"For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."
—Hebrews 12:3
Dear Christian…
Remember:
Daily, continual, moment by moment struggling and fighting against sin is a mark of a regenerated soul (Rom. 7:15-25).
Dead hearts don't fight, they cannot fight, only those made alive in Christ fight the good fight of faith.
Take heart, dear believer. Keep looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).
The fighting can be fierce, but the Captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus, is always with us and strengthens us!
Keep running, keep fighting, keep on keeping on by faith in Christ and keep trusting His blessed promises!
The Lord is on your side. He will never let you be separated from the love of God (Rom. 8:37-39).
No sheep will ever be snatched from His hand. Be thankful. Keep rejoicing in the Lord!
As He has promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).
—Pastor S. Henry
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A CHRISTIAN’S SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER
My Father and my God,
YOU ALONE are the sovereign God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You have created all things in heaven and on earth, and You are the One who upholds all things by the Word of Your power (Heb. 1). In You, all creatures live, move, and have their being. In Your almighty hand is the breath of all creatures, and You give all creatures the breath of life.
HEAVENLY FATHER, You created all things for Your glory, from the tiniest creatures to the great creatures of the sea. And then You created man as the chief of Your creatures, who is Your image-bearer, the crown of Your creation. You, O Lord, are the Creator of all things. But man, by the instigation of the devil and by willful disobedience, has fallen from his glorious position as vice-regent. We now sin against You in all our thoughts, words, and actions. We are a rebellious dust who desire to throw off Your majestic rulership and authority.
MANKIND IS so vicious! All men in their natural, unregenerate, fallen condition hate God and their neighbor (Titus 3:3). We want what You forbid, and we are discontent with what You give. O my God, as one whom You have redeemed by Your glorious Son, Jesus, I still feel the pull of sin in my life, and I hate it. I want to be done with sin! I want to be done with despair, discouragement, discontentment, anxiety, rebellion, and depression! I realize that I still want things You forbid, and, too often, I am discontent with what You, in Your goodness and Providence, have lavished upon me and continue to lavish upon me daily. Me! The one who is unworthy of the least of Your blessings and truth! Thank you for giving me to Jesus so that He would save my wretched soul. I know I am not under the dominion of Satan and sin, but I feel the raging warfare in my soul against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Keep me walking in Your truth. Keep me resisting the world, the flesh, and the devil. Keep me on the narrow path that leads to life.
HELP ME, Lord Jesus! Mold me into Your image. Change my mind more and more. Keep me, as You have promised, in the palm of Your hand (John 10:27-28). As a sheep of Your fold, let me not stray from You, Good Shepherd, which I am prone to do. As the hymn writer Robert Robinson wrote, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above." Uphold me with Your strong arm. Cause me, more and more, to hate what You hate and to love what You love! Thank You for saving me! Thank You for true faith! I know myself to be utterly unworthy of redemption, and utterly worthy of damnation! I have broken all Your commandments! But You, the One who knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), became sin for me (and a multitude of sinners) so that I might become the righteousness of God as I am united to You by true faith! You, Lord Jesus, are my grace, mercy, righteous, holiness, forgiveness, sanctification, glorification, my all in all! What a wondrous salvation! I love You and praise You, precious Jesus!
HOLY SPIRIT, sanctify me! Make me, teach me, strengthen me, fill me, lead me, uphold me, guide me, revive me for Christ’s name’s sake! Make me more and more like Jesus, who went around doing good to all men and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. Grant me greater wisdom, humility, love, compassion, joy, and all the fruits that You work in my life. Fill me with Your holy presence and power! Bless me to live for Christ, “for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Bless me to preach Your holy Word. Forgive me when I rebel against You. Keep me from rebelling, lead me in paths of obedience for Christ’s name’s sake. Forgive my doubts, forgive my fears, forgive my discontent, forgive my stupidity in spiritual things, forgive my lethargy, forgive my lust, forgive my waywardness, forgive my indifference, forgive my hard-heartedness, forgive me, O my God. Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief! O Spirit of God, fall afresh on me and use me for the glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
Hear my prayer, O my God, for Jesus’ sake!
Amen!
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IN CHRIST
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
—Ephesians 1:3
THE CHRISTIAN lives in two spheres: the earthly and the heavenly, the visible and the invisible. Physically we are on earth in a human body, and so we struggle with sin, doubt, disease, fear, etc. But spiritually every believer is seated with Christ in the heavenly places and possesses all the riches of Christ. That’s why Paul wrote in Colossians 3:2-4, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” The goal of Christian maturity is that our earthly condition would more and more reflect our heavenly position.
BUT OUR TEXT says that the spiritual blessings apply only to those in Christ. The “us” that Paul refers to when he says “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” refers only to those in Christ. This is a theme Paul refers to 12 times in the book of Ephesians. What does it mean to be in Christ? How do I know if I am in Christ? When the Apostle Paul says, “in Christ” he means “union with Christ.” To be in union with Christ means you have been personally and savingly united to Jesus Christ by true faith, which the Holy Spirit has worked in your soul. You are now a branch engrafted into the vine, Jesus Christ (John 15). And you are not in Christ because of something you did. Being a member of the church doesn’t necessarily mean you are in Christ. How do you know if you are in Christ? Well, do you trust Him alone for the salvation of your soul? Do you believe that apart from Christ you have no hope of being reconciled to God? Do you believe that He died for you and imputed His perfect righteousness to you, and that you have no righteousness in and of yourself? Does your life show forth thankful obedience?
WELL, YOU WOULDN’T believe these things unless the Holy Spirit has worked faith in your heart (1 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:7). Everyone who truly trusts Christ has been united to Christ and therefore is “in Christ.” Your being united to Christ is evidenced by your trusting in Christ. And when you are in Christ, Christ’s riches are your riches, His resources are your resources, His righteousness is your righteousness, His position is your position, His privilege is your privilege, His possession is your possession, His practice is your practice. Are you in Christ by true faith? If so, then you say with the Apostle Paul, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
Friday Devotional: February 21, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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PATTERN OF GOOD WORKS
“…in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works…”
—Titus 2:7
THE SCRIPTURE TEACHES that true faith and good works are as essential to each other in the Christian life as the body and the spirit. Apart from the spirit, or the “breath” of life, the body is dead (James 2:26). So also, apart from the evidence of good works in the life, faith may be considered as dead faith. In other words, professed faith without God-glorifying good works is not the true faith that is kindled in the heart by the Holy Spirit. Not only is a believer to stand confidently on God’s Word amidst trials and temptations (James 1), but the believer must also serve his brothers and sisters in Christ (James 2; 1 John 3:16-18).
BELIEVERS ARE TO ACCEPT all members of the “household of faith” (Gal. 6:10) without favoritism (James 2:1-13) and to aid the family of God with a faith working through love (Gal. 5:6; James 2:14-26; Eph. 4:28). And so, the Apostle Paul wrote in Titus 3:8, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.” And again, in Titus 3:14, “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”
WE ARE REDEEMED by the perfect law-abiding righteous life and sin-toning, guilt removing death of Jesus Christ alone, but we are redeemed unto a life of good works for the glory of God (Eph. 2:10). As the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” A life of self-sacrificial service unto God is manifest by a life of good deeds rendered unto mankind in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, which in turn brings glory to our God. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
Tuesday Encouragement: February 18, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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