Mark 10:13-14 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was INDIGNANT. He said to them, let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as this.

Children…who are they to you? Are they just little people in our midst without a voice or do you see them as the extension of your future? Of course, for those of you who have children in your family, they are your name bearers, the branches in the family tree. But unfortunately, sometimes when we think about children as a part of the community or society as a whole, we tend to be less subjective.

Going back even in Jesus’ earthly ministry, his disciples too made the same mistake. After spending so much time with Jesus, they thought that they had it all figured out. Jesus had no business with THE LITTLE PEOPLE. With a full schedule of healing the sick, casting out the demons, raising the dead, calming the storms and whatever else his ministry entailed…they thought he didn’t need the presence of the LITTLE ONES. In any case, they knew that children can sometimes be nuisance and so they wanted to protect him. But they were wrong on this one…JESUS SAW THE NEEDS OF THE LITTLE ONES THE SAME WAY HE SAW THE NEEDS OF GROWN UPS but with one different. You see, Jesus was indignant…i.e he feel a righteous anger because he knew children unlike the adults have no voice. And HE WAS THERE TO BE THEIR VOICE. HIS LOVE FOR CHILDREN SHONE IN THAT STRANGE PLACE. Love shines brightest in the place of weakness!

For you as a Christian, when is the last time you felt indignant at the injustices faced by children in our society? Remember, you too were a child without a voice…and someone along the way was YOUR VOICE. How will you let the LOVE OF CHRIST SHINE IN A STRANGE PLACE? You have a choice.

Deuteronomy 15:11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I COMMAND YOU to be open-handed towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.

Behind every act…there is a motive. Sometimes, we may do something without giving much thought about it. But the person standing on the side interpretes it quite differently then we intended it to be. Just the other day, I came across on someone’s twitter some pictures which made me quite upset. Of course, for him the pictures were meant to cause some humor but for me, they produced the opposite effect. You see, most of the pictures displayed were epicting these individuals’ vulnerability and material lack. It almost seemed like a PUBLIC HUMILIATION for the persons in question without their knowledge. Two questions crossed through my mind and couldn’t let go. WHAT MOTIVE WAS BEHIND HIS DISPLAY OF THESE PICTURES? AND IF THE PEOPLE ON THE PICTURES HAPPENED TO COME ACROSS THEM, WHAT EXPLANATION WOULD HE GIVE THEM?

Suddenly, I found myself looking inward, at MY OWN HEART. The Lord reminded me that my actions are not independent of my motives. You see, when I saw the pictures, they didn’t move me with compassion to give for a charity cause. Far from it, the author of the pictures had no intention whatsoever to ask for any financial assistances for those individuals. Yet, without thinking or intending to, HE LAUGHED at their poverty. Worse still, he displayed it for the whole world to see.

Just as the doctor cannot laugh at a patient’s deteriorating ill health, I believe the Lord wants us to be careful about the motives behind our actions. When He told Israel, there will ALWAYS be poor people in the land, He know well what He was talking about. And his command still stands:

THEREFORE I COMMAND YOU TO BE OPEN-HANDED TOWARDS YOUR BROTHERS AND TOWARDS THE POOR AND NEEDY IN YOUR LAND.

Before you display that picture or write that word in your blog, or facebook or twitter or whatever else, ask yourself this: Does this glorify God? Is my neighbor been edified? Each man should test his own actions.

Song of Songs 2:14-15 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding-places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; FOR YOUR VOICE IS SWEET, and YOUR FACE IS LOVELY. Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

Like good wine, a great marriage doesn’t just HAPPEN. And of course, there is an amount of truth in the saying that no marriage comes with a manual. However, there are two things that make each marriage work or fail the world over…THE VOICE AND THE FACE. When we first meet the person we eventually fall in love with…we are fascinated by their person. We find ourselves captivated by each gesture or word spoken. Their world seems for us mysterious yet unfrightening. Suddenly, we become adventurers in the journey of love. And as the journey begins, our true faces and voices begin emerging…either to work against us or for us.

After two years of courtship, I never once had a quarrel or at least a heated one with my fiance, not until we got married. Of course, when the first one happened, I wasn’t prepared. Words were spoken…the voice that I had come to love was now different. You see, like many other things in life…A GOOD MARRIAGE IS BUILD with WORDS. After being married for awhile, it is easy to become careless with our words…a little nagging wouldn’t hurt or sulking or the silent treatment. For the husband, a few more hours at work can’t hurt, after all I have to provide for my family, he reasons. Isn’t it amazing then to know that the very things that brought you together are the very things that are now you driving apart?

But the Songwriter says it well, ‘Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin our vineyard.’ And my question is: Which little foxes have you allowed into your VINEYARD? What are going to do about them? For you as a Christian realize that God wants your vineyard, i.e your marriage to bloom.

THE FORMULA FOR A GOOD MARRIAGE

Keep the VOICE OF YOUR MARRIAGE SWEET and PLACE THE LOVELY FACE OF YOUR MARRIAGE UNDER THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ANOINTING.

John 18:37-38 ‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I came into the world, TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. Everyone on the side of TRUTH listens to me.’ ‘WHAT IS TRUTH? Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him.’

Its you again…after a restful night, you wake up another morning to face the world and its new challenges. As you prepare yourself, you switch on the news on TV for the latest and fresher information on what the world is up to. As the newscaster goes on, you find yourself glued on the screen literally soaking in on each and every information delivered. Without stopping to think twice or question, you accept what you hear as truth. But if you had time to switch on to the next news channel, you might hear the same kind of information told differently. And this is where our problem starts. We live in a world where everyone is screaming out for your attention to offer you a piece of truth as they see it. For you as a Christian, how are you able to distinguish between truth that is RELATIVE…from the truth that is ABSOLUTE.

Let’s get back to the Scripture above for illustration. It is early morning and Jesus is standing before Pilate after his arrest. Pilate starts questioning him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asks. And Jesus answers back with a question of his own. “IS THAT YOUR OWN IDEA OR DID OTHERS TALK TO YOU ABOUT ME?” A few verses farther, we hear Pilate say to Jesus, ‘You are a king, then!.’ In a sense, Pilate was acknowledging that as truth based on other’s opinon and not necessary borne out of conviction. Before he went out again to the Jews, he asked Jesus this final question. “WHAT IS TRUTH?”

And that question still goes out to you today. WHAT IS TRUTH for you? Is it the ever changing interpretation of a relative truth or the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD. Who is Jesus to you? Was he a good man who lived before our times or is he, the EVER LIVING, UNCHANGING TRUTH? If Truth was standing right there in front of Pontius Pilate and he missed it, then it is also possible to hear THE TRUTH but NOT LISTEN. We hear with our ears but listen with through our hearts.

WHAT TRUTH ARE YOU LISTENING TO? REMEMBER, TRUTH DOES NOT RIDE ON NUMBERS…TRUTH ALWAYS STANDS ALONE. JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.

John 20:3-8 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple OUTRAN Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, SEPARATE from the linen. Finally. the other disciple who reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and BELIEVED.

What makes a circle complete? For one, it has to end from where it started. Secondly, a circle cannot be a circle if it has some curve or defect…i.e from whichever angle you come from, the area inside must be equal and even. And that too applies for a LOVE CIRCLE. Before you get lost, let me explain the above scripture.

It is Easter Sunday, John the BELOVED and Simon Peter are still mourning Jesus’ demise. Then Mary Magdalene shows up with some stunning news: Jesus’ body has gone missing. Without a word…the two men start running…but one outrans the other but when he get at the tomb, he doesn’t go in. The other, panting and out of breathe gets there and without a second thought goes in for a personal encounter. After a while, John, the BELOVED get in, sees and BELIEVES.

But wait a minute, what are you trying to say? What does that have to do with my everyday reality? I say…EVERYTHING and much more. You see…John was the disciple that Jesus loved. The Bible doesn’t tell us why he chose to love him like he did. Peter, on the other hand was the disciple who loved Jesus. His radical love for Christ caused him to do the unthinkable both in faith and fury. But all the same, his heart burnt out with a love unquencheable.

Before Jesus comes back for his own…THE LOVE CIRCLE has to be complete. John, the Beloved represents Israel. Just like the love Jesus felt for John, Israel is GOD’S BELOVED. Simon Peter represents the REDEEMED CHURCH of Jesus Christ. You see, ISRAEL and THE CHURCH have many things in common. Both believe in a Messiah and are waiting for His return. But something is still missing…the circle is incomplete. Although Israel outran the church to the tomb, it stumbled in unbelief. The church entered the empty tomb and believed in a RISEN LORD and the first half of the LOVE CIRCLE was complete. ISRAEL is yet to enter and see and believe. But you and I as the Church ought to pray for the circle’s completion.

Romans 11:26-27 And so all Isael will be saved, as it is written:
‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION; HE WILL TURN GODLESSNESS AWAY FROM JACOB. AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’

And that day when it happens….THE LOVE CIRCLE will be complete. ARE YOU PART OF THE FIRST CIRCLE? When is the last time you prayed for ISRAEL? It’s never too late.

Judges 11:35, 39 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have make a VOW to the Lord that I cannot break. After two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a VIRGIN.

Did it have to end up so tragically, you may wonder just like I do. Let’s go back to the storyline in Judges 11. Here is Jephthah, the Gileadite who is a might warrior. Israel’s enemies, the Ammonites are causing them some trouble. Inevitably, they have to go for war. Jephthah heeds the call of duty…and advances on the frontline. But before things get too thick and messy, Jephthah quickly makes a vow unto the Lord, “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in truimph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” And the rest is history. His daughter was the first one to meet him at the door and consequently, she had to die UNMARRIED.

Suppose Jephthah lived in our days? The news headlines would probably read like this:

A RELIGIOUS FANATICAL KILLS DAUGHTER TO APPEASE HIS GOD

The experts would be called to analyse the situation. The public opinion would be sought to try to cub down on religious fanatism. And the lawmakers will be working behind the scenes to make amendments on laws on religious freedom. But whatever the case, Jephthah nonetheless did fulfill his vow to the Lord. Had he thought the matter more carefully, he would have perhaps specified the ‘whatever’ by naming an animal. But he didn’t, and it was too late for such thoughts. The ‘whatever’ happened to be HIS OWN DAUGHTER.

For you as a single person, you might find yourself today in the same place as Jephtath’s daughter. You desire to get married, but other circumstances beyond you seem to work against you. You pray, you fast, you go for the singles conferences or whatever else to increase the possibility of meeting your second half. But still nothing happens. While it is true, you may be single by choice or my circumstances beyond you…one thing is for sure: this is the Lord’s promise for the singles Isaiah 56:4-5 For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant to them I will give within my temple and its walls A MEMORIAL and A NAME better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

Despite the hurried vows of Jephthah, to this day in Israel, each year young women go out for four days to COMMEMORATE the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. The Lord is still faithful to His promise. He desires to make your name great even in YOUR SINGLEHOOD.

Hebrew 11:1-2 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ANCIENTS were commended for.

Before we set out to seek for a job or ask for an academic sponsorship or whatever else where a curriculum vitae is needed, we usually take time to put down all our details together in documented records. In the best possible manner, we represent ourselves as the best person for the job in question or the sponsorship. No one in their right mind ever writes about their failures or struggles in the CV. And of course, it is difficult for a potential employer or financier to determine who you really are in person apart from what you portray on paper.

Have you ever wondered how your CV would look like if God needed one before He send you out on a mission? If so, what would you write? In any case, He knows you well in and out and you cannot lie to Him anyway. While that may be the case, the truth is, God never and will never require a CV from us. For the records, no human CV can be good enough to qualify you in His eyes.

But the good news is, GOD has only one requirement for hire…and that is FAITH. Hebrew 11:6 says; And without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek HIM.

Do you want to be commended like the ANCIENTS…that is for GOD to represent you as being worthy of regard or confidence…then look up to the sky for He is waiting for you.

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are FULLY COMMITTED TO HIM. 2 Chronicles 16:9

Are you righteous in Christ? Then you qualify. Are you a God-pleaser? You qualify. Are you a sin-hater? You qualify. BY FAITH, YOU QUALIFY. Be encouraged!

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God.

There are moments in life which are irreplaceable. Just a few hours ago I found myself in the one of them. My almost 4 year old daughter was selected with four other children in her group in pre-school to perform a patriot song. For weeks, her practice was going well until a week ago, when she went down with a bad cold. That meant absent days at school and consequently, missed practice time and the rehearsal. But her teacher didn’t quite want her to miss the BIG DAY…the day of her performance. And that day came…TODAY. Of course, as a parent, I was a bit nervous. What if she didn’t remember the lines? Was she afraid to stand before a crowd? I worried. However, when her time came to perform, all the tremor and nervousness disappeared into thin air. HER PERFORMANCE TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST and the applause in the audience told it all. And that for me was the IRREPLACEABLE moment, one which I couldn’t trade for the world.

You see, just as it was with me, I believe the same was with God. He had sent His Son…His one and only Son to earth. For 33 years, He watched him going about doing good as He had willed for him to. But then came the day…HIS BIG DAY. The day of His performance. The devil thought that he had won. For years, he had tried to kill Jesus but His time had not yet come. But when that day came… Heaven was ready; It was that ONCE FOR ETERNITY moment. When Jesus hanged on the cross on Calvary and said it is finished…HEAVEN STOOD STILL…THE IRREPLACEABLE MOMENT IN ETERNITY HAD PASSED. Heaven and earth could never be the same again.GOD AND MAN WERE RECONCILED and that fact is IRREPLACEABLE.

Luke 10:38-39 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named MARTHA opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

Here is the picture of our modern day MARTHA. Yes, she is a Christian. She knows the Lord…as her Personal Saviour. She loves to serves…and serves she does big time. Apart from a successful career going for her, she is all over; in the church choir, in advisory board, a member of the mercy ministries and whatever else comes along her way. And to top the list, she is an excellent wife and an adoring mum. SHE IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WOMANHOOD.

And here comes our modern day MARY. She too, is a Christian. The Lord is her Personal Saviour. But for her the word Saviour carries much more weight than she would care to reveal. You see, before the Lord came to her rescue…hers was a life seemingly beyond redemption. But thankfully, the Lord reached out for her. And she is making progress…no, not the progress which is visible like MARTHA’S. Each day, she takes little but giant steps of faith. She has no agenda…therefore keeping herself tuned to the Lord comes with no effort. Of course, there are times when things around seem to draw out her attention, but her heartbeat is too close to her Saviour to be stolen away.

The question goes out to you. Who are you…a Mary or a Martha? What are your priorities? Keeping tuned in to the Lord or allowing GOOD DISTRACTIONS to keep you tuned off from Him? Simply because men appraise you doesn’t necessary means that God approves.

Remember….before you can serve others, you have to DINE at HIS TABLE.

Song of Songs 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth_ for your love is more delightful than wine.

According to my Collins dictionary…a tit-bit is described as a delicacy or choice item. For a growling stomach, a tit-bit is the snack that can save a day. Whatever your perception, we can all agree on this one truth…every once in a while, each one of us needs a tit-bit. Titbits usually cover up for what is lacking. Unfortunately, we live in a world where there is a short supply of the basic things that we need for our survival. Sadly speaking, love is one of them. The signs of a love-starved world are everywhere….divorces, child abuse, depression, murder, and you name it.

Yet, in spite of the lack, the book of SONG OF SONGS reminds us how important tit-bits are. You see, for a long time, I always associated the book with the love between a man and a woman. But the Lord called my attention to something deeper. The book of Song of Songs is in fact, the LOVE TIT-BIT to a world that was dying. A world that was full of war, blood-shed and violence.

And much has not changed. But something else has…YOU! You have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. God has called you, as a Christian to be a supplier of His love tit-bits to a suffering world. And some day when YOU will stand before HIM, you will hear these words:

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. FOR I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING TO EAT. I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU INVITED ME IN. I WAS SICK AND YOU LOOKED AFTER ME, I WAS IN PRISON AND YOU CAME TO VISIT ME.”

If that applies to you, my Christian brother or sister, go on now and touch someone today with your God-given love tit-bit.