“GOD IS WAITING”

“Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations.

God on His own prompting had given a promise to Abraham earlier on but just like you or me, Sarah and Abraham may have thought, “God doesn’t understand our circumstances; his commandments are good guidelines, but they simply don’t work when it comes to the nitty-gritty of life.” And so the couple decided to ‘fulfil the promise’ by their method. And so Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

 

Yet the promise had been that Sarah would be the one to deliver a son for Abraham; and in the agenda nothing has been fulfilled and so the wait continued, long after reaching the point of desperate frustration, the place where you say, “God, I can’t go on any longer!”

 

Have you been there like the widow knocking on the judge’s door?

You pray day and night but it’s like heaven upon you is closed and the door remains shut (Luke 18). Sarah and Abraham knocked on that door for another fourteen years! (Genesis 16:16; Genesis 21:5).
While Abraham and Sarah waited, God made a covenant with Abram, changing his name to Abraham, which means “father of many.” And he changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, saying she would be the mother of nations and among her off-spring would be kings (Genesis 17: 15-16).

 

Then God sent three mysterious visitors to tell Abraham that Sarah would provide him a son within the year. Sarah laughed, not believing God was about to give birth to his promise (Genesis 18). This time around, they were totally and wholly dependent upon God to fulfill his promise. Not dependent because they’d obediently submitted everything to God, but totally dependent because they’d exhausted every other possibility.

 

And that’s often why God delays. He’s waiting on us to be ready for him. God opened Sarah’s womb so she could bear Abraham a son in his old age, at the time appointed by God (Genesis 21:2).

 

There is nothing you need that God can’t provide. You don’t know what you’re going to need the rest of this year and the rest of your days. But whatever it is, God has the power to supply it. The Bible says this in Philippians 4:19: “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

God has unlimited resources, He is waiting for you to ask Him.

 

“The Deep Riches of God’s Wisdom”

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36
Beyond human’s exploration is what Paul refers to as God’s inscrutable wisdom and his ways. There is no way man can fathom the greatness of God. Our minds are limited to grasp His greatness, ways and His unsearchable judgements. Even when we can understand what he tells us about himself, but even beyond that, there is much more that we cannot know. There are depths of riches of His wisdom and unsearchable judgments.
With this at back of Paul’s mind, he contrasts it with the impotence of man. He asks three very searching questions:
* His first one is, Who has known the mind of the Lord? What he is asking is Who has ever anticipated what God is going to do? Have you? Have you ever been able to figure out how God is going to handle the situations you get into? We all try, but it never turns out quite the way we think it will.
* The second question: who has been his adviser? or Who has ever suggested something that God has never thought of? Or has He ever been deficient of ideas and he desperately needed help? Never,
* Paul’s last question is, Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? That is, Who  has ever given God something that he didn’t already have? Paul says, Everything we are and have comes from him. He gives to us; we don’t give to him.
Paul concludes,

For from him (God) and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. God is the originator of all things; all things come from him. He is the sustainer of all things; they all depend on him. As C. S. Lewis puts it, To argue with God is to argue with the very power that makes it possible to argue at all! He is the end purpose. All things will find their culmination in God including you and me. He is why all things exist. Therefore, to him be the glory forever! Amen.

GOD’S PRECEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

 

“My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20-22 AMPC)

 

God’s precepts and principles is a two edged sword, put them into practice, you’ll see it come to pass and if violated, you will receive the repercussions. For every action, there is an equal consequence or reaction to that action. Many lives have   been so messed up that it is easy to think death might be a mercy. I have seen lives so flawed that it is easy to wonder why they were ever born. Many lives have been distressed and troubled that it is easy to describe their lives as hell on earth. The only panacea that can save man’s life from being wasted is the discovery of wisdom embedded in the word of God. It is life to those that find it, for it teaches a person how to live purposefully and successfully.

 

People who think the God’s principles are archaic, onerous and restrictive to been successful and having pleasure are not only fooling themselves, they are digging a grave of discomfort. Nothing works around them both within and without. They would not know how to treat parents, spouses, children, employers and neighbours. They would not know how to make marriage, family, business, church, or society work at all. Profane activities breed nothing but disease, death, dysfunction, poverty, misery, and ignorance. Light and progress are by the Word of God alone, and the people that follow it are blessed indeed (Proverbs 8:12-21; Psalms 33:12; 144:15). Nothing works outside of the divine guidance in the form of commandments!

Moses reminds us of the import of following God’s command, ” …… For it is not an empty and worthless trifle for you; it is your [very] life. By it you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess. (Deuteronomy 32:46-47 AMPC). Joshua was told, he could achieve success and prosperity by remembering, meditating upon, and obeying God’s law (Joshua 1:8). Jesus came bringing even greater light and He promised life and life more abundant for keeping His sayings (John 10:10).

 

To live your life without God’s words is insanity. They are life and health for body and soul. Neglect His words to your own peril and pain. Read and remember it for your great pleasure and profit.

The Place Prayer and Action

“But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat (Nehemiah 4:9).

 

The enemy got upset about the determination and the seeming success of Nehemiah and marshals it’s forces, intensifying the attack, and begins to plan direct violence. Nehemiah reacted by relying on prayer lazed with action. He prayed, he took action by posting guards to square up with the threats of the enemies. He knows that, for prayer to be effective, it requires action.

 

When you begin to move with God to change things in your life for the better, you will find that you are met first with derision, and if you keep persisting, someone is going to get very upset with you and attack you in a vicious, perhaps physical, way. This combination of the resources of the spiritual force of heaven with those of the material world is a marvelous picture of how believers ought to face threats and challenges recognising that we need action on both levels.

 

Have you ever faced something like that? Were you ever unjustifiably threatened at workplace?  Nehemiah’s approach is a lesson to us. He did not lazily spiritualise it and waited folding arms expecting God to show up. Rather,

  • He evaluated the situation, assessed what is needed, where it is needed and how.

If we are going to succeed and improve our own lives, we must be able to honestly and objectively. When we do, we must ‘post a guard’ at that point.

  • Reviewed the spiritual resources available to them.

They had a power at work in their lives that their enemies knew nothing about. The great and awesome God who was with them would stand with them in their peril. When they remembered this, they became reassured and renewed in courage. The enemy saw that they could achieve nothing with their attacks.

 

How do you respond to your life issues? When your spirit is down and there wars within, what spiritual resources are available to be victorious? Do you see yourself as not being alone? Are you always conscious of the  presence of the risen Jesus? He is awesome. He is strong. He is powerful. Reckon upon Him, and you will be able to stand against the wiles of the enemy.

 

“GOD THE HELPER”

God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], A very present and well-proved help in trouble. (Psalms 46:1 AMP)
This psalm encourages us to hope and trust in God; in his power and providence, and his gracious presence with His own in the worst of times. David in Psalm 54:4a declares “Behold God is mine helper…..”, his only help when he was confronted with the arrays of Saul’s hit men and the betrayal of the Ziphites in divulging to Saul where he was hiding. He had known disappointments both from within and without and came to realization  that only God is the dependable Helper. There are three attributes of God’s  help:
It is sufficient and enough because it is divine. “The Lord is my helper.” When we are in need of friends to come to our aid, but often they cannot help us because their resources are inadequate. The Lord’s resources are never inadequate. His name is El-Shaddai (Genesis 17:1), which means that He is “the Enough God”.
The help of God because of His immotability, is always there to be accessed, so easily obtainable. The help can never be too early to become unnecessary or too late to be of no relevance again. Mary and Martha said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32) But was He late?, not at all; He is always here – Psalm 46:1.
The help of God is bespoke, proper and fitting to individual’s need and it is personally dispensed to each according to each needs.
Are we in danger from visible or invisible enemies? God is our refuge, to whom we may flee, and in whom we may be safe. We have work to do, a warfare to accomplish, and sufferings to endure?. God is our strength to bear us up under our burdens, and to fit us for all our services and sufferings. Are we oppressed with troubles and distresses? He is a help in trouble: yea a present and adequate help. He had manifested himself to be so in the course of His providence in time past, and He has engaged to be so in time to come, and will not fail to fulfil His engagement.

 

“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.

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?