Life in Christ

The Word for today is found in Proverbs 1:24-26

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; (KJV)

24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you— (NIV)

God’s grace is eternal but his patience is not. God is long suffering, but there comes a time when he will turn his back on you if you refuse to acknowledge your sin. He will leave you to your own destruction.

There are people who refuse to humble themselves to God, and are so full of pride that God has no choice but to take his hands off of them. We want to blame God when all goes wrong, but it is our own pride.

Pride says “I do not need God, I can do it myself”.

Humility says “I can do nothing without my Father’s help.”

When we make prayer the first thing we do then we humble ourselves unto God and acknowledge that without him we can do nothing.

The Word for today comes from Job 28:28:

28 And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”

The phrase the “fear of the Lord” or “fear the Lord” appears 135 times in the Bible! If we go by word counts, it must be important. And it is.

But fear in these instances does not mean like C. S. Lewis wrote, like one fears a tiger or a ghost. But rather it means that one is filled with awe and reverence, a word sometimes used to replace “fear” for a better understanding of its meaning.

When a people fear God, they listen to what He says and when they listen to what God says, their minds and decisions are molded by God.

The fear of the Lord, then, is the proper and humble response to God and his commands.

In one of the greatest of all Proverbs, Solomon wrote that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7) From the fear of the Lord grows not only knowledge but wisdom.

Other wonderful gifts of God will flow from a fear of the Lord, including long life, confidence, riches, honor and life, to name but a few (Proverbs 10:27, 14:26-27, and 22:4). This is a good deal that God has for us, if we but claim it!

The Word for today is found in Romans 1:16:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Believers, get ready, because what you believe is really going to be challenged in today’s world. Non-believers are going to push your back to the wall and you need to have an answer.

The question is not only how you will defend your faith, but will you defend it. Paul says in Hebrew 10: 38:

39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Perdition means destruction.

Find out through the word of God what it is that you really believe in, then let the Holy Spirit give you the words to say. He will never leave you flat footed when it come to defending you faith. But, you must give him something to work with.

Defend the gospel. If you are ashamed of Jesus then why do you think he would acknowledge you? You need to really think hard on why you would be ashamed to say that you are a believer of Jesus.

We need to be willing to stand up for what we believe and take the hit for Christ. Those of other faiths are quick to defend their beliefs. So why do we let the world intimidate us?

The Word for today is found in Philemon 1:6

6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

I want you to know what it is that you are to acknowledge. You need to begin in the Book of Ephesians starting with Chapter 1, verse 3.

Paul tells us all the wonderful spiritual blessings that have been given to us when we accept Jesus as our savior. These are called positional truths: What you are spiritually in Christ; how God sees us through the blood of Jesus.

You may not feel all the things that God says about you here, but that does not make them less true.

As you acknowledge what you are in Christ by the renewing of your mind, you will start too make it a reality in your flesh.

Knowledge is the key.

The Word for today is found in James 2:14, 17-20.

14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?
17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. 19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Faith is of the spirit, but the outward expression of it is what you do in the natural realm. The world cannot see what is in your spirit, but it can see what you do in the flesh.

I used to go to the gym a lot and I found out a few things. One, just going and holding the weight will not build muscle. I had to do something with that weight to bring about a result.

At first I started out light and even that seemed hard. As I continued to go on a regular basis I started to see results. Over a period of time I would increase the amount of weight I could lift.

To build muscle meant that I had to do something that my muscle resisted. The results were nice but there was also some pain involved at times as my muscles reacted to the stress. It also demanded commitment on my part to go regularly in spite of the pain.

Faith is like a spiritual muscle. It needs to be used in a way that will cause it to grow. Left unused it will never develop to help you out in the long haul.

I also realized something else as I was building muscle. I had to eat right. Muscle needs protean to grow. When you start out in the Word you start on the milk of the Word, but eventually you need to progress to where you are eating real meat.

Find a promise in the Word that pertains to your need now, and put you faith to work.

Don’t give up and in time you will see results of standing on the Word.

The Word for today is found in Titus 3:1

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work.”

Let us look at this verse in more depth.

“Subject to rulers and authority.”

To be in authority one must first learn how to be under authority.

You can always tell when someone has never learned authority. They are lacking in the skills to rule people and do not understand what it takes to be a leader of men.

God always promotes from the bottom up. He never puts a novice in a ruling position but requires instead that one must prove themselves first. People will exalt themselves to a higher position, but it will usually lead to a great fall. There will be causalities along the way, for one never really goes down alone. What you do in this life will have an effect on those around you.

We all are under some kind of authority. I may be the authority in the jail ministry, but at home I am subject to my husband’s authority. I am also under the authority of my pastor and most of all to our Lord Jesus Christ.

My husband is under the authority of the Dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Alabama, but when he is in the classroom he is the authority.

We all change hats but there is always an authority above us that we must learn how to submit to. If you cannot submit to a higher authority, how are you going to submit to the authority of God’s Word?

The Word for today is found in 1 John 2: 2

” And he (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

There is a teaching going around today that says that since Jesus died for all then every one will automatically go to heaven. Jesus already took care of the sin problem so you get an automatic free pass into heavens door.

There is just one problem with this assumption. Jesus also said in John 14:6

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto he Father, but by me.”

He went on to say in Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:” 14. “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Jesus did die for all, but you must believe that he is the Son of God and that he died for your sins, and then ask him to come into your heart. Jesus did the work but you still have to do the asking or receiving of what he did for you.

Some would say, “well, I am a Christian because I have gone to such and such a church all my life. My family always attended that church.”

This is a lie of Satan to keep you from God’s kingdom. Satan will use religion more than anything else to deceive people from accepting Jesus.

I had a lady who was a long time and faithful member of a well-established church downtown ask me what did I mean when I said you must be “born again” to be saved.

I was taken back because I thought everyone knew what that meant. After I explained it to her she backed off because her church did not teach such stuff. Well that stuff is in the Word and you better get to know that stuff if you don’t want to bust the gates of hell wide open.

Hell is real and Jesus taught more on hell in the gospels than on heaven. Hell was made for Satan and his demons, but without Jesus you will be on that list.

Do not be deceived. Everyone must personally accept Jesus and ask him into their life.

I cannot do it for you, and no one else can either.

Do it today if you have not already done so, for no one is guaranteed one more second on this earth.

Once you are gone it is a done deal. No one can pray you back into heaven. You get one chance and one chance alone, and that is while you here are on earth.

The Word for today is found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

If you try to take Satan on in your own natural ability you will lose every time.

Your weapons are spiritual and they were given to you through Christ and what he accomplished at the cross. He defeated Satan for you and now you need to use the authority that he has given you in his name to defeat him.

A police man who tries to stop a truck is no match for the truck, but the driver of the truck will stop. Why, because he knows the power that stands behind the policeman. When you use the name of Jesus, all the power in heaven backs you up. It is not you but the authority you have been given.

What are strong holds? They are anything that stands between you and God–an area of your life that you have not totally given over to God. It may not seen like such a big deal but it could be a rebellion to the Word of God

I have found out that I often do not know myself as well as I would like to think I do. I find that if I ask God to search my heart he will reveal to me an area that I need to clean up. God knows you better than you know yourself. Few of us like to look at the flaws in our life but it is a necessary part of growing up spiritually. You don’t have to but it does pay great spiritual dividends.

Anything that is contrary to the Word of God is an imagination that wants to exalt itself in your thinking.

If you do not know the Word then you won’t know what to cast down, will you? How can you cast down something against the knowledge of God if you do not know what God says?

You as a believer have the power of the Holy Spirit to bring your thoughts in line with the mind of Christ. The Word says that you have been given the mind of Christ through the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit. Draw on the power that has been give you and you will be more than a conquer.

The “high thing” that is spoken of here is pride. Pride also exalts you above God. You think you do not need God because you know more than God. Pride will take you down every time. God says to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he might exalt you in due time.