Rest!

Rest!

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest.
Exodus 14:14 AMPC

Let it be very clear from the outset that there is nowhere in God's Word where it is promised that all His promises will just fall into your laps without you doing anything. It is the trap of the devil to raise lazy, entitled people who see God as a meal ticket, not the ticket to eternal life. God has become a viable option, one of many. He becomes the go-to person when all else fails. There are some things God will do, even if you do not pray. He will most likely give rain in due season, and your planted seed will bring forth food after its kind. But beyond the usual and the regular, God wants to make the supernatural an everyday reality for his children.

'Fight' means that there are battles ahead. The bigger question is: Who is in your corner? In fact, who is fighting for you? The boxer takes the hit; he can only take advice from his trainer and coach, but when the bells ring, he had better be swinging. With God, things run differently. He becomes your feet, your hands and your brain, helping you to fight to win. Well, it appeared from today's extract that the Israelites didn't have to do anything; they simply moved forward at God's command and victory was sealed. That is the secret to the life God has called us to.

Trust, faith and confidence are the reasons why you can hold your peace and remain at rest. That is the unseen power behind the victories, not the size of the armour or the years of fighting experience. Do you spend time studying God's Word so you can be fully equipped for the battles ahead? Is your heart fully resting on God or are there viable options? If God does not lead you, how do you win? If you don't know God's mind, how do you overcome? The decision on who wins is based on who is in charge. His time of favour is here.

The Search!

The Search!

But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also. MATTHEW 6:33 AMP

The main thrust of today's extract is on the word: Seek. It is a deliberate action; it is something you do with your mind fully conscious and awake. There is a target you aim for; there is something that has to be a reward or outcome for all of your efforts. It is the first and essential requirement for walking with and working for God.

It is not an aimless exercise. God never calls a man to seek Him in vain. If He asks me to go looking for Him, it is because amazing things will result from that search. The search has to be about God; not power, position or possession. And when you seek God out, you have to define terms. The nature of God- where He replicates Himself in me and manifests Himself to the world through me - that is the focus.

God's kingdom is the desire; his authority, power and might being made manifest to the world. If I seek peace around me, I have got to let peace reign in me. His righteousness: his nature, redemption and provision are abundantly available. When all of these are your focus, you do not have time for frivolity. The things of this world do not hold your heart. It is then that the other part of today's extract makes sense. All the other things the world seeks after become free gifts by God to you. You can't chase both extremes at the same time.

God's promise to bless all who seek Him stands till today. Right from the Garden of Eden, God has been seeking men who will hold on to Him alone, and who will be the first recipients of the amazing blessings He has prepared. Can He count on you? His time of favour is here.

God at Work!

God at Work!

He guards the paths of justice; And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).
PROVERBS 2:8 AMP

God is introduced here with words we can relate to. He is presented as a guard; as one who knows and understands justice; one who keeps and preserves; and one who knows the paths those who belong to Him take, which makes him the Omniscient God. All of these attributes are important; they speak about the nature, power and wisdom of the One who calls us into a relationship with Him.

All who claim to know Him must walk in his path, and one of the attributes of that path is justice; not as defined by man but by God. He is the One who gives to man what He thinks is best, not necessarily as a function of right or entitlement, but of his grace and mercy. He does not allow to tamper with his laws and get away with it, but He is also slow to anger and is willing that all men repent and return to Him.

He knows those who truly know and follow Him. He is not deceived by outward piety at the expense of sincere worship. Man can be fooled by the outward; because God formed the entire human spectrum, He is not limited by it, and can rise above it to do much more than we can ask or imagine. He keeps His own, watching over their paths and making sure they end well.

Flip side: how do you explain the death of the righteous? Does it not seem that part of the preserving is to keep them from coming evil? They are his saints down here, and because His desire is to ensure that they remain so, his preservation may also require that when danger is ahead, He takes steps to bring them home. It is a hard sell, but who can fight His wisdom and power? Who can fully explain it? One sure thing: He is God; nothing can unseat Him. I am safe when I am in Him. No matter how life turns out, it ends well only when I remain in Him. His time of favour is here.

Pray; Worry!

Pray; Worry!

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Philippians 4:6 NLT

Paul seems to be making it clear in today's extract that at no time is your mind blank. There is nothing like a blank mind. At all times, your mind reflects the deposits of your heart. You become what you spend time on, and you look like what you have been thinking. And for all who claim to follow Christ is this evil and perverse age, you are either worrying or praying. In truth, you really cannot do both at the same time and get anything done.

That's why God hates double mindedness. In Revelations, the church in Laodicea that He would spew out of his mouth those who are neither cold nor hot. It is not about competitive advantage, where you choose the most important thing to worry about; it is either you are worrying about everything or praying about everything. There is no middle ground here. And nothing is left out. You don't consider anything either too big or too small to worry or pray about.

When you pray, you tell God you recognise his power and leadership. When you worry, you tell God you doubt He can help you so you have to look out for yourself. Prayer is asking God to do what you know He alone can do. Prayer is an admission of helplessness, where I hand over the reins and let God do what He does best. I don't argue with his process and procedure; I simply trust He knows what is best. And of course, thanking Him, whether in advance or after the fact, is a clear sign that you appreciate his mercies and trust Him for more. So, which one do you do? His time of favour is here.

Three-Piece Suit!

Three-Piece Suit!

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 NLT

In working out the Christian life, there are a lot of things God would have us learn and do, but today's extract speaks about maybe just three parts to this experience. First is the golden rule that says I must do to others what I want others to do to me. It is so easy to point the finger at someone else; to demand better from someone else while ignoring the reality of my own weaknesses. As long as I am clothed in this mortal body, I am not immune to mistakes. I must live daily in that reality, my daily interactions shaped by my understanding that if not for the grace of God, I would amount to nothing.

Then the other bit about forgiveness. As it has been said, being human means offending other people. How I process these offences speaks to my submission to God. How do I react when it seems the other person is taking advantage of my meekness? How do I react when the other person rebuffs my attempts to make peace? One thing is clear: I am to forgive the one who offends me, not wait for him or her to make peace. It is my response God addresses, not the other person's response. For a moment, forget how weak you will look and think of how happy God will be when you live out his heart.

And closely tied to these is the constant reminder that you stand where you are now because God took 'a chance' with you. At the time He called you to Himself, it wasn't as if you were the best of people or the most behaved. God extended his love to us while we were still sinners, and his love remains the same quality for all who will make the approach. If God could forgive me all I had done, it frees me to do the same for other people. If I have been given God's best, it is only fair that I also extend God's best to others. After all, my life is now the extension of God's grace and mercy and in and through me, God is able to reach the world with His love. Is my life that kind of vessel? His time of favour is here.

Peace!

Peace!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.John 14:27 NIV

Just before Jesus went the way of the cross, He spent some time teaching his disciples lessons about the life they were going to experience when He leaves them. He told them categorically that the world will not love them; the world and the Word of God are parallel lines that can never meet, no matter how hard you try. Compromise is the only way the world and the Word will be comfortable together, and God tells us ahead of time that we cannot truly be His own if He cannot trust our hearts.

He brought peace when He came in human form, and leaves his peace with us. The world has no peace to give, or at best, it guarantees you some level of comfort at a very high price. What the world gives isn't peace, because true peace is only found in the One called the Prince of Peace. God does not treat us as the world does, where the world demands a price from me before it gives or secures anything for me. The world also gives you something and may take even something more precious from you. God wants me to have everything I need for life and Godliness, and that is why He has asked me to believe in Him totally and trust His power, wisdom and love.

If you are in God, let your heart be at rest. If  you are not in God, you are exposed to the inconsistencies that happen all around you. Fear and faith cannot exist in the same heart, so check your heart today. Does God hold the reins or is the fear of the unknown the reigning theme of your heart? Get into God today, and see Him take care of all that relates to you. He wants me to have the best He has on offer, and by complete trust in Him, I get access to all He is and have. His time of favour is here.

Fruit!

Fruit!

So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin];
MATTHEW 3:8 AMP

God also follows precepts and protocol. He is a God of order, and He expects His own children to have the same outlook to life. Let it be said here that God's ultimate goal is the salvation of all men. He gave his one and only son as the sacrifice for sin, and by the blood shed, life is given full and free to all. God invites all men to get cleansing and redemption through the blood, no matter the quality of the stain of sin or multitude of transgressions. He will forgive all and give a new life and a fresh start, free of guilt or condemnation.

However, when you claim to now know God, there is a standard of behaviour expected of you. If there is no difference between my old and new life, then I need to check again who I have received. If I claim I have repented, there will be external evidence; fruit that proves that I now serve a different master. It is by my fruit that the truth of my convictions is established. It is by my fruit that the world knows where I am rooted. And there can be no deception; it does not matter how hard I try; I cannot change the fruit until I change the seed and the root. If I am used to sin, no amount of dressing or seed work can change my life's output. I have to first address the foundation of sin.

Today's extract was spoken to hypocrites of Jesus' day, and the message through the ages remain the same: the seed of God is seeking fertile and prepared ground where it can be sown and nurtured until maturity. God is seeking lives He can trust to make a difference in the world. Am I one He can count on in these end times? The fear is that we seem to be comfortable in sin, thinking we have time. Unfortunately, we do not. While we have time, let us approach God and take advantage of the free gift of life on offer. Our eternity hangs on that decision. His time of favour is here.