2020-05-13
Daniel 2:21 NIV
When we’re going through a rough time, we need to remember that it won’t last forever. Just as there are seasons throughout the year, there are seasons in our lives too. Daniel said: ‘He changes times and seasons…He gives wisdom.’ If we’re in a season of hardship, disappointment, hurt, or loneliness, we can rest in the knowledge that it will end. And through it, we’ll have more wisdom for our future. Sometimes our greatest blessings come from our most negative circumstances. Paul wrote: ‘Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!’ (2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT). Tough times don’t last. When we have the right attitude, we know that we’ll survive. So how can we have the right attitude when we’re in a stormy season of life? We need to remain calm, discipline ourselves to focus on what we can do, and trust God to do what we can’t. It’s also wise for us to avoid making big decisions when we’re in a storm. Just as the wind blows wildly during a storm, our thoughts can become wild and frantic, and that’s not the best time to make big decisions. A bad decision can take us down the wrong path, and lead us further away from God’s plans and purposes for us. When we have an unhelpful attitude, we’re unlikely to make decisions that are helpful to us. If we’re in a storm, and struggling to have the right attitude, we can take the advice Paul gave to the church in Philippi. He said: ‘Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need…His peace will guard your hearts and minds’ (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT).
Num 27-29; Mark 8:27-38; Ps 62; Prov 11:15
2020-05-12
Philippians 4:8 NIV
We all need an ‘attitude adjustment’ from time to time. It’s crucial that we maintain the right attitude when life gets tough. We need to be determined that we’ll go through whatever comes our way with the right attitude. If we decide in the good times that we’re going to work on maintaining our attitude through all situations, we’ll be prepared to put it into action in the bad times. Paul wrote, ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things’ (vv.8 NIV). It’s not always going to be easy to think this way. When things are going wrong, it can be easy to let negativity fill our minds. But when we start to let negative thoughts in, we then act from those thoughts, and we can make the atmosphere around us negative too. It can be challenging to change things when we get to this stage. Maintaining the right attitude is always much easier than regaining the right attitude. So as soon as we sense ourselves becoming negative, it’s important that we make an immediate attitude adjustment. The Bible says: ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7 NIV). The moment the enemy sends negative thoughts into our mind, let’s stop them in their tracks by recognising that they’re negative and replacing them with positive, godly thoughts. The Bible tells us to ‘take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). So let’s discipline ourselves to stand strong with a positive attitude in every circumstance. Then we’ll experience God’s peace, and we’ll have the strength to make it through whatever we’re facing.
Num 25-26; Mark 8:14-26; Ps 57; Prov 11:14
2020-05-11
2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV
A stronghold is defined as a fortified place where people can be protected from attack. It’s a place of safety because it’s so well protected. However, we can end up with negative strongholds in our lives. We might believe certain negative things about ourselves. We might turn to unhelpful things to help us cope with tough times. But these types of strongholds aren’t places of safety; they’re actually dangerous places to be. We’re trapped in them, and they’re so well fortified that the truth can’t get in and we can’t get out. Our lives can be controlled by these strongholds, and they can end up being passed on from generation to generation because no one can escape. Fortunately, with God, this doesn’t have to be the case. With His help, our strongholds can be destroyed, and we can live in freedom. The Bible says: ‘One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust’ (Proverbs 21:22 NIV). With the help of God’s wisdom, we can identify the strongholds in our lives where we have been placing our trust, and where we have been trapped. So how can we destroy the negative strongholds that we’ve identified? Paul wrote: ‘The weapons we fight with…have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ One of the main weapons we have is the Bible (take a look at Ephesians 6:17). It’s full of truth, and when we discover the truth we can declare it out loud and begin to break down the walls of our strongholds. It’s not easy to destroy a stronghold, but gradually, with God’s help, we can take it down brick by brick. Then we can experience His freedom for us, and for the generations to come.
Num 22-24; Mark 8:1-13; Ps 44:17-26; Prov 11:12-13
2020-05-10
Romans 10:17 NIV
The Bible says that faith is ‘confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’ (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). Faith isn’t empty hope, or simply a positive confession of something we want to be true. Faith is recognising something that’s already a reality despite the fact that it can’t yet be seen. The Bible says that God ‘gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not’ (Romans 4:17 NIV). When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of future generations, and that he would have a son even though he was old, Abraham had to put his faith in the God who speaks things into being. Abraham didn’t speak Isaac into existence, God did. Abraham simply believed that God would act on His promise, and as a result Isaac was born. The Bible tells us that ‘without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised’ (vv.19-21 NIV). Do we have faith that God will do what He’s promised? Our faith can begin to waver when we don’t see anything change or when we’ve been praying for years without seeing His promises come into being. So how do we develop strong faith? The Bible tells us that ‘faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.’ So let’s immerse ourselves in God’s Word, and build up our faith.
Matt 5:10; 1 Thes 2:13-3:5; 1 Cor 4:11-13; Rev 6:9-11
2020-05-09
Genesis 41:37 NIV
God gave Joseph a dream that one day he’d be in a high-profile leadership position. But when he finally arrived at Pharaoh’s palace, he didn’t walk in and announce to everyone that he was going to be in charge. He had to work for it, and God took him on a long journey of ups and downs before he got there. When God gives us a dream, it might take a long time before that dream is fulfilled. In fact, we might not see any way that the dream can come into being. But we need to keep trusting God, and believe that the dream He gave to us will happen. Our dreams and our talents are important, but long-term success won’t happen without a plan. Joseph gave Pharaoh a plan not only to survive the famine they were in, but also to prosper because of it. He gave Pharaoh a specific plan with a timeline: seven years. He told him: ‘This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine’ (Genesis 41:36 NIV). God will help us make plans towards fulfilling our dreams. When we spend time listening to Him and learning what’s in His heart for us, we’re able to use the time we’re waiting for the fulfilment of our dreams to understand how we can get there. If we’re trying to force things and make our own plans in our own time, it’s unlikely that God will bless what we’re doing. The Bible says: ‘In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps’ (Proverbs 16:9 NIV). His way is best, and His plans are the best for us.
Num 19-21; Mark 7:24-37; Ps 44:9-16; Prov 11:10-11
2020-05-08
Psalm 40:8 NIV
We know we should be walking in God’s will, but sometimes it can be a challenge. We might be wondering what God’s will actually is. We can find ourselves worrying that we’re making the wrong decisions, because we’re not quite sure what God wants us to do, and we might not completely understand when He tells us. But the Bible has lots of advice on how God wants us to live. For example, it tells us to ‘give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). And also to ‘act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8 NIV). While we might not get direction for specific decisions we need to make, if we’re living God’s way then we’re likely to make decisions which line up with His will. Sometimes we can be tempted to think that when we’re walking in God’s will everything will be easy. But that’s not the case. In fact, things may even get more challenging because the enemy will try to stop us from being so effective. But we can view these challenges as a good thing because they confirm to us that we’re walking in God’s will, and that we’re actually making a difference in the kingdom. The psalmist wrote, ‘I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.’ Do we desire to do God’s will? Have we tried to do His will but given up because it’s too hard? God will equip and strengthen us; we don’t have to do it in our own strength. Let’s surrender our own plans, and ask God to help us walk in His will.
Num 16-18; Mark 7:14-23;
Ps 44:1-8; Prov 11:9
