All of Grace

But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

Paul was an apostle. He preached the gospel of God to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the children of Israel.

Paul preached the Word of God. He did not received it from men. It was not passed down to him by and through any human means. It came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul received and learnt it from God.

Paul was once called Saul. He was a Judaizer. He advanced in Judaism. He persecuted the church of God beyond measure and he tried to destroy it. He was a champion of Judaism, very zealous, outshone many of his contemporaries. 

But God had chosen him from the beginning of time. He had called him by His grace. He has chosen to save him and use him. God revealed His Son to him.

Paul's mission was to preach God among the Gentiles. He was to make Him known among us who were not a people and strangers to the Law of God. Thank God for His mercy and grace.

As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul did not confer immediately with his counterparts in Jerusalem. The apostle Paul did not immediately consult the 12 apostles in Jerusalem. Instead, he went to Arabia, and then returned again in Damascus. It was 3 years later that he met up with them in Jerusalem.

Unlike the apostle Paul, we don't receive direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. We learnt it from the Word of God through the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit in us. God had given us other offices. Some of us are preachers, teachers, missionaries, evangelists etc. 

Like the apostle Paul, we are chosen from the beginning of time. God loved us and saved us from the present evil age. God gave us talents. He enabled and empowered us for certain missions. We are special.

We thank God always. We spend more time with Him in humility and submissiveness. God must increase and we must decrease. He must have the supremacy. He must be our Lord at all time.

We do consult our brethren, and ask for their advice and guidance. But our Master and Teacher is God. God will guide us into all truths, and oversee everything we do.

As Christ's disciples, we do not lose hope, knowing that God is with us all the time. 

May God glorify His Name through us with each passing days. Amen.

Meekness and Gentleness of Christ

Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:1)

As Christians, we are told to be meek and gentle like Christ.

Paul desired to be meek and gentle.

To be meek and gentle is to keep our strength under control.

As Christians, we are told to keep our spiritual strength under control in humility and gentleness.

The world uses and abuses power for ungodly purposes. But we are to keep power under control for godly purposes.

We don't exercise our spiritual authority like the world does.

Our meekness and gentleness can and do win souls for Christ.

The path to spiritual power is through our weakness!

Often, those who are small have great spiritual power!

We use divine power to pull down earthly strongholds.

Nothing can exalt itself against the knowledge of God.

Nothing can escape the Judgment seat of Christ.

When the time comes, all disobedience will be punished.

Christians may be weak and insignificant to men. But they are not weak and insignificant to Christ.

God's power is at work in their weakness.

Never underestimate the meekness and gentleness of Christ in His People.

Heaven Rejoices when we Repent

There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. —Luke 15:10

Christian parents rejoiced when their children have given their lives to Christ.

They were so excited that they called for celebration immediately.

They wanted to tell the exciting news to others.

They rejoiced through tears...

The woman in Luke 15 had found her lost coin.

She called her friends and neighbors together to rejoice with her.

Jesus told this story.

He also told about a lost sheep and a lost son.

He wanted to show how He came to earth to pursue lost sinners. 

When we accept God’s gift of salvation, there is rejoicing on earth and in heaven. 

Heaven rejoices when we respond! 

Angels rejoice when we repent!

God loves us without measure

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

—John 19:17-18

In John 19, we read that Jesus allowed people to put a crown of thorns on His head, mock Him, strike Him, strip Him, and crucify Him (John 19:1-6). 

He had the power to stop them, but He said very little (John 19:11). 

He did it all for love’s sake to pay for our sins and to rescue us from punishment.

How much does God love us? 

Jesus spread out His arms and was nailed to the cross. 

He died for us, then rose again. 

That’s a precious fact for followers of Christ. 

The truest measure of God’s love is that He loves us without measure!