Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 07, 2026.

SUBJECT: OBEDIENCE PRECEDES BLESSING AND MIRACLE!

Memory verse: “If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.” (Job 36 vs 11.)

READ: Deuteronomy 28 vs 1 - 6:

28:1: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.

28:2: And all these blessings shall come upon you, and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

28:3: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

28:4: “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground, and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

28:5: “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

28:6: “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

INTIMATION:

Being obedient is submission to authority; to comply with orders—the practice of doing what one is told, and willingness to obey commands. Obedience is a demand on us from God. Not being obedient is, in my considered opinion, rebellion and stubbornness to God. Rebellion and stubbornness are serious sins. They involve far more than being independent and strong-minded. Scriptures equate 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.

The Bible is filled with God's general guidelines and expectations for our lives. It is also filled with more specific directions. Like heroes in obedience, we must obey regardless of the cost, and trust God to make things right. Obedience often precedes the miraculous and blessings of God. Miracles seem out of reach for our feeble faith, but every miracle, large or small, begins with an act of obedience. We may not see the solution until we take the first step of obedience according to our faith.

In Genesis 12, Abraham obeyed God while he had a choice to make—either setting out with his family and belongings to an unknown destination, or staying right where he was. He had to decide between the security and comfort of what he already had and the uncertainty of traveling under God's direction with only God's promise to guide and bless him. 

Abraham could hardly have been expected to visualize how much of the future was resting on his decision of whether to go or stay, but his obedience brought blessings to him, and affected the history of the world. The Scripture says, “And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.” (Genesis 24 vs 1.)

Obeying God helps us accomplish more in life. For instance, Abraham’s obedience set in motion the development of the nation Israel that God would eventually use as His own, and subsequently bless mankind through it. When Jesus Christ came to earth, God's promise was fulfilled; through Abraham the entire world is blessed (Romans 4). 

In Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in the Bible, the travail of the children of Israel presents a striking contrast between how much we can accomplish when we obey God, and how little we can accomplish when we don't. Like the Israelites, when we complain, grumble, and disobey God, soon problems erupt. 

In First Kings 17 vs 13 - 16, the widow of Zarephath obeyed the instruction of Elijah even while she thought that she was preparing her last meal for herself and her son. But that simple act of obedience produced a miracle: She trusted Elijah and gave all she had to eat with her son to him. The Bible recorded that Elijah, the widow, and her household ate for many days and the bin of floor was not used up, nor the jar of oil ran dry. Also, the miracle of raising the widow’s dead child followed. God provision of healing was demonstrated in the life of the widow's son all because of her obedience. 

Obedience draws its strength from humility. In Second Kings 5 vs 9 - 15, Naaman, a great and honorable hero, a commander of the army of the King of Syria, and a mighty man of valor, and was used to getting respect, but was a leper. He humbled himself and adhered to the advice of a young girl, a captive from Syria, who was in his house. 

Then when Naaman came to Elisha, he was outraged when the prophet treated him like an ordinary person. A proud man, he expected royal a treatment. Naaman thought that to wash in small and dirty river Jordan was beneath a man of his position in society. However, Naaman listened to his servants, humbled himself and obeyed the instruction of Elisha in order to be healed.

Obedience to God is key to success in our endeavors. Contrary to the world's criteria of determining prosperity and success, God, in Joshua 1 vs 6 - 8, taught Joshua that to succeed and be prosperous, he must obey the rules of living found in God's law. For many, success is controlling others, but for Joshua it meant being controlled by God. Often we can't see what the future holds by following God, but even in the uncertainty, obey what God has revealed in the Scriptures as the only sure step we can take to good success in life. 

Our obedience must be anchored on the fact that God's ways are better than our own, and are the best ever. We may not always understand His ways of working, but by humbly obeying, we will receive His blessings. He wants our obedience more than anything else, and can use anything to accomplish His purposes.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of raw obedience to You, my desire is for You to be first in my life, and that I will accomplish all in my life through Your leading. I pray for Your grace to lead me this path, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

We Live by Faith

 We Live by Faith

The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Faith is a perfect fit with God’s future grace. It corresponds to the freedom and all-sufficiency of grace. And it calls attention to the glorious trustworthiness of God. 

One of the important implications of this conclusion is that the faith that justifies and the faith that sanctifies are not two different kinds of faith. “Sanctify” simply means to make holy or to transform into Christlikeness. It is all by grace. 

Therefore, it must also be through faith. For faith is the act of the soul that connects with grace, and receives it, and channels it as the power of obedience, and guards grace from being nullified through human boasting. 

Paul makes this connection between faith and sanctification explicit in Galatians 2:20 (“I live by faith”). Sanctification is by the Spirit and by faith. Which is another way of saying that it is by grace and by faith. The Spirit is “the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29). God’s way of making us holy is by the Spirit; but the Spirit works through faith in the gospel. 

The simple reason why the faith that justifies is also the faith that sanctifies is that both justification and sanctification are the work of sovereign grace. And it’s faith that corresponds to grace. Justification and sanctification are not the same kind of work (justification is the imputation of righteousness; sanctification is the impartation of righteousness), but they are both works of grace. Sanctification and justification are “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). 

The human corollary of God’s free grace is faith. If both justification and sanctification are works of grace, it is natural that they would both be by faith.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JUNE 06, 2026.

SUBJECT : HOW WILL YOU COME FORTH WHEN TESTED?

Memory verse: "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23 vs 10.) 

READ: Job 23 vs 1 - 10:

23:1: Then Job answered and said;

23:2: "Even today my complaint bitter; my hand is listless because of my groaning.

23:3: Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat!

23:4: I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

23:5: I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me.

23:6: Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me.

23:7: There the upright could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

23:8: “Look, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him.

23:9: when He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him, when He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.

23:10: But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

INTIMATION:

Life is a race (we all have our finishing lines and destinations), a trust (entrusted to us by the Owner for our use here on earth; our time, energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources are gifts from God that He has entrusted to our care and management), a test (the Owner has given the guidelines regarding our sojourn here, and will test us in line with the required conducts as He has given. Our character, faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty will be evaluated), and a temporary assignment (it is transient; this place is not our home, we are just passing through). 

Against the backdrop enumerated above, when God evaluates you, how will you come forth? Can you answer with certainty as Job did; "When He has tested me I shall come forth as gold?" God never promised a Christian life void of tests, trials, temptations, struggles, hardship, and so on. But He promised to be with us even in those storms of life. All of life’s circumstances we pass through are for His purposes, plans and grand designs for each and every one of us. 

 

When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant or trivial in your life. Even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, and to depend on God.

All of life is a test. We are always being tested. God constantly watches our response to people, problems, success, conflict, illness, disappointment, event, weather, and every circumstance in life. God is interested in our simple attitudinal actions like how we smile to others, open a door for others, reacts to filths in our environment and so on. 

We don't know all the tests God will give, but we can predict some of them based on the Bible dictates. We know obviously from the Scriptures that we will be tested by delayed promises, major changes, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, senseless tragedies, and so on. 

Some tests seem overwhelming, while others we don't even notice, but all of them have eternal implications. The good news is that God wants us to pass the tests of life, therefore, He never allows the tests we face to be greater than the grace He gives us to handle them (First Corinthians 10 vs 13). 

He works behind the scene for our good (Romans 8 vs 28). God tests our character to reveal our weaknesses, and to prepare us for more responsibilities. The very most important test is how we act when we can't feel God's presence in our life. Sometimes God intentionally draws back, and we don't sense His closeness. 

Every time we pass through test, God notices and makes plans to reward us in eternity (James 1 vs 12). The worst temptation we will ever face is being tempted to abandon Christ. That is the only sin that cannot be forgiven. If you have come into the household of God through Christ, rest assured no temptation can overwhelm you because Christ promises that He will be with us forever in accordance with the Father’s Will (Matthew 28 vs 20; John 6 vs 37 - 40).

Job faced the testing of the Lord. He was amazed at his suffering, and said that his suffering would be more bearable if only he knew why it was happening. If there were sins for which he could repent, he would! Job wavered back and forth, first proclaiming loyalty to God and then complaining at being abandoned by Him. His friends’ words and his own suspicions undermined his confidence in God. His friends condemned him by identifying some secret sin that he may have committed. 

His overriding desire was for God to clear his name, prove his righteousness, and explain why he was chosen to receive all the calamities. At some point Job was saying that God appeared to be avoiding him. Thereafter, he expressed confidence in his integrity and God’s justice, and that God knew every detail about his situation and would come to his rescue. And he said, "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23 vs 10.) 

We are always likely to have hidden sins in our lives, sins we don’t even know about because God’s standards are so high, and our performance is so imperfect. If we are true believers, however, all our sins are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross on our behalf (Romans 5 vs 1; 8 vs 1). The Bible also teaches that even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings (First John 3 vs 20). His forgiveness and cleansing are sufficient, they overrule our nagging doubts. The Holy Spirit in us is our proof that we are forgiven in God’s eyes even though we may feel guilty. If we, like Job, are truly seeking God, we can stand up to others’ accusations as well as our own nagging doubts. If God has forgiven and accepted us, we are forgiven indeed.

When afflictions come, it is natural to look God's way, and to think our suffering must be a divine punishment. But we must not assume that God has rejected us. His purposes go deeper than our ability to grasp all that is really happening. While this sounds like a pat answer, it is the same answer God gave Job in chapters 38 - 42. We should not demand to know why certain calamities befall us. Often we cannot or are not meant to know. 

Job’s suffering is a testimony of how God works with His saints. Suffering, therefore, draws faith out of God’s people. And faith must grow to the point of being able to count it all joy when one is suffering (James 1 vs 2 - 4). Those who trust in God undergo tests and trials. They do not always understand why they suffer, but they must understand that God is there through their suffering, and they will receive their rewards if they endure to the end, and are approved by God (James 1 vs 12). Job concluded that whether or not he could find God, God knew where he was. Knowing that God knows our calamity reassures us that He is working all things in our case for our ultimate good. Job, however, was confident that when God had tried him, he would come forth as pure or refined gold. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are 'All-wise,' 'All knowing' and perfect! For I know the testing of my faith is for my good and profiting. Give me the grace to excel in all life’s texts, and trials, and strengthen me to persevere in all life's circumstances, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

All Hostile to God

 All Hostile to God

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. (Colossians 1:21–22)

The best news in all the world is that our alienation from God is ended and we are reconciled to the Judge of the universe. God is no longer against us, but for us. Having omnipotent love on our side mightily steels the soul. Life becomes utterly free and daring when the strongest being in the universe is for you.

But Paul’s message of salvation is not good news to those who reject the diagnosis in Colossians 1:21. He says, you “were alienated and hostile in mind.” 

How many people do you know who say, “Apart from God’s grace, I am hostile to God in my mind”? People seldom say, “I hate God.” So, what does Paul mean that people are “hostile in mind” to God before they were reconciled by the blood of Christ? 

I think he means that the hostility is really there toward the true God, but people do not allow themselves to think about the true God. They imagine God to be the way they would like him to be, which seldom includes any possibility that they might be in really serious trouble with him.

But concerning the God who really exists — a God who is sovereign over all things, including sickness and calamity — we were all hostile to him, Paul says. Deep down, we hated his absolute power and authority. 

That any of us is saved is owing to the wonderful truth that the death of Christ obtained the grace by which God conquered our hearts and caused us to love the One we once hated. 

Many are still learning not to be hostile to God. It is a good thing that he is gloriously patient.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 05, 2026.

SUBJECT: SPIRIT MIND VERSUS FLESHY MIND!

Memory verse: "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6 vs 8.) 

READ: Romans 8 vs 5 - 8:

8:5: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

8:6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

8:8: So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

INTIMATION:

According to the passage we read today, there are two minds, not one mind. There is the mind of the flesh, and there is the mind of the spirit. That does not mean you and I have two brains, it simply means that we receive information from our natural mind (which operates without the Holy Spirit), and we get information from our spirit (through which the Holy Spirit communicates directly to us).

The apostle Paul divided people into two categories: those who are dominated by their sinful nature, and those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit. Those who are controlled by their sinful nature are those who take instructions from their fleshy mind, that is being carnally minded. Their minds are focused on their own desires. In a religious context, they are the ones who focus on their ability to perform law in order to save themselves. The carnally minded person is walking in sin, though he or she may not recognize the fact that he or she is in sin. All of us would be in the first category if Jesus hadn’t offered us a way out. 

Those who take instructions from their spirit mind are those who are controlled by the Spirit of God—the Holy Spirit. They are not led by their carnal minds, but by the Holy Spirit Who indwells them. (Romans 8 vs 14; Galatians 5 vs 18.) The Holy Spirit is the only One who knows the mind of God, and is the revealer of the truth. (John 16 vs 13). Those who are controlled by the Spirit of God daily consciously choose to center their lives on God, using the Bible to discover God’s guidelines, and then follow them. In every perplexing situation, they ask themselves, “What would Jesus want me to do in this circumstance?” And when the Holy Spirit points out what is right, they do it eagerly. 

In First Corinthians 2 vs 16, the Bible says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” This Scripture tells us that because the Holy Spirit lives in the believers, they have the mind of Christ. The problem is that although they have the mind of Christ and know the Word of God, they don't listen to their spirit which is being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Instead, they listen to their natural mind, which relies strictly on sense and reason without the Holy Spirit.

In all situations of life, our head will be trying to give us information. It will be yelling at us so loudly that if we don't turn our attention to our spirit we will never hear what the Lord is saying to us in any situation. That is why we must learn to live out of our spirit and not of our head. You see, evil spirits constantly bombard us with negative thoughts. If we receive them and dwell on them, they become ours because the Bible says that as we think in our heart, so are we. (Proverbs 23 vs 7.) If we accept the lies of the devil as reality, then they will become reality to us because of our "faith," our belief in them.

That is why in moments of worry, stress and turmoil we have to simply take the time to turn to our inner man, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, and say, "Lord, what do You have to say about this?" If we listen in faith, He will speak to us and reveal to us the truth of that situation. You and I have two huge vats of information within us. One is carnal information that comes off the top of our head. The other is spiritual information which wells up out of our heart. One is compared to muddy polluted water, and the other is compared to clean drinking water. It is up to us to decide which source we are going to drink from.

Some people try to drink from both sources. That's what the Bible calls being double-minded. (James 1 vs 8.) Do you know what it means to be double-minded? It means that your mind is trying to tell you one thing, and your spirit is trying to tell you just the opposite. Instead of saying, "I'm not going to believe what my mind is telling me because it's a lie since it is different from what the spirit is saying," you get in a cross-fire, going back and forth between the two thoughts.

If you and I are ever going to live the happy, victorious and successful Christian life the Lord wills for us, we are going to have to decide which fountain of information we are going to drink from. We are going to have to learn to live out of our spirit and not out of our head (our mind). The individual who persists on remaining “in the flesh,” is actually working against the plan of God to have all men trust in Him for direction. Such a person is focusing on himself or herself and not God’s grace. This is the man or woman who seeks to walk by sight and without the faith that is necessary to please God (Hebrews 11 vs 6).  

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to always listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit indwelling me that knows the things of God, that I may please You at all times in doing the right thing as led by Your Spirit, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Dependable in the Mundane

 Dependable in the Mundane

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

One of the most powerful testimonies to the all-sufficiency of God’s future grace is the “faith principle” that has governed the lives of so many missionaries, notably those of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF). 

Without condemning those who follow a different pattern, it has been the practice of those who follow in the steps of Hudson Taylor and George Mueller to move the hearts of supporters to give by directing their requests to God and not to people. 

James H. Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder of OMF, explains how this faith in future grace, rooted in demonstrations of bygone grace, honors God. 

We . . . begin from a position of faith. We believe God does exist. We have become convinced of this in a variety of ways, but all of us have experienced the grace of God in bringing us to know Himself through Jesus Christ and through rebirth by His Spirit. We believe we have good grounds for believing in Him through the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: we believe that someone who said He would die and rise again, and did it, is credible in every other way. Therefore we are prepared to trust Him, not only for the eternal salvation of our souls, but also for the practical provision of our daily bread and financial support.

OMF publishes testimonies of God’s amazing faithfulness to demonstrate the glory of his all-supplying future grace. “We want to demonstrate that God can be trusted to do all that He says He will do, by sharing how He has provided for such mundane needs as plane tickets, meals, medical expenses, and the regular support of a whole group of Christian people for well over a hundred years.”

What OMF is devoted to is glorifying the dependability of God — in their message and in their method. Hudson Taylor put it this way: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all that He has promised.” 

Lives of faith are the great mirror of the dependability of God.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JUNE 04, 2026.

SUBJECT: HEARING AND DOING THE WORD OF GOD!

Memory verse: “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1 vs 25.)

READ: Luke 6 vs 47 - 49:

6:47: Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:

6:48: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded on the rock.

6:49: But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.

INTIMATION:

God’s Word is His laws, and they were given to free us to be all He wants us to be. They restrict us from doing what might cripple us and keep us from being our best. God’s guidelines help us follow His path and avoid paths that lead to destruction. It is important to listen to what God’s Word says, but it is much more important to obey it and to do what it says. We can measure the effectiveness of our Bible study by the effect it has on our behavior and attitudes. Do you put into action what you have studied?

God is our Creator, and Maker of all things. He created us for a purpose which He predetermined even before we were born. He said to Prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1 vs 5.) The Maker knows the purpose for which you and I are made. And the purpose we would serve can only be discerned appropriately by listening to Him and following His guidelines as enumerated in His guidebook—the Bible. His guidebook helps us to build a solid foundation for achieving His purpose. And achieving your life’s purpose is the only ground for a fulfilled life.

As we travel through life, the Bible should be our road map, pointing out safe routes, obstacles to avoid, and our final destination. We must recognize ourselves as pilgrims, travelers here on earth who need to study God’s map to learn the way. If we ignore the map, we will wander aimlessly through life and risk missing our real destination.

God’s Word is like medicine. It goes to work only when we apply it to the affected areas. The Scripture says, “He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” (Psalm 107 vs 20.) God’s Word heard can only work when applied rightly in our journey of life. It is full of reviving promises of victory in our cruel and evil demonized world. Our world is full of discouragements but God’s Word gives satisfying eternal answers. Read God’s Word and be revived.

God’s Word makes us wise—wiser than our enemies and wiser than any teachers who ignore it. True wisdom goes beyond amassing knowledge; it is applying knowledge in a life-changing way that matters. Intelligent or experienced people are not necessarily wise. Wisdom comes from allowing God’s teachings to guide us.

In the passage we read today, the two lives Jesus compared at the end of the Sermon on the Mount have several points in common; they both build; they both hear Jesus’ teaching, and they both experience the same set of circumstances in life. The difference between them isn’t caused by ignorance but by one ignoring what Jesus said. Externally, their lives may look similar, but the lasting, structural difference will be revealed by the storms of life. The immediate differences in your life when you follow Jesus may not be obvious, but eventually they will turn out to affect even your eternal destiny. 

Obeying God is like building a house on a strong, solid foundation that stands firm when storms come. When life is calm, our foundations don’t seem to matter. But when crises come, our foundations are tested. Be sure your life is built on the solid foundation of knowing and trusting Jesus Christ—hearing His Word and doing the Word.

Most people do not deliberately seek to build on a false or inferior foundation; instead, they just don’t think about their life’s purpose. Many people are headed for destruction, not out of stubbornness but out of thoughtlessness—not giving any thoughts in following the Maker’s guide. Part of our responsibility as believers is to help others stop and think about where their lives are headed, and to point out the consequences of ignoring God’s Word.

In Psalm 119 vs 9, the psalmist asked a pertinent question, “How can a young man cleanse his way?” He then answered the question, “By taking heed according to Your Word.” For instance, everywhere we look in our morally bankrupt world today, we find temptation to fill our minds with thoughts of sexual relationships that God wouldn’t approve. The writer asked a question that troubles us all; "How do we stay pure in a contaminating environment?' We cannot do this on our own but must have counsel and strength more dynamic than the tempting influences around us. Where can we find that strength and wisdom? By reading God’s Word and doing what it says.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace for the zeal and thirst for Your Word, and endue me with the spirit of complete obedience to Your Word—to do all that it says, that I may be wise to navigate through life’s circumstances in Your guidance, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!