REPENT AND DO THE FIRST WORKS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JANUARY 09, 2023.

SUBJECT: REPENT AND DO THE FIRST WORKS!

Memory verse: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent." (Revelation 2 vs 5.)

READ: Matthew 3 vs 1 - 2; 4 vs 17:

3:1: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

3:2: and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

4:17: From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

INTIMATION:

Repentance means “to turn,” it is the state of being penitent, implying a change in behavior, turning from sin toward God. It is to be sorry for, or wish to have been otherwise, what one has done or left undone, it is a change of heart, and make a moral u-turn from sin to God in humility.

Jesus started His ministry with the message of repentance, and this underscores the importance of the message, and the relevance of its timing in our relationship with God. The first step in turning to God is to admit your sin. Then be sorry for it, and ask God (only Him forgives sin) to help you. God will receive you and help you live the way He wants. It is the nature of our 'Loving, and Ever Merciful Father' to forgive your sins, hence His call to us to repent. 

Consequently, in our memory verse, Jesus tells us to, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent." And, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (First John 1 vs 9).

Your confessing your sin frees you to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It eases your conscience and lightens your care. God wants to forgive us, hence He allowed His beloved Son to die just so He could offer us pardon. When we come to Christ, He forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. We don’t need to confess the sins of the past repeatedly, thinking that God will hear us by our many words. Confess your sin and believe God for forgiveness; “He that promised is faithful, and will do it.” 

Repentance happens inside with a cleansing that isn't seen right away when confession of the sin is made. True repentance is revealed in changed attitude. It does not end with words of confession, lest it would be mere lip service. It must lead to corrected behavior and changed attitude. When you sin and are truly sorry, confess this to God, ask His forgiveness, accept His grace and mercy. 

Then, as an act of thankfulness for your forgiveness, make the needed corrections. No matter how evil you have been, it is never too late to humble yourself, turn to God and ask for forgiveness. God puts no limit on the number of times we can come to Him to obtain mercy, but we must come in order to obtain it, recognizing our need and asking Him to help. Because we have a tendency to sin, repentance is the true measure of our spiritual sensitivity and makes us valuable to God.

Repentance has too sides; turning away from sin, and turning toward God. To be truly repentant, we must do both. We can't just say we believe and then live any way we choose, and neither can we simply lead a morally correct life without a personal relationship with God, because that cannot bring forgiveness of sin.

Our Ever Merciful and Loving Father is at your door knocking, calling you to repent, and do the first works. If you hear His voice do not harden your hearts. In turning to Him remains a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Prayer: My Heavenly Father, ever Merciful and Loving, I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. I repent of my sins, and I come to you now, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Strength and my Redeemer. Forgive me my sins. Be my Lord and personal Savior. Cancel my name in the book of death, and write my name in the Book of life. From henceforth I am yours forever, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen!

PRAISE THE LORD!

Praying In Emotions Or In The Name Of Jesus?

 Praying In Emotions Or In The Name Of Jesus?

Have you ever wakened in the morning and just not felt like praying? Perhaps you didn’t sleep well and just can’t get your motor running. Your mind is fuzzy and you say to yourself, “If I were to pray today, it would be a charade.

I just don’t feel like praying.” Or maybe you wake up with an upset stomach and don’t feel well. Then you go to the medicine cabinet. After a while you start feeling better and say, “Well, I believe it’s time for prayer.” You start to pray and you have wonderful time–glorious fellowship with God in prayer. I want to ask you a question. Were you on praying ground more after you took that medicine than before? Not at all. 

Do you think God was in those two tablets? Would God have heard your prayer even if you didn’t feel well when you prayed? Of course He would, unless you came with your own emotions. Friend, prayer is not answered because of how you feel. But if you came in the name of Jesus, prayer is answered because you have prayed in Jesus’ name. It’s not how you feel. It is His name that gets your prayer through. Don’t clasp your hands in prayer filled with the brass of your emotions. 

Come with both hands filled with the worth of Jesus and in the name of Jesus, that the Father would be glorified. Hebrews 13:15 says, “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.”

THE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JANUARY 08, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST!

Memory verse: "Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1 vs 6.)

READ: Romans 8 vs 28 - 30:

8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

8:29: For whom He foreknow, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

8:30: Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called: whom He called, these He also justified: and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

INTIMATION:

The called of Jesus Christ are the Christians who are invited by Jesus Christ to belong to God’s family, and to be saints (to be holy), set apart, and dedicated for His service. In being reborn into God’s family we have the greatest experience of love and the greatest inheritance. And because of all that God has done for us, we strive to be His holy people. What a wonderful experience of what it means to be a Christian!

The calling of Christ is a calling of an appointment or election to apostleship, to preach about Him. Each Christian has a job to do, a role to take, or a contribution to make. One assignment may seem more spectacular than another, but all are necessary to carry out God’s great plan for His world and for the Body of Christ. Therefore, as the called, be available to God by placing your gifts at His service. Then as you discover what He calls you to do, be ready to do it, and do it with all your might.

As the called of Jesus, your attitude should be of a complete dependence on and obedience to Christ. Our willingness to serve and obey Him enables us to be useful and usable servants to do work for Him—work that really matters. Obedience begins with identifying yourself with Jesus, discover His will and live according to it, and consciously turn away from conflicting interests, even if these interests have been important to you in the past.

God’s unparalleled love—His nature, He commended toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, and through His death, called us and reconciled to Himself. And we have been justified by His blood, and will be saved from wrath through Him if we believe. To those who believe, these are the called, and God has given them the ministry of reconciliation that they would continue His work of reconciliation on earth as His ambassadors.  

In obedience to this call. Christ promised to be with us always till the end of the ages (Matthew 28 vs 20), and all things will work together for our good in the end. Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill His purposes. Note also that the promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called by Him, that is, those whom the Holy Spirit convinces to receive Christ, and turn completely to God.

God’s ultimate goal for us is to make us like Christ (First John 3 vs 2); “He also predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8 vs 29). As we become more and more like Him, we discover our true selves, the persons we were created to be. And in the end, we would be glorified at His appearing. 

How can we become like Christ? By reading and heeding the Word, by studying His life on earth through the gospels, by spending time in prayer, by being filled with His Spirit, and by doing His work in the world. It’s noteworthy that the four gospels are Jesus introducing the Father, and the epistles are the Father introducing Jesus and what He did. They also introduce the sons and daughters of God to the world.

From the passage we read today, we understood that God’s purpose for people was not an afterthought: it was settled before the foundation of the world. People are to serve and honor God. If you believe in Christ, you can rejoice in the fact that God has always known you. God’s love is eternal. His wisdom and power are supreme. He will guide and protect you until you one day stand in His presence.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for what You wrought for me through Christ, and Your calling me to serve Your purpose on earth. Endue me with the spirit of raw obedience to You, and give me the grace to serve with the best in me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

JESUS THE ONLY HOPE

 Jesus: The Only Hope

Are Christians fools for believing in Jesus? Are we mere sentimentalists, or do we have reasonable reasons for believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? My dear friend, false religion will never satisfy the hungry heart. 

If you go to the tomb of Confucius, you’ll find it is occupied. If you go to the tomb of Buddha, you’ll find it is occupied. If you go to the tomb of Jesus, you’ll find it empty. He is a risen Savior. Hallelujah! 

Now that’s very important because, you see, you can take Confucius out of Confucianism and still have Confucianism. And you can take Buddha out of Buddhism and still have Buddhism. But you cannot take Jesus Christ out of Christianity and still have Christianity, because Christianity is not a code, it’s not a creed, it’s not a cause. It is Christ Himself in you. 

Jesus alone takes the sting out of sin, the pain out of parting, the gloom out of the grave, the dread out of dying. And Jesus alone gives a hope that is steadfast and sure. 

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). 

DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JANUARY 07, 2023.

SUBJECT: DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD!

Memory verse: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3 vs 19.)

READ: Hebrews 12 vs 5 - 11:

12:5: And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My Son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

12:6: For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

12:7: If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

12:8: But if you be without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

12:9: Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

12:10: For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best for them, but He for our profit, that you may be partakers of His holiness.

12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

INTIMATION:

Chastening denotes refining or training that involves discipline and correction by reproving, and admonishing that may involve punishment. Correction by reproving, and admonition, even when it involves punishment, is a vital part of discipline, and discipline means “to teach and to train.” God chastens us in line with the aforestated reasons.

Discipline sounds negative to many people because some disciplinarians are not loving. God, however, is the source of all love because He is love (First John 4 vs 8). He doesn’t punish us because He enjoys inflicting pain, but because He is deeply concerned about our development. He knows that in order to become morally strong and good, we must learn the difference between right and wrong. His loving discipline enables us to do this. And this is to ensure that the glorious destiny He had prepared for us beforehand is not missed by us by reason of disobedience or indiscipline.

God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish but to bring people back to Him. And in Him consists all there is in life. He created all things, and all things are His. He created all things according wHis predetermined purposes, and works to fulfill His purposes and not to make us happy. God may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude if you are lukewarm in your devotion to Him. But He uses only loving discipline. 

Therefore, you can avoid God’s chastening if you are walking in your God’s ordained path of life. And when you fall out of path, you will avoid His discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying His Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can re-ignite our zeal for God when we allow Him to work in our heart.

Now, come to think of it, who loves his child more—the father who allows the child to do what will harm him, or the one who corrects, trains, and even punishes the child to help him learn what is right? It’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but His discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of His love, and ask Him what He is trying to teach you.

Knowing the thoughts of God for us—“thoughts of good and not for evil” (Jeremiah 29 vs 11),—we ought to respond to His discipline (chastening) gratefully, as the appropriate response we owe a loving Father. Instead of accepting it with self-pity, thinking we really don’t deserve it, or be angry and resentful toward God.

Certainly, not every calamity that happens to us comes directly from God. It’s difficult to know when God has been disciplining us until we look back on the situation later. But if we rebel against God and refuse to repent when He had identified some sin in our lives, God may use guilt, crises, or bad experiences to bring us back to Him. It’s noteworthy that sometimes, however, difficult times come when we have no flagrant of sin. At times like that, our response then should be patience, integrity, and trust that God will show us what to do.

Just as success in family life, business, or in athletics, is by hard work and consistent discipline, the Christian life is much the same. Some people think it takes too much work, but achieving anything worthwhile requires hard work. Being a Christian is not a shortcut to an easy life. The chastening of God is all for our own profiting; that we may be partakers of God’s holiness, and the inherent yield of peaceable fruit of righteousness if we are trained by it. When you are wise to obey God’s laws—working hard at living as God asks—you discover that no worldly success can compare with the joy of knowing God.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are a Loving Father, and Faithful Companion. Your thoughts for me; your plans to take care of me and not to abandon me, plans to give me the future I hope for if I obey is unquestionable. O Lord, endue me with the spirit of wisdom and obedience to You for my all round profiting, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

Cast Your Burdens

Ps. 55:22   Cast your burden on the Lord...He shall sustain you.

Phil. 4:6   In everything...let your requests be made known unto God.

I Pet.5:7   Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Job 1:5     Job rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings for all of them.

 

Unpacked Baggage

We cannot properly intercede for others until we have cleared away the baggage of personal concerns, needs, and cares.   We must find a resting place where we can lay down our burdens, in order to bear other’s burdens in prayer.   Hearts that are "overloaded" with care will be distracted in prayer and made ineffective in their intercession.

In Luke 21:34, Jesus warned his disciples to beware of the danger of three distracting pitfalls:

1.  Over-abundance (surfeiting, over-spending, over-charging, too many possessions)

2.  Over-indulgence (drunkenness, lover of pleasures, over-eating, over-playing)

3.  Over-load (cares, burdens, worries, fears of this life)

 

Take Your Burden To The Lord

The most deceptive and innocent looking is the "overload...with cares of this life."   We cannot escape the cares of normal living, but we can UNLOAD the OVERLOAD.   Jesus concludes the issue in verse 36 by saying, "Therefore watch and pray always..."

 

Leave It There!

The solution to overloaded cares is to pray.  That means to bring those excess burdens, cares, concerns, problems, worries, fears, anxieties, and troubles TO THE LORD and leave them there! Too often we take these concerns to the Lord, and walk away just as burdened as before we prayed.  There is no "leaving it there."

 

Cast, Roll, Dump It!

David used an interesting word for "leaving it there."   "Cast thy burden on the Lord." Psalm 55:22   The word "CAST" is the key.  It literally means... ROLL... DUMP... UNLOAD... as one who is carrying a backpack of heavy equipment allows it to slide from his shoulders to another who is stronger, more able to carry the load.

You cannot carry your own burdens and the burdens of others!

Burdens are lifted as we roll them onto the Lord

Practical Disciplines

Pray for yourself:

• Your troubles

• Your aches & pains

• Your faith & faithfulness

• Your courage to witness

• Your heart’s secret goals

• Your needs, provisions

• Your finances, funds

• Your enemies

 

Pray for your Future

• Your plans

• Your goals

• Your ministries

• Your vision

 

Pray for your family

• Each member by name and need

• Salvation of children

• Spouse needs

• Spiritual growth & love of all in family

• Health and safety

• Protection from evil & temptation

 

Pray for your faults

• Your struggles

• Your worries

• Your temptations

• Your wants & wishes

• Your heartaches

• Your failures

SONGS:

Burdens Are Lifted At Calvary / Jesus Knows Just What I Need / No One Understands Like Jesus / What a Friend We Have in Jesus / Take Your Burden to the Lord and Leave It There / I Cast All My Cares Upon You.

Cast your burden on the Lord...He shall sustain you. – Ps. 55:22

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – I Pet.5:7

DO NOT DESPAIR!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JANUARY 06, 2023.

SUBJECT: DO NOT DESPAIR!

Memory verse: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.” (Second Corinthians 1 vs 8.)

READ: Second Corinthians 4 vs 8 - 10:

4:8: We are hard pressed on every side; yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair;

4:9: persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

4:10: always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

INTIMATION:

Do not despair or lose hope in following Christ, the circumstances you may find yourselves nothing withstanding. It’s in situations of hopelessness in your life that God shows up for you, If you do not despair and hold tight to your trust in Him. God will never abandon those who seek Him with all their hearts. His promise doesn’t mean that if we trust in Him, we will escape loss or suffering; it means that God Himself will never leave us no matter what we face. Regardless of how life looks now, God controls the future. He has promised to make everything right when we trust Him with our lives. The Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10 vs 11). 

In our memory verse, and in the passage we read today, the apostle Paul enumerated their encounters during their missionary journeys in Asia. They were faced with so many trials, and were entangled with several dangerous circumstances that at some point the apostle Paul felt that they were going to die and lost hope. They knew not what else to do than to put their hope in God. They realized that they could do nothing to help themselves—they simply had to rely on God, and He never failed them.

The apostle Paul reminds us that though we may think we are at the end of our rope, we are never at the end of our hope. All our risks, humiliations, and trials are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate His power and presence in us and through us to the world.  Circumstances are never so bad that they are beyond God’s help. 

Daniel and his friends; the three Hebrew young men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Aded-Nego— never despaired in the face of trials, even with their lives glaringly at stake. They pledged their utter obedience to and trust in God, and God showed up for them. In Daniel chapter 3, the young men determined not to worship the golden image of the king or any other god, and they courageously took their stand in the presence of the king, even when they risked execution in the fiery furnace. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was enraged when they disobeyed him and ordered they throw the young men into the fiery furnace after heating it twice the former temperature. The young men never despaired. God showed up for them in the furnace; they were unburnt and came out without even the smell of smoke on them.

Daniel also, in Daniel chapter 6, never despaired in praying to His God three times a day, even when faced with penalty of being thrown into the lions’ den should he pray to His God within the 30 days period stipulated by the king for everybody under his rulership to offer prayers to the king alone. When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God showed up for him, and shut the lions’ mouths. He came out the following morning unhurt.

 

We need never despair, the circumstances we are in not withstanding, because we belong to a loving God. And with Him nothing is difficult nor impossible. He knows the end from the beginning, and we don’t yet know what good He may bring out of a seemingly hopeless situation. For the Scripture says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8 vs 28.) God works in “all things”—not just isolated incidents—for our good. And He who called you is faithful and will never deny Himself.

We often depend on our own skills and abilities when life seems easy and only turn to God when we feel unable to help ourselves. But as we realize our own powerlessness without Him and our need for His constant help in our lives, we come to depend on Him more and more. God is our source of power, and we receive His help by keeping in touch with Him. With this attitude of dependence, problems will drive us to God rather than away from Him. Learn how to rely on God.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace not to despair no matter the circumstances I face in life, knowing that You will never leave nor forsake me, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!