Jesus is the Son of God, but when He was tempted in the book of Matthew, His response to the devil was not, "Satan, why are you tempting me, don't you know that I am the Son of God?” But rather His response was "It is written..!' Yes, the word of God is not only written but has also been sent to you today. Why is the word of God so important? Jesus knew something that most people choose to neglect and that is God has honored his word above all things. The word of God is very powerful and it has been sent to you, it is very near you (Romans 10:8).
The word of God has the power to call things that were not into being. Study the first chapter of the book of Genesis. What is the most common phrase? 'And God said, let there be....' and that is followed by 'and it was so.' Hence at God's word the universe came into being. Not only was the universe created but God saw that it was good. The word of God has both the power to create good things in the hands of a responsible Being but also has the power to tear down strongholds (Jeremiah 1:9 and 10).
The presence of God is powerful and capable of many great things: His presence alone makes the earth shake violently, the clouds thunder and people fear (Exodus19:9-18) but remember at His word they came into being. At the sight of Jesus alone the demon threw the boy down (Luke 9:42-43) but at the word of Jesus the boy was delivered. Jesus was with the disciples on the boat when the storm started but at His word the sea calmed down and the winds ceased. The presence of God sure does make things happen like when Jesus sent the disciples on the boat while He dispersed the people who had gathered. A storm aroused and the disciples were afraid but Jesus came walking on water and when He just joined them, the storm stopped and they reached their destination. But at the word of God every situation must obey (Isaiah 55:11)
'Whatever He says, just do it' (John 2:5) After they ran out of wine at the wedding at Cana Mary could not turn to anyone else but unto Jesus. She gave this order because she understood the nature of God's word, once it has been sent out it accomplishes what God desires.
Where is the word of God? You might not be comfortable that everything in the Bible is the word of God but I would like to reassure you that it is, and it has been sent to minister to all your problems as the rain ministers to the whole world. The same rain ministers to different plants and animals so is the word, it is the same word but it ministers according to your need at that particular time (Isaiah 55:10).
The word of God has the power to shape the body of Christ. It has the inspiration of God to be used for rebuking and correction (2Timothy 3:16). The word of God has the power shape you as an individual as it say it is sharper than a double edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart. God has spoken and has sent His word to you but it will only come to life when you accept and declare it in the name of Jesus. You will not declare what you do not know and understand. If you don't know that God has said, 'your cancer is healed! You might die a premature death. God pities His people and that is why He say, ' My people perish because of lack of knowledge' (Hosea 4:6). What sort of knowledge? If you don't know that smoking could cause cancer, drinking could cause liver and kidney problems, and exposure to compounds of benzene could cause blood diseases then you will surely suffer and in the other cases of blood disease you will perish. But here let the word 'knowledge' be replaced by 'word of God' then there is hope assured for all people no matter their situation is; He has declared Himself the God of all flesh and there is nothing too difficult for Him to do (Jeremiah 32:27). He has sent His word to deliver you out of your distresses and heal you physically, mentally and spiritually (Psalms 107:19-20).
Once you have been born again you need assurance that the decision made was the right one (1 John 5:13) there might be lots of questions imposed on your mind by lots of people or even yourself. You need faith but that doesn't come that easy because you need to hear and understand the word of God (Romans 10:17). Simply the more of the word you have in your heart the better you understand what God is saying to you through his servants. This happens because once you have God's word in your heart you bring His nature in you. God's nature is Holy that is why the psalmists says, 'I have hidden your words in my heart so that I might not sin against you.' God's has zero tolerance to failure and lies (Numbers 23:19) that is why meditating on God's word brings His nature into your heart and you prosper (Joshua 1: 8-9, Psalms 1:1-3). The authority you have as a Christian is because God has sent His word to you, that word has the power to build or destroy strongholds that is why you can do it, without it you will not be able to fight against the devil (Ephesians 6:13-18). The word of God is the only weapon you can use to attack the devil, It is the sword among the armor of God.
You will need the word of God for the greatest commision. The whole heavens rejoices at the saving of one soul. A person will not get saved unless they hear the Word, they will not hear the Word unless someone proclaims it to them and you will not proclaim what you do not know.
I hope you have the desire for God's word even more but how and where do I start meditating on the word of God? The God whom we are serving is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Even meditating on His word is a form of worship because you are obeying His command. In the word of God there are spiritual truths that are revealed to a spiritual mind. You will definitely agree with me that apart from God there is no man who knows you better than your spirit inside, and so is it with God, His spirit understands Him best and that is why you are encourage to pray and ask the spirit of God for revelation and understanding of God's word (1 Corinthians 2:10-14). It is best to have a systematic way to mediate on the word of God, starting with the gospel of John and then going to Acts and then Roman but you should be flexible and listen to the Spirit of God on where you should mediate that day or night. Your reading of the word should not be random; rather it should be systematic, with a goal in mind.
God bless you as you read.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
THE CHOICES OF LIFE
THE CHOICES OF LIFE
In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth with everything in it. Then He made man in His own image and, because of His love and His desire to have man love Him, He gave man self-will. Man from the very beginning had his own will, and one day he chose to disobey God's command. The image of God in man was destroyed and death was the debt owed by every man. God still loved man so much that He made His one and only son pay that price to redeem mankind (John 3:16). The price was paid in full as Christ said, 'it is finished' (John 19:19). Everyday we are faced with situations that allow us to make decisions between God and Satan, righteousness and sin, light and darkness, right or wrong, life or death. The decision is ours but God as a loving Father says, “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
We are what and where we are today because of the choices or decisions we made in the past. The decisions may have been easy or difficult, right or wrong, and big or small but they make us today. Even the smallest of these choices has lasting influence in your life and the lives of those around you, even your descendants. It would be very hard and time consuming for you to give serious attention to each and every decision even the small ones, though a person's character is mostly built on the small decisions he makes each and every day. I think we can all agree that we ought to be in a messier situation knowing that the small little decisions we made counted the most, but God is very gracious.
There is need that we make the right decisions but this will require much thinking time. If it will take you hours in order to make the decision to smile at someone then you will never get to live life and preach the gospel. The only way that you can seriously live a life that draws you closer to God and being able to make the right decision as fast as you want is by mediating on God's word and never departing from it (Joshua 1:8, Psalms 1:1-4). When you mediate on God's word you bring His own nature into you. It is that nature that prospers when it becomes fresh in you. When you have that nature in you, your decisions will be right because they will be influenced by the nature of God and you will not need eternity in order to make them. When you are faced with the devil's wiles you will be able to say unto him, 'it is written' like Jesus did. You do not try to reason with the devil on other grounds because you will not succeed in those areas, he has been at it for ages but the good news is that he can't stand the word of God. The psalmists says I have hidden your words in my heart so that I can not sin, remember God's nature is holy and that nature will not share a temple with sin.
In the Bible there are many examples of people that made a mark in history because of the decisions that they made. People were faced with the same sort of situation but had different everlasting destinies because of their decisions.
The Rich Young ruler was faced with one of the greatest tasks ever, choose between the love of riches and Christ. What and where is your love? If you are greatly in love with something or someone your decisions will be influenced by it. How long did it take for the rich man's face to become downcast when the question was poised to him? The Bible says it was immediately and he went away. Don't think you will always have time for big decisions as this was a very important decision, a decision to follow Christ or riches but he made it in haste. He missed the blessing of a 'hundred forth' ( Mark 10:17-30). There will be situations where you have to make very big decision in haste but this will be influenced by where you have placed your treasure is! In the case of the rich man it was his possessions (Matthew 6:21).
It is simple to make decisions in haste and always turn from the commands of God into the opposite direction like Jonah. The decision will be influenced by where you treasure is, how much of the word of God you have in you and your understanding of He who makes the command. The way we handle commands differs, 'who has said it?' is the question we ask in our heart. Our response will be based on how highly we esteem that person, is it a King, servant, mum or dad, brother or sister, friends etc. You will show more reverence to one and shall obey in haste. I will encourage you brethren that when it comes to the commandments of God you should obey promptly like Peter. You might have many excuses but recognize who it is that is giving it because Peter says, 'Master, we have toiled all night and have caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.' Peter had lot of excuses he could use: he was tired from working all night trying to catch fish, he was a fisherman by profession and had pulled all the tricks but failed. Picture yourself as this fisherman, you are stressed because your toil all night produced nothing and here come this Carpenter to tell you what to do, huh? But Peter didn't see just a Carpenter, he understood that once the word has been sent by God it will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11). You should be able to come to this state of surrender promptly without even trying to complain because He knows it all. When you make decisions knowing that it is God who commands then you will be able to see His greatness in the world, Peter's could not contain the blessing that poured into his boat, he called friends over for help!
The other important event was the decision that Joseph had to make in Potiphar's house. He had control over all the things in that household apart from the master himself and his wife. The wife of Potiphar planned it so well that there were no other servants in that place (Genesis 39:8-12) and that is what you need to know about the devil, he will always have you cornered with a temptation of some sort and that's the time you need to step up. Now you need to understand that we are not just talking about any woman but the wife of a wealthy man. She was undoubtedly beautiful whether naturally or with cosmetics. You might not have gone through the whole Bible or don't remember much of it in order to base your decisions on the Bible but you could make the right choice like Joseph. He had no access to the Bible then but he was able to make the right decision because the Holy Spirit printed the laws on his heart and in his life. The Bible actually records that Joseph prospered because the Spirit was with him (Hebrews 8:10-12). Once one has surrendered his life to Christ, His Spirit is also invited but you have to learn to listen to Him because He does not impose Himself on any one, He is gentle.
Mark 14:27 ' All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd ,and the sheep will all be scattered.'
All the disciples forsook Jesus as a fulfillment of scripture but I find the actions of two of the disciples very interesting, Peter and Judas. Judas betrayed Christ and went away feeling so much shame and remorse. He, in his own power, tried to make it right by returning the money but that removed nothing from him. He was still greatly troubled and he resorted to suicide. We all know where he ended up! Then there is Peter whom after forsaking Christ with the rest, still followed Him to His trial but nevertheless went ahead and denied Jesus three times in public. This was the one who challenged that he would rather die than forsake Christ. He must have been full of shame and regret too but he chose to weep bitterly and repent of his sin. He was restored to ministry later on. They were nearly in the same situation but had different everlasting destinies because of their decision. No matter how similar events seems but learn from King David who enquired of the Lord and was made victorious at all times.
The Spirit, Word and the reverence of God should help you make the right decisions!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth with everything in it. Then He made man in His own image and, because of His love and His desire to have man love Him, He gave man self-will. Man from the very beginning had his own will, and one day he chose to disobey God's command. The image of God in man was destroyed and death was the debt owed by every man. God still loved man so much that He made His one and only son pay that price to redeem mankind (John 3:16). The price was paid in full as Christ said, 'it is finished' (John 19:19). Everyday we are faced with situations that allow us to make decisions between God and Satan, righteousness and sin, light and darkness, right or wrong, life or death. The decision is ours but God as a loving Father says, “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
We are what and where we are today because of the choices or decisions we made in the past. The decisions may have been easy or difficult, right or wrong, and big or small but they make us today. Even the smallest of these choices has lasting influence in your life and the lives of those around you, even your descendants. It would be very hard and time consuming for you to give serious attention to each and every decision even the small ones, though a person's character is mostly built on the small decisions he makes each and every day. I think we can all agree that we ought to be in a messier situation knowing that the small little decisions we made counted the most, but God is very gracious.
There is need that we make the right decisions but this will require much thinking time. If it will take you hours in order to make the decision to smile at someone then you will never get to live life and preach the gospel. The only way that you can seriously live a life that draws you closer to God and being able to make the right decision as fast as you want is by mediating on God's word and never departing from it (Joshua 1:8, Psalms 1:1-4). When you mediate on God's word you bring His own nature into you. It is that nature that prospers when it becomes fresh in you. When you have that nature in you, your decisions will be right because they will be influenced by the nature of God and you will not need eternity in order to make them. When you are faced with the devil's wiles you will be able to say unto him, 'it is written' like Jesus did. You do not try to reason with the devil on other grounds because you will not succeed in those areas, he has been at it for ages but the good news is that he can't stand the word of God. The psalmists says I have hidden your words in my heart so that I can not sin, remember God's nature is holy and that nature will not share a temple with sin.
In the Bible there are many examples of people that made a mark in history because of the decisions that they made. People were faced with the same sort of situation but had different everlasting destinies because of their decisions.
The Rich Young ruler was faced with one of the greatest tasks ever, choose between the love of riches and Christ. What and where is your love? If you are greatly in love with something or someone your decisions will be influenced by it. How long did it take for the rich man's face to become downcast when the question was poised to him? The Bible says it was immediately and he went away. Don't think you will always have time for big decisions as this was a very important decision, a decision to follow Christ or riches but he made it in haste. He missed the blessing of a 'hundred forth' ( Mark 10:17-30). There will be situations where you have to make very big decision in haste but this will be influenced by where you have placed your treasure is! In the case of the rich man it was his possessions (Matthew 6:21).
It is simple to make decisions in haste and always turn from the commands of God into the opposite direction like Jonah. The decision will be influenced by where you treasure is, how much of the word of God you have in you and your understanding of He who makes the command. The way we handle commands differs, 'who has said it?' is the question we ask in our heart. Our response will be based on how highly we esteem that person, is it a King, servant, mum or dad, brother or sister, friends etc. You will show more reverence to one and shall obey in haste. I will encourage you brethren that when it comes to the commandments of God you should obey promptly like Peter. You might have many excuses but recognize who it is that is giving it because Peter says, 'Master, we have toiled all night and have caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.' Peter had lot of excuses he could use: he was tired from working all night trying to catch fish, he was a fisherman by profession and had pulled all the tricks but failed. Picture yourself as this fisherman, you are stressed because your toil all night produced nothing and here come this Carpenter to tell you what to do, huh? But Peter didn't see just a Carpenter, he understood that once the word has been sent by God it will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11). You should be able to come to this state of surrender promptly without even trying to complain because He knows it all. When you make decisions knowing that it is God who commands then you will be able to see His greatness in the world, Peter's could not contain the blessing that poured into his boat, he called friends over for help!
The other important event was the decision that Joseph had to make in Potiphar's house. He had control over all the things in that household apart from the master himself and his wife. The wife of Potiphar planned it so well that there were no other servants in that place (Genesis 39:8-12) and that is what you need to know about the devil, he will always have you cornered with a temptation of some sort and that's the time you need to step up. Now you need to understand that we are not just talking about any woman but the wife of a wealthy man. She was undoubtedly beautiful whether naturally or with cosmetics. You might not have gone through the whole Bible or don't remember much of it in order to base your decisions on the Bible but you could make the right choice like Joseph. He had no access to the Bible then but he was able to make the right decision because the Holy Spirit printed the laws on his heart and in his life. The Bible actually records that Joseph prospered because the Spirit was with him (Hebrews 8:10-12). Once one has surrendered his life to Christ, His Spirit is also invited but you have to learn to listen to Him because He does not impose Himself on any one, He is gentle.
Mark 14:27 ' All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd ,and the sheep will all be scattered.'
All the disciples forsook Jesus as a fulfillment of scripture but I find the actions of two of the disciples very interesting, Peter and Judas. Judas betrayed Christ and went away feeling so much shame and remorse. He, in his own power, tried to make it right by returning the money but that removed nothing from him. He was still greatly troubled and he resorted to suicide. We all know where he ended up! Then there is Peter whom after forsaking Christ with the rest, still followed Him to His trial but nevertheless went ahead and denied Jesus three times in public. This was the one who challenged that he would rather die than forsake Christ. He must have been full of shame and regret too but he chose to weep bitterly and repent of his sin. He was restored to ministry later on. They were nearly in the same situation but had different everlasting destinies because of their decision. No matter how similar events seems but learn from King David who enquired of the Lord and was made victorious at all times.
The Spirit, Word and the reverence of God should help you make the right decisions!
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