2020-04-14
Zechariah 3:1 NKJV
Sometimes Satan’s attacks are obvious. In the Old Testament the prophet Zechariah writes, “He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.” Satan usually prefers to work incognito, so frequently he will attack you through people – especially those closest to you. The Bible tells us, “The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas…to betray Jesus” (John 13:2 NIV). So what’s your best line of defense? The living Word of God. Exposed to a greater level of temptation than any of us will ever face, Jesus quoted the Scriptures to Satan three different times and put him to flight. When Satan attacks your mind with temptation, condemnation, doubts, and feelings of inadequacy, God’s Word is a shield he cannot penetrate. David said, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished” (Psalm 119:92 NIV). Notice what happened when Jesus finished doing battle with the Enemy: “The devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus” (Matthew 4:11 NLT). You are not alone. God has placed a cordon of angels around you to sustain and protect you. And “angels are only servants – spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 NLT). During seasons of adversity, remember you’re a champion, not a victim. Invest your words and energies into creating new goals and dreams. Stay awake, alert, aware, productive, and focused. Exude faith. And expect your faith to be supernaturally honored by the God who promised to intervene when you need Him most (See Isaiah 59:19).
Soul food: Lev 13:38-14:57; Mark 1:1-8; Ps 50:16-23; Prov 10:4-7
2020-04-10
1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV
God dying on the cross for our sins sounds like “foolishness” to some people. Their philosophy is “If I cannot understand it, I won’t accept it.” That’s where they get it wrong. Salvation comes through faith alone. “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3 NKJV). Simple, childlike faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is all that’s required. The story is told of a college student whose professor gave him zero on a test. Upset, he said, “I don’t deserve this grade.” The professor smiled and quipped, “I agree, but zero is the lowest grade I can give.” That’s how God feels about our wisdom. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJV). One day a man stood on the roof of his house during a flood, and prayed, “God, please save me.” Soon a rowboat came by and offered to take him to safety. But he said, “No, God will take care of me.” The waters kept coming up until they were almost at his waist. Suddenly a helicopter appeared overhead and a rope ladder was lowered down. “Oh no, God will take care of me.” Soon after that the man drowned. When he stood before God, he said, “Why didn’t you save me?” God responded, “I sent you a rowboat and a helicopter. What else did you want?” At the cross, God did everything required to save you. All you have to do is trust in Christ and receive the gift of eternal life.
Soul food: Gen 22:1-18; Matt 27:45-56; Ps 22; Isa 53
2020-04-02
1 Peter 1:6 NLT
In 1962, in a classic study called Cradles of Eminence, Victor and Mildred Goertzel investigated the family backgrounds of more than 400 highly successful people. They sought to identify the early experiences that may have contributed to their remarkable achievements in life. They included people like Einstein and many others who are famous and admired. Their backgrounds proved to be very interesting. Three-fourths of them came from troubled childhoods, enduring poverty, broken homes, or parental abuse. One-fourth of them had physical disabilities. Most of those who became well-known writers or playwrights watched their parents embroiled in one crisis after another. Here’s what the researches concluded: The need to compensate for disadvantages was a major factor in their drive toward personal achievement. These people had one thing in common – the overcoming attitude: “This is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 John 5:4 NKJV). When you have faith in God and yourself, you can end up doing things that astound you. The problem that seems so formidable today, can become the very thing that launches you into greatness tomorrow. The Bible puts it this way: “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold…So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT).
Soulfood: Est 1-4; Matt 26:57-64; Ps 72:12-20; Prov 9:7-9
2020-03-24
Romans 4:5 NIV
There are only two ways you can become “righteous.” The first is through trying, and the second is through trusting. When you try to earn God’s approval by your performance, you can never rest because you can never really be sure you’ve done enough to please Him. But when you place your trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross, the Bible says you enter into God’s “rest” (See Hebrews 4:3). Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation (something that didn’t exist before) has come. The old (appetites and actions) has gone, the new (appetites and actions) are here” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV). You don’t have to struggle to be seen as righteous in God’s eyes. The moment you placed your trust in Jesus, God made you “the righteousness of God [in Christ]” (v. 21 NIV). Why did He do it that way? Because any righteousness you could achieve through good works and keeping rules falls so far short of what He requires that He sees it as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). So God credited His righteousness to you (See 2 Corinthians 5:18). Paul writes: “David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight…whose record the Lord has cleared of sin” (Romans 4:6-8 NLT). Hymnist Edward Mote wrote these words: “Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Rejoice! That’s how God sees you – made righteous by faith!
Soul food: Job 18-20; Matt 25:1-13; Ps 55:12-23; Prov 8:19-21
2020-03-23
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
Here’s an amazing and life-changing truth. The God who made His sinless Son to “be sin” takes unrighteous people like us and makes them “righteous.” How does it happen? By works? No, by faith! “People are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners” (Romans 4:5 NLT). This righteousness isn’t about behaving the right way – it’s about believing the right way. You can’t become righteous in God’s eyes through human effort or keeping the law. You become righteous only through faith in Christ, and trusting in His finished work on the cross. You say, “But I feel so guilty when I sin.” And you should; it’s a good deterrent! But Christ took away all your sins; therefore He took away all your guilt. So what are you feeling? Inner conflict! Your regenerated spirit lives in your unregenerated body, and it reacts the same way your natural body reacts to something harmful. Sin feels foreign to the new you, and when you indulge in it, the pleasure is brief and the aftermath is bad. In essence, your spiritual boundaries have been violated, and your regenerated spirit is telling you that you can’t indulge in sin anymore. That’s not who you are! The old you could have indulged in sin and enjoyed it, but the new you can’t, because you are “a new creation in Christ” (See 2 Corinthians 5:17). So rejoice! Today God sees you as “righteous,” therefore you can approach Him at any time with complete confidence (See Ephesians 3:12).
Soul food: Job 15-17; Matt 24:36-51; Ps 55:1-11; Prov 8:17-18
