Roms 12: 1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice

Paul who had personally undergone a life transformation experience after his encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ knew the importance to live a new life that is holy, godly and pure in every way.

Before he was transformed by Jesus Christ, Paul had malice in his heart, pride, anger, violence and evil. He was the most notorious zealot at that time. He would be roaming all over the nation of Israel searching for Christians to be arrested, then tortured and even put to death. Anyone who saw Paul would see a fiery man that was unapproachable because all that he had was evil and malicious intentions.

However, when he met Jesus, all the hardness of heart, evil and angry thoughts and intentions were removed. It was an instantaneous transformation after having received that supernatural touch from Jesus. He repented of all his past, his heart is filled with remorse and repentance, in fact he confessed that he was the worse sinner of all.

Paul became a humble man, willing to submit to the teaching and counsel of other senior apostles and believers. Because he was a special instrument chosen by Jesus Christ to be used to reach the gentiles, the Holy Spirit did a complete overhaul in Paul’s life and he became a new person. Holiness and godliness is now in his life. He is now filled with the anointing and his life was filled to overflow with holiness.

Because he has personally experienced this transformation and he knew that it is possible to be so, therefore Paul now appealed to all believers to follow his life and be similarly transformed and be renewed.

Paul further said in Gal 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. By this Paul is saying that his carnal life of the past is no longer in control but now it is Christ who lives in him through the Holy Spirit and he is totally submitted to God in all things.

We too can be like Paul and should surrender all to Jesus and let Him lead and rule our lives as Paul and the other apostles did.   

Matt 6: 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

I have read from the testimony of a Korean Pastor who had died and then went to heaven where the Lord showed him all the structures that are in heaven. He saw some magnificent buildings which are very tall and big and he saw some like a tool shed and the Lord told him that these belong to the pastors who had served Jesus while they lived.

What the Korean pastor was told was a great shock for him. According to his testimony, Jesus told him that the big and tall buildings belong to those pastors who had given everything for the ministry. They had not been getting paid and they had sacrificed for the sake of the gospel. They had lived on earth as poor pastors with no earthly assets.

They could not even buy their wife a decent dress or taken her to a fine dining dinner. They laid down their lives for the gospel and made great sacrifices for the gospel. Personally I meet a couple who went intot he interior of a third world country and they served the village people without any salary. They even had to make small cakes to sell to the villages just to get a few dollars to buy basic necessities.

These are that one who have laboured sacrificially on earth and when they get to heaven they were rewarded with huge mansions. What they have missed on earth, God had rewarded them in heaven.

On the other hand, Jesus told the Korean pastor that some of the big time evangelists who are greedy for money and had built palaces for themselves and have private planes, big cars and large office staff, when they get to heaven they inherited only the buildings that are like tool sheds. Jesus explained that these had fame, popularity, immense wealth, many servants etc while they are on earth. They had already received and enjoyed all that they wanted. Therefore they had forfeited all these when they get to heaven.

Then there were other houses that were incomplete, Jesus told the Korean pastor that these belong to people who have not send up the  building materials to heaven. The building materials are good deeds done to the poor and needy, study of the scriptures, prayers and giving of tithes and offerings.

All these are revealed by a Korean pastor who had been to heaven and back and who had met Jesus personally. I do believe that he had told the truth especially when he too wants to get to heaven when he dies. He has come back by the grace of God to tell us about it.

We are given this opportunity to do something about storing our treasures in heaven, Jesus had told use the first part and the Korean pastor has now told us the second part. We must be serious and do our best to store up our treasures in heaven.

John 4: 34-35"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

We learn from the revelation from Jesus that His nourishment and strength comes from doing the will of God. Obedience to the word of God brings about excitement and vitality. When we are up and about and doing the work of God, we will be so charged up that we would not feel the demands and fatigue of ministry.

This is a mystery but we can continue for long hours and even into the wee hours of the night and we will still not be tired but with the strength and energy to move on. I remember when I was in the mission fields and my host lined up a series of meetings which were back to back and the last one was a midnight prayer from 11.00pm to around 4 am.

There was such a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit that everyone was energized and no one was sleepy or tired. This is also the same when we attend all night prayers and we would be able to pass through the night effortlessly and with full alertness.

This tells us that when we are dedicated to the work of God, not only is He with us, He is also enabling us to operate in strength and power.

Jesus showed us the example as a man so that we too can follow His steps and do what He has done.

The way that Jesus taught His disciples is through show and tell. He taught and he demonstrated so that in the same way the disciples can imitate and practise to be perfected. This is also our calling that we too must continue to be hands on and practise so that we may achieve experience and perfection.

Psalm 23: 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

David here declares the anointing that God has given to him. When he became King, the high priest anointed David by pouring out the anointing oil from the anointing horn onto his head. It overflowed down onto his garments as the anointing took place.

In the spiritual aspect, God has given us the anointing of the Holy spirit which grants us the gifts of the holy spirit as well as the empowering to operate in miracles and signs and wonders. This anointing which has been given can be seeked continuously as we come before the Lord each day.

As we worship God in the Spirit daily and as we pray for long hours in the Spirit, we will be communicating with God through our prayers in exchange for the continued anointing from the Holy Spirit. This is the key towards receiving the empowering from the Holy Spirit. This is what all the early apostles were taught and they received and utilized this gift continuously throughout their lives until they returned home in heaven.

This same Holy Spirit is also now with us, and to remain in a continuous overflow of this anointing all that we need to do is not to forsake our time of praying in the Spirit. This is not an option but it must be our daily practice to communicate with God and to receive the anointing.

Without us seeing and knowing how this happens, we will only experience it when we begin to move in ministry and then we will see the operation of the empowering of the Holy Spirit will manifest. The more we pray in the spirit, the more the anointing will overflow, this is sweeter than honey and we must seek for it fervently and continuously. 

Psalm 1: 3

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.

I have some fruit trees in my yard and I am tending them tenderly watering and fertilizing them regularly. In return they have been responsive and are bearing much fruit at this time. Similarly I have also a flower garden which is still in full bloom and the garden is a display of colours and beautiful petals.

All these are a result of sufficient care, watering and fertilizing. As it is in the nurturing of our garden or orchard, it is the same in the family of God. When there is tender loving care given to the family where the children and adults are well fed with good nourishment, we will see healthy individuals and productive individuals.

In the spiritual lives that we live, David wrote in psalm 1; ‘the person whose delight is in the law of the Lord ..is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.’ David is saying that it is a necessity for the child of God to take in the spiritual food of the scriptures that will nourish the spirit man and in turn build him up.

It is only when the spirit man is matured that he in turn will be fruitful in his life. The fruit of the spirit as Paul has taught are ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness.’ Young people are generally less stable and are very proactive. They would tend to be impatient, easily angered and retaliatory in their nature.

However, as the child of God grows in maturity, he will become more tolerant, patience, forgiving, humble and kind. These are the fruit of the spirit of a matured character. The saints of old are teaching and reminding us that or God is seeking for people who are matured and full of the fruit of the spirit. For this God is helping us by giving us the Holy Spirit who is teaching and guiding us in our daily Christian walk.

As such let us determine to grow spiritually and become maturing and productive in our lives and ministries. Let us be filled with the Spirit and be overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit.

Daliy Devotions 27th March 2017

Isaiah 43: 4You are precious and honoured in my sight, and … I love you

Though there were times when the Israelites turned away from God especially after the death of Joshua and a new generation was born while sojourning through the desert, this generation had not known God as the previous generation had.

Very soon after Joshua’s death the new generation began to run after the foreign women and men and together with that, they also turned away from God and turned to the idols worshipped among the aliens. The new generation had turned their backs to God and because they had done so, God allowed some of the remaining nations to rise up against the Israelites as a lesson to them so that they can turn back to God.

Another aspect was that the new generation had not known war as they did not have to take the Promised Land and they were unskilled in the art of war. Therefore God also used these nations to give them the necessary training by allowing war to happen and giving the opportunity for the new generation to develop a new army.

Having said that, the new generation had forsaken God over and over but the love and compassion of God for His people had not vain. Isaiah brught the word to the Israelites that though they had failed God but He did not forsake them and God said that they are precious and honoured in His sight. God also said that He still loved them in spite of their rebellion and stiff neck nature.

This is also applicable to us in this present time, we too are distracted by the world. We may not be chasing after actual idols but we are chasing after what the world offers. These are the idols of our hearts which have side lined and pushed God aside just as the new generation of the Israelites had done.

However God is the same yesterday, today and forever and so is his love which never changes. He still loves us just as he did His people in the days of old. God is softly and tenderly calling us to turn back to Him. If we are overwhelmed by the world, it is time that we turn back to God before we lose our way and completely depart from Him.

daily devotions 26th March 2017

Roms 14: 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servants?

Right from the early days of the infant Church, there were already differences among the leaders and the people. There were arguments about worship days and about what to eat or drink. These are all carnal differences which we still see in the present day.

In the present day church there are differences about the songs we sing, the way worship is conducted, the programs that we have, and many more activities. This week end is good Friday and resurrection Sunday and in the church service I attended, it was just business as usual and there was not mention or preaching on the events of the crucifixion and resurrection.

The Church character has deviated quite a lot and many of the present day churches are performance oriented. More emphasis is made on display of their skills in music, worship and dance. In the new churches that we see today, it’s all about hyping up the worship, prosperity message and receiving double portions of blessings. Unfortunately the churches are spending as much as half an hour drumming into the people’s minds to give more and more.

This has become the focus of ministry, it about money, money and more money. The message of the cross has become diluted and no more mention of the cross and the death of Jesus that bought out salvation. We are not saying that we want to criticize but we are reminded that we need to be faithful to the Gospel which Jesus Christ brought.

Without the message of the gospel we will not be saved. We need to remind ourselves of this. Let us focus upon Jesus and His finished work of redemption on the cross for all of us. Let us repent and return to Him and surrender out lives to Him.

1 Chron 17: 23-24Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever.

David by now had become rich and famous and he wanted to build a temple for God but God told him that it would not be him but his son Solomon who would build the temple. God explained that David was a warrior who had killed many and therefore God did not want him to build the temple.

Instead, God told David to provide for and help his son Solomon to build it. David did not sulk or rebel against the decision of God; instead he started to make all the preparations to come up with plans, articles, man power and artisans who could do the building work. He accumulated all the building materials, brought in cedar wood from Lebanon and all the other materials including precious metal and other ornaments that would be used in the building.

In the end, a majestic temple was build and it was called the temple of Solomon and not David.

What can we learn from this? God has a calling and purpose for each of us, what God has for us we should do well and after that we cannot overstay as it would hinder the purpose of God.

We may have the calling and anointing to do a certain work for a season and when it is done, God can move us on and let others take over. This is God’s prerogative, no ministry belong to us, we are only loaned the ministry for a season and we should not hold tight and refuse to let others take over. As we study the lives and ministries of great men of God, they all had their calling and season.

Moses accomplished what he was anointed to do which was to take the Israelite out of Egypt and he handed over his mission to Joshua to be completed. Elijah also handed his ministry to Elisha who did double that which Elijah did.

Jesus also handed over his ministry to the apostles who also multiplied on the spreading of the Gospel. This had always been the pattern of how God works.  Till this day God has not changed this pattern, there is always the teacher and the disciples and through this process the disciples will grow and mature into future teachers.

In today’s text God promised David that if he do what he has promised God then God will make his name great. Again this is the same today, when we do the work of God and we are faithful and dedicated and bring much fruit into the ministry, then God will make our name great and be remembered forever.

1 Chron 16: 11Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

We are reminded that we must continue to look to God and to seek His face, this means that as David said we need to praise God’s character and continue to share his faithfulness. This is what the passage of 1 Chron 16 encourages.

We must lift our voices in praise and talk to God as little children talk to their parents. This is the way to have bonding with the two. Through communication we get to know each other better, this is the same with friends and associates we become more trusting and enduring in our relationship as we talk more and get to know each other more.

Once we know each other, we know the limitations and the boundaries of our relationship. We would k now then not to trespass these boundaries that would cause hurt and even broken relationship.

Similarly, David as he writes this passage that commemorates the return of the ark called on the people to seek the face of God always. This was a normal practice for David; he knew the way to God’s heart was in communicating with God. He had enjoyed this relationship all his life and therefore he could boldly call on the people to emulate him and do the same.

This is our privilege as children of God, let us draw near to the Father and to seek His face through constant worship.

Isaiah 66: 13As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.

As man goes through life on this earth there will be times of rejoicing as well as times of challenges and sorrow. These two emotions are common among all men irrespective of whether we are rich or poor, or we live in posh luxury or in extreme poverty. There is no difference in the exposure to such feelings and there is no pre-set time or program when these may occur.

From the time of birth till the time the man dies, these are the emotions that accompany him daily, he may be happy one moment and then he can fall into sorrow the next. There was an incident in a war torn region where a wedding party was held, the family members were celebrating and the girls were dancing and the children were playing.

The atmosphere was one of great joy and rejoicing and without warning an attack came where missiles where dropped on the wedding party. One moment ago, it was a happy and joyful celebration and the next the whole situation turned into fear and commotion. The laughter and shouts were turned into cries and tears.

This is how fragile life can be; we can never know what would happen and what can happen. This is where Isaiah says, God sees all the circumstances and situations that surround us. He knows when we are in sorrow and sadness and He is quick to come to our comfort just as a mother would come running to comfort her child who is hurt.

This is the love of God which He had also transferred to us as humans, we have inherited His loving nature and we can feel as He feels, love as He loves and have compassion as He has.

No matter what we see or encounter around us, He is omniscience and He knows all the circumstances that are overbearing upon us. Even before we call out to Him, He is already responding and releasing His care and comfort to us. 

Hebrews 11: 26

Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Moses was remembered for the legacy of his great faith in God and because of this, God favoured him throughout his life and his name is recorded for all posterity and world history. His faith became an icon for the believers throughout history to emulate.

The whole chapter of Hebrews 11 was devoted to the records of the men and women of faith in the Old Testament. History will remember what we do whether it is something great and beneficial to society or whether it is some notoriously bad.

Even the bible records such great names, some are kings, some are ordinary people but people who do great exploits have their legacy recorded for eternity.

Even in the church culture, many great men and women have their names recorded. We have a pattern to follow and God has given us the bible as our working manual. It would be an incentive for us to do well here on earth as our success or failure will follow us through to the next world.

Let us be faithful learning from the examples of the saints who have gone before us.

Hosea 6:3
He will come to us like the … spring rain that waters the earth.

I tend the small plot of garden in front of our home and as I water the plants twice a day through spring and summer, the flower bed became healthy and fruitful. The blooms burst out in a display of beautiful flowers. As for the plants, the green leaves were lush and cover the whole garden.

However when I went away for a short time and the garden lacked attention and watering, the plants withered and became weak but when I resumed the tender care for it, all the plants revived and rejuvenated.

This is so refreshing, it is the same with fellow shipping with our God, as we worship Him on a daily basis and as we draw close to Him in prayer and studying of His word, then we are refreshed and we will be spiritually health. Many may be physically healthy but when we don’t draw near to God and drink from the spiritual spring then our spiritual life would be dry.

This is how Hosea expressed the spiritual dryness in our lives, the further we are away from the source of spiritual water, the more parched we will be and we will also wither in our spiritual lives just like the plants. We need to constantly and daily drink from His well.

In turn God is faithful and He will give us His grace as we draw near to Him and meditate upon His word. Let us remain constant and faithful to maintaining our relationship with our God.

Mark 6: 31Jesus said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

We see that Jesus who was also man while he was with the disciples knew the need to rest His body which He did each night after a long day of ministry. Jesus himself routinely withdraw to a quiet place where he would pray to God and ask for a refilling of the anointing as well as seeking for directions from the Father.

Here Jesus is asking the disciples who have been ministering to follow Him and to seek a quiet place where they can get some rest. This is a clear lesson that it is wisdom that every minister of God must also set apart time for rest. We see how so many ministers suffer burn out because they forget to rest.

These ministers think that they must do the work of God 24/7. The truth is the work will never be finished and we must not push ourselves to work 24/7 neglecting family and personal health. That is why so many ministers’ family suffer broken relationship problems and they also suffer depressions. They must allocate time for rest for themselves and their family.

This principle was also practised by the saints of old. Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David and all the prophets too always set apart time where they can get away from the crowd and be alone with God and to pray and seek His refreshing again. This is why God has given the commandment that we are to work six days and rest on the seventh.

God rested too after the work of creation for six days and rested on the seventh. The command is that we must observe the Sabbath which is also a day of rest. God already knew the human body which He created needs rest and He also knows that men are foolish not to rest and he made it into a law for men to follow. But men have continued to break this law at the cost of their own health.

Therefore let us remember that without us, the ministry can still continue on. We are not indispensable therefore get your rest.

James 3: 5The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

James reminds us that great destruction can be brought about by a small spark or light. In this part of the world, we have great forest fires every summer where thousands of acres of forest lands are destroyed. Sometimes hundreds of houses along the forest fringe are also destroyed.

Farms are also burned down and farm animals are also killed. Such great destructions may be caused by a small spark like a lighted match falling on dry grass or a cigarette stub carelessly thrown on the ground. Great fires can be caused by insignificant and small start.

James here compares the tongue of man to that of the flame of fire. The tongue is small and insignificant but it can caused great damages to the body of Christ through its malicious gossips and slanders. Many lives and even churches have been destroyed because of such slanders.

The scriptures teach us that we must use our tongue wisely and to control it. Provs 16: 24 reminds us that “gracious words are honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones”.

Paul also wrote in Col 4: 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Sanctification is the process of the work of the Holy spirit in our lives, as we allow Him to deal with our bad habits and remove our evil intents in our hearts. It is also important that we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in our lives by healing our hurts and removing the evil thoughts in our minds.

Foolish words bring hurt and destructions and foolish word do great harm to relationship in the body of Christ.  Jesus said out of the fullness of our heart do we speak. If our hearts are full of hurt and anger, then the words that come out of our mouths will be hurting and angry words.

Psalm 34: 18

The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

When David wrote this psalm, he was being pursued by King Saul and his men and in one instance David even had to hide among the Philistines to escape from King Saul. We can imagine how broken hearted David had been; he had won many battles for King Saul who was also his father in law. Rightfully he should have been rewarded well for his exploits, loyalty and victory.

However, we see that it was the opposite. Saul was not only ungrateful, he was jealous and had contempt for David to the extent that he wanted David to be killed. David had to run away for his life and it was so for several years. It was not that David was weak, instead he was strong and his supporters were also might warriors. In fact there were several opportunities that David could have killed King Saul.

But David was a righteous and God fearing man and he was obedient to God’s law that we must not touch God’s anointed. King Saul was anointed by the prophet Samuel and God’s hand was upon him. David would rather run into hiding that to disobey the law of God. Therefore David was a very broken hearted man for all these while.

It was in such condition that he wrote this psalm and in vs 3-4 he wrote; ‘I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked unto him, and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed.’

Then he wrote in verse 6 his personal status, ‘This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.’

So David wrote out of his personal experiences the confidence he had in God and the answers to his prayers. This is an encouragement to us that we can turn to God in our darkest hour and we can be assured that God will hear our cry and respond to us.

Gen 13:9

Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.

Abraham was known for his godly character and faith, we see that when God called him to come out of the land of the Chaldean he brought along his nephew Lot and his family. Over the period of time, they have come into Canaan and both have prospered. The passage tells us that both Abraham’s and Lot’s flock of animals have become so large that the servants were fighting for grazing ground for the animals.

Apart from the large flock of animals, we also know that Abraham had accrued large quantity of gold and silver. With all these wealth Abraham still exhibited a character of humility where he graciously gave way to his nephew to make the first choice of having the grazing grounds.

Lot chose the fertile Jordan valley that had a lot of water and pasture. But unfortunately he chose to set up his camp at the fringe of Sodom and the people there were living in grave sin. They were a sexually perverse people. In today’s terms all the people were homosexuals and lesbians. We are also told that when the angels came to Lot’s tent to spend the night, the men of the town came and demanded for the angels to be handed over so that the men can have sexual relationship with them.

Coming back to Abraham, his character also speaks of the same values of our Father God who is all powerful and all sufficient but who is so generous to us His children. God has always wanted to bless His children and he allows them to make their own choice. God has never been forceful but always gracious and merciful. He allows us to make our choices even though often He knows that the choices that we make can lead us into troubles.

God allows us to make mistakes and to learn from it. Just like Lot who made the mistake of walking by sight and not by faith. Lot chose according to the flesh whereas Abraham relied on the leading of God and also trusting in God’s blessings.

This is a lesson for us that as we grow in our faith we need to walk and trust in God, He knows the future that He has for us, He knows the good things that He had planned for us. However, He allows His people to make their choice.

Like the Israelite that Moses brought out of Egypt, God allowed them to make their own choice and subsequently they paid the price for their disobedience. The first generation of Israelite who came out of Egypt did not enter the Promised Land except for Joshua and Caleb.  All the rest perished including Moses.

This si the lesson, when we are not obedient to God, we will miis out on the blessings of God. 

Isaiah 40: 12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weight the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.

Isaiah is speaking about the greatness of the awesome Creator who made all things and who is able to do all things. What is man and how can he compare with God? It is indeed foolish for man to think that he can do all things and he does not need God.

Isaiah asked who can measure the waters of the earth in the hollow of his hands. Who can spread out the heavens and measure the length and breadth and the heights of the heavens. Who can understand and measure the dust on the earth. How much dust is there on the face of the earth?

Where does dust come from and where does it go? Look at the desert storms that move such a great amount of dust over vast stretches of land. Where does it come from and where does it go, no one know.

Then Isaiah said who can measure the weight of the mountains and the hills? There is no one on earth who can understand and do all that, but yet there are foolish men who boast that they are able to do all things on their own. They profess in great pride that they are in control of their lives and all things that they do.

Such are foolish men; they are so infinite and in the eyes of God are smaller than the smallest speck of dust and are so helpless when faced with the forces of nature which are the creation of God.

Who can control the wind and the storm? There is no man who can do it except Jesus Christ who is also God.

Isaiah is reminding all men how finite and powerless we are, we can be easily destroyed for men are so fragile, they can be squashed and destroyed just like grass. That is what the scriptures tell us, all men are so fragile and without the mercy and protection of God, we would have perished so easily.

Therefore Isaiah is drawing our attention to the need to humble ourselves and submit to the power of God and His wisdom, only then can we survive and continue in His grace and mercy.

2 Tim 1: 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.

I read an article on grandparents today and the impact they have on the grandchildren. It is a universal fact that grandparents adore their grandchildren and they leave a special impact on the lives of the grandchildren. The kind of love and dedication of grandparents for the grandchildren is totally different from that of parents to children.

The love of the grandparents is more sacrificial and has greater impact on the minds of grandchildren. The grandparents are more likely to release the perfect love of the heavenly Father to be upon the grandchildren. This is why the moulding and building of the children’s character and value system is conditioned to the influence of the grandparents.

When the grandparents are godly, they will impart on their grandchildren the same godly values and the love of God. In the case of Timothy, Paul commends him on his good and godly upbringing by his grandmother who was a God fearing woman. With the impartation of the grandmother in his young age, Timothy has grown into a godly young man.

This was widely seen and recognized by all in the community and Paul gave it special mention in praise. It is important when we bring up children and grandchildren that we must impart godly values into their lives and to teach them all about the scriptures from their baby days.

We are also reminded that when we bring up a child in the ways of God, then we will have a successful and godly person in their latter years.

Psalm 139: 23Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

David once again demonstrates his humility towards God, by now he would have been King of Israel for many years and he would have accomplished many great exploits. We also know that he had accumulated much wealth and he wanted to build God a magnificent temple but God told him that He would not want him to do so because he was a man of war.

Instead God told David that he was to provide for all the money and materials and then his son Solomon would be the one to build the temple. David never became a proud man though he was a successful king and much respected. He remained lowly in heart and daily committed his life to God and continued to communicate with Him.

Just as all the mighty men of old spent all their time in worshiping God and communing with Him, everyone attained a close and intimate relationship with God. They were greatly blessed and used by God. This is not just to the mighty men of old, today we too see many ministers of God who are walking closely with God and being mightily used by Him.

Today, we too can have and develop this relationship with God, we can draw near to Him as David did, talk and worship Him as David did and we too will become as David was with God. There is a price to be paid and that is we need to remain in great humility in our lives, no matter what we may become or how rich or powerful we may become.

Daily Devotions 13th March 2017

Matt 25: 40

The King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me”.

The teaching of Jesus Christ emphasizes on relationship living first with God and secondly with men. There are two bars of the cross, one the vertical which is longer and which give stability and strength to stand, this represents that we must first establish our stand and relationship with God so that our lives will be firm and strong.

Secondly is the cross beam which is shorter and provides balance. This represents our relationship with the world and with one another. We need to maintain a balance in our lives as far as our relationship in the world and with our brethren is concerned. Perfect balance also speaks of giving support.

Jesus in this verse elaborates that to be able to maintain this relationship with the Father God, then we need to maintain a strong relationship with one another. Jesus said that when we reach out in love and charity, whatever good that we do to another person who is less fortunate, then God sees it and receive it as a service that is done for Him as well.

This is also demonstrated in the life of Abraham when he unknowingly extended his hospitality to three strangers who came and visited him, it was in fact the Trinity who came down and visited him. With this as an example, it encourage us that surely as we do good to those who are less fortunate, we will be seen and recognized by God.  

1 Peter 4: 10Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.

 The difference in the lives of the early Christians is the change in what they are. Before they became Christians, they were just ordinary people living routine lives of peasants. However when they became believers they were born again into the Kingdom of God and their lives changed, they were no longer people who had no vision but now they were gifted by the Holy Spirit and had a vision to change the world.

We observe from their lives that they had purpose and were all set and determine to fulfill that purpose which was the Great Commission. They were prepared to travel far and near and some went all the way west to England and others all the way east to China and India where they preached the gospel and made disciples of all men.

They had purpose and vision; they were able to convey the gospel eloquently when they were not so before. This was because they had received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their lives which gave them the anointing to preach, teach and to work miracles. All these are fom God and are given when we ask and receive it.

However, we must first be a child of God as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When we are born again, we receive a new identity and a new empowering, from being meek we become strong, from being unable we become enabled.

Further down Peter wrote 1 Peter 4: 10-11 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God, if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 86: 7When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.

King David was a man who is most familiar with God as well as with danger. Throughout his life starting from being a shepherd boy he had faced grave danger from the wild beasts in the wilderness. In such conditions David cried out to God for help and he was always delivered by God.

As he grew and moved on into the army life under King Saul, he had to fight many battles and later on when King Saul became jealous of him, David was pursued by the king’s soldiers and David had to flee for his life. He was constantly pursued and he had many near death encounters. But each time he called out to God and He answered him.

Being a warrior, David also faced many dangers in battle and it was his habit to seek God’s help whenever he faced dangers. Therefore David was most qualified to declare the faithfulness of God and his assurance that God will never fail him because that was his experience throughout his life.

The psalms that David wrote were meant to encourage us and also to guide us in our relationship with God. Our Christian life is a life of experiences and challenges. Every day we will face with different challenges but every day we can continue to call to our God just as David did.

Therefore we need to build our relationship with God so that we can then be in the right standing as David that when we call to God, we would be confident that He will surely hear and answer us.

Eph 2: 19

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people.

In this jet age, many of our young people and some who are not so young often choose to migrate over to greener pastures in foreign lands. This can be for economic reasons like the young professionals who are seeking better job opportunities, working conditions, family etc.

Having done so they will soon settle in and be assimilated into the society as either PR or citizens. Anyway they will begin to enjoy the country and all the privileges as citizens of the new country.

This is what Paul is telling us, we as believers have also become full citizens with other believers in the Kingdom of Heaven. Scriptures also tell us that now we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ and we are now princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God. We now can enjoy every rights as citizen of heaven.

Therefore we are no longer strangers to the kingdom in heaven, and as citizens we are entitled to full rights and privileges which we can start enjoying. We are now part of God’s global family and we should look after and care for each other as such.

Exodus 32: 24They gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came the calf!

Here is the example where leaders also make mistakes and try to escape by pushing away the responsibility. In this instance we see Aaron denying his act and decision as a weak leader and he tried to push all the responsibility to the people. This is a human weakness that all men have.

It started with the first man and woman at the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned; they pushed the blame away though they sinned. This is a character flaw that everyone must guard against, and as children of God we need to maintain our integrity in our dealings with each other as well as with the outside world.

Having said that, all leaders must learn from the lesson of Arron, we must never be like him trying to escape from our guilt and in doing so, we commit yet another sin of lying. The right thing to do is to confess our wrong doings and sin, then ask God for forgiveness and restoration.

We are assured in scriptures that our God is faithful and just and He wil forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’  

On the other hand, we see another man of God who is quick to acknowledge his sins and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. This is King David, we see that each time he sinned he responded immediately by fully confessing his sins to the Father and though at times he was punished quite severely, nevertheless he was always forgiven and restored by God. Therefore we see that because of the integrity displayed by David, his name and reputation has been recorded for all generations. 

Phip 2: 5In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

Having the same mindset means to be able to reflect the same image as Christ Jesus. Indirectly it means that we should be a mirror image of Jesus Christ in our thoughts, deeds and behaviour. This does not mean that our appearance should be like Jesus, anyway there has not been any actual drawing of the true image of Jesus. All the pictures that we see are imaginations of the artists; each one would try in their own way to portray an image that would best represent Jesus.

In this text, Paul is telling all believers that we must portray Jesus in our lives. When we are in the world and are among the non-believers, they will not be able to see what Jesus looked like but they will be able to see us, the followers of Jesus. Do we follow Jesus in all His ways so that when the non-believers see us, then they would be able to see a reflection of Jesus in the way we live?

Our conduct will show and demonstrate to others the image of Jesus, most of all the way we carry our relationship with each other in the Church must reflect the life of Jesus. They must be communal love and mercy in our relationship. There must not be strife, back stabbing, gossip and slander. These are the way that non-believers would behave in the world.

We are the body of Christ and as such we must possess the same characteristics of Christ in this body. In every way and every day, our relationship within the body  of Christ and also when we have interaction with the non-believers, the love and grace of Jesus Christ must be see prominently in us.

This is what Paul means when he said ‘In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.’ The world can do all kinds of evil as they do not know Jesus and the Father, but we the children of God have no excuses to behave the same way.

Jesus called us to be the ‘light and the salt’ to the world. We must be totally different and we must reflect Jesus’ character in us so that others will be able to see Jesus in our lives and only then will they be able to respond to the Gospel of Salvation.

Let us be the bridge that bring the Gospel to the lost and let us not be stumbling blocks to those who are seeking for the Gospel.

Job 38:11The Lord said; This far you may come and no farther, here is where your proud waves halt.

The Lord is telling man that man is finite and limited, though man may know many things and can control many things on earth; there is a limit to his capabilities. This is the power and control of nature that only God and his angels have power to do so. This is beyond the natural realm and is in the spiritual.

As far as we know perhaps some people engaged in witchcraft have also through the help of demonic powers managed to conjure some form of control over the forces of nature. But these are false spirits at work and they operate through counterfeit powers which the demons that are fallen angels still have.

But the true man who had this power was Jesus as he is also the Son of God and also God. Matt 8: 23-27 recorded how Jesus and His disciples were in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee when a severe storm arose. The disciples were afraid of sinking and they called upon Jesus to save them. Immediately Jesus commanded the wind and the wave to be still and it did.

This is the power that only Jesus could demonstrate that is from God. In truth there is no other man who can do it. The witch doctors too did not have the power to do it; it was the demons that did it for them.

God is supreme over all creation as Job confessed from Job 38 – Job 40. These three chapters were recorded to tell us the truth the supremacy of God and all His powers in the world. This is a timely reminder for all believers that though man have gained much knowledge through science and technology; they are but a finite creature that knows only a tiny dot of the knowledge in the whole universe that has been created by God.

Man must not be proud and arrogant to think that he can do all things without the help of God. Pride will be the fore runner of a downfall. This has always been the case, proud men will also face their downfall though God can be merciful and delay His judgement at times but God will surely judge and bring the man low.