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Your future is within you

Today I was privileged to listen to a sermon by Dr. Myles Munroe and he made this statement that really struck me – “your future is not a distant thing that is to come; it is within you”. He described this using an apple: within an apple are seeds and within each seed is an apple tree. The future of that apple is within itself. In a similar concept, the future of a chicken is within an egg. It just has to undergo a process.

Within each of us is the future that God has predestined for us. He declares that he knows the plans that he has for us and it is one that brings us to our predestined future (Jer 29:11 NIV).  God establishes in His word that what distinguishes Him from any other god is that he makes known (declares) the [expected] end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10 NIV).  Long before we are born, our future is decided by God. God chooses our destinies but the fulfilment of such destinies is entirely decided by us. As Dr. Munroe suggested it is like a parent paying for college for their child. That parent sees a degree ahead and yet if the child does not apply themselves to study while in college and ends up with the wrong crowd, they will flunk out completely and not attain that degree.

So this is how it works:

God declares your expected end which is your future or your destiny –> then he backtracks to the beginning and creates you –> and he lays out the plan for how you will get to your expected end according to His will.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Eph 1:11 NIV

Many times God makes known to us our future. The caveat is that God seldomly tell us the plan but neither does he leave us to figure it out all on our own.  He orders and directs our steps along the lines of those plans so long as we let Him.

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Psalm 37:27 NLT

Case in point… Joseph. God showed Joseph in a dream that his family would one day bow down to him but God never showed him how he will get there. God never showed him the pit or prison. But God was with him ordering His steps along the way as long as Joseph was in step with God. The pit and prison were all part of God’s plan to prepare him for his future. Many times the things we go through in life are all a part of God’s plan to bring us to that future he predestined us for.

So how can we ensure that we come to the expected end and future God has laid out for us? What if we mess up along the way or deviate from the plan, then what? Well… we will explore these questions in Part II of this series. Stay tuned!

Yours Truly.

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The depressed Christian

There are many opinions out there about whether or not a Christian can be depressed. There are some that believe that depression is a spiritual attack and lie from the devil, others believe it is a physical/psychological phenomenon in reaction to life’s events, and yet others believe it is a medical condition just like any physical ailment. For many years now I have been thinking about this topic based on my experiences of how Christians react to the topic of depression which I will share in subsequent posts. Recently a passage of scripture caught my attention. This scripture accurately captures the old age saying “easier said than done”. This is one of Job’s friend Eliphaz speaking to Job:

In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak. Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you. Job 4:3-5 NLT

It is my personal experience that it is easy to give advice to others about what they should do in a given situation but usually when we have to cast a gaze inward at ourselves, the advice we give often becomes a bitter pill to swallow. For this next blog, I will like to compile some data before I write and I need your help.

The task is simple. Send me a brief message back sharing your experience of dealing with depression in your own life or in that of a loved one. How did you or your loved one get out of the rut? What helped you or your loved one cope? Or what advice did you give or has someone given you regarding depression?

I eagerly look forward to your participation and I hope all your responses come together into a lovely piece on the topic of the depression. Together let’s be healthy in body, mind, and spirit.

Yours truly.

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Chosen

Many times as a christian I feel the burden of having to live a righteous life, to live up to this standard of having Jesus as my Lord and personal savior on a daily basis. Sometimes it feels like I carry the responsibility for maintaining a relationship with God; like God is this ever loving Father whose arms of forgiveness and welcome are always open and I am the one who keeps rejecting his love and so I need to keep running into His arms daily. Well… isn’t that how the gospel of salvation is presented to many?

This week I read something from scripture that has been nagging at my core:

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. John 15:16 NIV

This paints a different picture of God than what I am used to: a passive God waiting for his errant children to come home like the prodigal son. Speaking of the prodigal son, lets take a brief look at the character of the father in that story.

So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:20 NIV

The father was not passively waiting for the son’s return. He had been actively watching  out for his son on the daily, anticipating his son’s return. And when he returned, the father run to him  and embraced him. There was no passiveness in the father’s actions at all. The son was going to ask to be reinstated not as a son but as a servant in the father’s household and yet the father demonstrated John 15: 16 with his actions “you did not choose me but I, your father, chose you when you were still a long way off”

This is what God does for each and everyone of us his children everyday. He chooses us each and every day. We do not carry the responsibility for living out our salvation by ourselves or have to make the first move all the time. Everyday when God renews his steadfast love and mercies over you, He has chosen you; he has made the first move by running to you with open arms. When the sun kisses your face in the morning, God himself has kissed you with his mercy and he says “today I have chosen you and appointed you to bear fruits- to show the world what it means to have a heavenly father  who runs up to you while you are a long way off”

Here’s my encouragement: Sometimes the responsibility for living right and godly feels tedious. Many times I feel like a fraud because I  do not feel like I measure up to the standards that I so boldly blog about. I feel like I am always running to God with my inadequacies. Today, I am encouraged that even when I run to God on a daily, the distance I run is shorter than I should be running because God beats me to the punch and starts running towards me  with his renewed love and mercy the moment I open my eyes! Even when I was a long way off… he started running.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 2:22-23 ESV

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Circumspection

This morning I was reading a passage of scripture and I read a note I had written to myself  a while back. The note said: “Did God encourage a lie”? This made me really focus on that scripture and I will share my thoughts with you as an encouragement for this new week and new month.

1 Samuel 16 is the text. So for context: God has just rejected  Saul as king over the Israelites and has commanded Samuel to go an anoint someone else in Bethlehem as king. Samuel then says to God that he is afraid that when Saul learns of his mission in Bethlehem he would be killed and this was God’s response:

The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.” 1 Sam 16:2-3 NIV

The lesson from this story is not that is it OK to lie or embellish the truth. The lesson is one of circumspection.  Circumspection is being  wary, cautious, and prudent. Circumspection has many applications but in this story, it presents as being careful about what you say and to whom about the plans of God. Samuel, who carried the authority and presence of God as the prophet of God could have very easily just told Saul his intentions for coming into Bethlehem! After all, he had confronted Saul several times but circumspection dictated that this time he be cautious, discreet and wise.

Earlier this week I read about how Saul exercised similar circumspection when he had just been anointed as king. His uncle came to him and asked him to tell him everything that Samuel had told him and all Saul said was that Samuel told him the donkeys had been found and omitted to include the part about being anointed as king (1 Sam 10:16 NIV).

As you go into this month, you may be asked  through casual or intentional conversations about your plans for the future, about God’s intentions for your life, about your progress/ status in life etc. Before your respond, ask God what you should do and listen for direction. In many cases, it may be OK to share but not in every case. Because circumspection is not about lying or embellishing the truth, you want to ask God how to proceed with an answer. Perhaps like Samuel, you want to start this month by asking God what answer to give if you are asked about His plans for your life so that you are prepared even before you are asked. You will see in the story in 1 Sam 16 that because Samuel already had an answer before he set off on his journey to Bethlehem, he had an answer for the elders of Bethlehem when they asked what his mission was and why he had come.

Circumspection , described in the book of proverbs as prudence will preserve your life from evil and wicked machinations many times over!  God wants to do something big in your life so be prudent in February 2020 and don’t be an over-sharer unless directed by God to share!

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. Prov 22:3 NLT

Enjoy this new month as we explore God together and be circumspect especially in telling others about the things God is about to do in your life. You are blessed beyond measure.

Yours truly.