The Key to Spiritual Maturity

 The Key to Spiritual Maturity

Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Now, this is amazing. Don’t miss it. It could save you years of wasted living. 

What this verse is saying is that if you want to become mature and understand and appreciate the more solid teachings of the word, then the rich, nutritional, precious milk of God’s gospel promises must transform your moral senses — your spiritual mind — so that you can discern between good and evil. 

Or, let me put it another way. Getting ready to feast on all God’s word is not first an intellectual challenge; it is first a moral challenge. If you want to eat the solid food of the word, you must exercise your spiritual senses so as to develop a mind that discerns between good and evil. This is a moral challenge, not just intellectual.

The startling truth is that, if you stumble over understanding Melchizedek in Genesis and Hebrews, it may be because you watch questionable TV programs. If you stumble over the doctrine of election, it may be because you still use some shady business practices. If you stumble over the God-centered work of Christ on the cross, it may be because you love money and spend too much and give too little. 

The pathway to maturity and to solid biblical food is not first becoming an intelligent person, but becoming an obedient person. What you do with alcohol and sex and money and leisure and food and computers, and the way you treat other people, has more to do with your capacity for solid food than where you go to school or what books you read.

This is so important because in our highly technological society we are prone to think that education — especially intellectual education — is the key to maturity. There are many Ph.D.’s who choke in their spiritual immaturity on the things of God. And there are many less-educated saints who are deeply mature and can feed with pleasure and profit on the deepest things of God’s word.

FIX YOUR SEARCH ON GOD ONLY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2024.

SUBJECT: FIX YOUR SEARCH ON GOD ONLY! 

Memory verse: "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His Will.”(Ephesians 1 vs 11.)

READ: Matthew 16 vs 25 - 26:

16:25: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 

16:26: For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

INTIMATION:

Many books have been written that suggests ways to discover the purpose of one’s life. All of them are classified as "self-help" books because they all approached the subject from a self-centered viewpoint, and predictable steps to finding one’s life's purpose. Some of the steps offered by these books are titled; ‘Consider your dreams.’ ‘Clarify your values.’ ‘Set some goals.’ ‘Figure out what you are good at.’ ‘Aim high.’ ‘Go for it!’ ‘Be disciplined.’ ‘Believe you can achieve your goals.’ ‘Involve others.’ ‘Never give up.’

Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you apply yourself to it. But being successful, and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, and achieve your set objectives, becoming a star, or a raving success by the world's standard, and still miss the purpose for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. 

God is not just the starting point of our lives; He is the source of it. To discover our purposes in life we must turn to God's Word, not the world's wisdom. You must build our lives on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success motivation, or inspirational stories. God, in His infinite wisdom, purposefully created us, and we are to serve His purpose to live a purposeful life.

Today’s memory verse is quite clear and direct on how we find our purpose on earth. It is in Christ that we find out who we are (we obtain an inheritance), and what we are living for (the purpose of Him for us), and He did it all according to His Will. He works all things according to his overall plans and purposes in everything and for everyone.

God is working all things according to His plan. It is not that things in reference to the Christian’s salvation are happening by fate. All things are being unfolded according to the predetermined mystery of God that has now been revealed to all men through the cross and the church. 

God is unique in His knowledge and in His control of the future. His consistent purpose is to carry out what he has planned. The verse in Ephesians gives us three insights into our purposes: 1. We discover our identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 2. God was thinking of every one of us long before we ever thought about Him. His purpose for our lives predates our conception. He planned it before we existed, without our input! We may choose our career, our spouse, our hobbies, and many other parts of our lives, but we don't get to choose our purpose. 3. The purposes of our lives fit into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.

God told Jeremiah; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1 vs 5.) God knew us, as He knew Jeremiah, long before we were born or even conceived. He thought about us and planned for us individually. God has a purpose for each and everyone of us. In the same way He ordained Jeremiah a prophet to the nations while he was still in the womb, we are all appointed for various kinds of work. Discover yours!

Fixation on self instead on your Maker is wrong. Such obsession with self in these matters is a dead end. The Bible in Romans 8 vs 6 states; "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

In the passage we read today, Jesus gives the panacea for discovering your purpose. God relates with us in the spirit and the soul. The 'soul' is the individual's essential self, life, and being. Jesus said to His disciples, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. They should follow Him and He will show them their life's purpose. 

Jesus advised them that self-help is no help at all, but self-sacrifice is the way, God's way to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for? Achieving your life's purpose ordained by your Creator is more valuable than gaining the whole world.

Prayer: Abba Father, in You all things lie. Help me discover the purpose of Your creating me, and have ordained me to serve, for in serving the preordained purpose, I will lead a purposefully fulfilled life in You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Gravity of Gratitude

 The Gravity of Gratitude

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful . . . (2 Timothy 3:1–2) 

Notice how ingratitude goes with pride, abuse, and insubordination.

In another place Paul says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking . . . but instead let there be thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:4). So, it seems that gratitude, thankfulness, is the opposite of ugliness and violence.

The reason this is so is that the feeling of gratitude is a humble feeling, not a proud one. It is other-exalting, not self-exalting. And it is glad-hearted, not angry or bitter. Bitter thankfulness is a contradiction in terms.

The key to unlocking a heart of thankfulness and overcoming bitterness and ugliness and disrespect and violence is a strong belief in God, the Creator and Sustainer and Provider and Hope-giver. If we do not believe we are deeply indebted to God for all we have and hope to have, then the very spring of gratitude has gone dry.

So, I conclude that the rise of violence and sacrilege and ugliness and insubordination in the last times is a God-issue. The basic issue is a failure to feel gratitude at the upper levels of our dependence.

When the high spring of gratitude to God fails at the top of the mountain, soon all the pools of thankfulness begin to dry up further down the mountain. And when gratitude goes, the sovereignty of the self condones more and more corruption for its pleasure.

Pray for a great awakening of humble gratitude.

WE ARE STEWARDS OF ALL GOD HAS GIVEN US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2024.

SUBJECT: WE ARE STEWARDS OF ALL GOD HAS GIVEN US! 

Memory verse: "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (First Corinthians 4 vs 7.)

READ: Genesis 12 vs 1 - 3; John 3 bs 27; First Peter 4 vs 10 - 11:

12:1: Now the Lord said unto Abram, get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 

12:2: I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 

12:3: I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you: and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

John 3:27: John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” 

First Peter 4:10: As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

First Peter 4:11: If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God; if anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

INTIMATION:

The gifts and blessings we have did not originate from us; all such things are the gift of God. We cannot claim any credit for that which has been given to us through the grace of God. Since all the gifts originated from God, whether miraculous or not, then they must be used according to the will of God. The God-given natural gifts that every Christian has must be used for the benefit of others. God has given gifts for our ministry to others. 

The one who possesses the gift has power over the exercising of the gift. Therefore, the Holy Spirit do not subject to His control the one who possesses the gift. Those who possess the gift are the stewards of the gift, and thus, have the choice of exercising the gift. Gifts are given for the purpose of ministry to others. Gifts are not given for one’s own profit alone. They are given in order to serve the needs of others as well. 

A lot of Christians say they know God is the source of everything, but their lives don't reflect an understanding of that truth. But when you see yourself as a steward and recognize all you have as God's blessing, even when you work for your paychecks, the money you make is not yours, but put in your hands to serve the purpose of the ultimate Owner—God. This understanding totally changes the role money plays in your life. It ceases to control you and simply becomes a tool for service to the Owner. This simple change in mindset from owner to steward will make a tremendous difference for, and in you.

Many people see making a living as resulting from the sweat of their brow, and they don't see God as their source. They separate their lives into spiritual matters and personal matters. When it concerns spiritual matters they rely on God, but when it comes to private or personal matters, it becomes their baby. For instance, when you think that money comes by your own sweat and tears, then you keep a much tighter hold on it, you think it's all up to you, and consequently, you become attached to your money, and it actually becomes your master. 

God wants to be the source of everything in our lives. The Lord never intended us to carry any burden, not even the burden of financial responsibility, and He wants to lift that burden off us. Many Christians have made a firm commitment of their lives to the Lord concerning spiritual things, but when it comes to possessions, they see them as private to them. The pressures of life lead them to view possessions as something they must control, and that kind of ownership mentality leads to lot of problems.

The first step toward becoming responsible with your possessions is to get this mindset that they do not belong to you. Instead of clinging to your possessions, you need to think thus: ‘I am a steward of what God has entrusted to my care.’ ‘God has blessed me with these talents and abilities.’ ‘God has blessed me with my job.’ ‘God is blessing me, and God has given me all the resources I have.’ ‘It is not up to me to run my finances the way I want to.’ ‘I'm a steward.’ ‘I have the responsibility to serve God with all He has given me; my talents, my money, my abilities, my wisdom’ and so on.

People with an ownership mentality end up trying to do everything themselves, but stewards freely receive God's blessing. Look at how God promised to bless Abraham in one of the passages we read today. God said that He would bless Abraham, and that He would make Abraham's name great. When you read the entire story of Abraham, you see that God wasn't talking about intangible spiritual benefits. He was talking about physical earthly blessings. 

Abraham didn't become rich through his own hard work. He became wealthy because the blessing of God was on his life (Hebrews 6 vs 13 - 14). Abraham was blessed in everything he did, even when he made mistakes. Then God concluded by given him the assignment to carry out with the blessings, “he was to be a blessing,” and all the families of the earth will be blessed in him.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of real and responsible stewardship of all you have blessed me with, that I may serve You, the interest of Your kingdom, and my neighbor with all the resources You put in my care, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Five Reasons Death Is Gain

 Five Reasons Death Is Gain

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)

How is it “gain” to die?

1) Our spirits will be made perfect (Hebrews 12:22–23).

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

There will be no more sin in us. We will be done with the inner war and the heartrending disappointments of offending the Lord who loved us and gave himself for us.

2) We will be relieved of the pain of this world (Luke 16:24–25).

The joy of the resurrection will not yet be ours, but the joy of freedom from pain will be. Jesus tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man to show the great reversal that is coming at death.

“[The rich man] called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.’”

3) We will be given profound rest in our souls (Revelation 6:9–11).

There will be a serenity beneath the eye and care of God that surpasses anything we have known here on the softest summer evening by the most peaceful lake at our most happy moments.

I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer.

4) We will experience a deep at-homeness (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

The whole human race is homesick for God, without knowing it. When we go home to Christ, there will be a contentment beyond any sense of security and peace we have ever known.

5) We will be with Christ (Philippians 1:21–23).

Christ is a more wonderful person than anyone on earth. He is wiser, stronger, and kinder than anyone you enjoy spending time with. He is endlessly interesting. He knows exactly what to do and what to say at every moment to make his guests as glad as they can possibly be. He overflows in love and with infinite insight into how to use that love to make his loved ones feel loved. Therefore Paul said,

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Prayer For Healing

 PRAYER FOR HEALING

Today, we're praying for divine healing because God had already sent His word for healing. I pray that may you receive your instant healing in Jesus Name 🙏🙏🙏

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Psalms 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

PRAYER POINTS

1. - I overcome every sickness, pain, disease by the blood of the lamb. I declare that I

  have been washed through the blood of Jesus!

2. - I declare that by the stripes of our lord Jesus Christ, I am healed!

3. - O' Lord, my healing is in your hands alone. I command every sickness in my body manipulated by the devil to receive fire in the name of Jesus!

4. - O God visit every part of my body now and perform the surgery that doctors of this world cannot understand in Jesus name!

5. - I invite Angel Raphael, the healing Angel to come down and assist in the divine

  surgery taking place in my body now in the name of Jesus!

6. - I command every sickness to hear the word of God that this body of mine is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore, disappear in Jesus mighty name!

7. - I cast out any sickness in my body without consideration for their names, for it is

  written, I shall decree a thing and it shall be established. Therefore, I regain my sound health in

  Jesus mighty name!

8. - Whatever God has not planted in my body, be uprooted and be disgraced now in the name of Jesus!

9. - O' God arise and let the enemy of my health be scattered in Jesus name!

10. - I bind and I cast out any sickness in my body without consideration for their name, for it is written I shall decree a thing and it shall be established therefore I regain my sound health in Jesus name

11. - My body is a temple of God therefore sickness and infirmity whither in the name of Jesus

12. - Son of David, Lord Jesus have mercy upon my life and let my sins be washed in the blood of the lamb that was slain in the name of Jesus.

13. - I declare it loud and clear by the stripes of our lord Jesus Christ, I am healed in the name of Jesus

14. - Oh God arise and let the enemy of my health be scattered in the name of Jesus.

15. - Oh God visit every part of my body now and perform surgery doctors of the world

 cannot understand in the name of Jesus.

16. - I am healed by the power in the blood of Jesus.

17. - Thank you, Lord. I am healed by the power in the blood of Jesus.

SAVED BY GRACE ALONE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2024.

SUBJECT : SAVED BY GRACE ALONE!

Memory verse: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2 vs 10.)

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 1 - 10:

2:1: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

2:2: in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in sons of disobedience,

2:3: among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

2:4: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of 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.

INTIMATION:

The dictionary definition of grace is; beauty, kindness, good-will, mercy, reprieve, and pardon. God's grace will then be His beauty; kindness; good-will; mercy; reprieve; and pardon for sinful humanity. These attributes of God are freely, and undeservedly given to sinful humanity. Grace therefore, is the free, and unmerited power of God available to sinful humanity to meet our needs without any costs to us. it is received by believing rather than through any human efforts. 

The simple and uncomplicated nature of God's grace, and being a free gift, make many people to miss it. There is nothing more powerful than grace. In fact, everything in the Bible—salvation, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, fellowship with God, and victory in our daily lives—is based upon the grace of God. Without grace, we are nothing, we have nothing, and can do nothing. If it were not for the grace of God, we would all be miserable and hopeless. 

It is not possible for one to live without sin. And all have sinned (Romans 3 vs 9, 10 & 23). The wages of sin is spiritual death (Romans 4 vs 18, 6 vs 23), for sin separates one from God (Isaiah 59 vs 1 - 2). One is not born a sinner (Ezekiel 18 vs 20). He free-morally chooses to sin against God when he reaches the age of accountability, that is, the age at which one can make a rational free-moral decision concerning right or wrong in reference to God’s law. Therefore, one becomes dead in trespasses and sins as a result of choices that conflict with God’s law.

Before the coming of Christ, man had lived in the state of rebellion by following after the desires of this world. Man lived as though the present world was all there was. They had no feeling of accountability before God in reference to their behavior. They allowed the desires of the flesh to be satisfied without feeling consciously guilty of the sin against God. Their conscience was not controlled by belief in God before whom they would have to give account for their behavior. Satan is the ruler of those who have given themselves over to follow after the lusts of the world. Those who make decisions, and live without considering the will of God, are often living and making decisions according to the will of Satan. 

The problem of being human is the fact that we cannot live in a manner that is sinless before God. Therefore, we cannot live in a manner that would merit the mercy of God. The justice of God stands on the fact that He has extended mercy to those who have sought Him by faith. God’s mercy has been extended toward man because of His great love for all men. 

Those who sin against God will reap the consequences of their sin if they do not respond to the love of God. Mercy is not given out of debt, but out of love and grace. Man can be saved from condemnation in sin only by the grace of God wherein God reaches forth with mercy to redeem those who cannot legally justify themselves through perfect keeping of law or meritorious deeds. 

In our memory verse, the apostle Paul tells us that everything we are and do and have is by the grace of God. You and I are one hundred percent helpless without the grace of God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that our works were prepared for us by God and finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4 vs 3).

We should start each day by saying, "Here I am, Lord, ready for whatever You have for me to do. I empty myself, as much as I know how, to allow Your grace to flow in my life, to cause me to be able to do whatever it is that You desire for me. I cast myself totally upon You. I can be only what You allow me to be, I can have only what You will for me to have, I can do only what You empower me to do, and each victory is to Your glory, not mine."

Prayer: Abba Father, I thank You, most precious Redeemer, for Your grace made available to me. There is nothing I can do to pay for what You did, and is doing for me. Give me the grace to lead a life inherent in good works, and total dedication to You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!