The importance of relationships ...

 

“When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men… And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints…” (Eph 4:8, 11-12)

Most of the time when the Lord wants to bless somebody or a people, He does not go through supernatural means, but He gives them a man; He sends a woman to them. Moses, Joshua and Deborah were sent to the children of Israel. Jesus was sent to mankind. Mandela was sent to South Africa. Countless men and women have been sent to countless people over generations. Unfortunately, often we fail to realize the importance of these persons. We must therefore foster our relations and we should not neglect our encounters. They are often not fortuitous.

It may be someone who can tell (or show) you what you are not doing right and which may prevent you from moving on to another phase of your life. This was the case with Moses and Jethro (Ex 18:13-27).

It can also be someone who presents you with a life-changing opportunity. This is what happened to Ruth when she listened to Naomi’s advice: “See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do." (Ru 3:2b-4). This was the beginning of a series of events that will make her the great-grandmother of David and the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. People who advise you to choose a specific career, industry or business venture also falls into this category.

And it can be someone sent to impart you with a gift or certain knowledge. The impartation will be done:

• By the laying on of hands: Paul and Timothy or Ananias and Paul (2Tim 1:6; Ac 9:17); Paul was also the Timothy’s spiritual father.
• By mentoring: this is the relationship that Paul had with Priscilla and Aquila (Ac 18:26). However, this mentoring relationship need not be spiritual; you can have mentors for different areas of your life.

The above verse helps us understand that when God wants to perfect us, when He wants to help us fulfill our destiny successfully, He gives us a spiritual guide: a pastor, an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist or a teacher (doctor). Indeed, life is much more than material. Things are first born in the spirit before we can see them in the natural. We must therefore be very careful with what they say. These are people who receive from God one word or the other, and we must glean over their speech or conversation the keys to success; words that will help unlock situations, sound advice from the scriptures etc.

God gives gifts to men ... and He gives them men. How do we receive them? God wanted to give a magnificent gift to the Nazarenes, but they refused to believe that Jesus was the instrument of God for their blessing. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum also did not recognize the time of their visitation: the day the Lord God wanted to do them good (Mat 11:21, 23). What (spiritual) look do we have on our pastors, to name a few? Jesus said: “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.” Mat 10.40-41

By receiving a pastor as a pastor, we receive the One who sent him and we receive the reward thereof. Screen test your relationships and be careful with your future ‘chance encounters’!

Have a wonderblessed week!

Food for thoughts (II)

 

No event is neither good nor bad: it all depends on which side one is.

Indeed, while some men suffer the pangs of crisis, others bless God because the same crisis helps them become millionaires; the same crisis offers them the opportunity to come forward and make history (see Moses, Joseph, Daniel, Warren Buffet etc.). So, is the crisis good or bad?

I know a sister in Christ that the Lord has led to invest in a funeral business. While people mourn a loved one and find the circumstance unfortunate, she sympathizes with their grief, but she is also grateful to God who is giving her another opportunity for increase. So, is that death a good or a bad thing?

When it does not rain, some are happy they can put their umbrellas away; but the farmers despair and some regions of the world suffer from hunger. However, when it starts to rain, while farmers are happy, others are in great distress because their little possessions are destroyed by the floods. Is the rain finally a good or a bad thing?

One can continue with these examples at will; the same football game can mean joy, victory and achievement for some, and mean defeat, tears and sacking for others.

No event is good or bad in itself: that is why the Bible tells us to give thanks in every thing (1Th 5:18). In every thing; not for every thing. I do not thank God for the death of my child or for my cancer; but in my grief and in my sickness, I can still find many things to thank and praise God for.

No event is good or bad in itself: it is just a matter of perspective. It is therefore important to observe things from the Lord’s point of view. This will prevent us from judging and tagging the events and circumstances of life anyhow. To the pure, all things are pure (Tit 1.15). And ultimately, ALL things work together for the good of those who love God (Rom 8:28).

 

That will be all for today: “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven” and I will also say that “No one can give what he has not received from heaven.” I wanted to add another nugget to make the article a bit longer; but, I dried my pen and did not want to force things; I think that’s all I’ve received for you this week. Meditate on these truths which are very simple, but can drastically change a life. God bless you!

Food for thoughts…

 

God is only interested in one thing; He only has one desire: that His will be done.

He has an agenda He has been following ever before the first man even appeared on Earth. If the droplets of the blood-looking-like sweat of His dearest Son and all His supplications did not deviate Him from doing His will, then neither our repeated fasting, nor our rivers of tears, nor our offerings nor our sacrifices, nothing, will make Him do My will…or yours. The only choice He gives us is to either take our place in what He is doing, or refuse to fall into line; but we will not teach Him how to handle the world, especially since we can even hardly manage our own lives.

His eyes roam the earth to give strong support to those with blameless heart toward Him (2Chr 16.9); i.e., those who sincerely want to do His will. This support is demonstrated in that He gives them EVERYTHING they need to accomplish that will. Indeed, since God wants His will to be done, He has every interest to bless and provide all the necessary resources to all those who take part in the fulfilment thereof. “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Ps 37:4, Mat 6:33) Simply said, ‘You want to lack nothing? You want all your desires met? Prioritize the only thing that matters to the Lord. Give priority to the will of God. Cherish it and you will always receive everything you need to accomplish it... and even more; because those things are 'added' to us and He gives beyond what we can ever think or imagine.’

 

Jesus Christ did not die on the cross so that we may have houses, cars, spouses and fat bank accounts.

His blood was not shed on Calvary for perishable things which will not even follow us into the grave. I’ve known a preacher who used to repeat that the beautiful cars, houses, luxury accessories etc. were not for heaven, but for the Earth and that we needed to be prosperous to enjoy them all down here. But the Bible tells us not to love the world or the things that are in the world because, friendship with the world is enmity with God (1Jn 2:15; Ja 4:4). These things should not be an end in itself. If they represent the goal of our life, then, we are in the wrong path by coming to church: we’d better go to Hollywood, Nollywood, Bollywood or play football (soccer). Do not go to church because you are looking for work, a spouse or child: Christ didn’t die for those. Go to church because you're thirsty to know God; because your life is empty without Him, and because you want to prepare your eternity. If you go to church on such grounds; and if you have sincerely turned away from the world by giving up many of your desires/treasures for the Lord, then you will be surprised to realize at some point that all these things are being returned to you without you asking for anything. Jesus explained this to the apostles saying: “There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life..” (Mk 10:29-30) The price for that multiplication is persecutions…

Have a wonderblessed week doing God’s will.

And after prayer?

 

Hab 2:1-2, ESV, “I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out (watch, KJV) to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. 2 And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it."”

The prophet Habakkuk had been complaining to the Lord about the sins of his people; so, the Lord finally revealed to him, how He intended to punish them. He was going to use the Chaldeans, a people widely known for their oppression, cruelty and arrogance. The prophet panicked and feeling that the punishment was disproportionate, he begged the Lord not to avenge Himself in such a way. That's what’s referred to in the above passage, which highlights five key things which must follow a prayer:

Taking a stand at one’s watchpost

Habakkuk was at his. Have you taken your stand? What is your watchpost? Where does God expect to see you? Where can you observe what God will do from? It is a physical and also a spiritual position; and it is specific to each of us: we all do not have the same post. However, the Lord will meet us at our watchpost... Are you at your post?

Stationing (or setting) oneself upon the tower

From his watchpost, Habakkuk went to the tower. It was the highest point of a city (or a castle); this is where the sentries used to scan the horizon to spot any sign of danger and notify the people in time. I like the French version which says that Habakkuk stood on the tower; i.e. he was not sitting but was standing to have the best panoramic view. Tower + standing = the highest position possible: this alludes to spiritual heights and God’s presence. A position that is only attainable if you are spiritually clean. Indeed, “O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart…”  (Ps 15:1-2) Have you set yourself on the tower? Are you standing?

Watching to see

The sentinel who stopped watching could not see the impending danger and consequently, all the people could perish. This is to say that even when we have finished talking, we should not come down of the mountain of prayer; but we should continue to scan the horizon to see the arrival of the sign that reveals what God has to say. Indeed, don’t you find it strange that Habakkuk was watching to see what God would say? We normally hear what is said and see what is shown; but Habakkuk saw what God said because the Lord spoke to him through visible signs (dreams, visions or else). Since you have prayed; have you been watching to see?

Being ready to answer

There is the idea of an ongoing dialogue; of a continual exchange. He complained, he knows God is going to answer, and he gets ready to wisely reply to what the Lord is going to say. I emphasize the word wisely; because you don’t speak to the Lord anyhow. In a conversation that has since become famous, even Abraham who was numbered among the intimates of God’s intimates, addressed Him in this way: “I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes… Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak…” (Gen 18:27-32). Habakkuk himself first appealed to the Lord’s holiness before pleading his case: “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent?” (Hab 1:13). Naturally, this step is impossible if one has not previously been sufficiently vigilant not to miss what the Lord is saying.

Writing the vision

God did not say: "Remember the vision" but, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets;” so that what He said is never forgotten. The French version says: “Engrave it.” After we’ve prayed, God uses dreams, the Bible, sermons, friends, children, colleagues, the news etc., to answer; but how many are we to hear what He says? And among those who hear, how many write down, engrave or carefully record what God has responded to their requests? Human memory is not a computer, and even if this was the case, some computers have only 16GB while others have more than 600. Furthermore, the hard disk can be victim of a virus (sin) and crash. The truth is that we do not realize that the word of God is more precious than anything.

We are quicker to keep and frame the autograph of a celebrity than treating the Word of God with high esteem. But it is the sesame that opens Ali Baba’s treasure (for those who have read the story). When we pray for a job or a spouse; if we ask God what we need to do in order to heal our marriage or understand and help a child who is wandering away; if we are desperate for an idea that will help us breakthrough; when we cry to the Lord because our project is not going anywhere; or we panic because we do not know what to say at that interview, God answers and gives the solution to our problem. Unfortunately, we are either too depressed, anxious, busy or distracted to hear and listen; or we hear but we don’t realize that the pearl of great price has just fallen into our hands…

When you pray, imagine that you are a sentinel on a tower and that your role is to announce the arrival of messengers of good news or of imminent danger to the city. The city is your life, your marriage, your job, your family, your children, your health, your business, you name it. To secure the city, to protect those things and ensure their prosperity, you cannot afford not to see what is coming.

This may sound harsh; but I want to say that if what you are praying for is not important enough for you to take your stand at your post, staying alert and scrutinizing the horizon, using binoculars if necessary to see what God has to say; if your prayer topic is not important enough for you to keep a diary of what God is saying about it, then use your time in a more ‘useful’ manner and don’t ‘waste’ it in prayer.

Finally, think about this; if we have the Bible today, and if you can read me this morning, it is because some people took a stand at their posts; watched; answered back and wrote their visions and what God had told them down, so that those who read them may run.

Have a great week and God bless you!