Where Our Comfort Comes From

 Where Our Comfort Comes From

He [Pilate] entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:9–11) 

Pilate’s authority to crucify Jesus did not intimidate Jesus. Why not?

Not because Pilate was lying. Not because he didn’t have authority to crucify Jesus. He did. 

Rather, this authority did not intimidate Jesus because it was derivative. Jesus said, “It was given to you from above.” Which means it is really authoritative. Not less. But more.

So, how is this not intimidating? Pilate not only has authority to kill Jesus. But he has God-given authority to kill him.

This does not intimidate Jesus because Pilate’s authority over Jesus is subordinate to God’s authority over Pilate. Jesus gets his comfort at this moment not because Pilate’s will is powerless, but because Pilate’s will is guided. Not because Jesus isn’t in the hands of Pilate’s fear, but because Pilate is in the hands of Jesus’s Father.

Which means that our comfort comes not from the powerlessness of our enemies, but from our Father’s sovereign rule over their power. 

This is the point of Romans 8:35–37. Tribulation and distress and persecution and famine and nakedness and danger and sword cannot separate us from Christ because “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” 

Pilate (and all Jesus’s adversaries — and ours) meant it for evil. But God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). All Jesus’s enemies gathered together with their God-given authority “to do whatever [God’s] hand and [God’s] plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28). They sinned. But through their sinning God saved.

Therefore, do not be intimidated by your adversaries who can only kill the body (Matthew 10:28). Not only because this is all they can do (Luke 12:4), but also because it is done under the watchful hand of your Father.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6–7)

Pilate has authority. Herod has authority. Soldiers have authority. Satan has authority. But none is independent. All their authority is derivative. All of it is subordinate to God’s will. Fear not. You are precious to your sovereign Father. Far more precious than the unforgotten birds.

GOD TESTS, NEVER TEMPTS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY MARCH 01, 2025.

SUBJECT: GOD TESTS, NEVER TEMPTS!

Memory verse: "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone." (James 1 vs 13.)

READ: First Corinthians 10 vs 12 - 13:

10:12: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

INTIMATION:

God is our leader, He doesn't lead us into temptations, but sometimes allows us to be tested by them. God tests people, but He does not tempt them by trying to seduce them into sin. People who live for God often wonder why they still have temptations. It is the work of the "evil one" to steer them from the faith. However, God allows Satan to tempt people in order to refine their faith and to help them grow in their dependence on Christ. We can resist the temptation to sin by turning to God for strength and choosing to obey His Word. As His children, we should pray to be delivered from the temptations of Satan ("the evil one") and his deceit. 

God's test is not to trip us and watch us fall, but to deepen our capacity to obey Him, and help us develop His character. Just as fire refines ore to extract precious metals, God refines us through difficult circumstances. When we are tested we can complain, or we can try to see how God is stretching us to develop our character. It takes intense heat to purify gold and silver. Similarly, it often takes the heat of trials for the Christian to be purified. Through trials, God shows us what is in us and clears out anything that gets in the way of complete trust in Him.

The apostle Peter says in First Peter 1 vs 7, "That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." As gold is heated, impurities float to the top and can be skimmed off. Steel is tempered or strengthened by heating it in fire. Likewise, our trials, struggles, and persecutions refine and strengthen our faith, making us useful to God. Therefore, when tough times come your way, realize that God wants to use them to refine your faith and purify your heart.

All Christians struggle with temptation. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don't even realize what is happening to us. God helps us to recognize temptation and gives us the strength to overcome it when we ask, and helps us choose God's way instead. God has promised that He won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear: "No temptation has overtaken you except such that is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (First Corinthians 10 vs 13.)

In our world filled with moral decadence, depravity, and sin-inducing pressures; wrong desires and temptations happen to everyone. Nobody should think he or she is alone in this situation, knowing that many others are in it, and many also have resisted temptation through God's leading. God knows our weaknesses and strength, and any temptation can be resisted because God will help you resist it. God helps resist temptation by helping you recognize those people and situations that give you trouble, and those things that tempt you. The immediate solution is to run from anything you know is wrong, and choose to do only what is right. This you can achieve when you pray to God for help. Also acquaint yourself with friends who love God and can offer help when you are tempted.

Running from a tempting situation is your first step on the way to victory. Second Timothy 2 vs 22 advises thus: "Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." Running away is sometimes considered cowardly. But wise people realize that removing themselves physically from temptation often can be the most courageous action to take. It is advisable to remove yourself physically from any situation that stimulates your desire to sin. In so doing, you can handle any recurring temptation that is difficult for you to resist.

Some people think that Christianity is a passive religion that advocates waiting for God to act. But the use of active and forceful verbs: flee, pursue, run, shows we must have an active faith, obeying God with courage and doing what we know is right. Jesus prayed the Father in John 17 vs 15; "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one." This request made by Jesus our Messiah, to God, our Father in heaven, shows that only Him can keep us from Satan, the evil one. He does that through His leading us by His Word, the revelations He gives in fellowship with Him, and the help of the Holy Spirit (our Helper). God doesn't come down to physically hold you by the hand to lead you. Therefore, acquaint yourself with Him through His Word, and ceaselessly fellowship with Him in prayer.

Prayer: Abba Father, by You all things consist. By strength shall no man prevail. Endue me with Your divine strength to resist the evil one and his deceitful temptations, in all things and at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Finally and Totally Justified

 Finally and Totally Justified

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (Romans 8:33)

Paul could have said here, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” and then answered, “No one! We are justified.” That’s true. But that is not what he said. His answer instead is, “God is the one who justifies.” 

The emphasis is not on the act but on the Actor.

Why? Because in the world of courts and laws where this language comes from, the acquittal of a judge might be overturned by a higher one. 

So what, if a local judge acquits you, when you are guilty, if a governor has the right to bring a charge against you? So what, if a governor acquits you, when you are guilty, if the emperor can bring a charge against you? 

Here’s the point: Above God, there are no higher courts. If God is the one who acquits you — declares you righteous in his sight — no one can appeal; no one can claim a technicality; no one can call for a mistrial; no one can look for other counts against you. God’s sentence is final and total.

Hear this, all you who believe on Jesus, and become united to Christ, and show yourself among the elect: God is the one who justifies you. Not a human judge. Not a great prophet. Not an archangel from heaven. But God, the Creator of the world and Owner of all things and Ruler of the universe and every molecule and person in it, God is the one who justifies you.

The point: unshakable security in the face of tremendous suffering. If God is for us, no one can successfully be against us. If God gave his Son for us, he will give us everything that is good for us. If God is the one who justifies us, no charge against us can stand.

FORSAKE YOUR PRIDE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2025.

SUBJECT : FORSAKE YOUR PRIDE!

Memory verse: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16 vs 18.)

READ: Isaiah 2 vs 11 - 17:

2:11: The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

2:12: For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up; and it shall be brought low;

2:13: Upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan;

2:14: Upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up;

2:15: Upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall;

2:16: Upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops.

2:17: The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

INTIMATION:

Pride is inordinate self-esteem or conceit. It is the inner voice that whispers, “My way is best.” It is resisting God’s leadership and believing that you are able to live without His help. Whenever you find yourself wanting to do it your way and looking down on other people, you are being pulled by pride. Pride indicates that a person is self-centered, and thus he will fall over himself as he deals with people. Only when you eliminate pride can God help you become all He meant you to be. God cuts off the pride from His grace. 

The Scripture says, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord, though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16 vs 5.) God Himself is an epitome of humility. The Creator of all things, seen and unseen, does not pride Himself in His creation. Even when He came into the world to save sinful humanity, He came as a humble servant in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, and He did not come to the proud of this world. He came to the lowly and common people (Luke 1 vs 51). 

God will turn away from the proud because the proud will not submit to His will. Therefore, the arrogant people present themselves for rejection, while the humble are exalted. Though God is exalted above the heavens, at the same time the omnipresent God dwells in the hearts of the humble and contrite. (Isaiah 57 vs 15). 

The proud attitude heads the list of seven things God hates. And the harmful results of pride are constantly contrasted with humility and it’s benefits. Pride leads to disgrace (Proverbs 11 vs 2), produces quarrels (Proverbs 13 vs 10), leads to punishment (Proverbs 16 vs 5), leads to destruction (Proverbs 16 vs 18; 18 vs 12), ends in downfall (Proverbs 18 vs 12), brings one low (Proverbs 29 vs 23). Pride is harmful when it causes us to (1) look down on others, (2) be selfish with our resources; (3) force our solutions on others’ problems; (4) think God is blessing us because of our own merits; and (5) be content with our plans rather seeking God’s plan. 

Pride cripples us in our quest for a proper relationship with God. Realizing that only God must be exalted is the first step toward developing that relationship with Him. Nothing can compare with, or rival the place God must have in our hearts and minds. To place our hope elsewhere is nothing but false pride. Place your confidence in God alone.

Those who are arrogant will not submit their lives to the Will of God. They resist submission, and thus, God resists giving His grace to them in order that they might be saved.

The Scripture says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5 vs 3.) Happy are those who are not proud, conceited or arrogant, especially concerning their spiritual relationship with God. One must empty himself of self-reliance and learn to humble himself before God. Those with such an attitude of mind will submit to the kingdom reign of God, therefore, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

The Scripture in Second Chronicles 32 vs 25 says, “But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown to him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.” We are not told the specifics of Hezekiah’s pride. Much has been done for him by God, but it seems he failed to give thanks to God for all His blessings. Instead Hezekiah became somewhat self-confident, and thus God sought to humble him. Therefore, humble yourself before God that He may exalt you. Be proud and consequently be humiliated and destroyed. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my whole pride is in You, who made the heavens and the earth and all therein. In You I live, and move and have my being. Outside of You I am completely nothing. Endue me with the spirit of humility, that I may humble myself before You at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GOD DEMANDS A LIFE OF PRAYER FROM US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2025.

SUBJECT: GOD DEMANDS A LIFE OF PRAYER FROM US! 

Memory verse: "Pray without ceasing,” (First Thessalonians 5 vs 18).

READ: Luke 18 vs 1 - 8:

18:1: Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

18:2: saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

18:3: Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’

18:4: And he would not for a while; but afterword he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,

18:5: yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”

18:6: Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

18:7: And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 

18:8: I tell you that He will avenge them speedily, Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

INTIMATION:

Prayer is to make supplication or petition to God. Prayer is a call to the Father to visit with Him. It is the call of love to the Father to come and fellowship with Him. Prayer is our need crying out for help. It is the voice of faith to the Father. Prayer therefore, is born out of the sense of need, and the assurance that the need will be met. It is facing God with man's needs, with His promise to meet those needs. He taught us to pray, He is one with us in this prayer life, and hence it is part of His program for us.

Most Christians have realized the fact that the Father's heart is hungry for the companionship of His children. His heart hunger is the reason for man and his redemption. God wants a constant fellowship with His children. It was His plan from the beginning hence He visited Adam everyday in the Garden. He loves us and that love impels Him to call us to prayer.

It is God's Will that His children will come to His Throne Room, to stand in His presence  without reproof or condemnation. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ, while teaching His disciples how to pray, said, "When you pray" (Matthew 6 vs 5), and not "if you pray." It is God's intention that His sons will visit their Father, the children coming joyously into the presence of their Loving Parent, and are welcome.

In the passage we read today, Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray and not faint."

To persist in prayer and not give up or “praying without ceasing,” does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Always praying means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays have good reasons. As we persist in prayer we grow in character, faith, and hope. 

In prayer we are brought near enough to breathe in the Father’s very presence, coming boldly into the Throne room and are standing in His presence. It is going into the presence of the Father and Jesus who seats at the right hand of the Father, engaging the ‘Father and the Son’ in an executive meeting, laying our needs before them and making our requisitions for ability, for grace, to meet our needs. Whatever the needs may be, we are making a demand upon Them.

When we pray always, we are in constant communication with the Father and it enriches us spiritually. We touch the Father through our prayers, and there cannot be any touching of the Master without the Master knowing it. When our need touches Him, it makes a demand upon his ability to meet that need. For instance, one day when the crowd was pressing around the Master, Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" And they said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You,  and You say, "Who touched Me?" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." (Luke 8 vs 45 - 47.) 

Touching the Master is making a demand on Him. The woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, touched Him, making a demand upon His ability to meet her need, and the Master knew it, and she got her need met; she was healed of the disease (See Luke 8 vs 40 - 48). 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Loving and Caring Father, always available to hear my prayer, and attend to my needs. I will ever put my complete trust in You, for I know that with You nothing is impossible, and there is nothing too hard for You.Give me the grace to ceaselessly commune with You in prayer, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD.

Radical Effects of the Resurrection

 Radical Effects of the Resurrection

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19)

Paul concludes from his hourly danger, and his daily dying, and his fighting with wild beasts, that the life he has chosen in following Jesus is foolish and pitiable if he will not be raised from the dead. 

If death were the end of the matter, he says, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). This doesn’t mean: Let’s all become gluttons and drunkards if there is no resurrection. Drunkards are pitiable too — with or without the resurrection. He means: If there is no resurrection, what makes sense is middle-class moderation to maximize earthly pleasures.

But that is not what Paul chooses. He chooses suffering, because he chooses obedience. Ananias came to Paul after his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road, with the words from the Lord Jesus, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16). Paul accepted this suffering as part of his calling. 

How could Paul do it? What was the source of this radical and painful obedience? The answer is given in 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In other words, Christ was raised, and I will be raised with him. Therefore, nothing suffered for Jesus is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

The hope of the resurrection radically changed the way Paul lived. It freed him from materialism and consumerism. It gave him the power to go without comforts and pleasures that many people feel they must have in this life. For example, though he had the right to marry (1 Corinthians 9:5), he renounced that pleasure because he was called to bear so much suffering. 

This is the way Jesus said the hope of the resurrection is supposed to change our behavior. For example, he told us to invite to our homes people who cannot pay us back in this life. How are we to be motivated to do this? “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).

This is a radical call for us to look hard at our present lives to see if they are shaped by the hope of the resurrection. Do we make decisions on the basis of gain in this world, or gain in the next? Do we take risks for love’s sake that can only be explained as wise if there is a resurrection?

May God help us to rededicate ourselves for a lifetime of letting the resurrection have its radical effects.

When God Becomes 100% for Us

 When God Becomes 100% for Us

. . . among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)

All of God’s wrath, all of the condemnation we deserve, was poured out on Jesus. All of God’s demands for perfect righteousness were fulfilled by Christ. The moment we see (by grace!) this Treasure, and receive him in this way, his death counts as our death and his condemnation as our condemnation and his righteousness as our righteousness, and God becomes 100% irrevocably for us forever in that instant.

The question this leaves unanswered is, “Doesn’t the Bible teach that in eternity God set his favor on us in election?”

In other words, thoughtful people ask, “Did God only become 100% for us in the moment of faith and union with Christ and justification? Did he not become 100% for us in the act of election before the foundation of the world?” Paul says in Ephesians 1:4–5, “[God] chose us in [Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.”

Is God then not 100% for the elect from eternity? The answer hangs on the meaning of “100%.” 

With the term “100%” I am trying to preserve a biblical truth found in several passages of Scripture. For example, in Ephesians 2:3, Paul says that Christians were “children of wrath” before they were made alive in Christ Jesus: “We all once lived [among the sons of disobedience] in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Paul is saying that, before our new birth — before we were made alive together with Christ — God’s wrath was on us. The elect were under wrath. This changed when God made us alive in Christ Jesus and awakened us to see the truth and beauty of Christ so that we received him as the one who died for us and as the one whose righteousness is counted as ours because of our union with Jesus. Before this happened to us, we were under God’s wrath. Then, because of faith in Christ and union with him, all God’s wrath was removed and he then became, in that sense, 100% for us.

Therefore, exult in the truth that God will keep you. He will get you to the end because in Christ he is 100% for you. And therefore, getting to the end does not make God to be 100% for you. It is the effect of the fact that he is already 100% for you.