2017-08-09
Ecclesiastes 1:7 NKJV
The Bible talks about the water cycle. “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.” Every day the Mississippi River dumps approximately 420 billion gallons of water into the Gulf of Mexico. And when you think about the Thames, the Nile, and the Amazon, every day the same thing is happening in rivers all around the world. So where does all that water go? The answer lies in the hydrologic cycle, which the Bible introduced almost three millennia ago. The wise King Solomon wrote, “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth” (Ecclesiastes 11:3). Amos the prophet said, “He… calls the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth” (Amos 9:6 NKJV). And Job’s friend Elihu said, “Behold, God is great… He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man” (Job 36:26-28 NKJV). The idea of a complete water cycle was not fully understood by science until the seventeenth century. Yet more than two thousand years prior to the discoveries of brilliant minds like Pierre Perrault, Edme Mariotte, Edmond Halley, and others, the Bible clearly explained the water cycle. The truth is, your Bible is inspired, inerrant, reliable, and more up-to-date than tomorrow morning’s newspaper. Every newspaper has a correction column acknowledging its printed errors. Not the Bible! You can trust it to guide you right in every area of your life.
Soul food: 1 Chr 10:1-12:22; Mark 3:20-35; Ps 119:33-40; Prov 20:28-30
2017-07-08
Proverbs 14:12 NKJV
Ever noticed how zoo keepers handle an injured animal? Even though the keeper is only interested in helping, the animal doesn’t understand because it is focused solely on the pain. As a result, it strikes out at the very one who’s trying to help. Is that what’s happening in your life right now? Perhaps people who call themselves Christians have hurt you. You didn’t expect them to be the ones inflicting the pain. You may have been hurt to the extent that you no longer trust anybody – not even God. You haven’t actually said, “Lord, I don’t trust You,” but your actions speak louder than your words. You avoid reading His Word to find an answer. You won’t pray, or allow anyone to pray for you. You try to bury yourself in your job. You move from one relationship to another. You try alcohol or mood-altering chemicals. You spend hours watching television and surfing the Internet, and some of the things you’re watching violate your conscience and leave you feeling worse. What’s the answer? (1) Turn to God. Give Him “all your worries and cares…for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT). Give Him your pain, your failures, your hang-ups, and your challenges. (2) Forgive the person who hurt you. Obsessing over what they did and trying to make them pay just keeps you chained to them. But forgiveness breaks the chain and sets you free. In your own strength you may be able to do something to alleviate your pain. But God can destroy the root of the pain and cause you to walk victoriously into the future.
Soul food: Eph 1:1-4:16; Mat 24:26-35; Ps 79; Prov 17:24-26
2017-07-07
1 John 4:18 NLT
Solomon writes, “Jealousy is cruel as the grave” (Song of Solomon 8:6). There are many practical applications for this verse, and one of them is that jealousy can cause the death of a marriage. When you’re jealous of your partner, you distrust them and try to control their every move. And that’s doubly true when someone in your past has betrayed you. Your fear of it happening again can make your spouse feel like his or her feet are always being held to the fire. And if you keep doing it long enough you’ll create the very thing you fear; you’ll end up driving them away. Even if they do stay, they may live in emotional isolation without ever fully giving themselves to you. With that in mind, here’s what the Bible has to say: “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them…as we live in God, our love grows more perfect…Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear” (1 John 4:16-18 NLT). When you know that God loves you in spite of your imperfections, your sense of self-worth grows and you start believing you are worthy of love. And when that happens, it’s easier to accept that your spouse loves you too and will be faithful. That’s like getting out of prison – a prison of your own making called “jealousy.” Today God wants to set you free from jealousy and give you the relationship you’ve always longed for. Talk to Him about it.
Soul food: 1 Sam 27-31; Mat 24:15-25; Ps 137; Prov 17:22-23
