Borrowed culture – The “mini-me” Idea

The fact that a number of us look to the world for mentoring is a sad reality. Many of us, despite that we are believers, let the world set the pace for our lives and then try to fit our Christian beliefs in that pace. A lot of us have borrowed culture from Hollywood “stars”, a people made known by their vocation which often places them, in a manner of speaking, “in our faces”. Enabled also by social media, we see them so much, we think we know them and they have become the people we look up to. The problem with this for believers is that we look up to them so much they help form our thinking & culture because we begin to think and talk like them. Unfortunately, Contrary to our belief, it is not possible to look to them so hard and still look to Jesus as we should. Moreover, it is only natural to become like what you admire and most of them are unbelievers who don’t have access like we do to sacred information.

2 Corinthians 3: 18 “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like him as we changed into his glorious image.”

Joshua 24: 15 “choose today whom you will serve.”

So we love Jesus but we also love “the life of the “stars” which is most often unreal. This may not have been a problem but for the fact that we admire them so much, we are unable to focus on Jesus as we should. We gaze on them adoringly; idolizing them. So, they influence our mindsets to the point where we lose the “Jesus mindset” and return to the mindset we were saved from. Sadly, we don’t really appreciate the “born again stars”. We love Jesus Christ and enjoy serving Him; we believe we look to Him when in reality, we don’t. Our general perception of life is shaped by the lifestyle of these stars.   

Hebrews 12: 1b – 2aKJV “… and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”

Contrary to the belief of some believers, their lifestyle is not without its cost. If we accept the culture, we must pay the price too. It is only natural to suffer similar consequences if we make similar decisions. If you plant cassava, you won’t harvest oranges except God works a wonder; which He can, but He already told us the wise thing to do which is to plant what you desire to harvest. We also can’t live the borrowed “star” life even when it contradicts God’s word and expect bible result. Indeed some of the things we see about them are a mirage; like most people, they also ‘put their best foot forward’. So we take on extra burden measuring our lives against an illusion and ourselves against people. The end is misery.

Galatians 6: 7 “Don’t be misled … You will always harvest what you plant.”

One the things we learnt from this borrowed culture which has the potential to impact mental health and ruin generations, is the “mini-me” idea. Believers, more than others, should know that no two persons are exactly alike, not even parent and child. Though we all are mad in God’s image, He made each person wonderfully and very special so that we may ultimately, “display His many-sided wisdom”. We all must be allowed to express our individuality within the limits of our God given liberty and as inspired by God’s word. Whilst it is true that some children look exactly like a parent, they are not the parent. Indeed, some children referred to as “mini-me” have grown up looking a lot different from the parent who refuses to accept this truth. Please think, when did it start to matter whether or not they look just like you? I have met people who could be mistaken for me who have no blood ties with me.  

Psalm 139 “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.”

It is even worse when the parent tries to, directly or indirectly, manipulate the child’s response to life or circumstances so that they make decisions they would have made just so that people can say they are really alike. In doing so, they unwittingly truncate the child’s destiny or make it more difficult for the child to be who God made them because they make two personalities in one person; one is who they want the child to be and the other is who the child is. This is especially worse for children who are desperate to please; a good trait the parent exploits. It is not fair to the child and can cause self-esteem issues. It’s almost as though they question God’s choice of who the child should be. Your child is not you and has a destiny to fulfill which they need to be real to do. You don’t have the power to re-create; you are not God.   

Colossians 2: 9 “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

These parents really desire to perpetuate themselves through the child. Some decisions they instigate the children to make have terrible consequences but they are so deceived they erroneously believe they can manipulate the consequences. Many young people are suffering for this kind of “abuse”. The “mini-me” thing is not a God thing and the long term effect of it is devastating. It is time to rethink some of these things we borrow from the world especially in the face of the challenges young people face. Parents, as custodians working with God to ensure children accomplish their God pre planned purpose, must resist the temptation to attempt to recreate a child.   

Change – A Constant In The Kingdom

Over time, I have found that change is one of the things that remain constant in Christianity. We are constantly being transformed: consistently evolving. From the very beginning of our true relationship with God, He begins to change us that He may truly be able to fellowship with us. As one yields oneself to the word of God, the word begins to turn a lot of things in our lives around and the ‘real us’ begins to be expressed. The word won’t allow the real person hide anymore because the ‘real us’ is who God sees and wants to work with. He made that person for His pleasure. This transformation sounds so easy but in reality I would say, it is easy and yet tough. It is tough, not just for the person or persons evolving but also for all those around them. It is a process for all parties affected and one from which they will all benefit. Of course, there will always be those who fight the change because it changes everything for them. Yes! They believe they love you and may be close to you but they are acting in the flesh and unwittingly trying to frustrate their friend’s destiny just like Peter tried to stop Jesus from fulfilling his purpose. It is your responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Mathew 16: 23 “Jesus turned to Peter and said, get away from me, satan! You are a dangerous trap for me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

2 Corinthians 3: 17b “And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from (one degree of) glory to (even more) glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

The truth is there is a high price to change for the person changing, yet we must allow God change us. Our God wants us to be like Him. To be like Him is certainly not to physically look like Him since God is a Spirit, but to look like Him in the spirit which is the core of man. Then whatever we are on the inside, will be reflected on the outward. The end product of this transformation work will certainly be beautiful; for our God is so beautiful, He is indescribable. This change is a process because it is in stages which actually makes it more difficult. Just when one thinks they are settled, here comes another exercise and all of these together can be frustrating; so frustrating, it has caused some to fall from the faith. I guess it may have been easier if the change was only in man’s spirit; but it transforms the entire being impacting the soul and body and our wills are not often easy to deal with. The process begins with God’s word taking us apart thereby ensuring that we see ourselves as we are and realize we need to drop certain things, turn away from them and align with God’s Word. No one ever suffers permanent damage for this process; instead it takes us higher from one level of glory to another. In those tough times, before all things become beautiful, we must know for certain that God through the process, is working His eternal purpose and at the end of it all, we will come out beautiful fitting into His picture.

Romans 12: 2 “… be transformed and progressively changed (as you mature spiritually) by the renewing of your mind (focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes)...”

Hebrews 4: 12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our inner most thoughts and desires.”

Though the word of God is not seen, it is active and powerful and as such, does not need man’s help to accomplish His purpose in any life who is yielded to Him and has their eyes fixed on Him. Though we sometimes feel the need to push and prod people to improve on their work with God, I think it just makes us feel like we are doing something because all our pushing does nothing except God’s word does it. To see the written word is to see The living Word – Jesus Christ. To study and meditate on the written Word is to keep one’s eyes on God. Uncomfortable as change is, God demands that we keep changing, getting better and better. If we insist on remaining the same then we cannot be like God. I think we always think the ugliness of the process is an indicator of the finished product so a number of us abort the process. However, it is not so; the result is awesome. So, though we may be afraid of change, we must allow God change us; the benefits are immense.

He Is Working; You Just Don’t Know How

Today, I am thinking of Naomi and cannot help but be glad that Ruth came into her life. Interestingly, Ruth was not even her own child but we probably would never have heard about her if Ruth did not enter her life. Her own children had all died. They died too early for her to reap the full benefits of having children. However, it was for one of them that Ruth came into her life and I guess this was God’s way of consoling her; no wonder the saying “the replacement is always better than the first”. I wonder if her children would have done all Ruth did for her and even put her in Christ lineage. The thing is, God works in mysterious ways and we must give Him room to do that which He does best. Most of the bible stories are nothing less than fascinating but someone paid the price for us to either be corrected or even encouraged by them. We must learn to wait patiently for God even when it looks hopeless because He is very often working to cause everything to work together for our good.

Hebrews 10: 36 “For you have need of patient endurance (to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising), so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.”

Ruth 1: 20 “Don’t call me Naomi, she responded. Instead, call me Mara, for The Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me.”

Naomi had become so bitter at her God that she had decided to alter the course of her destiny, by asking to be called “bitter”, to align it with the events of her life as she saw it then. What she did not realize was that she had enough time left on this side of eternity, for God to change her story and enter her name in this book that will be read as long as earth remains. In her opinion and to all intents and purposes, the best period of her life was over and there was nothing to live for anymore; but God was just beginning. There was no indication of an exciting future for her. She more or less returned home hopeless which is understandable given her circumstance; but she forgot that God is Himself, Life. Naomi must have loved and trusted God at one point otherwise her daughters in law would not have met with and fallen so deeply in love with her God that they wanted to serve Him but tragedies of her life had dulled her love.  Love is obviously more than a feeling; it is a commitment. True love endures all and is long suffering. It takes a commitment to see love through to the end inspite of all.

Revelation 21: 8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshippers, and all lairs-their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

I wish God would always move just when we are about to give up but it is not always so. We can’t explain it either. I think it gets more complicated because He doesn’t tell you that He is working on “it”, not does He let you know that it will soon be over. God truly wants us to trust and love Him. Thank God for Ruth who trusted God enough to believe Him to the very end despite everything. It is worthy of note that Naomi went from that woman whose life drew others to God, to the woman who was so disappointed in life and frustrated with God that she complained to the point where she asked everyone to call her “bitter”. This is not unlike us when God seems to be looking the other way as terrible events unfold in lives. Sometimes, they happen so rapidly that it seems like God has set out to destroy one; but it is not so. Not only is He setting such persons up for great good, He is also preparing them to deal wisely in life.

1 Corinthians 10: 13 “The temptations in your life are no different from others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

Sadly, complaining and murmuring against God is never a solution; instead it facilitates our disconnection from God. Though complaining may be instinctive sometimes, we must practice self-restraint at times like that seeking help from The Holy Spirit. God is not pleased with complainers and murmurers. Whilst it may not be unusual to get to that point where one is fed up; it is what we do when we get there that is most important. That is the point when one seeks help form The Holy Ghost like never before. Don’t try to do it yourself or in your strength which will fail you: we have no capacity in ourselves to carry the weight of life’s challenges. Life throws very hard punches sometimes and often when we are ill prepared, but God is never caught unawares. One day you will find that you came through it all and you are still standing.

MANAGING SUCCESS – THE POWER OF OUR THOUGHTS

Our mindset is a major player in managing success. It is therefore important that we check our hearts frequently to ensure that the things hidden therein are not only appropriate, but also what we intend to store. They must be right thoughts; right because they align with the word of God. It is true though, that the enemy often suggest thoughts to us which must not be retained hence the need to check our hearts frequently so that we can very quickly identify, expunge and replace such thoughts with the right one. Just expunging wrong thoughts is not enough, we must be deliberate about having them replaced with the right thoughts. It is our job to ensure that we are always in control of what we think on; no one can do it for us. It is easy to assume that it is okay to think any thoughts since no one sees them but not only is that wrong because God sees them, but we also are the product of what we think on. At the end of the day, our thoughts are made manifest in our actions. They are not hidden even from man, forever. So we must be deliberate about ensuring that our thoughts concerning every issue are thoughts that will do us good and not bring us to shame or cause us to act disgracefully. Many believers have failed just because they thought of themselves a little higher than they should have.

Philippians 4: 8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about the things that are excellent and worthy.”

Psalm 119: 9 “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.”

Romans 12: 3 “…I give each of you this warning: Don’t think of you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

It is of utmost importance that we do not wait until we become “successful” to begin to give great consideration to who we chose to be and how we desire to carry ourselves. Without a doubt, there is enough convincing revelation today that we are destined for greatness, so that success should not take us by surprise. We must therefore be prepared for it. It may be too late or cost much more to learn to manage success when you're already there. It is wise to cultivate the right attitude of mind whilst on the path to it so that what God meant for good to us remains so. We must bear in mind that all good and perfect gifts, including success, come from God. No doubt our participation is required for our God given blessings so I am by no means suggesting that we be lazy; but God sets the stage, empowers us to do what is required and then breathes upon that which we have done to make it successful. Just knowing this makes us a little more balanced helping to ensure that we return the glory to whom it rightly belongs - God. Of course there is always the other voice which always suggest that we take the glory but if we prepared our minds already, we will not be deceived or lured away by that voice. The gift actually belongs to the one who originated it and we are but stewards who will be required to give an account for the way we managed the gift. If we always remember that we are only stewards for the success, we will most likely deal correctly.

James 1: 12 “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father”

It is not wise to expend energy guarding all we have which we can never really guard. The Giver of all good gifts is the best watch man and is able to keep all that is committed to Him. We must do our part and then, let Him do His which leaves us with more strength enabling us to effectively guard our hearts which is our job to do. There is a real need for us to guard our hearts, even from ourselves, because our hearts truly determine the course of our hearts. Even our own thoughts may not be really helpful because our minds have the capacity for more evil than we know. Our propensity for evil is only tamed by the Word of God hence the need to store God’s word in our minds and think on them. What we allow to feed us will eventually determine how we end up with the success. God wants us to enjoy all the success that comes from Him so we must do all that enables us do that.

Jeremiah 17: 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is.”

Proverbs 4: 23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

MANAGING SUCCESS – THE BANE OF MANY A BELIEVER

3 John 2AMP “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health (physically), just as (I know) your health prospers (spiritually)

 

There is no doubt that every believer is called to be successful. That one ultimately fails or succeeds in life has nothing to do with God anymore because He has equipped or endowed us with all we need to succeed. Let me say, that success means many different things to different people. If however, we go by the scripture above, then it involves every area of our lives. So we are certain that God’s plan is that we prosper in every area of life. It is therefore surprising to find that success is one of the things we struggle with as believers; well, in my own area of the world. Meanwhile, it should be one of those things we walk into easily and remain well grounded. In my opinion, it is a major struggle both with the highest of believers or the smallest amongst us. It is almost as though we never thought it would happen so we live unprepared for it. It is becoming so consistent for believers to handle success badly around here that it is beginning to look like when the devil realizes he can’t stop one from succeeding, he waits for you to succeed and watches for when (i.e. if) one gets so deceived that they are lured out of the will of God. It is so easy to point at people who are failing but the struggle is real and we must bring an awareness to this seeming reality so that we better prepare ourselves for that eventuality. If God’s word is real as we know that it is it, we shall all have good success.

James 1: 14 “Temptation comes from our own desires which entices us and drag us away.”

Romans 12: 3 “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

I recall that I once heard Bishop Jakes talk about how tough it is managing success well; it was indeed an opener. As I pondered on that sermon, it became even clearer to me that since success is bound to happen to believers, we should prepare for it as we prepare for every other thing that we expect to happen to us. We do all sorts of things including making financial investments just preparing for what we often refer to as “the rainy day” which we don’t really hope for, so we ought to be deliberate about preparing ourselves for success. It is very interesting to note that success as with several other things, can be deceptive otherwise, Adam and Eve, who in my opinion are the ultimate of success, would not have fallen for the trick of the enemy. They had everything they needed and more yet they were lured away by the desire for greater success. Surely, God never meant for us to be drowned in the success so there must be a few things we could do better. Please note that success here is not limited to money, success is success even if it is “success as a preacher” which is particularly interesting because the work is in truth, done by the Holy Spirit but if we are misled, we tend of think of ourselves a little higher than we should.

Ecclesiastes 5: 19 “And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life-this is indeed a gift from God,”

Ecclesiastes 1: 9 - 10 “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say ‘here is something new! But actually it is old, nothing is ever truly new.

In preparing ourselves, we have a host of witness, even in the bible, to look to. Some who failed because they were successful; and others who remained successful to the end. Maybe also those who never succeeded; perchance we may learn from them, some things we should never do. We shall together look at some such people from the scriptures in the next few blogs. Please remember, there is no height of success that has never been experienced before now. Whatever we see today, was; and will also be. There is indeed nothing new under the sun so we really ought to be calm but more often than not, we aren’t. Also, if we truly believe that all we are and have belong to God, which is something we say often, then it is easy to remain unmoved by all that God allows us enjoy because we are well aware of the fact that we remain stewards because we own nothing. Of course, a good steward is first partaker of the fruits but they don’t get carried away with them. The effort that God puts into preparing us to be good stewards for all He places in our care reveals the importance He attaches to good stewardship. It is important that we do not fail.

Jesus Christ - The Health Of Our Countenance!

Jeremiah 8: 22 “Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?

I found out recently that a number of people there are who believe that once saved, nothing bad should come their way. It is their firm belief that God keeps everything bad from believers so that their lives should be some form of a dream in which everything goes the way it ought to. For such people, if anything goes in a direction they think it shouldn’t or out of the script they wrote for themselves (God’s will notwithstanding), it would mean that something bad which is capable of negatively impacting them forever has happened. Such people are hit very hard when faced with challenges. They struggle with processing difficult moments because they don’t even know how to turn it over to God since they made up their minds that bad things should not be happening to them “in Christ”. They become bitter and disappointed in or frustrated at God and refuse to accept that they need to adjust their expectations making it better aligned with the word of God. This is a real problem amongst us and some of the reasons the number of depressed believers is increasing. If we don’t deal with this now, we will shortly start having problems of great proportions which we don’t need.

Psalm 43: 5 “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again-my Savior and my God.”

I understand that there are some things we don’t like to talk about and even more so in Africa where I reside. Some believers will not even mention a challenging physical health problem because they are convinced that to be sick suggests their relationship with God is not as it should be and they would hate for people to even think so because everyone wants to be seen as having the best relationship with God, reality not withstanding. With mental health, it is even worse. Whilst it is true that we ought not to suffer from these things especially mental health challenges, we do and God knew that we would so He already made provision for our healing as well as tell us how we can prevent it from happening: and all of this is hidden in His word. If heaven has not judged anyone disgusting for any illness, then there is no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed by a health situation; even more so when it is a resolvable one. These things would definitely be easier to deal with if we allow ourselves to be to one another, what and who we ought to be.  Life is full of highs and lows so we somehow need one another from time to time and to varying extents. God made it so for reasons He understand perfectly. If it was not best for us, I am certain He would have found a way to fix it.

Jeremiah 8: 8 – 9 “How can you say, we are wise because we have the word of the Lord. When your teachers have twisted it by writing lies? These wise teachers will fall into the trap pf their own foolishness, for they rejected the word of the Lord.”

Jeremiah 8: 10b – 12a “… yes even my prophets and priests are like that. They are all frauds. They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions? Not at all-they don’t even know how to blush!”

Interestingly, the one place we have difficulties turning to for help in challenging times is the very place we don’t turn to - The Word of God. This is truth that most of us know yet we won’t turn look in God’s word because it seems too ordinary to deal with such huge problems. Also, it won’t talk to us like as a man would so we don’t see God revealed in it and consequently, do not see the power in it too. We would rather turn to men because it feels easier and more often than not, we are looking to the men to do something which God only can do. Meanwhile, these men dare not point us to God because we will consider them failures without “power or anointing” so a number of them would step into God’s place and try to do what they certainly cannot do so that the end is futility whilst more and more believers lose their minds. We must accept our reality which is that we have a God who though is not physically identifiable yet His existence is confirm by the nature and all that He made including man. I know that it is tough for us to trust one whom we don’t even see but it is what we have to do. To be a Christ follower, we must believe that “He is” and that we must do, even in the face of all that the world throws at us. We must tell ourselves the truth about our very selfish expectations. It is time to manage them differently.

Jeremiah 46: 11 – 12 “Go up to Gilead to get medicine, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many treatments will bring you no healing.”

Jeremiah 30: 17 “I will give you back your health and heal your wounds, says The Lord.”

It is indeed a wonderful thing to have a God like ours at a time like this - an ever present God. Christ presence in any life is a privilege with great benefits; but only those who access these benefits will enjoy them. To do that, we have to give ourselves to studying the word and with open minds because The Word we read is not enough, it is the word we let into our lives that makes a difference.  In these perilous times, there is nothing we need more than God’s word; for therein is our strength. Every Word we understand or is revealed to us, is accompanied with power to do what the word says because He who reveals The Word, will always make available, the power to do the word. The darker the world gets, the more we need Jesus Christ the Son of God (The Word of God) who will guide our decision making so that we are able to make decisions that further facilitate the enforcing of our victory.  We cannot afford to let life determine our stability; our God alone will be allowed to do that.

Jeremiah 29: 11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Don’t Leave For The Pain; God Is Turning It Around

I had a very special guest today; one of those I actually love to sit with and just chat. These are some of the people who visit, deliberately, to spend time with you and are genuinely interested in sharing your highs and lows as well as share theirs. I am so glad that this visit was all about a new high that God has given her. I suspect she thinks I was sleeping, because I was drowsy, but I was wide awake and her story was another testimonial of God’s goodness. I don’t know what more God needs to do to make us very assured that He is good and always working to bring us to a good place. 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 one trusts Him and moves closer to Him in love. Trust is a must for love, if the bible is correct as we all know it is, then loving God and trusting Him must go hand in hand. A relationship not built on trust is already faulty and would end up in the wrong place.

 

Psalm 103: 5a “He fills my life with good things.”

Psalm 37: 5 “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

So you must know now that I love her story. She has been born again, loving and trusting God; believing Him for great things; yet everything that ought to go wrong went wrong. In her own self, she was dealing with personal weaknesses that threatened to destroy her and then she had challenges with her spouse and marriage. As if that was not enough, her family had issues which even included the death of a sibling. It was indeed a difficult time and she doesn’t know this but I sometimes wondered how she coped with life and still found the energy to laugh because I know for certain that laughter in such times, is very costly. No one, but her alone, knows what it cost for her to laugh. Also, from the little one has learnt about God, He won’t give you information as to how He will turn everything around so you are somewhat in the dark. You just go on knowing that “He has your back” which is really like walking blindly. An unplanned walk you embark on, seemingly without a destination and your path remains unlit. Every step is a challenge and/or struggle; yet, bad as it felt when you took the last step, you still have to take another and several others that you may go forward. No one goes forward remaining in the same position.

Ecclesiastes 9: 1 & 4 “Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad…Good people receive the same promise as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t… There is only hope for the living.”

If you have not gotten there, you will one day: as life goes on. My question is this – what will you do when you get there i.e. when the challenges come? Some of us are right there now and my question is – what are you doing? Whether or not you act, you have done something. Our response to challenges that life throws is a major pointer to where we are at with God. I hate to say this but everyone will get there one day, believer or not; when you do, will you “curse God and die” as Job’s wife counselled him to do or will you stand? I have lived long enough to see a number of believers go through contrary circumstances and each one responded according to “the amount of God in them.” Some “go through” when they are young and others when they are much older but how are you “going through”? The way you come through kind of determines where you end up. Some, though they came through, have become bitter and wicked because of these experiences, while some others have become very cynical about this faith we share. From what we know, I don’t think the attitude with which we come through will change God or even cause Him to reconsider His methods and anyway, He already provided strength or grace to help us come and to do so successfully.

Job 2: 9 “… Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

Romans 15: 13 “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

I have seen a number of people lose their salvation for circumstances like this and as a result lost the opportunity of enjoying benefits God had laid out for them in their future which sadly, they may never touch. They lost their joy which also activates strength and everyone needs the strength to stand whilst trusting that He is working things out as He is indeed. Today, my friend testified; God has completed the work. The end of it was so quick and much more than she wished for that she is still reeling from the depth of the love that God showed in working everything the way He did. The beginning was so slow and the middle too tough; no one would have thought it would end the way He ended it. It is like a dream to her and so shall your own story end – just like a dream. It happened to the children of Israel too, they thought they were dreaming when God turned their captivity around. However, you have to hold on. You have come too far to truncate everything. It is too late to turn your back Him. Please be encouraged, God is working it but you must trust and invest in your relationship with Him.

Hebrews 10: 35 – 37 “So do not throw away tis confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it bring 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. For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay and my righteous ones will live by faith.”

Testing Our Convictions – Why & How

It is so good to know that people not only read but also think through our blog posts. I would like to thank everyone that takes a minute or two to read our articles. You make it all worth our while so thank you. It was one of you who drew my attention to that fact that I did not mention how to test one’s conviction as per my last blog; so I just want to share that. I wish I could come up with something really high sounding but then, that would not be the faith we profess as was handed down to us. Our faith is so simple that Paul talks about its simplicity being the reason many intellectuals and highly educated struggle with it. I wonder, given the simplicity of Christ life here on earth, why we would expect His gospel to be any different. Isn’t it amazing how man who was formed in the image of and by a very simple God, would dare to even think that the very same God is too simple to make sense? We must really think of ourselves much higher than we should.

1 Corinthians 1: 26 – 28 “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things that are despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

So to test our conviction concerning our faith, I advise that we take our minds back to when we got born again and remind ourselves of what led us to believe that we had changed. You want to be reminded also of the decision and consequent action that preceded you having that conviction that you are born again. Some of us were even Christians by religion ye we knew we had become “Christians’. After all, there is really no drama announcing any one’s salvation. Though God will not be boxed so that we can’t confirm how He will move in a life, the “born again” experience is always a change on the inside with an outward expression. You want to check that your response to God at the time is even now much deeper and your passion for Him, even greater. Salvation is a full package, the fullness of which we are filled with as soon as we are born again. Our spirit man receives life instantly, though the outworking keeps unfolding. So whatever happened inside us at the point of getting born again, is all that will ever happen and all we have to do, is ensure that we are building on it; are you? Can you look back at your responses to life soon after you got born again and confirm that the same belief that instigated them still instigates your responses today? No one disconnects from Christ and remains same. You may pretend to others, but you know the truth and see it every time you look in your mirror.

John 15: 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.”

1 Corinthians 2: 15” Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.”

One of the very beautiful things about God is the fact that even if you don’t ask for help, when He sees that we are genuinely desirous of a faith conviction test, He helps us; His desire is that we love that if we find a problem, we love Him enough to want it fixed that our relationship with Him may be stronger. God is more interested in keeping that relationship beautiful than He is in keeping count of your sin; for that is not something He appreciates nor is it His job as some have come to believe. The process of our salvation may be complicated in the realm of the spirit where all things start, but here on earth, it is simple and so must be our “faith test.’  Interesting as the world may seem, it is not. Loss of salvation definitely is the beginning of a joyless life which signals imminent loss of strength and beginning of unbearable pressures; signs we often misinterpret.

2 Corinthians 13: 5 “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test.”

Luke 4: 8 “Jesus replied, the scriptures say, you must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.”

In the times that we are in, we have to sincerely believe what we believe and hold onto it tenaciously. If we believe God through Jesus Christ, who appears to be the problem of many, then we must hold on to Him and live accordingly. Everything is eating away at the very root of what our faith in a way that could be likened to the way, I am told, that rats bite people. I hear they do it so nicely that you almost don’t feel the pain until after they are long gone; they bite and blow nice air. The enemy is “biting and blowing” and a lot of us are sleeping the sleep of death but we are not aware. We must re-visit our root belief from time to time. If we have precious things stored away, no matter how safe we believe they are, we would check them from time to time. We must be deliberate about reminding ourselves of what we believe because we cannot afford to forget what we believe.

Good Time To Test Your Convictions Again

Welcome to the year 2018! Just to mention, I intended to post my blog earlier than I would normally because it is the beginning of the year, but I didn’t though the blog was ready – the power of habit. Thank God we have power over habit which is another reason to celebrate the presence of Christ in our lives; some there are, who would want to break a habit and can’t because they are not been empowered by the Holy Ghost. Grace is not available to them. We really must thank God always. No wonder your resolutions often fail. Commit them to God, lean on our Helper and it will be different this time.

1 Thessalonians 5: 18a “In everything, give thanks”

As we begin another year, it is another season wherein we ought to test our convictions about our faith and life in Christ. We need to be certain that it is what it should be and firm as it should be. So much has happened in the past few years that have impacted on our lives in several different ways and eroded the faith of many who loved Christ as a result of which some have obviously walked away from Him whilst some others have unknowingly left Him. It would be sad to have walked away from Him and still believe that one is in Him assuming, falsely, that everything is okay. No believer deserves to be deluded about their walk with God. It is sad to think one is one thing when they are in truth, another. It will be painful to attend church regularly, maybe even helping out in church or preaching zealously and end up in the wrong place because one did not realize that they had disengaged from God and the Holy Spirit had left them. It is like building on an imaginary foundation. So it is wise to check once more so that if there is a problem, it can be fixed immediately. Some damage are not really obvious except one is deliberate about checking.

1 Corinthians 2: 15a “Those who are spiritual can evaluate all thing.”

Hebrews 12: 12 “So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fail but become strong”

Life has not been the easiest and reality is that life happens to all, both believers and unbelievers alike. Someone recently told me that they were not aware that bad things happen to believers, the truth is that they do; but God goes through it with us and ensures that we come out better than we were before the challenge. He works all things out for our good. However, the pressures of life’s challenges can wear one out and satan knows this so he attacks believers repeatedly despite that he knows he already lost the battle. The strategy is to wear us out to the point where our faith collapses because we are battle weary. Every fight takes its toll on us and if that happens consistently, anyone can be tired if they do not learn to renew their spiritual strength. Whilst there are believers who deliberately turn their backs on Christ for selfish reasons; there are some who don’t even know their backs are turned on Christ and never intended for that to happen but it did because they just lived and never took out time to check their convictions. We cannot afford to be careless about our faith. Our enemy goes around constantly looking for whom he can destroy. We must not be unaware of his ways and act wisely.

Isaiah 52: “Wake up, wake up, o Zion! Clothe yourself with strength.”

Ecclesiastes 9: 2 “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him ...”

Whilst we are testing our convictions, it is advisable to also think on the things we admire. We as believers, are enjoined to set our eyes on Jesus Christ and make Him the object of our greatest admiration but we often have our eyes everywhere else. If your eyes are on “the world” for long enough, you will begin to admire the things of the world and it won’t be too long before you walk toward what you admire and as a result, walk away from God. Whatever you gaze at consistently becomes your idol which is ultimately what you worship. You can’t worship the world and all that is in it and remain steadfast in this faith that we profess. Moreover, no one goes forward looking back. There is no room for looking back on this journey. If we must go forward, we must set our gaze ahead on the one who has gone before us and done it successfully – Jesus Christ. You must see Him for yourself; don’t see Him through some other person’s eyes. You must ensure you have your personal convictions about Him. You have to know Him in whom you have believed. If you don’t please fix it. He is waiting to help.  

Don’t Lose Heart: It Is Never Late With Him

As the year comes to an end here on earth, please be reminded that God’s year may be far from ending; for our God does not dwell in time. I am sure you have heard it said that God dwells in eternity so that it is most unlikely that His calendar is closing. I sincerely believe that this may be one of the best seasons for miracles since it is the time of the year when we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. As we all know, it is most unlikely that this is the season in which He was born, but this is that season when we celebrate His birth which is the biggest miracle the earth has ever witnessed. How is it that a God so mighty would choose to step down from His throne on high that He may indwell man? That is the miracle that only God can explain and who would believe that He did it that we may have joy filled lives and have it in exceeding abundance. Such was the love of God for us when He made the decision and so it is even today.

John 10: 10b “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

John 15: 11 “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow.”

There is no doubt that God is not going on holiday at this time like we do. Interestingly, when a day is coming to an end, man begins to shut down that he may rest but our God never shuts down. Whilst we are getting ready to rest, God is working to start a new day. Man is programmed to shut down before the beginning of a new day or season so that in our sub-conscious, God is like that and we assume His calendar is just like ours. Please get ready for your miracles; it may just “spring forth” in this season like it did for Peter on the night when fishing seemed like the wrong business. Peter and the other fishermen were shutting down when Jesus Christ came on the scene and borrowed his boat. He could have been so frustrated with the way the night’s business went that he may have told Jesus Christ he had to go home. We have to learn to master our bodies so that things like frustration don’t get the better of us when things don’t seem to be going the way we think it should. If Peter had allowed what seemed like failure to get the better of him, he may have lost his the opportunity to know Jesus Christ and its attendant miracles, which was the beginning of many great experiences for Peter.

Luke 5: 2 & 3 “He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of those boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. Si he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.”

Like Peter and his team, I want to encourage you to be open to God even in this season. It’s the year and not your life that is coming to an end. Please don’t push God away by complaining and murmuring against Him which is what the enemy would like you to do so that you will unwittingly, shut God out. It is yet good time for God to act for you. He can even start a new thing right now. Jesus did not mention the blessings that would accompany their lending Him their boat; but it was in the works and no matter how late it was when He was done, He who never sleeps was going to give them this miracle. I am certain that they were penned down for that miracle that night and only they could have prevented themselves from receiving the miracle that night. Seriously, I think Peter and his team deserves to be applauded because they were already cleaning out their boat and nets when Jesus came on the scene. I often wonder about the ways of God; since He was coming, couldn’t he have come a little earlier? His ways was indeed puzzling; we can never really fathom God. We must never assume that it is late with God who is in control of time. Did he not stay the sun for Joshua? He does not need light to do what He need to do either because He is light Himself and even darkness flees when He comes on the scene.

Isaiah 55; 9 “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.”

Ecclesiastes 11: 4 “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another or maybe both.”

  Thank God that Peter was not one of us who “observe the “weather” otherwise he would have missed this gift. When we have opportunity to sow, we must respond without checking the weather. There was no doubt that it was dark; that not something one could pretend about but Peter chose to respond contrary to what He saw. We must also remember that from the point of view of the fishermen, that may have been considered “bad business” day. In other words, they may think they failed that day though they do not control the fishes. Not only did their seeming failure in business that day not prevent them from showing kindness, it also did not prevent them from casting their net again. Our circumstances should not determine our responses to the word of God.  Even if you failed at something several times, this may be the one opportunity that turns the entire story around.

So Shall Men Know … Pt 2

John 13: 35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”

I feel bad when I am unable to post my blog especially when it is because I am too distracted to put my thoughts together and write. The past few weeks have been hectic and for a good reason - I was attending an awesome prophetic conference which I could have given anything to attend. So, with great joy in my heart and gratitude to God, I apologize for not posting my blog this past week. I thank God for godly relationships that facilitated my attendance at the conference. Indeed, prudence in the way we relate with one another and quality of company we keep has become imperative. The way we relate with others affects the company we keep which then greatly impacts on the quality of life we live here on earth and consequently, our ultimate destination in eternity. Do you act like the relationship is all about you? Are you always the victim? Do you provoke the others to good works? You may be surprised to find that you are the reason sincere people stay away from you leaving you in company that is not helpful for building godly character. It has become expedient, that we do a relationship audit. As you audit please bear in mind that it is best to start with self- evaluation. You may be surprised to find that you are “the bad one” or you may be bad for the person you think is a bad influence on you. Let me note here that sometimes we need to let go of some company not because anyone is bad but just because sometimes people who good individually, are bad collectively.

Hebrews 10: 24 “Let us think of ways to motivate one anther

1 Corinthians 15: 34 “think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God.”

When in my last blog I suggested that we audit our relationships, my thoughts were for us to deliberately examine them, sincerely evaluating them with a view to improving their quality. Sincerity is a must if the audit will be useful. For the evaluation to be sincere, our minds must be open to the fact that at the end of it all, we may be the ones who need to change to improve the quality of the company we keep. I have found that it is much easier to assume that we are great and every other person needs to do more so we must be open to looking inward first, rightly evaluating ourselves before we look at another. Our hearts have to be in the right place because every sincere evaluation begins with a sincere heart evaluation. If our hearts are wrong, the entire process is distorted and our findings will be corrupt. My Pastor, Seye Kosoko, says relationship audits are really audits of our hearts and I agree. Our hearts are the bedrock of all our relationships because out of them flow the issues of life.  All these matters flow from the heart  If our self- assessment reveals that we are the ones with challenges, we don’t need to feel condemned; we start working on ourselves relying on the Holy Spirit for help.

Hebrews 10: 24 “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”

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

Any relationship that does not provoke us to acts of love and good works is not the best one for us. Of course, this is not love the way the world knows but true godly love; that love which tells you truth and is kind, does not envy, is not proud or selfish, does not think evil, is not easily provoked, rejoices in the truth, believes and endures all things and hopes for all things. Neither is it “good works” as we know them to be because good works are the works of God. For anything God does is good including when He chastises. Much as we would like to be described as good, we are bad anytime we do what God would not do. Jesus Christ said only God is good so that anyone who desires to be described as good would have to do only what he sees God do. Any relationship that provokes us to do contrary to the will of God is not good for us. Our relationships ought not to be the stumbling block to us forming godly character. At the end of the day we all ought to be one man – Christ Jesus, in whom we are seated.

Psalm 1: 1 “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.”

The Psalmist talks about “the joys” of those who keep the right company. This re-enforces the power of keeping good company or relationships. The converse though, is “Oh the sorrows of those who follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers.” Our relationships or the company we keep should not be allowed to evolve; we must be deliberate about who is allowed into our lives.  As you begin your audit, remember to keep your goal before you so that you can make the right decisions.

DO YOU STILL BELIEVE?

Now more than ever before it has become a great necessity to check over and over again that one is still on that right path to life. There are indeed many paths that appear to end in life but end in death instead. Believers must be circumspect in the times that we are in. Some years ago, I wrote a blog similar to this and at the time I thought a number of us were mixed up about our faith. In my opinion, we had gotten so mixed up with the world that we were almost a high breed (neither believers nor unbelievers): I guess that should have made us “carnal believers” but we definitely didn’t see ourselves as “such” and if we go by scriptures, even “such” have, in reality, lost access to eternal life which is the knowledge of Christ. I recall that I mentioned, in that blog, that I had just listened to a sermon by Billy Graham and I wept through it all at the end of which I could not help but pray the sinner’s prayer along with those who yielded to Jesus Christ on the day he preached the sermon. Little did I know then, that it could get as bad as it is today when we are so lost we have lost our identity completely and even now deliberately misinterpret scriptures to make them useful for our purpose albeit, evil purpose.

 

John 17: 3 “And this is the way to have eternal life-to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

Proverbs 16: 25 “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

There is no doubt that the scriptures have always been misinterpreted but it used to be because people were deceived and/or deluded or even possessed by satan more than anything else; it was hardly deliberate. Today however, the story is different. People who once loved and made Jesus Christ Lord over their lives, willfully interpret scriptures wrongly for their own selfish purpose. They know what they teach is wrong but they feel the need to deceive; luring people away from the true faith and largely because they want to meet their own self-imposed goals which often sound godly but are demonic because of the underlying wickedness. Some only want to start or even grow their churches to mega church status so they prey on unsuspecting believers, wickedly using them as tools for accomplishing their personal goals; damaging them with lies and then argue that it was their responsibility to seek out the truth for themselves. Yes it is indeed their responsibility to do so; but it is also every believer’s responsibility to tell truth to each other and present The Truth just as He is. Jesus is Truth and so is His word. The Word of God can never be shrouded in lies and remain truth. The pulpit belongs to God and most be used to push His agenda only – Jesus Christ the son of God who is The Word made flesh.

John 1: 1 & 14 “In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the word was God … So the Word became human and made his home among us.”

Galatians 1: 8 & 9 “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: if anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.”

There is no doubt that these are “perilous times” and walking with God today is tougher than it has ever been but it is not the job of believers to mislead others; that is satan’s job and anyone who does it long enough is bound to become possessed with his spirit. Warfare is at a heightened level and so many soldiers are dying in the battle field. Evil is stirring us right in the face now and we have lost strength. A lot of us have gone to sleep – the sleep of death. That deceitful and destructive sleep which makes you think you are doing great as a believer when indeed, you have lost your salvation. I used to think warfare has become really subtle in the current days but it hasn’t. The enemy has infiltrated our ranks and unlike Jesus our Master, we have fallen for every one of his temptations. Many of us like to argue that it is tough because we fight “new demons” today. I beg to disagree. It’s the same demons despite the different manifestations.

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 “we are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle the keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish all disobedience.”

It is not possible to be “in the flesh” and perceive or identify our common enemy and his works. Yet we are comfortable remaining there not mindful of the fact that he wants us there anyway, to weaken us knowing that we are ill equipped to war at this level because the weapons of our warfare are spiritual and spiritually empowered. If we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Ghost, no enemy will successfully attack us. The devil ought to flee from us as we resist him and not the other way round. Our faith is not powerless but our lies and lifestyle have made it so. We can’t continue with this powerless gospel. We can’t continue to make the Word of God of no effect. It is time to start again. Jesu Christ is coming soon.

Let Us Draw Near To God

It is definitely not news to most believers that we are in the “end times” since this is one of those things that we talk about often; but, do we really believe it? It seems like the more we say it, the more lightly we take it. I guess we have heard it so much it sounds like a cliché because a lot of us carry on with such a lazy disposition toward God and the things that pertain to Him, that it is obvious we don’t really believe it and largely, because we have not thought on it enough. The relationship such persons have with God is so dry and lacking in luster that they make God appear boring when the real problem is the fact that they barely engage Him and as such are unable to glean from Him and radiate His glory. A believer’s relationship with God only thrives to the extent that one is ready to make the effort. Most of us only engage God, when we are overwhelmingly burdened and as soon as our issues are resolved, we return to status quo; it ought not to be so. Engaging or cultivating a vibrant relationship with God takes a deliberateness on our part. Unless and until we make the effort to work at this relationship, it remains boring or even dead which said state is often reflected in the believer’s life.

Luke 18: 1 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

Ephesians 6: 18 “Praying always”

Proverbs 3: 6 “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

God desires to have a vibrant relationship with us which is why He is open to communicating with us always and everywhere. He makes it clear that He desires to be a part of our everyday life and even our decision making.  Never mind those who think we disturb God when we commune with Him; God is so interested in our lives that He takes the time to show us which path is fit when we seek His will. The onus is on every believer to either accept to have that relationship with God that He so desires or to reject His outstretched arm. Whilst it is true that God hides Himself, it is our honor to search for and find Him and as we do that, we are cultivating a beautiful relationship with Him. He makes it easy for us to find Him by giving every one of us the Holy Spirit who knows all there is to know about Him. The challenge for a number of us is the fact that we don’t even care enough about the depth of our relationship to even need The Help He provides so that the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is just to facilitate our speaking in tongues. We must remember that uncultivated relationships gradually die despite that we may be unaware of its death and still carry on just like Samson who shook himself not knowing that his strength had left him because is head was shaved. A bad relationship is bad despite what we may like to think or believe. It is always what it is. We always get back from a relationship what we invest in it. What are you investing in your relationship with God?

Proverbs 25: 2 “It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.”

Luke 6: 38 “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full-pressed down. Shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

If indeed these are the end times as we believe they are, then it is time to work on our relationship with God. It takes some form of “pressing” to go forward in any God related thing including even our relationship with God. When Paul says “I press on to reach the end of the race” it included even working at his relationship with God. We need to “press” that we might go forward. Of course, pressing is not passive so a lazy person will struggle with their relationship with God but it starts with a decision and grace is available. We have to wake up from a life of ease and get into serious business with God. We have to work at leaving behind us any weight that might make it difficult to enter His presence thereby stemming our maturity. Every weight should be cast aside whether they be failures, success, un-forgiveness and whatever else there is, they must be put aside that we may enjoy our relationship with God and the benefits. It is worthy of note that when we work to cultivate our walk with God, we enter into that rest can one can only have in Him. It is time to push the limits of our relationship with Him and the benefits will no doubt be immense.

Hebrews 4: 3 “For only we who believe can enter his rest.”

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