Nov 25, 2021
Are you at the end of your rope, weary, cast down, about to give up? I challenge you to answer the following questions with a simple yes or no:
- • Does the Word of God promise to supply all your needs?
- • Did Jesus say he would never leave you but would be with you to the end?
- • Did he say he would keep you from falling and present you faultless before the Father’s throne?
- • Did he promise you all the seed you need to spread the gospel?
- • Is he more willing to give than you are to receive? Is Christ greater in you than he that is in the world?
- • Are God’s thoughts toward you good thoughts? Is he a rewarder of those who diligently seek him?
- • Is he preparing a place for you in glory? Is he coming in the clouds to gather his people home? Are you going with him when he comes?
Your answer to all of these should be “Absolutely, yes!”
Now, take inventory. Ask yourself, “Do I really believe God is faithful to his promises or do I waver in my trust? How well do I know God’s Word and his assurances?”
Scripture clearly says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:5-7, NKJV).
You can lay hold of God’s wisdom, all the wisdom needed to solve life’s problems, if you cast your very life and future on this promise and believe with no wavering.
God gives wisdom liberally to all of his children.
Nov 23, 2021
God does not accept grudging service from anyone. “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23, NKJV). ‘Heartily’ means with all your heart, all your strength, all that is within you.
Paul writes, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity [unwillingly]; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). The apostle makes a dual application of this matter of giving; it has to do with our financial offerings and the giving of our very lives to God’s work.
Paul wrote that the church in Macedonia literally begged him to let them take up a collection for the poor, suffering saints in Jerusalem. These Macedonians were so wholly given to the Lord, they gave out of their poverty.
If you give only because you believe it is commanded or if you’re always wondering, “Is tithing a New Testament concept or just Old Testament?”, your heart-attitude is all wrong. If you give 10 percent because the pastor asks it of you, that is wrong also. None of this gets to the issue to the heart of what it means to give!
I am sorely convicted by this verse because so often I go about my life and ministry without the joy of the Lord. Has serving the Lord become a bore, a drag to you? Is it just a burden, leaving you mostly sad and weary? God doesn’t want you complaining about your burden; he wants you to chase those things out of your life by laying hold of his Word, which is your checkbook to his resources in faith! He is saying, “I have already made provision for you. What need in your life is so great that I cannot supply more than is required?”
The word for cheerful in Greek means merry, glad, having a light heart, willingness, gladness, being full of hilarity. God is saying, “Whatever you do in your labors for me, whether it’s interceding, worshipping me in my house, or seeking me in your secret closet, do it cheerfully! Be joyful and generous with everything: your money, your service, your time and your life.” In order to give oneself to pleasing God, it must spring from a cheerful spirit that is available to us all by simple, childlike faith.
Nov 20, 2021
A very important passage of the Bible that often confuses readers is “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’ Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?’
“And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.’” (Matthew 24:1-5, NKJV).
The center of religion, the priesthood and the law was found in that temple, and the idea that it would be destroyed was deeply disturbing to the disciples. When they asked ‘What’ and ‘When’ and ‘How,’ Jesus’ response had nothing to do with the temple or the specifics of what was coming.
In our vernacular, Jesus said, “Look, first and foremost, you guys have to pay attention and prepare because such deception is going to come that many — many — who call on the name of Christ, many who are found in our religious centers, many who fill our churches will not listen nor be prepared, and they will be deceived.”
Most deception starts with things that are said in contradiction to the Word of God.
Many will come and say, “Follow me. I’m a pastor or prophet of God. I have the answers!” What they say will not line up with scripture, but many of us will not heed what Christ said.
When deception is dealt with elsewhere in the New Testament, it’s dealt with in the church and regarding doctrine. It doesn’t take much for us to picture modern times when people have said things that led a multitude astray. The real question is “Why?” The answer is that people were not listening to Christ.
How do we hear from God? Do we need to run to the mountains or attend a conference? My friends, God has already given us his Word. It’s the scriptures. We need to be men and women who don’t just read the Bible, but we ought to study and meditate on it. We don’t live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Nov 19, 2021
When God calls us to any specific work, he has already made provision for everything we need to accomplish it. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8, NKJV).
This verse is not just a hope; it is a promise! It begins with the words, “God is able!” God is not interested in just meeting your needs. He always wants to give you more than you need. That is what ‘abound’ means, an ever-increasing, super-abundant supply.
“Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). Think of what is being promised here. When you are down and tired and don’t think you can go any farther, God is able to so invigorate you that you will have all you need in every possible situation at all times.
It is as if the Lord is saying, “Listen, all you shepherds! Listen, all you who faithfully attend my house and labor in prayer, praise and intercession. I want to give you an abundance of strength, hope, joy, peace, rest, finances, encouragement and wisdom. In fact, I want you to have an overabundance of all you need.”
God never intended for us to be spiritual paupers, poor in the things of the Lord. On the contrary, the mature believer is the one who enjoys a revelation of all the great provisions God has prepared for him, and he goes after this revelation by faith.
Indeed, the Bible says we are to seek him for this revelation. Paul wrote, “Now we have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:12–13).
I believe most Christians have not honestly faced the power of these promises of God. We’ve read them many times, but they remain as dead letters to us.
We must lay hold of them and say, “Lord, reveal to me what you have prepared! Open my mind and my spirit to your resources. Your Word says I must know all these things that are freely given to me so that I can claim them for your glory!”
Nov 17, 2021
You have to learn to fight your own battles if you want to become a mature believer. You can’t always depend on someone else for your deliverance. Perhaps you have a prayer warrior friend you can call and say, “I’ve got a battle before me. Will you pray for me? I know you have power with God!”
Now that is scriptural, but it is not God’s complete will for you. God wants you to become a warrior. He wants you to be able to stand up against the devil.
When Israel was being oppressed by their enemies, God promised Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16, NKJV). God told him, “I have sent you; I will be with you.”
When the people of the city came looking for the one who tore down their idols (see Judges 6:28–32). Where was Gideon? He was hiding, still unsure of God’s promises, still wondering if God was with him. Gideon said, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his miracles which our fathers told us about…?” (Judges 6:13).
So it is with many of us! Jesus has promised us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).Despite that, we have not learned to stand on his Word and fight!
Things will begin to change the moment you are fully persuaded that God is with you. He speaks to you, and he will show you all you need to know. You are stronger than you think! Like Gideon, you may wonder, “How can I fight? I’m so weak, so inexperienced.”
God told Gideon, “Go in this might of yours” (Judges 6:14). “What might?” you ask. Gideon’s might was bound up in God’s word to him: “Surely I will be with you.” Beloved, that same word — “I am with you” — is your strength! You will receive strength by believing this word is true and acting on it!
