THE WORD OF GOD – AN INSTRUMENT OF OFFENCE

It is sometimes laughable the reason believers claim to be offended; and even more interesting is our strong conviction that because we are offended, a millstone must be hanging on our offender’s neck to drown them. This is one of many hilarious things we like to believe which in reality, reveals the extent of vileness of our hearts. There is no doubt that people are sometimes genuinely offended but every offended person must realize that they will in turn offend others, which is only natural, so that the millstone is definitely coming on their necks and will remain for as long as their offender’s millstone is hanging around his own neck since they did not forgive their offender in a bid to ensure he drowns. At the end of the day, there may be more people drowning than they imagined; for they also, may drown.

Luke 11: 4 “and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

We must be careful always to separate between offences caused because our flesh is experiencing pain of defeat by the truth of the word of God separate from true offences. We must be well aware that truth causes pain and the word of God is truth with the greatest potential of inflicting pain. Its purpose always is to bring about a circumcision of the heart and circumcision is a painful process whether of the heart or of any part of the body. Whenever people were circumcised in bible days, they were allowed a period of healing because of the pain inflicted by the cut which also needs to heal. Now circumcision is of the heart and the knife is the word of God; so it leaves a wound in the heart which must heal. There is time to “lick your wounds” before you continue with life otherwise you will make stupid decisions that may mar your life and/or destiny forever. There is an adage that says “the truth is always painful” and so it is; if you can’t take it, don’t seek God for He is truth. He wounds and yet, He heals.

Jesus, the captain of our faith, was a mighty instrument of offence. He unapologetically offended people everywhere He went so much so that they sort to kill Him. Yet isn’t it amazing that in all of these, His entire purpose for coming to earth to endure a painful death was love; the love He has for mankind particularly these very people He offended since He came primarily for the lost sheep of Israel. What greater love can any man have for another than to lay down His life for him yet they were offended by the very one who loved them enough to lay down His life for them and may have been stupid enough to imagine that a millstone was hanging on His neck since they felt offended by Him. Well, as we know, not only did He ascend on high, He is seated at the right of God even now. 

Hebrews 4: 12 – 13a “for the word of God is alive and powerful. It is shaper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joints and marrows, it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.”

The word of God is a weapon of offence. It is referred to above as the sharpest two-edged sword. When the word of God inflicts pain on us, let us bear the pain with a dignified posture for it would pass; you shall heal. Don’t waste energy throwing tantrums like a spoilt brat; your problem is with the word who is seated at the right hand of the father and not even the angels can hang a millstone on His neck for you. It is time to grow up. Adulthood suggests that life as well as the word of God will deal some blows but we take them all in our stride, the Holy Ghost being our helper.

AWESOME GOD …. A GOD WITHOUT A BEGINNING AND AN ENDING

I heard something I found very interesting yesterday. The preacher in my church during the Sunday Morning Service said his mum had told him that she often wondered why the 24 elders in the book of Revelation which is the last chapter in the bible, would take off their crowns to bow before God in worship then put them back on and take them off again to bow before God in worship repeatedly. She finally suggested that it must be because every time they looked at God, they saw something new about Him that ‘blew their minds’ which had not been revealed to them previously so that they could not help but bow in worship. I really do think she is right.

I have experienced God in another dimension; one I didn’t imagined and I am amazed again. I feel like as if I never knew Him before now and just want to worship Him like never before. Indeed you have to “see Him” to worship Him. Of course when I say “see Him”, I don’t mean “see Him” physically but having a fresh experience that brings a fresh understanding from deep within your spirit man which cannot be ignored. Worship is truly not birth in the place of singing but in the place of revelation of the awesome and mighty God. The songs are just an outflow of an inward experience. Indeed, one cannot truly worship God and remain the same. Also, the best worshippers may not always be the worship leader in the church choir.

If we must worship God, we must hold Him in high esteem. Holding Him in high esteem is definitely something that affects the way we relate with & talk about Him; something that affects our entire life. I have found out that worship is something tough to manage when you have not had an encounter with God or when you are operating in an old experience you once had with God which is very dim in your memory. We need fresh revelation of Him always if we must give Him always, the honor that is due to Him. No wonder; there must indeed be a lot of insincere, fake and pretentious worship going on otherwise God would not have needed to let us know specifically the worship acceptable to Him; which He says is sincere worship done in Spirit and truth. Jesus is the truth. 

I invited you to the Woman Cry Out prayer conference a few weeks ago and I thought to let you know that God surpassed our expectations. There are some things one can hardly explain about God and one of such things is His ability not only to indwell ordinary people, mere clay, the works of His hand, but also to use them in a way that only He can. You don’t need any other qualification for God to use you other than a willingness to submit to Him. He is able to equip you with all that you need. This is something that thrills me again right now. It just shows me how awesome God is; how can anyone not love Him enough to do His will?

God is right now equipping women, because He is raising them for a mighty work in this end time. To a large extent, the faith of nations rests in the hands of women. It takes a man married to a virtuous woman to be seated at the “gates.” That is a serious responsibility which we must take seriously for the end is at end and the kingdom of God is being established. The devil is one who understands our role and is working hard to lure us away from it. I thank God for the outpouring of revelation knowledge in the lives of women right now and that was what we experienced as we gather to Him. I pray that you will make the next woman Cry out meeting in March 2013.

THE CROWN COMES WITH A PRICE

I grew up hearing this “saying”; “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” I don’t know if it is but maybe because I heard it so much, I think it is African in origin though I can’t confirm that. My understanding of it is - being sovereign in a kingdom or being in leadership position has responsibilities that come with it which must be borne by the person in the role. There is no crown without responsibilities no matter how small the kingdom may be. Though Rehoboam’s final decision to enforce the increase in tax was based on the counsel of his friends, he had to take responsibility for it. It was his kingdom that was torn in two; a kingdom passed on to him by his father who got it from his own father David. It was not an excuse that it was the counsel of his advisers. You cannot “dance the dance of the lion if you are just a cat; can you act the part of the king of the jungle?” 

There is such a crazy fight for leadership positions in the church today even leading people to start churches of their own. Everybody wants to be in charge of one thing or the other. If things were to go the way a number of us want it to, we will all be in leadership roles and there will be no followers. We have a strong dislike for servanthood forgetting that leadership demands a high level of stewardship which is learnt in the place of servanthood. The level of accountability that is demanded of leadership is so high; it is not just acquired. Maybe some people have the seed in them naturally, but one has to learn to manifest it; that does not just happen. It begins to be expressed as we go through that period when we are compelled to learn as we follow others faithfully and without an agenda. For some like David, God was their teacher; teaching David through the things he suffered as he tended sheep and as he was pursued from place to place by Saul: learning responsibility from caring for all those who came to support him as he prepared to enter his God ordained role. When one enters the role, it may be too late to learn and even if you do, it would be at the expense of others. 

Proverbs 31: 4 – 5 NKJ “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it Is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.”

Let us not be deceived; every crown comes with a price. You can no longer be like everyone else and do all they do. Believers often fight for the crown but when we get it, we want the right to pick and choose what responsibilities we take on or price we pay. Sorry, no deal! We think it is okay to leave the responsibilities to someone else maybe even offer to pay them not knowing that every other person can only assist but are unable to bear the responsibilities for a crown they do not wear no matter how much they desire to. Such irresponsible leaders only do what is convenient for them and are always quick to point out that someone else made the decision so that like Adam, they are hoping someone else would be blamed for their misdemeanors. These are the leaders that believe the crown is only for showing off and enjoying the benefits that come with it. Of course there are benefits and that is all they want. Such people play games to get these leadership roles using cunning craftiness or even money to manipulate people who eventually allow them into these places of leadership. Please do not rush in there; you need to know that your irresponsibility may cost someone their life leading them to hell and we shall all account to God for our stewardship on that day when we stand before Him.

DECISIONS!!! THEY DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF YOUR LIFE.

I wish I knew much earlier in life the strength of decisions to shape our lives; I may have made them differently. Every decision we make in life, has great impact either on our lives or the lives of others so that it is absolutely important that we count the cost before we reach a decision or even actualize it. I always thought it really smart to make decisions instantly but I have since learnt that it is sometimes okay to take reasonable time to reach your decision. Making no decision is not an option; it suggests that you are entrusting your life to other people or even circumstance but never be under pressure to reach a decision immediately.

I also believed that one could accurately figure out what a child will become when they grow up from the characteristics they display as children but I now realize that it is not quite so. I accept that we exhibit some traits that are clearly indicative of who we will become but they are often the most ignored traits. Every decision we make add up to who and what we ultimately become. I have heard parents express shock because a child turned out completely different from what they thought. I have also seen people exceling, who were not so brilliant, as they learnt to lean on God and realized that they have a bright future in Him. Such is the grace of God upon a life and the power of a decision to follow Him. 

How we end up often has little to do with anointing or how book smart one is; but has everything to do with the quality of decisions we make. Jesus Christ, despite being the son of God, was at some point faced with the ultimate decision of whether or not to continue the journey to the cross to save mankind. I thank God He looked beyond Himself, His emotional state and/or pain to make the right decision otherwise; we would live and die in sin. I am often amazed when I recall some of the basis for some of my past decisions. Flimsy things like anger, frustrations, impatience or such other silly things. I thank God I still have room for all things to work for my good as I align with God’s purpose. 

Mark 14: 36 “Abba, father, he cried out, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

As I get older though, I realize that I need to be more careful in making decisions since I don’t have that much time on earth for things to be turned around for my good anymore. Our lives on earth are not eternal. This then makes it compelling for us to reassess our decision making parameters; and also to be controlled enough to think things through carefully and thoroughly before we reach a decision. It is sad when mature people are too quick to speak or act. Spontaneity is more often silly as we get older. Indeed, as we think things through, we make room for the influence of the word of God so that we are then able to make decisions that facilitate the fulfillment of our destinies instead of acting in the flesh. 

Romans 12: 2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

Indeed, the more we know God, the more our minds are like His so that we then make decisions like Him. Decisions have such far reaching effects on our lives that they ultimately affect one’s end despite God’s predetermined counsel.

WOMAN – YOU ARE GOD’S MIGHTY INSTRUMENT OF CHANGE.

There is no doubt that the devil has fought assiduously to destroy womanhood by selling us a lie thereby distorting God’s original. It is so bad now that women are selling women into sex slavery, even little girls are used for things too bad to mention. I have often wondered why the female is the most distorted gender until I was recently reminded that God Himself created enmity between the woman and the devil in the scripture below. It all then began to make sense. Satan surely wants to win that war, and may have been winning for a while; but Christ later won the victory for us which victory God is set now more than ever before to help us enforce the victory.

Genesis 3: 15 “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman”

The devil had almost completely warped our understanding of who we are; and every generation passes on this defeated state of mind to the next generation so that even when Christ comes into our lives, we are unable to alter our mindsets to accept who we truly are. We already imbibed the concept of womanhood taught us as we grew up which is warped. Though born again and tongue talking, we carry on like mere women operating much lower than we ought to. I believe that now more than ever before, there is urgency for the restoration of God’s original woman for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.  

I believe God has had enough and has started a massive work of restoration. He is fed up with woman thinking she can only get what is due her by being manipulative, deceptive and crafty: fed up with the woman whose life is about gossiping, bickering and all sorts of stupidities so much so that silliness became synonymous with female specie. This is not about women’s liberation because a woman in Christ is a liberated woman; for He whom Christ has set free is free indeed. This is about operating in that liberty with which we have been set free. It is about living and walking in a new realm which is far above the curse. We are now seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus making us more than conquerors and putting us way above the level of the devil.  

Ephesians 2: 6 “For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” 

Woman, in the beginning, was made a solution to the seeming “defect” God saw in creation. She was what God needed to ensure that His work was continuously satisfactory and beautiful in His eyes as He checked daily the work of His hand. Even today, God is looking to us a solution to the situation on the face of the earth. Institution of marriage and the family unit are all fast disintegrating, as a result children are going crazy and the society is totally falling apart. Only as we take our proper place, shall we be able to make meaningful contributions to God’s ultimate work of restoration and we can’t do that with distorted ideas of womanhood. I believe it is for this reason that God is instituting conferences like the woman Cry out prayer conference and several others all over the world. This is the reason we are inviting women to the “woman Cry out prayer conference holding on Saturday 20^th October at Best Western Hotel, Ahmadu Bello opposite Barbeach, Lagos from 9am prompt – 2pm. Please come and bring your friends too; so that together, we can cry out to together to do a work of restoration in our lives, families, homes and country.