The Real Problem with Anxiety

 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30)

Jesus says that the root of anxiety is inadequate faith — “little faith” — in our Father’s future grace.

One reaction to this might be: “This is not good news! In fact, it is very discouraging to learn that what I thought was a mere struggle with an anxious disposition is rather a far deeper struggle with whether I trust God.”

My response to this discouragement is to agree, but then to disagree.

Suppose you had been having pain in your stomach and had been struggling with medicines and diets of all kinds, to no avail. And then suppose that your doctor tells you, after a routine visit, that you have cancer in your small intestine. Would that be good news? You say, emphatically not! And I agree.

But let me ask the question another way: Are you glad the doctor discovered the cancer while it is still treatable, and that indeed it can be very successfully treated? You say, yes, I am very glad that the doctor found the real problem. Again I agree.

So, the news that you have cancer is not good news. But, in another sense, it is good news, because knowing what is really wrong is good, especially when your problem can be treated successfully.

That’s what it’s like to learn that the real problem behind anxiety is “little faith” (as Jesus says) in the promises of God’s future grace. And he is able to work in wonderfully healing ways when we cry out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 03, 2021.

SUBJECT : THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD!

Memory verse: "For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7 vs 17).

READ: Psalm 23 vs 1 - 6:

23:1: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

23:2: He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 23:3: He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. 

23:4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 

23:5: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 

23:6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

INTIMATION:

The Scripture in the 'New Testament' calls Jesus the good shepherd (John 10 vs 11); the great shepherd (Hebrews 13 vs 20); and the chief shepherd ( First Peter 5 vs 4). As the Lord is a good shepherd, so we are His sheep—not frightened and passive, but obedient followers, wise enough to follow the One who will lead us in the right places and right ways. Jesus is the good Shepherd, who tends to us, His sheep, out of love, and is committed to us even to the extent of laying down His life for us.

God has complete ability to meet our needs. Just as the sheep is dependent on the shepherd to meet its needs, so are we to our Father in heaven. He is our Shepherd and we are His sheep (flock). The sheep are completely dependent on the shepherd for provision, guidance, and protection. When we allow God our shepherd to guide us, we have contentment. He knows the "green pastures" and "still waters" that will restore us. We will reach these places only by following Him obediently. Rebelling against the shepherd's leading is actually rebelling against our own best interests. God works in us to make us the kind of people that would please Him, and if you are obedient, you will eat the fruit of the land.

The two significant results of the death and resurrection of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, our great Shepherd, is found in His work in us to make us the kind of people that would please Him, and He equips us to do the kind of work that would please Him. Consequently, 'He restores our souls, and leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name sake:' "Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway." (Psalm 85 vs 13.)

Even in death, He is with us. Death casts a frightening shadow over us because we are entirely helpless in its presence. We can struggle with other enemies—pain, suffering, disease, injury—but strength and courage cannot overcome death. It has the final word. Only God, the God of life, our shepherd, can walk us through death's dark valley and bring us safely to the other side, and ensures our eternal comfort amidst life's uncertainties. God offers protection even when enemies surround us, and we will dwell with Him. The perfect Shepherd and Host, promises to guide and protect us through life to bring us into His house forever:

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"......One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. For in time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon the rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me..." (Psalm 27 vs 1, 4 - 6.)

Prayer: Abba Father, in You I live, and move, and have my being. You are my strong tower, I run into You and am saved. One thing I desire of You LORD, and that I seek, that I may dwell in Your house all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Meaning of Suffering

 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews 11:26)

We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the One who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy.

He beckons us into the obedience of suffering not to demonstrate the strength of our devotion to duty, or to reveal the vigor of our moral resolve, or to prove the heights of our tolerance for pain, but rather to manifest, in childlike faith, the infinite preciousness of his all-satisfying promises — the all-satisfying greatness and beauty of his own glory as the fulfillment of all of them.

Moses “[chose] to be mistreated with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. . . . For he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:25–26). Therefore, his obedience glorified the reward — all that God is for him in Christ — not the resolve to suffer.

This is the essence of Christian Hedonism. In the pursuit of joy through suffering, we magnify the all-satisfying worth of the Source of our joy. God himself shines as the brightness at the end of our tunnel of pain.

If we do not communicate that he is the goal and the ground of our joy in suffering, then the very meaning of our suffering will be lost.

The meaning is this: God is gain. God is gain. God himself is gain. That’s the meaning of our suffering.

The chief end of man is to glorify God. And it is truer in suffering than anywhere else that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

GOD REWARDS CONSISTENT OBEDIENCE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 02, 2021.

SUBJECT : GOD REWARDS CONSISTENT OBEDIENCE!

Memory verse: "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." (Mark 13 vs 13.)

READ: Philippians 2 vs 5 - 11: 

2:5: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 

2:6: who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

2:7: but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

2:8: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.

2:9: Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given him the name which is above every name,

2:10: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth,

2:11: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

INTIMATION:

God demands and highly rewards consistent obedience. Consequently, we should strive to be consistent in our obedience. Heroic spiritual life is built by stacking days of obedience one on top of the other. Like a brick, each obedient act is small in itself, but in time the acts will pile up, and a huge wall of strong character will be built, and this results to a great defense against temptation. 

Consider Jesus Christ, who has always existed with God; He is equal to God because He is God. Though He is God, He became a man in order to fulfill God's plan of salvation for all people. Jesus actually became a human to identify with our sins; He voluntarily laid aside His divine rights and privileges out of love for, and obedience to His Father. Christ died on the cross for our sins, and God glorified Him because of His obedience; consistent obedience to the end. God highly exalted Him  and given Him the name above every name.

If we say we follow Christ, we must also say we want to live as He lived, and strive to live as He lived. He is our role model, and we are called Christians because we are expected to be Christlike. To believe in Jesus "to the end" will take perseverance because our faith will be challenged and opposed. Severe trials will sift true Christians from fair-weather believers. Enduring to the end does not earn salvation for us but marks us as already saved, and an evidence that we are really committed to Jesus. The assurance of our salvation will keep us strong in times of persecution. Persistency or consistency is the by product of a truly devoted life.

Consider the difference between Samuel, the last judge of Israel, and Saul, Israel's first king. Saul, the king, was characterized by inconsistency, disobedience, and self-will. He did not have a heart for God. Samuel, the judge, was characterized by consistency, obedience, and a deep desire for God's Will. He had a genuine desire for God. 

For instance when God called Samuel, he said, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears" (First Samuel 3 vs 10). But when God, through Samuel, called Saul, he replied, "Why then do you speak like this to me?" (First Samuel 9 vs 21). Saul was more dedicated to himself while Samuel was dedicated to God. Saul, in his inconsistency, tried to please God by spurts of religiosity. But real spirituality takes a lifetime of consistent obedience.

In Second Chronicles 26 vs 4 - 5, King Uzziah was remembered for doing what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.  He sought God in the days of prophet Zechariah who had an understanding in the vision of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense (Second Chronicles 26 vs 16).

For much of his life, Uzziah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. But when he turned away from God, he was struck with leprosy and remained leprous until his death (Second Chronicles 26 vs 21). Today, he is remembered more for his arrogant act and subsequent punishment than for his great reforms. That was an aftermath of inconvenience obedience—not enduring to the end.

God requires lifelong obedience. Spurts of obedience are not enough. Only "he who endures to the end" will be rewarded. Be remembered for your consistent faith, being consistent in your faith every day; that way you will build a lifetime of obedience. Otherwise you, too, may become more famous for your downfall than for your success.

Prayer: Abba Father, my desire is to be Christlike in consistent obedience to the end. Strengthen me in my strive, and help me to live like Christ, and for You, in Jesus' Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Rejoicing in Pain

 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

Christian Hedonism says that there are different ways to rejoice in suffering as a Christian. All of them are to be pursued as an expression of the all-sufficient, all-satisfying grace of God.

One way of rejoicing in suffering comes from fixing our minds firmly on the greatness of the reward that will come to us in the resurrection. The effect of this kind of focus is to make our present pain seem small in comparison to what is coming: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16–18). In making the suffering tolerable, rejoicing over our reward will also make love possible.

“Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great” (Luke 6:35). Be generous with the poor “and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14). Confidence in this promised reward cuts the cord of worldliness and frees us for the costs of love.

Another way of rejoicing in suffering comes from the effects of suffering on our assurance of hope. Joy in affliction is rooted not only in the hope of resurrection and reward, but also in the way suffering itself works to deepens that hope.

For example, Paul says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4).

In other words, Paul’s joy is not merely rooted in his great reward, but in the effect of suffering which solidifies the hope of that reward. Affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces a sense that our faith is real and genuine, and that strengthens our hope that we will indeed gain Christ.

So whether we focus on the riches of the reward or the refining effects of suffering, God’s purpose is that our joy in suffering be sustained.

Christ’s Sufferings in Us

 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24)

Christ has prepared a love offering for the world by suffering and dying for sinners. It is a perfect sacrifice. It pays in full for all the sins of all his people. Nothing can be added to make a better gift. It is lacking in nothing — except one thing, a personal presentation by Christ himself to the nations of the world.

God’s answer to this lack is to call the people of Christ (people like Paul) to make a personal presentation of the afflictions of Christ to the world. In doing this, we “[fill] up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” We finish what they were designed for, namely, a personal presentation to the people who do not know about their infinite worth.

But the most amazing thing about Colossians 1:24 is how Paul fills up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

He says that it is his own sufferings that fill up Christ’s afflictions. This means, then, that Paul exhibits the sufferings of Christ by suffering himself for those he is trying to win to Christ. In his sufferings they are to see Christ’s sufferings.

Here is the astounding upshot: God intends for the afflictions of Christ to be presented to the world through the afflictions of his people.

God really means for the body of Christ, the church, to experience some of the suffering he experienced so that when we proclaim the cross as the way to life, people will see the marks of the cross in us and feel the love of the cross from us.

GOD WATCHES OVER HIS CHILDREN ALL THE TIME!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 01, 2021.

SUBJECT : GOD WATCHES OVER HIS CHILDREN ALL THE TIME!

Memory verse: "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." (Palm 127 vs 1.)

READ: Psalm 121 vs 1 - 8: 

121:1: I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? 

121:2: My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 

121:3: He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber, 

121:4: Behold, He who keeps Israel neither slumber nor sleep. 

121:5: The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 

121:6: The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. 

121:7: The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 

121:8: The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in. From this time forth, and even forevermore.

INTIMATION:

God is our help in our daily lives. He is our protection day and night.  Not only is He all-powerful, He also watches over us. Nothing diverts or deters Him. We are safe in Him. We never outgrow our need for God's untiring watch over our lives. We should never trust a lesser power than God Himself. God protection for us is for all times; day and night. We are safe and we never out grow our need for God's untiring watch over our lives. When we establish a relationship with Christ, as our personal Lord and Savior, we need not fear because (1) God is with us, (2) God has established a relationship with us, (3) God gives us assurance of His strength, help, and victory over sin and death.

God is our shelter, a refuge when we are afraid. Our faith in God as Protector would carry us through all the dangers and fears of life. Therefore, put all your trust in God, trading all your fears for faith in Him, no matter how intense your fears. To do this we must "dwell" or "abide" with Him. By entrusting ourselves to His protection and pledging our daily devotion to Him, we will be kept safe. God watches over us, and is so personal with us that He knows our individual names. In all the individual encounters with God in the Scripture, God called every one of them by their names. This is an indication of His care over us. He knows us individually to our minutest details. 

Consider the leader of your country, he does not know you by name, let alone think about you. But the King of all creation, the Ruler of the universe, is thinking about you right now. Allow this truth to buoy up your self esteem. If God always has us in His thoughts, it is expected we should keep Him in our thoughts more faithfully. 

It seems impossible to consider the end of the world without becoming consumed by fear, but the Bible is clear: God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction. He is not merely a temporary retreat; He is our eternal refuge and can provide strength in any circumstances.

Families establish homes and watchmen guard cities, but both these activities are futile unless God is in them. A family without God can never experience the spiritual bond God brings to relationships. A city without God will crumble from evil and corruption on the inside. Don't make the mistake of leaving God out of your life. If you do, all your accomplishments will be futile. Make God your highest priority, and let Him do the building.

When we turn to Christ, and establish a relationship with God, we should rest assured of His guidance, protection, and defense from everything that can try to harm us. When circumstances go against us, it is tempting to think that God also is against us. When facing problems, trials, suffering and death, we may feel like giving up in despair. But that is a lie from the pit of hell.

When we feel seriously let down by life, we should remember that we still have one hope and our only hope. God is all the hope we need because He promises to be a shield to protect us. God is for us and we should focus our thoughts on Him, knowing that He will restore our confidence in Him and the future He has planned for us. If circumstances turn against you don't blame God but rather seek Him. 

God promises great blessings to His people, but many of these blessings require our active participation. He will deliver us from fear, save us out of our troubles, guard and deliver us, show us goodness, supply our needs, listen when we talk to Him, and redeem us, but we must do our part. We can appropriate His blessings when we seek Him, cry out to Him, trust Him, fear Him, refrain from lying, turn from evil, do good and seek peace, are humble ourselves and serve Him.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my everything. In You I live, and move, and have my being. You are my refuge and my fortress, and in You I completely trust. You are my Helper, and forever will be, and watching over me day and night. All glory, honor, thanksgiving, and adoration are Yours now and forever, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!