Wipe Your Fears Away

 Wipe Your Fears Away

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)

One possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in unbelief goes like this: “I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my faith in God’s grace must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.”

My response to this concern is: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy, who doesn’t want you to finish the race, throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race.

And it certainly doesn’t mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise, your competitor — your adversary — wouldn’t bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers.

When anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God’s glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked.

At first blow, our belief in God’s promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether, by grace, we set in motion a process of resistance — whether we fight back against the unbelief of anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers?

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike. It tells us how to turn on the windshield wipers.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 09, 2025.

SUBJECT : WHO YOU WERE BEFORE REDEMPTION!

Memory verse: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5 vs 8.) 

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 1 - 3 & 12: 

2:1: And You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 

2:2: in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 

2:3: among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

2:12: That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of Promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

INTIMATION:

From the passage we read today in the Scriptures, we can see the condition from which Jesus saved us. The natural man is spiritually dead. He is subject to the prince of the powers of the air. He is a child of disobedience. He is by nature a child of wrath. He is without God and without hope in the world. He has no covenant claims on God. He was a stranger to the covenant of promise. He was hopeless, Godless, spiritually dead, a child of the devil. That is the condition of the lost man. 

I know we do not like to have that told to us, but if we are not told, then we will never see the need of confession of Christ and Eternal Life. These memories are the best fuel for our gratitude to Christ for all He has done in our behalf.

Now let us look at Ephesians 2 vs 4 - 5 to appreciate God's plan and work: "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). The natural man, before redemption, was dead in sin, and utterly separated from God, but God came to our rescue. We were dead in our sins, but God.....We were rebels against God, but God......We were enslaved by the devil and our sinful nature, but God.....These may be the two most welcome words in all of Scriptures: “But God.” He had the option of leaving us spiritually dead, in rebellion against Him, and in bondage to our sins. But He didn’t. 

It is noteworthy that He didn’t save us because of our good nature, but rather in spite of our hopelessness and unworthiness. We should ever remain thankful for what He has done for us, and should also show humble patience and tolerance for others who seem unworthy or undeserving of our love and compassion. They may be spiritually dull, rebellious, and even antagonistic toward God. So were we; but God loved us anyway. We shouldn’t do less for fellow sinners.

We have been redeemed, and do not need to live any longer under sin’s power. God paid man's penalty on legal grounds and met the demands of justice absolutely. It is not a problem of pity. It is not a problem of a mother's love that overlooks a son's disobedience and rebellion, but it is the Supreme Court of the Universe dealing with our rebellion and our sin, dealing with it so effectually that it can never become an issue again. 

The penalty of sin and its power over us were miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, or no longer guilty, before God (See Romans 3 vs 21 - 22.) God does not take us out of the world or make us robot, we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we became Believers, we were dead in sin and were slaves to our sinful nature. But now we are alive in Christ.

God works on us In redemption; “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2 vs 10). We are now made light in the Lord, therefore, we should walk as children of light. By faith God recreated us in the recreation of Christ when Jesus was made alive after He had been made Sin; in that recreation was our recreation. 

The apostle Paul gives a clear picture in himself thus: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2 vs 20.) All we have to do is accept it. The moment we accept it, it becomes a reality to us in the mind of our heavenly Father.

Prayer: Abba Father, You displayed Your exceedingly great and unparalleled love for me in redemption. You worked all things for me in Christ. Give me the grace, O Lord, to love You and others in like manner, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Marveling at the End of History

 Marveling at the End of History

[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10) 

When Jesus returns to this earth, which he has promised to do, those who have not believed the gospel, Paul says, “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” This is a terrible prospect that should terrify all unbelievers who hear this truth.

And oh, how it should sober us who do believe and fill us with seriousness about what is at stake in this world. Oh, how it should cause compassion to rise in our hearts for those who do not believe, or do not even know, the gospel.

But to sustain us in all our afflictions here Paul gives us two amazing words of encouragement and hope. “[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted.” If we experience a terrible intensification of affliction near the end of history, God’s word is: Hold fast: relief is on the way. Your afflictions will not have the last word. And your seemingly powerful adversaries will regret the day they touched the Lord’s people.

But then comes the best word of encouragement and hope. Not only will we get relief when the Lord comes, but we will get the greatest experience that we were created for in the first place: We will see his glory, and marvel at it in such a way that he will be glorified in us for all the world to see. 

Verse 10: “He comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.” We were made to marvel. Nothing and no one is more marvelous than the crucified, risen, returning King of glory, Jesus Christ. He will attain the destiny of his glory, and we will attain the destiny of our joy as we begin the perfect, sinless, never-ending marveling at the greatest marvel.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 08, 2025.

SUBJECT : THE BLESSED OF GOD!

Memory verse: "Blessed are you who hunger now: for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now: for you shall laugh." (Luke 6 vs 21.)

READ: Matthew 5 vs 3 - 12:

5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:4: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5:5: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

5:7: Blessed are the merciful , for they shall obtain mercy.

5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.

5:10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:11: Blessed are you, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake.

5:12: Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

INTIMATION:

Jesus, in the longest recorded sermon, described the traits He was looking for in His followers. He said that God blesses those who live out those traits. Each beatitude is an almost direct contradiction of society’s typical way of life. In the last beatitude, Jesus even points out that a serious effort to develop these traits is bound to create opposition. The best example of each trait is found in Jesus Himself. If our goal is to become like Him, applying the beatitudes will challenge the way we live each day.

Each beatitudes tells how to be blessed by God. Being blessed means more than happiness. It implies the fortunate or enviable state of those who are in God’s kingdom. The Beatitudes don’t promise laughter, pleasure, or earthly prosperity. Being “blessed” by God means the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. To find hope and joy, the deepest form of happiness, follow Jesus no matter what is the cost.

The “Poor in spirit” is not proud, conceited, or arrogant, and are blessed. This character trait clashes with the worldly values of pride and personal independence. We must recognize our humanity, spiritual poverty, and destitution (Romans 7 vs 24 - 25). We must empty ourselves of self-reliance and learn to be humble before God. Those with such an attitude of mind will submit to the kingdom reign of God, and consequently are blessed.

Mourning here is grieving over spiritual poverty and sinfulness. The humble person recognizes his or her spiritual poverty, and thus mourns over his or her inadequacies before God. This character trait clashes with the worldly value of happiness at all cost. 

The meek is lowly in heart, mild, gentle, unselfish, not arrogant or self-seeking, and will inherit the earth in the sense that they will enjoy the greatest that life has to offer. Because they understand the brevity of life and the temporary nature of material things, their concentration of thought is on that which is above. This character trait clashes with the worldly value of seeking power, and materialism.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who realize their sinful condition and mourn over their sin, hunger and thirst after the justification that can come only from God by His grace. Such people seek the knowledge of God through His Word. It is the Word of God that will supply the knowledge of how to be justified of one’s sin. God is the source of righteousness. 

Those who are merciful sympathize, and have pity on others. They thus seek to relieve the suffering of others because God has had mercy on them in relation to their sin. Their mercy will reap mercy from God. This trait clashes with the worldly value of strength without feeling.

The “Pure in heart” are sincere, without guile or a vile heart of evil motives, and do not seek to find evil on others. They will understand the pure nature of God, and thirst after such purity. This trait clashes with the worldly value of deception.

Peacemakers are those who recognize their own sinfulness and seek peace of mind with others. Such are sons of God because of they portray the spirit of God in their relationship with others. They are not contentious, nor do they have a spirit to argue with others. This character trait clashes with the worldly value of personal peace being pursued without concern for the world’s chaos.

God’s way of living usually contradicts the world’s. If you want to live for God, you must be ready to say and do what seems strange to the world. You must be willing to give when others take, to love what others hate, to help when others abuse. By giving up your own rights in order to serve others, you will one day receive everything God has in store for you.

Rejoice is the attitude of those who truly understand the inner nature of the Christian life. They are able to rejoice in persecution for they know that life exists beyond this world. The fact that you are being persecuted proves that you have been faithful. It's obvious that faithless people would be unnoticed. In the future God will reward the faithful by receiving them Into His eternal kingdom, where there is no more persecution. 

The Beatitudes are a standard of conduct for all believers. They contrast kingdom values (what is eternal) with worldly values (what is temporary). These Beatitudes are not multiple choice—pick what you like and leave the rest. They are interwoven and must be taken as a whole. They describe what we should be like as Christ’s followers.

Prayer: Abba Father, by You all things consist. Give me the grace to manifest the character traits after the order of our Messiah Jesus Christ that I may be blessed, in the mighty Name of Jesus I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

We Honor What We Enjoy

 We Honor What We Enjoy

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.” (Isaiah 58:13–14)

It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy of fellowship with him.

Consider the Sabbath as an illustration of this. The Lord rebukes his people for seeking their own pleasure on his holy day. “Turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day.” But what does he mean? Does he mean that we should not seek our joy on the Lord’s Day? No, because the next thing he says is, “Call the Sabbath a delight.” And in verse 14, “You shall take delight in the Lord.” So what he is criticizing is that they are delighting in their own business on the Sabbath rather than delighting in the beauty of their God and the rest and holiness that this day stands for. 

He’s not rebuking their hedonism. He’s rebuking the weakness of it. As C. S. Lewis said, “We are far too easily pleased.” They have settled for secular interests and thus honor them above the Lord.

Notice that calling the Sabbath “a delight” is parallel to calling the holy day of the Lord “honorable.” “If you . . . call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable . . .” This simply means you honor what you delight in. Or you glorify what you enjoy. 

The enjoyment of God and the glorification of God are one. His eternal purpose and our eternal pleasure unite in one experience of worship. This is what the Lord’s Day is for. Indeed, this is what all of life is for.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 07, 2025.

SUBJECT : BOASTING IN OUR INFIRMITIES!

Memory verse: "Of such a one will I boast: yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities." (Second Corinthians 12 vs 5.)

READ: Second Corinthians 12 vs 8 - 10:

12:8: Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

12:9: And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

12:10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.   

INTIMATION: 

To boast in our infirmities is not to despair in them, knowing that the Creator allowed it for His purpose; to show His strength, and power in such weaknesses. It is not for you and I to despair in our weaknesses or infirmities because they can never be any form of limitations to God, but rather an opportunity to demonstrate His power through His grace. 

For emphasis, the apostle Paul said in our memory verse, ‘I am going to boast only about how weak I am and how great God is to use such weakness to His glory.’ Instead of posing as self-confident and invincible, see yourself as a trophy of grace. Your weaknesses ought to be a limitation, but by His grace you overcome with it.

When the apostle Paul spoke of his infirmities, he was actually glorifying the power of God which was able to help him live with his infirmities. He learned, therefore, to trust in God’s power to deliver. He didn’t trust in his own ingenuity as the false prophets do. If we boast concerning our accomplishments, then we have the tendency to glory in our own ability to perform. 

The apostle Paul had an infirmity—“thorn in the flesh” (which I believe was an eye problem according to his statement in Galatian 4 vs 12 - 15). The infirmity was a chronic and debilitating problem, which at times kept him from working. It was a hindrance to his ministry, and he prayed for its removal, but God refused, instead He promised to demonstrate His strength in him; “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

The apostle Paul was a very self-sufficient person, so the ‘thorn’ must have been difficult for him. Three times he prayed for healing and did not receive it. He received, however, things greater because he received greater grace from God; a stronger character, humility, and ability to empathize with others. In addition, it benefited those around him as they saw God at work in his life. 

God, according to His sovereign plan, doesn’t heal some believers of their physical ailments. We don’t know why some are spared and others aren’t. But God chooses according to His divine purposes. The apostle Paul was a living prove at the time that holy living and courageous faith do not ensure instant physical healing. When we pray fo healing, we must entrust our bodies to God’s care. We must recognize that nothing separates us from the love of God (Romans 8 vs 35 - 39) and that our spiritual condition is always more important than our physical condition. 

The fact that God’s power is displayed in our weaknesses should give us courage and hope. As we recognize our limitations, we will depend more on God for our effectiveness rather than on our own energies, efforts, or talents. Our limitations help develop our worship, because in admitting them, we affirm God’s strength. God told the apostle Paul, “My grace (My favor, lovingkindness, and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.” (Amplified Version.)

The fact that God's power is displayed in weak people should give us courage. When Satan points out your weaknesses, agree with him and fill your heart with praise for Jesus, who understands every weakness of ours, and for the Holy Spirit, who helps our weaknesses. (Romans 8 vs 26.) As a believer, God will not leave you to your own resources to cope with problems. Instead we turn to God to seek pathways for our effectiveness, rather than rely on our own energies, efforts, or talents. Even in your communion with God in prayer, when you don't know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for you, and God answers.

Sometimes, however, God turns a strength into a weakness in order to use us even more. Jacob was a manipulator who spent his life scheming and then running from the consequences. One night he wrestled with God and said, ‘I'm not letting you go until you bless me.’ God said, ‘All right,’ but then he grabbed Jacob's thigh and dislocated his hip. What is the significance of that? God touched Jacob's strength (the thigh muscle is the strongest in the body) and turned it into a weakness. From that day forward, Jacob walked with a limp so he could never run away again. It forced him to lean on God whether he liked it or not. 

Physical infirmities remind us that we live in a physical world, but are looking forward to a realm of dwelling wherein there will be no pain (Revelation 21 vs 4). If there were no pain in this world, then we would not desire a heavenly realm of dwelling that is free of pain. When we are strong in abilities or resources, we are tempted to do God’s work on our own, and that can lead to pride. When we are weak, allowing God to fill us with His power, then we are stronger than we could ever be on our own. God does not intend for us to be weak, passive, or ineffective. However, life provides enough hindrances and setbacks without us creating them. When those obstacles come, we must depend on God. 

“My grace is sufficient.” This one statement concerning the grace of God manifests God’s sufficiency to deal with all aspects of man. God is able to deliver us from this physical world. God is able to deliver us from the power of sin and death. Therefore, whether in the midst of physical suffering or mourning over our sin, we must trust that God is able to deliver us. Such trust in God’s grace will carry us through times of hardship. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You most gracious Lord for Your strength that is made perfect in my weakness. Forever my trust is in You, and I am persuaded that nothing can take away Your love for me. Give me the grace never to shift my attention from You all the days of my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Is God’s Love Conditional?

 Is God’s Love Conditional?

[God] gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:6–8) 

James teaches us that there is a precious experience of “more grace” and God “drawing near” to us. Surely this is a wonderful experience — more grace and a special nearness of God. But I ask: is this experience of the love of God unconditional? No. It is not. It is conditional on our humbling ourselves and our drawing near to God. God “gives [more] grace to the humble. . . . Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

There are precious experiences of the love of God that require that we fight pride, seek humility, and cherish the nearness of God. Those are the conditions. Of course, the conditions themselves are the work of God in us. But they are no less conditions we fulfill.

If this is true, I fear that the unqualified, biblically careless reassurances today that God’s love is all unconditional may stop people from doing the very things the Bible says they need to do in order to enjoy all the peace that they so desperately crave. In trying to give peace through “unconditionality” we may be cutting people off from the very remedy the Bible prescribes.

To be sure, let us proclaim, loud and clear, that the divine love of election, and the divine love of Christ’s death, and the divine love of our regeneration — our new birth — are all absolutely unconditional. 

And let us declare untiringly the good news that our justification is based on the worth of Christ’s obedience and sacrifice, not ours (Romans 5:19, “as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”).

But let us also declare the biblical truth that the fullest and sweetest experiences of the grace of God and the nearness of God will be enjoyed by those who daily humble themselves and draw near to God.