From everlasting to everlasting He is God and ever lives Above all other gods All creation bows in worship How great is our God
He fills the entire vast universe All billions of the stary host Each in its course He calls them by name How great is our God
All the people who ever lived And the billions alive today By name He knows Each He specially made How great is our God
My God, the great King, Savior I find meaning only in you Nothing else satisfies In you is my life complete How great is our God
Psalm 8:3-4 "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?"
1 John 2:3-6 “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” – NIV
Many people confess knowing God even if they don’t believe in Him, let alone choosing to obey Him. Even those who believe in Him struggle with obedience especially where God’s commands contradict their desires. John clarifies what knowing God is, and ties it to obedience to His commands. He uses practical situations of what people normally say and seeks to clarify to such claimers what the truth is, that you can only say you know God personally if you are living in obedience to Him.
John further links knowing God with love for Him. One cannot obey God from their hearts if they don’t truly love Him. This knowledge of God comes through personal relationship with Him. That is how He reveals Himself to those who live in love and obedience to Him. Anything else apart from this is living a life of a lie.
Let’s examine ourselves. Do our confessions of knowing God match with our obedience to Him? This is a choice we make daily amidst the many things that seek to divert and make us compromise our relationship with God. And what God asks us to do in obedience to Him, is not too difficult to do. Even when we find it hard in our human abilities, He readily gives us strength to obey His commands. He needs our willing commitment.
Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
1 John 5:3 “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome”
John 16:13-15 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.””_ – NIV Another key ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal what lies ahead and is yet to come. In the scripture above, Jesus connects what the Spirit will say to what the Father and the Son say. The Spirit hears and recieves from them and relays only that to the saints. Part of what He relays concerning the future. This is what makes Him the Spirit of prophecy. He has done this from the begining.Why does God reveal what is yet to come? Because He doesn’t want us to be taken unawares by what will happen. He wants us to know and prepare ourselves accordingly. Unfortunately, even after this, many ignore the word of the Lord. He also wants to glorify Himself as God Who knows the end from the begining. And that His purposes remain regardless of what Satan and his human and demonic cohorts do in attempt to overthrow Him. He is in control of the future.The Holy Spirit accomplishes this ministry through those He gifts with prophetic ministry. But extra caution needs to be taken to avoid the counterfeit prophecies Jesus warned us about. Some of what is given as prophecy from God is not from God, but divination coming in the name of God. Jesus said you will know them by their fruit (Matt 7:15-20). A true prophet from God will carry God’s character, seek entirely to glorify God and direct all glory to God as the Spirit does. But where attention, glory and worship is directed to the prophet more than God, and the prophet enjoys it, something has gone wrong! The Holy Spirit speaks only as directed, and gives all glory to God. So should the vessel of the prophet!_2 Peter 1:20-21 “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”_Shalom children of God.
Genesis 45:5,7 "And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you... But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance."_ - NIV
His brothers were jealousy of the love their father had for Joseph. They stripped him of his beautiful coat, attempted to kill him, threw him in a dry pit, sold him to Egypt, he is resold in Egypt to Portphar. Falsely accused, he is dumped in prison. By divine providence, he interprets Pharaoh’s troubling dream and he is made prime minister in Egypt. He is cut off from the love of his father.
Twenty two years later, his brothers come to buy food from him. They bow down in fulfillment of Joseph’s dream that had brought him trouble with them. Joseph has now understood the purpose of the bitter troubles his brothers subjected him to. He understands it was a divine arrangement to safe them. He asks them not to be distressed with themselves or to fear he would revenge on them. Instead, he was sent by God ahead of them, to safe them.
This was written for our learning too. Many bitter troubles and challenges come our way orchestrated by the devil through others. But never do they fail God’s predetermined purposes for us. Instead, it only helps to serve and fulfil them. Our greatest benefit from these circumstances of life is when we come to understand the bigger picture, the greater purpose, the divine hand in all these sometimes very perplexing situations of life.
Whether started by God or the devil, or selfish people, or our own mistakes, all things work together for good to those called according to God’s purpose. Hang in there. It will become clearer with time. God means well. Soon the treasure will emerge out of the rubble of pain and tears. Then you will say, ‘Now I understand!’_
Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."_Shalom children of God.
Psalm 27:13 "[I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." KJV
Life’s journey is not straight. It can be tough. One time you are at the mountain top and everything is alright. Another time you are at the valley and things seem to be falling apart. One time there are friends all around. And in another no one seems to care. You seem to be all alone. What keeps one going is hope that things will be better.
God operates in seasons and times. There is day time and night time. That’s how things are. David acknowledged that if he had not believed, in hope, for better times ahead, he would have given up on living. This happens to us many times when the storms of life beat, situations are so tough and unforgiving, and thoughts of quiting or even dying cross one’s mind.
It’s so encouraging that amidst all the ups and downs and uncertainities of life, God, in Whom we trust and hope, doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). He is God in the good and bad times. He remains a good God and faithful in the mountain top and in the dark valleys. Our faith and hope should rest in Him. Men may fail. Our businesses, investments, treasures and all the other things we rely on can fail. But God doesn’t.
Hope in God doesn’t disappoint. It will be well at the end. Tomorrow will be better, however bad today is. Do not quit your endeavors. Hold on to faith in an unchanging, faithful God. There is light at the end of dark tunnel, even into eternity.
Psalm 30:5 "For his anger [endureth but] a moment; in his favour [is] life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning."
Romans 8:25 "But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” – NIV
Moses was so privileged, one could say, to have been adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter as her son after picking him from the water. That entitled him to the best of everything in the then most powerful kingdom in the world. But Egypt was a heathen idolatrous kingdom in which other gods were worshiped and alot of sin against God Most High was committed. Despite all those privileges and sensual gratification, Moses deep within wasn’t satisfied because his God was not honoured. He decided to join and suffer with his people than remain and enjoy temporary pleasures of sin in the palace. He opted for the eternal.
Sin offers temporary enjoyment. But the victims don’t normally think about the bitter sting of its consequences to themselves, their families and generations to come, into eternity. Yes, you may enjoy that moment as you cheat on your spouse, as you plan that deal to steal, to bring down or even kill others so that you take the plunder or win favours, as you hide in those dark corners doing some mischief. You may even emerge as heros from a ‘successful’ mission, having left others mourning and totally devastated, because of the harm you dealt on them.
Government/organisational/community programs under your jurisdiction could be grumbling because you diverted and enriched yourself with the funds, and millions of would-be beneficieries continue to suffer – as you watch them! And you give all sorts of excuses and doctored reports to justify your evil. Please turn away from evil and come to God. It would be good to always remember what the wise man Solomon said about the effects of temporary enjoyment of evil:
“Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.” Proverbs 9:17-18.
John 16:13-15 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.””_ – NIV Of particular interest in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life is the directing of praise and glory to Jesus. He guides us into truth which He gets from Jesus. He says only what He has heard, and nothing of His own. As He relays the message to us, He acknowledges that the glory belongs to Jesus. And Jesus in return acknowledges it is the Father Who gave Him. The Triune God works in perfect unity, each playing His role and recognising the others.The Holy Spirit empowers the believer and uses them to do many great works. The early church experienced it first hand when they did what Jesus had done, and even more. We too experience this in our time when the Spirit moves to manifest great works in saving, healing, transforming, comforting, teaching and reviving His people. Some of these great works overwhelm people who naturally will heap worship and praises to the human vessels. We should be careful to quickly direct the glory to God and not ourselves. No one who operates and speaks by the Spirit of God draws attention to themselves in pride whatever happens through them. We should always remember that we are vessels in the hand of God Almighty to serve His purposes through the Holy Spirit for the good of God’s people. To assume for yourself the glory that is due only to God Who is using you to accomplish His works, is sin. Whenever you find yourself enjoying the limelight, busking in the glory, and feeling good that men praise you, know that a different spirit, not the Holy Spirit, is taking over. To God alone belongs all the glory._Isaiah 42:8 “I alone am the Lord your God. No other god may share my glory; I will not let idols share my praise.”_Shalom children of God.
Mark 3:5 "He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored."_ -NIV
Anger is an emotion that every human has. It is provoked by things we are not happy with. God gets angry too. We read of this throughout the Bible. It was, and is always directed against evil in its different forms. Jesus exhibited anger a number of times against those who deliberately twisted and sought to overturn the truth to promote evil. Mark reports how distressed He was at the stubborn hearts of the religious people to belief, insisting that He should not heal on the sabbath.
What angers us is important to identify. Some anger is in defense of ones ego and pride, towards acts of injustice, or out of personal frustration of sorts. As God’s people, we identify with His emotions. What pleases or angers Him should likewise please or anger us. The more we choose to live for Him, the more our hearts are aligned to His. We hate evil and rejoice in righteousness, truth and justice.
Anger, if not controlled and properly channelled, can be destructive. The devil takes advantage of it to cause us to sin. This is why the Bible says we should be angry but not sin. There is need for self control. But if channelled to righteous causes, anger can be a driving force to make things right, fight injustice and promote good. Many transformational changes in society have been ignited by anger at the bad state of affairs which drove the agents of change to take action. _
Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."_
Psalm 34:19 "Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all." - KJV
The Psalmist in the previous verses of this chapter noted many blessings that come upon the righteous in comparison with the wicked. The several promises for good doesn’t mean everything will flow smoothly all the time for the righteous. He now observes that there will be many troubles for them, but God commits to deliver the righteous out of them all.
Some believe that afflictions in their lives are a sign of something gone wrong, a sin committed or God displeased with them. This could be true in certain circumstances. But to the righteous, it’s part of the package of walking with God. Jesus said in this world we will have tribulations, but encouraged us to cheer up because He overcame (John 16:33). Troubles come because there is an enemy, the devil, whose intention is to draw us away from the faith through painful experiences. On the other hand, God allows afflictions to strengthen our faith, among other reasons.
Dont be disoriented or discouraged by the many troubles you face. Neither give room to deception of the enemy. Instead, look upto God Who promised to rescue us from all kinds of troubles. They will not destroy us. The waters will not drown us, nor the fire of these trials consume us. We shall emerge victorious, stronger, refined and better out of them all. Keep your faith and hope alive, and walk with your head high. You are an overcomer in the Lord.
Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burnt; the hard trials that come will not hurt you." GNB
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – NIV
A story is told of some artists who were asked to paint a picture of peace. One painted an animal comfortably resting in its hide out atop very calm, secure and quiet snow capped mountains, apparently free from all harm. Another painted a little bird resting in its nest, built on a tree branch which extended over a roaring waterfalls. The later won the contest. The idea was that peace is not the absence of trouble, but within it.
We all want peace. Whether we are conscious or not, all the things we do and pursue, are intended to ultimately bring us peace of mind. But many times even after doing and acquiring them, we realize peace has eluded us, and yet those who don’t have even a fraction of them, look peaceful. Each one of us has a picture of what we call peace. There are things in our environment that we wish to work out in a certain way so that we have peace. But the fact is, our world may never settle from all the troubles and turmoil to give us that tranquility necessary for peace of mind.
True peace is primarily in the mind, not in the external environment. Even if the waterfalls and storms of life roar day and night, we can have peace of mind. Only Jesus, the Prince of Peace, can give such peace which defies the ever present troubles of this life, to those who seek Him. He gives it not as the world gives. You can rest in God amidst the troubles of this broken evil world, feeding us with bad news every day. Put your hope in Him. He will rest your heart and mind in Himself.
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
