Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 02, 2026.

SUBJECT: UNDERSTANDING WHY CHRIST CAME!

Memory verse: "Jesus says to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." (John 14 vs 6.) 

READ: John 1 vs 4; 3 vs 8, 16; 10 vs 10; 14 vs 27; 16 vs 33; Luke 2 vs 10; Acts 10 vs 38:

John 1:4: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

3:8: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

10:10: The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

14:27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

16:33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Luke 2:10: Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

Acts 10:38: How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.

INTIMATION:

Jesus came to reveal and represent the Father, and as well show us the way to the Father. He is the visible, tangible image of the invisible God. He is the complete revelation of what God is like. To know Jesus is to know God (Colossians 1 vs 15 - 16; Hebrews 1 vs 1 - 4). He is our path to the Father. As the truth, He is the reality of all God’s promises. As the life, He joins His divine life to ours, both now and eternally. 

Jesus Christ is the Creator of life (John 1 vs 3), and His life brings light to humankind. In His light, we see ourselves as we really are (sinners in need of a Savior). When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blindly and falling into sin. He lights the path ahead of us so we can see how to live. He removes the darkness of sin from our lives. When Christ guides you in His light, you will never need to stumble in darkness. 

Jesus came to bring salvation to mankind, and restore man to the glory he lost in the Garden of Eden, as well as restore divinity to man. God's Will of abundance for us was supreme until that fatal day Adam and Eve, our first parents, committed high treason against God by doubting His integrity, and believing God's permanent enemy—Satan. 

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. All evils are the works of the devil. But Jesus came to destroy all his works. Jesus, reading from the book of Isaiah, said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed: To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4 vs 18 - 19.) Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the One who would bring this good news to pass. 

Jesus came to restore the supernatural back to man. In Mark 16 vs 17 - 18, the Scripture says, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” There are times when God intervenes miraculously to protect His followers. Occasionally He gives them special powers. This does not mean, however, that we should test God by putting ourselves in dangerous situations or try to tempt the laws of nature. 

Jesus came to bring unspeakable joy to the world. The demeanor of a Christian lifestyle is that of joy for what Christ has wrought for us in redemption, and the hope of living in eternity with God. Ultimate joy comes from Christ dwelling within us. Christ is near, and at His second coming we will fully realize this ultimate joy. He who lives within us will fulfill His final purposes for us. In First Peter 1 vs 8, the Scripture says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” 

Jesus came to bring peace that passes all understanding to humanity. The result of one’s prayerful communication with God that is based on faith is an inner tranquility that cannot be expressed in words. The end result of Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance in any circumstance; with Christ’s peace, we have no need to fear the present or the future. 

Sin, fear, uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are at war within us. The peace of God moves into our hearts and live to restrain these hostile forces and offer comfort in place of conflict. Peace comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. 

He came to give us life at its best. The life Christ gives now is abundantly rich and full. It is eternal, yet it begins immediately. Life in Christ is lived on a higher plane because of His overflowing forgiveness, love, and guidance. Jesus affirms that one is not only saved if he enters through Him as the door, but such a person will also comprehend and enjoy the fullness for which life on earth was meant to be. 

It is only in Christ that one understands, and thus receives those blessings that enrich and enhance living. “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue.” (Second Peter 1 vs 3.) 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You For the gift of Your Son, Jesus, to mankind. I earnestly desire that You give me the grace to manifest in my life all the benefits of knowing Christ and the reason of His coming to the world, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Rejoicing in Pain

 Rejoicing in Pain

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

Christian Hedonism says that there are different ways to rejoice in suffering as a Christian. All of them are to be pursued as an expression of the all-sufficient, all-satisfying grace of God.

One way of rejoicing in suffering comes from fixing our minds firmly on the greatness of the reward that will come to us in the resurrection. The effect of this kind of focus is to make our present pain seem small in comparison to what is coming: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16–18). In making the suffering tolerable, rejoicing over our reward will also make love possible.

“Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great” (Luke 6:35). Be generous with the poor “and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14). Confidence in this promised reward cuts the cord of worldliness and frees us for the costs of love.

Another way of rejoicing in suffering comes from the effects of suffering on our assurance of hope. Joy in affliction is rooted not only in the hope of resurrection and reward, but also in the way suffering itself works to deepens that hope.

For example, Paul says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4).

In other words, Paul’s joy is not merely rooted in his great reward, but in the effect of suffering which solidifies the hope of that reward. Affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces a sense that our faith is real and genuine, and that strengthens our hope that we will indeed gain Christ.

So whether we focus on the riches of the reward or the refining effects of suffering, God’s purpose is that our joy in suffering be sustained.

Christ’s Sufferings in Us

 Christ’s Sufferings in Us

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24)

Christ has prepared a love offering for the world by suffering and dying for sinners. It is a perfect sacrifice. It pays in full for all the sins of all his people. Nothing can be added to make a better gift. It is lacking in nothing — except one thing, a personal presentation by Christ himself to the nations of the world. 

God’s answer to this lack is to call the people of Christ (people like Paul) to make a personal presentation of the afflictions of Christ to the world. In doing this, we “[fill] up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” We finish what they were designed for, namely, a personal presentation to the people who do not know about their infinite worth. 

But the most amazing thing about Colossians 1:24 is how Paul fills up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

He says that it is his own sufferings that fill up Christ’s afflictions. This means, then, that Paul exhibits the sufferings of Christ by suffering himself for those he is trying to win to Christ. In his sufferings they are to see Christ’s sufferings. 

Here is the astounding upshot: God intends for the afflictions of Christ to be presented to the world through the afflictions of his people. 

God really means for the body of Christ, the church, to experience some of the suffering he experienced so that when we proclaim the cross as the way to life, people will see the marks of the cross in us and feel the love of the cross from us.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31, 2026.

SUBJECT : ARE WE CURSED FOR NOT TITHING?

Memory verse: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." (Galatians 3 vs 13.)

READ: Malachi 3 vs 8 - 11:

3:8: ""Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 

3:9: You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me. Even this whole nation. 

3:10: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," Says the Lord of Hosts, "If I will not open the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it." 

3:11: And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field." says the Lord of hosts.

INTIMATION:

Let's us review the Scripture we read today which is the classic passage used to teach on tithing. The prophet Malachi is among the postexilic prophets to Judah (the southern kingdom), and wrote the Book after the return of the children of Israel from exile, and abandoned those godly principles and practices they were used to before they were exiled. 

During Malachi's days the people ignored God's command to give a tithe of their income to the Temple. The Levites (who were the priests) lived off these gifts, and when the people stopped giving, they were forced to work to earn a living, thereby abandoning their God-given responsibilities to care for the Temple and the service of worship under the laws God gave them through Moses.

Nearly everyone who teaches on tithes cites this passage. Usually it is used like a club to beat people into submission. But there is a huge difference between the punishment that came for disobeying the law under the Old Testament, and the grace that we live under the New Testament. 

The motivation for tithing today is out of appreciation for what God has done in our lives. It should come as a response of love from the heart, out of a desire to bring God into your finances, and bless people. We don't tithe in an attempt to keep the law. In fact, it would be a bad idea to even try.

Now, look at Galatians 3 vs 10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." The apostle Paul quoted Deuteronomy 27 vs 26 to prove that, contrary to what the Judaizers claimed, the law cannot justify and save; it can only condemn. 

You are cursed if you don't keep all of the laws. You can't just keep some of it, or do the best you can and God will make up the difference. No, if you don't keep every letter of the laws, then you are cursed! And because everyone has broken the commandments, everyone stands condemned. The law can do nothing to reverse the condemnation. This is why Jesus came, because we are absolutely incapable of keeping the law. It's impossible.

The Scriptures, in Romans 3 vs 20 - 24, say, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

The people who are trying to say to you that you are cursed if you don't tithe are missing this point. You either trust the grace of God, or you reject Jesus' sacrifice and put your trust in your own performance and forfeit God's grace. You have to be 100 percent perfect—never making a single mistake in thought, word, or deed in your entire life, or you have to humble yourself and receive the gift of God's grace. Trying to satisfy the law by paying a tithe isn't going to help.

The apostle Paul continued his teaching in Galatians 3 vs 11 - 14, saying, "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them." Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Yes, we are redeemed from the curse of the law! This passage couldn't be any clearer. It's true that the verse in Malachi 3 says "you are cursed with a curse" if you don't tithe. But this is exactly what we have been redeemed from. The whole attitude that God is going to punish you for not paying a tithe is completely unscriptural. 

Some preachers will say, "If you didn't pay tithe, God would take it from you in doctor's bills, or He will make your car break down, or something else like that. In my considered opinion, God doesn't relate with us that way under the New Covenant. Christ freed us from the curse of the law. God is not coming against you. He is not going to take money from you if you don't tithe, but you have denied yourself of the opportunity of godly prosperity. Trying to pay off God like He's some kind of mobster is the wrong motivation. You're not going to benefit from that kind of giving.

It's also worth mentioning that the passage in Malachi 3 vs 8 - 11 says the curse comes from robbing God in tithes and offerings. The ministers who use this verse to teach about tithing from a law perspective conveniently overlook that you also have to give offerings to keep the law. There are so many offerings, that all together outnumber tithe. So if you are trying to live by the law, you are cursed unless you are giving all the offerings.

Prayer: Abba Father, nothing I do can be enough to thank You for all You have done for me. All that is within me bless Your holy name. Endue me with the spirit of perfect obedience to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Seminary of Suffering

 The Seminary of Suffering

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

This is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less reliance on self and the world. I have never heard anyone say, “The really deep lessons of life have come through times of ease and comfort.”

But I have heard strong saints say, “Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with him has come through suffering.”

The pearl of greatest price is the glory of Christ.

Thus, Paul stresses that in our sufferings the glory of Christ’s all-sufficient grace is magnified. If we rely on him in our calamity, and he sustains our “rejoicing in hope,” then he is shown to be the all-satisfying God of grace and strength that he is.

If we hold fast to him, “when all around our soul gives way,” then we show that he is more to be desired than all we have lost.

Christ said to the suffering apostle, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul responded to this: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

So suffering clearly is designed by God not only as a way to wean Christians off of self and onto grace, but also as a way to spotlight that grace and make it shine. That is precisely what faith does: it magnifies Christ’s future grace. 

The deep things of life in God are discovered and magnified in suffering.

The Danger of Drifting

 The Danger of Drifting

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

We all know people that this has happened to. There is no urgency. No vigilance. No focused listening or considering or fixing of their eyes on Jesus. And the result has not been a standing still, but a drifting away.

That is the point here: there is no standing still. The life of this world is not a lake. It is a river. And it is flowing downward to destruction. If you do not listen earnestly to Jesus and consider him daily and fix your eyes on him hourly, then you will not stand still; you will go backward. You will float away from Christ.

Drifting is a deadly thing in the Christian life. And the remedy for it, according to Hebrews 2:1, is: Pay close attention to what you have heard. That is, consider what God is saying in his Son Jesus. Fix your eyes on what God is saying and doing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. 

This is not a hard swimming stroke to learn. The only thing that keeps us from swimming against sinful culture is not the difficulty of the stroke, but our sinful desire to go with the flow. 

Let’s not complain that God has given us a hard job. Listen, consider, fix the eyes — this is not what you would call a hard job description. In fact, it is not a job description. It is a solemn invitation to be satisfied in Jesus so that we do not get lured downstream by deceitful desires.

If you are drifting today, one of the signs of hope that you are born again is that you feel pricked for this, and you feel a rising desire to turn your eyes on Jesus and consider him and listen to him in the days and months and years to come.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 2026.

SUBJECT: SPIRITUAL ADULTERY!

Memory verse: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (First John 2 vs 15.) 

READ: James 4 vs 4 - 6:

4:4: Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

4:5: Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealousy”?

4:6: But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

INTIMATION:

"Idolatry," is the worship of idols, or the blind worship if undeserving object. Such worship, outwardly or inwardly, constitute spiritual adultery, that is, breaking the commitment to worship the one true God resulting into the love something else. 

Turning from the worship of the true God to worshiping idols is idolatry. This can be either inward or outward. When one is not heartily committed to the worship of God, and is attracted to worldliness, it is spiritual adultery. Jesus described the people of His day as adulterous, even though they were religiously strict. This is because their hearts were far away from total commitment to the worship of the true God. Inwardly and outwardly they had idols they are committed to, and even worshipped other gods. 

As believers and members of the body of Christ—the church—we are the ‘wife’ (or bride) of Christ (Revelation 19 vs 7), and by faith, we can be clothed in His righteousness. Anything outside the total commitment to Him is spiritual adultery. The materialist is an adulterer in that he or she has wedded himself or herself to things of this world even when he or she is a member of the body of Christ. 

Such person has broken the covenant made with Christ in order to give himself or herself to the world. Friendship with the world is enmity with God: If one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in his heart (First John 2 vs 15). Those who love activities and possessions of this world at the expense of their love with God, do not love the Father, for they are obsessed with the things of this world. 

Some people think that worldliness is limited to external behavior—the people we associate with, the places we go, the activities we enjoy. Worldliness is also internal because it begins in the heart and is characterized by three attitudes: (1) lust of the flesh—preoccupation with gratifying physical desires; (2) lust of the eyes—covering and accumulating things, bowing to God of materialism; (3) pride of life—obsession with one’s status or importance. When the serpent tempted Eve, he tempted her in the above referenced areas. Also, when the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, these were his three areas of attack.

It is not right for one to live a spiritually adulterous life. God created us to seek Him, not the world. Therefore, the spirit that lusts after the things of this world in order to ignore God had degenerated to the point of allowing Satan to control his desires. 

It is obvious that one cannot love God with the love with which God seeks to be loved, and at the same time, engage himself or herself in the pleasures of this world. However, those who have been consumed with the things of the world have taken their minds off that which is to come. And that which is to come is the destruction of all that for which one had worked in this world (Second Peter 3 vs 10).

God has blessed some believers with money and other possessions. They are wealthy because God has given them power to get it, and they should not allow their wealth to take the first place in their lives, and delegating God to the background. Avoiding spiritual adultery does not mean that the rich must forsake their riches, for many rich people have the gift of making money for the benefit of supporting the work in the church. Though the rich are not obligated to give themselves into poverty, but they must not be obsessed by their wealth, and should be willing to share with others in need. 

Believers are not to attach themselves to the thinking of the world in a way that they are diverted from keeping their minds on those things that are above. They must not be directed in their lives by the evil values and morals that are maintained by those deceived by Satan. It is impossible for one to love God with the intensity of love by which God demands that we serve Him, and at the same time, compromise his values and morals by living after the world. 

God extends His grace toward those that have humbly submitted to Him. 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. God values self-control, a spirit of generosity, and commitment to humble service. 

It is possible to give the impression of avoiding worldly pleasures while still harboring worldly attitudes in one’s heart. It is also possible, like Jesus, to love sinners and spend time with them while maintaining a commitment to the values of God’s kingdom. Let nothing take the first place in your life outside of God.

Prayer: Abba Father, I have no other God but You. In You I live, move and have my being. Nothing will ever take the first place in my life other than You. O Lord, give me the grace to forever give my total commitment and obedience to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!