2020-05-19
2 Corinthians 9:11 NIV
How many times do you find yourself asking for more than you already have? We might want more friends, higher pay at work, more blessings from God. In the world of technology, we want the new thing that’s been released, even if what we already have still works. God wants us to go to Him with our requests, but we need to examine the attitude of our hearts. We need to think about our motive for asking for more. Are we asking out of greed or out of generosity? Do we just want to keep up with everyone else? The Bible says: ‘You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God’ (2 Corinthians 9:11 NIV). God’s blessings are to encourage us to be generous. God loves blessing us just because He loves us. But we’re called to be generous with others. We should share our resources and help those who have less than us. The Bible also encourages us to be content with what we have already. Paul wrote: ‘I have learned how to be content with whatever I have’ (Philippians 4:11 NLT). Are we content when we don’t have everything we think we need? Or do we panic and pray desperately for more? Paul also said: ‘If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction’ (1 Timothy 6:8-9 NIV). We need to make sure that we’re not allowing greed and selfishness to take the place of generosity and kindness in our lives.
Titus 1-3; Mark 10:1-12; Ps 88:1-9a; Prov 11:24-26
2020-05-18
Matthew 6:24 NIV
Some people think that having money is wrong. But the Bible never says that. What it actually says is that ‘the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil’ (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV). It’s not the accumulation of money that’s the problem, it’s the love we have for it. During the teachings known as the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, Jesus taught: ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money’ (Matthew 6:24 NIV). He was basically saying that we can’t love God and love worldly things at the same time. God wants our whole heart. He doesn’t want to have a part of our love, while we give love to other things too. Jesus went on to teach that the greatest commandment is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Matthew 22:37 NIV). If we’re being honest, many of us don’t love God with undivided hearts. Other things take pieces of our hearts. Maybe it’s our relationships with others, our career, our hobbies, or our finances. While they are all important parts of our lives, loving God wholeheartedly means we don’t allow ourselves to be distracted and preoccupied by those things; instead we’re fully devoted to God. In order to do this, we need to protect our hearts from being taken over with love for other things. In Proverbs we’re told: ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it’ (4:23 NIV). If love for God is filling our hearts, everything else will fall into place. We’ll use our money well, we’ll have great relationships, and we’ll move forwards in life.
Jonah 1-4; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 75; Prov 11:23
2020-05-17
Isaiah 41:10 ESV
When we’ve been walking through a tough time for a while, we can sometimes feel like our strength is fading away. We become tired and weary of hoping for change. Our faith begins to waver. It’s in these times that we need to draw closer to God. That might feel like the last thing we want to do if we’re wondering why God hasn’t brought us out of the struggle yet, but it’s the best thing we can do. It’s God who can provide the strength we need to keep going until we see breakthrough. The Bible tells us many times that God’s our strength. The psalmist wrote, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1 ESV). God’s strength is something we’re promised. God says: ‘I will strengthen you, I will help you.’ It’s a definite. When we feel overwhelmed by the circumstances in our lives, we can go to God and find rest. We can spend time in His presence, reading His Word, giving Him our burdens. He walks every step with us, strengthening us and encouraging us to keep going, even when it seems unbearably tough. Paul said: ‘We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God…And he did rescue us…We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us’ (2 Corinthians 1:8-10 NLT). Instead of trying to escape our situations, we need to seek God. He’ll give us the strength we need to keep going through the struggle.
Matt 4:12-16; Matt 5:14-16; Acts 9:1-19
2020-05-16
Isaiah 40:31 NIV
When we’re physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained, we become vulnerable. Jesus knew the importance of staying in balance; of work and rest; of giving out and taking in. ‘Then Jesus said: “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and His apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone’ (Mark 6:31-32 NLT). Unless we learn to rest and take time off, we’re opening ourselves up to potential danger. That’s why setting aside time each day to read the Bible and be alone with God in prayer is so important. Sometimes the enemy tries to stop us working for God’s kingdom by persuading us to think that we need to do it all, until we’re exhausted and ineffective. But that’s not how God wants us to live. We can go to Him for rest. Jesus said: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28 NIV). It doesn’t matter how old we are, how much responsibility we have, or where we work, every one of us needs to take time off in order to maintain our physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. The Bible says: ‘Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint’ (Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV). If we’re feeling tired and worn out, let’s go to God for the rest we need, and ask Him to renew our strength.
Num 34-36; Mark 9:30-37; Ps 18:30-50; Prov 11:22
2020-05-15
Romans 6:15 NLT
How many times have we apologised for something, only to find ourselves doing that thing again? We can do that with God too. We tell Him about something we’ve done, feel His forgiveness, and then find ourselves making the same mistake again. God doesn’t want us to just tell Him about our sins, He wants to help us change. There’s a difference between confessing our sin and repenting of it. By confessing our sin we acknowledge what we’ve done; by repenting we turn away from it and change our behaviour. When we bring our sins to God, He forgives us. There’s no limit to God’s forgiveness. The moment we ask for it, we receive it. Because Jesus died for us, we’re now seen as righteous in God’s eyes, even though we still make mistakes. The Bible says: ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). But God doesn’t want us to keep repeating our sinful patterns over and over again. We can’t take His forgiveness for granted. We shouldn’t keep on sinning because we know we’ll be forgiven. Paul wrote about this issue in his letter to the Christians in Rome. He said: ‘Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!…Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy’ (Romans 6:15, 19 NLT). Sometimes we can be stuck in cycles of sin that we struggle to break, but with God’s help we can find freedom and change. We can become more like Jesus, and live our lives for Him.
Num 32:25-33:56; Mark 9:14-29; Ps 18:1-29; Prov 11:19-21
2020-05-14
Proverbs 3:6 NLT
In order for us to maintain the right attitude in life, we need to stay connected to God – the One who sees the big picture and is in control of everything. He makes sure everything that needs to happen, happens at the right time, and moves at the appropriate speed to make sure we arrive safely at the destination He’s planned for us. When we distance ourselves from God and try to do everything on our own, we can become overwhelmed and stressed. We feel afraid of the future. We worry about the decisions we need to make. We can become negative when things aren’t working out the way we wanted them to. But when we stay closely connected to God, we begin to want the things He wants. We surrender our plans and hand over our fears. We listen to His voice, and follow His guidance. The Bible says: ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT). We don’t have to do everything on our own. God wants us to go to Him for help and wisdom. We’re told to ‘approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). If we’re staying in constant communication with God, we’ll feel His peace and reassurance in our lives. We’ll be able to deal with the things in our past which are holding us back, look to the future without being afraid, and be in the present with a positive attitude.
Num 30:1-32:24; Mark 9:1-13; Ps 49; Prov 11:16-18
