Contend for the Faith

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.  Jude 3

Our world is filled with false teachings.  We are called in Scripture to contend for the faith.  To be able to contend for the faith, we have to know the truth which is found only in God’s Word.  Jude’s letter was a reminder to the church for constant vigilance.  In addition, it was an encouragement to the church to keep strong in the faith and to oppose false teachings.  We are being called today to continue to be strong in our faith, even when confronted with false teachings.  We are being called to be vigilant and to recognize and confront the false teachings which are infiltrating our homes and churches.  But to recognize and confront these false teachings, we must know the truth which is only found in the Word of Almighty God.  

Jude was the half-brother of Jesus.  He was one of the leaders in the early Christian church.  Jude was emphasizing to the Jewish Christians the important relationship between correct doctrine and true faith.  God’s Holy Word gives us the real facts about Jesus and salvation.  Any doctrine that does not align itself with God’s Word is false doctrine.  The truth of God’s Word must never be compromised.  God’s Word should never be manipulated or twisted to fit an agenda or a belief. In verse 4, we notice that false teachers were teaching that Christians could do whatever they wanted to do without fear of God’s punishment.  For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.  We must never look at God’s holiness and His justice lightly.  Be on guard against false teachers who are twisting Scripture teachings to justify their own opinions, lifestyles, or wrong behavior.  There will come a time of judgment when God will judge the false teachers for excusing, tolerating, and promoting sin. 

 How do we know the truth?  How do we contend for the faith?  We must spend time in the study of God’s Word allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to our very souls.  Without the study of God’s Holy Word, we cannot know what to defend.  The study of God’s Word needs to be a priority in our daily lives.  God reveals truth to us and speaks to us as we read and study the Bible.  We must guard our hearts so we will not be led astray by false teachings. 

We contend for the faith when we grow and mature in our faith walk with our Savior and LORD.  Knowledge of God’s Word is important but we must possess an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus.  We must possess more than head knowledge.  We have been blessed with the precious gift of the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us and teach us as we study the Word of God.  John 16:13 – But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  As we study God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will teach us truth, convince us of God’s will, and remind us when we stray from God’s will.  John 14:26 – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

Christians have various preferences –  types of music in worship, methods of worship, methods of outreach.  That is fine.  That is a preference.  But we must be unified and defend the truth of God’s Holy Word.  We must contend for the faith.  Stand on the truth of God’s Holy Word. 

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to contend for the faith in this world filled with false teachings.  Reveal truth to us found in Your Holy Word so that when presented with false teachings we are about to recognize and confront these false teachings with the truth.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen

 

 

Almighty God's Unfailing Love

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.  Isaiah 54:10

As we journey upon this earth, we will encounter change.  There is no way around it.  Relationships will change, jobs will change, our physical addresses will change, and our health will change.  Change is inevitable.  But there is one thing we can rely on, God’s unfailing love for us.  Our individual worlds may crumble around us but Almighty God’s love for us will not change.  God will always love us.  He promises us that His love is unfailing and God has never and He will never break a promise. 

Jesus Christ’s willingness to die for us is proof of His unfailing love.  There is nothing that can interfere with Christ’s presence with us.  When you accepted Christ as your Savior and LORD, you were blessed with the precious indwelling Holy Spirit.  God reveals to us throughout His Word how great His unfailing love is so that we will know that we are totally secure in Him and His love.  Romans 8:38-39 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Nothing can separate us from the love Jesus Christ has for us. 

Scripture is filled with the evidence of God’s love for us.  Throughout His Holy Word, God tells us He loves us.  Psalm 86:5 – You, Lord are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.  God’s Word is full of His proclamation of His love for His children.  Open God’s Word and allow the proclamation of His love to soak into your very soul. 

God demonstrates His love for us.  He loves us so much He sent His Son to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.  Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Before we even turned to God, He loved us.  He loves the sinners and desires to be their Savior and LORD.  God demonstrates His love through godly discipline.  Have you ever received godly discipline from your LORD?  He loves us so much He will not allow us to continue down the road of destruction without correcting us.  Hebrews 12:6 – Because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. 

There may be times when we don’t feel loved but choose to take God at His Word.  We are loved with His unfailing love.  Belief is not a feeling it is a choice.  Prayerfully ask God to help you believe. 

Author Beth Moore states in her book Breaking Free, “God loves perfectly.  His love is both vocal and demonstrative.  He balances blessing and discipline.  God’s love is unfailing, so any time we perceive he does not love us, our perceptions are wrong.  Anything we perceive about God that does not match up with the truth of Scripture and the portrayal of His character in Scripture is a lie. 

Psalm 90:14 – Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our day.  Prayerfully ask Almighty God to satisfy you with His unfailing love. 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your unfailing love.  Help us Father to choose to believe that You truly love us.  Draw us to Your Holy Word where You speak Words of love over us.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen

Identifying Our Love for Almighty God

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  Mark 12:30

Do you truly love your Savior and LORD?  As children of Almighty God, of course our answer would be yes.  But, what evidence other than our yes is there to give identifying evidence that we love our LORD?  How do we identify our true love for our Savior and LORD?  We need to recognize that our ability to love God and to love others come from Him and Him alone.  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God – 1 John 4:7.  God is the source of love.  The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us the power to love.  Prayerfully ask God to help you to love Him more and more and to help you love others.

A person who truly loves God will have thoughts of Him.  Do thoughts of your Savior and LORD circulate through your mind often?  Psalm 63:6 – On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.  Our love for God will draw us to spend time with Him.  Are you often drawn to spend time with God by reading His Word and by spending time in prayer?  Psalm 27:4 reveals to us that David’s greatest desire was to live in God’s presence each and every day of his life.  Can you say that you desire to live in the presence of Almighty God each and every day of your life?  One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I ask, all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 

Prayerfully examine your heart and your life.  Does your life demonstrate a love for God?  If we truly love our Savior and LORD, our lives will demonstrate our love for God.  God demonstrated His love for us by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us.  Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were sinners, Christ died for us.  We demonstrate our love for our LORD when we live a life that honors and glorifies Him.  Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way:  bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God – Colossians 1:10

Do you find satisfaction in spending time with God?  Do you enjoy spending time in the presence of your Savior and LORD?  Evidence of our true love for our LORD is seen in our enjoyment of the time we spend together.  Remember, Almighty God is the source of love.  Prayerfully ask Him to place in your heart a desire to spend time in His presence and to provide you the joy that only spending time together can bring.  Psalm 16:11 – You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal presence at your right hand. 

We show our love for our Savior and LORD by obeying Him.  Love is more than words.  It is total surrender and commitment to our LORD.  We demonstrate our love for Christ by being obedient to Him and His Word.  Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.  The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to him – John 14:21

Prayerfully ask God to help you to love Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, we recognize You are the source of love.  Place in our hearts a love for You like no other.  Draw us to Yourself and Your Word.  Help us to live a life that truly loves You and truly loves others.  Place in our hearts joy and satisfaction when we spend time in Your presence.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen.

 

God's Daily Rule

Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you.  Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.  Isaiah 33:2

Appreciation for Almighty God’s presence emerges as we walk with Him daily.  Are you aware of the presence of God in the mundane as you are in the miraculous?  If we are only looking for the presence of God in the miraculous, we will miss personal encounters He desires to have with us.  Seek God in the daily-ness, the ordinariness of your life.  Our enjoyment and appreciation of Almighty God will remain lacking if we choose not to walk with Him daily in the reading of His Word and prayer.  In addition, our readiness and willingness to obey Him will remain lacking if we are not meeting personally with God each day.  Our obedience to our LORD is based on trust, and trust grows from a day-to-day relationship with our Savior and LORD. 

Prayerfully ask God to place in your heart a desire to walk with Him daily.  Often we ask God to walk with us, but God desires for us to walk with Him.  For our safety and the pure enjoyment of our LORD, we are wise to learn to walk with God instead of begging Him to walk with us.  Jeremiah 29:11-13 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  These Scriptures tells us that God is the One with the good plan, the perfect plan.  When we choose a path and set out on it, we don’t have a clue to where it will ultimately lead.  We think we know, but in reality we have no idea.  But when we choose to walk with our LORD in daily obedience, it is truly the sure means of fulfilling His wonderful plans for us. 

In Isaiah 33:2-6 and Isaiah 50:4-11 we see benefits of a daily walk with our Savior and LORD.  In Isaiah 33:2 we see that Almighty God offers us the daily treasure of His strength.  LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you.  Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.  Children of Almighty God are on a pilgrimage towards a Heavenly home.  One of the daily comforts in our day-to-day struggle is to remember that this earth is not our home and that one day we will be ushered into our eternal home where we will live with our Savior and LORD.  God will provide the strength we need to face our daily struggles until He ushers us into our eternal home.  If we are not walking with our Savior and LORD when trials come, we miss the full measure of strength He has for us along the way.  Choose to walk with the LORD where ever He may lead. 

Isaiah 33:6 tells us God offers us the daily treasure of His sure foundation.  He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.  Jesus Christ is the only sure foundation worthy of building our life on.  Almighty God will be our stability when we encounter unstable times.  The words to the song Solid Rock are so very true.  “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.  All other ground is sinking sand.”  Isaiah 33:6 also tells us that God offers us the daily treasure of wisdom and knowledge.  When you and I walk in an intimate relationship each and every day with our LORD, we gain wisdom and knowledge from His Holy Word.  We often think of blessings in tangible terms but wisdom is an intangible blessing of infinite worth.  If we aren’t walking with God daily, it is easy for us to become mislead by human logic.  God desires to guide us daily in His wisdom and His knowledge.  Remember, He is the One with the perfect plan for our lives. 

God offers us the daily treasure of victory.  Isaiah 50:7-8 – Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint, and know I will not be put to shame.  He who vindicates me is near.  Who then will bring charges against me?  Let us face each other!  Who is my accuser?  Let him confront me!  We will encounter warfare as we journey upon this earth.  Satan is on a mission to disgrace us, to accuse us, and condemn us.  Each and every day we must set our faces like flint on the face of Jesus Christ and follow Him step by step to victory. 

Prayerfully ask God to help you walk with Him consistently and daily.  He desires an intimate and personal relationship with you.  Follow His leading.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Your love.  Place in our hearts a burning desire to meet with You daily in prayer and the reading of Your Holy Word.  Continue to bless us with Your presence, wisdom, and protection.  Help us to truly recognize You as our solid foundation.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen.

 

 

Moved With Compassion

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Colossians 3:12

What moves you to compassion?  Compassion is aroused within us when we are confronted with people who are suffering or are vulnerable.  We demonstrate our compassion when we attempt to alleviate the hardship and suffering of those Christ places in our path.  Let’s not let our hearts become hardened.  God desires us to be compassionate.  Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He demonstrated compassion to those He came in contact with – the helpless, the sick, the hungry, the blind, and the lost.  God is calling us to demonstrate compassion.  In today’s world there seems to be a lack of compassion.  God makes it clear in His Word that we are not to conform to the ways of this world.  Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to the pattern of this world…  Almighty God desires for His children to be compassionate to others.  Be attentive to those that cross your path who God is calling you to reach out to with compassion. 

In John 4, we see Jesus moved with compassion towards the woman at the well.  Jesus knew the Samaritan woman was attempting to fill the void in her life with relationships that were morally improper.  Jesus took the time to share with this woman about the “living water” that only the true Messiah could give.  He explained to her that this “living water” wells up to eternal life.  John 4:14 – Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.  Many people we come in contact with are attempting to fill a void that only Jesus Christ is capable of filling.  Have compassion and share with others the “living water” which gives eternal life – Jesus Christ. 

We notice throughout Scripture that Jesus crossed all barriers to share the gospel.  In John 4, the woman at the well was a Samaritan, a member of a hated mixed race.  She was living in sin and was in a public place.  No respectable Jewish man would talk to a woman under these circumstances.  But Jesus, moved with compassion, took the time to share the Gospel with the Samaritan woman.  Are you willing to cross all barriers to share the Gospel Message with a lost and dying world?  If we are to live our lives and minister to others as Jesus did, we will cross any barrier to share the Gospel Message with those He places in our path. 

In Luke 10:25-37, we see another demonstration of compassion.  A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho was severally attacked and left for dead on the side of the road.  A priest and a Levite traveled by and did not reach out to help the wounded man.  No ounce of compassion was demonstrated by the religious.  Along came a Samaritan, who demonstrated his sense of compassion by tending the wounds of the injured man and also taking him to a safe place to recover.  Those who claimed to be religious showed no compassion for the one in need.  Even though we are children of Almighty God, we can allow our hearts to become hardened and when the occasion presents itself, we too might not offer compassion to a person in need.  Prayerfully ask God to soften your heart to those in need.  God desires us to be compassionate to those in need.  1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 

Dear Heavenly Father, help us desire to demonstrate compassion to others just as You did.  I pray that our hearts will not become hardened to those who are hurting and in need.  Help us be attentive to those You place in our path.  Many in our world today are in need of compassion.  Equip us LORD to show compassion to others.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen. 

 

 

 

Meaningless Offerings

Stop bringing meaningless offerings!  Your incense is detestable to me.  New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.  Isaiah 1:13

What offerings and sacrifices are you presenting to your Savior and LORD?  Why are you brining your offerings?  Is it out of habit and obligation or is it out of sincere love and devotion for your Savior and LORD?  If we are presenting our offerings and sacrifices to Jesus without sincere love and devotion, He considers them meaningless.  Our offerings and sacrifices are an outward sign and expression of our inward faith in our LORD.  We must continually guard our hearts so that we do not place more faith in the ritual of presenting our offerings and sacrifices, than in worshiping Almighty God out of our love and devotion. 

Each child of God is called to bring a tithe into the storehouse.  God instituted the tithing system during the time of Moses.  Deuteronomy 15:22 – Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.  Everything we have is from the hand of Almighty God.  When we refuse to give to God a part of what He has given us, we rob Him.  God’s Word tells us in Malachi 3:10 – “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”  The blessings that God promises are not always material and may not be experienced completely until we reach our eternal home, but we will certainly receive them because Almighty God has spoken a promise to His children.  Our offerings are to be given with an attitude of love and a desire to be obedient to our Savior and LORD.  Prayerfully ask God to search your heart and reveal to you your motive behind your offerings and sacrifices. 

We are called to minister to others in the name of Jesus Christ.  When we minster to others, we will have to make sacrifices.  These sacrifices do not go unnoticed by our LORD.  We may have to sacrifice our time, our possessions, or our money.  We minister to others because of the love and devotion we have for our Savior and LORD.  Our faith lacks sincerity if it doesn’t reach out to others in the name of Christ.  Luke 3:11 tells us, Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same. 

 If we are ministering to others for recognition or to gain honor and praise, our LORD considers it meaningless.  I pray that we all will give freely and wholeheartedly because of our love and devotion to our Savior and LORD. 

I pray we never become like the people the LORD speaks of in Isaiah 29:13 – The Lord says:  “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”  God knows our heart.  He knows if we are presenting our offerings and sacrifices to Him out of love and devotion or out of ritual and tradition.  Let’s not slip into routine patterns when we present our offerings to our LORD.  If we do, He considers them meaningless.

Dear Heavenly Father, search our hearts and reveal to us whether we are presenting our offering to You out of love and devotion or out of ritual and tradition.  Place a desire in our heart to be cheerful givers.  Help us to recognize that all we have truly belongs to You.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen.

I Believe in Things I Cannot See

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

There is coming a day when our earthly journey will end.  If you are a child of God, you will enter into your Heavenly home.  We haven’t seen this Heavenly home but because of God’s promises and His faithfulness, we can know it is awaiting us.  There will come a day when our Savior and LORD will usher us into our eternal home.  What is awaiting us in our eternal home – new bodies, a new Heaven and earth, rest and rewards, our eternal family and home, the absence of sin and suffering, and being face to face with our Savior and LORD.  We can place our hope in our LORD and wait patiently for the day that is yet to come.  Romans 8:24-25 – For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 

We read in Genesis 15 about the faith of Abram.  Genesis 15:5-6 – He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.”  Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.  Abram had confidence and hope in what he could not see.  He trusted Almighty God.  Abram believed the promises of God.  We too can believe the promises of God even when we do not see evidence of the hand of God at work.  Our LORD is faithful to fulfill His promises even when we do not see or understand.  Will you believe in the promises of Almighty God?

God tells us in His Word that we can’t image all that He has for us in both this life and in eternity.  You can trust His Word and have faith in the promises of God.  We are unable to see the eternal future that awaits us, but we can have confidence and hope in knowing that this is our eternal destiny which we will enter one day.  1 Corinthians 2:9 – However, as it is written;  “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.”  We can have confidence and faith in knowing that we will live forever with God in a place without sin and suffering.  2 Corinthians 4:18 – So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

Prayerfully ask God to increase your faith.  Cry out in prayer asking God to help you believe in what you cannot see and to believe in what He has promised.  In  Mark 9, a father brings his demon possessed son to Jesus to be healed.  We read in verse 24 that the father asked Jesus to help him believe.  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  Jesus will increase our faith but He desires for us to ask. 

God’s Word is filled with His promises for things we are incapable of seeing this side of Heaven.  Just because we can’t see, doesn’t mean we can’t believe.  Believe in the promises found in God’s Holy Word.  Allow your Savior and LORD to help your unbelief.

Dear Heavenly Father, we recognize that our faith comes from You.  Grow our faith, LORD.  Help us believe in Your promises.  Many promises we will never see this side of Heaven, but Father help us to have confidence and hope in the things we can’t see.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen.