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Sunday, 17 May 2026

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!


SUNDAY MAY 17, 2026.


SUBJECT : GIVE YOUR ENTIRE ATTENTION TO TODAY!


Memory verse: “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118 vs 24)


READ: Proverbs 27 vs 1; Matthew 6 vs 34: 

Proverbs 27:1: Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth.


Matthew 6:34: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it’s own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.


INTIMATION:

There are two days in every week that we should not worry about, two days that should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. Nor can we erase a single word we’ve said. Yesterday is gone. 


We may have done things for which we are ashamed, and we live in the tension of what we have been and what we want to be. Because of 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 the past. Instead, grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on your relationship with Him now. 


The other day we shouldn’t worry about is tomorrow. Tomorrow is beyond our control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise either in splendor, or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. And until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn. Because there is no guarantee on how tomorrow will turn out, one should be careful not to worry about it, but rather fully appreciate each day of his or her life. 


Obviously, we all plan for the future which is good. But living as if tomorrow is in your hands to control is wrong. Planning for tomorrow is time well spent, worrying about tomorrow is time wasted. Careful planning is thinking ahead about goals, steps, and schedules, and trusting in God’s guidance. When done well, planning can help alleviate worry. Worriers, by contrast, are consumed by fear and find it difficult to trust God. 


In one of the passages we read today, Jesus is not here condemning one’s planning for the future. In order words, we must not add worries about the future to the responsibilities of today. Worry works against faith. We must assume through faith that all things work together for good (Romans 8 vs 28). And thus, we must walk by faith (Second Corinthians 5 vs 7). The more one walks by faith, the less worry there is in his or her life.


Now, we are left with “Today.” Give your entire attention to what God is doing today. Every day is a privilege in the life of frail men. Therefore, one should live today to the fullest—leaving the past days behind where they belong, and allowing future to take its turn, while rejoicing for the privilege of seeing today. 


There are days when the last thing we want to do is rejoice. Our mood is down, our situation is out of hand, and our sorrow or guilt is overwhelming. When you don’t feel like rejoicing, tell God honestly how you truly feel. And as you talk to God in prayer, He will give you a reason to rejoice. God has given you this day to live and to serve Him—be glad! 


However, any person can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when we add the burdens of yesterday and tomorrow that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives people mad, it is the remorse of bitterness for something which happened yesterday and the dread of what tomorrow may bring. 


Experience has shown that many things we worry about never come out as dreadful as we would have thought. Worry has its negative effects on us; it may damage your health, cause the object of your worry to consume your thoughts, disrupt your productivity, negatively affect the way you treat others, reduce your ability to trust in God. 


Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the gift of today. Give me the grace to live today to the fullest—rejoicing with gladness of heart for the privilege of being a partaker of Your gift of today, and giving my entire attention to what You are doing today, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Five Digital Dangers

 Five Digital Dangers

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:14)


Christians do not just coast through life like jellyfish floating in the current of contemporary culture. We live by the power of the Spirit and find our course by the word of God. We swim. Like dolphins, not jellyfish. Part of that course setting and power is expressed in thoughtful engagement with the digital realities of our day. Dangers included. Here are five.


1) The hook of constant curiosity


Digital devices offer a never-ending possibility for discovery. Even the basic operating systems can consume hours of curious punching and experimenting. Then there are the endless apps consuming weeks of your time as they lure you into their intricacies. 


All this is very deceptive, giving the illusion of power and effectiveness, but leaving you with a feeling of emptiness and nervousness at the end of the day. 


Resolution: I will strictly limit my experimental time on the device and devote myself more to truth than to technique.


2) The empty world of virtual (un)reality


How sad to see brilliant, creative people pouring hours and days of their lives into creating cities and armies and adventures that have no connection with reality. We have one life to live. All our powers are given to us by the real God for the real world leading to a real heaven and real hell. 


Resolution: I will spend my constructive, creative energy not in the unreality of “virtual reality” but in the reality of the real world.


3) “Personal” relations with a machine


Like no other invention, a computer comes closest to being like a person. You can play games with it. It will talk to you. It will always be there for you. The great danger here is that we really become comfortable with this manageable electronic “person,” and gradually drift away from the unpredictable, frustrating, sometimes painful dealings with real human persons. 


Resolution: I will not replace the risk of personal relationships with impersonal electronic safety.


4) The risk of tryst


“Tryst \’trist\ noun: An agreement (as between lovers) to meet.” Sexual affairs begin in private time together, extended conversation, and the sharing of soul, which can now be done in absolute seclusion through digital devices. You can think that “it’s just nothing” — until she (or he) shows up in town. 


Resolution: I will not cultivate a one-on-one relationship with a person of the opposite sex other than my spouse. If I am single, I will not cultivate such a relationship with another person’s spouse.


5) Porn


More insidious that X-rated videos, we can now not only watch but join the perversity in the privacy of our own den. Interactive porn will allow you to “do it” or make them “do it” virtually. 


I have never seen it. Nor do I ever intend to. It kills the spirit. It drives God away. It depersonalizes women. It quenches prayer. It blanks out the Bible. It cheapens the soul. It destroys spiritual power. It defiles everything. 


Resolution: I will never open any app or website for sexual stimulation, nor purchase or download anything pornographic.


Saturday, 16 May 2026

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!


SATURDAY MAY 16, 2026.


SUBJECT: OBEDIENCE ENGENDERS GOD’S GLORY!


Memory verse: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to Him.” (John 14 vs 21.)


READ: Genesis 22 vs 15 - 18:

22:15: Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,

22:16: and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—

22:17: blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

22:18: In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.


INTIMATION:

When we generally think of obedience, we think of doing what one is instructed to do. For instance, in speaking to our children we may say, "Will you please obey me and do what you are told?" What we mean is, "Please carry out my instructions." Such uses are not far removed from the intended meaning of Scriptures, but far enough that the true essence of the word is lost. Obedience to God is more than submission to authority; it is submission based on love for God, believe, and trust in Him, and persuasion that He is God. 


Obedience is manifested in one’s conduct and may be observed. When a man demonstrates his obedience to God in his actions, he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. Believe or faith is of the heart—you believe in your heart, and is invisible to man, but your outward expression of your inward faith is manifested in your actions of obedience. 


In the passage we read today, we saw the glory of God upon Abraham because of his obedience to Him; in blessing he was so blessed that he was rich in all things; his descendants were so multiplied that the entire earth are his descendants, either through Isaac or Ishmael. And through his seed the whole earth is blessed in the Person of our Savior Jesus Christ. 


Abraham never hesitated in carrying out God’s instructions, no matter how hard it seemed. He immediately went to sacrifice his only son, whom he gave birth to at the age of 100years. He never had a second thought nor consulted with anybody on God’s instruction, and obeyed immediately. 


Jesus said that His followers show their love for Him by obeying Him. Love is more than lovely words; it is commitment and conduct. God is so delighted in our obedience to Him. Consequently, our obedience occasion the manifestation of Himself to us, and we are assured of the love of the Father. 


Jesus, our role model, was obedient to the Father, even to the point of a shameful death on the cross, in order that God’s Will would be accomplished for mankind. Consequently, God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth. What will be more glorious than this?


The consequences of disobedience are grave. It is likened to rebellion and stubbornness to God. Rebellion and stubbornness are serious sins. They involve far more than being independent and strong-minded. Scriptures equates them with divination (witchcraft) and idolatry (First Samuel 15 vs 23). Rebellion against God is perhaps the most serious sin of all because as long as a person rebels, he or she closes the door of forgiveness and restoration with God.


God considers our obedience better than our sacrifices and offerings. Christians today always lay great emphasis on religious rituals, sacrifices, and offerings; such as going to church, taking communion, paying tithes, and so on. God doesn't want these sacrifices and offerings without an attitude of devotion (obedience) to Him. 


God doesn't have any need of these religious rituals or activities, they have no effect on His status, or nature. Sacrifices and offerings are all for our benefits. But benefits from God to us on these activities are only derivable on the platform of raw and complete obedience to God, otherwise they are empty if our reasons for doing them are selfish, and not a heartfelt obedience to God. 


The prophet Samuel told Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (First Samuel 15 vs 22). All we should do is to give God the obedience and lifelong service He desires from us, and He will benefit us as the Scriptures say, "You shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1 vs 19). Sacrifices and offerings are not bribes to make God overlook our character faults. All God wants is our sincere faith and devotion. The Christian rituals, sacrifices, and offerings are to be outward sign of an inward faith in, and obedience to God. 


Many today have come to place more faith in the rituals of their religion than in God they worship. God does not take pleasure in your outward expressions if your inward faith is missing (Hosea 6 vs 6). Though religious rituals can help people understand God and nourish their relationship with Him, but they are helpful only if it is carried out with an attitude of love, devotion, and obedience to God.


Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is for an intimate relationship with You in total submission to Your Will. Endue me with the spirit of raw and complete obedience to You, and let my outward actions be a manifestation of my inward trust in You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Freest Love

 The Freest Love

“Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.” (Deuteronomy 10:14–15)


God’s electing love — the love by which he chooses a people for himself — is absolutely free. It is the gracious overflow of his boundless happiness guided by his infinite wisdom. 


Deuteronomy 10:14–15 describes the delight God had in choosing Israel from all the peoples of the earth. Notice two things. 


First, notice the contrast between verses 14 and 15. Why does Moses describe the election of Israel against the backdrop of God’s ownership of the whole universe? Why does he say in verse 14, “To God belongs everything in heaven and on earth” and then say in verse 15, “Yet he chose you for his people”? 


The reason seems to be to get rid of any notion that God was somehow boxed in to choose this people — that there were some limits to his choosing and he was somehow forced to choose them. The point is to explode the pagan idea that a god may have the right and authority to have his own people but no more. 


The truth is that Yahweh is the only true God. He owns everything in the universe and has the right and authority to take any people he wants for his own special possession. 


Thus the unspeakably wonderful truth for Israel is that he chose them. He did not have to. He had rights and privileges to choose absolutely any people on the face of the earth for his redeeming purposes. Or all of them. Or none of them.


Therefore, when he calls himself “their God” he does not mean that he is on a par with the gods of Egypt or the gods of Canaan. He owns those gods and their peoples. If it had pleased him, he could have chosen a totally different people to accomplish his purposes.


The point of putting verses 14 and 15 together in this way is to stress the freedom and the universal rights and authority of God.


The second thing to notice (in verse 15) is the way God exercises his sovereign freedom to “set his heart in love on your fathers.” “He delighted in your fathers to love them.” He freely chose to take pleasure in loving the fathers. 


God’s love for the fathers of Israel was free and merciful and wasn’t constrained by anything that the fathers were in their Jewishness or in their virtue.


This is a lesson for us. For us who are believers in Christ, God has chosen us just as freely. Not because of anything in us, but because God simply delighted to do it.


Friday, 15 May 2026

What Is Meekness?

 What Is Meekness?

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)


Meekness begins when we put our trust in God. Then, because we trust him, we commit our way to him. We roll onto him our anxieties, our frustrations, our plans, our relationships, our jobs, our health. 


And then we wait patiently for the Lord. We trust his timing and his power and his grace to work things out in the best way for his glory and for our good.


The result of trusting God, and the rolling of our anxieties onto God, and waiting patiently for him is that we don’t give way to quick and fretful anger. But instead, we give place to wrath and hand our cause over to God and let him vindicate us if he chooses. 


And then, as James says, in this quiet confidence we are slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19). We become reasonable and open to correction (James 3:17). James calls this “the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).


Meekness loves to learn. And it counts the corrective blows of a friend as precious (Proverbs 27:6). And when it must say a critical word to a person caught in sin or error, it speaks from the deep conviction of its own fallibility and its own susceptibility to sin and its utter dependence on the grace of God (Galatians 6:1).


The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is very beautiful and very painful. It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help.


If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ — if you trust him and commit your way to him and wait patiently for him — God has already begun to help you and will help you even more. 


And the primary way that he will help you is to assure your heart that you are a fellow heir of Jesus Christ and that the world and everything in it is yours (1 Corinthians 3:21–23). The meek inherit the earth.


Thursday, 14 May 2026

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!


THURSDAY MAY 14, 2026.


SUBJECT : GOD’S LAW OF MEASURE FOR MEASURE!


Memory verse: "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." (Luke 6 vs 38.)


READ: Matthew 7 vs 1 - 5:

7:1: Judge not, that you be not judged.

7:2: For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged: and with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you.


INTIMATION:

God has a divine law of measure for measure; tit for tat. Therefore, understand that it is the measure with which you give that determines what you will receive in return. That is to say, ‘What you measure out is measured back to you in return.’ Do not pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults unless, of course, you want the same treatment to be meted out to you. Don’t condemn those who are down, that critique spirit has a way of boomeranging. Be easy on people, you will find life a lot easier. Give away your life, you will find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.


The thrust of Jesus’ teaching is that we will be dealt with in the same manner by which we treat our fellow humans. Therefore, when we measure mercy to others, God will in turn measure mercy to us. A forgiving spirit demonstrates that a person has received forgiveness. If you are critical rather than compassionate, you will also receive criticism. If you treat others generously, and compassionately, however, these qualities will come back to you in full measure. Jesus taught us to love others as ourselves, not judge them, and is on the premise love that the fulfillment of all laws consist.


Jesus’ command to love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22 vs 39), is the foundation of meting out godly and goodly treatments to others, and thus receiving the same in return. When believers lose the motivation of love, they become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Have you talked behind someone’s back? Have you focused on others’ shortcomings instead of their strength? Remind yourself of Jesus’ command on love. When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person’s positive qualities. When problems need to be addressed, confront with love rather than gossip.


The Scripture says, “Owe no one anything except to love one another; for He who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13 vs 8.) Why is love for others considered something we owe? Yes, because we are permanently in debt to Christ for the lavish love He poured out on us. The only way we can even begin to repay this debt is by fulfilling our obligation to love others in turn. Because Christ’s love will always be infinitely greater than ours, we will always have the obligation to love our neighbors. 


The Bible says, “Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; with Him actions are weighed.” (First Samuel 2 vs 3.) Undoubtedly, God is All-knowing, and nobody can escape His judgement. He will give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17 vs 10). God will weigh your deeds as well as the deeds of those who have wronged you. 


Jesus’ statement “Judge not,” is against the kind of hypocritical, judgmental attitude that tears others down in order to build oneself up. It is not a blanket statement to overlook wrong behavior of others but a call to be discerning rather than negative. We need to speak out against sin, but we must do so in a spirit of humility. Often the sins we notice most clearly in others are the ones that have taken root in us. If we look closely at ourselves, we may find that we are committing the same sins in more socially acceptable forms. For example, a person who gossips may be very critical of others who gossip about him or her.


Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the excellent spirit of love that I may treat others lovely; measuring out goodly and godly treatment to others, and receiving in like manner, the same treatment in return, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen,

PRAISE THE LORD!

Ideas Have Consequences

 Ideas Have Consequences

The aim of our charge is love. (1 Timothy 1:5)


Victor Frankl was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau during the Second World War. As a Jewish professor of neurology and psychiatry he became world renowned for his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, which sold over eight million copies. 


In it he unfolds the essence of his philosophy that came to be called Logotherapy — namely, that the most fundamental human motive is to find meaning in life. He observed in the horrors of the concentration camps that man can endure almost any “how” of life, if he has a “why.” But the quote that stirred me recently was this:


I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers. (“Victor Frankl at Ninety: An Interview,” in First Things, April 1995, p. 41.)


In other words, ideas have consequences — consequences that bless or destroy. People’s behavior — good and bad — does not come out of nowhere. It comes from prevailing views of reality that take root in the mind and bring forth good or evil.


One of the ways that the Bible makes plain the truth that ideas have practical consequences is by saying things like, “Whatever was written in former days was written . . . [that] we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The ideas presented in the Scriptures produce the practical consequence of hope. 


Again, Paul says, “The aim of our charge is love” (1 Timothy 1:5). The imparting of ideas through a “charge” or through “instruction” produces love. 


Hope and love do not come from nowhere. They grow out of ideas — views of reality — revealed in the Scriptures. 


Another way the Scriptures show us that ideas have consequences is by using the word “therefore” (1,039 times in the NASB). “Therefore” means that what follows comes from somewhere. For example, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Or: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Or: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34).


If we want to live in the power of these great practical “therefores,” we must be gripped by the ideas — the views of reality — that go before them and stand under them. Ideas have consequences. So, let’s bring all our ideas under the authority of God’s word.


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Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD! SUNDAY MAY 17, 2026. SUBJECT : GIVE YOUR ENTIRE ATTENTION TO TODAY! Memory verse: “This is the day the Lord has made,...