2022-03-21
Luke 6:37 NLT
Once you understand that parents aren’t always capable of giving their kids what they didn’t get themselves – namely love, nurturing, acceptance, and physical affection – it becomes easier to forgive them.
Author Stormie Omartian says: “Sometimes what one parent didn’t do hurts as bad as what the abusing one did. A parent’s uninvolvement or unwillingness to step in and rescue you feels like a betrayal. Unforgiveness for that uninvolved parent is more difficult to recognize but is more common than we think. Ask God to show you any unforgiveness towards a parent who didn’t come to your rescue. If it’s there, you have to deal honestly with your feelings… We can’t go back in time and get someone to hold and nurture us, and we mustn’t demand it from a spouse or friends because they can’t do it. It [must] come from our heavenly Father… The first step… is to receive [His] forgiveness and let its reality penetrate the deepest part of our being. When we realize how much we have been forgiven… we have no right to pass judgment on… another. Being forgiven and released from everything we’ve ever done is such a miraculous gift, how could we refuse to obey God when He asks us to forgive others? Forgiveness is a two-way street. God forgives you, and you forgive others… We base our decision not on what we feel like doing but on what we know is right.”
Jesus said, “Do not judge…and you will not be judged… Forgive… and you will be forgiven” (v. 37 NLT). Choosing to forgive and not let somebody else’s sin dictate how you feel and what you do frees you to live in peace.
Soul food: Job 11-14; Luke 18:31-43; Ps 116:12-19; Pro 8:10-13
2021-12-26
Nehemiah 8:9 KJV
The word holiday comes from the Old English word haligdæg, which means ‘holy day’. So, when Nehemiah announced, ‘This day is holy,’ he was declaring a celebration; a time to ‘eat and drink before the LORD’ (1 Chronicles 29:22 KJV). Today, overindulgence and overspending have become associated with Christmas, making many Christians hesitant to celebrate.
Jack Hayford writes: ‘Often it is from those newly associated with our fellowship who have allowed themselves – perhaps for the first time – to enter into the wonder and fullness of Christmas joy and celebration…Christmas is more than merely “merry”. Christmas is mighty. Celebration – unfettered enjoyment, love…laughter…gifts and giving, trees and tinsel,…carols and bells…all of it – has an inherent potential for mightiness.
The qualifying factor is the presence of the Holy Spirit. When He is present, the accoutrements of Christmas…can bless, strengthen, heal, [and] restore…When He is absent, carols ring hollow. Greetings, wishes and smiles lie on the surface, like glitter glued on a flat card. Lights and decorations…can leave the heart more desolate than ever. But where the Holy Spirit is there is power…to change entrenched habits…transform cold hearts…grudges and expectations…lift lives out of the shadow…This Christmas, let Him come upon you. Welcome the…Holy Spirit…to move upon your life, and then make your own move…into the season’s best opportunities to bask in the wonder of it all…Reach out to those around: encourage, bless, bake, give, visit, invite, share, and lift hearts wherever you can. By…New Year…you’ll find Christmas to…have been marvellously, and even miraculously, mighty.’
However we choose to celebrate Christmas, let’s invite the Holy Spirit to be a part of it, and watch expectantly for God to move in mighty ways.
Isa 11:1-10; Luke 2:21-38
2021-09-11
1 John 4:8 NKJV
Love is not just a noun; it’s a verb. It’s not what you think or feel; it’s what you do.
When Mother Teresa arrived in Calcutta in 1948, one of the first things she did was pick up five abandoned children and bring them to her “school.” Before the year ended she had forty-one students learning about hygiene in her classroom, which was in a public park. Soon her work became known as “The Missionaries of Charity.” Within two years their attention was turned to the care of the dying, and a beggar found dying on a rubbish heap was picked up and brought to her. Hunger and suffering had reduced him to a virtual skeleton. Mother Teresa took him home and put him in bed. When she tried to wash him, she discovered that his body was covered with worms. Pieces of skin came off as she bathed him. For a brief moment the man revived. In his semiconscious state he asked, “Why do you do it?” Mother Teresa responded with two words that were the hallmark of her life: “For love!”
Busy person, it’s easy to see people as irritants and inconveniences standing in the way of your getting things done. What’s hard, is to rise above your self-centered feelings and love them. Maybe you think this is no big deal! Think again; The Bible says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (vv. 7-8 NKJV).
Soul food: Eze 40:10-42:20; Luke 21:1-11; Ps 78:17-31; Prov 20:15-19
2021-06-04
1 Corinthians 13:8 NKJV
Love is a powerful force in dealing with others, and the Bible says that it “never fails.” Other things fail, but not love. Most of us have heard the story of Helen Keller who became blind and deaf as a toddler after an illness, and yet went on to impact the world with her courage and kindness. But there is a “story behind the story.”
It’s about “little Annie,” who was locked in the dungeon of a mental institution outside Boston – the only place, said the doctors, for the hopelessly insane. At times, Annie behaved like an animal, attacking those who came close to her cage. At other times, she sat in a daze. But an elderly nurse who held out hope for all God’s children began taking her lunch break in the dungeon, just outside little Annie’s cage. She hoped in some way to communicate love to her.
One day she left her dessert – a chocolate brownie – next to Annie’s cage. Annie made no response. But the next day, the nurse found the brownie had been eaten, so every Thursday she brought one to Annie. As the weeks passed, doctors began to notice improvement in little Annie. After several months, they moved her upstairs. And eventually the day came when this “hopeless case” was told she could return home.
By that time, however, Annie was an adult and she chose to stay at the institution and help others. One of those she cared for, taught, and nurtured was Helen Keller. Little Annie’s full name was – Anne Sullivan.
Since God loves us and never gives up on us, we must do that for one another. And that’s the word for you today.
Soul food: Rev 15-18; Mark 14:12-26; Ps 124; Prov 12:26
2021-03-22
John 15:12 NLT
Jesus said, ‘I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!’ (v.11 NLT). The ‘things’ that we must do to have His joy in our lives are outlined by Jesus in the next verse: ‘This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.’
That can feel like a pretty challenging commandment. We’ll have to do a lot of growing and maturing in order to keep it. But to enjoy the life Jesus wants us to have, we must commit ourselves to doing it.
God created all kinds of people with different temperaments and personalities, so He clearly loves variety. When God made the first person He said, ‘It was good.’ Not only are there varieties of people, but there’s ‘good’ in everybody and that’s what we need to be looking for.
A lot of our unhappiness in life is caused by people not being what we want them to be, or doing what we don’t want them to do. We often have unrealistic expectations of others, and sometimes we don’t even communicate those expectations with them. We think people will know how to love us.
So how can we enjoy each day if we’re going to have to deal with people we don’t get along with? We need to make up our minds to love them. In 1 John 4, it says: ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love’ (1 John 4:7-8 NIV). We don’t have to like their ways, but we still have to try and see them through God’s eyes, and love them.
Job 29-31; Matt 24:36-51; Ps 55:1-11; Prov 8:17-18
