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The word for taday- A daily devotional 4
#21
Heart Heart






'...I am not seeking my own good but the good of many...' 1 Corinthians 10:33 NIV


Here are three questions people often ask themselves when you’re talking to them:
(1) Do you really care about me? Dr. Calvin Miller put it like this: ‘When people listen to others speak, sometimes they’re silently thinking, “I am loneliness waiting for a friend. I am weeping in want of laughter. I am a sigh in search of consolation. I am a wound in search of healing. If you want to unlock my attention, you have but to convince me you want to be my friend.”’

(2) Can you really help me? Successful people bear in mind that others are continually asking themselves that question. And one way you can answer it is by focusing on the benefits you have to offer. Let’s face it, people are bombarded every day with the information on the features of this product and that gadget. So eventually they tune out.

(3) Can I really trust you? William Arthur Ward wrote, ‘Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.’ Your charisma and ability may get you to the top, but only your character and commitment will keep you there.

Trust is built on telling the truth and following through on your commitments. People take action for their own reasons, not yours. And what we learn about them always results in a greater reward than what we tell them about ourselves. Whether they’re buying a car, choosing a mate, or listening to a sermon, deep down they want to know, ‘Can I trust this person?’ Well…can they?


SoulFood: Acts 14-15, Matt 4:8-17, Ps 7:1-9, Prov 11:3-6

Heart Heart
 
#22
Heart Heart



You Can Do It!




'...we can certainly do it.' Numbers 13:30 NIV

After seeing the giants in the Promised Land, ten of Israel’s twelve spies came back and said, ‘It can’t be done.’ But the other two, Joshua and Caleb, said, ‘It can.’ But because of Israel’s unbelief, Caleb had been forced to spend forty more years wandering through the wilderness. And by the time the Israelites crossed the Jordan River he was almost eighty years old. Then another seven years passed before the various tribes of Israel were assigned land to occupy.

Here’s how Caleb described it all, years later: ‘I was forty years old when Moses…sent me…to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ (Joshua 14:7–8 NIV)

If you’ve a negative attitude when you’re 40, there’s a good chance you’ll have one when you’re 85. Actually, there’s a good chance you won’t even make it to 85! Psychologist Martin Seligman studied several hundred people in a religious community; he divided them into quartiles, ranging from the most to the least optimistic. 90% of the optimists were alive at 85, while just 34% of the naysayers made it to the same age.

Twelve spies went out, but only Joshua and Caleb had the faith to say, ‘We can do it.’ And over 45 years later Caleb was as feisty as ever! Want to guess what happened to the other ten spies? They died. None of them made it to Caleb’s age. It’s as simple as this: faith and optimism can add years to your life.

SoulFood: Acts 16-17, Matt 4:18-25, Ps 7:10-17, Prov 11:7-9


Heart Heart
 
#23
Heart Heart


You Can Do It!




'...we can certainly do it.' Numbers 13:30 NIV

After seeing the giants in the Promised Land, ten of Israel’s twelve spies came back and said, ‘It can’t be done.’ But the other two, Joshua and Caleb, said, ‘It can.’ But because of Israel’s unbelief, Caleb had been forced to spend forty more years wandering through the wilderness. And by the time the Israelites crossed the Jordan River he was almost eighty years old. Then another seven years passed before the various tribes of Israel were assigned land to occupy.

Here’s how Caleb described it all, years later: ‘I was forty years old when Moses…sent me…to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ (Joshua 14:7–8 NIV)

If you’ve a negative attitude when you’re 40, there’s a good chance you’ll have one when you’re 85. Actually, there’s a good chance you won’t even make it to 85! Psychologist Martin Seligman studied several hundred people in a religious community; he divided them into quartiles, ranging from the most to the least optimistic. 90% of the optimists were alive at 85, while just 34% of the naysayers made it to the same age.

Twelve spies went out, but only Joshua and Caleb had the faith to say, ‘We can do it.’ And over 45 years later Caleb was as feisty as ever! Want to guess what happened to the other ten spies? They died. None of them made it to Caleb’s age. It’s as simple as this: faith and optimism can add years to your life.

SoulFood: Acts 16-17, Matt 4:18-25, Ps 7:10-17, Prov 11:7-9

Heart Heart
 
#24
Heart Heart


Enjoy Your Old Age



'
They shall still bear fruit in old age...' Psalm
92:14 NKJV


Age is just a date on a calendar; attitude is what
counts. You can be old at 29 and young at 92.
Larry King once interviewed Ty Cobb, one of the
all–time great baseball players. He asked Cobb,
then 70 years old, ‘What do you think you’d hit if
you were playing these days?’ Cobb, a lifetime
.366 hitter (still the record) replied, ‘About .290,
maybe .300.’ King asked, ‘Is that because of
travel, the night games, the artificial turf and all
the new pitches like the slider?’ Cobb responded,
‘No. It’s because I’m 70!’

Here are three great
benefits to having lived longer:
(1) You should be more tolerant .
Having fallen into many of life’s
potholes yourself, you should be quicker to
extend a helping hand when others fall into
them. Having survived defeats and lived to fight
another day, you’re qualified to offer strength
and hope to those who struggle.

(2) You should be more humble.
A man who’d just celebrated his
50th wedding anniversary said, ‘A man is always
as young as he feels, but seldom as important.’
Realising that the world doesn’t stop at your
command or cater to your whims, you become
more realistic. And in the process you find
peace.

(3) You should value time more . Margaret
Deland said, ‘As soon as you feel too old to do a
thing, do it.’ Start by asking yourself, ‘If not me,
who? If not now, when?’ Here’s a promise from
Scripture you can stand on: ‘ They shall still bear
fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and
flourishing .’ ( Psalm 92:14 NKJV) Now get up off
the couch and get going.

SoulFood: Gen 6:9-8:4 , Matt 24:37-51


Heart Heart
 
#25
Heart Heart


Are You in a Storm? (2)


'...Who can this be...?' Matthew 8:27 NKJV
Matthew records: ‘Then His disciples came to Him
and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are
perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you
fearful, O you of little faith”? Then He arose and
rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a
great calm. So the men marvelled, saying, “Who
can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey
Him?” ’ ( Matthew 8:25–27 NKJV) You’ll never
really know Jesus, or what He can do for you,
until you go through a storm with Him. That’s
why He plans your storms as part of the journey.
Jesus asked, ‘Why are you fearful?’ He was
teaching us that fear will suck the life out of you
and drain you dry of joy. When fear rules your
life, safety becomes your God. And when safety
becomes your God, you seek a risk–free life. But
those who are fear–filled cannot love deeply,
because love is risky. They cannot give to the
poor, because humanly speaking, benevolence is
no guarantee of return. And the fear–filled
cannot dream. What if their dreams shatter and
fall from the sky? No wonder Jesus wages such
a war against fear. The Gospels list some 125
Christ–issued imperatives. Of these, 21 are to
‘not be afraid ’. The second most common
command, to love God and your neighbour,
appears only eight times. If quantity is any
indicator, Jesus sees fear as one of our biggest
issues. That’s why the one statement He makes
more than any other, and the one He is making
to you today, is: ‘ Don’t be afraid .’


SoulFood: Acts 24-26 , Matt 5:21-26 , Ps 94:12-23 ,
Prov 11:16-18



Heart Heart
 
#26
Heart Heart



Withdrawing in Order to Draw




'...He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.' John 6:15 NKJV The secret to success lies in knowing what God has assigned and gifted you to do. Once you discover those two things, delegate the rest or let it go. This isn’t easy, because others will place demands on your time and energy that aren’t in line with your calling. Work out what activities drain you, and unless they’re essential —avoid them. Then, work out the things that energise you and fill your tank, and make them an essential part of your life. ‘ But there are so many demands on my time,’ you say. Nobody was busier than Jesus. John speaks about His workload: ‘…There are…things that Jesus did, which if they were written…the world itself could not contain the books that would be written …’ ( John 21:25 NKJV) Question: How did Jesus stay on track and keep from burning out? Answer: He knew the secret to spiritual rest and renewal. The Bible says, ‘ When Jesus perceived…they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. ’ ( John 6:15 NKJV) The word ‘ again ’ tells us that Jesus made a regular daily practice of withdrawing from the crowd in order to pray, consider His plans and priorities, and recharge His batteries. Understand this: to be effective with others, you must learn to be comfortable alone with yourself. Novelist Louis Auchincloss said, ‘The only thing that keeps a man going is energy, and what is energy but liking life?’ If you can carve out moments to do what energises you, you’ll have reserves you can draw on when it’s time to give to others.

SoulFood: Acts 27-28 , Matt 5:27-37 , Ps 35, Prov 11:19-21


Heart Heart