Apply the Word

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“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” — James 1:23‭-‬24
When we accept Christ, our lives must be a reflection of who he is in us. Therefore, we ought not to hear or read the Word of God and not apply it to our lives.
Saul made it his mission to imprison all the believers in the synagogues in Damascus. However, he was saved and therefore became a believer. By right then, he was expected to be imprisoned as well but Saul never ran. He read and applied the Word of God accessible to him at the time (the Old Testament). Afterwards, he went to the same synagogue in Damascus and began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts9:20).
☆Saul boldly declared who Jesus was but do we?
☆Do people know you’re a believer?
☆Or are you keeping it hush hush?
☆When you look into the mirror are you forgetting what you look like?

Forever Satisfied

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“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
This text points to the fact that believing in Jesus is a feeding and drinking from all that Jesus is. It goes so far as to say that our soul-thirst is satisfied with Jesus, so that we don’t thirst anymore.
He is the end of our quest for satisfaction.
When we trust Jesus the way John intends for us to, the presence and promise of Jesus is so satisfying that we are not dominated by the alluring pleasures of sin (see Romans 6:14). This accounts for why such faith in Jesus nullifies the power of sin and enables obedience.
John 4:14 points in the same direction: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In accord with John 6:35, saving faith is spoken of here as a drinking of water that satisfies the deepest longings of the soul.
It’s the same in John 7:37–38: “Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”‘”
Through faith, Christ becomes in us an inexhaustible fountain of satisfying life that lasts forever and leads us to heaven. This he does by sending us his Spirit (John 7:38–39).

Growing In Wisdom

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“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Growing in wisdom means growing in Christlikeness.

Perhaps you’re asking, “Shouldn’t believers acquire more wisdom?” Yes, we should. No matter how much of God’s wisdom we have, we should always hunger for more. The Bible tells us that we have all the principles we need to walk in wisdom, and yet there’s much more available to us. We should “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), and we should be more and more conformed to the image of Christ by the transforming work of the Spirit of God. Our wisdom should increase, as should our godliness, but we are given the basic principles at salvation. Even though a person may not know all the truths in the Bible, God’s Spirit, who is resident in him from the moment of salvation, will convict and convince him of righteousness and sin.
What do you do if you want more wisdom? First, worship. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Make it your goal to have a worshipful heart throughout each day and to be faithful in attending the Lord’s house regularly (see Heb. 10:25). Second, pray. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Make it your continual prayer to ask God for more of His wisdom. Third, receive instruction. The apostle Paul encouraged “admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom” (Col. 1:28). If you want more wisdom, one good way to receive it is to be instructed by someone who is wise. Finally, study Scripture. In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” Set up a regular Bible study time, and let the Holy Spirit teach you.
What about you? Are you growing in wisdom? If not, make it your priority.

Be Filled With the Spirit

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“Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
God wants every aspect of the believer’s being to be under the complete control of the Holy Spirit.
Pleroo, the basic Greek word for “be filled,” offers three shades of meaning that illustrate what Paul’s command to be Spirit-filled means. First, the word describes the pressure of wind filling a ship’s sails and moving the vessel across the water. That parallels the Holy Spirit’s leading us down the pathway of spiritual obedience. We aren’t primarily motivated by our own plans and desires, but we allow the Spirit’s gracious pressure to move us in the right direction.
The well-known pain reliever Alka-Seltzer effectively illustrates the second meaning, permeation. If you drop two Alka-Seltzers into a glass of water, they immediately fizzle and soon transform themselves into clear bubbles throughout the water and permeate it with a distinct flavor. That’s how God wants the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, so that there will be no doubt in others’ minds that we possess the distinct and pervasive savor of the Spirit.
Pleroo’s third and primary shade of meaning is that of domination or total control. In Luke 6:11 the scribes and Pharisees “were filled with rage” when Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. Jesus said, “Sorrow has filled your heart” (John 16:6) when He described the disciples’ reaction to the news that He was soon departing. In those two examples, pleroo denotes an emotion that thoroughly dominated the people’s thoughts and excluded everything else.
In regard to earthly concerns, such overwhelming feelings can be wasteful, foolish, and even harmful. But it is beneficial and completely in agreement with the Lord’s will when we yield every thought, feeling, and action to the absolute domination of the Holy Spirit. This yielding will occur in our Christian lives only when we obey another of Paul’s commands, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16). In practice, the Spirit-filled walk is a matter of knowing God’s Word and obeying it. (John MacArthur)

The Yolk of Christ

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”Matthew 11:29.

The  more we seek Christ the more we are transformed to His image. As Christians we must come to Jesus Christ as our Ruler, and submit ourselves to him ( v.29). Christ is exalted to be a Prince, a Saviour and a Priest upon his throne. The rest he promises is a release from the drudgery of sin, not from the service of God. We were previously under a yoke which made us weary but Christ is saying shake that off and take mine, which will make it easy for you. To take Christ’s yoke upon us, is to put ourselves into the relation to servants (1 Tim. 6:1) and subjects (1 Kings 12:10) to him, and then to conduct ourselves accordingly, in a conscientious obedience to all his commands, and a cheerful submission to all his disposals: it is to obey the gospel of Christ, to yield ourselves to the Lord: it is Christ’s yoke; the yoke he has appointed; a yoke he has himself drawn in before us, for he learned obedience, and which he does by his Spirit draw in with us, for he helpeth our infirmities, (Rom. 8:26). A yoke speaks some hardship, but if the beast must draw, the yoke helps him. Christ’s commands are all in our favour: we must take this yoke upon us to draw in it. We are yoked to work, and therefore must be diligent; we are yoked to submit, and therefore must be humble and patient: we are yoked together with our fellow-servants, and therefore must keep up the communion of saints: and the words of the wise are as goads (to motivate) to those who are thus yoked.

Have a blessed day!

OPEN THE WINDOWS OF YOUR HEART

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I have put my Spirit upon him . . . a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. (Isaiah 42:1–3)

Probably the most encouraging words I have heard in weeks came from a prophecy in Isaiah 42:1–3 about how Jesus will use his spiritual power. Do you feel like a “bruised reed” — like one of those big top-heavy Easter lilies whose stem has been squashed so that the flower slops to the ground and gets no juice? Do you ever feel like your faith is just a little spark instead of a flame — like that little red dot on the wick after you blow out the
birthday candle? Take heart! The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of encouragement: he will not snap off your flower; he will not snuff out your spark. “The Spirit is upon me to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). “The Sun
of righteousness is rising with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2). “He is meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). “Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage; yea,
wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14). It may be a grief to us that we are only a spark instead of a flaming fire. But listen! And be encouraged: yes, there is a big difference between a spark and a fire. But there is an infinite difference between a spark and no spark! A mustard seed (of faith) is infinitely closer to being a mountain than it is to being no seed. Open the window of God’s promises and let the Spirit blow into every room of your heart. The Holy Wind of God will not break or quench. He will lift up your head and fan your spark into a flame. He is the Spirit of encouragement. (Piper)

REVIVAL: IT REQUIRES OBEDIENCE…

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But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and not do the things which I say?—Luke 6:46

It is my conviction that much, very much, prayer for and talk about revival these days is wasted energy. Ignoring the confusion of figures, I might say that it is hunger that appears to have no object; it is dreamy wishing that is too weak to produce moral action. It is fanaticism on a high level for, according to John Wesley, “a fanatic is one who seeks desired ends while ignoring the constituted means to reach those ends.”…

The correction of this error is extremely difficult for it entails more than a mere adjustment of our doctrinal beliefs; it strikes at the whole Adam-life and requires self-abnegation, humility and cross carrying. In short it requires obedience. And that we will do anything to escape. It is almost unbelievable how far we will go to avoid obeying God. We call Jesus “Lord” and beg Him to rejuvenate our souls, but we are careful to do not the things He says. When faced with a sin, a confession or a moral alteration in our life, we find it much easier to pray half a night than to obey God. (Tozer)

“May this never be true of my life, Lord! I see the futility; I’m convinced of the need. Now enable me by Your Spirit to live this obedience. Amen.”

HOW TO REPAY GOD

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What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I shall pay my
vows to the Lord. (Psalm 116:12–14)

What keeps the paying of vows free from the dangers of being treated like a debt payment is that the “payment” is, in reality, not an ordinary payment, but another act of receiving which magnifies the ongoing grace of God. It does not magnify our resourcefulness. We can see this in Psalm 116:12–14.

The psalmist’s answer to his own question, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits?” is, in essence, that he will go on receiving from the Lord so that the Lord’s inexhaustible goodness will be magnified.

First, lifting up the cup of salvation signifies taking the Lord’s satisfying salvation in hand and drinking it and expecting more. This is why I say that “paying” back to God in these contexts is not an ordinary payment. It is an act of receiving.

Second, this is also the meaning of the next phrase: “I shall call upon the name of the Lord.” What shall I render to God for graciously answering my call? Answer: I shall call again. I will render to God the praise and the tribute that he is never in need of me, but is always overflowing with benefits when I need him (which I always do). Then the psalmist says, in the third place, “I will pay my vows to the Lord.” But how will they be paid? They will be paid by holding up the cup of salvation and by calling on the Lord. That is, they will be paid by faith in future grace (Piper).

WHAT THE RESURRECTION MEANS

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“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The meaning of the resurrection is that God is for us. He aims to close ranks with us. He aims to overcome all our sense of abandonment and alienation.

The resurrection of Jesus is God’s declaration to Israel and to the world that we cannot work our way to glory but that he intends to do the impossible to
get us there. The resurrection is the promise of God that all who trust Jesus will be the beneficiaries of God’s power to lead us in paths of righteousness and through the valley of death. Therefore, believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is much more than accepting a fact. It means being confident that God is for you, that he has closed ranks with you, that he is transforming your life, and that he will save you for eternal joy. Believing in the resurrection means trusting in all the promises of life and hope and righteousness for which it stands. It means being so confident of God’s power and love that no fear of worldly loss or greed for worldly gain will lure us to disobey his will.

That’s the difference between Satan and the saints. O, might God circumcise our hearts to love him and to rest in the resurrection of his Son.

HOPE TO OBEY HARD COMMANDS

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Whoever desires to love life and see good days . . . let him turn away from
evil and do good. (1 Peter 3:10–11)

There is only one basic reason why we disobey the commands of Jesus: it’s because we don’t have confidence that obeying will bring more blessing than disobeying. We do not hope fully in God’s promise. What did he promise? Peter passes on his teaching like this: Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called that you may obtain a blessing. He who would love life and see good days . . . let him turn away from evil and do good. You will always be better off to obey than to disobey, even if it costs you your life. Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and the gospel’s, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time . . . with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29–30) The only way to have the power to follow Christ in the costly way of love is to be filled with hope, with strong confidence that if we lose our life doing his will, we will find it again and be richly rewarded.