HOW TO CALL GOD IN TIME OF TROUBLE!

 

The Fear That Draws Us In

 

“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:20)

There is a fear that is slavish and drives us away from God, and there is a fear that is sweet and draws us to God. Moses warned against the one and called for the other in the very same verse, Exodus 20:20: “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’”

The clearest illustration I have ever seen of this kind of good fear was the time one of my sons looked a German shepherd in the eye. We were visiting a family from our church. My son Karsten was about seven years old. They had a huge dog that stood eye to eye with a seven-year-old.

He was friendly and Karsten had no problem making friends. But when we sent Karsten back to the car to get something we had forgotten, he started to run, and the dog galloped up behind him with a low growl. And of course, this frightened Karsten. But the owner said, “Karsten, why don’t you just walk? The dog doesn’t like it when people run away from him.”

If Karsten hugged the dog, he was friendly and would even lick his face. But if he ran from the dog, the dog would growl and fill Karsten with fear.

That’s a picture of what it means to fear the Lord. God means for his power and holiness to kindle fear in us, not to drive us from him, but to drive us to him. Fearing God means, first, fearing to abandon him as our great security and satisfaction.

Or another way to say it is that we should fear unbelief. Fear not trusting God’s goodness. Isn’t that the point of Romans 11:20? “You stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.” That is, what we should fear is not believing, not having faith. Fear running away from God. But if we walk with him and hug his neck, he will be our friend and protector forever.

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GOD'S HOLY NAME!

 

Today’s Bible Reading: Ezekiel 39 God’s Holy Name “‘My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,’ declares the Lord GOD.” – Ezekiel 39:7-8 NASB Since the beginning of time, God has made it clear that He has a wonderful plan for the world and all people. Yet, beginning with Adam and Eve, people often have rejected His plan and lived their own way. And some don’t stop with rejection—they develop a hatred for God and anyone who believes in Him. They curse Him and defy His laws. But God wants us to know that He’s aware of what is happening. He promises that some day “the nations will know that I am the Lord.” We see God’s sovereign hand in the visions He gave Ezekiel. He promised to orchestrate events so that powerful nations of the world would gather together against Israel. But God promised to send fire even on “those who inhabit the coastlands in safety.” As a result, “they will know that I am the LORD” (vs. 1-6). Every day, we see events in the news beginning to line up with Biblical prophecies. Many people react with panic and fear. Some doubt and are skeptical. But God wants us to realize that He still is in charge. He is God! Today, the Lord wants you to know that you can trust Him to take care of everything. He will defend His name and accomplish His purposes. This is a day to renew your faith in Him. Worship Him. Serve Him. Trust Him. Prayer: Father, help me to be aware of Your prophetic purposes. Help me to be spiritually prepared, and use me to bring the Gospel to the nations while there is time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Death Trap Called Covetousness

 

Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9)

Covetousness can destroy the soul in hell forever.

The reason I am sure that this destruction is not some temporary financial fiasco, but final destruction in hell, is what Paul says three verses later in 1 Timothy 6:12. He says that covetousness is to be resisted with the fight of faith. Then he adds, “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession.” What’s at stake in fleeing covetousness and fighting for contentment by faith in future grace is eternal life.

So, when Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:9 that the desire to be rich plunges people into ruin, he isn’t saying that greed can mess up your marriage or your business (which it certainly can!). He is saying that covetousness can mess up your eternity. Or, as 1 Timothy 6:10 says at the end, “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (literally: “impaled themselves on many pains”).

God has gone the extra mile in the Bible to warn us mercifully that the idolatry of covetousness is a no-win situation. It’s a dead-end street in the worst sense of the word. It’s a trick and a deadly trap.

So, my word to you is the word of 1 Timothy 6:11: “Flee these things.” When you see it coming (in a television ad or a Christmas catalog or an Internet pop-up or a neighbor’s purchase), run from it the way you would run from a roaring, starving lion escaped from the zoo. “Take hold of the eternal life.”

WALKING IN THE NEWNESS OF LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 25, 2021.

SUBJECT : WALKING IN THE NEWNESS OF LIFE!

Memory verse: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.” (Romans 6 vs 4.) 

READ: Colossians 3 vs 1 - 4:

3:1: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

3:2: Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

3:3: For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

3:4: When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

INTIMATION:

God planned that Christians should walk in the fullness of the divine life; that we should dare to take our positions as sons and daughters of God; and that hour is coming before the Lord's return in which members of the body will rise and walk before God the Father in newness of the New Creation Life.

In the New Creation life, Christians will be masters of this world, just as Jesus Christ and our Father are the Masters of this world. Any form of hindrance is destroyed. Disease will not be able to lay hold upon them. Ignorance and fear will be banished, because the wisdom that comes from above, that is in Jesus, will lead them into the full dream, ambitions and purposes of our Father. 

Christians have been translated out of the realm of darkness; that is, the kingdom of weakness, darkness, and ignorance. They have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of His Love, which is the realm of wealth, of life, of joy, of light, of peace, and of faith. They are one with Christ and our lives hidden with Christ in God. To walk in the newness of life is expressed thus:

“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” (Colossians 1 vs 10 - 13.)

The apostle Paul, in the passage above, lists five benefits God gives all believers through Christ: (1) God has enabled us to share in Christ’s inheritance; (2) He has rescued us from Satan’s kingdom of darkness and made us His children; (3) He has brought us into His eternal kingdom; (4) He has purchased our freedom from sin and judgement with His blood; (5) He has forgiven us our sins. 

Sharing in Christ’s inheritance, the Scripture says; “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21). As believers, we trust in Christ’s substitutionary work for us, we make an exchange. He takes our sin and makes us right with God. Our sin was laid on Christ at His crucifixion. His righteousness is given to us at our conversion. 

By His Sacrificial death on the cross He rescued us from Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and He has brought us to His eternal kingdom, Through Jesus’ sacrifice, God has brought us into His family. We are God’s children, and joint heirs along with Jesus.

Jesus purchased our freedom from sin and judgement. Our sins are forgiven, It is of God’s grace that we are in Christ Jesus, “Who has become for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (First Corinthians 1 vs 30). Therefore, the limits of our wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, are the limits of Jesus, Jesus is also our life, and the limits of that life are the limits of the Life of the Son of God. But because He is limitless, we are also limitless.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You immensely for the inheritance you have given us Christ Jesus. Engrace me to walk in the newness of life in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

I Can Be Content in Every Circumstance

 

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11–13)

God’s provision of day-by-day future grace enables Paul to be filled or to be hungry, to prosper or suffer, to have abundance or go wanting.

“I can do all things” really means “all things,” not just easy things. “All things” means, “Through Christ I can hunger and suffer and be in want.” This puts the stunning promise of Philippians 4:19 in its proper light: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

What does “every need of yours” mean in view of Philippians 4:11–12? It means “all that you need for God-glorifying contentment.” Which may include times of hunger and need. Paul’s love for the Philippians flowed from his contentment in God, and his contentment flowed from his faith in the future grace of God’s infallible provision to be all he needed in times of plenty and want.

It’s obvious then that covetousness is exactly the opposite of faith. It’s the loss of contentment in Christ so that we start to crave other things to satisfy the longings of our hearts which only the presence of God himself can satisfy. And there’s no mistaking that the battle against covetousness is a battle against unbelief in God’s promise to be all we need in every circumstance.

This is so clear in Hebrews 13:5. Watch how the author argues for our freedom from the love of money — freedom from covetousness — the freedom of contentment in God: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Faith in this promise — “I will never leave you” — breaks the power of all God-dishonoring desire — all covetousness.

Whenever we sense the slightest rise of covetousness in our hearts, we must turn on it and fight it with all our might using the weapons of this faith.