VIDEO Wall of Protection

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls. Proverbs 25:28

In the second century A.D., in what is now Northern England, occupying Roman forces built Hadrian’s Wall—a stone wall that ran from coast to coast spanning the entire width of the island. The purpose was to protect Britannia from northern invaders. Likewise, beginning in the seventh century B.C., a series of lengthy walls, today referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built on the northern edges of Chinese states to protect against invaders from Asia.

Walls, as protective fortifications, were common in biblical times. And walls needed to be maintained. If walls were allowed to fall into disrepair, enemies could make their way into the city and conquer it. Solomon used walls as a metaphor for that which protects people from carnal conquest: self-control (Proverbs 25:28). As walls could keep the enemies out of cities, self-control can keep carnal urges from conquering the godly intentions of the child of God. But self-control, like walls, must be maintained through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit. After all, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit!

Defend yourself against the temptations of the flesh by depending on the Holy Spirit.

The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself. Winston Churchill

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The Battle For Self-control – Dr. Charles Stanley

A Hot Meal

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40

Barbecue chicken, green beans, spaghetti, rolls. On a cool day in October, at least fifty-four homeless people received this hot meal from a woman celebrating fifty-four years of life. The woman and her friends decided to forgo her usual birthday dinner in a restaurant, choosing instead to cook and serve meals to people on the streets of Chicago. On social media, she encouraged others to also perform a random act of kindness as a birthday gift.

This story reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 25: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v. 40). He said these words after declaring that His sheep will be invited into His eternal kingdom to receive their inheritance (vv. 33–34). At that time, Jesus will acknowledge that they’re the people who fed and clothed Him because of their genuine faith in Him, unlike the proud religious people who did not believe in Him (see 26:3–5). Although the “righteous” will question when they fed and clothed Jesus (25:37), He’ll assure them that what they did for others was also done for Him (v. 40).

Feeding the hungry is just one way God helps us care for His people—showing our love for Him and relationship with Him. May He help us meet others’ needs today.

By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

What acts of kindness can you do today to show God’s love to others? How are you also caring for Him when you help meet their needs?

Gracious God, please help me to show Your love through my actions today.

For further study, read Loving the Neighbor Next Door.

Living in Grace

Experiencing the forgiveness God offers will transform every part of life 2 Corinthians 5:16-19

Before the apostle Paul’s conversion, if someone had suggested that he would impact the world for Jesus, he probably would have laughed. But God’s grace can impact anyone. Contrary to what many think, being a Christian doesn’t mean adding good deeds to our life. Instead, believers receive forgiveness and a new nature by God’s grace. Then our inward transformation results in obvious outward changes. 

Transformation occurs in many areas. For example, our attitudes change—salvation by God’s grace results in humility and gratitude. Out of thankfulness for this undeserved free gift flows compassion for the lost and a desire to share the gospel with them. Experiencing Christ’s forgiveness also results in a longing to serve Him. This doesn’t need to be in a formal church setting; we serve Him by loving others, helping those in need, and telling people about Him. 

While there are still natural consequences for our sin, God offers us forgiveness and redemption through Jesus. He made a way to restore our broken relationship with Him. What’s more, our Father transforms our lives so we will become more like His Son and reflect His heart to others.

The Living Word/the Word of Life

“Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” (Philippians 2:16)

There is such beautiful correlation between the living Word (Christ) and the written Word (the Bible) that certain Scriptures could well apply to either one. Such is the case with our text. The Philippians were exhorted to hold forth the Word of life, which presumably could mean either Christ, the living Word, or else the Scriptures, which speak of eternal life.

The same dual meaning can be discerned in such texts as 2 Timothy 4:2 (“preach the word”) and Hebrews 4:12 (“the word of God is quick, and powerful”). In fact, there are many beautiful figures of speech that are applied in the Bible to the ministries of both Christ and the Scriptures in a believer’s life.

For example, Christ is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), but also “the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light” (Proverbs 6:23). Similarly, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), but He also said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37). God also promised that “as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven,…So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Both are described as the very personification of truth. Jesus said, “I am…the truth,” and He prayed to the Father, “Thy word is truth” (John 14:6; 17:17). Finally, both must be received. “Receive…the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21), for “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). HMM

Steps to the Filling

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above….For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. —Colossians 3:1, 3

Now let us keep our theology straight about all this. There is not in this painful stripping one remote thought of human merit. The “dark night of the soul” knows not one dim ray of the treacherous light of self-righteousness. We do not by suffering earn the anointing for which we yearn, nor does this devastation of soul make us dear to God nor give us additional favor in His eyes.

The value of the stripping experience lies in its power to detach us from life’s passing interests and to throw us back upon eternity. It serves to empty our earthly vessels and prepare us for the inpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The filling with the Spirit, then, requires that we give up our all, that we undergo an inward death, that we rid our hearts of that centuries-old accumulation of Adamic trash and open all rooms to the heavenly Guest. POM135

[T]he Holy Spirit is God’s purifying messenger to us, bringing the water and the fire that will make us white as snow. Let us trust Him, let us obey Him, let us receive Him. CTAB042

Standing on Promises

He has given us very great and precious promises.—2 Peter 1:4

It is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a clear biblical truth; it is quite another to act upon it. God has given us many great and precious promises, as our text for today puts it, but do we actually count on them being fulfilled?

We have to be careful that we do not hold God to promises He has not given. I have seen a good deal of heartache suffered by Christians because someone encouraged them to take a statement from the Word of God, turn it into a “promise,” and believe for it to come to pass. Then when nothing happened, they became deeply discouraged.

One woman told me that many years ago she had taken the words found in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household,” and claimed them as a promise. When her husband and son died unrepentant, she was devastated. I pointed out to her that even God cannot save those who don’t want to be saved, and that the promise given by Paul and Silas was for the Philippian jailer, not anyone else.

There are hundreds of promises that God has given in His Word that we can claim without equivocation. Someone who has counted all God’s promises in the Bible numbers them as being over 3,000. That ought to be enough to keep you going if you lived to be a hundred. Be careful, however, that it is a general promise you are banking on, not a specific one.

Prayer

Father, I have Your promise that You will guide me into all truth, so my trust is in You that You will give me the wisdom to discern between a promise which is general and one that is specific. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Further Study

Heb 1:1-12; 13:8; 2Co 4:18

Why is Jesus so dependable?

Where do we fix our eyes?

Birth Pangs

All these events are the beginning of birth pains.—Matthew 24:8

When will Christ return? This question has been pondered much through the generations. The imminence of His coming provides the backdrop for everything the Christian does. Christ has not revealed exactly when He will come, but He has told us signs to watch for. The time of His coming is unclear; the fact of His coming is certain.

Jesus said that certain events would signal the nearness of His coming: There will be wars and rumors of wars; there will be famines and earthquakes; Christians will suffer persecution for the sake of Christ; false prophets will come and teach heresy, leading many astray; lawlessness will abound as people do what is right in their own eyes; the authorities will be unable to control crime. Because of lawlessness, people will become cynical and fearful, and their love for others will grow cold (Matt. 24:6–12).

Jesus said that the signs of the end times will be like birth pangs. The pain of childbirth increases in frequency, and it increases in intensity. Jesus said that the presence of war or famine or false teachers does not mean that His coming is upon us. These things, He said, are merely the beginning. He said that the frequency of wars, earthquakes, and crime will increase until finally Christ’s return brings everything to a finish. The intensity of wars and famines and other human crises will also escalate.

Our day has seen everything Jesus spoke of reach unprecedented proportions. If there were ever a time Christians should be alert to Jesus’ coming, it is today.