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……