2020-07-01
1 Corinthians 1:29 NIV
The story is told of a woodpecker who was pecking away on a pine tree when it was hit by a bolt of lightning and split from top to bottom. The woodpecker could hardly believe his eyes. He backed off, looked at the tree for a moment, and flew away. He came back later, leading nine other woodpeckers. Then, with a great deal of swagger and pride, he pointed to the tree and said, “There it is, gentlemen, just like I told you!” Now let’s get serious. As long as you remember to give God the credit for your success, He will keep using and blessing you. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17 NKJV). That means every good thing you enjoy today, and every good thing you’ll need tomorrow, is a “gift” from God. Paul writes, “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” There is no bragging in heaven, just praise. Why? Because you can’t brag on how you got to heaven; it is all by God’s grace. And you can’t brag on what you did for God before you got to heaven, because it was all God’s calling. He says, “I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 42:8 NKJV). Again He says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:7 NKJV). The Lord’s Prayer ends with the words “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory” (Matthew 6:13). For how long? “For ever and ever, Amen.”
Soul food: Jer 14-17; Luke 4:1-13; Ps 98; Prov 14:34
2020-05-03
Proverbs 13:16 NKJV
By taking the time to acquire knowledge, you’ll be ready for the opportunities life brings. If you are not prepared, they’ll pass you by and go to others. God said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Observe: (1) Strategic thinking prepares you for the future. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. “Don’t brag about your plans for tomorrow – wait and see what happens” (Proverbs 27:1 TLB). The only thing that’s worse than the uncertainty of tomorrow is having no plan and strategy for your life. (2) Strategic thinking reduces the margin of error. Any time you shoot from the hip, you increase your margin of error. It’s like a golfer stepping up to a ball and hitting it before lining up the shot. Misaligning a shot by a few degrees can send your ball a hundred yards off target. Strategic thinking lines up your actions with your objectives, just as lining up a shot in golf helps you to put the ball closer to the pin. The better you are aligned with your target, the better the odds that you will be going in the right direction. (3) Strategic thinking gives you influence with others. One executive quipped, “Our company has a short-range plan and a long-range plan. Our short-range plan is to stay afloat long enough to make it to our long-range plan.” That’s hardly a strategy, yet it’s the position some of us find ourselves in. The person with the plan is the one with the power. Whatever activity you’re involved in, strategic thinking is essential to success. Talk to God about it.
Soul food: Matt 5:9; Rom 12:17-21; Jam 3:17-18; Prov 16:7
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
2020-03-27
Philippians 3:14 NKJV
Part of Paul’s amazing success was because he was so focused. “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call.” Focus can bring energy and power to almost anything, whether spiritual, mental, or physical. Sociologist Robert Lynd observed that “knowledge is power only if a man knows what facts not to bother about.” The birthing of a potential breakthrough often results from sharing many good ideas. But to take ideas to the next level, you must shift from being expansive in your thinking to being selective. A good idea becomes a great idea when it’s given focus time. It’s true that focusing on a single idea for a long time can be very frustrating, but your perseverance will pay off. The mind will not focus until it has a goal. But the purpose of your goals is to focus your attention and give you direction, not identify a final destination. As you think about your goals, make sure that they are: (1) clear enough to be kept in focus; (2) close enough to be achieved; (3) helpful enough to change lives. Paul described his goal as “the upward call.” When you think only of yourself, you’re thinking “downward,” but when you think of others, you’re thinking “upward.” These three guidelines will get you going. And be sure to write down your goals. If they’re not written, you can almost be guaranteed that they’re not focused enough. And if you really want to make sure they’re focused, take the advice of theatrical producer David Belasco, who said, “If you can’t write your idea on the back of my business card, you don’t have a clear idea.”
Soul food: Job 29-31; Matt 26:1-13; Ps 69:1-18; Prov 8:27-29
2019-12-29
2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, but Paul tells us why God permitted it: “To keep me from becoming proud.” Increased achievement and success can lead to increased pride and independence from God. Have you noticed that when life is going great, staying close to God is sometimes difficult? We tend to think God is so good to us because we are so good to Him. We must always guard against this. God can use anything for your good and His glory. In His wisdom and patience, He permits something we think is intended to hurt us, but He turns it around and uses it to help us. Here is what He does: He balances blessings with burdens. The psalmist said, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits” (Psalm 68:19 NKJV). If God filled your hands only with blessings, eventually you would fall over on your face. And if He continually loaded your back with burdens, you would fall on your hindquarters. So He apportions blessings and burdens so that we can stay in balance. It’s easy to get out of balance. We become so absorbed with the joys of heaven that we neglect our calling to be salt and light here on earth. We get so involved in the work of the Lord that we fail to spend time with the Lord of the work. We get so involved in church that we rob our families of the love and attention they need. So God brings us back into balance by giving us a thorn.
Soul food: Heb 11:1-6; Matt 21:18-22; Matt 8:5-13; Mark 6:1-6
