When Obedience Feels Impossible

 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. (Hebrews 11:17)

For many of you right now — and for others of you the time is coming — obedience feels like the end of a dream. You feel that if you do what the word of God or the Spirit of God is calling you to do, it will make you miserable and that there is no way that God could turn it all for good.

Perhaps the command or call of God you hear just now is to stay married or stay single, to stay in that job or leave that job, to get baptized, to speak up at work about Christ, to refuse to compromise your standards of honesty, to confront a person in sin, to venture a new vocation, to be a missionary. And as you see it in your limited mind, the prospect of doing this is terrible — it’s like the loss of Isaac, the only son who can be an heir. 

You have considered every human angle, and it is impossible that it could turn out well.

Now you know what it was like for Abraham. This story is in the Bible for you. 

Do you desire God and his way and his promises more than anything, and do you believe that he can and will honor your faith and obedience by being unashamed to call himself your God, and to use all his wisdom and power and love to turn the path of obedience into the path of life and joy?

That is the crisis you face now: Do you desire him? Will you trust him? The word of God to you is: God is worthy and God is able.

THE LOVE OF THE FATHER SHOULD BE IN YOU!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16 2024.

SUBJECT: THE LOVE OF THE FATHER SHOULD BE IN YOU!

Memory verse: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (First John 2 vs 15.)

READ: John 5 vs 41 - 45:

5:41: I do not receive honor from men. 

5:42: But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.

5:43: I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

5:44: How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor from the only God?

5:45: Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.

INTIMATION:

The love of the Father is unfathomable; the love that gave in exchange an asset of inestimable value for something completely worthless. The love of the Father for the whole world that made Him gave His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ—as a propitiation for us; He sacrificed His life, died a shameful and painful death on the cross to pay the debt we owed (the wages of sin), that we may have life, not just life but abundant life. Whenever I imagined God’s demonstration of His love for me, I always felt a shiver ran through my spine. 

What assurances it gives to the heart when we come to know that the Father loves us so much so that He gave His only Son, in whom He is well pleased, to die in our place for our sins when He knew no sin. He loves us even as He loved Jesus, that He is vitally interested in us as He was in His Son when He walked the earth. 

Jesus revealed the extent of the care and love of the Father for us when He said: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who come to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (John 6 vs 37 - 39).

You and I are in the Father’s will. Jesus said He would not lose even one person whom the Father had given Him. Therefore, anyone who makes a sincere commitment to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior is secured in God’s promise of everlasting life. Jesus will not let His people be overcome by Satan and lose their salvation. Out of the sincere and unparalleled love He has for us, He has promised and we, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1 vs 6).

Jesus Himself is “the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12 vs 2), and He who began a good work in us continues it throughout our lifetime and will finish it when we meet Him face to face. God’s work for us began when Christ died on the cross in our place. His work in us began when we first believed. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ every day. The Christian process of growth and maturity that began when we accepted Jesus, continues until Christ returns.

It’s not unusual to sometimes feel as though you aren’t making progress in your spiritual life, especially when you misstep and fall into sin. Do not condemn yourself when it’s obvious that, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...” (Romans 8 vs 1). Sincerely confess your sin and restore your fellowship with Him, knowing that, “If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (First John 1 vs 9).

When God starts a project, He completes it! God will help you grow in grace until He has completed His work in your life. When you are discouraged, remember that God won’t give up on you. He promises to finish the work He has begun. When you feel incomplete, unfinished, or distressed by your shortcomings, remember God’s promise and provision. Don’t let your present condition rob you of the joy of knowing Christ or keep you from growing closer to Him.

As Christians, the Father’s kind of love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit  Who has been given to us by the Father (Romans 5 vs 5). This love has God as its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments. Also, this love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered; it ought to have no boundaries just as God’s. 

The Father’s kind of love seeks the welfare of all (Romans 15 vs 2), and works no ill to any (Romans 13 vs 8 - 10). It seeks opportunity to do good to all, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith (Galatians 6 vs 10). 

Love is considered something we owe, because we are permanently in debt to Christ for the lavish love He has poured out on us. The only way we can even begin to repay this debt is by fulfilling our obligation to love others in turn. 

Because Christ’s love will always be infinitely greater than ours, we will always have the obligation to love our neighbor. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love; listening, helping, encouraging, giving, and so on. 

Therefore, examine yourselves and gauge the quantum of the love of God in You. What will be your answer when you stand before Him, to a question such as, “My child, how did you use the My love poured out in your heart?” You can start now to prepare your answer in deeds. Hallelujah!

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me the spirit of love, that I may love as You love me and You only begotten Son to die in my stead for my sins, and that I will be a true ambassador of Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Every Calvary Step Was Love

 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16)

The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. 

“When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). 

Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”

Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was.

Look at what Jesus said just after that violent moment when Peter tried to cleave the skull of the servant, but only cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:52–54) 

It is one thing to say that the details of Jesus’s death were predicted in the Old Testament. But it is much more to say that Jesus himself was making his choices precisely to see to it that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. 

That is what Jesus said he was doing in Matthew 26:54. “I could escape this misery, but how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 

In other words, I am not choosing to take the way out that I could take, because I know the Scriptures. I know what must take place for my people to be saved. It is my choice to fulfill all that is predicted of me in the word of God. It is my choice — every step of the way — to love my people to the uttermost. And I want them to feel this. And be utterly secure and free and radically different from the world.

WALK NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2024.

SUBJECT: WALK NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY!

Memory verse: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful." (Psalm 1 vs 1.)

READ: Psalm 1 vs 1 - 3:

1:1: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

1:2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

1:3: He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall proper.

INTIMATION:

Ungodliness is general impiety; lack of reverence for God or religious matters. The ungodly has disregard for, or defiance of God’s laws. They act without reverence for God, not merely irreligious but acting in contravention of God’s demands. Taking counsel from—walking in the counsel of ungodly people—is a no-no for all believers. 

The Scripture does not forbid us to have contacts with unbelievers. Any contacts between believers and unbelievers should be aimed at converting them to Christ. We are encouraged by Christ to befriend sinners and lead them to Him: “Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5 vs 29 - 32).

Unbelievers, in their lifestyle, tolerate and make excuses for bad behavior, and obviously will recommend its practice to others. When a believer takes counsel from such people, they will definitely lure him or her to their side. Such people easily pollute the life of the believer and lead him or her astray. We must befriend unbelievers for the simple good reason of leading them to Christ, but we must be wary of those of them who are viciously evil, immoral, or opposed to all that Christianity stands for. Such people are more likely to influence believers for evil than the believers are to influence them for good. But on no account should counsel be taken from unbelievers by believers.

In the passage we read today, the psalmist was extolling the joys of obeying God and refusing to listen to those who discredit or ridicule Him. Our friends and associates can have a profound influence on us, often in very subtle ways. If we insist on friendships with those who mock what God considers important, we might sin by becoming indifferent to God’s will. 

Those who diligently try to obey God’s will shall be blessed. They are like healthy, fruit-bearing trees planted along a riverbank with strong roots, and God promises to watch over them. God’s wisdom guides their lives. In contrast, those who don’t trust and obey God have meaningless lives that blow away like dust.

The more we delight in obeying God, the more fruitful we are. On the other hand, the more we allow those who ridicule God affect our thoughts and attitudes, the more we separate ourselves from our source of nourishment. We must have contact with unbelievers if we are to witness to them, but we must not join in or imitate their sinful behaviors. If you want to despair, spend time with mocking sinners, but if you want God’s blessing, make friends with those who love God and His Word.

The apostle Paul urges believers in the same manner, saying, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer with an unbeliever?” (Second Corinthians 6 vs 14 - 16).

The apostle Paul urges believers not to form partnerships with unbelievers because such partnership might result in weakening their Christian faith or commitment, integrity, or standards, especially for those who are not strong in faith. He wanted believers to be active in witnessing for Christ to unbelievers, and should not lock themselves into personal or business relationships that could cause them to compromise their faith. Believers should do everything in their power to avoid situations that could force them to divide their loyalties.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace never to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, no matter how wise they may seem to be, that I will compromise my faith in God, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Christ as Means and End

 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Why did God create the universe? And why is he governing it the way he is? What is God achieving? Is Jesus Christ a means to this achievement or the end of the achievement?

Jesus Christ is the supreme revelation of God. He is God in human form. As such, he is the end, not a means. 

The manifestation of the glory of God is the meaning of the universe. This is what God is achieving. The heavens, and the history of the world, are “telling the glory of God.” 

But Jesus Christ was sent to accomplish something that needed doing. He came to remedy the fall. He came to rescue sinners from inevitable destruction because of their sin. These rescued ones will see and savor and display the glory of God with everlasting joy. 

Others will continue to heap scorn on the glory of God. So, Jesus Christ is the means to what God meant to achieve in the manifestation of his glory for the enjoyment of his people. No one would see and savor and celebrate the glory of God apart from the saving work of Christ. The aim of the universe would abort. So, Christ is a means.

But in that accomplishment on the cross, as he died for sinners, Christ revealed the love and righteousness of the Father supremely. This was the apex of the revelation of the glory of God — the glory of his grace.

Therefore, in the very moment of his perfect act as the means of God’s purpose, Jesus became the end of that purpose. He became, in his dying in the place of sinners and his resurrection for their life, the central and supreme revelation of the glory of God.

Christ crucified is therefore both the means and the end of God’s purpose in the universe. 

Without his work, that end — to reveal the fullness of the glory of God for the enjoyment of God’s people — would not have happened. 

And in that very means-work he became the end — the one who forever and ever will be the focus of our worship as we spend eternity seeing and savoring more and more of what he revealed of God when he became a curse for us. 

Jesus is the end for which the universe was made, and the means that makes that end possible to enjoy by justified sinners.

THE LORD'S PASSION FOR US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2024.

SUBJECT: THE LORD'S PASSION FOR US!

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 6 - 11:

5:6: For when we were still 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 someone 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.

5:9: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

5:10: For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

5:11: And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

INTIMATION:

God is filled with compassion and wants us to realize we are loved and cared for. This is one of God's most outstanding and obvious characteristics. The message of the Gospel comes to a focus in His passion for us as is stated, and demonstrated in our memory verse. Here God sets the pattern of true love or passion for others, setting the pattern for all true love relationships. 

When you love someone dearly, you are ready and willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. For His passion, God paid dearly with the life of His Son, the highest price He could pay, and unheard of in history. Jesus accepted wholeheartedly, His propitiation for our sins, accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins on the cross (Ezekiel 18 vs 4 & Romans 6 vs 23). He, in exchange, offered us the new life that He had bought for us. Exchange of something completely worthless (our sinful lives) with something of inestimable value (the life of Jesus Christ—the Son of God).

The apostle Paul, in the passage we read today, expounded the passion of God for us. He explained that when we were weak and helpless because we could do nothing on our own to save ourselves, Christ had to come to rescue us. He came at exactly the right time in history in accordance with God's plan and schedule. It is God that controls all history, and He controlled the timing, method, and events surrounding Jesus' death. God sent Jesus to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us and is passionate about our well being.

The apostle Paul explained that the love that caused God to create the world for an extension of His kingdom, and caused Christ to die in our place, is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us daily. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that saved us and is available to us in our daily lives. 

God is a Passionate Father. In Psalms 103 vs 13 the psalmist reminds us, "As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him." Jesus demonstrated this the day the disciples found themselves on the sea of Galilee, and a storm was brewing, which is typical of the sea of Galilee even today. The boat containing these disciples started to take in water because of the turbulence. When the boat started sinking, the disciples asked the ultimate question, "Lord, don't You care?" Of course He cares!

Many of us have at one time or the other felt like that, "Lord where are You when I really need You?" "God, I'm going under. Don't You care?" But a believer and a child of God will remember the promise found in First Peter 5 vs 7, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you." Does God care about your health? Yes! Does He care about your finances? Yes! What about that relationship that has never become what you hoped it would? Yes, He does care! He cares about the minutest details of your life that even the very hairs of your head are counted. (Matthew 10 vs 30). Though you may not know He cares, rest assured He does.

Be assured that, having begun a life with Christ, you have a reserve power and love to call on each day for help to meet every challenge or trial. Too often, in our spiritual life, although we may need to love God more, there is a much higher need to recognize just how much He loves us. When our relationship is such that we feel God's love and His passion for His children, we naturally begin to love Him more. You can pray for His power and love as you need it.

In Psalms 145 vs 18 the psalmist tells us, "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth." What this means is that He is never too busy for you. When you pray, you will never get busy signal. He hears you and ready to meet your real needs. Jesus had a very special term He used to describe the personal and passionate nature of God. He called Him, "Abba." The word Abba is an Aramaic word used to describe the most intimate, personal nature of a father. He is never too busy for you. He is never more concerned about a crisis in one individual than another. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for Your passion for me. You have daily loaded me with Your benefits, always forgiving me my iniquities, healing me all my diseases, redeeming my life from destruction, satisfying my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's, and crowning me with loving kindness and tender mercies. May I not miss my path in You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Perfect City

 He has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

No pollution, no graffiti, no trash, no peeling paint or rotting garages, no dead grass or broken bottles, no harsh street talk, no in-your-face confrontations, no domestic strife or violence, no dangers in the night, no arson or lying or stealing or killing, no vandalism, and no ugliness. 

The city of God will be perfect, because God will be in it. He will walk in it and talk in it and manifest himself in every part of it. All that is good and beautiful and holy and peaceful and true and happy will be there, because God will be there. 

Perfect justice will be there and recompense a thousandfold for every pain suffered in obedience to Christ in this world. And it will never deteriorate. In fact, it will shine brighter and brighter as eternity stretches out into unending ages of increasing joy.

When you desire this city above everything else on the earth, then you honor God, who, according to Hebrews 11:10, is the designer and builder of the city. And when God is honored, he is pleased and not ashamed to be called your God.