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Your Kingdom Come

This week I have been pondering over the next line in the Lord’s prayer: Your kingdom come. Why would Jesus, a man whose earthly ancestry was from the royal lineage of Israel and whose heavenly heritage is the King of Kings, ask his disciples to pray for the kingdom to come. Many times when I pray this prayer I get hung up on this line. I often ask myself if that means that God’s kingdom is not yet on earth and God has no rulership or authority on earth and so Christians have to pray for God’s kingdom to come. I have also wondered if it means we are asking God to hasten the day when the sky will be rolled back like a scroll and the Lord shall appear with great power and glory (Matthew 24:30).

To be honest, I had been dreading the thought of moving on to this phrase in the Lord’s prayer until this evening. As I was reflecting on what “your kingdom come” might mean, another scripture kept coming to mind:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Rev 11:15 ESV

To English scholars, you will understand that the phrase ‘has become’ is a present perfect tense. This tense indicates either that an action was completed at some point in the past or that the action extends to the present. At face value that scripture implies that at some point the kingdom of the world was not the kingdom of God and has now become so. If God owns everything how did He lose the kingdom of the world and who did he lose it to? I started reading a book yesterday titled Pursue Overtake Recover by Kerry Kirkwood and I learned something that might help answer these questions.

In the book, Kerry describes redemption as such: Redemption means  to buy back or pay the ransom; but it is more than that , it means the original owner  never loses the right to redeem. It always has to be the original owner who redeems it not someone else down the line.  The original owner has first right to refuse the redemption or to pay the redemptive price required. Keep this in mind as we move along.

In the beginning, God placed Adam in the garden of Eden and gave Adam full authority to rule over everything on earth. God in essence gave the kingdom of the world to Adam (humankind). As ruler over the kingdom of the world, only Adam had the authority to  give up his rulership to another. The devil who had been cast down to earth for many many years (Isaiah 14:12-14) prior to Adam could not rule over the earth until Adam gave up his rulership to the devil through disobedience. The kingdom of the world which was man’s inheritance became the devil’s.

See Genesis 1:28 and compare with Genesis 9:1. You will notice that after the flood God made similar pronouncements of blessings upon mankind as he made in the garden of Eden when he first created man. But the second time around ,God never mentions anything about man’s dominion over earth.  Man had given away that dominion to the devil at this point. Have you ever wondered about the devil’s audacity in this scripture: Again, the devil took Him (Jesus) to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”(Matthew 4:8-9 BSB). Yeah that’s where it comes from.

Now remember I said to redeem something in biblical times, it could only be done by the rightful owner  not someone else in line. So to redeem the kingdom of the world, it could only be done by God who is the rightful owner and Lord of the earth (Rev 11:4). “Now the kingdom of this world belongs to our Lord and to his Chosen One! And he will rule forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15 CEV). Jesus the Chosen One, has redeemed the kingdom of the world but He did not hand that right back to man. Instead, He promised man keys to the kingdom of heaven.

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”Matthew 16:19 NIV.

And so now man’s authority to rule on earth is subject to his authority in the kingdom of  Heaven as a joint heir with Christ.

So He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:19 BSB

So when I pray, “Your kingdom come” it is an affirmation God’s rulership and authority over the kingdom of the world. It is a recognition that I have authority on earth because I have ties with the kingdom of God. And finally it is to pray that more and more people come to this same recognition so that they can also have dominion and authority too as long as they too submit to the Lordship and authority of Jesus Christ, the owner and redeemer of the earth.

Yours Truly.

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Our Father who Art in Heaven

For many people, the thought of God as a father is shaped and coloured subconsciously by the relationship that they have/ had with their own fathers, biological or otherwise.

Growing up, my dad was the scariest person I knew.  He was this tall, bearded man that towered over us little children, with a booming voice that filled the room when he spoke. Even my friends were afraid of him. When boys would call the landline, they’d hung up as soon as my dad picked up. Even the friendliest of hellos from my dad sounded scary. It did not help that my dad was also the disciplinarian in our home and a principled one at that! Although my dad was highly approachable, I rarely went to him with my flimsy problems, only the important ones. I would go to him to help me solve math problems or help with my English essays. Everything else, I talked to my mum about. Seeking and getting my dad’s approval was everything. I studied hard in school and tried to always outdo myself term after term because I knew my dad was pleased when my report card was good.

My dad sounds like most people’s image of God: a very tall man in the clouds with a voice that can fill a whole room or the whole earth, very principled, disciplines his children when they sin, can only be reached through prayer and in a specific manner (in church, prayer posture i.e. kneeling with hands clasped and eyes closed, etc.), seems loving  or rather there are things in the bible about Him that say he’s loving but when we look at the relationship we have with him, love is not the first word that jumps out at us. For many people, myself included, the word father does not equate tenderness.

Fortunately, I have lived long enough to experience a shift in my relationship with my dad. While I continue to have the utmost respect I could have for another human being on this planet for my dad, he is no longer the scary man I used to know. His presence does not evoke fear in me. In fact, I would not mind blowing everyone off just to hang out with my dad. As I have gotten older, I have found he is so cool. He’s full of wisdom and experience and is very funny. I find myself reminiscing over our recent conversations and laughing to myself. When he calls to check on me, I feel so special and when he prays for me, I feel loved. His approval is still everything to me so knowing that he will read this post makes me slightly nervous (Hi daddy…!).

So it is with Our Father in Heaven. When one has not developed a relationship with him, it is hard to fathom the depth of love and the tenderness of God. He is this being that we send our requests to and if you have done enough good or you are “righteous” enough, our requests are granted. But as you begin to encounter the Father’s love, the first truth that becomes apparent is that you are loved.

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! 1st John 3:1 BSB

This is not the kind of love that you have read in the bible countless times… For God so loved the world… and it just does not faze you… oh no no no! This is the love that washes over you; a love that draws you in and makes you feel special.  You feel the love. You feel like you are a child of God. The second thing that changes is your image of  God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8: 15 BSB

When you encounter the Father’s love (I keep referring to the process of encountering the father’s love because many of us have head knowledge of this love but it has not been translated yet to heart knowledge), your image of God changes. There is no fear in approaching Him for perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). He is no longer this scary personality who is watching us and keeping records of our sin and standing in judgement of us and our actions.  He becomes our Abba Father! His presence becomes everything. We just want to sit at his feet and glean from his wisdom. We are excited to share our lives; our joys and pain with him and look forward to his encouragement and comfort. So when we pray… Our Father who art in heaven… it is not just a phrase from a childhood prayer we learnt in Sunday school. We are actually calling the attention of our heavenly father and with anticipation of having him turn his attention towards us to hear from us.

Lord, I want to love you more than I’ve ever loved before. You’re so easy to adore, Lord I want to love you more.

Yours Truly.

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The big “V”

Vulnerability, the big V is something that you seldom see in churches. As far as I know…church leaders have never sinned in their lives! They never get discouraged…! They never feel like God has let them down…! Oh, and they do not get sick…! I grew up with this mentality of being a Christian and especially as one who was involved in church leadership. I always had to have it together and be well-composed especially for those who look up to me.

I recently listened to a TED talk by Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability and I will summarize what I learned and how I apply it to my walk with God.  From Brene’s research which spanned over a decade she discovered that:

We are hardwired  as humans for connection however, there is one thing that unravels connection in society and this is shame. Shame is simply a fear of disconnection. “Is there something about me that if people knew then i won’t be worthy of connection?” [This reminds me of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they sinned; they hid from the presence of God because they were filled with fear and shame].

Shame is universal and is underpinned by vulnerability. Vulnerability is not comfortable or excruciating but it is necessary, and yet people struggle with it so much. According to Brene, we deal with vulnerability by numbing the grief, the shame, the fear, the disappointment, but unfortunately, we are not wired to selectively numb some emotions and leave out others. When we numb all the bad stuff we also numb joy, happiness, peace. We make the uncertain certain- so religion which used to be “I believe in faith and mystery” becomes “I am right, you are wrong. shut up!” We pretend that everything is ok and that the things we do does not have an impact on others.

Through her research, Brene discovered another set of people: A group of people who live life wholeheartedly and have a strong sense of belonging. What she found that those people had in common were that they had courage (to be imperfect), compassion ( to be kind to themselves first, and then to others), connection (the willingness to let go of who they thought they should be, in order to be who they were) and finally vulnerability.

Brene discovered that vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and unworthiness but it also is the birthplace of joy, creativity, of belonging,  and of love. After listening to this talk I wanted to see what the bible says about vulnerability and I was led to many scriptures but I will highlight a few:

  • 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
  • Romans 7:23-24
  • 2 Corinthians 13:4
  • James 5:16
  • 1 Corinthians 2:3-4
  • 2 Corinthians 11: 27-30
  • 2 Corinthians 4: 7

If you read those scriptures you will see a common trend. Vulnerability is about declaring our weakness before others and before God. This allows God’s grace to flow. When we are weak, we leave room for grace to pour in. I will take Brene’s conceptualization a little further to say vulnerability is the birthplace of grace. It is the portal that allows us to receive more of God’s grace in our lives.  I am reminded of a parable of Jesus:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. Luke 18:9-14 NIV

The pharisee would not allow himself to be vulnerable even in the place of prayer to take a hard long look at his life. And when you contrast the Pharisee with the tax collector, the tax collector encountered grace and was justified (for we are justified by grace through faith.. Romans 3:23-25). I believe Brene was on to something here: those things that bring us shame, fear of disconnection, and unworthiness in other words those things that make us vulnerable are the things that we need to be the most real about with ourselves (because you cannot lie to yourself), to God (because He knows all things) and to others (because vulnerability in the place of confession with prayer, brings healing)

I come broken to be mended
I come wounded to be healed
I come desperate to be rescued
I come empty to be filled
I come guilty to be pardoned
By the blood of Christ the Lamb
And I’m welcomed with open arms
Praise God, just as I am

Yours Truly.

P.S. you can listen to the Brene’s TEDtalk by clicking here

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Losing Control

I tried to fit you in the walls inside my mind
I try to keep you safely in between the lines
I try to put you in the box that I’ve designed
I try to pull you down so we are eye to eye

Just a whisper of your voice can tame the seas
So who am I to try to take the lead
Still I run ahead and think I’m strong enough
When you’re the one who made me from the dust

When did I forget that you’ve always been the king of the world?
I try to take life back right out of the hands of the king of the world
How could I make you so small
When you’re the one who holds it all
When did I forget that you’ve always been the king of the world?

 

Every time I hear this song, I feel openly rebuked by the lyrics because it is so true of me. For those who know me, you know I am a planner. I have backup plans for my backup plans and in every situation, I try to be in control and take charge. Very few people have ever seen me lose control,  or even lose my temper (you do not want to poke that beast though…!) This sunday in church, I was humbled by the sermon that spoke to how 3 groups of people in Mark’s account of the gospel responded to Jesus and I found myself right smack  and sitting pretty in one group. For context, the account is taken from  Mark 3: 20-34. The three groups of people identified are the family of Jesus, the Teachers of the Law, and the disciples that sit around Jesus’s feet. The group I identify with is the family of Jesus so let’s take a look at them, shall we?

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:20-21 NIV

Many times, I’m like the family of Jesus. I have heard and read about the miracles and the awesome power of God at work in the lives of the ancients and believers today. I pray for others to see and experience God in wonderful and miraculous ways, but when it comes to my own life…it’s a different story! I need to take charge! I trust God to do X, Y, and Z but I make my own plans in case God does not pull through or He takes too long. My commitment sometimes is half-hearted. With my mouth, I say, “yes Lord I trust you completely!” But in my heart, I am like “Okay so how am I going to deal with this!”

I find myself at an impasse.  I realize that I cannot call Jesus the Lord of my life when I am unprepared to relinquish the reins. For someone who is always in control that’s hard. But more than being in control, I sincerely want to please God and so with this post, I remind myself that GOD IS, HAS ALWAYS BEEN, AND WILL ALWAYS BE the King of the world.  I want to go all in with God and let Him have His way. Today I chose to believe fully and utterly “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) and I give back the areas of my life that I control right back to the King of the World!

Shout out to Pastor Kirk Cowman!

Yours Truly.

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He Rejoices Over Us with Singing

We sing to God in praise and in worship but do you know God sings over you too? He not only sings over you. He rejoices over you.

“Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:16 NLT

Today I come with glad tidings! I was recently at a Don Moen concert and I got to experience what it means to have God rejoice over me with singing.   It was a very spectacular thing and  I am going to try to duplicate this in the blog. It involves your participation.

Let’s try this together. I want you to sing this verse (meaningfully) to God:

There is none like you. No one else can touch my heart like you do. I could search for all eternity long and find there is none like you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnhUh2tt97Q

Now that you have sung it to God, I want you to sing it again but this time close your eyes and imagine that God is singing this same verse to you.

Pretty spectacular right? Can you imagine the King of Kings in all His majestic glory saying to you, “there is none like you?” And indeed that’s true! There is no one in this entire world that’s like you! So

“Cheer up, [insert your name]! Don’t be afraid! For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Yours Truly.

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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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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.

Posted on by intentional4christ · 2 Comments

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 😉