Hanging on to the character of God

HANGING ON TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD.
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:13-15 NKJV)”
God appeared to Abraham and made him a promise: “Through your seed shall all people of the earth be blessed,” (Genesis 22:17-18). This promise was later confirmed by an oath, God swearing by himself that he would fulfill what he had said. The above passage says Abraham believed God’s promise and his oath.
For twenty five years this promise was not fulfilled, and to make the matter worse Abraham and Sarah his wife were growing older and had expired the time of life when it was possible to have children. Despite this, Abraham did not give up, he believed that God had told the truth about Himself, and that God must be true to his own character which he had expressed through both the promise and the oath. He saw nothing, yet he believed.
Abraham hung on to the character of God, believing and following God regardless of the situation and circumstance.  This is the secret of faith and upon this lies where we stand with Jesus. Either he is telling us the truth, and we can trust what this One who is like no one else who ever appeared in human history says to us, or we must reject him and repudiate him as a self-deceived impostor who attempted to foist some crude and foolish ideas upon the human race. That is where faith rests. From that ground everything must follow.

“HANGING ON TO THE CHARACTER OF 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
Either he is telling us the truth, and we can trust what this One who is like no one else who ever appeared in human history says to us, or we must reject him and repudiate him as a self-deceived impostor
Ranti Orioke

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT

“FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT”
Fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18b-19).
Paul’s word here to young Timothy, who is being left to do a very dangerous and demanding work in Ephesus is to “fight the good fight.” That saying to us that Christian life is fundamentally a lifelong warfare and there is no exit until the end. This is contrary to the misleading teachings of today that once you become a Christian, God will begin to work for you and things will be smooth all the way. If this prevailing school of thought is right, then Paul was out of God’s will most of his life. He was constantly in one battle or the other and he tells Timothy that he too is going to be in a battle.
Paul is talking about being a Christian, living a Christ-like life in the midst of dangerous pressures and countering forces. That is the battle we are called to fight, to remain standing unbowed and unconquered in spite of ceaseless contentions with our faith in a world of illusion, pleasure seeking and selfishness. It is a call to look at all things from heaven’s perspective, getting God’s point of view on every issue, seeing things the way they are and dealing honestly and openly in godly manner with everything that comes  ones way. That is the battle we are called to fight.
There must be a conflict with corruption, temptations, the powers of darkness and this we cannot avoid but we can overcome. We are not called to hide away in seclusion rather to be out there in the midst of life, in the marketplaces, the cities, among people, and under the pressures and dangers of everyday life and we should deal earnestly and honestly with life without compromising what He staid for. Joseph, Daniel, the three Hebrews and many patriarchs had their different kind of ‘faith battles’, making God their focus rather than rationalising their ways through the pressures of life (Genesis 39; Daniel 1:8; Daniel 6)
The battle Paul is talking about is to love God all the way, live in constant fear of Jehovah and be a loving person who has concern and compassion for people, not living in condemnation. The warfare is to live a life of purpose. 

“FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT”
 
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 is talking about being a Christian, living a Christ-like life in the midst of dangerous pressures and countering forces. That is the battle we are called to fight, to remain standing unbowed and unconquered in spite of ceaseless contentions with our faith in a world of illusion, pleasure seeking and selfishness.
Ranti Orioke

HYPOCRISY

“HYPOCRISY “

 

 

 

At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. (Acts 5:10-11)

 

 

The story of Ananias and Sapphira points us to the danger of the sin of hypocrisy. It is amazing that what this couple did, attracted severest punishment in the early church. It was literally deadly for them. If this is what Holy Spirit always does with his church, there would have been the need today, for a mogul in every church. The sin of this couple was that they conspired together to deceive the apostles and the church. In other words, they were trying to impress everyone with a higher level of spirituality and commitment than they really had.

 

This kind of behavior has assumed unimaginable dimension in today’s church. People, including leaders assuming false appearance of virtue or goodness, with dissimulation of real character or inclinations.  Sheer dishonesty, lies, manipulation and questionable motives are the trend. We come to church with the mask of spirituality whereas, pretence, sham, hypocrisy, pretending to be something we are not. We are all guilty of trying to impress others with our commitment and devotion to Christ, even though we know in our heart that we are exaggerating.

 

Our lives are filled with pride, envy, hatred in homes, in the church and between brethren. For one’s spouse, for brethren. We come to church and put on a mask that says everything’s fine! Everything’s wonderful! When we are asked, how are things going. “Great, great! Fine!” “How’s everything at home?” “Oh, wonderful! We’re having a wonderful time!” The minute we say that and it’s not true, we die. Death sets in.

How do we deal with this problem within ourselves? We are all prone to the sin of hypocrisy and that’s the reason we should consciously pursue godly character.

Repent means to acknowledge that you have been doing it wrong and then turn from the sinful ways.  I urge you to allow God’s Word to confront your life. If you’re playing the religion game, quit now! Get real with the living God. Spend time each day with Him. Judge your sins and turn from them. Seek to grow in godly character. Our God desires truth in the innermost being (Ps 51:6).

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

“HYPOCRISY”

 

 Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.

 

pastor@rccggoldenarena.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are all guilty of trying to impress others with our commitment and devotion to Christ, even though we know in our heart that we are exaggerating.

 

 

 

Ranti Orioke

IN HIS PRESENCE

 

“The OBEDIENCE, Key to the            Miraculous”

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking.

Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, Stand up on your feet! At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. Acts 14:8-10

   

Faith or obedience, which comes first and what is the significance of the order? Obedience to what? Faith in what or whom? The combination of the two describe our daily walk with God.

The passage tells of Paul preaching in Lystra along with Barnabas, we are not told how long or the number of days this has been. There seated in the marketplace was a man who had been lame from his birth, who had never walked. He heard what Paul said, and believed what Paul declared about the power of Jesus, the mighty Son of God. Paul looked at him and saw in that man’s eyes the faith to believe. Suddenly he said to him, Stand up on your feet. And the lame man, though he had never walked in his life, made the effort to obey. He had faith enough to try, and the moment he began to obey, the power to obey was given.

 

I believe this is exactly the way the Christian life works. It does not make any difference whether the problem is physical, emotional, or spiritual; it does not matter who puts there and for how long, you are going to be held in its bondage until you begin to obey the Word of God about it. When you make the effort to obey, God will set you free. But he will never move until you obey. That is the way faith works. Most people are kept from seeing God at work in their lives because they keep waiting for God to do something, in order for them to believe. No, God has already done all that he is going to do in the realm of the spirit. When you believe what he says, then he will give you the power to be free.

 

Obedience is the fruit of ones decisions. It makes way for the miraculous. When Joshua was faced with an impassible barrier, the floodwaters of the Jordan River receded only after the leaders stepped into the rushing current in obedience and faith. Obedience unlocks God’s power. The Bible says Jesus Christ learnt obedience by the things He went through, no wonder, everything answer unto Him. As you go through the Christian race, learn obedience. Once you learn obedience, your life becomes easier.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 


”  

The OBEDIENCE, Key to the  Miraculous”

  

 Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.

 

pastor@rccggoldenarena.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible says Jesus Christ learnt obedience by the things He went through, no wonder, everything answer unto Him.

The OBEDIENCE, Key to the Miraculous

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, Stand up on your feet! At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. Acts 14:8-10

Faith or obedience, which comes first and what is the significance of the order? Obedience to what? Faith in what or whom? The combination of the two describe our daily walk with God. 

The passage tells of Paul preaching in Lystra along with Barnabas, we are not told how long or the number of days this has been. There seated in the marketplace was a man who had been lame from his birth, who had never walked. He heard what Paul said, and believed what Paul declared about the power of Jesus, the mighty Son of God. Paul looked at him and saw in that man’s eyes the faith to believe. Suddenly he said to him, Stand up on your feet. And the lame man, though he had never walked in his life, made the effort to obey. He had faith enough to try, and the moment he began to obey, the power to obey was given.

I believe this is exactly the way the Christian life works. It does not make any difference whether the problem is physical, emotional, or spiritual; it does not matter who puts there and for how long, you are going to be held in its bondage until you begin to obey the Word of God about it. When you make the effort to obey, God will set you free. But he will never move until you obey. That is the way faith works. Most people are kept from seeing God at work in their lives because they keep waiting for God to do something, in order for them to believe. No, God has already done all that he is going to do in the realm of the spirit. When you believe what he says, then he will give you the power to be free.

Obedience is the fruit of once decisions. It makes way for the miraculous. When Joshua was faced with an impassible barrier, the floodwaters of the Jordan River receded only after the leaders stepped into the rushing current in obedience and faith. Obedience unlocks God’s power. The Bible says Jesus Christ learnt obedience by the things He went through, no wonder, everything answer unto Him. As you go through the Christian race, learn obedience. Once you learn obedience, your life becomes easier.