THE BEST LIFE IS A SURRENDERED TO GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY JUNE 08, 2022.

SUBJECT: THE BEST LIFE IS A SURRENDERED TO GOD!

Memory verse: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12 vs 1.)

READ: Luke 9 vs 23 - 24:

9:23: Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

9:24: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life My sake will save it.

INTIMATION:

God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. This means to  be totally devoted to Him. He desires that we daily lay aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us, embracing what He does for us as the best to happen to us at the time. This is because He has good, pleasing,  perfect, and best plans for us. Devoting yourself to Him is reasonable, and the most proper thing to do. Also, for Him to have given His only Son to make our new life possible, we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices for His service.

Surrendering your life is not a foolish emotional impulse but a rational, intelligent act, and the most responsible and sensible thing you can do with your life. In our memory verse the apostle Paul calls surrendering your life "your reasonable service." Another version translates it "the most sensible way to serve God." Nobody can know your life and manage it better than the Creator and Owner of your life. Therefore, surrendering to the Owner and best Manager is the most reasonable thing to do. 

The apostle Paul, being conscious of this fact, says, "..We must make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him." (Second Corinthians 5 vs 9.) Your wisest moments will be those moments when you say yes to God. 

The Owner of your life designed it for worship to Him, and if you fail to worship Him, you will eventually create things (idols) that are gods to you, and you give your worship or life to them. God also allowed us the freedom of choice. You are free to choose what to surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice. There is freedom before worship, but no freedom from the consequences after worship. 

Everybody eventually surrenders to something or someone. If not God, you will surrender to the opinions or expressions of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, to your own pride, lusts, ego, self-defeat, or pity. If you don't surrender to Christ, you surrender to crisis. Why? Because without Him you can do nothing! (See John 15 vs 5.) Inability to do anything is real crisis! Since outside of Christ is crisis, the only way to live life devoid of crisis is surrender to the Owner. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-destruction. 

Sometimes it takes years to discover this most sensible way to live. When this happens, you eventually discover that the greatest hindrance to God's blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself—your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You can't fulfill God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans. The time of the discovery in your life is immaterial, the important thing is that you have turned to your Owner. You need to discover yourself, if God is going to do His deepest work in you, and it starts from this discovery.

Give all of you to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups. Put Jesus Christ in the driver's seat of your life and take your hands off the steering wheel. Never you be frightened; nothing under His control can ever be out of control. You may not understand the circumstances you are in with Him, but it is the best for you, because all the things He does, work together for your eventual good, and in line with His purpose of your life. (See Romans 8 vs 28.)

Our place, time, and how we surrender differs. The apostle Paul's moment occurred on the Damascus road after he was knocked down by a blinding light. For others, God gets our attention with less drastic methods. Regardless of how, surrendering is never just a one-time event. Paul said, "I die daily." (First Corinthians 15 vs 31.) There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice of surrender which is moment-by-moment and lifelong. 

Remember, when you surrender, you become a living sacrifice, and the problem of a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, so you may have to re-surrender your life several times a day. You must make it a daily habit. Don’t be tired or ashamed. He understands you, and sympathizes with your weaknesses (Hebrews 4 vs 13). In the passage we read today, Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." 

Let me remind you: When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing. 

Have you surrendered to Christ? Or are you still arguing and struggling with God over His right to do with your life as He pleases? If you have not, now is your time to surrender to God's grace, love, and wisdom; receiving His Nature!

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the privilege o adopting me as Your son, which was planned even before the foundation of the earth. I now live, and move, and have my being in You. Give me the grace to live in total obedience to, and trust in You, turning my life totally to You for Your desired use and purpose, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

We Live by Faith

 

The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Faith is a perfect fit with God’s future grace. It corresponds to the freedom and all-sufficiency of grace. And it calls attention to the glorious trustworthiness of God.

One of the important implications of this conclusion is that the faith that justifies and the faith that sanctifies are not two different kinds of faith. “Sanctify” simply means to make holy or to transform into Christlikeness. It is all by grace.

Therefore, it must also be through faith. For faith is the act of the soul that connects with grace, and receives it, and channels it as the power of obedience, and guards grace from being nullified through human boasting.

Paul makes this connection between faith and sanctification explicit in Galatians 2:20 (“I live by faith”). Sanctification is by the Spirit and by faith. Which is another way of saying that it is by grace and by faith. The Spirit is “the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29). God’s way of making us holy is by the Spirit; but the Spirit works through faith in the gospel.

The simple reason why the faith that justifies is also the faith that sanctifies is that both justification and sanctification are the work of sovereign grace. And it’s faith that corresponds to grace. Justification and sanctification are not the same kind of work (justification is the imputation of righteousness; sanctification is the impartation of righteousness), but they are both works of grace. Sanctification and justification are “grace upon grace” (John 1:16).

The human corollary of God’s free grace is faith. If both justification and sanctification are works of grace, it is natural that they would both be by faith.

GOD DESERVES OUR HEARTFELT SERVICE TO HIM!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JUNE 07, 2022.

SUBJECT: GOD DESERVES OUR HEARTFELT SERVICE TO HIM!

Memory verse: "So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10 vs 27.)

READ: Deuteronomy 11 vs 13 - 15:

11:13: And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

11:14: then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.

11:15: And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.

INTIMATION:

God demands our love and service (total devotion) to Him, in sincerity of heart, not with eye-service, but doing the Will of God from your heart. Doing the Will of God is obeying His commandments passionately, that is from your heart! This is called the “Great Commandment.”

How do you know when you are serving God from your heart? The first telltale sign is enthusiasm—your excitement, and great interest in serving Him. When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you or challenge you or check up on you. You do it for sheer enjoyment. You don't need rewards, or applause or payment, because you love serving in this way. This is exactly what God requires of us. Hallelujah!

The second characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness. Whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you don't care about a task, it is unlikely that you will excel at it. In contrast, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.

God’s interest in the man’s heart is because the heart is the center of the man. Your heart reveals the real you—what you truly are, not what others think you are or what circumstances force you to be. Your heart determines what you say, the things you do, why you feel the way you do, and why you act the way you do. The Bible, in Proverbs 27 vs 19, says, "As in water face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man." 

The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections you have. Your heart represents the source of all your inspirations—what motivates you, you love to do, and what you care about most. Even today we still use the word in this way when we say, "I love you with all my heart." It’s for this reason that God demands our heart (our passion) in loving and serving Him.

Our heart—our feelings of love and desire—dictates to a great extent how we live because we always find time to do what we enjoy, hence God’s interest in our hearts. In Proverbs 4 vs 23, the Scripture says, "Keep you heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life." It tells us to guard our heart above all else, making sure we concentrate on those desires that will keep us on the right path—the path of God. When your heart is centered on God, your affections push you in the right direction—the path of God, and consequently, you put boundaries on your desires, and will not do or go after everything you see. 

Another word for heart is passion. There are certain subjects you feel passionate about and others you could care less about. Some experiences turn you on and capture your attention while others turn you off or bore you to tears. These reveal the nature of your heart. Your emotional heartbeat is the second key to understanding your shape for service. God gave each and everyone of us some inborn interests. Don't ignore your interests. Consider how they might be used for God's glory. 

Now, what is your passion for God? God wants you to serve Him passionately, not dutifully. Let the service come from your heart. The Bible repeatedly tells us to "serve the Lord with all your heart."  People rarely excel at tasks they don't enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve Him and others. The reason you love to do those things you love doing is because you derive great passion in doing them. Listening to inner prompting—signals from your heart, that can point to the ministry God intends for you to have. 

Prayer: Abba Father, Your Will is that I serve You passionately with all my heart, and to serve others likewise. Give me the grace to serve You with heartfelt passion, O Lord, and to serve others likewise, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

All Hostile to God

 

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. (Colossians 1:21–22)

The best news in all the world is that our alienation from God is ended and we are reconciled to the Judge of the universe. God is no longer against us, but for us. Having omnipotent love on our side mightily steels the soul. Life becomes utterly free and daring when the strongest being in the universe is for you.

But Paul’s message of salvation is not good news to those who reject the diagnosis in Colossians 1:21. He says, you “were alienated and hostile in mind.”

How many people do you know who say, “Apart from God’s grace, I am hostile to God in my mind”? People seldom say, “I hate God.” So, what does Paul mean that people are “hostile in mind” to God before they were reconciled by the blood of Christ?

I think he means that the hostility is really there toward the true God, but people do not allow themselves to think about the true God. They imagine God to be the way they would like him to be, which seldom includes any possibility that they might be in really serious trouble with him.

But concerning the God who really exists — a God who is sovereign over all things, including sickness and calamity — we were all hostile to him, Paul says. Deep down, we hated his absolute power and authority.

That any of us is saved is owing to the wonderful truth that the death of Christ obtained the grace by which God conquered our hearts and caused us to love the One we once hated.

Many are still learning not to be hostile to God. It is a good thing that he is gloriously patient.

GOD’S GRACE IN OUR FAITH WALK!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JUNE 06, 2022.

SUBJECT : GOD’S GRACE IN OUR FAITH WALK! 

Memory verse: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." (Galatians 2 vs 16.)

READ: Galatians 3 vs 2 - 7:

3:2: This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

3:3: Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

3:4: Have you suffered so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain?

3:5: Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

3:6: Just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness."

3:7: Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

INTIMATION:

The Holy Spirit (the Spirit of grace) gives Christians great power to live for God. People still feel insecure in their faith because faith alone seems too easy. Some Christians want more than that. They want to live in a state of perpetual excitement. They still try to get closer to God by following rules. While certain Christian disciplines may help us grow, they must not take the place of the Holy Spirit in us or become ends in themselves. 

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul is asking the Galatian believers, "Did you receive the Lord through your own works and efforts or by hearing the Gospel message and saying, 'I believe that?'" He further asked them, "Are you really so foolish and senseless and silly as to begin your new life by the Spirit and then try to reach perfection by depending on your own weak human flesh?"

Then finally he concluded by asking them, "Does God supply your every need and work miracles among you because you keep the law perfectly or because you put your entire faith and trust in the message you heard?" The believers in Galatia received the Lord by faith, but were trying to perfect themselves by depending on their own flesh, trying to change themselves and their lives by human effort rather than by trusting in God, and His grace to live a changed life.

Now, effort has a place in the Christian life. It does have a part to play. But even then, anything done outside the grace of God will have no real lasting effect. The law is not bad in itself. Even the Scripture says, "The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good" (Romans 7 vs 12). The law can make us acceptable to God. 

Yes, the law still has an important role to play in the life of a Christian. The law (1) guards us from sin by giving us standards for behavior; (2) convicts us of sin, leaving us the opportunity to ask for God's forgiveness; and (3) drives us to trust the sufficiency of Christ, because we can never keep the Ten Commandments perfectly. The law cannot possibly save us. But after we become Christians, it can guide us to live as God requires.

Are you struggling with changes that need to be made in your personality? Do you ever get frustrated and confused, trying to believe and have faith and confess and do all the right things to bring about change in yourself and your life, yet it never seems to happen? You wanted to change everything you saw wrong about yourself and life, but for some reason you just couldn't do it. 

Most believers will blame the devil. They will spend better part of their time binding and casting the devil away, instead of turning to the Lord for help. I have learned that the Lord constantly requires us to turn to Him. Why? Because when we do anything apart from Him, we take the credit and glory that rightfully belongs to Him. For this reason He will frustrate any of our own efforts to do things outside of Him. Jesus said, ".........For without Me, you can do nothing." (John 15 vs 5).

The Scripture says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2 vs 8 - 9.) The plan of salvation was initiated by God without any meritoriously devised good works of man or perfect law keeping. Because men could not live in a manner to save themselves, salvation had to be by grace in conjunction with man’s faith response. God extended grace to man regardless of the sin of man. The condition upon which the grace of God is made effective for the salvation of man is that one must receive or accept the free gift. 

For this reason, the effect of God’s grace in reference to the salvation of man must be conditioned on the response of man. If grace is without conditions toward all men, then all men would be saved without having to respond. All humanity would thus be saved while living after the course of this world. Therefore, the application of grace in one’s life must be based on some condition. The condition is obedient faith, and thus, we are saved by grace through obedience of faith. Our Obedient faith is our response to the grace of God. 

We are saved by grace (unmerited favor) from God, and only the grace we receive that empowers us to meet specific situations in life. Our duty then is to ask for the grace from God that we can receive. (See Matthew 7 vs 7 - 8). We are to do the asking and God Himself does the work. Therefore, turn to God in prayer, because only God can bring about changes that you desire in your life. But our duty is to ask in faith. Get your face before the Lord on a regular basis and say,

Prayer: Abba Father, I can't help myself. I am coming to You like a little child. I am totally helpless. I lay this whole situation before You, asking for Your grace. I don't deserve Your help, Father, but You are my only hope. Please do for me what I can't do for myself, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Dependable in the Mundane

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

One of the most powerful testimonies to the all-sufficiency of God’s future grace is the “faith principle” that has governed the lives of so many missionaries, notably those of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF).

Without condemning those who follow a different pattern, it has been the practice of those who follow in the steps of Hudson Taylor and George Mueller to move the hearts of supporters to give by directing their requests to God and not to people.

James H. Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder of OMF, explains how this faith in future grace, rooted in demonstrations of bygone grace, honors God.

We . . . begin from a position of faith. We believe God does exist. We have become convinced of this in a variety of ways, but all of us have experienced the grace of God in bringing us to know Himself through Jesus Christ and through rebirth by His Spirit. We believe we have good grounds for believing in Him through the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: we believe that someone who said He would die and rise again, and did it, is credible in every other way. Therefore we are prepared to trust Him, not only for the eternal salvation of our souls, but also for the practical provision of our daily bread and financial support.

OMF publishes testimonies of God’s amazing faithfulness to demonstrate the glory of his all-supplying future grace. “We want to demonstrate that God can be trusted to do all that He says He will do, by sharing how He has provided for such mundane needs as plane tickets, meals, medical expenses, and the regular support of a whole group of Christian people for well over a hundred years.”

What OMF is devoted to is glorifying the dependability of God — in their message and in their method. Hudson Taylor put it this way: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all that He has promised.”

Lives of faith are the great mirror of the dependability of God.

TRUST NOT IN YOUR RICHES AND POSITION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 05, 2022.

SUBJECT: TRUST NOT IN YOUR RICHES AND POSITION!

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

READ: Mark 10 vs 17 - 27: 

10:17: Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

10:18: So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

10:19: You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”

10:20: And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I kept from my youth.”

10:21: Then Jesus, looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

10:22: But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

10:23: Then Jesus looked around, and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!”

10:24: And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again, and said to  them, “Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

10:25: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

10:26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

10:27: Then looking at them Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible.” 

INTIMATION:

The problem facing man is how can a sinful man approach an all-good God. Jesus answers, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14 vs 6). The gate that leads to eternal life is called “narrow.” This does not mean that it is difficult to become a Christian but that there is only one way to eternal life with God and that only a few decide to walk that road. Believing in Jesus is the only way to heaven, because He alone died for our sins and made us right before God. Living His way may not be popular, but it is true and right. 

Jesus said it was very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God because the rich, having their basic physical needs met, often become self-reliant—trusting in their riches. When they feel empty, they buy something new to try to fill the void that only God can fill. Their abundance and self-sufficiency become their deficiency. The person who has everything on earth can still lack what is most important—eternal life.

In the passage we read today, the disciples were astonished at the teaching of Jesus concerning the rich young ruler. Their beliefs were based on the erroneous concept that riches were in some way evidence of God’s favor, especially if such was combined with obedience to the law, as was the case with the young ruler. Whatever position he had as a ruler, the disciples evidently thought that such gave him an advantage in reference to salvation. If this young ruler could not be saved, then they reasoned that no one could. 

The disciples were wrong in their assumptions because their thinking was based on a wrong premise. Their believe that one’s wealth is a sign that God is working in one’s life is wrong. The conclusion that righteousness was based on perfect keeping of the law of God was also wrong. No man can justify himself before God by keeping law, for all sin (Galatians 2 vs 18).

The problem with the rich young ruler, therefore, was not with his outward manifestation of religiosity, but with his heart. In order to come into a right relationship with God, this particular rich person had to relieve himself of that which emotionally kept him from dependence on God. He was self-sufficient in his riches and self-confident in his performance of law from youth. He, therefore, felt that he did not need to trust in the grace of God. 

The second thing Jesus asked him to do was to follow Him. In order to do this he would have to give up whatever position he had as a ruler. For those who are in power, this is a difficult thing to do. In this case, it was too difficult for the young ruler. The rich young ruler was sad at Jesus’ saying; he realized that his problem was within his heart. He was not angry with Jesus for making the statement. He realized that his performance of the law from youth was not sufficient to establish a correct relationship with God. He had to deal with the problem of possessions and position that was a problem in his heart. He went away grieved in his spirit because at this time in his life he could not make this sacrifice to be a disciple.

The young man checked off all the right points of obedience. At least in reference to the commands Jesus stated, he said that he had observed the law. When one believes he has met all the requirements for justification before the Good God by keeping law, there is always something lacking. And it is this lack that will bring condemnation. In this particular case, it was the materialism and position of the rich young ruler that stood between him and God. 

Herein is the key concept of what the encounter with the rich young ruler brought to light: It is impossible for one to perform either law or good deeds in order to justify himself before God. The apostle Paul said that there is none righteous (Romans 3 vs 10). There is no one who can keep law perfectly in order to save himself. It is thus necessary that man’s impossibility to be holy be made possible by the grace of God. Therefore, rely not on your riches or position in life to earn you a the desired relationship with God that culminates into eternal life with Him. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my all. My absolute trust is in You. All I have You have given me, and all I am You have made me. You have the first place in my life, and so shall be all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!