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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Say no to sin
03 APRIL 2022

‘You’re living in the freedom of God.’
Romans 6:14 MSG

If you want to grow roses, you must declare war on weeds; otherwise, they will run amok in your garden. In other words, you must beware of weeds! There is a spiritual parallel at work here, and it’s this: unless you deal decisively with sin, it will take over your life.

The Message paraphrases Paul’s words like this:

‘Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life – no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God.…That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time – remember, you’ve been raised from the dead! – into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God’ (vv. 6-14 MSG).

So, the word for today is – say no to sin!

Luke 6:27-49, Psalms 35-36

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Be courageous (1)
04 APRIL 2022

‘Be strong and of good courage.’
Joshua 1:9 NKJV

Knowing the battles he would have to fight in order to conquer the promised land, God told Joshua this, no less than three times: ‘Be strong and of good courage.’ Anytime you move forward, obstacles will block your path. Count on it!

H.G. Wells asked, ‘What on earth would a man do with himself, if something did not stand in his way?’ What did he mean? That adversity is your friend – even when it feels like your enemy. Every obstacle you face reveals your strengths and weaknesses. It also shapes you and makes you wiser and more confident.

Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: ‘Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.’

Anytime you leave your comfort zone and step out in faith to follow God, you will be tested. But you will also reach heights you thought were beyond you and go further than others who had greater talent but settled for the status quo.

In The Message paraphrase, Paul tells us: ‘Every detail works to your advantage…So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace’ (2 Corinthians 4:15-17 MSG). Courage can be defined as simply ‘not giving up’.

Joshua 4-6, John 1:1-28

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Be courageous (2)
05 APRIL 2022

‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’
John 8:32 NKJV

Jesus said, ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’

It takes courage to face a painful reality. It’s easier to bail out of a troubled marriage than to stay and work your way through to a better place. It’s easier to give in to despair and self-pity than go back to school and train for a new career. It takes guts to stand up for your convictions when you’re under fire. But somebody said, ‘Unless you stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.’ The truth is, anytime you’re willing to stand for something or try something new, somebody will take a shot at you.

The English word courage is derived from the French word cœur, meaning ‘heart’. Hence the phrase ‘don’t lose heart’. It’s easy to be brave when you feel strong, but it’s much harder when you feel weak and inadequate. Yet, that’s when you need courage the most. General Omar Bradley remarked, ‘Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.’ And the courage he is referring to isn’t hollow hype. It has nothing to do with a ‘fake it till you make it’ mentality. Courage means saying, ‘If God promised it, I believe it’ and moving forward despite the obstacles.

If you need an injection of courage today, read and meditate on these verses: 1) ‘Be strong and do not give up…your work will be rewarded’ (2 Chronicles 15:7 NIV). 2) ‘Energise the limp hands, strengthen the rubbery knees. Tell fearful souls, “Courage! Take heart! God is…on his way…He’ll save you!”’ (Isaiah 35:3-4 MSG). Now that’s courage!

Joshua 7-9, John 1:29-51

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Be secure
06 APRIL 2022

‘God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts.’
2 Timothy 1:7 MSG

The foundation of good leadership is security. Paul told Timothy, ‘God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.’ You must know with certainty that God called you, equipped you, and guaranteed your ultimate success. And you must keep this in mind when people stop liking you, when funding drops, when morale dips, and others reject you. If you feel insecure, fear will eventually cause you to sabotage your own leadership.

Confident leaders see what is, while maintaining their vision of what can be. They’re rarely content with things the way they are. As President Ronald Reagan once quipped, ‘Status quo…is Latin for “the mess we’re in”!’ By definition, ‘to lead’ is to be out in front, breaking new ground, vanquishing new worlds, and proceeding away from the status quo. Dissatisfaction with the status quo doesn’t mean having a bad attitude or complaining; it has to do with a readiness to be different and to take risks. A person who won’t risk change is someone who fails to grow. A leader who loves the status quo is someone who soon turns into a follower.

Raymond Smith of Bell Atlantic Corporation once remarked, ‘Administrators are easy to find and cheap to keep. Leaders – risk takers – are in very short supply. And the ones with vision are pure gold.’ Many people are more comfortable dealing with old troubles than doing what it takes to find new solutions; risk seems dangerous to them. The secret lies in having a winning attitude – one that comes from being secure in who you are and what you have been called to do. Think about it!

Joshua 10-12, John 2

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Jesus’ work philosophy (1)
07 APRIL 2022

‘I must finish the work…he gave me to do.’
John 4:34 CEV

Instead of confining Jesus to church on Sunday, let’s study His work philosophy (attitude, values, and beliefs) on how to get things done. The principles He lived by call for these:

1) Being clear about your assignment. He said, ‘I must finish the work…he gave me to do.’ Jesus understood that focus maximises skill and opportunity. So if you’re talented, energetic, and active and you’re still not seeing concrete results, your problem may be lack of focus. When Nehemiah was rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls, his enemies said, ‘Come, let us meet together’ (Nehemiah 6:2 NKJV). That’s when Nehemiah sent back this message: ‘I am doing a great work, so…I cannot come down’ (v. 3 NKJV).

2) Prioritising tasks in the order of their importance. When you don’t do what has to be done according to its importance, jobs start to arrange themselves according to their urgency. And when that happens, you miss great opportunities. The Bible says Jesus ‘needed to go through Samaria’ (John 4:4 NKJV). To the disciples, this probably looked like a diversion because it wasn’t the shortest route to where they wanted to go. But there was a woman in Samaria Jesus wanted to redeem; a vessel through which He reached the entire city with the gospel. Bottom line: Jesus was clear about His priorities. Are you?

3) Creating a definitive timetable. In other words, set deadlines and stick with them. Jesus knew He had only three-and-a-half years to get the job done, and He made every day count. One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is, ‘I’ll get to it later.’ To succeed in life, let Jesus’ work philosophy become your master plan.

Joshua 13-15, John 3:1-21

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Jesus’ work philosophy (2)
08 APRIL 2022

‘I must work the works of Him who sent Me.’
John 9:4 NKJV

Like the rest of us, Jesus sometimes got tired (see John 4:6). But He was never stressed out by the job. He was led, but never driven. He knew what needed to be done and the amount of time required to do it, and He picked a team to accomplish it. Three of them – Peter, James, and John – were in His inner circle. It wasn’t that He showed favouritism; He just recognised the particular gifts of the people He worked with and what He needed from each of them to get the job done.

An important step towards accomplishing something big is knowing the kinds of people you will need. In other words, you need to know who should be on your team. Jesus spent three-and-a-half years training His disciples before delegating responsibility to them. Was He afraid they would make mistakes, outshine Him, or make Him look bad? No, He told them, ‘He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father’ (John 14:12 NKJV). Jesus was a team player who got things done through others.

But even when you break a task down, strategically plan it, and recruit terrific people, you need one more component to succeed: teamwork! Teamwork is the glue that brings people together – and keeps them together. There are more than a billion Christians in the world today. And it all started two thousand years ago with one man who had a vision, a man who recruited and trained a team to fulfil that vision. If you’re wise, you will study His work philosophy.

Joshua 16-18, John 3:22-36

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

A heart of flesh
09 APRIL 2022

‘I will remove…your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.’
Ezekiel 36:26 NIV

When you have been hurt, it’s easy to put up barriers. But be careful – a protective shell can turn into a ‘heart of stone’: resistant, unreceptive, impenetrable even to God.

One Christian author writes:

‘The only thing more painful, and with…more serious ramifications than a broken heart, is a frozen one.…Paul warns us [about]…allowing our hearts to harden. “They are darkened in their understanding…separated from the life of God…due to…hardening of their hearts” (Ephesians 4:18 NIV). A soft heart is not weak or naive. To the contrary, wisdom, experience, and faith make for a strong heart, weathered by compassion and seasoned with mercy. A hardened heart is not protected, it’s merely encased in injury, and it is painfully obvious to everyone but you…After a weekend that felt like one painful test after another, I called my best friend in tears. “Why won’t this end? How strong does God want me to be? I can’t take it anymore!” Being a godly woman…she replied, “Perhaps it’s the other way around. You have been strong enough. God wants your heart to be soft and open.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way. In response to heartbreak, betrayal, or shame, it is…easy to develop a heart of stone. We think this will protect us from…more pain. The problem with stone is…it feels nothing – no pain, but no love. It is a trap that feels like self-preservation, but it is actually self-destruction. [God] wants to give you a heart of flesh. With His love you can emerge from a painful season of loss with a heart that is yielding, porous, and ready to receive the gifts He has…for you.’

Joshua 19-21, John 4:1-30

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

What ‘colour’ is your tongue?
10 APRIL 2022

‘The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart.’
Matthew 12:34 NCV

When Mary Southerland came down with a raging fever, her doctor suspected viral meningitis. ‘How long have you had the solid white coating on your tongue?’ he asked. Mary was puzzled. Why did that matter? The doctor continued, ‘The health of the tongue is a very strong indicator of the health of the entire body.’

And spiritually speaking, the same principle applies. ‘The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart. Good people have good things in their hearts…so they say good things…evil people have evil in their hearts, so they say evil things’ (vv. 34-35 NCV). The problem isn’t the tongue itself; it’s more serious. The problem lies in your heart, your attitude, your outlook, and your temperament.

Southerland continues: ‘The tongue is a spiritual thermometer that reflects the condition of the heart…Words are power tools that can build…encourage…destroy and cause confusion. We have all been hurt and even defeated by words spoken in anger or words rising out of a wounded heart…If my words are boastful, my heart is insecure. If my words are filthy, my heart is impure and if my words are critical, my heart is filled with pride and anger…Solomon said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11 KJV)…The right word, spoken at the right time and in the right way can bring order in the midst of confusion and light on a very dark path. “Good people know the right thing to say” (Proverbs 10:32 NCV). God gives us spiritual “radar” so we can assess a situation and speak the right word for that circumstance. We just need to check the “radar screen” before we speak.’

Luke 7:1-30, Psalms 37-39

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

A safe place to unload
11 APRIL 2022

‘Bear…one another’s burdens.’
Galatians 6:2 KJV

Have you ever said something you wish you could take back? You have, haven’t you?

Chuck Swindoll writes: ‘We act impulsively and realise, after the fact, how foolish we were…On top of all that, we hurt the ones we love the most. All this stuff caves in on us…and we wonder how anybody could ever love us…especially God. When we start thinking like this, we need to turn our mind to the “one anothers” in the New Testament. Love one another, build up one another, live in peace with one another, confess your sins to one another, speak to one another, admonish one another, comfort one another, pray for one another. “Bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2 NKJV).

'Imagine two mountain hikers. One…has a…light pack…while the other poor soul…is…loaded down…It could be a long-standing grudge…poisoning his insides…[Or,] a broken relationship with his wife or one of his kids. That pack could be loaded with unpaid bills. The question is, Where can…[he] go to unload? By sitting in church alongside a…couple thousand other folks? Hardly. What he needs…is…a place where there is person-to-person caring and…authentic sharing. Where he will feel free, without embarrassment…to tell his secret or state his struggle; where someone will listen, help him unload, and give him fresh strength.

'Adult fellowships…are not miniature church services. They are pockets of people who love Christ and believe in helping one another. They don’t point fingers or preach or compare. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ…Are you involved in a…fellowship group? If not, consider joining or starting [one].’

Once you begin unloading, you will discover how much easier the journey seems.

Joshua 22-24, John 4:31-54

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Understanding your willpower
12 APRIL 2022

‘Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself…have a sane estimate of your capabilities.’
Romans 12:3 PHPS

We have exaggerated ideas about our capabilities. We like to think we can do it all. But no matter how disciplined you are or how hard you try, without a ‘sane estimate of your capabilities’, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

John Ortberg says: ‘Willpower is…finite…You don’t get separate stockpiles for different areas…That’s why a long list of New Year’s resolutions is almost certainly doomed…It takes a whole lot of willpower to get on an exercise…programme to lose weight…If you add on the list: get on a budget…keep your office clean, and read Calvin’s Institutes every week, you set yourself up for failure…For most of us…our wills get depleted…more quickly than our bodies.’

Ortberg suggests these:

1) Schedule your most important tasks for when your willpower is strongest. For many people, that’s the morning. One study shows prisoners have a better shot at parole if their case is heard in the morning when the judge has a higher reserve of willpower and is more inclined to take a chance.

2) Spend willpower wisely by not taking on too many tasks at once, even after you have prayed about them. Generally, God works through your will, and He seldom gives you a free pass to disregard the laws of finitude He created.

3) Set goals – but not too many. Lacking a few, we drift, but having an overabundance means we worry about them, accomplish less, and suffer emotionally and physically.

4) Remember that the one act of your will that replenishes willpower instead of depleting it is surrender. God meant for prayer, solitude, worship, and meditation to be done in a way that restores us.

Judges 1-3, John 5:1-30