My life’s pathway before the Lord

An Emoji devotions for Thu, November 11, 2021

Topic: My life’s pathway before the Lord

By Pastor Hans

Highlights:

A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked —produce sin. (Proverbs 21:2 - 4)

 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Romans 16:17 – 20)

The New Testament tells us time and again that the King of Kings will return and we are supposed to watch and be ready for his arrival. “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.” (Luke 12:35 – 36, just to mention only one reference out of the many). The main cause is the kingdom of God and all our efforts are supposed to let it shine, like it did when Jesus himself has walked the earth. He has sent us into the world, the same way his Father has sent him into the world (John 17, 18 and 20, 21) and he wanted us to win souls for his kingdom with a holy life as he has depicted it in the beatitudes and in all of his teachings. It is his kingdom we are supposed to be building, not our own.

 Exactly here are some dangers for all of us, because we all suffer from an inherent conceit with the tendency to believe that we are quite good people and that our path is quite strait and comparably well. Yes, we readily admit that we too have faults, but they are easily explainable with our deficient circumstances. Therefore we all believe that our own ways are quite right. It is a sacrifice to admit before the Lord that my own ways are crooked and that my conceitedness produces sin. The Lord weighs the heart and only the broken heart that is aware of its own depravity has the right weight. 

After the Apostle Paul has put down the theological concept of the gospel to the church in Rome, he sends many individual greetings to the people he personally knows. The church in Rome is in a good standing and he commends it for the exemplary obedience. Nevertheless he is concerned about the people who cause divisions, who do not serve the kingdom of God, but try to build their own kingdom with deceit. He commands the church to keep away from them as they intertwine good and evil. He wants the church to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. Evil has to be rooted out and that begins in my heart. If my heart is haughty, proud and conceited, I will produce sin, no matter how much truth I may spread. I need to be separated from everything that is evil. There is no other way to serve the good. People who ignore that are serving the evil, even if they may include some truth. Whoever serves evil will be crushed together with Satan under the feet of the church, when the God of peace appears. 

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, please search my heart. I do want to separate myself from everything that is evil. I am a sinner before you, but through Jesus Christ you have redeemed and accepted me. I praise you for your mercy and grace. Lead me through your Holy Spirit that I am wise in all that is good and innocent in all that is evil. Amen

 

Where do I go to? What is my destiny?

 

An Emoji devotions for Wednesday Nov 10, 2021

Topic: Where do I go to? What is my destiny?

by Pastor Hans

Highlights: Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God. (Isaiah 50:10)

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1: 19)

In Isaiah 50 the Prophet speaks about Israel’s sin and the total obedience of God’s servant. Jesus is sent into a dark place where he gets misunderstood, rejected and mistreated, but he knows one thing for sure: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!” (Isaiah 50:6 – 8)

 It is in that context that he invites people, who walk in the dark with no light, but fear the Lord and follow the word of his servant, to trust in the name of the Lord and to rely on God. The servant, who is the living word of God himself, knows the future of light: “The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. (Isaiah 60: 19 – 20)

There are times of darkness in our lives. We may feel trapped and stuck and every way out seems to be blocked. Peter is at the end of his earthly life, but he has two anchors to hold on to. One is his experience with the Lord himself, especially the transfiguration and the second one is the prophetic word, which he knows to be completely reliable. Peter knows that he is going out of the present darkness into the light and this is exactly, what is my and your destiny, if only we are followers of Christ Jesus. The living God told us the end from the beginning. By following him we do not know the details that are coming our way, but we know that we are called back to our creator to live together with him in his radiant light. Your destiny as a child of God is everlasting life in his presence. 

Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus for being the servant of God, who has set your face like flint and you were not disgraced nor put to shame, but given a name, who is above all names. Give me the strength to trust in you, like you trusted in your father. Help me to put my face like flint by looking only up to your light, as you are my light and the light of the world. Jesus, in your holy name I pray.

Amen.  

Joy of salvation and feeling bad before God

An Emoji devotions for Tue November 9th, 2021

Topic: Joy of salvation and feeling bad before God

by Pastor Wenger 

Highlights: You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:16 – 17)

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. (Psalm 51:10 – 13)

King David is in deep trouble after his affair with Bathsheba. God is his refuge and strength. He knows the joy of salvation, the assurance that God is his shepherd. He can call out with conviction: “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” (Psalm 62:5 – 7) Nevertheless he is now shaken and tormented by anxiety of losing the very stronghold he trusts in.

He feels bad and unworthy, he knows that his sin is separating him from God and he pleads for mercy: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” (Psalm 51:1 – 4) David is experiencing what every maturing follower of Christ has to live through. The joy of salvation, the knowledge that God has accepted me as his Child is indescribable. I just received life eternal and all my sins are washed away. God himself declares me to be a saint and he looks at me as if I would never have committed any sin.

 What a joy, what a glorious estate, what a reason to praise and worship the redeemer. With the justification, however, our sanctification starts under the lead of the Holy Spirit. In the justification through faith in Jesus we became a new heavenly creation, but we are still living in the flesh, which works against the godliness. 

The process of sanctification makes our life holier and more Christ like. At the same time it shows us how deeply depraved and unholy our flesh is and how much it still influences our daily living. The process of sanctification leads me individually to the acknowledgment that I am the foremost sinner in this world and that I am in need of grace and mercy before anybody else.

 The more I grow, the worse I feel concerning my own ego and the clearer and brighter the mercy and grace of God appears. My pride diminishes and my thankfulness for the Lord’s salvation begins to abound. Do not get depressed when you discover for yourselves that you are a failure, but take refuge in the Lord, like David did: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.” Your failure, your bad feeling will be the encouragement for somebody else to return to the Lord. 

Prayer: Almighty God, there is nothing within me I could be proud of except for you and your holy ways. Let me praise your salvation, let me confess my sins and my failures to you and praise you for your forgiveness and for the sanctification you are providing me. Amen.         

Representing the living God among the Nations

 

An emoji devotions for Mon, Nov 8th, 2021

Topic: Representing the living God among the Nations

By Pastor H. U. Wenger

Highlights: Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ (Isaiah 46:9 – 10)

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. (Revelation 3:11 – 12)

In Isaiah 46 God makes very clear that he is absolutely incomparable with any God of the Nations. He has carried Israel from its calling in Abraham and in verse 4 he even renews his vow: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” He goes then on and asks in verse 5: “With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?” The following description God gives from the making and handling of pagan Gods reveal how ridiculous Idols are. Years ago he has given Israel his law through Moses reminding them that he has proven himself with a strong hand. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Even then it has been difficult for the people to accept the one and only powerful invisible God, who declares the end from the beginning and brings about all he has promised, despite the unbelief and disobedience of his subjects. In the absence of Moses they quickly created an idol in the golden calf. Today, especially in the western world, people do rarely create visible idols, but it became common to violate the second commandment by inventing all sorts of ideas about the elements and the powers of the universe often related to the false gnosis the apostles fought against. 

The Almighty God gets often reduced to what seems feasible to the human mind. I see God as …, I worship God as … and so forth. For the Israelites the worship problem got visible in every new challenge. They always considered the material problem bigger than the divine power, although they had a daily experience of the supernatural force. In the end they missed out on the timely entry into the land of milk and honey, because they did not believe that God could give them victory over the people of the land and their fortified cities. In other words, they worshiped the givens of their circumstances more than the Almighty God. Nevertheless they were called to be an example for the nations and they were and they are still today. 

God has told them the end from the beginning and he does it again with the prophet Isaiah. Israel is still a sign for the nations and with it Jesus has made the New Testament Church to a sign for the world. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says to his disciples: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Israel and the New Testament church are God’s calls to the world to turn to him because he is on the move to come back to his creation, to uproot and destroy all evil and to bring a reign of peace and justice to the fallen world. He declared it from the beginning and we are the generation who has the privilege to see it with our own eyes. He made it know from the beginning, he brought Israel back and now he is on the verge to rapture the church, to save Israel out of the coming troubles and come back as the prince of peace, as the king of all kings and the Lord of all Lords. Eventually he will gather all his redeemed subjects in that wonderful city, which will come down from heaven to a new earth within which there will be no evil no injustice, no crying, no sorrow, but only peace and joy. 

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, please help me to be victorious with you by trusting you and by believing that your powers and possibilities are always greater than all the obstacles and impossibilities I am encountering. You have a way even if I cannot see it. You have told us the end from the beginning and you have promised: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” You know me as a big sinner and nevertheless you love me and grant me your mercy and grace. Thank you for ever and ever. Amen.

Factory Fitted Grace

 

An Emoji devotions for Tue 2nd Nov, 2021

Topic: Factory Fitted Grace

Highlights: 

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Romans 8:1

May God have mercy. The issue is, are we really saved if we received Christ on a Sunday and a Monday we were sinning. Do we really think we can outsmart God? Some were born again because they were touched by the message they heard about Jesus and they made up their mind to give their life to Christ but the next day they changed and continue doing what God hates. They know they were not doing the right thing but they keep on doing exchange of grace with sin after Church service. It shows that they pray in the morning because they need God's protection but not because they sincerely and genuinely curious about God. Do these people truly deserve God's grace? 

When we all surrender to the truth then we will realize our stand with God if we are sincere or not. The grace of God is factory fitted. It is undeserved and that is why it always has why you return. Because grace does not fail. God loves us eternally and that is why he never change His true nature of unfailing love. If we could be true with ourselves, we will see that it is better to stay hidden in Christ and enjoy the grace fully because God blesses those who diligently seek Him and stay with Him. 

Think about this, what is a Christian that cannot take the Bible and study it? What is a Christian that cannot sing a hour of worship to God and praise Him for giving us grace we didn't deserve. We must understand that if we truly love God we will create time for him in our lives. God does not disappoint and His grace is original. If we walk with him, we will not be put to shame.

Prayer: God I am sometimes unfaithful to you and I may say I do not deserve you. But I'm glad you are not human like me. Please take me to the next level of your unfailing love so that I will not be roaming about in darkness. Sincerely I truly love you Lord in Jesus name I pray. Amen 

Behave Yourself Wisely

 

Topic: Behave Yourself Wisely

Highlights;

If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive. 1 Corinthians 11:34

The heart of a Christian to Christian is very powerful that you must define your behavior otherwise if you are judged you may not escape judgement. If you say you are righteous, you must put your behavior in check otherwise if you were caught in what's seen as mischief by another Christian you will be seen as a stumbling block and an agent of darkness. Once such pronouncement is made against anyone, there will be trouble in the life of such person. 

The Bible made us to know that "Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding." Proverbs 4:7 BSB

When you are a Christian, You don't just open your mouth and say anything anyhow even when such thing is right in your own eyes. You will not just go to God's house and begin to waddle the Lord's supper because you are needy. If two or three Christian brother or sister sees you misbehaving and say in their heart "oh this is very bad attitude" such person being referred to is possibly in trouble. 

It is better to repent and consider what Christian brothers and Sister are telling you than to let pride set in and be released unto Satan to deal with your bad behavior. 

A Christian who refuse to listen to advise from Christian body will lose their reward when that body is glorified. Behave yourself.

I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. Psalm 101:2

Prayer: Father please close the gap of my dishonor with your body of Glory in Jesus name Amen. 

Trapped

 An Emoji devotions for Sat 30, Oct 2021

Topic: Trapped

Highlights: 

Never stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

“They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked.

Matthew 25:10 MSG

The tiredness of how things did not work out has taken some people away from the actual prayer and service to God. They have become in hurry to rush to get things work for them having forgotten that God makes decision with precision. No matter how we try if the door is closed, we must relax and keep praying. Keep praying, keep the oil in your lamp because while you need some you would not need to go again looking for salvation in the place where you have just begun. What did Matthew 5:13 

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Matthew 5:13

If you get trapped. Come back home before it's too late. Keep praying because the grace to return to your original light is still available. So that you will not get worn out and be rejected. Never stop praying even right now. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus I have walked with blurred vision and I need you to regain my sight. I still want to be a relevant part of you Lord. Send the breeze of revival and let me come forth as the shinning star in your hilltop city. In Jesus Name. Amen.