Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 05, 2026.

SUBJECT: WHOM HE LOVES HE DISCIPLINES!

Memory verse: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3 vs 19.) 

READ: Hebrews 12 vs 5 - 11:

12:5: And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him:

12:6: For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.

12:7: If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom the father does not chasten?

12:8: But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

12:9: Furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

12:10: For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

INTIMATION:

Discipline means “to teach and to train.” Correction is a vital part of discipline, and discipline sounds negative to many people because some disciplinarians are not loving. God, however, is the source of all love. He doesn’t punish us because He enjoys inflicting pain but because He is deeply concerned about our development. He knows that in order for us to become morally strong and good, we must learn the difference between right and wrong. His loving discipline enables us to do this. 

God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish but to bring people back to Him. Are you lukewarm in your devotion to God? God may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude, but He uses only loving discipline. You can avoid God’s discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying His Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can re-ignite our zeal for God when we allow Him work in our hearts.

When we face hardship and discouragement, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. But we’re not alone; there is help. Many have already made it through life, enduring far more difficult circumstances than we have experienced. Suffering is the training ground for Christian maturity. It develops our patience and makes our final victory sweet.

At times, God must discipline us to help us. This is similar to a loving parent disciplining his child. The discipline is not very enjoyable to the child, but it is essential to teach him or her right from wrong. The Bible says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12 vs 11.) When you feel God’s hand of correction, accept it as proof of His love. Realize that God is urging you to follow His paths instead of stubbornly going your way. 

Now, who loves his child more; the father who allows the child to do what will harm him, or the one who corrects, trains, and even punishes the child to help him learn what is right? It’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but His discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of His love, and ask Him what He is trying to teach you.

It’s difficult to know when God has been disciplining us until we look back on the situation later. It is obvious that not every calamity that happens to us comes directly from God. But if we rebel against God and refuse to repent when He has identified some sin in our lives, God may use guilt, curses, or bad experiences to bring us back to Him. Sometimes, however, difficult times come when we have no flagrant sin. Our response then should be patience, integrity, and trust that God will show us what to do.

We may respond to discipline in several ways: (1) We can accept it with resignation; (2) we can accept it with self-pity, thinking we really don’t deserve it; (3) we can be angry and resentful toward God; or (4) we can accept it gratefully, as the appropriate response we owe a Loving Father.

Believers should persevere in their Christian faith and conduct when facing persecution and pressure. We don’t usually think of suffering as good for us, but it can build our character and our patience. During times of great stress, we may feel God’s presence more clearly and find help from Christians we never thought would care. Knowing that Jesus is with us in our suffering and that He will return one day to put an end to all pain helps us grow in our faith and our relationship with Him. (See Romans 5 vs 3 - 5)

Prayer: Abba Father, Your love for me is unparalleled. And You chasten those You love for correctness in character and maturity. O Lord, let me fall into Your hand, for Your mercies are great, and all things work together for good to them that love You. I know Your thoughts for me is of good, and I am persuaded You bring the best out of me in Your chastening, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Books at the Judgment

 The Books at the Judgment

All who dwell on earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. (Revelation 13:8)

Salvation is secured for all who are written in the book of life.

The reason that being written in the book of life secures our salvation is that the book is called “the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” The names in this book are not saved on the basis of their deeds. They are saved on the basis of Christ’s being slain. 

But John says in Revelation 20:12, “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” So, how then does the record of our lives contained in “the books” have a part in our judgment, if we are saved on the basis of Christ being slain? 

The answer is that the books, which record our deeds, contain enough evidence of our belonging to Christ that they function as a public confirmation of our faith and our union with Christ. 

Consider Revelation 21:27: “Nothing unclean will ever enter [the New Jerusalem], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Here the result of being written in the “book of life” is not only not perishing, but also not practicing detestable, sinful behaviors.

For example, consider the thief on the cross. Jesus said that he would enter paradise (Luke 23:43). But what will judgment be like for him when the books are opened? More than 99.9% of his life will be sin. 

His salvation will be secured by the blood of Christ. His name will be in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.

Then God will open the books. First, he will use the lifelong record of sin to glorify his Son’s supreme sacrifice. And, second, God will read that last page, where the thief’s dramatic transformation on the cross is recorded. This work of God in his life, recorded in the books, about that last day will be the public confirmation of the thief’s faith and union with Christ. And Christ will be the basis of his salvation, not his works.

Therefore, when I say that what is written in the books is a public confirmation of our faith and of union with Christ, I do not mean that the record will contain more good works than bad works. 

I mean that there will be recorded there the kind of life in Christ that shows the reality of faith — the reality of regeneration and union with Christ. That is how we enter each day as a Christian: confident that our condemnation is past (Romans 8:1), and that our name is in the book of life, and that the one who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Christ.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY APRIL 04, 2026.

SUBJECT: MAKE WISE CHOICES IN YOUR LIFE’S PURSUIT!

Memory verse: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the world that are in it will be burned up." (Second Peter 3 vs 10.)

READ: Luke 12 vs 16 - 21:

12:16: Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

12:17: And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 

12:18: So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

12:19: And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”

12:20: But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you, then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

12:21: “So is he who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

INTIMATION:

Every choice we make has eternal consequences, so we had better choose wisely. In our memory verse, the apostle Peter warns us about the futility of earthly possessions. Then he continued in the next verse (v 20), asking the pertinent question to us all, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?"

Realizing that the earth will be burned up, we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal, and not be bound to earth and its treasures or pursuits. What are you obligated to? Do you spend more of your time piling up possessions, or striving to develop Christlike character? Now that we have been warned about the impending end, the choice is yours to make. Be morally clean and spiritually alert because you don’t know the hour of His coming!

Earthly possessions are not bad or evil in themselves, but the manner of your pursuit of them is where the problem lies. The Bible, in Ecclesiastes 7 vs 12 says, "For wisdom is a defense, as money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it." How wisely then do you pursue these earthly things? Do you pursue them with the excellent knowledge which comes from wisdom; knowing that at the end they are all vanity? 

Even life is a vapor, stripped of the life-giving spirit breathed into us by God, our bodies return to dust. Stripped of God’s purpose, our work is in vain. Stripped of God’s love, our service is futile. Therefore, we must put God first over all we do and in all we do because without Him we have nothing, can do nothing, and are nothing. Knowing that life is futile without God motivates the wise person to seek Him first.

Wealth, possessions, and money are all good, and are the blessings of God to mankind, but we are deceived by the notion that they provide answers to every problem, hence we throw them at our problems. Though these material things are good in themselves because God has given them to mankind for our enjoyment (First Timothy 6 vs 17), but being obligated to them is sinful. The apostle Paul, in First Timothy 6 vs 10, says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through many sorrows."

These earthly possessions, are dangerous because they deceive us into thinking that they make life easy, and help us get everything we want. Consequently, we put our trust in them rather than God, who controls all circumstances. Those who pursue the empty promises of earthly possessions, rather than seeking God, will one day discover that they have nothing because they are spiritually bankrupt.

Your life is shaped mostly by what you are obligated to. They can develop you or mar you, but either way, they will define you. If you tell me what you are obligated to, I'll tell you what you will be in the years to come. We become whatever we are obligated to.

Usually many people miss God's purpose for their lives at the point of committing themselves, or being obligated to their choice in life. Many are also afraid of getting committed or obligated to anything, and prefer to just drift through life. Many others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, which leads to frustration and mediocrity. And many more make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as becoming wealthy or famous, and end up disappointed and bitter. Your total obligation should be to God who owns and controls all circumstances.

Guard against wrongful pursuit of these material things so as not to be a servant to them. They are created by God to serve you, and not you serve them, while you are created to serve God. When you loose your mark, you will serve them instead of God which is an error, and sinful. Jesus said in Matthew 6 vs 24, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Can you honestly say that God, not money, possessions, and wealth, is your master? One test is to ask which one occupies more of your thoughts, time, and efforts.

Prayer: Abba Father, all things are Yours, and by You all things consist. Endue me with the excellent spirit to put You first in all things, and give me the enablement to remain absolutely steadfast in my pursuit of You and the interest of Your kingdom, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!

God Strengthens Us Through Others

 God Strengthens Us Through Others

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31–32)

What about the other ten apostles (not counting Judas)?

Satan was going to sift them too. Did Jesus pray for them? 

Yes he did. But he did not ask the Father to guard their faith in the very same way he guarded Peter’s. 

God broke the back of Peter’s pride and self-reliance that night in the agony of Satan’s sieve. But he did not let him go. He turned him around and forgave him and restored him and strengthened his faith. And now it was Peter’s mission to strengthen the other ten. “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 

Jesus provided for the ten by providing for Peter. The strengthened becomes the strengthener.

There is a great lesson here for us. Sometimes God will deal with you directly, strengthening your faith alone in the wee hours of the morning when everyone else is asleep. But most of the time (we might say ten-elevenths of the time) God strengthens our faith through another person. 

God sends us some Simon Peter who brings just the word of grace we need to keep on in the faith: some testimony about how “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). 

Eternal security is a community project. Whenever God encourages your heart with the promise that in Satan’s sifting your faith will not fail, then take that encouragement and double your joy by using it to strengthen your brothers and sisters — with the very strength with which you have been strengthened.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY APRIL 03, 2026.

SUBJECT: NEVER BE SELF-CENTERED!

Memory verse: "But He turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me: for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."(Matthew 16 vs 23.)

READ: Matthew 16 vs 21 - 27:

16:21: From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

16:22: Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!

16:23: But He turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me: for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

16:24: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

16:25: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

16:26: For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

16:27: For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He will reward each according to his works.

INTIMATION:

Being “self-centered” is thinking mainly of oneself, caring only about oneself and own needs, being egocentric. A self-centered person leaves God out of the center of his or her life as Satan desires. But being “God-centered” is making God the center of your life. All you desire is to do God’s Will; always evaluating things from God’s perspective than from human or self perspective. 

Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. We are all made by God and for Him and His use, not vice versa. Life is all about letting God use His creation for the purpose He created it; it Is all about letting God use you for His purposes, not your using Him for your own purpose.

The obsession of self-centeredness is a dead end. The Bible in Romans 8 vs 6 states, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Those who are self-centered live for themselves, and not for God, and consequently lose the spiritual dimension to their lives. Keep your commitment to Christ at full strength. Then you’ll be ready when He returns.

We must be committed to living for Christ that we should “hate” our lives by comparison. This does not mean that we long to die or that we are careless or destructive with the life God has given, but that we are willing to die if doing so will glorify Christ. We must disown the tyrannical rule of our own self-centeredness. By laying aside our striving for advantage, security, and pleasure, we can serve God lovingly and freely. Releasing control of our lives and transferring control to Christ brings eternal life and genuine joy.

In the passage we read today, Jesus said to Peter, ‘It is satanic to think of self rather than God’; ““Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me: for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” He further said to His disciples, ‘Anyone who intends to come with Me has to let Me lead. They should follow Him and He will show them their life's purpose. 

Jesus advised His disciples that self-help is no help at all, but self-sacrifice is the way, God's way to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for? Achieving your life's purpose ordained by your Creator is more valuable than gaining the whole world—your selfish desires.

God has not left us in the dark to wonder and guess. He has clearly revealed His purposes for our lives in the Bible. It tells us why we are alive, how life works, how the owner of life governs it, what to do, what to avoid, and what to expect now, and in the future. And it is only in Him, and His Manual you can find these answers. If that is the case, it makes no sense to center your life on yourself, but rather on the Owner of that life, and the determinant of how best to lead that life of yours.

God is not just the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God's Word, not the world's wisdom—never lean on your own understanding. You must build your life on eternal truths, not self-driven ambitions. God, in His infinite wisdom, purposefully created you, and you are to serve His purpose.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of raw obedience to You, that You will take the first place in my life in all things. Give me the grace and enablement to center all that concerns me on You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!

How to Respond When You Falter

 How to Respond When You Falter

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (Romans 7:19)

Christians do not live only in defeat. But neither do we live only in perfect victory over sin. And in those times when we fail to triumph over sin, Romans 7:13–25 shows us the normal way a healthy Christian should respond. 

We should say:

I love the law of God. (verse 22)

I hate what I just did. (verse 15)

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? (verse 24)

Thanks be to God! The victory will come through Jesus Christ my Lord. (verse 25)

In other words, no Christian wants to live in defeat. No Christian settles for living in defeat. But if we are defeated for a time, we shouldn’t lie about it. 

No hypocrisy. No posing. No boasted perfectionism. No churchy, pasted smiles or chipper superficiality. 

And even more, God save us from blindness to our own failures and the consequent quickness to judge others. 

God, help us to feel worse about our own shortfalls than the failure of others. 

God, give us the honesty and candor and humility of the apostle Paul in this text! “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24–25).

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY APRIL 02, 2026.

SUBJECT : PRESS TOWARD THE MARK!

Memory verse: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3 vs 14).

READ: Philippians 3 vs 12 - 14:

3:12: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold on me.

3:13: Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

3:14: I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

INTIMATION:

God's ultimate goal is to make us like Jesus Christ. The Scripture in First John 3 vs 2, says, "Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." As we become more like Him, we discover our true selves, the persons we were created to be. 

The Scriptures, in Romans 8 vs 28 - 30, say, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknow, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." The high calling of God is be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ His Son, where He will be the first born among many of the believers His brethren. This is the plan of God from the beginning, hence He chose the belivers in His Son and called them in Him to be justified and glorified in the end. 

God has set before the believers the mark of a final rest for which all men were created. The goal is the new heavens and earth wherein dwells righteousness (Second Timothy 4 vs 7; Second Peter 3 vs 13). The power of this hope in the life of the believer keeps his life focused on Jesus. When one's hope for heaven is strong, then he will submit his life to the narrow way of Christian living.

The motivation for pressing on lies in one's realization that he doesn't yet fully know what he desires to know of Christ. When one realizes that great spiritual growth will occur in presence of Jesus, then he desires to be with Jesus. All believers press on to acquire that for which we have been called. Therefore, this world is not our home. We are waiting for our transition into the eternal dwelling for which we are created. 

How can we be like Christ? By reading and heeding the Word, by studying His life on earth through the Gospels, by spending time in prayer, by being filled with the Spirit, and by doing His works in the world

The apostle Paul said his goal was to know Christ, to be like Christ, and to be all that Christ had in mind for him. This goal took all of his energies. This is a helpful example for all believers. We should not let anything take our eyes off our goal-knowing Christ. With the single-mindedness of an athlete in training, we must lay aside everything harmful and forsake anything that may distract us from being effective believers in Christ. 

The apostle Paul had reason to forget the past-he had held the coats of those who had stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7 vs 57 - 58). Like him we have all done things of which we are ashamed, and we live in the tension of what we have been and what we want to be. Because our hope is in Christ, however, we can let go of past guilt and look forward to what God will help us become. Don't dwell on your past, instead, grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on your relationship with Him now. Realize that you are forgiven, and then move on to a life of faith and obedience. Look forward to a fuller and more meaningful life because of your hope in Christ. 

Though the apostle Paul was a Christ-sent apostle with a strong religious background in Judaism, he still had room for both growth in the knowledge of Jesus, as well as, spiritual growth within his heart. There will be a time when we all come to a greater knowledge of Jesus in the heavenly realm. While we are in this world, however, our knowledge and relationship with Jesus will always be limited. Our understanding of Jesus will excel only when we have been taken from the confines of this world into the next to be in the presence of Jesus. 

Sometimes trying to live a perfect believer's or Christian life can be so difficult that it leaves us drained and discouraged. We may feel so far from perfect that we think we can never please God with our life. The apostle Paul used perfected (3 vs 12) to mean mature or complete, not flawless in every detail. Those who are mature should press on in the Holy Spirit's power, knowing that Christ will reveal and fill any discrepancy between what we are and what we should be. Christ's provision is no excuse for lagging devotion, but it provides relief and assurance for those who feel driven. 

Christian maturity is acting on the guidance that you have already received. We can always make excuses that we still have so much to learn. The instruction for us is to live up to what we already know and live out what we have already learned. We don't have to be sidetracked by an unending search for truth. Our Helper-the Holy Spirit is always ready to help be what Christ wants us to be. 

Prayers: Abba Father, You have given us all that pertains to life and godliness in Jesus Christ. Open my eyes of understanding that I may know what is the hope of Your calling, and that I may press on earnestly to apprehend that for which You laid hold of me in Christ, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!