try harder, without success, and get discouraged. That’s like putting the cart before the horse. It should be the other way around. The secret of victorious Christian living is not found in trying to love Jesus more, but in having a revelation of His love for you. That’s why Paul wrote, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” Paul’s actions were governed by the knowledge of Christ’s incredible love for Him.
If you’re struggling with sinful habits today, pray for a revelation of God’s love for you. It makes all the difference! Paul writes: “I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts… as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to… understand… how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never… fully… understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself” (Ephesians 3:17-19 TLB).
Soul food: Num 3:1-4:33; Mark 1:9-13; Ps 6; Prov 10:22-23
2025-04-21
Romans 8:28 NKJV
Carolyn Arends writes: “Our expectations are not just unrealistic, they’re anti-gospel… Many of us… distort his promise of abundant life into something that resembles the illusion advertisers sell us every day. How do we resist our sense of entitlement and the distorted expectations that are so deeply ingrained?
(1) Check the Definitions. When I read that God ‘works all things together for good,’ I think of the marketers’ definitions… that ‘good’ means ‘easy,’ ‘youthful,’ ‘desirable,’ and ‘wealthy.’ God defines ‘good’ in entirely different terms. New Testament Christians seemed to believe the greatest good is to become more like Jesus. They took it for granted… the process wouldn’t be easy… that the ‘good’ God is working toward is much more expansive than one individual’s personal circumstances. God is establishing his kingdom… ‘reconciling all things to himself’ (Colossians 1:20), and the ultimate good… is to be included in that process… My heavenly father knows more than I do about what I need… His definition of ‘blessing’ is different from mine.
(2) Re-evaluate Death: I can point to ‘dead ends’ in my career, or relationships that turned out to be opportunities to change direction. When I think of the energy I’ve expended resisting endings, I wonder what new life I’ve missed. Jesus tells us to die so we can live… to surrender all the illusions about what makes a life good… And then he walks with us… as we die a thousand deaths in the process of letting his life go deeper… into us.”
Soul food: Num 1-2; Mark 1:1-8; Ps 144:9-15; Prov 10:19-21
2025-04-20
Colossians 1:19-20 NAS
Our definition of “good” is different from God’s. “It was the Father’s good pleasure… to reconcile all things to Himself… through the… cross.”
Carolyn Arends writes: “During a jubilant Easter service, our pastor said something that stopped me in my mental tracks: ‘The world offers promises full of emptiness. But Easter offers emptiness full of promise.’ Empty cross, empty tomb, empty graveclothes… all full of promise. If I were writing the Easter story, I don’t think I’d choose emptiness as my symbolic gesture. But then, I also wouldn’t be talking about strength being made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), foolish things confounding the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27), the meek inheriting the earth (Matthew 5:5), or the poor in spirit getting… the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). And I certainly wouldn’t be talking about dying in order to live [See John 12:24]…
I don’t understand the way God thinks. But on those days when I feel hollowed out and broken… it makes me glad to remember that for Easter people, even death is full of promise… I’m writing this… during a particularly long Good Friday season in my own life. My mom is battling cancer, and I’d be lying if I said I was able to… ‘count it all joy.’… I pray for healing and hope desperately it will come here on earth… I vacillate wildly between… faith and doubt, openness, and bitterness. But… we do not suffer alone, because the God of the universe wore our skin and died our death and removed its sting forever… And even when I’m… sad, I look at my mom and remember: Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter morning. So, I pray through the night, and I wait for the resurrection.”
Soul food: 1 Cor 15; Luke 24
2025-04-19
John 11:25-26 NLT
Author Chuck Swindoll tells about a couple whose marriage had been a fifty-year battle. The husband died, and it fell to the wife to choose a grave marker. She contacted a stonecutter and told him, “I don’t want to be fancy or spend a lot of money. Just engrave the words: ‘TO MY HUSBAND’ in a suitable place on the stone.” She went to visit his grave and, to her horror, read these words: “TO MY HUSBAND… IN A SUITABLE PLACE.”
Swindoll writes: “A humorous story helps mask the pain and confusion surrounding death, but in the end, the laughter stops because death still comes. Humor, as good as it makes us feel, is powerless to stop the grim reaper. Remember the bumper sticker: ‘Don’t take life too seriously, you won’t get out alive’? Well, the truth is, we should take life and death seriously because we do get out alive. We all face life after death because we all have eternal souls. We’ll live forever somewhere. The question is where. And the ‘where’ depends on how we answer this question of Jesus: ‘Anyone who believes in me… will never ever die. Do you believe this… ?’ Jesus alone has the power of resurrection. And our assurance of spending forever with Him in heaven depends on our response… If we say, ‘Yes,’ by asking Jesus to forgive our sins and commit to following Him as Lord – then and only then do we have His power for living at our disposal… only then can we face life’s end with a calm… joyous expectation.”
Soul food: Matt 27:62-66; Luke 23:50-56; Ps 144:1-8; Prov 10:17-18
