Figure out God’s will
Bible Reading: Acts 16:1-15
I once met a guy who had graduated from the university for over five years and I was surprised that he had no job. Also, I noticed that he wasn’t making any effort to get a job or venture into any business. So I asked him the reason for this. He said he was still waiting on God for direction; he wanted to get a clear-cut leading from God on the particular job to do.
This sounds out of place, but many Christians behave in a similar way. Some are waiting for the so-called clear-cut leading (usually an audible sound) for their future partner, others for their profession, etc. But we do not need to wait for a voice for everything we have to do. We are to act based on our knowledge of the general will of God while we are still sensitive to God’s nudging, if peradventure he wants us to do something else. Remember, there is no voice that you may hear that can be surer and stronger than what has been written.
The Bible says in Ephesians 5:10 (MSG) “Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it”. Wow! I love this. It tears down our “waiting attitude”. We are to decipher the right way to go and then act spontaneously just like we brush our teeth without hearing any voice. A good example can be seen in the life of Apostle Paul. Let’s read the verses of scripture below.
“They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not let them preach the message in the province of Asia. When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go into the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So they traveled right on through Mysia and went toTroas. That night Paul had a vision in which he saw a Macedonian standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” Act 16:6-10
Paul was called by God to preach the gospel but he wasn’t waiting to hear a voice before deciding where to preach. He had his plans to preach in Asia and Bithynia but he was also sensitive to any tuning from the Spirit. This is a fundamental principle for walking in God’s leading. Have a good grasp of God’s mind as revealed in scriptures and then make your plans because God is leading you by default (An option that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified). Also be sensitive to any signal from the Spirit as you execute your plans.
To be continued …
– tope aladenusi
It is He who loved me
It was I who wasn’t free
It was at the cross that He and I became one
And that is how it’s gonna be eternally
I was lost and gone astray
But he came and paved the way
When He shined His light upon my rough and crooked path
And that is how it’s gonna be
Come what may
Yes: He raised me by His hand
When I was weak and couldn’t stand
By His might He broke the chains of sin upon my life
And that is how it’s gonna be
His work is grand.
-funmi aina
Sharpening your sensitivity to God’s leading – 3
Bible Reading: Philippians 4: 1-8
Let us highlight three more things that can boost your sensitivity to God’s leading:
- Worship
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set Barnabas and Saul apart for me …” – Acts 13:2
Some early believers were in that act of worship. In the midst of it, they received instructions from the Spirit. Worship allows you to focus on God. It acknowledges God’s supremacy in everything and places your mind in a very receptive position. Good worshippers are predisposed to identifying God’s will.
- Prayer and Fasting
From the verse above, we can see that these believers secluded themselves from worldly distractions so they can commune with God. It was not just a time to set deadlines for God. Fasting goes beyond fast tracking answers to requests. As a matter of fact, the greatest gift God gave and can ever give is salvation; we did not get it by fasting, how much more the petty things of this life. Fasting should present you with an opportunity to relate with God with very minimal distractions. Imagine if five people are talking to you at the same time, it is likely you won’t hear all of them clearly. So fasting helps narrow down the number of interactions you are having at a time. It is also a time to obey God’s instructions in Jude 1:20 which reads “dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit”.
- Free yourself from Anxiety
In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (ASV)
Some men are anxious about the prospect of being fired, and they are asking God to lead them into another job or business. Other folks are anxious because they are uncertain about who to marry and they run to God to express their anxiety. James 1:6-7 (MSG) says ‘People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way’. So like Philippians 4 prescribed, you have to first get rid of all anxiety and then go to God in prayers and thanksgiving. After that, a peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your mind. This peace is a super understanding that comes from God and gives you a direction that puts an end to your confusion. It tells you “this is the way you should go”.
– tope aladenusi
Recently, a company in India participated in some Placement Sessions. They asked some interesting questions to students during recruitment. Here are some of them:-
- There is one word in the English language that is always pronounced incorrectly. What is it?
- A man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it?
- A boat has a ladder that has six rungs, each rung is one foot apart. The bottom rung is one foot from the water. The tide rises at 12 inches every 15 minutes. High tide peaks in one hour. When the tide is at it’s highest, how many rungs are under water?
- There is a house with four walls. Each wall faces south. There is a window in each wall. A bear walks by one of the windows. What color is the bear?
- Is half of two plus two equal to two or three?
- There is a room. The shutters are blowing in. There is broken glass on the floor. There is water on the floor. You find Sloppy dead on the floor. Who is Sloppy? How did Sloppy die?
- How much dirt would be in a hole 6 feet deep and 6 feet wide that has been dug with a square edged shovel?
- If I were in Hawaii and dropped a bowling ball in a bucket of water which is 45 degrees F, and dropped another ball of the same weight, mass, and size in a bucket at 30 degrees F, both of them at the same time, which ball would hit the bottom of the bucket first? Same question, but the location is in Canada?
- What is the significance of the following: The year is 1978, thirty-four minutes past noon on May 6th.
- If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in the center field?
- What is it that goes up and goes down but does not move?
Answers…
- The word “incorrectly.”
- 1:45. The man gave away a total of 25 cents. He divided it between two people. Therefore, he gave a quarter to two.
- None, the boat rises with the tide. Googly
- White. If all the walls face south, the house is at the North pole, and the bear, therefore, is a polar bear.
- Three. Well, it seems that it could almost be either, but if you follow the mathematical orders of operation, division is performed before addition. So… half of two is one. Then add two, and the answer is three.
- Sloppy is a (gold)fish. The wind blew the shutters in, which knocked his goldfish-bowl off the table, and it broke, killing him.
- None. No matter how big a hole is, it’s still a hole: the absence of dirt.
- Both questions, same answer: the ball in the bucket of 45 degree F water hits the bottom of the bucket last. Did you think that the water in the 30 degree F bucket is frozen? Think again. The question said nothing about that bucket having anything in it. Therefore, there is no water (or ice) to slow the ball down…
- The time and month/date/year American style calendar are 12:34, 5/6/78.
- One. If he combines all of his haystacks, they all become one big stack.
- The temperature.
– femi fadumila
Sharpening your sensitivity to God’s leading – 2
Bible Reading: Romans 12
When you visit an experienced Medical Doctor and you explain your symptoms to him, most times he is able to say exactly what is wrong with you. His sensitivity towards labeling ailments did not come overnight. The Doctor had spent years developing his mind. He has consumed many books on anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. He has rubbed minds with people who reason and talk like Doctors. His lecturers have succeeded in making him change the way he thinks. So it is natural for him to easily label ailments.
In like manner, identifying the will of God should be natural to every believer. Romans 12:2 tells us the shortcut towards sharpening our sensitivity to God’s will. It reads “… be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may provewhat is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. If you want to know God’s will, then you have got to update your mind. You need to continuously meditate on God’s word so you can start reasoning like Him.
Think about this: when we say we want to know the will of God, we are indirectly saying we want to know the mind of God concerning a subject. The Bible contains the mind and thoughts of God. A sound knowledge of it places us in a vantage position to know his will concerning any subject.
You may ask ‘how does reading the Bible help me?’ When I read the Bible, I see things about Nazareth, Israel, Jesus, David, Adam and Eve, etc. How do these things relate to me in the 21st century? Well, remember that when a Medical Doctor is studying in school, he is exposed to various materials. None of these materials may tell him the exact ailment of the patients sitting right in front of him. But he is able to place a label on their symptoms by tapping into the knowledge he has been exposed to over time. Likewise, as you have a regular intercourse with the Bible, you are exposed to God’s way of thinking. And as you face the challenges of life, you unconsciously tap into it before making decisions. You begin to walk in the will of God unconsciously and naturally.
David said “by God’s words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path” – Psalm 119:105 (MSG). Failure to recognize the will of God may have many roots, but ignorance of God’s word is the taproot. God’s word is the key that opens the door of His will.
– tope aladenusi
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master,
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Sharpening your sensitivity to God’s leading- 1
Bible Reading: Hebrews 5:7-14
I grew up having a phobia for water. So I never attempted to swim as a child. But one day during my teenage years, I went to a swimming pool and saw something that destroyed my phobia. A young boy was afloat on water. I could not see any of his body parts moving and yet he wasn’t sinking. It appeared to me as though he was sleeping on water. I was so captivated and motivated to the point that I said to myself – “one day I must also be able to stay afloat on water without any aid”.
The next day I was in the pool. I really wanted to learn. I asked my friends to teach me how to float. They laughed sarcastically and told me it doesn’t work that way. I needed to start from the basics. First, I learnt how to stay in water for some minutes, later I was taught how to paddle my legs, then I started learning most of the swimming strokes. The day I ‘slept’ on water, no body taught me.
My story should remind you of the behavior of most believers. They get saved and never cultivate the habit of recognizing the will of God. But when it is time to get married, choose a career or vocation, or venture into something they think will have a great impact on their lives, they start seeking the will of God. Their first attempt in the pool of knowing God’s will is to ‘sleep on water’, without learning the basics. No wonder they experience so much pain that some even begin to doubt the existence of God.
Hebrews 5:14 (GNB) is so sweet; it says “Solid food … is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil”. I want you to pay attention to the fact that it is through practice that we are able to know the exact will of God. How do I practice? First, you have to learn to stay long in the ‘waters of the word’. God has a general will that applies to all believers; study the Bible to know it. This will form the bedrock for knowing His specific will that concerns to you alone.
To be continued …
– tope aladenusi
| The potential to discern the future Bible Reading: John 14
One day Jesus Christ looked into the eyes of Peter and said “this night, you will deny me thrice before the cock crows”. Shortly after saying this, Peter denied Jesus three times. This and many reasons have made me to believe that “nobody knows tomorrow” is not a Christian vocabulary. The language and lifestyle of Jesus were a demonstration of the knowledge of the immediate and far future. Interestingly, Jesus promised all believers the ability to exhibit similar tendencies.
He said in John 16:13 (BBE) “However, when he, the Spirit of true knowledge, has come, he will be your guide into all true knowledge: for his words will not come from himself, but whatever has come to his hearing, that he will say: and he will make clear to you the things to come.
Yes! The Holy Spirit wants to make tomorrow clear to you. Most people have read this verse and concluded that the Holy Spirit will make them understand the Bible. This is true. But there is more to it. Jesus understood the scriptures and also the things that pertain to his daily living. However, many believers are giants in dissecting scriptures, but toys in handling life challenges. They have narrowed the ministry of the Holy Spirit to explaining scriptures alone.
Every Christian has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) and we all have the potential to know the things to come and the will of God for our lives. I’m in love with Romans 8:14 which reads “And all those who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God”.
Jesus once told Nathanael that “while you were under the fig tree, I saw you”. He told his disciples that “one of you will betray me”. He once instructed them to “Go into the village ahead of you. You will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it”. What about when he said “our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up” even when he had not seen Lazarus. He also guided Simon on where to invest his time and energy when he told him, “take the boat into deep water, and lower your nets to catch some fish” … and Simon caught fishes like never before.
All these are not just written in the Bible so we would say “Oh! What a wonderful Jesus”. They are patterned to inspire us to live a wonderful life. You have the ability to know … the exact place to invest … the price of that share will rise by $5 in 5 days … there will be a riot in that city… this is the bone of my bone … the people of City XYZ are crying for salvation. Yes! The Holy Spirit wants to make clear to you the things to come. – tope aladenusi
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Breath taking
Mind boggling
How could you define
God’s way to refine
He didn’t remould
Rather he left the old
Making all anew
Without a wrinkle
What a wonder to realise
He paid so much a price
Making corruptible
stand infallible
Holy I now am
Sanctified I stand
Righteous I lie
For his death bought me life
Listen,
Not a restart for my life
But His life, now my life
Behold such a love
The father so poured on us
That we should be called
The begotten of God
Truly what a wonder
I could never have pondered
Never could have imagined
that He would break down the boundary
that in His love I stand forever,
For now in his love I stand forever
bolaji akanni
‘Whatever will be will be’. True? Bible Reading: Luke 8: 5-16
“Whatever will be will be”. This is a phrase that is used by many to suggest that we do not really determine how we end up in life or what shows up in our lives. I’ve never heard any great person make this statement. But I’ve seen the poor, the sickly and the unsuccessful find consolation in it. When some people make efforts to attain a level of success and they get there, they attribute it to their hard work, experience, exposure and creativity. Some remember to say “thank God”. But when the desired success is not achieved, they say “what will be will be”.
Jesus Christ taught us something different. For example, In Luke 8 when he explained the parable of the Sower, He gave some reasons why people don’t get good results. In verse 15, he said “But the seed in the good earth–these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest” (MSG). This sounds like someone who determines what tomorrow will be.
Apostle Paul said “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man may sow, that he also will reap”. He did not say “it doesn’t really matter what you sow, what will be will be”. People who say ‘whatever will be will be’ have never attempted to jump into the front of a fast moving train. A part of their mind knows that their actions can determine how they end up in life.
Although there were rare instances where God exercised his sovereignty in some circumstances not minding the will and input of man (See Exo. 9:12, Roman 9:10-13, 11:8), His fundamental principle is to show us the right way and permit us to make our choices on which way to go. So, you can choose to live a successful life. You can choose to know tomorrow. You can choose to walk with God. You can choose to know His will.
– tope aladenusi