GOD’S PLAN CARRIES HIS GRACE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2021.

SUBJECT:  GOD’S PLAN CARRIES HIS GRACE!

Memory verse:  "And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2 vs 40.) 

READ:  Ephesians 1 vs 7 - 8:

1:7: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

1:8: which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

1:9: having made known to us the mystery of His Will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

INTIMATION:

God is so rich in grace—His voluntary, loving and unmerited favor given to those He saves. All of God’s plan carries His grace. Our redemption and forgiveness of sins are in accordance with God’s Will, and backed up by the riches of His grace. The same grace was upon Christ Jesus, backing Him up in His earth walk, and the sacrifice He made for the sins of the world.

It is hard for us to enjoy life if we don't have assurance about today, peace about yesterday and confidence about tomorrow. Why is it so? It is because as long as we live we will always have to face situations for which we don't have all the answers. If we don't have something going on in our lives that we can't handle, we wouldn't need God, therefore, we wouldn't need faith, we wouldn't have to trust God. However, our peace, assurance, and confidence are because of the revelation to us of the mystery of His Will, inherent in His rich grace toward us.

The Lord will see to it that we are always dependent upon Him. And He does that by leading us into situations that are over our head. That is why although we may get worried, God never gets worried because He already knows exactly what He's going to do (John 6 vs 6), for His grace is sufficient for us, for His strength is made perfect in weakness (See Second Corinthians 12 vs 9). The fact that God’s power is displayed in our weakness should give us courage and hope. He has got a plan, a path and a work all ready for us. 

But although the Lord already has a plan for us to follow, a path for us to walk in and a work for us to do, He won't give us all the answers today that we will need tomorrow. With each new day comes the grace that we need to live that day and meet the challenges of it. As we recognize our limitations, we depend more on God for our effectiveness rather than on our own energy, effort, or talent. Our limitations not only help develop Christian character, but also deepen our worship, because in admitting them, we affirm God’s strength—His grace.

You may have heard the story about the young man who was in prison and about to be burned at the stake the next day for his faith in Christ. In the same cell there was an older, more experienced believer who knew more about the way of the Lord. As it began to get dark, the younger man struck a match to light a candle and, as he did so, he burned his finger. Letting out a cry of anguish and pain, he said to his companion, "How can I stand to be burned at the stake tomorrow if I can't stand to be burned on the finger tonight?" The older man calmly replied, "Son, God didn't ask you to burn your finger, so there is no grace for that. But He is asking you to die for your faith, so when the time comes the grace will be there."

No matter what happens, God is still in control. He has a plan to handle everything that we will encounter in this life. And His grace is sufficient to meet all our needs. And He makes His rich and abundant grace available to us that ensures our adequately meeting all our needs: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (Second Corinthians 9 vs 8.)

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my faithful Companion. I am not sufficient of myself to think anything as being from myself, but my sufficiency is in You. Endue me with the excellent spirit to live for You all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

ARE YOU USEFULTO SOCIETY?

 Are You Useful to Society? 

“Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.” Isaiah 54:16 (KJV)

Knowing that God created you to be useful to society begins your journey of being responsible. God has not stopped creating: He continues to create things in the world without our knowledge. He didn’t need anybody’s permission when He was creating heaven and earth and everything therein (Genesis 1:1). Thus, He doesn’t need anybody’s authorization or approval to create anything even now. Beloved, the opening scripture reveals that God has created useful professions in society. As a child of God, you need to get a profession that is useful to society. If you are in a dilemma as to what profession you are to go into, look at your God-given talent and gift and build upon them. When you have gotten yourself a profession, you become useful to God and society. Through your profession, God will use you to bless lives and make a better society. On the other hand, if you don’t get a profession for yourself, you will be training yourself to be idle. This will lead you to be a waster or destroyer because the devil will find a job for the idle hand (Proverbs 18:9). Dear beloved, get yourself a profession and become useful to God and humanity, just like the disciples of Jesus Christ who used their skills in their profession to win souls for the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:18–22). Praise the Lord! Be resourceful!

Prayer Point: Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving me talents and gifts. Please lead me to identify them, develop them into a career, and be useful to You and my fellow human beings. I also bear my brethren in prayer that they may also identify their talents and gifts, develop them, and become useful to society in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Were you blessed by today's message? Kindly go to the comment section and share your comments, and testimonies. Let's also know your challenges so that we can pray for you.

YOU DON'T BELONG TO YOURSELF!

 You Don’t Belong to Yourself! 

“And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” Leviticus 20:26 (KJV)

Knowing that you belong to God prompts you to please Him. The children of Israel were set apart by God for Himself. The primary reason was to raise a Savior to redeem mankind from the Adamic sin (Genesis 22:18). He had to remind them from time to time to remain holy unto Him because He is holy, and they are His precious possession. Today, Jesus Christ has already redeemed mankind from the Adamic sin, and the door has been opened for everyone to be saved and become part of God’s family; this is no longer the children of Israel who are the descendants of Abraham, but spiritual Israelites because they believed in Jesus Christ and made Him Lord and personal Savior of their lives (Romans 9:6–8). Born again Christians are the spiritual Israelites and the same command of remaining holy unto the LORD also applies to them. He said our bodies are His temple and we are to keep our bodies holy (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). He also reminded us that our bodies don’t belong to us but to Him, and we must glorify Him with our bodies. Dear beloved, you now know that you belong to God so your spirit, soul, and body belong to Him. Thus, let the world know that you are now a child of God and a light of the world. Never allow the world to influence you to sin but rather influence the world with the gospel of Christ and your Christlike lifestyle and you will be saving many people from the destruction of the enemy. Hallelujah! Be the true light!

Prayer Point: My eternal Father, thank You for saving me and making me a candidate of heaven. Please empower me by Your Spirit to always live a holy life; use me to win many souls and to influence the world unto godliness in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Were you blessed by today's message? Kindly go to the comment section and share your comments, and testimonies. Let's also know your challenges so that we can pray for you. 

GRACE INHIBITORS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2021.

SUBJECT:  GRACE INHIBITORS!

Memory verse:  "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Matthew 11 vs 6.) 

READ:  Psalm 37 vs 8 - 9; 39 vs 1 - 2; Philippians 2 vs 14 - 15:

Psalm 37:8: Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.

37:9: For evil doers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

39:1: I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.”

39:2: I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; and my sorrow was stirred up.

Philippians 2:14: Do all things without complaining or disputing,

2:15: that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

INTIMATION:

There are several things that can keep us from receiving the grace of God. One of these is ignorance, not knowing enough to call on the Lord, asking Him to pour out His grace in time of need. The prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...” (Hosea 4 vs 6.) Others are our attitudinal problems—worrying, complaining, murmuring, anger etc. They can never mix with grace. Many times the mistake we make is griping and fussing from daylight to dark, at the same time we are trying to activate the power of God in our life to help us solve our problems.

Many times the reason we are not able to tap into the grace of God is simply because our attitude is all wrong. We cannot expect God to intervene on our behalf in a situation if we are constantly grumbling, angry with ourselves, or with others, fault-finding, complaining, murmuring, nit-picking and being jealous and envious. All these bad attitudes are very destructive emotions. They reveal a lack of faith in God—that God loves us and is in control. We should not do all that. Instead, we should trust in God, giving ourselves to Him for His use and safekeeping. When you dwell on your problems, you will become anxious and angry. But if you concentrate on God and His goodness, you will find peace and inner strength to tarry.

Like King David, resolve to always keep your tongue from sin; not complaining about anything to anybody, even when you have reasons to complain. Instead take your complaints directly to God. We all have complaints about our job, finances, and other unfavorable situations in our lives, but complaining to others may make them think that God cannot take care of us. It may also look as if we blame God for our troubles, and it may result into our turning away from Him. Take your complaints directly to God, turn to Him in times of troubles, for only Him can take it and provide an answer.

There is no way to receive God's grace while seeking sympathy from others or fellowshipping with self-pity. God will heal our wound if we don't seek others to nurse them. Many times we want the power of God to come upon us and solve some problem for us, but at the same time we want all our friends to feel sorry for us. For instance, if we are having financial problems, we may go into our prayer closet and cry out to the Lord, "O Father, please help me. I'm in over my head financially, and I need Your help so bad. I'm trusting You to help me, because without You I have no hope. Lord, You are the only One who can save me!"

Then, as soon as prayer time is over, you get on the phone telling your friends, co-workers, and relations, how tight it is for you and family, how hard you have worked and nothing is happening, how your husband or wife has not been helping and is idle, how underprivileged you are, how nobody is helping you, on and on. You want God to help you, but you also want everybody else to feel sorry for you. If we want to receive God's grace, we have got to learn to depend upon Him totally and not upon others' sympathy or our own self-pity. 

It is not wrong to share your burdens in a balanced way and with right motives. But beware of seeking pity. God never leads us where He cannot keep us. His grace is always sufficient for us in any and every circumstances of life. There is no sense in our griping and complaining, worrying and finagling, constantly trying to figure out things, working ourselves up into a stew and getting all frustrated and confused. If we do, that shows that we have no faith at all in God's abiding grace.

Our lives should be characterized by moral purity, patience, and peacefulness, so that we will “shine as lights” in a dark and depraved world. A transformed life is an effective witness to the power of God’s Word, and a magnet for His grace. Don’t let dissensions snuff out your light. Shine out for God. 

Prayer: Abba Father, the earth is Yours and all its fullness. My needs are known to You from the very beginning because You are my Maker. My sufficiency is in You. Engrace me with the right attitude of total dependence on You in all things, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

DRAW INSPIRATION. FROM HIS WORD!

 Draw Inspiration from His Word! 

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10 (KJV)

The opening scripture reveals a very important truth that we need to recognize as children of God. Our Father is a God of grace who has called us to eternal glory. The calling of God to eternal glory is not all rosy and cozy; there is an aspect of suffering for His name’s sake. Beloved, Jesus Christ was very open with His disciples when He said a servant is not greater than his Lord. Therefore, whatever suffering and persecution were meted to Him, they would likewise go through (Matthew 10:24-25). However, He added that they should not fear but rather be cheerful because He has overcome the world. Hallelujah! The opening scripture gives great assurance to believers in Christ Jesus—that after suffering there is a time of perfection where the Lord will establish, strengthen, and settle us. Praise the Lord! Are you not happy to read this? Of course, you are! This should energize you to fight a good fight of faith without giving up along the way (2 Timothy 4:7). When you give up, you will live to see your fellow brethren being rewarded for their steadfastness, and you will regret throwing in the towel. Draw inspiration from the Word of God and keep pressing on till you are settled with your reward. Hallelujah! You are an overcomer!

Prayer Point: My dear heavenly Father, I’m so grateful for Your inspiring me with Your Word today. I vow never to give up. I receive grace from Your Spirit and keep pressing on in faith till I’m perfected, established, strengthened, and settled in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Were you blessed by today's message? Kindly go to the comment section and share your comments, and testimonies. Let's also know your challenges so that we can pray for you.

LEADING THE LIFE OF GRACE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 09, 2021.

SUBJECT:  LEADING THE LIFE OF GRACE!

Memory verse:  "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1 vs 6.) 

READ:  Matthew 11 vs 28 - 30:

11:28: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

11:29: Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

11:30: For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

INTIMATION:

God began a good work in us by His grace. God’s work began when Christ died on the cross in our place. His work in us began when we first believed, and continues throughout our lifetime and will finish when we meet Christ face to face on His return. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ everyday. 

When God starts a project, He completes it! He will help you grow in grace until He has completed His work in your life. When you are discouraged, remember that God won’t give up on you. He promises to finish the work He has started. In your shortcomings always remember God’s promise and provision. Don’t let your present condition rob you of the joy of knowing Christ or keep you from growing closer to Him.

Do you sometimes feel as though you aren’t making progress in your spiritual life? Are you struggling with changes that need to be made in your personality? Do you ever get frustrated and confused, trying to believe and have faith and confess and do all the right things to bring about change in yourself and your life, yet it never seems to happen? You wanted to change everything you saw wrong about yourself and life, but for some reason you just couldn't do it. Most believers will blame the devil. They will spend better part of their time binding and casting the devil away, instead of turning to the Lord for help. 

Now, let us consider what the apostle Paul told the believers in Galatia, "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith” (Galatians 3 vs 2 - 5.)

The apostle Paul asked the Galatian believers, "Did you receive the Spirit of the Lord through your own works and efforts, or by hearing the gospel message and saying, 'I believe that?'" "Are you really so foolish and senseless and silly as to begin your new life by the Spirit and then try to reach perfection by depending on your own weak human flesh?" Then finally he concluded by asking them, "Does God supply your every need and work miracles among you because you keep the law perfectly or because you put your entire faith and trust in the message you heard?"

They received the Lord by faith, but were trying to perfect themselves by depending on their own flesh, trying to change themselves and their lives by human effort rather than by trusting in Him. God has begun His good work in us. and He is going to finish it. He is working within us right now, developing, perfecting and bringing to completion the good work which He initiated. Since He is the only One Who can do that, you and I can relax. The pressure is off us, because the work is the Lord's, not ours. While we relax, we must do our part, and our part is to believe in Him, and love Him. And if we love Him, we will obey His commands (John 14 vs 31). 

Jesus frees us from our heavy burdens of sin, oppression of the devil, persecution, and weariness in the search for God. He promises us rest, and the rest He promises is love, healing, and peace with God. He brings us into a relationship with God that changes our meaningless, worrisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose. Jesus has said His yoke is easy. The yoke emphasizes the challenges, work, and difficulties of partnering with Christ in life. Though responsibilities weigh us down, even our effort of staying true to God, but Jesus’ partnership remains the best and easy way out, compared to the crushing alternatives of our personal struggles.

Prayer: Abba Father, Your faithfulness never seizes, even in our unfaithfulness. You have promised to be with us till the end of ages. Engrace me with the spirit of complete trust and obedience to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WHO IS GOD TO YOU?

 Who Is God to You? 

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalms 84:11 (KJV)

Knowing who God is makes a big difference in life. The difference becomes even bigger when we use this knowledge to enhance our relationship with Him. Beloved, The Holy Scriptures reveal to us the nature of God. The opening scripture tells us the nature of God. To the psalmist, God is a sun, shield, and a giver of grace and glory. He is a sun to give us light and direction; hence, if we need light and direction in any area of our life, the best person to go to is God. Secondly, He is a shield to protect us from evil or anything that seeks to destroy us and our relationship with Him. Finally, He gives us grace and glory; grace to accomplish the task that He has assigned to us and glory to beautify our lives. As a Father, He is only concerned with giving us good things (James 1:17). Beloved, this is the kind of nature He wants us to live by—to also be a sun, a shield, and a giver to our fellow brethren. Hallelujah! Dear beloved, living the nature of God shouldn’t be difficult for us because we have the Holy Spirit in us to guide and lead us (John 16:13). If we can cooperate with Him, and fellowship with Him through the Word of God, He will live the nature of God through us for many people to see it and glorify God. Hallelujah! Glory to the Highest!

Prayer Point: Abba Father, thank You for revealing Your nature to me through Your Word. As I cooperate with Your Spirit and fellowship with You, live Your nature through me so that many lives on earth can be blessed in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Were you blessed by today's message? Kindly go to the comment section and share your comments, and testimonies. Let's also know your challenges so that we can pray for you.