When God Swears by God

 When God Swears by God

Since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” (Hebrews 6:13–14)

There is one Person whose worth and honor and dignity and preciousness and greatness and beauty and reputation is more than all other values combined — ten thousand times more — namely, God himself. So, when God takes an oath, he swears by himself. 

If he could have gone higher, he would have gone higher. Why? To give you strong encouragement in your hope. What God is saying in swearing by himself is that it is as impossible that he will break his word of promise to bless us as it is that he will ever despise himself. 

God is the greatest value in the universe. There is nothing more valuable or wonderful than God. So, God swears by God. And in doing that he says, “I mean for you to have as much confidence in me as it is possible to have.” For if more were possible, Hebrews 6:13 says, he would have given us that. “Since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself.” 

Now this is our God, the God who is reaching as high as he can reach to inspire your unshakable hope in him. So, flee to God for refuge. Turn from all the superficial, self-defeating hopes of the world, and put your hope in God. There is nothing and no one like God as a refuge and a rock of hope.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2025.

SUBJECT : THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CONVICTION IS FOR OUR GOOD! 

Memory verse: "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement." (John 16 vs 8.) 

READ: John 16 vs 7 - 11:

16:7: Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

16:8: And when He has come, He convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.

16:9: Of sin, because they do not believe in Me;

16:10: Of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;

16:11: Of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.

INTIMATION:

What is conviction? It's to prove guilty; to pronounce guilty; a person found guilty of crime or sin. It's usually convincing or persuading by evidence to satisfy as to truth or error. Conviction is a veritable tool employed by the Holy Spirit for our betterment. Conviction is meant to convince us of sin, lift us out of it, and to help us move higher in God's Will and plan for our lives. He convinces us to repent, which means to turn and go in the right direction rather than the wrong one in which we are currently going. How wonderful it is to have close fellowship with the Holy Spirit, to have Him in our lives to let us know when we are going the wrong way.

When we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, it is God speaking to us because He wants to help us in some area. He is not condemning us, but He's trying to let us know that He wants us to live a better and healthy life. The Holy Spirit works to enlighten our awareness of what we are doing wrong that leads to death, and what we need to do to enjoy the abundant life. When He speaks to our conscience about changes that are needed, we should pray right then, asking God to deliver us and bring about those changes through our faith in Jesus.

When Holy Spirit reveals to you an issue that needs to be dealt with in your life, you can trust that the anointing is also present to break the yoke of bondage over you. If you put off confronting the behavior until you want to deal with it, you may have to face change without the anointing, which is very difficult. When God convicts, He also anoints, so that is the best time to yield to His help in changing. We often wants to do things in our own timing, and we struggle and struggle because we're not asking for God's help. 

Holy Spirit reveals the result of sin and the result of righteousness so that people can see life and death set before them and call on God to help them choose life. People who has chosen the life of sin have wretched, and miserable lives, which makes them look ugly and older than their age. The rough, rugged lifestyle they have chosen has taken a toll on them. 

The power of God can make us look better and keep us feeling younger, because we are not living the hard life of sin. This power of God is at work in the world today demonstrating the results of sin and the results of righteousness. The line between the two is becoming vividly distinct. It is no longer difficult to tell who belongs to God and who doesn't. The world that we live in is full of gross darkness (Isaiah 9 vs 2). But God gave Jesus "for a light to the nations" (Isaiah 42 vs 6). His light is visible in the faces of true believers.

It is healthy and normal to feel guilty when we are initially convicted of sin; but to keep the guilty feeling after we have repented of the sin is not healthy, nor is it God's Will. Conviction from the Lord never fills us with condemning shame. Shame fills us with a painful sense of disgrace and humiliating regret, often for something that we couldn't help. 

When God works in people's lives, He condemns the sin, but He never condemns the sinner, rather He gives mercy to the sinner, so we never need to be afraid to let God show us what we are doing wrong. The Holy Spirit lives in us, and can't get much closer to us than that. He doesn't come just to take up space, or because He has nowhere else to stay or go. The Holy Spirit lives in us because He has a job to do, which is to help (empower, encourage, advocate, strengthen, counsel, teach, comfort, intercede) and lead us to God's plan for our lives.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I surrender entirely to His leading. I pray that nothing will break my fellowship with Him, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Key to Spiritual Maturity

 The Key to Spiritual Maturity

Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Now, this is amazing. Don’t miss it. It could save you years of wasted living. 

What this verse is saying is that if you want to become mature and understand and appreciate the more solid teachings of the word, then the rich, nutritional, precious milk of God’s gospel promises must transform your moral senses — your spiritual mind — so that you can discern between good and evil. 

Or, let me put it another way. Getting ready to feast on all God’s word is not first an intellectual challenge; it is first a moral challenge. If you want to eat the solid food of the word, you must exercise your spiritual senses so as to develop a mind that discerns between good and evil. This is a moral challenge, not just intellectual.

The startling truth is that, if you stumble over understanding Melchizedek in Genesis and Hebrews, it may be because you watch questionable TV programs. If you stumble over the doctrine of election, it may be because you still use some shady business practices. If you stumble over the God-centered work of Christ on the cross, it may be because you love money and spend too much and give too little. 

The pathway to maturity and to solid biblical food is not first becoming an intelligent person, but becoming an obedient person. What you do with alcohol and sex and money and leisure and food and computers, and the way you treat other people, has more to do with your capacity for solid food than where you go to school or what books you read.

This is so important because in our highly technological society we are prone to think that education — especially intellectual education — is the key to maturity. There are many Ph.D.’s who choke in their spiritual immaturity on the things of God. And there are many less-educated saints who are deeply mature and can feed with pleasure and profit on the deepest things of God’s word.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2025.

SUBJECT : STRIVE TO HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST!

Memory verse: "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2 vs 5.)

READ: Philippians 2 vs 6 - 8: 

2:6: Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

2:7: but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

2:8: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.

INTIMATION:

The mind of Christ is humble. Jesus Christ, during His earth walk, displayed unparalled humbility, willing to give up His rights in order to obey God, and of service to God and people. Humility is the state of being humble, not to think too highly of oneself. It means being meek or gentle. It is not self-depreciation, but rather proper respect for God.

The mind of Christ is the mind of complete obedience. Christ said of Himself: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does in like manner." "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgement is righteous, because I do not seek My own Will but the Will of the Father who sent Me." (John 5 vs 19, 30).

That you are humble does not take away anything from you. If you are a President of a country, or a Chief Executive Officer of a big corporation, and is humble, it does not change your status. Instead you are esteemed highly, and consequently receives grace—unmerited favour of God. A humble person is more secure than a proud person because humility gives a more accurate perspective of oneself, and of the world.

Truly, humble people compare themselves only with Christ, realizing their sinfulness, and understanding their limitations. On the other hand, they also recognize their gifts and strengths and are willing to use them as Christ directs, being also, realistic in their assessment, and commitment to serve. 

To humble ourselves before God, we must respect His Majesty by comparing ourselves to His greatness. When we look at creation, we realize our smallness by comparison, and to feel small is a healthy way to get back to reality, and humble ourselves before God to get His lifting (James 4 vs 10 & First Peter 5 vs 6). The psalmist in Psalm 8 vs 3 - 4 says; "When I consider Your heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him." 

As we look at the vast expanse of creation, aren't you marveled at God's concern for you, who is always disappointing Him? Out of His love and care He made us in His own image, after His likeness, and only a little lower than the angels! We have great worth because we bear the stamp of the Creator. 

Jesus lived as God wanted Him to live. He never sought His own, but was completely in obedience to the Father. Now, because of our identification with Jesus, we must honor Him and live as He wants us to live. If we always ask ourselves the question in any circumstance, "What would Jesus do?" may help us make the rights choices and decisions.

We must humble ourselves before God to be able to hear His words, receive His instructions, direction, and help. In times of trouble, or when our lives fall apart, or when we sin against God, we should go before Him in deep humility and sorrow to obtain His promised help, mercy, and forgiveness of sin.  

Humility and obedience are intertwined. Obedience to God begins with humility. We must believe that His ways are better than ours, though we may not always understand His ways of working, but by humbly obeying, we will receive His blessings. Remember that God's ways are best. He wants our obedience and humility more than anything else because in these are we engraced, and exalted. 

Prayer: Abba Father, let the mind of Jesus Christ be in me that I may obey You at all times. I can of myself do nothing, but in obedience and lowliness of mind, I can do all things through You that strengthens me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Gravity of Gratitude

 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful . . . (2 Timothy 3:1–2) 

Notice how ingratitude goes with pride, abuse, and insubordination.

In another place Paul says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking . . . but instead let there be thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:4). So, it seems that gratitude, thankfulness, is the opposite of ugliness and violence.

The reason this is so is that the feeling of gratitude is a humble feeling, not a proud one. It is other-exalting, not self-exalting. And it is glad-hearted, not angry or bitter. Bitter thankfulness is a contradiction in terms.

The key to unlocking a heart of thankfulness and overcoming bitterness and ugliness and disrespect and violence is a strong belief in God, the Creator and Sustainer and Provider and Hope-giver. If we do not believe we are deeply indebted to God for all we have and hope to have, then the very spring of gratitude has gone dry.

So, I conclude that the rise of violence and sacrilege and ugliness and insubordination in the last times is a God-issue. The basic issue is a failure to feel gratitude at the upper levels of our dependence.

When the high spring of gratitude to God fails at the top of the mountain, soon all the pools of thankfulness begin to dry up further down the mountain. And when gratitude goes, the sovereignty of the self condones more and more corruption for its pleasure.

Pray for a great awakening of humble gratitude.

Every day in the God's Word

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2025.

SUBJECT: GIVE GOD THE CREDIT AND GLORY DUE TO HIM!

Memory verse: “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner.” (Like 17 bs 18.) 

READ: Genesis 41 vs 15 - 16:

41:15: And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”

41:16: So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

INTIMATION:

Glory primarily signifies an opinion, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used of God’s nature in self-manifestation, that is, what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way He reveals Himself in these respects, and primarily in the Person of Christ, in whom essentially His glory has ever shone forth and ever will do.

When His grace and His power manifest, it constitute His glory. And we should always give due acknowledgment of the exhibition of His attributes and ways. How easily we take credit for what God does through us! This rubs God of the honor that He alone deserves. Instead, we should, in any achievements in our lives, give credit to God thereby pointing people to God so that we give Him the glory due to Him. 

In our anchor Scripture, Jesus asked the question here to stimulate all to think concerning their obligation of returning credit to God for all that He would do in our lives, and through us, especially in showing mercy to man. The gratitude of the one leper in contrast to the ingratitude of the nine, illustrates how often men forget God’s blessings in both the materials and spiritual realms. 

In the passage we read today, Joseph made sure that he gave the credit to God. We should be careful to do the same. To take the honor for ourselves is a form of stealing God’s honor. Don’t be silent when you know you should be giving glory and credit to God. When the interpretation of dreams came up, Joseph focused everyone’s attention on God. Rather than using the situation to make himself look good, he turned it into a powerful witness for the Lord. One secret of effective witnessing is to recognize opportunities to relate God to the other person’s experience. When the opportunity arises, we must have the courage to speak as Joseph did. 

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had a dream and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then he gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell him his own dream and its interpretation. However, none of them was able to tell the king his dream, nor its interpretation. But Daniel did. In Daniel 2 vs 27 - 30, before Daniel told the king anything else, he gave credit to God, explaining that he did not know the dream through his own wisdom but only because God revealed it.

In Daniel 2 vs 47 - 48, the Scripture says. “The king answered Daniel and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret. Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.” 

Nebuchadnezzar honored Daniel and Daniel’s God. If Daniel had taken the credit himself, the king would have honored only Daniel. Because Daniel gave God the credit, the king honored both of them. Part of our mission in this world is to show unbelievers what God is like. We can do that by acts of love and compassion, and if we give God credit for our actions, they will want to know more about Him. Give credit and glory to God for what He is doing in your life, and through you.

God appreciates giving Him credit and glory due to Him hence Christ’s question concerning the lepers that were cleansed. And the benefits include. (1) perfection of the blessings, (2) preservation of the blessings, and (3) qualification for more blessings; Joseph was made a prime minister in a foreign land, Daniel was made a great man, and received many great gifts, and was made the ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon, and the leper that returned was made whole.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with a heart of gratitude for Your acts and works in my life, and to testify of Your works in my life at all times. Give me the grace never to take credits and glory due to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Five Reasons Death Is Gain

 Five Reasons Death Is Gain

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)

How is it “gain” to die?

1) Our spirits will be made perfect (Hebrews 12:22–23).

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

There will be no more sin in us. We will be done with the inner war and the heartrending disappointments of offending the Lord who loved us and gave himself for us.

2) We will be relieved of the pain of this world (Luke 16:24–25).

The joy of the resurrection will not yet be ours, but the joy of freedom from pain will be. Jesus tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man to show the great reversal that is coming at death.

“[The rich man] called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.’”

3) We will be given profound rest in our souls (Revelation 6:9–11).

There will be a serenity beneath the eye and care of God that surpasses anything we have known here on the softest summer evening by the most peaceful lake at our most happy moments.

I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer.

4) We will experience a deep at-homeness (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

The whole human race is homesick for God, without knowing it. When we go home to Christ, there will be a contentment beyond any sense of security and peace we have ever known.

5) We will be with Christ (Philippians 1:21–23).

Christ is a more wonderful person than anyone on earth. He is wiser, stronger, and kinder than anyone you enjoy spending time with. He is endlessly interesting. He knows exactly what to do and what to say at every moment to make his guests as glad as they can possibly be. He overflows in love and with infinite insight into how to use that love to make his loved ones feel loved. Therefore Paul said,

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.