Friday, April 30, 2010

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 303

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)

God asks for purity in the lives of believers and there is always a blessing attached to them who strive to live a life pleasing to the Lord. Not an easy task but achievable with the help of the Holy Spirit. Of course, sins and short comings do come in the lives of all believers, but God is always willing to forgive and help us go forward.

The Church at Sardis in Asia Minor during the days of John the Apostle, had a few faithful believers and it was accounted by the Lord. But most of the people in the Church there were in a bad spiritual condition and this is what God had to say to them,
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)

God wanted to them to repent and said,
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. (Revelation 3:2)

He also issued a warning if they did not repent.
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Revelation 3:3)

Sadly, they did not repent and the Church did not last very long. But the faithful were promised by God with this eternal promise:
They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)

To us the Holy Spirit says,
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. (Revelation 3:5)

May the Lord Jesus Christ help us all in this endeavour.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 302

Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20)

God emphasized the word "justice" here and wanted the Israelites to obey his laws and be just in their dealings, so that they could possess the promised land. But many of them were corrupt including priest and prophet.

Our God is a "just God". He is just in his dealings with mankind. He expects his children also to be just in their dealings.

The Apostle Paul writes,
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. (Philippians 2:14, 15)

Crooked and depraved generation...perfect words to describe our generation.

Yet, God expects us to be blameless and pure children. Is it possible? With the help of the Holy Spirit, Yes. By ourselves, No.
That's why Jesus said,
The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (John 16:13)

God will definitely bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night. He will not keep putting them off, because he is a "just God".

Monday, April 19, 2010

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 301

The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7, 8)

Is God able to fulfill the things that you read in the above verses? Yes, he is! And he does it countless times in the lives of believers. Doesn't mean that believers don't fall sick or get injured. But the restraining hand of God prevents what would have been catastrophic.

Jabez prayed to God,
"Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.(1 Chronicles 4:10)(NIV)

...keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain....That's a neat little prayer we can pray each day. In the KJV, it's a bit different. There we read....keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.

The thing to notice here is that God granted his request.
We all need divine protection, what with the devil prowling around like a roaring lion seeking to devour. But God's promises stand us in good stead if we pray them.

Jesus prayed,
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. (John 17:11)
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:15)

Yes, God will protect you and your family from all calamities if you live a life pleasing to him. Sin opens the way for satanic attacks, so we must strive to walk with God, obeying his Word. Then his promises will be fulfilled every day of our lives.

The Apostle Paul affirms,
The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
(2 Thessalonians 3:3)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 300

But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 7:23)

A promise to the Israelites for obeying God's commands in the promised land. God knew the fears that the Israelites had in their hearts regarding the strength of the nations that they would encounter.
Regarding this we read in the book of Deuteronomy.
You may say to yourselves, "These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?" But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. (Deuteronomy 7:17-19)

Are you being attacked by evil forces these days? Has Satan stolen the peace, joy and satisfaction in your life? Is he playing truant with your family?
Do not fear. The Lord God who delivered the Israelites will fight for you. He will set you free. Satan will not win.
Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. (Deuteronomy 7:21)
He will do awesome miracles for you yet again. So glorify him this day.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Dr. Johnson's Devotionals From The Word Of God- 10

Dr. Johnson's Devotionals From The Word Of God- 10

On April 9, 2010, the Frankfurt-bound Condor Airlines flight and Qatar Airways plane heading for Melbourne came close to each other in mid-air over the Arabian Sea off Mumbai, India, but a collision was averted after the Air Traffic Control alerted them and asked one of them to descend by around 3,000 feet. The two flights were flying at the same altitude, and were just four miles from each other. Flights are required to maintain a safe vertical distance of at least 1,200 feet from each other.

A disaster averted in the nick of time. Obeying rules are so important for safety.

The Bible speaks of how mankind has transgressed by not acknowledging God or his will and are thus paying the price for their foolishness.

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." (Romans 1:18-27)

God doesn't want anyone to perish eternally; he desires that all come to repentance and do his will.

Are you doing his will? If you are, here's a promise for you.
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 299

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 299

The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. (Daniel 9:9)

Daniel the prophet, understood from the Scriptures that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So he turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. He prayed to God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws."

Acknowledging sin is the first step to restoration. The Israelites had sinned and now they were undergoing punishment in a foreign land. Daniel confessed the sins of God's people and then he acknowledged the merciful and forgiving nature of God.

Truly, our God is merciful and forgiving. If we repent of our sins, God restores the intimate relationship that we desire with him. Repentance means turning away from sin and bearing fruit that indicates repentance.

We, as believers, must often check our lives to see whether we are really walking with God; for that is what he desires from us. Praise the Lord.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 298

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1, 2)


Declared guilty on all accounts, but the judge of all the earth sacrifices his own son to set you free. How do you like that?

The Bible says,
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:29-32)

The world condemns believers who truly live for the Lord, because true believers do not conform to the ways of the world.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians,
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Because you are washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God, there is now no condemnation for you. So rejoice, child of God.