The Great Missionary Hope

 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:5)

The great missionary hope is that when the gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, God himself does what man cannot do: he creates the faith that saves. The call of God does what the call of man can’t. It raises the dead. It creates spiritual life. It is like the call of Jesus to Lazarus in the tomb, “Come out!” And the dead man obeyed and came out. The call created the obedience by creating life (John 11:43). That is how anyone is saved.

We can waken someone from sleep with our call, but God’s call can summon into being things that are not (Romans 4:17). God’s call is irresistible in the sense that it can overcome all resistance. It is infallibly effective according to God’s purpose — so much so that Paul can say, “Those whom [God] called he also justified” (Romans 8:30), even though we are only justified by our faith.

In other words, God’s call is so effectual that it infallibly creates the faith through which a person is justified. All the called are justified according to Romans 8:30. But none is justified without faith (Romans 5:1). So the call of God cannot fail in its intended effect. It irresistibly brings into being the faith that justifies.

This is what man cannot do. It is impossible. Only God can take out the heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). Only God can draw people to the Son (John 6:44, 65). Only God can open the spiritually dead heart so that it gives heed to the gospel (Acts 16:14). Only the Good Shepherd knows his sheep, and calls them by name with such compelling power that they all follow — and never perish (John 10:3–4, 14).

The sovereign grace of God, doing the humanly impossible, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the great missionary hope.

SATAN STRIKES ONLY WHEN GOD ALLOWS!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY OCTOBER 24, 2021.

SUBJECT : SATAN STRIKES ONLY WHEN GOD ALLOWS!

Memory verse: “Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered Amy servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2 vs 3.)

READ: Job 1 vs 13 - 19:

1:6: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

1:7: And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD, and said, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

1:8: Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and shuns evil?”

1:9: So Satan answered the LORD, and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

1:10: Have you not made a hedge around him, and around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

1:11: But now, stretch our Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

12 And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in thy power; only do not lay a hand on his person. So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

INTIMATION:

God is fully aware of Satan’s every attempt to bring adversities on us. The conversation between God and Satan in Job 1 vs 6 - 12 clearly gives us the understanding that Satan also presents himself before God with the mission to incite God against His people. For instance, in Zechariah 3 vs 1 - 2, Satan accused (“opposed”) Joshua the high priest who was before the Lord representing the nation of Israel. His accusations were accurate—Joshua stood in filthy garments (sins of the Israelites). Yet God revealed His mercy, stating that He chose to save His people in spite of their sin. 

Part of Satan’s mission is to accuse us before God and incite Him against us for our sins (Revelation 12 vs 10). But he greatly misunderstands the breadth of God’s mercy and forgiveness toward those who believe in Him. Satan, originally an angel of God, had become corrupt through his own pride, and has been evil since his rebellion against God (First John 3 vs 8). He tries to hinder God’s work in people, but he is limited by God’s power and can do only what he is allowed to do. 

Jesus emphasized Satan’s mission ana limitations when He said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22 vs 31 - 32.) Satan wanted to crush Simon Peter and the other disciples like grains of wheat. Jesus assured Peter of His intervention in prayer, and that his faith, although it would falter, would not be destroyed. God would not allow Satan to afflict him.

Again, from God’s conversation with Satan, we have learned that he is real, active on earth and is accountable to God. All angelic beings, good and evil, are compelled to present themselves before God. God knows Satan’s intents—to kill, to steal, and to destroy, but he cannot do anything without God’s permission. God puts limitations on what Satan can do. God’s people can overcome his attacks through God’s power. Although Satan is a spirit being, he is not omnipresent, he can only be at only one place at a time. His demons aid him in his work; but as a created being, he is limited; he cannot see our minds or foretell the future. If he could, he would have known that Job would not break under pressure.

Although God loves us, believing and obeying Him do not shelter us from life’s calamities. Look at Job, whom God personally testified about, Satan still incited God against him, saying, that Job was blameless and had integrity only because he had no reason to turn against God. Ever since he had started following God everything had gone well for him. Satan wanted to prove that Job worshipped God, not out of love, but because God had given him so much, and if God would take away all the blessings, including his health, that he would deny Him and curse Him to His face. 

God allowed Satan to attack him in an especially harsh manner. Yet Job was a model of trust and obedience to God. Setbacks, tragedies, and sorrows strike Christians and non-Christians alike. But in our tests and trials, God expects us to express our faith in Him to the world. How do you respond to your troubles? Do you ask God, “Why me?” or do you say, “Use me!”? or are you one of the people that would say, “It is not my portion!”

Satan accurately analyzed why many people trust God. They are fair-weather believers, following God only when everything is going well or for what they can get. Adversity destroys the superficial faith. But adversity strengthens real faith by causing believers to dig their roots deeper into God in order to withstand the storms. How dip does your faith go? Put the roots of your faith down dip into God so that you can withstand any storm you may face.

God allows Satan to attack some of His children because He knows the eventual outcome of the attack. He is All-knowing, and cannot be fooled by Satan. The suffering and trials can be a test for His people like Job, and to prove Satan wrong. It is not any surprises to God.

When hit with adversity, we can be astonished and are free to express such emotions. God created our emotions, and it is not sinful or inappropriate to express them. If you have experienced a deep loss, a disappointment, or a heartbreak, admit your feelings to yourself and others, and grieve. But never lose your trust in God. People ought to love God for who He is, not for what He gives.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of resilience, and complete trust in You, in all life’s circumstances, to the glory of Your name, and shame to the devil, in Jesus’ mighty Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Christ Is Like Sunlight

 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. (Hebrews 1:3)

Jesus relates to God the way radiance relates to glory, or the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun.

Keep in mind that every analogy between God and natural things is imperfect and will distort if you press it. Nevertheless, consider for example,

There is no time that the sun exists without the beams of radiance. They cannot be separated. The radiance is co-eternal with the glory. Christ is co-eternal with God the Father.

The radiance is the glory radiating out. It is not essentially different from the glory. Christ is God standing forth as separate but not essentially different from the Father.

Thus the radiance is eternally begotten, as it were, by the glory — not created or made. If you put a solar-activated calculator in the sunlight, numbers appear on the face of the calculator. These, you could say, are created or made by the sun, but they are not what the sun is. But the rays of the sun are an extension of the sun. So Christ is eternally begotten of the Father, but not made or created.

We see the sun by means of seeing the rays of the sun. So we see God the Father by seeing Jesus. The rays of the sun arrive here about eight minutes after they leave the sun, and the round ball of fire that we see in the sky is the image — the exact representation — of the sun; not because it is a painting of the sun, but because it is the sun streaming forth in its radiance.

So I commend this great Person to you that you might trust in him and love him and worship him. He is alive and sitting at the right hand of God with all power and authority and will one day come in great glory. He has that exalted place because he is himself God the Son, “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”

MID NIGHT PRAYERS THAT BRINGS RESULTS

 

PRAYER IS THE MASTER KEY !

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 23, 2021.

SUBJECT : PRAYER IS THE MASTER KEY !

Memory verse: "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms." (James 5 vs 13.)

READ: Exodus 3 vs 7 - 8:

3:7: And the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppressions of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 

3:8: So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

INTIMATION:

Prayer is the master key we use to free ourselves from the bondage of all form of afflictions of the enemy, and for the restoration of our beauty in Christ. It’s the kingdom’s force of deliverance from afflictions, and restoration of our glorious destiny. 

Affliction is described as great suffering that produces sorrow. Afflictions are not our heritage; we are created in His image and after His likeness, to reflect the glory of God, and prayer is what it takes to enforce our manifestations. It’s only in prayer we hand over our battles to God with whom nothing is impossible with or difficult for (Mark 10 vs 27; Jeremiah 32 vs 17 & 27). He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the wise Judge, who is aware of our conducts and knows all things. He is our Redeemer, who has great power, and the Owner of the world and all its fullness. Therefore, who else can you go to?

It’s for this reason Jesus said, “...Men ought always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18 vs 1). To be constantly on the guard, we should persistently hand over every of our concern to God in prayer. And taking a cue from Jesus, the apostle Paul also instructs us to “pray without ceasing” (First Thessalonians 5 vs 17).

Now, look at our memory verse, "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray." Not, "let him cry...," or, "let him watch..." That means anyone that is battered, tormented or depressed, is expected to pray for deliverance. If you want to see that yoke on your life broken, you must pray. If you want the forces beclouding your destiny to be shattered. Prayer is the kingdom force recommended for our deliverance.

In the passage we read today, the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt for 430 years. God only sent them help after He heard their cries in prayer. So until you cry out against that affliction in your life, it remains. God only responds to your voice in prayer, to put a stop to the assault of the devil in your life. Apart from destroying afflictions, prayer puts you on the line for divine visitations, and turns your captivity, just as it did for the children of Israel. Therefore, the time is now to rise up to the occasion—joblessness, barrenness, lack or want, and so on. Go to God in prayers, remind Him of His promises in His Word that exempt you from such afflictions, and you will be free! Nothing can stop a person of prayer!

Sing this beautiful song that summarizes the power of prayer:-

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry 

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what a peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear -

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in Prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should not be discouraged;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful.

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness -

Take it to the lord in Prayer!

Are we weak and heavy-laden?

Cumbered with load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge - 

Take it to the Lord in prayer,

Do your friends despise, forsake you?

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

In His arms He'll take and shield you,

You will find a solace there!

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of prayer, and supplication with and obedience of faith to You, that I may dwell in Your presence always, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God’s Final, Decisive Word

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews 1:1–2)

The last days begin with the coming of the Son into the world. “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” We have been living in the last days since the days of Christ — that is, the last days of history as we know it before the final and full establishment of the kingdom of God.

The point for the writer of Hebrews is this: The Word that God spoke by his Son is the decisive Word. By the Son’s own design, that word has been captured for the ages in the writings of the New Testament. He explicitly made provision for this, lest every generation be left to itself to dream up the decisive word of God. This word will not be followed in this age by any greater word or replacement word. This is the Word of God — the person of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, and the work of Jesus, captured by inspiration in the apostolic writings we call the New Testament.

When I complain that I don’t hear the Word of God, when I feel a desire to hear the voice of God, and get frustrated that he does not speak in ways that I may crave, what am I really saying? Am I really saying that I have exhausted this final, decisive Word revealed to me so fully and infallibly in the New Testament? Have I really exhausted this Word? Has it become so much a part of me that it has shaped my very being and given me life and guidance?

Or have I treated it lightly — skimmed it like a newspaper, clicked through like a quick series of internet postings, dipped in like a taste-tester — and then decided I wanted something different, something more? This is what I fear I am guilty of more than I wish to admit.

God is calling us to hear his final, decisive, inexhaustible Word — to meditate on it and study it and memorize it and linger over it and soak in it until it saturates us to the center of our being.

CRAVE FOR DIVINE DIRECTION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY OCTOBER 22, 2021.

SUBJECT : CRAVE FOR DIVINE DIRECTION!

Memory verse: "This says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go." (Isaiah 48 vs 17.)

READ: Second Samuel 5 vs 17 - 20:

5:17: Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David King over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.

5:18: The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.

5:19: So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

5:20: So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there, and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

INTIMATION:

God's ability to direct our lives well is infinitely beyond our ability. Divine direction is our heritage in Christ, because when you have received Him, He gave you the right to become the child of God. (John 1 vs 12.) The child of God enjoys the leading of the Father.

Though divine direction is your heritage, but you must seek it in order to enjoy it. Divine direction can be obtained through prayer of enquiry. In Matthew 7 vs 7, Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock; and it will be opened to you." If the path you are going on seems like a dead end, ask Him, "Lord, where is the right side of this venture?" When you locate the path of life, you enjoy fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore, which is our ultimate goal in prayer.

God is committed to leading you in the path of life He has ordained for you, even before you were born. But inquiring in prayer ensures your access to His leading. David was a man who understood superbly that nature of God, and used it greatly. The power of the prayer of enquiry was outstanding in his life, hence God called him a man after His heart. 

In the passage we read today, we saw David’s exploits through inquiry and receipt of  divine direction from the Lord. Further in the same chapter, David again inquired of the Lord about the Philistines, and the Lord instructed him on what to do; “And David did so, as the Lord commanded him and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.” (vs 25) 

When you ask, God gives liberally, because He is committed. He is a loving Father, so be relaxed in His presence and ask as many questions as you need, to be clear on every vital issue of your life. David wrote of the Lord in Psalm 16 vs 11, "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 

When God leads you, you can't but become outstanding in life. Some people are not cut out for business, but have chosen to do it, either because of social influence or personal affection. Others are into all manner of professions where their star may never shine, because they haven't located the right path. They just keep groping around. But you can't afford to go through life doing what seems right to you. It is too risky! "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 16 vs 25.) The apostle James said, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1 vs 5.)

We are often confused by the events around us. Many things we will never understand; others will fall in place in years to come as we look back and see how God was working. You need not understand God's ways (His ways are beyond our understanding), or worry if you don't understand everything as it happens. Instead, we should trust that God knows what He is doing, even if His timing or design is not clear to us. 

Don't give up in your efforts to seek God. Continue to ask Him for more knowledge, patience, wisdom, love, and understanding. He will give them to you. When you ask, God is committed to answer; He knows that without His direction your destiny is not secured. But until you ask Him, you will just keep doing what seems right, not what is right, and until you do what is right, you can't be marked right in life. David, in Psalm 37 vs 23, gives us the reassuring promise of God's direction in our lives; "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way."

When God leads you, He makes a leader out of you. But one wrong step can lead to a 40-year setback in life, as was the case of Moses and the children of Israel. Jesus tells us to persist in pursuing God. People always give up after a few halfhearted efforts and conclude that God cannot be found. But knowing God takes faith, focus, and follow-through (I call it the three 'Fs'), and Jesus assured us that we will be rewarded. (Matthew 7 vs 7 - 8.)

Divine direction was what rescued the disciples from an all-night futile toiling on the sea. Jesus came and said to them, "Cast your net on the right side of the ship and you shall find." They did, and were not able to draw in the net, for the multitude of fishes (John 21 vs 3 - 8).

Do you want breakthroughs? Then inquire of God in prayer concerning any issues before you take any steps. He will answer you, because He is interested in everything that concerns you. God is the only One who can lead you to true pastures and He is set to do so. If only you will let Him. He said; "Call upon Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33 vs 3.)

Remember, you can't wish problems away, you must rise up to the challenge, and effect a change. You don't have to accept the status quo, you are a child of destiny! Where you are now may not be God's ultimate for you. You can get to the top, if only you will push in prayers. You too can  live a problem-free life, and I see you getting there, in Jesus' name!

Prayer, Abba Father, You are my Loving Father, and Faithful Companion. Outside of You, I can do nothing, and without Your direction, I can never fulfill my destiny. Engrace me, O Lord, to constantly inquire of You concerning any issues in my life, that I may obtain the leading of the Holy Spirit indwelling me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!