Better Than Money, Sex, and Power

 Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:35)

We need to ponder the superiority of God as our great reward over all that the world has to offer. If we don’t, we will love the world like everyone else and live like everyone else. 

So, take the things that drive the world, and ponder how much better and more abiding God is. Take money or sex or power and think about them in relation to death. Death will take away every one of them. If that is what you live for, you won’t get much, and what you get, you lose. 

But God’s treasure is vastly superior, and it lasts. It goes beyond death. It’s better than money because God owns all the money and he is our Father. We are his heirs. “All [things] are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:22–23).

It’s better than sex. Jesus never had sexual relations, and he was the most full and complete human that ever will exist. Sex is a shadow — an image — of a greater reality, of a relationship and a pleasure that will make the most exquisite sex seem like a yawn.

The reward of God is better than power. There is no greater human power than to be a child of the almighty God. “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21).

And so it goes on and on. Everything the world has to offer, God is better and more abiding.

There is no comparison. God wins — every time. The question is: Will we have him? Will we wake up from the trance of this stupefying world and see and believe and rejoice in and love what is truly real, and infinitely valuable, and everlasting?

ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 09, 2024.

SUBJECT: ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY! 

Memory verse: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality.” (First Thessalonians 4 vs 3.)

READ: First Corinthians 6 vs 15 - 20:

6:15: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? Certainly not!

6:16:  Or do you not know that he who is joined to an harlot is one body with her? For “the two” He says, “ shall become one flesh.”

6:17: But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

6:18: Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

6:19: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

6:20: For you were bought at a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

INTIMATION:

Sexual immorality is a temptation that is always before us. Sexual immorality of any kind is extremely dangerous; It destroys family life, it eats away at one’s ability to love, it degrades human beings and turns them into objects, it can lead to disease, it can result in unwanted children, it is against God’s laws. In our fallen world, sex outside marriage is treated as a normal, even desirable part of life, while marriage is often shown as confining and joyless. People that are suspected to be pure are even being looked down on by others with the notion that they don’t belong. 

But God does not forbid sexual sin just to be difficult. He knows its power to destroy us physically and spiritually. No one should underestimate the power of sexual immorality. It has devastated countless lives and destroyed families, churches, communities, and even nations. God wants to protect us from damaging ourselves and others, and so He offers to fill us—our loneliness, our desires—with Himself.

When we become Christians the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Therefore, we no longer own our bodies; we have been “bought at a price.” Christ’s death freed us from sin but also obligates us to His service. If you live in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building’s rules. Because your body belongs to God, you must not violate His standards for living.

Sexual temptations are difficult to withstand because they appeal to the normal and natural desires that God has given us. Marriage provides God’s way to satisfy these natural sexual desires and to strengthen the partners against temptation. Married couples have the responsibility to care for each other, therefore, husbands and wives should not withhold themselves sexually from one another but should fulfill each other’s needs and desires. 

God created sex to be a beautiful and essential ingredient of marriage, but sexual sin—sex outside the marriage relationship—always hurts someone. It hurts God because it shows that we prefer following our own desires instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit. It hurts others because it violates the commitment so necessary to a relationship. It often brings disease to our bodies. And it deeply affects our personality, which responds to anguish when we harm ourselves physically and spiritually. The partners lose their ability to fulfill commitments, to feel sexual desire, to trust, and to be entirely open with another person.

However, issues arise when there are inherent problems between spouses or with either of the spouse. There are issues of health, weakness as a result of age, faded or fading love for the other, or lack of love, unwholesome attitudes that result in dwindling or lack of intimacy in marriage, and so on. Such things pushes the dissatisfied spouse into temptation of sexual immorality, and at that point is difficult to resist.

Temptation happens to everyone, so don’t feel you have been singled out; others have resisted temptation, and so can you; any temptation can be resisted because God will show you a way out. God will aid you in resisting temptations by helping you  (1) recognize those people and situations that give you trouble. (2) run from anything you know is wrong, (3) choose to do only what is right, (4) pray for God’s help, and (5) seek friends who love God and can offer help when you are tempted. Running from a tempting situation is your first step on the way to victory. 

To avoid temptation and your desire for love and sexual pleasure: (1) You must decide what kind of a person you will love before passion takes over. Determine whether a person’s character and faith in God are as desirable as his or her physical appearance. (2) Because most of the time you spend with your spouse will not involve sexual intimacy, your companion’s personality, temperament, and commitment to solve problems must be as gratifying as his or her kisses. (3) Be patient. Time and observation often reveal what is beneath the pleasant appearance and attentive touch. This is the undeniable reasons for courtship before marriage. When you rush into marriage it becomes difficult to resist temptations when your desires in your partner are unattainable. 

It is God’s will for you to be holy. But how can you go about doing that? The Bible teaches that holiness is not a state of being that you must manufacture on your own with hard work and good deeds and constant fear of failure. Instead, being made holy (sanctified) occurs in the process of living the Christian life. If you have accepted Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf, then you are considered holy and complete in God’s eyes. Yet you must continue to learn and grow during your time on earth. The Holy Spirit works in you, conforming you to the image of Christ (Romans 8 vs 29). 

Prayer: Abba Father, by my strength I cannot prevail over temptations. But by Your strength I can do all things. Give me the grace to resist Satan’s temptations with sexual pleasures, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GOD’S BLESSING MAKES ONE RICH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 08, 2024.

SUBJECT: GOD’S BLESSING MAKES ONE RICH! 

Memory verse: "That I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’." (Genesis 14 vs 23.)

READ: Genesis 13 vs 8 - 11:

13:8: So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife, between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 

13:9: Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left." 

13:10: And lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you come to Zoar.

13:11: Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other." 

INTIMATION:

Abraham was not wealthy because he was a shrewd business man or because God rewarded his great integrity and performance. Abraham was prosperous because God blessed him and made his name great as promised (Genesis 12 vs 2). It is purely the favor of God that made him rich. Abraham was so rich that he  couldn’t dwell together with his nephew, Lot, because their flocks and herds were too big. They had so many animals that one location couldn't feed them all, so their servants began fighting with each other over the grazing land, and they were forced to separate. 

Abraham took Lot up to a hilltop so they could look out over the whole land. One part of the land was a well-watered plain flush with grass; the other part was dry. It is naturally obvious that the survival of the herds depended on there being plenty of natural grass to graze on. Fields of grass were the only source of food they had. So it isn't surprising that Lot chose the well-watered land for himself.

The story reveals how confident Abraham was in God as his source. Anyone who was relying on natural circumstances and his own efforts for prosperity would never give up a well-watered plain for his animals. Looking at the natural facts, the decision whether to choose a grassy plain or the desert was a no-brainer. But Abraham knew God was his source, what things looked like to the naked eye not withstanding. Abraham was saying, "It doesn't matter where I go, the Lord is going to bless me." Right after Abraham allowed Lot to take the better land, God appeared to him and promised even more prosperity than Abraham had already experienced:

"And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you." (Genesis 13 vs 14 - 17.)

In the natural, it is impossible for a man who grazes his flocks and herds in the desert to prosper as much as a man whose cattle graze in lush pastures, but nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1 vs 37.) The blessing of God made Abraham rich, and he prospered much more than Lot did. The Scripture states that Abraham was blessed by the Lord in all things (Genesis 24 vs 1).

Not long after Lot and Abraham separated, foreign kings raided the city of Sodom, where Lot lived, and took everyone captive. When Abraham heard that his nephew had been seized, he armed his servants that were trained for war and pursued the foreign kings. His private army consisted of 318 men, which gives you an idea of how rich he was and how many servants he had at that time in history. He was so rich that he had a private army. Abraham's men defeated the foreign kings and brought back all of the spoils and people who had been taken captive.

The king of Sodom was grateful, so he offered to let Abraham keep the spoils: "The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the good to yourself" (Genesis 14 vs 21). The king recognized that if it hadn't been Abraham, his entire kingdom would have been lost. We don't know how much spoil the king was offering Abraham, but it isn't unreasonable to think it would have been the equivalent of millions of dollars today. He had recovered all the goods, food, valuables of five cities, so the spoils certainly worth a lot of money. But he didn't accept the king's offer because he didn't want anyone to have a reason to claim they had made him rich. 

Abraham knew he was rich because of the blessing of God. His confidence in God as the source of his wealth was so strong that he gave away millions of dollars worth of spoils, which he had rightfully earned by conquest. (Genesis 14 vs 22 - 24.) We also, need to see God as our source and develop the attitude that the resources we have are gift from God, and that our efforts are not the source of the prosperity in our lives.  

Yes, you may have worked so hard at your job, but God is the source! God gave you life, health, and abilities, and God is the One who opens door of opportunity. Until you recognize God as your source, nothing else the Bible say about finances is going to work. As long as you hold to your money with a clenched fist and hoarding possessions, God's method of prosperity won't work in your life. You have to see yourself as a steward managing the financial blessings that God has given you.

Seeing God as your source doesn't mean you sit at home and do nothing. You are supposed to work, but you need to recognize that even though you work, it is God who gives the increase. (First Corinthians 3 vs 7.) A farmer has to prepare the soil and plant seeds in order to get the crops, but God created the natural laws that govern sowing and reaping, God sends the rain and sun that makes the plant to grow, God gave the land to farm on, and He is the source of the farmer's health. Likewise, it is the blessing of God that makes it possible for you to prosper, and the foundation of prosperity is seeing yourself as a steward.

Prayer: Abba Father, in You I live and move and have my being.  All I have is Yours. Yours I am, and Yours I want to be. Give me the grace for effective stewardship of Your resources bestowed on me, and to earn Your acceptance as a worthy servant to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Are You Glad You Are Not God?

 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! (Psalm 96:7)

Here’s at least part of the experience that the psalmist is referring to when he says, “Ascribe [= give] to the Lord strength.” What are we doing when we “Ascribe to the Lord strength”?

First, by God’s grace, we give attention to God and see that he is strong. We give heed to his strength. Then we give our approval to the greatness of his strength. We give due regard to its worth.

We find his strength to be wonderful. But what makes this wonder that we experience a “giving” kind of wonder — “Give to the Lord strength!” — is that we are especially glad that the greatness of the strength is his and not ours.

We feel a profound fitness in the fact that he is infinitely strong, and we are not. We love the fact that this is so. We do not envy God for his strength. We are not covetous of his power. We are full of joy that all strength is his.

Everything in us rejoices to go out of ourselves and behold this power — as if we had arrived at the celebration of the victory of a distance runner who had beaten us in the race, and we found our greatest joy in admiring his strength, rather than resenting our loss.

We find the deepest meaning in life when our hearts freely go out of ourselves to admire God’s power, rather than turning inward to boast in our own — or even think about our own. We discover something overwhelming: It is profoundly satisfying not to be God, but to give up all thoughts or desires to be God.

In our giving heed to God’s power there rises up in us a realization that God created the universe for this: so that we could have the supremely satisfying experience of not being God, but admiring the Godness of God — the strength of God. There settles over us a peaceful realization that admiration of the infinite is the final, all-satisfying end of all things.

We tremble at the slightest temptation to claim any power as coming from us. God has made us weak to protect us from this: “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Oh, what love this is, that God would protect us from replacing the everlasting heights of admiring his power with the futile attempt to boast in our own! It is a great gladness not to be, but rather to see, God!

CONTENTMENT IS A GODLY VIRTUE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 07, 2024.

SUBJECT : CONTENTMENT IS A GODLY VIRTUE!

Memory verse: "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13  vs 5.)

READ: First Timothy 6 vs 6 - 11:

6:6: Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

6:7: For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

6:8: And having food and clothing with these we shall be content.

6:9: But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

6:10: For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

6:11: But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

INTIMATION:

Contentment is satisfaction, it primarily signifies to be sufficient, happy with one's situation in life. Contentment is a godly virtue, and carries great gain. In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul lays a solid foundation for a godly living; being content in any circumstances you find yourself, and seeing life from God's perspective, and being grateful for all God has given you. The statement in our memory verse is the key to spiritual growth and personal fulfillment. God has said it, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." In realization of these facts, our contentment should be in God who made and owns all things.

The bane of humanity before the coming of the Savior was as a result of lack of contentment. Eve was approached by Satan in the Garden of Eden, where she and Adam lived. He questioned her contentment. How could she be happy when she was not allowed to eat from one of the fruit trees? Satan helped Eve shift her focus from all that God had done and given to the one thing He had withheld. And Eve was willing to accept Satan’s viewpoint without checking with God. 

How often is our attention drawn from the much that is ours to the little that isn’t? We get the “I’ve got to have it” feeling. Eve was typical of us all, and we consistently show we are her descendants by repeating her mistakes. Our desires, like Eve’s, can be quite easily manipulated. They are not the best basis for actions. We need to keep God in our decision-making process always. His Word, the Bible, is our guidebook in decision-making.

The Tenth Commandment of God harps on covetousness, which is an offshoot of discontentment. To covet is to wish to have the possessions of others. It goes beyond simply admiring someone else’s possessions, or thinking, “I’d like to have one of those.” Coveting includes envy, resenting the fact that others have what you don’t. 

God knows, however, that possessions never make anyone happy for long. Since only God can supply all our needs, true contentment is found only in Him. When you begin to covet, try to determine if a more basic need is leading you to envy. For example, you may covet someone’s success, not because you want to take it away from him, but because you would like to feel as appreciated by others as he is. If this is the case, pray that God will help you deal with your resentment and meet your basic needs.

We deceive ourselves when we measure our happiness or contentment in life by the amount of wealth we possess. When we put riches at the top of our value system, we let power, pleasure, and financial security overshadow the eternal value of our relationship with God. We think we will be happy or contented when we get riches, only to discover that they don’t really satisfy, and the pleasures fade away. The true measurement of happiness or contentment is found in God’s love and in doing His will. You will find true happiness if you put your relationship with God above earthly riches.

Are you able to be content (get along happily) in any circumstances you face? In the epistle of the apostle Paul to the believers in Philippi (Philippians 4 vs 10 - 14), he stated his knowledge of how to be content whether he had plenty or whether he was in need. The secret was drawing on Christ’s power for strength. Do you have great needs, or are you discontented because you don’t have what you want? Learn to rely on God’s promises and Christ’s power to help you be content. If you always want more, ask God to remove that desire and teach you contentment in every circumstance. He will supply all your needs, but in a way that He knows is best for you.

However, we should separate our needs from our wants. God knows our needs even before we say it (Matthew 6 vs 32), and has promised to meet them (Philippians 4 vs 19). Your wants are mostly those things you require to feel good, and avoid discomfort or pain. But God never promised that life here on earth "is a bed of roses." Often, our wants are our desires to feel perceived empty places in our lives. But do we really need to feel the empty places? Are they really our needs? The answer lies in our perspective, our priorities, and source of power. We may not get all we want, but surely will get all we need. By trusting in Christ, our attitudes and appetites can change from wanting everything to accepting His provision and power to live for Him.

How can you learn to be content? Strive to live with less rather than desiring more; give away out of your abundance rather than accumulating more; relish what you have rather than resent what you're missing. See God's love expressed in what he has provided, and remember that money and possessions will pass away (First John 2 vs 17). We become content when we realize God's sufficiency for our needs. Christians who become materialistic are saying by their actions that God can't take care of them, or that He won't take care of them the way they want. The only antidote is to trust God to meet all our needs.

Prayer: Abba Father, my sufficiency is in You, and You are able to make all grace abound toward me, that I may have sufficiency in all things. Make me to content in You, abounding in every good work, to live for You now, and live in eternity with You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

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.”