MAKING FAITH WORK - APRIL 23

 MAKING FAITH WORK - APRIL 23

Luke 8:46, "And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me."

LUKE 8:43-48

Is it possible that Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh, and therefore all-knowing, did not actually know who touched Him? Yes! Although Jesus' spiritual man was divine, He took upon Himself a physical body with its limitations. Jesus drew on His divine ability through the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and so can we (Jn. 14:12; 1 Cor. 12:7). Before His resurrection, He operated as a man (sinless) by receiving from His Father through faith. Luke 8:47 says that the woman "saw that she was not hid." It is evident that Jesus received a word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit and had singled out this woman. However, this was after He felt the power of God flow out of Him and heal her. The woman was healed before He discerned her by the law of faith.

The law of electricity has been here on earth since creation. Man has observed it in such things as lightning and static electricity, but it was not until someone believed that there were laws that governed the activity of electricity that progress began to be made in putting it to use. Likewise, you don't deny the existence of faith, but it is only when you begin to understand that there are laws that govern faith, and begin to learn what those laws are, that faith will begin to work for you.

SAVED FOR GOOD WORKS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY APRIL 23, 2024.

SUBJECT: SAVED FOR GOOD WORKS! 

Memory verse: "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2 vs 14.)

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 4 - 10: 

2:4: But God, who is rich in mercy, because for His great love with which He loved us,

2:5: even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved;)

2:6: and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 

2:7: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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

2:9: not of works, lest anyone 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:

Christians are saved and became Christ followers through God’s unmerited grace, not as the result of any effort, ability, intelligent choice, or act of service on their part. However, out of gratitude for this free gift of salvation, Christians seek to do good works; helping and serving others with kindness, love, and gentleness. While no action or work we do can help us obtain salvation, God’s intention is that our salvation will result in acts of service and good works. We have been created anew in Christ by obedience to the gospel. We have been so created, not by good works, but for good works. 

The Christ follower owes all that he is to God who gave him a reason for transforming his thinking and life (Romans 12 vs 1 - 2). Through the manifestation of God’s grace, Christ followers have been driven by faith to conform their lives to the will of God. They do good works in thanksgiving to the grace of God (Second Corinthians 4 vs 15). The Christ follower is not saved by works of merit that he or she has devised according to his or her own desires. They are saved for the purpose that God might work through them. Therefore, they do good works in response to what God has done for them. 

It is our works that manifest our response to the grace of God. The good works are indications of our thankful response to God for His gift of grace. It is noteworthy that final judgement will be based on our deeds because they proclaim what sort of heart is within us. When we realize how far God had to send His Son in order to redeem us from condemnation, we respond with a life of thanksgiving. Our good works, therefore, are works of thanksgiving, not works of merit. We should continue to believe in God in order to maintain good works. Our remaining in doing good works manifest our belief in God and appreciation for His grace.

While good works can’t save us or even increase God’s love for us, they are true indications of our faith and love for Christ. Discipleship for Christ followers is not optional, but a requirement. Every believer should be involved in good works. In carrying out good works, Christ followers will develop a solid spiritual foundation of a good character that is fit for eternal dwelling. Good works manifest the goodness of one’s heart. We therefore, judge ourselves by our works, for it is by our works that we manifest our hearts (Second Corinthians 5 vs 10). 

Christ followers are the light of the world, and their light should shine before everyone that when they observe or see their lights, which is their good works, the will glorify our Father in heaven. If we live for Christ, we will glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like. Christ followers must behave with integrity among the unbelievers in whose presence they live. They must behave in a way that presents hope to others. In doing this, they influence others for good, and also bring glory to God. If your actions are above reproach, even hostile people will end up praising God. Gracious, godly, and winsome behavior on the part Christ followers could even win some of the unsaved souls to the Lord. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for Your free gift of salvation to me. Give me the grace to represent Christ appropriately in good works, that they will see my good works and glorify You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE LAW OF FAITH - APRIL 22

 THE LAW OF FAITH - APRIL 22

Luke 8:45, "And Jesus said, 'Who touched me?' When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, 'Master, the multitude throng thee, and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?'"

MATTHEW 9:18-20; MARK 5:21-34; LUKE 8:40-48

The multitudes were thronging Jesus. That is, they were compressing, and crowding in on all sides, so it seems strange that He would ask, "Who touched me?" Many people were physically touching Jesus, but this woman touched His power by faith. Many people in the crowd probably needed healing, but this person is the only one mentioned who received. The difference was the touch of faith.

If it was simply Jesus' willingness to heal that determined whether or not the healing took place, then all of the sick in this multitude would have been healed. This instance illustrates that it's not prayer that saves the sick, but rather the prayer of faith that saves the sick (Jas. 5:15).

Healing is governed by law and not by a case by case decision from God based on His feelings toward us. This woman received her healing by the law of faith before Jesus knew anything about her. Impassioned pleas to God will not obtain the miracle we seek. Although Jesus is touched by our feelings, it requires faith. It's not because Jesus doesn't know our needs or hear our cries that miracles don't happen, but rather it's because very few know how the law of faith works.

One of the main differences between a God-kind of faith and a natural, human faith, which everyone has, is that human faith believes only what it can see, taste, hear, smell, or feel. God's kind of faith believes in things that cannot be seen. You must believe that you receive your answer "when you pray" - not when you see the thing you've desired. Simply put, faith is our response to God's ability, made complete by our actions. Trust Him completely and, because you believe, your actions 

will follow.

GIVING THANKS IN WORSHIP!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY APRIL 22, 2024.

SUBJECT: GIVING THANKS IN WORSHIP! 

Memory verse: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;" (Philippians 4 vs 6.) 

READ: Psalm 69 vs 30; 100 vs 4; Colossians 2 vs 6 - 7; 4 vs 2:

Psalm 69:30: I will praise the name of the LORD with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

100:4: Enter into His gate with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name.

Colossians 2:6: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 

2:7: rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

4:2: Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

INTIMATION:

The Christian works in thanksgiving for what God has done through His grace, acknowledging God’s goodness, which expresses your faith and confidence in Him. There is no powerful living apart from a life of thanksgiving which, of course, is the will of God for us.The Christian is zealous in the Lord because of his or her salvation that has come from the Lord through the offering of His Son Jesus Christ as a propitiation for our sins. Prayer and petitions (supplication) are to be made in a spirit of thanking God for all that He has done in our lives. When one truly understands the grace of God, He or she will respond in thanksgiving for all that God has done through Jesus. 

God desires an attitude of thanksgiving, not just an act of it. Thanksgiving is an application for more. Being thankful for all the things He has done and is doing in your life is a pathway to receiving your petitions from Him. Therefore, when you have petitioned God for something, immediately begin to thank Him in trust and confidence that the thing you have asked for is on the way coming. The apostle Paul counseled all believers to give thanks in everything; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for them (First Thessalonians 5 vs 18.)

The apostle Paul lived a life of thankfulness to God and preached the same to all believers. In some of the passages we read today, his counsel on thanksgiving, as an integral part of worship, is clearly expressed. In our memory verse (Philippians 4 vs 6), the apostle Paul counsels all believers to be thankful for what we ask in prayer, and to continuously be thankful and grateful for what He has already done in the past, what He is doing now, and what He is going to do in the future, including answer to your petition. 

Jesus, our Messiah and perfect example, lived a life of thankfulness during His earthly ministry. He knows the power of thanksgiving when communing with the Father, and gave thanks to the Father always. For example; He gave thanks to God when He broke the seven loaves and fishes and fed the four thousand (Matthew 15 vs 36). He gave thanks to God when He took the five loaves and two fishes and fed five thousand (John 6 vs 11). He also thanked God for hearing Him at the tomb of the dead Lazarus (John 11 vs 41). And He gave thanks to God when He gave the bread and wine to His disciples at the Lord’s Supper.(Mark 14 vs 22 - 23).

Thanksgiving magnifies the Name of the LORD (Psalm 69 vs 30), and opens the gate of the court of the LORD (Psalm 100 vs 4). It also, multiplies what we have received (Second Corinthians 9 vs 12). For instance, when Jesus lifted up the bread and fishes and gave thanks it multiplied severally and thousands were fed by the meal of a child. Also, the power of thanksgiving in prayer helps us abound in Christ, drawing our life-giving strength from Him (Colossians 2 vs 7). The more we draw our strength from Him, the less we are fooled by those who falsely claim to have the answers to life’s problems. If Christ is our strength we will be free from human regulations.

This kind of lifestyle of thankfulness is an evidence of a grateful heart. If a person is grateful for what he already has, it is an indication that the individual is mature enough to receive other blessings. But if a person is always complaining about what he has now, why should the Lord bother to give him anything else to crab and gripe about When we realize how far God had to send His Son in order to redeem us from condemnation, we respond with a life of thanksgiving. Our good works, therefore, are works of thanksgiving, not works of merit. Christians are motivated because of what they already have in Christ. 

Prayer: Abba Father, there is none like You. Your steadfastness never seizes, and Your mercies never come to an end. Your compassion never fails. I will forever remain thankful to You for all Your great and wondrous works in my life. What You cannot do for me let it remain undone, and what You cannot give me may I never have it, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

LOVE AND TRUST - APRIL 21

 LOVE AND TRUST - APRIL 21

Matthew 9:18, "While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live."

MATTHEW 9:18-19

Jesus could have healed this girl by His spoken word, but He did as He was requested to do. This illustrates how the Lord ministers to us according to our faith. Jesus ministered to him at the level where his faith was and didn't rebuke his little faith (Jas. 1:5).

There is a human faith which is limited to believing only what we can perceive through our five senses. But the supernatural, God kind of faith goes beyond what we can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. God's kind of faith calls those things which be not as though they already were.

We exercise faith almost daily in such things as sitting on a chair and driving a car. But our faith is no better than the object in which it is placed. If I were to sit in a chair made of cardboard, I would go crashing to the ground. Regardless of how much faith I had, my faith would fall flat because the object of my faith was faulty. Hebrews 12:2, tells us that we are to be "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." We must transfer our faith from human self reliance and independence, to reliance upon, adherence to, and trust upon Jesus Christ in all areas of our lives. Faith, in its simplest definition, is to trust, to rely, and to depend upon the resource of another. God's Word declares that the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, can never fail or disappoint us.

Love produces faith, or is what makes faith work. We naturally trust those who we know truly love us. A revelation of God's unconditional love for us will make faith just naturally abound in us. Are you struggling with faith? You have a deficiency in understanding how much God loves you. Let Him reveal His love to you today.

SURVIVING SATANIC ATTACK!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 21, 2024.

SUBJECT: SURVIVING SATANIC ATTACK!

Memory verse: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (First Peter 5 vs 8.)

READ: Ephesians 6 vs 10 - 18:

6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

6:11: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

6:12: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.

6:13: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

6:14: Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness,

6:15: and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

6:16: above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 

6:17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 

6:18: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. 

INTIMATION:

The Christian’s struggle is not against the physical things of this world. The struggle is a spiritual battle against the deceptive devices of Satan who seeks to change the moral values of those who are willing to live according to their own desire as opposed to the Will of God. 

The source of all evil that is seen in the world is Satan and his demonic forces that are at work in order to destroy the work of God through Jesus. Beneath the surface of the routine of daily life, is a fierce struggle among invisible spiritual powers constantly being waged. 

In Christian life we battle against “principalities” and “powers”—the powerful evil forces of fallen angels (demons) headed by the devil, who is a vicious fighter. They are not mere fantasies—they are real. We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. When we believe in Christ, these beings become our enemies, and they try every device to turn us away from Him and back to sin. To withstand their attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of His armor. As you do battle against “the rulers of darkness of this age,” fight in the strength of the power that comes from the Holy Spirit. 

Satan is constantly scheming to deceive the innocent. His deceptive influences are presented to the saints of God through every means. If one is not conscious of the fact that Satan is continually scheming to deceive the righteous, then he will not be vigilant against apostasy. We need supernatural power to defeat Satan, and God has provided this by giving us His Holy Spirit within us and His armor surrounding us. Although we are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ returns, because Satan is constantly battling against all who are on the Lord’s side. 

Christians should first put the truth of God in their hearts by believing and living the truth—God’s Word. They should do such in order that they be transformed into the strong character of Jesus, as well as be able to identify and stand against all that is error and morally wrong. Now, just as the breastplate in the soldier’s armor protects the vital organs of the soldier, Christians’ life in the Will of God protects the vital spiritual life of the Christian. 

It is upon the foundation of the historical event of the gospel that Christians maintain emotional, mental, and spiritual stability. It is the fact of the death of Jesus for our sins and His resurrection for our hope that we can have peace of mind and confidence that Jesus has all things under control for the sake of the Christian. 

The faith of the Christian functions as a shield to ward off the attacks of doubt, discouragement, and despair. The Scripture in First John 5 vs 4 says, “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.” As the shield protects the soldier’s body against the attacks of the enemy, the faith of the Christian functions in like manner. By increasing faith through the study of the word of God (Romans 10 vs 17), the Christian is able to stand against the deceptions of Satan. Every temptation that Satan may throw against the Christian can be stopped by truth that is learned through a study of God’s Word. 

The assurance of salvation of the Christian that is based, not on their works, but in the grace of God through Jesus Christ, protects him or her against the wiles of the devil, just as the helmet protects the head which is the center of reference of the body, and the soldier can confidently keep his head high in order to engage the enemy in battle. The Christian uses the word of the Spirit to attack the enemy of deception and also defend himself against being deceived. 

It is the responsibility of every Christian to arm himself or herself with a knowledge of the word of God in order not to be tossed to and fro in a world of turbulent religious deceptions. One must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (Second Peter 3 vs 18). 

Christians should maintain a lifestyle that lends itself to prayer. It is through prayer that not only the inward man is strengthened, but also the work of God is called upon by the believers to function in their lives. How can one pray at all times? One way is to make quick, brief prayers your habitual response to every situation you meet throughout the day. 

Another way is to order your life around God’s desires and teachings so that your very life becomes a prayer. You don’t have to isolate yourself from other people and from daily work in order to pray constantly. You can make prayer your life, and your life prayer, while living in a world that needs God’s powerful influence. 

The following guidelines can help you prepare for and survive satanic attacks: (1) Take the threat of spiritual attack seriously; (2) pray for strength and help from God; (3) study the Bible to recognize Satan’s style and tactics; (4) memorize Scripture so it will be a source of help no matter where you are; (5) associate with those who speak the truth; and (6) practice what you are taught by sound spiritual leaders. 

There is no power that Satan may have that can break through the armor of God which the Christian exercises in his or her life (Romans 8 vs 37 - 39).

Prayer: Abba Father, prepare me a soldier of Christ, constantly putting on Your whole armor for my daily spiritual battle against the devil and his cohorts, that I will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GOD LIKES US - APRIL 20

GOD LIKES US - APRIL 20

Mark 5:19, "Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."

MARK 5:18-20

One of the ways God's goodness is revealed is through His mercy. We may describe mercy as "the readiness of God to relieve the misery of fallen creatures." Many times, mercy is called compassion or lovingkindness. It is expressed toward the sinner because of the misery that sin has brought upon him.

God's mercy to the believer is revealed by His taking away the misery of sin's consequences through the New Covenant of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy is not something merited or earned, but as the Apostle Paul states, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to HIS MERCY He saved us."

Our Heavenly Father is the author, originator, and source of all mercy.

"Mercy is condescending love, reaching out to meet a need without considering the merit of the person who receives the aid" (Expository Dictionary of Bible Words [EDBW]).

"Even when we were spiritually dead because of our sins, God's forbearance was working on our behalf. He was tolerant, patient and kind towards us. God abounded in excessive proportion with good will, compassion, and desire to help us. His disposition was kind, compassionate, and forgiving in His treatment of us. He wanted in abundant supply to alleviate our distress and bring relief from our sins. He did this by giving us life in place of death. It was with Christ that this salvation was secured. By grace, kindness, and favor we are saved. All of this was the result of God's extremely large degree of love wherewith He loved us, always seeking the welfare and betterment of us. God likes us"