Dependable in the Mundane

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

One of the most powerful testimonies to the all-sufficiency of God’s future grace is the “faith principle” that has governed the lives of so many missionaries, notably those of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF).

Without condemning those who follow a different pattern, it has been the practice of those who follow in the steps of Hudson Taylor and George Mueller to move the hearts of supporters to give by directing their requests to God and not to people.

James H. Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder of OMF, explains how this faith in future grace, rooted in demonstrations of bygone grace, honors God.

We . . . begin from a position of faith. We believe God does exist. We have become convinced of this in a variety of ways, but all of us have experienced the grace of God in bringing us to know Himself through Jesus Christ and through rebirth by His Spirit. We believe we have good grounds for believing in Him through the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: we believe that someone who said He would die and rise again, and did it, is credible in every other way. Therefore we are prepared to trust Him, not only for the eternal salvation of our souls, but also for the practical provision of our daily bread and financial support.

OMF publishes testimonies of God’s amazing faithfulness to demonstrate the glory of his all-supplying future grace. “We want to demonstrate that God can be trusted to do all that He says He will do, by sharing how He has provided for such mundane needs as plane tickets, meals, medical expenses, and the regular support of a whole group of Christian people for well over a hundred years.”

What OMF is devoted to is glorifying the dependability of God — in their message and in their method. Hudson Taylor put it this way: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all that He has promised.”

Lives of faith are the great mirror of the dependability of God.

What Makes God Proud

 

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

I want very much for God to say to me what he said about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “I am not ashamed to be called your God.”

As risky as it sounds, does this not really mean that God might actually be “proud” to be called my God? Fortunately this wonderful possibility is surrounded (in Hebrews 11:16) by reasons: one before and one after.

Take the one after, first: “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

The first reason he gives why he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has done something for them. He made them a city — the heavenly city “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). So, the first reason he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has worked for them. Not the other way around.

Now, consider the reason he gives in the front. It goes like this: “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.”

“Therefore” signals that a reason has just been given for why God is not ashamed to be called our God. The reason is their desire. They desire a better country — that is, a better country than the earthly one they live in; namely, a heavenly one where God is.

When we desire this heavenly city — this dwelling place of God — more than we desire all that this world can give, God is not ashamed to be called our God. When we make much of all that he promises to be for us, he is proud to be our God. This is good news.

So, open your eyes to the better country, the city of God that he has prepared for us, and let yourself desire it with all your heart. God will not be ashamed to be called your God.

DO NOT SEEK PRAISE IN YOUR GOOD DEEDS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 04, 2023.

SUBJECT : DO NOT SEEK PRAISE IN YOUR GOOD DEEDS!

Memory verse: "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.” (Matthew 23 vs 5.)

READ: Matthew 6 vs 1 - 6:

6:1: Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

6:2: Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6:3: But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

6:4: that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

6:5: And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6:6: But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

INTIMATION:

God is interested in the motives of our actions. God is not pleased by a good act with a wrong motive. He wants all our doings to be God-centered, not self-centered; done not to make us look good but to make God look good. To be sure our motives are not selfish, we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, without seeking praise of men and no thought of acclaim or reward. Jesus says we should check our motives in three areas: generosity, prayer, and fasting. When we pray, when we fast, and when we give, the Bible says that we must be pure in our motives. If we do what we do for the sake of being seen by others in order to be praised, then being seen and praised by others is our only reward. If, however, we do what we do in obedience to God, then God will reward us. 

When Jesus says not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, He is teaching that our motives for giving to God and others must be pure. It is easy to give with mixed motives, such as, giving or doing something for someone because it will benefit you in return. So many believers hide under the cloak of the Scripture such as: “A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men” (Proverbs 18 vs 16), to give for personal gains, expecting some favor in return. But believers should avoid all scheming and give for the pleasure of giving and as a response to God’s love. 

God only rewards such gifts that are devotionally motivated, not those that are with attachments of returns or favor or men’s praise. The Bible is explicit on this when it said, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD; and He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19 vs 17.) Jesus said, “And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the thankful and evil.” (Luke 6 vs 34 - 35.)

If one does good in order to receive the recognition of men, then he or she has received his or her reward. Christians should let their light shine, but not for the purpose of drawing attention to themselves. In drawing attention to your act of giving, the drawn attention would be all the reward you would receive. Christians should give in a manner by which they do not intentionally seek the praise of men. Christians should not give or do good for public acclaim. Their giving should be as private as possible in order that one’s motives for giving be kept pure. 

Many people do good acts for appearance and recognition by the crowd, not really out of devotion. God is personal, and relates with us on personal grounds, not on public opinion about us. It is obvious that when we do something well, we want to tell others and be recognized. But recognition is dangerous—it can lead to inflated pride. How much better it is to seek the praise of God rather than the praise of men. Then, when we receive praise, we will not be free to give God the credit. Doing something only for our recognition is not a loving sacrifice. With your next good deed, ask, “Would I still do this if no one would ever know I did it?” 

In the passage we read today, Jesus again exposed the hypocritical attitudes of the religious leaders. They don’t care about being holy—just looking holy in order to receive people’s admiration and praise. Jesus used the word “Hypocrites,” to describe such people who do good acts for appearances only, not out of compassion or other good motives. Their actions may be good, but their motives are hollow. These empty acts are their only reward, but God will reward those who are sincere in their faith.

Today, like the Pharisees, many people say they follow Jesus, but they don’t live by His standards of love. We must make sure that our actions match our beliefs. Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ, that you may the true child of our Father in heaven!

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of selflessness, and godly motives in all my doings, and that I will put You and the interest of Your kingdom first in all my doings, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE REALITY OF REDEMPTION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JUNE 03, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE REALITY OF REDEMPTION!

Memory verse: "In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, the remission of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence." Ephesians 1 vs 7.) 

READ: Ephesians 1 vs 3 - 10:

1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ,

1:4: just as He has chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

1:5: having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

1:6: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

1:7: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

1:8: which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 

1:9: having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

1:10: that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one at things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

INTIMATION:

Redemption in the context of Christianity means Christ setting sinners free from slavery to sin and Satan, and revealing of the righteousness of God that comes to man through faith in Jesus Christ. This belongs to all those who acknowledge Christ as Savior and confess Him as their Lord. 

The death of Jesus points to two wonderful scriptural truths—redemption and forgiveness. Redemption is the price paid to gain freedom for a slave (Leviticus 25 vs 47 - 54). Through His death, Jesus paid the price to release us from slavery to sin. Forgiveness was granted in Old Testament times on the basis of the shedding of animals’ blood (Leviticus 17 vs 11). Now we are forgiven on the basis of the shedding of Jesus’ blood—He died as a perfect and final sacrifice.

Those who accept the substitutionary work of Christ, and confessed Him as Lord and Savior, are justified freely on the grounds of grace, through the redemption that God wrought in Christ. The redemption is based upon the fact that God laid our sins, griefs, sorrows, diseases etc., upon Jesus; “Him who knew no sin, God made to become sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21.) Not only did He become the ‘Sin-Bearer,’ but God accepted His substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf. He was delivered up on account of our sins, for God made Him sin with our sins. He was raised from the dead because He had put sin away; He had satisfied the claim of justice—"the soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18 vs 20).

After that, He was made alive in spirit, that is, recreated. He was the firstborn out of death. Thereafter, He was declared righteous and made a new creation by the life God imparted to Him. Then He met the Adversary in his own kingdom and stripped him of his authority and took from him the dominion that he had over the world. That new creation—the recreated life, is what Christ has wrought for us, and we are also made righteous in Him in redemption.

When Jesus arose from the dead, He arose, not only because He had put away sin, but also because He had, as a substitute, conquered Satan. It was as though we, individually, had been the conquerors, just as though we had been there in that dark region and had conquered Satan, stripped him of his authority and risen from the dead. When Christ rose from the dead, redemption became a settled and closed issue.

In the Scripture we read today, “Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” means that in Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God—being chosen for salvation, being adopted as His children, forgiveness, insight, the gifts of the Spirit, power of 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.

Note carefully in our memory verse, "In Whom we have." That means in Christ we have (present tense) our redemption out of the hand of the enemy, so Satan no longer has dominion over us. We have our redemption from sin and its judgement. "Sin shall not have dominion over us, for we are not under law but under grace." It is better put this way, "Sin shall not lord it over us because now we have entered the realm of grace through the new birth." Again, the Scriptures in Colossians 1 vs 13 - 14 says, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

Note carefully that we have been delivered out of the authority of Satan. He has no dominion over us. He has no more right to reign over us than the Pharaoh of Egypt had to reign over delivered Israel in Palestine. We have been translated over into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption. It's ours just as the money you have in your pocket that you earned honestly is yours. Now this redemption from Satan is a present tense fact, for you have this redemption now, and it is eternal.

As long as one holds his redemption as a theory or as a doctrine it will bring him no sense of reality, but as soon as he looks up and says, "Father, I thank you for my perfect redemption, that this body of mine is no longer under the dominance of Satan, that my mind and senses are no longer to be dominated by the Adversary; I am free, and by Your grace I will not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage," then, the reality is established.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You most faithful God, for redeeming me from the hands of the Adversary and his works. By Your grace I am justified, made righteous in Christ. Also, engrace me to forever live for You, in Jesus’ matchless Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Faith for the Impossible

 

He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20–21)

Paul has in mind a special reason why faith glorifies God’s future grace. Simply put, the reason is that this God-glorifying faith is a future-oriented confidence in God’s integrity and power and wisdom to follow through on all his promises.

Paul illustrates this faith with Abraham’s response to the promise of God: that he would be the father of many nations even though he was old and his wife was barren (Romans 4:18). “In hope he believed against hope,” that is, he had faith in the future grace of God’s promise, in spite of all human evidences to the contrary.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:19–21)

The faith of Abraham was a faith in the promise of God to make him the father of many nations. This faith glorified God because it called attention to all the omnipotent, supernatural resources of God that would be required to fulfill it.

Abraham was too old to have children, and Sarah was barren. Not only that: How do you turn a son or two into “many nations,” which God said Abraham would be the father of? It all seemed totally impossible.

Therefore, Abraham’s faith glorified God by being fully assured that he could and would do the humanly impossible. This is the faith we are called to have. That God will do for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Who Are the Children of Abraham?

 “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

You who hope in Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises. 

God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” But Genesis makes plain that Abraham did not father a multitude of nations in a physical or political sense. Therefore, the meaning of God’s promise was probably that a multitude of nations would somehow enjoy the blessings of sonship even though physically unrelated to Abraham. 

That’s no doubt what God meant in Genesis 12:3 when he said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From the very beginning, God had in view that Jesus Christ would be the descendant of Abraham and that everyone who trusts in Christ would become an heir of Abraham’s promise. Paul says in Galatians 3:29, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

So, when God said to Abraham 4,000 years ago, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations,” he opened the way for any one of us, no matter what nation we belong to, to become a child of Abraham and an heir of God’s promises. All we have to do is share the faith of Abraham — that is, bank our hope on God’s promises, so much so that, if obedience requires it, we could give up our dearest possession like Abraham gave up Isaac. 

We don’t become heirs of Abraham’s promises by working for God, but by being confident that God works for us. “[Abraham] grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20–21). That’s why Abraham could obey God even when obedience looked like a dead-end street. He trusted God to do the impossible — like raise his son from the dead.

Faith in God’s promises — or today we would say, faith in Christ, who is the confirmation of God’s promises — is the way to become a child of Abraham; obedience is the evidence that faith is genuine (Genesis 22:12–19). Therefore, Jesus says in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.”

Children of Abraham are people from all nations who put their hope in Christ and, like Abraham on Mount Moriah, therefore don’t let the loss of their most precious earthly possession stop their obedience. 

You who hope in Jesus Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are the descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises.

MADE RIGHT WITH GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 02, 2023.

SUBJECT: MADE RIGHT WITH GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST!

Memory verse: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." (Romans 10 vs 4.) 

READ: Romans 3 vs 21 - 26:

3:21: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

3:22: even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 

3:23: for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God,

3:24: being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

3:25: Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

3:26: to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

INTIMATION: 

Righteousness is the character or quality of being right or just. It is formerly spelled ‘rightwiseness,’ which clearly expresses the meaning. It’s used to denote an attribute of God (Romans 3 vs 5) the context of which shows that “the righteousness of God” means essentially the same as His faithfulness, or truthfulness; that which is consistent with His own nature and promises.  

In Romans 3 vs 25 -26, the Scripture speaks of God’s righteousness as exhibited in the Death of Christ for our sins, which is sufficient to show men that God is neither indifferent to sin nor regards it lightly. On the contrary, it demonstrates that quality of holiness in Him which must find expression in His condemnation of sin. In Second Peter 1 vs 1, the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, is the righteous dealing of God with sin and with sinners on the ground of the Death of Christ. 

But for the most part, the apostle Paul uses it of that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God. This righteousness is unattainable by obedience to any law or by any merit of man’s own, or any other condition than that of faith in Christ. The man who trusts in Christ becomes ‘the righteousness of God in Him,’ (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21), that is, becomes in Christ all that God requires a man to be, all that he could never be in himself. 

All humanity has fallen short of that which is required for one to dwell in the presence of God. The result of law is that all are made sinners. The result of sin is separation from God. And the result of separation from God is spiritual death which will eventually lead to a second death (Romans 6 vs 23; Second Thessalonians 1 vs 7 - 9). Since all men sin, then apart from the grace of God, no man can stand justified (righteous) before God on the basis of law alone.

It was through Jesus faithfulness to go to the cross that the righteousness of God (God’s resolve to set things right for us with Himself) was accomplished. Justification (our being worth what was done for us) was also accomplished because of the faith of those who believed in the cross. Both the faithfulness of Jesus in going to the cross, and man’s faith response to the cross, were necessary in order to accomplish God’s eternal plan to reconcile men to Himself through Jesus. 

Christianity is unique in that no good deed that we do will make us right with God. No amount of human achievement or personal goodness will close the gap between God’s moral perfection and our imperfect daily performance. Good deeds are important, but they will not earn us eternal life. We are saved only by trusting in what God has done for us (Ephesians 2 vs 8 - 10).

There is a way to be declared not guilty, that is, by trusting Jesus Christ to take away our sins. Trusting means putting our confidence in Christ to forgive our sins, to make us right with God, and to empower us to live the way He taught us. God’s solution is available to all of us regardless of our background or past behavior. 

Christ died in our place, for our sins. God is justifiably angry at sinners. They have rebelled against Him and cut themselves off from His life-giving power. But God declares Christ’s death to be the appropriate, designated sacrifice for our sin. Christ then stands in our place, having paid the penalty of death for our sin, and He completely satisfies God’s demands. His sacrifice brings pardon, deliverance and freedom. When God forgives our sins, our record is wiped clean. From His perspective, it is as though we had never sinned. He could do this because Jesus took the penalty that we deserved. Christ purchased our freedom from sin, and the price was His life.

In His death, Jesus was God’s offering to appease His wrath that would eventually have to be poured out on sinners. In order for God to stand just in judgement of free-moral man, there had to be a choice for men to be saved from condemnation. Through the offering of the blood of Jesus, God gave that choice. Though the offering had to be made at a point in time in human history, the required response to God by faith on the part of man has always been in existence.   

God is just because He has revealed the means by which men can be made righteous. God promised that He would send the Savior into the world for the blessing of all nations. Through the Sanai law and the prophets the promises were made. Through the faithfulness of God the promises were accomplished. The promises were not fulfilled because of the man’s perfect obedience of law, but because of the grace of God to do such regardless of the sinfulness of man.

This the loving favor of God that was extended toward man that man could not have earned on the basis of his performance of law or meritorious good works. The grace was freely given regardless of the spiritual condition of all humanity. It had to be freely given because men could not work in order to earn grace. Sin blocks any efforts to meritoriously earn the gift. Therefore, grace was given to take care of man’s sin problem. Once justified from sin by grace, we are then reconciled again to His presence and glory (Second Corinthians 5 vs 19). All this was made possible by the sacrificial cross of Jesus where God’s grace was manifested.

Prayer: Abba Father, great are You LORD, great is Your faithfulness, and You are greatly to be praised. Everyday I will praise You for who You are and for Your faithfulness in all things. I will thank You and praise Your name forever for Your unalloyed mercy, goodness, and faithfulness in my life. May I never take Your faithfulness and mercy for granted, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!