WE ARE STEWARDS OF GOD’S GRACE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY AUGUST 19, 2022.

SUBJECT : WE ARE STEWARDS OF GOD’S GRACE!

Memory verse: "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed received it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (First Corinthians 4 vs 7).

READ: Deuteronomy 8 vs 17 - 18; First Peter 4 vs 10 - 11:

Deuteronomy 8:17: Then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.

8:18: And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your father's, as it is this day.

First Peter 4:10: As each one has received a gift, minister to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

4:11: If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracle of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

INTIMATION:

A steward is one who oversees the resources or affairs of another. Effective stewardship is the proper management of another's resources, or resources committed into one’s care. The world, and the fullness thereof is the LORD'S (Psalm 50 vs 12). Therefore, if God owns all things, we are only privileged to be partakers, and managers of God’s belongings; all things are His, and entrusted to our care and management for Him. God expects us to be good and faithful stewards. The Scripture notes, "Moreover it is required of a steward that one be found faithful" (First Corinthians 4 vs 2). 

God, in His benevolence, has given us all those resources, gifts, and abilities we have for our management on His behalf, and for the achievements of His predetermined purposes and set objectives. Consequently, we should dedicate our all to serving God wholeheartedly, and not holding back anything, realizing that nothing is of our personal success. Though we are differently gifted in nature, power, and effectiveness, according to God's wisdom and graciousness, our role is to be faithful and to seek ways to serve God and others with what He has given us.

The reason people are so stressed out about possessions, such as money, is that they think they are in control of their possessions. People tend to think they are responsible for all of the factors that lead to prosperity and all they needed to survive. They are worried about such things as losing their jobs, or a downturn in the economy because they see themselves as the source of their provision.

Seeing yourself as the source of blessing in your life puts a lot of pressure on you in trying to control circumstances that are really beyond your control. One of the benefits of seeing yourself as a steward is peace of mind and a sense of security. When you know God is your source, you aren't worried about the natural circumstances. If God can prosper Abraham and feed his flocks and herds in a desert, then He can bless and prosper you in any economic situation. It doesn't matter what is going on around you. 

In our Bible reading today, First Peter 4 vs 10, the Scripture says, "As each one has received a gift, minister to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Obviously, it is by the grace of God you are what you are. Therefore, be a good steward of what is entrusted to your care and management. 

Realizing that our possessions are entrusted to our care and management by God, we should then ask ourselves what God wants us to do with it. Knowing that your possessions are really God's, makes you approach life with a totally different attitude; your attitude toward them is more important than what you do with them.

The Bible, in Luke 16 vs 1 - 13, tells us the parable of Jesus about the shrewd steward. In verse 8, Jesus said, "The master commended the unjust steward because he has dealt shrewdly." This steward was unjust (cheating on the master)—a son of this world, but was commended by his master as wise. Why? The answer is in verse 9; because he utilized the resources available to him to make friends for himself, so that when he fails, they may receive him into their homes. 

Jesus stated that the attitude of giving to others is lacking among the believers—the sons of light—the attitude of being a blessing to others when the opportunity calls, especially when blessed by God. The key to using our resources wisely is to see how much we can use them for God's purposes, and that is real stewardship, not how much we can accumulate for ourselves. Real stewardship is reflected in the way you use your resources in order to influence kingdom values more appropriately. This kind of attitude allows nothing to come between us and God, and keeps us from using our God-given possessions selfishly. 

How mush of a blessing have been to others? How much of your possessions have you given out to others, especially the less privileged who may not be able to give back to you? How much have you been supportive with your possessions for the sake of the kingdom? The answers are with you, and reflect your manner of stewardship.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of real stewardship, that I will manage the resources entrusted in my care appropriately, and in accordance with Your Will, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SIX LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES TO LEARN FROM AN EAGLE. 🦅

 SIX LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES TO LEARN FROM AN EAGLE. 🦅

1. Eagles fly Alone and at High Altitudes - They don't fly with sparrows, ravens, and other small birds.

MEANING - Stay away from narrow-minded people, those that bring you down. Eagle flies with Eagles. Keep good company.

2. Eagles have an Accurate Vision - They have the ability to focus on something as far as 5km away. No matter the obstacles, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it.

MEANING - Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacles and you will succeed.

3. Eagles do not Eat Dead things - They Feed only on Fresh Prey.

MEANING - Do not rely on your past success, keep looking for new frontiers to conquer. Leave your past where it belongs, in the past.

4. Eagles Love the Storm - When clouds gather, the eagle gets excited, the eagle uses the storm's wind to lift itself higher. Once it finds the wind of the storm, the eagle uses the raging storm to lift itself above the clouds. This gives the eagle an Opportunity.

What the Resurrection Means for Us

 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

What does it mean to “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead”? Satan believes that God raised Jesus from the dead. He saw it happen. To answer this question, we need to ponder what the resurrection means for God’s people.

The meaning of the resurrection is that God is for us. He aims to close ranks with us. He aims to overcome all our sense of abandonment and alienation.

The resurrection of Jesus is God’s declaration to Israel and to the world that we cannot work our way to glory, but that he intends to do the impossible to get us there.

The resurrection is the promise of God that all who trust Jesus will be the beneficiaries of God’s power to lead us in paths of righteousness and through the valley of death.

Therefore, believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is much more than accepting a fact. It means being confident that God is for you, that he has closed ranks with you, that he is transforming your life, and that he will save you for eternal joy.

Believing in the resurrection means trusting in all the promises of life and hope and righteousness for which it stands.

It means being so confident of God’s power and love that no fear of worldly loss or greed for worldly gain will lure us to disobey his will.

That’s the difference between Satan and the saints. Oh, might God circumcise our hearts to love him (Deuteronomy 30:6) and to rest in the resurrection of his Son.

THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AS OUR HELPER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY AUGUST 18, 2022.

SUBJECT : THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AS OUR HELPER! 

Memory verse: "This is word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4 vs 6.)

READ: Ezra 4 vs 1 - 5: 

4:1: Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel,

4:2: they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers' houses, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon King of Assyria, who brought us here."

4:3: But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel said to them, "You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

4:4: Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, 

4:5: and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius King of Persia. 

INTIMATION:

The Spirit of grace—the Holy Spirit—is our enabler for extraordinary tasks. It usually causes a temporary and spontaneous increase of physical, spiritual, or mental strength. The empowering of the Spirit can be an extraordinary and supernatural occurrence to prepare a person for a special task. This power of God is available to us to accomplish our tasks. We should ask the Holy Spirit’s help as we face our daily problems as well as life’s major challenges. The Holy Spirit is a personality promised and made available to all believers in Christ, as our Helper in our new life as Christians. He enables us to accomplish those tasks we ordinarily will not be able to handle.

To understand His helping power, we will look at the passage we read today from the Book of Ezra. The adversaries of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin were people who had been relocated in the northern kingdom when Assyria conquered Israel. In an attempt to infiltrate and disrupt the project these people offered to help in the rebuilding project. Their real motive was to disrupt the temple project because they don't want Jerusalem to be strong again on their return from exile. 

Although it is true they were worshipping the God of Israel, but they also worshipped many other gods. To these foreigners God was just another 'idol' to be added to their collection. In God's eyes, this was not worship—it was sin and rebellion. True worship involves devotion to God alone. The Jews however, knew this, they saw through their ploy and refused their assistance. Since the Israelites (Jews) were well aware of that fact, they told the Samaritans, their long-time enemies, that they had no part in building a temple to the Lord. And this angered the Samaritans that they began to do everything in their power to harass and cause trouble for the Israelites, to frustrate their purpose and plans. 

Now, in Zechariah 4 vs 1 - 3, the Bible says, "And the angel who talked with me came again and awakened me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And said to me, What do you see? So I said, "I am looking, and there is a lampstand all of solid gold with its bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other upon the left." 

In Zechariah’s vision the lampstand, the seven lamps upon it, the seven pipes to the lamps, are connected to the two olive trees that fed the lamps continuously with oil. Students of the Word of God know that oil represents the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the power of Almighty God. And the grace of God is the power of the Holy Spirit available to us to meet our needs and solve our problems. Now, the seven lamps on the lampstand can only give light and glow if they have oil supplied to it, and they had constant supply of oil from the olive trees. 

The angel explained the vision to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4 vs 4 - 6 thus; "So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. So he answered and said to me; This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts." Here the Lord is speaking to the same people who were trying to build the temple with Zerubbabel. He showed them how they should react to their frustrating situation, that their response to troubles should be to depend not upon their own abilities or efforts, but upon the limitless power of the Holy Spirit to meet the issues and resolve the crises they face. 

The vision given to Zechariah, shows the limitless power of God's grace in meeting our needs being made manifest. Remember, it is not by your power or might but by the Spirit (the grace) of God that we overcome all our lives' challenges. Many people believe that to survive in this world a person must be tough, strong, unbending and harsh. But God says, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit." It is only through God's Spirit (God's grace) that anything of lasting value is accomplished.

Prayer: Abba Father, by my strength I cannot do much to prevail, but by Your strength available to me through the Holy Spirit of grace, I can do all things. Therefore, I earnestly seek the enduement of Spirit of grace to help me accomplish tasks of before me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!

Hope to Obey Hard Commands

 

“Whoever desires to love life and see good days . . . let him turn away from evil and do good.” (1 Peter 3:10–11)

There is only one basic reason why we disobey the commands of Jesus: it’s because we don’t have heartfelt confidence that obeying will bring more blessing than disobeying. We do not hope fully in God’s promise.

What did he promise? Peter passes on the teachings of Jesus like this:

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days . . . let him turn away from evil and do good.” (1 Peter 3:9–11)

Peter, following Jesus, is not ashamed to motivate obedience to hard commands — like not returning evil for evil — with the promise of greater joy. “Bless those who revile you . . . that you may obtain a blessing!” Do you want to enjoy everlasting life? Turn away from evil! Joy for all eternity awaits you! Is that not reward enough to avoid the pleasures of vengeance now?

You will always be better off to obey than to disobey Jesus, even if that obedience costs you your life. Jesus said,

Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time . . . with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29–30)

The only way to have the power to follow Christ in the costly way of love is to be filled with hope, with strong confidence that, if we lose our life doing his will, we will find it again and be richly rewarded forever.

FAITH ATTRACTS GRACE!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17, 2022.

Is 

SUBJECT : FAITH ATTRACTS GRACE! 

Memory verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2 vs 8.) 

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 4 - 10:

2:4: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

2:5: even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have saved),

2:6: and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

2:7: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God,

2:9: not of works, lest anyone should boast.

2:10: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

INTIMATION:

Faith attracts the grace of God. Where there is faith in God His grace abounds. It’s for this reason we are saved. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Him. Please note these two words 'by' and 'through' because the vital difference between these two words will help keep in proper perspective the different roles and functions of grace and faith.

Grace is the unmerited favor and benevolence of God. This enables us to draw from God’s power through the Holy Spirit to meet our needs. While faith is the substance; the confidence, conviction, confirmation of things we have hope for, and the evidence or proof of things we have not yet seen but convinced of their reality. Faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.

The key words that describe faith are confidence, conviction, confirmation and certainty. These qualities need a secure beginning and ending point. The beginning point of faith is believing in God's character—He is who He says He is. The end point is believing in God's promises—He will do what He says He will do. Therefore, when we believe that God will fulfill His promises even though we don't see those promises materializing yet, we demonstrate true faith. It is the 'believe'—the confidence and conviction—in God, and assurance—confirmation and certainty—of His promises, that is faith. And it is through faith in Him that His grace (the power of the Holy Spirit) we receive God's blessings.

The major problem believers have is that once we are saved by ‘grace through faith,’ we immediately make the mistake of turning from living by grace to living by works. We begin to match God's blessings by our works. Or put in another form, we want to buy God's blessings by our works. What do I mean by this? We begin to think we have prayed enough or not enough to get God's blessings—answer to our prayers, or we have been operating enough or not enough in the fruit of the Spirit to get or not to get His blessings, or that we weren't nice when we got caught in some situations, consequently, we cannot be blessed by Him. 

We think of everything we did right or wrong and figure that it automatically qualifies or disqualifies us, as it were, for any of God's blessings. All these are works, though in themselves are good and should be done, but are not the channel or reason for receiving from God. Remember what the Scripture says in Romans 5 vs 8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is amazing! God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us. It is not by works of ours. 

God didn’t stop at that. He comes alongside us and be within us to help us do the right things expected of us. He gives us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. But we have to do our own part; submit to God’s control and let Him work. It is even "God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2 vs 13), and He does this by His grace (the power of the Holy Spirit) indwelling us. Disconnect from Him, and you can do nothing. (John 15 vs 5).

For those who have faith in God, that is, those who have believed—adhered to, trusted in, and relied on God—do enter His rest because His grace is sufficient (the power of the Holy Spirit) to meet their needs (see Hebrews 4 vs 3). You will enter His rest when you receive His grace and you will lead your life as the apostle Paul advised Philippians 4 vs 4 - 6; "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men....Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." That is life of who has entered His rest.

Prayer: Abba Father, my trust and complete confidence is in You. Give me the grace to lead a life pleasing to You, that I may enter Your rest, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

What It Means to Bless the Lord

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! (Psalm 103:1)

The psalm begins and ends with the psalmist preaching to his soul to bless the Lord — “Bless the Lord, O my soul” — and preaching to the angels and the hosts of heaven and the works of God’s hands that they should do the same.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
(Psalm 103:20–22)

The psalm is overwhelmingly focused on blessing the Lord. What does it mean to bless the Lord?

It means to speak well of his greatness and goodness — and really mean it from the depths of your soul.

What David is doing in the first and last verses of this psalm, when he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is saying that authentic speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul.

Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). David knows that danger, and he is preaching to himself. He is telling his soul not to let this happen.

“Come, soul, look at the greatness and goodness of God. Join my mouth, and let us bless the Lord with our whole being. Soul, we are not going to be a hypocrite!”