PETTY OR PLENTY???

I was reading Psalm 33 and I came across the verses, 16-19. And it just got me thinking about the number of things we have that we take for granted.

For example, when your parents travel you just expect them to come back. I mean that is the normal way of things. You wake up in the morning and you yawn, get out of bed and start doing the normal things that constitute your day. "Ah! Another day! Could it get any worse?!" or "Could it get any better?!". You watch TV and see a film about armed robbers attacking some house and people begging for mercy and you are like "Look at these people! They have saa oh! If only they had a gun. If it was me die3..." and you go on and on about what you will have done to the criminals if you were in that position. Yet you have never encountered something like that in your whole life. "I guess I'm just lucky!" But are you really?

The psalmist is telling us in v13-15 that: "From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth - He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do." Yes, the Lord observes us every minute of our life and sees what we do. Those times when we need Him the most and we don't even realize, which is always, He steps in. ALWAYS! Because He sees us and knows our every cry/need/want/desire, even before we ask Him for them in prayer (Ps 139:4). So yes, that is why it is easy for us to take the things we have for granted; we have so many things when we don't even ask for them. "If I don't ask but I have, doesn't that make what I have normal?" Does it really?!

I don't think so! The psalmist boldly and correctly points out the fact that "No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior can escape by his great strength." (v 16). What the psalmist is clearly saying is that the things that look like the norm and are expected by us humans, like finding food to eat, going out and returning home, all those "petty" things that happen in our lives are not by our might, strength or power (N.B. Ironically, the "petty" things are the most important ones. Think about it!). Oh, it's wonderful to have these things, but won't it be wonderful to acknowledge the One who gives them to us and not take them for granted?

v 18-22 tells us of the unfailing, compassionate love of the One who gives these "petty" things to those who trust in Him. We are told that His eyes are on us to deliver us from trouble and death, and keep us alive in times of famine (v 19). So you see, the food that we have and savour everyday, and sometimes "pose" about and turn our noses away from is given to us by God. But do we acknowledge this? When we sleep and wake up or when we go out and come back home, unscathed and unharmed, safe from death, do we acknowledge that? "Abi, these are just normal daily activities. Why bother. I'll get them again tomorrow".

I hope the Lord is speaking to you through this. Telling you that the fact that your heart beats alone and pumps blood to every organ of your body is not because you are a special human being, but it is because of His grace. When you wake up and open your eyes and see the walls of your room, it is because the Lord chose you to live for Him another day. All the Lord is telling you is simply acknowledge Him for everything, even the "normal" things that happen to us everyday, because we are not alive because of our own strength or doing, but because of grace; abundant grace so much so that it does not only keep us alive but sustains us every nanosecond of our lives.

I know it is very easy to forget to say thank you for our beating hearts and blinking eyes and hearing ears every time, but make it a point to write it somewhere so that you will always remember to thank God for them, maybe once a day or once every hour or something... but don't forget to ask God to remind you to always thank Him for the "petty". Or should I say the "plenty"...

God bless you! Live for Christ!!! <3

IT WAS INTENTIONAL

The story of Moses is one that has been hammered into our heads since our days in Sunday School - his birth and achievements. We all know that Moses was born during the time where Pharaoh had ordered that any male child born to a Hebrew woman be thrown into the Nile (Exodus 2:1-20). However, Moses managed to escape this execution, not because of his own strength or the strength of his mother or sister, but because God had drawn out the plans He had for Moses long before he was conceived, and was only playing them out.

God did not let Moses be born in a time where the massacre of Hebrew male children was normal for nothing. He did not command Moses' mother to make a basket for him and place it on the same river that was the burial grounds for the other children for nothing. He did not make Moses float while the others sank for nothing. He did not cause Moses to enter into the palace of the one who had ordered his execution for nothing. He did this to show us that no matter the situation we may find ourselves in, He only has good plans for us (Jer 29:11), and it is in those situations that He will be glorified. Yes! It was intentional.

Psalm 139 tells us that God knew us way before we were thought of by our parents. He tells us that He has planned out our lives for us before we were conceived. He tells us that He knows our every thoughts and actions even before we do them. Basically, what He is telling us is that everything happening to us now is not coincidental, and that He is only working out that which He ordained and wrote in His Book before we came to be (v 16). Everything about us is planned.

Let's think again about the baby whose birth got shepherds to hear angels sing, whose birth brought about a star in the sky to direct wise men to Him, who was born in a manger, who was conceived by a virgin, who was born to save mankind. All the circumstances of that baby's birth had already been laid out in Isaiah and other books, centuries before His parents were born. The plans were being laid out merely as had been prophesied. Everything that happened was the intention of the Lord.

So yes, we are experiencing God's plans for us, irrespective of its bitter sweetness. Yes, our lives are not too exciting. Yes, it is intentional. You may think your life is insignificant, your life is too hard, you are being punished way beyond what you deserve, but you are not. So rather than dwell on the immediate taste and feel of the path our lives are taking, let's dwell on the aftertaste, which we have been assured is fantastic. Let the Word guide us and let the Holy Spirit lead us to accept what God has outlined for us. Fortunately or FORTUNATELY, it is intentional and so let' make the right choice and give Him the reins to finish off what He started, because He is the Beginning and the End (Rev 22:13).

God bless you!!! Live for Christ!!! <3

THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE

I was watching TBN some days ago and a certain pastor (I can't remember his name) was preaching about the little things that steer us off the path as we follow Christ. In his preaching he referred to Luke 14:26:
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple."
He mentioned that this verse was one of, if not the most controversial verse in the Bible because the One who told us that love is the greatest commandment of all the commandments, and that we should love our neighbours as ourselves, and that hating our brother is synonymous to murder and that we should love each other just as He loved us, is the same person telling us that we should hate our brother, family, neighbour, friend, even our life. Wow Jesus, what is it you really want us to do? Hmmm. Let's see...

This verse is only controversial when we look at it in its literal sense. It contradicts everything Jesus said when we try to understand what He was saying literally. The Bible is not called the Book of Truth for nothing. Jesus did not say He was not a liar for nothing. He said all this because it is true. Yes, He does not lie. And if we believe the Book of Truth is the truth, then I guess we have to conform to what the Book says right? Yes! So now, since we cannot look at the verse literally because it makes it seem like Jesus is contradicting Himself, which of course He is not, then we have to look at it in another way. The only other way.

Remember God told us that He IS a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) and so He does not want us to put anything before Him. Okay, I hope that has got you thinking. Now let's see. If the Bible is the Truth and God does not want us to put anyone or anything before Him, I guess that must include our brothers, family, neighbours, job, material possessions, aspiration, even our lives. I hope things are taking shape now.

Okay so hate and love are opposite poles. Agreed. But can we say that hate is a very very very very very very very extremely toned down version of love. I think that is possible. In another sense, hate can mean that you do not love as much. So now let's look at what Jesus said using what we have discovered about hate. I hope you can see the end of the tunnel now. Anywho, Jesus said we should hate the people around us and ourselves if we want to be His disciple. Does this mean that Jesus is telling us to our love for the people around us and ourselves should be very very very very very very very very very very very very extremely toned down? Absolutely. So if our love should be so toned down, then who should the excess love go to? Evidently if we are going to become His disciples and tone down our love for ourselves and the people around us, then the rest of the love should go to the person we intend to follow. Him. I think things are getting clearer now. So basically, Jesus is telling us that if we want to follow Him, then the love that we must have for other things aside Him must be considerably and I mean considerably toned down, to the extent that it is almost considered hate, in comparison. I think everything fits now. In other words, Jesus must be placed first!

Jesus was not telling us this because He is a selfish man and wants all the love in the world for Himself. He told us this because He knows how much the things around us can cause us to be distracted, and how the things we place in precedence to Him can cause us to relegate Him to the background. But the Kingdom of God does not work that way. It requires all the commitment to be able to do the work that it has been established for. So yes, Jesus did have a reason for demanding all of our dedication. This is because He understands the duty that He has set before us, and because He still loves us and wants us to have our free will, He has given us the condition, "If". He has left it to us.

Jesus understands. But do we understand? Are we willing to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 14:27)? Can we carry the burden? Do we love Him that much to sacrifice all else? It is tough, I know. But with the strength of the Lord we can become Pauls in our own way and live our lives for Christ. It is difficult, I fully understand. I would not say that I have forsaken everything else, but I am willing to try and I hope you are to. Because the God who called us to His eternal glory will [carry us to completion and] will Himself make us strong, steadfast and firm (1Peter 5:10).

God bless you!! Live for Christ!!! <3

PRAISE HIM WITH THE LITTLE

As I told you before, there is always someone out there trying to take God's glory away from Him to give to something else, or even place in himself. Daniel 5:14 is a clear example of this:

"I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee."

Belshazzar, who knew our Almighty King very well and knew everything that God had done to his father, Nebuchadnezzar because of pride (Daniel 5:18-22), still could not bring himself to acknowledge that God was the one that had blessed him and brought him thus far, and that God was the one who was working through Daniel. He had to give credit to the gods for Daniel's wisdom; gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand (Daniel 5:23).

So to re-affirm what He said in Isaiah 42, Belshazzar was slain that very evening (Daniel 5:30), and a new king took over. This is just to remind you about who and where the real glory, honour and praise should be directed towards. Not to any man (1 Cor 3:21), not to any god, not to yourself, but every ounce of praise that escapes our mouths should be directed at the Holy One.

But here is another thing the Lord wants to address in Daniel 5:16-17. Daniel was promised the honour of becoming the third highest ruler in the kingdom and offered gifts as well, just so that he could do what God had called him to do. God did not give Daniel the spirit of interpretation of dreams for nothing, but it was given to him so that it could be used to bring God glory. Daniel took note of that and told Belshazzar:

"Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation."

Daniel sought to merely do his job as a child of God and look at what the Lord gave him afterwards. v29 says that at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was given everything that he had been promised by the king and was made third highest ruler in the kingdom.

Although the fact that we must acknowledge God in everything that we go through is not missing is this message, I want us to also consider the fact that using the gifts that God has given us to bring Him glory is also very key in our walk with Him. Daniel did just that and God BLESSED him. We should do likewise, not even for the blessings, but because we love the Lord with all our hearts and want to praise Him with the little blessings He has given us. People will always praise us for the special things that God has blessed us with, influencing us to put our pride in our abilities, but let us remember that it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away and praise His name at all times (Job 1:21). In any case, the Lord says that those that do not have, even the little that they have will be taken away from them (Matthew 25:29). So let us come together and help one another harness the little gifts that God has given us to be used in His Kingdom so that we can go out there and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19), for our reward is not on earth, but our reward is in heaven (Matther 5:12).

God bless you!! Live for Christ!!

DO YOU WANT TO BE A BEREAN?

Acts 17:10-12 tells us the sort of people that the Bereans were:
"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few."

They did not only listen to the Word of God and accept it with eagerness and ready hearts, but they also checked with the Bible all the time to make sure that what they were being told was true. Is that what we do when people teach us about the Word of God and point us to parts of the Bible? Do we even bother to check when we are told to? I know I am a culprit in this sometimes but I strive to make it a point to act like a Berean when ever the situation presents itself.

Besides God did not instruct Paul to include this little portion about the Bereans in this book of Acts for nothing. It is because our Great and Mighty God knew that His people in the future generations will forget to check with His Word anytime they are referred to it, and so could be easily misled. So Paul had to include this very short, and I repeat short story into the Book of Acts as a reminder and instruction to us children of God.  

You see, God does not do things without a reason. He does not just make mistakes. He provided us with the written Word, physical and true, so that the false prophets and the hypocrites will not cause us to stray from the straight and narrow road (although filled with a lot of pot-holes and bumps). He is indeed our Provider, Jehovah Jireh! God loves us so much that He cannot see anyone of His children fall. So at every point in our lives, He provides us with something that will keep us from stumbling, or even staying on the ground too long after falling. That is why it is important that the Word of God becomes our reference point at all times in our lives.

Be like the Berean, and make sure that no matter how convincing a preacher, a friend or even an enemy may sound, the Bible remains your reference point since it holds all the Truth in the world. It is the only truth that is not relative to anyone (TOK). It is the absolute truth. Make the Bible your best friend. Oh and lest I forget, when you hear the Word, ask God to open up your heart to receive it with all eagerness and excitement, not forgetting to check with the Book of Truth, just like the Bereans did, and I think your passport into the city of Berea, as a temporary citizen will undoubtedly and without hesitation be approved!

God bless you as you continue living for Christ!! <3

NO DIFFERENCE!

God has called each and everyone of us unto salvation. There is no difference between the Jew or the Gentile in God's eyes. He wants each and everyone of us to experience the healing power of Christ's death and resurrection. Brothers and sisters, no one is is required to follow a set of rules to render them fit to become a child of God because it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just like everyone else who accepts Jesus as their Lord and personal saviour (Acts 15:11).

Jew or Gentile, we all belong to the body of Christ, each of us having very important roles to play in the Kingdom of Heaven (1 Cor. 12-13; 21-27). Let us endeavour not to estrange other people who want to experience the love of God because we feel that they do not it the picture of a child of God "for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and were all given the one Spirit to drink."

Read Acts 15 and learn what ensued between some Jews and the disciples and apostles of Christ as they argued over the matter of Jews and Gentiles. There is a lot of wisdom to be obtained from this chapter. God bless you as you continue living for Christ!

NEVER TOO YOUNG!!

I know when we talk of young people of God every one's mind goes straight to Timothy. No doubt, Timothy was indeed a special man or should I say boy of God. But he was not the only one. I was reading Job and I came across a young man named Elihu who I feel contributed mightily to helping Job appreciate and realise God's hand in his life. I will definitely talk about Elihu a few more times because the man has a lot of wisdom to give (Job 32-Job 37), but today I shall concentrate on Elihu as a young man of God.

Elihu sure had thoughts like we, the young generation, normally have in this recent time and age. We think that all wisdom comes from those who are old and advanced in years and so are fearful to speak out about what we know especially in the midst of the elderly (Job 32:6-7). But here is a young man, who although believed in these limitations, felt that it was not the old who were wise and the aged who understood what was right, but it was God who gave people the right to know right from wrong and also gave people understanding (Job 32:8-9). As a result, he stood up and corrected the elderly people who he felt had allowed Job to go on the wrong track. He made certain that these people knew that they were doing the wrong thing, and set out to correct them (Job 32-Job 37).

Today, my message is a very short one. No one is too young to step up in the Kingdom of God, and where necessary correct those, even the elderly, who are faltering in their walk with the Almighty. Elihu managed to get Job thinking about the right things through what he said, and by so doing, got God to speak to Job and admonish him, and in the end, Job was blessed.

So young people of today, including myself, please let us step up. We have a lot of God in us and we have a lot of God to give to the world. He has done so much for us and so it is our duty to give Him the little that we can which is praising Him, as well as telling the world about Him. Young people, let us take up our armour and prepare for battle in this world. But first, remember Elihu's words:
"But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right."

Don't forget, we are very well-equipped, but we must avail ourselves us young children of our Heavenly Father, to achieve great things in His Kingdom.

Let's get ready.. Live for Christ!!! :)

GIVE HIM THE GLORY

King Herod was very instrumental in the persecution of God's people. In Acts 12:1-4, we see some of the things that Herod had done and intended to do to the Christians of the time who went about praising and spreading the gospel. However, I do not intend to discuss Herod's place in persecuting the Christians. Rather, I want to point out the importance of giving God the glory and praise in whatever happens to us and whatever we do, because it is about time that we acknowledge that everything that has happened to us or is happening to us is as a result of God's purpose for our lives.

I find it very interesting the circumstances surrounding Herod's death. Perhaps, I would have linked his death to the fact that God was angry with Him for putting His people to death and persecuting them. But no! This is not the reason for Herod's immediate death. Instead of Him to give the glory to the One who had put him in the position to experience praise from his subjects, he rather took the praise for himself and sat gloating about his achievements. HIS ACHIEVEMENTS INDEED! (Acts 12:21-22). But you see, God Himself said that He is not going to let anyone take away His glory for himself; neither will He give His glory to gods or man (Isaiah 42:8). And my God who keeps to His Word and does not lie, made certain of it. Acts 12:23 says that "Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck Him down, and he was eaten by worms and died." This was Herod's death because he stole what was not his, and that was Jehovah's glory. What a way to die for someone who was considered a "god" by His people. *God probably made Him die in this way to prove a point: THERE'S ONLY ONE GOD.. Go Jesus.. Go Father... You rock!!!*

So my message for you today is simple and very straight-forward. Give God the praise and glory. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight (Psalm 3:5-6). He deserves more than we can ever give Him so give your best, and not the rest!!! Trust me, I find myself at fault when it comes to giving God all of myself. I am selfish and hard-hearted when it comes to the things of God. But another reason why I love my God so much is because He has provided us a way, an avenue for us to come to Him, despite our selfish, undeserving natures and ask for forgiveness. He gave us the path, which is Jesus Christ, so that we can make amends and be restored to Him. We are blessed oh! Too blessed for us to take that for granted and not acknowledge God. Please, remember that where you are now, no matter how much you may detest it or how much you may appreciate it, it is all God's doing. Therefore, remember to give Him the thanks and praise, not for everything but IN EVERYTHING (Kirk Franklin).

I don't want to end up like Herod, and I do not think you want to either. So please, whatever you do and say, please do it to the glory of God (Col 3:17) and please remember that even in our sin and unworthiness, He sent His Son to come and die for us and set us free. That is something we must be eternally grateful for. God will never concede HIS GLORY for anyone, so don't be that person who tries to deprive God of His glory, because you will DEFINITELY lose. Do what is right.

God bless you!! Live for Christ and give God the glory!!! :D

SEEK, ASK, FAITH

I was having my quiet time this morning and the devotional used Mark 10:46-52 to talk about declaring what you want into your life before Jesus gives it to you. The devotional pointed out that by Jesus asking Bartimaeus what he wanted, He wanted Bartimaeus to make a declaration into his life and have faith for it to come to pass. However, reading the short passage got me seeing things in a different light, although not entirely veering of the path that God had chosen to point out through the devotional.
For me, it got me thinking about the fact that Jesus expects us to seek Him too and when we seek Him with all of our hearts, we will find Him (Jer. 29:13-14). Just like Bartimaeus did, Jesus wants us to call out to Him at the top of our lungs ignoring those who tell us to shut up and assess our lives, adding that our continuous calling out to God had yielded nothing. Of course people will be there to try and discourage you as you seek God out, but trust me, no matter how long you may have been seeking Jesus' face, He has promised in His word that we will find Him, and He never fails on His promise, so indeed He'll be there. He'll just be waiting for us to ASK.
We know how Jesus is very particular about us asking Him for what we want and need (Matthew 7:7) so yes, before Jesus will answer your prayer, you must ask. Bartimaeus told Jesus that he wanted to see (v51b) after Jesus had asked him "What do you want me to do for you?" (v51a). You see, after Jesus has been sought out and has been found, He asks us the question above, and its up to us to answer, and pour out our souls to Him. Ask for what is on our hearts that we want Him to do for us. But for Him to answer after we have asked, He wants us to ask with FAITH.
Jesus said that whatever we ASK him for in prayer, we should believe that we have received it and it will be ours (Mark 11:24). Basically, Jesus wants us to have faith that He will do it for us, because He WILL definitely do it for us, once and only if we ask by faith and do not doubt. Jesus does not like sin and encourages us that when we come to Him asking for forgiveness, He shall cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Therefore, we cannot go before Jesus in prayer when we have doubt in our hearts because anything that we do without faith is sin (Romans 14:23). So you see, first of all, we cannot approach the throne of grace with sin in our hearts, therefore, in order to avoid sin, we must remove all doubts in our hearts before we present our requests at the feet of the Most High.
Tonight, my message is short and simple, seek, ask and then have faith and the good and faithful Judge, who is our Lord, The Almighty, shall answer our prayers and will provide our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19).
God bless you and Live for Christ1!! :)