Everyday in the Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 12, 2025.

SUBJECT: VICTORY IN GOOD CONFESSION OF FAITH!

Memory verse: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death." (Revelation 12 vs 11.)

READ: First Timothy 6 vs 12 - 14:

6:12: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

6:13: I urge you in the sight of God who gives life in all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

6:14: that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

INTIMATION:

In confessing the good confession of faith lies the victory of the believer. Your confession is your possession. It is obvious that the lack of faithful confessions by believers is a major problem for many. The good fight of faith lies in the confession the believer makes. This is the battle of believers as directed by the apostle Paul in the passage we read; "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (vs 12.)

The good fight of faith is a battle that has been won a long time ago, in which you do nothing but acknowledge the defeat of your enemy and your own victory in Christ. The fight of faith is not a struggle on your part. It is a recognition and a confession on your part of victory that you and Christ won over the adversary in that great substitutionary battle that took place before He arose from the dead.

The apostle Paul was comparing Timothy's own confession of faith with that of Jesus before Pilate. Looking at the Master, Jesus, we can see that the secret of His victory lay in His continual confession. For instance, He held fast to His confession, even at the point of death: “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a King then?” Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a King. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18 vs 36 - 37.)

Now as conquerors, our memory verse reminds us that we are overcomers, and our victory is hinged on the blood of the Lamb, and the words of our testimony. The critical blow to Satan came when the Lamb, Jesus Christ, shed His blood for our sins. The victory is won by sacrifice—Christ's death in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. The believer's victory is established once he holds on to the good confession of faith in Christ Jesus and His works in redemption for us.

We are in the realm of victory in Christ Jesus, as we have moved out of the realm of weakness, and you can say, "I am more than a conqueror, for I am complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2 vs 10.) 

As a believer, you were identified in that. You were crucified with Him. You were buried with Him. You were raised with Him. We conquered the enemy with Him. Now with faith planted solidly upon this foundation, you face your enemy without fear. You dare to say "I am the righteousness of God in Christ." Just as Jesus dared to say, "I am the vine, and you are the branches"; "I am the light of the world"; you say, "I am what He says I am." More than even that you can say, "I can do what He says I can do." 

We are reminded of who we are in First John 4 vs 4, "You are of God, my little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." That settles it. You are of God, child of God, created in Christ Jesus. You are now a master because the Master is in you. You are becoming God-inside conscious. You are learning to let Him have His place in you.

You see, you are united with Him. He is the Vine and you are a branch. You grew out of Him. You were created in Him. Don't forget your perfect union with Him. Our oneness with Christ is the source of our ultimate strength. We are recreated in Him, and have a perfect union with Him:

"For if we have been untied together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." (Romans 6 vs 5 - 6.)

As a believer and conqueror, you should be conscious of your legal right to what Jesus Christ wrought for you in redemption which is wrapped up in His wonderful Name (John 14 vs 13 - 14). The use of His Name is making a demand. That is demanding the forces of darkness to be broken over the lives of men. You are acting in the place of the Master now. The use of His Name unsheathes the sword of the spirit, the living Word, and in your lips that Living Word becomes a dominating force as it was in the lips of the Master.

Prayer: Abba Father, greater is Christ that is in me than the ruler of this world. I am one with Christ, and I can do all things through Him that strengthens me. Give me the grace and empowerment of good confession of faith, being conscious of who I am in Christ, to overcome my adversaries, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

My Soul Thirsts for God

 My Soul Thirsts for God

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1–2)

What makes this so beautiful and so crucial for us is that he is not thirsting mainly for relief from his threatening circumstances. He is not thirsting mainly for escape from his enemies or for their destruction.

It’s not wrong to want relief, and to pray for it. It is sometimes right to pray for the defeat of enemies. But more important than any of that is God himself. 

When we think and feel with God in the Psalms, this is the main result: We come to love God, and we want to see God and be with God and be satisfied in admiring and exulting in God.

A likely translation of the end of verse 2 is, “When will I come and see the face of God?” The final answer to that question was given in John 14:9 and 2 Corinthians 4:4. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And Paul said that when we are converted to Christ we see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

When we see the face of Christ, we see the face of God. And we see the glory of the face of Christ, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 6, when we hear the story of the gospel of his death and resurrection. He calls it “the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Or (verse 6): “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

May the Lord increase your hunger and your thirst to see the face of God. And may he grant your desire, even today, through the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Everyday in the Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY AUGUST 11, 2025.

SUBJECT : BE SELFLESS AS CHRIST! 

Memory verse: "Bear one another's burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6 vs 2.)

READ: Philippians 2 vs 3 - 5; First Corinthians 10 vs 24:

Philippians 2:3: Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

2:4: Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

2:5: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

First Corinthians 10:24: Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. 

INTIMATION:

Being selfless is laying aside right; putting others first. Selflessness is having no regard to self, being altruistic—living and acting for the interest of others. It is inconveniencing yourself for the happiness, and benefit of others. Jesus Christ, our Messiah, is a classic example of a selfless life. He was humble, willing to give up His rights in order to obey God and serve people. Consequently, the apostle Paul advises us thus: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Like Jesus, we should have a servant's attitude, serving out of love for God and others. 

Everyone chooses his or her attitude. You can approach life expecting to be served, or you can look for opportunities to serve others. Jesus Christ's ministry on earth was anchored on selflessness, and was the basis for our salvation. He died for us; paid a ransom for us because we could not do it ourselves. His death released us from our slavery and bondage to sin. Jesus remarked in Mark 10 vs 45; "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." 

Living a selfless life as Christ did brings about spiritual unity. We must love one another and be one in spirit and purpose. When we co-operate in working together, caring for the problems of others as if they were our problems, we demonstrate Christ's example of putting others first, and consequently, fulfill the law of Christ. Always think of yourself the way Jesus thought of Himself. Though He is God, and equal with God in status, but didn't think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Many people, even Christians, live only to make a good impression on others or to please themselves. However, selfish ambition or conceit (overbearing, having a high opinion of oneself) brings discord. Unfortunately, selfishness abound in the Body of Christ. Christians—members of the Body of Christ—compete amongst themselves with the motive to undo the other; backbiting, gossiping, witch-hunting, working against the interest of others etc. Such evil behaviors are the products of selfishness. Even the leaders who should lead by example even struggle in traffic jam, in fuel cue, in difficult circumstances to take the first turn etc. Though it is difficult to lead such a lifestyle but we need to start from somewhere and let the Holy Spirt help us accomplish the rest.

Someone would say, “Can a selfless lifestyle of service be possible.” Yes it can! Worthy of note was the Christlike selfless service of the late Mother Teresa; a unique personality who devoted her life to the service of God and others as a nun in the Roman Catholic faith. In 1950, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that has over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counseling programs, as well as orphanages and schools. Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and also profess a fourth vow; "to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” 

Prayer: Abba Father, my trust is in You. Give me the grace to lead a selfless lifestyle of service to You and fellow humans. treating others with respect and common courtesy, and putting others first while carrying the burden of others in fulfillment of Your law, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Different Tenses of Grace

 The Different Tenses of Grace

We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12)

Grace is not only God’s disposition to do good for us when we don’t deserve it — we call this “undeserved favor”; God’s grace is also a power from God that acts in our lives and makes good things happen in us and for us — which we also don’t deserve. 

Paul said that we fulfill our resolves for good “by his power” (verse 11). And then he adds at the end of verse 12, “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The power that actually works in our lives to make Christ-exalting obedience possible is an exertion of the grace of God.

You can see this also in 1 Corinthians 15:10: 

By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

So, grace is an active, present, transformative, obedience-enabling power.

Therefore, this grace, which moves in power from God to you at a point in time, is both past and future. It has already done something for you or in you and therefore is past. And it is about to do something in you and for you, and so it is future — both five seconds from now and five million years from now.

God’s grace is ever cascading over the waterfall of the present from the inexhaustible river of grace coming to us from the future into the ever-increasing reservoir of grace in the past. In the next five minutes, you will receive sustaining grace flowing to you from the future — in this you trust; and you will accumulate another five minutes’ worth of grace in the reservoir of the past — for this you give thanks.

Everyday in the Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY AUGUST 10, 2025.

SUBJECT: GOD’S GRACE AND OUR FAITH!

Memory verse: “Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17 vs 20.)

READ: Mark 9 vs 17 - 18; 23 - 27:

9:17: Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.

9:18: And whenever it seizes Him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

9:23: Jesus said to Him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

9:24: Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

INTIMATION:

There is a very thin line between “grace” and “faith” that is often missed by us. Because these two work together, the line between them is difficult for many to discern. And if we do miss it, our lives become confused. Many trust their faith to meet their needs. When their needs are not met, then they tried to have more faith because they are unable to discern the very thin line between faith and grace. They are not seeing beyond their faith to seek the grace of God (the power of God) to meet their needs.

Most people seemed to base all achievements on their faith, when, in reality, every victory or achievement is based on God's faithfulness bestowed on us by His grace—the power of God. If we frustrate the grace of God, we are going to feel frustrated. This explains why, by the grace of God, we receive our petition even when our faith is near zero.

In our memory verse, Jesus told His disciples who were worried that they couldn’t heel the epileptic child, ‘if you have faith as small as the mustard seed (tiniest known seed on earth), you can move the mountain.’ The disciples were surprised because they had done such things in the past (see Mark 6 vs 13). The disciples were followers of Christ and believed in Him. Jesus, at some point, sent them out in pairs as His coworkers. The Scripture says, “And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits” (Mark 6 vs 7). 

Now note this, Jesus sent them out two by two as His coworkers, and gave them power over unclean spirits; “And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” (Mark 6 vs 13). Though, they believed and followed Jesus, but it wasn’t their faith or believe that enabled them to accomplish those exploits of healing the sick and casting out demons. It was the power of God—the power over unclean spirits given to them by Jesus when they departed—that enabled them to accomplish all that they did. 

When they came back, they were very happy with their accomplishments, and obviously should have built up greater faith. With their increased faith, they expected to accomplish much more exploits, such that heeling the epileptic child wouldn’t have been a problem to them. But surprisingly they couldn’t. This was because in the company, and presence of Jesus, the power of God (the grace of God) for such accomplishments was no more with them, but with the Master Himself, their greater faith not withstanding.

Jesus was teaching them that it is the power of God (the grace of God) bestowed upon them that enabled them to do exploits, and no matter the size of their faith, they should seek the power of God (the grace of God) to come through for them in any situation they face in life. And in some cases, they will not only pray for grace, but will also back it up with fasting to able to bring the power of God to bear on life’s circumstances they face: “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17 vs 21). This same kingdom’s principle remains, and is unchanging, and is applicable to us believers even in this time.

In order to get our needs met, in order to receive anything from the Lord, we must have both faith and grace. It is by grace through faith that we are saved. And it is by grace through faith that all our prayers are answered, and all of our needs are met. Keep your eyes on God to deliver you, not on your faith.

In Second Timothy 2 vs 13, the Bible says, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." The Bible is teaching us here to get our eyes off our ability to believe (as the ultimate), but rather on God's willingness to meet our needs even though we do not have perfect faith, or no faith at all. 

Remember the father of the epileptic child had virtually little faith, which was even eroded when His disciples failed him. Jesus knew his state of mind and said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” The man immediately tried to build up his faith and replied, "Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief" or "Help my weakness of faith!" The man knew his faith was lacking, but he was honest about it, and Jesus healed his son. (See Mark 9 vs 17 - 24.) God's grace (power) came on the scene and gave the man what he did not deserve due to his unbelief.

Prayer: Abba Father, let Your grace rest upon me at all times, that I may be able to face all my life’s challenges and meet all my needs, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

20 Minutes Early Morning Violet Prayers by Apostle Joshua Salman

 

Have Mercy on Me, O God

 Have Mercy on Me, O God

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1)

Three times: “Have mercy,” “according to your steadfast love,” and “according to your abundant mercy.” 

This is what God had promised in Exodus 34:6–7:

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”

David knew that there were guilty who would not be forgiven. And there were guilty who by some mysterious work of redemption would not be counted as guilty, but would be forgiven. Psalm 51 is his way of laying hold on that mystery of mercy.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” We know more of the mystery of this redemption than David did. We know Christ. But we lay hold of the mercy in the same way he did. 

The decisive thing he does is turn, helpless, to the mercy and love of God. Today that means turning, helpless, to Christ, whose blood secures all the mercy we need.