 ”When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.” Deuteronomy 7:1-2 (ESV) Application: Toxic relationships seem more powerful than us. They are. Toxic relationships seem to be surrounding us. They are. But God does something amazing. He will cause us to overpower toxic relationships. We may not be the ones who eradicate them completely from the face of the earth, but will will have the power to move them completely out of our sphere of life. And then God warns us to not make a deal with them, allowing them to come back. Total annihilation. Total victory. Total freedom. Prayer: Thank You for the victory over toxic people and their influences on me. Now, help me keep them out of my life forever, Lord Jesus. Amen.  Scripture: There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 1 Corinthians 12:6 NIV Application: We Christians can teach the world how we value everyone's contributions toward making life better for others. For example, we shouldn't give preferential treatment to politicians, gardeners, lawyers, sewer diggers, or day care providers. Everyone has worth, and everyone's work is done to make the whole body of Christ better. Prayer: Provide us with hearts that respect people of every field of service, Lord, and please make Christians the world standard of giving out love and courtesy. Amen.  “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV “Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me!…” Numbers 22:29 NIV “…He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Isaiah 53:2 NIV “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 NIV Application: Never think that education, appearance, gender, age, or in some cases, even species, disqualifies any person or thing from conveying wisdom and God’s will. Prayer: Open our ears and eyes to Your truth, Lord God, so that we may do what’s right. Amen. |