Divine order (II)

 

For better clarity and understanding, I would advise you to read last week’s posting (again) before proceeding with this week’s.

The local church

I deliberately differentiated between God’s commandments and those of the local church because many people get the two mixed up. Your church’ specific programs are not the absolute or universal will of God; if not, all churches would have exactly the same programs and charts and there would be one or several chapters on this subject in the Bible. Therefore, it is not the end of the world if a non-Christian husband does not want his wife to spend all her time in church. She can be at peace that she is not committing a crime by staying at home. However, she will be sinning if she rebels, refuses to submit and goes to church; or if she wastes her time grumbling at home instead of using that opportunity to pray, read her Bible or watch a Christian show on TV if her church’s meetings are not broadcasted live. God should remain the Master and number 1, and her husband the number 2. By the way, let me say –so as not to frustrate anyone and reveal the whole counsel of God- that if a husband is a believer and his wife who is not one is not comfortable with him spending too much time in church, even though he is the head, he must also listen to her; because, the Bible exhorts us to leave peaceably with all –and even more our spouse- as far as it depends on us (Rom 12:18). Indeed, before telling the wives to submit to their husbands (Eph 5:22, 24), Paul starts by asking that we should ALL submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (vs. 21). Let us also remember how God told Abraham to do what Sarah was demanding from him; which was to send Hagar and Ishmael away…

Society

The society has its own codes, values, requirements, in short, its own religion with its own god(s), teachers and prophets. Divine order requires that no leisure, no job, no fashion, no activity, in short nothing, should ever become more important than family and God. It also demands that we respect the authorities, as God’s representatives (Rom 13:1), as long as they are not asking us to trespass God’s commands (Ac 4:19-20; Daniel and his friends). By rebelling against them, we are resisting God Himself. Romans 13:1 helps us understand that no authority is established by Satan, but by God. Even when the elections were rigged and the cheater is declared the winner, we must accept that ultimately, God has decided. This is why we pray before for God to guide the process, and once the dice is cast, we also need to accept God’s decision and live with it for the best. If we do not like the one who is elected, we still have a few years ahead of us to pray for God to give us someone else. Let us render unto Caesar what belongs to him.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (Gen 1.1-3). In this month where God is giving us the grace to (re) discover divine order and its benefits, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may breathe afresh on our lives, families, relationships, studies, jobs, businesses etc. to give them the shape that God wants and to fill them with the presence and the power of the LORD.

I will conclude with this: what we see was not made ​​out of things visible, but invisible (Heb 11:3). Therefore, when we pray, we receive what we ask because we first got hold of it in the spirit realm. However, after we have prayed, if we truly believed that we already possess what we’ve asked like Jesus says in Mark 11, then, our attitude should reflect that belief. This is why, before they even conceive, after praying for a child, some women start behaving as if pregnant or like mothers. Likewise, while we pray for the God of order to manifest Himself, let us also start by physically putting things in order around us. Let us tidy and de-clutter our rooms, houses, offices etc., throwing away everything which is not necessary, so as to offer the LORD a beautiful landing ground.

May God bless and assist you as you put your life back in order.

COMING SOON…

 

My first book!

 

 

It is only a matter of days now.

God bless you.

Divine Order

 

In my church, September 2012 is prophetically our month of divine order. I wrote in my posting last week that a woman who attends every church meeting against her husband’s will loves without intelligence because she is not mindful of divine order. God is not a God of confusion (of disorder in French translations) but of peace; He wants everything to be done peacefully and in order (1Cor 14.33). In other words, God does not act where there is disorder. It is pointless praying and hoping that the Lord would act, visit or deliver us, while we live in disorder. If we want to taste and enjoy all that God has planned for us in 2012, it is important that we bring order into our lives or that we put our lives in order. And divine order is simply God, then family, then the local church and then society.

God

He must be the First in everything. His name must be hallowed and His will sought and done in all things. Immediately after their creation, both Adam and Eve were respectively alone with God for some time. Therefore, before they could interact with whoever/whatever else in the Creation, their first relation was with God. That is why the return to divine order demands the restoration of the Lord’s primacy. Let us avoid as much as possible to talk to men before talking to God: i.e. before praying. Let us fear God, flee from sin and obey His commandments, even at cost to us.

Family

Here, the order goes as: first the couple, and then, the children and the parents (of the couple). The couple because marriage is the very first institution created by God. Before church and society even exist, marriage and the couple (a man and a woman) were. No other institution -human or divine- should therefore take precedence over marriage. It is not for nothing that the Bible says that marriage is honourable in all (Heb 13.4, KJV). Our job, business, hobbies, relationships (friends, etc.) and even our children should never become more important than our spouse. Some people (especially women, but many men are also guilty of this) tend to consider their children before their spouse: it is disorder. Children are merely the fruit of a couple; they cannot become its reason of existence. Moreover, the divine order is very clear in the couple: the husband is the head of the wife. Those who are not happy with this can always tear their Bible: I am just a messenger (1Cor 11:3). There is only one captain in a ship, one MD or CEO in a company, one president in a country etc. After deliberations, once the boss has decided, you execute; unless you are rebellious. Sara called Abraham her lord; why? Because the duty of a married woman is to please her husband (1Pe 3.6, 1Cor 7.34). A wife will be pleasing unto the LORD by pleasing her lord of a husband. This is why the Bible asks that she submits to her husband in all things (Eph 5.24). If she does not agree with a certain way of doing things, the solution is not in stubbornness; but she should rather complain to the BOSS of her boss – Christ is the Head of every man (1Cor 11:3) - and submit. It is God’s duty to take care of her own boss. The only case where she must say no is if her husband asks her to violate God’s commandments. And I say God, and not the local church... Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt have no other gods before me etc. Sapphira died like her husband because she agreed to lie and fool the church and thus, favoured her husband’s word over God’s command (Ac 5). Man is indeed the woman’s head; but he should never become her LORD: this would be idolatry.

After the couple, we have the immediate family in which parents must be respected, honoured and obeyed in all things (Ex 20:12, Eph 6:2, Col 3:20). Children must obey their parents in all things in the same way, conditions and spirit that a wife also submit to her husband in all things. Family comes before the church; i.e., when our attitude towards our local church threatens or may compromise our family’s interests, there is disorder. Using your children’s school fees or the money needed to pay for your parent’s hospital bill or prescription in order to ‘support’ God’s work, just to end up with your kids not going to school or your parent dying, would tantamount to madness. This is why Jesus Himself said: “Moses said, 'Honour your father and your mother'… But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban"' (that is, given to God)-- then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do."” (Mk 7:10-13) And Paul added that if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1Tim 5.8).’ Not to mention the fact that God does not need any help to do His work. Uzzah tried and was struck dead on the spot (2Sam 6:6-7). Let us be very clear here; I do not mean to say that we can misuse tithes -if we are in a tithing church- to support our family or that we should not walk by faith: God can also request such sacrifices from us. Just grasp the spirit behind my words and let us give honour to whom honour is due (Rom 13:7). Strong families make strong children, strong people, strong communities and nations.

May God bless you as you put your life in order and see you next week for the continuation and the end of this posting .

Must-pray prayers of the New Testatment (V)

 

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians

Phil 1:3-5a, 9-11, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel... And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Once again, Paul writes whilst in jail. He is an unusual prisoner who forgets his chains and suffering to strengthen the churches through letters, instruct them, exhort them and intercede for his spiritual children and the Body of Christ. He was a prisoner, but the Gospel and his ministry were not. His greatest desire was for the Philippians to be pure, blameless and filled with the fruit of justice for the day of Christ; but for this to happen, they needed to grow in love. They were not cold though; their love for the Lord and the brethren was well known; but apparently, it had some flaws and was also their main weakness. So, Paul prays for their love to grow in knowledge and all discernment (all intelligence, Darby). He prays for their love not to be merely a blind affection, but intelligent and discriminative; based on an enlarged view of divine things and in proportion to the proper value of things. He prays that they should not disperse themselves, but focus on the good and right thing. Paul said that the Romans were zealous for God, but without intelligence (Rom 10.2); one can also say that the Philippians loved without intelligence.

A married woman who spends her days in church, cleaning, praying for the brethren, exhorting the sisters and evangelising the neighbourhood; but who left home without minding what her family will eat or her husband who will love to see her when he comes back from work, loves without intelligence. A wife who takes the money needed to run the house for a week or a month and gives it to the church for whichever project without her husband consent, loves without intelligence. A woman, who attends every meeting in her church while her husband is against, loves without intelligence: there is a divine order. When a child who still lives with his/her parents spends their days in the church instead of doing their chores, or attends an all-night vigil before going for their final exam in the morning, loves without intelligence.

Paul also realised that for his greatest desire for the Philippians to be accomplished, they needed to be filled with the fruit of justice; i.e., everything that testifies that they are truly righteous before God. It is the mark of favour in the life of a believer; these are the works of faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. God swore by Himself, and promised to multiply and bless his seed and bless all the nations of the earth because of him (Gen 22:16-18).

Drawing from this prayer of Paul, let us also pray for ourselves and for our Beloved in Christ that our love will grow in knowledge, that we will always discern the best things, and that we may be filled with the fruit of justice.

Phil 4:19, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

It is a wish, a prophecy, a promise, but for me it is like a prayer; it is the response of Paul’s heart to the generosity of the Philippians. They had fully met his needs and he was in abundance. In return, he also wants his God to supply all their needs, not parsimoniously, but according to His riches. Can you imagine that? However, this prayer does not concern everybody. It is pointless praying it if you know you do not actively support the Gospel. It is pointless praying it if you give parsimoniously in church. It is pointless praying it if your hand does not open to meet the needs of brethren. It has to do with the law of sowing and reaping: it is a just return of things. You can only ask God to supply ALL your needs if you supply the needs of those that He puts in front of you and if you contribute financially to advance the cause of the Gospel. He gives the seed to THE SOWER and not to the storer or the spender. Let us note that the promise concerns our NEEDS and not our WANTS. Indeed, we often desire things that we do not actually need. A second or a third car, a tenth pair of shoes, a fourth or fifth meal… God will not help us to become more materialistic than we are already: He takes care of our NEEDS.

Have a wonderblessed week in CHRIST JESUS.

Must-pray prayers of the New Testament(IV)

 

Paul’s second prayer for the Ephesians

Eph 3:14-21, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory...”

Beyond the power of this intercession, I am particularly fascinated by Paul’s careful choice of words. He truly believed that it was possible for a human being other than Christ, to be filled with all the fullness of God. It was not an announcement effect; he really believed and prayed every word he wrote. We should therefore set for ourselves a goal and pray for such an in-filling…

His prayer also reminds us of the origin of each family. We generally have no problem understanding and accepting that we come from God individually; but it is not always easy to realise or accept that every family also comes from Him. Indeed, some families are so dysfunctional; and some parents can be so cruel that we can have a hard time believing and understanding how God's love could have given us birth in such environments. I recently watched a movie on television, Precious, from the name of a black American teenager sexually abused by her father with the complicity of her mother before she was even 7. The man even impregnated her twice! Her mother, madly in love with him, let him do it because she feared he would leave her otherwise and she hoped to win his heart back by 'pleasing' him in such a manner. Eventually, she developed a deep aversion and a fierce jealousy for her once precious 'husband snatcher' of a daughter. She even almost killed her grandson by throwing him unto the ground a few days after his birth, because he was the spitting image of her husband, the father and grandfather of the child! How can we believe that such a family can have its origin in God? Yet, it is the case...

Paul’s second prayer to the Ephesians finds its meaning in such situations or when the grip of events begins to tighten too much on us or our loved ones –He feared that the Ephesians would eventually lose heart because of all tribulations he was enduring for them (see vs. 13). His prayer teaches us that what we need most in times like these is:

· That the Holy Spirit will powerfully strengthen our inner being. Paul asks that this be done liberally according to the riches of His glory. It is not in vain that he could say: ‘When I am weak, then I am strong.’ Depending on what test we go through, people may think that we are at our lowest; at the bottom of the pit; whilst we are actually stronger than ever after the Lord has comforted and strengthened us. It is in this way that Paul used to endure beatings, torture and imprisonment.

• That Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. Jesus insists on the need to abide in Him, because it is possible not to do so. It is possible that He may only be a casual visitor who quickly goes when the fire of testing breaks out.

· That we may be rooted and grounded in love. We start and stand with/in love. Like Paul, let us pray that God helps us understand and be filled with the vastness of the love of Christ. Our foundation, the basis of our every action and thought must be this love and our roots –which should be as strong and deep as possible- should also be the love of God. This is what will enable us not only to remain confident in the goodness of God despite all the hardships, but also to obey the Lord by loving our enemies. God knows what He is doing and there is a reason for everything. He is always ready to turn any calamitous situation to our advantage, if only we give Him the chance. And coming back to Precious, a vile father is a father in need of the love of Christ. If we do not perceive it like that, it will be difficult to bring the Gospel to people like him.

Finally, Paul ends knowing that God will do infinitely beyond what he has asked for and which was not small! Is not that wonderful? Let us imitate his faith.

God bless you.