Eleventh-hour Breakthroughs

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)

One of the greatest hope-killers is that you have tried for so long to change, and have not succeeded. 

You look back and think: What’s the use? Even if I could experience a breakthrough, there would be so little time left to live in my new way that it wouldn’t make much difference compared to so many years of failure.

The former robber (the thief on the cross next to Jesus) lived for another hour or so after his conversion. Then he died. He was changed. He lived on the cross as a new man with new attitudes and actions (no more reviling). But 99.99% of his life was wasted. Did the last couple hours of newness matter?

They mattered infinitely. This former robber, like all of us, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of his life. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). How will his life testify in that day to his new birth and his union with Christ? How will his life confirm his newness in Christ?

The last hours will tell the story. This man was new. His faith was real. He is truly united to Christ. Christ’s righteousness is his. His sins are forgiven.

That’s what the final hours will proclaim at the last judgment. He is changed! And his change mattered. It was, and it will be, a beautiful testimony to the power of God’s grace and the reality of his faith and his union with Christ.

Now back to our struggle with change. I am not saying that struggling believers are unsaved like the robber was. I am simply saying that the last years and the last hours of life matter.

If in the last 1% of our lives, we can get a victory over some long-standing sinful habit or hurtful defect in our personality, it will be a beautiful testimony now to the power of grace; and it will be an added witness (not the only one) at the last judgment to our faith in Christ and our union with him.

Take heart, struggler. Keep asking, seeking, knocking. Keep looking to Christ. If God gets glory by saving robbers in the eleventh hour, he surely has his purposes why he has waited till now to give you the breakthrough you have sought for years.

Reviled Here, Rewarded There

 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

How does the promise in Psalm 1:3 point to Christ? 

It says, “In all that he does, he prospers.” The righteous prosper in everything they do. Is this naïve or profoundly true?

In this life, it certainly seems that the wicked prosper. “Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7). “Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape” (Malachi 3:15).

And in this life the righteous often suffer and their goodness is rewarded with abuse. “If we had forgotten the name of our God . . . would not God discover this? . . . Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Psalm 44:20–22). The psalmists themselves knew this. We are not protesting something they didn’t already know.

Therefore, when the psalmist says, “In all that he does, he prospers,” he is not naïve. He is pointing through the ambiguities of this life to life after death, where the true effectiveness — the true prosperity — of all that we have done will appear. 

This is the way Paul thought. 

First, he celebrates the victory of Christ over death. “‘O death, where is your victory?’ . . . Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55, 57).

Then, he draws out the implication that, because of this triumph, every work that believers have ever done will prosper. “Therefore, my beloved brothers . . . in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). When something is not in vain, it prospers.

Because Jesus died in our place, he guaranteed that every good deed prospers — sooner or later. “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8). “Blessed are you when others revile you. . . . Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). Reviled here. Rewarded there. 

What seems naïve in the Old Testament (“in all that he does, he prospers”) points profoundly to the work of Christ and the reality of resurrection. As the words of that great hymn by Katharina von Schlegel, “Be Still My Soul,” says, “Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay / From his own fullness all He takes away.”

GOD GIVES GRACE TO OBEY HIM!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 06, 2024.

SUBJECT : GOD GIVES GRACE TO OBEY HIM!

Memory verse: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (First Corinthians 15 vs 10.)

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 8 - 10:

2:8: For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

2:9: not of works, lest any man should boast.

2:10: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

INTIMATION:

God knows our weaknesses hence we find freedom to obey from the grace (unmerited favor) bestowed on us through our faith in Christ, and not by our works. We became Christians through God’s unmerited grace, not as the result of any effort, ability, intelligent choice, or act of service on our part. God showered His kindness on us—this is also called God’s “grace.” This is His voluntary and loving favor given to those He saves. We can’t earn salvation, nor do we deserve it. No religious, intellectual, or moral effort can gain it, because it comes only from God’s mercy and love. Without God’s grace, no person can be saved. No one can come to Christ except the Father draws (John 6 vs 44 & 65). 

However, out of gratitude for this free gift, we will seek to obey God out of love for what He has done for us. As sinners, separated from God, we see his law from below, as a ladder to be climbed to get to God. This becomes more obvious when you have tried repeatedly to climb it, only to fall to the ground every time you have advanced some rungs of the ladder. Or perhaps the sheer height of the ladder seems so overwhelming that you have never even started up. In either case, you are relieved seeing Jesus offering with open arms to lift you above the ladder of the law, to take you directly to God! Once Jesus lifts you into God's presence, you are free to obey; out of love, not necessity, and through God's power, not your own. 

In our memory verse, the apostle Paul acknowledges the gift of grace from God. He posited that, ‘Whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His grace or special favor on me.’ If we want to live eternally with Christ, we must depend totally on God’s grace. This is true whether we have been murderers or honest, hardworking citizens. We have all sinned repeatedly, and any sin is enough to cause us to need to come to Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life. Apart from Christ, there is no way for our sin to be forgiven and removed.

There are great tension in daily Christian experience. The conflict is that we agree with God’s commands but cannot do them. As a result, we are painfully aware of our sin. The apostle Paul says, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7 vs 23 - 25.) 

This inward struggles with sin was as real for the apostle Paul as it is for us. From him we learn what to do about it. Whenever he felt overwhelmed by the spiritual battle, he would return to the beginning of his spiritual life, remembering how he had been freed from sin by Jesus Christ. When we feel confused and overwhelmed by sin’s appeal, let us claim the freedom Christ gave us. His power can lift us to victory.

No matter your sin or offensive past life, faith in Christ gives you the required grace to obey, because where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (Romans 5 vs 20). In Christ the assurance is given that if you stumble, you will not fall back to the ground. Instead, you will be caught and held in Christ's loving arms. 

In John 6 vs 37 - 40, Jesus clearly states the will of God the Father concerning us who believe in Christ. Jesus did not work independently of God the Father, but in union with Him. This will give us even more assurance of being welcomed into God's presence and being protected by Him, and not even your failures will stop His helping hands. Anyone who makes a sincere commitment to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior is secure in God's promise of everlasting life. Christ will not let His people be overcome by Satan and lose their salvation. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for Your unparalleled love and mercy, and the gift of grace to obey You. Perfect Your strength in my weaknesses that I may forever live for You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Main Purpose of Ministry

 We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:39)

Don’t look at the temporary cost of love, and shrink back from confidence in God’s infinitely superior promises. If you shrink back, not only will you lose out on the promises; you will be destroyed. 

Hell is at stake in whether we shrink back or persevere. It’s not just the loss of a few extra rewards that hangs in the balance. Hebrews 10:39 says, “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.” That is eternal judgment. 

So, we warn each other: Don’t drift away. Don’t love the world. Don’t start thinking nothing huge is at stake. Fear the terrible prospect of not cherishing the promises of God above the promises of sin. As Hebrews 3:13–14 says, “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

But mainly we must focus on the preciousness of the promises and help each other value above all things how great the reward is that Christ has purchased for us. We must say to each other what Hebrews 10:35 says: “Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” And then we must help each other see the greatness of the reward.

That is the main task of preaching, and the main purpose of small groups and all the ministries of the church: helping people see the greatness of what Christ has purchased for everyone who will value it above the world. Helping people see it and savor it, so that God’s superior worth shines in their satisfaction and in the sacrifices that come from such a heart.

BECOMING HEIR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 05, 2024.

SUBJECT : BECOMING HEIR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Memory verse: ""By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." (Hebrews 11 vs 7.)

READ: Romans 3 vs 21 - 26:

3:21: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the Prophets;

3:22: even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who before them that believe. For there is no difference,

3:23: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,

3:24: being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

3:25: whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

3:26: to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

INTIMATION:

An heir is one who obtains a lot or portion, especially of an inheritance; one who receives something other than by merit. It also denotes someone to whom something has been assigned by God. Therefore, “an heir of righteousness” denotes someone who inherited righteousness, or has righteousness assigned to him by God through faith in Him. 

Righteousness is the character or quality of being right or just. It was formerly spelled “rightwiseness,” which clearly expresses the meaning. It is used to denote the attribute of God; the “righteousness of God” means essentially the same as His faithfulness, or truthfulness; that which is consistent with His own nature and promises. 

The passage we read today expressed God’s faithfulness—righteousness—as exhibited in the Death of Jesus Christ, as a propitiation for our sins. God’s law established the penalty for sin as death. And all of us inherited sin from our first parents—Adam and Eve—deserving of the penalty of sin. Hence the Scripture noted, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3 vs 23). And the wages we owed for our sins is death (Romans 6 vs 23). 

God cannot deny Himself. The penalty of sin must be paid to show man that God is neither indifferent to sin nor regards it lightly. It also demonstrates that quality of God’s holiness which He expresses in His condemnation of sin. However, God showed His faithfulness—His righteousness—that is consistent with His nature as merciful, which was revealed by His gift of His only Son—Jesus Christ—as a propitiation for the sins all of the whole world.

From the beginning, we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both our parents and us) and proved that we are utterly incapable of having the glorious lives God wills for us. God, in His nature of being ever merciful, did it for us; out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with Himself—giving us His own righteousness in Jesus Christ. This is a pure gift hence our being heirs of righteousness which is according to our faith in Him. He got us out of the mess we are in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ His Son. 

God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear the world of sin. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public, to set the world in the clear with Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, and finally taking care of the sins He had previously endured. Therefore, God sets things right by Himself, and also makes it possible for us to live in His rightness. Ordinarily, the position of being in right relationship with God wouldn’t be possible by our own works or acts of obedience. 

The apostle Paul in his epistles frequently uses ‘the righteousness of God,’ to express that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God. This righteousness is unattainable by obedience to any law, or by any merit of man’s own, or any other condition than that of faith in Christ. The man who trust in Christ becomes “the righteousness of God in Him.’: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21). God made us—the believers— to become in Christ all that God requires a man to be, all that he could never be in himself. 

Now, it is clear that the righteousness—the right action—that God demands from us is believe in His Word and all that Christ wrought for us in redemption. Consequently, because Abraham accepted the Word of God, making it his own by that act of his mind and spirit which is called faith, and, as he subsequently showed, submitting himself to its control, therefore, God accepted him as one who fulfilled the whole of His requirements: “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4 vs 3.) 

Righteousness is not said to be imputed to the believer save in the sense that faith is reckoned (imputed) for righteousness. For the Scripture says, “But to Him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, His faith is accounted for righteousness.”( Romans 4 vs 5.) The faith thus exercised brings the soul into vital union with God in Christ, and inevitably produces righteousness of life, that is, conformity to the will of God. Just as our memory verse recorded, Noah became an heir of righteousness because of His faith in God. My prayer is that you believe in Christ and His substitutionary work for us, and have righteousness reckoned for you through faith in Christ Jesus and His work on the cross for the whole world.

Prayer: Abba Father, outside of You I am nothing and can do nothing. Thank You for the righteousness reckoned for me in Christ. In Him I live and move and have my being. May I never miss my heirship of righteousness, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Five Ways Affliction Helps

 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

This verse shows that God sends affliction to help us learn his word. How does that work? How does affliction help us learn and obey the word of God?

There are innumerable answers, as there are innumerable experiences of this great mercy. But here are five:

Affliction takes away the glibness of life and makes us more serious, so that our mindset is more in tune with the seriousness of God’s word. And mark this: There is not a single glib page in the book of God.

Affliction knocks worldly props out from under us and forces us to rely more on God, which brings us more in tune with the aim of the word. For the aim of the word is that we hope in God and trust him. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “These [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).

Affliction makes us search the Scriptures with greater desperation for help, rather than treating it as marginal to life. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Affliction brings us into the partnership of Christ’s sufferings, so that we fellowship more closely with him and see the world more readily through his eyes. Paul’s great heart longing was “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).

Affliction mortifies deceitful and distracting fleshly desires, and so brings us into a more spiritual frame and makes us receptive to the spiritual word of God. “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1). Suffering has a great sin-killing effect. And the more pure we are, the more clearly we see God (Matthew 5:8).

May the Holy Spirit give us grace to not begrudge the pedagogy of God through pain.

HAVE YOUR OWN FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 04, 2024.

SUBJECT : HAVE YOUR OWN FAITH!

Memory verse: "So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God." (Mark 11 vs 22.)

READ: Mark 11 vs 23 - 24: 

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: 

Faith is a profession for living. It is a spiritual profession that requires spiritual skill development for maximum delivery or effectiveness. Faith empowers you to make the most of life. Accessing life at its best is according to your own faith (Matthew 9 vs 29). One should never trust the great issues of his or her life to another's faith. You should have your own faith in God and His Word; faith that can meet any crisis that may come. 

Everyone should build his or her own faith life. The woman with the flow of blood had her own faith, and she said, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” (Matthew 9 vs 21.) Note that she didn’t ask even Jesus to pray for her or touch her, but she simply reached out in faith to Jesus, and her faith delivered expressly her healing to her. 

Unfortunately. majority of people float on carelessly until they come to a dangerous position; when they are sick, or some loved one is sick, some financial or heart problem confronts them that may affect their entire future, then they frantically hunt for someone who can cry and sob and quote Scriptures in what they call ‘their prayer,' and it is to no avail. 

It is vitally important to you that you have your own faith in God and His Word to fall back on in these difficult or troubled times. Obviously, your case is vital to you. It may not be vital to this other party on whose faith you look up to. He may have troubles that are unresolved, inward struggles that have never been settled. His faith may be at a low sub when you appeal to him or her for aid.

Here are some facts that will help you to begin to build your own faith life. The Word of God is yours. It is as though there was no other person in the world but you, and any revelations has been given especially to you; you can say, "It is mine. No one has a better right to it than I have. Every promise is mine. Every statement of fact is mine." When Jesus said, ".If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John 15 vs 7), you now can say, "He is talking to me. He is my Father; I am His child. This is His message to me to help me in my earth walk." This message was given to me by the Master from the Father for He said, "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works." (John 14 vs 10).

Consequently it is the Father who said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15 vs 7 - 8.)  The fruit is prayer fruit. It is one of the branches that will bear the fruit, and I am that branch." When your heart can speak like this, then you know that as you approach the Throne of grace there is a willing ear listening to you, that whatever you ask (because the Word is living in you) you will receive.

God is love and has inspired His saints who wrote the instructional book called the Bible. Jesus came to unveil love, and the revelation of love is given to us in the Word. Jesus now has spoken a love message to you. He says, "If you abide in Me." If you are a New Creation, you certainly do abide in Him. His words abide in you just as that lover's words would abide in your heart. You go over that lover's words again and again. He has asked you to become His companion for life.

When you make His Word yours and speaking them with sincere believe or faith, I bet you, nothing will be impossible with you. You can say to that mountain be removed and cast into the sea, and that mountain will obey you (Mark 11 vs 23 -  24). This is because you are speaking the words of your Father that He has spoken to you which are sure words because He assured us that His word cannot return to Him void, but will achieve that for which it is sent and will prosper in it. (Isaiah 55 vs 11). And that the Word is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119 vs 89).

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You, most Faithful Lord, for the privilege of sonship granted me, and the revelational knowledge on Your Word to me. My absolute faith, trust and confidence are in You. May I never falter in unbelief, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!