2022-03-21
Luke 9:62 NIV
Whatever has happened in our past, it doesn’t automatically determine our future. Here are some things to remember to help us keep moving forward: 1) Focus on what’s ahead. We can use what we’ve learned from our past experiences, good and bad, to help us as we move forward. But if we keep looking back at the past, we’ll miss all the amazing things that God’s putting in our future. Our past isn’t where we’re heading; we need to stay focused on what’s ahead.
2) Stop looking for easy answers. Life is hard, and being a Christian certainly doesn’t promise us a trouble-free life. In fact, when we’re following God’s plan, the devil might try even harder to stop us. But what we are promised is a God who is bigger than any problem we’ll ever have to face, and who will not leave us to face things alone.
3) Stay on your path – not everybody will go with you. We shouldn’t let anyone hold us back from following the plan that God has for us. Following God’s path might mean leaving friends behind, but even though that’s hard, we can be sure that God’s plans are the best, and He has amazing things lined up for us if we choose to trust Him and follow His guidance.
4) Believe in yourself – God does! People might try to criticise us and put us down, but God knows our potential, and if we’re willing to trust Him and work hard, He’ll help us fulfil it. He gave each of us a specific purpose, and He doesn’t make mistakes. If He’s called us, He’ll give us everything we need to achieve that calling.
Job 11-14; Luke 18:31-43; Ps 116:12-19; Pro 8:10-13
2022-02-21
Hebrews 11:5 NCV
When we’ve experienced rejection, it can show itself in a need to isolate and withdraw or in a drive to constantly ‘prove ourselves’ (or to prove others wrong). The Bible says Enoch ‘was a man who truly pleased God’, and he did it ‘by faith’ (v.5 NCV). God sees us differently from the way our parents or peers do. Other people’s acceptance is often based on our performance, whereas God’s acceptance is based on our position.
Paul writes, ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us…that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). God sees us wrapped in the righteousness of Christ; and that means we’re always acceptable to and accepted by Him. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to work hard; it means working for the right reasons. Instead of striving for God’s approval, we serve Him out of gratitude.
Once we know that our identity and worth aren’t tied to the value of our possessions, the homes we live in, how much we’ll earn, or the people we mix with, it changes our motivation. Instead of being concerned about the neighbourhood we live in, we become concerned about our neighbours. Instead of focusing on how much money we make, our focus becomes how much we can do to help God’s kingdom. Instead of worrying whether we’ll ever have a fantastic job, our goal is to do every task, big or small, with excellence and integrity. In other words, we’re doing it for the right reasons.
Isa 53-57; Luke 10:38-42; Ps 33:13-22; Pro 5:15-20
2022-02-17
James 3:16 NCV
When a well-known pastor was asked by a skeptic, “Do you believe there is such a thing as a real devil?” he smiled and replied, “Have you ever been to an annual church business meeting?” Seriously, if you have been a church member for any length of time, you know that strife rears its ugly head in the family of God just like it does everywhere else.
Paul and Barnabas, a brilliant ministry team, allowed their differences over John Mark to separate them to where they could no longer work together. Later Paul changed his mind, but the die was already cast. He appealed “to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News” (Philippians 4:2-3 NLT).
Strife hinders our prayers, takes our focus off lost souls, and makes us ineffective in our ministry. We must learn to respect each other’s talents, perspectives, and positions instead of envying them. In other words, learn to disagree without being disagreeable. The Bible says: “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:16-18 KJV).
God blesses peacemakers (See Matthew 5:9), so when strife arises in your church, make it your mission to sow seeds of peace!
Soul food: Isa 42-44; Luke 10:1-12; Ps 5; Pro 5:1-2
2022-02-08
Proverbs 25:28 NLT
Tests and challenges, disagreeable people, and frustrating circumstances are potentially upsetting, but they’re not going to go away anytime soon. However, the good news is that we don’t have to carry these problems with us. The truth is, it’s not what happens to us that determines our mood; it’s what happens in us! The way we respond is a choice.
We can imagine that life would immediately change for the better if we could change people and circumstances. What we forget is that even then, there would be new people and new circumstances to deal with that hadn’t occurred to us. We can’t control the world on the outside, but we do have some control over the world on the inside. Proverbs tells us, ‘A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls’; in other words, a city that’s open to attack. The only way to be certain of feeling secure is to forget about controlling people and things, and to focus on maintaining our own protective walls of self-control.
People and circumstances can make us feel inadequate and vulnerable, but the Bible tells us that ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5:5 NRSV). In fact, recognising our own inadequacies is the first step on the journey to wholeness. The second step is accepting that only God can empower us with self-control (see Philippians 2:13). Step three lies in understanding that self-control doesn’t come from our own determination; it’s a product of the Holy Spirit – a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). When we submit to the Spirit who lives within us, He’ll strengthen our walls of self-control and empower us to stand strong against the enemies of temptation, anger, and frustration.
Isa 12-16; Luke 8:40-56; Ps 125; Pro 4:3-4
2022-02-05
2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV
Next time you’re at a supermarket checkout, notice the magazine covers. Airbrushed faces, toned bodies – ads for diets and pills that promise you can look that way too. Now, there is nothing wrong with looking your best and taking care of your body. After all, it’s the temple of the Holy Spirit and you are responsible for maintaining it. But there is much more to you than clothes and a hairstyle.
It’s a mistake to focus on the outside and not appreciate and cultivate the inner qualities God has given you. The Bible says, “Beauty is […not lasting]” (Proverbs 31:30 AMPC). When God made you, He didn’t just decorate the outside; He gave you “inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind…God delights in” (1 Peter 3:4 MSG). In fact, Paul reminds us “the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18), a gentle reminder that what Mother Nature giveth, Father Time taketh away!
The truth is, Paul is not remembered for his good looks. His enemies said, “His bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (2 Corinthians 10:10 NKJV). But what he will be remembered for are these words: “I have fought the good fight…finished the race…kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV).
So, the word for you today is – focus on the inward instead of the outward.
Soul food: Isa 4-7; Luke 8:16-25; Ps 120; Pro 3:33-35
