2022-06-04
Philippians 3:10 NLT
Paul said, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death.” Let’s take an in-depth look at this verse.
(1) “I want to know Christ.” In Scripture, the word “know” indicates physical intimacy between two people who love one another. For example, “Adam knew Eve… and she conceived and bore Cain” (Genesis 4:1 NKJV).
(2) “And experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.” What’s dead in your life that needs to be raised? There is no problem that Christ’s resurrection power can’t handle. And how do you access it? When you make intimacy with Christ your top priority, you tap into His power. Some of us would be more comfortable if the verse ended after the words, “the mighty power that raised him from the dead.”
But the truth is, if you want intimacy with Christ, you must be willing to “suffer with Him.” Here, the word “suffer” isn’t referring to a bad allergy season or a losing streak on the stock market. For Paul, it meant being beaten, betrayed, and beheaded. But it brought a level of intimacy with Jesus that can’t be experienced any other way. If you have ever suffered deeply with another person, you understand this principle. You will never experience true intimacy with somebody by telling them, “I only want to share the good times with you.” Often, the strongest relationship bonds come from the suffering we go through together; trials that cause us to know, love, and trust each another in a newer, deeper dimension.
Soul food: 1 Kings 16:1-18:15; Matt 14:13-21; Ps 121; Pro 12:23-24
2022-06-03
Psalm 37:8 NLT
A gun can either protect or destroy; it all depends on who is pulling the trigger. Anger works the same way; that’s why it’s wise to know what triggers or sets you off.
Some of the most common triggers surface at these times: (1) When your rights have been violated. Is it always bad to get mad? No, sometimes the problem that infuriates you most is the one God has called you to help solve. This world is a better place because of men and women who devoted their lives to fighting disease, poverty, corruption, and injustice. That’s what Jesus did when He purged the temple of extortionists. The Bible says, “If you are angry, be sure that it is not… sinful anger… don’t give the devil that sort of foothold” (Ephesians 4:26-27 PHPS).
(2) When you’re frustrated because things aren’t going right for you. A recent news report told of a guy who went hunting on his mountain bike. When it broke down, he got mad and shot it to pieces. That’s crazy; it makes no sense! As one author observed, “Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.”
(3) When you’re under constant stress. Paul writes, “Have a sane estimate of your capabilities” (Romans 12:3 PHPS). By cramming too much activity into too little time, you set yourself up for stress. Like a violin string that’s pulled tighter and tighter, you end up snapping. Then you feel guilty and think you’re not spiritual enough.
In life, “it’s always something,” so anticipate challenges and allow time for the unexpected. Bottom line: “Do not lose your temper – it only leads to harm.”
Soul food: 1 Kings 14-15; Matt 14:1-12; Ps 117; Pro 12:20-22
2022-06-02
Proverbs 18:21 NKJV
Don’t speak without thinking. And don’t say things that contradict God’s Word. Those aren’t easy principles to live by, but they’re life-and-death issues. The Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” That means you can bless yourself by what you say. “He who invokes a blessing on himself… shall do so by saying, ‘May the God of truth… bless me… because the former troubles are forgotten'” (Isaiah 65:16 AMPC).
Notice two important things in this Scripture: (1) Your own words have more power to influence you than anyone else’s words. In the final analysis, it’s not what others say that matters, it’s what you tell yourself when they’re finished talking. Bottom line: You always have the last word!
(2) You will never enter into what God has planned for your future while you’re still living in the past. You can’t undo your past, so don’t relive it over and over in your head. God said, “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing” (Isaiah 43:18-19).
It’s time to come into agreement with God and start saying what He says about you. That’s no small matter. What you say from the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night not only influences your day; it influences the entire outlook and direction of your life. If you have been praying and asking God for specific answers, you can affect the outcome by making sure what you say lines up with what He says. So when you speak, always keep that in mind!
Soul food: 1 Kings 12-13; Matt 13:47-58; Ps 82; Pro 12:18-19
2022-06-01
2 Corinthians 5:2 NIV
Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a leading authority on death and dying, and Dr. Raymond Moody Jr., two well-known psychiatrists, examined the case histories of over five hundred people who came back to life after being pronounced dead by their physicians. Their research convinces anyone with an open mind.
The people in the study described either a location of beauty, marvel, joy, and peace, or they described something dreadful. And although their bodies were real, they reported floating outside them. After being confirmed “dead,” some who were blind were able to see. They talked about people who came into the room, what they looked like, and what they did while they were there. Yet when these people were brought back, the ones who were blind could no longer see.
In his book Life After Life, Dr. Moody writes: “A doctor told me of his experience in attending a man who had been pronounced clinically dead. He succeeded in resuscitating the man, who then sued the doctor for bringing him back into this miserable existence from the glory he had experienced. One woman, describing her situation after she had suffered a respiratory arrest, reports that the doctors trying to resuscitate her were pounding on her body trying to get her back while she was over them, looking down, and saying, ‘Leave me alone!'”
The apostle Paul explains why: “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed… with our heavenly dwelling” (vv. 1-2 NIV). Bottom line: When you die – you really come to life!
Soul food: 1 Kings 10-11; Matt 13:36-46; Ps 113; Pro 12:15-17
2022-05-31
Hebrews 2:15 NKJV
The Bible says: “Inasmuch… as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death… the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (vv. 14-15 NKJV).
Theologian Adolf von Harnack said this: “Christ’s grave was the birthplace of an indestructible belief that death is vanquished and there is life eternal. It is useless to cite Plato… useless to point to the Persian religion and the ideas and literature of later Judaism. All that would have perished; but the certainty of the resurrection and of a life eternal which is bound up with the grave in Joseph’s garden has not perished; and on the conviction that Jesus lives we still base those hopes of citizenship in an Eternal City, which make our earthly life worth living and tolerable. He delivered them ‘who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.'”
Good news: You don’t have to be in bondage to the fear of death! Dr. Simon Greenleaf, the Royal Professor of Law at Harvard, one of the world’s greatest authorities on legal evidence, shone the searchlight of his immense knowledge on the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and revealed every thread of that evidence to the most probing critique. And when he did, he concluded that the evidence was so tremendous that in any unbiased courtroom on earth, it would be proclaimed a historical fact. So what does all this mean for us as believers? Simply this: Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours!
Soul food: 1 Kings 8-9; Matt 13:24-35; Ps 108; Pro 12:14
2022-05-30
Psalm 17:15 KJV
There has never been a race of mankind that didn’t believe in some kind of future life; whether it’s the happy hunting ground of the Native Americans or the sensual abode of bliss of the Muslim. How do you explain that? Long before any evidence for this worldwide belief had been gathered, Cicero said, “In everything the consent of all nations is to be accounted the law of nature, and to resist it is to resist the voice of God.” On the night Socrates died, Crito asked him, “In what way would you have us bury you?” He replied, “In any way that you like, only you must get hold of me, and take care that I do not walk away from you.”
In his Phaedo, Plato presented powerful arguments in favour of immortality. Others argued for it, too; great thinkers like Thomas Carlyle, Thomas Jefferson, and the German poet Heinrich Heine. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s most famous poem goes like this: “For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place the flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crost the bar.” And Byron writes, “I feel my immortality o’ersweep all pains, all tears, all fears, and peal, like the eternal thunders of the deep, into my ears this truth – ‘Thou liv’st forever!'”
All these great minds shared the conviction of the psalmist: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” When you think about it, “good night” here just means “good morning” over there.
Soul food: 1 Kings 6-7; Matt 13:10-23; Ps 101; Pro 12:12-13
