Category: Change

Idols?

9 Comments

What or who are they in your life?

A lot of us within the body of Christ have the false belief that because we don’t look up to graven images and we don’t physically bow down to shrines or symbolic statues or figures, that we aren’t idolators…

But we’re so wrong.

Take a look at the list below and let’s rank these things – and I want you to be very very honest with yourself.

In your life, where is God’s true position amongst the following things/people?
(And please let this be a genuine assessment of where He really comes in the mix of things and not where you’d like Him to be in an ideal world…)

  • Job/Career
  • Business
  • Spouse
  • Partner (boyfriend or girlfriend)
  • Child/children
  • Education
  • Home care and chores
  • Socialising
  • Food
  • Bills
  • Fitness
  • Any other activities and people we fill our days with

Where is He?
Lower than you expected?

You see, every single thing/person that you allow to take a greater weight, value or importance in your life than your pursuit of God and His will and His word –
is an I D O L.

And please bear in mind that this is not always done consciously…
You mean no harm or insult to God when you do it, but to name a few:

  • You look at your phone and check that social media news feed ten times more than you even think of meditating and conversing with Your Maker.
  • Your tithe and offering is often short because you had other things to pay for.
  • You just want to quickly do the washing up first, then you’ll pray.
  • You just need to cook for the family first, then you’ll read the Word.

Very easily, He’s fallen a couple or even a good number of places in the ranking…
But we didn’t mean for it to be so.

Now don’t get me wrong, a very select number of things in our lives are actually ‘that important’ and in fact God does not undermine their importance either. However the problem of idolatry arises when we prioritise these things above God, and often it becomes a repeated habit.

What many of us have done is just about ‘fit God in’ and made Him work around everything else that we have going on, rather than the other way round. This is not only in terms of spending time with God, but it is also applicable in terms of what we do with our finances and other resources in which He has given us clear instructions about how to use them to serve Him.
We have put things so far above God and made Him last on our list. We rush and are eager and take so much more pleasure in engaging ourselves with all the things of the world; but we forget that we ought to be working out our salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12-13).

Sound like idol worshipping yet?

One of our favourite luxuries being children of God, I’m sure is G R A C E.
But that very gift that God has given us freely, is what many of us are abusing and it’s the reason why we’ve become so lax in our service and worship to the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

We seem to have forgotten that God comes first!
(Matthew 6:33, Matthew 22:37-40).

How about we flip it, and start to do it right.

-Prayer and worship should be intentionally scheduled into your daily routine, not just as and when you remember.

-Your tithes should be the first thing intentionally set aside from your 100% on payday, not just scraped together after you’ve dealt with everything else.
I understand this can be sensitive for some who are struggling, but I really encourage you to activate your faith in doing this, and then watch for the fruits of your obedience – the Lord Himself says ‘Test Me…’ – God will never fail you! (Please see related scripture here: Proverbs 3:9-10, Leviticus 27:30-34, Malachi 3:8-12).

-Church services – to fellowship with others, and render a service before God, take precedence over work and social events etc.

Again, that’s only to name a few – we all know the things we need to adjust in our lives, so let’s not neglect what needs to be changed.

I must say though – I get it… A lot of the time when we’ve put God on the back burner, our main justification is because it’s in order to do stuff ‘we HAVE to do’ – it’s when we’re tending our flock – so God understands, right?
I’ll put my hands up and say I’ve done it too – mainly with my education – surely God doesn’t want me to fail, right?

But let us remember the word in Ecclesiastes 3:1 that says there is a time for everything, thus we must create order, structure and discipline in our lives and ensure that drawing nearer to God is at the top of our plans.
Retrain your mind to know and understand that God who gave you all these things will surely help you take great care of it all, but not at the expense of your worship and relationship with Him.

Father,
Today we call our hearts back to You in Jesus’ Name. We ask for Your perfect forgiveness to cleanse us and renew us for every single way we’ve made things and people in our lives god above You.
We ask that You enable us to consecrate our lives back unto You and revere and honour You as we ought to.
We don’t want Your wrath O God, we want Your smile and we want to make You happy, therefore help us get our worship and service right in order to please You. And help our hearts to truly chase and long after You in Jesus’ Mighty Name

Restore us unto You Father, let us be close to You,
in Jesus’ Mighty Name we pray.
Amen.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing.

 

Submit your Flesh

Leave a comment

The excuse of ‘I’m human’, is one that definitely gets overused in our society of believers.

Many of us use it to justify our actions when we’ve fallen short, or sometimes to actually convince ourselves that we can go ahead with doing something that we know isn’t right.

But here’s the thing, if only we would cultivate and nurture a good standard of self-control and self-discipline, as the bible instructs (Titus 1:8, Galatians 5:22-23), we would find ourselves resorting to this statement less and less…

I aim to challenge you with a few things today, in the hope of you developing a renewed conviction about some of the things you’ve allowed yourself to slack with…

You see, the bible teaches us to flee from sin, (1 Timothy 6:3-11), yet so many of us walk side by side with it.
Where we’re mingling and mixing with the things that lead us astray, some of us will find that rather than becoming more spiritually inclined, we’re becoming more accustomed to the ways of the world, and in fact becoming more comfortable with engaging in practices/activities/habits that we ought to really detest as children of God!

That’s why this message today reminds and instructs you to always
Submit your flesh to the Spirit of God in you!

It is an absolute MUST to do this.

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 
Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 
Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 
For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
[Romans 6:1-4]

When we make the decision to accept Christ and walk with Him, one of the first things we establish is that our old self has died, and our new being is alive in Christ, as the above scripture says. We are then encouraged to walk in the light of Christ, and to actively rid ourselves of all the worldly things we used to do when we didn’t know Him, in order to fully pursue this new life and new glory with Him.

But friend, these days your lines are blurred.
You’re speaking Jesus but you aren’t living Him.
You’re portraying Jesus but your heart isn’t really here for Him, fully…

So what’s changed?

Why does it seem like you’re caring less and less about the implications of your decisions?
Why does it seem like you’ve lowered your standard of how much you want to obey God?
Why does it seem like you’ve lost focus?

You see, the word of God is intentional, and therefore every word is for a reason, so when it says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), it’s because being a follower of Christ is not at all a passive decision, but rather an active, alive and vibrant choice to walk in His way. This means therefore that if we don’t culture, grow, nurture, and pay attention to our spirit, then indeed we will so easily become entangled in sin (as Hebrews 12:1 puts it).

So for many of us, over time, our lax attitude towards our journey with Christ has allowed the old self to creep back into our environments and slowly infiltrate our minds and therefore our behaviours, beliefs, and attitudes.
What this means is that we’ve become more ‘okay’ with lying, theft, sexual immorality, drunkenness, idolatry, selfishness and all the other things that we were initially so eager to put behind us when we first got saved.

For some of us, we get tired.
Our enthusiasm runs out.
Our interest and ability to be ‘bothered’ with the things of God, and honouring God, decreases, and so we find ourselves drifting further and further away from the will of God and His purpose for us.
In some cases, what’s surprising is that actually some of us are still able to look ‘Jesus-good’ externally, but deep down in our hearts, we couldn’t be any further away from true worship and surrenderance to the heart and will of God.

If I’m talking to you, and this message is for you in any way, and you’re ready to be real, I’m saying let’s go back to basics…
Yes, I’m calling you out, and I’m hopefully making you uncomfortable with where you are in your walk with Christ right now, but understand that I’m not judging you – instead, I’m simply saying don’t spend another second compromising your faith or relationship with God! Rather, let’s return to that very fundamental aspect of giving our lives to Christ, and turning our lives around;

“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.”
[Romans 6:6-7] 

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”
[Galatians 5:24]

You are not a slave to sin. 
Sin is no longer your master.
Sin no longer controls you.
Sin no longer has a hold or any power over you…

I’m emphasising this point, because the weakening of sin’s power, by our death and resurrection in Christ Jesus, is such a key element to remember from today’s message.
When we stray away from the will of God, we often forget this truth because we are so immersed in the ways of the world.
Therefore sin begins to look convenient. And in this slippery area of dabbling, the devil capitalises on our state of mind and tries to trick us into believing that sin holds us ransom again as it once did, that it’s too hard to let go of the wrong habits, and that sin has defeated us…

But these are all LIES!

You are no longer a slave to sin. (I had to say it one more time!)

And you must rise with this strength daily, in order to conquer every wayward desire of the flesh.
You must understand from this truth, that the Spirit of Christ Jesus, who conquered death and destroyed all power of sin – that Spirit in You, is greater and more powerful than your flesh.
Your Spirit has authority over your flesh!

Therefore you ought to train your flesh to pipe down.
You ought to tell your flesh ‘not today, not ever, you’re not getting your way’.
You ought to submit your flesh to the will of God daily; your thoughts, words and actions – and begin to build up a resilience against any desire to engage in sinful natures (1 Peter 4:1-2).

I’ll finish by sharing something Paul said in the bible;

“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
[1 Corinthians 9:27]

Another translation says;

“No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (NIV)

Let us develop the understanding that we too have the authority, the courage, the power and the tools of the spirit, to discipline ourselves, discipline our bodies, and discipline our flesh, in order to ensure that we do what we are meant to be doing, and that we run our race with purpose and perseverance to win!

Further Scriptures to read and pray with daily:
Overcoming tiredness – Galatians 6:7-9
Overcoming sin – Romans 6:11-14, Titus 2:12, Ephesians 4:22-23, Romans 12:1-2
Growing in the Spirit – John 3:30 (a crucial daily declaration)

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you

#SubmitYourFlesh
#SpiritWins
#MoreThan100PeoplePraying

Dare to be Different…

1 Comment

You have no business blending in!

This is what the word of God says about you;

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” 
[Matthew 5:14].

If the bible tells you that you cannot be hidden, then please tell me why you spend so much time ‘fitting in’?

Some of us have come to believe that the best way to get through life is to follow the norms and just do what everyone else is doing.
So even though our light is there, we ourselves have covered it up by failing to embrace the differences in us that we actually ought to use to proclaim Christ and make Him known to others.

What I’m getting at, is the fact that as children of the Most High, we haven’t been called to look and live like everyone else;

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
[1 Peter 2:9]

Therefore, we need to start getting comfortable with standing out, standing proud, and in some cases, standing alone…

I get it, it’s good and fun and nicer to have company as we work our way through this journey of life, but let’s be reminded that pleasing God is much more important. And in fact, when we wholeheartedly live to honour and stand for Him, He provides us with peace and boldness to do so!

Now let’s make sense of the title of this post…

Daring to be Different isn’t about making a scene.

It isn’t about seeking attention or seeking to be noticed and praised by others, but rather it’s about plucking up that courage to step away from the things that displease God, even if it’s the most popular trend, or the ‘in thing’ according to the rest of the world.
It’s about loving God enough to let go of our fleshly desires and the worldly pleasures that we’ve become used to, and focus our hearts on the things above.

“Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
[Romans 12:2]

This verse is one that is popularly quoted amongst believers and I want us to pay attention to the faithfulness of God in this verse…

It tells us that God does the transforming. And I believe we ought to find comfort in the fact that this means that He doesn’t leave us to figure it out on our own, or struggle with the temptation that comes with trying to get rid of our old ways.
This verse tells us that if we can shift our focus away from the world and sin, and unto God, then He will work in us and renew our minds.
He Himself will teach our hearts what His ways are; enabling us to develop a better understanding of how to live for Him.

Now we’ve spoken before about standing out and standing for God, when we looked at the story of Daniel, in the post titled ‘Can they See you?’

Daniel stood out in quite a bold and outward way, and in some cases, we will need to do this in order for us to show others who our God is.
But whilst looking at this topic further, what God showed me is that sometimes our ‘standing out’ needs to be in terms of the smaller things, the inside things, and the intimate things…

Daring to be Different transcends all the way into our private lives and the things we do in secret that no one else (but God) sees…

Maybe we skip paying our train fare.
Maybe we’re engaging in fraudulent activities.
Maybe we stream music and movies illegally online.
Maybe we’re engaging in sexual intimacy in our pre-marital relationships.

The things that we could never tell anyone openly, but we know each time we do it, we get an itch about it being wrong.
Yes friend, God is asking us to take the right Stand for these things too, even if it means standing alone.
In fact, it’s with some of these smaller and more intimate things that we may feel like we’re losing out or missing out more, initially.
These ‘behind closed doors’ things that have become so deeply embedded into our lives may actually be the ones that hurt to give up most.
But over time we’ll see that the more God transforms our minds and our beliefs, the more we’ll understand and embrace the beauty of doing what is right and pleasing in His sight.
The more we’ll appreciate the pain it took to stop these things and Stand for God in the first place.

Please understand that I’m not calling you out, but I want us to be convicted today by the Holy Spirit and the word of God;

“My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;”
[Proverbs 1:15]

“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners takes 
or sit in the company of mockers,” 
[Psalm 1:1] 

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
    or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
    turn from it and go on your way.
[Proverbs 4:14-15]

Some of us have been hearing that ‘Stop it’, for so long, but have allowed ourselves to become okay with ignoring God’s voice.
Let today be the day that you take the BOLD step to make the change.

I want us to chase God and chase His ways.
Crave God and crave His ways.
See sin, despise sin, and choose to Stand for a True and Living Christ.

Understand this, we aren’t doing it to prove that we’re better than anyone else, but it’s simply to show Jesus that He means everything to us and that we are preparing our hearts and our lives for His second coming.

You will see, that your Stand will inspire, encourage and push others to draw nearer to God, and even cause unbelievers to want to know Him.
When people see a Difference in our attitudes towards life, our reactions and our mannerisms, one day they’ll be forced to enquire about this Jesus that we choose to honour.

I’ll end by telling us this –

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.”
[Matthew 5:13]

We have a responsibility to season this world with Christ – let us Dare to be Different, Confident and Firm in the things of Christ, and trust that the world will follow us and move towards the things of God too!

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

#DareToBeDifferent
#MoreThan100PeoplePraying

Can They See You?

2 Comments

What’s different about you? 

When you go for a job interview, the employers are looking for something in you that makes you stand out in comparison to others.
They’re looking for that ‘thing’ that suggests to them that you’d be better than everyone else, for that role.

As we all know this, we go to interviews with our best. We make sure that our CVs/Resumes are in tip-top shape, and we make sure that every unique thing about us is right in front for them to pick up on as soon as they see us…

Here’s my question for today:

When you walk into a room, can people see you?

No, I’m not talking about the outfit, the shoes, the hair, the watch – but I’m asking, when you walk into someone’s life, do they see something in you that is ‘just different’?

Initially, that’s exactly how they may describe it because they can’t quite put their finger on what it is, but they know that there is something different about that guy/lady.

As time goes on and they get to know you more, or just somehow find out about you more, they’ll begin to specify the attributes that contribute to this difference – ‘That lady is always positive’, ‘That guy always brings good vibes’, ‘That woman is generous’, That man is always encouraging people’….

How do people describe you when you’re not in their presence?
I’ll give you a moment to think about it.

…

Alright, so let’s hit the scriptures;

I’ve linked the whole of Daniel 4 here for you to read in your own time.
For this post, we’ll jump and skip between verses, so it isn’t too many words on a page, but let’s start here – the king of Babylon has a dream, and he seeks someone who can correctly interpret the dream for him;

“But one night I had a dream that frightened me;
I saw visions that terrified me as I lay in my bed.
So I issued an order calling in all the wise men of Babylon,
so they could tell me what my dream meant.”
[Daniel 4:5-6]

But despite calling for all magicians and sorcerers etc, he still has no one who can tell him what the dream really means;

“When all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers came in,
I told them the dream, but they could not tell me what it meant.”
[Daniel 4:7]

But then one man came in, and he was different;

“At last Daniel came in before me, and I told him the dream.
(He was named Belteshazzar after my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)
“I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve.
Now tell me what my dream means.”
[Daniel 4:8-9]

Let’s pause here for a bit…

As the king reports this story, he begins verse 8 with ‘At last’.
Indicating that he had anticipated this man who was set apart from others.

Friend, does the world, and do the people around you, ANTICIPATE you?
When there is turmoil or disarray, do they wait in hope for You, knowing that your presence will bring something different?

You see, prior to this chapter 4, Daniel had shown himself to be different.
He had made bold decisions (Daniel 1:8), and in all he did to honour God, he had the Lord’s backing (Daniel 1:17).
He spent time with God, was endowed with wisdom, and so showed forth his gift in a way that caused people around him to want to worship his God! (Daniel 2:46-47)

Friend, do you show forth your gifts from God?
If you do, is it in a way that glory returns to God, and not yourself?
Do you stand strong in your beliefs despite what everyone else is doing, and like Daniel did, allow your True God to come through for you because you choose NOT to disregard Him, and NOT to defile yourself?
Ponder on these questions for a moment, and when you’re ready, keep reading…

So what we’ve seen is that prior to this chapter, Daniel had shown the king his ability before (in chapter 2) – hence the ‘at last’, and hence the anticipation.
Meaning the king had formed an opinion of who Daniel was – mystery solver, wise man, a man in whom the Spirit of the Real God lives in….

I ask, what do people acknowledge about you?
Does your daily life represent God enough, for them to desire you and associate your name with positive things?
Just as the king saw greatness in Daniel, do people around you see greatness in you?
Do they see a problem-solver, a peace-bringer, a logical-thinker?
Do they see generosity, selflessness, self-control, discipline, a joyful heart, good vibes?

What I found amazing about this story, is that the king is so sure of his opinion of Daniel!
After describing his dream in verses 10-17, the king says;

““‘Belteshazzar, that was the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had.
Now tell me what it means, for none of the wise men of my kingdom can do so.
But you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’”
[Daniel 4:18]

He reiterates once again, the fact that the Spirit of God lives in this Daniel guy.

So I ask, how firmly do people stand by their perception of who you are?
Yes, I know you don’t live to please others, but this question pertains to your consistency.
We all know that we should live in a way that is Christ-like, and God-fearing, but some of us seem to have a rota for when we put the armour of God on and off.

Are you someone who is hot and cold?
Are you consistent enough with what you portray, how you live, how you behave – that people see the same you at all times?

Skipping to the end of Daniel 4, a lot has happened in between; Daniel interprets the dream, the dream is fulfilled, and the king then says this;

““Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven.
All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.””
[Daniel 4:37]

He is moved by the excellence and truth of Daniel’s spirit, that after the dream is fulfilled, the king himself worships God! The True God of Heaven and Earth.

I want to close and bring it all together by asking you this;

How much do you blend in?

Some of us are indistinguishable from unbelievers.
Some of us have days on and days off – we have a certain crowd we play Christ-like with, and another set of people we dabble in sin and pleasure with.
Some of us have that tendency of a great spirit, but every now and then you want to hide it.
Some of us have an excellent spirit – we are bold and unafraid of living for God – no we aren’t perfect, but we’re striving to be the Daniel of our environment.

Let me tell you this, as a follower of Christ, you have no business looking the same as everyone else.

When you walk into a room you ought to bring Light and Life to it.

When people see you, even if they can’t initially identify exactly what it is, they must still know that there is something Positively  D I F F E R E N T  about you!

So I ask you again – How much do you blend in? – With the crowd, with the world, with those who don’t know God…

I hope your answer to this question (if it’s anything other than ‘Not at all’) makes you so uncomfortable, that you begin working on your change from today onwards.
I pray now and forevermore, that the Light of Christ in you will shine brightly for all to see, and be transformed by!

Let us pray:

Father,
Just as Daniel didn’t compromise You, give me a heart that will always stand firm in serving and honouring You.
Let me stand out with my gift from You, that people will anticipate it and will acknowledge Your excellence as it is presented forth.
Let Your Holy Spirit be rich in me! Let Him shine through so strongly, that there is no doubt that I am a man/woman of God.
Give me a heart that is consistent in absolutely everything I do.
Just as the king was firm in what he perceived Daniel as, help me to always be hot for Your work, diligent in my service, and consistent in my living for Christ.
Let my life cause people to run to You and just as the king did, let them turn to know You, worship You and praise You.
When I walk into a room, Father let Jesus be seen in me!
All this we pray, in Jesus’ name.
AMEN.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

#TheDanielOfMyGeneration
#MoreThan100PeoplePraying (Let’s keep our daily prayers up for the youth of today – our leaders of tomorrow)

 

 

 

 

When He Shows you…

Leave a comment

I’ve once written a Facebook post on the Untainted Word page regarding this topic, here’s an expansion, in a FoodForThought type post…

The original post says this:

As God’s Beloved, 
There will be times when He will show you certain things (about situations and people) in order to protect you, but it won’t be everything that He’ll want you to act upon.

“Father, teach me my next move” is such a crucial prayer to say, because it ushers down Divine Wisdom to know how best to deal with that situation.

Sometimes God will say, ‘Do nothing’.
Other times, He’ll say, ‘Address it, by doing x, y, and z’.

The key is to make sure you 
W A I T for God to speak, 
L I S T E N to what He tells you, 
and O B E Y that instruction.

Him showing you, wasn’t for you to take matters into your own hands and REact.
Therefore be led by the Holy Spirit to 
Act Graciously, 
and bring forth the best result from what could actually be a total mess, if dealt with in a way of the flesh.

 

In the Facebook post, we briefly and succinctly address the fact that we must seek out the instruction of God, to know how to act next.
It focuses on the fact that we should deal with the information with wisdom and not jump, based on what our human feelings tell us to do.

Earlier this week, after seeing an image which read ‘Never reject what God reveals!’,
I knew that it was important to include this aspect into the message too – Not Ignoring God.

The reality is this, some of us like ‘the comfortable’, ‘the norm’, and ‘the how things already are’.
And so when we come across anything – anything whatsoever that could possibly compromise the contentment we have in that present stage of life – we block it out.
Our desire for things to remain the way they are, causes us to shy away from accepting anything that could cause a potential stir or change, as the truth.

This means yes, we will hear God speak, but we will convince ourselves that the Big Man didn’t say a word.
He’ll show us crucial things in our dreams, yet we’ll attribute it to the fact that it was just our imagination whilst sleeping.
He’ll show us clear signs, but we’ll reassure ourselves that it’s just a coincidence…

Is this you?

Do you realise that your lack of boldness to ever accept or induce change in your life, leaves you stuck in seasons which you should have graduated from a long time ago?
It keeps you stuck with people whose purpose in your life has expired, and rather than adding any goodness to you, their expiration, and past-use-by-date presence in your life is causing you to become sick (spiritually, mentally) – even though you may not notice it or admit it.

‘NEVER REJECT WHAT GOD REVEALS’

Don’t Ignore What God Says/Shows/Tells

This takes C O U R A G E.

I don’t dispute that.

And I say this because sometimes what God will show you will make you uncomfortable.
You won’t have a clue what to do about it, or how to make sense of it sometimes, but this is where I need you to remember to not lean on your own understanding.
When He shows you this thing, go back to Him and ask Him what needs to be done (as it says above).
Yes, it may be uncomfortable, but that lack of comfort is what you need for things to be propelled to the next level, or for you to be saved from a toxic relationship, or for you to avoid making a terrible decision (the list goes on).

You may ask, ‘But if I’m content as you said, isn’t that all that matters?’

Well, I’m going to say NO!

In fact, I’m screaming it!!!

The false and lazy type of contentment that some of us possess, is what causes us to settle for a substandard level of living.
Substandard fulfilment in relationships.
Substandard job.
Substandard intimacy with God…

Friend, today and always, you must realise that God has greater plans for you, and the longer you stay in a place that is no good for you, the more you become unsettled, unrested, and eventually you become robbed of your peace.
That environment can no longer contain you, it is no longer conducive for you to achieve your goals and excel in life – therefore you need to trust God, Acknowledge the Revelation, and act upon it appropriately.

All in all, when God reveals things to us, we need to realise how much of a privilege it is to be Loved so deeply by Him.
Loved so dearly, that He wants to share with us, ways in which we can have a better and more fulfilling journey of life.
Loved so fully, that He entrusts us with information that He reveals to no one else.

What I’m encouraging you to do, is regardless of how uncomfortable the potential change may seem, please please Do Not ignore God when He speaks.
As mentioned above, many times these things shown to us are for our own protection, enrichment and growth in life, therefore rather than hinder ourselves, let us Thank God for the revelation, Accept it as something that needs to be dealt with, and then Obey His way of dealing with it.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

Now, not Later

Leave a comment

“I will hurry, without delay,
    to obey your commands.”
[Psalm 119:60]

Today’s post is one where I want us to look at this verse uttered by David the Psalmist, and pray for our hearts to have the same attitude to do God’s will NOW, rather than later ‘when we’re ready’.

Let’s talk…

You see I get it.
We have the freedom to live however we please.
We have the liberty to live life to the fullest and not be bound by any limitations.
We all want to do things at a time convenient for us, and when it fits into our timetable and works well for us.

All this is perfectly understandable!
But in the midst of our freedom, we have to remember who permits it…

We have to remember the One who enables us to live this life, so freely, so easily and so fully.
And in remembering that it’s God’s grace which allows us to go about our business, day in, day out, then we too must realise that we ought to honour Him, listen to Him, and yield when He instructs us to do things.

I guess we can point out two types of commands from God; there are those which we find in His word – right there in the scripture, either telling us to do this, or not to do that.
Then there are those commands which God plants into our spirit personally. These are instructions He gives us regarding how to act, move, and behave in our daily life.
These are the things He shares with us when we’re engaging in conversation with Him – often perceived by some of us as an urge to do something (sometimes totally different from what we’re used to).

So anyway, David says in this verse,
‘I will hurry, without delay… to do Your work, God’.
He’s basically saying, ‘I’ll do it immediately Father’.
He’s saying, ‘I’ll drop whatever my plans are, and get stuck in with Yours’.
He acknowledges that the will of God takes precedence over all else.

Anyone else agree that this is BOLD?
Like, really bold, and forward.

But friend, this is definitely something to emulate.

You see, David demonstrates that he understands that we are made for God’s glory – Isaiah 43:7.
He demonstrates an understanding of the fact that his life belongs to God – Psalm 100:3. And so in knowing that he is God’s, he realises that fulfilling God’s desires should come first.

Now I want us to look at the sense of urgency in this verse…

David says he will hurry, hasten, not delay…
This aspect of the verse is extremely important for us to pay attention to; the ability to not only say yes to God, but to also say, ‘I’ll get on it Right Away!’

I want us to dwell here a little, and be real with one another…
David sets the bar kinda high here, right?
I mean not only is he setting the example of obedience, but he also crosses into the timing factor – not wasting time, and not doing it when it suits him, but actually doing it diligently and in a timely manner – which essentially gives the obedience a greater sense of wholeness.

Can we pray to have this heart of obedience too?

I know immediately, you’ll probably think of all your life plans, and your personal schedule, and all the fun things you currently indulge in, and think to yourself – no thanks, I’m gonna give it time before I do what this post is saying.

But that’s exactly my point.
Many times, we have read things, heard sermons, watched videos pertaining to the things of God, and the commands and instructions of God, and even though we have felt a shaking in our spirits for us to make a change, we have resisted that change because in our opinion it just simply was not convenient.

That’s what I want us to break down today –
The attitude of not being ready, or rather, or not wanting to be ready to live by God’s word when we receive it –
And we’ll do it with a few prayers…

(With regards to the commands in the word of God):
Father help me to not spend a day longer pleasing my flesh and engaging in sinful ways which Your word has commanded me not to indulge in.
Help me to do the things You have instructed, such as sharing love, peace, joy, and bearing with those around me.
Help me to look at the things within me that are contrary to what Your word says, and rather than wait till later to deal with them, give me the courage and the respect for the authority Your word carries, to deal with them NOW.

(With regards to personal instructions from God):
Father help me to act on the things You place in my spirit, immediately.
Let me not deprive the manifestation of Your word or Your will with the stubbornness of my heart, but rather let me move according to when You say so.
Every inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Father I pray that I will not ignore it, or brush it aside, but rather I will acknowledge, honour, and fulfil the assignment, by Your grace and strength.

(In general about this topic):
Father rid me of any spirit that is lazy when it comes to doing Your work.
Take away every wrong desire to dwell longer doing things of the flesh ‘until I’m ready to change’, and place in me a burning fire that will long to do the things which please You, Right Now, and always.

All this we pray, in Jesus’ name,
Amen.

If we’re being fair, we’ll be able to admit that God doesn’t constantly demand different things from us each day, nor does He wake us up each morning with a long list of Dos and Donts.
In fact, His most important instructions to us as followers of Christ are to Love Him and Love one another.
Subsequent instructions, therefore, are simply a guide for us to know how best to get these two Great commandments right, so friend, I pray that we will listen, trust and obey God’s word when it comes, and very importantly, I Pray we will do so, on-time, in God’s time, to honour and reverence Him.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

Step 2: Do

Leave a comment

Here’s a quick word about,

‘Doing’ His Word

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
[James 1:22]

Sometimes we’ll read a verse in the bible and we’ll require further exposition on what it’s saying, but the verse above is so clear and direct!

I’ve quoted this verse briefly before in a previous post (Be An Example), but today I want us to take a quick look at what it says by itself, and why it is important!

We know and believe that the word of God is life, and therefore we believe that it is our manual for life and our guide for how to live and move.
However, how many times do we read/listen to the word of God and just keep doing our own thing, our own way?

How many times have we read the bible, or heard a teaching by a preacher, known that it ought to change our hearts and habits, but have decided that the change isn’t quite convenient at that present moment in our lives?

Look at this…
The bible tells us that;

“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight,
but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”
[Romans 2:13]

This verse demonstrates the significance of us not just knowing or hearing the word and the instructions/commandments of God, but actually practising, living, and fulfilling the word of God with our lives…
Our obedience in doing God’s word not only helps to put us in right-standing with the Father, but it also importantly means that we do not blaspheme the name of God (context from Romans 2:17-24), by calling ourselves His children, yet doing the complete opposite of what He desires!

Here’s a simple prayer today to begin to change our hearts that still want to wait till later or wait till we’re ready to DO the word of God;

“Father, give me the heart of obedience to be an active doer of Your word, NOW, not later.
The first step is hearing/reading/becoming aware of what Your word says, the second step is understanding and putting it to action…
In Matthew 13:1-23, Jesus shares a parable about different responses to the Word,
I pray God, that You will make me the person whom verse 23 speaks of!
Let my heart be good soil; let me hear the word, understand it, and produce good crop from it.
Help me to trust and love Your word, so that I will make a harvest out of it,
in Jesus’ Name
Amen.”

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

Be An Example

2 Comments

Let’s read;

“And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.”
[Titus 2:7-8]

‘Be an Example’…

That’s God’s simple message to us with this passage. (Also read all of Titus 2).
Every now and then, we can get caught up in our own desires and therefore find ourselves living for our own pleasure.
This can mean that certain actions and decisions we make, may fall out of God’s will.
Today God is reminding you to Be an Example.
Be someone who not just speaks the gospel, but exudes it.
Be someone who the word of God isn’t just words to, but the word of God is life, and it’s apparent in your life.
The bible teaches us to not just be hearers of the word, but also doers of the word of God (James 1:22).
Be someone who will read it, digest and make personal meaning of it, and then LIVE it.
God wants you to redirect your plans and thoughts towards Him, and return to living your life for Him, in order for you to live a wholesome life, but also for you to encourage and inspire those watching…
We must never forget that people are watching – whether it’s to criticise us, or actually to learn from, and emulate us, people are, and always be watching.
Therefore, do the body and name of Christ justice, by living out the word of God genuinely…
The verse says ‘Let everything reflect integrity and seriousness of your teaching’.
As disciples of Christ, one of our biggest roles is to spread the gospel and share the word.
But how many of us can truly say our actions match our words?
We all know that it’s one thing to say something, but it’s a whole new level to actually display it with what we do.
Therefore this verse is encouraging us to be real to the word of God and truly be convicted by it.
This means not just doing things for the sake of it, but actually appreciating and believing in what we read, and being transformed by it, to a point where it is evident in our behaviour and mannerisms.
I’ll end by saying this;
Don’t feel pressured or overwhelmed by the responsibility to be a Light to the world (Matthew 5:14), but just ask for His All-Sufficient Grace to enable you, and to keep your Light shining brightly all the days of your life.
Remember that our greatest commandments are to Love God and Love people (Matthew 22:36-40), therefore this means if we are led by Love in all we do, doing the right thing, and living the right way won’t be as difficult as we may anticpate.
Be an Example;
A Gorgeous, Fun, Unique One!
Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Beliveing,
God Bless you.

The Battle of Change

2 Comments

We all want to be better in one way or another… Right?

Well one thing is for sure,
The change in yourself that you want to see, and that you know you need, begins with You and ends with You.

It begins with you because you have to make the decision to make the changes that you want to see.
It ends with you because you, again, have to make the decision to remain committed to maintaining the changes that you have made, in order for them to become a permanent part of your life.

So, it begins and ends with you… But then there’s this part in-between.

The people in your life, and their perception, acceptance and supportiveness towards the change.

So to first clear things up, I agree with you! We live to please God and not man, therefore the issue of whether people want to accept or believe in our change or not, shouldn’t really matter.
But the truth is that for some (if not all) of us, ‘the people’ will have a massive effect on the longevity of the change.

So let’s discuss that, because on this journey to a ‘better us’, we will encounter a variety of people… Here are 4 categories…

1 – People who will ridicule the fact that you even want to change in the first place;
‘You?! You’ll never change, you’ll always be…’
They’ll chuckle at the fact that you could dare to think that you would ever get out of whatever cycle you’re in.
They’ll write you off and deem your change as impossible, and that will be all that matters to them.
They’ll continue to invite you to old places, to do old things and some will simply mock/disrespect your decisions to avoid certain things.
They will have no regard for your change at all.

Friend, though painful in some instances, you will need to separate yourself from these people.
They have the potential to cause severe damage to your journey, especially during the early season when the change is fresh, therefore you have to be bold, and break the link, or distance yourself, in order to make the first set of moves forward – in the right direction.

2 – People who will despise your change and never get past the old you;
Most of the people described above will also fall into this category.
But others will actually start off here, because they won’t dispute the fact that you could desire a change, however, mentally they can never get past the you they used to know.
These people will actually begin to see the difference, but will take every opportunity to remind you of where you’re coming from.
They’ll sometimes speak ill of you to others who become impressed by your new nature, and will make references to who you used to be, as ‘the real you‘.

Now friend you mustn’t take their lie as your truth. Unfortunately they’ll fail to grasp the fact that the old you died with Christ, and by His grace and resurrection, you have every right to live anew and be a new creation. (Romans 6:5-7)
That – is your truth – you are entitled and allowed to be a new creation in Christ. And the new creation, shall be the real you forever (in Jesus’ name, Amen).

3 – People who will lose faith in you if you fall;
They didn’t knock the fact that you wanted to rise and be better, but they’re easily discouraged and will lose faith in your journey if at all you slip up or fall back.
Though they care enough to have believed in you at the start, they kind of slide into a watered down version of the second category of people.
Your ‘mistake’ plants an element of doubt in them and they struggle from then onwards to take your change seriously or give you another chance.
Now I’m not repeating myself by introducing these people – I want you to know that it is extremely important for you not to exhaust your energy trying to win them back; win their trust back, win their belief back.

The bible says ‘by their fruits, you shall know them’ – Matthew 7:16-20.
What does this mean for you in this context?
It means that your effort and hard work ought to go into making sure you get back on the road to the new you, not into tirelessly trying to prove yourself.
It means that you should focus on tapping into the grace of God which will enable you to walk right, and walk consistently in your desired new path.
It means that you trust that gradually, they’ll see the fruits of someone who truly wants to change, improve, and be better. And so some of them after seeing the fruits of your effort, will become part of your support system, and will later fully believe in you.

Notice that you aren’t initially disregarding their feelings, and saying ‘whatever man’, but you simply realise that their doubt, and continuous reference back to the fact that ‘you fell backwards that time‘, could become a hinderance to your confidence and belief, in yourself and in the the fact that this change is truly possible at all.

4 – People who will encourage you, and want to see the change as much as (or even more sometimes) than you do;
These people will support you.
They want to see you win in, and with your change.
They’ll understand the ‘why‘ of your decision to improve yourself, and they’ll remind you of this even when you want to stop caring about it all.
They’ll already see a greater potential for you with the change, and so their minds are ready to correctly perceive and accept you through every stage of the process.
The next line may be obvious but it’s the simple truth –
You’ve got to surround yourself with these people… Keep them close.
They will serve as mentors, advisors, cheerer-uppers, picker-uppers and so many more things that will add salt, light and favour to your journey by the grace of God. These are the people sent by God to enable the perfect manifestation of your change.
These are the people God sends to ensure that you TRIUMPH over the Battle of Change.

So before we go, let us note a few more key things…

Good Change is Amazing; we can gather from Romans 6:1-4 that it is important for us, and pleasing to God, for us to put things right when we see that they aren’t, and therefore ‘walk in newness of life‘!
So I want you to definitely Embrace your Change.
Without a doubt, the people around us do play a massive part in the outcome of our change, but we must Always stay Determined to do what we set out to do!

Here’s my prayer for you;

I pray that God will open the eyes of your understanding, to see the things in your life that need to turn to Christ.
I pray that the courage required to take the first step to change, God will grant onto you.
I pray that every person that will lead to you being discouraged, and every attitude that will be detrimental to your journey, God will give you the discerning spirit to notice them and therefore walk away from them. Where applicable, He Himself will remove them!
I pray that God will bless your path with the people who will motivate, encourage, bless, uplift and assist you in your change.
I pray that once transformed, you will not become judgmental towards those struggling in areas similar to your past, but rather your journey will then become a testimony and a strength which you use to bring more people to a new life in Christ, by the Grace of God.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen

As God is for you, no one can succeed in being against you! (Romans 8:31)
So Believe in your Change, and Keep Going!

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing,
God Bless you.