I am NO VICTIM!

PSALM 34:10 “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”

If your relationship is with your SUPPLIER is good, you’ll never have bad inventory. Suffering lack is not for those of us who are aware of our own identity as the sons and daughters of the Most High God (Ephesians 1:5 “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”).

The children of the King of Kings are not victimised by the fluctuations in the economy. We who know the portion of the promises in store for those who worship God and belong to Him (Psalm 112:1-3 “Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.”), also have the perfect perspective from heaven that fully convinces us of God’s ability to keep His commitments (Jeremiah 1:12 “Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it””). Only with such clairty in the line of our spiritual sight, do we confidently and consistently go to the throneroom everyday, not to beg and plead for a morsel, but to sit at His table and eat from His hand what we know has been prepared freshly just for us (Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread”).

Being God-provisioned is way beyond getting our daily dietary requirements met by God. It is a lifestyle acquired by those who put their belief in the faithfulness of God’s love and choose to rest in Him and in His strength. It’s a place where He joyfully arranges free-flowing food, drink and favor in their lives as an expression of His manner of love toward them (Psalm 36:7-8 “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.”)

God delights in lavishing His love and care upon His own ‘flesh’- for that’s what we are (Ephesians 5:29 “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,”) and He doesn’t find any ask too difficult to fulfill (Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”). The question about the needy and those suffering lack is never about God’s ability or inclination to provide for those that are His, rather it is always about will He be asked, as fathers are by their children. It is those that don’t go to the Father by rightful sonship that often complain that God is partial to some while ignoring others, but the reality is that the Abba Father has never turned away anyone who has lifted their eyes unto Him and asked of Him. It’s delusional to think that created beings know how to bless those that they beget and that He who is their Creator wouldn’t do infinitely more for those that He handcrafted and that depend on Him (Matthew 7:9-11 “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”)

Yes, we are previleged in Christ and we fixate on Him with our lives rotating on the axis of the cross, but we do so for far more than just a filling, and only those that truly seek Him enjoy the enormity of the feast that He has laid up for those that have RSVP’d to His invitation, and trust us – ‘the bread’ is just the sides!

God bless!

Good & Faithful Servant

 

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

God’s servants are watched!! When we are faithful to God in doing His business, our Father in heaven who watches over us celebrates declaring us “good and faithful servants” and those who witness our works will witness our ‘intact testimony ‘– An intact testimony is faithful to the faithfulness of God in our lives.  It cannot be planned and executed with intelligent manipulation or organised efforts, but it is a genuine consequence of God at work in us and His grace toward us (2 Corinthians 1:12 “ For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God….”).  It is impossible to be found faithful in what we do for God without consistence in dependence and intimacy with God because it is only our relationship with Him that produces the fruit of His Holy Spirit in us, and faithfulness is a WHOLE PART of it! (Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”)

Loyal ‘Kingdom pursuits’ are self evident because they are the direct outcome of faithfully submitting to the Holy Spirit working in us and not the outcome of our own creative controls. They will not just be eloquent talks with religious stunts but will actually be the voice of God endorsed by the manifestation of the power of His Spirit. When one is serving God with integrity, in whatever be the capacity, his intentions are to inspire the faith of others in His Master Whom he serves through the service rendered, and not toward adding followers to his own fan base (1 Corinthians 2: 4- 5 “and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God”). 

The works of a good servant of God also bear some classic hallmarks by which they can be identified! Everything that is said and done will boast the name of Jesus Christ and will be a tribute to the Father God  (Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”) When one pursues to serve God faithfully, whatever one does will be out of sincerely fearing God and revering His wondrous work  (1 Samuel 12:24 “ Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. “)

We can be sure that we are faithfully answering our calling when we take our orders only from the Caller and His appointed agents. Nothing and nobody else must have an influence on how we execute what God has called us to do.

The action or inaction of anyone else should not force any reaction from us that is not faithful to the calling with which God has called us .

It is a serious mistake to get ‘under pressure’ from any external or internal forces  and and work anything, however good it may seem, outside of the context of what the voice of  God has instructed us (1 Samuel 13:11-13 “Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I FORCED myself, and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “)

God is always willing to approve our labor of love. Yet, how we please God with what we do has little to do with what is in our hands and more to do with what is in our hearts. If our desire is to meet God’s standards in the work we produce we must also be humble enough to be open to correction and discipline from Him and seek to perfect what we present unto Him, otherwise we are in the peril of opening ourselves to diverse devises of the devil (Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”) There is world of difference between being rewarded for work done in bondage and work done is son-ship. Worldly accolades can earn us brownie points with our earthly bosses whom we slave for, but with God we serve as sons and daughters rather than as slaves. For those who are faithfully carrying on about their Father’s business and work alongside Him under His authority, He has reserved an INHERITANCE and given them unreserved access to it (Luke 15:29,31 “but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends…. And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. “)

Shall we then put our hands to the plow and serve in a Kingdom befitting manner, never turning around and always be found faithful to the Faithful One! Whatever He has entrusted to us whether small or big, seemingly significant or insignificant let us do it faithfully because when we do He will entrust us with more… (Matthew 25:23 “ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’) What a promise!!

God Bless

 

 

 

 

Hiding in Glory

Psalm 91:1 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Mankind has been seeking a hiding place to harbor deepest fears and darkest secrets since the first Adam sinned and lost the glory covering (Genesis 3:7-8 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden”). Adam hid himself from God and from the ensuing judgement that would arise as a consequence to his sin and even today people are hiding from God. The real force against which we need to hide ourselves is Satan and his temptations, for he’s constantly on the lookout for a target who will fall prey to his charms (1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”) The enemy’s intent is that we take one step in disobedience and blow our God-given cover and hide from one another and from God Himself instead of in Him!

It is no wonder then that when one thinks of a hideout, they think of a dimly lit or a non-or illuminated, desolate place where no one is likely to discover them. Some are cleverer still and hide in plain sight by displaying their guilt and shame as nothing more than a mundane occurrence in this big bad world where everything goes and no one would give them a second glance. For those of us who know the good news that Jesus won us back our glorious garment, we also know that we are reinstated to our original hiding place:GOD (Ephesians 5:27 “ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”) The presence of God is better than any other safe-house we can think of on our own to take cover from the principalities and powers of darkness, because in that place is the resounding echo of a victory that has already been won. There is a tune of our escape being at hand in that atmosphere that is not available elsewhere (Psalm 32:7 “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”).

It may be called “shadow”, but it is actually radiant with God’s power.

The very Person of God and His presence to which we are freely given free access to because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, is not a dark dungeon nor is it empty. It is marvelously incandescent with God’s glory and brimming with His awesome power (Habakkuk 3:3-4 “God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.”) Such is the hiding place God wants us to seek, where the pursuer will be blinded by His light and completely undermined by His omnipotence and so will not be able to touch us.  It is also where God’s glory varnishes us to face our challenger (Isaiah 49:2 “..in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.”) He invites us to abandon our worldly and self-made hideouts and make Him our refuge. He desires above all that we tuck ourselves under the fetters of His wings instead of trying to be self-reliant or making war and violence our bunkers or using offence as our defense (Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”)

Our God, seeing that He fashioned us after His own self, has also bequeathed unto us the ability and the means to be a sanctuary to others who are needy and has placed a mighty calling over us that we should be the fetters to His wings taking in a shelter-seeking brother or sister.  For such a ministry as this, He promises that He will light our way and His glory will be our sentinel (Isaiah 58:7-8 “when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”)

Men of the earth seek refuge to protect themselves from harm’s way (that usually means other men of the earth) and hire the services of armed personnel (again, other men of the earth!) in whom they put their trust to guard them. Buildings have watchmen, people have personal bodyguards, even national leaders have entire departments paid with public monies entrusted with the security surveillance and safekeeping of their lives. But, only the children of God can truly identify the real enemy (Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”) and also be completely aware that the target of such an enemy- our flesh, is dead, and what life we have is securely hidden in God with the Only Undefeated One – Jesus Christ, and that it is continually preserved in glory (Colossians 3:3-4 “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”)

God Bless.

 

Excellence In Pursuit of Me!

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose]. [AMP]

There is a tendency to associate the term “Excellent” with nobility or ‘worthy of admiration’. But to define it more accurately would be to say that excellence is supremacy or above ordinary. All that the Lord God has ever made is nothing short of excellent- think ‘CREATION’!, and all of heaven sings praise (Revelation 15:3… “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!”). Whenever God ordains His children to embark upon a project, He endues them with His own Spirit that enables excellent work to proceed out of them for His glory- think Noah and the Ark, Bezalel and the tabernacle, Solomon and the temple (Exodus 31:3 “and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship”).

Excellence is not a skill that we cultivate. It is the Person of God who affiliates with us!! 

Therefore, because it is the Spirit of Excellence from God that guides our hand, it is both possible and principle that our plowing in the Lord’s field be of excellent nature. It would do us well to remember that if we don’t allow ourselves to be pursued and infilled with excellence from God, mediocrity has pursued and possessed us. Mediocrity is not backsliding. It is simply not growing. We often mistake lukewarm with growing cold. It is not that there is no heat, but that the heat is not turned up to a fiery crackle. If we settle for where we are at, what we are currently doing in the Kingdom of God without raising the bar in our “seeking of God”, we are lukewarm and the spirit of mediocrity is at large within us and God is not for mediocre, He is the God of Excellence- El Elyon (God Most High) (Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”)

The proof of the pudding lies in the eating and therefore we must grow to expect potential opportunities at every turn in our daily lives and ministry in which we will be tested for the excellence of Spirit that the Lord has invested in us. Daniel was a mighty prophet who had several such moments to showcase his excellent spirit, which caused him to find favor with kings (Daniel 5:12 “because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation”).  It is the portion of every believer to have the indwelling Spirit of God. Daniel did not only possess an excellent spirit but he also walked in the power of that spirit. Too often we are passive in the area of consciously subjecting  our own spirit to the Spirit of God, resulting in the allowance of the flesh to have a mind of its own. For the excellence of God’s Spirit to be evident we must be ready to walk in and work under the anointing purposefully at all times (Galatians 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”)

The Holy Spirit can only work with spirit, not with the flesh because they are in constant conflict with each other (Galatians 5:17 “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”) We generally tend to perceive ourselves as physical beings possessing the Spirit of God within us, the flesh being attributed with the source of our personality (example: Adam- is Canadian, is male, is a father, is a believer and possesses the Holy Spirit inside him). However, if we plan to excel in the godly work we set out to do, our outlook needs to change. We need to recognize that we are spirit-beings, under the influence of the Spirit of God who works His excellence in our desire and in our ability to do His work, and that we have been given physical bodies to carry out that work. All we need do is “Drive Under the Influence” of the Holy Spirit without “unbelief” which can reveal itself in our cribbing and stubbornness every time we hit a speed-bump on the way (Philippians 2:13-14 “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing”)

Shall we then surrender to God, and seek Him in every attempt that we make to do His work. For in the Kingdom business we cannot achieve His targets with our strenuous efforts and our will-power, but only by His mercy that chases us down! (Romans 9:16 “ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”)

God Bless