Eleventh-hour Breakthroughs

 

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)

One of the greatest hope-killers is that you have tried for so long to change, and have not succeeded.

You look back and think: What’s the use? Even if I could experience a breakthrough, there would be so little time left to live in my new way that it wouldn’t make much difference compared to so many years of failure.

The former robber (the thief on the cross next to Jesus) lived for another hour or so after his conversion. Then he died. He was changed. He lived on the cross as a new man with new attitudes and actions (no more reviling). But 99.99% of his life was wasted. Did the last couple hours of newness matter?

They mattered infinitely. This former robber, like all of us, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of his life. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). How will his life testify in that day to his new birth and his union with Christ? How will his life confirm his newness in Christ?

The last hours will tell the story. This man was new. His faith was real. He is truly united to Christ. Christ’s righteousness is his. His sins are forgiven.

That’s what the final hours will proclaim at the last judgment. He is changed! And his change mattered. It was, and it will be, a beautiful testimony to the power of God’s grace and the reality of his faith and his union with Christ.

Now back to our struggle with change. I am not saying that struggling believers are unsaved like the robber was. I am simply saying that the last years and the last hours of life matter.

If in the last 1% of our lives, we can get a victory over some long-standing sinful habit or hurtful defect in our personality, it will be a beautiful testimony now to the power of grace; and it will be an added witness (not the only one) at the last judgment to our faith in Christ and our union with him.

Take heart, struggler. Keep asking, seeking, knocking. Keep looking to Christ. If God gets glory by saving robbers in the eleventh hour, he surely has his purposes why he has waited till now to give you the breakthrough you have sought for years.

Reviled Here, Rewarded There

 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

How does the promise in Psalm 1:3 point to Christ?

It says, “In all that he does, he prospers.” The righteous prosper in everything they do. Is this naïve or profoundly true?

In this life, it certainly seems that the wicked prosper. “Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7). “Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape” (Malachi 3:15).

And in this life the righteous often suffer and their goodness is rewarded with abuse. “If we had forgotten the name of our God . . . would not God discover this? . . . Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Psalm 44:20–22). The psalmists themselves knew this. We are not protesting something they didn’t already know.

Therefore, when the psalmist says, “In all that he does, he prospers,” he is not naïve. He is pointing through the ambiguities of this life to life after death, where the true effectiveness — the true prosperity — of all that we have done will appear.

This is the way Paul thought.

First, he celebrates the victory of Christ over death. “‘O death, where is your victory?’ . . . Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55, 57).

Then, he draws out the implication that, because of this triumph, every work that believers have ever done will prosper. “Therefore, my beloved brothers . . . in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). When something is not in vain, it prospers.

Because Jesus died in our place, he guaranteed that every good deed prospers — sooner or later. “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8). “Blessed are you when others revile you. . . . Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). Reviled here. Rewarded there.

What seems naïve in the Old Testament (“in all that he does, he prospers”) points profoundly to the work of Christ and the reality of resurrection. As the words of that great hymn by Katharina von Schlegel, “Be Still My Soul,” says, “Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay / From his own fullness all He takes away.”

TRIALS IN THE FIRES OF HARD TIME!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 06, 2022.

SUBJECT: TRIALS IN THE FIRES OF HARD TIME!

Memory verse: "So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,” (Second Thessalonians 1 vs 4.) 

READ: James 1 vs 2 - 4; First Peter 1 vs 6 - 8:

James 1:2: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 

1:3: knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 

1:4: But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

First Peter 1:6: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,

1:7: that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 

1:8: whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory:

INTIMATION:

Fires of hard times are the life’s difficulties we experience as we live for Christ. All believers face trials when they let their light shine into the darkness of the world. They will experience troubles because they are trying to be God’s people in a perverse world. Believers must understand, therefore, that life’s trial is an occasion for joy when it comes as a result of one’s commitment. We must accept trials as part of the refining process that burns away impurities and prepares us to meet Christ. We must also understand that the many trials are occasions for spiritual growth and development of character. 

Since God uses Satan’s work against him, then trials or persecution manifests that God is going to use Satan’s work to accomplish something that is good in the life of every believer (Romans 8 vs 28). We should note that the candidates for heaven must be tried in the fires of hard times in order to prepare their characters for eternal dwelling. As gold is heated, impurities float to the top and can be skimmed off. Likewise, our trials, struggles, and persecutions refine and strengthen our faith, making us useful to God. Then we can count it all joy when we have to endure many trials. 

Instead of asking, “Why me?” we should respond to suffering with a new sets of responses: (1) Confidence that God knows, plans, and directs our lives for the good. It’s hard to calculate sometimes, but God always provides His love and strength for us. He leads us toward a better future. (2) Perseverance when facing grief, anger, sorrow, and pain. We express our grief, but we don’t give in to bitterness and despair. (3) Courage because with Jesus as Brother and Savior, we need not be afraid. He who suffered for us will not abandon us. Jesus carries us through everything. 

The key of surviving life’s difficulties is in patience, faith, and joy in the Lord. When faced with crushing troubles, we should have faith in God because it pleases Him, and be patient, for God uses our trials for our good and for His glory, knowing that God will not forsake His people (Deuteronomy 4 vs 31). The godly life in Christ brings about persecution because Satan will rise up against all that God represents in this world. God is fair and just, and will give us patience in our suffering because He has not forgotten us. In His perfect timing, He will relieve our suffering and punish those who persecute us. 

The apostle Paul said in Romans 5 vs 3 - 4, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.” Paul tells us that in the future we will become, but until then we must overcome. This means that we will experience difficulties that will help us grow. We rejoice in suffering, not because we like pain or deny its tragedy, but because we know God is using life’s difficulties and Satan’s attacks to build our character. The problems we run into will develop our perseverance, which in turn will strengthen our character, deepen our trust in God, and give us greater confidence about the future.

Your troubles may be an indication that you are taking a stand for Christ. When you do so, you are experiencing the privilege of showing that you are worthy of God’s kingdom (Second Thessalonians 1 vs 11). As believers, our calling from God is to become like Christ; be patient in suffering, and have faith in God to actualize, at the long run, His purposes in our lives. Becoming like Christ is a gradual, lifelong process that will be completed when we see Christ face to face (First John 3 vs 2). 

Some people say that troubles are the result of sin or lack of faith, but they may be a part of God’s plan for believers. Our problems can help us look upward and forward, instead of inward (Philippians 3 vs 13 - 14), they can build strong character, and they can provide us with opportunities to comfort others who also are struggling (Second Corinthians 1 vs 3 - 5). We must acknowledge that the proving of testing of our faith produces a character that is able to endure trials. It is also an opportunity for our faith to be proved genuine and strengthened. As believers we should react to various trials and temptations that we all encounter in life with endurance, steadfastness, and patience. We are to let these things do a thorough work in us so that we will come through them stronger and better than we were before.

Prayer: Abba Father, in all things I give You thanks, knowing that Your thoughts for me is of good and not of evil, to give me a future and a hope. I will rejoice in any situations I find myself because I know my Redeemer lives. Endue me with the spirit of endurance, steadfastness, and perseverance in the face of life’s trials, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

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!