2025-01-24
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV
Solomon says there is “a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” (vv. 2-8 NKJV).
That’s a total of twenty-eight different “times.” But notice what Solomon does not give us – a time to quit! As long as you stay on the battlefield, God can turn your situation around and give you victory. If you’re worried today about your marriage, your children, your health, your finances, your job, and your future, here is a promise you can stand on: “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17 NKJV). God didn’t say that the weapon wouldn’t be formed against you, but He said it wouldn’t prosper. So don’t quit!
Soul food: Rom 12-14; Luke 6:1-16; Ps 104:1-23; Prov 3:9-10
2025-01-23
Psalm 105:19 NKJV
When Joseph’s brothers stripped him of his coat of many colors which represented his father’s favour, what held him steady? The promise God gave him. When he was thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery, what held him steady? The promise God gave him. When the butler he befriended in prison failed to speak on his behalf to Pharaoh, what held him steady? The promise God gave him.
“Joseph… was sold as a slave… He was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house” (vv. 17-21 NKJV).
God’s Word will stand the test of time, but in order for it to come to pass, you must stand strong in faith during your times of testing. You will be tested by the attitudes and actions of your family. You will be tested by the unfaithfulness and betrayal of friends you trusted. You will be tested by living in circumstances of adversity and hardship that seem opposite to what God promised you.
You see, God is more interested in your character than He is in your comfort. The New Living Translation says, “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character” (v. 19). Why test anything? To find out if it’s trustworthy. And when you prove trustworthy, you can stand on the promise, “It will certainly come to pass” (Habakkuk 2:3 NET). So, stand on the promise God gave you.
Soul food: Rom 9:17-11:36; Luke 5:27-39; Ps 100; Prov 3:7-8
2025-01-22
Acts 9:6 NKJV
Paul’s life changed forever when he asked the question, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Note how God answered his question: “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (v. 6 NKJV). Discovering God’s will takes place in steps.
Step one is awareness. You cannot change direction if you’re unaware you’re headed in the wrong direction, so spend some time thinking about where you’re presently headed. If it’s not where you need to go, then write down the steps you must take to go where you want to go, to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Make them as concrete as you possibly can. Will they absolutely be the right steps? Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But you won’t know for sure until you start moving forward.
Step two is action. You can’t win if you don’t begin! Take initiative. Do something specific each day that will move you one step closer to your goal. Then, continue to do it every day.
Step three is accountability. Few things will inspire you to see your goals through like accountability. One way you can do that is to share your goals. When you tell people what you plan to do, you feel pressure to keep working at it. Give those people permission to ask you about your progress. It’s like giving yourself a deadline so that you keep moving toward it. Writing things down gives you another form of accountability.
Do you want to do God’s will? Then start with these steps.
Soul food: Rom 7:1-9:16; Luke 5:12-26; Ps 96; Prov 3:5-6
2025-01-21
2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV
Gideon’s army of thirty-two thousand men is enormously outnumbered by the Midianites when God tells him, “You have too many men.” He instructs Gideon to release anyone who is afraid, and Gideon loses two-thirds of his army. Now he has only ten thousand men. Again the Lord says, “There are still too many men,” and reduces Gideon’s army to three hundred men. At that moment, the odds had to be a million to one. And it even gets better! God directs Gideon to attack the Midianites with trumpets and pitchers. Now for the real kicker: Israel wins!
Why did God do it like that? Because if Gideon had attacked with thirty-two thousand men and won, the Israelites would have thought that God didn’t provide much help, and God would have received limited credit. But God is worthy of more. God desires and deserves complete credit. And when three hundred men defeat a massive army with trumpets and pitchers, God receives all the glory (See Judges 7). Why? The reason is a victory like that overcomes all odds.
Too frequently, our prayers revolve around requesting God to increase our odds of winning. We would like everything in our favour. But maybe God wants the odds to oppose us so we can encounter a miracle of divine proportions. Faith is trusting God no matter how hopeless the odds are. Our impossible circumstances are chances to experience a new height of God’s glory.
Are you facing a situation that, humanly speaking, is beyond your ability to cope with it? Read this: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV).
Soul food: Rom 3:21-6:23; Luke 5:1-11; Ps 91; Prov 3:3-4
2025-01-20
Romans 8:18 NKJV
In 1857 David Livingstone gave this speech at Cambridge University: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa… Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”
When you serve the Lord, you always get back more than you give up. And if you get back more than you give up, have you really sacrificed anything at all? “Then Peter began to say to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ So Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life'” (Mark 10:28-30 NKJV).
The only regrets you will have at the end of your life will be that you didn’t seek and serve God more and seek and serve Him sooner.
Soul food: Rom 1:1-3:20; Luke 4:31-44; Ps 89:38-52; Prov 3:1-2
2025-01-19
1 Timothy 4:15 NKJV
Paul had a succession plan for his ministry. That’s why he mentored Timothy and instructed him, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” The words “that your progress may be evident to all” mean that growth is measurable. Question: As you look back over the last few years of your life, in what areas have you grown? Before you read on, take a moment, and think carefully about how you answer that question.
In childhood, our bodies automatically grow. But some of us bring into adulthood a subconscious trust that spiritual, emotional, and mental growth follow a comparable pattern. We think that as time goes by, we inevitably improve. We’re like cartoon character Charlie Brown in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, who once said, “I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around until you get used to it.” The problem is that you don’t get better by just living; you must be intentional about it. No one improves by chance.
Personal growth doesn’t simply take place on its own. And when you’re finished with your formal education, you must take full ownership of the growth process because no one else will see to it for you. The ultimate growth manual is your Bible. It’s “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV). Everything you need to know and everything that’s required for you to grow can be found in its pages. So, open your Bible. Delve into it. Read it. Meditate on it. Apply its principles to your life, and you will be amazed at how you grow.
Soul food: Judg 16:23-31; 2 Cor 12:3-10
