Daily Devotions 30th Nov 2017

Roms 5: 8

God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  

This is the summary of the Gospel of Salvation which our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came to save the world. We are told that God had this perfect plan to save all men from eternal death and He gave His only Son Jesus Christ to come and die for our sins.

The book of Romans is the book of doctrine that Paul wrote in revealing many spiritual truths. It was direct revelation which Jesus Christ gave to Paul who was led to write most of the books in the New Testament.

Jesus revealed all the doctrinal truths to Paul and theologians have attributed all  these to the glory of God who used Paul a trained and intelligent former Pharisee skilled in the scriptures to be equipped with the understanding and revelation of the word.

In this instance, Paul revealed the truth of the mission and work of Jesus Christ. It was by grace that we are saved, Paul wrote that while we were still wretched sinners Jesus Christ came and died for us and He took away our sins.

Hostile religions against the Gospel of Salvation try to discredit Christianity but they could never do so. Today we are seeing hundreds of thousands of people in anti-Christ countries coming to the Lord through first hand encounters of dreams and visions that they received directly from Jesus Christ. Even at the threat of instant death, these people are ready to stand up for Jesus, they have converted and are ready to pay the price of martyrdom even as they are baby believers.

This is surely the move of God that no man can understand. God is merciful and indeed all men can be saved as Jesus died not only for the Jews but for the while world

Heb 13: 3

Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison.

The writer reminds the Church to pray for those Christian brothers and leaders who have been unfairly persecuted and thrown into prisons. This has been the work of the enemies of the Church and even to this very day, many Christians are suffering the same fate

We continue to see and read reports of Churches and Christians in anti-Christ nations that persecute the believers and full time minsters. Many pagan religions are against the true religion of Christianity. Today in many parts of the world, ministers are being arrested unfairly and thrown into prisons and many are even tortured and killed.

The stories that are told tell us of their sufferings, and persecutions in prisons even in this time. In the Middle East countries many Christian girls and women are caught mercilessly, sexually abused and then sold of cheaply as sex slaves. This is the fate of believers in many nations and had been for thousands of years.

We are told in the word of God that in these last days, persecution will increase and great tribulation will come upon the world including the Church and the believers. We see great tribulations in some parts of the world and we will see even greater tribulations that will arise. In fact open threats have been made by the anti-Christ religions but world governments are tolerating and accepting these because they are part of the anti-Christ movements.

For those who are free, let us thank God for our freedom and for those who are in the danger zones, let us pray for them.

Amos 4: 13

He who creates the wind … the Lord Almighty is His name.

The prophet Amos reminded the people of Israel who had been dispersed and have also gone into captivity. In fact they had suffered under the judgement of God and in spite of all their sufferings the people were not drawn back to God.

God had called them the stiff necked people. This is not only about the Jews though I have met them in Israel and had found them to be stubbornly against the Saviour, Jesus Christ. While I had conversations with them I have found them to be very stubborn and resistant to the gospel.

In this instance, Amos reminded the Jews that the Lord God over Israel is the one and only true God who created the whole universe. In fact everything that exists is created by God who is unseen like the wind. We can feel the effects of the wind but we can never see the actual wind. The hurricanes and cyclones are powerful and destructive, we can only see the effects of its power but for the wind, we cannot see it.

Amos is reminding the people of such a God who is mightier than the strongest hurricane or cyclone, in fact He is the God who created such powerful forces and He is above all these. Amos reminded the people that the almighty is the One and only True God. There is no one like Him and there is no other who can compare to Him.

This is also a timely reminder to us who God really is. The God we worship is never changing, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and today He is also our God.

Let us remember this and let us revere and honour Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

2 Kings 22: 11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.

This was King Josiah who was the king of Judah and for a long time the people have turned away from God and had run after other gods and idols. The scriptures had not been read for a long time and the priests had even kept the word of God out of sight and in fact had been lost for a long time.

Now that renovation work was being done, the book of the law was rediscovered and it was brought to the king who commanded that the book be read. Upon hearing the word, King Josiah was convicted of the sins of the nation and he tore his clothes as a sign of grief and remorse.

This is the power of the word of God, the hearers will be convicted of their sins and repent or they may be hardened in their hearts. In the case of King Josiah, he was convicted and he asked for the prophet to interpret what was read. The answer that the prophet gave was that because the people had turned from their God to other gods, they would be punished and be removed from the land.

The punishment in those days was severe and in fact God had on many occasions caused the nation of Israel to suffer great losses and captivity. The people of Israel were given over to slavery and were exiled for many long years. In fact the nation of Israel had suffered thousands of years of dispersion and only in this generation had God finally started to gather His people back to Israel which was re-established 70 years ago.

God is looking for a people who would be obedient to Him and be able to draw close to Him. God delights in the worship of His people and would bless all who would draw close to Him.

Matt 6: 4Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Jesus reminds us that the kingdom of God is different from the world where people seek to be rewarded, honoured and credited. There are many people who actually work behind the scene and are rarely acknowledged for what they do. These are those who are humble and meek who do not seek glory for themselves.

Jesus says to these that our God who is omniscience knows all things and sees all things including whatever that is done in secret. Unlike the world that rewards people for great achievements, God would reward anyone who has done even very little for the kingdom. God knows the hearts of the meek and He sees every deed that they do. He will acknowledge and reward them even if men do not reward them.

This is the reassurance that Jesus gave to us, not all men are born to be great and not all men are born to do great things. We do not need to compare ourselves and be envious, do what God has given us to do well and He will reward us justly.

God is not a man and His ways are not the same as the ways of men. His love and mercies are limitless and His grace is immeasurable in terms of man’s measures.

Praise God that our God is such a loving, compassionate and merciful God who rewards all His children for every deed done both great and same.

1 Peter 3: 8All of you, be like minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

The apostle Peter is exhorting the believers to be like Jesus, be sympathetic, loving and compassionate and humble to each other. Learning from the great servants of God who are truly apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ, we can see the humility in each one. As we read about their lives and ministries, this is the first outstanding quality that we can identify in all of them.

The more we observe their lives, the more we learn of their humility. This value has also been adopted by most of the outstanding sportsmen in the world. I do believe that they too have been taught to be humble and compassionate. As we watch their victory interview, we see them acknowledging the contributions of their loved ones, their family members, their coaches and finally giving praise to their opponents for doing well.

Humility is what God loves to see in His people, it brings about a sweet savour to our minds and also pleasantness to our hearts. We would delight to sharing the company of humble people but we would surely dislike the company of proud and arrogant people who are rather abrasive and repelling.

The scriptures always remind us to be godly, holy and humility is definitely a fruit of godliness and holiness. If we want to continue in living godly and holy lives, we need to start living humbly and in compassion.

Eccl 3: 11God has.. set eternity in the human heart.

In the book of Ecclesiastic King Solomon wrote about the philosophy of the life of man. We were created in the likeness of God; we had a purpose which was a destiny to seek after God. Unlike all other living creatures that do not know God, man was created with the natural instinct to look for the creator.

Just as a little baby would have the instinct to look for the safety and comfort of the mother or father, so God has also given us that instinct to look for Him. Unfortunately men have turned away from God and have run after the deceptions of the false gods. These are the idols of paganism which are demonic in nature and origin.

The bible warns us about the false religions of the devil which he uses to lure men away from God. The devil uses the innate nature in man that is seeking for the protection, blessing of a higher supernatural power. This power is the eternal God in heaven but Satan is continually enticing men away from seeking the true God. He deceives the hearts of men and draws them away from God to himself.

He makes captives of men and women who become his spiritual slaves. This is the eternal battle between God and Satan who is trying to get the whole world to worship him and to join him in his assigned place in hell.

We who are believers must be reminded of the constant evil plans of the devil who is trying his best to capture the lives and souls of men. The devil has his own legions of demons that are out in the world to trip and capture even children of God into their snares.

Therefore we who are the children of God must first ensure that we are not enticed and ensnared by the devil and secondly we are also to ensure the salvation of our loved ones. To do this, just as Solomon said, we need to secure the eternity of God’s love and kingdom in our hearts.