The greatest sacrifice, the greatest goal, the greatest privilege

 

Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Titus 2:14

Here is the greatest sacrifice; Jesus gave Himself for us.

Here is the greatest goal; to redeem us from every lawless deed.

Here is the greatest privilege; to be His own special people.  

That’s why we have the greatest joy and the greatest responsibility; to tell everyone about the greatest sacrifice, to glorify the One who sacrificed Himself, and to be worthy of the greatest title; His own special people.

From my diary,

March 29, 2023

Watchful in prayer, powerful against temptation

 

Pray that you may not enter into temptation. (Luke 22:40)An important reminder for every child of God, because temptations will always be present as long as we are sojourners in a foreign land and not yet home. The temptations are strong and we are weak, therefore we must ask our Almighty Lord for strength. Temptations  come suddenly, therefore we must always be on guard. If a sudden temptation comes, and the door is left open due to negligence, carelessness, and the guard is sleeping, sin will enter. The Lord has promised to save from temptation, but with every promise, comes a call to prayer. Our enemy is very resourceful, so we must be very vigilant, our enemy is never tired, therefore  we must never grow weary of turning to our Lord, who never grows weary of hearing our prayers.Our enemy has many weapons, but our weapon, the Sword of the Spirit, will defeat him.

If I am watchful in prayer, armed with the Word of God, the temptation will come, but sin will not enter. 

From my diary,

March 28, 2023

 

… Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips. (Psalm 17:1)

If the prayer is not from deceitful lips, in such a prayer the things in the heart and the things uttered on the lips are the same. The prayer is from deceitful lips, if I say. "Let Your will be done", but deep down I wish to get the things I want at any cost.  The prayer is from deceitful lips if I say that I rejoice in the Lord, but I seek  joy elsewhere, if I say that I mourn for my sins, but I do not beware of sin and do not sincerely grieve over it, if I pray to resist temptations  but I do not avoid the things  which may lead to temptation.

For my prayer to be sincere, my heart must be right. Therefore I will keep my heart with all diligence.

From my diary,

March 27, 2023

God will keep me

But the Lord is faithful, who will strengthen you and will keep you from evil. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

What a sense of peace and safety this verse gives me!

The Lord has kept, is keeping and will keep us from evil, will strengthen us in His Word, in the good works He has prepared, and His narrow way. He will do that not because I am faithful, but because He is faithful.

He keeps me from evil, keeps me with His Word, keeps me at all times and in all situations.

He is faithful when there are no faithful around me, He is faithful when I am not faithful, He is faithful when I stumble, when I am alone.

I have a faithful Lord. The Lord who keeps me, strengthens me, whose love is eternal, who does not change, whose mercy does not end.

From my diary,

March 26, 2023

Be careful when expressing wishes

 

 ‘’As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.’’ Numbers 14:28

It is foolish to want God to fulfill all our wishes, to grant  us all our requests. The people of Israel said in Numbers 14:2. “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!’’ (Numbers 14:2). The Lord said in verse 28 that He would grant their desire. We should be careful when expressing wishes. they can come true!

It is by the Lord's mercy that many of our wishes have not come true, it would be sad if the Lord had given me everything I wanted.

From my diary,

March 25, 2023

Hearing God's Word is a priority for those born of God's Word

 

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret. Luke 5:1

They came not to see miracles, but to hear the Word of God. The predestined are drawn to God's Word. Where the Word of God is preached, there the children of God gather. They came to hear the Word of Jesus, not because they had nothing else to do, but because hearing His Word was the best thing for them. Hearing God's Word is a priority for those born of God's Word.

From my diary,

March 24, 2023

Invitation to praise the Lord, duration of praise, reasons to praise

 

In Psalm 146 I see

1. An  invitation to praise the Lord;  Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! (Psalm 146;1)

The psalmist not only calls others to praise God, but also himself. To do otherwise would be hypocrisy. What we command others, we must first do ourselves.

2. Duration of Praise: Lifetime. ‘’While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.’’  (Psalm 146:2)

3. Reasons to Praise God.

God is the Creator (v.6)

God is the righteous Judge (v. 7)

God is the  Deliverer (v.7)

God is the  Provider (v.7)

God is the Healer (v.8)

God is the  Keeper (v.9)

God is the King (v.10).

And most importantly, He is my God.

Praise the Lord, Hripsime!

 

From my diary,

March 23, 2023

I will turn my eyes upon Jesus

 

 But my eyes are upon You, O GOD the Lord … Psalm 141:8

Unfortunately, I can't always say these words honestly, because sometimes my eyes are focused on my difficulties, my problems, my life circumstances, my dreams.

But now  I want to turn  my eyes to my Lord at all times, in all places, in all circumstances. I will fix my eyes on the Lord to overcome temptations, to gain wisdom, to find comfort, to run patiently in the race of faith. When my eyes look in the right direction, everything in my heart and in my life becomes right.  I will turn my eyes away from vanity and turn my gaze to Jesus.

From my diary,

March 22, 2023

Jesus is ready to hear our request

 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Mark 10:36

What Jesus said to John and James, He says to all of God's children.

He loves to answer our prayers, He is ready to hear our request. I have a long list of wishes and worries; thinking about them will not change anything.

Jesus is ready to listen, and I must be ready to tell Him what I want,  because if my wishes are according to  His will and  His promises, He will grant them, He gives everything He has promised

From my diary,

March 21, 2023

Quiet time with Jesus

And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” Mark 6:31

What Jesus said to His disciples then, He says now to His disciples today, to the children of God. He calls to a deserted place to rest. The Lord did not say. "Go to a deserted place", but He said, "Come". He did not send them alone to rest, He Himself went with them. I will not find rest in a deserted place without Jesus. We need to rest to have strength for service. That place of rest is the place of prayer, the place of biblical meditation, the hour of rest is the quiet time in the presence of the Lord.

It is necessary to listen not only to the call of Jesus: "Go and work in my vineyard", but also to His invitation to rest: “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest.’’

From my diary,

March 20, 2023

 

Sanctification: God's promise and commandment

 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Leviticus 20:26

Sanctification is a commandment to which we must obey; sanctify yourselves and be ye holy.

It is also a promise that the Lord fulfills: I am the LORD which sanctify you. Therefore, both effort on our part and faith in the Lord's promise are needed.

In these three verses I see that sanctification is from the Lord, it is His work, not ours. In all verses, the pronoun "I" is written: I am the Lord your God (Therefore My people must be holy like Me), I am the Lord who sanctify you (You have nothing to worry about, because I always fulfill my promise).

I, the Lord, am holy, and I have severed you from other people that ye should be mine. (the ones that belong to me must be holy).

Sanctification is required and it is possible. Sanctification is evidence that the work of the Holy Spirit is done in people.

If I am part of God's own people, then all the things that happen in my life all contribute to my progress in holiness.

The purpose of reading the Bible, listening to sermons, praying, having fellowship with Christians is to become more and more holy.

From my diary,

March 19, 2023

Holiness is happiness

 Here is my greatest desire - To be holy.

My greatest pain - The lack of holiness,

My first priority - To strive to be holy.

The person I love the most - The Holy One.

My greatest joy - The progress in sanctification

The constant subject of my prayer - The sanctification.

The most frequent topic of my meditation - Holiness.

When I go to church, when I listen to sermons, when I read the Bible, the goal is the sanctification.

For me the synonym for happiness is holiness.

Who can grant me that great desire? The Holy One, my Lord, who has separated me from this world to belong to Him և to be holy like Him. That desire will not go unnoticed by Him, my prayer will not go unanswered by Him.

From my diary

God is watching!

 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

Blessed are those find joy and peace in this verse., and blessed are those whom this verse awakes, inspires fear and prompts sincere self-examination. Woe to those who do not believe what is written in this verse, also to those who are indifferent to this fact.

The fact that God's eyes see everything and everywhere should cause all God's children to watch over all their thoughts, words, deeds and desires. His eyes see all things, therefore no evil thing should be before my eyes. Those who truly believe in what is written in this verse, who are persuaded that God sees all things, they see their need for sanctification, they see their own sins and long to be delivered from them, they see the foolishness of hypocrisy, the folly of secret sins, they see the need for self-examination, they see comfort and hope in every tribulation. How can I sin if I believe that He is looking at me every second, why should I be afraid if I remember that His eyes are on me, why should I worry, why should I despair?

His eyes are looking at everyone, but what are my eyes looking at?? May my eyes always look up to God in reverence, may they look within me with self-examination and willingness to be corrected, may they look around me with love.

From my diary,

March 18, 2023