WE SERVE A LIMITLESS GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 05, 2022.

SUBJECT : WE SERVE A LIMITLESS GOD!

Memory verse: "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3 vs 20.)

READ: Genesis 18 bs 9 - 15:

18:9: And they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.”

18:10: And he said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door, which was behind him.)

18:11: Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well advanced in age; and Sarah had past the age of childbearing.

18:12: Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

18:13: And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?”

18:14: Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

INTIMATION:

Most definitions of the word “limit” expresses a point or level beyond which something is not to extend or pass. The key word in the definitions and descriptions of limit is the word beyond. This may be reference to a boundary that ceases to be possible, a measure, which cannot be exceeded, an amount that cannot be calculated, or a maximum amount allowed.

Then “limitless” is the quality of being infinite, without bound or limit.

God is limitless. Everything about God is beyond us, including our expectation and thought. The God we serve is beyond the intellectual capacity of finite men to fully comprehend. There is nothing difficult or impossible with Him. Hence there is no limit in God’s capability and capacity. Age couldn’t limit Him in making Abraham and Sarah fruitful in having a child at the age of 100 years and 90 years. The grave couldn’t limit Him in raising Lazarus to life after 4 days in the grave, and so many other instances in the Bible.

God wants us to know him as the God who is capable to do, although his capability is beyond our comprehension. Sometimes we may humanly wonder can something be done. With the help of God it can because with God all things are possible. God is so able to do all that we ask, think or imagine. God’s ability to do is unlimited. The reason why is because God is the Lord who is strong and mighty (Psalm 24 vs 8); power belongs to him (Psalm 62 vs 11). He is of great power; one abundant in strength (Psalm 147 vs 5).

In our anchor Scripture, the apostle Paul also establishes that God’s capacity, or extent, for doing far exceeds our capacity for asking or imagining. In other words, God’s capacity is not limited to our thinking capacity: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55 vs 8 - 9.)

To what extent then is God able to do? Paul encourages us that God is able to do exceedingly, or more than, abundantly, or much more than, above all! God is able to do immeasurably far more or beyond all we have the capacity to ask or think for He is the God of super abundance. Because of God’s capability, he is able to do all. Because of God’s capacity, he is able to do above all.

“Is there anything too hard for God?” The obvious answer is, “Of course not!” This question reveals much about God. Make it a habit to insert your specific needs into the question. “Is this day in my life too hard for the Lord?” “Is this habit I am trying to break too hard for God?” “Is the communication problem I am having too hard for God?” “Is this issue or problem I am in too hard for God?” Asking the question this way reminds you that God is personally involved in your life and nudges you to ask for His power to help you. 

From a practical standpoint, how should the reality that God can do above all impact our lives? Should our prayer life change as we become more confident in God’s unlimited ability? Our anchor Scripture possibly suggests that our thinking should affect our praying.

If God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, why not believe the Lord for more? To experience God’s unlimited power, take the limits off your prayers. Take a little time to think before you pray.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are great and greatly to praised. There is nothing impossible or difficult for You. In everything You are limitless. Your greatness is unsearchable and Your ways past finding out. My unshakable confidence is in You in all things, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Main Purpose of Ministry

 

We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:39)

Don’t look at the temporary cost of love, and shrink back from confidence in God’s infinitely superior promises. If you shrink back, not only will you lose out on the promises; you will be destroyed.

Hell is at stake in whether we shrink back or persevere. It’s not just the loss of a few extra rewards that hangs in the balance. Hebrews 10:39 says, “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.” That is eternal judgment.

So, we warn each other: Don’t drift away. Don’t love the world. Don’t start thinking nothing huge is at stake. Fear the terrible prospect of not cherishing the promises of God above the promises of sin. As Hebrews 3:13–14 says, “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

But mainly we must focus on the preciousness of the promises and help each other value above all things how great the reward is that Christ has purchased for us. We must say to each other what Hebrews 10:35 says: “Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” And then we must help each other see the greatness of the reward.

That is the main task of preaching, and the main purpose of small groups and all the ministries of the church: helping people see the greatness of what Christ has purchased for everyone who will value it above the world. Helping people see it and savor it, so that God’s superior worth shines in their satisfaction and in the sacrifices that come from such a heart.

Five Ways Affliction Helps

 

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

This verse shows that God sends affliction to help us learn his word. How does that work? How does affliction help us learn and obey the word of God?

There are innumerable answers, as there are innumerable experiences of this great mercy. But here are five:

Affliction takes away the glibness of life and makes us more serious, so that our mindset is more in tune with the seriousness of God’s word. And mark this: There is not a single glib page in the book of God.

Affliction knocks worldly props out from under us and forces us to rely more on God, which brings us more in tune with the aim of the word. For the aim of the word is that we hope in God and trust him. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “These [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).

Affliction makes us search the Scriptures with greater desperation for help, rather than treating it as marginal to life. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Affliction brings us into the partnership of Christ’s sufferings, so that we fellowship more closely with him and see the world more readily through his eyes. Paul’s great heart longing was “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).

Affliction mortifies deceitful and distracting fleshly desires, and so brings us into a more spiritual frame and makes us receptive to the spiritual word of God. “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1). Suffering has a great sin-killing effect. And the more pure we are, the more clearly we see God (Matthew 5:8).

May the Holy Spirit give us grace to not begrudge the pedagogy of God through pain.

HAVE A CONTINUED ATTITUDE OF PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 04, 2022.

SUBJECT : HAVE A CONTINUED ATTITUDE OF PRAYER!

Memory verse: "Pray without ceasing." (First Thessalonians 5 vs 17.)

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 for 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 God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

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

INTIMATION:

It is a desire of the Father that His children approach Him in prayer. It is through prayer that not only the inward man is strengthened, but also the work of God is called upon by the believer to function in his or her life. Prayer is the natural response of those who recognize their need for the help of God in their lives. Most Christians have realized the fact that the Father's heart is hungry for the companionship of His children. His heart hunger is the reason for man and his redemption. God wants a constant fellowship with His children. It was His plan from the beginning hence He visited Adam everyday in the Garden. He loves us and that love impels Him to call us to prayer.

Prayer is a call to the Father to visit with Him. It is the call of love of the Father to come and fellowship with Him. Prayer is our need crying out for help. It is the voice of faith to the Father. It is for this reason that the Lord wants us to always pray; always be in His presence. Prayer, then, is facing God with man's needs, with His promise to meet those needs. It is born out of the sense of need, and the assurance that the need will be met. The Lord taught us to pray, He is one with us in this prayer life. Prayer is part of God's program for us.

It is God's Will that His children will come to His Throne Room, to stand in His presence without reproof or condemnation. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ, while teaching His disciples how to pray, said, "When you pray" (Matthew 6 vs 5), and not "If you pray." It is God's intention that His children will visit their Father, the children coming joyously into the presence of their Loving Parent, and are welcome.

The apostle Paul, in consonance with the Lord’s demand, says we should pray without ceasing; persist in prayer and not give up; continuing steadfastly, and earnestly in it, and being vigilant in it with thanksgiving (Romans 12 vs 12; Colossians 4 vs 2). To persist in prayer does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. It means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. Emphasis here is not on a continued action of prayer, but on a continued attitude of prayer. In other words, the believer should be in a state of mind that he or she can at all times take part in the action of praying to the Father; being of an attitude at all times that is conducive to offering prayer to God. 

When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays have good reasons. As we persist in prayer we grow in character, faith, and hope. When we pray, we are in constant communication with the Father and it enriches us spiritually. We touch the Father through our prayers, and there cannot be any touching of the Master without the Master knowing it. When our need touches Him, it makes a demand upon His ability to meet that need. 

For instance, one day when the crowd was pressing around the Master, Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" And they said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, "Who touched Me?" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." (Luke 8 vs 45 - 47.) Touching the Master is making a demand on Him. The woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years touched Him, making a demand upon His ability to meet her need, and the Master knew it, and she got her need met—she was healed of the disease (See Luke 8 vs 40 - 48). 

In the passage we read today, we learned that the Lord wants us to persist in prayer and not give up. It’s a Christian behavior, and an expression of our faith that God answers our prayers. Faith shouldn’t die if the answers come slowly, for the delay may be God’s way of working His Will in your life. He is ever present—Omnipresent—, always listening, always answering, may be not in ways you had hoped, but in ways that He knows are best as the All-knowing—Omniscient God. If the unjust judge responds to constant 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.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Loving Father, and Faithful Companion. Endue me with the spirit of constant prayer and supplication to You, making my requests known to You, with thanksgiving, knowing that You will come through to me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SATAN HAS NO SUPERNATURAL POWER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 03, 2022.

SUBJECT : SATAN HAS NO SUPERNATURAL POWER!

Memory verse: “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.” (Job 1 vs 12.)

READ: Job 2 vs 1 - 6:

2:1: Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

2:2: And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

2:3: And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My 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.”

2:4: So Satan answered the LORD, and said, “Skin for skin! Yes all that a man has he will give for his life.

2:5: But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face.!”

2:6: And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; but spare his life.

INTIMATION: 

Satan has no supernatural power. All supernatural power rests with God, for God created all things, including Satan (Colossians 1 vs 16). The statement that Satan moved God against Job clearly manifests this teaching that is maintained throughout the Bible. Only God has power over the supernatural. Only God can work miraculous happenings. And in this case, it was the power of God that was given to Satan on this particular occasion in order that Satan do the deed against Job. 

Satan was a created angel of God who fell. That which was created cannot have the power of the One who creates. All supernatural beings were created by God, and thus do not have the power of the Creator. All supernatural power originates from God, and thus is controlled by God. If God had not delegated power to Satan he could have done nothing in reference to taking away Job’s possessions, family, and inflicting his body. God limits Satan, and in this case God did not allow Satan to touch Job’s life. Therefore, Satan is limited to what God allows, and so it is forever.

We must learn to recognize, but not fear Satan’s attacks, because Satan cannot exceed the limits that God sets. Don’t let any experience drive a wedge between you and God. Although you can’t control how Satan may attack, you can always choose how you will respond when it happens. In Job’s case, Satan attempted to drive a wedge between Job and God by getting Job to believe that God’s governing of the world was not just and good. But in all Satan’s schemes, Job never succumbed to his wiles. 

Satan’s greatest power lies in deception and accusing believers before God. But can Satan persuade God to change His plans? Satan is unable to persuade God to go against His character. God is completely and eternally good. But God is willing to go along with Satan’s plan because God knows the eventual outcome. God cannot be fooled by Satan. For instance, God knew the eventual outcome of Job’s story. Job’s suffering was a test for Job, Satan, and us—not God.

Satan schemes in order to deceive the innocent. His deceptive influences are presented to the saints of God through every means. If one is not conscious of the fact that Satan is continually scheming to deceive the righteous, then he will not be vigilant against apostasy. The most common deception of Satan is through the means of misdirecting the religious inclinations of man. The world is full of religions that satisfy man’s religious desires. However, all such religions are false because they are not founded upon the word of truth that has been revealed by and through the Holy Spirit. By smooth and fair speech the religious leaders of the world have thus led astray the hearts of the innocent who are ignorant of the word of God.

The Christian’s strength is maintained if he remains in fellowship with the Lord who is the source power against Satan. The imperative command places the responsibility for being strong on the shoulders of the Christian. The Holy Spirit does not assume the responsibility for keeping the Christian strong. The responsibility for faithfulness is with free-moral saints who must maintain the spiritual armor of the Lord by which strength is maintained against the wiles of Satan. The Holy Spirit does not work in the life of any individual in a manner that would subject free-moral agents into conforming to the will of God. 

The reason of putting on the whole armor of God is to be able to stand against Satan’s deceptions. Satan has deceived the whole world. Through the intimidation of the environment in which Christians live, they are often drawn away from truth in order to conform to the teaching and behavior of unbelieving friends and neighbors. (James 1 vs 13 - 15). Satan is the ruler of those who have given themselves over to follow after the lusts of the world. Those who make decisions, and live without considering the will of God, are often living and making decisions according to the will of Satan. They are thus being directed by Satan. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to put on Your whole armor, that I may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and to remain in fellowship with You all the days of my life, in Jesus' mighty Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Greatest Love

 

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

Why should we emphasize that God loves, forgives, and saves “for his name’s sake” — for his own glory? Here are two reasons (among many).

1) We should emphasize that God loves and forgives for his own glory because the Bible does.

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! (Psalm 79:9)

Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake. (Jeremiah 14:7)

We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne. (Jeremiah 14:20–21)

God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26)

Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

2) We should emphasize that God loves and forgives for his own glory because it makes clear that God loves us with the greatest love.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory. (John 17:24)

God loves us not in a way that makes us supreme, but makes himself supreme. Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors, but an increasing vision of infinite greatness. Getting to heaven and finding that we are supreme would be the ultimate letdown.

The greatest love makes sure that God does everything in such a way as to uphold and magnify his own supremacy so that, when we get to heaven, we have something to increase our joy forever: God’s glory. The greatest love is God’s giving himself to us for our eternal enjoyment, at the cost of his Son’s life (Romans 8:32). That is what he means when he says that he loves us and forgives us for his own name’s sake.

The Forgiveness Cycle

 

“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:4)

Who forgives whom first?

On the one hand, Jesus says, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4)

On the other hand, Paul says, “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13)

When Jesus teaches us to pray that God would forgive us, “for we ourselves forgive,” he is not saying that the first move in forgiveness was our move. Rather, it goes like this: God forgave us when we believed in Christ (Acts 10:43). Then, from this broken, joyful, grateful, hopeful experience of being forgiven, we offer forgiveness to others.

This forgiving spirit signifies that we have been savingly forgiven. That is, our forgiving others shows that we have faith; we are united to Christ; we are indwelt by the gracious, humbling Holy Spirit.

But we still sin (1 John 1:8, 10). So we still turn to God for fresh applications of the work of Christ on our behalf — fresh applications of forgiveness. We cannot do this with any confidence if we are harboring an unforgiving spirit. (Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23–35. He refused to forgive his fellow servant who owed him ten dollars, though he claimed to be forgiven ten million. He showed by his unforgiving spirit that the king’s mercy had not changed him.)

Jesus protects us from this folly by teaching us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). That’s why Jesus says we ask for forgiveness because we are forgiving. This is like saying, “Father, continue to extend to me the mercies purchased by Christ, because by these mercies I have been forgiven, and I forsake vengeance and extend to others what you have extended to me.”

May you know God’s forgiveness afresh today, and may that grace overflow in your heart in forgiveness toward others. And may that sweet experience of grace in your life give you added assurance that, when you go to God to experience fresh, blood-bought forgiveness, you will know that he sees you as his forgiven and forgiving child.