[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Giving brings receiving
06 SEPTEMBER 2021

‘He who sows bountifully will…reap bountifully.’
2 Corinthians 9:6 NKJV

Jim Penner says: ‘It was a cold snowy day as my mother drove my sister and me to church. Living at the bottom of the Rocky Mountains I’d become accustomed to slipping and sliding.

I remember my mother being tense…and hoping she’d have enough traction to make the curve without ploughing into the semi-truck ahead. Her tyres were bald – new ones were low on our priority list that included food and shelter.

As Mom placed a cheque in the offering that day, I remember thinking there were better uses for those funds. Yet here she was tithing! Surely God would understand we had so many needs at home.

But there was a contentment about her…a peace that passed understanding as she gave to the Lord cheerfully and gratefully…After the service a church elder walked over to her and said, “I see your tyres are bald…come by my shop tomorrow and I’ll give you some snow tyres.” Mom said, “But I can’t pay you.” “No problem,” he replied, “I just want to help.” That day I witnessed two levels of giving: Mom with her offering, and a kind man who wanted to help another human being.’ Big things come from little things, and ‘he who sows bountifully will…reap bountifully.’ As John Mason observes, ‘The miraculous realm of God always has to do with multiplication…Suppose a kernel of corn produces one stalk with two ears, and each ear has 200 kernels. From those 400 kernels come 400 stalks with 160,000 kernels…all from a single kernel. Some blessings are material, some spiritual.

We don’t always know what we need most, but God does, and a generous spirit opens the floodgates of heaven.’

Isaiah 3-4, 2 Corinthians 12

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY



Prioritise your relationship with God
07 SEPTEMBER 2021


‘The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man.’
Genesis 39:2 NKJV


Admission to certain social clubs depends on your family of origin: blue blood, or blue collar. Sadly some employers and some churches do that too. But God doesn’t. Imagine you were Joseph. You share a father with your siblings, but four different mothers have given birth along the way. Your dad’s a con artist. He has been one his entire life and everyone knows it.

The whole community knows he cheated your uncle out of the inheritance, and then hid behind his mother’s skirts before running off like a coward to avoid being killed. Your great uncle tricks your dad into marrying your mother’s sister, perhaps by getting your dad so drunk during the wedding feast that he didn’t know which sister he married. So he ended up marrying the plain one instead of the pretty one. But that didn’t faze him, he just married both of them! The one he really loved couldn’t have kids, so he slept with the nanny. He enjoyed it so much he started sleeping with most of the kitchen help too.


No wonder you always thought that your brothers looked like the cooks! But big doors swing on little hinges, and Joseph’s life is described in one verse: ‘The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man.’ Successful in spite of family dysfunction and betrayal. Successful in spite of slander and thirteen years of false imprisonment. And with God on your side, you can overcome your beginnings and succeed too. That’s why the most important thing you can do is to build, maintain, and prioritise your relationship with God.

Isaiah 5-6, 2 Corinthians 13

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


When You Don’t Understand
08 SEPTEMBER 2021


‘The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us.’
Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV


When you don’t understand what’s happening in your life, start with what you know for sure; namely, that God is good all the time, and His ‘love for those who respect him continues forever’ (Psalm 103:17 NCV). He’s not fickle. He doesn’t bless you one day and curse you the next: His ‘mercies…are new every morning’ (Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV).

But there are things God chooses to reveal to us, and ‘secret things’ He doesn’t – for our own good. Writer Beth Jones says: ‘If God keeps a secret from us, it’s for our benefit and the benefit of others …For example, He doesn’t go around blaming, tattling or disclosing our sins, weaknesses, unbelief, carnality, selfishness or pride to others.

When things happen, God knows why…Secret things belong to the Lord. And when He reveals something to us, it’s because He wants us to walk in that truth by faith.

For example, He reveals His character and His will in His Word…so we can live by faith knowing that He’s good, fair, kind, generous, merciful, faithful, gracious, patient, and He’s in the saving, healing, redeeming, restoring, sanctifying, and blessing business.

Things revealed belong to us. When we don’t know why …here’s what we know for sure. God’s Word is truer than our circumstances or experiences…and just because He knows everything about us doesn’t mean He tells us about everything. We also know that when things look bad, God is still good.

He’s a giver, not a taker…a blesser, not a curser…and no matter what happens or doesn’t happen, at the end of the day – we still win!’

Isaiah 7-8, Galatians 1

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Words
09 SEPTEMBER 2021

My mouth will speak words of wisdom.’
Psalm 49:3 NIV
‘


The Bible says that you are to be gracious in what you say. That means your goal in conversation should always be to bring out the best in others, not denigrate them or cut them off.

Good communication makes good friends, so you need to be clear when it comes to your personal boundaries, beliefs, values, and desires.

It may well be true that more problems are forgotten than are ever solved, but healthy relationships sometimes call for healthy confrontation.

And there’s a right time and a right way to do it. When you have to deal with a difficult situation, pray and stand on this Scripture: ‘My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give understanding.’ Your words are the vehicle through which your thoughts are conveyed, and your tongue is the driver. So if you don’t want to end up on the wrong road, or end up in a wreck, pray: ‘Lord, give me words of wisdom.


Help me to say the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.’ The Holy Spirit is a great driving instructor! He will guide you, instruct you, and keep working with you until you get it right. He will help you grow in grace until you reach the place of maturity in your relationships where you’re able to say, ‘My advice is wholesome.


There is nothing devious or crooked in it. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge’ (Proverbs 8:8-9 NLT). When you can say that, you know you’re making progress!

Isaiah 9-10, Galatians 2

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


Put away the measuring stick!
10 SEPTEMBER 2021

‘Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you.’
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 symbolised 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 roll of honour. 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 agonising night He passed out 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 nit-picking at yourself and others!’

Isaiah 11-13, Galatians 3

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


Love is a verb
11 SEPTEMBER 2021

‘He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.’
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 semi-conscious 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-centred 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).

Isaiah 14-16, Galatians 4

[ebankole]

....

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


Don’t lose sight of your goals
12 SEPTEMBER 2021


‘His heart is established; he will not be afraid.’
Psalm 112:8 NKJV


To achieve success in life there are three obstacles you’ll have to be aware of and overcome: 1) Weariness. Racehorses run at approximately the same speed; sometimes the difference between winning and losing the race comes down to their ‘heart’ to win. 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 towards a goal but give up 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).

Luke 17:1-19, Psalms 91-93

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


God will never abandon you
13 SEPTEMBER 2021

‘Everyone abandoned me…But the Lord stood with me.’
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.

Isaiah 17-19, Galatians 5

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


Spiritual growth is a group project
14 SEPTEMBER 2021

‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.’
Psalm 122:1 NKJV


The psalmist said, ‘I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”’ Do you feel that way about God’s house too? And if not, why not? Paul writes: ‘God is building a home. He’s using us all – irrespective of how we got here – in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day – a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home’ (Ephesians 2:19-22 MSG).

There are times when you need to be alone with God in prayer; there are times you’ll only find the answer you seek when you’re with God’s people. When those who are indwelt by God’s Spirit meet for worship, teaching, encouragement and service, God shows up in a powerful way. You grow spiritually as you experience His presence, hear His Word, and fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ.


Every time you gather with other members of Christ’s body, it reminds you again that you’re on the winning side. It’s hard to celebrate by yourself. When you’ve something worth celebrating you generally call people together so you can share the joy, right? Jesus is so excited about His victory at the cross, that He calls us together every week to celebrate what He accomplished for us. And celebration, like spiritual growth, is a group project.

Isaiah 20-22, Galatians 6