Defeating the Enemy

On May 7, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 16: 15

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

There is much political and economic attention on China. China is not our adversary. Satan is (1 Peter 5: 8). Therefore, I would like to suggest a different way of thinking about China. Let’s bring spiritual attention to China rather than meditating on the political and economic issues. Below is part of an article about the challenge facing Chinese Christians.

Elder Li, whose family is closely monitored by police, asks Christians in the United States to pray for his family and for Early Rain Church. “We pray that we depend on God when we lack, because apart from Him we have no good thing,” he said. “We pray God makes us put our trust in Him at this difficult time. We pray the Holy Spirit fills us to respond to our situation with gentleness and respect.”

I believe that is a prayer we can all get behind. It speaks to our own lives too and I pray that we always respond with gentleness and respect.

The key for us, as Christians, is to intellectually separate the Chinese people from Chinese Communism. We are tied to Christians of all nationalities. We have the same interests and the same father. It is important for us to remember that while the world spins in fractured antagonism, our Father is a God of reconciliation and love. We can be the voice of calm and reason because we speak from a heart of love and love must, and always will, carry the day.

So, my appeal to Christians is that we claim China for the Lord. Communism and political systems are not God, nor do they make good masters. They are institutions of men, but the Lord has established His government where Jesus is Lord. Faith and love are how we overcome adversity, that and the word of our testimony and the blood of Christ. That precious blood was shed for Chinese and North Koreans and Russians. It is up to us to win these countries, and their citizens, for Christ.

There is a war. We are warriors in this fight for the souls of the Chinese people and indeed the souls of all people. The good news is that Jesus has already won. Now it is up to us to pray in that victory for China. Through prayer Christians around the world can intercede in the affairs of man. To succeed, we must proceed without judgment. This must be an act of love. We can change the course of human history in China by getting into agreement with Jesus. You have the power of salvation in your hands. Do not waste it. Pray for China. Intercede with a heart of passion and compassion. Let us do the work to which we are called, preach the good news to all creation; spread the love of Christ to all people. We can do this. May it be done according to the grace which is within us through Christ, our Lord.

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Go With God

On February 17, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 37: 19

They will not be ashamed in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they will have abundance.

Now this verse you can take to the bank and I am not just making a pun. Here is your promise that in the economic downturn you will be running to the bank to make deposits. 

Many of us watch the stock market and other economic indicators. That’s fine. It’s even kinda fun. The key for Christians is don’t make those indicators your Bible. They do not, in fact, indicate your economic prosperity. Your indicators are in the verse above and others like it. God wants to get out there first and tell you not to rely on Wall Street predictions. He already has an economic plan for you and it is a plan for your well-being (Jeremiah 29: 11).

I have watched Christians work with God on economics. I have seen some listen to whatever they heard on the morning economic news and invest their belief in what they heard. I watched them fail. I watched them go nearly into bankruptcy. Yet others listened to the Word of God and even in the time of famine fared quite well. Some people even grew financially during some of the worst financial times. 

I guess it all goes back to the little train who believed he could. If you believe God, you will succeed according to God’s good promises. If you don’t believe, God, if you believe what you hear on the television, then, well . . . good luck. You either align your finances with God and reap along with Him or you align your finances with the world and go however the world goes. Go with the guy who can bring you abundance even during a famine. Go with God!

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Fulfilled

On January 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 9: 8         Amplified Bible

And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity.

In Luke 6: 38 we see Jesus importuning us to give. We have briefly pondered the question of why Jesus wants us to give.  I gave you a Biblical Principle that you can hang your hat on. Specifically, everything Jesus tells us to do is for our own good (see devotion from Wednesday, January 27, 2016). If you will always begin with this premise, you will arrive at right conclusions. Let me suggest some other reasons why Jesus encourages us to give.  

The first one is so simple and so obvious that it has almost become invisible. Jesus tells us to become habitual givers because he loves us. We have all heard people saying that the preacher on wants to get something from them. I don’t doubt there are preachers who put pressure on us to give for that reason but I innocently believe they are in the minority. Jesus pushes us to teach on giving not because he wants to get something from you. He is trying to bless you. He is trying to give to you but he needs your seed so that he can multiply it. Just look at Jesus’ life on earth. He was always giving away. He continuously blessed the people. He hasn’t changed. He still is trying to bless everyone.

In today’s text, the Apostle Paul provides two additional reasons for why Jesus teaches us to be givers. Those reasons are so that we will always have sufficient resources to meet our needs and so that, from our abundance, we will be able to help meet the needs of others.  

If you look closely, if you peer inside these ideas, you will see the Kingdom of God financial laws at work. Through our giving, we increase. With our increase, we increase others, who then contribute to meeting the needs of others, and on and on. God is in the business of growing. With the obedience of just a few people, He can start a garden growing which truly can spread across the entire earth. Let me just say this plainly – there is power in giving. Do not underestimate this primary tool of the Kingdom. Give and it shall be given unto you, then give again. Your crop will overflow so that you will have an abundance for every good work.

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Legacy

On August 26, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 13: 22

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

We tend to like the last part of this verse but the first part doesn’t get much play time. Yes, it is true, the sinners are busy building mansions that the saved will live in. However, we are not meant to spend all of that wealth on ourselves. We are supposed to leave a legacy for our grandchildren.

We have all seen the bumper sticker which reads, “I am spending my children’s inheritance.” While that is funny at one level, it is tragic at another. Our economies, both personal and social, suffer because we have forsaken the sound financial principles that God handed down to us. We have become consumers on a grand scale. We no longer worry about saving for a rainy day because we expect someone else to catch us if we fall. We depend on our parents, the government or even the church. When did it become the responsibility of others for our welfare?

God wants to have a personal, financial relationship with you. He wants you and He to cooperate in the financial future of you and your family. It is not his intent, however, to prosper you so that you can spend it all on your own lusts. He intends for you to build a heritage by listening to Him. This financial plan will bless us but if we will listen to God and manage it correctly, it will also be a blessing to generations who follow us. Tithe ten percent and save ten percent. Build a strong foundation for future generations. Then teach them to tithe ten percent and save ten percent. If we would begin to do this, I mean if we all began to follow God’s economic plan, we could put our economies back on their feet in no time. There is a way which leads to destruction and there is a way which leads to abundance. Let’s follow God’s way.

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