More than life by Justus

 

What Kind of Prayer Pleases God?

 

“This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

The first mark of the upright heart is that it trembles at the word of the Lord.

Isaiah 66 deals with the problem of some who worship in a way that pleases God and some who worship in a way that doesn’t. Verse 3 describes the wicked who bring their sacrifices, “He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man.” Their sacrifices are an abomination to God — on a par with murder. Why?

In verse 4 God explains, “When I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen.” Their sacrifices were abominations to God because the people were deaf to his voice. But what about those whose prayers God heard? God says in verse 2, “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

I conclude from this that the first mark of the upright, whose prayers are a delight to God, is that they tremble at God’s word. These are the people to whom the Lord will look.

So, the prayer of the upright that delights God comes from a heart that at first feels precarious in the presence of God. It trembles at the hearing of God’s word, because it feels so far from God’s ideal and so vulnerable to his judgment and so helpless and so sorry for its failings.

This is just what David said in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” The first thing that makes a prayer acceptable to God is the brokenness and humility of the one who prays. They tremble at his word.

Serve God with Your Thirst

 

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)

What if you discovered (like the Pharisees did) that you had devoted your whole life to trying to please God, but all the while had been doing things that in God’s sight were abominations (Luke 16:14–15)?

Someone may question this and say, “I don’t think that’s possible; God wouldn’t reject a person who has been trying to please him.” But do you see what this questioner has done? He has based his conviction about what would please God on his idea of what God is like. That is precisely why we must begin with the character of God revealed in Scripture.

God is a mountain spring, not a watering trough. A mountain spring is self-replenishing. It constantly overflows and supplies others. But a watering trough needs to be filled with a pump or bucket. So, the great question is: How do you serve a spring? And: How do you serve a watering trough? How do you glorify God the way he really is?

If you want to glorify the worth of a watering trough, you work hard to keep it full and useful. But if you want to glorify the worth of a spring, you do it by getting down on your hands and knees and drinking to your heart’s satisfaction, until you have the refreshment and strength to go back down in the valley and tell the people what you’ve found.

My hope as a desperate sinner hangs on this biblical truth: that God is the kind of God who will be pleased with the one thing I have to offer: my thirst. That’s why the sovereign freedom and self-sufficiency of God are so precious to me: they are the foundation of my hope that God is delighted not by the resourcefulness of bucket brigades, but by the bending down of broken sinners to drink at the fountain of grace.

By all means we should seek to please God, now and forever. But woe to us if our whole life proves to be based on a false view of what pleases God. The Lord is pleased not by those who treat him as a needy watering trough, but as an inexhaustible, all-satisfying spring. As Psalm 147:11 says, “The Lord takes pleasure . . . in those who hope in his steadfast love.”

GOD IS LIMITED BY OUR PRAYER LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 16, 2023.

SUBJECT : GOD IS LIMITED BY OUR PRAYER LIFE!

Memory verse: "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." (Ezekiel 22 vs 30.)

READ: John 15 vs 5 - 7:

15:5: I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

15:6: If anyone does not abide in Me, He is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

15:7: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

INTIMATION:

Prayer has diverse benefits to the believer. As the issues and circumstances of life vary, so also does prayer address the various needs of man. The statement that John Wesley made years ago has stayed with me, and impacted greatly on my prayer life. Wesley said, "It seems God is limited by our prayer life—that He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him." The Bible, in Matthew 7 vs 7 - 8 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and ye will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Therefore, we must ask, and ask in prayer to receive.

You may ask why would God wait for someone to ask? The Bible tells us in the Book of Genesis that God made the world and the fullness thereof. He made His man, Adam. Then He said, "Adam, I give you dominion over all the work of My hands" (Genesis 1 vs 26 - 27; Ps 8 vs 6). God didn't say, "I am going to dominate through you." Therefore, Adam had dominion upon the earth and in this world. He was originally, in a sense, God of this world.

But Satan came and deceived Adam through his helpmeet Eve. Adam committed high treason and sold out to Satan, and then Satan became “the god of this world” as he is referred to Second Corinthians 4 vs 4. As such he has dominion in this world. He will have that dominion—he will be god of this world, until Adam's lease runs out. God, being “just,” cannot legally and justly move in and take away that dominion from the devil. The devil has a legal right because he has Adam's lease. And God cannot do anything unless somebody down here asks Him.

To prepare a ground for legally handing the lease back to us, He sent His Son Jesus as a propitiation for our sin (First John 2 vs 2). Jesus paid the legal wage (Romans 6 vs 23), by dying on the cross. And whoever believes in Him; accepts His sacrifice, and confesses Him as Lord and Savior reclaims the legal right. Once the legal right is reclaimed, the enforcement of the powers in prayer becomes your inheritance in Christ. Therefore, the believer can prevail against every circumstances in life, being assured of God’s help when we ask in prayer.

As the circumstances are different so our prayers ought to be different for any circumstance. The Scripture in Ephesians 6 vs 18 says, "Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people)." (Amplified Version.)

This implies that there are different kinds of prayer, and they accomplish different things in a believer's life by provoking help from above in every circumstances. Without help from above, we are helpless on the earth. The enemy is fierce. He knows his time is short, so he is out against the children of God with full force. 

The wickedness on the earth is intense, but we have access to help from heaven to overcome them all through prayers. This help from above is freely available to the believer. The Scripture says in Hebrews 4 vs 16, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Prayer is our approach to God in fellowship, and we are to come "boldly" to our Father. Some Christians approach God meekly with heads hung low, afraid to ask Him to meet their needs. Others pray flippantly, giving little thought to what they say. We are to come with reverence because He is our King. But also come with bold assurance because He is our Loving Father, Friend and Counselor.

Every blessing and accomplishment in life comes as a result of the help of God. The apostle Paul said in Acts 26 vs 22, "Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come."

Paul was preaching the same message as other apostles in his time, but he got better results because he had the help of God. King David who was a great man of war, and never lost a battle, knew this secret. In Psalm 60 vs 11 - 12, he prayed, "Give us help from trouble: for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies."

Prayer is not just telling God your needs, because He already knows them (Matthew 6 vs 32). It is getting Him to intervene in your situation on the basis of His Word. God is your Heavenly Father and He knows your needs, but you require His help to overcome the enemy. God is ever committed to sending help from above for all His children who call upon Him. He gives this assurance:

"Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them  - Those who contend with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'" (Isaiah 41 vs 10 - 13.)

Prayer: Abba Father, what can I do without You? Absolutely nothing! In You I live, and move, and have my being. Give me the grace, O Lord, to remain prayerful—in fellowship with You at all times with divine strength, and helping me to overcome all even and unseen battles of life, in Jesus Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Honeymoon That Never Ends

 

As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5)

When God does good to his people, it is not so much like a reluctant judge showing kindness to a criminal whom he finds despicable. It is like a bridegroom showing affection to his bride.

Sometimes we joke and say about a marriage, “The honeymoon is over.” But that’s because we are finite. We can’t sustain a honeymoon level of intensity and affection. But God says that his joy over his people is like a bridegroom over a bride. And he doesn’t mean it starts out that way and then fades.

He is talking about honeymoon intensity and honeymoon pleasures and honeymoon energy and excitement and enthusiasm and enjoyment. He is trying to get into our hearts what he means when he says he rejoices over us with all his heart. Jeremiah 32:41, “I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.” Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

With God the honeymoon never ends. He is infinite in power and wisdom and creativity so that there will be no boredom for the next trillion ages of millenniums.

WHY CHRIST CAME!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JUNE 15, 2023.

SUBJECT: WHY CHRIST CAME!

Memory verse: "Jesus says to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." (John 14 vs 6.) 

READ: John 1 vs 4; 3 vs 16; 10 vs 10; 14 vs 27; 16 vs 33; Luke 2 vs 10; Acts 10 vs 38:

John 1:4: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

10:10: The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

14:27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

16:33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Luke 2:10: Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

Acts 10:38: How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.

INTIMATION:

Jesus came to reveal and represent the Father, and as well show us the way to the Father. He is the visible, tangible image of the invisible God. He is the complete revelation of what God is like. To know Jesus is to know God (Colossians 1 vs 15 - 16; Hebrews 1 vs 1 - 4). He is our path to the Father. As the truth, He is the reality of all God’s promises. As the life He joins His divine life to ours, both now and eternally. 

Jesus Christ is the Creator of life (John 3 vs 3), and His life brings light to humankind. In His light, we see ourselves as we really are (sinners in need of a Savior). When we follow Jesus, the true light, we can avoid walking blindly and falling into sin. He lights the path ahead of us so we can see how to live. He removes the darkness of sin from our lives. When Christ guides you in His light, you will never need to stumble in darkness. 

Jesus came to bring salvation to mankind, and restore man to the glory he lost in the Garden of Eden, as well as restore divinity to man. God's Will of abundance for us was supreme until that fatal day Adam and Eve, our first parents, committed high treason against God by doubting His integrity, and believing God's permanent enemy—Satan. 

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. All evils are the works of the devil. But Jesus came to destroy all his works. Jesus, reading from the book of Isaiah, said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed: To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4 vs 18 - 19.) Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the One who would bring this good news to pass in our lives.

Jesus came to restore the supernatural back to man. In Mark 16 vs 17 - 18, the Scripture says, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; They will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” There are times when God intervenes miraculously to protect His followers. Occasionally He gives them special powers. This does not mean, however, that we should test God by putting ourselves in dangerous situations or try to tempt the laws of nature. 

Jesus came to bring unspeakable joy to the world. The demeanor of a Christian lifestyle is that of joy for what Christ has wrought for us in redemption, and the hope of living in eternity with God. Ultimate joy comes from Christ dwelling within us. Christ is near, and at His second coming we will fully realize this ultimate joy. He who lives within us will fulfill His final purposes for us. In First Peter 1 vs 8, the Scripture says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” 

Jesus came to bring peace that passes all understanding to humanity. The result of one’s prayerful communication with God that is based on faith, is an inner tranquility that cannot be expressed in words. The end result of Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance in any circumstance; with Christ’s peace, we have no need to fear the present or the future. Sin, fear, uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are at war within us. The peace of God moves into our hearts and live to restrain these hostile forces and offer comfort in place of conflict. Peace comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. 

He came to give us life at its best. The life Christ gives now is abundantly rich and full. It is eternal, yet it begins immediately. Life in Christ is lived on a higher plane because of His overflowing forgiveness, love, and guidance. Jesus affirms that one is not only saved if he enters through Him as the door, but such a person will also comprehend and enjoy the fullness for which life on earth was meant to be. It is only in Christ that one understands, and thus receives those blessings that enrich and enhance living. “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue.” (Second Peter 1 vs 3.) 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You For the gift of Your Son, Jesus, to mankind. May all the reasons for His coming be fully expressed in the lives of us who believe, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How Much God Wants to Bless You

 

“The Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9)

God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6). It’s what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another.

We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does.

That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.