Posts

Showing posts from June, 2022

His word is our light

Image
 Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,  a light on my path. God's word is our guide and a light to shine for us, so that we may not stumble and fall. Just as we need light in our everyday lives to do everything safely and easily, we also need God's word to shine and clear our path. Walking in the dark can be risky, painful and a process that can lead to delays. However, when we have the light, we clearly see where to go, where to turn and we get to see how the path looks. It is the same with the word of God, it is there to guide us. Growing up, I always thought the bible was a book with stories from long ago, on God and the people He had a relationship with. However, as I became a frequent consumer and also getting an understanding from the preachers  of gospel, I'm beginning to realize that the bible is my guide. Everything I need, is found in the bible. This I've had the pleasure of experiencing, where I would wonder about something, then God would le...

Your deficiencies, are for His glory

Image
 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. God wants us to be worry free. This, not to be blind to what's happening, but to not let what's happening out there, to get to us. When living the life in Christ, you see things with a different perspective, no matter what the storm, you tend to fall back on what God said first. God said, no weapon formed against you that shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17). This means, in your life, along the way, there will be weapons that gets formed to kill you, destroy you or  to steal from you (by the enemy, as per John 10:10); however, the promise from God is that, that weapon that has been formed, will not prosper in destructing or killing you. This makes a difference, as you are reassured that God is in control, He will come through for you. The second thing that God says is that all things will work together for your good (Romans 8:28). Meaning no matter what you have come against, God will turn it around to ...

More grace, more peace...

Image
 2 Peter 1:2 (NLT) May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. His grace is everything to us; it is the undeserved favour. This favour can see us access places we could not access on our own, heal from diseases  that could've been deadly, elevate in places that we are underqualified for. It is that extra mile that God brings when all you have reached a point where you can no longer do anything about. Whilst His peace keeps us sane even when things are falling apart; thriving even when the storm is raging around you; the ability to still smile and praise Him even when circumstances say you should be depressed and out. These two aspects are what God promises to us as we grow in His knowledge. Romans 12:2 that says do not conform to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by renewing your mind. You renew your mind by soaking it in the word of God. Seeking Him, to understand Him better and to grow your relationship ...

Grab hold of that opportunity

Image
 Isaiah 41:13 For I am the  Lord  your God  who takes hold of your right hand  and says to you, Do not fear;  I will help you. Those words are so comforting. God prepares and equips  us, for the assignment He has for us. We may obviously feel underqualified, less experienced or less knowledgeable but God says I will take hold of you with your right strong hand; do not be afraid, I will help you. This gives the reassurance  that every step you take, you will be guided by Him (Psalm 119:105). He has cleared the path for you to walk on.  Like a seed, God plants us, prepares us and wen we are ready, we may feel out of place, as we are not used to the position we may now find ourselves, but if God says you are ready, best believe that you are ready! No devil, no hater, no man will stop what God has ordained for you. His plans always prevails and that means, His plans for your life, will also prevail. Instead of fighting the process, want...

Command: love one another!

Image
 John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this everyone will know that you are my disciples , if you love one another.” As we have acknowledged that we are Jesus' ambassadors, it is imperative to know what is expected of us, so that we may represent Him well and as expected. This bible verse gives us an instruction to love one another, as He has loved us . If we are honest, we will recall that God didn't start loving us after we got saved and saw the light. Even whilst we were sinners, God loved us and gave up His Son for us (Romans 5:8). This means that same as with us, we cannot only love selectively, only those that are righteous, but everyone. The bible didn't say love your good neighbor as you love yourself; no, it said, love your neighbour as you love yourself. This is besides of how the people are. It is a difficult one, which is why the easier one (of loving only the good ones), it...

You are the LIGHT to the world!

Image
 Matthew 5:14-15 “ You are the light of the world . A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.   Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.." This is a profound message, that we need to be aware of and take seriously. As Jesus was about to  ascend back to our Father, He told His disciples that He will not leave them alone, but the Holy Spirit will come upon them; a Helper, Comforter and Guide. Meaning, as the disciples of God, when we accepted Christ in our lives, we became a new creation and the Holy Spirit dwell within us. This is how God is able to shine His light in and through us. Which is why, we are called the light to the world. Ours is different from the world, as we get the wisdom from the Lord, our paths is lit by the Lord, our steps are guided by the Lord and also the Lord tells us what to say. In this case, we have become the ambassadors for Christ, showing the evid...

His blessings from generation to generation...

Image
 Psalm 100:5 For the  Lord  is good and His love endures forever;    His faithfulness continues through all generations. How awesome is our God! He is a good, good Father. His faithfulness continues from generation to generation. We are the beneficiaries of His goodness. We have inherited favour that was promised  to our forefathers, that have become an inheritance for us as well. God made a covenant with Abraham that He will bless His descendant, that through Him, favour will rest upon them. This comes from Genesis 12:2-3: " I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; all families of the earth will be blessed through you ". God could have blessed Abraham for his obedience and leave it at that, and everyone for themselves. But because He is a good Father, He blessed even those that will follow after him, many...

Find shelter in God!

Image
 Psalm 91:1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. God is our ultimate protection, hiding  place, our defense and our covering. Like a father in the natural, where you find protection from him, it is the same with our Heavenly Father, whose arms are always open for us to find the shelter in.  Shelter is needed in every area of our lives, from health, finances, security, to our future. Should  we opt to protect ourselves, we may find ourselves vulnerable to conditions that are out of our control. I'm  reminded of the story of Joseph, where God revealed to the king through dreams the famine that was coming. The king couldn't understand what the dreams meant, and that's when Joseph was brought out from prison to help out. God gave him such insight that over and above the interpretation of the dream, he was able to even give the king a strategy of how to prepare, in order for the shock not to be detrimental to the cou...

Fear of the Lord is the foundation...

Image
 Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the  Lord  is the beginning of wisdom,  and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Fear in this passage is used in a context of acknowledging, recognizing, honouring, respecting God. Basically the realization that there is no one above Him- that is the beginning of all wisdom. Recognizing that He is the Source of ALL things. Because thinking that there could possibly be someone else or something else that is more powerful or mightier than God, would be foolish, that would lead to doomsday.  When you check the 10 commandments that God gave Moses for His people (Exodus 20), He emphasizes that as people, we shall not have any other god other than Him. This showing that we must not fool ourselves that we can create our own little god, with Him not seeing. This is evident when the Children of Israel were in the wilderness and they started going astray and made their own god, God was very angry with them. This shows that God d...

Do not accept bribe, God said...

Image
Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe,  for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. Our society has made certain things normal and acceptable, when according to God, they are not acceptable. We are instructed not to accept bride, for it messes up other people's lives. This is evident with so many areas in public and private sector nowadays. Things happen behind closed doors but the impact thereof, is evident in the poor state of our economy, infrastructure, people. Have we turned out to be a state that turns its back from God? Have we designed our own rules? Have we found other "gods" to worship?  The phrase of gods is said to be anything and everything that takes away your  focus from God; this could be something that you get obsessed with, live for and are willing to die for. Anything that you pay your utmost attention to. Isaiah 57 describes  some of the acts that are wicked and that displease God.  One thing for sure, God is watching, ...

With God, ALL things are possible!

Image
 Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said,  “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible .” With God, ALL things are possible. The moment we recognize that God is not limited like us, His thoughts are not same as ours, His ways are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9), that will be the moment we see miraculous things happen. What God expects from us, is just faith, small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). This will activate His move. There are so many encouraging bible stories that shows how mighty and powerful God is. A whole lot of things may be impossible for us, but not for God. When you read stories about Daniel in the lion's den, the three teenagers in the fiery furnace (Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego) you realize that you might find yourself in a pit or prisoner, where there is no way out for you, BUT God! He is able to let us go through the fire and not get burnt, not even smell of fire. He is able to shut the mouth of lions, so we don't get destroyed, imag...

The last will be first!!

Image
 Matthew 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first . God's ways are not our ways. Sometimes in life, we may feel delayed, only to find that we are on time- in God's timing. God says those who are first, will be last and those that were last, will be first. This can apply in any area of our lives, where life may have been unfair, where we found ourselves in the wilderness , stagnant, confined. But I am learning that we may feel like we are buried (whilst others flourish); nope, in actual fact, we have been planted. Like a seed, that is planted in the ground, where it is dark, humid and no space to move. That's where growth takes place . In those moments , God is preparing us, equipping us and this is equivalent to being watered , day-in, day-out. But when the time is right, that seed that  was in the ground, not visible, now it springs forth and when it does, it shoots like crazy because it is equipped  and ready! Some may feel it happe...

You are worth more!

Image
 Luke 12:7 (NIV) Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. We are not just faces in a crowd, where we are overshadowed and forgotten. God is in the detail, He pays attention to each person. The bible tells us that He knows the number of hairs we have, imagine! Whilst the world might make us feel insignificant and worthless, the Lord sees us and cares for us. He even tells us that we are worth so much more, more than the sparrows. With the sparrows, we are told that not even one falls and dies without God knowing about it, how much then does He care about you and I? God promised to care for us, to be there for us and to be with us; to be our defender and our protector. To be our shield and helper. God, through the Holy Spirit will even teach us what to say (Luke 12:12). This shows that He cares for us and our wellbeing. He wants to be part of our lives and be the Father that we need. Let us give Him a chance t...

Rejoice and be glad!

Image
 Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the  Lord  has made;   let us rejoice and be glad in it! Being able to open eyes, take a breath, is a miracle, a blessing on its own! It happens so often that we have started taking it for granted. But it isn't. There are so many people who would've loved to see just one more day, but couldn't. When you look at it in that perspective, you realize that we are still fortunate to live and breathe.  This bible verse reminds us that today could be that day, where all are dreams come true, that we find healing we've been longing for, that we may find peace, that we may achieve a  particular  goal or something. Or it could just be that day where we make that decision that will change our lives forever! Hence, we need to rejoice in it, we are still alive, still have another chance to chase our dreams, live better and do better. The attitude we should have in the morning, is the one of gratitude, that we made it through the ni...

The sinful nature is nailed on the cross...

Image
 Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. The bible tells us that when we receive Christ as our Saviour, we became a new creation. New creation means some of the things we used to do, that we used to like, will no longer appeal in the new life that we have adopted. It is like a veil is removed and we are able to see which of the things that used to be part of our lives falls in the kingdom of darkness and which falls in the kingdom of light. We are able to tell if our ways are aligned with the approach of God or not. Having the Holy Spirit, helps us make that determination, as the Holy Spirit is our guide, our helper and the One who convicts us- show us our blind-spots, so that we are aligned  with the plans and purposes of  God. I believe God influences our taste, things that appeal to us, that inspires us and makes us happy. Opposite is true, those things that are n...

The first miracle performed by Jesus

Image
 John 2:7-9 Jesus said to the servants,  “ Fill the jars with water” ; so they filled them to the brim.  T hen He told them,  “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”   They did so,  and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew... The bible tells us this was the first miracle performed by Jesus. At the wedding that they had attended, they ran out of wine. We all know weddings are a joyful place every bride and groom would want everything to go accordingly and their guests treated well. Running out of something, causes a lot of distress and embarrassment to some degree. Which is why Jesus stepped in and help turn the moment to be a miraculous one. How amazing, from a low moment  to a moment that has set things in motion. Jesus was now commissioned... In the same way, God has assignments for each one of us t...

Praise the Lord!

Image
 Psalm 103:2-4 (NIV) Praise the  Lord , my soul,   and forget not all His benefits- who forgives all your sins   and heals all your diseases,  who redeems your life from the pit   and crowns you with love and compassion, Sometimes we just need to take a moment and give God praise, worship and show gratitude, for all that He does for us. He forgives our sins, He heals us from all diseases , He redeems our lives and pull us out of pits we find ourselves in and He crowns us with His love and compassion. So much to be grateful for. We are still breathing and living, all because of His grace and mercy.  God teaches us to have a grateful heart, to focus on Him and leave the storm to Him. Easier said than done, but it is possible. He will calm the storm, all we need to do is keep our eyes fixed on Him. I have noticed that when I dwell on my problems, I find it difficult  to overcome them, but the moment I look beyond my issues, and focus on things that a...

Same attitude as Jesus...

Image
 Philippians 2:5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. One thing that has been standing out about what Jesus was all about these days, is that He was all about His Father's business. His concern was not about what will people say or do, when He does this or say that, His main concern was to accomplish what the Father had sent Him to do.  In the same way we have  been sent to accomplish some sort of a mission or assignment, in one way or the other. We could spend the rest of our lives chasing this dream and that dream, but if it's not aligned with what we were sent to do, then we would've worked in vain. We must never fool ourselves, one day when we return to our Father, we will have to account to what we have done with our lives. Did we obey and do what He asked of us to do. Someone might ask, how do I know if I'm in the will of God? That is a question God can help you figure out. Which is why in the bible, Matthew 6:33 says:   " Seek the Kingdo...

God keeps His promises, do you know them?

Image
 2 Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises  God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. This is wonderful. God has displayed His character in the bible as someone who keeps His word. From the old testament all the way to the new testament, we see God keeping His promises. Isaiah 55:11 says: " so is My word   that goes out from my mouth:    It will not return to me empty,  but will accomplish what I desire  and achieve the purpose   for which I sent it." Thus, what God has promised, will come to pass. Take Abraham for example. He was old and never had any children of His own. He loved and feared God, quite obedient  to God. Now God made a promise to Him, that he will have children. God even changed his name from Abram to Abraham that means "Father of many nations", just as a covenant with him and for it to be reminder to him, whenever everyone calls him. The promise took long to materialize, but after many years, Abraham had a son and he ...

The righteous are never forsaken...

Image
 Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Today the Lord has been emphasizing that we are not forsaken, but that we are His chosen. The devil tries by all means to twist the truth, whisper lies to our ears about how much we are forsaken, not loved. He tries to condemn us every second he gets, but we must stand firm on the truth, what the Lord had already told us. That we are His  righteousness , not by our own strength or doing, but through Christ who was made sin for us. He was forsaken, in order for us never to be forsaken. Therefore, no matter how the situation  looks, in our health, finances, careers, businesses or life in general, never doubt that God is with you and He is for you. He will allow us to go through fire, that doesn't mean that He's forsaken us, or that He doesn't see what we are going through, but HE promised to be there with us in that fire. Never feel alone, turn to Him and...

By faith, we believe!

Image
 2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by faith, not by sight. Living by sight, can be very deceiving and definitely not pleasing to God. The bible tells us, that by faith, we are saved. By just believing the word, that we've heard through the scriptures, we believe  what we are told. There's teaching on how everything came into   existence , and by faith we believe; that God created everything by word (with exception  of humans). We believe Christ was born through a virgin young lady called Mary, we believe Jesus was crucified and He rose again after three days. All these, we believe by faith (we were not there, but we know it is true). Many bible stories show us how much faith paid for them. For example, God instructed Noah to build an ark, that there was going to be floods. By faith, he believed and did as he was told. Years later, exactly what God told him would happen, actually came to pass. Joseph had a dream, a vision, a revelation that his brothers would bow down to ...

The truths about the scriptures...

Image
 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,   so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The word of God is useful for us. It is life. This verse teaches us that the word in the bible, is God-breathed, it is there to teach us, to rebuke or correct us, to train us in being righteous and also it is there to equip us for every good work. It is loaded indeed.  I believe, like our earthly parents, who want what's best for us, by showing us the way, teach us and correct us where we are wrong; it is the same with God. He wants what's best for us, and thus, He wouldn't allow or leave us destroy our lives and not say anything. He will use the scriptures to get us in line. If there's something He wants to teach us on, He will use the scriptures to send the message across. Similarly, He will use the scriptures to prepare us, equip us for the assignment ...

He will reveal great and mighty things!

Image
 Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call  to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable  things you do not know.’ A close relationship with God is the one that will lead us to knowing great and mighty things. God wants us to call on Him, invite Him and have that close relationship and He promises to answer. It's like with our earthly parents, the closer we are to them, the more we will learn about them and the more they will reveal certain things to us. It is the same with God, the closer we get to Him, He will reveal things to us that we did not know.  As simple as reading a bible, all of a sudden, you will get to understand it better, be able to apply the verses to your own situations, that's the Holy Spirit interpreting the bible to you and your specific situation. This is such a previledge, when we recall how in the old testament things worked. No one could come close to God except for the priests, in a particular order and performing some ritual to ask for fo...

God will give you a new heart...

Image
 Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Glory to God! The Lord will give us a new heart, a heart of flesh and take out the heart of stone. That is a blessing. They say, the things that come out of our mouths, come from the heart (Matthew 15)- good or bad. This has a huge impact on our lives, as if our heart is unclean, we might find ourselves saying bad things that might have an impact on our lives and those around us. Remember  we learnt  that our words have power? Imagine if you use those words in a negative and destructive  manner? You would curse your own life or someone else's. That is absolutely  wrong. God said we are blessings  to others. What makes a heart a stone heart? I believe things like anger, pain, bitterness are just a few that have a potential to corrupt a heart. Life can put us through difficult times and difficult people that what th...

The Lord will be our guide...

Image
 Psalm 32:8 (NLT)  The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Fear can paralyze us, keep us from doing anything. The mind starts running wild, thinking of all the possibilities of what could go wrong. However, we remember that God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of Power, Sound Mind and of Love (2 Timothy 1:7). Therefore, it is comforting to hear of the wonderful reassurance that He will watch over us, He will guide us on the right path and He will advise us. What a wonderful Father, we have. We can trust Him as He has our best interest at heart.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that His plans are to prosper us and not harm us. He is a great orchestrator.  He controls the time, the resources, the helpers and everything else. He is in charge and He knows the best route for us. May we surrender under His control and allow His plans to play out in our lives. We'll do our part and leave the rest in His ca...

The entire law in one command!

Image
 Galatians 5:14   For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “ Love your neighbor as yourself .” People struggled to keep the 10 commandments, in the old testament. Now when Jesus came and redeemed us, He told us a simplified version of those laws. Remember, post Christ, the emphasis is no longer on the law but on the grace of God for man; how much He loves us that He sent His one and only  Son for our regard. Thus, the law that was given to and written by Moses, is summed up in this command that we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Neighbors refers to everyone  around us. When  you think about it , if you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you wouldn't kill them, steal from them, wish for their stuff etc. This shows that all those commandments are covered by just loving your neighbor. Pay attention that, this verse doesn't say love only those that are nice to you, or kind to you or your favorites only,  but it refers to ...

He heals all diseases

 Psalm 103:3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. God's love extends to forgiveness and restoration of our health. He is the One who gave His only Son, so we can find forgiveness. Furthermore, Isaiah 53:5 declares that we are healed by the stripes Jesus endured on the cross. His pain, is healing to us. His tears, is our joy.  By surrendering our problems, anxieties and issues to Him, we are acknowledging Him that He is on the throne, in control of everything. He is our creator and He is best positioned to restore whatever that may have gone out of alignment in our bodies. Invite God into your every predicament and see His salvation. I'm always encouraged reading about the time when the Israelites were delivered from the Egyptians (Exodus 14). They thought it was the end for them, when they came to the Red Sea. However, God had a plan and His prevailed. Hallelujah! In the same way, the walls may seem to be closing  in on you, know that God will come through!

He paid the price for our freedom, our light...

Image
 Isaiah 49:9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘ Come out in freedom ,’   and to those in darkness, ‘ Come into the light .’   They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures   and on hills that were previously bare. What God wants for us, is to be free and to live in the light. Jesus  paid the price for us to be free and to live in the light. There are two types of people, those who live in the light of God, who have come to realize that God is our Savior, He died and rose again so that we can access salvation. They have tasted the freedom of God. Whilst there is another group which is still living in the dark, as captives. Bound by sin and grave, and still condemned by the past and by society. At some point we were all part of this group, until we found the true gift, the gift of life through Christ. The bible tells us that we are a new creation, we are the righteousness  of God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). All our sins have been forgiven; when God lo...

He will never leave us nor forsake us

Image
 Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Two things addressed on this verse. First one, the love of money which we are warned against, but to be content with what we have. There is nothing wrong with money, but the problem comes when the money becomes the center  stage, in that case, where is God? If you read the old testament, including the 10 commandments, God is very clear that we shall never have any other god other than Him. Money can be a god, when you start worshipping it, giving it your full attention, living for it and having it being your focus. Everything revolving around it...This leave little or no room for God. Which is why He urges that we shall not have love for it. He already knows we need it, but we should remember that He is our source, we should depend on Him, and not chase after money and forget to serve Him, then we'll be worshippi...