May 30 – From Mark 2

“And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him.” Mark 2v14

There are many times we are called by the Lord to do something, what is our response? Now we may have once refused, like the first son in the parable of the two sons, or we might have accepted, like the elder son. Now, the first son, refused but then accepted, and the second son accepted, but did not do it. The question was then posed by Jesus:

“Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto Him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” Matthew 21v31-32

The first son repented and went about the work of his father that sent him, the second son did not do the work, even after he had said he would. Any work lingering – get to it. Remember, God is no respecter of persons. However, He will give you the grace to do it.

Have a wonderful day.

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“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 12v36-37

May 29 – Embarking on the adventure

May 29 – Embarking on the adventure

Many times we make resolutions. We decide we are going to read our Bibles for 2 hours every day, and pray for 10 hours in total, every week. And when we do not accomplish it, we feel disappointed. Worst of all, we feel we have failed God. But with God, there is grace. However, catching a glimpse into the life of Jesus and His words, we see that perhaps, we are missing out on something –

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” Acts 10v38

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1v8

“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,” Luke 4v1

The Spirit within and the Spirit upon. We cannot accomplish nada- nothing without the Holy Spirit of God. He is God with us. Jesus did all that He did, for God was with Him. He asked the disciples not to try anything, nor go anywhere, until after that the Holy Ghost is come upon them. He knew they could not do anything, unless the Spirit of God was with them – thus the verse the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me for He has anointed Me to preach ... The Spirit decided when it was time for Him to go and face His temptations, first completing a long fast – 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost and led by the Spirit into the wilderness. And the conclusion of the matter, we see in the question:

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Luke 11v13

Have a blessed day.

May 28 – Only praise

In times such as this, when you put on the tv, when you see what is around, and going on around us – wars, rumours of war, things pulling and vying for your time, it is easy to lose your song. One thing the Psalmist knew and did so much so that he was called a man after God’s own heart and this he said:

“I WILL bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34v1

Don’t lose your song.

Have a blessed day.

May 27 – The Holy Spirit, our helper

“Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but Me: for there is no saviour beside Me.” Hosea 13v4

In this verse, God certifies to the Israelites, that He was their God from where they were coming from. God wrote their history in Egypt – He knew they would be there, and when they would leave and where they should go to. And HE here reminds them that He was their God from back there. He cautions them – do not know any other god but Me, for there is no Saviour beside Him. Today, God is saying He is your God from back then, from the land of slavery, trouble and affliction. He’s saying, don’t know (don’t try out any other way, don’t become familiar, don’t respond to) any other god but Him – for there is no Saviour beside Him.

The great thing is that God does not leave us in a vacuum trying this way and that way while we are getting to know Him. He says in His word that:

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;

Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14v16&17

I love that the Comforter is with us for ever, not one moment now, and then the next moment He is gone. The Comforter helps us through hard times, He advises, He consoles, and He counsels among other things. Got something on your mind? Talk to the Comforter about it.

Have a blessed day.

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“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 1v38&39

May 26 – He never abandons His own

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13v5

Hmm. Just finished listening to a message, and one resounding encouragement laced within the message, was that “God never abandons His own.” And that is so true. Another thing I love so much is that God hears our prayers, He hears and notes and delights in the prayers of His children – His righteous ones. And He never abandons us. Although I could not find a verse for abandon as such, but Hebrews 13v5 (King James Version) uses two verbs which practically capture the word abandon – leave and forsake. And God’s promise to us, His reassurance to us no matter where we are at or what we are doing, is that He will never abandon – leave us nor forsake us. Blessed be His holy name forevermore.

Amen.

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Verses for thought/praise:
“And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us:

And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” 1 John 5v14&15

May 25 – I shall not die, but live

“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.

The LORD hath chastened me sore: but He hath not given me over unto death.” Psalm 118v17&18

We shall not die until the Master says it is time, in Jesus name. One thing that struck me about the verse is that it says we will live and do what? According to the Psalmist, he says he will live and ­declare the works of the LORD.

One verse I love is that which says who we are in Christ and how God has called us to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of the darkness into His marvelous light.

Are you showing forth His praises? Are you declaring His wondrous works? Are you thankful ... or grumbling. It is well with you in Jesus name.
Have a blessed day.

Verses for praise:
“Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.”

May 24 – From Proverbs 24

“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and HE turn away His wrath from him.” Proverbs 24v17-18

The good Lord is the One who wants that none perish, but all come to repentance. On the other hand, he watches and guards over His children jealously. He knows when one hair from their hair is out of place, and all the days that they live is accounted for with Him. Again, He loves mercy and justice, but says to us, vengeance is mine, I will repay. If one does you wrong and the Lord is fighting for you, Proverbs 24 cautions us not to gloat. I think it would please our Father even more if we prayed for them.

Have a great day.

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“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5 v 11&12

May 10 – In truth

Hello everyone,
How are doing on this day? I hope well. According to Saint John, there are two things that we should do “in truth,” and perhaps there are more. The first we see as:

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John 4v24

And the other we see as:
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3v18

I love you, I adore you, I will go the distance for you – really, can you come to my office tomorrow to drop off my car –actually…

Or, Father I adore You, I appreciate You, I will go to the ends of the earth for You for You are just awesome in my life …

Somethings are easy to say, to use our flesh to speak, but how do we really ought to worship and to love. One of the requirements is in truth. The question then arises that how do we do that? That is, how do we worship in truth? How do we love in truth?
Flipping through the Bible, I stumbled upon this verse which the Amplified says:

“But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].” John 16v13

So we gain some insight here in that the Holy Spirit is the One who will guide us into all truth, and He is here in us and dwells with us and as the rivers of living water are flowing out of our belly, we bubble over with real worship and adoration to the Father of spirits. Furthermore, we know that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through thee Holy Spirit and so all we have to do is to act, reach out in faith, the Spirit of Truth is on the inside of you and as you reach out, He works through you, acting in truth. So rejoice because it is well and we have all that we have to do what the Lord has asked us to do. All you have to do is act and reach out in faith – note you do not have a spirit of fear but of love and of power and of a soundmind.

Have a very blessed day.

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Verses for thought:
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Sanctify then through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17v16&17]

May 9 – No longer debtors

Hello everyone,
Just an encouragement to say that:

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Romans 8v11&12

We are not debtors. You do not owe the flesh anything, one more drink, one more tantrum, one more shred of anger spout, nothing. The price has been paid and through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, we have been set free. However, again, you cannot do it on your own, but through the Spirit you can. You can’t reason with your head and say no, no, no, no, no more of this, but through the Spirit you can achieve and live the life of holiness and perfection that God wants us to live.

For remember, if you do strong head, and continue to live after the flesh, succumbing to its whims and moves and every need, you will die. Don’t try to reason it out! But on the other hand, you will live if you mortify the deeds of the body, through the Spirit. That is, totally kill and render those deeds useless saying no more, through the Spirit of God which dwells in you.

Have a blessed day.

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Verses for praise:
“For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 116v8&9

May 8 – The gift of God

May 8 – The gift of God

Hello everyone,
How are you doing on this day? I hope well. You know, God has such grace (unmerited favour), available for His children. I mean, we are even prompted to come boldly before His throne of grace, His throne of unmerited favour where we can obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Even more particularly, we see in Ephesians 2v8-9:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (King James Version)

“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]” (Amplified Bible).

“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” New Living Translation

So don’t be deceived, or be bewitched, its not by works at all. Our salvation is a gift from a loving Father and we need to tap into it through faith. What you cannot see, but what you hope for – Christ in us, the hope of glory. Remain expectant, don’t waver, don’t look back for indeed by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God (double wink).

Have a blessed day.

May 7 – His many pleasures

Hello everyone,
How are you doing on this lovely day? I hope well. The sun is up and shining here in Cambridge , MA and given that it is a day that the good Lord has made, we definitely will rejoice and be glad in it – hallelujah.

Reading through the Psalms this morning, a verse struck me:
“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures.” Psalm 36v8

Isn’t it wonderful, that its not even us that need to ask for the pleasures, but that it is God who makes us to drink of these pleasures. And to just think of the God type of pleasures, I’m sure its not the type that you have and forget its taste a second later. They are of the sort that you would look back and say, indeed it is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes; the sort that you would say, if it had not been for the Lord …

And why? Why does He allow us to be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house? And why does He make us drink of the river of His pleasures? Why, why, why? The previous verse preludes this and says: How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! Note the exclamation mark. Even David was astonished about it. Indeed, what is man that Thou art mindful of Him, or the son of man that Thou visitest Him o Lord?

We see too that because of the lovingkindness of God, “…therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings.” Because we know as a friend of mine will say that “God dey,” and we know Him to be good and His lovingkindness to be excellent, then we put our trust in Him. Interestingly enough, He it is that shews us such lovingkindness, that it is easy for us to trust in Him. He loved us first! Even while were yet sinners. And then comes the verse on us being abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house, and drinking of the river of His pleasures. See too that these pleasures and fatness are open to all the children of men, not a specific people, but those who through the lovingkindness of God, put their trust under the shadow of His wings.

May 6 – Your speech

One verse we have often read, is from Colossians 4v6, which says:

“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

So here, we see that all the time, our speech should be with grace. But what struck me, was the side note of the concordance, which described these speech which is seasoned with salt, as one which is – worthy of being kept in the memory of others.

Interesting.

Have a blessed day.

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Verses for praise:
“Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp.” Psalm 150v3

“Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalm 150v6

May 5 – The 11th Hour

The 11th hour is a time when everything seems really bleak; it’s the time before the new day comes. It’s often a time that people want to pass real quickly and perhaps feel after it is passed, that there is nothing good or special or kind that the world has to offer them. Everything else seems secondary after this 11th hour with its “problems” and “darkness” has passed. But this is not often the case. We have heard it said that it is in the eye of the storm that it is the calmest. Also, along the same vein, when all seems to have gotten to their all time low, the only place it can go after that is upwards, for the believer at least. The Lord will never give us more than we can handle. We see this in the life of Jacob, now called Israel in Genesis 42v36:

“And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” Genesis 42v36 (King James Version)

“And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me! Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you would take Benjamin from me. All these things are against me!” Genesis 42v36 (Amplified Bible)

“Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!” Genesis 42v36 (New Living Translation).

In Jacob’s 11th hour, he got to the point when he had to exclaim that everything is going against me. Have you ever been at that stage when it seems as if everything that could possible gone wrong, has gone wrong. Welcome to the life of Jacob in his 11th hour. And yet, it was his letting go of what he cared for the most, in this case – Benjamin – that was going to help him recover all that he had lost, and more. He will get back or discover that indeed Joseph lived and Simeon would be released and they will get food for him and his family. How is your 11th hour? Rejoice, God is on the throne.

Have a glorious day.

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Verses for praise:
“Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” Lamentations 3v37

“It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” Lamentations 3v26

May 4 – Being made conformable to His death

And once again Paul said:

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death.” Philippians 3v10 (King James Version)

“… and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]” Philippians 3v10 (Amplified Bible)

“… sharing in His death,” Philippians 3v10 (New Living Translation)

What does it mean to share in the death of Jesus Christ? In the same vein, what does it mean to be made conformable to His death? To conform to something means to (looking at synonyms) – be conventional, be traditional, do the accepted thing, obey the rules, play the game … the opposite of conform, being to rebel. Could this be that if we are not being conformable to His death, we are rebelling against it, and what does this signify?

We know that the Christian life and faith continues until the end. You have to run the race to win. Jesus did not turn back at the garden of Gethsemane, but there He said “not My will but Yours be done.” How far are we willing to go for Christ? Even to death?

Have a great day.

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Verses for thought:
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him:

Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2v6&7

May 3 – The fellowship of His suffering

Again, Paul wrote,
“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, ­­and the fellowship of His sufferings, …” Philippians 3v10 (King James Bible)
“… and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, …” Philippians 3v10 (New International Version)
“… and that I may so share His sufferings…” Philippians 3v10 (Amplified Version)

What did Paul mean by wanting to know the fellowship of His – Jesus’ – sufferings? For indeed Jesus did say “it is finished,” so what could the Apostle Paul be referring to?

We see in 1 Peter 4v12 & 13:
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

It may come in different ways, persecutions and trials that come about because You believe in Jesus, because You are identified as a Christian, because You have the mind of Christ, because the Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead dwells on the inside of You, because of the Greater One in You, because of Your identification with the God of love who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth, for in lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness does He delight. When you suffer, then rejoice, for it shall be well with you, the least they can defeat is the body, not the soul.

Have a blessed day.

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Verses for thought:
“If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.” 1 Peter 4v14

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5v10

May 2 - The Power of His Resurrection

Paul said in Philippians 3v10:
“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, …” King James Version
“… and that I may in that same way come to know the power overflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], …” Amplified Bible
“… and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead....” New Living Translation
“… experience His resurrection power…” (The Message)

What does the power of Jesus’ resurrection symbolize? What is it to experience His resurrection power, that mighty power that raised Him from the dead?

And insight to this might be that seen in Ephesians 1v18-23 where Paul prays

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,

Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,

Which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.”

May 1 – That I may know Him.

“That I may know Him,…” Philippians 3v10 (King James Version)

“I want to know Christ…” Philippians 3v10 (New International Version)

“[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly],…” Philippians 3v10 (Amplified Bible)

“I want to know Christ…” Philippians 3v10 (New Living Translation)