A bigger plan

I find the story of Job quite interesting and that is one man I believe we should all learn from.

Let me give you his profile:

·         He was blameless and upright

·         He feared God and shunned evil

·         He had seven sons and three daughters

·         He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camel, 5,000 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys

·         He had a large number of servants

·         He was the greatest man among all the people of the East

Job Chapter 1 records how Satan had gone to present himself before God. You know, God was so proud of Job, that he asked Satan if he had considered Job. God even added that there was none like Job on earth and went on about how perfect and upright he was and how he detested evil.

Satan was convinced Job only served God because of the material things he had, so he got permission from God to strip Job off those things.

And it came to pass that Job lost everything but his life and his wife, in a single day! His children, sheep, camel, yoke of oxen, donkeys, servants… gone!

 His reaction when he got the news is the biggest lesson I have learnt from Job. Look at verse 20, ‘ it says and Job arose, shaved his head, fell on the ground and worshipped God. Verse 21 says … he praised God saying blessed be your name.

For me, I believe the devil had lost the battle at that point. He took everything away from Job and yet, Job worshiped and praised God. I imagine God must have been smiling on the throne, saying yes! That’s my true servant. I am so proud of Job, I knew he would not let me down.

We have all had our own fair share of experiences where we have lost something or someone very dear to us. What was our reaction like? Often times, the first reaction is to start asking God why such a thing has happened to us. At that point we feel God has wronged us because we do not ‘deserve’ such a bad experience. Would you say Job deserved it? What do you think God will have to say about your reaction?

If you read the story of Job to the end you will see that God indeed had something much bigger stored up for Job and he was fully restored.

It is true when the bible says that ‘all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose’. Romans 8 verse 28.

Psalm 64

  ¹ Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer;
   preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.
 ² Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
   from the plots of evildoers.
³ They sharpen their tongues like swords
   and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
⁴ They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
   they shoot suddenly, without fear.
 ⁵ They encourage each other in evil plans,
   they talk about hiding their snares;
   they say, “Who will see it?”
⁶ They plot injustice and say,
   “We have devised a perfect plan!”
   Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
 ⁷ But God will shoot them with his arrows;
   they will suddenly be struck down.
⁸ He will turn their own tongues against them
   and bring them to ruin;
   all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
⁹ All people will fear;
   they will proclaim the works of God
   and ponder what he has done.
 ¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice in the LORD
   and take refuge in him;
   all the upright in heart will glory in him!

Amen.

Naked we come, Clothed we return.

I grew up listening to people who said ‘naked we come, naked we return’. I heard it so many times, I started to believe the same until a got a different revelation. It is true that we come into the world naked, but as believers, do you know that when we leave, we leave clothed in glory and carrying our deeds with us!

Sometimes, because of the mentality that we return naked and with nothing, as Christians, we don’t do enough while here on earth, especially for the kingdom of God. We dont realize how important our deeds are. The truth is, our deeds today are being stored up and will follow us when we depart from this world. Revelation 14 verse 13 says “ Blessed are the dead which lie in the Lord… that they may rest from their labors, and their deeds do follow them”.

Now is the time to do those things God has laid on your heart to do, for your church, your neighbour, even for yourself.

Tabitha’s good deed was enough to bring her back from the dead! The bible said she was full of good works and almsdeeds (Acts 9, verse 36). She fell sick and died, they washed her body, laid in an upper chamber and sent for Peter.

When Peter arrived, they showed him the coats and garments which Tabitha had made while she was with them. The Bible says , Peter put them forth, knelt down, and prayed. Then he turned to the body and said, Tabitha, arise! And she did.

I want to lay emphasis on the fact that he looked at her ‘good deeds’ first, before turning to her body. It’s the same when we die, God wants to know what we have done with our time on earth, and every deed we have carried out in obedience to his word counts. What you do with your time here and now, determines what awaits you after death. It determines whether you will enjoy eternal life or suffer eternal death.

1 Corinthians 15, verse 42-44 says “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;  it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;  it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body’. This spiritual body reflects the glory of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4, verse 17-18 says “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”. Such great reward!

Destination Guaranteed

Maybe you have travelled by air, and the pilot announces the destination,  and all that...  and for some reason, your mind is at rest, you believe every word he has spoken. You don’t even know anything about him, not his history, background, experience, not even his color, yet you believe every single thing he said, even the time he said you will arrive at the destination. 

You want to sit close to the window, where you can see what you would describe as a ‘beautiful view’.. the trees, buildings, rivers, seas, mountains, clouds and everything.

You look at your wristwatch, saying ‘Oh! I will arrive at 5:15am’, then you take your mind off the trip and just spend the time relaxing, maybe reading a book, watching tv, chatting or even sleeping. You start making plans already, for when you arrive at the destination.

Now, change of scenario, You are on a flight, this time around, the pilot is Jesus. You spend all the time on the flight clenching to the next passengers seat because you are scared. What was a ‘beautiful view’ in the first scenario now becomes your ‘worst nightmare’!

‘Oh! you say, we are going to crash!’ You imagine the sea below, and you already have thoughts of drowning. You imagine the mountains and you are scared you might crash into them. ‘Oh! These clouds are coming at me too fast!’ You even complain the pilot’s voice is not loud enough ‘I can’t hear him, you yell!’

Then the hostess (Holy Spirit) comes around and tries to calm you down, but you are so engrossed in your fear that you pay absolutely no attention!

Now you start to ask the other passengers for help, where indeed there is no help. You start to look for the nearest exit, you want to jump out of the plane, forgetting that you cannot by yourself, bear your weight up.

In the book of Luke, Chapter 8 and verse 22, Jesus said to the disciples, let us go over to the other side of the lake. As soon as they set out on that journey, the storms arose, and the disciples soon forgot that the destination was not the middle or bottom of the lake, but the other side of the lake!  

They were in jeopardy and in their panic, they woke Jesus up, and He rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And he said to the disciples, ‘where is your faith?’ The truth is this, their destination was guaranteed!

We are in a world where spiritual things are as real as the physical things that surround us and when we focus too much on the things we feel or see, we begin to lose sight of God. If you have made him Lord over your life, and you are willing to hold on to him, through it all, then your destination is guaranteed.

Check your luggage!

Genesis 31

Jacob had become uncomfortable in the house of Laban, his father-in-law. Laban's sons envied him and Laban's countenace had also changed towards him.

The Lord, seeing the situation Jacob was in said to him, "Return to the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with you". Personally, I believe the most important thing God said to him was the last phrase, "I will be with you" because it meant that every other good thing he could hope for or dream of, was guaranteed.

.. So Jacob called his wives, Leah and Rachel, told them what God had said, and set them upon camels. They were on their way to that place, where God had sent them, and had also promised that he will be with them. But look what happens... Rachel 'stole' the gods her father worshiped and took them along with her!

Let's apply the same to our lives today, God has promised us a beautiful future, he said our expectations will not be cut short, so many promises we can find in the bible. Sometimes, it is even personalized when the Holy Spirit confirms these things to us, or maybe when we are in church, and a word is given, and you know for sure, that that word is for you.

We all have pasts, we were all raised in different ways, somethings we pick up along the way, others have been imbibed in us from childhood, but this is what matters... When we come to Christ, we come under a new covenant, and it is time to check our luggage for anything that is not of God because the truth is, those things will hinder us from getting to the place of promise.

God gives a word, but you still want to consult your father's oracle, or one man with great reputation for 'seeing the future', you claim you are looking for confirmation. The truth is, The Holy Spirit in us confirms the word of God.

Rachel was convinced she needed the gods of her father for protection, prosperity and survival, she was wrong! Do we have things or beliefs that we hold on to today, that we put our trust in, contrary to the will of the father. It's time to throw them all out, because only then can we be sure of a safe arrival at that place which God has pre-destined for us.

If God has said He will be with you, what business do you have with other gods?

Who do you seek?

I slept in the living room last night with the TV on. I woke up like three times or more in the middle of the night and I could hear the same message on the TV, all different preachers! I thought I was the only one who noticed it, until my husband confirmed the same this morning. They were all talking about Faith!

I was reading a sister’s comment this morning on the post “Misplaced Trust” and she was kind enough to share her experience with me. She talked about how she had waited 6 years after marriage to have her first child. She shared how her husband exercised faith throughout the waiting period and how she learnt from that, and you know the spirit indeed is one, because the message the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart to share today, also has a lot to do with faith

In the book of Mathew, chapter 28 and verse 6, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had gone to look for the dead body of the Messiah, but when they got to the tomb, they met an angel who asked them why they were looking for the living amongst the dead.

 Often times, when we face challenges, we find ourselves running around for solutions. The truth is, real solutions can only come from God; the problem however, is that we look in the wrong place! Seeking solutions in the wrong place(s) is like looking for the risen Christ amongst dead bodies in the tomb.

Jeremiah 29, verse 13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. There is a condition to finding God  and that is “seeking him with all our hearts”!  The problem is that we find it hard to trust him completely so we seek Him partly and then we spend the rest of the time seeking quick solutions in all the wrong place(s).

Often times, we follow the counsel of ’strangers’, men who claim to be godly, and we take the solutions offered by men who also claim to be godly.

Hebrews 11, verse 16 says “And he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a faithful rewarder of those that diligently seek him”. God doesn’t go on leave! He is our ever present help in time of need (Psalm 46 verse 1).

Challenges will surely come but they can not overcome us, except we permit them. Psalm 34, verse 19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all”.

Hebrews 4 verse 16 says “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”. That confidence is faith! We are not to pray to God over a matter, not really expecting results, and then the next thing; we run off to other men or gods who offer ‘solutions’.

Mathew 16 verse 26, “What does it profit a man if he gains the world but lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” There is a saying in Yoruba language that ’when the devil offers you a cap, he demands your head!’ You see, any solution outside of God is NOT a solution, even though it may appear to be, for a little while.

Remember today, The Lord is near to all who call him! (Psalm 145, verse 18)

Never mock tomorrow!

I want to take our minds back to the book of 2 Kings, chapter 7. I would be comparing 2 groups of people;

1.      The king and the officer on whose hand he leans; I will like to describe them as the privileged

2.      Four men with leprosy; permit me to describe these men as the less privileged.

They lived in the same land, at the same time, and at a season where there was famine in the land. God sent a word through his servant, Elisha, the word was supposed to benefit all in the land. A word so precise it talked about time, produce and location.

The privileged

In verse 1, Elisha said, “hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.  The officer said to Elisha, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”

This is Elisha’s response to the officer, who was full of unbelief, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”

The less privileged

Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?  If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, ……so they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys.

 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”

 Taking a closer look..

At this point I will like to tell you why I described them as the privileged and the less privileged. It has nothing to do with their physical state, position or health, but everything to do with access to the word of God!

Note that the Bible did not say that God sent Elisha to the four men with leprosy, they did not enjoy that privilege of hearing the word from the man of God; but on the other side, the man on whose shoulder the king leans had first hand information! He was present when Elisha spoke; He heard him clearly, but chose to disregard the privilege.

Most of us are like that today, God sends his word to us but we fail to see what a privilege it is. Are we saying that God is a liar, or are we saying that there are some problems too big for him to solve? Are we saying we would be better off without the word of God?

The word he gave to Elisha, like I said earlier had to do with time, produce and location. Let’s see how it applies to us today. Sometimes God sends us his word, he even goes an extra length at times to confirm the word through two or more witnesses, but this is our reaction….

With the ‘time’ we say, “oh! I believe God can do this thing but not anytime soon, maybe in a few months time, maybe next year.. but definitely not now.

With the ‘produce’ we say, “oh! how am I going to survive on this salary, or, we say, this business can never generate the funds I need to take care of my family and I.

With the ‘location’ we say, “Oh well, maybe there is hope but not in this town, or not in this country, I have to travel really far to get help.

Do you know that it is a privilege every time God sends his word? We mock tomorrow, and God; the one who created time, everytime we exercise unbelief!

After the men with leprosy had told the king what they saw, and the king had sent his messengers to confirm… In verse 15-18, “ …the messengers returned and reported to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the LORD had said.

 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house.

 He mocked tomorrow, and it cost him his life!

Activities or Dedication?

Elijah was a man dedicated unto God. In 1 Kings 19, verse 14, he says “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy alters, and slain thy prophets with the sword”

Jehu on the other hand, even though he was chosen by God to reign as King over Israel, was more interested in carrying out activities for God, than serving Him.

In 2 Kings 9, verse 33, he ordered eunuchs to throw the notorious Jezebel down from the window, to her death. In 2 Kings 10, verse 7, he sent a letter to the rulers of Jezreel and the elders that brought up Ahab’s children, telling them to take off the heads of Ahab’s sons (all seventy of them). In verse 25 of the same chapter, Jehu ordered guards and captains to slay all the worshipers and priests of Baal. They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day. He destroyed Baal out of Israel (2 Kings 10, verse 28).

In 2 Chronicles 22, verse 8, “when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them”. He also sought, found, and killed Ahaziah (Ahaziah was hidding in Samaria at that time). Jehu fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah in 1 Kings 21, verse 17-24.

Howbeit, Jehu departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, he worshiped the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan (2 Kings 10, verse 29). He did activities for God but walked in the way of Jeroboam, leading Israel to sin and provoking God's anger (1 Kings 16, verse 1)

Jehu is someone you would naturally say achieved a lot of things, but not the one thing that was the most important. God wants more than just activities. In the church today, we find a lot of people who are very active but whose hearts are not actually receptive to God. They are the first to give when there is a need, they are usually the first volunteers when there is work to be done. Some of them are celebrated as doing great things for the church of God, but they bow down to other gods. Dedication to God can only be 100 percent because the bible says a double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1, verse 8).

Sometimes, it's not even the case of bowing down to other gods, it is the case of getting so engrossed in church or other activities, so much that our personal relationship with God suffers. Deuteronomy 6 verse 5 says, "Love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 10 verse 12-13 says, "And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" .

The activities we do for God is not enough to secure the salvation of our souls, our dedication to Him will!

Forgiveness; a ray of light!

I have learnt that forgiveness is not when we sweep matters or obstacles in a dark corner in our hearts and carry on as usual. True forgiveness gives birth to a ray of light. That light provides illumination such that you see the matters and obstacles clearly, you see them enough for them to stop being an obstacle.

We get hurt the most by the people we love the most, and I believe the reason is because we expect them to be ‘perfect’. When we hold on to the hurt, we find it almost impossible to forgive the one that has hurt us.

I’ve heard people say so many times that forgiveness is never easy but I believe that one thing that makes it easy to forgive is to acknowledge the fact that we are not perfect ourselves. In the book of John, Chapter 8; the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Jesus a woman taken in the very act of adultery and wanted to stone her to death. In verse 7, “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And we know that there was not even a single one of them without sin. The same applies to us today.

Colossians 1 verse 12 says; ‘Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light’.  Isaiah 1 verse 18 says ‘Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

I was reading an article this morning, where someone said forgiveness is to let go. He described it as the release of the past, the hurt, the pain, the fear, the self image reflected in others. He said it is the opportunity to believe, to love, to trust. It is the realization of time. I agree with him totally.

When you are locked up in un-forgiveness, you lose the time that you should spend being happy because with un-forgiveness comes sadness and a burden. You do not only lose the opportunity to love but also to fellowship freely with the Father. Mathew 5 verse 22-24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Mathew 6 verse 14: For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

As deep as the pain or hurt we feel is, we have got to let go. I’ve learnt that true forgiveness brings healing and peace, the kind you will never want to let go of. Ephesians 4 verse 31 says; ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Strangers In-Charge

Strangers are not neccessarily people you have never met before, they are people who hold opinions and beliefs contrary to yours, they are people who have set up strange alters and worship strange gods. They are people who hide in close places. They are foreigners to the things of God. They are authors of wickedness. They are people who do not belong to the household of God and who are neither privy nor party to your convenant in Christ.

In the world today, we are surrounded by 'strangers' and they try to intrude into our lives. Often times, they come pretending to be friends, and this is why Jude says in Jude verse 3 " Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints".

The faith we claim we have in God is one that will be tested by these so called 'strangers'. It is our responsibility to contend for the faith and hold on to the only living God because a little walk away from God, no matter how little, is still a walk away from him!. You need not bow down to their gods. They need to hear of your God!  Psalm 18 verse 44- 45 says " As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me, the strangers shall submit themselves unto me; The strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. (You will find this same scripture in 2 Samuel 18, verse 44-45).

The truth is this, everytime you submit to the counsel of 'strangers', you put them in-charge of your affairs. Painfully, there is so much at stake when you do that. The price is one you cannot afford to pay, because they will demand your home, your children, your garners, your supplies, your property, your investments, your peace, your security, your business, your reputation, your happiness, your prosperity, even your salvation! Psalm 144 verse 11-15 says "Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood". Right hand signifies strength, and the bible says here, clearly, that their right hand is a right hand of falsehood, they come under different veils, so much deceit and pretense, the picture they show you is what they want you to see, it is not a representation of the truth, it is false, and where their strength lies.

Verse 12-15 says "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similtude of a palace. That our garners may be full, affording all manners of store, that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets. That our oxen may be strong to labour, that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there may be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord".

God is not impressed with our unbelief. Jude verse 5 " I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destoyed them that believed not". You see, even though the children of Israel were dwelling in Egypt for many years, they did not belong there. The time came for thier deliverance and the Almighty God brought them out of the land of Egypt. As good as the story sounds, doubt set in and the people who once believed stopped believing, and Jude accounts that God destroyed them for believing him not.

Jude verse 7 says " Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire". When it comes to the salvation of our souls, there is no way in-between. There are only 2 paths, one that leads to eternal life and one that leads to eternal death.

Joshua 24 verse 15 says " And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

A home without walls

Life is made up of high and low moments. Sometimes however, the low moments seem to last forever. Imagine you are at a traffic light, you enjoy it when the light is green, and you quickly zoom off, but if you get to the same traffic light when it is red, you quickly become impatient, because it will seem at that point, that the light has been red forever.

Sometimes, you look around you, and all you see is emptiness. The world all of a sudden feels so lonely, smiles slowly fade away, your once bright countenance turns dark, love seems unreachable, you realize 98% of the time, you are talking to yourself! The people you expect to love you the most are the ones who don't even seem to notice what you are going through. Slowly, you become a shadow of yourself, drained of all your drive and physical strength.

Not wanting to pray, not seeing any reason to praise, but you make an effort anyway. The God you want to see, is the God that judges, because the wicked seem to have had their way for so long.

Now, familiar faces look like strangers, because you have not been yourself for quite some time too. You feel like a puzzle about to crash. You try hard to keep up appearances, with a smile pasted on your face, but it's obviously not working! The people you crave their attention the most have refused to even notice that you are in so much pain

...Yet, from the least expected corner is a smiling face, a hand to bear you up, a shoulder to lean on, an ear that listens, eyes that see through your pain, words, ever so comforting..... and just then, your home, that has been without walls, begins to be a happy one again. Each word of comfort lays a brick, until the walls are back, and your shame is no more. The pain melts away, the darkness lifts, because you have met Jesus!

Psalm 37 verse 5 'Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass'.

Misplaced trust

King Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber, and was sick; and he sent messengers to enquire of baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether he will recover from the sickness (2 Kings, chapter 1 verse 1-18).

This angered God so he sent his angels to Elijah with a message, "Go up, meet the messengers of Ahaziah, and say unto them, is there no God in Israel, that you go to enquire of baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore, says the Lord, thou shall not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die.

An unrepentant Ahaziah sent an army of fifty, together with a captain to arrest Elijah. On getting to where Elijah was, the captain ordered him to come down but Elijah commanded fire from heaven to consume the captain and his fifty, and it was so. The king sent another fifty and a captain and the same thing happened to them.

Now, the king sent a third set of fifty and a captain but this time around, the captain acknowledged Elijah's God, he fell on his knees and besought Elijah to spare him and his fifty..... So Elijah arose, and went with him to the King and gave the King the same message, his sure death.

Verse 17 records that  King Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken.

You see, when we place our trust in any other than God Almighty, that trust is misplaced and it angers God. Deuteronomy 4 verse 24 says " Our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God"

If you put your trust in man, it's misplaced because the arm of flesh will fail you: Psalm 146 verse 3.. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.  Psalm 118 verse 8 says "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man".

If you put your trust in your own understanding, it's misplaced because your understanding will fail you: Proverbs 3 verse 5.. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

If you put your trust in material things or the things you own, that trust is misplaced: Psalm 20 verse 7-8 says "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God; They are brought down, and fallen but we are risen, and stand upright"

If you put your trust in other gods, it is also misplaced because other gods will fail you: Mark 12 verse 32...for there is one God; and there is none other but he.

Our help can only come from him: Psalm 121 verse 1-2...I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth

Psalm 9 verse 10 says " Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you". Psalm 146 verse 5 says " Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God".

Where have you put your trust?

Psalm 20

1. The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2. Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3. Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice;Selah
4. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners; the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.
6. Now know I that the Lord saveth his annointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9. Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.

Amen.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Jesus found Philip in Galilee and said to him, 'Follow me' and he did. Now Philip found Nathanael and said unto him, we have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.(John 1, verse 43-51)

Hearing that, Nathanael must have thought, 'Oh, please! *laughs* the same Joseph! the carpenter? and Nazareth of all places?. The description he got of Jesus did not match up in any way to his expectations, so he asked Philip the famous question, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'.

Philip replied him saying, come and see. Nathanael had an encounter with Jesus and immediately, he had a change of heart because he did see, that indeed, something good had come out of his least expected place, Nazareth!

Today people judge us based on our background, our ethnicity, our parent's set-backs and limitations, our history. They say things like, 'Oh! it's a family trend, they never grow old!'; or, 'This setback has been in her family for generations'; 'He can never make it, his father didn't!'; 'The people from that town are not good at anything at all'......

We need not be moved by what people say, but the truth is that often times, the things people say to us become a vivid picture in our minds, and so triggers all sorts of imaginations. Thats why the Paul says we should cast down all imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corintians 10 verse 5)

When we come to Christ, we become new creatures and old things are passed away (2 Corinthians 5 verse 17). In Christ we are not condemmed (John 3 verse 18), so it doesnt matter what your history, tribe or gender is. We come under a new convenant, Hebrews 12 verse 24 says 'Jesus is the mediator of the new convenant and his blood speaks better things'..

The easiest way the devil can get to us is through fear, because with fear comes imaginations and high things but it is your responsibility to bring such thoughts into captivity because if you dont, those thoughts will take you captive! For every situation you go through, there is a word of God for you. You have to make a choice, to believe and confess the report of God concerning you, always.

I was listening to a message this morning and the preacher said, 'only Jesus can tell you the things that are most true about yourself, he said any contrary thing people say is just their opinion and opinions are cheap. I agree with him, totally! Make a choice today what you want to believe, opinions or the truth!

Speak!

Mathew 17 verse 20 says '..I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'move from here to there', and it will move.

....Okay, that's what the bible says, but this is what we do.. We 'say' we have faith, and we 'think' the mountain we face will move.

You see there is a big difference between thinking and speaking when it comes to addressing mountains. Imagine a thirsty mum, who just sits down, looking at her daughter and 'thinking' her daughter will give her a glass of water but refusing to say anything, or, a man looking for employment, and everyday, he looks at that office, 'thinking' somehow, they will give him an employment letter.

This is the same thing we do everytime we are faced with situations and we say to ourselves, oh well, I have faith, I know this wont last forever and so we keep quiet, waiting for it to pass away. Read Mathew 17 again, it says 'speak' to the mountain!

In Genesis Chapter 1, the world was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Verse 3 says "and God said, let there be light!". Check how many times the bible records that phrase "God said" in Genesis Chaper 1 alone... 9 times! Our God is not one that keeps quiet over situations He is not happy about.

God spoke until He was happy with the situation of things around Him. Verse 31 says ..' and God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.

If God Himself speaks to situations to turn them around, then why are you quiet over unpleasant situations that surround you! If you want to have a good testimony, you want things to turn around for good, then you need to speak.

Think about it, how many mountains are you facing today? how many have you spoken to?

This little sign

I was having a discussion with a friend yesterday when she mentioned something that blew my mind. She said sometimes, all we need is just a little sign.

Often times, we despise that little sign not knowing that it is big enough to stop us. She mentioned the case of Elijah (1 Kings 18 verse 41-46), how he had sent his his servant to look towards the sea for the sign of rain. Seven times he went and at the seventh time, he said to Elijah, Behold, I see a little cloud out of the sea and Elijah said to him "Go up, say unto Ahab, prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not". What he saw was just a little sign, what the sign brought was an abundance of rain!

Sometimes, when we pray to God over a matter, the immediate sign we get is 'Peace'. There is a kind of peace that only comes from heaven and if you have ever experienced it, then you would know what I am talking about.

Elkanah had married two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had children but Hannah had none (1 Samuel, Chapter 1). Year after year, Peninnah provoked Hannah, because she was barren. This put her in bitterness of soul, and she prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. The bible says and it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Eli thought she was drunk because only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. She explained to Eli that she was not drunk and that she had only been praying to God.

Verse 17, Eli said to her, 'Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him... so Hannah went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. She rose up early in the morning, worshiped God and returned to her house in Ramah.

Verse 19 said the Lord remembered her and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Hannah believed Eli, because she had peace at his word. That was the little sign she got and the same sign that led to the birth of her son, Samuel.

The peace God has given you over any matter you take to him in prayer should be enough sign for you today. Yes, it's a little sign, but hold on to it, its all you need.

Painful praise

A girl whose masters had benefited from her being possessed of demons had just been delivered by Paul. This angered her masters and so they arrested Paul and Silas and took them to the magistrates. The magistrates of course were in support of the girls masters so this meant trouble for Paul and Silas. They tore off Paul and Silas' clothes and the multitude rose up together against them. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely, so the jailor bound their feet and took them into the inner prison (Acts 16 verse 18-24)

Verse 25 says ... And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God. Midnight signified the assurance that they were not going to release them that night, so any hope they had of being released, if at all they had, had been dashed. And this was the same time they rose up to give God praise, so much the bible records that the other prisoners heard them. What this means is that every time you are in a difficult situation, your praise must be able to lift up other people in the same or similar situations.

Verse 26 says... Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. You see, when we give God praise in difficult situations, he does not only address the current situation, He goes to the root and very foundation of the problem. He will shake the foundations of whatever has held you bound. The concluding part of verse 26 says .. Suddenly, the doors were open and every one's bands were loosed. It was to the shock of the jailor because he must have thought to himself, these men are going nowhere, after-all they have been thoroughly beaten,  I've bound their feet, locked them up in the inner prison, and I am the only one that has got the key. When God arises to set you free, it will be to the shock of the people that have held you captive!

Verse 29 says... The jailor came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas. Look how he addresses them in verse 30, he said.. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?. Do you see the difference between the jailors attitude in verse 24 and now in verse 30. Paul and Silas had become Sirs! Their testimony becomes complete when the jailor, together with his household gave their lives to Christ.

God is not moved by our nagging, He is moved by our praises! Do you find it difficult to give Him praise today? give Him anyway!

Life jacket

Sometimes, all we have in our hearts are questions, all along the same line.."why are things not working out for me? why is everyone and everything against me? why is my case different? why have I remained in this situation for so long? why me? am I going to survive this? ...on and on we go with questions.

The truth is this, for as long as we remain on this earth, we will always have battles to fight. The devil will keep throwing balls at us hoping we will fall, storms will rage, challenges will arise, the wicked will hold counsel against us. Isaiah 54 verse 15 says "Behold, they will surely gather, but not of me.."

However, there is good news, we have a life jacket! A life jacket is not designed to keep you out of water, rather, it is designed to keep your nose and mouth above the water so you don't perish in the water. The concluding part of Isaiah 54 verse 15 says "Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake".

Psalm 33 verse 10 says "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the wicked to nothing, he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. Verse 18 says "The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine". Famine in this case signifies periods of trial.

The victory we have in Christ tells us that the enemy cannot have the final say. Isaiah 8 verse 9-10 says "Prepare for battle and you will be crushed, call your councils of war, but they will be worthless, develop your strategies, but they will not succeed, for God is with us.

God can go against people that go against His will. Isaiah 8 talks about the Assyrian invasion, God offered the people of Judah gently flowing waters but they rejected it, therefore God overwhelmed them with a mighty flood that swept into the city until it was chin deep, submerging the land from one end to another (Isaiah 8 verse 6-8). That is how big and powerful our God is.

In Jeremiah 29 verse 11, God says His thoughts towards you are of good and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Why not hold on to that. Fear only God! Keep your head above the water, no matter what you are going through.

Is the pottage worth it?

Genesis 25 verse 29-34 talks about how Esau sold his birthright for a plate of pottage. It's a story I believe we are all very familiar with and maybe most of us would have said "What on earth was Esau thinking? a plate of pottage for his birthright!". Well, I believe we have to ask ourselves the same question today.

Ephesians chapter 2 talks about the right we have and the privilege we enjoy through our new birth in Christ Jesus. Verse 6 says that God hath raised us up together and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What a privilege that is!

Do you know that every time we settle for less by giving-in to the lusts of our flesh, we have sold our "birthright' for a plate of pottage. Anytime we give-in to worldly temptation, fornication, adultery, idolatry, envy,.... whatever it is that we have settled for, that is not of God, then we have settled for a plate of pottage.

Esau thought he would die of hunger, desperation was the motivating force. "Oh, I need food right now he thought, and yes, at any cost because nothing else matters at the moment!". You see, he was wrong. In the same way, we will be wrong anytime we settle for worldly short-cuts out of desperation.

Let us learn to stand our grounds no matter what, knowing that what we carry on the inside of us is greater than anything the world can offer us out there. Say to the devil the next time he comes with a tempting offer...devil, eat your pottage!

Men's grass, God's grace!

Joseph was the most loved of his father's children. He enjoyed his father's pampering and attention and these fueled hatred from his brothers. They hated him and could not speak peacably with him (Genesis 37)

 Joseph later had a dream which he shared with his brothers and they hated him even more because they interpreted it as him reigning over them. They named him 'the dreamer' and were bent on not making that dream a reality so they planned to kill him. They said to one another "come now,... let us kill him... and we shall see what will become of his dreams! (Genesis 37 verse 19-20)

There came a day when Joseph went to see his brothers where they were feeding their flock. They started ploting his death as they saw him approaching them and as he came unto them, the first thing they took away from him was the one thing that reminded him of his father's love, his coat of many colours.

He was cast into the pit and later sold to the Ish-me-eli-tes for twenty pieces of silver and that was the beginning of his journey into Egypt.His brothers thought that was the end of his dreams, they thought it was a case of 'grace-to-grass'. They had striped him of his clothes, sold him to strangers as a slave, and he had been taken, bound, to a strange land.

Fast forward to 13 years later, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream and through that, Pharaoh set him over all the land of Egypt. His brothers later traveled to Egypt in search of corn and got the shock of their lives the moment Joseph revealed his identity! The same Joseph they thought at best will live the rest of his life as a slave, now in charge of the whole of Egypt!

... and when Joseph had proved his brothers hearts, seeing that they were remorseful, this is what he said to them "..be not grieved or angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life". It was indeed a case of Men's grass, God's grace!

What is that situation that men have put you in today, thinking that they are hindering, delaying or limiting you? God has a surprise for them! Joseph's brothers thought things were going according to 'their' plans, they were wrong! it was God's plan all the way. God only used them to move Joseph forward. Only Joseph could have hindered himself if he had chosen to remain bitter but we know that he was not.

Dreams got him into Egypt, in chains and dreams lifted him to a place of honor, in charge of all of Egypt. He had travelled from grass to grace.

The prison called 'self'

When Goliath, a champion from the camp of the Philistines came against Israel, Saul saw David as a youth and Goliath, a man of war from his youth. David had to convince Saul that he could go against Goliath by talking about his past victories... how he had killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands because the Lord delivered him (1 Samuel 17 verse 37). He added that Goliath will share the same fate as the lion and the bear.

Note that every other person, including Goliath himself believed that the battle was against the Israelites but David saw something else, he saw that Goliath had come against the armies of the living God!(1 Samuel 17 verse 36). David launched out trusting this God and in verse 49, David defeats Goliath.

What happens next is quite interesting, David had returned from the slaughter of Goliath when women came out from all cities of Israel, singing and dancing. Even though they came out to meet Saul, their praises were to David. They said to one another, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. Hearing this, Saul became very angry and verse 9 says Saul eyed David from that day forward. He became a prisoner of himself because hatred and jealousy took over. He wanted David dead and so he made several attempts at his life.

In 1 Samuel 18 verse 21, Saul gave David his daughter, Michal's hand in marriage that she may be a snare to him. He meant it for evil but verse 28 says " and Saul saw that the Lord was with David and that Michal loved him". He thought it was time for plan B, so he approached his son Jonathan and his servants to kill David, yet he failed! The bible says that Jonathan delighted much in David (1 Samuel 19 verse 2).

Saul failed as many times as he tried because David aligned himself with God. When we align ourselves with God, He protects us. The bible says that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. When we choose to operate based on envy or jealousy, we become prisoners of ourselves but when we choose to operate based on love, we experience true freedom.

As I am!

Luke 23 verse 32-43 blew me away! Jesus was tried and crucified. Two thieves were crucified with Him, one to the left and another to the right.... and as Jesus prayed to His father, to forgive men for they knew not what they did, one of the thieves, also condemmed to die said to the other thief " It is just that we have been crucified for we recieve the due rewards of our deeds, but Jesus has done nothing wrong". Looking unto Jesus, he said "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom". Verse 43 records that Jesus said unto him "Verily I say unto you, today shall thou be with me in paradise".

This man came to Christ just as he was. It was no secret that he was a thief, and what's more, he had been caught and crucified in the open. I believe he was at the lowest point of his life, with so much regrets and maybe just a few minutes more to live. What blew me away is the fact that all that did not stop him from looking unto Jesus and asking Jesus to remember him.

Sometimes, we are too quick to give up, we say to ourselves... Oh! I'm done for!.... I've gone too deep into the world.... I have even entered into all sorts of evil convenants.... Oh! my sins are too much... I've committed all the crimes in the book... I'm too ashamed!

You know the good news? If you feel this way, then it means you acknowledge your sins. Stop beating yourself over it. If Christ could save the bleeding thief on the cross, the same Christ can save you today, only if you are ready to come as you are!

From Messy to Mercy

Beautiful Bathsheba was taking a bath when David looked from his roof and saw her. In 2 Samuel 11 verse 2, the bible described Bathsheba as 'very beautiful to look upon'. Having seen her, David wanted more than to 'look upon' so he enquired after her, sent his messengers to bring her that he might have sex with her and he did. Bathsheba got pregnant with David's child and Uriah, her husband had not laid with her during this period. It was a messy situation for David. He wanted so desperately to cover his sins that he had innocent Uriah killed.

God was not pleased with David so He sent the prophet Nathan to him (2 Samuel 9 verse 1 - 12). David had commited this act secretly but God was going to judge him openly. "I (God) will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun (2 Samuel 12 verse 12). In verse 15, God struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David and it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died (verse 18).

David had wronged the God he loved and served. Remember it was the same David that said in Psalm 122 verse 1, " I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. He was a man God said was after His own heart (Acts 13 verse 22) and in 1 Kings 14 verse 8, God said David kept His commandments and followed Him with all his heart.

Sometimes even as Christians, because we are not perfect, we find ourselves being drawn to sin and that is why Hebrews 12 verse 1 says we should lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beseth us. It is possible for certain sins to so easily beseth us. They are those things we know that are against God's will but we get so easily attracted to them. We find them so tempting and difficult or almost impossible to resist. We go ahead to do them and guilt sets in. One thing guilt does to a believer is that it takes away the joy of salvation. David acknowledged his sins in 2 Samuel 12 verse 13. In Psalm 51 verse 12, he asked God to restore the joy of His salvation.

God had mercy on David and in 2 Samuel 12 verse 24 " .. David laid with Bathsheba his wife ... and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon and the Lord loved him". Note that in verse 15, Batsheba was called Uriah's wife but in verse 24, she was called Daivd's wife.

Trying to cover up our sins is a strategy that will always fail. Instead we should acknowledge our sins and ask for mercy. David did and he got it!

Dedicated to you

This blog is exactly one week old today and I can truly say that I have come a long way from where I started from. The walk has been interesting, exciting, an eye opener and what's more, I've been able to learn a lot of things along the way especially from your feedbacks and comments.

I now realize that God has not only called me to share but also to listen, intercede, pray along with people in some cases and also to encourage.

When this blog was just 4 days old, the Holy Spirit told me that I must pray for every one that has been on my blog every time I go to God in prayer.I sense that there are a lot of people hurting out there and God just wants them to have an experience with Him. He wants them to feel the warmth of His love and how close He can actually be to people with broken hearts.

I could not have imagined all these even a week ago but today, I just want to say thank you to the Holy Spirit who has been a faithful companion and you, for being a part of mywalkwithjesus. You are my testimony.