2025-03-15
2 Chronicles 34:30 NKJV
When Josiah became king in Jerusalem, he assigned workers to repair the temple. There they discovered a copy of God’s law in the ruins. No one had seen it in years! Josiah quickly reasoned that Judah’s idolatry was directly tied to the absence of the reading of God’s Word. So, he gathered all the people of Judah together, personally read to them the law of God, and led them in a rededication to live according to the principles of God’s Word.
Don’t miss the connection here! Failure to read God’s Word and live by it led God’s people into idolatry. In the Bible you discover God’s priorities for your life. When you fail to read it, study it, and meditate on its precepts, you end up focusing on your own interests and neglecting God’s priorities.
And anything you put ahead of God is an “idol.” Sometimes an idol is a sinful practice you know to be wrong. But an idol can also be a legitimate thing like a job, or a relationship, or a particular interest that consumes so much of your time and energy that your relationship with God gets shortchanged or totally neglected. The hymn writer William Cowper wrote, “The dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee.”
If you’re serious about getting to know God better, drawing closer to Him, and putting Him in first place in your life, make a decision to spend time each day in His Word.
Soul food: Job 18-20; Luke 18:1-17; Ps 116:1-11; Prov 8:8-9
2025-03-14
Nehemiah 2:18 NIV
There is a time to pray, and there is a time to take action. Sometimes that means filling out the job application, or writing the check, or setting up the appointment, or having the conversation, or making the move.
Peter Marshall said: “I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to read one of the Gospels until we came to a place that told us to do something, then went out to do it, and only after we had done it, began reading again? There are aspects of the Gospel that are puzzling and difficult to understand. But our problems are not centered around the things we don’t understand, but rather the things we do understand… Our problem is not so much that we don’t know what we should do. We know perfectly well, but we don’t want to do it.”
One of the big mistakes we make is requesting God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him. Before God parted the waters of the Jordan River to allow the Israelites to enter Canaan, He told the priests to take a few steps into the river. Why did God do it that way? Maybe it was because He wanted to know if they had enough faith to get their feet wet. As long as your feet are planted on dry ground, God won’t part the river for you. You say, “I’m waiting for God to move.” Perhaps God is waiting for you to step out in faith and make the first move. If so, the word for you today is – take action.
Soul food: Job 15-17; Luke 17:20-37; Ps 19; Prov 8:6-7
2025-03-13
Isaiah 43:4 NLT
If you want to be a 10 but your self-esteem is a 5, you will never achieve at the level of a 10. You will achieve a 5 or lower. Why? Because you cannot surpass the image you have of yourself. Low self-esteem puts a cap on your potential. So where does our low self-esteem come from? Other people. When the most important people in your life repeatedly tell you that they expect you to go nowhere and achieve nothing of worth, that’s what you eventually start believing about yourself. And it’s like downloading a virus into your computer; it destroys your God-given potential.
What’s the answer? Instead of believing what others say about you, find out what God says about you. After all, who knows the value and potential of a product better than the manufacturer who made it? When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nation of Israel, Jeremiah said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” (Jeremiah 1:6 NLT). Perhaps you can identify with Jeremiah: “I’m too young, or too old, or not the right nationality, or not educated enough, or not rich enough.” Note what God said to Jeremiah next: “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you” (vv. 7-8 NLT).
Changing your self-image begins with changing your self-talk. In order to see yourself as valuable, begin to see yourself as God sees you.
Soul food: Job 11-14; Luke 17:11-19; Ps 11; Prov 8:4-5
2025-03-12
Philippians 4:13 AMPC
When God made the first man, He saw that his creation was “very good.” That means every person that has ever been born, including you, has seeds of success within them. All you need to do is water them and feed them, and they will grow. So why do many people fail to reach their God-given potential in life? One of the key reasons is low self-esteem; they don’t believe in themselves. They possess hundreds of possibilities, but they never nurture them because they have persuaded themselves that they’re incapable of learning and growing into something amazing. If you don’t believe you’re valuable and worth investing in, you will never spend the time and effort necessary to develop into what God made you to be.
Zig Ziglar said, “It’s impossible to consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves. We can do very few things in a positive way if we feel negative about ourselves.” Paul was humble. He was aware of his total dependence on God. But He also had a healthy sense of self-worth. Here is what he wrote to those who believed in him and supported his ministry: “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. But it was right and commendable and noble of you to contribute for my needs and to share my difficulties with me” (vv. 4:13-14 AMPC). So, the word for you today is – see yourself as valuable, because God does.
Soul food: Job 8-10; Luke 17:1-10; Ps 115; Prov 8:1-3
2025-03-11
1 Corinthians 3:5 NLT
One day when Charles Colson was scheduled to preach to three hundred inmates at San Quentin prison, a lockdown was called and most of the prisoners were confined to their cells. To the few who were allowed to attend, Colson decided to go ahead and give the complete message he had prepared. Later when he expressed disappointment that the three hundred were unable to attend, he was told, “We videotaped your message and will be showing it numerous times to all twenty-two hundred prisoners.” What if Colson had given way to disappointment and just delivered a short devotional instead of the full evangelistic message he had prepared? More than two thousand prisoners would not have heard the gospel.
An occasion may arise when you are the only person available to speak for God. Will you be faithful in such a moment? You are the most important person in the world to God when you are the one He has called to do something for Him. And the message is more important than the messenger.
Paul writes: “We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work” (vv. 5-8 NLT).
Soul food: Job 5-7; Luke 16:19-31; Ps 26; Prov 7:26-27
2025-03-10
John 13:34 NKJV
Love is not an emotion, because you cannot command someone to feel a certain way. Loving someone is a choice that manifests itself in your attitudes and actions toward that person. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (vv. 34-35 NKJV).
Jesus called this “a new commandment.” What’s new about it? These words: “as I have loved you.” Since Christ lives in you, you can love others with His love. Jesus always put His disciples first – washing their feet, saving them from storms, patiently teaching them. He didn’t look out for number one; He looked out for the twelve. You say, “But how can I love someone I don’t even like?” Jesus answers, “As I have loved you.”
C. S. Lewis tells of how he came to view others’ faults differently: “There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me…If I can love myself without approving of all I do, I can also love others without approving of all they do.” And what Jesus commands you to do, He empowers you to do: “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5 NKJV).
Soul food: Job 1-4; Luke 16:1-18; Ps 24; Prov 7:24-25
