Do You Know Who You Are? You Are Royalty

I sincerely struggle with understanding why a believer would not know who they are. Every bible believing and studying child of God should know this because over and over again through scriptures, God reveals who He is, who His children are and the privileges and/or benefits of being His. It has nothing to do with your personality type because God gives grace to exhibit any personality trait required to get “the job” done which is why Paul said He could be all things to all men; it really is about the core of your being. It is about whose child you are and what family you belong to so that for every believer, it is about belonging to God and being a partaker of that inheritance. The Kingdom of God kind of reminds me of Americans who believe in the American dream. They believe anyone can make success of their lives in America if they desire to despite the family or where they come from; so it is with the kingdom of God.  

 

Ephesians 2: 19 “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”

 

1 Corinthians 9: 22b KJV “I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some.”

 

I dare to suggest that this is the underlying reason for many believers being very mixed up about our faith. We are so mixed up that though our faith is all about simplicity, sincerity and service, we struggle so much to “announce ourselves” just like the world. So we struggle to “position ourselves” and we do it in such a hurry that we don’t even make room for a period of tutelage. Everyone is working toward being put “out there”, struggling to be noticed and revered but in the process, often leaving Christ behind and not even noticing. We want everyone to notice when we walk in, we desire the highest seats, priority treatment and so on; we want all this at any cost to others but we ourselves not paying the price that God demands. Meanwhile, those of us who do not attain to “such great heights” then criticize those who do but only because we long for their positions but are unable to get there. We want our faces on all the bill boards so much so that billboards have almost become family albums and those whose faces aren’t there yet, yearn for the day when their faces will be there. There is something going very wrong and mostly because some people don’t know who they are and have refused to know. If your pursuit is for accolades and advantages of these esteemed offices, you most likely don’t know who you are. You not knowing who you are is a problem for our faith.

 

1 Peter 2: 10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.”

 

The sad thing about these desire for accolades and/or advantages of these spiritual office, is that it is insatiable. You just keep wanting more because the underlying issues remain unresolved - you still don’t know who you are. I make these observations very carefully; my intention is not to publish our flaws but for us all to know that our issues can be fixed but only if we allow the word of God help us. This identity crisis is real but you are now in Christ and totally complete in Him. Leave that problem to the world.  The truth is, the pressure is on for believers to get carried away but please we must do all we can not to forget who we are. We are very special, children of The Most High God; Kings and priest; a people who have the right to call God “Father” and not because they earned it but because they accepted His love for them. When you understand this, you realize that you are complete in Him and need nothing or no one to complete you. Only then are you are able to truly be a blessing. The truth is nobody wants extra baggage; not even your spouse, much as you may hate to accept this truth.  This is the bane of some of the issues of some marriages today. You assume your spouse’s action is to meet a need created by your own insecurities and then you are more disappointed than you should be when you find out his action are for other reasons. Of course it is painful when one’s expectations are disappointed but you must accept that underlying your expectations are your insecurities so please don’t blame anyone unduly for not meeting promises you imagined they made.

 

Colossians 2: 10a “S you also are complete through your union with Christ.”

 

When you know who you are and are comfortable with it, you don’t need to prove that to any one nor do you need to make excuses for who you are. You are just that and they will either find out now or in the future but you can’t apologize for being Kings. Leave unbelievers to struggle to prove a point about who they are. When one is nothing, they may need to make a point but not so kings. We are lions just like our Father. We don’t boast about it but anyone who wants to trouble you will not only encounter you, the lion, but also your Father - The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. God has invested too much in our lives for us to accept a life filled with insecurities. To be lacking in confidence is to undervalue God’s investment in you. Please do not make it someone else’s job to boast your confidence. It is wickedness to keep playing the victim and expecting everyone around you to live their own lives trying to make you comfortable because you refuse to work on yourself. It is in truth, the height of selfishness. You are royalty and that notwithstanding your present status or vocation. It is who you are so please carry yourself as such. If Prince William or Harry started work as toilet cleaners, believe me they will do it carrying themselves as royalty because that is who they are. You are rich in all sense of the word; your Father pulls the purse strings so you will never beg bread as long as you don’t forget who you are.

 

Psalm 37: 25 “Once I was young, but now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.”

O! How I wish Life Could Be “The Spa”

O! Can someone make life a spa please; I mean, an unreal world becoming the real world? My friend has a Spa where I go when I really want to feel beautiful. Lansey Spa has such a beautiful atmosphere that even if you just visit and do nothing, you come out feeling different in a very good way. The staff are nice, not ‘syrupy sweet’ which is unreal by the way; the atmosphere is right and there is beautiful Christian music playing in the background. The music transcends any issues that may burden one; reaching into the depths of one’s being in an unobtrusive way, yet lifting those burdens albeit so gently you don’t notice that something is changing inside you. I am certain a lot of people leave there with a feeling they want to keep forever. How I wish life could be that Spa but I hate to say this – It isn’t. Soon after I come out of Lansey, reality hits. Almost immediately, issues begin to bombard me and I almost want to turn off my phone, sorry phones if you live where I live, but then you need them on and even making the right decisions as to what you ought to do with the phones becomes stressful.

 

Ecclesiastes 2: 17b “Everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless – like chasing the wind.”

 

I am thinking that it may be wise to put a hold on making major decisions until one is in a Spa like my friend’s own. That may indeed be the best place to make serious decisions because whilst you are yet contemplating whether or not you are better off with your phones on or off, you hear that the exchange rate is worse than it was before you entered the Spa and someone died for very poor medical care, which is poor because someone took money they shouldn’t have; it really goes on and seems endless. This is the reality of the life we live especially if you live in that part of the world where I live yet God says “Be Still”. Please tell me, how real is that? It is tough to understand the mind of God when despite all that is happening you hear His word in your spirit saying “Be still”. Isn’t this a tall order for anyone in this part of the world yet that is the life of the believer – receiving the most unusual instruction at the most unusual time? Life does get tough for the believer and sometimes it feels like God complicates it further with His instructions yet His instructions are always right.

 

Hebrews 4: 15 “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.”

 

Psalm 139: 2 – 3 “You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.”

 

Despite that His instructions often seem out of place, God knows all things because nothing is hidden from Him. He sees all that happen in our lives and also understands the pain we feel because He has been through all we are going and would ever go through. He understands our weaknesses and knows how tough it gets to remain still when one feels an urgent and compelling need to do something.  Moreover, He never thinks to be wicked to us neither will He ask us to do anything we cannot do. Since He formed us, He knows us much more than we know ourselves. Also, as I get older, I am even more convinced that God knows that most decisions made in this state may not move us forward. Wrong as this may seem, it may be the wisest thing to wait a minute than make a very “expensive mistake”. We all sometimes need a minute to think more clearly. It is also good to note that when God ask us to be still, it suggests that He is doing all the work for us and He never fails on any assignments nor does He ever lose any battles. He is such a winner that as soon as He rises His enemies are scattered.

 

Psalm 48: 9 – 10 “He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; He burns the shields with fire. Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation.”

 

Chaos is definitely one of the tricks of the enemy to work victory for himself and wreak havoc in lives even the lives of believers. He stirs up chaos in lives and keeps us running from place to place like “headless chicken” as the popular adage in my place says. I guess when one leaves God behind they truly become “headless”. The evil prince of the power of the air has succeeded in making life so chaotic that some people, even believers, now think it is normal for our lives to be chaotic which by the way is different from being busy though it has been greatly mixed up which of course makes even more room for satanic activities so that more people now deliberately walk their way into chaos unwittingly creating the right atmosphere for the devil to operate. Satan loves chaos and knows that for God to come into a situation, the Holy Spirit would first move to restore order so he encourages people to create chaotic atmospheres which they ignorantly hold onto because they are deceived by satan and by so doing, they are themselves frustrating the Holy Ghost and conversely God, from resolving the issues. Please let us take a minute to be still especially at this time.

It Appears Crazy But It really isn’t

O my goodness! Is this just the beginning of the year? So much has happened and not just with us the mere mortals in my Country; even the government has been very much at work. Every day, it appears decisions are made, unmade and then remade so that we the citizens have to keep adjusting and readjusting. This is a lot and creates a lot of activity in our lives but it is honestly not as mixed up as we may think it is because God is in charge of it all and this kind of picture is not unusual for a situation that God is moving upon for the ultimate purpose of restoration. One of the things we know for certain about our God is that no matter how muddled up it gets, He is able to unravel it. So please keep the fear on a leash; do not let it take you over.

 

Genesis 1: 2 “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

 

In the deepest darkness, when it is humanly impossible to find a way, you can still trust Him. Remember that He is Himself, The Way and The Light. This is one of the many reasons we trust Him completely even in the worst of situations. Just when you think you are completely hemmed in and the devil is rejoicing that He now has you where He wants you, God makes a way. I guess the singer must have had one of these experiences which is why He sand the song “God will make a way where there seems to be no way.” Who would imagine that He was about to make a way in the Red sea and then later in the Jordan? I guess it therefore does not make sense for one to waste all their energy trying to figure out where He would make a way, you don’t know neither are you able to figure it out because He thinks differently. Very often, we unconsciously try to figure out God’s next move forgetting that we only His creation and can never see all that The Creator sees. This is all so hard to accept but that is why we walk by faith. Trying to figure Him out is an attempt at self-frustration and waste of energy. The mind of man is unable to figure Him out. No wonder the hymn writer says “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”

 

Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 “my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

 

Unless and until God chooses to reveal His thoughts, who can know it? When He chooses to reveal them, He does it by His Spirit who passes on the information to our spirit man. Whenever we try to work out a “seemingly befitting resolution” maybe because He seems to be taking too long, we mess it all up and even more than God intended thereby making it more difficult for ourselves. Interestingly, God will not rush to come on the scene just because you are about to mess it up; He will come when He will come because there is no mess too much for Him to unravel but we may suffer a little more than was necessary. Since His means are often far removed from our thoughts, we need to be deliberately focused on Him to hear Him and/or see the way He has made as well as go through the way. Through the journey, our eyes have to be on Him. If we keep our eyes on the “means” we may never go forward because His means often don’t give comfort as one comes through. I wonder how it was crossing the red sea with water on both sides and nothing obvious holding it back so that it looks like it could easily return to its bed easily burying one. The more one looks at the “water walls” the greater the fear of the water burying one so that all you want to do is run back to the familiar. Isn’t it strange that in such situations, one doesn’t often think to run to the other end; it is so typical to keep wanting to return to the beginning because fear wants to hold one to the familiar thereby holding one back from going forward but if your eyes are on God, you just hold on tighter to His hands and experience His consistent reassurance. Your other alternative is to keep your eyes on the people who are ahead of you as they keep their eyes on God. Make sure you are in the right company. These are times when we must take heed who we give our ears to.

 

Proverbs 13: 20 “Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

 

1 Corinthians 15: 33b “For bad company corrupts good character.”

 

Someone was once upset by the fact that I mentioned “valley experiences” in relation to believers. In her opinion, true believers do not face difficulties. Whilst that may be her experience, it has not been mine and it may not be yours too. If you have had or are having such experiences, don’t worry, you are in good company because the Apostles had it several times even when they had Jesus in their boat and they seemed set to drown but be assured, The Way maker will always make a way which will bring you out; at the end of it all, you will be standing.

Welcome to 2016 – Be Still And Know That He Is God

If you are reading this blog, you obviously made it into 2016 and we thank God. I am well aware that life is not all rosy or beautiful for everyone right now because I have heard different painful stories but I guess the most painful event for me has been that of a friend who lost her husband on the 26^th of December. A healthy man, great believer, husband and father; he died in a car accident in the course of journeying to be with his family. How does one deal in situations like this? Like Paul, I guess we can only say “thanks be to God who causes us to triumph.” Let me reiterate at this point that an attitude of thanksgiving really doesn’t suggest that life is always wonderful for one, it just says amongst others, that one is obedient and recognizes the presence and supremacy of God in their life. We rejoice not because of the good things we get, which of course add to make our joy complete, but because we have hope and know that all will be well because everything will certainly work for our good at the end of the day.

 

Romans 8: 28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

 

So here we are with different challenges and circumstances but above all with a God who is greater than any challenge or circumstance and will just at the right time turn it around for our good. I can’t even think how it felt when the children of Israel were faced with the red sea and their worst enemy behind them. What could be worse? The worst enemy of your life is behind you and you are certain he is coming to kill you which is death literally and before you, it is exactly the same; this just paralyzes anyone. Worse is the fact that you were “lured” into that position by God who is supposed to be your Father and protector. What do you do when your protector and defense appears to have lured you into death and there is definitely no way out? I can imagine the state of their mind. It is easy to say they murmured but what can one really do at that point; I am certain that a number of them already saw themselves as dead but for one man who thought to go back to God, they would have perished because God was silent until Moses was asked what they should do.

 

Exodus 14: 12 – 13 “Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’ But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.”

 

The easiest thing to do is panic and do something; just anything, any kind of activity because you can’t be still when faced with death but that is exactly what you are expected to do. Of course, that one will be anxious is not out of place, Moses may also have been anxious for a minute because this is a situation that would leave anyone confused, but we have to bring our anxiety under control so we can be still. In truth, the children of Israel may have died if Moses was not still enough to think to turn to God. I would have thought God would have immediately spoken since they were in trouble even if they did not ask but He was silent. If Moses had asked also and was not patient enough to hear Him, He may have missed the instruction. Immediately one hears the instruction, God expects you to act. Instructions are not always the same, sometimes He says wait and at other times, He requires you to act immediately; you must hear Him and obey. Do not follow any rule with God. He has His own rules which we don’t know because just when we think we know it, He breaks it; all we need to do is hear and obey. If you wait when you ought to move, the red sea closes but if you move when you ought not to, you drown. It is therefore, of utmost importance that we be still enough to hear. The bible tells us that there is a time for everything under the sun. God obviously puts a time to everything. Don’t miss your time for any reason. He is not going to wait for you forever just that one may get another opportunity some other time but then it just God making another time.

 

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”

 

Psalm 46: 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

 

In that span of time it would take for Him to speak, be certain that whatever happens is not the end of the journey or battle, things will turn around. You have to know while you are being still that He is God and in charge of the situation but as soon as He give the instruction, your obedience is required. You have to know that He is God and that is the reason we ought to know about Him so we know what to think on. If you don’t know what He can do, you faith may fail you. So everyone that came into this year with one challenge or the other, I just want you to know that that situations or circumstances do not in any way describe how the year shall go for you. The only thing you know for certain is that God’s thoughts toward you are of good and He will cause all things to work for your good.