Victory: February 3, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2017.

VICTORY

DEFINITION:

The winning of a contest or battle; any successful performance; triumph over an enemy.

SCRIPTURE:

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:57.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. I John 5:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In the verse above from I John, John clearly defines who the ones are that overcome the world. They are all who believe in the Lord and that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our being sinners and was buried and after three days He overcame death and He is alive today.

The Greek word for “overcome” means to conquer and to have victory. Jesus achieved victory over death and Satan. “So, that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” Hebrews 2:14-15.

Because of our union with Christ as believers, not only do we have victory over death but we have continual victory over the evils of the world we live in. In the verse we have put above, we read, “Every one born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” How truly thankful to God we should be for this.

God first spoke of victory in Genesis 4:6-7, when He was talking to Cain. Cain was very angry at his brother Abel because God accepted Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s. God said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Our Lord’s desire is for you to rule over it (have victory over it).

Cain did not celebrate victory because he could not handle failure. He allowed anger to rule in his heart which led him to kill his brother Abel. Cain lost the victory.

Every day we have the challenge in our lives of being victorious over sin or losing the battle to Satan. When we sin, Satan wins and he then has victory over us.

Victory over Satan’s temptations to sin is what we as believers must continually strive for. As Paul reminded us in I Corinthians 15:57, we can be thankful that we do not fight the battle alone and that through our Lord Jesus Christ we have victory over Satan.

As we look at the state of our world today it would seem that Satan is winning the battle. Through Christ and His gift of salvation, we as believers, have the power to overcome the world by our faith in Him. (I John 5:4) On the cross Jesus defeated Satan and his power. Jesus is the victorious Lord and ultimate ruler of this world. Satan has only temporary rule of those who choose to follow him.

All six of our children played several sports while in school. They and their teammates always strived for victory in their games. We tried as often as possible to be at their games. In fact, we both coached several of our children when they were younger. When we coached, we shared with the children and their parents how easy it was to celebrate victory and how difficult it was to accept defeat.

We taught the children that we had the privilege of coaching that just as in sports, in real life there are winners and losers. A victory in our spiritual life is far more important than a victory in sports. All of us need to learn to lose graciously because it will help us get through the disappointments and failures that we will have in life. No one ever wins all the time. Whether in victory or defeat we should reflect the love of Jesus in our lives.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 4:8.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord for the victories You continue to give me in my life. Give me courage and foresight to claim victory over sin and the evil that I face in this world daily.

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Word: February 2, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2017.

WORD

DEFINITION:

The Word of God; the Bible; a specific revelation of God; speech; a graphic expressing an idea; a unit of language.

SCRIPTURE:

So, then faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Word is a term for the sounds that comes from one’s mouth. It also is used as a term for what we know as the Bible and is used to refer to Jesus. The Bible is called the Word of God because it is God’s written Word to us. In II Timothy 3:16 it reads.” All scripture is God-breathed.” This means that it was written by believers as God revealed His person and His plan to them. The Bible is not a collection of stories or myths of human ideas about God. It is the Word of God.

God gave us His Word, the Bible, to teach us, correct us, rebuke us, and to train us in righteousness. We can be sure it is true because it is the Word of God. Proverbs 30:5 says that God’s Word is pure and flawless. John 17:17 says that God’s Word is truth. If these are not true, then God is a liar and is not truth.

Jesus is also called the “Word.” In Revelation 19:13, John writes concerning Jesus that, “His name is the Word of God.” John 1:1 reads. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and the Word was with God in the beginning.”

There are also words that come from our mouths. Sometimes these words are good and at other times they are considered bad. Words do speak volumes about the person that says them. Thus, it is so important for parents to watch what words they use in their conversations because their children are listening.

In James 3:2-8 we are reminded that the tongue is a wicked weapon. James says in verse 10, “out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.” One of the 10 commandments is to not take the name of the Lord in vain. When children hear their parents using foul language and disrespecting the name of God, they will feel it is acceptable for them to do the same. The tongue can also serve a very useful purpose. We can use our words to praise our Lord and Savior and our Father in heaven. This is what children need to hear from their parents.

In Ephesians 4:29, the apostle Paul advises us to let no corrupt word proceed out of our mouth but to only use the words that would be helpful for building others up according to their needs.

There are just four letters in “WORD” but so much significance. We encourage you to “let the WORD OF CHRIST dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16) “And let the WORD’S of your mouth be pleasing to God.” (Psalm 19:14)

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 4:8.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

PRAYER:

Help me to choose the right words in all of my conversations. May the words that come from my mouth always exalt Your name. May the words that I speak be words of encouragement for my spouse, my children, my family and my friends and that they will build them up and exemplify that the Word of Christ dwells within me.

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Appreciation: February 1, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2017.

APPRECIATION

DEFINITION:

Thankful recognition; gratitude; recognizing the worth of; esteem duly.

SCRIPTURE:

Now to God and Father be glory forever and ever. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. Philippians 4:20-21.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The purpose of Paul’s letter to the Philippians was to thank them for their gift of aid they sent to meet his needs. In Paul’s closing words to the church at Philippi (above verses) he has one more item to cover that we can learn from. He expresses his appreciation to God and for his fellow believers. This doxology in verse 20 is Paul’s praise in direct response to the great truth that God supplies all the needs of the saints. This is Paul’s praise to the character of God and His faithfulness.

Paul wants to remind us that God is to be praised as God, the Creator and Sovereign ruler of the universe. Secondly, Paul wants to remind us that God is to be praised because He is our Father. By praising God we show Him our appreciation for all that He does for us.

As believers, God has adopted us as His sons and daughters and given us the gift of eternal life and yet in spite of this so many believers find reason to criticize, grumble, and complain about how God does things. Unbelievers rebel, reject, question and deny Him.  They chose to live as they please and to do their own thing rather than to be obedient and follow Him. Where is the appreciation for God and what He has done for us? It is a sad commentary of the world we live in.

There is so much that we as believers need to be thankful for. We need to show our appreciation for who God is and all that He has given us. In I Chronicles 16:25 we read, “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.” Praise is how we show our appreciation toward God. When we truly appreciate God we will give God all the glory as Paul did. Appreciation for God and for others changes our attitude and our outlook on life and the way we treat others.

In the world we live in today very few people show appreciation to anybody or for anything. Children show very little appreciation to their parents.  This is because they are not taught appreciation. Spouses take each other for granted and show very little appreciation to one another. This is what the children see and follow.

In the workplace hard work and a job well done often go without a word of appreciation from a superior. Because of this every worker strives to do only what is necessary to make themselves look good even at the expense of others.

As a child of God you should always be mindful to show your appreciation to others and not take what they do for you for granted. When we appreciate others it changes their attitude toward us.

The Apostle Paul in all of his letters sets an example for his fellow believers teaching them to show appreciation first and foremost to God for all that He has provided for us in spite of the fact that we are all just sinners saved by grace and undeserving of His great love for us and all the blessings He bestows upon us.

When we pray we usually come with a list of requests that we want God to fulfill. If we really appreciate who God is and what he has done for us shouldn’t our priority be to praise Him and give Him glory and honor? When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He gave them a model known today as “The Lord’s Prayer.” It begins by giving praise and glory to God, “Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be Thy name.” As you pray today, begin by showing your appreciation to God by giving Him praise and glory.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 4:8.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

PRAYER:

As my God and my creator I honor You this day with my praise and appreciation. I thank You for Your great gift of my salvation through Your Son Jesus. I am so thankful for my family and friends and I ask You to bless them and meet their every need. Help me to lead my family to show appreciation to You for all that You do for us.

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Anger: January 31, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 31, 2017.

ANGER

DEFINITION:

A strong feeling of displeasure from a real or supposed wrong; a sudden violent displeasure accompanied by an impulse to retaliate.

SCRIPTURE:

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you. Ephesians 4:31.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Anger is a strong and dangerous emotion. Anger motivates people to make bad decisions that often lead to violence. People do things in a fit of anger that they otherwise would never do. We see this to be true each and every day, and it has been going on since the fall of Adam. We read in Genesis 4:5 about the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was very angry and his anger led him to kill his brother Abel.

God does not say that we will not get angry. He wants us to control our anger and handle it wisely and in a proper way. The writer of Proverbs in 29:11, tells us to be wise and keep our anger under control. Paul’s advice to us in Ephesians 4:26 is to not allow anger to cause us to be evil and sin.

Yes, God himself gets angry but this does not justify our anger. What angers God is the godlessness and wickedness of people (Romans 1:18). In Numbers 32:13 we read that “the Lord’s anger burned against Israel and He made them wander in the desert for 40 years, until a whole generation of those who had done evil in His sight was gone.” God’s anger is always justified and His punishment is always just.

Every family has to deal with times of anger between its members. It happens in the best of families. There is no perfect child that has never made his or her parents angry. When parents get angry with a child they need to stop and think if their anger is justified.

One of the concepts we attempted to teach our children, using verses from the Bible, was that when one was angry he or she never came out a winner. In Proverbs 17:27 it reads, “He who has knowledge restrains his words.” This means that we need to keep to ourselves words that we know could ignite anger in others. Certain personalities have trouble with this concept because just by their nature they want to stir up conflict. It seems to be inheritant in all of us to want to get in the last word.

Words spoken in anger and things done in anger are really regretted after the fact. But then it is too late to undo the harm that was done. Angry words are rather like toothpaste; you cannot put it back into the tube.

In Proverbs 17:27 we read that, “A man of understanding is of a calm spirit.” A man of understanding is someone who is truly wise. To be of calm spirit means to be even-tempered. To be a person of understanding and a calm spirit we need to follow Paul’s instruction and get rid of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking. (Ephesians 4:31)

The key to controlling anger is to stop when a conflict begins and ask God for a calm spirit and a cool head. Remember what the Proverbs says in 15:1, A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Thomas Jefferson said on February 21, 1825: “When angry, count to ten before you speak; if you are very angry count to one hundred.” May we add that while you are counting ask God for a calm spirit, a cool head, and a tender heart.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 4:8.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

PRAYER:

Help me to control my anger and restrain me from lashing out with mean and hurtful words when others give me cause to be angry. Give me self-control in all of my words and deeds and may others see the fruits of the Spirit controlling my life.

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Persecution: January 30, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY JANUARY 30, 2017.

PERSECUTION

DEFINITION:

The state of suffering, harassing or cruel treatment because of religion, race or beliefs.

SCRIPTURE:

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We are living in a time where all around us we feel and read about persecution. Christians are being marked today by many groups as a threat to their beliefs or thoughts. We want to share with you a few facts as to what is happening to Christians.

Here in America there is an assault being taken against Christians. It is now not acceptable to pray in classrooms and in many group situations. It is not acceptable to mention God and one’s belief in God in speeches of any kind where the public is in attendance. We have forgotten about the Judeo-Christian standards that our country was founded on. Our judicial system and political leaders are systematically removing our Biblical heritage from our society and even writing it out of our history books.

Eighty percent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians. Over 100,000 Christians living in 139 countries were martyred in the last 12 months because of their faith in Jesus.

In the last 12 months in India alone, 1,500 Christians were hacked to death in Orissa and 80,000 Christians were made homeless because of their faith in Jesus.

Thirty-five percent of all Christians in North Korea are living in forced labor camps. This number is increasing dramatically daily because of the growing amount of Christians in North Korea.

Persecution goes back to the early days of Christianity. We read in Acts 8:1-4 about Saul (Paul was known as Saul before he found Jesus as his Savior) having a murderous hatred of all believers. Saul was the instigator of a great persecution of Christians in the Church in Jerusalem and the scripture tells us that as a result there was a mass scattering of believers away from Jerusalem which led to the spread of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire.

Persecution is alive and well today and it is ongoing at this moment. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus instructs us to pray for those who persecute us. No one knows more than Jesus what it means to be persecuted. Jesus was rejected, betrayed, and mocked, spit upon in the face, stripped naked, beaten, nailed to a cross and hung to die in agony.

Jesus endured suffering, pain, agony and the most painful of deaths in order to save us from our sins. Yet even as Jesus hung dying on the cross He prayed for His persecutors asking the Father to forgive them.

God hates sin and all of our evil ways yet He loves us no matter how great our sin. Jesus asks us to hate the evil things people do but to love the person who does the evil. This goes against our nature and is most difficult to do, so why would Jesus ask this of us? The reason is for us to learn forgiveness. Jesus has forgiven us so much and we are to forgive others even those who persecute us as He has forgiven us and forgave those who persecuted Him.

Christians in Muslim dominated countries are suffering real and ongoing persecution today. We feel compelled to share with you this portion of an e mail we received.

The UN has withdrawn from our area and missionaries are on their own. a pastor wrote that ISIS has taken over the town and is systematically going house to house looking for Christians and then asking the children to denounce their faith in Jesus. He said so far not one child has denounced their faith in Jesus and consequently all have been killed and the parents stand by and see their child killed.

Another writes, “We lost the city of Queragosh. This is a city that we have been smuggling food to. ISIS pushed back Kurdish forces and now is within 10 minutes of where our team is working. We must stay here with the believers and non-believers who cannot leave here.”

it is urgent that we do as Jesus said. We must pray urgently for the persecuted that they will be spared and we must pray for the persecutors that their hearts might be changed.

Worrying about persecution for our faith is natural. We must be diligent in standing up for our faith and encourage our fellow believers. We must pray earnestly for Christians living in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their faith. In America, we have freedom to worship as we choose. But we also must be careful about choosing our leaders because many are trying to legislate the elimination of freedom of worship.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 4:8.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

PRAYER:

Remind me today that I am the happiest when I am fully trusting in You. Help me this day to be constantly grateful for Your care and faithfulness. Help me to pray today for those that persecute me. Our prayer for today is that You will protect us all.

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