There are times in our lives when all we have is too little. We think of what is expected of us and we get to the conclusion that we are without adequate resources. Those times are always with us especially when we compare today’s income with tomorrow’s demands. One thing amazes me, when we think of how inefficient we are in those moments, those that demand from us are only looking at how efficient we are.
Learning From The Master.
A closer look at the life of Christ reveals that this phenomenon is not new or strange. When on the mountain preaching, a demand arose that necessitated the services of La Plate Café. He had to get in touch with the outdoor catering service providers very quickly. But how a carpenter preacher do that with no funds at all? The question is as hard as the possibilities are small. He took a look into what was available and that is what He shared with those around. Now, many times our eyes are open tot the miracle that is so clearly brought out in this passage and we don’t see the golden principle that lies with in.
The Principle.
Christ reveals to us that we are only inadequate when we think needs and not supply. I believe there is a lot that the father wants to give to us but we are tightly held up in what our needs are and what we have. We have left many need that we could have attended to unmet because we were scared of walking on thin air tomorrow. I am not asking you to give all you have, I am asking you to learn to trust God in both the times of plenty and those of scarcity. Jeremiah put it very well. Jeremiah 17;5-8 Amp
5Thus says the Lord: Cursed [with great evil] is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man, making weak [human] flesh his arm, and whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord.
6For he shall be like a shrub or a person naked and destitute in the desert; and he shall not see any good come, but shall dwell in the parched places in the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
7[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.
8For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.
You ask yourself at this point, where is your trust? I have written before that maturity is a decision we make. Many times we fail to mature in our trust in God simply because we looked at only what we expect to earn and we forgot to look at what He is able to do in our lives, we forget that He is as mindful of our lives as He is of those people that put demands upon our lives.
Christ calls us the Light of the world. The darkness is very wide and broad. Some people are in depressions, others in poverty, several in want, many are just lonely and in need of our time. When we think of want we ignore God’s ability to be our source, actually in many cases we disregard His desire to see us well. We shift all our focus upon ourselves, jobs, incomes, schedules and so on.
Many people have gone without because the light was too scared of burning out not remembering that our source is never out. The next time you choose to do or not to, remember that you are making a decision to either mature in your trust or not to. the benefits of trusting God are numerous as that passage of scripture clearly indicates. But remember that it is not a question of giving what you have to those in need, it is a question of the mindset with which you give. Is it because you have trusted in God or because you feel forced to give?
Our lives as we know them have a strange ability of growing big. I have just started working and earning an income but it is amazing how fast people want to share that income with me. Do I give it all away? No, but I give to them as they come and God in His faithfulness finds ways of giving me again. Giving me the resources and those that are in need of those resources.
I could choose to say that the devil is sending them my way but that would be so blind of me. Who would direct the thirsty to water? I think the devil would be more glad to see them waste. Me, he is without the power to waste me.
Learn this lesson from a candle, in its endeavor to give out light it burns out. But it realizes that is the only way it can do its work. And because of that sacrifice many marriages have been mended, started, and made stronger. Cathedrals look more beautiful and many dinners have tasted better. That is what it means to be the Light, to the poor, angry, sorrowful, lost and empty, you go and shine.
You are not with little if your source is the Lord of all. As I write this I am watching much of what I have go out to those in need. But when I pause to refrain from giving I realize that I am making a decision not to grow, that I am forgetting that people are more important than all my fears and predictions. I realize that I have more away from me than with me but that what I have is all I can share.
See you my friend on the other side of joy, the joy of experiencing God in all you do even when you thought you had run our. There is a river in you that will never run dry. Give love, give to love, give with love.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
God's Heart Bits
Let us start this article with a picture in our minds. Imagine a home where a father has two daughters. One has just turned seventeen and the other is just one year old. In the event that the children demand the father’s attention they receive it, but as they deserve. Now when the seventeen-year-old daughter comes to the dad and asks him for part of the family land to use it for faming the Fathers is happy because she is learning to think like him, to anticipate his desires as well. He gladly welcomes the idea and if possible, may finance the girl’s farming. Now, when the one-year-old cries, the Father picks her up and helps her get quiet and happy.
This analogy applies very much to our lives today. I have sat next to Christians who find much of their pleasure in being in the presence of God. What they actually mean by this is that they love being in the prayer room all the time. There is nothing wrong with this but we need to realize that God and His presence are not limited to a place or time. Experiencing God is not an event it is where we live all the time. The experience with God is a continual process. I love it when the God I subscribe to is one I can experience in my work as I can in the prayer room.
The experiences of God make a lot of sense when we do not limit them to just a place or moment. There is a lot of joy in knowing that God wants us to experience Him in the prayer room as well as in the boardroom. That is where the journey gets started, in the expectation of that experience, in acknowledging that we do not leave God in one place as we go out to do these other things that are expected of us. That is His heartbeat and the other mindset is just a bit of this heartbeat.
We need to realize that when God wanted children he sent His son to come and reconcile us to Him. The challenge that remains for many of the begotten children is that most of those children have persisted on being children. God presents us with opportunities to mature to son ship daily. these challenges come and help us develope the language of the Father and stand firm in His heartbeat.Every opportunity is aimed at creating partners to reign with Christ that is His heartbeat today. When David found an army of Israelites standing in fear for the insults of Goliath, the assumed his position as a son and partner with God.
That was not the time to cry to, God that was the time to speak the language of God. This is what we all have to realize, God’s heartbeat is complete in this time, and it comes with a language. The children of God need to acknowledge that God shares His heartbeat with all of them and that this is aimed at helping all of them mature to son-ship. Fear is not the language of God, neither is self-doubt or failure. As Christ reigns over pain, poverty, failure, agony and all those things that He defeated with the devil, He call for partners. Fellow kings in His kingdom that will agree to have dominion over these negativities and subdue them.
Maturity is a decision we all make. When a child chooses to cry all the time, they choose to remain a child. Some children like David have decided to speak what the Father would have said. It is not a game of words, it is the realization of responsibility. Son-ship in the kingdom of God is a responsibility that we only avoid when we choose to remain children
But how do we remain children?
The answers to this are quite many. First, we limit God to places and moments. There is a reason as to why Christians have maintained the practice of meeting for all these years and yet not many of them know why. We meet together continually to learn and to be trained. Listen, when a child is young they need time to grow, but like the first two daughters, every child should grow to a point of owning up responsibility. A newly born-again Christian is in need of maturity, not that there is something to come from outside him but that there is a lot that the new man has to subdue. The new man is born with the ingredients to walk this new walk but is put in a mind and body that have had an old pattern according to which he no longer walks.
That is why he has to be trained, so that he may dominate all this so that his soul too may attain a salvation by learning the new ways and actually obeying them. Therefore, we meet every Sunday to be trained and to be trained to reign with Christ.
That is the first step in bringing out this mindset that is of Christ. Realize that God has given us His very desires and calls us to walk into them. To answer the question again we remain children every time we find excuses and explanations for those things that put us down. Things like, sickness, pain, sorrow, poverty and the rest. Instead of finding excuses, we need to learn the language of the father concerning all these things.
Sons know the father’s heartbeat, they do not run from it, they do not box God in a place or moment, they enjoy Him totally at all times, they have mastered His language and they are partners with Him. So what are you, son or child?
Finally, I have to put this out. God is in need of sons and for that, He will do all things to bring that character to manifestation in them whether they want or resist. However, the children should own up sons-hip, respond to the heartbeat of God, and not just own bits of His heart. At your work place reign with Christ. It is not contests of just praying you need to pray and reign. Actually, I do not see how a Christian can ever stop praying. More on prayer will be in my other postings to come. Enjoy your journey as you let the desires of God become alive in you. Remember because we are on with Him, we have His desires and these only come to the surface as we pray and speak with Him.
This analogy applies very much to our lives today. I have sat next to Christians who find much of their pleasure in being in the presence of God. What they actually mean by this is that they love being in the prayer room all the time. There is nothing wrong with this but we need to realize that God and His presence are not limited to a place or time. Experiencing God is not an event it is where we live all the time. The experience with God is a continual process. I love it when the God I subscribe to is one I can experience in my work as I can in the prayer room.
The experiences of God make a lot of sense when we do not limit them to just a place or moment. There is a lot of joy in knowing that God wants us to experience Him in the prayer room as well as in the boardroom. That is where the journey gets started, in the expectation of that experience, in acknowledging that we do not leave God in one place as we go out to do these other things that are expected of us. That is His heartbeat and the other mindset is just a bit of this heartbeat.
We need to realize that when God wanted children he sent His son to come and reconcile us to Him. The challenge that remains for many of the begotten children is that most of those children have persisted on being children. God presents us with opportunities to mature to son ship daily. these challenges come and help us develope the language of the Father and stand firm in His heartbeat.Every opportunity is aimed at creating partners to reign with Christ that is His heartbeat today. When David found an army of Israelites standing in fear for the insults of Goliath, the assumed his position as a son and partner with God.
That was not the time to cry to, God that was the time to speak the language of God. This is what we all have to realize, God’s heartbeat is complete in this time, and it comes with a language. The children of God need to acknowledge that God shares His heartbeat with all of them and that this is aimed at helping all of them mature to son-ship. Fear is not the language of God, neither is self-doubt or failure. As Christ reigns over pain, poverty, failure, agony and all those things that He defeated with the devil, He call for partners. Fellow kings in His kingdom that will agree to have dominion over these negativities and subdue them.
Maturity is a decision we all make. When a child chooses to cry all the time, they choose to remain a child. Some children like David have decided to speak what the Father would have said. It is not a game of words, it is the realization of responsibility. Son-ship in the kingdom of God is a responsibility that we only avoid when we choose to remain children
But how do we remain children?
The answers to this are quite many. First, we limit God to places and moments. There is a reason as to why Christians have maintained the practice of meeting for all these years and yet not many of them know why. We meet together continually to learn and to be trained. Listen, when a child is young they need time to grow, but like the first two daughters, every child should grow to a point of owning up responsibility. A newly born-again Christian is in need of maturity, not that there is something to come from outside him but that there is a lot that the new man has to subdue. The new man is born with the ingredients to walk this new walk but is put in a mind and body that have had an old pattern according to which he no longer walks.
That is why he has to be trained, so that he may dominate all this so that his soul too may attain a salvation by learning the new ways and actually obeying them. Therefore, we meet every Sunday to be trained and to be trained to reign with Christ.
That is the first step in bringing out this mindset that is of Christ. Realize that God has given us His very desires and calls us to walk into them. To answer the question again we remain children every time we find excuses and explanations for those things that put us down. Things like, sickness, pain, sorrow, poverty and the rest. Instead of finding excuses, we need to learn the language of the father concerning all these things.
Sons know the father’s heartbeat, they do not run from it, they do not box God in a place or moment, they enjoy Him totally at all times, they have mastered His language and they are partners with Him. So what are you, son or child?
Finally, I have to put this out. God is in need of sons and for that, He will do all things to bring that character to manifestation in them whether they want or resist. However, the children should own up sons-hip, respond to the heartbeat of God, and not just own bits of His heart. At your work place reign with Christ. It is not contests of just praying you need to pray and reign. Actually, I do not see how a Christian can ever stop praying. More on prayer will be in my other postings to come. Enjoy your journey as you let the desires of God become alive in you. Remember because we are on with Him, we have His desires and these only come to the surface as we pray and speak with Him.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Kingmaker
There is a concept in the ancient tradition in old kingdoms that has remained relevant to this day. Republics have borrowed it, multinational and even marriages. In the olden kingdoms the kings had advisors people who were literally in charge of helping the king reign. They were in many ways supposed to make the king. To the make the king that we would have to know at the end of his reign. In other words they helped write his legacy down. When we look at the drummer we often admire their skill and gift. We really think of the drum and therefore the drum maker.
The beauty of the music is birthed right from the time when the maker is choosing the type of material to use. He makes the drum and therefore the music.
There have always been people in our lives that have helped us be who we are. They may not be our parents or relatives but people that come into our lives and they help us walk the path that we were destined to walk. They believe in us and help us in a way that lets us do the walking. But what happens when we are the people to make the others? What happens when we are the king makers? In those moments when we are the ones giving the support and being the cushion.
The position of a king maker as I will refer to it, is one that requires great controls. When we are called to walk besides a king we are called to look beyond the king, beyond the people we are. To be a king maker is a process that may many times see us with broken hearts and yet it is one that needs to be done with joy.
The Focus;
The focus of the kingmaker is on the kingdom. Its future, values, its past, its benefits, rewards and everything that spells the name of that kingdom. The focus is what drives the maker to keep making. They are focused at the vision of the kingdom. Every king has a kingdom and that kingdom has a vision, it has a place in the future, a desirable place. This simply means that the kingmaker that has no ability to look into the future of the king and the kingdom is not worthy of the job. However many times the king has the vision, he has seen and got to embrace the future, he even knows how to walk to the place but is in need of help. He is in need of one to hold the mantel with him to stand with him when he is losing vision and when he is strong.
The position of the kingmaker in this time is in believing with the king even when he doesn’t understand the direction the king is taking o stand with him.
Learning:
There are however times when it seems to the kingmaker that the king is ignorant of the operations that are expected of him. The king in this case seems to be in want of learning. It is very tempting at this time for the kingmaker to assume the position of the king. He wants to lead in his stead because to him the king in unfit of the role. That he is not as fit as the maker would want him to be.
But part of the role of the kingmaker is to watch the king learn how to operate as a king. This point requires all the maturity the maker can muster. The father who taught his son to ride the bicycle by riding it is still riding that bicycle thirty years later. The one who did it by riding beside the son is seated in the back seat of the son’s car. In the same way the maker needs only to suggest and let the king experiment with the new knowledge. This is how he helps him walk into the kingship he inherited. To the maker the king and the kingdom are one. They are inseparable and he respects both in the same position.
But how do we deal with the temptation to take kingship up? We realize that by position we are not the king in the other king’s kingdom. The best we can do is helping the king reign in his kingdom the best way you have seen him able. Our satisfaction is not in seeing what we want done but in helping the king realize their desires because we believe they are meant to drive their kingdom closer to its destiny.
The King Grown;
But there comes a time when the king has learnt to reign in his kingdom. At that time it seems like we are not relevant to them. Many times our advice to them is not received as it once was. Because they are more interested in implementing what their hearts desire, we may mistake it for rejection. Don’t because soon you will be needed.
Every life is a kingdom and every person has the ability to reign as king if and only if they have Christ in their lives. The money and influence rearly indicate a reigning king if not with Christ. That success may come with a lot of pains and may soon be gone. But the kings in Christ will reign in this life, they will have the money and influence and yet they will retain their souls. A souls anchored in Christ is never lost.
The kingmaker ought to realise this reality and let the kings reign. True friends see with us and speak with us. They share with us our dreams and many times they are ready to stand aside and watch us live while they cheer on and give the direction required.
To all of yoou king maker, instead of putting your emotions ahead, try putting the king and his Kingdom ahead.Enjoy your journey of making kings and of being made kings in the process because you will realise that your kingdom is full of kings that require the making. When you help them be, you are reigning in your kingdom. But remember you too will have to be made.
Do you see the interconnection?
The beauty of the music is birthed right from the time when the maker is choosing the type of material to use. He makes the drum and therefore the music.
There have always been people in our lives that have helped us be who we are. They may not be our parents or relatives but people that come into our lives and they help us walk the path that we were destined to walk. They believe in us and help us in a way that lets us do the walking. But what happens when we are the people to make the others? What happens when we are the king makers? In those moments when we are the ones giving the support and being the cushion.
The position of a king maker as I will refer to it, is one that requires great controls. When we are called to walk besides a king we are called to look beyond the king, beyond the people we are. To be a king maker is a process that may many times see us with broken hearts and yet it is one that needs to be done with joy.
The Focus;
The focus of the kingmaker is on the kingdom. Its future, values, its past, its benefits, rewards and everything that spells the name of that kingdom. The focus is what drives the maker to keep making. They are focused at the vision of the kingdom. Every king has a kingdom and that kingdom has a vision, it has a place in the future, a desirable place. This simply means that the kingmaker that has no ability to look into the future of the king and the kingdom is not worthy of the job. However many times the king has the vision, he has seen and got to embrace the future, he even knows how to walk to the place but is in need of help. He is in need of one to hold the mantel with him to stand with him when he is losing vision and when he is strong.
The position of the kingmaker in this time is in believing with the king even when he doesn’t understand the direction the king is taking o stand with him.
Learning:
There are however times when it seems to the kingmaker that the king is ignorant of the operations that are expected of him. The king in this case seems to be in want of learning. It is very tempting at this time for the kingmaker to assume the position of the king. He wants to lead in his stead because to him the king in unfit of the role. That he is not as fit as the maker would want him to be.
But part of the role of the kingmaker is to watch the king learn how to operate as a king. This point requires all the maturity the maker can muster. The father who taught his son to ride the bicycle by riding it is still riding that bicycle thirty years later. The one who did it by riding beside the son is seated in the back seat of the son’s car. In the same way the maker needs only to suggest and let the king experiment with the new knowledge. This is how he helps him walk into the kingship he inherited. To the maker the king and the kingdom are one. They are inseparable and he respects both in the same position.
But how do we deal with the temptation to take kingship up? We realize that by position we are not the king in the other king’s kingdom. The best we can do is helping the king reign in his kingdom the best way you have seen him able. Our satisfaction is not in seeing what we want done but in helping the king realize their desires because we believe they are meant to drive their kingdom closer to its destiny.
The King Grown;
But there comes a time when the king has learnt to reign in his kingdom. At that time it seems like we are not relevant to them. Many times our advice to them is not received as it once was. Because they are more interested in implementing what their hearts desire, we may mistake it for rejection. Don’t because soon you will be needed.
Every life is a kingdom and every person has the ability to reign as king if and only if they have Christ in their lives. The money and influence rearly indicate a reigning king if not with Christ. That success may come with a lot of pains and may soon be gone. But the kings in Christ will reign in this life, they will have the money and influence and yet they will retain their souls. A souls anchored in Christ is never lost.
The kingmaker ought to realise this reality and let the kings reign. True friends see with us and speak with us. They share with us our dreams and many times they are ready to stand aside and watch us live while they cheer on and give the direction required.
To all of yoou king maker, instead of putting your emotions ahead, try putting the king and his Kingdom ahead.Enjoy your journey of making kings and of being made kings in the process because you will realise that your kingdom is full of kings that require the making. When you help them be, you are reigning in your kingdom. But remember you too will have to be made.
Do you see the interconnection?
Friday, July 25, 2008
Partner And Child
There was a time in my life when I was aware of not limits. I feared none and faced none. That was the time in my life when all I knew was possibilities and to limit me was almost obscene. Times changed and I began to operate in this world. I started working at a company called Pax Insurance and that is when I began to realize that it is easy to set boundaries for ourselves in a way that God stops to be a factor.
There is something about being able to do certain things for ourselves that makes it very tempting for us to assume complete responsibility of our lives in a way that God is pushed to the corner. When a child is still helpless it’s easy for them to rely on their parents totally. They believe it’s the parents to carry them, feed them, educate them, shelter them and so on. They believe to the end and the end in this case means, until the parent fails. Now, much as we are not supposed to remain children for all of our lives, we are encouraged to receive the kingdom of God as little children, to believe to the end and to believe in a God of no limits.
I am reminded of a very lovely story that happens in a home. A father had two sons. The younger of the sons walks to the dad and demands for his share of the father’s property. The loving father gives the son his share and that’s settled. But that particular son is not content with just having his share of the father’s property, he proposes to move far away from home and any thing that reminds him of home. He travels to a far away land and adopts new tradition, new beliefs and new behavior. With each new adoption he forsakes his old ways, he forsakes his former self.
The other son does not ask for anything, he simply tills the fathers land and keeps trying to please his father hoping that the father will see it in himself to give him what already belongs to him. What we should note at this point is that by this time the father had divided his property between both his sons. This division however was not to see his sons independent of him or dependent of him. The intention was to have both sons work with him in a partnership, to know that what he has is theirs as well. To believe that from that point they shared expectations and obligations, desires and passions. That was the original plan, to le the sons choose, choose when and how, where and what but choose with the Father.
Both sons missed the point and the father let them take their journey of learning.
We are very much like either of those sons today. Many of us have stopped asking and believing. Many believe God is more pleased with them when they spend an entire week praying, while others believe it is up to them to get rich and build the church. They believe they are supposed to make it or die.
There is nothing wrong with those mindsets. It is just a question of perspectives. God calls us to work with him. More like the time of Nehemiah. With one hand build and the other hold weapons of warfare. We are supposed to be independent in God. We operate with Him, and that’s where His delight is. In children who reign with Him. He wants us casting sicknesses far away rather than crying for Him. It may be comforting but then we limit our own growth and forfeit most of or rights as kings and priests in this new Christ Kingdom.
The call has been as old as man is. Adam in the Garden of Eden called to have dominion and yet keep conversations with God in the Cool of day. Imagine such privileges; they are still alive today for many of us.
This is what brings me to the next point. If we are to believe that way we shall learn to remove boundaries. We used to believe that we would build our houses by a certain date that we could not cheat on our spouses that we would succeed no matter what. We believed a lot while we believed like children in this unlimited God. We believed right but only until we let the circumstances of life shape our mindsets. At that point we even bent the word of God to suit our conditions. How wrong we were and how wrong we have remained.
I charge you today to believe again to believe like a child to the end to be as unlimited as God is to walk in expectation of His goodness and ability and to refuse to let the circumstances of Life dictate boundaries for you.
Consider this passage.
1st Peter (Amplified Bible)
12It was then disclosed to them that the services they were rendering were not meant for themselves and their period of time, but for you. [It is these very] things which have now already been made known plainly to you by those who preached the good news (the Gospel) to you by the [same] Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Into these things [the very] angels long to look!
13So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.
14[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].
15But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.
16For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.(A)
17And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [on the earth, whether long or short].
18You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold,
19But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.
20It is true that He was chosen and foreordained (destined and foreknown for it) before the foundation of the world, but He was brought out to public view (made manifest) in these last days (at the end of the times) for the sake of you.
21Through Him you believe in (adhere to, rely on) God, Who raised Him up from the dead and gave Him honor and glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God.
22Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy ] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart.
23You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal [d]origin ([e]seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.
24For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its glory (honor) like [the] flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off,
25But the Word of the Lord ([f]divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever. And this Word is the good news which was preached to you.(B)
There is something about being able to do certain things for ourselves that makes it very tempting for us to assume complete responsibility of our lives in a way that God is pushed to the corner. When a child is still helpless it’s easy for them to rely on their parents totally. They believe it’s the parents to carry them, feed them, educate them, shelter them and so on. They believe to the end and the end in this case means, until the parent fails. Now, much as we are not supposed to remain children for all of our lives, we are encouraged to receive the kingdom of God as little children, to believe to the end and to believe in a God of no limits.
I am reminded of a very lovely story that happens in a home. A father had two sons. The younger of the sons walks to the dad and demands for his share of the father’s property. The loving father gives the son his share and that’s settled. But that particular son is not content with just having his share of the father’s property, he proposes to move far away from home and any thing that reminds him of home. He travels to a far away land and adopts new tradition, new beliefs and new behavior. With each new adoption he forsakes his old ways, he forsakes his former self.
The other son does not ask for anything, he simply tills the fathers land and keeps trying to please his father hoping that the father will see it in himself to give him what already belongs to him. What we should note at this point is that by this time the father had divided his property between both his sons. This division however was not to see his sons independent of him or dependent of him. The intention was to have both sons work with him in a partnership, to know that what he has is theirs as well. To believe that from that point they shared expectations and obligations, desires and passions. That was the original plan, to le the sons choose, choose when and how, where and what but choose with the Father.
Both sons missed the point and the father let them take their journey of learning.
We are very much like either of those sons today. Many of us have stopped asking and believing. Many believe God is more pleased with them when they spend an entire week praying, while others believe it is up to them to get rich and build the church. They believe they are supposed to make it or die.
There is nothing wrong with those mindsets. It is just a question of perspectives. God calls us to work with him. More like the time of Nehemiah. With one hand build and the other hold weapons of warfare. We are supposed to be independent in God. We operate with Him, and that’s where His delight is. In children who reign with Him. He wants us casting sicknesses far away rather than crying for Him. It may be comforting but then we limit our own growth and forfeit most of or rights as kings and priests in this new Christ Kingdom.
The call has been as old as man is. Adam in the Garden of Eden called to have dominion and yet keep conversations with God in the Cool of day. Imagine such privileges; they are still alive today for many of us.
This is what brings me to the next point. If we are to believe that way we shall learn to remove boundaries. We used to believe that we would build our houses by a certain date that we could not cheat on our spouses that we would succeed no matter what. We believed a lot while we believed like children in this unlimited God. We believed right but only until we let the circumstances of life shape our mindsets. At that point we even bent the word of God to suit our conditions. How wrong we were and how wrong we have remained.
I charge you today to believe again to believe like a child to the end to be as unlimited as God is to walk in expectation of His goodness and ability and to refuse to let the circumstances of Life dictate boundaries for you.
Consider this passage.
1st Peter (Amplified Bible)
12It was then disclosed to them that the services they were rendering were not meant for themselves and their period of time, but for you. [It is these very] things which have now already been made known plainly to you by those who preached the good news (the Gospel) to you by the [same] Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Into these things [the very] angels long to look!
13So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.
14[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].
15But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.
16For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.(A)
17And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [on the earth, whether long or short].
18You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold,
19But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.
20It is true that He was chosen and foreordained (destined and foreknown for it) before the foundation of the world, but He was brought out to public view (made manifest) in these last days (at the end of the times) for the sake of you.
21Through Him you believe in (adhere to, rely on) God, Who raised Him up from the dead and gave Him honor and glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God.
22Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy ] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart.
23You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal [d]origin ([e]seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.
24For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its glory (honor) like [the] flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off,
25But the Word of the Lord ([f]divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever. And this Word is the good news which was preached to you.(B)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Declaration
There is a lovely love story that I find very fascinating considering the circumstances. It all takes place in rural Jerusalem. A young man sends out word that he is in love with an even younger girl. Because marriages were largely arranged by the parents of the two, it is not clear whether the young girl is as excited as the young man obviously was. Anyway the young man’s friends are all happy for him and the whole small town is cheers for them.
There is how ever one obstacle. The young man is not supposed to take the young girl to his home. Well, until a short period of time has passed. They are supposed to live as friends even when the law of the land deems her his wife. The other thing that law dictates is that the young girl is not supposed to get pregnant or engage with any man in conjugal acts.
Something happens. The young girl gets pregnant. Allegedly the creator of heaven and earth is the Man responsible. Imagine with me how the young man feels at that moment. His pride and joy has disgraced him before his friends and the very law of the land. Now he has to lead the mob that will see this girl stoned to death as dictated by the law of the land, now he has to let his heart desire another, now he has to hate whom he loved. The flower in his desert has turned into venom.
But to the surprise of all, he takes the young girl as his wife. That’s something he is not so proud of but there is another voice that he cannot seem to silence. This voice is like a stronger part of him. For this he would stand ridicule and despise. All that, he does stand.
There are times in our lives when we announce to a loved one that we love them. We make promises that are bigger than ourselves and I think we do well. In those moments we believe ourselves to be in love and to love. We believe well. Love is not just a verb. When we proclaim ourselves to be in love, we make an honorable statement. This statement lives years after we have made it. But just like life itself, the challenges to test it remain numerous. These challenges test the mortality of our honesty and depth in understanding when we made the statement.
There is a lot of good at the end of the tunnel. When we have been tested and proved true, when we have been tempted and yet we chose the right path, when we believed even when we were not able to see. I tell you there is a lot of good. There is a married couple who will sit and think of all the evil they have done to each other. Tow couples of that sort may exist and ye they will differ greatly in some things. In one the pair will have learnt to endure each other while in another, they will have learnt how to enjoy each other.
There is a pull that helps us go beyond the wrongs we have done to each other. That bond is not in the feeling but in the realization that from the well of the feeling is a reality that will stay long after we are gone. I tell my friend that love has no past tense and I know I am right. Love is here with us every day when we smile and when we cry. When we make the commitment to love someone we agree with both their present and future and many time their past too
We don’t turn our backs on them when calamity strikes; we stand in the realization of what it means to be the people we have declared ourselves to be.
Well, I have to give you a close of the story we started with. For starters, that story has never ended. It still lives on in me and in many like me. That small act of love gave birth to the savior of the world and many of us have enjoyed the fruits of his life. Because the young man remained true to his state and statement, the world is a better place today. You want to know why?
Find the book called the bible and you will find this story.
There is how ever one obstacle. The young man is not supposed to take the young girl to his home. Well, until a short period of time has passed. They are supposed to live as friends even when the law of the land deems her his wife. The other thing that law dictates is that the young girl is not supposed to get pregnant or engage with any man in conjugal acts.
Something happens. The young girl gets pregnant. Allegedly the creator of heaven and earth is the Man responsible. Imagine with me how the young man feels at that moment. His pride and joy has disgraced him before his friends and the very law of the land. Now he has to lead the mob that will see this girl stoned to death as dictated by the law of the land, now he has to let his heart desire another, now he has to hate whom he loved. The flower in his desert has turned into venom.
But to the surprise of all, he takes the young girl as his wife. That’s something he is not so proud of but there is another voice that he cannot seem to silence. This voice is like a stronger part of him. For this he would stand ridicule and despise. All that, he does stand.
There are times in our lives when we announce to a loved one that we love them. We make promises that are bigger than ourselves and I think we do well. In those moments we believe ourselves to be in love and to love. We believe well. Love is not just a verb. When we proclaim ourselves to be in love, we make an honorable statement. This statement lives years after we have made it. But just like life itself, the challenges to test it remain numerous. These challenges test the mortality of our honesty and depth in understanding when we made the statement.
There is a lot of good at the end of the tunnel. When we have been tested and proved true, when we have been tempted and yet we chose the right path, when we believed even when we were not able to see. I tell you there is a lot of good. There is a married couple who will sit and think of all the evil they have done to each other. Tow couples of that sort may exist and ye they will differ greatly in some things. In one the pair will have learnt to endure each other while in another, they will have learnt how to enjoy each other.
There is a pull that helps us go beyond the wrongs we have done to each other. That bond is not in the feeling but in the realization that from the well of the feeling is a reality that will stay long after we are gone. I tell my friend that love has no past tense and I know I am right. Love is here with us every day when we smile and when we cry. When we make the commitment to love someone we agree with both their present and future and many time their past too
We don’t turn our backs on them when calamity strikes; we stand in the realization of what it means to be the people we have declared ourselves to be.
Well, I have to give you a close of the story we started with. For starters, that story has never ended. It still lives on in me and in many like me. That small act of love gave birth to the savior of the world and many of us have enjoyed the fruits of his life. Because the young man remained true to his state and statement, the world is a better place today. You want to know why?
Find the book called the bible and you will find this story.
Again
There was a time in my life when I voted a man for presidency. At that time I believed with all inside me that this particular man would win the presidency and that he was the right candidate. Then was a time when I told a girl I loved her. What I meant was that I would marry her. I meant every word I said. There was a time I sat for an exam an I thought I had done my best that those results would be the best ever.
Do you want to know the results? That man will never lead this country, the girl can never be a wife of mine and I have done better exams and got better result. What makes us do things again and again even when our expectations are not met?
I have proposed to another, again, voted for another, again and sat for other exams, again. There is something in our fabrics that sees us rise from our dusts, that sees us hope again and keep aspiring for better. The man who has got his satisfaction and the one who has lost hope are the same. We should also note that satisfaction and contentment are not the same. One settles for what he has and the other settles while he has what he has.
When we fall or fail, as we are bound to once in a while, we need to remind ourselves of where we had set out to go and of the fact that a mistake only remains so if the treasures in its lessons are not attended to. We can choose to sit and wail or learn from every moment of our lives. The destination is always light for us while we move. There is power in realising that we all can get to where we have always wanted to get. thats where the fun is, in being where your heart desired to get. The challenge for many of us is that we have set boundaries for ourselves. Boundaries of time and of capability and of opportunities. We have let society and experiences of those others dectate for us what we can do and how we can do it. But we all need to discover for ourselves what is possible and we all can in this lifetime.
The word again is not one we shall say once in our life time, we shall say it over and over. And in all our endeavors, we refrain from trying because we determine to actually do those things we set our hearts to. Again you will hurt but again you will heal. We are only a result of what we know. When we know where we want to go then we deem it worthwhile to encounter the perils that stand in front of us daily. The man who has lost hope is dead. He is dead to the knowledge of his destination.
So today I know I will marry and I will do it with joy, I will vote and that, with hope that my decision is right. We are here so that tomorrow can be better. That’s why we cannot afford to arrive now. The man who has arrived now is living a narrow life. As long as there are people other than me I will keep arriving. In a particular area I might arrive but not in totality.
To you my friends, better in always in the future never here with you. We aspire to make our businesses better, marriages better, parenting better, knowledge better and every thing you can think of. It all has the potential of getting better. But while we are at it, we need proper directions, a code of sorts. My opinion is the book called the bible does it best. It is the only place where better springs from in its most accurate form.
Will you hold that book today?
Do you want to know the results? That man will never lead this country, the girl can never be a wife of mine and I have done better exams and got better result. What makes us do things again and again even when our expectations are not met?
I have proposed to another, again, voted for another, again and sat for other exams, again. There is something in our fabrics that sees us rise from our dusts, that sees us hope again and keep aspiring for better. The man who has got his satisfaction and the one who has lost hope are the same. We should also note that satisfaction and contentment are not the same. One settles for what he has and the other settles while he has what he has.
When we fall or fail, as we are bound to once in a while, we need to remind ourselves of where we had set out to go and of the fact that a mistake only remains so if the treasures in its lessons are not attended to. We can choose to sit and wail or learn from every moment of our lives. The destination is always light for us while we move. There is power in realising that we all can get to where we have always wanted to get. thats where the fun is, in being where your heart desired to get. The challenge for many of us is that we have set boundaries for ourselves. Boundaries of time and of capability and of opportunities. We have let society and experiences of those others dectate for us what we can do and how we can do it. But we all need to discover for ourselves what is possible and we all can in this lifetime.
The word again is not one we shall say once in our life time, we shall say it over and over. And in all our endeavors, we refrain from trying because we determine to actually do those things we set our hearts to. Again you will hurt but again you will heal. We are only a result of what we know. When we know where we want to go then we deem it worthwhile to encounter the perils that stand in front of us daily. The man who has lost hope is dead. He is dead to the knowledge of his destination.
So today I know I will marry and I will do it with joy, I will vote and that, with hope that my decision is right. We are here so that tomorrow can be better. That’s why we cannot afford to arrive now. The man who has arrived now is living a narrow life. As long as there are people other than me I will keep arriving. In a particular area I might arrive but not in totality.
To you my friends, better in always in the future never here with you. We aspire to make our businesses better, marriages better, parenting better, knowledge better and every thing you can think of. It all has the potential of getting better. But while we are at it, we need proper directions, a code of sorts. My opinion is the book called the bible does it best. It is the only place where better springs from in its most accurate form.
Will you hold that book today?
Monday, July 21, 2008
She Sits
Somewhere in the rain
She sits down sing
Of the joy in her heart
Of the laughter she remembers
And as she sings her joy
She bleeds
For the love she lost
The places that died
Died in her own life
She comes to that place
Where the thorns are gray
With flowers of sorrow
It’s all she has
It’s all she is
When you join the song
Let her smile
Let her know
That in the moment of her weakness
She is still beautiful
She sits down sing
Of the joy in her heart
Of the laughter she remembers
And as she sings her joy
She bleeds
For the love she lost
The places that died
Died in her own life
She comes to that place
Where the thorns are gray
With flowers of sorrow
It’s all she has
It’s all she is
When you join the song
Let her smile
Let her know
That in the moment of her weakness
She is still beautiful
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