[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Refuse to wear the label
27 April 2025

‘His mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”’
1 Chronicles 4:9 NKJV

The name Jabez means ‘pain and trouble’. Perhaps that’s why no other parent in Scripture gave their child that name. But it’s a label he refused to wear and a name he refused to be defined by. A label usually tells you what is in a bottle; its contents and even its value. And when you accept the labels people try to put on you, you start to believe that’s who you really are and that you will never become anything more than that. The Bible says, ‘As he thinketh in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7 KJV).

People will use past experiences to label and limit you. They will also use your physical, mental, and emotional characteristics to label and limit you. What should you do? Do what Jabez did – go to God! In the final analysis, His opinion about your past, present, and future is the one that matters most. Plus, He loves you and has a plan for your life.

Jabez prayed a prayer that changed his life, and it will change your life too. ‘“Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested’ (1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV).

Jabez asked God for four things: blessing, influence, power, and protection. And God gave them to him. So, today you have a choice: believe what others say about you, or believe what God says about you. When you look at it that way, the choice is clear.

Luke 8:1-25, Psalms 43-45

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Shake it off, and move forward
29 April 2025

‘Shake off the dust under your feet.’
Mark 6:11 NKJV

Let’s be honest, each of us wants others to love, respect, and accept us. But when people are unready or unwilling to change or haven’t experienced the joy and fulfilment in Christ that you have, you will often experience rejection. Indeed, when you follow Jesus, rejection is guaranteed.

What should you do? Here is what Jesus told His disciples to do: ‘In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them…So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them’ (vv. 10-13 NKJV).

When their circumstances change tomorrow, some of those who reject you today will be open and ready to receive what you have to share. People fear what they don’t understand, and some even fight against it. So when you bump into people who ‘will not receive you nor hear you’, love them, pray for them, shake it off, and move forwards. Don’t allow those who are not ready to receive what you have to share keep you from taking it to those who are ready.

One of Paul’s first converts in Macedonia was Lydia. Note what the Bible says: ‘The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul…she and her household were baptised’ (Acts 16:14-15 NKJV). Try to remember this: you are the messenger, and the Lord is the ‘heart opener’. Do your part, and He will do His.

1 Samuel 17-18, John 12:1-26