The Most Liberating Discovery

 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. (Philippians 3:1)

No one had ever taught me that God is glorified by our joy in him — that joy in God is the very thing that makes our praise an honor to God, and not hypocrisy.

But Jonathan Edwards said it so clearly and powerfully:

God glorifies himself towards the creatures also [in] two ways: (1) by appearing to . . . their understanding; (2) in communicating himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying the manifestations which he makes of himself. . . . God is glorified not only by his glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. . . .

[W]hen those that see it delight in it: God is more glorified than if they only see it. . . . He that testifies his idea of God’s glory [doesn’t] glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it.

This was a stunning discovery for me. I must pursue joy in God if I am to glorify him as the surpassingly valuable Reality in the universe. Joy is not a mere option alongside worship. It is an essential component of worship. Indeed the very essence of worship — being glad in the glories of God.

We have a name for those who speak their praises of God when they have no pleasure in what they praise. We call them hypocrites. Jesus said, “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’” (Matthew 15:7–8). This fact — that authentic praise means consummate pleasure and that the highest end of man is to drink deeply of this pleasure for God’s glory — was perhaps the most liberating discovery I have ever made.

Make War with Unbelief

 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:16–17)

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7–9).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promises, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6); and, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Join me in this battle! Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. Unbelief in the promises of God is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, Paul said in Ephesians 6:17. The shield by which we quench Satan’s fiery deceits is faith (verse 16) — faith in that very word of God. So take up the shield in your left hand and the sword in your right hand, and let us fight the good fight of faith.

Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight — to live by faith in future grace.

DO NOT DESPAIR!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021.

SUBJECT: DO NOT DESPAIR!

Memory verse: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.” (Second Corinthians 1 vs 8.)

READ: Second Corinthians 4 vs 8 - 10:

4:8: We are hard pressed on every side; yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair;

4:9: persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

4:10: always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

INTIMATION:

Do not despair or lose hope in following Christ, the circumstances you may find yourselves nothing withstanding. It is in situations of hopelessness in our lives that God shows up for us, If we do not despair and hold tight to our trust in Him. God will never abandon those who seek Him with all their hearts. His promise doesn’t mean that those who trust in Him will escape loss or suffering. Rather it means that God Himself will never leave them no matter what they face. Regardless of how life looks now, God controls the future. He has promised to make everything right when we trust Him with our lives. The Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10 vs 11). 

In our memory verse, and in the passage we read today, the apostle Paul enumerated their encounters during their missionary journeys in Asia. They were faced with so many trials, and were entangled with several dangerous circumstances that at some point Apostle Paul felt that they were going to die and lost hope. They knew not what else to do than to put their hope in God. They realized that they could do nothing to help themselves—they simply had to rely on God, and He never failed them.

He reminds us that though we may think we are at the end of our rope, but with God we are never at the end of our hope. All our risks, humiliations, and trials are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate His power and presence in, and through us. Circumstances are never so bad that they are beyond God’s help. 

Daniel and his friends; the three Hebrew young men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Aded-Nego— never despaired in the face of trials, even with their lives glaringly at stake. They pledged their utter obedience to, and trust in God, and God showed up for them. In Daniel chapter 3, the young men determined not to worship the golden image of the king or any other god, and they courageously took their stand in the presence of the king, even when they risked execution in the fiery furnace. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was enraged when they disobeyed him and ordered that they throw the young men into the fiery furnace after heating it twice the former temperature. The young men never despaired. God showed up for them in the furnace; they were unburnt and came out without even the smell of smoke on them.

Daniel also, in Daniel chapter 6, never despaired in praying his God three times a day, even when faced with penalty of being thrown into the lions’ den should he pray to His God within the 30 days period stipulated by the king for everybody under his rulership to offer prayers to the king alone. When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God showed up for him, and shut the lions’ mouths. He came out the following morning unhurt.

 

We need never despair, the circumstances we are in not withstanding, because we belong to a loving God. And with Him nothing is difficult nor impossible. He knows the end from the beginning, and we don’t yet know what good He may bring out of a seemingly hopeless situation. For the Scripture says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8 vs 28.) God works in “all things”—not just isolated incidents—for our good. And He who called us is faithful and will never deny Himself.

We often depend on our own skills and abilities when life seems easy, and only turn to God when we feel unable to help ourselves. But as we realize our own powerlessness without Him and our need for His constant help in our lives, we come to depend on Him more and more. God is our source of power, and we receive His help by being constantly in touch with Him. With this attitude of dependence, problems will drive us to God rather than away from Him. Learn how to rely on God who controls all circumstances.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace anchor my whole trust in You without despairing no matter the circumstances I face in life, knowing that You will never leave nor forsake me, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD IS FOR OUR PROFITING!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2021.

SUBJECT: THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD IS FOR OUR PROFITING!

Memory verse: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3 vs 19.)

READ: Hebrews 12 vs 5 - 11:

12:5: And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

12:6: For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

12:7: If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

12:8: But if you be without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

12:9: Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

12:10: For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best for them, but He for our profit, that you may be partakers of His holiness.

12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

INTIMATION:

Chastening denotes refining or training that involves discipline and correction by reproving, and admonishing that may involve punishment. Correction by reproving, and admonition, even when it involves punishment, is a vital part of discipline, and discipline means “to teach and to train.” God chastens us in line with the aforestated reasons.

Discipline sounds negative to many people because some disciplinarians are not loving. God, however, is the source of all love because He is love (First John 4 vs 8). . He doesn’t punish us because He enjoys inflicting pain, but because He is deeply concerned about our development. He knows that in order to become morally strong and good, we must learn the difference between right and wrong. His loving discipline enables us to do this. And this is to ensure that the glorious destiny He had prepared for us beforehand is not missed by us by reason of disobedience or indiscipline.

God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish but to bring people back to Him. And in Him consists all there is in life. He created all things, and all things are His. He created all things according His predetermined purposes, and works to fulfill His purpose and not to make us happy. God may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude if you are lukewarm in your devotion to God. But He uses only loving discipline. 

Therefore, you can avoid God’s chastening if you are walking in your God’s ordained path of life. And when you fall out of path, you will avoid His discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying His Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can re-ignite our zeal for God when we allow Him to work in our heart.

Now, come to think of it, who loves his child more, the father who allows the child to do what will harm him, or the one who corrects, trains, and even punishes the child to help him learn what is right? It’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but His discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of His love, and ask Him what He is trying to teach you.

Knowing the thoughts of God for us—“thoughts of good and not for evil” (Jeremiah 29 vs 11),—we ought to respond to His discipline (chastening) gratefully, as the appropriate response we owe a loving Father. Instead of accepting it with self-pity, thinking we really don’t deserve it, or be angry and resentful toward God.

Certainly, not every calamity that happens to us comes directly from God. It is difficult to know when God has been disciplining us until we look back on the situation later. But if we rebel against God and refuse to repent when He had identified some sin in our lives, God may use guilt, crises, or bad experiences to bring us back to Him. It’s noteworthy that sometimes, however, difficult times come when we have no flagrant of sin. At times like that, our response then should be patience, integrity, and trust that God will show us what to do.

Just as success in family life, business, or in athletics, is by hard work and consistent discipline, the Christian life is much the same. Some people think it takes too much work, but achieving anything worthwhile requires hard work. Being a Christian is not a shortcut to an easy life. The chastening of God is all for our own profiting; that we may be partakers of God’s holiness, and the inherent yield of peaceable fruit of righteousness if we are trained by it. When you are wise to obey God’s laws—working hard at living as God asks—you discover that no worldly success can compare with the joy of knowing God.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are a Loving Father, and Faithful Companion. Your thoughts and plans for me is to take care of me and not to abandon me, to give me the future I hope for if I obey. O Lord, endue me with the spirit of wisdom and obedience to You at all times for my all round profiting, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Our Good Is His Glory

 

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)

One common objection to Christian Hedonism is that it puts the interests of man above the glory of God — that it puts my happiness above God’s honor. But Christian Hedonism most emphatically does not do this.

To be sure, we Christian Hedonists endeavor to pursue our interest and our happiness with all our might. We endorse the resolution of the young Jonathan Edwards: “Resolved: To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.”

But we have learned from the Bible (and from Edwards!) that God’s interest is to magnify the fullness of his glory by spilling over in mercy to us — to us sinners, who desperately need him.

Therefore, the pursuit of our interest and our happiness, even if it costs us our lives, is never above God’s interest and God’s happiness and God’s glory, but always in God’s. One of the most precious truths in the Bible is that God’s greatest interest is to glorify the wealth of his grace by making sinners happy in him — in him!

When we humble ourselves like little children and put on no airs of self-sufficiency, but run happily into the joy of our Father’s embrace, the glory of his grace is magnified and the longing of our soul is satisfied. Our interest and his glory become one.

When Jesus promises in Matthew 6:6, “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you,” this is a reward he wants us to seek. He does not lure us with joy we shouldn’t have! But this reward — this joy — is the overflow of turning away from human praise, and going into our closet to seek God.

Therefore, Christian Hedonists do not put their happiness above God’s glory. They put their happiness in God himself and discover the glorious truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

The Power of a Superior Promise

 

I shall walk in freedom, for I have sought your precepts. (Psalm 119:45, my translation)

An essential element of joy is freedom. None of us would be happy if we were not free from what we hate and free for what we love.

And where do we find true freedom? Psalm 119:45 says, “I shall walk in freedom, for I have sought your precepts.”

The picture is one of open spaces. The word frees us from smallness of mind. “God gave Solomon . . . breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore” (1 Kings 4:29). The word frees us from threatening confinements. “He brought me out into a broad place” (Psalm 18:19).

Jesus says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The freedom he has in mind is freedom from the slavery of sin (John 8:34). Or, to put it positively, it is freedom for holiness.

The promises of God’s grace provide the power that makes the demands of God’s holiness an experience of freedom rather than fear and confinement. Peter described the freeing power of God’s promises like this: “Through [his precious and very great promises] you become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4).

In other words, when we trust the promises of God, we sever the root of corruption and sinful desire by the power of a superior promise.

How crucial is the word that breaks the power of counterfeit pleasures! And how vigilant we should be to light our paths and load our hearts with the word of God!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).

THE LORD'S PASSION FOR US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2021.

SUBJECT: THE LORD'S PASSION FOR US!

Memory verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3 vs 16.)

READ: Romans 5 vs 6 - 11:

5:6: For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

5:8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

5:9: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

5:10: For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

5:11: And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

INTIMATION:

God is filled with compassion and wants us to realize we are loved and cared for. This is one of God's most outstanding and obvious characteristics. The message of the Gospel comes to a focus in His passion for us as is stated, and demonstrated in our memory verse. Here God sets the pattern of true love or passion for others, setting the pattern for all true love relationships. 

When you love someone dearly, you are ready and willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. For His passion, God paid dearly with the life of His Son, the highest price He could pay, and unheard of in history. Jesus accepted wholeheartedly, His propitiation for our sins, accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins on the cross (Ezekiel 18 vs 4 & Romans 6 vs 23). He, in exchange, offered us the new life that He had bought for us. Exchange of something completely worthless (our sinful lives) with something of inestimable value (the life of Jesus Christ—the Son of God).

The apostle Paul, in the passage we read, expounded the passion of God for us. He explained that when we were weak and helpless because we could do nothing on our own to save ourselves, Christ had to come to rescue us. He came at exactly the right time in history in accordance with God's plan and schedule. It is God that controls all history, and He controlled the timing, method, and events surrounding Jesus' death. God sent Jesus to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us and is passionate about our well being.

The apostle Paul explained that the love that caused God to create the world for an extension of His kingdom, and caused Christ to die in our place, is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us daily. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that saved us and is available to us in our daily lives. 

God is a Passionate Father. In Psalms 103 vs 13 the psalmist reminds us, "As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him." Jesus demonstrated this the day the disciples found themselves on the Sea of Galilee, and a storm was brewing, which is typical of the Sea of Galilee even today. The boat containing these disciples started to take in water because of the turbulence. When the boat started sinking, the disciples asked the ultimate question, "Lord, don't You care?" Of course He cares!

Many of us have at one time or the other felt like that, "Lord where are You when I really need You?" "God, I'm going under. Don't You care?" But a believer and a child of God will remember the promise found in First Peter 5 vs 7, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you." Does God care about your health? Yes! Does He care about your finances? Yes! What about that relationship that has never become what you hoped it would? Yes, He does care! He cares about the minutest details of your life that even the very hairs of your head are counted. (Matthew 10 vs 30). Though you may not know He cares, rest assured He does.

Be assured that, having begun a life with Christ, you have a reserve power and love to call on each day for help to meet every challenge or trial. Too often, in our spiritual life, although we may need to love God more, there is a much higher need to recognize just how much He loves us. When our relationship is such that we feel God's love and His passion for His children, we naturally begin to love Him more. You can pray for His power and love as you need it.

In Psalms 145 vs 18 the psalmist tells us, "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth." What this means is that He is never too busy for you. When you pray, you will never get busy signal. He hears you and ready to meet your real need. Jesus had a very special term He used to describe the personal and passionate nature of God. He called Him, "Abba." The word Abba is an Aramaic word used to describe the most intimate, personal nature of a father. He is never too busy for you. He is never more concerned about a crisis in one individual than another. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for Your passion for me. You have daily loaded me with Your benefits, always forgiving me my iniquities, healing me all my diseases, redeeming my life from de struction, satisfying my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's, and crowning me with loving kindness and tender mercies. May I not miss my path in You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!