2021-09-13
2 Timothy 4:16-17 NLT
When someone you love dies, divorces or deserts you, it hurts deeply. Even Paul wasn’t exempt. Here are some of his last words: “Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me…Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me…Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm…The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me…But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength…he rescued me from certain death. Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom” (vv. 9-18 NLT).
The fact is, you can survive without others but you can’t survive without God. That’s why He strips away things that make us dependent on people. He sends certain individuals into your life to help build your faith and develop your character, and when they’re gone, to leave you with the assurance that God is in control.
The loss of loved ones: (1) develops your spiritual muscle; (2) tests your resilience; (3) shows you the scope of God’s power. When Moses died and Joshua was left in charge, God told him, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Joshua 1:5 NKJV). That’s something Joshua could never have learned while Moses was still in the picture. And it’s a lesson you can’t learn while you’re looking to someone else for your answers. So, turn to the Lord. Let the one who said, “Peace be still” to the storm on Galilee, speak peace to the thing that’s troubling you today.
Soul food: Eze 43-45; Luke 21:12-24; Ps 78:32-39; Prov 20:20-21
2021-09-12
Psalm 112:8 NKJV
To achieve success in life there are three obstacles you’ll have to be aware of and overcome: (1) Weariness. It’s reputed that during the Kentucky Derby the winning horse runs out of oxygen after the first half-mile and runs the rest of the way on “heart.” So, look into your heart today and see if you are truly committed. “Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NKJV).
(2) Fear. When it comes to commitment, there are four kinds of people. (a) Cop-outs: people who have no goals and who don’t commit. (b) Hold-outs: people who don’t know if they can reach their goals so they’re afraid to commit. (c) Drop-outs: people who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets tough. (d) All-outs: people who set goals, commit to them and pay the price to reach them. Which one of the four are you? Fear and faith will always be present in your life, and the one you choose will determine whether you succeed or fail.
(3) Complacency: Successful businessman Ray Kroc said, “As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot.” If you’re wise, you’ll take regular rest periods to refresh, renew, and refocus. But you must not settle for yesterday’s successes, or coast on today’s momentum. Be like Paul: “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT).
Soul food: Jonah 1:10-2:10; Matt 12:38-42
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
2021-09-10
Proverbs 3:3 ESV
Before the Passover meal, all the disciples forgot to wash Jesus’ feet. Bad performance! And after Jesus explained how the bread and wine symbolized his upcoming crucifixion, they started arguing about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Bad performance! Jesus also knew that within hours they’d fall asleep on him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Bad performance! And He knew Peter would deny him. Bad performance!
So how did Jesus grade them? He didn’t! He doesn’t grade people. And you don’t have to either. You’ll find wonderful rest in your soul once you stop grading people, and instead start loving them from where they are to where they need to be.
Rather than rebuking the disciples, Jesus compliments, rewards, promotes, and puts them on heaven’s honour roll. Even after they failed to wash his feet He still desired to eat Passover with them (See Luke 22:15). Nourished by their love, He said, “Ye are they which…continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom…that ye may eat and drink at my table…and sit on thrones” (Luke 22:28-30 KJV).
On his most agonizing night He passed out Christmas gifts, and gave his very young disciples more than He ever gave anybody in terms of honour and glory. In His eyes they were all great. He didn’t grade them on their performance, but on their love that motivated them to forsake all and stick with Him through thick and thin.
Reimar Schultze says, “Don’t set up standards for yourself. That can kill you. As Jesus loved His disciples then, so He loves them now. So stop fussing and nitpicking at yourself and others!”
Soul food: Eze 37:1-40:9; Luke 20:41-47; Ps 78:9-16; Prov 20:11-14
2021-09-09
Hebrews 12:11 NLT
Many of the frustrating things that our children do, are best ignored or minimized because they’re just being kids. But there’s a defiant attitude which if ignored, may lead your child to a lifetime of trouble or tragedy. And training their will won’t happen quickly or easily. The old line, “Son, this is going to hurt me more than it’ll hurt you,” is often true. Doing what’s easiest for them now, sets your child up for a lifetime of misery.
Chuck Swindoll tells the story of a defiant youngster who needed dental treatment. When asked to sit in the dentist’s chair the boy said, “If you make me get in that chair I’ll take off all my clothes and embarrass you and your assistant.” “It’s your decision,” the dentist said, “go ahead!” Stripped down to his underwear, he got into the chair. “Take them all off, if you insist,” the dentist said.
After his treatment, the boy, looking much more sheepish than defiant, asked for his clothes. “Oh, no! I’ll return them to your mother tomorrow.” The savvy mom caught the dentist’s intention and, pink with embarrassment herself, led her blushing boy through the office, down the public elevator, and across the parking lot into the car. Next day the mom called the dentist and thanked him for his wisdom and courage. “For the first time in years, we’ve had twenty-four hours without angry, defiant stand-offs!”
The Bible says, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Soul food: Eze 34-36; Luke 20:27-40; Ps 78:1-8; Prov 20:7-10
2021-09-08
Psalm 103:6 NKJV
When O.J. Simpson was tried for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown, the jury ruled “Not guilty.” In court, Nicole’s mother wept and said, “God, where are you?” It’s a question we ask when life seems unfair. The Bible answers, “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14 NKJV).
But we want the score settled now. So we struggle, we question, and we doubt. The psalmist did too: “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?…Deliver the poor and needy” (Psalm 82:2-4 NKJV). We wrestle with such questions because they have no easy answers.
Then twenty-one psalms later, David, who’d been forgiven and restored after committing adultery and murder writes: “The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly…The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are” (Psalm 103:6-14 NLT).
Bottom line: the same grace and mercy that God extends toward you, He offers to the one who hurt you.
Soul food: Eze 31-33; Luke 20:20-26; Ps 27; Prov 20:5-6
