Times And Seasons

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

[Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV]

In an effort to face the challenges of life, we often turn to the passage of scripture mentioned above, but we readily admit that we would rather laugh than weep, we would rather dance than mourn, we would rather gain than lose etc. We also know that God is in charge of every season of our life. Yes, wherever we are and whatever we are, God still reigns supreme and is able to reach us at our point of need. He is the ancient of days who created the world with times and seasons in it.

As children of the Most High who find ourselves in the circumstances we are in today, let us be reminded that there are seasons and there are eras. Let us see them for what they are, identifying the times we are in, and find what is positive in them. Seasons and times are transient, they will pass away just as seed time gives way to harvest and night gives way to day. You may be going through a challenging period of life, where all your best efforts have not saved you, you may be going through a strong seed time in a project you are involved in, you may be going through a season that appears like your joy and laughter has been taken away from you. During all these times, remember the promise of God to His own saying, 'As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease' (Gen. 8:22)

The less than optimum season in which you find yourself is not a time to compare with other persons who are only going through their different seasons of life. Instead of resorting to complaining, grumbling and heartache, let us embrace the lessons and opportunities of every season that comes to us, knowing that 'God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble' (Ps. 46:1). Most times when we eventually come out of an unpleasant season, we no longer remember the details of pain we had faced, we only enjoy the new dawn with thanksgiving. However what we can jealously guard to remember and to tell others are stories of how we overcame.

Whatever season we're in, it's always a season to trust in God.

Prayer: Dear Lord help me to accept that the challenges I face today are transient, and that your word has made available for me a season of joy, laughter and fruitfulness. Help me Lord to maximize your praise in all my season's of life that I will have no regrets for any season. I put my trust in you Lord as you hasten your word to perform it in my life in Jesus name.

One-Year Daily Bible Reading Plan - Sept. 04 2010 - Ezekiel 27-30 (OT), 1 Timothy 4 (NT)

Do Your Best And Leave The Rest

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it

[1 Thessalonians 5:24, NIV]

Have you at some time found yourself under extreme pressure? Have there been episodes in your life when you were so burdened by tasks and responsibilities that there was simply no breathing space to prepare for your service to God?  During these times do you go about with a feeling of guilt, thinking you are not giving your best to God and might be punished somehow for it? You know you want to spend the time with God but you are entangled in some other events that helplessly take your attention.

In 1 Thess.5:14-22, we are encouraged to do our best for God. In service, to exhort, warn, comfort, rejoice, pray, and express our gratitude to God among other things. We should always do our best in our Christian life and service, but when pressure-periods come and we just don’t have the time we need, we are encouraged to know that The One who has called us is faithful, and will do His calling in our lives. We should therefore do our best and prayerfully trust God’s faithfulness, leaving the rest to Him. He is able to produce maximum results from our weakest efforts.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for being there for me in my times of strength and in times of weakness. Lord I commit my self to you, let your strength be made manifest in my weakness. Do not let me stumble as a result of my efforts, I lean on you completely. Loving Father please take away every pressure that hinders me from serving you right in Jesus name.

One-Year Daily Bible Reading Plan - Sept. 03 2010 - Ezekiel 24-26 (OT), 1 Timothy 3 (NT).

Justified By Grace

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. [Galatians 5:4, NIV]

In our daily walk with Christ, there’s so much call to do right. These expectations are posed on us by an unwritten code of righteousness from the society around us and from our own selves. In the Scriptures we are likewise guided by so much do’s and don'ts and in reality we are never able to keep all. The reality of it is that we find ourselves in different circumstances and conditions that require us to obey the law still. Yet the law as it is, could either be too stringent or does not exactly apply to do us any good. If we try hard to do all things right to fulfill the law we’ll forever be indebted to the law because we can never fully obey.

Jesus Christ brought to us the law of grace that covers us with His own righteousness, instead of the ‘never complete’ righteousness of our own efforts. This He did with the blood of Jesus, so whenever God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ in us. He who therefore attempts to live by the law has fallen from grace and the salvation of Christ will have no effect in him.

Shall we continue to sin that the grace may abound? No. Our call to grace is not to give us room to continue in sin, but it is to guide us to walk in the Spirit instead of the law and the flesh. Gal 5:18 lets us know that if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. For this reason, instead of trying to fulfill all the rules of righteousness, let us allow ourselves to be led by the spirit.

How do we allow ourselves to be led by the spirit? By filling our hearts with the word of God through study and meditation. The Holy Spirit our helper will then guide our steps by the word of God in us, teaching us what to do and what decisions to take. As we fill ourselves intentionally with the word of God, it will be light to our paths and the grace of our Lord Jesus will fill us with His own righteousness, not ours.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus abound to each and every one of us always.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I receive the truth of your word. Help me to soak and dwell in your word, filling my conscience with the truth. Holy Spirit of God guide me into your truth and order my steps by grace I pray in Jesus name.

One-Year Daily Bible Reading Plan - Sept. 02 2010 - Ezekiel 21-23 (OT), 1 Timothy 2 (NT).

Blessing In Brokenness

Grain must be ground to make bread...

[Isaiah 28:28, NIV]

A person who has passed through a situation, experienced being broken and also experienced the healing, restoration and tangibility of God, can easily reach out to or encourage someone else in a similar situation. Many cannot be used as food for the world's hunger, because they are yet to be broken in Christ's hands. “Grain must be ground to make bread,” and being a blessing of God often requires some pain or endurance on our part.

When you think about it, waiting on God is not too high a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with Christ's blessings. Some things that are most precious to us today have come to us through tears and pain. Periods of trials have taken many to a life of spiritual greatness and personal revelation of who God is. Difficulties challenge our energy and our perseverance but bring the strongest qualities of the soul to life. God has chosen opposition as a catalyst to our faith and holy service.

The most prominent characters of the Bible were broken, threshed, and ground into bread for the hungry. One great example is Paul. Paul could never have been bread for Caesar's household if he had not endured the bruising of being whipped and stoned. He was ground into fine flour for the Roman royal family.

Combat comes before victory. If God has chosen special trials for you to endure, be assured He has kept a very special place in His heart just for you. You are a chosen one, and God will never leave you nor forsake you.

Welcome to a new month. It is well with you and yours.

Prayer: My Loving Father, thank You for the trials I have overcome and my personal experience with You. Today I am reminded of the blessing that comes from being broken. Father, I pray that I will not fear or be anxious about any situation I am going through, but learn all I need to and be patient to receive what You have for me. I pray my experience with You will be used to bless and encourage others in Christ. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Ordered Steps

When you walk, your steps shall not be hampered [your path will be clear and open]; and when you run, you shall not stumble.

[Proverbs 4:12, AMP]

There are certain places we find ourselves that could deny us the best in life. There are certain decisions we may make that would leave us living a life of regret. That is not the desire of our loving Father. He desires that as you go through life, your life will not be filled with difficulties that will prevent you from enjoying life's pleasures and prosperity. He desires that you not only progress quickly through life, but do so without all the adversity, pain, and trouble that fools suffer for their entire lives.

How is this possible? The scripture for today teaches that if you learn wisdom, your steps will be ordered. When you run, you will not stumble. Everyone will meet obstacles in life, but wisdom will save the prudent man from most of them. He will not trip and fall over difficulties like the fool. He will not fall flat in shame very often.

You can get wisdom from God, His word, or people who are filled with godly wisdom. Only wisdom will save you from the troubles that can ruin your life. Take out time to ask God for wisdom, and learn wisdom from His word, that your steps may be ordered.

Prayer: My Loving Father, thank You that You have given me all that pertains to life and godliness. Thank You that I have Your Word, to give me wisdom and direction that my steps may be ordered. May I continually look to You and Your word for direction, that I may not make regretable mistakes in my journey through life. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Chastisement

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
[Hebrew 12:7, NKJV]

One way God demonstrates that we are loved and special to Him, is by correcting us whenever we make mistakes. When a father singles out his child from his peers and sternly corrects him, it is because he has a lot at stake in that child. We also can gauge God's love and presence in our lives by the frequency and type of chastening we are exposed to whenever we veer off from the path of righteousness. If we live in sin and are not reprimanded by heaven, it is most likely we have been given over to a reprobate mind, and God has overlooked us (Romans 1:28).

Continuing in a state where we don't get corrected and our conscience becomes seared with hot iron is very dangerous, as that is operating outside the boundaries of God's love. Knowing therefore that a father who loves his child corrects his child, let us receive with goodwill the corrections of our heavenly father. He prunes us to remove undesirable qualities from our lives. The time of correction is not the time for rebellion and backsliding. It is the time to appreciate the love of God that seeks to make us better people. It is the time to receive the grace to live above the sins that hold us bound. It is the time to grow in the character and beauty of the Holy Spirit.

May we continue to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Dear loving God, I appreciate all you've done in my life to keep me standing in you. I appreciate your love, forgiveness and mercy. I receive your righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit to live above sin. By your grace I am no longer obliged to the sinful nature of my former self. Thank you Jesus for making me to resemble you.

One-Year Daily Bible Reading Plan - Aug. 30 2010 - Ezekiel 10-13 (OT), 2 Thessalonians 2 (NT).

God's love and mine...

A Channel For Others

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
[Genesis 45:7, NIV]

When God chose to love you, He loved you not just for yourself but for a community of others too. When He decided to make you His, to call you into His fold, to put His fear in you and guide you, He did it not just for you but also for a community of others. He made you the channel by which His grace could reach several others too. In God's network of grace, He doesn't deal with us as individuals but as a link to a community of people whose destiny's are tied to ours. When He recruited you into His family and opened your heart to know Him, He did it for you and several others whose destinies are tied to yours. These other people may include your family members, your best friends, your colleagues, your acquaintances etc, but their destinies are intricately tied to yours such that what becomes of you also becomes of them.

Joseph walk with God and eventual promotion in the land of Egypt did not just save him, but the grace expanded to save his whole family and the entire generation of Isreal in that day. In his walk with God if he had walked in disobedience or relegated God to the back burner of his life, not only would he have missed out on his purpose, but an entire generation would have suffered for it as well, even though we may not have directly linked their suffering to Joseph. However, as he walked daily with God, his salvation brought salvation to a whole lot of other people who may not have known God so closely or walked with God so faithfully but God's love still included them in the envelope of Joseph's salvation.

When Moses, stayed in tune with God and was instrumental to the parting of the Red Sea, many other souls of names unmentioned in the bible, crossed that sea with him, receiving their salvation, because their deliverance was tied to Moses obedience. Rahab offered herself to be used by God and when God's deliverance came to her, it extended graciously to her entire family.

In your walk with God, He's not dealing with you alone. He loves you so much as to deliver you from life's troubles, but He loves you even more and wants to extend His grace to people in your life. When you allow God to stay in the back burner of your life and you disobey His will in your life daily, you do not only disconnect your channel to His grace, but you also disconnect the channel to the entire community or generation of people whose lives are tied to yours. As you walk closer to God in obedience, He will fulfill His purpose in your life and save others because of you.

Prayer: Loving Father, I ask for your grace of obedience, to walk close to you daily. Dear Lord, I pray for the fulfillment of every destiny that is tied to mine according to your purpose. My brother's, sister's, entire family, friends and acquaintances I commit to you also. Lord let your salvation find us all in Jesus name.

One-Year Daily Bible Reading Plan - Aug. 29 2010 - Ezekiel 6-9 (OT), 2 Thessalonians 1 (NT).