Ministry and the Fear of Man

 “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:8)

A great obstacle to serving the Lord, especially among the young, is the fear of rejection and opposition. 

All kinds of thoughts enter the mind about how some people might not like the way we act or speak. People might disagree or be offended. I might make a mistake and get criticized. 

The fear of man is a great hindrance to ministry.

So God says, Don’t fear, because I will be with you and I will deliver you. God’s presence and approval is more valuable than all the accolades of men. And God says that, in and through all your troubles, I will deliver you. You will triumph in the end. You will be more than a conqueror. 

And the same thing is promised to all of us in Christ Jesus today:

“[God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6)“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) 

So God said to young Jeremiah, and God says to young people today whom he is calling to serve him — and to the rest of us — “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’” — or I’m too old, or I’m too anything (Jeremiah 1:7). Why?

Because your life is rooted in the unshakable, sovereign purposes of God. You have been chosen and consecrated and formed and appointed for a great purpose.Because God’s authority, not your own, is behind your serving and your speaking.And because God himself will be with you to deliver you in all your trials.

THE CHRISTIAN’S FIGHTING METHOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY MARCH 24, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE CHRISTIAN’S FIGHTING METHOD!

Memory verse: "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17 vs 14.) 

READ: Second Corinthians 10 vs 3 - 6:

10:3: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 

10:4: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down stronghold, 

10:5:casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 

10:6: and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

INTIMATION:

Christians live in the world in a physical body. Though as ‘new creations’ in Christ, they are not of this world, but they are in this world (John 17 vs 14). God does not take them out of the world nor make them robots, they are still in the world and will be subject to influences in the world, even those caused by Satan and his agents. Therefore, they will still engage in battle of life but are assured of victory even before the battle. However, they are fighting not against the physical things of this world (flesh and blood), but against “principalities” and “power” (the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by the devil). 

The Christian is in a war with the deceptive beliefs of witchcraft, false science, false religions, and man’s ignorance of the truth. Though they live in the flesh as humans, and are merely weak humans, but they don’t need to use human plans and methods to win their battles. Since Christians’ battle is against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places, the weapons of their warfare are spiritual. The weapons are not physical—arms and ammunition—but the power and might of God embedded in His Word. The power of the Christian is strong against the works of Satan because the power of their weaponry originates from God, not man. 

God’s mighty weapons are available to us as we fight against Satan’s strongholds. The Christian must choose whose methods to use—God’s or the world’s. The apostle Paul assures us that God’s mighty weapons—prayer, faith, hope, Love, God’s Word, the Holy Spirit—are most powerful and infinitely effective (Ephesians 6 vs 13 - 16). These weapons can break down the proud human arguments against God and the walls that Satan builds to keep people from finding God. When dealing with people’s proud arguments that keep them from a relationship with Christ, we may be tempted to use our own methods. But nothing can break down these barriers like God’s weapons. 

The scripture in Hebrews 4 vs 12 says, "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

The Word of God is living, life-changing and dynamic as it works in us. It is living not in the book, not on the written page, but in the lips of the believer. Therefore, it is the spoken Word that commands the power of God. The Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, is the only offensive and defensive weapon in God’s armor. With it you can defend yourself and attack the enemy at the same time. 

Jesus acted upon the Word of God. He used the Father's Words to defeat the adversary. Jesus showed the efficacy of the Word in His conquest of the adversary, the devil, when he tempted Him. His reply to Satan in all his temptations is, “It is written”; the written Word of God in the Scriptures. (Matthew 4 vs 1 - 11.) And when He has subdued him, by the Word, he left Him. If you want the adversary to stop the operation of his adverse activities of stealing, killing, and destroying in your life, engage him with the Word.

Satan is very conversant with the Word, and can still deceive you with it. He tried this trick on Jesus in his temptation, but was conquered. He quoted from the Scripture, Psalm 91 vs 11 - 12, to lure Him. But Jesus countered his quotation by putting it into the correct context of the general teaching of Scripture (Deuteronomy 6 vs 16). In this, Jesus gives us an example that Scripture must always be understood in the whole text of the theme of the Scriptures. Jesus affirmed that Psalm 91 vs 11 - 12 would be fulfilled according to God’s plan of work in His life, and not according Satan’s maneuvers. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You most gracious Lord, for Your unfailing armor made available to the believer. Give me the grace to effectively and efficiently take up Your whole armor in my battle against the adversary, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Ignorance Guarantees Ungodliness

 

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)

I am amazed at the power that the Bible attributes to knowledge.

Listen again to 2 Peter 1:3: “[God’s] divine power has granted . . . all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”

Literally, all the power available from God to live and be godly comes through knowledge! Amazing! What a premium we should put on doctrine and instruction in the Scriptures! Life and godliness are at stake.

Not that knowing guarantees godliness. It doesn’t. But it seems that ignorance guarantees ungodliness. Because, Peter says, the divine power that leads to godliness is given through the knowledge of God.

Here are three implications, a warning, and an exhortation.

1. Read! Read! Read! But beware of wasting your time on theological foam and suds. Read rich doctrinal books about “the one who called you to his glory and excellence.”

2. Ponder! Ponder! Slow down. Take time to think about what the Bible means when you read it. Ask questions. Keep a journal. Let yourself be humbly troubled by puzzling things. The deepest insights come from trying to see the unifying root of two apparently antagonistic branches on the tree of truth.

3. Discuss. Discuss. Be a part of a small group that cares passionately about the truth. Not a group that just likes to talk and raise problems. But a group that believes there are biblical answers to biblical problems, and they can be found.

Warning: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).“They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). So beware of the deadly effects of ignorance.

Exhortation: “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3).

THE NEW BIRTH!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY MARCH 23, 2023. 

SUBJECT: THE NEW BIRTH!

Memory verse: "Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and yt shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2 vs 38.) 

READ: John 3 vs 3 - 8:

3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

3:4: Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

3:5: Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

3:6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. 3:7: Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 

3:8: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

INTIMATION:

The new birth is the birth of the Spirit by being regenerated by the power of God. To be part of the kingdom of God, that is, to enter into the kingdom of God, Jesus stated a condition for one’s participation in it. The condition will be the manifestation of one’s response to all that God has done in order to bring one into a covenant relationship with Him. In this one statement of Jesus, the condition is established for one’s participation with Him in the kingdom of God. He is not establishing a commandment as a work of merit or a condition that will put God in debt to save one. 

This birth is not the result of one’s ancestral heritage from Abraham. Neither is it the physical birth that would result from a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. Neither is the birth generated from the religious inventions of men who would pronounce themselves righteous before God. The new birth is from God. The cleansing of sin at the point of baptism originates from the One against whom sin has been committed. However, His forgiveness and justification are given when men respond by faith to be buried and resurrected with the One who died for our sins (Romans 6 vs 3 - 6). It is at the point of baptism, therefore, that one is born again.

In the passage we read today, Nicodemus’ first question was certainly for the purpose of generating further explanation by Jesus concerning what He said about a new birth. Jesus answer is that to be in God’s kingdom, one would have to be spiritually born again in order to come into a covenant relationship with God. One must be born of the water of baptism, at which point, one is renewed by the Holy Spirit. What Jesus is saying is that unless one truly repents because of obedient faith, and is immersed into Christ via immersion baptism in water, he or she cannot participate with Jesus in the kingdom of God. 

One is thus born anew in baptism by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. “Born of water” is the response of the individual to the grace of God. “Born of Spirit” is the work of God in a realm we do not fully understand. We are simply told that it is the Spirit who does His work to bring us forth from the grave of baptism pure of sin because we have relinquished to obedience to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. The apostle Paul says, “Therefore we are buried with Him through baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6 vs 4.)

When one is born of the Spirit, He is spiritually rejuvenated by the Holy Spirit through the sacrificial blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 vs 7). To be saved we must be spiritually regenerated in order to be reconciled to God. Just as the wind cannot be seen by the physical eyes of humans, and so is the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. The Spirit does His work in the regeneration of the soul of man at the point of immersion. In the new birth, the Spirit does His work of sanctification without the perception of men. 

Baptism parallels the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and it also portrays the death and burial of our sinful old way of life followed by resurrection to new life in Christ. Remembering that our old sinful life is dead and buried with Christ gives us a powerful motive to resist sin. Not wanting the desires of our past to come back to power again, we can consciously choose to treat our desires as if they were dead. Then we can continue to enjoy our wonderful new life with Christ. (Galatians 3 vs 27; Colossians 3 vs 1 - 4). 

Therefore, the confession of our believe in Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, is a step in our obtaining new birth in Him. The baptism by immersion into water parallels our death, burial of our sinful old way of life followed by our resurrection to new life in Christ. One is this born anew by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for our death and burial with Christ by baptism. And our resurrection from the dead by Your glorious power, and making us walk in the newness of life. May I never take this Your sacrificial death for my sin for granted, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Satan’s Candy Store

 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Peter 4:1)

First it puzzles. Did Christ have to cease from sin? No! “He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22). 

Then it clicks. When we arm ourselves with the thought that Christ suffered for us, we realize that we died with him. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). When we die with him, we cease to sin.

It’s just like Romans 6. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6–7, 11).

Peter says, “Arm yourselves with this thought!”

Paul says, “Consider yourselves dead!”

The weapon for our warfare against sin is this thought — this consideration.

When the temptations of Satan come — to lust, to steal, to lie, to covet, to envy, to retaliate, to put down, to fear — arm yourself with this thought: When my Lord suffered and died to free me from sin, I died to sin!

When Satan says to you, Why deny yourself the pleasure of lust? Why deal with this mess, which you could avoid by lying? Why not go ahead and get that harmless luxury you covet? Why not seek justice by returning the same hurt you just received?

Answer him: The Son of God suffered (really suffered!) to deliver me from sinning. I cannot believe he suffered to make me miserable. Therefore, what he died to purchase must be more wonderful than the pleasures of sin. Since I trust him, my susceptibility to your allurements has shriveled up and died. 

Satan, be gone! My mouth doesn’t drool any more when I walk by your candy store.

BE HONEST WITH GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2023.

SUBJECT: BE HONEST WITH GOD!

Memory verse: "O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; everyone mocks me." (Jeremiah 20 vs 7.)

READ: Job 7 vs 17 - 21; 42 vs 7 - 8:

7:17: “What is man, that You should exalt Him, that You should set Your heart on Him,

7:18: that You should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?

7:19: How long? Will you not look away from me, and let me alone till I swallow my saliva?

7:20: Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?

7:21: Why then do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and You will seek me diligently, but I will no longer be.”

42:7: And so 

INTIMATION:

The first building block of a deeper friendship with God is complete honesty about your faults and your feelings. God knows we are imperfect, and is not expecting us to be perfect, but He does insist on complete honesty. The Bible remarks in Psalm 130 vs 3, "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" None of God's friends in the Bible was perfect. If perfection was a requirement for friendship with God, we would never be able to be His friends. Fortunately, because of God's grace, Jesus is still the "friends of sinners." (Matthew 11 vs 19.) 

In the Bible, the known friends of God were honest about their feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and arguing with their Creator. God, however, didn't seem to be bothered by this frankness; In fact, He encouraged it. God allowed Abraham to question and challenge Him over the destruction of the city of Sodom. Abraham pestered God over what it would take to spare the city, negotiating God down from fifty righteous people to only ten. If he had continued till one, God would have granted his request because a soul is valued more than the whole world. (Mark 8 vs 36.)

Our God is very patient. God did not slay Jeremiah when he claimed that God had tricked him (Jeremiah 20 vs 7 - 8). God listened patiently to David's many accusations of unfairness, betrayal, and abandonment as enumerated in his Psalms. In the passage we read today, God also listened to Job, and allowed him to vent his bitterness during his ordeal. Job referred to God as a watcher or observer of humanity. He was expressing his feeling that God seemed like an enemy to him—someone who mercilessly watched him squirm in his misery. However, in the end, God defended Job for being honest, and He rebuked Job's friends for being inauthentic. 

God told them, "..My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has." (Job 42 vs 7 - 8.) We should know that God is watchful over everything that happens to us. We must never forget that He sees us with compassion, not merely with critical scrutiny. He eyes are eyes of love.

To instruct us in candid honesty God gave us the Book of Psalms—a worship manual, full of ranting, raving, doubts, fears, resentments, and deep passions combined with thanksgiving, praise, and statement of faith. Every possible emotion is catalogued in Psalms. When you read the emotional confessions of David and others, realize this is how God wants you to worship Him; holding back nothing of what you feel. You can pray like David: "I pour out my complaints before Him; I declare before Him my troubles. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me...." (Psalm 142 vs 2 - 3.)

In one startling example of frank friendship in the Scripture (Exodus 33 vs 1 - 17), God honestly expressed His total disgust with Israel's disobedience. He told Moses he would keep His promise to give the Israelites the Promised Land, but He wasn't going one step farther with them in the desert! God was fed up, and He let Moses know exactly how He felt. Moses speaking as a "friend" of God, responded with equal openness: "If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate. Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." So the Lord said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name."

Moses was bold and candid with God. He felt God gave him a task, and should back Him up appropriately. He was quite frank. This is the honesty that friendship God desires from us. Can God handle that kind of frank, intense honesty from you? Genuine friendship is built on disclosure. What may appear as audacity God views as authenticity. God listens to the passionate words of His friends; He is bored with predictable, pious cliches. To be God's friend, you must be honest to God sharing your true feeling, not what you think you ought to feel or say.

It is encouraging to know that all of God's closest friends—Moses, David, Abraham, Job, and others—had bouts with doubt. But instead of masking their misgivings with pious cliches (attitude I call "holier than thou"), they candidly voiced them openly and publicly. Expressing doubt is sometimes the first step toward the next level of intimacy with God.

Prayer: Abba Father, I will lay bare myself before You, for You already know my thoughts before I speak them. Nothing is hidden from You, I pray for grace to come to You all the time in complete honesty, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

God’s Best Promise

 

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

The most far-reaching promise of God’s future grace is found in Romans 8:32. This is the most precious verse in the Bible to me. Part of the reason is that the promise in it is so all-encompassing that it stands ready to help me at virtually every turn in my life and ministry. There never has been, and never will be, a circumstance in my life where this promise is irrelevant.

By itself that all-encompassing promise would probably not make the verse most precious. There are other such sweeping promises such as Psalm 84:11: “No good thing does [God] withhold from those who walk uprightly.” And 1 Corinthians 3:21–23: “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” It is difficult to overstate the spectacular sweep and scope of these promises.

But what puts Romans 8:32 in a class by itself is the logic that gives rise to the promise and makes it as solid and unshakable as God’s love for his infinitely admirable Son.

Romans 8:32 contains a foundation and guarantee that is so strong and so solid and so secure that there is absolutely no possibility that the promise could ever be broken. This is what makes it an ever-present strength in times of great turmoil. Whatever else gives way, whatever else disappoints, whatever else fails, this all-encompassing promise of future grace can never fail.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all . . . ” That’s the foundation. If this is true, says the logic of heaven, then God will, with absolute certainty, give all things to those for whom he gave his Son!