Go on to the Meal

 Go on to the Meal

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8)

To you who say you have never tasted the glory of God, I say, you have tasted many of its appetizers. 

Have you ever looked up at the sky? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good? 

Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven.

You say you haven’t tasted God’s glory. I say, you have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal. Go on to God himself.

You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself — yes, through the protective and sharpening lens of the gospel. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music.

The best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ. “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). 

If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the Gospels, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.

That is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away on shadows. God made you to see and savor his glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else. You have tasted the appetizers. Now go on to the full banquet.

AS YOU GIVE SO YOU RECEIVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY MAY 11, 2025.

SUBJECT : AS YOU GIVE SO YOU RECEIVE!

Memory verse: "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." (Luke 6 vs 38.)

READ: Second Corinthians 9 vs 6 - 11:

9:6: But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

9:7: So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

9:9: As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever."

9:10: Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,generation,

9:11: while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

INTIMATION:

God has a divine law of giving and receiving. If you want to receive reward for your giving, you need to understand this divine law. Therefore, understand that it is the measure with which you give that determines what you will receive from God. That is to say, "What you give determines what you receive."

In our memory verse, Jesus used the picture of measuring grain in a basket to ensure the full import and clear understanding of His teaching. For instance, a forgiving spirit demonstrates that a person has received forgiveness. If you are critical rather than compassionate, you will also receive criticism. If you treat others generously, and compassionately, however, these qualities will come back to you in full measure. Jesus taught us to love others as ourselves, not judge them.

The measurement here  is relatively not in volume or quantity, but rather in value, or quality. In Mark 12 vs 42 - 43, a poor widow made an offering of two mites, which makes a quadrans, and Jesus told His disciples that the poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury, because others have given out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gratuitously put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. Though her gift was the smallest, she gave more than the others put together in the eyes of the Lord.

The value of a gift is not determined by its quantity, but by the spirit in which it is given. A gift given grudgingly or for recognition loses its value. God desires that your gift be pleasing to Him, the volume or quantity not withstanding. Your gift is pleasing to God when it is given out of a heart of gratitude, and a spirit of generosity. When you give with God's desired motives, the dividend you receive thereto far more outweighs what you have given. The reward to you is in: ‘good measure, press down, shaking together, and running over.’

For instance, King Solomon gave a sacrifice of a thousand cows out of a heart of gratitude and a spirit of generosity, and it was pleasing to God. Rather than give him the wisdom to rule the Israelites he requested, God gave him his petition and added riches and honor. (First King 3 vs 4 - 14). You cannot out-give God. 

A giving attitude is more important than the amount given. A person who can give only a small gift with sincerity of heart shouldn't be embarrassed. God is concerned about how a person gives from his or her resources. God Himself is a cheerful giver. Consider all He has done for us. He is pleased when we, who are created in His image, give generously and joyfully. 

People may hesitate to give generously to God because they worry about having enough left over to meet their needs. Obviously, it is lack of faith in God, and also reflects ungratefulness to Him. The Bible tells us that withholding from God tends to poverty (Proverbs 11 vs 24). God wants to produce tremendous blessings for you, spiritually, physically, and financially. Real giving is an act of faith. Failure to give is unbelief. It is giving place to the devil. Believe God's Word and be blessed. And that is why the saying, "givers never lack."

Prayer: Abba Father, You have imparted Your nature of love in me at redemption. Give me the grace and the spirit of gratuitous and generous giving in reflection of my faith and trust in You, and as Your child created in Your image and likeness, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen,

PRAISE THE LORD!

A People for His Name

 A People for His Name

“Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14)

It is scarcely possible to overemphasize the centrality of the name of God, that is, the fame of God, in motivating the mission of the church. 

When Peter had his world turned upside down by the vision of unclean animals in Acts 10, and by the lesson from God that he should evangelize Gentiles as well as Jews, he came back to Jerusalem and told the apostles that it was all owing to God’s zeal for his name. We know this because James summed up Peter’s speech like this: “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name” (Acts 15:13–14).

It’s not surprising that Peter would say that God’s purpose was to gather a people for his name; because the Lord Jesus had stung Peter some years earlier with an unforgettable lesson. 

You recall that, after a rich young man turned away from Jesus and refused to follow him, Peter said to Jesus, “See, we have left everything and followed you [unlike this rich fellow]. What then will we have?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus responded with a mild rebuke, which in effect said that there is no ultimate sacrifice when you live for the name of the Son of Man. He said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).

The truth is plain: God is pursuing with omnipotent delight a worldwide purpose of gathering a people for his name from every tribe and language and nation (Revelation 5:9; 7:9). He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the fame of his name among the nations.

Therefore, when we bring our affections in line with his, and, for the sake of his name, renounce the quest for our own worldly fame and comforts, and join his global purpose, God’s omnipotent commitment to his name flies like a banner before us, and we cannot lose, even if we must walk through many tribulations (Acts 14:22; Romans 8:35–39).

PROPER CONDUCTS IN PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY MAY 10, 2025.

SUBJECT : PROPER CONDUCTS IN PRAYER!

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: First Samuel 1 vs 10 - 13:

1:10: And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

1:11: And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Your handmaid, but will give unto Your handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

1:12: And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

1:13: Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

INTIMATION:

The proper conducts in prayer include the following:-

1. We must be candid in our prayers.

God is “All-knowing,” therefore, go to Him in prayers with total sincerity of heart, and frankness in all intents and purposes. Don't keep anything back. In the passage we read today, Hannah had no child for her husband who really loved her. She was greatly discouraged and bitter because the husband's other wife had children and ridiculed her. Her loving husband could not solve her problem. She then turned in prayer to the Provider of solutions to all problems. The antidote to discouragement is telling God honestly of your problem, how you feel, and then leave your problems with Him.

It is difficult to pray in faith when we feel so ineffective, but Hannah did. We should always be careful what we promise in prayer because God may take us up on it. Hannah so desperately wanted a child that she was willing to strike a bargain with God. God took her up on her promise, and to her credit, she did her part, even though it was painful. Hannah made a vow in return for having a mail child, to dedicate him to God for a lifetime service. God gave her a son named Samuel. She lived up to her promise, and God even blessed her with five more children excluding Samuel. 

2. Pray simply and directly. 

God is pleased with our sincerity, and uprightness. We can never pray vainly if our prayers are honest and sincere. Christ condemns vain repetitions in prayer (Matthew 6 vs 7). Repeating the same words over and over is no way to ensure that God will hear your prayer. Remember, God knows your needs even before you ask for them (Matthew 6 vs 8). However, you can come severally with the same request to God. In Matthew 26 vs 39 - 44, Jesus persistently prayed to the Father three times saying the same thing, even when He knew the Will of the Father. If you will say the same prayer Jesus said now, it will take you less than twenty seconds, because it is simple, sincere, and direct. 

3. Pray audibly and in alignment with His Word—His Will.

Align your prayer with God’s Word. Put Him in remembrance of His Word (Isaiah 43 vs 26), He is always ready to perform His Word (Jeremiah 1 vs 12). The Word of God is our blueprint for life, the architectural plan for our divine destiny. The utterance of God's Word helps to activate our faith. If you can hear yourself when you pray, you are loud enough. You really don't need to shout. God expects you to speak to Him, not shout. In Isaiah 65 vs 24 God says, "It shall come pass that before you call, I will answer; and while you are still speaking, I will hear." Not while you are shouting.

4. Pray passionately.

Your prayer, and supplication should be passionate. It is the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much" (James 5 vs 16). The Christian's most powerful resource is communing with God through prayer. The results are often greater than we thought were possible.

5. Don't mock God.

Do not ask God to do for you what He has already mandated you to do for yourself. Continuing to pray about what God has already told you to do is rebellion against the known Will of God. For instance, in Psalm 50 vs 15, God says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." If you are then in any trouble, the proper prayer is, "God I am in the day of trouble, I believe you will deliver Me as I call upon You," not "O God I am in trouble, will You deliver Me? I am Your child...." 

6. Pray believing.

God is never far from the person who seeks Him, and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The Bible in Hebrews 11 vs 6 says, "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." Have faith in God (Mark 11 vs 22). Have faith that His promises are true and that they apply to you.

7. Pray without ceasing.

The door to prayer is always open; you should take full advantage of walking through that sacred door often. In First Thessalonians 5 vs 17, the Bible says, "Pray without ceasing." We cannot spend all our times on our knees praying, but it is possible to have 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. Then we will find it natural to pray frequent, spontaneous, and short prayers. A prayerful attitude is not a substitute for regular times of prayer but should be an outgrowth of those times.

8. Pray with thanksgiving.

It is the spirit of thanksgiving that makes your prayer supernatural. The apostle Paul, in Philippians 4 vs 6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Naturally, the best way to ask for more is to always be thankful. When you thank Him for what He has done, He will do more as you are reminding Him of what has not been done.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace for proper conduct in prayer, that my prayer will come to You with a sweet-smelling aroma as it is mixed with incense by Your angels, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

What It Means to Love God

 What It Means to Love God

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. (Psalm 63:1–2)

Only God will satisfy a heart like David’s. And David was a man after God’s own heart. That’s the way we were created to be.

This is the essence of what it means to love God: to be satisfied in him. In him — not just his gifts, but God himself, as the glorious person that he is! 

Loving God will include obeying all his commands; it will include believing all his word; it will include thanking him for all his gifts. But all that is overflow. The essence of loving God is admiring and enjoying all he is. And it is this enjoyment of God that makes all of our other responses truly glorifying to him.

We all know this intuitively as well as from Scripture. Do we feel most honored by the love of those who serve us from the constraints of duty, or from the delights of fellowship? 

My wife is most honored when I say, “It makes me happy to spend time with you.” My happiness is the echo of her excellence. And so it is with God. He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

None of us has arrived at perfect satisfaction in God. I grieve often over the murmuring of my heart when I lose some earthly comfort or convenience. But I have tasted that the Lord is good. By God’s grace I now know the fountain of everlasting joy. 

And so I love to spend my days luring people into joy until they say with me, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

WHEN WE PRAY FOR OTHERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY MAY 09, 2025.

SUBJECT: WHEN WE PRAY FOR OTHERS!

Memory verse: "So I sought for a man among them, who should make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”  (Ezekiel 22 vs 30.)

READ: Psalm 106 vs 23:

Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them. 

INTIMATION: 

Intercessory prayer is a never-ending opportunity to join God in His work while, at the same time, a chance to be transformed both in heart and circumstance. Not just a few are called to pray for others; we are all called to pray unceasingly for all of God's people. Are you wondering if praying for others makes a difference? Here are eight amazing things that happen when you pray for others: 

1. When we pray, we participate in God's work.

There are many people in our lives who need prayer. At times their needs are clear. Other times we may not know what to pray. Either way, when we pray for others, we join God in His work in their lives. If you are not sure what to pray, follow First Timothy 2 vs 1 - 4:

“Therefore I exhort first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Being obedient in prayer for others clears the way for God's work and Will to be done.

2. When we pray for others we emulates Jesus. In the Book of Luke, we find Jesus praying often. He goes to His Father in prayer as His ministry begins. As we can see in Scripture, Jesus prayed about everything. By bringing petitions of prayer on behalf of others to God, we imitate our Savior. 

3. When we pray for others, we share in their  burdens. In Philippians 2 vs 3 - 4, the apostle Paul reminds us to put others ahead of our needs and to consider the needs of others more important than our own. Our nature is to do the opposite. Our first thought is to pray for our burdens to be lifted or erased altogether. It is humility that allows us to pray for others earnestly. And by offering prayers for the relief of others and sharing their burdens, our burdens seem lighter. 

4. By praying for others, we join in the ministry of reconciliation that Christ ordained for us. The apostle Paul said that God made our relationship with Himself through Christ, and then gives us the ministry of reconciliation, or working to help others know Jesus, salvation, and God's love. (First Corinthians 5 vs 18). Praying for others puts us in the middle of God's work to bring everyone to Himself. By praying for others, we are ministers in the work of salvation, opening the gospel to those in our prayers. God wants everyone to be saved, and we are invited to be part of the work. (First Timothy 2 vs 3 - 4.)

5. When we pray for others, we learn to trust God. If we depend on our strength and abilities, we cannot accomplish God's Will. Only through surrendering to God is He able to work through us to accomplish His desires in our prayers for others. When we offer intercessory prayers, pleading with God on behalf of our loved ones and friends, we are trusting in His ability to answer, and He does. We are giving up our capabilities to answer and depending on God to keep His promise to answer our prayers.

6. When we pray for others, we are also changed. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person's inner nature. While we pray for others, we plead with God to intercede in their lives, perhaps to bring healing or strength in difficult times. But we are also opening our hearts for change. When we pray for others, we connect to the One who has the power to transform the hearts of others and bring change to their circumstances. At the same time, it amends our hearts.

7. Praying for others glorifies God. When we practice intercessory prayer, we glorify the only One who can answer prayers. Our prayers display trust in God, our belief in Christ, and when our prayers are answered, we praise Him for his faithfulness. Our prayers glorify God. Praying is not just a conversation. Prayer is praise for the work God will do through our prayers.

8. God answers when we pray for others.

As Christians, our prayers do not bounce off the ceiling or dissipate like fog. God hears when we pray for others, and He answers. The answer may not come quickly, nor may the reply be what we expected. However, because God is gracious, we may receive much more than we asked. Either way, God answers our prayers when we pray for others. Our prayers are powerful, and our loving God wants us to know through His answer to our plea that He has the power and authority to answer whatever we ask. 

9. When we pray for others, we share in their burdens, and consequently fulfill the law of Christ; “Bear one another’s burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6 vs 2.) It’s our responsibility as brothers in Christ to help one another in the faith Christianity doesn’t isolate individuals from one another. Christians must individually and collectively exhort one another to be faithful. The law of Christ is to love one another (John 13 vs 34 - 35). The law of Christ brings individuals together into a common bond and fellowship. The law of Christ is “faith working through love” (Galatians 5 vs 6 & 14).

Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty. It’s a rare privilege to partner with God in His work in this world, with the eventual benefits to us.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the excellent spirit of prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in all things, and giving myself to praying for others in bearing their burdens and eventually working with You for their good, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Pleased with His Precepts

 Pleased with His Precepts

This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:3–5) 

What is plain in these verses is that being born again — being born of God — turns the commandments of God from being burdensome to being our delight. How does that work?

How does being born of God make the commandments of God a delight rather than a burden? 

The apostle John says, “This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (1 John 5:4). In other words, the way that being born of God overcomes the worldly burdensomeness of God’s commandments is by begetting faith. This is confirmed in 1 John 5:1, which says, literally, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” 

Faith is the evidence that we have been born of God. We do not cause ourselves to be born again by deciding to believe. God creates our willingness to believe by causing us to be born again. As Peter said in his first letter, God “caused us to be born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). Our living hope, or faith in future grace, is the work of God through new birth. 

So, when John says, “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world,” and then adds, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (1 John 5:4), I take him to mean that God enables us, by the new birth, to overcome the world — that is, to overcome our worldly disinclination to keep God’s commandments. The new birth does this by creating faith, which evidently includes a disposition to be pleased by God’s commandments, rather than put off by God’s commandments, so that they feel burdensome.

Therefore, it is faith that overcomes our inborn hostility to God and his will, and frees us to keep his commandments and to say with the psalmist, “I delight to do your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8).