‘Fearing people is a dangerous trap.’ Proverbs 29:25 NLT
If your life’s goal is to have the approval of people, you will never really feel secure. Why is that? Because the time will come when you do something they disapprove of; then what? The Bible says, ‘Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.’ (Proverbs 29:25 NLT) A trap is just another word for a prison. If someone other than God can determine your worth as a person, that someone can make you feel like a prisoner anytime they decide to. When a critic’s opinion becomes your own opinion, you’re living in a prison of your own making. Face it: some of the people you’re trying so hard to impress will never be impressed. And you must accept this: from God’s perspective, it doesn’t matter. Knowing that means you can work alongside people without allowing yourself to be controlled by their moods and governed by their opinions.
Each time Paul went to another town, people were meeting and hearing him for the first time. Some of them liked him, and some didn’t. He writes, ‘For some say, “Paul’s letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are worthless!”’ (2 Corinthians 10:10 NLT)
So how did Paul handle this? He writes, ‘Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.’ (Galatians 1:10 NLT) In order to feel secure in life and fulfilled in what you’re doing, you must reach the place where you can look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m loved and approved by God, and that’s what matters!’
SoulFood:
John 2:1–11 ()
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2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Job 36:22–37:13 ()
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22 Behold, God is exalted in his power;
who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has prescribed for him his way,
or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?
24 “Remember to extol his work,
of which men have sung.
25 All mankind has looked on it;
man beholds it from afar.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
the number of his years is unsearchable.
27 For he draws up the drops of water;
they distill his mist in rain,
28 which the skies pour down
and drop on mankind abundantly.
29 Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?
30 Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by these he judges peoples;
he gives food in abundance.
32 He covers his hands with the lightning
and commands it to strike the mark.
33 Its crashing declares his presence;
the cattle also declare that he rises.
37:1 “At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars;
he thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
7 He seals up the hand of every man,
that all men whom he made may know it.
8 Then the beasts go into their lairs,
and remain in their dens.
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They turn around and around by his guidance,
to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world.
13 Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen.
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©