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.

GOD CREATED YOU FOR HIS PLEASURE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY OCTOBER 31, 2023.

SUBJECT : GOD CREATED YOU FOR HIS PLEASURE!

Memory verse: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4 vs 11.)

READ: Ephesians 1 vs 5 - 6 says:

1:5; Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the pleasure of His will, 

1:6: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

INTIMATION:

Pleasure is the gratification of the senses or of the mind; agreeable sensations or emotions; the excitement, relish, or happiness produced by the expectation or the enjoyment of something good, delightful, or satisfying as opposed to pain, sorrow etc. God created you for His pleasure. It pleased Him when He made you in His image and after His likeness. 

All creatures in heaven and earth will worship and honor God because He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything. Our God is a God of pleasure, and you were planned for His pleasure. The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at your birth. He planned it all because He does His pleasure (Isaiah 46 vs 10). God created you for a reason; for His purpose, His delight, His glory, and for His benefits.

Living for God's pleasure, and bringing joy to Him, is the first purpose of your life. All the things the God did, and does is perfect, therefore creating you for His pleasure is perfect, and when you fully understand this truth, you will never feel insignificant, as you now know your worth. 

He created you to be like Himself, because of your importance to Him. And if you are that important to God, and He considers you valuable enough to share eternity with Him, then what greater significance could you have? You are a child of God, and you bring pleasure to God like nothing else He has ever created.

It is clear to you that God delights in you and takes pleasure in you. He wants you to reciprocate His good gesture by also delighting in Him. The psalmist in Psalm 37 vs 4 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

We are called to delight ourselves in the Lord and to commit everything we have and do (our ways) to Him. 

But how do we do that? To delight in someone means experience great pleasure and joy in his or her presence. This happens only when we know Him better. Knowledge of God's great love for us will indeed give us delight.

To commit ourselves to the Lord means entrusting everything—our lives, families, jobs, possessions and so on—to His control and guidance. To commit ourselves to the Lord means trust in Him, believing that He can care for us better than we can ourselves. We should be willing to wait for Him to work out what is best for us. When you delight yourself in the Lord, you rest assured that the desires of heart will be granted to you. 

In the passage we read today, the word "predestined" means marked out beforehand. It was God's will that you are His child, made in His own image and after His likeness, and it is pleasurable to Him. Therefore, He also gave you the gift of enjoying pleasure, and this is one of the greatest gifts He has given you, hence He wired you with five senses and emotions so you can experience it. He wants you to enjoy life, not just endure it. "The Lord takes pleasure in His people" (Psalm 149 vs 4). It is for His pleasure in us He did all He did through Jesus Christ for us. 

God wants His attribute expressed in us, hence His creating us in His image, and after His likeness. God has emotions, too. He feels things deeply. The Bible tells us that God grieves (Genesis 6 vs 6), gets jealous (Exodus 20 vs 5), and angry (Judges 2 vs 20), and feels compassion, pity (Psalm 103 vs 13), sorrow, and sympathy (Deuteronomy 32 vs 36) as well as happiness (Ezekiel 5 vs 13), gladness, (First Chronicles 16 vs 27), and satisfaction. God loves (First John 4 vs 16), delights (Psalm 18 vs 19), gets pleasure (Psalm 35 vs 27), rejoices (Psalm 104 vs 31), enjoys, and even laughs! (Psalm 2 vs 4.)

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the privilege of sonship, and Your exceeding and unparalleled love for me. Give me the grace to lead a life that will give You pleasure at all times, that I may also have pleasure in You, in the mighty Name of Jesus I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WILL GOD REGRET ENTRUSTING YOU WITH HIS GIFTS?

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY OCTOBER 30, 2023.

SUBJECT: WILL GOD REGRET ENTRUSTING YOU WITH HIS GIFTS?

Memory verse: "Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.” (Matthew 18 vs 23.)

READ: Matthew 25 vs 14 - 19:

25:14: For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered his goods to them.

25:15: And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

25:16: Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.

25:17: And likewise he who had received two, gained two more also.

25:18: But he that had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.

25:19: After a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled account with them.

INTIMATION:

All we have on earth; our time, energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, resources, and so on, are all gifts from God and are entrusted to our care and management by Him. We are stewards of whatever God has given us. We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth. The Owner is God, and has only given us right to use when we come in. It is for this reason we come into the world bringing nothing with us at birth, and takes nothing away with us at death. God loans the earth to us while we're here. And He will give the same right to another when we depart in death. You just get to enjoy it for a while. He expects us to invest all He entrusted to us wisely. 

God entrusted the care of His creation to man and appointed him the trustee of His property (Genesis 1 vs 28). This role has never been rescinded. If God truly is our Master, we must obey willingly without excuses. All He has entrusted to our care must be handled and managed properly. When we ignore, squander, or abuse what we are given, we are rebellious and deserve to be punished. 

This stewardship is the major purpose of our life. Unfortunately, the common culture amongst us is to careless of what you don't own. But that is not God's idea. Christians should live by a higher standard: "Because God owns it, I must take the best care of it to the best of my ability." (See First Corinthians 4 vs 2.)"

Jesus often referred to life as a trust and told many stories to illustrate this responsibility toward God. In the story of the loaned money (the talents) according to the passage we read today, the kingdom of heaven is like a businessman who entrusts his wealth to the care of his servants while he is away. When he returns, he evaluates each servant's performance against given responsibility and rewards them accordingly. Those who do well, in line with his expectations, he says, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy your Lord." (Matthew 25 vs 21.)

In the passage we read today, the master divided the talents among his servants according to their abilities. No one received more or less than he could handle. Therefore, if anyone failed in his assignment, his excuse could not be that he was overwhelmed. It will obvious he failed due to laziness or hatred toward the master. 

The talent represents any kind of resource God has given us: time, talents, possessions, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until He returns. We are responsible and accountable for whatever God has delivered to us, and should ensure proper usage or investment. The issue is not how much we have, but how well we use what we have.

In order words, inactivity in the kingdom is not accepted. When the kingdom reign of Jesus is in the hearts of those who have accepted Him as their king, they are moved into action for the king. Inactivity is evidence that the king is not reigning in the hearts of men. The faithful servant does the master's bidding. Each day God presents us with needs and opportunities that challenges us to do what we know is right. We must use our resources—time, talents, abilities, possessions, etc—diligently in order to serve God completely in whatever we do. 

The excuses of the ‘one-talent’ servant actually insulted the integrity of the master. It manifested the fact that he didn’t know the master, and thus, did not know what the master expected. He was rejected on this basis. His inactivity manifested his lack of concern and response to the will of the master. The will of the Master is not burdensome to the one who responds to the love and grace of a loving Father. The sin of the ‘one-talent’ servant resulted from his ungrateful response to the master who had given him so much.

Stewardship is the main subject of the kingdom. Even those who are “one talent servants” must do what they can for the king. Emphasis is not on how much one does, for the amount one accomplishes is determined by the personal gifts from God. Emphasis is on doing. The world is filled with those who buried their talents in the deceptions of indifferent religiosity, and lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4 vs 6.) We must not make excuses to avoid doing what God called us to do. If God truly is our Master, we must obey willingly. The gifts are not ours, but God’s. When we ignore, squander, or abuse what we have been given, we are rebellious and deserve to be punished.

The ‘five talents’ and ‘two talents’ servants were commended on the basis of their faithfulness and stewardship to carry out in their lives the will of the king. If one determines to serve God, then God will give the increase, for it is God’s grace that works in our hearts to bring forth fruit to God. “Well done good and faithful servant” What greater words could ever be heard from God? Christians should be motivated to work for God in order to hear these words from Him. The works they do are in response to the grace of God. 

At the end of each one’s life on earth one will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well one handled what God entrusted to him or her. That means everything you do, even simple daily chores, has eternal implications. If you treat everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity. First, you will be given God's affirmation: He will say, "Good job! Well done!" Secondly, you will receive a promotion and be given greater responsibility in eternity: "I will make you ruler over many things." Thirdly, you will be honored with a celebration: "Enter into the joy your Lord." 

The neglected use of one’s gift will result in losing everything one has been given. If one refuses to respond to God’s grace, he cannot expect to receive anything as a result of his lazy ingratitude. In the final end of things, the glories that will be given to the Christian will far outweigh that which he has accomplished on earth. He will receive more than what he can earn by works on this earth, all by God’s grace. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are forever faithful. Endue me with the spirit of faithfulness to You in all things, being a worthy and effective steward for I have been entrusted with, and be found worthy of Your approval, and the crown of glory in eternity, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Sin, Satan, Sickness, or Sabotage

 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8–9) 

Is the suffering that comes to the Christian because of persecution the same as the suffering that comes from cancer? Do the promises given to one apply to the other? My answer is yes. All of life, if it is lived earnestly by faith in the pursuit of God’s glory and the salvation of others, will meet with some kind of obstacle and suffering. The suffering that comes to the obedient Christian is part of the price of living where you are in obedience to the call of God.

In choosing to follow Christ in the way he directs, we choose all that this path includes under his sovereign providence. Thus, all suffering that comes in the path of obedience is suffering with Christ and for Christ — whether it is cancer at home or persecution far away.

And it is “chosen” — that is, we willingly take the path of obedience where the suffering befalls us, and we do not murmur against God. We may pray — as Paul did — that the suffering be removed (2 Corinthians 12:8); but if God wills, we embrace it as part of the cost of discipleship in the path of obedience on the way to heaven.

All experiences of suffering in the path of Christian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common: They all threaten our faith in the goodness of God, and tempt us to leave the path of obedience.

Therefore, every triumph of faith, and all perseverance in obedience, are testimonies to the goodness of God and the preciousness of Christ — whether the enemy is sickness, Satan, sin, or sabotage. Therefore, all suffering, of every kind, that we endure in the path of our Christian calling is a suffering “with Christ” and “for Christ.”

With him in the sense that the suffering comes to us as we are walking with him by faith, and in the sense that it is endured in the strength he supplies through his sympathizing high-priestly ministry to us (Hebrews 4:15).

And for him in the sense that the suffering tests and proves our allegiance to his goodness and power, and in the sense that it reveals his worth as an all-sufficient compensation and prize.

BE PERSISTENT IN YOUR PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY OCTOBER 29, 2023.

SUBJECT: BE PERSISTENT IN YOUR PRAYER!

Memory verse: "Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18 vs 1.)

READ: Luke 18 vs 2 - 8: 

18:2: Saying, There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

18:3: Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’

18:4: And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,

18:5: yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

18:6: Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

18:7: And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

18:8: I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?”

INTIMATION:

Prayer is to make supplication or petition to God. It is the call of love of the Father to come and fellowship with Him. Prayer is our need crying out for help. It is facing God with man's needs, with His promise to meet those needs. He taught us to pray, He is one with us in this prayer life. Prayer is part of God's program for us. It is the desire of the Father that His children approach Him in prayer. It is the natural response of those who recognize their need for the help of God in their lives. It is the voice of faith to the Father. Prayer therefore, is born out of the sense of need, and the assurance that the need will be met.

Prayer institute a vital contact with the Father, we are near enough to breathe in His very presence. Prayer means that we have come boldly into the Throne Room and are standing in His presence. It is more than bringing Him to the scene. It is going into the presence of the Father and Jesus in an executive meeting, laying our needs before them with your strong reasons, and making our requisitions for ability, for grace, healing for someone, victory for someone, or financial needs, and so on. Whatever the needs may be, we are making a demand upon Him.

Most Christians have realized the fact that the Father's heart is hungry for the companionship of His children. His heart hunger is the reason for man and his redemption. God wants a constant fellowship with His children. It was His plan from the beginning hence He visited Adam everyday in the Garden. He loves us and that love impels Him to call us to constantly commune with Him. It is God's Will that His children will persistently come to Him, to stand in His presence without reproof or condemnation. It is God's intention that His children will visit their Father, coming joyously into the presence of their Loving Father, and are welcome.

To persist in prayer and not give up, or praying without ceasing (First Thessalonians 5 vs 17), does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Constant prayer means keeping our requests continually before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays always have good reasons. 

As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith, and hope. We are in constant communication with the Father and it enriches us spiritually. We touch the Father through our prayers, and there cannot be any touching of the Master without the Master knowing it. When our need touches Him, it makes a demand upon his ability to meet that need. 

For instance, one day when the crowd was pressing around the Master, Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" And they said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, "Who touched Me?" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." (Luke 8 vs 45 - 47.) The woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, touched Him, making a demand upon His ability to meet her need, and the Master knew it, and she got her need met—she was healed of the disease (See Luke 8 vs 40 - 48). 

In the passage we read today, the unjust judge responded to constant pressure of the widow, and avenged her adversary. Then, if we persist in prayer, how much more will a great and loving God respond to us? If we know He loves us, we can believe He will hear our cries for help. Persistence in prayer helps us recognize God’s work, and overcome our insensitivity. To practice persistence does more than to change our heart and mind; it helps us understand and express the intensity of our need. 

Believers need to continue earnestly in prayer and be vigilant in it. Our persistence is an expression of our faith that God answers our prayers. Faith shouldn’t die if the answers come slowly, for the delay may be God’s way of working His will in our life. When you feel tired of praying, know that God is present, always listening, always answering—maybe not in ways you had hoped, but in ways that He knows are best. 

Though we cannot spend all our time on our knees, but it is possible to have a prayerful attitude at all times. This attitude is built upon acknowledging our dependence on God, realizing His presence within us, and determining to obey Him fully. Then we will find it natural to pray frequent, spontaneous, short prayers. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to be in Your presence at all times, constantly communing with You. Give me the grace and unction to function accordingly all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Radical Recompense

 “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30)

What Jesus means here is that he himself makes up for every sacrifice.

If you give up a mother’s nearby affection and concern, you get back one hundred times the affection and concern from the ever-present Christ.

If you give up the warm comradeship of a brother, you get back one hundred times the warmth and comradeship of Christ.

If you give up the sense of at-homeness you had in your house, you get back one hundred times the comfort and security of knowing that your Lord owns every house.

To prospective missionaries, Jesus says, “I promise to work for you, and be for you, so much that you will not be able to speak of having sacrificed anything.”

What was Jesus’s attitude to Peter’s “sacrificial” spirit? Peter said, “We have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28). Is this the spirit of “self-denial” commended by Jesus? No, it is rebuked. 

Jesus said to Peter, “No one ever sacrifices anything for me that I do not pay back a hundredfold — yes, in one sense even in this life, not to mention eternal life in the age to come.”

CHOOSE WHO YOU WILL LIVE FOR!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 28, 2023.

SUBJECT : CHOOSE WHO YOU WILL LIVE FOR!

Memory verse: ""And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24 vs 15.)

READ: First Kings 18 vs 20 - 21:

18:20: Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on mount Carmel.

18:21: And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word.

INTIMATION:

The time is now for your resolution of who you live for, either for yourself or for God. God created us as free-moral beings, and allows a choice in all things. He will not make our choices for now and the future. Your right to choose makes you responsible for your life thereby putting your own destiny in your hands. 

However, because of what God had done for you in Christ Jesus, it is reasonable and responsible for you to make the choice to continue in obedience to His will. It is noteworthy, therefore, that if you fail to do the will of God, you will be responsible for your own judgements from God.

Why do so many people waver between these two choices? Perhaps some were not sure. Many, however, knew the Lord was God, but they enjoyed the sinful pleasures, and other benefits that came with following from their idolatrous worship. It is important to take a stand for the Lord. If we just drift with whatever is pleasant and easy, we will someday discover that we have been worshipping a false God—ourselves. That is idolatry—simply following after your own desires. And it is easy to slip into the quiet rebellion of going about life in your own way. 

But the time comes when you have to choose who or what will control you. The choice is yours. Will it be God, your own limited personality, or another imperfect substitute? Once you have chosen to be controlled by God’s Spirit, reaffirm your choice every day. Living the rest of your life for the glory of God will require a change in your priorities, your schedule, your relationships, and everything else. It will sometimes mean not following the way of others, or choosing the difficult path instead of an easy one. The way we live shows others the strength of our commitment to serving God. 

Jesus during His earth walk, struggled with such choice at a time. When He remembered that He was about to be crucified, He cried out, "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name..." (John 12 vs 27 - 28.) Jesus knew that His crucifixion lay ahead, and because He was human he dreaded it. He wanted to be delivered from this horrible death, but He knew that God sent Him into the world to die in our place for our sins. Jesus said no to His human desires in order to obey His Father and glorify Him.

Will you live for your own goals, comfort, and pleasure, or will you live the rest of your life for God's glory, knowing that He has promised eternal rewards? The Bible says in John 12 vs 25, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Our commitment to live for Christ does not mean that we long to die or that we are careless or destructive with the life God has given, but that we are willing to die if doing so will glorify Christ. 

God gives you what you need to live for Him if you make the choice. The Bible in Second Peter 1 vs 3 says, "As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." God is constantly inviting us to live for His glory by fulfilling the purposes He created us for. It's really the only way to live. Everything else is just existing. 

Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you have not done this, or you are not sure, all you need to do is receive and believe in Him. The Bible, in John 1 vs 12 promises, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." 

First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for His purposes. Believe you're not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you've done, God wants to forgive you. 

Second, receive. Receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior. Receive His forgiveness for your sins. Receive His Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. The Bible, in John 3 vs 36 says, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life..." If you are ready to believe and receive Him right now where you are, just say this prayer quietly, bowing down your head:

"God my Father in heaven, I believe You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die in my stead on the cross at Calvary for my sins. I do, here and now, open my heart and receive Jesus Christ and His new life into my life as my Lord and Savior. I believe that as I receive Jesus, I receive You, O God. I am now restored to You my God and Father through Jesus my Savior. Amen."

If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God! You are now ready to discover and start living God's purpose for your life. It is as simple as that. Hallelujah!

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the privilege of sonship. Endue me with the excellent spirit of total obedience and commitment to You that I may live for You all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!