The Greatest Love

 The Greatest Love

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

Why should we emphasize that God loves, forgives, and saves “for his name’s sake” — for his own glory? Here are two reasons (among many).

1) We should emphasize that God loves and forgives for his own glory because the Bible does.

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25) 

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11) 

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! (Psalm 79:9) 

Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake. (Jeremiah 14:7) 

We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne. (Jeremiah 14:20–21) 

God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26) 

Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

2) We should emphasize that God loves and forgives for his own glory because it makes clear that God loves us with the greatest 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) 

God loves us not in a way that makes us supreme, but makes himself supreme. Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors, but an increasing vision of infinite greatness. Getting to heaven and finding that we are supreme would be the ultimate letdown. 

The greatest love makes sure that God does everything in such a way as to uphold and magnify his own supremacy so that, when we get to heaven, we have something to increase our joy forever: God’s glory. The greatest love is God’s giving himself to us for our eternal enjoyment, at the cost of his Son’s life (Romans 8:32). That is what he means when he says that he loves us and forgives us for his own name’s sake.

THE GODLY CHRISTIAN CONDUCTS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 03, 2025.

SUBJECT : THE GODLY CHRISTIAN CONDUCTS!

Memory verse: "Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (First Peter 2 vs 12.) 

READ: Matthew 5 vs 13 - 16:

5:13: You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? it is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and to be trampled underfoot by men.

5:14: You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hidden.

5:15: Nor do they light a lamp, and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

5:16: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.

INTIMATION:

Salt is a seasoning that possesses the purifying, perpetuating, and antiseptic qualities. In the Lord’s teaching it is symbolic of that spiritual health and vigor essential to Christian value and counteractive of corruption that is in the world. Light is an electromagnetic radiation which makes vision possible. It illuminates. In Scriptures, it emphasizes spiritual enlightenment; exposure to the truth. In darkness, light illuminates. In our Lord’s teaching, Christians are figuratively the salt and light of the world.

If a seasoning has no flavor, it is worthless. If Christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are worth nothing before God. If Christians are too much like the world, they are worthless. Christians should not blend in with everyone else. Instead, they should affect others positively, just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food. 

Jesus used salt to illustrate three qualities that should be found in His people; (1) We should remember God’s faithfulness, just as salt when used with a sacrifice recalled God’s covenant with His people (Leviticus 2 vs 13). (2) We should make a difference in the “flavor” of the world we live in, just as salt changes meal’s flavor. (3) We should counteract the moral decay in society, just as salt preserves food from decay. When we lose this desire to “salt” the earth with the love and message of God, we become useless to Him.

Salt can lose its flavor when it gets wet and then dries, and nothing is left but a tasteless residue. Many Christians blend into the world and avoid the cost of standing up for Christ. But Jesus says if Christians lose their distinctive saltiness, they become worthless. Just as salt flavors and preserves food, they are to preserve the good in the world and bring new flavor to life. This requires careful planning, willing sacrifice, and unswerving commitment to Christ’s kingdom. But if a Christian fails to be “salty,” he or she fails to represent Christ in the world. The pertinent question is, ‘as a Christian how salty are you to the world?’ 

Christians—Christ followers—as the light of the world, should illuminate the world they live in. If they live for Christ, they should glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like. If Christians then fail to illuminate the world, they are worthless or valueless before the Lord. When they fail to live in accordance with Christian beliefs (being Christ-like), they hide their light. 

And they hide their light by (1) being quiet when they should speak, (2) going along with the crowd, (3) denying the light (denying Christ), (4) letting sin dim their light, (5) not explaining their light to others, or (6) ignoring the needs of others. Christians ought to be a beacon of truth. They should not shut their light off from the rest of the world. 

The lives of Christians should be characterized by moral purity, patience, and peacefulness, so that they will “shine” as “lights” in a dark and depraved world. Their actions should be above reproach so much so that even hostile people will end up praising God. Those hostile people are in the habit of spreading vicious lies about Christians. 

Gracious, godly, and winsome behavior on the part of Christians could show these rumors to be false and might even win some of the unsaved critics to the Lord. A transformed life is an effective witness to the power of God’s Word. Are you shining brightly, or are you clouded by complaining and arguing? Don’t let dissensions snuff out your light. Shine out for God. Your role is to shine until Jesus returns and bathes the world in His radiant glory.

Many Christians today are hidden from sight, reluctant to be identified as Christians. Such a Christian is like a brand-new light bulb that never leaves the carton it came in. If a lamp doesn’t help people see, it isn’t worth much. As a Christian does your life show people how to find God and how to live for Him? If not, ask what “basket” have hidden your light. Complacency, resentment, embarrassment, stubbornness of heart, or disobedience could keep you from shining. What do you need to do to let your light shine? Show Christ to the world by your life.

When the light of the truth about Jesus Christ illuminates us, we have the duty to shine that light to help others. Our witness for Christ should be public, not hidden. We should not keep the benefits for ourselves alone but pass them on to others. In order to be helpful, we need to be well placed. Seek opportunities to shine your light when unbelievers need help to see. 

Prayer: Abba Father, I will never take the privilege of being a Christian for granted. My utmost heart desire is to receive Your grace for an effective witnessing for, and an ambassador of Christ in this world, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Forgiveness Cycle

 

The Forgiveness Cycle

“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:4)

Who forgives whom first? 

On the one hand, Jesus says, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4)

On the other hand, Paul says, “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13)

When Jesus teaches us to pray that God would forgive us, “for we ourselves forgive,” he is not saying that the first move in forgiveness was our move. Rather, it goes like this: God forgave us when we believed in Christ (Acts 10:43). Then, from this broken, joyful, grateful, hopeful experience of being forgiven, we offer forgiveness to others. 

This forgiving spirit signifies that we have been savingly forgiven. That is, our forgiving others shows that we have faith; we are united to Christ; we are indwelt by the gracious, humbling Holy Spirit.

But we still sin (1 John 1:8, 10). So we still turn to God for fresh applications of the work of Christ on our behalf — fresh applications of forgiveness. We cannot do this with any confidence if we are harboring an unforgiving spirit. (Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23–35. He refused to forgive his fellow servant who owed him ten dollars, though he claimed to be forgiven ten million. He showed by his unforgiving spirit that the king’s mercy had not changed him.)

Jesus protects us from this folly by teaching us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). That’s why Jesus says we ask for forgiveness because we are forgiving. This is like saying, “Father, continue to extend to me the mercies purchased by Christ, because by these mercies I have been forgiven, and I forsake vengeance and extend to others what you have extended to me.”

May you know God’s forgiveness afresh today, and may that grace overflow in your heart in forgiveness toward others. And may that sweet experience of grace in your life give you added assurance that, when you go to God to experience fresh, blood-bought forgiveness, you will know that he sees you as his forgiven and forgiving child.

EMBRACE CHRIST, BE NOT AFRAID OF HIM!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 02, 2025.

SUBJECT: EMBRACE CHRIST, BE NOT AFRAID OF HIM!

Memory verse: "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all districts, from two years old and under, according to the time he had determined from the wise men.” (Matthew 2 vs 16.)

READ: John 3 vs 15 - 21:

3:15: That whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

3:17: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

3:18: He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

3:19: And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

3:20: For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

3:21: But he who does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

INTIMATION:

The problem of mankind is that from the beginning we have all done things that are wrong, and have failed to obey God’s laws. This, however, caused our separation from God our Creator. The consequence of that separation from God is spiritual death; condemnation by our Creator that we have no solution to by ourselves because as we can do nothing to become united with God. He is a fair and just God who will not break His own laws. His law says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6 vs 23), “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18 vs 4 & 20). Bud God, in His infinite mercy and love nature, provided a remedy by the gift of His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ—to the world as a propitiation for our sins.

Therefore, Jesus came to save us. He could help us because He was not only a man; He was God’s unique Son. Because Jesus never disobeyed God and never sinned, only Him can bridge the gap between the sinless God and sinful people. Jesus freely offered His life for us, dying on the cross in our place, taking all our wrongdoing upon Himself, and saving us from the consequences of sin, including God’s judgement, and death. Jesus said, “...I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10 vs 10.) Jesus gives life. The life He gives right now is abundantly rich and full. It is eternal, yet it begins immediately. Life in Christ is lived on a higher plane because of His overflowing forgiveness, love, and guidance. Don’t be afraid of Christ, take His offer of life. 

Many people don’t want their lives exposed in God’s light because they are afraid of what will be revealed. They don’t want to be changed because they feel that the evil in their lives if exposed or revealed will earn them condemnation from God. But no sin is beyond God’s forgiveness except the sin of denying the power of God in Christ for the forgiveness of sin: “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him: but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12 vs 31 - 32.)

The unpardonable sin is the deliberate refusal to acknowledge God’s power in Christ. It indicates a deliberate and irreversible hardness of heart. Those who have turned their backs on God and rejected all faith can’t be forgiven, not because their sin is worse than any other, but because they will never ask for forgiveness. Whoever rejects the prompting of the Holy Spirit removes himself or herself from the only force that can lead him or her to repentance and restoration to God.

In our memory verse, Herod was afraid of Jesus, he thought that the newborn king would one day take his throne. He completely misunderstood the reason for Christ’s coming. Jesus didn’t want Herod’s throne; He wanted to be king of Herod’s life. Jesus wanted to give Herod eternal life, not take away his present life. Today people are often afraid that Christ wants to take things away from them, in reality, He wants to give them real freedom, peace, and joy. Don’t fear Christ rather give Him the throne of your life.

The truth is that Jesus took our past, present, and future sins upon Himself so that we could have new life. Because all our wrongdoing is forgiven, we are reconciled to God. Furthermore, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the proof that His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross was acceptable to God, and His resurrection has become the source of new life for those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. All who believe in Him may have this new life and live it in union with Him.

Some people are repulsed by the idea of eternal life because their lives are miserable. But eternal life is not an extension of a person’s miserable, mortal life; eternal life is God’s life embedded in Christ given to all believers now as a guarantee that they will live forever. In eternal life there is no death, sickness, enemy, evil, or sin. When we don’t know Christ, we make choices as though this life is all we have. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity. Receive this new life by faith and begin to evaluate all that happens from an eternal perspective. 

Put your trust and confidence in Jesus, He alone can save you. Put Him in charge of our present plans and eternal destiny. Believing is both trusting His words as reliable, and relying on Him for the power to change. If you have never trusted Christ, let this promise of everlasting life be yours, and believe. We believe in God by recognizing the insufficiency of our own efforts to find salvation and by asking Him to do His work in us. When Jesus talks about unbelievers, He means those who reject or ignore Him completely, not those who have momentary doubts.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus, as a propitiation for our sins. I confess Him as my personal Lord and Savior and in Him I live, and move, and have my being. And He is the solid rock that I stand on forever, and there is no alternative Him. May nothing ever shift my focus in Him, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

Included in the Covenant

 Included in the Covenant

“There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine.” (Psalm 132:17–18)

Who will benefit from the promises God made to David?

Here is Psalm 132:17–18 again: “I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine.” 

Now connect that with Isaiah 55:1, 3, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! . . . And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.”

From this side of the cross, here’s how I would paraphrase that promise: Whoever comes to God through Jesus Christ, his Son, thirsting for what God is for us in Christ, rather than depending on who we are or what we do, God will make with that one a covenant. 

Remember how the Bible comes to an end in Revelation 22:17? “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” This is not just the Jews of Isaiah’s day. This is anyone who comes to Christ to satisfy the thirst of his soul. “I will make with [that one] an everlasting covenant!”

What covenant? A covenant defined and secured by God’s “sure love for David.” Isaiah 55:3, “I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” I take that to mean that I am included in the Davidic covenant. What David gets, I will get in Christ Jesus.

And what does that include? 

A horn will sprout for me. That is, great strength will fight for me and protect me. There will be a God-prepared lamp for me. That is, light will surround me and darkness will not overcome me. There will be a crown for me. That is, I will reign with the Son of David and sit with him on his throne. “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne” (Revelation 3:21).

It is an astonishing thing that we will benefit from the promises made to David. God means for us to be astonished. He means for us to leave our devotions astonished at the power and authority and surety with which we are loved by God.

GOD’S PATIENCE AND MERCY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 01, 2025.

SUBJECT : GOD’S PATIENCE AND MERCY!

Memory verse: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (Second Peter 3 vs 9.)

READ: Psalm 103 vs 8 - 14:

103:8: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

103:9: He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.

103:10: He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.

103:11: For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

103:12: As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

103:13: As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.

103:14: For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

 

INTIMATION:

Our Heavenly Father extends grace far beyond the usual time by waiting or enduring without complaint or reprisal. The Bible in Exodus 34 vs 6 - 7 says, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty....."

In His kindness God holds back His judgement, giving people time to repent. It is easy to mistake God's patience for approval of wrong way we are living. Self evaluation is difficult, and it is even more difficult to expose our conduct to God and let Him tell us where we need to change. In our thought, we just don't put God in our timetable. 

God is not slow; He is just not in our timetable. Because of the open invitation; without any time frame attached or given to us to come to Him, we tend to put Him out of our timetable. Like God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, is waiting so that more sinners will repent and turn to Him. We must not sit and wait for Christ to return, but we should realize that time is short and we have important work to do. 

But as Christians we must pray constantly that God will point out our sins, so that He can heal them. Unfortunately, we are more likely to be amazed at God's patience with others than humbled by His patience with us. God is ever merciful. He is good and His mercies endures forever. Though this Nature of God is repeated severally in the Bible, but the psalmist in Psalm 136 repeated it throughout the psalm. Repeating this phrase, "For His mercy endures forever," shows the truth in it, and makes the important lesson sink in. 

"Mercy" is a translation of a Hebrew word that includes aspects of love, kindness, mercy, and faithfulness. We never have to worry that God will run out of love because it flows from a well that will never run dry. Mercy is the translation of the Greek word "Eleos," which is the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it. God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2 vs 4), and out of His mercy has provided salvation for all men (Titus 3 vs 5), for Jews (Luke 1 vs 72), and Gentiles (Romans 15 vs 9). He is merciful to those who fear Him (Luke 1 vs 50), for they are compassed with iniquity, and He alone can succor them. 

Now that we have known of God's patience and merciful nature, we should not overstretch it or take it for granted. But we should be ready to meet Christ any time, even today, and plan our course of service as though He may not return for many years. We should be ready at all times; leading our lives as if He is already here, knowing that if we miss it now, we may have missed it forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are merciful, patient, and just. Give me the grace never to take Your mercy and patience for granted, but rather be ready to meet You anytime in faithfulness and obedience to You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

TRUST IN THE UNCHANGING GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JANUARY 31, 2025.

SUBJECT : TRUST IN THE UNCHANGING GOD!

Memory verse: "For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed. O sons of Jacob. (Malachi 3 vs 6.) 

READ: Hebrews 1 vs 10 - 12:

1:10: And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands:

1:11: They will perish, but You remain; and they all will grow old like a garment;

12 like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.

INTIMATION:

God is changeless; He is unalterable, inviolable, and persistent. In other words, you can always count on Him because He is worthy of our trust and He never changes. In accordance with His persistent nature, our Heavenly Father does not have good days or bad days. He never gets out of bed on the wrong side (maybe because He never goes to bed nor sleeps! (Psalm 121 vs 4)). Therefore, though we are in a changing and dynamic world, we can trust our unchanging Lord. 

His nature is revealed to us in Second Timothy 2 vs 13, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." This is absolutely incredible! Even when you are faithless and filled with doubt, God is persistent as your Father. Despite the fact that everything else around you may be changing, and your world appears to be falling apart, there is always one thing you can count on—God never changes how He acts toward you no matter what you do. Problems and heartaches can overwhelm us and cause us to feel that God has rejected us. But God our Creator is eternally with us and will keep all His promises, even though we may feel alone. The world will perish, but God will remain. 

Jesus Christ is faithful. He will stay by our side even when we have endured so much that we seem to have no faith left. We may be faithless at times, but Jesus is faithful to His promise to be with us always, "even to end of the age" (Matthew 28 vs 20). Though some refuse Christ and His help, which breaks their communication with the Father, but He will never turn His back on us even though we may turn our back on Him. And because of His grace, He loves us persistently on our good days and bad days. Christ’s character will never change. He persistently shows His love to us. He is always fair, just, and merciful to us who are so undeserving. He will always help us when we need it and offer forgiveness when we fail.

Christ is our only security in a changing world. Whatever may happen in this world, Christ remains forever changeless. If we trust Him, we are absolutely secure, because we stand on the firmest foundation in the universe—Jesus Christ. A famous hymn captures this truth: “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” 

Earthly fathers can be so unpredictable and inconsistent, as can any human being. The result of this inconsistency is insecurity. But our Heavenly Father is persistent, consistent, and perfect. God loves us unconditionally and persistently because we are His children. In Psalms 18 vs 30, the psalmist says, "As for God, His way is perfect; The Word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust Him." 

 

Some people think that believing in God is a crutch for weak people who cannot make it on their own. God indeed is a shield to protect us when we are too weak to face certain trials by ourselves, but He does not want us to remain weak. He strengthens, protects, and guides us in order to send us back into the world to fight for Him. Then He continues to work with us because the strongest person on earth is definitely weaker than God and needs His help. David was not a coward; he was a mighty warrior who, even with all his armies and weapons, knew that only God could ultimately protect and save him. 

When we spend more time on ourselves than on serving Christ, we treat ourselves (His creation) as being more important than our Creator. When we regard our finances, rather than our faith in Christ, as a basis for security, we give higher status to an earthly resource than we do to God. Rather than trusting in changeable and temporary resources, trust in God, who is eternal. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Shield, my high Tower, and my Refuge, my Savior, in You I put my whole trust. You are on my side, I will not fear: what can man do to me.Give me the grace to serve You faithfully all the days of my life, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!