This Love!

This Love!

1 John 4:16 AMPC

[16] And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.

For everything that God does or puts in place, the devil tries to offer or put in place a close resemblance or alternative. Movies and music have presented love as this dreamy thing that is difficult to explain, leaves butterflies oin your stomach, and leaves your throat dry. We have been fed these unrealistic expectations around what love is, and it is now difficult to find the genuine article anymore. Movies refer to "making love' as if it were a laboratory and scientific experiment, and people have jumped from place to person in search of the real version of love. Unfortunately, you cannot find genuine things from a source that does not deal in the original. 

How can you seek genuine love from someone God described as a liar, and the father of all liars? How can anyone who deals in stealing, killing and destroying be able to offer you anything that can promote God's kind of life? This is the start point of our reflection today: whatever you need, make sure you go to the right source. You have to know where to go and who to follow, so you are not sold the fake. This is the confidence with which John speaks here: "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us". What boldness!

These words come from a place of clear conviction about who you are, whose you are, what you have been given, and where you are headed. God's love leaves you in no doubt as to its truth and sincerity. His words and actions have proven over the centuries that He loves me. Even before I was born, or knew that I needed help, the offer of eternal life was already made to me. Even when I was not sure I would surrender my life to Him, He still gave me His all anyway. He did not wait for me to deserve His sacrifice; He was going to lay down His life, regardless of my eventual response. That is love: the type that reaches out even when I pulled back or resisted. 

Of course, the one who will show this kind of love to other people must have had a personal encounter with that love. I cannot give what I do not have. This is not one of the things you can fake. God is the personification and expression of love, and He invites us all to come to Him for that empowerment to love the way He does. It is IN Him that I am able to love and live like Him. The verse enjoins me to dwell IN Him. It is not coming to Him only for what I can get, but seeking to know Him well enough that His imprint on me shines through and cannot be ignored. If I want to reflect Him, I have to be in Him. Does God know me as His own? God's time of favour is here.

Praise!

Praise!

Psalm 113:3 AMPC

[3] From the rising of the sun to the going down of it and from east to west, the name of the Lord is to be praised!

There is no acknowledgement of any name at the start of the chapter from where the verse above is taken, so we can take the view that it is not the usual suspects of David or the sons of Korah. However, the message in the entire chapter is clear and unambiguous, and I will do well to consider what the message is, how it applies to me, and how best I can take the lessons going forward and make them personal to me. In the face of trials, tough times, and tribulations, what is my default setting? What do I do when it seems that the whole world is against me? How do I move when it seems that everyone is moving against me? 

It is not when the tough times come that you get to decide how to respond. Capacity is usually built long before the tough times come. You submit yourself to the school of God's discipline, and He prepares you for the platform on which He will be glorified. Trust God on this: do not expect the devil to just sit back and watch from a distance. He will try all he can to distract, discourage, dishearten, and distress you. He wants you to take your eyes off the size and power of God and place them on the size of the problems that you are now facing. The great thing about God is that He leaves you in no doubt as to who is in charge. He always proves Himself as fully in control. 

What humbles you is that He will not force Himself on anyone, or go against the exercise of your freewill. The decision on the right response to all that God does must be taken with full knowledge of who He is, what He is and what He has given. When you consider the journey that has brought you here, as well as the amazing and awesome things that God has promised to all who surrender to Him, you know the future is nothing like the present or the past. Eyes have indeed not seen or ears heard what God has in store for those who fear and honour Him. I do not even have the faintest idea of the full scope of God's plan for me. 

It is by walking with Him on a daily basis that I can even begin to scratch the surface of all that He has in store for me. As the first verse of the chapter from where the verse above is taken lays out, the servants of the Lord, who know and serve Him, are commanded to praise Him. I note that identify with God helps put thls command in the right perspective. To praise God is to know who He is, what He has  done, but maybe more importantly, even for what He will not do. This is what makes God unique, and my best response is to react to Him the right way. I note that one day, either by freewill or compulsion, every knee will bow before Him. Do it now, from the heart. He deserves it. God’s time of favour is here  

Love, God's Version!

Love, God's Version!

John 13:34 AMPC

[34] I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.

It may be easy to tell people what to do, but it can be quite difficult to back up your words with behaviour that is consistent with what you say. This is where Jesus found Himself with His disciples at some point on His way to the cross. The very first verse in the chapter from where the verse above is taken says that Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. There was no doubt that Jesus loved the men who had left all and followed Him these three and a half years, but He took an opportunity to show them again what love meant. Like Jesus in those days, we also live in a world where talk is cheap. 

People have defined love by what they perceive to have received. Nobody talks about the fundamental foundation that must be laid in a man's heart that makes God's kind of love possible. We now have sexually immoral acts defined as 'making love'. We also place demands on broken people by blackmail, saying that if they truly loved you, they would act in a certain way. We forget that broken people must first receive and respond to God's kind of love before they can even know how to respond with the same kind of love they now have. God's love is not first about what we can get, but about who and what we have already received. 

There is really nothing we could have first given that could compensate God for what He had given us. In the story before us today, we find Jesus the Lord and Master, stoop down to wash His disciples' feet. It was a menial and thankless job, but Jesus used that alone time with His disciples to teach a lesson and to also lay down a new commandment. The first lesson is that leadership does not confer superiority. Leadership must provide many opportunities to serve other people. Serving others is also an expression of love, because it means that I am able to look outside my own immediate needs, and be a blessing to someone else. 

The verse above is not a mere suggestion, but a commandment. He does not just tell me what to do; He has shown me clearly what the new standard is. By His own life of sacrifice, He has made it clear what will be acceptable going forward. I have no excuse to give, because all over the Bible, there are several accounts of the actions and decisions of Jesus that reveal His heart of love. It is also instructive to note that the uncommitted majority was not there when this command was given. It is clear that you cannot command allegiance from someone whose heart you do not control. Does God own and hold your heart? Love, his way, can only come from a heart He contols. Is yours? Is mine? God's time of favour is here. 

This New Life!

This New Life!

Romans 6:5 AMPC

[5] For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God].

As you read the chapter before the one from where the verse above is taken, you get the clear impression that sin, though powerful, was not a match for the grace of God that brought salvation to man. Yes, man sinned and had fallen short of the glory of God, but the same God, in an act of mercy, provided a way of escape from sin, and a pathway to forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life with God . It did not matter how deep the sin was, how red the stain was, or how heavy the burden was; the blood of Jesus was sufficient to take away all the guilt and provide peace, joy and comfort that all is well. Tell me who or what else can guarantee such an outcome.

It is in the light of this understanding that the verse above can be understood. As the first verse of the chapter from where the verse above is taken from makes clear, the grace of God cannot be an excuse ro remain in sin. As we have come into this new phase of mercy where our sins are forgiven, our past cleansed and totally fogotten, and the future fully insured for all eternity, there is a risk that one becomes complacent and entitled, and stop depending on the same grace that brought you into this new life. As that first verse says, we cannot remain in sin in order that God's grace may cobtinue to multiply and overflow.  God forbid that I make a mess of something that I could not ewen earn in the first place. 

An understanding and appreciation of what God has given me should make me careful and intentional about my decisions, actions and reactions. What Jesus gave was His life; He gave up His glory and took on shame; not just any kind, but the type that led to mockery and disgrace. He was not the one who sinned yet God, in His righteousness, could not look at His own Son as He hung on the tree for my sin. This hatred of sin must make me both careful and deliberate about avoiding sin. The One who died on the cross took all the power and attraction of sin to the cross, nailed them all to the cross, wiped the slate clean with His blood, and invites us all to walk in the new life He offers. 

Of course, the audience defines the impact of the message. The right audience is the one to determine the right response. This is not a verse for general application, or for the uncommitted majority. If indeed I know who I am now as a result of what I have been given, it will definitely shape my response. The death of Jesus on the cross is an invitation for me to join Him in that sacrifice. If I identity with Him in that death, I have also died to the power of sin and have become a partaker of the divine power to live above the dictates and limits of sin. If I have died to sin, I can look forward to also sharing His resurrection. It will not happen any other way. Do you have that new life? Do I? God's time of favour is here. 

The Witness!

 The Witness!

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3:15 KJV

As we go through this earthly phase, there will be demands placed on our time, resources, possessions, and person. We will definitely have challenges, no matter how "spiritual" we think we are, or how influential we may think we are. The verse before today's extract talks about suffering for righteousness' sake, and emphasizes the fact that we should be glad in when these experiences come our way. Pray, how do you rejoice in the face of trials and difficulties? How do you maintain calm when everything around you is falling to pieces? How do you keep your equilibrium when the world and all its priorities are losing balance? Today's extract seeks to place in proper context how we can survive in the face of all that is happening all around us.

First of all, our inner man must be rightly connected to the right source for nourishment and sustenance. We have to hold God in the highest regard in our lives. If God is not held in high regard in my life, how can I expect other people to revere and respect him through my life? If I do not consider God's commands as important, and I do not pay attention to what He says at any time, how can I teach others to follow God? If my heart is not sanctified, and God cannot dwell in it, how would my life be a living witness for God? The state of my heart will determine the fullness of the impact that my life will make. No wonder the extract above emphasizes the need to sanctify the Lord God in my heart. Being Lord means He is all - Lord, Master, King. Nothing less than all 

Being the Lord God in my life means that His desires, commands, and instructions are my highest pursuits and ideals. Can that be said of me? Can that be said of you? I also note that the instruction to sanctify the Lord God in my heart is first and foremost a personal instruction: this is not a general call to everybody, but to those who seek a higher calling and a closer walk with God. This is not a call for general application, but be sure that the benefits of obeying that call will be felt all around the world. The men and women who changed the world first allowed God to change their hearts; after that, impacting the world became inevitable. It is when I have nailed the inner that I can manifest the outer. When God takes first place in my heart, everything else falls into place.

That is the other part of the extract above - being able to give an answer to every man that asks the reason for my hope. Is it not when I have hope that I can give you an explanation for that hope? Is it not when God is in charge that my life can truly impact? When a man holds God in the highest esteem, he will always have a message. John the Baptist was not attractive by the world's standards, but because he was willing to decrease so that God could increase in his life, people came from all over the country to listen to him. Interestingly, the King of Kings himself came to John for baptism. Do you have a message for the world? Has God given you something that is a solution to a problem in the world? I am not able to make a difference until God makes the difference in my life. I will not amount to much until God is all in all in me. God's time of favour is here.

Time!

Time!

Psalm 126:5 AMPC

[5] They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing.

The context to the verse above is closely related to the focus from yesterday's devotion where we looked at seedtime, harvest and the earthly and eternal implications of these principles. One thing that was made clear from yesterday's devotion, and is also implied from today's extract, is that God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows is what he will reap. Science has tried but it has not yet been able to change the seed to produce a different fruit. Whatever goes into the ground is what will change form, take the required nutrients, gp through a process that only God can fully explain, and then produce fruits in miltiple folds of what was planted. 

This is the first lesson for me: if I want to change the quality of the fruit, it must be done before the seed is put in the ground. The people of Israel found themselves in a place they could not have imagined. They were in a land flowing with milk and honey, as promised by God to Abraham, but carelessness and complacency had set in: they had forgotten the God that brought them this far and  they turned to other gods. Of course, in line with His word of warning to them, He punished their rebellion by handing them over to their enemies. As is the case with God, His mercy always comes through for us. He changed the story and restored them to the land, but the damage had already been done.

Like the chapter from where the verse above is taken starts from, the people knew it was God who could have turned things around the way they did. They cried to the Lord in their distress, and He heard them. As it was then, so is it now. Same God; same mercy and grace. It is in this light of mercy that we consider the message in the verse above. Why would anyone sow in tears? There could be many reasons, some of which are the sorrow that one feels for sin and seeks to pay the price that will secure freedom from its grip and influence. It could also be spiritual, where I engage in the practices of prayer, fellowship, faithfulness and obedience to all of God's instructions. 

We also know that there is precious seed being kept to be sown, so that there can be supply of food. You invest the seed in the hope of a bountiful harvest. All these images present situations that are hard and may cause pain in the immediate, but the benefits are actually worth it in the end. Yes, paying such a high price may be hard at that moment of demand, but as we know, God does not owe a man. If I am careful to obey when He leads, the promise is that joy will follow. In the hands of God and under His leadership, present suffering will lead to future joy. It does matter in whose hands, and under whose authority it is. Am I in His hands? God's time of favour is here. 

The Lord is Near!

The Lord is Near!

James 5:8 AMPC

[8] So you also must be patient. Establish your hearts [strengthen and confirm them in the final certainty], for the coming of the Lord is very near.

The letter of James covers different topics, but as the letter ends, James touches on an issue that has always remained relevant, no matter the dispensation or generation. This is an issue that relates to the return of Jesus, and this could either be at the rapture, when He returns suddenly to take all tbose who are eagerly waiting for Him, or at physical death, when the mortal gives way to the immortal, and there can be no reversal of the eternal destination for anyone. It is this experience that all of us must prepare for and expect, because it is a promise made by a God who does not lie. He has not yet been found to be a liar about these last days.

Am I also waiting for that day, or am I focused only on the here and now? I am charged to be patient, and I love the example that James used in the verse just before the one above. It is a picture of a farmer who has taken time to pay the price early by preparing the seed and the ground that will receive the seed. He knows that the seed will not germinate and start bearing fruit all on the same day, but he also knows that, with the right preparation, the supply of the right materials, and of course, heaven's breath, a bountiful harvest is guaranteed. The farmer knows that if you really need the output, you cannot skip any of the important inputs on that journey. 

So, the farmer prepares the ground, the seed, the understanding of the ideal season for planting, the aids to growth, the conducive environment for safety and development into maturity, and then he has to wait. He trusts that God wil send His rain on the ground at the appropriate time, and in the appropriate quantity, so that the seed has what it needs to grow properly. Even if the farmer sits down in front of the seed he has put in the ground, he will not see it sprout out of the ground. God is the One with the prerogative on the timing and manner of the process that will lead to fruit. This is why man can never play God, and how God reserves glory for Himself alone.

Fretting solves nothing, but only creates health issues. Worrying about output does not lead anywhere profitable. As the farmer has to wait for the results of his efforts, so must we also wait for the manifestation of all that we have been promised, if we stick in faith to all that God demands of us. Like the farmer, I cannot afford to keep my eye on the prize only and then fail to put in the work required to lead to that prize. I cannot keep ny entire focus on heaven only, and then forget how to live a life of impact down here. I place my heart in the hands of the One who knows how to preserve me to the end. Indeed, He will return one day. May He find us ready. God's time of favour is here.