The Wonders of Praise

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
– 2 Chronicles 20:21-22

For many people, the idea of singing when confronted by challenges or other forms of resistance would seem utterly ridiculous, if not outright insane. But that was exactly what the Israelites of old did when enemies came raging their way. Guess what? It worked. They practically sang their way to victory, without lifting a sword or shield. If it worked then, that means it will work for us too. After all, all incidents in the Bible are written as examples for us.

From all indications, the battleground is certainly not a place for singing and praising God. It is a place for warfare, of violent exchange and cries of war. But when the Israelites changed the operation mode of their environment through energetic praise, God had little choice but to make it a place of jubilation for them.

How are you handling your own battle? As you begin to praise God concerning those challenges you are facing, watch Him turn impossible situations around to celebration for you. In the place the devil planned to humiliate you, God will make you a celebrity.

When we praise God, He swings into action on our behalf. The devil will do everything in its power to keep you from praising God, because it knows the power of praise. The more you praise, the more you are raised.

Perhaps, you think you have nothing to praise God about? Take a cue from the Israelites. Take some time right now, forget about that challenge and begin to praise God for who He is and see Him at work on your behalf.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Letter in the Night

One day a woman named Louise fell asleep and had a very fitful dream. She dreamed that someone in Hell wrote a letter to her, and it was to be delivered to her by a messenger. The messenger passed between the lakes of burning fire and brimstone before he could make it to the door that would lead him to the outside world.

Louise dreamed that the messenger walked to her house, came inside, and gently but firmly woke her. He gave her the message, saying only that a friend had written it to her from Hell.

Louise, in her dream with trembling hands, took the letter and read:

My Friend,

I stand in Judgment now and feel that you’re to blame somehow. Never did you point the way. You knew the Lord in truth and glory, But never did you tell the story. My knowledge then was very dim; You could have led me safely to Him. Though we lived together on the earth, You never told me of the second birth, And now I stand this day condemned because you failed to mention Him.

You taught me many things, that’s true. I called you “friend” and trusted you, But I learn now that it’s too late, You could have kept me from this fate. We walked by day and talked by night, And yet you showed me not the Light. You let me live, and love, and die, You knew I’d never live on high. Yes, I called you “friend” in life, And trusted you through joy and strife. And yet on coming to the end, I cannot, now, call you “My Friend.”

Marsha

After reading the letter, Louise awoke. The dream was so real in her mind and sweat dropped in pools from her body. She swore she could still smell the acrid smell of brimstone and smoke from her room.

As she contemplated the meaning of her dream, she realized that as a Christian, she had failed in her duty to “go out to all the world and preach the gospel.” As she thought of that, she promised herself that the next day, she would call Marsha and invite her to church with her.

The next morning she called Marsha, and this was the conversation:

“Hello Bill, is Marsha there?”

“Louise, you don’t know?”

“No, Bill, know what?”

“Marsha was killed last night in a car accident. I thought you knew.”

Fellow Christian, is this your testimony? Are you witnessing to your relatives and friends who you are with everyday? Or will there be relatives friends of yours in Hell, asking you why you did not tell them about Jesus?

As your friend, if you don’t know Jesus, here’s how to be connected to Him: If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 – 10)

If you have not done so, simply pray this prayer:

“Dear God, I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross for my sins. Jesus, forgive me of all my sins, come into my heart and become my Lord and Savior. And help, from this day onward, to live a life that is pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

You shouldn’t keep Jesus to yourself, you’ve got to tell somebody about Him and the love of God!

– Author Unknown 

Meditation: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” – Mark 8:38

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Gestation of Faith (2)

Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true. We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. – Hebrews 6:11-12

When talking about faith, Abraham is one person that readily comes to mind. In spite of contrary circumstances, he believed God. He agreed with God that he was Abraham – father of many nations – when he did not even have a child. Now, that’s faith. And he continued in faith for decades, even when it seemed that nothing was happening. That’s patience.

In the process of waiting, Abraham kept meditating on the faith pictures that God had given him. He did not change his mind and revert to his old name. Rather, he continued to call himself and his wife by the names the Lord had called them, even when the physical circumstances were obviously contrary.

Abraham is popularly known as Father of Faith. But really, he is Father of faith and patience. The fact is, he became Father of Faith because he was Father of Patience. His faith would have been unproductive if he had not added patience.

God has your life all planned out. He has prepared all that you will ever need long before you were born. He has made provision for every need in advance. However, like Abraham and the other patriarchs, you need to exercise patient faith to lay hold of this provision. That is how you can join the elite league of “those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Gestation of Faith (1)

My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into different kinds of temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. – James 1:2-4

Over the years, and especially in recent times, the Church has placed a lot of emphasis on faith – and rightly so – because the Christian walk is essentially a walk of faith (See Romans 1:17, Romans 10:9, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 11:6). We are saved through faith, we live by faith and we maintain our relationship with God by faith. Nonetheless, the Bible is clear about the need to supplement our diet of faith with other important ingredients which I like to call “core vitamins.” Patience is one of these core vitamins (See II Peter 1:4-8).

In today’s fast-paced world of jet travels, instant photography, fast food restaurants, high-speed internet and what have you; it is not unlikely that patience has become alien to quite a number of us. Well, what exactly is patience? Patience is endurance. It is holding on to the Word of God without wavering, regardless of circumstances.

Patience is that quiet confidence that awaits the manifestation of what God has promised. It is holding on to the confession of our faith without faltering, knowing that He who called us is faithful (I Thessalonians 5:24).

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to Become Affiliated with the Greatest (Part 1)

And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” – Luke 8:20-21 Let’s consider what some...

“I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world, there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander (the Great), Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”

— Napoleon (French General, Politician and Emperor, 1769-1821)

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”

— Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political leader (1869-1948).

“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very centre of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

— H.G. Wells, British author (1866-1946)

These tell us that the greatest person, dead or alive, is not the president of the most powerful nation in the world, or the number one person on Forbes list. Jesus Christ remains the greatest.

Don’t we all love the bragging right of having relationship with the greats in the land? But none of those can match Jesus in eminence. And, in the passage above, He generously gave us a tip on what we need to do to claim affinity with Him. He said His relatives are those “who hear the word of God and do it.” Now don’t you want that bragging right? Then do as He says.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Purpose: Sent to Redeem and Purify

Purpose: Sent to Redeem and Purify

…the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. – Titus 2:13-14

The passage above captures another twin mission of our Lord Jesus Christ to humankind; He came both to redeem and purify, to qualify and equip us for the assignments God has prepared for us.

In the sense of redeeming us from “lawless deeds”, Jesus came to free us from the tangles of sin, guilt and everything that corrupts, holds back, disqualifies, slows down and discourages noble initiatives and productivity. His giving of Himself as a ransom for us is all we will ever need to be free of the shackles that limit and destroy. He has set us free by laying down His life and riches in exchange for our own lives and wretchedness.

On the other hand, having thus redeemed us to perform, He also purified – more like equipped – us for good works. In other words, He didn’t just set us free to loaf and idle away; He also redeemed us to be productive and useful to ourselves, Himself and other people. He set us free to do good works in life, in our society, in our careers, in our ministries and in every area of concern to us. He removed every entangling that could stifle or hold us back, thus sprucing us up for unencumbered bearing and optimal performance. In simple term, He came to make life easy for us to live; goals easy for us to achieve and plans easy for us to execute.

He came to do that much for us.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Purpose: Sent to Take Our Sins Away

And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. – 1 John 3:5

Another reason Jesus came to earth, as crystallised in the passage above, is to take away our sins and make us pleasing and acceptable to God. As humans, we are fundamentally prone to sin in our thinking, action, speech, attitude and in other things we do. And there is no denying our sinful nature, as that will only amount to self-deception (1 John 1:8).

Even as sin does a lot of harm to us, principal among which is alienating us from God with all the implications of that, He nonetheless desires that we live and operate in our fullness so that we can enjoy fellowship with Him as He originally intended. That was why He sent His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to come and become the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus came to take away our sins – that which disqualifies us from enjoying the fullness of God. By taking our sin upon Himself, He became the bridge that closes the gulf between God and man, so that we can have access to God on one hand, and come into His presence without blemish on the other. He is indeed “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” [John 1:29]

You will succeed in Jesus Name!