“GOD’S WORK IN DISABILITY”

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1-3)
We are generally prone into believing that sin and pain, injury and handicap are linked together, that human pain is the result of human sin. While Jesus did not deny the fact that there is such a link, sometimes it is, but He makes clear that suffering is not always directly traceable to personal sin. Jesus declares, that the disability of the man is not a function of the man’s sin nor is it the parent’s sin. Why, then, was he born blind? That the works of God might be made manifest in him, is Jesus’ response. That gives a positive reason for this kind of affliction. It is an opportunity-not a disaster, but an opportunity-for certain things to be manifested in such a person’s life, and in the lives of people who come in contact with that person, things that would otherwise never be brought out.
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), a blind American lyricist, poet, mission worker and composer, was one of the most hymnists in history, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs with more than 100 million copies printed. Her best-known songs include “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour”, Blessed Assurance”, “Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home”, “Praise Him, Praise Him”, “Rescue the Perishing”, and “To God Be the Glory”.She was not born blind, she was made blind by a careless doctor who scarred her eyes with hot mustard plasters, blinding her at the age of six weeks.
On her blindness, she said “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.” (Wikipedia).
The Scriptures declare that we are living in a broken world, a fragmented world, a world which is not what it once was and is not what it shall be. For the present, we are afflicted with pains, hurts, injuries, difficulties and hardships. We may not be physically disabled but we all as a matter of fact have disabilities. What do you see and say concerning your own ‘disability’?  Fanny Crosby set a remarkable and encouraging example of how to see and face our unpleasant circumstance with joy and determination. Learn not to live in pity and guilt but rather to develop inner qualities of peace and joy regardless of the enormity of our situation and show a tremendous strength of spirit that is able to take on challenges and endure difficulties that the intended glory of God may be seen in our lives. Remember, that He came into the world to give light in our darkness, lead through bewildering paths, and bring us to the place of cleansing and of opened eyes.

JESUS, THE LIVING HOPE.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3 RSV)”
   
Probably no apostle felt the death of Jesus more agonizingly than Peter. He had boasted that he would not leave him or forsake him, that he would stay true and fight for him even unto death. He meant so well, but he failed so miserably. When the moment came, a little girl’s question upset him, and melted all his bravado, and he denied his Lord. So to the appalling collapse of hope that all the apostles experienced in the death of Jesus, in Peter’s case was added the shame and disgrace of his own denial. It is no wonder that the last view we have of Peter in the Gospels is his going out into the dark of the night, weeping bitterly.
I am sure there may be some like that here this morning whose hopes have been crushed, whose dreams have been unfulfilled. Maybe just a few years ago you had glorious dreams of what you would like to be, and what you would like to do, and now they are all faded away, or collapsed about you. You meant to do well, but you ended up wrong, somehow. We can even have bad days that make us feel that way.
It is those kinds of moments and that kind of day that the resurrection of Jesus is designed to relieve and to help. We celebrate Easter and the great triumph of Christ over the grave but we often forget that Easter also stands for the presence of Christ with us to meet the pressures of life as they come to us day by day. I am sure Peter had that in mind when he wrote this text, for you to recall that after the resurrection of Jesus we are told in the Gospels that he appeared privately to Peter. Evidently the sensitive heart of Jesus understood how Peter felt in the hour of his monumental failure and collapse of faith, and he sought him out, and appeared to him, and doubtless restored him to some sense of personal worth again.
All we need do is align ourselves with all that Jesus represents, regardless of what it was with us before, our failings, Jesus lives in our hearts to forgive us, to sustain us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to correct us. He guides us all the way through life to the end, and then does not leave us desolate, but takes us on through to that life beyond.
A CALL TO FAITHFUL SERVICE
“I set treasurers over the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites; assisting them was Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, for they were counted faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.” Nehemiah 13:13

The high point of this passage is that all the men put in place regardless of their titles had one thing in common, the men were considered trustworthy(Nehemiah 13:13b). They were faithful men. Today faithfulness as a quality is very rare. All we do is pay lip service to it. It is disheartening to me at times to see how few people take seriously the responsibility to carry through faithfully what they have undertaken.
Faithfulness is a quality that God admires. Paul says of those who minister in the church: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). That is the primary thing God looks for: the ability to hang in with an assignment until you are through; the willingness to fulfil responsibility year after year, not needing to be praised or thanked or publicly encouraged in order to do so; to work unto the Lord; to show up on time and to not leave until the work is done.
To be considered faithful has no relationship with age or gender, it is not a function of how long you have been in the church. A faithful believer is a man with:
  • Humble Heart: someone whose ego is not on the line all the time, who must be praised and honoured and encouraged in order to get him to do anything at all; who gets disgruntled and turned off if she does not get recognised. I look for someone who understands that service is a privilege; that power is not conferred upon a person by an office but by serving people.
  • Right Attitude: Someone who sees her work as a ministry of service to the Lord Himself; he sees it as a privilege to serve and undertakes the it out of gratitude in his own life and heart, and no matter how tough it gets, will not quit. He possesses a teachable spirit who wants to learn all the time, always listening and tries to consult and reason out with others.
God is looking for these kind of people in 2017, to change the age in which they live. That is what we are called to do today. We are all included in this calling, not just the pastor or visible leaders. There is no single believer that has not been equipped by the Holy Spirit with a special ability to do something. in the service of the Lord. Do you make your gifting available in His service? If you have, are you faithful? Will you answer the call in 2017?. The body of Christ requires faithful men and women who are willing to carry this through to the end.

A CALL TO FAITHFUL SERVICE
 
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence”? Please contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Ranti Orioke

Killing The Root Of Bitterness

Killing The Root of Bitterness
“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,just as God through Christ has fogiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT)

Christians are supposed to forgive but many of us behave like there are exceptions to this rule. How could one get rid and forgive a betrayal of ‘first class’ order, or a hurt that caused an irreparable damage? The natural response is bitterness, but the Bible clearly paints the danger of this natural response. Hebrews 12:15 says, ” …Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” The root of bitterness grows in the soil of hurt and produces fruit unforgiveness.

Once unfogiveness takes hold of a believer, it leads to the following: unremitted sins, separation from God (Isaiah 59:2), unanswered prayers (Mark 11:25) and exposure to satanic attack (2 Cor. 2:11). If the price is so much, it is important to constantly ask the Holy Spirit to daily reveal to us people or issues we haven’t completely forgiven and uproot the weed of bitterness out of the ground of once life, so that it won’t rear its head again. Ask for the grace to let go and release those who’ve wronged us as the passage instructs. It will, no doubt take the power of God to bring one to a place of being willing to forgive but when the power comes, you will be able to pray (Luke 6:28) and love (Matt. 5:45) our enemies and release.

Forgiveness is the best revenge. It not only sets our minds free from the prison of hatred but it releases our offenders to God for Him to deal with (Proverbs 20:22). Faith is what moves God but only forgiveness releases His power.

I pray that we will find in God the sheer strength to battle through the feelings of anger, hatred, and bitterness, and fight our way back to the cross. That’s where Christ forgave us. And that’s where, by faith, we can find the ability to forgive those who’ve wronged us.

KILLING THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS
 
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence”? Please contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Ranti Orioke

The Purposeful God

The Purposeful God
“Then Job replied to the LORD: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:1-2).

There are many times in the life of man that God may appear silent and uncaring. That appears to be the case of Job otherwise why did He not intervene? But what the book of Job shows is that behind that appearance, God is always exactly what He is, a loving, caring and concerned God, deeply aware of our problems. He is concerned about us, carefully controlling everything that touches us, limiting the power of Satan and allowing certain expressions, according to His knowledge of how much we can bear (1 Cor.10:13). He is patient, forgiving, and ultimately responsible for all that happens.

In the beginning of this book, the reader’s attention is focused on three personalities: God, Satan, and Job. By the end of the book, Satan has completely disappeared. All you have left is God standing before Job, saying to him, All right, Job, I’m responsible. When Job begins to see what God is working out in His vast, cosmic purposes and what He is making possible by means of Job’s sufferings, he has no questions to ask whatsoever. The final view of God in this book is of a Being of incredible wisdom who puts things together far beyond human dreams and imaginations, who is working out incredible plans of delight and joy that He will give to us if we wait for His purposes to be fully resolved.

The Lord mentions a time when all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7) at the creation of the world, but other Scriptures tell us about a future time when the sons of God will be revealed (Romans 8:19), when all creation will shout in a greater glory than was ever hailed at the first creation in the new creation that God has brought into being by means of the sufferings and trials of this present scene. That explains why the Bible speaks in numerous passages about our light and momentary troubles that are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17). When that day breaks, the one thing for which we will be infinitely thankful is the fact that out of all the created universe, we were chosen to be the ones who bore the name of God in the hour of danger and affliction, problem and trial. There is no higher honor than that.

Give glory to the God.

THE PURPOSEFUL GOD
 
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence”? Please contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Ranti Orioke

Killing The Root Of Bitterness

Killing the Root of Bitterness.
 
“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT)
Christians are supposed to forgive but many of us behave like there are exceptions to this rule. How could one get rid and forgive a betrayal of ‘first class’ order, or a hurt that caused an irreparable damage? The natural response is bitterness, but the Bible clearly paints the danger of this natural response. Hebrews 12:15 says, “…Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” The root of bitterness grows in the soil of hurt and produces fruit unforgiveness.
Once unfogiveness takes hold of a believer, it leads to the following: unremitted sins, separation from God (Isaiah 59:2), unanswered prayers (Mark 11:25) and exposure to satanic attack (2 Cor. 2:11). If the price is so much, it is important to constantly ask the Holy Spirit to daily reveal to us people or issues we haven’t completely forgiven and uproot the weed of bitterness out of the ground of once life, so that it won’t rear its head again. Ask for the grace to let go and release those who’ve wronged us as the passage instructs. It will, no doubt take the power of God to bring one to a place of being willing to forgive but when the power comes, you will be able to pray (Luke6:28) and love (Matt. 5:45) our enemies and release.
Forgiveness is the best revenge. It not only sets our minds free from the prison of hatred but it releases our offenders to God for Him to deal with (Proverbs 20:22). Faith it is that moves God but only forgiveness releases His power. 
I pray that we will find in God the sheer strength to battle through the feelings of anger, hatred, and bitterness, and fight our way back to the cross. That’s where Christ forgave us. And that’s where, by faith, we can find the ability to forgive those who’ve wronged us

KILLING THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS.
 
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence”? Please contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Forgiveness is the best revenge. It not only sets our minds free from the prison of hatred but it releases our offenders to God for Him to deal with 
Ranti Orioke

Do You Believe This?

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?
Jesus said to her [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  (John 11:25-26)
Questions of faith are answered in times of uncertainty, when there is confusion all around one.
“Do you believe this?” It’s a question Jesus asked Martha which demanded an answer. It’s a question we can fairly assume God asks all of us. Do we believe?  All of our eternity changes by the answer to this question.
To refuse belief is to cast our lot with ourselves. It’s to commit our eternal destiny to chance or to our own ability to earn whatever we desire. It’s to go our own way believing we know better than Jesus and His teachings.
To believe, is to admit we are not in control except Jesus. It’s to confess a need for God’s forgiveness and admit our limitations to handle life on our own. It’s more than just accepting the facts about Jesus but a life-altering change of attitudes and actions attempting to respond to the way which Jesus calls. Every person answers the question, “Do you believe this?”
Curiously, it’s the timing of Jesus’ asking Martha the question that is fascinating. Jesus asked Martha this question on one of her darkest days. Her brother, Lazarus  had died despite her efforts to save him. Martha had sent word to Jesus in hopes that Jesus would be able to get to the side of Lazarus before it was too late. Jesus responded slower than Martha had hoped and didn’t arrive until Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha told him. They are words of bitterness for the slow response of Jesus but equally, they are words of tremendous faith. She knew Jesus held a power no one else had. Had Jesus been earlier in coming, she believed that He could have changed the outcome for Lazarus. Her statement was one of sorrow over timing, not anger over inability.
In the midst of her pain, Jesus reveals himself as being even more powerful than Martha realized. The finality of death didn’t apply to Jesus. When He is around, time never runs out. Jesus explained to Martha what he could do. Yet before he did anything, he questioned Martha’s faith. He didn’t ask the question after he raised Lazarus from the dead. He didn’t wait until the story was complete. Right in the middle of the situation when the outcome looked the most bleak was Jesus’ timing to ask the question.
It was true for Martha and, so often, it’s true for us. Questions of faith are most often answered in times of uncertainty. We always want more information. We would like to delay until we have a greater understanding. We want to know the rest of the story. But before the outcome is revealed, before the details fully unfold, we are asked to make our decision-do you believe this?
 

The Life Of Faith

THE LIFE OF FAITH
“Just my luck,” I said. “The Most High God goes out of business just the moment I need him.”   (Psalm 77:10)
This is a case of a man at his wits end. Everything seems not to be working, no help  unlike in the past. All that once has been such a comfort to him, that which has strengthened him, given him character and power, what hitherto has been his bedrock – the foundation of his faith is fast given way.  It’s like God has withdrawn His support and the door permanently shut. Why is this, he probably asked. Have I been having wrong impression about God? Is God like man that cannot be depended upon? All these questions are probably going on in his head and yet cannot find answer to them. This writer’s faith is in crisis. Could this not be the hidden problem with many of us? When we have tried all we know – prayer, fasting, deliverance and all spiritual stuffs but nothing seems to be working!
God seeming silence is not unusual. It happened in the lives of Abraham, David the king and many others. David says in Psalm 10:1 “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” All around him were not add Ming up and God seemed to be uninterested and unconcerned. But in retrospect, one could see that the silence of God could part of His divine program that He has for disciplining and training His own. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13a). The faithfulness of God is deliberately put into contrast with this passage, because every one of us tends to suffer from the feeling that what is happening to us is unique. But many have experienced similar temptations if they are seeking to live the life of faith.
Isaiah reveals what God says. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). That is, God’s reason is above ours. We understand so little of life compared to what we see in it. My thoughts are not your thoughts; therefore, you can expect there will come times when you will not understand but will be perplexed. If we are limited then to the tiny section of life that we can grasp with our puny understanding, it is only to be expected that there will come times when we do not understand what God is doing. So do not be troubled by these times of perplexity. They are normal experiences coming to all in the life of faith. Remember, “……. all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to 
his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13a).
Ranti Orioke

While Waiting

“WHILE WAITING”
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.”  Habakkuk 2:1 
How do we react to delayed or unanswered prayers? When you face a problem where you do not understand what God is doing, what do you do? Do you throw down your hand in resignation and say, “Oh, I’ve tried faith, and it doesn’t work,” or “I’ve tried God but that doesn’t work,” or, “I’ve tried prayer and it doesn’t work.” When you go via this route, all you are saying is that God is a liar, unreliable, a fraud and the Word of God has no basis. 
Habakkuk in this passage, shows what we ought to do – get out on the watchtower (prayer), pour out our complaints and requests before Him, and wait to see what God is going to say. In other words, having made our ‘points’ before God, we must wait to observe the answers God gives by His word, His Spirit and providences.  Habakkuk says he is going to wait and be expectant because he knows that God speaks and that He is never too busy to answer. God has never and will not disappoint the believing expectations of those who wait to hear what he will say unto them.
While waiting, I want to suggest what we can do using the acronym of ‘wait’:
W – Worship God for who He is, His faithfulness, past deeds in your lives. David said of God’s credibility, “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37).
A – Acknowledge God as the Lord of your life, trusting in Him with all our hearts, believing he is able and wise to do what is best (Proverbs 3:6)
I – Keep inquiring from Him as to what to do. Don’t think your way through the situation, He is the answer to it (1 Chronicles 14:10 &14).
T – Be thankful even in the very situation you have found yourself. “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Are we responding as Habakkuk did, waiting expectantly for more complete understanding? While waiting, are we content to trust God, realizing he has the complete picture while ours is limited? Remember, Jesus lives and because He does, you can face your tomorrow with certainty. 

“WHILE WAITING”
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
David said of God’s credibility, “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37).
Ranti Orioke

When You Pray

WHEN YOU PRAY
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 NIV)
 
Over the years even in the church, prayer has not received the recognition that it deserves. Many people feel since God already knows about our needs, there isn’t any need to tell God about them. This could turn out to be a very costly mistake! While it’s true God knows about and is involved in every area of our life, it’s also true God will not intervene in man’s issue until He is given the legal right to. By praying, we give Him full control of a situation, we acknowledge His ability to bring about a change in that area of our or someone else’s life. 
Prayer is the key to improving our lives and our relationship with God. By praying, we offer whatever we’re thinking and feeling to the Lord. Whatever you bring, is the starting point. As you pray more regularly or more often, the usual experience is that you start being more truthful in prayer, your attitude becomes more confident, you start taking the time to listen, you start looking for the signs of divine response in your daily life, you start hungering to read the Scriptures, you start wanting to pray with others and you think less and less about yourself.
 
When we come in prayer we come as we are, sometimes scared, sometimes needy, sometimes empty, sometimes bored, sometimes furious, but we come. We come trusting that through prayer God can change us, and can change the things that happen in our life. We come trusting that God is with us and builds us up, that the Holy Spirit prays with us and for us.
Today, if you feel like a victim, you can pray to God, instead of allowing the circumstances of life to overwhelm you. You can begin to take charge of your life by asking God for the power to make changes. Or maybe you live with unchangeable circumstances that affects your life in a major way, you can pray. From finding a partner, to finding a job, from building a business, to building a life, pray, prayer changes things. In a success driven society that we find ourselves, where people of faith often struggle in pursuit of success, you can pray for God to bless your efforts with success
Paul to the church in Ephesus says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18 NIV)  God is more than ready to hear our complaints, appeals, desires and frustrations if only we dare to pray. Nothing is too big or too small for the Lord not to take into consideration. Paul advises,
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6)

“WHEN YOU PRAY”
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Paul to the church in Ephesus says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18 NIV)
Ranti Orioke