The Powerful Root of Practical Love

 

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. (1 John 3:14)

So, love is the evidence that we are born again — that we are Christians, that we are saved.

Sometimes the Bible makes our holiness and our love for people the condition of our final salvation. In other words, if we are not holy and not loving, we will not be saved at the judgment day (e.g., Hebrews 12:14; Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:10). This doesn’t mean that acts of love are how we get right with God. No, the Bible is clear again and again as Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast.” No, when the Bible says that we are saved by faith but that we must love people in order to finally be saved, it means that faith in God’s promises must be so real that the love it produces proves the reality of the faith.

So, love for others is a condition of future grace in the sense that it confirms that the primary condition, faith, is genuine. We could call love for others a secondary condition, which confirms the authenticity of the primary and essential condition of faith which alone unites us to Christ, and receives his power.

Faith perceives the glory of God in the promises of future grace and embraces all that the promises reveal of what God is for us in Jesus. That spiritual sight of God’s glory, and our delight in it, is the self-authenticating evidence that God has called us to be a beneficiary of his grace. This evidence frees us to bank on God’s promise as our own. And this banking on the promise empowers us to love. Which in turn confirms that our faith is real.

The world is desperate for a faith that combines two things: awestruck sight of unshakable divine Truth, and utterly practical, round-the-clock power to make a liberating difference in life. That’s what I want too. Which is why I am a Christian.

There is a great God of grace who magnifies his own infinite beauty and self-sufficiency by fulfilling promises to helpless people who trust him. And there is a power that comes from prizing this God that leaves no nook or cranny of life untouched. It empowers us to love in the most practical ways.

OBEDIENCE IS KEY IN OBTAINING HIS PROMISES!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JUNE 28, 2022.

SUBJECT: OBEDIENCE IS KEY IN OBTAINING HIS PROMISES! 

Memory verse: "So Samuel said: Has the Lord great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." (First Samuel 15 vs 22.)

READ: Deuteronomy 11 vs 26 - 28:

11:26: Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:

11:27: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 

11:28: and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

INTIMATION:

God's promises are given to His children on the condition of their willingness to listen to His voice and obey His commands. His promises are the heritage of His children in obedience, and they must keep His commands in order to receive His provision in His promises.

Faith is of the heart, invisible to men; obedience is of the conduct and may be observed. When a man obeys God he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. Therefore, obedience is an actual and outward result of the inward persuasion that the thing is true, and consequent faith.

When you obey God, you lift Him up, and when you lift Him up, then men will be drawn to Him for their day of salvation. God commands those He intends to bless. Therefore, if you obey Him, you will experience His blessings. If you disobey Him, you will reap the consequences.

God had unlimited blessings planned for Adam and Eve, yet they deliberately disobeyed Him. Their unrepentant conduct caused them to be driven from the garden by angels with flaming swords. This was the fall of man that, in fact, affected every person who would ever live on earth from that day forward. And it was man's fall that made the cross necessary for redemption.

God will command those He intends to bless. Mary obeyed God, and she was chosen to bring the Redeemer of mankind into this world. Moses was commanded to "stretch out his hand over the sea," and the Red Sea parted, guiding the children of Israel across the dry seabed and to safety on the other side. They watched in awe as God Almighty turned Pharaoh into fish food and the chariots of Egypt into a rusty pile of junk. (Exodus 14 vs 15 - 31.)

Elijah and the widow of Zarephath were both commanded of God. Elijah was commanded to go to Zarephath, and God would provide for him there (1 Kings 17 vs 9). The widow was commanded to feed Elijah. The widow "did according to the word...." and she received her supernatural blessings (vs 15). She received exactly what she gave. She gave food and received food that lasted the duration of the draught in Israel. Both Elijah, the widow, and her son were supernaturally fed all through the drought. 

As soon as she gave Elijah the last bin of flour, and oil in the house, the bin of flour began to fill up by an unseen hand and was never used up. Nor did the jar of oil run dry, "according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah (vs16). Both Elijah and the widow could have missed their promised blessing had they disobeyed God's direction. The woman's obedience also brought revival of life to her dead son. Her son suddenly took ill, and it became severe that there was no breath left  in him. Elijah prayed and God gave back life to the son.

The love of God is embedded in our obedience to His commands. Christ said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word...” In keeping His commands, you will be loved by God and His Son Jesus Christ, and consequently, They will come to you, and make Their home with you. (John 14 vs 23.)  What an awesome promise! If you are the home of God, is there anything you will ever lack or need? Certainly nothing!!!

God has the same promise for all His children. The place of His command (His Word) or purpose, is the place of His promise (His power). God will meet you when you get to the place of His command! And there is where your miracle will happen. Your obedience to the Lord is required of you to obtain His promises!

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of raw obedience to your commands, for by my strength, and without You I can do nothing! Engrace me to follow, and obey You no matter the life’s circumstances, in Jesus’ Name, I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Enduring When Obeying Hurts

 

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

What faith performs is sometimes unspeakably hard.

In his book Miracle on the River Kwai, Ernest Gordon tells the true story of a group of POWs working on the Burma Railway during World War II.

At the end of each day the tools were collected from the work party. On one occasion a Japanese guard shouted that a shovel was missing and demanded to know which man had taken it. He began to rant and rave, working himself up into a paranoid fury and ordered whoever was guilty to step forward. No one moved. “All die! All die!” he shrieked, cocking and aiming his rifle at the prisoners. At that moment one man stepped forward and the guard clubbed him to death with his rifle while he stood silently to attention. When they returned to the camp, the tools were counted again and no shovel was missing.

What can sustain the will to die for others, when you are innocent? Jesus was carried and sustained in his love for us by “the joy that was set before him.” He banked on a glorious future blessing and joy, and that carried and sustained him in love through his suffering.

Woe to us if we think we should or can be motivated and strengthened for radical, costly obedience by some higher motive than the joy that is set before us. When Jesus called for costly obedience that would require sacrifice in this life, he said in Luke 14:14, “You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” In other words, be strengthened now in all your losses for Christ’s sake, because of the joy set before you.

Peter said that, when Jesus suffered without retaliating, he was leaving us an example to follow — and that includes Jesus’s confidence in the joy set before him. He handed his cause over to God (1 Peter 2:21) and did not try to settle accounts with retaliation. He banked his hope on the resurrection and all the joys of reunion with his Father and the redemption of his people. So should we.

A Hiding Place for the Helpless

 

How abundant is your goodness, which you have . . . worked for those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19)

The experience of future grace often hangs on whether we will take refuge in God, or whether we doubt his care and run for cover to other shelters.

For those who take refuge in God, the promises of future grace are many and rich.

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (2 Samuel 22:31)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding, because we are weak and need protection, is not a work to commend our self-sufficiency. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue.

In all those promises I just quoted, the condition of great blessing from God is that we take refuge in him. That condition is not a meritorious one; it is the condition of desperation and acknowledged weakness and need and trust.

Desperation does not demand or deserve; it pleads for mercy and looks for grace.

ATTRACTING GOD’S COMPANIONSHIP!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JUNE 27, 2022.

SUBJECT : ATTRACTING GOD’S COMPANIONSHIP!

Memory verse: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6 vs  8.)

READ: Psalm 101 vs 3 - 7:

101:3: I will not set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

101:4: A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.

101:5: Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.

101:6: My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

101:7: He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.

INTIMATION:

God desires to be our companion. Companions come in different sizes and shapes and for various reasons. But we will examine a very specific kind of companion: the teacher-mentor, which is God's kind of companionship.

In our memory verse, God tells us the manner in which we are to walk with Him. God is ready to teach us, to let us be with Him, to be a true and faithful companion, if we will seek such a relationship. God’s kind of companionship is the teacher-mentor, the Superior Being with ordinary man, a privileged association of the Creator with the created.

There are four areas that constitute the major ingredients for a relationship that would be described as a companionship. These areas are: (1) Agreement (2) Experience (3) Conversation (4) Learning. These ingredients are required in our companionship with God.

God defines the first one: "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"(Amos 3 vs 3) So agreement is the first requirement. You have to want to spend time together. With God we know this is the desire of His heart. He tells us in many different ways in the Word that He desires to be with us.

Second, you would share experiences together because you are together by definition. One of the special privileges we have as believers is sharing our heart with God, and in turn learning more about His heart toward us and others. We get to see His overwhelming goodness, infinite patience, unchanging love, and unending mercies as we read the Bible—His "Code of Conduct," and "Owner's Manual" to us. The Holy Spirit makes the Word come alive in our hearts and points things out from it that are specifically for us and our situation. 

The third ingredient is conversation. There should be conversation between you and God. Not just one way, but rather an exchange of ideas from both parties. Think of your own experience where you have been with someone who monopolizes the conversation, or who does not let you talk but only wants you to listen, you feel uneasy, dominated, and useless in the conversation. You may feel you are only a listening board, and your opinion matters little since it is rarely sought.

Sometimes we are guilty of doing this to God. We rush into His presence with our "want" list and then, in essence, after presenting our requests and/or complaints, we close the time with "In Jesus' name, Amen." No time to hear His input, no time to seek His advice. Only a time to "dump" on Him. Yes, Peter advised us in First Peter 5 vs 7 to give the Lord all our burdens and cares. Surely, we are to present our anxieties to Him, but then, we are to wait for His response.

The fourth ingredient is learning. A relationship that culminates into companionship entails learning from superior partner. As we spend time with God, our relationship allows us to learn about Him, about ourselves, and about others. We come to appreciate Him more as we get to know Him better. We become more relaxed in His presence as we now are His companion.

We understand ourselves better; our strengths and weaknesses, how to overcome them, why we do things the way we do, how to change our negatives responses, and the likes. We also learn much about others and how better to interact with them, showing forth all the fruit of the Spirit.

Somebody will quickly ask, 'How do we hear from God or learn from Him?' A classical illustration is made with a product you bought from the store. The manufacturer is in Germany, but has included a manual in the package to enable you study and know more about the product and how to use and/or operate it. The same is true of our relationship with God. He has given us His 'Code of Conduct," and owner's Manual' -the "Bible" for our study. In it God speaks and you hear from and learn about Him. As the spiritual relationship develops, God can speak to you in a vision, an audible voice or even through others in such relationship with Him.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my faithful companion, and has promised to be with m me till the end of age. Thank You Lord for fighting my unseen battles, and giving me victory. Help me to walk humbly with You at all times, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Fear That Draws Us In

 

“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:20)

There is a fear that is slavish and drives us away from God, and there is a fear that is sweet and draws us to God. Moses warned against the one and called for the other in the very same verse, Exodus 20:20: “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’”

The clearest illustration I have ever seen of this kind of good fear was the time one of my sons looked a German shepherd in the eye. We were visiting a family from our church. My son Karsten was about seven years old. They had a huge dog that stood eye to eye with a seven-year-old.

He was friendly and Karsten had no problem making friends. But when we sent Karsten back to the car to get something we had forgotten, he started to run, and the dog galloped up behind him with a low growl. And of course, this frightened Karsten. But the owner said, “Karsten, why don’t you just walk? The dog doesn’t like it when people run away from him.”

If Karsten hugged the dog, he was friendly and would even lick his face. But if he ran from the dog, the dog would growl and fill Karsten with fear.

That’s a picture of what it means to fear the Lord. God means for his power and holiness to kindle fear in us, not to drive us from him, but to drive us to him. Fearing God means, first, fearing to abandon him as our great security and satisfaction.

Or another way to say it is that we should fear unbelief. Fear not trusting God’s goodness. Isn’t that the point of Romans 11:20? “You stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.” That is, what we should fear is not believing, not having faith. Fear running away from God. But if we walk with him and hug his neck, he will be our friend and protector forever.

WHAT REAL LOVE IS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 26, 2022.

SUBJECT: WHAT REAL LOVE IS! 

Memory verse: "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (First Peter 4 vs 8.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 4 - 8:

13:4: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

13:5: does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

13:6: does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

INTIMATION: 

Real love is as strong as death. It cannot be killed by time or disaster and cannot be bought for any price because it is freely given. Love is priceless, and even the richest king cannot buy it. Love must be accepted as a gift from God and then shared within the guidelines God provides. Strive to make your love a reflection of the perfect love that comes from God. 

In the passage we read today, there are fifteen qualities explained here concerning the nature of real love. These are qualities that are manifested in one’s relationship with his fellow man. In this case, this should be the nature of the Christians’ relationship with one another in their behavior as disciples of Jesus. 

The apostle Paul personifies love as one who manifests specific characteristics. He states as follows: (1) Love suffers long; it patiently endures the weaknesses of others. Love is not quick to discard a relationship simply because of a disagreement. (2) Love is kind; it does not portray harsh attitude with one’s brother or spouse. Through kindness, love actively works toward the benefit of all those with whom it comes into contact.

(3) Love does not envy; it is not jealous over the accomplishments of others, nor does it seek for the possessions of others. It will thus build up and not tear down. (4) Love does not parade or exalt itself; it does not push itself forward in order to be recognized, but is willing to humbly work in the background of the crowd in order to exalt others. Love does not work in order to draw attention to itself. (5) Love is not puffed up; it is not prideful or arrogant, and thus, does not insist on having its own way or consider itself better than others. It does not exalt itself above others. It does not lift itself up by knocking others down.

(6) Love does not behave rudely; it does not behave in a manner that manifests little consideration for others. Love does not ignore the person of others for the sake of exalting itself. (6) Love does not seek its own; it does not like to be first. It does not seek to have its own way by ignoring the thoughts and dreams of others. (7) Love is not easily provoked; it does not easily lose its temper when something either goes wrong or is said that will generate anger. Love doesn’t react to disagreeable situations with rage or anger, but responds with calmness and gentleness.

(8) Love thinks no evil; it does not search for evil in the lives of others. Love does not search for evil in other to destroy its enemies by slanderous character assassination. Love realizes that one’s perceptions of others is usually based on wrong information. Love thus assumes the sincerity of others without questioning the motives of others. (9) Love does not rejoice in iniquity; it does not take pleasure in finding sin or failures in the lives of others. It does not rejoice when another sins or makes a mistake. It does not exalt itself above others by pointing out the mistakes of others.

(10) Love rejoices in the truth; it seeks truth and not evil. Love is identified in the one who searches for truth and not evil in the lives of others. (11) Love bears all things; when things become difficult, love does not cease to work. Without retaliation, love endures malicious slander that is spoken against it. When one is sinned against, love forbears without retaliation. (12) Love believes all things; it believes and seeks the good in all situations and people, and thus hopes for the best. Love is positive about life, and not negative.

(13) Love hopes all things; it believes that all things are working together for the good of the Christian. Love believes that the best is yet to be. (14) Love endures all things; because love believes that all things are working together for good, it looks on the positive side of things when things seem to go wrong. Love is always confident about the future. (15) Love never fails; true love never quits though things may go wrong. Love never quits in the face of trials, discouragements, persecutions, and temptations, 

Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are love, and I know You. Your love has been poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit You gave to me. My utmost heart desire is to love like You. Endue me with Your excellent spirit of love that I may love like You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!