THE LOVE RULE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2025.

SUBJECT: THE LOVE RULE!

Memory verse: "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (First Corinthians 13 vs 13.)

READ: Mark 12 vs 28 vs 31:

12:28: Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”

12:29: Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

12:30: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, 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.

INTIMATION:

Love is having great affection for, feeling a passionate attraction to. Biblically, It is described as the basic first cause, and ultimate expression of God and man as well. It is the Christian gospel, and church ethics. It is a fruit of the Spirit. Love describes God; “God is love” (First John 4 vs 8 & 16). Love as used of God, expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver.

Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all, in implicit obedience, to His commandments. Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God. Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all (Romans 15 vs 2), and works no ill to any (Romans 13 vs 8 - 10); love seeks opportunity to do good to all men, especially toward them that are of the household of the faith (Galatians 6 vs 10). 

The intent of God’s law is to promote love to God and others. Consequently, the Christian faith involves many rules that are meant to be governed by love. That makes love the highest rule, but it also moves Christians toward personal sacrifice, discipline, and responsibility, which are scarce resources in today’s world. When confronted with rules of your own or others, ask: (1) Does the rule serve God’s purpose? (2) Does the rule reveal God’s character? (3) Does the rule help people get into God’s family, or keep them out? (4) Does the rule have biblical roots that can be supported in the context of all Scripture? Good rules pass all four tests.

Everything concerning God is summed up in love. His laws can be reduced to two simple principles: Love God and love others. When you love God completely and care for others as you care for yourself, then you have fulfilled the intent of God’s Law.—the “Ten Commandments.” 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 love for others.

Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (First John 4 vs 9 - 10). Obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellence in its object: “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5 vs 8). It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself.

Love explains: (1) why God creates—because He loves, He creates people to love; (2) why God cares—because He loves them, He cares for sinful people; (3) why we are free to choose—God wants a loving response from us; (4) why Christ died—His love for us caused Him to offer a solution to the problem of sin; and (5) why we receive eternal life—God’s love expresses itself to us forever.

Real love is an action, not a feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. The Scripture says, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (First John 3 vs 16). How can we “lay down our lives?” By serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. Sometimes it is easier to say we’ll die for others than to truly live for them—this involves putting others’ desires first. Jesus taught this same principle of love, He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15 vs 13.) 

We are to love each other as Jesus loved us, and He loved us enough to give His life of inestimable value for ours that are completely worthless because of sin. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving, caring. Evaluate your lifestyle, and measure your obedience to the highest rule! You can start right away: Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more. Then make it a regular practice.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are love, and has poured out Your love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit You have given to us. Give me the grace and empowerment to love as You love, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Lincoln’s Providence

 Lincoln’s Providence

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33)

Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this day in 1809, remained skeptical, and at times even cynical, about religion into his forties. So, it is a most striking thing how personal and national suffering drew Lincoln into the reality of God, rather than pushing him away.

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.” Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington. 

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the Capitol held two thousand cots for wounded soldiers. 

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was assassinated. It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or Confederate cause. God has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. . . .

Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

I pray for all of you who suffer loss and injury and great sorrow that it will awaken for you, as it did for Lincoln, not an empty fatalism, but a deeper reliance on the infinite wisdom and love of God’s inscrutable providence.

WHY YOU ASK IN PRAYERS AND WILL NOT RECEIVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2025.

SUBJECT : WHY YOU ASK IN PRAYERS AND WILL NOT RECEIVE!

Memory verse: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures.

" (James 4 vs 3).

READ: First John 3 vs 21 - 22; 5 vs 14 - 15

3:21; "Beloved, if our hearts does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

3:22: And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

5:14: Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us.

5:15: And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

INTIMATION:

Sometimes we may pray to God for something and receive no answers, because our faith and confidence may have been dampened by our unclear conscience. Your conscience may have been smeared by unconfessed sin, thereby impacting negatively on your confidence in God. If your conscience is clear, you can come to God without fear, confident that your requests will be heard. But if you have doubts, expect to receive nothing from the Lord.  The apostle James says; "But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1 vs 6 - 7).

Sometimes we ask for the wrong things or with wrong reasons. And this is the obstacle that blocks the prayers of the materialist. He ask for riches that he can consume upon his own lusts. God answers those prayers that are expressed to Him with unselfish motives. He is always ready to grant our needs in accordance to His promise. He created us for His own purposes and desires, and not for ours. He knows our needs even before we ask them (Matthew 6 vs 8), and He is ready to provide those needs at His own appointed time, and in accordance with His plans and purposes for our lives.

When we communicate with God, we don't demand what we want, rather we discuss with Him what He wants for us. We must ask according to His Will, for God does not work contrary to His Will in answer to prayer. If we align our prayers to His Will, He will listen, and we are sure of receiving answer to our petition. We must ask upon the condition that we are obedient to His Will, for God works through the lives of those who are carrying out His work in the world. God does not grant requests that violates the principles of His kingdom. 

For instance, Jesus Christ taught us thus; "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (Matthew 5 vs 44). When you pray to God to kill your enemies God will not answer such prayer because it is outside the Will of God. Though your enemy may die for incurring the wrath of God for evil he committed but not from an answer to your prayers.

The other reasons why we don't receive answers to our prayers include: 

1. When we ask for knowledge beyond our ability to understand or accept. For instance, in Judges 13 vs 17 - 18, when the Angel came to Manoah (the father of Samson) and his wife to announce the birth of their son Samson, Manoah wanted to know the name of the Angel of the Lord. The Angel responded "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?". The Angel was saying that his name was a mystery and beyond understanding and too wonderful to imagine. Manoah asked the Angel for an answer he wouldn't have understood.

2. When you have not followed God's previous directions, answers to your prayers may be hindered. If you don't fulfill the responsibilities God has already given you, then don't be surprised when He does not give further guidance. Saul did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, When Saul prayed to God, he didn't receive any answers again. (Study First Samuel 15, and 28 vs 16-18).

3. When God may be directing you to a greater purpose in your life. David wanted to build a temple for God which He refused because God was planning to do something even greater in David's life than allowing him the prestige of building the temple. (Study Second Samuel 7 vs 8 - 16). Have you prayed with good intentions, only to have God say no? This is God's way of directing you to a greater purpose in your life. Accepting God's no requires as great faith as carrying on his yes. 

4. When you are not keeping God’s commandments (John 8 vs 29). When one lives an obedient life, however, he can know that God is working in answer to his prayers.

5. When you are not doing the things that are pleasing to God. We would assume, therefore, that God does not answer the prayers of those who willingly live a rebellious life against His Will. 

Prayer: Abba Father, I desire to do Your will always. By my strength I cannot prevail. Give me the grace to be obedient to You and to do the things that please You. Holy Spirit, my Senior Partner, help me to pray aright, that I may receive answers to my prayers, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Victory Over the Enemies

 Victory Over The Enemies

Today, we're praying against the enemies of progress, joy and happiness. We need to defeat them with our prayers not physically because it's a spiritual battle that we must fight as believers. May all our enemies be defeated in this year 2025 in Jesus Name 🙏🙏🙏!

1Samuel 30:8- 20.

Exodus 22:18.

Isaiah49:24-26

PRAYER POINTS

1. Father I thank you for giving me eternal victory in Christ Jesus amen.

 2. I declare that I have victory of all demonic oppression in Jesus name

3. I declare that I have victory over sin in Jesus name

4. I declare that no man shall stand against me successfully all the days of my life in Jesus name

5. I declare that I have victory over all my enemies in Jesus name

6. I declare that every strong man in my life and family is disarmed and destroyed now in Jesus name

7. I declare that wherever my name is called, I shall be victorious in the name of Jesus

8. I declare that no man shall prevail against me in any matter in Jesus name

9. I declare that I shall be victorious over those who are too strong for me in Jesus name

10. I declare that the mighty hand of God will continue to grant me supernatural victory in Jesus name

 11. Oh Lord, I bind every strongman trying to bring me down in Jesus name

 12. Father grant me divine tactics and strategies to continue to defeat and subdue the enemy in Jesus name.

13. I bind and paralyse the strongman employed or delegated to disgrace me, in the name of Jesus.

14. Let all the affairs of my life be too hot for my enemies to manipulate, in the name of Jesus.

15. O Lord, grant me supernatural wisdom to subdue all my enemies in Jesus name.L

16. O Lord, let all my adversaries be put to shame in the name of Jesus.

17. O Lord, I declare that I shall come out victorious in every court case I have with my enemies in Jesus name.

18. I close every negative door that the enemy might want to open, to harm me in the name of Jesus.

19. You satanic agents, I command you to clear out from the pathway to my victory in this matter, in the name of Jesus.

 20.  I cancel any demonic decision and expectation targeting my life, in the name of Jesus.

21. Father, let all my enemies be on there knees as I rule over them victoriously in Jesus name.

 22. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit purge my life from any evil mark put upon me, in the name of Jesus.

23. Let the Lord confuse the tongues of those gathered to do me harm, after the order of the builders of the Tower of Babel, in the name of Jesus.

24. Le my adversaries stumble and fall, in the name of Jesus.

25. I command every evil power and vessel sitting on my destiny to be violently overthrown, in the name of Jesus.

 26. I pursue, overtake and recover all my blessings from the hands of my enemies, in the name of Jesus.

 27. Let every counsel, plan, desire, expectation, imagination, device and activity of the enemy against this my life be rendered null and void, in the name of Jesus.

28. I terminate every journey into bondage and unfruitfulness designed for me by the enemies of my life in the name of Jesus.

29. I bind every money-consuming demon attached to my finances, in the name of Jesus.

 30. Father thank you for giving me all round victory in Jesus name.

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The Best Form of Slavery

 The Best Form of Slavery

He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. (1 Corinthians 7:22, my translation)

I would have expected Paul to switch the places of “Lord,” which means Master, and “Christ,” which means Messiah. 

He correlates our liberation with Jesus being our Master (“a freedman of the Lord”). And he correlates our new slavery with Jesus being our Messiah (“a slave of Christ”). It seems strange because the Messiah came to liberate his people from their captors; and masters take control of their slaves’ lives. 

Why does he say it this way? Why correlate slavery (rather than liberation) with Messiah, and liberation (rather than slavery) with Master? 

Suggestion: The switch has two effects on our new liberty and two effects on our new slavery.

On the one hand, in calling us “the liberated of the Lord,” he secures and limits our new liberty:

His lordship is over all other lords; so our liberation is uncontested — absolutely secure.

But, free from all other lords, we are not free from him. Our freedom is mercifully limited. Jesus is our Master.

On the other hand, in calling us the “slaves of Christ,” he loosens and sweetens our slavery:

The Messiah lays claim on his own in order to bring them from the confines of captivity into the open spaces of peace. “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). 

And he makes them his own to give them the sweetest joy. “With honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:16). And that Rock is Christ, the Messiah.

So, Christian, be glad in this: “He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord” — the Master. “Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ” — the loosening, sweetening Messiah.”

PUT YOUR SPIRITUAL NEEDS FIRST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2025.

SUBJECT: PUT YOUR SPIRITUAL NEEDS FIRST!

Memory verse: "One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the LORD, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple." (Psalm 27 vs 4.)

READ: Luke 10 vs 38 - 42: 

10:38: Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

10:39: And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 

10:40: But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

10:41: And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

10:42: But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

INTIMATION:

We should have our priorities right, knowing that the spiritual, which controls the physical, should take precedence in all we do. It is good to care for our physical needs. However, the spiritual needs of man are always more important. One must not use the service of physical needs as an excuse to neglect the spiritual food that is more important. It is for this reason that Jesus advised us thus, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6 vs 33.) Our priorities should be determined by what is most important at the time.

To seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness means to put God first in your life, making Jesus the Lord and King of your life. He must control every area —your work, play, plans, relationships etc. You must fill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character for your pattern, and to serve and obey Him in everything. Emphasis here is that our desire should be that the will of the Father be done on earth in our hearts, as it is in heaven. God’s righteousness comes through one’s submission to His Will. Seeking the kingdom of God, therefore, must always be first. God will take care of those who seek Him first. 

People, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority. Any of these can quickly become most important to you, if you don’t actively choose to give God first in every area of your life. Our greatest desire should be to live in the presence of the Lord each day of our lives. Sadly, this is not the greatest desire of many who claim to be believers. Many substitute commitment and obedience to God with busywork in form of Christian services, especially in the church, which, to a large extent, is self-serving—wanting to be seen as workers in His vineyard while their hearts are far away from Him.

Consider Mary and Martha in the passage we read today, on this occasion they were both serving Jesus in their house, the One they both loved. But Martha was very busy with the household chores while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to His teaching. Martha didn't realize that in her desire to serve, she was actually neglecting her guest. As at the time Jesus was present in the house, Martha’s priorities were wrong. She was busy doing a needed and good work. However, the situation demanded a change in her priorities because the end of Jesus’ ministry was drawing near. It was a time to listen to Jesus for the last time.. 

Though Martha’s works were good but were not to her best interest. She got so busy that she found it hard to relax and enjoy her guests. Her service to Jesus degenerated into mere busywork that was no longer full of devotion to Him. The personal attention she gave her guests should be more important than the comforts she tried to provide for them. She was overwhelmed by her wrong priority of placing physical needs above spiritual needs. 

Our work for the necessities of life takes second place to that which is above this world. When material things are in their right priority, they become spiritual in the sense that we consider such to be blessings from God. When material blessings are used for the work of God, then they are a blessing to many. The rich man who continually focuses his material blessings toward the propagation of the gospel is a blessing to the kingdom of God. 

What is really important to you? Is the kingdom only one of your many concerns, or is it central to all you do? Are you holding back any areas of your life from God’s control? As Lord and Creator, He wants to help provide what you need as well as guide how you use what He provides. Only in seeking first the kingdom of God can one maintain the correct priorities of the Christian life. It is when one places God first in all things that God takes care of the one in all ways. 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to adequately prioritize my needs, placing You and my spiritual needs first in my life, that I may serve the interest of Your kingdom first, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Saving Faith Isn’t Easily Satisfied

 Saving Faith Isn’t Easily Satisfied

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:15–16)

Faith sees the promised future that God offers and “desires” it. “As it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Dwell on this for a moment. 

There are many people who water down what saving faith is by making it a mere decision with no change of what one desires and seeks. But the point of this text in the great faith chapter in the Bible — Hebrews 11 — is that living and dying by faith means having new desires and seeking new satisfactions.

Verse 14 says that the saints of old (who are being commended for their faith here in Hebrews 11) were seeking a different kind of country than this world offered. And verse 16 says they were desiring something better than what a present earthly existence could offer. “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”

They had been so gripped by God that nothing short of being with God would satisfy.

So, this is true saving faith: seeing the promises of God from afar, and experiencing a change of values so that you desire and seek after and trust in the promises of God above what the world has  to offer.