2020-02-01
Luke 22:40 NIV
You can put on your best game face in an attempt to convince others you’re doing better than you are, but deep inside you know the areas where you’re most often tempted and fail. In fact, if you are gut-level honest, chances are you keep a mental scorecard. Others may give you an A or B on your report card, but you give yourself a failing grade. And when that happens often enough, you reach the place where you start thinking, “What’s the point in asking God for forgiveness? I’m just going to repeat the same sins over and over and have to go back to Him again.” There’s a solution. Jesus told His disciples, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation” (See Matthew 26:41). In other words, pray before the temptation comes and you’ll be strengthened and fortified to handle it. “But I have prayed!” you reply. Then increase the dosage and pray more! Before Jesus calmed the storm on Galilee, He spent the whole night in prayer. Turn off your TV, your computer, your iPhone, and any other outside connections, and spend time with God. What did the old-timers mean when they talked about “praying through”? Simply this: You can reach a point in prayer where you “know” God has given you the strength you need and victory is assured. Paul said, “Let us…approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). What do you need when you keep failing? God’s grace to forgive you – and His help to overcome temptation. So pray before temptation comes, and God will make you an overcomer.
Soul food: Isa 30-33; Matt 11:20-30; Ps 107:23-32; Prov 3:25-26
2020-01-31
1 John 1:9 AMPC
In spite of our best intentions and efforts, we all “fall short” of God’s requirements (Romans 3:23 NKJV). So what’s the answer? “If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts]. If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]” (1 John 1:8-9 AMPC). When it comes to God’s forgiveness, knowing is better than feeling. Here’s how God’s forgiveness works: Consciousness of sin leads to conviction of sin, and conviction of sin leads to confession of sin, and confession of sin leads to cleansing of sin, and cleansing of sin leads to confidence before God (See 1 John 3:21-22). You say, “I don’t feel worthy of God’s forgiveness.” You will never be worthy of it! God’s forgiveness is not based on your worthiness, but on Christ’s! Furthermore, God is not like your parents; He doesn’t insist you squirm and be miserable for a few days so that you will “learn your lesson” before He forgives you. That would mean you play a part in earning His forgiveness. It’s by grace, and grace alone (See Ephesians 2:8-9)! “Grace” means “undeserved favour.” So when God forgives you, honor Him by forgiving yourself and moving on.
Soul food: Isa 26-29; Matt 11:10-19; Ps 107:17-22; Prov 3:21-24
2020-01-25
Psalm 34:18 NIVUK
When we’re broken-hearted. When somebody breaks our heart and betrays our trust, we’re in a vulnerable place. And the enemy will use the experience to get us to do four things that will hurt us, make us doubt our faith, and rob us of God’s blessing: 1) Isolate ourselves. 2) Lose our sense of trust so we suspect the motives of everyone we meet. 3) Cause bitterness to be deeply rooted in our hearts which impacts our relationships with our family and friends (take a look at Hebrews 12:15). 4) Make us want to get even by seeking revenge (have a read of 1 Thessalonians 5:15). But this doesn’t have to be what happens. Instead, we can stand on verses such as: ‘The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed’; ‘I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing’ (Jeremiah 31:13 NLTUK); ‘The Spirit of the Lord…has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor…heal the broken-hearted…proclaim liberty to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed’ (Luke 4:18 NKJV)’ ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you’ (Ephesians 4:31-32 NLTUK). If someone has hurt us and broken our hearts, we need to forgive them. It’s often not just a one-time thing. We need to keep on forgiving them until we’re free in our mind. Forgiveness is a challenge, especially when we’re hurting. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we’ll get there.
Isa 4-7; Matt 10:1-10; Ps 100; Prov 3:7-8
2020-01-13
Psalm 32:5 NLT
When God forgave David for adultery and murder, he wrote: “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said…’I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (vv. 1-5 NLT). Unconfessed, unforgiven sin will make you miserable. But after you’ve acknowledged it and received God’s forgiveness, you shouldn’t continue to feel miserable. So why do we feel miserable? Many times it’s because of how we were raised. We grew up hearing words like, “I hope you feel bad about what you’ve done!” or “Shame on you!” And if our offense was great, like wrecking the family car, we may even have been put on probation! In other words, we’re programmed for long-term guilt. The good news is, God’s forgiveness doesn’t work that way. The moment that brings conviction and confession of sin also brings cleansing of sin, and leads to restored confidence before God. Don’t let Satan keep condemning you. Refuse to walk around feeling guilty and ashamed. Today say with the psalmist, “You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” Now go out and live freely, confidently, and with joy!
Soul food: Exo 13-15; Matt 6:9-18; Ps 71:17-24; Prov 2:3-5
Psalm 32:5 NLT
When God forgave David for adultery and murder, he wrote: ‘When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long…Finally, I confessed my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said…”I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone’ (vv.3-5 NLT). Unconfessed, unforgiven sin will make us feel guilty and ashamed. But after we’ve acknowledged it, taken it to God and received His forgiveness, we shouldn’t continue to feel that way. So why do we? We can often be brought up to regret our actions, and people around us can continually remind us of them. Our mistakes can become part of our identity, so we see ourselves as failures. But because Jesus died and defeated sin, God no longer looks at us and sees sinners. Instead, He looks at us through Jesus and sees His beloved children made pure. When we’ve done something wrong, we can bring it to God and ask for His forgiveness. The Bible says that love ‘keeps no record of wrongs’ (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV). God is love (take a look at 1 John 4), so God doesn’t keep a record of the things we’ve done wrong. The Bible says: ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1 NIV). The enemy wants us to feel guilty and ashamed so that we feel separated from God by our sin. He wants us to think we’ve messed up beyond repair, because that will stop us glorifying and serving God. But instead, we need to say the words of the psalmist: ‘You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.’ And then go out and live freely.
Exo 13-15; Matt 6:9-18; Ps 71:17-24; Prov 2:3-5
