Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:10–11)

God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything (Acts 17:25). The gifts of the magi are not given by way of assistance or need-meeting. It would dishonor a monarch if foreign visitors came with royal care-packages.

Nor are these gifts meant to be bribes. Deuteronomy 10:17 says that God takes no bribe. Well, what then do they mean? How are they worship?

Gifts given to wealthy, self-sufficient people are echoes and intensifiers of the giver’s desire to show how wonderful the person is. In a sense, giving gifts to Christ are like fasting — going without something to show that Christ is more valuable than what you are going without. 

When you give a gift to Christ like this, it’s a way of saying, “The joy that I pursue (notice Matthew 2:10! “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy”) — the joy that I pursue is not the hope of getting rich by bartering with you or negotiating some payment. I have not come to you for your things, but for yourself. And this desire I now intensify and demonstrate by giving up things, in the hope of enjoying you more, not things. By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, ‘You are my treasure, not these things.’”

I think that’s what it means to worship God with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Or whatever else we may think of giving to God.

May God awaken in us a desire for Christ himself. May we say from the heart, “Lord Jesus, you are the Messiah, the King of Israel. All nations will come and bow down before you. God wields the world to see that you are worshiped. Therefore, whatever opposition I may find, I joyfully ascribe authority and dignity to you, and bring my gifts to say that you alone can satisfy my heart, not holding on to these gifts.”

THE POWER OF SPEECH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY DECEMBER 10, 2023.

SUBJECT : THE POWER OF SPEECH!

Memory verse: "You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth" (Proverbs 6 vs 2).

READ: Psalm 141 vs 3; Proverbs 18 vs 21; James 3 vs 2:

Psalm 141: Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

James 3:2: For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body.

INTIMATION:

When one realizes that words are the coin of the kingdom, and words can be either a cursing influence or a blessing, he or she will learn to value the power of speech. The Bible states that word is a seed (Luke 8 vs 11), and if spoken from a poisoned mind, it is a disaster. An idle word spoken aloud may fall into the soil of someone's heart and poison his entire life. And a good word spoken heals a broken heart. Realizing the power of speech, one should be careful of the words that he or she utters.

Multitude of people fail in life because they speak failure. What you say locates you. You cannot rise above your own words. If you speak defeat, failure, anxiety, sickness, and unbelief, you will live on that level. Neither you nor anyone else, no matter how clever, will ever live above the standard of their words. This spiritual principle is unalterable. If your words are foolish, trifling, unpractical, or disorganized, your life invariably will be the same way. Those who realize the power of speech will often use it to their own advantage. Therefore, those who know the power of speech must assume responsibility for what they say. Learn to control your tongue. Avoid careless speech because it is a vicious habit. 

With your words, you constantly paint a picture of your inner self. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the. Heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12 vs 34). If you think back on your life, you will probably agree that most of your troubles have been tongue troubles. No one can live without sometimes losing control of his or her tongue. The tongue is the hardest member of the body to control and the last thing that is to be brought under control in one’s life.

In our memory verse, the Bible says, "Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles." Numerous troubles are caused by an unruly tongue! Words spoken in the heat of the moment—words of anger, words of harshness, words of retaliation, words of bitterness, words of unkindness—these words produce trouble for us. 

In the passage we read today, David knowing the power of speech, prayed God to set a guard over his mouth, to keep watch over the doors of his lips, knowing that in it lies the power of life and death. It's really important that we let God help us overcome our unruly speech habits, for our words can work blunders and get us into trouble. 

The apostle James said this of the mouth, "With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, of a grapevine bear fig? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3 vs 9 - 12.) 

At times our words are right and pleasing to God, but at other times they are violent and destructive. Refuse to have a bad speech habit. We are made in God's image, but the tongue gives us a picture of our basic sinful nature. God works to change us from inside out. When the Holy Spirit purifies a heart, He gives self-control so that the person will speak words that please God. 

We should endeavor to always speak the good things God has promised us, and avoid speaking sickness, defeat, bondage, lack, and failure. Also, repudiate a dual speech habit. For, instance, you say at one moment, "With His stripes I am healed" (Isaiah 53 vs 5) and at the next moment, "But the pain is still there." A negative speech often produces negative result. 

Go to higher level of living in the kingdom of God. Believe that you are who God says you are. Think that way. Talk that way. Act that way. Train yourself to live on the level of what is written about you in God's Word. Do not permit your thoughts, your words, or your actions to contradict what God says about you.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to always speak the right and pleasing words in every circumstances in my life, and that my words be filled with love from a humble heart for You and others at all times, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Two Kinds of Opposition to Jesus

 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3)

Jesus is troubling to people who do not want to worship him, and he arouses opposition against those who do. This is probably not a main point in the mind of Matthew, but it is an inescapable implication as the story goes on.

In this story, there are two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus.

The first kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a nonentity in their lives. This group is represented at the beginning of Jesus’s life by the chief priests and scribes. Matthew 2:4 says, “Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” So they told him, and that was that: back to business as usual. The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what was happening.

And notice, Matthew 2:3 says, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” In other words, the rumor was going around that someone thought the Messiah was born. The inactivity on the part of the chief priests is staggering: why not go with the magi? They are not interested. They are not passionate about finding the Son of God and worshiping him. 

The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus is the kind who are deeply threatened by him. That’s Herod in this story. He is really afraid. So much so that he schemes and lies and then commits mass murder just to get rid of Jesus.

So today, these two kinds of opposition will come against Christ and his worshipers: indifference and hostility. I surely hope that you are not in one of those groups.

And if you are a Christian, let this Christmas be the time when you ponder what it means — what it costs — to worship and follow this Messiah.

THE LOVE OF GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY DECEMBER 09, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE LOVE OF GOD! 

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

READ: Romans 5 vs 5 - 8:

5:5: Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

5:6: For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.

5:8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

INTIMATION:

The love of God was manifested by the death of the Son for those who were unworthy. God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us. If the death of Jesus on the cross were the result of debt that God had to pay for the merit of those who kept the law and performed meritorious deeds, then there would be no manifestation of love and grace. However, since Jesus died for us the unworthy sinners—to pay the wages of sin we owed—then love and grace are manifested. Whenever you feel uncertain about God’s love for you, remember that He loved you even before you turned to Him.

The problem of being human is the fact that we cannot live in a manner that is sinless before God. Therefore, we cannot live in a manner that would merit the mercy of God. Mercy is not given out of debt, but out of love and grace. God’s mercy is not something that we merit according to law. It is given out of love and not on the basis that it is legally earned. When we realize how far God had reach to bring us out of sin, we realize how far we were in sin and how hopeless our situation was in sin. However, regardless of our sinfulness, God loved us to the extent that He sent His Son to die for our sins.

If one’s knowledge of God’s love offering of Jesus on the cross does not stimulate a loving response to God, then one’s heart is hardened. It is not a heart that is fit for eternal dwelling. Because God has first loved us, we love in response (Romans 5 vs 8). Because He had mercy on us, we have mercy toward others. The nature of the hearts that are fit for eternal dwelling is merciful because of love.

God’s action toward man was the result of love. Therefore, “We love Him because He loved us first” (First John 4 vs 19.) One must not exercise a simple belief in Jesus, but rather God’s grace to us on the cross through Jesus must stimulate an obedient faith response. The faith response is the condition, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11 vs 6.) Those who do not respond to God’s grace by obedient faith will perish from the presence of God. But those who do believe and respond, will have life because they will remain in the presence of God throughout eternity.

The message of the gospel comes to a focus in our memory verse. God’s love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in. Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis of all love relationships—when you love someone dearly, you are willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. God paid dearly with the life of His Son, the highest price He could pay. Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the new life that He bought for us. When we share the gospel with others, our love must be like Jesus’—willingly giving up our own comfort and security so that others might join us in receiving God’s love.

Now, look at the conclusion of the whole matter as the apostle Paul says, “....We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8 vs 37 - 39.)

These verses contain one of the most comforting promises in all Scriptures. Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms: persecution, illness, imprisonment, and even death. These sometimes cause them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. But Paul exclaims that 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.

Prayer: Abba Father, I am complete in You, and have Your fullness in Christ. You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I am in You, and You in me. Strengthen me with might according to Your glorious power that I may be fruitful in every god work, worthy of Your calling and fully pleasing You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Bethlehem’s Supernatural Star

 “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2)

Over and over the Bible baffles our curiosity about just how certain things happened. How did this “star” get the magi from the east to Jerusalem?

It does not say that it led them or went before them on the way to Jerusalem. It only says they saw a star in the east (Matthew 2:2) and came to Jerusalem. And how did that star go before them in the little five-mile walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem as Matthew 2:9 says it did? And how did a star “rest over the place where the child was”?

The answer is: We do not know. There are numerous efforts to explain it in terms of conjunctions of planets or comets or supernovas or miraculous lights. We just don’t know. And I want to exhort you not to become preoccupied — not to become fixated — on theories that are only tentative in the end and have very little spiritual significance.

I risk a generalization to warn you: People who are exercised and preoccupied with such things, as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood, are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal.

You do not see in them a deep cherishing of the great central things of the gospel: the holiness of God, the ugliness of sin, the helplessness of man, the death of Christ, justification by faith alone, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the glory of Christ’s return, and the final judgment. They always seem to be taking you down a sidetrack with some new article or book that they’re all excited about dealing with something marginal. There is little rejoicing over the great, central realities.

But what is plain concerning this matter of the star is that it is doing something that it cannot do on its own: It is guiding magi to the Son of God to worship him.

There is only one Person in biblical thinking that can be behind that intentionality in the stars: God himself.

So, the lesson is plain: God is guiding foreigners to Christ to worship him. And he is doing it by exerting global — probably even universal — influence and power to get it done.

Luke shows God influencing the entire Roman Empire so that the census comes at the exact time to get an insignificant virgin to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy with her delivery. Matthew shows God influencing the stars in the sky to get a little handful of foreigners to Bethlehem so that they can worship the Son.

This is God’s design. He did it then. He is still doing it now. His aim is that the nations — all the nations (Matthew 24:14) — worship his Son.

This is God’s will for everybody in your office at work, and in your classroom, and in your neighborhood, and in your home. As John 4:23 says, “The Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

At the beginning of Matthew we still have a “come-see” pattern. But at the end the pattern is “go-tell.” The magi came and saw. We are to go and tell.

But what is not different is the purpose and power of God in the ingathering of the nations to worship his Son. The magnifying of Christ in the white-hot worship of all nations is the reason the world exists.

YOU ASK AND DO NOT RECEIVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY DECEMBER 08, 2023.

SUBJECT: YOU ASK AND DO NOT RECEIVE!

Memory verse: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4 vs 3.) 

READ: James 1 vs 5 - 8 & 17; First John 5 vs 14 - 15:

James 1:5: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, and without reproach, and it will be given him.

1:6: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

1:7: For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 

1:8: he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 

First John 5:14: Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything 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 asked of Him.

INTIMATION:

In the epistle of the apostle James we read today, he mentioned the most common mistakes we make in prayer: not asking, when we ask we ask for wrong reasons, or ask for the wrong things. The important question is; do you talk to God at all? If you do, and when you do, what do you talk about? Do you ask only to satisfy your desires? Do you seek God’s approval for what you already planned to do? Are your desires in accordance with God's will? Your prayers will become powerful when you allow God to change your desires so that they perfectly correspond to His will for you. 

The apostle James also stated that God's blessing is without reproach or fault-finding. When He blesses, He has blessed, and never turns to find faults. When we go to Him, asking Him for help, He doesn't withhold His help from us because we have made a mistake. The reason why we don't receive is not because we don't deserve what we are asking for, but because we are not asking in faith, and because we have lost our confidence, or we are being double-minded.

Therefore, the major problem with us is that we most times fail to ask from the Lord. We go around complaining about our problems and spending half our times trying to figure out what we can do to solve the problem. We do everything under the sun except the one thing we are asked to do in the Word of God; “Ask, that we may receive that our joy may be full.” (John 16 vs 24.) And when we now remember to ask God in prayer, we ask in unacceptable ways that will culminate into our not receiving our petitions.

In his epistle, the apostle John gives the condition for answered prayer, “Beloved if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (First John 3 vs 21 - 22.) 

Therefore, answered prayer is conditioned on (1) keeping God’s commandments, and (2) doing the things that are pleasing to God. Therefore, we must ask according to the will of God, for God does not work contrary to His will in answer to prayer. We must ask upon the condition that we are obedient to His will, for God works in the lives of those who are carrying out His work (doing His Will) in the world. 

According to the epistles of the apostles James and John we read today: God is what kind of a God? A "giving God." How does He give? "Liberally and ungrudgingly." To whom does He give? "To everyone that ask according to His will" What is His attitude in giving? "Without reproach and fault-finding." What kind of gift does He give? "Good and perfect gifts." How does He react after giving? "Without variation or shadow of turning." When does He give? "When we ask in faith." Who receives from Him? “The undouble-minded person, stable in his ways.” Why do we ask in faith? “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

The Scripture says, “For whoever would come near to God must believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11 vs 6). And whatever you desire, ask from God, and wait patiently for Him to bring it to pass in His own way, and in His own time. God's ways are perfect! If you are frustrated about timing, learn to pray with the psalmist, "My times are in Your hands......(Psalm 31 vs 15). 

Prayer: Abba Father, I can receive nothing unless it is given to me from You. And I can only receive when I ask in faith, without doubting. I know You will not deny me anything I need to live for You. Endue me with the spirit of faith in, and complete obedience to You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Messiah for the Magi

 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:1–2)

Unlike Luke, Matthew does not tell us about the shepherds coming to visit Jesus in the stable. His focus is immediately on foreigners — Gentiles, non-Jews — coming from the east to worship Jesus.

So, Matthew portrays Jesus at the beginning and ending of his Gospel as a universal Messiah for all the nations, not just for Jews.

Here the first worshipers are court magicians, or astrologers, or wise men not from Israel but from the East — perhaps from Babylon. They were Gentiles. Unclean, according to the Old Testament ceremonial laws.

And at the end of Matthew, the last words of Jesus are, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18–19).

This not only opened the door for us Gentiles to rejoice in the Messiah; it added proof that he was the Messiah. Because one of the repeated prophecies was that the nations and kings would, in fact, come to him as the ruler of the world. For example, Isaiah 60:3, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” 

So, Matthew adds proof to the messiahship of Jesus and shows that he is Messiah — a King, and Promise-Fulfiller — for all the nations, not just Israel.