ListenThe gift - December 27th
The table is set. The bread and wine are there, and Jesus says to you, “Come, My child, partake.” But you tell Him, “Lord, I am unworthy!” You are afraid to come to the Lord’s table perhaps because you have been taught that if you partake in your “unworthy” state, you will come under God’s fiery judgment.
My friend, Jesus has washed you whiter than snow and qualified you with His own blood, so you are as worthy as worthy can be! The most humble thing you can do now is to acknowledge His perfect sacrifice and accept His invitation with gladness.
In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul tells the church how to partake of the Lord’s Supper so that they will not drink judgment to themselves. The word “judgment” in verses 29 and 34 is krima in the original Greek text. It refers to a divine sentence. And in the context of this passage, the divine sentence refers to sickness.
But when was this divine sentence of sickness passed? It was passed when Adam sinned. (Genesis 3:19) When he sinned, death entered the world (Genesis 2:17), and man would grow old and weak, fall sick and die.
So it is not that God is passing sentences of sickness on people today. How can that be when Jesus said, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) God is not in the business of condemning but saving. And the Greek word for “saved”, sozo, also means to preserve, heal and make whole.
God does not want you to suffer the divine sentence of sickness that is already in the world, so He has given you a way of escape, paid for by the blood of His Son. He wants you to be healthy and whole, without the diseases of the world, and He has made this possible for you through the Holy Communion.
So don’t be robbed of this tremendous blessing any longer because of erroneous teachings that have put fear in your heart. Come boldly to the Lord’s table today and receive afresh His health, strength, wholeness and life
November 26
Philippians 4:6
6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
You would probably have read this verse before, but would you like to know how to apply it in your everyday life? Let me give you an illustration to help you.
Let’s say that you are one of those in your company eligible for a promotion and you will know tomorrow whether you get it. You want the promotion badly because it means more income for your family. So you lie in bed at night tossing and turning. You pray, “Father, please take away all my worries about this promotion. Give me faith.” One hour later, you are more anxious than ever. It seems like God is not answering your prayer!
How come? Because you are not doing it God’s way.
Pray like this instead: “Father, I cast all my worries about the promotion into Your loving hands because You care for me and love me.” The Bible tells us to cast all our cares upon the Lord for He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7) Then, say, “Father, I would like to have the promotion.” It is okay to ask Him for that. Now, here comes the most powerful part — thanksgiving. Finish off with thanksgiving. Thank God for His faithfulness.
Say something like, “Father, whether I get the promotion or not, I thank You that You will always provide for my family with more than enough. You who feed the birds of the air and clothe the lilies of the field will take care of us. So I am not going to worry about this promotion. You are the source of all my blessings.” (Matthew 6:30, Philippians 4:19)
When you pray like this, all of a sudden, you are no longer held hostage by the promotion. I call this the “thank You” therapy. The more you know God’s Word, the more you can thank Him. The more you thank Him, the more His peace reigns in your heart. And many a time, before you know it, it is morning! You don’t even remember falling asleep. The peace of God reigns like that.
Whatever your concern is, bring it to your Father in prayer and thank your way to peace!
November 24th
Deuteronomy 28:5
5“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
In Bible times, reapers carried baskets on their backs to collect the harvest from the fields. They had to ensure that their baskets were strong and sturdy, so that what they collected would not fall out. The women of that day used kneading bowls to knead dough for making bread. If they used poor-quality bowls which broke easily, they would not be able to make bread.
So baskets and kneading bowls in those days represented the means by which one got his tangible blessings. Beloved, your Father in heaven does not want you to worry about the means by which you get your blessings. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, He says to you, “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.”
This means that if you are a cab driver, your cab will not break down on your rounds because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your cab.” If you are a businessman, your capital investment will not fail you because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your capital investment.” And if you are a salesman, your products will be looked upon favorably because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your products.”
These blessings are yours because Jesus paid for them with His death and He enforced them with His resurrection.
On one occasion, Jesus told Peter to throw his nets into the water. When Peter threw one net down, he caught so much fish that the net “was breaking”. To save the bumper haul, the other disciples quickly filled their boats with the fish, lest the net gave way completely. (Luke 5:4–7)
After Jesus rose from the dead, a similar incident took place. Once again, Jesus asked His disciples to cast their net out. They caught a multitude of fish. But “although there were so many, the net was not broken”. (John 21:11) Notice that in the first case, the net was breaking. In the second case, it was not! Something supernatural happened to their nets after Jesus rose from the dead!
Beloved, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, not only are you blessed (Ephesians 1:3), but your nets, baskets and kneading bowls — the means by which you obtain your blessings — are also blessed!
November 23
Ruth 2:12
12The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
Have you ever wondered why, in some Bible stories, God asked the people to give what little they had to Him? It may appear cruel, but the truth is that God was setting them up for a blessing! God’s way is to use whatever we have, and multiply it back to us once we put it in His hands.
The widow of Zarephath had only a handful of flour and a little oil to make one last meal for her son and herself before they faced starvation. But she trusted God and used a portion of the little that she had to make a cake for the prophet Elijah. And God rewarded her by making sure that her bin of flour was not used up and her jar of oil did not run dry until the drought ended. (1 Kings 17:8–16)
Similarly, the boy who gave his little lunch of five loaves and two small fish to Jesus not only ate well, but he also saw it being used to feed more than 5,000 people with 12 baskets full of leftovers! (John 6:1–13)
Whenever we give what little we have to God, whether it is money, time or energy, it opens up our hearts so that God can fill us up with more. And when we give our lives to God, we can trust Him to make things right for us and to be the rewarder of our faith.
When Ruth, a childless Moabite widow, left the comfort of her home to follow her mother-in-law Naomi and the God of Israel back to a foreign land (Ruth 1:16), she was given a full reward by the Lord. God gave Ruth protection and ensured that she was well-provided for through Boaz, a wealthy relative who took on the role of kinsman-redeemer for her and Naomi. (Ruth 2:9, 4:9–10)
Beloved, as you trust God with what you have today, know that He loves you and is setting you up for more blessings. So expect to see even more of His provision and abundance in the days to come!
November 22
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November 22nd
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There are several Greek words used for "word." The Greek word used here is RHEMA and it literally means, "a spoken word; an utterance, a saying, but specifically a spoken word appropriate for the situation." It's not the Bible lying on your coffee table that makes the enemy flee, but the Word of God hidden in your heart, activated by the power of the Holy Spirit, and spoken in the appropriate situation. It's similar to what Jesus says in John 6:63, that "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."
The words that we speak from the written Word of God are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Word by itself doesn't make us free. It is the Word we know and speak that will deliver us (Jn. 8:32).
Why is the Word so effective? Because it is the WORD of God. It has authority, because it is indeed the WORD of God. God's Word supersedes all authority of the church, of reason, of intellect, and even of Satan. That's why it is so effective.
In Luke, chapter four, when Jesus was tempted of the devil for forty days, it was the Word of God that Jesus used to defeat the enemy at His temptation.
Jesus constantly met His temptation by quoting from God's Word as He repeatedly stated the phrase, "It is written." Likewise, the Christian soldier must avail himself of God's Word by placing it in his heart so that the Holy Spirit may bring it forth at the appropriate time to accomplish a complete and total victory.
November 20th Devotional
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November 20th
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It is the apostle John who reveals Peter as the one who cut off the servant's ear and also identifies the servant. It is very doubtful that Peter was aiming for Malchus' ear. It is more probable that he was making a horizontal swing at the servant's head and as the man ducked, Peter cut off his ear.
Peter was very vocal about never denying the Lord, and his actions proved that he meant what he said. There were only two swords among the disciples, yet Peter was willing to take on these six hundred soldiers. This spelled certain death or imprisonment.
Peter wanted to stand with the Lord, but he was not prepared spiritually. He was still strong in his own ability. If the battle would have been in the physical realm, Peter would have fought to the death as he proved here. But when Jesus told Peter to put up his sword and not resist with his physical power, Peter was confused.
Peter only knew how to rely on the flesh. When Jesus refused to allow Peter to fight with his sword, he was defenseless. If he would have been praying with Jesus, as instructed, Peter would have been built up spiritually and able to stand with Jesus spiritually without denying Him. As the prophet Zechariah said, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).
Likewise, we may sincerely desire to never deny our Lord, but it takes more than desire; it takes preparation. We all have been taught how to rely on ourselves, but we have to learn anew how to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Eph. 6:10). Just as in the physical realm, where muscles have to be exercised to become strong, so we have to exercise ourselves unto godliness (1 Tim. 4:7).
Devotional November 19
It is evident that it was the power of God that made these six hundred men fall backwards to the ground, but why did it happen when He said, "I am he"?
In this verse, and also in verse eight, the word "he" is italicized. That means that the word "he" was not in the original text but was added by the translators to make the sentence grammatically correct. This serves a useful purpose and is very helpful in most cases. However, the translators put these additions in italics so that we could be aware of what the text literally said.
In this instance, Jesus literally said, "I am." Since Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, His statement of "I am," carried just as much weight as when He expressed it to Moses (Ex. 3:14). This is nothing less than the Almighty God releasing His glory through the powerful statement, "I AM." No wonder these men were knocked to the ground.
This graphically illustrates how Jesus could have easily defended Himself against any size army that would come to take His life. As He said in John 10:18, "No man taketh it (i.e. His life) from me, but I lay it down of myself."
There are many instances recorded in scripture where people fell to the ground as a result of being in God's presence. The same thing still happens today. Just as some people faint when they experience fear, when they experience the awesome presence of God, they become weak, and lose strength in their physical body.