Inspiration in the cauldron of frustration

Do you find yourself wondering why you are in a particular season? Do you wonder why you have to go through some difficult times, face major setbacks or feel frustrated or confused?

Do you wish it were easier? Do you wish that things would just work out? I submit it to you that you are not alone…..

Joseph in the pit, or in the jail must have longed for better days. So must have Daniel in the lion’s den, or in the fiery furnace, or Moses facing the Red Sea and the Egyptians hot on his heel, or Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, or Job and his numerous setbacks or Paul shipwrecked, again, on the Island of Malta…..

There will always be situations that will rattle and shake us, make us quiver and perhaps even doubt where we are going…..My encouragement is that even in those situations, the Lord wants to use these situations to inspire you to grow and discover more of who He is.

Even when in the cauldron of frustration, I submit to you, that there is a brand new grace and anointing to encourage and sustain you in times when life doesn’t make sense. The hard times serve to strengthen your resolve, and make you more purposeful, more determined, and help to fashion you more after Him who loved and sacrificed His life for you……..

In the cauldron, you learn to love God more, to know and trust Him, to understand that He is watching over you and protecting you, to be convinced that He alone is your help and your strength.

In my life, I have come to find out that the cauldron has been a wonderful opportunity to get fresh ideas, a new perspective and a renewed strength to face tomorrow. I have come to learn that in the cauldron, I get to develop strategies and attitudes that will ultimately be critical to enabling me make it through the dark and difficult times.

If you let Him, the Lord will give you a brand new energy and purpose, a resolute mindset and a bold outlook…..He will open your eyes to seeing the big picture, and will enable you to understand the deeper things in His will for your life that were, beforehand, not visible.

My encouragement to you is to not give up on God, even though the cauldron is deep and frustrating, guess what, He knows you are there……And in due season, He’ll put you out, and your heart shall sing and rejoice again.

In time, you will look at your cauldron and smile, and praise Him because you needed that experience to get you where you are now!

The 4 states of being

So, the other day, it dawned on me that there are at least 4 states of being…..the good times, the bad times, in God’s will and out of God’s will…… 

For the longest time, I used to think that when you are in God’s will, things should go smoothly…..or if things start going badly, it’s coz you are out of God’s will for your life……..and somehow that seemed to ease my pain…..and helped to explain life 

However, after looking at the Word again, it became clear that good and bad times, being in God’s will or not, are different states that are independent and mutually exclusive. Of course, it is great to have good times when in God’s will for your life……But how about those bad and difficult times? Then of course it becomes difficult to watch those who are out of God’s will having good times…….Somehow, it seems like a just act when those out of God’s will go through bad times……. 

The thing I want to focus on are those times when things go bad when you are in the midst of God’s will for your life? What do I mean? You are doing all that you know how to do….You are trusting God, expecting Him to come through for you, but somehow things just don’t seem to work……You try and try again, but somehow, it’s like the harder you worker, the harder you fall, and you feel discouraged……… 

I think that’s where I am in my life at this time…..But after looking at Job’s life, I began to understand a couple of things…..That those bad times can still come, even when you are still hanging in there…..I mean, don’t get me wrong…I am not saying that my life is as squeaky clean as Job’s……I think the challenge for me, and hence my challenge to all of us is to consider how Job reacted to the sudden and traumatic change that happened in his life……Even when he did not understand what was going on, he did not charge God foolishly…..He did not listen to the bad advice that he was hearing from elsewhere, but kept his mind stayed on God…… 

Another example was Joseph….Even while he was in the pit, in the jail, in Potiphar’s house or elsewhere, He was still in God’s will, but it took over 19 years before he finally got to where he needed to be……to sit at the right hand of Pharaoh and manage the affairs of all of Egypt……… 

So what am I saying……Should we stand about and wait 19 years for God’s will to come to pass…..I know it’s awfully tempted to jump out of God’s will to go and work out your own will, but my encouragement to you, and to myself too is to trust His hand, even when I do not understand…….. 

Even when things go from bad to worse and worst, trust Him…..Better to go through hard times in His will, than good times outside His will…

Just another thing from Job 1:8-10 that I want to share with you……..Job was perfect, upright, a man who feared God and eschewed evil….Indeed God said that there was no other like him in the earth……And then look what God had done for him….. 

Satan complains that the Lord had “made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side” Job 1:10. Basically, the enemy was super jealous of the love and protection that the Lord had blanketed over Job and everything He had…….The Lord had blessed the work of His hand and his substance is increased in the land. 

I dunno about you, but I am realizing that the enemy knows that doubt and difficulty are the 2 major things that He can use to dislodge God from His rightful place in my life and then make me vulnerable to his continual attack……I am resolving to be like Job…….to be like no other, to be perfect and upright…..one that fears God and eschews evil……

I know, it’s one of those things that is easier said than done….But why lie….I would like God to be proud of me and rebuke the accuser of the brethren on my behalf…..and that comes naturally from a place of obedience and continual submission to Him

Riding the storm

Firstly, let me apologize for not posting this sooner….It’s been a busy couple of weeks, loads of learning and trying to understand the various twists and turns that life has taken……

The thing that I want to blog about is on the topic of riding the storm…..Sometimes, things go from bad, to better and then back to bad…….Or sometimes they go from bad to worse, to worst, and then better and then back to bad and when that happens, what do you do?

Do you feel sad? Do you reject God, despise His teaching, feel condemned and then act out, neglecting the faith that you have built long and hard over the years?

A similar thing happened to me the last couple of weeks……..Everything was going well, super….it looked like everything was going well, but then suddenly, things got from great to bad and I was left wondering…..What went wrong?………

As I was studying God’s word, I came upon Paul in Acts…..I am sure you all know the story of this great apostle, who started off by being persecuted and then later came to a point to where the Lord confronted Him and suddenly, his whole destiny changed around……..and he became the great emissary of the Gospel…….

When I was looking at Paul’s life….things were topsey turvey in his life after that amazing encounter…..He was constantly getting whipped, rejected, jailed, shipwrecked, etc……Paul went through all sorts of issues, all sorts of challenges and frustrations, but in all things, He managed to ride the storms that life brought his way……

In particular, towards the end of Acts, Paul is shipwrecked on the island of Malta, and while he is still in recovery mode from being shipwrecked, a snake jumps onto him and bites him…..

Now, most of us would have been like, WAT THE .&%$@! I know I would have been in a huff and a puff…..First, to be shipwrecked, and then a venomous snake jumps on my hand and bites me…….O Lord, what is going on?

But I read on, I find that Paul, other than getting perplexed, shook the snake off, the snake fell into the fire, and Paul miraculously recovered from the snake bite……

Now, while the snake jumped onto Paul’s hand, his companions believed that Paul was a murderer….but when the snake jumped off his hand and fell into the fire, and he didn’t die from the bite, the same companions believed that he was a god……Then later, Paul goes ahead and heals the sick on the island…….

What am I saying, even when life throws at us unlikely situations, God still expects us to show forth His glory and show forth His grace…..God expects us to keep our cool and to ride the storm, even when the waters rage, He expects us to trust in Him enough and to understand that it only takes a word from the Master for the winds to be still and the waters to become clear again……..

Even when life throws us many weird, incomprehensible situations, God expects that we trust in Him enough to know that He has our good in mind, and that He is still watching over us as His beloved……

In Romans 1:17, Paul tells us that the “just shall live by faith”…..When life throws us weird curve balls, and things get from bad to worse, even when we don’t understand what is going on, we need to understand that God wants us to live not by sight, but by faith…..He wants us to see not with our physical eyes, but our spiritual eyes…..He expects us to be able to discern the times, and to understand that no matter what life throws at us, He is able to bring us to completion, to a good and perfect end…….

Is it scary to trust God again when life has thrown us a weird curve ball? Yes……but do it anyway…..He is still watching over you, and you in Him have what it takes to overcome, even this……….

God bless you richly as you read this…………

Drink your cup

OK, I know if you are reading this, you must be like WAT? Let me explain……

Life has a way of throwing all sorts of stuff at you….frustration, joy, love, peace, difficulty, trials, etc., whatever……..And then you feel all disappointed, all vexed, all discouraged, all infuriated, all frustrated, all rejected, despised, downcast and humiliated………

Is that normal? Sadly yes…….Christ said that in this world, we will have diverse troubles………and boy was He not kidding about that…..In my life, it seems like things get better altogether, and then just as quickly, they get worse again…..and then it becomes a cyclical pattern of joy meets frustration meets joy again, meets discouragement again………….

Recently, the cycle restarted again……things went from great to bad to worse and while I was still looking on, it seemed like I was back at Stage I…..And while I felt humiliated, discouraged, frustrated and abandoned, things began to brighten up when I remembered a couple of things……..

I looked at Christ’s ministry on earth and I realized that He too went through trying and difficult moments……..He prayed that the cup of suffering be removed from Him, but not His will be done, but God’s……It was such a challenging thing for me to understand that some cups need to be borne and their contents drunk as they are……And Jesus drank His cup of suffering with humility and honor before God that we may all be restored back to Him who has loved us relentlessly……..

And thus life sometimes throws us strange and interesting situations……..Things get from bad to worse, and the challenges of life may make it difficult to see the Light of the World before us….I am reminded that the Lord’s ways are not our ways, and that His thoughts are not ours……

Fortunately, that which happens in my life is in submission to Him, and that He knows what is going on in my life, and that He is able to sustain and deliver me from the trials and frustrations in life...I am reminded that life will give us bitter pills to swallow……and that the Lord expects us to speak to Him, let Him know what’s going on, and to trust Him to handle the situation as He deems fit.

Just like Christ prayed and asked that his cup of suffering be taken away from him, but not his will but God’s, I understand that I too need to be willing to drink the cups that are set before me, understanding that I need to let God’s will be done and not mine.

My encouragement to you is that no matter what life throws at you, bring it to God, and learn to drink whatever cups the Lord sets before you….If it is a cup of suffering, of honor, of disappointment, of dishonor, of whatever, drink it in honor and with understanding that if the Lord be with you, nothing can be against you……..

I am reminded of Romans 8:37 “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us”

Lessons Learnt

Dudes, and dudettes, it’s been a year since I left the States and came back home to Kenya….and in the spirit of everything that the Lord has done in my life, I thought I would testify of His goodness in my life……..

1). Many are the seasons of life, but God controls every season…

In the 1 year since coming back, I can look back and see the various seasons I have gone through, seasons of lack, and seasons of abundance, times in which I have missed the mark, and the times that I have been on point, times when I have succeeded triumphantly and times when I have fallen miserably….But in all things, the Lord has been faithful and for that I give Him praise….He has taught me to consider not the seasons, but to love Him, for He directs the seasons…..

He has shown me that “The sun shall be no more my light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto me; but the Lord shall be unto me an everlasting light, and my God, my Glory” Isaiah 60:19

I now look to Him to be faithful to His word, credit crunch or not, bad leadership or not, poor stewardship or not”……I am fully persuaded that He is not only able, but willing to turn my night to day, to establish me in high places, and to set my feet on solid ground….and that whether the sun or moon is shining, I need not walk in darkness, for He is the light of the world……

2). Even while my land was barren, my cup suffered lack and mine enemies were encompassed about me, He was there….

In the one year or so, my life was turned upside down…..with many afflictions, many challenges, many opportunities for strife and many things that shook my faith and tested me to the uttermost…..Mine enemies were encompassed about me, those who desired my hurt talked about me and laughed at me day and night……While things worked, and even while they didn’t they still talked, gossiped, cheered and bore false witness against me…..many were my fellow brethren in the Lord, many were those I considered my closest allies……

However, the Lord was my redeemer and my saving strength….He’s shown up in the midst of it all, and brought my scorners to shame….He has silenced the tongues that rose up against me, and has set my feet on solid ground……

“The Lord was my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him; and he helped me; therefore my heart greatly rejoiced and with my song will I praise him” Psalms 28:7

Now, I am confident in his ability to save, and that even when I am all alone, and when my last play is to stand in His word, I can do so confidently…..Because He is faithful to that word…..And that I need to seek His face and His honor more than I seek the honor of man……

 3). Even though I sinned and fell short severally, and felt like there was no hope in sight, the Lord forgave me, restored me, cleansed me and picked me up……

Over the year or so, and before, I found myself falling short, wavering in His promises, being unyielding and unsubmissive to Him….

But through it all, the Lord was merciful and compassionate….He did not rebuke me in His wrath, neither did He chasten me in his hot displeasure….

He did not deal with me according to the multitude of my iniquity, but instead forgave and restored me from my sin and shame…..

Truly, “though I fell, I was not utterly cash down; for the Lord upheld me with his hand” Psalms 37:24

Now I know that it is He who has sustained me, and that His strength is more than sufficiently to keep me from iniquity and to perfect the good work that He has started in me…..And that if I remain in His presence, He will show me the path of life….for in His presence is fullness of joy and that at His right hand are pleasures forever more…..

4). My heart and my flesh failed, with all that life threw at me, at the business, at my career, it was almost too much, I was almost going under…..

As life was throwing all it could at me, things looked bleak and without hope….My heart sank at the thought of never making it, my business and my career showed signs of not making it and my heart was filled with such despair……

My mind puzzled at what would happen, but as I stayed my mind on Him and trusted in Him, He kept me in perfect peace…..

Psalms 40:1-3

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry” v. 1

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” v. 2

“And He put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto my God; many will see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord” v. 3

I start a new and exciting career this week, in a season when others are being laid off….

My business plans are taking shape, and He is connecting me with like-minded folks who can help me get to the next level…..

5). He has restored my faith, increased my thirst for His word, and my understanding of the same, so that I need not be confused or ashamed, but that I walk in Him and remain His light…..

The many cares of the world had come in to choke the word of God out of my life….The pressures of keeping up with the Jones’ and trying to compete nearly had me go off the deep end…..

But in the nick of time, the Lord showed up….

Psalms 51:10-13

“He created in me a clean heart, and renewed a right spirit with me” v. 10

“He cast me not away from His presence, and took not His holy spirit from me” v. 11

“He restored unto me, the joy of His salvation; and upheld me with his free spirit” v. 12

And because I did all that for me, and more, I have purposed:

“To teach the transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” v. 13

So help me God!

My prayer is that as you read this blog, something herein challenges you to look at your life, and purpose to live rightly before Him……yes, you may stumble, and you may fall, but I encourage you to not give up……don’t stop striving to be changed, to be made new, or to be blameless before Him……may that which I write up challenge you to live and grow closer to Him that loves you more than anyone can……….

May this blog help you to get closer to a God who can do that which no one else can…..

Who is this Jesus?

I know….you must be like what?? Let me explain……

From time immemorial, this has been a question in people’s minds and hearts….Right from His early ministry, the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, Rulers, and ordinary folk kept trying to figure Jesus out…..

Some said he was the carpenter’s son….

Some said he was a heretic, and that He had a demon

Some called Him a prophet

Some questioned His authority

Some wondered whether anything good could have come from His home town

Some called Him the Son of God

Many many questions all about Jesus and who He was……And guess what? That hasn’t changed today…..There are still a number of questions about who Jesus is…..Infact, that crucial issue separates many of the major religions and folks still ask it today….Who is Jesus?

I firmly believe that this is a question that will continue to be critical to the men, and if Jesus tarries and I join my ancestors, many after will continue to ponder…..

To me, Jesus is my everything, my all, my shepherd, my light, my vine, my lover, my redeemer, my saviour, my friend, my Lord, my God, the Son of God, the King of Kings, and the one whose name is above all names…..

At whose name, demons flee, diseases are cured, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the righteous rejoice, the crooked becomes straight, the rough places become plain, the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God, the humble are exalted, the proud are humbled, my situations change, my problems become fixed and my path is illuminated…..And at His name, all knees will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord……

He was born of Virgin Mary into a world laden with sin, but was crucified for me, and shed His blood to cover my iniquity……He rose again on the 3^rd day with power, and now sits at the right Hand of God….He is the Christ, the son of the living God, and my high advocate….He makes intercession on my behalf to the Father and He offered Himself for me on Calvary that I may be a joint heir in Him and be set free……..

Free from worry, free from sin, free from confusion, free from lack, free from despair, free from pestilence, free from doubt and free from disappointment…For if I put my trust in Him, I will not be put to shame…..

He’s the one I ran to when I’m in trouble, the one I praise when things are going well…..He’s the one who raises the dead things in my life, opens the doors whose handle I cant reach, and shuts the gates of the places I need not go! He loves and surrounds me, encompasses me with His brilliance and protects me from hurt, harm and danger……

I could go on, and on and on, and indeed, I have…..This blog is dedicated to honoring the reason for my being, the delight of my heart, the shepherd of my soul and the lover of my life….

I would be remised if I did not say that the very same Jesus is standing at the door of your heart, knocking, asking that you let Him in….and if you do, He will come and sup with you…..

Jesus said that He was the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him…..He is the resurrection and the life…..The word says that if you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and you confess with your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved…….

My prayer for those of you who don’t know Him, is to ask Him to make Himself known to you…..in a deep, personal and intimate way…..He knows you, He made you, He loves you and wants to come back for you…..But a few men saw Him leave last time He was here, but when He comes back, He’ll be publicly seen…..He won’t be that lowly carpenter’s son, but will be coming clothed in righteousness, with the armies of God to exercise judgment…….He’ll be coming for His bride, that’s you and me…..whom He called, chose and those who have been faithful to Him…….

Get to know the Jesus who walked on water, who fed 9000+ people with a small, fixed ration, who turned water to wine, who healed lepers, fixed defective eyes, who cast out demons, who rose the dead, who is our God and who is like none other……I don’t know if you believe in something….in someone, but I encourage you to seek Him with all of your heart……

Listen, no man can do it for you, and if there’s something that you need done that no one can do, take it to Him who is limited by nothing…..I dunno what that thing is, but my prayer is that you take it to the one who can sort it out for you….If He has been faithful in keeping His word to me, I betcha that He can do the same for you……

He wants to have a deep personal relationship with you, and promises that if you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him….so seek……I don’t know what you have tried, who has let you down, what life has thrown your way, but I do know that nothing can separate you from the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus if you come to Him as you are…….

You don’t have to be perfect….I am not, by any standards…..I am but a man with many flaws, speaking about a flawless God with a flawless plan for your life……I’m not a preacher man, neither do I have anything to gain by you coming to Him, but your best interest at heart…..On behalf of all of those who’ve hurt you and made you feel unworthy of a God whose love is perfect, I apologize, and ask that you give the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a chance….

Let Him in and watch Him do something so amazing, so revolutionary, so incredible in your life that it will make you shiver and quake…..Give Him leeway and watch Him do the impossible….watch Him calm your storms, give you peace unsurpassing, joy unspeakable and life everlasting…..

Do you already know who Jesus is? If so, continue to abide in His love…..Now that you know who He is, love Him, get to know about Him, grow in Him, love others like He has loved you, take not His sacrifice on the cross for granted, pray for others, do all that you can to be a witness of Christ in your generation and pray for the church, that we may not disappoint Him when He returns for us……

May He find His body ready to receive Him and may we worship Him together in spirit and in truth…..

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know that tomorrow is in His hands…..my prayer for myself and for you is that with every passing day, with every moment, with every second, we realize that the same is a gift from God….and that with each day, we spend it advancing His kingdom…..that He finds us well prepared, well fashioned and acceptable……

That He embraces us keenly to His side and welcomes us into His kingdom joyously…

Blessed be the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world……

Who is this Jesus?

I know….you must be like what?? Let me explain……

 From time immemorial, this has been a question in people’s minds and hearts….Right from His early ministry, the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, Rulers, and ordinary folk kept trying to figure Jesus out…..

 Some said he was the carpenter’s son….

Some said he was a heretic, and that He had a demon

Some called Him a prophet

Some questioned His authority

Some wondered whether anything good could have come from His home town

Some called Him the Son of God

 Many many questions all about Jesus and who He was……And guess what? That hasn’t changed today…..There are still a number of questions about who Jesus is…..Infact, that crucial issue separates many of the major religions and folks still ask it today….Who is Jesus?

 I firmly believe that this is a question that will continue to be critical to the men, and if Jesus tarries and I join my ancestors, many after will continue to ponder…..

 To me, Jesus is my everything, my all, my shepherd, my light, my vine, my lover, my redeemer, my saviour, my friend, my Lord, my God, the Son of God, the King of Kings, and the one whose name is above all names…..

 At whose name, demons flee, diseases are cured, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the righteous rejoice, the crooked becomes straight, the rough places become plain, the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God, the humble are exalted, the proud are humbled, my situations change, my problems become fixed and my path is illuminated…..And at His name, all knees will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord……

 He was born of Virgin Mary into a world laden with sin, but was crucified for me, and shed His blood to cover my iniquity……He rose again on the 3^rd day with power, and now sits at the right Hand of God….He is the Christ, the son of the living God, and my high advocate….He makes intercession on my behalf to the Father and He offered Himself for me on Calvary that I may be a joint heir in Him and be set free……..

 Free from worry, free from sin, free from confusion, free from lack, free from despair, free from pestilence, free from doubt and free from disappointment…For if I put my trust in Him, I will not be put to shame…..

He’s the one I ran to when I’m in trouble, the one I praise when things are going well…..He’s the one who raises the dead things in my life, opens the doors whose handle I cant reach, and shuts the gates of the places I need not go! He loves and surrounds me, encompasses me with His brilliance and protects me from hurt, harm and danger……

I could go on, and on and on, and indeed, I have…..This blog is dedicated to honoring the reason for my being, the delight of my heart, the shepherd of my soul and the lover of my life….

I would be remised if I did not say that the very same Jesus is standing at the door of your heart, knocking, asking that you let Him in….and if you do, He will come and sup with you…..

Jesus said that He was the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him…..He is the resurrection and the life…..The word says that if you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and you confess with your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved…….

My prayer for those of you who don’t know Him, is to ask Him to make Himself known to you…..in a deep, personal and intimate way…..He knows you, He made you, He loves you and wants to come back for you…..But a few men saw Him leave last time He was here, but when He comes back, He’ll be publicly seen…..He won’t be that lowly carpenter’s son, but will be coming clothed in righteousness, with the armies of God to exercise judgment…….He’ll be coming for His bride, that’s you and me…..whom He called, chose and those who have been faithful to Him…….

Get to know the Jesus who walked on water, who fed 9000+ people with a small, fixed ration, who turned water to wine, who healed lepers, fixed defective eyes, who cast out demons, who rose the dead, who is our God and who is like none other……I don’t know if you believe in something….in someone, but I encourage you to seek Him with all of your heart……

Listen, no man can do it for you, and if there’s something that you need done that no one can do, take it to Him who is limited by nothing…..I dunno what that thing is, but my prayer is that you take it to the one who can sort it out for you….If He has been faithful in keeping His word to me, I betcha that He can do the same for you……

He wants to have a deep personal relationship with you, and promises that if you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him….so seek……I don’t know what you have tried, who has let you down, what life has thrown your way, but I do know that nothing can separate you from the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus if you come to Him as you are…….

You don’t have to be perfect….I am not, by any standards…..I am but a man with many flaws, speaking about a flawless God with a flawless plan for your life……I’m not a preacher man, neither do I have anything to gain by you coming to Him, but your best interest at heart…..On behalf of all of those who’ve hurt you and made you feel unworthy of a God whose love is perfect, I apologize, and ask that you give the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a chance….

Let Him in and watch Him do something so amazing, so revolutionary, so incredible in your life that it will make you shiver and quake…..Give Him leeway and watch Him do the impossible….watch Him calm your storms, give you peace unsurpassing, joy unspeakable and life everlasting…..

Do you already know who Jesus is? If so, continue to abide in His love…..Now that you know who He is, love Him, get to know about Him, grow in Him, love others like He has loved you, take not His sacrifice on the cross for granted, pray for others, do all that you can to be a witness of Christ in your generation and pray for the church, that we may not disappoint Him when He returns for us……

May He find His body ready to receive Him and may we worship Him together in spirit and in truth…..

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know that tomorrow is in His hands…..my prayer for myself and for you is that with every passing day, with every moment, with every second, we realize that the same is a gift from God….and that with each day, we spend it advancing His kingdom…..that He finds us well prepared, well fashioned and acceptable……

That He embraces us keenly to His side and welcomes us into His kingdom joyously…

Blessed be the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world……

Shun godlessness

Folks, I want to share with you on the topic of godlessness, partly because it has become perverse, and will continue to do so as the time goes on, but also because much of which I struggled with…..

 

And I don’t want you to struggle with the same things I did, and with the hope that by revealing to you an honest accounting of me, you will be encouraged that if God brought me through, He can get you through where you are…….

 

Today, we are on 11 Timothy 3:2-9. Here Paul is teaching about avoiding godlessness……Actually, much of what I am going to say isn’t all that deep, but it had such a profound impact on me when I read it, that I thought I would testify of God’s goodness to you…..

 

v. 2 “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”

 

 - There was a time, this described me to a T….I had come to a point where I was very happy being in my own strength, proud of my self accomplishments and not living right before God…I was happy having my cake and eating it, not living right, but doing all that I wanted……I had come to a point where God was so detached from what was going on in my life that I seemed to be making it by myself, and it was well with my soul…….Such folly.

 

v. 3 “Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good”

 

- This was me too….I had come to a point where my affections towards women weren’t natural……I had began to look at them as sexual objects, and vehicles through which to have my every desire met. I know some of you may struggle with other aspects of “without natural affection”. I was bitter, angry, and seem to genuinely dislike those who were living aright before God.

 

v. 4 “Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”

 

- Again, this was me….I loved my pleasure….my meat, my drink, my sex, my porn, masturbation, whatever…..As long as it gave me pleasure, I was game…..Fortunately, no hard core drugs, but I know some of you may not have been spared..

 

v. 5 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.”

 

- Indeed, I was content looking godly, quoting a scripture now and again, being able to acknowledge Christ, but still not being submitted truly to Him. Knowing of the goodness of God, but content cruising along, my way and basically coasting on the grace of God, and not truly doing enough to walk righteously before the Great I Am

 

v. 6 “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts.”

 

- Again, this was me, me me…..have all sorts of sexual encounters with women who were already in themselves in sin, but not caring…..As long as there was some pleasure in it…And it wasn’t hard either to lead captive a silly woman already laden with sin, led away with diverse lusts…..

v. 7 “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

 

- Again, knowing the word of God, but never truly understanding it enough to affect the sort of change that I needed to!

 

I don’t know if this is you….Do you find that you aren’t living quite right before Him….Or maybe you are content in your ways, and your way seems to be working, and so what’s all the fuss?……

 

My encouragement to you is that although our God is merciful, you cannot deceive Him….Because He hasn’t chosen to deal with us according to the bountifulness of our iniquity doesn’t mean He doesn’t care…..His eyes are upon us, and He takes notice of everything that is going on……

 

I want you to know that there’s always a cost……When we don’t walk right before God, there’s always a cost, and the question then becomes, “What are you willing to risk?”…….Your blessing, your life, your health, your family, your finances?

 

For me, I realized that I was playing Russian roulette with my life, and if I was not careful, I was going to be led to certain destruction…..But all praise be to God, that He didn’t cast me away, but upheld me with the power of His outstretched arm….

 

Note, I am not saying that it is easy…..Some things in your life are easier to rid yourself off than others……But folks we have to try…..Cry unto God, pray, fast, do what you must to rid yourself of the cluches of the enemy…..

 

For me, this scripture challenges me especially on the area of pleasure……Because the moment I love pleasure in my life, more than I love God, there’s a problem…And when you do, all the other things mentioned in this passage of scripture come to be…..And it is so easy to slide into a place where you rejoice in the things that God has given you, than in rejoicing in God…..It isn’t surprising therefore that we seek God with much fervor when things are going badly, but not so when things are going well……When we feel like we’ve made it, God tends to be far from our hearts and minds…….

 

If I was to honestly look at my life, the love for pleasure and in the need to satisfy deep seated pleasure is what began to corrupt my faith walk with God, and brought about a whole lot of godlessness….

 

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with pleasure….The problem is that the enemy gets us to indulge in our pleasures to draw us away from God, and its easy to do because pleasure is nice, it comes naturally…..And then when he has exhausted the things that we were supposed to enjoy, He gets us to defile that which we weren’t supposed to so as to satisfy our need for pleasure…….

 

Take sex for instance……Sex in itself is pleasurable, but it has its time and its place…..But the enemy has gotten us to a place where we abuse it, have sex with everything anything, anyone….objects, animals, whatever, just to get more pleasure….

 

And so as I type this, I know that I am also speaking to myself, as much as I am speaking to you….My prayer for myself is that my pleasures delight in the ways of the Lord…..The word says that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart……

 

Now that I write this, I wonder how far I would be if I had learnt to tame my flesh, to mortify my members, to pleasure and delight myself in the things of God…..If I truly hungered after God as much as I used to hunger for sexual gratification…….If I was quick to honor and please my God that my pleasure was to make sure that He was proud of me…….

 

OK, maybe for you it isn’t sex….Perhaps its money, perhaps its recognition, perhaps its position, perhaps its affection, perhaps its beauty…..I urge you to really look at your life, and to figure out what is it that would soon overtake you if the Lord doesn’t help you deal with it…….

 

My prayer for myself is that I may not deceive myself, and it’s the same prayer for you…..That you may look at your life critically, and figure out whether you are living for godliness or perfecting godlessness…….And that you let the word of God cut you deeply…….

 

OK, this is hard to write, because as I write it, I am cutting my flesh up, and bringing areas in my life that need to be wholly submitted to Him, Trusting and Knowing that He is able to deliver me and to sustain me in His love……..

 

OK, there’s a part of that scripture that I haven’t dealt with……

 

v. 8 “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith”

 

v. 9 “But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was”

 

Understand that we can lie to ourselves till the cows come home, but we can’t lie to God….And we will be held accountable for that which we did in our flesh, and our folly will be exposed…..and that which was done in secret will come to the fore-front……

 

So, its important for us to come to God and acknowledge to Him that we lack, and need Him to help us…..You need not out yourself publicly like I am doing, lol, but you do need to be honest with yourself, and talk to God plainly…Let Him know what He already knows, and submit yourself to Him……

 

Again, its nearing spring…..A good time to “spring clean” your heart and mind and rid yourself of the things in your life that are compromising your stand with Him…My prayer is that I daily submit my pleasures to Him, and that I daily delight in that which He delights in!

 

For I know that if I delight myself in the Lord, He will give me the desires of my heart….

 

God bless you all!

Dethrone your other gods

Some of you may ponder what I mean……The truth is, each of us have something that we enthrone in our lives……As believers, God only expects us to have one throne, that is His……..What?

 

The word tells us that when we lift up our voices unto God, He inhabits our praises. We build Him a throne, if you will, acknowledge His greatness and offer up a sacrifice of praise to Him…..That sacrifice is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

 

Something similar happens when we let life dictate our response…..Because the power of life and death is in our tongues, we have to be very careful what we verbalize…..If we speak blessing, a blessing shall come…..If we speak negativity, guess what…..negativity will surely follow……

 

Many of us have either heard stories of someone who was told by their folks that they wouldn’t amount to anything, and that’s exactly what happens……

 

Let’s get practical….Many of us are filled with worry……We are concerned about our tomorrow, our future, our finances, our marriages, the credit crunch, whatever…….

 

Now, the word of God tells us how to handle this:

 

Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world”

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me”

In Isaiah 26:3 “Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee”

In the epistles we are told “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests be known unto God”

We are also urged to “let the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”

We are encouraged that “the people that know their God shall do exploits”

We are told to “come boldly before the throne of God, to obtain grace and help in times of need”

 

Of course, I could go on racking scripture upon scripture…….the point is, however, we know how we should respond…..In spite of the knowledge of the word of God, what do we do?

 

We panic, we curse God, we mumble and complain, we act up, we try and make it on our own, etc……What is the sum total of all of this….We begin to build an alter for that worry, that complaint, that insecurity and that fear, and the more we mumble and grumble, we sacrifice to it with our lips (the same lips from which we should be giving God praise)…..And all that, does nothing but dethrone God from His throne in your life, and enthrones the enemy……

 

OK, that’s kinda deep. Let me slow down…..Do you know people who love to mumble and complain? Maybe they started off with a little negativity but before they knew it, they became increasingly pessimistic…..Then what happens? Even when it comes to the things of God, they react with the same negative attitude……Rather than being patient and trusting in God’s omnipotence, they begin to doubt God, they waver at His promises, and they fall out of His presence…….

 

Before you know it, the same person is to hard and stubborn, they reject God, they reject His son, His word and seem to live shortened frustrated lives…..My uncle was like that…..He let anger turn his spirit bitter, and before He knew it, His relationship with God was also compromised…..

 

When Jesus said that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, I firmly believe that he steals you from the presence of God (by enticing you in sin), he kills your relationship with God (by inflicting you with guilt, giving you a spirit of heaviness and bitterness) and finally destroys you (by keeping you out of the presence of God, and blocking your path back to Him, he condemns you to a life of defeat and spiritual death).

 

I believe that we were never designed to be away from God…..Just like the angelic beings dwell in Heaven in His presence, we were designed to function in His presence….We are meant to have fellowship with the Father, to be with Him, next to Him) In the garden of Eden, God would walk through the garden to have fellowship with His creation…..but when we sinned, we were drawn out of the presence of God and kicked out of the garden (so the enemy had stolen us away from God’s presence) and after that, he continued to kill and destroy mankind (our relationship with God was never right, men and women suffered physical death at each other’s hand) and we were utterly in a state of destruction……But thanks be to God, that He showed up in the midnight hour and purchased us back…….As the song goes, His mercy said “No”, “Uh uh”, “No way”……..

 

Back to where I was going, a sour attitude, a grumbling spirit help dethrone God and enthrone the enemy in your life….You begin to doubt God, begin to question His will, begin to waver at His promises…Instead of saying to that situation in your life that it is subject to God, and that it must bow at the name of Jesus, we seem content at staying frustrated and disappointed……Like Ezekiel, we need to prophesy to the dry bones in our lives, and tell them to “Hearken unto the word of the Lord”……

 

OK, so that means that you need to know the word of God…..That means you need to read the word, talk with God, ask for guidance and ask Him to open the doors that only He can open and to close the doors that no man need to try open…..You need to come to a point where you acknowledge that before God you are nothing, and that He is everything, and He wills (and He wills), only He can make you something…….

 

When I realized that I had many idols that I enthroned to the throne of God, I had to go pro-actively and start knocking them down…..The idols of sex, anxiety, confusion, worry, etc, that I had built and had began to worship by having a loose tongue, a bitter spirit and being stiff necked needed to be knocked down, and then I had to elevate the throne of God through praise, prayer and faith…….

 

What happened? As I began to enthrone God back to His rightful place, the idols began to fall away….When God arises, His enemies are scattered……And the things that were holding back my blessing were moved……

 

I need you to understand that God wants to bless you, He wants you to be stanky rich, He wants you to have all good things, for everything belongs to Him…..but He won’t give you those things so that you may consume them in your lusts…..Or so that you can go off and sacrifice to the other gods in your life, like your pride…..He won’t pour out His wine in old wineskins……He wants you to be a new wineskin before Him…..He wants you to love and adore Him, to worship and honor Him in your days…….

 

Understand that if you honor God…..He will honor you beyond compare…..Job was a man who honored God….Not only did he walk uprightly before Him, he also offered sacrifices on behalf of his kids (and even his friends) in case they had messed before God, and even when they had messed……Because He desired to honor God by not tolerating sin, by not cursing God, Job was like none other…His wealth, the beauty of His daughters, His sons, He was, for all practical purposes a baller! He was the macaroni with the cheese, if you will……

 

Understand that all God wants from you is to honor Him, purpose yourself that you will honor Jehovah, and he promises to honor you….He says that He will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly before Him……I don’t know what you are expecting from God, what you would like God to do for you, but I do know that He wants to do it for you, but you have align your will to His.

 

Wealth, blessings, honor, riches, etc all come as a result of aligning yourself with His highest will for your will…..And what’s that? He wants you to love Him with your heart soul, mind and strength…..He wants you to know and understand Him, He wants you to obey His commands and let not His word depart from you……He wants you to honor Him with all He has honored you with (your life, your health, your relationships, your job, your body, your finances, your all)….He wants your days on earth to be filled with opportunities for God’s will to be done, for His authority to be proven and for His Kingdom to be established in the hearts and minds of men.

 

But to truly honor God, you need to find those things in your life that you have built a throne for and knock them down…..Its time for spring cleaning, so go on and knock down your idols……Get rid of sour-puss attitudes, bitterness, striving, rebellion, etc…..Cast all those things aside and focus on the Lord your God……

 

Honor Him, and trust me, He will honor you……

You have enemies

You have enemies….

 

Hey all, today, I want you to understand something……you have enemies……What do I mean?

 

Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, there are people out there who hate your guts……Folks who hate you…..period…..Maybe you haven’t even done something to deserve their hatred, but they hate you nonetheless…….

 

For me, this was kinda hard to come to terms with…….I couldn’t imagine that there were folks who would be happy and rejoice greatly to see me fail, to see me fall or to see me miss out of God’s best for me…….

 

I used to joke in High School, that people either liked me passionately, or detested me utterly…..I didn’t think about it too much, and as my friends say, my “reckless anointing” kept be oblivious of their hate….But right there, the truth was out there, naked as a new born child……Whereas I didn’t truly understand why, I needed to understand and to come to the revelation of the fact that I did infact have enemies……..

 

So, as I write this, I am aware that you too have enemies, people who hate you, people who will talk badly about you, people who will despise and forsake you when things go haywire……Worse still, many of these “enemies” you won’t recognize and they will lie in wait as “friends”. Even those who love you dearly may hurt and despise fully use you….What to do?

 

Let’s consider for a minute, what Jesus said about our enemies

 

Matthew 5:44 “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”

 

Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust”

 

I know many of you have heard, and probably even recited this scripture during Sunday School…..And Jesus was clear on the attitude that we should have towards our enemies…….but why should we love our enemies, bless them, do good to them or even pray for them?

 

The answer to that question is in the next verse………Jesus says “...That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…”

 

In John 8:42, Jesus said to the Jews that if God were their Father, they would love Him [Jesus], because He [Jesus] proceeded forth and came from God……..

 

Later on, Jesus says that “Ye [The Jews] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” John 8:44.

 

What this means to me then is that we will do, that which is of our father……If God is our father, and we are His children, then we will be mindful to do that which He wants us to do…Put simply, I can’t be a child of God, who doesn’t do that which God wants..….Jesus told the Jews that their father was the devil and not of God……..I know right, yikes! Jesus’ identity was qualified by the fact that He did that which He was asked to by His father, and His father loved him for it…..If you don’t believe me…..

 

John 10:17 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”

 

John 10:18 “No man taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received of my Father”…….

 

How does all this tie in to our attitude to our enemies? If we are children of God, we will behave, do, act, think and respond as God would have us. And just like God lets the sun shine on the good and the evil alike, He expects us to love even those we may call unlovable…….Just like he sends the rain on the just and the unjust alike, He expects us to do like He does and love our enemies………

 

And yes, it is hard to do it……And it isn’t something that He expects us to be able to do in our own strength…….But He expects us to be submitted to Him and to do that which He would have us do……I know man and woman struggle with the issue of submission, but understand that the whole gospel of Jesus Christ began in submission……Jesus was wholly submitted to God that He did His will, no matter what……..And Jesus expects us to be equally submitted unto the Father, and to keep His (Jesus’) commandments……He expects that a man be wholly submitted to God and to love his wife, His wife submitted to Him and children to be submissive to their parents………..I should add here, that Men, we cannot be wholly submitted to God without also being submitted to our wives and families…

 

And because Jesus humbled himself to death on the cross, and was submissive and subject to the authority of God, the Father exalted Him, and gave Him a name that is above all names…..that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father……..

 

One thing that has helped me love my enemies is to understand that I was once an enemy of God…..There was a time when I didn’t love Him, but yet He loved me, and died for me…..When I truly understood that Jesus had already done for me that which no one else could, it became easier to love man…….And when I began to look at my enemy with love, I began to realize that they too were lovable in God’s eyes…..

 

Infact my prayer for mine enemies has been that the Lord not destroy or utterly cast them out, but that we may be reconciled in Him, and stand together praising Him…..For in truth, it doesn’t benefit me any to see mine enemy destroyed…But it pleases God that His child, who was once lost is now found…

 

When I began to pray that way, the Lord helped me understand that my enemy was not that person standing beside me, but the devil himself……In Mark 8:31-33, Jesus was talking about how the spiritual leaders of the time would reject Jesus and kill Him, Peter rebuked Jesus, saying that that wouldn’t be the case……Jesus rebuked Peter saying “Get thee behind me Satan”……..

 

See, Jesus realized the opposition that he was receiving wasn’t from Peter, but from Satan…..and so he rebuked Satan……Look at the audacity of the enemy in using Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, to oppose the work of Salvation…..

 

When I read this, I began to understand that the enemy will use anyone (my friends, my relatives, my parents, my enemies, etc) to oppose God’s will in my life…..Thus, anyone can be a friend one moment, and an enemy the next…...And so rather than being pissed with that person, striving with them, shouting, yelling, and fussing, I need to rebuke the accuser of the brethren, the prince of the air and love on God’s people…..Basically, my enemy is not clothed in flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities, powers, evils, and spiritual wickedness in high places……

 

My prayer for you is that you oppose that which in your life is retarding you from attaining your God given destiny (that which is retarding you is your enemy), but love on God, imitate Him in your ways, God’s people and delight yourself in Him…..Work out your salvation with fear and trembling and be focused on God……

 

My encouragement to you, comes from Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgement you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, says the Lord”

 

As the servants of the righteousness, bought by the blood of Christ, go forth and condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgement and understand that no weapon that is formed against you will prosper…Understand that this is your heritage! But love your enemies….Who knows? God may show mercy on them because of your love for them and have them as your closest pals…...

 

Understand that Saul was one of the biggest opponents of the gospel….infact, one could go as far as saying that he was an enemy to the early Christian church…..But it took a divine encounter with the Lamb of God, to change his heart, and Paul became one of the greatest ambassadors of the gospel.

 

With God, your biggest adversary can become your strongest ally……So love them, bless them, do good to them and pray for them …….

Crucify Bad Pride

Today, I want to get into something deep……and that something is pride……

I know we all have some pride (some more than others), but as the body of Christ, we cannot afford to have pride dictate our lives and our response to the word of God…..No, we need to let the Spirit guide us and have His way in us, if we truly want to abide in God’s love….

But not all pride is bad folks …It is good to have some measure of pride ….According to the Oxford Dictionary, pride is the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction of doing something well, or from owning or being responsible for something excellent or widely admired…..It is also the knowledge of one’s own worth or character, a sense of dignity and respect for oneself……

We as a body of Christ should never lose track of what God has done in our lives, what He has given us, what He has enabled us to have….And so, it is good to be well pleased with what you have accomplished…..I believe that God was proud of His creation in Genesis 1:31 records that God “looked at all that He had made and, behold, it was very good”….

It is good to have good pride…….which is the satisfaction of that which we have accomplished, honoring Him who gives us ability. But it isn’t good to have bad pride, which is an have an over-amplified sense of jest in our abilities…….It is this bad pride that we need to crucify….

Another definition of pride, according to the Oxford dictionary, is a too high opinion of oneself or one’s achievements…..This form of pride is bad…..See God gave us pride, not so that we can believe or be deceived to thinking that we are all that, but that we may delight in that which we have done through Him and give Him praise…..He wanted us to feel good when we do right, when we accomplish that which He has entrusted in us, but not be haughty, arrogant or come to a place where we can’t give God thanks, because we are too lofty in our own eyes…Yet so many of us walk in bad pride…..

I submit it to you, that is good to have good pride….That good pride is happy in your accomplishments, is humble and is appreciative of God’s influence in your life…..If you have a big car, a beautiful home, a gorgeous wife, be proud and be happy…..But most of all, acknowledge the creator who was enabled you to have that which you do……….

Why should you crucify bad pride? Here are a couple of reasons……

1). Bad pride is not good for you….It will lead you down the path of devastation, disaster and death if you aren’t careful….See bad pride moves you away from God’s will for your life, and brings you subject unto the prince of the air…..You become a pawn of the enemy, and the word tells us that he comes to steal, kill and destroy….If you let him, the devil will steal you from God’s will, kill you by corrupting your soul and giving you an unright spirit (which doesn’t honor God…) and then destroy you (by keeping you bound in sin, and in the radar of God’s wrath).

2). When you fester bad pride, you begin to believe that you got there by yourself (and pronounce unto God that you are infact God…..) That’s what got Satan kicked out of Heaven, because He tried to elevate Himself to the throne of God, because He was the most beautiful of all the angelic beings….And I know you don’t want God kicking you out of His presence…..Rather than Satan having good pride and thanking God for making him excellent, he became arrogant unto God…….Understand that there is only one God, and there is none like Him, and you are not it! So, flee from your bad pride…..

3). When you let bad pride eat into your heart, what happens is that you invite a rebellious spirit…….You stop caring what you do, you stop listening to the instruction of others, you want to do it your way…….Again, just like Satan did….He became so rebellious and even pulled other angels of God along with Him…..He was no longer fit to be in the presence of God and was spat out…..Worse still, when you get that rebellious spirit, you don’t want to listen, even when God is telling you something…..Even when the Holy Spirit is convicting you, you don’t want to hear what He has to say…..You become completely hard headed, and if you continue the same way, the enemy, having killed your relationship with God, will now start to destroy you…..

4). Perhaps the worst thing about having bad pride is that you invite the wrath of God…It is written that the Lord resisteth the proud…..what does that mean…..Like He cast away Satan, He will not hearken unto you in your pride…..See, your bad pride threatens His authority in your life, and see God says He is a jealous God….He is a consuming fire……So by harboring bad pride, you are telling God that He isn’t Lord, that He isn’t Jehovah……and He will not share His glory with another, and He will not compete with this idol that you have brought into His presence…..He then will harden your heart, if you aren’t careful, like He did with Pharaoh….Because Pharaoh festered that bad pride, (infact God said that He is sure that the King of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand)…..Understand this was at the height of the Egyptian empire, and they were in so much bad pride, that they couldn’t hear of God……He told Moses that He will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they pursued the Israelites even after they had been allowed to leave………Trust me, if you let your bad pride to take you there, the Lord will harden your heart and judge you rightly…… ……Pharaoh and his armies were plunged into the sea, largely because of their bad pride…..And why? God says in Exodus 14:17 “….and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen”…..God wants you to honor Him, bad pride will hinder you from doing just that……

But thanks be to God for His grace and mercy…..Understand that God isn’t there with a fly whisk waiting to swat you for your sins, but He is a loving Father, and wants you to be reconciled with Him in His son…..But be not deceived, if you continue to dethrone Him by throning your bad pride, by rejecting Him, His love and His son, there’ll be a price to pay…..And don’t let the enemy get you in trouble…..He already is in hot soup and is looking to not go down alone……

5). When you exalt your bad pride to the throne of God, you shut God’s love out, and then you become your own God….Somehow, you begin to believe that you got there by yourself, that you need your pride to protect you, that your pride is all you have…..I can’t emphasize enough that bad pride competes for God’s authority in your life, and you can’t afford to do that…….You can’t afford to have bad pride convince you that you are self-sufficient…..You need Him! For me, my bad pride threatened to replace God, and in His great love, the Lord knocked down that throne that I had built that He alone may receive glory….I thank God that my heart wasn’t hardened unto Him, but His mercies, helped me up.

6). Bad pride makes us want to conform to please the world, but not to submit and please God……..I don’t think I need to expound on this one……But, just in case, bad pride makes us reject what God has to say, makes us focus on us, self (that was meant to be crucified) and what people will think about us, and not on what God thinks about us…..

OK, time for me to share some areas in which the Lord has revealed that I am walking in bad pride:

1). When I can’t forgive….Why? Because I don’t want to hurt my pride…….

See, that bad pride is trying to protect me and not letting God do that…..Worse still, God says forgive, and if I am not forgiving, that means I am walking in rebellion, which is a consequence of my bad pride….

2). When I know what God will have me do, but I chose not to…..Why? Because I want to do it my way………

This is a biggie for many of us…..When we obstinately want to do it our way, we are telling God that we aren’t submitted to Him…..and when He makes it clear to us what He will have us do and we chose not to, it’s like telling Him “Yes, I know you know what’s best for me, but I would rather continue doing it my way”, or “My way is better”…..See how that begins to build a throne that is in competition with that of God’s? And trust me, He will knock that throne down, and if you hang onto it, He will knock you down along with it…..So please…..don’t let bad pride rob you of God’s love for you and His good and perfect will…

So what am I saying……increase in good pride….walk around seeing that which God has given you and praise Him….Be proud of your body, your accomplishments, of your giftings, of your wealth, your belongings, for they were given to you by God….but in being proud of such things, give God the glory that is due to Him…..See if we were never proud of what was going on in our lives, we’d never seize the opportunity to praise Him, or to testify of what the Lord has done in our lives……That good pride is meant to bring us closer to God, and to encourage others…..

Be wary and flee from bad pride…..That bad pride made Satan lose his calling and was cast away by God…..Because of their bad pride, their rebellion and their godlessness the Israelites were banished into captivity….But thanks be to God for Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and gives us the ability to overcome the bad pride in our lives……

And if after reading this, you realize that there are areas in your life that you are operating in bad pride, pray and ask God to break you off from that….The truth is that you have no portion in Christ that is associated to bad pride….If you let it fester, you will be removed from the presence of God….But when you humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, He will raise you up in due time…When you are subject to His will, a true servant of righteousness and you truly delight in the Lord, He will come into your heart and give you increase, power, authority and dominion over this life, and life everlasting….All of creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, and we’ll never get there, if we operate in bad pride….

Like Paul, if you boast, let it be in the Lord….Let your good pride give God honor, and magnify Him, for He alone is worthy!

Honoring God with your sexuality

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