Let Be!

Let Be!

Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!. Psalm 46:10 AMPC

To deeply appreciate the words of the verse above, it is good to consider the words of rhe verses just before the one above. The sons of Korah, who wrote this song, refer to God as their Refuge and Strength. That is first and foremost a personal relationship. God may mean many things to many people at different times, but there is a definite power behind an experience that is personal. If you have ever walked in the valley of the shadow of death, and seen God deliver you from certain death, that holds a special place in your heart. You can describe this God in a way that nobody else can. Like the sons of Korah here, do I know this God in any way? 

The song goes on to describe this God as a very present and well-proved help in trouble. How would the writers know this about God if they had never been in trouble? This personal knowledge was what girded their hearts when trouble came. Even when the earth changes and the mountains are shaken, the waters roar and foam, or the mountains tremble at the swelling and tumult of the waters, the hearts of the sons of Korah were set on God and His proven help and comfort. I note that they did not say that they would be kept from trouble; nowhere does God ever promise that His own will be free from trials and tough times. 

What God promises and which should make my heart glad, is His ever-abiding Presence. There is a lot of noise around. The economy of the world is in turmoil. Wars and rumours of wars have messed up budgets and defence plans of countries around the world, yet in the midst of all these, the writers know that God's hands control everything and He is in charge of everything. Nothing happens by accident or without His permission, and in furtherance of His will. He does not need my help to be God; He does not need me to agree that He is God before He can prove that He is. He is in total control, whether I agree or not. This makes me pause, so I can carefully consider what the right response to God should be. 

That right response is what the verse above makes clear. If I fret and make noise from today till next year, it will not change anything that God has planned and purposed to do. The verse above encourages us to LET BE and be still. Reflect on this: be still. It is in quiet reflection that the power of God is better appreciated. It is in quiet consideration of all that God is and does that I can know God deeply and better appreciate His person, plan, and power. He will br exalted among the nations and exalted in the earth. I can resist if I desire, or I can submit to Him and let Him have His way. Having known all this, what is your decision: submit or resist? God's time of favour is here. 

Train!

Train!

“Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 AMP

A definition of 'train' presents the following: 'to impart skills, knowledge, or specific behaviors to a person through practice and instruction'. Another one is 'to exercise, practice, or condition the body for a sport, competition, or strenuous activity'. Both are relevant for the verse that is our devotion for today. The definitions above speak of a desire and a destination. There is purpose, intention and direction. There is focus and pursuits. How do these relate? Behind a desire to train is the end goal. You know the value of that end-result; you know what it takes to achieve that end-result, and you put in the work and labour required to achieve that end-result. 

The verse above lays emphasis on 'training' a child. The focus of the training is at an age when you can still mold and influence. A child is still at a stage where s/he is teachable, and is generally open to ideas and discipline. I do believe it was not a mistake to focus on the child. Once habits are formed and character is set, it is hard to make changes. You aim for influence and impact early, so that pursuits and priorities reflect the right lessons. It must also be emphasised that the person seeking to train the child must also know what the right way is. As we always say, I cannot give what I do not have. I cannot force out of me what I have not spent time internalising in the first place. 

Pity a child with the wrong examples to emulate. Once the example is wrong, the end-product will also be wrong, and that is why one must equally be careful of who you allow to influence and train a child. Reflect on the words of the verse above: 'teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents'. It means that I must also walk that walk and model what I teach. Personal examples strengthen teaching. Another benefit laid out in the verse above is that you help the child to form a personal encounter with God too. It ls good to hand-hold for a while, but the greatest blessing a child can have is to be taught how to seek and find God for him/herself. 

When the foundation is set, the journey is worth it. The child is equipped for all that life may throw at him. The early training prepares the child for whatever life may bring as s/he grows. The pain of growing is necessary for the delight of stabilty and consistency later in life. The lessons are set in stone, and the child is not easily swayed. Solomon, who wrote almost all these proverbs, was taught by his father, David, to seek God for himself, but we also see that, at a point, Solomon had to live or die by the choices he made. Am I striving to impact the lives of all that God has given me? Am I faithful to the assignment that He has given me over my children? God's time of favour is here.

True Trust

True Trust!

Most blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. Jeremiah 17:7 AMPC

Let us consider the context of the verse above which are the words of God to Jeremiah the prophet. The Lord had secured a land flowing with milk and honey for His people, but the people had consistently and persistently rebelled against God's commandments. They had chosen to do wrong, abandoning the God who brought them out of the land of slavery into a land of abundance. It is hard to say with certainty why Israel rebelled against God, but there is a lot of distractions in comfort and convenience without careful boundaries. The people of Israel went as far as putting up poles and altars to strange gods, which could not do anything to help themselves, not to talk of doing the least of the things that God had done for His people. 

Before I point the finger at Israel, I must be careful to examine my own current pursuits and priorities. Does God hold absolute sway over all I am and do? Does He command total allegiance from me, or is there room for other alternatives? Is He Lord of all? As we know from God's Word, there is no middle ground, or half-measures; it is either He is Lord of all, or not Lord at all. He will not contest Lordship and authority with anyone or anything, not because of an identity crisis, or being unsure of who He is, but because He wants me to choose to submit to Him of my freewill. He wil not force Himself on anyone, or go against the exercise of my freewill. 

It is the exercise of that freewill that lies at the heart of the message in the verse above. As we know, God always lays out what you stand to gain in union with Him, and what you stand to lose away from Him. He leaves us in no doubt. Check out the opposite of the verse above: “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord". These are words directly from the mouth of God, not reported speech. How can the created sustain that which was also created? What help can that which is mortal and vulnerable render to that which is equally also mortal? 

That is why only the eternal and immortal can help and sustain the mortal. Only the Creator can help the created. If your trust is in the created, be sure that, like all created things without God, there is no hope for the future. For the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, the verse above calls such a man most blessed. This is a man whose heart is fixed on God, no matter what happens around him. His mind is msde up, and events around him are not strong enough to upset the stability inside him. Who is the source of my hope and confidence? Remember: God can only sustain that which He has ordained or originated. Is He your hope? God's time of favour is here. 

Do Good!

Do Good!

So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good [morally] to all people [not only being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God's family with you, the believers].” Galatians 6:10 AMPC

Paul introduced himself as an apostle, a special messenger, appointed; commissioned and sent out by and through Jesus Christ the Messiah and God the Father, and not from any special interest group. This distinction is very important, as your allegiance would usually define your pursuits and priorities. Paul was also writing a letter to the churches in Galatia, and he was seeking to entrench and embed the principles of faith over just labour or hard work in his audience. These were people who had been told all their lives that one had to earn whatever he got, and there were men who sought to enforce the principles of the law over and above those of faith in Christ. 

This message of salvation that only required faith from me is not always an easy one to accept, but the lesson from the life of Paul was that if God could save a man with such a past, then no one is beyond God's mercy. If God could pay such a high price for sin, it means that He hates sin. Anyone who will seek to walk with God must therefore have the same attitude to sin. His mercy does not tolerate iniquity; that is what His blood was shed on the cross to deal with. The blood is now the channel by which mortal man lives right and acceptably before the immortal God. It is by the blood that strength to live right and do good is provided. 

It is by the blood that people from all walks of life, irrespective of race, colour or gender are made acceptable to God. I have now become a family of believers, saved by grace, preserved by mercy, and headed in the same direction as other believers. We have become people sowing into an eternal future with God; with the clear understanding that whatever we sow is what we will reap. We are careful about our daily actions, reactions and decisions. If I sow in the field of my natural desires, I must expect to gather the harvest of death. In the same way, if I sow in the field of the Spirit, then I can expect to gather the harvest of eternal life.

It is this understanding that defines the verse above. I know who I am, whose I am, where I am headed, and what I have been planted to do. I take advantage of every occasion and opportunity to do good to all people. I am very careful to be a blessing to everyone who comes in contact with me, not from a place of compromise or complicity, but from a place of clarity of who I am in God and what He has asked me to do. The good I do must first be felt by those who are my family members: the same people I have been linked to by the blood of Jesus. Charity has to begin at home; home is where Jesus dwells. Are you part of the family of Jesus? God's time of favour is here. 

True Life!

True Life!

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV

Jesus had running battles with the Jewish leaders of His time. He constantly challenged them on the principles and practices that they sought to enforce, whilst also teaching about the principles and practices of God's kingdom and rules. Jesus used parables to teach the crowd about these principles, and the verse above is one of such parables, teaching about the good shepherd and the alternative, who is referred to as the thief. The first thing I note about the identity of both the good shepherd and the thief is that both are known. The one cannot pretend to be the other; both of them have their pursuits and priorities clearly stated in the parable.

The parable refers to the one who enters into the sheepfold by any other way except by the door is the thief. Why is this important? To enter by the door is to be known to the owner of the house and the owner of the sheep. The One who owns the sheep loves them, and has provided safety and security for the sheep, and appointed a shepherd over them. It is to this shepherd, known to the porter, that the door is opened. This shepherd has spent time with the sheep, to the point where the sheep have come to recognise his voice. This shepherd is able to call each sheep by name, lead them out, find pasture for them, and also keep them safe from both natural weather elements and natural predators. 

Of course, the thief does not even care to know anything about any sheep. The thief just needs quick satisfaction, so he does not mind killing the sheep to get something to eat. He does not care about the safety or well-being of the sheep because he has no investment in their welfare. He does not know the story behind any of the sheep, so he is not concerned if they perish or survive. The sheep know that the thief is a stranger, and they do not know the stranger, so they will not follow him. It has to be noted that the sheep is at the heart of the shepherd. The sheep is the one for whom the shepherd is willing to lay down his life. 

Tell me - what could be the motivation for a man to face a lion or a bear, for the sake of protecting sheep? That is what Jesus did for us too: like sheep, we could not keep out of trouble, so Jesus came and took on the weight of sin, so we could be free to follow and serve Him with all our hearts. His love for us knows no boundaries; He still paid the full price, with no guarantees that we would accept His gift. That is what makes Him worth it; even in His Omniscience, knowing that some will reject Him to the end, He still offers us all access to life that does not end. He gives abundant life; the thief only seeks to take and destroy life. Now that you know the options, who would you choose to follow? God's time of favour is here.

Right Example!

Right Example!

Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with you. Philippians 4:9 AMPC

This is a letter written by both Paul and his protege Timothy. The message in the verse above is first and foremost personal. Paul was the one who found the young man Timothy and mentored him, until the boy was able to stand and defend the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This boy was left in Ephesus to carry out the work of ministry, and he performed creditably well. The question for me is whether there are lives that are being mentored by my examples of consistency, faithfulness to service, and commitment to the standards of God's kingdom. It is never about well I speak, or the standard of outward performance; it is about inner conviction that drives outward impact.

Paul and his protege Timothy described themselves as bond servants of Christ Jesus. They knew that their physical conditions or limitations were not limits to what God could do through them. They understood that as long as they were submitted to the authority of the One who called and set them apart for His use, they would be fine. They did not allow phyiscal limitations impact the power and spread of the gospel of Christ. Like them, I am also called to be a witness to the truths of Jesus Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the grace and help that His Spirit now inspires and sustains in all who surrender totally to Him. He never leaves His own alone to fend for themselves. 

It is in that spirit that the verse above should be viewed. Paul and Timothy were writing to God's consecrated people Philippi, with the leaders also. As we saw in the example of Timothy who Paul mentored to spiritual authority, so did Paul encourage the entire church to hold on to the teachings of Jesus that Paul had taken time to lay out in that church. Paul could say quite authoritatively that his life was an example that could be emulated. He could say with confidence that his life was patterned after the standards of Jesus. Those ars high words coming from a mortal man too. We recall the example of Elijah, also a mortal man, who prayed, and God shut the heavens for three and a half years. 

Different generations and dispensations, but still the same God. He is still seeking men through whom He can shine forth and attract men to His kingdom. Paul charged his audience to practice what they had learned and received and heard and seen in him. Check out the consistency in His life: there was no difference in what he taught in public and what he practiced in private. There were no inconsistencies. That is the power of a consistent life. He could say with confidence that if his audience could model their way of living on his examples, they would be fine. That is deep; can God recommend me to His church as an example to emulate? God's time of favour is here.

Right Relationships!

Right Relationships!

“Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” James 5:16 AMPC

We recall that this letter written by James, who described himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, was addressed to the twelve tribes of Israel which were now scattered abroad among the Gentiles in the dispersion. Through trials and tough times due to their faith in Christ, these people were being persecuted. Rather than stay and maybe die, some chose to leave, but everywhere they went, they made sure to spread the good news of Jesus. That is the foundation of the verse above: men and women who chose ministry over convenience. Does this in any way describe me? Do I focus on the pain? 

Can I see God at work even in the pain? New lands, new neighbours, new church people too but the message was still the same old one: the blood of Jesus is the connecting thread that links us all together. The blood was shed for all of mankind, with no regard for race, colour or gender. We all come to the saving knowledge of Jesus, and we have all become one family under God. Whatever it is that was a distinguishing or special feature for anyone is now no longer as important as the single most important person who matters the most; that is Jesus - who is taking us into the land of promise. We are al one under the cover of the blood and headed for heaven. 

As people wtih such a connection, the verse above is quite relevant. If indeed I know that I am one with other people who are linked by blood, there must be no secrets. If I am under stress or struggling with an issue, I must be able to speak to a fellow traveller without the fear of shame or rumour mongering. If all of us are pulling in the same direction, it sure makes the load lighter and the burden easier to bear. The verse above gives you a window into the early church and what God's standard is for the people who are called by His name. We speak to each other freely; we pray for each other wholeheartedly; we encourage each other without pretence. That is what God desires. 

It is also instructive to note that the verse above ties this show of love to healing and restoration. You may wonder how. When there is bitterness or envy, picture the toll that will take on the spiritual health of the people. Then picture a people who relate in love, and see how quickly God moves in their midst. It does not mean that there will not be minor disagreements, but they know that God is not the author of confusion, and He will not move where He is not given room to show His power. Picture the power of the prayers of these united people. That is what draws men's attention to this God. Do I have the right relationship with other people? Does God know me as His own? God's time of favour is here.