The Gift!

The Gift!

Acts 2:38 AMP

[38] And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We read of the promise of a special gift that was promised by Jesus just before He left the earth. We read of the account of the Holy Spirit coming on the apostles, in fulfilment of that promise. We then see men who had been afraid in the recent past, due to events of the cross, the pain of losing the Master that they had known, the general hostility of the Jewish leaders of that time, and the non-challance of the crowd which did not even know what it had been given. Whilst God was at work in the lives of the people gathered in the upper room, there were people who were focused on power, position, possession and performance. What a mess life would have been without Jesus. 

The gift came, and timid men became bold. Men who once denied knowing Jesus stood up in front of people and spoke so boldly of the Master they had all abandoned at His hour of need. Men who had been witnesses to His power, the miracles that He performed, the amazing lessons that He taught, and the lives that He touched, were all glad to speak to other people about Him. It takes someone with personal experience to be able to speak so boldly about what he has seen, felt, heard or personally encountered. You cannot fake the experience. Someone else cannot tell you about it. The question then is: 'Do I know Him on a personal level?

The verse above is from the first Sermon of Peter after the Holy Spirit had come. He spoke about Jesus; a simple message, but backed up by the power of God. This is the impact of the Holy Spirit. He takes the very ordinary and turns it into the amazingly extraordinary. He takes simple words, and after breathing on them, He uses the vessel and the words to change the lives of men. He convicts the hearts of men, and turns their hearts back to Himself. That is the clear message in the verse above. God cannot work with a heart that He has not first worked on. For it to be a vessel in His hand, the heart has to repent, and turn to Him. 

It is the sign of total surrender; repentance means I recognize the folly of my old ways, and know that only God can keep me focused on what He wants me to do for Him. The Holy Spirit is the gift from God for the times we are living in now. The Holy Spirit will not compete for attention with sin in my life. He wants my all, so He can also give me His all. The clear message for us all is: 'do not let the free gift of God go to waste in your life'. God will not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill, but He will definitely demand an account from me for what I do with this gift. I surrender now, so I can reign with Him. I reject Him now; it is eternal loss. God's time of favour is here. 

Call!

Call!

Joel 2:32a AMP

[32] “And it shall come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be saved [from the coming judgment] 

Acts 2:21 AMP

[21] ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord Jesus] shall be saved (rescued spiritually).’

Romans 10:13 AMP

[13] For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord [in prayer] will be saved.”

Three different passages of the Bible, with words pronounced by three different people.  Three different verses from three different writers, but the same message. Different generations and dispensations, but the same message. It is clear that we are dealing with a God who will not lower His standards for anyone. We deal with a God of consistency in what He says and does. What He called sin under Adam is a sin under Peter, and is still a sin in our own generation too. That is why God can be trusted to keep His Word. That is why men and women of old held on to Him, and they were not disappointed. Have you met this God? 

As mentioned above, God introduces himself to every generation. He leaves his handprint and footprint all through creation. He makes clear that He is the God of all creation, and He seeks men who will sincerely seek Him too. 

That is the goal of creation: that the created may seek out and worship the Creator. If we look and consider deep enough all the things that surround us, we will see clearly the hand of God in everything. We then have a choice to make: Do we embrace this God, the Creator of all things, or do we pursue our own devices and schemes? We must note that whatever action we take has both earthly and eternal consequences. Consider well before you act.

As it has been made clear several times, God does not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill. He wants to consider who He is in the light of the information He has provided, and He waits for my response. I can be sure that if I choose Him, I have no earthly or eternal regrets. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Those who chose Him in Joel's days saw the hand of God move mightily. This was the time when Joel prophesied about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Peter was privileged to experience the Holy Spirit, and his first Sermon following that encounter led to the conversation of 3,000 souls. 

Paul also had an encounter with this same God, and He wrote to His audience too about this God who seeks men to submit to, worship and serve Him. The promise in all the verses is the same: there is a God willing, ready and able to answer ALL who call upon His name. You see: God is not looking for ready-made vessels; He is able to take just about anyone, clean him up, equip him, and then launch him out into the world for exploits and impact. As I have now come to know who God is, and what He desires from me, am I willing and ready to call? Salvation lies at the end of my call. Judgment and eternal separation are at the end of my silence. Would you call? God's time of favour is here. 

Light 2!

Light 2!

John 8:12 AMP

[12] Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

As it was always the case, Jesis always had a crowd following Him. It is also important to note that the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes and teachers of the law were also always around Him. It was not that the leaders liked or loved Him, but they saw Him as a threat to their dominance, influence and control over the people. These leaders used every chance and opportunity they had to oppose Him. You have to have a clear sense of purpose in order to focus on what God has assigned you to do. There will be distractions along the way; there will be people who pretend to like you but will seek ways to harm you. Not everyone in your circle is on your side. 

That was very obvious in the chapter from where the verse above is taken. The scribes and Pharisees, in their hypocrisy, brought a woman who had been caught in adultery before Jesus, seeking His view on the right punishment. Yes, the law prescribed death to anyone committing adultery, but only the woman was brought. The scribes wanted to find a way to trip Jesus up, but the Wisdom and Power of God would not be defeated. In His wisdom, He did not excuse the sin, but He went to the root of all humanity, asking anyone who was without sin to be the first to cast a stone in judgment. What a way to put us on notice that we need help.

Of course, in a moment of true honesty and sincerity, all the accusers left. They all knew that they were not without sin, and Jesus too, in His mercy, was not going to add to the woman's condemnation. He simply charged her to go, and sin no more. That is a message of hope to everyone struggling with sin. Sin and judgment will not be the final word in your life, if only you take advantage of the offer of life that has been made. This gift is of and from God, and it is available for anyone, no matter the weight of the past, the pressure of the present, or the uncertainty of the future. The One who offers is the One speaking in the verse above.

As He addressed the crowd then, so does He address us all today: I am the Light of the world. There is darkness all around, but in and by me, you have guidance, direction, hope and peace. The world cannot generate this kind of light: you cannot give what you do not have. The world is under the control and influence of the devil, and he is not able to help anyone attain the Life that is in Jesus. You access all He gives by total surrender. The verse invites us all to follow Him. It is a matter of freewill; God does not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill. Be sure that He is able to keep to the end anything that is committed into His hand. Are you His? Does He own you? God's time of favour is here. 

Led by the Spirit!

Led by the Spirit!

Galatians 5:25 TPT

[25] If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives.

The church in Galatia was going through a few challenges at time Paul wrote this letter.  Of course, the Jews at the time thought that any other person not circumcised was not worthy of salvation. It became a bit of a burden and a distraction, because we see Pau at some point in this letter, challenge the church in Galatia about its desire to align with Jewish laws, at the expense of the rules of engagement of salvation laid down by God. As it was then, so is it today. We start off with total trust in the work of the cross, but as some point, we begin to think that we can bring in human effort and labour to complement what Christ has done. 

This is the error that has to be addressed. At no point could I contribute or add to what Christ has already secured. His death and resurrection are complete packages for all of humanity; He did not need my consent to offer His life for me; in fact, I was not even alive at the time He died, so my view would not have counted. All I can do right is to trust in that finished work of Jesus, rest in His love and live in the daily consciousness of what He needs from me. Human rules have a place indeed, but they cannot replace the rules of engagement laid down by Jesus. As Jesus Himself said, He had not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it. 

The gift that Jesus secured for us is valid for all time, as long as this earthly phase remains in place. Jesus is called the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the Source of all things, and in Him, all things hold together. He is also the Son, the only One to whom God has committed all judgment to. In light of all the above, I will do well to align with the gift and make sure that it is mine. It is not enough to know the gift by head knowledge alone. It is not enough to know Him for a while and then discard Him when problems arise. It is not enough to hold Him as one of the many available options; He has to be the only One who holds my heart and pulls its strings. 

This is what being led by His Spirit looks like. Being led means being totally surrendered. I do not have a superior argument to anything God asks me to do. I do not claim to know it all; that is God's exclusive preserve, and He will not share His glory with anyone. I cannot open up some areas of my life to Him, and then seek to keep other parts under my sole control. I either give God all, or nothing at all. I am reminded that willing surrender is the way to go. God will not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my own freewill. My knowledge and encounter of God will definitely show up in my daily actions and decisions. Am I truly led of and by God? God's time of favour is here. 

The New!

The New!

Ezekiel 36:26 AMP

[26] Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

It has to be clear to all that sin has adverse consequences. It does not matter how long it has gone on undetected by man, or not openly punished by God. As long as God has said He hates and will punish sin, sin is not something to be treated with levity. God warned His own people about sin, and though they were His treasured possession, He punished them for their sin. With Him, there was no favouritism or partiality. He applied the punishment for sin in line with His command. This should make me both joyous and cautious. If He makes a promise, be sure that He has the power, capacity and capability to fulfil His promises.

Thank God that punishment was not the final word. Thank God that in the midst of the full application of judgment, God said He had concern for His Holy name, and would have mercy on His people. Even though the people had brought shame and disrepute to the name of the Lord through their many acts of disobedience and rebellion, it is a thing of joy and profound gratitude that you read words like the verse above. It has to be clear that man is not able to confront and defeat sin by any human scheme or method; it is only that which God provides and promotes that man is able to defeat sin, which is older than all of us who are alive today. 

One thing God is able to do to help us have and retain victory over sin is a new heart. The reason why a new heart is fundamental to what God wants to do is that the old heart, no matter how hard you try to shape and tool it, can never totally surrender to God. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, the heart of the natural man is unable to grasp the danger of sin, and seek the right kind of help. That is why a new heart is needed; the type that only God gives, and is able to keep working on, shaping and guiding it to align with His own perfect will. It is not a version you can buy in the open market for a lot of money; God alone gives it, and He will gladly do so, because He wants me to be all He has created me to be.

The fact that God promises to remove the heart of stone from my flesh tells me that a heart of stone was not part of God's original design. My flesh was not made to resist God, because I am made in His image and likeness and it is sin that messes up and disrupts the original template. God wants to restore me to the original position before sin came, and as we have always said, God will not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill. This is a voluntary surrender, but presented as compulsory conscription. You come in willingly, but there are rules to live by. Are you open to the new? God's time of favour is here. 

Power!

Power!

Romans 1:16 AMP

[16] I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Both the writer and audience of this letter are equally important. Paul the writer had his own interesting past. He came from harassment and conspiracy to murder, to a place of total and absolute trust in God. He was a Jew who was given grace to minister the gospel of Jesus to those who were not Jews, but were also targets of the plan of salvation laid out by God. As we read in the introductory part of this letter, all of us, Jews and Gentiles alike, have all received grace and have been called into the obedience that comes from faith. The plan of salvation, as laid down by God, was not for only the Jews; it is for everyone. No one is exempt from grace.

It is in this light that the verse above can best be understood. Paul had seen firsthand what it means to be saved. He had experienced the mercy of God; how else can you explain this man's experiences? He had supported the murder of Stephen, and was on his way to do more harm, yet the mercy of God found and saved him. His past was wiped clean, and he was given a mandate to bring the gospel to those who he would normally not focus on. This is part of the message about Christ; He was put to death for the sin of the world; Jew or not, and He was brought back to life for the eternal redemption of the world, Jew or not. There is no favouritism with God. 

Paul understood this, and his earthly ministry reflected this understanding. He was the ideal personal reflection of the assignment He was given by God. He wrote to both Jews and non-Jews with the same message: Jesus Christ is the power of God. Jesus is the author of salvation for all men. He has sealed life for all who will come and surrender their lives to Him. As always, this is a free gift that had been made available to all men. Anyone can come, no matter the weight of the past, or the depth of the stain. It is a gift that does not expire until it actually does expire. That is the sobering message in today's verse too: we all have access to this gift. 

It must however be noted that this gift will not always be there. Response time is of the essence. The gospel of Jesus has power, but it does not force itself on you. It has power to change men and situations, but it will not go against the exercise of your freewill. Jesus is the Wisdom and the Power of God, yet He seeks willing surrender and total submission to Him. I am a beneficiary of the grace of God that brings salvation to all men. I have come to know God; I have seen Him at work in my life and in those close to me. I have seen men with horrible pasts become vessels of honour in God's hands. It is for everyone who believes in the finished work on the cross. Have you submitted to that power? God's time of favour is here. 

Light

Light!

Matthew 5:14 AMP

[14] “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

This chapter is the first recorded sermon of Jesus, after He had been revealed to the world through the ministry of John the Baptist, as well as the public declaration from heaven that He is God's Son. He had also been tempted by the devil, and had overcome, and He had chosen the twelve disciples who would go on to be with Him during His earthly ministry. Talk about a very busy time for Jesus as He sought to impact the world im which He had been placed. It is hard to argue for anything different for anyone who wants to walk with Jesus. If the Son of God had to go through these processes, how much more would we who seek to walk in His steps? 

The One who God backs up will always command an audience. At the time of this first sermon, there was a crowd following Him everywhere. However, at this time, the message was for His disciples, not the crowd. The demands He was laying down were not for the uncommitted majority, but the distinct few that would choose to follow Him. This is testament to the fact that though the commands and instructions of Jesus are for everyone He has made, they do not place a demand for obedience on everyone at the same time. This is why the passage from where the verse above is taken was careful to note that Jesus took His disciples to the top of the mountain, and taught them. 

Am I one of the distinct few, or part of the uncommitted majority? If I know who I am, and I am clear about my allegiance, then the verse above speaks directly to me. Jesus spoke directly to the disciples, referring to them as His Light to the world. This is clear ownership: I do not represent myself at any level. I do not speak of myself at any level. I am simply the representative of the One who calls me His own, and also sends me out to impact the world in which I have been placed. A little bit of Light is enough to deal with the deepest darkness. Even the light from a phone will make a difference. That is the power and impact of light. 

As light, I cannot be ignored. I cannot be put away in a box, and only opened when the need arises. At all times, I am relevant; at all times, I am in the public eye. Whenever I act or speak, I am putting out indications of who I am, whose I am, and what my allegiances are. The verse above likens me to a city that is set on a hill and cannot be hidden. That city is a beacon that draws men to it. It is a place of refuge for those coming in from darkness and need help. It is a place of comfort for all who have been oppressed and seeking deliverance and safety. Does the above describe me at the moment? Am I truly representing Christ? God's time of favour is here.