TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One: Your Morning
1.1 Appreciate Your Morning
1.2 Command Your Morning
1.3 What God is doing today
Chapter Two: Trials and Testimonies
2.1 Test Brings Testimonies
2.2 The stone the builders rejected
2.3 The Power of Testimonies
2.4 Trails as Preparations for Testimonies
Chapter Three: Stewardship
3.1 Stewardship of God’s Mysteries
3.2 Some Key Gifts and Their Uses
3.3 Why Some Christians Don’t Give
3:4 God has preference but not partial
Chapter Four: You can be Successful
4.1 Success from a Christian Worldview
4.2 The Conditions for Success
4.3 Knowing your Calling
4.4 Steps towards Achieving Success
4.5 God’s rewards system
Chapter Five: Understand the Lord
5.1 Who is like the Lord?
5.2 Rediscover God in your life
5.3 When we feel less of God’s presence
5.4 Mystery of the Cross
5.5 New Age of Idolatry
5.6 Knowing your Spiritual and Cultural Boundaries
[B]
Chapter Six: Belief, Hope and Faith
6.1 Believing God
6.1a What’s and how we Believe
6.1b Faith in Relation to Belief
6.1c Why do we Believe
6.2 The Word, Counterculture, and Unbelief
6.2a The Power of Faith and Obedience
6.2b Word, Obedience and Faith
6.3 Unbelieving believers
6.4 Stepping up your faith
Chapter Seven: Religious Proliferation, Untruth and Intolerance
7.1 Proliferation of Spiritual Houses
7.1a Intolerance in Diversity
7.2 Acknowledging and Professing the only True God
7.3 Examine Your Thought and be faithful
7.4 Can we worship God for whom He is?
Chapter Eight: Challenge
8.1 Challenge it and it will Change!
8.2 At the Edge of Promotion
8.3 For a time like this
Chapter Nine: Rattling in the Valley
9.1 Laying it at the Feet of God
9.2 Learn to Speak the Word
9.3 As a Man thinketh …
9.4 The failure of moral Police
Chapter Ten: God’s Commandments, Man’s Freewill and Choice
10.1 “Because I said so”
10.2 What is Really Unfair?
10.3 It makes no sense
10.4 When no is the answer
10.5 The Gift of Choice
10.6 Pass it on: The values we cherish and uphold
Chapter One:
“It’s good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:
to shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning,
and faithfulness every night.”
[Psalm 92:1-2].
“Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”
Thomas O. Chris
YOUR MORNING:
1:1 Appreciate your morning
1: 2 Command your morning
1: 3 What God is doing today
Appreciate Your Morning
Today is a new day. Every day begins in the morning. Indeed life begins each morning. Across the globe thousands died last night. They did not make it to the next day. They had no privilege for another great morning, a new dawn and another great day. A new day gives us a new opportunity to praise and worship God among the living. It gives us a new start to consider and mend our ways. A new day is the beginning of the rest of our lives. Every morning is a fresh beginning and day of new and limitless opportunities. It’s our next chance in the art of living. Every day is an opportunity to renew our allegiance to God; confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our wrong doings and renew our minds; then re-abide in Him and obtain power for the day. It brings us out of dreadful night of calamities into glorious daylight. Many people do not pause for a moment to ponder why God has spared them to see yet a new morning despite their glaring shortcomings and failings. Why is God giving them another opportunity when they had blown several chances in the past? Could we be taking for granted God’s mercies and grace as well as messing with his unconditional love and righteousness?
As we enjoy new mornings, we could look back to see where we were yesterday. Remember today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. It’s not controlled by our human efforts but by divine nature of God. God the creator made the sun to rule the day; the moon and the stars to shine in the night. These are heavenly creatures yet they control the times, seasons and lives on earth. Times have ways of healing wounds, by laying its healing hands upon the red wounds of our hearts. The seasons bring the beautiful galaxies; keep fresh and fragrant wrapped in the winter and bitter winds of the spring. Yet God is good and avail us His creation to enjoy both pains and gains of life. As another morning comes on, the grief’s and pains of yesterday grow old. As grief gets old the scars of yesterday grow fainter with each passing day. Surprisingly, life is sweat and continues to offer hopes. Each passing day keeps our memories fresher because it assures better days ahead. Therefore be dead to yesterday and put it behind you; be alive to what God offers in every new day. No matter how bad your past was, keep trusting and looking unto God; believing that today shall be better than yesterday and tomorrow shall be better than today. Faith for a new day keeps us going. Heaven cures all earthly sorrows.
It’s good to keep the memories of the past but more important to learn from its lessons. God desires and commands that we move from yesterday into glorious new day. You may have prayed and fasted in your yesterday and it appears you could not twist the hand of God enough to change things. You sew seeds and expected yield but nothing happened. You attempted to live righteously in obedience to God’s laws yet you experienced more difficulties and persecutions. You get distracted, disappointed and discouraged and wonder what else to do. Just know you could plant and another waters but the increase comes from God. Your time and labor as well as giving’s are not in vain. Do not be quick to loose heart because God never gives up on you. At the same time his delay is not denial. It’s of God’s mercies that we were not consumed last night; wait… [Lamentation 3: 22, 25].
God’s compassion never fails; it’s renewed every morning. Great is his faithful [Lamentation 3: 22-23]. It does not depend on what you went through yesterday or what your enemies had planned against you; certain act you have done or undo. It all depends on the grace and mercies of God. You seem to spend a lot of time pondering on your past. Your past will never change. It has become part of your history. Stop rewinding your thoughts on the very fortunes and sentiments of the past. They will never change your future but bring you pains and regrets. Focus on the future that starts today. What you do today can change your tomorrow and the rest of your life. For this reason Apostle Paul echoed, one thing I do well is to forget yesterday and concentrate on the future. No matter how bad your past was it may not determine your future. Therefore, move from yesterday into a new glorious experience. God detest our being connected to the past and staying there as if life is meaningless and gone. We look forward to a new thing in a new day. New day ushers in new awareness, new ideas, new determination and new challenges. It all starts in the morning with new freshness and expectation; I mean challenges.
Some people think it’s a birthright to sleep at night and wake up in the morning. Unfortunately not all who slept last night rise to a new dawn. Again not all who began the day witnessed its end. As mortal men close their eyes in weariness to sleep, the Lord that neither sleeps nor slumbers is awake working all the time [John 5:7]. While we sleep, the heathen rages and the people imagined vain things; terrors by night and pestilence that operate in darkness. While we are sleep our enemies hold meetings, plan and execute deadly assaults on those who are not watchful. They open satanic files and pull information, which their consultants work on against the destiny of their captives. Evil harvester and enemies of human progress move about working vain things. They introduce fears, procrastinations, distractions and confusion as well as terrible blocks on the destiny and glory of their preys. Those who survived the night face demonic arrows that fly by day; snare of the fowler and noisome pestilence that war in the invisible. They execute deadly plans that evil enchanter and wicked planners held in last night meetings.
Early morning is one sure way to become sensitive to the Devil’s trap and deceptions as well as what happens in our world. A daily time of early morning devotion and worship evidences our desperation to have time with our Creator and express thankfulness with grateful hearts for his manifold blessings, protection and guidance into a bright new day. It’s for people who desire God in their lives and avail themselves before him yielding to his will and purpose. The person you meet first in the morning set the tone for the day. Rushing out of the house in the morning without prayers makes you vulnerable to the deceits and attacks of the evil one and exposes you to a battle zone of the devil without adequate preparations.
Believe it or not, we’re in perilous times. The world is now filled with every form of evil, godless people and manipulators. Territorial and familiar Spirits are relentless in their attacks and accusing of brethren. They throw many rocks at people’s lives, families and ministries. These fiery darts of the enemy flow through our thought and spoken words while our minds are their battlefields. They crack our marriages, create poverty, poison our blood, instigate our children to revolt against authority and buy into opinions of their peers. They succumb to pressures and get initiated into occults and keep allegiance to the gods of the Eastern religious and philosophical practices; do drugs and commit rape, murder and every form of immoral acts as well as carrying guns to schools. These acts are motivated by evil spirits. When you seek God in early morning prayers, our days are committed to the hands of the Lover of our soul, who created day and night and is able to take us through it. The Psalms of David says: my voice shall thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayers unto thee and will look up [5: 3].
These are positive comments on the goodness of early morning prayers [Psalm 57: 8, 63:1-2]. Despite Jesus busy schedules, He made it a priority in the mornings to go to solitary places to chat and commune with His father, where he obtained strength and power for all the rest of the day [Mark 1: 35]. If Jesus the second in command in trinity knew how to rise up early in the morning and communed with the father, how much more his followers. We must rise early to worship and praise God in appreciation of the new day.
Billy Joe Daugherty in The Breakfast of Champions [Early Morning Prayer], opined our faith founding fathers and believers of ages past upheld early morning prayers. They met early in the morning in praise and thanksgiving and fine-tuned their day. Every Christian family had a family Alter where they gather to pray. Their prayers experienced apostolic power and fire that brought victory and dominion over the devil throughout the day. Dr. D.K. Olukoya in Command the Morning said, that mornings have ears and they hear voices of men and spirits whether there are positive or negative. If you wake up and rush out of the house without prayers, you have only accepted what the demons prayed in their wicked mid-night meeting concerning you. We have been given power and authority to declare what happen in our lives throughout the day in the name of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus and by the testimony of our mouth. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. No wonder it’s called present. Let us appreciate it, enjoy it and live it. Our resolve therefore is to join the songwriter and sing the song of praise: In the morning, early in the morning; in the morning, I will rise and praise the Lord. What have you done with the new morning that God availed you?
1: 2 Command Your Morning
The topic suggests that we have authority over the morning as well as the day. Many believers wonder how to command the morning since its activities are determined by the times and season of the heaven. It’s true that God created heaven and earth and commanded man to have dominion over all his creation. It’s also right that every man’s mountain is his ignorance. Dr. D. K. Olukoya wrote in “Command the Morning” that knowledge empowers you to possess your possessions. When you become knowledgeable in the deep things of God, you become too hot for the devil to touch or handle. The scripture says, my people perish for lack of knowledge… [Hosea 4:6].
Knowledge equips you to experience dominion and the secret to reign in life. The discovery of the secret things ushers us in new dimension for our spiritual life. God made man to have dominion over the works of his hand. By so doing, God had put all things under our control [Psalms 8:6]. As children of God we have been empowered to exercise control and authority over the sun, the moon and the stars as well as the hosts of heaven. Little surprise that God questioned Job: have you commanded the morning since your day began and shown the dawn its place that light may hold the corners of the earth and shake darkness [wickedness] out of it? The light of the day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence [Job 38:12-13, 15]. The king of knowledge opined that death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof [Proverbs 18:21]. By this question God told Job to stop complaining, justifying yourself and explaining his circumstances. But speak the word, order what he wants and declares good things for him.
Job like many of us knew God had given us authority over all his creation but had no knowledge that we could command the works of God’s hand including morning and they obey us. This passage implies that morning has ears and can hear and take orders from a covenant person. The morning or night can hear both positive and negative orders and respond accordingly. It depends on what we say to them. Whatever a man thinks in his mind he speaks; whatever we say or order the morning obeys. Christians should know that the morning can be commanded. Man has authority to declare or order the day and night; tell them what he desires and put them in their proper place.
We can exercise dominion over our mornings; declare good things and silence wickedness in high and low places. The scripture says, “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you” [Luke 10:19]. Apostle Paul wrote to the saints of the Church in Ephesus, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” [Ephesians 6:12]. Surprisingly, human beings do not understand how to handle the commands of God. We neither know the deep things of God nor how to use it to our advantage. However due to ignorance on the part of man, Satan and its demonic agents have overtaken and can capture anything they want and use them to intimidate and hurt mankind.
What happens to us in the course of the day depend largely on the command we issue in the morning. We have been empowered to have dominion over every work of creation and to rule over forces of nature and spirits. This includes dominion over all elements in the heavenlies and the spirits that rule them. God made two great lights, the greater lights rules the day while the lesser lights rules the night [Gen. 1:15-18]. These lights play crucial role in the life of man; the life and growth of everything on earth is connected to them. They also bring forth God’s glory. Psalm 121:6 says the sun shall not smite us by day or the moon by night. Whatever we desire we should declare it according to what the scripture says. God’s word says God cannot lie; He is an unchangeable “changer”. If we believe and speak God’s word, we have put God on the line to fulfill his word and validate his claim. Elizabeth said, “And blessed is she that believed for there shall be a fulfillment of the things which were told her from the Lord.” [Luke 1:45]. Faith in God’s word makes everything possible; provokes the greater one in us to battle as well as draws the Almighty himself to the battle line in other to bring victory to the believer. Faith comes by hearing the word of God but is released by conviction, confession and action. We have the same spirit of faith as it is written, I believe and therefore have spoken so speak if you believe and desire victory. [2 Corinthians 4:13]. Faith is released through speaking and victory is tied to your faith, therefore victory is tied to speaking. Every mountain is leveled at the release of faith through speaking.
Writing on the “Tongue: Destiny Moulder”, Pastor Jude Chukwumaife said, “The Mountain is only removed when you do not doubt. To doubt is to weaver between two opinions. You will have what you say. The tongue is a creative apparatus; use it to create good things in your life.” He added, do not try to make people understand your problem; for you do not have any problem. Jesus solved all your problems on the cross. Jesus said on the cross it’s finished. The work for our victory is completed. Just understand that God’s ways are higher than our ways; we obtain higher results when we operate at his level. Just say what God says as a healing to your circumstances. Stop explaining God’s ways or try to sound reasonable. Learn to talk your desires not your circumstances. God confirms what you say, believing from your heart. You are the architect of your destiny. The Bible says, “Say unto them, as truly as I live, says the Lord as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you” [Numbers 14:28]. Do not loose sight of what God says; whatever comes out of your mouth God will do it. Proverbs 6:2 says, “Thou are snare with the words of your mouth, thou are released with the words of your mouth.” God is faithful and will always keep his promises. Whatever God hears you say that’s what he will do. Stop confessing lacks, sickness or what you’re going through. You should use your tongue to create wealth and good health. It does not matter the names the doctors have given the sickness. Many of us believe doctors’ reports and news reports than we believe God’s word. 1 Samuel 2:3 says, ‘Stop loud boasting and do not let proud words come from your mouth; for the lord is God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed.’ When you say bad things about yourself whether it’s from the heart or not, God confirms it. So be careful of what you speak.
The demons have a field day on you if they know you’re ignorance of your divine powers and authority. They size and sip you around using their manipulations and deceitful weapons to dispossess or create alternative weapons to attack man. Many Christians do not believe in the existence of Satan. They live in denial of the works of Satan. That’s what the enemies want them to believe that he does not exist; if he exists, he’s not harmful. If you wake up in the morning and dash out of the house without commanding the morning, you’re no doubt accepting what the demons prayed in their wicked midnight meeting concerning you. As you wake up in the morning, make some positive prophetic declaration of God’s goodness on your life: That you will have wonderful a day and command God’s favor upon you; shield yourself and family from any possible demonic attack. Pray that may no drunk driver run into you or stray bullet come your way. Declare that your children shall be endowed with God’s knowledge and wisdom, be obedience and have proper conduct. Pray against demonic attack at school, cover them with the blood of Jesus and surround them with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Lift their teachers in prayers; cancel the spirit of bias and prejudice and pray for soundness of mind. The tongue is a war instrument. Use it and believe it to work. In God’s principles we do not war with weapons: gun, knives, daggers or even hands but with our tongues. Jesus said, “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist” [Luke 21:15]. Jeremiah 5:4 says … behold I will make my word in thy mouth fire and this people wood and it shall devour them. We overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and by the words of their testimony [Revelations 12:11]. We must abide in Christ and let his word abide richly in us. The more of God’s word we store up in our hearts, the more power we posses to command the morning. With Christ in us, we have power over the heavenlies; then release them in faith and obtain results.
Jesus had the practice of starting each day with an early morning prayers. Even as the Son of God He recognized each day a great privilege and precious gift from His Daddy. He acknowledged this uncommon favor of God and appreciated it. He ceased the opportunity of the new dawn to glorify God and obtained permission to command the morning. His prayers usually obtained results and were different from the prayers that his disciples said. They said the prayers John’s disciples taught them. The prayers said before Christ came. Many Christians today still say the prayers David and Elijah and Amos and so on said, as if the death and resurrection of Christ was of no effect. His disciples became concern: the prayers of Jesus, our master obtained results and ours do not. One day, after a session of prayers with his disciples one of them asked him: Lord, teach us how to pray your type of prayer [Luke 11:2ff]. Teach us how to obtain result in prayer. Teach us how to command the morning and the day; how to speak and the whole creation listen as well as obey. Your prayers brought dominion; even the demons, waves and storms as well as the waters obey. Your prayers reveal the source of your power. Jesus taught them: Our Father who art in heaven, hallow be thy name, thy kingdom came…give us this day our daily bread [vs. 3]. Food, strength, power, thoughtfulness and burden enough for each day. Jesus added, ‘Forgive us our sins…lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil….’[vs. 4]. These daily affirmations cannot work until you command them into action.
When you understand who you are and realize where you are: a beloved child of God, a redeemed of the Lord, delivered from darkness into Spiritual light, a coheir with Jesus and bearer of Gospel News. You are in the world, a hostile environment and a domain of the evil one; domiciled by wicked men and Spirit, some seen and many other unseen. You are at the fore front or battle line. We battle daily with the unseen in spiritual reign. You cannot afford to lousy and nonchalant in the thing that pertain to life or death. Many who slept in the grave did not meet their destiny. They died before their time. Much misbehavior we noticed in our children and we subscribe to the medical names and treatments are pure Spiritual attacks that have no medical answers. Many of the problems we encounter during the day could be averted if only we command our morning. The devils know how important our mornings are that he often introduced distraction against it. Be reminded that the morning is the beginning of the day and of life. Therefore learn to command your morning and you will get what you speak.
[1:3] WHAT GOD IS DOING TODAY!
As we begin a new dawn, we often remember that God did great things in the past. We praise God for His mighty works in creation, provision and redemption. We worship Him for the gift of His son, Jesus Christ and the salvation of mankind as well as the gift of the Holy Spirit. We remember the story of the liberation of the children of Israel from Egyptians slave masters; their journey in the wilderness, His intervention in the Red sea and Jordan respectively. All these are God’s finished works; completed long ago even before we were born. The question facing us now is: what God is doing lately or right now and what will He do tomorrow? God has not only done great things in the past, He does great things today and even now. He will continue to do great things for ever.
In this discuss, I shall attempt to ponder on what God is doing today and now. I have chosen an exposition of Psalm 147 verses 1 to 11. It says, “Praise the Lord. It’s good to sing praises to our God; for it’s pleasant, and praise is comely. By comely, it means, pretty, fair and proper and beautiful. It’s marked by our pleasing behavior. The God who created all nature provides for the needs of each individual. He tells the number of the stars and calls them by names; lift up the meek, heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. This God covers the heaven with clouds and gives food to the beast as well as the young ravens who cry unto Him. This God is worthy of our praise. For this reason, the Psalmist declares, “Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises upon the harp unto our God.” In God in Man’s experience, Leonard Griffith, wrote, “When we perceive God’s power, it raises the old problem of providence-in general verses providence-in particular.” How can God be concern with great things and the whole creation and yet He is also concern with the least of His creatures? The answer is not far-fetched; that is what makes Him God and what makes Him awesome. Little wonder in verse 5, the Psalmist says, great is our God and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
I tell you the experience I had some months ago. One day I stepped into my supervisor’s office. Our senior warden was in there and to my amazement; he called me by my first name, Godswill. I was surprised that he knew me by name. I stood spellbound wondering how he could know my first name. We have more than 300 Correctional Officers and more than 100 medical staff; how could he know my name? I have never gone to him or had occasion to talk with him yet he called me by first name. Could he have been attracted by the name, Godswill? I held great respect for the warden, for knowing his staffs by name. That same quality makes God worthy of our praise and honor. He knows each of us by name. In His almighty providence, not a single person is lost. He knows and cares dearly for each of us though He cared for that one alone.
The Psalmist held God high because of his experience with God. When man opens the door of his life to God, He enters in, acts and do for him/her what he/she can never do for self. When God sees an open heart, He comes in and dwells in and does even more than the person desires. In verse 6, the Psalmist says, “The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. ”It goes to mean that the Lord, who ordained all law, administers His law. Because one opens his heart to God, he discovers God anew – That God is a God of revelation.
In the Book of Genesis 28:10-16, Jacob dreamt and beheld a ladder was set up on earth and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it [v12]. Jacob experienced God in the dream and woke up the next day and said God is in this place and I do not know it [16]. Brethren, even on earth where God’s creation is sufficiently abundant everywhere, many of us neither see nor feel it. God is our Guide and Protector, Redeemer and salvation but we are still seeking help somewhere else. He is our Satisfier and Provider and Sustainer yet we live in lack, in want and need; look for satisfaction elsewhere. But see the God of heaven has a purpose and preference. He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse; takes no pleasure in the legs of a man The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him [vs. 10-11]. As you thank God, are you fulfilling His purpose? Do we complain about the inactivity of God in our human experience? Or we see nothing else than moral chaos and suffering? People complain about God because they have limited knowledge of who He is and what He is doing. Our God does not only work on the outside but also in the inside of us. It’s our business to recognize and discover who God is and what He’s doing and co-operate with His purposes.
God is doing great things in our world today and many still do not know it. They are devotion of Christian missionaries in hostile countries; relief of human suffering now administered by International social agencies. There are protests against racial and religious bigotry and championship of intellectual freedom and civil liberties by distinguish scientists, courageous educators and enlightened Churchmen and laymen. God is restoring repented human beings unto Him; dethroning the kingdom of Satan and evil dominion. He is opening new ways and direction for prosperity and breakthrough. We have Faith Based institutions and Religious Groups that God is using to touch other lives. They distribute tons of food, water, clothing and medical supplies; establish new homes for thousands of refugees and send help victims of earthquakes, floods, fire and famine as well as engaged in mission trip in disaster areas; God is sending powerful missionaries from Africa and the third world to advanced countries. Some Churches run Food Programs that feed folks weekly. God still heals the broken hearted and gives uncommon peace and favor. God gives new Spirit and promotes people to new dimension, new dawn and new beginning. I discover that I pray and read my bible today than I did years ago.
God has built a New Jerusalem, gathering together the outcast of Israel [new Israel-the Church]. God is not stock with ancient Israel; God is now in the Church. The Church is the Spiritual successor to old Israel, God new covenant people; constituted on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to Him. These new people, God calls out from all the nations of the earth, entrusts them with His gospel and deals with them as with no other human society. The Holy Spirit is no longer domiciled in priesthood but with Church leadership. The movement of God abides not only with the Jews but also with Gentiles. The ancient Jews denied Jesus as the messiah and faked reasons to deny His son ship and resurrection [Matthew 28:11-15]. They killed Jesus but God raised Him from death in support of His teaching and leadership. The Jews thought that God failed in Christ. They still await another messiah and their existence speaks against the gospel. Judaism and Christianity are not comparable; you cannot practice the Jewish religion and call yourself Christian. The rise of Christianity shows the demise of Jewish religion. That is why the veil tore into two when Jesus died on the cross. It was the demise of Priesthood, Ancient Israel and the Temple [Matthew 27:50-53]. Jesus prophesies [not just caution or woes] in Matthew 23& 24 were to bear the consequences of the generation that hated the Son. They were enemies of God and His son; lived in self deceit. Little wonder Jesus called them serpent, deceivers, fools, blinds, rebellious people and hypocrites. God is in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Him; what Jesus did on the cross can never be reversed. The Holy Spirit is here comforting and advocating for us.
The miracles of God have not ceased in our age. As God delivered the children of Israel from the Egyptians He still delivers people from hurricane, mishaps and unexplainable tragedies and avoidable death. Daily we experience God in the healing of our diseases; the mystery of conception and even when one who had been tagged barren gives birth. As God allowed trials and misfortunes to visit Job, He still allow water to rise and over flows the banks; strong winds and hurricane to invade humanity and even destroys part of creation. Despite the advancement in medical sciences, He still allows incurable diseases to invade our bodies and society. He hardened people hearts and they choose a bad leader on the throne and most of them experienced public disgrace in high offices. God still delivers people from bondage: He impress on us to either leave sin or allow to be exposed to the public ridicule. This has brought in the fall of moral police. They fail their families, friends and colleagues. God commands that His word be preached everywhere in the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus is still reconciling the world to the Father. People are getting saved; God visits his people and do unbelievable things in our lives and society.
Chapter Two
TRIALS AND TESTIMOIES
“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great
things the Lord hath done for thee.”
[Mark 5:19].
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
Annie Johnson Flint
Chapter Two: Content:
2:1 Trials as preparation for Testimonies
2:2 Test Brings Testimonies
2:3 The stone the builders rejected
2:4 The Power of Testimonies
Trials as Preparations for Testimonies
Once I was invited to a special thanksgiving service at a Church service in Houston. This Church ceremony attracted huge crowd of worshippers including dignitaries. The Church choir rendered great worship songs and anthems that opened way for the word of God [message]. The Pastor who was at his best preached on the theme: gratefulness. Just after the sermon, came time for the special thanksgivings. The celebrants, family and their guests: relations, friends and well-wishers sang joyfully to the alter area. The pastor asked the celebrant to tell the congregants what occasioned the special celebration. In other words, what is it that God has done for him/them [testimony]. The celebrant narrated some of the painful events and different situations they have passed through [the tests]. These tests brought the testimonies we hear. In life we face both testing and temptations. Most times of trials produce shinning testimonies and joyful thanks. It could be a time to separate the wheat from the chaff and men from the boys.
In Judges 7: 2-7, Gideon pitched a camp at the well of Ha’rod getting ready to fight the Midianites at Moreb. The Lord had promised to give the Midianites into their hands. That means that Gideon shall be victorious. Gideon then went out with about 33000-member army troop. He must have thought that the large troop shall give the promised victory. Perhaps he was trying to help God meet His promise. But God’s way is not our ways and His thought is different from ours. The large troop was disgusting to God that He asked Gideon to reduce the number. God said they were too many weak people, many unwilling people, fearful and faithless in the troop. Some are just part of the crowd but not needed. They were too many for God’s likeness; less they think they won the battle by their strengths. “We have too many people in too many cars, in too much of a hurry, going too many directions, to get no where for nothing.” God is able to do whatever He says.
God said in verse 4, I shall separate them by test. Those I select shall go on with the fight while others return home. Ask any person who feel like going back to do so. As many as about 10,000 people turned back and went home. Yet in God’s wisdom and plan the remaining number was still too much for the task. God then fashioned out a simple test. He asked Gideon to take the soldiers to the water [well] at Ha’rod. Everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog has passed the test. Everyone that bowed down his kneels to drink should go home. Only 300 lapped water like dog and they were those qualified to face the battle. They were considered strong, agile, capable, determined and in readiness. Those 300 soldiers fought and won the battle as promised by God.
In another development, in 1 Kings 18: 21, Elijah, God’s servant faced 400 Baal prophets in the presence of the nation of Israel in the test for true God. Elijah challenged, why are you people wavering between two opinions? If The Lord be God follow Him; if Baal then follows it. A double minded [unstable, unreliable uncertain] person does not get any thing from God [James 1:7]. He that has alternative hardly trusts or put confident in one thing. That could tell us something about polygamy or its vice. Most times in our Christian journeys we come to a point where our faith is tested. We have to decide who our number one is. We face a situation that we have to decide who our Lord is – Jesus or Satan, Jesus or the world; news media reports, tarot readings or the word of God. Who and which do we believe? That brings to mind an old but ever new song: ‘I have decided to follow Jesus…. no going back.’ My mind is made up in Him for good.
In this instance God defended himself. Fire from heaven consumed the offerings of prophet Elijah offered to God of heaven and earth. What is it that is trying your confession, your faith and your belief? Are you shifting grounds when you should stand firm and declare that the Lord, God is God? Every other god is sinking sand. God enquires: Is any thing too difficult for me to do? Brethren, will your anchor hold in the storms of life, in the straits of fear, when the strong tides lift and cable strains. Will it hold when the breakers roar and the reef is near; will it drift or firm remain? The song writer responds: we have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows’ roll, fasten to the Rock [Christ] which cannot move [fail], grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
In Saint Mark Gospel [4: 35-41], the Apostle records: One evening, Jesus was crossing over to the other side of the lake, there rose a furious storm of wind and the waves that rocked and spilled over into the boat that it was full of water. Jesus was tired and while enjoying the lake breeze, fell asleep. The disciples could not stand the forces of the raging storms, surging rave and wild winds as well as angry waves. They were so afraid that they lost remembrance of who he was in their midst, in the boat with them. We should realize that we couldn’t cross over to the other side without facing the storms of life. As we face various ugly situations in life, we easily forget that we are not alone; that the Christ in us is more than all the forces of what is confronting us. His love is deeper and wider than all the depths put together and can contain every storm of life. Some storm shall not go away because there are to quicken and straighten our faiths and give us testimonies.
Every season we witness sport activities and are quick to rejoice with the winners and most times forget to console the losers. In these competitions, they vide for winners. This brought to mind the July 9, 2006 FIFA World Soccer Cup final between Italy and France. It was a history-making event and Italians stole the show. The victory came in the midst of worst soccer scandal in Italian Football history. Many commentators awarded the match to France even before the kick off, but Italians smiled home with a 5-3 goal advantage. Tough people last but tough times [situations] don’t. Every problem has expiry date. Champions are born out of tough times, adversaries and persecutions. Some rough packages contain glorious [most cherished] gifts. In the same arena and match soccer general Zinedina Zidane of France ended his career in shame and infamous head butt. He ran out of patience, forgot the basic soccer rules when the ovation was highest and was sent out of the field in Red Card. It was the greatest tragedy of our time and big disgrace. He failed the test to lead his country to victory. Our Daily Manna [A Devotional booklet for champions] said, “At the brink of his promotion, he failed the test. It was a disaster and an unforgettable disappointment to those who had waited for his glorious moment of lifting the world most prestigious trophy.” Gamblers who had betted for France’s victory lost their money. In Purpose Driven life, Rick Warren says character is developed and revealed by test and all of life is test.”
The whole of life is a learning experience. A late uncle of ours often said: ‘we learn daily.’ I happened to have been privileged to be selected a member of the Planning Committee of City Changer Revival held on June 15 and 16, 2007 at Queen’s Hall, Houston. It was organized and sponsored by Liberty World Outreach. At first mention of the need to hold a revival and pray for the city and people of Houston, some people kicked against it. It was perhaps born out of selfish interest that brought undeserved criticisms. This also led to several postponements’ on the date. However the planning committee chaired by Pastor Christy Ogbeide prayerfully stayed focus and kept communication with the Founder of Liberty World Outreach Apostle Matthew Oluwajoba. Despite all distractions, God intervened and revived every instrument He had predestined for the event and used them successfully to His glory. They worked together and eventually brought forth a revival with a difference in the city of Houston.
The Test [Revival] became a promotional tool that brought together the greatest Assembly of God’s Ministers in the land in this time. The city will never be the same again. This great testimony followed a testing period that brought growth opportunities. “A door of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition.” God promises a safe landing but not a calm voyage. Your life will never be full of testimonies until you begin to face and overcome many trials. Do not be afraid to fail. Failure is just a delay and not a defeat. Lesser trials [risks] bring lesser victories and of course lesser testimonies. Robert Goddard admonishes: “Success and failure are not opposites but they are both products of the same process. It is difficult to say what is impossible for the dream of yesterday is the hope of tomorrow.” Human beings measure progress with success but easily forget that no profit without trials and adversaries. We should remember that perspiration gives birth to inspiration. Billy Graham once said, “Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has done.” Hold on for the end brings testimonies and thanksgivings.
Test Brings Testimonies
Joseph lived with his father, Jacob as stranger in the land of Canaan. At seventeen he was among his brethren feeding their father’s flocks. Joseph was Jacob’s pet baby because he had the lad at his old age and made him a coat of many colors. Joseph often briefed his father on daily happenings in the field. He also had two dreams that could be interpreted that his brethren would bow down to worship him. He told his father and brethren these dreams [Genesis 37:5-10]. This provoked intense hatred among his brethren. While his father warned, his brethren envied him and were gross and bitter. Joseph had to go through the wilderness of the pit and prison before getting to the palace. For every promise of God, there’s a place and time of revelation and also a place and time of fulfillment. King David recalling the Joseph’s incidence says, “Until the time came to fulfill His word, the Lord tested Joseph’s character [Psalm 105:19]. His faith was tested by the promises [dreams] God gave him.
Satan may have whispered to his ear, you had a dream that placed you on a throne and your brethren bowed down to worship you. Are you sure you had no illusion or bad dream? Hi dreamer, what are you doing in the pit? How have you graduated into prison? His brethren who sold him into slavery had thought they had done the worst, after he had survived being murdered [verses 21[b], 22, 28]. What looked like a pit and prison were birthplace of God’s promises? These were training grounds [waiting places] for the time to come forth. These were wilderness experiences that shaped and molded him for the throne. These were places of reassurance and manifestation of God’s hand on Him. Again these were avenues that tested his faith and strengthened his confession, belief and hope [Romans 5:2-5]. Were there times Joseph felt less of God’s presence? Could he have started regretting why he opened his mouth too wide? He better kept quite until the fulfillment came.
Satan lost the first battle when his suggestions to his brethren to kill him failed [Verses 21, 22]. He did not rest, but looked for another avenue to nail him. Satan knew that the mighty hand of the Lord was on Joseph and he also enjoyed the confidence and favor of his master,” And the Lord was with Joseph…And Joseph was a godly person and well favored” [Genesis 39:2-6]. What do you think that Joseph would’ve been saying to himself while in the pit and in prison? What do you do when you feel less of God’s presence; when your dream is halted, delayed or shattered? What did Daniel do when the answer to his prayers was intercepted and delayed for 21 days? Brethren stand still, trust God and keep your confession strong. Be focus and patient; be thankful and celebrate your success in anticipation, even when the outward manifestation looks impossible. Remind God of His promises using the word and hold onto them. God has not changed his mind; so do not be quick to change yours. God has not finished with you, so do not be eager to finish with Him and close the door of your heart. God’s still on the throne and His kingdom last forever. God has never failed; He will never fail you. “Satan may win some battles but he cannot win the war.”
But remember that there’s always a storm on your way crossing to the other side. The King of glory was in the boat but did not prevent the storm and strong winds from occurring. Rather He waited for the strong winds and storm to raise its ugly head before He demonstrated His authority and power over the universe. Jesus Then spoke a word and calmness returned to the sea. [Mark 4:37-39]. There are always some obstacles of some sort on your way to freedom. It could be wilderness, Red sea, Jordan or horsemen and army of the enemies. As Israelites saw the Egyptian soldiers approach and chase them with horses, chariots and armed men, they were sore, afraid and cried out unto God.
Pastors Kerry and Faith Wood wrote, “When He’s going to build something great, He takes extra time to lay the foundation ….God may not come when you want Him to but He’ll always be on time – if you wait on Him…His delays are not denials. He never said anything He couldn’t back up or promised anything He wouldn’t deliver. So disregard the circumstances and stand on the word God has given you.” [The word for you today – devotional].
Satan entered into Pontiphar’s wife to lie against Joseph but God vindicated him and brought forth his promotion. Promotion [upliftment] belongs to God [not man, not circumstances or Spirit of ancestors]. He brings up increase on one person and deduction on the other [Psalms 75; 6-7]. “Your opportunities for promotion are regulated by God’s plan, not someone else’ actions and preparation always precedes promotion.” God is able to bring to pass whatever He had promised. So hold unto God, even when His actions make no sense to you or people around you. Stand on the word of God, even when your feelings say otherwise. Your destiny is not decided by feelings but by the truth of God’s word. Without test, there will be no testimony.
It could be very disturbing to see others enjoy God’s blessings while you stand waiting and hoping. God might decide to put you on a waiting list so as to bring you the best of your request. We live in a world of instant: instant milk, instant coffee, and instant fast foods; so we always expect instant results. We are tempted at times to help God, in things God had already made provision for in the invisible; as if God does need our help. Sarah gave Hagar, her Egyptian maid to Abraham, her husband to sleep with her so as to make baby- son just to fulfill God’s promise of an heir. Yet God had his plan; just wait for Him in his right time and place of fulfillment. “Abraham…who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations…” [Romans 4:17-18]. A waiting point is the place of trials and pruning; it may not be easy and enjoyable but it prepares one for greater manifestation. It’s the brook cherith to Elijah [1Kings 17:3]; Ford Jabbok–Peniel to Jacob [Genesis 32:22-24-30]; Pit and Prison for Joseph [Genesis37; 22; 39:20] and Gethsemane for Jesus Christ [Mark 14:32]. No matter what happens, God is bringing into reality His purpose and achieving His goals. A waiting place is where we watch and pray; where we acquire strength for the journey ahead. It’s where we crucify the flesh and harness the Spirit. The Spirit nature gives power for overcoming and for accomplishment. The power that destroys the wiles of Satan and obtains God’s victory belongs to God. Stand still, wait and depend on God, you will see you victory come through. He has never disappointed, so will never fail you.
However, wherever Joseph found himself, the presence and power of the Lord was present; revealed in him and through him. God showed him mercy, gave him wisdom and granted him favor, even in prison [Genesis 39:21]. God’s wisdom revealed to Joseph uncommon insights to the dreams of Pharaoh’s officers – Chief Butler [Genesis 40:9ff; 16ff] and that of Pharaoh [Genesis 41:16f]. Joseph asked the prisoners, “Do not interpretations belong to God? [Genesis 40:8]. He quickly recalled, “I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into prison.” When time came, the Chief Butler said to Pharaoh, “There was there in prison a young man an Hebrew servant to the Captain of Guard, …he interpreted our dreams… and there came to pass as he interpreted them [Genesis 41:12-13]. Again Joseph attributed the revelations as not his but God’s; a thing is establish by God and God will bring it to pass [Genesis 41:16, 32].
God brought to fulfillment the plans He had for Joseph, when Pharaoh appointed Joseph an Overseer [Governor] in the land of Egypt [Pharaoh 41:39-44]. His plans never fail. All the trials that Joseph went through pruned him to his promotion and great testimonies. We cannot agree less, because “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose [Romans 8:28]. The life of Joseph is evidence and testimony that the scriptures do not contradict itself; nothing can stop the plan of God in our lives. Joseph could have looked back at his envious brethren and the horrible things they did to him; on Pontiphar’s wife who lied against him and realized that God allowed those odd things to happen to him to make him stronger in faith and purity. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord test the heart.”
Joseph reassures his brethren, “Do not be afraid…. you intended to harm me but God intended it for good [Genesis 50:20]. Today the Spirit says to us that God can turn around the injustice we face, the difficulties we encounter into future good. When God has planned for you to be in the palace, no being or circumstance can keep you in either the pit or in prison. Your future is not in the hands of others; it’s in the hand of God. So instead of looking for some people to blame, begin to see the hand of God working for your good. It may not be what you expect; God works in a mysterious way and his wonders to perform. When God had destined you for something great, no being or force can work otherwise; you may not know or understand it at that moment that they all work to achieve that purpose. No one can prevent God from blessing you, promoting you and establishing you except you. Finally, know that the purpose of God will always overcome the plans of men. Even now, if you believe and stand on God promises, everything is turning around for your good, in your favor and to God’s glory.
[2.3] THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED
In the parable of the Tenants in the vineyard, Jesus told His disciples the story of a landowner who planted a vineyard and secured it by fencing and dug a hole for the wine press and built a watchtower. He thereafter rented it out to tenants and left for a trip. When it was time for harvest, he sent his servants to the tenants to receive his share of the harvest. The tenants manhandled the servants; beat one, killed another and stoned another. The owner sent out another group of servants more in number than the first, they did the same. At last he sent his son and they killed him with hope to possess his inheritance. When the owner of the vineyard returns, he will kill all the wicked tenants. Jesus then referred to them to the scripture: the stone which the builder rejected as worthless, the same has become the head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing and it’s marvelous in our eyes [Matthew 21:42]. Jesus was simply quoting from Psalms 118:22. This quotation from Psalms was exemplified in the story of a man named Jephthah, a mighty man of valor from the city of Gilead [Judges 11:1ff].
Jephthah was a brave soldier but his mother was a prostitute and his father had other children from another wife. When his brothers grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home. They said to Jephthah, you will not inherit anything from our father because you are the son of a strange woman. Jephthah flew from his brothers and city men and lived in the land of Tob. There, some group of worthless men got attracted by his clout, gathered and went around on raid with him. He became a powerful institution, a revolutionary, feared and dreaded.
After a time the Ammonites went to war against Israel. When that happened, the elders of Gilead went to the land of Tob to bring back Jephthah to lead them in the war. They said to him, “come and captain us that we may fight the Ammonites.” Jephthah replied them, you hated and conspired with my brethren and expelled me out of my father’s house, why do you come to me in time of distress? The elders of Gilead were in such helpless and terrible desperation that they offered him headship of the Gileadites if he could fight and win the Ammonites. Jephthah turned around and reiterated, “If I go home with you and the Lord gives me victory against the Ammonites, I will be your ruler? The elders of Gilead responded, we agree and the Lord is our witness. Then Jephthah went with the elder of Gilead and they made him head and captain over them. Jephthah affirmed his terms at Mizpah in the Lord’s presence.
Jephthah got the people of Gilead ready for the war and made a vow to the Lord, “if you will give me victory over the Ammonites; I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer the person to you as a sacrifice.” Jephthah crossed the river to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gave him victory. It was a great slaughter and the Ammonites were defeated in a battle by Israel. Unfortunately for Jephthah, when he returned home to Mizpah, her only daughter was the first person that came out to meet him. She was rejoicing, dancing and playing tambourine. She was a virgin. That was very disheartening and terrible for Jephthah. He told the daughter the vow he made while going to war. They mourned her and eventually offered her to sacrifice in fulfillment of his vow and she died a virgin.
The highlights of the story:
· It does not matter how you get to this planet, earth but the most important thing is that you’re here. How and where you were born is irrelevant. Your parents may have come from a town where nothing good had ever happened, from low estate and heritage. Your parent must have gone through hell to raise you and both or one was incarcerated and even if you were raised by a foster parent, it still does not matter. You may have gone through Juvenile and Boot camp before you get to your senses; it is still a process of life. After all Jesus was born in a sheep pen and a son of an earthly poor carpenter. Joseph had to be hated by his brother and went through pit, prison before getting to the palace.
· Whatever you do, try to be the best in it. You may not be recognized at a time or in a lifetime but one day, when your time comes, the world shall look for you or your ideas. Even if the world does not know you, remember for every good work you do on earth, the one who created the heavens and the earth shall hold forth and secure your crown in heaven.
· Generally people are attracted to you when you’re successful or gone to the top. They don’t care about you when you are down to nothing but don’t know or forget that it’s in that state the good God shows up with something. When God remembers you, those who mock and laughed at you as worthless would turn around to laugh with you and become friends.
· The world cares very little on who your parents are; where and how you were born but are more and quick to recognize what you have achieved and the impact you have left in our world.
· Jephthah was not a Christian but just believed in some gods of some kind. He was just a hard man who became prominent by terrorizing people and territories. I do not think he was either enlightened or even intelligent and had a shallow insight on who God is. His vow of offering any human being who is the first to meet him after his victory over the Ammonites to the Lord is a character portray and speaks greatly of his discipline and integrity. He was just making a vow in attempt to woo God on his side; never thought or dreamt that after been expelled by his brothers, he would ever have a place in their lives more so being a king and captain. When people get to positions they were not prepared for or never dreamt of in the least of their imagination, they do everything to hold to it.
· Human being will give you or make you an offer you cannot refuse when they are in desperate need of you. For example: A coach will pay any price to get a resourceful, utility player on his side to win a match. It does not matter how and when you were born; born late like Samuel, John the baptize and Joseph, when God hand is on you, God will make a way for you and you will enjoy unusual happenings and favor. When God opens the door of His grace and those who rejected and despised you will begin to desire and demand for you. Even If you are locked up in prison, God will cause the prison staff and other inmates shall be at peace with you. Jephthah, the chased away became Jephthah the desired and chosen.
· A vow may be a simple verbal agreement such as: Take this baby and nurse him for me and I will pay you [Exodus 2:9]. When you make a vow to the Lord, your God, do not put off doing what you promised, the Lord will hold you to your vow and it’s a sin not to keep it. It’s no sin not to make a vow to the Lord, but if you make one voluntarily be sure that you fulfill it [Deuteronomy 23:21-22; Psalms 22:25; Ecclesiastics 5: 5].
[2.4] The Power of Testimony
Is it disappointing that some people behave as if God has done nothing worth mentioning in their lives? They neither talk about His goodness nor glorify Him for what He has done. During testimony time in Church worship services, you will notice the same people come out to testify of God’s goodness. You cannot but wonder could it be a sectional thing? Is God only doing something worth mentioning in the lives of those few? Some are ashamed to testify to God’s goodness while others simply do not know the power of testimony. The Psalmist says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy [Psalm 107:2]. He did not say: “keep sealed lips, hide God’s amazing goodness or amplify the works of man and Satan”. When Jesus redeems you from the curse of the law or heals you from sickness, it gives you the opportunity to testify to His loving kindness and grace.
We must begin to announce our redemption in the area of need and we shall receive and realize it. “Say unto them, as truly as I live, says the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you” [Numbers 14:28]. God is faithful; whatever He hears you say that He shall do for you. It now depends on you; if you confess healing and satisfaction in God, you will be healed and fulfilled. If you confess sickness, worries, fears and depression, you buy one and get two free. You get what you say. God remains trustworthy and dependable in all situations, at all time. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof [Proverbs 18:21]. Pastor Jude Chukwumaife wrote, “Your tongue is a destiny molder. You can create life; speak health and wellness with your tongue.” In the genesis of life it was written, “And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God spoke, “let there be light and there was light” [Genesis 1:2-3]. God spoke and the chaos becomes cosmos. Again, “thou are snare with the words of thy mouth, thou are taken with the words of thy mouth” [Proverbs 6:2].
Watch what you say; negative confession brings negative result. What you say can be use against you. When one asks you, how are you doing or how are you? You should respond positively – I’m fine or well. You can be trapped by what you say. On the other hand, the enemy gets threatened by what you say. “And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.” [Revelation 12:11]. Your testimony becomes a weapon of spiritual warfare. Make your confession strong and the devil is troubled; it finds its way out of your airspace.
As God spoke things into being from the genesis of life, so did Jesus speak pardon and healing into people’s life. “Go and sin no more; rise up and walk and your sins are forgiven.” These words are very powerful and infectious as well as bring balm in Gilead; healing unto them that they were spoken to, those who read them in faith and those who believe them and speak to themselves. While Jesus was here on earth, He made various confessions and testify to whom He was and the relationship with the Father. He said, “I and my Father are one.” “I came to do the will of my Father.” Thank God for you have heard me; Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. My Father has not stopped working and for certain the son cannot do anything on His own. He can only do what He sees His Father do. Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth [Matthews 28:18].
The 40-year-old born blind man whom Jesus healed testified, “One thing I know, that whereas I was blind but now this man [Jesus] made me see”[John 9:11, 17, 25]. Despite the fact that the Pharisees and Jewish elders tried to force him say otherwise, he maintained and kept his confession strong. The Samaritan woman that Jesus delivered went out and testified, “Come and see someone who has told me all things I ever did” [John 4:29]. John the Baptist had a wonderful testimony, “I am not the Christ, and the one that comes after me is greater than I.” Apostle Peter was speaking to Israel’ elders and he testified, “Therefore let all the house of Israel knows assuredly, that God had made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Christ and the Lord” [Acts 2: 36]. As Apostles Peter and John went to the temple to pray, they met and healed a lame man at the gate called beautiful. During that incidence, Apostle Peter testified, “Silver and gold have I none but such as I have, I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise and walk” [Acts 3:6]. Peter implied, I may not have physical needs, but I have He that is everything – Christ in me the hope of glory, the Healer and Restorer. He also testified to the elders, “Friends, why are you surprised at what has happened to the lame man and why are you staring at us … This man standing here is completely well because of the power in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You put Jesus to death on the cross but God raised Him to life; …Only Jesus has the power to save [Acts 3:16, 4:12].
Apostle Paul never wasted opportunity to testify his encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus. He testified to elders in Damascus, in Jerusalem and even today we read his testimonies in the letters of the bible. Paul testified before many courts the experience of his new beginning, his conversion. For example: In Acts 26:1ff, Paul spoke before Agrippa, who said Paul’s learning had made him mad and later said he almost persuaded him to become a Christian [26:24, 28]. Paul was later taken to Rome and he continued with the same truth. You may not know that no one else can say your experiences better than yourself.
You need to tell the story of your conversion: where you were drawn from, how you became a Christian. Someone needs to hear how Christ pursued you, how far you resisted Him and where you finally gave up; I mean totally surrendered. Someone needs to hear what you had struggled and still struggling with and you overcame those that had given way; what you’re still doing with those still contending for your attention and time. Someone needs to know your Christian experiences: the struggle that confronts you daily since you became a believer. If God has really touched you, you cannot hide the experience you have with Christ: some are deliverances, healings and protection as well as struggles. Personal testimony is the greatest witnessing tool. It has power to convince, convict and turn around any body: sinner into saint, poor into rich, sick into healthy, etc.
It is this same message that turn around drug addicts, murders, armed robbers, homosexuals, self righteous and all sort of men and women in every situation and times into becoming battle axe for Christ. Perhaps it is your testimony that someone is waiting for; will persuade that man or woman to give his/her life to Christ. By your testimony, heaven will rejoice and it will be counted unto you as a good harvest of soul.
Hannah testified, a few years ago I stood here beside you and asked the Lord to give me a child. He did and here is he. The Lord gave me just what I asked for and I came to fulfill my vows – dedicate him unto the Lord all the days of his life. In 1 Samuel Chapter 2, Hannah sang songs of praise unto the Lord. She testified, “You have made me strong and happy Lord, you rescued me. Now I can be glad and even my enemies join to laugh. No other god is like you…a woman did not have a child, and you gave her seven…you take away life and you give life…you set the world on foundations and they belong to you, …glorify God and confess His compassion, grace and mercies.” The God who has made a childless woman, a mother of children can do it again. Your testimony shall encourage someone who is praying and waiting on God for intervention. It will strengthen the faith of someone who believes on God and have depended on Him no matter what. Your testimony will make one waiting for breakthrough to keep trusting and believing and not give up. Your testimony shall also reassures one who is testifying that God answers prayers and can do anything. There is no impossibility in Him.
Daniel had a divine revelation to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; he testified, “Our God, your name will be praised forever. You are all powerful and you know everything…and you are the source of wisdom and knowledge. You explain deep mysteries because even the dark is light to you. … [Daniel 2:20-23]. Daniel testified to God’s omnipotence; no human being has the power to reveal such things as the king demanded except God who rules from heaven. He alone can explain mysteries. The three Hebrew boys – Shadrach, Meshack and A-bed’-ne-go refused to worship the man –made god of Baal but testified to the Omnipotence, omniscience of God of heaven, “The God we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But even if He doesn’t, we still won’t worship your god and the gold status you have set up” [Daniel 3:18ff]. This confession became manifest when they were thrown into the flaming furnace and it did not burn them because God sent His angel to rescue them. Following these two incidences, King Nebuchadnezzar did not only promote Daniel and the three Hebrew Boys but testified to the superiority of the God of heaven. Every other god in the land was destroyed and the King ordered the worship of the only true God – the God of Daniel and the Hebrew boys.
Words are in our mouths and in our hearts, waiting to be confessed and testify; before there start working salvation, deliverance, favor, safety and healing. Testimony is a very powerful instrument in witnessing and evangelism, even in preaching. Testimony has the power of conviction and encouragement. If God could do it for her, He would do it for me. Let those whom God saved and healed testify to His goodness and God will be glorified.
Chapter Three STEWARDSHIP
“To do more for the world
than the world does for you-
that is success.” Henry Ford
“Be not negligent, for the Lord has chosen you
to stand before Him, to serve him and that you
minister unto Him and burnt incense.”
[2 Chronicles 29:11]
Chapter Three: Content
3.1 Stewardship of God’s Mysteries
3.2 Some Key Gifts and Their Uses
3.3 Why Some Christians Don’t Give
3:4 God has preference but not partial
[3.1] Stewardship of God’s Mysteries
What’s a Steward? Literally a steward is a person who manages the affairs of a household or an estate for the owner. In a Christian sense, a steward is the manager of the affairs of God on earth. God has put in our possession the care of all His creation to give Him glory as the Creator and God. Stewards are God’s ministers and ministering servants that manage the resources of their Dad. God gives everything we have to us: time, health, relationship, talents, property, the Gospel, the environment and treasure. Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, “So then let a man so accounted of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it’s required in stewards that a man be found faithful and trustworthy, [1 Corinthians 4:1-2].
When we surrender fully to Jesus, He becomes our Lord. Jesus becomes the Lord of our time, talent and treasure and everything we possess [whatever God has entrusted to us]. We are not our own any longer. Jesus bought us with a price. [1Corinthians 6:19-20]. Therefore the life we live, we live in Christ, by Christ and for Christ glory. God had made each one of us a steward and has given us abilities and talents that are unique. We should use these abilities and talents to serve God. When we talk about stewardship, most people’s mind goes to money. But stewardship is more than money; it involves: time and talent and treasure [3T’s]. These three work together; you cannot separate one from the other.
Biblical Stewardship: Teaching on the Dynamic Giving System, Pastor Dr Rod Rogers’s points out that all our resources, time, talent and treasure come from God, belong to God and must be put to work for God. A God’s steward is one who manages the resources of another to accomplish the goals /purposes of the owner. A steward is not a hired servant; He/she manages the resources of his/ her Dad. He/she is an heir of the kingdom. A Christian steward serves God out of love and gratitude for these gifts, knowing that it’s not how much we have but what we do with what we have that is important. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received [1 Peter 4:10].
Here are some stewardship quotations from the scripture:
1. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. [Psalm 24:1].
2. The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. [Leviticus 25:23].
3. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declare the Lord Almighty. Haggai 2:8].
4. You are not your own; you were bought with a price. [1 Corinthians 6:19-20]
5. Remember the God who gives you power to make wealth-become rich [Deuteronomy 8:18].
6. Moreover, it’s required of ministers and stewards that one be found trustworthy and faithful [1 Corinthians 4:2].
Three Realities of Stewardship Principles:
[i] God owns all our wealth and every creation. [Psalm 24:1ff]; [ii] God enables us to earn all our money/wealth. [Deuteronomy 8: 17-18]; [iii] As God’s stewards, it’s our responsibility to manage God’s treasure to accomplish the goal of God [the owner].
Three Implications of stewardship Realities:
[a] Owner has right; steward has responsibility. [b] Every spending decision is a spiritual decision [c] The primary requirement for a steward is faithfulness/trustworthiness.
God’s stewards: Once again, a steward of God is a manger that takes care of his Father’s resources to meet the plans and goals of God and His kingdom. Stewards manage not only money or time or talent but all resources [human, economics, environmental, spiritual etc] that our Creator has put out at our disposal.
[3.2] Some Key Gifts and Their Uses
Let us examine some key gifts and how good we use them in stewardship. The following discussion is partly based on the materials from Galileanspastors.com.
Our Bodies: Our bodies are the house of the Holy Spirit. How do we care, expend and utilize them for His purpose? What we put into them [eats and drinks]; what do we feed our bodies with? Whatever we eat, drink, read, watch, speak and act [yield in] we are responsible and accountable to God. Whatever negative things we put into our minds and bodies, force the Holy Spirit within us to participate in what we are doing or grieves Him into inactivity and could chase Him out of the body. [1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Luke 4:12; 1 Corinthians. 10:9].
- Read and meditate on scripture. How often do you read and meditate on the word of God? Is it as much as you watch the TV; go to movies and read newspapers and magazines as well as spend time on internet? I suppose a lot less; do you read it when you are faced with fears or trials? You could read the scriptures as a literature but reading it as the word of God require reflections and meditation. The devil and sins shall stop you from reading the Word and the Word shall keep you from sin and worldliness as well as death. We battle not against flesh and blood … [Ephesians 6:10-18]. If you do not learn to control your mind, someone or something else will. [Romans 8; 5-9, 12:1-2].
- Prayer time [Mark 1:35]: Many want a relationship with God but they do not make effort each day to spend time with Him, discuss with Him and listen to Him. Our God desires to have quality time with His children. It should be our desire and pleasure to enter into conversation with our God and Maker. We need good stewardship of our prayer time, work time, play and quiet time. Despite His busy schedules, Jesus, always made time to relate with His Father. As ambassador of Christ it’s important we call home all the time. As managers we must take instructions from Our master and report back to Him daily; appreciate His approval and provisions as well as accept His rebukes and discipline.
- Worship time: Worship is being one on one with God, giving Him the praise, glory and honor; an act of stewardship. Your focus must be on the Lord; not on the worship team, praise leader or pastors. Worship is more than singing. We can worship God in solemnity but the center of our worship is God. It’s only Jesus, only Him; nothing else matters. God must be worshipped in truth and in Spirit [John 4:24]. The whole duty of man is to fear God and worship Him [Ecclesiastics 12:3].
- Your mind: [Ephesians 4:22-24]. What type of mind do you have? Most time people expose their minds to sins, feeble things and sexy features through reading, watching romantic or sexy films. These things can bring us down instead of building us up. We need to take captive of every thought of our mind [Eph 6:10-15]. The mind is a battle ground and negative thoughts, lying spirit, lustful spirit, spirit of greed and fears, anger, ego and gains etc – all play on the mind. However, the Holy Spirit is availed to us when we are born again; to help us live Christ-like and stay away from sin.
- Relationship: How good a steward are you of your relationship? As spouse, how good have you managed your relationship with your partner? Are you a good steward in the marriage relationship? [Eph. 5:21-33]. Many people manage their offices and businesses well but have problem in their dealing with their spouses and family. For this reason, many succeed at work but fail at home. As parents, have we dealt with the children God entrusted into our care with patience and understanding? How far have we taught and mentored our children about our faith and culture? Are we good moral examples to our household? Do they feel the love of God in the house? Do we impart them with God’s gifts? [Matthews 18:1-6; James 3:1]. Are they involved in bible studies, prayer fellowship and worship services? Are they in a good environment that supports Christian growth? Do we respect and submit to our spouses and love them? What about other relationships in our lives? Do we take them for granted or make them relevant only when we use them to satisfy our selfish desires? We use them when we need them and drop them when we do not need them. What kind of a friend is you – are into dip and skip or mutual, selfless relationship? Let the truth of God’s word search you.
- Treasure: When we think about treasure our minds go to money and wealth. No doubt money is an important ingredient in stewardship but stewardship is bigger and goes further than just money. We must honor God with our money and first fruit because He gave us the power to get it. We seek God first in all we do and every other thing shall be added unto us [Matthews 6:33]. We give God before anything else – paying bills, provide for food and entertainments etc. [Proverbs 3; 9-10; Matthews 6; 25-34]. We should remember that all we have came from God. It’s therefore out of the plenty that He has given us do we give back to Him. As a matter of fact He demands a portion, just to test how we honor and esteem Him.
- Gospel: Most people hear the Good News of the Gospel through the witness, testimony, teaching or exhortations of someone else. If the person heard it and became saved without reaching out to other people, you may not have heard it. The strength and power of Christian stewardship is the blood–bought salvation that Christ expended for everyone. This has given us new purpose and new hope in life; we are given new hearts and renewed minds. Having been forgiven, saved and redeemed, by our Lord Jesus Christ, we now live in the reality of our salvation. That means the life we live is not just about us but also about God who bought us back through the blood of His son, Jesus Christ. It’s also about others whom this precious and atoning blood saved and shall seek and rescue. Curry R. Blake says, “If your Gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.” “The Great Commission is not an opinion to be considered; it’s a command to be obeyed.”
God has also given us a vocation – the soul saving and life changing Gospel through His word and sacrament. We are called to embrace, cherish, evangelize [witness], guard, defend and preserve [Jude 3] the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. [i] It’s this message that we gather every Sunday to hear and be equipped with to go out and witness. [ii] We should invest our time, talents, and treasure in these treasures of the Gospel. [iii] Do not bury this treasure, but put it to work. [iv] God wants us to share the saving Gospel He has entrusted to us, so that with it and through it others may be won for Him for all eternity [Mark 5:19-20]. He died for all [2 Corinthians 5:15]. It’s His will that no one should perish but be brought back to repentance and faith [2 Peter 3:9]. Little wonder Apostle Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” [Galatians 2:20].
All other things in our possession were lent to us by God. It’s therefore a sacred trust from our heavenly Dad [Haggai 2; 8; Leviticus 25:23; Psalm 50:10ff]. Everything belongs to God [Psalm 24:1] and he allows us to use His creation for His own glory. For this reason, Apostle Paul says, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it’s certain we can carry nothing out” [1 Timothy 6:7]. Christian stewardship is how we manage and use all that our good and gracious God has put in our possession, which include money, talent and time. These three work together and can’t be separated from one another. We therefore have the privilege, duty and responsibility to give sacrificially for the work of the kingdom. It becomes a sacred duty to support the work of the Church through our financial offerings and give our time and talent to share the gospel to the world, rescuing the perishing, healing the sick and provide for the poor and less privileged.
[3.3] Why Some Christians don’t give!
- Lack of Pastoral leadership:
[i] A Pastor is the key spiritual leader in the church and has the most influence in Church’s giving practices. Some Pastors do not teach biblical principles of stewardship. Most of their teachings are like defending why members should pay tithe. This makes members see giving as a punishment or tax instead of a blessing. Christians should know that God owns everything; even the life they live is borrowed from Him [2 Kings 6:5]. They should know we receive by giving; live by dying and win by stooping down. Giving is our way of love; God loves and gives, but Satan hates and steals while human beings are selfish and hoard. When we become saved, our minds are renewed to become like the mind of Christ. God blesses us: to establish Him as our source of life; reveals his nature as Giver and gives us the opportunity to become givers as well as make us blessings. God knows how much He has blessed you with, how little or great you have. “Your obedience to God’s word always secures God’s attention. What you are ready to loose [give] to God’s kingdom determines what you gain [your rewards]. Your seed blesses another while your harvest is anything that blesses you”.
[ii] Pastor / Church leaders do not live what they preach and profess. We must be exemplary in giving and blessing. Some Church leaders live very flamboyantly and in flagrancy; I mean in a different world that is not relevant to the realities of the people around them. Apostle Paul charges, “those who are ministers of the Gospel and stewards of God’s mysteries are required to be faithful and trustworthy [1 Corinthians 4:1-2]. Some ministers live in mansions that they have no business living in; ride in jets and own investments that suggest they have treasures on earth. While they live these utopian lifestyles, those who support their ministries in prayers, in giving and services live as ranting ants or trivial fugitives in abject poverty. They are insensitive to the realities of their followership. J.W. Ferguson says, “People find it difficult to believe a man who gives his whole energy to money-making or career building and then tells them he is waiting for the Son of God from heaven.” Again William MacDonald says, “It’s difficult to see how a Christian can cling to riches in view of the appalling need everywhere, the imminence of Christ return and the Lord’s clear prohibition against laying up treasure on earth. Hoarded wealth condemns us as not loving our neighbors as ourselves.” And Apostle Paul says, “…But you, man of God avoid all these things…[1 Timothy 6:6-16].
[iii] Lack of responsibility, transparency and accountability in leadership. As much as we urge people to give to their God through the Church, Ministries and Faith-based organization as well as Pastors, these institutions/persons represent God’s kingdom and are stewards of God’s resources. They must show reliability, accountability and responsibility. The bible says judgment shall begin in the house of God and everyone shall give account for whatever we did. God is not a respecter of persons. If you in the name of God solicit funds, good gestures and donations from God’s people, it’s your responsibility to be accountable first to God and then the donors. You cannot accept funds and turn your back on God and His people; live double standards in a strange world. That would amount to cheerful deceit. We must be blameless and transparent such that our lives shall not pose hindrances to those who would want to become Christians and stewards of God. Apostle Paul says, I have kept nothing from you that is profitable…have taught you all publicly …testifying both to the Jews and the Greeks and have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I have coveted no man’s silver or gold or apparel …… [Acts 20:20-21, 27, 33f].
Samuel said unto Israel, “I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day… If I have done anything wrong accuse me now in the presence of the Lord and king. Have I taken anyone’s donkey, cheated or oppressed or accepted bribe from anyone? …I will pay back what I have taken… [1 Samuel 12:1-5].
2. Their pastors haven’t challenged them to give according to the biblical principles of stewardship.
Some Pastors and Church leaders are afraid or reluctant to talk about or teach on giving early at the commencement of a Church. Their fears could be that members may withdraw from the Church. It’s an open secret that nothing in life is done without money. When we get into clubs, we pay membership fees as well as when we go to play golf but people don’t like talking about money when they start a Church. To hire a Church hall, pay light and telephone bills, purchase chairs, and other furniture as well as keeping it clean; maintenance and other expenses – all involves money. In some large Churches they run high administrative costs including payment of staff and their allowances, evangelism, welfare and others. The truth is whether you teach on giving or not, those the Lord has not called to you shall leave. If those members are your sheep, they shall stay. If you think education is expensive try ignorance. What will hinder giving is non-teaching them true Christian stewardship and living an absurd lifestyle. There is nothing wrong about talking about money. Pastors should teach stewardship from the start; talk about money respectfully, dedicatedly and hopefully [Exodus 35:4-9, 20-24; 36:4-7; 1 Chronicles 29: 9-11; 2 Chronicles 24:8-10; Nehemiah 13:10-12; Haggai 1:1-15].
3. Members could have Spiritual problems:
[i] Perverted priorities: Some Christians need to put their priorities right. They put themselves first before God and in some instances, do not remember the God who made them what they are. In some advance countries of the world, they consider their constitution before the Word of God. I once asked a woman if a health hazard happens, who would you talk to first: God or 911? Her answer was 911. According to her, God has already known the problem, let us call 911 for immediate care. Once, the children of Israel lived in mansions while the temple of God lies in ruins. God was provoked to wrath and He sent word through prophet Haggai to them; explain why they are having draught on the land, in their wealth and pocket and grains and crops [Haggai 1; 4ff]. Each time people disregard or neglect God and His commandment, the people suffer pain and anguish. Be careful, the God of love is still the God of justice.
[ii] Lack of contentment: Brethren, do not forget that godliness with contentment is great gain. Many Christians have Oliver Twist spirit, always asking for more. They grab and grab and are never full or satisfied. These people are greedy, covetous and selfish. Apostle Paul advises, “Those that are rich in this world should not be high-minded or trust in their riches; they should be rich in good works [1 Timothy 6:6, 17ff]. “I have learnt in whatever state I ‘m to be content…I know what it is to be in need and to be in plenty; that whichever way I adapt to be content …I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” [Philippians 4:11-13].
[iii] Lack of faith: God created everything else before creating mankind. However He charged mankind to be fruitful, multiply, have dominion and subdue the whole earth. Man occupies special place in the heart of God. God has given every man an atom of faith. It’s our responsibility to exercise it. Faith is confidence in God [Hebrews 11:6]. Doing something because God or His word asks you to do it is faith. It comes from hearing the word of God. If God could care for birds, insects, animals etc, why should He not care for man? [Matthew 6:30-33]. Whatever is outside faith is sin [Romans 14:23b]. God sees our faith not our fears and tears. If God says give and you shall receive, do it and receive your blessings. It’s God’s responsibility to fulfill His promises. Since God is no man, He cannot lie or fail. He shall fulfill His promises or better bring it to pass, to His glory and pleasure. So take a step of faith. Whatever you let go, determines what God brings to you. It only takes faith in God to let go our possession or hard earned money. The most difficult aspect of Christian’s stewardship is our pocket. However, to receive, you must give and to live, we must die. These only work with faith. In the natural it sounds stupid. Ours is to obey God and do not waiver; God brings the outcome to pass. Without faith we cannot please or receive from God [James 1:8].
[iv] Covetousness: The last of the Ten Commandments spoke against coveting. Covet means an immoral desire or crave especially in excessive or improper of that which belongs to God or your neighbors. Our natural inclination is always to consider ourselves first – Me first mentality. We think only in terms of our interest and in selfishness; and do not care about others. Selfishness is the root of human transgression of God’s commandment. Psalm of David says, “The wicked does not care about God. In his pride he thinks God does not matter [Psalm 10:4]. Jesus says you cannot serve two masters – God and money. On hearing this, the Pharisees made fun of Him because they loved money [Luke 16:13-14]. A Christian and Church leader must not love money; for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil [1Timothy 3:3; 6: 10]. Covetousness is a sign of the last days and mark of apostate [2 Timothy 3:2; 2 Peter 2:14]. We are coveting when we eat or applied to other uses what belongs to God. The book of Malachi calls it robbery or cheating. It’s a curse to cheat on God, who has provided us with all we have [Malachi 3: 8-10].
[v] Hides and hoards God’s resources: When God blesses someone it’s for him to be a blessing to God and others. To hide or pretend to be poor so as not to use your blessing to serve God and God’s children is the greatest act of ingratitude. You cannot hide from God. He knows how much you are blessed; how much you have in bank accounts. He’s the one who gives you power to get wealth [Deuteronomy 8:18]. Every good and perfect gift comes from God… [James 1:17]. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent gifts [Hebrews 11:4]. Do not attempt to hide or pretend to lack but glorify the God who had brought you out of poverty into your sufficiency.
[vi] Hold opinion, to avoid responsibility: Some people keep sealed lips over matters and pretend they do not know to avoid being given assignments. They hoard the talent our gracious Lord had endowed in them. There is an honor and a blessing in sharing your knowledge and experiences with others. You cannot afford to bury what God has deposited in you for the general good. That is not only selfish but wickedness. In the parable of the talent, the servant given one talent hid it in the ground. The master rebuked the useless servant saying you could have put it in the bank to accrue interest. He was considered a bad servant for his inactivity and laziness. He was relieved of his position and thrown out into darkness where he suffers pains and gnashing of teeth.
People often neglect one thing or one chance or one event. “Yet we live life once and if we plan it well once is enough.” We should remember that our salvation is a one-chance thing, Jesus Christ is a one precious gift to the world; Samuel and John the Baptist were all one child that imparted their world. There is so many one event or thing or person in our life that has made great and remarkable impart on us. Have you heard of the man called Ananias? He’s a one-note player. He showed up one time but left a landmark. He led Saul of Tarsus to Christ, and then promptly exited [Acts 9:10-19]. Saul whom Christ named Paul was an Apostle to the Gentiles. This former persecutor of the people of the way, a lawyer turned Evangelist became a battleaxe in the hand of God. Today, we read much more letters in the New Testament from Apostle Paul than any other Apostle of his time. His letters and testimonies in Acts of the Apostles are evidences of his Christian journeys and “light afflictions.” We should not mess with one opportunity; that could be the only and last chance for us to use our exposure and wisdom to defend our faith, glorify God and serve His kingdom.
3.4 GOD HAS PREFERENCE BUT HE’S NOT PARTIAL
There is a deep saying, “Every one is created by God but not every one is a child of God.” This statement has brought so much arguments and contentions among Christians and non-Christians. They question: how can God create me and yet I’m not His child? From their head knowledge, they question God’s sovereignty. God has the authority and power to do whatever He likes and whatever gives Him honor and glory. That is why God could say: “Jacob I love and Esau I hate; I have mercy on whom I chose to have mercy.” For every thing He does is according to His plan and purpose; most importantly to give Him glory and honor. He neither compromises nor shares these with anybody or anything. God created all things. He created man in His image and likeness to know Him; give Him honor and glory. God gave man power to control his will and ability to choose between good and bad and of course, accept the consequences. That is why God respects our decisions and choices borne out of our self will.
Sometimes our decisions may be contrary to God’s laws and orders yet He respects the free will that He gives mankind. That explains why mankind must choose to know God; to accept or reject Jesus as the Son of God and put faith in His saving grace. Again, if you hear God’s voice and obey His commandment, you enjoy His blessings and if not you suffer curses [Deuteronomy 28:1ff]. Also God admonished Joshua, “Only you be strong and very courageous that you may do according to all the laws which Moses, My servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper whichever you go. …….meditate on the Book of law day and night and observe according to all that is written…….shall make your way prosperous; deal wisely and have good success [Joshua 1:7-8] In our era and age, most times we make bad choices and turn around to blame God, other people and institutions but not ourselves. We want God’s miracles but not God or His commands; want pleasure not hard work and the crown not the cross. Surprisingly and most often neglected, God equates His love with obedience. If you do the will of God, you have His blessings and if not, disobedience brings punishments.
A good example is the story of Cain and Abel, the two sons of biblical Adam and Eve [Genesis 4:1f]. Cain was the first born and a farmer [tiller of the ground]. Abel, his brother was a shepherd. During offering, Cain brought offerings of the fruit of the farm before the Lord. Abel, the shepherd brought an offering of the first born of his flock and of the fat portions [Hebrews 11:4]. According to the scriptures, the Lord accepted Abel and his offerings but rejected Cain and his offerings. The unique nature of Abel’s offerings could have added value to his acceptance. It involved blood sacrifice: For the life of the flesh is in the blood……; it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul [Leviticus 17:11]. The truth is God has a preference and does not just accept anything we throw on Him. Whatever we choose to give God must give Him glory and honor as well as agree with His purpose and laws; if not, it just does not fit.
Generally, human beings live by sight. It could be because we do not see God physically that is why some people don’t fear and reference Him. If you could pause and ponder on whom God is and how this great and mighty God could bring himself into human experiences; yet people neither pay attention nor give Him things worth and befitting His glory and honor. People often give God remnant of what they no longer need; something we can’t give to our earthly Presidents or governors. We carry our arrogance and ignorance into God’s presence and present to Him: stolen gifts, obtained from greed, cheat, and improper gain as well as fraud. Even when the pastors know that the gifts are ill-gotten, the pastors obtain and pray on the offerings; asking God to prosper and grant the giver long life and good success. It could be long life lived in fears, intimidation and agonies. We should not forget that when Adam and Eve sinned and exited the garden, God in His mercy and loving kindness placed an angel with a flaming sword to scare and prevent them from leaning forward to eat the fruit from the tree of eternal life; so that they would not live a long life in iniquities [Genesis 3:24]. The Pastor and the Church may accept the inglorious gifts; that does not mean God accepts them! Once again God has a preference.
The Psalmist says, “He does not delight in the strength of the horse, nor does He take pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; in those who hope in His mercy and loving kindness [Psalm 147:10-11]. God did not only reject Cain’s offerings but also disregarded Cain. That also did not mean that God rejected Cain’s destiny permanently. That is why God asked Cain: “Why are you angry? And why do you look sad, depressed and dejected? If you have done the right thing, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; it wants to rule over you but you must overcome it” [Genesis 4:6-7]. God is simply not partial but has a preference.
Our modern-day theology presents the teaching of God’s unconditional acceptance, instead of sticking to God’s unconditional love. This teaching could be misconstrued to mean God accepts anything you just throw to Him. The scripture teaches that the gift of unrighteous person is an abomination unto God [Proverbs 15:8]. Some Church denominations and pastors do not care how and where you get the gift for offerings. Some people offer worthless, despised and stolen offerings to God; something they can not offer to their earthly Presidents and Governors [Malachi 1:6-8]. As long as it’s a fat offering, sow it and they shall herald you and intercede for you. Unfortunately God is a holy God, sees the heart and has a preference. He determines what type of offering He accepts in line with His word and laws. Pause a bit and think why God accepted the biblical widow’s mite but rejected the offerings of Ananais and Sapphira. The widow’s mite came from the heart, was truthful and sacrificial as well as of faith but these merits the gifts of the latter lacked. After the death of Ananias and Sapphira, so much great fears came upon all the Church [Acts 5:11]. This made disobedience and deceit serious matters not only before God but also mankind. Unfortunately, these vices have reincarnated in our NewAgeChurches and fast becoming acceptable virtues. Our society no longer cares how you make your wealth: as long as you make it – whether clean or dirty, you surely dine with royalty; be given inglorious recognitions in Churches and communities. My earnest prayer is that God would do something uncommon that restores holy fears back to the Church and the society.
Cain and Abel were diligent workers and presented gifts pertaining to their works to God in sacrifice. Weighing the two occupations, farming appears more intensive than shepherding. Infact, Cain could have worked harder than Abel. Funny enough, God created the two trades; first, He even planted a Garden of Eden and put Adam there and asked him to dress it, guard and keep it. What matters here is what offering God accepts in sacrifices and the type of sacrifice one is offering. Our gifts must be not only sacrificial, but also sincere and of faith. Without faith no one pleases God. Also King David said, “I shall not offer to God that which cost me nothing” [2 Samuel 24:24]. God will not change His law because of you; will not force you to give Him what He wants. We must willingly conform to God’s standards and laws because there are purposes driven. God has what He wants us to do and how He wants us to do it. “The important thing is not how human wants to worship God but how God wants us to worship Him.”
Again, some people would think that Cain was right to offer to God sacrifice from the fruits of his farm but what God accepts for the atonement of human souls is what matters. The scripture says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for the souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” [Leviticus 17:11]. “And according to the law almost all things are purified with the blood and without shedding of the blood there is no remission. For this very reason Jesus took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins” [Matthew 26:27-28; Romans 3:23-25].
The purpose of sacrifice is to cleanse and forgive individuals and the people’s sins; restore them to the image of God Almighty. Little wonder the writer of Hebrews said, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous [cleansed and forgiven], God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks” [Hebrews 11:4]. God has preference for the blood sacrifice than any other because through it we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace [Ephesians 1:7b]. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose wrongs are pardoned; the Lord does not accuse of wrong doing and free from all deceits [Psalms 32:1-2]. For this reason Jesus became the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the entire world.
Chapter Four:
YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL
“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:
bind them about thy neck; write them
upon the table of thine heart: So shall
thou find favor and good understanding
in the sight of God and man. Trust in the
Lord with all thine heart; lean not unto
thine understanding”
[Proverbs 3:3-4]
“Each of us is meant to have a character all our own,
To be what no other can exactly be,
And do what no other can exactly do.”
William Ellery Channing.
Content:
4.1 Success from a Christian Worldview
4.2 The Conditions for Success
4.3 Knowing your Calling
4.4 Steps towards Achieving Success
4.5 God’s rewards system
[4.1] Success from a Christian Worldview
In our world, the rich gets richer and the poor become poorer. This state makes some people wonder despite their struggles in life, why they have remained poor, living from hand to mouth and cannot make ends meet. Some have traced their static state to generic factors; that poverty runs within family circles. Others believe that they came from backward nations and so do not have what it takes to live above board. Others wonder whether God is not partial. Why must some people make it with little or no effort and others work twenty-four-seven and live from hand to mouth? But all these and more are untenable excuses; the truth is that true success comes from God. Some people from poor backgrounds and underdeveloped nations have been known to make progress and achieved success in life. They have broken through the ceiling of lack and shut the gate of poverty; they have cut the chains of have-not and have become successful. They may have enjoyed favors from God, work hard and put their priorities right.
Could you pause, take a long breath and be still for a while, look back through your life journey so far. Do you like where you are and what you are doing? Are you happy with the way things are going in your life? Are you afraid that success will bring you fame and unnecessary attention? Do you nurse the superstition that all who are rich do certain fetish things to get them there? Or are you afraid to manage success and the changes that come with it? Do you nurse fake notion that you cannot be rich and at the same time a faithful Christian? Could it be that you lack the right attitude to become successful. Some just believe they cannot change their nature; they inherited poverty and that is the way it shall remain.
Looking at the life and history of most successful people, they are people who are ready and willing to take necessary risk. They have the ‘can do’ Spirit and do not quit easily. Many of them have failed several times but they are simply no failures. They accept every fall as a learning process, a detour and not an end as well as an opportunity to begin again. They do not blame God, people or situations and make unending excuses for their failures. Rather, they learn from mistakes and move ahead. They believe that God had created them to be successful. One thing that could stop them from moving ahead and becoming whom God had destined them to be is them [you]. They know that God is not an author of confusion, disappointments or failures. These people know that those who are easily discouraged and lacked patience and perseverance don’t make it to the end; they quit too easily and point accusing fingers at others or events.
[4.2] The Conditions for Success
From the genesis of creation, God created every other thing before mankind. He saw His creation and confirmed them good. Then He made mankind in His image and likeness and said it was very good. He commanded and empowered man to be fruitful, multiply, have dominion and subdue the earth [Genesis 1:26-30]. King David, chanting in Psalms 1 says, “Blessed is a man that walks not in the way of the ungodly nor stands on the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His laws does he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the river of water, that brings his fruits in his season, his leaf shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper.” [Psalms 1:1-3]. Here King David gives a recipe for good success: He uses the three action words: walk, stand and sit to begin his illustrations:
Walk not in the counsel of the ungodly people [unwise]: Blessed, enviable and fortunate is a man who does not follow the advices, schemes, and instructions of ungodly people. Like-minded people walk together. You should associate with the wise, faithful and God fearing people. Be focused, dedicated and determined. Take God at His word; do not have an alternative or waiver in opinion or doubt God. He’s the God of all possibilities; nothing is impossible with Him [Luke 1:37]. Good counsel is a good virtue and guides to success. No surprise King David blesses the Lord who has given him good counsel… [Psalms 16:7-8]. Bad counsel distracts, destroys and causes rebellion against God…He defends those who put their trust in Him [Psalm 5:10-11]. The counsel of the Lord last forever and the thoughts of His heart last for all generations [Psalms 33:11-12]. The Lord guides the godly with His counsel [wisdom/ advices] and no man takes counsel against them [Acts 5:38, 39; Proverbs 21:30 and Isaiah 8:10-11].
Stand not in the path of sinners: The path of sinners is wide and leads to destruction. Their paths are not stable or reliable; they are distractive and deceitful; do everything within their reach to succeed. They jump into every business and are masters of none. They have no dreams but imitate the market leaders and produce fake items, selling them cheap to break even. These people are unbelieving believers who call God in their mouth but doubt Him in their hearts. In the body of Christ, they find faults with the pastors, Church leadership and often blame God; accuse everybody except them. They are manipulative, indulgence and rationalize their behavior. They are like chaff that winds blow off; cannot stand in the congregation of the righteous. Their lives are controlled by greed and gains; pursuits driven by ego and power. They may not know that, “Sin will first fascinate [excite] you and then assassinate you.” We should not submit, act, yield or admire the doings, character or ways of these wicked people.
Sits not on the seat of scornful: Don’t be in the gatherings or assembly of mockers; relax with gossipers, accusers, faults finders and assassinators of character. They have destroyed so many people and tarnished so many images while alive. These group of people are lazy and peddlers of rumors; regard working as slavery. They find ways to give excuses and mock other people who work hard to make a living. These days they discuss people not issues through the phones, emails and text messages. These people bear grudges, murmur and are full of jealousies. They love luxuries but live in lack. Many marriages have been broken, relationship dashed and businesses collapse because of association, meddling with, and heeding to advices of the scornful. They blame God, Government, community and other people for their failures and inactivity. They fail to accept responsibility and be accountable for their path in life.
Delight and meditate in God’s commandment: Jesus says to love Him is to keep His commandment. After Moses demise, God commanded Joshua to observe to do the laws of God … and the book of the law shall not depart out of his mouth but meditate them day and night. It’s only in doing this shall you make your way prosperous and have good success [Joshua 1:7, 8]. This has become another recipe for good success for all who fear God and desire prosperity. It’s easy for mankind to slack back and take God’s word for granted. King David said the only way to stay focus and be successful is by taking heed and keeping watch according to God’s word; “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You” [Psalms 119:9, 11; 2 Timothy 3:16]. He makes it a rule of life and conduct; a daily bread. Read and ponder it to gain knowledge and wisdom; live by it. The word of God cleanses and purges and delivers us [John 15: 3; Heb.4; 12]. The word equips us and reveals the Gospel truths; instructs us on God’s promises and warfare weapons as well as the power and authority of God.
The Scripture contains various victories and miracles as well as wraths of God. As we read and meditate in it, we also reposition ourselves to claim in faith God’s manifold deeds and it will come to pass. The word will keep us away from the devil and the devil fights to keep us away from the word and God. Evil meant our suffering for our destruction, but God meant it for our good. Keeping the word of God is keeping His promises and every word spoken by the Almighty eventually comes to pass.
Tree planted by the rivers of water: A tree cultivated and well watered bears fruits in its season and its leaf also shall not fade or wither. It brings forth good plants that survive drought and dryness. Its fruits are rich in nutrients; it can absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for human consumption. It’s not like wild fruit in the desert or chaff blown away by winds. Everything he does shall prosper. When we become like trees planted by the watersides, we have a solid foundation in the Lord Jesus, who is our salvation; our roots obtain food and water from good soil and yields good fruits at its due season. In our season we bear bounteous fruits. Our owner shall not find us wanting or curse us being unproductive.
[4.3] Knowing your calling
Although God created us to be successful, we have to know what God wants us to do; seek His face and know His will. Some people are in wrong spots and pursuing wrong courses. We need to find out where and what God has called us to do. The most frustrating thing is to spend a lifetime pursuing a wrong career or fighting a wrong course. Some people desire to speak like or mimic other people; God is your father and understands the way you talk, your being and what you were created to achieve. Stop imitating other people. Be yourself and do your thing; only you can stop yourself from doing what God has ordained you to do or getting to where God wants you to be. God wants you to stand on your duty post doing well what He has called you to do. Seeking knowledge through His word and dwelling in God’s presence reveals God’s calling. Every call has a purpose and only the one that has called you can give your goals and job descriptions as well as your boundaries. You could marry a spouse that is not your wife/husband. So it’s advisable that you seek God’s face [apply all God had put inside you; all the word’s instincts reveals in you] before you say I do. Many marriages live in conflict for going outside God’s destiny or living on ungodly advices. They chose spouses who were wearing other people’s coat; standing in other people’s stand; pretending what they are not.
God called Moses for a purpose. Even before his conception He planned and prepared him to achieve that purpose – to go to Pharaoh and cause the release of God’s children in the land of Egypt. Despite his weaknesses and difficulties, family problems and persecutions’ God fulfilled his calling. God also called Joshua to succeed Moses, God’s most compassionate servant. God called King David, prepared him as a shepherd boy to be bold, fearless and to trust Him; promoted him to kingship when King Saul failed. King David defeated Goliath, the Philistines’ warlord in a battle he had no credentials to fight. Newsmakers could have written him off even before the battle. His senior brother scrolled David and Goliath saw him as a ranting ant but God had prepared and equipped him a winner.
God commissioned Prophet Elijah and when he had finished his assignment He positioned Prophet Elisha, his servant to succeed him. Elisha was steadfast unto Elijah, his master until he received his authority and power. However Gehaza, who was purported to continue in the stead of his master, Elisha and receive triple anointing fell by the way side because he did not delight in the word and ways of God. Elisha died with his double portion of anointing for his inability to groom and impact a successor. It’s our duty to first of all find who we are, the purpose of our existence and what we were created to achieve and pursue it diligently. When you know who you’re, you will stop behaving like the other person; know who is your master and what is required of you. When you know your calling and stand at your duty post, you will not be absent when your master, the rewarder comes. Delight in the word and meditate day and night; God will reveal to you what your calling is and your promotion path.
[4.4] Steps towards Achieving Success
Below are some steps and recommendations for achieving your success. These steps include:
Set your priority right: We may stand in our callings but to succeed we need to set an achievable goal and stay focused. Resist the temptation of doing every thing at once; you may end up achieving nothing. You could be easily distracted into double mindedness and confusion. Ask yourself, what is my goal? Are you just into get rich quick and ignore God’s status and moral values? Do you just want to get to other side ignoring boundaries and limits? Do not say it does not matter. Set you goal to please God in whatever you do and put your mind and strength into it. Those who put their trust in God and work hard will prosper [Proverbs 13:4]. God’s word urges to seek God first and every other thing shall be added unto you [Matthews 6:33]. Some people just jump into projects without goals and consideration of what it shall take; where and how to start? Is it realizable within the time frame or where I should start first? It must not be anyhow; we must set achievable and tenable goals. As a believer, whatever you do must also be in line with the acceptable Christian practice. The riches and gifts of unrighteous man is abomination unto God.
Have plan and guideline: “Most people do not plan to fail but they fail to plan.” Planning is a very important ingredient in successful management. You may have a good objective but without a plan, it’s like building a house without an access. Even when you have an idea of where or what you intend to go and do, you still need a road map [guide] to take you there and to devise a scheme for doing it. It is common for people to have their plan at heart, not written down; however it is proper to make an outline or a sketch. If it’s written it could be updated and not easily forgotten or mixed up. This will guide whatever you do and drive the plan. In case of error, it is traceable to where it flipped and corrects it. Again, the plan could serve as reference in future. That is why most builders keep plan and processors stick and pay close attention to their diagrams and plans. Your plan should include: list of activities and time schedules, materials and labor as well as how and where to raise various funds required. Planlessness is a costly lapse that can shatter any good dream.
Visualize your attending the set goal: Where there is no vision, the people perish [Proverbs 29:18]. Where there’s a vision, there must be mission and provision. A vision without a provision dies in limbo. “If it’s not realized, it could be your timing is wrong or what you want differs from what God’s want.” It’s God who gives a vision; so dream and think in success pictures. Some people have dreams but think failure; it can never be done, no body has done it before. “Don’t measure your success by what others have and haven’t done.” Don’t forget, great Stars are those who do things other people have not done. Since God has given you the dream, it’s your season to bear good fruits. If you dash your dreams, you disappoint not only God who gave you the dream but you and others who belief in your God’s given abilities and could have benefited in the outcome of your dream.
Believe in yourself: When God gives you a dream, it’s for you to carry it out; fulfill and realize it. You have to believe in yourself. You are unique in every aspect. God believes in you and you have to believe in yourself. Only you can stop God from blessing you, promoting you and establishing you. When God who created you, who knows all the uncommon qualities embedded in you gives you a dream it is to bless you and lift you up to another level as well as bless other people through you. Do not let that dream waste or expire; materialize it and use it to make impart in your generation. God who has given you a dream is able to guide you through. When God gave Joseph a dream, He guided him through it even though he had to pass through the pit and prison before getting to the palace. If you must get to the other side of the sea expect some strong winds and storms on your way. Do not forget that God’s presence brings His present. Trust Him, if God brought you to that place, He will take you through it.
Get dissatisfied with your present position: You may not be where you used to be, but you’re not where you wish to be. You are on a journey. If you’ve attained some enviable height, that’s wonderful and commendable. However, you have not reached the ultimate height: a leader in the industry, the best manager of the year, a winner of the race, the billionaire of the year, etc. You want to pursue the goal of reaching the highest height that is where you want to be – towards perfection. Do not rest on your laurels; you still have great things to achieve on your way to perfection. The way is still long and rough. When Apostle Paul encountered Jesus Christ, he had attended noble reputation and recognition, but counts them loss and rubbish for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord…[Phil 3:7-8]. He added, I count not myself to have apprehended, …pursuing those things that are before me. …I press towards the mark for the prize of high calling of God in Christ Jesus [vs. 13-14; 2 Cor.10:12-14]. Some people are easily satisfied with the crumbs, when a little effort will get them into the abundance of their dream. Sometimes you may’ve to hate where you’re to provoke thoughts and reactions toward the next level. Hold forth and do not slow down until the race is won. You will only get a prize, after you win the race, not before.
Some Christians think the moment they get born again, they have reached their destination. No doubt born again is the most important decision one makes in the whole of a lifetime but that is just the beginning of Christian journey. Apostle Paul encountered Jesus on his way to Damascus and that was the commencement of his fight for the crown. If you happen to read the Acts of Apostles and other letters of the New Testament, you will get acquainted with Apostle Paul’s Spiritual journeys. After passing the batons, he humbly submitted, “For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith. Henceforth there’s laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge shall give me at that day” [1 Timothy 4:6-9]. We cannot afford to stop this race half way. Earthly wealth is a physical success and we need it to live well here on earth and do the work of Christ. But the crown of life that the Lord Jesus awards at the end of our journey is nothing to compare with earthly riches.
You may fall several times but if you persevere with patience, you will success on the long run. Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Henry Chester describes Enthusiasm as nothing more or less than faith in action. “Your enthusiasm must be nourished with new actions, new aspiration, new efforts and new vision.” All great discoverers, achievers, had face moments of trials in their journeys to success. Too many people know how to live everybody’s life but their own. Peter Lowe said, “The most common trait I have found in all people that are successful is that they have conquered the temptation to give up.” God has given every one a dream; discover yours and pursue it. You may not succeed in another person’s vision, so discover who you are and what and where God is leading you. Be assured the One who gives the vision shall provide the mission and provision, when you stick to Him and His plan. Once again, you are created to be successful.
[ 4.5] GOD’S REWARD SYSTEM
By reward or remuneration system, we simply mean pay and wage system. People work so that they will make a living. Even when we say we love our jobs the main drive is the reward; it includes salaries, wages and/or benefits. In recruitment and discharge policies, employers adopt FIFO [First In First out] and LIFO [Last in first out] principles. Even before human beings and organizations [accountants and Human resources personnel], Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew 20:1-16 had told the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Jesus concluded, “So those who are last will be first and those who are first will be the last” [Vs 16]. People resent and criticized this principle as unfair and irrational, especially during lay off. God has a system that could baffle most economics and Pay specialist. Since God’s way is not our ways, so does His thought differ from our own thoughts; His pay system is also different from the world. In a dream, Abram heard the Lord Say, “do not fear, I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward [Genesis 15:1]. Let’s consider our ways; what would be your reward?
In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus narrated a story of a man who went out early in the morning [about 6 am] to recruit some people and he agreed to pay them the regular wage of a sliver coin a day. He sent them to work in the vineyard. At 9 am, he went out again at the market place and recruited some more people and said he will pay them a fair wage. At 12 noon, 3 pm, and about 5 pm respectively, he repeated the same. He asked those he engaged at 5 pm why they were wasting the day doing nothing? The workers said nobody hired them. He sent them to work at the vineyard. When evening came, the owner told his foreman to call the workers and pay them their wages starting with those who were hired last and ends with those who were hired first. The foreman paid those who were hired last in the evening the same amount as paid those who were hired first. Those who were hired in the morning started grumbling, murmuring and complaining. Those who were hired last worked just for about an hour and yet paid the same as those who were hired in the morning. In response to the grumbling workers, the owner said, “I have not cheated you. After all I paid you what we agreed on as wages for a day’s job.”
Human beings do not understand that God’s reward those who work for Him more than our world payment system do and in different ways. Our labor represents our time, our talent and our efforts. Some people may have accepted or finally yield to God’s will in their life in their advance age and thereafter started working for God. God looks at our labor of love and service of faith. People may come late to the kingdom but travailed and labored harder than those who were born in Church. God looks at the heart and our perseverance than the outward eye service. God hears those who fear Him, agonized in total resignation than those who only lift up ‘holy hands’ and babble in worship. God knows those who are serving Him honestly and truthfully and those who serve when people are looking [Matthew 6:1-2, 5, and 16]. ……..He rewards each one according to his deeds [Matthew 16:27].
God met Saul of Tarsus while he was already a grown man, a practicing lawyer and scribe of Jewish law but his encounter had help progress the Gospel [Phil 1:12]. He was the man God used to fulfill His salvation promises to the Gentiles; indeed all Christians. He labored in faith, preached under persecutions and planted Churches around the Mediterranean; authored most of the Epistles’ in the New Testament. Only God can qualify and evaluate Apostle Paul labor of love. God knows whether he had fulfilled his purpose and destiny. He may not have done everything well in human judgment or pleased everybody but may have satisfied God’s call and his life. God will reward each one according to the work each has done [1Corinthians 3:8].
Similarly, in the parable of the Talents, God gave the same praise to the man who turned five talents into ten and the one who turned two talents into four. God created us and knows our gifts and abilities as well as our weaknesses. He does not compare one person to another. God has plans and purposes for us and only Him can evaluate and reward fairly and adequately because He is just and faithful God as well as God of justice and love. Some rewards come in the form of reverence [worship/honor], good health, wonderful spouse, amazing children and enviable job and prosperity in life. It could also be in revelation Spirit, peace of mind, great faith and abiding in Christ such that whatever you ask in Jesus name, you receive it. Little wonder the Psalmist says, God will honor any person that fear Him; his children possess their possession and are mighty in the land; shall be wealthy, rich and prosperous to many generations [Psalm 112:1-3].
Even in our world, many people are not in their called vocation. Do you like and enjoy what you do? Are you sure you’re fulfilling your purpose in life? Even in the Church, some who would have been better Ushers and Deacons have been made armchair Pastors. Even when they like to answer the name of the post but are not doing the work; get easily frustrated but pretend all is well. The worst thing in life is to be stocked in a wrong vocation. Jesus came to serve so He understand our faithfulness in service and labor of love [Mark 10:45]. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing and makes the plans of the peoples’ of no effect but the counsel of the Lord stands forever. God fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. [Psalm 145:19]. It becomes very clear that in whatever we are called to do or to serve, we should know that God is the giver of life and judges what we do; how we use the life He gave us. He allows us free will to make choices and so as to fulfill our destiny. Would God say to you at the end of day, good and faithful servant, you have done well. You have been faithful with the little, now have much [Matthew 25:21-23]. God watches and sees beyond human eyes; our life and labor must be living sacrifice and reasonable service. Human beings look and judge on physical appearance and labor but God sees the hearts, minds and hidden service of love and sacrifice. Who then can understand God’s judgment and parameters for His rewards?
Chapter Five:
UNDERSTANDING THE LORD
“I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images.” [Isaiah 42:8]
“Jesus Christ opens wide the doors
of the treasure-house of God’s
promises and bids us go and take
what are ours.”
Corrie Ten boom.
Chapter Five: Content
5.1 Who is like the Lord?
5.2 Rediscover God in your life
5.3 When we feel less of God’s presence
5.4 Mystery of the Cross
5.5 New Age of Idolatry
5.6 Knowing your Spiritual and Cultural Boundaries
How do we understand the Lord has been a question confronting mankind since creation. Without our understanding of who the Lord is, every attempt to serve Him and keep His commandment will be fruitless. Knowledge of God and His will is crucial for our purpose in life and how we render services to Him. In this chapter, we will examine questions relating to the knowledge of the Almighty including who is like the Lord. Second, it is necessary that we examine the mystery of the Cross. Without this understanding, it is futile to appreciate why our Lord Jesus Christ died for us. Third, our lack of understanding of who the Lord is leads us to idolatry. Because the present generation has been separated from the presence of the Almighty God, it has turned to idols to find meaning to their existence. Thus, this chapter will also examine the “new age of idolatry” and what has given rise to the worship of idols.
[5.1] Who is Like the Lord?
An email received from a pal contained this mystery: a fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are few of the answers she got. God is like BAYER ASPIRIN, He works miracles. God is like COKE, he’s the real thing. God is like SEARS, he has everything. God is like ALL STATE; you’re in good hands with Him. God is like DIAL SOAP, Aren’t you glad you have Him? Don’t you wish everybody did? God is like the US POST OFFICE, neither rain, snow, sleet nor will ice stop Him from his appointed destination. It’s amazing how these young fellows could put together great thoughtful description of God. I thank God that they would grow to have a deep knowledge of God and know Him very personally, Amen. If I seek your indulgence to ask, who is God like? Different people could have different answers. God is known by who He’s, what He has done and will continue to do. In effect, the names of God describe who He’s and His deeds. To know who God really is, we shall go by His names. Wayne A. Gruden, in his book, Christian Beliefs said, “God is the highest source of information about himself.” This is found in the Scriptures.
From time immemorial, people are known by their names and the works they do. Some people are doctors, engineers, attorney, nurses, carpenters, plumbers, gold smith, teachers, apostle, preachers and town criers, etc. In traditional communities names have meanings and some communities celebrate ‘naming’ and anything related to it. We also love, appreciate and recognize titles. If you call someone’s name omitting the associated title[s], it could be considered a dishonor, disrespect and worst still an insult. For example: In an African meeting someone was addressed without his title, the title bearer vexed and demanded for it. That held up proceeding for a good time and the gathering enjoyed the fun.
In another occasion, one was introduced and invited to a high table, but the Master of Ceremony [M/C] inadvertently omitted his title, the High Chief refused to stand for recognition. When friends and acquaintances noticed him in the arena but did not acknowledge the invitation, they approached him. He confessed he was not properly introduced. The M/C had to apologize and reintroduced the chief. I have also witnessed a personality who was introduced and invited to a high table without his title. The man, being in a good mood, walked to the table, grabbed the microphone and reintroduced himself with his titles. I guess he felt good about himself.
It’s commended that when we are privileged to introduce someone we should endeavor to honor the person with his/her titles. No gain saying some of these titles took years of academic work to earn or awarded following deliberate contributions to academic institutions or communities. Others expended large sum of money to be conferred with one; something went in for something. Funny enough some of the titles have a deeper meaning than those who bear them. For example: Among those who answer ‘Ogbuagu’ meaning ‘lion killer’ many never killed a mouse or slaughtered a foul for domestic use; worst still they can’t even stand the spill of blood. However, there are those who do not have strong attachment to titles, since they already know who they are. That reminds me of an incident in Capital Market Seminar held in Nigeria a couple of years back. A respected financial guru was invited to chair a session and the M/C introduced him as Chief, Dr. [name withheld]. After what looked like initial hesitation, he reluctantly but modestly walked to the high table. In his opening remarks he refuted being a chief and pleaded not to be associated with titles that had lost their meanings and bearings in this time and age. The M/C later apologized for the error. A big deal, not at all; it’s all about different strokes and different people. Some people are crazy for titles while other care little or nothing about them.
We thank God for his great mercies and understanding in the affairs of men. Most people read the scriptures but do not carry God’s names at heart. However since individual encounters with God differ, we appear to know God’s names related to our experiences – what He has done in us, for us and through us. One whom God healed of an incurable disease has testimony of a healing God. The same is Provider, Refuge, Shield, Shepherd, Satisfier, Forgiver of sins and indeed our Maker and Creator; He’s an unconditional lover, full of grace and mercies, etc. Also as we read the scriptures and meditate on it we reflect on the various acts and miracles of God. These help us to recognize Him by His names. These names represent who He’s and His deeds in his creation.
When we claim to know God, what we are saying is that we know about God. God reveals his personality and character in the pages of the scriptures. Wayne Gruden tells us God’s love [1John 4:8]; God’s light [1 John1: 5]; God’s Spirit [John4: 24] and God are righteous [Romans 3: 26]. He added God’s holy [Psalm 99:9; Leviticus 19: 2]; God’s jealous [Exodus 20:5] and God hates sin [John3:36; Rom.1:18]. God shares some of His attributes and character with us. Full knowledge of God is unattainable because He’s Spirit and we are human; He’s infinite, we are finite. We can neither fully comprehend His greatness nor measure His understanding. However we can experience God very personally in the way He deals with us. God allows us the freedom to live and experience Him in various ways; make choices in life and bear the consequences. Even when we chose wrongly, He allows us the freedom to err because He created us freethinking persons. Notwithstanding, the heart of man plans his ways but the Lord establishes his steps [Proverbs 16:9]. Our choices are subjected to God’s will. Biblical Job had an understanding of who God is like when he said we have to accept both good and bad things from God. Nothing hinders God from doing Hiss will or constrained by anything. Isaiah peeped into a session of worship in heavenly place and cried, “He’s finished”. He encountered the Holy God sitting on His throne while in a session of worship and what he saw changed his life.
How would you describe God or say he’s like? You may be born again but claim you have no experiential knowledge of God. What you don’t know is that your salvation is a remarkable experience. Experience like wisdom comes when you begin a walk with God and enjoy his presence. Apostle Paul in all his letters bore testimonies of his conversion as his uncommon encounter and experience of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he first persecuted, but later conscripted and commissioned the Apostle to the gentles. Little wonder Apostle Paul described himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. His experiences of God were different from Simon Peters’ who was the Apostle for the Jews. Our experiences of God differ depending on God’s purpose for our lives and what He desires to accomplish through us.
God released the children of Israel from their slave masters in Egypt; divided the Red Sea into two and the Israelites walked through it on dry land. The same sea swallowed up the armies, horses and chariots of Egypt. God supplied Israelites angels’ food [manna] from heaven, water from the brooks; protected them with pillars of cloud in the day and pillars of fire in the night throughout their journeys. We were not present but since the bible is the word of God and of truth, we believe and meditate on it. It was for similar reason that apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, if God did not raised Christ from dead, it means we are lying, propagating falsehood; have hopeless expectations, death has victory over mankind and our faith is worthless. But thank be to God that even Jesus Christ raised three dead people while on earth; He also said He is the resurrection and life. These reveal there would be resurrection of the death; dead in Christ shall rise again.
A songwriter wrote, “Who’s like unto thee, Oh God; among the gods who is like unto thee; glorious in holiness fearful in praises, always doing wonders hallelujah.” God in various scripture portions boasted, who’s like unto Me, who created heaven and earth, gathered and separated waters from the lands and created dreadful beings in the depth and different creatures in the forest. He made the heavens and the beauty of the sun, moon and stars. God created the whole universe of visible and invisible things and mankind in his own image. There’s something in us that look like Gods’. He therefore has a legal claim and trade marks on His creation. God of Love, grace and mercies is equally the God of justice and righteousness. He hears and answers prayers but could delay not deny them. He creates, provides, protects, heals, forgives and loves unconditionally; caring, disciplines and punishes. God allows the good and the bad to happen; control everything that happens in the universe. He’s always working. Don’t ask me when He would retire or go on holidays in Bahamas. He never retires or sleeps or goes on vacation. Neither is He a workaholic. God is Spirit; he never changes but changes everything –mankind, situation and creation. God smiles, gets angry, shares our sorrow and pains; defends the poor and weak. He inhabits the praises and worship of the righteous and abhors the wicked because their praises are abomination unto Him.
God is perfect in all His ways. There’s no deceit in Him. God is more than what any human mind tries to describe, imagine and comprehend. God is omnipotent [all powerful]. His power is infinite and can do things beyond our thoughts and wishes [Ephesians 3:20]. But God cannot lie, tempts human beings or denies himself. God is Omniscience [all knowledgeable]; his knowledge is beyond our comprehension. He knows our past, present, our future and our end. God is also omnipresent [always with us]. He is present always with us; in trial and in joys even as we pass through the valleys of death and wilderness of temptation. In His presence, we behold His glory and beauty; experience His blessedness and presents. We stumble and fall, yet have the opportunity to rise and shine. He rebukes the enemy and His glory drives the demons away. In His presence, we are renewed, cleansed and satisfied in His goodness. In acknowledgement we bow in praise and worship and honor. To Him be the glory, honor, power and dominion, forever.
[5.2] REDISCOVER GOD IN YOUR LIFE
[Exposition of Psalm 139:1-12f]
Many of us do not doubt that God exists and created heaven and the earth; knows us personally. He knows where and when we were born, our home addresses, phone numbers and can reach us anywhere and anytime even when we are hidden from human sight. It’s astounding to discover that God knows everything about us and cares for us. God knows our thoughts and the purposes of our minds before the thoughts are formed. You will be overwhelmed to discover that in spite of the fact that He’s an Almighty and awesome God, He’s interested in the minutes detail about each person. If you think deeply, you cannot but wonder how God with the whole universe to care for, can be interested in the minute details in every individual. The Psalmist expresses such wonder in Psalm 139 verses1-2: “O Lord, You have searched and known me; You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought a far off.” Even when we jumble, muddle and fumble as we pour our hearts to God, God knows each of us intimately; our needs before we ask [Matthew 6:8]. He knows our fears, our sins, our insecurity and inadequacy; every detail of our lives. Jesus foreknew the woman at the well, Zacchaeus was on the tree, that Lazarus had died for four days, and that the man at the pool was there for thirty eight year. He also knows our struggles.
In the wilderness experience the children of Israel were under God watchful eyes that throughout their 40 years journey God cared for them, protected them and supplied their needs. In Matthews Gospel, Jesus Christ teaches that God cares for his humanity and urged us not to worry about life. If God could take account of every bird in the air, every animal in the forest and fishes in the sea, then He can account for every hair in human heads [Matthew 6]. Human minds do not understand how God can do all these. That is why in Psalm 139 verse 6, the Psalmist exclaimed, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.” The Psalmist learnt that this God does not only know and care but also chases [pursues] human beings to bring them love and to make them enjoy His grace. You may be forsaken by your spouse and weary children; your unfriendly friends may boycott you and your parents may have abandoned you. You may have made wrong choices and exposed to wrong life and perhaps end up in jail, with or without walls. Yet you’ve a God who would not let go. He’s stubborn, jealous and a chasing God whose love and compassion is so much that He holds tight when every other has let loose. It does not matter if we loose our hold of Him, run and hide from Him, escape and runaway to a far country like the prodigal son or like Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden; yet we cannot escape from the relentless lover of our souls. What a hard lesson to learn that we cannot run away or keep God away from loving and chasing us. His compassionate love that cost Him the life of His only begotten son on the cross of shame cannot be reversed.
Most people that read or recite this Psalm 139 do not pay attention to the expressions and surprises in verses 7-12. That is why some people still think they can run or become fugitives from God. The reasons they closed their doors and commit crime and think God neither sees nor knows them. The Psalmist understood that God is Spirit and Omnipresent. Whether you ascend to heaven or hide in hell, dwell in uppermost part of the depth, in darkness or in light, indeed nothing can hide anything from God. When Adam and Eve sinned, they ran to hide but surprisingly even in their fugitives, God found them. Those living as economic refugees in other lands, God is still watching and caring for them. Even though they were refugees, some of them have made unequal and uncommon achievements and progress. Those refugees who decide to commit crime in the lands of their abode should know that the God who gave them favor into those lands is watching keenly. God is everywhere and working every time. Those who have tried to hide from God in the things of life had found themselves in mystery. They elude that those who seek heaven are the poor, scornful, sorrowful, sick and less privileged. The strong, healthy and happy people have no need for God and heaven. These rich people create their heaven on earth and they often resort to coercion and violence to achieve it; ending up in creating hell instead of heaven.
In every occasion, God sends the same message to every generation that He is always present at every where and time; loves you unconditionally and you cannot run away from God. An Old Testament prophet says God speaks in two ways: in words and in events. If we refuse to listen to His words, He allows us to go through events and experiences. Either way, the purpose of God is to draw us back to Him. We can meet God as a friend and child or as an enemy; can hear His words or hear His voice in events. Neither the farthest limit of emotion nor farthest limit of space can provide refuge from God. Even the wings of the morning surprisingly cannot provide an escape from God. In spite of the glaring lessons that we cannot escape or hide from God, mankind has been busy trying to do same. In our age, man has immigrated to new continents of thought and achievement, where they think God cannot find them. This is windful thought and waterloo, because wherever we go, God is already ahead and behind us. This is why He is God.
If we plan to run away from God, what would happen when we die? What happens when we face Him in judgment? It could just be a mental battle living in denial that God is present in death. It’s a fool that think God does not exist every where [Psalm 14:1]. Just as your can close your eyes and pretend that there is no light, you can close your mind, take a deep breath and say there’s no god. There are futile gestures and cheerful deceit. The question you would answer this day is: How much longer are you going on like this: shutting the door against God? It’s my prayer that you will discover before it’s too late. There’s no doubt that much of our life is an attempt to escape from this God who knows us better than we know ourselves. He has known us since before we were born. Verses 13-14 say, “For you formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother’s womb…………” The more reason this great God is to be honored and praised. “I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works.” And that my soul knows very well.
Why should one want to escape from God? Does this God not bless us, care and provide for us? Griffith, Leonard in God in man’s experience wrote, “God is not like a police inspector, who tract down escaped convicts, chasing them to everywhere to arrest and lock them up in prison cell and chain them to the wall……. Our God is like a shepherd who leaves the rest of his flock while he goes searching for a single stray and when he finds the lost sheep, the cradles it tenderly in his arms and bring it back to the warmth and safety of the fold….” This God is the God who died for us when we did not know Him. God raised His son from death to victory of all mankind who accept Him. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, The Lord; The creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor weary. His understanding is unsearchable” [Isaiah 40: 28]. Today this great God beckons on you saying, come back to me I still love and care for you. Know that you can run but you can’t get away. He had purchased us with the life of His son; will pursue ruthlessly until He recovers us.
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[5.3] WHEN WE FEEL LESS OF GOD’S PRESENCE
Is God asleep, or has just gone on vacation? Where is He? Why is He missing in our daily lives and does not answer when we most need Him? Is it possible that God sometimes hides himself that we have to seek and discover Him a new? Or does He purposely create silence about Himself so that when He speaks, it thunders and embodies the sacred nature and the awe of His being? Is He still hiding Himself in the clouds and pillars of fire? It could be that if He makes Himself always available, mankind would take Him for granted and He merely becomes a piece of idol designed and made by man that we turn around and carry about at wills. Yet God is omnipresent: always present everywhere at every time. Nothing can ever stop or deny His presence in joys, sorrows, terror even in death.
But God is in heaven and His footstool is on earth. God in His wisdom made man to domain on earth where we trail as visitors. It’s easy to recognize God and talk about His goodness when our expectations and desires are met. Then we sing His praise and rejoice in thanksgivings for successes and for aspirations fulfilled. When we experience sorrow, delays, failures and persecutions we tend to think, He hides and allows problems to overtake us. Little wonder Job could ask should we accept goodness from God and reject bad things when they happen! God can also reveal Himself in ugliness, persecution and in death. God could be seen not only in plenty but also in famine, not only in health but in illness, not only in victory but in defeat, not only in prosperity but in hardship. Sometimes God allows sufferings and hardship to befall us to work out His purpose. For example: the children of Israel spent 400 years in slavery until they started enjoying their sufferings. One could ask why God had to wait so long to intervene.
As Isaiah 50:2 put it: God’s hand is not short to helping us but our sins block God from reaching us. Are we directing God on what to do? How can a pot tell a potter how to create or mould it? We better stop and pause to understand what the problem is. We should stop telling God what to do and begin to abide in Him; listen and obey Him. God should hold the steering and not take back seat. He created us, know us and direct us. Why it’s hard for people in our age to believe that God is present with us and can relate with us in our different circumstances of life. The bible teaches that God is at work within our human affairs and many of the trouble we suffer are our refusal to acknowledge Him, follow Him and work out His purposes. It’s not God who hides from us rather we hide from God. From the time Adam and Eve failed, human beings have been hiding from God, even when He walks into our domains.
In the Old Testament, God spoke through prophets and His presence and powers revealed through the works He did. For example: the various meetings Moses had with Pharaoh and his stubbornness to let the children of Israel to go, the wilderness experiences and the miracle of dividing the Red Sea and after that River Jordan. His chat with Noah and the Ark, Adam and the Garden of Eden, Abraham and his only son Isaac; God’s Angel wrestled with Jacob, Joseph and the fulfillment of his dream. Apostle Paul experienced God in his conversion and in every area and circumstances of his life and submitted, “And I know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose” [Romans 8:28]. However in the New Testament, God hid Himself in Jesus Christ and came to us through his Son. No wonder Jesus could say He who sees Him has seen the Father. “I am in the Father and Father is in Me.” While Isaiah said it was our sins that hide God from us, Jesus said the same thing differently; that the pure in heart shall see God. Reverend Leonard Griffith writing on God in Man’s Experience said Jesus found God in all things – in the flower of the field, children at play, laborers in a vineyard, women at their work, shepherd watching their flocks. He added even through God may not always be accessible to the quick-witted or the clear-headed; He is never hidden from the eyes of the morally pure. Jesus put it straight when He taught, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” The pure in heart saw God in Jesus Himself; some humble shepherds seek Him, peasant fishermen and children worship Him; the sick rejoiced in their health restored, the dying man on the cross obtained mercy and a place in His kingdom. This strange spiritual perception had very little to do with the way that people thought but it had everything to do with the way that people lived; the decisions and choices they made as God continue to work in the lives delivered from sins.
In this Church age Jesus had long gone back to the Father and sent us the Holy Spirit. In this new dispensation we can only see God through the eye of faith. So it could be that God deliberately hides himself to drive us to exercise our faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” However Donald Hankey was quoted to have redefined faith as an act of betting your life there is God. It has been described by another giant of faith as doing something because the word of God says so, even when it makes no sense. “It is the stubborn persistence of belief in God when everything in our lives and in the life of the world seems to contradict that belief. No man really comes close to God until he finds Him by faith and no man begins to exercise true faith until God seems to be hidden from his sight.” Again Martin Luther was said to have written that God is “the hidden God.” He held the opinion that God always remain hidden unless and until He takes the initiative and makes himself known. God had therefore revealed Himself in His son, Jesus Christ that we should believe in Him and live. So even when we feel less of His presence we should believe He’s ever present and approach Him through the faith of our inner mind; only then can we see Him in action.
A friend, Mr. James Okafor sharing his thoughts with me opined, “When we feel less of God’s presence, we should call home meaning personal introspection. This reminds me of my parent’s advice each time I left home for college; they admonished, call home. However Mr. Okafor’s opinion reminds that we are strangers, passing by on earth. Our home is in heaven. Christians are “resident aliens” in a sinful world [Philippians 3:20]. Yea, when we appear to be loosely connected to heaven, we should call the throne of grace where the King of glory resides. We do this by reading and meditating on our bible daily; the more intake and application of the word, the stronger and growing we become. We have to pray everyday and always, since prayer is the food of the soul and Spirit and a dual communication with God’s head. Next is to attend Church worship and activities regularly and exercise our faith by witnessing for Christ, in words, actions and in silence. The prophet Isaiah asked, “Who among you that feared the Lord that obeyed the voice of His servant that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord; let him who does not have any light to guide him, depend on his God [Isaiah 50:10].
Our Daily Manna [A Devotional Booklet for champions] Volume 8; section 3:8 says the first thing to do is to do nothing. This supports the saying, ‘when you’re rattled, don’t rush.’ The Psalms 46 had this to say: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in our trouble. We should not fear, even when the earth is removed, the mountain is carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters roar…mountains shake, it makes no difference. God is the refuge of His people against everything actual and imagined. Be still and know that I’m God….I am not an absentee deliverer but a defense always present…..will be exalted amongst nations and in the earth.” Find out what God is trying to say through the happening events. Follow your heart because God’s present and talks to us always. Remember God knows the way and He knows what to do. In the midst of all we go through, resist worries and anxieties. Finally seek spiritual counsel and help, if need be. Reverend Jimmy Lin, ministry leader of the Back to God Hour writing on TODAY [The family Altar] October 8, 2008 quoted these inscription found in an underground cellar in the Paris city after world War 11, “I believe in the sun even when it’s not shinning, I believe in love even when not feeling it, I believe in God even when He is silent.” Those who unscripted those words did not live in a fantasy world. They knew that the enemy was really ferocious but God was mightier; life was too difficult to bear, but God was never far away. Christians should learn in a hopeless situation to draw strength from God and from God’s people. Christians should hold unto unshaken faith no matter what happens.
[5.4] Mystery of the Cross
The mystery of the cross is the least heard message in our time. This message is the crux of Christian faith and the Church foundation. In fact, there’s no Christianity without the Cross. Most Churches place the Cross conspicuously; some large, others small. Some Church folks hang it in their houses, in offices, in cars and in key holders; while most women wear it as necklets, bangles, and rings. Even though it appears commonly displayed but has uncommon Spiritual significance. Some denominations make sign of the Cross before and after prayers and even when they perceive danger. The Cross has also become a common costume of the Clergies while others wear it for various factional motives. Surprisingly some want the crown without the Cross, while it simply provokes others. Apostle Paul described these people as “enemies of the Cross of Christ,” whose end is destruction, their bellies are their gods, they glory in their shame, and their minds are devoted to earthly things [Phil3: 18-19].
Literally the Cross is an upright object with a bar across it near the top to which the ancient Romans fastened convicted person to die. It’s on similar object that Jesus, the Christ was crucified in between two thieves according to the scriptures. The Scripture reveals that even before creation of the universe, God had a begotten Son. He was with God and the whole creation was made through Him and for His pleasure. Yet God’s desire was to have many sons [children]. He expressed this desire from the beginning when He created Adam and out of him made Eve to satisfy longing for companionship. Thereafter, God ordered them to dominate, subdue, multiply and govern the whole creation. Paul restated this fact in his opening letter to the Ephesians: “That God predestined us unto sonship to be adopted as his own children through Christ Jesus in accordance to the purpose of His will for good pleasure and love.”
The author, Witness Lee in his book, “The basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures” reminded us that many Christians might think God’s predestination is unto Salvation. However, according to the Scriptures, “in eternity past, the first thought in God’s heart was neither Salvation nor Heaven [the goal of God’s predestination] but sonship. God for-knew that mankind would fail so He had put in place a plan for salvation; so salvation was purposed for sonship. The only begotten Son of God was addressed as the first born, which suggest that other sons/children shall be born. Jesus therefore has millions of trillions of brothers and sisters. These do not connote children adopted by a father, but rather sons born directly of the begotten Father.
In Ephesians 3:11, Apostle Paul assured that God executed His eternal plan and was able to do what He had planned because of all that Christ Jesus had done. He further explained that Christ sacrificed His life’s blood to set mankind free from our sins and death. Before then Jesus predicting His death, reinforced God’s plan for Children, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” [John12: 24]. Jesus death and resurrection produced many seeds of the kingdom. Many are Christians and more shall be because of what Jesus did on the cross.
God had also revealed His plan even in the mouth of children. A Daily Bread article titled “The upside of dying” gave this exposition: A Sunday School teacher asked some 5 years old a series of questions to help them realized that believing in Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. He asked, ‘If I sell everything I have and give the money to the Church, would that get me to heaven? The children answered ‘no’. He posed the second question, How about if I keep everything clean in and around the church? Another unison answer of ‘no’ greeted him. The third question followed, ‘if I love my family and be kind to animals, give candy to every child I met, will that get me to heaven? The children answered ‘hell no’ Then he asked, what will get me into heaven? A lad shouted you have to die. The lad was right. The Bible tells us that we all shall leave our flesh and blood bodies [1Corinthians 15: 50-52].
When mankind was estranged from God by disobedience, God then executed His redemption plan to raise us from our fall and restore us back to Himself. In the plan Christ became the lamb that was stained to deliver us from death and gave us eternal life. Christ came in the flesh through a virgin birth, lived with mankind on earth and showed the WAY. He suffered, died on the Cross, was buried and rose from death. By one death and resurrection, the world was saved. Christ death on the Cross replaced the sacrifices of the old covenant not through elimination but by fulfilling them. By His death, Christ gave himself as a sacrifice to God [1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5: 2; Hebrews9: 26]. He took the pains of fallen man upon himself and by so doing, triumphed over the diseases of soul and body; by His Spirit which death could not kill, made a public spectacle of the devil and overcame death and sin.
John Damascene [C. 675-749] writing on “What happened on the Cross” said, “ by nothing-else except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low.” Also Cecil France Alexander [1818-95], a hymn writer, put it this way: “there was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, … He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in…” Jesus death of shame on the cross, destroyed the power of the inherited sin of our first parent, plundered hell and bestowed resurrection. The cross opened the gate of heaven, gave us power to overcome death and made us again children and heirs of God. Through the cross of Christ, the former blessedness was restored and power to despise death and worldliness.
By this singled event, all things were put right: the sin power broken and a seal of redemption put on us; therefore, henceforth mankind had eternal hope, the first Adam became a living being while the last Adam [Jesus Christ] a life-giving Spirit restoring the dead to life. God made us conquerors through Jesus Christ and mankind recovered our original status as sons of God by adoption; the proclamation by the prophets about the mystery of the Passover [Christ] confirmed. “We can find no greater proof of God’s love for us than the willing sacrifice of Christ on the cross” In His last words, ‘it’s finished’ Jesus expressed victory rather than defeat; implied that the strife was over and the battle won. Indeed great sacrifice, great victory; beyond the knowledge and imagination of Satan. With great humility Jesus accomplished the desires and plan of God by offering Himself unblemished to God. The Cross of Christ became the crux of Christianity, the safeguard of our faith, the assurance of our hope and the throne of love.
Little wonder Apostle Paul says, “But far be it for me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” [Galatians 6:16]. He also said, “for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain” [Philippians 1: 21]. When Jesus bowed His head and gave up His Spirit, the great thunder struck the universe and the clouds became dark and great rare of sunshine emerged. The temple veil rent and the dead rose to bear witness of who raised them and also as a testimony of the final resurrection of the dead. Abbot Rupert of Deutz who has written as far back as the 12th century said “The cross of Christ is the door to heaven, the key to paradise, the downfall of the devil, the uplifting of mankind, the consolation of our imprisonment and the price for our freedom. It also signifies the sign of elasticity of God’s mercy and proof of forgiveness”.
Raniero Contalamessa, contributing on the discussion of what God has reigned from a tree [the cross], submitted that Jesus bares our pride in His body on the cross. The cross is the tomb that absorbs all human pride. He bore our faults in His body on the cross (1Peter 2:24). The scripture says, “if one man has died for all, then all have died” [2Corinthians 5:14]. “Also by one man’s obedience many will be saved” [Romans 5:19]. St Augustine said “we must nail all feelings of pride to the cross (Christian Doctrine). Since Christ destroyed the hostility on the cross, we are invited to place all resentment at the foot of the cross; be reconciled to God and one another, embracing each other for the sake of Christ. We should also throw our load of pride, vanity, presumption, and haughtiness into the great furnace of Christ passion; humbly look at him as the author and finisher of our faith. The cross of Christ is the source of all blessings, the cause of all grace. Not with standing the blessings and salvation inherent in the cross, other religions see it as offensive. To be regenerated, born-again-Christians, the cross symbolizes and concretizes our liberty, freedom and consolation. That is why we believe and preach Christ crucified. However, before we can begin seeing the cross as something done for us we have to see it as something done by us. Christ victory is believer’s victory but Satan’s loss.
[5.5] New Age Idolatry
Webster’s New World dictionary defines idolatry as the worship of idol or excessive reverence for or devotion to a person or thing. An Idol is an image of god used as an object of worship or any object of ardent or excessive devotion. Also an idol could be described as an object or a figure made of wood, metal or stone to which primitive people worshiped and pray to and offer sacrifices. Most of these objects were impotent and lifeless. They had heads but neither think nor reason; had legs but hand-carried. They had fixed hands that could not move; eyes and ears that neither see nor hear and their nose perceived no smell. They are mute and powerless. This description is physical and mentally correct. However the scriptures define ‘idol as any form of anything intend or meant to represent God’; something that a person put before him/her allowing the thing or person to take the place of God that may be capable of causing him/her to stumble into iniquity; be distracted or deceived from God [Deuteronomy 4:15-18; Ezekiel 14:3ff]. The Longman dictionary of contemporary English describes idol as something or someone we love or admire very much to a point of worshiping; a picture of status that is worshiped as a god by men.
In “Idolatry in our Land”, Pastor Joshua Kanu Oji described “idolatry as the practice of worshiping idols. Men do this in various forms; some kiss, dance, bow, pray and even praise these gods.” Primitive people worship these objects as a way to reach the invisible and Supreme Being that is responsible for their existence, wellbeing and creation [Acts 17:16ff]. They believe that these objects created by God have ways to reach, appease and commune with Him on their behalf. They offered sacrifices and attuned these objects: trees, stones, soil, and man-made figures, when they had fallen into iniquities, felt less of God’s presence, in captivity and seek yield of the farm. In time of ignorance the God that sits at mercy seat show mercies. In our modern world, mankind has made tremendous advancement in technology. We seem to focus on these man’s ingenuities and in government institutions to solve our problems rather than on God who gives the knowledge of discovery to mankind. This is similar to how our primitive parents place their confidence on carved images rather on God of creation. We become our judges and can evaluate the progress mankind has made in this direction in our societies.
Idolatry is not just the carved images that sit in pagan temple; they include the godless cravings and commitments that rule human hearts. These cravings include: greed, lust, covetousness, and love for money, pride, and passion for worldliness as well as do-it-yourself idolatry. In our age, people pride in wickedness, belong to secret societies, dabble into occult practice using physical objects such as Ouija Boards, tarot cards, crystals to tell fortune and checking on horoscope from Astrologers. Sadly, some of these things are aired on radios and television channels for wider audience. Similarly, psychotherapists apply their own principles and methods to deal with human needs. They believe that human beings can become whatever they want apart from God. Hence they do things unscriptural.
Unfortunately, these indulgences have infiltrated the society and the Church; causing unbelieving believers to drift in faith. These people want God’s power but oppose Him. They dip God’s promises but skip his commands. They worship wealth, riches and mankind. As far as you have made it, you become a mini-god, an institution having numerous followers and sycophants that can dine with royalty. In some communities and Churches, you suddenly become indispensable; everything rotates around you and you become everything to everybody. The Scripture is right when it says that money answers everything [but is not everything]. Little wonder Apostle Ini Okpon admonishes that anointing without money is annoyance and testimony is made from test and money.
Writing on “Modern Idolatries”, Arthur Osborne opines idol as a pejorative term used by followers of certain religion with the purpose of bringing other religions into contempt by suggesting that the images and symbols they worship are not in fact symbols but idols; objects to which independent reality and sanctity are attributed.. An object is an idol when independent divinity is attributed to it but a symbol if supported by devotion of worshipers and canalized the grace of God. Idolatry has grown to include cause or idea: Nationalism, science, art, sexual allegiance, worship of money and self.
Freedom of religion accommodates multiplicity of gods and religion. Religious attachment is faded out and replaced by emotional attachment. Emotional attachment involves doing what we like and living for mere pleasure and convenience, decline of biblical beliefs and switching to some substitutes or alternative gods. People seem to believe in doctor’s report, news report and civil laws as well as tarot finding than God’s truth. This is not entirely new; after-all, the ancient Greeks showed more loyalty to their civilization than the God who made and sustained them just like western nations do today. The Romans’ city-state expanded into a bureaucratic empire; they adopted world allegiance and rejected divine allegiance. In our age, the advance world adopts free society where nationalism reigns supreme alongside idolatrous glorification.
Science, on the other hand, has become a giant monster and psychological treatment has replaced religion. Psychologist treats patients psychologically without the vital Spiritual ingredients resulting in superficial amelioration. While Spiritual truth transmutes its seeker, science appears to leave a person the same narrow way it met him/her. However the most pervading idolatry in our age and time is the worship of self. Idolatry has grown wider to include the worship of other human beings. Our modern world is a world of idols, an idolatrous world and generation.
The divinity of union has become an idolatry of sex. Our media is saturated with sexy words, acts, and fashion as well as anything that pleases the body – rape, porn, lust, and homosexuals. The tenth of the Ten Commandments re-emphases the 7th commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.” It says do not covet… In this commandment, God brought into play the Spiritual element as the above behavioral aspect. Coveting your neighbor’s property does include an unholy desire for someone’s husband or wife. The man/woman could just be a mere object of needs fulfillment. This foul practice is rampant now in our communities and tears down the very fabric of our society, thereby bringing the nation closer to the brink of collapse. Coveting your neighbor’s belonging is an object of self-gratification. The simple desire to have them may lead to taking them. James McBride suggests that covetousness stretches its deadly tentacles into all facet of society. Indeed, this deadly disease has infiltrated our society and expunged contentment as a worthy virtue.
In the advance world, the cheap plastic-credit card buy-now-pay-later ways of life has introduced a new lifestyle that has left many in heartbreaks, despairs and a prey of the predatory loan sharks. The lavish lifestyle of Hollywood star and entertainment sectors flaunted by the media stimulated the avarice of adults and teens to lust after unattainable riches. Many have been forced into criminal activities to get rich quick and some end up in jail. The Lotto [gamble] sponsored by government helps to promote the quest for quick money with no labor and encourage instant gratification.
The scripture urges Christians to flee idolatry and be content with things we have [Colossians 3:5; Hebrews 13:5]. “Happiness is not getting what you want but wanting what you have.” King Solomon advises, “Wealth acquired hastily dwindles away but he who gathers by labor increases.” Apostle Paul says godliness with contentment is great gain…those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men into destruction and perdition…flee these things and pursue righteousness.” [1 Timothy 6:6-11].
[5.6] Knowing Your Spiritual and Cultural Boundaries
Spiritual boundaries exist within various religions; consist of the dos and don’ts and the consequences. The Ten Commandments stands tall as God’s moral code for the well being of individual and the communities. Human beings have missed the mark of God’s perfect righteousness. This defect is called sin and Christ died to take away the load of sin. Whoever professes faith in Jesus death and resurrection has salvation and eternal life. As simple as it may seem, it’s only those who believe that reaps the benefits of redemption.
I seem to see boundaries everywhere I turn; some appear too religious to believe. For example, I once attended a service in a Catholic Church and the priest invited only “confirmed Catholics” to partake in Holy Communion. However, I thought it was peculiar to the Catholics, until I was privileged to worship in a PentecostalChurch in Houston, Texas. The pastor dignifiedly announced that only members who had “baptism by emersion” should partake in the Lord’s Supper. However in other Christian churches, invitations are always extended to those who had professed faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Are you surprised where the right boundary should be and what should constitute the boundary? Thank God that Christ knew how crazy man was with imposition that He decided to offer us His grace.
In Chapter one of the Book of Genesis, the story of creation is presented to us. Chapter two tells how man was created and domiciled to the Garden of Eden. God charged Adam and Eve, “of every fruit of the tree in the Garden [including the tree of eternal life] thou may freely eat but the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they shall not eat; for the day they ate it, thou shall surely die.” It does not matter who offered it to them, how appetizing it may look or how palatable it taste. Surprisingly, as explicit and bold as this boundary appeared, man did not heed to it. It could be they took it for granted or thought it a suggestion, not a commandment. This lapse is still common among us today.
The Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was proper to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus reaffirmed the boundary rule when He said, “Give to Caesar which is Caesar’s and to God which is God’s.” Jesus recognized that earthly governments, in order to run the institutions of government and to steer the ship of the state, levied taxes. Caesar is not used in this context to denote Satan or its agent. This responsibility includes provision of basic amenities, security and safety and comfort for the well being of the citizens. He also made a case for God: that which belongs to God should be given to God; do not eat, or steal, or convert or take for granted.
The greatest thing that belongs to God is the human soul, yet it is the least to be surrendered to Him. People usually give treasure, talent and time [3t’s] but reluctant and hesitant to give their lives. This brought to mind the story of a rich philanthropist who freely gives to the poor, build Health Centers for communities and award scholarships for higher education and pay his tithe to his Church. He built a chapel and invited an Archbishop for its dedication. But as luck had it, the man of God was indisposed, so he sent one of his lieutenants. The young pastor commended the rich man for all his benevolent activities, but stated that God does not live in house built by hand but in human’s heart. He preached that God appreciates all your benevolent but expect one thing from him – to give his life to Christ. The moment he preached that God now needs his soul, that message became offensive to the man and he got mad.
Boundaries exist even in relationships, be it marriage, family, friendship, dating or in cultural settings. Some spouses nonchalantly shift the poles that marked the boundaries and expect their partners to tolerate them. Neither the couples nor their children know the original boundaries. This put unimaginable storm on the relationship as reflected in their behaviors and utterances at home and in the public. Some people believe because they are supposedly closed, they need no boundaries. This sort of boundary-less life could result to hurting, abuses, and conflicts. We have to be conscious of what we say to one another and how we say it; how our actions or behaviors are perceived or affect other people. We need to learn to listen to others, appreciate their opinions, talents and gifts, while tolerating their weakness, if not overbearing. We should respect our individualism and be careful on how we use words on others because spoken words are powerful. Watch our behaviors at home and outside because what is condoned at home may be intolerable outside. We should not ignore cultural settings.
Chapter one
BELIEF, HOPE, AND FAITH
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him;
For he that cometh to God must believe that he is
And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him.” [Hebrews 11:6]
“The eternal life, the life of faith, is simply
A life of a higher vision. Faith is an attitude-
A mirror set at right angel. To become like
Christ is the only thing in the world worth
caring for, the thing before which every
ambition of man is folly, and all lower
achievement vain.”
Henry Drummond.
Chapter Six: Content
6.1 Believing God
6.1a what’s and how we Believe
6.1b Faith in Relation to Belief
6.1c Why do we Believe
6.2 The Word, Counterculture, and Unbelief
6.2a. The Power of Faith and Obedience
6.2b. Word, Obedience and Faith
6.3 Unbelieving believer
6.4 Stepping up your faith
[6.1] Believing God
It does not make natural sense to believe that God exist; He has no beginning or end. He’s all-powerful and all knowledgeable. You may say, I have tried talking to him a couple of times but He did not answer. If He’s as powerful and present as he claimed to be, why did he not answer me? Am I alone in this experience? Do you think the stories of creation are not made up: God spoke words and the whole creation came into being out of nothing? Moses lifted his staff and the Red Sea divided into two. Elijah called on God and fire came from heaven to consume the sacrifice he made to the God of heaven. If it does not make natural sense, you’re right. Only in the supernatural could these mysteries happen. Supernatural occurrences do not make sense to the natural minds.
Do you believe mankind was created in the image of God? Then why does man sin and God does not? He’s perfect in all his ways and live in righteousness. A theologian opined, “We sin because we are sinners.” What does that mean? Is anything about God evidence in man? Science teaches that the world just evolved from nothing and man from ape; man is also a mammal. A school of thought believes God is a Spirit; is either a man or a woman. God could be addressed as he or she. How true is the concept that the Spirit of God is an influence not a person? Trinity is an illusion not a mystery. Do we believe that marriage is a union of two persons notwithstanding the sexes and it no longer has authority figure as a head since both are equal partners. Whoever bakes more bacon directs the affairs of the household. Could you believe that couples who swap partners at swinging clubs do not commit adultery? What should we believe? The answer is critical to our daily living and search for truth and absolutes in our world that has continued to witness dramatic drift in values and pursuits.
The issue of belief had bothered me a great deal in the past. Pastors often say ‘believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’. I did not understand it because I thought people were lucky and naturally believing, while others didn’t. I pondered where belief came from, how it affects our faith in God and what powers belief commands in our affirmation in God. Many questions like these ones room my mind: how does one believe? Where did belief spring out from? Or is it hereditary? Could it be that we create belief in our minds or it’s an accident of nature. Each time, while trying to focus on one thing another zoomed into my thought. Both fought for space. Many Christians today still have similar quest. One can create a negative belief about God that does not make it right. God is not asking us to defend Him; He had already defended Himself in His Word, in creation and in His grace.
6.1a What’s and how we believe?
Belief could be defined as a conviction that certain things are right and true, to trust or have confidence on or to have faith. It could mean to cleave to, welded to something, glue to it or changing to be like what you believe in. To belief in God could mean to be spiritually ready to cleave to God [John1:12]. What we believe about anything will determine our attitude towards it, radiate our feelings, direct our actions and in each instance cement our implicit trust and confidence. Shad Helmstetter, author of a book, “What to Say When you talk to yourself” said, “belief does not require something to be true, but to believe that it’s true”.
When we begin to ponder on the depth questions of the genesis of life, our universe and who or what brought them into existence, we often wonder, could anything have come from nothing or vagueness? How was man created? Does man live after death? Perhaps we just found ourselves here to eat, live and pass, or has life any purpose and meaning? Is there any landmark anywhere to testify ownership of any kind? However ancient carvings and burial sites reveal that early man believed in deities and in life after death. Through these deities, they searched and longed for the greater force that controls the universe. There was no doubt that something or someone, somewhere was responsible for creation. It was this force that the deities reached out to, for his power and answer to their petitions. Today while some people believe in the existence of God and eternal life, others believe there’s no God, no purpose in life and no life after death [ Psalms 14:1].
Human beings obtain knowledge through our natural senses or by scientific discoveries. What we see, feel, taste and do help our knowledge. In these days of scientific discovery, we obtain knowledge through researches and experiments. For example, by tasting a fruit, we can say whether a fruit is sweet, sour or bitter. But by experiment, we learn how the air we inhale go through the body and turn into carbon dioxide we breathe out. What happens when the sun comes in contact with green leaves and what its result is? On the contrary, we believe in God through faith. We may have neither experiments nor experiences to show that God exist, but we believe in God or nothing. Some people think we come to God to believe; that is very erroneous and one reason why people never build faith or trust God. Rather we believe to come to God. To the world always looking for signs or evidence, ‘seeing is believing’; but to believers, ‘believing is seeing’. Indeed, we see what we belief. This may not make sense to you at first, but before you turn off the page, pause a bit, think about it and don’t be reluctant to challenge your preconceptions.
6.1b Faith in Relation to Belief
To fully understand what belief is, it’s important you learn what faith is. Literally, faith could mean to trust and have unquestionable belief specifically in God; it connotes implicit trust and confidence or loyalty. Belief is a verb and faith is a noun. Faith is touchable, tangible, feel-able substance, or a thing that occupies the heart; something that has weight. Many people define faith differently. The bible says, ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ [Hebrews 11:1]. It gives reality or confidence in the mind for the things hoped for even though the evidence is not seen and it may make no sense to hold on to it. It causes a person to feel as if things were real and to act as if one actually saw and have them.
Faith is not a feeling; feelings and emotions change, but faith is a belief anchored on the Word of God. God’s Word says the same thing yesterday, today and forever [Hebrews 13:8]. It’s consistent, reliable, trusted and fulfilling. God is faithful and has never failed. Feelings are influenced by what we see, read or hear, but those things are temporary [2 Corinthians 4:18]. A man of faith walks with the eye of inner mind [eye of faith] rather than with the eye of sight. Apostle Paul reaffirmed this experience when he wrote, ‘we live by faith, not by sight’ [2 Corinthians 5:7]. We are saved not because we feel saved but because we received, believed and acted on God’s word. We are healed because the word has pronounced us healed. We ask and receive because we claim in faith what God had provisioned for us [1John 3:22-23; 5:4-5].
However, on a very practical base, I wish to describe “faith as doing something because God [or the Word of God] ask me to do it”. It does not matter whether it makes no sense to me; all it calls for is simply obedience. The book of Hebrew says, ‘without faith it’s impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him’ [Hebrews 11: 6]. In effect, faith is confidence in God and doubt is the enemy of faith or faith in Satan. Some have confused faith with hope. Faith is present while hope is in future. When people “step out in faith” they simply try something different, stake their chances without knowing the outcome. You may have no physical evidence of faith, but when your confidence is in God or Word of God, that is your evidence. The evidence for what you believe in is your faith in God’s Word. God is your witness, and will never lie or fail you. God has given each one a measure of faith; faith grows as one continually dwells [believe, receive, meditate, and confess] on God’s Word [Romans 10:17; 12:3]. When you hear or read the word and acts on it, you exercise faith; indeed that evidenced belief.
6.1c Why do we believe?
Three critical reasons why people should believe in God are: universe, chance [accident] and human beings.
(i) Universe: The Church catechism teaches that the universe and all in it tells that there’s God. The Bible confirms that ‘the earth and everything in it belongs to God; the world and all who live in it is His [Psalm 24:1; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11]. He created the heavens and the earth, and rightly so has a legal claim over them [Genesis1:1ff]. Even though the earth is in rebellion against its Maker, because of its dominance by Satan and evil forces, it’s nonetheless awaiting a clash with God’s expeditionary forces from heaven to dispose them. This constitutes the purpose of the second coming [2nd Advent] of Jesus Christ [Acts 19:35; Jude 14, Matthew 13:39-50, Zechariah .14:1-4 & Revelation 19:11-21]. Where there’s creation, there must be a creator. Consequently the creator had a purpose, a reason and a meaning for his creation. The best way to find why something was designed is to ask the designer.
(ii) Chance or accident: The book of Genesis reveals that God created His creation in accordance with His plan and timing. He did this in six days and rested on the seventh day. Through Jeremiah, God reassured, “I know the plan I have for you, plans to prosper not to harm, plan to give hope and future” [Genesis 1: 31-2:1-3; Jeremiah 29:11ff]. If there was no plan, then everything would have been accident. The bible was careful to record that God saw what He created and it was very good [that is in compliance]. God showed satisfaction by blessing them. E.g. a Molecular biologist, Denton stated, “those who still dogmatically advocate that all these new realities are the result of pure chance are believing in a myth; everywhere and whatever depth we look, we find absolute elegance and ingenuity of an absolute transcending quality that militates against the idea of chance” [Watch Tower –‘What’s the Purpose of life’]. “All affairs on earth shall be regulated by various times upon ages’[Ephesians 2:7];” “God foreordained before the foundation of the world that all children of God to be adopted into His family but to become a child of God is left for each individual” [Ephesians 1:5]; “But when the time had fully come, God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law that we may receive the full right of sons”[Galatians 4:4]. No mistake, no accident or coincident.
(iii) Human beings: The scripture testifies in different books that God created mankind in His image and likeness and for His glory [Genesis 1:27, 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 11: 7; James 3:9; Psalm 103:14; Jeremiah 1:5]. Saint Augustine emphasizing this truth, put it this way, “you have made us for yourself, oh Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”. We are therefore God’s children and not God’s accidents. We were fearfully and wonderfully made by God that we may live and enjoy life. Life has a meaning and purpose because it comes from God. Every house is built by someone, but God builds everything [Hebrew 3:4]. God created all things by Christ Jesus [Galatians 3: 9; John1:3]. Even when you do not see the Builder, that does not mean He does not exist [Exodus 33:20].
Problems of unbelief [or heresy]: Many Christians are troubled by doubts, skepticism of unbelievers, preconceptions, and perhaps wrong teachings. Evil and sufferings do raise difficult questions about the existence of God. However, when God allows believers pass through difficulties, there are for useful purposes. The bible says, “troubles produce patience [endurance], patience brings character [God’s approval] and character creates hope. This hope neither fail nor disappoint us, for God poured out His love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit; who is God’s gift to us” [Romans 5:3-5; 1Peter 1:7-9]. He gives us the strength to persevere and carry us through trial times; even when we are knocked down, we rebound. Some people neither believe in God nor in the scriptures; while others claim to believe in God but disbelief the scripture. To them the Scripture is nothing but Hebrew literatures and not the word of God as claimed by Christians. They are entitled to believe in whatever they want, for unbelief is no excuse before God of all creation. It was to put off this doubt that John Calvin said “we owe to scripture the same reverence we owe to God”.
Writing to the Romans, Apostle Paul said, “The Creator’s invisible attributes–His eternal power and divine nature have been visible, ever since the world began for our understanding in the things he has made, so that men will have no excuse. Beware, the just shall live by faith” [Romans 1:17, 20]. He also wrote to the saints in Ephesus, ‘for by grace we are saved through faith and not of yourselves: it’s a gift of God, not of works, less any man should boast’ [Ephesians 2: 8].
[6.2] The Word, Counterculture, and Unbelief
Charles Colson writing on “Loving God” opined that the twentieth century culture manifests a steady decline in biblical belief, because the prevailing attitude of the culture has thoroughly infiltrated the ranks of faith and belief. They go to Church Sunday after Sunday but have not made commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ or believe in the supremacy of the scripture. They belong to the Church as well as members of some new Eastern religions. On the other hand, the Church in loss of direction has continued to be liberal to accommodate the changing world. The Church was not called to shift her boundaries [to mend the laws of God] to accommodate the world with its changing and manipulating culture but rather to shine as light in the midst of darkness and to bring out men from dark world into glorious light. Christianity is not built around just high-sounding ritual performed on Sunday morning but by abiding on God’s holiness and to bring that holiness into the deceased society which we live. This is a tough assignment but that is exactly what following Christ entails. We are not asked to join them when we can not beat them. We are not in a rat race.
Little wonder Jesus called His disciples, “salt and light” to season and shine. We are called to live according to God’s law and not men. Lowering God’s standards is unacceptable compromise and a punishable sin. You cannot serve two masters faithfully. It will be injustice to bend God’s standard to blend with man’s desire. The kingdom of God is seen in the lives of those whom God dwells in. As John Calvin said, it’s the first duty of Christians to make the invisible kingdom visible. Unfortunately, these folks dismiss the scripture as ‘legends’ of unenlightened ancients and say it’s unbelievable for it does not make sense to natural minds and reason. Some believe the scriptures do not really matter, as long as you believe in something, that’s good and okay. They opine that the events of the scriptures are too ancient and irrelevant to the realities of present day world. These thoughts are linked to the concept of living under a new covenant, so they do not get involved with outdated laws of the Old Testament. They claimed that the scripture contradicts itself and hold different interpretations. But ‘If one does not believe, he shall not be established’ [Isaiah 7:9b].
These persuasions have influenced many Church folks to go along believing that the new covenant of God’s grace requires lesser holiness than the laws. But the truth is opposite; God’s grace demands tougher holiness than the laws. For example: murder under the law meant physical act but under the grace, its requirement goes beyond that to the thought of the mind – “if you hate [or angry with] your brother, you are a murderer”. The same applies to fornication too. “If you lust in your mind after a woman [or man] without the person knowing your thought, you have committed fornication” [Matt 5: 21-27; I John 3:15-17].On idolatry, if you love or put anything above or before God, you have committed idolatry. It could be lust, greed, covetousness or money, food, woman, drink etc. The three (3ws) greatest weaknesses are: weed, wine and women.
Truth of the scriptures: The above excuses and claims do not change the truth of the scriptures; that the scripture is the Word of God and the Word of God is God [John1:1-14]. God spoke His Word to create the world and to transform His people. If God’s Word contradicts itself, it sadly means creation including mankind is a product of contradiction; for sure I am convinced we are not. The student edition of NIV had this in its commentary: an eight-year-old girl was asked why Jesus was called the Word, she responded, “Jesus is all God wanted to say to us”. Could you have expected any better response? God is still speaking through the mouth of infants and babies [Psalm 8:2].
Some of these people do not read the bible and if they do, it’s, without understanding. The word of God is eternal, it’s supernatural and beyond human comprehension. It’s relevant to all ages, but one needs the Holy Spirit inspiration to understand it. Time could pass, custom may change, but absolute truth remains; whether it’s believed or not. The scripture is the Word of God; does not contradict but compliments itself. Adding to it is as dangerous as taking away from it.
While Saint Augustine was quoted to have written, “I have learnt to hold the scripture alone inerrant,” Martin Luther also said “the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth, yea, greater than death and hell, for it forms part of the power of God and endures everlastingly”. The word of God explains who God is, His ways, plans and purpose as well as His expectations. It was inspired by His Spirit and only through Him can we understand its messages. King David summed it up this way, “As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of God is flawless” [Psalm 18:30]. All who believes in God must believe in His Word, for to think otherwise amount to heresy or unbelief. “Just as it’s a good thing to remember but better thing to do”, so is it in hearing the word of God and doing it. Sunday after Sunday people hear from pulpits, some listen to radios, others watch televisions in the comfort of their homes, where God’s word is preached but neither belief nor attempt to do it. How then can God’s promise work in someone who does not believe or claim it? You can load the barrel of a gun but until you pull the trigger nothing happens. Many play asleep when it comes to doing the Word. What God requires from His followers is obedience, single-hearted, unwavering obedience and faith, no matter whatever – circumstances or outcome. One great blessing learnt from Jesus’ life is that you cannot separate being and doing.
[6.2b] The Power of Faith and Obedience
Going back to history, most great figures in the scripture died without seeing their dreams fulfilled or the promised they relied on, in their faith journeys [Heb.11:13]. For example: Moses died without reaching the Promised Land. Paul who expended his life building the early Church died seeing only a skeletal outpost along Mediterranean region crippled by fleshly indulgence or divided over doctrinal misconceptions. Colonial Pastor Cotton Matter prayed for revival several hours a day for many years, but died as the momentum of the great revival began. All great giants of faith -William Wilberforce, John Calvin, Martin Luther as well as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and so on, died believing and hoping. This buttress the saying, “men died but their works live on.” Today, their works testify their belief and what they stood for.
We could condemn this pattern as cruel and unfair but before you do, we should know the will of God concerning this act. Did you know that even the Lord Jesus Christ had the same experience? He was a King that came to build His kingdom on earth. For about three years, He only laid the foundation with followers who did not even understand Him. He simply obeyed His Father, as He surrendered His life to the cross, paying the price of sin. The Spirit of the Father raised Him from death and took Him to Heaven, leaving His disciples to carry on what He had started – the new way. Think about our Christian Church founding fathers, many of them only sowed seeds, they neither knew who weeded nor saw the harvest. Today, many have been saved and the kingdom is spreading wider even to the uttermost part of the earth. Perhaps God understood how crazy we are over success that He held his glory to himself. He never allow us see or glory in what is done through us because we are only sent-forth.
As we look into the lives of these great oracles of God, we would realize that their deaths were their successes. They lived believing and acting obediently regardless of circumstances or outcome. If you were Abraham, how would you have felt, when God said, “your offspring’s shall be as many as the stars in heaven; for one who was so old and his wife had aged beyond fertility possibilities. But he believed God and was credited as righteousness”. Again God said, “Take your only beloved son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.”[Genesis 15:5-6; 22:1-2]. God accepted Abraham not because of his perfect life but because of his responsiveness to God’s promises. When we sing the song “Abraham’s blessings are mine,” would you live the life he lived? Similarly Job’s life illustrates the power of obedience and faith. Despite all he passed through, he anchored his faith and hope in God. In response to his unfair accusers, Job said “though he slays me, yet will I trust in Him” [Job 13:15]. Before then Job had reacted to the news that his house collapsed on his children and all died, “Naked I was born and naked I shall depart; the Lord gives and the Lord takes, praise be His name” [Job1:21]. Also when his wife asked Job to “curse God and die,” Job responded “you are talking nonsense, like a foolish woman.” Shall we accept and welcome good from God; then complain and grumble when He allows troubles to visit us? [Job 2:10]. Yet in all Job did not sin in what he said, but held God supreme. Beware, Satan always challenge real faith.
True faith is a gift from God and Jesus is a developer of faith Hebrew12:2]. Faith is the servant of a believer [Luke 17:5-10], and makes one rest on the assurance that God is who He says He is. It was this assurance that compelled the twelve disciples to obedience as well as all who have come to the experiential knowledge of God through His son, Jesus Christ. Little wonder that Paul could say, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God”.
Colson wrote on “Loving God,” “Christian faith rest not on great teachings or on philosophies, not upon the charisma of a leader, not upon the success in raising moral values, not upon the skill or eloquence or good work of it advocates. If it did, it would have no more claims to authority than the saying of Confucius or Mao or Buddha or Muhammad or any of a thousand cults. It’s rest on obedience and faith”. He also quoted the German Pastor-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a martyred in a Nazi concentration camp who once said, “Only he who believes is obedient, only he who is obedient believes.” He concluded “obedience is the key to real faith-the unshakeable kind of faith”
Today, many believers constantly seek new demonstration of God’s power, miracles and signs and wonders to make them believe. This only leads to faith in God’s power and miracles rather than on Almighty God; the same way some people put their faith on created things than they do on the Creator. They easily forget that God is an unchangeable changer. He does not change but changes lives, things, and situations. To love God is to obey Him or keep His commandments. To obey the commandments means we have to know the commandments. It’s the Word that teaches the do’s and don’ts of God [the ways of God], His promises and of course His expectations. It’s the power of God’s Word that changes people who believes and acts on it. For this reason James says, we are to be doers and not only hearers [James1:22; Romans1:5; Hebrew 11:8-10].
[6.2c] Word, Obedience and Faith
Most times Christians get engaged in so many activities and ignore the Word, its obedience and faith. The book of Samuel says, ‘obedience is better than sacrifice’ [1 Samuel 15:22]. Even a gift presented to God in disobedience is an abomination. God demands undisputable, uncompromising obedience. This is not only the will of God but it gives Him good pleasure and shows our love to Him. Our generation is experiencing more rebellion and disobedience because we are lovers of ourselves than lovers of God. We hear the word, talk about it neither believes in it nor do it. This explains why we find ourselves suffering, warring, and dying or in unbelievable, disgraceful acts. Disobedience results to sin and consequently end up in death. Obedience produce rivers of blessings while disobedience brings famine and desolation [Isaiah1:19-20]. And delayed obedience could become disobedience.
But God’s will is for us to have life and have it abundantly [John 10:10]. A hymn writer summed it up this way, “when we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word….; Trust and obey for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” Obedience is a learned behavior; it could beget from instructions or sufferings. Jesus obedience through sufferings brought Him perfection and He becomes eternal salvation for all who obeys Him [Hebrew 5:8-9]. In our faith journey, obedience is a commandment. Again, only those who believe, obey. In effect, unbelief is siding against God’s Word.
William James, the great Psychologist, stated that the greatest factor in any undertaking is one’s belief. Belief therefore is the secret of man’s becoming and being, conquering and prevailing. It gives us power not only to become God’s children but faithful children of God [John 1:12; Hebrew 3:12]. Belief is also the positive attitude to relate to God in faith and in victory to overcome the world [2 Timothy 1:12; 1 John 5: 4]. Belief in oneself is essential to achieving or getting things done. Apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” [Philippians 4:13]; Elizabeth at the visit of Mary affirmed, “Blessed is one that believes that what the Lord has said to her shall be accomplished” [Luke1:45]. Belief helps us to relate to others, as we let one esteem another better than ourselves and love one another even as Christ loves us.
Believers need pit-bull faith and tenacity. When we have submitted to God our best in obedience, we must persist in faith and prayers, standing firm against all intimidation, fears and doubts, until God answers and fulfills His promise. For example, Elijah stood on Mount Carmel in the midst of sea of people, those for God and others for Baal. He prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to come down and show He alone was God and that he was His servant and doing things at the command of His word [1 Kings18: 36-39]. Could there have been fears or doubts that God may not answer? God had always defended Himself and Elijah knew it. All He requires from His children or followers is unwavering obedience. In two other instances, Elijah spoke to King Ahab that there would be no rain in years and later he sent another message of hope, “for there is a sound of abundance of rain coming” [1 Kings17:1; 18: 41, 44b-45], but the cloud was still colorless. He anchored his faith in God. Elijah sent his servant out to check the 7th times expectantly, for despite the report of the colorless cloud, he believed God to do what He said, He will do. The sky revealed a tiny cloud not bigger than a man’s hand. That little in the hand of God was enough. Elijah believed God who does great and awesome things with a little – as little as mustered seed of faith [Matthew 17:20; Mark 11: 22ff]; a little oil and flour in the hand of a peasant widow about to eat her last meal [1 Kings17:12-14]; a little boy’s five barley loaves of bread and two small fishes [John 6:1ff]; a little boy wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger [Luke 2:12]; a little stick in the hand of Moses as he faces Red Sea [Exodus14:16]. It was a little cloud, a small cloud, a tiny cloud in the west etc. It does not depend on how massive or big of what we see or hear but on whom we believe. As soon as a little cloud appeared on the horizon, Elijah put his faith out and held God on His word; he knew God will answer, for God has never failed him. There was no shadow of turning with God; all He needed, His hand had provided, there’s a sign in the sky of a little, tiny cloud. Great is His faithfulness. Elijah sent his servant to Ahab to confirm God’s approval and doing. The appearance of the little tiny cloud is our evidence.
A similar faith was exhibited by Peter and John on their way to the temple to pray [Acts 3:1ff]. They met with a lame man from his mother’s womb, who sat daily by the gate called beautiful to ask for alms from worshippers entering the temple. Instead of silver or gold, Peter looked straight into his eyes and proclaimed ‘in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk’. He lifted him with his right and immediately strength came to his feet, ankle and bones; he leaped, walked and entered the temple praising God [v6-11]. They did not doubt in their heart, but believed in God’s power in the name of Jesus Christ. Pastor Rod Parsley in his book titled “No more crumbs” said, “those with hearts hardened towards the Spirit of God can never discern His approach or hear His voice”.
We must prepare for the rain even when there’s no cloud in the sky, but believe God’s promise- the word of God or His prophets. It’s the same way we prepare for the out- pouring of God’s Spirit and anointing as well as every future event-the day of the Lord, examination, celebration, marriage, retirement and even death. We hold to the word of God even when it lacks evidence and no sign exist. Believe in your heart and confess in your mouth [Romans 10:9-10]. We just have to learn how to believe God’s word than world news, doctor’s reports, horoscope, tarot signs and witch doctors etc. The Gospel has not changed because it’s eternal but our world has and will continue to change. The gospel shall continue to purge our world. We therefore should long after the Word for it quicken us unto righteousness and it’s our trust and hope.
[6.3] Unbelieving Believers
Lent is a Christian tradition, a 40-day period of Christian reflection on the life, passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. During lent, we reexamine our lives and the world around us; renew our vows to renounce Satan and pledge ourselves anew to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in love and faith. We live in a world where freedom of religion and worship is being misconstrued to mean all religion leads to the same God and are the same; where people want Gods power and blessings but do not want God. Little wonders that globally we are engulfed in wars and calamities; live in fears and terror, jittery of what happens next. Funny enough, we are not unaware of the problems around our world but there appear no real solution in sight. The reason is not far fetched. There’s only but one God, not two or more. His peace found in Jesus Christ is permanent and beyond human comprehension. His intervention is all we need and should prayerfully seek, during every lent period. There’s no peace without the prince of peace. Let us attempt to review the complexity of the related issues.
The twentieth century culture manifests a steady decline in biblical belief. The prevailing attitude of this culture does not believe in the supremacy of the scripture. They go to Church but dismiss the scripture as Hebrew literature. They regard the events of the scripture as legend of unenlightened ancients that makes no sense to a natural mind and irrelevant to the realities of present day world. The world we live in has continued to witness dramatic drift in value and pursuits. These persuasions influence some church folks to believe in anything but not God and opine that God grace demands lesser righteousness than the laws. They could be out off restraints. Those who claimed to know God only have head knowledge of Him, but nothing experiential. Some may have been born again but have no personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. They rarely talk about God’s Spirit and dread His power.
Some Christians are comfortable with routine Church services where they pray, sing, hear tailored sermons and pay toll – offerings to build financial empire. ‘In an average Church in our society the worship is stereotype; they do not experience the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’. They talk about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit but doubt the power of resurrection; neither believes nor expects God’s intervention. They are afraid and scared of God’s presence in their worship service and fellowship meetings.
Church going is a tradition to perform ritual service. Nothing exciting or expectant, strange or fulfilling; neither miracles nor praise report. No vision, no prophecy or testimony. They take God’s grace and mercies for granted. If you watch very carefully, such denominations could be crippled with fleshly indulgence and divided over doctrinal misconceptions. They are mundane; just want hurt-me-not or make-me-well messages and teachings; feel nice with one another yet struggling with fundamental Spiritual issues. These could result to having unbelieving believers occupying both the pulpits and the pews. Even when such Churches increase in numbers, they are spiritually moribund.
Yet the greatest factor in any undertaking is one’s belief. “Belief is the secret of one’s being, becoming, conquering and prevailing”. Apostle Paul assured the Saints of the early Church in Corinth, “we lived by faith not sight or feeling” [2Corith. 5:7]. To the Ephesians, Paul taught “we are saved by grace through faith not by works less any should boast” [Eph. 2:8] and to the Romans, he said, the just shall live by faith, not affections [Rom. 1:17, 20]. Faith is not a feeling; feelings and emotions change but faith is a belief anchored on the word of God. The fact that nobody wants to believe something does not keep it from being right. Truth may not be popular but it’s right. We have not seen God yet we believe in His existence and creation. We believe to be saved, to get healed, to receive the gift of God’s Spirit and to obtain breakthroughs in our lives. We don’t feel saved or healed. We believe in God’s word to get saved, healed and open doors. Feeling saved or healed constitutes another gospel.
The greatest hindrance to our Christian faith is our feelings. No temptation is more persistence and more dangerous than our affections/feelings. Feeling and seeing means the same. Feelings come from the body/flesh or the world. Apostle John admonished, “For all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father” [I John 2:16]. In Romans 3:22, Paul says, this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe; 4:16ff, we read that Abraham’s promise came by faith. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became a father of many nations. God has neither pets nor superstars. God has only believers, that believes in the gospel. God does not let the gospel work for few people and deny others. The gospel works for everybody who believes in it.
If you don’t believe, it does not work for you. The good news is that there’s always an open invitation to hear, believe in His gospel and come to Jesus. Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed” [John 20:29b]. Invariably those who see and have no faith shall not partake in the glory of God. Those who see and have faith shall enjoy God’s glory but those who do not see yet have faith shall have more blessings and witness unlimited God’s glory; they shall have it overflowing. Thomas, indeed all the disciples did not believe that Jesus had risen [John 20:25; Luke 24: 37, 41; Mark 16:11, 13-14]. The frank and outspoken disciple – Thomas put the fact straight, “except I see in His hand the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nail and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe” [John 20 Vs 25]. Thomas contended, “I know He was nailed to the cross; when I see and feel the print of those nails, then that would be my evidence”. Seeing is believing, seeing satisfy our curiosity and comfort our doubts. The disciples were not the only doubters. Though we may live in denial, we have all doubted, by our preconceptions, apprehensions, attitude, and works.
Our feelings introduce doubts, seek signs, and evidence. Our feelings want to please our bodies and our world. Our feelings desire to dishonor God, crucify Jesus again, grieve the Holy Spirit in us and distance us from God. Our feelings may create temporary happiness, blind our moral judgment and put us in conflict with our Spirit nature. It makes us buy what we do not need and obtain credit for money we have no use for, ending up in debts. We often find ourselves in places we have no business being there and do things that question our integrity and faith. Our feelings can compel us to sin but we have the inward will to say no. God has given every believer the Spirit of sound mind.
Every human being has the freewill to choose between good and evil, and the responsibility to do so. We have the freewill to say yes or no to our feelings, our bodies, to Satan and to the world. Satan knows God gave man the freewill to decide and to choose; it’s in this area that he tempts us more frequently. The battlefield is our mind.
Our world loves pleasure and enjoyment even at the risk of our lives; live in compromise and conformity. We just want to belong to a larger crowd and satisfy our flesh and feelings –what we see, like, want and taste. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar.” We want to be everything to everybody and end up making wrong choices and judgments. Billy Cosby once said, “I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody”. You can never satisfy the flesh, so walk in Spirit [Numbers 21:5]. Happiness is not having what you want; it’s wanting what you have. Whatever was the father of disease, an ill diet was the mother; the same is the father of sin when our feeling is the mother.
[6.4] Stepping Up your Faith
Permit me at this time to avail you with a message a friend shared with me. The text of the e-mail reads: “One Sunday morning, during service, a 2000 member congregation was surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying submachine guns. One of the men proclaimed, “Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ, remain where you are.” Immediately, the choir fled, the deacons fled, and most of the congregation fled. Out of the 2000, there remained around 20. The man who had spoken took off his hood, looked at the preacher and said, “Okay Pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites. Now you may begin your service. Have a nice day. And the two men turned and walk out”.
This message synchronizes with a similar message in an Igbo record track titled “Okwukwe ndi uka” [believer’s faith] from an album “Fada na police” played by a Nigerian musical group named Afunwa and his Group. This record says, “one Sunday morning, the Church had a special service and members turn out was great. A priest, while conducting a High Mass, challenged the congregation saying, ‘those who would want to die for Christ should indicate by show of hand’. Many people raised their hands. Before then the Priest had pre-arranged for a cow’s blood to be conserved in a container hidden inside the vestry. The Priest went into the vestry and came out with his hands, body stained with blood. He announced, ‘I have killed one person for Christ, who will be the next?’ Before he knew it members fled and there was a total chaos, members trampling one another. The Priest turned and asked them, where’s your faith?”
This question Jesus asked his disciples severally, where’s your faith? Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? [Luke 8:25; Matthew 14:31b]. When Jesus calmed the storm, His disciples were afraid wondering, what manner of man is this, for even the winds and waters obey Him? While Jesus went to pray with His disciples, they fell asleep and left Him alone. One of His own, Judas betrayed Him. When He was arrested, they all backslid, fled and Peter followed in a distance denied Him thrice. While He was crucified and hung on the cross, they disserted Him. They doubted His post-resurrection appearance even after showing them His hands and feet. Jesus had rebuked the Scribes and the Pharisees of his days, for their unbelief and hypocrisies [Matthew 23]; challenged their pretension and exposed their behaviors [Mark 12:38-40]. He reaffirmed that the love of God must not be seen only outside but comes from inside: the heart – all inward feelings; the soul – all consciousness and the mind – all thoughts.
Could this question be more relevant today than it was in Jesus’ day? I will consider ‘yes’ for answer. We lived in a time of greed, covetousness and selfishness, love of self and pleasure without control of appetites and passions, in fear, terror and unending wars. Our generation has witnessed more moral bankruptcy and decadence than all past generations put together. Most marriages end in divorce, even when held together is full of tension, bitterness, resentment and depression. Many are just living lonely together either for lack of courage and shame to divorce and what people will say, the children or for financial security. “Our civilization is dying because its foundation and building blocks, the family is dying”. Because the marriage is sick, fidelity in and chastity out is an exception. Parents are no better off than children. Under this sordid condition, children have not seen or learned unselfish love in the family. They grew up in conflict and quick to grab what they see than what they are told. They are left at the mercies of peer groups and sex dominated television screens because the parent are vamping everywhere for money. Despite this craziness over wealth, they still grumble and cry more than the poor.
As you view the television the best news reports is of armed robbery, drug-drunk driving accidents, cold murder cases and runaway criminals from the jails. You will also be frightened by exemplary daylight pen robbery in most multinational organizations; how many have lost their jobs and fate of households and dependence thrown to the ashes. On a good day, you will witness Churches abating and supporting gay marriages and women exerting rights of abortions. Children grow up to become disobedient to parents, unthankful, crazy and believing anything, perhaps just as parents are disobedient to God. In our schools, students battle with the problems of abortion, AIDS, rape, drugs, gangs and kidnappings; internet dating, fear of violent death, murder by fellow students who go to school with guns and weapons in their possession. The majority of today’s unmarried teenagers have lost their virginity. Excuse me; some don’t even know what that word means. Sex has become so thrilling and common among them; they enjoy unending shopping spree just like their parents. To worsen the matter religious activities-prayers, bible studies and God’s moral code – The Ten Commandments have been banned from schools and public places. Most families neither have family fellowships nor pray together. Our children now believe in whatever excites them.
Most disturbing is the fact that this sordid state is seen and perhaps rampant including Church teens and families. In most Churches people claim they are light but live in fears, intimidation and darkness. Some are so disillusioned that when a pest flies across them, they believe someone is after them. They have a form of godliness but deny the power; resist the truth but believe in fallacies. They are corrupt-minded, deceitful and are themselves deceived. Many among them go to Church and are members of eastern religion. They believe in God but still follow Satan, who incidentally also believes in God. Some are so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week. They may be “born again” but act like ‘born against”; are scared of the Holy Spirit and have no experiential knowledge of Christ, so lack God’s power. They are the Pastor-pray-for-me members. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit [1 Corinthians 12:7]. Not everyone except you or your family or your Church.
I don’t know about you, I have denied, deserted and forsaken Christ several times even more than the early disciples did, in the things I have done and failed to do. But I have learned to arise, to rebound, to return as well as to believe in God’s forgiven power and the elasticity of His mercies. I have learned that Jesus loves me no matter what and will never cast me away. Even when I feel ashamed, afraid and attempt to hide, His loving kindness pursues me, more than what the lavishing father did to his prodigal son [Luke 15:11ff]. Jesus accepts us before we become acceptable. This is the grace of God. How can you be a prince/princess of God and act like a slave? What would be your testimony? This is the time for reawakening; you need not harden your heart. Even if you are fearful and decide to hide somewhere, you have no hiding place, for God is omnipresent [Psalm 139:7,8; John 20:19]. God walked into Eden and fetched out Adam and Eve from their hidings and the resurrected Christ broke into the close doors of His disciples. Therefore step up your faith, come to Jesus and have rest.
Come to Jesus and enjoy God’s unconditional love and mercies. His yoke is easy and burden light. Jesus sees beyond one’s past. He cares and loves us even when we are unlovable. Jesus is waiting patiently for our return, to lay our burdens at His feet. Come unto Him with your heavy burden, your crises, your depression and all your troubles. He will surprise you with His peace. Have a fruitful Lenten season.
Chapter Seven:
RELIGIOUSITY: PROLIFERATIONS, UNTRUTH AND INTOLERANCE
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed: And ye shall know the
truth and the truth shall make you free.”
[John 8:31-32]
“I simply argue that the cross be raised again in the center
of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of Churches.
I want to recover the truth that Jesus was not crucified on
an altar between two candlesticks, but on a garbage heap
at a crossroads of the world, a cosmopolitan crossroads
where they had to describe who He was in Latin, in Greek
and in Hebrew, where soldiers gambled and cynics talked smut.”
George McCloud
Chapter Seven: Content
7.1 Proliferation of Spiritual Houses
7.1a Intolerance in Diversity
7.2 Acknowledging and Professing the only True God
7.3 Examine Your Thought and be faithful
7.4 Can we worship God for whom He is?
[7.1] Proliferation of Spiritual Houses
About early 1980, the world witnessed tremendous out surged of prophetic ministries in churches. Today, most of these ministries have been taken out of the mainstream Churches and opened up armchair prophetic churches. They specialized in prophesying dreadful things that could cut peoples’ heart and instill fears in them to seek their help. It is very easy to hear that God says you should marry a particular person. Or sow a seed of certain amount. They could prophesize that legion of demons are after you and shall destroy you if you do not act fast. Some go as far as prophesizing that your parents are responsible for the setback you are experiencing. It could be confusing and hard to understand. No matter how you perceive these messages, I doubt whether God says stuff like these. In fact some are too good to be true. It could be expressions of personal intuition from cultural viewpoint. May God have mercy on us!
Just for the fact that one calls himself a prophet or prophetess and pastor of a church or preaches with elegance, speak in a strange tongue and could move the crowd emotionally does not in anyway connote that the person speaks from God. How authentic are these claims? Some will go to the extent of “preaching” their “word” in contradiction to what the Scripture says. Others will quote the Scripture out of context in order to justify their personal goals and agenda. I know God speaks through His word and His messengers, but God speaks in agreement with His word (the Scripture). His word is eternal and changes not. God’s authentic voice must be Biblical. But occasionally some prophets and prophetesses speak from a leadership opinion, a denominational doctrine, ceremonial ritual, cultural prejudice, traditional theology, and public opinion, pop psychological and perhaps what the crowd wants to hear. Again some of them interpose the Bible to support their stance. Christians must be careful and keep watchful eyes on those who claim to be God’s authorities yet fool people about God’s requirement for personal gain. Watch, the motive is either ego or gain.
Even in Houston, the way mushroom “Spiritual Houses” are springing up is terrifying and of course alarming. They have found a market niche that helps them woo members of the community. They know that some Christians are biblically illiterate, believe in superstition and want miracles. All they do is to exploit the opportunity and make their cut while it’s day. It could be all about gain or power. How can God tell a prophet that He wants you to marry someone yet as a loving Father, He fails to reveal it to His child? Again, do you notice that many of their pastors and core followers come from the same tribe? It’s a cultural thing. These followers are anchor people who help solicit for new catch. The Bible tells us that where the Spirit of God is there is liberty. The Holy Spirit is given to everyone [not all except you] for profit. If you are a child of God and God is your father, how can a father not speak first to his son or daughter before another person? Again, God created us, free thinking agents, with ability to choose and be responsible for our choice. If He chooses a wife or a husband for us, is he not denying us a right of His freewill? What happened when God chose one for Adam? In case you don’t know, Adam turned around to blame God and that caused God to repent. God is not man that goes back to his vomit.
Some of these servants are wolves in sheep garments. They are business people doing “churchanity.” These days, a great number of churches are opened up, but their “planters” and “followers” but have no heart for God. Others are simply armchair motivational speakers who speak eloquently without substance. Their behaviors speak louder than words. Their motives and intentions are purely gain. They are prosperity preachers, who themselves are poorer than proverbial church rats. These days, the storeroom is richly stored that even the church rats are obsessed. Their greediness is not only perceived in their preaching, but also seen in their behavior and in their covetous eyes. The Lord shall ask them, do you love Me more than these tithes, seed sowing and offerings? Apart from these monetary gains, these zealots have nothing to do with the Church. Jesus warned against the Pharisees and Scribes. They walk around in long robes, seek for reserved seat in public places, exploit widows and say long prayers in pretense [Mark 12:38ff]. Times may have changed but the same attitude remains. The Lord knows those who are truly His, sees their hearts and thoughts.
I sincerely believe they are genuine ministers whom God has called and still speaks through in agreement with the Scriptures. They are good shepherds; their sheep hear their voices. These oracles of God go through the gate and behave transparently. Like in Jeremiah’s case, God put His words in their mouth and command them to speak to the people. Today, many speak what greed has put in their mouth; no body called them. They’ve chosen a viable profession just for gain. What they nurse in minds, they do everything to bring it to fruition. When you hear one speak God says, weigh it in context with the Scripture. But if you are biblical illiterate you may fall victim and be consumed by their gimmick. So be watchful and test all prophesies against the Word of God. If you are still confused, go into your closet and ask God to direct you. The Scripture had warned against this perilous times, so do not be fooled; rather be wise as serpent. You could seek the opinions of other servants of God. God had sent his last prophet in Jesus Christ and said to us, “Here is my beloved son hear ye Him.’ Jesus is all that God wanted to say to the diseased world. For, He shall save us from sin and restore us to the Father. There shall be no new revelations except that recorded in the Scriptures.
I, however, wish to thank respectfully most Spiritual Dad and Mum for standing in the gap at this turbulent period preaching and teaching diligently the unadulterated word and maintain decency in their lives such that they are no barriers for those who would want to know God and His Son, Jesus Christ. These servants are signposts for the kingdom of God. They are called and sent to make disciples of all nations. They are led by the Spirit of God to pursue their calling without knowing the outcome. They live in obedience and hope and open their hearts for God. Floating a church or faith-based organization could be a viable business but find out if God really approves your opening one. Like David, it could be that your hands are stained with much uncleanness or God just don’t want you do it because of your motives and hidden agenda. No matter what you do, there shall be accountability. No one ever deceived God. We should not forget that judgment shall begin in the house of God and God knows those who are His true worshippers, who worship in Spirit and in truth, not in greed, gains and deceit. Help us God.
7. 1a Intolerance in Diversity
In recent days the issue of religious tolerance and diversity has been playing center stage on most affairs of our time. For example: On national day prayer meetings and worship services, political leaders and dignitaries gather in worship and prayers and representatives of various religions assigned to lead in prayers in tailored sequence. This also happened after 9/11. The new religious America demands new paradigm regarding the expression of faith. In the name of diversity of religion, there is a fresh call for tolerance and ecumenism. Emphasis here is that all gods are to be treated equal. Such worship upholds God but excludes Jesus Christ. No one cares to ask- which God? The concept here is that all religion led to the same God. How true is that? The only-way-Jesus does not fit into this new religious order. Any tradition that appears to express supremacy over another is excluded. Whatever pre-eminence Jesus holds over other gods is stripped and denied, just to “get along” with the plurality of gods and alternative faith; or-else named intolerance and insensitive.
If you could pulse and ask, “Why do the coalitions of other religion conspire to exclude the name Jesus? Is it just to push Him out of the track or to discredit his supremacy and bring all to a level ground? Can Jesus really be denied of what he paid for with His blood? I just doubt. It’s not about what the coalition of other religion agree to do or not to do. It’s about what God had predestined and His answer or solution to man’s problem of sin. Joseph M. Stowell, author of ‘The trouble with Jesus” wrote, “Jesus is exclusive in His claim that He’s the only solution for man’s sin problem and the only way to God. And that indeed He is God. Jesus is the central issue that separates Christianity from Hindus, Muslim, Jews, New age adherents and advocates of any other form of religion. His claim is unique.” He said, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE: no man cometh to the Father but by Me [John 14:6]. Of course no other religious leader made such claim.
Luke, the Physician reaffirmed, “There’s no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved [Acts 4:12]. Anne Graham Lotz was quoted to have put it juicy on Moody Broadcasting’s National Program – OPEN LINE: “Jesus is the only way, but He’s not exclusive. He welcomes all to His offer of eternal life. No one is excluded at the cross.” [Hebrews 2:9b]. Indeed, this is awesome.
7.2 Acknowledging and Professing the Only True God
The scriptures recognize that many gods exist. The first commandment warns, “You shall have no other gods before Me” [Exodus 20:3]. This is no suggestion but a commandment. Apostle Paul reiterated, “Even though there be so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth called gods and lords, yet there is for us only one God, the Father who is the creator of all things and for whom we live, and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.” He further urged Christians “to flee from idolatry.”[I Corinthians 8: 5-6; 10:14].
Among all religious leaders, Jesus Christ is the only one who had a permanent solution to man’s moral problem. He died on the cross and defeated death through His resurrection. We can stake our faith on a number of things, but we believe that the Resurrection is the best place; the Resurrection is our sign and hope. This event has an exceptionally well-documented historical fact. To attempt to equate Jesus with other gods is considered world’s wisdom and vileness. Jesus is not in any competition or claims equality with, but rather He’s distinct from and above all other gods. Through the resurrection He was undeniably affirmed as Lord and God [John 20:28; Acts 2:36].
The problem of downsizing the God of the Bible to equal other gods is not new. Both the prophets of Old and New Testament disciples faced this odd. Moses warmed the children of Israel to decease from religious diversity. Prophet Isaiah revealed there’s none like Him among all gods. Prophet Elijah at Mount Carmel proved the same truth when he confronted the Baal worshippers: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him [1Kings 18:21]. The rest is now history. To the Colossians, Paul declared: “Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God ….through Him and for Him God created everything visible and invisible…; holds all creation together. Christ is the head of the Church. He’s the first of all those who will rise from dead. The invisible God live in Christ and by Him reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth, through His blood on the cross” [Colossians 1:15-20]. These valid credentials testify to the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
Christians are “called out people” from the crowd to proclaim the new life in Christ. Neither interfaith worship service nor secularization of religion shall diminish Christians’ claim that Jesus is Lord and Messiah. On a positive note, interfaith worship offers the servants of Jesus rare privilege to reveal the mysteries of God’s grace in times of unexpected crises and fear, as uncertainty overshadows hope. The Messiah is sought to restore hope and comfort. It occasioned God’s work to triumph in the midst of calamities and paganism. Paganism describes “a society that embraces a wide-open spirituality, with a multiplicity of gods and no central moral authority.”
Today, some people are mad when a Christian declares that Jesus is the only way or prays in Jesus name. They’re quick to describe Christians as intolerant and insensitive. But it was the magnanimity of the Christian foundation that gave other religion freedom and liberty to practice their belief. “The American democratic system did not spring from Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto or Moslem traditions. Christian ideals and doctrines offer the environment supportive of freedom of speech and religion among others. The Bible, not the Koran, Vedas, Tripitika or other so-called holy books, is the source of the nation’s philosophy on the value of mankind and how they treat one another and be governed.” This is the height of religious tolerance. Today, this moral code book, the Holy Bible, is no longer tolerated in public places. Those who had hugely benefited from the insights and laws provided by the Bible have kicked Christian prayers, Bible studies, and the name of Jesus out of schools.
The painful irony is that Christians do not frown at people of other religion for upholding their confession. We believe that our confession is true and the centrality of our faith; so we keep it clear and strong. Tolerance is not to compromise the truth or equate every idea/claim. We must proclaim your faith, for most people by huge margin come to Christ through the witness of another person. Jesus assures, all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth; go invest yourself in others, who in turn will do the same. As many as adhere, He promises His presence always, even to the end of age.
We are living in a time where sensitivities are at surface. You can practice anything as long as you do not claim that one is a better way. You can hold anything as long as you do not proclaim Jesus Christ publicly, it’s right. Our confession: Jesus is the only WAY; the TRUTH AND LIFE as well as LORD and GOD stand firm. “To say every religion is true is to say that no religion is true. This is neither intolerance nor insensitive but the truth. “If early Christians endured martyrdom, would we not endure unpopularity?”
7.3 Examine Your Thoughts and be Faithful
Many people wish to succeed in life but doubt their ability to do so and end up believing they can’t make it. That’s how wishes differ from belief. The bible hit the nail of the truth, on the head when it said, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” [Proverbs 23: 7]. You become what you think most; your success or failure in anything, large or small depends on what you accept from others and what you say to yourself. The brain simply records, plays back and eventually believes what you tell it most. Also, what adults tell us as children have incredible important effect on us; it forms what we believe about most of what happens around us and almost everything that we come to believe about ourselves. When you “think,” you are spreading out your mental wares [what’s in your mind] and taking inventory of it. I want to believe that it was to fully illustrate the power of thought that Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians saying, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” [Philippians 2:5].
Most times we are told as kids, “you are stupid” or “you can’t make it” or madly “you never do well”. Be careful what you tell a child. It can stick. If the person it’s said to accept such negative talk, it shall occupy his thought and stay put in his mind. He begins to believe and dwell on such negative talk. It can determine a lifetime attitude. Attitude determines and controls our destiny. We are responsible for our attitudes. We choose our feelings, our actions and our attitude. We color our lives with the thoughts we think. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans: “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” [Romans 12:2], he understood that the mind runs twenty-four hours a day; no matter how we live, work, play or sleep, our minds are working. Our thoughts occupy ninety-three percent of our lives. The color of our thoughts colors our lives. Our attitudes are function of our faith; faith means to put our full weights on the faithfulness of God or doing something because God commands us to do it.
Our thoughts form our belief, get our attention and demand our response. Daily we receive an endless stream of commands, directions, controls, inducements and expectations from others; everything around us nudges demands and persuades. “We do like ships with countless captains, all-seeking to direct us on their own courses, for their own purposes, not even knowing they are leading our ship astray”. As long as a person allows others to program him, he is without doubt out of control and captive of the whims of some unknown destiny. All these help to form one’s belief. Little wonder Bill Cosby said, “I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody”. Our experiences and our acceptance of what we’ve heard from others, what our parents or guardians told us and what we have told ourselves from childhood, form the basis of our attitude and behavior today. That’s where fears, trauma, or self-identity first began to take hold.
Today what we hear and see from the news media informs us and impacts our behavior. Perhaps that explains why the market giants invest heavily on advertisement campaign [radio and TV commercials] to pervade the values of consumers and influence their attitude to buy or accept whatever junks they put out. This in a way misguides and appears to determine who people think they are and what class they claim to belong. This tricks and influences the public to be part of consumerism [persuaded to consume, not their needs, but to meet the corporate goal and needs of the productive process].
Patrick Morley in his book, “The man in the mirror” quoted Ted Koppel, [an ABC’s nightline anchorman] in his 1987 address at DukeUniversity, “We have reconstructed the Tower of Babel and it is a television antenna, a thousand voices producing a daily parody of democracy in which everyone’s opinion is afforded equal weight regardless of substance or merit. Indeed, it can even be argued that opinions of real weight tend to sink with barely a trace in television’s ocean of banalities”. He for-warned, we need to guard our minds more carefully, because so many kooky ideas are floating around. Through the news media, our unconscious minds are exposed to subliminal suggestion and seduction. While the conscious mind discriminates, decides, resists or accepts, the unconscious apparently merely store information, which in a way influences attitudes or behavior at the conscious level in ways which science know little or virtually nothing about. We can somehow evaluate and decide what we do with our conscious mind but our unconscious mind is vulnerable to most media seduction. No greater influence imparts our thinking than the media. That explains how we want and buy things we do not need.
Whatever you believe about yourself will end up affecting what you do. We all have numerous big and small beliefs about ourselves; some are true while others are false, but our minds will act as if there are true if we believe them. Our beliefs are not accidents of nature; they are created and directed by us, reinforced and easily cemented in our minds. Shad Helmstetter author of “What to say when you talk to your self” wrote, “What we believe determines our attitudes, attitude create feelings, while feelings determines behavior [actions] resulting to success or failure”. The simple truth is that, good thoughts bear good fruit and bad thoughts bear bad fruit. Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad result; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.
Doubt is a negative thought; it cripples initiatives, cramps energy and marshal out excuses to support its disbelief. Thoughts of fears, doubts and indecision crystallize into weakness of the mind and irresolute habits, which results to failure, indulgence and slavish dependence. Lazy thoughts create dishonesty and could result into beggary and stealing. On the contrary, faith creates positive attitude capable of destroying doubts and disbeliefs. However a man is the master of thought, the molder of character and the maker and shaper of condition, environment and destiny.
Circumstances do not make a man; it reveals him to himself. William James taught that the greatest discovery of his era was that people can alter their lives by altering their attitudes. When you entertain negative thoughts about your ability, you invite destruction and feelings of inferiority. The brain is competent to help you cancel negative thoughts. You could cancel it with positive thoughts and the knowledge of Christ’ unconditional love for you.
All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. The Los Angeles Times published a five year study of University of Chicago which focused on 120 of America’s top artists, athletes and scholars. These successful people did not succeed mostly because of their talents but extraordinary drive, determination and commitment. It will surprise you to find out that the meanest things that we say, we say it to ourselves. The good news is that we can change it. We have inward strength to change it if we choose to. You can cancel the negatives in your mind. God desires to give us a second opinion.
Dr. Karl Menninger of Minninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, was quoted as saying that when you begin to see what you can become your problems are mostly over. You cannot get well as long as the shackles of defeat trap you. Change begins at the place where you begin to dream holy dreams about what you can become. Life is shaped either by our dreams or by our problems. Do not be a prisoner of your past, for doing that denies the power of God’s Spirit in you and most importantly denies the power of Jesus’ resurrection and forgiveness of sin.
A man’s weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own and not another man’s; these are brought about by him and can only be altered by him. As a man continue to think, so he behaves and remains; he may not directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and hold his beliefs, thereby shapes his circumstances. The life you live depends on the thought you hold. Until a man straightens out his thought, by boldly demolishing strongholds, arguments and every pretension that sets themselves against the knowledge of the Word of God; bringing every thought into captivity to make them obedient to Christ, he is control by “the old man” [1 Corinthians 10:5; Romans 7:23]. You can begin to fill your mind with affirmations from God’s words and promises [Hebrews 3:12; Proverbs 12:5, 15:26]. These deserve your constant reflections and are a constant source of strength. God is present always sees and understands the battles in your mind; is able to change your thoughts and protect you from negative thoughts. You can’t leave your door open and unsecured and expect to protect your house from burglary and robbery. The great Swiss Reformer and Theologian, Karl Barth wrote, “Communion with God is not a dash into security but a walk toward reality”.
One may wish to be well, prays for good health and prosperity but if his thought negates it, it shall not manifest in him, even when God has answered his prayers. That explains why some say they love but behaves hate. Again God may have healed you, but if you continue to think sick, you will act sick; that’s a manifestation of your thought. An African adage says, it’s not the wound that you have that causes great pains but your attitude towards the wound. That also explains why some people just refuse to grow up even when all the indices surrounding them have changed suggesting wellness and maturity; they still behave like over-grown babies. This is how some Christian folks act despite their many years in the Church; they keep drinking infant milk and do not aspire to eating solid food of their faith [Hebrews 5:13-14]. Human beings are anxious to improve their circumstances but reluctant or unwilling to improve themselves.
7.4 CAN WE WORSHIP GOD FOR WHOM HE IS?
I’m privileged to visit different places of worship or gatherings of Christian fellowship; listened to teachings and messages as well as prayers. It’s fast becoming obvious and certain that the reason most Christians reference God is because of what they get from God. These benefits include: good health, prosperity, breakthrough, miracles, and good fortune. Almost every Christian has become conversant with passages of open doors, open windows, open heavens, supply of abundance, prosperity and good successes. Worshippers are urged to tithe, give fat and generous offerings, and sow seeds: first fruit, sacrificial, love, pastor’s appreciation, first lady wall robe and so on. The sad thing about all these is that many do not even understand the theology behind what they ask people to do and what they are asked to do. The most important thing is to make sure the store house is full and the financial empires are built. That explains why we find Churches in every shopping centers and the product of “Churchanity” making waves in the market.
Some are so much driven by the money passion that they do not know where and when to stop. For example: I attended a special thanksgiving service in a Church in Houston and the lady “Apostle” preacher demonstrated her sales skills and in her persuasion said, “ if you do not dip hand into your pocket and give, you have the DNA of Satan.” And I said to myself, is that so! This appears a new lesson in the sales field, just to squeeze money out of people’s pocket. Little wonder, she has the title of ‘an apostle.’ If you are a guest minister and you end your sermon without urging worshippers to give generously or raise additional fund for the Church, you probably have sealed your door. Every Christian is praying for riches and wealth and prosperity. We are in the era of materialistic theology. It’s all about what they can get from playing Church. Religion was never supposed to be a source of making riches and acquiring wealth but materialistic theology has introduced a new dimension to the Church; it has become a huge profit-making business competing with the businesses of fallen World Street. Every Dick and Harry is setting up a Church business and even when some barely passed their high school, are now gurus in the tactics of brain washing, hypnotizing, and manipulation; into the cheerful deceit and pretentious business of religion. Religion has become a soft avenue for manipulating the minds of God’s people, make fortune and amaze wealth as well as build financial empire.
As I see all these religion of buying and selling return to the Church, the question that bothers me most time is: Why do we reference God? The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13 says, “After all this, there is only one thing to say: have reference to God and obey His commands because this is all that we were created for. Another version says, “The conclusion of the whole matter is: Fear God and keep his commandment, for this is the whole duty of man.” It’s a terrible feeling to believe that we worship God for what we get from God. If we must give to God it’s because of what we expect to receive from Him. They tell you God gives to those who give to Him and hold your offering high and speak to God through your offering. Some “Apostle/prophet” preachers will adopt Old Testament doctrines that the coming of Christ had nullified, just to brainwash their hearers. If you dare raise a question against these greed and idolatry that has become norms, you’re tagged an unbeliever and can even be attacked by other means.
The questions not often answered are: what did we give God for creating us and for daily sustenance? What did we give God for offering His Son Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the entire world? The scripture says, while we did not know God, Christ died for us. Human beings are setting up and running Churches as chattel and appoint “sales men and women” to every sales outlet to sell their wares and Church businesses are booming. The motive is to make gains, power and ego for individuals and family; just season your motive with “god” and passion for cash. Are you then surprised that at every shopping center of our cities, you will find shops in the name of Church? Worshippers are becoming used to the ‘near truth’ of these do and die religious zealots whose passion is nothing but money and sharp ways to acquire it. Venture to ask, apart from passion for money would you go into Church business? It was for this reason that Satan asked God, “Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? He added, ‘you have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does and you have given him enough wealth. But now suppose you take away everything he has-he will curse you to your face’ [Job 1:9-11].
Brethren, do you worship God for nothing? Can we worship God for who He is, even when our prayers is yet to be answered? Can we reference God when we feel less of His presence? It’s possible that we worship God for what He has already done? The Psalmist says, “Remember His marvelous works which He has done; His wonders and the judgment of His mouth” [Psalm 105:5]. Can we get back to the old spirit of worship, where we worship God first, because of who He is; second, for what He has already done and shall continue to do? We do not worship God for what we desire to get from God. We can not bribe God with gift or force Him to give us. He has already blessed us with heavenly blessings in high places. Worshipping God because of gains we get from God constitutes idolatry. God is being worshipped by heavenly bodies and by every other earthly creature as the Lord of life, King of kings and Lord of lords, etc. God can raise stone to worship Him if human don’t. It’s in the nature of God to give and that is settled in heaven.
Without our misguided giving, God will still give us. There is no trade by barter with God. Who gave us the entire good and perfect gift we have? Human beings can’t pay for the air we breathe, for the foundation of the earth we live in, for the cloud that brings rain, for the sun, moon and stars we enjoy, vegetations and depth that breeds our fishes, etc. How about the arrows that fly in the day and the pestilence that walks in the night or the enemies of our souls that all surround us? Little wonder the scripture says, “If it had not been the Lord who was on my side……when men rose against us…” [Psalm 124:1ff]. We can do nothing without God. He’s self sufficient God but loves his creation. All He asks is to appreciate His glory, grace and mercy. Giving is supposed to be cheerfully, willingly and generously but not out of compulsion.
God does not even see our gifts; what he sees is His Son, Jesus Christ that is the once and for all greatest sacrificial gift and the blood covenant with Him. No human being or human gift can satisfy God because we are all sinners and so are our gifts. Our righteousness before God is like filthy rags. It is a high time we stopped worshipping God as if God is an idol or human being. God says, “If I were hungry, I would not ask you for food, for the world and everything in it is mine” [Psalm 50:12]. Our gifts can never redeem us and we can never redeem ourselves. We cannot pay God the price for our lives because the payment for human soul is too great; what we could pay would never be enough……. [Psalm 49:7-8]. “For the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. For He is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of His hand” [Psalm 95:3, 7]. “For The Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols but this Lord made the heavens? Honor and Majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His presence” [Psalm 96:4-6].
Giving is good and wonderful and should be encouraged but the love and passion for money has driven many into manipulating people and ripping them in the name of God. Materialistic theology is nothing but idolatry. That’s why they go to any length to get what they want – straight or crook. They love you, become their friend when you are giving but the moment, something happen to you and you can no longer give, you’re forgotten and hardly being reached. This may be unpopular teaching but the truth. This could explain why some people love God but can’t stand the Church. The scripture still urges us to worship God in Spirit and truth. If we really do, our love and focus on money will shift base. It’s high time we stopped robbing God’s people by playing all tricks in the book because judgment shall start in the Church. Don’t forget God created our inward part and watches our motives.
Chapter Eight:
CHALLENGES
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:
Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full.”
[John16:24]
We have a great need for Christ and
we have a great Christ for our needs.
C. H. Spurgeon
Chapter Eight: Content
8.1 Challenge it and it will Change!
8.2 At the Edge of Promotion
8.3 For a time like this
8.1 Challenge it and it will Change
In our world we take a lot of things for granted. We uphold tradition and culture without knowing the reason behind them. We accept status quo without questioning the rationale. We have casual attitude towards our rights, our inheritance, benefits, ownership and possessions. We loose our rights by ignorance, intimidations and fears. Everybody’s ignorance is his mountains [obstacles]. We say very easily, it can never be done or that’s the way it has been, it cannot change. Surprisingly stars are those who do what other people have not done. Boundaries are shifted every minute and nobody ask why. We fear to stand up for our rights or pursue what is right because we do not want to be called names. We are afraid to loose our crowd mates. We keep quitting and compromising because those make us look good and hurt no feelings. Ed Louis once said, “Life is composed of our choices, constructed in our words and revealed by our character.”
Many Christians are ignorant of their inheritance, right, glory and power they have in Christ. That’s why the effect of the cross is not manifested in them. They cannot fully appreciate what it means to have riches of His glory or inheritance of the saints; being blessed with all heavenly blessings. Little surprised Satan takes advantage of them, intimidate, deceive and distract them. Inheritance is what we receive or pass on to us because of our positions as heirs; we possess them of right. Heirs are those who inherit or are entitled to inherit another property, title or throne. Heir apparent is one whose right cannot be denied if he outlives the ancestor. He could become a trait to those who lust after or unduly desire the throne and inheritance [Matt.21:38]. Heirs in biblical days were only male children. Jesus was also an heir to all things even unto the end [Hebrew 1: 1-2]. God told Abraham, “Your own son [not daughter] will be your heir to inherit your possession [Genesis 15:2-4]. Isaac was blessed to inherit the land and wealth God gave to Abraham [Genesis 28:3-4]. Some people just eat all they have during their lifetime through greed, selfishness and meanness and nothing left for their children [Proverbs. 11: 29].
When the children of Israel were still in the plains of Moab and just crossed the Jordan from Jericho, the 12 tribes of Israel were numbered [head count or censure]. The purpose was to ensure proper division of the land and fair distribution of the inheritance. The larger tribes were to receive larger share/portion. Zelophehad was one of Israel’s army captains; popular and fought many battles. He had five daughters but died before he could get a son. By tradition and culture he had no heir. There was no mention of their mother[s]. Their children knew well enough who their father was and the personality he commanded. The 5 daughters exhibited power of knowledge, strength of unity and agreement. They had courage to ask: A-ask; S-seek; and K-knock = ASK. They demanded for identification, questioned the tradition and contested the status quo. By so doing, they put their lives on the line [life and death]. They went to Moses, in the presence of Elezar, the Priest and the nation of Israel, to plead their case. It may not have been easy to appear before the court of Israel to meet with Moses [Numbers 27: 1-11].
They pleaded, our father died in the wilderness not as a rebel but a competent soldier. He died standing sentinel to the battle, of his own sin [not a prefect man]. He did not break any law against the state [felony, etc]. He had no son but we are his 5 children – not slaves [Galatians.4:30-31]. They asked why our father’s name should disappear in Israel. Give us a portion/possession among our father’s brethren. We are his children and heir [Proverbs 13:22]. Before that time, only sons could inherit land. That was the first time women pleaded their case for their right /inheritance before Judges and leaders of the nation of Israel. These Children knew they were children of a captain of Israel army. They came to make impart and change the course of history than remain passive as a waste generation. There was a probability that those children were known because of their father’s influence and popularity. They had self worth – confident and courage. Courage is mental muscles that conquer fears. They believed in justice and knew that change was constant; challenge brings change. They had the 3D’s and 3C’s of success. 3D’s are: Determination, Diligent and Discipline. The 3C’s are: Confident, Courage and Commitment [Joshua 1: 8].
That was a tough request and Moses brought the matter before God. He did not sweep it under the carpet or stick to the tradition of men. He had compassion on the daughters of Israel. He reflected on the good image and personality of their father. Moses understood his position as a servant of the God of justice [a-go-between], a custodian and not a boss. He knew that the whole earth belong to God [Psalms 24:1]. Moses ignored the opinions of the crowd and what other leaders would think of him. He knew that all powers belong to God. Moses did not only ask God what to do but waited until he answered. He did not allow tradition overcrowd his sense of reason and judgment. He waited and listened until God spoke. We are too impatient for God. The God of all creation responded and brought in new status of judgment:
[i] Give the daughter of Zelophehad their father’s inheritance, [ii] From now on if a man dies without a son, his daughter inherits thepossession,
[iii] If no son or daughter his brethren obtain this inheritance [iv] If no son, daughter and no brethren his inheritance passes to his father’s brethren,[v] If his father had no brethren his inheritance passes to father’s close relative.
As against God commandment, in some African countries, when someone pass without a son [or young child] his relative scramble over the inheritance, fight and can kill to posses the inheritance.
Throughout the scripture and all over the world, challenge brings change. In 1 Samuel 17: 5-7, 38-40 and 45-47 David neither wore the old amour nor went to war with sword and spear. He went with catapult and stone and in the name of the Lord. Jabez challenged God to Change his inheritance, disposition; widen his coast and keep him from sin [1 Chronicle 4:9-10]. Elijah cried unto God and challenged the spirit of death over the widow’s son [1 Kings 17: 20-21]. Jesus challenged the waves and storms of the sea that made his disciples panic and they changed. He also Challenged God, his father over the death of Lazarus and God responded [John 11: 41-44]. Christians are empowered to challenge cripple-ness, sickness, stagnation, spirit of death, indifference and procrastination; poverty stubbornness among our children, spirit of conflicts in our spouse and demonic sprit of greed, covetousness and deception.
The scripture says, whoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart but believes that those things he said shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he asked. [Mark 11:23]. Pastor Jude Chukwumaife, writing in his book: Destiny Moulder said, God knows that true action is from the heart, for with the heart man believes and the mouth confesses what is in the heart. He further added that Mountains are only removed when you don’t doubt. To doubt is to linger between two opinions. Those who have alternatives do not receive from God. If you say it and it is still there, it is because you don’t believe it. Say it until you believe yourself. You have what you say. The tongue is a creative apparatus [destiny moulder]; use it to create good things in your life. [Romans 10:10; Proverbs 6:2; Luke 21:15]. A faithless person cannot receive anything from God [Hebrews 11:3; 2 Corinthians 4:13]. We lack understanding on who we are in Christ Jesus and have no grip of the effect of his death on the cross and the power of his resurrection. [John 1:12-13; Luke 10:19; Colossians 2:8-10].
It could be that we do not ask or may not ask in the right way and for the right purpose [James 4: 2; Numbers 14: 28 and Psalms 45:1]; do not understand the authority of the God and His word. [Jeremiah 23:29; Psalms 8:6]. God exchanged His Son for our sake and can change any law, any government or institution and any person acting against us or blocking our way. He did for Lot, Joseph, Esther and Ephraim [Romans 8:32; Gen. 48:20] and can do it for you. Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth [Matthew 5:5]. If we are God’s children, we are then heirs, also co-heirs with Christ sharing his inheritance with him [Gal. 4:7; Rom. 8:17]. We have obtained inheritance, which had been afore-ordained according to His purpose and inheritance of the saint. We have been born into inheritance that is beyond decay [Eph 1:11,18; 1 Peter 1:3-5]. If we are God’s Children we have the Spirit of God in us. This Spirit does not make us slave or afraid; instead …God joins His Spirit with our spirit to declare we are children of God. Since we are Children of God, we shall posses the blessings and inheritance kept for His people… [Romans 8:12-16]. Don’t allow anybody or situation stops you half way. Know that challenge brings change.
By standing firm for your right, your generation could change for better. They are small foxes digging deep into the lives in your household. They need to be challenged, pursued and destroyed. There are many thorns growing alongside the wheat, we should uproot them before they kill the fruit. We have so many lies flying about in our communities; the truth only can set captives free. Many folks are dying in ignorance and fears. They need to know that only Jesus can save. He’s the only religious leader that claimed to have solution to life’s moral issues. All we need is to accept his saving grace. Challenging the status quo may bring us persecutions and attacks from leaders in power. It may not be easy and simple but remain focus and do not give in to intimidation or threats. David did not allow the height and amour of Goliath to intimidate him. Elijah trusted God in the presence of 400 Baal prophets. The Lord said if God be for you who will be against you? [Romans .8:31]. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God…. [1 Corinthians 2:5]. ‘Only flowers need planting, weeds grow anywhere and are valueless.’ “The journey of life is live by change when ignorance prevails but it can be ruled by choice when knowledge is in control.”
8.2 At the Edge of Promotion
Each time I ponder on the passion and reactions of some of the old prophets of Israel, one prophet intrigues me so much in a couple of ways. This oracle of God is called Elisha. Elisha was a servant of Prophet Elijah, a great servant of the Most High God. Elisha, the son of Sha’phat of Abel-Meholah was anointed a prophet [1 Kings 19:16, 19bff] by Prophet Elijah to replace him after he must have gone. While Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him [vs19]. After intimating his parent, he went after Elijah and served God under him [vs21]. Elisha served and in company of Prophet Elijah when he smote the river Jordan with his mantle and the river divided into two; when he twice commanded fire and it consumed the captain of fifties. He must have been with his master when he confronted the 400 Baal prophets and commanded fire from heaven to consume his offering to the Lord [1 King 16]. Elisha witnessed many miracles in the hands of his master the Prophet Elijah.
A time came when Elijah was about to depart from the surface of this earth. He asked Elisha, “tell me what you want me to do for you before I’m taken up into heaven by whirlwind”. Elisha answered, “I pray thee, let a double portion of your Spirit be upon me.” Even though Elijah called it a tough or hard request, he reacted, “if you see me when I would be separated from you, it shall be so unto you but if not it shall not happen” [2 Kings 2:9-12]. Thereafter Elisha carefully and painstakingly followed Prophet Elijah, his master. Elisha tarried with Elijah, went everywhere with him until he witnessed Elijah’s sudden departure and grabbed the mantle of Elijah as the chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire wrested him away into heaven. Elisha cried out, my father, my father, mighty defender of Israel, You are gone. Elisha grieved and tore his cloak into two; then picked up Elijah’s apparel and put it on. Elisha persevered until he got his promotion – the double portion of Elijah’s anointing. Elisha headed back to the bank of river Jordan and strokes the water with the mantle of Elijah saying: where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? He struck the water again and it divided into two and he walked over to the other side. The fifty prophets that stood by the river watched him strike and cross the river said, the power of Elijah is on him. This was the beginning of the ministry of Prophet Elisha. At Jericho he healed their bitter water and barren land [2 kings 2:13-14, 19-22].
Elisha had a servant called Gehazi. He served Elisha until Satan came into him and possessed his appetite. Gehazi was with Elisha, his master when he performed many miracles: solved the problem of creditors that came to take two children into slavery through the miracle of vessels with oil in exchange. When he passed by Shaman, he healed the Shunammite woman’s barrenness and raised her child from death, etc [2 Kings 4:1-7, 12-37]. Through the mighty works of miracles that God did in the hands of his master, there was no doubt that Gehazi understood that his master was a vessel of God. Elisha was the last prophet and Gehazi his servant was the next in line to take over the mantle of his master, for triple portion of anointing. Did Gehazi get it? What went wrong? Christian scholars are divided in opinion as regards the outcome of Elisha’s reaction towards his erring servant, Gehazi and how Elisha died with his double portion of anointing.
While Elisha dwelled in Israel, Naaman, the captain of the host of the king of Syria, a great warrior and mighty man of valor who had won numerous battles for the Syrians, but he had dreaded disease, leprosy. This was a great concern not only to him and family but also the king and people of Syria. The reason is because leprosy was an infectious and contagious disease. Naaman must have spent great fortunes to get rid of this deadly and disgracefully disease but to no avail. However through his Israel war captive little girl, his wife learnt that there was a great prophet in Israel who could heal the man. She informed his husband and persuaded him to seek help. Naaman must have felt reluctant to pursue this option because it would involve a diplomatic connection between the two countries. These two were warring nations and relationship between them was not at its best. However, as they shared each other’s burden, the King of Syria learnt and bought into the option. He issued a hand carried letter through Naaman to the King of Israel to help find a cure to Naaman state of health. Naaman took with him thirty thousand of silver, six thousand of gold and ten changes of fine clothes. This letter displeased the king of Israel and he rent his garment in anger wondering, “Am I God that has the power of life and dead, that I should heal Naaman? He may be trying to pick a quarrel or fight with me”. However when Prophet Elisha heard the brood and happening, he sent for Naaman through the king. This was an opportunity to prove that there’s a God in Israel and I’m his prophet.
Naaman with his entourage rode his horses and chariots to the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a message to Naaman saying, “go and wash in Jordan River seven times and your flesh shall be restored; you will be healed.” Naaman felt humiliated and furious. He opined at least Elisha could’ve come out to see him and intercede to the God on his behalf. Naaman questioned, “Are Rivers of Damascus not better than all the waters in Israel?” Here you could deduce the pride and ego of this military starwort. Do not take it personal; it had to do with nation’s pride. Naaman’s servant persuaded him to adhere to the prophet’s command, even though it appears very simple. Naaman went down to River Jordan and dipped himself seven times and immediately his flesh was restored and healed. Naaman proclaimed, “now indeed I know that there a God in all the earth but in Israel.” Naaman returned to Prophet Elisha and offered him some gifts in gratitude. As Elisha refused the gift, Gehazi listened with discomfort because his soul lust after rewards and comfort.
Something, somewhere overcrowded Gehazi’s sense of reasoning and the spirit of lust, greed and covetousness entered into him. He said in his mind, “My master Elisha [man of God] had healed Naaman, the Syrian and received nothing at his hand but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and fetch some of the presents he brought [vs. 20]. He failed to realize who he was and who he was living with. He was under the covering of God’s servant, a prophet, heavily anointed, had double portion of the anointing of Elijah’s spirit and speaks for God. Gehazi ran after Naaman and lied against his master and God. He said my master sent me to obtain a talent of silver and two changes of garment for the sons of prophet. Naaman gladly gave him Six thousand pieces of silver tied up in two bags and two changes of fine clothes. [vs. 23]. Without fears, Gehazi brought those items into the house where he lived with his master, Elisha and hid them. Elisha then asked Gehazi: where are you coming from? Gehazi laid, nowhere sir. Gehazi hid his illicit possession but God sees the secret things of life. Elisha asked Gehazi, “Did my spirit not go with you when you approached Naaman on his way and obtained gifts from him? Is it the time to accept money, garments, olive yards and vineyards, sheep and oxen or servant?” [2 Kings 5:26]. When you are a servant of heaven, it’s the time to be greedy? When you’re a step to becoming the next most powerful prophet, it’s the time to acquire corrupt wealth, land treasures for yourself? [Luke 12:21].
When you’re about to become a prophet with triple portion of anointing, it’s time to mingle with worldliness. When angels are just passing by with greater gifts, it’s time to ask for lesser treasures? In the face of better things to come, is it the time to portray unbelief, unfaithfulness and dishonesty? Is it time to betray your God and Lord, your Church and Pastors as well as crowd of witnesses? Is it time to loose focus; derail and miss your goal and destiny [heaven]? Just minutes to your open doors, you miss the mark; seconds to your breakthrough, you become dissatisfied with God, seek help elsewhere. Just seconds to your uncommon favor, Satan blindfolds and dominates your thought and minds; got you out of your life’s expectation and achievement. In a blink of an eye and saddle of new dawn, you fell in the battle of giants.
How has the mighty fallen? This one single act has reduced you to nothingness. You have failed the mark and devalued your standard. You became sick at heart and made wrong choices. You think you know better than God or God does not see you or know what you do in unfamiliar environment; because you closed your doors or did it in the dark.
Gehazi left Elisha’s presence a leper; because of his action his household shall suffer this deadly disease for ever. What are you doing that shall affect your household and generation for life? Is it secret sin: Fraud, greed, lust, get rich quick, blood covenant, with the evil world? When you do any inglorious act, the shame shall not only be on you but passed on your descendants and generation. You cannot hide for ever. What sins are you committing that can affect your enjoying fulfilled life?
Once a man had one time sex with a strange woman and ended up contacting HIV and AIDS. Before He knew, it he had passed unto the wife and perhaps other suitors. In some part of Africa, especially in Igbo tribes, before you get married, they conduct a background check on your character and that of your family. Would your character cause your children tears? What type of a person would they say you are: a witch, a thief, “419-er”[Fruad] [what is 419 for a Nigerian who does not understand?], liar supplanter, and murderer, etc? We should be careful and watchful, stand firm and be strong. We are in a race and shall pass our batons. Our times are full of trails and temptations. When you profess to be a Christian, your faith shall be tested and tried. Gehazi destined to take over the mantle of his master Elisha, but he missed it, lost the golden opportunity over feeble earthly trash. Was his action predetermined or an accident?
This brings to mind an ugly incident that happened in the soccer field during the 2006 World Cup Soccer finals in Germany. A soccer giant from France was given a red card and sent out of the pitch over a head butt. His inglorious exit marks the end of his soccer career. Analysts opined that his exit costs the France side the game. He was a captain, reliable and utility player of his side; a match maker. The vacuum his exit created was felt by his side throughout the match. One head butt that the referee judged as unethical, landed the star a red card, exits the field and reserved bench. A senator alleged to have demanded for sex in public restroom. A football star got involved in a dog fight. There are so many ridiculous happenings and caricaturists in our days and time; most of them attract the question, “but why?”
Also, King David was a powerful and very resourceful king in Israel. His fame went far and wide; mere mention of his name threatened other nations. He won many battles for Israel and was at the height of his fame. But he lust after his subject’s wife – Bathsheba; made love to her and got her with a baby. He connived with his field Captain and killed Uriah, her husband at the war front. This one act displeased God and it created untold calamity in his life, household and kingdom. Apart from the fact that the child died, it brought domestic tragedies and violence to his family and kingdom; He could not build a temple for God because his hands were stained with blood. But God favored his son, King Solomon that stood in his stead to build a beautiful sanctuary for Him. Adam and Eve had a wonderful relationship with God of all creation, until they listened and believed Satan than they did to God. It caused them expulsion from the beautiful Garden of Eden and God’s presence. The effect of their misdeeds has affected all human race and even generation unborn.
Many people who died and were buried did not fulfill their destinies. They missed their marks and lost their focus; some were brought down half way. Many people do things for three reasons: Leg – love, ego and gain. Our age has witnessed dramatic drifts in values and pursuits. Greed runs our system and destroys our souls. These pursuits have put many into prisons: demarcated by walls of bricks and controlled by rules of consciences. Brethren, what are we doing that could contradict your confession, bring shame and disgrace to you, family and body of Christ as well as your race and nation. What are we being initiated into that would result in denial of faith, make us feel guilty before God and loose our spiritual battle.
At the edge of our breakthrough and promotion, we should be watchful and praying because the devil is contending with us. We should stand sentinel and be vigilant not to loose our focus and destiny. We should remain still and be strong because Satan knows how to pose as angel of light and cause destructions with deceit at the last minute. Most mighty people had fallen in the last chances; when they felt they were comfortable and confident, they fell headlong. Many marriages have been blown apart when they thought they had joined the honorable club of successful married people, they went down. Many relationships have been wrought because of what they do or other people that affected them.
In this end time, we must be careful what we do, who we associate with and what we listen to and permit into our minds. The mind becomes a bigger battlefield than all the fought earthly battlefields – won and lost put together. Christians sing joyfully as many people around our world get saved, but Satan fashion in weapon to run them down. He becomes more aggressive and subtle; fights from the top and pull down and disgrace faith giants who had thought they have arrived or are unshakeable. Christians seek not yet repose…watch and pray! Watch and pray!! Watch and pray!!! How I wish I could sing it more times than this. Just like Gehazi did not know who his master was; not know God is omnipotent and omnipresent sees and knows all that happen in our world. Many of us do not know the God we worship. We do not know how mighty and powerful He is. He knows what we think and do in secret. He knows our ‘morrow from yesterday. There’s nothing impossible with Him. God is bigger than we know Him. The God of love is the same God of justice and a consuming fire.
We are repeatedly informed that God’s judgment will start in the Church. If we know the effect of the cross of Christ and power of Jesus resurrection, many in the Church playing “churchanity” and religion would think back. It’s easy to think that Elisha was a hard man, perhaps selfish and very unforgiving; he died with his double anointing without passing it on. Yes, indeed he’s human and every human being has some element of jealousy and selfishness; we also hoard. Even though Elisha died with his double anointing but Jesus Christ unlocked all the powers in heaven and on earth and put them at our disposal. What are we complaining about when we have been saved by God’s grace while we were still living in sin and blessed with all heavenly blessings; made co-heirs with Christ. We have been made chosen race, the king’s priests, the holy nation and God’s people and given the Gospel to liberate the world. We have been given a better authority that the seventy disciples and even the old prophets had because of the Christ in us and the Holy Spirit as our companion. Yet we have turned the anointing of God into an instrument of chasing mammon. Throughout the scriptures, God had warned against treasure on earth and serving money rather than God.
The same things that the Pharisees did in the temple that provoked Jesus righteous anger have returned to the Church. Today in our Churches money is contending with the Gospel. In the name of the Gospel, we preach and teach, worship and serve money. Even though money answers everything, but money is not everything. The love of money has become the order of the day. A man of God once said in a Church gathering, “anointing without money is annoyance.” We should be careful that we do not run this race and end up in shame. God forbid that He tells us at last, “I don’t know you.”
We are ambassadors of Christ; our home is not here. We represent the kingdom of heaven. We do not have treasures in the world. We should be careful to abide by the passion and dominion of heaven. May we not be recalled home because we have violated the ordinance of our appointment? May our lives bring no reproach and shame to the master, family and God’s kingdom? Many men and women of God are living in past glory; they may still be speaking in tongue and exhibiting some ministerial gifts but have lost open heaven and ambassadorial immunity because their licenses have been withdrawn. Eli was still on the throne when God bypassed him and revealed what he wanted to do through Samuel; even deeds and dints in his own household. When a child of God looses the dominion of heaven, you are living in a sorrow state and prune to the darts of the enemy. Some Christians are still shouting hallelujah while the axe head had fallen into the water. Whatever they do is mechanical and has no approval of heaven.
Elisha was a prophet of God by no mean evaluation and evidences in the scriptures reveal that God used him to turn around most challenging situations. God is a holy God; Elisha’s zeal and passion was to attend and remain holy. His servant Gehazi should’ve known the type of burning fire his master had. He failed to sense the desire for righteousness in the master’s spirit. Elisha mission was to prove to Naaman and everyone out there that there is a God in Israel that heals without health insurance, without Medicare, without money. That God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who raised Jesus from the dead and took Him to heaven, He’s the Lord, the truth and the revealer of all truth. There are no lies or deceits in Him. Gehazi’s lie was no joke but a serious sin. Whether we call it lapse, error or mistake; politically “inappropriate or incorrect”, it’s a lie. We know when we lie. We lie in words, actions and silences. Gehazi knew that He lied to Elisha but what he failed to realize was that it was a lie to the God of Elisha and the Holy Spirit of God in him. When Ananias and his wife, Sapphira lied to the apostles, little did they know they lied to the Holy Spirit [Acts 5:3-11]. John’s Revelations gave astonishing condemnation to what we toy with as fun: “…perverts, immoralities…and all liars shall end in lake burning with fire… nothing that is impure will enter that city or anyone who does shameful things or tell lies …; idolaters, and liars in words and deeds…. stay outside the gate of God [Revelation 21:8, 27; 22:15]. We must understand the signs of the times we live in and the games and strategies of Satan. We can’t make God a liar [1 John 1:10]. As the redeemed of the Lord, we know the truth. No liars live in my palace; no hypocrite remains in my presence [Psalm 101:7].
Do not give up before your testimony hour. Most people never know how close they were to the golden crown or Championship cups, before they quit. Some people are at the right place at the right time but do not know it. They know neither any easy path to glory nor a rosy road to fame. We should not allow the spirit of demotion, spying over our lives to bring us down. [Ezekiel18:20]. Geheza had the world at his fingertips – a colorful and glorious path but I do not think he knew it. While God had a great plan for his destiny, Satan and the gate of hell also had a plan for his demotion. At the tail end, he ended his glorious apprenticeship/ career in shameful and infamous failure. He was not only gripped with leprosy but the whole of his household and generation suffered this deadly disease. When he was expected to become the greatest and most powerful man of God on the surface of the earth, the devil worked him down. We must be careful because one lie could bring untold disaster or misfortune to man or woman of God. It’s good to always feel the passion and pulse of our master. Sin will first fascinate us and then turn around to assassinate us. The same God of love is no doubt the God of justice. It’s amazing to fall into the hand of the mighty God of creation. What time is it? What are we doing to redeem this time? Be extremely careful at the edge of your promotion. Be strong and hold unto God; the stage is set for your celebration.
8.3 FOR A TIME LIKE THIS!
The world we live in is made of times and season. The time to live and time to die, a time to plant and a time to reap; a time to weep and time to rejoice; a time to work and a time to rest [Ecclesiastes 3]. In the same vein, there are times to step up and cease the moment; pick up the challenge and do something glorious and remarkable. For example: In a soccer team, players are noted for the wing they play, some play right wing, and others play left, some play forward, midfield or back while other are good goalies. However, among the players we have good utility players that can take and respond quickly to instructions and are placed on reserve bench. They sit on the bench with coaches and team Managers; are instructed on the state of the play. As the need arises, the coach brings them in as substitutes whom they had instructed specifically on what to do. Most times they enter into the field of play with renewed vigor and stamina, cease the moment and play fantastic game. Some of them are “goal getters,” others are rugged players that hold the midfield to defend or accelerate the tempo of the game. They are expected to rise to the challenge of the moment and fulfill the trust put on them.
Similar things happen in theater and film production. Some actors are chosen to play specific roles in drama and film production as needed. In leadership management, some leaders are good routine mangers while others are multifunctional [utility] managers. Another example is transparent in medical and nursing profession: Some like traumas and work in Emergency or ICU departments while others cannot stand trauma they end up in working in less traumatic departments. There appear to be specialization even in teaching profession: some are science and mathematics in orientation while others are arts, language and cultural, music and sports, etc.
Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth that grows amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns. We never believed any good can possibly come from us. There are great hidden potentials in everyone despite our many failures, struggles and present battles. The biblical Esther manifested such hidden potentials when it most mattered.
Esther was a cute and amazing young woman who was raised by his uncle, Mordecai after her parent died. Both Mordecai and Esther with a bunch of other Israelites were in captivity under King Ahasuetus who ruled 127 provinces. From India to Ethiopia, he ruled from his royal throne in the city of Susa, Persia’s capital. In the third year of his reign, King Ahasusrus [Xerxes] held banquet for all the noblemen in Persia and Media and the entire governors of the provinces. The purpose was to exhibit his wealth and riches. Queen Vashti also held banquets for the women. On the seventh day of his banquet, the King excited at his popularity and wealth ordered the seven eunuchs to dress and bring in Queen Vashti so that he could show case and honor her; placed a royal crown on her head because she was an amazing beautiful woman. But unfortunately Queen Vashti refused and disobeyed the King’s order. Queen Vashi refusal provoked the King’s fierce anger. He was embarrassingly furious. His advisers condemned Queen Vashti’s action and behavior; it was not only an insult to the King, but also to all the people of Persia and Media. Her action was seen as a bad omen and damaging role model for other women and should be curbed. His advisers then suggested to the King to institute a search team for some beautiful young women of good repute and put them under the charge of Hegai, the eunuch for grooming and beauty treatment. The king would choose the one he likes best and make a queen in the place of Queen Vashti. The King favored that advice and made a decree to that effect.
Mordecai quickly presented Esther, an amazing and dazzling young woman of good reputation. Esther was one of the young women brought to the royal palace in the care of Hegai. God’s favor was on Esther and Hegai, the eunuch liked her. Without wasting time she commenced wellness treatment of beauty and special diet on Esther. This treatment lasted for a year. Hegai assigned seven young servants to serve her and gave her the best of attention. Mordecai advised Esther not to disclose her Jewish origin. After going through the beauty treatment, all the women were brought to King Xerxes on his seventh year as the King in the twelfth month and he fell in love with Esther more than others. He placed the queen’s crown on her head and celebrated her marriage in a week long banquet. Esther became the queen of Persia and Media.
After Esther was made a queen, her uncle, Mordecai was appointed to an administrative position in the King’s palace. In the course of his duty, he overheard two of the King’s servants [eunuchs]: Bigthana and Teresh, plotting to assassinate the King and he passed the information to Esther who in turn told the King what was Mordecai‘s findings. The King investigations revealed the information was true and both men were sentenced to death and were hanged in the gallows. Mordecai was promoted because he saved the King’s life. This provoked jealousy against Mordecai. Again, King Xerxes promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag, who had hatred for the Jews to the position of a Prime minister. The King ordered all the officials to show their respect for Haman by knelling and bowing to him. Everyone of the official obeyed that order except Mordecai, who said, “I am a Jew and cannot bow to Haman” [Esther 3:4]. Invariably he meant, I have a King; His name is Jehovah and only Him shall I bow and worship. Haman was furious and planned to kill Mordecai and every Jew in the whole Persian Empire. He smartly convinced the king that they were people in his kingdom who did not obey him and such people should be put to death. The King signed a decree to that effect and passed it to the provinces. That was just the beginning of the battle of the war God will win if only you refuse to fear your future and know that there is some good in you. Even though we pass through the valley and shadow of death, we shall fear no evil because the battle before us is not ours but the Lord’s; Jehovah Nissi fights our battles. No doubt Satan may win many fronts of the battle but God, the man of war wins the war overall.
When Mordecai heard all that Haman had done, he tore his cloth, dressed in sack cloth and covered his head with ashes and yelled bitterly through the city until he came to the palace entrance. He was denied entry into the palace because he wore sackcloth. In every place where the King’s proclamation was made, there were loud mourning among the Jews – they fasted, wept, wailed while some put sackcloth and laid in ashes. The queen’s maid informed Esther what Mordecai was doing and the queen was disturbed. She got Mordecai some cloth and he refused to wear it. She now sent one of her palace eunuchs, Hathach, to find out from Mordecai, what the matter was. The eunuch told her all the schemes of Haman to kill all the Jews. Mordecai also called for Esther’s help. To substantiate his case he sent a copy of the proclamation to queen Esther. Esther sent words back to Mordecai of the inhibitions that the law prohibits any one going into the King’s courtyard unless the King had pre-consented and the King must hold out the royal scepter to the person otherwise the person must die. Mordecai sent an urgent hard message back to Queen Esther on the implications of not doing something. He said, “do not think in your heart that you are safe than any Jew out there because you are in the palace. If you decide to keep quiet at this time and feel nonchalant, help will come from heaven to the Jews and they will be saved; but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows may be it was for a time like this that you were made a queen” [Esther 4:13-14]. This was the perspiration that gave birth to inspiration. Mordecai’s message to Esther was so provocative that it challenged Esther into action.
After thoughtful consideration, Esther sent a response to Mordecai, “Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Do not eat or drink anything for three days and night. My women servant and I shall do the same. After that I will go to the King even though it was against the law. If it means that I will perish for doing it, let me perish.” On the third day of the fast, Queen Esther dressed in the royal apron, went in and stood at the inner courtyard of the palace facing the throne room. When the King sighted Esther, he could not resist her beauty, made manifest through the favor of God on her. The King held out the gold scepter and welcome Queen Esther to his presence. Queen Esther invited the King and Haman to a special banquet that evening. They gorgeously attended promptly and enjoyed sumptuous meal and drink that evening. The Queen then invited them to another banquet the next day. When Haman went home he built a gallows of seventy five feet tall where he intends to hang Mordecai for not honoring him.
The next day, Haman went to the palace to request for the King’s authority to hang Mordecai. Unknown to him the king had remembered Mordecai for uncovering a plot to assassinate him by two of his palace eunuchs-Bigthana and Teresh and decided to honor him. The King told Haman that there was someone he wished very much to honor and asked for his suggestion on what best should be done to the person. Haman thinking he was the person the King had in mind, recommended the highest honor ever to be bestowed unto any man. This included dressing in royal robe, rode on the King’s horse through the city square and announcing to the people, “see how the King rewards someone he wishes to honor.” The King then said to Haman, hurry and get the robes and horses and provide the honor on Mordecai, the Jew. The King commanded Haman to do unto Him everything he suggested. Haman did as the King ordered in a very wonderful, fantastic ceremony. Haman was ashamed and returned home dejected and confused. That event confirmed the saying, “When the gods want to destroy you, they first make you mad.”
However the king and Haman had to attend Queen Esther’s special banquet the second night. After merriment of lavishing entertainment of assorted foods, wines and life’s shows, the King asked Queen Esther, “What do you want? Tell me and you shall have it for asking; even if it means half of the empire [Esther 7:2]. Esther thrilled by the King’s request, knew the time was set to unveil her secret agenda. She cunningly told the King, “My people and I have been sold for slaughter. I wouldn’t have bothered you but we are about to be destroyed….our enemy, our persecutor is this man, Haman [Esther 7:3-6]. The King was furious and could not stir at Haman or contain what he just heard; so he walked outside to the palace gardens. Haman noticed that the King was not pleased with what he heard and was determined to punish him. He stayed behind in the room to beg Queen Esther for his life. He then threw himself on the ground on Esther’s couch to beg her for mercy but luck ran off him as the king walked in from the palace garden and thought Haman was trying to rape Queen Esther. The King shouted, is this man going to rape the queen right in my presence and in my palace? Before the King finished speaking, the eunuchs covered Haman’s head and took him out. One of the eunuchs said, Haman even went as far as to build a gallows at his house so as to hang Mordecai, who saved your majesty’s life. The king commanded, hang Haman on it. So Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Then the King anger cooled down. Haman was an Amalekite and God swore to war with the Amalekites from one generation to another generations [Exodus 17:16].
Lessons learnt from the story:
I have come to believe that there is something in every person that we can use in difficult times. It is left for us as individuals to discover what it is and use it when the right time comes. Many people die with untapped inner strength. Esther used her beauty and faith in God to gain entrance into the King’s palace. She used her fame as a queen to lure the King and Haman to lavishing banquet; knew when the stage was set to bring forth her request before the King. Before then she listened to the voice of reasoning and was challenged by her uncle, Mordecai’s provocative message and demonstrations. There’s something we have that can touch the heart of the King of glory: The name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus and who we are in Christ. The name of Jesus is a name above all names. God, the Father had raised that name to the highest place above all principalities and powers, dominion and honor, above all heavens and on earth; everything in this world shall bow to that name and worship at His feet proclaiming Jesus as Lord to the glory of God, the Father. The blood of Jesus is evidence of what He did on the cross; the sin removing stain and can never be reversed. We now have the boldness to enter in the Holy of holiest by the blood of Jesus, not the blood of bull or ram or goat. Jesus said, it is finished; the work of salvation has been completed; nothing to add or removed.
We should know that some disappointments result into appointments. Queen Vashi’s disappointment resulted to Queen Esther’s appointment. Many people around our world measure disappointment as failure. Sometimes until one door closes another may not open. But we get so displeased with an inch of disappointment and do not understand what the eternal purpose of God is in every situation of life. The Psalmist says, “For upliftment comes neither from the East, nor from the West nor from the North nor from the South. But God is the Judge; He puts down one and sets up another……..All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” [Psalms 75:6-7, 10]. He looks at everyone that is proud and brings him low; tread down the wicked in their place [Job 40:12]. The proud shall stumble and fall [Jeremiah 50:32; James 4:6; Timothy 6:4; Proverbs 1:32]. These things happen to teach us the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and affairs; chooses who He gives it to and controls whatever happens in it [Daniel 5:21b].
The cost of doing nothing could be expensive. Complacency or nonchalance is dangerous and could cost many lives if issues are not nipped on board. Mordecai stressed the implications of not doing anything to Esther. In life there is always the challenge to rise up to an occasion when tough choices will have to be made. It may involve the risk of life, position and wealth. Also it may require boldness and promptness. There’s a wise saying, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. The alternative is no choice to make or even think about. Yet many of us have failed to do something tangible when we occupy a position of trust or authority. It could be an elective or appointment position or where nature has placed us. Some remain passive as dead fish carried by sea current to the expiration of their tenure, either for selfish reasons, gain or ego. Change comes when someone stands up like a life fish to swim against the current; to face the challenge of the day. It took one woman and his son the challenge to barn prayers and bible from public school. Forty six years later Christians have not been able to restore what was lost in shame. Yet we have believers in every facet of life; many are seriously dancing with demons and living in past glory. Many of our elected representatives are lost in the crowd of politics and ignore the fundamental societal challenges in our domains that caused them to be elected to power. Parents derelict their responsibilities and blame the consequences of their own failures on teachers, government and society.
Mordecai refused to bow down to Herman because he was a Jew. The Jewish laws drawn from God’s commandments and ordinances forbids one from worshipping or bowing down to any gods or persons except God, the Creator of heaven and earth. He understood that God shall not share His glory with anybody. Again it is better to obey God than human beings or gods of some sort. In life there is always a tough decision to make. It does not matter where one is or how one gets there, such decision or declaration speaks of who you are. We have seen such tough choice in the story of Daniel and the three Hebrew boys as well as Elijah and the 400 Baal prophets. Today, the greatest choice before every living being is to choose a god of some sort or to choose to know Jesus as Christ, the son of the living God. It does not matter where you are; your confessions reveal who you are whether for God or for Satan period; no standing in between. Even though the kings of the world give idolatry orders, we must not be ignorant of the commandments of the King of kings and the Creator of the universe. Mordecai and Queen Esther knew that the hearts of all kings are in the palm of God Almighty and He can will them anywhere He wants. God’s first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before Me [beside me, behind me, before me or share with me].” The second goes like this: You shall not bow down yourself to any made graven image or its likeness in heaven or beneath the earth or under the waters. These commandments have not changed under the grace; rather there are reinforced by Jesus Christ.
Again, Queen Esther never forgets she was a Jew and the Jews were regarded as God’s children. Mordecai reminded her, do not be comfortable because you have found yourself in the King’s palace; you are not better than other Jews. Whatever happens to other Jews will affect you. Many of us loose or hide our identity when we are in a crowd or a place of comfort. We forget who we are and where we came from. Most people forget they came from poor homes and heritages; where they still have poor medical facilities; dilapidated school buildings and dangerous roads network and epileptically power and bad water supplies. We have forgotten that even in this age, we do not have computers in some schools and inadequate funding of the school system. Many Christians forget who they were before Christ arrested them. In the society in which we live, we are God’s children saved by grace; not because of anything we did or will do but because of what Christ did on the cross of Calvary. Esther did not forget her route. Almost every Christian became a believer through the testimony or witness of other believers; but many have not witnessed to anyone since they became Christians. We became Christians, saved people to be able to save other people but how far we understand this or doing it is a matter of personal judgment.
In what ever position that we find ourselves, we should know that God has placed us there for a reason. It’s God who created us and has plan for what we shall be; He sees the end from the beginning and has a purpose for whatever He does or allows to happen. He lifts up one and brings down the other. In our world, we observe that some climb the ladder to the top and remove it sooner than they climb less another should use it. It took one person to get the world into trouble and also took another man to liberate us. It took one women to challenge and change the way the people of color were treated in buses over United States. All the world discoveries had one person who took pains to get a realizable solution to an unyielding problem. It took Queen Esther‘s resilience, persistence and beauty to get the Jews in the Kingdom of Persia and Media freed from Haman’s deadly plan and manipulation; threats and death traps. It took Jesus His all – humble birth, exemplary lifestyle, sufferings, death and resurrection to accomplish the redemption of mankind. What will it take us to love God and fellow human beings; live in peace with one another and achieve world peace as well as stop useless wars and untold sufferings? What will it take to realize that the life we live is not only for ourselves but for other people, especially those who can not help themselves? You may not know whether, it was for a time like this that you were made or lifted up to where you are. Cease the moment and do something uncommon and unusual. If we die, we die. Only posterity shall vindicate us.
.
Chapter Nine:
RATTLING IN THE VALLEY
“Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil:
for thou are with me: thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me.”
[Psalm 23:4]
The supreme need of the Church is the
same in the twentieth century as in the first;
it is men and women on fire for Christ.
James S. Stewart.
Chapter Nine: Content
9.1 Laying it at the Feet of God
9.2 Learn to Speak the Word
9.3 As a Man thinketh …
9.4 The failure of moral Police
When we look around our world, daily happenings suggest numerous fundamental problems abound. We live in a diseased world of uncertainties, terrorism, insecurities and helplessness. Watch and listen to the news on televisions and radios, there is virtually no news to listen to and feel hopeful in this age. All you hear and see are killings, unending wars, immoralities, catastrophes, abuses and terrorist attacks. The earth is endangered because of man’s sinfulness. The consequences of abusing our freedoms are crying out in pollution, depletion of natural resources and toxic waste everywhere. The earth is crying out in: flood, earthquakes, fire disasters, hurricanes, droughts, tragic deaths, poverty and starvations. All these and others echo the deadness in our society: injustices, avarice, pride, anger, greed, revenge, and lust for gain, power and position, ego as well as covetousness. These are the results of our wrong choices and freedom we enjoy without concern about other people and creatures.
9.1 Laying It at the Feet of God
Each time human beings seek satisfaction elsewhere than God they suffer consequences. Whenever human beings seek independence of their creator, they end up making wrong choices. In the name of liberty and freedom, they seek after other gods and neglect the God of creation that made them, loves them unconditionally and provides for their needs; they encounter problems of unexplainable tragedies, wars and untimely death. That reminds me that many people that submit to ‘God gives and God takes’ died without fulfilling their destinies. They died because of wrong choices made by them or other people, looking for satisfaction elsewhere. They died trying to circumvent the orders of the Most High God; questioning God’s wisdom, seeking answers elsewhere for the preserves of God. In short, many of us refuse to lay our burdens at the feet of God. Many died trying to seek freedom and disengagement from the rule of the maker of all nations. In the process they wonder if God still exist, why He did can’t rescue them? The truth is that God created us as free thinking humans with freedom and will to make choices; He respects and honors our freedom and will never go against it.
Almighty God is omnipresent; He is present everywhere at every time. He is a life in our world; He sees and knows everything. King David pondered on God’s great virtues and said, “As per God his thoughts and ways are perfect… [Psalms18: 30]. The Lord looks down from heaven and sees all of us humans; from where he rules, he looks down on all who live on earth…knows everything we do. The Lord watches over those who obey him and those who trust in His constant love, … saves them from death and keeps them alive in famine [Psalm 33:13-15, 18-19]. The Lord allows the things that happen in our world for us to see our deadness and emptiness; feels our inabilities and incompleteness without Him. Yet many see these havocs and think they are normal happenings. These happenings do not drive them to seek God’s hidden knowledge. God’s presence reveals His power and dominion.
In Ezekiel 37, God filled Ezekiel with his presence and took him to an unusual trip in a valley. God showed him around and opened his eyes to see the deadness in the valley. Every side Ezekiel looked, he saw dried bones, very many, scattered, lifeless, hopeless and disgruntled, disillusioned and dried corpses. This was not a pleasant sight to watch. In our age and time, God is showing us the deadness in human lives, around our world. As God asked Ezekiel, He asks us today: men and women of God, can these bones live again? This odd question caused Ezekiel pensive look and deep thought. Are there any chances that these bones can live? He should have pondered why should God ask me this question? The prophet soon realized he was dealing with the master. Ezekiel replied: Lord God only you can say; only you know. Ezekiel was saying you could do anything; nothing is impossible with you, God. What is impossible with men is possible with you [Luke 1:37; 18:27]. You do exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we think and desire.
What do we say to God, today? Do we still believe in God in this diseased society that is saturated with natural calamities and unexplainable tragedies? Is God still our number one when we feel less of his presence? Can God still provide a table in the presence of our enemies? Can he still supply food in the desert? [Psalm 78:19-20]. Can we still trust God in hopeless situations? Indeed the Sovereign Lord says to us, “When you became slaves, no money was paid to set you free… [Isaiah 52:3ff]. Ezekiel implied, “You are God Almighty, Jehovah, El-Shaddai, I am that I am, Alpha and Omega and the Lord of all creation. I know God who you’re; you are the life and the Resurrection [John 11:25-26]. I know you’re Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent. You’re full of wisdom and surprises. The Lord made the earth by His power, by his wisdom he created the world and stretched out the heavens… [Jeremiah 10:12]. People of faith believe God even when they do not see the expected result, in the midst of terror attacks, hurricanes and volcanic spurs, life determined illness and death. God knows what He’s doing even when it appears meaningless and hopeless situation to us.
9.1a Learn to Speak the Word
The Lord then ordered Ezekiel, “Talk, command, prophesize on these dry bones.” Speak the word of God to these dried bones. It does not matter whether they are lifeless and hopeless. God did not say walk away, cry or perform religious rituals. God knows there is power in His word. As a matter of fact, it was by His spoken word the earth came into being [Hebrews 11:3]. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us who can be against us? [Romans 8:31]. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” [Proverbs 18; 21]. The words of God are like hammer that break the rocks of problems and fire that devour them as wood [Jeremiah 5:14; 23:29]. The Psalmist says “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” [119:101]. Jesus says “you’re clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you” [John 15:3].
The word of God is not cheap; it’s Spirit and life; it’s creative and destiny molders [John 1:1-3; 6: 63; 1 Corinthians. 2:7]. Little wonder Ed Louis says, “Life is composed by our choices, constructed by our words and revealed by our character.” Say it and mean it. Although the tongue creates, it must come from the heart and be spoken [Mathew 15:8, 18-19; Romans 10:10]. Pastor Jude Chukwumaife says, “Your tongue is among many keys designed to bring you out of the gates of the hell of sickness and disease… “What you need to defeat the problems in your life is tied to your tongue. …The Lord only confirms your word, if you must see the sign of divine health in your life, you must say it. Declare what you want and then see it manifests.” Jesus assures his disciples, “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist [Luke 21:15]. God told Ezekiel if you would not walk away, believe in me and stand in partnership with me; if you speak I will honor your word; I will put breath on these dried bones and they shall live. I will clothe them with sinews [muscles] and skin; breathe life into them. The bones are the frame or foundation; muscles give strength and power; skin is for covering and protection while breath gives life with Spirit [1 Kings 18:41; Acts 2:2-4]. Then you will know that I am who I say I’m. Ezekiel obeyed the Lord and prophesied onto the dried bones; obedience is better than sacrifice. Trying to guess what happened thereafter? You know nothing at all [John11; 49b]. The power of the supernatural comes with physical change.
While He was just speaking, amazing things begin to happen. Ezekiel heard a rattling noise and the bones began to join together. He watched the sinews and muscles came upon the bones; then the skin cloth both muscles and bones but there were no lives in them. Indeed, there is power in spoken words especially when you speak according to God’s directions. God honors his word and will bring it to pass. When you partner with God, you become an instrument in his hand; believe in his word, then you can speak it and God will fulfill it. God called Ezekiel, Mortal man, and asked him again, “prophesize to the wind [Spirit].” Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction – North, South, East and West, to breathe life into these lifeless bodies to revive them back to life. Ezekiel in obedience prophesied to the wind; breath came into the dried bones and they came back to life. They stood on their feet and became a standing army. They became living beings and performing the various characteristics of living people: talk, walk, and breath, see, respond, eat, drink and excrete, etc.
These bones represent human beings; they are God’s people – Israel, the body of Christ, the community of faith. They are dead but look like living; they are moving corpses. Do they look like something familiar? They are lifeless, hopeless and good for nothing; depressed, confused, scattered and disgruntled. They live at the grace and mercies of God. Apart from God, they are trash. In today’s world, many people are in various valleys. Some in these valleys are unaware; have accepted the situations as normal and can do nothing about them.
They expect no help anywhere and believe it’s not worth seeking for any. Unfortunately some among them are Church-going Christians. They have not only become hopeless but faithless. They are in valleys of distress and confusion, in the valleys of Christlessness and in the valleys of unending crises [no peace]. They live in the valleys of disillusioned and emptiness, anguish and fruitless struggles, childlessness and joblessness. They dwell in the valleys of unhappy marriage relationship and troublesome spouses; wicked relations and life determined illnesses as well as unexplainable tragedies.
Brethren, if Christ was raised from death, then that same God shall raise those who put their trust in Him from their valleys. Jesus came that we may have life and have it in fullest [John 10:10]. Therefore anything or situation that strangles life or frustrates it, is not from God. No gifts of God add sorrows. Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God made me and the breath of God gives me life.” King David says the promises of the Lord can be trusted; they are as genuine as silver refined seven times in the furnace. [Psalms 12:6]. Brethren, no matter what valleys you find yourself, trust God enough to speak his word to those valleys. Daniel found himself in the valleys [dens] of lions and the three Hebrew boys in the furnace of fire and God saw them through. Joseph found himself in the pit, then in prison but ended up in the palace. Jesus raised Lazarus and Nain’s widow’s son.
Learn to speak the word to yourself and situations, in season and out of season. Every situation came into being by the word and there still hear him. Every mountain is removed by the unwavering power of the word. [Mark 11:23]. There is a river in our belly and living water [the word] flows from it [John 7:38; Ephesians 5:26]. “Out of our belly shall flow rivers of words that will create life and change situations. Everything that you are going to be in life is already inside of you. Everything you are going to get in life is already inside of you. Everything you want in life is inside of you. It’s how much you know how to produce words that determines how much you get.” Christianity is confession; you have been given power to confess what you believe and it shall happen.
9.2 As a Man Thinketh …
James Allen, author of “As a man thinketh,” said, law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe; justice not injustice is the soul and substance of life; and righteousness not corruption is the molding and moving force in the Spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; he will discover that as he changes his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.” If you nurse in your mind that the world and its people hate you, you begin to behave unfairly and funny to people and things around you. You hiss, grumble, read bias meaning into people’s actions and behave aggressively showing other signs of un-wellness. However, when a man changes his thought and begins to find and adopt to the right and hidden justice which regulates his life, he ceases to accuse others or kick against circumstances, as being responsible for his actions and circumstances but builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts. He sees his circumstances as a means of discovering the hidden strengths and possibilities in himself. We are quick to blame other people, economy, society, culture and other institutions for the prevailing conditions we are passing through but not ourselves.
We have a popular belief in Christianity, that the Spirit determines what happens to the physical. That invariably means that the body is subjects to the Spirit, soul or mind. The body obeys the dictation of the mind, whether freely chosen or automatically expressed. The body sinks into decease and decay if the mind thinks sick and failure. Sickly thoughts will produce sickly body. Impure thoughts could generate into nervous illness while pure and loving thoughts build up happy life and behavior. Out of clean heart comes edifying words, happiness, peace of mind, and healthy body; out of defiled or polluted mind proceeds hatred, malice, grudges, lusts, greed and filthy body and habits. This explains why Christians are urged to constantly guard their minds, renew their minds, purge their thoughts and perfect their bodies. The Lord searches all hearts and understands the imaginations of our thoughts [1 Chronicle 28:9; Psalms 94:11].
The enemy understands how powerful the mind set is in our lives and chooses it as a battleground. A television Bible Teacher, Pastor Joyce Meyer writing on “the battlefield of the mind” said, you cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. She went further to say, “your life may be in a chaos because of many years of wrong thinking. If so, it is important for you to come to grips with the fact that your life will not get straightened out until your mind does. You should consider this area vital necessity. Be serious about tearing down the stronghold Satan has built in your mind. Use your weapon of the Word, praise and prayers.” We have no excuse to remain in bondage when Jesus died to set captives free [Luke 4:18-19]. Satan takes our circumstances to build stronghold in our lives and wages war in the battlefield of the mind. But thank God, in Jesus Christ for the victory of the cross. He has provided weapon to tear down Satan’s stronghold. God does not abandon us or leave us helpless, or allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear but He’s present in all situations and has provided a way out – an escape [1 Corinthians 10:13]. God is our Rock and Fortress, our Deliverer and Redeemer, Our Refuge, our Shield and Helper even in times of trouble [Psalm 18:2; 46:1].
We are called to examine out thoughts and not to pretend; we should stop the hide and seek games. We hide our feelings, our emotions, and our real thoughts from one another but easily forget we can’t hide from God. Yet we want someone to find us out and rescue us. We hide behind our affluence, our work, our leisure and our business. How can you expect your Physician to help you except you tell him what your hurts are? God is omni-present but still require you to tell Him your needs. He sees you even when you close the doors of your heart, say one thing and do another. God expects us to be truthful, opened and honest to Him and one another. Many of us proclaim to be Christ-like and soldiers of Christ in the Church but act differently outside. We live in intimidation, hatred and in anxiety and fears; some are even afraid to reach out to God.
Listen up people, God is already reaching out to us; He expects us to respond. He has given us the power to do just that. We can change our minds; we can make a difference. Everyone has the knowledge, the will and the emotion as part of his/her psyche. You can decide to do something different with your life, if you accept that what you are doing is not right. It requires a personal decision. Just halt where you are, reflect on your past; being sorry for your past misdeeds and make a ‘U’ turn asking God’s grace in your life. It may surprise you that the Lord of all is awaiting your return. He waits to receive you back and in His mercies restore you with your rights and privileges as a child of God [John1:12; 1 Peter1: 3, 4]. You begin by adopting new set of values centered on the teachings of Jesus Christ. God’s grace gives you the enable-ness to start all over again. That’s the beauty of repentance. Your journey from despair to hope starts with repentance. This is the total of what Christ had done for us on the cross. He came into the world, lived, suffered and died for our sins; promised to remember them no more and granted us life everlasting [John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10]. If you have just done that, it’s amazing to know that you have acquired a new degree B.A., a new start, a new beginning; you have been born again. Then get involved in a bible teaching Church.
Start with worship and prayers, study the bible, meditate on it and practice it; live a life worth of your repentance and be involved in the Lord’s service and witnessing. Thereafter as you begin to live according to your confession, a lifestyle worthy of repentance, your actions will have to complement your repentance. Daily by the power of the Holy Spirit, you can act by faith, accept the love of Jesus Christ and maintain a close walk with your God. You must cease from living according to your past but begin to live according to your destiny. You must stand up and walk up to the battle line of victory, in every area of your life, if you are willing to go through it with Jesus Christ.
Satan knows that if he can control our thoughts, then he can control our behavior. This he does by suggesting doubts and unbelief in God and His word to our minds. His strategy is always to divert our focus on God to himself or to something else that is not of God. Do not at any time loose sight that there’s an on-going fierce war and the battlefield is your mind. This conflict does not end until one pass; it’s a product of our daily struggles in our faith journey. However, in case you fall, you can always rebound [1John 1:9; 2:1-2; 2Peter 2:9].
But the good news is that the battle is not ours; God is on our side, fighting for us. Jesus had conquered the world; given us power to overcome it because we are children of God and greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world [Rom. 8:37; 1 John 4:4b; 5: 4-5]. Like Apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ [not by his own power] who strengthens me” and “God renews and replenishes our inner minds every day, even though our outer bodies waste away” [2 Corinthians 4:16]. Above all, God can do all things and nothing is impossible with Him. If God be for us who can be against us? Yet in all things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us [Rom. 8:31, 37]. Let us therefore examine our lives, our ways and our thoughts and test them; we will find out individually, why we think, say and act the way we do. The life, which is unexamined, is not worth living [Plato].
9.3 THE FAILURE OF MORAL POLICE
In our age and time, our society is blessed with so many noble men and women. They have shown successes in academia, in industry and commerce; some among them are most respected and honorable members of congress and representative of the people. As veritable members of their respective communities, they have assisted many in their communities and demonstrated compassion on those with various needs. Among them are pastors of Mega Churches and crusader of love and unity in our counties. They are magnanimous in their love of the law and respect for humanity but sometimes like the Pharisees, miss where to draw the line of mercy. Yet they are simply human and not exonerated from wrong doings. They see themselves as the custodian and champion of the moral truth and justice. Some among them live in glass house and yet throw stones. The tragedy of their outward successes is that some show too obvious stains of failure on the family level and among closed friends. A legacy of success with a spot of failure to lead the family aright is not a wholesome legacy.
Morality has always been a subject of priority interest in our world. Our society upholds high standards of morality and tries hard to enforce it by making laws and rules. Any law that has no enforcement is as good as non-existing. Also the law should apply to both high and low people equitably but in some cases, has been circumvented, especially among those who impose the rules and hold others accountable. This is where we have problems with the activities of self imposed moral police. They are like the biblical Pharisees who washed their outside and left their inside dirty. They’re like those pots calling kettles black. They make the laws and are learned in the laws but are above the laws because they connive in disobedience. They are quick to point one finger at the faults of other people but fail to realize that the other four fingers point at them. They flag the symbols of truth and righteousness, justice and peace but dirtier than the pigs in their corners and full of flaws in justice and equity. They live “dip and skip” lifestyles and in double standards. In their mouth they call upon God but their hearts are dominated by selfish gain, ego and power as well as evil pursuits.
These moral police circumvent the laws to suit them. However depending on your class and color, they determine your case. Some get triple jail term than the others for committing the same crime. Some live in religion and enjoy the pews and pulpits but teach heresy. These police put forth the cross before them and the grave behind them [Matthew 23:27]. Outside they criticize gay, abortion, same sex marriage and adultery but keep concubines, some prostitutes and others house wives and sexual mistresses This malaise cuts across men in high places and positions in government and corporations, they live constantly in the public eyes; but what happen behind the closed doors of their lives and families are nothing short of catastrophes and hypocrisies. [Matthew 23:23-29]. Do not be deceived by their high offices and dignified titles or how tall and smooth their speeches are, their moral standards are very low and indecent; can not play a home run. They stand always to say, I ‘m not like the other person…..because in real sense, they are worst than other people.
Thanks to the ‘State Father’ who may have found himself on a tight rope and has decided to push behind the past and move forward. While we watched, financial corporations collapsed, vibrant industries failed, World street bail out stimulus package disappeared and flew to the unknown; our 401k was crippled and banking industry crushed. Where were the moral police? Before then did we really fight a war we were not suppose to fight? Apart from tons of billions spent, most importantly we lost great manpower; parents especially fathers [young men] and leave families in disarray. Who then cares for the repercussion of the economic clash on middle class, working families and retired citizens?
Less I forget, monthly the working families’ wages are taxed at source because they are in paid employment but some in high public offices and echelon of industry find ways to circumvent taxes. Indeed, these ‘do as I say’ privileged citizen do more great harms and injustices to the society they claim to protect than those who rob convenient stores or banks outlets. Those who steal five dollars [or worth of goods] are prosecuted and jailed but highly placed pen robbers in high offices of the land are under no-touch list. Whose standards should we follow and emulate; who should be our competent guide?
When it comes to moral issues, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God is the answer. He is the only one who lived in righteousness, holiness and perfection. He is the way, the truth and the life. He came as human being to the world but lived sinless. Even when we try to live right, we find that our righteousness is daunted and tainted; it cannot satisfy God’s standards. We often end up living in the letter of the laws and not the Spirit. We pretend we could make it on our own, living in obedience to moral laws but we always fail. Yet character is what we do when no body is watching. It was to share this human failure that the Psalmist writes, “If thou, Lord should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? [Psalm 130:3]. Apostle Paul, a Pharisee, so passionate of the Jewish laws and fought vigorously to keep to its letters but was arrested by Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus to destroy the people of the way. He avails us with the ingredients of his human experiences, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God…..being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Are the moral police better than those they claim to police? No, in no wise, for all both the police and those they police are under sin. There is none righteous, no not one. [Romans 3:9-10, 23-24].
However Jesus had warned against the moral Police: Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in flowing gown [suits and tie]; greeted and treated with respect in public places, who chose reserved seats in worship places and best place at feasts. They take advantage of widows and less privileged and rob them of their income, taxes and privileges. They present their credentials as a way to make us vulnerable and catch our trust; weep up our sentiments and put up cheerful deceit in long prayers. God has promised to expose their deeds in the dark and their punishment shall be great [Mark 12:38ff]. That is what we hear and read in the media and wonder is it true? “Remember Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns whose people acted as those angels did and indulged on sexual immorality and perversion….These people had visioners who made them sin against their own bodies; they despised God’s authority and insult the glorious beings above…..The Lord….shall bring judgment to all, to condemn the hypocrites for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against Him. These people are always grumbling and blaming others; they follow their own evil desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others in order to get their own way” [Jude 7-16].
Thank God because of His unconditional love towards mankind through Jesus Christ. Salvation is therefore found only in Him [Acts 4:12]. God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world as moral Police do but that the world through Him might be saved [John 3:17]. God Looks down from heaven at people to see if any is wise, or fear Him but found all is bad and have turned away; not one does what is right [Psalm 53:2-3]. Who then gives pots the right to judge kettles? God is asking: But why should you recite my commandment and talk about my covenant in vain and disobedience? You refused to let me correct you and reject my instructions; become friends and defender of every thief you see and associate with adulterers. You’re always ready to speak evil and accuse people you should protect; finding faults with them. I, God now reprimand you to come in the open and speak the truth’ [Psalm 49:16-21].
Chapter Ten:
GOD’S COMMANDMENT, MAN’S FREEWILL AND CHOICE
“………Whatsoever he says unto you, do it.”
[John 2:5]
“The great and glorious masterpiece of humility
is to know how to live with a purpose.”
Montaigne
Chapter Ten: Content
10.1 “Because I said so”
10.2 What is Really Unfair?
10.3 It makes no sense
10.4 When no is the answer
10.5 The Gift of Choice
10.6 Pass it on: The values we cherish and uphold
10.1 “Because I said so”
Have you ever instructed your child to do some stuff and he/she screams back at you, “but why?” The reply that might’ve followed could be, “because I said so.” Great number of parents say this phrase more often than they would want to admit. Not because they like to but it just come as a reflex action. Recently I was privileged to read the book, “Jesus the one and only” by Beth Moore, a publication of BillyGrahamMinistries. I came to a point where Beth vowed not to tell any of her children, “do it because I say so.” She’s a great mom, friend of Jesus Christ, a public speaker and writer; studied child psychology and development as well as possessed proven credentials of a good care giver. All these could not restrain her from making such demeaning comment. But she confessed she did more times than she could recall. She’s not alone. I’ve said it more times than I am willing to admit.
Most parents and adults raised and mentored by “old schools” may have said similar things. The first reason is that in their young ages it was a regular song of their parent. Second, it commands control and is humiliating to children. Third, it may not make meaning or gives a constructing answer to a child’s question, ‘but why?’ Fourth, most times it came with anger, shouting, persuasion and screaming. Fifth, it does not reflect the respect for the right of a child, etc.
Beth Moore’s exposition of Jesus encounter with Peter as recorded in Saint Luke Gospel Chapter 5 caused some rethinking. It dawned on me that some of the things we vowed not to do we end up doing them. We experienced slips off our lips and feel terrible after saying them. On the other hand, some are just necessary because it exposes us as imperfect beings. Again children’s behavior these days are unpredictable. Unlike in the days we were raised, we dare not ask our parents “but why”. If we did, we got spanked or punitively punished and denied rights. But today’s age is different. They deserve answers for every thing even when they asked in a wrong tone and manner.
Jesus arrived at the lake of Galilee, saw two boats at the edge of the lake and one belonged to Simon Peter. Peter was busy washing and rinsing his nets after a frustrating all night fishing expedition that yielded nothing. Jesus got into Peter’s boat and asked him to put it a little out of the shore to enable him preached to the crowd. Why He chose Peter’s boat was not instantly clear. Peter could’ve been more concerned about his bad outing. He lost sweat, night rest and made no money. When in such situations, we complain, murmur, grumble and sometimes screamed. When we work at night, we get sleepy in the morning and do not like to be disturbed. If we had a bad night, so to say, we need quiet time to cool off and may take it out on anybody, as if they caused it. However, Jesus sat on the boat and taught the crowd the word of life. The boat served as a platform for Jesus to be seen and heard. He also enjoyed the natural lake breeze. Jesus’ first priority was His Father’s business; to liberate the people from spiritual darkness into glorious light.
After teaching, Jesus then turned to Peter, asked him to put the boat into the deep to unveil the impossible. Peter replied, I just had a full night of fishing without a catch but because you said so, I shall do. Peter knew Jesus has supernatural powers and does strange things. He identified him the first time they met and gave him a new name. After then He made a home call and healed his mother- in-law of fever. He could be up to some surprise. Because you said so, I obey. Peter had reasons not to obey Jesus. First, he was an expert fisherman and Jesus, a rooky carpenter. Second, as a fisherman, he knew fishes swim to the shores at night and made catch easy. He caught no fish all night. Third, Jesus preferred preaching to the crowd than attend to Peter’s dry night. We could advance more reasons for our disobedience. But Peter understood the secret – obedience.
Peter must have been astonished at the outcome of his decision to obey Jesus. One act of obedience resulted to a life time catch. The net was so filled with fishes than he could handle. Peter’s helpers did not find it easy to draw the net from the water and the boat was getting drown with water. Then Peter realized that physical strength would lead nowhere; he was dealing with the Son of Most High God that possesses extraordinary powers. He cried and fell at the feet of Jesus ….”I am a sinful man depart from me.” My problem is not what I do but who I’m – my nature. “I sin because I am sinner.” I’m not worthy to have fellowship with you. You are greater than what I thought of you even what I read and heard. I can’t cope with you; leave me alone. Peter cried, who shall help me, I’m lost and finished. In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet had a glimpse of God’s presence and holiness. He witnessed a session of worship as the Lord sit on His throne. He cried and wept I’m ruined and finished. Each time one comes in encounter with God, there’s impart, confession and surrender.
Until we have a close encounter with Jesus, reach a point of realization/unworthiness, a point of surrender, a point we acknowledge Jesus alone as our Lord and Savior, nothing else except Him, we shall continue to wallow in nothingness. Little wonder Peter testifies in Acts 4:12, Salvation comes from Jesus alone. His encounter and various experiences with Jesus revealed this truth. God said through His servant Samuel ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice. The answer is because God said so. It does not depend on our college degrees, work experiences, and many years in the Church, etc. Jesus cares about our feelings and would dialogue with us. What’s involved is too mysterious to our feeble minds and ordinary reasoning. God’s way is not our ways; His thoughts are different from ours. Yet He has a plan to better and uplift us, to brighten our days and improve our understanding.
Peter abandoned his trade; even the multitude of fishes in the boat and followed Jesus. He knew he had a higher calling and needed to abide in Jesus. Brethren, leave your all to follow Him who is the author of life; Seek Him wholeheartedly while it’s day. He will surprise you with His love and grace and mercies. Even though Jesus was an inexperienced carpenter in his natural disposition, He’s an all-knowing God and knows our jobs better than we do. Second, Jesus and his father are always at work, it does not matter the time of day or night [John 5:7]. Third, you’ve tried several times; prayed years without answers but an act of obedience to the word of God will surprise you and change your doubts forever. Forth, God honors our submission even when our only motivation is obedience. Fifth, the same job subjected to Christ authority yields different result. When you become a child of God, your efforts produce yield and increase. Stop the “but why me” reasoning; drop your hold and seek Christ; humbly obey Him. He rewards simply obedience.
Finally, you may not realize you’ve been struggling with God; you cannot win. Like Jacob He will dislocate your hip and make you limp. Like the children of Israel, your 40 days could become 40 years. For this reason Apostle Paul cried, who’re you Lord? He calls Him lord even when he did not know him. We cry in frustration, “Who except Jesus shall save us from this poor state?” Resolve to meet Jesus today and confess your sin and make Him your Lord and Savoir. He’s faithful and just and His grace is sufficient for us.
10.2 What is really unfair? Submitting to God’s Standards
During one of the last world soccer cup matches played in Japan, an attacking player tried to outsmart his defense opponent around the edge of the opponent’s penalty area. The referee sported an infringement [or foul play] on the player and awarded a direct free kick for his team. That did not go down well with the opponent’s team, coach, crew, and players. They argued, complained to the match officials and sang the sad song of injustice –“it’s not fair”. This song is often heard in family settings, in court rooms, in athletics, in contest, in business and even in politics; leaving one wondering what is really fair or unfair?
When a person who robbed a grocery store with arm is found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment by an honorable Judge or Jury for his wrong doing, his family would cry unfair. He could appeal to a higher court, and still loose his appeal yet the song would not change. A while ago it was in the news that a woman ran over the husband in a car, thrice for having an affair. She was found guilty and sentenced to just 20 years of imprisonment after a legal tussle, yet the family wept unfair. A week can hardly pass by without the news of drunk drivers either dying in ghastly accidents and killing pedestrians or carelessly running into other road users; what could that be? When a citizen is caught in felony against his country, condemned and sentenced to jail, the family would sing the song of injustice. When politicians loose elections or re-elections, they sing loud the same song, because they find it difficult to accept defeats. Since elections are rigged to satisfy individual wishes, so also are bribes taken to suppress what is right and true, influencing and supporting unfair decisions. It becomes difficult to determine, what’s fair or unfair.
Again the laws of the land should be equitably apply to both rich and poor, white and black but sometimes the reverse appear the case. When the laws are used indiscriminately against one racial group or persons, Is it still fair? For example, if a poor person steals five dollars, he’s convicted and sentenced to prison but if the rich guy enriches himself in millions through pen robbery, it’s renamed smartness. Coming closer to the family, in the days that mothers stayed home to take care of their children, it was considered discrimination and unfair but now both couples work [and do not still make ends meet] and lesser attention given to the children, resulting to juvenile delinquencies, it’s fair enough. Also when marriage was “for better for worst” relationship, people thought of it as a life jail, but today that it’s practically “for better we stay, for worst we part” and we witness escalating high rate of divorce in our society, it’s still fair. Shouldn’t our judgment be based on acceptable standards? Should it based on sentiments and personal feelings and rationalization?
When a big fish swallows a small fish in the deep, it’s considered a game of power. That spells the survival of the fittest. The same happens in the jungle when weaker animals fall prey to stronger and bigger animals. These predators rule and control their worlds. Do the weak animals have rights of existence? Is life fair on them? The Creator of the universe can only answer these questions.
In most situations, human actions taken may be right and justified. However, humans being what we are, cry to cover our shame and misdeeds. It also borders on our inability to accept the truth and defeats because the truth is bitter. We practice “a me first” attitude and do not care what is right. We want to be justified at all cost and do not accept standards. We are so biased and want our personal satisfaction to be the basis to establish justice and standards for all. On the other hand, human beings want judgment to be based on their subjective feelings, do not like standards against which justice is measured. That is why we hardly have absolute truth.
Right from creation, mankind does not like to be subject to standards. There is a human tendency to establish right and wrong on the basis of our personal experience. We want to belong to the crowd and tend to show unmerited favor to the group we belong or fancy. We dip when it favors us and skip when in disfavor. Man appears not to come to terms with obedience and the consequences of choices Even though we have freedom, but every freedom has its responsibilities- dos and don’ts; for without it, it’s not genuine. In every true freedom, standards, laws and rules are measures of justice, of rights and wrongs and of good and bad etc.
It is not surprising that God who created man spelt out rules to control his behavior. These rules named the Ten Commandments became measures and standards of moral justice. These commandments are made up of two parts: the first four demand allegiance to God while the second six determine our behavior with one another. These are further summed up into two love code: I) loving God with the whole of our mind, heart and strength; ii) loving our neighbor [no longer as ourselves because some people do not love themselves] as God loves us.
The love song tries to answer to what’s right, true, just and fair. It’s God’s holy standards that obtain true and ultimate justice throughout all generation. Unfortunately what use to be an acceptable moral code from the days of our founding fathers, dignifying displayed in public places is now suffering rejection by subjective judgment, involving toss of supremacy and flexing of legal muscles by Justices of higher courts. Our memories are so short to remember that this country of the freed was not founded on legality or illegality, but the word of God. She answers God’s own country, and its currency reaffirms “on God we stand”, but has rejected God’s commandment. The agitators of the removal of God’s moral code in public places thinks it’s a right of religion and worship matter but deeply a rejection of the God who has made them what they are as a people and state. The levels of moral decadence resulting to wrong doings and crimes in public schools, offices and in our communities are enough evidence that we are in terrible times. We have a right to reject our heads from our bodies but be ready for the consequences. God is a God of love and justice; no respecter of persons.
Those who have tried to institute their own standards had the greatest moral failure in history. They failed their God and subsequently failed in their family life, relationship with other people and in public life. Man must learn to submit to God’s absolute standards and respond through obedience. Great people of faith in every generation answer to God’s holy standards; it does not matter who, when, or where. How fair is it that people today tend to bend rules and standards to suite their selfish desires and goal? A young man in a high school told me that laws were not made to be obeyed less the police and the justice system would be idle. Although this may be waved aside as a brain washed-mentality or funny, it is nevertheless serious.
10.3 It makes no Sense
Saint Luke Gospel chapter 23 verse 2 says, “they took Jesus to a hill site called Golgotha and they crucify him.” If you ask, who are they that crucify him? People are quick to point accusing fingers on the actors [Jewish elders, high Priest, Roman Judges, soldiers and of course, the Jewish crowd] than our first human parents who committed the original sin. We often blame Adam and Eve as if we are devoid of the sin they committed. As of truth, if we examine ourselves rightly, it will be glaring that our generation have fallen shorter to God’s glory than did our first human parent. Others blame Judas for snitching and betraying Jesus with a kiss of death yet our era points more fingers of betrayal than Judas did; we “kiss even dirty asses”. It’s easy to blame Satan for misdeeds we did knowingly and perhaps have repeated remorse of but no genuine repentance.
Many professing Christians are crucifying Christ again and again by our deeds than the first century Jewish crowd did. The Bible describes them as “enemies of the cross of Christ” [Phil. 3:18b]. Even when we claim to have been born anew, we never separated from the crowd. We still do the same things that non-Christians do; apportioning blames on misdeeds we are co-culprits. We justify what we do and criticize what we don’t; blame every other creature for participating or contributing to fulfill God’s design for redemption, while exonerating ourselves. It explains why most families live in jeopardy, why lasting peace eludes us and provides answers to what’s wrong with us. Our eyes are blind to what’s right and open to wrongness. Little wonder collective progress is near impossible. Could there be something we are missing or not doing right?
It makes no sense to the modern generation that the sin committed by first human couples had been inputted on every human race. A natural mind does not understand why a sinless person was convicted and crucified for sins committed by sinners. It’s as well incongruous that the world freed a criminal and condemned the sinless to death. In a democratic society, it’s said, power belongs to the people, and the right to make choices. SURPRISINGLY, THE CROWD IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. MOST TIMES THEY ARE MISGUIDED OR INSTIGATED TO MAKE IRRATIONAL DECISIONS AND JUDGMENTS, TOE WRONG PATHS AND SUPPORT WRONG CAUSES. Such decisions are subjective, based on wrong motives and sentiments, bias and selfish interest. Equity, justice and objectivity are grossly ignored. Despite the claimed attainment of higher education, exposure and enlightenment, we still make wrong choices whether in politics, in business, in the family, communities and everywhere.
We enjoy so much freedom and wish to do whatever pleases us. It does not matter who is hurt. We wonder why people are judged for doing what they feel like. Adam and Eve were blamed for eating the forbidden fruit the same measure when we act in disobedience. Does it make sense that God should forbid man from eating what looks good to him? If man has freewill, why can’t man follow his dictates? IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT A POT CAN’T TELL A PORTER HOW TO MAKE OR DESIGN IT. Could it be that man hates rules and will do whatever it takes to justify its defiance? We’re often blind to our wrong doings; give it a sweet name but point fingers when others do same. After-all some animals are more equal than others. For example: murder occurs by accident, abortion, or killed at war or by bandit or in terror attacks, etc; whichever, God’s creation is destroyed. Everyone stands on a level ground at the cross of Christ. The blood of Abel cries loud to the God of creation.
It makes no sense to believe that the world created by God is now the abode of Satan and legion of demons. Satan is also known as the king of the world and prince of air. Some people doubt the existence of Satan and are ignorance of its powers and operations.
That amounts to believing in God and not in His Word? The word says that there’s Satan, a slander, a father of all lies and destroyer from on set. Surprising many still reject the notion of Satan or devil as wild superstition. Yet the bible says, “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” [1 John5:19]. The truth is that, “SATAN IS A MALIGNANT REALITY, ALWAYS HOSTILE TO GOD AND GOD’S PEOPLE.” We are wise to stay watchful and be alert or flee from this subtle, formidable foe that walks about like a roaring lion seeking to devour God’s children [1 Peter 5:8f].
It makes no sense to the people of this age that we win by dying. Its right to call it God’s way, not man. God demonstrated this act in His Son Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, He won victory over death and the world, redeemed mankind from all fears, intimidation and shackles of death. It’s puzzling to the natural mind that Christ death on the cross is considered a victory to mankind, brings good pleasure and fulfillment to God. The apostles and early Christians understood and experienced this way of God. They died daily for the truth that they believed, witnessed, and proclaimed. Little wonder, Apostle Paul welcomed dying as gain. The unconditional love of God compelled Him to give His only begotten son as atonement for man’s sins. YOU CAN GIVE WITHOUT LOVE BUT CAN’T LOVE WITHOUT GIVING.THIS LOVE MUST BE SHARED FOR IT TO BE MEANINGFUL.
It makes no sense to the world that wants to see sign or evidence of result that we gain by loosing; we receive by giving. We practice giving those who give back to us and helping those who help us; the contrary is foolishness and stupidity. It makes no sense that those who were not part of our education and upbringing should benefit from our works and earnings. Pastor Mike Murdock writing ‘on the craziest instruction God gave me’ says, “What you are willing to walk away from determines what God will bring to you”. Jesus assured his disciples and Christians of all ages, that whatsoever we loose for His sake we shall gain a hundredfold on earth and eternity in God’s kingdom. J.W Ferguson wrote “people find it difficult to believe a man who gives his whole energy to money making or career- building and then tell them he is waiting for the son of man.”
It makes no sense to the world of importance and integrity that one who is a real king or leader serves or gives his people instead of exploiting and extorting them. In our world the rich gets richer and poor, poorer. The poor or citizenry gives, serves and dies for the rich/king. In most battlefields, the king put his subjects to the forefront to fight and defend him while he stands far off or wine in the comfort of his palace. It makes no difference, after all most of those who enlist in the kingdom’s army are from the low class. Believe it or not, it’s part of survival.
It’s unbelievable that a king/leader or any good thing should emerge from a low-keyed family or layback nation. Perhaps for the same reason the elders of Israel ignored early prophesy that a Messiah would emerge from Nazareth. Funny enough every good gift comes from God. It makes no sense that He who calls Himself God should mix with sinners, dine, and associate with them and even died for them. PEOPLE TODAY THINK IT IS NARROWMINDEDNESS OR UNNECESSARY FANATISM TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE WAY TO GOD. What happens to the multitude of followers of other religions, they often ask? They have an opportunity to hear and choice to accept the truth. William MacDonald wrote, “If man could have been saved by any other way, I bet you God wouldn’t have sent His Son to die on the cross. He would not have paid the greatest price if lesser price would do. If we could have been saved in any other way, Christ would not have sacrificed his life [Gal. 2:21; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 3:11]. It makes no sense until it makes sense.
10.4 When “No” is the answer.
One of the greatest struggles facing this age is that of choice. Before you ask why it is a big deal. It’s a problem because we live a life of option. Let me restate here that the purpose of learning and acquiring knowledge is to have enough information to guide us make choices in life. Man was created a free thinking agent. To some people, freedom could mean being able to do whatever they feel like. However, real freedom means the responsibility of making moral choices and living with the result. Every human being has the freewill to choose between right and wrong and the responsibility to do so. Yet we make choices but don’t want to be held accountable for our decisions.
In basic economics, the first lesson taught is that of Choice, Scarcity and Wealth. The reason could be that wealth is scarce and not evenly distributed. We need to understand our priority and choose it first, given the constraints of scarcity and time. At every life’s road junction, you make a decision to turn right or left. You choose whether to play or sleep; what meal you desire to have, depending on time and resources available. The whole life on earth is a life in time, in motion. Peter Kreeft in his book titled “Making Choices” puts it this way: “The ship of life is moving. The sea is time and it is not still. The ship is drifting with the current. You can’t still by not choosing. If you don’t choose the current will choose for you. Your fuel will soon run out. The point where the fuel is gone is called death. Because we are living in an unstoppable flow of time which moves forward, you have two options not three. You can choose right or wrong, to believe or not to believe; not to choose is to choose to say no”. Kreeft further opined that mankind will make three single important choices sometime between your birth and your death that will change your whole life. They are: (i) the God to believe in, (ii) mate to marry, (iii) career to work in. You may choose not to marry or not to work, but can’t choose not to believe in anything; if you choose not to believe in true God, you can choose to believe in any of the society’s false gods: money sex, drugs, power, prestige or whatever, something must be your number one.
In the Genesis of the Bible, the God of creation put Adam and Eve in Eden and gave them enough information about things in the garden: what to do and what to refrain [Genesis 2:15-17]. God warned, “for in the day you eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die.” The result of the choice they made is common knowledge. Before Moses informed the children of Israel that God had chosen his successor, Joshua and instructed him not to cross to Jordan, he reiterated plainly the commandments of God to ensure they understood what they were, where they were located and God’s expectations [Deuteronomy 30]. In verse 15, Moses challenged them, “See I have set before you this day, life and death to choose one. Whichever you choose, you are responsible for its consequence[s]. However, I advice you to choose God, who is life so that you may live.” Isn’t that still relevant to us today?
Why is choice such a hard thing for this age? After all, we live in a more advanced age than did our past centuries’ parents. We have qualitative education and better exposure than past generations. We live in a Computer age with better telecommunication facilities, jet age transportation system, and sophisticated medical facilities and so on. Surprisingly modern technology, communications and transportation have not solved human situation. Our problem is Spiritual and has to do with moral choices. We love pleasure and enjoyment; hate pains and sufferings. We enjoy compromise and conformity, even when it runs against God’s commandment and displeases other people. We live to satisfy our bodies, our feelings and our world –what we see, like, want, etc. We are lured to live above our incomes, and remain proud in debts; live in pretense-posing what we are not.
We like to be everything to everybody, in the process makes friendship with man, the world and the devil; that does not matter. We want to belong to a larger crowd and ply the wide, express road.
Our age has witnessed dramatic drift in value and pursuits. There’s a wise saying that men do things for 3 letter word-LEG: meaning love, ego and gain. Greed runs our systems and destroys our souls. These pursuits have put many people in prisons not demarcated by wall of bricks, but have enslaved their consciences. The effect is that we live in fears, intimidations, disappointments, and wars, even when we claimed liberty and freedom. In an aired television program, prison inmates who committed murder were interviewed. Some confessed they lived ‘I don’t care life.’ Then they never realized how many people cared and would be affected by their folly. They realize now, that they had a wider audience – God, the Church, family, friends, and the world cared; somebody somewhere cares. Their minds were blindfolded, driven by what they wanted to get and unable to say no to their feelings, inordinate desires and their world. Despite this confession, many out there in the free world still act same while their dooms are imminent. Do you know that “no” is the greatest word you can say to the devil, to your feelings, to temptations, to sin, to frustration, fears, disappointment and to death? It’s a short two-letter word but has long effect.
As long as you say no to anything, it can do nothing to you; can’t enslave or hurt you. It has no power over you and can’t make you do it. The devil can’t make you do anything except you accept it and yield to it [Romans 6:1-2, 12-16]. The moment you say no the devil or feelings, the thought becomes persistence. To say no means to resist, to refuse, and to reject his lies and manipulations. Apostle James [4: 7] says the only way to resist the devil is to submit totally to God. A worldwide television preacher Pastor Mike Murdock taught four common weapons of the devil: (a) Delays [Daniel 10:12-14], (b) Deceit, lies, deception, cunning, manipulations. [Genesis 3: 4, 5; Revelations 12:9], (c) Distraction [Psalm 2: 1, 2; Job 1:21], (d) disappointments [Proverbs 15:22]. These weapons the devil still use today.
Resist the devil and submit to God
When Satan does tempt us? Let’s learn from two biblical passages: In Matthew 4:1-11, Satan tempted Jesus after His baptism, when He was filled with the Holy Spirit, in the wilderness/mountain [fasting and praying], while he was hungry, in desperation or need. Jesus said no to the devil on the basis of His knowledge of the word of God. In another biblical illustration [Genesis 39:1-13], Joseph was tempted when enjoying favor of God and his master [vs2, 4], made overseer of his master’s household [vs4], when the land prospered [vs5], his handsomeness blossomed -tall and good looking [vs6], master’s wife cast longing eyes on him [vs7]. Joseph refused for fear and honor of God and the master [Proverbs 6:32-35, 9:17-18, 25:28].
How the devil gets at us today? In the company we keep, things we hear and accept affect our thoughts and actions; what we watch /view on TV, movies, on the street, in the crowd, on the internet etc; the things we read – horoscope, pornography and the environment we dwell and visit; things we love and want.
What will make us say no? – The fear of God, passion to keep right our relationship with Christ, knowledge of the word of God, determination/decision to live a righteous life pleasing to God, fear of judgment and suffering and not to loose our anointing/grieve the Spirit of God in us. Jesus had the power to command stone into bread, to jump from mountain to valley but rejected Satan’s manipulations. Jesus knew to bow and worship Satan was an easy option, but stood firm on His commitment to the Father. In the book of Daniel 1:8 and 3:16-18, Daniel proposed in his heart to reject the king’s delicacies and the three Hebrew boys determined neither to bow, worship nor serve the man-made god of king Nebuchadnezzar. In other instances, Joseph said no to the master’s wife and considered such act a great wickedness to God. David refused to kill King Saul even when he had ample opportunities to do so because God chose him. We can say no to our affections, inordinate ambitions, to drugs, to fornications, to greed and lust.
We can say no to illness by eating and living right, to pretense, confusion and frustrations. Continue to say it, keep and increase your confession until you prevail. Keep asking, seeking and knocking until there’s an answer. When you resist the devil he will flee or leave you. As true as this is, the devil may resist you, increase the intensity of its attack, inflict pains, pursue, torment and lie against you; may discourage, condemn, mock, laugh as well as obtain permission to test your confession and faith. Know that he is a tricky manipulator and does not give up easily. Recognize that the battle is not yours but the Lord’s and God has not left you without authority and power [Luke 9:1; 10:19; John 10:10; 1Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 8: 6]. Know that you have power in the name of Jesus to kick, stop, bind, overcome and disgrace Satan. Never change, never waiver and never get nervous; bring every negative thoughts under control. Proverbs 25:28 says “He who has no rule over his own Spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” Stand still; trust the Lord for victory and He will never fail you.
If Jesus is your Lord, Savior and Redeemer, then He is a winner all the time, why behave like an infidel or a looser. You need to confess what you believe and stand on the word of God. You are a child of God and your body belongs to Him, not the devil or sickness. Draw nearer to God and He will draw nearer to you. Abide in God and God will abide in you. You cannot be a winner if you do not fight a battle. You cannot be a General when you do not persist in war. God has given us His Spirit and the manifestation of His Spirit is given to every man, to profit, not everyone except you [1Corinthians 12:7]. John Mason once said, “Every accomplishment, great or small, starts with a decision; choice not chance, determines destiny.” Let your destiny determine your circumstances. We have the will power to say no. David Ambrose remarked, if you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.
How often have we said yes instead of no? When we do, we feel sense of failure. Failure is a situation, never a person; is a delay but not a defeat. It’s a temporary detour not a dead end. Proverbs 24:16 reads: “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again”. Failure is not falling down but staying down. Just like temptation is no sin, stumble is not a fall but could prevent or cause a fall. David Burns said, “Assert your right to make a few mistake. If people can’t accept your imperfection, that’s their fault.” Do not stay a shame of mistakes, even when it’s knowingly, for all make mistakes and have failed, but we are not failures until we say so. God sees us as winners in Christ Jesus. If our Creator has not called us failures, then we are not one, no matter what people say or world standards hold. I don’t know about you, I have said yes to feelings, to peer pressures, to the devil more often than I can count. Each time I have learned how God’s kindness invites me to repentance. Where sin abound God’s grace abound more. Apply the rebounds technique; it’s real and awesome to experience God’s love when you’re lost. The only way to resist your feelings or the enemy is to yield completely to God.
10.5 The Gift of Choice
Jules Renard noted, “If I were to begin life again, I should want it just as it was; only I would open my eyes a little more.” In life, there are things that are beyond our control; we cannot determine when they occur or stop them from happening. We just have to accept them, the way they’re. We can’t determine the season, times, day or night, the day one is born or the day he dies; the sun, moon and stars – their intensities and brightness. We have no control or input on how we were made; it’s all God’s prerogative. However God created man and put him to take charge of the Garden of Eden. He charged him to be fruitful, multiply, have dominion and subdue the earth. The entire discovery that mankind has made is just to uncover what God had already put in place that was before then unrevealed.
Man cannot create the sun, the moon, and the stars; determines when the sun rises or set, the length and breathe of the world, ferocity of the wind, etc. Mankind cannot determine these and other related things. There are things mankind has control over. Such things that God has given man power to dominate, subdue, change, increase and improve on. Someone may not be able to determine the day he was born physically, but would know someday, sometime when he/she was born spiritually. Man can take a decision to come to Christ or to remain under the bond of the evil one. This is because God created man a freethinking being with ability to make decision and choices. He uses his freewill freely; decides at every point whether to turn to the right or left, to sit or stand, walk or run, etc. He decides to live righteously or in sin. It’s his choice and is being respected by man and God. Have you ever wonder what life would have being like without this wonderful gift of choice? Anything short of it is slavery. Little wonder that God sent an angel to give a message of hope to the Israelites: “I have surely seen the affliction [sufferings] of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry [groan] by reason of their task masters: for I know their sorrows. I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a good land and large and unto a land flowing with milk and honey…”[Exodus 3:7-8]. Jesus recapped this message of freedom when He said, “… come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.” [John 10:10]. However, we must live life and make choices responsibly.
Human beings have far-ranging power of choice. Our daily lives consist of a series of choices and exercises in freewill – whether to get up or stay in bed, what to eat for breakfast, what to do with our day, whether to change career, go back to school or continue a relationship and so forth. You decide whether to drink and eat or abstain [or fast]. For example: money is a scarce commodity and difficult to possess and obtain. In simple economics, you learn the concept of opportunity cost. Being faced in a real life with limited cash, you apply this concept impulsively. You can only buy what you cannot do without. The one you forgo is the opportunity cost of the one you bought. Your decision is governed by where you stand in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The choice you end up with is to pick the item[s] you need [not want] and consider most important.
Most things in life have opposites. The opposite of life is death, up is down, north is south, etc. As you stand always at a cross road, you have to decide which way to turn to. You either choice life or death; there is no half or middle way. The gift of choice is the greatest gift God has availed human beings. Our first parents [Adam and Eve] were confronted with the problem of choice. The scriptures said, God availed them the leisure to enjoy every fruit of the Garden of Eden but commanded them not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and bad; for the day the eat it they shall die. As simple and clear as this commandment appeared, God allowed them to exercise their freewill. The choice was either to obey God or Satan. The implication of the choice before us is obedience meaning our love to God and abiding in Him while disobedience is separation from God, spiritual death or abiding with Satan. “We have to live and we have to die; the rest we make up.” Anonymous
In our world, we face the same choice of obeying God or man/the world; reverence or worship God or Satan, serving God or the devil. In our age and time, Christians face the choice of living for God or dying with Satan. When Nicodemus paid a nocturnal visit to Jesus, He was faced with the challenge and choice of accepting the new life in Christ or remaining in religion, observing statuesque. Even Jesus Christ, God’s begotten Son, was faced with a decision to do the will of the Father or lived by the crowd.
When He faced crucifixion on the cross at Calvary in between two criminals, one at either side, the two faced the choice: whether to accept Christ and end up in heaven or reject Him and end up in eternal condemnation. Even though the two committed life determined crimes, tried and convicted by the same judiciary system, condemned to death by hanging; surrounded by the same crowd and hung closed to the same Jesus, but they made different choices. One chose to give his worthless life to Christ and accept the life of God in Christ Jesus. By so doing, he secured a place in God’s kingdom. He cried, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “Of a truth you will be with me in Paradise [Luke 23:42-43]. Before yielding to Christ, he challenged the other criminal, saying don’t you fear God? This man has done nothing. Both of us committed sins, were rightly judged and convicted but this man is innocent. He accepted his stake as a criminal and sinner. Yet the other convict opined, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and us. By this statement he was making caricature of Jesus. He did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God [1 John 2:22-23, 4:15, 5:10]. He neither repented nor asked for mercy. We make choices by recognizing that every choice has consequences.
Today, about 2000 years after Jesus accepted the will of the Father, died on the cross and came to life again to the glory of the Father, many are still in darkness and slavery, blind and ignorance to the truth. They’re living in the world made by God and enjoying his creation but cannot see or know God. They hear sounds of songs of different creation but can’t discern God in their praise. They breathe the air freely but do not perceive God in the air. They watch the sea and the wind interact and exhibit the embedded power and still doubt the existence of God. The Bible says the earth and its fullness belongs to God; they also reveal Him.
The scripture says it’s not the wish of God that any should perish but to repent and return to God. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from the dark state of life and brings us into glorious light. God availed us His son that we may have Him, live and experience Him and adore Him; serve and become like Him. In Him God gave us life even abundant life. Even though Christ died for the whole world but only those who accept Him and believe in his saving grace: His sacrificial death and resurrection are saved and are children of God. It did not say those who attend Church service, who sings in the chancel choir and hold position in the Church committee. These and other virtues are commendable, but without faith in Christ Jesus you are only religious; being religious shall not earn you a place in God’s kingdom.
The choice before us this day is not religion or becoming a Church member but having a relationship with your creator through putting faith and accepting His saving grace. Where you would spend your eternity is a critical question facing us here? If you choose Jesus, He forgives and erases your sins; you become a new creation, have a new life and amazing future as well as a new heart and new heritage. Some people may take this choice for granted. This offer is open while life last; it’s a choice that is life determined. It’s also a prerequisite for entering into a relationship with God. Only those who make this life determined choice shall inherit God’s kingdom and become co-heir with Christ. One funny thing about the choice of life is, if you decide not to choose it, it shall choose you because not choosing is already a choice. We live life once but if we plan it well, once is good enough.
You may have made several bad choices in the past, but one choice of God and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior shall correct all the bad choices and give you a new heart, new life, new disposition and new destination. Jesus is waiting and knocking at the door of your heart; the Church is standing in gap, praying for your return. This decision shall make a whole lot of difference in your life and undertakings. Many who made wrong choices in the past have been redeemed and restored by this one decision. Since I made this decision some years back, it had changed the way I look at my life and the entire world around me. It’s a decision to turn a new leaf, change your direction and destiny as well as pursue success and live under God’s presence. You have entered into the secret place of the Most High God and shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. God automatically becomes your refuge and fortress; will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. The Lord God will satisfy you with long life and show you His salvation. “The most basic choice we have in life is whether to expand or contract, whether to bring our creative and expressive energies into the world in positive or negative ways. No matter what our circumstances, we have the power to choose our directions. In each of us are heroes; speak to them and they will come forth” (Anonymous).
10.6 Pass it on: The values we cherish and uphold
I read a piece under the column “PASS IT ON” titled “THREE THINGS” by Natalie Whittle, in a Guide Posts, August, 2004 edition. It was about a homework assignment for tenth grader’s English class: To write a journal entry listing three things that could be found in their pockets. That followed after reading “the contents of a dead man’s pocket,” a story about a man that learned that people are more important than money. They pondered on the idea that what people hold on to or preserve in their pockets reveal who they truly are. The story went on to say that the following November, one of their female students, named Anna died in a car accident. Her parents found in her homework assignments pack her wishes that read, “If I were to die tomorrow, I would want people to find a picture of my family. They are a big part of who I am. Second, a receipt from a charity so people would learn I don’t just think about myself. Finally, a cross to symbolize my faith.” These findings later set the stage for her memorial. To fulfill Anna’s dream, her parents donated money to help build schools in India. Co-students supported this venture. I share this facilitating story because it contains some strong, passionate and incredible values that challenge the way we live our lives.
First, the value we place on money. Money was made to be a vehicle, a means and not an end. In our society today, money has become a mini- god that attracts many worshippers. It’s illusion that money is evil. Rather it is what we do or things done with money; the love of money above God and human beings that’s evil. The scriptures contend that you can have God and money, but you cannot serve both; it is either God or money. When I look back to the evil that befell America as a nation on September 11, 2001, even though wealth was lost but the greatest lost were the souls of massacred innocent lives. Even though money is a defense and provides answers to everything, it is by no means everything [Eccl. 7:12; 10:19]. Do not put your trust in it.
As a matter of fact, there’s no comparison between a person and money. The book of Genesis, chapter one records that when God created every other thing, He saw each creature as being good, but when He created man, He saw him as being very good [vs. 27-31]. The way God made man is different from other creature. Man is a visible image of an invisible God. Yet some people place much value on money than people. They easily forget there are things money cannot do. For example, money can buy bed, but not sleep. It cannot recreate, be by your side and console you, when you are devastated; cannot love or speak out, but people can. People can use money to do whatever good or evil they choose. However they are responsible for their action
Second, the value on family. A couple of weeks ago, I watched on television Judge Judy court proceedings, where a mother sued her dissident daughter for not paying her bills. The judgment favored the plaintiff. In the post court interview, the adult child said, “I hate you mom, I don’t want anything to do with you”. The mother responded, “I still love my daughter and my two grandchildren. I care about them; I just made her responsible”. This is a common happening in our society. This present generation had launched so much attack on the family. The family is the smallest unit of a nation or society and the evil one wars to destroy this foundation. The war ranges from high rate of divorce, physical or emotional abuses, murder, drugs and alcoholism, smoking, teen pregnancies to gay and lesbian group, just to mention but a few.
If the unexpected happens, what values would be found in our pockets or hearts? It could be hate, greed, malice, lust, cheat, manipulation as well as wickedness. These are unbelievably disgusting but true. Some hate mere mention of their spouses or children. Others have changed their last names so as not be traced or identify with their families. This brings to mind a glorified incident I read. After a marriage/family seminar, the facilitator asked two questions: “If you were to get married all over again would you marry the same spouse? If you were to reincarnate would you choose to belong to the same family? What would’ve been your honest response? Hold it to yourself and let your destiny challenge your circumstance.
The Third is the value on other people. My father used to tell us, “Selfishness is a disease.” When people are self-centered, they do not care about other people. They live a-me-first lifestyle and blind to other people’s predicaments. They lack the spirit of sharing. Even when they share, it’s with those who will reciprocate. They have no feelings for the less fortunate. They were created to be poor and should enjoy their sufferings. It makes no sense that the well-to-do’s should share their wealth with the less privileged even if there are crumbs. About every religion encourages giving to others, especially the have-nots. Giving is partly an expression of selfless love and reciprocates the love of God on humanity. You cannot love without giving. The Scripture says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” [John 3:16]. The whole essence of God’s law is summarized into two commandments: Love God and love mankind, including enemies. There are no suggestions, but commandments.
The fourth is the value on God: Anna had wished to have in her pocket a cross to symbolize her faith. We are living at a time and in a society where public proclamation of one’s faith is considered insensitive to other people. As part of so-called diversity and tolerance, people observe redlines or better put, no–go-areas. Some are ashamed to carry with them the bible or to pray in Jesus name. It is considered inappropriate and insensitive to talk about one’s faith publicly. Prayers and religious studies had been shot out in schools; God’s moral code, the Ten Commandments from public places. Other voices of dissent agitate the removal of “in God we trust” from the currency and “under God” from the pledge of allegiance. Do they care to ask, which God? Franklin Graham, in his book titled “The Name” said, “Christian who use the name Jesus and insist that He is the one and only way to God are increasingly viewed by many in the liberal media as narrow-minded religious bigots who represent a threat to the rest of society”.
Franklin also refers to Ravi Zacharius, author of “Jesus among others Gods” who said, “…All Christians are such by virtue of conversion. To ask a Christian not to reach out to anyone else who is from another faith is to ask the person to deny his own faith.” Jesus says, “Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.” [Matt. 10:32]. Apostle Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it’s the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes” [Romans 1:16]. Indeed no one who is ashamed of the gospel is fit for the kingdom. Little wonder they attack the boldness and witnesses of authentic Christianity. Its liberty and freedom testify to its belief and claims. Our works testify who we are, our passions and the values we cherish and hold. In our world that has continued to witness dramatic drift in values and pursuits, only people who persist in right living, speaking the truth, caring for their family, other people and of course honoring God, shall make impressions and leave values worth emulating on the shores of history. Such values PASS IT ON.