2020-06-13
2 Peter 1:3 NIV
Peter writes, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” (v. 3 NIV). Living life to the fullest requires three things: (1) A little extra. This is the extra mile principle Jesus taught (See Matthew 5:41), and it calls for two things: (a) Extra effort. Life coach and author Art Williams said, “You beat 50 percent of the people by working hard…the other 40 percent by being a person of honesty and integrity and standing for something…the last 10 percent is a dogfight.” If you want to win, make up your mind to always do “a little extra.” (b) Extra time. “Though [your vision] linger, wait for it; it will certainly come [to pass]” (Habakkuk 2:3 NIV). Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor who created the Mount Rushmore memorial to America’s presidents, was asked if he considered his work to be perfect. He replied, “Not today. The nose of President Washington is an inch too long. It’s better that way, though. It will erode and be exactly right in ten thousand years.” (2) Your best effort. Andrew Carnegie said, “There’s no use trying to help people who won’t help themselves. You can’t push anyone up a ladder unless he or she is first willing to climb it.” (3) The right mentor. Paul writes, “Pattern your lives after mine” (Philippians 3:17 NLT). Good mentors lead by example; they know that to be followed, they must first be respected. They know whether you learn visually or verbally. They know whether you need a pat on the back or a kick in the seat of the pants. If you have such a mentor, you’re blessed. If not, ask God to send one into your life today.
Soul food: 2 Kings 4:18-6:33; Mark 16; Ps 80:12-19; Prov 13:13-16
2020-06-06
Proverbs 9:9 NCV
Whether we consider ourselves to be academic or not, it’s important for us to keep learning and keep asking God for wisdom. The Bible says: ‘Teach the wise, and they will become even wiser.’ Sometimes we can come up with excuses for not developing our minds and growing intellectually. But God gave us minds which are capable of learning new things. Learning is very important to God. In fact, in Hosea it says: ‘My people will be destroyed, because they have no knowledge. You have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be priests to me’ (4:6 NCV). God isn’t asking us to reach a certain level of academic success; we don’t need to achieve a certain grade in our exams in order to be used by God. But He wants us to be eager to learn rather than wasting a lot of our time on things that don’t help us to grow. The Bible says, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other’ (Proverbs 27:17 NCV). To grow and become sharp, we need people in our lives who sharpen us. We need to think about who we’re spending time with. Are they encouraging us to learn more about God? Are they helping us move forward on our faith journey? We also need to make sure we’re spending time with God. He’s the One who can help us grow in wisdom and understanding. Finally, we need to be reading the Bible. If we read something in our Bible that we don’t understand, we can ask God to give us the wisdom we need to understand it. Let’s just make sure we’re always open to learning more about God and His Word.
Rev 1-4; Mark 14:43-52; Ps 1; Prov 13:1
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
2020-05-03
Ecclesiastes 8:1 MSG
When we ask God to give us wisdom, what sort of changes can happen in our lives? Firstly, we become prepared for the future. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. The Bible says: ‘Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring’ (Proverbs 27:1 NIV). But when we have wisdom, we’re able to face the future without fear, because we know that God’s with us and will help us. Wisdom also gives us a better understanding of the possible consequences of our actions. Secondly, wisdom helps us to move in the right direction. God’s wisdom helps us to make decisions, and keeps us walking on the right path. If we lack wisdom, we can find ourselves walking down the wrong paths and stalling when we reach a crossroads. God says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Jeremiah 6:16 NIV). If we ask God for wisdom, He’ll show us which way to go. Thirdly, God’s wisdom helps us to deal with difficult situations and challenging people. Having wisdom changes how we handle things. In The Message, Ecclesiastes 8:1 says: ‘Wisdom puts light in the eyes, and gives gentleness to words and manners.’ Wisdom changes our responses to others. We become more gentle, which helps us to deal well with frustrations. In Proverbs 29, we’re told: ‘Foolish people lose their tempers, but wise people control theirs’ (v.11 NCV). Having wisdom helps us to understand people and their situations. We can see the other side of the story, and we can react in a calm, controlled way.
Matt 5:9; Rom 12:17-21; Jam 3:17-18; Prov 16:7
2020-04-15
Proverbs 21:5 NLT
Some of us are ‘planners’, we love to-do lists, schedules, and goals. Others of us like to go with the flow rather than plan things. To live in a godly way, a balance between the two is needed. We need to be able to plan things so that we use our time wisely, set goals for the future, and keep on top of all our responsibilities. As the Bible says: ‘Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity.’ If we don’t create some sort of plan for our lives, we can end up not doing the things that are necessary, and being overwhelmed by everything piling up. Planning also means that we’re prepared for the future, and have a vision for where we want to go. However, it’s important to remember that God’s plan for our lives is far better than the plans we make. We need to be prepared to surrender our plans and let Him take control. Proverbs 19:21 says: ‘Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails’ (Proverbs 19:21 NIV). We should be taking our plans to God and asking Him to guide us. He will show us which way to take (have a read of Proverbs 3:5-6). It’s also important that we don’t allow our plans to cause us to miss out on opportunities from God. We need to leave space for the Spirit to move. If we’re flexible with our plans, we can follow God’s promptings throughout the day. He might have something He wants us to do, someone He wants us to talk to, or something He wants to teach us. If we ignore these promptings because they don’t fit into our schedule then we’re missing out on kingdom opportunities.
Lev 15-17; Mark 1:9-20; Ps 56; Prov 10:8-9
