The Word Revealed: THAT WALL MAY LOOK TOO HIGH, BUT JERICHO WILL COME...

The Word Revealed: THAT WALL MAY LOOK TOO HIGH, BUT JERICHO WILL COME...: If you are reading this then it certainly means you survived birth, grew and eventually became the person you are today. You are even...

The greatness of God

This morning I was just finalizing my reading on the psalms. When I came to chapter 147, this is what it had to say (NKJV)

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds.
He counts the number of stars;
He calls them all by name.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.
The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises on the harp to our God,
Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
He gives to the beast its food,
And the young ravens that cry.
He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of man.
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders,
And fills you with the finest wheat.
He sends out His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
He casts out His hail like morsels;
Who can stand before His cold?
He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
He has not dealt thus for any nation;
And as for His judgments, they have not known them.
Praise the Lord!



Well, I will be honest that in the process of reading this my mind drifted. I always have this tendency of just allowing my imagination to take hold of me, sort of, in a Brownian motion kind of way. Well, today, I just couldn’t help it when I began thinking about the greatness of our God.

At some point in my life, I won’t say when, I thought death was not for everyone. To me, hearing that someone died, wouldn’t bother me much, till later on I came to realize that everyone, including me would at some point die. Of course that was confirmed when a few years later, one of my favorite uncles passed on. Well, thinking of death made me regret why I was born and why I existed in the first place. I wondered why I had to be born only to die later on in life. These were the times I wished God would have at least consulted me, plainly lay out the terms before I could even consider being born. Of course this mindset was changed with time when I came to comprehend some truths, and this morning I was being reminded of some of those truths.

Reading this Psalm, and particularly getting to verse 4, I had to pause for a moment. He counts the number of stars; He calls them by name. Really? The question that came to my mind was whether or not the stars feel the same way I used to feel those days. Maybe, to digress a bit, what changed my mindset was realizing that I existed to serve God’s purposes. But then, for these stars, they serve God’s purposes, yes, but then, do they really understand this? A question to ponder.

Initially, the thought of my existence was filled with regret, worries, anxiety and so forth, a situation that made me feel I would have rather not existed, coupled with some level of resentment towards God. However, learning about the God who created me and how big He is literally brought me to a point of repentance. This is because, at this point, I realized that my existence was an act of mercy, and that calling it a privilege is an understatement of eternity. In fact, the very stars we are talking about would be far much better than me, if I had never existed.

The point is this, we exist to serve God, period. If by living and dying we serve His purposes, well and good! He defines the terms, and this applies to every sphere of human life, and every situation that one has to go through. He is the greatest being that ever and will ever exist, so who are we? My plea is to all men to set aside their diminished view of God, and attempt to view Him as He really is. Today, many things happen, even within the Christian circles, and one is left to wonder if we really appreciate God for who He really is.

The call is for us to step out of our self-centered theology and way of life and look up to a greater, transforming vision of God, if we are to make any worth out of our lives. This should totally change our world views concerning different areas of our lives and our practices.

Take the case of giving, for instance. This is an area that reveals the state of the heart of many Christians today. Truth be said, many Christians have converted God into a banker, where they merely invest their cash and wait for returns. I am not, in any way denying the principle of giving and receiving, but for most Christians, receiving is the motivation of their giving, and not necessarily an act of worship and honor to an all-powerful, loving and merciful God who deserves our every being. And by the way have you ever thought of the fact that the scripture we use to justify this is usually taken out of its original context? Read Luke 6:37-38.

Back to my point, a selfless attitude when it comes to giving should be, I am giving so that God may be glorified, not me! Somebody who endeavors to do this, will not blame God with wrong doing if he gives and for one reason or another his expectations are not met. I remember sometime back in campus, when I was considering taking off one year for short-term ministry experience, one of my motivations was that if I did this, God would really honor my sacrifice, and that in future He would bless me, maybe with a good job, car, family etc. However, with time, I came to understand that this was not the case, and in fact, there was nothing as a sacrifice involved here. I will explain this shortly. Yes, and God is not interested in my one year of service. At least He is not that desperate.

The true motivation for giving is this, here is a great God, who creates the entire universe. He is literally the landlord of the universe. He says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalms 24:1). How dare we, in our futility, with the advice of our puny brains, imagine that we can lend God something so He can repay us? We are unworthy in His sight, and the little worth that we have, it is Him who has given to us. It is more like a 2 year old giving his dad a 1 shilling coin, thinking that he is doing his dad a favor. God is not interested in our actions. He is interested in the state of our hearts. And here is how we develop the right state of the heart.

Being these hopeless, worthless creatures stained by sin, doomed for condemnation, unfit for anything, God Himself, who would have nothing to do with this, became our ransom (Romans 5:8). Leaving His majesty, he humbled himself to the point of ridicule, scorn, condemnation and even death, by the very ones He came to save  (Philippians 2:5-8), they clearly didn’t deserve this, yet, in His dying moments, He reserved some breath to say, “forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). This is the greatest sacrifice ever given. We need to ask ourselves, is there any such thing as sacrifice that can come from us? Can we match these standards? Is God really interested in our sacrifices? The answer is no! (Isaiah 1:12-15, Psalms 50:7-13, Psalms 51:16).

It is this simple, giving to God is an appreciation of the fact that He has given us so much, and that we are not in a position to give back. Our motive for giving, therefore is that we were given everything that we needed, and so we should give. This will help us not to trivialize God, but to view Him in high honor and regard. It will help us not to struggle in our giving. When the situation demands that we give beyond what we are used to, we will feel no pinch because deep within we know that we have all that we need, Christ Himself. We will understand that whatever we have is not ours, it is God’s and He can choose to take it whenever He wants. We will realize that our giving is not limited to finances, but also involves our time, skills, talents, careers, and everything that we wrongfully call our own. We will realize that everything that we have is not meant for us, but for others, even those who do not deserve it because God Himself set the example for us.

Reading the psalm above reminds me of this very fact. God is sovereign. He is the one that makes everything happen. He does not need me. He can do without me. In fact, last week in our family altar, as we were going through the creation story in Genesis, this came out. Long before man came along, God existed, and He was making things happen. The tendency, however, is for man to think He is the most important thing. For years people believed that the earth is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it. This notion was proved wrong by scientists when it was discovered that the earth exists in one of the millions of galaxies that exist, and that even in its own galaxy it is negligible, and that even in its own solar system it is not the center, but the sun is, and the earth revolves around it instead. This points to the greatness of our God, He is the one who created this universe, and of course He is far much bigger than the universe itself. He is unfathomable. These stars we are talking about are just a part of His great universe.

Today, as I sit, almost 2 months down the line, after finishing my one year ministry program, I have made several job applications, but I have received no response yet. What should I say? Is God unjust? No He isn’t. Reason: I exist for Him. Not the other way round. He defines the terms. In everything He does He is just, even if it seems offensive to me. He deserves my praise! All I need to do is to walk in obedience to His word. He is not interested in one year of my service. He is interested in my entire life. My entire life is a life of service to Him regardless of where I am, or what I am doing. At the moment, as I write this, I believe that this is what He would want me to do. For His purposes. I hope it is an encouragement to someone. The whole point is surrender, not sacrifice. Live a life surrendered to Him, sacrifice won’t matter anymore! Praise the Lord!

Walking as He did

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to Heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” – Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV)

These are the very words describing the ministry of Jesus on earth, what He came to do. Every person reading this post must have, at one time or another identified with the situations above. At some point in our lives we have experiences that push us to the wall, in the literal sense. Discouragements, betrayal, confusion, lack, grief, stress, just to name but a few, are examples of sufferings that lead to gross desperation in the life of anybody. Clearly, we need to be salvaged out of these, of course, not by ourselves. Jesus came to do exactly that, to deliver us out of our hopelessness and to give us a new light. His was a ministry that focused completely turning around people’s lives from what was bad to its exact opposite.

For anyone to be able to provide such a ministry to others requires more than just the thought of having to do it. It narrows down to the character of the individual and the attitudes he has towards those to whom he is reaching, which all fully depend on the state of his heart. In addition, such an individual must have a vision towards which he works, such that the bigger vision guides him to do exactly what he does. This seems to be very true of Jesus in His endeavor to accomplish His mission on earth. Being as influential as He was, and considering the many lives and generations He impacted, His lifestyle in itself was a witness to what he claimed and taught.

As a follower of Christ, I am convinced that I am part of the fulfillment of His mission on earth. He tells me that I am the salt and light of this world. In essence, I ought to demonstrate the flavoring and preservative qualities of salt on earth. This is the whole idea of earthly relevance. At the same time, I should be a light to those I purport to be in darkness. Unless my lifestyle demonstrates that, there is no point of me claiming to be a follower of Christ.

My concern, for some time now, has been in the way Christians live their lives. Honestly, many of us are confused. It is difficult to tell who is a true Christian and who is not. Today, virtually everyone goes to church, gives tithes, is involved in charity, listens to gospel music, condemns homosexuality and other gross pervasions that we have around us. Funny enough, it is still these people that we find breaking traffic rules, offering bribes, using insulting words, hooked in pornography, oozing with pride, engaging in idle chatter and so on. And you think I am left out? No, you are mistaken. My take is that all of us are fallen, and are in need of someone to show us direction. However, if we remain content with our current state, I can bet my bottom dollar that we are all headed down the drain. If indeed we feel that we need no one to rescue us then we are in for a rude shock. Christ showed us that it is doable, (of course through Him) and is in the process of perfecting us, if we would desire to abide in Him.

The aim of this blog, therefore, is to help me and others, learn more about the life of Christ, be able to appreciate what He said and did, and apply it to our own lives and contexts. This will help us in a great way to become more Christ-like as we grow more in knowledge of Him. My target is everyone out there who feels they need a desirable change in their lifestyles. The aim of this blog is not to impose ideas and information on people, but rather to explore biblical truths and present them to people to make wise judgments.

I understand that we all come from diverse denominational and religious backgrounds. However, here, that does not matter. I know there are many things we have been taught in our churches, we’ve heard from people we respect and some that we’ve grown up knowing to be truth. However, this blog is not meant to propagate denominational ideas. It is about those interested in knowing Christ and walking closely with Him. As we do, we also learn to walk with others, leading them in the same way. The word of God is the final authority. Biblical truth is presented plainly. Though at times I may share my personal opinions and convictions concerning certain issues, I will be clear to point them out. This is because I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in each of us, and He is the one to convict us. I wouldn’t want to take over His work. Everyone should feel free to share their thoughts in a respectable and loving way. Of course we have the essentials (of which there is no compromise) and the non-essentials. As we discuss, we should have in mind: “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in everything, charity”

Just a brief outline of what is covered in this blog, we’ll start with the story of God, which will bring us up to this point in our context. This is aimed at helping those who have not had a relationship with God to understand and to help them make a sober decision in following Christ. After this, we will be exploring topical issues from the bible, and also address a number of contemporary issues in the world today and the biblical position on the same. I will also be occasionally sharing testimonies and some of thoughts from my day to day experiences as well as those of people (guest bloggers) as we seek to strengthen one another in the walk.

Welcome to this exciting journey of knowing Christ and walking with Him. Fasten your seat belts…