SERVE GOD WITH YOUR ALL!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2025.

SUBJECT: SERVE GOD WITH YOUR ALL!

Memory verse: "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.” (Mark 12 vs 30.)

READ: Mark 12 vs 30 - 31:

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:

God is mindful of our conduct in our obedience to Him, and He reckons it for our reward; “And, behold, I an coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” (Revelation 22 vs 12.) When your conduct is right before God, He speaks out for you, even before the adversary—the devil. God said of Job to the devil, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1 vs 8). Job was faithful to God in all he did, serving Him with his whole heart. He was a model of trust and obedience to God, and God reckoned with him.

We obey God with (1) Our heart: by loving Him more than any relationship, activity, achievement, or possession; by placing God first in everything in our lives. The human heart is the chief organ of the physical body. It occupies the most important place in the human system. By an easy transition the word came to stand for man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional. In other words, the heart is used figuratively for the hidden springs of the personal life. Therefore, yielding your heart to God is yielding the central and core of your being to Him, which God desires. The Bible describes human activity as in the ‘heart.’ For instance, every thought has its seat in the heart. (Matthew 15 vs 19 - 20.)

(2) Our will; by committing ourselves completely to Him. The “will” is the decision-making capacity, indicating a power of choice. God is mindful of our will—our decisions relating to our obedience to follow Him and obey His commands. Joshua was an exemplary king who showed his subjects his will to follow after God with his family: “And if it seem evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24 vs 15.) It’s easy to slip into a quiet rebellion—going about life in your own way. But the time comes when you have to choose who or what will control you. The choice is yours. Will it be God, your own limited personality, or another imperfect substitute? 

(3) Our mind. The mind is the faculty that encompasses the reflective thinking of the brain and the emotional thinking of the heart. The mind denotes, speaking generally, the seat of reflective consciousness, comprising the faculties of perception and understanding, and those of feeling, judging and determining. It is the faculty of knowing, understanding, or moral reflection. God desires our seeking to know Him and His Word. His principles and values form the foundation of all we think and do. Th apostle Paul desires that we conform our minds to God’s and His Word; “And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, Will of God.” (Romans 12 vs 2)

 (4) Our Body: The body is one’s essence. It is, as a whole, the instrument of life. It is used to denote the physical nature, as distinct from the spiritual nature, and soul. God desires we serve Him with our body, recognizing that our strengths, talents, and sexuality are given to us by Him to be used for pleasure and fulfillment according to His rules, not ours: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12 vs 1.) God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifice—daily laying aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us. God wants the best for us. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds, living to honor and obey Him. 

(5) Our finances: All of the resources we have ultimately come from God, and we are only managers of them, and not owners. The Scripture says, “...A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” (John 3 vs 27.) The power to get wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8 vs 18). And He blesses us to be a blessing to others (Genesis 12 vs 2). 

(6) Our future: By deciding to make service to God and man the main purpose of our lives’ work. God knows the future. Any believer can trust His or her future to God because God already knows what is going to happen. Today people are still fascinated by horoscopes, fortune-telling, witchcraft, and bizarre cults. Often their interest comes from a desire to know and control the future. In the Bible God tells us all we need to know about what is going to happen. With the trustworthy guidance of the Holy Spirit through the Bible and the church, we don’t need to turn to occult sources for faulty information.

The Scripture says, “But as it is written: “Eyes has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (First Corinthians 2 vs 9.) We cannot imagine all that God has in store for us, both in this life and in eternity. He will create a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65 vs 17; Revelation 21 vs 1.), and we will live with Him forever. Until then, His Holy Spirit comforts and guides us. Knowing the wonderful and eternal future that awaits us gives us hope and courage to press on in this life, to endure hardship, and to avoid giving in to temptation. The world is not all there is. The best is yet to come. 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to obey and serve You with my all; my heart, my will, my mind, my body, my finances, and my future. Help me, O Lord, to achieve this deep-rooted desire, for I know that by my strength I cannot prevail, and without You I can do nothing, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

The Sweet Designs of God

 The Sweet Designs of God

He set me apart before I was born, and called me by his grace. (Galatians 1:15)

Ponder the conversion of Paul, the sovereignty of Christ, and what Paul’s sins have to do with your salvation.

Paul said that God “set me apart before I was born,” and then, years later, on the Damascus road, “called me by his grace” (Galatians 1:15). This means that between Paul’s birth and his call on the Damascus road he was an already-chosen, but not-yet-called, instrument of God (Acts 9:15; 22:14).

This means that Paul was beating and imprisoning and murdering Christians as a God-chosen, soon-to-be-made-Christian missionary.

As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 22:6–7) 

There was no denying or escaping it. God had chosen him for this before he was born. And now he would take him. The word of Christ was sovereign. There was no negotiating. 

Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. (Acts 22:10)

Damascus was not Paul’s final, free will yielding to Christ after decades of futile divine effort to save him. No. God had a time for choosing him (before he was born) and a time for calling him (on the Damascus road). God called, and the call produced the yielding.

Therefore, the sins that God permitted between Paul’s birth and his calling were part of the plan, since God could have called him sooner. 

Do we have any idea what the plan for those sins might have been? Yes, we do. They were permitted for you and me — for all who fear that they might have sinned themselves out of grace. Here’s the way Paul relates his sins to your hope: 

Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. . . . But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:13, 16) 

Oh, how sweet are the designs of God in the sovereign salvation of hardened, hopeless sinners!

BE A TRUE WORSHIPER OF GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2025.

SUBJECT: BE A TRUE WORSHIPER OF GOD!

Memory verse: "God is a Spirit: and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4 vs 24.)

READ: John 4 vs 23 - 24:

4:23: But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

4:24: God is a Spirit: and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

INTIMATION: 

True worshipers are those that worship God in spirit and in truth. And God seeks such worshipers. “God is Spirit” means He is not a physical being limited to one place. He is present everywhere, and He can be worshiped anywhere, at anytime. It is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship. 

In worshiping God in spirit, Jesus is speaking of worship that comes from within the individual as opposed to the ritualistic or ceremonial worship. As the time of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritans woman, both the Jews and Samaritans had digressed into a worship that was ceremonial and locational. But this would change. Jesus came to reinstitute true worship that did not depend on the location of the worshiper, or the ceremonies through which one goes in order to inspire worship. The worship He was bringing would be according to the Word of God and from the heart of man.

In truth: The worship would not be the invention of men who created their own worship of a god they had created after their own image. God does not accept worship that is invented after either the traditions of men or the uncontrolled outburst of emotionally hysterical people typical of the sabbatarians. The worship about which Jesus is speaking in this context is the worship that is truth directed. It is directed to the God who has revealed Himself through inspired words of revelation. When one comes to the knowledge of this God and His desires through His revealed Will, the worship is directed according to the Will of God. 

This worship is opposed to worship that is invented after the emotional desires of men or the ritualistic ceremonies of those who seek a manifestation of worship through performances. What Jesus is saying in the most profound statement is that one must know the Word of God in order to worship the God of the Word. Ignorance of God’s Word leads to one worshiping a god who is the creation of one’s mind. Such is idolatry.

God is Spirit: it is not that God is a spirit, He is Spirit (Second Corinthians 3 vs 17). He cannot be seen by mortal eyes. Neither can He be conceived to be a physical being after the form of man. Those who would conceive God to be in the form of a man are seeking to make an idolatrous god with whom they can physically identify. Such is the spirit of idolatry. Since God is Spirit, then those who worship Him cannot do so after material means. True worshipers approach God on a spiritual basis, realizing that He is everywhere, sees all things, and knows all things. 

Christians are those who worship God in the spirit (Philippians 3 vs 3). This is one of the greatest arguments against worshiping God through mechanical means, performance of ceremonies, or even the outburst of hysterically misguided emotions. Such things may appeal to the carnal desires of men and manifest a presence of worship, but such are useless in communicating the worship of one’s heart to the God who is above the physical environment of man. The more one focuses on performance of worship, the environment of worship, and ceremonies, the more the worshiper focuses on himself. His worship, therefore, becomes inward focused, and often entertainment that is masked as worship.

We must remember that true worship originates first with the heart and is directed according to how God has determined that our worship toward Him should be conducted. We must also remember that the heart is motivated by love. A loving heart worships God because God has stimulated such by His own love. And if you love Him, you should keep His commandments (John 14 vs 15). In anything you do, remind yourself that He is present with you and sees what you are doing. Therefore, your conduct should be truthful, sincere, lovely, and in keeping His commandments. And do all things in true worship to the Lord!

 

Always seek the leading of our Helper—the Holy Spirit—in your genuine and true worship. How does the Holy Spirit help us worship? The Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8 vs 26), teaches us the words of Christ (John 14 vs 26), and tells us we are loved (Romans 5 vs 5).

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire to lead a life of true worship to You. Give me the grace to accomplish this in my life; living for You, and engaging the leading of the Holy Spirit at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

When Obedience Feels Impossible

 When Obedience Feels Impossible

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. (Hebrews 11:17)

For many of you right now — and for others of you the time is coming — obedience feels like the end of a dream. You feel that if you do what the word of God or the Spirit of God is calling you to do, it will make you miserable and that there is no way that God could turn it all for good.

Perhaps the command or call of God you hear just now is to stay married or stay single, to stay in that job or leave that job, to get baptized, to speak up at work about Christ, to refuse to compromise your standards of honesty, to confront a person in sin, to venture a new vocation, to be a missionary. And as you see it in your limited mind, the prospect of doing this is terrible — it’s like the loss of Isaac, the only son who can be an heir. 

You have considered every human angle, and it is impossible that it could turn out well.

Now you know what it was like for Abraham. This story is in the Bible for you. 

Do you desire God and his way and his promises more than anything, and do you believe that he can and will honor your faith and obedience by being unashamed to call himself your God, and to use all his wisdom and power and love to turn the path of obedience into the path of life and joy?

That is the crisis you face now: Do you desire him? Will you trust him? The word of God to you is: God is worthy and God is able.

THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST FOR THE BELIEVER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2025.

SUBJECT: THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST FOR THE BELIEVER! 

Memory verse: "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,” (Second Peter 1 vs 3.)

READ: Second Peter 1 vs 2 - 4:

1:2: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord,

1:3: as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 

1:4: by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

INTIMATION:

Many Christians still have not understood fully the finished work of Christ for them. The finished work is like undeveloped resources in the African Continent. The finished work still remains the only source of our ability to live for God, have a relationship with Him, and obtain and harness all the promises of God to us, live a prosperous life, and have good success.  Who has imagined or known what it might mean, or what it means if that nature of God is fully harnessed, and  utilized by every human who has received it.

 

All things that relates to life and godliness has already been given to us through our knowledge of Jesus, and that we have become the partakers of His very nature—Divine nature. This nature is called Eternal life. Eternal life is the substance and being of God. He allows us to be "partakers of the divine nature" in order to keep us away from sin and help us live for Him. When we are born again, God, by His Spirit, empowers us with His own moral goodness.  

The nature of God comes with the operation of the Spirit of God in us. It is God’s nature to work through the Spirit—the third Person in the Trinity. In the beginning of creation, the Spirit was with God and hovering over all the surface of the deep. When God spoke His Word, the Spirit performed the spoken Word. It was that same Spirit that was operative in Jesus at the time of His redemptive works. That same Spirit has been given to us as believers. 

The Bible in Romans 8 vs 11 says, "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." As partakers of His divine nature, the same Spirit grants us the creative ability that manifested in creation. The miracle-working power that was manifested in Jesus is imparted on us. In fact, all the nine gifts of the Spirit are made available to us. It is for this reason that Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly." (John 10 vs 10.)

In new creation, we are born of the Spirit, and we are spirit. (John 3 vs 6.) We have been born of incorruptible seed through the Word of God which lives and abides forever. (First Peter 1 vs 23.) Now that we have realized that we have in us His divine ability, you then ask, "How can this be utilized?" It is acting upon His Word, living the Word life, knowing that all His promises are real and for you to receive, if you believe. Knowing that you have your inheritance in Him (Colossians 1 vs 12). 

While He is at work in us, we, as theatre of His marvelous works, should show the excellencies of Him. The Scriptures in First Peter 2 vs 9 made that clear, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him, Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (Amplified Version.) Here is the gold mine. We are an elect people. We are God's own possessions. He set us apart that we may unveil the hidden treasures of grace of God at work in us. He is illuminating us, leading us into all the truth and reality. 

In Colossians 2 vs 3, the Scriptures says, “In Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden." And He has given us light and ability to know what these treasures are. The knowledge of what He has done; knowledge of what He is to do in us; knowledge of what we are; knowledge of what we may do with His ability. And He has also made available the wisdom to utilize all these varied knowledge.

Prayer: Abba Father, You recreated me in Christ with Your divine ability. In Christ You have given me all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge to lead a victorious and triumphant life here on this earth, and have promised to give me the crown of glory—eternal life with You. Give me the grace to remain faithful and obedient to You till the end, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

 

Every Calvary Step Was Love

 Every Calvary Step Was Love

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16)

The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. 

“When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). 

Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”

Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was.

Look at what Jesus said just after that violent moment when Peter tried to cleave the skull of the servant, but only cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:52–54) 

It is one thing to say that the details of Jesus’s death were predicted in the Old Testament. But it is much more to say that Jesus himself was making his choices precisely to see to it that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. 

That is what Jesus said he was doing in Matthew 26:54. “I could escape this misery, but how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 

In other words, I am not choosing to take the way out that I could take, because I know the Scriptures. I know what must take place for my people to be saved. It is my choice to fulfill all that is predicted of me in the word of God. It is my choice — every step of the way — to love my people to the uttermost. And I want them to feel this. And be utterly secure and free and radically different from the world.

GOD GAVE YOU ALL YOU HAVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2025.

SUBJECT : GOD GAVE YOU ALL YOU HAVE!

Memory verse: "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven." (John 3 vs 27.)

READ Deuteronomy 8 vs 11 - 18:

8:11: Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgements, and His statutes which I command you today,

8:12: lest - when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them,

8:13: and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold are multiplied, and all that you have multiplied;

8:14: when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

8:15: who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock;

8:16: who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end - 

8:17: then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' 

8:18: And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

INTIMATION:

All we have; gifts, abilities, talents, and possessions came from God. He gives us the power to get everything we have, and also, asks us to manage it for Him. It's important for us to recognize that He is our source, regardless of how much effort we put into earning a living. In an environment and economy of material prosperity, however, there is always the temptation to forget God. People tend to take for granted all that they receive from God, and thus pride themselves in the euphoria that they are their own accomplishments. 

Consequently, their allegiance which should have remained focused on God, turned to a focus on themselves as a result. In times of plenty, we often take credit for our prosperity and become proud that our own hard work and cleverness have made us rich. And when we get so busy collecting and managing our gifts, the tendency is that we push God right out of our lives. Don't forget God in your abundance because He may remove His blessing from you.

The interesting thing about this Scripture in Deuteronomy 8 vs 18, is that God was talking to the children of Israel who would eventually enter into the Promised Land. They were going to be living in homes built for giants. The fields already had the rocks cleared out of them, the furrows were dug, and the crops were planted. The Israelites were going to step in and benefit from the labor of others. God was telling them not to forget the source of their wealth when they went from living in the desert to living in mansions with abundant property. In context, God was saying, "Don't think you got wealthy by your own might or power. I'm the One who made you rich, and I did it to establish My covenant upon the earth." The covenant He made with Abraham (Genesis 12 vs 1 - 3).

The same is true for us today. God is the One who makes us wealthy. The people of our generation live at a level of relative prosperity that most people throughout history couldn't have dreamed of, yet we didn't do anything to be born at this time. We didn't cause ourselves to be born into such opportunity and freedom. It is quite obvious that the ability to prosper is a gift from God, and we can't boast of the opportunities we have been given. 

The apostle Paul emphasizes this in First Corinthians 4 vs 7, "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?" Whatever you are; your talent, wisdom, skills etc, whatever assets you have; money, properties, etc, and whatever position you occupy in life, are all the act and doing of the LORD. Acknowledge Him, give Him thanks, and use your gifts properly—for service to Him. You are blessed to be a blessing (Genesis 12 vs 2).

The remedy of materialism is to remember Him from whom all blessings flow. The materialist creates a god who originates from within himself, and thus, he humanistically worships his own ability to perform and produce.

The humanist focuses on the ability of man to perform, but the saint focuses on God who brings power to one’s effort to work to the glory of God. When we are blessed, therefore, all glory must be given to God who gave us the gifts to produce, and also gave increase to the work of our hands. Our recognition of the fruits of our hands, therefore, is an opportunity to be grateful to God for working in our lives. 

Prayer: Abba Father, Only You strengthens me to do all I do, and all I have You have given me. You have daily loaded me with Your benefits, and I am forever grateful and thankful. Give me the grace to properly administer Your gifts to me, that I may be a blessing to others, and a workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly applying myself for the interest of the kingdom, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!