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On the third day of Christmas…

On the third day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Peace in my Heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9: 6 ESV

I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 NLT

The peace that Jesus promises is not one that is the absence of chaos and turmoil but one in spite of. It is that blessed assurance that regardless of the present circumstances grace has got you and you are not alone. It is living this conviction every day:

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Isaiah 43: 2 NLT

But this peace just like salvation is a gift of God and you can choose to not accept it. You can choose to worry and fret about the what-ifs and the current happenings in your life. My advice: accept the gift of peace of mind and heart in this season. Let not your heart be troubled. Jesus has overcome the world!

Yours truly.

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On the second day of Christmas…

On the second day of Christmas JESUS gave to me Everlasting life, and Salvation full and free.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10: 10 ESV

Not only have we been given the free gift of salvation. Jesus came to give us an abundant life; a life that is eternal and everlasting. For the Christians out there this sounds like old news but there is something new to be learned from this. The questions I have for you are these: Do you have this life Jesus talks about? Does this life flow out you like streams of living water? Do you exude an abundant life? or is this scripture below your story:

You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life. John 5: 39-40 NLT

Don’t be the one who refuses to see a good thing when its right in front of them. For the believer and non-believer alike, it’s not too late! Come to Jesus and receive this life he gives.

Yours truly.

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On the first day of Christmas…

For the next 12 days, I will be going through the 12 days of Christmas and what my true love gave to me in this delightful twist of the song!

On the first day of Christmas Jesus gave to me salvation full and free.

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5 NIV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT

God has offered all mankind His free gift of salvation. To us it’s free, but it cost God the life of His Son. On the cross, Jesus Christ became the final sacrifice for our sins. He paid for our salvation with His blood. But like any other gift, God’s gift of salvation doesn’t become ours until we accept it. Just as we can refuse a gift someone offers us, so can we refuse God’s gift of salvation.

Would you accept His free gift today? It is full and it is free!

Yours truly.

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What if I am wrong about it all?

I recently read a very compelling social media post about a dream someone had about the rapture. At the end of the post, the writer added, “I could be wrong about all of this but what if I’m not?” to which someone commented “You are right. You could be wrong about all this. And you probably are.” Ouch! such an anticlimactic ending to a great message of repentance and salvation.

For a few years now I have been saying the exact same thing though. I tell people it is better to have served God and go into eternity only to realize that it was all for naught than to get to the other side of life and find out that the bible and everything in it was the real deal! But as I reflect on the comment to the post and on my own statement, I recognize that it is very defeatist. It most certainly does not inspire confidence in anything and anyone; certainly not in the God who made the whole world and in His word which is the only truth in this world where everybody is encouraged to find and speak their truth.

As I reflect, the scripture that comes to mind is

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. Hebrews 10:35 NIV

The entire chapter (Hebrews 10) summarizes salvation and the hope we have in Christ. God in his infinite wisdom knew that there would come a day when I would ponder over my life and this message of salvation and will waver in my hope and so He prepared in advance an encouragement not to throw away my confidence.  God admonishes from his Word:

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:22 NLT

I need to hold on to the hope I profess of an eternity living and loving in the presence of God when my life on earth is over. I am not wrong about it all. I cannot waver. And the reason I am not wrong is that God can be trusted to keep his promise! He has promised me that obeying Him and serving Him and living for Him here on this earth will be rewarded. He has promised me eternal life and He will keep His promise. That is the confidence I have.

My encouragement as we come to the end of a year and a decade is this: hold on to your faith, to the hope you profess. Do not throw away your confidence or downplay it. It will be richly rewarded.

Yours truly.

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For I know the plans I have for you….

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29: 11 NIV

This scripture has brought comfort to many Christians (myself included) during times of uncertainty. Many times I have prayed this scripture when things happen in my life and I cannot explain them or when I am earnestly asking God for a special blessing, I remind Him from this scripture that his plans are to prosper me and give me a future and a hope.

Over the past few weeks, however, I have had the privilege of thinking about this scripture a little more deeply when I heard it quoted at the memorial service of a Christian young man who died very unexpectedly. The question was posed: “Was this God’s plan?” As I pondered the question, a very unusual answer came to me in the form of another question: “What is the future and hope God promises?”

If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him. 1 Cor 15: 19-23 BSB

As Christians, our hope and future are not of this world. Our hope, our future, our glory, and crown are in the fact that when our life is over in this world, we will stand victorious before the King of kings, Our God and Saviour Jesus Christ in the next world. If you have made Jesus the  Lord and Saviour of your life then you have a hope and a future and that is God’s plan for you. It is God’s desire that everyone is saved and comes to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 4 BSB).

So what about the prosperity promised in the scripture? People have a tendency to think of prosperity only in terms of money, wealth, and possessions but Jesus describes possessions not only as earthly but also heavenly. This is why He encouraged that we store up treasures in Heaven as well. This is not to say that I have prayed amiss all these years or encouraged myself with this scripture in vain. But as God calls me to enjoy a deeper relationship with him, I have come to the realization that this scripture Jer 29: 11 is both relevant for my life here on earth and also has eternal implications. I believe that God’s plan for me here on earth is that I prosper, be in good health, be successful, be happy and be delivered from harm. This is all scriptural. But I have also come to know in these past weeks that my prosperity, my future, and my hope is eternal and it is anchored in Christ the Solid Rock on which I stand while on this earth.

Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and steadfast. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek Hebrews 6: 18-20 BSB

As we slowly come to the end of the year, the end of a decade, the question I have for you and for myself is this: “Is your future anchored on the hope that is Jesus?” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Yours Truly.

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Putting in our best

Over the past year, I have found myself in places where Christians I know are the subject of confidential and sensitive discussions in relation to their work ethics. I have often been appalled at how very often these people are described so badly and usually I am ashamed to admit that I know them.  Every time this happens though, I am humbled and I reflect on my own life and wonder “What are people saying about my work ethics behind closed doors?” “Am I putting in my best?” “Do my work ethics bring glory to God?”

We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God here on earth and everything we do must reflect that. Our diplomatic mission is to enact the Kingdom of God in every aspect of our lives and people must see it and be able to report nothing but your good works back to the King of Heaven. 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NIV

So I have no choice but to put in my very best! A few weeks ago I read something from my devotional which has stayed with me and I’d like to share it with you. It is taken from  3-Minute Devotions for Families:

Doing our best. As children, the point is driven home to us: Do your best on that test! Do your best on that team! As adults, we are still inundated with the “best” message: Give it your all at work! Be the best possible mom, dad, worker, friend, etc. you can be. It is not a bad message. Not at all.

But we have to remember that even our very best is nothing until the Spirit of God breathes life into it. Today instead of just striving, striving, striving, why not concentrate on asking God to be at the center of all you do, so that your work will be supernaturally empowered from on high.

Hope you are blessed by this!

Yours Truly.

 

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Forgiven

I have done some really stupid things in my short existence here on earth… some of them I have chocked to immaturity but no matter how much I excuse others,  they have got a hook in my conscience and can bring me to a place of shame with just a fleeting thought. And yet most days, I strut about guilt-free, not carrying the weight of my careless past around. More often than not, I feel FORGIVEN. I say more often than not because there are a few days where a random event triggers memories from my past and with the memories come a twinge of condemnation. But even then, I still feel FORGIVEN.

Over the past few weeks, I have come to the realization that forgiveness is not free and should not be taken for granted. It always comes at a cost both to the forgiver and the forgiven; a cost which is manifest in expectations.

As we continue with our series on the Lord’s Prayer (sorry for the hiatus), I have had time to ponder over the next section:

Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Matthew 6:12 GNT

Two expectations of the one who is forgiven are that:

  1. He or she does not become a repeat offender.  John 8:11: “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.” BSB. Jesus expectation of the woman caught in adultery was that having been forgiven, she’d not put herself in that position again.
  2.  He or she would replicate such forgiveness.

“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” Matthew 18: 23- 35 NLT

The expectation of the forgiven is that they will, in turn, become the forgivers.

Forgiveness needs to be given freely and often. It is to be given without any demands of the offender; knowing full well that the offender may require to be forgiven for similar or other offences over and over again.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! Matthew 18:22 BSB

It seems like a difficult task and frankly a futile one. Why forgive with the understanding that you can be hurt again? Another lesson from weeks of pondering is that forgiveness is not easy. It is easy to say to someone who owes you money, “Don’t worry. It’s all good!” only if you can afford to do so. Cancelling another’s debt  (sin, offence, trespass is likened to debt in scripture) like the King in the story above did can only come from one place: abundance.

It is not the abundance of things that I speak of; cos life does not consist in an abundance of possession (Luke 12:15). Rather I speak of the abundant life that Jesus promises: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10 ESV). This abundant life is the impetus for forgiveness. When God forgives you of all your wrongdoing, and you walk about guilt and condemnation-free, that’s winning the lottery of abundant life! You’ve got it good. You’ve been made and so you can afford to freely cancel other’s debt.

That’s not even the best part. The best part is that as we forgive others, God forgives us too. For those who love science, that’s a positive feedback loop! The more you forgive, the more you are forgiven and the more you are forgiven, the more you forgive. It sounds glamorous, I know, but forgiveness is far from glamorous. It is painstakingly difficult.

The reality of it all is this: To whom much is given, much is expected. The expectation of the forgiven is to become a forgiver. And if there’s anyone who has been forgiven much it is me! And so for me, forgiveness is not a choice. It is God’s expectation of me. And I know I can count on God’s spirit to fill me abundantly with His love and grace in my time of dryness so I can graciously forgive as God has forgiven me.

Give me this day my daily bread, O God,  so out of my abundance of love, and grace, and truth, and mercy, I can confidently say to those who offend me, “Don’t worry. It’s all good!

Yours Truly.

 

Picture from Clear Sky Group. (2018, November 23). The importance of forgiveness in recovery. Retrieved from https://clearskyibogaine.com/the-importance-of-forgiveness-in-recovery/

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Our Daily Bread

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 NIV

I have spent almost a month pondering over what this scripture means to me and I learnt two lessons from this line of the Lord’s prayer.

Lesson 1

Many times in my life when I have prayed about my needs and wants, there is some measure of extravagance to it. I am asking God (with all earnestness) for some really big things… we are talking lots of moolah and always for many good causes but in the course of thinking of this scripture, there was a paragraph from the book I am reading, Pursue Overtake Recover, that really struck me. The author, Kerry Kirkwood said:

Many of us pray big prayers and yet prepare little for the answers. Without wisdom from above, the answers to some prayers would be destructive. For instance, you may ask for a million dollars to flow through your hands and yet are not prepared because you have not been faithful and responsible handling hundreds of dollars… The receiver of the gift must be equal to the size of the gift so as to contain the answer when it comes.

That really hit home for me. so what has this got to do with my daily bread? Everything. I am learning to ask for my DAILY bread. Not more than what I need but exactly what God knows I need each day. Since I learnt from Psalm 23 about not wanting because God is my Shepherd, god has proven Himself to me and my family. We have had enough to get us through every day. Some days, this means we have enough to give generously to others and other days it means we have just enough for our family unit. Regardless of the day, whatever God blesses us with is enough for the day. It is our DAILY BREAD. I am 100% in agreement with the prayer of the wise man:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. Proverbs 30: 8-9 NIV

Lesson 2

A lot of times when we think of daily bread, we think of our physical and financial needs and while that is all well and good, bread in scripture represents far more than that! let’s look at these scriptures together:

Yes, I am the bread of life! I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” John 6: 48, 51, 58 NLT

Jesus contrasts two kinds of bread. One is for physical sustenance and the other is only found in Him and it gives life, even eternal life. Because it is Jesus himself. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:38 NIV).  So when Jesus is teaching us to pray for our daily bread, we are asking God to give us enough of Himself for another day; enough presence, enough power, enough revelation, enough of His spirit for the day.

So how do I access this bread and how does it give me life? Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” (Matthew 4:4 NIV). The Word of God is key and when God Himself inspires us with the exact Word we need for the day, how blessed will our day be! We will experience the life-giving power of God’s word. The same breath of life that was breathed into the first man’s nostrils making him a living creature is manifest in every word in scripture because All Scripture is God-breathed… (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV)

So if you have been following along in this series, we start by acknowledging who God is as our Father and identifying our place in His kingdom and the next step is to ask for God’s enablement by asking for enough of God for the day. Perhaps if I start my day with a measure of God’s spirit, I may not struggle as much with my thoughts, with what I say, with my actions, and with my motives and motivations throughout the day! So:

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me
This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me
And I’m desperate for you
And I’m lost without you

Yours Truly.

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Complacency

This year I started a journey of journaling my walk with God through this blog. While it has been such an amazing and eye-opening experience for me, I have had to face some very dark truths about myself and my walk with God. This week as I reflected on my life, I discovered that sometimes because of what I learn from God’s word, I get complacent and look down on others who I believe are still “ignorant”. Unfortunately, this behaviour is very rampant in churches and is partly to blame for the many doctrines and denominations that exist today. Many Christians believe that they have figured out the “truth” and castigate other churches/ fellow Christians for being “lost” because they do not have the same insights.

This week I was listening to a song and the lyrics really convicted me of my complacency and high-mindedness.

Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth’s become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they’re tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I’m so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided

Jesus, friend of sinners, the one who’s writing in the sand
Make the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of thieves
Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees
No one knows what we’re for only against when we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs, crossed over the lines, and loved like You did

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks yours
Songwriters: Mark Hall / Matthew West

I sincerely believe that when God draws us in and reveals more of Himself to us, it is not so that we go out there and point fingers or cast stones at others. I believe as we get to know more of God, the posture and attitude we need to have are these: humility and compassion. As we go deeper in our relationship with God, we ought to receive the truth that comes from knowing God with humility and our hearts need to break with compassion for those who have not yet come to the same reality. As people (believers and unbelievers alike) are finding their way to a deeper relationship with God, they should not be tripping over my judgements of them or their walk with God. They should not need to be shielded from my pointing fingers or my sword of self-righteousness.

And so I sincerely pray that God will open my eyes to the world at the end of my pointing fingers. I pray that my heart will be led by mercy and compassion and will break for whatever breaks God’s.

Yours Truly.

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Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Have you ever prayed for something that you really really want or need and ended that prayer by asking that God’s will be done? Once I was praying for a miracle for a loved one who was dying and my only request was that God heals them so they live. I finished that prayer with “but let your will be done” because I thought it was the Christian and humble thing to do when asking for such requests. In that moment all my hope was that God’s will was also that this person lives otherwise that would defeat my whole prayer! In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed a similar prayer asking that God’s will be done and we all know how that turned out for Him! (we will come back to this point shortly)

In short, I have never liked adding that caveat to any prayer. This week I dug deep into why I do not like to pray “Your will be done” and I realized it is because of two reasons: Many times I do not know what God’s will is and the second reason is a fear that even if I found out what God’s will was, it will be in conflict with what I want or think I need. This week, God taught me a few things to get me unstuck from this mindset.  So let’s delve in.

What is God’s will for me in any situation?

That is a difficult question for this very reason: For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?  (Romans 11:34 NLT). No one knows the mind and heart of God except God’s Spirit.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 NIV

But thank God that through the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross, we have been redeemed. And through this work of sanctification and justification and now have God’s spirit; the spirit of reconciliation (1 Cor 2:12). It is by this Spirit that we have the mind of Christ. As our minds are being renewed to become more and more like Christ’s, we are able to know the will of God.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12: 2 NLT

In every circumstance we face, God’s will for us is good, pleasing, and perfect. So back to my initial comment about how it ended for Jesus when he prayed that God’s will be done in the Garden of Gethsemane… well we know that He ended up dying a distasteful and painful death. However, we on this side of history, can look back and say that God’s will was good, pleasing, and perfect because that death brought us back into relationship with God (this is why Good Friday is really good!). Take solace in this promise of God:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) 

What do I do if what I want/need and God’s will are not in agreement?

This question is easy. Remember that in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray “your kingdom come” before “your will be done”? If we come to the place of understanding that Jesus Christ is king over our lives and over the earth, then the choice becomes easy.

For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” Ecclesiastes 8:4 BSB

Frances Havergal captured the response of every Christian who has surrendered to the Lordship and Kingship of Christ in her famous hymn as thus:

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Jesus conquered the world in an epic battle and now the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Revelations 11:15 CEV). He reigns supreme and sovereign over all the heavens and the earth. So as sons and daughters of the King of the heavens and the earth, not only should our prayer be “your will be done” but we can confidently add “…on earth as it is in heaven”

Yours Truly.