Passage: Matthew 6v25-34
Reference: Exodus 16
You see, something interesting about the christian walk is that those who are in it should not worry. Why is this important? As a christian God has delivered you from the world and has called you to live a kingdom lifestyle. In our passage, Jesus was trying to show His disciples part of what the christian lifestyle entails. One is that as a child of God, we should not worry. Sometimes when we're not sure what is going to happen next we tend to worry. When we don't know which school is going to give us admission, we tend to worry. When we're not sure how the money to sustain the family is coming we tend to worry (does not mean we should not work hard so we can have a steady income). When we're not sure how we're going to do on that exam, we tend to worry. The truth is we're not always required to know the outcome of things; however, we're fully required to trust in God. Instead of worrying, ask yourself this question; "Have I done all that is required of me? Also have I done them at the right time and in the right way?"
In our referenced story today, we see that the Israelites found themselves at a point that led to worry. Instead of asking the right questions like "God what can I do to find food?" they grumbled. They should not be blamed because if they understood better they would have done better. Remember God delivered them, so they could serve Him. Just like we are called to serve God and live the kingdom lifestyle, the Israelites were also delivered out of bondage so they could live in this way too. So God came in and provided them with manna. For each day God made provision for them. For the seventh day he also made provision by giving them double portion on the sixth day. He did this so they didn't have to work on the seventh day(Exodus 16v29). However some still disobeyed.
For a child of God, God makes provision for each day, each job, each family, each year, every future, each education, each feeding need, truly whatever one can think of, God has made provison for them. He pays more attention to you than to the lillies and the grasses of the field. The bible says in Psalm8v4 that God is mindful of man. This means that man's concerns are what fill up the mind of God. Man's issues are what God is fully concerned about. So in essence, when the time is right God simply releases the provison like He did for the Israelites. What we need to do is work with and fully utilize the grace that he has made available for the moment and what happens next, He will sort out.
Brethren, instead of grumbling notice that your situation is an open door for God to release the provision He has kept for you since time past. Also when He does, don't be like the Israelites of old who did not give thanks. Remember to go back and give thanks.
Stay blessed
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Why not give thanks?
Passage: Luke 17v11-19
References: Leveticus 13
This passage talks about ten men who encountered Jesus, but not all of them got the full benefit of it. Why? We'll look at the reason in details. Firt let's look at somethings about these men:
1) These men were helpless. They had a skin disease (leprosy), and there was no one around who could help them but Jesus whom they called out to.
2) These men according to their tradition were unclean. The bible explains in Leviticus 13 what people found with skin diseases had to do to become cleansed. In the case of these men the word of Jesus came forth and after they obeyed it began to cleanse them. I pray that Everything tagging you as unclean shall be removed by God's word today in Jesus name (amen).
In leviticus 13v3: the priest would have to examine the individual and if confirmed that he has a skin diesease in this case Leprosy, the priest would pronounce such a person as ceremonially unclean. So because of their condition, they were not good enough to live among the people and they could not worship God with others in the community. They were isolated. The verse tells us that they even stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice "Jesus Master, have pity on us." That was where the society had placed them; they were left to be noticed at a distance. They said to themselves "instead of going closer to the master, let's just shout as he is passing." They became limited in their minds; they didn't know that Jesus was the type that didn't care about skin diseases and he would have recieved them gladly. Affterall, it's the same Jesus who had lunch with Levi the tax collector in Luke 5v27-31.
Jesus then asked them to show themselves to the priest. Notice here that Jesus did not pray for them, he just asked them to do according to leviticus 13; go for priestly inspection. They could have grumbled and said, "why did He not just heal us, why do is He asking us to go to the priests?" Instead they all obeyed, but only one of them came back to give thanks after he noticed that he was healed. This one then becomes the only one to recieve a total breakthrough.
In our christian walk we always have requests for God. There are problems that we want God to move on our behalf and solve. There are sicknesses that we need healing for. There are jobs that we're waiting on God for. Some are looking for their future partners. Some are believing God for the salvation of loved ones and friends. Whatever it is, it's still a request God is interested in heairng. However, sometimes we forget to come back and give thanks when we see results. In the story Jesus pronounced the man well after he came back to give praises to God. Coming back to give thanks and praise is an act of faith that seals our blessings and makes them whole. Obedience is good but we need to crown it with thanksgiving.
Stay Blessed
References: Leveticus 13
This passage talks about ten men who encountered Jesus, but not all of them got the full benefit of it. Why? We'll look at the reason in details. Firt let's look at somethings about these men:
1) These men were helpless. They had a skin disease (leprosy), and there was no one around who could help them but Jesus whom they called out to.
2) These men according to their tradition were unclean. The bible explains in Leviticus 13 what people found with skin diseases had to do to become cleansed. In the case of these men the word of Jesus came forth and after they obeyed it began to cleanse them. I pray that Everything tagging you as unclean shall be removed by God's word today in Jesus name (amen).
In leviticus 13v3: the priest would have to examine the individual and if confirmed that he has a skin diesease in this case Leprosy, the priest would pronounce such a person as ceremonially unclean. So because of their condition, they were not good enough to live among the people and they could not worship God with others in the community. They were isolated. The verse tells us that they even stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice "Jesus Master, have pity on us." That was where the society had placed them; they were left to be noticed at a distance. They said to themselves "instead of going closer to the master, let's just shout as he is passing." They became limited in their minds; they didn't know that Jesus was the type that didn't care about skin diseases and he would have recieved them gladly. Affterall, it's the same Jesus who had lunch with Levi the tax collector in Luke 5v27-31.
Jesus then asked them to show themselves to the priest. Notice here that Jesus did not pray for them, he just asked them to do according to leviticus 13; go for priestly inspection. They could have grumbled and said, "why did He not just heal us, why do is He asking us to go to the priests?" Instead they all obeyed, but only one of them came back to give thanks after he noticed that he was healed. This one then becomes the only one to recieve a total breakthrough.
In our christian walk we always have requests for God. There are problems that we want God to move on our behalf and solve. There are sicknesses that we need healing for. There are jobs that we're waiting on God for. Some are looking for their future partners. Some are believing God for the salvation of loved ones and friends. Whatever it is, it's still a request God is interested in heairng. However, sometimes we forget to come back and give thanks when we see results. In the story Jesus pronounced the man well after he came back to give praises to God. Coming back to give thanks and praise is an act of faith that seals our blessings and makes them whole. Obedience is good but we need to crown it with thanksgiving.
Stay Blessed
Monday, April 13, 2009
Are you born of God - Part 4
Passage: 1 John 5
References: 1 John 3v8-9.
He who is born of God does not continue to sin (v18) . Those who are born of God
3) Do not continue to Sin: Pay close attention to the statement made in this verse; it says "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the ONE who was born of God keeps him safe." Let's spend some time looking and trying to undrstand who the bible is referring to in this verse. Who is the ONE? The ONE is Jesus. Jesus was the one born of God. The bible says in Matthew:1v18 that Mary was found with a child through the Holy Spirit. Also in Luke:1v35 the angel replied Mary and said "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the SON OF GOD." Jesus is the firstborn of all creation and he protects those who are born of God after Him.
Now that we understand that Jesus is the one who protects us, we have to also notice that the first thing v18 says is that those who are born of God do not continue in sin. So it's our responsibility first to stay away from sin and shun every appearance of evil, then the evil one will have no right over you. Sin exposes you to danger. May God give us the grace to keep away from sin and to help us understand all that sin comprises of. May we grow into mature children of God not needing milk, but feeding on solid meals from the Father. Follow Jesus who is both our Savior Lord and big brother.
Stay blessed.
References: 1 John 3v8-9.
He who is born of God does not continue to sin (v18) . Those who are born of God
3) Do not continue to Sin: Pay close attention to the statement made in this verse; it says "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the ONE who was born of God keeps him safe." Let's spend some time looking and trying to undrstand who the bible is referring to in this verse. Who is the ONE? The ONE is Jesus. Jesus was the one born of God. The bible says in Matthew:1v18 that Mary was found with a child through the Holy Spirit. Also in Luke:1v35 the angel replied Mary and said "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the SON OF GOD." Jesus is the firstborn of all creation and he protects those who are born of God after Him.
Now that we understand that Jesus is the one who protects us, we have to also notice that the first thing v18 says is that those who are born of God do not continue in sin. So it's our responsibility first to stay away from sin and shun every appearance of evil, then the evil one will have no right over you. Sin exposes you to danger. May God give us the grace to keep away from sin and to help us understand all that sin comprises of. May we grow into mature children of God not needing milk, but feeding on solid meals from the Father. Follow Jesus who is both our Savior Lord and big brother.
Stay blessed.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Are you born of God? - Part 3
Passage 1 John 5
References 1John 3 v8-9
For a while now we've been dwelling on the topic of "Been born of God". We started by looking at its meaning and some requirements as described in 1 John (3&5). Prior to this post, the topic dealt with was believing that Jesus is the christ. Now we'll look at another requirement of been born of God. Those who are born of God are those who:
2) Overcome the world: What a brief statement, but breaking it down reveals a lot about its power. There are two major words in this statement, Overcome and World. What do they mean?
Overcome: means to overpower, to defeat and to prevail over.
World in this context refers to that which is not Godly. So the world in this context is anything ungodly and could be attitudes, concepts, laws, governmental regulations, cultures, mindsets, etc.
So to overcome the world means to take control of, or to overpower, to defeat and prevail over anything which in ungodly. The question is why are we fighting against the world, because before you talk of overpowering something or someone, you must have been in some sort of fight with it. Well let me tell you the answer; there is a fight. The bible says that we are in the world but not of it. Have you noticed that as a christian there are somethings that kind of concflict with your conscience. That's because the things of the world conflict with our Godly standards. So every now and then we find ourselves being tempted to do what our conscience is pricking us not to.
God is our father and to be born of Him, he has shown us that we should overcome the world. As individuals we know those things that contend with our faith in God. Some of them are temptations that have even become familiar to us. However, remember that in Christ we are overcomers because he assures us in John 16 v 33 that we should be of good cheer, because he has overcome the world. May God give you the enablement to exercise your authority over the world in Jesus name, amen.
Stay Blessed
References 1John 3 v8-9
For a while now we've been dwelling on the topic of "Been born of God". We started by looking at its meaning and some requirements as described in 1 John (3&5). Prior to this post, the topic dealt with was believing that Jesus is the christ. Now we'll look at another requirement of been born of God. Those who are born of God are those who:
2) Overcome the world: What a brief statement, but breaking it down reveals a lot about its power. There are two major words in this statement, Overcome and World. What do they mean?
Overcome: means to overpower, to defeat and to prevail over.
World in this context refers to that which is not Godly. So the world in this context is anything ungodly and could be attitudes, concepts, laws, governmental regulations, cultures, mindsets, etc.
So to overcome the world means to take control of, or to overpower, to defeat and prevail over anything which in ungodly. The question is why are we fighting against the world, because before you talk of overpowering something or someone, you must have been in some sort of fight with it. Well let me tell you the answer; there is a fight. The bible says that we are in the world but not of it. Have you noticed that as a christian there are somethings that kind of concflict with your conscience. That's because the things of the world conflict with our Godly standards. So every now and then we find ourselves being tempted to do what our conscience is pricking us not to.
God is our father and to be born of Him, he has shown us that we should overcome the world. As individuals we know those things that contend with our faith in God. Some of them are temptations that have even become familiar to us. However, remember that in Christ we are overcomers because he assures us in John 16 v 33 that we should be of good cheer, because he has overcome the world. May God give you the enablement to exercise your authority over the world in Jesus name, amen.
Stay Blessed
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