Freedom to choose

 Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you have been predestined to go to hell. You have the freedom to decide otherwise. We are not machines. We are human beings. You are free to do as you wish, but it takes the grace of God for you to do as you ought.

You say, “Well I can do whatever I want.” That is true, but you see the problem is with your “wanter.” You always want what is wrong until you have the grace of God in your heart. The only reason that you can choose to do right is because He first chose you. But you still are free to choose.

God has issued a call. He has invited you. God’s Word says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). He will give you the power to come, and today if you want to come, you can. You have the freedom to decide.

THE WORTH OF BELIEVERS TO GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JANUARY 17, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE WORTH OF BELIEVERS TO GOD! 

Memory verse: "They shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him." (Malachi 3 vs 17.)

READ: First Peter 2 vs 9 - 10:

2:9: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

2:10: Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

INTIMATION:

The love of the Father marked the believers out for the position of sons and daughters way back before the morning stars sang their first anthem, and we are made to the praise of His glory. He planned that they should be holy without blemish before Him. He marked them out for the position of sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself; and they are the marked ones. Believers have been chosen by God as His very own, and His jewels, a special treasure to Him above all people, and they are to Him a kingdom of priests, as Christ has made them kings and priests to our God that they shall reign on the earth. 

He has blessed them with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ (Ephesians 1 vs 3). They’re blessed. They are rich in Him and has His fullness. Believers are sufficient in His sufficiency. All that He is, they have. Believers are what God says they are. And God has told them that they are in the Beloved. God the Father sees the believers as His own righteousness in Christ Jesus. "And they are complete in Him," and this completeness is over and above all that we can ask or think or desire. 

The believers have been called to represent Him to others. They are united with Christ as members of His body, and they join in His priestly work of reconciling God and people. God has given them eternal life in Christ. Their eternal life with Christ is certain because they are united in His powerful victory. God’s incomparable great power is available to help the believers. 

Now, look at the conclusion of the whole matter as the apostle Paul says: “....We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8 vs 37 - 39.)

These verses contain one of the most comforting promises in all Scriptures. Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms: hardship, persecution, illness, imprisonment, and even death. These sometimes cause them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. But Paul exclaims that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of His unconquerable love. Nothing can separate the believers from Christ’s presence. God tells them how great His love is so that they will feel totally secure in Him. If you are in Christ and believe these overwhelming assurances, you will not be afraid.

Now if you are a believer, you know your worth to God in Christ. You see your vast responsibility. You can pray for you now know how. Take your place in Christ. Dare to act your part. Dare to let God use you. Dare to let love reign in your life. Dare to be in your daily life what He says you are. Dare to do what He says you can do. Dare to confess that you are what He says you are. All is yours. Use them. As you act on the Word, the Word reacts in You; it builds up in you, and so you grow in Christ. Believers are partakers of His Nature, of His very substance and Being.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are awesome, merciful, and compassionate. In all the world there’s none like You. Your love for me is unparalleled and unfathomable. You have blessed me with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, and made me partaker of Your divine nature. Forever You are my God and Father. I am persuaded that nothing will ever take away my love for You, in the mighty Name of Jesus’ I have prayed, Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!

Why Prayer?

 Why does God want us to pray?

Matthew 6:8b says, “Your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him.” So why ask God to do what He already wants to do? Why ask God to do something for us when He already knows our needs? Those are good questions.

Why has our Lord commanded prayer? When we pray, we don’t pray to inform God. God already knows. We don’t pray to instruct God, because God has a will. What we do is invite God when we pray.

Now what does that mean? God wants to do things in us, and He wants to do those things through prayer. God wants us to have fellowship with Him, and so God tells us to pray. It’s how we fellowship with our Lord. It’s you and God getting together.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JANUARY 16, 2023.

SUBJECT: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH!

Memory verse: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (First Timothy 6 vs 12.)

READ: Second Timothy 4 vs 6 -8:

4:6: For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

4:8: Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

INTIMATION:

Christianity is a religion that anchors on our faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ—His Son, and in what Jesus wrought for us in redemption—death on the cross for our sins and remission of the sins of those who believe in His substitutional work for us. It’s also faith in His resurrection from the dead for our hope in eternal life with Him. Our faith is exercised in our day to day lives as we commit to doing all the commandments of Jesus as the adequate response to what He did for us. Christianity is not a passive religion that advocates waiting for God to act while we watch. Your believe or faith must be active; training, working hard, sacrificing, and doing what is right. 

Christianity is a faithful calling by God into relationship with Him, and fellowship with His Son. He is calling us to come and walk with His Son, to live with Him, to carry on the Son's work in His absence. The obedience and discipline associated in this “calling” is hard work. But the beauty of the work is that we are not alone; an Helper—the Holy Spirit, has been freely given to us by God the Father and the Son to help us in the fight. To fight the good fight of faith is to allow faith do its work in us. It’s to contend perseveringly against opposition and temptations of your faith in God. 

The main elements of faith in its relation to the invisible God, as distinct from faith in man, are; (1) a firm conviction, producing a full acknowledgement of God’s revelation or truth; (2) a personal surrender to Him; (3) a conduct inspired by such surrender. In fighting a good fight of faith, all these elements are given prominence in the life of the believer.

As followers of Christ, our goal is to know Him, to be like Him, and to be all He has in mind for us. This goal should take all of our energies, and not let anything take our eyes off our goal. With the single-mindedness of an athlete in training, we must lay aside everything harmful and forsake anything that may distract us from being effective Christians. Therefore, we should give up whatever endangers our relationship with God, run with endurance, and engage the power of the Holy Spirit in our struggle against sin. 

As Christians, we are running toward our heavenly reward. The essential disciplines of prayer, Bible study, and worship equip us to run with vigor and stamina. To run effectively, we must keep our eye on Jesus. We will stumble if we look away from Him to stare at ourselves or at the circumstances surrounding us. The winning streak in our faith fight is self-discipline, and it requires an honest look at your strengths and weaknesses, with emphasis on the latter. It means building the will to say no when a powerful appetite inside you screams yes. For example, when you have self-discipline, you can (1) say no to friends or situations that will lead you away from Christ, and (2) say no to casual sex, saving intimacy for marriage. 

Self-discipline is a long, steady course in learning attitudes that do not come naturally, and requires our channeling natural appetites toward God’s purposes. We all have our weak points, and should pray for God’s help to redirect weaknesses into strength. We can lose our privilege of telling others about Christ in our self-disqualification by not living rightly. It is easy to tell others how to live then not to take our own advice. We must be careful to practice what we preach.

The Scripture, in Hebrews 12 vs 1 - 2, says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” We have read in the Bible of many that fought the good fight of faith and prevailed, and even now we have so many great cloud of witnesses around us today. This simply tells us it is doable. To effectively run the race, we must not let anything deter us; life’s circumstances, worldly pressures, and pleasures. We must strip off the excess weight that slows us down. 

How can we do that? (1) Be God-focused, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” (2) Drop certain activities that are distractions to your heavenly race, choose friends who are also committed to the race. Wrong friends will have values and activities that may deter you from the course. Much of your own weight may result from the crowd you run with. Make wise choices. (3) Get help for addictions that disable you. For instance, if you have a secret weight such as pornography, gambling, or alcohol, admit your need and get help today.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with a warrior spirit to enable me fight the good fight of faith, drawing strength from the advocacy and intercession of the Holy Spirit, with my eyes focused on my final destination—eternity in heaven with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

NEVER WOULD I MAKE IT BY MARVI SAAP

 

Unasked Prayer

 Do you know the greatest problem in prayer is not unanswered prayer? It is unasked prayer. Most of us don’t even get to the asking part. James 4:2c says, “Ye have not, because ye ask not.”

Unoffered prayer is not merely a tragedy, it is a sin. Samuel said, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way” (1 Samuel 12:23).

Over and over again, the Bible not only invites us to pray—the Bible commands us to pray. The Bible says of Jesus, “And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).

The Lord Jesus said in Mark 14:38, “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” The Apostle Paul said, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

One reason you are so full of care right now is because you have not truly learned how to pray. You are to ask God for everything that you need.

CRAVE FOR THE GREATEST GIFT!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JANUARY 15, 2023.

SUBJECT: CRAVE FOR THE GREATEST GIFT!

Memory verse: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13 vs 34.)

READ: First Corinthians 13  vs 1 - 9 & 13:

13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

13:2: And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

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.

13:9: For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

13:13: And now abide faith, hope, love,!these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

INTIMATION:

Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is an attribute of God Himself (First John 4 vs 8). Love involves unselfish service to others. Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the Church body. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle-working power have little effect without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, love is available to everyone. 

Love exceeds the value of the miraculous gifts since the miraculous gifts will pass away. Therefore, love must be the center of of our behavior. Since the miraculous gifts will pass away, love will be object that will guarantee the unity of the faithful after the passing of the miraculous gifts. The gifts brought unity because they were the work of the one Spirit. However, love would bring unity of the loving unity of the people. 

Love never fails in comparison to the miraculous gifts that would pass away. Though the ministries that came from the gifts would pass away, the ministries that would spring forth from a heart of love would never pass away. Time will come when the gifts of prophecy, language and knowledge would no longer be available. They would pass away because they weren’t longer needed. The apostle Paul used these three miraculous gifts to represent all miraculous gifts. 

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul uses the Greek word agape for love. This is the primary Greek word that is used for expressing unconditional love. This is the word that is used in the New Testament to refer to man’s active response to God, as well as his godly relationship with his brother. 

Our society confuses love with 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. Thus, the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others.

Without love the ability to miraculously teach the word of God is empty. Without love the privilege of understanding all things in reference to God’s work among men is useless. Without love that moves us to respond to our brother’s needs, the ability of one to remain personally faithful to God is useless. One could legally perform the duties of his beliefs after a meritorious manner. However, the doings of such is worthless without being moved by a heart of love. One could meritoriously give himself into the hands of those who could persecute him to death for his faith. However, if the giving is not in love response to the grace of God, then it is useless. 

In respect of love (agapao) as used of God, it 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 actions of life the apostle Paul mentions in these first three verses of the passage we read  are good works. However, meritorious performances do not prepare one’s character for eternal dwelling in heaven. One can meritoriously do the works without a heart of love, but he cannot love without doing the works. It is a heart of love that is essential for one to be able to dwell in heaven.

There are fifteen qualities explained in the passage we read today concerning the nature of love. The apostle Paul personifies love as one who manifests specific characteristics. 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 qualities of love stated in the passage are: (1)  Suffers long, (2) Kind, (3) Not envy, (4) Not exalt itself, (5) Not puffed up, (6) Not behave unbecomingly, (7) Not seek its own, (8) Not easily provoked, (9) Thinks no evil, (10) Not rejoice in iniquity, (11) Rejoices in truth, (12) Bears all things, (13) Believes all things (14) Hopes all things, (15) Endures all things. 

Faith, hope and love must prevail in order that Christianity continue. Faith and hope refer to the individual’s personal relationship with God. However, love refers to the individual’s relationship with his fellow brother on earth. Since the Church is the fellowship of God’s people on earth, love must prevail in order to offer members an atmosphere of preparation for eternal dwelling. Faith and hope will have no reward of eternal dwelling if there is no personal relationship with one’s brother in Christ. 

It is for this reason love is the primary objective of the faithful, since it is the loving faithful who will be rewarded with eternal life in heavenly environment. Faith and hope keep one pointed in the right direction, the direction of heaven. But it is love that will transition our lives into eternal glory.

Faith is the foundation and content of God’s message, hope is the attitude and focus; love is the action. When faith and hope are in line, you are free to love completely because you understand how God loves. Does your faith fully express itself in loving others?

Prayer: Abba Father, I crave for the greatest gift of love. Endue me with the excellent spirit of love according to Your nature that I will walk in love for You and for my neighbor in fulfillment of Your law, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The