So Great Is The Love Of God

The love of God is amazing; the transformation it can bring to any life is immeasurable. There is no telling the extent of positive transformation that can take place in any life that is submitted to Him and there are benefits to this transformation which God works with us to achieve, albeit in the person of the Holy Spirit. Despite all the earthly benefits, there is still the ultimate reward of heaven, a place reserved for those who make Him Lord over their lives to the very end. What makes this love even greater is that God is working always to ensure that we make this heaven. He provides all the help we would ever need to succeed in life and also spend eternity in heaven.

John 3: 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 6: 23b "but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

All the things we yearn for like power, wealth and great health are good but those are things God can give to anyone because the bible says He allows rain fall and the sun shine on both the just and the unjust or righteous and unrighteous. These things happen for various reasons. The one special  thing He has reserved for those who love Him enough, in return for Him loving them, to remain submitted to Him through their entire lives is eternity in heaven. Our lives here on earth are numbered but eternity is endless. Eternity is the place where life is without end; God wants us to live a life of pleasure in eternity. Who wants to live in pain forever? The way we strive to be extremely comfortable in this world tells that we need the life God offers in eternity.

Mathew 7: 13“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 

The challenge with heaven is the fact that the bible says the gate to get in is narrow making it difficult to find it. It would appear that one has to "see through the eyes of God" to find it. Seeing through God's eyes is the problem; therein lies our struggle. To see through His eyes is to see things the way He sees them which suggests that one has to unlearn the way they know to live which is the devil's way and then learn God's way of life which is totally different. Change is difficult so that learning a new way of thinking and attitude is not the easiest thing. However, God would not ask us to unlearn our old ways and learn His own ways if it was not necessary and/or impossible to do so. God is not wicked nor is He playing games with us. He really does want us in heaven and there is a heaven.

Mathew 7: 14 "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."

Mathew 10: 22b "But everyone who endures to the end will be saved."

The life that God offers through Christ is life indeed. It is life that one must not take for granted. It is life that should not be ignored. It is so important that God paid for the liberty of whoever will desire that life. He loves us so much that He keeps the door open for anyone who would desire it enough to step into it and then He walks with us through to the end albeit to the extent that we let Him. The more we let Him, the more we are able to see through His eyes so that we not only find the narrow and difficult way but walk through and enter through the narrow gate to heaven. The love of God is truly without measure. It would give God great pleasure to see us take advantage of what He offers.

We Can't Go Forward Looking Back

I wonder how anybody can ever go forward looking back. I hate to admit but I sometimes find myself seriously looking back when I am set and really want to go forward. Sometimes, it starts with self-evaluation; I just want to go over the past so I can learn from my past mistakes but it then goes out of control and I find myself dwelling on past errors and remaining there until I start to be sorrowful about things that can't be changed. Of course, I totally forget the original intention and get stuck on my "musings" instead of meditating on the word of God then I find myself thinking on why and how I made the bad decisions. Also, in the process, awakening the pain of the past so that I become sad.

Psalm 119: 105 "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."

For some others, there is so much pain or dissatisfaction with their present life that they feel the need to think on the good old days. Unfortunately, these are days gone that can never return. These people believe their best times are all in the past so that they prefer to remain there in their minds savoring the joy of that  "great past" wasting valuable time. Dreaming and wishing that the beautiful past could be re-enacted would not bring anyone into that beautiful life they desire which appears to be eluding them. The past is gone and gone for good but you still have the present and future. Interestingly there is a much better future before you but only if you move on and on the path predestined for you by God.

Philippians 3: 13-14 "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

The truth is whether one is dwelling on the good or bad past, you are in the past and consequently, not going forward. It is in truth a waste of time because neither dwelling on the past mistakes or past glories will move one forward. If we must go forward in life, we must learn to live in the now whilst looking to the future and totally trusting God. The past must remain in our past. We should learn from it and move on. The Israelites had various struggles with going forward, but one principal one was consistently longing for their past life in Egypt. Of course that generation eventually did not enjoy the great life that God had ordained for them. There is an entire life before us and we must enjoy it. Instead of dwelling on the pain and glory of the past, let us enjoy today whilst getting a vision for tomorrow with our eyes on God.

Luke 9: 62 "But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Unfortunately, it has become common practice for some believers to talk lustfully about their past life as unbelievers. They speak about that life as though those are and will always be their best days. Such believers like to reminiscence  over their lives as unbelievers and sound like as though salvation is this sad and unhappy thing that happened to them because it stripped them of all the fun, joy and laughter they had and desired in life. They sound like Christ who came to give us abundant joy stole their joy instead. It truly ought not not to be so. No one who has moved into light should long for and treasure darkness. There is no way anyone can make heaven longing for life in hell. No wonder the Israelites who always looked back to Egypt eventually did not make the promised land. The Promise of God is that we enter that Promised Land, we must walk purposely toward entering that Land.

Hebrews 11: 25-16 "If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Philippians 3: 7 - 8 "I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ"

Greed Will Destroy You - Please Kill It Before It Destroys You

Greed is a terrible thing. It is sad that we often ignore it despite that the word of God has nothing good to say about it. It is one of those things I would describe as "little foxes that ruin the vine." It has been known to destroy great men including mighty men of God. Greed is insatiable; it never says it has had enough. It is a trait which should die if found in any believer. It cannot be managed; we can't live with it. No wonder the bible says Godliness with contentment is great gain. The profundity of that statement is much clearer to me today seeing how greed destroys believers whilst also leaving a number of us without character and/or integrity so that we are slowly bringing the Lord's name to disrepute albeit unintentionally. 

Ephesians 5: 3 "Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people."

Sadly, we refuse to see that we are greed driven even when we are; we mask our greed in several different ways so we don't have to deal with it. For example, we prefer to say we are "driven" or even very ambitious when we know in truth that we are greedy. I am not suggesting that it is bad to be driven or ambitious but the question we ought to ask ourselves whenever we make this excuses is this - what drives me or has ambition possessed me? Could this be greed? There is a fine line we must never cross and every believer knows when they have crossed it. The Holy Spirit always let us know. Greed may seem right at the beginning but greedy people never end well. 

Proverbs 15: 27a "Greed brings grief to the whole family."

Contentment has become an unacceptable word for many believers in my Country yet the bible says Godliness with contentment is great gain. We must remind ourselves that our God is the All Wise God and His counsel is always right. If He says we need to add contentment to Godliness, we must make every effort to do so. We cannot outsmart God; we can only ruin our lives in trying to outsmart Him. God knows a greedy man from one that isn't so that all the fine words we use to mask greed do not deceive God. When greed made Ahab and Jezebel eventually kill Naboth, they discovered that their greed was not hidden from God though they hide it from man as they lied against Naboth to get him killed. We must not allow ourselves suffer the faith of those two and several others like them. 

1King's 21: 4 - 6 "So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of Naboth’s answer. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat! “What’s the matter?” his wife Jezebel asked him. “What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?” “I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!” Ahab told her."

Oxford dictionary describes greed as an Intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food, whilst Webster's dictionary describes it as selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed. Greed and covetousness are intertwined because a greedy person would at some point or the other desire strongly that which belongs to another. Such people want all that is their's as well as that which belongs to another. Like Ahab, they can kill to get what they desire and yet want more. Such people unwittingly cede control of their lives to the devil making him Lord in their lives. Greed has no place in a believer's life. That strong desire is not of God but from your flesh which is obviously yielded to the enemy. We must learn contentment again.

1Timothy 6: 6 "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth."

Waiting On God Is Not The Easiest Thing … But God Has A Purpose In It

“Waiting on God” is a phrase often used by believers to describe a period when one is relying on God to do that which they know He can and has promised to do, either directly to the individual or through His word. The individual would normally be in the place of prayer because great relief is found in talking to God in such seasons of life. It has nothing to do with how righteous or unrighteous the believer is; I would say that this season in any life is an act of God’s will, with a good purpose because God it is never to destroy anyone. Believers find themselves here from time to time and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Let me add that it brings a level of maturity to the life of the believer.

2 Corinthians 4: 17 “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last very long”

Sometimes the one waiting on God has clearly heard God say that He has answered the prayer yet the manifestation remains pending. This is a tough place to be especially if one has several options available to them which may ordinarily not be bad but for the constraint of God. It feels even worse when people counsel you like as though you are stupid; they speak like as though you ought to see the options making you feel small in the process. They don’t mean harm; they just don’t understand that you see the options yet are not allowed to make a move. They won’t know that you not saw them but were tempted to go with them but for the constraint of God.  How can they understand your constraint; it can’t make sense to them and neither does it make sense to you. You wish sometimes that you could override the constraint but it is a strong voice deep in your Spirit which refuses to leave and you know that it is a privilege to hear that voice. 

Job 9: 12b “who can stop Him? Who dares to ask, ‘what are you doing?’

The counselors want explanations for your refusal to go with the options but how can you explain what you don’t understand? The only person that can explain what is going on is God; no wonder He chose to explain to Joseph what had happened to Mary instead of leaving it to Mary. A wise counselor would just support a believer in this place in any little way that they know to instead of proffering suggestions. Your support would mean more than anything else. The truth is a relationship with God makes many tough and unexplainable demands on a believer. I can imagine what Mary must have gone through not been able to explain to anyone, including Joseph, what had happened to her. Who would believe such a story? This is the place where walking with God leaves a believer from time to time? 

Psalm 115: 3 “Our God is on the heavens, and he does as he wishes.” 

Won’t Mary’s life have been much easier if the angel had spoken to Mary and Joseph together? But God chose to wait until Joseph made the decision not to disgrace Mary. What if he was so hurt and disappointed that he disgraced her? Sometimes it would appear that God not only pushes people to the edge of the cliff but pushes them off it as well; and then catches them as they fall. God’s ways are truly mysterious. For anyone waiting on God, please be encouraged. There is no doubt that you u will hear very discouraging things and find yourself in situations that almost cause you to compromise from time to time but please hold on because God never forgets his own.

Isaiah 49: 15 “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!”