Prayer Is for Sinners

 

“Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1)

God answers the prayers of sinners, not perfect people. And you can become perfectly paralyzed in your praying if you do not focus on the cross and realize this.

I could show it from numerous Old Testament texts where God hears the cry of his sinful people, whose very sins had gotten them into the trouble from which they are crying for deliverance (for example, Psalm 38:4, 15; 40:12–13; 107:11–13). But let me show it from Luke 11 — in two ways:

In this version of the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:2–4), Jesus says, “When you pray, say . . . ” and then in verse 4 he includes this petition, “and forgive us our sins.” So, if you connect the beginning of the prayer with the middle, what he says is, “Whenever you pray, say . . . forgive us our sins.”

I take this to mean that this should be as much a part of all our praying as, “Hallowed be your name.” Which means that Jesus assumes that we need to seek forgiveness virtually every time we pray.

In other words, we are always sinners. Nothing we do is perfect. As Martin Luther said, on his deathbed, “We are beggars. This is true.” Even if we have achieved some measure of obedience before we pray, we always come to the Lord as sinners — all of us. And God does not turn away the prayers of sinners when they pray like this.

The second place we can see this is in Luke 11:13: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus calls his disciples “evil.” Pretty strong language. And he did not mean that they were out of fellowship with him. He did not mean that their prayers could not be answered.

He meant that as long as this fallen age lasts, even his own disciples will have an evil bent that pollutes everything they do, but doesn’t keep them from doing much good as they rely on his grace and power.

We are simultaneously evil and redeemed. We are gradually overcoming our evil by the power of the Holy Spirit. But our native corruption is not obliterated by conversion.

We are sinners and we are beggars. And if we recognize this sin, renounce it, fight it, and cling to the cross of Christ as our hope, then God will hear us and answer our prayers.

Glorify God in Your Body

 

You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

“Worship” is the term we use to cover all the acts of the heart and mind and body that intentionally express the infinite worth of God. This is what we were created for. It might be singing in church. It might be sweeping the kitchen floor.

Don’t just think about worship services when you think about worship. That is a huge limitation which is not in the Bible. All of life is supposed to be worship.

Take breakfast, for example, or midmorning snacks. First Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Now eating and drinking are about as basic as you can get. What could be more real or more ordinarily human than eating and drinking? And Paul says, in effect, let all your eating and drinking be worship.

Or take sex. Paul says the alternative to fornication is worship.

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18–20)

That is, worship with your body by the way you handle your sexuality.

Or take death for a final example. We will experience death in our bodies. In fact, it will be the last act of the body on this earth. The body bids farewell. How shall we worship in that last act of the body? We see the answer in Philippians 1:20–21. Paul says that his hope is that Christ would be magnified — worshiped, shown to be worthy — in his body by death. Then he adds, “For to me . . . to die is gain.” We express the infinite worth of Christ in dying by counting death as gain.

You have a body. But it is not yours. “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

You are always in a temple. Always worship.

FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GODHEAD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JUNE 8, 2021.

SUBJECT : FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GODHEAD!

Memory verse: "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8 vs 12.)

READ: First John 1 vs 3 - 7: 

1:3: That which we have seen and heard we declared to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

1:4: And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

1:5: This is the message which we have heard from Him and declared to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1:6: If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth.

1:7: But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

INTIMATION:

The highest honor God has ever conferred upon us is to be joint-fellowshippers with Himself, with His Son, and with the Holy Spirit in carrying out His dream for redemption of the human race. Fellowship is the very mother of faith, the parent of joy, the source of victory; and He has called us individually into fellowship with His Son.

Jesus is the light of the world. He is the Creator of life, and His life brings light to humankind. In His light, we see ourselves as we really are (sinners in need of a Savior). If you have fellowship with Him—the true Light—you will have the light that helps you ovoid walking blindly and falling into sin. If you are walking in the light as He is in the light, He lights the path ahead of you so you can see how to live. 

Fellowship with the Godhead is in prayer, and meditation in His Word; in this, prayer becomes one of the sweetest privileges, and one of the greatest assets that we are heirs to in Christ. Consequently, your joy is guaranteed to be full. In fellowship with Him you are not alone. Romans 8 vs 26 then can be a reality;  "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

As a believer, you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. Even when you don't know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for you, and God answers. If the Holy Sprint is voicing the desires of the Father through your lips, those desires will be met and granted. With God helping you to pray, you don't need to be afraid to come before Him.

Light represents what is good, pure, true, holy, and reliable. Darkness represents what is sinful, and evil. The statement “God is light” means that God is perfectly holy and true and that He alone can guide us out of the darkness of sin. Light is also related to truth, in that light exposes whatever exists, whether it is good or bad. In the dark, good and evil look alike; in the light, they can be clearly distinguished.

Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God. Our fellowship with the Godhead is the very heart reason for redemption.  Fellowship means sharing, equally bearing the burden, sharing in the victories. In First Corinthians 1 vs 9 the Bible says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." He has called us to share with His Son.  

Again a believer in fellowship with the Godhead, it is necessary for us to know the authority of the name of Jesus; not as a part of a creed or a doctrine, but to know it as an actual reality.  The Father has given us the power of attorney to use the name of Jesus, and that name has all authority in heaven and on earth. (Philippians 2 vs 9 - 10). That makes us absolute masters of Satanic forces:

"In my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover (Mark 16 vs 17 - 18); “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14 vs 14); “Whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name He will give it you." (John 15 vs 16; 16 vs 23).

This is limitless. It is the limitlessness of the prayer life and it belongs to every child of God. Therefore, fellowship with the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—is the key of life that helps us walk in the light of the world. You will never stumble but have the best of life, and consequently, receive the crown of glory—eternal life with Him.

Prayer: Abba Father, You have called me into fellowship with You. In You there is no darkness but the light of life. Engrace me never to fall out of fellowship with You, fully pleasing You, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

We Live by Faith

 

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. (Galatians 2:20)

Faith is a perfect fit with God’s future grace. It corresponds to the freedom and all-sufficiency of grace. And it calls attention to the glorious trustworthiness of God.

One of the important implications of this conclusion is that the faith that justifies and the faith that sanctifies are not two different kinds of faith. “Sanctify” simply means to make holy or to transform into Christlikeness. It is all by grace.

Therefore, it must also be through faith. For faith is the act of the soul that connects with grace, and receives it, and channels it as the power of obedience, and guards grace from being nullified through human boasting.

Paul makes this connection between faith and sanctification explicit in Galatians 2:20 (“I live by faith”). Sanctification is by the Spirit and by faith. Which is another way of saying that it is by grace and by faith. The Spirit is “the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29). God’s way of making us holy is by the Spirit; but the Spirit works through faith in the gospel.

The simple reason why the faith that justifies is also the faith that sanctifies is that both justification and sanctification are the work of sovereign grace. And it’s faith that corresponds to grace. Justification and sanctification are not the same kind of work (justification is the imputation of righteousness; sanctification is the impartation of righteousness), but they are both works of grace. Sanctification and justification are “grace upon grace” (John 1:16).

The human corollary of God’s free grace is faith. If both justification and sanctification are works of grace, it is natural that they would both be by faith.

SOURCES OF THE HIGHEST TYPE OF FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JUNE 7, 2021.

SUBJECT : SOURCES OF THE HIGHEST TYPE OF FAITH!

Memory verse: "When Jesus heard it, He marveled and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Matthew 8 vs 10.)

READ: Matthew 21 vs 18 - 22:

21:18: Now in the morning as He returned to the city, He was hungry.

21:19: And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

21:20: And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” 

21:21: So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

21:22: And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

INTIMATION:

The first thing that is necessary is to know the integrity of the Word; to know that this Word is actually what it declares itself to be—a revelation from God to us. We should know that it is God speaking to us; that the Bible is not only a Book of the past and future, but it is a Book of now; that it a God-breathed, a God-indwelt, a God-inspired message.

Secondly, it is necessary for us to know the actual reality of our redemption in Christ; not as a doctrine, not as a philosophy, but as an actual redemption out of the authority of Satan, and that we have been, by the New Birth, translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love; or in other words, into the very Family of God. Satan's dominion over us as a New Creation is ended. Jesus is the Lord and head of this new body. 

Thirdly, it is necessary for us to know the reality of the new creation; to know the legal side of it, that in the mind of justice we were created in Christ Jesus when He was recreated after He had been made sin as our substitute. We should know that vitally, the moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and confessed Him as our Lord,  We are the very sons and daughters of God Almighty.

fourthly, is that we should know the reality of our righteousness in Christ. There is no theory about this. We know that Romans 3 vs 26 is a reality; "To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." But the great revelation is in Second Corinthians 5 vs 21,; "Him who knew no sin God made to be sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 

Not only is Jesus our righteousness, and the Father our righteousness, but we have become "the righteousness of God in Him." This means our standing before the throne is a standing sponsored by God Himself and by His Son; by His own works wrought in us, and by the Holy Spirit, through the Word.

The fifth fact necessary for us to know is the reality of indwelling. Of all the mighty truths connected with redemption, this is the climax: that God Himself, after He has recreated us, made us His own, and is actually making our bodies His home. No longer does He dwell in earth-made holy of holies. Our bodies have become His temples. 

The apostle Paul made this clear in First Corinthians 6 vs 19 - 20 saying, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

When you becomes God-inside minded, when you take for granted that "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (First John 4 vs 4), you go out and face life's problems with the sense of a conqueror. It is a rare practice amongst believers to say in every crisis of their life, "I am a conqueror; I am more than a victor, because the Creator dwells in me. He can put me over. He can make me a success. I can't fail." What effect will this knowledge, sincerely put into practice daily, have upon our prayer life? It will be awesome. 

The sixth fact is that it is necessary for us to know the reality of our fellowship with the Jesus and by extension, the Father. This is the very heart reason for redemption. In First Corinthians 1 vs 9 the Bible says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Fellowship means sharing, equally bearing the burden, sharing in the victories; and He has called us to share with His Son.

Prayer: Abba Father, my faith is exceedingly built in You; in You I live and move and have my being. O Lord, give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You, and open my eyes of understanding to know the hope of Your calling, and the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

All Hostile to God

 

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. (Colossians 1:21–22)

The best news in all the world is that our alienation from God is ended and we are reconciled to the Judge of the universe. God is no longer against us, but for us. Having omnipotent love on our side mightily steels the soul. Life becomes utterly free and daring when the strongest being in the universe is for you.

But Paul’s message of salvation is not good news to those who reject the diagnosis in Colossians 1:21. He says, you “were alienated and hostile in mind.”

How many people do you know who say, “Apart from God’s grace, I am hostile to God in my mind”? People seldom say, “I hate God.” So, what does Paul mean that people are “hostile in mind” to God before they were reconciled by the blood of Christ?

I think he means that the hostility is really there toward the true God, but people do not allow themselves to think about the true God. They imagine God to be the way they would like him to be, which seldom includes any possibility that they might be in really serious trouble with him.

But concerning the God who really exists — a God who is sovereign over all things, including sickness and calamity — we were all hostile to him, Paul says. Deep down, we hated his absolute power and authority.

That any of us is saved is owing to the wonderful truth that the death of Christ obtained the grace by which God conquered our hearts and caused us to love the One we once hated.

Many are still learning not to be hostile to God. It is a good thing that he is gloriously patient.

YOU ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 6, 2021.

SUBJECT : YOU ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING!

Memory verse: "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great. and you shall be a blessing."  (Genesis 12 vs 2.)

READ: First Chronicles 29 vs 10 - 12; 16 - 17:

29:10: Therefore David blessed the Lord before the assembly; and David said: 'Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. 

29:11: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all. 

29:12: Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.

29:16: O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. 

29:17: I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You.

INTIMATION:

God supplies most people with the personal and financial abilities to respond to the needs of others. Regrettably, many of the people have wrongly arrogated these abilities as their efforts. Rather than use God’s gifts to them to actualize His purposes and will, they put their trust in their possessions and God is pushed away on the sideline of their lives. If we all realized how God has blessed us, and if we all use our resources to do God’s will, hunger and poverty would be wiped out. Wealth is a blessing only if we use it in the way God intended.

Many people are afraid to loosen the death grip they have on their possessions because they have the wrong perception that the accumulation of possessions is an indication of prosperity and good success, in accordance with societal norm of assessment. Ironically, this is far away from God’s idea of prosperity and good success. Prosperity and good success, in the assessment of God, is in your relationship with Him—doing His will; being obedient to, and trusting Him in all things. (Joshua 1 vs 8).

The people with death grip on their possessions, always think that their grip will ensure it’s not taken away. Actually, God is El shadai, not El cheapo; a giver, not a taker. God will treat you better than you treat yourself. Though, He might make different choices than you would, but He will certainly treat you better.

When you open up your hands to give out willingly; serving God and others with the resources He put in your possession, and putting your trust in Him, you'll see that God is not a taker—He's a multiplier. He has not come into your life to take from you. Rather He is there to give to you ‘exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think’ (Ephesians 3 vs 20), according to His mighty power at work in you who believes and puts your trust in Him.

The Bible is full of stories of men and women whom God blessed and prospered, and they all had the attitude of a steward. They all recognized God as their source. David was a good example of a steward. He wanted to build the Lord a temple, but God told him he couldn't. God wanted his son Solomon to build the temple instead. David obeyed God, but he started set aside the money and materials Solomon would need one day in order to build the temple. David set aside the equivalent of $36 billion in gold and $14 billion in silver while Solomon was growing up. 

Then right before he handed over the throne to Solomon, he made one last gift. For that one gift, David gave 110 tons of gold and 260 tons of silver. By current prices, he gave the equivalent of $6 billion in gold and $300 million in silver. After giving this huge gift, David encouraged other people to give. All the leaders of the tribes caught the spirit of giving and began to donate large sums of money. The leaders gave more than David: 190 tons of gold and 375 tons of silver. All together, they gave $17 billion in gold and silver in one day.

Now, the passage we read today, enumerated part of David's remark in First Chronicles 29 vs 10 - 19. David saw himself as a steward. He knew that all of his assets had been given to him by God. David gave God the credit for being the source of all his riches. Notice how David said that they had only given what God first gave to them; all they had done was give back to God what was rightfully His anyway. 

David had the kind of heart that pleased God. He was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13 vs 22). David was kind, benevolent, forgiving, and courageous. He, more than anything else, had an unchangeable belief in the faithful and forgiving nature of God. He was a man who lived with great zest for God, and was listed in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. David had his rest in God, and was the ruler in Israel who never lost a battle. Eventually, David’s kingship was eternal through Jesus Christ (Second Samuel 7 vs 29). 

Truly, godly prosperity is different from coveting riches. Yes, God wants you to have nice things, but you shouldn't get them by hoarding your possessions and spending it all on yourself. When you give and handle your assets like a steward of God's resources, then God will bless you, and ‘His blessing makes you rich and adds no sorrow with it.’ (Proverbs 10 vs 22.) You will have nice things, but you won't be in hock up to your eyeballs or working yourself sick.

God wants to bless His children, and wants His children to depend upon Him as their source. It is true that you can look at everything you have and say, "I did this; this is all the result of my effort," but in so doing, you haven't tapped into God's supernatural limitless abilities—you're just depending on your limited capabilities.

Prayer: Abba Father, Your hand has made me, and given me all I have. Engrace me to responsibly and effectively use Your blessings to serve your purpose and will, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!