1 August
God always keeps His word
2 Kgs 7:1-2, 16-20
In those days Ben-Hadad, King of Aram laid siege to Samaria, the capital
city of Israel’s northern Kingdom (2 Kgs. 6:24). This resulted
in a great famine (2 Kgs 6: 25). In the midst of this long and severe
famine, God announced through His servant Elisha that the famine was
going to end (2 Kgs. 7:1). This happened exactly as He promised (2 Kgs.
7:16). God always keeps His promises (Jos. 23:14). There is nothing that
He has promised that He has not brought to pass (Jos. 23:14). His word
has always come to pass (see Num. 23:19). And He is always able to do
as He promised (Num. 23:19). He is ready even to perform a miracle in
order to keep His word (see 2Kgs 7:1-20). Nothing whatever is impossible
with Him (Lk. 1:37). But we must trust in Him to appropriate His promises.
Anyone who does not trust in God cannot appropriate His promises (see
2 Kgs. 7:2, 17-20; Jam. 1:6-8). His promises are for those who put their
trust in Him (cf. Matt. 13:58).
PRAYER: 1. Father, please enable me to trust in you and in your Word.
2. Father, please take the spirit of unbelief away from me.
3. Father, please let all your promises come to pass in my life.
2 August
Believers have reasons not to fear
Matt. 10:26-31
Fear is obviously one of the greatest problems of man. It is one problem that
the Scripture has addressed most adequately (Matt. 10:26-31). The Scripture commands
believers not to fear and gives reasons for the command (Matt. 10:26-31). First,
those whom we fear have limited, temporal powers (Matt. 10:28). Their powers
can never affect believers eternally (Matt. 10:28). Second, God will never allow
anything to happen to His children outside of His will or without His authorization
(Matt. 10:29). Third, as the Sovereign one (see Acts 4:24), God has absolute,
sovereign authority over all lives (Matt. 10:30). He knows even all the number
of our hairs (Matt. 10:30) and can never allow a single one to perish without
His sovereign authority (Lk. 21:18). Fourth, believers are more important to
God than anything else He created (Matt. 10:31). If He guarantee the safety of
even sparrows, He can guarantee the safety of His children even more (Matt. 10:29,
31). With these reasons, believers have no basis at all to fear for their lives.
If there is anything or anyone to fear, it is God Himself whom we must all fear
(Eccl. 12:13-14).
PRAYER: 1. Father, please let your sovereign hand keep me.
2. Father, please enable me to trust in your sovereign authority.
3. Father, please overcome the spirit of fear in my life.
4. Father, please take away everything that causes me to fear.
3 August
Hezekiah’s Miracle
2 Kgs 20:1-7
Hezekiah, one of the Kings of Judah, became ill and was at the point of death
(2 Kgs. 20:1). God sent Isaiah the prophet to inform him that he was not going
to recover (2 Kgs. 20:1). But God later healed him and added fifteen years to
his life (2 Kgs 20:4-7). Some factors led to his miracle. First, his faith. He
turned to the Lord (2 Kgs. 20:2). This means he knew the Lord and had faith in
Him. Like him, we can also turn to God for our own miracle. But we can only do
so if we believe in Him (Jn. 1:12-13). Second, Hezekiah prayed (2 Kgs. 20: 2-3).
Prayer is God’s ordained means for receiving from Him (see Matt. 7: 7-11).
Jesus used this means to receive from the Father (cf. Mk. 1:35) and invited us
to use it as well (Jn. 14:13-14). It is better to pray than to worry, complain,
or despair. Third, Hezekiah lived a righteous life (2 Kgs 20:2). A life pleasing
to God is necessary for a miracle to occur (see Ps. 34:15-16; 66:17-20; 145:18-20;
Prov. 15:29; Is. 1:15-20; 59:1-2; Jn. 15:7). The prayer of the righteous does
indeed prevail (Jam. 5:16; Jn. 9:31-33). Like Hezekiah, we can also receive our
miracles if we trust in God, pray to Him, and please Him with our lives (cf.
Deut. 28:1-2).
PRAYER: 1. Father, please enable me to put my trust in you.
2. Father, please give me the spirit of prayer.
3. Father, please enable me to live a life that is pleasing to you.
4. Father, please give me good health and long life.
4 August
The Book of Life
Rev. 20:11-15
According to the Scripture, when God judges the world on the day He has set (Rev.
20:12-13; Acts 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10), those who will not be thrown into the lake
of fire which is the second death are those whose names are found written in
the book of life (Rev. 20:14-15). Those whose names are not found written in
the book of life will be the ones who are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev.
20:15). The book of life is the book containing the names of those who accepted
Jesus Christ as their Saviour (Jn. 3:16, 36). They now belong to Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29; Is. 53:7), who owns the book (see Rev. 21:27). One
can have his name written in the book only by accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour
(Jn. 1:12-13; 3: 16; Rev. 3:20; 7:9-17). There is no other means to escape being
thrown into the lake of fire than to have one’s name written in the book
of life. And there is no other means to have one’s name written in the
book of life than through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). The time to have
one’s name written in the book of life is now when one is alive (cf. 2
Cor. 6:2). This opportunity is foreclosed eternally once one dies.
PRAYER: 1. Father, please I accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
2. Father, please write my name in the Lamb’s book of life.
5 August
God forbids anger
Jam. 1:19-21
In this passage, God clearly forbids His children from anger (Jam. 1:19). Believers
must have nothing to do with it (see Prov. 22:24-25). The reason for forbidding
it is given (Jam. 1:20). It does not bring about the righteous life that God
desires (Jam. 1:20). This means that anger is not a righteous act. On the contrary,
it is an unrighteous act (see Gal. 5:19-20). It is a state of unrighteousness
(see Gal. 5:19-21). It is incompatible with righteousness. Instead of promoting
righteousness, it is an act that undermines and hinders it. It is an act of the
sinful nature (see Gal. 5:19-21). It is also a foolish act (Prov. 29:11). Therefore,
when a believer is angry, he is serving the devil’s purpose, not God’s
(cf. Prov. 30:33). In fact, any believer who is angry undermines and endangers
his spiritual life and makes himself vulnerable to evil and the devil’s
traps and activities.
PRAYER: 1. Father, please deliver me from the spirit of anger.
2. Father, please give me victory over anything that can make me angry.
3. Father, please give me the grace to control myself.
6 August
How to stand firm
1 Cor. 15:58
Believers are required to stand firm in Chris. It is a believer’s personal
responsibility to do so. No one can stand firm for another. But how can one stand
firm? The answer is found in the passage. First, a believer stands firm when
he does not allow anything to move or turn him away from Jesus (1Cor. 15:58).
One who moves or turns away from Jesus at any time and for whatever reason is
not standing firm in Him. Second, by giving oneself fully, always to the Lord’s
work (1 Cor. 15:58). The Lord requires full, not partial devotion (see Deut.
6:5). Partial devotion to him amounts to not standing firm in Him (see Deut.
6:5). One who stops giving himself to the Lord’s work at any time and for
any reason cannot be considered as standing firm in Him. (cf. Acts 1:15-20).
Standing firm does not apply to anyone who stops by the way in the Lord’s
work or affair. The grace of God is available to anyone who desires to stand
firm (see 2 Cor. 9:8).
PRAYER: 1. Father, please enable me to stand firm in you.
2. Father, please destroy whatever hinders me from standing firm in you.
7 August
Why Christians must not fear
Jos. 1:9
After the death of Moses, Joshua assumed responsibility to lead the Israelites
to the land God promised them. The task was daunting for Joshua and fear was
inevitable. God commanded him and the Israelites not to be terrified or discouraged
because He will be with them wherever they went (Jos. 1:9). With this promise,
God addressed the problem of fear for Joshua and the people most adequately (Jos.
1:9). He fulfilled this problem to the letter. He sent an angel ahead of them
(Exod. 23:20-33). He travelled with them in a pillar of cloud and fire (Exod.
40:36-38; Num. 9:15-23). Joshua himself testified that none of God’s promises
ever failed (Jos. 23:14). His presence was with them until they reached the promised
land. The promise of God’s abiding presence belongs to all believers (Matt.
28:20). And with His ever-abiding presence, there is no ground or basis whatever
for fear. His presence annuls or counters every form of fear. Believers have
nothing at all to fear because God is with them (Ps. 23:4; 46:1-3). The factors
that cause fear can never withstand God’s presence (see Ps. 76:6-7). Fear
can only reign where there is an absence of God’s presence.
PRAYER: 1. Father, please let your presence be my portion always.
2. Father, please take away whatever hinders your presence in my life.
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