Morning Thought: Your tongue is an instrument that can bring unity. God desires his people to “serve him shoulder to shoulder.” But the Lord says it’s only possible when he purifies our lips. Today, use your mouth to build up rather than tear down. Ask your Father to cleanse your lips for his glory. “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder” (Zephaniah 3:9 NIV).
Morning Thought: The Lord’s joy is not dependant on favourable circumstances. It’s a joy based on who God is – what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do. This is what the prophet Habakkuk discovered when he poured out his complaints to God. Though you may not realise it, your Father is working something so amazing that it will leave the nations dumbstruck. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV).
Morning Thought: One of the characteristics of a righteous person is that they get back up again. The devil mocks you when you’re down, but the Father extends his hand to lift you up. Like a child, you are learning to walk. And it takes practice to walk faithfully with your God. “Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again” (Pro. 24:16). “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light” (Micah 7:8).
Morning Thought: It’s easy to seek out teachers to say what you want rather than what God wants. But if you desire to know God as he really is, seek to hear his will, rather than your own. Father, today, speak into my life. “If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ that would be just the prophet for this people!” (Micah 2:11 NIV). The real believer is different: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths” (Micah 4:2a NIV).
Morning Thought: To walk with God means a daily choice to walk away from sin. Today, hear Jesus’ voice to pick up your mat of laziness and walk in his heavenly purpose. The one who calls you will enable you. “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk’…Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you’” (John 5:8, 14 NIV).
