Pleased to Praise

 

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! (Psalm 67:3, 5)

Why does God demand we must praise God?

C.S. Lewis:

Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?”

The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

There is the answer — the solution to the apparent egomania of God in demanding us to praise him! It is a demand for our greatest happiness. We praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak of what we value and celebrate what we love and praise what we admire, our joy would not be full.

So, if God loves us enough to make our joy full, he must not only give us himself; he must also win from us the praise of our hearts — not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can be found only in knowing and praising him, the most magnificent of all beings.

If he is truly for us, he must be for himself! God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12, 14), he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world that can satisfy our longings.

God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be for himself.

LOVE IS THE HIGHEST RULE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY AUGUST 22, 2022.

SUBJECT: LOVE IS THE HIGHEST RULE!

Memory verse: "And now abide faith, hope, Love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (First Corinthians 13 vs 13.)

READ: Mark 12 vs 28 vs 31:

12:28: Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”

12:29: Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

12:30: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

12:31: And the second, like it, is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

INTIMATION:

Love is having great affection for, feeling a passionate attraction to. Biblically, It is described as the basic first cause and ultimate expression of God and man, is the Christian gospel, and church ethics; a fruit of the Spirit. Love describes God; “God is love” (First John 4 vs 8 & 16). Love as used of God, expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver.

The intent of God’s Law is to promote love to God and others. Consequently, the Christian faith involves many rules that are meant to be governed by love. That makes love the highest rule, but it also moves Christians toward personal sacrifice, discipline, and responsibility, which are scarce resources in today’s world. When confronted with rules of your own or others’ making, ask: (1) Does the rule serve God’s purpose? (2) Does the rule reveal God’s character? (3) Does the rule help people get into God’s family, or keep them out? (4) Does the rule have biblical roots that can be supported in the context of all Scripture? Good rules pass all four tests.

Everything concerning God is summed up in love. His laws can be reduced to two simple principles: Love God and love others. When you love God completely and care for others as you care for yourself, then you have fulfilled the intent of God’s Law.—the “Ten Commandments.” According to Jesus, these two commandments summarize all God’s laws. Let them rule your thoughts, decisions, and actions. When you are uncertain about what to do, ask yourself which course of action best demonstrates love for God and love for others.

Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (First John 4 vs 9 - 10). 

Obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its object: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5 vs 8). It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself.

Love explains: (1) why God creates—because He loves, He creates people to love; (2) why God cares—because He loves them, He cares for sinful people; (3) why we are free to choose—God wants a loving response from us; (4) why Christ died—His love for us caused Him to offer a solution to the problem of sin; and (5) why we receive eternal life—God’s love expresses itself to us forever.

Real love is an action, not a feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. The Scripture says, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (First John 3 vs 16). How can we “lay down our lives?” By serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. 

Sometimes it is easier to say we’ll die for others than to truly live for them—this involves putting others’ desires first. Jesus taught this same principle of love, He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15 vs 13.) 

We are to love each other as Jesus loved us, and He loved us enough to give His life of inestimable value for ours that are completely worthless because of sin. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving, caring. Evaluate your lifestyle, and measure your obedience to the highest rule! You can start right away: Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more. Then make it a regular practice.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are love, and has poured out Your love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Give me the grace, and empower me to love as You do, in Jesu’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

An Unshakably Happy God

 

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

God is absolutely sovereign.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3).

Therefore, he is not frustrated. He rejoices in all his works when he contemplates them as colors of the magnificent mosaic of redemptive history. He is an unshakably happy God.

His happiness is foundationally the delight he has in himself. Before creation, he rejoiced in the image of his glory in the person of his Son — his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased (Matthew 3:17). Then the joy of God “went public” in the works of creation and redemption.

These works delight the heart of God because they reflect his glory. The heavens are telling the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works” (Psalm 104:31). He does everything he does to preserve and display that glory, for in this his soul rejoices.

All the works of God culminate in the praises of his redeemed people. “Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!” (Psalm 150:2). The climax of his happiness is the delight he takes in the echoes of his excellence in the praises of the saints. “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love” (Psalm 147:10–11).

But our praise is not only God’s delight, as an echo of his excellence; it is also the apex of our joy. Praise is the consummation of the joy we have in seeing and savoring the greatness of God.

Therefore, God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are the same pursuit. This is the great outcome of the gospel of the glory of the grace of God in Christ!

LOVE IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY AUGUST 20, 2022.

SUBJECT : LOVE IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY!

Memory verse: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3 vs 16).

READ: John 13 bs 34 - 35:

13:34: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

13:35: By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

INTIMATION:

Love is the characteristic word of Christianity.

It is the foundation of Christianity. The message of the gospel comes to a focus in love. Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His Commandments. Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love of God. Love is not known unless it is manifested in action. Though the loving kindness of God was manifested through the patient work with the nation of Israel, the climax of the manifestation of His love toward man was in the action of the cross. 

Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered.  Love seeks the welfare of all, and works no ill to any; love seeks opportunity to do good to all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.

It was not that man was righteous, and thus, deserved the righteous act of God through the sacrifice of the cross. God loved man in his state of being unlovable. The agape (love) of God, therefore, was given without conditions. It was unearned love. In this context, therefore, Jesus is the example of the love about which the Scripture is speaking. It is this nature of love that must be exercised in the brotherhood of believers. 

Jesus says that our Christlike love will show we are His disciples. Love is more than simply warm feelings or lovely words; it is an attitude that reveals itself in action. How can we love others as Jesus loves us? By helping when it’s not convenient, by giving when it hurts, by devoting energy to others’ welfare rather than our own, by absorbing hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. This kind of loving is hard to do. That is why people notice when you do it and know you are empowered by a supernatural source.

In Romans 5 vs 5, the Scripture says, “…The love of God has been poured out”: The past tense here emphasizes the fact that God’s love was poured out in Christians’ hearts when they responded to His love that was manifested on the cross. God’s love for man through the cross should generate love in the hearts of men to respond to the cross. It is the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the cross to generate a love response in the hearts of men. 

“We love Him because He first loved us” (First John 4 vs 19). Herein is the motivation of Christianity and the identity that separates Christianity from the host of man-made religions of the world. Disciples of Jesus Christ are known by their love of another. One is motivated by love in Christ to serve others. He is compelled by God’s love for him through the cross. 

Christianity, therefore, is different from most religions in reference to good works. Though the adherent of other man-made religions do good works, however, the good works are often meritorious. They are performed on the basis of what the adherent believes he will receive as a result of his works. The good works of man-made religions are often focused first on the benefit to the one who does the good works, and thus, the works are meritorious. 

The Christian is moved to do good works because of what the good works will do to the people for whom he works. Because Christianity is a faith of love, that which Christians do is focused on those they love. They thus do good to all men, especially to those who have come into the household of love—the church. (Galatians 6 vs 10). 

The only way one can understand the love of God is to love. Every man has the emotional capacity and ability to act out of love. However, such love is limited to the extent of the emotional abilities of man. God’s love far exceeds the ability of man to love. But in order to begin understanding the fullness of God’s love, we must manifest love toward others. Only through a strong fellowship of love can we begin to understand the magnitude of the love of Jesus. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (First John 4 vs 8). 

It is impossible to understand the love of God without loving one’s neighbor as himself. It is only through love that we can understand those things that are beyond this world. It is the nature of children to follow the example of their father. As children of God, therefore, Christians seek to follow the nature of their Father. In order to do this, they must walk in love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (First John 4 vs 7 - 8). 

The Sinai law taught that one was to love his neighbor as himself, therefore, it was based on his love for himself (Leviticus 19 vs 18). However, Jesus emphasizes an intensity of love that is different. It is a love that has no conditions. It is a self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus, simply acts out of a selfless attitude of appreciation for all that God has done in one’s life in reference to salvation. 

In the time of the new covenant, therefore, the new commandment of how Jesus loved the apostles was instituted. The disciples’ unconditional love would be the signal that they were the true disciples of Jesus. The true sign of discipleship is expressed in the action of love for the brotherhood. Jesus meant that love in action would be the identifying characteristic of His disciples that would separate them from the rest of the world. Any faith that cannot be identified by love is not of God, for God is love. 

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of love for You and for others that I will manifest the true nature of the disciples of Jesus Christ in accordance with Your Will, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Jesus Is Who You’re Looking For

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)

The last chapter of Matthew is a window that opens onto the sunrise glory of the risen Christ. Through it you can see at least three massive peaks in the mountain range of Christ’s character: the peak of his power; the peak of his kindness; and the peak of his purposefulness.

All authority is his — the right and the power to do his will. And he uses this power to pursue his unwavering purpose to make disciples from all the nations. And in the process he is personally kind to us, promising to be with us to the end.

We all know in our hearts that if the risen Christ is going to satisfy our desire to admire greatness, that is the way he has to be. Great in power. Great in kindness. Great in purposefulness.

People who are too weak to accomplish their purposes can’t satisfy our desire to admire greatness. We admire people even less who have no purpose in life. And still less those whose purposes are merely selfish and unkind.

What we long to see and know is a Person whose power is unlimited, whose kindness is tender, and whose purpose is single and unflinching.

Novelists and poets and movie-makers and TV writers now and then create a shadow of this Person. But they can no more fill our longing to worship than this month’s National Geographic can satisfy my longing for the Grand Canyon.

We must have the real thing. We must see the Original of all power and kindness and purposefulness. We must see and worship the risen Christ.

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.