GOD REWARDS OBEDIENCE.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 28, 2021..

SUBJECT : GOD REWARDS OBEDIENCE.

Memory verse: "If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures." (Job 36 vs 11.)

READ: FIRST SAMUEL 15 vs 17 - 23:

15:17: So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?

18: Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'

19: Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?"

20: And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21: But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."

22: So Samuel said: "Has the LORD great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.

23: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also have rejected you from being king."

INTIMATION:

Being obedient is submission to authority; to comply with orders; the practice of doing what one is told. Obedience is of the conduct and may be observed. When a man obeys God he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. He demands obedience from us.

Disobedience is, rebellion and stubbornness to God, and they are serious sins. Scriptures equates them with divination (witchcraft) and idolatry, sins worthy of death. 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.

In the passage we read, Saul didn't obey God's instruction to completely destroy all the Amalekites and their belongings, but spared King Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good. It showed disrespect and disregard for God because it directly violated His commands. When we gloss over sin in order to protect what we have or our material gain, we aren't being shrewd, we are disobeying God's law.

All of God's command are for our own good, and obedience comes with reward. We should obey God in every respect because of who He is—the only One with the power to meet our every need. Obedience is key to the lives of notable personalities in the Bible, like Abel, Noah, and Abraham. Abel was the second child born into the world, but the first one to obey God. The Bible doesn't tell us why God liked Abel's gifts and disliked Cain's, but both of them knew what God expected. Only Abel obeyed. Throughout history, Abel is remembered for his obedience and faith, and it was counted to him as righteousness  (Hebrews 11 vs 4).

Noah was obedient to construct a graphic illustration of a huge boat on dry land from God. There has been no rain on earth and no such boat has ever been constructed at the time. Noah was obedient to the instruction for 120years before the coming of the flood. Noah's obedience meant a long-term commitment to a project. It is very interesting that the length of Noah's obedience is greater than the lifespan of people today. The only comparable long-term  project is our very lives. Noah and the household became the only people saved in the whole earth at the time of the flood because he obeyed. 

Abraham obeyed God while he had the choice to make, either setting out with his family and belongings to an unknown destination, or staying right where he was. He had to decide between the security and comfort of what he already had and the uncertainty of traveling under God's direction with only God's promise to guide and bless him. Abraham could hardly have been expected to visualize how much of the future was resting on his decision of whether to go or stay, but his obedience affected the history of the world. 

His decision to follow God set in motion the development of the nation that God would eventually use as His own when He visited earth Himself. When Jesus Christ came to earth, God's promise was fulfilled; through Abraham the entire world was blessed. 

The sin of disobedience has great consequences. In Genesis 3, Adam And Eve disobeyed God and chose their course of action and God chose His. As a Holy God, He could respond only in a way consistent with His perfect moral nature. He could not allow sin to go unpunished. Their sin set in motion the world's tendency toward disobeying God. That is why we sin today. Every human being ever born, with the exception of Jesus, has inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve (Romans 5 vs 12-21).

Obeying God is a way to true freedom because it is subjecting yourself to God's Will for your life. Disobedience leads to self-exaltation, and subsequently to rebellion against God. As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above Him. The greatest task of the enemy of our soul is constantly working on us to disobey God because he knows the consequences, and is his major tool to achieve his set goals of stealing, destroying, and killing (John 10 vs 10). 

Christians today always make rituals (sacrifices and offerings) of going to church, serving in committees or units, taking communion, or paying tithes. But these activities are empty if our reasons for doing them are selfish. God doesn't want these rituals without an attitude of devotion (obedience) to Him. The prophet Samuel told Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice." All we should do is to give God the obedience and lifelong service He desires from us, and "You shall eat the good of the land" ( Isaiah 1 vs 19). Sacrifices and offerings are not bribes to make God overlook our character faults. All God wants is our sincere faith and devotion. 

The Christian rituals are to be outward sign of an inward faith in God. Many today have come to place 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. 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.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with spirit of complete obedience to You, that I may submit to You in all things in love, and spend my days in prosperity and my years in pleasures, at the end receive the crown of eternal life, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Children of a Singing God

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26)

Can you hear Jesus singing?

Was he a bass or a tenor? Was there a down-home twang to his voice? Or was there an unwavering crystal pitch? 

Did he close his eyes and sing to his Father? Or did he look into his disciples’ eyes and smile at their deep camaraderie? 

Did he usually start the song? Or did Peter or James, or maybe Matthew, do it?

Oh, I can hardly wait to hear Jesus sing! I think the planets would be jolted out of orbit if he lifted his native voice in our universe. But we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken; so, Lord, go ahead, do it! Sing!

It could not be otherwise but that Christianity be a singing faith. The founder sang. He learned to sing from his Father. Surely they have been singing together from all eternity. Don’t you think so? Would not infinite eternal happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity sing?

The Bible says the aim of our singing is “to raise sounds of joy” (1 Chronicles 15:16). No one in the universe has more joy than God. He is infinitely joyful. He has rejoiced from eternity in the panorama of his own perfections reflected perfectly in the deity of his Son.

God’s joy is unimaginably powerful. He is God. When he speaks, galaxies come into being. And when he sings for joy, more energy is released than exists in all the matter and motion of the universe. 

If he appointed song for us to release our heart’s delight in him, is this not because he also knows the joy of releasing his own heart’s delight in his own image in his Son by his Spirit in song? We are a singing people because we are the children of a singing God.

SATAN IS UNDER OUR FEET.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY APRIL 27, 2021.

SUBJECT : SATAN IS UNDER OUR FEET.

Memory verse: "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 preeminence." (Colossians 1 vs 18.)

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 regarding Satan and his cohorts—the demons. His heart intent is that we will come to the full knowledge of what believers are in Christ. And from the passage we read today, we observed that he prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the insight into mysteries and secret in the deep and intimate knowledge of Christ, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called us, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the believers. 

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." We 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 to our credit. Notice carefully the 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."

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 the feet the body of Christ—the church, 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 their 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 Colossians 2 vs 14, for His triumph over Satan for us; "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ...."

It is only when our hearts take it in, and our minds become fruitful with this mighty unveiling of what we are in Christ today that we we completely call Satan and his cohorts bluff, and he will stop influencing us by subterfuge.  I hardly give the devil any room to minister his usual lies to me because, by God's grace, I have embraced the truth—what I am in Christ. That 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. And 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 us in redemption in Christ Jesus; the triumph You have given us in Christ over Satan, and his position under my feet. Give me the grace 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!

You Were Made for God

“For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:22)

The name of God often refers to his reputation, his fame, his renown. This is the way we use the word “name” when we say someone is making a name for himself. Or we sometimes say, that’s a “name” brand. We mean a brand with a big reputation. This is what I think Samuel means in 1 Samuel 12:22 when he says that God made Israel a people “for himself” and that he would not cast Israel off “for his great name’s sake.”

This way of thinking about God’s zeal for his name is confirmed in many other passages. 

For example, in Jeremiah 13:11 God describes Israel as a waistcloth, or belt, with which God chose to highlight his glory, even though there were times when Israel was temporarily unfit. “For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.” Why was Israel chosen and made the garment of God? That it might be a “name, a praise, and a glory.” 

The words “praise” and “glory” in this context tell us that “name” means “fame” or “renown” or “reputation.” God chose Israel so that the people would make a reputation for him. God says in Isaiah 43:21 that Israel is “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” 

And when the church came to see itself in the New Testament as the true Israel, Peter described God’s purpose for us like this: “You are a chosen race . . . that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

In other words, Israel and the church are chosen by God to make a name for him in the world. This is why we pray first and foremost, “Hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). This is why we pray, “Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake” (see Psalm 23:3).

When we speak of being a God-centered people, remember, this is because we are joining God in his God-centeredness. And on this side of the cross, that means being a Christ-dependent, Christ-exalting people. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

VICTORY IS IN OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY APRIL 26, 2021

SUBJECT: VICTORY IS IN OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH!

Memory verse: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12 vs 11.)

READ: First Timothy 6 vs 12 - 14:

6:12: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

6:13: I urge you in the sight of God who gives life in all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

6:14: That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

INTIMATION:

In confessing the good confession of faith lies the victory of the believer. Your confession is your possession. It is obvious that the lack of faithful confessions by believers is a major problem for many. The good fight of faith lies in the confession the believer makes. This is the battle of believers as directed by the apostle Paul in the passage we read; "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (vs 12.)

The good fight of faith is a battle that has been won a long time ago, in which you do nothing but acknowledge the defeat of your enemy and your own victory in Christ. The fight of faith is not a struggle on your part. It is a recognition and a confession on our part of victory that we and Christ won over the adversary in that great substitutionary battle that took place before He arose from the dead.

The apostle Paul was comparing Timothy's own confession of faith with that of Jesus before Pilate. Looking at the Master, Jesus, we can see that the secret of His victory lay in His continual confession. For instance, He held fast to His confession, even at the point of death: “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a King then?” Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a King. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18 vs 36 - 37.)

Now as conquerors, our memory verse reminds us that we are overcomers, and our victory is hinged on the blood of the Lamb, and the words of our testimony.  The critical blow to Satan came when the Lamb, Jesus Christ, shed His blood for our sins. The victory is won by sacrifice—Christ's death in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. The believers victory is established once he holds on to the good confession of faith in Christ Jesus and His works in redemption for us.

We are in the realm of victory in Christ Jesus, as we have moved out of the realm of weakness, and you can say, "I am more than a conqueror, for I am complete in Him who is the head of all principality and powers (Colossians 2 vs 10.) 

As a believer, you were crucified with Him. You were buried with Him. You were raised with Him. We conquered the enemy with Him. Now with faith planted solidly upon this foundation, you face your enemy without fear. You dare to say "I am the righteousness of God in Christ." Just as Jesus dared to say, "I am the vine, and you are the branches"; "I am the light of the world"; you say, "I am what He says I am." More than even that you can say, "I can do what He says I can do." 

You see, you are united with Him. He is the Vine and you are a branch. You grew out of Him. You were created in Him. Don't forget your perfect union with Him. Our oneness with Christ is the source of our ultimate strength. We are recreated in Him, and have a perfect union with Him: “For if we have been untied together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 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." (Romans 6 vs 5 - 6.)

As a believer and conqueror, you should be conscious of your legal right to what Jesus Christ  wrought for you in redemption which is wrapped up in His wonderful Name (John 14 vs 13 - 14). The use of His Name is making a demand. That is demanding the forces of darkness to be broken over the lives of men. You are acting in the place of the Master now. The use of Name unsheathes the sword of the spirit, the Living Word, and in your lips that Living Word becomes a dominating force as it was in the lips of the Master.

Prayer: Abba Father, greater is Christ that is in me than the ruler of this world. I am one with Christ, and I can do all things through Him that strengthens me. Engrace me with the power of good confession of faith to overcome my adversaries, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Paul’s Salvation Was for You

Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. . . . I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:13–14, 16) 

Paul’s conversion was for your sake. Did you hear that? Here it is again: “I received mercy for this reason, that Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” That’s us — you and me. 

I hope you will hear this very personally. God had you in view when he chose Paul and saved him by sovereign grace just the way he did.

If you believe on Jesus for eternal life — or if you may yet believe on him for eternal life — Paul’s conversion is for your sake. The point of his conversion happening the way it did is to make Christ’s incredible patience vivid for you. 

Remember that Paul’s pre-conversion life was a long, long trial to Jesus. “Why are you persecuting me?” Jesus asked on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4). “Your life of unbelief and rebellion is a persecution of me!” And yet Paul tells us in Galatians 1:15 that he had been set apart by God for his apostleship since before he was born. That’s amazing. It means that all his life up to the point of his conversion was one long abuse of God, and one long rejection and mockery of Jesus — who had chosen him to be an apostle before he was born.

That is why Paul says his conversion is a brilliant demonstration of Jesus’s patience. And that is what he offers us today.

It was for our sake that Jesus saved Paul when and how he did. To “display his perfect patience” to us (1 Timothy 1:16). Lest we lose heart. Lest we think he could not really save us. Lest we think he is prone to anger. Lest we think we have gone too far away. Lest we think our dearest one cannot be converted — suddenly, unexpectedly, by the sovereign, overflowing grace of Jesus.

THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISE OF PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 25, 2021.

SUBJECT: THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISE OF PRAYER!

Memory verse: “For bodily exercise profits little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that is now, and of that which is to come.” (First Timothy 4 vs 8.)

READ: First Timothy 4 vs 7 vs 8:

4:7: But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

4:8: For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

INTIMATION:

Many spiritual functions parallel physical functions. As our bodies need exercising physically, so our souls. Our spiritual exercise is through prayer, and is very profitable to our spiritual lives. It helps us stand perfect and complete as it changes things in our favor before the Lord. In our society much emphasis is placed on physical fitness, but spiritual health is even more important. Our physical health is susceptible to disease and injury, but faith, through our spiritual exercise, which results into godliness, can sustain us through any tragedy and to eternity.

 Also, as our bodies hunger and thirst, so do our souls. Our souls need spiritual nourishments. We would not think of depriving our bodies of food and water when they hunger or thirst, lest we are weakened, and this might result to death after a time. If our physical bodies need food and water to stay strong and alive, our souls also needs spiritual nourishments to stay alive and active. Spiritual exercise of prayer in the Living Word—Jesus Christ, and the written Word—the Bible, can satisfy our hungry and thirsty souls.

Therefore, we should concentrate more on exercising the soul unto godly health than on the physical body. Godly health profits one not only in this life, but also in the life to come. Those who focus continually on the flesh, have turned their thinking inward to themselves, and not on that which will dwell throughout eternity. 

Through the spiritual exercise of prayer your spirit is contacting the Father through the Holy Spirit. Also, your spirit is reaching other human spirits through the Father. Through prayer your spirit connects to the spirit of other believers, and consequently, the Body of Christ is strengthened. In First Corinthians 5 vs 4, the apostle Paul enumerated this revelation in relation to prayer when he said, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He told the church that when they are gathered in their prayer meetings, he will be with them, and so also will the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ are present with them in the spirit. 

It is in the realm of the recreated spirit that we become utterly one with Jesus. Therefore, in our spiritual exercise in prayer we become so utterly ruled and governed by the Word and the Holy Spirit that we become Masters of demons and of their works. In prayer we are cooperating with Lord. And through us, God is ruling the demons and evil forces all over the world. We are workers with Jesus through our prayer life as we enter the Holy Priesthood in our prayer life (Revelation 5 vs 10). We can be God's voice, His spokesman, His ambassador, His under-ruler in Jesus' Name through the Word in your lips. Our prayers bring the very presence of God upon men in any part of the world.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for privilege of being Your co-worker through the spiritual exercise of prayer. The Word on my lips in prayers is the same as the Word on the lips of Christ. Your very life flows through our lips in prayer. Endue me with the spirit of praying without ceasing, that I may be in your presence and partnering with You at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!