DIVINE RESPONSIBILITIES Must Be Treated As Such!!!

If we want God to take us seriously and commit serious things to us, we also have to act responsibly and take the ones that He already committed to us seriously. If we do not exhibit a sense of responsibility and maturity God would not commit serious things to us? Even if He did, He may not be doing us a favor because when the time comes to give account, as it would, then we would be found wanting and will have to suffer the consequences. Whatever God commits to us; business, wealth, talent and even role; should be considered divine and must be taken seriously so one can deal responsibly. We also have to be mindful of the fact that there’s always someone watching to learn from us how to deal with the things of God. It is better to opt out of taking on divine responsibilities than to make a mess of them causing the things of God to be disdained. Today in church, we want the gifts and places of honor yet we want to deal in the way we feel like. No! You shall be called to account.

1 Corinthians 4: 2 “Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.”

Proverbs 31: 1 & 4 “The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him…It is not kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol.”

It is true that we live in a very permissive society today but not so with God’s kingdom; in Christ our liberty is within predefined limits. Permissive as society is, it still has expectations of people in certain roles; otherwise Americans would not have made a huge fuss about President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky for example. Well, God obviously has expectations of us which He thinks is not too high a price for us to pay. The thing about God is that He does not compel you to take on these responsibilities and/or gifts so that if you choose to accept them, then you must be willing to pay the price and He will enable you to do so. If we ourselves don’t know these things, how can we teach our children?

Galatians 5: 13a “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.”

1 Corinthians 8: 9 “But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.”

Please let us not play with holy/divine things. The bible refers to these things as pearls which God will not cast before swine. Swine there is anyone who enjoys dirt so much they don’t know to separate precious things from dirt. They would inevitably bring the name of the Lord to disrepute in the process and against such shall God express His displeasure. One of our problems in church today is that we the adults/parents are confused and no longer know what is sacred from what isn’t. How then can we teach our children how to manage spiritual responsibilities? Remember that Lemuel’s mother taught him the way of successful leaders; what are you teaching your children?

2 Peter 2: 2 - 3 “Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.”

The Philistines died when they played with holy things; Aarons’ sons also died when they tried it. People are still dying today albeit spiritually. In Acts of Apostles, the sons of Sceva who tried to make a joke of spiritual things got the beating of their lives from a possessed man. We must show ourselves responsible if we want God to take us seriously.  

Your Wealth Is in Your Love For Him

There's no doubt in my mind that God was not mistaking when He instituted the gathering of believers. Sometimes things happen that make you want to stay away from church but if you take a general overview, and you are in the right church, you will agree with me that God definitely knew what He was doing. So, this past Sunday was one of those very special Sundays for me. From the workers' meeting to the Sunday School class and the sermon, I was definitely blessed. In everyone of these classes my spirit was enlightened and God spoke to me directly through the sermon. At the end of the day, fellowshipping in the assembly of believers is for our benefit.

Hebrews 10: 25 "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."

One of the things that was reaffirmed to me yesterday, is that our going forward in life as believers, is tied to our love for God. Also, that the more you know God, the more you love Him and the more mature you become. The extent of your maturity as a believer is tied to the extent of your love for Him. No one walks with God in love and remains the same. It is impossible. One of our biggest problems is that we have learnt to love in a very selfish way so that the question always on our hearts in our relationship with God is "what is in this for me?" and if God is not quick to let us know, we move on to other gods whilst still wearing the "born again" cloak. Before you start judging me by saying I am judging you please see scripture below which is apparent  evidence that some are not His. He also says that not all who call Him Lord are His.

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.”

Now the problem we have is with ensuring that we are His. Much as we would like to believe this fallacy, riches is not a determiner of who loves him or is His. Though we may find this tough to take in, He says the expression of love He accepts is obedience to His commands. So that His commands are no longer mere instructions to you but something you do because you know it pleases the one you love. You no longer obey them for the benefits but because you love Him so much you want to give Him pleasure. Yet He lets you enjoy the benefits. It is like God hides His treasure in a deep chest so that those who long for Him enough to dig into Him eventually get the best. Your obedience is now a testimonial of your love. God is careful about His pearls.

Mathew 7: 6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you."

The bible tells us that God is searching for people who would sincerely worship Him. To worship is to idolize and make one the centre of your total existence such that your life is built around him. You can't fell like that about more than one being. It's not even possible; we are not made to feel like that about more than one being and God knows that because He made us. If your total existence is built around more than one being that means you have idols and God will quietly step out of your life and in truth none is really very important. God wants to be that important being which would then make Him the only being you idolize. He wants you and I to love Him so much that we can give up anything and/or anyone for Him; to love Him so much that we fully idolize and worship Him alone. For our God is a jealous God.

John 14: 15 & 21“If you love me, obey my commandments. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

There is no doubt that there will be full manifestations of His blessings in every life that loves Him but like I already said, that isn 't why we obey His commands. We love Him so much we want to give more than a hundred percent obedience. There is no better way to go forward. That way you are certain that you are taking definite steps forward because the blessings of God are the only blessings that truly make rich and they don't come with "sorrow causing" matters as part of the deal. Love Him enough to forget yourself. David did so that though He was king, He could play the fool for God and He enjoyed the goodness of God after several years of running from Saul.

Proverbs 10: 22 "The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it."

A Letter to “My Friend”

Dear friend, as you go forward, I need to admonish you to show yourself friendly. Note though that this is different from choosing and keeping friends an art for which you need help from the Holy Spirit. It is best to let God choose your friends because anyone can be deceived into making a friend of an enemy. Indeed, if you have many friends, it is most likely that you have mistaken some enemies for friends. Though you and your friends may not be alike, you must agree on very critical and fundamental issues. Another thing you need to know is that all friendships are not meant to last forever; so enjoy it while it last and move on when it’s time to move on. Also, not all friendships are on the same level or exactly alike; you must discern who is in your inner circle. Jesus had an inner circle so don’t let anybody make you feel bad for having one. Some friends are closer than some.

Proverbs 19: 3 - 4 “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord. Wealth makes many friends, poverty drives them away.” 

Success in any form comes with its own problems; one of which is the people who feel the need to be identified with you but only for their own benefit. They just need to perceive that you will succeed and they start playing the part of friend. Though they are believers, they have an agenda which is the same as satan’s – to steal, kill and destroy. They desire to control and/or manipulate you with the ultimate goal of preventing you from going forward. The truth is they are not your friends and can’t love anyone other than themselves. As long as you do what they want and don’t go forward, they are happy; but when you begin to fly they hate you. Blinded by envy, they are unable to see God bearing you on His wings so they fail to see that their problem is actually with God and hate you instead for yielding to God. They will spare no cost to pull you down. Worse than enemies who will declare war openly; these ones pretend to love you just to get close enough to strike most viciously when and where you least expect.

Proverbs 18: 24 “There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.”

Proverbs 14: 25 “a truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is a traitor.”

When they do well, you celebrate with them; but they always have excuses for missing your moments and times of joy and/or celebration. Believe me, it is deliberate. You accommodate their wrongs but they amplify your mistakes and make mountains of issues that should be ignored always wanting to make you look bad and yet insisting on sticking with you. They blackmail you emotionally just to hold you bound unwittingly making the friendship abusive. Don’t let anyone do that to you. They are being evil and crafty; moreover, the friendship will still end albeit painfully. Worse is the fact that they are taking advantage of you and controlling your life; using you in the way that pleases them. It is most likely that in pleasing them, you are displeasing God and making yourself sad but they don’t care. We must discern our friends if we will fulfill our God given obligations and attain to the heights that He ordained for us. True friends are life savers; keep and respect them if you find them.

Proverbs 27: 17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”

The Blessing Is Not Meant To Destroy You; Find It's Purpose

There is so much talk of love in this month of February, so it's a good time to remind ourselves of how much God wants us to love Him in return for Him loving us, even when we have become great. He has also said that our love for Him is expressed in our obeying His word. So, as we trust God to bless us in this year, we must be minded not to get carried away. We cannot afford to get carried away by the "gods" of the people around us who get attracted to us because of God's blessings upon us. This is something that probably can happen to the best of believers. God is so desperate for us not to be lured away that He does a lot to help us build character so that we are strong enough to bear success "successfully."

Deuteronomy 6: 11,12,14 "The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations."

Deuteronomy 8: 2-3 "Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands...He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

From what we see happening today, just like the Israelites, we are falling prey to the "gods" of the people around us. God chose to dispossess them and transfer their wealth to us but we forget God and begin to think our wisdom and/or craftiness got us all we have. As soon as we begin to appear successful, our priories change; we take on the priorities of the world playing in their turf and even beating them at the worship of their own "gods." Anything one esteems so highly that it becomes so important and causes one to compromise one's relationship with God willingly or unwillingly becomes their god. These things happen so subtly that very often we don't know when we cross the line. The sad thing is whether or not you know is unimportant; when you cross the line you have crossed it and God is displeased.

Deuteronomy 8: 15- 18 "Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath."

I realize that it is indeed God's good pleasure that we partake of the abundance that is His but a lot of us never even enter into the fullness of that which God ordained for us because we get carried away by the "gods" of the unbelievers. These "gods" can be anything from cars and even fashion to handmade gods or even man. Unfortunately at that point, God may choose to leave you where you are at until you eventually start falling. Sadly sometimes we don't realize God has left us until it is too late. Israel did not realize the glory had departed until the Ark was taken from them in battle neither did Samson realize until his enemies took and bound him gorging out his eyes. We must be very mindful of God and watch out for pride which has a way of blinding us so that we don't realize that the glory has departed until it's too late. Sadly, people may continue to celebrate you even after the glory has departed; they may not even know that it has. The Philistines were still afraid of Israel until they took the Ark; they thought the God of Israel was still with them. You owe it to yourself to tell yourself the truth even if others lie to you. If you make diligent search, you will know when the glory has left even if no one else knows.

Deuteronomy 8: 11-14 “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt."

The truth is we are nearer the end now more than ever before. I do not fully understand all the end time prophecies but one thing is certain men are beginning to love self more than ever before which is definitely one of the signs of the coming of the end of all things. We cannot get caught in that trap. The unbeliever may not fully understand it because it is yet to be revealed to them but you and I understand it so we must make God the focus of our doings even as He blesses us. We cannot afford to get carried away. There is a purpose bigger than you for every blessing; find it that you may not abuse the blessing.