Category: Christianity

A Higher Calling

I’ve been thinking about my calling lately. 

Actually, it has been at the back of my mind since 2015. I’ve always thought that a ‘calling’ is that one thing I was meant to do because I was either talented or particularly gifted in a certain way. I constantly looked for the talents and strengths I had to anchor me to a particular field or purpose. 
I watch out for my interests and dislikes and personality traits to find what God wanted me to do. 

But in recent times I’ve found that I’m not always completely sure about the path I’m taking. Sometimes it’s because it’s too restrictive and it feels like I can and should be doing more. Other times, I just do not feel the fulfilment in what I am doing and wonder whether I missed it somewhere. I worry that my indicators are off. And at other times I think that how I feel is an example of my unsteadiness and inconsistency a flaw in my character that keeps me form working harder and pushing myself to fulfilling my call. 

However, as I have continued to think and pray about it I find that the problem is not my attitude and a possible personal or emotional lack of consistency, it is in my understanding of what it means to be called. 

A calling is not a one time discovery of an assignment. A calling, in truth, is not about you. Instead it is an awareness of the person who is calling you. 

Moses, when he was called by God at the burning bush, was completely shocked and afraid of the responsibility of having to get people out of the land of Egypt. The massive weight of that responsibility coupled with the fear of having to return to a country in which he was a criminal fugitive to face and challenge Pharaoh’s authority, was to big of a challenge for him. 

God knew this. He knew about all Moses’s limitations and weaknesses. He knew that he was not a talented speaker. He knew that he had murder on his criminal record and he knew that he had not lived amongst the people of Israel. 

We often get excited in sermons when we hear about how God used this same Moses who by every standard should have been a good for nothing, was used to accomplish something so mighty. God made something marvellous out of nothing and he is still doing the same today. 

We often forget that our little becomes a lot in the hands of the maker, not because he is seeking to perform wonders but because he is seeking relationships. Let me explain that a little more. 

Moses was not chosen because he was a sorry case and God wanted to show how merciful he is. Or because he had been through so much. Moses and everyone else who has a calling is called for the purpose of relationship. 

Moses was called to join the covenant relationship of his forefathers and his people. He was called because where he was with the Midianites was too far from where he wanted him. He was not spending time in the mountains praying and having face to face conversations with God about the future and destiny of the Children of Israel. This came much later after he had found his calling which was to worship God by being in relationship with him. 

God’s number one aim is to draw us closer. Whatever that does not draw us closer to him is not part of our calling. Our calling is about the one who is calling us (God) and not about the assignment he is calling us for. We can be called to do anything, but the reason behind why we are called is God’s priority. The joy of being called is getting to know God. 

“Many are called but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
That’s because we are all called to a face to face relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But few get chosen to perform wonders because we focus more on the assignment rather than on God.
We can’t part seas without God, we can’t fight Pharaoh’s army without him at our sides. We can only encounter discouragement in our assignment when we focus on the assignment instead of getting the assignment done with him. God gives us these assignment to draw us closer to himself and to bring us back to the place of our purpose.  

Like Moses God’s call to us is to draw us out of obscurity and isolation into love and friendship with him. So, as long as I daily answer the calling, I will find my hands doing exactly what it is I am meant to be doing. Yes, my gifting are indicative but the greatest gift is to be both found and lost in the love of God. 

Unequally Yoked

The answer to the question of what it means to be unequally yoked is clearly addressed in the scripture.

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”, 2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV).
The intimation is that you will be unevenly matched if you are married with a person who does not believe in God. So, as a Christian the scripture is clearly letting us know that we should not be married or emotional and romantically involved with a non-christian. The more intimate a relationship gets the more important a commonality in faith and believe is. If you already disagree on the basic foundation issues, your lifestyle choices as a believer and your relationship with the individual will be affected.

A lot of people believe that you can make it work, having different believes and still get married. But the issue is that the relationship with your god will suffer if you priorities your spouse. For instance, as a Christian I believe in tithing and giving offerings or love gifts to church. I believe in spending time in devotion, praying and worshipping God. I believe in being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. This will sound very crazy to someone who is not a believer. He/she might say it’s cute and might be okay with it. He/she might be the nicest guy in the world, but eventually the natural trials of life will test the strength of the relationship. The different approaches to solving the problems we are both facing will inevitably cause tension and friction in our relationship. A weak belief system will not be able to handle this wear and tear leading to a relationship break down.

With a little bit of thought and honesty you can see why God commands not to be unequally yoked. However, the question that I have heard a few times now is whether you can be unequally yoked, spiritually miss matched, with someone who is a Christian. I think that it is possible. Coming back to my earlier example of being in a relationship with someone of a different belief, there are lifestyle choices that are attached and connected to your spiritual commitment to God, that will influence the life choices you make. Now imagine you are both Christians, but one of us has a different understanding. Theological differences existed in the bible, too. Just read the book of Acts and you’ll see members of the early church and even some of the apostles disagreeing over scriptures. It’s important to make sure you believe in the same things and understand the bible in the same way.

So, yes, unequal yoked to an unbeliever can include being in the same religion but still having differences in beliefs. A Christian can still have his or her idols, such as alcohol, sex, past relationships and other hidden sins or past habits that are difficult to shake. Yes, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but when we make a habit of sinning we are forsaking relationship with him. Our relationship with God is the foundation for our relationship with our spouse, because it is intended to be a reflection of what we have with God.

My sweet Valentine, how Far is too Far?

Love is in the air! It’s thick and almost tangible. All the love songs on the radio tell us to get it on tonight. The retailers encourage us to seize the day and incentivise us with great sales. With the whole world telling us to translate every feeling we feel into action and gratify our pleasure glands with every desire, where do we draw the boundary lines? 

There is that dreaded question that is always asked at every singles seminar or conference, especially when the topic of sex and abstinence comes up. I’m always praying nobody asks, because it gets awkward very quickly amidst all the pre-adolescent euphemisms and the desire of the singles who want explicit and clear boundaries laid when they ask, “how far is too far?”. There is always one person who asks this question. Actually, I wish I could say that this is the single most awkward inquiry made at this sort of events (sadly, it isn’t).

This is the question a single person asks only because they think that they might have taken it too far with someone either physically or emotionally and want to clear their conscience of the guilt that is weighing on them. Of course, I think that it”s important to know where the boundaries are; every Christian single should know the boundaries. We should all live with the consciousness of  always wanting to honour God.
Yet, the question, I think, is far more suggestive than that. It implies a desire to know how much you can get away with without falling into sin. You are living on the edge and will only end up falling of the cliff. God will surely catch us when we fall, but He would rather not have us tempt Him in this way (Luke 4:12).

The problem with this line of inquiry is that rather than submitting our desires under the authority of God and managing these desires and appetites, we want the word of God – our standard for living and the authority – to conform to our earthly/ physical desires. If we can find a scripture that supports how far we want to go then we’ll hold unto that scripture and use it to support our actions. In doing so we run the risk of taking the scriptures out of its intended context. What’s even worse is that we often take the absence of an issue in the bible to mean that it’s okay to do something, when it really isn’t the case. 

A good example of this is the issue of kissing; is an unmarried couple allowed to kiss? Is kissing permissible in a dating relationship? There are those who say ‘yes’ and there are those who emphatically say ‘no’. This is one of those issues where the bible is silent on, but I have heard people misuse Paul’s words by saying, that we should greet each other with a holy kiss, so it is okay for two dating people to kiss [Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26].  This is obviously a misuse of that verse, as the context had nothing to do with dating or romantic or erotic love. In fact, Paul was encouraging them to uphold their purity, dignity and honour of each other as they love each other in a non-romantic way.  

When it comes to honouring God and seeking first His will for our lives, the question should never be how far is too far. Instead, it should be how much more can I honour God with my actions and behaviour? How much more can I give up? How much more can I honour and respect this person I am in a relationship with? In what more ways can we promote holiness and preserve the sanctity of our physical bodies (the temple of God)?  
This is what God’s word says to this:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.                                                                            (Romans 12:1-2)

God wants us to live sacrificially, which means that we will make daily sacrifices concerning our wants and desires, always presenting ourselves as honourable vessels before him. But in verse two, God let’s us know that there is no way we can be holy and acceptable before Him with our bodies, if we do not renew our minds. Our thinking will inform what we do and there is no way on earth, as long as we are alive, that we will ever do anything without our bodies being involved. If I am already thinking how far is too far, it means that I am playing with the ideas of wanting more rather than allowing my mind to be introduced to the ideas of true sacrifice. 

When our minds are renewed by the word of God, that is Christ, our old mind is being exchanged for the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). The mind of Christ thinks sacrificially how it can give more, rather than thinking how much it can get or what it can get away with. Sacrificial living and thinking means having a mindset that is willing to give up anything at the instance of it being required.

We can celebrate LOVE today because God gave us everything. He went far beyond the limits of what the princes of this world thought he could, just to prove His undying love for us. If there is anything we can learn from the life of Christ then it is this; nothing proves the presence of love more than sacrifice. 

Tiny Gifts with Big Impacts

As Christians we know what the meaning of Christmas is. We might need to be reminded of what the reason behind our gift giving and celebration is, but we generally know what it means to celebrate Christ’s birth. Whether the 25th December was actually His birthday or not doesn’t matter in the broader scheme of things. What matters is that the promise of God to humanity was finally fulfilled with the birth of Jesus. All things in perspective, I think that the more complex problem we face on a yearly basis is what we should give as gifts for Christmas. I know that I am busy trying to come up with some nice gift ideas and it’s proving to be a little difficult. 

I’m working with a tight budget this year, but will like to give my friends and family gifts that have a personal touch and that will be useful. Giving gifts for me are always an opportunity for me to appreciate the people in  my life. I always want my gifts to communicate meaningful things to the recipients. In thinking about what I can give, I thought about the small things that we sometimes do that go a long way, which reminded me of how active early Christians were when it came to giving. Giving in the early church was a regular and well exercised practice, today we look for excuses not to give, especially to the local church. Paul celebrated the Macedonian Church for their willingness and gladness to give even though they were poor and needy (2 Corinthians 8:1-6). As I began to think about this I realized that not having is not a suitable excuse not to give. These people were poor but still gave and even begged to give. I also note the immense generosity in which they gave. They could not have given gold, silver and precious stone, but their given was still impactful, because they generously shared what they had. Generousity is not measured by how much you have to give, but by your willingness to give what you have. 

I’m also reminded of the little boy with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. He gave little and it became enough to feed five thousand men, alongside an additional number of children and women plus enough to spare. It doesn’t say, but if the little boy were to be compensated for what he gave, he would have gone home with at least 2 basket full of the 12 basket they collected. What are 5 pieces of bread and 2 fish compared to 12 baskets of food. Sometimes we get so hung up on how little we have that we miss out on the great impact what we have will have on others. What we think is too small, can go a long way in blessing others. 

Just sharing time with a person can do so much. This is one of the reasons the Bible admonishes that we do not forsake assembling and fellowship with one another as believers. Spending time with people goes a long way in communicating love and value to them. 

Thinking about all of this and reading 2 Corinthians 8 again has encouraged me to be more intentional about my giving, not just over this Christmas, but how I give in general. 

In my Feelings…

So, I manage two blogs and got talking to someone about it a while back. I said that one was a Christian blog, and the other did not necessarily have a religious angle or was centered on christian beliefs. I can’t remember exactly the words he used, maybe it was ‘naughty’, but before i could explain he said something  that implied that I had another blog that was a little more loose, a little less holy and a little less christian. I obviously quickly shut down the notion, but at the back of my mind I’ve been playing with the ideas and the underlining concerns that I felt throughout the conversation.

When It comes to faith I’m all in and so are most of the Christians I know. I think that most people won’t sacrifice faith on the alter of secularism, but we may toy with secular ideas and themes, especially when it comes to creative art. As the conversation grew someone else remarked that they would definitely still write and release non christian songs and content. The reason they gave was because they felt that emotions are part of life and and are meant to be expressed. The implication obviously being that christian music is too restrictive for the expression of certain emotions. Interesting!

My believe that we worship God and love him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strengths. In other words, all we are consumed and aware of His presence in our lives that He is all we feel. God can and will overwhelm our emotions if we allow Him. But aside from this I honestly think that we are free to express all our emotions to Him in worship and praise. Like a parent wants their child to come to them with their emotions in the same way God wants us to come to Him with or deepest feelings.

I guess some people will struggle with this idea, as there are some feelings we would much rather our parents did not know. But God already knows what we feel and desire. Even the secret feelings. When we bring them into the light we gain perspective and learn to bring our emotions under the authority of God.

Elijah went to God with feelings of sadness, weariness, weakness, suicidal thoughts and depression and he heard from God, gained perspective and became re-energized (1 Kings 19). The woman with the Alabaster box (Mary Magdalene) came with guilt, sin and shame before God and poured it all out in worship before God and she was forgiven (Luke 7: 37-39)

Good things happen when we bring our honest and sincere feelings to the alter of worship. He might scold us and chastise us, but we can feel His love and acceptance. He will never leave us without His blessing. He won’t let us go naked.

King David wrote songs reflecting his distress, and His feelings of God forsaking him, but his psalm ended in praise. Solomon wrote songs and poems of love, marriage and intimacy.

We are immersed all the way, death, resurrection and ascension, in Christ Jesus and totally grafted in Him. We need to remember this when we create. God will inspire us with the right words when we let Him all the way into our feelings.

 

You don’t need another Sacrifice!

In the old days people made blood sacrifices to atone for their sins and to gain the approval of God. New testament Christians do not have to do this anymore as Jesus came as the final and ultimate sacrifice, forever taken away any accusations that stand against us, paying the price for our penalty with His precious blood, once and for all.

However, we even with this awareness still seek out sacrifices that we can make to gain the approval of God, often because of the guilt of hidden sins or unintentional sins that exist in our lives. John the Baptist addresses this whilst preaching against the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They had come to be baptised along with the multitude of others who also came to be baptised. John stops them and says to them,

Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart]. (Matthew 3:8 AMP)

His words come across as being quite harsh and uncalled for, seeing that they came for the exact same purpose everyone else came. They were not doing anything wrong so why scold them so heavily? The scolding came out of the fact that the religious leaders were simply coming to the baptism as another religious activity and by implication to win the favor of God by appearing righteous. Yet, they were not displaying a character that was consistent with repentance.

How many of us seek deliverance services, prophetic words and prayer meetings to deal with the issues in our lives and to cover the shame and guilt that eats at us inside? We often think that the solution is in coming to church regularly, participating in all the activities and shouting ‘Amen’ to every word will bring the transformation we want to see in our lives. We queue up for prayers and sign up for outreach events and volunteering, when what we really need to do is truly repent in our hearts and bear the fruits that are consistent with repentance.

All of these other things like attending prayer meetings and even seeking out deliverance and prophetic counsel are good and important. They certainly have their place. But more importantly, what God wants from us is that we bear the fruits of repentance. That means that when we repent we become aware of our position in God and walk in a way that reflects our spiritual statues. God gives us the position of sons and daughters, but it is our responsibility to represent and grow into this position as well as possible. He wants us to bear the fruits of the spirit, which is not measured by our ability to speak in tongues, but in our relationship and dealing with people.

For anything to bear fruit, it needs to be planted, watered, nurtured, the ground needs to be tilled and the plant needs to be watched and cared for as required. In other words, it takes active work and effort on our path to make sure we bear the fruits we are required to.

There is no amount of prophecy, word of knowledge, wisdom or deliverance that can make us bear the fruits of repentance that God requires to see in us to release the blessings that He has for us. A tree that is mature will bear the fruits of its type. An Apple tree that is mature will bear fruits every year according to its season. There are certain blessings God cannot give us not because, we aren’t delivered, or because we don’t participate in religious disciplines, but simply because we are not yet bearing fruits that are consistent with what we say. What we are declaring and confessing we are is not consistent with what we do and how we act towards others. God wants consistency from us.

Let us daily take sincere outward steps as signs of our inward repentance so that the fruits we bear can attract others to the knowledge of Christ. And faithful is He to keep us from falling or slipping in our demonstration of Him.

Prayer and Hearing God

In my last post I touched on the process of practicalising our worship through thanksgiving, using my stuck in traffic scenario.

Firstly, I’d like to add that worship is a deliberate act expressed through behaviours and gestures and not a spontaneous moment lead by feelings and emotions. It is a [practical] lifestyle not an occasion or event or a segment within a church service. Importantly, it is a form of prayer to God, which Jesus highlights in Luke 11:2. (Our father who art in Heaven hallowed be your name.)

The beautiful thing about prayer is not only that God hears us but he also speaks to us. It is a conversation between you and God and not a monologue directed at God or soliloquy spoken out into the atmosphere. Hearing from God is the most exciting thing and also one of the main things that keep you coming back to the place of prayer. Unfortunately, people don’t wait to experience that part.

I have found that as I have grown in my Faith and continued in prayer I hear God better and much quicker and I get answers through the most unexpected mediums, sometimes almost instantly. It was not always like this. I sometimes still find that I have to seek and wait for my answers, but more often than not I enjoy a well paced flowing conversation with God  more regularly that I used to. So what changed and how did I get here?

I’ll use my experience of today as an example. So, I’ve been mulling over some information I got at work and I was wondering if I should pursue the idea. I muttered a few prayers while eating my yogurt and left it knowing that I would get directions about what to do next. On my way back to my desk I looked through my Instagram feed (praise God for Instagram) and the first post I saw said this “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for”, in bold black colours. In the caption it had Matthew 7:7. This was the answer I needed. To confirm this (out of the mouth of one or more witnesses will God confirm his word – 2 Corinthians 13:1), I saw another scripture based post taken from Romans 8:31, which says if God be for us who can be against us. This was a clear direction as to what I needed to do. I knew it was God because it spoke directly to my situation and what wasn’t sure I was meant to do and it was also confirmed. I instantly felt the courage and the opportunity for me to ask opened up.

Even before I prayed whilst eating my cherry yogurt I sensed God telling me not to be afraid, to take the plunge and not allow fear to get in the way of my progress. My prayer was only a continuation of the conversation that was already taken place in the spirit (the heavenly realms) and I was apart of.

About ten years ago I didn’t have this experience and if I did, I was too unaware to have noticed it. The more your spirit engages in the conversations of the Spirit, the more you learn to assimilate the conversations of heaven and pick up the signals that are being transmitted to you.

I can hear God better and quicker now because for a long time I deliberately listened out for God, trying to distinguish his voice from the many other voices I was exposed to.

Practical Worship

Situations such as heavy traffic are designed to test and strengthen your godly character.

You wake up in the morning get dressed, feeling good, looking like heavy bling and then you get out of the house only to discover that traffic has built up outside your house and you can’t get out of your road let alone into town to catch your train. You try to walk and catch up with the bus in front, but the driver refuses to open the door, mouthing something like he is in the middle of the road and not at the bus stop. Then he turns the other way, brings out his sandwich and takes a hearty bit.

When you prayed this morning, you were not given the update about traffic making you late for work. Maybe if you had been informed you would have set out much earlier and arrived ontime. Maybe even a little earlier to impress your manager. But you’re not impressed. In your head the verse of the day is ringing, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoce and be glad in it”. So you force yourself to smile and not join in with the building crowed that is murmuring and complaining about the situation.

It’s hard, but you know you have to give thanks in all things. So, you internalize a prayer of thanks. You think about it and role over it in your mind until you are able to verbalize it and formulate it into words. Slowly but surely you realize it isn’t such a big deal and you find yourself thanking God you were not in the car crash that caused the traffic in the first place. Your thanksgiving some how made you see the bigger picture. That maybe your safty is more important than being on time to work. That your punctuality was given in exchange for your perfect peace and protection. That providence wasn’t sleeping when it heard your prayers sending the presence of God ahead to make rough paths plain.

Sometimes something as trivial as traffic can be big enough to cause an obstacle to your worship, but “I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise”.

This is worship in Practice.

Psalm 118 and Prayer: Thanking, Asking, Declaring

God in his word commands that in all things we must give thanks (Ephesians 5:20). This can be really challenging when we are faced with problems for which we need solutions, and needs we desperately want met. The Psalmist, I think, is brilliant in how he combines thanksgiving with petitioning and declaration. He combines praise with his petition and declarations, based on his confidence in God, with thanksgiving to God. The Psalmist shows a God-awareness and a God-consciousness, that sets God’s will and omnipotence at the center of his prayer and the situation he finds himself in.

God’s place is always meant to be at the center of our lives, problems, hopes and aspirations. This God consciousness should influence our perspective causing us to defer back to God. After many points of thanksgiving and declarations he adds a sacrificial offering to his prayer, which he binds with cords to the horns of the alter.

The horn of the alter is the might, strength and power of the alter. Every alter has a horn. By tying his sacrifice to the horn, he makes God his source of strength and power.

He secures the backing of God when he proclaims that he will destroy the nations  against him (his adversaries) in the name of the Lord. He makes the name of the Lord work for him through this act of binding.

This sacrifice is a living sacrifice, because he does not ask for it to be burnt or pierced in the manner in which sacrifices were made. Implicitly, the psalmist himself is the sacrifice. This is a prophetic act as the concept of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices is not totally established until after Christ. Our ability to be a living sacrifice is based on the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. The psalmist prophetically speaks in anticipation of what will be possible through Christ Jesus, the stone the builders rejected.

When we tie ourselves, our bodies and our souls to the alter we make God the source of our strength and power and because he can never run dry he must supply us with the strength we need.

For he will supply all your needs according to his riches in Glory. (Philippians 4:19)

What great news that our power supply is connected to the omnipotence of our God! The more we demand the more He supplies. Just like this Psalmist let us resolve to build on our demand daily, so he can supply to us daily, according to our need.

So, when we Pray,

  1. we pray with awareness and confidence that God is holding our lives and is listening to us.
  2. we pray with hearts filled with thanksgiving and appreciation on our lips.
  3. we pray making declarations based on his words and promises to us – in sync with God’s heart.
  4. we pray with the earnest fervency of all our faith, knowing that we are willing to make the sacrifice for what we are asking.
  5. we pray for the Holy Spirit because he is our supply
  6. and when we pray we pray daily.

Psalms 118    

(Praying in Thanksgiving, in praise, declaration and prophecy asking but always thanking God.)

1Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

2Let Israel now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

3Let the house of Aaron now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

4Let those who fear the Lord now say,

“His mercy endures forever. “

 

5I called on the Lord in distress;

The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

6The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

7The Lord is for me among those who help me;

Therefore I shall see my desires on those who hate me.

 

8It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

9It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

 

10All nations surrounded me,

But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

11They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me:

But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

12They surrounded me like bees; they were quenched like a fire of thorns;

For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

13You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the Lord helped me.

14The Lord is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation.

15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

16The right hand of the Lord is exalted;

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

 

17I shall not die, but live, And the declare the works of the Lord.

18The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

19Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord.

20This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter.

21I will praise you,

for you have answered me, and have become my salvation.

22The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

23This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.

24This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

 

25Save now I pray, O Lord;

O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

27God is the Lord, And he has given us light;

Bind the sacrifice with Cords to the Horns of the alter. 

28 You are my God, and I will praise you.

You are my God, I will exalt you.

29Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

 

New King James Version   © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. 

 

The Fire Maker

God is in the business of taking our little and making it great. But often times we put God out of business by doing too much and going beyond the bounds of our responsibility.
A man told the story of coming home one day and being asked by his five year old daughter if they could make a fire in the fire place. They put all the things together in the fire place and started the spark. The final step was to blow until the flames catch. The little Miss had seen it done before and wanted to try. As she blew there was more spit coming out of her mouth than air. Her blowing if anything was quenching the spark. Eventually, though the fire started. This little girl was excited that she started her first fire. And if she should tell the story she would tell everyone what she did and how she did it. She would talk about how hard she worked at blowing. She would maybe talk about the right angle to blow from, how to pout with your lips for the optimum reliese of breath, and the right distance to keep for effective fire making. She might even start a seminar and produce a bestselling fire making book.

Here is the thing she didn’t know, while she was blowing, her father was right behind her matching her feeble blows with his much stronger one.

Yes, work as hard as you can. Do your best, but remember your best efforts cannot bring you the results you hope to see only God can bring that kind of increase.
‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. ‘ I Corinthians 3:6-7