Category: selflessness

333’s 400th: Liberty to Publish God’s Word

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 KJV).

Today we commemorate the United States’ 236th anniversary and our 400th devotional.

Just as we Americans celebrate our nation’s birthday and independence today on this Fourth of July, we Christians worldwide reflect on the “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free [from sin, death, hell, and the condemnation of the Mosaic Law]” (Galatians 5:1).

Moreover, God our Father has entrusted us with the ministry of sharing with the lost world the spiritual freedom we have found exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our role in the Christian ambassadorship is to publish God’s pure (unadulterated) Word, the Holy Bible. Whether preaching and teaching it rightly divided, or translating and literally printing it, “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (Psalm 68:11).

God, through His Son’s finished crosswork on Calvary, has freed us from the bondage of the Law and sin. Christ’s blood has “redeemed” us, and it is our responsibility to tell others of that “redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). The lost and dying souls of the world need to hear the words of Jesus Christ, the words that “are spirit and… [that] are life” (John 6:63b). They need to hear about the eternal life found only in Jesus Christ. They need to hear it from us, God’s people!

God’s grace has saved us, not so we could live any way we want (we were doing that before God’s grace saved us!). We should use our liberty in Christ to “by love serve one another” (today’s Scripture). God’s love motivates us to teach Holy Spirit-indwelt (but denominational) Christians Pauline dispensational Bible study, and to preach to the lost world God’s saving grace in Christ (Paul’s Gospel of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Saints, as we reach another milestone, we thank you for your continued prayer for this ministry. And, we thank our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us liberty to publish God’s Word….

Lord willing, on to #500. 🙂

You can also see our 2011 Fourth of July study “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” which can be watched here or read here.

A Caring Apostle Not Cared For

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

“Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, we glimpse into the heart of our Apostle Paul, and what an amazing sight we behold!

Preceding today’s Scripture, Paul described the suffering he experienced for being God’s apostle of us Gentiles:

“Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes [whippings] above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one [195 scourgings!]. Thrice [Three times] was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep [stranded in the sea]; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen [Jews], in perils by the heathen [Gentiles], in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (verses 23-27).

False teachers and apostles were turning the Corinthians against Paul, so becoming highly critical of Paul’s bodily appearance and his apostleship (see 2 Corinthians chapters 10 and 11). The epistle of 2 Corinthians defends Paul’s apostleship. Today’s Scripture (and its context quoted above) is Paul’s defense: my sufferings for the Gospel demonstrate that I am a genuine apostle of Jesus Christ! Unfortunately, like most professing Christians today, the Corinthians needed to appreciate the special ministry the ascended Lord Jesus Christ gave to Paul.

What Paul wrote in today’s Scripture summarizes the attitude that every Christian should have: “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” Paul did not focus on his own troubling circumstances: He was too busy daily wondering about the wellbeing of the saints who were saved under his ministry. What dedication and selflessness!

Saints, let us thank God daily for sending “faithful” Paul to us Gentiles….