Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY OCTOBER 21, 2025.

SUBJECT : WHAT YOU SOW YOU REAP! 

Memory verse: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (Galatians 6 vs 7.) 

READ: Luke 6 vs 37 - 38:

6:37:Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 

6:38: 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."

INTIMATION:

It would certainly be a surprise if you planted corn in your farm and pumpkins came up. It's a natural law to harvest what we plant. It's true in other areas, too. It is a principle of life that one reaps what he or she sows. One must not deceive himself into thinking that he or she can escape the consequences of his or her behavior. 

To think one can, is to mock God, for God says that we will reap what we sow, not only in this life, but also in that which is to come. If you sow to the flesh; cares of this world (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life) you will definitely reap corruption. But if you sow to the things of the Spirit, you will definitely reap eternal life with Christ. 

This natural law governs rule of our lives, and our relationships with others. How is your relationship with other people? What do you give to others? What do you give to God? Are you resentful? speaking guile? gossiping about others? Do you give love and care to others? Are you judgmental? Do you easily fret? Are you always returning to others as they did to you, especially in wrong doing? These are not Christlike! 

The thrust of what the Scripture states here is that we will be dealt with in final judgement by God in the same manner by which we treat our fellow men. Therefore, when we measure mercy to others, God will in turn measure mercy to us. If we forgive others, God will in turn forgive us. A forgiving spirit demonstrates that a person has received God’s forgiveness. 

If we are critical rather than compassionate, we will also receive criticism. If we treat others generously, graciously, and compassionately, however, these qualities will come back to us in full measure. Every action has its result. If you plant to please your own desires, you'll harvest a crop of sorrow and evil. If you plant to please God, you'll harvest joy and everlasting life. 

The passage we read today, “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," has always been misinterpreted in churches and fellowships, especially during offerings and fund raising exercises. They give a money and material interpretations to our giving. But the close and meditation on the preceding verse, will bring to fore the import of the teaching. There is God's judgment awaiting everybody. Although, His judgement is already working in our lives, there is a future, final judgement when Christ returns (Matthew 25 vs 31 - 46), and everyone's life will be reviewed and evaluated. Jesus will look at how we handled gifts, opportunities, relationships, and responsibilities in order to determine our rewards.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to sow right words and deeds in the life of others that I may reap right words and deeds from others as well. Endue me with the spirit of love for You, and others, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Mystery of Marriage

 The Mystery of Marriage

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31–32) 

Here in Ephesians 5:31 Paul is quoting Genesis 2:24, which Moses spoke — and Jesus said God spoke through Moses (Matthew 19:5) — “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Paul says this word of God, spoken before the fall into sin, is a reference to Christ and the church and contains therefore a great mystery.

What this implies is that when God engaged to create man and woman and to ordain the union of marriage, he didn’t roll the dice or draw straws or flip a coin as to how they might be related to each other. He patterned marriage very purposefully after the relationship between his Son and the church, which he had planned from all eternity.

Therefore, marriage is a mystery — it contains and conceals a meaning far greater than what we see on the outside. God created man male and female and ordained marriage so that the eternal covenant relationship between Christ and his church would be imaged forth in the marriage union.

The inference Paul draws from this mystery is that the roles of husband and wife in marriage are not arbitrarily assigned, but are rooted in the distinctive roles of Christ and his church.

Those of us who are married need to ponder again and again how mysterious and wonderful it is that God grants us in marriage the privilege to image forth stupendous divine realities infinitely bigger and greater than ourselves.

This mystery of Christ and the church is the foundation of the pattern of love that Paul describes for marriage. It is not enough to say that each spouse should pursue his or her own joy in the joy of the other. That is true. But it is not enough. It is also important to say that husbands and wives should consciously copy the relationship God intended for Christ and the church. That is, each should seek to live after the distinctive model of God’s pure and glad design for Christ and the church. 

I hope you will take this seriously whether you are single or married, old or young. The revelation of the covenant-keeping Christ and his covenant-keeping church hangs on it.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 2025.

SUBJECT : WORD AFFIRMATION AS A LIFESTYLE!

Memory verse: "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men." (Titus 3 vs 8.)

READ: Revelation 12 vs 11:

12:11: 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.

INTIMATION:

Living your life in the Word involves believing, confessing and affirming the Word of God. Affirmation is the last part of the process of this life in the Word. To affirm is to make firm. An affirmation is a statement of truth that you make firm by repetition. The Scripture in our memory verse says, "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly....." The bold declaration or affirmation of the Word is indicative of the inherent truth, and your trust and believe in it. 

In the first five Books of Moses, God's expression of "I am the LORD" occurred more than two thousand five hundred times, indicating the truth, and lays credence to the fact, and the value of affirmation. That should be the lifestyle of every child of God; confessing, and affirming the Word. 

You should constantly affirm to your own soul the great, and outstanding facts of redemption, reminding yourself constantly of your identity in Christ Jesus, confessing and affirming the fullness of Jesus Christ and His finished work in the presence of your enemies; in the presence of your weakness; in the presence of your adversary. 

They may not mean much the first time you repeat them, but constantly reaffirm them. By and by, the Spirit will illumine them, and your soul will be flooded with light and joy. Every time you repeat what God has said about you as an individual, about Himself—The Trinity, and the church, these truths reach down deep into your inner being with strength, courage, joy and victory. 

Our spiritual lives depend upon our constantly affirming what God has declared, what God is in Christ, what we are in Christ, and what we are before the Father in Christ. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul, in Philemon 6, says, "That the sharing of our faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."

In the passage we read today, Satan, our accuser, was defeated when the Lamb, Jesus Christ, shed His blood for our sins. The victory is won on our behalf by that supreme sacrifice, that is, Christ's death in our place to pay the penalty of our sin, and the sacrifices we make because of our faith in Him; testifying of Him as our Lord and Savior, and affirming what He wrought for us in redemption. These good works of believe, confession, and affirmation, in faith, are all good and profitable for Christians. 

The Bible includes hundreds of passages that speak about the power of the Word. Locate as many as you can, continually confess, and affirm them. They will be more effective as you speak them with volume, feeling, conviction, and enthusiasm. Words weakly spoke have minimal results. I encourage you to speak some of these affirmations as many times as you can, but at least, three to five times a day. 

Prayer: Abba Father, forever Your Word is perfect, and settled in heaven. Endue me with the spirit of bold declaration of Your Word at all times, that I may reap their manifestation in my life, in Jesus” Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Prayer’s First Priority

 Prayer’s First Priority

“Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9)

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches that the first priority in praying is to ask our heavenly Father to cause his name to be hallowed. In us. In the church. In the world. Everywhere.

Notice that this is a petition, a request. It is not a declaration or acclamation. It is not an expression of praise, but petition. For years I misread the Lord’s Prayer as if it began with praise: “Praise God, the Lord’s name is hallowed, revered, honored!” But it is not acclamation. It is supplication. It is a request to God that he would see to it that his own name be hallowed.

It is like another text, Matthew 9:38, where Jesus tells us to pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers into his own harvest. It never ceases to amaze me that we, we laborers, should be instructed to ask the owner of the farm, who knows the harvest better than we do, to add on more farm hands.

But isn’t this the same thing we have here in the Lord’s Prayer — Jesus is telling us to ask God, who is infinitely jealous for the honor of his own name, to see to it that his name be hallowed, which means honored, revered, exalted as supremely precious? 

Well it may amaze us, but there it is. And it teaches us two things.

One is that prayer does not move God to do things he is disinclined to do. He has every intention to cause his name to be hallowed. Nothing is higher on God’s priority list. But we should ask anyway.

The other is that prayer is God’s way of bringing our priorities into line with his. God wills to make great things the consequence of our prayers when our prayers are the consequence of his great purposes. 

Bring your heart into line with the jealousy of God to hallow his name, and you will pray with great effect. Let your first and all-determining prayer be for the hallowing of God’s name, and your prayers will plug into the power of God’s jealousy for his name.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY OCTOBER 19, 2025.

SUBJECT : REPENT FROM YOUR SIN! 

Memory verse: "Repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." (Acts 3 vs 19.)

READ: Revelation 2 vs 5:

2:5: Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

INTIMATION:

Repent means “to turn,” implying a change in behavior; to be sorry, with a change of heart. To repent from sin is turning from sin toward God; to make a moral U-turn from sin to God. It’s making a 180 degree turn from the kind of self-centeredness that leads to wrong actions, such as lying, cheating, stealing, gossiping, taking revenge, abusing, and indulging in sexual immorality. A person who turns from sin stops rebelling and begins following God’s way of living prescribed in His Word. Repentance happens inside with a cleansing that isn’t seen right away. 

The first step to repentance and turning to God is to admit your sin. Then God will receive you and help you live the way He wants. Remember that only God can get rid of sin. He doesn’t expect us to clean up our lives before we come to Him. To turn to God to receive forgiveness from sins implies turning away from sins. We can’t just say we believe and then live any way we choose, neither can we simply live a morally correct life without a personal relationship with God because that cannot bring forgiveness from sin. God promises not only to cleanse us of our sins but to bring spiritual refreshment. 

Turning away from sin may at first seem painful because it is hard to break old habits and give up certain sins. The hardest part of repentance is changing the attitudes that originally produced the sinful behavior. But God will give you a better way. As prophet Hosea promised, “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth” (Hosea 6 vs 3). 

Confession of sin and a changed life are inseparable. Faith without deeds is dead (James 2 vs 14 - 26). Confession and repentance must come before receiving forgiveness. Turning from sin must be tied to action. Following Jesus means more than saying the right words, it means acting on what He says. When we are aware that we have done wrong, we should admit it plainly to God rather than try to cover it up or hope we can get away with it. 

Sin leads to more sin, a downward spiral that can be stopped only by repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit to change our behavior. God puts no limit on the number of times we can come to Him to obtain mercy, but we must come in order to obtain it, recognizing our need and asking Him for help. This miracle of grace should inspire us to always sincerely come to God. If there is a recurring problem or difficulty in your life, continue to ask God for help, and be willing and ready to make changes in your attitude and behavior that will correct the situation.

We are rebellious and stubborn by nature. Throughout our lives we struggle with sin. Repentance once a month or once a week is not enough. We must constantly turn from our sins to God and let Him, in His mercy, save us. God sometimes has to break a person in order to bring him or her to repentance. This can be through humiliation, pain, suffering, and defeat. No matter how evil you have been, it is never too late to humble yourself, turn to God, and ask for forgiveness.

Because we have a tendency to sin, only repentance is the true measure of spiritual sensitivity. Repentance means not only confessing sins and asking God to forgive us, but also abandoning our sinful ways. Many people want to add God and the benefits of Christianity to their lives without acknowledging their personal sin and guilt. We must take responsibility for our actions and confess them to God before we can expect Him to forgive us and continue His work in us. But we cannot do this sincerely unless we are truly sorry for our sinful actions. 

True repentance does not end with words of confession—that would be mere lip-service. It must lead to changed attitudes and behavior. Weeping, fasting, and making restitution or apologies (if our sin has involved others) demonstrate our sincerity when we repent. When you sin and are truly sorry, confess this to God, ask for forgiveness, and accept His grace and mercy. Then, as an act of thankfulness for your forgiveness, make the needed corrections. We should not pretend to change as it is dangerous to us and even others around us. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for Your miracle of grace and mercy. You are so faithful and just to forgive my sins when I confess to You, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Give me grace to always come to You in sincerity of my sinful behaviors, and ask for Your forgiveness, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Love’s Greatest Happiness

 Love’s Greatest Happiness

No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (Ephesians 5:29–30)

Don’t miss that last phrase: “because we are members of his body.” And don’t forget what Paul said two verses earlier, namely, that Christ gave himself for us “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor.” So in two different ways, Paul makes plain that Christ pursued his joy in pursuing the holiness and beauty and happiness of his people.

The union between Christ and his bride is so close (“one flesh”) that any good done to her is a good done to himself. Which means that the clear assertion of this text is that the Lord is moved to nourish, cherish, sanctify, and cleanse his bride because in this he finds his joy.

By some definitions, this cannot be love. Love, they say, must be free of self-interest — especially Christlike love, especially Calvary love. I have never seen such a view of love made to square with this passage of Scripture.

Yet what Christ does for his bride, this text plainly calls love: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church . . . ” (Ephesians 5:25). Why not let the text define love for us, instead of bringing our definition from ethics or philosophy? According to this text, love is the pursuit of Christ’s joy in the holy joy of the beloved. 

There is no way to exclude self-interest from love, for self-interest is not the same as selfishness. Selfishness seeks its own private happiness at the expense of others. 

Christlike love seeks its happiness in the happiness of others — not at their expense. It will even suffer and die for the beloved in order that its joy might be made full in the life and purity of the beloved. 

This is how Christ loved us, and this is how he calls us to love one another.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18, 2025.

SUBJECT : SOME ENEMIES OF PRAYER! 

Memory verse: "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21 vs 22.)

READ: Mark 11 vs 22 - 24: 

11:22: So Jesus answering said to them, “Have faith in God.”

11:23: For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 

11:24: Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

11:25: And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

11:26: But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

INTIMATION: 

Prayer we already know is fellowshipping with the Father, and the Master. There are known enemies of prayer. Some of these enemies are very dear 'friends.' We have associated with them for many years, and it will be hard for us to give them up.

The most outstanding enemy is a lack of knowledge of whom we are in Christ, and what He is in us, what He did for us, and of our standing and legal rights before the Throne. All these are embedded in the Scriptures. And the lack of this knowledge is the bane of the believer. The Scripture says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...." (Hosea 4 vs 6). It is in studying and meditation that God’s inheritance to us in Christ is revealed. And until you do, you will never have a prayer life beyond the baby experience.

Another enemy is ignorance of what "Believing" is. The word "Believe" is a verb. It is an action word—it means to act upon the Word. Then believing the Word is simply acting on it. We act upon it as we act upon the word of our governments on taxes. Act on it the way you expect your children to act on your word of right morals to them. There is no believing without acting, and believing means having possession. I possess what the Word has promised. 

For instance, here is a statement of fact, Isaiah 53 vs 4 personalized: "Surely He has born my sicknesses and carried my pains and I have come to esteem Him as the one stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." You just don't give a mental assent to it, rather you act on the Word; you say it out to yourself and others, as if you are the only person Jesus is talking to. You claim it as your word, and eat it as if you are eating your favorite meal. Declare it all the time. If you fail to speak and act on the Word, you are self-deceived. The Believer is a "doer” of the Word and not a hearer only.

Another enemy is praying for faith. It is a delusion to pray for faith or more faith. You can never get it. I have never heard of anyone getting more faith or having their faith increased by praying for it. Why is it so? Because the prayer for faith is a prayer based on unbelief. If unbelief were not your master, you wouldn't need faith. Praying for faith is because you are in doubt of the Father, His integrity, and His Word, hence you are praying for faith to believe Him. It is an absolute proof that you will not get it.

For instance, if a child should say to the mother, "Mum, I want you to increase my faith in you. I have been trying all morning to believe what you said about my birthday being this Saturday is true." It is noteworthy that the mother gave birth to the child and knows the day she gave birth, but the child is trying to believe the mother on the date of birth. That child is insulting the integrity of the mother. 

So when you pray for faith you are insulting the Author of the Word. You don't intend to, but you are doing so. This is the same as acting on the Word and still not believing on the efficacy of the Word. For instance, when you are divinely healed, you feel not to confess it because you still want to wait a while to confirm it is done.

Another enemy of prayer is our dependence on other people's faith. We become unconsciously spiritual hitchhikers. To everyone God has given a measure of faith (Romans 12 vs 3); that faith came when you received the Father's nature—you accepted Jesus Christ. That nature is a faith nature. As soon as it came into you and you became His child, you began to develop that faith. Just as you develop your mental strength by certain mental exercises, and develop your physical strength by certain physical exercises, now you are developing your faith by feeding on the Word (John 15 vs 7).

Our Father did give us a measure of faith because He knows that without it, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11 vs 6). If you have no faith you cannot please Him, even with somebody's faith posturing for you. Many times we have gone to the altar, and to the prayer room to pray for more faith, but to no avail. Your faith is built up when you begin to live in the Word, act on the Word, and take advantage of your inheritance in Christ.

Another enemy is the desire to read about the Bible and about prayer rather than to study the Word, meditate on it, and fit yourself for the highest known and holiest of all vocations. In my considered opinion, it is more than a vocation, it is a privilege, and the rarest of all privileges that have been given to us in grace. Therefore, you "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (Second Timothy 2 vs 15.)

Another known enemy an unforgiving heart. God does not answer the prayer that comes from an unforgiving heart. God will judge without mercy the one who has shown no mercy. Forgiving heart is a condition for answered prayer.

Prayer: Abba Father, my complete trust is in You. You are loving, unfailing and ever faithful. There is none like You in heaven and on earth. In You I live, and move, and have all my being. Blessed be Your holy Name forever. Endue me with the spirit of love that I may have the mind of Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISR THE LORD!