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How I make sense of it all

In my last post When God does not show up, I talked about two things that I believe I should watch when things are not going the way I want them to go and prayer does not seem to be yielding answers. The first was my attitude towards God and the second is what I tell myself to make sense of it all which I described as my self-talk.

When I was much younger my favorite question was why? I’d always ask why this, what that. Over the years, my curiosity about life and the world around us has grown to such enormous proportions. I have not stopped asking why. In my finite mind when I do not know the answer to why this or that, I turn to the Dr.  Google. But when it comes to supernatural things or things for which I have no control the story changes.

I was socialized to never ask God why. God is and has always been the unquestionable God and we sing songs about His unquestionability (This doctrine probably has roots in the story of Job and one of these days we will unpack whether we can or should question God or not). To make sense of why things happen though, I fill in the gap with what I think God is doing. When I miss a flight I tell myself God is delivering me from a plane crash. When I did not get the job I applied for, it was because God was saving me from some possible disgrace or from getting fired later. When I lost my baby, God was saving me from having a child who would be born with complex medical issues and so on and so forth.

The problem with thinking this way and rationalizing God’s work this way is that at some point it stops making sense! How does one rationalize not having food to eat, or getting a terminal illness? or failing an exam? What could God possibly be saving you from? Trying to make these kinds of rationalizations have led many a Christian either down a rabbit hole of a debate about the goodness of God. If God is so good then why does he allow famine? Why does he allow devastating earthquakes? If God was so good then why…? At the point where it all stops making sense for many people, they can only conclude there is no God.

This week I have been thinking about better ways I should respond when It seems like God has not shown up and here are my reflections.

First of all, what do I desire most? The giver or the gift? If I desire the giver (God) more than anything then whether or not I receive the gift (answer to prayer) should not change how I feel about the giver. This eliminates the need to rationalize. This reminds me of the three Hebrew boys: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They had been ordered by royal decree to bow down to an idol and I am sure they must have prayed to God to save them from the impending punishment for disobeying the king but hear what they said: But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.” Regardless of the outcome, their attitude towards God was not going to change. They had chosen the giver over the gift and He was enough!

Another way to respond instead of rationalizing is to give thanks. When Job was given the news of the death of his children and loss of his possessions and his health, his friends came by to explain why a good God would deal Job a bad hand but see Job’s response to it all: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD” Job 1: 21 BSB.

My final thoughts are that I need to understand and embrace my primary mission on earth: To show forth the praises of God… in every circumstance… in the good times and the bad… Paul summarizes this concept with these bold words: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain Philippians 1:21 NIV.

Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him John 9:2 BSB

I must believe everything in my life as a child of God brings glory to God. And likewise, my response to everything in life must bring glory to God.

[I am] a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that [I] may declare the praises of him who called [me] out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 NIV

In good times and in bad times I must declare the praises of Him who has called me… my life must declare the praises of Him who has called me… and my responses to the situations of life must declare the praises of Him who has called me…

That is my identity. That’s who I am [supposed to be].

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 43:5 NIV

Yours Truly.

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When God does not show up…

This week I have been thinking a lot about unanswered prayer. For the past 14 years, I have prayed for something that remains unanswered and it’s a real bummer. Month after month, it gets more and more difficult to stay positive about getting the answer I hoped to get. Not only have I been thinking about unanswered prayer but more especially how I have reacted over the years to those answered prayers.

As I get older, I have discovered that people disappoint and its easier to not trust people than to be disappointed. Unfortunately, I have also taken the same posture with God when it comes to certain areas of my life. This week I caught myself saying out loud about something I have been praying for: “well, if it happens, it happens. If not then I have nothing to lose!” This was not an affirmation of God’s sovereignty over my life. It was more of an “I don’t want to get too excited only to be disappointed….again” speech. Today I want to explore my posture when it seems like God has not and maybe will not show up. Particularly I want to examine my attitudes and self-talk.

Zacharias and Elizabeth are a perfect demonstration of attitude.

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Luke 1:5-7 NIV

In modern-day parlance, we can say Zacharias and Elizabeth were PKs just like me! I am sure they had prayed for years for a child and God did not show up! And now their infertility had been compounded by the fact that they were too old and the plumbing had probably stopped working. But see their attitude: Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. They never stopped being godly, obeying God to the letter, or serving God with the same gusto as they did probably the first time they prayed for kids. Were they ever disappointed? Very likely! Did they ever doubt that God will come through? Maybe (we know that Zacharias ended up unable to speak for 9 months because he doubted the angel’s good tidings that he will have a son in his old age)! The lesson here is that their situation never changed how they felt about God: who He was and what He was capable of. That is why their attitude towards God never changed. Has unanswered prayer changed how you feel about what God is capable of doing in your life? Has your attitude towards God’s abilities shifted ever so slightly because you have had a very long disappointment or a series of disappointments in receiving answers to prayer?

My encouragement to you is to go back to God and get an attitude adjustment. God always shows up. He is never late! He is always on time. Sounds cliche…I know but think about it… God was preparing Zacharias and Elizabeth to be the parents of the one who was to baptize the Christ! the one who was to prepare the way for the revolution that Jesus was about to bring. John the Baptist was the bridge between the old and the new dispensations. This means he had to be born at a specific time… not a moment too early or a moment too late. What seemed like God not showing up was in hindsight a case of perfect timing!

In the meanwhile, what if Zacharias and Elizabeth had compromised on their love for God just a little? What if they had decided to be spiteful and stop serving? What if their attitude changed ever so slightly? I doubt the outcome of their story would have been the same!

I know years of disappointment have made me jaded and I don’t pray with the same level of expectation and faith anymore! I still pray for that one thing I have been hoping for for years but I  just pray out of habit not because I am expectant. I make statements like God knows I need it and when he’s ready he’ll do it!  And although that statement is fundamentally true it is said with major attitude! Only you know if you need an attitude adjustment. I know I desperately need one.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. Psalm 139:1-3 NIV

Stay tuned for my reflections on self-talk.

Yours truly.

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Our Covenant Relationship

Referencing We are Covenant People

So let’s continue from where we left off, shall we? To recap:

Abraham was the mediator of a covenant with God sealed with blood. The terms of reference of this covenant were that all that entered into it would love, obey, fear God, serve God, and keep the commandments. This covenant was meant to be an everlasting covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants, never to be broken by either party. But guess what? the children of Israel fell into a cycle of breaking the covenant, repenting and asking God to take them back only to break it all over again. Enter Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ became the mediator of a new and better covenant the new covenant which promised three things:

  • to be inclusive, not just for the descendants of Abraham but for all
  • to give access to an eternal inheritance
  • to set people free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant

Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. Heb 9:15 BSB

Just like the old covenant, the new covenant was ratified with the blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. And all who are willing to partake of this covenant enter into it by the circumcision of  the heart

For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That man’s praise is not from men but from God. Romans 8: 28-29 HCSB

And how does one circumcise the heart you ask? You are to have put off, concerning the former way of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to its desires of deceit (Ephesians 4:22 BLB) and you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips (Colossians 3:8)

But you know the best part of all of this. Jesus did not come to invalidate the old covenant ratified by God or nullify its associated promises. He came to offer this opportunity to all.

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:29 NLT

This means that all the blessings of the old covenant are available to me a non-Jew through the new covenant. this also means all the stipulations of the old covenant are also enforceable: the covenant is a blood covenant that can never be broken and the parties involved are blood partners and everything one has is placed at the disposal of the other.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3 ESV

Pentecostal Christians know how to claim the blessings under Abraham’s covenant. We sing … “Abraham’s blessings are mine!”…perhaps too often… and rightly so because everything God has is placed at our disposal. we have full access but is the flip side true? Can God count on our everything to be placed at His disposal? Abraham, of whom we sing placed everything at God’s disposal even to the point that when God said “give me your beloved son”, he was prepared to give up Isaac! Are you prepared to lay it all down?

Secondly, the terms of reference remain the same:

What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in [obedience to] all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am giving you this day for your own good? Deuteronomy 10: 12-13 BSB

So I ask you: Do you love God? Do you fear God? Do you obey God in all things? Are you serving God with all your heart and with your soul? and Do you keep the statutes and commandments of the Lord? I know I fall short of these most days and if you are like me and you fall short too, then I pray this day that God will help us   to be intentional in our covenant relationship with Him, to keep our part of the covenant so we can fully experience and enjoy the blessings of Abraham.

Yours truly.

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We are Covenant People

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of listening to my Dad preach a sermon in church. It had been ages and for those of you who know Pastor Tee, I was not disappointed! His message was about our covenant relationship with God and this is a synopsis of the sermon and my interpretations of it.

All of God’s dealings with mankind have revolved around two major covenants: the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both of these covenants were entered into by God with a person and were ratified by blood. Within these blood bound covenants were stipulations which both parties abided by. These included the fact that covenants sealed in blood should never be broken. The parties involved in the covenant become blood partners and everything one had was placed at the disposal of the other. And finally, there were terms of reference that had to be fulfilled. Enter Abraham:

The Old Covenant was established between Abraham and God and ratified on both sides by blood- Abraham through circumcision (Gen 17:10-14) and God through the blood of sacrificial animals (Gen 15:1-10). These were the terms of the covenant:

What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in [obedience to] all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am giving you this day for your own good? Deuteronomy 10: 12-13 BSB

To shake hands on this covenant, animals were cut up in halves and put on either side with a path between them that the parties had to walk through. This signified that whoever broke the covenant was worthy of death just like those animals.

Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. Jeremiah 34:18 NIV

So Abraham and God shook hands on their covenant (Gen 15: 1 -21). Abraham had everything he wanted by virtue of the covenant. In his old age, he even had a son! Everything that belonged to God was at Abraham’s disposal and everything that belonged to Abraham was at God’s disposal. For the covenant to remain unbroken, Abraham had to meet the terms of reference: Love, Obey, Fear God, Serve God, and Keep the commandments. The day Abraham took Isaac to Moriah to sacrifice him, he proved to God that in as much as God would not break the covenant neither would he!

Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Gen 22:12, 16-17 NIV

The descendants of Abraham got to partake of the blessings of this covenant which they entered into by circumcision- circumcision of the foreskin and whenever they strayed away and broke the covenant (the Israelites broke the covenant a lot! Hosea 6:) they were brought back into covenant with circumcision of the heart.

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

So what has this got to do with me? I am not a direct descendant of Abraham!… oh but it’s got everything to do with me […and Jesus Christ]!

Stay tuned for the second part of We are Covenant People. In the meanwhile be intentional in living out your faith.

Yours truly.

 

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The worthless Christian

This week I was reading Matthew 5 and I decided to linger in a few verses I have read many times:

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Matthew 5:13 NIV

Let’s take a minute to unpack this. The very essence of salt; what gives it its name and its very inherent properties is its saltiness. We can go on to talk about the functions of salt such as flavouring, preservation etc. But what I want to dwell on for a minute is on salt losing its essence as salt. If salt does not have salt then it is just worthless crystalline “stuff”. I am at a loss as to what to even call it because we all know salt as salt… saltiness and all!

As I pondered on that I thought about the many people who call themselves Christians today but have no essence of a Christ-like life. They are Christians without the Christ; they are just “-ians” and like salt without its saltiness,  that is just something worthless. Reflect on your life, are you living a life that is worthy of using the title Christian? Is Christ the essence of your life? Do you live a life that reflects the properties of a Christ-like, Christ-filled, Christ-centred life? Are you a  Christian or an “-ian” (No offence to the those who are legally called Ian 🙂 ) Think about that!

I am going to leave you with some food for thought and next time we will talk about this at length:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way,  [I emphasize in the same way] let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5: 14-16 NIV

Be intentional about living out your life worthy of the calling to be a CHRISTIAN. Don’t be an -IAN!

Yours truly.

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New Beginnings

The new year is a time of resolutions, an opportunity for a fresh start. Many people, myself included, make plans for what they hope to accomplish in the new year.  However, according to U.S. News, approximately 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February. This is very depressing considering that resolutions are a fantastic way to make positive changes in one’s life.

One of my resolutions for the new year was to be consistent in posting on this blog. In fact, I made a commitment to post at least once a week for the entire year. Last night I went to bed disappointed because the whole week had gone by and I had not been inspired to write. I was feeling forlorn because the year had just begun and it appeared that this resolution will not even make it to February. In my despair, I asked God for inspiration and it came today in church. Shout out to Pastor Kirk Cowman.

One of the lessons from the sermon today was that my new beginning is only found in Jesus Christ. As I pondered the significance of this for my blog and for all my other resolutions, I realized how true this statement is and I was reminded of one of Jesus greatest advice:

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15: 4-5 BSB

It is only in Christ that we get true and lasting results. Of myself, I am doomed to fail. Apart from Christ, I can do nothing. The odds are against me.  80% is a high number to beat. But in Christ, my resolutions will not fail before the end of January. Like a branch, if I tap into the source of my strength, of my joy, of my health, of my knowledge, of my wealth, then I am confident that my resolutions for a healthy lifestyle, to be more joyful, concerning my education, my finances, my children, and my job etc. will bear fruits.

God in His infinite mercy answered my prayer for inspiration for this post. But he did not stop there… He has shown me the path to a successful 2019  so I do not become a statistic: He says, “Remain in Me”! The next verse is a perfect description of what will become of my resolutions (and more importantly, my soul) If I do not heed this advice:

If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned. John 15:6 BSB

My resolutions will wither away and become all but a distant memory, wishful thinking, as has been my resolutions almost every year.  My prayer for you as you begin 2019 is that you remain in Christ and everything will be possible for you. Your new beginning is possible. Apart from Him, you can do nothing!

Welcome to 2019,

Yours Truly.

P.S. I am still on track with my resolution if we agree that today is the last day of the week 😉

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With a Grateful Heart

As I look back over the year, I have tons to be thankful for despite the disappointments, losses, and heartaches of 2018.

One of such to be thankful for is this blog which has provided me with an outlet to express what God is doing for me on the inside. So, I just want to take a moment to say thank you to all my readership. Your encouragement in reading, commenting, sending me feedback about my posts, and sharing testimonies with me about what God was doing in your life through my blog was everything to me. It was like God Himself (through you) was saying “Well done!”  and I am truly grateful. So as I end this year, I will like to say a prayer for all of you:

I pray that God walks with you as you cross over into 2019. As you step into 2019 you step into freedom and the troubles of 2018 will bow down to the name of Jesus and cease. I pray that God will be your shepherd and you his sheep in 2019. May the peace of God guard your heart and garrison your mind from all fear. May your hunger and thirst for God be met by a deep revelation of the personhood of God and of His Christ. And may all your hopes and dreams for the new year be established. May God grant you the ability to love freely, the fortitude to forgive freely, and the grace to give freely. Finally, I pray that in 2019 you walk in blamelessly in the light of God and in the sight of all men. Amen.

Welcome to the end of 2018 and the beginning of the best year of your life yet.

Be intentional.

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Having everything but possessing nothing: the problem of things

Yesterday, I  started reading A.W. Tozer’s The pursuit of God in which he delves into the concept of things and I will like to share with you what I have learnt.

Before God created man he prepared for man’s arrival by creating a world full of useful and pleasant things for man’s sustenance and delight. These things were always external to man. Within man was God’s throne and external to man were the gifts God showered him with. Sin, however, changed everything! The devil convinced our first parents that the things were more important than God setting the world on a course where God was forced out of the heart of man and things were allowed to enter. The heart of man covets things with such deep and fierce passion embodied in the words “my” and “mine”. There is no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in this life. Unfortunately, it comes so naturally (even my one year old uses those words) it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is. In the old testament, we see Abraham fall into the pitfalls of possessions.

Abraham had Isaac in his old age and he loved Isaac with every ounce of strength in him. Isaac represented everything sacred to his father’s heart: the promises of God, the covenants, the hopes of the years, and the long messianic dream. The love for his son was so strong that it bordered on the perilous and God had to step in to save both father and son from this uncleansed love:

“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will show you. Gen 22: 2 Berean Study Bible

God made Abraham go as far with the sacrifice to the point of no retreat and then he intervened and asked Abraham not to lay a hand upon the boy. In effect, God was saying to Abraham, “I never intended for you to slay Isaac, I just wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart so I may take my rightful place and rule unchallenged. I wanted to correct the perversion in your love.” Isaac was his prized possession, the culmination of all he was and the embodiment of all he possessed and God had in a sense taken that away from him. That night on the mountain, God showed Abraham the difference between having things and possessing them. Abraham lost all his possessions but ended up gaining everything.

…declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. And through your offspring, all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22: 16-18 Berean Study Bible

Abraham had everything but truly possessed nothing. When we take a critical look at all of Jesus’ teachings as recorded in the gospels, most of them focused on not allowing things to take front and centre in one’s heart but rather to allow God to take his rightful place in the hearts of men.

Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness [allow God to establish his rightful place in your heart. Let the things be external like it was in the beginning] and all other things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 [Interpretation mine]

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29

He demonstrated this in his parables, in his interactions with the Pharisees and Sadducees, in his instructions to the rich to sell their possessions and more figuratively with the cleansing of the temple. In that story, we see people allowing material things to be the central focus in the temple; the seat of God’s presence. Jesus chases them away in a bid to restore order to God’s temple where God is enthroned in the heart and minds of people (my house will be called the house of prayer [communion, fellowship, relationship with God]).

Today you are the temple of God. Is the Kingdom of God within you? Does God sit unchallenged on the throne of your heart? Or does He contest with things, the gifts he showers you with? As we go into a new year my prayer is that we make a commitment to let go of the things that have taken a grip over our heart and allow God to be our one true treasure.

“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose, he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately, and forever.” (from “The Pursuit of God (Updated, Annotated)” by Aiden Wilson Tozer, A. W. Tozer, Ruth Zetek)

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My Bucket List of Requests

As the year draws to a close, Christians all over the world spend time either privately or corporately to pray; thanking God for a successful year and to lay a bucket list of requests at His feet for the new year and I am no exception.

I woke up this morning ready to compile my bucket list so that I could spell them all to God in prayer when I felt God’s spirit directing me to read the story of Joseph. Now, I have read the story of Joseph over and over again but I decided to obey God’s leading and do it anyhow and I can assure you I wasn’t disappointed. I will share with you what I learnt:

Joseph was a boy who was sold into slavery by his brothers. Through a series of incredible events, he went from being a slave to the ruler of Egypt, a superpower in his days.  As I read on I discovered one of the key secrets to Joseph’s success: The presence of God

As we journey through Joseph’s life, the circumstances and seasons of his life changed but the one constant was the presence of God. Joseph was successful, blessed, gained the favor and trust of men, experienced God’s kindness, and was entrusted with great responsibility because God was with Him. 

And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did, Joseph found favour in his sight… Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned…the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. Genesis 39: 2-5 Berean Study Bible

The LORD was with him and extended kindness to him. He granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden, who put all those held in the prison under Joseph’s authority, so that he was responsible for all that was done there. The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him and gave him success in whatever he did. Genesis 39: 21-23 Berean Study Bible

 Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”… You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you. I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt…“I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.” Genesis 41: 38- 44 Berean Study Bible

If you are like me and your bucket list for 2019 is that you are asking God for success, for favour in certain endeavours of your life, for more responsibility (as in to be entrusted with more: spiritually, financially, in your job, with the fruit of the womb, etc.), or you are simply asking for God to smile on you and be kind to you, then look no further than the presence of God. What God was teaching me from Joseph’s story was that all my hopes and dreams are found in Him and when His presence accompanies me, all those things I am looking for will accompany me as well just as they accompanied Joseph.  It was God’ s presence which brought the elevation from slave to ruler and it is the same abiding presence that will usher in those things that you are asking for.

My encouragement to you today is to dare to ask for the presence of God to go with you into 2019 and be a constant throughout the seasons of the new year. I dare you to pray like Moses:

“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favour in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?” Exodus 33: 16 Berean Study Bible

I can assure you that with the presence of God as your constant you will always come out on top like Joseph regardless of what 2019 throws at you. You will always win.

 

 

Posted on by intentional4christ

New wine in old wineskins??

Since the first day, I read that scripture almost 20 years ago, I have wondered its meaning and significance. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that the light bulb went off. Let’s look at the scripture together:

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 NLT

As new wine ferments, it releases gases which cause the wineskins to expand. New wineskins are more pliable and can accommodate the expansion but old wineskins will burst under the pressure. 

This reminds me of an illustration made by Pastor Rob Reimer in comparing our souls to a suitcase. When we come from a vacation, the usual thing to do is to unpack the suitcase to get rid of all the dirty laundry.  It is almost impossible and unnatural and somewhat disgusting to pack clean clothes into a suitcase without getting rid of the dirty ones from the previous trip. However, we do this a lot to our souls. When we do not walk blamelessly in the light of God or others it results in shame which we carry around in our souls and this is an example of dirty laundry. Until we get rid of the shame, the hurt, the anger, the doubts, and other things that weigh us down, our souls will have no room for God and His work in our lives. 

Just as it is unwise to put new wine in old wineskins, it is unwise to put new ideas into old mindsets. This is why year after year people make New Year resolutions and year after year, continue to be disappointed in their inability to accomplish them. In 2019, we will not get new results with old behaviours. We need to permit the Holy Spirit to transform us by the renewal of our minds.

Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Ephesians 4:23 NLT

This means we need to unpack the suitcases of our souls. We need to permit the blood of Jesus to cleanse us of the ignoble (and I say permit because a lot of times we hold on and don’t want to let go of the dirty laundry). We need to allow room for God’s presence in our lives. We need to be intentional about this.

God desires a relationship with each and every one of us above everything else. He wants to bring us to a place where we can experience His love and mercy anew with each new day; like fresh laundry for each new trip.

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 3: 22-23 ESV

My prayer is that Lamentations 3:22-23 will become my experiential reality from this moment forward and especially in 2019. And I pray it will be yours too. 

Many blessings in this season from my family to yours. Merry Christmas!