Take it to God in Prayer

At times, we all face very difficult situations. In such circumstances we either take things in our own hands or take them into Christ’s hands. The former is usually a common reaction. Apostle Philip also once found himself in a similar situation as we read in John 6:1-13.

Five thousand men came to listen to Jesus’ teaching. Jesus then asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” It was a difficult situation because Jesus and his disciples had no bread let alone money to buy bread.

Philip did not respond to the question directly. Instead, he quickly calculated the cost of feeding such a number of people and concluded that it was impossible to feed them, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” responded Philip (7). He should have been good at Math!

Are we not like that at times? When faced with a difficult situation, like Philip we are quick to calculate in our wisdom and knowledge and conclude that such a situation is an impossibility forgetting that Jesus is God. Please note that the Scripture tells us that Jesus had deliberately asked Philip to test him for Jesus already had in mind what he was going to do (6). In a very situation we are in, God already knows how he will carry us through it.

Any way to cut the long story short, Philip was humbled as he witnessed with his own eyes how Jesus turned an impossible situation to a very possible one. The five thousand men were fully fed and twelve full baskets of left-over food were collected. I can only imagine how Philip felt as he gathered the left-over food. Joseph M. Scriven was right when he composed:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

When faced with a challenge, let’s remember that we are limited but God isn’t. So take it to God in prayer and let him do as he pleases. It is important that I clarify it her e that we don’t take it to God in prayer with a demanding attitude. We don’t take it to God in prayer by banging tables and giving God an ultimatum.

Although such attitude is regarded as faith by some, the truth is that it is lack of faith and trust in God. When we pray like “God I want you to give me this right now, no further discussions” we are in essence saying, “God I don’t want your will in my life because I cannot fully trust your will to do me good.”

However, the right attitude is where we present our requests before God and fully trust his good and perfect judgment and say “yet not what I want, but let your will be done.” This is a biblical attitude of taking it to God in prayer (Matthew 6:10; 26:39, 42). When we take it to God in prayer like that we are always humbled because God in his good will “ Is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is a work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). If you doubt this, ask Apostle Philip and he will bear witness.

Mercy Magnified

This week on the blog, I would like to share an article by my friend and brother in Christ, Linden Wolfe, titled “Mercy Magnified.” Linden is the founder of Captivated by Christ Ministries, a former pastor of several churches and has a PhD in Biblical Studies. Linden blogs at http://www.captivatedbychrist.org

I have found this article to be helpful and enlightening.

The idea of mercy seems to be altogether unappreciated these days. As opposed to our spiritual heritage, mercy is something of an unwanted second child in contemporary Christian circles in that it doesn’t get the same attention as grace does. Grace and mercy are often thought of together but, in this equation, mercy often seems to live in grace’s shadow. Yet, along with its sibling grace, mercy is one the most significant ways that God has shown favor and blessing to his children. Interestingly, in the King James Version of the Bible, the word “mercy” is found over 260 times and “grace” only about 170.

We have all heard that mercy and grace are two sides of the same coin. If we have ever been in church for any length of time we probably know the definitions by heart. Grace is unmerited favor, an undeserved gift from God. Mercy, on the flip side, is the withholding of God’s righteous judgment towards sinners in that he doesn’t punish us for our transgressions – instead He recognizes the righteousness of Christ instead of our filthy rags.

But that’s only part of the story when it comes to the gift of mercy. It has a richer meaning than just the suppression of God’s righteous anger towards rebels who deserve punishment. It is more than what God hasn’t done (punished us eternally). Mercy is also positive in that it is something God does for us that demonstrates His love and compassion. According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, “mercy” is defined as: “a form of love determined by the state or condition of its objects. Their state is one of suffering and need, while they may be unworthy or ill-deserving. Mercy is, at once the disposition of love respecting such, and the kindly ministry of love for their relief.”

So mercy is God actively involved in our lives, showing goodness to us in every sphere of our need – physical, emotional, mental, financial, and spiritual. This is God demonstrating His providential care and intervening with both blessings and patience.

We can learn some simple but pivotal principles about mercy from Scripture:

God has shown us mercy – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
The more we understand God’s mercy, the we more we show mercy to others (kindness, forgiveness, goodness) – “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
The more we show mercy to others, the more we appreciate God’s mercy towards us – “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
Mercy is evidence of God’s covenant companionship and communion with His people – “For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them” (Deuteronomy 4:31).
God’s mercy (and ours) is a visible manifestation of His love and heralds the good news of the Gospel – “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinner” (Matthew 9:23).
There is no such thing as mercy without grace, or grace without mercy – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-7).

There are two simple truths we can take from this that might help us embrace and exalt the example of our great God:

Our God is a God of magnificent mercy:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentations 2:22-24).

We are to magnify Him by multiplying His mercy:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

It is good that we think of mercy when we think of grace…and grace when we think of mercy. But it is better to live out mercy and grace as a reflection of who our Lord is and what He has done for us.

Miracle Money?

I, first, heard about it a couple of months ago and I ignored it. I have heard it again this week and I cannot afford to ignore it anymore. Some ‘men of God’ are performing miracles whereby one can just find that you have money in your pocket or in your bank account. Believe you me, I hear that ‘some men of God’ are able to rain down money on people. It’s exciting, isn’t it? NO! It is very pathetic and scary! These so called miracles are acting in strong opposition to God’s Word.

At creation, God established three mandates namely work, rest and marriage. God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work therein (Genesis 2:15). He established a day of rest (Genesis 2:2, 3). God also established marriage when he brought Eve to Adam (Genesis 2:22). No matter what we might think of these mandates, they will remain until Christ comes.

Now, it is sad to note that some Christians think that work came into effect as a result of Adam’s sin. This is not true because work was ordained by God even before the entry of sin. People, especially Christians, should be eager to work and earn their living instead of expecting the so called miracles where one becomes a millionaire without work.

God can do anything. However, it is also important to remember that God always honors his word. If he said that we should work, he expects that from us. God blesses the work of the hands of his children and in his grace, he provides through the work of our hands.

Therefore, Christians’ attitude towards work should always be positive. We should never expect God to put money in our pockets while we are sitting idle. No matter how godly you are, God can never put money in your pocket while you are idling. Apostle Paul was a true servant of God but he had to make tents to earn a living (Acts 18:1-3) hence he could boldly say:

“For when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now to such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to ear their own living,” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12).

Friends in Christ get this right: It is not God’s will that you have money which you have not worked for. It is one thing to have God move the hearts of people to assist you with money for a particular cause and another thing to have money in your pocket without knowing where it has come from. If this happens to you, you ought to be afraid rather than rejoice.

Love: The Story of John

John one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ is an interesting character. We first read about his problem with anger in Luke 9:51-56 in which Samaritans have refused Jesus a passage to connect to Jerusalem. John is angered by Samaritans and he asks Jesus if they should command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans. Jesus rebukes John.

Later on John writes his First Epistle and the major them of the letter is love. “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer… he writes in 1 John 3:1, 15. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God,” he adds in 1 John 4:7.

What happened to the old short-tempered John? It is no doubt that the time that John spent with Jesus from the incident of Luke 9:51-56, John learnt more about love from Christ. The power of the love of Christ steadily transformed him and anger and selfishness slowly gave in to love.

This is what happens when we spend time with Christ. The more we turn our eyes upon Christ, the more we become like him. The more we look at the cross of Christ, the more his love fills and controls us. The world can, continually, remind us of the need of love for each other but it is only Christ that will enable us to love truly. Without Christ, there shall never be genuine love in this world.

Jesus and Being Nice

The Man Named Epaphras

Lately, I have been studying the Epistle to Colossians and one character that has caught my attention in the study is the man named Epaphras.

Epaphras got converted when he went to hear Apostle Paul preaching in Ephesus. Thereafter, he went home in Colossae and planted a church. Later, the Colossian church was faced with the problem of false teachers and Epaphras immediately went to Rome to meet Paul and seek assistance on how to address the problem (1:7-8; Acts 19:10).

The interesting thing with this man, however, is that he still remains a little known figure despite “working hard for the church at Colossae” (4:13). Unless, you take you time to critically study the epistle, you will never know how important Epaphras was to the Colossian church.

This is how things can go in our service for the Lord sometimes. We might give out our best and keep things moving by the grace of God but still remain little known figures. This should never discourage us since it is all about Christ and not us. All the glory should go to him alone. As John Baptist once remarked, “Let him increase while we decrease” (John 3:30).

Therefore, never be bothered so much about getting a credit for your service unto the Lord because the truth is that you will not always get it. All the same continue to serve the Lord faithfully and seek to bring all the glory to Him like Epaphras the unsung hero did.

THE INK SLINGER

“I do want to make the point here that Christians are not divided between those who have creeds and confessions and those who do not; rather, they are divided between those who have public creeds and confessions that are written down and exist as public documents, subject to public scrutiny, evaluation, and critique, and those who have private creeds and confessions that are often improvised, unwritten, and thus not open to public scrutiny, not susceptible to evaluation and, crucially and ironically, not, therefore, subject to testing by Scripture to see whether they are true.”

– Trueman, The Creedal Imperative (p. 15)

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From Tamar to Christmas

Last week I indicated that as we approach Christmas, we will look at some stories of Jesus’ descendants which are not beautiful at all. The main aim of this study is to remind us of God’s greatness, grace and faithfulness as we marvel at how God is able to overcome evil with good.

The story of Tamar which is recorded in Genesis 38 interrupts the wonderful story of Joseph. It is an ugly tale of cheating and unfaithfulness. Yet from it, we still see God accomplishing His will. Please take your time to read it.

Briefly, Tamar pretends to be a prostitute and seduces her father-in-law, Judah to sleep with her. The child that is born from this adulterous union, Perez, happens to be a great grandfather of Jesus Christ. Could God have stopped this from happening? Yes, He could. But why did He allow it? He alone knows best.

However, we can still see from the story that God can use the imperfect things of the world to bring out something perfect. Tamar and Judah were sinful and failed miserably to reach God’s standards. But God stooped in his grace and reached out to them and through them brought out a perfect savior. Those who are in this Savior including Tamar and Judah are counted perfect and righteous basing on the Savior’s righteousness. This is the amazing grace of God.

The ‘Roots’ of Christ

Some have accused Christians of always trying to paint a good picture of Christ. These people have even gone to the extreme of ‘exposing negative stories’ about Christ which they say Christians have always kept under the carpet.

However, this is a sad accusation because Christianity or the Bible does not hide anything about Christ including those incidents that seem embarrassing. Therefore, God willing, from this week, as we look forward to Christmas, we will dwell on the genealogy or the descendants of Christ whose life stories are not all that beautiful. These include Tamar who seduced her father-in-law, Judah, to sleep with her, Rehab who was a prostitute, and Manasseh one of the most evil kings of Judah.

When we read and reflect on the life stories of these people, we are amazed at how God could allow such people to be the descendants of Jesus. It only confirms that God’s ways are not indeed our ways.

Furthermore, the stories of some of these descendants assure us that God’s grace is indeed amazing for it transforms sinners into saints. These stories also show us that God is not limited or controlled by our sinfulness. We might not be faithful, but He always remains faithful and he can accomplish his good will even through our unfaithfulness. We might have evil intentions, but he overcomes them with his goodness.

What About Good Works?

If salvation is solely by the grace of God and not good works, what then will happen to those who practice good works only? Will God not consider their good works at all? Imagine with me, those non-Christians who risks their lives to save others. Those unbelievers who sacrifice everything they have to help the poor, the needy, orphans and widows. Will God not be merciful to them on judgement day?

This is the question I was asked last week and I would like to respond in this way. It is indeed true that salvation is by grace alone and not good works (Ephesians 2:8, 9). What we need to know is that when our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, all of us sinned (Romans 5:12) and the only way for salvation is by believing in Christ (John 14:6) and this happens by God’s grace.

Therefore, even if we can do good works, if we have not believed in Christ for salvation, our good works will not be counted at all because behind those good works lies an evil and sinful heart that is in rebellion against God.

You will agree with me that no matter, how beautiful a poisonous snake looks, inside it is venom which kills. Similarly, no matter how beautiful our good works might be, inside us lies an evil and sinful heart that does not love God at all.

Unless Christ comes in and changes our hearts from enemies to the friends of God, our good works remain filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6 )