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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Pray for the desire to forgive
28 AUGUST 2023

‘Turn thou me, and I shall be turned.’
Jeremiah 31:18 KJV

When we have been hurt, our first instinct is to retaliate. We know it’s wrong because the Bible says we must forgive in order to be forgiven (see Mark 11:25). We also know that bitterness can hurt us physically and emotionally. But sometimes we can’t bring ourselves to forgive, so we keep wrestling with it in our mind. Stop and think what happens in a wrestling match. You focus on your opponent, clinging to them and trying to control them. Your aim is to put them on the mat and bring them into submission, and it requires all your energy. Plus, you risk getting hurt in the process.

The only real power you have over someone who hurts you is the power of forgiveness. So for your own sake, forgive them and move on! Even though you don’t feel like forgiving, pray, ‘Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.’ In other words, ‘Lord, make me willing to forgive.’ The old saying, ‘To err is human, to forgive is divine,’ is the truth.

Now, small offences can be forgiven quickly, but big ones require divine assistance. And you can have it: ‘God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him’ (Philippians 2:13 NLT). Yes, you may want your offender to suffer, but when your greatest desire is to please the Lord, He will give you the grace to forgive. When you realise the blessings God has in store for you in the future, you will refuse to spend another moment stuck in the past.

Ecclesiastes 1-3, 2 Corinthians 4

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Jesus understands
29 AUGUST 2023

‘[Jesus] has been tempted in all things as we are.’
Hebrews 4:15 NASB

Well-intentioned friends sometimes say, ‘I know how you feel.’ But deep down we think, ‘No, you really don’t.’ But Jesus does! He was ‘tempted in all things as we are,’ so He can interpret and present our feelings to God. And He does. When you pray in Jesus’ name, pouring out your heart to God, Jesus acts as your lawyer and says, ‘Father, I know what this person is feeling. I know what it’s like to be under pressure to sin. I stand with this child of Yours who needs Your help.’ You say, ‘But Jesus was without sin, so can He really feel my sin the way I feel it?’ Yes He can. In fact, because of His purity He actually feels the pain of sin even more.

Perhaps an illustration will help. In our everyday world we live with germs all around us, and even on us. Because we aren’t in a sterile environment we don’t notice these germs and we learn to live with them. But it’s an entirely different story in a hospital operating room. There, any contamination from germs is a real threat that demands the attention of the entire staff. So they sterilise everything because bacteria can kill the patient. The purity of the room demands close attention to the presence of even the slightest impurity that could lead to a life-threatening infection.

So Jesus’ separateness from, and sensitivity to sin, actually increases His ability to sympathise with us. Bottom line: Jesus understands what you’re struggling with!

Ecclesiastes 4-6, 2 Corinthians 5

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

You need a ‘word’
30 AUGUST 2023

‘Your ears shall hear a word.’
Isaiah 30:21 NKJV

A ‘word’ from God can bring you the solution you need. God created the world with a word, so imagine what a word from Him could do for your situation. The Bible says, ‘Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.’ Notice the words, ‘Your ears shall hear a word.’ But if your spiritual ears are not open, trained and attuned to God, you won’t hear what He is saying to you. Furthermore, if you filter what He’s saying to you through human intellect in order to harmonise it with your own opinions, you will get nowhere.

God gives a ‘word’ to those who have an open ear – and heart. When you pray, what are you looking for? A spiritual high, or a time of intimacy with the Lord in which He speaks and you listen? When you read your Bible are you seeking confirmation of your own thoughts, or are you seeking God’s will? Imagine what one of God’s ideas could do for your life! ‘The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits’ (Daniel 11:32 NKJV). If you dream of doing great things in life, get to know God. He will reveal Himself to you through His Word.

You’ll hear a lot of different ideas each day; some will benefit you, others won’t. But when you get a ‘word’ from God it’s like a seed; it has the potential to produce a tree; or better yet, a whole orchard of fruit.

Ecclesiastes 7-9, 2 Corinthians 6

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

God’s amazing love for you
31 AUGUST 2023

‘May you have the power to understand…how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.’
Ephesians 3:18 NLT

Paul writes: ‘I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand…how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete’ (vv. 16-19 NLT).

In spite of our best intentions, we still sin. As a result, we feel bad about ourselves. And Satan uses our feelings of guilt and condemnation to make us doubt God’s love for us. But if God loved you enough to send His Son to die on your behalf while you were a full-blown sinner, you can be sure He won’t change His mind about you when you’re His redeemed but struggling child.

Feeling bad about sin is actually proof that you truly are God’s child. When you were born again, you became a regenerate spirit living in an unregenerate body. So when you permit sin to enter your life, your regenerate spirit rises up and says, ‘Get that out of here, it’s incompatible with who I am.’ It’s not that God doesn’t love you when you sin, but that sin is an unwelcome guest that makes you feel bad about yourself and robs you of confidence towards God. So if you have sinned, repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and move forwards stronger and wiser.

Ecclesiastes 10-12, 2 Corinthians 7

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Conformed or transformed? (1)
01 SEPTEMBER 2023

‘Do not be conformed…but be transformed.’
Romans 12:2 NKJV

Chuck Swindoll said, ‘We like to imagine ourselves a race of rugged individuals – the Patrick Henrys, Davy Crocketts and Lone Rangers. The truth is, we hate to appear different lest we be ostracised, branded fanatics and rejected. So, we conform. You'll see it in the child eager to please; the adolescent aligning with peer pressure; the adult breaking their back to keep up with the Joneses.’

Just being different for its own sake is likely to be worthless, even counterproductive. What God wants from us is our willingness to be radically transformed. ‘Therefore, I urge you...to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (vv. 1-2 NIV). Here are two important observations to help you reach that goal.

1) Transformation belongs to believers. The unbeliever can't break the world's control over them without Christ, but believers are promised: ‘the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world’ (1 John 4:4 NLT). God's indwelling Spirit enables you to resist the world's pressure to conform you to its ways.

2) God’s appeal is urgent. ‘I urge you.’ Words like beg, plead, beseech are used in some translations because the appeal isn't secondary or optional. It’s vital, a divine imperative! God is seeking for surrendered vessels that are ready to be transformed for His use. Are you willing to say, ‘Yes, Lord, use me’?

Song of Songs 1-3, 2 Corinthians 8

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Conformed or transformed? (2)
02 SEPTEMBER 2023

‘Do not be conformed…but be transformed.’
Romans 12:2 NKJV

Transformation: 1) Requires personal sacrifice. It’s not easy, natural or automatic. It calls for becoming a ‘living sacrifice’. The problem with ‘living’ sacrifices is their tendency to keep escaping the altar, having to be led back repeatedly to be sacrificed again and again. Salvation is an instant, once-for-all experience, but there can be no instant, once-for-all ‘living sacrifice’. It’s a day-by-day, moment-by-moment recommitment which means bringing our stubborn nature back to the altar, surrendering it to God as often as necessary. Don't wait for your old nature to improve or to agree to die before concluding your sacrifice is truly genuine. And don't let it discourage you in your battle for victory; your old nature and your regenerated spirit are mutual enemies, ‘constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions’ (Galatians 5:17 NLT). Your job isn't to obliterate the flesh, but to crucify it each time it wants to take over, refusing to let it curtail or weaken your commitment to spiritual growth.

2) Is a two-sided issue. ‘Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1 NIV). That involves a resolute decision of mind and will, because our bodies don't surrender themselves. Until you deliberately choose to ‘offer your [body]...to God,’ your flesh will act unrestrained. ‘In the past you offered the parts of your body to be slaves to sin and evil…In the same way now you must give yourselves to be slaves of goodness. Then you will live only for God’ (Romans 6:19 NCV). When you surrender to your lower impulses, you reap sin. When you surrender to God, you reap His blessing.

Song of Songs 4-5, 2 Corinthians 9

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Conformed or transformed? (3)
03 SEPTEMBER 2023

‘Do not be conformed…but be transformed.’
Romans 12:2 NKJV
What does it mean to give yourself fully to God?

1) It’s an act of worship. ‘Offer your bodies…this is your true and proper worship’ (v. 1 NIV). Worship isn’t just attending a church service, singing praises and saying prayers. ‘This people…honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me’ (Isaiah 29:13 NASB). It calls for surrendering your heart to God twenty-four hours of every day; whether you're alone or in a crowd, at work, enjoying recreation, spending family time, at school, on a date or just walking the dog. If your heart isn't moving you, your behaviour will only be an act of reluctant compliance rather than one of joyful commitment. Surrendering to God isn’t a part-time thing done for your own benefit; it's a full-time act of worship done for God’s benefit.

2) It’s a response to God’s generosity. ‘In view of God's mercy...offer your bodies’ (Romans 12:1 NIV). God doesn't say, ‘If you don't surrender, I will punish you.’ There's no arm twisting. You don't submit through clenched teeth because of fear; no, it's a response to a debt. Everything God asks is initiated by His giving. Your repentance is a response to His love. Your giving is a response to His blessing. Your obedience is a response to His promises. God's grace is never ‘a deal’, it's the ‘free gift’ of His love to the undeserving (see Romans 5:18). Therefore ‘in view of’ – as a rational response to – His mercy, ‘offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.’ It’s your ‘true and proper worship’, and it will be ‘pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1 NIV).

Luke 16:16-31, Psalms 91-93

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Conformed or transformed? (4)
04 SEPTEMBER 2023

Do not be conformed…but be transformed.’
Romans 12:2 NKJV



Each time we offer our bodies as ‘living sacrifices’ to God, our stubborn nature will rebel. But with Christ in control we can break its grip. ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (NIV). We have the option: be conformed or transformed! Deciding ‘l will not conform to the world’ leads to a transformed lifestyle. Your old nature naturally conforms, enslaving you to worldly influences. J.B. Phillips's translation says: ‘Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould.'

Conforming to the world's values, like sensuality, pride, control, etc., will rob you of the liberating power of Christ living in you, resulting in a recurring cycle of guilt, failure and discouragement. Choosing not to conform to this world is what opens the door to your transformation, unlike conformity, which is externally initiated, your walk with God will become an outer expression of an inner change. The tadpole's life is transformed into the frog's life, and the caterpillar's into the butterfly's. You become transformed from the inside out. How does it happen? ‘Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world' (1 John 4:4 KJV).

Add to your decision not to conform, your commitment to ‘the renewing of your mind’, which in Greek text means you think God's thoughts instead of your old thoughts, then watch as a Holy Spirit-empowered transformation begins to take place in your daily life.

Song of Songs 6-8, 2 Corinthians 10

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Are you praying for your children?
05 SEPTEMBER 2023

‘Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?’
2 Kings 20:19 NKJV

The Bible says: ‘Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated…shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”’ (vv. 16-19 NKJV).

Hezekiah heard that the things he had inherited from his forefathers would be lost and his children would live in slavery to their enemies. But instead of being concerned and praying for God to intervene on their behalf, he said, ‘At least I will have security and comfort during my lifetime.’ Why did he say that? Was he callous and indifferent? Was he being selfish, thinking only of himself and not about the welfare of his children? Was he being fatalistic, thinking, ‘The prophet has declared it, and there is nothing I can do to change it?’

Earlier in this chapter when the prophet Isaiah told him, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live,’ he cried out to God to spare his life and was given an additional fifteen years of life (see vv. 1-6 NKJV). It seems he was more concerned about his own future than his children’s future. How about you? Are you praying for your children?

Isaiah 1-2, 2 Corinthians 11

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Hearing the ‘still small voice’
06 SEPTEMBER 2023

‘A still small voice…Elijah heard it.’
1 Kings 19:12-13 NKJV

When Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life, he fled to a cave. And that’s when God said to him: ‘“Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice…Elijah heard it’ (vv. 11-13 NKJV).

God can speak to you anywhere, anytime, through anybody, in any situation. But He will often share His greatest insights when you’re alone with Him. In order to hear God’s ‘still small voice’, two things must happen:

1) You must have silence and solitude. This calls for shutting out everything else and focusing on God. Not everyone will understand or appreciate what you’re doing, but you must if you’re to hear from Him.

2) You must get close to Him. The average person now gets fifty to one hundred texts and emails every day. Think about that. As long as you’re willing to take the time to stop and listen to others but not to God, your problems will not be solved, and your situation won’t change. The songwriter, Everett W. Sugg, put it this way: ‘Shut in with God in a secret place, There in the Spirit beholding His face, Gaining more power to run in this race, Oh, I long to be shut in with God.’

Isaiah 3-4, 2 Corinthians 12