Before KINGs.
king Solomon, the wisest king that ever lived in Proverbs 22:29 KJV, made this assertion, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men."
Diligence in service can take a man where skill and expertise won't.
There's no remedy for hard work, or better still, shall I aptly say "smart work."
In the world we live in consistency
will always be sought after just as excellence in service will.
We will always come across stories of how men endured in their pursuit of an endeavour and because of their dogged determination were able to etch their names and the purpose of their unswerving loyalty in the sands of time.
As people of God, our Almighty God and Father also requires that we be diligent in all our pursuits but unlike other earthly endeavours His desire is that we show forth such excellence in service so that as in Matthew 5: 16, people will see our good works, choose to follow in our footsteps and glorify Him as a result when they find out the real source of our motivation.
It is important that God's people are elevated to the point of being recognised by the high and mighty, not because it gives them an opportunity to curry their favour but because it gives them a platform to influence leadership with God's agenda concerning how men are governed.
The holy writ has several accounts of how prophets, priests, kings and even ordinary men have devoted their lives to God's service to the point of becoming reference points themselveswho those in authority seek to solve one issue or the other that they face.
Diligence in every endeavour one embarks upon, not for just personal aggrandisement or vain glory but for a purpose beyond oneself, so that other men by seeing ones godly work ethicswould desire to imitate ones lifestyle is God's will concerning His people and we can therefore ill-afford to put His name into disrepute by sloppy and half-hearted services we render.
Are you representing God Almighty in your endeavours as you ought?
Note that we are God's ambassadors whilst on this earth and we must always work at things with all our heart, as if we were directly serving God and not man as in Colossians 3:23 to 24, forit is God that promotes and one day we shall also be recalled to give account of our stewardship and accordingly rewarded for our service.
May the good Lord keep you hooked, tilted and built up in Him and give you the strength and tenacity to be His faithful soldier and servant until your lifes end as you show forth His glory and excellence in all your endeavours.
Shalom
The Faithful (3)
It is not enough for God's spirit to be in us and for us to be dormant in doing His will. We must be proactive.
Faith has these 2 components:
1. Complete confidence in God's Almighty Ability to save and provide, and
2. Our active believing by what we think, say and do as proof of the faith we claim we have and profess.
God's Commandments are geared towards helping us fulfill our own part of the CovenantHe has so graciously given us, which is our obligation to God and our neighbours.
In Mark 12: 28 - 31, when asked which of the commandments was the most important, Jesus replied the teacher thus:
29. “The most important one,”
..., “is this: 'Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
31. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”
Our Faithfulness should be to God and therefore our fellow man as well.
The sequence was not a mistake either becauseyou cannot love your neighbor as yourself when you don't love the Lord God as you ought.
It is easier to love and therefore be faithful concerning Gods covenant to your wife because you are bound by the blood covenant that cements your union, and to your children because they are also a part of you - than a your neighbour who is not related to you by blood.
This is because our faithfulness to our neighbour requires us to have faith in God's Almighty ability - to give us the compassion we need to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.
Our faithfulness to God as in Deuteronomy 8: 10, 11 and 14, also requires that:
1. Whenever we have eaten and are satisfied, we must praise the Lord God for what he has given us.
2. We must be careful that we do not forget God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that has been handed down to us, and
3. That our hearts won't become proud and cause us to forget God, who brought us out of captivity and the slavery of sin.
Lack of Thanksgiving and forgetfulness because of the lust of the eyes, flesh and pride of life can erode ones faithfulness in our service to God.
We must guard against such by not gorging ourselves to the point that we eat and are satisfied, build fine houses and settle down, and as a result, allow the endowments God has given us to take care of others, become our gods.
There's a time for rest for God's people, His stewards, but there's no such thing as settling down and retirement in God's economy on earth.
As in John 9: 4, "As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent "us", "for" Night is coming, when no one can work."
When night comes then we'll rest.
The man who seeks settling down and retirement in God's economy should take heed of the reply of the watchman in Isaiah 21: 11 to 12.
He called out to the Watchman, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” and the watchman reply was, “Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again.”
Shalom
The Faithful (2)
Luke 12: 42 to 44, is a question to all God's creation, including you and I and it goes thus:
42. "..., Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?
43. It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.
44. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
The Faithful are those who have come to the realization that they are but Stewards sent to this world to manage God's resources for the upkeep of His people.
They are wise enough to provide for the needs of God's people, whether saved or not, as and at when due, that He may entrust to them more of His possessions to dispense in a timely manner, knowing that they will be recalled one day to give an account of their management of the resources and their workmanship to the owner.
This concept of the "Faithful and Wise Steward" is the sole purpose for our existence.
In fact, the final analysis of the 2 categories of unfaithful servants is given in verse 47 to 48 of the same chapter, which goes thus:
47. “The servant who knows the master's will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.
48. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
This makes us understand that ignorance to one's godly purpose is not an excuse and everyone will give account and be rewarded for his stewardship, faithfulness or lack thereof according to what God has entrusted to him, so my friend, be faithful!
Shalom.
The Called, the Chosen and the Faithful - The Making of a Disciple.
3. The Faithful.
SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH:
The Faithful are those who by complete confidence in God and His word, obey God's Call on their lives to be set apart.
They have a witness in their spirit that they have indeed been chosen, and as a result, work out their own part of the privileged covenant God has given them, with fear and trembling, by faith in the one who has promised that He will keep them to the end.
Our Faithfulness is all about keeping our own end of the covenant by doing what we are supposed to do, when we are supposed to, propelled by faith in God's Word concerning usas in Ephesians 2: 8 to 9, which says:
8. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -
9. not by works, so that no one can boast."
TIME:
As with everything that concerns our short sojourn on this earth, God's call is time bound as in, Isaiah 55:6, where we are admonished thus:
"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."
We can ill-afford to put off God's call on our lives and risk our destinies been truncated abruptlyby the ancient enemy of our souls as in verse 7.
FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE BY PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP:
In Mark 4: 11, unlike the crowd that also heard, when Jesus was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him privately about the parables he had been telling them and the reply of Jesus was, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables."
How unfortunate the crowd that formed the majority of the people Jesus had spoken the parables to were at the end of the day not faithful enough to ensure they understood God's Word so that they may take it to heart, obey it and be blessed by it as a result.
What Jesus meant by what he said was that, the secret of the kingdom of God, that is theunderstanding of the parable he had spoken of that they may be able to apply heavens principles in their lives - on earth, can only be given to those on the inside, those who chose to be his disciple, and therefore make the extra sacrifice to go the extra mile to privately seek him for interpretation.
FAITHFUL WORKS:
For us to be Faithful, we need to purposefully ensure that we keep working out our salvation with fear and trembling by faith in His word.
Finally, in Joshua 1:8, it is written,
"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
This all too important scripture can be paraphrased and Itemised thus to expansiate on what we need to do to be faithful stewards of the covenant God has called us into:
1. Keep confessing Gods law,
2. meditate on it always that
3. it may empower you to be careful to obey it to the letter, and
4. you will live a fulfilling life in prosperity and success as a result of your faithfulness.
Understanding God and His living Word gives birth to Faithfulness.
Shalom
The Called, the Chosen and the Faithful - The Making of a Disciple.
2. The Chosen.
In first Peter 1: 1 to 2, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, started his letter to the church thus:
"To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces .... who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ."
The Chosen, who are also referred to as "the Elect" are those who have been elected by God, not by works but by grace, by him who calls those things that are not as though they were, that His sovereign purpose in election might stand, to cultivate a relationship of complete confidence in Him as God Almighty, the maker and provider of all, and therefore live an abundant life on this earth and inherit an everlasting kingdom hereafter.
You know you have graduated to the rank of the Chosen of God, by your acceptance of Christ as Lord and Saviour and by your simple belief that the promises God made to his children accrue to you too as an equal heir, and therefore ascribing it to yourself by faith.
You most certainly won't get a verbal confirmation of you being chosen by God, like Jesus did in Matthew 17: 5, but you will surely have a witness in your Spirit of it.
In Genesis 15: 1 and 4 to 6,
God told Abraham these things in a vision:
1. “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.
2. ” ..., but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir,” and
3. That Abrams offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Abram believed all the Lord said, and God credited it to him as righteousness.
God still credits righteousness to those who are "Chosen."
An example of God's pronouncement concerning his people, that we can believe and act on by confessing it into our lives until we start to live it out, is 1 Peter 2: 9, which when paraphrased goes thus:
"But (I am) a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that (I) may declare the praises of him who called (me) out of darkness into his wonderful light."
Shalom
The Called, the Chosen and the Faithful - The Making of a Disciple.
1. The Called.
The path of one who is Called, Chosen and remains Faithful is the Making of a Disciple of our Lord and Saviour.
Not all have been elected but everyone will be called.
Even those who lived and died on earth before the advent of Jesus were called by him as is written in 1 Peter 3: 19 to 20.
The Call of Jesus Christ to mankind can be appreciated in the account of how he Called his first Disciples in Matthew 4: 18 to 20.
The account goes thus:
18. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
20. At once they left their nets and followed him.
Everyone born into this world will be called by Jesus Christ as it is written concerning Jesus inJohn 1: 9 KJV, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
The Call of Jesus Christ to mankind is a call to every human being to experience the abundant life God foreplanned for mankind.
A call to be reconciled to God and constantly experience the cordial relationship that Adam and Eve had with Him at the beginning.
A call to be Redeemed from the curse of the Fall of Mankind and the law of sin and death and bask in the restoration of the blessings and dominion God originally planned for His beloved creation.
In John 1:4 it is written,
"In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind."
The life that is referred to as "the light of all mankind," is the heaven on earth - abundant life God initially planned for all mankind, and such supernatural existence on this earth can only be experienced as a result of one's complete confidence in Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour and God as our Almighty Father.
We are in a time war and the truth is only time will tell when our spirits will be recalled by the One who gave it. Today is all you've got. Right now is what we are all assured of.
Jesus is calling you to His service today by virtue of what you have just read. He is saying to you right now:
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If "you" hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with "you", and "you" with me," as in Revelation 3: 20.
The choice is yours but I counsel you not to forsake Him now but answer the door as He won't knock forever.
Shalom
Inspired by God, executed by me.
The case of to sell or not to sell?
To sell or not to profit from what you have been freely given, even though it cost you resources which didn't emanate from you either is an issue we need to deal with individually because God is still the arbiter of all that is right or wrong in our individual lives.
I know there's a need to fund ministries, to make an honest living to be able to indulge in the work of our hands or pastime but because someone chooses to monetize the talent God has given him doesn't mean that we all can as well, so let God be the yardstick and not your needs, greed or what anyone else may be doing or has told you.
The Yoruba adage, "má fí àgo àlágo şhere!" which means "don't use someone elses timing as a yardstick or to judge" is very apt with regards to how God deals with issues in our individual lives.
Because God chooses to deal with a person in a particular way doesn't always translate to the same blanket approval or denial to everyone else.
Our differing temperaments, level of faith and maturity comes to play in a lot of things we are permitted to do or not in God's scheme of things.
God's as in Jeremiah 29:11, knows the plans He has for us individually, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future so let's develop the much needed personal relationship He desires we all have with Him so we can understand and fit in to His will concerning all our endeavours instead of following the way others do things because of our lack of guidance.
Are you talented with an ability that you have the potential to monetize to your benefit but are not sure if that's the way the way to go with regards to your goods or services?
Sincerely ask God to show you the way to go, seek His face concerning what He would have you do by seeking council through a prompting He may give you through searching His living word and you can be assured that He will reveal His purpose for such to you in His own time.
While you are waiting for a definite answer you may be prompted to go about doing what you believe will glorify Him and by so doing find out what He would have you do down the line.
Finally, as in Hebrews 11:6 KJV, you must go to God believing that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, that He may meet you at your point of need.
Shalom
Healing & Medicine.
Faith in Healing and the role of Medicine.
Just as in Mark 9: 40, where it is written, "for whoever is not against us is for us." I do believe everything that is not against the will of God for our life must be for us.
Our use of pharmaceutical drugs to effect our healing and wellness is by no means an indication of our lack of faith in God's transforming word to heal us when our bodies are plagued by sickness and disease.
Whether we are afflicted by one ailment or the other, God knows. It is in His permissive will.
The means by which He'll give us respite or complete healing is also in his purview and is His divine prerogative, and in truth, most of the effective pharmaceutical drugs or herbal remedies we may choose to take as well, were not discovered and concocted without His divine wisdom and input.
All God requires of us is that we take them with thanksgiving, giving Him the glory due Him for their existence and ability to give us respite when ill.
In John chapter 9, Jesus healed the man that was born blind by using the resources of the earth that was created by him and for him.
Jesus simply spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, put it on the man's eyes, and told him to wash in the Pool of Siloam and the man came home seeing as a result.
After all, the remedy we choose to take or God's words that we confess to effect our healing all derive their potency from our faith in them or shall I say our faith in their true source.
Finally, let's be doubly sure that we are in the center of God's will concerning whatever measure or medium we choose to effect our healing and that of others, for as in 3 John 1:2, it is God's will that we enjoy good health and that all goes well with us as our soul prospers in Him.
Just as the warning, "If symptoms persist see your doctor!" is commonly seen on several drugs, as God's people we must also go back to the Great Physician when what we choose to use as a remedy is not giving us the desired result. He can never be tired of attending to us.
We don't need to book an appointment with Him nor should we see our consultation with him as a lack of faith on our part.
Shalom
It will all end in Praise.
God Almighty through our faith in His precious promises strewn throughout the Holy Writ has given us the privilege to participate in His divine nature here on earth.
One of the most important scripture He has made available to us is Romans 8:28, which goes thus:
".. in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
We have all been through patches in life and will still go through more when it seems like God just ain't there, situations in which we have sought the hand of God concerning a matter and all we experience is deafening silence without a prompting of a "Yes," "No" or "wait," that we all have been made to believe is the natural order of God's response to our needs and wants.
It can be so downright frustrating to know that God exists but seems to be delaying in bringing about an outcome we desire but as people of God, we need to keep trusting God for a favourable outcome knowing that He desires what's best for us even more than our very selves.
We all need to reprogramme our minds to understand that even if that seemingly all too important reply of a "Yes," "No" or "wait" is not forthcoming, the final outcome of the situation we have earnestly tabled before the Lord will still turn out to favour us, but more importantly it will result in these outcomes which are His purpose for us and our fellow men:
1. the saving of souls of men,
2. praise to Him and
3. blessings for us.
These 3 outcomes far outweigh the wisdom we may exhibit and our puny ideas we tend to have of how the end of a matter should be.
God as in Romans 8:28 will always orchestrate outcomes of all situations to favour us but we need to understand that in Gods scheme of things the order of priority goes thus:
1. The fulfilment of His purpose concerning a situation that He alone may be glorified, and then
2. Working out the outcome for the good of those who love him to the extent that they desire the fulfilment of His purpose above their own desire.
Let me paint a worse-case senario for you, to hit the nail on the head so that whenever we remember Romans 8:28 we will have the right perspective of it from now on.
God will allow you or another person who is bound for heaven to be maimed or even killed so that another can make heaven that His name may be praised as a result and the salvation of the new convert will be added to your heavenly reward.
God's purpose for mankind is not just that we live long or have situations go our way but more importantly that we live well by helping Him fulfil His purpose of saving others like He saved us.
So from now on have the right perspective concerning Gods ultimate purpose for every situation we face in life, which is that, people are saved, we are bleseed and He is praised and glorified. So the bottom line is...it will all end in praise.
Shalom
Time for God.
Everything we desire to do but cannot get ourselves to do begins with a sincere and heartfelt prayer to God acknowledging our inability to do it by our own and requesting that He empower us as a result.
I used to pray to God to give me time to fellowship with Him and His word before He made me understand that He has given me grace to do so, as it is His will for all men and that it was now my turn to act.
Finding time or Making out time to commune with God is a Sacrifice like many other endeavours God requires that we accomplish,not because they are easy or expedient but because they are needful, for our benefit and that He may be glorified through them.
Several times when I had hit the sack early because of an early morning meeting or to adequately prepare for an event, I would give God a litany of excuses of how He should understand the importance of what I had to do, as if He was not the one that made it possible for me to get the job in the first place.
We tend to relegate our communion with God to the background from time to time feigning some worthy venture as being a worthwhile excuse for doing so.
When I come back from waking up to go to the convenience to take a leak is the time God has hinted me about as being the best opportunity for me to have a quiet time with Him and His Word.
It was a good enough time than having the alarm on my phone wake me and still be fighting to stay awake because by the time I got back to the bed I would be actually wide awake.
When God first dropped the thought into my mind I fought it for a while because I loved my sleep, but He soon reminded me of the oath king David made to Him that I would confess by faith from time to time as a daily routine I desired.
David in Psalm 132: 3 to 5, vowed to God saying,
3. “I will not enter my house or go to my bed,
4. I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
5. till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
I was opportune to come across a word of knowledge about Genesis 1:5, where after God called the light “day,” and the darkness “night,”the first day was recorded as being from that evening till the next morning.
That revelation afforded me the opportunity to realise that my day doesn't start at daybreak but at night.
It made me understand as in Matthew 13:25 why the enemy of the souls of men was able to sow weeds among the wheat, while everyone slept.
As people of God we need to communicate with God, pray and project our confessions for what we desire for the next day before it comes upon us.
In Proverbs 8:17 KJV, God emphatically said, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me."
From that scripture I deduced that my love for God is equated with my seeking Him early, and after all it is to my benefit that I find Him that He may strengthen and prepare me for the day and tasks ahead.
There is a stark difference between fitting God into your plans and letting him put you into his plan.
Stop trying to fit God into your plans, instead let him put you into his plan and find out what His plan is and get with His programme.
The adage, "those who fail to plan, plan to fail"adequately captures the senario those who fail to fit their plan into God's will and His way end up facing along the way.
Are you having a hard time making out time for God?
Begin by praying about it then seize the opportunity you have when you are idle, on transit, breaktime, your time for siesta, etc to commune with Him and you'll end up having a more fulfilled existence.
Shalom
