Note: This post is an adaptation of a sermon preached on 30th July 2006 at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Lilongwe, Malawi by the author.
Readings: 2 Kings 5v1-14 Mark 1v 35-45
Two of the above stated readings mention someone being healed of leprosy. In the Old Testament reading, Namaan, a high-ranking officer in the Syrian army, was suffering from leprosy and he went to Elisha the Prophet where God miraculously healed him using the dirty, muddy waters of the Jordan River. In the New Testament reading a leper cried out to Jesus, confident that he would be healed, and indeed he was.
The story of Namaan demonstrates God’s providence (vv1-14), His saving power (vv15-19), and His judgment on sin (vv20-27). The story confirms the truth that God’s grace and salvation are not confined to Israel and the Jews, but that He desires to have compassion on non-Israelites and lead them to know the one true God. Elisha instructed Namaan to wash himself in the dirty waters of the Jordan River as a simple test on humility and obedience. Furthermore, by doing so, Namaan would find it impossible to attribute his healing to humans or to natural means; both Israelites and Arameans knew that the Jordan did not heal leprosy. Namaan needed to know that his healing came miraculously by God’s grace and power through the instruction given by the prophet. Surprising in the story of Namaan is, in the words of Jesus, the fact that “there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Namaan the Syrian.” Luke 4:27 First let me give a brief background to the issue of leprosy. Leviticus 13v 45-47 reads “And the leper’s clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, “Unclean, unclean”. He shall remain unclean as long as the disease of leprosy is in him; he is unclean; he shall live alone and his dwelling shall be outside the camp. The garment also that the disease is in, whether a wool or a linen garment, is to be burned by the Priest.” This shows us why the two lepers mentioned in our readings wanted so much to be healed of the disease. It was a disease that made you to be an outcast. A note in the Amplified version of the Bible says leprosy is symbolic of sin. Let us see why. In the Bible God has said that as long as we continue to sin we will have to dwell outside of His presence because he is a holy God (Habakkuk 1:13a says “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on injustice.” Hebrews 12:14 says “Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will ever see the Lord,” and 1 Peter 1:16 further says “For it is written You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Compare this with the Old and New Testament leper who had to dwell outside the camp, alone. For us to once again dwell in His presence He requires us to wash our bodies of this sin. To do this we must forsake our pride, humble ourselves before God (as James 4:10 says Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you, and 1 Peter 5:6 reads Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you). In addition to forsaking our pride and humbling ourselves we also have to seek to be cleansed in the blood of Jesus, God’s provision for our cleansing. 1 John 1:7 says “the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. Namaan humbled himself when he obeyed the prophet’s command to wash in the muddy waters of the Jordan River where he would find his healing.
Today we are being asked to emulate Namaans example. Notice that the lepers sought to be cleansed because they were considered unclean. Namman was cleansed by washing in the Jordan river. As has already been pointed out, today we have the blood of Christ, and it is this that will cleanse us from all our sins. But washing ourselves in the blood of the Lamb is not the end of it. We also have to change our clothes, which are symbolic of our character (or righteousness). The Bible says once we are in Christ we are a new creation the old has gone, the new has come 2 Corinthians 5:17. We need to burn our old clothes, as the lepers did, and ask God to provide us with new clean clothing because on our own we cannot attain the holiness he requires. This can be seen in Zechariah 3: 1-5 where Joshua is given new clothes by God. Verses 3 and 4 of this scripture read “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel of the Lord. And He (God) spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to Joshua, Behold I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” This clothing is provided with the help of the Holy Spirit whom we receive once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.
However, for us to keep the clothing God has given us we need to make a conscious effort to remain pure. We can do this by constantly renewing our minds as Romans 12v2 and Ephesians 4:23 say. In all this we need to remain humble under the mighty hand of God as Peter has told us in 1 Peter 5:6. In addition to humility, obedience is also required of us in our walk with God. Zechariah 3:7 reads “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you access to my presence and places to walk among those who stand here.” Obedience to God’s word comes high on the list of God’s requirements for the Christian because it is lack of obedience that usually leads us to sin. And God hates sin as we have already seen. These two are very vital ingredients for the Christian. Paul in Philippians 2:5,8,9 tells us how because of His humility and obedience Jesus has been given a name above all names, and he tells us to have the same mind as Jesus had. Today, God is calling each one of us to re-examine our lives. Are we suffering from leprosy, do we need his cleansing. This leprosy is any sin we are struggling with at an individual level as well as at a society level. Galatians 5:19-21 and Revelation 22:15 give us just some examples of such sins.
For the youth, I think we are mostly suffering from the leprosy of rebellion mainly as a result of wanting to follow the crowd and yet Exodus 23:2 says Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Many youths today, also do not take the advice offered by the Bible to honor their parents in order for them to have long life (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1-3 and Colossians 3:20). In all these cases we need to ask God for His cleansing and He is willing to cleanse us and heal us. The leper in the New Testament reading asked if Jesus was willing to heal him and Jesus said He was. He is still the same Jesus today who is willing to cleanse us of all unrighteousness if we confess our sins (1 John 1:9). Jeremiah 3:22 says “Return faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” The day to return to God is today. Isaiah 55:6 says “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on Him while He is near.” And Hebrews 3: 15 says “Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Perhaps the best scripture for today would be 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says “If my people who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” If, however, we have already been cleansed and healed, then today we need to make a decision to remain obedient to God and we need to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. James in James 4v17 says “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” And in James 1:22-25 says “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who, listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
PRAYER THE POWER THAT CHANGES DESTINY
THE STRUCTURE OF PRAYER (Matthew 6)
Jesus the son of God often withdrew to solitary places to have some lone time with His father and people would be looking for Him. At the beginning of His ministry, He was sent in to the wilderness for a forty days fasting and prayer and that's when His ministry commenced and He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out wondrous and mighty works destroying the works of the devil. When His disciples noticed this? The interest in prayer grew and they wanted to learn how to pray from their master. Jesus gave them a model of Prayer and our everyday prayer should complete this model not necessarily word for word but using it as a structure.
Our Father in Heaven
Often prayer is defined by many to be conversing with God, meaning it consists of talking and then listening to what the other person saying, though there is more to prayer but this is adequate for now. In the world it is always important to know whom you are conversing with to ensure that the other party is not offended and hence result into undesirable consequences. Therefore it won't be of a surprise to you that classification is made normally of age, hierarchy etc... Basically the higher these go the more formal it becomes. This sort of mentality produces a few problems already because God is Supreme, The ultimate Power and Authority, The highest in hierarchy and He existed before time itself. Therefore getting to understand that This supreme God does not only want but also would love and is looking forward to spend some time with us becomes a difficult concept to grab and have people end up saying things like, 'I look at God as the director of a big multi-billion corporation and hence I don't have to waste His time.' and some say, 'He is busy dealing with more important things like running the universe.'When it comes to prayer though one should understand a relationship with God as a relationship with the a perfect father but unlike the perfect father God will always be there for you and with you to listen to what you have to say and support you in all your doings. He will give you what you ask of Him but first He is looking for that relationship with you which starts by accepting Jesus (that is not to say that He doesn't hear the prayer if you have not made a decision for Christ, for we all do know that He is merciful and sends rain on the sinners and the righteous). Jesus says if you abide in me and I in you then you will be able to ask for whatever you want and it will be granted by my father.It is not just a coincidence that the Lord started this prayer like this, it is powerful and a great witness of our Faith, remember it is impossible to please God without faith because those who come to Him must believe that He exists (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore every time we say 'Our Father who is in Heaven' you accept His existence, the ministry of Jesus and the Power of God to bring Him back to life because it is on this concept that our faith hangs that is in Christ we were adopted as sons and daughters (John 1:12) of the most supreme Being and we are able to cry out 'Abba' Father. Christianity is the only belief that classifies their God as Father not even Judaism classifies Him as such, because this came with Jesus as He proclaims that you are no longer servants but my friends and those who do the will of God are basically my family. Therefore if we believe in Jesus we are children of God and we are then able to approach His throne with boldness for we know that He is a father of mercy ( John 1:12, Hebrews 4:16). He loves us so much that He gave His most precious possession that a relationship with us might be restored. He is longing for the fellowship that was distracted by the sin in our lives. Therefore prayer is much more that just talking at God but it is having fellowship with Him, and when you have fellowship with someone you get to know them better and experience their love.
Hallowed be your name.
This constitutes a very important part of prayer but we tend to leave it out and jump straight into asking for our daily needs or wants. God knows our wants today and in fact He has declared that even before you call, He shall answer you (Isaiah 65:24). Praise is a powerful tool in prayer because it will show God that you truly have Faith as you remind Him of His greatness and what He has done in the past which also helps build up your confidence that He can't resist but to be moved to performance in your life. God doesn't want to share His glory with any man or flesh and when you praise God it shows Him that when the thing has been provided for you, you will by all means praise God and no flesh not even yourself.When the Moabites and Ammonites came to make war against Israel, Jehoshaphat the king declared a fast and prayer in the whole land of Israel. They brought their petition to God and He was moved by the sincerity of their hearts and was going to answer them but said something unlike on other occasions this time He ordered them to worship Him. They moment the people started to sing to the Lord and praise Him for His splendour with sounding of trumpets, the Lord Himself sent ambushes against armies and the Israelites just came to collect plunder. The Lord had made that battle His because with a broken hearts the people seek ed for God's help but when they started to praise Him, He moved to action (2 Chronicles 20:1-25).When Joshua was about to lead the men of Israel to overcome Jericho, a commander from the Lord appeared to him and proclaimed that the Lord had given the city unto their hands but they should be strong and courageous. They had to march around the city once for six days and seven times on the seventh day and at the sound of the trumpet the people had to give a shout of Praise. When they had given that shout of praise the walls of Jericho came tumbling down and down, then the Israelites were able to go straight in there and claim what the Lord had promised them already (Joshua 6). Also after the death of Joshua, the people enquired of the Lord, 'who shall go first to take possession of the land of their allotment and the Lord said, 'Judah!' Judah means praise and hence the Lord was literally saying that praise shall go first in to this battle (Judges 1:1-2). The Psalmist also declares that I will enter His coats with praise and also the Lord inhabits the praises of His people and we all know where God is, He will arise and all His enemies will be scattered (Psalms 100).God has promised and indeed He will fulfil what He has promised but sometimes He requires you to give a shout of praise that will show that you are convinced beyond doubt that He is able to accomplish what He has promised. Some of the battles that we persist fighting in our petitions and trying to bash the devil, claim from the word of God are battles that the Lord has already declared to be His and all you need is to praise Him.
Your kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God's kingdom is good, that is why the word says every good gift is from the Lord. The bible also has many promises of a life in abundance. Many of us have no problem with the first part, in fact we are able to claim many of these promises by heart,' No weapons forged against me shall prosper, I am blessed in the city and out of the city, I am the head and not the tail, I shall not die but live and proclaim the goodness of the Lord, I shall see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living, my enemies will come in one direction but flee in seven etc...' and all of us were good at some time or still are good in saying, 'your will be down on the earth as it is in heaven.' Do we understand the depth of what we are saying? This means total submission and surrender to the will of the Father. We can not have too wills operating at one time, if the Father's will must be done here on earth then it requires that man should give up his will and not just part of it but the whole of it. The reason why this is the hardest part for most of us today is that we do not know who the Father is, how faithful He is, His unchanging nature and that He has plans not to harm us but to bring us to an expected future. He is God and knows all things and in Him all things consist and that is why the Bible says that for we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called for His purpose (Number 23:19, Jeremiah 29:11,Romans 8:28). It is much easier to surrender your will unto Him if you know Him and its not just part but it is surrendering all to Him. This is a true act of worship that with a humble heart and a contrite spirit we offer our bodies each and every time in prompt obedience to Him then we will be able to see God's greatness and goodness. When Peter submitted to the will of Christ, They were able to catch a multitude of fish that nearly sunk two boat in the same lake where they had toiled all night and caught nothing (Luke 5:1-11).
Give us today our daily bread
This is the best part of the model for us all I bet as it allows us to bring our petitions before the Father. We definitely have no problem with this part but can be at it for hours, in fact I used to come before the father to pray and all I could do is ask, by the time I finished with the petitions two hours would have passed and I was tired to do the rest of the prayer. I feel like I should not dwell much on this part of prayer as we can use the same strategy or approach that we use with our parents when we want to ask for what we want with our heavenly Father. It has already been stated that there must be that father and child relationship between God and us and so if I want to ask Him for something I will try to please Him first as I do with my earthly dad. If I really want something from my dad I will work really hard in school and bring good results to him, At that time when he is pleased with me I can ask Him for anything and He will give it to me almost guaranteed (in fact after next exam sitting I will be asking for a car lol). The heavenly father is also the same, He is please with the child that abides in Jesus and Jesus abides in that child and whatever the child wants and He will give it to him (John 15:7, psalms 91:15). The heavenly father also wants you ask Him for the things that you want as you do with your earthly dad (John 16:23-28, Matthew 7:7-11). He is different from the earthly dad though because He already knows what you want and unlike your earthly father He is able to fulfil your needs according to His riches in glory and also able to do exceedingly abundantly and above all things we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) but He wants you to ask so that when it happens its attributed to Him alone not flesh or fate. Therefore when you come before Him do not use repetitive words and trying to make your prayers long but make them straight to the point and be yourself when you pray, don't imitate another person. When you pray make sure you are honest with God as well because unlike your earthly father He knows what is in your heart (Matthew 6). This is not to say that you should not be persist in your prayers as Jesus Christ talks about the parable of the widow who obtained justice from the wicked judge because of her persistence but unlike the wicked judge God desires to give us good gifts and will be happy to do more so to His children who seek for Him diligently (Luke 18:1-7).
Forgive us our debts
As we have forgiven our
Debtors
Paul when writing to the Romans says that owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves has fulfilled the whole law (Romans 13:8). The forgiving of one another's wrongs is an act of love though sometimes it is painful but we should not struggle to forgive as this is God's very nature that whilst we sinners that He gave Jesus and offered forgiveness to all (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). The scripture continue to say by this shall people know that you are truly my disciples if you love one another (John 13:34-35). God is love and all that are His simply must love and all who profess to be His will forgive anyone for anything they have done to them no matter how painful it is.
Therefore everyday we have a debt that we must pay in order for our relationship to be right with God and that is to love and forgive them that have wronged us. When we fail to forgive not only are we failing to pay this debt but God's love can not operate in our lives remember the parable of the unforgiving servant, after the master forgives his debt which was bigger he went out to do the opposite to his fellow servant and threw him in prison. The master was forced to throw him in jail and act harshly towards him (Matthew 18:23-35). Therefore do not throw people who have wronged you in jail by holding grudges against them. When you forgive not only are your relationships able to be restored but you set yourself free from unnecessary pain as every time you see the people the pain of what they have done is made flesh again but to the people they are eating chocolate and enjoying themselves lol. When you have unforgiving in your hearts do not waste your time thinking that your praises are received by God. He has already denied them in His word and says makes amends with your fellow man before you can come to the alter and offer you sacrifices of praise. In high school I fell out with one of my cousin. She spoke so rudely to mean in front of many people that instead of people laughing they all felt sorry for me. As I was getting to the hostels I had her number deleted out of my phone and wanted nothing to do with her ever again. I was asked to preach that night in one of our prayer session. I had the perfect message for it and I went out with lots of verses. When I started preaching I could not believe that all those verses would go within ten minutes instead of thirty. The preaching I think was rich but very dry, I said lots of things but it seemed like it didn't make sense to any one. God intervened and brought back my friend, thank God for Talumba on that night, and helped me preach. I was so mad with God that I went back to my room and started asking, 'why? Why did that happened because you have promised to be there with me when I start proclaiming your word.' He started speaking and showed me a verse that says,’ when you come to the alter and you remember that you wronged another or another wronged you go and try to make amends before offering that sacrifice because it won't be accepted unless you have made amends or at least tried and the other could not be convinced of his wrong.'(Mark 11:25-26) I started to laugh and went out to forgive her and all was restored.
And lead us not in to temptation but
Deliver us from the evil one.
The Lord is God and the bible says He does not tempt anyone nor can He be tempted with sin. When we are tempted it is by our own evil desires and weaknesses that grow ripe up into temptation and when we give in to this temptation it produces sin. This is all common to men but when we are tempted He will provide a way out and will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13-14, James 1:13-17).
Praise God today for our High Priest knows our weaknesses and sympathizes (Hebrews 4:15) with us and produces a way out each time and if we ask like in this prayer, our very steps will be ordain and will not have to face the temptation. The prayer works and I have definitely seen it operate in my life. In high school (ooh no! Here we go again lol. . But praise God I learnt lots at the time that mattered most before He comes and am still learning lots) hugs used to fly around like no one can imagine but sometimes this hugs could lead to other kinds of temptations mostly of touching, touching . I started praying this part of the prayer with a sincere heart and I can bear witness that for a few weeks I could see the temptation passing on the other side just because earlier The Spirit said turn here, and praise God that by the time I got to the hugging again there was no more temptation there. I overcame, Praise God!! Some may say that it is impossible to live without sin but that will be arguing with the Power of God to ordain the steps of the Righteous because the bible says that the steps of the righteous are ordain by him and surely He will not ordain them into sin. This is a whole different topic and so will allow the Spirit of God to reveal and clarify the truth to you.
Amen. Let it be so, as said, we agree etc...
This is just a model of Prayer that the lord gave to us as an example. Before He left He said some things you might not understand now but I will send you a counsellor who will help you understand and even to this day He the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers( Romans 8:26). Now when this model or structure becomes too ritualistic the power of the prayer itself can be lost as you feel 'it’s a must'. The whole of this model is what a complete prayer possesses but the time you lock yourself up in a room and wonder where do I start from you must not be obliged to a pattern but allow The Holy Spirit to lead you. You are meant to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5: 17) but the time you have locked yourself God may just want you concentrate on a particular area in the model.
If you are having troubles listening from what the Spirit is saying maybe because you are coming from a rushing world and your mind is unsettled just try to calm yourself up and start saying 'Our Father who is in Heaven' in order to recognise who you are talking to and what He means to you today. I believe the Holy Spirit will take it from there because all these parts of the model are linked up.
Example when you realise that you are talking to the Father then you are reminded that He is a Holy Father and He says that be holy for I AM Holy and you start repenting your sins. When you acknowledge who you are talking to then you will remember that He is so great that the heavens are His throne and the Earth His footstool and He reigns on high, when you think of this it should be very easy to praise Him. Then you will be thinking this great God loved me so much whilst I was a sinner and hence I must love and forgive all who wrong me. He reigns on high huh..? He knows the beginning from the end and so I should surrender my will because He has plans to prosper me. If He gave up His own son for my sake how can He then hold out my daily bread lol? Remember we are meant to pray at all times so prayer is not limited to that closed closet, Amen.
The Importance of Prayer.
(Take a short break please. I have the faith that each part of this article can change your life forever and I don't want you scheming through it lol knowing its long)
Praise God you are back!! Or maybe the Holy Spirit edged you to read on lol. Okay then!!
And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. Then a voice came from Heaven, 'you are me beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.' Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.' (Mark 1:10-12)
Prayer Gives You Direction.Jesus often withdrew to solitary places as stated earlier in this article. When He had just been baptised in the river Jordan the Holy Spirit lead Him in to the wilderness where He spent forty days and nights praying and fasting. He commenced from there and knew exactly what the father's will concerning His ministry was and He was bold and courageous in carrying out that will. Therefore prayer helps you understand the Father's will upon your life or any situation that comes your way. In prayer we allow the Holy Spirit who reveals the secrets of the Father to reveal those to us. Definitely in order for us to surrender to the Will of the Father we have to know what that will is to begin with and prayer offers that channel. David had gone out to help a king in battle but when he and the army return to their camp they found it deserted and all their wives and children were kidnapped. The soldiers were frustrated and were ready to stone David but he turned to the Lord and enquired of Him. The Lord told him to pursue and He was victorious in that conquest that nothing was lost. David kept enquiring of the lord even if the situation seem the same and the Lord would tell him a different strategy to deal with that war situation and he was victorious. The Church at Antioch were busy living godly lives that it was here that believers were first called Christians because of their Christ like character, one of which was withdrawing themselves for a time of Prayer. During one of these times of Prayer the Holy Spirit spoke to them to separate Paul and Barnabas. Out of their obedience to the will of the Father that was revealed to them in Prayer the gospel was preached to the gentiles, Praise God! (Acts 13:1-4) When you are given to much prayer you become accustomed to the voice of the Holy Spirit as was Phillip whom the Lord said to go down to the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Phillip obeyed the voice of God and as he came to the road he saw a chariot and the Spirit said to him to join himself to the chariot and he didn't protest because he knew how was speaking to him. Many times I find myself asking was that the Spirit and that opportunity to witness to a saw goes just because I was not sure if it was His voice. When Phillip joined himself to the chariot the gospel go as far as Africa. When he had just the baptised the Ethiopian eunuch the Spirit led him somewhere else to preach (Act 8:26, 29, 39-40). When you are prayerful, you become hot and the devil can't play around with you anymore. Every decision you make is inspired by the Holy Spirit that is why Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane, 'watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation.'(Mark 14:38) In life you face decision everyday but if you are a prayerful person you need not to worry because the very nature of God in you will help you make those decisions. I have seen servants of God been hesitate and saying, ' My spirit does not agree with men.' Now that is what happens if you are stepping away from the will of the father.
Prayer Empowers a Person
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in to the wilderness where He spent time in prayer and He was empowered by the Holy Spirit that when He emerged from there He said, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' (Luke 4:18-19). The four gospels basically carry this message of how Jesus destroyed the works of the devil and made known the Will of His Father known to us but He did this because the Power was present for Him to carry out miracles (Luke 5:17). Now the Power that was present every time He perform a miracle was the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is also behind the greatest wonder of all, Jesus Resurrection, and on this greatest wonder our faith in Jesus is also established that because He resurrected from the dead then He is also able to raise us up on that last day. The Holy Spirit is behind every thing God does right now; He is the one who has fellowship with us. At the creation the Holy Spirit was hovering on the waters of the Earth, At the birth of Christ Mary was told that the Spirit of God shall overshadow you, the miracle of your salvation also happened because He was present and the Bible actually proclaims that if you don’t have Him then you are not a child of God (Genesis 1:2, Luke 1:35, Romans 8:9, 11). You might be wondering why am busy talking about the Holy Spirit? This is because He is the Power behind the Trinity. He is the one that will empower you to preach the gospel and gives you the boldness and courage even the words to say at that particular time, He is the one that will equip you for the with Spiritual weapons of welfare and He will give you Gifts and allow you to operate in the five folds of ministry weather as Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, teachers or Evangelists that you should make known the manifest wisdom of God to all principalities in the heavenly place ( 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Ephesians 3:10-12) . How does it happen? It is spending time in prayer and getting to know the Holy Spirit and recognise His voice. The bible records that at the day of Pentecost the disciples were gathered in one room and were of one mind in prayer then there appeared what looked like tongues of fire which rested on all of them and they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them to speak. HE came when they were serious in prayer (Act 2:1-4). Peter and John had just being threatened with a death sentence if they would continue to preach about Christ. When the news got the other believers they were shaken and afraid but they resorted to prayer and the bible records that the place which they were at was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word with boldness (Acts 4:29-31). Even the church at Antioch having received to the command to set Paul and Barnabas aside they prayed for power and anointing upon them (Acts 13:3). Now what Jesus said when He emerged from the wilderness summarises the Work pf the Holy Spirit in empowering the children of God so that they should not be with fear (Romans 8:15).
PRAYER ALLOWS YOU TO FUNTION AS A CHRISTIAN.
Prayer allows you to intercede 'stand in between' God and the people. God declared long time ago that He is looking for someone who will be able to stand in between Him and the people who are rebellious to His voice but not only them but on behalf of everyone (Ezekiel 22:30-31). Moses was one such person and he stood between God and the people of Israel. Many times the children of Israel sinned against God and He wanted to destroy the whole nation and start a new but Moses came in between and they were spared from harm. Abraham having learnt of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah interceded for his nephew Lot and the Lord spared him from that destruction. Now prayers offered on behalf of others are not meaningless but they are powerful and effective and make a difference in those people lives. Herod had just killed James and this pleased the Jews. When he saw that it pleased many He went on and arrested Peter with the same intention of killing him. But the church was shaken up and they gathered and stood in prayer. The bible records that Peter was sleeping in the cell during this time but I just can't help think what was on his mind, ' oh that time has come when I should lay down my life for Christ.' But this time the church was praying earnestly for him. That was the difference between his life and that of James, prayer, as God sent his angel to set him free. He was sleeping but the prayer the church saved him from death. It is sad that the church is dormant and has become gossips as well, when you have heard about the problem of a man servant instead of praying earnestly for him so that the he may not fall and raise so many questions about the gospel, you sit down to analyse the faults. Its time we use that powerful weapon of prayer again and carry the burden of the brethren that are struggling (Galatians 6:2). And again and again the word says that we are to pray for all the saints and Paul in each and every letter he wrote demonstrates the important praying for all saints as he says God is witness of how we labour mentioning you in our prayers. It is God's own desire that you should pray for all the saints around the world (Ephesians 6:18). You should not be selective in your prayers of the people you will be interceding for as God says that prayers should be made for all people even you rulers (1 Timothy 2:1-4). This is also good that the decisions made by the leaders should not be a hindrance to your relationship with God. God desires all men to be saved and hence those prayers should be offered for everyone, do not judge and think this one is far gone but do as God commands. God says that you must pray without ceasing and there is no other option in this matter (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Jesus said peace I leave with you but not as the world does for in this world you meet lots of trouble but take heart for I have overcomed the world. A Christian's life is meant to be one full of joy irrespective of what the situation looks like. We are a free people that are carrying a lighter load, Jesus takes care of our heavy burdens every time we surrender them to Him (Matthew 11:28). When you meet tribulation you may become anxious and your mind might not be settled and it is Prayer that allows you to surrender your anxiety, burdens, hurts and whatever concerns you today before Jesus and He in return gives you a peace and joy that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6).
Prayer Can Change Your Destiny Forever
Prayer is a powerful tool in the hands of a Christian. God has given you the privilege of ruling with Him here on earth and that is why He says ask anything in My name and it shall be done so that the Father should be glorified. When things are not looking up your way you can come before God and argue you case. The cases that you can argue with God and win are those that concern His promises that He has made about you in His word and you can call Him to remember because He has esteemed His word higher than Himself.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, 'because I bore him in pain.' And Jabez called on God of Israel saying, 'oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So the Lord granted him what he had requested.
This prayer is one of the good examples of how your destiny can be changed forever. The name 'Jabez' as states in the verse means pain and during this time names carried much signifies as they were a way of predestining you in a path. Whatever he would do would cause pain to people and he was tired of that and wanted change. Most of us would give up and say maybe that was the way it was meant to be or I can't change that. The promises of God in Deuteronomy 28 are of blessings when you follow God's commands and the bible say that 'now Jabez was more honourable' this signifies that he led a righteous life before God and I would say that he followed every command in the book but his life remain the same until the moment he cried out in prayer unto God, 'ooh God if you would bless me indeed.' Now the strings of his past life could no longer hold him down, his name could no longer hold him down because a greater Being now declared him blessed. Instead of pain he became a blessing in the community, his destiny changed forever because of prayer.
2 Kings 20:1-5
The king received word from the prophet Isaiah saying put your house in order for you will not recover. We know that a prophet is from God if what he says comes to past. The king definitely heard about the Prophet Isaiah and knew he was definitely a messenger of God. Now most of us if we heard this report would be utterly hopeless, the man of God has spoken, but Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and cried out to God. This is what I mean to argue your case before God according to His promises, 'Remember now, O Lord how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart,' now the Lord promises longitivity to them that serve Him with honest hearts and Hezekiah argued that convincingly and laid his case before God and God because of that prayer said to the prophet before he left the house of the King, 'I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; surely I will heal you.' When a man is reduced to tears then you know how much he means what he is saying. Hezekiah had no time to waste, it was no point crying to the man of God but turned to the source and stated his case before Him for He is willing to listen and take it into consideration. He was meant to die but prayer changed his destiny forever.
Genesis 27
Now Jacob had got hold of the promise by outwitting his brother and fooling his father Isaac. Esau was enraged and wanted to kill his brother for taking that right of being first born. Now after a long time and Jacob had served Laban he planned to return back home but that thought was always with him, 'My brother might still be mad with me and kill me.' Many of us get to this place when we are troubled beyond compare and we just don't know what will happen next but here is a perfect example because Jacob cut himself out from everything including family and crossed the river jordan to pray. He was there and said to God I aunt leaving this place until you bless me. All night he was there before God and said that from today your name will be Israel. The Lord had no choice but to bless him because he was persistent. Now because he had wrestled with God and God had declared Him blessed he got up and walked towards his brother fearing nothing and the brother just had to bless him too because a God had declared him blessed. Now the two were meant to be rivalries for ever but because of prayer destiny was changed and the two were brothers again.
Esther.
The whole of the Jewish race was on the verge of extinct because of an old rivalry with Hamman. Now when a King had signed his document with the ring on his hand that command would not be taken back not even by the king himself, it had to be performed. Haman being very crafty and wishing that he would destroy the whole tribe of the Jews managed to gets the king to sign the document sentencing all Jews including the queen herself unto death. At this time the King was in his court and no one would go up to him not even the queen unless they were summoned, if they were not summoned the King would sentence them to death if he so wished.
Esther was afraid to approach the King because she was had not beind called by the king but Mordecia made her understand that doing nothing was not an option because she would be killed as well. The queen declared a three days fast for the Jews in the land, no food nor water.
The king would not sleep at during the night and had the book of records read to him. now because the people had be fasting and offered their prayers unto God earnestly, God took away the sleep of the King and it was discovered from the book of records that something must be done for Mordecia for he saved the King from an assassination plot. The Lord also granted that Esther would find favour in the eyes of the King that he said, ' anything you want until half of the nation.' This was the beginning of the fall of their greatest rivalry Hamman as the lord causes him to honour the servant of God, Modercia, in the king's robes and on the king's chariot. Hamman was then hanged by the king on the same gallons which he had prepared for Modercia and the queen. Doesn't that sound like a promise in God's word? No weapons forged against you shall prosper and your enemies will fall in the traps they had set up for. Now the Jews were destined for destruction but because they prayed God cause the queen to have favour before the king and then made the enemies for in their own traps. The destiny of the whole race was changed because of prayer.
Now I could go on and state of how barren women like Hannah and Elizabeth were blessed with a prophets, how Jonah was restored back to ministry from the belly of the fish, and how one of the wickedest nation of Nineveh was saved from destruction, how one man Elijah would shut and open the heaven and would also receive fire as an answer to his prayers, how a man like Joshua could command the sun to stand still for a whole day, and how the lord would declare a battle His like in the days of Jehosophat and the army would not lift a sword and it would be a blessing I know but it would be repetitive because the thing that makes them similar is the very fact that they with sincere hearts offered prayers unto God and He never turned them away and those who searched for Him whole heartedly He never casts away but He is found by them.
How To Make Prayers Powerful and Effective.
1. 'Therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance' John the Baptist declared for those who wanted salvation but now the concept remains true with prayers offered unto God. He is so Holy that He can't cast His eyes on sin. Therefore repent of your sins and come before watched clean with the blood that was shade for you and the word actually declares that a prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). Now God is faithful and just to forgive all unrighteousness the word declares but you must also be forgiving otherwise His love and forgiveness can not work in your life either. Let go of the grudges and set people free from you heart and don't let the root of bitterness to grow in your life (Mark 11:26)
2. Find the promises that God has made about you in His word. Declare those promises everyday and proclaim them to your situation and life. What he has promised He will fulfil and will not change His mind (Numbers 23:19). And you must also know where and in which situation He expects you just to command change because He has also given you authority of all principalities so that they should know His manifold wisdom and you get Him surprised and I think the devils stand there just laughing at you (Ephesians 3:10-11, Luke 10:19).
3. The most important thing is where you stand with your God, how is your relationship with Him because He looks at the heart and when He is pleased with you then you will get your answer. He wants to know what you treasure most in your life and what you enjoying doing. The word declares that seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness then all these thing shall be added unto you and it also declares that delight yourself with the things of God and He will give you the desires of your heart (Matthew 6:33, Psalms 37:4). God is looking for people whose major concern is building His house and don't worry about the things of the world and these people he blesses then even with the riches of the nations because He know He can trust them.
4. The word declares that when you ask the God for anything He will give it you without finding fault but you must have faith and if you doubt you should not even be bothered to try because God is pleased with those who have faith and confidence in Him. 'Anything is possible to them that believe' Jesus Christ declared to the man whose son was possessed by a demon, ' and if you have faith as small as a mustard seed them you can say to this mountain be thy removed and be casted into the sea and it would be so (Mark 9:23, 11:23-24).
5. God is looking for people of humble hearts to approach Him and has already declared that if the people who are called by His name humble themselves and pray then He will hear from heaven and heal their land ( 2 Chronicles 7:14).
6. God gets very interested when people unify and agree on a matter and has actually declared Himself present when two or more people gather in His name. Therefore gather together and make known to God what are your desires for your church, nations, families and lives (Matthew 18:18).
7. Be yourself and don't try to imitate someone else. If God wanted you to be like Him, He could have made you like him for sure but He made you unique that you should fulfil a certain purpose that you alone can accomplish and no one else can do better at that ( Jeremiah 1:5).
8. Ah there is one more, I chose to make them eight so that you should know there is no pattern to this prayer but the more you pray the better you become. The eighth thing you must do is to PUSH. Yeah pray until something happens.
As I come to a close the last thing you must do is to give thanks always (1 Thessalonians 5: 18). God bless
Jesus the son of God often withdrew to solitary places to have some lone time with His father and people would be looking for Him. At the beginning of His ministry, He was sent in to the wilderness for a forty days fasting and prayer and that's when His ministry commenced and He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out wondrous and mighty works destroying the works of the devil. When His disciples noticed this? The interest in prayer grew and they wanted to learn how to pray from their master. Jesus gave them a model of Prayer and our everyday prayer should complete this model not necessarily word for word but using it as a structure.
Our Father in Heaven
Often prayer is defined by many to be conversing with God, meaning it consists of talking and then listening to what the other person saying, though there is more to prayer but this is adequate for now. In the world it is always important to know whom you are conversing with to ensure that the other party is not offended and hence result into undesirable consequences. Therefore it won't be of a surprise to you that classification is made normally of age, hierarchy etc... Basically the higher these go the more formal it becomes. This sort of mentality produces a few problems already because God is Supreme, The ultimate Power and Authority, The highest in hierarchy and He existed before time itself. Therefore getting to understand that This supreme God does not only want but also would love and is looking forward to spend some time with us becomes a difficult concept to grab and have people end up saying things like, 'I look at God as the director of a big multi-billion corporation and hence I don't have to waste His time.' and some say, 'He is busy dealing with more important things like running the universe.'When it comes to prayer though one should understand a relationship with God as a relationship with the a perfect father but unlike the perfect father God will always be there for you and with you to listen to what you have to say and support you in all your doings. He will give you what you ask of Him but first He is looking for that relationship with you which starts by accepting Jesus (that is not to say that He doesn't hear the prayer if you have not made a decision for Christ, for we all do know that He is merciful and sends rain on the sinners and the righteous). Jesus says if you abide in me and I in you then you will be able to ask for whatever you want and it will be granted by my father.It is not just a coincidence that the Lord started this prayer like this, it is powerful and a great witness of our Faith, remember it is impossible to please God without faith because those who come to Him must believe that He exists (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore every time we say 'Our Father who is in Heaven' you accept His existence, the ministry of Jesus and the Power of God to bring Him back to life because it is on this concept that our faith hangs that is in Christ we were adopted as sons and daughters (John 1:12) of the most supreme Being and we are able to cry out 'Abba' Father. Christianity is the only belief that classifies their God as Father not even Judaism classifies Him as such, because this came with Jesus as He proclaims that you are no longer servants but my friends and those who do the will of God are basically my family. Therefore if we believe in Jesus we are children of God and we are then able to approach His throne with boldness for we know that He is a father of mercy ( John 1:12, Hebrews 4:16). He loves us so much that He gave His most precious possession that a relationship with us might be restored. He is longing for the fellowship that was distracted by the sin in our lives. Therefore prayer is much more that just talking at God but it is having fellowship with Him, and when you have fellowship with someone you get to know them better and experience their love.
Hallowed be your name.
This constitutes a very important part of prayer but we tend to leave it out and jump straight into asking for our daily needs or wants. God knows our wants today and in fact He has declared that even before you call, He shall answer you (Isaiah 65:24). Praise is a powerful tool in prayer because it will show God that you truly have Faith as you remind Him of His greatness and what He has done in the past which also helps build up your confidence that He can't resist but to be moved to performance in your life. God doesn't want to share His glory with any man or flesh and when you praise God it shows Him that when the thing has been provided for you, you will by all means praise God and no flesh not even yourself.When the Moabites and Ammonites came to make war against Israel, Jehoshaphat the king declared a fast and prayer in the whole land of Israel. They brought their petition to God and He was moved by the sincerity of their hearts and was going to answer them but said something unlike on other occasions this time He ordered them to worship Him. They moment the people started to sing to the Lord and praise Him for His splendour with sounding of trumpets, the Lord Himself sent ambushes against armies and the Israelites just came to collect plunder. The Lord had made that battle His because with a broken hearts the people seek ed for God's help but when they started to praise Him, He moved to action (2 Chronicles 20:1-25).When Joshua was about to lead the men of Israel to overcome Jericho, a commander from the Lord appeared to him and proclaimed that the Lord had given the city unto their hands but they should be strong and courageous. They had to march around the city once for six days and seven times on the seventh day and at the sound of the trumpet the people had to give a shout of Praise. When they had given that shout of praise the walls of Jericho came tumbling down and down, then the Israelites were able to go straight in there and claim what the Lord had promised them already (Joshua 6). Also after the death of Joshua, the people enquired of the Lord, 'who shall go first to take possession of the land of their allotment and the Lord said, 'Judah!' Judah means praise and hence the Lord was literally saying that praise shall go first in to this battle (Judges 1:1-2). The Psalmist also declares that I will enter His coats with praise and also the Lord inhabits the praises of His people and we all know where God is, He will arise and all His enemies will be scattered (Psalms 100).God has promised and indeed He will fulfil what He has promised but sometimes He requires you to give a shout of praise that will show that you are convinced beyond doubt that He is able to accomplish what He has promised. Some of the battles that we persist fighting in our petitions and trying to bash the devil, claim from the word of God are battles that the Lord has already declared to be His and all you need is to praise Him.
Your kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God's kingdom is good, that is why the word says every good gift is from the Lord. The bible also has many promises of a life in abundance. Many of us have no problem with the first part, in fact we are able to claim many of these promises by heart,' No weapons forged against me shall prosper, I am blessed in the city and out of the city, I am the head and not the tail, I shall not die but live and proclaim the goodness of the Lord, I shall see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living, my enemies will come in one direction but flee in seven etc...' and all of us were good at some time or still are good in saying, 'your will be down on the earth as it is in heaven.' Do we understand the depth of what we are saying? This means total submission and surrender to the will of the Father. We can not have too wills operating at one time, if the Father's will must be done here on earth then it requires that man should give up his will and not just part of it but the whole of it. The reason why this is the hardest part for most of us today is that we do not know who the Father is, how faithful He is, His unchanging nature and that He has plans not to harm us but to bring us to an expected future. He is God and knows all things and in Him all things consist and that is why the Bible says that for we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called for His purpose (Number 23:19, Jeremiah 29:11,Romans 8:28). It is much easier to surrender your will unto Him if you know Him and its not just part but it is surrendering all to Him. This is a true act of worship that with a humble heart and a contrite spirit we offer our bodies each and every time in prompt obedience to Him then we will be able to see God's greatness and goodness. When Peter submitted to the will of Christ, They were able to catch a multitude of fish that nearly sunk two boat in the same lake where they had toiled all night and caught nothing (Luke 5:1-11).
Give us today our daily bread
This is the best part of the model for us all I bet as it allows us to bring our petitions before the Father. We definitely have no problem with this part but can be at it for hours, in fact I used to come before the father to pray and all I could do is ask, by the time I finished with the petitions two hours would have passed and I was tired to do the rest of the prayer. I feel like I should not dwell much on this part of prayer as we can use the same strategy or approach that we use with our parents when we want to ask for what we want with our heavenly Father. It has already been stated that there must be that father and child relationship between God and us and so if I want to ask Him for something I will try to please Him first as I do with my earthly dad. If I really want something from my dad I will work really hard in school and bring good results to him, At that time when he is pleased with me I can ask Him for anything and He will give it to me almost guaranteed (in fact after next exam sitting I will be asking for a car lol). The heavenly father is also the same, He is please with the child that abides in Jesus and Jesus abides in that child and whatever the child wants and He will give it to him (John 15:7, psalms 91:15). The heavenly father also wants you ask Him for the things that you want as you do with your earthly dad (John 16:23-28, Matthew 7:7-11). He is different from the earthly dad though because He already knows what you want and unlike your earthly father He is able to fulfil your needs according to His riches in glory and also able to do exceedingly abundantly and above all things we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) but He wants you to ask so that when it happens its attributed to Him alone not flesh or fate. Therefore when you come before Him do not use repetitive words and trying to make your prayers long but make them straight to the point and be yourself when you pray, don't imitate another person. When you pray make sure you are honest with God as well because unlike your earthly father He knows what is in your heart (Matthew 6). This is not to say that you should not be persist in your prayers as Jesus Christ talks about the parable of the widow who obtained justice from the wicked judge because of her persistence but unlike the wicked judge God desires to give us good gifts and will be happy to do more so to His children who seek for Him diligently (Luke 18:1-7).
Forgive us our debts
As we have forgiven our
Debtors
Paul when writing to the Romans says that owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves has fulfilled the whole law (Romans 13:8). The forgiving of one another's wrongs is an act of love though sometimes it is painful but we should not struggle to forgive as this is God's very nature that whilst we sinners that He gave Jesus and offered forgiveness to all (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). The scripture continue to say by this shall people know that you are truly my disciples if you love one another (John 13:34-35). God is love and all that are His simply must love and all who profess to be His will forgive anyone for anything they have done to them no matter how painful it is.
Therefore everyday we have a debt that we must pay in order for our relationship to be right with God and that is to love and forgive them that have wronged us. When we fail to forgive not only are we failing to pay this debt but God's love can not operate in our lives remember the parable of the unforgiving servant, after the master forgives his debt which was bigger he went out to do the opposite to his fellow servant and threw him in prison. The master was forced to throw him in jail and act harshly towards him (Matthew 18:23-35). Therefore do not throw people who have wronged you in jail by holding grudges against them. When you forgive not only are your relationships able to be restored but you set yourself free from unnecessary pain as every time you see the people the pain of what they have done is made flesh again but to the people they are eating chocolate and enjoying themselves lol. When you have unforgiving in your hearts do not waste your time thinking that your praises are received by God. He has already denied them in His word and says makes amends with your fellow man before you can come to the alter and offer you sacrifices of praise. In high school I fell out with one of my cousin. She spoke so rudely to mean in front of many people that instead of people laughing they all felt sorry for me. As I was getting to the hostels I had her number deleted out of my phone and wanted nothing to do with her ever again. I was asked to preach that night in one of our prayer session. I had the perfect message for it and I went out with lots of verses. When I started preaching I could not believe that all those verses would go within ten minutes instead of thirty. The preaching I think was rich but very dry, I said lots of things but it seemed like it didn't make sense to any one. God intervened and brought back my friend, thank God for Talumba on that night, and helped me preach. I was so mad with God that I went back to my room and started asking, 'why? Why did that happened because you have promised to be there with me when I start proclaiming your word.' He started speaking and showed me a verse that says,’ when you come to the alter and you remember that you wronged another or another wronged you go and try to make amends before offering that sacrifice because it won't be accepted unless you have made amends or at least tried and the other could not be convinced of his wrong.'(Mark 11:25-26) I started to laugh and went out to forgive her and all was restored.
And lead us not in to temptation but
Deliver us from the evil one.
The Lord is God and the bible says He does not tempt anyone nor can He be tempted with sin. When we are tempted it is by our own evil desires and weaknesses that grow ripe up into temptation and when we give in to this temptation it produces sin. This is all common to men but when we are tempted He will provide a way out and will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13-14, James 1:13-17).
Praise God today for our High Priest knows our weaknesses and sympathizes (Hebrews 4:15) with us and produces a way out each time and if we ask like in this prayer, our very steps will be ordain and will not have to face the temptation. The prayer works and I have definitely seen it operate in my life. In high school (ooh no! Here we go again lol. . But praise God I learnt lots at the time that mattered most before He comes and am still learning lots) hugs used to fly around like no one can imagine but sometimes this hugs could lead to other kinds of temptations mostly of touching, touching . I started praying this part of the prayer with a sincere heart and I can bear witness that for a few weeks I could see the temptation passing on the other side just because earlier The Spirit said turn here, and praise God that by the time I got to the hugging again there was no more temptation there. I overcame, Praise God!! Some may say that it is impossible to live without sin but that will be arguing with the Power of God to ordain the steps of the Righteous because the bible says that the steps of the righteous are ordain by him and surely He will not ordain them into sin. This is a whole different topic and so will allow the Spirit of God to reveal and clarify the truth to you.
Amen. Let it be so, as said, we agree etc...
This is just a model of Prayer that the lord gave to us as an example. Before He left He said some things you might not understand now but I will send you a counsellor who will help you understand and even to this day He the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers( Romans 8:26). Now when this model or structure becomes too ritualistic the power of the prayer itself can be lost as you feel 'it’s a must'. The whole of this model is what a complete prayer possesses but the time you lock yourself up in a room and wonder where do I start from you must not be obliged to a pattern but allow The Holy Spirit to lead you. You are meant to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5: 17) but the time you have locked yourself God may just want you concentrate on a particular area in the model.
If you are having troubles listening from what the Spirit is saying maybe because you are coming from a rushing world and your mind is unsettled just try to calm yourself up and start saying 'Our Father who is in Heaven' in order to recognise who you are talking to and what He means to you today. I believe the Holy Spirit will take it from there because all these parts of the model are linked up.
Example when you realise that you are talking to the Father then you are reminded that He is a Holy Father and He says that be holy for I AM Holy and you start repenting your sins. When you acknowledge who you are talking to then you will remember that He is so great that the heavens are His throne and the Earth His footstool and He reigns on high, when you think of this it should be very easy to praise Him. Then you will be thinking this great God loved me so much whilst I was a sinner and hence I must love and forgive all who wrong me. He reigns on high huh..? He knows the beginning from the end and so I should surrender my will because He has plans to prosper me. If He gave up His own son for my sake how can He then hold out my daily bread lol? Remember we are meant to pray at all times so prayer is not limited to that closed closet, Amen.
The Importance of Prayer.
(Take a short break please. I have the faith that each part of this article can change your life forever and I don't want you scheming through it lol knowing its long)
Praise God you are back!! Or maybe the Holy Spirit edged you to read on lol. Okay then!!
And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. Then a voice came from Heaven, 'you are me beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.' Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.' (Mark 1:10-12)
Prayer Gives You Direction.Jesus often withdrew to solitary places as stated earlier in this article. When He had just been baptised in the river Jordan the Holy Spirit lead Him in to the wilderness where He spent forty days and nights praying and fasting. He commenced from there and knew exactly what the father's will concerning His ministry was and He was bold and courageous in carrying out that will. Therefore prayer helps you understand the Father's will upon your life or any situation that comes your way. In prayer we allow the Holy Spirit who reveals the secrets of the Father to reveal those to us. Definitely in order for us to surrender to the Will of the Father we have to know what that will is to begin with and prayer offers that channel. David had gone out to help a king in battle but when he and the army return to their camp they found it deserted and all their wives and children were kidnapped. The soldiers were frustrated and were ready to stone David but he turned to the Lord and enquired of Him. The Lord told him to pursue and He was victorious in that conquest that nothing was lost. David kept enquiring of the lord even if the situation seem the same and the Lord would tell him a different strategy to deal with that war situation and he was victorious. The Church at Antioch were busy living godly lives that it was here that believers were first called Christians because of their Christ like character, one of which was withdrawing themselves for a time of Prayer. During one of these times of Prayer the Holy Spirit spoke to them to separate Paul and Barnabas. Out of their obedience to the will of the Father that was revealed to them in Prayer the gospel was preached to the gentiles, Praise God! (Acts 13:1-4) When you are given to much prayer you become accustomed to the voice of the Holy Spirit as was Phillip whom the Lord said to go down to the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Phillip obeyed the voice of God and as he came to the road he saw a chariot and the Spirit said to him to join himself to the chariot and he didn't protest because he knew how was speaking to him. Many times I find myself asking was that the Spirit and that opportunity to witness to a saw goes just because I was not sure if it was His voice. When Phillip joined himself to the chariot the gospel go as far as Africa. When he had just the baptised the Ethiopian eunuch the Spirit led him somewhere else to preach (Act 8:26, 29, 39-40). When you are prayerful, you become hot and the devil can't play around with you anymore. Every decision you make is inspired by the Holy Spirit that is why Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane, 'watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation.'(Mark 14:38) In life you face decision everyday but if you are a prayerful person you need not to worry because the very nature of God in you will help you make those decisions. I have seen servants of God been hesitate and saying, ' My spirit does not agree with men.' Now that is what happens if you are stepping away from the will of the father.
Prayer Empowers a Person
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in to the wilderness where He spent time in prayer and He was empowered by the Holy Spirit that when He emerged from there He said, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' (Luke 4:18-19). The four gospels basically carry this message of how Jesus destroyed the works of the devil and made known the Will of His Father known to us but He did this because the Power was present for Him to carry out miracles (Luke 5:17). Now the Power that was present every time He perform a miracle was the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is also behind the greatest wonder of all, Jesus Resurrection, and on this greatest wonder our faith in Jesus is also established that because He resurrected from the dead then He is also able to raise us up on that last day. The Holy Spirit is behind every thing God does right now; He is the one who has fellowship with us. At the creation the Holy Spirit was hovering on the waters of the Earth, At the birth of Christ Mary was told that the Spirit of God shall overshadow you, the miracle of your salvation also happened because He was present and the Bible actually proclaims that if you don’t have Him then you are not a child of God (Genesis 1:2, Luke 1:35, Romans 8:9, 11). You might be wondering why am busy talking about the Holy Spirit? This is because He is the Power behind the Trinity. He is the one that will empower you to preach the gospel and gives you the boldness and courage even the words to say at that particular time, He is the one that will equip you for the with Spiritual weapons of welfare and He will give you Gifts and allow you to operate in the five folds of ministry weather as Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, teachers or Evangelists that you should make known the manifest wisdom of God to all principalities in the heavenly place ( 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Ephesians 3:10-12) . How does it happen? It is spending time in prayer and getting to know the Holy Spirit and recognise His voice. The bible records that at the day of Pentecost the disciples were gathered in one room and were of one mind in prayer then there appeared what looked like tongues of fire which rested on all of them and they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them to speak. HE came when they were serious in prayer (Act 2:1-4). Peter and John had just being threatened with a death sentence if they would continue to preach about Christ. When the news got the other believers they were shaken and afraid but they resorted to prayer and the bible records that the place which they were at was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word with boldness (Acts 4:29-31). Even the church at Antioch having received to the command to set Paul and Barnabas aside they prayed for power and anointing upon them (Acts 13:3). Now what Jesus said when He emerged from the wilderness summarises the Work pf the Holy Spirit in empowering the children of God so that they should not be with fear (Romans 8:15).
PRAYER ALLOWS YOU TO FUNTION AS A CHRISTIAN.
Prayer allows you to intercede 'stand in between' God and the people. God declared long time ago that He is looking for someone who will be able to stand in between Him and the people who are rebellious to His voice but not only them but on behalf of everyone (Ezekiel 22:30-31). Moses was one such person and he stood between God and the people of Israel. Many times the children of Israel sinned against God and He wanted to destroy the whole nation and start a new but Moses came in between and they were spared from harm. Abraham having learnt of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah interceded for his nephew Lot and the Lord spared him from that destruction. Now prayers offered on behalf of others are not meaningless but they are powerful and effective and make a difference in those people lives. Herod had just killed James and this pleased the Jews. When he saw that it pleased many He went on and arrested Peter with the same intention of killing him. But the church was shaken up and they gathered and stood in prayer. The bible records that Peter was sleeping in the cell during this time but I just can't help think what was on his mind, ' oh that time has come when I should lay down my life for Christ.' But this time the church was praying earnestly for him. That was the difference between his life and that of James, prayer, as God sent his angel to set him free. He was sleeping but the prayer the church saved him from death. It is sad that the church is dormant and has become gossips as well, when you have heard about the problem of a man servant instead of praying earnestly for him so that the he may not fall and raise so many questions about the gospel, you sit down to analyse the faults. Its time we use that powerful weapon of prayer again and carry the burden of the brethren that are struggling (Galatians 6:2). And again and again the word says that we are to pray for all the saints and Paul in each and every letter he wrote demonstrates the important praying for all saints as he says God is witness of how we labour mentioning you in our prayers. It is God's own desire that you should pray for all the saints around the world (Ephesians 6:18). You should not be selective in your prayers of the people you will be interceding for as God says that prayers should be made for all people even you rulers (1 Timothy 2:1-4). This is also good that the decisions made by the leaders should not be a hindrance to your relationship with God. God desires all men to be saved and hence those prayers should be offered for everyone, do not judge and think this one is far gone but do as God commands. God says that you must pray without ceasing and there is no other option in this matter (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Jesus said peace I leave with you but not as the world does for in this world you meet lots of trouble but take heart for I have overcomed the world. A Christian's life is meant to be one full of joy irrespective of what the situation looks like. We are a free people that are carrying a lighter load, Jesus takes care of our heavy burdens every time we surrender them to Him (Matthew 11:28). When you meet tribulation you may become anxious and your mind might not be settled and it is Prayer that allows you to surrender your anxiety, burdens, hurts and whatever concerns you today before Jesus and He in return gives you a peace and joy that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6).
Prayer Can Change Your Destiny Forever
Prayer is a powerful tool in the hands of a Christian. God has given you the privilege of ruling with Him here on earth and that is why He says ask anything in My name and it shall be done so that the Father should be glorified. When things are not looking up your way you can come before God and argue you case. The cases that you can argue with God and win are those that concern His promises that He has made about you in His word and you can call Him to remember because He has esteemed His word higher than Himself.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, 'because I bore him in pain.' And Jabez called on God of Israel saying, 'oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So the Lord granted him what he had requested.
This prayer is one of the good examples of how your destiny can be changed forever. The name 'Jabez' as states in the verse means pain and during this time names carried much signifies as they were a way of predestining you in a path. Whatever he would do would cause pain to people and he was tired of that and wanted change. Most of us would give up and say maybe that was the way it was meant to be or I can't change that. The promises of God in Deuteronomy 28 are of blessings when you follow God's commands and the bible say that 'now Jabez was more honourable' this signifies that he led a righteous life before God and I would say that he followed every command in the book but his life remain the same until the moment he cried out in prayer unto God, 'ooh God if you would bless me indeed.' Now the strings of his past life could no longer hold him down, his name could no longer hold him down because a greater Being now declared him blessed. Instead of pain he became a blessing in the community, his destiny changed forever because of prayer.
2 Kings 20:1-5
The king received word from the prophet Isaiah saying put your house in order for you will not recover. We know that a prophet is from God if what he says comes to past. The king definitely heard about the Prophet Isaiah and knew he was definitely a messenger of God. Now most of us if we heard this report would be utterly hopeless, the man of God has spoken, but Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and cried out to God. This is what I mean to argue your case before God according to His promises, 'Remember now, O Lord how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart,' now the Lord promises longitivity to them that serve Him with honest hearts and Hezekiah argued that convincingly and laid his case before God and God because of that prayer said to the prophet before he left the house of the King, 'I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; surely I will heal you.' When a man is reduced to tears then you know how much he means what he is saying. Hezekiah had no time to waste, it was no point crying to the man of God but turned to the source and stated his case before Him for He is willing to listen and take it into consideration. He was meant to die but prayer changed his destiny forever.
Genesis 27
Now Jacob had got hold of the promise by outwitting his brother and fooling his father Isaac. Esau was enraged and wanted to kill his brother for taking that right of being first born. Now after a long time and Jacob had served Laban he planned to return back home but that thought was always with him, 'My brother might still be mad with me and kill me.' Many of us get to this place when we are troubled beyond compare and we just don't know what will happen next but here is a perfect example because Jacob cut himself out from everything including family and crossed the river jordan to pray. He was there and said to God I aunt leaving this place until you bless me. All night he was there before God and said that from today your name will be Israel. The Lord had no choice but to bless him because he was persistent. Now because he had wrestled with God and God had declared Him blessed he got up and walked towards his brother fearing nothing and the brother just had to bless him too because a God had declared him blessed. Now the two were meant to be rivalries for ever but because of prayer destiny was changed and the two were brothers again.
Esther.
The whole of the Jewish race was on the verge of extinct because of an old rivalry with Hamman. Now when a King had signed his document with the ring on his hand that command would not be taken back not even by the king himself, it had to be performed. Haman being very crafty and wishing that he would destroy the whole tribe of the Jews managed to gets the king to sign the document sentencing all Jews including the queen herself unto death. At this time the King was in his court and no one would go up to him not even the queen unless they were summoned, if they were not summoned the King would sentence them to death if he so wished.
Esther was afraid to approach the King because she was had not beind called by the king but Mordecia made her understand that doing nothing was not an option because she would be killed as well. The queen declared a three days fast for the Jews in the land, no food nor water.
The king would not sleep at during the night and had the book of records read to him. now because the people had be fasting and offered their prayers unto God earnestly, God took away the sleep of the King and it was discovered from the book of records that something must be done for Mordecia for he saved the King from an assassination plot. The Lord also granted that Esther would find favour in the eyes of the King that he said, ' anything you want until half of the nation.' This was the beginning of the fall of their greatest rivalry Hamman as the lord causes him to honour the servant of God, Modercia, in the king's robes and on the king's chariot. Hamman was then hanged by the king on the same gallons which he had prepared for Modercia and the queen. Doesn't that sound like a promise in God's word? No weapons forged against you shall prosper and your enemies will fall in the traps they had set up for. Now the Jews were destined for destruction but because they prayed God cause the queen to have favour before the king and then made the enemies for in their own traps. The destiny of the whole race was changed because of prayer.
Now I could go on and state of how barren women like Hannah and Elizabeth were blessed with a prophets, how Jonah was restored back to ministry from the belly of the fish, and how one of the wickedest nation of Nineveh was saved from destruction, how one man Elijah would shut and open the heaven and would also receive fire as an answer to his prayers, how a man like Joshua could command the sun to stand still for a whole day, and how the lord would declare a battle His like in the days of Jehosophat and the army would not lift a sword and it would be a blessing I know but it would be repetitive because the thing that makes them similar is the very fact that they with sincere hearts offered prayers unto God and He never turned them away and those who searched for Him whole heartedly He never casts away but He is found by them.
How To Make Prayers Powerful and Effective.
1. 'Therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance' John the Baptist declared for those who wanted salvation but now the concept remains true with prayers offered unto God. He is so Holy that He can't cast His eyes on sin. Therefore repent of your sins and come before watched clean with the blood that was shade for you and the word actually declares that a prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). Now God is faithful and just to forgive all unrighteousness the word declares but you must also be forgiving otherwise His love and forgiveness can not work in your life either. Let go of the grudges and set people free from you heart and don't let the root of bitterness to grow in your life (Mark 11:26)
2. Find the promises that God has made about you in His word. Declare those promises everyday and proclaim them to your situation and life. What he has promised He will fulfil and will not change His mind (Numbers 23:19). And you must also know where and in which situation He expects you just to command change because He has also given you authority of all principalities so that they should know His manifold wisdom and you get Him surprised and I think the devils stand there just laughing at you (Ephesians 3:10-11, Luke 10:19).
3. The most important thing is where you stand with your God, how is your relationship with Him because He looks at the heart and when He is pleased with you then you will get your answer. He wants to know what you treasure most in your life and what you enjoying doing. The word declares that seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness then all these thing shall be added unto you and it also declares that delight yourself with the things of God and He will give you the desires of your heart (Matthew 6:33, Psalms 37:4). God is looking for people whose major concern is building His house and don't worry about the things of the world and these people he blesses then even with the riches of the nations because He know He can trust them.
4. The word declares that when you ask the God for anything He will give it you without finding fault but you must have faith and if you doubt you should not even be bothered to try because God is pleased with those who have faith and confidence in Him. 'Anything is possible to them that believe' Jesus Christ declared to the man whose son was possessed by a demon, ' and if you have faith as small as a mustard seed them you can say to this mountain be thy removed and be casted into the sea and it would be so (Mark 9:23, 11:23-24).
5. God is looking for people of humble hearts to approach Him and has already declared that if the people who are called by His name humble themselves and pray then He will hear from heaven and heal their land ( 2 Chronicles 7:14).
6. God gets very interested when people unify and agree on a matter and has actually declared Himself present when two or more people gather in His name. Therefore gather together and make known to God what are your desires for your church, nations, families and lives (Matthew 18:18).
7. Be yourself and don't try to imitate someone else. If God wanted you to be like Him, He could have made you like him for sure but He made you unique that you should fulfil a certain purpose that you alone can accomplish and no one else can do better at that ( Jeremiah 1:5).
8. Ah there is one more, I chose to make them eight so that you should know there is no pattern to this prayer but the more you pray the better you become. The eighth thing you must do is to PUSH. Yeah pray until something happens.
As I come to a close the last thing you must do is to give thanks always (1 Thessalonians 5: 18). God bless
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Overcoming Desires
25th May 2008
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15
At a recent Bible Study meeting, the question of how to overcome temptation was asked. I know there are many reactions to this question, but allow me to give my own reaction. The above scripture tells us that we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own evil desire. It is our desire that causes us to be tempted and if we succumb to this temptation, sin is brought forth and when sin is fully grown, death comes about. I, therefore, feel that, in dealing with sin, we need to deal first with our desires, because it is these desires that bring about sin. Let me, however, say that temptation is not sin; Jesus was tempted yet He did not sin.
Now, how do we deal with desires? Titus 3:5 (NKJV) says “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” The words I want us to concentrate on here are regeneration and renewing. The word regenerate, here, means to give a new and higher spiritual nature to something or someone. According to Paul, it is the Holy Spirit that does this in our lives. In the area of our desires, these also have to be regenerated and renewed, that is we need to be given a new ones. However, the question remains, how can our desires be regenerated?
My answer to that question would be that it is only through the word of God that our desires can be regenerated. Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ cleansed the church and sanctified her with the washing of water by the word. Now in Titus we read that we have been saved through the washing of regeneration, and Ephesians tells us that we have been cleansed by the washing of water by the word. What am I getting at? Simple, it is through the word of God that our desires can be regenerated.
We need to get new desires that will replace those desires that lead to sin, and one of the means of getting these new desires is if we read and meditate on His word. The Bible says we are to set our mind on things above and not on things below, how do we know of the things that are above except by the word of God. God has revealed Himself to us through His word, He has revealed His nature and character as well as His promises. He has also told us of those things that are above, those thing on which we are to set our minds on (e.g. Philippians 4:8).
Spending time in the presence of God will also get us new desires. As we spend more time with Him, we tend to take after His nature as He deposits it into us. From past and present experience, I have found that the more time you spend with someone, the more you take up some of his or her characters. I can testify that at times I found myself laughing like a friend of mine all because I had been spending much time with them. The same is true if we spend more time in the presence of God, we begin to take after His nature and He gives us His desires.
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” To delight yourself in the Lord is to desire and enjoy the nearness of His presence and the truth and righteousness of His word. When we delight ourselves in God and His will, God Himself places desires within our hearts that He then sets out to fulfill. Now, from James 1:13, we know that God cannot put ungodly desires within us. This means that as we spend time in His presence He will give us new, godly desires.
Furthermore, Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” It can be seen from this scripture that reading and meditating on the word of God will keep us from sin. How will it keep us from sin? The word will make you aware of God’s nature, that He is holy and that He desires you to be holy as well. This will keep you from sin, as the word will be the weapon by which you will say no to every temptation that is sent your way.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34) and in Proverbs we are told “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV) Now, if you have hidden God’s word in your heart, then the issues or desires that will spring out of it will be godly desires. Yet again we see the need for one to meditate on the word of God.
The word of God will also help to condition you. As you read and learn of what God is looking for in you, you will strive to be what God has called you to be. You will know, for example, that you should no longer give your bodily members as instruments of sin (Romans 6:12,13). This will keep you from sin. Jesus was able to triumph over Satan when tempted using the scriptures He had read and learnt, the same will be true of you if you take time to read on and meditate on the word of God.
I urge you then, to purposefully read and meditate on the word of God, spend more time in His presence. It is as you do these things that you will get new desires, desires that will not cause you to be tempted. The say prevention is better than cure. Prevent temptation by getting new desires.
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied to you. Amen
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15
At a recent Bible Study meeting, the question of how to overcome temptation was asked. I know there are many reactions to this question, but allow me to give my own reaction. The above scripture tells us that we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own evil desire. It is our desire that causes us to be tempted and if we succumb to this temptation, sin is brought forth and when sin is fully grown, death comes about. I, therefore, feel that, in dealing with sin, we need to deal first with our desires, because it is these desires that bring about sin. Let me, however, say that temptation is not sin; Jesus was tempted yet He did not sin.
Now, how do we deal with desires? Titus 3:5 (NKJV) says “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” The words I want us to concentrate on here are regeneration and renewing. The word regenerate, here, means to give a new and higher spiritual nature to something or someone. According to Paul, it is the Holy Spirit that does this in our lives. In the area of our desires, these also have to be regenerated and renewed, that is we need to be given a new ones. However, the question remains, how can our desires be regenerated?
My answer to that question would be that it is only through the word of God that our desires can be regenerated. Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ cleansed the church and sanctified her with the washing of water by the word. Now in Titus we read that we have been saved through the washing of regeneration, and Ephesians tells us that we have been cleansed by the washing of water by the word. What am I getting at? Simple, it is through the word of God that our desires can be regenerated.
We need to get new desires that will replace those desires that lead to sin, and one of the means of getting these new desires is if we read and meditate on His word. The Bible says we are to set our mind on things above and not on things below, how do we know of the things that are above except by the word of God. God has revealed Himself to us through His word, He has revealed His nature and character as well as His promises. He has also told us of those things that are above, those thing on which we are to set our minds on (e.g. Philippians 4:8).
Spending time in the presence of God will also get us new desires. As we spend more time with Him, we tend to take after His nature as He deposits it into us. From past and present experience, I have found that the more time you spend with someone, the more you take up some of his or her characters. I can testify that at times I found myself laughing like a friend of mine all because I had been spending much time with them. The same is true if we spend more time in the presence of God, we begin to take after His nature and He gives us His desires.
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” To delight yourself in the Lord is to desire and enjoy the nearness of His presence and the truth and righteousness of His word. When we delight ourselves in God and His will, God Himself places desires within our hearts that He then sets out to fulfill. Now, from James 1:13, we know that God cannot put ungodly desires within us. This means that as we spend time in His presence He will give us new, godly desires.
Furthermore, Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” It can be seen from this scripture that reading and meditating on the word of God will keep us from sin. How will it keep us from sin? The word will make you aware of God’s nature, that He is holy and that He desires you to be holy as well. This will keep you from sin, as the word will be the weapon by which you will say no to every temptation that is sent your way.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34) and in Proverbs we are told “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV) Now, if you have hidden God’s word in your heart, then the issues or desires that will spring out of it will be godly desires. Yet again we see the need for one to meditate on the word of God.
The word of God will also help to condition you. As you read and learn of what God is looking for in you, you will strive to be what God has called you to be. You will know, for example, that you should no longer give your bodily members as instruments of sin (Romans 6:12,13). This will keep you from sin. Jesus was able to triumph over Satan when tempted using the scriptures He had read and learnt, the same will be true of you if you take time to read on and meditate on the word of God.
I urge you then, to purposefully read and meditate on the word of God, spend more time in His presence. It is as you do these things that you will get new desires, desires that will not cause you to be tempted. The say prevention is better than cure. Prevent temptation by getting new desires.
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied to you. Amen
From My Heart
6th April 2008
Recently I have been through a somewhat tough time where I had a lot of issues going on mostly in my thoughts. These struggles really drained me and the people around me can testify that I was not the best person to be around. I reached such a level where I even had “issues” with God, and if ever I have had a case against Him this was one of the times. The funny thing is that, it is only today that I am remembering that whilst in high school, a friend had once told me that she had issues with God such that their relationship was almost broken. At the time I could not really understand her nor could I sympathize with her, but now I can sympathize.
Anyway, the reason why I am saying all this is that at times we do have issues with God, and it is good to be honest about them. Jesus says the worshippers of God must worship Him in truth and in spirit, in truth means also in all sincerity and honesty (see John 4:23), in other words, take even what you are thinking about to Him. We have numerous examples in the Bible where people would actually point out the issue they had with God, Jeremiah, Elijah, Moses, David in the Psalms are but some of the people who had issues which they presented before God. These people were not superhuman and so we should not consider ourselves as such.
During this time that I am talking about I tried praying about the issues and when I got no concrete answer (at least I thought so) I began blaming God and taking up a case against Him. Oh, God is so merciful! Some of the things I said I had to repent from afterwards, yet at the time He was so silent and did not say a thing. In fact He did not even rebuke me, it’s like He was just watching me and pitying me that I could not see clearly.
You know, a parent will sometimes just look at a child when that child is bringing up all sorts of things that can cause them to get angry. Parents will be able to relate with this as well as those who have passed through the teenage crisis. I think it was a similar scenario where God was just looking at me and in the background leading me in the way that I should go in order to get the issues sorted out. Now they have been sorted out and I have learnt a few things out of the whole experience.
Another reason why I am writing this is because we sometimes forget the extent of God’s love for us. We forget that He says He loved us before we loved Him and He chose us before we chose Him (1 John 4:10,19 and John 15:16). The reason He chose us was so that we would be with Him, i.e. have communion and fellowship with Him (Mark 3:14). The love of God is not conditional; you and I do not have to do a thing that will qualify us for that love it is there for us for free (consider Romans 8:38,39). God proclaimed that Jesus was His beloved Son twice, first before going into the wilderness where He would be tested and secondly on the Mount of transfiguration before His passion (Luke 3:22 and Mark 9:7). He was God’s beloved even before doing the major things that would perhaps qualify Him for that love, even before He tried to earn it.
The same is true for you and me. Even before our salvation God loved us; and this was at a time when we perhaps did not qualify for that love, when we were outside His family. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die so that you could be brought into right relationship with Him (John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:18). Even before you started going out ministering to others, God loved you, you did not have to do a thing before God loved you.
The analogy that comes to mind is one of a parent. A parent loves the child even before the child is born, and when he or she is born there is already that love that is made available. The child does not have to do anything in order to qualify for or earn that love, in fact when you truly consider it; it is the work of the parent all along. When the child is born, however, more often that not, the child tries to earn the parent’s love, yet the parent has already offered it. The best times for parents to show this love is when the child is doing all the wrong things, getting in trouble and causing trouble for the family. Many times the parents will still love the child even through such times (at least they are meant to).
Furthermore, I am not my mother’s child because of the errands that I run. It is a relationship that is there before and after the errands are run. The same is true of God. He is our Father Jesus exhorted us to call Him Father (John 20:17, Matthew 6:9). He is our Father and we are His children not because we are always out working for Him, rather it is a relationship. That is what God has called us to, relationship. Yes, He will give us tasks to do, but these are not the primary reason why we are called His children. We are only helping out with the work of the house or rather the kingdom.
Such and more is the love of God. Even when we do things that are contrary to Him, we will still be loved simply because His love is unconditional. Furthermore, Paul says nothing can ever separate us form such love. In Isaiah, God says even though a mother can forget the baby of her breast, God will never forget us for we are inscribed upon the palms of His hand and our walls are forever before Him. In John, Jesus says nothing can snatch His sheep from His hand (John 10:28). All this is the love that God has for us, a love that can always be trusted.
Now all this does not give us an excuse for sinning, because any child who knows that the parents love him or her will still try to please them. It is a way of perhaps showing our appreciation of that love and also to reciprocate that love. Jesus says the surest mark of our love for Him is if we obey His commands (John 14:15,23 and also 1 John 5:3). In Isaiah God says that although His love is unconditional we can further benefit from His love if we obey Him and do as He instructs us to do (Isaiah 1:19).
For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37,38 (Amplified)
Recently I have been through a somewhat tough time where I had a lot of issues going on mostly in my thoughts. These struggles really drained me and the people around me can testify that I was not the best person to be around. I reached such a level where I even had “issues” with God, and if ever I have had a case against Him this was one of the times. The funny thing is that, it is only today that I am remembering that whilst in high school, a friend had once told me that she had issues with God such that their relationship was almost broken. At the time I could not really understand her nor could I sympathize with her, but now I can sympathize.
Anyway, the reason why I am saying all this is that at times we do have issues with God, and it is good to be honest about them. Jesus says the worshippers of God must worship Him in truth and in spirit, in truth means also in all sincerity and honesty (see John 4:23), in other words, take even what you are thinking about to Him. We have numerous examples in the Bible where people would actually point out the issue they had with God, Jeremiah, Elijah, Moses, David in the Psalms are but some of the people who had issues which they presented before God. These people were not superhuman and so we should not consider ourselves as such.
During this time that I am talking about I tried praying about the issues and when I got no concrete answer (at least I thought so) I began blaming God and taking up a case against Him. Oh, God is so merciful! Some of the things I said I had to repent from afterwards, yet at the time He was so silent and did not say a thing. In fact He did not even rebuke me, it’s like He was just watching me and pitying me that I could not see clearly.
You know, a parent will sometimes just look at a child when that child is bringing up all sorts of things that can cause them to get angry. Parents will be able to relate with this as well as those who have passed through the teenage crisis. I think it was a similar scenario where God was just looking at me and in the background leading me in the way that I should go in order to get the issues sorted out. Now they have been sorted out and I have learnt a few things out of the whole experience.
Another reason why I am writing this is because we sometimes forget the extent of God’s love for us. We forget that He says He loved us before we loved Him and He chose us before we chose Him (1 John 4:10,19 and John 15:16). The reason He chose us was so that we would be with Him, i.e. have communion and fellowship with Him (Mark 3:14). The love of God is not conditional; you and I do not have to do a thing that will qualify us for that love it is there for us for free (consider Romans 8:38,39). God proclaimed that Jesus was His beloved Son twice, first before going into the wilderness where He would be tested and secondly on the Mount of transfiguration before His passion (Luke 3:22 and Mark 9:7). He was God’s beloved even before doing the major things that would perhaps qualify Him for that love, even before He tried to earn it.
The same is true for you and me. Even before our salvation God loved us; and this was at a time when we perhaps did not qualify for that love, when we were outside His family. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die so that you could be brought into right relationship with Him (John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:18). Even before you started going out ministering to others, God loved you, you did not have to do a thing before God loved you.
The analogy that comes to mind is one of a parent. A parent loves the child even before the child is born, and when he or she is born there is already that love that is made available. The child does not have to do anything in order to qualify for or earn that love, in fact when you truly consider it; it is the work of the parent all along. When the child is born, however, more often that not, the child tries to earn the parent’s love, yet the parent has already offered it. The best times for parents to show this love is when the child is doing all the wrong things, getting in trouble and causing trouble for the family. Many times the parents will still love the child even through such times (at least they are meant to).
Furthermore, I am not my mother’s child because of the errands that I run. It is a relationship that is there before and after the errands are run. The same is true of God. He is our Father Jesus exhorted us to call Him Father (John 20:17, Matthew 6:9). He is our Father and we are His children not because we are always out working for Him, rather it is a relationship. That is what God has called us to, relationship. Yes, He will give us tasks to do, but these are not the primary reason why we are called His children. We are only helping out with the work of the house or rather the kingdom.
Such and more is the love of God. Even when we do things that are contrary to Him, we will still be loved simply because His love is unconditional. Furthermore, Paul says nothing can ever separate us form such love. In Isaiah, God says even though a mother can forget the baby of her breast, God will never forget us for we are inscribed upon the palms of His hand and our walls are forever before Him. In John, Jesus says nothing can snatch His sheep from His hand (John 10:28). All this is the love that God has for us, a love that can always be trusted.
Now all this does not give us an excuse for sinning, because any child who knows that the parents love him or her will still try to please them. It is a way of perhaps showing our appreciation of that love and also to reciprocate that love. Jesus says the surest mark of our love for Him is if we obey His commands (John 14:15,23 and also 1 John 5:3). In Isaiah God says that although His love is unconditional we can further benefit from His love if we obey Him and do as He instructs us to do (Isaiah 1:19).
For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37,38 (Amplified)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Who Am I?
THE CHRISTIAN’S IDENTITY IN CHRIST
In Matthew 3:17, right after Jesus was baptized, in other words having fulfilled all righteousness, we hear of a voice from the heavens saying “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Right after this declaration He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The first words that the tempter spoke were “If you are the Son of God…” From this we can see that the tempter set out to prove whether or not Jesus was truly the Son of God, in other words He was questioning the identity of Christ. (Read Matthew 3:13-17; 4:1-11)
If you are a Christian, the Bible assures us that the day you were born again you were made righteous before God. You fulfilled His righteous requirements for you to be reconciled to Him and on that day He declared you to be His beloved child. Furthermore, on that day you switched sides, getting on God’s side leaving the devil’s side and thus, because you sided with God, the devil became your adversary (Revelation 12:10). The devil is against you and he only seeks to destroy you (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8). One of the things the devil will question you about is you identity. (Read Romans 10:4, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
The question of our identity in Christ is thus something we all have to answer and be very sure about. Someone once said that hell fights you over what heaven calls you, the issue then is to get assurance on whatever it is that heaven calls you and to rest in that assurance. The aim of this Bible Study is to help us get to know what heaven calls us and in so doing give us the necessary ammunition with which to fight against Satan (take “... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…” Ephesians 6:17).
Memory verse: John 1:12,13.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible tells us that everyone who is in Christ Jesus is a new creature, the old has gone and the new has come. This is just another expression of Jesus’ phrase “born again.” To Paul the Christian is one who has been made anew by virtue of being in Christ.
From 2 Corinthians 5:17, what is this old nature that has gone?
Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:20-22, Galatians 5:19-21
What does Paul mean when he says “the new has come”?
Ephesians 2:10; 4:24, John 1:12,13, Colossians 3:10, Romans 8:29, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Does the old have to go in order for the new to come?
Romans 6:6,7; John 3:6; Ephesians 4:22,24
What are you to do then, if you are now a new creature?
Romans 6:12-14,19b, Romans 13:14, Ephesians 4:20-32; 5:1-21, Colossians 3:5,9,10, 1Peter 1:3-5, 1 Peter 2:1,2. Consider 2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:16-18; 5:1-5, James 1:25.
Just as in our lives generally, we are not just one thing, that is you are a student, brother/sister, child, cousin, nephew/niece, friend, mesho and many other things all at once, the same is true in Christ. What else, then, does the Bible say about the Christian? We cannot fully exhaust everything that we are in Christ, the Bible is full of descriptions of who a Christian is, so basically read you Bible and find out more. For now though we will briefly consider some of these descriptions.
Read: John 1:12 Romans 8:15-17,28-30,37, 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 1:6,13,14, Philippians 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6 (NKJV). List some of the descriptions that have been given in the above texts.
You are a child of God. (John 1:12)
What manner of child are you? See Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1:5
What does this mean, i.e. that you are an adopted child of God?
What sort of relationship do we now have with God? How do we relate with Him? See also John 8:35
You are justified and accepted. (Romans 8:30, Ephesians 1:6) See also Romans 4:23-25; 5:1,9-11; 8:1
What does this mean?
You have put on the righteousness of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) See also 1 Corinthians 1:30,
What does this mean?
You are no longer a slave to sin. (Romans 6:17,18,22)
What does this mean?
You belong to God. (1Peter 2:9) Compare with John 10:28-30, 1 Corinthians 6:20
You have the Holy Spirit in you. (Ephesians 1:13,14) See also 2 Corinthians 5:5.
What does He do, why is He there? (Briefly) John 14:16,26; 16:7-11,13-15, 1 John 2:20,27, Romans 8:16, 2 Timothy 1:7
Remember then Ephesians 4:30.
You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 3:16) See also 1 Corinthians 6:19
What does this mean? What are you to do given this knowledge?
You are a priest. (1 Peter 2:9)
What are the duties of a priest as prescribed in the above texts and in other texts? (Briefly)
You are chosen. (1 Peter 2:9) Remember also Psalm 139:13-16, Jeremiah 1:5, John 15:19, 2 Thessalonians 2:13
Why are you chosen? See also John 15:16
You are a saint. (Philippians 1:1) See also Colossians 1:2, Ephesians 1:1
What does this mean?
You are light and salt. Matthew 5:13-16
You are commissioned. Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 2:10
You are a king. (Revelation 1:6) Compare with Romans 5:17 and Job 22:28, Romans 8:17
What does this mean?
You have been redeemed from wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9) See also Romans 5:9, Colossians 1:19-23
We are members of Christ’s body. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Romans 12:4,5.
What is this body?
What is your role in the body? See also Ephesians 4:15,16,29
How do you function in it? See also Hebrews 3:12; 10:25, Colossians 3:16
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION.
According to Romans 8:1 you are now no longer condemned if you are in Christ Jesus. Remember Christ did not come to condemn but to save (John 3:17) so if you are in Christ you are not condemned. If there is one who condemns, know that it is not Christ (Romans 8:33,34). The Holy Spirit only does the work of conviction (John 16:7-11).
He is also able to keep you and preserve you in Him (Jude 24, 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24, Philippians 1:6). He is not willing that you fall, but if you do fall, you can get up Jeremiah 8:4 (also Proverbs 24:16).
Finally, be sure to read the word of God because by it you will come to know more of who God considers you to be and if you have knowledge of His word you will have all the ammunition that you need to fight against the devil. Someone once said the language of God is His word so if you want to find out what He says about you, then check out His word. Others have called the scriptures His love letter, so read them.
Briefly explain what you have learnt from this study.
Note: Be sure to read through the scriptures that have been used in this study on your own.
In Matthew 3:17, right after Jesus was baptized, in other words having fulfilled all righteousness, we hear of a voice from the heavens saying “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Right after this declaration He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The first words that the tempter spoke were “If you are the Son of God…” From this we can see that the tempter set out to prove whether or not Jesus was truly the Son of God, in other words He was questioning the identity of Christ. (Read Matthew 3:13-17; 4:1-11)
If you are a Christian, the Bible assures us that the day you were born again you were made righteous before God. You fulfilled His righteous requirements for you to be reconciled to Him and on that day He declared you to be His beloved child. Furthermore, on that day you switched sides, getting on God’s side leaving the devil’s side and thus, because you sided with God, the devil became your adversary (Revelation 12:10). The devil is against you and he only seeks to destroy you (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8). One of the things the devil will question you about is you identity. (Read Romans 10:4, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
The question of our identity in Christ is thus something we all have to answer and be very sure about. Someone once said that hell fights you over what heaven calls you, the issue then is to get assurance on whatever it is that heaven calls you and to rest in that assurance. The aim of this Bible Study is to help us get to know what heaven calls us and in so doing give us the necessary ammunition with which to fight against Satan (take “... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…” Ephesians 6:17).
Memory verse: John 1:12,13.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible tells us that everyone who is in Christ Jesus is a new creature, the old has gone and the new has come. This is just another expression of Jesus’ phrase “born again.” To Paul the Christian is one who has been made anew by virtue of being in Christ.
From 2 Corinthians 5:17, what is this old nature that has gone?
Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:20-22, Galatians 5:19-21
What does Paul mean when he says “the new has come”?
Ephesians 2:10; 4:24, John 1:12,13, Colossians 3:10, Romans 8:29, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Does the old have to go in order for the new to come?
Romans 6:6,7; John 3:6; Ephesians 4:22,24
What are you to do then, if you are now a new creature?
Romans 6:12-14,19b, Romans 13:14, Ephesians 4:20-32; 5:1-21, Colossians 3:5,9,10, 1Peter 1:3-5, 1 Peter 2:1,2. Consider 2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:16-18; 5:1-5, James 1:25.
Just as in our lives generally, we are not just one thing, that is you are a student, brother/sister, child, cousin, nephew/niece, friend, mesho and many other things all at once, the same is true in Christ. What else, then, does the Bible say about the Christian? We cannot fully exhaust everything that we are in Christ, the Bible is full of descriptions of who a Christian is, so basically read you Bible and find out more. For now though we will briefly consider some of these descriptions.
Read: John 1:12 Romans 8:15-17,28-30,37, 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 1:6,13,14, Philippians 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6 (NKJV). List some of the descriptions that have been given in the above texts.
You are a child of God. (John 1:12)
What manner of child are you? See Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1:5
What does this mean, i.e. that you are an adopted child of God?
What sort of relationship do we now have with God? How do we relate with Him? See also John 8:35
You are justified and accepted. (Romans 8:30, Ephesians 1:6) See also Romans 4:23-25; 5:1,9-11; 8:1
What does this mean?
You have put on the righteousness of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) See also 1 Corinthians 1:30,
What does this mean?
You are no longer a slave to sin. (Romans 6:17,18,22)
What does this mean?
You belong to God. (1Peter 2:9) Compare with John 10:28-30, 1 Corinthians 6:20
You have the Holy Spirit in you. (Ephesians 1:13,14) See also 2 Corinthians 5:5.
What does He do, why is He there? (Briefly) John 14:16,26; 16:7-11,13-15, 1 John 2:20,27, Romans 8:16, 2 Timothy 1:7
Remember then Ephesians 4:30.
You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 3:16) See also 1 Corinthians 6:19
What does this mean? What are you to do given this knowledge?
You are a priest. (1 Peter 2:9)
What are the duties of a priest as prescribed in the above texts and in other texts? (Briefly)
You are chosen. (1 Peter 2:9) Remember also Psalm 139:13-16, Jeremiah 1:5, John 15:19, 2 Thessalonians 2:13
Why are you chosen? See also John 15:16
You are a saint. (Philippians 1:1) See also Colossians 1:2, Ephesians 1:1
What does this mean?
You are light and salt. Matthew 5:13-16
You are commissioned. Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 2:10
You are a king. (Revelation 1:6) Compare with Romans 5:17 and Job 22:28, Romans 8:17
What does this mean?
You have been redeemed from wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9) See also Romans 5:9, Colossians 1:19-23
We are members of Christ’s body. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Romans 12:4,5.
What is this body?
What is your role in the body? See also Ephesians 4:15,16,29
How do you function in it? See also Hebrews 3:12; 10:25, Colossians 3:16
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION.
According to Romans 8:1 you are now no longer condemned if you are in Christ Jesus. Remember Christ did not come to condemn but to save (John 3:17) so if you are in Christ you are not condemned. If there is one who condemns, know that it is not Christ (Romans 8:33,34). The Holy Spirit only does the work of conviction (John 16:7-11).
He is also able to keep you and preserve you in Him (Jude 24, 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24, Philippians 1:6). He is not willing that you fall, but if you do fall, you can get up Jeremiah 8:4 (also Proverbs 24:16).
Finally, be sure to read the word of God because by it you will come to know more of who God considers you to be and if you have knowledge of His word you will have all the ammunition that you need to fight against the devil. Someone once said the language of God is His word so if you want to find out what He says about you, then check out His word. Others have called the scriptures His love letter, so read them.
Briefly explain what you have learnt from this study.
Note: Be sure to read through the scriptures that have been used in this study on your own.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Sealed
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:23 and 24.
In several places, the scriptures tell us that as Christians (those who have believed in the redemptive work of Christ) we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. I would just like to share a few thoughts on what I believe this means.
In trying to understand the significance of being sealed as children of God, I was lead to the book of Esther. Esther 8 gives the story of how Mordecai and Esther were able to counter a decree that would have resulted in the destruction of the Israelite community exiled in Persia. Earlier in the book, we read of how Haman plotted the destruction of the Jews and how he managed to convince the king to issue a decree that would lead to the Jews being killed by Persian soldiers. However, God, through Esther and Mordecai, intervened and rescued the Israelites from this destruction.
What I find to be very striking in the story given in Esther is how the decree issued under Haman’s instruction could not be repealed. Matthew Henry, in his commentary of Esther 8 says this “According to the constitution of the Persians’ government, no law or decree could be repealed or recalled.” Therefore, whatever the king decreed would stand forever.
Esther 8:8 reads “Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.” Notice what the verse says about the seal of the king and its meaning.
Anything that was sealed with the king’s ring could not be reversed but would stand as decreed forever. It could not be undone unless a nullifying decree was issued out. Matthew Henry, in his commentary of Esther 8 continues to say this “It is God’s prerogative not to repent, or to say what can never be altered or unsaid.” What this basically means is that, whatever God decrees, will stand forever and cannot be undone except by another decree that nullifies the first.
But, the question remains what does the seal signify? The seal, according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, is an emblem of ownership and security; it is also a mark of authentication. To authenticate means to prove or show (something especially a claim or an artistic work) to be true or genuine.
After the fall, when Adam and Eve had sinned, God did something, He removed the two from the Garden of Eden and placed cherubim and a flaming sword to keep and guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24). Thus He set up a decree which is repeated by Paul in Romans 6:23, “… the wages of sin is death…” Therefore, God decreed that the end result of sin is death and He placed cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life. Remember His words in Genesis 2:17 where He told Adam not to eat of the tree because if he ate, He would surely die. Now this decree cannot be repealed, it stands even to this day, but He has issued another decree which almost nullifies the first. He says in the same Romans 6:23, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” so we see two decrees at work the same as during Esther’s time; one bringing death whilst the other offers life to those who are ready and willing to abide by the decree.
We cannot remove the decree that brings death it will always stand but God has given us a choice by issuing another decree that can be applied to our lives and have life instead of death. This new decree gives only one means of getting life and it is through Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” and that name is none other than the name of Jesus.
It is after we have done what the decree requires of us to receive this salvation that the issue of the seal becomes very important. As has already been pointed out, the seal, is an emblem of ownership and security; it is also a mark of authentication. The seal is what proves to us that whatever has been written in the decree is true of us. It should be noted here that this seal is the Holy Spirit, whom you receive once you have repented of your sins; asked Jesus to cleanse you of all iniquity, accepting His death on the cross as being the propitiation of your sins and handed your life over to Him. It is once this has happened that God deposits into you His Holy Spirit, and one of the reasons for doing this is to give you the assurance that His decree of eternal life stands true in your life.
So, as the scriptures say “…As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name…” (John 1:12) This is the decree God has made concerning your life; you are His child, called by His name if you have received Jesus Christ. However, to authenticate this He has to put a seal on it, the Holy Spirit.
You see, a letter, may be written by the king but it is the seal that authenticates that the letter is indeed from the king. It is the seal that bears witness that the letter is truly from the king. The same is true here, the Bible gives us the assurance that we are the children of God by virtue of receiving Jesus Christ, however we need something to authenticate what the Bible says, we need a witness. Paul in Romans 8:16 says “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” If the Spirit does not bear witness within you then you need to check again with God. No man can bear witness on behalf of God that you are a child of God not even your Pastor. It is only the Holy Spirit who has been given the mandate to bear witness within you that you are truly a child of God.
In bearing witness that we are the children of God, the Holy Spirit also acts as a guarantee of our inheritance until the day of Christ’s return. Therefore, it is only if the Holy Spirit remains in you that you can be assured of your salvation. Perhaps that is why He does the work of sanctification in you and me (see 1 Peter 1:2) because it is through this process of sanctification that we are perfected and made holy as God is holy and perfect (Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter 1:15,16).
Therefore, this is the seal that has been placed on you and me, if indeed we are the children of God. That is why it is so important for any Christian to have a good relationship with the Holy Spirit and to get to know the person of the Holy Spirit. Someone once said that you cannot remove the Holy Spirit from being within you but you can stop Him from working in your life. In other words you can almost choose not to benefit from the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. As a child of God you need to find out more about the nature of this seal by diligently searching the scriptures.
This is the assurance that we have as the children of God; we have His seal upon us, the promised Holy Spirit who bears witness as to our adoption into the family of God. Get to know more of His person and come to an understanding of Him by searching the scriptures.
Grace, mercy and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ keep and preserve you in the knowledge of Him. Amen
Note: Romans 8:16 says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit. We ought always to remember that the Spirit does not bear witness to our being adopted by the circumstances that surround us, rather He bears witness within us. Thus, we should not look at our position in the world as being that which is to bear witness to us of our sonship, look within you. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, that is, it is not necessarily about the outward things, but rather it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). We cannot see these three all the time in the material world, so do not let your material possessions or position in the world or other surrounding circumstance be the thing that bears witness as to your adoption into the family of God.
In several places, the scriptures tell us that as Christians (those who have believed in the redemptive work of Christ) we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. I would just like to share a few thoughts on what I believe this means.
In trying to understand the significance of being sealed as children of God, I was lead to the book of Esther. Esther 8 gives the story of how Mordecai and Esther were able to counter a decree that would have resulted in the destruction of the Israelite community exiled in Persia. Earlier in the book, we read of how Haman plotted the destruction of the Jews and how he managed to convince the king to issue a decree that would lead to the Jews being killed by Persian soldiers. However, God, through Esther and Mordecai, intervened and rescued the Israelites from this destruction.
What I find to be very striking in the story given in Esther is how the decree issued under Haman’s instruction could not be repealed. Matthew Henry, in his commentary of Esther 8 says this “According to the constitution of the Persians’ government, no law or decree could be repealed or recalled.” Therefore, whatever the king decreed would stand forever.
Esther 8:8 reads “Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.” Notice what the verse says about the seal of the king and its meaning.
Anything that was sealed with the king’s ring could not be reversed but would stand as decreed forever. It could not be undone unless a nullifying decree was issued out. Matthew Henry, in his commentary of Esther 8 continues to say this “It is God’s prerogative not to repent, or to say what can never be altered or unsaid.” What this basically means is that, whatever God decrees, will stand forever and cannot be undone except by another decree that nullifies the first.
But, the question remains what does the seal signify? The seal, according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, is an emblem of ownership and security; it is also a mark of authentication. To authenticate means to prove or show (something especially a claim or an artistic work) to be true or genuine.
After the fall, when Adam and Eve had sinned, God did something, He removed the two from the Garden of Eden and placed cherubim and a flaming sword to keep and guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24). Thus He set up a decree which is repeated by Paul in Romans 6:23, “… the wages of sin is death…” Therefore, God decreed that the end result of sin is death and He placed cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life. Remember His words in Genesis 2:17 where He told Adam not to eat of the tree because if he ate, He would surely die. Now this decree cannot be repealed, it stands even to this day, but He has issued another decree which almost nullifies the first. He says in the same Romans 6:23, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” so we see two decrees at work the same as during Esther’s time; one bringing death whilst the other offers life to those who are ready and willing to abide by the decree.
We cannot remove the decree that brings death it will always stand but God has given us a choice by issuing another decree that can be applied to our lives and have life instead of death. This new decree gives only one means of getting life and it is through Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” and that name is none other than the name of Jesus.
It is after we have done what the decree requires of us to receive this salvation that the issue of the seal becomes very important. As has already been pointed out, the seal, is an emblem of ownership and security; it is also a mark of authentication. The seal is what proves to us that whatever has been written in the decree is true of us. It should be noted here that this seal is the Holy Spirit, whom you receive once you have repented of your sins; asked Jesus to cleanse you of all iniquity, accepting His death on the cross as being the propitiation of your sins and handed your life over to Him. It is once this has happened that God deposits into you His Holy Spirit, and one of the reasons for doing this is to give you the assurance that His decree of eternal life stands true in your life.
So, as the scriptures say “…As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name…” (John 1:12) This is the decree God has made concerning your life; you are His child, called by His name if you have received Jesus Christ. However, to authenticate this He has to put a seal on it, the Holy Spirit.
You see, a letter, may be written by the king but it is the seal that authenticates that the letter is indeed from the king. It is the seal that bears witness that the letter is truly from the king. The same is true here, the Bible gives us the assurance that we are the children of God by virtue of receiving Jesus Christ, however we need something to authenticate what the Bible says, we need a witness. Paul in Romans 8:16 says “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” If the Spirit does not bear witness within you then you need to check again with God. No man can bear witness on behalf of God that you are a child of God not even your Pastor. It is only the Holy Spirit who has been given the mandate to bear witness within you that you are truly a child of God.
In bearing witness that we are the children of God, the Holy Spirit also acts as a guarantee of our inheritance until the day of Christ’s return. Therefore, it is only if the Holy Spirit remains in you that you can be assured of your salvation. Perhaps that is why He does the work of sanctification in you and me (see 1 Peter 1:2) because it is through this process of sanctification that we are perfected and made holy as God is holy and perfect (Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter 1:15,16).
Therefore, this is the seal that has been placed on you and me, if indeed we are the children of God. That is why it is so important for any Christian to have a good relationship with the Holy Spirit and to get to know the person of the Holy Spirit. Someone once said that you cannot remove the Holy Spirit from being within you but you can stop Him from working in your life. In other words you can almost choose not to benefit from the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. As a child of God you need to find out more about the nature of this seal by diligently searching the scriptures.
This is the assurance that we have as the children of God; we have His seal upon us, the promised Holy Spirit who bears witness as to our adoption into the family of God. Get to know more of His person and come to an understanding of Him by searching the scriptures.
Grace, mercy and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ keep and preserve you in the knowledge of Him. Amen
Note: Romans 8:16 says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit. We ought always to remember that the Spirit does not bear witness to our being adopted by the circumstances that surround us, rather He bears witness within us. Thus, we should not look at our position in the world as being that which is to bear witness to us of our sonship, look within you. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, that is, it is not necessarily about the outward things, but rather it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). We cannot see these three all the time in the material world, so do not let your material possessions or position in the world or other surrounding circumstance be the thing that bears witness as to your adoption into the family of God.
In The Begining
In the Beginning
by Maclean Mbepula
I intend on quickly sharing with you what God was revealing to me this morning.... something beautiful… something edifying….. It could change the way that you look at God, yourself and life itself. The interesting thing is, God is really no respecter of persons, he was revealing to me something when I was in the middle of a hectic deadline…. I had to get some work finished and he was just revealing things to me that I knew nothing about in my heart… though some of it I knew in my head but now it resonated in my soul and spirit. I am blessed and I would like you to be too. Anyway, I handed in what I had to hand in, and my meeting with this particular client went quite well.
I was trying to learn to accept that "I am valuable to God; that there is intrinsic value in me that makes “me” worth it. That I should esteem myself as highly (without pride) as God esteems me... because he loved me enough to let his only begotten son, Jesus Christ die... his beloved, to die on the cross for me. " Therefore, I first had to look at God. When a product has a problem, you take it to the producer. Say the product is a Cadbury chocolate bar, you tell Cadbury that their chocolate had/has a prob. When a manufactured good has a problem you take it to the manufacturer. And the Bible says that God created mankind; including me, meaning that He is my manufacturer. Therefore, if I want to understand my value then I first have to look at my manufacturer, God.
I thought a good place to start would be one of the most famous verses. Seeing as the Bible says, (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, (Jesus Christ) that whomsoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (parenthesis mine)
When I woke up this morning, I was meditating on this particular verse. It says that God loved me so much that he sent Jesus to die for me. It finally hit me after a little while, that if God loves me enough to send his son Jesus Christ to die for me, how much more is he able to give me freely that which I ask from him? I mean, he gave me Jesus Christ, before I knew that I needed him. He planned salvation out before I was ever conceived. If he were ready to give me his supreme gift, how much more would he be willing to give me? This helped me to understand that God truly is generous and that he truly does have my best interests at heart, but my best interests are inherently in his perfect plan. It may not always seem like it is but if I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and saviour, the Bible says that everything ends up working to my good because I love Him and I am called according to His purpose. And I underline the word EVERYTHING. That includes the time before I was saved. It includes that relationship, that bad choice and that unforgettable moment. It includes everything, but this is only if we have accepted Jesus for what the Bible says He is. If I have, it can all work out to my good.
When we do not know God, we have an insatiable hunger, burning in us, as we hunt for something or even someone to try and fill it. Others try alcohol, others try sex… others try drugs, fame and fortune…. Others try adrenaline rushes and quite a lot of others try food (and the deceptive comfort that they believe they can get from it). But then comes a moment when the Holy Spirit whispers, “try GOD”. Usually, this happens when your back is against the wall and you really don’t have that many options. If you choose this option, as billions have discovered, your life is never the same again. If you accepted the free gift of salvation, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
So, when I analysed John 3:16. I realised God’s goodness. I mean His awesome goodness. Think about it one moment: giving His all for you… when you didn’t even know you needed it. We really shouldn’t forget that God didn’t “have” to create us. And God didn’t really “have” to send Christ to save us…. By this I mean, YES , WE needed Jesus to come; there was no other way to obtain reunion with God and eternal forgiveness, but Jesus had an option: He really didn’t have to come. God could have said, these people have caused you much pain, why not just wipe everything away and create a whole new creation which will actually not be such a problem (remember the story of Noah in Genesis 6 where God was willing to wipe out the human race had it not been that Noah was found to be righteous). But yet God chose to work with us because He knew that WE NEEDED him. If there was anything that God could have given to save us, He would have done but there is nothing greater and no one greater than Jesus, so He sent His best: His best for us. He chose to help us where we were before we had any idea. The bottom line is, God wanted you in this world. God wanted you in his world. I Repeat; GOD WANTED YOU IN HIS WORLD!! How awesome is that? I mean, God makes no mistakes. The Bible says that He is a God of infinite wisdom, His creating you was no mistake. In fact, God makes no mistakes, everything that God does is wonderful (Ps 139 v 14). The Bible actually says that God knitted you in your mothers womb…. Other translations state that he “crafted ” you (refer to Psalms 139) in your mothers womb, meaning that not only did He make you, but it involved more than His abilities, it involved His heart and mind…. And with carrying God’s image we carry “a part of God” in us. Which other creation of God is created in His image? Which other created species, apart from us, has been told that it can be sons and daughters of God if it so chooses? God didn’t need us to come. He didn’t need me to come but He chose you to come, He chose me to come. He wanted to express His love to and through me and you.
Then the question arose in my head about my self worth again; Am I good? Now, again, it had to go back to my manufacturer and seeing as my manufacturer left me a manual (The Bible), I turned to it again, to find out. Is God really good? (Yeah, yeah, I’ve been saved for a long time but sometimes things spring up and … you have dodgy questions… which you really can only quench with the word of God). If God is good then I should be good as well. So many of us have at some point asked, before we came to know the love of God, that if there was a good God then why was there evil? When I’ve tried to tell them about Jesus and God’s great love for them,…. people have asked me, “If God is good, why did my aunt die of cancer….. Why was my cousin raped? Why this? Why that?” Indeed bad things happen but even so, the greater question ought to be, Why do good things happen? So many times our thinking is unbalanced….. and it warps our understanding… and a warped understanding is the devils playground.
I will not talk about why there is good and evil in this letter but rather, why God is good and why therefore I am valuable because God made me in His deliberate goodness. I want you to see something wonderful about yourself in this.
Please understand that if you think that God isn’t good, you’ll have a prob believing that you are good.
Ok, lets take a glance at Genesis 1 and 2. Let’s take a look at God’s initial intentions for you.
Firstly, God went and created a wonderful perfect place and lastly decided to create man. The place was actually paradise. I mean what more would you want. A gorgeous garden, great tasting food, security, accommodation, purpose… The Bible says that when God created Adam, he went and made a garden called Eden for Adam, this garden was going to be where Adam lived and worked. The Bible says that God told Adam that he would be in charge…. I mean the sole guardian and manager. God intended a perfect place for all creation, including you. There would have been no pain, no heartache, no ugliness in body, soul or spirit, nothing to hide, no worries. There would have been perfect communion and fellowship with God. And God gave Adam an important commission, to protect the Tree of Life which was in the centre of his garden. God, knowing full well what Adam needed and desired, decided (before Adam even asked or knew), to make him a “woman”, a wonderful beautiful helper to be by his side and compliment his efforts; again, God showcasing His infinite goodness just because it’s in His nature. She also was created in his image. Again, what would you say: isn’t this the picture of perfect living? I mean, can life get any better than this? Think of that one person that you felt you loved so much… that Adonis, that “belle”, and then, think having him/her with you in a gorgeous place, given to you by God, with God’s blessing for your good pleasure, forever? How can this get any better?
This work that God began then, is a clear representation of what God is ever-willing to do for us: God provided everything that Adam needed; food, accommodation, security, friendship, purpose commission, a bright future, trust, self esteem, health, wealth, power, His image, blessings, potential, Adam pleased God (Gen 1: 31)
The mind of God is good because all He has planned for us is good. It’s displayed in all that He has designed and done since the beginning of time. God’s intentions are good. And my opinion is that God is some sort of a “Hopeless Romantic” : I mean you only have to look at how he came, like some sort of a fantasy love story: the tall dark and handsome knight in shinny armour coming to the damsel in distress. But I have to say that God isn’t infatuated with us, He is in love with us. He’s love isn’t that Mills and Boons type of love but the “I‘ll live with you, for you, care, protect and provide for you… and I’ll give up my life for you.”
When we look at Jesus on the cross, blood stained, bleeding, hurting beyond imagination, forsaken and completely abased…. For us; for you, and for me, we see one magnificent glimpse of God’s undying and insurmountable love for you… and me. The Bible actually says that God is love and by Him creating you and me, he wanted a means to express His nature, Himself: His love.
As far as I can see, God’s intentions for you and me are good. One may ask, how can I be sure that they remain good towards me?
Again, we can go back to the manufacturer and have a look in His manual… each “manufactured good” has an expiry date, it has an end…. Things depreciate in value. Firstly, we can look at the Bible: do we depreciate in value?
Before we go any further, we should make a decision today on whether or not it’s the truth. We should choose for ourselves. We have a choice and sooner than later we should make a choice. We have to make a choice. We can’t stay perched on the picket fence forever. There comes a time when we have to choose one from the other. And if you ask me, it really ought to be sooner rather than later. We really never quite have as much time as we think. What we must remember is that there cannot be plural truths in certain things. If someone says that an object is only one colour, you can’t go and say that it is both black and white: it’s one or the other. And that’s the fact: the Bible is either true or not. You can believe or not believe. Make a choice, if you haven’t yet. As for me, I have: I have found that it is the truth…the whole truth and nothing but the truth… How do I know this for myself: because it had the power to change me completely. The person I am now isn’t the person that I was before I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and saviour. Like Joyce Meyer likes to say, I am not where I ought to be but thank God that I am not where I was.
The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He said that: He so loved the world that He sent His only son (the final frontier) so that if you believe in Him then you will not perish but have ever-lasting life (be with Him forever… ain’t gonna have unsatisfaction of any sort: no drug addictions, no hated, no insatiable desire for money, fame, fortune, dependency, co-dependency etc…).
One more thing, that points me to God’s desire to have individual intimate relationships with him is that in the beginning, God breathed the breath of life into Adam. How much more intimate can one get? God breathed the breath of Life into Adam…. I repeat, how much more intimate can one get? God desires to have an intimate relationship with him, that’s why we should find it strange when we think,”Urgh, I have to pray”… we really ought to be saying,” Wow, I get to pray!”. I mean… what an honour we have to spend time talking with our maker. Time in His presence. Time to tell Him anything and everything that we want… I could go on and on. But I know that if we (especially “if I”) could remain constantly conscious of this, then I would definitely be walking around with a greatness of the glory of God following me. What I mean is, I wouldn’t worry about tomorrow, coz I know who holds tomorrow.
And lastly, because God created you in His image, God demonstrated His wanting the very best for mankind. If there was a greater image than His, he would have done it, but He decided to create man in the best possible “mould” ever: His very own.
I ask again, how could God not be good?
And How can you and I not have God’s goodness at our core once we are born again. The Bible does say of you once you are saved,” Behold, you are a new creation. Old things are past, and behold all things are made new. ”
And once, he makes as new, we can claim what is meant for us, as it was in the beginning.
God bless you abundantly,
Mac
P.s. Jesus loves you more than words can say.
by Maclean Mbepula
I intend on quickly sharing with you what God was revealing to me this morning.... something beautiful… something edifying….. It could change the way that you look at God, yourself and life itself. The interesting thing is, God is really no respecter of persons, he was revealing to me something when I was in the middle of a hectic deadline…. I had to get some work finished and he was just revealing things to me that I knew nothing about in my heart… though some of it I knew in my head but now it resonated in my soul and spirit. I am blessed and I would like you to be too. Anyway, I handed in what I had to hand in, and my meeting with this particular client went quite well.
I was trying to learn to accept that "I am valuable to God; that there is intrinsic value in me that makes “me” worth it. That I should esteem myself as highly (without pride) as God esteems me... because he loved me enough to let his only begotten son, Jesus Christ die... his beloved, to die on the cross for me. " Therefore, I first had to look at God. When a product has a problem, you take it to the producer. Say the product is a Cadbury chocolate bar, you tell Cadbury that their chocolate had/has a prob. When a manufactured good has a problem you take it to the manufacturer. And the Bible says that God created mankind; including me, meaning that He is my manufacturer. Therefore, if I want to understand my value then I first have to look at my manufacturer, God.
I thought a good place to start would be one of the most famous verses. Seeing as the Bible says, (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, (Jesus Christ) that whomsoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (parenthesis mine)
When I woke up this morning, I was meditating on this particular verse. It says that God loved me so much that he sent Jesus to die for me. It finally hit me after a little while, that if God loves me enough to send his son Jesus Christ to die for me, how much more is he able to give me freely that which I ask from him? I mean, he gave me Jesus Christ, before I knew that I needed him. He planned salvation out before I was ever conceived. If he were ready to give me his supreme gift, how much more would he be willing to give me? This helped me to understand that God truly is generous and that he truly does have my best interests at heart, but my best interests are inherently in his perfect plan. It may not always seem like it is but if I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and saviour, the Bible says that everything ends up working to my good because I love Him and I am called according to His purpose. And I underline the word EVERYTHING. That includes the time before I was saved. It includes that relationship, that bad choice and that unforgettable moment. It includes everything, but this is only if we have accepted Jesus for what the Bible says He is. If I have, it can all work out to my good.
When we do not know God, we have an insatiable hunger, burning in us, as we hunt for something or even someone to try and fill it. Others try alcohol, others try sex… others try drugs, fame and fortune…. Others try adrenaline rushes and quite a lot of others try food (and the deceptive comfort that they believe they can get from it). But then comes a moment when the Holy Spirit whispers, “try GOD”. Usually, this happens when your back is against the wall and you really don’t have that many options. If you choose this option, as billions have discovered, your life is never the same again. If you accepted the free gift of salvation, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
So, when I analysed John 3:16. I realised God’s goodness. I mean His awesome goodness. Think about it one moment: giving His all for you… when you didn’t even know you needed it. We really shouldn’t forget that God didn’t “have” to create us. And God didn’t really “have” to send Christ to save us…. By this I mean, YES , WE needed Jesus to come; there was no other way to obtain reunion with God and eternal forgiveness, but Jesus had an option: He really didn’t have to come. God could have said, these people have caused you much pain, why not just wipe everything away and create a whole new creation which will actually not be such a problem (remember the story of Noah in Genesis 6 where God was willing to wipe out the human race had it not been that Noah was found to be righteous). But yet God chose to work with us because He knew that WE NEEDED him. If there was anything that God could have given to save us, He would have done but there is nothing greater and no one greater than Jesus, so He sent His best: His best for us. He chose to help us where we were before we had any idea. The bottom line is, God wanted you in this world. God wanted you in his world. I Repeat; GOD WANTED YOU IN HIS WORLD!! How awesome is that? I mean, God makes no mistakes. The Bible says that He is a God of infinite wisdom, His creating you was no mistake. In fact, God makes no mistakes, everything that God does is wonderful (Ps 139 v 14). The Bible actually says that God knitted you in your mothers womb…. Other translations state that he “crafted ” you (refer to Psalms 139) in your mothers womb, meaning that not only did He make you, but it involved more than His abilities, it involved His heart and mind…. And with carrying God’s image we carry “a part of God” in us. Which other creation of God is created in His image? Which other created species, apart from us, has been told that it can be sons and daughters of God if it so chooses? God didn’t need us to come. He didn’t need me to come but He chose you to come, He chose me to come. He wanted to express His love to and through me and you.
Then the question arose in my head about my self worth again; Am I good? Now, again, it had to go back to my manufacturer and seeing as my manufacturer left me a manual (The Bible), I turned to it again, to find out. Is God really good? (Yeah, yeah, I’ve been saved for a long time but sometimes things spring up and … you have dodgy questions… which you really can only quench with the word of God). If God is good then I should be good as well. So many of us have at some point asked, before we came to know the love of God, that if there was a good God then why was there evil? When I’ve tried to tell them about Jesus and God’s great love for them,…. people have asked me, “If God is good, why did my aunt die of cancer….. Why was my cousin raped? Why this? Why that?” Indeed bad things happen but even so, the greater question ought to be, Why do good things happen? So many times our thinking is unbalanced….. and it warps our understanding… and a warped understanding is the devils playground.
I will not talk about why there is good and evil in this letter but rather, why God is good and why therefore I am valuable because God made me in His deliberate goodness. I want you to see something wonderful about yourself in this.
Please understand that if you think that God isn’t good, you’ll have a prob believing that you are good.
Ok, lets take a glance at Genesis 1 and 2. Let’s take a look at God’s initial intentions for you.
Firstly, God went and created a wonderful perfect place and lastly decided to create man. The place was actually paradise. I mean what more would you want. A gorgeous garden, great tasting food, security, accommodation, purpose… The Bible says that when God created Adam, he went and made a garden called Eden for Adam, this garden was going to be where Adam lived and worked. The Bible says that God told Adam that he would be in charge…. I mean the sole guardian and manager. God intended a perfect place for all creation, including you. There would have been no pain, no heartache, no ugliness in body, soul or spirit, nothing to hide, no worries. There would have been perfect communion and fellowship with God. And God gave Adam an important commission, to protect the Tree of Life which was in the centre of his garden. God, knowing full well what Adam needed and desired, decided (before Adam even asked or knew), to make him a “woman”, a wonderful beautiful helper to be by his side and compliment his efforts; again, God showcasing His infinite goodness just because it’s in His nature. She also was created in his image. Again, what would you say: isn’t this the picture of perfect living? I mean, can life get any better than this? Think of that one person that you felt you loved so much… that Adonis, that “belle”, and then, think having him/her with you in a gorgeous place, given to you by God, with God’s blessing for your good pleasure, forever? How can this get any better?
This work that God began then, is a clear representation of what God is ever-willing to do for us: God provided everything that Adam needed; food, accommodation, security, friendship, purpose commission, a bright future, trust, self esteem, health, wealth, power, His image, blessings, potential, Adam pleased God (Gen 1: 31)
The mind of God is good because all He has planned for us is good. It’s displayed in all that He has designed and done since the beginning of time. God’s intentions are good. And my opinion is that God is some sort of a “Hopeless Romantic” : I mean you only have to look at how he came, like some sort of a fantasy love story: the tall dark and handsome knight in shinny armour coming to the damsel in distress. But I have to say that God isn’t infatuated with us, He is in love with us. He’s love isn’t that Mills and Boons type of love but the “I‘ll live with you, for you, care, protect and provide for you… and I’ll give up my life for you.”
When we look at Jesus on the cross, blood stained, bleeding, hurting beyond imagination, forsaken and completely abased…. For us; for you, and for me, we see one magnificent glimpse of God’s undying and insurmountable love for you… and me. The Bible actually says that God is love and by Him creating you and me, he wanted a means to express His nature, Himself: His love.
As far as I can see, God’s intentions for you and me are good. One may ask, how can I be sure that they remain good towards me?
Again, we can go back to the manufacturer and have a look in His manual… each “manufactured good” has an expiry date, it has an end…. Things depreciate in value. Firstly, we can look at the Bible: do we depreciate in value?
Before we go any further, we should make a decision today on whether or not it’s the truth. We should choose for ourselves. We have a choice and sooner than later we should make a choice. We have to make a choice. We can’t stay perched on the picket fence forever. There comes a time when we have to choose one from the other. And if you ask me, it really ought to be sooner rather than later. We really never quite have as much time as we think. What we must remember is that there cannot be plural truths in certain things. If someone says that an object is only one colour, you can’t go and say that it is both black and white: it’s one or the other. And that’s the fact: the Bible is either true or not. You can believe or not believe. Make a choice, if you haven’t yet. As for me, I have: I have found that it is the truth…the whole truth and nothing but the truth… How do I know this for myself: because it had the power to change me completely. The person I am now isn’t the person that I was before I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and saviour. Like Joyce Meyer likes to say, I am not where I ought to be but thank God that I am not where I was.
The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He said that: He so loved the world that He sent His only son (the final frontier) so that if you believe in Him then you will not perish but have ever-lasting life (be with Him forever… ain’t gonna have unsatisfaction of any sort: no drug addictions, no hated, no insatiable desire for money, fame, fortune, dependency, co-dependency etc…).
One more thing, that points me to God’s desire to have individual intimate relationships with him is that in the beginning, God breathed the breath of life into Adam. How much more intimate can one get? God breathed the breath of Life into Adam…. I repeat, how much more intimate can one get? God desires to have an intimate relationship with him, that’s why we should find it strange when we think,”Urgh, I have to pray”… we really ought to be saying,” Wow, I get to pray!”. I mean… what an honour we have to spend time talking with our maker. Time in His presence. Time to tell Him anything and everything that we want… I could go on and on. But I know that if we (especially “if I”) could remain constantly conscious of this, then I would definitely be walking around with a greatness of the glory of God following me. What I mean is, I wouldn’t worry about tomorrow, coz I know who holds tomorrow.
And lastly, because God created you in His image, God demonstrated His wanting the very best for mankind. If there was a greater image than His, he would have done it, but He decided to create man in the best possible “mould” ever: His very own.
I ask again, how could God not be good?
And How can you and I not have God’s goodness at our core once we are born again. The Bible does say of you once you are saved,” Behold, you are a new creation. Old things are past, and behold all things are made new. ”
And once, he makes as new, we can claim what is meant for us, as it was in the beginning.
God bless you abundantly,
Mac
P.s. Jesus loves you more than words can say.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Learn from Peter
Peter was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was actually in the inner cycle meaning he was very close to Jesus.He is very interesting character because he is very quick to speak like most of us today. He was able to get revelations of the kingdom and yet a few minutes later being human enough to deny the cost for it. I feel it is pretty important to learn from his life both the good and bad things.
Lessons from his life can be learnt right from his calling( Matthew 4:18-20, mark 1:16-18). He forsook all(mark 10:28) and followed Christ the savior. people nowadays have problems in stepping into worlds they do not know especially when it comes to following Jesus. When you forsake all, you move God to perform in your life because that shows that you have faith in Him and you know that He exists(Hebrews 11:6). The prize for what you have forsaken here on earth is that you will receive eternal life and a hundred forth of you have forsaken in this present age( mark10:30).
A second lesson from Peter is about prompt obedience(Luke 5:5-6). When God commands you, no matter how silly, stupid or senseless it seems, just do it! Peter was a fisherman by profession but with his colleagues they had toiled all night, they tried whatever means of catching fish but to no avail,'on this day there was no fish in the lake' they might have thought atleast.
Then comes Jesus a carpenter by profession and tells them to launch out to deep with the nets they had just finished washing. Peter had every excuse not to follow that commandment: what did Jesus, a carpenter, know about fishing. They had toiled all night, he (peter) and colleagues where more than tired and frustrated, and by the way it was senseless to go fishing at this hour of the day. But in his reply after mentioning his frustrations he says,'nevertheless at your word i will let down the nets.' Peter saw more than a carpenter, he saw the Messiah. 'But at your word' signifies haste to follow the command showing prompt obedience. He was able to see God's greatness because of of prompt obedience but many are the excuses we have today. We doubt our God so much that we are afraid to look as fools in the eyes of men if we show that we are standing in faith and it doesn't work. When God acts at the time of your prompt obedience then you are able to see that He is The Almighty God, Supreme and Holy and that is why Peter begs Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinner after they caught fish that nearly sunk two boats(Luke 5:1-11). You need to forget all the excuses and follow God's commandment in His word and you will see how He will prosper and bless you(Deuteronomy 28:1).
A third lesson that can be learnt is that Peter desired the manifest glory of God. At the mountain of transfiguration he saw how holy God was through the whitening of the clothes of Jesus and he knew he needed cleansing but he asked to remain on that mountain. we are afraid to approach the throne of God and remain there. We normally think that we are able to lead a more righteous life and then we will approach God. But you should know that your righteousness is just like filthy rags before Him and it is only him who is able to make you holy(Mark 9:3, Isaiah 1:18). We should not have confidence in our works but we should understand that it is by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Approach the throne of God just as you are, there will never be a better time. The more you wait the difficult it becomes because the adversary, the devil does not let go of you unless you completely surrender to Jesus Christ. There is beauty in the manifest glory of God. You will understand why you should seek Him diligently because when you find Him there will be no mistake about it, in His presence that is where you will fulfill the very essence of the purposed fellowship with God.
The bible teaches us to cleave spiritual food( 2 peter 2:2) in order for us to grow in our Faith. We should be able to step out of our comfort zone and trust God wholly. There are some people that indeed have committed their lives to Christ but then given a chance to leave, they would gladly do so. It should not be burdensome receiving the word of God whether it comes to rebuke, correct , refute, encourage and reveal God's plans. During the time of Jesus because of the His teaching most followers left but Peter was one of them that remained committed(John 6:66-69). He knew who Christ was and he hungered deeply for the words that he spoke which is the bread of life. In the same we should cleave for that food that leads to eternal life and we should desire to be in the counsel of the Lord(psalms1:1-3) because then we shall be blessed. Peter like the psalmist David who desired to be in the presence of God all the days of his life(Psalms 27:4) and only people like this make God smile and He is able to call them 'men after God's own heart.'
The other lesson that can be learnt from peter is the importance of focusing. The waves of the sea tossed the disciples' boat while going to the other side of the sea. At that juncture Jesus turned up walking on water and this scared the disciples. How many times are we scared when Jesus shows up in the midst of our troubles? We are not willing to accept Him and we panic just because He intervenes in a way we did not expect. The disciples started shouting but Peter said, 'Lord if that is you command me to come to you.' Peter understood the will of the Father and that it is His will to deliver us from trouble and not to harm us(Jeremiah 29:11). The Father will allow you to draw near to Him and will not cast you away. And have you noticed that Jesus came on time, when the disciples were totally helpless. As peter focused on Jesus he was able to walk over the storms of life but the moment his focus shifted from Jesus unto the storms themselves he started to sink. Brethren lets focus on Jesus, if you turn from Him you take away the source of faith. Remember Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), which He sent to deliver you from your depressions, sicknesses and enemies (psalms 107) and that word became flesh in Jesus(John 1:14). The troubles that we meet now are all temporary and should not shake your Faith and remember that your reward is greater and can not be compared to your troubles even if you meet the same persecutions like Paul(Romans 8:18). As Peter started to sink he shifted his focus back unto the only source of salvation and called upon His name and indeed His arms were not short to save him nor closed to welcome him(Isaiah 59:1). It doesn't matter how many times you feel you have failed but He is faithful and just to forgive all unrighteousness and make you whole again with the righteousness God wants( 1 john 1:8-9, Isaiah 1:18). Do not focus on anyone or anything else because the arm of flesh will fail will fail you(Psalms 20:7), trust on Jesus and He will never let you down. Let me give you an example of why you should focus on Jesus alone:
I had been honestly praying for one of my cousins who had just lost a father. He needed deliverance, transformation, meaning to life and hope. He was addicted to alcohol, nicotine and Chamba (marijuana). He seriously wanted to stop but there was just no way out on his part he might have thought. I introduced him to Christ and after time of prayer and fasting he finally gave his life to Christ and was totally transformed into a better life. People were surprised with the change. He even joined our intercessions and fasting session. On one occasion we prayed for his brother who had problems with Asthma and was going to be operated upon because he had sinus/nasal problems and he is still healed to this date. The power of Christ was real to my cousin and there was no way of turning back, ooh so i thought. We took a break from school and went home where he aspired to be like one of the powerful youth pastors. On one occasion he went out to play pool in a pub with a friend but he found the youth pastor there with scandalous girls. The pastor came to him when he was leaving and said, ' drink as much as you can but remember tomorrow we go to church!' that statement shocked him, this pastor thought my cousin was drinking but he went on to encourage hypocrisy just like his. My cousin gave up on Christ because of that statement.
The problem could be partly the pastor but the major part of it was that my cousin focused on the wrong person. The only person who will not let you down is Christ Jesus.
The other lesson from Peter is very important as it shows how the Spirit is constantly wedging war against the flesh(Galatians 5:17). Jesus on His way to Jerusalem during His norm time with the disciples tried to find out what people thought of Him. He used this opportunity and made the disciples to face the fact that He was the messiah. Peter confessed this truth to the whole group but Jesus made it clear that it was not just from him but from the Spirit of God. But just a few moments later when Jesus had started to state the cost He had to pay for the salvation of Man, guess who rebuked Him? It was Peter whom the Holy Spirit had just used a few minutes before but now he gave chance to the flesh that Jesus when rebuking him said, 'get behind me Satan(Mark 8:27-33). when we think we are strong then we should be careful because we might seriously fall(1 Corinthians 10:12). I have seen powerful men of God in their powerful sermons give false teaching because of just being carried away by the flow.
The very best lesson from Peter is on whose strength you rely on. Peter was a very close friend of Jesus. Jesus foretold of Peter's denial and that He would be forsaken by all of the disciples. Peter prepared himself and said he would not, but would fight even unto death. Most people think the major problem with Peter was that he was not fully committed to the Lord and didn't know the full cost. when the the facts are reviewed we can see that the very fact that he was able to draw the knife and cut the servants ear was enough for a death sentence because at this moment he had fully associated himself with Christ. Peter knew the full cost he had to pay, 'death', but the problem was from where did he draw the strength to face that prize? Himself!!! hm mm. The bible says again and again that the arm of flesh will fail you because flesh grows wearily, does not know the future and can not fight against spiritual forces of evil(Zechariah 4:6, Isaiah 40:29-31). Jesus had to be comforted and encourage in the garden of Gesthesame and His source of strength was from the Father as He sent those angels. Peter was not going to deny Christ only if he heeded to His request earlier on to just stand with Him in prayer for just an hour.
The last lesson from Peter's life is humbleness. Peter denied Christ three times. He was so bitter about it that it made him cry and weep like a baby. But there was something very important in his crying and brokenness before God becuase this lead to repentance. Many people are not able to come before that Father and repent of their sin because they were too righteous and considered themselves as something big but while they are not. True repentance results from the brokenness in one's spirit(Psalms15:17). Jesus Christ will always forgive your sins and make you whole again(1 John1:9). Remember though a righteous man falls seven time( complete number 0f times) he will rise up seven times . Come to God with a heart that has surrender all the excuses and is broken before Him.
Peter is one of the Powerful Apostles of Christ who have ever lived on earth. He after the day of Pentecost was greatly used of God. He preached sermons that lead thousands to Christ in his time. He had the boldness to stand in the synagogue and proclaim that he was only going to be obedient to God's voice and never try to please men(Act 4:19). He performed the first miracle in the name of Jesus and in his ministry some received loved ones back from the dead. He is still made mistakes after receiving the Holy Spirit and that made him human and not a sinner. He was humble enough to take rebuke from his colleagues like Paul when he acted as a hypocrite and that made him great.
Promise it is coming to an end but just one more truth, how many of us fail to recognise God's voice because of what RELIGION tells us? How many of us fail to serve God to the best of our ability because we are stack to one DENOMINATION? Well learn from Peter break the barriers of DENOMINATIONS and the yokes of RELIGION and step out and do God's will. Peter after serving religion most of his life was asked to step and proclaim God's true love and plan for salvation for all mankind and break the mind set that told him only the jews were selected for fellowship with God. It is a difficult thing but remember we want to please and serve God and not man(Galations 1:10, Act 10). We are one in Christ, we drink from the same Spirit of Life and we serve the Same God and we are here to proclaim the same truth, 'Jesus Christ the only way of man's salvation.' We are here to glorify God and not a denomination nor a person, remember Paul says, 'neither I nor Cephas matters because we are only servants of the High God.' Step out into the world unto your God's given ministry. He wants to use you the way your are and not a duplicate of someone else. He might call you to serve Him in a different and specific ministry, don't try to be like everyone else remember there are lots of different ministries but the same Spirit gives them all according to His will, but when we serve we must do it according to our major of Faith (Romans 12:6-11,1 Corinthians 12).
God bless.
Lessons from his life can be learnt right from his calling( Matthew 4:18-20, mark 1:16-18). He forsook all(mark 10:28) and followed Christ the savior. people nowadays have problems in stepping into worlds they do not know especially when it comes to following Jesus. When you forsake all, you move God to perform in your life because that shows that you have faith in Him and you know that He exists(Hebrews 11:6). The prize for what you have forsaken here on earth is that you will receive eternal life and a hundred forth of you have forsaken in this present age( mark10:30).
A second lesson from Peter is about prompt obedience(Luke 5:5-6). When God commands you, no matter how silly, stupid or senseless it seems, just do it! Peter was a fisherman by profession but with his colleagues they had toiled all night, they tried whatever means of catching fish but to no avail,'on this day there was no fish in the lake' they might have thought atleast.
Then comes Jesus a carpenter by profession and tells them to launch out to deep with the nets they had just finished washing. Peter had every excuse not to follow that commandment: what did Jesus, a carpenter, know about fishing. They had toiled all night, he (peter) and colleagues where more than tired and frustrated, and by the way it was senseless to go fishing at this hour of the day. But in his reply after mentioning his frustrations he says,'nevertheless at your word i will let down the nets.' Peter saw more than a carpenter, he saw the Messiah. 'But at your word' signifies haste to follow the command showing prompt obedience. He was able to see God's greatness because of of prompt obedience but many are the excuses we have today. We doubt our God so much that we are afraid to look as fools in the eyes of men if we show that we are standing in faith and it doesn't work. When God acts at the time of your prompt obedience then you are able to see that He is The Almighty God, Supreme and Holy and that is why Peter begs Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinner after they caught fish that nearly sunk two boats(Luke 5:1-11). You need to forget all the excuses and follow God's commandment in His word and you will see how He will prosper and bless you(Deuteronomy 28:1).
A third lesson that can be learnt is that Peter desired the manifest glory of God. At the mountain of transfiguration he saw how holy God was through the whitening of the clothes of Jesus and he knew he needed cleansing but he asked to remain on that mountain. we are afraid to approach the throne of God and remain there. We normally think that we are able to lead a more righteous life and then we will approach God. But you should know that your righteousness is just like filthy rags before Him and it is only him who is able to make you holy(Mark 9:3, Isaiah 1:18). We should not have confidence in our works but we should understand that it is by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Approach the throne of God just as you are, there will never be a better time. The more you wait the difficult it becomes because the adversary, the devil does not let go of you unless you completely surrender to Jesus Christ. There is beauty in the manifest glory of God. You will understand why you should seek Him diligently because when you find Him there will be no mistake about it, in His presence that is where you will fulfill the very essence of the purposed fellowship with God.
The bible teaches us to cleave spiritual food( 2 peter 2:2) in order for us to grow in our Faith. We should be able to step out of our comfort zone and trust God wholly. There are some people that indeed have committed their lives to Christ but then given a chance to leave, they would gladly do so. It should not be burdensome receiving the word of God whether it comes to rebuke, correct , refute, encourage and reveal God's plans. During the time of Jesus because of the His teaching most followers left but Peter was one of them that remained committed(John 6:66-69). He knew who Christ was and he hungered deeply for the words that he spoke which is the bread of life. In the same we should cleave for that food that leads to eternal life and we should desire to be in the counsel of the Lord(psalms1:1-3) because then we shall be blessed. Peter like the psalmist David who desired to be in the presence of God all the days of his life(Psalms 27:4) and only people like this make God smile and He is able to call them 'men after God's own heart.'
The other lesson that can be learnt from peter is the importance of focusing. The waves of the sea tossed the disciples' boat while going to the other side of the sea. At that juncture Jesus turned up walking on water and this scared the disciples. How many times are we scared when Jesus shows up in the midst of our troubles? We are not willing to accept Him and we panic just because He intervenes in a way we did not expect. The disciples started shouting but Peter said, 'Lord if that is you command me to come to you.' Peter understood the will of the Father and that it is His will to deliver us from trouble and not to harm us(Jeremiah 29:11). The Father will allow you to draw near to Him and will not cast you away. And have you noticed that Jesus came on time, when the disciples were totally helpless. As peter focused on Jesus he was able to walk over the storms of life but the moment his focus shifted from Jesus unto the storms themselves he started to sink. Brethren lets focus on Jesus, if you turn from Him you take away the source of faith. Remember Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), which He sent to deliver you from your depressions, sicknesses and enemies (psalms 107) and that word became flesh in Jesus(John 1:14). The troubles that we meet now are all temporary and should not shake your Faith and remember that your reward is greater and can not be compared to your troubles even if you meet the same persecutions like Paul(Romans 8:18). As Peter started to sink he shifted his focus back unto the only source of salvation and called upon His name and indeed His arms were not short to save him nor closed to welcome him(Isaiah 59:1). It doesn't matter how many times you feel you have failed but He is faithful and just to forgive all unrighteousness and make you whole again with the righteousness God wants( 1 john 1:8-9, Isaiah 1:18). Do not focus on anyone or anything else because the arm of flesh will fail will fail you(Psalms 20:7), trust on Jesus and He will never let you down. Let me give you an example of why you should focus on Jesus alone:
I had been honestly praying for one of my cousins who had just lost a father. He needed deliverance, transformation, meaning to life and hope. He was addicted to alcohol, nicotine and Chamba (marijuana). He seriously wanted to stop but there was just no way out on his part he might have thought. I introduced him to Christ and after time of prayer and fasting he finally gave his life to Christ and was totally transformed into a better life. People were surprised with the change. He even joined our intercessions and fasting session. On one occasion we prayed for his brother who had problems with Asthma and was going to be operated upon because he had sinus/nasal problems and he is still healed to this date. The power of Christ was real to my cousin and there was no way of turning back, ooh so i thought. We took a break from school and went home where he aspired to be like one of the powerful youth pastors. On one occasion he went out to play pool in a pub with a friend but he found the youth pastor there with scandalous girls. The pastor came to him when he was leaving and said, ' drink as much as you can but remember tomorrow we go to church!' that statement shocked him, this pastor thought my cousin was drinking but he went on to encourage hypocrisy just like his. My cousin gave up on Christ because of that statement.
The problem could be partly the pastor but the major part of it was that my cousin focused on the wrong person. The only person who will not let you down is Christ Jesus.
The other lesson from Peter is very important as it shows how the Spirit is constantly wedging war against the flesh(Galatians 5:17). Jesus on His way to Jerusalem during His norm time with the disciples tried to find out what people thought of Him. He used this opportunity and made the disciples to face the fact that He was the messiah. Peter confessed this truth to the whole group but Jesus made it clear that it was not just from him but from the Spirit of God. But just a few moments later when Jesus had started to state the cost He had to pay for the salvation of Man, guess who rebuked Him? It was Peter whom the Holy Spirit had just used a few minutes before but now he gave chance to the flesh that Jesus when rebuking him said, 'get behind me Satan(Mark 8:27-33). when we think we are strong then we should be careful because we might seriously fall(1 Corinthians 10:12). I have seen powerful men of God in their powerful sermons give false teaching because of just being carried away by the flow.
The very best lesson from Peter is on whose strength you rely on. Peter was a very close friend of Jesus. Jesus foretold of Peter's denial and that He would be forsaken by all of the disciples. Peter prepared himself and said he would not, but would fight even unto death. Most people think the major problem with Peter was that he was not fully committed to the Lord and didn't know the full cost. when the the facts are reviewed we can see that the very fact that he was able to draw the knife and cut the servants ear was enough for a death sentence because at this moment he had fully associated himself with Christ. Peter knew the full cost he had to pay, 'death', but the problem was from where did he draw the strength to face that prize? Himself!!! hm mm. The bible says again and again that the arm of flesh will fail you because flesh grows wearily, does not know the future and can not fight against spiritual forces of evil(Zechariah 4:6, Isaiah 40:29-31). Jesus had to be comforted and encourage in the garden of Gesthesame and His source of strength was from the Father as He sent those angels. Peter was not going to deny Christ only if he heeded to His request earlier on to just stand with Him in prayer for just an hour.
The last lesson from Peter's life is humbleness. Peter denied Christ three times. He was so bitter about it that it made him cry and weep like a baby. But there was something very important in his crying and brokenness before God becuase this lead to repentance. Many people are not able to come before that Father and repent of their sin because they were too righteous and considered themselves as something big but while they are not. True repentance results from the brokenness in one's spirit(Psalms15:17). Jesus Christ will always forgive your sins and make you whole again(1 John1:9). Remember though a righteous man falls seven time( complete number 0f times) he will rise up seven times . Come to God with a heart that has surrender all the excuses and is broken before Him.
Peter is one of the Powerful Apostles of Christ who have ever lived on earth. He after the day of Pentecost was greatly used of God. He preached sermons that lead thousands to Christ in his time. He had the boldness to stand in the synagogue and proclaim that he was only going to be obedient to God's voice and never try to please men(Act 4:19). He performed the first miracle in the name of Jesus and in his ministry some received loved ones back from the dead. He is still made mistakes after receiving the Holy Spirit and that made him human and not a sinner. He was humble enough to take rebuke from his colleagues like Paul when he acted as a hypocrite and that made him great.
Promise it is coming to an end but just one more truth, how many of us fail to recognise God's voice because of what RELIGION tells us? How many of us fail to serve God to the best of our ability because we are stack to one DENOMINATION? Well learn from Peter break the barriers of DENOMINATIONS and the yokes of RELIGION and step out and do God's will. Peter after serving religion most of his life was asked to step and proclaim God's true love and plan for salvation for all mankind and break the mind set that told him only the jews were selected for fellowship with God. It is a difficult thing but remember we want to please and serve God and not man(Galations 1:10, Act 10). We are one in Christ, we drink from the same Spirit of Life and we serve the Same God and we are here to proclaim the same truth, 'Jesus Christ the only way of man's salvation.' We are here to glorify God and not a denomination nor a person, remember Paul says, 'neither I nor Cephas matters because we are only servants of the High God.' Step out into the world unto your God's given ministry. He wants to use you the way your are and not a duplicate of someone else. He might call you to serve Him in a different and specific ministry, don't try to be like everyone else remember there are lots of different ministries but the same Spirit gives them all according to His will, but when we serve we must do it according to our major of Faith (Romans 12:6-11,1 Corinthians 12).
God bless.
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