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Wednesday, 4 June 2025

What Makes God Proud

 What Makes God Proud

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)


I want very much for God to say to me what he said about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “I am not ashamed to be called your God.”


As risky as it sounds, does this not really mean that God might actually be “proud” to be called my God? Fortunately this wonderful possibility is surrounded (in Hebrews 11:16) by reasons: one before and one after.


Take the one after, first: “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” 


The first reason he gives why he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has done something for them. He made them a city — the heavenly city “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). So, the first reason he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has worked for them. Not the other way around.


Now, consider the reason he gives in the front. It goes like this: “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.” 


“Therefore” signals that a reason has just been given for why God is not ashamed to be called our God. The reason is their desire. They desire a better country — that is, a better country than the earthly one they live in; namely, a heavenly one where God is.


When we desire this heavenly city — this dwelling place of God — more than we desire all that this world can give, God is not ashamed to be called our God. When we make much of all that he promises to be for us, he is proud to be our God. This is good news.


So, open your eyes to the better country, the city of God that he has prepared for us, and let yourself desire it with all your heart. God will not be ashamed to be called your God.


GOD’S PLAN CARRIES HIS GRACE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!


WEDNESDAY JUNE 04, 2025.


SUBJECT: GOD’S PLAN CARRIES HIS GRACE!


Memory verse: “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2 vs 40.)


READ: Psalm 105 vs 13 - 15:

105:13: When they went from one nation to another; from one kingdom to another people, 

105:14: He permitted no one to do them wrong; yes, He rebuked kings for their sake, 

105:15: saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm


INTIMATION:

It is hard for us to enjoy life if we don't have assurance about today, peace about yesterday and confidence about tomorrow. Why is it so? It is because as long as we live we will always have to face situations for which we don't have all the answers. If we don't have something going on in our lives that we can't handle, we wouldn't need God, therefore, we wouldn't need faith, we wouldn't have to trust God. 


The Lord will see to it that we are always dependent upon Him. And He does that by allowing us get into situations that are over our heads. That is why although we may get worried, God never gets worried because He already knows exactly what He's going to do. He has got a plan, a path, and a work all ready for us. For instance, when Jesus fed the multitude of five thousand men, excluding women and children, He said to Philip His disciple; “Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.” (John 6 vs 5 - 6.)


Although the Lord already has a plan for us to follow, a path for us to walk in, and a work for us to do, He won't give us all the answers today that we will need tomorrow. With each new day comes the grace that we need to live that day and meet the challenges of it. Consequently, Jesus advised us thus; “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (John 6 vs 34). 


Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will give you the grace to deal with whatever hard things that come up when the time comes. But not until you ask Him.


You may have heard the story about the young man who was in prison and about to be burned at the stake the next day for his faith in Christ. In the same cell there was an older man, more experienced believer who knew more about the way of the Lord. As it began to get dark, the younger man struck a match to light a candle, and as he did so, he burned his finger. Letting out a cry of anguish and pain, he said to his companion, "How can I stand to be burned at the stake tomorrow if I can't stand to be burned on the finger tonight?" Then the older man calmly replied, "Son, God didn't ask you to burn your finger, so there is no grace for that. But He is asking you to die for your faith, so when the time comes the grace will be there."


No matter what happens, God is still in control. He has a plan to handle everything that we will encounter in this life. And His grace is sufficient to meet all our needs. When the Israelites were brought out of the land of Egypt to the promised land, because it was God’s plan, His grace was sufficient for them to meet all their needs, even in the wilderness, until they arrived at the promised land.


We turn to God to seek pathways for effectiveness. We must rely on God for our effectiveness rather than simply on our own energy, effort, or talent. In Second Corinthians 12 vs 9, God told Paul, "...My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Our weakness not only helps develop Christian character, it also deepens our worship, because in admitting our weakness, we affirm God's strength.


It was God's plan to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. And the Bible recorded in Luke 2 vs 40, "And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” When the time came for Jesus to do what He came for, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed, and He said to His disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Matthew 26 vs 37 - 38). 


Jesus prayed to God the Father three times, asking for the same thing, saying the same words; “O My Father, If this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matthew 26 vs 42). Thereafter, God took over, the Father’s strength was made perfect in the Son’s weakness, and He became strengthened to face the planned death for mankind. God's plan carries His grace.


Prayer: Abba Father, in You I live, and move, and have my being. I can do all things through Your grace available to me. Help me, O Lord, that nothing can inhibit Your grace in my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!


Tuesday, 3 June 2025

Faith for the Impossible

 He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20–21)


Paul has in mind a special reason why faith glorifies God’s future grace. Simply put, the reason is that this God-glorifying faith is a future-oriented confidence in God’s integrity and power and wisdom to follow through on all his promises. 


Paul illustrates this faith with Abraham’s response to the promise of God: that he would be the father of many nations even though he was old and his wife was barren (Romans 4:18). “In hope he believed against hope,” that is, he had faith in the future grace of God’s promise, in spite of all human evidences to the contrary. 


He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:19–21)


The faith of Abraham was a faith in the promise of God to make him the father of many nations. This faith glorified God because it called attention to all the omnipotent, supernatural resources of God that would be required to fulfill it. 


Abraham was too old to have children, and Sarah was barren. Not only that: How do you turn a son or two into “many nations,” which God said Abraham would be the father of? It all seemed totally impossible. 


Therefore, Abraham’s faith glorified God by being fully assured that he could and would do the humanly impossible. This is the faith we are called to have. That God will do for us what we could never do for ourselves.


Monday, 2 June 2025

Who Are the Children of Abraham?

 Who Are the Children of Abraham?

“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)


You who hope in Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises. 


God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” But Genesis makes plain that Abraham did not father a multitude of nations in a physical or political sense. Therefore, the meaning of God’s promise was probably that a multitude of nations would somehow enjoy the blessings of sonship even though physically unrelated to Abraham. 


That’s no doubt what God meant in Genesis 12:3 when he said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From the very beginning, God had in view that Jesus Christ would be the descendant of Abraham and that everyone who trusts in Christ would become an heir of Abraham’s promise. Paul says in Galatians 3:29, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”


So, when God said to Abraham 4,000 years ago, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations,” he opened the way for any one of us, no matter what nation we belong to, to become a child of Abraham and an heir of God’s promises. All we have to do is share the faith of Abraham — that is, bank our hope on God’s promises, so much so that, if obedience requires it, we could give up our dearest possession like Abraham gave up Isaac. 


We don’t become heirs of Abraham’s promises by working for God, but by being confident that God works for us. “[Abraham] grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20–21). That’s why Abraham could obey God even when obedience looked like a dead-end street. He trusted God to do the impossible — like raise his son from the dead.


Faith in God’s promises — or today we would say, faith in Christ, who is the confirmation of God’s promises — is the way to become a child of Abraham; obedience is the evidence that faith is genuine (Genesis 22:12–19). Therefore, Jesus says in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.”


Children of Abraham are people from all nations who put their hope in Christ and, like Abraham on Mount Moriah, therefore don’t let the loss of their most precious earthly possession stop their obedience. 


You who hope in Jesus Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are the descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises.


FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!


MONDAY JUNE 02, 2025.


SUBJECT : FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD!


Memory verse: "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend to the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4 vs 4.)


READ: First John 2 vs 15 - 17:

2:15: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

2:16: For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.

2:17: And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the Will of God abides forever.


INTIMATION:

Being a friend to the world is making yourself an enemy of God. This is because having friendship with the world involves seeking pleasure at the expense of obeying God. Christians are not to attach themselves to the things of the world in a way that they are diverted from keeping their minds on those things that are above. The Christian must not be directed in his or her life by the evil values and morals that are maintained by those deceived by Satan. 


It is impossible for one to love God with the intensity of love by which God demands that we serve Him, and at the same time, compromise his or her values and morals by living in accordance with the world’s standards. Whenever there is a compromise in one’s relationship with God in relation to the world, lukewarmness or apostasy in reference to the truth results. One’s relationship with the world must be defined and controlled by his or her love for God.


The believer who is a materialist is an adulterer in that, as a member of the body of Christ, he or she has wedded himself or herself to that which is of the world. He or she has broken the covenant made with Christ, and has given himself or herself to the world. If one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him or her. Those who love activities and possessions of this world do not love the Father, for they are obsessed with the things of this world. 


This does not mean that the rich must forsake their riches, for many rich people have the gift of making money for the benefit of advancing the works of the kingdom. The rich are not obligated to give themselves into poverty. However, those who have been consumed with the things the world have taken their minds off that which is to come. And that which is to come is the destruction of the world and all that for which one has worked or possessed in this world.


Pleasure is the desire or inclination that pleases or delights you. It's something that gives you enjoyment considered as joy or delight. Pleasure can keep us away from God. And that pleasure that keeps us from pleasing God is sinful. But pleasure from God's rich bounty is good. There is nothing wrong with wanting a pleasurable life. God gives us good gifts, and He gives us richly all things to enjoy (James 1 vs 17; First Timothy 6 vs 17). But those sinful pleasures or evil desires that keep us away from God should be avoided. The Scripture has given us the cure of evil desires, which is humility.


Some people think that worldliness is limited to external behavior such as the people we associate with, the places we go, the activities we enjoy. Worldliness is also internal because it begins in the heart and is characterized by three attitudes: (1) lust of the flesh; preoccupation of the mind with gratifying physical desires, (2) lust of the eyes; mindfully coveting and accumulating things; bowing to the god of materialism, and (3) pride of life; obsession with one's status or importance. 


The enemy of our soul—the devil—knows we are vulnerable in these areas. When the serpent tempted Eve, he tempted her in these areas; "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate" (Genesis 3 vs 6),  Also, when the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, these were his three areas of attack (see Matthew 4 vs 1 - 11). Jesus didn't fall to the whims and caprices of the devil. He resisted him and he flee from Him. Jesus defeated the devil by His self-control, insisting on dong what “is written,” the Will of God.


Normally, the desire for possessions and sinful pleasures can be intense, but we should realize that these objects of desire will one day pass away. It has been plainly revealed in the Scriptures that it is only the person who does the Will of God will live forever. In the passage we read today, the apostle John got his conviction based on the facts of Jesus' life; His death, resurrection, and promises. We too should learn from that. Knowing that this evil world will end can give you the courage to deny yourself temporary pleasures in this world in order to enjoy what God has promised in eternity.


Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of love for, and complete obedience to, You, and give me the grace to resist any forms of compromise with the world that displeases You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Sunday, 1 June 2025

The Faith That Magnifies Grace

 The Faith That Magnifies Grace

I do not nullify the grace of God. (Galatians 2:21)


When I lost my footing as a little boy in the undertow at the beach, I felt as if I were going to be dragged to the middle of the ocean in an instant. 


It was a terrifying thing. I tried to get my bearings and figure out which way was up. But I couldn’t get my feet on the ground, and the current was too strong to swim. I wasn’t a good swimmer anyway. 


In my panic I thought of only one thing: Could someone help me? But I couldn’t even call out from under the water. 


When I felt my father’s hand take hold of my upper arm like a mighty vice grip, it was the sweetest feeling in the world. I yielded entirely to being overpowered by his strength. I reveled in being picked up at his will. I did not resist.


The thought did not enter my mind that I should try to show that things aren’t so bad; or that I should add my strength to my dad’s arm. All I thought was, Yes! I need you! I thank you! I love your strength! I love your initiative! I love your grip! You are great!


In that spirit of yielded affection, one cannot boast. I call that yielded affection “faith.” And my father was the embodiment of the future grace of God that I desperately needed and craved under the water. This is the faith that magnifies grace. 


As we ponder how to live the Christian life, the uppermost thought should be: How can I magnify rather than nullify the grace of God? Paul answers this question in Galatians 2:20–21, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God.” 


Why does his life not nullify the grace of God? Because he lives by faith in the Son of God. Faith calls all attention to grace and magnifies it, rather than nullifying it.


DESIRE TO MEET THE NEED OF OTHERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!


SUNDAY JUNE 01, 2025.


SUBJECT: DESIRE TO MEET THE NEED OF OTHERS!


Memory verse: "Is not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?" (Isaiah 58 vs 7.)


READ: Matthew 25 vs 34 - 40:

25:34: Then the King will say to those on his right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

25:35: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

25:36: I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

25:37: Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? or thirsty and gave You drink?

25:38: When did we see You a stranger and take You in? or naked and clothed You?

25:39: Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

25:40: And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’


INTIMATION:

A need is a necessity, a requirement; a shortage of an indispensable item. It is anything that is necessary but lacking, a condition requiring relief. Helping those in need is one of the most important ways to honor God. God created all things to coexist, and are interdependent. No one is an island. As humans, we are not equally gifted; some are better than others in diverse ways. As we are different so are our needs. Many people have physical and spiritual needs you can meet, either by yourself or with others who are also concerned. 


The passage we read today is a parable Jesus told His disciples to describe the acts of mercy we all can do everyday. These acts do not depend on wealth, ability, or intelligence; they are simple acts freely given and freely received. We have no excuse to neglect those who have needs. Jesus demands our personal involvement in caring for others’ needs. How much we love God can be measured by how well we treat others. Jesus’ example of caring for the needs of the least of our brethren is a good model of unselfish service. The least of our brethren usually can’t or won’t return a favor. God notices every good deed we do as if He is the one receiving it. Is there something unselfish you can do for someone else today? Although no one else may see you, God will notice.


However, the point in this parable is the importance of serving where service is needed. The focus of the parable is that we should love every person and serve everyone we can. Such love for others glorifies God by reflecting our love for Him. The apostle John said, “But whoever has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” (First John 3 vs 17 - 18.) These verses give an example of how to lay down our lives for others—to help those in need. How clearly do your actions say you really love others? Are you as generous as you should be with your money, possessions, and time?


The apostle James says, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” But you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2 vs 15 - 17.) We cannot earn our salvation by serving and obeying God. But such actions of meeting people’s needs show that our commitment to God is real. Deeds of loving service are not a substitute for, but rather a verification of, faith in Christ.


In our society today, there are many needy people. God has allowed them among us to test our faith or believe in Him. If we say we follow Christ, we should be like Him, who was so unselfish that He gave His life of inestimable value for our own lives that are completely worthless, to save us. We see these needy people lining the streets. How much of their needs do you meet? Or are you so selfish to give to them only when you have surplus to give out? John the Baptist, in preparing the way for Christ, spoke to the people when they asked him, “What shall we do then?” And he answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” (Luke 3 vs 10 - 11.) 


Some believers are too disinterested to the needy. How sad when the followers of Christ are so preoccupied with their own relationships and agendas that they don’t even see those who are in need. The simple acts of giving to the needy, can draw them to Christ. If Jesus is present in our lives, our faces should reflect His love, and our hands extended in fellowship to the needy, and open a way for others to come in. 


It is possible to become so occupied with spiritual matters that we become oblivious to the needs around us. This may be true especially if we are prejudiced against needy people or if they cause us inconvenience. Instead of being annoyed, be aware of the opportunities that surround you, and make an effort to look for ways to minister to others. 


Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to lay down my life for others—to help the needy, and to love others as You love me. Endue me with the spirit of sharing what I have with others, and where necessary consider their needs first before mine. Help me to inconvenience myself where necessary for the happiness of others, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

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