‘HE’ SHALL COME …. IN JUST A WHILE

Service in my church this past Sunday was awesome. I was certain that the heavens opened during the service because the presence of God was strong in our midst. One of the minstrels read a scripture to us that I haven’t been able to forget since the service and I can’t help but share my thoughts. I pray that it will bless you as it has blessed me since the service.

Hebrews 10: 37“For in just a little while the coming one will come and not delay.”

I know that very often when we read this scripture it is to confirm that we shall receive all that God has promised to give us. So that though we may be experiencing some delays, He that has the answers to our prayers, shall come shortly with them.

As I think about his scripture however, all that is on my mind is the promise of the return of the king. That is the ultimate promise; the promise, the fulfillment of which every believer lives for – that moment when Christ shall return for His own. It is a promise that brings to completion all God has and will ever promise. It speaks of the fullness of our inheritance which includes mansions in heaven – the dwelling place of our king. The thing is; are you looking forward to the fulfillment of that promise? 

As with every other promise of God, this word shall be fulfilled in relation to the actual return of the king. I don’t know a lot about end time prophecies but one thing I know for certain however, is that with every passing second, that return draws nearer for everybody. Life passes swiftly and to everyone their portion of length of days. When each life ends, “the coming one” has come for that person. When He returns physically, He shall meet some people living. 

One thing is certain – He shall come and He shall come in “just a while.” To every passing generation, He shall come in just a while. Whether He comes today or in another 100years, it will still be in “just a while.” The bible notifies us that His coming is in “just a while” so that we never get carried away forgetting that we are pilgrims on this earth.

I know that this life appears sweet and really if we could defer heaven, I am sure a lot of us would. Also, the fact that one has to die to get to heaven doesn’t help matters. Death immediately severs one’s relationship with this earth we consider sweet. So we shut our minds to thoughts of heaven and think only about living life on earth. The danger however, is that we also forget to make ourselves ready for the return of the king. So, like the five foolish virgins we forget to take oil for our lamps. When the bridegroom comes for you and I; the call goes out announcing his arrival, will you be able to wake up and enter in with Him before the door is shut?

God is not going to do more than He has done. As with every other promise of God, you and I have a part to play that we may be with Him in glory. Are you playing your part? Our own part is to live on earth as pilgrims, on their way to heaven. God has provided all we need to successfully make this journey. Like the preacher said in my church the other day, we need to figure out what this extra oil is and ensure that we have some so we don’t miss the soon coming bridegroom. Are you evaluating your level of preparedness? Christ is surely coming. This awareness must be a part of our lives every day.

WHO PUT THE LIMIT ON YOU?

I have found that nobody can put a limit on us except us. God’s plans for us are just as big as His thoughts are big. He wants to bring us to really high places in any area we choose to be established. Of course we will, if we walk with Him, choose the areas that align with His purpose. God only has one agenda for those that love Him and are in Christ Jesus, to do them good and bring them to His expected end which is greatness. If you are a child of God, it is written - you shall be great.

Genesis 12: 2 “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

Interestingly, it has nothing to do with what family you were born into but has everything to do with what family you have been “born again” into. It has nothing to do with the level of poverty or wealth you were born into but has everything to do with having the Almighty God as your father. The God that lifts up one person: and then puts down another. The one from whom promotion comes? He Himself declares that He is the God of all flesh and nothing is too difficult for Him.

If all that is correct, I am sure that like Gideon, a lot of us want to ask God – so why are we in this state? Why does it seem like things are not walking out for us? I will not pretend like I have all the answers but I know one thing, it is often because we limit ourselves. The devil cannot limit our lives, he can only try. As often as he afflicts us, God delivers us. So that all we have to do is hold on to our deliverer. The God “that is mighty to save.” Sometimes, life itself throws challenges at us but then God has made us more than conquerors so that with every challenge we are ultimately victorious.

Judges 6: 13 “Sir, Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about?

Obviously, only you can put a limit on your life. I also realized that the problem is usually a spiritual sight problem – what do you see? You can only go as far as you can see. A lot of us, like in the time of Gideon,   live in caves and dens. Sin, challenges of life, attacks from hell and various issues have made us build caves and dens which we live in; left us impoverished and without instruments of war. It is time to break out of the dens. It is time to cry out to God to enlighten our understanding that we may see so that we may go forward. We need to see and see clearly. Poor sight is worse than blindness because the blind knows he is blind but the man with poor sight thinks that because he sees some things he sees well. If you see “men as trees,” you need help.

Ephesians 1: “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called – his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”

There is a helper and He is the Holy Spirit. He is able to open our eyes and remove every form of blinding. He is the Spirit of grace, power and our helper. Let us call on Him that our eyes of the Spirit may be opened that we may go forward.

DON’T MEDDLE WITH SIN! IT’S A DESTROYER

Did you know that the world does not want to hear anyone speak against sin? But then, neither does the church. I understand the world not wanting to hear all the sin talk because the sinner will then come under condemnation which will bring him to repentance and satan does not want that; but the feeling in the church appears to be the same or maybe worse. We have a strange type of self- righteousness in the church today that makes us angry at anybody that speaks against sin. Isn’t it amazing? Should we not be comfortable with a sermon that speaks against sin? Shouldn’t that help us reappraise and rededicate (where necessary) our lives particularly because we have to hear and hear the word again and again to continue in right doing?

I hope I don’t sound self-righteous here because I do have weaknesses but we really must address the reality of our faith which teaches that we are to move away from a life of sin. Not only did Jesus come to save us from a life of sin; when we got born-again, we chose to turn our backs on a life of sin. The shed blood is not in vain and we as believers cannot be seen to make the blood of non- effect. We must never lose sight of the purpose for which we came to Christ and the price God/Jesus paid that we may truly achieve this purpose.

2 Timothy 2: 19 “But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: the Lord knows those who are His, and all who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil”

If therefore, you belong to the Lord, how can you justify living in sin and unrighteousness? It is even sadder when we boast in our ability to sin and act like God expects us to continue in sin that grace may abound. I believe in the reality of grace and like the saying “but for grace….,” I truly cannot imagine where I would have been but for the grace of God. However, God obviously did not make grace available that we may continue in sin. Whether or not we want to accept this reality, sin does create a “dis-connect” between God and us. Sin does not harm God; but it harms you and I; it kills our relationship with God.

Isaiah 59: 2 “Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor His ear too deaf to hear you call. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will n0t listen anymore.”

Without God we have no power. If sin creates a gulf between God and us, that suggests that we are unable to attain to those heights that only God can bring us to if we we continue in sin. Do not let anyone deceive you- anything that upsets God is bad for us. We can only overcome through Christ so that if we walk our way out of Him, how can we be more than conquerors? 

Moreover, if we have the seed of God in us, we cannot be happy living in sin. It has nothing to do with how often you are in church or how many gifts of the Spirit you operate in; if you are a child of God, you would have to depart from iniquity. If you are a winner in other things, then you can also win in this fight to let go of a life of sin. You and I can do this because God is on our side and we are born to win every battle satan engages us in.

1 John 5: 18 “ We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.”

YOU ARE A WINNER…

You are born to win! You are definitely a winner if you have Christ. God went out of His way to make us see that we are winners. We are more than conquerors which means we are more than winners but we can’t find any term to describe what we are. This has nothing to do with how many times we fail or how we feel; it has everything to do with what ultimately happens because of who we are.

Psalm 34: 19 “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken.”

The fact that we are winners has nothing to do with the number of times we fail. No circumstance or situation should be allowed to describe us. Our failures do not make us “a failure,” God has made us winners and even with that challenge, you shall win. It is His word which shall not be broken. The only person that can make the word fail you is you. Not even satan can achieve that without your help.

Romans 8: 37 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

I recall the number of times Moses went to Pharaoh to ask that the Israelites be set free and failed. Despite the fact that each attempt was at God’s word, he failed; Pharaoh refused to let the people go. It took several attempts for him to finally let them go. Even the Israelites had considered him a failure because they were really upset with him and told him not to return to Pharaoh on their behalf. No wonder the saying “quitters never win and winners never quit.”

I have found that life truly wants to describe us and in a bad way. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. Don’t allow the world, circumstance or situations decide what is on your mind. We have to own our minds and decide what we open the gates to. Even when people speak contrary words to us, we can chose to shut out all the things we are not and God has not said we are. We have to be deliberate concerning what we think about ourselves. 

Philippians 4: 8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

We must realize that God gives us our lives like a plain sheet of paper and allows us color it. All He does is, like the parent He is, He guides our hands so that we color correctly. You have the entire sheet of paper in front of you and the crayon for coloring is also in your hands and not the devil’s. You have the power to color because the hands that guide you as you color are very powerful.

Do you remember the children’s poem about Humpty dumpty; the one that fell of the wall; broke his head and all the king’s men could not put him together again? Yes we are not like humpty, dumpty. Even when we fall, we have a God that picks us up. Have you fallen several times or are you falling right now? You are a winner.

Psalm 145: 14 “The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.”