Now Is The Time

Each moment of the day is a gift from God that deserves care, for by any measure, our time is short and the work is great. Minutes and hours wisely used translate into an abundant life—J. Oswald Sanders¹

The axiom "Procastination is the thief of time" holds true in relation to the quote aforementioned.There is a time for everything, Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes 1:1-9.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Truth is that, no one grows younger and time doesn't halt to wait for us "to do what has to be done today tomorrow". Time ticks away. As the days go by, each of us is moving towards the day natural strength will fail. We only have borrowed time in this life. No matter how long we live, one day we will have to depart; it’s inevitable because “…it is appointed unto men once to die….”(Hebrews 9: 27).

Even if you live to be 100, your strength will not be the same: "But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many" (Ecclesiastes 11: 8)

You cannot do tomorrow, the things you have to do today. If you have any dreams on your heart, time is not on your side. Get to work now that you are young and have strength. Worship your creator in your days of strength, "the night cometh, when no man can work" (John 9:4).

I pray God grants us the grace and strength to be diligent in our allotted time on earth. For we are like grass. Today we are, tomorrow, we wither away.

Notes:

1: J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 1967)

Grace: A Total Transformation

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him” (Acts 22:20).

This is Paul; recounting his former deeds. You admire Paul right? Before he became Paul, he was Saul: a murderer and hated believers with all zeal. He has blood on his hand. Today, if you are looking for the equivalent of Saul(Paul), look at the most gruesome terrorist group around: Saul(Paul) could could be a leader of any one of them.

Image courtesy gracelandchurch.com

You will understand it better when you consider the believers response when they heard of Saul's conversion. They didn't believe it. They took it to be a scam, another strategy to get believers. Ananias even had guts to question Jesus' instructions: "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name." (Acts 9:13-14). Hear more: "But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? (vs21). This guy Paul doesn't belong in the fold of God's people humanly speaking. He unleashed terror on God's people  yet he was a chosen vessel of the Lord. In response to Ananias who had questioned the Lord earlier, Jesus said "... he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" (Acts 9:15).

If you still don't get the terror of the guy I am writing about, this would be helpful. I believe Saul's terror rose up to heaven and broke the very heart of Jesus. I am speculating on this one: I believe Jesus stood up and said "I must stop this guys, enough is enough"...so on his way to Damascus to unleash more terror, the Lord brought him low on his feet: "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."(Acts 9:3-6).

Saul the terrorist "trembling and astonished"...the rest of his life he became a disciple of the Lord and what a gift he was to the body of Christ. If you are a believer and you don't admire Paul then you have no good role models. But, before your admiration goes overboard, note that Paul was a work of grace: Total Grace. No wonder he wrote so much about grace than any other. He was a Scholar, he has rights to boasting, but knowing who he was, he said "by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."(1 Corinthians 15:20).

What have you done that you think you are beyond the reach of God's grace? Grace gives a Total Transformation

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

7: Half-Truth is No Truth

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?(vs 10).

Standing in front of Jesus is a man described in vs 1 as a Pharisee and ruler of Israel.  In today's diction he could pass for a theologian and a bible scholar.

In Nicodemus, we find a truth that should guide us all in life and especially in our Christian walk. We can know many things yet not know the truth. Jesus' question was one of an expression of surprise. I can imagine the face with which He asked that question. He definitely was amazed. His question indicates to us that the idea of born again is in the Scriptures and not necessarily a new idea. Nicodemus being a master, Rabbi should have known, but, he only  knew half-truth, which is no truth at all.

In Acts 18 also, we see another man who knew so many things yet didn't know the truth. "...Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures..."(Acts 18:24).

Mighty in Scriptures! What a way to describe a person. However, as mighty as Apollos was in Scripture, he didn't know the whole truth. He was an eloquent man. He can preach! But what he had was half-truth:

This man[Apollos] was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.( Acts 18:25-26). 

What a shock! Preacher man finished preaching and a couple, church members called him aside to "expound unto him the way of God more perfectly. This can't happen in our generation. We are gagged! We take everything hook, line and sinker-no questions asked. We can't grow and mature that way.

Regardless of what you hear and from whom, verify. One of the many things I am grateful to God for is that in my life I have people around me who can call me to question when I make a false statement  not in line with Scripture. I have personal critics. I don't just write or say things "by heart"( someone is reading me, he knows himself, he will call me to book if I twist Scriptures). In the process, my beliefs have been challenged. I have dropped off some "lies" on the way. I can confidently say with Paul that "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthian 13:11).

I want to appeal to you my friends;  be careful of blind faith and half truths. Your Pastor, mentor or favourite author doesn't know it all. No matter how gifted, charismatic or anointed a preacher is, don't take them as final authority. It is your responsibility to know the truth. The plumb line for truth is Holy Scripture, not the words of your pastor or anyone else. A person can be highly gifted and successful in ministry, yet speaks half-truth. I am not inciting rebellion, I am calling for a life that is lived with a high value of Scripture. If a message or statement contradicts with Scriptures, don't just accept it because it is coming from your favourite. "Deep" is not necessarily true. "Deep" could just be "the enticing words of man's wisdom". Nicodemus was a master, he should have known about being born again, yet he didn't.

My prayer for you this morning is the prayer of Paul for the Ephesians:

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18).

The Lord Is Our Portion

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.(Lamentations 3:24).

Assuming your faith is a mansion. On what foundation will that mansion be standing? Beliefs - trust, faith, hope - have consequences. They shape our worldview and determines how we respond to life and its intricacies. If your faith is not built on a solid foundation, the storms of life has the potency of crumbling and leaving you disillusioned. The words “The LORD is my portion...”, paints the picture of a life built on a firm foundation: it simply means "The LORD is sufficient for me". The writer of Lamentations-Jeremiah- seem to be saying, "despite my predicaments, God is enough. If I have God, I have everything". Hear David also:

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." (Psalms 73:25). 

No wonder this David got the tag a man after God's own heart. Is your desire towards the Lord that intense?

"The LORD is my portion forever" says Jeremiah and David. Can you also, especially in the face of adversity, confess The LORD is my portion forever? If you are a believer, you should. We can easily grasp the reality of God as our portion if we dig further to understand God's original intent for creation. In Genesis 1, where we find the creation story, one phrase appeared consistently: "and God saw that it was good" Further, down the Chapter (vs31) we see a climax of the joy God derived in His creation:

...God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good

 The meaning of "...behold, it was very good" can be explicitly explained by Revelation 4:11:

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

It was very good because it all turned out to be what He intended His creation to be; for His pleasure, His joy and glory. We are here purposely on one assignment, giving God pleasure(glory, joy, worship). We are on a God glorifying trip. It is in glorifying God that we also discover our self and our purpose. Saint Augustine, one of the Church fathers of the fourth century said, "Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.

One of the revealing words of Scripture, that sometime ago, in a period of personal crisis, became a bedrock for my life are the words “In him”. Let me share a few of those specific Scriptures with you: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him...” (Colossians 2:9-10). "For in him we live, and move, and have our being…"(Act 17:28). On countless occasions, I have returned to the words "In Him"-and I still do return to it - to find strength in moments of weakness and despair. Apart from Christ, we are nothing—absolutely nothing: "without me you can do nothing"(John 15:5).

The LORD is our portion. He is our inheritance. He is all we need. He is enough for us. He is incomparable to all the best of things of this world. He is the infinite being who satisfies the longings of finite hearts. In the search for fulfilment, many are trapped with insatiable pursuit and held captive by the trivia of this world: "lust of the flesh... lust of the eyes, and the pride of life..." (1 John 2:16). Until, we come to an understanding and appreciation of how sufficient God is for us, we will forever be satisfied with shallowness and crumbs of bread, instead of eating the choicest of meals from the King's table.

Church Reforms In Ghana: My Thoughts

5: The Church Must Pray.

E.M Bounds, in his book, Power Through Prayer wrote that “praying gives sense, brings wisdom, and broadens and strengthens the mind.” Prayer is a catalyst for change. In His sovereignty, God can and does act autonomous of our prayers; yet, He has at the same time ordained we represent Him on earth and has granted us His power of representation through prayer: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18-19). When we pray, things happen!

Examine these few instances in Scripture where human involvement through prayer brought God’s intervention on earth. In Exodus 3:7, Israel’s deliverance from bondage was set in motion when God heard their cry (prayers). Daniel 2:17 records the story of Daniel, who faced with the threat of death, entreated his colleagues for prayer (Daniel 2:17). In Acts 12, the timely intervention of the Church’s prayer stayed the hands of Herod from beheading Peter(vs 5 ). Acts 12 was just a fanfare killing. Herod derived pleasure from killing to please the Jews: “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of : John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) (vs 1-3).

If we don’t pray, the devil enjoys a field day in harassing God’s people. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that “…we are not ignorant of [Satan’s] devices”. He comes to steal, kill and destroy.(John 10:10). In contemporary times, the revivals and reforms recorded in Church history were birthed in prayers. Equally, if today’s Church will experience any reforms; men and women must rise to the occasion and pray. Someone might quip: “are we not already praying enough?” Yes we are — In fact every day in this nation, there is a prayer meeting. But the fact however is that; most of our prayer meetings are egocentric and highly individualistic it can’t birth any reforms amongst us. “God give me…God bless me…God open doors for me….etc.” are words that can be heard echoing from our prayer meetings.

When those in the early centuries met to pray, they prayed down revival on their cities. The advent of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement in our country is equally on record to have been birthed by intense prayers for souls and the nation. We in these times have however become too fixated with our individual selves in our prayers. Our self-centred prayers won’t bring any reforms. There’s a place for personal prayers and personal revivals I must admit, but when we are revived as individuals, we have to seek the revival of the masses. “…The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Luke :10:2)

One classic example of the efficacy of prayer is recorded in 1 Kings 17:1: And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. After many generations, James captured this same event to encourage us to know the power available to us through prayer. He wrote: “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit (James 5:16-18). “Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are…” clearly illustrates Elijah was human just like us —with weaknesses and shortcomings—yet he used the power of prayer mightily).

“We are not praying effectively enough. The fervency of our prayer is not strong enough. Jesus said men ought to pray and not faint. Paul said we should pray without ceasing. We have had enough seminars [and talk] on prayer. Let us [now begin to] pray.” EastWood Anaba, Extra Oil