Daily Devotions 7th Feb 2017

Phip 4: 8

Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true  … noble.. right … pure ….lovely….admirable ---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy --- think about such things.

Paul is writing to the Church that as followers of Jesus Christ we should be people of joy as we enjoy the relationship with Him. In verse 4 Paul wrote; ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: Rejoice!’ This is the promise that Jesus gave the Church, He has given us His peace and joy which surpasses all understanding. This is the blessing that only the believers can receive.

We read in verses 6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The word of encouragement from Paul is clear, we are not to be anxious about anything, all men will have to go through their daily chores and sometimes we will encounter challenges. Sometimes these challenges may appear threatening even to cause physical harm or great loss.

Paul said that under such circumstances, we are not to look at the bigness of our challenges but we ought to look at the bigness of our God who has promised to see us through every challenge.

Let us remember that the God who parted the Red Sea for his people is still the same God. There were over 2 million Israelite who cross over on dry God when the sea parted.

They brought with them the flocks of sheep, cattle, and camels. They brought all their household belongings and their large families of little children. If we do a little estimation, we will come up with the answer that the whole mass of over 2 million Israelite together with their livestock and heavy materials, it would have taken them about 2 weeks to cross over.

Just imagine that God could hold the sea back for so long, isn’t it awesome and it reminds us of who He really is. He is the Almighty, the great I AM and the I AM. There is no other god who can be compared to Him.

He was also the God who did all the miracles through Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh and after all that, Pharaoh finally agreed to let the nation of Israel go.

How much greater that the challenges that Moses and the Israelites face? No matter how seriousness of our challenges may be, we can call out to Him and he will hear and answer us from on high.   

He is the Omniscience God who sees all things and knows all things. He is also the Omnipotent God who is able to do all things and sure He will continue to do it for us.

Daily Devotions 6th Feb 2017

Job 23: 10

When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

No one would understand the trial that Job had to go through, it was not any fault of his as he had been a good man who loved and worship God daily. Even though he had been faithful to God in spite of all the severe testing he was experiencing all his prayers seemed unanswered.

Though his close friends who came and sat with him tried to get him to curse God and to renounce Him, Job’s faith never wavered. In fact Job was so confident about his relationship with God that he said ‘when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.’

The scriptures do tell us that our trials and testing sometimes are meant to train us to be stronger. First we develop patience and then we develop resilience and strength to overcome. It is when we have gone through small battles that we can gain enough skills and wisdom to win a war.

The lesson that we can learn from here is that being a Christian is not as easy as we think; our enemy’s job is to attack and try to cause us to lose our faith in Christ. If we fool ourselves that by being an obedient believer and being holy we will escape trials and tribulations, then we are greatly mistaken. Jesus Christ was a holy and righteous man but he was persecuted and went through trials.

The apostles were holy and righteous men but they too had to face persecution and testing. So the truth is that as long as we are in this world, as long as we are worthy children of God, then the devil will use his children to attack us in different ways.

Every pastor or leader who has been in ministry long enough will testify that they had encountered so many attacks and trials. The higher we go the more attacks we will attract. There is this saying among the ministers, as we go are promoted to a higher level by God, and then there is another devil waiting to attack us.

Taking the point in today’s scriptures we must adopt the same stance as Job, understand that God can and do use trials and persecution to train and strengthen us. Just as when a child learns to walk, he will stumble and fall, each time he gets up he will become stronger and firmer.

Let us understand this and develop and build our faith through a continued relationship with Jesus Christ even when we seem to be going through much trial. Let us remain strong as Job and know that tomorrow will be a better and new day in the Lord.

Devotional thoughts 5th Feb 2017

Psalm 19: 1

The heavens declare the glory of God: the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

A couple of months ago I visited the gardens and were amazed by the array of colour explosion that the spring blooms displayed. There were flowers which I have never seen before, I mean they were really exotic and the beauty of the shape, size and colour of the petals blew my mind.

As I examined the shape and form of each new flower I came across, it was truly amazing what details God had put into for every single variety of flowers that He created. God is a perfect God, there is no error in His work up to the minutes details of each of His creation.

The psalmist declares about the works of God’s hands in verse 3-4 ‘they have no speech, they use no words; no sound from them, yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world.’ We know that the whole earth is created by God, every corner of the earth with its diversity from deserts to the frozen land masses of the north and south poles are created by God.

From the east to the west and from the north to the south, the creation is varied and diversified and yet they blend and complement each other, their splendour and glory speak of the perfect creative work of God. The psalmist says that even the skies proclaim the works of God’s hands.

God alone can do such mighty works, there is no other who can. Staring from the dawn of time till the closing of the future, there is no other who can create and sustain all these.

God is above all other gods, He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Only God alone can do all these glorious and wonderful works.

He spoke and by His creative power all things came into existence. He spoke and the heavens were made and are continually being made. He spoke and the waters and the earth separated, there is dry land and there are oceans.

He made the great lights and He made the sun govern the day and the moon and stars govern the night.

These speak of the perfect balance and plan of the Almighty. What a powerful and awesome God we serve. 

Devotional thoughts 4th Feb 2017

I Thess 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

In giving this instruction to the Church, Paul did a series of command. Firstly it is to rejoice always in the Lord, secondly pray continually and thirdly to give thanks in all circumstances. Then he also reminds that we are not to do anything to quench the Holy Spirit.

The first command of rejoicing always in the Lord reminds us that under any circumstance be it in the morning, evening or night, whether favorable or unfavorable we should always rejoice in the Lord. Look at the examples of the apostles, even after they have been flogged and thrown into the dungeon they would be rejoicing. The scriptures tell us that they would be singing and worshiping God and rejoicing though their bodies were in great pain, they might even have gone without food.

Normally under such circumstances the normal person would be in pain and sorrow, this would have been the normal conditions of every one but not the apostles. Today we also read of accounts of believers having to go through the same treatment because they refuse to renounce Jesus Christ when asked by Antichrist people. They would be flogged as well and then also thrown into prisons but we see that they too rejoice in the Lord and God had heard and responded to them. Many of these were set free in response to answered prayers.

Secondly, they are to pray continuously and to give thanks in all circumstances. Troubles and persecutions are part of the price that believers are expected to pay. Again as in the early days and as in today, ministers of God who have met with opposition from Antichrist forces were never subdued but they would respond to persecution with prayers and thanksgiving. They have learned that no matter how what circumstances they may be in, God is with them and He knows what their needs are.

This is a clear reminder to us that we must not look at the circumstances around us but we must walk by faith rather than by sight.

We have the Holy Spirit in us who would guide and support us and would meet our needs at all times. A little while ago I just returned from a home fellowship and we prayed for the people. One brother was having a severe head ache for over a month and after we lay hands and prayed for him, his head ache left him instantly and he was able to enjoy the fellowship with the rest.

God is able and willing to see us through all challenges, all we need to do is to look to Him and ask Him to meet us at our point of need and He will. 

Devotional thoughts 3.2.2017

Gen 16: 13

I have now seen the One who sees me.

This was a statement that Hagar proclaimed when she ran away from her mistress Sarai when she was badly treated by Sarai. She ran into  the desert to hide but the Lord saw her and spoke with her promising that He would make a great nation out of the son that she was to bear for Abraham.

Hagar was comforted and she obeyed and returned back to her mistress and after that encounter she made this proclamation that God has seen her and she said; ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’

Just as Hagar was seen by the Lord and also her cry was heard by the Lord, we too are assured that our God is the same today. His eyes are going to and from watching out for His children, keeping an eye on them and keeping them safe. His ears are also inclined to hear the cries for help from His children.

We have many reports of how God still cares for and protect His children in many instances where there were dangers like severe accidents happening but the children of God were totally protected and were not harmed. Other reports are that there were angels who are at the scene protecting and helping the believers.

Other examples are when the believers cry out to God to protect them from dangers in persecuted countries where the anti-Christian authorities were going all out to arrest and persecute the believers. God had sent His angels to supernaturally blind the eyes of the government officials who came looking for the believers. God had made the congregation become invisible to the eyes of the government officials.

This is the portion of the believers, just as God had looked after His people in the times past; He still continues to look after us in this present time.

We also know that we are soon entering into the tribulation period and many believers would be challenged to keep their faith even with the threat of losing their lives. The bible is clear that the Church would have to go through the tribulation and many would be affected. However, no matter what would happen, we must not turn away from God and renounce Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Only then can we be assured of receiving our rewards in heaven. God has prepared a certain number of martyrs for himself. Rev 6: 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had  been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.

These are the tribulation saints who have become martyrs for God. But they are now in heaven waiting for the rest of the martyrs to join them.

Rev 6: 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters were killed just as they had been.

This is already pre-planned by God, we know the end from the beginning and we know where we are going. So like Hagar we must look to God and obey Him when the time comes.  

Devotional thoughts 2.Feb .2017

Eccl 3: 14

Everything God does will endure forever.

Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon where he poured out his philosophical thoughts and in verse he said; ‘I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.’ In the next verse he went on to expound on his thought more. Vs 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toll --- this is the gift of God.

King Solomon explains that there is a divine plan that God had set for all men which is common to all. All men must work in order that they may acquire money and be able to provide for themselves and their families. Even from the early days, when the people were just gathering and planting they needed to labour long hours in order to gather enough for their daily needs.

With the advancement of knowledge men have improved in the technology and wisdom given by God. Man became innovative and began to discover and make new instruments that would enhance their skills and productivity. Vs 13 tells us that in the beginning men were only concerned about their basic need.

Even in some remote areas, some tribes are still practicing gathering and hunting and when the wild fruits are off season; their food supply would be affected. When hunting was bad, their food supply was also affected. Much depended on their skills and industrious efforts. Solomon also said that the skills for working are given by God to men.

God created all living creatures and input into every one of them the surviving instinct. Right from the tiniest to the largest creature, the survival instinct is inbuilt by God. Even the animals know how to gather and hunt in order to survive. This is the perfect order of God,  it is a perfect balance in nature.

Then in verse 14 Solomon wrote; ‘I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear Him.’ This sums up all the good works that God had done in creation. Every man and woman have taken things for granted, as we go through live, everything seemed to be perfect. We rise in the morning together with the rising sun.

Then throughout the day when the sun gives light and heat, all living things will do what they have been created to do. We tend to forget that it is God who had put all things in His creation to work in synergy. This is exactly what Solomon said, …’everything that God does endures forever, nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.’ Our God is the awesome and perfect God.

No other being can replicate or do what He has done. There is no other god or power that can duplicate what God had done. This is the revelation that Solomon gave to all generations. We must give thanks to God for all these things that He had given to us for our needs and enjoyment. Let us not forget about God as we continue to live in His creation.

Psalm 32:8  # daily devotions # bible studies # scriptures

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

In this psalm David celebrated the marvel of God’s forgiveness for the trespass that he had committed against God’s law. It may seem a surprise to us that for David who is well renowned for his love for God and also for God’s love for him, there were times when David too fell into sin.

However the difference with David is he would immediately acknowledge his sin and would seek forgiveness from God. David knew that there was nothing that he could have hidden from God who knows every little detail of our lives. He knew our heart’s condition when we are rejoicing or when we are heavy with a troubled heart.

This is one occasion when David was in deep remorse from his mistake against the Lord and when he came in repentance our merciful God responded to him in verse 8 saying  ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.’ Instead of chastising David, we see here God lovingly assuring David that he will give him counsel and instructions to teach him how to live according to the law of God.

This psalm assures us that we are a privileged people who has this connection to the living God and though we like David may have our ups and downs, God is fully aware that we are weak and imperfect but He is a merciful and gracious God, His grace is sufficient for us and His watchful eye is constantly watching out for us while His ear is ever attentive to listen to our call to Him.