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Looking Back to look Forward
By pastor Aggrey Soyekwo
Looking Back to Look Forward
1 Samuel 17:37 “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”- NIV
This is a familiar story of how a young, ill equipped, war inexperienced David, fought and defeated an experienced, well armed giant, Goliath. When king Saul doubted him, David revealed the secret of his courage to fight Goliath in the verse above. He was fully persuaded that the God who saved and enabled him kill a lion and bear, was able to deliver Goliath to him. And Saul released him. The power of a testimony!
Every victory we experience is built on a previous one or is setting the stage for another victory. This is the reason God told Israel to perpetually hold certain celebrations and memorials, especially to remind them of the slavery and deliverance by His mighty hand. Such remembrance revives faith and energised them to face the present and future challenges with confidence. They would remind them of what God did and can still do. If we won in the past, we can win today and tomorrow because the God Who gave us victory in the past is still the same God today and tomorrow. He doesn’t change.
Friends, let’s not forget what God has done for us before. Sometimes the present or anticipated future challenges look overwhelming as did Goliath appear to Israel and David. As his faith was encouraged by the unchanging God who delivered him from the bear and the lion, and would definitely deliver Goliath into his hand, so shall ours be as we remember what God has done. We can face the future with confidence, tough, imposing and uncertain as it might appear, by looking back to what God has done before. He can do it again.
Psalms 103:2-5 “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Shalom children of God.
Looking Back to look Forward
By Pastor Aggrey Soyekwo
1 Samuel 17:37 “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”- NIV
This is a familiar story of how a young, ill equipped, war inexperienced David, fought and defeated an experienced, well armed giant, Goliath. When king Saul doubted him, David revealed the secret of his courage to fight Goliath in the verse above. He was fully persuaded that the God who saved and enabled him kill a lion and bear, was able to deliver Goliath to him. And Saul released him. The power of a testimony!
Every victory we experience is built on a previous one or is setting the stage for another victory. This is the reason God told Israel to perpetually hold certain celebrations and memorials, especially to remind them of the slavery and deliverance by His mighty hand. Such remembrance revives faith and energised them to face the present and future challenges with confidence. They would remind them of what God did and can still do. If we won in the past, we can win today and tomorrow because the God Who gave us victory in the past is still the same God today and tomorrow. He doesn’t change.
Friends, let’s not forget what God has done for us before. Sometimes the present or anticipated future challenges look overwhelming as did Goliath appear to Israel and David. As his faith was encouraged by the unchanging God who delivered him from the bear and the lion, and would definitely deliver Goliath into his hand, so shall ours be as we remember what God has done. We can face the future with confidence, tough, imposing and uncertain as it might appear, by looking back to what God has done before. He can do it again.
Psalms 103:2-5 “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Shalom children of God.
A Glorious Hope – Through Suffering
Romans 5:1-5 “… And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” – NIV
Paul was teaching on justification that comes by faith and gives us peace with God through Christ Jesus. This faith comes along with sufferings for the gospel and for the Lord’s name. And not to think suffering is all there is to this faith, he emphasizes that our faith gives us a hope of God’s glory. This makes us rejoice in eager expectation of what lies ahead of us in this faith. It will not be a miserable ending.
This hope is founded on suffering, which produces perseverance, and then character. And character produces hope – a hope that does not disappoint. This is why genuine suffering for a godly and just cause is to be recieved with joy when one considers its outcome. Without such a view beyond the present pain of suffering, into the glorious hope ahead, one’s spirit can be dampened by the misery of hardship. It’s the reason James encourages us to count it joy when faced with suffering of various kinds for the Lord (James 1:2).
Friends, we have a living glorious hope in Jesus that awaits all who remain true to the faith. Let’s faithfully face any hardships in the present time with this in mind. Jesus, for the joy of the glory ahead, endured the cross and is now seated at God’s right hand in glory. We too shall, if we follow His path.
Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Hebrews12:2-3 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Shalom children of God.
Claiming to Know God But Denying Him!
Titus 1:15-16 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”
This is the perplexing ironny we see alot today. Many people claim to know God. They express this in attending church, active in religious activities and their talk is sometimes laced with God-like religious undertones. But the things they do and speak nullify their claims about knowing God. Paul gives the reason for this: their minds and consciences are corrupted. And so even if they pretend and hide, the true state of their corrupted minds and hearts will always manifest in their actions.
When a person has truly been transformed by the word from within, everything they do will prove it. But if the transformation is partial and only part of them has been changed, the corrupt nature will still show up. Their corrupt minds will see everything from a corrupt mindset. This is why we see many claiming to know God but What they do doesn’t match their claims. Such people bring shame to the Lord’s name and the gospel. Paul’s advice to the Roman church would be good for them as well: Romans:12.2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
What exactly is the state of your mind and heart? Know God and truly live as one who knows Him. Don’t be an ‘opportunistic’ believer and double dealer. Then you become detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good in God’s kingdom. Examine yourself!
Shalom children of God.
Watch Your Response to What You Hear
James 1:19-20 “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” – NIV
We hear so much every now and then in life. Some are false accussations, compliments, destructive criticisms and so on. What we hear elicits responses in us. Our emotions may get aroused and we get excited or angry. We may burst out in anger yelling at whoever and whatever or feel good about ourselves. We make decisions and take actions out of what we hear, some short term, others long term, with life time and even eternal consequences. Many are living in bitter regrets, others lost lives, and others in prisons – because of brief emotional outbursts.
We have all at one point or another been provoked by what we heard, and the temptation and desire for revenge was real. The emphasis to be slow to speak and act in anger teaches the effect of hurriedly spoken words and revengeful anger. Both of these can do so much harm to us and our relationships with others that may never be repaired. It’s important to rethink about what we hear, whether there is truth or not. If true, the issue then should be how can I rectify it. If it’s false, why should it take away my peace. By thoughtfully turning what we heard first to ourselves, what was meant to hurt us ends up building our character and helping instead of harming. Any response out of such approach leaves us calm and peaceful.
The scripture above says any response out of hot temper and rushed words does not glorify God. That’s why this caution was given to enable us take heed how we process what we hear and to control the negative effects. May God, by the Holy Spirit, help us be quick to listen, but slow to speak and be angry.
Shalom children of God.
A Man Just Like us…
James 5:16-18 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” – NIV
There are great men and women of God who have been used to do wonderful things. For them, we truly thank God. And we respect them for that. Their achievements may tempt us to think great workings of God are exclusively through such great servants of God alone and not any of us. In one way, this is true because of different callings which manifest differently. In another way, it’s not right to attribute God’s mighty working to only particular, seemingly special persons.
Some like to portray it so, to attract and retain the status and create dependency. The example of extraordinary works cited in the verses above is one of prophet Elijah. Exceptional as he was, the scripture says he was a man like us, to show that anyone can be raised by God to be powerful and effective.
The context of these scriptures is effective prayer of the righteous which results from confessed sin. This is the heart of the matter which makes the difference in the effectiveness of any prayer: righteousness and holiness. Anyone in Christ has attained the righteousness of God by faith. A consecrated life of holiness to God is of great worth. The Holy Spirit is able to turn ordinary persons like us, dedicated to God, into extraordinary people to achieve much as He determines for His glory. Choose to live in holiness and righteousness. Your prayer too can be powerful and effective.
Shalom children of God