“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I find to be very striking in the story given in Esther is how the decree issued under Haman’s instruction could not be repealed.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commentary of Esther 8 says this “According to the constitution of the Persians’ government, no law or decree could be repealed or recalled.”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.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
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.
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