What Moves You to Minister?

 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)

Faith has an insatiable appetite for experiencing as much of God’s grace as possible. Therefore, faith presses toward the river where God’s grace flows most freely, namely, the river of love.

What other force will move us out of our contented living rooms to take upon ourselves the inconveniences and suffering that love requires? 

What will propel us . . . 

to greet strangers when we feel shy?

to go to an enemy and plead for reconciliation when we feel indignant?

to tithe when we’ve never tried it?

to speak to our colleagues about Christ when we are timid?

to invite new neighbors to a Bible study?

to cross cultures with the gospel?

to create a new ministry for alcoholics?

to spend an evening driving a van?

to invest a morning praying for renewal?

None of these costly acts of love just happens. They are impelled by a new appetite — the appetite of faith for the fullest experience of God’s grace. We want more of God. And we want this more than we want our private, disturbance-free security and comfort. 

Faith loves to rely on God and see him work miracles in us. Therefore, faith pushes us into the current where the power of God’s future grace flows most freely — the current of love. 

I think this is what Paul meant when he said that we should sow to the Spirit (Galatians 6:8). By faith, we should put the seeds of our energy in the furrows where we know the Spirit is at work to bear fruit — the furrows of love.

GIVE OUT OF GRATITUDE TO GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY JULY 12, 2023.

SUBJECT : GIVE OUT OF GRATITUDE TO GOD!

Memory verse: "So let each one give as He purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." (Second Corinthians 9 vs 7.)

READ: Second Corinthians 9 vs 6 - 11:

9:6: But this I say, He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

9:7: So let each one give as He purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have abundance for every good work:

9:9: As it is written, “He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor: his righteousness endures  forever.

9:10: Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown  and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

9:11: while you be enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

INTIMATION:

Christians should give of their own free will without reluctance and without feeling compelled to give. They should be moved to give out of gratitude and the grace of God in their lives. Therefore, they should seek to see how much they can give, not how little they can give. Since Christians are grace-motivated, they should give out of thanksgiving to God for saving them by His grace. Grace-motivated Christians are thus cheerful givers, and spiritually grow every time they have the opportunity to give.

A giving attitude is more important than the amount given. The person who can give only a small gift shouldn’t be embarrassed. God is concerned about the motive with which a person gives from his or her resources. God Himself is a cheerful giver. Consider all He has done for us. He is pleased when we who are created in His image give generously and joyfully. Do you have a difficult time letting go of your money? It may reflect ungratefulness to God.

Believers are called to be generous because of the example of the Lord of life. A stingy Christian should be an extinct specie. Generosity proves that a person’s heart has been cleansed of self-interest and filled with the servant spirit of Jesus Himself. That is why acts of generosity result in God being praised. Do neighbors see generosity in your actions?

Christians shouldn't fall for any kind of coercion to give. That is tantamount to given of necessity. The only giving that is acceptable to God is that which you purpose in your own heart and give cheerfully—not grudgingly or of necessity. You aren't going to buy prosperity from God, or force Him into blessing you, just like you don't need to pay Him protection money to keep the curse of the law out of your life. Give as a response of joy and love for God. And let your giving be a matter of rejoicing rather than duty.

Any giving tagged to receiving any specific thing in return is tantamount to bartering with God. For instance, when  a preacher says things like "if anyone gives a specific amount within the next ten minutes then God is going to open the heavens and pour out all kinds of blessings" or “the first 100 people that will give’xxx’ amount will receive a specific blessing from God.” These are not, in any way, an exercise of faith. It is giving of necessity, giving to receive a specific thing.

We should pray for the grace of giving. Too often, stewardship of money is given a different status than other aspects of discipleship. Most believers would not want their growth in faith, knowledge, or love to stop at a certain level. Yet many decide a fixed percentage of their money to give and stay there for life. True discipleship includes growing in the mature use of all resources, therefore, your giving should expand as well. God can give you the desire and enable you to increase your capacity to give. Don’t ever miss such opportunity for growth. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the gift of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the world out of Your love for it, and the gifts You have always bestowed on us Your children cheerfully. Endure with the grace to give out of gratitude for all You have done, is doing, and yet to do for me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

Faith Expels Guilt, Greed, and Fear

 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5)

Paul is aiming at love. And one of the essential sources of this great effect is sincere faith. The reason faith is such a sure source of love is that faith in God’s grace expels from the heart the sinful powers that hinder love.

If we feel guilty, we tend to wallow in self-centered depression and self-pity, unable to see, let alone care about, anyone else’s need. Or we play the hypocrite to cover our guilt, and so destroy all sincerity in relationships, which makes real love impossible. Or we talk about other people’s faults to minimize the guilt of our own, which love does not do. So, if we are going to love, the destructive effects of guilt must be overcome.

It’s the same with fear. If we feel fearful, we tend not to approach a stranger at church who might need a word of welcome and encouragement. Or we may reject frontier missions as a vocation, because it sounds too dangerous. Or we may waste money on excessive insurance, or get swallowed up in all manner of little phobias that make us preoccupied with ourselves and blind us to the needs of others. All of which are the opposite of love.

It’s the same with greed. If we are greedy, we may spend money on luxuries — money that ought to go to the spread of the gospel. We don’t undertake anything risky, lest our precious possessions and our financial future be jeopardized. We focus on things instead of people, or see people as resources for our material advantage. So love is ruined.

But faith in future grace produces love by pushing guilt and fear and greed out of the heart. 

It pushes out guilt because it holds fast to the hope that the death of Christ is sufficient to secure acquittal and righteousness now and forever (Hebrews 10:14). 

It pushes out fear because it banks on the promise, “Fear not, for I am with you. . . . I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). 

And it pushes out greed because it is confident that Christ is greater wealth than all the world can offer (Matthew 13:44).

So when Paul says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from . . . sincere faith,” he is speaking of the tremendous power of faith to overcome all the obstacles to love. When we fight the fight of faith — the fight to believe the promises of God that kill guilt and fear and greed — we are fighting for love.

WASTE NOT YOUR SHORT LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JULY 11, 2023.

SUBJECT: WASTE NOT YOUR SHORT LIFE!

Memory verse: “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow." (Psalm 144 vs 4.)

READ: Psalm 39 vs 4 - 6:

39:4: “LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am.

39:5: Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.

39:6: Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them.

INTIMATION: 

Life is short. In our anchor Scripture, David reminds us that it “is like a breath” and that our “days are like a passing shadow.” The apostle James puts it this way, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4 vs 14). And because life is short, a good, proper, and adequate use of it should be everyone’s target. 

The clarity of the shortness of man’s life is enunciated in Job’s despondent prayer: “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass. But man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he? As water disappears from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dries up, So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor roused from their sleep.” (Job 14 vs 1 - 2; 5; 10 - 12.)

What then is the good, proper, and adequate use of your short life? It’s living for God—living by the word of God—the will of God for you; living in consonance with God’s predestined purposes for your life. Consequently, you should live for God while you have the time. Don’t waste your life by selecting an inferior purpose that has no lasting value. Only God can make your life worthwhile, purposeful, and meaningful. 

Ironically, people spend so much time securing their lives on earth but take little or no thought about where they will spend eternity. The Scripture is very clear on the fact that amassing riches and busily accomplishing worldly tasks would not secure you eternity with Christ.

Many are blindfolded in the deceitfulness of worldly pleasures, and standards. Worldly standards use honor, power, wealth, or prestige to measure people. And the worldly thinking is that such people are really getting ahead in life. But on God’s scale, these people are a puff of air. Worldly standards and pleasures are insignificant in God’s standard of measurement.

What, then, can tilt the scales when God weighs us? It is trusting in God and working for Him. Wealth, honor, power, or prestige add nothing in our value in God’s eyes, only the faithful work we do for Him has eternal value. 

Life is short no matter how many years we live. Don’t be deceived into thinking that you have lots of remaining time to do what you please now, and later live for Christ, thereby oscillating between life in Christ and worldly pleasures. Because life is short, do what is truly important; start living for God today! Then, no matter when your life ends, you would have fulfilled God’s plan for you. You must not put it off for what you may consider a better day. Now is the time! Start with surrendering your life to Christ now.

Whatever you have on earth is only temporary. It cannot be exchanged for your soul. If you work hard at getting what you want, you might eventually have a pleasurable life, but in the end you will find it hollow and empty when it is outside the Will of God for you. Are you willing to make the pursuit of God more important than selfish pursuits? Follow Jesus, and you will know what it means to live abundantly now and happily ever after to eternity with Christ. 

Possessions, and pleasures are good only if gotten within the ambit of God’s law and Will. It’s good to have them because they are good in themselves, but they can disappoint us if we leave God out of them. There is no point doing anything in your short life as though God does not exist, because the future is in His hands. 

Nothing, not even life itself, can compare to what we gain in Christ. He wants us to choose to follow Him rather than to lead a life of sin and self-satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own destiny and to let Him direct us. This makes good sense because, as the Creator, Christ knows better than we do what real life is about. Jesus asks us only to lose our self-centered determination to be in charge of our lives; He asks for our submission, not self-hatred. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are the Creator and Owner of the universe. All things are under Your control and for Your predetermined purposes. Give me the grace to live for You in my short span of life on earth, and earn Your approval for a crown of life in eternity with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

We Experience the Spirit Through Faith

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:5) 

Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul said, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9). The Spirit came to you the first time when you believed in the blood-bought promises of God. And the Spirit keeps on coming, and keeps on working, by this same means.

So Paul asks, rhetorically in Galatians 3:5, “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Answer: “By hearing with faith.”

Therefore, the Spirit came the first time, and the Spirit keeps on being supplied, through the channel of faith. Whatever he accomplishes in and through us is by faith.

If you are like me, you may have strong longings from time to time for the mighty working of the Holy Spirit in your life. Perhaps you cry out to God for the outpouring of the Spirit in your life or in your family or church or city. Such cries are right and good. Jesus said, “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). 

But what I have found most often in my own life is the failure to open myself to the full measure of the Spirit’s work by believing the specific promises of God. I don’t mean merely the promise that the Spirit will come when we ask. I mean all the other precious promises that are not directly about the Spirit but, perhaps, about God’s provision for my future — for example, “My God will supply every need of yours” (Philippians 4:19). God’s Spirit is supplied in an ongoing and powerful way precisely through specific acts of faith in specific promises for specific situations. Do I trust him right now to do what he has promised to do?

This is what is missing in the experience of so many Christians as they seek the power of the Spirit in their lives. The Spirit is supplied to us “by hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5) — not just faith in one or two promises about the Spirit himself, but about all the soul-satisfying presence of God in our future to do for us, and be for us, whatever we need.

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S FAVOR!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JULY 10, 2023.

SUBJECT: UNDERSTANDING GOD’S FAVOR!

Memory verse: “And having come in, the angel says to her, ‘Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women." (Luke 1 vs 28.)

READ: First Samuel 2 vs 26; Luke 2 vs 40 & 52:

First Samuel 2:26: And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the Lord and men.

Luke 2:40: And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon Him.

2:52: And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

INTIMATION: 

Favor is described as kindness; approval, friendly regard from a superior. Favor is, objectively, the grace in a person. When the Favor is of God, it is known as divine or supernatural favor—the grace or power from God in a person that enables him act graciously or favorably. And grace is described as unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor; the power that comes from God through the Holy Spirit indwelling us to help a person overcome all life’s challenges, and to meet every of our needs. 

The word “grace” and the word “favor” are both translated from the same Greek word “charis.” So, the grace of God is the favor of God. And favor of God is the grace of God—that which causes things to happen in our life that need to happen through the channel of our faith. It is the power of the Holy Spirit we receive to change us and to change our circumstances. One of the twenty-five names of the Holy Spirit found in the Bible is "the Spirit of grace." It is by God's Spirit of grace that we find favor with God and with man.

To be favored is to be featured—you attract a special attention or presented prominently; the Lord shining His light upon you, all to His glory. Although that light is real, it is usually invisible to the human eyes. Most of the time people don't even know why they look upon you with favor. They don't know why they like you, accept you, trust you, approve of you, enjoy being around you, prefer you over others. They just do, because God shines His light of grace upon you and gives you favor. If we keep our attitude right; giving God the glory, instead of becoming haughty and proud, then He will continue to pour out His favor upon us and treat us like His favorite.

Being featured, in my considered opinion, is not pride when the favored or featured position comes from God, not from our own personal ambitions or our own selfish efforts to call attention to ourselves. In all honesty, I find it very delightful to be featured by God. I like to see God move on my behalf, and I think everyone feels the same way. I must admit that it is fun to watch God single out someone for special attention and preferential treatment, especially in the presence of others. 

For example, have you ever found yourself standing in a long queue and worried about when to take your turn? Have you ever prayed for God to help you get through quicker? In April, 2009, I and my whole family (seven of us) went for visas interview at American embassy in Lagos. That morning, before leaving the hotel, we asked God for favor. At the embassy, we were on the line for barely five minutes when one of the security officials of the embassy worked up to my last daughter and child, and asked her to come to the front with the rest of us that came with her. In less than twenty minutes we were in the interview hall. While standing before the white lady interviewing us, the lady had her whole attention on the children and after granting us visas on virgin passports for a family of seven, she advised the children to keep the visas to enable them go to America for further studies in feature. 

If this is not the favor of God, what else can it be? If this kind of thing happens to you, you have been receiving God's favor, perhaps without even being aware of it. Just think how much more it will happen when you know to ask for it. And all that is left for you to do is to say, "Thank You Lord."

It is always enjoyable to have favor from God. It just seems that it doesn't happen as often as we would like. Part of the problem is us. There are so many things that God would love to do for us, but He cannot because we won't ask. One reason we won't ask is because we don't feel worthy. We don't have nearly as much fun with the Lord as we should. We should have more freedom and liberty, and less fear and legalism. The only time we will go to God and ask for special favor is when we are absolutely desperate, when we have gotten ourselves into a situation that we cannot possibly handle on our own.

The Lord wants to be personally involved in our lives. He wants to be involved with us in the gas station queue, He wants to be involved with us in the grocery store checkout line. He wants to be involved with us when we get caught in a traffic jam and can't move and so on. God is interested and wants to get involved in everything about us. God wants to give us supernatural favor because it provokes genuine praise and thanksgiving which are very delightful to God because it is the only thing He can't do for Himself.

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is that Your Spirit of grace rest upon me always, that I may continually obtain Your favor in my life in all the things I do, and all circumstances that may confront me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Proud Works vs. Humble Faith

 “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’” (Matthew 7:22)

Consider the difference between a heart of “faith” and a heart of “works.” 

The heart of works gets satisfaction from the ego-boost of accomplishing something in its own power. It will attempt to scale a vertical rock face, or take on extra responsibilities at work, or risk life in a combat zone, or agonize through a marathon, or perform religious fasting for weeks — all for the satisfaction of conquering a challenge by the force of its own will and the stamina of its own body. 

The heart with a works-orientation may also go in another direction and express its love of independence and self-direction and self-achievement by rebelling against courtesy and decency and morality (Galatians 5:19–21). But it’s the same self-determining, self-exalting works-orientation — whether it is being immoral or mounting a crusade against immoral behavior. The common denominator is self-direction, self-reliance, and self-exaltation. In all of this, the basic satisfaction of the works-orientation is the savor of being an assertive, autonomous, and, if possible, triumphant self. 

The heart of faith is radically different. Its desires are no less strong as it looks to the future. But what it desires is the fullest satisfaction of experiencing all that God is for us in Jesus. 

If “works” wants the satisfaction of feeling itself overcome an obstacle, “faith” savors the satisfaction of feeling God overcome an obstacle. Works longs for the joy of being glorified as capable, strong, and smart. Faith longs for the joy of seeing God glorified for his capability and strength and wisdom and grace. 

In its religious form, works accepts the challenge of morality, conquers its obstacles through great exertion, and offers the victory to God as a payment for his approval and recompense. Faith, too, accepts the challenge of morality, but only as an occasion to become the instrument of God’s power. And when the victory comes, faith rejoices that all the glory and thanks belong to God.