How to Repay God

 How to Repay God

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord. (Psalm 116:12–14)

The very use of the language “rendering to God for all his benefits to me” makes me nervous. Payback can so easily imply that grace is like a mortgage. It’s really generous, but you have to pay it back.

Paul said in Acts 17:25, God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” In other words, you can’t give anything to God or do anything for God that he hasn’t first given to you and done for you.

You see this again in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” So none of our work can ever be a payment to God, because the very work is another gift from God. With every deed we do for God we go deeper into debt to grace.

So in Psalm 116 what keeps the paying of vows free from the dangers of being treated like a debt payment is that the “payment” is, in reality, not an ordinary payment, but another act of receiving which magnifies the ongoing grace of God. It does not magnify our resourcefulness.

The psalmist’s answer to his own question, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits?” is, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” In other words, I call on the Lord to fill the cup. To pay back the Lord means to go on receiving from the Lord so that the Lord’s inexhaustible goodness will be magnified.

Lifting up the cup of salvation signifies taking the Lord’s satisfying salvation in hand and drinking it and expecting more. We know this because of the next phrase: “I will . . . call on the name of the Lord.” I will call for more help. What shall I render to God for graciously answering my call? Answer: I shall call again. I will render to God the praise and the tribute that he is never in need of me, but is always overflowing with benefits when I need him (which I always do).

Then the psalmist says, in the third place, “I will pay my vows to the Lord.” But how will they be paid? They will be paid by holding up the cup of salvation and by calling on the Lord. That is, they will be paid by faith in the promise that more grace — all-sufficient grace — is always on the way.

WHAT REAL LOVE IS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 08, 2024.

SUBJECT: WHAT REAL LOVE IS! 

Memory verse: "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (First Peter 4 vs 8.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 4 - 8:

13:4: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

13:5: does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

13:6: does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

INTIMATION: 

Real love is as strong as death. It cannot be killed by time or disaster and cannot be bought for any price because it is freely given. Love is priceless, and even the richest king cannot buy it. Love must be accepted as a gift from God and then shared within the guidelines God provides. Strive to make your love a reflection of the perfect love that comes from God. 

In the passage we read today, there are fifteen qualities explained here concerning the nature of real love. These are qualities that are manifested in one’s relationship with his fellow man. In this case, this should be the nature of the Christians’ relationship with one another in their behavior as disciples of Jesus. 

The apostle Paul personifies love as one who manifests specific characteristics. He states as follows: (1) Love suffers long; it patiently endures the weaknesses of others. Love is not quick to discard a relationship simply because of a disagreement. (2) Love is kind; it does not portray harsh attitude with one’s brother or spouse. Through kindness, love actively works toward the benefit of all those with whom it comes into contact.

(3) Love does not envy; it is not jealous over the accomplishments of others, nor does it seek for the possessions of others. It will thus build up and not tear down. (4) Love does not parade or exalt itself; it does not push itself forward in order to be recognized, but is willing to humbly work in the background of the crowd in order to exalt others. Love does not work in order to draw attention to itself. (5) Love is not puffed up; it is not prideful or arrogant, and thus, does not insist on having its own way or consider itself better than others. It does not exalt itself above others. It does not lift itself up by knocking others down.

(6) Love does not behave rudely; it does not behave in a manner that manifests little consideration for others. Love does not ignore the person of others for the sake of exalting itself. (6) Love does not seek its own; it does not like to be first. It does not seek to have its own way by ignoring the thoughts and dreams of others. (7) Love is not easily provoked; it does not easily lose its temper when something either goes wrong or is said that will generate anger. Love doesn’t react to disagreeable situations with rage or anger, but responds with calmness and gentleness.

(8) Love thinks no evil; it does not search for evil in the lives of others. Love does not search for evil in other to destroy its enemies by slanderous character assassination. Love realizes that one’s perceptions of others is usually based on wrong information. Love thus assumes the sincerity of others without questioning the motives of others. (9) Love does not rejoice in iniquity; it does not take pleasure in finding sin or failures in the lives of others. It does not rejoice when another sins or makes a mistake. It does not exalt itself above others by pointing out the mistakes of others.

(10) Love rejoices in the truth; it seeks truth and not evil. Love is identified in the one who searches for truth and not evil in the lives of others. (11) Love bears all things; when things become difficult, love does not cease to work. Without retaliation, love endures malicious slander that is spoken against it. When one is sinned against, love forbears without retaliation. (12) Love believes all things; it believes and seeks the good in all situations and people, and thus hopes for the best. Love is positive about life, and not negative.

(13) Love hopes all things; it believes that all things are working together for the good of the Christian. Love believes that the best is yet to be. (14) Love endures all things; because love believes that all things are working together for good, it looks on the positive side of things when things seem to go wrong. Love is always confident about the future. (15) Love never fails; true love never quits though things may go wrong. Love never quits in the face of trials, discouragements, persecutions, and temptations, 

Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are love, and I know You. Your love has been poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit You gave to me. My utmost heart desire is to love like You. Endue me with Your excellent spirit of love that I may love like You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God-Given Foes and God-Given Faith

 God-Given Foes and God-Given Faith

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . not frightened in anything by your opponents. . . . For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. (Philippians 1:27–29)

Paul told the Philippians that living worthy of the gospel of Christ meant fearlessness before enemies. Then he gave the logic of fearlessness.

The logic is this: God has given you two gifts, not just one — faith and suffering. That’s what verse 29 says. “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” Granted to you to believe, and granted to you to suffer.

In this context that means: Both your faith in the face of suffering, and your suffering are gifts of God. When Paul says, don’t be frightened by your opponents, he had two reasons in his mind why they don’t need to be frightened:

One reason is that the opponents are in the hand of God. Their opposition is a gift from God. He governs it. That’s the first point of verse 29.

And the other reason not to be afraid is that your fearlessness, that is, your faith, is also in the hand of God. It too is a gift. That is the other point of verse 29.

So the logic of fearlessness in the face of adversity is this double truth: Both your adversity and your faith in the face of adversity are gifts of God.

Why is this called living “worthy of the gospel of Christ”? Because the gospel is the good news that Christ’s blood of the covenant infallibly obtained for all his people the sovereign working of God to give us faith and to govern our enemies — always for our eternal good. That’s what the gospel secured. Therefore, to live that way shows the power and goodness of the gospel.

Therefore, fear not. Your adversaries can do no more than God grants. And he will grant all the faith you need. These promises are blood-bought and sealed. They are gospel promises.

THE PLACE OF LOVE IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 07, 2024.

SUBJECT: THE PLACE OF LOVE IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE! 

Memory verse: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God." (First John 4 vs 7.)

READ: Mark 12 vs 30 - 31 & 33:

12:30: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.

12:31: And the second like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

12:33: And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

INTIMATION:

A Christian life without love is purposeless. When you love God completely and care for others as you care for yourself, then you have fulfilled the intent of the Ten Commandments and the other Old Testament laws. According to Jesus, these two commandments summarize all God’s laws. Let them rule your thoughts, decisions, and actions. When you are uncertain about what to do ask yourself which course of action best demonstrates love for God and others. 

Jesus says that if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the commandments. The best tact to deal with this is rather than worrying about all we should not do, we should concentrate on all we can do to show love for God and others. After learning to love God, learning to love others is the second purpose of your life. 

Everyone believes that love is important, but love is usually thought of as a feeling. In reality love is a choice and an action, as First Corinthians 13 vs 4 - 7 shows. God is the source of our love. He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for us. Jesus is our example of what it means to love; everything He did in life and death was supremely loving. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love; he lives in our heart and makes us more and more like Jesus. God’s love always involves a choice and an action, and our love should be like His. 

We are often preoccupied with our own self, and act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We think always that we are doing others favor by loving them. But that is wrong, instead we are doing ourselves the favor of walking in the command of God to fulfill His law. It is another test of discipleship. If one maintains a behavioral character of actively loving his brother, then such is born of God. The more one applies the principles of God’s attributes, the more one understands the nature of God. 

We talk about finding time for our children or making out time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about. Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships! We might say it is in Old Testament laws, but Jesus summarized what matters most to God in two statements: ‘love God and love people.’

Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life. Now you know this, why will you allow relationships to get the short end of the stick? When our schedules become overloaded, and overcrowded, we start skimming relationally, cutting back on giving the time, energy, and attention that loving relationships require. What is most important to God is displaced by what's urgent to you. 

Busyness is the greatest enemy to relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love God and people. Life minus love equals zero.

Our society confuses love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are love, and I have demonstrated Your own love toward me, in that while I am neck deep in sin, Christ died for me. My utmost heart desire is to live a life hinged on Your greatest commandments; to love You and others. Endue me with the spirit of love, that I may be worthy to be called Your Son, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Present and Powerful Love

 Present and Powerful Love

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Romans 8:35)

Notice three things in Romans 8:35.

1. Christ is loving us now.

A wife might say of her deceased husband: Nothing will separate me from his love. She might mean that the memory of his love will be sweet and powerful all her life. But that is not what Paul means here.

In Romans 8:34 it says plainly, “Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” The reason Paul can say that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ is because Christ is alive and is still loving us right now.

He is at the right hand of God and is therefore ruling for us. And he is interceding for us, which means he is seeing to it that his finished work of redemption does in fact save us hour by hour, and bring us safely to eternal joy. His love is not just a memory. It is a moment-by-moment action by the omnipotent, living Son of God, to bring us to everlasting joy.

2. This love of Christ is effective in protecting us from separation, and therefore is not a universal love for all, but a particular love for his people — that is, those who, according to Romans 8:28, love God and are called according to his purpose.

This is the love of Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” It is Christ’s love for the church, his bride. Christ has a love for all, and he has a special, saving, preserving love for his bride. You know you are part of that bride if you trust Christ. Anyone — no exceptions — anyone who trusts Christ can say, I am part of his bride, his church, his called and chosen ones, the ones who, according to Romans 8:35, are kept and protected forever no matter what.

3. This omnipotent, effective, protecting love does not spare us from calamities in this life, but brings us safely through them to everlasting joy with God.

Death will happen to us, but it will not separate us. So when Paul says in verse 35 that the “sword” will not separate us from the love of Christ, he means: even if we are killed, we are not separated from the love of Christ.

So the sum of the matter in verse 35 is this: Jesus Christ is right now mightily loving his people with omnipotent, moment-by-moment love that does not always rescue us from calamity but preserves us for everlasting joy in his presence even through suffering and death.

BE CANDID IN YOUR PRAYERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 06, 2024.

SUBJECT: BE CANDID IN YOUR PRAYERS! 

Memory verse: "But Hannah answered and said, “No , my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD." (First Samuel 1 vs 15.)

READ: First Samuel 1 vs 10 - 11; 15 - 16:

1:10: And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.

1:11: Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, But will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.

1:15: But Hannah answered and said, “No , my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 

1:16: Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.

INTIMATION:

Knowing that God is an All-knowing God, we should go to Him in prayers with total sincerity of heart, and frankness in all intents and purposes. Don't keep anything back. Don't ask for what you really don't want, or promise to do something you can't or won't do. Remember He already knows your heart. 

In the passage we read today, the Scripture tells us the story of Hannah. She had no child for her husband who really loved her. She was greatly discouraged and bitter because the husband's other wife had children and ridiculed her. Her loving husband could not solve her problem. She then turned to the Provider of solutions to all problems in prayer. Eventually, Hannah discovered that an honest and fervent prayer opens the way for God to work. 

Hannah made a vow in return for having a mail child; to dedicate him to God for lifetime service. God gave her a son named Samuel. She lived up to her promise, and God even blessed her with five more children excluding Samuel. 

Each of us may face times of barrenness when nothing seems to work in our work, service, or even relationships. It is difficult to pray in faith when we feel so ineffective, but Hannah did. We should always be careful what we promise in prayer because God may take us up on it. Hannah so desperately wanted a child that she was willing to strike a bargain with God. God took her up on her promise, and to her credit, she did her part, even though it was painful.

Although, we are not in a position to barter with God, He may still choose to answer a prayer that has no promises attached. When you pray, ask yourself, 'Will I follow through on any promises I make to God if He grants my request?' It is dishonest and dangerous to ignore a promise, especially to God. God keeps His promises, and He expects you to keep yours. The antidote to discouragement is telling God honestly of your problem, how you feel, and then leave your problems with Him.

God created you and knows you. All you are passing through, and the circumstances surrounding you in life are all known to Him, hence He is called “the All-knowing God.” If you know this why present yourself in prayers in partial sincerity. God hates lie, and liars are of the devil—the father of it. Prayers without complete sincerity is a sin, and an abomination before God.

Prayer: Abba Father, the earth is Yours and the fullness thereof, Your counsel stands forever. I will commune with You in prayers in complete frankness, for You already know my thoughts before I say them, and is pleased with the truth. Give me the grace to commune with you in all sincerity and truth, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Goal of Christ’s Love

 The Goal of Christ’s Love

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.” (John 17:24)

Believers in Jesus are precious to God (we’re his bride!). And he loves us so much that he will not allow our preciousness to become our god.

God does indeed make much of us (he adopts us into his family!), but he does so in a way that draws us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness.

Test yourself. If Jesus came to spend the day with you, sat down beside you on the couch, and said, “I really love you,” what would you focus on the rest of the day that you spend together with him?

It seems to me that too many songs and sermons leave us with the wrong answer. They leave the impression that the heights of our joy would be in the recurrent feeling of being loved. “He loves me!” “He loves me!” To be sure, this is joy indeed. But not the heights, and not the focus.

What are we saying with the words “I am loved”? What do we mean? What is this “being loved”?

Would not the greatest, most Christ-exalting joy be found in watching Jesus all day and bursting with, “You’re amazing!” “You are amazing!”

He answers the hardest question, and his wisdom is amazing.

He touches a filthy, oozing sore, and his compassion is amazing.

He raises a dead lady at the medical examiner’s office, and his power is amazing.

He predicts the afternoon’s events, and his foreknowledge is amazing.

He sleeps during an earthquake, and his fearlessness is amazing.

He says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and his words are amazing.

We walk around with him all afternoon, utterly amazed at what we are seeing.

Is not his love for us his eagerness to do for us all he must do (including die for us) so that we can marvel at him and not be incinerated by him? Redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation — all these have to happen. They are the act of love.

But the goal of love that makes those acts loving is that we be with him, and see his jaw-dropping glory, and be astounded. In those moments we forget ourselves as we see and savor all that God is for us in him.

So I am urging pastors and teachers: Push people through the acts of Christ’s love to the goal of his love. If redemption and propitiation and forgiveness and justification and reconciliation are not taking us to the enjoyment of Jesus himself, they are not love.

Press on this. It’s what Jesus prayed for in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.”