KEEP THE ‘ROYAL LAW’ AND FULFILL ALL THE LAW!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 29, 2024.

SUBJECT : KEEP THE ‘ROYAL LAW’ AND FULFILL ALL THE LAW!

Memory verse: " If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.” (James 2 vs 8.)

READ: Romans 13 vs 8 - 10; Galatians 5 vs 14:

13:8: Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

13:9: For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

13:10: Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatians 5:14: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

INTIMATION:

The ‘royal law’ is the law of loving one another. It was given by our great King Jesus Christ, who said, “Love one another as I loved you” (John 15 vs 12). This is the principle upon which human relationships are established. One does well if he or she manifests loving concern for his or her neighbor as he or she does for himself or herself. To love others was not a new commandment (see Leviticus 19 vs 18), where it was originally summarized, and was the basis for all the laws of how people should relate with one another. 

However, to love others as much as Christ loved us is revolutionary, and absolutely very rare in a world dominated by selfishness—“me first.” Now we are to love others in consonance to Jesus' sacrificial love for us. Jesus is a living example of God's love—Who gave His only Son as a propitiation for us, we are to be living examples of Jesus love as well—bearing one another’s burden (Galatians 6 vs 2). 

Jesus summarized the law as ‘Love for God and neighbor’ (Matthew 22 vs 37 - 40). The royal law holds us accountable to God, and devoted to others. In the the passage we read today, the apostle Paul said that love demonstrated toward a neighbor would fully satisfy the law. Therefore, when we fail to love we are actually breaking God’s law. 

A heart of love, both toward God and your fellow human, is a fundamental requirement in our relationship and fellowship with God. Jesus gave us a commandment in John 13 vs 34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another." His unique and unequalled love for us caused Him to give His life for us, hence He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15 vid 13).

We must treat all people as we would want to be treated. This is a debt that all believers in Christ owe. Why? Because we are permanently in debt to Christ for the lavish love He has 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 love for our neighbor is limitless and has no boundaries. It doesn’t ignore anybody, because ignoring anybody, whether rich or poor, is tantamount to withholding our love. But we must not favor the rich for what they can do for us, while ignoring the poor who can offer us seemingly nothing or so little in return. The Scripture recognizes love for one another as a demonstration of love for God; "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (First John 4 vs 20.) Therefore, love your neighbor you are seeing before you can claim your love for God you do not see.

Christians must obey the law of love, which supersedes both religious and civil laws. It’s quite easy for us to excuse our indifference to others merely because we have no legal obligation to help them, and even, in some circumstances, justly harming them if our actions are technically legal! For instance, if our actions are legal and beneficial to us, we may not care how it affect others. But Jesus does not leave loopholes in the law of love. Whenever love demands it, we are to go beyond human legal requirements and imitate the God of love. 

When we believers lose the motivation of love, we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Soon we lose our unity. Have you talked behind someone’s back? Have you focused on others’ shortcomings instead of their strengths? Remind yourself of Jesus’ command to love others as you love yourself. (Matthew 22 vs 39). When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person’s positive qualities. When problems need to be addressed, confront in love rather than gossip.

It’s noteworthy that we need self-love that can influence our love for others. But even if you have low self-esteem, you probably don’t willingly let yourself go hungry. You take care of your body and may even exercise. You clothe yourself reasonably well. You make sure there is a roof over your head. You try not to let yourself be cheated or injured. This is the kind of love we need to have for our neighbors. 

Now, do we see that others are fed, clothed, and housed as well as they can be? Are we concerned about issues of social justice? Loving others as ourselves means actively working to see that their needs are met. Interestingly, people who focus on others rather than on themselves rarely suffer from low self-esteem.

Examine your attitude and actions toward others. Do you build people up or tear them down? When you really criticize someone, remember God’s law of love and say something good instead. Saying something beneficial to others will cure you of finding fault and increase your ability to obey God’s law of love.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of love for You and my neighbor that I may keep the royal law, and consequently fulfill all the law to the glory of Your name, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Finally and Totally Justified

 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (Romans 8:33)

Paul could have said here, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” and then answered, “No one! We are justified.” That’s true. But that is not what he said. His answer instead is, “God is the one who justifies.” 

The emphasis is not on the act but on the Actor.

Why? Because in the world of courts and laws where this language comes from, the acquittal of a judge might be overturned by a higher one. 

So what, if a local judge acquits you, when you are guilty, if a governor has the right to bring a charge against you? So what, if a governor acquits you, when you are guilty, if the emperor can bring a charge against you? 

Here’s the point: Above God, there are no higher courts. If God is the one who acquits you — declares you righteous in his sight — no one can appeal; no one can claim a technicality; no one can call for a mistrial; no one can look for other counts against you. God’s sentence is final and total.

Hear this, all you who believe on Jesus, and become united to Christ, and show yourself among the elect: God is the one who justifies you. Not a human judge. Not a great prophet. Not an archangel from heaven. But God, the Creator of the world and Owner of all things and Ruler of the universe and every molecule and person in it, God is the one who justifies you.

The point: unshakable security in the face of tremendous suffering. If God is for us, no one can successfully be against us. If God gave his Son for us, he will give us everything that is good for us. If God is the one who justifies us, no charge against us can stand.

BE A DOER OF THE WORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2024.

SUBJECT: BE A DOER OF THE WORD!

Memory verse: "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2 vs 20.) 

READ: Luke 6 vs 46 - 49:

6:46: But why do call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?

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 a rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a 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:

A “doer” adopts an act to express a thought or feeling or believe. Consequently, a “doer of the word” adopts acts that express the believe, thought and feelings relating to the Word of God heard. Unless you are a doer of the Word, you are not a true believer of the Word. You only have mental assent without action, and it is mere empty profession of religion of words. 

When you are a doer, the Word is living in your lips. It is just as though the Master spoke it Himself. And that “doer” gets what he or she prays for, because the “doer” does the things that are pleasing to God. In order words, we are Father-pleasers just as Jesus was; doing the things that are pleasing to Him in accordance with His Word. 

The Scripture in John 8 vs 29 says, "And He Who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." It is the doer of the Word that receives things from God. The Father is always with the doer of the Word. Idle words may entertain men, but they do not reach God.

Jesus is more concerned about our work than our talk. He wants us to do right, not just say the right words. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe. Faith without corresponding actions is barren. Your words may be lovely, and beautiful, but they are merely empty words without corresponding actions, and are never crystallized or made real unless you a doer of the Word. 

Obedience to God is the fundamental requirement in being a doer of the Word. Obeying God is like building a house on a solid foundation that stands firm when storms come. From the passage we read today, to build “on the rock” means to be a hearing, responding disciple, not a phony, superficial one. Practicing obedience becomes the solid foundation to weather the storms of life.

When life is calm, our foundations don’t seem to matter. But when crises come, foundations are tested. Be sure your life is built on the solid foundation of knowing and trusting Jesus. Those who do not obey God, He would call them builders on a sandy foundation, just a sand house made by idle hands on the seashore to be destroyed by the next incoming tide. Foolish builders, build on the sand of their senses, instead on the Word of God which is forever settled in heaven. Such religion of Word without corresponding action is very dangerous, and results in self-delusion.

This passage we read today was the concluding part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He compares two lives that have several points in common: they both built, they both heard Jesus’s teaching, and they both experienced 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 differences 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. 

When you are real doer of the Word, God is always with you. Jesus said in Matthew 28 vs 20, "...To observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." As the Father-pleasers, He is always with us as He was with Jesus (John 8 vs 29), and if He is with us, who can be against us? (Romans 8 vs 31.) 

We are laboring together with Him. (Second Corinthians 6 vs 1.) He is with us in the living Word. He is with us in the presence of the mighty Spirit that lives in us. He hasn't left us alone, and He will not leave us alone. His ability is our ability; His strength is our strength. As we begin to do the Word, He begins to work in us, and work through us. 

When a “doer of the Word” comes to God, he comes with a clear conscience, without fear, confident that his or her request will be heard. When he or she says, "God You know that I am doing your Word," then the heart is persuaded. And when you are in His presence for intercession, your heart is not fearful; your heart does not condemn you. Your heart is in perfect fellowship with this living Word and you have boldness in His presence, conscious that you are welcome. You make your petition in the name of Jesus, and you know that the Father hears you and that you have the petition of your heart.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of active faith and obedience to Your Word, building up myself in solid and unshakable faith in Your Word, and doing all according to Your Word, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

TRUST IN THE LORD COMPLETELY!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2024.

SUBJECT: TRUST IN THE LORD COMPLETELY!

Memory verse: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind s stayed on You, because he trusts in You." (Isaiah 26 vs 3.)

READ: Psalm 125 vs 1 - 2:

Psalm 125:1: Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

125:2: As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever.

INTIMATION:

Trusting in the Lord completely means having faith that He knows what is best for your life, you expect Him to keep His promises, help you with problems, and do the impossible when necessary. Trusting in the Lord completely pleases Him. When you put your absolute trust in the Lord, He will surround you as the mountains surround the city of Jerusalem. You will confidently say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress." Those who trust in the Lord completely have the same claim and experience expressed by the psalmist in Psalm 91; the perfect expression of the result of our absolute trust in God. Recite Psalm 91 daily in assurance of your trust in Him.

The reason we trust in the Lord is because He is an unchanging God. As the mountain remains unmoved, so do the consistency of our God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Malachi 3 vs 6; Hebrews 13 vs 8). And because "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy," (Psalm 147 vs 11), He surrounds His people now and forever. You are continually in His presence. And "In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16 vs 11.)

Noah was one of the people that trusted in the Lord. Even when God asked him to do something that made no sense to him, he trusted God and obeyed. Noah knew nothing about flood as there has been no rain before that time, so he knew nothing about rain. He has never seen an ark or built a ship before, but obeyed the instructions God gave him and adhered strictly to the measurements and materials God told him to use. 

Obviously Noah was faced with three problems that could have caused him to doubt. First, he had never seen rain, because prior to the flood, God irrigated the earth from the ground up. (See Genesis 2 vs 5 - 6.) Second, Noah lived hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean. Even if he could learn to build a ship, how would he get it to water? Third, there was the problem of rounding up all the animals and then caring for them. But he didn't complain or make excuses. He trusted God completely, and that made God smile at him. It took Noah 120 years to build the ark. I imagined he faced many discouraging days. With no sign of rain year after year, he was ruthlessly criticized as a "crazy man who thinks God speaks to him." I imagined Noah's children were often embarrassed by the giant ship being built in their front yard. Yet Noah kept trusting God.

Trust is an act of worship. Just as parents are pleased when the children trust their love and wisdom, your faith makes God happy. And without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11 vs 6.) Trusting in the Lord completely pleases Him, and consequently He ensures you are kept in perfect peace that surpasses all human understanding. 

We can never avoid strife around us in this world, but with God we can know perfect peace even in turmoil. When we are devoted to Him, our whole attitude is steady and stable. Supported by God's unchanging love and mighty power, we are not shaken by the surrounding chaos. Do you want peace? Keep your thoughts and your trust in God. The secret of stability is to trust in God, because He never changes. He cannot be shaken by the changes in our world, and He endures forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, in You I put my whole trust. Whatever You can’t do for me, let it remain undone, whatever You can’t give me, may I never have it. Forever my trust is permanently anchored in You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Radical Effects of the Resurrection

 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19)

Paul concludes from his hourly danger, and his daily dying, and his fighting with wild beasts, that the life he has chosen in following Jesus is foolish and pitiable if he will not be raised from the dead. 

If death were the end of the matter, he says, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). This doesn’t mean: Let’s all become gluttons and drunkards if there is no resurrection. Drunkards are pitiable too — with or without the resurrection. He means: If there is no resurrection, what makes sense is middle-class moderation to maximize earthly pleasures.

But that is not what Paul chooses. He chooses suffering, because he chooses obedience. Ananias came to Paul after his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road, with the words from the Lord Jesus, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16). Paul accepted this suffering as part of his calling. 

How could Paul do it? What was the source of this radical and painful obedience? The answer is given in 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In other words, Christ was raised, and I will be raised with him. Therefore, nothing suffered for Jesus is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

The hope of the resurrection radically changed the way Paul lived. It freed him from materialism and consumerism. It gave him the power to go without comforts and pleasures that many people feel they must have in this life. For example, though he had the right to marry (1 Corinthians 9:5), he renounced that pleasure because he was called to bear so much suffering. 

This is the way Jesus said the hope of the resurrection is supposed to change our behavior. For example, he told us to invite to our homes people who cannot pay us back in this life. How are we to be motivated to do this? “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).

This is a radical call for us to look hard at our present lives to see if they are shaped by the hope of the resurrection. Do we make decisions on the basis of gain in this world, or gain in the next? Do we take risks for love’s sake that can only be explained as wise if there is a resurrection?

May God help us to rededicate ourselves for a lifetime of letting the resurrection have its radical effects.

BOLDLY COME BEFORE THE LORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2024. 

SUBJECT : BOLDLY COME BEFORE THE LORD!

Memory verse: "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4 vs 16.)

READ: Hebrews 10 vs 19 - 22:

10:19: Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 

10:20: by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

10:21: and having a High Priest over the house of God,

10:22: let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

INTIMATION:

Prayer is our approach to God, and we are to come boldly. He is our Loving, Merciful, Loving, and Faithful Father. And He is also our King. We go to Him with reverence for who He is—our Holy Sovereign, and Awesome God. But also we will come to Him with bold assurance because He is our Father, Friend, Counselor, Compassionate, Faithful, and Loving Father. 

Being bold is being courageous which is a commandment from God Himself. In Joshua 1 vs 9, God said to Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord Your God is with you wherever you go.” What else will anybody want than God’s presence wherever you go? Jesus emphasized this when He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mathew 28 vs 20.) And today, we have the privilege of His being with us through the Holy Spirit indwelling us. 

The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within all believers, helping them to live as God wants, and with the assurance of His help, we can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day in our daily lives. He knows everything about us because God is present with us. Haven known this, therefore, we should come boldly before Him, knowing He already knows everything about us. 

Some Christians approach God meekly with heads hung low, afraid to ask Him to meet their needs, and often forget what to say and how to say it. Others pray flippantly, giving little thought to what they say. The Bible in Ephesians 3 vs 12 says, "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him." It is an awesome privilege to be able to approach God with freedom and confidence, which Jesus Christ has instituted for us in redemption. 

Christ’s sacrifice transforms our lives and hearts and makes us clean on the inside. Our clean conscience allow us to enter God’s presence with boldness. By faith in Christ we can enter directly into God's presence through prayer. We know we'll be welcomed with open arms because we are God's children through our union with Christ. Don't be afraid of God. Come boldly, talk with Him about everything. He is waiting to hear from you.

Show me a child who is bold before the father, and I will show a believer who approaches our Heavenly Father with boldness. The believer knows He is the Father, and is aware of his or her right before the Father, and therefore, comes with all boldness to access his or her rights. It is a natural inclination that a child is as bold as a lion before the father, assured of his love, and readiness to offer the needed help as may be required. A child believes the father can do anything for him or her, hence the child’s demands with boldness on the father for anything he or she wants. 

It’s the same with our Heavenly Father. We should come boldly, and with full assurance of His love for us His children, and place our demands before Him, knowing His commitment to us as His children. Jesus said something remarkable about the father and child relationship: “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?. If you then, being evil, knows how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7 vs 9 - 11.) 

As earthly fathers, and fallible human beings are mindful of their child’s comfort and cares, so, and much how more, is our Loving, Holy, Merciful, and Perfect Father in heaven, who is love Himself. With all full assurance of His care for His children, we should approach Him with courage, knowing He is always there for us.

I remember when my children were growing up, when I am set to leave the house in the morning, they will come boldly to me with their requests, demanding that their requests be met immediately or they extract a commitment from me on those requests. And honestly I do my best to meet their needs in order not to diminish their natural inbuilt confidence in me as their father. How much more our Heavenly Father, the Creator and Owner of the entire ‘world and all its fullness,’ (Psalm 50 vs 12), He is always there for us, and encourages us to come boldly with our requests.

Prayer: Abba Father, Your lovingkindness is beyond description. Endue me with the spirit of boldness to approach Your Throne with full assurance of Your unending love for me, that I may obtain mercy and find grace to face all circumstances of life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

When God Becomes 100% for Us

 . . . among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)

All of God’s wrath, all of the condemnation we deserve, was poured out on Jesus. All of God’s demands for perfect righteousness were fulfilled by Christ. The moment we see (by grace!) this Treasure, and receive him in this way, his death counts as our death and his condemnation as our condemnation and his righteousness as our righteousness, and God becomes 100% irrevocably for us forever in that instant.

The question this leaves unanswered is, “Doesn’t the Bible teach that in eternity God set his favor on us in election?”

In other words, thoughtful people ask, “Did God only become 100% for us in the moment of faith and union with Christ and justification? Did he not become 100% for us in the act of election before the foundation of the world?” Paul says in Ephesians 1:4–5, “[God] chose us in [Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.”

Is God then not 100% for the elect from eternity? The answer hangs on the meaning of “100%.” 

With the term “100%” I am trying to preserve a biblical truth found in several passages of Scripture. For example, in Ephesians 2:3, Paul says that Christians were “children of wrath” before they were made alive in Christ Jesus: “We all once lived [among the sons of disobedience] in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Paul is saying that, before our new birth — before we were made alive together with Christ — God’s wrath was on us. The elect were under wrath. This changed when God made us alive in Christ Jesus and awakened us to see the truth and beauty of Christ so that we received him as the one who died for us and as the one whose righteousness is counted as ours because of our union with Jesus. Before this happened to us, we were under God’s wrath. Then, because of faith in Christ and union with him, all God’s wrath was removed and he then became, in that sense, 100% for us.

Therefore, exult in the truth that God will keep you. He will get you to the end because in Christ he is 100% for you. And therefore, getting to the end does not make God to be 100% for you. It is the effect of the fact that he is already 100% for you.