Enduring When Obeying Hurts

 

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

What faith performs is sometimes unspeakably hard.

In his book Miracle on the River Kwai, Ernest Gordon tells the true story of a group of POWs working on the Burma Railway during World War II.

At the end of each day the tools were collected from the work party. On one occasion a Japanese guard shouted that a shovel was missing and demanded to know which man had taken it. He began to rant and rave, working himself up into a paranoid fury and ordered whoever was guilty to step forward. No one moved. “All die! All die!” he shrieked, cocking and aiming his rifle at the prisoners. At that moment one man stepped forward and the guard clubbed him to death with his rifle while he stood silently to attention. When they returned to the camp, the tools were counted again and no shovel was missing.

What can sustain the will to die for others, when you are innocent? Jesus was carried and sustained in his love for us by “the joy that was set before him.” He banked on a glorious future blessing and joy, and that carried and sustained him in love through his suffering.

Woe to us if we think we should or can be motivated and strengthened for radical, costly obedience by some higher motive than the joy that is set before us. When Jesus called for costly obedience that would require sacrifice in this life, he said in Luke 14:14, “You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” In other words, be strengthened now in all your losses for Christ’s sake, because of the joy set before you.

Peter said that, when Jesus suffered without retaliating, he was leaving us an example to follow — and that includes Jesus’s confidence in the joy set before him. He handed his cause over to God (1 Peter 2:21) and did not try to settle accounts with retaliation. He banked his hope on the resurrection and all the joys of reunion with his Father and the redemption of his people. So should we.

SATAN’S DEFEAT IS IN WORD CONFESSION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 27, 2021.

SUBJECT : SATAN’S DEFEAT IS IN WORD CONFESSION!

Memory verse: "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4 vs 7.) 

READ: Matthew 4 vs 3 - 11: 

4:3: Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4:4: But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not leave by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

4:5: Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

4:6: and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down . For it is written; ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

4:7: Jesus said to Him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”

4:8: Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

4:9: And He said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

4:10: The Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.

4:11: Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

INTIMATION:

Our testimony of the reality of the Word is greatly feared by Satan, and he is totally disarmed and made ineffective by that. That was the weapon of Jesus against Satan's temptations in the wilderness. When the tempter, Satan, came with his temptations, Jesus simply reminded him of what the Word says; "It is written," and the tempter had no reply to it. 

The devil’s temptations to Jesus focused on three crucial areas: (1) physical needs and desires, (2) possessions and power, and (3) pride. Jesus was able to resist all of  the devil’s temptations because He not only knew the Scripture, But He also obeyed It. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6 vs 17), to use in spiritual combat. 

Knowing Bible verses is an important step in helping us resist the devil’s attacks, but we must also obey the Bible. Note that Satan has memorized Scripture, but He failed to obey it.  Even the demons believe and tremble (James 2 vs 19),  but they fail to obey. Knowing and obeying the Bible helps us follow God’s desires rather than the devil’s.

Just as the devil used Scripture to convince Jesus to sin, we also face such temptations from some people. Sometimes friends or associates will present attractive and convincing reasons why you should try something you know is wrong. They may even find relevant Bible verses to support their viewpoint. Study the Bible carefully, especially the broader contexts of specific verses, so that you understand God’s principles for living and what He wants from your life.

Only if you really study and understand what the whole Bible says, will you be able to recognize errors of interpretation when people take verses out of context and twist them to say what they want to you to say.

We walk in the light of our testimony—our faith never goes beyond our confession. The Word becomes real only as we confess its reality. That is, "We walk by faith and not by sight." (Second Corinthians 5 vs 7.) Sense knowledge would confess only what it had seen, heard or felt. This is why the people who are seeking experiences always walk by the senses. 

We have been instructed in God's Word to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for He who promised is faithful.  (Hebrews 10 vs 23). As we hold fast to the confession of the Word, we are to affirm constantly (Titus 3 vs 8), those things that God has revealed to us, and the realization of those things is sure because He is ever ready to perform His Word (Jeremiah 1 vs 12).

The confession from a believing heart brings the power of God into action. Jesus confirmed the fact in Mark 11 vs 23 that says, "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in His heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." 

You study about what you are in Christ and then confess it boldly from a believing heart. You dare to act on the Word in the face of sense knowledge opposition. Regardless of appearance, you take your stand; make your confession and hold fast to it in the face of apparent impossibilities, and realization is certain. The devil is defeated; “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony...” (Revelation 12 vs 11.)

Prayer: Abba Father, Your Word is supreme. Give me the grace for in-depth knowledge of Your Word and the boldness to confess it at all times that I may be the master of the devil and his cohorts, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

A Hiding Place for the Helpless

 

How abundant is your goodness, which you have . . . worked for those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19)

The experience of future grace often hangs on whether we will take refuge in God, or whether we doubt his care and run for cover to other shelters.

For those who take refuge in God, the promises of future grace are many and rich.

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (2 Samuel 22:31)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding, because we are weak and need protection, is not a work to commend our self-sufficiency. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue.

In all those promises I just quoted, the condition of great blessing from God is that we take refuge in him. That condition is not a meritorious one; it is the condition of desperation and acknowledged weakness and need and trust.

Desperation does not demand or deserve; it pleads for mercy and looks for grace.

BATTLING THE ENEMIES IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JUNE 26, 2021.

SUBJECT : BATTLING THE ENEMIES IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM!

Memory verse: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6 vs 12.) 

READ: Ephesians 6 vs 13 - 18:

6:13: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

6:14: Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

6:15: and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

6:16: above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery dirts of the wicked one.

6:17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which the word of God;

6:18: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

INTIMATION:

In the Christian life, we battle against principalities and powers (the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by Satan, who is a vicious fighter). To withstand their attacks we must depend on God's strength and use every piece of His armor. We fight against the demons over whom Satan has control. They are very real, and not mere fantasies. We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat the body of Christ. When you believe in Christ, these beings become your enemies, and they try every device to turn you away from Christ and back to sin. 

The battle is in spiritual realm with manifestations in the physical. Although we are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ returns, because Satan is constantly battling against all who are on the Lord's side (First Peter 5 vs 8). We need supernatural power to defeat Satan and God has provided this by giving us His Holy Spirit within us and His armor surrounding us. 

The war is a spiritual warfare—the war of prayers, and not the war of rifles such as "AK 47" to shoot down the devil and his cohorts. The failure of all Christian enterprises is a prayer failure. Prayer alone gives success. Preaching, and personal work are God-honored, and blessed vocations or ministries, but prayer is the foundation of it all. A man might preach with a superb eloquence and be the most skilled of diplomats as a soul winner, but he will fall short of his ministry in both fields if he isn't backed up by the prayer life. 

The demons (principalities and powers) and their master are spirits which you don't see nor engage physically, and the fight against them is also in the spirit realm via prayers. We need supernatural powers to defeat Satan, and God has provided this by giving us His Holy Spirit—the sole interpreter of the needs of the human heart—within us, and His armor surrounding us.

The armor of God is utilized in battle through prayer; praying at all times, that is, on every occasion, in every season, in the Spirit, with all manner of prayer and entreaty. And to that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance. 

Prayer: Abba Father, without You I can do nothing. O Lord, endue me with the spirit of constant communication with You in prayers, that I may be empowered by Your whole armor for the battle against Satan and his cohorts, that I will overcome them, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

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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Mike C Boniface is an ordained servant of God and Author of many God's inspiring books on Amazon.com. You can see many of my books through this link www.amazon.com/author/mikeboniface at amazon.com.