THE REWARD OF THE WICKED

 THE REWARD OF THE WICKED

"Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Psalms 91:8" 

Devotion : The children of God who read this Scripture should be consoled over the acts of the wicked: surely there is a reward of the wicked. What is this reward of the wicked? The reward of the wicked is not something that is pleasant at all; it is described as the chaff which the wind drives away (Psalms 1:4). The following happens to the wicked: God is angry at them every day; the wicked will be destroyed; evil shall slay the wicked; they are even estranged from the womb (Psalms 58:3); they flee when no man is pursuing them; the wicked will finally be turned into hell (Psalms 9:17). As you can see, there is no peace for the wicked. Any wicked person reading this article should quickly turn from their wickedness and receive Christ Jesus as Lord and personal Savior. If they do this they will be forgiven and they will become the children of God. Hallelujah! Share your thoughts here!

YOUR WORSHIP MUST BE MINDFUL!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY AUGUST 13, 2020.

SUBJECT : 

YOUR WORSHIP MUST BE MINDFUL

!

Memory verse: "

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.

" (Mark 12 vs 30.)

READ: Luke 10 vs 25 - 28:

10:25: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
10:26: He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
10:27: So he answered and said, “You shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

10:28: And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this, and you will live.”

INTIMATION:

Worship must be thoughtful, it must be mindful; coming from your mind, and well thought out. If worship is mindless, it is meaningless. You must engage your mind in worship. Jesus' command to "love God with all your mind" is repeated four times in the New Testament. God is not pleased when your worship is thoughtless, be it singing of hymns, or exclamation of "Thank You Jesus" or "Praise the Lord," or careless, and reckless praying of cliches because we can't think of anything else to say at the moment. For instance, someone who is in a precarious situation to start worshiping in praise, singing, “It’s well, it’s well, it’s well, in the name of Jesus, it’s well with my life today.” What is well? Instead of mindfully calling upon Him in your day of trouble that He will deliver you in accordance with His promise (Psalm 50 vs 15).

Jesus called thoughtless worship "vain repetitions." (Matthew 6 vs 7.) even Biblical terms can become tired cliches from overuse, and we stop thinking about the meaning. Though it is so much easier to offer cliches in worship instead of making the effort to honor God with fresh words or ways. But a genuine effort of new words or ways, expressing your heartfelt love and understanding of God, is better appreciated by Him because you are speaking from your mind. 

That kind of feeling is the same with us. When someone calls you by a new name outside what is common with your contemporaries, in appreciation of you, it attracts more of your attention, and receives more acceptance from you. It is the same with our God. Try praising God without using the words praise, hallelujah, thanks, or amen. Instead of saying, "We just want to praise you," make a list of synonyms and use fresh words like admire, respect, value, revere, honor, and appreciate.

Also be specific and mindful with your worship. Whatever you say in worship to God must be specifically meaningful; give Him good reasons for your form of worship. For instance, if someone approached you and repeated, "I praise you!" ten times, you would probably think, “For what?” You will not attach any importance to such salutations because it is meaningless to you. It is a commonplace in public when a person or group approaches you in a social gathering, and begin to poor encomiums (praises, high commendations) on you, it attracts less of your attention, and approval. You would rather receive two specific compliments than twenty vague generalities. So would our God.

Instead of thoughtless worship, make a list of different names of God, and focus on them. God's names are not arbitrary; they tell us about different aspects of His character. In Old Testament, God gradually revealed Himself to Israel by introducing new names for Himself, and He commands us to praise His name. Call Him names and be mindful and specific with reasons for the names in your worship. An ideal worship is like this: “You are my Loving Father and gave Your only Son out of love for my sins, You are my Sacrificial Savior who sacrificed Son on the cross of Calvary as a propitiation for my sins, You are my Faithful Companion who Your Holy Spirit to indwelling me and be with me always, what a loving and merciful God You are.” It is even more appreciative to call Him new names out of a mindful and specific heart, and give your reasons for such new names. 

Even in our public or corporate meetings, God wants our worship gatherings to be thoughtful too. The apostle Paul devotes an entire chapter to this in First Corinthians 14, and concludes thus, "Let all things be done decently and in order." (First Corinthians 14 vs 40.) We should also be sensitive to unbelievers around you in your worship, God insists that our worship services be understandable to unbelievers when they are present in our gathering. For instance, when some strangers are in your worship service, and you are praising God with your spirit—speaking in unknown tongues—they will not understand you, and as such will not know what you are doing, or even when to say, 'Amen'? You may be worshipping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be helped. 

Concerning this, the apostle Paul, in First Corinthians 14 vs 16 - 17, says thus, "Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified." Being sensitive to unbelievers who visit your worship gatherings is a biblical command. To ignore this command is to be both disobedient and unloving. 

 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to mindfully worship You at all times, expressing my deep heartfelt understanding of who You are, and my appreciation of You and Your doings, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SATAN IS UNDER YOUR FEET!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12, 2020.

SUBJECT : SATAN IS UNDER YOUR FEET.

Memory verse: "But 

if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8 vs 11).

READ: Ephesians 1 vs 17 - 23:

1:17: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

1:18: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the Saints,

1:19: and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

1:20: which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

1:21: far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

1:22: And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,

1:23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

INTIMATION:

In the first three chapters of the apostle Paul's epistle to the church in Ephesus, he enumerated the consummation of Christ's substitutionary work in relations to Satan and his cohorts—the demons. His heart intent is that we will come to the full knowledge of what we are in Christ. From the passage we read today, we observed that he prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, may grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelational insight into mysteries and secret in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him. This He will accomplish by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that we can know and understand the hope to which He has called us, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the believers.

He clearly stated that, it is the working of God's spiritual might which He wrought in the Christ when He raised Him up from the among dead, that is still at work within us. The heart can hardly take it in that same Might, that the same Resurrection Power that wrought in the dead body of Jesus is ours today. That same Spirit that embodied the power is indwelling us today, and with the same power.

In Ephesians 2 vs 4 - 6, the Scripture says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." You must always keep in mind that we were raised together with Him, and He made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places; so representatively, we are seated on the throne with Christ.

He has been given all authority, that authority belongs to His body—the church—for its benefit. He conquered all the forces of darkness and left them paralyzed and broken before He arose from the dead. It is as though we had accomplished the mighty work, because It is reckoned for us as our credit. Carefully take note of twenty-second and twenty-third verses; "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Therefore, Satan and his cohorts are under our feet—the body of Christ. 

We are the fullness of Him (John 1 vs 16). We are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2 vs 10). He is not only our fullness, but we are His fullness also. The word, "fullness" comes from a Greek word that is almost untranslatable: "pleroma," which means "completeness," "perfectness," or any other synonym that suggests fullness. 

Adam had sold us out in his sin of high treason. Jesus redeemed us, defeated our enemy and put him beneath our feet—the church (His body), and we are the church. Consequently, all these malignant, wicked influences are beneath our feet. We have been made masters of them all. He did not defeat them for Himself, but for us. He did not fight that battle for His glory, but for our good. 

That knowledge should become as common to us, and as usable as the multiplication table. And when this is done Believers will spend less or no time glorying the devil, instead of using that time time to glorify Jesus Christ for His triumph over Satan and his cohorts. It was for this reason that the apostle Paul thanked God in Second Corinthians 2 vs 14, for His triumph over Satan for us; "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ...."

When your heart take in, and your mind becomes fruitful with this mighty unveiling of what we are in Christ, you hardly give the devil any room to minister his usual lies to you because you have embraced the truth of what you are in Christ. Satan is a defeated enemy ruling many by subterfuge, resist Him and He will flesh from you. This is the Hallelujah chorus of the new creation, and it never becomes real until we begin to confess it, begin to tell to the world what we are in Christ. The Scripture in Hebrews 9 vs 12 tells us that this is an Eternal Redemption. Not just a redemption for the hour in which it was done, but that Satan is as much defeated now as he was when Christ arose from the dead; that he is as much a subject to the Name of Jesus as he was when Jesus conquered him.

Prayer: Abba Father, I thank You for what You wrought for me in redemption in Christ Jesus. Thank You for the triumph You have given me in Christ over Satan. Help me to comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of Christ's love for me, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

IGNORE WHAT OTHERS SAID.

 

IGNORE WHAT OTHERS SAID

"For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. Jeremiah 30:17" 

Devotion : As a child of God you don't live by what you see or what you hear from others. You live by the Word of God in faith (Romans 1:17). The opening Scripture describes two realms: divine realm and temporal realm. No matter what people are saying against you, try to ignore them. They may say you are an outcast, unwanted, rejected, loser, etc., but don't let it have an effect on you. Choose to live in the promises in the Holy Scriptures. The LORD who is mightier than their profane words says He will restore health to you, and He will heal you of your wounds. Hallelujah! The wounds represent your sufferings, challenges, disappointments, pains, failures, debts, unemployment, and embarrassments. He is ready to give strength to your body and heal all those wounds, amen. Dear beloved, do you believe that God will do for you what He has promised? Share your comments here!

PEACE MAKER

 PEACE MAKER

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9" 

Devotion : When a person becomes born again, Jesus Christ gives the person the ability to be a peacemaker. It is one thing to have the ability to make peace and another to make use of that ability to get the job done. The peacemaker makes peace between God and the unbeliever in Jesus Christ and His gospel. The one who is not born again has no peace with God, therefore, it is the responsibility of the Christian to bring such a person to Christ to reconcile him to the Father. If we do this then we can be called peacemakers hence, the true children of God. Furthermore, the children of God must ensure that there is peace amongst men and wherever they find themselves. Dear beloved, are you are a peacemaker? Share your testimonies here!

HOW GOD SEES YOU!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 11, 2020.

SUBJECT: HOW GOD SEES YOU! 

Memory verse: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2 vs 10.)

READ: 

First Peter 2 vs 9 - 10:

2:9: 

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

2:10: Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

INTIMATION:

What assurances it gives to the heart when we come to know that the Father loves us even as He loved Jesus, that He is vitally interested in us as He was in His Son when He walked the earth. Consequently, He made us one with Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ, hence the oneness of the Church and Jesus. The body starts with the head, consequently, the Church is headed by Jesus. In Colossians 1 vs 18, the Scripture says, "And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."

Our salvation is something only God can do. It is His powerful creative work in us. If God considers us His work, we dare not treat ourselves or others with disrespect or have any inferiority complex. So I want you to see yourself as the Father sees you in Christ. As He sees you by faith, He is able to make us by grace. As we walk in love, we are being transformed into His image. One of the most graphic pictures of this transformation is given in John's gospel. John 1 vs 16, the Amplified Version Bible gives a clearer picture of that: "For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing  and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift."

The grace (unmerited favor) gives us the gifts of His love life, wisdom, His very being, and substance. We are the branch of the vine; we are partakers of the Divine Nature. His fullness here means His ability, His love, His righteousness, His utter completeness, and we have received them all. All the gifts and favors are now piled on us one after another, and all by His grace. The love of the Father marked us out for the position of sons way back before the morning stars sang their first anthem, and we are made unto the praise of His glory. He planned that we should be holy without blemish before Him. He marked us out for the position of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself; and we are the marked ones.

We have been chosen by God as His very own, and His jewels, a special treasure to Him above all people, and we are to Him a kingdom of priests, as Christ has made us kings and priests to our God that we shall reign on the earth. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ (Ephesians 1 vs 3). We are blessed. We are rich in Him. We have His fullness. We are sufficient in His sufficiency. All that He is, we have. We are what He says we are. And the Father has told us that we are in the Beloved. The Father sees us as His own righteousness in Christ Jesus. "And you are complete in Him," and this completeness is over and above all that we can ask or think or desire. We have been called to represent Him to others. We are united with Christ as members of His body, and we join in His priestly work of reconciling God and people.

God has given us eternal life in Christ. Our eternal life with Christ is certain because we are united in His powerful victory. God’s incomparable great power is available to help us. Now, look at the conclusion of the whole matter as the apostle Paul says, “....We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8 vs 37 - 39.)

Prayer: Abba Father, I am complete in You, and have Your fullness in Christ. You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I am in You, and You in me. Strengthen me with might according to Your glorious power that I may be fruitful in every god work, worthy of Your calling and fully pleasing You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

 

GOD YEARNS TO BE YOUR FRIEND!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY AUGUST 10, 2020.

SUBJECT: GOD YEARNS TO BE YOUR FRIEND! 

Memory verse: "No longer do I call you servants; for a servant does not knows what his master is doing; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." (John 15 vs 15.)

READ: John 15 vs 13 - 16:

15:13: Greater love has no one  than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
15:14: You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15:15: No longer do I call you servants; for a servant does not knows what his master is doing; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

15:16: You did not chose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.

INTIMATION:

The realization of the various aspects of your relationship with God makes you get committed to Him. He is your Maker, Lord and Master, Judge, Faithful Companion, Redeemer, Father, Savior, and much more. But the most shocking truth is this: Almighty God yearns to be your Friend! From creation, God plan is to be in constant fellowship with man. In the garden of Eden we see God's ideal relationship with us: Adam and Eve enjoyed daily visitation of the Lord, due to His quest for an intimate relationship with them. While unhindered by sin, Adam and Eve delighted in God, and He delighted in them. 

God is known in His creation, and He is close to every one of us. There are no rituals, ceremonies, or religion, just a simple loving relationship between God and the people He created. But He is not trapped in His creation; He is supernatural. This means that God is sovereign and in control, while at the same time He is close and personal. Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God's greatest pleasure. 

Only a few people in Old Testament times had the privilege of friendship with God. Moses and Abraham were called "friends of God" (Exodus 33 vs 11 & 17; James 2 vs 23), David was called "a man after [God's] own heart" (Acts 13 vs 22), and Job, Enoch, and Noah had intimate friendship with God (Job 29 vs 4; Genesis 5 vs 22; 6 vs 8). But fear of God, not friendship, was more common in the Old Testament. We were made to live in God's continual presence, but after the “Fall,” that ideal relationship was lost due to sin. 

Then Jesus came as a propitiation for our sins, and changed the situation. When He paid for our sins on the cross, the veil in the temple that symbolized our separation from God was split from top to bottom, indicating that direct access to God was once again available. Unlike the Old Testament priests who had to spend hours preparing to meet God, we can now approach God anytime. Friendship with God is possible only because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. The Bible, in Second Corinthians 5 vs 18 says, "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." 

God actually is reconciling us to the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He invites us to enjoy friendship and fellowship with all three persons of the Trinity. The Bible, in First John 1 vs 3, says, "That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." The apostle Paul, in Second Corinthians 13 vs 14, concludes his letter to the saints in Corinth by reminding them of the communion and fellowship with the Trinity; "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen."

Your opinion of God makes it difficult for many to understand why He would want us to be close friends. But the Bible, in Exodus 34 vs 14 says, "For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)." God is jealous of sharing your fellowship with any other, indicating how you are valued and wanted by Him. He deeply desires that we know Him intimately. God puts a higher priority on knowing Him personally and living a life that reflects His justice and righteousness, over and above every other things we do. If any wants to boast, they should boast that they know and understand Him. These are the things that please the Lord. 

Prayer: Abba Father, what a friend I have in You, the Triune God—my loving Father, Jesus Christ my sacrificial Savior, and Holy Spirit my Senior Partner! I cannot find a friend so faithful; all my sins and griefs You bear, and has given me the great privilege to carry everything to You in prayer. How needless it is for me to bear any pains, or forfeit my peace in You. Engrace me to commit everything in prayer to You at all times. In Jesus’ most precious Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!