THE GUILT OF INNOCENCE

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collect stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Luke 18:10-13

We are all guilty of it. An assumed sense of INNOCENCE…even before God who in actual fact knows more than we are willing to give or acknowledge. It all started in the Garden of Eden. Adam was so over the moon when God brought him the most beautiful thing he had ever seen – Eve, his wife. For the first time in his existence, he had found someone who truly resembled and complimented him in many ways. His appreciation of her is fully seen in his words:

“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man.” Genenis 2:23

But its not long after those words are declared do we see a sudden change of heart. Eve is not all she seems to be, Adam tries his best to convince God. Of course, she is quilty and he can only be GUILTY OF INNOCENCE …. “This woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Gen 3:12

Just like Adam, it is so easy to full into that trap of the guilt of innocence. We look at ourselves with a less critical eye but we are quick to judge others and pass on a deadly sentence. We are the first to pick the stone of condemnation … yet in reality we are guilt of a greater sin than the guilt one. As Jesus reminds us in the above parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, it is always safe to stand before God as the GUILTY ONE and find mercy than play safe with the GUILT OF INNOCENCE and find only condemnation.

The choice is always yours!

AMAZING GRACE

Goodness me! Where do I start? It’s good to be alive….and I truly mean that. GOD has been GOOD… and I mean that as well. When my family set out into the unknown this past July, we never could have imagined what was in store for us. Yes…unknowingly, we had set…or rather God had set us up for the next IMPOSSIBLE mission yet to encounter in our lives. Hmm..meeting and marrying my husband was a challenge in itself…and yes, the IMPOSSIBLE then… become POSSIBLE…because of HIS AMAZING GRACE.

Then again…bringing my daughter to the point of birth…was yet another IMPOSSIBLE mission…but became POSSIBLE because of HIS AMAZING GRACE. Then come July…and then August…and what had seemed like a brilliant idea to pack up and leave behind family, friends…and yes, familiarity…becomes infused with deep frustration and ANGER when things didn’t seem to move on as quickly as we had anticipated.

BUT….let me stop there. My soul had to be born again. Yes…on 17 October, the anniversary of my 17th year in the Lord, which was also the first anniversary of this blog, I seat in church listening to the preacher say what I needed to hear. Yes…my heart needed to be REVIVED, RESTORED and REPLENISHED in a new and AMAZING way. Yes…HIS AMAZING GRACE has keep me and my family going…and I can now say…I am rising up again to walk the course He has set out for me.

God has been GOOD…and I mean that! And HIS GRACE has been AMAZING!!!

For all my blogging friends out there….I want to say thank you….for your prayers and love! And for all my readers…known and unknown…I will be back. God has been doing an AMAZING JOB…in my heart and I hope when I will get back on this page…it will show…as it did with Moses whenever He came down from the mountain of the Lord to face the children of Israel.

May the Grace of the Lord be with you, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit now and forevermore. AMEN!!!

DOES IT MATTER

The last time I checked….and I kept wondering, “GOD, DOES IT MATTER?” All this trusting, believing, pleading and staying at one point. “DOES IT MATTER?” So here I am and the Lord put it out well. Yes, it matters. Oh…it more than matters. I am stretching your spiritual muscles. For too long…you have confined yourself to accomodate what you can handle in your present situation. But I am here…I want you TO STRETCH, I want you TO ENLARGE, I want you to MOVE OUT….yes, because I have plans for you. In case you might wonder who this word is for…It for me….and you, and him, and her, and yes….for most of us.

DARE I SAY MORE…..read ISAIAH 54 for the bigger picture.

You are loved! God bless you all.

WALK OUT…WALK ON!

Matthew 14:25-29 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, WALKING ON the lake. When th disciples saw him WALKING ON the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ‘Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.” ‘COME,” he said. Then Peter got DOWN OUT of the boat, WALKED ON the water and came towards Jesus.

WALK OUT…means: to leave suddenly without explanation, flounce out, get up and go, storm out; abandon; go on strike etc.

WALK ON...means: move forward, pace up; move your feet along on a solid base etc.

We might be all familiar with the story of Peter walking on the water. But…let us look again from a different perspective. Jesus has just appeared to his disciples in the middle of the night. And oh no…its not what you might want to hear. How I wish…it was in the middle of a good dream to reassure them that he is there for them. But no…it wasn’t. In fact, it was DARK; and yes, it was ALL WATER around; and what more; the WAVES were high and the WIND was against them. Talk about a grim scenario… and you have it right here.

Is Jesus aware of where you are at the moment? My friend…I bet He does!!!
Is Jesus aware of the dangers that surround you at every turn? My friend…I am persuaded He does!!!
Is Jesus indifferent to your journey of life? My friend…I ask you, please read again Matthew 14:25.
…Jesus went out to them….is self-explanatory. Jesus is coming out to you today!

SIMPLY CHURCH!

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but WE TRUST in the NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD.

What does SIMPLY CHURCH got to do with anything? You see, church…for you and I may have a whole lot of different meanings. And so does…CHARIOTS AND HORSES. Ask the nobles in the days gone by and you might found out that…CHARIOTS AND HORSES represented in those days…POWER, PROSPERITY & PRESTIGE. In the middle ages, those who owned and rode in HORSE AND CHARIOTS…were usually the CREME of the society, to be regarded with high honour…not because of anything they had done on their part but simply because one was born into aristocracy.

But what does SIMPLY CHURCH got to do with you and me? EVERYTHING...and much more. Church…and I mean church in the only place where you require no qualifications whatsoever to be part of…other than…allowing Jesus to take your lowly place by forgiving your sins and admitting you into AN ETERNAL ARISTOCRACY…in this life and in eternity. Yes…CHARIOTS and HORSES can seem for some like a secure place…of power, prosperity and prestige…but SIMPLY CHURCH…is more secure than all the horses and chariots put together. Why? Because the bible says so:

THE WIND OF CHANGE

John 3:8 The WIND blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of THE SPIRIT.

Last night, as I put my head down to sleep, I heard the Lord speak gently into my spirit. “THE WIND IS CHANGING.” Let me explain a bit. You see, sometime at the end of November last year, our landlady came with this unexpected announcement. Our house…where we moved in on our wedding night…and where our daughter has called home was soon going to be sold. Suddenly, our lives were turned upside down. For one…renting a house in our town is almost an impossible affair. Most houses are built for sale…and rarely do you find a house for rent. Secondly, because of the scarcity of rental houses, those available are at exaggerated rates.

But earlier in September, we had began thinking of looking for our own house to buy and settle down. We had an eye on a particular house…and the excitement was getting on as we prepared to get things moving in the right direction. Then…again, quite unexpectedly, the plans to relocate were soon interrupted. God closed the doors on us. Yes…the time for CHANGE was here but THE WIND OF CHANGE was not. Finally, when our landlady gave us notice of three months to move out…something happened to both of us, my husband and I at the same time. It was as if God had been waiting for this ONE MOMENT in time for a long time. Without a a long discussion or compromise, we knew that NOW…was the time for us to move out. Not out of our house…but rather to move on with THE WIND OF CHANGE.

BUILD YOUR HOUSE LAST

Proverbs 24:27 Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; AFTER THAT, BUILD YOUR HOUSE.

I remember reading the above Proverb sometime last month…and it left me pondering for days. I had even considered posting from it…but nothing concrete seemed to come to me. No revelation whatsoever was forthcoming! Then this morning, I woke up feeling as if I have suddenly lost foot. Our plans as a family almost seems threatened. After some thought, the words of Proverbs 24:27 came rushing back. It was as if God wanted to reassure me about MY HOUSE! Yes…OUR HOUSE.

Before I explain where I am heading with this, let me first remind you what a HOUSE represents for each one of us:

SECURITY: That means a roof over your head gives you a sense of being protected from danger or harm.
STABILITY: That means you have somewhere to go back to every time and all the time. It gives you a sense of continuity.
SETTLEMENT: That means you are now rested and your roots are put down. It gives you a sense of permanency.

With these three points in mind, it may seem more practical and normal for each one of us to desire to have or BUILD OUR HOUSE FIRST…and not as the Proverbs puts it…AFTER doing all the other things. But then again, when I read Proverbs 24;27 I realised I was reading my own life story. In fact, MY GOD STORY.

While I have desired for so long to reach that place of SETTLEMENT, the Lord had other plans for my life. He is the One who gave me…and you, I suppose the outdoor assignment. You and I have been busy preparing the fields for the harvest of the nations. And in the same way, after we have done our bit, He will bring us to the place of BUILDING OUR HOUSE. Just because your house will be BUILD LAST doesn’t mean you will loss out on the best. In fact, since your HOUSE WILL BE BUILD LAST…you will be surprised at what God has in store for you. Remember, He is still the God who SAVES THE BEST WINE FOR THE LAST John 2:10

GOD IS THEIR ADVOCATE

Zechariah 7:8-10 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the WIDOW or the FATHERLESS, the ALIEN or the POOR. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

An ADVOCATE according to my Collins dictionary is defined as: to support or recommend publicly; a person who upholds or defends a cause; a person WHO INTERCEDES ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER; a person who pleads his client’s cause in the court of law etc.

Is God your advocate? Do you believe God is well able to intercede or intervene on your behalf against the injustice you are facing? You might not know this….but GOD IS A PROFESSIONAL ADVOCATE! He longs for justice more than you can ever imagine. Long before the professional advocate become a prestigious job…God had made it clear to the children of Israel that He would intercede anytime, and every time when injustice was shown to the four kinds of people in their midst: THE WIDOW, THE FATHERLESS, THE ALIEN AND THE POOR.

In the book of Deuteronomy, we see God commanding the children of Israel on how to deal with these four kinds of people. And in most cases, it was evident that how they dealt with them influenced the outcome of the future events in their lives.

THE HEALING OF NATIONS

Ezekiel 47:12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves FOR HEALING.

Last week, my husband and I watched a documentary on BBC television about human trafficking…and child labour. The focus was on the cocoa plantations in West African countries. A boy from Burkina Faso was sold off by his uncle ended up in Ghana. Some undercover journalist brought him out of captivity and helped re-unite him with his mother. During the week, I also watched a movie based on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda…where nearly 1 millions lives were lost. Yet again, my heart was reminded how wicked the heart of man is. At the end of the week, I saw another documentary about the drug cartels in South America and how children and young people are abducted and are forced to join the rebel army against their wish. Their families are heartbroken and most have no ransom money to pay for their release.

Where is justice? Where is THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS?

ENCOURAGE YOURSELF IN THE LORD

1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking about stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David FOUND STRENGTH IN THE LORD HIS GOD.

STRENGTHEN according to my Collins dictionary means: to fortify, brace up, consolidate, ENCOURAGE, GIVE NEW ENERGY TO, etc.

In other words, we can read this sentence like this: But David ENCOURAGED HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD.

This morning, I had plans to write on a different topic altogether. But as I was conversing with my husband, I felt the Lord leading me into this direction. The Lord made it clear to me that there are many out there who need not to be encouraged, BUT TO ENCOURAGE THEMSELVES IN THE LORD.

What do I mean by ENCOURAGING YOURSELF IN THE LORD? Let’s go back to the storyline in 1 Samuel 30. David was not yet the King of Israel….but Prophet Samuel had already anointed him as the next king of Israel. The mantle of kingship had already be passed on to David, yet he wasn’t yet at his rightful position. King Saul had plotted more than once to kill him, but he had escaped to the land of the Philistines. Together with six hundred men, he settled in the land of Gath with Achish, son of the King of Gath….and joined his army. On several occasion, he went out with his men to raid the surrounding lands, leaving no man or woman alive but came back to Achish with sheep, cattle, donkey etc. Achish thought David was no longer loyal to his countrymen…and even when the time came for the Philistines to face the Israelites in battle, Achish included him and his men in their army.

But as they were preparing to enter into the battlefield, the rulers of the Philistines army who didn’t approve of David…because they already knew of his earlier conquest against them asked Achish to send him back to his place of assignment, that is, Ziklag.