2019-01-13
James 1:2-4 TLV
You’re closer than you know to becoming the person God wants you to be. By His enabling grace, you’ll make it through this trial and come out stronger and wiser. Paul says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NKJV). God is for you! That means you can do the thing you are afraid you can’t do. The prison bars you’re beating against are in your mind. And since you put them up, with God’s help you can take them down. God wants to set you free from the fearful attitudes that have held you back for so long; to release you to live up to your full potential. The right attitude can overcome almost any barrier. For example, the Bible says, “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8 NIV). Why? Because love isn’t dependent on your emotions or circumstances, it’s a servant of your will. Love is a decision! Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). And if Jesus commands it, He will enable you to do it! Beginning is usually the hard part. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; after that it gets easier. But look out; old attitudes will try to resurface and come back stronger than ever. Don’t let them. Radio commentator Paul Harvey says, “You can always tell when you’re on the road to success; it’s uphill all the way.” So be patient; it will take time to get there. But anything worthwhile is worth working for!
Soul food: 1 Sam 3:1-11; Acts 9:1-9
2018-11-15
Psalm 18:39 NIV
Each of us is fighting a battle of some kind, but not all of us are winning. Those who win come in many different varieties but they all have one thing in common: a faith that refuses to quit! Nobody had more struggles in life than David, and he understood the importance of maintaining the right perspective. He said, “You armed me with strength for battle.” The grace you receive from God will always be equal to the challenges you face. Always! Did you know that Lord Nelson, England’s famous hero of the sea, suffered from seasickness all his life? Yet this man who sank Napoleon’s fleet refused to let his personal struggles rob him of his destiny. He not only learned to live with his weakness, but to conquer it every day. All of us have our battlegrounds. And while nobody pins a medal on us for winning, nothing can diminish the satisfaction of knowing we didn’t quit, or the joy of knowing we overcame by God’s strength. Whose strength? God’s! “You armed me with strength for battle.” The story’s told of a little boy who lost his right hand in an accident. When the doctor questioned him about his handicap, he replied, “I don’t have a handicap; I just don’t have a right hand!” Later the doctor discovered the boy had gone on to become one of the leading scorers on his high school basketball team. His philosophy in life was: It’s not what you’ve lost but what you have left that counts! That’s the winning attitude, and with God’s help you can develop it.
Soul food: Rom 9:17-11:36; John 10:22-42; Ps 83:9-18; Prov 29:23-27
2018-11-03
Genesis 37:3 NKJV
Let’s look at the three different coats Joseph wore, as they present a picture of your life as a Christian. First, the coat of salvation. Notice, it was a “gift” from his father; Joseph never paid a penny for it, or sewed a stitch, or provided an inch of fabric. And that’s the story of our salvation, isn’t it? The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV). Motivated by jealousy and resentment, Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit and dipped his coat in the blood of a goat in order to convince their father that he had been devoured by a wild beast. Are you getting the picture here? “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7 NKJV). In Old Testament times, when someone sinned they brought a sacrificial lamb to the altar and the priest shed its blood as payment for their sins. But the priest did not examine the person, he examined the lamb. If the lamb was “worthy,” the person was accepted and their sins were atoned for. So the moment you acknowledge your sin and pray, “Father, I come in the name of Jesus, the Lamb of God,” you are totally forgiven and accepted. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV).
Soul food: Isa 38-41; John 7:45-53; Ps 9; Prov 28:13-16
2018-10-22
Ephesians 4:32 NLT
Because of how we’re wired we often find ourselves drawn to certain sins. Consequently our areas of weakness are usually consistent and predictable. It’s like having a “sin profile.” In his book Signature Sins: Taming Our Wayward Hearts, Dr. Michael W. Mangis identifies nine of these patterns using an ancient system called the Enneagram. It’s somewhat controversial because it’s been used by many spiritual traditions. However, it’s thought to have originated out of consideration of the seven deadly sins and the fruit of the Spirit, therefore it can be applied within a Christian framework. To help you become more self-aware and build a defense against your particular area of vulnerability, let’s spend the next few days looking at these nine pattern sins, and the people most likely to wrestle with them. Reformers: Reformers are drawn to perfection. They have a high standard of excellence and their greatest fear is being flawed. (They make good surgeons – and excellent golfers.) At their best they’re crusaders, watchdogs, and prophets. But because they wrestle with perfectionism and self-righteousness, they tend to judge others whose standards aren’t quite so high. The prophet Amos is a good example. He writes about “a plumb line” that shows how far short people fall of God’s standards (See Amos 7:7-8). Writing to the reformers, Paul said, “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” As a reformer your greatest challenge will be to demonstrate love, patience, and grace in your dealings with others. And with God’s help you can do it.
Soul food: Exo 39-40; John 5:1-15; Ps 41; Prov 27:7-9
2018-09-29
Exodus 3:4 NKJV
Moses had all the potential in the world at forty, but felt like a lost cause at eighty. Instead of doing God’s will God’s way, he tried to expedite God’s will and delayed it for four decades! At some point in our lives most of us feel like life has passed us by. Our dream seems like a lost cause. That crisis presents us with a choice: Throw in the towel, or throw our hat back in the ring. Many of us give up on our dreams because we feel like God has given up on us. But we serve a God of restoration (See Joel 2:25). The life of Moses proves that no matter how many wrong turns we’ve taken, it’s God’s grace that gets us back onto the parade route. Moses thought his past had disqualified him, but God leveraged it to prepare him for his date with destiny. No one knew the protocol of the palace like the Prince of Egypt. After all, he grew up in it. And after tending sheep for forty years he knew the ways of the wilderness – the wildlife, the watering holes, the weather patterns. Moses got it wrong before he got it right, and you may too. And here’s the good news: God can use your past failures to fertilize your character and equip you with the strength and wisdom needed to do what He put you on this earth do to. The saying is true: “It’s wonderful what God can do with a broken life when you give Him all the pieces.”
Soul food: 1 Cor 1-3; Luke 23:35-43; Ps 54; Prov 25:1-3
