2021-04-18
Psalm 55:22 AMPC
After the preacher G. Campbell Morgan had given a talk about taking our worries to God in prayer, a lady came over to him and said, ‘I don’t bother God with little things; I only take the big ones to Him.’ Morgan replied, ‘My dear lady, everything we take to God is little.’ And it’s true – from God’s perspective, all our problems are small because His power can overcome all of them.
The Bible says, ‘Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you.’ God knows we’re not built to carry the weight of worry, so He invites us to give it to Him today. Anything that’s big enough to be a source of anxiety should be turned into a prayer.
Peter wrote: ‘Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully’ (1 Peter 5:7 AMPC). ‘Casting is the opposite of ‘carrying’. The moment we recognise that a worry is beginning to weigh us down, we need to ‘cast’ it on God, knowing ‘He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.’
If He was a distant God who didn’t care about us, we’d have a reason to worry. Or if He was a weak God who couldn’t do anything about it, we’d have a reason to worry. The truth is, it’s when we give our worries to God that we discover how big He really is. The songwriter Joseph Scriven put it this way: ‘Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.’
2 Ki 6:8-23; Matt 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36
2021-04-17
Romans 8:17 NCV
When our favourite football team wins, we say, ‘We won!’ But what do we mean when we say ‘we’? We weren’t on the pitch. We didn’t get tackled. We didn’t kick the ball. We didn’t score a single goal. How can we say ‘we won’? What we mean is that because the team we support and identify with won, we won as well.
There’s an important spiritual truth here for us as redeemed children of God. When Jesus died, we died with Him. When Jesus arose, we arose with Him to ‘live a new life’ (Romans 6:4 NCV). The difference between us and the team that won is that we’re unlikely to ever be part of it. But when Jesus won at the cross and we accepted Him as our Saviour, God positioned us ‘in Christ’. Today He sees each of us clothed in the righteousness of Christ (take a look at 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Paul explained it this way: ‘The Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God’s children. If we are God’s children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ’ (Romans 8:16-17 NCV). As redeemed children of God, we are heirs of everything our heavenly Father owns. And we ‘receive blessings…together with Christ’, meaning that whatever Jesus is entitled to, we are also entitled to.
When we understand this truth and begin to walk according to it, we can start to identify and claim the blessings God’s promised in His Word. These blessings include things like grace, forgiveness, healing, provision, guidance, strength, etc. Our identity in Christ entitles us to all these things.
Dan 3-4; Mark 2:18-22; Ps 130; Prov 10:12
2021-04-16
Isaiah 42:9 NCV
The same people who rejected Jephthah were the same ones who turned to him for help when they were threatened by a powerful enemy. Here are a few things we can draw from his story:
1) Other people don’t determine our future, God does. The Israelites were living in slavery when God made them this promise: ‘”I know what I am planning for you,” says the LORD. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future”‘ (Jeremiah 29:11 NCV). God’s plan wins over every other plan.
2) A unity walk requires unity talk. Jephthah immediately embraced the new relationship. ‘Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”‘ (Judges 11:12 NIV). Notice the words ‘me’ and ‘my country’. He put the hurts of his past behind him and fully embraced the cause. One author writes: ‘He was ready to walk in unity. And a unity walk requires unity talk.’ Unity talk can have an impact on our attitude and relationship with others. For example, when we’re working in a group, simply saying ‘our project’ rather than ‘the project’ can make a difference in how unified everyone feels. That doesn’t mean we’ll always agree on every issue. It just means the cause and the vision we share are greater and more important that our different opinions and thoughts.
The Bible says, ‘Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace’ (Ephesians 4:3 NLT).
Dan 1-2; Mark 2:13-17; Ps 127; Prov 10:11
2021-04-15
Matthew 3:8 NLT
When Israel’s leaders turned to Jephthah for help, they were in distress and wanted to ‘use’ him. So Jephthah said, in essence, ‘Let’s get an understanding of the type of relationship we’re going to have.’ At that point, he negotiated with them and ended up in a top leadership spot.
When our trust has been broken, we need to forgive. By doing that, we set ourselves free. But we need to use wisdom in how to move forward. Many of us will have experienced a similar situation to Jephthah’s at school, in the workplace, or even at church; perhaps someone has rejected, ignored, or laughed at us, but if they find they need our help, they want to build a relationship based only on the benefits they can get from it.
While it’s important for us to be forgiving, compassionate, and help people who are facing difficulties, God doesn’t expect us to put ourselves in a position to be hurt again. Forgiveness should be immediate, but trust must be earned. The person who has hurt us must show the fruit of repentance – consistent behaviour that shows he or she has had a change of heart.
Jesus said, ‘Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.’ We need two things: grace and wisdom. Grace means extending to others the same forgiveness that God has extended to us. Wisdom means understanding what kind of relationship we can have with that person in the future.
Phil 1-4; Mark 2:1-12; Ps 43; Prov 10:10
2021-04-14
Judges 11:1 NCV
Jephthah was the illegitimate son of a man called Gilead. His mother was a prostitute. He grew up in the household of Gilead’s other legitimate sons who later chased him away. ‘”You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said’ (Judges 11:2 NLT). So he ended up living in a cave.
While he was there, he took a band of misfits and rebels and developed them into a great army. When the Ammonites threatened Israel, the elders turned to him for help. ‘But Jephthah said to them: “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?” “Because we need you,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead”‘ (vv.7-8 NLT).
Not only did Jephthah lead them to victory, he’s named with honour in the Bible along with people like Abraham, Moses, and David. His life is full of lessons. Here’s an important one: God can use rejection and turn it into something good. Jephthah was rejected for reasons beyond his control – he was illegitimate. But instead of growing bitter, he moved on and did something good with his life.
When we’ve been rejected for any reason, it’s natural to feel upset. But we also need to invite God into our situation and tell Him how we’re feeling, so the pain doesn’t turn to bitterness. By God’s grace Jephthah took an ugly situation and turned it into a beautiful one. And when we turn our situations over to God, the same grace is available to us, and He’ll bring beauty out of our brokenness.
Lev 26-27; Mark 1:40-45; Ps 56; Prov 10:8-9
2021-04-13
2 Peter 3:18 NLT
How do we overcome past hurts in relationships? How can we combine separate and unique perspectives to create a friendship or relationship that’s compassionate and caring?
There’s a very special ingredient called ‘grace’ that must be added to the mix. It calls for extending to the other person the same grace that God extends to us. It bandages broken people and allows the defeated to develop ways to break free from their pasts. It gives strength to those who struggle. Grace restores the heart and resolves the troubles of a tormented spirit. It is loving-kindness and forgiveness. It’s the favour of God. And as He bestows it on us, we should extend it to those who need our compassion and love. We are all broken in certain areas, and we need to learn to accept that and help mend the brokenness in others.
Peter didn’t believe he was capable of denying his Lord. He swore he would never do it. But Jesus not only predicted it, He promised to pray for him until he was fully restored (take a look at Luke 22:32). And we’re called to do that too; to extend to other imperfect people the same love and grace that has been shown to us.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: ‘We must always thank God for you, brothers and sisters. This is only right, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love that every one of you has for each other is increasing’ (2 Thessalonians 1:3 NKJV). Peter also said, ‘You must grow in…grace.’ It’s a process, so it won’t always be easy, but with God, we can work on it day by day.
Lev 23:26-25:55; Mark 1:35-39; Ps 50:16-23; Prov 10:4-7
