Studying the Bible Keeps us Strong

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:9-24

Focus Verse: Psalm 119:9 "How can young people keep their lives pure?
    By obeying your commands."

God has given us an instruction manual for life.  It is called the Bible.  As Christians in this world we cannot overcome the enemy in our own strength.  "How can a man cleanse his ways?"  Not on his own.  On our own, we would struggle and fail.  We need help, and that help is available to us through the Bible.  Our focus verse ask a question.  How can we stay pure?  Verse 11 gives us the answer, by hiding God's Word in our hearts.  I wish I had memorized more scripture when I was young, because it is harder to do now that I am older.  In verse 24 he calls God's "testimonies" his counselor.  God will always show us and teach us as we read the Bible.

The study and application of God's Word will keep us from sin, even though we live in a sinful world.  When Jesus was tempted by the devil in Luke 4 we see Jesus quoting scripture with every temptation.  If you are a Christian and you don't have peace and joy in your life, you might have unrepentant sin and/or there may be a lack of Bible study and scripture memorization in your life. 

Some people view God's laws as a list of "DON'Ts", but these are really a shelter to protect us.  God gives us plenty of things we should "DO".   Take some time today to evaluate your spiritual strength.  Make a plan to increase the strength through God's Holy Word.


"Either God's Word will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from God's word." ~Unknown

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Death, Taxes, and Sin

Scripture Reading: Genesis 4:7  “You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

There is a saying that goes like this,  “the only sure things in life are death and taxes.”  Well I would like to add another sure thing “sin”.  Sin will be with us until this life on earth is over.  As a Christian did you know there are some things that you don’t need to pray about?  Because God has already told us to do some things and not to do some things.  For example, God told us it’s not okay to steal, so you don’t need to ask God if it’s okay to steal.

But then there might be some things you’re not sure if they are right or wrong to do.  We would call this a gray area.  Here are a few safeguards to help you decide if a gray area is okay or not.  

First, if you do this activity is it going to help you spiritually or hurt you spiritually?  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23  “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial.”  You should avoid anything that is not helping you spiritually.  Or anything that may keep you from praying and reading your Bible.

Secondly, you can ask yourself this question.  Will this activity try to control you?  Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12,  “I must not become a slave to anything.”  You should be controlled only by Christ.

Thirdly, what is your conscience telling you about this activity?  When your conscience is talking to you it’s really the Holy Spirit talking to you.  If your conscience is telling you not to do something, you better not do it because it’s probably sin.  Paul says in Romans 14:23 (NLT) “If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”

Death and taxes we don’t have much control over, but sin we can have control over with God’s help.  I hope you will remember to ask yourself these three questions when you are faced with something you are not sure about.  With all the sin that is in the world today it doesn’t need to be a part of your life.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

God's Presence Should Bring a Difference

Scripture: 2 Samuel 6
Focus Verses 9-12 

"David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”
He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.
Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing."

The presence of God in our lives should bring a difference in our lives. Every believer should have a testimony of when they got born again but that's not enough, there should be reflection of life changed. When God's word comes into our lives, it doesn't leave us the same people we were; there must be a testimony that a life changed. People around us should be able to tell the difference.

In our passage today, David tried to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem. On their way, the oxen pulling the ark stumbled and Uzzah, one of the men helping with the oxen, decided to stretch his hand to prevent the ark from falling. This angered God and He killed Uzzah immediately. David was overcome with fear and decided not to take the ark of God to be with him in his house and took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Getitte. The ark of God stayed there for three months and people were able to see the new things that began to happen at Obed-Edom's home. They realized that the new happenings in Obed-Edom's home was a result of the ark of God that had been brought to his home by king David. The king gets the wind of how Obed-Edom was doing well and his life is changing greatly. David became envious of Obed-Edom and decided to go and bring the ark of God to Jerusalem.

In just three months, the people saw a difference in the home of Obed-Edom. They knew him before the ark went to his home and now how he had grown in three months after the ark was brought to his home. People envied him including the king himself since they could tell a big difference.

Believers should understand that whoever claims to have God must show evidence of a new life. We cannot say that God is present in our lives yet nothing shows that we are living a changed life. As it was with Obed-Edom, the difference should be clear as light and day. God's word doesn't leave us the same people, there must be a difference that others can admire. It's not about how many days you have stayed in salvation. The ark stayed at Obed's for only three months and there was a clear distinction between him and the community. You can cause a difference even if you are one week old provided you are willing to allow Him in and let Him take charge. As David admired the work the ark of God's Presence had done to Obed, so should be the heart of many people who see our lives today. We should live a life of blamelessness so that others will admire our God.

Reverend Eliazar Wambo

Director of Bethesda Faith Ministries

Everything is Meaningless Without God

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 1

Focus Verse: Ecclesiastes 1:14  “I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless, like chasing after the wind.”

America and Kenya both have the lottery game.  The lottery is where you can pay a little money and have an unbelievably small chance to win lots of money.  Here in America someone just recently won $1 billion dollars. That's the same as 115 billion Kenya shillings.  If you want to know the truth, the real winner was the US Government because the tax paid by the winner to the government was $400 million dollars!  The government also got some money from all those tickets that were purchased.  So if you just enjoy giving the government money, the lottery is how you do it.

 

There are a couple reasons you should never play the lottery.  First, you will not win.  Did you know that your chance to win is very small. The chances to win the jackpot are 1 in 300,000,000. Let me put that into perspective.  If I had 300 million people write their names on little pieces of paper and we put all those little pieces of paper into one big pile on a field, do you think I could pull your name out of the pile?  The answer is NO!  The second reason you should never play is that money does not bring you happiness.  What about the winners? I was reading that most of the people who have won the lottery game have lost all that big amount of money within 7 years and some were even in debt, lost friends and family and their life is miserable.  They didn't find happiness.

Let's see what the Word of God says.  Solomon the writer of Ecclesiastes had it all.  He had money; he had power; he had women. Try and think of something in this world that could make you happy, and he probably had it. As he came near the end of his life, after trying to find happiness in all these things, he says in verse 2 “Everything is meaningless, completely meaningless.”  And verse 14 “I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless, like chasing after the wind.”  Have you ever tried to catch the wind?  You can’t do it, it slips right through your fingers.  Proverbs 23:5 says, “In the blink of an eye money disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.”  Solomon had it all, and he realized it was all meaningless.  If you take God out of your life you will be left empty, meaningless and without purpose.  This world is looking for purpose and meaning that only God can fill.

 

Let's invest our lives for God and find true meaning and value.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

 

Illustration: This is a picture of 1 million coins.  Imagine 300 boxes of these coins and that is what 300 million would look like.  Pick one with your name on it?  You are chasing the wind.

Meaningless Requests

Scripture: Mark 10:35-40
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory. “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

Did you ever ask a question in class thinking that you have the best question only to realize that you asked a stupid question and everyone in your class or team is looking at you while laughing? I definitely know this can be so embarrassing and you may not like it at all and may look for a place to hide your face to keep you from the embarrassment.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, realized that Jesus was almost being put to death and that he was not going to be with them longer. They quickly think of a deal to be promoted and be allowed to sit on the sides of Jesus. Jesus looks at them and tells them that they did not know what they were asking for and they didn't know the trials that would come.
Many, at times, will pray prayers that are contrary to the will of God. We may want things to be done our way not knowing that God has them planned in a different format. We grieve God when we insist that we know it better and we make His Helper be of no value to us. In many such instances we fail terribly and think God has not answered. Actually, God’s answer can be NO and we have to accept that He still has the best answer for us. James and John walked with Jesus but still their request was not in line with God’s plan for them. It is possible that we as believers sometimes may ask what we ought not to have asked so we must be ready at all costs to let only His will be done as Jesus did in the Gethsemane encounter. Equally, when we walk to Him our focus should be His Kingdom and not our desires.
Romans 8:26-27 – "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searched the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." John 16:13-14 – "However when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify me for He will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Eliazar Wambo

Director Bethesda Faith Ministries

Pastor Makira Baptist Church, Mfangano Island, Kenya

Give Me a Drink

Scripture reading: John 4:1-26

Focus verse: John 4:7,9-10

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. )

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Imagine walking along the road and meeting with the president of your nation, whether the president of the United States or Kenya president. He looks at your hand and sees you taking some bites of crisps or French fries and he tells you, "give me a bite". How would you respond to such a request from the most powerful person in your land? What about if he goes further and asks if you may allow him to take a selfie with you? Would you deny him? What if he asks if you would be willing to take him to your home so that he may stay with you even for a night? So that you can tell him some of your needs and challenges, how would you feel? Yes, I can guess how you feel about this! For some, this can be an opportunity for lives to turn around, a fortune that has fallen on them.

Jesus met a woman by the well of Jacob. He asked the lady for a drink since He was thirsty and needed a drink. The woman quickly began to explain reasons why she couldn't give a drink to Jesus. Jesus challenged her about who was asking her for a drink. Jesus didn't get tired of her but kept their conversation alive. Jesus later made this lady know who He was by revealing to her more about how she had lived her life and how she had wandered in adultery. She then realized that the guest she was speaking to was a great Prophet. She finally gave her life to Jesus and became a good ambassador of God's kingdom.

Today, Jesus is asking for something from us. For some people, He wants them to open their hearts and accept Him as Lord and Saviour, while to some of us He is asking of our service to Him. He wants us to dedicate more of our time to him and have that personal and uninterrupted time with him. To some he is asking for our resources while to others he wants us to devote our gifts and talents for his services. Jesus needs people who can take the gospel of love to the less fortunate. The question is, what will you do with Jesus's request? We must put excuses aside and serve him. If you can't put off your president's request then you must not put off Jesus' request.

By Pastor Eliazar Wambo

Director Bethesda Faith Ministries 

Constantly Giving

Scripture Reading: Acts 4:32-37

Focus verse: "But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus."
Acts 9:27

The original word for "encouragement" in the New Testament -- as when Barnabas is referred to as the "Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4:36) -- is from the same root as the word paraklete -- the Word used to describe the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26). Both words come from a root that means to be called alongside -- as an encourager like Barnabas or as a divine Comforter like the Holy Spirit.

An encourager is a person who dispenses courage to those who are weak or fearful. And in Barnabas' case, his generosity with courage should come as no surprise since he was also generous in other ways. For instance, he sold a piece of personal property and donated the money to help care for the needy in the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 4:36-37). And he generously introduced the new apostle, Paul, to the other apostles and leaders of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 9:27).

People who are generous are constantly giving things away: courage, money, introductions -- whatever is needed. Look around today and see what you have in abundance that others might be lacking.

Seeking empties a life while giving fills it.
Unknown

Devotion written by Dr. David Jeremiah