The End......

Ecclesiastes 7:8 NIV:
The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

It always matters how you start a thing. Everything we embark upon always has a start-point and it is important to watch that start. What was the inspiration behind the start? Who/What led you into that thing, project or assignment that you have embarked upon? Whoever is the basis of that assignment also determines to an extent how that assignment will end.

But it is always better to end well. God always remains God because he does not tie us down to our mistakes and decisions. He's always seeking ways to improve our lives and to ensure that we end well. His grace always sees beyond the now into the future that he has already planned and everything he does for us or allows in our lives will work towards that end. It doesn't matter so much then how you started or why you started; the moment God gets involved, then your good end is secured. Stay humble, stay dependent on God. He alone can bring us into the place he has already prepared for us. His time of favour is here.

Answered Prayers

Zechariah 3:7 GNBDC:
the Lord Almighty had said: “If you obey my laws and perform the duties I have assigned to you, then you will continue to be in charge of my Temple and its courts, and I will hear your prayers, just as I hear the prayers of the angels who are in my presence.

You need answers to prayers? You want a change of status or a change of fortunes? The prescription is as stated in our extract today: "if you will obey my laws". Sounds simple yet this is the most difficult for us as human beings. We rebel against authority, we love having our way. Power, position and possessions are the greatest assurances of our success and "arrival". We measure our greatness by the things God considers the least and then we wonder why our lives lack drive, conviction and guidance. It is not really about what you are doing now; it is about how you do whatever it is you are doing now and who has asked you to do it.

The verse above says: if you obey my voice and perform the duties I have assigned to you........ . Who's your guiding inspiration? What's your motivating factor? What/Who drives you? Who's giving you your present assignments and pursuits? Remember, God is not rewarding activity; he's rewarding our pursuit of His purpose. He's the One whose opinion counts at the end of the day and whose opinion must be sought if our lives would count at the end of our life's journey.

Make the consultation today: seek God and His purpose for your life. Life is not truly lived until it is directed in the path of its most useful purpose by the same God who created it. His time of favour is here

Just as He has Said.....

Genesis 21:1-2 NIV:
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.

Watch the words above: God had opened his mouth years before this story and had made promises to Abraham and Sarah about children. Years rolled by, and it appeared as if the person who promised had forgotten of had lost the power to fulfil his words. Just as we do today, we hear from God but because of delays, issues and pressures, we begin to doubt the full authenticity of what we heard. We begin to subject the awesome God to rational and logical process, thinking that God can be fitted into our narrow, myopic and limited view.

The beautiful words we focus on today are: 'as he had said'; 'as he had promised'; and 'at the time God promised him'. If there is anything to trust, it is the Word spoken by the Word himself. He's speaking himself and placing his name, reputation and life on the line and because he's a jealous God, he will guard his name against all scandals. He has no nature of deceit or double-speak, and he always watches over his words to bring them to fulfilment.

Wait for God's appointed time. There's something amazing about God's timing. When you have waited patiently, you realize that he stepped in at just the right time you needed him most, not when your own time calculation demanded it. We are the ones who have a biological clock for women to give birth, we are the ones who determine a 'shelf-life' for women to get married. We are the ones who seek to elevate budgetting and forecasting over God's timely and adequate provision. While it is important to plan, never forget: nothing beats God's timing and nothing can be better than having God step into your situation at the 'right' time.

Get a Word from God's mouth today and stake your life on it. God already stakes his life and reputation on his Words and you can rest assured that he knows what he's doing. At his own 'set time', he will turn things around for good. Wait for him, wait on him, wait with patience as God declares his nature and power through you. His time of favour is here.

My Help......

Psalm 121:1-2 NIV:
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth.

Indeed, there is nowhere you look these days and you get inspired. You look around you and see the issues that surround you; you look inwards atimes and you find no strength to sustain you in times of distress. All around, there is a greater emotional demand on your time, resources,energy, abilities and body more than ever before.

The only place left to look is up. Every other option has got its issues. The Psalmist must have tried other options and found out that nothing else worked. He must have looked around him and realised that there was no help around him or inside of him. The advice today is the same thing the Psalmist has done: look up to God. He comes highly recommended by those who have tried him and found him to be faithful and dependable.

He is the Maker of Heaven and Earth and therefore understands fully what is needed by everyone to make a success of his life and ministry. He alone can help when all other options have failed. He is the One who walks in and stays in when everyone else has left. He is the One who makes the first step of offering help to us, even though we are the ones in need of that help.

Look up today, stop looking around. Depressing scenes abound all around. The only place to look is up. Look to God and cease from fruitless labour. His time of favour is here.

Peace

Matthew 5:9 NIV:
Blessed are the peacemakers,    for they will be called children of God.

Which do you make: war or peace? Which do you promote by your actions: war or peace? Can people rely on you to seek an end to strife or do you deliberately pursue strife? If you are a child of God properly so called, then peace will be an automatic pursuit. The Lord we serve calls himself the Prince of Peace and as many as have accepted him as Lord have that peace and will make peace wherever they are.

Is your life promoting peace? Do people know you are a child of God by the fruits of peace that you bear? Can you be referred to as a child of God by the fruits that you bear? His time of favour is here.

Gaining God's Favour

Proverbs 3:3-4 NIV:
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.   Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Indeed, our generation thinks that riches, connections and popularity is what gives you favour. We think we can buy our way into God's definition of success. However, he has laid down the standard: if you want God's favour which will definitely guarantee you man's favour, then you must follow the blueprint. Love is a God- thing, not a man thing. You can't truly love outside of God so you need God so as to gain favour.

Live in God, love like God; get favour with God and man. His time of favour is here