Be Repositioned

 James 4:17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. It is a tough one. Basically, when the truth have been revealed, and you know the good that you need to do, but  you don't do it, that is sin. This means, the moment it is made known to you what is right and what is wrong, you can't turn a blind eye and pretend as though you didn't know. God sees everything and we have nowhere to hide.  We can either see this as a harsh thing, or we may use it as motivation. For example, in Genesis 12:2 God was telling Abraham that He will bless him and so he will be a blessing to others. As the descendants  of Abraham, by faith, we also have this blessing, which we should claim for ourselves. Therefore, when God starts blessing you, because you would've known already that God is commanding and expecting you to bless others, don't see that as a burden, recognize it as a fulfilled promise (that eventually you are blessed) and in turn,

 Matthew 20:28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Indeed, Jesus gave His life for us all. In everything that He did, we do see Him serving others. There's a bible verse where He was teaching His disciples about serving, where He displayed it by washing their feet (instead of the other way round). This is found in the book of John 13. Jesus was teaching them the importance of serving one another, which is a great principle. When you think about it, we are blessed with different gifts and talents, where God tells us that He placed those so that we can serve others with them. Not that we are gifted  with those talents for ourselves, but mostly to serve others.  I believe as a society,  we need to start changing our mindset, from wanting to be served, getting free things to stepping out of our own bubble and start looking for people to serve. A lot of people are in dire situations and God looks to us, His childr

 Psalm 23:4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. This truth is very comforting, to know that God is close by, even when we go through the difficulties of life. It is not in God's nature to put us through storms, however, He allows storms to come through that the enemy may be sending our way, as a means to strengthen us and also to show the enemy that He is all powerful and able to deliver us from those difficulties. I once  heard something that truly made sense to me, that if you've never been sick, you wouldn't know the power of God to heal you; and if you've never been confined in a tough situation, you wouldn't know the power of God to deliver  you, and so on. This means, sometimes God allows these difficulties to strengthen  our faith in Him, that we would know without any doubt who God is in our lives.  That's why God says we must not despise  the proc

 John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. This is an explanation  from God, on why He sent His Son. He didn't send Him to condemn us, find fault and make us feel guilty, but He sent His Son to save us! Save us from the  world, save us from ourselves. If God did this for us, why then do we allow the world to condemn us? Also, most importantly, if God doesn't condemn us, why do we then condemn ourselves? This seems the person who has every right to condemn us, which is God, doesn't. Instead,  we allow the world and ourselves to condemn us. Which is wrong. This verse comes after  the famous verse that reminds us, how much God loves us. John 3:16 that says: " For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." God loves us so much. Why can't we love ourselves? We need to realize that the only person who wants us to f

 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT) That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. This may sound the opposite but according to God, when we are weak, actually that's when we are strong because of God's grace that covers us and enables us. The world may take pleasure in making us suffer, persecuting us and insulting  us, due to the way we do things, where we live by faith and not by sight and always keeping our eyes on Him;  however , this verse reminds us that actually we must rejoice when this happens, because God fuels us with His power and makes us strong (at our weakness ). In fact, 1 Peter 5:10 says: " In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation." This means, because you suffer for

 Hebrews 11:1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. The kingdom of God, is based on faith. I'm sure you've heard the verse about living by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), well it is precisely that, believe in what you have not seen by your own eye but having the full confidence thereon. For example, we have never seen God in person, however, by faith we know He lives and He is who He says He is. Thus, as a result that the bible tells us so and the experience confirms that. I believe this is one aspect that people struggle with, to believe first before you see, where people prefer to see first then believe. But if that was the case, then it means we would be superficial, where we are dependent on seeing the results first, before you can believe. This means, we wouldn't stretch ourselves, we wouldn't push ourselves to dream bigger, because we would want the dream to be fulfilled first, before we take a step; o

 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. As children of God, we are new creations, this according to 1 Corinthians 5:17 that says: " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" The old ways of human nature, has gone, which includes the passions and sinful nature, which has been crucified on the cross, through what Jesus has done for us. Meaning, with the new creation, now the Holy Spirit dwells within you and you now have the power to resist what may have been a challenge previously, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Also,  this is through the renewing of mind, changing the mindset. Romans 12:2 tells us that we do not conform to the standards of the world, but we have our minds transformed by the word of God. Thus, the more you read scriptures and meditate on them, your mind is refreshed with the knowledge of Chri

 Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Having friends and close allies  that you can trust, goes a long way. As this verse indicates that a friend sharpens a friend. This may be in cases where one may be approaching things the wrong way, a good friend is able to raise that before any damage is caused. Basically,  highlighting blind spots for one another. Another way a friend can sharpen a friend, is when one has an idea and needs to test it before trying it out, where a good friend becomes a sounding-board. Giving advice  and help fine-tuning the idea before it is released. Lastly, when a friend sees an attribute, gift or talent that his/her friend is not utilizing , a good friend will sharpen that friend by highlighting those good qualities and encourage using  those talents. Basically,  steering and encouraging a friend to awaken to a gift/talent that may have been dormant. This is why it is important to have good friends and allies that  you can trust

 1 John 4:4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. This is good news! God says you have already  won a victory over that situation, no matter what it is. You being a child of God, you have victory, this is the victory that  Jesus secured for us from  the cross. A while   back , I heard our Pastor saying that as children of God, we don't fight for victory, but we fight from victory! This means, we fight knowing  that we have already won, it's just a matter  of how great or how much. Not a matter of maybe, but surely secured. This is the case right here, where God reminds us that we have the living Holy Spirit in us, who is so great and able to do all things, because  that is God. He is able to bring us victory in every situation. His greatness gives us this advantage that no matter the outcome, we have won! Now, the spirit in the world, may t

 Psalm 139:13-14 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. God truly is amazing! When you really think of His works, you can never stop being in awe of His power, creativity , majesty and abilities. He created heaven and earth and everything in it. The bible in the book of Genesis tells us how God created everything in just six days, He spoke a word and all came to being. What is extra special, is that with us, human beings, He took His time to craft us in His hands. He formed us with His touch and put every single body part, inside and outside and then breathed life into the body. Since then, when He oversees  our formation in our mother's womb, ensuring the process till we are birthed and beyond. This verse  makes it real, by creating this picture in our minds on how delicate God created us and made sure of our survival. What is humbling is

 3 John 1:11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God. Sometimes, it is easy for people to just follow what others do, because it is a norm; however, we need to be careful because not everything that everyone does is acceptable or pleasing to God. This is when we need to fall back to the word, what the Lord says about certain things and make a decision for ourselves; even if it will be you are the only one against the crowd. Remember Jesus came to earth as our role model, our leader to show the way; He experienced what we do, and He always chose the right way. At times people can claim that certain group of people are Christians, hence that means we need to do as they do or be condemned by people for the behaviour of other people that are said to be Christians but their actions being questionable. We need to stop looking at ea

 1 Corinthians 13:7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Everything in the kingdom of God, is a stretch, and this is one of them. God's love never gives up on us, never loses faith and is always hopeful; it endures through every circumstance. This is a command for us as well, to have this kind of love. One that is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. It is expected that as humans, we may come short on some of these, but the grace of God is there to pick us up and get is back in line . So long as we see where we've gone wrong, repent and do better. That is the principle  that Jesus displayed in His walk here on earth, for those that have gone astray to bring them to realization where they were wrong, forgive and get them to sin no more. Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22-23, meaning when you have the Holy Spirit, it will be  evident in your ways/character where love

 Proverbs 3:7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. This is a caution from the Lord that we must never think too highly of ourselves, as the bible says in Proverbs 16:18 that pride goes before the fall. This is supported by James 4:6 that says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”   Thinking of yourself as too wise, leads to pride and that leads to a downward spiral. In everything, we must just remember that we are because of God. The great inventions, solutions that we come up with, are not as a result of our own wisdom, but the Lord instills this wisdom and creativity in us, so that He may bring advancement and groundbreaking  discoveries through us. We are His instruments. Therefore, we ought to fear the Lord and acknowledge Him in everything because He is in everywhere; evil comes when we start thinking we are great by ourselves that we don't need God. Thus we need to drive away evil by keeping God first and

 Romans 10:13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” This is very important. Knowing who your Father is, the One you can depend on, makes all the   difference . In life, we face so many things trials and tribulations that can threaten our well-being , but with God, we are saved. We are saved now whilst we are living in the land of the living, where the enemy throws anything and everything  at us, but we are still standing. Not because we are strong, cleaver or lucky; but we are still standing because of the  grace of God. God saves us from those things. Psalm 91   explains  all the things that the Lord shields us from. When we are faced with storms, we run to Him, as He is our hiding place (Psalm 18:2-12; Psalm 32:7). He saves us even from our enemies... Another way  of looking at being saved, is the issue of eternal life, life after death. John 3:16 spells out clearly the key role played by Jesus so that we don't perish  but have eternal life. What Jesus h

 1 Peter 5:10 In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So,  after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. This verse is quite encouraging. God knows all the suffering we have to endure, on a daily basis and what is comforting, is that because of His kindness, He has made sure that we will share in His glory, by means of Jesus! Meaning, no matter what we may face now, there will be a time where we benefit out of this suffering  by sharing His glory. This verse further  elaborates on how we will  share in His glory, by being restored, supported, strengthened and placed on a firm foundation! This means we will be established and set for life in every area of our lives. We will not be shaken, we will not be weary,  and we will have God's support  and protection. He will establish us by placing us on a firm foundation, that even when the storms of life come,

 Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.  Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously. We are so privileged  that we can still seek the Lord, and He will hear us. He will respond to us. We need to make use of this opportunity and ensure that  we mend our relationship with Him, which will give us an "entry- pass" when we die. Whilst we are still alive, we are able to repent from our sins  and turn away from our wicked ways of living and find the light. God is still merciful, He will forgive all the sins as the bible says in Isaiah 1:18 - " Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow . Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." God will make your sins as white as snow, in fact, He says

 Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. God as our Creator, wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to depend on Him at all times. He wants us to put Him  first, which He deserves . This verse tells us to love the Lord, not partially, or share His love with other gods or idols but to love Him with everything we are. God does not want to share;  He is Majestic and all powerful and so mighty. Someone may ask, why do we have to love God so much? Because  He is our everything. He is our Provider, our Shepherd, our Healer, Comforter, our Father, our Friend and so much more. I like the bible verse in 1 John 4:19 that says : " We love because He first loved us." How amazing is that! This is confirmed by so many verse that shows us how much God loves us. So how do we show that we love God with our everything? Simply by putting Him first, with our thoughts in the morning and any other thing that we do, in

 1 Corinthians 13:6 (NIV) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. This bible chapter, describes what love is. This is a lesson for us on love. What the characteristics of love are. In verse 6, we learn that love doesn't  rejoice in evil or injustice but rejoices in truth. In this case, we must not rejoice when evil things occur or when someone is treated  unjustly, but we must always strive for the truth. God expects us to be authentic and truthful in our dealings. Truth sometimes can be hurtful and harsh, but according to what this verse says, rather that than the opposite. 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. Love is His character, it is who He is. Which is no wonder He was able to sacrifice His beloved Son, for us, as He loves us so. Therefore, we can substitute the word love in this bible verse and it would read: God  does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Which is true, God has the kingdom of light, not evil and darkness, but of light. Theref

 Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” God has all the authority and all the power. He can do all things; nothing is impossible for Him (Luke 1:37). This verse reminds us to let God be God in our lives. At times we may find ourselves fighting battles that don't belong to us, that needs to be surrendered to God. That is a gift, to discern when to fight and when to surrender to Him. We need wisdom like king Jehoshaphat in the book of 2 Chronicles 20, who was faced with an army that was coming for him. The first thing he did was to pray and surrender it to God as it was beyond him. Indeed, God showed him that the battle belongs to the Lord, all he needed to do was to take his position and God was to bring victory for him, without even fighting. And that was the case, there was victory!  With the many battles that we face, we need to be in conversation with God, to check where do we stand with a partic

 Colossians 3:2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Things on earth are depressing, making us lose hope and can lead us to stagnation and bearing no fruits. What we see on the news and witness all around us, gives a gloomy picture, as if there is no hope for our future, our children and certainly not the next generation. I believe our answers though lies with our heavenly Father, who is the One who created heaven and earth, to begin with. Just like a car, when it has problems, you take it to the dealer (not the dentist or GP), but to those that have manufactured it as they would know where the problem is and fix it. So why can't we do the same with the problems here on earth? God as the Creator of all things, He has great insight and wisdom on how to bring everything back into order and alignment with his greater plan. Our problem is that we think we can solve our challenges on our own, without involving the Master, the Creator of the very thing we have issue

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. In the kingdom of God, we are taught to have hope, having this confidence on things we have not seen but having this knowing that it shall be, because God said so. Faith is the currency in our kingdom, we don't believe when we see. Hence, we can rejoice that we have hope; it is a big deal when you interact with people that do not have hope, they think the worst of everything, but with us, we know God is on the throne and He is in control. Be patient in trouble. As a child of God, there are many troubles we face, as expected because Jesus faced many troubles because of who He is. Thus, we are called to be patient, not to lose hope and give up, but have patience. I've learned that with God, certain things you learn them in the difficult situations. Thus, you learn to be patient by being put in situations where there's a promise, and then the waiting, before the promise manifests. Similar t

 Luke 16:10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. This is a basic and simple principle in the kingdom of God. God says if He  can trust you with little, then certainly He can trust you with more. This could be anything, from money, responsibility, position etc. In this case, if God can trust you with very little money, where you'll be honest and accountable, He sees that you will be trustworthy with more money when He gives you (example is your salary vs a budget of  a company). Also, if He  can trust you with a lower position in the company, where you deliver on your work, without cutting corners, delivering  on time, quality without cheating anyone, certainly He can trust you with the CEO position where now you become in charge of the entire organization . The last example is if He can trust you with a responsibility of taking care of your family, you

 Esther 4:14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this ?” Between yesterday and today, the Jews are celebrating their deliverance that happened many years ago, where they were nearly destroyed by the man called Haman who was an advisor to the king. However, God intervened and allowed their deliverance, that came through the newly chosen queen, called Esther who was instrumental in saving the lives of the Jews. In this verse, Esther's uncle (who was like a parent to her), reminded her of the challenge they were facing of their possible killing and was asking if she can use her authority to bring relief. What we learn from this story is that queen Esther used her position as the queen and informed the king of the plans of Haman to kill every Jew, including herself. The king was touched by this debacle and interve

 1 Corinthians 12:25-27 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other .  If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.  All of you together are Christ’s body , and each of you is a part of it. This is one of my favourite bible verses, that reminds us that we are all God's children and we are created in a unique manner for a reason. This means, we are not made in the same way, we are not here to fulfill the same purpose; therefore, there should be no competition   amongst  ourselves and no jealousy  as we understand that we are unique. This verse likens us, members of the kingdom of God to the body, which has many parts that each have a special part to play. None is above the other, but they are complimentary for the body to function well. This verse tells us that when one part of the body suffers, the rest of the parts suffers with it; also,  when the one part is honoured, the rest of t

 Matthew 18:20 "...For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them." This verse reminds us of the importance of community and being in the company of other like-minded people. As a believer , being among other  believers, the Holy Spirit is certainly there as well. Today, I was also reminded by the church sermon the importance of having people that would have your back and help you press forward during tough times and stand in the gap for you. Just like the story in the bible of a man that was sick (in Luke 5:17-39) and "some men" (these were probably community members, family, friends etc.) carried this sick man on his bed and tried to reach Jesus who was in  a big crowd. They were determined for him to have an intervention with Jesus that they lifted him up and let him down to Jesus through the roof ! Such compassion and companionship! Beautiful. We need to be grateful for the people God strategically places in our lives, who are thos

 Romans 8:31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? God is challenging me to see myself the way He sees me. I believe that  is the  same for you; you need to see yourself as God sees you, His child, who is made in His image (Genesis 1:27), whom He dearly loves (John 3:16), who can do all things because of Christ (Philippians 4:13). Once you understand whose you are , your confidence levels go up, you start appreciating yourself  even when you make mistakes. You start seeing yourself  as valuable, worthy to be alive as you have a purpose (Jeremiah 1:5). Once you are at this level, you then begin to realize that heaven is backing you and no weapon that is formed against you can prosper (Isaiah 54:17). You realize that your enemy may want to take you out (John 10:10) but you already have angels sent to guard you at all times (Psalm 91:11-12). You then realize that you have no reason to fear (2 Timothy 1:7) because God has not

 Luke 9:23-24 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. As a follower of Christ, you ought to give up your ways, your thinking, your wisdom in exchange  for God's ways over your life. Recognizing that He is Lord over your life, with a purpose and plan for His glory and honour, means submitting your plans for His. In the book of Jeremiah 1:5, we are told that when you were still in your mother's womb, He knew you, He called you by name, He set you apart! He chose you for His plans! This is great, though the devil also is aware of your anointing , and thus the weapons that gets formed to distract and keep you from doing that which God has called you to do. Regardless, Jesus is calling us to make that conscious  decision to press forward regardless, to pick up our crosses