The Fear That Draws Us In

 

“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:20)

There is a fear that is slavish and drives us away from God, and there is a fear that is sweet and draws us to God. Moses warned against the one and called for the other in the very same verse, Exodus 20:20: “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’”

The clearest illustration I have ever seen of this kind of good fear was the time one of my sons looked a German shepherd in the eye. We were visiting a family from our church. My son Karsten was about seven years old. They had a huge dog that stood eye to eye with a seven-year-old.

He was friendly and Karsten had no problem making friends. But when we sent Karsten back to the car to get something we had forgotten, he started to run, and the dog galloped up behind him with a low growl. And of course, this frightened Karsten. But the owner said, “Karsten, why don’t you just walk? The dog doesn’t like it when people run away from him.”

If Karsten hugged the dog, he was friendly and would even lick his face. But if he ran from the dog, the dog would growl and fill Karsten with fear.

That’s a picture of what it means to fear the Lord. God means for his power and holiness to kindle fear in us, not to drive us from him, but to drive us to him. Fearing God means, first, fearing to abandon him as our great security and satisfaction.

Or another way to say it is that we should fear unbelief. Fear not trusting God’s goodness. Isn’t that the point of Romans 11:20? “You stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.” That is, what we should fear is not believing, not having faith. Fear running away from God. But if we walk with him and hug his neck, he will be our friend and protector forever.

CAST ALL YOUR CARES UPON GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JUNE 26, 2023. 

SUBJECT : CAST ALL YOUR CARES UPON GOD!

Memory verse: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (First Peter 5 vs 7.)

READ: Matthew 6 vs 25 - 30::

6:25: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

6:26: Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

6:37: Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

6:28: So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

6:29: and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

6:30: Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

6:31: "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or What where shall we wear?' 

6:32: For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."

6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to You.

INTIMATION:

The manufacturer of any product knows the reasons and purposes for doing so, and provides the means for its proper functioning. So it is with our God—the Creator and Owner of us all. He knows His reasons and purposes for creating anything He created, and provides all that are necessary for the effective functioning of all He created so as to achieve the desired purposes. All those needs are in constant supply according to His promises.

The same God who created you can be trusted with the details of your life. He knows all your needs even before you mention them. Remember He is the All-Knowing God, Whom the end is known to in the beginning (Isaiah 46 vs 10). Jesus asked the intriguing question, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Obviously, without life there are no needs for food and clothing. Therefore, if He has given you life, rest assured of His provisions of the necessities for sustaining the life, and He already knows of those needs (Matthew 6 vs 31).

In the passage we read today, Jesus taught of the wonderful ways God takes care of all He created; supplying them of their desired needs to live without any efforts of theirs. He gave two classical examples of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. The birds neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet they have never lacked because He supplies their needs. And also, the lilies of the field neither toil nor spin, but the glory of their beautiful flowers are even better than the works of human designs and beautification. 

Have you ever read a headline about millions of birds dying of starvation? No! And you never will. They don't plant, or harvest, or store food away, yet God feeds them. If God cares that much for a tiny little bird, think how much better care He will take of a person who has been made in His image and after His likeness! Jesus is encouraging us that we can have much more confidence in God to take care of us. This seems a radical statement because we feel like it's our duty to worry about things, but God is telling us to rely on Him with our whole heart. (Proverbs 3 vs 5; First Peter 5 vs 7.)

There should be a difference between Christians and unbelievers—between people who have covenant with God, and people who are trying to do it all on their own. We shouldn't be out in the world chasing possessions and struggling to survive the same way that the unbelievers are doing. God wants us to prosper, and we have a covenant of all round blessings. Our covenant of blessing stems from the blessing of our father Abraham who was blessed in all things (Genesis 24 vs 1; Galatians 3 vs 14). 

God is concerned for every aspect of our lives. He can be trusted with the details of your life. He never ignores those who depend on Him; ‘Those who put there trust in Him can never be put to shame’ (Romans 10 vs 11). He wants us to prosper in every way: physically, emotionally, financially, and in our relationships. Our duty is to put Him first in our life, and all our needs will be supplied according to His plans and purposes. God is pleased when we prosper! He wants to see us succeed. (See Psalm 35 vs 27; Third John 2.)

You have to rely on God and trust that He is your source—putting God first in everything in your life. It has to be a heart-level revelation, not just a conclusion you arrive at mentally. And once you grab hold of this, it will revolutionize your life, you will be completely transformed. He will begin to supernaturally take care of you. It will bring you a tremendous amount of peace and confidence.

Worrying shows a lack of faith in and understanding of God, and it’s more harmful than helpful in our relationship with Him. It negatively hampers our efforts in relating with Him in the now—our faith in Him. God deals with our daily needs, hence Jesus’ teaching of our living one day at a time, and asking for our daily bread from Him (Matthew 6 vs 11). Let God’s counsel in His Word rule you at all time; “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13 vs 5). 

Prayer: Abba Father, my absolute trust is in You. What You cannot do for me, may it remain undone. What You cannot do for me, may I never have it. Endue me with the spirit of contentment, and eschew all forms of worry in my life. in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WAIT FOR GOD’S APPOINTED AND PERFECT TIME!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 25, 2023.

SUBJECT : WAIT FOR GOD’S APPOINTED AND PERFECT TIME!

Memory verse: "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie: though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2 vs 3.) 

READ: Daniel 8 vs 16 - 19:

8:16: And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel make this man understand the vision.”

8:17: So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

8:18: Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.

8:19: And He said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation, for at the appointed time the end shall be.

INTIMATION:

God is our Creator, and is 'All-Knowing’—perfect in knowledge. The end of all things are known to Him from the beginning (Isaiah 46 vs 10.). Even when we are yet unformed in our mother’s womb, He knew us and everything about us. God created all things, and planned all things according to His purpose and timing; "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”

(Ecclesiastes 3 vs 1). And at the fullness of His time—at His appointed time—He will cause things to happen according to His predetermined purposes. For this reason, He is always on time.

God is perfect (Matthew 5 vs 48), and consequently, everything about Him is perfect. 

He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows us perfectly. We may sometimes wonder if God will ever respond to our prayers, but we must never doubt Him or give up hope. At the right time He will respond. Trust His judgement and trust that He has your best interests in mind (Jeremiah 29 vs 11). God is omnipresent—He is present everywhere. Consequently, you can never escape from His Spirit. 

From our perspective, God sometimes seems slow to intervene on our behalf. But what might appear slow to us is good timing from God’s perspective. It is easy to become impatient while waiting for God to act, but we must never give up on Him. When God is silent and you are in deep anguish, be patient and know that “all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His “ (Romans 8 vs 28). All you need do is sit down and review your life; what God has done for you, and also review the great acts of God throughout biblical history. This will remind you that God is at work, not only in history, but also in your life today.

God will act when He is ready. For instance, children have difficulty grasping the concept of time. “It’s not time yet” is not a reason they easily understand because they only comprehend the present. And as His children, and as limited human beings, we can’t understand God’s perspective about time. We want everything now, unaware that God’s time is the best. When God is ready, He will do what needs to be done, not what we would like Him to do. We may be as impatient as children, but we must not doubt the wisdom of God’s timing. Wait for God to reveal His plan. Don’t take matters into your own hands.

God’s answer doesn’t always come the moment we want it. but God answers us when He knew the right time had come. God knows the best time to act. When you feel that God has forgotten you in your troubles, remember that God has a time schedule we can’t see. God may have seemed slow to you when in distress, and every day longed to be delivered. But God is not slow, He is just not on our timetable. God is not limited by time. It is easy for us to get discouraged when years pass and the world doesn’t get better. But for God, He can never be discouraged, and at the appointed time the change will come.

We sometimes wonder if God is able to see the future. But don’t assume that God has our limitations. God is completely unrestricted by time. Because He is eternal, we can depend on Him. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently for it, for surely it will take place, if God has assured about it. Of course, it isn’t easy to be patient but; “though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come.” (Habakkuk 2 vs 3.) We must trust God even when we don’t understand why events occur as they do.

For instance, who will imagine the Savior of the world working in a carpenter’s shop in a small town until He was 30 years old! It seems incredible that Jesus would have been content to remain in Nazareth all that time, but He patiently trusted His Father’s timing for His life and ministry. Like Jesus, we need to resist the temptation to jump ahead before receiving the Spirit’s direction. Are you waiting and wondering what your next step should be? Don’t jump ahead—trust in God’s time.

Jesus in His ministry walk on the earth, demonstrated God’s timing in events when His friend Lazarus was sick and died. He loved this family and often stayed with them. He knew their pain but did not respond immediately. His delay had a specific purpose. He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11 vs 14.) God’s timing, especially His delays, may make us think He is not answering or is not answering the way we want. But He will meet all our needs according to His perfect schedule and purpose (Philippians 4 vs 19.) Patiently await His timing. 

God is with us through every situation, in every trial; protecting, loving, guiding us (Psalm 46 vs 1; 59 vs 16), and has promised He would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13 vs 5), and will be with us always, even up to the end of age (Matthew 28 vs 20). He knows and loves us completely. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Faithful Companion, and Loving Father. I know You have the best plan and time for me. Let it be to me according to Your appointed and perfect timing, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Death Trap Called Covetousness

 Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9)

Covetousness can destroy the soul in hell forever. 

The reason I am sure that this destruction is not some temporary financial fiasco, but final destruction in hell, is what Paul says three verses later in 1 Timothy 6:12. He says that covetousness is to be resisted with the fight of faith. Then he adds, “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession.” What’s at stake in fleeing covetousness and fighting for contentment by faith in future grace is eternal life. 

So, when Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:9 that the desire to be rich plunges people into ruin, he isn’t saying that greed can mess up your marriage or your business (which it certainly can!). He is saying that covetousness can mess up your eternity. Or, as 1 Timothy 6:10 says at the end, “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (literally: “impaled themselves on many pains”). 

God has gone the extra mile in the Bible to warn us mercifully that the idolatry of covetousness is a no-win situation. It’s a dead-end street in the worst sense of the word. It’s a trick and a deadly trap.

So, my word to you is the word of 1 Timothy 6:11: “Flee these things.” When you see it coming (in a television ad or a Christmas catalog or an Internet pop-up or a neighbor’s purchase), run from it the way you would run from a roaring, starving lion escaped from the zoo. “Take hold of the eternal life.”

SIN AND GOD’S FORGIVENESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JUNE 24, 2023.

SUBJECT : SIN AND GOD’S FORGIVENESS!

Memory verse: "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land." (Second Chronicles 7 vs 14.)

READ: Second Chronicles 6 vs 36 - 39:

6:36: When they sin against You, (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them, and deliver them to their enemies, and they take them captives to a land far or near;

6:37: yet  when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’;

6:38: and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captives, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:

6:39: then hear from the heaven Your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

INTIMATION:

Sin is a condition we all share, and we all should acknowledge it. The Bible makes it clear that no one is exempt from sin. The Scripture says, “What is man, that he should be clean? and he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? If God puts no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not pure in His sight, How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!” (Job 15 vs 14 - 16.) 

No one but God is perfect, all of us stand guilty before Him (Romans 3 vs 23) and need His forgiveness. No matter how well we perform or how much we achieve compared to others, none of us can boast of his or her goodness when compared to God’s standard. God not only expects us to obey His laws, but He wants us to love Him with all our heart. No one except Jesus Christ has done that perfectly. Because we all fall short, we must turn to Christ to save us (Romans 10 vs 9 - 11). 

The Scripture says, “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.” (Ecclesiastes 7 vs 20.) No one can say I am pure from my sin. As soon as we confess our sin and repent, sinful thoughts and actions begin to creep back into our lives. We all need ongoing cleansing, moment by moment. Thank God for He provides forgiveness by His mercy when we ask for it. Make confession and repentance a regular part of your talks with God. Rely on Him moment by moment for the cleansing you need. 

The four conditions God has given us for forgiveness are: (1) Humble yourself by admitting your sins. Humbling yourself before the Lord is the first condition for seeking God’s forgiveness. God hears and dwells with the humble: “For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57 vs 15.) 

(2) Pray to God, ask for forgiveness. Prayer is to make supplication or petition to God. It is a call of love of the Father to come and fellowship with Him. Prayer is our need crying out for help with the voice of faith to the Father. Prayer therefore, is born out of the sense of need, and the assurance that the need will be met. In summary, prayer is God's Will and part of His program for us, to come before Him with our needs. 

(3) Seek God continually. To seek the Lord is to search for Him, and desire to know Him, even the more. It is God’s delight that we seek Him; The Lord said, “Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God.” (Isaiah 58 vs 2). The Scripture says, “Seek the LORD and His strength, seek His face continually.” (First Chronicles 16 vs 11.) 

(4) Turn from sinful behavior. True repentance is more than talk—it is changed behavior. Turning from your sinful ways is actually acknowledging that your former ways are unacceptable, and you genuinely desire to change. True repentance also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We wouldn’t be genuinely repenting from our sins if we planed to commit them again, and just wanted temporary forgiveness. We should also pray for strength to defeat temptation the next time we face it. 

God will answer our earnest prayers, and knowing we have a tendency to sin should keep us close to God, seeking His guidance and strength. When we realize we have sinned, we should quickly ask God for forgiveness and restoration. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are so merciful; forgiving my sins and remembering them no more. I desire to be in fellowship with You always, and for the endowment of Your grace to live a purposeful life in line with Your Will, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

I Can Be Content in Every Circumstance

 

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11–13)

God’s provision of day-by-day future grace enables Paul to be filled or to be hungry, to prosper or suffer, to have abundance or go wanting.

“I can do all things” really means “all things,” not just easy things. “All things” means, “Through Christ I can hunger and suffer and be in want.” This puts the stunning promise of Philippians 4:19 in its proper light: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

What does “every need of yours” mean in view of Philippians 4:11–12? It means “all that you need for God-glorifying contentment.” Which may include times of hunger and need. Paul’s love for the Philippians flowed from his contentment in God, and his contentment flowed from his faith in the future grace of God’s infallible provision to be all he needed in times of plenty and want.

It’s obvious then that covetousness is exactly the opposite of faith. It’s the loss of contentment in Christ so that we start to crave other things to satisfy the longings of our hearts which only the presence of God himself can satisfy. And there’s no mistaking that the battle against covetousness is a battle against unbelief in God’s promise to be all we need in every circumstance.

This is so clear in Hebrews 13:5. Watch how the author argues for our freedom from the love of money — freedom from covetousness — the freedom of contentment in God: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Faith in this promise — “I will never leave you” — breaks the power of all God-dishonoring desire — all covetousness.

Whenever we sense the slightest rise of covetousness in our hearts, we must turn on it and fight it with all our might using the weapons of this faith.

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