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Strive that your thoughts, words and deeds are acceptable to God
Often the ways of the world are such that they strive for acceptance from the worldly systems. And the worldly systems do reward their subjects with worldly wages. These wages may seem from an outside perspective simply just about money, fame and prestige but in truth the way to please the world by sinning, results in offending the Lord God. Such a person cannot claim to truly love God!
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
You are in the word but not of the world. What this means that while you stay in this world, do what is good and acceptable to God always instead of loving the sinful ways of the world. Remember O people of God, that the world is in opposition to the Word of God which speaks of holiness while the word speaks of rebellion against all that is holy.
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
When you try to ensure that your thoughts, words and deeds are acceptable to God, do not be troubled at the opposition and hate that you face. The world even hated Jesus Christ!
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)
Once you strive to please the Lord God never turn against him. And remember that the Son of God Jesus Christ is always there to support and empower you in your decision to stay true to the Lord God. Therefore think, speak and work in such a way that you always uphold your faith in God!
If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us (2 Timothy 2:12)
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
In the times of deception cling on to the Word of God
And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever. (1 John 2:17)
Face it O believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are living in a fallen world. A world fallen that has rebelled against God and has fallen from the grace of God. It’s a world that delights in the darkness and tries to flee from the light. And this is a world that deceive itself and tries to deceive the innocent, the naive and unwitting and even those who are the faithful of God.
The innocent, the naive and unwitting are mostly those who are younger but can be of any age. They do act morally right but are not necessarily going by faith in Jesus Christ. While the faithful of God in Jesus Christ, carry the light of Christ. Therefore the Enemy uses those who are under his grip to tempt believers in Christ. Beware, the Enemy is not that interest in affecting your health and wealth, but rather after your faith, which means he tries to pollute it with sin and lack of faith. Sometimes, affecting health and wealth are just a means to a bigger end ie causing a loss of faith.
In such times its important for those who believe in Jesus Christ to firstly hold to the Word of God, secondly reject all worldly deceptions and thirdly proclaim the Gospel by both word and deed. This will help one to remain undefiled by the deceptions of the world and also give glory to God as you continue your walk with Christ unto the very end!
Eloquence is not a substitute for the Truth
Eloquence is not a substitute for the Truth!
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
There are preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and there are preachers who are just about fluff. The preachers of the Gospel will teach about the cross of Christ and will exhort you to holiness and obedience to God. The fluff preachers will use words to make you feel positive and even over confident about yourself, and eventually will distort the true meaning of the cross of Christ.
The preachers of the Gospel will protect their people from the deceivers of the world, while the fluff preachers will teach their unwitting flocks all sorts of heresies in the name of feeling good. However, wisdom is justified by it own children. The wise will know to turn away from fluff preachers right from their first sermon, while the self deceived foolish ones will keep trying to find even more fluff preachers who will play along with their silly agendas, instead of drawing them any closer to God.
A simple rule of thumb; never be shocked if true preachers of the Gospel stay faithful to God till the very end and don’t be surprised when the fluff preachers even deny the Word of God, outrightly at any time!
The Word of God has warned us long time back about such preachers of falsehood. Now its your turn to pay heed to God’s Word and reject the evil and accept what is holy.
Christ be with you!
Quick Reminder: God tempts no one
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (James 1:13)
Stop admiring celebrities who don’t even know you
Stop admiring celebrities who don’t even know you and instead admire Jesus Christ who gave his life for you. Not all celebrities are bad and not all of them are good. However, you should know that they are prone to human frailty and are not the fountain of life. You need to focus on your life in Jesus Christ, nothing more, nothing less!
It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. (Ecclesiastes 7:5)
He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. (Proverbs 15:31)
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Overcome your triggers with the Word of God
Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
The Holy Scriptures exhort us to be sober and watchful. This is because God’s enemy’s i.e the Devil is seeking to devour any unsuspecting victim that he can find out. It would really be helpful to yourself that you overcome your triggers so that you can repel the attacks of the Enemy, for your own spiritual welfare and so give glory to God!
Some of the triggers (though not a complete list) can include the following:
- Lack of faith in certain Bible verses due lack of conviction in them.
- Tendency to get angry and sin immediately on hearing certain words.
- Tendency to get envious of people who get rich.
- Lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh.
- Getting into despair immediately on account of trials and losing hope in God.
People who keep falling into the same traps, should consider what is the thing in their heart that makes them such easy targets for the Devil. Some in their hearts don’t believe in healing, hence when they are attacked with sickness they don’t pray with faith for their healing nor do they pray that the doctor gives the right diagnosis with the correct treatment.
While others don’t believe in self control and think just because their cause is right they can go overboard with their words and/or actions even if its wrong in God’s eyes.
Some get envious of those who are rich presuming that all richness is only ill gotten gain instead of considering that some or the rich may have gotten rich through honest means.
Some people lust for things which are immoral, even though they know it’s all wrong. They feel that nothing is wrong with what they do.
While some well meaning people face trials but instead of calling onto God in faith for help they despair and forget to be thankful and prayerful.
The more you meditate on the Word of God the better you will be able to identify your triggers and then you’ll be able to tackle them.
Carry your cross daily. And don’t be ashamed to ask God for the grace to overcome your triggers. For it’s a good thing to take help from God than fall into error and be unrepentant!
Condoning the sinners action is not the same as loving them
All praise to the Lord God who created the heavens and the earth and all that is within it. All praise to Jesus Christ the Son of God who came to save sinners from sin, death and hell. And thanks to the Holy Spirit for leading us in all truth!
Some contemporary Christians are generally nowadays placing a lot of importance on love. There is so much emphasis on loving a person that such people who claim to love Christ end up doing the very things that Jesus Christ won’t call holy. Furthermore, such people even believe that the command of Jesus Christ to love one’s neighbour gives them all the permission they want to condone and promote sinners to sin but also justify their sin as a valid lifestyle choice. And by doing this such people are neither loving God nor loving their neighbour!
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37:40)
If you read the above verses, you will notice how quick people are to remember that parts about loving God and neighbour but how slow they are to remember the context which clearly says “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
Even back during his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ made it abundantly clear that loving God and loving your neighbour was all about fulfilling the law of God. If you love God you won’t worship false gods nor take the name of God in vain. If you love your neighbour you won’t steal your neighbours goods nor dishonour your parents nor bear false witness against your neighbour. Hope you now understand the context.
Imagine if you will if someone is wandering from the truth (for instance being a robber or a drug addict) but you instead tell that person that the way they sin is just diversity and not perversity and you love them. Then how will you say that you truly love that person, because you have borne false witness to that person in deceiving yourself and that person all is fine with that one, even if that person sins. I say you’d be deceiving yourself because it’s a very big presumption that you’re doing all this because you love the Lord God. I solemnly say to you that this is neither love of God nor love of neighbour.
Instead, the Bible greatly exhorts us to get people back to the truth if people wander into sin. It never tells that we do this by condoning their sin as an alternative lifestyle choice.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)
Therefore, don’t bear witness against the Word of God about what it says is sin. Don’t presume that God is so loving that he will somehow allow sinners to sin and remain unrepentant just because he loves them.
You might also want to consider in Mattew 18:6, what Jesus Christ the ever loving Savior of the World had to say about those who lead others into sinning. He didn’t say it for the sake of it but had solemly warned people who take part in the deeds of causing others to sin and Jesus means every word of it, because sin is rebellion against God.
“but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)
O believers in Jesus Christ hold on the true faith and don’t hold on to any mindset that condones sinners to continue in their various sins against their own bodies and against God. Be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and do not get corrupted by any falsehood which claims that loving anything for the sake of anything some how is more important that the truth of the Word of God.
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)
Rebuke the sinner in gentleness and when that person acknowledges and follows the Gospel of Jesus Christ, give glory to God. But yes, be on your guard lest you get tempted in anyway. And remember if the Bible calls it a sin then it remains a sin no matter what opinion that any man, woman or child has on the contrary.
Christ be with you!
Verses for reflection:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. (1 Timothy 5:20)
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:18-27)
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Prayer points for 2024
This year 2024 let’s come together in faith asking the Lord God the father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to be our refuge against the powers of darkness in the world both visible and invisible. For greater is HE that is in us than he is in the world and we shall prevail against all evil for the greater glory of God
Let’s therefore pray the following prayer points with full faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the year 2024:
O Lord Jesus we come before you today, and we repent of all our sins and forgive all those who have sinned against us. We renounce each and every thing that is sinful and reject the temptations of the world and also reject the false promises of Satan.
We thank you for all the prayers answered in the year 2023. We thank for each blessing we received in the year 2023.
We together confess and claim the following Psalm verses as our heritage in Jesus :
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. (Psalm 25:1-3)
Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (Psalm 86:4)
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. (Psalm 143:8)
We also pray the following and know that you O Lord God will guide us by your Holy Spirit against all of our oppressors including those who scheme against the Church and Israel.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27 : 11-14)
O Lord Jesus we ask that you intercede for us all the right hand of God and interrupt the plans of the Evil One in all areas of our life, including our prayer life, our finances, our health, our physical and spiritual security and our intellect. We ask and thank you in faith O Lord Jesus that you will work might miracles of deliverance for our families and friends and also each of our countries in which your Holy Name is praised.
O Holy Spirit of the Living God, come in our lives and take away all false counsel and lies of the Enemy. We ask in faith that the Gospel of Jesus continues to be proclaimed so that people come to receive salvation through the Lord Jesus.
O Lord God you who are the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, we give you the praise for there is none like you, there is no one greater than you! We ask in faith in your loving mercy that you save the children of the church and of the world from all evil predators who have been escaping due justice. We pray that you cause the people of the church and of the world to contend against all those who prey on the innocence of children whether its in person or on social media!
We also pray to that we get the breakthroughs that we need and also what we have been praying for all these years, for we take delight in You and trust in your Holy Word. Amen!
Disciples of hope 