In search of God

Come Find Rest

2017-04-22T08:00:00.000+03:00

Matthew 11:28-30, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.'

Life is very burdensome and each one of us carries a personal burden of some sort that sometimes pushes us even to our breaking points. We feel depressed and overwhelmed by the constant struggles, worries and anxieties of everyday life and are enticed to just give it all up and walk away from it all. And some do choose to walk away physically, mentally and emotionally, living sad, lonely and depressed lives; while others give up on life itself and sadly choose to take their life. And even those who do try to fight a good fight with life seem to be no better because they have to endure laboring in an unending cycle of ups and downs, wins and losses that is frustrating as much as it is depressing.

We have sought and are constantly seeking a way of ridding ourselves of this heavy burden, this yoke that threatens to destroy us from within; and many have indeed come to us with a promise of liberation. They claim to have found the way to do it, the way to true freedom from this burden once and for all.

Wealth and fame, pursuit of total health, enjoying unrestrained carnal pleasures, spiritual emancipation and enlightenment, self esteem and positive thinking, and other similar new age pursuits have all been identified by the gurus of our time as being ways to free ourselves from what burdens us. Sadly, though they may seem to be working at the onset, it is all an illusion and ultimately we find ourselves bearing more burdens and entangled in more messes because of them. We end up being more depressed, anxious and wearisome.

The only way to identify the true way to freedom is to have a true knowledge and deep understanding of the root cause of this heavy burden we bear. The root of our heavy burden stem from the depth of our souls. We are tormented by feelings of guilt and condemnation through the pricking of our conscience, we are filled with apprehension about an impending judgment for the way we have chosen to live our lives, and we being mortal and short lived are plagued with an irrational longing for eternity.

In John 14:6, Jesus made the claim that He was the way, the truth and the life and in Him we have the freedom from our guilt and condemnation for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Him (Romans 8:1); In Him we have confidence of the coming judgment for by grace we have been saved from the judgment through our faith in Him, and not of ourselves but a gift of God (Ephesians 2:18); and In Him we are convicted that our desire for eternity is not irrational but are assured of eternal life in Him (John 3:16).

In the verses preceding Matthew 11:28, Jesus was scolding the people living in cities that has witnessed the great signs and wonders He had done, yet hardened their hearts and refused to repent; that is, appreciating and acknowledging our natural tendency of being rebellious or contrary to God then make a proactive choice to turn away from this nature and live a life of trusting and obeying God. Yet at the end of this scolding, because He loved them, He called them to Himself, hoping that they had discerned the truth that He was the only way to God.

When we come to Jesus with our heavy burdens, He takes them from us to give rest for our souls and invites us to put on His yoke upon us and learn from Him. We are to willingly choose to live our lives in submission to Him, allowing Him to be Lord and master in our lives. But we should not fear being subordinated to Him because He assures us that He is meek and humble.

When I choose to submit to Him, He will teach me these two things: To love the Lord My God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and with all my strength; and To love my neighbor as myself. (Matthew 12:30,31; Luke 10:27).

Therefore the burden that He calls me to bear is of love. And as I lean on Him and continue to learn this, I will be begin to live a truly burden free life.

Friend, if you are overwhelmed by your burden and in need of rest, come to Jesus and you will find that much needed and appreciated rest.

All Things Work TOGETHER For Good

2016-10-29T10:17:00.000+03:00

Romans 8:28, " And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

I have been offered these scripture countless times whenever I'm going through a hard patch and I have offered it countless time to others still as a way of comfort. I must confess though that whenever this statement is said to me by well meaning friends, at that moment of unimaginable pain and trouble that seems too much to bear, when the wound is still fresh oozing with blood, and when the eyes are blurred by tears, at that moment I must confess, the above scripture does less than comfort me.

I guess that when our perspective is so focused in the moment, so focused in the trouble or pain, the above scripture won't make sense to any of us. But if you read the scripture in its context, then you understand that what God is telling us is to look at the bigger picture. When you understand what God has in store for the CALLED, then this scripture begins to make sense.

Romans 8:30 b & c, tells us that "whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." I realize through this scripture that God's perspective is focused on the bigger picture of my salvation. I realize that no matter what happens, God is working things out that I may not miss my salvation. But does this mean that when unpleasant things happen in my life then there is no recourse, no help at all! No. Romans 8:34 b reassures me that I have Christ. It says, "It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." Christ is making an intercession for me, for you for us all.

What a joy it is to know that my Lord, is making intercession for me during my trials and tribulations. No wonder Paul in verse 35 asks, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Nothing can and should separate us from the love of God. Even when we are faced with trials, even when we are being persecuted, even when we are distressed with pain, we are assured of the love of God and nothing or no one can separate from God's love (Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.")

And that God assures us through Romans 8:37 that "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." We can overcome all things through Christ. So it is true that God woks all things together for our good. Whatever you are going through friend, you shall overcome. And in the end when all is said and done, after the storm when you look back and see the hand of God protecting you, guiding you and uplifting you, then you will understand this scripture fully. Stay strong friend, know that no matter what you are going through, God loves you and Jesus is interceding for you as you read this.

Choose Life!

2016-02-06T10:46:00.000+03:00

Mark 9: 43-48 “And if your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye makes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”

How can your hands make you sin you ask, by taking things that do not belong to you or writing things that are untrue about someone online. What about your legs you might ask, by taking you to places that you know you shouldn't be going. What about your eyes, looking at things that are sinful, like lusting after someone, looking at pornography.

But all these sins are the outward manifestation of our fallen nature. A mango tree is not called so because it has produced a mango fruit but rather because that is its inherent nature. So off or on season, it is still a mango tree. And so are we with sin. My hand, leg or eye may not make me sin at one point, but sooner or later, when the circumstances are right, I will succumb to my nature and produce the fruit of my sinful nature that is lusting, fornication, hate, stealing, lying and cheating etc.

The only way we are able to overcome our sinful nature is if we our nature is changed. Just like a mango tree can produce another fruit when it is in-grafted into the other fruit. So we can only stop producing fruits of sin and begin producing fruits of holiness and righteousness when we are in-grafted in Jesus Christ (John 15:5).

The choice is yours. You can remain in yourself and produce sinful fruit as per your nature. Or you can choose to be in Christ and produce fruits of holiness and righteousness through and in Him. Sin produces death but the gift of God is eternal in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:38). I pray that you choose life.

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

2016-02-06T08:02:00.002+03:00

Psalm 8:3-14,

³When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

⁴What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

⁵For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

⁷All sheep and oxen—

Even the beasts of the field,

⁸The birds of the air,

And the fish of the sea

That pass through the paths of the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

The God that created the universe, created you too and He loves and cares for you dearly. Due to the lies of the Deceiver, Satan, man lost the glory that God had crowned upon him and the dominion given to him on earth. But God in His great love and mercy upon us, made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and regain the lost glory.

Through the Son of Man, Jesus, we have access to the throne of grace. By grace we are saved, through faith in Jesus Christ, not of our own doing but a gift from God. The new covenant through Jesus Christ will bring greater glory for those that are in Him that pales the glory that made the face of Moses, the great Patriarch of the Israelite's (2 Corinthians 7-11). Those who hear, have been called, justified and glorified by the Father in Christ (Romans 8:30). Nothing in this world can overcome us for Christ has already overcome the world (John 16:33). Dominion been wrestled from the Prince of the Air, Satan, through the cross and given back unto us (Matthew 16:19).

The love that God has for us is unfathomable, beyond our understanding, but it is true and real and only if we were able to know this love that surpasses knowledge, then we would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. My prayer for you today is that you may be deeply rooted and established in love may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ for us.

With this knowledge, who cannot praise the name of God in all the earth?

Repent, and Be Saved

2016-02-06T07:30:00.000+03:00

Psalm 7:14-16, ‘Whoever is pregnant with evil conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment. Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made. The trouble they cause recoils on them; their violence comes down on their own heads.’

We are living in evil times. News today is full of sad, heartbreaking, evil stories you would be mistaken to think that men are falling over themselves to see who is the sickest and vilest of them all. Our leaders are no better because all they conceive is evil and wickedness. They promise one thing with their mouths but plan the opposite in their hearts. Even though we are living in the age of great advancements, we are the most disillusioned lot. Suicide rates are higher all over the world than half a century ago. And the median age for those that are committing suicide is getting younger.

All that are engaged in evil think that they are ahead of the pack, they are smarter than the rest, but little do they know that they are digging their own grave. God who sits on the throne is slow to anger and long suffering, but in the fullness of time He will bring judgement on the wicked for their deeds for He is a righteous judge.

There is hope for us yet. Jesus, who is sent from heaven, the Son of God who came and died in our place for our sins. In the Father's divine wisdom, He placed our salvation, our hope, in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the world, so that we could be reconciled with Him.

So I say to you who are pregnant with evil and are conceiving trouble, Repent and turn to God. He is merciful and compassionate. He will forgive your sins no more. Run unto the finished work of Christ of the cross and be saved.

Overcoming Sin in the Face of Temptations

2015-11-25T17:49:00.000+03:00

Judges 16: 16-20

16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him,[a] and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Brother, no matter how high we may think we are, the Devil knows our weaknesses, those sins that so easily ensnare us. And with this knowledge, He has fashioned weapons against us to lead us to our demise. The weapons include temptations that he brings against our flesh. Temptations may look and feel good temporarily but in the long run they bring sorrow and death. Temptations conceives sin and sin when it is fully grown will bring death. The enemy's desire for us is to kill, steal and destroy us just like Delilah's desire for Samson.

To resist sin, we must fight against ourselves, our weak flesh. But sometimes it seems like we are fighting a lost cause. We feel so overwhelmed by the constant pressure from the waves of attack from the enemy that are being applied against us through our weak flesh that is more that willing to succumb and give in to sin. At that point we feel like giving up just like the mighty Samson did after constant nagging and pressure from Delilah.

Giving in seems to be the easier option. But in reality, the cost is much more than you were willing to pay and the place it takes you is far than where you were willing to go. Samson thought that by giving in to the nagging of Delilah, he would shut her up and alleviate the pressure of nagging upon him. Little did he know that the cost would be more. By divulging the secret things of God, he lost the presence of God, he lost his eyes and he lost the power that was available to him due to his position in God.

Sin caused Adam to be cast off from the presence of God and so it is with us who are saved that when we sin God departs from us. Sin also causes us to loose the spiritual sight or discernment available to us because of our position in Christ. And lastly the power over sin and the Devil that is given to the church will be gone from us and the enemy will be able to cause havoc in our lives since we have opened a door for him.

Now You can either give up and surrender yourself to the temptation just like Samson or you can choose to focus on our Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith who is able to give us strength when we are weak. His grace is sufficient for us and His power is made perfect in our weakness. At our point of greatest need is when we need to turn to Him. And God will not let us suffer more than we are able to handle because for every temptation, He has provided a way out for us.

Rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice, for Our Lord is Lord over all and at the mention of His name all knees bow and all lips confess that He is Lord. Resist the Devil and turn to God and He will sustain you through the constant pressure of temptation that the enemy assails you with.

The Power Over Sin

2015-06-05T07:00:00.000+03:00

Matthew 4:3-10 New King James Version (NKJV) 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

The Devil has fashioned weapons of deceit and temptation to turn us away from the Lord. The temptations come in three ways, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes. From the time of Adam to now, this is how the enemy operates.

At the lowest level is the lust of the flesh. At this level, Satan tempts our flesh. The Devil tempted Jesus after forty days and nights of fasting with food to sustain His flesh. How did Jesus respond? He pointed us to our spirit. The flesh is perishing but the spirit is eternal. When we are saved, we are reborn spiritually by God. Our spirit is predisposed to the obedience of of God and through that obedience we have power to resist the flesh. The spirit of God needs nourishment and that nourishment is the word of God that builds us up spiritually.

As you have grown spiritually by nourishing your spirit with the word of God, the Devil will now appeal to your vanity, the pride of life. The Devil negated the rightful position of Jesus as the Son of God. He tempted Him by using the word of God to try and push Jesus into trying to prove who He was. By trying to prove who He was, Jesus would have demonstrated His unbelief in God who had earlier at His baptism in the Jordan announced to the world that He was His Son. How did the Lord overcome this? He overcame this being grounded in reality, knowing who He was, the Son of God. He did not succumb to the dare of the Devil to prove Himself.

Christians enjoy salvation in Christ Jesus, clothed in the righteousness of God in Him and being joint heirs with Christ of the promises of God, eternal life in His presence. The Devil comes to us with the same accusation to try and prove our claim that we are Christians. We try to prove our claim through miraculous signs and wonders and since God is not with us because we are putting Him to the test and sinning, we either fail or worse still are led by the Deceiver to use deception and we fake our miracles displaying our own unbelief in God. We need to be secure in our position in God and not try to prove to the world that we are indeed Christians. For God looks at the heart and as faithfully live in obedience, the Spirit of God will transform you into the image of our Lord and and just like at Antioch, the world will call you a Christian instead of you proclaiming it yourself as you go about doing good and working miraculous signs and wonders for the kingdom of God.

Now if you are a mature Christian and know your position in Christ, Satan will use the last temptation on you, the lust of the eyes. The Devil offered to give Jesus all that had been promised Him by God with the added advantage of not tasting the bitter trial of the cross. You see at the cross, Jesus would for the first time be separated from His Father since the beginning of time and then all sin of the world would have been put on Him and the fury of God's wrath would have been meted out on Him as punishment of sin. Remember, Jesus hates sin. This looked like a very good offer but it also meant that Jesus would deviate from the original will of God for His life. It meant that He would be disobeying God. Our Lord defeated the Devil by finding strength in living a life of obedience to God. We are called to worship God alone and to live in obedience to Hid decree. The Devil tempts us by promising to give what the Lord has promised to give us without having to face the trials that lie along its path. But what we forget is that we in turn get to sell our soul to the Devil. We need to remember and heed the warning of our Lord who asks us, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but loose his soul.

We need to die to the flesh and live in obedience to the spirit to please God, to know our position in Christ and be secure even when our circumstance point to the contrary so that we do not lose hope and tempt our God in sin, and to live a life of total obedience to God and submission to His will for our life even when it means that we shall pass through many trials, for God uses these trials to build up our faith.

May Our Lord bless and keep you to stand and fight the good fight of faith

Change Your Mind

2015-06-04T07:00:00.000+03:00

Romans 12:2, 'Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.'

The behaviors and customs of this world shape the way that we think. The way we think shapes our values and our values determine our character. Salvation gives you new life, a spirit that is of God but your mind still remains the same and there results a conflict within you between the old you - your mind and soul (your carnal self) and the new you - the spirit of God that is within you.

The spirit of God desires to carry out the will of God but the carnal self is contrary to this desire and wants to carry out your will. Now God unlike us knows what is best for us. From the beginning of time, before you were created, God had a perfect plan for your life and His desire is for that plan to manifest in your life. But the Devil, whose purpose for you before you were created was to destroy you leads you away from this will. He exploits our weak mind and soul through temptations.

God is a faithful and just God and He gave us free will. Free will allows us to choose the path to take in every situation. God wants us to use our free will and choose to submit to His will that is good, pleasing and perfect. The only way that we can do this is if we know what His will for us is. To do this we need to go to His word and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the deep mysteries of God to us. Then only can we know His will for us. His word will renew our minds, breaking off from patterns of thinking that we adopted through the world system and align them to the pattern of the kingdom of God.

Therefore my brothers and sisters, open up your heart to the Holy Spirit and read the word of God and your mind will be transformed and only then can you submit every area of your life to the will of God.

It Is All For His Glory

2015-03-24T07:00:00.000+03:00

Acts 3:1-8, “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.” God is sovereign. He is because He is. He does what He pleases. He is good. He is love. He is the creator of Heaven and the world and everything that is in them. Our Creator has a purpose for each and every one of us all. The ultimate purpose for us is that we may bring honour and glory to His Holy Name. In God’s original plan, a perfect world was created and placed under the dominion of man. But Lucifer through deception and trickery made man sin and hand over the dominion to Him. Through that deception, sin entered this perfect world and corrupted it. Through this corruption, both the man and the physical world have been degenerating. Sin is the reason why this world has untold pain and suffering. God is good and compassionate and His heart suffers at our suffering. As the disciples of Jesus, we have the Spirit of God in us and we are drawn out to the suffering of others with compassion. That compassion is what drew Peter and John out to the cripple at the temple gate called Beautiful. The man was taken out every day to this gate to seek for help from men. Peter and John saw suffering of this man and went out to help him the best way they knew how. They brought Him Jesus. And by the power in His name, the man was made well. The man after His encounter with the power of Jesus all he could do was to jump up in joy and praise God. At no point do you read that the man had enough faith or was expecting healing or was righteous. All we know is that Peter spoke in faith and the man by the power in the name of Jesus was healed. God healed him period. And isn’t that the way God operates in all things. When I was still a sinner, wallowing in my sin that was sure to bring me total separation from Him and eternal life, He sent Jesus to die for my sins so that I could have the right to stand before His throne in confidence and He raised Jesus from the dead so that I could have access to eternal life. I was saved not because I was looking for salvation, or even knew I needed it but God in compassion called me out to this salvation that is in His Son Jesus. For He planned it that way, that those that were to be saved, will be saved through Jesus Christ. All I had to do under the conviction of the Holy Spirit was to use my free will and accept His call. Even my salvation now is sustained by His grace. As a disciple of Jesus, I am drawn out with compassion to the suffering of the world that is misled through the deception of the great deceiver, whose main aim is to steal, kill and destroy you and I can only bring you what I have and that is Jesus. In Jesus you have access to salvation, you have righteousness, you have eternal life and you have freedom from the power of sin. God is calling you out my friend and my plea is for you to heed that call and exercise your free will under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and surrender you life to Jesus as the Lord of your life. He loves you and wants you to have life. Repent of your sins, ask for His forgiveness and make Him Lord of your life. When you do this, there will be great joy in Heaven and His Holy Name will be praised because in you, the world will see Him as He takes you by the hand and leads you to paths of righteousness for the sake of His Name.

God’s Will

2015-03-23T07:00:00.000+03:00

Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” God has an acceptable, good and pleasing will for us. He wants us to have life while the Devil wants us to perish in sin, He wants to be a blessing to us and the Devil wants to destroy us. God has given us the freedom to choose. Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. The world promotes a culture of ‘everything goes’. The shape and direction of our culture right now leaves you with more questions than answers as to what is right or wrong. But the word of God provides us with the wisdom to make up our minds what is beneficial for us or not. There is a battle going on for your soul. God is a just God and wants us to choose for ourselves who we want to abide by. It would be cruel if you did all you could to turn away from Him and His Kingdom now and then find yourself in Heaven. The question to ask yourself is, will we abide by Him or by the Devil? What will you choose my friend?

The Ministry of Preaching and Prayer

2015-03-22T07:00:00.000+03:00

Acts 6:1-4 “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." We all have our place of ministry and those that are called to the ministry of the word of God and intercession should not allow other good things to distract them and turn them away from ministering the word of God to His flock for theirs is key to our survival. They have been given the word that ministers life to the spirit without which we perish. It is written that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The church of Christ needs the word of God to grow strong in faith by the renewing of their mind. The church needs washing with the word that it may be pure, without spot or blemish as a bride before her groom, our Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer for the church corporately or believers individually, is a weapon that we use to seek the Lord’s intercession on our behalf and strength to continue and remain standing in faith even after relentless attacks by the enemy. Prayer is an act of faith, a display of our firm belief in our God to hear and answer the petitions and request we place before Him. But let him who asks in prayer, do so without doubt in their mind or being led by their own selfish desires, lest they do so in vain. The enemy is like a prowling lion seeking whom He may devour and through the washing of the word and prayer, a Christian is replenished with the strength to fight the good fight of faith and emerge victorious, glorifying God.

Worship Only Yahweh

2015-03-21T07:00:00.000+03:00

Exodus 23:24, ‘You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely breakdown their sacred pillars.’ It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ In this world there are many gods that demand worship from us but we need to be vigilant that we do not succumb and idol worship. Before salvation, we unknowingly or knowingly worship these gods in our life. Through salvation we denounce all other gods and submit and surrender ourselves to the true living God. We recognize our foolishness and acknowledge that there is no other god but Him. After salvations we are aliens in the world being here but not of here. But these other gods of this world are treacherous and want and demand we worship them through enticement, deception or force. But we must renounce them with everything, choosing to serve only our Lord God. Anything that is an altar, a place of worship, should be utterly overthrown and completely destroyed. These gods include self, religion, family, friends, fame, money, power, beauty… anyone or anything that tries to share with the glory of God is an idol that should be utterly overthrown and completely destroyed. Turn your back to them like Jesus and command them to depart from your presence for you have purposed in your heart to worship and serve the Lord your God only.

The Light of The World

2015-03-20T14:34:00.000+03:00

Matthew 5:13-16, ‘“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” ’ We are called into Christ to be the seasoning of the world, pointing them to the truth that is in Him. We are called, set apart and separated from the world to be in this world but not of this world. The trends and fads of this world should not dictate how we live for we live for a higher purpose. We live for the glory of our Lord! In Christ there is life abundant and we should live in a way that the world will not see you but the Christ that is living in you manifest in every area of your life. Then you will truly be a living Christian and not just a professing Christian. The Lord tells us that we show that we love Him by obeying His commands. We are to love our God and our brothers and sisters. All commandments from God lie upon these two. We are to truly love our God with all our hearts, minds, soul and body. This means that we are willing to sacrifice all to honour and glorify Him, even to the point of death. We truly love our brothers and sisters through our compassion toward them. We should have a heart and an attitude that cares for and strives to better the lives of our brethren spiritually, emotionally and materially. Christ is the light of the world, point to the good that is God and when we have His Spirit in us, we shine that light to the world. The world is full of hate, fear, anxiety, mistrust, lawlessness, rebellion and hopelessness but in Christ we are the answer to all these providing love, peace, joy and hope regardless of our current circumstances. Then through us, the world will come to know of God and glorify His Holy Name because of us and want to know Him the way we do know Him. You were saved so that God could place you before men to point the way to Him so that everyone may come to know that we are saved by His amazing grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, His Son, who gave up His life upon the cross for our sins and was resurrected that we may have life everlasting in Him. We are to be called by His Name everywhere we go as a sign of our faithfulness in Him. We are to stand firm and fight the good fight of faith lest we ourselves after having led many in the right way, stumble and are spewed out because we lost our saltiness. Choose to be a living instead of a professing Christian.

The Cross: God’s Love For Mankind

2014-12-14T06:00:00.000+03:00

What is the cross? Why is the crucifixion of a Jew called Jesus of so much importance to us Christians, after all, He was not the first or the only one to be crucified. And why was there a need for a cross? And oh, did we really need a Saviour in the first place? To answer these questions let us first ask ourselves, did we need a Savior in the first place? The answer is yes we did need a Saviour. God is Holy while we on our own are not holy for the word in Romans 3:10-11 says, “As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” All of us have a problem, a SIN problem, that separates us from a holy God. Now sin is not the act but it is our very nature assumed at the Garden of Eden when Adam rebelled against God’s command. To explain further, a mango tree is not a mango tree only after it produces mangoes but it is naturally a mango tree and can only produce mangoes therefore the sins we commit are the outward manifestation of our inherent sinful nature. We can try to sort out the sin problem on our own through obedience to the law, God’s holy, just and good law (given through Moses His servant) but because the law is spirit and we are carnal in nature, we keep on failing miserably. Why? Because the carnal mind cannot be subject to the spiritual law period (Romans 8:7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”). Therefore God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him (Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”). Now, let us say we do need a Saviour, then why did it have to be the Jew called Jesus? Because He meets two requirements: first He is the only begotten son of God (John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”) and secondly He is the promised seed to Adam (Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."), then Abraham (Galatians 3: 16, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.”) who was to bring redemption to the world. Crucifixion was chosen mode of capital punishment by the Romans for executing those considered traitors, murderers and hardcore criminals. It has been estimated that the Romans were crucifying at least 2,000 people per day during the days Jesus walked the earth. It was chosen because it was a slow and excruciating way to die. The person to be crucified would be stripped naked and scourged by the roman whip that included stripes of bone fragments and metal that tore at the flesh as the whip was being retrieved. It was a public spectacle with the person carrying their own cross to the site of crucifixion. Now to the Jews, the lifting up of Jesus would remind them of an event that happened during the time of Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21: 5-9, “they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.”) Jesus himself testified that he was to be like the snake in John 3:14-15, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” The snake represented the sinful nature of man that was to be punished in his body by death for the requirement of the law to be met in those that were to live by faith in God’s finished work at the cross (Romans 8:3-4, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”). Why did Jesus have to die? Hebrews 9: 22 says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The shedding of His blood was necessary to atone for our sins (Romans 5:9, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!” and 1 John 2:2, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”). And why did He choose to die for us Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Love – His unconditional and unchanging love for mankind. Now what is this love 1 John 3: 16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” And how great is this love Romans 8: 38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” At the Garden of Eden, the great Deceiver, Satan, tempted the first man to rebel against God and caused the man to lose his right standing with God. But the cross is God’s plan for redeeming man, justifying him and allowing him access to His presence, not because of what the man has done but as a gift from God. At the cross seed of man, is struck by the serpent at His heel but the seed of man bruises the head of the serpent. The power of Satan over man is defeated at the cross (Colossians 2:13-15, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”). Jesus came to destroy the work of the Devil, 1 John 3: 8, “…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.” Salvation of man is the handiwork of God so that no man can boast. It is His desire for all to access salvation (1Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”). Our God loves us with an immeasurable love whose extent cannot be known but the Devil would want us to believe that He is a vengeful God whose desire is to see mankind perish. (Ezekiel 33:11, “Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'”). He is grieved in His heart when knowing the truth, we choose to turn away from Him and unto death. He is calling unto us with open arms calling us unto redemption and adoption (Romans 8:23, “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.), only if we believe in Him who He sent. Therefore let us rejoice as we run into His loving arms crying out Abba… father unto eternal life.

Focus on the Promise and the Promise Giver

2014-06-13T06:00:00.000+03:00

Numbers 13: 27,’28 ‘They told Moses, we came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit. But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage]. God had promised Abraham to give His descendants the land of Canaan as their inheritance. Over 400 years later, the descendants had been redeemed from Egypt by their God and were now at the brink of entering their promised land. In conformity to the disbelieving nature of man, they sent out spies to inspect and confirm if indeed the promise was true. They selected 10 men, one from each tribe of Israel, to go to spy on the land out of which two report were given. In the first report, all the ten confirmed that indeed the land was flowing with milk and honey as promised by the LORD. They even had evidence of fruit and produce from the land. The second report was given by 8 of the 10 spies who said that the land was unconquerable and even uninhabitable. They focussed on the obstacles and challenges. They spread fear and discouragement among the entire camp. The Israelites then choose to rebel against God’s command to enter and claim the promised land as theirs and return to a life of bondage and slavery in Egypt. You would have imagined that having seen God perform all those miracles in Egypt, they would not doubt the ability of God to deliver, the fortified cities and giants into their hands. But are we any different really. God has already shown us the promise of salvation, eternal life and victory in Christ Jesus but when we find a storm in our path, when trials, tribulations and persecutions assail us, we give up, we go back to the bondage and slavery of sinfulness and sin. We do not depend on the LORD who was faithful to free us from sin to sustain us in righteousness. 2 spies however, Joshua and caleb, chose to focus on the promise and the God who made that promise. They knew that the God who made the promise is faithful and will keep His promise; He is able to accomplish what He said He would do; and He was willing to do it for them. Because of their obedience and faithfulness, God honoured them by ensuring that they RECEIVED and ENJOYED their inheritance. Trust in the LORD your God and He will supply the desires of your heart. Only do not doubt and rebel against His commands.

Side Tracked

2014-06-12T11:31:00.000+03:00

Psalm 106:13-15, ‘But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death. The above passage details how the children of Israel after liberation from Egypt through miracles and wonders, after crossing the Red Sea and seeing their enemies vanquished, they rejoiced in the LORD for a short while but were quick to forget their God and started to rebel. They forgot the mighty deeds God had done before and for them in His faithfulness and love for them. They did not wait for His plans for taking them to the promised land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey to unfold. Impatience was their downfall. It was a manifestation of their lack of trust in their Heavenly Father. They rebelled against God’s provision of manna and insisted on having some meat with their meal. They tested God’s patience but Jehovah is long suffering and gave them what they wanted. He sent them an abundance of quail and they ate until they became sick of it. They realised that the meat they wanted was not what they needed. What they needed was the presence of the LORD in their life. How many of us are like the children of Israel who after being shown the good plans the LORD has for us, plans to give us a hope and a future, how many become impatient with God and instead of trusting in His ways and timings, try to achieve the same through our own power, might and effort. We rebel against His time, counsel, leading and direction. God is long suffering and has given us free will and when we choose to do something outside of His will and purpose for us, He will allow you to do it. Unfortunately for us, this comes with a price. We later on realise that we have given dominion of our lives over to that particular thing and it does not bring us the joy that we thought it would. We then suffer disease and death both literally and figuratively. It masters us instead of us mastering it and becomes our idol. Do not allow yourself to be ensnared by idolatry. After all the heartache and loss through the grace of God, we come to our senses like the prodigal son and realise our folly and rebellion. It is then that God convicts us of our rebellion for us to repent and go back to Him. We can save ourselves from all this heartache by just choosing to live in obedience to our LORD, trusting His plans and timings always with perseverance for in the end we shall receive the victory that He has won for us. Remember God has good plans for us, but the enemy wants to spoil it all for you by robbing, stealing and killing the joy of the LORD out of it.

CHOOSE LIFE

2014-01-07T08:59:00.000+03:00

Genesis 2:9, 16, 17, ‘And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ ‘And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."’ When God made the Garden of Eden, there were two particular trees that were specifically mentioned, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now the command God gave was for man not to eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and His wife were free to eat of the tree of life. Had they eaten the tree of life instead of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have enjoyed eternal life with their Creator and Father; living a life free from shame and condemnation that came with their choice to eat fruit from that tree – Genesis 3:6, 7, ‘When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.’ But Satan, being full of jealousy and malice, pointed Adam and Eve to the tree that was not beneficial to them, the tree that would sow seeds of rebellion in them, the tree that would separate them from their Father, God. (Isn’t that what the Devil still try to do with us today?) Man did not have the capacity to judge between good and evil for there is only One who is good, who is the Father in heaven. Because man now knew of good and evil, He could not rely on God grace and mercy and would therefore face the consequences of his actions (sinful in nature), that is, death and condemnation. But thank God for His abounding grace and great love for man. Because He loves us so, He crafted a plan before the beginning of time, that would spare us from the death and condemnation that we deserved and grant us the eternal life and sonship (remember the position of the repentant prodigal son Luke 15:19) that we did not deserve – His original plan since the creation of time. This plan came to us through Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of the Living God, who is now to us the tree of life that bears the fruit of eternal life for anyone who believes in Him. John 5:24, ‘"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.’ And John 6:33, 40 ‘For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."’ ‘For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."’ This is the good and perfect will of the Father for us all and we can only discern it when we choose to live a transformed life that focuses on His Kingdom and His will in our lives – Romans 12:2, ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ Therefore brethren, I beseech you, look up to our LORD Jesus Christ and believe His word that proclaim liberty and freedom through the throne of grace to the captives from the shackles of our sinful nature. Surrender your life to Him now before it is too late.

Signs and Wonders

2013-12-29T07:00:00.000+03:00

Deuteronomy 4:35-39, ‘You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides Him there is no other. From heaven He made you hear His voice to discipline you. On earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words from out of the fire. Because He loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, He brought you out of Egypt by His Presence and His great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.’ God shows Himself to us through signs and wonders so that we may know His mighty power and majesty. The LORD choose the Israelites as the people through which to show the world Himself; His love, His faithfulness, His power, His mercy, His majesty, His judgment and so many other characteristics of His divine nature. In Egypt, in the desert and in the land He promised to their ancestors on oath, God showed the Israelites numerous wonders and signs, not only for them but for the whole world to see. And the LORD is the same yesterday, today and forever more and He is still showing Himself mighty and powerful through signs and wonders so that the world may know and acknowledge that He is God in heaven and on earth.

A Montage of Love

2013-12-27T07:00:00.000+03:00

John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ The birth of Jesus was a love gift – a sacrifice made by God for the world, (that is you and me) that He loves with immeasurable and incomprehensible love. To fully understand this, we need to go back to the beginning, to the genesis of all things. John 1:1-4, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.’ You see God is the beginning of all things and in all things He has set laws to govern. Because He is a just God, He will not break even one of His laws that He has set. The first man Adam sinned and as a consequence his nature became sinful which we have inherited as his descendants. The consequence of man’s sinful nature was death and eternal separation from God. Now even though God loved man with an unfathomable love and longed to have a loving relationship with him, sin separated man and God because of God’s Holiness. To ensure that man did not perish and to fulfil the requirement of the law of sin He gave up Jesus, His only begotten Son – a sinless man (and fully God), as an atonement for sin who died in place of me and you – sinners who deserved to die. Now all this seems like a lofty dream of a misguided religious zealot and am sure some of you are ready to set me straight. Let us for a minute assume it was true then what is the main theme for Christianity? All through when you read the bible, the message that resonates through the pages, the books, chapters, verses and words is love. God’s abounding love for man and the need for man to live a life of love to fellow man. John 1:10-13, ‘He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.’ But the reality is that God is and that when you come near Him He will come near to you. He has given you free will and will not force you to be in a relationship with Him that you do not want to. The truth is there for all to see, Romans 1:20, ‘For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.’ Now God is love and He has given us the great example of what love is, not that we loved Him first but that He loved us even when we were still His enemies. Jesus came not to condemn but to give life John 3:17, ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’ Let us therefore as we celebrate this Christmas holiday, let us reflect and think, not only on the things that we shall receive or give, but also on Christ, why He left His divinity to come and live as a man on earth and why He died on the cross and resurrected on the third day. Let us reflect on His beautiful montage of love.

Forgiveness Leads To Repentance

2013-12-26T07:00:00.000+03:00

In Romans 12:17-21 'Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.', It is hard for us to forgive because the world teaches us from a tender age that tit for tat is the order of the day. If someone wrongs you, you must avenge yourself so that you can feel better about it. Even us Christians, when we are wronged, we might not do it ourselves but we ask God to avenge on our behalf so that we can feel better. But is that why God commands us to forgive and do good to those that have wronged us which is contrary to what the world teaches and expects form us? I believe that the main reason why God commands us to forgive is that this is the only way that the person that has committed wrong can find true repentance and with repentance comes redemption and change in behaviour. The only way that you can truly forgive someone who does not deserve it is if you love that person. God gave us this same example through His forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ our LORD. God forgives us our sins not because we deserve it or because we asked for forgiveness but because of His abounding love for us. And therefore the same applies to us that if we truly love others, then we should be able to forgive them even when they do not deserve it.

Living In The Spirit

2013-12-25T07:00:00.000+03:00

Numbers 13:31,32, ‘But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.’ Pessimism is defined as having an attitude of anticipating undesirable outcomes or believes that the hardships in life outweigh the good. The world that we live in is pessimistic. We in turn have become pessimistic in our nature anticipating that the undesirable or negative outcome is more likely to happen and that the evil in the world triumph over good. This is just the way the natural world is. This is the attitude that the ten men chosen from the twelve tribes of Israel had. And because of this pessimism, they spread a negative report among the camp of Israel about the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by God on oath, a land flowing with milk and honey, so that the entire nation rebelled and refused to take their inheritance as promised by God. But if you are born of the Spirit of God, you will place all your hope and trust in God in spite of the circumstances that you are faced with. You will stand firm on His promises to you with the knowledge that your God is faithful. That is what Joshua and Caleb did – Numbers 14:6-9, ‘Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." – they did not live by sight but by faith, that is, faith in their God who was and is able to do exceedingly above and beyond what we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us.

As For Me And My House, We Will Serve The LORD

2013-12-24T07:00:00.000+03:00

Psalm 73:2-10,12, ‘But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. This is what the wicked are like – always carefree, they increase in wealth.’ How many of us are envious of the wicked – the liars, cheats, murderers – of the world. Life looks like it is kinder to them, they have the best in and of life. And the world honours and adores them; we aspire to be like them; we worship them. And no matter what evil they do, life seems to be getting even better for them, with no consequences whatsoever. In Psalm 7313, 14 which reads – ‘Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.’ – we see that their following is not limited to the world but believers are also attracted by the allure of their seemingly sweet lives and we become envious and are tempted to take shortcuts and break a few rules so that we can be like them. As believers, we face numerous trials and tribulations, we are persecuted for our faith and suffer from constant spiritual attacks from the enemy so that we may lose hope and give up our faith in God. In ignorance we allow our hearts to be grieved and our spirits embittered. All this seems oppressive, an injustice to us until we enter into the presence of God, until we get a revelation of the mysteries of God, until we see the entire picture and see the end from the beginning, only then does it make sense to us as shown to us in Psalm 73:18-20 and 22-27, ‘Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.’ You see in the end they will spend their eternal life suffering in hell with the fallen angels away from the presence of God; but for who are pure in heart; who are clothed in the righteousness of God through Christ, shall dwell in the presence of God eternally – A gift that God gave because His abounding grace through His Son Jesus, that we receive not because we deserve it but by our faith in Jesus and His completed work at the cross. Therefore, let us choose this – Psalm 73:28, ‘But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.’ – living as true believers of our LORD and saviour Jesus Christ.

Unless You are Born Again

2013-10-16T19:35:00.002+03:00

Genesis 6:5, ‘The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. After the fall of Adam (not from grace as is usually put) in the Garden of Eden when He rebelled against a life of obedience to God, his nature became sinful (rebellious, disobedience, selfish). It did not take long before the evil became prevalent in the world. Now sin is just a manifestation of the sinfulness of our nature but it is our nature that is sinful. For example, when is a tree a mango tree, is it when it produces fruit that it is called a mango tree or is it even before it produces fruit. Of course the tree is a mango tree even before it produces the mango fruit. The fruit is just the manifestation of the nature of the tree and so it is with the nature of man, you are sinful not because you sin but because that is your nature. Now the nature of man is not gained from the world after birth by exposure to sin (Genesis 8:21, ‘…every inclination of his heart (man) is evil from childhood.’) but it is inherent and inherited from our parents and has been passed down from the first man (Adam) made by God after he became sinful through his disobedience for he bore children after his fall. God is holy and righteous and hates sin and whoever is sinful and has sin in him cannot go before His presence for he will die. No amount of good deeds will change your nature from its sinfulness. The only way for you to be sin free is for your sinful nature to die and for a new nature, in the likeness of God to be born in you (John3:3, In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."). God in His infinite wisdom provided a way for you and I to be born again. He sent Jesus (John 3:14,15, ‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.’), so that by our faith in Him and His work at the cross, by the grace of God, you and I may enjoy the gift right standing before God and enjoy His presence for ever (Romans 5:17, ‘For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.) Because God loves us so, He did all this so that we might on our own volition choose life with Him, a life of joy, peace and hope (John 3:17, ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’). He loves you and He is calling out to you now, “Come my son, come my daughter.” “My peace I give to you.” “If you are weak and heavy laden, come and I will give you rest.” “I will never leave nor forsake you.” All you have to do is run to Him, don’t be afraid, just run to Him and like the father of the prodigal son, who had not only sinned terribly against his father and had squandered his inheritance on riotous living, He is looking for the horizon, waiting for you to come, and He will run to you with arms wide open, and shower you with his love. If you believe in this God that loves you so and you want to share your life with Him. If you believe in His Son and the sacrifice that He made for you at the cross. If you believe that your sins were atoned for by Christ at the cross. If you believe that He died and rose again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Just open your heart to Him, pour out your heart and ask Him to come into your life, surrender yourself to Him, make Him the LORD of your life. Believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is LORD and make the choice to call sin as God calls it, sin and to turn away from it from this day forward, then you will get right standing from God and begin the journey to an eternal relationship with a God that loves and cares for you, a God that will never leave nor forsake you, a God that has good plans for you and will always work all things (both the good and the bad) for your good. Praise be to His Holy Name.

Do You Really Know Your God

2013-09-05T16:34:00.000+03:00

Romans 8:29-33, ‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.’ Do you know who you are to and what you mean to God? Do you know the extent of the great love that God has for you, His thought about and for you? Before you were God knew you, before the beginning, He knew you, He set aside a destiny for you, that you would be conformed to the likeness of Christ. This means that the plan of the Father is that as Christ is you are; as He is the Father’s beloved son in whom you are well pleased, you are; as He is righteous knowing no sin – dead to sin even, you are. And God did not just know you, He called you out, sought you so that He might justify you, redeem you to Himself, make you right with Him. And He has set you apart as Holy before Him, that you may have the confidence of calling Him Abba, Father. If this God that loves you so much more than you could ever know, willing to send His Son as the price to bring you back to Him, willing to suffer for the punishment of separation from the Father for your sins on His body at the Cross. If this God is for you, then is there possibly anything that can come against you and succeed? Is there anything that He cannot give you, if he gave His Son for you? And now you should have the confidence that if it is He who chose you, sought you out and made you right with Himself, then no one can dare accuse you before Him? How great is that? I don’t know about you but am glad He is my God, am glad that He is for me, am glad that He loves me and has chosen me, am glad that He fights my battles for me. I gladly surrender my all to have His presence in my life, to have Him as my God for there is no one like Him. I have no one but You My God, you are greater and stronger, awesome in power and I give you my all as I submit to your will and receive your salvation, your healing, and your plans for my life. I love you My GOD, I love you.

Reward For Your Deeds

2013-05-12T09:00:00.000+03:00

Proverbs 15:3, 'The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.' The LORD is all seeing, keeping watch over your deeds, so if you are doing wrong, repent and He is merciful and faithful and He will forgive your iniquities and remember them no more. And if you are doing good, keep on doing good for He is faithful and just and will surely reward you. Do not be foolish to think that you can escape for those that have not called unto the name that can save, the name of Jesus, the Son of God, who came as a sacrificial lamb to redeem you, stand condemned. So repent, turn away from your sin and start doing good in faith and surely as He lives, He will reward you in this life and the one to come.