2020-02-25
2 Corinthians 3:5 NCV
God doesn’t want us to be trying to do everything by ourselves. He wants us to trust Him and depend on Him for everything we need. We can easily fall into the trap of feeling like we don’t need God, that we can handle everything ourselves. But the truth is that ‘it is God who makes us able to do all that we do.’ God showed this to Gideon when the Israelites were facing a battle with the Midianites. God had called Gideon to lead the army and save Israel. He gathered together all the men who would fight with him and it came to 32,000 men. But God wanted to show that they would win through Him, not manpower. ‘The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men to defeat the Midianites. I don’t want the Israelites to brag that they saved themselves”‘ (Judges 7:2 NCV). So God reduced the number of men down to just 300 (you can read about this in Judges 7). Imagine how Gideon must have felt. In Judges 6 we already see that Gideon felt inadequate (take a look at verse 15). Now he probably felt unprepared too. But God said: ‘Using the three hundred men who lapped the water, I will save you and hand Midian over to you’ (Judges 7:7 NCV). And He did. God wants us to depend on Him for what we need. He provides for all He has made. The Bible says: ‘All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time’ (Psalm 104:27 NIV). He doesn’t want us to be worrying about our situations or becoming prideful about our own abilities. We should stop leaning on our own strength and resources, and instead depend wholly and solely on God.
Gen 4-6; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 40:9-17; Prov 6:6-8
2020-02-24
Ephesians 4:29 NCV
Nobody likes to be criticised. It can make us defensive and lead us to say things that we don’t really mean. Or it can knock our self-esteem, and leave us feeling worthless and not good enough. Criticism can come from our friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers via social media. But the Bible wants us to be building each other up. ‘Say what people need – words that will help others become stronger’ and ‘encourage each other and give each other strength’ (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NCV). Sometimes criticism can be helpful because it shows us areas we need to work on. But criticism is not always meant in a constructive way, it’s often destructive. We need to learn to handle criticism well. We need to avoid retaliation and instead take everything that is said to us to God. He can show us if we need to make any changes to our lifestyles and character, but He can also remind us of our core identity in Him. We also need to lead by example. We should be aiming to speak words of life to other people, rather than criticising them. Jesus said: ‘Why do you notice the little piece of dust in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood in your own eye?’ (Matthew 7:3 NCV). It can be so tempting to point out other people’s mistakes, but we need to remember that we’re not perfect either. All of us sin, all of us mess up, and all of us fail at things. If we wouldn’t want someone pointing out our mistakes, why would we do that to someone else? Let’s be ‘encouragers’ rather than ‘criticisers’.
Gen 1-3; Matt 17:1-13; Ps 40:1-8; Prov 6:1-5
2020-02-23
1 Samuel 1:27 NIV
We all have desires and things we want to happen in our lives. Maybe we want to get into a certain university or career path. Maybe we want a relationship or a house. Maybe we want the opportunity to use and develop the skills God’s given to us. In the Bible, we’re introduced to Hannah. She wanted to be a mother so badly that she ‘prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly’ (v.10 NIV). In fact, she made a vow to God, pledging that if He gave her a son, she would ‘give him to the LORD for all the days of his life’ (v.11 NIV). And it happened. The Bible says that Hannah ‘became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him”‘ (v.20 NIV). God knows we have desires for things, and He wants us to bring those desires to Him. In Psalm 37, we’re told to: ‘Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart’ (v.4 NIV). Sometimes God gives us the things we’re desperately asking Him for, but sometimes He doesn’t. There isn’t a set formula we need to follow to get Him to give us what we’re asking for. The truth is, God knows what we need and what will be best for us. We have desires for certain things, but they’re not always the best thing for us. He loves us so much that He only wants the best things in our lives. It can be really hard when we’ve been praying for something for a long time, and God doesn’t seem to be doing anything. But we need to keep bringing it to Him in prayer, and keep seeking His will for our lives.
Titus 2:1-14; Gen 39:6-12; Prov 25:28
2020-02-22
2 Chronicles 20:21 NIV
Finally, we need to thank God in advance. Imagine standing on a mountaintop looking across a valley toward a mountain on the other side. A big battle is about to take place down below. On one mountain, three enemy nations are ready and waiting to devastate Israel. The Israelites are on your mountain, and their leader Jehoshaphat tells them to put those who sing in the choir at the front. So the army goes marching into battle with the choir on the front line singing praises to God. It doesn’t make sense to put the singers on the front line – they weren’t equipped to fight. But the plan worked. The opposing armies got confused and ended up killing each other. It doesn’t always make sense to us to praise God while we’re in a battle. We can find it challenging to thank Him for the victory before that victory has taken place. When we’re in a tough battle, and it looks like we’re losing, praising and thanking God can seem like the last thing we want to do. But it’s important to praise Him in faith even before the victory takes place. When we thank Him in advance three things happen: 1) Our atmosphere changes. We no longer feel afraid because we have the assurance of God’s presence. 2) Our attitude changes. We begin to believe that there’s nothing impossible for God. That even though our problem is big, our God is bigger. 3) Our approach changes. Instead of speaking words of doubt, we start speaking words of faith. And because our faith honours God, He honours our faith and the battle begins to turn in our favour. We need to keep praising Him until our breakthrough comes.
Ecc 9-12; Matt 16:13-28; Ps 36; Prov 5:21-23
2020-02-21
2 Chronicles 20:17 NIV
Another thing we need to do in order to win our battles is to stand firm. God told Jehoshaphat: ‘Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.’ What does it mean for us to ‘stand firm’ when we’re in a crisis? It’s having an attitude of quiet confidence that says, ‘I’m going to trust God.’ Moses also told the people to stand firm. They were being chased by the Egyptians, and were starting to regret leaving their life in Egypt and coming into the desert. He said: ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still’ (Exodus 14:13-14 NIV). It can be hard to stand our ground while the battle seems to be raging around us. We want to take matters into our own hands. But we need to be still and let God fight for us. This doesn’t mean we do nothing about our situations, but it does mean we trust in God to bring the victory. So what do we stand firm on? Jehoshaphat went on to tell the people: ‘Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful’ (v.20 NIV). We need to stand firm on the character of God. God’s faithful, and we can depend on Him. We also need to stand firm on the truth of His Word, the Bible. Every promise written in there will be fulfilled. So, in the battles we’re facing, let’s stand firm on the unchanging character of God and the unchanging promises of His Word.
Ecc 5-8; Matt 16:1-12; Ps 33:13-22; Prov 5:15-20
2020-02-20
2 Chronicles 20:15 NIV
Another thing we need to do to win our battles is to trust in God and persevere when it gets tough. God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer by saying: ‘The battle is not yours, but God’s.’ We can often wear ourselves out trying to fight God’s battles in our own strength. But God says: ‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength’ (Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV). If we’re feeling weak from fighting in our own strength, we can go to Him and ask Him to restore and refresh us. If we’re going to rely on His strength, we need to trust Him. But trusting in God can be easier said than done, especially when we’re facing a really tough battle. We can wonder whether God has left us to deal with it on our own, or whether He wanted us to suffer. Sometimes our battles can seem to be intensifying rather than getting better. How are we supposed to trust Him when things are getting worse? But God can see the bigger picture, and we might not always understand it. The Bible says: ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV). It’s in the times when nothing seems to be changing that we need to persistently bring our battles to God. We need to wait expectantly for Him to move. We need to trust Him to bring victory. God doesn’t need us to micromanage things; He has everything under control. He wants us to relax and trust in Him.
Ecc 1-4; Matt 15:29-39; Ps 33:1-12; Prov 5:7-14
