OUR GREATEST NEED!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2021.

SUBJECT : OUR GREATEST NEED!

Memory verse: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6 vs 33.) 

READ: Mark 8 vs 34 - 38:

8:34: When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take his cross, and follow Me.

8:35: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.

8:36: For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 

8:37: Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

8:38: For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

INTIMATION:

Human beings have always seen their greatest need as financial. Governments and their leaders, businesses, families, even churches get trapped into thinking in the same manner, and that money is the answer to every problem. Though, the Bible states that "Money answers everything" (Ecclesiastes 10 vs 19), it is not the greatest need of man. The greatest need of man is God's kingdom, and His righteousness, and all other of your needs, including financial, will be added to you (Matthew 6 vs 33).

God should be first in all things. In the passage we read today, Jesus said, a man's soul is worth more than the entire world. The exchange of your soul for the world's possessions is a huge loss. Invariably, the soul is worth more than the whole world.  and to ensure the safety of your soul, you must come to the point where you are willing to give up everything to follow God. The profit to be gained from doing God's Will is more than just spiritual, it is total, and in all aspects of life, and to eternity. 

Our willingness to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel, is not because our lives are useless, but because nothing, not even life itself, can compare to what we gain with Christ. Jesus wants us to choose to follow Him rather than to lead a life of sin and self-satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own destiny and to let him direct us. This makes good sense because, as our Creator, our Maker, Christ knows better than we do on what real life is about. He asks for submission, not self-hatred; He asks us only to lose our self-centered determination to be in charge, but rather yield to Him.

To "seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness" means to put God first in your life, to fill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character for your pattern, and to serve and obey Him in everything. Obviously, in our lives, people, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority attention. Any of these can quickly become most important to you if you don't actively choose to give God first place in every area of your life. Therefore, never allow your natural human desires and feelings overshadow God's purpose in your life.

Jesus said, however, that worldliness, which is centered on possessions, position, or power, is ultimately worthless. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary, and will one day be burned up: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (Second Peter 3 vs 10.)

Realizing that the earth is going to be burned up, we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal, and not be bound to earth and its treasures or pursuits. We should strive to develop Christlike character, rather than spend more of our time piling up possessions. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary; it cannot be exchanged for your soul. Your greatest need is not possessions culminating in pleasurable living. Your greatest need is your relationship with your Creator, and it is the only thing that follows you and qualifies you for abundant life here on earth, and to have eternal life as well with Him.

We are left here with a choice; reject Jesus now and be rejected by Him at His second coming, or accept Him now and be accepted by Him then. Rejecting Christ may help you escape shame for the time being, but it will guarantee an eternity of shame later.

Prayer: Abba Father, without You I am nothing, and can do nothing of substance. Life in You engenders abundant life on earth, and culminates into eternal life with You. Help me in my utmost heart desire for an intimate friendship with You, that I may be worthy of Your everlasting crown, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WALK IN WISDOM!

 Walk in Wisdom! 

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 (KJV)

The kingdom of God has principles laid down for the children of God. One of these principles is to walk circumspectly—meaning, be discrete in the choices you make. Use the wisdom of God to make the right choices. One of the choices we have to make is to choose to use time efficiently and effectively. As children of God, we must know the times in which we find ourselves and make the best out of it (John 7:8). We must use time wisely to prepare ourselves for the opportunities that God will make available for us. If we abuse or misuse our time, we may be walking as fools and miss all the opportunities that God will grant us. Beloved, the enemy also has plans for you; his plan is for you to miss your time and opportunities. He can cause you to miss a job interview, marriage, business opportunity, etc. When David made good of his time to prepare himself, he was able to take advantage of the opportunity to defeat Goliath and became prominent in Israel (1 Samuel 17:34–50). Walk in the wisdom of the Word of God and see yourself succeed as a child of God. Hallelujah! Be wisdom conscious!

Prayer Point: My faithful Father, thank You for this exhortation. I have decided to walk in wisdom in order to make judicious use of my time and opportunities. Please remind me and stir me up anytime I’m taking time for granted, and I will repent. I pray for my brethren all over the world, that they will walk carefully and wisely in using time to prepare and take advantage of all the opportunities You make available to them 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.

REAPING GOD’S PROMISES!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2021.

SUBJECT : REAPING GOD’S PROMISES!

Memory verse: "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” (Isaiah 1 vs 19.) 

READ: John 14 vs 21 & 23:

John 14:21: He who has My commandments and keeps them, It is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

14:23: Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone love Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

INTIMATION:

God's promises are given to His children on the condition of our willingness to listen to His voice and obey His commands. His promises are the heritage of His children, and we must keep His commands in order to receive His provision. Therefore, all we should do is to give God the obedience and lifelong service He desires from us,  and “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” (Isaiah 1 vs 19.) 

God commands those He intends to bless. If you obey Him, you will experience His blessings. If you disobey Him, you will reap the consequences. Imagine the manifestation of Jesus Christ to you, and the God the Father and the Son making their home with you! Will anything be difficult or impossible with you, when you are the home of the Creator and All-powerful God? Your guess is as good as mine.

Obedience is a command from God. Therefore, not being obedient to His commands is, in my considered opinion, rebellion and stubbornness. Rebellion and stubbornness are serious sins. Scriptures equate them with divination (witchcraft) and idolatry (First Samuel 15 vs 23). Rebellion against God is perhaps the most serious sin of all because as long as a person rebels, he or she closes the door of forgiveness and restoration with God. 

When a man obeys God he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. This is because obedience is of the conduct and may be observed; it is an actual and outward result of the inward persuasion and consequent believe. Christians today always make rituals of going to church, taking communion, or paying tithes. But these activities are empty if our reasons for doing them are selfish. God doesn't want these sacrifices and offerings without an attitude of devotion (obedience) to Him. 

God had unlimited blessings planned for Adam and Eve, yet they deliberately disobeyed Him. Their conduct caused them to be driven from the garden by angels with flaming swords. It was the fall of man that, in fact, affected every person who would ever live on earth from that day forward. And it was man's fall that made the cross necessary for redemption. Mary obeyed God, and she was chosen to bring the Redeemer of mankind into this world. 

Elijah and the widow of Zarephath were both commanded of God. Elijah was commanded to go to Zarephath, and God would provide for him there (1 Kings 17 vs 9). The widow was commanded to feed Elijah. The widow "did according to the word..." and she received her supernatural blessings. She received exactly what she gave. She gave food and received food that lasted the duration of the draught in Israel. Both Elijah, the widow, and her son were supernaturally fed all through the drought. 

As soon as she gave Elijah the last bin of flour, and oil in the house, the bin of flour began to fill up by an unseen hand and was never used up. Nor did the jar of oil run dry, "according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah. Both Elijah and the widow could have missed their promised blessing had they disobeyed God's direction. The woman's obedience also brought revival of life to her dead son. Her son suddenly took ill, and it became severe that there was no breath left  in him. Elijah prayed and God gave back life to the son.

God wants our sincere faith and devotion. The Christian rituals, sacrifices, and offerings are to be outward sign of an inward faith in God. Many today have come to place of more faith in the rituals of their religion than in God they worship. God does not take pleasure in your outward expressions if your inward faith is missing (Hosea 6 vs 6). Though religious rituals can help people understand God and nourish their relationship with Him, but they are helpful only if it is carried out with an attitude of love and obedience to God. When you obey God, you lift Him up, and when you lift Him up, then men will be drawn to Him for their day of salvation. 

Prayer: Abba Father, great is Your faithfulness! Your thoughts for me is of good and not of evil. Endue me with the spirit of complete obedience to You in all things that it will be well with me, in Jesus’  Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR ONENESS WITH CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2021.

SUBJECT: OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR ONENESS WITH CHRIST!

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: Romans 6 vs 4 - 6:

6:4: Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ were raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

6:5: For if we have been untied together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 

6:6: knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

INTIMATION:

Our oneness with Christ is the source of our ultimate strength. We are recreated in Him, and have a perfect union with Him. That new man has taken the place of the old man. There is a vital, and absolute union between your spirit and the Spirit of Christ. It is as vital as the branch is vital in its union with the vine. You bear Him, and He bears you.

We can enjoy our new life in Christ because we are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Our evil desires, our bondage to sin, and our love of sin died with Him. Now, united by faith with Him in His resurrection, we have unbroken fellowship with God and freedom from sin's hold on us.

Many don't understand this freedom from sin. The power and penalty of sin died with Christ on the cross, where He nailed it, disarmed all principalities and powers, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2 vs 14 - 15).  Our "old man," our sinful nature, died once and for all, so we are freed from its power. The "body of sin" is not the human body, but our rebellious sin-loving nature inherited from Adam. 

Though our body willingly cooperates with our sinful nature, we must not regard the body as evil. It is the sin nature in us that is evil. And it is this power of sin at work in our body that is defeated. We are now conscious of sin, and try to avoid it. And even when we fall into sin, we regret it. 

God does not take us out of the world or make us robots; we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before the recreation, we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Christ. Our conscience pricks us when we desire to sin, or when we sin, and consequently we desire to confess, and incidentally ask for forgiveness.

God has made you what you are through Christ, and you recognize what you are and give place to the new thing. That way you glorify Him. Never demean yourself in negative confession. When you do that you rob Him of the glory in His finished work in you, and you give place to the adversary's dominance. You must never do it. You must get used to being what you are in Christ. 

Though it is hard for many Christians, who are used to magnifying weakness and failure, instead of magnifying their union with Christ, and their utter oneness with Him. They are used to glorifying the devil when confronted with negative circumstances by attributing it to him—the defeated foe. Instead of commanding the circumstance in the Name of Jesus to succumb to their inherent authority in their union with Christ, and dominion over Satan and his cohorts.

Remember Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd (that is Jesus); I shall not want." In personalizing it now the prophesy is turned into reality. I boldly say, "I do not want. He kept me to live in the midst of fullness instead of in the desert place. I am drinking deeply of the water of life, the drink that satisfies. I am walking in the green pastures of His fellowship. I am enjoying the fruitage of His wonderful love life. I am one with Him, His ability is my ability. I am with Him, and thrive in His strength. With Him I can do all things."

Visualize yourself in Him. It is always a struggle to get away from the old pictures that you have before your mind, the old sin nature that has dominated your mind, especially out of the early teachings of sin and the consequences of it. Break away from such thoughts by waging a battle day by day against such thoughts. Now enter into the victory of the battle that is won in Christ. 

Now look at this, "What would you do if sin had never been?" As a believer, your focus should be on this question. Why? Because this is the picture you ought to see. The Father acts toward us as though we had never sinned. The Father acts as though sin had never been as far as You are concerned. When He recreated you He forgot all about your past. Why? The new creation has no past. It is a "now creation." This is the victory. There are no theories here that cast a dark shadow over the past life, but they are all wiped out. Now we are in the Beloved.

Beloved, now we are the sons of God, (First John 3 vs 2). He is our Father, and He cares absolutely for us. First Corinthians 1 vs 9 states, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Let us personalize it: "My Father is faithful to me. He has called me to come and walk with His Son, to live with Him, to carry on the Son's work in His absence. He has called me to fellowship with Him." 

Fellowship means eating together, bearing up under pressure together, drinking from the same cup. He has called me to drink with Jesus, to live with Jesus, to share with Jesus in the saving of lost men and the building up of the Body through the Word.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the privilege of sonship, and haven made me one with Christ. Engrace me to live like Him in delightsome obedience to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!

 You Are Not Forgotten! 

“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” Luke 12:6 (KJV)

Knowing that you are not forgotten by God creates patience in you to wait till you are rewarded. God, who is called Elohim, the creator, is still the Father of His creation and controller of all things. He provides for all His creation: the birds, fishes, animals, the trees, and human beings. He does not forget to feed them. Beloved, if He is able to provide for animals and trees, how much more will He provide for you. Indeed, you are more valuable than many sparrows (Luke 12:7). Remember that you are His child and the crown of His creation. After God created everything on earth, He put man in charge over His creation (Genesis 1:26). If you feel abandoned or forgotten by God, be aware that it is just a feeling from the enemy. Brush him off by declaring these words, “I am a child of God, I have the nature of Abba Father in me, I cannot be forgotten, He will come through for me because I’m precious to Him.” As you declare these words, the peace of God will garrison your heart. This peace will keep you until you are provided for. Hallelujah! Dear beloved, do you feel forgotten? Meditate on the opening scripture and verse seven and begin to thank and praise God for His providence. Before long, you will experience His providence like Abraham did (Genesis 22:13). Hallelujah! Glory to God!

Prayer Point: My loving and faithful Father, I’m so excited to know that You cannot forget me. I’m on Your mind and You have great plans for me. If You can provide for the sparrows, then You can do much more for me. I trust in You and I wait on You till I experience Your providence in every area of my life 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.

Do You Want to Be Right?

 Do You Want to Be Right? 

“For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.” Psalms 33:4 (KJV)

We are living in an era where things are moving quickly; technology keeps changing, there are many mishaps, and the world is becoming unpredictable. The children of God are faced with several challenges in their walk with the Lord Jesus (Psalms 34:19). However, the children of God are expected to live right to maintain the standard of God. The child of God can only live right by using the Holy Scriptures. Remember, the Holy Scriptures are pure and purified seven times, thus they are infallible (Psalms 12:6). Beloved, you are expected to find the Word of God pertaining to the situation in which you find yourself and use it to bear the testimony of God’s truth. Dear child of God, the expectation of God about you is high, and you must not fail Him. There are people who are looking up to you, and you must succeed so that they can be inspired to also do good works in truth. Never let down the cloud of witnesses who are cheering you (Hebrews 12:1). You can always be right when you use the Word of God. Thus, use the Word, live for the truth, and look onto Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Living right in God’s Word will always guarantee success, peace, joy, and prosperity. Hallelujah! God bless you.

Prayer Point: My righteous and faithful Father, I’m grateful for Your making Your Word available to me. I will meditate on it day and night and observe it to do in order to experience success, peace, joy, and prosperity 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.

GOD’S EVERLASTING LOVE FOR THOSE IN CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2021.

SUBJECT: GOD’S EVERLASTING LOVE FOR THOSE IN CHRIST!

Memory verse: “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.” (Jeremiah 31 vs 3.)

READ: Romans 8 vs 31 - 35 & 37 - 39:

8:31: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

8:32: He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 

8:33: Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 

8:34: Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 

8:35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 

8:37: Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 

8:38: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, 

8:39: nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separated us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

INTIMATION:

In the passage we read today, the Scripture overwhelmingly reveals the 'everlasting love' for us who are in Christ; who believe in Him, and have accepted Him as our personal Lord and Savior, completely accepting what He wrought for us in redemption. Christ's death for us is proof of His unconquerable love for the believers. Nothing can stop Christ's constant presence with the believer. When we know how great His love for us is, we will feel totally secure in Him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid when we are faced with any form of hardships, which naturally comes in the course of life.

Suffering should not drive us away from God, but rather help us to identify with Him further and allow His love to reach us and heal us. No matter what happens to us, no matter where we are, we can never be lost to His love. In such situations, as believers, we should take solace in the fact that Eternal Life with Him awaits us, where there is no form of suffering, or deprivation, but all things are available for us.

Many of us are yet to realize what Christ wrought for us in the New Creation. Few of us have realized that our combat is with the eternally defeated one—Satan. He was eternally defeated when Jesus arose from the dead. Jesus couldn't have risen until Satan was defeated, and now Jesus is the Head of an unconquerable body! In verse 37, the apostle Paul recapitulated all the things that can assail the believer—the new created being; "Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword," and the believer has been made more than a conqueror in all these.

Sin consciousness had been the outstanding enemy of the believer, but there is no ground for it. If one knew that sin and sins were put away when he was “Born Again,” that there was no past that could ever confront him or her again, it would change the believer’s life completely. Everything that the believer has ever been and has done were put away, all the sins were remitted. The believer’s nature that has led him or her to sin has been changed. A new nature has taken its place (See Second Corinthians 5 vs 17 - 21). The Blood has cleansed us. We is now utterly one with Christ, and are complete in Him.

The Bible in Colossians 2 vs 9 - 10 states, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." The Scripture confirms Christ's deity. All of God was in Christ's human body. We need not anything in addition to what Christ has provided to be saved. We are complete in Him. The completeness is a result of the Father's own work through Christ, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." (Ephesians 2 vs 10.)

It is obvious our Perfect Father couldn't create anything in His Son that wasn't perfectly well pleasing to Himself. And He confirmed this when He said, "This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3 vs 17.) We have been created in His Son. And the actual working out of that creation is described in Second Corinthians 5 vs 17; “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” That new creation is a new specie that stands complete and perfect in the Father's presence. This new creation is as perfect as the first creation was in the Garden of Eden. The difference is that this new creation is a son, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, and has the Nature of God in him! You can see what this means. It puts us over into the same class with Jesus—as conquerors. Hallelujah!

Prayer: Abba Father, my soul and everything that is within me are saying thank You for Your unparalleled love for me. It’s my desire to return Your love, therefore, engrace me with the spirit of raw obedience to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!