Trust in God

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5

Trusting God can be very easy in seasons of plenty but challenging during difficult times.When we face challenges or when things don’t go according to plan, our level of trust and confidence in God is put to the test. Little wonder the wise one needed to remind us that trust is essential if we want to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. Trusting in God means putting our faith in Him completely. It means acknowledging that we don’t have all the answers and that we need His help to navigate through life’s challenges. When we trust in God, we are surrendering control over our lives to Him, knowing that He will guide us towards what is best for us. He always knows what is best for us, God is our best driver of our destiny but as humans with human tendencies, sometimes we may want to exercise our control or free will to choose that which we believe is best for us. Letting go of our control over our lives can be quite challenging and difficult and that is when we ‘lean on our own understanding’.

But the wise one, warns against leaning on our own understanding, against relying solely on our own knowledge or experience instead of seeking wisdom from God. Often, when faced with difficult decisions or situations, it’s tempting to rely on our own intuition or logic rather than seeking guidance from above. Relying solely on ourselves can lead us astray. Our human understanding is limited and flawed; only God has perfect knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, if we truly want to make wise decisions and live a purposeful life, it’s essential that we seek His guidance above all else.

Trusting God should be with all our hearts. The heart represents not only our emotions but also our innermost desires and motivations. Trusting in God with all our hearts means committing ourselves fully to Him – not just intellectually but also emotionally. When we truly trust in God with all our hearts, there’s no room for doubt or fear. We know that He will always guide us towards what is best for us, even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable. This kind of trust requires vulnerability and surrender, but it also brings great rewards – peace, joy, and a sense of purpose.

Trusting in God is not just a one-time decision; it’s a daily choice. Each day presents new challenges and opportunities to either trust in God or rely on our own understanding. Therefore, we must make the conscious effort to choose trust every day. This means spending time with God through prayer and reading His Word. It means seeking wisdom from Him before making decisions instead of relying solely on our own understanding. It means choosing to see the world through His eyes rather than our own limited perspective.

Hence we ought to surrender control over our lives to God completely and seek His guidance above all else. Therefore let us make the daily choice to put our faith in Him completely so that we can experience the fullness of life He has planned for us.

Praise is Pleasant

Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God, for praise is pleasant and lovely. Psalm 147:1

How good is it really to praise God? If the psalmist said it is a pleasant thing to do, we may ask, pleasant for who? For the praised or the one that praises, that is God or man? Singing praises comes from a grateful heart, it comes out of joy and deep appreciation of gift or service received. So, that is what makes praise pleasant, because it naturally comes from a place of joy and happiness. And so Christians should be God’s praise singers at every opportunity because God indeed gladdens our heart, and has given us an eternal gift of his son. He not only gave us his son, but he blesses us daily. He prepares a table before us, in the presence of our enemies, and his goodness and mercies shall follow us for all the days of our lives. You see why the Psalmist could see praise as a pleasant adventure? Because he understood the goodness of God, because it is only right to praise the one who blesses, cares, nurtures and protects his people. Praise is indeed pleasant.

Praising our God is not only a beautiful act of worship, but also an expression of our love for Him. When we raise our voices in praise and gratitude, we are demonstrating our devotion to God and forming a deep bond with Him. We acknowledge that God loved us first and sacrificed himself for us, and in doing so, we affirm Him as our ultimate king and ruler, the source of all blessings in our lives. Praising God fills our hearts with joy and helps us to better understand His greatness and love. It is indeed a wonderful thing to praise our God and to show our love for Him through worship and song.

When we praise God, we are recognizing His sovereignty over all things, and expressing our trust and reliance on Him. It is a declaration of faith and an acknowledgement of His power and grace. Our praise acts as an offering of thanks for all that He has done for us, and for all the blessings He continues to bestow upon us. By praising Him, we are expressing our gratitude for His love, mercy, and provision. Moreover, praising God has a profound impact on our own lives as well. It lifts our spirits, renews our hope, and brings peace to our hearts. It also helps us to cultivate a more positive outlook and attitude, and strengthens our faith. When we praise God, we are aligning our hearts and minds with His will and purpose, and allowing His love and light to shine brighter in our lives. 

Praising God is a powerful act of worship, and an expression of our love and gratitude for Him. It strengthens our relationship with God, brings joy to our hearts, and transforms our lives. Let us praise the Lord always, and give thanks to Him for all He has done and continues to do in our lives.

That Your Faith Might Not Rest On Human Wisdom

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

1 Cor 2:4-5

We love persuasive speakers or orators. Don’t we all love to listen to the people who have their way with words, who can weave threads by the spoken word and make so much sense. Some of those with oratorial powers are motivational speakers. We may listen to them, may have our favourites from among the pool of the rich speakers out there today; speakers who have what it takes to cause people to make changes that can produce better results in life. Most of them possess human wisdom, which produces results. But mere persuasive words of human wisdom cannot go far enough.

Within the kingdom of God, we are not short of men who have their way with words and indeed the word of God. Now, while oratorial power is great and desirable for public speakers, it is important to reflect on the preaching of the gospel especially today. What greater example could we look at than the apostle Paul. Though not blessed with oratorial prowess, we see that his message was not about enticing words but more about hope and trust in Christ, more about having faith in God, more about inviting people to a relationship with God through Christ.

When he, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he made it clear that he did not use enticing or persuasive words to convince them to believe in God. He made it clear that it was not because of his oratorial prowess, although he wasn’t as great a speaker as he was a writer (2 Cor 11:6). He mentioned that he was not called to oratory or eloquence. He admitted that the reason for this was so that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power (1 Cor 1:17). We can deduce that this was deliberate, remember when he said that God’s power is made perfect in weakness? Certainly, this must have been one of the aspects where God’s power overshadowed him. His work of the ministry saw him raise Eutychus from the dead, cast out demons, shake off a viper and lived when onlookers expected him to die. The power of God was indeed highlighted and brought to the fore in these and many other circumstances, his writings has encouraged many believers over centuries now.

So, the gospel as shown by Paul is meant to showcase the power of God and faith is built on hearing the great things that God has done in the past and is promising to those who believe. Chief among these promises is the promise of eternal life. Our faith is meant to be anchored on the power of God not human wisdom. The power that is working in us daily to help us to conform to the image of the invisible son of God and rid ourselves of self-will and/or iniquity. The power that can convince others to come to Christ through the spreading of the word. The power that helps our weaknesses.

We can have faith in God’s power to deliver on his promises. In every aspect of our earthly life, we can have faith in the one true God. The one through whom we live, move, and have our being. The one who has called us his people even when we were not a people of his. So, this is where our faith should rest and not on human wisdom.

Jesus, Highest Heaven’s Completeness

Jesus, highest heaven’s completeness,

Name of music to the ear,

To the lips surpassing sweetness,

Wine the fainting heart to cheer.

Eating Thee, the soul may hunger,

Drinking, still athirst may be;

But for earthly food no longer,

Nor for any stream but Thee.

Jesus, all delight exceeding,

Only hope of heart distrest;

Weeping eyes and spirit mourning

Find in Thee a place of rest.

Stay, O Beauty uncreated,

Ever ancient, ever new;

Banish deeds of darkness hated,

With Thy sweetness all bedew.

Jesus, fairest blossom springing

From a maiden ever pure,

May our lips Thy praise be singing

While eternal years endure.

(BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, and ROBERT CAMPBELL)

The Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. – Matt 5:3

What’s good about poverty? In the physical aspect of life, poverty is not great, but spiritually, Jesus desired that his followers be poor in spirit. But why? Perhaps, poverty works out humility in man, perhaps it is in the state of poverty and lack, that one can truly reflect on the verities of life. Perhaps in the embers of dearth lies the desire for growth. 

On the other hand, the splendors of riches and wealth far too often make people proud. And God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. There is such a strong reason why the Lord spoke of how hard or impossible it is for the rich to inherit the kingdom of heaven.  

Not that God does not want his children to be prosperous, far from it. He is the one that gives us power to make wealth. The apostle John desired above all things that God’s children should prosper and be in good health. A similar principle is evident when it comes to knowledge. We can only come to faith through the knowledge of God via faith of course. But the apostle Paul remarked that Knowledge puffs up, it very easily does, nevertheless, God wants us to acquire knowledge, most importantly the knowledge of God which produces faith, righteousness, joy, peace, and the like. To acquire knowledge or wealth, one must first recognize the need to do so and then pursue it.

So, let’s look again at that spiritual poverty in the same light. Poverty of the spirit produces humility; it helps one to recognize one’s need for the saviour. It brings about a strong yearning to be filled. If we believe that we are filled with the spirit and the word of God already, it may become difficult to yearn for more, not that it is impossible.

Jesus was very clear when he spoke about poverty of the spirit, showing it to be a desirable trait. We must all aim for it; we must do everything to recognise our spiritual poverty that should in turn produce a yearning to be filled by God. It should produce the humility that makes one surrender to the all-powerful and mighty hand of God. It is in this position of absolute surrender that ordinary men become one with God in spirit. It is what helps in the renewal of the mind; what helps us understand that we cannot achieve any remarkable thing by ourselves. It is what God truly desires, that is, all of Him and none of self.

Being poor in spirit produces a yearning that God longs to meet. God longs for us to yearn for him, to desire for him in a way that we totally forget about who we are but embrace who he wants us to be, one with God in spirit, body, and soul. For that to happen, we can only always pray that God himself will daily inspire us to yearn for him and to humble ourselves before him, to attain this lofty spiritual height.

THAT I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION

The knowledge of God is truly essential to all humans. For the Christian, we can say that we know him. Although our level of knowledge is different from person to person. The Apostle Paul was one who knew God and Christ at a very personal level. The Lord appeared to him and spoke to him upon his conversion; he also had many experiences of divine guidance. So, he is an example of one who KNEW the Lord. But beyond this, Paul knew much more. He knew that knowledge puffs up (1 Cor 8:1-2). One can become proud because of the knowledge that he or she has been able to acquire, including the knowledge of the Lord and his ways. In Paul’s example his heart and desire could be seen through the things he wrote down. He sought something beyond knowledge, and that is the resurrection power and sharing in the fellowship of the suffering that brought about the resurrection.

Before we talk about the resurrection power, we must mention the willingness of Christ to lay down his life. You see, there could never be a resurrection power without the willingness to go to the cruel cross. The power comes from the willingness. Little wonder Paul also mentioned this in his writing to the Philippians 2:8-11, about how Christ humbled himself to death and from thence came exaltation, where he has been given a name that is above every other name that at the mention of the name of Jesus every knee must bow. Christians, we are called to do the same, humble ourselves in similar fashion. Ours might not be to the point of death although some Christians find themselves in those positions even today, but it is important to yield our will to him.

So, knowing God and Christ should not be all that we seek to achieve, for it is but a start of a glorious journey with the Lord. Beyond knowledge lies the understanding of the resurrection power and having fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. In Paul’s case he wanted to be conformed to His death. What does it mean to be conformed to the death of Christ? Well, this is seen in total surrender; Christ had the power to say no to death, yet he chose to die because of us. Conforming to his death is to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, it is to surrender ourselves fully to the will of God. It is to live a transformed live. It is to count all things but loss for the sake of the knowledge of Christ – Phil 3:8-9. Something must give, in order to gain this knowledge. We only lose other things to gain this knowledge and gain with it a glory and amazing promises that outweighs the losses. Also, we gain, true transformation into the image of God.

A transformed life is a testament of the resurrection power. It is through transformation that the resurrection power is seen in action. It is that power that transforms us and gives us the grace to obey. Because we cannot obey God on our own. We can but allow the spirit of God in us to so work in our hearts to yield to God every day and by so doing witness the amazing power of resurrection. We can only pray that God helps us to seek him beyond peripheral knowledge but to walk daily in a manner that expresses the resurrection power and a fellowship of His suffering.

Freedom in Christ

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”

– Acts 13:38-39

When the scriptures speak about freedom, it speaks about it alongside sin to show a contrast. It also says that everyone who believes in Christ is set free from sin. So, sin is the monster here. Sin is that which keeps people in bondage, when it grabs hold of anyone, it tortures, it damages people, friendship, family, relationships, trust. It ruins everything that is good.

To better understand freedom, we need to understand bondage. The contrasting nature of the two terms makes it important to appreciate them both. The same way that having a full understanding of poverty makes us appreciate abundance better. When it comes to sin/bondage and freedom in Christ, I guess you could rightly say that we have ALL sinned and come short of the glory of God – Rom 8:23. So, everyone has lived through the consequences and/or bondage of sin. That is whether in the past or in the present. Make no mistake, sin keeps people in bondage. When it grabs hold of anyone, it seeks to destroy them and nothing less. And we were all in the bondage of sin until Christ came and took away all our sins. He died to help us gain freedom. The famous hymn writer did say that “where sin has gone, must go his grace”.  

Notice that, Christ only just sets free the ones who believe. It would be amazing for everyone to be set free and yes, God acknowledges and wants that. Nevertheless, he also appreciates the gift of free will that he gave us all. We are within our rights to exercise that and believe in him to appropriate our own freedom.

So, having been set free by Christ.  What does this freedom mean to us? Well, the apostle Paul said this when writing to the Corinthians – I have the right to do anything —but I will not be mastered by anything”.

Freedom means that we are no longer aliens before God, it makes us the temple of God, where the holy spirit dwells. In essence, it gives us the presence of God. It unites and makes us one with God. It makes us into children of God and if children, then we become heirs to the throne along with Christ. Isn’t that awesome. Yes, that is what freedom does for us, it also gives us boldness to approach the throne of God to ask for help in times of need and whenever, really. What does that freedom mean to you? It means everything, my life, my all if you ask me!  And to what end did Christ give us this freedom which came at a great cost to heaven? Well, that is simple, to the end that we may glorify the one who made us. It is our entire duty on earth, remember! So, let us use our freedom in Christ to glorify the one who called us!

God makes all things beautiful in their time

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.

– Ecclesiastes 3:11

In designing everything, God made sure that each work of his creation is beautiful for its time and purpose. When he had finished creating everything, he looked back and admired his work that he had carefully crafted. The psalmist said, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”, we all are. Another beautiful observation may be seen in the gospel of Matthew 6 when the scripture talks about adornment; that Solomon in all his glory was not adorned as beautifully as the lilies in the valley. Oh, how interesting! So that means that among the characters in the bible at that time, no one was comparable to Solomon in terms of a sense of fashion, adornment; that is perhaps one aspect of Solomon’s life that is not talked about much!!! Little wonder people trooped to his palace to admire not just his wisdom but to also see him in his full glory. Yet, the lilies are much more beautiful in comparison to Solomon’s glory, wow!

So, then, if God makes all things beautiful in its own time. This also lends credence to there being a time for everything or shall we say a ‘right’ time for everything. In the right moments in time, things that seem dull or seem inconceivable become inevitably beautiful. And we know the one who never misses a tick of time. We know the one who was before the beginning of time and will be there until the very end. We know that he is a master planner who is perfect in his timing of events and can never get any of it wrong. Ever noticed that when the time is not yet right for a thing, things may not seem very beautiful or great but at the right time, things just tend to align themselves well.

God does make everything beautiful in its time. But his right time may not be our right time most often and hence why we get frustrated when things or life does not seem to go the way we want or move as smoothly as we would want or even at the kind of pace that we hope for. In the end, one thing is certain, in God’s time all things are made beautiful and dare we say perfect. And what lesson is there for us to learn of our God? Well, trusting his timing for all aspects of our lives and needs. Trusting that he will meet all our needs according to his riches in glory, in his time of course.

The Place of Godly Sorrow

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

2 Cor 7:10

Godly sorrow is what leads to repentance.

The sorrowful state – is the state where one recognises one’s humanity and imperfections which helps in surrendering to a perfect God for his cleansing power.

Sorrow is an age-old concept. Some in the past as well as in the present mourn the departure of loved ones. Some people mourned for the state of their nation/community e.g., Jeremiah, Nehemiah. Some even used sackcloth and ashes in the mourning process. This is significant because it represents how one sees oneself, mere ash, dirty, incontinent, irresponsible even. The place of sorrow is a place of lowly self-discovery. A place of total surrender. It is a vulnerable place, where you consider yourself vulnerable and at the mercy of someone greater or you reminisce the loss of a loved one.

Godly sorrow recognises one’s sinful state and hence one’s gaping distance from God. The place of godly sorrow is the place/state where ego dies, a place where pride falls and humility takes over

We cannot be sorrowful when we do not recognise the depravity of our sinful nature. The fact that we cannot be righteous of our own accord but through Jesus Christ.

One of the hardest things to do is to recognise the need for repentance if we do not recognise where we erred. So, how then do we recognise when we are in the wrong? Some might say, conscience but conscience can become seared and incapable of acting like that moral compass it is meant to be. This often happens in the garden of repeated erring. When we’ve binged on a behaviour or action, we gradually learn to justify it and make excuses for it.

Oh, its just me, that’s the way I talk, doing it makes me happy even if it’s a momentary happiness, I was born this way, there is nothing I or anyone can do about it.

Sound familiar right? I’m sure if you reflect on yourself you might consider a few examples within your life where you had learned to justify a bad habit or choice. Some might say that conscience is malleable and so cannot really be the definite guide to good behaviour and a source for justification before God. Sometimes, people ask us to follow your heart or your instincts, again, the heart can be deceiving and our instincts may lead us wrongly or we may not be able to always follow the leading of our instincts.

That is why there is need for an external and unchangeable compass or yardstick from where to measure all actions. That is the place of the word of God. It is eternal, unchangeable, and perfect. It has remained the same for generations even through enormous societal changes in morals. Different societies accept certain practices while some either grow to accept it or resent it. The bible offers an impartial guide for all ages.

Hence, it is that perfect place to measure our life and progress against.

I guess the other point is that the bible isn’t always read by all, even Christians. That’s why the Hebrew writer admonished that we do not fail to assemble ourselves together to stir one another up to love and good deeds – Hebrews 10:24-25.

The bible will usually point us to the need for repentance. It shines like a bright light on our sinful spots and illuminate it enough to create the needed awareness. Sometimes someone else might be in a place to speak to our areas of need for repentance. The begging question then is about how we handle that. How do we react to other people who try to ‘correct’ or offer some guidance?

It is not easy when we think that we are being told off or being told what to do partly because we grow up and live in a society that glorifies self-knowledge and self-directed living to the point where any external influence or voice that disagrees with our choices are seen in bad light. Most modern societies and worldviews advocate for the individual to be self-aware and be knowledgeable to take personal responsibilities for his successes and perhaps failures. This individualism or individualistic world view is on the rise perhaps to the detriment of society. A view that seems to lead to a decline in communal living and with the aid of modern technology has led some individuals down the rabbit hole of ‘self-disfunction’.

Hence, we all find ourselves in a particularly difficult situation if we notice that someone has done something wrong. We wonder how to tell them that they are wrong, we think so much about whether such individual will be ‘offended’ by our words or attempt at pointing out their mistakes. Because, if we are not careful, popular phrases gets thrown around like ‘who are you to judge me’, and perhaps ‘what about you, have you removed the log of wood in your eye before trying to point out the spec in another person’s eye’?

But let’s face it, we naturally have egos that are bruised when an external person tries to correct us. We feel ashamed, that we’ve been discovered, we feel contempt sometimes. It happens to all of us in different ways. And that’s why it is important to recognise this and then seek to accept rebuke or counsel that comes most of the time from the place of utmost concern, care, and love and not from spite. God indeed wants his children to recognise their wrong and repent as the scripture rightly makes it clear that godly sorrow is what leads to repentance.

O For A Thousand Tongues

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad,
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! The name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

Glory to God, and praise, and love
Be ever, ever given
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)