YOU ARE WHO GOD CALLS YOU

The angel of GOD appeared to him and said, ” GOD is with you, O mighty warrior!” (Judges 6: 12 MSG)

We all go through hard seasons in life that cause us to question who we are. Seasons we didn’t ask for or never thought we’d suffer from. Our confidence eroded and our identity becomes shaken and doubted.

Overpowered by the Midianites, the nation of Israel was living at this period in constant fear in their own land. They were constantly raided, virtually deprived of their living. The bible says, “The people of Israel, reduced to gridding poverty by Midian, cried for help.


Gideon, while working in fear out of sight of the Midianites, the angel of the lord appeared to him and said “GOD is with you, O mighty warrior!” (Judges 6:12 MSG).

Though God called him a “mighty warrior,” Gideon struggled to let go of his doubt, self-imposed limitations, and insecurities (vv. 11-15). On more than one occasion, he questioned the Lord’s presence and his own qualifications, but eventually surrendered in faith. 

You may have been damaged emotionally by the kind of remarks people made about you. Some people may have even suggested you lack intelligence because of your devotion to God and to them you have nothing to show for it. Though these unpleasant treatment may have cut deep in your heart, do not give up. When you are tempted to wanting to define your identity by  your current experience which will soon pass or by peoples comments, ask God for help, meditate on God’s words, keep going with Spirit-empowered courage and confidence. 

When we trust God, we can live like we believe what He says about us is true. Even when unpleasant situation tempts us to doubt our identity, our loving Father confirms His presence and fights on our behalf. He affirms we can walk like mighty men of war armed with His absolute love, guarded by His endless grace, and secured in His reliable truth of His word 

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Life Application

When you are tempted to wanting to define your identity by  your current experience which will soon pass or by peoples comments, ask God for help, meditate on God’s words, keep going with Spirit-empowered courage and confidence.

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THE GREATNESS OF GOD

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”  (1 John 4:4 NKJV)

When you look around at the success of evil in history, and especially in our day, you can see that the enemy has great power. Think of our world and all that it is going through in terms of agony, struggle, evil, violence, and heartache, with confusion abounding on every side. When we think of the violence, the passion, the tears, and the death with which our world is characterised, we can see something of the greatness of the power of the enemy. The situation portrays a picture that looks as if other side is winning.

But it isn’t – despite all the appearances. John says, “You overcame them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” In other words, it was not anything you have that will deliver you, it is the one who dwelt within you. It was the greatness of God that kept the Christians of John’s day straight and this is what will keep us straight today. God is greater than the power of the enemy. God is so incomparably greater that there is no argument about it. It is to this fact that our eye of faith must always turn in hours of darkness, discomfort, or despair. Our focus should be on what the Scriptures reveal as the truth about God and how incomparably greater He is than anything that is present among or behind humans.

Know for sure that the weakness of God is stronger than humans, and the foolishness of God is wiser than humans. This is the greatness of God.

Life Application

Our focus should be on what the Scriptures reveal as the truth about God and how incomparably greater He is than anything that is present among or behind humans.

“HOPE IN THE LORD”

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:29-31)
Hope in the Lord, never give up hope. No doubt we all have moments where we want to throw in the towel and give up, moments when future looks very bleak and it’s like darkness has set in. You are not only physically drained, you are mentally exhausted. Nothing seems to be  working! It can be frustrating to work day in and day out and not have the success you know that you crave for and deserve. giving up however, is not the answer.
Isaiah penned the passage during a very dark time in the nation of Judah. Out of this darkest of times, God’s Word comes as a message of hope to them through Isaiah. He advises the people not to give up and points them back to God. Giving up is the easy way out but it will not solve anything.
Remember, no matter how low you have gotten to,
  • things in your life can improve. Step by step, day by day… you can and will find a path through the pain and darkness and again experience moments of life that make all that effort worthwhile, ten-fold. Recovery is possible.
  • What seems like a massive deal in your life today may not mean as much tomorrow… least of all in ten years from now. If you are acting in haste, try to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. You will find it if Christ the hope of glory is your anchor.
God never leaves us without a ray of hope. He remains ever able, no situation is beyond Him nor bigger than Him if you will dare wait, trust and hope in Him. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Everything will be all right in the end… if it’s not all right then it’s not yet the end. Never give up hope.
God bless you.

When Hit With Trial of Lifetime

“But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7 NKJV)

 

Nothing is said about the emotional trauma that Abraham was going through at this very low point in his life particularly when Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb for the offering?” We know there is no real answer to Isaac’s question until
centuries later when John the Baptist standing before the people of Israel saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

 

Where did this man find the strength to carry through this unpleasant task?Where did he find the peace to follow God’s command? Genesis 22:5 gives an insight as to the Abraham source of strength: “Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'” Abraham is not trying to be deceptive, but somewhere within him, there is the consciousness that God who had said Isaac is the heir, will do something to save the day. In the struggles of that night, in meditation, he probably began to reason that”God has given me promises, and I have lived with God long enough to know that when God gives a promise, He carries it through. God has said that in Isaac  all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Isaac is the answer to the fulfilment of the promise, it can’t be any other. If God has asked me now to offer him up as a sacrifice, there is only one explanation. God intends to raise him from the dead.”

 

So firm is his faith in the character of God that he believes in the resurrection. This is confirmed in Hebrews 11: “By faith Abraham offered Isaac. . . Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead…” (Hebrews 11:17,19). Abraham risked everything he had and trusted on the character of God.. Because of this wonderful triumph in his life, Abraham calls this place, “God will provide”

 

When we are in the lowest of our life, let’s learn to trust in God that provides. God’s ways with us are such that when it seems as though deliverance will never come and we do not doubt His integrity nor compromise our faith in Him, His intervention will surface. People’s disappointments are God’s appointments. It is never too late for God. Even if Abraham had been required to carry the slaughtering of Isaac to its end, his heart was quiet in restful peace because he knew God of resurrection. Regardless of what He calls you to lay on the altar in obedience to Him, remember He always know what is best, and He always have a plan that is good and perfect for you.

THE QUESTIONS WE ASK

“Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favourable no more? Has his mercy ceased forever? Has his promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies?”(Psalm 77: 7-9).
When overwhelmed and confused, it is not unlikely for us to see God as the source of our problems. Each of the questions asked in the passage points to God as the source of the problems. This is what happens when one is completely overwhelmed, confused and clueless about his situation. Rather than looking inward and examine oneself, we want to hold God responsible. Asaph questions are our questions but the faithfulness of God has answer to every question of life
Now let’s look at how God answers each of these questions:
“Will the Lord cast off forever?” Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37 NKJV).
“Will He be favorable no more?” Proverbs 8:35 says, “For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord” (NKJV). Also Proverbs 12:2 says, “A good man obtains favor from the Lord…” (NKJV)..
“Has His mercy ceased forever?” Psalm 89:28 says, “My mercy I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall stand firm with him” (NKJV). Psalm 136, 26 times makes the statement, “His mercy endures forever,”..
“Has His promise failed forevermore?” 1 Kings 8:56 says, “There has not failed one word of all His good promises, which He promised through His servant Moses” (NKJV). Again, in Psalm 89:34 it says, “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips” (NKJV).
“Has God forgotten to be gracious?” Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (NKJV).
“Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” Psalm 117:2 says, “For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord” (NKJV).
Whenever we are faced with problems we can be assured that God is not the source. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (NKJV). Yet one reason we fail to receive the help we need is that we point to God as the source of our trouble. God is our help in time of trouble.

AUTHENTIC PRAYER.

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.” (Luke 18:13-14a)
 This man came into the church remorseful and unmindful of whoever may be around watching. He stood with his eyes cast down and all he could say is, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. He was aware of his helplessness and he decided to be naked before God. He saw himself on the lowest possible level, a sinner that no other man was like! He believed that without God he could do absolutely nothing to help his position.
He did not come by way of any merit whatsoever. He was penitent but did not come to God from that perspective, he saw nothing good about himself, nothing to lean on, but God. How did he come to this place? Exactly the opposite of the Pharisee who Jesus spoke of earlier. He did not look down on someone else below him, he looked up to God. He judged upward, to God. He saw no one but God, he heard nothing but the high standard of God.  Lord, I’m the sinner. I’ll never be any better in myself, I’m simply a sinner, I need your mercy!
Authentic prayer acknowledges only God’s adequacy. That is the point held on to by this tax collector. Our help must be in God. This man looked for help nowhere else. He said, God be merciful to me. In that word ‘have mercy’ is hidden the wonderful story of Jesus, the cross and resurrection. He used a theological word which means be propitiated to me, that is, having had your justice satisfied, Lord, now show me your love. And he believed that God’s mercy was available, for, Jesus said, he went home justified. He was changed, he was different, he was made whole. He laid hold of what God said, and believed him.
This is where Jesus leaves us. Perhaps for the first time we can say, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. Even after years of Christian life, of being a pastor or a deacon or the most dutiful worker in the church, we can start again, and say, Lord, let me reckon upon Your faithfulness to me, let me count upon Your willingness to be in me and work through me to make my life all that it ought to be.
Be merciful to me O Lord for I am the sinner.

“COME TO ME”

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

Like a backpack full of bricks being carried everywhere, are you weighed down mentally and emotionally by issues and worries of life? Has your life becomes a struggle and dreadful? Are you pressured by getting involved in rat race? Is care and responsibility weighing you down? Jesus’ presence offers release and refreshing to those who are tired and overburdened and He is inviting us to come into His presence where rest and refreshing and new life can be accessed. He says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (V. 29). When we answer this call, Jesus releases us from the burdens that have weighed us down. God never puts one under pressure. His yoke is easy and light. (V.30)
When we sense that the care and worries of life are beginning to weigh us down, we must reevaluate what we’re doing. Taking stock of what is in your backpack is a big step. We are often overburdened by imposed responsibilities others placed on us, self inflicted responsibility that pressures us and things that are not of God. If so, accept the Lord’s invitation to be released. God never uses guilt, condemnation, or pressure to motivate us. Hebrews 4:15 says “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses”
God deals with us as individuals. He never compares our growth with Him to the progress of others. His willingness to relate to us brings liberty and removes all competition. In Second Corinthians 10:12 Paul warns us of the foolishness of comparing ourselves with one another. He said, “Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!” (TEV).
There is no competition with the Lord. He permits us to live and learn at our own rate, and allows others the same privilege. There is no pressure to be or do something to win God’s approval and you do not need people’s approval. His way is easy and light. The Lord never puts pressure on us to perform! Without the added stress of performance we’re able to discover the destiny for our lives.
Jesus makes one simple request: “Come to Me!”

When we come tired and burdened, He will relieve and refresh us. When we come heavy-laden and weary, He gives us rest. He gives us ease and blessed quiet.

“MEDITATING ON THE WORD”

“I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation” (Psalm 119:99).
Transcendental meditation, as eastern religions is often called, is not same with biblical meditation. It is dangerous and actually opens up one’s mind for Satanic attack as it is found in New Age thinking. Biblical meditation consists of reflective thinking usually on a specific subject to discern its meaning or significance or a plan of action. Psalm 63:6 says “When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches.” When we begin to focus or pondering on the word of God, we allow the Word to mould our thoughts and activities and by so doing we will start moving into a spiritual, life-giving understanding of truth from God. Meditating in the Word of God is one of the greatest keys to obtaining and understanding truth in our lives. It fill our thoughts with the thoughts of God, to allow ourselves to be consumed with the things God has said. When we become consumed with what He has said, it becomes effortless to do the things He said to do.
David lists understanding as one of the benefits we will obtain from meditating on God’s Word – “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation” (Psalm 119:99).
“The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130).God never intended for meditation to merely produce more knowledge. Instead, His true intention was that after meditating His Word we will receive a greater understanding of God, of His ways, and how to activate His Word. Once we begin a regular habit of meditating the Word of God and not just reading it, we will receive insight and an understanding of how to walk in the principles that He reveals to us.
Joshua 1:8 is a classic scripture on the subject of meditation. It describes what will happen when we make a daily practice of meditating on God’s Word: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
One purpose of meditation is to put us in a position that empowers us to “do” God’s Word, not just hear it. Joshua said meditating on God’s Word day and night will cause us to “observe to do” all that is written. As we meditate on the promise of God, we will see things in the Word that we have never seen before, even though we may have read it before. And the revelation knowledge that comes from meditation will enable us to act according to what we have seen.
True meditation will bring us to the place of responding to God’s Word with action. And true Bible faith demands that we take action. Begin meditating on God’s Word and expect to see what to do about the situations you face today.

 

“DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?”

Jesus said to her “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 eternity changes by the answer you give 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?”

 

The timing of Jesus’ asking Martha the question is fascinating. It was asked on one of her darkest days. Her brother, Lazarus

had died despite her efforts to save him. Martha had sent word to Jesus hoping that Jesus would be able to do something before it was too late. Jesus was slower than Martha had hoped and didn’t arrive until Lazarus had already been buried for four days. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha told him. They are words of tremendous faith but equally that of bitterness. 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 asked and answered in times of doubt.

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 declare where we stand! Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?

Thirsting and Hungering for God’s Presence.

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalms 42:1-2 NKJV)
Moses knew the importance of God’s presence. He felt they would live a life of defeat if they walked without God’s presence. Hence he told God that they would only wish to leave the place they were in if God’s presence would be with them (Exodus 33:15). Jesus said it is in the presence of God that we could only bear fruit if we abide in Him (John 15:4). David longed and thirsted for God’s presence (Ps 42:1-2). If there is one place that Isaiah got transformed completely and set him on the sincere path of serving God, then it was when he came into God’s presence. His sins were exposed, he felt so dirty and cried out for God’s mercy to change him. God touched him with a live coal and he was able to change (Isaiah 6).
Every believer is called into an intimate relationship and this can only be attained by thirsting and hungering for His presence like the patriarchs of old did. When we get physically hungry, many of us begin to look for something to appease the hunger. Hunger prompts us to seek something to fill us up, even if it is something that is not really good for us. Same with God presence, hunger for God is the longing to encounter Him, to be with Him, and to be filled with His Spirit. When we are hungry for God and His Presence, we will do whatever it takes to get close to Him.
The place of intimacy is where we will catch, not only the revelation He wants to give us, but we will also catch His heart. When we hunger and thirst for God, we will seek Him, and when we seek Him, we will be filled and empowered. As we behold the fiery eyes of Jesus in his presence, the Holy Spirit transforms us from one glory to another. In God’s presence we receive mercy, healing, revelation of our sins, purging of our sins, joy, favour, honour, glory, protection from the wicked and evil tongues, rest among many others. Let us arise and become the Davids in our generation who will not seek the hand of God all the time but will seek God for who He is. We need people who will go after God. God is looking for people who will know that the reason they are created in this earth is to praise God.