Give Thanks With A Joyful Heart

Please let us thank God for bringing us this far and also because He will take us into 2017. Despite all the trials and afflictions we go through, we can say for certain that His mercies are definitely unending. No doubt the righteous suffers endless afflictions but God delivers him from every one of them.

Life throws us endless surprises and some utterly shocking but there is a deliverer who is also a big buffer in times of intense trouble and pain; no wonder He says to cast all our cares on Him. His name is Jesus.

As we go from 2016 to 2017, let us ensure that we have Him in us so that we enter the New Year with Him. We need that peace and also joy that only He can give. Please determine to seek Him now whilst He may be found.

See you in 2017.

HUMILITY BIRTHS MIRACLES - ONE OF CHRISTMAS MANY LESSONS

It took God so much to come down to earth that we may be saved. The Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords came down very humbly. Humility saved the world.

                             

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity…” – Isaiah 9: 6 – 7

 

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a across. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” Philippians 2: 6 - 7

"Even though Jesus was God's son, He learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey." Hebrews 5: 8 - 9

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity…” – Isaiah 9: 6 – 7

 

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a across. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity…” – Isaiah 9: 6 – 7

 

 

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a across. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

                    

 

The Birth Of Jesus – Mary’s Encounter & Sacrifice

It is worthy of note that the Christmas miracle, Jesus Christ, was conceived like every miracle of God. Of a truth, God does not circumvent His process. If it is going to be permanent then it has to be done properly. So, God sent His word as a seed in the womb of Mary who was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit whilst the seed was planted, making God the Father, Holy Spirit and The Word of God (God the Son) active participants in this miracle as with any life transforming or enduring miracle. There is no doubt that God is painstaking with everything He does. He works and then checks to ensure that everything is done properly. He was involved in the miracle all the way, speaking to Joseph, leading Mary, preparing Elizabeth and ensuring that everyone else, including Simon and Anna, who had a part knew what to do. God surely knows how to and guards whatever He conceives until it is birth as long as we stay in line. His miracles in our lives only get aborted when we, the carriers of the miracle, get out of line. Satan cannot abort God’s miracle. He can’t even reach it because God guards His seed jealously but we must then be careful to ensure that we remain in line.

Jeremiah 1: 12AMP “Then said the Lord to me, you have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over my word to perform it.”

Isn’t it wonderful how Mary heard and believed all that the angel said to her? Though nothing like what the angel described had ever happened on earth, Mary was willing to participate as long as it was of God. She allowed God make a demand on her yielding absolutely that His pleasure may be done. The angel’s story was so strange that Mary asked how all he had said would happen. I would have been shocked if his response made sense to her; it did not but she believed God enough to yield to His will. From the number of times the bible records that Mary pondered things in her heart, she was certainly a deep thinker; but when it came to accepting the will of God, she just yielded. She trusted God enough to yield without thinking it through. Anyone who always wants to understand and explain God’s instructions to them and/or workings in their life, may never work in the miraculous. It is impossible to attain to the heights that God ordained for us if everything always has to make sense to us for us to engage. God does what he does and that notwithstanding how His method is perceived. Faith is relying on Him with even when we don’t understand; being confident that He is in control and will accomplish that which He has spoken and starts.   

Luke 1: 38AMP “Then Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said.”

Isaiah 55: 11AMP “So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void 9without producing any effect, useless), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

God makes promises and then time seems to pass and nothing happens; the wait then begins to seem endless and then when we have almost lost faith, God without warning, brings it to pass. The coming of Jesus had been spoken of by different prophets and for a long time He did not appear. Israel had been looking out for the Messiah to the point where they started to feel that their hope was going to be disappointed. They had even gone for years without a word from God but then Jesus Christ shows up on the scene suddenly. There was no re-announcing to remind the people of His coming; He just showed up. Unfortunately, many of us lose our miracles because it did not come at the right time (i.e. that time that man decides it should come) when God has His own timing and we often do not check for His timing when He makes promises to us. God is the Master of the Universe and the Governor amongst nations; He is in full control and determiner of times and seasons. He decides what time is best for a miracle. We cannot afford to be weary. We must continue to renew our hope and strength so that we don’t kill the miracle like the Jews who were tired of waiting and thought He wasn’t coming anymore. Isn’t it amazing how they searched so hard for Him and yet missed Him? The miracle that is Jesus happened suddenly and without warning. That may be God’s way of giving you your miracle which is too costly to lose. We need every miracle that is ours and we can’t afford to lose any.

Genesis 18: 14 “Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season (for her delivery) comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son.”

Genesis 21: 1 “The Lord visited Sarah as He said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised.”

The Joy Of The World - Announcing The Birth Of Jesus PT 2

Christmas! That season when we commemorate the birth of our Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ. Of course we don’t know for certain that He was born on that day but it is the chosen day for celebrating His birth; that the world may know that our Saviour not only lived on earth but was so humble that He was born of a woman and in a manger. He certainly was an unusual Savior. How does a personality so big show up in such a lowly way? We thank Him for accepting to come in “fragile clay vessel” and also for completing His assignment which earned us the right to total liberty. Humility obviously works with confidence. Becoming a baby totally subject to the control of man not knowing what would happen while one was still too young to actually do anything if something where to go wrong, is humility that requires a lot of confidence. It could only have been Jesus Christ our Saviour who would take such risks for us. Indeed there is a lot of humbling and risk taking for a miracle to be fully manifest. Thank God also for Mary who endured such shame and John the Baptist who accepted his role as our Savior’s forerunner even when it seemed painful and when he was taunted by men. This is an example that should enlighten us about God’s mode of operation in, through and for man.   

2 Corinthians 4: 6 – 7 “For God, who said, ‘let there be light in the darkness,’ has made the light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not ourselves.”

Even today, Godly miracles still require humility which start with God who has to come down that we may have these miracles. Every time God does something for man or in a man’s life, heaven touches earth; God comes down. For God is not “the thief who comes in through the back door;” He always comes legitimately which suggests that at least one person will have to be humble enough to be the vessel yielded to Him for the accomplishment of His purpose. It was once Mary; can it be you today? In this season, God still desires vessels He can use that someone else may have a miracle. Could that be you? I believe earth may have missed some “miracles” because there was none willing who would, like Mary, declare “be it unto me according to thy will.” I wish God would do it according to our will but He insist that it has to be done according to His will if it must be done. The interesting thing about God is the request to yield oneself a vessel for His use is often done directly and quietly. It is often a conversation between God and a man. As the process unfolds, God does not proffer any explanation to onlookers and often, not even to direct participants in the making of the miracle yet He is there strengthening and walking with one. However, the result and/or honour that accompanies that “secret service” is seen unlike the process. God knows how to really announce us so that we don’t need to fight to do that. For Heaven announced the birth of Jesus Christ and pointed Him out when it was time for Him to be revealed.

Mathew 6: 4KJV “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”

Acts 11: 23amp “and he continuously exhorted (warned, urged, and encouraged) them all to cleave unto and remain faithful to and devoted to the Lord with (resolute and steady) purpose of heart.”

How can we do His work if we have to also work at announcing ourselves? He demands our entire attention. He wants our spirit soul and body. God is to be pursued with singleness of mind. There is no way one can be busy announcing oneself as well as accomplishing His purpose effectively. So God gets busy with the announcing and also lets us know who we need to be spending time with because some relationships will never facilitate the birthing of one’s miracle; instead they may actually help to abort the miracle. At times like this, we must allow the Holy Spirit guide us into the right company and/or relationships. If God would take Mary all the way to Elizabeth and allow her spend a few months with her at the early stages of her pregnancy, I believe it must be important who we are with when our miracle begins to be birth. Much as Mary loved God and was willingly committed or yielded to God’s purpose, she had to be in a certain atmosphere at the initial stage of God working the miracle. No matter how “strong” we may think people are, words can sometimes wear them out so that God needs to shield them from contrary words and people so they don’t get weak and suffer abortion, premature or still birth of their miracles. It is never God’s plan for us to lack strength to birth our miracles when the times comes to do so. If however, we find ourselves lacking strength then we must remember that “He gives strength to the humble.”

The Joy Of The World - Announcing The Birth Of Jesus

Here we are again in that last month of the year which confirms that life is truly revolving like Solomon said - whatever is, will be and has been. So very soon it will be January, the beginning of another year which will yet get to December and it goes on and on. Sometimes the thought that it’s December makes me sober; I start to wonder if I accomplished all I was meant to and then I wonder if the unaccomplished ones remain unaccomplished because of an act or omission on my part or because God delayed it. There was also the fact that as a little girl, I worked so hard on Christmas day clearing up after guests that I didn’t enjoy the day. Ah! I forgot the weather, especially in the Northern part of my Country where I grew up; it was terrible around Christmas. So, December was not always the most exciting month of the year until I encountered The Son of God in a real way. Only then did I begin to understand that at Christmas we celebrate the miracle of all miracles; the miracle that is joy and hope of mankind - Jesus Christ. Of course, it is no longer that sober time it used to be.

Luke 2: 10 “But the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord- has been born today in Bethlehem.”

There is so much to learn about God and His ways from this miracle that may help us ensure that we never lose our own miracles. Though there are times when God moves to do things in our lives inspite of us, there are other times when knowledge of Him plays a major role in the manifestation of that which He does in our lives that our joy may be full. For example, it remains puzzling to me why God would elect to come down to earth and in such a humbling way just because He wanted to give us the miracle of salvation. I am almost certain He could have found tidier and easier ways to save us but he chose to get entangled with the reality of the lives we live here on earth. He would rather follow due process and ensure that He meets all His obligations so that on all fronts, He fulfilled “all righteousness.” Obviously, He does not feel the need to throw His “weight around” nor does He upturn process even if he could easily do so. Tedious as a process may be, He honors it. It is then worrisome that in ministry, we feel the need to have due process upturned for us because we have attained unto a certain office. This attitude of mind may have caused some of us to unknowingly abort our miracles ourselves. When God puts a man in an office, the unction that follows the office commands the required honor. If you demand honor for a man made office, you will one day leave that office, how do you then cope without the honor which is only upon that man made office. It is best to wait on God’s honor.

Luke 4: 14 & 18a “Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power…The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to ….”

God carefully searched for the right vessel; one who was fit and ready for what was on His mind unlike we often think He does.  If God took the time to search for this vessel that was “fit and ready for His use, then we must know that He would not use just any vessel so that we make ourselves unusable by God, slowing down our own lives when we insist that God must use us just the way we are refusing to be vessels “fit and ready” for His use. Our God would not have come down to earth through just any vessel, the same way He will not birth anything precious through just anyone. If our desire is for Him to work wonders through us, then we must make ourselves “fit” for His use. It is the responsibility of each vessel to make themselves fit and ready and God’s job to choose the particular one required for an assignment. A vessel does not choose His assignment, that is The Master’s job; but the vessel accepts the responsibility and runs with the God given vision just like Mary did. I don’t think anyone ever fully understands the extent of an assignment until it begins to unfold as they run with it. The Holy Spirit is like the guiding compass showing us which way to go but the decision to go is always ours.

2 Timothy 2: 21 “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.”

Since God would Himself follow process, then we must know that with every assignment, He would be very interested in the means and not just the end. He defines the way we are to carry out this assignment and expects us to follow that path. We don’t please God when we do it our way and expect Him to accept it because we completed the assignment. We are to give Him acceptable service and the standard of acceptability is set by Him. It is our job to find out “the how” and do it. The Holy Spirit is given as our helper as we navigate our God given assignments. No matter how difficult or burdensome God given assignments may be, God is available to help us through. He often does not resolve the difficulties before we encounter them but if we choose to press forward when we encounter them, He goes ahead of us to resolve them. He did not speak to Joseph about Mary’s pregnancy until Mary had the difficult conversation with Joseph and went through the pain of thinking her engagement had been called off. He could have stepped before that happened. Don’t abort your miracle because of the difficulties you encounter; God will come through.

I Don’t Have It Together Yet; But I Am On My Way

This past Sunday, I had another opportunity to be in church as our choir rehearsed. I enjoy spending time with these young people I love so much, often having fun at their expense as they work so hard at putting songs together that God may be glorified; which they do because they love God. Our choir is not paid. Every time I watch them rehearse, I see the beauty of God’s handiwork. Every one of them is as unique as their voices are unique. The personalities are so different that it is visible in the way they sing, stand or even respond when they are corrected. It is so beautiful to see the different voices and personalities come together to produce a symphony when the song eventually comes together; but there is so much chaos on different levels before it comes together. The more they work on a song, the more the confusion seems to increase; sometimes to the point where I need to be reassured that they will eventually get it together. Then, it gets even more confusing and then suddenly, symphony/masterpiece.

Ecclesiastes 3: 11 “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.”

Sometimes, as I watch the seeming chaos, I wonder - isn’t this indicative of how God often works in our lives? There are times when one’s life is so mixed up that one wonders – is God confused or has He lost control of this? He seems to start a good work which begins by unfolding nicely and in a way that’s understandable. Then just as one begins to think how great life is, everything begins to go in a troubling direction. Before long, it is going in so many directions that one is confused and struggling to get a grip whilst also trying to keep the chaos, a secret. By this time, you are certain satan has taken over. Then suddenly! The manifestation of God’s word and everything is beautiful. Of course, the secret you struggled so hard to hide isn’t a secret because God has permitted for it “to be shouted on the roof top” and not because it makes Him happy to make you look silly, confused, forsaken, dejected; it is all part of the process. It is evidence that it is God, who works from the inside out, at work. Pride makes us see the process as demeaning so we put all our energy into acting like we have it together and miss responding appropriately. Unfortunately, we don’t realize that it is impossible to demean what/who God has made valuable but God is mindful of that. He knows as He works that our value is not tied to what we are going through; but to the price He paid for us which is the blood of Jesus. Just like the choir puts the chaos behind them when the song is finally done publicly, we must be confident that “rehearsal and/or chaos’ will pass and our lives put on display, as we worship God daily, until we need to “rehearse for another program.” Remember - every rehearsal takes one higher.

Lamentations 3: 31 – 33 “For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.”

Philippians 3: 12 – 13 “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection…no, dear brothers and sister, I have not achieved it.”

As the choir members position for the hard work of rehearsing the songs, I see all the beauty waiting to be tapped; voices with tremendous possibilities, yet some will never be tapped and for the silliest reasons. Some just hate to be corrected because they feel demeaned when corrected all because they feel worthless since they have tied their worth to performance as singers. Some feel embarrassed when people laugh as they sing funny and this is again because they don’t understand the reality of their worth. Do it right or wrong, people laugh or don’t, none of these impact on our worth. Indeed, it is our worth that gives us the standing to do these things we do. Sadly, many believers will never fulfill their destiny because “they feel the need to act like they know it all.” Unlike Paul, we count ourselves to have or desire to be perceived as having “apprehended.” This is a trait we acquired from the world which we must die to. It is pride and pride in any form, destroys. We don’t know everything otherwise we will be God. Indeed, you look silly when you pretend like you do and it is a trick of the devil to make you look silly. Our value was predetermined by God when He paid for our lives with the blood of Jesus Christ. We are not valuable because of what we do or can’t do and gifts we have or don’t have or how knowledgeable we are, but because God made us so. So it is okay to be wrong and everyone laugh as long as you are teachable. It is great to be taught and to accept correction. The confidence that knowing one’s worth brings to their life is amazing; it is beautiful and makes it easy to be teachable.  

Ephesians 2: 10 “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Your process is meant to bless someone else. We read all Paul went through including his fears and they encourage us today; please let God make you a blessing as He promised. If your pain encourages someone else and gives them hope, then you are a blessing. Your process does not devalue you; nothing and no one but you can. If Paul said he didn’t know it all at that point in His life, we know you don’t so don’t bother. God is looking for openness and sincerity. Just keep working at it as often as you fail. You are a winner nonetheless. Moreover, if you find that what you are working at isn’t for you, don’t be ashamed to change. Keep working at whatever your hands find to do. One person sings beautifully and other doesn’t but they are all valuable; maybe one person just needs to work harder. Do not envy those doing better please; just work at it.  

We Must Honor The Holy Spirit; He is Our God & Helper

Respect is a major part of any relationship. Without respect, relationships will eventually die no matter how much love the parties profess for each other. Disrespect destroys relationships and it is disrespectful to lie against any one. We cannot claim to love and respect anyone and so easily drag their name “in mud”. The Holy Spirit is the closest friend we can ever have as believers and our God given Helper; if we must keep and grow our relationship with Him, we must learn to treat Him as God that He is. He is given to remain with us, helping in all areas of our lives; it is wise to take advantage of this God given help. Sadly, we may not get the best of this relationship if we continue to treat Him in the way we often do. We ignore Him and when we do acknowledge His presence in our lives, we often just use Him; claiming to have heard Him when we haven’t, we use His name to authenticate and/or justify our position. A lie is a lie and we seem to willfully lie against Him. It is indeed true that learning to hear His voice is a process in the course of which we may mistake other voices for His but to lie out rightly against Him is terrible.

 

Mathew 12: 31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven-except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.”

 

Even whilst in the process of getting familiar with His voice, if we think we have heard Him, we must check what we heard against The Written Word and even going on to get two or three witnesses as we are counselled to do by the bible. To insist we know His voice when we really are only on the way to getting familiar with it, may cost us dearly. It isn’t something we should do for any reason; especially not just to “belong to the spiritual group” or as a joke as some of us seem to think it is. Indeed, those will be sure ways to ensure that one never is able to hear Him since that would grieve Him. It would seem like “familiarity is breeding contempt” in our relationship with Him. It appears a lot of us believe He is the least person of the Trinity so we can get away with just saying anything against Him but it is not so. If there is one person of The Trinity we have to be most careful with, then it would be Him. He is extremely sensitive and His departure from a life may or may not be marked by drama but His absence makes as much difference as His presence does. The absence of the Holy Spirit, is the absence of the Godhead. When He leaves, The Father and Son do not remain. He is the evidence of the presence of God in any life.

 

Ephesians 4: 30ampc “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (do not offend or vex or sadden Him,) by whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).”

 

He carries the fullness of the power of the God Head. So when God says we should not grieve Him, It is a warning to be taken seriously. Ananias and Sapphira grieved Him enough to lose their lives. We forget that He is God and no less God. The mind of man struggles with understanding the concept of “The Trinity” and if we manage to accept it, it becomes even tougher to understand that they are all equally God so we tell ourselves that it is a case of “great, greater, greatest” appropriating the least position of “great” to the Holy Spirit when He is indeed God with all the characteristics and power of God. It would appear that our desire to always feel extremely intelligent and/or intellectual and also show that we understand and can explain God to the fullest is posing a major danger to us. This desire is unwittingly causing us to, in our minds, reduce God to a concept that our minds can understand even when scriptures make it clear that the mind of man can never fully grasp the extent of God’s greatness. So all we are doing really is thinking up foolish ideas which is in itself, dangerous.

 

Romans 1: 21b “And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God is like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools.”

 

When we begin to believe that we have God figured out, we have the tendency to think we can outsmart Him or somehow successfully go around His instructions which is what happened to Ananias and Sapphira who for this reason, lost their lives. Undermining God, albeit with good reasons, never produces good results. Lying against the Holy Spirit, is undermining Him. To deliberately use His name knowing that He said nothing, is terrible. We have so trivialized Him that we seem to believe that there are no consequences to lying against Him. Please be advised, we don’t have to use his name for our opinion to be correct and respected. The bible says we have the mind of Christ so that if we have a close relationship with the Godhead, we will think like them and speak their minds. Our mind will think their thoughts so that we will often express on earth, heaven's mind when we make decisions and though it may take a while, those we want so desperately to impress, will eventually find that our decisions align with God’s mind. As we grow in our walk with God, we will make mistakes, it is all part of the growth process, but we do not need to willfully lie against the Holy Spirit.

Ingratitude Is A Destiny Destroyer

Recently, I have realized more than ever before, the need to be grateful especially to God for all His goodness to us. Indeed just who He is to us is enough reason to be forever grateful. Gratitude to God is not just for God, it also helps us to be who we ought to be that we may accomplish all He has ordained for us because one has to “stand to accomplish”. It is possible to “accomplish” a lot in life and yet accomplish nothing that God made one for; and in God’s eyes, such persons have accomplished nothing. Of course that isn’t God’s plan for any of His children but I have found that ingrates will not accomplish their God established purpose except such persons repent of ingratitude. The root cause of a lot of challenges we have, may very well be ingratitude; a selfish or self-centered person is very ungrateful because “you never do enough for them” and that is also their attitude toward God so that eventually such persons are given over to a reprobate mind though they attend every church service and may even be ministers with great knowledge of scriptures and even spiritual gifts. Unappreciative persons often make themselves tools for use by the enemy.

Romans 1: 18 & 21 “But God shows His anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness … Yes, they knew God, but they won’t worship him as God or even give him thanks.”

So many unbelievers want to enjoy what we have as believers. They look at believers and see the joy and peace we enjoy whether rich or poor. They see the calmness around believers even when they may be going through challenges and these unbelievers want those things; yet, we who received grace to receive salvation are so ungrateful for what we have that we long for what the unbeliever would prefer to give up for what we have. Since we don’t appreciate what we have, we are unable to see the beauty of it. We came to Christ and then lost appreciation for and interest in what He provides; some of us even dare to be disappointed in Him because we claim He is too slow to deliver on His promises and all because we are a generation of people who want instant gratification. We hate to wait for anything so we don’t see or even appreciate the things He does whilst He is working to fulfill His promises at the appointed time. We lose patience mostly because we lose sight of our inheritance in Christ and see nothing happening that we ought to appreciate and all because we want what the others have. Gratitude will help us hold on whilst God is working.

Genesis 25: 32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation! Said Esau. ‘What good is my birthright to me now’?

Ingratitude is really destructive and I would like to suggest that it may have been the root cause of Esau’s problem. It would appear like the young man had no appreciation for his role as first born so he gave it up easily. He did not see the immediate benefits of it and was too blinded to see even the future benefits of the role. I suspect that he may even have envied the way his mother treated his younger brother with fondness which is not unusual with mothers and their last born, so that his position lost its appeal to him and he probably hated being the older one at that point in his life. Unfortunately, by the time he realized that there were benefits for which he should be grateful, he already lost the right to those benefits for his initial lack of respect and gratitude for that role. He wanted what his brother had and when he got it, he found he wanted it and his too but we often have to choose one because God does not allow us all. We can’t be believers and yet be unbelievers. We often lose our right to the benefits of our inheritance because we “sell our place for pottage” just like Adam and Eve did in the beginning. If only we appreciate what we have enough to hold on to it and delay gratification which shall surely come.  

Hebrews 10: 35 – 36 “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

Isaiah 1: 17 “Learn to do good. Seek justice.”

I have heard people argue that it comes to some others more easily to be thankful or appreciative because they were taught by their parents to appreciate everything they get. Though that may be true, it is never too late to learn good and good can be learned at any point in our lives because the bible instructs us to learn good. We have to learn to be appreciative so that we can accomplish our God ordained destiny. The cost of ingratitude to us is too high. It could even cost us heaven because an ungrateful person will end up Lord of their own lives and that notwithstanding that they are church going Pentecostals. As my Pastor often says, learning to be appreciative is “enlightened self-preservation”. You are not too young or old to learn to be thankful.

We Are Who We Are Despite Our Economic Climate

For a while now, my Country’s economy has been greatly challenged. It is therefore not strange to find people, including believers, going through great difficulty all around us. There are also people around us, including believers, whose lives have greatly improved in this time. Unfortunately, some such people have made this remarkable progress by inflicting pain on our ‘neighbors’ and misusing them. People toil whilst some others are greatly enriched by their toiling; hardly doing anything themselves. These beneficiaries, some of whom are believers, enjoy the benefits of other people’s labor and owe them wages forever or refuse to give them appropriate remuneration whilst they live the lives others can only dream off or even better than they themselves ever dreamt of. These believers live lavish lives built on injustice and argue that they do their staff great favor hiring them though they pay next to nothing and use them for unreasonably long hours because the economic climate has adversely impacted on employment rate making it really difficult to get jobs. We forget that God already stated in His word how we ought to deal with staff and also that this is our opportunity to shine as light in darkness. How is it okay for us to do such injustice and claim to be “friends and children of a just and righteous God?”

Jeremiah 22: 13amp “woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his (upper) chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor’s service without wages and does not give him his pay (for his work)”

This economic climate is beginning to separate between believers and believers. It is revealing the hearts of a number of us and showing us the extent of our love for and trust (faith) in God. So how much do you love and trust Him? We claim to trust Him but really have no faith in Him. We have, like Esau, sold our birthright for pottage because we could not just eat anything other than what we want to eat at the time we want to eat it. Like Esau, we “want what we want when we want it” so unwittingly, we have given up our inheritance. Remember that satan seeks opportunities like this to ruin us but for God’s grace and mercy. As the devil works passionately at this time seeking whom he may destroy, we have to insist on remaining who we are – Christ disciples. We can’t afford to sell our inheritance. Interestingly, as it was with Esau, one may not immediately realize the consequences of their decision or decisions until a day when they may need to make a demand on God’s word and find that they since lost the right to make that demand because of such wrong decisions made in the heat of passion and it may be too late to alter the consequence(s) of the initial decision like it was with Esau.

Genesis 25: 30 – 32 “Esau said to Jacob, ‘I am starved! Give me some of that red stew! … all right Jacob replied, ‘but trade me your rights as the firstborn son’ … ‘First you must swear that your birthright is mine.’ So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.”

Believers have been known to suffer untold loss for lack of faith; we must not submit to the loser’s life because of our current economic climate which will change. We can’t afford to, by our actions, unwittingly reject help from God which is the trap a number of us are falling into because we think we know how best to manage the situation. For some of us, our ideas seem great because it always seems like we are about to breakthrough but just when we think the break through is here something happens that moves it further and we find ourselves continuously toiling and never able to break through to our desired goal. Meanwhile, Jesus is always waiting to be called into the situation but we very often don’t think to call Him because we are misled by satan into thinking we are just about to break through on our own. Some also, having struggled so hard for an extended period, get worn out and tired and eventually give up feeling so defeated that we don’t want to try again even when we hear God telling us to do so. Oh! If we had only sought His help much earlier. We just have to tell ourselves especially at times like this that we know nothing of ourselves anymore. We have to make ourselves need His counsel so that we will seek it. We have to trust Him enough to believe in and apply His counsel despite what we know.

Proverbs 3: 5 – 7 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”

1 Timothy 1: 17 “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Indeed, the circumstance our nation finds itself in is not new. It happened before and has even happened to other nations. Nations that were in very terrible economic situations have been known to recover and I look forward to our own Country’s recovery so my questions is this – what state will you be in when our Country recovers? Anyone can argue that they feel compelled to act the way they do because of our economic realities – as my people say “man must survive” but at what cost? It is time to ask ourselves the real questions and also make these topics the subjects of our discussions as we gather. We can’t afford to be become degenerates because our economy has challenges. We must remember who we are despite all that is going on with our economy. We are believers in Christ who live in and by the Holy Spirit who also is a great counsellor as well as helper. We must honestly and continuously assess ourselves so we continue on course.

Why Me? The Popular Cry That Often Has No Answer

In recent months I have heard so many say “why me?” and “what did I do wrong?” to last a life time and I wonder why? Could it be that satan is busier than ever before or that we live our lives so carelessly that we forget there are consequences for every decision we make? I guess it is both and several other things but there seems to be too much pain everywhere. Now more than ever before, there is a great need for true hope, which is only found in Jesu Christ. We all need to have reasons for living through some of the difficulties we face as we go through life. Tough as they may sometimes be, as believers, we must succeed which translates to - we must ride it patiently waiting for the end which will surely come. No wonder when Paul cried out to God concerning some of his own challenge and/or difficulty in life, my interpretation of God’s answer to him is this – “you can cope with it because I have poured into you, all the strength you need to go through”. That does not in any way suggest that God initiated it nor does it say it will end and if it will, when. How comforting is that?

 

2 Corinthians 12: 8 - 9 “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Life does throw us “curve balls” as we all know. Moreover, how would satan show that he is the prince of the power of the air who is supposedly in charge on earth, something he stole from Adam and Eve. So things do happen sometimes that are not initiated by God and are also not consequences of any wrongdoing but  God allows them for reasons we may not be aware of like it was with Job. The one thing that is certain though, is that God knows how to make the challenges we face work good for us if we don’t quit. God is always working to make a testimony of every such situation so that at the end of the day even satan is left a little confused wondering how we came out of it with a testimony just like it happened with Jesus Christ. Thankfully, it does not matter how bad or painful it may seem, it is never too bad for God to work a testimony out of it as long as we don’t give in to satan and quit. To give in to satan includes having pity parties and really enjoy them or becoming more selfish/self-centered. Satan knows what all of these can do to our relationship with God; he knows they separate believers from God setting them on a downward spiral which is what he always hoped would happen.

1 Corinthians 2: 7 – 8 “No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God-his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.”

Mark 6: 48a “He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against eh wind and waves… Jesus cam toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out…”

This story of Christ and His disciples often comes to mind when I hear any of the “recently popular cries” like “why me?” I can only imagine how it would have felt as these disciples traveled across the lake and found themselves toiling in rowing. This must have been a journey they had done several times before they knew Jesus and it always went well otherwise they wouldn’t have done it, but this one time everything seemed to be going wrong notwithstanding that they had come to know Jesus Christ. What makes it even more intriguing is that Jesus was going by and had seen them but would have gone past them if they had not called out to Him. He not only did nothing upon seeing them toiling, but was about to go past them without solving their problem. Thank God they called out and got help just like they needed in this instance. Sometimes, though help comes, it doesn't always come in the way we need it to at the time. In Job’s case as well as several others in the bible, help did not come in the way it was needed and that is when it gets really tough. We must realize that God will do what He will do and in the best way ever because He sees the end and His purpose is always to work the best for us.

1 Peter 5: 10 “In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.”

One thing is certain, no matter the cause of the difficulties, it is always for "a moment" and will eventually pass. God does not enjoy seeing us suffer, that is satan’s job. God is always working good out of it all if we can just be patient and the only way to be patient is making Him our focus. I cannot promise that it won’t leave marks because it left marks on some others like Paul and even Job as well as several others even today. Paul actually speaks of bearing the marks for Christ on his body; and with Job, no matter how beautiful his new set of children were, how could he possibly forget that he had some other children many years ago and was starting life all over again? Despite all the pain, it is but for a moment and works character as well as several other benefits in and for us. Instead of moaning and asking the very familiar questions, we need to switch it up and begin to enjoy Jesus Christ despite our circumstance. If we stay in the word of God, we will find that we have abundant joy flowing from within notwithstanding all that may be going on around us. You can choose what you would rather do and if we make the right choice, heaven backs us with grace. Let us disappoint our enemy in every situation.

Praying Believer Or ‘Prayer Contractor’

Prayer contractor is a term we use locally to describe people who ‘pray’ with or without a burden but certainly with a personal agenda. Their personal gain is always the reason they call out to God and the more it profits them, especially financially, the more willing they are to keep ‘praying’ and this, notwithstanding whether or not such persons are born again believers. Sometimes the god they call out to in their ‘prayer time’ is not the God we know and accept into our lives. Much as we ought to love prayer because it is spending time with God and no believer will successfully go through their journey on earth without a solid prayer life, I realize that our God’s desire more than anything else is for us to be like Him. All the prayer is meant to help us be like Him and live successfully on earth in His image. I would love to have a wonderful prayer life as we all should, because true communion with God gives God pleasure and makes us behold Him so that as we behold His glory we are then conformed to His image. It is sad however to observe that though we seem to pray a lot around where I live, we are not becoming more like Him. We pray so much yet we are some of the most wicked, lawless, selfish and self-centered, undisciplined people. We resist transformation and remain unchanging meanwhile only God should be unchanging. Indeed, the more we pray, the worse we seem to get; there must really be a problem. Could it be that we ourselves have, unknown, to us become ‘prayer contractors ’instead of praying believers?

 

Luke 18: 1 “One day, Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray.”

Ephesians 6: 18 “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.”

Most people pray, and as we should. It is God’s desire that we pray always. So prayer is good but best from the ‘right life’. Indeed, prayer by itself does nothing except it moves God what needs to be done if our prayer is a request. I have found that a lot of people who worship gods that have ears and can’t hear, mouth and can’t speak and also can’t see, pray much harder than we who claim to worship The Most High God. Like the prophets of bale in the time of Elijah who prayed so hard they cut themselves so badly until they bled and yet elicited no response from their god, many unbelievers pray really hard. The sad thing though is that a lot of us are building our understanding of prayer on what these unbelievers do as they pray to a god who cannot speak or hear or even see though we lie to ourselves that we are talking to The Most High God. Unless our prayer is one of sincere repentance, we cannot live in sin and claim to pray to the Most High God who already says that the sinner’s prayer is an abomination to Him. The fact that one claims to be born again and prays always will not change that. The confession that one is a born again believer by itself makes no difference to God who says He will save anyone who sincerely calls on His name. The point is our lives must line up with the confession of lips for our prayer to be meaningful.

Acts of the Apostles 10: 35 “In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.”

Proverbs 15: 8 “The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but he delights in the prayers of the upright.”

It would appear that God is not looking to having people commune with Him because of a name they call themselves but because of what they do which is tied to their fear of Him.  A prayer less believer is almost useless because He doesn’t commune with His God and as such may be unable to consistently receive instructions from Him but what is worse is to pretend like one is communing with God when they are not. Any believer who remains carnal, or lacking in joy or always complaining or continuously remains backslidden and such like, and yet seems to pray a lot, is not really praying. No one who enters that presence remains the same. If anyone who prays consistently finds that they are not becoming more like God or they still are always sad and so on, then it is most likely time for self-examination. No one needs to tell you. God is hungry for communion with believers and not just anyone. This does not suggest that true believers don’t do wrong but they do not continue in wrong doing. They repent, ask for mercy and then turn away from the wrongdoing.  A lot of prayer and even shaking of the head whilst ‘praying’ don’t do anything for us except and until God moves. The points we must always bear in mind are – did I enter His manifest presence and did all my communing impact God? If we enter into His very presence, then we would definitely be conformed to His image because the change cannot be controlled if one beholds His glory. Also, if we truly commune with God as we would like people to believe we do then we would also have better understanding of the scriptures and receive grace to become children of God. The grace we receive is the empowering to do according to His word that is revealed.

Deuteronomy 29: 29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”

Don’t let Go Of Your Joy

After a lot of hard work trying to get proper description of joy and happiness so I can bring across accurately the difference between both of them, I decided it’s best to describe them the way I know to. So, please bear with me bible scholars as this may be too simple. They both seem so alike but, joy flows from the spirit of man as it is impacted by the Spirit of God whilst the other is at a very superficial level – flesh. It takes the Spirit of God who is the fountain of joy to light up our spirit man for us to experience joy but it is not so with happiness. Whilst happiness is tied to some good fortune or the other, joy on the other hand is tied to one good fortune – salvation. It remains a mystery how the entrance of Jesus Christ into a life transforms that life filling the life with joy but I guess that must be some of the mystery of Godliness which will forever remain a mystery. Isn’t it strange how when we behold Him continuously, even with a sad countenance, our countenance begins to change as His light shines on us? Hence the Psalmist says there is joy in His presence and guess what! God seems desperate for us to have joy and to be filled with it.

 

Psalm 16: 11 “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, ay your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

 

Isaiah 61: 1 & 3”The Spirit of the Lord Go dis upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to… grant consolation and joy to those who mourn in Zion-to give them… the oil of joy instead of mourning…”

 

Mean as this may sound, this joy the bible talks is the prerogative of believers. It starts with salvation and increases as we behold God (i.e. see Him in His word as we study His word). Remember that seeing Him in His word is the privilege of His children from whom He is not hidden. To those yet to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, He remains unrevealed. God’s word is always a parable or mystery to those yet to believe which is why the bible is just another book to them. Such people are unable to see God in His word and can’t see or touch the benefits therein too. God cares deeply for His pearl and chooses to cast it carefully. This joy is one of those benefits that flow from Him and as such can only be experienced by believers and those to whom God in His omniscience, may choose to give. Joy must therefore be precious and the devil knows this which is why he is always after our joy. He works assiduously to make us loose our joy but cares nothing for our happiness. He even gifts believers’ with things that create excitement making them temporarily happy whilst steadfastly working to ensure they lose their joy which he sometimes does through a process but at other times, straightaway. He knows that possessions can only bring temporary happiness so he sometimes helps to gather them - good things, the pursuit of which will take one’s eyes off God and many have found, albeit late, that with all the possessions, joy is still missing.

 

Psalm 32: 1 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight.”

 

Psalm 97: 11 “Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.”

 

Psalm 33: 12 “What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.”

 

The devil knows that we are able to thrive in the midst of troubles and shine brighter in the midst of darkness but only as long as we remain connected to The Light. He knows also that the joy we derive from remaining focused on The Light is a major source of strength for us so that if he is able to get us to take our eyes off The light, we lose strength and are unable to draw on the benefits of salvation because it is with joy that we draw from the wells of salvation, so he does all he can to take our focus off the light and lose our joy. The world we live in is really troubled and full of troubles which trouble people making them troubled and the devil knows that. So he sometimes lures us, amplifying these already big issues of life or troubles such that fixing them sometimes becomes our life’s consuming passion. Whatever becomes a consuming passion becomes our principal focus and if we focus on it long enough, we lose sight of The Fountain of our joy; losing our joy and consequently strength and as a result, the capacity to draw from the wells of salvation. Joy has nothing to do with what is happening around us; it is much deeper and springs from within.

 

Romans 14: 17 “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

 

Joy is a major catalyst in spiritual warfare. We need Joy to establish the victory Christ won for us. The enemy knows this so he always takes a swipe at our joy. When he takes a swipe at joy, his aim is not just to depress one or hurt the thing he apparently destroyed only, he is often going for something bigger – our destruction; he only attacks our joy in an attempt to paralyze us. Please hold onto your joy.