WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (Matthew 6:31, 32) NKJV.                     

Let us trust God to care for us! This was the life that Jesus lived.

He would not even make stones into bread; nor eat until His Father bade Him and sent the angels to minister to Him. He speaks out of His heart when He bids us to trust our Father's care.

It is better to trust in God than to accumulate riches. The moth and rust destroy, thieves steal, and all earthly goods are perishable and precarious. How many have placed their savings in stocks and shares, in banks and companies, and have lost every penny! While others who have been unable to save and have lived to help their fellow-men, have found that God has made provision for them and carried them even in their old age.  Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4) NKJV.

Trust in God gives clearness of vision. When we are thinking partly of doing God's work in the world, and partly of lining our own nest, we are in the condition of the man whose eyes do not look in the same direction. There is a squint in our inner vision. We are endeavoring to serve two masters, and our judgment is therefore distorted. Who has not often experienced this? You have tried to determine God's will, or to form a right judgment about your life, but constantly your perception of duty has been obscured by the thought that, if you decided in a certain direction, you would interfere with your interests in another. Your eye has not been single, and you have walked in darkness. When, however, you feel so absorbed in God's interests that you are indifferent to your own, all becomes clear, and you leave Him to care for all results. "Mind my business," said Queen Elizabeth to one of her ambassadors, "and I will look after yours."  Our heavenly Father is telling us the same thing!

Let’s not think that God is ungenerous and penny-pinching in His gifts. He gives fish as well as bread when He feeds the crowds; colors as well as leaves when He clothes the flowers. You have been adopted into His Family, and may call Him "Abba, Father."  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."  (Romans 8:15) NKJV.  Surely this act of grace shows a special love on His part. Would He have taken such care of the spiritual, and have none nothing for the physical? The ungodly may worry about their maintenance; but a child of God may be sure that His needs will be supplied.  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  (Philippines 4:19) NKJV

PRAYER

You are our portion, our God, our Father. You are more than father and mother to those who trust You. You love us with a tender pity that never fails or wearies. Surround us with Your guardian care, and realize in us Your highest purposes. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.

God’s Daily Promise

Promise #9:
Since you are in Christ, I have made you an heir of all My promises.

Galatians 3:29 (WEB) 
If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed
and heirs according to promise.

RIGHTEOUSNESS ACCORDING TO JESUS

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5:19) NKJV           

Our Lord Jesus does not destroy, but fulfils, as the summer fulfils the promise of spring. Don’t be afraid of Him, as though He takes pleasure in taking the cup from thirsty lips, and disappointing innocent and natural desires. He will certainly show Himself to be the enemy to every wrong means of gratification, but He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him in the best way, so that they will be satisfied forever.

This is true religion. Christ constructs. He is more positive than negative; more yea and amen than nay!  He sends the flow of the new sap into the trees, and as it passes to the tip of every branch, the old dead leaves flutter silently to the ground. Give yourself to Him, and ask Him to fulfill in you the principles of righteousness. Christ fulfils the law and the prophets, which evidently stand for the authority and principles of the Old Testament. "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17, 18) NKJV

The jot was the smallest Hebrew letter; the tittle was a small part of a letter. What a contrast there is between the teaching of Christ and the attitude of some modem critics. They appear to take pleasure in destruction, in pulling down and overthrowing the foundations of faith, giving nothing in their place.

The righteousness which our Lord teaches is altogether different from that of the Pharisees, which was outward and formal, and essentially selfish, since by it they desired to earn admittance to God's favor. Christ, on the other hand, demands a righteousness which is inward, vital, and spiritual. We stand before God in the imputed righteousness of His finished work, and then He imparts to us an inner righteousness through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Notice how the Lord distinguishes between "those of old” and Himself:  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  (Matthew 5:21, 22) NKJV What majesty is in those words! He counted it not robbery to be equal with God, yet He was meek and lowly in heart. How can we reconcile these statements except by the belief that He is Emmanuel--God with us?

PRAYER                            

Heavenly Father and divine Creator, may I have truth as the girdle of my loins, righteousness as my breastplate, salvation as my helmet, peace for my feet, and faith for my shield. May I have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them by my consistent life and faithful words. In Jesus name I ask it, AMEN.

God’s Daily Promise

Promise #8:
I sent the Spirit of My Son into your heart so you could call Me Father.

Galatians 4:6 (WEB)
And because you are children,
God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
“Abba, Father!”Promise #8: I sent the Spirit of My Son into your heart so you could call Me Father.

THE SECRET TO THE BLESSED LIFE

 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1, 2) NKJV

 Our Lord lived inside the City of Blessedness, and in Matthew 5:1-12 He reveals to all men the eight gates by which that City may be entered. For myself, I cannot go in by the gate of poverty of spirit, for I am not humble enough; nor by the gate of the mourners, for I am not grieved enough for my own sins or the sins of others; nor by the gate of the meek, for I often resent injury; nor by the gates of mercy, or purity, or peace. But I may claim to enter by the fourth gate, for I hunger and thirst after righteousness. And as I go in, I find myself inside the city, and in the company of all holy souls that have entered by the other gates. For in the heavenly city, to enter by any gate is equivalent to having entered by all; and one grace which is in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit will ultimately lead on to all the rest.

 What is blessedness? According to our Lord's teaching, it is a condition or state of heart. Outward circumstances are not mentioned, unless it is reproach and persecution, as though they were matters of indifference. Blessedness is altogether independent of our outward circumstances, whether prosperous or confused, rich or poor. Blessedness begins and ends with a contented recognition of the royalty of Christ's kingdom; in the power of seeing the good in everything, and so inheriting the earth; in being content, in obtaining mercy, in seeing God and being called His sons and daughters. Is it not worth while to strive to enter in at these wide-open doors? And if you can say that you really do yearn after better things, hungering and thirsting for more likeness to Christ and more fitness for His Kingdom; if that desire really represents the purpose of your life, you may account yourself as being already admitted within the gates of the blessed Life.

 We can’t assume that our Lord allocated the award of blessedness to the possessors of certain attributes with an arbitrary and royal prerogative. He simply declared what was true in the very nature of things. To be true, pure, merciful, and meek, is to have in your possession the seed-germs of the harvest of blessedness. If you turn from this wonderful inventory of Christian qualities to Galatians 5:22, 23, you will find all of them set forth in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

May He work in us and through us a well-balanced and well-rounded Christian character through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

PRAYER

Lord, take my lips, and speak through them; take my mind, and think through it; take my heart, and set it on fire for Yourself.  In Jesus name we ask it, AMEN.

 God’s Daily Promise

Promise #7:
I have given you eternal life because you have believed in Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 (WEB) 
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

 

THE TRUTH TEACHER

This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  (John 3:2) NKJV

There was no doubt that Christ was a Teacher come from God!

Many teachers come teaching worldly wisdom.  They speak only of earthly things.  Their speeches are full of quotations.  They imitate, in voice, manner, and method of stating truth, some respected human teacher at whose feet they have sat. But there was a freshness, a self-witnessing truthfulness, a depth, an authority in the words of the Master, which bore the unmistakable mark of deity. Our Lord addressed Nicodemus as "the teacher of Israel" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? (John 3:10) NKJV. Many professedly wise men today, like Nicodemus, know nothing of spiritual truth or spiritual wisdom. 

Jesus taught with authority.  for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Matthew 7:29) NKJV. This was the verdict of the people. He didn’t have to quote Gamaliel or Hillel, because the conscience of His hearers said, He speaks the truth. He taught with tenderness and sweetness. So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?" (Luke 4:22) NKJV.

To those who resisted His words, as the Pharisees did, His tongue was like a sharp two-edged sword; but for the sinful, weary, and heavy-laden, grace was poured out from His lips. He taught with plenty of illustrations.  But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. (Mark 4:34) NKJV.  From all over, He gathered His illustrations; from the sky and the earth, from the vulture and the sparrow, from the lightning-flash and the sunrise, from the household candle and the temple lamp, from the woman's dough and the ripened corn, from the children's games and the housewife's jewelry, from the feasts of the rich and the bare pantry of the poor. How picturesque and beautiful His talk was! The parables were pictures of gold to the poor and dying of Israel. His speech was full of windows through which the light poured. It was no wonder that the people crowded around Him, and hung with intense interest on His words.

But we must come to Him as Savior. Before we can understand His teaching, we must be converted, and become as little children. To us, He says, as to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." To reverence Him as "Teacher" is not enough. Until the soul has cast itself in the dust before Him, crying, "Have mercy upon me"; for "I am a sinful man, O Lord." His teaching of the truth will be of no avail.

There is a marked gradation in the teaching of Jesus. He began by speaking about earthly things, and led His disciples on to understand heavenly things. He gave milk to babes, but to those of understanding, hard and deep things, as strong meat. Are you ready and willing to learn from the Truth Teacher?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, give us grace to perceive You, blessed Lord, to hear Your voice, and to receive the gracious teaching which comes from Your heart.  In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.

God’s Daily Promise

Promise #6:
I delivered you from darkness into the kingdom of My beloved Son.

Colossians 1:12-13 (WEB) 
12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; 13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;

THE GUIDING LIGHT

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  (John 8:12) NKJV

 It was the Feast of Tabernacles when our Lord spoke the words of our text, and it is supposed they were lighting the two great candelabra, which commemorated the fire-cloud that led the desert march. It was in direct allusion to the fiery pillar that our Lord used this metaphor. What that was to Israel, He is to His Church.

The wilderness was a trackless waste to Israel. The people absolutely depended on the cloud to show them their path, and to find a resting-place at night. When it gathered itself up from the tabernacle, the people pack up their tents and follow. However desirable the site of their camp, they had to leave it; however difficult the desert paths, they had to go over them; however uninviting the spot where it stopped, they had to stop there, and remain as long as it tarried. To linger was to run the risk of wandering aimlessly in the desert till death over took them. Only where the cloud rested did the manna fall, the water flow, and the divine protection avail.

There are resting-times in our lives. God graciously arranges green pastures and quiet waters, and makes us to lie down. His voice speaks amid the turmoil of our existence, and bids us come aside and rest awhile. But often we fret against compulsory rest; we persist in hurrying to and fro, and give way to total exhaustion. When the cloud stays, remain where you are. Stop, when you do not know what to do and wait until some guidance shows you your path.

There are, however, times for action. The alarm is heard with its warning, to which we must give immediate attention. When the sleeper refuses to arise instantly at the sound of the alarm, he soon becomes so accustomed to it that it doesn’t bother him anymore. If we accustom ourselves to it’s warning, we will gain sensitivity to its sound resulting in instant obedience.   It is much like the firefighter responding instantly to the sound of the fire alarm.

The peace and usefulness of our earthly life will be in direct proportion to our following of the Lord Jesus for all the demands of our earthly existence. It’s just like the lights inside a train.  The lights come on just before entering a dark tunnel.   So it is when we are following the leader, Christ.  He will precede us and will light the way through the dark and crooked paths that life sometime finds us on. 

I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.  (Isaiah 42:160) NKJV

Instantly heed the warnings found in God’s Word and trust Him in times of darkness and receive the same promise as Joshua had when he was about to take possession of the promised land:  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.  (Joshua 1:5) NKJV

PRAYER

Oh Lord, send out your light and your truth, and let them lead me and bring me at last to your house in peace. In Christ’s name we pray, AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #5:
I chose you to be adopted into My family before creation.

Ephesians 1:4-5 (WEB) 
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; 5 having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,

FOLLOW THE LEADER

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, (Hebrews 2:10, 11 NKJV)

The word translated in this passage "Captain" might be rendered file-leader. It was thus used by Peter when he said, "Ye killed the Prince, i.e. the file-leader of life." Our Lord is seen as stepping up from the grave in Joseph's garden, to which, apparently, the hatred of His foes had brought Him; and as He passes onward, He is discovered to be the first, or leader, of an endless procession, which, in single file, is ever ascending from the grave to stand with Him, and to follow Him through all the subsequent ages.  What a perfect picture!

In the earlier part of that great procession, we can see the glorious company of the Apostles, behind them the company of prophets and the noble army of martyrs who have been slain for the cause of their Captain, Jesus.  Our Christian ancestors follow, and our Christian parents. We are there, and our Christian children will follow. We follow Christ our Captain through Gethsemane to Calvary, through death to life, through the grave to the Ascension mount.

When Isaiah anticipated Christ's arrival, he said that God had given Him to be a leader and commander to the people.

Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people.  (Isaiah 55:4 NKJV)

He has the supremacy, not only because of His original glory, as the Son of God, but also because of His obedience as man. Never has the will of God been wrought out so perfectly as by our Lord; and in this we are called upon to obey and follow Him. He was made perfect through sufferings, so shall we be; and as He is now crowned with glory and honor, so shall we be if we persevere in obedience to our Captain.  We will win the victory over death.

The only way in which Christ could bring us to share in His glory was to submit to suffering and death. In no other way could He act as the Mediator of the divine life to us who are His brethren. Similarly, if we are to become the peace corps of help and blessing to others, we also must be willing and prepared to suffer. We must learn to do this in spite of our own will and self-centered way. The way of the cross is the only path to the throne. Jesus said it this way in John 14:6 (NKJV),

Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

We can only reach our highest goal by constantly saying no to a self-centered life and yes to the Christ-centered life. This will involve suffering and pain; but it’s the only way we can follow our Captain.  Are you under His command?

PRAYER

Teach us, O Lord, not only to bear, but to love your cross. As we take and carry it, may we find that … it is carrying us. In Your name, Jesus, we ask it.  AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #4:
I created you in My own image with My special blessing.

Genesis 1:27-28 (WEB)  
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

 

A GOOD FRIEND

 

I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known unto you. (John 15:15) 

I have read somewhere that when Michael Angelo was in the height of his fame, a boy named Raphael, destined to be his worthy successor, was introduced to him as a promising pupil. At first the boy was employed doing the most menial tasks around the studio, cleaning brushes and mixing paints.  However, as he developed the qualities of exactness, punctuality, and sympathy, he became entrusted with increasing responsibility, until the master made him his friend and confidant. Isn’t that the way we come to Christ.  First, we come as a redeemed soul from the slavery of Satan. Then, we become His servants. Then and only then will He begin to call us His friends.

A friend will reveal himself. If he calls me his friend, I expect to get closer to him and hear from his own lips words of truth and wisdom. Thus it is with the Lord Jesus. He manifests Himself to those who love Him, and keep His commandments.  He doesn’t do this to those who choose to continue going through the broad gate of worldliness and condemnation.  He is only a friend to those who choose to go through the straight gate that leads to righteousness and eternal life.

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: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.  (Matthew 7: 13, 14)

A friend will interest his friends in his undertakings. It is a joy to Christ when those whom He loves are able to take a share in His world-wide redemptive schemes. For us, of course, it is a high honor, but it is a great pleasure and delight to Him as well. It is wonderful thought to know that Jesus is glad to have us as His fellow-workers.

A friend will be interested in our failures and successes. So it is with our friend, Jesus. When He sees some peril menacing us, doesn’t He make the circumstance one of special intercession? If we fail, He meets us with the same tender affection, not alienated from us, but only intensely sorry, ready to point out the cause of our failure and to encourage us to try again. If we stand our ground, He meets us as we come forth from the fight, glad for us, eager to refresh us in our weariness, and careful to heal any wound that we may have received.

Such is the Friendship of Jesus. He is always the same, His love never fails, and its manifestations are never inconsistent. Doesn’t that make it worthwhile to make every effort to keep His commandments so that our complete abandonment to Him may bring His complete abandonment to us?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we pray that Jesus Christ may become dearer to us. May we love Him as a personal Friend, and hide ourselves in the hourly consciousness of His presence. May we have no taste or desire for things which He would disapprove.  Let His love restrain us from living for ourselves and living for His glory instead.  In His name we pray, AMEN.

 God’s Daily Promise

Promise #3:
The intentions of My heart will remain steadfast forever. 

Psalm 33:11 (WEB)
The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Promise #3: The intentions of My heart will remain steadfast forever.