BACKSLIDING

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 14, 2024.

SUBJECT : BACKSLIDING!

Memory verse: "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10 vs 29.)

READ: Hebrews 6 vs 4 - 8:

6:4: For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Ghost,

6:5: and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,

6:6: If they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

6:7: For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;

6:8: but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

INTIMATION:

Falling away from faith in Christ—backsliding—is disgraceful. Backsliding, in the context of our discussion, is falling back to sin. When people, after receiving the Good News, and Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, deliberately return to evil ways, is abominable. It is refusing the freedom that comes from knowing the truth. For Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8 vs 32.) 

The Scripture describes such as a foolish act of one repeating his folly, just as a dog returns to his own vomit (See Proverbs 26 vs 11).

Jesus gave an analogy of the backsliding scenario, He said, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of the man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11 vs 24 - 26.)

In the passage of the Scripture above, Jesus was illustrating the unfortunate human tendency of backsliding. In many people the desire to reform often does not last long. They are lured by the fantasy of their old worldly ways. Consequently, Satan draws them back to the world, and their last state is worse than the first—prior to accepting Jesus Christ.

It’s not enough to be emptied of evil, we must then be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s new purpose in our lives. Just cleaning up one’s life without filling it with God leaves plenty of room for Satan to enter. Ridding our lives of sin is the first step. We must also take the second step: filling our lives with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Unfilled and complacent people are easy targets for Satan.

In like manner, the apostle Peter analyzing backsliding says, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ”A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” (Second Peter 2 vs 20 - 22.) 

The apostle Peter was speaking of people who have learned about Christ and how to be saved but then reject the truth and return to their sin. These people are worse off than before because they have rejected the only way out of sin, the only way of salvation. It is like someone sinking in quicksand who refuses to grab the rope thrown to him or her. When you reject Christ’s offer of salvation, you reject God’s most precious gift. You ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit, the one who communicates to us God’s saving love. 

There is no other acceptable sacrifice for sin than the death of Christ on the cross. If someone deliberately rejects the sacrifice of Christ after clearly understanding the gospel teaching about it, then there is no way for that person to be saved, because God has not provided any other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them (See Acts 4 vs 12).

The sacrifice of Christ is tied with the Holy Spirit; therefore, to scorn Christ’s sacrifice is to insult the Holy Spirit by arrogantly rejecting Him. The Holy Spirit is a person, not just a force or influence. To reject him is to cut off the means of God’s acceptance. This is equivalent to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; the only sin that cannot be forgiven men (See Matthew 12 vs 31 - 32). 

Prayer: Abba Father, by my strength I cannot prevail. Endue me with the spirit of absolute commitment to following Christ that I may not return to my past worldly ways, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How Much God Wants to Bless You

 “The Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9)

God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6). It’s what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” 

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another. 

We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does.

That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.

Who Killed Jesus?

 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) 

One of my friends who used to be a pastor in Illinois was preaching to a group of prisoners in a state prison during Holy Week several years ago. At one point in his message, he paused and asked the men if they knew who killed Jesus. 

Some said the soldiers did. Some said the Jews did. Some said Pilate. After there was silence, my friend said simply, “His Father killed him.” 

That’s what the first half of Romans 8:32 says: God did not spare his own Son but handed him over — to death. “This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). Isaiah 53 puts it even more bluntly, “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God. . . . It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he (his Father!) has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:4, 10).

Or as Romans 3:25 says, “God put [him] forward as a propitiation by his blood.” Just as Abraham lifted the knife over the chest of his son Isaac, but then spared his son because there was a ram in the thicket, so God the Father lifted his knife over the chest of his own Son, Jesus — but did not spare him, because he was the ram; he was the substitute.

God did not spare his own Son, because it was the only way he could spare us and still be a just and holy God. The guilt of our transgressions, the punishment of our iniquities, the curse of our sin would have brought us inescapably to the destruction of hell. But God did not spare his own Son; he gave him up to be pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities, and crucified for our sins. 

This verse — Romans 8:32 — is the most precious verse in the Bible to me because the foundation of the all-encompassing promise of God’s future grace is that the Son of God bore in his body all my punishment and all my guilt and all my condemnation and all my blame and all my fault and all my corruption, so that I might stand before a great and holy God, forgiven, reconciled, justified, accepted, and the beneficiary of unspeakable promises of pleasure forever and ever at his right hand.

WHEN GOD IS WITH YOU!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JUNE 13, 2024.

SUBJECT : WHEN GOD IS WITH YOU!

Memory verse: "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." (Genesis 50 vs 20.)

READ: Genesis 37 vs 26 - 28;  45 vs 5 - 8:

37:26: So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother, and conceal his blood?

37:27: Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers listened.

37:28: Then Midianites traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

45:5: But now, do not therefore be grieved, nor angry with yourselves because you sold me here: for God sent me before you to preserve life.

45:6: For these two years the famine has been in the land; and there are still five years, in the which there will  be neither plowing nor harvesting.

45:7: And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

45:8: So now it was not you who sent me here, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

INTIMATION:

People get into problems of various kinds in life. Some of the problems are caused by ourselves, some are caused by some externalities we have no control over, and yet some are planned against us by others. Some problems ensue after a careful planning, some by occurrence of natural disasters, and some out of jealousy and wickedness of others. In all these things losses of all kinds may abound along the line. But if God is with you, they turn at last to be for our own good, and necessary pathways planned by God to actualize His predetermined purposes.

The pathways of children of God are determined and ordered by Him. The prophet Jeremiah says, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who  walks to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10 vs 23.) God is involved in our lives. At times the path of the righteous doesn’t seem smooth, and it isn’t easy to do God’s Will, but we are never alone when we face tough times. God is there to help us, to comfort us, and lead us. God does this by giving us a purpose (keeping our mind centered on Him) and making provisions for us as we go along. Also God gives us wisdom to make decisions and faith to trust Him. He also, provides us with relationships of family, friends, and mentors. 

We are often confused by the events around us. But for a child of God, many things we will never understand will fall into place in years to come as we look back and see how God was working. Therefore, you should not worry if you don’t understand everything as it happens. Instead, you should trust that God knows what He Is doing, even if His timing or design is not clear to you. Remember, the end is known to Him from the beginning!

The psalmist says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in His way. Though he fall, He shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds Him with His hand.” (Psalm 37 vs 23 - 24.) The person in whom God delights is one who follows God, trusts Him, and tries to do His Will. God watches over the person and makes firm every step that he or she takes. If you will like to have God your way, then seek His advice before you step out.

Instances abound where people planned evil against another good person, and eventually God turned the evil in the long run to good for the victim. In the passage we read today, Joseph’s bothers planned to eliminate him out of jealousy and hatred. Although they didn’t kill him outright, but they wouldn’t expect him to survive for long as a slave. They were quite willing to let cruel slave traders do their dirty work for them. Joseph faced a 30-day journey through the desert, probably chained, and journeyed on foot. He would be treated like baggage and once in Egypt, would be sold as a piece of merchandise. His brothers thought they would never see him again. But God was in control of Joseph’s life and had other plans.

Although Joseph’s brothers had wanted to get rid of him, God used even their evil actions to fulfill His ultimate plan. He had sent Joseph ahead to preserve their lives, save Egypt, and prepare the way for the beginning of the nation of Israel. God is sovereign. His plans are not dictated by human actions. When others intend evil toward you, as a child of God, just know that they are only God’s tools. As Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” 

The Scripture says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8 vs 28.) God brought good from the brother’s evil deed, Potiphar’s wife’s false accusation, the butler’s neglect, and seven years of famine. The experiences in Joseph’s life taught him that God brings good from evil for those who put their trust in Him. Do you trust God enough to wait patiently for Him to bring good out of bad situations? You can trust him because, as Joseph learned, God can overrule people’s evil intentions to bring about His intended results.

Prayer: Abba Father, I am persuaded that in all situations You are my God, my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. My absolute faith and trust are in You. Let whatever that will make me lose Your leading never come my way, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Prayer against Stagnation

 Today we are praying against devilish instrument called "Stagnation" 

We are going to pray with God's word because all things were created by God's word. John1:1-2.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Every yoke of stagnancy operating in my life, break by fire, in the name of Jesus.

2. Every witchcraft power working against my progress, die, in Jesus name.

3. Satanic cobwebs from my father’s house, mother’s house or from my household, catch fire, in Jesus name.

4. My tied hands in the realm of the spirit, be loosed out, in the name of Jesus.

5. The blood of Jesus shall flow through the work of my hands, in the name of Jesus.

6. All my glories that are under satanic torment, now arise and locate me, in Jesus name

7. Every generational curse of eating from hand to mouth, break by fire, in Jesus name

8. I break the monitoring spirit of poverty around my life, in the name of Jesus.

9. Any man or woman assigned to pull me down from my ladder of greatness, die, in Jesus name.

10. Every evil pattern of loss, break by fire, in the name of Jesus.

11. Every evil load upon my life, I shake you out, in the name of Jesus.

12. The anointing of, GO SLOW, upon my life, expire, in the name of Jesus.

13. Every power that wants me to forget the day of my blessings, scatter by fire, in Jesus name

14. Powers planted in my childhood to trouble my future, hear the word of the Lord, die, in Jesus name

15. Spirit of procrastination, die, in Jesus name.

16. I bind the evil power of stagnation in my life, in Jesus name

17. Any power assigned to make me sleep a sleep of regret, go back to the sender, in Jesus name.

18. I will not be a slave to others in Jesus name.

19. The prayers of my enemies will not work over my life, in Jesus name

20. O God arise and let my head be lifted up, in Jesus name.

Help My Unbelief

 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3)

In the context of this verse, Paul is concerned that people were thinking of themselves “more highly than [they] ought to think.” His final remedy for this pride is to say that not only are spiritual gifts a work of God’s free grace in our lives, but so also is the very faith with which we use those gifts. “. . . each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

This means that every possible ground of boasting is taken away from us. How can we boast if even the qualification for receiving gifts is also a gift?

This truth has a profound impact on how we pray. Jesus gives us the example in Luke 22:31–32. Before Peter denies him three times Jesus says to him, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 

Jesus prays for Peter’s faith to be sustained even through the sin of denial, because he knows that God is the one who gives faith. So we should pray the way Jesus did — for ourselves and for others that God would sustain our faith. 

Thus, the man with the epileptic son cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). This is a good prayer. It acknowledges that without God we cannot believe as we ought to believe.

Let us pray daily, “O Lord, thank you for my faith. Sustain it. Strengthen it. Deepen it. Don’t let it fail. Make it the power of my life, so that in everything I do, you get the glory as the great Giver. Amen.”

THE NEED OF PATIENCE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY JUNE 12, 2024.

SUBJECT : THE NEED OF PATIENCE!

Memory verse: "For you have need of patience, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise."  (Hebrews 10 vs 36.)

READ: Hebrews 10 vs 32 - 36:

10:32: But recall the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:

10:33: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations; and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;

10:34: for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and enduring possessions for yourselves in heaven.

10:35: Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

10:36: For you have need of patience, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

INTIMATION:

Patience is the quality of being able calmly to endure suffering, toil, delay, vexation, or any similar condition. Patience is a divine virtue or spiritual fruit. It can be simply defined as “waiting without complaint.” And it is listed as one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5 vs 22 - 23). It perfects Christian character. Fellowship in the patience of Christ is therefore, the condition upon which believers are to be admitted to reign with Him. For in this patience believers are ‘strengthened with all power,’ through His Spirit in the inward man.’

Hence the Lord teaches us to love as God loves, and to be patient as Christ is patient.

The Scripture we read today encourages believers to persevere in the Christian faith and conduct when facing persecution and pressure. We don’t usually think of suffering as good for us, but it can build our character and our patience. During times of great stress, we may feel God’s presence more clearly and find help from Christians we never thought would care. Knowing that Jesus is with us in our suffering and that He will return one day to put an end to all pain helps us grow in our faith and our relationship with Him.

When faced with a difficult decision, don’t allow impatience to drive you to disobey God. When you know what God wants, follow His plan regardless of the consequences. God often uses delay to test our obedience and patience. Trusting God when nothing seems to happen is difficult. But it is harder still to live with the consequences of taking matters into our own hands. Resist the temptation to think God has forgotten you. Have patience and courage to wait for God to act.

The Scripture abounds with those who through patience obtained the promise. For instance, David did not become king over all Israel until he was 37 years old, although he had been promised the kingdom many years earlier (First Samuel 16 vs 13). During those years, David had to wait patiently for the fulfillment of God’s promise. If you feel pressured to achieve instant results and success, remember David’s patience. Just as his time of waiting prepared him for his important task, a waiting period may help you by strengthening your character.

Although God promises to reward our good deeds, we sometimes feel our “payoff” is too far away or delayed. Be patient. God steps in when it will do the most good. In the Book of Esther, Mordecai had exposed a plot to assassinate Ahasuerus—thus, he had saved the king’s life (Esther 2 vs 21 - 23). Although the good deed was recorded in the history books, Mordecai had gone unrewarded. But God was saving Mordecai’s reward for the right time. Just as Haman was about to hang him unjustly, the king was ready to give the reward. 

Misfortunes are designed to build virtues in us, and among the virtues gained through difficulty is patience. That family member or work associate who annoys you is God's gift to you to build your patience. If you're stuck with a job you don't like, and you can't find any other work, then God is building your patience. Each nuisance, long wait, affliction, every mosquito bite, traffic jam, and body ache in the life of the Christian raises his or her threshold of tolerance ever so much. Even tedious sermons and difficult reading (perhaps including what you are enduring right now!) can make you a more patient person.

So through the daily grind, the Christian grows morally, improving in virtue through various experiences that he might not even consider morally relevant, much less significant. But we who affirm the sovereignty of God shouldn't be surprised by this moral growth through even incidentals, for we believe God is always at work in the details, moving always to bring us into closer conformity to His image (Romans 8 vs 28).

This is why the apostle James says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1 vs 2 - 4.) It has been said that nothing teaches like experience. To some degree this is true of the virtues. Pain and suffering teach us endurance and empathy. The experience of mercy and forgiveness incline us to be more merciful and forgiving. We gain moral maturity each day precisely because each day brings some difficulty that we must overcome. Like it or not, we persevere, and we are morally the better for it. 

Prayer: Abba Father, let the virtue of patience be developed in me by the working of the Holy Spirit, that I may be strengthened in the inner man to persevere in Christ to the end, and obtain the promise, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!