Be Repositioned

 Philippians 2:7-8 Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, H e humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. It's really humbling to have a recount of how Jesus came about. Such a King who was born in low places, lived an ordinary life and gave up His privileges of having a royal experience, and to eventually be nailed on the cross like the worst criminal. It is heart-breaking and it just makes us realize that truly God loves us, and He wants what's best for us. Jesus is the best for us, and I'm privileged to be living a life that recognizes and acknowledges that truth. I am a beneficiary of His grace, and it is so wonderful that we stand to benefit so much here on earth and life in eternity, as if we've worked hard for it, but actually not.  My plea with you is to embrace this wonderful gift that we've b...

 Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! The promise of the Lord, is that those who keep their eyes fixed on Him, will keep in perfect peace. This is so true, because when you keep your eyes on the Lord, you let go of any distractions and things that can cause fear in your heart and  cause you to miss what the Lord is saying to you. I'm reminded of an analogy that made perfect sense when I heard it a while back. That God instructed  Noah to build an ark, which didn't have windows on the sides to see the terrible things that would happen to the people that disobeyed God, when they drowned and lose their lives. But there was an opening at the top. Thus, forcing Noah to lookup  when needing answers and help. Basically,  he had to keep his eyes fixed on the Lord to have inner peace. It is the same with us, we need to keep our eyes on Him, as He is our Creator, He has our lives in His hand. He knows our fu...

 Matthew 7:12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. This is so true, because God is watching (bottom-line)...The bible tells us that  we reap what we sow, thus, if you are mean, inconsiderate and greedy, those are the things that will be coming back to you. I know at times at may feel as though you sow good, being kind, helpful, compassionate and considerate but the people don't treat you as you'd expect. Do not worry about that, it is a phase and things do change. I  remember  a while back, I heard a prophetic word that God will cause people where I am, to be more kind and friendly to me, as I've had such  a bad experience with interactions with people. This I've seen it with my own eyes, where people are just kind and offering to help; this made me realize that something has changed and then I remembered that prophetic word and I realized that the time has come. So, don't...

 Psalm 27:14 Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. You can never go wrong waiting on the Lord, even though it may be hard to wait, but the wait is worth it. The things we want for ourselves, may not last very long or there may be certain conditions, but what God wants for us, is a real deal, we can trust that they would not be to our detriment. Proverbs 10:22 tells us that the blessing of the Lord adds no sorrow to our lives, because it is pure and timely. When God makes us wait, it could be one of the three: 1) the blessing is not ready 2) we are not ready for the blessing 3) The timing is not right for the blessing to come through. It is worth waiting on the Lord for we know He will never withhold anything good from us (Psalm 84:11). Lastly, Isaiah 40:31 says: " but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shal...

 2 Corinthians 7:10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. God cautions us and gives us an indication that in life, we will suffer one of the two sorrows. The one that is from Him, that  is good for us, but may be painful for the flesh, but the end result is that it takes us away from sin and leads to salvation. The second sorrow is the worldly one, which may be fun and ok in the beginning but end up being painful and also results in death. Which one do you prefer? I'm hoping we would all agree that rather we suffer the one that is within the will of God. An example of this could be sorrow as a result of being forced to let go of a particular habit, thing or person, where an association with it, could lead to you sinning in the eyes of the Lord. For your protection, God eliminates that which causes sorrow...

 Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. It is so important to be clear what your treasure is, because this verse tells us that it is where also your heart will be. Treasure is something that  you value much, that could possibly occupy your mind and focus, the thing that you ensure it will last. In most cases, people see money as their treasure, which is why they end up doing  anything at all, to get it (despite it compromising their values). It is for this reason that  we have another  verse that says  the love for money is the root of all evil (1 Thimothy 6:10). A lot of people confuse this verse and say the money is the root of evil, which is not what this verse says. It says the love for money is the root of evil. Money as is, has no problem, it makes our lives easy, have a roof over our heads, we are able to feed ourselves, help other people and do so much with money. The problem comes when people treasure it above every...

 Psalm 42:11 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again— my Savior and my God! So many things can cause us to be sad and discouraged , whether it is family, health, finances, the economy , politics, the list goes on. However, the Lord wants us to always look to Him and find renewed joy and strength. In Him, there is no sorrow or disappointment , because we know all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28). This means, no matter how dire the situation may be, one just needs to remember that the Lord said He will work everything out for your good; He is able to turn things around. What is comforting, is that everything that  happens, that  maybe the devil scheme and throw at us, he has to go through the Lord first to ok it. And when God okays it, it is because He wants to strengthen  you, your faith, to teach you or to use that as a steppingstone  for your next level. God is strategic like that! The stor...

 Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. This is all so important, to groom and guide our children on the path of the Lord. Jesus is the way, truth and life (John 14:6), if we want our children to walk on the right path, we will need to instill the principles, values and knowledge  about our heavenly Father. This will lead them to be on the right path and have life in eternity. We need to also show the hardships we have gone through and the victories   that the Lord has brought for us. This will help build their faith, so that even when they are older and they face trials and tribulations, they would hold on to the Lord, having the full confidence in who He is and what He is capable of. Proverbs 18:10 says: " The name of the LORD is a strong tower ; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." This is why in the bible, God will instruct the Israelites to save certain things as evidence, that they can sh...

 James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. What pleases the Lord, is when we take care of the orphans and the widows. This obviously as a result of His compassionate heart. Jesus, as a representation of God, showed us how compassionate God is. We see this as He wept when He saw the sadness from Lazarus' sisters, another example is when Jesus saw a funeral procession and He saw how the  mother was weeping for her son who was going to be buried (Luke 7:13-15). Such incidents show us that God get's touched with those who lose their loved ones. Hence, He is pleased when we take care of those that have lost their family members, to show that we care. Furthermore, there's a caution on this verse that we must not allow the world to corrupt us. God has been highlighting to me about the bad company. That it has a negative impact on us, a potential to change us f...

 Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” God said this as a warning to His people, reminding them of the law of Moses and that He will send His prophet Elijah, but should the people not listen to him, He will send destruction to their land. This serves a firm warning to all of us, that the Lord is not to be taken for granted. He is a loving and merciful Father; however, He doesn't take kindly to disobedience and turning to gods. Jesus simplified the law of Moses that we should love God with all our hearts and mind, furthermore, we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). Also, the importance of listening to His prophets that He sends to us to give us messages. Indeed, there are people who are gifted in hearing from the Lord and sharing His word. The trick is to not to fall for fake prophets. We  are given a test...

 2 Corinthians 5:18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. It is a gift indeed, that we were reconciled with God, after our relationship with Him fell off in the garden  of Eden. God, through His Son Jesus, mended things for us, so that we may be reconciled with Him again. You can imagine with our earthly parents and children, where a parent is reconciled with their child, from a rough patch of not seeing eye to eye or  being apart from  each other for too long. It becomes a joyful moment that marks the beginning of wonderful things. It is the same for us, God gave us this gift of living life with Him by our side . Life has always been meant to be lived with God guiding us, helping us and prospering us. With God giving us His plans and desires , for us to make our lives matter. Now that God has reconciled us with Him, He needs us to get more people to reconcile wi...

 Luke 6:36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. God is calling us to be compassionate, just as He is to us. This could be a stretch for others , but God wants us to show kindness to people. This verse reminds me of a story of a good Samaritan, in the book of Luke 10:29-37 where Jesus told them the story, making a point of how we are expected to show compassion. In this story, a man going to Jerusalem was attacked by robbers who strip and beat him up. He was left for dead on the road and a priest came on the same road where this man lay. When he saw this man, he   changed  and went the other way (to avoid him). Then a Levite came,  and he did the same thing as the priest, went the other way and pretended he didn't  see anything. However, a Samaritan as he travelled, saw this man and felt pity for him and  went to him, bandaged his wound after  putting some oil and wine to heal, he even went to lengths of taking him then the n...

1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Timely word indeed, as we celebrate Youth Day. Happy Youth Day to those falling within the bracket and anybody else who is the beneficiary of the lives that were lost on that day and those who were wounded, whose lives were disrupted; through their boldness, our lives were changed! This verse reminds us that we need to have the same boldness that the Youth of 1976 had, that despite their age, the burning desire that they had in their hearts, which I'm convinced was fueled by the Lord, they stood up and acted on it. This goes to show that when we allow God in our lives, He fills us with everything  that we need and need to know, He even fills us with the desires that aligns with His plans for our lives. We need to surrender to that and not let fear cripple us to inaction. 2 Timothy 1:7 says God has not given us the spiri...

 Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him. Our Father indeed is good. He is caring, protective, loving, kind and so much more. What's important also is to note that He is ever-present, when we need Him the most, He is there for us. Just as He promised that He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). These are the words we need to keep at the back of our minds, for when we hit the storm, we should remind ourselves of what God told us already, to be able to hold on to every word and call on Him. This verse shows us that life will have its fair share of troubles, which is why it doesn't say "if" trouble comes but "when" trouble comes. Best we make peace with that fact and equip ourselves for when trouble comes.  The bible stories  reveal  to us that God was always there for His children when they were in trouble, helping them and rescuing them. These includes people like Daniel, Joseph, Gid...

 Matthew 6:19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal." I recently heard something that got me thinking; that when people die, the hearse that carries the deceased, never pulls a trailer at the back , consisting of that person's treasure. Meaning, when people die, they leave everything behind. Nobody takes anything with them (no matter how valuable  it is). This goes to show that we need to pay special attention to the real treasure, that is our relationship with the Lord and all that He required  of us, because that, is our ticket to getting the words we all long to hear: "well done, good and faithful servant!". Thus, the things that God is encouraging us to do, that's our treasure. Things that build  our characters, that makes a positive  impact on other people's lives, is treasure.   Therefore, it is wasteful to be too consumed collecting possessions here on earth, that we...

 Romans 5:8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. God is so thoughtful and considerate. Whilst we were still sinners, as people of this world, living in our own terms, God sent His Son to die for us, so that we may be saved. This shows that He has always loved us, regardless of our flaws, faults and shortcomings. He knew that there would come a time when our eyes would be opened to the truth, that He is Lord and that there is no other.  Let us show gratitude for what He has done for us, in whichever way possible. We can never be able to repay Him for what He has done, but we can acknowledge  what He has done and show gratitude towards Him. We are priviledged to have our King die for us, so that we may have life everlasting, in abundance. His pain, is healing to us, it brings joy to us and it certainly has lifted us up, to be siblings with Him in God's kingdom. Through Him, we share the inheritance that our Father...

 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. The book of 1 Corinthians 13 teaches us what love is. Today, specifically God draws  our attention to verse 4 that tells us that love is patient and kind, not boastful, jealous  or proud. This is very important aspect for us in life, as we are told to do everything in love (as instructed  by God). This means, whatever we do, serving others , blessing others , helping others and any other act, we are urged to do it with love. Now, when we follow and are obedient to this word, we would do it without feeling jealous  of that person you are serving or  having pride to do certain things. God wants us to put our sinful nature aside and whatever we do, we should do it with kindness and patience. This indeed is possible when you have become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), with the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you and leading and guiding you every day . Afte...

 Psalm 119:114 You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. This word is so timely, where at night we were woken up by the earth shaking due to the earthquake that took place. As this happened, I found myself in prayer, not feeling fearful but I found myself looking to God to come through, to whatever it was that  we were hearing and experiencing. Indeed, He is the source of our hope, our refuge and shelter. Only by His grace nothing happened to us, it passed,  and we were left wondering what that was. Plus,  we live to tell the story that indeed, He is our shelter and protector, in time of need. We praise Him for His ever-present help.  I would like to urge you to put your  hope in Him. Try Him, test Him. He is who  He says He is. He is the Source of life, He is our protector, shelter and our help. In life, we have a choice, on where we put our hope. Whether in people, things or in God our Father. I can testify that He will never l...

 Micah 6:8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. In life there are too many voices, ones that lead us in the right direction and ones that lead us astray. too much noise everyday such that we are unable to hear what the Lord says. This is why we need to set aside some time, and spend it in the presence of the Lord, to be deliberate in hearing from Him. This could be time spent reading the bible, praying, worshiping etc. This allows us to hear that voice of the Lord, through these  acts. By so doing, we'll be able to remember what God expects of us and this verse reminds us that God wants us to do what is right, to love mercy and walk humbly with Him. Thus, when faced  with choices  to make, ask yourself what would God want you to do, or better yet, ask Him and wait to hear from Him. He would lead you to doing the  right thing as you walk with Hi...

 Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. In life, we don't have control over many things, but a few. One of them is that we don't have control over how people treat us or how things turn out. We may make plans and have back-up plans, but still things may not happen the way we expect. Or you may be kind and helpful to others, but that doesn't mean that people will treat you in the same way. This has the potential to weigh your heart down, as your expectations may not be fulfilled because of one reason or the other. However, that doesn't have to be, as we are told that what we have control over, is how we react to what happens to us. If someone brings you bad news about the economy or something, that may weigh your heart and start worrying you or you may choose to have an optimistic view on the whole thing. Thus, by not lying to yourself but by realizing that we serve a mighty God, who is in control of all things, including the economy....

 Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. We are urged to remain faithful in doing good, as when the time is right, we will reap a harvest. Life works like plantation, where you get what you have put on the ground.; the principle of reaping what you sow (Galatians 6:7). When you sow your time in doing good for others, God sees that, and He rewards it. Your time and resources invested in helping others in one way or the other, will lead to a harvest that you might not have been waiting for. The opposite is true, those who sow negative words and deeds, God is watching, and He does vindicate His children (Romans 12:19). Therefore, don't get tired of doing good. Let this word keep you motivated so that even when you don't get appreciated, you remember that you are doing it because God said so and He is the one that will appreciate you (some of the principles I was raised with). Do it out of l...

 Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” This is one of the oldest bible verses I learnt in church growing up and it stuck on my mind. Though, I might not have had a full appreciation for it, until now when I look back. Parents are our blessings, and you get to fully realize this after you've been a parent yourself, where you see yourself sacrificing for your own kids and wishing them well and all the difficulties you go through, to ensure that they are ok. To repay that kind of a sacrifice, you just need to honour them. Honouring them could take different forms, but showing respect to them, showing love and kindness and blessing them where you can. This makes them feel appreciated and that is what God expects of us. This may not be easy for those who have an uneasy relationship with their parents because of one thing or the other; however, try...

 Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. This is important, when you consider what the children of God have to go through. Like Jesus told us that in life, we will face trials and infact, we should rejoice when we face many trials, as this is preparing us and it proves that we are not of this world, but we belong to Him. This is in James 1:2-3 and it says: "Consider  it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." Though these trials can get us to be angry, bitter, hurt etc. Thus, we need the Lord to clean our hearts, so that we may forgive and not hold any grudges. We are humans, and the world can be rough; thus, the cleansing process required.  Furthermore, the  Lord to restore our loyal spirit, so that our hearts don't go cold and we no longer  show compassion  and kindness, as a result of how we were treated,...

 Joshua 1:9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” The Lord is faithful, we can trust Him and His commands for us. Just as He told Joshua not to be afraid, but to be courageous, the Lord is saying the same to you. You may have your own assignment, that may seem bigger than you (like Joshua), but the fact that He says He will be with you, it takes away fear and gives comfort. The people in the bible were also afraid  when God instructed them (look at Gideon in Judges 6), but as God reassured them that He is with them, that He will help them, they were able to step forward boldly. What are you afraid of? The bible tells us that if God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? This shows that if there's fear of what will people say, then never fear. The Lord is with you and will cover you. That's all you need to worry about. Hebrews 13:5 says: " Keep your lives free from the love ...

 Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. The bible tells us that as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), we are now seated together with Christ in heavenly places. This means, we no longer have access only to the physical , natural realm, but also spiritual realm. Through Christ, we are set above the evil principalities, which we now have power and authority over. Which is why we were cautioned to watch what we say, as it has the power of life and death. Thus, God urges you to set your heart on things above, things that pleases  our heavenly Father and follow those principles. Jesus has already showed us the way, we just need to follow on His footsteps. If He walks on water, if you have enough faith, you may as well walk on water! Your faith can also move mountains (Mark 11:23), which is why God wants you to be bold and tell your problems about God. Don't count and...

 Psalm 23:1-2 The LORD is my Shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams.  Indeed, with the Lord as our Shepherd, we have all we need! A shepherd ensures that the sheep that  they are taking care of, have everything they need, from protection, food, water, well-being  etc. This is the case with us, the Lord takes care of our every need, which is why we lack nothing, when you  take a closer look. There may be things that are nice to have, but the basics required, the Lord provides. This verse further tells us that the Lord lets us rest in green pastures and He leads us in peaceful streams. This showing  us that our peace is of importance to Him (John 14:27 confirms it); and that our path, is clear and calm, no noise, fear, threats, insults and whatever else; He has designed for us to live and operate in tranquility. So, we must not let the world move us from a position of peace and calm. Let t...