Since he got born again, he had been keeping the faith. Trials came but could not pull him down. As Paul put it, he was troubled on every side, yet not distressed; he was perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
Through those years, he swam dangerous waters, fought the fiercest spiritual battle. And now? It seems he is getting tired of the struggles to keep the Christian faith. He even desires a break – may be to taste the other side of life.
Have you felt this way before? Do you know what would happen if you’re left to fulfill your desire? Do you know the havoc devil would inflict on your life within that one minute of lapse? The devil would try to make sure you never rise again.
A taste of the other side of life should never be our desire. If one should delve into it, God forbid, who knows how long it would take to rise again. And even if you rise, the scar might be stigmatizing and this may haunt you throughout your lifetime.
Notwithstanding your circumstances in life, don’t give in to sin and the burden of the devil. Walk with Jesus. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.
– Okenna Igbokwe
It is incredible that people live ordinary lives all through the year and suddenly start expecting things to change remarkably for them just because the calendar shows a new year approaching. I chatted with a number of believers towards the end of last year and in the first week of this year and I heard good resolutions and goals welling up from their minds. But for most believers, a greater number of their goals are about what they wish to achieve for themselves and their families with the help of God. Very few people are specific about what God wants to achieve through them. Interestingly, such people claim to believe that the measure of life is not in its duration, but in its donation.
I have also observed that most believers who think about donating to the world are usually not specific about how they intend to make their donations like they are specific for things they wish to get. For instance, a brother prays to God – “I want to get a job paying 15 million Naira per annum this year”; “I want to buy a Honda Accord 2011 model by June”; but when it comes to the thing that matters most, he says – “God, I want to bless lives this year”.
What does it mean to bless lives? Why are we not specific when it has to do with our donations to the world? Do we not think that God has specific goals for everyone of us this year? Have we taken time to find out what they are? Could it be – at least 30% of my earnings will be donated for evangelism to unreached nations; or 54 souls will be won to the kingdom by my preaching of the gospel? How about a discipleship class for young believers in your sitting room every Saturday by 6pm? Could it be something specific that you need to be doing in your church or Christian organization?
I love the Amplified version of Ephesians 5:15-17 – “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is”
It is difficult to live purposefully and accurately without having specific targets that are inspired by God. Have you taken time to firmly grasp the specific thing God wants to achieve through you this year? What are your donation goals for 2011?
Tope Aladenusi
A few days ago, someone said to me – “wow! The year went by so fast, I can’t believe we’ve got just 3 weeks left!”
I find it interesting that early in the year, most people count how many days or months in the year have been ‘spent’. E.g. By the 1st of February, people say – one month of the year is gone. However, towards the end of the year, most people talk in terms of – how many days or months are left. Some begin to rush to get many things accomplished when it dawns on them that the “time left” is dwindling.
In life also, you may have noticed people’s disposition to the change in time frames from “time since birth” to “time left to live”. For most people, this change occurs around age 40. Let’s face it, most youth count from “time since birth” and they always think they have time. A man once narrated his plans for his retirement to me; he assumed he had a superb plan as he beamed with one of the best smiles I have ever seen when he told me how he would spend his “time left to live” mainly doing God’s work. I asked him these questions: What about your “time since birth”; whose work would you be majoring on during this period? Your work? You bet he didn’t like my questions.
My message for today is simple – you need to ensure you work with the calendar of God for your life. Don’t reserve the main thing you should be doing in life for your “time left to live”. Ephesians 5:16 says – redeeming the time because the days are evil. By age 30, Jesus’ steps were already treading towards the finish line of his purpose. How old are you? If you cannot walk with God today along purpose lane, don’t be too sure you will do so tomorrow. Whatever you are going to become tomorrow, you are already becoming today. A bird-like creature cannot be too sure to realize its dream to be a cock if it is not like a chick today. That mammal with four legs should not think it will be a lion at its “time left to live” when it is just a cat at its “time since birth”. If God wanted Jack and John to live 70 years, I don’t think in His wisdom that He would want 50 of those years to be wasted. Every day counts in the kingdom. Give your best shot for God daily. Make your life count by making every moment count … for God!
Tope Aladenusi
What are your top 3 goals in life? What are your most cherished dreams? What drives you? I was chatting with a friend recently and he told me that he desires to become CEO of one of the biggest companies (name withheld) in West Africa. What a good goal, I said. I then asked him, what happens after you become CEO? What would you use your CEO position to attain? At this point, he became incoherent.
Beloved, what keeps you going? Jesus said in John 4:34 (MSG) – “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me...” Purpose kept Jesus going. For many believers today, it is materialism, fear of failure, fame, and money (especially) that keeps them going. While we need some material things to fulfil our purpose on earth, we should be careful not to make getting material things our purpose. It’s just like an airplane; it needs tyres to take off and land, but that doesn’t mean that it should hit the expressway because it has tyres.
I strongly believe that every believer is a full time minister. God did not call anyone into part time ministry. II Corinthian 5:18 says every believer has been called into the ministry of reconciling men to God. We are all wired for full time ministry. It’s just that our platforms and mode of operation are different. To the pastor, it may be the pulpit. To the evangelist, it may be the remote areas. To the sportsman, it may be the stadium. To the senator, it may be the national assembly. To some, their platform is their place of work, while to others, it may be a school. Just as we do not see ourselves as part-time worshippers of God because we are not choristers, we should never have mindsets of part-time-ministry just because we are not pastors. If it is not in your priority to support the reconciliation of men to God on whatever platform God has given you, then you are failing the priority test. If your topmost dream is not connected to how God wants us to impact our generation as revealed in the bible, then you need to get back on track.
– Tope Aladenusi
Excerpted from Today’s Lifeline magazine (Vol.2 No. 5): 5 ways to know if you are living a purposeful life
There is no person that is like you or capable of becoming exactly like you. You have a unique individuality and destiny. Interestingly, you live in a world where most people seem to appreciate themselves so much that they want you to be like them. Some other believers have people they esteem deeply and they wish they could just do things exactly like they do. But God doesn’t want you to become a better version of someone else. He desires you be the best version of yourself.
Your individuality should be preserved and your destiny realized. This demands that you consciously give expression to the unique combination of abilities within you and also avoid comparison with others around you. It’s a deceit to think that your personality, prosperity, spirituality, ministry, education, profession, promotion, relationship, leadership etc. should assume the shape of others termed as ‘successful’. You should be a new illustration of success in our generation.
In I Corinthians 7:7 (NIV), Paul exclaims “I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his gift from God”. He further stated in II Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) “…Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us”. This should also be your focus. Stay in your track in the race of life. We don’t improve the performance of a cat by training it to bark. We don’t increase a lorry’s speed capacity by attaching the wheels of a racing car to it. The birds and the snails did not enter Noah’s Ark the same way, at the same time.
Avoid imitation and comparison. Although you can acquire useful knowledge and skill from others, you should not try to reproduce a copy of them. Face your own way, at your own pace, to the place God has prepared for you.
– Tope Aladenusi
| Sometime ago, I read what David said in Psalm 23:1 (NIV) – “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want“. While growing up, I had recited this verse several times, but did not appreciate the magnitude until I attempted to read it in opposite terms: The Lord is NOT my shepherd, I shall BE IN WANT! Hmmm! Cold shivers ran through my spine as I began to ponder on this.
Could it be that some lack and need in my life are as a result of me not following the direction of the shepherd and bishop of my soul?
Then I remembered Elijah’s story in I Kings 17:3-16; during the time of drought, God led him to the brook Cherith, and there he fed him with bread and meat delivered by ravens and he drank water from the brook. But after some time, the brook dried up and there was no water, and God led him to a widow of Zeraphath, who took care of his needs. If Elijah had spent hours commanding water to come out of the dried brook rather than following the ‘new’ direction of supply (just as most believers would do today), would he have been in want?
Reading the story of the Israelites journey to the promise land with the benefit of hindsight, is it worth asking why God did not continue to feed them with manna when they got to the promise land? What about Jesus, why didn’t he pay the tax collector the same way he fed 5000 people?
Why do many believers in the 21st century seem to stick to one channel of supply their entire lives; not expecting God to meet their need using other channels? Are we enjoying the excitement of change in walking with God or we are comfortable with the path of least resistance? Could we be missing something in this generation? Could God be leading us to several areas and into different things that will naturally quench our needs? Do we say “My God shall supply my needs” when we truly mean “my job shall supply my needs”?
Why do we lack if God leads?
I think this is worth thinking about.
– Tope Aladenusi |
On my twelfth birthday I got a video game as gift from my father. This was a very precious and non rivaled gift. The make was a Micro Genius and it was a direct competitor to brands like Nintendo, Sega and Atari. All I needed to play games configured for other video game brands was a converter. This gift made me and my house very popular on my end of the street. I remember vividly how many children known and unknown trooped to my house because they wanted to play a video game. As the commander in chief of the “game zone” I determined the people whom I would give access. As a child I thought this gift would last forever so I guarded it jealously.
As years pass many more different versions of video games have been produced. Many more will still be produced, because technology improves every day. My obsolete Micro Genius is at best a relic of the past’s glory. Some of the children I flaunted my “priced asset” for are now adults with children. They are now wealthy enough to buy dozens of better configured games for themselves and their children. This birthday gift was so limited in nature like any other gift subject to man’s ever changing whims. There was never a need for me to guard it jealously.
As I thought of the limited nature of this human gift by my father on my twelfth birthday, I saluted the gift of Eternal Life given to Christians by God on our birthday into His magnificent kingdom of Life with awe (John 1:12, James 1:17-18).
Our birthday gift is unrivaled, precious, incorruptible and unlimited in nature (1Pet.1:23-25). This gift transcends the physical and eternally upholds us in the embrace of the divine (1Pet.1:3-5). The manufacturer of this gift is not man so the gift isn’t subject to any changes (Eccl.3:14, Rom.11:29). God is unchangeable in nature and is the same from everlasting to everlasting (Heb.13:8). The access and illuminating prominence this gift gives to Christians can’t in anyway be compared to the transient and dwarfed prominence associated with humanly crafted gifts.
Humans keep on coming up with new innovations to celebrate their limitations, but we have a God who doesn’t need to come up with new innovations – God is unlimited, unfathomable and incomprehensible (1Tim.1:17). This very nature is deposited in the life of the Christian because we are God’s temple (1 Cor.6:17).
Every Christian has the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost (2 Cor.9:15). We have the very life and essence of God. I admonish that we all live with this mentality.
– Emeka I. Ofia
Over the weekend, a very trusted friend and I went out to watch soccer at a restaurant. Shortly before the end of the game he took permission to dash and pick up an item at his house, which was nearby – then his team was already bashing my team. At the end of the game I waited a little for him to return as promised, though it seemed to be very long hours. At this juncture I made repeated calls to him to find out exactly where he was. I was a little edgy, because I felt it was becoming a little late. The loss of my team that evening had taken away the excitement of the day.
As I was making those repeated calls it dawned on me that he was a tested and trusted friend and there was no need at all to be restless. Something beyond his control certainly delayed him. He never had the intention of keeping me waiting. Over the years he’s shown integrity.
As Christians we sometimes fall into a dilemma with God like I was with my friend over the weekend. We face challenges and temporary setbacks and we sometimes feel that God is just late on arrival. Sometimes we allow our immediate environment and conditions to dictate our perceptions to life.
The bible says “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom.8:31-32). God proved his integrity to the world by giving His life and a goodly heritage in Christ (Rom.5:8-12). God is the trusted friend (John 15:13). He remains the same from eternity to eternity (Rev.1:8). He’s a shield to them that trust in Him (Prov.30:5). Learn to always trust him, no matter the circumstance you find yourself.
Emeka I. Ofia
Jesus said in verse twenty four of the twelfth chapter of John: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. … (Acts 13: 32,33a)
And for this reason He is the mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
Taken together, the three verses of scripture above tell a simple story: God made us just like Jesus! This is indeed the promise which God made to Abraham [our Father in the faith“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16)]. The promise was important enough to God that He swore by Himself to bring it to pass (Hebrews 6: 17,18). And He did this in Christ Jesus; Hallelujah! You might observe that these verses do not say promises; but uses the singular term to describe the promise which God fulfilled in the person of Jesus. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20). All that God had in mind for humanity, he packaged into the incarnation of deity who dwelled among us and modeled the beautiful life God wants for his creation. Jesus had to die however to reproduce other ‘Christs’ like Himself; hence the analogy of seeds sown which ends up producing bigger harvests than what was planted. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, he reproduced the new creation—people who will carry the anointing of God and do the things that only God can do. This is the fulfillment of God’s promise; we were born at a good time, friends.
Does Acts 13:32,33 refer to Christians today with the statements “promise … unto the fathers” and “fulfilled … unto us their children”? It absolutely does! Why don’t you take God at His word for a change? By virtue of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we who once were ordinary citizens of the earth now partake of the eternal nature of God carrying in our mortal bodies the very life of God. Walk in this reality. Thus, you will live a purposeful life and enjoy fulfillment in your ways because the promise of God is fulfilled for us.
– Ifelayo Ojo
I just spent the last two hours attempting to fulfill various promises I made to some friends and two strangers I recently met. One of the promises was to send pictures to a Sudanese friend of mine taken at a conference over a year ago. Although, I recently renewed the pledge when I ran into him on a trip to Juba in March; I will just send him those pictures when I get to work later this morning as his business card is at the office. But at the moment, the e-mail is composed with pictures attached, saved as drafts and ready to go when I add his e-mail address. The second picture related promise was for a German lady—one of the strangers, whom I met back in July. We were on the same bus to New York and she had left her camera behind at home but wanted pictures of the city. So, I graciously used mine; but the pictures simply sat on my computer till this morning before I finally sent them to her. She has however seen and replied my e-mail already and was so full of gratitude despite the lateness.
Before we get too far along talking about people, scenes and my photography hobby; let’s get back to the subject of this week’s devotional—promise fulfilled. I would like to call your attention to one very important fact which distinguishes Christianity from every other religion and could literally change your faith-walk if you grasp the details. God has fulfilledHis promise to humanity!
And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again;… (Acts 13: 32,33a)
You might observe that these verses do not say promises; but uses the singular term to describe the promise which God fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Take note also that the past tense is used in describing the promise in the verses above—the good news is in the fact that God has DONE what He promised to do. Unlike us humans who make promises and get inundated by circumstances in our quest to perform; the all-powerful God made good on His promise once and for all time. Before the ages of the world began, God had the answer to humanity’s deepest problem; He knew what we really needed, planned ahead of time and drew his project timeline up to the point of completion.
God gave us Jesus and in Him we are complete, lacking nothing!
-Ifelayo Ojo