2022-05-01
Ecclesiastes 5:2 NLT
When writing about the topic of making commitments and keeping them, the author of Ecclesiastes was very clear about the right way to handle them. In The Message, his words are paraphrased: ‘Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think… When you tell God you’ll do something, do it – now. God takes no pleasure in foolish drivel. Vow it, then do it. Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up. Don’t let your mouth make a total sinner of you. When called to account, you won’t get by with “Sorry, I didn’t mean it”‘ (Ecclesiastes 5:2, 4-6 MSG). That means we mustn’t be impulsive, we should listen as much as we speak, get as much information as we can, and then ask God for wisdom and guidance before making a commitment.
People often say what they think others want to hear, but that can end up causing a lot of trouble. We must be very careful not to promise something we can’t actually deliver. And if we do make a mistake and over-promise, we need to be honest and admit our mistake as soon as possible, rather than trying to cover it up or make excuses.
We might make a commitment based on our emotions, perhaps because we feel sorry for the person who’s asking, or because we want them to like us more. But true commitment doesn’t work like that. Emotions are constantly changing, but commitment has to be absolutely solid. It should be based on integrity. Real dedication shines through in times of trouble and adversity, and goes the distance when it’s based on godly values.
So before we make a commitment, let’s take time to think it through and get God involved.
2 Kings 4:42-44; Mark 6:30-44
2022-04-30
Colossians 4:3 NCV
We’re called to introduce others to God, but we don’t always feel confident in talking theology or answering the difficult questions. Fortunately, there are plenty of other things we can do to show a friend or loved one who God really is.
Here are some ideas: 1) Let them join you when you pray. This will help them to understand that prayer is how we build a lifelong friendship with God. It isn’t anything scary, formal, or complicated (although we can all struggle with prayer occasionally). It’s simply a conversation with a loving Father. God said, ‘When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them’ (Psalm 91:15 NLT).
2) Show them what God is like. We influence others’ concepts of God, and they understand Him through the interactions they have with us. So our behaviour should always reflect God, such as never being too busy to listen, giving encouragement, never belittling or being harsh, and showing love in everything we do.
3) Help them to see God at work. When people are encouraged to see God at work in the lives of others, they’ll begin to discern Him at work in their own lives too. They’ll begin to realise that He cares about them, and they can always turn to Him for support and guidance.
4) Don’t just tell them to go to church – take them. Church can be daunting for someone who’s never been before, or who might have had a bad experience of church in the past. Having a friend with them to act as guide, helper, and explainer can make all the difference in giving them a positive experience and seeing that church should be a warm and welcoming place of fellowship and connection.
Jam 1-2; Matt 4:12-25; Ps 94:1-11; Pro 10:24-26
2022-04-29
Philippians 2:4 NCV
Unselfishness does three things for us: 1) It improves the quality of our lives. It gives us more appreciation for life and a glimpse of its higher values. Seeing people in need and giving to meet those needs puts a lot of things into perspective. John Maxwell wrote: ‘There is no life as empty as the self-centred life. There is no life as centred as the self-empty life.’ If we want to improve our world, we should focus our attention on helping others.
2) It makes us part of something greater than ourselves. In the mid-1980s, the pharmaceutical organisation Merck & Company developed a medication to cure river blindness, a disease that infects and causes blindness in millions of people. Most of the people it affects live in developing countries. It was a good product, but the potential customers couldn’t afford it. But Merck produced the drug anyway, and decided to give it free to anyone who needed it. They gave away more than 250 million tablets. George W. Merck, the company’s president, said, ‘We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It’s not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.’ The lesson in this for us is instead of striving to be great, we should try to be part of something greater than ourselves.
3) It creates a legacy. When we think unselfishly and invest in others, we have the opportunity to create a lasting difference that will go on for the whole of our lives and beyond. The Bible says, ‘Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.’ Let’s make that our goal.
Dan 11-12; Matt 4:1-11; Ps 144:9-15; Pro 10:22-23
2022-04-28
1 John 5:14 NLT
A leader wrote these words: ‘My dad was a busy man… to get him at work you had to go through a switchboard unless you knew his private number. He gave it to a few business partners, but all of his kids had it… We knew, no matter how busy he was, we could call anytime on his direct line. I’ve the same thing… my kids know my number… they can call me anytime for anything. And you know what? No voices sound sweeter to me than my kids’ voices. When one of them says, “Hi, Dad,” it doesn’t matter what I’m juggling… they’re an absolute priority… Now multiply that out exponentially – and listen to me. Nothing sounds sweeter to God than your voice saying, “Hello, Father.” There’s nothing going on in the cosmos that would keep Him from directing His full attention to your conversation or your request.’
That means when God is your Father, you can call Him anytime. He’s never more than a prayer away. Jesus said: ‘Ask, and God will give to you… If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!’ (Matthew 7:7, 9-11 NCV).
We can talk to God without having to beg or resort to flattery because we’re ‘confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And… he will give us what we ask for’ (1 John 5:14-15 NLT). So pray confidently, knowing that your loving heavenly Father hears and treasures every word.
Dan 8-10; Matt 3:1-17; Ps 144:1-8; Pro 10:19-21
2022-04-27
Proverbs 11:3 NIV
Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 19:19 NIVUK). But in order to love yourself, you must first be able to respect yourself. And self-respect is based on personal integrity.
Author Ted Engstrom tells the story of a high school basketball team in his book called Integrity. The team had been having a great season, winning 21 games and losing only five. In the final, they had a dramatic victory, coming from behind to win the game. But later they realised that one of the players, who had played for just 45 seconds at the end of a single match, was actually ineligible to compete. The team was way ahead in that particular game, so the player couldn’t really have affected the outcome, but their coach, Cleveland Stroud, reported the mistake anyway and surrendered the trophy they’d won at the final.
Stroud had this to say: ‘We didn’t know he was ineligible at the time; we didn’t know it until a few weeks ago. Some people have said we should have just kept quiet about it, that it was just forty-five seconds and the player wasn’t an impact player. But you’ve got to do what’s honest and right and what the rules say. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don’t ever forget what you’re made of.’
Every word and action will either add to or take away from our character, so it’s important that we choose the honesty route. That’s what the Bible means when it says, ‘The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.’ So today, strive for honesty and integrity in everything you do.
Dan 5-7; Matt 2:13-23; Ps 7:10-17; Pro 10:17-18
2022-04-26
Psalm 15:5 NIV
In The Message paraphrase we read, ‘For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, there’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it’ll be too late to help them”‘ (Proverbs 29:1 MSG). King Solomon was said to be the wisest man who ever lived. He wrote these words, but sadly he didn’t live by them, so he ‘crashed and burned’. And if it could happen to Solomon, it could happen to any of us. So how can we guard against falling?
We need to avoid favouring gifts and skills above character. There’s often a tendency to celebrate and reward someone’s gift and overlook their character; but both must be developed, not just the gifts and skills part.
In Psalm 15, David gives us eight traits to look for in a leader worthy of respect: 1) They have integrity. 2) They don’t take part in gossip. 3) They don’t harm others. 4) They speak up against wrong. 5) They honour those who walk in the truth. 6) They keep their promise, even at personal cost. 7) They’re not greedy to profit at the expense of others. 8) They’re strong and stable. David concludes his psalm by saying those who do these things ‘will never be shaken’.
Even if we’re not leaders, we should pay attention to this list, because every one of those traits is worth developing, whatever our role in life. And by working on these things, we’ll have some of the best protection from falling. We also need to stay close to God and learn to recognise His voice by talking and listening to Him every day and getting into His Word regularly. That way, we’ll have the best guidance system to help us avoid falls that could take us down.
Dan 3-4; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 7:1-9; Pro 10:16
