When I Am Anxious

 

. . casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

There is a promise suited to every sin you are tempted to commit and every form of unbelief that takes you off guard and makes you anxious. For example:

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). And I take the promise with trembling, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3–5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise: “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7–9).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promises, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6); and, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

So, let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. It is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins.

So, let us fix our eyes on the precious and very great promises of God. Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight — to live by faith in future grace.

JESUS WELCOMES THE SINNERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2022. 

SUBJECT : JESUS WELCOMES THE SINNERS!

Memory verse: "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1 vs 18).

READ: Matthew 9 vs 10 - 13:

9:10: And it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

9:11: And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

9:12: When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well  have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

9:13: But go and learn what that means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

 INTIMATION:

Do you feel that you could never come close to God because you have done something terrible? God can and will forgive you of any sin, except the sin against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12 vs 31 - 32). Never let guilt feelings of sin keep you from praying (seeking the face of God), which is your only means of restoration, because only God forgives sin.

Jesus said He came for the sinners; to call them to repentance. 

If there were no sinners He wouldn’t have come. But because sinners abound on earth He came. The Scripture says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3 vs 23). Jesus welcomes those He came for. Therefore, you are welcomed at anytime you visit with Him, and He is ever ready to offer His free gift of salvation—of redemption, of righteousness, and of sanctification—to you.

No matter how long you have been away from God, He is ready to hear from you and restore you to a right relationship with Him. Every situation can be salvaged if you are willing to turn to God. In Judges 16 vs 28 - 30,  we would observe that in spite of Samson's past, God still answered his prayer and destroyed the philistines' heathen temple and worshipers. He killed more people at his death than he did in life because of the mercy of God when he turned to Him in prayer.

One of the effects of sin in our lives is keeping us away from fellowshipping with God in  prayers, but it is noteworthy that perfect moral behavior is not a condition for prayer. Though the stain of sin seems permanent, but only God can remove such stain of sin from our lives. We don't have to go through life permanently soiled. God's Word assures that if we are willing and obedient in turning to Him, Christ will forgive and remove our most indelible stains of sin.

Christ came for sinners like you and I, and He expects us, the sinners, to come to Him for mercy. We can only go to God in prayer, acknowledging our need and admitting that we don't have all the answers, and God will come to our help. He desires to show mercy and His mercy endures forever. 

Only God clears the guilty, and it is for this reason Christ came. The unforgivable sin is the deliberate refusal to take advantage of His invitation to come to Him, acknowledge Him, and His power in Christ, expressed through the Holy Spirit. It indicates a deliberate and irreversible hardness of heart. It reveals a heart attitude of unbelief and unrepentance, that attributes to Satan the work that the Holy Spirit accomplishes. Such people have turned their backs on God and rejected all faith, and are unwilling to ask for forgiveness. Even when they receive the prompting of the Holy Spirit, convicting them of sin, they reject it. And the deliberate rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit is blasphemy, because it is rejecting God Himself. Such person removes himself or herself from the only force that can lead him or her to repentance and restoration to God.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are the only God forgives that blots our sins. You are so merciful and loving that you are ever ready and willing to welcome me to Your presence, and cleans me from my sins. Engrace me to forever dedicate my life to You, in Jesus name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Fighting Words

 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with one of my most often-used promises: Isaiah 41:10.

The day I left for three years to study in Germany, my father called me long distance in New York and gave me the promise of this verse on the telephone. For three years, I must have quoted it to myself hundreds of times to get me through periods of tremendous stress.

When the motor of my mind is in neutral, the hum of the gears is the sound of Isaiah 41:10. I love this verse.

Of course, it’s not the only dagger in the arsenal of my faith.

When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise of Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

When I am anxious about the welfare of those I love, I battle unbelief with the promise that if I, being evil, know how to give good things to my children, “how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).

So by all means fight unbelief with every promise in the book. But it helps to have one central, default weapon. And for me that has been Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Precious, precious promise!

COMFORTER BY CECE WINANS

 

PRAISE YOUR WAY THROUGH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2022.

SUBJECT : PRAISE YOUR WAY THROUGH!

Memory verse: "But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel" (Psalm 22 vs 3).

Read: Psalm 67 vs 3 - 7; 145 vs 3 - 7 & 10:

67:3: Let the people praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.

67:4: Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth.

67:5: Let the people praise You, O God; let all the people praise You.

67:6: Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, that our own God, shall bless us.

67:7: God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

145:3: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. 145:4: One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. 

145:5: I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and of Your wondrous works. 

145:6: Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. 

145:7: They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.

145:10: All Your works shall praise You O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You.

INTIMATION:

Praise is to be ascribed to God, in respect of His glory (the exhibition of His character and operations). Praise is the expression to God of our admiration, appreciation, thanks, approval, and understanding of what He does—His creation, His blessings, His forgiveness. It is also to give great honor to God for each aspect of God's divine nature—loving, just, faithful, forgiving, patient, and the revelation of Himself to us. In praise, we outwardly express our inward attitude toward God. When we praise God we help ourselves by expanding our awareness of who He is. 

Praise is vocal, it is uttered and should be offered in proportion to God's own Person. He is great—great in wisdom, great in power, great in His creative works, great in His redemptive acts and great in His dealings with us. Everything that God does is great and therefore should be greatly praised. Considering all that God has done and does for us, what could be more natural than outbursts of heartfelt praise? 

Praise stimulates God into action. Acknowledging Him for who He is and what He does stimulates Him to take over our battles, and come through to us in our petitions to Him. Because it’s one thing God cannot do for Himself, He is very pleased when we offer our sincere praise to Him. Offering praise to the Lord draws His attention to us. Praise engenders the manifestation of God’s greatness, and the outpouring of His blessings on our lives. Praise brings God down in His Might to attend personally to our situation.

In our memory verse, we observe that God is "enthroned in the praises of Israel." The nation of Israel (the descendants of Jacob) was special to God because to its people God brought His laws, and through its people He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. Now any individual who follows God is just as special to Him. In fact, the Bible says that the nation of Israel is not a specific people or geographic place but the community of all who believe in and obey God; "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3 vs 28 - 29).

God's enthronement on the praises of His people was showcased when Paul and Silas were in jail in Philippi, where the jailor thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight they prayed, and sang praises to God. The Great God showed up in His Might, in response to the praises of His children; "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed." (Acts 16 vs 23 - 26.)

Praise should be continuously offered to God as a sacrifice. In so doing you will realize that you won't take His blessings for granted. Praise God first in your prayer, then you will be prepared to present your needs to Him. Songs of praise focus our attention on God, give us an outlet for spiritual celebration, and reminds us of God’s faithfulness and character. Prophet Hosea said that in prayer and praise our iniquities are taking away; “Take words with you, and return to the Lord, say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips” (Hosea 14 vs 2).

In our worship to God, praise does the following:-

(1) Praise first puts us in the right frame of mind to tell about our needs.

(2) Praise takes our minds off our problems and shortcomings to focus on God.

(3) Praise leads us from individual meditation to corporate worship.

(4) Praise causes us to consider and appreciate God's character.

(5) Praise lifts our perspective from the earthly to the heavenly.

(6) Praise prepares our hearts to receive God's love and power of His Holy Spirit.

(7) Praise brings God down in His Might to attend personally to our situation. Therefore, praise Him now and always, then He will come through to you.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that I may praise You all the days of my life for who You are, and all You do, and it shall be counted to me as righteousness, and Your blessings poured out on me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Marvel of Creation

 

Someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each of the seeds its own body. (1 Corinthians 15:35–38)

I have been picking up little things in Scripture that show God’s intimate involvement in creation.

For example, here in 1 Corinthians 15:38, Paul is comparing how a seed is planted in one form and comes forth in another form with a “body” different from all other bodies. He says, “God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own” (my translation — the original does not say he gives to each “kind” of seed a body, but to each and every seed its own body!).

This is a remarkable statement of God’s intimate involvement in the way God designs each seed to bring forth its own unique plant (not just species but each individual seed!).

Paul is not teaching about evolution here, but he is showing how he takes God’s intimate involvement with creation for granted. Evidently, Paul cannot imagine that any natural process should be conceived of without God’s doing it.

Again in Psalm 94:9, it says, “He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?” The psalmist assumes that God was the designer of the eye and that he designed the way the ear is planted in the head to do its hearing work.

So, when we marvel at the wonders of the human eye and the remarkable structure of the ear, we are not to marvel at the processes of chance, but at the mind and the creativity and the power of God.

Similarly in Psalm 95:5, “The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” The involvement of God in making land and sea is such that the present sea is his.

It is not as though in some impersonal way he set it all in motion a billion years ago. Rather, he is the one who owns it because he made it. It is today his handiwork and bears the marks of his Creator claim on it, like a piece of artwork belongs to the one who painted it until he sells it or gives it away.

I point out these things not to solve all the problems surrounding the issues of origins, but to call you to be utterly God-conscious and God-exalting and God-saturated in all your observation and admiration of the wonders of the world.

IN CHRIST ALONE BY STELLA JOHN