Hope and Hope!

Hope and Hope!

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13 KJV

God is known all over the world as different things and at different times. Even for the fathers and mothers of faith of the old testament, God was known to them on a personal level, and no one had the same story as the other. To one, God was the El Shaddai, the Breasted One, who has supply sufficient for all needs, and whose supply can NEVER be exhausted. To yet another, he is the El Gibbor, the Lord of enforcement, the warrior and champion. There are so many other levels of personal encounters with God that the Bible records, and each story is a study in God's unique ability to meet the needs of all men everywhere, no matter how complex the need or deep the pain. This is a God who has given every living, as well as dead human being a unique fingerprint, which cannot be duplicated for any other person. If this God could gift over 7 billion people on earth unique fingerprints, he sure has over 7 billion ways he can solve a particular problem. This is the God Paul knew and prayed to, and the God he seeks to introduce to us here. 

Which God have I met? Which God have you met? The challenge is that problems, trials and success have odd ways of revealing the contents of a man's hearts and the gods he has raised up in his heart. As I grow older, I make friends at the marketplace, the place of work, business, academics and impact. As I grow in these relationships, they impact me one way or another. Some will push me to know more about God while others will seek to pollute the divine which I already know. How I respond to or embrace these influences speak to the kind of future I am looking ahead to. How can a man embrace that which pollutes the divine and still look forward with hope to eternal life with God? How can a man kick against the divine and still demand that the divine work for him? If I am seeking the hope spoken about in today's extract, my life must align with the source of that hope, who is called the God of hope. You cannot demand from God that which you life's pursuits and priorities cannot attract. 

For Paul to pray that the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace, it means that I must have come into faith in God and believe in the God who has all power to seal eternal life for me. The God of hope cannot be real to people who have not come into a personal knowledge and experience of Him. God only gives that which he has, and what he gives are for those who belong to him. Do you belong to God? In fact, the question should be: Does this God know and recognise me as his own? Does he reckon with my heart and can he trust that nothing - success, trials, pain or gain - can distract me from a daily walk with Him? There is joy and peace linked to knowing God. It does not mean that pain will not come or that storms will not rise; it is that the waters, the winds and the pain cannot disrupt the balance of peace and joy that God's presence brings. That is the guarantee that the presence of God in a man's life gives, and which is the precursor to eternal life with God. 

The Holy Spirit is the reality of the presence and the power of God in a man's life. He is the one who assures my heart that all is well, even when the physical does not line up with my expectations. I note also that joy and peace constitute the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I cannot pick and choose that which makes me comfortable, but I must settle for that which God wants to do in my life through the Holy Spirit. When He is present in a life, that life is headed in the right direction. Hope is useless if there is no end product or a reason for its existence. Hope has an eternal destination, and it has to be with God, or else it is not really hope. Who looks forward to that which itself is not guaranteed tomorrow? If it will be hope, it has to outlive me. Do I have this kind of hope? Is the divine a daily reality in my life? Is there anything that keeps me focused on God, or are there some 'viable' distractions keeping my heart occupied? The eternal must be the focus; all other things will fall away with time. His time of favour is here. 

  

Right Company!

Right Company!

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20 KJV

Welcome again to the book of one-line messages, where every sentence is a message on its own. One of the most important discoveries a man can make is to know the purpose for which he was formed and planted by God, and then another one is the discovery of the people that God has placed in his/her path towards the fulfilment of that purpose. Both of these issues are very important, and the question of eternity is answered by critical appraisal of both issues. So, how do we proceed?

First, there is a question of the wise. Who is wise? Now, the world sells knowledge for a price, and man can apply what he knows to understand what is required of him, but true wisdom comes from God. You can be smart and savvy, and know how to navigate your way through complex situations, but if what you have cannot guarantee you eternal life with God, what you have is not true wisdom as defined by God. 

Knowledge is good, and understanding of your environment is also good, but none of these can replace the value of the wisdom that comes from God. God is the source of true wisdom; in fact, Jesus is called the Wisdom and Power of God. It means then that all men who are in Christ are the ones who are truly wise and whose lives can be emulated. They are the ones whose lives are put under the microscope here, and I am enjoined to either be wise by linking my life to Christ or to seek out those who already know Christ and follow their example so I can also be wise. 

That is the power of the right kind of association. God has so ordained it that no man, born of woman since Adam, has all that he needs for life all by himself. There is an endowment in me that is a blessing to another person, and there is something in another that will be a blessing to me too. No man can form an island by himself; we all need the help, friendship or assistance of someone else to get to the place we are going. I must choose my companions carefully; I cannot afford to be careless about the things that are eternal. My friends say a lot about the person I am. The people I am comfortable around reveal the kind of person I could be if given the opportunity and the environment.

At no time am I actually alone. I am either trying to move into new circles or trying to break free from old ones. I cannot rise to the top by myself; God will orchestrate events that will help push me towards the place he has prepared for me. However, if I think I can do it on my own, it is likely that I will resist God's help and resort to self - help. It is likely that if the journey seems to be delayed and I am not getting what I want when I want it, I may seek alternatives to God. When you consider where the world is right now, you know it is a real danger. 

All around me are both the wise and the fool, and where I stand or sit depends on who I know and follow myself. If it is God, he will always guide me in the path of wisdom. If it is the world and all its deceits, the end of it all is folly. And like all things that God speaks on, there are eternal consequences to all these things. God does not do anything for fun, and his grace cannot be taken for granted. He wants me to seek him, and he wants to help me on my journey of purpose and eternity. He will not force himself on me, but he will do all he can to convince me that his way is the best for me. After all that, the choice is up to me, but the consequences are already laid out by God. What is your decision? What is mine? His time of favour is here. 

Thanks!

Thanks!

O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Psalm 105:1 KJV

This is a season of angst and pain; so many things seem to be going wrong. A pandemic has been tearing through the entire world, bringing death and sorrow to so many lives. There is also sickness, as well as poverty and lack, and there are some people who would rather give in to suicide than press on. In the midst of all these, the call still goes out: give thanks to the Lord. First of all, it means that those who can obey this instruction are people who see beyond their present circumstances into who God really is and what he can do. The instruction will be hard to follow for those who have not yet experienced God in a personal way. It is not for those who still play both sides, with one leg in with God and the other with the world. It is for those who know that if God does not help them, then they are indeed lost. They are not willing to compromise, and they will not bend their will to suit the world's current or popular narrative. Can this be said of me? Am I one who is totally given to God, or can the world still find some bit of comfort in and around me? 

The call to give thanks stands for all of eternity. We do our bit down here, but it is an assignment that continues into eternity. We practice for the real thing down here and continue for all of eternity when we rest from our earthly labour. So, the call to give thanks to the Lord isn't really about making God feel like God, because nothing I do or do not do can change who God is. It is when I know who He is and I worship him in that understanding that the people around me know that my life has had a personal encounter of this Lord. How does the world know I know God if I am always silent? Does my conversation, conduct and companions show that I know this Lord, or do I have to always prove that I am a Christian? Does his life flow out of me at all, or do I have to break a leg to prove that I am God's child? If I truly call on God, the world will know the difference. If I do not, no amount of words will convince the world. 

I just think over the words at the start of the verse again and I see it as an instruction as well as advice. If I have reasons to be grateful, I will not have to be coerced or begged to give thanks. If I know that my life is a constant reminder of the grace and mercy of God, I will not have to be cajoled into giving thanks regularly. And there is the call upon the Lord, which is an active, not a passive verb. I can't call on someone without opening my mouth and using my voice. It can be silent or with quiet words but the one I call on must know that I am the one calling. Does God know and recognise my voice as one who calls on him regularly?

As I call on him, I am making him known to all who hear me. As I speak of his mighty power, I am pointing to the amazing power of this God. My words speak of my personal experience. My words point men's attention to the Lord of my life. Men may not know God by accident; it may involve my daily living and speaking, pointing men to the saving knowledge of Jesus, making him known to all who cross my path. I take advantage of every opportunity to make God known; I have become his ambassador, bringing his message of peace, grace and mercy to all. My life is the platform and altar from which all of God is made known, and he is exalted all over the earth. May my life be such that God can use in this way. His time of favour is here. 

Owned!

Owned!

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV

Paul writes to the church in Corinth, reminding them of their status in Christ. This is the most important consideration for all of us today - the question of ownership. It is ownership that defines pursuits and priorities. If I know who I am, and who I belong to, it saves me from unnecessary comparison or unhealthy competition with anyone else. I was not made like any other person, and I am not expected to live like anyone else. It will be a lack of understanding or appreciation of who I am that will lead me to seek to copy another man or to pattern my life exactly like anyone else. As I take stock of my life right now, what are my life choices? Does my life look like one that has its ownership status clearly defined or is there any doubt as to where I stand? 

Today's extract is another reminder of the eternal importance of this issue. What does it mean to be the temple of God? It does not refer to me as A temple, but as THE temple, which means that there is only one true version of the temple. A temple is a place of great reverence, where the one who is worshipped in the temple has accepted as the place of worship, and where he is willing to put his name. It is a place where all who seek the one to be worshipped must align with the terms and conditions for worship. 

I cannot come into the temple and seek to impose my own will on the one to be worshipped; the one to be worshipped is the one who lays down the rules and is able to punish all who breach the rules of engagement. Do I understand what I have been called into? Do I know the One who calls me to worship him, and have I taken time to learn what he wants, so I can do what he wants? It also means that if I decide not to align with the rules, I open myself up to grave punishment. If I will then avoid evil, I must just fit into the mold laid out by the One who calls me to worship. After all, I did not know him before, but now that I claim to know him, the least I can do is worship him as he wants. Any other thing is sheer rebellion. 

And for everything that God owns, his mark of ownership is on it. It does not matter how useless the world thinks a person is, as long as that person is owned by God, there is both an earthly and eternal usefulness to that person. After all, the world's opinion does not count on people it does not own or control. The world loves to pretend that it is also an owner, and yes, it may have some people under its bondage but it does not really own them. When the owner of the whole world comes, all things will be brought in subjection under him. For now, I do not worry about the world's view and its drama; I just focus on the God who makes a claim to me. I seek to please him as my Lord, because I know that whatever he owns and holds is safe from all evil. 

The Holy Spirit is the physical and spiritual mark of ownership of God upon my life. His presence in me must lead to an external change in me. The world must know that I now serve a different master and also dance to a different tune now. The Holy Spirit is also that inner witness in my inner man, confirming all that God is and says, and preserving my feet as I walk towards eternity. He is that quiet voice telling me that I am his child and on my way to the promised land. The extract for today is couched in form of a question, which all of man must answer at some point in time in their lives. You can answer it now, of your own freewill, deciding for God and choosing to follow him, or you get the choice made for you by force when your will can no longer be exercised. While I have time, I must sort out the question of my ownership. My eternal reality rests on the answer. His time of favour is here. 

Encounters!

Encounters!

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. Proverbs 12:25 KJV

Here again we read from the book of Proverbs, where each sentence is a one-line message, full of lessons both for this present life and the life to come. The focus for today's extract is the human heart. It is the place of battle, where a man has to fight for what he is to become and resist whatever it is that does not align with the plan of God for him. It is the place where decisions of life and death are made, and where a man must place a guard in order to sift out that which has eternal value and what does not. It is therefore of great importance at this time to ask myself: do I even know the place and value of my heart to my eternal destiny? 

Men who could not fully understand the place of the heart made terrible mistakes, with some being dammed forever. Judas Iscariot did not pay heed to the silent warning in his heart as he stole from the purse of the disciples. We know how his life ended. Martha was legitimately concerned about what Jesus would eat, but as far as Jesus was concerned, this was not time for food and drinks but for the word of God. 

In both instances, the heart was the battlefield; the place where a decision had to be made about the choices before both. Judas made the decision to go for money and paid with his life; Martha must have realised the importance of the right priorities, because we later see how she received the miracle of Lazarus her brother, and we would assume she was one of the women in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. It matters what I do with my heart. 

Heaviness in the heart is one of the consequences of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Man now has to worry about everything, and unless I have the God of the earth on my side, I must labour for all I want. There is nothing a man can do by himself to heal his heart from depression, because its foundation is actually the sin of man. Man lost his joy when sin came, and with sin comes all of the baggage that must lead to depression. Only when a man turns to God does he experience a lifting of the burdens that may weigh him down. Even when bad things happen, the presence of God, if I allow him, can deal with everything associated with that bad experience. Have I really been to this God for the power that deals with depression? 

Medical science may be of some help, but it really cannot solve a problem that predates it. Medical advancement is unable to cleanse a man from sin or give him power to live above sin, and only the Word of God, who is Jesus himself, has already conquered sin and gives power to all who come to him for the victory over sin. It is that Word of God - Jesus - who is the secret to a life of victory, joy and eternal life. In the Word that is living and active, as Jesus is, as well as the written word backed up by the Life of God himself, lies the power that gives life to the heart and heals it of its hurts and depression. When the Word of God speaks, all the things of the flesh are silent. 

This also relates to human interaction. A heart that has met God is able to share him with a depressed heart. A heart that has experienced victory over sin is able to provide the right words of encouragement to the one still struggling with sin. It is my experience of God that can also lead others to the same experience. Before I dare open my mouth to speak, am I sure I have met the right God, so that my life and lips can produce words that speak of God and can deal with sin and its effect in the life of other men? Even when the depression is as a result of unfortunate circumstances, even death or sickness, the effect of the word inspired by the God of love is enough to deal with the root of that depression. 

I have to totally surrender control to this God and hold nothing back. If I do hold anything back, I am telling God that I can take care of myself by myself. That is the recipe for disaster - that false sense of independence and self sufficiency. It is in surrender that my life truly becomes a place where God is glorified. It is in surrender that I become a tool that God can use to deal with the foundation and effect of sin. I cannot produce the right words if I have not first met the Word of God. It is from the abundance of my personal encounter that my life can be a place of encounter and encouragement to other people. I have to ask myself again: have I met the Word of God? His time of favour is here. 

Warring Right!

Warring Right!

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV

Paul was not a man given to careless thought or talk or who spoke because he just wanted to hear the sound of his voice. He was a man given divine inspiration to write about some of the principles on which the gospel of Christ is based. He was a man who had walked in the flesh for a long time, and therefore knew the dangers of flesh and its inability to please God. If my life will please God, I must have the same heart. I cannot play both sides, seeking to please God and the world at the same time. Man has tried that over several centuries and failed, yet he continues to try. What decisions do I need to take today in dealing with the selfish, sinful nature I inherited from Adam? God cannot use that old nature; he must deal with it, so that I can the version he can use for exploits. 

It is in that light that today's extract makes sense. The natural man will always fight against the things of God. If I will be on God's side, I have to see things from his perspective. Another natural man is not the enemy, and it is a grave danger to assume that it is. We make enemies out of weak, natural men like ourselves, forgetting that death is the end of all men, and none of us can guarantee that we will see tomorrow, unless God consents. Why would I make a boast over things I have no control over? Even if the devil gives a man power, the devil cannot seal eternal life in heaven for that man, because he also does not have that power. If both man and the devil are this limited, it means that they are not the authority on what works. 

And in this earthly life, God has made it clear that we must fight. Man's fall in the garden of Eden made it clear that nothing would come easy to man, unless that man surrendered total control to God. Even in total surrender, you will still fight, but you are assured of victory because you have the backing of the God called the man of war. And he makes it clear what the rules of engagement for warfare are. If I give total control to God, I receive total victory over all levels of powers. Even in the battle of the mind, where the devil likes to plant the wrong seeds, God gives victory. Even in the battle of words or actions, where men seek to bend the truth to suit their motives by pushing heresies or fantasies contrary to God's word, or violently oppose the truth of God's Word by seeking the lives of all who follow God, like this same Paul did before he met God, God assures me that no matter what happens, He is in charge and is the one who gives victory. 

It means then that I must know God, beyond any shadow of doubt. I must not seek to confront falsehood with incomplete information or half - baked enlightenment. It is not a call to compromise or seeking a middle ground where truth and falsehood can co-exist. God forbid that I water down the truths of God's word because I seek the applause and approval of men. Altars will be raised up in the hearts and lives of men; strange altars will be built up and pushed out as alternatives to the personal knowledge of God; men will seek to actively disobey God and then seek other men to join them in their rebellion. These are the signs of the age we are in, and no amount of prayer and fasting can stop there signs from happening. 

However, the one thing I must do is to know God for myself. It is that personal knowledge that will keep me sane and grounded, even when everything else is going to pieces. When I am on the side of God, he is able to defend me. I can stand and make declarations and heaven will back me up. I can command the obedience of men and spirits, because I am subject to the authority of the Lord of all spirits and men. I must not embark on an assignment for which God has not sent me or seek to make a name for myself which does not glorify God. I must be an obedient child if I will command the obedience of other men. My heart must be God's captive if my life will also take every other thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Is that true of me? His time of favour is here. 

Word-Power!

Word-Power!

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

John 15:7 KJV

Jesus speaks yet again to his disciples, not to the crowd. He always had a crowd follow him at all times, and he had messages for them at intervals, but when it came to the kingdom life, he only had words for surrendered vessels. These words are not for people who have not yet sorted out their priorities and allegiance; these words are for people who know who they are, who they belong to, and who they are called to serve. Can I say of a truth that I know myself, the one who calls me to hinself as well as the reason for my existence? For God, it is never too late to know him, until it is too late. 

That first and most important condition for a person to have a personal and lasting experience of God is to seek out God and know him well. There is no replacement for a personal encounter of God. For every person in the bible that we read about today, and whose life made an impact, there is a story of a personal walk with God and an encounter with his Word. How would I know God if I do not know his word? How would I know his word if I do not search it out and seek to understand and apply it to my life? Do I read it out of a sense of duty, or because I have found out that it is the source of life, guidance and direction? 

The choice word in today's extract is abide. It is not this temporary arrangement that can be upended at any time, but from available definitions, it is 'to remain stable or fixed in a state' or 'to continue in a place'. There is a sense of long term planning for anyone seeking to abide in a place. You learn the ways and culture of the place you seek to abide in, and you accept the rules and regulations of that new place. That is the sense of abiding that God would have me hold on to. 

As always, I have a choice in this matter. I am not a robot, with no power over the consequences of my actions, but a person with the breath of God in him, so capable of making my own decisions and living with the consequences. The choice of where to abide is mine to make, but God has provided all that I need to make the right choice. If I will have answers to prayers, the secret is in abiding in the Word of God. How would I know how to pray the right way if I do not know God's mind as revealed in his Word? How would I be able to align myself with what God is doing presently and where he is at work if I know nothing about his will, as revealed in his Word? 

If I will ask for anything from this God, I have to first find him. I have to do the things he loves and pursue after the things that give him joy. Even for earthly fathers, we do love children who are able to read our hearts and know and do what we love. If a mortal man can act this way, imagine the joy in the heart of God when he sees me pursue him in the same way. If I can seek for, find and pursue after him with all my heart, God is bound to listen to me and grant me my heart's desires. When I have found God, I won't be pursuing the things that make me happy but the things that make God happy. That is why it will be easy for God to grant me all that I ask him, because my heart is now so tuned to him that all it asks aligns with God's will. That is the secret to a life of answered prayers. That is the secret to access into all that God is and has to offer. May God grant me grace to find him while he is near, so that I can get all that he is and wants for me. My life will be better for it, and eternity will be secured due to the reason that I knew God. His time of favour is here.