2021-09-09
1 Thessalonians 5:14 NIV
The Bible says we should ‘warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.’ But often, we’d rather stay quiet and avoid confrontation than speak difficult truth into the lives of others.
One Bible teacher wrote: ‘A church isn’t a group of individuals who happen to meet in the same place every week; it’s a spiritual body…a loving family. It’s far easier to comfort and encourage than to warn or exhort, but both are necessary. Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love so that the whole body may “grow up in all things”. If we don’t take the time to exhort, encourage, warn, comfort, uphold and be patient…we [all] suffer in the end. Your body doesn’t function properly when one part is hurting or performing poorly. And the church suffers when one of its members is unruly, fainthearted, weak, or falls into bad doctrine. Letting a body part fester, or not supporting a part that’s hurt, can lead to irrecoverable damage’.
As our loving Father, God loves us too much to let us get away with bad behaviour. And we should try to share this attitude. We should love and care enough about others to correct and guide them if we can see them taking the wrong path or doing something that could be harmful in the long run. But that doesn’t give us a free rein to be critical and judgmental. Paul wrote, ‘If another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path’ (Galatians 6:1 NLT). We should speak only the truth, and our goal should be to speak it in love and compassion.
Eze 34-36; Luke 20:27-40; Ps 78:1-8; Prov 20:7-10
2021-09-08
Psalm 103:6 NCV
When life seems unfair, when people who have hurt us seem to get away with it, or when we’ve been wronged and those responsible don’t face any consequences, in despair we might begin to cry out, ‘Where are you, God?’ We want justice immediately. We struggle, we question, and we doubt. The psalmist wrote: ‘Lord, why are you so far away? Why do you hide when there is trouble?’ (Psalm 10:1 NCV).
Then later, David, who’d been forgiven and restored after committing adultery and murder, writes: ‘The LORD gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly…The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love towards those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are’ (Psalm 103:6-14 NLT).
Just as God shows grace and mercy to us when we hurt others or do something wrong, He offers that same grace and mercy to those who have hurt us. The Bible tells us, ‘God will judge everything, even what is done in secret, the good and the evil’ (Ecclesiastes 12:14 NCV). We need to trust God to judge as He sees best, and allow His love and restoring power to soothe our disappointments, break down our bitterness, and heal our wounds.
Eze 31-33; Luke 20:20-26; Ps 27; Prov 20:5-6
2021-09-07
Genesis 39:2 NCV
There are some social clubs and groups that will only allow you to join if you have a certain level of wealth, a certain background, a certain job, etc. But God’s kingdom doesn’t work this way. Let’s take a look at Jacob and his son Joseph.
Jacob had a reputation for cheating and making some bad choices. He cheated his brother Esau out of the inheritance, and then ran away when Esau promised to kill him for his deception. He went to stay with his uncle Laban, and wanted to marry Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. But on the wedding day, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his older daughter, Leah. But that didn’t faze Jacob. He just married both of them. He went on to cause tension and trouble among his children by favouring Joseph so much that Joseph’s brothers became jealous of the obvious favouritism and sold Joseph as a slave to get rid of him. But Joseph’s life is described in one verse: ‘The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man.’
Successful in spite of family dysfunction, betrayal, slander, and thirteen years of false imprisonment. Even Jacob, with all his faults, was blessed and used by God. With God on our side, we can overcome our faults. God doesn’t let our family history or our flaws define us. It doesn’t matter what our job is or how much money we have. We’re His children and He welcomes us to be part of His kingdom. That’s why the most important thing we can do is to build, maintain, and prioritise our relationship with God.
Num 29:1-6; Matt 24; Rev 11:15-19; 1 Cor 15:50-58
2021-09-06
2 Corinthians 9:10 NCV
John Mason observed, ‘The miraculous realm of God always has to do with multiplication…Suppose a kernel of corn produces one stalk with two ears, and each ear has 200 kernels. From those 400 kernels come 400 stalks with 160,000 kernels…all from a single kernel. Some blessings are material, some spiritual. We don’t always know what we need most, but God does, and a generous spirit opens the floodgates of heaven.’
The Bible says: ‘God is the One who gives seed to the farmer and bread for food. He will give you all the seed you need and make it grow so there will be a great harvest from your goodness.’ When God prompts us to be generous with what we have, we’re equipped to give confidently, because all our resources ultimately belong to God anyway. Even if we think what we can give isn’t much compared to what others can spare, God will multiply it and broaden its impact.
And it works the same way with sharing the gospel. We might think we’re less worthy because we’re not amazing preachers who’ve brought many people to Christ. But a simple word we’ve said to someone might be just the thing that prompts them to turn to God, and they might go on to be a church leader or missionary who can help many people. We often don’t know how widely our influence has spread, but God can take a single word from us on a journey to help thousands. We should never think we have nothing to give, because God can do so much with a little, if we’re willing to trust Him and share it.
Eze 27:25-30:26; Luke 20:9-19; Ps 112; Prov 20:1-4
2021-09-05
Romans 8:6 NCV
Pessimism affects us spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Negativity can have an effect on our physical, mental and emotional health, and can also affect our ability to cope with physical pain. The words we speak don’t just affect others, they affect us too – sometimes they affect us even more. ‘Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father’ (Colossians 3:17 NLT). That includes the words we say to and about ourselves.
Words are powerful. When we repeatedly tell ourselves something, whether it’s something positive or negative, we eventually begin to believe it, which means we have the God-given ability to change our perception of our own abilities from limited to limitless.
But let’s be clear about what that does and doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean we can suddenly develop a skill, and do it brilliantly, just because we decide to and want to. It’s still going to take time, effort and practice to grow. But it does mean we can do whatever God has told us to do in His Word. Whatever He calls us to do, He’ll enable us to do. And that’ll happen when we line up our thoughts and words with what’s written in His Word. Romans 8:6 says, ‘If people’s thinking is controlled by the sinful self, there is death, but if their thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace’ (NCV).
God wants what’s best for us, and His Spirit will speak words of encouragement, hope and love into our lives. Let’s take those words, claim them, treasure them, and live by them.
Judg 16:23-31; 2 Cor 12:7-10
2021-09-04
Philippians 4:8 NLT
Speaking positivity to ourselves and about ourselves is a scriptural idea. Paul wrote, ‘Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.’
Here are three ways we can do that: 1) Avoid comparison. Each of us has a different skill set. Each of us is unique. The way you do things might be different from the way other people do them, but that doesn’t make your way wrong. Comparison is unfair, and it creates negativity. There’ll nearly always be somebody who’s better at a specific skill than you are. But that doesn’t mean you should give up working at it, or that God thinks less of you – because He doesn’t.
2) Coast on hope. The Bible says, ‘Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping – believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”‘ (Romans 4:18 NLT). And the psalmist wrote, ‘I should put my hope in God and keep praising him’ (Psalm 42:5 NCV). When the situation as we see it looks impossible and we can’t find a way out, we should allow ourselves to coast along on the hope we have in God and trust He’ll come through. It can miraculously transform our ‘I can’t’ into ‘God can’.
3) Act positively. 1 Thessalonians 5 encourages us to ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (v.16-18 NIV). Whatever’s happening in our lives, let’s make the decision to find something to thank God for and allow our minds to dwell on His goodness.
Eze 24:1-27:24; Luke 20:1-8; Ps 20; Prov 19:24-29
