We Are His House

 Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:3–6) 

The people who boast and hope in Jesus Christ are the house of God. Which means that Jesus this very day — not just back in Moses’s day or in his own days on earth — but this very day is our Maker, our Owner, our Ruler, and our Provider. 

Jesus is called the “builder” of this house. Moses was not the builder. He was part of the house. So it says, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.” So Moses, as great as he was in leading the house, and giving God’s word to the house, was still just a part of the house. But Jesus built the house. 

So if we boast in Jesus and hope in Jesus, we are the house, and Jesus is our Builder, and Owner and Ruler and Provider. He does not let his house be destroyed or fall into ruin.

Then the writer changes the imagery — from builder and house, to son and servant. “Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant . . . but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” So Christ did become part of the house — part of the household — he built. But even so, his honor is far above Moses. Moses was a servant. Christ is the Son. The heir. 

And we are part of this household. Hebrews 3:6: “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” By all means, let us respect and give Moses his due. But the point of the whole book of Hebrews is: Christ is greater. Greater in every way. He is the builder of the house of God’s people. And he is the Son in the house of God’s people. Let us respect Moses. But let us worship Jesus — our Maker, our brother.

BELIEVE AND SPEAK THE WORD IN FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2023.

SUBJECT: BELIEVE AND SPEAK THE WORD IN FAITH!

Memory verse: "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak." (Second Corinthians 4 vs 13.) 

READ: Mark 11 vs 22 - 24:

11:22: So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.”

11:23: For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 

11:24: Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

INTIMATION:

Believe is having trust in, or firm conviction about something. To believe in the Word is accepting its existence, recognizing its value or advantage, and to have faith in its ability. Believing builds up your faith. God’s Word is the same as God (John 1 vs 1), therefore, believe in the Word is believe in God. All God's attributes are also associated with His Word. Every Word of God is pure (Proverbs 30 vs 5), purified seven times (Psalm 12 vs 6), it is proven (Psalm 18 vs 30), it is living, quick, and powerful (Hebrews 4 vs 12), it stands forever (Isaiah 40 vs 8), forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119 vs 89), and God hastens His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1 vs 12).

Believing that God exists is only the beginning. You have to have faith in what you believe, and demonstrate that faith by practicing what you have believed. If one truly believes, he or she will speak forth the word of God. The faith or believe that one must have is not worth having if he or she is not willing to speak it out or even die for it. As you study the Bible, put into practice the lessons, commands, and examples you have learnt, and you will be able to see your way clear enough to stay on the right path. 

Faith comes alive when we apply Scripture to our daily tasks and concerns. The Word of God is a seed (Luke 8 vs 11), and when planted on good soil (the good soil is the qualifying conditions mentioned below) bears good fruit. The qualifying conditions to bring the power in the Word into action are: (1) you must be a believer; (2) you must not hold a grudge against another person (Mark 11 vs 25); (3) you must not pray with selfish motives; (4) your request must be for the good of God's kingdom; (5) you must have faith in God and His Word, not faith in the object of your request.

Believe in God, and His Word, have faith and trust in Him, resolve to do His bidding, practice the Word in your life life by speaking the Word into action, and rest assured of a profitable living as the mountains on your path of life will be leveled. The Word is like a medicine—it goes to work only when we apply it to the affected areas: The Scripture notes, "He sent His Word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions." (Psalm 107 vs 20.) 

Now that you have known that God and His Word is one, the unchanging nature of God, and consequently the unchanging nature and efficacy of His Word, as well as the purity and power in the Word, and how He hastens to perform His Word, then search and locate the desired Word applicable to that situation of concern in your life. Pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes of understanding, and give you the desire to apply Scripture where you need the manifestation of God’s unparalleled power. 

For instance, if you are having any health challenges, speak the Word in Isaiah 53 vs 4 - 5, Matthew 8 vs 17, First Peter 2 vs 24, into your health situation; "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; and by His stripes we are healed; He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses in His body nailed them on the Cross that we might be free and are freed.” Keep saying it, don't stop saying it, and the result is sure to come. Though it may tarry, be patient and wait for it, for it shall surely come. 

Remember the Word of God in Isaiah 55 vs 11, "So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." There is a Word for every situation in life. Locate the Word that relates to your situation, and sow the seed of the Word (Luke 8 vs 11) into the situation by speaking the Word. “God is not a man, that He should lie; nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will he not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23 vs 19.) 

Prayer: Abba Father, You made all things by Your Word, and has given us all that pertains to life and godliness in Your Word, give me the grace to be studious of Your Word, believing and speaking Your Word in faith into any situations of concern in my life, that I may obtain the inherent promises, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Wipe Your Fears Away

 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)

One possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in unbelief goes like this: “I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my faith in God’s grace must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.”

My response to this concern is: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy, who doesn’t want you to finish the race, throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race.

And it certainly doesn’t mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise, your competitor — your adversary — wouldn’t bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers.

When anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God’s glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked.

At first blow, our belief in God’s promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether, by grace, we set in motion a process of resistance — whether we fight back against the unbelief of anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers?

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike. It tells us how to turn on the windshield wipers.

LET HIS WILL BE DONE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2023.

SUBJECT: LET HIS WILL BE DONE!

Memory verse: "So He said to them, “When ye pray, say, Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Luke 11 vs 2.) 

READ: Matthew 26 vs 37 - 44:

26:37: And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

26:38: Then He said to them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with Me.

26:39: He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.

26:40: Then He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with me one hour?”

26:41: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

26:42: Again the second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

26:43: And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

26:44: So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

INTIMATION:

Doing the will of God in one’s life is the greatest and most profitable achievement anyone could make in life. God created all things, and for His predetermined plans and purposes. Our ability and resourcefulness to fall in line with His predetermined purposes for us is the greatest thing ever to happen to anyone. God wants us to carry out His will for us, therefore, our desire should be to do God’s will. It is human nature to make our own plans and then ask God to bless them. Instead, we should seek God’s will first. 

By constantly thinking about the Lord and His way of living, we will gain insights that will help us make right decisions and live the way God desires. Communicating with God allows Him to counsel us and give us wisdom. God created us as free moral beings, and does not usually stop us from making our choices, even wrong choices. He lets us choose independence from Him, even though He knows that in time we will become slaves to our own rebellious lifestyle of making our choices independent of Him, and lose our freedom not to sin against Him. Life without God is slavery to self, and it is worse than slavery to sin.

When you follow God’s guidance, you know you are where God wants you, whether you’re moving or staying in one place. When we really want to do God’s will, we must accept all that comes with it, even the pain. Those who patiently and persistently do God’s will find eternal life. And to know God’s will does not mean we must hear His voice. He leads in different ways. When you are seeking God’s will, (1) make sure your plan is in harmony with God’s Word; (2) check your own motives to see if you are seeking to do what you want or what you think God wants; (3) pray for God to open and close the doors as He desires. (4) seek advice from mature believers.

God allows people to participate with Him in carrying out His will. Your task is not just to sit and watch God work, but to give your best effort when work needs to be done. God fulfills His will despite the defenses people try to erect. God can use anything; pain, suffering, an error, and so on, to bring His will to pass. 

That is good news for God’s followers because we can trust Him to work out His plans and keeps His promises no matter how desperate our circumstances are. No one enjoys pain, but a faithful disciple wants above all else to please God. Our desire to please God should overshadow our desire to avoid hardship and suffering. 

God appreciates immensely those who strive to do His will, and rewards such people exceedingly. What does it take to be able to say, “as You will”? It takes firm trust in God’s plans; it takes prayer and obedience each step of the way. In the passage we read today, Jesus accomplished God’s will in His life, and God also highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth (Philippians 2 vs 9 - 10). 

Though Jesus agonized greatly on the suffering that laid ahead in accomplishing God’s will, but that didn’t deter Him. Though the human side was very sorrowful, the divine side knew that the plan of God that was foreordained before the world was created, must be carried out. Jesus’ strength to obey came from His relationship with God the Father, who is also the source of our strength. So, our strength to do God’s will comes from our relationship and fellowship with Him.

You are physically somewhere right now. He had a purpose in placing you where you are right now. All you need to do is to find out His will for you where you are. Instead, of praying, “God, what do you want me to do next?” Ask, “God, what do you want me to do while I’m right here?” 

Begin to understand God’s purpose for your life by discovering what He wants you to do now! Our circumstances at anytime does not change God’s will for us. God can use us in any circumstance to do His will. While we might pray for a change in our circumstances, we should also pray that God will accomplish His plan through us right where we are. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to do Your will. Give me the grace to accomplish this desire in my life, that I may earn Your approval and the crown of life for those who have done Your will, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Marveling at the End of History

 [God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10) 

When Jesus returns to this earth, which he has promised to do, those who have not believed the gospel, Paul says, “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” This is a terrible prospect that should terrify all unbelievers who hear this truth.

And oh, how it should sober us who do believe and fill us with seriousness about what is at stake in this world. Oh, how it should cause compassion to rise in our hearts for those who do not believe, or do not even know, the gospel.

But to sustain us in all our afflictions here Paul gives us two amazing words of encouragement and hope. “[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted.” If we experience a terrible intensification of affliction near the end of history, God’s word is: Hold fast: relief is on the way. Your afflictions will not have the last word. And your seemingly powerful adversaries will regret the day they touched the Lord’s people.

But then comes the best word of encouragement and hope. Not only will we get relief when the Lord comes, but we will get the greatest experience that we were created for in the first place: We will see his glory, and marvel at it in such a way that he will be glorified in us for all the world to see. 

Verse 10: “He comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.” We were made to marvel. Nothing and no one is more marvelous than the crucified, risen, returning King of glory, Jesus Christ. He will attain the destiny of his glory, and we will attain the destiny of our joy as we begin the perfect, sinless, never-ending marveling at the greatest marvel.

A LOVELESS LIFE IS PURPOSELESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 09, 2023.

SUBJECT: A LOVELESS LIFE IS PURPOSELESS! 

Memory verse: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (First Corinthians 13 vs 3.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 1 - 8:

13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

13:2: And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

13:4: Love suffers long and is kin; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

13:5: does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

13:6: does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

INTIMATION:

Life without love is purposeless. Love refers to one’s active response to God, as well as his godly relationship with another. One could legally perform the duties of his beliefs after a meritorious manner, and do good work without a heart of love, but he cannot love without doing the works. However, if the good work is not a love response to the grace of God, then it is useless. It is a heart of love that is essential for one to be able to dwell in heaven. 

We are often preoccupied with our own self, and act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We think always that we are doing others favor by loving them. But that is wrong, instead we are doing ourselves the favor of walking in the command of God to fulfill His law. We talk about finding time for our children or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about. 

Jesus says that if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the “Ten commandments” of God. Therefore, the best tact to deal with this is, rather than worrying about all we should not do, we should concentrate on all we can do to show love for God and others. After learning to love God, learning to love others is the second purpose of your life. 

Four of the “Ten Commandments” deal with our relationship with God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. All the commandments are relationships based! We might say it is in Old Testament laws, but Jesus summarized what matters most to God in two statements: love God and love people: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22 vs 37 - 40.)

Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life. Busyness is the greatest enemy to relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love—love God and people. Life minus love equals zero.

God, our Creator and Owner, is love, and a source of our love. He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for us, even when we were neck deep in sin and condemnation. Jesus is our example of what it means to love; everything He did in life and death was supremely loving. God the Father and the Son manifested in us in form of His Holy Spirit, and gives us the power to love; He lives in our heart and make us more and more like Christ. God’s love always involve a choice and an action, and our love should be like His.

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul enumerates the greatness of love over all. He says that love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church today. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle working power have little effects without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, love is available by everyone. There are fifteen qualities he explained concerning the nature of love. These are qualities that are manifested in one’s love relationship with another. In this case, this should be the nature of the Christians’ relationship with one another in their behavior as followers of Christ.

Now you know this, why will you allow relationships to get the short end of the stick? When our schedules become overloaded, and overcrowded, we start skimming relationally, cutting back on giving the time, energy, and attention that loving relationships require. What is most important to God is displaced by what's urgent to you. 

Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to live a life hinged on Your greatest commandment—to love You and others. Endue me with the spirit of love, that I may lead a life of love worthy of Your calling, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

We Honor What We Enjoy

 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.” (Isaiah 58:13–14)

It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy of fellowship with him.

Consider the Sabbath as an illustration of this. The Lord rebukes his people for seeking their own pleasure on his holy day. “Turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day.” But what does he mean? Does he mean that we should not seek our joy on the Lord’s Day? No, because the next thing he says is, “Call the Sabbath a delight.” And in verse 14, “You shall take delight in the Lord.” So what he is criticizing is that they are delighting in their own business on the Sabbath rather than delighting in the beauty of their God and the rest and holiness that this day stands for. 

He’s not rebuking their hedonism. He’s rebuking the weakness of it. As C. S. Lewis said, “We are far too easily pleased.” They have settled for secular interests and thus honor them above the Lord.

Notice that calling the Sabbath “a delight” is parallel to calling the holy day of the Lord “honorable.” “If you . . . call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable . . .” This simply means you honor what you delight in. Or you glorify what you enjoy. 

The enjoyment of God and the glorification of God are one. His eternal purpose and our eternal pleasure unite in one experience of worship. This is what the Lord’s Day is for. Indeed, this is what all of life is for.