A Future for Failures

 “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:20–22)

When the Israelites have been brought to fear and they repent of their sin of demanding that Samuel give them a king to be like the other nations, then comes the good news: “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.” Do you hear how backward that sounds — how wonderfully backward? You might expect him to say, “Fear, for you have done all this evil.” That’s a good reason to fear: you have done the great evil of demanding another king besides God! But that’s not what Samuel says. “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.”

He goes on, “Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.”

This is the gospel: Even though you have sinned greatly, and terribly dishonored the Lord, even though you now have a king which it was a sin to demand, even though there is no undoing that sin or its painful consequences that are yet to come, nevertheless there is a future and a hope. There is mercy.

Fear not! Fear not!

Then comes the great ground — the basis and foundation — of the gospel in 1 Samuel 12:22. Why don’t you need to fear, even though you have done all this evil? “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”

The ground of the gospel is God’s commitment to his own name. Did you hear it? Don’t fear, though you have sinned, “The Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake.” This should have two effects on you: heart-breaking humility and toe-tapping happiness. Humility because your worth is not the foundation of your salvation. Happiness because your salvation is as sure as God’s allegiance to his own name. It can’t get more sure.

STRENGTH IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY APRIL 19, 2022.

SUBJECT : STRENGTH IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD!

Memory verse: "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong , and carry out great exploits, " (Daniel 11 vs 32) 

READ: Second Peter 1 vs 2 - 4:

1:2: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

1:3: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

1:4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

INTIMATION:

Many believers want an abundance of strength, grace, and peace, but they are unwilling to put forth the effort to get to know Him better through Bible study and prayer. To enjoy the privileges God offers us freely, we must grow in our knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

To 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 the 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.

In our relationship with the LORD, we draw more on God's strength. In our memory verse, the Scriptures made it very clear in declaring, "The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits," The great promise here is that to know God is to be more stronger, more powerful, and ready to take actions. 

To understand this verse, we must understand a little of Jewish history. The Jewish people have faced many periods of intense persecution. Probably the most devastating period was under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian King who reigned from 175 to 164 B.C. He changed his name to Theos Epiphanes, which means "the manifest God" He was literally insane with hatred for all Jews.

Prophet Daniel predicted righty what course of events would take place under the leadership of Antiochus Epiphanes. The king ordered the Jewish sacrifice to stop, desecrated the temple with a "pig offering" on the altar, prohibited the observance of the Sabbath and the circumcision of children, set up idolatrous altars, and ordered all copies of Scriptures to be destroyed. 

To disobey was to incur his wrath in the form of an ancient holocaust. How would the Jewish people ever survive this atrocity? Daniel knew; "The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits," This is exactly what happened. A band of courageous men called the Maccabees led a heroic revolt against Antiochus. They were overwhelming; their exploits, nothing less than phenomenal. They knew their God, claimed His strength and power, took action, and broke through the tyrannical stronghold of the enemy. 

People today who truly have a sense of God's presence and guidance have at their disposal the same degree of courage and power. There is no other way to gain this spiritual power except through an intimate knowledge of God.

Prophet Daniel knew His God intimately. When the leadership of the Medo-Persian Empire prevailed upon King Darius to issue a decree prohibiting anyone from praying to any god or man except for the King or be cast into the lions' den,  Daniel continued to pray to the God of heaven (Daniel 6 vs 4 -15). He had no fear, because he knew God, and the people who know God will have the courage and strength to do His Will despite the odds. 

Prayer: Abba Father, all powers belong to You. With You nothing is impossible. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and Your enablement to do all things through Your strength in me. In You victory is mine in all things. Thank You Everlasting Father for the great works You have done in and for me, and has made me a partaker of Your divine nature, In Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God, Touch Our Hearts

 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. (1 Samuel 10:26)

Just think of what is being said in this verse. God touched them. Not a wife. Not a child. Not a parent. Not a counselor. But God. God touched them.

The One with infinite power in the universe. The One with infinite authority and infinite wisdom and infinite love and infinite goodness and infinite purity and infinite justice. That One touched their heart.

How does the circumference of Jupiter touch the edge of a molecule? Let alone penetrate to its nucleus?

The touch of God is awesome not just because it is God who touches, but also because it is a touch. It is a real connection. That it involves the heart is awesome. That it involves God is awesome. And that it involves an actual touch is awesome.

The valiant men were not just spoken to. They were not just swayed by a divine influence. They were not just seen and known. God, with infinite condescension, touched their heart. God was that close. And they were not consumed.

I love that touch. I want it more and more. For myself and for all of you. I pray that God would touch me anew with his glory and for this glory. I pray that he would touch us all.

Oh, for the touch of God! If it comes with fire, so be it. If it comes with water, so be it. If it comes with wind, let it come, O God. If it comes with thunder and lightning, let us bow before it.

O Lord, come. Come that close. Burn and soak and blow and crash. Or still and small, come. Come all the way. Touch our hearts.

THE GREATEST NEED OF MAN!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY APRIL 18, 2022. 

SUBJECT : THE GREATEST NEED OF MAN.

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: Mark 8 vs 34 - 38:

8:34: When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take his cross, and follow Me.

8:35: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.

8:36: For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 

8:37: Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

8:38: For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

INTIMATION:

Human beings have always seen their greatest need as financial. Governments and their leaders, businesses, families, even churches get trapped into thinking in the same manner, and that money is the answer to every problem. Though, the Bible states that "Money answers everything" (Ecclesiastes 10 vs 19), it is not the greatest need of man. The greatest need of man is God's kingdom, and His righteousness, and all other of your needs, including financial, will be added to man (Matthew 6 vs 33).

God should be first in all things. In the passage we read today, Jesus said, a man's soul is worth more than the entire world. The exchange of your soul for the world's possessions is a huge loss. Invariably, the soul is worth more than the whole world. And to ensure the safety of your soul, you must come to the point where you are willing to give up everything to follow God. The profit to be gained from doing God's Will is more than just spiritual; it is total, and in all aspects of life, and to eternity. 

Our willingness to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel, is not because our lives are useless, but because nothing—not even life itself—can compare to what we gain with Christ. Jesus wants us to choose to follow Him rather than to lead a life of sin and self-satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own destiny and to let him direct us. This makes good sense because, as our Creator, our Maker, Christ knows better than we do of what real life is about. He asks for submission, not self-hatred; He asks us only to lose our self-centered determination to be in charge, instead of yielding to Him.

To "seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness" means to put God first in your life, to fill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character for your pattern, and to serve and obey Him in everything. Obviously, in our lives, people, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority attention. Any of these can quickly become most important to you if you don't actively choose to give God first place in every area of your life. Therefore, never allow your natural human desires and feelings overshadow God's purpose in your life.

Jesus said, however, that worldliness, which is centered on possessions, position, or power, is ultimately worthless. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary, and will one day be burned away: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (Second Peter 3 vs 10.)

Realizing that the earth is going to be burned up, we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal, and not be bound to earth and its treasures or pursuits. We should strive to develop Christlike character, rather than spend more of our time piling up possessions. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary; it cannot be exchanged for your soul. Your greatest need is not possessions culminating in pleasurable living, your greatest need is your relationship with your Creator, and it is the only thing that follows you and qualifies you for abundant life here on earth, and to have eternal life as well with Him.

We are left here with a choice; reject Jesus now and be rejected by Him at His second coming, or accept Him now and be accepted by Him then. Rejecting Christ may help you escape shame for the time being, but it will guarantee an eternity of shame later.

Prayer: Abba Father, life in You engenders abundance living, and culminates in eternal life with You. Help me in my utmost heart desire for an intimate relationship with You, that You will be first in life, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

OUR NEED TO PRAY ALWAYS!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 17, 2022.

SUBJECT : OUR NEED TO PRAY ALWAYS!

Memory verse: "Men ought always to pray and not faint." (Luke 18 vs 1.) 

READ: Matthew 26 vs 41; Luke 21 vs 36:

Matthew 26:41: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Luke 21:36: Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

INTIMATION:

Prayer is to make supplication or petition to God. It is the voice of faith to the Father, and the call of Love of the Father to come and fellowship with Him. Prayer is our need crying out for help. Prayer therefore, is born out of the sense of need, and the assurance that the need will be met.

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. It is the desire of the Father that His children approach Him in prayer.

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 always be with their Father, and the children coming joyously into the presence of their Loving Parent are welcome. He  taught us to pray, He is one with us in this prayer life. Prayer is part of God's program for us.

Prayer is calling constantly for the leading of the LORD, and such leading helps us avoid temptation, and deliverance from evil (Matthew 6 vs 13). It helps us overcome the weakness of the flesh, and empowers us to escape all the things that will come to pass, making us worthy to stand before Christ.  Prayer is the natural response of those who realize their need for the help of God in their lives.

Prayer is the vital contact with the Father, and we are near enough to breathe in His very presence. Prayer means that we have come boldly into the ‘Throne Room’ and are standing in the presence of the Father and Jesus in an executive meeting, laying our needs before them and making our requisitions for ability, and grace to meet whatever our needs may be.

Therefore, to remain in the presence of God, and be led by Him always calls for persistence in prayer. To persist in prayer and not give up, or praying without ceasing, does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Emphasis here is not on a continued action of prayer, but on a continued attitude of prayer. In other words the Christian 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. This is an attitude at all times that is conducive to offering prayer to God.

Always praying means keeping our requests constantly 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. As we persist in prayer we grow in character, faith, and hope. Christians should maintain a lifestyle that lends itself to prayer. It is through prayer that not only the inward man is strengthened but also the work of God is called upon by the disciple to function in his or her life.

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 and grace to meet that need (see Luke 8 vs 40 - 48). It is the nature of spiritual life to maintain communication with God. Christians should not allow themselves to be trapped in circumstances of mental attitudes that would hinder their communication with God.

Prayer: Abba Father, give ear to my words, and to the voice of my cry consider my meditation, my King and my God. To You will I pray, my voice You shall hear in the morning, and at all times I will direct it to You, and will look up to You, from where my help comes, O LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Endue me with the spirit of continual supplication to You in all circumstances, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Embracing Jesus

 

This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:3–4)

Notice: Loving God is not just keeping his commandments. It is having a kind of heart for God that means that commandment-keeping is not burdensome. That’s what John says. But then he puts that truth in terms of new birth and faith, rather than love. He says, without a break, “For” — that is, here’s why God’s commandments are not burdensome: “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. So, the new birth is what overcomes the worldly obstacles to keeping God’s commandments without burdensomeness.

And finally he adds, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.” So, the new birth overcomes the worldly obstacles to burden-free commandment-keeping, because the new birth gives rise to faith. So, the miracle of new birth creates faith, which embraces all that God is for us in Christ as supremely satisfying, which makes obedience to God more desirable than the temptations of the world. And that is what it means to love God.

The eighteenth-century pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards wrestled with this text and concluded, “Saving faith implies . . . love. . . . Our love to God enables us to overcome the difficulties that attend keeping God’s commands — which shows that love is the main thing in saving faith, the life and power of it, by which it produces great effects.”

I think Edwards is right and that numerous texts in the Bible support what he says.

Another way to say it is that faith in Christ is not just assenting to what God is for us, but also embracing all that he is for us in Christ. “True faith embraces Christ in whatever ways the Scriptures hold him out to poor sinners” — that’s another quote from Edwards. This “embracing” is one kind of love to Christ — that kind that treasures him above all things.

Therefore, there is no contradiction between 1 John 5:3, on the one hand, which says that our love for God enables us to keep his commandments, and verse 4, on the other hand, which says that our faith overcomes the obstacles of the world that keep us from obeying God’s commandments. Love for God and Christ is implicit in faith.

John then defines the faith that obeys as “the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:5). This faith is “embracing” the present Jesus as the glorious divine person that he is: the Son of God. It is not simply assenting to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, because the demons assent to that. “They cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’” (Matthew 8:29). Believing that Jesus is the Son of God means “embracing” the significance of that truth — the value of the reality. It means being satisfied with Christ as the Son of God and all God is for us in him.

“Son of God” means that Jesus is the greatest person in the universe alongside his Father. Therefore, all he taught is true, and all he promised will stand firm, and all his soul-satisfying greatness will never change.

Believing that he is the Son of God, therefore, includes banking on all this, and being satisfied with it.

Mercy for Today

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22–23)

God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day. God appoints every day’s troubles. And God appoints every day’s mercies. In the life of his children, they are perfectly appointed. Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). Every day has its own trouble. Every day has its own mercies. Each is new every morning.

But we often tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources. God wants us to know: We won’t. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.

Sometimes we wonder if we will have the mercy to stand in terrible testing. Yes, we will. Peter says, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). When the reviling comes, the Spirit of glory comes. It happened for Stephen as he was being stoned. It will happen for you. When the Spirit and the glory are needed, they will come.

The manna in the wilderness was given one day at a time. There was no storing up. That is the way we must depend on God’s mercy. You do not receive today the strength to bear tomorrow’s burdens. You are given mercies today for today’s troubles.

Tomorrow the mercies will be new. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).