OUR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2023.

SUBJECT: OUR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST! 

Memory verse: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1 vs 3.)

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 4 - 7:

2:4: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

2:5: even when we were dead in trespasses, made us live together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

2:6: and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

2:7: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

INTIMATION:

The metaphor “in Christ” refers to a spiritual relationship one has with Christ as a result of what He has done for us. In this relationship with Christ, all the blessings that relate to one’s salvation are for those who are in Christ. All that God did in order to reconcile man to Himself through the cross is granted to those who are in Christ. We are baptized into Christ (Romans 6 vs 3 and Galatians 3 vs 26 - 27). Therefore, in order to come into contact with all spiritual blessings that originate from the heavenly realm, one must act on his faith by obedience to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 

He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ (Ephesians 1 vs 3). It means that in Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God—being chosen for salvation, being adopted as His children, forgiveness of sins, insight, the gifts of the Spirit, power to do God’s will, the hope of living forever with Christ. Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now. The heavenly places means that these blessings are eternal, not temporal. The blessings come from Christ’s spiritual realm, not the earthly realm. 

We are blessed. We are rich in Him. We have His fullness. We are sufficient in His sufficiency. All that He is, we have. We are what He says we are. And the Father has told us that we are in the Beloved. The grace (unmerited favor) gives us the gifts of His love life, wisdom, His very being, and substance. We are the branch of the vine; we are partakers of the Divine Nature. His fullness here means His ability, His love, His righteousness, His utter completeness, and we have received them all. All the gifts and favors are now piled on us one after another, and all by His grace.

The responsibility of the believers is to know God better. How do you get to know someone? By reading biographical information or historical data about him? That will help you know a lot about that person, but it won’t enable you to actually know the person. If you want to get to know someone, you have to spend time with that person; there is no shortcut. The same holds true with God. Reading the Bible, great works of theology, and devotional materials are wonderful, but there is no substitute for knowing God personally. Do you really know Christ, or do you just know about Him? The difference is spending time with Him. Study Jesus’ life in the Gospels to see what He was like on earth more than two thousand years ago, and get to know Him in prayer now. Personal knowledge of Christ will change your life.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You so much for the spiritual blessings bestowed on us in Christ. Give me the grace to achieve my utmost heart desire of having an intimate relationship, and constant fellowship with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE CAN BE GOD’S PLAN!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 19, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE CAN BE GOD’S PLAN!

Memory verse: "But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50 vs 20.)

READ: Genesis 37 vs 27 - 28; 45 vs 5 - 8:

37:27: Come Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

37:28: The Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

45:5: But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

45:6: For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

45:7: And God sent me before You to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

45:8: So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his House, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

INTIMATION:

Perhaps no other account in all of Scriptures illustrates the strange vicissitudes of life more vividly than the biography of Joseph (The Dreamer), and God’s sovereignty. God’s creations are tools in His hands to achieve His plans. His knowledge and wisdom are beyond human comprehension, and past searching out. Joseph was born into privilege. He was the eleventh, and the favorite son of Jacob, one of the patriarchs of Israelite history. Though Joseph was loved by his father, he was hated by his brothers because of his favored status. Joseph stoked his brothers' hatred by telling them of dreams he had, where his brothers bowed down to him.

One day the brothers could contain their rage no longer. They seized Joseph and threw him into a pit. Their first thought was to kill him, but they changed their minds when they saw a caravan heading for Egypt. Instead of murdering him, his brothers sold him as a slave to members of the caravan—the Ishmaelites. They returned home and told their father that he had been killed by a wild beast. 

People may mean evil against you, but in God’s plan, such situations are for good. No matter what you are going through in life, remember God is in control. When others intend evil against you, know that they can only be God’s tools. As Joseph said to his brothers in our memory verse, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” 

In Egypt, Joseph became the trusted servant of Potiphar, an official in the king's court. Unfortunately, Potiphar's trust was shattered by one false accusation against Joseph by his master’s wife. Without so much as a court hearing, Joseph was thrown into prison. He was doomed, or so he thought. But a perplexing turn of events raised him to unexpected heights.

In prison, Joseph met the king's cup bearer and the king's baker. Both men were troubled by strange and mysterious dreams. When they told Joseph their dreams, he interpreted the strange visions for them. Days later his words came to pass in precisely the way he had announced. What kind of special powers did Joseph possess? How could he interpret these dreams? Joseph merely attributed his ability to the God of Israel, a God not worshiped in Egypt. 

Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream. His advisors could not even begin to interpret it. Joseph was summoned from the prison to decipher the strange, troubling images. After a moment of silence, Joseph declared that the visions meant that Egypt would be blessed with seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine. 

In grateful response, Pharaoh appointed Joseph second-in-command in Egypt (a Prime Minister in a foreign land). Again, Joseph downplayed his own abilities and spoke instead of the power of the Awesome God. And just as he predicted, the seven years of abundance came, as did the seven years of famine. Joseph's unique supernatural gift of God propelled him to power.

Joseph's appointment to second-in-command, remains an astonishing moment in ancient history. How do we explain his rise from an impoverished foreigner to an imperial leader? Joseph said to his brothers, "God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to to high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people" (Genesis 50 vs 20). And that is the best explanation of all—the wonderful act of an awesome God. 

The experience in Joseph’s life taught him, and teaches us, that God brings good from evil for those who trust in Him. He overrules people’s evil intentions to bring about His intended results. In Joseph’s case, He brought good from the brothers’ evil deed, Potiphar’s wife’s false accusation, the butler’s neglect, and seven years of famine. Trust God enough and wait patiently for Him to bring good out of bad situations you face.

Although Joseph’s brothers didn’t kill him outright, they wouldn’t expect him to survive for long as a slave. They were quite willing to let cruel slave traders do their dirty work for them. Joseph faced a 30-day journey through the desert, probably chained and on foot. He will be treated like baggage, and once in Egypt would be sold as a piece of merchandise. His brothers had wanted to get rid of him, but God used even their evil actions to fulfill His ultimate plan. He had sent Joseph ahead to preserve their lives, save Egypt, and prepare the way for the beginning of the nation of Israel. God is sovereign. His plans are not dictated by human actions! Hallelujah!

Prayer: Abba Father, I completely put my trust in You. Your thoughts for me are of good, not evil. I pray You upturn all evil intentions of people in my life for good, after the order of Joseph in the Scripture, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God, Touch Our Hearts

 

Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. (1 Samuel 10:26)

Just think of what is being said in this verse. God touched them. Not a wife. Not a child. Not a parent. Not a counselor. But God. God touched them.

The One with infinite power in the universe. The One with infinite authority and infinite wisdom and infinite love and infinite goodness and infinite purity and infinite justice. That One touched their heart.

How does the circumference of Jupiter touch the edge of a molecule? Let alone penetrate to its nucleus?

The touch of God is awesome not just because it is God who touches, but also because it is a touch. It is a real connection. That it involves the heart is awesome. That it involves God is awesome. And that it involves an actual touch is awesome.

The valiant men were not just spoken to. They were not just swayed by a divine influence. They were not just seen and known. God, with infinite condescension, touched their heart. God was that close. And they were not consumed.

I love that touch. I want it more and more. For myself and for all of you. I pray that God would touch me anew with his glory and for this glory. I pray that he would touch us all.

Oh, for the touch of God! If it comes with fire, so be it. If it comes with water, so be it. If it comes with wind, let it come, O God. If it comes with thunder and lightning, let us bow before it.

O Lord, come. Come that close. Burn and soak and blow and crash. Or still and small, come. Come all the way. Touch our hearts.

THE GRACE TO LIVE HOLY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY APRIL 18, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE GRACE TO LIVE HOLY!

Memory verse: "For God did not call us to uncleanness but in holiness.” (First Thessalonians 4 vs 7.) 

READ: First Peter 1 vs 13 - 16:

1:13: Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1:14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

1:15: but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 

1:16: because it is written, “Be Holy, For I am holy.”

INTIMATION:

Grace, as undeserved (unmerited) favor, is one aspect of grace, we are probably most accustomed to hearing about, and it is wonderful. But we have also seen that grace is power—the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives—that enables us overcome our problems. It is the power of God available to meet our needs without cost to us. There is nothing more powerful than grace, and it is received by believing rather than through human effort.

What is holiness? Holiness is being "separated to God,"—being consecrated or set aside for sacred use. It is standing apart from sin and evil. It is a separation that should result in "conduct befitting those so separated." It is the characteristics or nature of God, especially the third person of the "Trinity." 

Holiness is a demand on us by God. We are to separate ourselves from the world's sinful values, and be devoted to God's desire rather than our own, and carry His love and mercy into the world. God's plan for us ab-initio, is to be like Him, hence His creating us in His own image and after His likeness (Genesis 1 vs 26). He wanted us to live like Him. Unfortunately, sin separated us from Him. In His love, mercy and grace, He sent His Son, as a propitiation for our sins (First John 4 vs 10), and through His blood reconciled us back to Himself, to live for Him and be like Him. 

But while God wants us to be holy, He realizes our weakness and inability. He knows that without help we can never be what He desires for us to be or wants us to do. That is why He has sent His Spirit to help us to fulfill His design and purpose for us. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and the Holy Spirit has been sent to prepare us for that place. That is not a Scripture, but it is scriptural, that is, a truth based on the Word of God. This process through which the Holy Spirit makes us holy, or leads us into holiness is called sanctification. 

Sanctification therefore, refers to the process that God uses to do a work in us by His Holy Spirit to make us more and more holy until finally we become just like His Son Jesus. It is God's grace (the power of the Holy Spirit) we receive that enables us to meet the need of sanctification—the transformation process to holiness.

In Hebrews 10 vs 14, the Bible says, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." We have been made perfect, yet we are being sanctified (made holy). Through His death and resurrection, Christ, once for all, made His believers perfect in God's sight. At the same time He is making them holy (progressively cleansed and set apart for His special use) in their daily pilgrimage here on earth through the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of grace). We should not be surprised, ashamed or shocked that we still need to grow. God is not finished with us yet.

Sanctification is a progressive venture. The finality of that process will never occur while we are in these earthly bodies. But we don't need to be concerned about that. The only thing we need to be concerned about is progress. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we making progress toward holiness, are we cooperating with the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to do what He wants to do in our lives?” 

As believers we are not to be anxious about holiness or the process of sanctification ('be anxious for nothing' (Philippians 4 vs 6)), but we are to be serious about it. We are to recognize that it is God's Will for us. We are to desire and thirst for it with all our hearts, and sincerely ask God for it in our fellowship with Him. We are to make every effort to cooperate with the Holy Spirit Who is working to bring it to pass in us day by day.

Prayer: Abba Father, in Your loving kindness, and the riches of Your grace You saved us from the bondage of sin and Satan to live for You, and be like You. I thirst for the endowment of Your Spirit of grace for my sanctification, to lead a holy life as You desire, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Embracing Jesus

This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:3–4)

Notice: Loving God is not just keeping his commandments. It is having a kind of heart for God that means that commandment-keeping is not burdensome. That’s what John says. But then he puts that truth in terms of new birth and faith, rather than love. He says, without a break, “For” — that is, here’s why God’s commandments are not burdensome: “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. So, the new birth is what overcomes the worldly obstacles to keeping God’s commandments without burdensomeness. 

And finally he adds, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.” So, the new birth overcomes the worldly obstacles to burden-free commandment-keeping, because the new birth gives rise to faith. So, the miracle of new birth creates faith, which embraces all that God is for us in Christ as supremely satisfying, which makes obedience to God more desirable than the temptations of the world. And that is what it means to love God. 

The eighteenth-century pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards wrestled with this text and concluded, “Saving faith implies . . . love. . . . Our love to God enables us to overcome the difficulties that attend keeping God’s commands — which shows that love is the main thing in saving faith, the life and power of it, by which it produces great effects.”

I think Edwards is right and that numerous texts in the Bible support what he says. 

Another way to say it is that faith in Christ is not just assenting to what God is for us, but also embracing all that he is for us in Christ. “True faith embraces Christ in whatever ways the Scriptures hold him out to poor sinners” — that’s another quote from Edwards. This “embracing” is one kind of love to Christ — that kind that treasures him above all things. 

Therefore, there is no contradiction between 1 John 5:3, on the one hand, which says that our love for God enables us to keep his commandments, and verse 4, on the other hand, which says that our faith overcomes the obstacles of the world that keep us from obeying God’s commandments. Love for God and Christ is implicit in faith. 

John then defines the faith that obeys as “the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:5). This faith is “embracing” the present Jesus as the glorious divine person that he is: the Son of God. It is not simply assenting to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, because the demons assent to that. “They cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’” (Matthew 8:29). Believing that Jesus is the Son of God means “embracing” the significance of that truth — the value of the reality. It means being satisfied with Christ as the Son of God and all God is for us in him.

“Son of God” means that Jesus is the greatest person in the universe alongside his Father. Therefore, all he taught is true, and all he promised will stand firm, and all his soul-satisfying greatness will never change. 

Believing that he is the Son of God, therefore, includes banking on all this, and being satisfied with it.

TRUE AND LASTING GREATNESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY APRIL 17, 2023.

SUBJECT: TRUE AND LASTING GREATNESS!

Memory verse: "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matthew 23 vs 11.)

READ: Mark 10 vs 42 - 45:

10:42: But Jesus called them to Himself and saith to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

10:43: Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

10:44: And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.

10:45: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

INTIMATION:

Our care for others is a measure of our greatness—our position of authority—in God’s eyes. In both our memory verse and the passage we read today, Jesus challenged society’s norms. To Him greatness comes from serving—giving up yourself to God and others. Service keeps us aware of others’ needs, and it stops us from focusing only on ourselves. Jesus came as a servant. The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the servant of all. Authority is given, not for self-importance, ambition, or respect, but for useful service to God and His creation. 

Jesus is great, and a perfect example of lasting greatness in the eyes of God. During His earth walk, He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10 vs 45). He was the model servant, and He showed is servant attitude to His disciples when He washed their feet (John 13 vs 1 - 17). Washing guests’ feet was a job for a household servant to carry out when guests arrive. But Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist, as the lowliest slave will do, and washed and dried His disciples’ feet. If He, God in the flesh, is willing to serve, we His followers must also be willing to serve in any way that glorifies God.

In our contemporary society, businesses, organizations, and institutions measure greatness by personal achievement. In Christ’s kingdom, however, service is the way to get ahead. Jesus said that true greatness comes from serving others. The desire to be on top will hinder, not help. Rather than seeking to have your needs met, look for ways that you can minister to the needs of others.

When a dispute arose among the disciples of Jesus as to which of them was the greatest, Jesus brought a child before Himself, and said to His disciples, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.” (Luke 9 vs 48.) In Jesus’ eyes, whoever welcomes a child welcomes Him. Ministering to the need of a less privileged person is the same as giving an offering to God. By contrast, harming others or failing to care for them is a sin, even if they are unimportant people in the world’s eyes. It is possible for thoughtless, selfish people to gain a measure of worldly greatness, but lasting greatness is measured by God’s standards. What do you use as your measure—personal achievement or unselfish service?

How much we love God can be measured by how well we treat others. Jesus’ example of giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty child is a good model of unselfish service (Matthew 10 vs 42). A child usually can’t or won’t return a favor. God notices every good deed we do or don’t do as if He were the one receiving it. Is there something unselfish you can do for someone also today? Although no one else may see you, God will notice.

Greatness is measured not by what you have but by your faith in God. Are you willing to follow Christ’s example of serving? Whom can you serve today? There is a special blessing for those who not only agree that humble service is Christ’s way, but who also follow through in doing it.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of selfless service to You and others, just as Christ thought us during His earth walk, that I may achieve greatness through service to You and humanity, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Mercy for Today

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22–23)

God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day. God appoints every day’s troubles. And God appoints every day’s mercies. In the life of his children, they are perfectly appointed. Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). Every day has its own trouble. Every day has its own mercies. Each is new every morning.

But we often tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources. God wants us to know: We won’t. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.

Sometimes we wonder if we will have the mercy to stand in terrible testing. Yes, we will. Peter says, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). When the reviling comes, the Spirit of glory comes. It happened for Stephen as he was being stoned. It will happen for you. When the Spirit and the glory are needed, they will come.

The manna in the wilderness was given one day at a time. There was no storing up. That is the way we must depend on God’s mercy. You do not receive today the strength to bear tomorrow’s burdens. You are given mercies today for today’s troubles.

Tomorrow the mercies will be new. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).