The Marvel of Creation

Someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each of the seeds its own body. (1 Corinthians 15:35–38) 

I have been picking up little things in Scripture that show God’s intimate involvement in creation.

For example, here in 1 Corinthians 15:38, Paul is comparing how a seed is planted in one form and comes forth in another form with a “body” different from all other bodies. He says, “God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own” (my translation — the original does not say he gives to each “kind” of seed a body, but to each and every seed its own body!).

This is a remarkable statement of God’s intimate involvement in the way God designs each seed to bring forth its own unique plant (not just species but each individual seed!).

Paul is not teaching about evolution here, but he is showing how he takes God’s intimate involvement with creation for granted. Evidently, Paul cannot imagine that any natural process should be conceived of without God’s doing it.

Again in Psalm 94:9, it says, “He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?” The psalmist assumes that God was the designer of the eye and that he designed the way the ear is planted in the head to do its hearing work.

So, when we marvel at the wonders of the human eye and the remarkable structure of the ear, we are not to marvel at the processes of chance, but at the mind and the creativity and the power of God.

Similarly in Psalm 95:5, “The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” The involvement of God in making land and sea is such that the present sea is his.

It is not as though in some impersonal way he set it all in motion a billion years ago. Rather, he is the one who owns it because he made it. It is today his handiwork and bears the marks of his Creator claim on it, like a piece of artwork belongs to the one who painted it until he sells it or gives it away.

I point out these things not to solve all the problems surrounding the issues of origins, but to call you to be utterly God-conscious and God-exalting and God-saturated in all your observation and admiration of the wonders of the world.

Do Not Harden Your Heart

 To whom did [God] swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:18–19) 

Even though the people of Israel saw the waters of the Red Sea divide and walked through the Sea on dry ground, the moment they got thirsty, their hearts were hard against God and they did not trust him to take care of them. They cried out against him and said that life in Egypt was better.

That is what the book of Hebrews was written to prevent. Oh, how many professing Christians make a start with God. They hear that their sins can be forgiven and that they can escape hell and go to heaven. And they say: “What have I got to lose? I’ll believe.” 

But then in a week or a month or a year or ten years, the test comes — a season of no water in the wilderness. A weariness with manna. And subtly a growing craving for the fleeting pleasures of Egypt, as Numbers 11:5–6 says, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

This is a terrifying condition to be in — to find yourself no longer interested in Christ and his word and prayer and worship and missions and living for the glory of God. And to find all the fleeting pleasures of this world more attractive than the things of the Spirit.

If that is your situation, I plead with you to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking in this text. “They were unable to enter because of unbelief!” Give heed to the word of God. Do not harden your heart. Wake up to the deceitfulness of sin. Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our great confession, and hold fast to your confidence and hope in him.

And if you have never even made a start with God, then put your hope in him. Turn from sin and from self-reliance and put your confidence in a great Savior. These things are written that you might believe and endure, and live.

CHRISTIANS ARE OVERCOMERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2023.

SUBJECT: CHRISTIANS ARE OVERCOMERS!

Memory verse: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12 vs 11.) 

READ: First John 5 vs 4 - 5:

5:4: For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

5:5: Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

INTIMATION:

Christians are overcomers; They have been brought forth from God by their response to the grace of God that was demonstrated by offering of His only begotten Son on the cross as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. They have obeyed the gospel, and thus, have been born of water and the Spirit. Their faith is their victory insofar as they are moved to respond to the will of God. 

Therefore, the Christians’ faith has made it possible for them to overcome the world. Those who have obeyed have overcome the mentality and behavior of the world that is dominated by Satan as the temporary ruler of the part of the world that chooses to follow him. While Jesus is the permanent ruler of the whole world.

Christians became overcomers when Jesus, the Lamb, dealt the critical blow to Satan by the shedding of His blood on the cross for sins of the whole world. The victory was won by sacrifice—Christ’s death in our place to pay the penalty for our sins (the wages of sin which is death (Romans 3 vs 23)), and the sacrifices they make because of their faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins. 

Jesus disarmed Satan and his agents, and made a public spectacle of them on the cross where He nailed them, and triumphed over them in victory for all believers (Colossians 2 vs 14 - 15). What Christ ‘disarmed’ on the cross was any embodiment of rebellion in the world—whether that be Satan and his demons, false idols of pagan religions, evil world government, or even God’s good angels when they become objects of worship. 

Christ has delivered the Christians from the power of darkness and conveyed them into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossians 1 vs 13). True believers have been transferred from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, from guilt to forgiveness, and from the power of Satan to the power of God—the ultimate power in the universe. Satan has great power, but people can be delivered from his reign of spiritual darkness because of Christ’s victory on the cross. Satan is powerful, but Jesus is much more powerful. 

Christians have not only conquered sin and death, they have also conquered the world because nothing in this world can separate them from the love of God. Satan has no subjective power over the Christian. Satan cannot of his will snatch the Christian from the love of God. He may go about in the world as a roaring lion (First Peter 5 vs 8), but his power of deception is not effective in reference to those who know and love the truth. He does not have the power to subject any Christian against his will who has given himself or herself to God. 

Christians now has power over the results of their sins by the power of the cleansing blood of Jesus. They have power over the kingdom of darkness by the power of the gospel and the word of God that they believe and preach. They are willing to die in Christ because they know that death is only a transition into a better realm—eternal life with Christ. And in Christ, God has freely given us all things that pertain to godliness and to a life of victory in this present evil age in which we are living (See Second Peter 1 vs 3). 

The Scripture, in Romans 8 vs 37 - 39, contain one of the most comfortable promises in all Scripture. Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms: persecution, hardship, illness, death, and so on. These sometimes cause them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. It is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of His unconquerable love. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s presence. God tells us how great His love is so that we will feel totally secure in Him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid in the face of life’s circumstances. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You, our most merciful and faithful God, for all You wrought in Christ for us. We have eternally overcome the world in Christ. Give me the grace to live worthily—in obedience, trust, and love for You—in response to all You have done for me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How Satan Serves God

 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11) 

Behind all disease and disability is the ultimate will of God. Not that Satan is not involved — he is probably always involved in one way or another with destructive purposes (Acts 10:38). But his power is not decisive. He cannot act without God’s permission.

That is one of the points of Job’s sickness. The text makes it plain that when disease came upon Job, “Satan . . . struck Job with loathsome sores” (Job 2:7). His wife urged him to curse God. But Job said, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). And again the inspired author of the book (just as he did in 1:22) commends Job by saying, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

In other words: This is a right view of God’s sovereignty over Satan. Satan is real and may have a hand in our calamities, but not the final hand, and not the decisive hand. 

James makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions: “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

So even though Satan was involved, the ultimate purpose was God’s, and it was “compassionate and merciful.”

This is the same lesson we learn from 2 Corinthians 12:7, where Paul says that his thorn in the flesh was a “messenger of Satan” and yet was given for the purpose of his own holiness — to keep him from becoming conceited. “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited!”

Now, humility is not Satan’s purpose in this affliction. Therefore, the purpose is God’s. Which means that here Satan is being used by God to accomplish his good purposes in Paul’s life. In fact, for God’s elect children, Satan cannot destroy us, and God turns all his attacks finally against him and for us.

BE A WORD WARRIOR!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2023.

SUBJECT: BE A WORD WARRIOR!

Memory verse: "Put me in remembrance: let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted." (Isaiah 43 vs 26.) 

READ: First John 5 vs 14 - 15; Hebrews 4 vs 12:

First John 5:14: Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us:

5:15: And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Hebrews 4:12: For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

INTIMATION:

You must have a God’s word-stuffed heart, to maintain a hotline communication with God. Emotional displays in prayer does not move God. No amount of tears from your cry will move God if your communication is void of adequate God’s word preparation. God is only moved when you ask according to His Will. So, all you need is the right words of God, and right presentation, and your communication with Him will be through. 

When we communicate with God, we don’t demand what we want, rather we discuss with Him what He wants for us. It is all about His will, not our will. If we align our prayers to His will, He will listen, and we can be certain that if He listens, He will give us a definite answer. His Word is His Will. God said to Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1 vs 8.) And the apostle Paul told the believers in Colosse, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom...." (Colossians 3 vs 16.)

One thing is needful for every other thing to fall in place, and is the the Word of God. If you check through Scriptures, you will find out that everything is hooked to and rooted in the Word. Faith, effectual prayer, and success etc, are all rooted in the word. Being outstanding in Christianity is a function of your God’s Word content, and not the amount of religious exercises you engage in. I have seen many heavy prayer warriors who are weary, but I am yet to see a Word warrior who is not a conqueror. When you are wordless, your prayers can't be genuine. You will either be under pressure, or just be playing games. 

It is God's Word that connects you to the Throne for response. No matter how long you have been cheated by the devil, when you cry to God and say, "Lord, can't You see how I am being cheated? Can't You see how long I have been a Christian?" All He will say is, "My son, talk sense! What do you want Me to do for you?" He wants you to bring your strong reasons from His Word and put Him in remembrance of them (Isaiah 41 vs 21; 43 vs 26). So until you remind Him of His Word that commits Him to your deliverance (Jeremiah 1 vs 12), your prayers will continue to remain unanswered. 

The Bible in John 1 vs 1 & 14 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." Jesus is the Word of God. Therefore, locating the Word for any situation, is locating Jesus for that situation.

Now, the Bible says in Matthew 21 vs 42 & 44, "Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected, Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes?' And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." The stone referred to here is Jesus, and He is also the Word. If any opposition falls on it, that opposition will be broken; and when it falls upon any opposition, it grinds it to powder. That means any time you locate Scriptures that address any issue of concern in your life and use them, you are spiritually hauling stones against the opposition, breaking them first and then grinding them to powder.

You know the Bible says, "..The Scriptures cannot be broken.." (John 10 vs 35). So, the Word of God cannot be stopped; it is irresistible and always gets its way. The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God. Embedded in the Word is the power and might of God. It is living and dynamic as it works in us. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. Locating the Word is bringing God to the scene. 

We are certain of the stability and surety of God’s of Word (His promise). Because He has made the promise, it will happen. Christians must work by faith in the word of God. When one trusts in the promise of God, then God’s Word is able to transform his or her life. Therefore, there can be no change in life unless one focuses his attention on the promise that God will justly reward those who remain faithful. It is imperative that Christians maintain a strong faith in reference to what God has promised. If they do, then their lives will conform to that which they believe. 

Rather than spend time doing some religious exercises that won't profit you, spend it in the Word, to gather the appropriate stones that will bring down your Goliath. Go by the River of Life (the Bible), carefully choose and pick up those lively stones (Scriptures), put them in your bag (your heart) and then move against the opposition and you are sure to bring it down.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to be studious of Your Word; the sword of the Spirit, meditating on, understanding, believing, memorizing, and declaring Your word at all times and all life’s circumstances that will confront me, that I may be a conqueror in all life’s circumstances, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

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!