SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2024.

SUBJECT: SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO GOD!

Memory verse: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12 vs 1.)

READ: Luke 9 vs 23 - 24:

9:23: Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

9:24: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

INTIMATION:

God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. This means to  be totally devoted to Him. He desires that we daily lay aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us, embracing what He does for us as the best to happen to us at the time. This is because He has good, pleasing,  perfect, and best plans for us. Devoting ourselves to Him is reasonable, and the most proper thing to do. Also, for Him to have given His only Son to make our new lives possible, we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices for His service.

Surrendering your life is not a foolish emotional impulse but a rational, intelligent act, and the most responsible and sensible thing you can do with your life. In our memory verse the apostle Paul calls surrendering your life "your reasonable service." Another version translates it "the most sensible way to serve God." Nobody can know your life and manage it better than the Creator and Owner of your life. Therefore, surrendering to the Owner and best Manager is the most reasonable thing to do. The apostle Paul, being conscious of this fact, says, "..We must make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him." (Second Corinthians 5 vs 9.) Your wisest moments will be those moments when you say yes to God. 

The Owner of your life designed it for worship to Him, and if you fail to worship Him, you will eventually create things (idols) that are gods to you, and you give your worship or life to them. God also allowed us the freedom of choice. You are free to choose what to surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice. There is freedom before worship, but no freedom from the consequences after worship. 

Everybody eventually surrenders to something or someone. If not God, you will surrender to the opinions or expressions of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, to your own pride, lusts, ego, self-defeat, or pity. If you don't surrender to Christ, you surrender to crisis. Why? Because without Him you can do nothing! (See John 15 vs 5.) Inability to do anything is real crisis! Since outside of Christ is crisis, the only way to live life devoid of crisis is surrender to the Owner. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-destruction. 

Sometimes it takes years to discover this most sensible way to live. When this happens, you eventually discover that the greatest hindrance to God's blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself—your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You can't fulfill God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans. The time of the discovery in your life is immaterial, the important thing is that you have turned to your Owner. You need to discover yourself, if God is going to do His deepest work in you, and it starts from this discovery.

Give all of you to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups. Put Jesus Christ in the driver's seat of your life and take your hands off the steering wheel. Never you be frightened; nothing under His control can ever be out of control. You may not understand the circumstances you are in with Him, but it is the best for you, because all the things He does, work together for your eventual good, and in line with His purpose of your life. (See Romans 8 vs 28.)

Our place, time, and how we surrender differs. The apostle Paul's moment occurred on the Damascus road after he was knocked down by a blinding light. For others, God gets our attention with less drastic methods. Regardless of how, surrendering is never just a one-time event. Paul said, "I die daily." (First Corinthians 15 vs 31.) There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice of surrender which is moment-by-moment and lifelong. 

Remember, when you surrender, you become a living sacrifice, and the problem of a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, so you may have to re-surrender your life several times a day. You must make it a daily habit. Don’t be tired or ashamed. He understands you, and sympathizes with your weaknesses (Hebrews 4 vs 13). In the passage we read today, Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." 

Let me remind you: When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing. 

Have you surrendered to Christ? Or are you still arguing and struggling with God over His right to do with your life as He pleases? If you have not, now is your time to surrender to God's grace, love, and wisdom; receiving His Nature!

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the privilege of adopting me as Your son, which was planned even before the foundation of the earth. I now live, and move, and have my being in You. Give me the grace to live in total obedience to, and trust in You, turning my life totally to You for Your desired use and purpose, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Soul’s Final Feast

 The Soul’s Final Feast

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

God is not unresponsive to the contrite longing of the soul. He comes and lifts the load of sin and fills our heart with gladness and gratitude. “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” (Psalm 30:11–12).

But our joy does not just rise from the backward glance in gratitude. It also rises from the forward glance in hope: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:5–6).

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (Psalm 130:5).

In the end, the heart longs not for any of God’s good gifts, but for God himself. To see him and know him and be in his presence is the soul’s final feast. Beyond this there is no quest. Words fail. We call it pleasure, joy, delight. But these are weak pointers to the unspeakable experience:

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

“Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4).

THE NEW BIRTH!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2024.

SUBJECT: THE NEW BIRTH!

Memory verse: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2 vs 38.) 

READ: John 3 vs 3 - 8:

3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

3:4: Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

3:5: Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

3:6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. 3:7: Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 

3:8: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

INTIMATION:

The new birth is the birth of the spirit by being regenerated by the power of God. To be part of the kingdom of God, that is, to enter into the kingdom of God, Jesus stated a condition for one’s participation in it. The condition will be the manifestation of one’s response to all that God has done in order to bring one into a covenant relationship with Him. In this one statement of Jesus, the condition is established for one’s participation with Him in the kingdom of God. He is not establishing a commandment as a work of merit or a condition that will put God in debt to save one. 

This birth is not the result of one’s ancestral heritage from Abraham. Neither is it the physical birth that would result from a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. Neither is the birth generated from the religious inventions of men who would pronounce themselves righteous before God. The new birth is from God. The cleansing of sin at the point of baptism originates from the One against whom sin has been committed. However, His forgiveness and justification are given when men respond by faith to be buried and resurrected with the One who died for our sins (Romans 6 vs 3 - 6). It is at the point of baptism, therefore, that one is born again.

In the passage we read today, Nicodemus’ first question was certainly on the purpose of generating further explanation by Jesus concerning what He said about a new birth. Jesus’ answer is that to be in God’s kingdom, one would have to be spiritually born again in order to come into a covenant relationship with God. One must be born of the water of baptism, at which point, one is renewed by the Holy Spirit. What Jesus is saying is that unless one truly repents because of obedient faith, and is immersed into Christ via immersion baptism in water, he or she cannot participate with Jesus in the kingdom of God. 

One is thus born anew in baptism by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. “Born of water” is the response of the individual to the grace of God. “Born of Spirit” is the work of God in a realm we do not fully understand. We are simply told that it is the Spirit who does His work to bring us forth from the grave of baptism pure of sin because we have relinquished to obedience to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. The apostle Paul says, “Therefore we are buried with Him through baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6 vs 4.)

When one is born of the Spirit, He is spiritually rejuvenated by the Holy Spirit through the sacrificial blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 vs 7). To be saved we must be spiritually regenerated in order to be reconciled to God. Just as the wind cannot be seen by the physical eyes of humans, and so is the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. The Spirit does His work in the regeneration of the soul of man at the point of immersion. In the new birth, the Spirit does His work of sanctification without the perception of men. 

Baptism parallels the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and it also portrays the death and burial of our sinful old way of life followed by resurrection to new life in Christ. Remembering that our old sinful life is dead and buried with Christ gives us a powerful motive to resist sin. Not wanting the desires of our past to come back to power again, we can consciously choose to treat our desires as if they were dead. Then we can continue to enjoy our wonderful new life with Christ. (Galatians 3 vs 27; Colossians 3 vs 1 - 4). 

Therefore, the confession of our believe in Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, is a step in our obtaining new birth in Him. The baptism by immersion into water parallels our death, burial of our sinful old way of life followed by our resurrection to new life in Christ. One is this born anew by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for our death and burial with Christ by baptism, and our resurrection from the dead by Your glorious power, and making us walk in the newness of life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Only Enduring Happiness

 The Only Enduring Happiness

“You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22)

“No one will take your joy from you” because your joy comes from being with Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus means that you will never die; you will never be cut off from him.

So two things have to be true if your joy is never to be taken from you. One is that the source of your joy lasts forever and the other is that you last forever. If either you or the source of your joy is mortal, your joy will be taken from you.

And oh, how many people have settled for just that! Eat, drink, and be merry they say, for tomorrow we die, and that’s that (Luke 12:19). Food doesn’t last forever, and I don’t last forever. So let’s make the most of it while we can. What a tragedy!

If you are tempted to think that way, please consider as seriously as you possibly can that if your joy comes from being with Jesus, “No one will take your joy from you” — not in this life, nor in the life to come.

Not life or death, or angels or principalities, or things present or things to come, or powers or height or depth, or anything else in all creation will be able to take our joy from us in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:38–39). 

Joy in being with Jesus is an unbroken line from now to eternity. It will not be cut off — not by his death or ours.

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2024.

SUBJECT : YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW! 

Memory verse: "And, behold, I am come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according as his work." (Revelation 22 vs 12.) 

READ: Galatians 6 vs 7 - 10; Ephesians 6 vs 8; Colossians 3 vs 25:

Galatians 6:7: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

6:8: For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

6:9: And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

6:10: Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those where of the household of faith.

Ephesians 6:8: Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

Colossians 3:25: But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

INTIMATION:

It is a principle of life that one reaps what he sows. One must not deceive himself into thinking that he can escape the consequences of his behavior. To think one can, is to mock God, for God says that we reap what we sow, not only in this life, but also in that which is to come (Romans 2 vs 6). It would certainly be a surprise if you planted corn in your farm and pumpkins came up. It's a natural law to harvest what we plant. It's true in other areas, too. If you gossip, and guile found in your tongue, know it now, you will definitely reap what you sow, and God's final judgement will find you out. 

Every action has result. If you plant to please your own desires, you'll harvest a crop of sorrow and evil. If you plant to please God, you'll harvest joy and everlasting life. Our God is certainly not a partial God, His reward is with Him, to give to everyone according to his works. There is God's judgment awaiting everybody. Although, His judgement is already working in our lives, there is a future, final judgement when Christ returns (Matthew 25 vs 31 - 46), and everyone's life will be reviewed and evaluated. Jesus will look at how we handled gifts, opportunities, relationships, and responsibilities in order to determine our rewards.

The Word of God in Luke 6 vs 37 - 38 says:

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." How is your relationship with other people? What do you give to others? What  do you give to God? Are you resentful? speaking guile? gossiping about others? Do you give love and care to others? Are you judgmental? Are you always returning to others as they did to you, especially in wrong doing? 

Remember whatever you do will be returned to you in full measure. If we are critical rather than compassionate, we will also receive criticism. If we treat others generously, graciously, and compassionately, however, these qualities will come back to us in full measure. If you forgive it demonstrates that you have received God’s forgiveness. We will be dealt with in final judgement by God in the same manner by which we treat our fellow man. Therefore, when we measure mercy to others, God will in turn measure mercy to us. 

Christians must be zealous to do good works, for this is one reason why they have been brought forth in Christ (Ephesians 2 vs 10). They must not become lazy or discouraged in doing that which brings glory to the Father. Christians do good, not for the purpose of putting God in debt of reward one with heaven (Romans 4 vs 4). They do good because they are saved, not in order to become saved. They do good because they are in Christ, not in order to come to Christ. 

Prayer: Abba Father, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You at all times. And let me do to others as I will want them to do to me, and be zealous to do good works, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God Will Supply All Your Needs

 God Will Supply All Your Needs

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

In Philippians 4:6, Paul says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” And then in Philippians 4:19 (just 13 verses later), he gives the liberating promise of future grace: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

If we live by faith in this promise of future grace, it will be very hard for anxiety to survive. God’s “riches in glory” are inexhaustible. He really means for us not to worry about our future.

We should follow this pattern that Paul lays out for us. We should battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of future grace.

When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I regularly battle unbelief with one of my most often-used promises, Isaiah 41:10. 

The day I left America for three years in Germany my father called me long distance and gave me this promise on the telephone. For three years I must have quoted it to myself five hundred times to get me through periods of tremendous stress. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I have fought anxiety with this promise so many times that when the motor of my mind is in neutral, the hum of the gears is the sound of Isaiah 41:10.

GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2024.

SUBJECT : GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE! 

Memory verse: "Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble." (Proverbs 3 vs 34.) 

READ: First Peter 5 vs 5 - 7:

5:5: Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud. But gives grace to the humble."

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

5:7: casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

INTIMATION:

God gives grace (unmerited favor, blessing) to the humble, to those who adhere to, trust in, and rely on Him and not on their own ability, schemes, and devises, or even on their own great wisdom, knowledge, and faith. God’s grace is for those who humbly submit themselves to the Lord, who humble themselves under the mighty hand and control of God. And when you that He will exalt you at His own time. 

To humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that in due time He may exalt you, means to ask the Lord for what you need and then wait on Him to provide it as He sees fit, knowing that His timing is always perfect. It means to be still and know that He is God, and that He knows what is best for you in every situation of life. It means to stop trying to make things happen yourself and allow the Lord to show you what you need to do to co-operate with His plan and purpose for you.

The person who really understands the grace of God will not worry. Why? Because worry is a work of the flesh. It is trying to figure out what to do to save oneself rather than trusting in God for deliverance. The individual who is living in constant worry is not receiving the fullness of God's grace, because just as perfect love casts out fear (First John 4 vs 18), so God's grace expels all traces of worry and anxiety. Walk in the grace of the Lord and you will not fulfill the work of the flesh.

We often worry about our position and status, hoping to get proper recognition for what we do. Remember that God's recognition counts more than human praise. Humbly obey God regardless of present circumstances, and in His good time, He will lift you up. Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life, and this is pride. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, and to admit your need and lay them at the feet of our Messiah.

Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, He will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. We display lack of knowledge of God when we think of everything we did wrong and figure that it automatically disqualifies us for any of God's blessings. And it is under this weight of lack of knowledge that we are destroyed (Hosea 4 vs 6).

If God could bless only perfect people, then He could never bless anyone, because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3 vs 23.) Consequently, none of us supposedly deserves any good thing from the Lord. But that fact did not keep us from receiving His glorious salvation; why should it keep us from receiving His manifold blessings? If He didn't spare or withhold [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all other things? (Romans 8 vs 32).

The apostle Peter says we should cast the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns) on God Almighty, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. Don't submit to circumstances, but to the Lord who controls circumstances.

Prayer: Abba Father, in You I live, and move, and have my being. I will forever humble myself before You, knowing that by my strength I can do nothing. Only You strengthens me to do all things! Endue me with the grace to humbly submit myself to Your care and control at all times, in Jesus’ great Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!