Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2026.

SUBJECT: GOD'S PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE CAN INVOLVE THE VICISSITUDES YOU ENCOUNTER!

Memory verse: "But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50 vs 20.)

READ: Genesis 37 vs 27 - 28; 45 vs 5 - 8:

37:27: Come Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

37:28: The Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

45:5: But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

45:6: For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

45:7: And God sent me before You to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

45:8: So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

INTIMATION:

God's ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55 vs 8). The rough roads we travel can be God's plan to enable us achieve His purpose for us. He made all things for His predetermined purposes, including the lives we lead. 

Perhaps no other account in all of Scriptures illustrates the strange vicissitudes of life more vividly than the biography of Joseph (The Dreamer), and God’s sovereignty. God’s creations are tools in His hands to achieve His plans. His knowledge and wisdom are beyond human comprehension, and past searching out. 

Joseph was born into privilege. He was the eleventh, and the favorite son of Jacob, one of the patriarchs of Israelite history. Though Joseph was loved by his father, he was hated by his brothers because of his favored status. Joseph stoked his brothers' hatred by telling them of dreams he had, where his brothers bowed down to him.

One day the brothers could contain their rage no longer. They seized Joseph and threw him into a pit. Their first thought was to kill him, but they changed their minds when they saw a caravan heading for Egypt. Instead of murdering him, his brothers sold him as a slave to members of the caravan—the Ishmaelites. They returned home and told their father that he had been killed by a wild beast. 

People may mean evil against you, but in God’s plan, such situations are for good. No matter what you are going through in life, remember God is in control. When others intend evil against you, know that they can only be God’s tools. As Joseph said to his brothers in our memory verse, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” 

In Egypt, Joseph became the trusted servant of Potiphar, an official in the king's court. Unfortunately, Potiphar's trust was shattered by one false accusation against Joseph by his master’s wife. Without so much as a court hearing, Joseph was thrown into prison. He was doomed, or so he thought. But a perplexing turn of events raised him to unexpected heights.

In prison, Joseph met the king's cup bearer and the king's baker. Both men were troubled by strange and mysterious dreams. When they told Joseph their dreams, he interpreted the strange visions for them. Days later his words came to pass in precisely the way he had announced. What kind of special powers did Joseph possess? How could he interpret these dreams? Joseph merely attributed his ability to the God of Israel, a God not worshiped in Egypt. 

Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream. His advisors could not even begin to interpret it. Joseph was summoned from the prison to decipher the strange, troubling images. After a moment of silence, Joseph declared that the visions meant that Egypt would be blessed with seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine. 

In grateful response, Pharaoh appointed Joseph second-in-command in Egypt (a Prime Minister in a foreign land). Again, Joseph downplayed his own abilities and spoke instead of the power of the Awesome God. And just as he predicted, the seven years of abundance came, as did the seven years of famine. Joseph's unique supernatural gift of God propelled him to power.

Joseph's appointment to second-in-command, remains an astonishing moment in ancient history. How do we explain his rise from an impoverished foreigner to an imperial leader? Joseph said to his brothers, "God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to to high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people" (Genesis 50 vs 20). And that is the best explanation of all—the wonderful act of an awesome God. 

The experience in Joseph’s life taught him, and teaches us, that God brings good from evil for those who trust in Him. He overrules people’s evil intentions to bring about His intended results our lives. In Joseph’s case, He brought good from the brothers’ evil deed, Potiphar’s wife’s false accusation, the butler’s neglect, and seven years of famine. Trust God enough and wait patiently for Him to bring good out of bad situations you face.

Although Joseph’s brothers didn’t kill him outright, they wouldn’t expect him to survive for long as a slave. They were quite willing to let cruel slave traders do their dirty work for them. Joseph faced a 30-day journey through the desert, probably chained and on foot. He will be treated like baggage, and once in Egypt would be sold as a piece of merchandise. His brothers had wanted to get rid of him, but God used even their evil actions to fulfill His ultimate plan. He had sent Joseph ahead to preserve their lives, save Egypt, and prepare the way for the beginning of the nation of Israel. God is sovereign. His plans are not dictated by human actions! Hallelujah!

Prayer: Abba Father, I completely put my trust in You. Your thoughts for me are of good, not evil. I pray You upturn all evil intentions of people in my life for good, after the order of Joseph in the Scripture, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Seek Your City’s Good

 Seek Your City’s Good

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. . . . But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:4–5, 7)

If that was true for God’s exiles in Babylon, it would seem to be even more true for Christian exiles in this very “Babylon-like” world. What, then, shall we do?

We should do the ordinary things that need to be done: build houses; live in them; plant gardens. This does not contaminate you if you do it all for the real King and not just for eye service as men-pleasers.

Seek the welfare of the place where God has sent you. Think of yourself as sent there by God for his glory. Because you are.

Pray to the Lord on behalf of your city. Ask for great and good things to happen for the city. Ask that they happen by God’s power and for his glory. Never lose sight of the ultimate good that the city needs a thousand times more than it needs material prosperity. Christians care about all suffering — especially eternal suffering. That’s the greatest danger every city faces.

But neither God nor his people are indifferent to the health and safety and prosperity and freedom of the city. We all want these things, and Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). In fact, the Lord says in Jeremiah that loving your city is a way of loving yourself: “In its welfare you will find your welfare.”

This does not mean we give up our exile orientation. Peter says that Christians are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and Paul says “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). In fact, we will do most good for this world by keeping a steadfast freedom from its beguiling attractions. We will serve our city best by getting our values from “the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of “the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26).

So, let’s live — let’s do so much good (1 Peter 2:12) — that the natives will want to meet our King.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 22, 2026.

SUBJECT: THE CHOICE OF LIFE OR DEATH! 

Memory verse: "I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." (Deuteronomy 30 vs 19.)

READ: Deuteronomy 30 vs 15 - 20:

30:15: See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,

30:16: in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgements, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 

30:17: But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,

30:18: I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.

30:19: I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

30:20: that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

INTIMATION:

God is the source and Creator of life, for there is no life outside of God here and hereafter. The life in us is the gift from Him. And because Jesus is eternally existent with God, the Creator, He too, is “the life” through whom we may live eternally. Jesus said, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14 vs 6.) 

In the passage we read today, Moses, in his farewell address to the Israelites, challenged them to choose life, to obey God and, therefore, to continue to experience His blessings. God doesn’t force His Will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him. This decision, however, is a life and death matter. 

God sets life and death before His people, Israel, at the borders of the Promise Land. As all people do, the children of Israel had a choice: they could obey God or disobey Him. One choice would lead to life, and the other choice would lead to death.

God, however, created us as free-moral individuals. And the final exhortation to us in Scriptures is to make a free-moral decision to choose that which will bring life and good. When one stays close to God, he or she will have life. No eternal life exists outside the presence of God. Therefore, one must choose to come into, and continually stay in the presence of God in order to maintain eternal life. Since God is eternal, the Scriptures conclude that only those who choose to cleave to Him will enjoy eternal existence in His presence. It is imperative, therefore, that one discover how to come into an eternal relationship with God.

Although the terms of the Old Covenant, according to the passage we read today, were specifically for Israel in the Promised Land and are not applied to all humanity today, the choice is still very much the same. God still sets life and death before us. The Scripture in Romans 6 vs 23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Those who accept Christ by faith will experience eternal life and blessing, while those who reject Him will experience eternal death and destruction (John 3 vs 18). There is a clear choice with eternal consequences.

In life we are faced with choices. God has ordained our paths in life, that we may accomplish our predetermined purposes in life in accordance with His Will for us. God doesn't force His Will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him, obey Him or disobey Him. This decision, however, is a life-or-death matter. God wants us to realize this, for He would like us all to choose life. Daily, in each new situation, we must affirm and reinforce this commitment. 

Now remember this, for the ancient Hebrews’ life, by definition, was precisely that which proceeded from loving and obeying God. Therefore, if we choose to serve God, we are choosing life. Death was defined as the rejection of God. Therefore, if we choose not to serve and obey the Lord, we choose death.  

But we need to understand that our choices affect not only eternity, they affect today as well. If I want to live today, it means that I choose to serve the Lord today. If I choose not to serve the Lord today, it means that for today I have not chosen life; I have chosen something else, and what follows from that choice will not be the life that comes from God but something else, that is, isolation from Him which is the same as death. 

Remember, what we choose will be given to us, so let’s be sure to choose to serve the Lord and not some other god, let’s be sure to choose life, so that we will live today and throughout all eternity with the Lord.

Prayer: Abba Father, by You all things consist. And You created all things, including me, for Your pleasure. Endue me with the spirit of delightsome obedience to You in all things, that I may please You and live according to Your predetermined purposes for me, and have life more abundantly, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Five Reasons to Be Fearless

 Five Reasons to Be Fearless

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

The reason God wants us not to be afraid concerning money or other things of the world is because that fearlessness — that freedom from anxiety — will magnify five great things about him.

First, not being afraid shows that we treasure God as our Shepherd. “Fear not, little flock.” We are his flock and he is our Shepherd. And if he is our Shepherd, then Psalm 23:1 applies: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” — that is, I shall not lack anything I truly need.

Second, not being afraid shows that we treasure God as our Father. “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” We are not only his little flock; we are also his children, and he is our Father. He really cares and really knows what you need and will work for you to be sure that you have what you need.

Third, not being anxious shows that we treasure God as King. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He can give us the “kingdom” because he is the King. This adds a tremendous element of power to the one who provides for us. “Shepherd” connotes protection and provision. “Father” connotes love and tenderness and authority and provision and guidance. “King” connotes power and sovereignty and wealth.

Fourth, not being afraid shows how free and generous God is. Notice, he gives the kingdom. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He doesn’t sell the kingdom or rent the kingdom or lease the kingdom. He is infinitely wealthy and does not need our payments. So, God is generous and free with his bounty. And this is what we magnify about him when we are not afraid, but trust him with our needs.

Finally, not being afraid — not being anxious — shows that we trust that God really wants to do this. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It delights him. He is not begrudging. It makes him glad to give us the kingdom. Not all of us had fathers like this, who were made happy by giving instead of getting. But that sorrow is not the main thing any more, because now you can have such a Father, and Shepherd, and King.

So, the point of this verse is that we should treasure God as our Shepherd and Father and King who is generous and happy to give us the kingdom of God — to give us heaven, to give us eternal life and joy, and everything we need to get there. 

If we treasure God in this way, we will be fearless and God will be worshiped.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY APRIL 21, 2026.

SUBJECT: BELIEVERS HAVE THE SAME SPIRIT AS CHRIST!

Memory verse: “But if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead shall also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8 vs 11.)

READ: John 14 vs 15 - 18:

14:15: If you love Me, keep my commandments.

14:16: And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you for ever;

14:17: the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him, nor knows Him: but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and will be in you.

14:18: I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

14:19: A little while longer and the world will see Me no more; but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.

14:20: At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

INTIMATION:

The “new creation” (the believer) has that same spirit that was at work in Jesus; the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. And that same Spirit is at work in the believers that will enable them to do what Christ did; working in the power of that Spirit—the Holy Spirit. Jesus used the illustration of moving the mountain to show that God can do the impossible with the believers. The qualification for being able to command the power of the supernatural demands that you believe. You require a non-doubting faith that will enable you to do great things for God. 

This “new creation” is with God's nature, and God is indwelling him, he has been given a legal right, and the power of attorney to the use of the Name of Jesus; the name that is above every other name in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth, and to receive help from the Holy Spirit. This believer; this new creation in Christ, is a child of Deity. He stands before the world as a very branch of the vine. He is taking the place of Jesus in the world. He is really an incarnation. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, came the day of Pentecost, to make His home in the body of the believers. He not only has God's nature, but has God actually living in him.

Have you been worried about whether or not you really are a Christian? A Christian is anyone who has the Spirit of God living in him or her. If you have sincerely trusted Christ for your salvation and acknowledged Him as Lord and personal Savior, then the Holy Spirit lives within you and you are a Christian. You are assured that you have the Holy Spirit because Jesus promised that He would send Him. The Christian has a new life through the Holy Spirit, and his heart is continually renewed by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s promise or guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in Him. 

The Spirit is within the believers now, and by faith they are certain to live with Christ forever. The Holy Spirit is a powerful person on the side of the believer, working for and with the believer; He is the very presence of God within all believers, helping them live as God wants and building Christ’s church on earth. By faith the believers can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day. He helps them to act as Christ directs (Romans 8 vs 5; Galatians 5 vs 22 - 23), and find help in dealing with their daily problems and also in praying accordingly in the Will of God (Romans 8 vs 26 - 27). 

Jesus, during His time on earth, was going to leave the disciples at some point, but He would still remain with them. How could this be? The Helper—the Spirit of God Himself—would come after Jesus was gone to care for and guide the disciples. The regenerating power of the Spirit came on the disciples just before Jesus’ ascension (John 20 vs 22), and the Spirit was poured out on all the believers at Pentecost (Acts 2 vs 3 - 4), shortly after Jesus ascended to heaven. 

The Holy Spirit will never leave the believers; the world at large cannot receive Him; He lives with them and in them; He teaches them (John 14 vs 26); He reminds them of Jesus’ words (John 14 vs 26; 15 vs 26); He convinces the world of sin, shows them God’s righteousness, and announces God’s judgement on evil (John 16 vs 8); He guides them into truth and gives them insight into the future events (John 16 vs 13); and He brings glory to Christ (John 16 vs 14). 

Prayer: Abba, Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who are recreated in Christ Jesus. Give me the grace not to quench the Spirit, but always follow His leading in all things, and at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Key to Radical Love

 The Key to Radical Love

“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, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

One of the questions I posed while preaching on loving our enemies from Matthew 5:44 was, How do you love the people who kidnap you and then kill you?

How can we do this? Where does the power to love like this come from? Just think how astonishing this is when it appears in the real world! Could anything show the truth and power and reality of Christ more than this? 

I believe Jesus gives us the key to this radical, self-sacrificing love, described in Matthew 5:44, earlier in the very same chapter. 

In Matthew 5:11–12, he is again talking about being persecuted, just like he was when he said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” What is remarkable about these verses is that Jesus says that you are able not only to endure the mistreatment of the enemy, but rejoice in it. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you. . . . Rejoice and be glad.”

This seems even more beyond our reach than praying for our enemies or doing good to them. If I could do this humanly impossible thing — namely, rejoice in being persecuted — then it would be possible to love my persecutors. If the miracle of joy in the midst of the horror of injustice and pain and loss could happen, then the miracle of love for the perpetrators could happen too.

Jesus gives the key to joy in these verses. He says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” The key to joy is faith in God’s future grace — that is, being satisfied in all that God promises to be for you. He says, “Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.” Our joy in persecution is the joy of heaven streaming back into this moment of horror and setting us free to love. So, this joy is the freeing power to love our enemies when they persecute us. 

If that is true, then the command to love is implicitly also a command to set our minds on things that are above — all that God promises to be for us — not on things that are on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

The command to love our enemy is a command to find our hope and our deepest soul-satisfaction in God and his great reward — his future grace. The key to radical love is faith in future grace. We must be persuaded in the midst of our agony that the love of God is “better than life” (Psalm 63:3). Loving your enemy doesn’t earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY APRIL 20, 2026.

SUBJECT : GIVE YOUR WHOLE HEART TO GOD!

Memory verse: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God." (Psalm 42 vs 1.)

READ: Psalms 119 vs 34 - 36:

119:34: Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

119:35: Make me walk in the path of Your commandments; for I delight in it.

119:36: Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. 

INTIMATION:

The heart is the chief organ of physical life. The heart is used figuratively for the hidden springs of our personal life. It is the custodian of man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational, irrational, and the emotional elements. The Bible describes human depravity as in the heart, because sin is a principle which has its seat in the centre of man’s inward life, and then defiles the whole circuit of his action. 

On the other hand, Scripture regards the heart as the sphere of Divine influence. The heart, as lying deep within, contains ‘the hidden man’—the real man. It represents the true character but conceals it. It denotes the seat of physical life, moral nature, and spiritual life.

God desires a heartily relationship with us, hence His demand on us to seek, serve, and love Him with all our heart. As I said, the heart contains ‘the hidden man.’ A wise person once said, "When God measures you, He puts the tape around your heart, not your head." How is your heart relationship with God? We work hard to keep our outward appearance attractive, but what is deep down in our heart (where others can’t see) is more important to God. What are you like inside? God desires the spiritual heart relationship with His children; where they will seek Him with all their heart. 

Unfortunately many people never really seek Him with all their heart. They are content to learn as a child would. That is, learning and following rules in order to avoid big problems, but not as willing to spend any great period of time with the Lord in the free time they have. There is little delight in the relationship, only obedience out of necessity. They have salvation from penalty of sin, but they will enter heaven "through the flames" (First Corinthians 3 vs 15). They have yet to cross that line of spiritual familial relationship into spiritual heart relationship.

Spiritual heart relationship can best be explained through a human illustration. Some children grow up in families where their father is a strong disciplinarian. They obey because they do not want to suffer the wrath of their father. Although they may even respect the father and his accomplishments, they want nothing to do with him on a personal basis. It is not unusual for such children to dread the return of their father in the evening. As adults they spend as little time with him as possible. There is a physical relationship with obedience, but not the close heart relationship. Fear and mistrust are barriers to their ever being close.

On the other hand, some have fathers who have definite standards and rules to obey, but the relationship is one of love and respect. They are excited when Dad walks through the door at night. They love the weekends because Dad can be with them and they do fun things together. Such children obey because they love and trust their father, not because they fear him or the consequences of disobedience. In our relationship with God we can respond and obey either out of love or out of fear.

When we realize God's desire to be our Faithful Companion in our relationship, we find Him less an authority figure and more a desirable companion Who is no less in charge in our lives. We now realize He is on our side, how much He wants the best for us and how absolutely dependable He is. The inborn unhealthy fear of God that stems from our sin nature and is often stirred up by the enemy of our souls, is weakening as we are getting a clearer picture of who He really is.

Throughout our lives, we look for those rare individuals with whom we feel relaxed and comfortable and can share our heart and our secrets and know they will not betray us, who will always be there for us, and in whom we can have confidence; individuals we can respect and who in turn admire us and want us to be successful.

God wants to be in that type of role with us, but He is even better than any earthly companion. For God is a perfect companion: the One who knows the road we are traveling on and all of the problems that lay ahead; the One who can give us dependable advice; the One who wants to share our life with us and will not put us down when we stumble; the One who will never desert us if we fail or do not live up to His standards. He accepts us just as we are, wants to be with us forever, is able to help us be all that we can be, and can enable us either to avoid or overcome every obstacle or problem in our lives.

So, let your heart relationship be like that of David as indicated in our memory verse; the man God testified thus, "a man after My own heart, who shall do all My Will." ( Acts 13 vs 22.) In the passage we read today, Moses had such heart relationship with God, that he enjoyed the presence of God most times. God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is an intimate heartily relationship with You; to seek, serve, and love You with all my heart. Build in me Your steadfast spirit, and uphold me with Your right spirit. Endue me with the strength and grace to accomplish and flourish in intimate heartily relationship with You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!