Truer Knowledge Brings Greater Joy

 And all the people went their way . . . to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. (Nehemiah 8:12)

The only joy that reflects the worth of God and overflows in God-glorifying love is rooted in the true knowledge of God. And to the degree that our knowledge is small or flawed, our joy will be a poor echo of God’s true excellence.

The experience of Israel in Nehemiah 8:12 is a paradigm of how God-glorifying joy happens in the heart. Ezra had read the word of God to them and the Levites had explained it. And then the people went away “to make great rejoicing.”

Their great rejoicing was because they had understood words — the true words of God.

Most of us have tasted this experience of the heart burning with joy when the word of God was opened to us (Luke 24:32). Twice Jesus said that he taught his disciples for the sake of their joy.

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 17:13, “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

And what we mainly see in the word is the Lord himself — God himself — offering himself to be known and enjoyed. “The Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:21).

The point is that if our joy is going to reflect the glory of God, then it must flow from true knowledge of how God is glorious. If we are going to enjoy God duly, we must know him truly.

BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 7.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY MAY 06, 2022.

SUBJECT: BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 7.

Memory verse: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1 vs 3.)

READ: Revelation 5 vs 9 - 12:

5:9: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seal; for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God be Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

5:10: and have made us kings and priests to our God: and we are to reign on the earth.”

5:11: Then I looked, and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 

5:12: saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 

INTIMATION:

The obvious truth is that believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm, which was purchased in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. All that Jesus did and accomplished were for us—the body of Christ. As a Deity, He has no need for them because they are His from the beginning!

“Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” means that in Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God—being chosen for salvation, being adopted as His children, forgiveness of our sins, insight into the deep things of God, the gifts of the Spirit (especially the wisdom and revelational knowledge of our inheritance in Christ), power to do God’s Will, the hope of living forever with Christ. Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now. The “heavenly places” means that those blessings are eternal, not temporal. 

Upon Christ’s victory over Satan—the ruler of this world, He received power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing! All these things are His from the beginning, and given to man from creation, hence He charged man to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion...” (Genesis 1 vs 28). Obviously, that was a command of rulership (kingship) and priesthood bestowed on man from the beginning. To “have dominion over” something is to have absolute authority and control over it. However, at the fall of man, he handed over these rights to Satan. But Christ came, conquered him, stripped him of all those authorities, and handed it back to man.

As Christians we can be confident that Christ has won the final victory and is in control of everything as He stated, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Luke 28 vs 18). “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand” (John 3 vs 35). And the glory which God gave Jesus Christ, the same glory Christ has given to us believers (John 17 vs 22). The contract has been signed, and sealed, and the time of delivery is now. We need not fear any dictator or Satan or even death.

The song of God’s people praises Christ’s work: He (1) was slain, (2) redeemed them with His blood, (3) gathered them into a kingdom, (4) made them priests and kings, and (5) appointed to reign upon the earth. Jesus has already paid the penalty for sin. He is now gathering us into His kingdom and making us priests to reign with Him, now on this earth, and eternally be with Him in future. While now we are sometimes despised and mocked for our faith (John 15 vs 17 - 27), in the future we will reign over all the earth (Luke 22 vs 29 - 30). Christ’s death made believers priests of God—the channel of blessing between God and people (First Peter 2 vs 5 - 9).

Prayer: Abba Father, I worship and praise You for what You have done, what You are doing, and what You will do, for all who put their trust in You. Thank You for the power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing You received for us. Give me the grace to embrace, and live to the fullest, all that You received for us, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Seven Sources of Joy

 

In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. (2 Corinthians 7:4)

What is extraordinary about Paul is how unbelievably durable his joy was when things weren’t going well.

Where did this come from?

First of all it was taught by Jesus: “Blessed are you when people hate you. . . . Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:22–23). Troubles for Jesus compound your interest in heaven — which lasts a lot longer than earth.

Second, it comes from the Holy Spirit, not our own efforts or imagination or family upbringing. “The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy” (Galatians 5:22). “You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

Third, it comes from belonging to the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

Fourth, it comes through faith, that is, from believing God. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). “I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:25).

Fifth, it comes from seeing and knowing Jesus as Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).

Sixth, it comes from fellow believers who work hard to help us focus on these sources of joy, rather than deceitful circumstances. “We work with you for your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24).

Seventh, it comes from the sanctifying effects of tribulations. “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4).

If we are not yet like Paul when he says, “I am overflowing with joy,” he calls us to be. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). And for most of us this is a call to earnest prayer. Because a life of joy in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural life.

BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 6.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY MAY 05, 2022.

SUBJECT: BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 6.

Memory verse: "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (First Corinthians 1 vs 30.)

READ: First Corinthians 1 vs 2; 15 vs 22; Second Corinthians 5 vs 17 - 21:

First Corinthians 1:2: To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” 

15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

Second Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

5:18: Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

5:19: that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

5:20: Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

5:21: For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

INTIMATION:

We have seen in our series that God chose us in Jesus Christ way back before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish in His presence, and out of His love for us, He foreordained us into the position of sons and daughters to Himself through Jesus Christ.

In creation, God created us in His own image and after His likeness. His major reason being that, in all He created, He can only have fellowship with humans who are like Him, hence His visit to Adam and Eve every evening in the Garden. Humans could have fellowship with Him at that time because they were created in righteousness and holiness. But after the fall of man, the relationship and fellowship were broken. 

However, out of His love for us, He restores us to our former position in Christ Jesus, through His substitutionary work, in restoring our righteousness, and sanctification, to continue in our relationship and fellowship with Him. Our sins are forgiven, and He remembers them no more according to His Word— His promise (Jeremiah 31 vs 33 - 34).

God, in His infinite wisdom, did all out of His love for us, and personally invites us to be partakers of the deep things of God. A personal invitation makes a person feel wanted and welcome. He “called to be saints”—holy and righteous, and to be citizens of His eternal kingdom. All these He wrought through Jesus Christ, His Son, and He is the only One who can bring us into this glorious kingdom because He is the only One who removes our sins. 

Remember that Satan and his cohorts—the fallen angels (the demons), were chased out of heaven in a war (Revelation 12 vs 7 - 9). Consequently, they are not there when God planned the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. When He came, they were expecting that He came to continue the physical war with them, for the world is a tremendous battleground, where forces under Satan’s power and those under God’s authority are exercising their power and authority. Hence they thought that killing Him they had defeated Him and had achieved their aim of dominating the world. 

They had no part in the spiritual wisdom and revelation of His substitutionary work, in coming to rescue the world from their dominion through the legal payment of the wages of sin (Ezekiel 18 vs 4 & 20; Romans 6 vs 23), for God set Him forth as a propitiation for our sins. If they knew, they wouldn’t have killed Him.

We are made righteous, and sanctified, which means that we are chosen or set apart by Christ for His service. We accept God’s invitation haven accepted His Son, Jesus Christ, and trusting in the work He did on the cross to forgive our sins. God Himself, is the source of, and reason for our personal and living relationship with Christ. Our union and identification with Christ results in our having God’s wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2 vs 3), possessing right standing with God (righteousness), being holy (First Thessalonians 4 vs 3 - 7), and having the penalty for our sins paid by Jesus in redeeming us (Mark 10 vs 45).

Christians are brand new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives them new life, and they are not the same anymore. They are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated—they are re-created (new creation), living in vital union with Christ (Colossians 2 vs 6-7). At conversion they are not merely turning over a new leaf, they are beginning a new life under a new Master.

When we trust in Christ, we make an exchange—our sin for His righteousness. Our sin was poured into Christ at His crucifixion. His righteousness is poured into us at our conversion. This is what Christians mean by Christ’s atonement for sin. But God offers to trade His righteousness for our sin; something of immeasurable worth for something completely worthless. How grateful we should be for His kindness to us.

In restoring our fellowship, He made us ambassadors in His kingdom. An ambassador is an official representative on behalf of one country to another. As believers we are Christ’s ambassadors sent with His message of reconciliation to the world. Because we are reconciled to God, we have the privilege of encouraging others to do the same, and have been given the ministry of reconciliation. An ambassador of reconciliation has an important responsibility. We dare not take this responsibility lightly.

Prayer: Abba Father, there is none like You. Even before the foundation of the earth You planned my adoption as Your son. I am exceedingly grateful to You for Your kindness, and ever enduring mercy. You restored my fellowship with You, and elevated me to be Your ambassador and has given me the ministry of reconciliation. Give me the grace to serve You aright in this assignment, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 5.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY MAY 04, 2022.

SUBJECT: BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 5.

Memory verse: "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3 vs 24.)

READ: Romans 8 vs 1 - 2; 31 - 34:

8:1: There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

8:31: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

8:32: He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

8:33: Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

8:34: Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, also makes intercession for us.

INTIMATION:

Justification is the translation of the Greek word “Dikaiosis,” Which denotes the act of pronouncing righteous, pronouncing a person just by acquittal from guilt. When a judge in a court of law declares the defendant not guilty, all the charges are removed from his record. Legally, it is as if the person had never been accused. 

When God forgives our sins, our record is wiped clean. He could do this because Jesus, by His Death, took the penalty that we deserved. From God's perspective, it is as though we had never sinned.  Christ purchased our freedom from sin, and the price was His life. All that was necessary on God’s part for our justification had been effected in the Death of Christ, as a propitiation for us. On that note of the propitiation being perfect and complete, He was raised from the dead; His resurrection was the confirmatory counterpart of the perfection and completeness of the propitiation.

God is a just, and righteous God, and demonstrated His righteousness in the act of given His Son as a propitiation for our sins. If He had just wiped away or forgiven our sins without properly serving the consequence of sin, He would have been considered unjust, and His Word wouldn’t have been true. 

Consider this: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness....that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3 vs 21 - 26).

Therefore, after God’s prove of His righteousness by justly presenting His Son as a propitiation for our sin, in the eyes of the Law and it’s fulfillment, and observed by the Prophets, as the wages of sin is paid by the death of Christ, we are set free from sin and acquitted. There is, therefore, no condemnation for us anymore. For the same God who condemns has set us free by His act of righteousness, and our believe or faith in Jesus Christ. 

We are human and still exist on the earth. God has not removed us from here. Sometimes we fall into the temptations of the ‘tempter,—Satan, Who then accuses us before God. But Jesus is pleading for us in heaven. God has acquitted us and has removed our sin and guilt, so when Satan accuses us, Jesus, our advocate, sits at God’s right hand to present our case, that He has justifiably paid the price, and we are set free. As humanity’s representative, He intercedes for us before God. As God’s representative, He assures us of God’s forgiveness. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for setting me free from condemnation, and justifying me in Christ Jesus. In Him I live and move and have my being. I am in Christ and Christ is in You therefore, Satan has no portion in me, and so it is, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

A Dangerous Motive

 

“Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. (Romans 11:35–36)

When it comes to obedience, gratitude is a dangerous motive. It tends to get expressed in debtor’s terms. For example, “Look how much God has done for you. Shouldn’t you, out of gratitude, do much for him?” Or, “You owe God everything that you are and have. What have you done for him in return?”

I have at least three problems with this kind of motivation.

First, it is impossible to pay God back for all the grace he has given us. We can’t even begin to pay him back, because Romans 11:35–36 says, “‘Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?’ [Answer: Nobody!] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” We can’t pay him back because he already owns all we have to give him — including all our efforts.

Secondly, even if we succeeded in paying him back for all his grace to us, we would only succeed in turning grace into a business transaction. If we can pay him back, it was not grace. If someone tries to show you a special favor of love by having you over for dinner, and you end the evening by saying that you will pay them back by having them over next week, you nullify their grace and turn it into a trade. God does not like to have his grace nullified. He likes to have it glorified (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).

Thirdly, focusing on gratitude as a motive for obedience tends to overlook the crucial importance of having faith in God’s future grace. Gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. Faith looks forward to grace promised in the future — whether five minutes from now or five centuries from now — and feels hopeful. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).

This faith in future grace is the motive for obedience that preserves the gracious quality of human obedience. Obedience does not consist in paying God back and thus turning grace into a trade. Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace — future grace — and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power. Faith looks to the promise, I will be “with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9), and ventures, in obedience, to take the land.

BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 4.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY MAY 03, 2022.

SUBJECT: BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE IN CHRIST! - PART 4.

Memory verse: "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1 vs 16.)

READ: Colossians 2 vs 8 - 10:

2:8: Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

2:9: For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

2:10: and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

INTIMATION:

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul asserts Christ’s deity. “In Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily” means that all of God was in Christ’s human body. When we have Christ, we have everything we need for salvation and right living. The character, essence, attributes and deity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were representatively manifested through Jesus. 

Those who are in Christ are spiritually complete for God’s eternal purpose to create beings with characters that are fit for eternal dwelling. Therefore, the saints of God are the completion of the work of God in the creation of all things. All those who have responded to Jesus by receiving, believing, and obeying the gospel, have received the fullness of what He offered on the cross. In Him are all spiritual blessings that refer to our salvation. 

Therefore, those who are born again into Him, enjoy the saving grace of God that supplies the fullness of what Jesus offers through His atoning sacrifice. Those who are in Christ have responded to the grace of God by immersion into Christ in order to receive forgiveness of sins. Those who are immersed are born into a realm of grace wherein they work in response to God’s grace. 

Obviously, few Christians seem content within themselves. Most Christians feel a strange and often hard-to-identify inner vacuum occasioned by circumstances of life, which gives them an uneasy sense of incompleteness. Christ fills that vacuum! As Jesus’ Person is fully divine, so we, united by faith with Jesus, find personal fulfillment in Him. Do not look at circumstances but rather look up to Him that controls all circumstances!

We are the fullness of Him, and are in Him, having come to fullness of life in Christ. The full power and presence of God have taken up residence in the mind and heart of the believer. You are a new person, equipped for life and satisfied in God. You, also, are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature in the knowledge and revelation of Him. And He is the Head of all rule and authority (of every angelic principality and power). He is not only equal to God, He is God, and is supreme over all creation, including the spirit world.

He is the same Jesus we are complete in, and also His fullness. He is not only our fullness, but we are His fullness also. The word, "fullness" comes from a Greek word that is almost untranslatable: "pleroma," which means "completeness," "perfectness," or any other synonym that suggests fullness. 

It is for this reason that Jesus said, “....Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”? (John 10 vs 34). Yes, He called us gods, to whom the word of God came, because we are agents of God’s revelation and Will, and the Scripture cannot be broken (See John 10 vs 35). We are the sons of God in a unique and unparalleled relationship of oneness with the Father in Christ.

It was for this reason that the apostle Paul thanked God in Colossians 2 vs 14, for His triumph over Satan for us; "But thanks be to God, who always lead us in triumph in Christ," and “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (First Corinthians 15 vs 57). That is the Hallelujah chorus of the new creation, and it never becomes real until we begin to confess it, begin to tell to the world what we are in Christ.

Paul said you need this knowledge, "that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." Colossians 1 vs 10 - 12).

In Hebrews 9 vs 12, the Scripture reveals to us that this is an Eternal Redemption. Not just a redemption for the hour in which it was done, but that Satan is as much defeated now as he was when Christ arose from the dead; that he is as much a subject to the Name of Jesus as he was when Jesus conquered him.

As you start today in the newness of life, take some risks—God will guide you, Give more generously—God will supply. Love more freely— God will energize you. Say “can do” more often—God will amaze you.

Prayer: Abba Father, I am Your fullness, and is complete in You. Endue me with the spiritual wisdom and understanding of my inheritance in Your works, and the complete knowledge of God, that I may walk worthy of You, fully pleasing You, strengthened with all might, according to Your glorious power, and being fruitful in every good work, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!