Posts in category: The Shepherd’s Blog

Today we celebrate “Fathers’ Day”. I am sure fathers will not mind being celebrated daily.  We are grateful to God for the great dads in our lives. And as we praise God for the gift of godly fathers, we are fully aware that not every person has had the benefit of having a dad that truly deserve the distinction of being “a great Dad”.  But, for all the dads out there who truly and honestly seek that distinction of being a godly example and dedicated caregiver to their children, we pray that the end of it shall be greater than the beginning for you and your children.  We are fathers for a purpose and that purpose is to help raise godly children. Be encouraged and know that the God who has called us into this divine and high calling shall also prepare us to answer it successfully.

The reality of life is that there are people who are becoming fathers but are not ready to be fathers.  There are people who do not even understand what it means to be a father. Our role as fathers is to lead our family into a communion with the Lord almighty.  It is definitely not an easy task, but it is a role that the Lord has destined for us as Fathers.  The Bible tells us in Genesis 18:19 – “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”  It seems to me that if we want our destinies to be fulfilled, we must be about the work the Lord has appointed for us. If you direct your household and your children after the Lord, then He will bring about what he has promised you.  Raising children can sometimes be stressful.  The remedy is to always seek for strength from the Lord.  He chose us and He will equip and strengthen us for the task at hand.

Knowing we are called for a purpose; we must live and act purposefully. The Word of God teaches us in Proverbs 22:6 to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” If we are going to achieve the task the Lord has given to us, we must do so when the children are still young.  Children are a lot easier to mold in their younger years and have a better chance to remain with what they are taught.  Children also catch habits much more easily than through teaching.  They are keen watchers of what goes on around them.  Whether we like it or not, we, fathers, are role models for our children.  They catch our habits, and it does not matter whether those habits are good or bad.  Children tend to model their lives after those of their parents.  We have also inherited some of our parents’ characteristics and should expect that our children will inherit some of ours too.  As fathers, therefore, we must be purposeful in how we act around our children.  The ultimate goal is to raise godly children, so our attitudes around our children must always by godly.

We are never able to completely control what our children are exposed to in their youth. So, we must expect as fathers that while we try our best at home to model a godly home, their exposure outside the home may be to things that are contradictory to our plans for them.  Thus, we must always make sure we pray for our children and seek the grace of God over their lives.  We must pray for our children.  We must pray and lift them up to God, so God can do for them things we cannot do for them.  We must also pray that they do not catch the wrong things we model for them. That when we do wrong, they also see it as wrong and not normalize it.  Pray that every effort we make will be blessed by the Lord.  The promise of the word of God is that these efforts shall not be wasted.

Proverbs 23:24 states that “the father of the righteous will greatly rejoice. And he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.”  Aside from the benefits we drive from God being pleased with us for dutifully fulfilling His purpose for us, there are other benefits for us too.  Children that are trained in the way of the Lord, and remain with it, will always be a source of joy for their parents. We must never get weary as fathers. Sometimes it may seem like these children do not care about what we try to teach them, but if I go by my own experience, they will ultimately revert to it.  The wisdom of our fathers has a way of staying with us for eternity.  We must therefore never get tired of always imparting godly knowledge and wisdom in our children because it will come in handy when they get old, and our God most high will be pleased that his purpose for us was greatly fulfilled.

I have always believed that if God is in it, it shall be accomplished (Isaiah 46:9-11). And the word of God had taught us that God has a plan for each of us.  So, there is no doubt that His plan for us will be accomplished. “The Lord will work out his plans for my life – for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever” – Psalm 138:8b(NLT). In our youth we should work very hard to determine what God’s plan for us is, because once we set our feet on that path, the God who made the plan will be sure to accomplish it.  God orchestrates all the events in our lives to lead eventually to the accomplishment of His good plan for us.  So, it is important that as we live our lives, we make sure that God is in all the plans we make. 

How do we make sure God is in our plans?  We do this by making sure that God is the basis of all our thoughts and actions.  As a young person, for most of us, the last thing we think about is God or His plans for us.  There are so many things that tend to take us away from God.  There are so many things that Satan himself has packaged and made to look so attractive that tend to draw us away from God. As young people we also deal with peer pressure.  There are lots of kids who don’t know a whole lot because of little experience but pretend to know everything and use their lack of knowledge to lead other kids astray with bravado.  Then there are those teachers who should not really be teaching anyone because they have acquired the wrong kind of knowledge, but they take joy in continuing to propagate their misleading knowledge.  We can however deal with all of these by making sure that we find God and find him early in our lives.  Truth be told, some folks will miss their ways early in life because they need that experience to fulfill God’s purpose in their lives.  Ultimately, the only way we can reach our God-set goal or achieve God’s purpose for us is to find God.  Roman’s 8:28 says “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them”.  This is to say, if you find God, and you love God, everything, including when you miss your way, will work together for your good.

On this note, I congratulate all those who are graduating or have graduated this year.  What you have just accomplished is part of God’s plan for you.  You have not reached the bus stop yet.  You are still in transit and God is still working out His plan for you.  It is however a good time to pause and think.  Have I found God?  Do I love God?  Remember that everything will work for the good of those who love God.  Remember also that God is able to finish everything that He starts (Philippians 1:6).  You have just finished a phase of the necessary steps to be what God wants you to be.  Right now, you are not what you ought to be. You are only a fraction of what you will be. But God says, “That is okay. I am taking my time working on you. Keep moving on.  Do not be afraid to take new steps, but make sure I am in your plans.  For every step you take will eventually work for your good if I am in them.  Take every step with purpose and confident assurance that I shall finish what I began.”  That is God’s word for you as you move into new phases and challenges of life.

I know many of us have dreams we want to achieve, and that is good.  You must however remember that God’s purpose for us reaches far beyond what we can dream. No matter how great our dreams are, God’s purpose for us is even greater.  So, as we dream our great dreams, make sure God is the basis of all those dreams.  His purpose is bigger than ours and His plan gets accomplished no matter the storm that develops along the way.   Only God fulfills His purpose, not us.  And as you move forward, do not forget Apostle Paul’s admonition about “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” – Philippians 3:13b (NLT).  Your accomplishment now is great, but it only serves as a springboard for what you are yet to achieve.  The road is long, the road can be rough, but one thing is certain, the one that made the plan for you lives forever and He is always there to keep you moving.  Acknowledge God in all you do, and He will surely direct your paths (Proverbs 3:16).  Even when you feel you are not up to the plans, remember that every time the Lord looks at us, He sees great potential. He sees great potential to fulfill the purpose He has set before us.  He wants us to look at ourselves and see that same great potential even in our weakness.  Be inspired, be encouraged, and know fully well that He has given us that grace to finish whatever we start as long as He is in it.  May the Lord guide you and place your feet on the right path.

In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Matthew 25:31-46, our Lord Jesus Christ was teaching us about our call to care.  The point of this parable is simple and clear: God will judge us based on our caring service in the face of human need. When we read this passage, we see three distinct lessons our Lord Jesus Christ was trying to teach us.  The Lord has called us to a caring and loving service, He will judge our service, and He will also bless our caring and loving service. 

The Lord has shown us His love by providing and continuing to provide all we need daily.  Even when we should have been condemned, he gave His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  Our God is the God of love, and He expects us, His children, to also show love.  We are expected to live as His children and act out our faith in Him.  While we act out our faith in our worship and our praises of Him, we must also act out our faith by giving, sacrificing, and offering ourselves to others.  His words say “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” – Matthew 25:40.  Just as He is a God of giving and sacrifice, so too, we are to give, sacrifice and serve others.

The Bible tells us in the parable of the sheep and goats that the Lord will judge our service. If you do all the good you can, for as long as you can, you will end up in His right hand.  We have a responsibility to be personally involved in our giving, not only in Church but also to the needy.  What we are able to do and fail to do will definitely be judged by the Lord.  There was this story about a boy from the Ghetto who had no shoes.  The boy was being teased by someone who said, “If God loves you, why doesn’t He take care of you? Why doesn’t God tell someone to bring you shoes and a warm coat and better food?” The young boy thought for a moment, and then with tears starting in his eyes, said, “I guess He does tell somebody, but somebody forgets.”  Are you that person that forgets to help those who are in need?  He will ask of you what you did with all the resources at your disposal. Are you that person that ignores everyone you meet along your way?

Another story was told a long time ago, about a King who organized a great race within his kingdom. All the young men of the kingdom participated. A bag of gold was to be given to the winner, and the finish line was within the courtyard of the King’s palace. The race was run, and the runners were surprised to find in the middle of the road leading to the King’s palace a great pile of rocks and stones. Many of them managed to scramble over it or to run around it to eventually get to the King’s courtyard. Finally, all the runners had crossed the finish line except one. But still the king did not call the race off. After a while one lone runner came through the gate. He lifted a bleeding hand and said, “O King, I am sorry that I am so late. But you see, I found in the road a pile of rocks and stones, and it took me a while, and I even wounded myself, in removing them.” Then he lifted the other hand, and in it was a bag. He said, “But, Great King, I found beneath the pile of rocks this bag of gold.” The king said, “My son, you have won the race, for that one runs best who makes the way safer for those who follow.” In our journey of life, we will come across physical obstacles, we will come across piles of rocks and rubbles, and we will also find along our ways folks who need our help.  We cannot afford to ignore them because God placed them along our path so they can lead us to our destiny.  Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:10, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”  Whatever we do, let us care enough to do good to those who need it around us.

This parable of the sheep and goats reminds us that those who fulfill their call to care will be separated from those who ignore their call at the end of time.  The Word of God says, the King will say to those on the right side, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (verse 34).  This is an indication that God will indeed bless their caring service.  Brothers and sisters let us live our lives with an attitude that every act of kindness, caring, or love that we perform is a direct service to the Lord, and that no such acts of kindness will go unrewarded.  Here and now in this fellowship of God’s beloved children, let us rise like a people marching to battle and declare a war of caring and kindness on each other.  Then we will be ready to take it further and go seek the helpless, the confused, torn, and the lost, to help them find their way home.

I had the opportunity to visit Alaska this week and was impressed by the natural habitat of Anchorage and its surroundings.  I found myself taking pictures and videos every opportunity I got.  Right from just before we landed, I took many pictures of the landscape, because I know that a picture is worth a thousand words if I must describe this beautiful place. In the end I resigned to the fact that even a picture cannot adequately capture the essence and the beauty of the place.  One clear situation was when we saw this Moose and every one of us in the tour bus were screaming because it was a sight to behold.  I took many pictures only to find that my photos are not as exciting as what we saw.

Having seen the habitat, my thought went naturally to the power and glory of the one who created such a beautiful place with all the wonderful creatures of nature that inhabit it. On our first night, I woke up at 3:30am only to find that there is already daylight at this time of the morning.  By the second and third day I realized that we were having about twenty hours or more of daylight daily.  Then I was told it is a complete opposite during the winter season.  A cursory look at the mountains in the far distance reveals this gleaming white snow that seems to get whiter as the sun shines brighter. What about the peace and serenity that I encountered at the top of a mountain called Flattop mountain? Standing on that mountain top all the thoughts in my mind were how great our God is.  And as were descending the hill, at the motorable part, there by the side of the road, just standing there was a Moose, as huge as they get, and I immediately felt the fear of God rush through me. But each moment and each encounter just confirmed to me that indeed, all heavens declare the glory of our living God.  There is no doubt that the amazing beauty of Alaska does indeed declare the glory of the living God.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge” (Psalm 19:1–2).  Each time one witnesses the amazing beauty of nature that God has blessed us with on this mother earth, the only response we can have is praise.  When we witness the order, the beauty, and the forethought that accompanied our created world, we are convinced that there is a creator behind all of these, and we also note that the character of this creator, wise, good, gracious, mighty, glorious etc., is never in doubt.  Apostle Paul in Romans 1:20, says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”  The eternal power and divine nature of our God are so much evident in His creation that it ought to always lead us to Him.  Every aspect of nature reveals the glory of God.  In Anchorage, Alaska, that glory was confirmed again for me as the Spirit of God led me to just think about His majesty.

When Moses asked that the Lord should show him His glory, all God had to do was manifest His presence through a public display of any of His characteristic attributes. God chose to reveal His glory in part and Moses bowed and worshipped Him. God did not show Moses the fullness of His glory because no one can see the fullness of God’s glory and live. This is how it is when God directs our path and we come across some of the wonderful works of His hands.  Just imagine how confounded we are anytime we are confronted with another side of nature that we have not seen before.  We experience the power and nature of God anew.  His greatness is confirmed for us once again.  And that is when our spirit should sing “You are big, big, big; great, great, great; large, large, large”.  This is because we even run out of adjectives to describe the little we have experienced about God.  The song by Chris Tomlin, titled “How great is our God” should typify our response whenever we are confronted with the greatness of our creator.  So, my brothers and sisters, each time we look up to the heavens, or look around, everywhere and anywhere, be reminded that His glory shows forth in all His creation.  The heavens declare the glory of God.  When we see this glory let us acknowledge our great and mighty God even as we bow down in His praise.  That knowledge that we serve a loving, powerful, eternal God should serve to moderate how we live our lives, and lead us on the path of life everlasting, even as we live in absolute obedience and adoration of Him.

People of God, I have found that it is quite easy for us to talk the talk about love, but when it is time to walk the walk of love, it is a different ball game entirely.  For example, we have learnt that love makes allowances for others, but when you really think about it you find that many of us go into relationships with expectations that are quite rigid.  We find that many of us can be quite tolerant of other persons as long as they are doing things in the way we approve.  However, immediately they do things differently from the way we are accustomed to, or the way we feel it should be done, we are not quite as tolerant anymore.  It does not take much time before we swing into our critical nature. The Bible however says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you” – Colossians 3:13a(NLT).  Yes, make allowance, give room, for each other’s faults.  This is to say we should not be quick to go into the critical mode when we feel people are not doing things the way we think they ought to do it.  Making allowance for each other’s faults is one of the key aspects of showing love. The way many of us react to issues at times makes one wonder whether we have ever heard about the parable of the unforgiving debtor (Matthew 18:21-35).  If God makes allowance for us, why can we not make allowance for others.

The idea of making allowance for other people’s faults means that when we go into relationships, we go into them fully aware that people are not perfect. Our Lord Jesus Christ knew that Apostle Peter will deny Him three times before the cock crows the following day, yet He did not become critical of him.  Rather He said, “But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail” – Luke 22:32 (NLT).  He lifted him up in prayer, when He could go on a tirade against him like we will normally do.  This is what we are called to do.  When we see the failings of our brother, the love we have for them should lead us to make allowance for them and when it is necessary, we let them know the truth in a loving manner.  Jesus basically said, that is alright, but when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:32b).  He did not condemn him.  He prayed for him, and then told him exactly what will happen, but in love.

When in love we make allowance for other people’s faults; it means we are choosing to be positive about their faults and choose forgiveness over hatred and grudge.  Our Lord Jesus taught us to forgive those who sin against us “seventy times seven” times.  Our human nature is to hang on to hurt feelings, not making allowances for people’s mistakes, therefore not forgiving. And the more we hang on to the hurt feelings the more resentment we feel which makes it even harder for us to forgive.  Psalm 14:3 teaches that “There is none who does good”.  None of us is righteous, none of us is perfect.  When we know that, then we should learn to make allowance for the other person.

Whenever we decide not to make allowance for others, what naturally follows is to become critical and to condemn.  We behave like a people with critical spirit who always use a wrong standard to judge people.  The Bible however has taught us to remove the log in our eyes before removing the speck in other peoples’ eyes (Matthew 7:5).  Let us all pray that God will deliver us from the critical spirit.  We know we have overcome a critical spirit when we are characterized by a forgiving spirit because we know we have also been forgiven by God.  That is why our God is the God of love and the God of grace.

People who have a critical spirit are never gracious.  They seek to put down rather than lift up.  Many times, we do this under the guise of speaking the truth. If we truly love every truth, we speak to each other, even when we are trying to correct someone who is derailing, it should be done with the aim of lifting that person up and not condemning them or tearing them down.  The word of God in I Thessalonians 5:8 says we should put on a breastplate of faith and love, and then goes on in verse 11 to say, “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”  The essence of making allowance for each other is so that we can be gracious to the ones we love just as our God is always gracious to us.  We have been graciously forgiven by God for all the sins we have committed.  He even sent His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins.  When we make allowance for other people’s faults, it is the natural response of someone who is forgiven by Jesus, the response of one who has been washed by the blood and is ready to extend the same grace to the people of God.  May the Lord Himself teach us to be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of our love for them (Ephesians 4:2b).

One of my favorite songs as a young boy attending Sunday School is the song “Brighten the corner where you are.”  It is such a lovely song with a lovely tune and a noble message.  As I grew up, I began to understand the message within this captivating song.  The first verse goes like this: –

“Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,

Do not wait to shed your light afar,

To the many duties ever near you now be true,

Brighten the corner where you are.”

The song encourages us to bear good fruit wherever we happen to be planted. This song which tells us that even little deeds matter reminds me of a story I read a while ago. At the funeral of a man who had been part of the team that developed the Boeing 747 aircraft, the Pastor had spoken glowingly about the man’s contribution to Boeing and by extension to the world.  After the Service, the Pastor continued to have a conversation with the widow of the dead man.  She commented on how remarkable it was that her late husband had helped to build that marvelous machine.  The widow then went on to say that the truth is that a large part of her husband’s work had been devoted to this one little switch which she described as being the size of a “loaf of bread.” She added that this was all he worked on for over 15 years, but when the 747 lifted off the ground for the first time, “it was the happiest day of his life.”  One might wonder why such a “small contribution” engendered such happiness in the man or why the Pastor had showered so much praise on him for such a relatively small contribution.  The truth is that without that little switch the B-747 may never have been able to lift off not to talk of performing as creditably as it had over the years. Everyone contributing their little quota is what results in big successes. 

A few years ago, my wife and I, along with the children, had this nasty experience of our car suddenly shutting off on the highway.  While they initially told us that it was due to a malfunctioning alternator, which later metamorphosed into being the whole engine, we later heard of GM’s travails over this little one-dollar switch that had led to deaths of many people who had similar experience as our own. We were inclined to believe that this same switch led to our experience.  I bet the team or the person that designed this little switch must have agonized over the flaw in that little switch.  Little efforts by many people will result in a huge success of the whole body.  All we must do is brighten the corner where we are.  Our main task as Christians is to ensure that we lead others to Christ. If you model Christ in your behavior and outlook to life in your own little corner, wherever that may be, you have a better chance of appealing to people to try this Jesus that you believe in.  The song says, “do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do”, just shine your light so that you can “brighten the corner where you are”. Some folks will come and shine some powerful lights that will brighten everywhere at once and that is okay; the name of the Lord will be blessed.  However, what the Lord asks of us is to, at the least, brighten the corner where we are.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, asks us to let our light shine before others, that they may see our good deeds and glorify God (Matthew 5:16).  We must let our light shine before the people God places in our paths.  Sometimes the people near us may not want to see the light, but still, we must shine our light for them to see.  Shining our light for someone to see may simply be to patiently support and care for someone in our own homes, or just be there for someone who is going through difficult times or offer some encouragement for someone who just lost a loved one.   It may be saying some kind words to a neighbor or someone we just met or praying for a brother or sister that is on a hospital bed.  Whatever situation we find ourselves, and wherever the Lord has placed us, we must realize that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) and know that we have all it takes to brighten the corner where we are.

We thank God for making a day like this possible when we can honor our mothers.  They do deserve the honor.  Our mothers are unique and our relationships with them are also unique.  When I think about a day like this, I wonder what else can one say about mothers that have not been said before.  Absolutely nothing.  What we can do is to examine the practical events of our lives and try to make some enduring points out of them.  In a home it is often assumed that the mothers are the loving and loyal ones while protection is often left for the fathers.  However, there are protections which are instinctive in nature where mothers are best.  Our mothers can protect because of the heart a mother has towards her offspring, their urge to protect is the instinctive kind.  This instinctive protection of a mother should be constant and, in all circumstances, should be a priority.  The Bible teaches about a woman who was a good protector of her child. In Exodus 2:1-4 we read about how Moses’ mother took great risks to protect her son.

Moses’ mother was a slave among a people that can be considered wicked.  Their plan was to control the male population of the Hebrews among them. They reasoned that if the male offspring are decimated, they can ultimately take absolute control of the land because they would have wiped out the Hebrew population.  Moses’ mother put him in a basket to protect him from the Egyptians. She placed him in the Nile while his sister watched from a distance in the hope that someone who can take care of him will pick him up.  The sister watched until one of Pharaoh’s daughters picked him up. Mothers’ instincts have protected us in many ways. They have protected us physically and kept us from danger. Mothers have protected us morally by teaching us right from wrong. Many times, they have also protected us emotionally by keeping us from things they knew would hurt us. Mothers have also protected our spirits and brought us up to love and serve the Lord.  We owe our mothers a debt of gratitude.

Something happened in Nigeria recently where a famous actor was arrested for sexually abusing a minor.  The allegation was that the famous actor had previously abused this child when she was just seven years old.  The mother (foster mother) of the child claims that she just found out that this popular actor, who was a regular visitor to their house at some point, was the culprit of the abuse that happened seven years before.  So, in collaboration with some other folks, they decided to set up the actor so that they can have some concrete evidence of the abuse.  They did.  There was a CCTV video recording that showed the actor touching and kissing the young girl (now 14 years old).  This video was used as evidence in the arrest that was made.  However, many people have observed that there is a failure of protective motherhood in what happened.  First was the observation that a child was repeatedly abused, and the mother did not notice it even at that young age.  The second issue is that seven years later the mother thought the best way to gather evidence was to expose the poor daughter to her abuser again.  Essentially the mother allowed the minor to be molested again in order to obtain the desired evidence.  It is one thing if the camera system was set up for protection, but in this case the camera was set up so that they can catch the man in the act.

Can one say this mother has acted as a protective mother?  At what cost should a woman play detective with the life of her own daughter?  Can the joy or the satisfaction derived from catching this predator be compared to the emotional discomfort that this child was made to suffer in the hands of her abuser a second time?  How come a visitor can sexually molest your seven-year-old child when the man does not reside in your home?  I believe her intention was to protect her child because every woman has this instinct, but did her action bear this out?  Mothers are a natural when it comes to protecting their children, but not every mother out there exhibits this trait.  How about you?  Are you a protective mother? As we celebrate Mothers’ Day, I pray that you will not only be a protective mother, but you will also, indeed, be the kind of complete mother that the Lord wants you to be, a loyal, honorable, loving, and protective mother. Happy Mothers’ Day!

It is yet another time to be thankful.  Yes, every time we have the opportunity, we must always spend time showing our gratitude to our God most high.  Considering what the whole world has been going through since November 2019, it should be a habit for us now to daily lift our voices in prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord.  Every day now is a day seen only by His grace.  There is that song that goes “Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart, I will pray” which some of us prefer to sing as “Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart, I will praise Him”.  And that should always be the spirit for us because only the living can praise the Lord.

Whenever we feel the Spirit of God moving us, it is positive proof that we are still counted amongst the living, and it means we can still praise the Lord.  Every time we feel the Spirit of God moving in us, we know that whatever our fears may be, we still have the grace to overcome them.  Every time we feel the Spirit moving in us, we know the opportunity is still there to fulfill those dreams we have been having but are not fulfilled yet.  Every time we feel the Spirit moving in us, it is confirmation to us yet again that His compassion fails not, they are new every morning.  We serve a God that deserves our gratitude because He is a great God.

The Spirit of God moving within us is a stark reminder that we are not all we think we are.  It is a reminder that our powers as humans are limited.  It is a reminder that there is one who controls our body and Spirit and does not need our permission to do what He does.  You see, we go to bed at night because our body just gives up and we really find out we need to lay ourselves down to rest.  Then suddenly, the Spirit moves within us in the morning, and we rise to do whatever we do again. Then night comes, and it is time to shut off again.  It has nothing to do with what we do or what we do not do.  Whenever we go to bed we are like a deflated balloon, then we wake up in the morning and wonder where the air that filled us up came from. We do not possess the power to wake ourselves up, neither do we have the power to put ourselves to sleep.  Whenever that Spirit moves in us early in the morning, we do not have to cross our arms and just give a long sigh. We should acknowledge the grace that we have when the Spirit of God pours through the very breath in our body.  That is the time we should recognize the compassion and the love of the God we serve. That is the time we should lift our voice in Holy adoration of our God most high because every time the Spirit moves within us is a confirmation that He reigns, and He reigns forever.

One more thing about the Spirit of God is that when He moves, things happen.  Like what happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).  Every time the Holy Spirit moves, He is accompanied by signs and wonders.  The very act of the Holy Spirit moving within us is itself a wonder.  Added to this is that the Holy Spirit moving within us is a call to service for us.  It is a call to engage in the work that the Lord has purposed for us.  When the Spirit moves within us, it is a reminder that the Lord still has things for us to do that we have not accomplished yet.  It is a call for us to take up our mantle and be ready to work for God. 

On the day of Pentecost as the Spirit of God began to move amongst the Apostles, God’s presence was manifested amongst them and was symbolized as a violent wind that filled the house that the disciples were in and that settled on each of them like divided tongues of fire. With this wind and fire, the disciples felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, and one can say the Spirit moved within them.  They began speaking languages that they did not even know, but these languages began to appeal to the people that had congregated. They could actually understand them.  This is the same call we get daily.  Each time the Spirit of God moves within us, it should cause us to do things we never knew we could do and speak in languages the people of God can understand.  We should speak using different love languages, kindness, patience, compassion, and acts of service.  The Spirit of God moving within us should cause us to understand God’s gift freely given to us for His own glory, and to surrender before Him in holy adoration and recognition that our assignments here are not done yet. 

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).  This is why many people say, “love conquers all”. I find it interesting how just having God’s love in our hearts can help us conquer a lot of situations.  I have also heard people say “love is blind” – this is obviously not strictly true, because God’s love is not blind.  As a matter of fact, God’s love sees all needs.  A blind love cannot and will not see any need. I am also intrigued by Paul’s teaching that says as Christians we should not owe any debt except the debt of love (Romans 13:8).  It is interesting to view love as a debt we will always have and that we must always strive to pay.  And in that same Romans 13:8, Apostle Paul again says, anyone who loves others has fulfilled the law.  So, in essence love is at the center of all our relationships with God and it does indeed conquer all things.

The law that is referenced here are the ten commandments that was given to the people of Israel in Exodus 20.  If there is love in our hearts then we will not murder, we will not steal, and we will not covet our neighbor’s things. Love in our hearts fulfills the intent of the law because all obedience to the law can be summarized and fulfilled by expressions of love. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13: 3, if I have not love, I am nothing.  Love will never do harm to one another; therefore, it meets all the requirements of the law.  Our Lord Jesus Christ takes time to remind us at every opportunity that love is the greatest of all the attributes God placed in us. In Matthew 22:39, He said that the greatest commandment was to “love God and love your neighbor” and said that these summed up all the Law and Prophets. Apostle Paul is saying essentially the same thing, that when we love our neighbor, we are truly hitting the mark, doing exactly what God wants us to do.  And in Matthew 5:17, our Lord Jesus alluded to this idea when He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And, indeed no one has fulfilled the law the way Jesus Christ did.  “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  He came to express the greatest love of all and fulfilled the law in the way no one else has.

We can look at this and see that our Lord Jesus Christ came to simplify the law for us.  If only we can always remember that our lives should be lived in love.  That we should always deal with our neighbors in Love and that loving God can cover a multitude of sins, we will not need to remember the individual laws that were itemized in Exodus 20.  Apostle Paul says love does no wrong, so anyone that loves has overcome all the “shall not” that are in Exodus 20.  Many laws of life are about what we should not or cannot do.  With love, we overcome all of those things because the reason to avoid them becomes clear to us.  We see clearly when we love with the love of God.  Love is key in our lives, brothers and sisters.  All our actions are propelled by love or the lack of it.  In fact, we can better understand all of God’s revelation, through the Law and the Prophets, by loving God and loving our neighbor.

One thing we must understand as Christians is that the laws were given so that when we obey them, they may lead us to Christ.  Now we also know that love fulfills law, so love will lead us to Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law by giving the greatest sacrifice of all.  When He fulfilled the law by dying on the cross, showing us the greatest love of all, we also died to the law through His body and now we belong to Him.  He said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  If indeed we belong to Him, we must listen to His voice and follow Him.  His word for us is to love each other as He has loved us.  He then added that we are only His friends if we do what He commands.   Our Christian journey amounts to nothing when we do not obey His command and the command of the Father.  Let us love with all of our hearts because the love of God in our hearts does fulfill the laws.

On Thursday, we watched the Disney movie, Aladdin to celebrate Morayo’s 4^th birthday. During the movie, Morayo asked me to pause the movie, she looked at me and asked:

“Daddy, why did God create Jafar? He is so mean and evil, and I am sure he supports the devil.”

For those who have not watched Aladdin, Jafar is the second most powerful person in the fictional Kingdom of Agrabah, answering only to the Sultan. He presents himself as a respectable and caring advisor to the Sultan and to the citizens of Agrabah, but behind the scenes he is scheming to take over the Kingdom. He briefly succeeds by using his magic and sorcery, but he is defeated by a young boy Aladdin.

Morayo’s question is a fair question and one that many Christians and non-Christians ask. If God is a good God, why did he create bad people to do bad things? Here is how I explained it to 4-year-old Morayo. I pray it ministers to each of us who may be dealing with this question today.

1) Everything God created and creates is good. When Jafar was “created”, he was good. He was not the evil sorcerer we see later in the movie.

Genesis 1:31 – God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And There was evening and there was morning -sixth day.

1 Timothy 4:4 – For Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

2) God gives us a choice: Just as he gave Adam and Eve a choice. They chose to listen to Satan and eat the fruit, although they were in paradise with all sorts of delicious options. However, they wanted that one fruit that they could not have. Jafar was the second most powerful person in the kingdom. He could have anything he wanted in the entire kingdom, except for the position of Sultan.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 – ¹⁵See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

3) God gave us a helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us make the right choices. 

The Holy Spirit helps us choose to follow Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that exposes and reveals our sin, helps us see that Jesus died on the cross for our sin, and we are saved and forgiven from death and condemnation. The Holy Spirit leads us to make the right decisions.

John 16:13–15 – When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Roman 10:9-10 – If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

In conclusion, God created good people who have chosen to reject God and do bad things. God has also made a way for people who do bad things to be forgiven. Lastly, God loves us so much that he has given us a helper to help us do good things.

My prayer for each of us is that we will choose to follow Jesus Christ, we will depend on the Holy Spirit to help us make good decisions. But when we make bad decisions, we will repent, ask for forgiveness and surrender to God as the only one that can help us. Don’t be like Jafar! Amen!