Tag Archives: faith

February 11, 2026 · 9:46 pm

ONLY GOATS CROSS LAWNS

“ONLY GOATS CROSS LAWNS”

These were the words of my secondary school Principal. I don’t remember how many times I heard him say this, but the words stuck. More than 30 years later, I still take the longer route to get where I need to go, instead of taking shortcuts that cross and deface pristine lawns. These words still ring in my head today, and I don’t want to ever see myself as a goat.  SAMBA, as we fondly called him, was a great man who shaped and moulded our young minds with his words, actions, and charisma. Many of such words still guide my thoughts and actions today.

With this on my mind, I can imagine what occupied the thoughts of the Rechabites when they gave Prophet Jeremiah the answer below:

Then I set jars full of wine and some cups in front of the men of the Rechabite family. And I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they said, “We will not drink wine. For Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, told us, ‘You and your sons must never drink wine. Jeremiah 35: 5 – 6

They had the opportunity to compromise and take some wine. After all, their father was not there looking over their shoulders. He was long gone, but his words remained with them. They had built invisible boundaries with the words of their father, and nothing was going to make them break ranks. Not even the fact that the counter instruction was coming from the revered prophet of God.

At 17, Joseph found himself in another man’s land without parental or pastoral oversight. He was presented with an almost irresistible opportunity to compromise. Instead, he stayed within the boundaries of the Word and chose to face the dire consequences. He overcame by living up to the standards of the Word of God that had been sown into his heart while in his homeland.

As we journey through the paths of life, opportunities to make little shifts in our Word-influenced boundaries will come our way. Those compromise-laden opportunities may appear insignificant initially, but they create footholds for the enemy to hit us with bigger opportunities. When we walk on lawns, the grass does not disappear immediately. Instead, it is eroded gradually until the place where beautiful grass blades once stood becomes bare ground. That is the same way little compromises eat away at the fabric of our relationship with God. The fact that everyone is doing it and it is generally accepted as the norm does not make it right. God’s Word does not metamorphose. It is settled in heaven.

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven [standing firm and unchangeable]. Psalm 119:89 [AMP]

The thing about little compromises is that when we break the resistance and do it the first time, it becomes easier subsequently. We gradually become numb to the tugging of the Holy Spirit in that area until the boundary set by the Word of God completely disappears. It should not be so.

Also, …

My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do.” Isaiah 55:11 [GWT]

Nobody may see it; nobody may know about it. However, it never leaves us the same. Just like the Word of God always accomplishes God’s purpose, every little and apparently innocuous act of compromise will also accomplish its purpose of initiating a chasm between our Father and us. We ALWAYS have the grace to say NO.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age Titus 2: 11 – 12 [ESV]

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

February 2, 2026 · 9:43 pm

MEASURE BY MEASURE

I have been going to the gym regularly for a while now…not that I’m preparing for any contest though 😊. I just want to stay fit and toned. My trainer focuses on different muscles every day, with the objective of hitting every muscle group at least once each week. To achieve the desired result each day, I have to go through a fixed number of repetitions of an assigned activity for multiple sets. If I don’t hit the agreed number of repetitions and sets, the output will be sub-optimal. Also, as I developed a consistent rhythm of gym attendance, the weights that I use for the strength exercises have progressively increased. If I don’t increase the weights, my muscle toning will become stagnant. If I go back to the old weights, it feels as if I am not doing any work, just like drinking water with a teaspoon when you are thirsty. The measure of result that I feel in my body will depend on the measure of effort that I put in at the gym.

Because of this experience, the verse below in the Classic Amplified Version now comes with added significance to me. I can fully relate.

And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. Mark 4: 24 [AMPC]

The measure of attention we give to the Word of God that we read or hear will determine the measure of fruit that will show forth in and through our lives. The drill should be to consciously engage and meditate until the “Word becomes flesh” in our hearts. In most cases, it would require devotion of a significant amount of time and bandwidth. We should not just hear the Word and get all excited at the moment and then move on as if nothing happened. No matter how deep the revelation might be, we need to build the personal discipline of going back to chew the cud like ruminants to extract all there is for us in the Word. If not, we will ultimately remain at the same spot.

In the parable of the sower, the seed that fell on good ground brought forth fruit that was thirty, sixty, and a hundred times more than what had been planted. In this case, the seed was the same, the fertile soil was the same, but the yield was not all the same across all the fronts. Some sections yielded a thirty-fold return, while some others returned a hundred-fold. What could be the difference? We could come up with multiple suggestions and reasons, but one thing is sure – the fault was not from the seed. The Word is permanently potent. It must have had to do with the measure of something.

For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with [a]the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; [b]neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe). Hebrews 4:2 [AMPC]

It’s not just enough to hear the Word. It’s not just enough to read the Word. It’s not just enough to memorize the Word. The Word needs to move from our ears, our lips and our eyes into our hearts, where all the issues of life flow from. We need to engage with the Word in our hearts until all the issues of our lives are coloured by the Word. The measure of our engagement will determine the measure of the impact of the Word in and through our lives.

When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. Jeremiah 15: 16 [NLT]

picture credit : Testmark

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

January 18, 2026 · 5:10 pm

SARTORIUS AND RECTUS FEMORIS

I try to play football with my colleagues at least once every week to complete my weekly bodily exercise quota. From the period leading up to the last Christmas holiday season to the early part of January, I did not play football or get involved in any structured form of exercise for four weeks. When I got back from vacation, I decided to get on the green pitch again to get things rolling for the year. Before I got on the pitch that evening, I told myself that I was going to take things easy and play a defensive role to gradually get myself back into the flow having been away for a relatively long time.

When the game started and the adrenaline rush kicked in, I forgot my agreement with myself and made a dash forward and ended up scoring the only goal of the game for my team. In that process and without warning, my thigh muscle popped and that was my last kick of the game and further keeping me out of the game for a few weeks.

For fun, I decided to find out the muscles that were impacted by the injury and identified them as my Sartorius and Rectus Femoris. They form part of the four muscles that make up the thigh muscle known as quadriceps.

At that moment when I ran forward, I erroneously assumed that because I had played for a few minutes, I could go ahead and play at top form, without realizing that my thoughts and my muscles were not working at the same frequency. Reminiscing about this incident, I remembered how Samson thought he still had his superpowers after his head had been shaved.

Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the LORD had left him. Judges 16:20 [NLT]

Another similar story is that of Peter denying Jesus shortly after promising to die with him. He must have convinced himself that he was afraid on nothing and no one. He did not realize that his self-confidence was unfounded.

Peter said, “What do you mean I’m not able to follow you now? I would sacrifice my life to die for you!” Jesus answered, “Would you really lay down your life for me, Peter? Here’s the absolute truth: Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will say three times that you don’t even know me!” John 13: 37-38 [TPT]

Will power or brute strength cannot help us as we navigate our lives as Christians on this side of eternity. If we try to go it on our own and do things on our own terms, we will fail 100% of the times. When we have been in church for a long time and served in a particular capacity, there will be the temptation to depend on our ‘work experience’ in doing the work of God. We should never fall into this trap.

During the earthly ministry of Jesus, the apostles were with him all the time, they heard, they saw, they observed and touched Jesus. They had first hand experience that we can only imagine. Yet, that did not qualify them to launch their ministry without waiting for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.  John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1: 4 – 5 [NLT]

…And when they eventually launched out, they depended on Him for continuous guidance and empowerment every time.

Next, Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.  Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.  So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. Acts 6: 6 – 8 [NLT]

What Paul and Silas wanted to do was a good thing, but it was not what God wanted at that time. If they had solely depended on their experience and logical plans, they would have gone to Asia to preach the gospel, but they would have been on their own, doing the work of God without God.

We should never go on our own based on where we have been and what we have done in the past. This will ensure that our story is not like to story of my Sartorius and Rectus Femoris or the clean-shaven version of Samson. We should always defer to the guidance of the Holy Spirit every day, every time and everywhere. Then we will always be victorious and have good success.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

January 14, 2026 · 7:38 pm

THE MOUSE TRAP AND I

Once upon a time, my mum bought a mouse trap to deal with a growing menace of mice in our house. I was still in primary school then and I had never seen a mouse trap before that time. I got home one day, and I saw this contraption. I did not know what it was, so there was no way I could know if it was armed or not. I picked it up, I’m sure you can guess what happened next. The mouse trap did what it was designed to do. It had no way of sensing that my finger was not a mouse. So…I found out by experience that I was not meant to play around with an armed mouse trap.

As at that time, the mouse trap was not a novelty. It had been in production for a long time. I was just the one that did not know what it was. This is the same way we fall into many traps when the word of God has already made a way for us. The word of God has been with us for ages, it is not novelty. However, when we don’t open it to study it, meditate on it and live by it, we significantly sell ourselves short. A little dose every Sunday will never be enough for the journey that we need to face each week and indeed every day.

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. Joshua 1: 8 [NLT]

As Christians, we are not designed to function optimally without a consistent fellowship with God through His Word. We miss out on a lot if we do not study enough or if we study superficially. Also, we could also become very exposed to potential attacks and harm if we are ignorant of the schemes and plans of the enemy. Our defences are planted on the pages of the scriptures.

…To keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 2 Corinthians 2: 11 [NLT]

We forfeit so many things and bear needless pains when we stay far away from the Word of God. We fall into avoidable booby traps even though we already have the map that guarantees our perpetual safety. The Word is loaded with so many promises covering every area of our lives. The more we study, the more we discover these promises and the more we are formed into the image of the WORD, which should be our ultimate goal.

Furthermore….

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2Timothy 3:16 – 17 [NLT]

…We all have rough edges that can only be smoothened by the study of God’s Word. The degree of smoothness that we get to experience and our usefulness for Kingdom priorities depends on how much time we spend with God’s word, allowing ourselves to be worked on. As we are smoothened, we reflect Christ more in all that we do, and our light will shine to an extent that our lives will lead men to God. We will never reach our full potential and fully attain to the level that God ordained for us if all we do is a quick skim through the Word each time.  Just like the old song says; “Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday….If You Want To Grow”. This song is for all of us, not just for kids. We should stop making the Word of God to be like a novelty to us.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

January 5, 2026 · 11:27 am

THE SALT

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.”       Mathew 5:13 [NLT]

Listening to a podcast on this verse on the first day of the year, I recalled a part of my English Language lessons from many years ago: Definite Articles vs Indefinite Articles. ‘THE’ is a definite article, while ‘A and AN’ fall into the indefinite article category. A definite article is used with an item that is known with certainty, while an indefinite article is used with an item that is general or non-specific – it is not used with a particular thing that is known.

When the Bible says that we are THE salt of the earth, the use of the definite article implies that there is no other salt of the earth. The statement is not a general statement referring to a non-specific item. We are the ONLY salt of the earth. The church as an organization and the church members at individual levels are the salt of the earth. If the area around us is missing the salt effect, we need to look in the mirror and apportion the responsibility to the right person.

Salt preserves, salt ‘sweetens’, salt brings out the best from all the other ingredients. Talking PERSONAL responsibility for these missing salt effects is tough, because it’s always easier to point at other people, especially leaders with titles. This finger-pointing comes with a filter that prevents us from seeing the changes that we could make in the field that God has committed into our hands to cultivate.

No matter how many fingers we point at other people, it does not change God’s word that allocates this salty responsibility to us, and we are really not at liberty to choose the part of God’s word that is applicable to us. We may not be in the position to change the whole world or even our cities, but we definitely have a space that God has allocated to us to influence. We can change that space by manifesting our saltiness.

We can follow Nehemiah as a great example in this light. When he heard the state of things in Judah, he stepped up to do something about it, starting with prayer.

Then I said, “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. Nehemiah 1: 5 – 7

Following his prayer, he took the necessary steps and did what was in his power to initiate change.

We should never join the band of those that say that we pray too much in our country because praying continuously is in line with God’s word to us to pray without ceasing. We actively oppose the scriptures when we say that. As Christians, we should continuously pray hard and work even harder to show forth the glory of God in every space where we find ourselves, fully bearing in mind that we are the salt of the earth.

When we don’t see ourselves in the ‘corridors of power’, we should plant ourselves in the corridors of prayer because “…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16 [NLT]. We should not doubt the power of prayer, no matter how long it takes to manifest. Prayer and hard work are not mutually exclusive. We should be THE salt in our spaces and start the change now. A small quantity of salt is enough to make a large pot of soup to have a perfect taste, you are more than enough to ‘saltify’ your space.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

June 23, 2025 · 8:34 pm

ELEVATOR PITCH

Following a totally unplanned sequence of events, I found myself in one of the tallest hotels in the world, with 82 floors. I was assigned a room closer to the ground floor than the top floor. I could only imagine what the view would be from the top floor. To get to my room, I only had a short ride on the elevator, compared to someone on the 82nd floor. What if I had the liberty to press any button on the elevator and choose any room that I liked on any floor?


Now, let’s assume for a moment that the higher the floor you’re on, the greater the privileges and power that come with the room, and that the hotel manager has the freedom of choosing to be in any room on any floor at no extra cost. However, for some reason, he chooses to remain on the ground floor and never gets to use the elevator in the hotel. He voluntarily forfeits the privileges and power that come with the rooms on the higher floors.  



That’s kind of our story as God’s children. By the position that we have in Jesus, all authority has been given to us according to Ephesians 2:6 (God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven). However, when we get into the elevator, we restrict ourselves to the lower floors and instead choose to watch a few people access the higher floors and operate from those heights on our behalf.


Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory. Romans 8:17 [GNT]


As Christians, we all have the same free access to choose which button to press when we get into the elevator. How high we can access in the building is completely up to us and depends on the price we are willing to pay to understand and appropriate the rights and privileges that come with being on the higher levels. It is related to the level of commitment that we are willing to put in.


For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:8 [NIV]


We need to take personal responsibility for progressively adding these virtues to our lives and move from milk level to solid food and bones. The output will be evident and undeniable. We will know God and do exploits for and on behalf of the King.

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Hebrews 5:12 – 14 [NLT]

Our Father does not want us to remain on the ground floor and we should not want to remain there either. Let’s arise and press in a little more today and a little more tomorrow. We will gradually get to the place where God has ordained for us to get to – As high as the elevator can go.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

May 18, 2025 · 5:18 pm

IN BUT OUT

Luke 15:31 NASB2020

And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 

Imagine for a moment that you’re on a trip far from home. No cash, no cards, no friends that you can call on to help out. Instead, you have a bar of gold in your backpack. Many people around you are willing to part with a fortune for your gold. However, you don’t know that what you have is priceless gold, so you continue to languish and starve needlessly.

This is what happens when we do not know all that we have received as part of our inheritance in Christ. The brother of the young man that we have come to know as the prodigal son easily comes to mind to describe this scenario.

He was in the midst of abundance but didn’t know what he had. That’s why he was complaining when his brother was being celebrated. He could have had this celebration every day if he chose to. Everything that their father had was available to him, but he didn’t know and therefore couldn’t access it. Even though he was older, he was still a child in knowledge of what he had available to him and had to live like every other person.

Paul captured this aptly in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 4:1-2 NLT

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 

This is not just about chronological age; it’s about knowledge and capacity. In most cases, a young child is not capable of grasping the importance and extent of their inheritance until they become older and more mature. So, until they attain the required level of knowledge, they have to make do with whatever they are given.

Having the requisite knowledge at the appropriate level is what guarantees a victorious Christian life. A life enjoyed to the full extent that our Father has paid for. This knowledge of our place and position in Christ also increases our awareness of our power to live above sin and different variants of temptation.

This is so important that it features in most of Paul’s prayers for the people that he had preached to:

Ephesians 1:16-17 NLT

I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your KNOWLEDGE of God.

Philippians 1:9-10 NLT

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in KNOWLEDGE and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 

Colossians 1:9-10 NLT

So, we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete KNOWLEDGE of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Jesus also taught this to those who were listening to Him while He walked among us. John 8:32 NLT And you will KNOW the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Our permanent freedom from all kinds of oppression lies in the truth that is revealed to us. It is only the truth that we KNOW that will profit us. It’s of no use to us if we don’t KNOW it. 

This depth of revelational KNOWLEDGE will not be thrust into our laps. It’s not a free gift like salvation. We need to make every effort to add it ourselves. 

2 Peter 1:5 GNT 

For this very reason do your best to ADD goodness to your faith; to your goodness add KNOWLEDGE;…

If it was meant to be a free gift, Peter would not ask us to add it by ourselves. It is through diligent seeking that we would enter into the depths of KNOWLEDGE that God has prepared for us. We have been given all it takes; it is ours to search out by the help of the Holy Spirit

picture credit: Eternal Life Embassy

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

January 2, 2025 · 1:52 pm

SUMMER AND WINTER

A while ago, I watched a movie in which one of the actors made a statement that I found quite amusing. He had traveled to a country in the temperate region and spent some time in freezing weather. As expected, padded jackets became a customary part of his dressing when he was there. Having spent considerable time there, he refused to stop putting on the jackets even after being deported to his tropical climate country.

Someone dared to approach him and ask him why he was still wearing the jackets under sweltering conditions. His response, which I found funny because of the way he said it was that just because they were in the same place did not mean that they were necessarily under the same climate.

I remembered this recently when I was considering the story of the woman with the issue of blood in the bible. Peter could not understand what Jesus was saying when He asked for the person who touched Him, with so many people pressing around Him. Obviously, many people were touching Jesus at that time, but all the touches were not equal.

Everyone was touching Jesus but only the woman with the issue of blood was healed. She was probably not the only person that needed some kind of healing in the crowd. They were all in the same place, touching the same person but their experiences were different. The preparation of her heart and her faith made the difference. Some of the people who were around Jesus at that time must have gone home empty-handed even after touching Him.

At that moment Jesus felt power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”  His disciples said to him, “How can you ask, ‘Who touched me,’ when you see the crowd pressing you on all sides?”  But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this.  The woman trembled with fear. She knew what had happened to her. So, she quickly bowed in front of him and told him the whole truth.  Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness.” Mark 5: 30-34 [GWT]

This can also be related to the parable of the sower in the bible. The sower sowed the same seed, it produced different results depending on the soil it landed on. The problem was not with the sower, nor with the seed. The soil condition was the variable in the equation, and it made all the difference. In this story, the soil refers to our hearts, which can be in different conditions, even when we are in the same place and hearing the same message.

The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others.  The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.  The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.  But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.  The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.  And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Mark 4:14-20 [NLT]

The fact that we attend a ‘powerful’ gospel meeting or encounter a minister of God that we greatly admire does not mean that we would be impacted by that meeting. The preparation of our hearts is key to what each meeting leaves with us. Some people will attend the same meeting and leave completely transformed, while others will only leave with an overdose of goosebumps. The people who came out of Egypt and ended their journey in the wilderness can tell their stories about this. They heard God and saw him do unimaginable things, yet it was recorded that they displeased God because faith was missing in their hearts.

Our approach to EVERY meeting of believers should be that of great faith, an eager expectation to meet God and open hearts. If Jesus said He would be present any time 2 or 3 people gather in His name, it implies that His power would be available to touch, heal, save, and transform us, whether there are 2 people or 2000 people in the meeting. This should not depend on whether it is a prayer meeting, cell meeting, bible study, revival conference, or on who the minister is. Our heart condition is the key variable, and it is completely up to us what climate we choose to be in.

Image credit: RADsan

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

September 10, 2024 · 1:58 pm

OBJECTIONABLE (UNACCEPTABLE) SACRIFICE

I grew up with a dog that had the special privilege of being fed local Nigerian food. As far as we were concerned, there was nothing like dog food in those days. The dog just had to eat whatever the rest of us had to eat. The special delicacies included Eba and Soup Of The Day. The eba was usually moulded into small balls, immersed in soup and presented to the dog on a platter. For some reason, the dog accepted this piece of culinary excellence on some occasions and rejected it on other occasions. On rare occasions, there was partial acceptance as the dog would eat all the food and then transport itself to a discreet corner and ‘eject’ everything. I never really got to understand the rationale behind its choices. 

This however is not the case with God. There is no lack of clarity as to what makes a sacrifice acceptable or otherwise. God does not accept every sacrifice as is clearly stated in Malachi 4:8, but in each case, the people offering the sacrifice are not oblivious of the acceptance criteria

When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor and see how pleased he is!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Malachi 4:8 [NLT]

Even Cain knew what he should have done to make his sacrifice acceptable.

The Lord said to Cain: What’s wrong with you? Why do you look so angry? If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don’t let it! Genesis 4: 6-7 [CEV]

And now to us; Paul admonished the Romans to present their bodies to God as a sacrifice. This instruction is also applicable to us today. We are not just to present our bodies as any type of sacrifice, but an acceptable sacrifice that remains alive at the altar. Being a living sacrifice implies that we will always have a choice to get up and walk away from the alter but we choose to stay there as part of what we must do to remain acceptable. However, the fact that we stay there does not confer automatic acceptability upon us. We still need to meet the acceptance criteria.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 [NLT]

The body in this passage refers to our physical bodies and not any other spiritual form of body. This body is made up of different components, which could sometimes develop their own minds and want to go out of line.

This reminds me of when Job said “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.” Job 31:1 [NLT] and Jesus also said “So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:29 [GWT]. David on his own part prayed “May the words from my mouth and the thoughts from my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my defender.” Psalm 19:14 [GWT].

These are just a few of the components of our bodies. For our bodies to be acceptable sacrifices unto God, the individual components must be in line and acceptable to God. Taking stock and seeing how we are doing with this will be a good idea. The ageless hymn ” Take My Life, and Let It Be” by Frances Ridley Havergal captures this aspiration to be an acceptable sacrifice perfectly.

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/445

If I want to indeed offer my body as an acceptable sacrifice to God, then I need to think in these terms – My eyes and what they behold have to be acceptable to God, the thoughts that I allow to rest on my mind have to be in line with God’s word, anything that flows out from my mouth must not be at variance with things that please God. This is the same with all parts that make up my body, including the parts that are normally shielded with beautiful clothes.


Thank God for the grace of God that has been made available for us to live above sin in our bodies and live as acceptable sacrifices unto God.

For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all people. That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this world. Titus 2:11 [GNT]

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

May 5, 2024 · 8:13 pm

THE SERPENT AND THE STORM

The visual coverage of a horse is approximately 340o. There is only a small section behind its head where it cannot see. In literal terms, a horse facing forward can see almost everything happening behind it. That is why racehorses must wear blinkers or blinders. Without these accessories, they will be distracted by so many things in their line of sight and easily go in a different direction. They are not capable of focusing on the racetrack without these blinkers. The brain of the horse is wired so that whatever it does not see does not exist and whatever it does not hear cannot constitute a distraction. If a horse is restricted to seeing only what is ahead, it is constrained to running only in that direction by what it sees. Apart from helping them to stay focused, the blinkers also help to protect them from being spooked by anything that suddenly comes into their visual range.

Like the horses, we need to choose the object of our focus carefully to enjoy our relationship with God and get the best of His promises for us. We need to deliberately choose what to keep looking at amid the chaos. Life is configured to throw different shades of distractions at us. How we react to those distractions will determine how and where we end up. Our reaction depends largely on what we are looking at and the filter through which we judge the circumstances. Most times, those distractions come to test our resolve to hold on to the word of God concerning different things in our lives. The suffering and difficult situations we experience may be great, but God sees us and is constant through it all. The circumstances do not diminish His power and ability.

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]. Isaiah 26:3[AMP]

If we can keep our eyes on the Word in the face of all distractions, there is no limit to what we can accomplish through Christ. When God sent fiery serpents among the Israelites as a punishment for their sins, they cried to God in repentance, and He directed Moses to make a bronze serpent and hang it on a pole for them. If anyone was bitten by a serpent and the person fixed their gaze on the serpent, they would live. The fact that Moses hung that serpent up did not mean that the snakes were no longer there. Instead, the people were meant to take their eyes off the snakes that were attacking them and keep looking at the bronze serpent that was in front of them. If they could keep their focus on the bronze serpent, the presence of the snakes around them had nothing on them. It was all about the object of their focus.

On another occasion, Peter and the disciples were in the boat, being buffeted by the wind and the waves. Jesus showed up walking on water and Peter had enough faith to join him.

Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. Matthew 14:24 [NLT]

When Peter left the boat and went on a gravity-defying trip by walking on the water, the storm was still the same. When he started sinking in obedience to gravity, the storm was still the same. What changed? His focus. He moved his focus from Jesus and His promise to the storm and then rational thinking took over. The object of the focus changed.

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven [standing firm and unchangeable]. Psalm 119:89 [AMP]

The word of God and the promises contained therein do not change based on our circumstances. The ability of God to be a provider does not depend on economic indices. The power of God to save, heal, deliver, and bless does not vary with what is happening around us. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The only thing that could change is the object of our focus. If we are able to keep our eyes off the serpents and the multifaceted storms coming at us from different angles and keep our eyes on the faithful God, we will see the salvation of our God.

Regularly praying for ourselves like Paul prayed for the Ephesians will help us trust God more and enable us to keep our eyes on Him through the wind, waves, and storms.

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power. Ephesians 1:19 [NLT]

The object of our focus should always be God and His Word. He will guide and direct us on what to do to come out of the situation as more than conquerors. He is always faithful.

Image credit: breederscup.com

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,