The Offense of Fearing Man

 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” (1 Samuel 15:24)

Why did Saul obey the people instead of God? Because he feared the people instead of God. He feared the human consequences of obedience more than he feared the divine consequences of disobedience. He feared the displeasure of the people more than the displeasure of God. And that is a great insult to God.

In fact, Isaiah says it is a kind of pride to be afraid of what man can do while we disregard the promises of God. He quotes God with this piercing question: “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker?” (Isaiah 51:12–13).

Fear of man may not feel like pride, but that’s what God says it is, “Who do you think you are to fear man and forget me your Maker!”

The point is this: If you fear man, you have begun to deny the holiness, the worth of God and his Son, Jesus. God is infinitely stronger than man. He is infinitely wiser and infinitely more full of reward and joy.

To turn from him out of fear of what man can do is to discount all that God promises to be for those who fear him. It is a great insult. And in such an insult God can take no pleasure.

On the other hand, when we hear God’s promises and trust him with courage, fearing the reproach brought upon God by our unbelief, then he is greatly honored. And in that he has much pleasure.

PRAYER, AND OUR NEED FOR PRAYER ALWAYS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 19, 2022.

SUBJECT : PRAYER, AND OUR NEED FOR PRAYER ALWAYS!

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

READ: Matthew 26 vs 41; Luke 21 vs 36; Ephesians 6 vs 18; Colossians 4 vs 2:

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.

Ephesians 6:18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Colossians 4:2: Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. 

INTIMATION:

What is prayer? It is an evolving means of interacting with God, most frequently through a spontaneous, individual, unorganized form of petitioning and/or thanking. It is an object of worship, a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession. Ultimately, the main purpose of prayer is worship. When we pray to the Lord, recognizing Him for who He is and what He has done, it is an act of worship. Prayer also can be a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.

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. Therefore, prayer is the voice of faith to the Father, and the call of Love of the Father to come and fellowship with Him. It’s the desire of the Father that His children approach Him in prayer. 

It is God's intention that His children will always be with their Father, an 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. It is the natural response of those who recognize their need for the help of God in their lives. 

Prayer is an important part of the Christian life, and one’s prayer life should be developed. Not only does prayer affect our lives and the lives of others, but it is also a way to communicate with the Lord and grow in our relationship with Him. At the heart of prayer is an act of worship to the Lord. God’s Word places an emphasis on the power and purpose of prayer, and, therefore, it should not be neglected.

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.  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 life. 

Christians should be of an attitude at all times that is conducive to offering prayer to God. They are not only to pray continually, they must be fervent in prayer with thanksgiving. 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 can at all times take part in the action of praying to the Father. And since all that the Christian has is the result of God’s blessing, then it is reasonable to conclude that Christians should give thanks to God for all they are and have. 

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, worshipping them, 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 lead 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. 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. 

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. Give me the grace to continually commune with You in prayer, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD.

BOLDLY DECLARE THE WORD OF GOD WITH FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JUNE 18, 2022. 

SUBJECT : BOLDLY DECLARE THE WORD OF GOD WITH FAITH!

Memory verse: "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke,' we also believe and therefore speak." (Second Corinthians 4 vs 13.)

READ: Acts 14 vs 1 - 3:

14:1: Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.

14:2: But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.

14:3: Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

INTIMATION:

Bold declaration of the Word of God with faith is agreeing with Him, and only in so doing will God work with you. Prophet Amos asked the very important question, "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" (Amos 3 vs 3.) You agree with God by saying what He says in His Word. This defines true faith. If one truly believes, then he will speak forth the word of God. 

When you speak lack, sickness, fear, defeat, and inability, you are disagreeing with God because, "He is your shepherd, and you shall not want" (Psalm 23 vs 1), "He supplies all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4 vs 19). "By His stripes you are healed" (Isaiah 53 vs 5), and "He sent His Word and healed you, and delivered you from your destructions" (Psalm 107 vs 20), "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind" (Second Timothy 1 vs 7). 

God has "given you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10 vs 19). He made the spirits subject to you (Luke 10 vs 20). And "you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you" (Philippians 4 vs 13).

As 'Believers' we should boldly be speaking the Words of our Father, and the power in the Word will manifest in your lips as though is the Father speaking them. It is not you or in your power, but God who hastens to perform His Word (Jeremiah 1 vs 12). As a child of God, and a believer in Christ's work of redemption for you, God, "Has given you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist" (Luke 21 vs 15). 

It should be in the heart of all Christians to walk closely with God. The Bible records the testimony of Enoch: "[He] walked with God" (Genesis 5 vs 24). Enoch wasn't the only person who could walk with God, you and I also can walk with Him. Hebrews 11 vs 5 says that Enoch "pleased God" by agreeing in faith with God. We can walk just as closely with God as Enoch did if we choose to agree with Him in faith.

How do we agree with God? We agree by saying what God says while disagreeing with the wicked, lying devil. Know it that when your word is not in agreement with God's Word, you weary Him with your word. (Malachi 2 vs 17). And your confession is harsh against God. (Malachi 3 vs 13.) Our relationship with the Lord should be in humility, obedience, and trust. It should not be of weariness and harshness in words. 

In the passage we read today, we have seen that even with the accompanying signs and wonders, not all would be convinced about Christ. God gave these men power to do great wonders as confirmation of the message of grace, but people were still divided. The important thing is to sow the seeds of the Word on the best ground you can find in the best way you can, and leave the convincing to the Holy Spirit - the Teacher, and Revealer of the truth (John 16 vs 13.) 

In our memory verse, the apostle Paul reveals that the release of power of God is consequent upon bold declaration of the Word in faith. Now that you know, begin to declare boldly the Words of your Father. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You have magnified Your Word above all Your Name. Confirm my bold declaration of Your Word with signs following, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How to Plead for Unbelievers

 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)

Paul prays that God would convert Israel. He prays for her salvation! He does not pray for ineffectual influences, but for effectual influences. And that is how we should pray too.

We should take the new covenant promises of God and plead with God to bring them to pass in our children and our neighbors and on all the mission fields of the world.

God, take out of their flesh the heart of stone and give them a new heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19)
Circumcise their heart so that they love you! (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Father, put your Spirit within them and cause them to walk in your statutes. (Ezekiel 36:27)
Grant them repentance and a knowledge of the truth that they may escape from the snare of the devil. (2 Timothy 2:25–26)
Open their hearts so that they believe the gospel! (Acts 16:14)

When we believe in the sovereignty of God — in the right and power of God to elect and then bring hardened sinners to faith and salvation — then we will be able to pray with no inconsistency, and with the confidence of great biblical promises for the conversion of the lost.

Thus, God has pleasure in this kind of praying because it ascribes to him the right and honor to be the free and sovereign God that he is in election and salvation.

THE SOURCE OF STRIFE IN US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 17, 2022.

SUBJECT : THE SOURCE OF STRIFE IN US!

Memory verse: "Where do wars and fights come among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  (James 4 vs 1.) 

READ: James 4 vs 1 - 3:

4:1: Where do wars and fights come among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

4:2: You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

4:3: You ask and you do not receive,,because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

4:4: Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend to the world makes himself an enemy of God.

4:5: Or do you not think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?

4:6: But He gives more grace. Therefore He says "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

INTIMATION:

Christians or Believers ought to be members of the Body of Christ - one body. But quarrels, strife, fights, competition, and so on, is found amongst Christians. Instead of members of one body of Christ existing and working together: "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ" (First Corinthians 12 vs 12).

The Body of Christ (The Body of Believers)—the Church, is composed of many types of people from a variety of backgrounds with a multitude of gifts and abilities. It is easy for these differences to divide people, as is the case amongst believers today. But despite the differences, all believers have one thing in common; faith in Christ. On this essential truth the church finds unity.

Quarrels and fights among believers are always harmful, and results from evil desires battling within us. We want more possessions, more members of our church, more money, higher status, more recognition. Such competitions drive us into fights, and quarrels in order to have it. How does all this disturbance get started within us? We know that it is not God's will for us because His thoughts for us is for good and not of evil (Jeremiah 29 vs 11). The Lord does not want His children to live in the midst of a constant interior war zone. 

That is the nature of this world in which we live, but it is not supposed to be the nature of the Kingdom of God. Jesus has told us that the Kingdom of God is within us. (Luke 17 vs 21.) The Kingdom of God is not like an earthly kingdom with geographical boundaries. Instead, it begins with the work of God's Spirit in our lives and in our relationships. 

One reason you and I came to Christ in the first place is because we want to escape all that kind of endless strife and conflict. That is why we became citizens of the Kingdom of God. The Bible tells us that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14 vs 17). As followers of Jesus Christ, that is our heritage and our inheritance. 

Why is it, then, that so many of us who truly love God, who are going to heaven, who are called according to His divine purpose, still spend our earthly existence in the midst of what we are trying so desperately to escape from? What is the source of this strife? Where does it originate?

But notice the second part of the verse. James tells us that all these negative things arise from the sensual desires that are ever warring in our members. Do you know that you and I can get into conflict by wanting something that is clearly God's will for us? If we go about trying to get it in the wrong way, we will only produce strife and war and conflict.

The apostle James portrays divisive attitudes that centered around selfish ambition and materialism. As James turns to portray the carnal hearts of the materialists, he is stern by using words that clearly identify the selfish hearts of those who manifest wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and demonic. He reveals the struggles that go on among those who harbor attitudes that are earthly, sensual, and demonic. 

Strife and conflict arise within us because our desires, even our righteous desires, are warring in our bodily members because we want to achieve them by our own efforts outside the grace of God, and this is impossible. Consequently, we do not ask, and even when we ask, we ask for wrong reasons.

The Scripture observes that it is pride that causes our not asking from the Maker and Owner of those things we desire. Instead we strive to do it our own way. And even when we ask, pride makes us ask for wrong reasons; to spend in our pleasures. "God resist the proud," therefore, the grace to obtain that which you desire, and is known to God as your need, is not given to you.

The cure for the evil desires is humility. Pride makes us self-centered and leads us to conflicts with others. We can be released from our self-centered desires by humbling ourselves before God, realizing that all we really need is His approval. 

Prayer: Abba Father, Your thought for us is of good, and it is Your will we live in peace with one another. Give me the grace to eschew strifes and quarrels with other people, but rather live in peace with one another, and helping one another, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

What Kind of Prayer Pleases God?

 

“This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

The first mark of the upright heart is that it trembles at the word of the Lord.

Isaiah 66 deals with the problem of some who worship in a way that pleases God and some who worship in a way that doesn’t. Verse 3 describes the wicked who bring their sacrifices, “He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man.” Their sacrifices are an abomination to God — on a par with murder. Why?

In verse 4 God explains, “When I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen.” Their sacrifices were abominations to God because the people were deaf to his voice. But what about those whose prayers God heard? God says in verse 2, “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

I conclude from this that the first mark of the upright, whose prayers are a delight to God, is that they tremble at God’s word. These are the people to whom the Lord will look.

So, the prayer of the upright that delights God comes from a heart that at first feels precarious in the presence of God. It trembles at the hearing of God’s word, because it feels so far from God’s ideal and so vulnerable to his judgment and so helpless and so sorry for its failings.

This is just what David said in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” The first thing that makes a prayer acceptable to God is the brokenness and humility of the one who prays. They tremble at his word.

THE POWER OF SPOKEN FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JUNE 16, 2022.

SUBJECT : THE POWER OF SPOKEN FAITH!

Memory verse: "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak," (Second Corinthians 4 vs 13.)

READ: Matthew 8 vs 5 - 13:

8:5: Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

8:6: saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 

8:7: And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

8:8: The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

8:9: For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

8:10: When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 

8:11: And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

8:12: But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

8:13: Then, Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.

INTIMATION:

Believe in your heart and say with your mouth. Believing God and His Word is of great importance. But Jesus encourages us further to articulate, to say aloud, what we are believing God for. There is great power in the spoken word of faith.

Believing God is wonderful. But Jesus urged us to do one more thing: to speak the word of faith, to verbalize what we are seeking from God. Such a believer — who understands the power of speaking the Word of God with boldness and faith — "shall have whatsoever he saith". (Mark 11 vs 22 -23.) If one truly believes, then he will speak forth the word of God.

The passage we read today is about the faith of the Roman soldier, a 'Centurion.' I have always enjoyed meditating on the Bible story of this Roman soldier, and his faith. This Bible story sets forth all the ingredients of triumphant faith—the power of spoken faith in action. The centurion believed and spoke out his faith. He knew Jesus has authority over all things, including demons, and can exercise His authority from anywhere, just as he can, as a soldier over his subjects, and it is done. We, 'believers,' should do the same. 

The centurion believed in his heart and spoke it with his mouth, exercising the power of spoken faith, and Jesus highly commended him. In fact, He called it the greatest faith He had seen in all Israel. Let us all, therefore, as 'Believers,' speak with the same spirit of faith in the word. Our memory verse is the spoken faith of the anonymous psalmist in Psalm 116 vs 10, "I believed, therefore I spoke." He believed in God, spoke out to the LORD in his time of distress, and the LORD heard his voice and his supplication:

Salvation is the greatest of all God's gifts, and the opener of all other blessings of God. And it is obtained by us through believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that Jesus is the risen Lord. Salvation is as close as your own lips and heart: "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is the word of faith which we preach: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10 vs 8 - 10.)

When we learn to speak the Word and not the problem, we are on the road to absolute victory. But we are defeated the moment we allow ourselves to start listing our burdens instead of counting our blessings. God is the Creator and Master over all things. He has given us the carte blanche to 'ask and receive, seek and find, and knock and the door will be opened to us.' But we must have faith in Him, and that faith must be spoken out. But as Christ said, "the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness." Many Christians will miss the kingdom because of not confessing their faith. Therefore, if you believe, then speak it.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are so faithful to Your promises, and cannot deny Yourself. I hold tightly to You and Your Word, my Redeemer and Savior. You have given me a mouth and wisdom which all my adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. Help me to always declare boldly my faith in You at all times. As I believe so will I speak, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!