The Faith That Magnifies Grace

 

I do not nullify the grace of God. (Galatians 2:21)

When I lost my footing as a little boy in the undertow at the beach, I felt as if I were going to be dragged to the middle of the ocean in an instant.

It was a terrifying thing. I tried to get my bearings and figure out which way was up. But I couldn’t get my feet on the ground, and the current was too strong to swim. I wasn’t a good swimmer anyway.

In my panic I thought of only one thing: Could someone help me? But I couldn’t even call out from under the water.

When I felt my father’s hand take hold of my upper arm like a mighty vice grip, it was the sweetest feeling in the world. I yielded entirely to being overpowered by his strength. I reveled in being picked up at his will. I did not resist.

The thought did not enter my mind that I should try to show that things aren’t so bad; or that I should add my strength to my dad’s arm. All I thought was, Yes! I need you! I thank you! I love your strength! I love your initiative! I love your grip! You are great!

In that spirit of yielded affection, one cannot boast. I call that yielded affection “faith.” And my father was the embodiment of the future grace of God that I desperately needed and craved under the water. This is the faith that magnifies grace.

As we ponder how to live the Christian life, the uppermost thought should be: How can I magnify rather than nullify the grace of God? Paul answers this question in Galatians 2:20–21, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God.”

Why does his life not nullify the grace of God? Because he lives by faith in the Son of God. Faith calls all attention to grace and magnifies it, rather than nullifying it.

THE BLOOD COVENANT WITH JESUS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JUNE 1, 2021.

SUBJECT : THE BLOOD COVENANT WITH JESUS!

Memory verse: "To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12 vs 24.)

READ: Hebrews 13 vs 20 - 21: 

13:20: Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of everlasting covenant,

13:21: make you complete in every good work to do His Will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.

INTIMATION:

Jesus came as a propitiation for our sins, and His death on the cross ushered in the new covenant or agreement between God and us. Jesus said, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26 vs 28). Jesus Himself was the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin. Rather than a lamb without blemish slain on the altar in the pre-Christ era, the perfect Lamb of God was slain on the cross, a sinless sacrifice, so that our sins are forgiven once and for all. 

All those who believe in Christ receive that forgiveness. Our new covenant is sealed with the Blood of Jesus Christ. Deity and humanity united in the incarnation. How much better is the Blood of Jesus Christ than the blood of an animal! How much better is the life of the Son of God than the life of a mere animal! We are bound to Him by an indissoluble covenant. He is bound to us as Jehovah was bound to Abraham in the old covenant. Now all people can personally approach God and communicate with Him. 

The significance of the new covenant include: (1) Christ died for us—self-sacrifice by the guiltless Christ. (2) God is directly involved in our lives; it focuses on the reign of Christ in the heart of the believers, and we have unlimited access to God. (3) It’s not temporal, but eternal and a reality. (4) Believers have access to limitless promises of God, and can trust God on them. (5) It’s a conclusive sacrifice—Christ’s sacrifice is complete and final. 

Participating in this new covenant has its price. You have to leave the world behind, follow Christ accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, obeying His commandments. When you do that, His sacrifice applies to you. You are now under His protection and benefit from His perfect relationship with God. This blood covenant with Christ is not to be entered into lightly. The penalty for not doing your part is separation from Him, and the consequences are overwhelming.

In the passage we read today, the verses include two significant results of Christ’s death and resurrection. God works in us to make us the kind of people that would please Him, and He equips us to do the kind of work that would please Him. The Scripture in Philippians 2 vs 13 says, “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” This is consummated in us through the power of the indwelling Spirit. 

God, knowing our weaknesses and imperfections, offers to work in us; to change us to what we should be that will be pleasing to Him. We are now called to the supreme privilege of fellowshipping with the Father and the Son. That is what our Christ wrought for us in redemption. How proud we should be of Him. How we should brag about Him before men. He is our Lord. He is our Savior. We are partakers of His nature. Remember He is the vine and we are the branches. We are one with Him, and should rejoice in the fact we have such oneness.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are so merciful and loving. You gave Your all to save me, even the ultimate sacrifice of the life of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Messiah, who shedded His blood on the cross to save us. Empower me with the grace to give my all to follow You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Gain of Serving God

 “They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (2 Chronicles 12:8)

Serving God is utterly different from serving anyone else.

God is extremely jealous that we understand this — and enjoy it. For example, he commands us, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2). There is a reason for this gladness. It is given in Acts 17:25. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

We serve him with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting his needs. He has no needs. So, serving him can’t mean meeting his needs. Instead we rejoice in a service where he meets our needs. Serving God always means receiving grace from God to do what we have to do.

To show how jealous God is for us to understand this, and glory in it, there is a story in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who ruled the southern kingdom after the revolt of the ten tribes, chose against serving the Lord and gave his service to other gods and other kingdoms.

As judgment, God sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, against Rehoboam with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen (2 Chronicles 12:2–3).

In mercy God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with this message: “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak’” (2 Chronicles 12:5). The happy upshot of that message is that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance and said, “The Lord is righteous” (2 Chronicles 12:6).

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he said, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12:7). But as a discipline to them he says, “They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (2 Chronicles 12:8).

The point is plain: serving the enemy and serving God are very different. How so? Serving God is a receiving and a blessing and a joy and a benefit. Serving Shishak is exhausting and depleting and sorrowful. God is a giver. Shishak is a taker.

This is why I am so jealous to say that the worship of Sunday morning and the worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God, but a joyful getting from God. That is the true service that God demands. In all you do, trust me as the giver.

“They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (2 Chronicles 12:8)

Serving God is utterly different from serving anyone else.

God is extremely jealous that we understand this — and enjoy it. For example, he commands us, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2). There is a reason for this gladness. It is given in Acts 17:25. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

We serve him with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting his needs. He has no needs. So, serving him can’t mean meeting his needs. Instead we rejoice in a service where he meets our needs. Serving God always means receiving grace from God to do what we have to do.

To show how jealous God is for us to understand this, and glory in it, there is a story in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who ruled the southern kingdom after the revolt of the ten tribes, chose against serving the Lord and gave his service to other gods and other kingdoms.

As judgment, God sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, against Rehoboam with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen (2 Chronicles 12:2–3).

In mercy God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with this message: “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak’” (2 Chronicles 12:5). The happy upshot of that message is that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance and said, “The Lord is righteous” (2 Chronicles 12:6).

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he said, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12:7). But as a discipline to them he says, “They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (2 Chronicles 12:8).

The point is plain: serving the enemy and serving God are very different. How so? Serving God is a receiving and a blessing and a joy and a benefit. Serving Shishak is exhausting and depleting and sorrowful. God is a giver. Shishak is a taker.

This is why I am so jealous to say that the worship of Sunday morning and the worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God, but a joyful getting from God. That is the true service that God demands. In all you do, trust me as the giver.

THE NEW COMMANDMENT OF LOVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY MAY 31, 2021.

SUBJECT : THE NEW COMMANDMENT OF LOVE!

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

READ: First John 3 vs 13 - 18:

3:13: Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.

3:14: We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 3:15: Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal  life abiding in him. 

3:16: By this we know love, because He laid His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

3:17: But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

3:18: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

INTIMATION:

God is love, therefore, “Love” gave birth to us and we are the children of love. “Love” planned our redemption. Through Jesus Christ “Love” consummated it, gave us a new creation and then Jesus gave us the new law.

God the Father and God the Son set an example of the new commandment and how we should walk; “By this we know love, because He laid His life for us.” (First John 3 vs 16.), and then in the new birth, He gave us the ability to walk even as He walked. He does not ask us to do a thing that cannot be done. Godhead demonstrated that real love is an action, not just a feeling; it produces selfless, sacrificial giving. And the greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. 

You understand that we have the nature of God. The very substance of God has come into our spirits. We are in God's family. God is our Father, we are His very sons and daughters. God so loved the world that He gave us His Son as a propitiation, and the Son laid down His life for us. Therefore, in union with them in the new birth, we are to walk in love.; laying down our lives for others. Love is to govern our conversation; our conduct toward one another. When we step out of love into selfishness, we break fellowship with love.

The passage we read today, in verses 17 and 18, gives us an example of how we can lay down our lives for others—serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. We are to help those in need; being generous with your possessions, knowing that they are just entrusted to you by God who owns all things.

The apostle James collaborated the apostle John’s teaching in James 2 vs 14 - 17, saying, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” But you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” No one can walk in selfishness and pray the prayer of faith.

The Scripture, in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses, of the passage we read today, says, 

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal  life abiding in him." This is putting the case very clearly. We have passed out of the realm of Satanic union, spiritual death, into the union of eternal life and love.

Jesus laid down His life for us. Now "Love" says, "that we ought to live for the brethren," and then He says that remarkable thing, "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (First John 3 vs 17.) The world's goods are the things that we prize most highly; land, houses, money, beautiful things, valuables etc. In holding tight to those things, we have taken Satan's appraisal of their value. These world things have made us selfish. 

This new commandment of love is to break the monopoly of selfishness and establish a new order of life. The new man is no longer to live unto himself, but is to give his life for others. If he shuts up his compassion from his brother and refuses to bear his burdens, he, at once, sins against love, and God says, "How does the new kind of love abide in him," Unless we walk in love and have yielded to the lordship of love, God cannot manifest Himself through us. The ability of God is realized only in love's freedom to act. Selfishness imprisons love.

Prayer: Abba Father, You have poured out Your love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. Consequently, as You are so You have empowered us to be in this world. Endue me with the spirit of selflessness that I may put, in right manner, others desires first, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Something to Boast About

 By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

The New Testament correlates faith and grace to make sure that we do not boast in what grace alone achieves.

One of the most familiar examples is Ephesians 2:8. By grace, through faith. There’s the correlation that guards the freedom of grace. By grace, through faith.

Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own insufficiency to the free and all-sufficient resources of God. Faith focuses on the freedom of God to dispense grace to the unworthy. It banks on the bounty of God.

Therefore faith, by its very nature, nullifies boasting and fits with grace. Wherever faith looks, it sees grace behind every praiseworthy act. So it cannot boast, except in the Lord. The author of grace.

So Paul, after saying that salvation is by grace through faith, says, “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith cannot boast in human goodness or competence or wisdom, because faith focuses on the free, all-supplying grace of God. Whatever goodness faith sees, it sees as the fruit of grace.

When it looks at our “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” it says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31).

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

The New Testament correlates faith and grace to make sure that we do not boast in what grace alone achieves.

One of the most familiar examples is Ephesians 2:8. By grace, through faith. There’s the correlation that guards the freedom of grace. By grace, through faith.

Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own insufficiency to the free and all-sufficient resources of God. Faith focuses on the freedom of God to dispense grace to the unworthy. It banks on the bounty of God.

Therefore faith, by its very nature, nullifies boasting and fits with grace. Wherever faith looks, it sees grace behind every praiseworthy act. So it cannot boast, except in the Lord. The author of grace.

So Paul, after saying that salvation is by grace through faith, says, “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith cannot boast in human goodness or competence or wisdom, because faith focuses on the free, all-supplying grace of God. Whatever goodness faith sees, it sees as the fruit of grace.

When it looks at our “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” it says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31).

WE ARE REDEEMED TO BE PROSPEROUS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY MAY 30, 2021.

SUBJECT : WE ARE REDEEMED TO BE PROSPEROUS!

Memory verse: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10 vs 10.)

READ: Second Corinthians 3 vs 5; 8 vs 9:

3:5: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.

8:9: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

INTIMATION:

Prosperity is a part of our salvation. The Word says that Jesus became poor so that we, through His poverty, might be made rich (Second Corinthians 8 vs 9.) Yes, Jesus came to make us rich emotionally, spiritually and physically. It was for this reason He said, in John 10 vs 10, "....I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." He came that we may have life in ample sufficiency; great plenty. What an awesome God. Jesus Christ did all these, including eternal life for you and I. 

Jesus became poor by giving up His rights as God and becoming man—the person Jesus of Nazareth. As a man, He was subject to human limitations. Though He did not give up His eternal power when He became human, but He did set aside His glory and His rights in order to accomplish our redemption from sin and the powers of darkness: “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”  

(Philippians 2 vs 6 - 7.)

No one can claim to be adequate without God’s help. No one is competent to carry out the responsibilities of God’s calling on His or her strength. Without the Holy Spirit’s enabling, our natural talent can carry us only so far. The apostle Paul remarked that our sufficiency is of God, and not of ourselves.Paul, having full knowledge of that revelation said again that God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that we will always be sufficient in all things, and may abound to every good work:

"And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessings) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donations]." (Second Corinthians 9 vs 8, Amplified Version.)

Our redemption package—our inheritance in Christ, is such that God has so much empowered us in Christ; making us complete in Him, and giving us His fullness in Him. As His adopted children, we are heirs to His kingdom and joint-heirs with Jesus, and all that Jesus received in victory over Satan, He received for us: “Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5 vs 12.)

We have been made kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth (See Revelation 5 vs 10). The needed empowerment to reign has been received for us. Physical, spiritual, and emotional prosperity are our inheritance in Christ. We are redeemed to live a struggle-free life, knowing that God, through His divine power has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him and of Jesus our Lord. (see Second Peter 1 vs 3.)

Though He has called us to glory and virtue, but the onus is on us to dig deep in the Word to know Him the more, praying for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, and that our eyes of understanding be enlightened, that we may know the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the believers. (see Ephesians 1 vs 17 - 18.)

Prayer: Abba Father, how great and awesome You are! You have given us all things for a victorious and triumphant life on this earth. O Lord endue me with the excellent spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of my inheritance in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

When God Goes Against His Will

 But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. (1 Samuel 2:25)

The sons of Eli the priest would not obey their father when he rebuked them for their sin. There are three implications of this text for our lives.

1) It is possible to sin so long and so grievously that the Lord will not grant repentance.

That is why Paul said that after all our pleading and teaching, “God may perhaps grant them repentance” — not, “will grant them repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25). There is a “too late” in the life of sin. As it says of Esau in Hebrews 12:17, “He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” He was forsaken; he could not repent.

This does not mean that those who truly repent even after a whole lifetime of sinning cannot be saved. They certainly can be, and will be! God is staggeringly merciful. Remember the thief on the cross. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

2) Sometimes God does not permit a sinning person to do what is right.

“But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” Listening to the voice of their father was the right thing to do. But they would not. Why? “For it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”

The reason given for why they did not obey their father was that God had other purposes for them, and had given them up to sinning and death. This shows that there are times when the will of God’s decree is different from the revealed will of God’s command.

3) Sometimes our prayers for God’s revealed will to be done will not be done because God has decreed something different for holy and wise purposes.

I suppose that Eli prayed for his sons to be changed. That is how he should have prayed. But God had decreed that Hophni and Phinehas not obey, but rather be slain.

When something like this happens (which we do not ordinarily know ahead of time) while we are crying out to God for change, the answer of God is not: “I don’t love you.” Rather the answer is: “I have wise and holy purposes in not overcoming this sin and not granting repentance. You do not see these purposes now. Trust me. I know what I am doing. I love you.”

But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. (1 Samuel 2:25)

The sons of Eli the priest would not obey their father when he rebuked them for their sin. There are three implications of this text for our lives.

1) It is possible to sin so long and so grievously that the Lord will not grant repentance.

That is why Paul said that after all our pleading and teaching, “God may perhaps grant them repentance” — not, “will grant them repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25). There is a “too late” in the life of sin. As it says of Esau in Hebrews 12:17, “He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” He was forsaken; he could not repent.

This does not mean that those who truly repent even after a whole lifetime of sinning cannot be saved. They certainly can be, and will be! God is staggeringly merciful. Remember the thief on the cross. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

2) Sometimes God does not permit a sinning person to do what is right.

“But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” Listening to the voice of their father was the right thing to do. But they would not. Why? “For it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”

The reason given for why they did not obey their father was that God had other purposes for them, and had given them up to sinning and death. This shows that there are times when the will of God’s decree is different from the revealed will of God’s command.

3) Sometimes our prayers for God’s revealed will to be done will not be done because God has decreed something different for holy and wise purposes.

I suppose that Eli prayed for his sons to be changed. That is how he should have prayed. But God had decreed that Hophni and Phinehas not obey, but rather be slain.

When something like this happens (which we do not ordinarily know ahead of time) while we are crying out to God for change, the answer of God is not: “I don’t love you.” Rather the answer is: “I have wise and holy purposes in not overcoming this sin and not granting repentance. You do not see these purposes now. Trust me. I know what I am doing. I love you.”