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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Start living on purpose
07 NOVEMBER 2023

‘Those who help others are helped.’
Proverbs 11:25 MSG

One of the best ways to keep your life in balance and stay on track spiritually is to pass on what you know to others. The Bible says, ‘Those who help others are helped.’ As you pass along your insights, you will get more insights from God. Paul challenges Timothy, ‘Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others’ (2 Timothy 2:2 CEV). If you know people who haven’t discovered their God-given purpose in life yet, it’s your job to share with them what has been shared with you.

For example, don’t just read this devotional and keep it to yourself, share it with your friends. The more you know, the more God expects you to use that knowledge to help others. That’s how things are supposed to work in His kingdom. James writes, ‘Anyone who knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, is sinning’ (James 4:17 NCV). In other words, increased knowledge brings increased responsibility. Passing along the purpose of life to others is more than just an obligation; it’s one of our greatest privileges.

Imagine how different the world would be if everyone knew their calling. That’s why Paul writes, ‘If you teach these things to other followers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus’ (1 Timothy 4:6 CEV). Not only does God want us to live out His purposes, He wants us to help others do the same. That is what assignment-centred living is all about. Regardless of your age, the rest of your life can be the best of your life if you will do this one thing – start living on purpose!

Ezekiel 14-15, Hebrews 10

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

‘Will the real Jesus please stand up?’
08 NOVEMBER 2023

‘Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’
John 13:35 NRSV

Have you seen the poster depicting three men, each representing a different version of Jesus? The first looks like an uncouth mountain man, the second is tanned and athletic, the third is a slight, meek-mannered character. The caption underneath says, ‘Will the real Jesus please stand up?’

In John 13, the real Jesus stands up. He tells us what He is all about and what He wants us to be all about – and it’s love! In the upper room, Jesus recognised that His time was short. The cross was looming, Judas was about to betray Him, and He had to prepare His disciples to continue without Him. It’s like asking a pastor, ‘If you had one last sermon, what would it be?’ Or asking a teacher, ‘What great truth would you most like to convey to your students?’ Or asking parents, ‘If you could tell your kids only one thing, what would it be?’

Jesus spells it out: ‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you…By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (vv. 34-35 NRSV). Like a last will and testament, Jesus’ final message is important not only because of its content but because of its tone and timing. It sums up His life and our responsibility to God and to others – to love them! Now, since love isn’t what you say but what you do – today go out and find practical ways to express God’s love to those you meet. They will feel good, and you will too.

Ezekiel 16-17, Hebrews 11

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Your handbook for life!
09 NOVEMBER 2023

‘The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living.’
Psalm 19:8 NLT

The marquee outside a little country church read: ‘Jesus said…’ That’s it – nothing else! Obviously the custodian was interrupted before finishing the job, leaving the incomplete message for passing drivers to fill in the blank. Doubtless, some would drive by giving it little thought. The more biblically minded might search their memory for the right answer. Some might think the custodian missed an opportunity to proclaim words that can transform lives.

Jesus said, ‘Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word and so it is life-making’ (John 6:63 MSG). The words of people can inform us, but only the words of God can transform us. David understood the awesome benefits of God’s Word. In Psalm 19:7-11 NLT, he tells us it’s essential for these:

1) ‘Reviving the soul.’ God’s Word is inexhaustible, but we’re not! We wear down with time and effort, and need restoration and revitalising.

2) ‘Making wise the simple.’ God’s Word gives you insights for crucial, everyday decision-making. A high IQ isn’t required; the Bible is for regular and ordinary people. David said, ‘I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts’ (Psalm 119:99-100 NASB 1995 Edition).

3) ‘Bringing joy to the heart’ (Psalm 19:8 NLT). Happiness is dependent on having the right people and circumstances in your life. But ‘joy’ is different; it’s an inside job that comes from living by the principles of Scripture.

4) ‘Giving insight for living.’ When you have a problem in your personal life, home life, or working life, God’s Word offers you ‘insight for living’. It’s your handbook for life!

Ezekiel 18-19, Hebrews 12

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

God is good – all the time!
10 NOVEMBER 2023

‘See how good the LORD is. Happy is the person who trusts him.’
Psalm 34:8 NCV

What you believe about God is crucial to the quality of your life, especially in difficult times. So, starting today, tell yourself, ‘God is good – all the time,’ and keep saying it until it gets down into your spirit. What does it mean to be ‘good’? It means living up to the best and highest one knows. And since God always knows what’s best and highest, His goodness is beyond question. If God is good – genuinely, practically, consistently good – then your cup of well-being, security, peace, confidence, and joy should be overflowing!

A good God can’t break His promise, abandon His children, or fail to love and provide for them. In every trial and circumstance, you can be sure He will treat you in the best possible way. When things seem to be falling apart, when you stumble confused in the dark, it’s hard to see God’s goodness or feel that things will get better. That’s when you must draw on the faith God has deposited in you (see Romans 12:3), and by an act of your will, trust Him.

A troubled parishioner once asked his pastor, ‘Does the world look like a wreck to you too?’ He replied, ‘Yes, like the wreck of a bursting seed! Without the “wreck” stage when its world appears to be falling apart, the acorn could never give birth to an oak tree.’ So, embrace God’s will in your time of testing because it’s ‘good, and acceptable, and perfect’ (Romans 12:2 KJV). Ultimately, you will ‘see how good the Lord is’ and that ‘happy is the person who trusts him.’

Ezekiel 20-21, Hebrews 13

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Keep your hope alive (1)
11 NOVEMBER 2023

‘Grab…hope with both hands and never let go.’
Hebrews 6:18 MSG

Does your situation look impossible? Are you getting ready to give up? Don’t! Emilie Batisse was seventy-nine when she was injured in a hit-and-run accident and wasn’t expected to live. When Norman Vincent Peale went to visit her, he noticed a row of brand-new poetry books that hadn’t been opened. When he asked her about them, she said, ‘I love poetry, but I haven’t read those…I’m saving them for my old age.’ Mrs Batisse lived to read those books many times, and when she eventually died at ninety-one, she was planning a trip to Europe.

Hope is wishing for something to come true; faith is believing it will happen. Hope is wanting something so desperately that despite all evidence to the contrary, you keep believing God for it. And the remarkable thing is that the act of hoping produces a strength of its own.

When Cornell University conducted a study on the effects of hope, Dr Harold G. Wolff reported that people with hope can endure incredible burdens. One group comprised twenty-five thousand soldiers imprisoned during World War II. Subjected to forced labour, bad food, and filth, many died while others showed only slight damage. Interviews with survivors revealed a far-above-average ability to hope! How were they able to keep their hope alive? By drawing pictures of the girls they planned to marry, designing their future homes, and organising business management seminars. Hope not only kept them well, it kept them alive!

It’s easy to see why Paul describes hope as ‘an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past…appearances…to the very presence of God’ (v. 19).

Ezekiel 22-23, James 1

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Keep your hope alive (2)
12 NOVEMBER 2023

‘Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.’
Romans 5:5 NKJV

Jon Walker says: ‘I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life. I’ve dropped weight and put it back on. I’ve tried every diet and made up some of my own. I maintained a friendly battle with weight till I became extremely ill, and for a year I was unable to walk beyond the mailbox. Needless to say, I gained more weight than ever and found myself facing a huge challenge. I needed to lose more pounds than there are days in a month. With age nipping at my heels…it wasn’t as easy to drop the pounds as it used to be, and I found myself feeling hopeless – the kind of hopelessness that makes you think, “What’s the use? I might as well not even try.”

'No doubt you can relate, not necessarily to the weight issue, but to the hopelessness. Maybe you’re in a stressful marriage…or facing health issues that have you thinking “What’s the use?” Or in a frustrating job…or facing a difficult family situation…or wondering if you’ll ever get good enough grades to graduate…or dealing with the death of the most important person in your life…or struggling through so many failed attempts to have a child.

'Here’s the truth: we serve a God of hope, and it’s a hope that won’t “disappoint [us]”. It’s not based on feelings; it’s rooted in a relationship with the One who can be trusted above all others. We wait together for this unseen hope, knowing the God of hope will not abandon or “disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit”.’

Luke 21:20-38, Psalms 119:1-88

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Don’t burn out (1)
13 NOVEMBER 2023

‘Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?’
Proverbs 20:6 NIV

Pastor Rowland Croucher writes: ‘The children had gone to school, my wife was off to work, and I did something I’d never done before. I turned the phone down, put a note on the door, and went back to bed. I was burned out. Within two months I had resigned my ministry…Three out of four pastors report anger, depression, fear, and alienation. The reasons include…a disparity between idealistic expectations and hard reality…lack of boundaries…workaholism…feelings of incompetence…conflict between being a leader and being a servant at the same time…“playing it safe” to avoid upsetting powerful parishioners…and loneliness (pastors are less likely to have a close friend than almost anybody).’

Ministering in your own strength virtually guarantees you will end up as another statistic. Paul was able to go the distance and finish strong because he depended on God to give him the needed strength. One Bible teacher says avoiding burnout means a) having a definite call on your life and a strong relationship with Jesus, b) seeking His vision and being willing to do whatever He asks, c) never losing sight of the people behind the work, d) never taking your position for granted, e) respecting the guy above you, and submitting willingly to authority, f) knowing that you’re fulfilling God’s will and your reward is laid up in heaven, g) having a servant’s heart, h) putting loyalty above personal feelings, and i) never being too big to do small things, or too small to do big things. Practise these principles and you won’t burn out.

Ezekiel 24-26, James 2

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Don’t burn out (2)
14 NOVEMBER 2023

‘I give thanks to Him Who has granted me…strength and made me able [for]…the ministry.’
1 Timothy 1:12 AMPC

Another form of burnout is ‘compassion fatigue’, and people helpers are the most vulnerable. Symptoms include the belief that you’re no longer effective, treating yourself and others with detachment, withdrawing from your responsibilities, avoiding social and interpersonal contact, and feeling ‘beaten’.

If you’re a type-A personality to start with, you’re at even greater risk. One counsellor says driven people often ‘suffer from an “adrenaline addiction” and unconsciously look for ways to get little surges, similar to the high people get from alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, except they get their highs from controlling people and making complex decisions…Spiritual causes of stress include sexual temptation, anger, and despair, jealousy of other people’s success, and anxiety about finances. Pastors are often placed on pedestals…and these expectations can’t be met. So in an effort to please, they become too goal-oriented for their people…or too accommodating of their spiritual slackness…they become perfectionists…overdeveloping one side of their ministry or identifying so closely with their calling that it falls apart.

'Your body gives you warning signals; insomnia, digestive problems, headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, teeth grinding, and high blood pressure. Sadly, it seldom slows the victim down – until an ulcer, stroke, or heart attack occur. As a pastor, you need to spend as much time with the strong as the weak; they give you strength and support…they can be trained for ministry…and having more hands on deck enhances the spiritual and emotional health of your church.’

Ezekiel 27-29, James 3

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

]Don’t burn out (3)
15 NOVEMBER 2023

‘In returning and rest you shall be saved
Isaiah 30:15 NKJV

Burnout is characterised by disengagement, and stress by over-engagement. In burnout, your emotions become blunted; stress makes them over-reactive. Burnout causes emotional damage; stress primarily causes physical damage. Burnout affects motivation and drive; stress affects your physical energy. Depression from burnout comes from loss of hope and ideals; stress-related depression comes from your body’s need to conserve energy and protect itself. Burnout triggers helplessness and hopelessness; stress triggers urgency and hyperactivity. Burnout produces detachment; stress produces panic, phobias, and anxiety. Burnout may not kill you, but it makes life feel like it’s not worth living. So, what’s the answer? God said, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved.’

Author Bev Murrill writes: ‘Those of us in ministry run on our own very “important” treadmills. And as the leader goes, so go the followers. That’s an awesome responsibility. Those of us whose role is to influence others need to be aware of what we say and do because we’ll “be judged more strictly” (see James 3:1). We’re all sick of influential Christians falling into behaviour that disempowers those who trusted their leaders…Whether it be sexual sin, anger, self-righteousness, or dishonesty…we need to examine ourselves instead of pointing and accusing. Spend time with the One who has the capacity to strip us down to the bare bones of our heart’s cry. It’s easy to start believing your own publicity and taking the measurement of who you are from other people’s opinions…Only God’s opinion counts, and that’s hard to discern unless you take time to stop and let him tell you.’

Ezekiel 30-32, James 4

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Pick the right people
16 NOVEMBER 2023

‘These were…the mighty men whom David had.’
1 Chronicles 11:10 NKJV

Success in any endeavour calls for surrounding yourself with the right people. That’s why you should always seek God’s input in your relationships. Rehoboam should have listened to the advice of his father Solomon’s wise and experienced inner circle. Instead he heeded the advice of those who agreed with his own opinion – and it proved fatal.

David, on the other hand, chose people who helped make him great. ‘These were…the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel’ (v. 10 NKJV). Notice four important things here:

1) David built a strong inner circle before he needed it. He started building his team long before he was crowned.

2) He attracted people with varied gifts. He reached for them, rewarded them, and wasn’t intimidated by those who had skills that differed from his. With the help of these ‘mighty men’, David felt ready for anything.

3) He cultivated loyalty. He drew people close to him, shared his life with them and, in the end, they were willing to lay their lives on the line for him.

4) He delegated responsibility based on ability. Because he was secure in his own identity and calling, David wasn’t afraid to delegate authority and responsibility to those around him. In the beginning some of his mighty men were misfits, but he transformed this ragtag group into a winning team (see 1 Samuel 22:1-2). David made his inner circle great, and in turn his inner circle made him great.

So, the word for today is – pick the right people!

Ezekiel 33-34, James 5