Maranatha Grace Church

Brothers and Sisters,

On the surface, it appears that the problem of atheism is a modern problem, It is as if people have become too sophisticated to believe in God.  And these people even adopt an air of superiority because of their unbelief. But this is not truly a modern issue, it had been around for as long as man entered into rebellion against God. The Psalmist writes first hand about the state of unbelief in his time, "  ¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. (Psalm 53:1)"

A belief in God forces some responsibilities on the believer. Since sinful men and women would go to the extreme to avoid those responsibilities, they declare that there is no God. They declare it in their heart and in their actions. But the reality is, there is God, one day he will call every man and woman to judgment. 

Psalm 52 - 54.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Why did Jesus come into this world? The answer is simple, but most people do not know it. Christ came into this word to save sinners and give them eternal life , that includes you and me (1 Timothy 1:15, John 3:16). Only God (in the person of Jesus Christ) could pay the price to bring eternal life to humanity. The Psalmist had a hint of that truth when he wrote, " No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them— the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—  so that they should live on forever and not see decay. But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself. " (Psalm 49:7-9 and 15).

The whole point of the preaching of the Gospel is the proclamation of eternal life through faith in Jesus.

Psalm 49 - 51.

May the Lord rihcly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:2

Some verses of the Bible talk to us at a certain level that other verses do not. Although I always encourage you to read the whole Bible, not some isolate verses here and there, I have to acknowledge that God can give us a verse for a season, for a specific purpose. During a painful episode of unemployment, God gave me one verse to sustain me during that period. I would like to share with it you - Psalm 46:2. Not to exaggerate, I think for that period of time, I did say that verse to myself more than a thousand times a day. It is one thing to know a spiritual truth at the mind  (intellectual) level, and a totally different  thing to know that truth at a heart (spiritual) level. I had to sink the truth that "Dieu est pour nous un refuge et un appui, Un secours qui ne manque jamais dans la détresse", from my mind to my heart. And it worked. 

Psalm 46 - 48.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁶ Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.

The Psalmist must have been puzzled when he realized that he wrote verse 7 of Psalm 45, even now people are puzzled by that verse. The writer was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit while he was writing the whole psalm, and he knew it. Even when he did not fully understand the complete meaning of the verse, he understood it to be true, "therefore God, your God," was kept in the psalm. He was talking about the Lord Jesus without knowing it. 

Psalm 43 - 45.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I experience great blessings from this One Year Bible Reading challenge. I pray that you too see great blessings in your lives as a result of your reading of the word of God on a consistent manner. It is very encouraging to know that we are doing it together. Don't settle for a few verses here and there.God's honor needs to be our top priority.

 ¹ As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long,
  “Where is your God? (Psalm 42:1-3)”

Psalm 38 - 42.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I pray that we are not tired of the daily reading of three chapters of the word of God. There are so many blessings in reading and listening to God's word, sometimes I wonder why we don't spend much more time reading the Bible. There is a tremendous promise in Psalm 37, but to get it  one has to start enjoying God. "Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)"

Psalm 35 - 37.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters:

Suppose that the Lord Jesus himself came to stand next to you and told you, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.(Psalm 32:8)" How would you live your life afterwards? But this is not a pretend game, the Lord through the Holy Spirit promises to every Christian to instruct them and teach them in the way they should go, to counsel them with his loving eye on them. How I am living my life now? God always keeps his promise.   

Psalm 32 - 34. 

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Christians are called to live blameless lives. It is baffling that Haiti, a country that Operationworld.com, which publishes global religious statistics, says is 90% Christians can be placed so low on the corruption index, 20 out of 100. Since the Bible shows that God hates bribes, if we find so high level of corruption in a highly Christian country, the problem may be due to a lack of knowledge of the position of the Bible regarding bribes.

People who accept bribes are just plain wicked according to the Bible. Preachers and prophets should proclaim that truth.

Lord, I love the house where you live,
    the place where your glory dwells.
⁹ Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
    my life with those who are bloodthirsty,
¹⁰ in whose hands are wicked schemes,
    whose right hands are full of bribes. ({Psalm 26:8-10)

Psalm 26 - 28.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

We can only attach ourselves loosely to our material possessions since they are not really ours. This thought is shocking to little children, even to most grown-ups .The Bible goes much further in declaring that we don't even belong to ourselves, we belong to God. ^"The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1). So we should share generously with the people around us. 
 

Psalm 23 -25.

May the Lord richly bess you!

Brothers and Sisters,

The following quote made a big impact on my life when I was quite young: "When you know that you know what you know it gives you confidence." This quote is about preparation; a lot of time lack of confidence is a lack of preparation. An extra fifteen minutes a day of reading and studying can help us grow into better leaders. 

There are things that we must deliberately practice to know with certainty. David wrote, 

⁶ Now this I know:
    The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
    with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. ( Psalm 20:6-7)

Psalm 18 - 22.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Reading the Bible is the best habit that someone can develop. Readings the Bible is the best skills that someone can acquire; not reading about the Bible like most American Christians do, but reading the Bible itself, a few chapters every day is the best skills that someone can acquire in their life.

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?  (Psalm 15:1)

Psalm 15 - 17

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

God has a special place in his heart for the poor. We build our faith on the words of the Lord because there are flawless. God always keeps his words. 

⁵ “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
⁶ And the words of the Lord are flawless,
    like silver purified in a crucible,
    like gold^[c] refined seven times. (Psalm 12:5-6)

Psalm 12 - 14

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

We live in a time when people are afraid of giving their testimonies in church. It is understandable that a Christian would refrain of talking about himself. But there is a time to boast, and the Bible tells us how to do it:

But, "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." (2 Corinthians 10:17)

We should not engage our enemies directly. The surest way to engage them is to testify about the Lord; when we do, the enemies will flee.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.² I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.³ My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. (Psalm 9:1-3)

Psalm 9 -11.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

With great power comes great responsibility. Luke 12:48 tells us a fundamental principle of leadership, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

Speaking of mankind, the psalmist wrote:

You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet: (Psalm 8:5-6)

Psalm 6 - 8.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

David said,  ^"Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked" (Ps 3:7). Is there a place for such prayer in the New Testament era? Can a Christian utter such prayer? David was a king and a soldier. He had responsibility for the safety and security of a whole nation.

I don't think an individual Christian could pray for the destruction of his enemy, the Lord Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies. But if that Christian man or woman  has the responsibility to safeguard the well-being of a society, he must do whatever is ethically and legally necessary to protect that society. David loved his son Absalom dearly, but as the leader of the nation of Israel, he had no choice but to seek out the defeat of his enemy.

Psalm 3 -5. 

May the Lord richly bless you!