Which Way believer? Is it the broad or the narrow way?

I am sure you know the story of the strait gate and narrow way as against the wide gate and broad way which we have heard several times; this past Tuesday during our midweek service, the preacher described both ways very colorfully so I decided to borrow it hoping that she will not mind. Really, really and really again, I am not advertising the church I attend but we definitely hear the word of God. I hope you do too in your church otherwise, you need to do something about it. These are very “perilous times”; I sincerely don’t know how any believer can successfully navigate this life without consistently hearing the accurate The Word of God. I guess you read your bible, which is really great, but what you hear may help your understanding and/or interpretation of what you read and maybe also let you know the ones you may have missed. Again, it impacts on the quality of your fellowship since you most likely keep company with some in your church.

 

Mathew 7: 13 “You can enter God’s kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

So the preacher, describing the broad way, said that the fact that it is broad suggests that it provides  enough room to turn around several times over so that one can sin and repent over and over again until it becomes a normal way of life and others can sway from side to side several times over so that one may be a little spiritual one day and carnal the next so that no one needs to be too much of any just as long as you a good mix - not overly spiritual or outright carnal after all you still prefer to be described as “believer or born again”. The reality though is that notwithstanding the way you prefer to describe yourself, the path that allows you all that movement is one that leads to hell which isn’t the destination you  chose when you chose to make Christ Lord in your life. You just flowed into it for the ease of living. As it is often said, “You know, life does not have to be so hard.”

Romans 14: 17 “For the Kingdom of God is … a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 4: 20 “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.”

The truth is, the problem with that narrow gate and difficult road is just what they are “narrow and difficult”. Our challenge though, is that this is the only way that takes us to that end we desire so much as believers in Christ. I guess God let it be that way because He knows that He already provided all the help we need and will ever need to go through and go through well; otherwise the bible won’t refer to His Kingdom which is this narrow and difficult path as meat and drink. Certainly, our God is good and He is not one of those parents described in the African adage, who give with gifts with one hand and retrieve it from you, with the other” so that you actually got nothing. He sent His son to die for us that we may have that gracious life on earth that would facilitate a wonderful life with Him in eternity. If there is anything that could be described as confusing about God, it surely isn’t that. He reaffirms His desire for us to live an amazing life, albeit on this narrow way, by providing abundant grace; not to destroy ourselves by continually  doing wrong and apologizing, but to live marvelously on the narrow way.

Galatians 5: 19 “When you follow the desires for your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Galatians 5: 25 “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

God has laid out clearly for us what He will not tolerate. It behooves us to put that truth before us always even if we fail several times over. To put a lie before one’s self is to short change one’s self. How does anyone in their right senses do that to themselves? God has made it clear that we are required to be Holy, we have to be. He also says every man would reap what they sow, so that our time on earth is our season for sowing whilst the reaping is quality of life we get to live in eternity. We must be careful to ensure that our sowing will produce the harvest we sincerely desire which is why we must put the truth before us always. It will be sad if for ignorance, one sowed bad seeds and only released they sowed the wrong seeds on the day of harvest. What do you want for eternity? We must make that decision daily and God has done all He will ever do to ensure we get the help needed to get our desired result. We must begin to credit God with all the credit that He deserves, which satan would hate because the more credit one gives Him, the more.

Galatians 6: 7 “Don’t be misled-you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.”

Do Not ‘Replace Sheer’ Grace With ‘Sheer License’

I definitely cannot claim to be old enough to be numbered amongst those who have a head full of white hairs; but I do have a few of my own and have seen enough seasons of life to know without a shadow of doubt that God’s word is unchanging. His word is so settled, not even His grace can change The Word and I am eternally grateful for that. The unchanging nature of His word makes it easier to have confidence in and/or trust Him completely. His stability is something everyone needs and even more so now as the word becomes more unstable. It gives me great pleasure and joy to serve a God whose word does not always require authentication. God authenticates His word Himself. This is all some of the reasons we have hope. We are certain that He is not playing games with us so that we can trust Him enough to look forward to the coming to pass of that which He has said. No wonder the bible says Hope will not fail: How can it, when it is in a God whose word is certain forever?

Romans 5: 5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment.”

Psalm 119: 89 “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.”

It is therefore sad to find that there are those who would like to make nonsense of this word and yet claim to depend on it as well as being lovers of God. These are indeed, “perilous times” when we must live deliberately and carefully so that we are not swayed from The Truth. The truth is under attack from all fronts, within and outside the church, we just must be careful what we accept. The gospel that was once handed down is still the only gospel. Jesus Christ who came to teach and/or share this truth, has not returned to teach another and will not return until He comes for His bride. So where are all these strange gospels which permit us to live carelessly come from? These gospels we now enjoy which only talk about benefits leaving out responsibilities creating the impression that since Christ bore all the consequences of our wrong, we can continue in wrong doing since we once invited Jesus Christ into our lives. We have a big problem.

Romans 6: 1 – 2a “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not!”

Jude 3b - 4 “I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into our churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.”

God’s word clearly tells that Jesus Christ took away the sting of sin so that anyone who accepts to cede authority of their life to Him, compels sin to let go of their lives thereby breaking the power or control of sin, and enjoy the benefit of doing so. This entire process requires God’s help from the beginning to the end and that help is in the person of The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in our lives and the help He releases to facilitate our living the way and doing the things God desires, is grace. It is the strength to do what God would have us to do or live the way God would have us live. Grace never contradicts the power of God; instead it facilitates our becoming like God. Wherever God is revealed, grace is present because it is one of the things that make Him who is. It is a characteristic of God; for He is full of grace. It is therefore a little disconcerting to find some who want to create another gospel which they call the gospel of grace. There is only one gospel and upon which our faith is built; that gospel is one of grace and is rooted in the cross. To gain full access to and enjoy the benefits of grace, we must also come through the cross.

Hebrews 13: 13 “So let us go out to Him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore.”

We must be very careful and sensitive as believers otherwise we would be deceived. God already warns us in His word that there would be a lot of deception in the last days so please look out for yourself. There is a lot going on “in the name of the Lord” but recall that we were already warned when He said some would come telling how they did a lot in His name and they would still be turned away so it is much more than doing things in His name; it is more of how much we let Him live in and do things through us. Our faith is not complicated; it is simple as our God is. Hence, God says not many wise or noble make success of this faith.

Trust And Obey – Our God Demands Obedience

Christianity is such a simple faith but we complicate it. Believers have complicated it so badly now that we who ought to be the custodians of The Word, barely understand it. As His children, God already gifted us with the understanding of His word yet the truth of it appears to be lost on us. Even when we manage to understand it, maybe this only happens in the part of the world where I live, we don’t feel the need to be conformed to it. When we study, it is sometimes to show others that we also have a good knowledge of the word and at other times, it is so that we can be appointed to “positions of honor” in church; and some of the best of us study so we know the confessions to make to activate the release of “our blessings” because we know that making the right confessions facilitate the release of blessings but we forget that obedience to His word is also a prerequisite for receiving these blessings.  

Mathew 7: 26 “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish

In truth, we don’t do ourselves good by being disobedient because simple as the word is; the fulfillment of most of the promises of God is firmly rooted in obedience to the accurate word of God. If we don’t obey His word, we struggle endlessly to activate these promises and are never able to. One of the things that happen when we give our lives to Christ is that we receive power to obey Him but if we receive the power and our preference is for a life of disobedience, we have a problem; a problem which isn’t fixed by having demons cast out of us but by a decision to be obedient. Sometimes we think we are better off because we are obedient in some areas but our God requires total obedience. As I heard a preacher say, “The word of God is not a buffet so we can’t pick and choose” what word we prefer to obey. This is a full meal served by God and we must obey it all.  

Isaiah 1: 19 “If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.

Proverbs 7: 2 “Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day the loss suffered from disobedience is ours. We suffer untold loss of blessings because we are obstinate. God dislikes disobedience so much He likens it to witchcraft. So why would any adult believer think it is okay? Saul lost an entire Kingdom just for partial obedience. Like a lot of us, he may have thought he had outsmarted God by obeying some of His instruction. Just like us, he may have thought after all why would God be so mean as to punish him when he obeyed most of His instructions? I am certain that Saul never thought his action would cost him his crown. Who would have thought that the loss of the Kingdom could be the consequence of his action?

1 Samuel 15: 23 “Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft and stubbornness as bad as worshipping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

We have suffered too much loss to continue like this. We either choose to obey God or leave pursuing a life in Christ. Obedience is one of the requirements of following Him and God already counsels that we must count the cost of following Him before we make the decision for Him. It is not being fair to ourselves if we choose a faith we cannot enjoy the full benefits of. God has made His desire clear; He desires to bless people who would trust Him enough to obey Him. God desires children who don’t think they are wiser than He is so they obey Him instead of attempting to modify His instructions to suit them. Such people, thinking their way is better; insult God, albeit unwittingly, and are never able to conform to His image so that they end up looking nothing like God.  We must accept to submit to the Lordship of Christ so that we can be like Him here on earth.

Do You Want To Go Back To 'Egypt'?

Captivity is a terrible thing but what is worse is for someone who has been set free to prefer and long for life in captivity. Captivity is so limiting and puts you under absolute control of the person and/or personality that holds you captive. The best of your days are only to the extent that He allows. It appears that the most grievous impact it makes on the slave is the latent desire to become like the slave master. To live like you saw your master live; as far as you know, it is the best life anyone can ever live.

Ephesians 2: 2-3b – You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil – the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way.

It is sad for a person who has been set from a life of sin by reason of the shed blood of Jesus to long for and prefer the life in slavery: to idolize the lifestyle of the slave and exalt it above any other. This is what appears to be happening to the church today. I wonder how God feels when people who have been believers for ages and served Him faithfully suddenly begin to look back at their lives before they came to Christ and begin to love and admire it and to talk about it in a way that leaves you wondering if they want to return to it. My question is this – if it was so good in captivity, why did you come to Christ who never compels anyone to come to Him.

Ephesians 2: 13 – “Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.”

This is the story of the Israelites as they journeyed into the Promised Land. They kept longing for all they had in Egypt. Every time they hit a difficulty, they didn’t desire a change in the circumstance, they just longed for what they had in Egypt until they “longed” enough for God to get totally dissatisfied with them. Clearly, they wanted liberty but they thought it would leave them in their comfort zone which was Egypt. What they knew about life and liberty was the life that their masters lived but God was calling them to a life higher than what they had and they were too short sighted to see.

Ephesians 4: 18 – 19a “Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure”

Remember Lot’s wife who became a pillar of salt for looking back to Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us face it; life there had become terrible for them in Sodom and they wanted to be set free. The culture they longed for was not that of Sodom so why did she look back? Did the life of sin appeal to her? Was she short-sighted and refusing to look beyond what she knows to what God was about to open up in front to her? Was she blinded?

These are the questions we need to ask ourselves today? If your life in the world was wonderful, why then did you get born again? You can’t have the best of both worlds but the world that is before you, the one that God presents is a great one so why don’t you stop looking back and longing for the life your masters lived? You can’t live that life in Christ. You can’t import that culture into this new life in Christ.

Come Back To God Today, His Extravagant Love Is Waiting For You.

I met a young man who attends the same church as me this morning. He acted a bit embarrassed to see me but then we started to talk and I mentioned that I had not seen him in church lately. I had barely completed the sentence before he asked me if I had enough time to stand and talk. Of course I immediately had the time.

He then told me how he thought to stay away because a few days before one of the Sundays he somehow found himself smoking cigarettes and before the next Sunday, he was in fornication. He had a lot more to say but I thought it was unnecessary. The look on his face already was too painful to allow him go on. As a person, I am not easily moved by the looks on people’s faces but there was something about this look that touched my heart.

Such is the power of sin and the strength of pain that it can cause. Also, it describes the kind of joy the devil offers. One that is temporal and pleases the flesh immediately but the ultimate goal is pain. Whether you feel the pain immediately thereafter or a long time after, the point is you still feel pain. The worse kind of pain is the one that disconnects you from the ultimate source of life and joy; that pain is meant to destroy you and that is what the devil offers. Where like this young man, one starts to run away from God because of the sin and gets into deeper trouble, suffers emotional turmoil and may end up totally disconnected from God.

John 10: 10NLT “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The pain the enemy brings does not even cause one to sorrow to repentance. It causes depression which is at the level of the flesh and anything you think to do to make you feel better will be incapable of doing so and will only take you deeper and deeper into the flesh moving you further and further away from God. There is a witness in the Spirit of every believer when we do wrong, God is unhappy because we have willfully disobeyed Him. That witness creates a Godly sorrow which works repentance. It’s a sorrow in the Spirit which cannot be assuaged by fleshly things. It is the kind of sorrow that drives you to your maker, father and the true lover of your soul.

2 Corinthians 7: 10NLT “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death”

If you are reading this blog and you are in the same state as the young man I saw this morning, please know that God feels your absence. He misses you a whole lot and is longing for your return. Whilst He is unhappy about your disobedience, I believe your returning is more important to Him. It is so important that He shed the blood of His son for this purpose.

Don't Jeopardise Your Destiny!

Lately, my pastor has been teaching on Temptation. So, I have been thinking about the subtle ways that satan tempts/lures us to destroy our destinies. Isn’t it amazing that he tempted Jesus (the son of God)? Thank God that Jesus did not rise to the bait; otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened to you and me today. Eve and subsequently, Adam fell for it and that is how man fell.

The bible says in Psalm 23 that God prepares a table before us in the presence for our enemies. The table is full of all the good things that God has promised us. So, it would be correct to suggest that a man’s destiny is not hidden from the devil who is our principal enemy. The strategies and timing to take from the table however may remain hidden from him and that is his dilemma.

The devil then goes to work making every effort to prevent us from getting to the table which translates to cutting short our destinies. The most commonly used technique of the devil is deception. It is so subtle sometimes that we miss it. He makes us think that He can help us achieve our already God given purpose and within a shorter span of time; also with seemingly less pain. The sad thing is that a lot of us do not even read our bibles enough to understand that what the devil is offering us is already ours by reason of our being sons of God and joint-heirs with Jesus.

In Gen 3: 4 & 5NLT - he said through the serpent to Eve “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil”

In Mathew 4: 6NLT - he said to Jesus, after showing him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, “I will give it all to you, he said, if you will kneel down and worship me “

In I Samuel 17: 9NLT - he said through Goliath to David “choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves.”

In all three circumstances, he was playing games. Eve fell for his trick because she did not know that we are gods as stated in the psalms. We are also made in the image of God and have his mind so we are like Him. Jesus did not fall for the trick because He knew that as the son of God he was God’s heir to the entire world and their glory. David did not fear because he knew that the Israelites were destined to destroy and/or rule over the Philistines.

The things the devil whispers, suggests or says to you are only tempting. You can either receive or resist them. If you receive them, you may never attain to your destined heights. The bible says we should resist the devil and he will flee from us. It is with the word of God that we resist the devil. Jesus and David resisted him with the word and won.

Have you been equipped to resist him or will you allow him cut short your destiny? Do you know the mind of God for your life or will you allow yourself fall for satan’s tricks? YOU ARE DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.

Don't Go Back!

I was reading through an email from a friend where she shared her thoughts. She wondered why we don’t leave all the terrible things we take to the cross there? Why do we go back, pick them and then run with them again?’ Since the bible encourages us to ponder, I do that from time to time and I want to share some of the things that came to my mind. I am hoping you will share some of your own thoughts with me.

The devil stole authority from man in the Garden of Eden. He therefore, has authority on earth and the bible also calls him the prince of the power of the air. He has a problem with the cross because that is where Christ defeated and made an open show of Him.

Colossians 2: 15NLT ‘In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the Cross’.


Indeed if Satan had known the power that would be released in Christ dying on the cross, the bible says they would not have killed Jesus. Though Jesus is alive forever, Satan still dislikes the story of the cross because every time we honestly come to the cross, we enter into a position of victory over the entire kingdom of the devil. When we give our lives to Christ, we then sit in Christ in heavenly places. As soon as we enter into that role, we become important in the eyes of the enemy. Before then, we were his slaves under his control and therefore, nonentities; but as soon as we take our positions in Christ, we become royalty and in an opposing kingdom - a kingdom that is consistently de-populating hell. Satan is then reminded that the initial victory he had over man is slowly being eroded and made as nothing.


If the devil came straight to yank us out of the hand of Jesus, he would fail. He doesn’t have the power to achieve that. So, he sells us a lie about sin. He asks the same old question he asked in the Garden of Eden – did God really say you should not do this or that? It comes first as a thought and then if we think the thought long enough, we begin to think it may not be as bad as we think. Our mind then sells us a lie that maybe if you did it in a particular way, God will not mind etc. If we dwell on this thought long enough, it becomes okay and we begin to act it out which is what translates to taking our lives back after giving it to Christ. This is when we take back those terrible things we did that we once left at the cross.

James 1: 14 NLT ‘Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death’


Nobody sees evil and desires it. We desire and do evil because one way or the other, we convince ourselves that it is not so bad. Or we tell ourselves that we have good reasons for the sinful act. It is worse in the times that we live in currently when nothing is really bad anymore. As they say, ‘it depends on how you view it’.
Reality is that the word of God is truth and very clear also. If we put your act and or thoughts against the word of God, it will be clear to you and me when we are either going the wrong way or have done evil. This is our REALITY CHECK which we must do frequently so we don’t become pillars of salt like Lot’s wife.