ASPIRE TO BE PERFECT!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JULY 27, 2020.

SUBJECT: ASPIRE TO BE PERFECT! 

Memory verse: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

 (Matthew 5 vs 48

.)

READ: Second Corinthians 3 vs 18; First John 3 vs 2 - 3:

Second Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

First John 3:2: Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 

3:3: And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

INTIMATION:

“Perfect” comes from the Greek word “Teleios” which signifies haven reached its end, finished, or complete. It’s used primarily for a person’s physical development, then with ethical imports—fully grown, mature. It also, conveys the idea of goodness without necessary reference to maturity, but rather completeness in deeds. For Christ, being perfect is bringing to an end, by completing or accomplishing, His earthly course in the accomplishment of His Father’s Will, the successive stages that culminated to His Death on the cross and resurrection thereto, that made Him perfect legally and officially, for all that He would be to His people on the ground of His sacrifice.

All parts of our lives and character should be in the process of becoming conformed, both inwardly and outwardly, to God's standards. We should be like our Heavenly Father—holy in everything we do. After people commit their lives to Christ, they sometimes still feel a pull back to their old ways, nonetheless, we should aspire to be perfect just as He is. Holiness means being totally devoted or dedicated to God, set aside for His special use and set apart from sin and its influence. We're to be set apart and different, not blending in with the crowd, yet not being different just for the sake of being different. 

We should not be surprised, ashamed, or shocked that have not attained perfection, and still need to grow. God is not finished with us. We can encourage this growth process by deliberately applying Scripture in all areas of our life, by accepting the discipline and guidance Christ provides, and by giving Him control of our desires and goals. Perfection or completeness will be attained at the second coming of Christ—“we shall be like Him For we shall see Him as He is.”

The Bible, in Hebrews 10 vs 14, says, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” We have been made perfect, yet we are “being sanctified” (made holy). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ, once for all, made His believers perfect (complete) in God’s sight—holy and without blemish as planned by God from the beginning for His people. Jesus Christ, through the indwelling Holy Spirit in the believers, is making us holy (progressively cleansed and set apart for His special use) in our daily pilgrimage here on earth. Daily we are being transformed into the image of God from one stage to another—“from glory to glory,” by the Holy Spirit.

God's quality in our lives make us different. Our focus and priorities must be His. All these are in direct contrast to our old ways, we cannot become holy on our own, but God gives us His Holy Spirit to help us obey and to give us power to overcome sin. How can we perfect? We can be perfect as follows:

1. In character. In this life we cannot be flawless, but we can aspire to be as much like Christ as possible.

2. In holiness. Like the Pharisees, we are to separate ourselves from the world's sinful values. But unlike the Pharisees we are to be devoted to God's desires rather our own and carry His love and mercy into the world.

3. In maturity. We can't achieve Christlike character and holy living all at once, but we must grow toward maturity and wholeness. Just as we expect different behavior from a baby, a child, a teenager, and an adult, so God expects different behavior from us, depending on our stage of spiritual development.

4. In love. We can seek to love others as completely as God loves us. We can be perfect if our behavior is appropriate for our maturity level—perfect yet with much room to grow. Our tendency to sin must never deter us from striving to be more like Christ.

Christ calls all of His disciples to excel, to rise above mediocrity, and to mature in every area, becoming like Him. Those who try to be perfect will one day be perfect even as Christ is perfect. By gazing at the nature of God with unveiled minds, we can be more like Him. In the gospel, we see the truth about Christ, and it transforms us morally as we understand and apply it. Through learning about Christ’s life, we can understand how wonderful God is and what He is really like. As our knowledge deepens, the Holy Spirit helps us to change. Becoming Christlike is a progressive experience, the more we follow Christ, the more we will be like Him.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are the Holy Sovereign God. Endue me with Your Spirit to aspire to be like You—perfect, and without faults, and to be complete in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

BLAMELESS AND HARMLESS

BLAMELESS AND HARMLESS

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: Philippians 2:14"

Devotion : The Christian can be blameless and harmless as the light of the world. The way to become blameless and harmless is to do away with murmurings and disputing. Murmuring and disputing are signs of lack of faith and trust in the God we serve. Complaining does not get anything done. Instead of murmuring, disputing, and complaining, we should worship and praise God, and make melodies in our heart; afterwards ask God for His way and go ahead to do what He has destined for us to do. We are the lights in our world so we have to show the world the way to go; the way to go is to shine goodness, hope and inspire confidence in people to trust our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear beloved, do you murmur, dispute, and complain? What would you do to overcome them? Share your comments here!

WE ARE PARTAKERS OF GOD’S DIVINE NATURE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JULY 26, 2020.

SUBJECT:  WE ARE PARTAKERS OF GOD’S DIVINE NATURE!

Memory verse:  "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” (First Peter 1 vs 23.)

READ:  Second Peter 1 verse 2 - 4:

1:2: Grace and Peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

1:3: 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, 

1:4: by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

INTIMATION:

Many Christians still have not understood fully the finished work of Christ for them; haven made available to us the power of God as “partakers of His divine nature.” The finished work is like undeveloped resources in the African Continent. The finished work still remains the only source of our ability to live for God, have a relationship with Him, obtain and harness all the promises of God to us, live a prosperous life, and have good success. God has supplied us with everything in this life that is necessary for living according to His directions and developing a nature that prepares us for eternal dwelling. 

All that are necessary to live a spiritual life—a life of spiritual service toward God in Holy living in this world—have also been provided and granted to us by God (Second Timothy 3 vs 16 - 17). God has provided all that is necessary for a Christian living, therefore, if one does not respond to God in way that God desires, he or she is without excuse. God has supplied us with everything in this life that is necessary for living according to His directions and for developing a nature that prepares us for eternal dwelling. One of these things certainly is the word of God. It is through the word of God that we learn how to conduct our lives according to the will of God. The word of God is certainly the guide that we must follow in order to be certain concerning the conduct of our lives in behavior and godly living. 

However, the “all things” is plural, and therefore, refers to more than one thing. We would assume that other things include (1) The work of God in our lives in order to work all things together for good. (2) The Christian fellowship among those who have responded to the grace of God that was revealed on the cross through Jesus. (3) The provision by God of an environment that would sustain our very being in preparation for heavenly dwelling. All these things are included in the knowledge of Jesus through whom God worked for our salvation. 

Through the word of God that we learn how to conduct our lives according to the will of God. The divine power in the knowledge of Jesus makes it possible for us to put on the divine nature. Through obedience to the gospel, obedient believers are clothed with Christ, and thus, they put on the divine nature. (Galatians 3 vs 26 - 27.) They are cleansed of sin and thus brought into the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Putting on Christ is dressing oneself in the divine nature of godliness and sanctification of the Spirit. Those who have put on the divine nature in Christ have been delivered from the lust of the world because they are now slaves to Jesus. 

Not many Christians have realized that we have in us divine ability. You then ask, "How can this be utilized?" It is acting upon His Word, living the Word life, knowing that all His promises are real and for you to receive if you believe. Knowing that you have your inheritance in Him as is expressed in Colossians 1 vs 12, "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." We take Him, by grace, to lead us into all the fullness of our inheritance.

We will know that Philippians 2 vs 13 is real and at work in us, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." God is at work in us, thinking through our minds, operating through our recreated spirits. He has actually taken us over. Let Him Rule! While He is at work in us, we, as theatre of His marvelous works, should show the excellencies of Him. The power to lead a godly life comes from God. Because we don’t have the resources to be truly godly, God allows us to “be partakers of the divine nature” in order to keep us from sin and help us live for Him. When we are born again, God by His Spirit empowers us with His own goodness. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You have graciously imparted in us Your divine nature. Engrace me to live in Your fullness, manifesting Your divine abilities, utilizing fully the huge treasures of wisdom and knowledge revealed to us in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

BELIEVING LEADS TO POSSIBILITY

BELIEVING LEADS TO POSSIBILITY

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Mark 9:23"

Devotion : Heaven has endorsed whatever the children of God will believe. No wonder our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said all things are possible to those who believe. The personal question we need to ask ourselves is "Do I believe?" If I do then it is possible for me to receive whatever I have prayed for. Any time we pray and sense doubt and unbelief, we should rebuke it and openly declare, "I believe I have received what I have prayed for." The doubt or unbelief will vanish. Also we should try to dissociate from people, words, and anything that brings doubt and unbelief to us. Dear beloved, what are you believing God for? What are you trying to achieve? If you believe it is possible you will have it. Share your thoughts here!

RELATION OF LOVE TO ANSWERED PRAYER!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JULY 25, 2020.

SUBJECT: RELATION OF LOVE TO ANSWERED PRAYER! 

Memory verse: ""A new commandment I gave to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13 vs 34.)

READ: Matthew 7 vs 24 - 27:

7:24: Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 

7:25: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

7:26: "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

7:27: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and heat on the house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

. 

INTIMATION:

Jesus gave us the new commandment to govern our new creation life; that we should love one another as He loved us. Observing to do the new commandment is likened to building on the rock—a solid foundation. It means to be a hearing, responsible disciple, not a phony, superficial one. Practicing obedience becomes the solid foundation to weather the storms of life. The Sinai Law taught that one was to love his neighbor as himself (Leviticus 19 vs 18). One’s love of his neighbor, therefore, was based on his love of himself. However, Jesus emphasizes an intensity of love that is different; a love that has no conditions. It is a self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus simply acts out of a selfless attitude.

You also remember that James speaking in his Book 1 vs 22 says, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." This lover here is a doer of love. He lives in the love realm. It is not the old Phileo love, but the new kind of love that Jesus brought, "Agape" and so we love in deed and in reality. Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth and persuade our hearts when we stand before Him in prayer.

Let us now also join this to First John 5 vs 14 - 15, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us , whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." If we walk in love, we are walking according to His Will, and we never pray out of His Will. And because we are walking according to His Will, He hears us, and the assurances of receiving our petition is therefore, given.

The apostle John gave two conditions upon which prayer is answered. (1) We must ask according to the will of God, for God does not work contrary to His will in answer to prayer. (2) We must ask upon the condition that we are obedient to His will, for God work’s through the lives of those who are carrying out His work in the world. If we ask of God on these two conditions, we can have confidence, or boldness that God will answer our prayers. We can have confidence that God will work in our behalf in order to accomplish that which is in the best interest ps of His children (Romans 8 vs 28)). When we are confident that God hears our prayers, then we will see His answers.

Walking according to His Will leads us right into the heart of the Father. This love life permits us to walk into the very presence of the Father. You may go into the throne room and stand in His presence and make your petitions known in that name, and as sure as you do, the petition is heard. Unless we walk in love and have yielded to the lordship of love, God cannot manifest Himself through us. The ability of God is realized only in love's freedom to act. Selfishness imprisons love.

The two lives Jesus compares at the end of the Sermon on the Mount which is the passage we read today, have several points in common: the two men 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 obedience to His Word. Externally, their lives may look similar, but the lasting, structural differences will be revealed by the storms of life. 

The immediate difference in your life when you follow Christ may not be obvious, but eventually they will turn out to affect even your eternal destiny. 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 to destruction not out of stubbornness but out of thoughtlessness. They hardly stop and think where their lives are headed, and the consequences of ignoring the Word of God.

In the new creation, you have become doers of love; hitherto, you were doers of selfishness. We have consented to the dethroning of the control of the flesh. Prior to the new creation, our physical bodies have sat upon the throne of our lives. Now we are crowning our spirits, or to put it more clearly, we are recognizing the lordship of Jesus Christ and crowning Him as Lord of our whole being.

Prayer: Abba Father, Your love nature has been shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit which is given to me in the new creation. O Lord, let me receive mercy and grace to walk in love, and be helpful in time of need, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE SPIRITUAL MINDED OR CARNALLY MINDED?

THE SPIRITUAL MIND OR CARNAL MIND?
"
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6"

Devotion : Life is about making choices, even refusing to make a choice is a choice in itself. Believers in Christ Jesus must make a choice to either be carnally minded or spiritually minded. To be carnally minded is to walk in the natural mindset: thinking of temporal things, talking by feeling, acting according to feeling, and living according to the human senses; these can only lead to suffering, doubt, unbelief, and finally death. To be spiritually minded is to walk in the supernatural mindset: thinking of eternal things, talking by faith, acting in line with the Holy Scriptures, and living by the Holy Spirit; these lead to peace, greater faith, believing, wealth, and life, praise the Lord! Dear beloved, what did you learn from this gospel? Share your comments here!

BE SELFLESS IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JULY 24, 2020.

SUBJECT:  BE SELFLESS IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS!

Memory verse:  "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2 vs 4.) 

READ: Romans 15 vs 1 - 3; First Corinthians 20 vs 24:

Romans 15:1: We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
15:2: Let each one of us please his neighbour for his good, leading to edification.
15:3: For even Christ did not please Himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

First Corinthians 10:24: Let no one Seek his own, but each one the others’s well-being.

INTIMATION:

We're by nature selfish. Activities around us also encourages us to think of self. We are interested in being the first or the best as the world look out for such people amongst us. Consequently, we are more interested in self than others. Considering others interests as more important than our own links us with Christ, who was an epitome of selflessness. Christ had every right to exalt His rights over those whom He had created, however, He lowered Himself to be the servant of man (Matthew 26 vs 28; Mark 10 vs 45). When we care for the problems of others as if they are our problems, we demonstrate Christ’s example of putting others first—being selfless.

The Scriptural recommendation for all actions of believers is not to do what we like best, but what is best for those around us. The opposite approach would be (1)being insensitive and doing what we want, no matter who is hurt by it; (2) being over-sensitive and doing nothing, for fear that someone may be displeased; (3) being a "yes person" by going along with everything, trying to gain approval from people rather than from God. In this age of "me first" and "looking out for number one," the Scriptural recommendation is that we make the good of others one of our primary goals, and in so doing we develop a serving attitude that pleases God.

The only way we can make the paradigm switch is by a moment-by-moment dependence on God. Fortunately God doesn't leave us to struggle on our own. He has given us His Spirit to be our helper. The Bible, in First Corinthians 2 vs 12, says, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." God has given us his Spirit, and as believers His Spirit indwelling us enables us not to think as the unbelievers of this world think.

The body of Christ is a community of people who have one another’s interest at heart in order to preserve themselves in a world of struggles. It is our responsibility as brothers in Christ to help one another. This is in fulfillment of the law of Christ which is to love one another (Galatians 6 vs 2). This law brings individuals together into a common bond and fellowship. And that is “faith working through love.” (Galatians 5 vs 6.) Christians come into a fellowship wherein they have responsibilities toward one another. They come into a fellowship of slaves who seek the best for others. They seek to edify one another in an environment of mutual love. 

Guard against any selfishness, prejudice, or jealousy that might lead to dissension. Showing genuine interest in others in a positive step forward in maintaining unity among believers. We have freedom in Christ, but we shouldn’t exercise our freedom at the cost of hurting a Christian brother or sister. Some actions may not be wrong, but they may not be in the best interest of others. We are not to consider only ourselves; we must also consider the needs and perspective of others. When people live for themselves with little concern for how their actions affect others, the resulting moral rot contaminates the entire society. Are you part of the problem or the solution?

Now, in your soul winning drive, start asking the Holy Spirit to help you to think of the spiritual need of unbelievers whenever you talk to them. With practice you can develop the habit of praying silent "breath prayers" for those you encounter. Say, "Father, help me to understand what is keeping this person from knowing you." Your goal is to figure out where others are in their spiritual journey and then do whatever will bring them a step closer to knowing Christ. You can learn how to do this by adopting the mind-set of the apostle Paul, who said in First Corinthians 10 vs 33, "Just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of selflessness and servanthood that I will put the interests of others first in all I do, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!