His On-Going Project

Ephesians 2:10 KJV:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

This remains one of my favourite verses of Scripture. There's a lot of hope, faith, love and grace revealed in the few words written above. These verses were written so many years ago, yet God says we are his workmanship, an on-going project. This tells me that long before I was conceived, a plan and a purpose had been laid for me. Long before I even knew anything, God already knew me, and had a plan for my life. The cavear is that, it is only in Christ that those plans find true expression and fulfilment. Many of us have turned to people, possessions and position, seeking purpose in created things instead of seeking the Creator himself. No wonder then, that we are frustrated, defeated and lifeless. It is when Christ is involved that our lives are impactful and our purposes are fulfilled.
God had already ordained us to do good works long before we became good. I owe it to God first, and to the generation he has put me, to discover these good works I was created to do and to get busy doing them. Why this is important is evident in the lives of vert successful and wealthy people, who have amassed a lot of possessions, yet are very unhappy and are unfulfilled. They look happy to the world,but they are really unhappy and irritable. Wealth doesn't guarantee joy, only the true joy does and until he comes, man only struggles, he cannot achieve anything.
Let us therefore seek God today and discover the reason for our creation. Let us get busy at what God created us to do, because God's rewards are not tied to activity but to fulfilling purpose.
Rejoice in this new month as you find real joy at what God has created you to do. His time of favour is here.

Servants of God....

I Peter 2:15-16 NKJV:
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

If the verses before these ones quoted above are read, a dilemma comes up: do I obey every authority, Godly or otherwise? Can I make a choice as to which kind of authority to obey? If I know that my rulers aren't Godly, can I, out of conscience's sake, refuse to submit to them, claiming that I submit to a higher authority? These are questions that have agitated the minds of many of us, especially in a community where authority is godless, directionless and immoral. Still God speaks on this and says: Submit to all authority. God's Word makes an assertion in the verses beford these ones above that all authorites are instituted by Him. What this means is that nobody rises to authority or kingship without God's knowledge and permission. Ours is to submit to their authority.
Submission, however is not docility or complicity in permitting evil to reign unchallenged. Evil is to be resisted in any guise or form or in any personality in which it is seen. God expects that as his ambassadors, we promote his grace, power, love and mercy to everyone. We do not fold our hands and watch evil thrive; the bit we can do, we do, trusting God that He will take care of us.
God has called us to be free; not free from authority, but free from the bondage of the devil; not free from obeying other authorities, but free to obey all within the bounds of God's law, trusting God that as we do this, our lives will reflect God's power and will speak to others.
It is amazing how much of the standards of God's Word people know. They cannot and will not obey God, but they surely will hold any 'Christian' accountable to his confession. If you claim you know Christ, let your conversation, company and conduct show that you are of a different stock.
Slaves don't have a choice in the instructions they obey. They don't analyse the boss's instructions and choose the ones to obey. If we are slaves or bondservants of God then, according to these verses, then we do not choose what to do; we do as we have been told. Only then can the Master be glad with our service and our lives' light can shine for the entire world to see.
May God find us worthy of being his light and life in this dark, dying world. May our lives be examples of obedience and grace; lives that know when to speak and act and when not to say or do anything. May God be continually glorified in us, as we submit to authorities instituted by Him. His time of favour has come.

For Good......

Romans 8:28 GNB:
We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

There is something amazing about this verse anytime I read it. It is the quiet confidence of someone who has tried a thing and has found that thing to be true, not just once, but everytime. For a statement of assurance to find its way into the Bible, it must have been proven beyond all kinds of doubt.
This writer starts here by saying 'we know'. How do you know and become convinced of something? It is through your direct experience of that thing. It is not the same as hearing someone else's testimony; it is more about sharing your own. There's a lesson to be learnt in every school of storms, there's a virtue to be cultivated in every situation God allows and there's an eternal destination for every journey God brings your way. My duty, responsibility and joy is in agreeing with God as he takes me through these experiences so that I can be everything he wants me to be and his purpose, which is the fundamental reason why all these experiences came in the first place, can be fulfilled.
One truth must be hammered home here: with God, nothing is by chance or accident. Everything he brings or allows is to build you up in areas you will be tested in the future. When you learn the lessons well, you enjoy the benefits of that class and graduate into the next class. God's true children never graduate from his school because he is constantly molding them into the blessinggs he wants them to be.
As you journey through life therefore, remember that God's plans and purposes for you are eternal. His plans are always good, the execution of his plans are always flawless. It is our human reactions to these plans of God that make the difference in the eventual results our lives produce.
Relax in God, knowing no accident that take place where your life is concerned. No sudden and unexpected situation can arise that can take God bh suprise. He's in full control, working behind the scenes to ensure that all ends well.
Rejoice, for his time of favour is here.

Doing Good Always....

1 Thessalonians 5:15 GNB:
See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people.

In a society where justice is defined as tit-for-tat, in a world system that applauds getting even or repaying someone else in his/her own coin, in an environment that celebrates evil, rewards sin and believes in reciprocal love, today's verse needs to be brought home in a real way again.
Our society does not recognise good for the sake of good; we do good to people who have been good to us. We greet people who greet us and love those who love us. We keep a tight circle of those who deserve our affection and resist those who seek to break into that tight circle. Our love has become like the air freshner dispenser, expelling freshness only when pressed and punched, and just wasting the amazing contents if nobody handles it. God never intended that what he deposited in us would be used for those who are 'likable or lovable'; he never intended that his love in our hearts will be dispensed on a reciprocal basis. His intention was that, just as he had loved us unconditionally and unequivocally, we also will extend the same love, the same affection and the same favour to others, afterall, when he died for us, nobody deserved it. We weren't even aware of the great sacrifices he made or the pains he bore, but he did it for us all the same. That is love in action.
That is the standard. Love is not conditional, love is not dependent on a reciprocal feeling. Love is simply because love is, not because it has received the same love in return.
May God teach us to love just as he does,so that our lives can enjoy his favour and make the impact we were created to make. His time of favour is here.

Nothing.....

Ecclesiastes 5:15 GNB:
We leave this world just as we entered it — with nothing. In spite of all our work there is nothing we can take with us.

Quite a sobering thought. If only we all would read this and understand its depth, clarity and relevance, we would re-arrange our priorities and our pursuits.
This account was written by the richest man of his generation. I'm not sure that there's any man who would be as rich as he was in our generation today. He had everything he desired, he denied his eyes and appetite nothing. He had a harem of a thousand women, he was a king. Yet, in his saner moments, he thought about his life and coined these eternal words: Vanity upon vanity, all is vanity.
The world measures success by numbers: amount of cash in bank accounts, number of cars and houses and number of people who depend and hang on your every word. The world has no other measuring guage for success because it understands no other way. The Word however measures success on a different foundation: the decision of what you do with Christ. Once you have decided right, then the numbers can make sense. The numbers, the achievements, the acquisitions cannot guarantee you a place in heaven, only that singular decision for Christ is the ONE thing that will matter eventually.
Let's get the priority right: Christ before the contents, not the other way round. We pursue content and physical, numerical things, under the false assumption that they will give us the peace and contentment that we need. But the contentment that Christ brings is more stable and eternal. The world's peace is always temporary and superficial, the peace Christ brings will always outlast this world. 
Get the priorities right today. Let yout heart seek after the things that matter. His peace is available. His time of favour is here.

Do not Fear

Isaiah 41:10 GNB:
Do not be afraid — I am with you! I am your God — let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.

It is no longer news that we live in fearful times. Things are happening all around us that are threatening the stability inside us. We hear of wars and battles, we witness murders and assasinations, some of us have been victims of armed robbery, maybe rape, maybe worse. Things are not getting any better socially, yet God is saying this fine morning: Do not Fear.
Do you ever wonder atimes if God sees the same things that you see? Do you ever ask yourself if he really knows what he's talking about, considering all that is happening to you?  Does he care? Can he really help? Why have things persisted like this, if indeed there's a God? Questions, Questions, and more questions.
In the midst of these uncertainties, God's hand is very visible. If only we know the things God does on our behalf, we will stop complaining about the things we see and praise God for who he is and what he is doing in our lives. Many times, our tears stop us from appreciating the mighty acts of God and his miracles in our lives but if we only looked with God's eyes of faith, we will see that he hax been on our side all the way, working out his purpose in our lives.
If God tells me not to fear, it is because he knows that a heart without God cannot withstand the pressure of the world's issues. If God says do not be afraid, it is because he knows that the world will always give its own reason to fear. This simply means that God's presence and fear do not mix; his grace gives no room for fear. The next time the devil comes with his threats, just check the contents of your heart. If God is really living there, relax; he's got it under control. But if God is absent, then you really have everything to fear. God is not man that cannot see beyond his nose, he's not man who can't guarantee his own safety, not to talk of another man's safety. He's thee owner and ruler of everything,the God who can pay tax with money from a fish's mouth, and can change the natural order of things like making an iron axe-head float, for the sake of his children. He is the one making the promises. Next time fear comes, go to the One whose words alone can calm the raging seas. Imagine what will happen if he stretched out his hand to save? Who can change it? That person hasn't been born yet. Relax in God,you are in the safest place any man can be. His time of favour is here.

Living like Christ

Philippians 2:3-4 GNB:
Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble towards one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own.

The verses above are not for the fainthearted or for those who are unsure of their stand in Christ. The call we have received is one that calls for a honest self-evaluation and a honest feedback mechanism which will tell us if we really are ready for the sacrifices, trials, pain and pleasure that our walk with Christ will bring.
The world runs on a different standard. The people of the world need to be seen as the movers, the doers, the shakers and the go-getters. People here scheme each other out, even eliminate opposition by all means necessary just to get ahead, seeking to be seen as benefactors so they can enjoy the 'glory' that comes with human recognition. Men now attach a price to the good they are asked to do, seeking temporary, human applause at the expense of the recompense of Him who is the true reward of all who diligently seek him.
The world needs to be seen, so it has to be busy. It doesn't matter the spirit or intention with which that thing is done, all that matters is the recognition and the feel-good factor that the world gives when it seeks to appreciate its own.
God runs by a different standard. His greatest works have been done by men that most of us cannot remember but which heaven celebrates. Paul was particular about this when he said in 1 Corinthians 3:6 GNB: I sowed the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. Neither Paul nor Apollos could boast about the achievement, both were only vessels used to start what God has already purposed. A very honest understanding of our limitation and humanity will help us know our place and appreciate the workings of God's power in our lives.
God seeks to do great things in our lives and through our lives but the issue of our humanity must be addressed. Can God trust me enough not to seek to appropriate the glory due him to myself? Can I put other peoples' interests ahead of mine? Can i deny myself my 'rights' so that the rights of the other man can be upheld? Can God trust me with his kingdom's resources? These are questions that we must answer before seeking out these resources. The dangers of mismanaging heaven's resources are fatal and eternal.
May I be found trustworthy to be entrusted with what God is doing in my generation. May my heart be free from pride and greed, so that God may have his way in me and use me for his glory. I rejoice, because his season of favour is here.

He's For Me

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Indeed, if you have God on your side, it does not matter the quality or quantity of the opposition against you. If God is for you,if you have the creative, constructive force of the Director of the Universe on your side, then everything He allows will always work well.
That is the difficult part to accept. You have prayed over a situation and it appears as if there's no way out. You have cried over the issue but it just persists. Check your backing, your inspiration and your guide. Who's backing you up? Who is inspiring your actions and thoughts? Who is the guide of all you do? If God truly is the One and Only one that you know and obey, rest assured that you are backed up by the strongest person you will ever know. His plans never fail and his Word always comes to pass.
Rest from your labour today and rest in God. He will perfect all that concerns you. His time of favour is here.

In His Presence....

Psalms 84:10 NKJV:
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

I wish we all could experience the deep, mysterious and amazing realities that the presence of God brings. I also believe that the reason why many of us don't understand the beauty and grace that come from the Presence is because we have not experienced it. Nothing beats a personal experience. Daniel would never again need fear any king or anything after the experience of the lions' den. The three Hebrew men would have their faith in God strengthened after passing through the fire. Everything that God's Presence brings our way is configured to work out His best in us and to ensure that we are fully prepared for the blessings he's bringing our way.
No wonder the Psalmist, after experiencing God's presence, couldn't think of a better place to be. No wonder that there was no function or duty that was too menial or 'dirty' for him to do,as long as God's Presence was a reality in His life. No wonder that he would prefer to live in God's house forever than to enjoy the temporal and inconsistent benefits of wickedness and sin.
What are our priorities? What are our pursuits? What is our motivation? Let God's life and love, and a deep desire for service to Him be our constant life's pursuits. The benefits are much more than what the temporal and evil consequences of sin would give you. His time of favour is here.

His Spirit's Power

II Timothy 1:7 NKJV:
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

As was highlighted yesterday, God's way of life, his power and his nature are understood through the help of His Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that is God's guarantee of our eternal destination. If then the Spirit of God is the one and key component of our successful journey on earth, we must seek Him, find him and make our hearts a habitable place for Him.
Today's passage again talks about the influence of the Holy Spirit. He is God's gift to as many as have received Christ and his presence comes with some inherent packages. When he comes, he awakens the fruit of true love in us. We stop trying to get people to be what God alone can be for us. We stop striving by our own strength to accomplish what only His presence can accomplish. When he comes, he gives us power to do what we ourselves know we couldn't have done by ourselves. He also gives us a sound mind, one that is totally yielded and dependent and thirsty for God. These are just a few of the things that the Holy Spirit's presence will accomplish in our lives.
This calls for a honest, insightful examination of our lives. Does the Spirit of God rule our hearts or have we compartmentalized our lives, giving God some areas but retaining control over the others? Are we Christians who still exercise fear over the issues of life, fretting over the details God has promised to take care of. Are we still striving in our strength, wisdom and human ability, trying to accomplish by our power, what God himself has said can only be accomplished by His Spirit?
These are questions we need to ask ourselves and get honest answers to. We need to check the contents of our hearts and be sure that the presence of God is fully in control there. Otherwise, we are setting ourselves up for a lifetime of fear, regrets and despair. The world has issues that the world itself has no answers to. Only the Creator himself, whose words formed and established the earth, can answer life's riddles and bring us to his pre-determined good end.
Rejoice in the Spirit's power and enablement, because his time of favour is here.

Continuity

Colossians 2:6-7 NIV:
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

There is a need to understand exactly what the journey into eternal life is all about. Many things have been said and preached but the only standard must be what God himself has said in His Word. There are some basic truths revealed in the verses quoted above that will help our walk as Christians and which will give meaning to all our experiences as we journey into eternal life.
First and foremost, the owner of eternity has specified the way: the receiving of Christ Jesus as Lord. He has not promoted any other way, action, thought or reasoning; the way is through Jesus Christ. We all struggle to add meaning and value through our lives; we seek to do things, say things or be something thag qualifies us for eternity but we can never be truly redeemed until we have identified with the Redeemer himself. He alone is the way to God, and the seal of our redemption when this present life ends.
Secondly, we must grow in Him. No parent is pleased: if a child remains the same size, intellect and mentality all through his/her growing years. It is the same with God. When he has called us, we owe it to Him to grow in our knowledge, understanding and dependence of and on Him. We cannot remain babes forever, constantly being fed and never being dependable or trustworthy. We must take root in Him first before we can ever bear fruit. No tree bears fruit first before it takes root. It is the depth of the roots that determine the quality of the fruits. How deep are your roots then? Can the principles and priorities of your life stand the test of time? Do they find inspiration from the true vine or are they just from a heart that is unprincipled, unanchored and directionless?
Also, there is a need for the right attitude and content. Thankfulness and gratitude are virtues no man can fake. If you have it, it will show in your life's output. We find it convenient when all is well, but we struggle with gratitude when all looks rough. Our understanding of who we are and to whom we belong will go a long way in helping us understand the importance of a grateful heart.
May our lives be a worthy reflection and example of  the grace of God. May his life be our reality and his home our eternal dwelling. His time of favour is here.

Love....like God

1 John 3:18 NIV:
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Love is probably one of the most misunderstood and misapplied word in the English diction today. We see its variants and versions on display in various times and places; we see its 'expression' in various forms too, but in the real sense, what exactly is love?
I believe that one of God's revelations to man is his desire for us to understand love from his own perspective. Love is so deep and so comprehensive thst you can never experience its true version outside of its source and inspiration. We call some of the things we see around us 'love', but in the real sense, they are infatuations, lusts, inordinate desires and emotional attachments. Whatever does not seek to bring out the best of God in you, whatever seeks to belittle your value, making you dependent on other people's opinions of you, whatever seeks to make you an emotional slave to someone else can never be defined as love as God is not any of those things. God is a liberator, someone whose love sets our hearts free to also love other people the way we are loved also. God's love is a refuge and a source of strength, giving you a place of security even when the one you seek to show love to hates you in return. That is the fundamentals of God's love: it is not dependent on a reciprocal gesture from the other person. I don't love you simply because you also love me in return; I love you simply because the love of God has been set in my own heart. That is true love.
How much of that true love do we have? Can I overlook faults and love others? Can I consistently show love to people who despise me? Can I keep loving others when all I get is hatred in return? Yes you can, as long as your heart is occupied by the personality of true love, which is God himself.
Nothing else can prove your heart's contents as much as the actions of your life. Let your actions and motives reflect the quiet confidence that only the love of God can produce. His time of favour is here.

The Lord Is......Everything

Psalm 18:1-2 NIV:
I love you, Lord , my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

You would wonder from the verses quoted above just who and what exactly God is.  So many attributes, so many descriptive superlatives. So many appreciative words. We read these words and we quote them back to God, claiming the promises contained in them. While that is the ideal way to go, have you ever wondered at the experiences, circumstances and inspiration that birthed the words in the passage above? Do we pause to read between the lines, seeking to understand where the writer is coming from, so we can learn from his life?
David was called 'a man after God's heart'. You would probably think he had it all swell and good throughout his entire life. Here was a young lad of 17 years, already familiar with death, fighting off lions and bears from his father's sheep, while his brothers were busy, albeit ineffectively,  in the king's court. Nothing births inspiration like solitude. Here was a young man, thrust into the limelight at a young age, yet constantly reminding us through his words that God is the ultimate and the most important factor in a man's life. Here he was, being pursued by the state as a wanted man by the king himself, yet he was humble enough to respect God's anointing in a man's life by refusing to kill the king in his sleep when he had both motive and oppourtunity, afterall, he was fighting for his life. Add to this a life of polygamy and its consequences, and you would wonder just how much of God this man really had time for.
Here was a man who became king on the strength of God's backing,yet had to kill one of his soldiers because he wanted to keep his adultery with her secret. So much innocent blood was shed as a consequence of this action that God could not bear to have him build a temple for him, but yet, God called him a man after his own heart. He enjoyed so much favour from God that even Saul didn't enjoy. He was punished severely for his wrongdoings, but David never lost his fear and reverence for God and he never stopped praising, worshipping,glorifying and extolling the virtues of God.
How maany virtues and attributes of God did David mention here? These were his personal dealings from God and they were things he could point to as God's ways of showing him his might, power and love.
Davod could call God these names because he had had a personal encounter on various levels with God on these attributes. What can you call God? What can you point to as milestones in your life that point to God's gracious dealings with you? Remember, it isn't so much about what you can do to deserve God's mercy; it is about how much of God's grace you realise is available for you. David was not the best of men, but that didn't matter to God. He wasn't looking for perfect men to love, he was looking for men who he could love into perfection. He wasn't looking for self-righteous, pompous men, who probably think they deserve the mercy of God, but for repentant sinners he could impart his righteousness into.
Don't ever think you could stake a claim to God's grace and goodies on your own terms. You aren't good enough by your own standards, but you are just perfect for God's grace and mercy.
He seeks to show himself strong in your life. He seeks to bring all his words to pass in your life. Let him have his way, let him prove himself mighty as I walk with him, allowing him to use my life as a spectacle for the world to see. His time of favour is here.

Loving God

Mark 12:28, 30-31 NIV

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”   Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”

There's a call today to a higher service, a better life and a nobler existence. God is calling us to come experience his own life, his own nature and personality. This is the way of love.
If there's a word that has been misunderstood and mis-applied the most today, I think it is the word 'love'. We use it to deceive and to justify lust and infatuation, we apply it for acts of se , even outside marraige, calling it 'making love'. It appears as if it has lost its soul and essence but one fumdamental fact remains: the existence of the fake and the abnormal only goes to underline the potency and efficacy of the original, afterall, nobody makes an imitation of the fake, we only see the imitation of an original product. So is it with love itself.
So many versions and variants exist but God is showing us the original. Its universality is shown by the fact that these verses had earlier been quoted in Deuteronomy 6. This goes to show the eternal nature of love and goes to show that you can never defind love outside of God or explain God without talking about his nature of love. You can't have God without true love and you can't experience true love outsidde of God. Unfortunately, because love is an essential human need, the devil throws up all sorts of variants that look like the real thing. People come to us,looking like the real deal, but they are pretenders, without God and without love. We get deceived because we don't know God or understand his nature. We settle for what is available because we have not experienced the ideal.
Today's word shows us a truth: you can only truly live when you love, and you can only truly love when you know and love God. His life and love in you makes it possible for you to adequately represent him on earth, loving others exactly as he loves and preaching hi power and nature to the entire world. No wonder the word for today states it in that order: love for God first, then the ability to love others in birthed in you. You can't love others until you have experienced the love of God.
Seek his love today. Seek to know God so you can fully comprehend what it means to truly love and truly live. His time of favour is here.

True Strength

Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV:
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;   but those who hope in the Lord  will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

It has been said several times that the best time to serve God is when yoy are young. The Bible testifies to that in part when it says that the glory of the youth is their strength. When you are looking for both virtues and vices in abundant supply, look no further than the youths. They constitute the bulk of the employable workforce, they are the matchsticks you need to start a mass movement, and they are the raw materials for an active revolution and rebellion. The age of the youth is a delicate one: most believe that at this age, there's practically nothing you wish to do that you cannot accomplish.
Let me introduce you to a verse that nullifies that thought: there are circumstances that strength cannot unravel; there are knotty issues that human wisdom and guike cannot resolve; there are situations that will test the foundation of your faith and principles which have nothing to do with the number of your days or with the amount of white hair that you have. It is in these situations that the verses above make sense.
These verses encourage us to look beyond our physical, emotional and physiological attributes and strengths and look to the One who can dispense with all our strengths just to prove a point.  He is the One who can use simple, weak things to silence the strong, or use foolish things to shame the wise. He is the One who paid his tax with money found in the mouth of a fish and the one who once made an iron axe-head float on water. There is no law of science that would make man walk on water but there's no earthly law also that can explain or prevent the operation of heavenly laws. There's no merit or qualifications when it comes to entitlement of God's endowments. He gives it as he pleases and as we walk with him, our own weaknesses become evident and our need for His help becomes obvious.
We must never think that we can help ourselves in any way. There's nothing in us that can take us where God intends. It is only God who can bring us to the place he's prepared for us with the resources he alone has. As we wait on him,  his strength becomes ours and we are empowered to do great things for him. Outside of him, we are nothing, no matter what the world thinks we have.
Looking for strength, wisdom, favour or guidance? Find God, find all you need. His time of favour is here.

His Example...Our Command

1 Peter 2:21, 24 NIV:
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.... “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Have you ever sat down to consider the full weight, expectation and demand of the call of Christ? Have we ever once asked ourselves if we fully comprehend just why He called us and if we are indeed walking in line with His expectations for our lives? Pertinent questions, and these require honest answers.
First of all, we must strike a balance between those who believe that as Christians, God doesn't want us to suffer and those that preach that the God who calls us is a God of prosperity. Both aren't wrong but both aren't fully correct either, as long as they hold on to one thought without having regard to the flip side. Today's passage supports the position of each side, while highlighting the possibility and the practicability of the other.
Suffering is an integral part of the Christian walk. This is what most of us don't want to hear. What Christ has done is to take away the just punishment for our sins; he's taken our place and bore our punishment. What he now expects is that we live as redeemed and forgiven children, who appreciate a father's sacrifice and can extend that same love to others. When God demands silence when we are abused, when he demands love in the midst of hatred, when he commands that we pray for those who despitefully use us, I wonder how else you can define suffering. When God makes a demand on life itself for the sake of the gospel, what greater suffering for Christ can be more than that? We have closed our ears to these truths and told ourselves that as Christians, suffering is not our portion, but contrast this with the apostles of  Acts 5:41 NIV:
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. These are the people whose inspired words we conveniently quote when they favour us, but we also convenienty forget that it was God's dealings with them that made them the finished product we read about today. Suffering for Christ needs to be separated from the sufferings of a sinful, sin-sick world. The world is in the grip of the devil and he has no good to share, only evil, so for as long as we remain on earth, some experiences are inevitable.
People, God cannot trust an untested vessel. Do you use anything or anybody for a big project without first testing the quality and staying power of that thing or person?  Do you entrust finances into the hands of a man who is yet to be found faithful in daily petty cash responsibilities? Can God entrust eternal, kingdom affairs into the hands of a man he cannot trust, a man he's not sure will stand up to truth when the demands of this world come calling? Those are the questions you should ask when next someone preaches a message of prosperity without responsibity or success without a price.
On the other side also, there is evidence to show that God wants his children to be responsibly successful. What greater message can be preached when the people of God are physically financially and spiritually sound, dictating the pace of the economy and making God's will and purpose prosper in the earth? The question is: why aren't there many of these people? I think this has been answered. Wealth and prosperity do not mix well with an untested, immature Christian. God wants to have eternally-minded children and whatever he gives us that will distract us from that eternal goal will be kept from us for our own good. We keep asking God for prosperity and success, while we run away from the qualifying tests and experiences that will reveal the quality of our convictions and our staying-power.
Can God trust us now with eternal riches or do we still need to go back to his school and learn endurance? Are we ready for the responsibilities and dangers of prosperity? Have we been tested enough to be trusted with true, Godly wealth?
The responses are ours to truthfully consider. As you evaluate your present circumstances, you can honestly know if you are ready for God's next class. He is faithful, ready and willing to bless me, but am I ready, tested and trusted enough for the responsibilty of Godly treasures? There are no blessings without conditions and no wealth without a testing-time and  responsibilities. Can God trust me with all these? His time of favour is here.

Your Part... God's Part

Hebrews 12:14 NIV:
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Our human nature is subject to a variety of influences. As we grow physically, mentally and emotionally, so many engaging influences pattern our thinking, reasoning and acting. The kind of parents we had, the kind of friends we kept, the kind of habits we picked along the way, the quality of our decisions and the present-day realities around us all go towards forming and shaping what we become in our journey towards God's perfection.
There's however a note of caution here: we have a part to play in ensuring that we walk and work with God to bring about his eternal purposes for us. We have to align ourselves with God so that everything he has planned for us becomes a reality in our lives. God always plays his own part and it is as we key into his plans that we truly live his life.
What is our own part? As the verse says, we must MAKE EVERY EFFORT to live in peace with ALL men. We are enjoined to ensure that as far as it depends on us, there will be no malice or bitterness. God does not ask from us the impossible; he only asks us to do that which his grace has already made possible. His command to live in peace does not single out any class of men. It says ALL men, no matter how unlikeable or disagreeable they are, or how nasty they have been to you. God's love makes no distinction; our love for others must be patterned after God's example.
His holiness is mentioned in the same sentence as his command to live in peace. His holiness therefore, is his nature, as is his love, and anyone who claims to have God must have his nature of love and his nature of holiness. It even becomes more important, considering the end of the verse above. No one sees God without being holy. It is a statement of fact, backed up by evidence of God's unbreakable Word.
We must therefore seek his nature and his power, so we can live out his life on his own terms and be all that he has created us to be. Only then can we truly make impact in the workd he has placed us in. Rejoice in his holiness, for his time of favour is here.

God's Ways....

Psalm 32:8 NIV:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

God is interested in the growth and development of his children. He wants us to move from one level of maturity to the other as we move closer to the end of our earthly journey. As we all know, for every journey, there's a start point, there are stops and signs all along the way, helping and guiding us to the destination already agreed. These signs and stops are his instructions highlighted in today's passage.
God has promised to instruct us. Watch the choice of words. God doesn't demand obedience or command respect. It is our duty and responsibility to give God all these but God will never force these things down our throats. Our race must be one we enter and submit to willingly. He's a mighty God, capable of mighty things, as seen in the might and complexities of His creation, yet he gives ordinary, fickle man the power to decide if he will heed instruction. That passes huge responsibilities to us.
Watch the words above again. It says: I will teach you IN the way you should go. There is a way to go and instructions to go with the way. God never leaves us with clear directions as to what he wants from us. His voice is always speaking: through the Word, his creation, circumstances around us, all point to thee fact that God never leaves us without instruction. Are we too busy to pause and hear his instructions?
He also says he will counsel us with his loving eyes upon us. God's counsel is done with his love as the motivation. Nothing he does is in vain or out of hatred for us, but he works from the end of his purpose to the point where we are now. He seeks to take us from where we are to where he has already pre-destined us to end up. The big lesson therefore is: no matter what it looks like now, God is at work. No matter how hard it looks now, God's plan for my life cannot fail. His purposes are eternal, therefore my life must be lived with eternity in view.
Let God have his way and let his purpose be my primary pursuit. His will is undeniable and is the best for my life. As I seek his will daily, I know that which he has already laid down for my life will be my experience. I rejoice, because his time of favour is here.

Who you are....where you stand

Colossians 2:9-10 NIV:
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

The question of identity is fundamental to our acquisition, inheritance and entitlement. Who we are and whose we are determines greatly, the things we can lay claim to. By the standards of the world alone, there are some places the child of a very rich man will have some leverage while in some areas, the child of a principled, yet maybe not-too-rich a man will stand a better chance at getting an entitlement,simply because of a father's legacy. If this rules work in the physical realm, which is just a picture of the Spiritual, how much more true will this be when it comes to our relationship and standing with God?
As the verses above specify, if you are searching for the basis of your identity, or you are not sure of where you stand or what you are entitled to, read the passage again. So many things come to light here: Christ is the full, complete embodiment of the nature, strength, power and personality of God. If you want to know who God is, get to know who Christ is. If you want to know what you get when you know Christ, study his life when he had OBEYED everything his father sent him to the earth to do. If you want to know if there's anything lacking in your life and nature, check it in the light and revelation of the life of Christ.
What this simply means is that just as Christ found his own passion and fulfilment in his father, so also we cannot find true fulfilment outside the One who created us. The creator is the giver of purpose and the One who works to bring destiny to accomplishment and nobody can truly live until his life is bound up in the hands of the Creator. As long as we run in our strength and wisdom, pushing God to thee background, claiming we are too busy for him, the more reckless and directionless our lives will continue to be. The more we are in control of our lives, the more incomplete our lives will be.
We need to know who we really are, and we can never be anything or amount to much outside the person and power of Christ himself. If the fulness of God dwells in Christ, only in Christ then can I find the fulness of God. Whatever Christ is, I am, and whatever he is entitled to by virtue of his position, I am also entitled to it. I am made complete, not by being the best graduate in my field, or by making loads of money from my business, but by having him in my life. Wealth, power, position and possessions are no guarantees of heaven; only a personal, living, breathing relationship with Christ will give you that guarantee.
I have been made cmplete in him. My life can only make sense and have purpose and direction in him. All the fruits of my life and the works of my hand can only find appropriate rewards when they are produced in the love that only a knowledge of Christ can produce. Nothing else will work. Nothing outside of Christ will make sense or be found complete.
Locate yourself inside Christ; he's the answer to all of life's questions. Let him be the answer to yours as you accept him. His time of favour is here.

He's Coming....

James 5:7-8 NIV

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

There's a disease going on around now: the NOW syndrome. We want to be successful NOW, we want to be prosperous NOW, we want everything NOW. We now find suddenly successful people who have not matured enough to handle the pressure money, success,fame, position or power bring. We find women who are distracted by these things seeking to get a part of the wealth and success, doing anything imaginable, even selling the body that doesn't belong to them in the first place, just to get a bit of the action. No wonder our world is directionless, and in the grip of a grab-it-now culture; a culture that celebrates acquiring things without really asking how these things are obtained.
Today's quote seeks to get our minds in the right direction. The seed is one of the most mysterious of God's creation. It is small, some almost insignificant and minute, yet it is the start of a process, a procedure and the beginning of a miracle. No one can trace the origin of the seed, but all plants and trees can all be traced to a seed. The farmer takes this small seed and after ploughing the ground and making it fit,puts the seed in the ground. He nurtures the seed and the environment around the seed, ensuring that the seed has everything it needs to grow well. It is not a short process, it is a lesson in preparation, patience and consistency. You never lose attention; the weeds don't sleep and the farmer can't sleep either. That is the lesson we can adapt to our walk as Christians.
We are like seed that the Lord has planted in our world. He has given us everything we need to grow and to nurture the world we have been put in. The process is not short; it takes time and as we co-operate with God, he takes us to the place he has prepared for us. We must trust his nurturing, preparation and planning because ultimately, it is His seed, not ours.
As we run this race therefore, let us remember our origins and our purpose. We don't own ourselves, we are God's. The purpose isn't ours to determine, it is God's. We were put here to pursue our own good, but to pursue God's purpose, and only as we do that do we manifest the glory of God and bring the joy of harvest to his heart.
He's coming soon, and his reward is not for wealthy or connected people, it is for as many as have found his purpose for their lives and are actively pursuing it,no matter the standard the world judges them by: rich or poor.
Find your purpose and pursue it, his time of favour is here.

Faith.....Life

Hebrews 11:32-33, 36-39a NIV
:And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions....... Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.   These were all commended for their faith.......

As I read the long passage highlighted above, so many things flash through my mind. If I really know Christ and I'm saved, does it exclude me from trials? Does the presence of God in me completely insulate me from problems? Can I really depend on someone else's testimony to live my own life, constantly checking if I measure up to human standards? Lots of questions but there is a lesson for me in the verses here.
First of all, let it be known here that nothing can stop you from encountering trials. Even the richest men on earth have private issues that cannot be shared and the poor also have those private, painful moments. Trials are levellers: they know no rich, poor, beautiful or special people. God weaves them through our life's experiences so he can empower us to be able to handle the situations that will come our way in life. If we cooperate with these trials, we grow.
Unfortunately, most of us may not like the conclusion of this matter. We have been led to believe that if you are really a Christian, you cannott die before your time; the devil cannot touch you; God is not a wicked God, and all the other half-truths and incomplete teachings that we have been fed down the years. If we claim we have given our lives to God, who then should determine the length, duration, content and character of our lives? If we have accepted him as Lord, who then determines the direction, impact and people our lives should influence? Not many of us have worked half as much as Paul did, with miracles of healing, deliverance and restoration saturating his ministry yet he had a thorn in his flesh that God did not take away. Peter was a firebrand, preaching a simple message from God that got over 3,000 convinced and converted yet that didn't stop him from being arrested a few times and eventually put to death.  John the Baptist knew his ministry and faced it honestly, yet when his 'time' came at just 30 years, just as the ministry of Christ began, his head was cut off like a common criminal, without the pretence of any sort of trial.
Space will not permit me to mention so many other fervent believers who have had to pass through hell, literally, on the way to the place God has prepared for them. Some others have had it 'easy', but one lesson God has taught me is that some lessons from him to me are personal, while some are to be shared. What we mostly do is to make a doctrine and a church teaching out of God's dealings with us, forgetting that others too may have their own personal dealings in different ways on these same issues.
Faith is a personal walk. You cannot walk mine for me and you cannot pretend to understand what I'm going through. The owner of our lives will work out the details of our personal assignments; what we need do is to walk with Him every step of the way. He knows the end and he alone can bring us safely to that good end.
Rejoice, because his time of favour is here.

Words.... and Health

Proverbs 12:18 NKJV:
There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.

For all of us who have been given the gift, grace and privilege to speak, we must be grateful. First of all, it is not a right or an entitlement; you don't get to buy it in the market or inherit it on the death of a parent. It is a gift from God and like all gifts, it is supposed to bless both the holder and the giver of the gift.
In reality, the opposite is the case. As we honestly examine our hearts and the fruits of our lives, what do we see or hear? Our words have moved from the cautious to the caustic, from the courteous to the disrespectful; from healing and virtue to condemnation and vitrol. We randomly move from appreciation to abuse, from words of praise to curses. Our words no longer heal, bless, restore and renew lives. We have found a new habit of talking endlessly: whether you have anything sensible to say or not, you just must respond appropriately to any perceived insult.
An inconsistent and unpredictable life can never be a blessing to God or his/her generation. A life that does not have cultivated speech and a prepared and God-directed heart can never produce God-inspired results. God's Word speaks a lot about the certain and precise connection of our hearts to our speech. All we say is a product of the deposits and investments in our hearts.
We must therefore examine our hearts again and filter out junk, dirt and evil. God does not need filthy vessels for his use. He may honour the name you call with your tongue but he definitey will not bless a life that is unproductive, unfruitfu and unyielding to his leading and correction.
Let us take heed then: God is looking for clean vessels he can use. All he needs is my availability, humility and simplicity. He will qualify me for his work and get me to the place he's already prepared for me. His time of favour is here.