[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

You are commanded to love (2)
02 AUGUST 2022

‘Walk in love.’
Ephesians 5:2 NKJV

The Greeks used four words to distinguish different types of love: 1) Storge, which means natural affection; 2) Eros, which means sexual attraction; 3) Philia, which means emotional affection or friendship; 4) Agape, which means unconditional giving, sacrificial love. When the Bible tells of God’s love for us and the type of love we are to have for Him and others, the word is always ‘agape’, indicating a commitment to act.

Do you know it’s possible to love someone you don’t even like? Indeed, if God is going to educate us to love, He will bring certain hard-to-love people into our lives. The truth is, our lives are full of people we don’t like. We do not like the way some people speak. We do not like the way some behave. We do not like what others wear. But most of all, we tend to dislike people who don’t like us.

If you think about it for a minute, you can probably produce a list of people you don’t like. They would probably be people with whom you have difficulty getting along. Everyone is hard to love sometimes – even you – but some are hard to love at any time. But Jesus never demanded that we have a tender fondness for everyone. He did not feel warmth for the Pharisees. We don’t have to like everyone – isn’t that a relief? – but we must love them. What does the Bible mean when it says, ‘Walk in love’? Like physical walking, this unconditional love a) requires effort, b) moves in a certain direction, and c) is something you do every day.

Job 20-21, 1 Corinthians 3

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

You are commanded to love (3)
03 AUGUST 2022

‘Love one another as I have loved you.’
John 15:12 NKJV

Picture in your mind the person you find hardest to love. How can you learn to love this kind of person? First, before you can love them, you must feel and understand how deeply God loves you.

Paul writes: ‘I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvellous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves’ (Ephesians 3:17-19 TLB).

Notice the words ‘feel…understand…experience’ . God wants you to feel His love, and He wants you to understand His love. Why? First John 4:19 says that we love God because He first loved us. Why is it important to feel loved by God? Because unloved people are often unloving people. When you do not feel genuinely loved, you do not feel like giving love. So, first, you have to experience God’s love for yourself. Jesus said, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ During your worst acts, and in your lowest moments, Jesus loves you.

Knowing you are loved by Christ gives you value and security; it also enables you to risk loving others. All God asks is that you be willing to love, and He will supply the power to do it. ‘The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (Romans 5:5 NKJV).

Job 22-24, 1 Corinthians 4

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Are you coming up empty?
04 AUGUST 2022

‘That night they caught nothing.’
John 21:3 NKJV

When Jesus first called His disciples, He told them, ‘I will make you fishers of men’ (Matthew 4:19 KJV). Yet after hearing Him promise to rise from the dead and actually seeing Him alive, they went back to what they were doing before they met Him: fishing.

Now, God will use your past experiences to teach you, but He always leads you forward – never back. When fear and uncertainty make you want to go back to the security of what you know, you end up like the disciples: ‘That night they caught nothing.’ But there is good news: if God has called you, you’re still called.

Notice how Jesus addresses them: ‘Children, have you any food?’ (John 21:5 NKJV). In spite of your lacklustre performance, you’re still God’s redeemed child. Next, He tells them: ‘“Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”’ (vv. 6-7 NIV).

Notice what Jesus did next. He ate breakfast with them, renewed fellowship, removed their doubts, and empowered them to change the world. There is an important lesson here. When you work outside God’s will, it’s like fishing on the wrong side of the boat; you wear yourself out and end up having little to show for your efforts. Are you failing? Maybe it’s because you’re fishing on the wrong side of the boat! Things will start to work out right when you submit to Christ, renew your fellowship with Him, and allow Him to direct you.

Job 25-27, 1 Corinthians 5

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Trust God
05 AUGUST 2022

‘Is anything too hard for [me]?’
Genesis 18:14 NKJ
When we feel stressed, part of the cause can be that we want to have control and know everything in advance. Even after we've prayed and supposedly handed the problem to God, we can still live by the idea of ‘hope for the best and plan for the worst’. This can be a sensible attitude to have, but there comes a point when only faith will do. We don’t put money in the bank and then stay awake all night worrying about it. We trust the bank to take care of it. Let's have at least that much confidence in God!

When we find ourselves in the spiral of ‘How? What? When? and Where?’, stop and give it to God. His track record speaks for itself, His faithfulness never fails, and He's earned the right to ask, ‘Is anything too hard for [me]?’ Jesus never suffered from fear of failure like we might do, because He never gave room to the thought that He couldn’t do something if His Father had assured Him He could do it. He also didn’t suffer from the fear of lack. Even though He lived a simple life, He was responsible for supporting Himself and a team of others. And the Bible tells us His strategy: He prayed morning, noon, and night, staying in constant touch with God, with the result that He knew how to catch fish when they weren’t biting, and even how to find tax money in a fish’s mouth when He needed it.

It's unlikely that God'll provide for us in exactly the same way, but He has promised to love us and make sure our needs are met. ‘God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him’ (1 Peter 5:7 CEV).



What Now?

Gather together different resources that help you increase your trust in God (like Scripture verses, journal entries about what He’s done for you in the past, other people’s testimonies, etc.) to help when you’re feeling worried.

Job 28-29, 1 Corinthians 6

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Prayer thoughts (1)
06 AUGUST 2022

‘Every morning, I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer.’
Psalm 5:3 NCV

It takes time, but eventually sheep grow familiar with the voice of their shepherd and learn to trust him for everything they need. So how can you become equally familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas:

1) Give God your waking thoughts. With your head on your pillow and your eyes still closed, offer God the first seconds of your day. Say, ‘Thank You for a night’s rest. Today I belong to You.’ C. S. Lewis wrote: ‘The moment you wake up each morning…all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.’

2) Give God your waiting thoughts. The mature married couple has learned the treasure of shared silence; they don’t need to fill the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent with God. ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 NIV). Awareness of God is the result of stillness before God. Jesus prayed, ‘That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me’ (John 17:21 NIV). When are you most deeply aware of Christ’s presence ‘in you’ as He promised? To what degree have you consciously invited Him to be more and more at home in your heart? How has your practice of intimacy with God developed in the last few years?

Job 30-31, 1 Corinthians 7:1-19

[ebankole]

THE WORD FOR TODAY

Prayer thoughts (2)
07 AUGUST 2022

‘Be still, and know that I am God.’
Psalm 46:10 NIV

Give God your whispering thoughts. Throughout the centuries, Christians have learned the value of brief sentence prayers. These are prayers that can be whispered anywhere, in any setting. Frank Laubach sought unbroken communion with God by asking Him questions. Every two or three minutes he would pray, ‘Am I in your will, Lord? Am I pleasing you, Lord?’

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By the time your life is over, you will have spent six months at traffic lights, eight months opening junk mail, a year and a half looking for lost stuff, and a whopping five years standing waiting in various queues. Why don’t you give these moments to God? By giving Him your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as ‘Thank You, Father,’ or ‘I stand on Your Word,’ or ‘My desire is to please You,’ can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral and the classroom a chapel.

Give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on Him. Conclude the day as you began it – talking to God. Thank Him for the good parts. Question Him about the hard parts. Seek His mercy. Seek His strength. As you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise, ‘He who watches over [you] will neither slumber nor sleep’ (Psalm 121:4 NIV). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father?

Luke 15:1-10, Psalms 81-83

[ebankole]

THE WORD FOR TODAY

Thoughts about the Bible (1)
08 AUGUST 2022

‘You received the word.’
1 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV

‘When you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God’ (v. 13 NKJV). Here are four things you must believe about your Bible:

1) It is life changing. In the parable of the sower, Jesus said, ‘The seed is the word’ (Luke 8:11 KJV). You may not understand the power within a seed, but you know that when you sow it in receptive soil, it will spring to life; it won’t just sit there and do nothing, it will produce fruit. Likewise, your Bible is ‘the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe’ (1 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV).

2) It works. ‘My word…will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it’ (Isaiah 55:11 NIV). Note the word ‘sent’. Every word God speaks is on a mission and is guaranteed to accomplish it in accordance with His will, His strategy, and His timing.

3) It is creative. ‘By God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed’ (2 Peter 3:5 NIV). God’s Word was powerful enough to create all that exists. He didn’t strive or sweat, He just spoke, and it was accomplished. So speak God’s Word!

4) It is authoritative. ‘They were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority…they were all amazed…saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out”’ (Luke 4:32, 36 NKJV). The forces of darkness around you today must recognise and submit to God’s Word, so stand on it!

Job 32-33, 1 Corinthians 7:20-40

[ebankole]

THE WORD FOR TODAY

Thoughts about the Bible (2)
09 AUGUST 2022

‘Your word is settled in heaven.’
Psalm 119:89 NKJV

God’s Word must be a ‘settled’ issue in your life. Heaven is the Supreme Court; when it rules on a matter, it’s settled. Now, since God’s Word is a settled issue in heaven, the question is, ‘Is it a settled issue in your life?’ Jesus said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away’ (Mark 13:31 NKJV). The Bible never needs updating; it’s perfect and can’t be improved upon. That’s why Jesus instructs you to let His ‘words remain in you’ (John 15:7 NIV). In other words, program your mind with the Scriptures. How do you do that?

1) Give it permanent residence, not visitor status. ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’ (Colossians 3:16 KJV). Take it in richly, meaning copiously and abundantly. Call it Operation Saturation! Read the Bible, meditate on it, speak it out loud. Yes, and even sing its words; ‘Teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’ (v. 16 TLB).

2) Keep it before you at all times. ‘Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night…do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful’ (Joshua 1:8 NIV). Talk it out, think it out, walk it out! You say, ‘But my memory doesn’t retain things too well.’ No problem. Jesus said, ‘The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name…will remind you of everything I have said to you’ (John 14:26 NIV). As you meditate on God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will come to the aid of your less-than-perfect memory.

Job 34-35, 1 Corinthians 8

[ebankole]

THE WORD FOR TODAY

Thoughts about the Bible (3)
10 AUGUST 2022

‘God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey.’
James 1:25 CEV

Your life must be governed by the Word of God, not your impulses, or your thoughts, or the opinions of those around you. The Bible is not God’s attempt to offer you interesting insights or good advice for your consideration; it’s His fixed opinion.

Jesus said, ‘Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock’ (Matthew 7:24 NKJV). This builder’s foundation withstood life’s storms. On the other hand, Jesus said, ‘Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them’ is foolish and the storms of life will sweep them away (see vv. 26-27 NKJV). Now, Jesus didn’t condemn the second man for building an inadequate structure or failing to hear, understand, and believe His words, but for failing to act on them.

James writes, ‘Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it…God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget’ (James 1:22, 25 CEV). If you think reading, knowing, and even believing God’s Word fulfils your obligation to it, you are mistaken. Because it’s God’s Word, His instructions must be obeyed. That requires not just believing it but behaving according to it. James didn’t say you would be blessed because of what you believe, but because of what you ‘do’. When Moses read God’s Word to the Israelites, they said, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient’ (Exodus 24:7 NKJV). And that must be your rule for living, too.

Job 36-37, 1 Corinthians 9

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Keep trusting God; He will intervene
11 AUGUST 2022

‘He…knew it was time to act.’
Exodus 2:25 NLT

‘The Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act’ (vv. 23-25 NLT). Just when the Israelites thought life couldn’t get worse, Pharaoh withdrew their straw and ordered them to produce the same daily quota of bricks. That’s when they reached their breaking point!

Is that where you are today? If so, here are three things you need to know: 1) Sometimes it helps to share your feelings. Especially when you do it at the right time, in the right way, to the right people. It can be therapeutic and healing. But often the help you need cannot be found in people, so 2) There comes a time when you must cry out to God. God saw them struggling to get through another day. But since they talked to everybody but Him, nothing changed. Question: have you prayed about it? Prayer must be your first option, not your last resort. David said, ‘I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place’ (Psalm 118:5-6 NKJV). David’s prayers got him out of a tight spot and into God’s spot. 3) God will always keep His promise. ‘He remembered his covenant promise…and knew it was time to act’ (Exodus 2:24-25 NLT). God works according to His plan, not ours. He has a set schedule for answering your prayer and delivering you, so keep praying and believing Him.

Job 38-40, 1 Corinthians 10:1-17