GOD is on the throne: ALL IS WELL!

I’d like to encourage someone with a thought that has been recurring in my mind over the last three or four weeks: “God is still on the throne!”

Irrespective of what you may be going through, know that the heavenly throne is not empty. GOD is sitting on it and He reigns. He reigns on your issues—in other words, He has the last say. 

He reigns on your circumstances—the Bible says that He is the Master of times and circumstances. If you have given your life to Him, nobody can take it away from His hands (Jn. 10:28-29).

Satan does not command to the circumstances of your life: GOD does. You may not understand jack to what is happening to you; things might be extremely difficult for you right now; but GOD is with you in the waters and in the fire. He is still on the throne of your life and the throne of the whole universe; He is good and He loves you and therefore, ALL will be well!

GOD is on the throne, and so are you… in a way. Indeed, the Bible tells us that we are seated in Christ in heavenly places, in order to show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in the coming ages. But GOD deployed the immeasurable greatness of His power to seat Christ Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (Eph. 2:6-7 & 1:19-21). Therefore, we throne in Christ, at the right hand of GOD in heavenly places and we also throne above everything that can be named as power or authority. Alleluia! That’s why I am telling you to fear NOTHING. Do not despair; let your soul not be sad and troubled: GOD reigns and so do you…in Christ. Your present challenge shall also pass as all the others, because no night is eternal.

Paul adds that GOD has put all things under Jesus’ feet (Eph. 1:23). But if we are in Christ and our life is hidden in Him (Col 3:3), then it means that GOD, in His infinite mercy, has also put ALL things under our feet. Alleluia! This is why Jesus says in Luke 10:19 that He has given us authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt us. He adds in vs. 20, Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven”, which implies that there is no dispute about the fact that the spirits are subject to us. It’s a fact. They know it; Jesus knows it; the only one who doesn’t seem to realise it is you.

Take courage, my brother and my sister. If your life is truly hidden in Christ; if you have not left that cocoon through disobedience or sin; then understand that GOD reigns; that you also reign in Christ alongside Him; and rule over adversity. If you have exposed yourself and your life is no longer hidden in Christ, repent; go back to your hiding place in HIM far above everything and rule!

Have a great faith-filled week in Him.

To your victory!

Lessons from the multiplication of the bread

I hope that you know the story of the multiplication of the five loaves of bread and two fishes well, because, in order not to be too long, I will not paste the passages of Matthew 14:13b-21 and John 6:5-11 here. It is full of lessons.

1. There is a time to laugh and a time to mourn indeed, but there is no time to stop ministering to people. The Bible tells us to preach the word and be ready in season and out of season (2Tim 4:2). My pain and personal circumstances are not a good enough reason, before GOD, to close myself to the suffering of those around me. Jesus had just heard the news that His cousin, a great man of GOD (Mat 11:11), Prophet John the Baptist, had been beheaded. This death probably reminded Him of the way that He was going to leave this world Himself. He was sad and wanted to be alone. He withdrew to a desolate place, but a crowd of 5000 men, without counting the women and the children—i.e. probably 12 to 15 thousands people in total—followed Him there. When He saw them coming, He understood that GOD was saying to Him: “Son, life goes on. I need you and these people need you now. Go back to work!” 

2. If GOD puts me in front of a situation, which is humanly impossible, then the le miracle is near. “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little” (Jn 6:7). Considering the late hour, even if they had bought all the bread available in all the bakeries around, it wouldn’t have been enough, still, to feed such a crowd. It was a dead-end situation. But when Jesus asked: “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” (Jn 6:5), Philippe should have answered like Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones. When GOD asked him whether those bones could live again, Ezekiel didn’t start a geopolitical and socio-economical analysis of the situation. He simply answered: O Lord GOD, you know (Ez 37:3). Here as well Jesus already knew what He was going to do (Jn 6:6).

3. If I am facing an impossible situation, then I’m probably the solution and instrument of the miracle. It is Ezekiel who prophesied to bring the dry bones back to life and GOD did not create food out of nothing to feed the crowd; He used resources, which were already available. “You give them something to eat” (Mat 14:16). We always have ALL we need and we always have it in full (Col 2:10). It’s just a question of mindset, heart and perspective. 

A set of mind: “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” We tend to run away from difficulties way too much. This is why the disciples wanted to send the crowd away. It’s a looser mentality.

A disposition of heart: Those who are moved with compassion; who genuinely want to help and solve problems around them will often experiment this kind of miracles. When He saw the crowd, Jesus did not think: “I hope they’ve brought a packed lunch!” And, as it was getting late, He didn’t think: “I still have 500 people to heal. I won’t finish today. I’ve done my share for the day. They should leave and come back tomorrow. Besides, we don’t have food for them!” No. He didn’t concern Himself with the time or the resources; He only devoted Himself to alleviating their misery and doing them good. 

A question of perspective: We tend to belittle what GOD gives us – it’s ingratitude. “We have only five loaves here and two fish… but what are they for so many” (Mat 14:17, Jn 6:9). The disciples believed that five loaves and two fishes were insignificant in front of the magnitude of the needs. But Jesus saw differently. “My Father is the One who has sent these people to me, knowingly. Right now, if these loaves and fish are all I have at my disposal to take care of them, then it means that they are more than enough for everyone. I don’t need to complain or ask questions. I don’t even need to wait until I see the multiplication to act. I will just thank Him and start distributing it right away as if the supply is unlimited.” We have EVERYTHING in Him in full. This ‘everything’ may sometime seem insignificant, but it is EVERYTHING all the same. Elisha asked the poor widow, who was drowning in debt, what she had at home and she said: “nothing except a jar of oil” (2Ki 4:2). In front of her mountain of debts, her small jar of oil seemed as insignificant as the five loaves and two fishes in front of a crowd of more than ten thousands people. That’s why she answered “Nothing.” But when Elisha saw the very same jar, he did not see “Nothing”; he saw an oil business. He saw a financial breakthrough and financial freedom. 

Let me ask you this: What do you have in your hand? What do you have at home? What do you see in your resources? If you spend your time waiting for GOD to give you more before you can start something; if you believe that you don’t have enough for yourself to begin to share; and if you don't learn to appreciate what you have, give thanks, praise GOD and trust that, the good Father that He is has already given you EVERYTHING you need at this time, you will never see this kind of multiplication in your life. If what you want to do is from GOD, then you already have ALL you need. When GOD calls or sends, He equips and supply every emotional, spiritual and material need. 

Have a joy-filled week in Christ Jesus!