GODLINESS IS PROFITABLE IN ALL THINGS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2021.

SUBJECT : GODLINESS IS PROFITABLE IN ALL THINGS!

Memory verse: "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (First Timothy 4 vs 8.)

READ: Mark 10 vs 29 - 30:

10:29: So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake, and the gospel's,

10:30: who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

INTIMATION:

Godliness is to be devoutful; it is that piety which is characterized by a Godward attitude. It is doing that which is well-pleasing to God. The power to lead a godly life comes from God. God allows us to be partakers of the divine nature (Second Peter 1 vs 3) in order to keep us from sin and help us live for Him. When we are born again, God by His Spirit empowers us with His own goodness. 

In godliness there is great reward. The apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy—his true son in faith—noted that godliness is profitable for all things both here, and in eternity. The benefits of loving God is here now, and in the future. However, you can’t follow God if you don’t love Him. Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14 vs 23.) imagine where you have God the Father and the Son make their home with you! Life definitely will be at its best.

Jesus told the disciples that no follower of His will ever lose anything at the end. For whatever loss you may we suffer in following Him, you will undoubtedly recover several times over at the end. Knowing all these, what will ever stop anybody from following Him. Godliness is key to spiritual growth and personal fulfillment. We should honor God and center our desires on Him, and we should be content with what God is doing in our lives.

Godliness cannot be possible in the life of a believer without the help of Christ. We can’t please God on our own; we must depend on Christ, and His divine nature. As a man, Jesus lived a perfect life, and so He is a perfect example of how to live. As God, Jesus gives us the power to do what is right. It is possible to live godly life—through following Christ. 

The power to lead a godly life comes from God. Because we don’t have the resources to be truly godly. God allows us to be partakers of His divine nature in order to keep us from sin and help us live for Him. When we are born again, God by His Spirit empowers us with His own goodness. God has supplied us with everything in this life that is necessary for living according to His directions and for developing a nature that prepares us for eternal dwelling. One of these things certainly includes the word of God. It is through the word of God that we learn how to conduct our lives according to the will of God. The word of God is certainly the guide that we must follow in order to be certain concerning the conduct of our lives in behavior and godly living. 

Though bodily exercise is not wrong, however, focusing on the admiration of the flesh as opposed to concentration on the spiritual development of the inner man is profitable only a little because our physical health is susceptible to disease and injury, Therefore, we should concentrate more on exercising the soul unto godly health than on physical body. Godly health profits is not only in this life, but also in the life to come. Those who focus continually on the flesh, have turned their thinking inward to themselves, and not on that which will dwell throughout eternity. 

Godliness must be expressed in our behavior, not just in appearance. A pious or godly look can be deceitful. The appearance of godliness includes; going to church, knowing Christian doctrine, using Christian cliches, and following a community’s Christian traditions. Such practices can make a person look good, but if the inner attitudes of belief, love, and worship are lacking, the outer appearance is meaningless. The apostle Paul warned us not to be deceived by people who only appear to be Christians at first, but their daily behavior will give them away. 

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of godliness, and give me the grace to follow You to the end, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Gravity of Gratitude

 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful . . . (2 Timothy 3:1–2)

Notice how ingratitude goes with pride, abuse, and insubordination.

In another place Paul says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking . . . but instead let there be thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:4). So, it seems that gratitude, thankfulness, is the opposite of ugliness and violence.

The reason this is so is that the feeling of gratitude is a humble feeling, not a proud one. It is other-exalting, not self-exalting. And it is glad-hearted, not angry or bitter. Bitter thankfulness is a contradiction in terms.

The key to unlocking a heart of thankfulness and overcoming bitterness and ugliness and disrespect and violence is a strong belief in God, the Creator and Sustainer and Provider and Hope-giver. If we do not believe we are deeply indebted to God for all we have and hope to have, then the very spring of gratitude has gone dry.

So, I conclude that the rise of violence and sacrilege and ugliness and insubordination in the last times is a God-issue. The basic issue is a failure to feel gratitude at the upper levels of our dependence.

When the high spring of gratitude to God fails at the top of the mountain, soon all the pools of thankfulness begin to dry up further down the mountain. And when gratitude goes, the sovereignty of the self condones more and more corruption for its pleasure.

Pray for a great awakening of humble gratitude.

We All Need Help

 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Every one of us needs help. We are not God. We have needs. We have weaknesses. We have confusion. We have limitations of all kinds. We need help.

But every one of us has something else: We have sins. And therefore at the bottom of our hearts we know that we do not deserve the help we need. And so we feel trapped.

I need help to live my life, and to handle death, and to cope with eternity — help with my family, my spouse, my children, my loneliness, my job, my health, my finances. I need help. But I don’t deserve the help I need.

So what can I do? I can try to deny it all and be a superman or a superwoman, who doesn’t need any help. Or I can try to drown it all and throw my life into a pool of sensual pleasures. Or I can simply give way to the paralysis of despair.

But God declares over this hopeless situation: Jesus Christ became a High Priest to shatter that despair with hope, and to humble that superman or superwoman, and to rescue that drowning wretch.

Yes, we all need help. Yes, none of us deserves the help we need. But no to despair and pride and lechery. Look at what God says. Because we have a Great High Priest, the throne of God is a throne of grace. And the help we get at that throne of grace is mercy and grace to help in time of need. Grace to help! Not deserved help — gracious help. That’s why the High Priest, Jesus Christ, shed his own blood.

You are not trapped. Say no to that lie. We need help. We don’t deserve it. But we can have it. You can have it right now and forever. If you will receive and trust in your High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, and draw near to God through him.

THE SIN OF IDOLATRY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2021.

SUBJECT : THE SIN OF IDOLATRY!

Memory verse: "Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10 vs 23.)

READ: Job 31 vs 24 - 28:

31:24: If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

31:25: If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

31:26: If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

31:27: And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

31:28: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

INTIMATION:

Idolatry is excessive admiration or adoration of someone or something. It is someone or something which is highly revered, and becomes a deity other than God. Such deity or thing is known as an idol. Therefore, an idol is primarily an idea, fancy, or an image that represents a false God; It is anything that substitutes for the true faith; anything that denies Christ’s full deity and humanity; any loyalty that replaces God at the center of our life; and It is also any human idea that claims to be more authoritative than the Bible. 

The corresponding Hebrew word for idol denotes vanity (things of nought). The apostle Paul defined an idol as “nothing in the world” (First Corinthians 8 vs 4). And an idolater is one who adores or idolizes someone or something, and is a slave to the depraved ideas his idols represent. An idolater seeks to live according to his own standards, and then creates a god after his own imagination who would justify his carnal living.

Idolatry is sin against God because it denies the supremacy of God and is a direct violation of the first and second of the Ten Commandments of God (Exodus 20 vs 2 - 3). It’s a sin of the mind against God that denotes lack of acknowledgement of God and of gratitude to Him. Many things can take God’s place in our lives. And such things becomes idols in our lives. Idolaters put away worshiping the Creator in order to worship the creation. 

Idolatry begins when people reject what they know about God. Instead of looking up to Him as the Creator and Sustainer of life, they see themselves as the center of the universe. They soon invent “gods” that are convenient projections of their own selfish ideas. These gods may be wooden figures, or they may also be goals or things we pursue, such as money, power, or possessions. They may even be misrepresentations of God Himself—making God in our own image, instead of the reverse. The common denominator here is that idolaters worship things God made rather than God Himself. 

Idolatry is making anything more important than God, and our lives are full of that temptation. Money, looks, success, reputation, security—these are today’s idols. Many “gods” entice us to turn away from God. Material possessions, dreams for the future, approval of others, emotional reactions, and vocational goals compete for our total commitment. Striving after these at the expense of our commitment to God puts our heart on created idols which is the sin of idolatry.

When God is not first in your life, you are an idolater. Something then must be first in your life. Now, check yourself; Is there anything you feel you can’t live without? Is there any priority greater than God? Do you have a dream you would sacrifice everything to realize? After haven checked yourself, do you worship God or idols of your own making? When we think more about wealth, pleasure, prestige, or material possessions than about God, we are actually worshiping them as gods.  Discipline awaits all those who continually put earthly desires above spiritual priorities.

It was for this reason that Jesus said it was very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God because the rich, having their basic physical needs met, often become self-reliant. When they feel empty, they buy something new to try to fill the void that only God can fill. Their abundance and self-sufficiency become their deficiency. The person who has everything on earth is not a sign of faith or partiality on God’s part, but rather a strong temptation to idolatry.

Job affirmed that depending on wealth for happiness is idolatry and denies the God of heaven. We excuse our society’s obsession with money and possessions as a necessary evil or ‘the way it works’ in the modern world. But every society in every age has valued the power and prestige that money brings. True believers must purge themselves of the deep-seated desire for more power, prestige, and possessions. They must also not withhold their resources from neighbors near and far who have disparate physical needs.

To all believers the apostle Paul says, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” (Colossians 3 vs 5.) “For this you know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Ephesians 5 vs 5.) The obsession of these aforementioned evil tendencies the apostle Paul says is idolatry.

Prayer: Abba Father, remove from me obsessions with created things, and evil tendencies that society approves, and empower me by Your Spirit to live for You, and complete obedience to Your commands, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Piercing Power of the Word

 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

The word of God is our only hope. The good news of God’s promises and the warnings of his judgment are sharp enough and living enough and active enough to penetrate to the bottom of my heart and show me that the lies of sin are indeed lies.

Abortion will not create a wonderful future for me. Neither will cheating, or dressing provocatively, or throwing away my sexual purity, or keeping quiet about dishonesty at work, or divorce, or vengeance. And what rescues me from this deception is the word of God.

The word of God’s promise is like throwing open a great window of bright morning sunlight on the roaches of sin masquerading as satisfying pleasures in our hearts. God has given you his good news, his promises, his word to protect you from the deep deceptions of sin that try to harden your heart and lure it away from God and lead it to destruction.

Be of good cheer in your battle to believe. Because the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, it will penetrate deeper than any deception of sin has ever gone and reveal what is truly valuable and what is truly worth trusting and loving.

SEEK FIRST SPIRITUAL NEEDS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2021.

SUBJECT: SEEK FIRST SPIRITUAL NEEDS!

Memory verse: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6 vs 33.)

READ: Luke 10 vs 38 - 42: 

10:38: Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

10:39: And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 

10:40: But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

10:41: And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

10:42: But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

INTIMATION:

Having right priorities produce good choices. Our spiritual needs should take precedence over our physical needs. It is good to care for our physical needs, but the spiritual needs of man are always more important. Therefore, one must not use the service of physical needs as an excuse to neglect the spiritual needs that is more important in our lives. Even in offering your service, let your service be of your best interest, and best desired by whom you are offering the service to. Avoid your service becoming self-serving, or degenerate into mere busywork, that is not to your best interest, and that of whom you are serving. 

In the passage we read today, Mary and Martha were both in service to Jesus in their house, the One they both loved. But Martha was very busy with the household chores, and was distracted with much serving, which was a wrong priority for her at the time, though she was doing a needed and good work. The physical needs of her guest should not have taken precedence over her spiritual needs which was the most important her guest has to deliver. She didn't realize that in her desire to serve the physical needs, she was actually neglecting her guest’s desire to give the spiritual need. 

God should be first in our lives, therefore, we should seek Him and His Word first before any other thing. The Word of God is our spiritual need that ought to take precedence over our physical needs. You can be so busy doing things for Jesus that you're not spending any quality time with Him. It is likened to being busy with assigned duties in your service unit in the church that you don't hear the preaching from the pulpit. Jesus, realizing the wrong priorities of Martha, gently corrected her and advised her to set her priorities right. 

Though Martha’s works were good but were not to her best interest. She got so busy that she found it hard to relax and enjoy her guest. Her service to Jesus degenerated into mere busywork that was no longer full of devotion to Him. The personal attention she gave her guests should be more important than the comforts she tried to provide for them. Avoid your service being self-serving or busywork like Martha's

You may be working for God effectively and still not serving Him appropriately. This was the sin of Jehu. In Second Kings 10 vs 30 - 31 the Bible says:- "And the Lord said to Jehu, 'Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart, for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin." 

Jehu had become God's instrument for carrying out justice, but he had not become God's servant. Check the condition of your heart toward God, ensure you are not giving only lip service to God. We can be very active in our work for God and still not give the heartfelt obedience He desires. Our greatest desire should be live in the presence of the Lord each day of our lives. Sadly, this is not the greatest desire of many who claim to be believers. Many substitute commitment and obedience to God, and His Word with busywork in form of services to the church, which, to a large extent, is self-serving—wanting to be seen as workers in His vineyard while their heart is far away from Him.

Being in His presence requires communion with Him through prayers, and hearing from Him. We most effectively hear from Him via His Word. Therefore, total attention is required from us to His Word. Any services we offer that takes away our complete attention to His Word degenerates into self-service, or busywork. 

Prayer: Abba Father, engrace me with the wisdom and understanding to seek first my spiritual needs in order to serve You appropriately; in my best interest, and with total commitment and attention to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE PLACE OF PRAYER IN THE BELIEVER’S LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2021.

SUBJECT: THE PLACE OF PRAYER IN THE BELIEVER’S LIFE! 

Memory verse: "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” (First Timothy 4 vs 8.)

READ: Luke =18 vs 1 - 8:

18:1: Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray, and not lose heart, 

18:2: saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, nor regard man.

18:3: Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice tor me from my adversary.’

18:4: And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God, nor regard man, 

18:5: yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”

18:6: Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.

18:7: And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bear long with them?

18:8: I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

INTIMATION:

Prayer is the master key to godliness. Prayer should be as natural as breathing and as enjoyable as eating. It will be as unconscious as our communication with each other. In praying, we must not lose the fact that we are communicating in fellowship with Someone superior to us but has given us the privilege to come to Him. A prayer-less Christian is a weaponless, powerless, and defenseless believer. He or she is a toy in the hands of the devil and his agents—the demons. A prayer-less Christian is very far away from God and cannot seek Him. And that is the bane of some of the individual members of the body of Christ. 

The Scripture said about our Messiah Jesus Christ; “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1 vs 35.) If prayer was important for Jesus during His earth walk, then it must be important for His followers. Jesus was a man of prayer. He taught prayer, not as a slavish duty, but as a glorious privilege. I use to wonder why He needed to pray. But He needed that because He took His human form, and lived the human life. I am convinced that He didn't draw upon the secret resources that belonged to Him during His earthly ministry, more than it is possible for us who live and walk in His name. 

Without God we can do nothing of good value. Jesus emphasized this fact in John 15 vs 5, when He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” If without God we can do nothing of good value, how then it will be foolish not to seek Him at all times. We seek God through prayer and His Word. Believing that God exists is only the beginning; even the demons believe that much (James 2 vs 19 -20). God will not settle for mere acknowledgment of His existence. He wants a personal, dynamic relationship with you that will transform your life. Those who seek God will find that they are rewarded with His intimate presence.

God finds easy to reach us as we constantly visit Him. Our visit to the Lord is fellowshipping with Him in prayers. By constant visit, we make ourselves available for His use. We will be in that prized inner-circle with Him as one of the trusted ones. To persist in prayer and not give up does not mean endless or painfully long prayer sessions. Constant prayer means keeping our requests continually before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays always have good reasons. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith, and hope.

Pray even if you have to get up very early in the morning to do it. It’s vitally important to: (1) seek the Lord before your busy schedule takes over your thoughts; (2) withdraw from noise and demands so you can focus on God; (3) take Jesus’ attitude of regular communion with the Father; (4) reflect on the priorities Jesus had in His life; (5) determine to pray on a more regular basis, not just in times of crisis. If unjust judges respond to pressure, how much more will a great and loving God respond to us? If we know He loves us, we can believe He will hear our cries for help.

 Some people see prayer as a last resort to be tried when all else fails. This approach is backward. Prayer should come first. God’s power is infinitely greater than ours, it only makes sense to rely on it, especially because God encourages us to do so.   The Christian’s most powerful resource is communion with God through prayer. The results are often greater than we thought were possible.  Although God is All-powerful and All-knowing, He has chosen to let us help Him change the world through our prayers. How this works is a mystery to us because of our limited understanding, but it is a reality. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for the privileged invitation to me to constantly commune with You in prayer, knowing that without You I can do nothing. Endue me with the spirit of prayer and supplication at all times, that I may constantly draw strength from Your power, in Jesus’ matchless Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!