Why sit we here until we die?

Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.”

2 Kings 7:9 As I was sitting in church yesterday I mused at the love of these lepers. It’s impressive as it’s not what you would expect in such a situation, normally. To begin with, they were restricted to the gates of the city as due to their condition they were not welcome within the walls of the city. If they entered the city they would surely die as there was nothing but hunger within the city. People had been reduced to eating and selling dove’s dung. Yes,” And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver” 2 Kings 6:25 And if the lepers went towards the camp of the Syrians they would surely be killed but at the least they would be captured as slaves. And so they thought it better that they should go towards the camp of the Syrians and maybe they would spare their lives. If captured alive at least they would give them SOME food whilst in prison. And so they trudged. The preacher yesterday illustrated that possibly some shuffled on their backside and some on their side as their legs could have been affected by the leprosy and therefore could not walk They shuffled and leapt along towards the Syrian camp. Oh! What imaginations they had in their minds. With Samaria behind them they trudged on and probably halted and rested all the way there for their condition forbade normal movement- hungry lepers And do you know what God was doing whilst they were moving towards the Syrian camp? Oh! God made the Syrians to hear the approach of an army. And the Syrians left in such a hurry they went with nothing but their dear lives And who should get to the camp except the four lepers? They saw the food and treasures and could have just taken it all and stayed there saying this was their reward – justly found by no one but them But what did they say as they took the situation in? they remembered that they were part of a city that desperately needed food And they took it as a priority that they should go back and tell them of the good news Not tomorrow, but today before the break of dawn the next day And they said to themselves that they actually were not doing well by not sharing the tidings Doesn’t that show of love and duty for humanity touch you? They were the rejects of the city but they remembered the other people who if they disappeared would not have looked for them as they were not important to the city Yet it is these same people who came back to share the tidings of joy. For they also feared that something dreadful would happen to them How many times have we been trod upon and we wait for a day of revenge? Many. But vengeance is the Lord’s So in your tears and fear, worry not for your tears are starting a fountain that will turn into a flood and your enemy will be drowned And when you get there, there will be no more So keep on praying and waiting on the Lord for no matter what your situation, your station, God remembers you and will give you your reward The lepers filled up on food and kept some treasures aside for themselves and then shared the good news You too will get your reward and you will be recognised as the one who shared the breakthrough for the family/city/nation/community and you will be thanking the Lord till you meet Him So be comforted. God is not blind that he should not see your plight, neither is He too far away that He cannot hear your cries. Hold on and WAIT on the Lord. Sometimes what we fear due to the unknown is where the breakthrough comes from The lepers knew for certain that within Samaria there was no food for them They knew where they were there would not be any food coming to them But they didn’t know what would happen if they went to the Syrian camp There were two outcomes they knew and they would go for either as one would be the same as back home and one would be better than back home But they met with something they never imagined which was beyond their hopes and dreams So for us it can be the same. That leap of faith we’ve been dreading for so long may just show us things beyond our comprehension that will bring glory to God. Hope on the Lord and keep on walking in His light.

Watchman

“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

- Ezekiel 33:6-9 To say I have been worried about not writing is an understatement. I feel guilty for not writing for so long. I’m sorry. The above verses are very close to me as that’s what has compelled me to evangelise. Maybe compel is not the word. They are the reason I spread the word as I believe that there is a reason why I know what I know and it’s not just for my own good. Yes, the issue about where one will go after judgment may be a personal thing, but that is the more reason we should be sharing the Good News. We are told to love one another and when you love your neighbor as yourself, there is no reason you would keep secret that you see them wandering off the path of light. The thing about loving your neighbor comes up even in business. I remember that there is a code of ethics that instructs one to consider the welfare of his neighbor. The question comes” who then is my neighbor?” the answer is the next person. Even without a qualification of who your neighbor is, your conscience tells you that you cannot turn a blind eye to someone who is heading for trouble. So if you do say you love God, why not demonstrate that by loving THAT person whom you see. THEY are your neighbor and what they do is your concern as far as telling them what they ought to do or not do and your job’s done. BUT it’s not just sounding a trumpet without telling them that you’re a watchman and that you live in the same village and that their welfare is your concern to a certain extent. I say that as some just go about shouting and say they wash their hands yet those who heard the noises don’t even know what they were and what for. So take time to explain why you care and why that person also needs to care about what you treasure. Love thy neighbor.

Worry not for he is near

How often has someone told you not to worry? Quite a number of times right?
We all at some time get to worry about one thing or another. I guess you could say “it’s natural”
Well, I’ve got news for you
Though it may be natural, it does not mean that it is right.
It is not right to worry.
Ever heard of sinful nature? Agreed.
We shouldn’t worry as it does nothing for us. If anything all it does is that it steals from today the joys we should have seen and enjoyed.
We need to accept God’s word when He says He knows our needs. All we need to do is wait upon Him and He will do as He said. God is not a man that he should lie. There is a scripture in which God asks, “have I said and not done?”
But there is one thing which underpins all our provision. We should first seek god’s face. When we seek his face we are looking for a closer relationship to Him. He says if we draw him closer, he will draw us closer to himself. We need to be content with such things as we have as he has said he will never leave us nor forsake us. He is there for us and what we need to do is cast our burdens on Him and wait on him to show us the wonderful and marvelous things He has in store for us. His plans are for our good and if we could only wait on his promises and all the grey hairs we claim to be caused by worry would be hairs we accept in gratitude for the gift of long life.

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. " Matthew 6v25-34.

Patience & birth

I had been struggling with impatience and waiting for change
I was crying why me Lord?
I cried when Lord?
This is too difficult and I don’t think it’s fair
Does it have to be this difficult Lord?
I just could not accept that I had to wait for longer
Then this verse came to mind

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. –Isaiah 66:9

Blessings will indeed come from the struggle. That birth will not be the end. No, there will be more to come. Though the travail may seem to not end, it will end and there will be rejoicing. Yes, you will rejoice with me.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

 

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.

 

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

 

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it's a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

 

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.  But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

 

Be yourself.  Especially do not feign affection.  Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

 

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

 

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.  But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

 

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

 

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

 

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be.  And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

 

Be cheerful.

 

Strive to be happy.

Written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann

Not Forsaken

 Many a time we feel the Lord has left us in the lurch

We feel like Job

Then we look at ourselves and we say ‘no this is not the kind of thing that happened to Job. I was never in fullness to THAT extent. I'm just meant to suffer as I've chosen to be a Christian. Maybe I'm not good enough so God does not even consider my life’

In fact we always come up lower than the next unbelieving person

Our fortunes seem to be growing worse by the year and not better

When we started off on this journey, things were actually much better

There also comes a time when we wish for the past life

We become like the Israelites when they were out in the desert

Wishing for the past trails as we cannot yet see the light at the end of the tunnel

All around us seems to be much worse than where we're coming from

In fact, we are at a stage where we are saying  better the devil I know than the devil I don’t

STOP!

Do you with al your heart of hearts believe God has forsaken you?

He has promised to never leave you

And His promises He keeps

Be patient and know this more on top of His promise never to leave you

 

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalms 37:25

 

So let us stay on His path no matter how low the station in life we seem to be at. We will rise once again and we will never be that low.

The Revelation

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me,

It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Ecclesiaates 12

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Being in the right place

This is one of those posts that you know you just have to make and relate to none other than yourself. In this case ME

 

"And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem." 2 Samuel 11:1

"But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD." 2 Samuel 11:27^b

 

The first time that the passage came up in discussion was on Saturday with a friend. I was not so sure on how the story began  I was clear on what David did about his desire for Bathsheba and also the major consequences of the action.

Then on Sunday for the evening service the story was about being in the right place and the same passage was the focus of the sermon. I knew then that I had to be wary of where I chose to go or how to decide on what to do.

So how did David end up in the mess that brought the hand of God upon him?

He tarried still in Jerusalem whilst the people went to war. As king, his place was at the battlefront leading his people.

But for some reason he stayed behind and chose to walk on the roof of his house.

When he stayed behind is when he gave in to sin and this one sin led to many more. When you look at the whole picture he broke four of the ten commandments.

Breaking four commandments just becoz of one thing which in when looked at seems to be minor

Next time when you choose not to do something that is your duty, ask yourself ‘am I in the right place at this time? Am I not in a place that will expose me to temptation that I may find myself succumbing to as I consider it minor?”

Be in the right place - always.

Their gods and my God

I was chaffed when the preacher went through the passage in the post before this.
It reminded me of Paul. He’s one person I’m growing to love as I read the Bible word by word.
Here Elijah showed the power of his God in broad daylight.
What got to me is the fundamentals that he addressed.
He asks why the people have two allegiances when it comes to their faith
That’s about being lukewarm
Where do we stand?
HE challenges the said gods to show their stuff
That’s the beauty of God
He will not let you down
He delivers as long as you stand by Him and put ALL your faith on HIM
Not some of it,
Not 90%
Not 99%
ALL 100% of it
Eh also shows the problem with the other said gods
They’re not omnipresent
In fact, they’re not omni-anything!
Another thing also comes out,
The way of worship or asking for your god to move for you
The prophets of baal had very vigorous ways of doing things and prayer
They had to do a lot of things in other for anything that they ask to be done for them
For my God all I have to do is ask and believe on Him
All that’s required is faith

1 Kings 18:21-40

"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD And with the stones he built an altar in came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there."

All things

To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
1 Corinthians 9:22-23

Romans 11:16-36

Far be it from me that I knowingly not fulfil promises.
Case in point is a post of 21 verses
I realise it's quite a lot of verses to go through
I will do my best in highlighting what I believe to be the juicier flesh of the whole body
Firstly, it’s addressing those who abide in Christ.
I should not look down on those who once were of the house I now call mine. They have what one may call the legal right to come into that house once again- their parent still identifies with them. They share the same DNA. Yes they may have been cut off but it will be much easier for them to trace back their roots and come into that house again. You only stay there due to your faith. How more able are you to keep up with the demands of the house owner than the ones who grew up in that house.
Yes stay there with fear for you are but a grafted-in branch. If you were to err would the house owner be willing to overlook the fact that you were not born in that house?
Look at what happened to those who misbehaved who were born in that house. Stand firm on your faith and not look down on those who’ve fallen off- they are not fallen forever- they are waiting for the appointed time for them to be grafted back in.
The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Never say because one has not been saved they cannot tell you what is right from wrong. Gifts from God are not on merit- His grace.
Yes we can only wonder at His ways.
His mind truly is unsearchable. The one thing we can all agree on without dispute is that He loves us. Still He loves us in spite of what we are today or where we were yesterday.
He loves us still. Amen.

The Pursuit of God

I only got to know of A.W. Tozer when I came across his book 'The Pursuit of God" and read it.
I have some quotes of his that I'm sharing.

Ultimately Abraham discovered that only God matters….
Abraham was completely satisfied with God’s friendship. He becomes to us a faithful example in his willingness to put God first. With Abraham, only God mattered…
In Abraham’s encounter with God he learned why he was here upon earth. He was to Glorify God in all things and to continually worship… (Men who met God, 29, 30).

Sometimes I go to God and say, "God, if Thou dost never answer another prayer while I live on this earth, I will still worship Thee as long as I live and in the ages to come for what Thou hast done already. " God’s already put me so far in de4bt that if I were to live one million millenniums I couldn’t pay Him for what He’s done for me. (Worship: The Missing Jewel, 24).

In my opinion, the great single need of the moment is that light-hearted superficial religionists be struck down with a vision of God high and lifted up, with His train filling the temple. The holy art of worship seems to have passed away like the Shekinah glory from the tabernacle. As a result, we are left to our own devices and forced to make up the lack of spontaneous worship by bringing in countless cheap and tawdry activities to hold the attention of the church people. (Keys To The Deeper Life, 87 & 88).

But a man who has passed the veil and looked even briefly upon the holy face of Isaiah’s God can never be irreverent again. There will be a reverence in his spirit and instead of boasting, he will cover his feet modestly. (The Tozer Pulpit, Volume 1 Book 1 57,58).


Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but 1 do come. Please root from my heart all those things which 1 have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter avid dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen. In Pursuit of God


And I pray that this weekend's praise, worship and service brings to a point where you'll agree with him when he said,
"There is a point in true worship where the mind may cease to understand and goes over to a kind of delightful astonishment---probably to what Carlyle described as "transcendent wonder," a degree of wonder without limit and beyond expression!…."

Love

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. ROMANS 13:8-10

Isn’t it beautiful how simple things become when we love one another?
How you’re going to love thy neighbour is as thyself
This automatically means we do love ourselves to begin with
So who is thy neighbour?
We all are

So why are so you still indebted to many?

Foundations

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is. He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rocklike: But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.- Luke 6:47-49

I read the above three nights ago and I knew this was meant for me
It really sounds simple when someone says if you want this you have to do this
Simple?
There are so many of us who profess to be followers of Christ yet we daily stray from the path
Daily we let Him down
Daily we repent
It is sometimes difficult to be Christian in word and in deed
Words are easy to say
Action is not that easy
I’m taking stock at what I do all the time
I always ask myself ‘is this what I’m meant to do? Is it biblically right?”
There’s still so much I need to know about Jesus and being a true disciple
I now fully understand the above passage
It was not said just for the sake of clarity
It was said so that we know where we are as regards the person whom we call our Lord
He is not happy having us hearing his word and not doing anything about it
There’s this trap we fall into many times
The trap of knowing that we can repent
True repentance is not just saying sorry
True repentance is saying sorry and not committing that wrong act again
Then, we can be said to be growing in Christ
The foundation that the Lord wants us to have is the foundation of works
The building of it is with words
It is easy to preach the word and people see that you know the Bible
But how easy is it to live the word?
Let’s re-look at our foundation and see if the building we’re so proud of can stand the coming storm

Controversy

We got to be discussing a bit about the character of Jesus with some colleagues
An interesting word came up - controversy
He was a controversial person
He did not what people expected and did what was not the norm
He was no respecter of people when you really look at what he did
His tone likewise is something we consider harsh
Look at the tenth chapter of the book of Matthew
Here He was sending off His disciples. He told them whither to go.
He told them what to expect and what they should do in every circumstance.
It was straight forward – for such a situation this is what you do. If they do not meet such standards this is what you do. No middle line, no grey areas.
There was no room for slack on either side.
What got my attention are the lost sheep of Israel that they’d been sent to gather
These sheep belong and someone’s being sent to look for them where they’re scattered all over. The interesting bit is where these sheep are to be found
Amongst wolves
Who would have associated lost sheep with wolves?
What were they looking for amongst wolves?
And why were the wolves not preying on them?
Look at the current situation
Are we not the lost sheep with the disciples looking for us in the wilderness?
They have their lives at stake as they walk amongst the wolves to win us back to our shepherd
I think we’re too hard on those who try to win us to Christ
We forget that they need us for their upkeep
We forget that they’re not meant to beg us to come to Christ
We forget who sent them
We forget who we are
We forget where we are
We forget where we’re meant to be
May today be a reminder that as lost sheep someone is looking for us so that we go back to our Shepherd
If we tarry too long, the wolves may turn on us before we are herded back to safety.

How free are you?

I’m reading John Bunyan’s book The Intercession of Christ and I love the way it’s put that it’s his view of Christ’s mediating work. I’m now on the last chapter and thought I’d share this valuable snippet on faith and freedom in Christ.
The man who has come to God through Christ is referred to as someone who is tame as he has the law as his guide. He is compared to the free man who runs wild. The man under law is like a bird in a cage who is looked after by his owner. He does not need to forage for food but gets it delivered daily. The caged bird has some treats which the bird in the wild cannot access. The caged bird is taught to do new tricks and sing new songs that the bird in the wild cannot do. Oh! If the two birds were to converse one day the free bird would want to be in the same cage with the tame bird. The free bird roams the wild freely daily. But what perils it faces on a daily basis. It is low on the food chain and still needs to look for food daily. It’s daily supply is not guaranteed. It has to make do with whatever worms and maggots it can come by whenever they can be found. So it is with the man who has come to Christ. They are no longer free to do as they wish and run wildly as they now have someone they account to. They are now tame and have a keeper who ensures their daily provision. They have principles to abide by and yet they still feel secure in this new environment. Oh! I wish the tame would converse with the free as often as to invite them to the new life without cares of the world.
‘he hath put a new song in my mouth”

Vigilant

This is what I’ve done at some point in different congregations
I’ve classified the people into different groups and made conclusions just by observation
The ones who’ve got the mannerisms of true believers
The ones who look like they’re here just for the sake of attendance
The ones who look out of place, some look like they’re trying to find a place to hide
The ones who know when to shout halleluiah! And amen! as if on cue
The ones who just will not sing along to any song though looking at the hymn book
Those who groove to the music
Those who sing and praise with all their heart
Those who appear to not be able to stop talking during preaching
Those who just want people to notice they’re wearing a new outfit
Those who want to be noticed
Those who don’t want to be noticed
Those who just cannot wait for the service to be over
Those peacefully in dreamland
Those who know why they’re here
Those who cannot locate the Bible reading in their Bible
Those with very new Bibles which remain unopened throughout the service
Those with well covered Bibles with a notebook by the side and beautiful bookmarkers
Those with well worn Bibles and seem to have the Bible reading already marked by the way the owner quickly locates the Bible reading
Those without a Bible or hymn book in sight
Those who know all the songs by heart and cheerfully sing throughout the service
Those who look burdened
Those who look so at home
Those who smile at everyone they make contact with
Those who seem to know everyone
Those whom everyone knows
Those whom no one knows or cares to know
Those who look dirty and unkempt for church
Those who have not dressed appropriately for church
Those who’ve forgotten in whose house they are in
The list is endless
I have made observations and unfair conclusions many a time
It’s only now that I’m asking myself to which group I belong to
I don’t really belong to any
If anything, I belong to all
I’ve been one of those people at some time
Some times by choice, sometimes by ignorance, and sometimes becoz of sin
I look back and I’m glad I’ve advanced from the negative traits to the good ones
I know whose house I’m going to even before the Sunday service and I prepare myself spiritually
I’m aware that there will be confrontation in the physical and in the spirit in each service
Moments mean a lot
We need to account for each moment in our life
Our life is the church we attend daily as Christians
We do not have church on Sundays as Christians
With each waking breath we need to acknowledge that it’s another day at church and someone new is looking at us to see if they can fellowship with us.

Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. -Proverbs 19:15

For their sakes

but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? Gen 18:23-24

Remember when Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed. For the righteous few Abraham asked if God could spare the cities. The numbers however did not get to what he asked pardon for. He started at fifty went down to forty, 45, 40, 30, till he was at ten. For that number the Lord had agreed that He would spare the city. Now only four could be found and so the city had to be destroyed. Imagine a city however small and would ten not be a very small number. Imagine what level of sin abounded in that city, that only four people qualified to be saved. Doesn’t imagining it even bring shudders to you when you look at what is happening today? How many even seem righteous in the world we live in today? How much is being condoned as not sin but a way of living these days. Things have changed. But have they really changed? Sin is still sin. However much we wish to dress it up and call it a new way of life or a new perspective, IT IS STILL SIN.
But rejoice for not all is lost. For your prayer, for just your petition, the Lord can and still will save your loved ones from whatever situation that may be around them.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.-James 5:16