Subversive for the Savior

 Subversive for the Savior

When Jesus met the man filled with demons at Gadara, the demons cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29)

Demons learned a mystery here. They knew they were doomed. They knew the Son of God would be the victor. But they didn’t know until it happened that Christ was coming before the time of final defeat. 

Christ is not going to wait for the end of the war to lead his troops into combat. He has begun to lead a subversive force into the territory of Satan. He has trained a “life-squad” to perform daring rescue operations. Christ has plotted many tactical victories before the time of the final strategic victory.

The resulting wartime mentality is this: Since Satan’s doom is sure, and he knows it, we can always remind him of it when he tempts us to follow him. We can laugh and say, “You’re out of your mind. Who wants to join forces with a loser?!”

The church is the liberated enemy of “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). We are the guerrillas and the gadflies. We are the insurgency against the rebel kingdom of “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). 

It is not safe. But it is thrilling. Many lives are lost. Satan’s forces are ever on the lookout for our subversive activity. Christ has guaranteed resurrection for all who fight to the death. But he has not guaranteed comfort, or acceptance from the world, or prosperity in enemy territory. 

Many have gladly given their lives behind the lines running errands for the Commander. I can think of no better way to live — or die!

THE DOUBLE-MINDED MAN!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY MARCH 15, 2025.

SUBJECT: THE DOUBLE-MINDED MAN! 

Memory verse: "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11 vs 24.)

READ: James 1 vs 5 - 8:

1:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

1:6: 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.

1:7: For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

1:8: he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

INTIMATION:

A double-minded man is a two-souled man. The soul is the seat of the will and purpose of the human’s life. If the human’s will and purpose is unstable and wavers between two opinions, he is two-souled, that is double-minded. Such people, in the morning they are confessing Christ and His finished works on the cross, but in the evening they are rebuking Satan for his hold on them. The mind that wavers is not completely convinced that God’s way is the best. It treats God’s Word like any human advice and retains the option to disobey. It vacillates between allegiance to subjective feelings, the world’s ideas, and God’s command. 

First Kings 18 vs 21 gives us a graphic description of that kind of human: "And Elijah came to all people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word." Elijah was confronted with the problem of dealing with double-minded men. In the modern church, and indeed the world, we have the same problem. 

Many people, including believers, are very unstable in their ways. They hardly can take a stand in their lives. In fact, it is grievous when they cannot take a stand in their relationship with God. It is absolutely important to take a stand for the Lord. If you just drift along with whatever is pleasant and easy, you will someday discover that you have been worshipping a false god—“yourself!”

If you have ever seen the constant rolling of huge waves at sea, you know how restless they are; subject to the forces of wind, gravity, and tide. Doubt leaves a person as unsettled as the restless waves. If you want to stop being tossed about, rely on God to show you what is best for you. Ask Him for wisdom, and trust that He will give it to you. Then your decision will be sure and solid. 

The Scripture is very apt on trusting in God and receiving from Him: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11 vs 6.) We must believe not only in the existence of God but also in His loving care. This include relying on God and expecting that He will hear and answer when we pray. We must put away our critical attitude when we come to Him. And trust in His assurance of His reward to those who honestly seek Him; who act in faith on the knowledge of God that they possess. 

Some people need to doubt before they believe. If doubt leads to questions, and questions leads to answers, and if the answers are accepted, then doubt has done good work. It is when doubt becomes stubbornness and stubbornness becomes a prideful lifestyle that harms faith. When you doubt, don’t stop there. Let your doubt deepen your faith as you continue to search for the answer.

Prayer: Abba Father, my total trust and confidence is in You. You are my everything. I resist and rebuke any planting of doubt in my mind by the evil one. Endue me with unwavering faith in You in all things and at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Triumph Is Sure

 The Triumph Is Sure

Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. (Isaiah 25:3)

Isaiah sees the day coming when all the nations — representatives from all the people groups — will no longer be at odds with Yahweh, the God of Israel and his Messiah, whom we know to be Jesus. 

They will no longer worship Bel or Nebo or Molech or Allah or Buddha or utopian social programs or capitalistic growth possibilities or ancestors or animistic spirits. Instead they will come in faith to the banquet on God’s mountain. 

And they will have the veil of sorrow removed and death shall be swallowed up and the reproach of God’s people will be removed and tears shall be gone forever.

That’s the setting for understanding the vision of Isaiah 25:3: “Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you.” In other words, God is stronger than the “strong peoples” and he is so powerful and so gracious that in the end he will turn ruthless nations to revere him.

So the picture Isaiah gives us is one of all nations turned to God in worship, a great banquet for all the peoples, the removal of all suffering and grief and reproach from the nations, who have become his people, and the final putting away of death forever. 

This triumph is sure because God is doing it. Therefore we can be certain of it. 

Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement or one little light shining in some dark place — nothing in the cause of this advancing kingdom is in vain.

The triumph is sure.

THE BLESSINGS OF TRUSTING IN AND SEEKING THE LORD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2025S.

SUBJECT : THE BLESSINGS OF TRUSTING IN AND SEEKING THE LORD!

Memory verse: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7 vs 7.)

READ: Psalm 34 vs 4 - 15 & 22

34 vs 4: I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5: They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.

6: This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of his troubles.

7: The angel of the LORD encamps all round those who fear Him, and delivers them.

8: Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

9: Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.

10: The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

11: Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12: Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?

13: Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.

14: Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

15: The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

22: The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

INTIMATION:

God promises great blessings to His people, but most of these blessings require active participation in seeking and trusting in Him. In the passage we read, He promised to set us free from our fears (34:4), deliver us from trouble (34:6), guard and defend us (34:7), show us goodness (34:8), supply our needs (34:9), listen when we call to Him (34:15), and redeem us (34:22). The Lord continues to deliver His people in order that they do not become desolate. 

But we must do our part. We can appropriate His blessings when we seek Him (34:4, 10), that is, cry out to Him (34:6), trust Him (34:8), fear (reverence) Him (34:9), refrain from lying (34:13), turn from evil, do good, search for peace (34:14), and serve Him (34:22). The fear of the Lord delivers us from the fear of man. The result of keeping one’s face toward the Lord is that the radiance of the Lord flows in and from one’s heart and is perceived in one’s life. God is ever willing to protect and provide for those who seek peace with man as a result of their desire to do God’s Will. 

Prayer is your lifeline to God, hence we should prayer regularly to ensure our line of seeking Him is open at all times. The apostle Paul echoes it thus, "Pray without ceasing." (First Thessalonians 5 vs 17.) Seeking God in prayers regularly, no matter what, ensures God's guidance and strength that is needed at all times, to appropriate His promised blessings to ourselves. Regular and constant praying habit ensures a disciplined life of prayer. Though our prayers are usually interrupted by pressures of our schedules, developing a regular prayer time makes you develop a prayerful attitude at all times. 

This attitude is built upon acknowledging our dependence on God, realizing His presence within us, and determining to obey Him fully. This would be obedience to the Lord as a result of recognizing His awesomeness. In order to be God’s son, one must have a right attitude toward God that results in a life-style of obedience to His Will. If one will see good in his life, then he must submit to the Will of the Lord.

Daniel had a disciplined prayer life and prayed three times daily. He never allowed threats or pressure of his schedules interrupt his prayer life. Daniel was a foreigner, exiled in Babylon, but never gave up his disciplined prayer life amidst all pressures of life. Daniel hugely partook of the attendant blessings associated with seeking and trusting in God. God bestowed great wisdom on him and he enjoyed the presence and favour of God in his life. Daniel, a captive from Israel, became an adviser of kings in a foreign land. He served as an adviser to two Babylonian kings and two Medo-Persian Kings (Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus). (Daniel chapter 6 .)

The Bible interchangeably uses fear of the LORD, for seeking the LORD. The fear of the LORD in the Scriptures denote reverential fear of God, not to dread Him, or being scared of Him. It is to show Him deep respect, reverence, and honor, demonstrated by a humble attitude and genuine worship. We reverence God as a controlling motive of our lives in spiritual and moral matters. It is not mere fear of His power and righteous retribution, but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him. A fear which banishes the terror that shrinks from His presence, and which influences the disposition and attitude of one whose circumstances are guided by trust in God, through the indwelling Spirit of God. 

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of absolute dependence and obedience to You that will engender a regular praying life-style, that I may, all the time, appropriate to myself Your promised blessings in seeking You, in Jesus Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Jesus Is God’s Amen

 Jesus Is God’s Amen

All the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Prayer is the place where the past and future are linked repeatedly in our lives. I mention this here because Paul links prayer with God’s Yes in this verse in a striking way. 

In 2 Corinthians 1:20, he says (with choppy Greek that comes through in choppy English), “That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” Let’s try to smooth that out. 

Here’s what he is saying: “Therefore, because of Christ, we say Amen to God in our prayers to show that God gets the glory for the future grace we are asking for and counting on when we pray.” 

If you’ve ever wondered why Christians say Amen at the end of our prayers, and where that custom comes from, here’s the answer. Amen is a word taken straight over into Greek from Hebrew without any translation, just like it has come into English and most other languages without any translation. 

In Hebrew, it was a very strong affirmation (see Numbers 5:22; Nehemiah 5:13; 8:6) — a formal, solemn, earnest “I agree,” or “I affirm what was just said,” or “This is true.” Most simply, “Amen” means a very earnest Yes in the context of addressing God. 

Now notice the connection between the two halves of 2 Corinthians 1:20. The first half says, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him.” The second half says, “That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” 

When we realize that “Amen” and “Yes” mean the same thing, here’s what the verse says: In Jesus Christ God says his Yes to us through his promises; and in Christ we say our Yes to God through prayer.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH PATH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY MARCH 13, 2025.

SUBJECT: SPIRITUAL GROWTH PATH!

Memory verse: "But by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (First Corinthians 15 vs 10.)

READ: Philippians 2 vs 12 - 13; Hebrews 13 vs 20 - 21:

Philippians 2:12: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

2:13: For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Hebrews 13:20: Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 

13:21: make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen. 

INTIMATION:

Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort between you and the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit works with us, not just in us. The spiritual growth path is made up of two parts: the "work out" part and the "work in." The "work out" is your responsibility, and the "work in" is God's role. In one of the passages we read today, the Scripture says, “For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2 vs 13.) 

This verse written to believers is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It does not say "work for" your salvation, because you can't add anything to what Jesus already did. It says “work out” your own salvation. The salvation has already been delivered to you through Christ’s substitutionary work on the cross. 

The “work out” is like thinking of exercising your body; you exercise your body to develop it, and not to get a body. It's the same with the farmers who work the land, they work not to get land, but to develop what they already have. God has given you a new life; now you are responsible to develop it "with fear and trembling." That means to take your spiritual growth seriously! When people are casual about their spiritual growth, it shows they don't understand the eternal implications. "Work out your own salvation" in the light of being careful to obey Christ wholeheartedly. We must be careful about what we believe and how we live, especially when we are on our own. We must focus our attention and devotion more on Christ so that we won't be sidetracked. 

God works in us as we have responded to His work for us. He worked for us through the cross. Our sense of gratitude to the work of God in reference to our salvation, therefore, should move us into action. In this way God is living in us (Galatians 2 vs 20; First Timothy 4 vs 15). When we are motivated into action by the redemptive work of God, then we work according to the purposes of God (Second Corinthians 3 vs 5). And when we work according to the purposes of God, it is God who works in us. Christians do not work in order to be saved. They work out their salvation because they are saved.

The calling of Paul into apostleship illustrates the work of God through His grace. Paul did not earn his call into apostleship. He was not a self-proclaimed apostle. In fact, his persecution of the church placed him as far away from God as one could possibly be. However, God knew that Paul was a sincere and honest personality, and thus, He provided for him the opportunity to respond to the miraculous appearance of Jesus. Paul could claim no meritorious accomplishment for either his calling or his salvation. All was by the grace of God. 

All that God did toward the apostle Paul through His grace was not a wasted effort. It was not useless because Paul responded with thanksgiving (Second Corinthians 4 vs 15). When God’s grace was extended toward him, he worked more abundantly than when he lived under a legal system of religiosity. The apostle Paul really worked out his own salvation with fear and trembling, and labored more than all other apostles. He knew he could do all that because of God’s grace with him. When one is motivated by grace, he or she cannot do enough in thanksgiving for his or her salvation.

Prayer: Abba Father, I will forever remain grateful for your gift of salvation, and Your subsequent work in me both to will and to do for Your good pleasure. I commit myself entirely to Your care and leading, and Your empowerment to live in accordance with Your precepts, and to serve Your purposes, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

When the Potter Is for Us

 When the Potter Is for Us

“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?” (Isaiah 45:9)

The majesty of God is magnified when we see him through the lens of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing). He commands nothingness, and it obeys and becomes something. 

Out of nothing he makes the clay, and out of the clay he makes us — the pottery of the Lord (Isaiah 45:9) — his possession, destined for his glory, in total dependence on him. 

“Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3). It is a humbling thing to be a sheep and a pot that belong to somebody else.

This morning I was reading in Isaiah and found another statement about God’s majesty. When I put it together with God’s absolute power and rights as Creator, there was a combustion that went off in my heart. Boom!

Isaiah 33:21 says, “The Lord in majesty will be for us!” 

For us! For us! The Creator is for us and not against us. With all the power in the universe and with absolute right to do as he pleases with what he made — he is for us! 

“No eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). 

Can you think of anything (I mean anything) that is more comforting and assuring and delighting than that the Lord in his majesty is for you?