THE BANE OF IMPURE MOTIVES!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY DECEMBER 19, 2023.

SUBJECT: THE BANE OF IMPURE MOTIVES!

Memory verse: "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.” (Matthew 23 vs 5.)

READ: Matthew 6 vs 1 - 6, 17 - 18: 

6:1: “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

6:2: Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 

6:3: But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 

6:4: that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. 

6:5: And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6:6: But you when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

6:17: But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

6:18: so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret  place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

INTIMATION:

Motive is something—incentive, purpose, intention—that causes a person to act. Therefore, a pure motive is devoid of any form of selfishness. When we pray, when we fast, and when we give, the Bible says that we must be pure in our motives. If you do any of these things being self-centered other than being God-centered, then your motive is impure. God abhors anything that we do that takes Him out of the first place in our lives. 

For instance, when you do something for the sake of being seen by others, your motive is impure, and Jesus said that being seen by others is our only reward. If, however, we do what we do in obedience to God—putting God and His desires first—then our motive is pure, devoid of any selfishness, and God will reward us. Obedience to God is key to receiving from Him: “If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures” (Job 36 vs 11).

Therefore, believers should avoid doing their deeds of righteousness in order to receive recognition of men. If they do, then they have received their rewards. Believers let their light shine, but not for the purpose of drawing attention to themselves. Believers should give in a manner by which they do not intentionally seek the praise of men. Their giving should be as private as possible in order that one’s motives for giving be kept pure. The hypocrites do good, but their hearts are far from God. 

It’s easier to do what’s right when we gain recognition and praise. To be sure our motives are not selfish, we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, with no thought of reward. Jesus says we should check our motives in three areas: generosity, prayer, and fasting. These acts should not be self-centered but God-centered, done not to make us look good but to make God look good. 

Impure motive Jesus calls ‘hypocrisy.’ The term hypocrisy, as used in the Scripture, describes the acts of people doing good for appearances only—not out of compassion or other good motives. Their actions may be good, but their motives are questionable—empty and self-serving. These empty and self-serving acts, wanting to boost their ego, are their rewards. But God will reward those who are sincere in their faith, obeying and serving Him sincerely.

Our relationship with God is personal, hence Jesus requiring us to be private in our dealings. When He says not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, He is teaching us actions in pure motives. It is easy to give with mixed motives, like doing something for someone if it will benefit us in return, or doing things for selfish ambitions, like public recognition and applaud. Jesus teaches that believers should avoid all forms of scheming, but rather our actions must be in response to God’s love, and obedience to Him.

Some people really don’t care about holiness, as demanded by God, but likes looking holy, or be seen as holy in order to receive people’s admiration and praise. Such people like public prayers where they speak on top of their voices and gyrate as if under the power of the Holy Spirit, just for public recognition. The essence of prayer is not public style, but private communication with God. There is a place for public prayer (corporate prayer), but to pray only where others will notice you indicates that your real audience is not God, but rather self-recognition, which is an impure motive.

Some may conclude that Jesus’ directions about private prayer calls into question all public prayers. That is an obvious misunderstanding of His teaching. The Gospels recorded Jesus praying both privately (Matthew 14 vs 23) and publicly (Matthew 14 vs 18 - 19). Jesus did not condemn public prayer, but praying in order to be seen of men. 

Jesus was only drawing attention to the motives behind actions. The point really wasn’t a choice between public and private prayer, but between heartfelt and hypocritical prayer. When asked to pray in public, focus on addressing God, not on how you are coming across to others. Believers should pray often in a quiet environment in order to express their innermost feelings to the Father. 

Fasting should not be in order to draw attention to one’s performance of religious rites. Fasting is to be directed toward the inner self in order to focus one’s mind on God. By concentrating on the inner spiritual part of man, believers should give no outward indication of their fasting. The purpose of fasting is to inwardly humble oneself before God in order to proclaim one’s dependence on the work of God in his or her life. In humbling ourselves before God, we manifest our dependence on God in order to plead for His work in our lives.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to be pure in my motives in all I do, especially in my prayers, that I may please You in my supplication, and o eschew compromises of any form in my life, that I may not to be a friend to the world, and an enemy to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Christmas Model for Missions

 “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)

Christmas is a model for missions. Missions is a mirror of Christmas. As I, so you. 

For example, danger. Christ came to his own and his own received him not. So you also. They plotted against him. So you. He had no permanent home. So you. They trumped up false charges against him. So you. They whipped and mocked him. So you. He died after three years of ministry. So you.

But there is a worse danger than any of these which Jesus escaped. So you!!

In the mid-16th century the missionary Francis Xavier (1506–1552), wrote to Father Perez of Malacca (today part of Malaysia) about the perils of his mission to China. He said,

The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and confidence in the mercy of God. . . . To distrust him would be a far more terrible thing than any physical evil which all the enemies of God put together could inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us in the slightest degree.

The greatest danger a missionary faces is not death but to distrust the mercy of God. If that danger is avoided, then all other dangers lose their sting.

In the end God makes every dagger a scepter in our hand. As J.W. Alexander says, “Each instant of present labor is to be graciously repaid with a million ages of glory.”

Christ escaped this danger — the danger of distrusting God. Therefore God has highly exalted him! As he, so you.

Remember this Advent that Christmas is a model for missions. As I, so you. And that mission means danger. And the greatest danger is distrusting God’s mercy. Succumb to this and all is lost. Conquer here and nothing can harm you for a million ages.

THE PLACE OF PRAISE IN WORSHIP!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY DECEMBER 18, 2023.

SUBJECT : THE PLACE OF PRAISE IN WORSHIP!

Memory verse: "But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel" (Psalm 22 vs 3).

READ: Psalm 145 vs 1 - 10:

145:1: I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. 

145:2: Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. 

145:3: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. 145:4: One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. 

145:5: I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and of Your wondrous works. 

145:6: Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. 

145:7: They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.

145:8: The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.

145:9: The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.

145:10: All Your works shall praise You O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You.

INTIMATION:

Praise is the expression to God of our admiration, appreciation, thanks, approval, and understanding of what He does; His creation, His blessings, His forgiveness. It is also to give great honor to God for each aspect of His divine nature; loving, just, faithful, forgiving, patient, and the revelation of Himself to us. It is an outward expression of our inward attitude. When we praise God we help ourselves by expanding our awareness of who He is. Therefore, praise is offered to God for who He is and what He does in general. 

Praise is vocal, it is uttered and should be offered in proportion to God's own Person. He is great; great in wisdom, great in power, great in His creative works, great in His redemptive acts and great in His dealings with us. Everything that God does is great and therefore should be greatly praised. Considering all that God has done and does for us, what could be more natural than outbursts of heartfelt praise? 

In our worship, praise does the following: (1) Praise takes our minds off our problems and shortcomings and helps us focus on God. (2) Praise causes us to consider and appreciate God's character. (3) Praise lifts our perspective from the earthly to the heavenly. (4) Praise prepares our hearts to receive God's love and power of His Holy Spirit. (5) Praise brings God down in His Might to attend personally to our situation. (6) Praise first puts us in the right frame of mind to tell about our needs. (7) Praise leads us from individual meditation to corporate worship. 

In our memory verse, we observe that God is "enthroned in the praises of Israel." The nation of Israel (the descendants of Jacob) was special to God because through its people God brought His laws, and through its people He sent His Son—Jesus Christ. Now any individual who follows God is just as special to Him. In fact, the Bible says that the nation of Israel is not a specific people or geographic place but the community of all who believe in and obey God: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3 vs 28 - 29).

God's enthronement on the praises of His people was showcased when Paul and Silas were in jail in Philippi, where the jailor thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight they prayed, and sang praises to God. The Great God showed up in His Might, in response to the praises of His children: "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." (Acts 16 vs 26.)

Praise should be continuously offered to God as a sacrifice. In so doing you will realize that you won't take His blessings for granted. Praise God first in your worship, then you will be prepared to present your needs to Him. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are great and greatly to be praised. Endue me with the spirit of praise that I may praise You at all times, and forever for who You are, and for all You do, in Jesus name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Greatest Salvation Imaginable

 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . . ” (Jeremiah 31:31)

God is just and holy and separated from sinners like us. This is our main problem at Christmas — and every other season. How shall we get right with a just and holy God?

Nevertheless, God is merciful and has promised in Jeremiah 31 (five hundred years before Christ) that someday he would do something new. He would replace shadows with the Reality of the Messiah. And he would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from outside, but are willing from inside, to love him and trust him and follow him.

That would be the greatest salvation imaginable — if God should offer us the greatest Reality in the universe to enjoy and then move in us to know that Reality in such a way that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and the greatest pleasure possible. That would be a Christmas gift worth singing about.

That is, in fact, what he promised in the new covenant. But there was a huge obstacle. Our sin. Our separation from God because of our unrighteousness.

How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest possible joy? 

The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9:28 says Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many.”

Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died (1 Peter 2:24). He took our judgment (Romans 8:3). He canceled our guilt (Romans 8:1). And that means our sins are gone (Acts 10:43). They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them (Jeremiah 31:34). They are consumed in the death of Christ.

Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with all the unspeakably great new covenant promises. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will — his own heart — on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy.

A LIFE WELL LIVED!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY DECEMBER 17, 2023.

SUBJECT : A LIFE WELL LIVED!

Memory verse: "But David, after he had served his own generation by the Will of God, fell asleep..." (Acts 13 vs 36.)

READ: Acts 13 vs 20 - 23:

13:20: "After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

13:21: And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

13:22: And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.' 

13:23: From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior - Jesus -.

INTIMATION:

God created all things to serve His purposes. You and I are created for some purposes. Those who lived purposefully for God were remarkably acknowledged by Him, and that is, "a life well lived." In our memory verse, the Bible strikingly said about David, "But David, after he had served his own generation by the Will of God, fell asleep..." David, in his generation served remarkably in the Will of God. He had, "a life well lived."

In the passage we read today, It is then not surprising that God testified of David, called him a man after His own heart. The Scripture said, "And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My Will." (Acts 13 vs 22.) There is no greater compliment than that statement. Imagine such epitaph chiseled on your tombstone: That you served God's purpose in your generation. My prayer is that people will say that about me when I die. It is also my prayer that people will say it about you, too. The phrase is the ultimate definition of "A life well lived."

A life well lived is all about purpose-driven life, doing God's Will in the world that earns you eternal glory—to live with Him forever. God created you and I, at this time in history, for His purposes. Neither past or future generations can serve God's purposes in this generation but only us, in this generation, can. Like Esther God created you "for such a time as this." (Esther 4 vs 14.) 

God is looking for people to use. The Bible, in Second Chronicles 16 vs 9, says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him...." Will you be a person God can use for His purpose? Will you serve God's purpose in your generation? Will God say of you, "He will live his life well, serving My purpose in his generation”?

Any Christian chasing after, "a life well lived," would have the counsel of the apostle Paul recorded in First Corinthians 9 vs 24 - 27, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

Paul said that he ran straight to the goal with purpose in every step. His only reason for living was to fulfill the purposes God had for him. He said, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1 vs 21.) He was not afraid of either dying or living. Either way, he would fulfill God's purposes. If he lived, it is for good to others whom he labors to teach the ways of Christ. And if he dies, he would join Christ to live in eternity with Him. Either way he wins.

The sports race illustration used by the apostle Paul above, explains the required purpose and discipline for believers. As Christians, the required life takes hard work, self-denial, and grueling preparation. We are running toward our heavenly reward. The essential disciplines of prayer, Bible study and meditation, and worship, equip us to run with vigor and stamina. Don't merely observe from the grandstand; don't just turn out to jog a couple of laps each morning. Train diligently as your spiritual progress depends upon it.

One day history will come to a close, but eternity will go on forever. When fulfilling your purposes seems tough, don't give in to discouragement. Remember your reward, which will last forever. The Bible says, "For our light afflictions, which is for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (Second Corinthians 4 vs 17.) Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 

Prayer: Abba Father, eternity with You is my utmost desire. Help me in my quest for a life pleasing to You—a life well lived—serving Your preordained purposes for me, and that I may obtain my crown of glory, to live in eternity with You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God’s Most Successful Setback

 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11)

Christmas marked the beginning of God’s most successful setback. He has always delighted to show his power through apparent defeat. He makes tactical retreats in order to win strategic victories.

In the Old Testament, Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, was promised glory and power in his dream (Genesis 37:5–11). But to achieve that victory he had to become a slave in Egypt. And, as if that were not enough, when his conditions improved because of his integrity, he was made worse than a slave: a prisoner.

But it was all planned. Planned by God for his good and the good of his family, and eventually for the good of the whole world! For there in prison he met Pharaoh’s butler, who eventually brought him to Pharaoh, who put him over Egypt. And finally, his dream came true. His brothers bowed before him, and he saved them from starvation. What an unlikely route to glory! 

But that is God’s way — even for his Son. He emptied himself and took the form of a slave. Worse than a slave — a prisoner — and was executed. But like Joseph, he kept his integrity. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:9–10).

And this is God’s way for us too. We are promised glory — if we will suffer with him as it says in Romans 8:17. The way up is down. The way forward is backward. The way to success is through divinely appointed setbacks. They will always look and feel like failure.

But if Joseph and Jesus teach us anything this Christmas it is this: What Satan and sinful men meant for evil, “God meant it for good!” (Genesis 50:20).

You fearful saints fresh courage take

The clouds you so much dread

Are big with mercy and will break

In blessings on your head.

Life and Death at Christmas

 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

As I was about to begin this devotional, I received word that Marion Newstrum had just died. Marion and her husband Elmer had been part of our church longer than most of our members had been alive at the time. She was 87. They had been married 64 years.

When I spoke to Elmer and told him I wanted him to be strong in the Lord and not give up on life, he said, “He has been a true friend.” I pray that all Christians will be able to say at the end of life, “Christ has been a true friend.” 

Each Advent I mark the anniversary of my mother’s death. She was cut off in her 56th year in a bus accident in Israel. It was December 16, 1974. Those events are incredibly real to me even today. If I allow myself, I can easily come to tears — for example, thinking that my sons never knew her. We buried her the day after Christmas. What a precious Christmas it was!

Many of you will feel your loss this Christmas more pointedly than before. Don’t block it out. Let it come. Feel it. What is love for, if not to intensify our affections — both in life and death? But oh, do not be bitter. It is tragically self-destructive to be bitter.

Jesus came at Christmas that we might have eternal life. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Elmer and Marion had discussed where they would spend their final years. Elmer said, “Marion and I agreed that our final home would be with the Lord.”

Do you feel restless for home? I have family coming home for the holidays. It feels good. I think the bottom-line reason for why it feels good is that they and I are destined in the depths of our being for an ultimate Homecoming. All other homecomings are foretastes. And foretastes are good.

Unless they become substitutes. Oh, don’t let all the sweet things of this season become substitutes of the final, great, all-satisfying Sweetness. Let every loss and every delight send your hearts a-homing after heaven.

Christmas. What is it but this: I came that they may have life? Marion Newstrum, Ruth Piper, and you and I — that we might have Life, now and forever.

Make your Now the richer and deeper this Christmas by drinking at the fountain of Forever. It is so near.