Quiet! God at Work!

“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.” PSALM 46:10 AMP

Life's hustle and bustle is inevitable but these could be life's greatest hindrance to what God wants to do. As I pursue life's requirements, I must find time for the stuff that really matters.

Life's greatest discovery is to find and know God. Your degrees may matter to an extent; your connections may only take you so far; the most important knowledge in life is to know the God who makes life worth it.

God introduces himself to all who would come to him and prescribes the channel and manner of approach. I must be still if I must find him. With God, you must seek the experience that comes from a sustained relationship. It is not a seasonal wonder, an on/off switch, a spare wheel used only in emergencies. He is the One who is Lord of all, Creator of the universe and sustainer of life itself.

God has been introduced; it is left for me to seek him out on his terms. In that search and discovery lie the very essence of my creation and purpose. His time of favour is here.

Prayer: Lord, may I never be truly satisfied until I have found you. May I never lose the joy of my salvation. Amen.

All you know!

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20‭-‬21 KJV

If your mind can fully comprehend all that God is, then you need to check again which God you claim to know. If you can define God in a few sentences, then you need to introduce to us again the God you have met.

The God introduced to us in the Word is the one who does things beyond what the mind can ever think or imagine. He is the One who specialises in doing the ordinary in extraordinary ways, and doing the extraordinary on a regular basis. His power is such that no bounds can hold it. A good example of this power is the raising of Jesus from the dead. That same power is available and is the same one still at work in those who have given him their hearts as a dwelling place.

Oh yes, this power is available not just now, but for all eternity. It is not a seasonal wonder; but an eternal reality. It is a daily experience, a daily reality, and an eternal assurance that one day soon, we will be raptured, change residence, and live with the power forever. His time of favour is here.

Prayer: Lord, let your power find expression in my life, so I can be all that you have created me to be. Amen.

Timeless!

The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 PETER 3:9 AMP

How do you define by time a God who is timeless? How do you place bounds on a God who was before time began, defined time himself and works according to his own time? When it appears God is slow about things I have committed into his hands, or what he has promised, I must remember that what is at stake isn't my reputation but God's name.

When he sees wrong and seemingly keeps quiet, is it that he is wilfully blind or supportive of wrong? When he sees someone do what is right, yet gets no earthly reward, is it that God too shows partiality? So many questions and not too many answers, but when you are dealing with God, you have got to plan for the unknown.

His greatest achievement is to make me like his Son. His purpose is that His life is manifest in me. He takes no joy in the eternal death of anyone, neither is he driven by revenge. When he seems slow, maybe he's thinking of the great value that life will be to him in the future. Ask Paul. If I have his heart, I will see others the same way. I will rejoice at the change of eternal destination of any life. God doesn't promise it will be easy, particularly if the person in question has taken a life, but then, if God could give me a fresh start, then I have grace to do the same. His time of favour is here

Prayer: Lord, as you work in time, help me respond to your leading, correction and direction, so I can be found in you at the end of my race.

Faith and Fear

“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. JOHN 14:1 AMP

When you hear words such as the ones at the start of today's extract, you know that fear is a valid emotion. Jesus had just told his disciples about the coming passion, his betrayal, death and life, and that even those he has nurtured for more than 3 years would betray him. You wouldn't hear that from a man you have followed closely, watched him do wonders, endured insults from family and friends, and not wonder what would become of you when the man in question is no more with you.

Just as he told his disciples then, he tells us also now: do not let your hearts be troubled. The basis of that confidence lies in that same verse: the one who deals with fear is the one who is speaking. He is the One who calls out substance from nothing, and he is able to sustain whatever he has ordained. If he says go and you go at his command, the results he wants are guaranteed. As long as I depend on him totally, holding on to Him alone, relying on his Word and Presence, then I have no reason to fear.

Oh yes, storms will rise, winds will blow, rains will fall. Substance and depth are tested by adversity. Only the man who has found anchor in God alone is  the one who can smile through the storms. Are you one? Do you believe in God? Does God know you as his own? His time of favour is here.

Sonship

But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name- JOHN 1:12 AMP

There is always a BUT when it comes to decision making. There will always be a choice between two extremes; two eternal destinations. Whether you are conscious of it or not isn't the issue: the fact is that at a point in time in your physical life, you must decide where your real life will be spent.

For today's extract, the choice is between receiving/welcoming or rejecting Him - the one presented by God as the only one who can secure eternal life for us. You will make a choice. There is no middle ground; no sitting on the fence for this one. Indecision itself is a decision, as your allegiances will be tested and you will have to choose a side eventually. What will it be for you?

When you receive it, you are called by a different name, one that indicates your new identity and ownership. Being called a child of God means you are beginning a new life, right from a new birth. You learn how to feed, crawl, walk, run, jump, whilst living under the name you bear. You don't get to decide how you will bear the name; God has laid down the standard, and expects that all who come to him live as He directs.

It is very important to know who you are now, so you can be assured of what is expected of you. Have you taken that decision of new ownership? It is not just enough to call yourself by His name, or for the world to assume you are His. Does God know you as his child? His time of favour is here.

Timeless!

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. JOHN 1:1 AMP

We only hear of the beginning. Not much is recorded about the status before the beginning, except maybe about Lucifer. We open the Scriptures, and what we first see is what God has chosen to reveal. Before the earth was created and time began to count, there is a timelessness to the One who brought out the earth from whatever there was then. We only read that the earth was formless and void, but out of it came all we see today.

It means that there was a Presence then, as well as a sustaining Power now, keeping things they were then and they are now. That Presence is the one called the Word. He was there before recorded time, he has always been there with God before and after life was formed on earth, and he will remain God long after the earth as we see and know it now will cease to exist.

He is the Authority himself, the Power, the Presence and the Peace that holds all things in place. By the Word, all things were created, and till now, all things are being sustained by the Word. Same applies to my life: I only need to apply God's Creative, sustaining and lasting Word to my life's situations, and see God at work. How he will do it is up to Him, all I can do is take him at his Word. His time of favour is here.

Sustained!

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

There is nothing new under the sun. The cycle of life is assured, where we are born, and then we die. In between life and death are so many experiences, some palatable and pleasurable, some definitely not. Whatever the experiences may be, there are assurances given by God today, and these are that I am not alone in those experiences, I am not being singled out for suffering, I do not have to fight in  my strength, and that there is always a way, in God, out of anything life throws at me.

There is no point thinking that maybe God is singling me out for suffering; his love for me is the same as what he offers to the whole world. He is interested in my growth and development in my experience if him, and all he allows will shapen, sharpen and sift me, so I can be all he desires. Whatever he allows has been carefully prepared to bring out the treasures in me, so I can be a visible testament to the power of God. It does not matter what the source is; what is key is that if it comes, God has put ingredients in it that will teach, develop and strengthen me.

I must allow him work, and I must allow the work to take root in me. Complaining, grumbling and giving up won't do much good; thinking God is the One punishing me for something will also not do much good. God is a faithful God, One whose plans are founded in eternity and executed with eternity in mind. He wants me to experience him in a personal way, so that long after I have endured and overcome, I would become stronger, better, wiser and closer to God.

Would I allow him work? His time of favour is here.