Saturday, April 30, 2016

Believe and Speak out Your Salvation in Christ

"I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:" (Psalm 116: 10)

First, we accept in our hearts that Jesus Christ has paid for all our sins.

He is Christ Jesus today, seated at the right hand of the Father.

Today, when we believe on Him, we receive all things with Him:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

and

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 32)

How do we initiate our new life in Christ?

We believe, and then we speak!

"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; 14Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 15For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God." (2 Corinthians 4:13-15)

Believe in Jesus, and speak out in faith what you believe!

Possess your possessions, all things which Christ Jesus has delivered to us through HIMSELF!

Friday, April 29, 2016

We Walk With Him, In Life

"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living." (Psalm 116: 9)

We are in the land of the living, because we have Jesus.

Because Jesus has us.

He is the Way, the Truth, and most importantly of all--the Life!

He is our Life, and we can take Jesus up on His promise, that He wants us to have life, and that more abundantly (JOhn 10: 10)

Where did anyone get the idea that our Lord and Savior wanted us to be miserable?

We walk in Him, in His Spirit, and we overcome the flesh (Galatians 5:16) because we have ceased from our own works (Hebrews 4: 10)

Let's enjoy His rest! Let us walk with the Lord Jesus, identifying with Him (1 John 4: 17) and abide in the Land of the Living!

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Jesus Delivers Us From All Evil

"For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." (Psalm 116: 8)

Jesus delivers us from death.

He died for us and as us:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:" (1 Peter 3: 18)

and

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 8)

He knows about our tears, and our sorrows. He wants us to be free from this sadness:

"Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?" (Psalm 56: 8)

and

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:4)

He also will preserve us from falling, if we trust Him:

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

"24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand." (Pslalm 37: 23-24)

The promises which God the Father gave to His Son -- they now apply to us, too!

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand." (Psalm 91: 12)

Jesus takes us from death to life, wipes away our tears, and keeps us from falling!

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

We Can Rest, Because Jesus Has Taken Care of Us

"7Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee." (Psalm 116: 7)

I have learned a great deal about the rest that we receive in Christ Jesus:

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)

and

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 11)

Now, most people struggle with resting in God's grace.

I used to think that I had to rest in order for God to work in my life.

The truth is -- He has "dealt bountifully with" us!

We can rest, because He has already been at work!

Jesus is our rest.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11: 28)

Through Jesus, our Daddy God has blessed us indeed:

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 32)

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

He Does Not Bring Us Down, He Lifts Us Up

"The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me." (Psalm 116: 6)

God is in the business of protecting us, preserving us from trouble, from pain, and from other hardships.

In the Old Testament, some of the saints, and the Psalmist, declare that God is out to get them, or out to bring them down.

No!

God sent His Only Son, that  if we believe on Him, we are taken from our death to His life.

Jesus is in the saving business!

Now, what does it mean to be "simple"?

One without wisdom, without knowledge, and its first mention appears in this verse:

"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." (Psalm 19: 7)

Notice that we do not make ourselves wise, He does.

Notice that we cannot take ourselves out of our naivete. He does!

Most importantly, though, he does not bring us down.

"I was brought low."

God did not bring the Psalmist down low.

Yet He helps us!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Jesus: Gracious and Righteous

"Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful." (Psalm 116: 5)

Notice that "Gracious" is the first description of the LORD in this passage.

He is gracious, full of favor for all of man.

His commandment to the first man and the first woman?

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:" (Genesis 2: 16)

Freely -- freely!

God is all about giving!

When will we stop struggling with this truth and start believing Him?!

He is gracious. That is the first revelation we have of Jesus when He came to ththe world:

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:4-5)

and then

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (JOhn 1: 14)

and also

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)

Jesus is all about grace.

He died for us when we did not deserve anything but death.

Grace -- we get what we do not deserve.

Through Jesus, we are made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5: 21) and He is now our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1: 30)

Keep receiving these gifts. Possess your possessions of His abundance of righteousness and His gift o grace! (Romans 5: 17)

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Jesus Our Deliverer

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

4Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul." (Psalm 116: 3-4)

Let us never forget that death is no longer an enemy which we fear.

Jesus died for us and as us, that we may receive His Life!

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2: 9)

He tasted death that we may drink in His Life!

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)

Jesus is the saving business.

He is our Savior, not just from death to life, but in every hardship that we face in our lives.

If He delivers up His Son for us, we should trust Him to deliver all other things to us as needed:

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 32)

God is in the delivery business.

He delivers us from harm and delivers to us every good and perfect gift (James 1: 17) through His beloved Son Jesus!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

He Listens to Us, Even Before We Call

"2Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." (Psalm 116: 2)

The theme of Year 2016: Take God for all He is worth, Possess Your Possessions.

God is in the giving business.

He is the first, foremost, and forever donor in our lives.

In fact, He is our life:

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 4)

We have nothing of ourselves.

So, let us not think that we are alone in this world.

We can call on Him, and we can trust that He is hearing us, that He heeds our hurts and concerns.

The Israelites in bondage to Pharoah did not even mention the Name of the LORD.

They simply groaned, and that was enough for God to remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

"And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them." (Exodus 2: 23-25)

He was listening. All He needed to hear was the groanings of the Israelites that they would stop relying on their own strength, their own efforts.

He is already listening.

Call on Him!

Friday, April 22, 2016

Psalm 116: We Love Him Because He Heard Us

"I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications." (Psalm 116: 1)

In the traditional teachings in many churches, we are taught that we have to love God.

We have to give Him everything we have.

If we love God, then we will know how much He loves us, or He will love us.

Yet that is not what the Bible reveals to us about Jesus:

"For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son ... "(John 3: 16)

and

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 8)

We do not come to God for help after we have done something.

If we still can do anything for ourselves, then why would seek His help in the first place?

Beloved in Christ, claim the loving care which our Daddy God has for you.

Don't try to do something so that God will help you.

Ask for His help, and watch Him step in to transform you from glory to glory!

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Ann Graham is Wrong: God is Not Hiding

Ann Graham-Lotz, the daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, has declared that God is hiding from us.

Here are comments, reported in the Christian Post:

Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of famous evangelist Billy Graham, has warned that God might be purposefully hiding himself from America in preparation for a coming judgment on the nation.

He "might be" hiding himself? We can have certainty about God and His love for us!


"Our nation is in a mess. Why? Could it be because America is losing God's blessing? His favor. Could our sin be provoking His judgment? Judgment that is not necessarily in the form of a nuclear dirty bomb, or another ISIS attack, or an economic collapse. But a Romans 1 judgment as God backs out of our national life and turns us over to ourselves," Lotz wrote on her website Wednesday.

God does not favor nations, as much as His favor, His grave has appeared to all men.

Yes, that's right!

"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)

The question remains: will you receive His grace by believing on His Son Jesus?

That is the one work, and yet so many people simply refuse to do it:

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 28-29)

Now, there are references of God hiding from His people ... in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant of bulls and goats.

We are no longer under that Old Covenant, but under the New, in which He is a God to us, and we are His people.

Why?

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

He remembers our sins no more.

Every sin has been put away forever. How? Through Jesus!

"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" (Hebrews 1: 3)

and

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)

So, God is not hiding from us.



He has shown His grace to all men. Either they believe on Him or they do not.

C'mon, people! Consider the brave and blessed example of Abraham before God, who was pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah!

"22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?" (Genesis 18: 22-24)

God listened to the prayer of that one righteous man.

Today, for those who believe in Jesus, who seem Him as their righteousness (1 Corinthians 1: 30), who live today under an open heaven, a New Covenant, in which all our sins are purged away forever, do we not believe that our prayers can effect as much--if not more than Abraham?

No, Beloved, God is not hiding from us today.

"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 13: 5)

He said that!

Oh, and what did Paul preach to the Athenians?

"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts 17: 28)

There is a judgement coming, and there is a hell to reject, but God is not hiding from this world, and He is not taking away His favor from all men.

Jesus paid for it!

In fact, I recall one pastor declaring that if God were to take away His favor from all men, He would have to apologize to His Son Jesus, as though His work at the Cross was limited or ineffective.

Not so! Not at all!

Take the Cup of Salvation

"I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." (Psalm 116: 13)

Jesus is our Salvation

That is His Name:

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1: 21)

Notice also what Jesus said to His disciples on the night He was delivered up to die for us:

"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26: 28)

Our cup of salvation comes from Jesus, and He invites us to take more of Him.

Too many of us in the Body of Christ still see Jesus as someone whom we have to work for.

The truth is, He is someone who works in and through us:

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 13)

and

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." (Colossians 1: 27-29)

He works in us, and through the gift of Himself, we work, we live, and we thrive.

Stop trying to give something to God.

The greatest thing that you can do to thank God for all that He has done?

Take more from Him!