The Ministry of a Prophet (Abraham - part III)

By Odon Bulamba (summary only)

4. God’s visit to Abraham’s family

The Bible says once God visited Abraham’s family, and there were three angels but one of them was God Himself. (Genesis 18) Abraham received the visitors but they didn’t come just to visit him. They came to visit the whole family in this far away country. Abraham had his eyes wide open and he knew God was in control of his whole life and because of this, he was able now to live according to God’s will. He would apply humility and he could also welcome visitors. When the angels came, the Bible says Abraham ran, he didn’t walk, he didn’t ask his wife to come and see who is coming, but boldly, he got up and ran to them, he ran to his goal. Many people would walk by, but Abraham didn’t was attracted to them like a magnet with a fridge. He saw something that attracted him and he did not wait, he jumped, and the Bible says that when he came by them, he worshiped. He kneeled down and worshiped with his face to the ground.

How many times are we attracted to God’s presence? How many times does God talk to us but we don’t feel any attraction? Sometimes, we are attracted but we put up obstacles in front of us, so we cannot reach our goal. People can say, “God talked to us today, I understood God’s Word very well.” But they still don’t meet Him, they didn’t submit and moreover, they didn’t see God’s presence in their lives. As a result, there is no change in their lives. How can you say, “I have to humiliate myself before God” if you’ve never seen this God or felt His presence in you? You’ll say, “Odon talks too much. I was taught another way, what he says is not true, I doubt this, this is a new denomination that has started, he just wants to attract us so that we’ll belong to him. The Bible says that at the end time, there will be many false teachers.”

Be careful, my brother and sister. Ask God and He will answer you. Most Christians today are attracted by cold war in Christianity. If you are Baptist, you cannot go to a Pentecostal church, and if your pastor sees you, you must explain why. “Brenda, I saw you going into a Presbyterian church, why did you go there?” If he likes you, he’ll say, “You weren’t at church last Sunday, where were you?” Then you have to explain your program to the pastor.

Jesus Christ is the truth and the truth shall set you free; if you can’t find the truth, ask God, “Is this a good way or not?” I have never studied theology, I don’t know anything, but with God’s glory and grace, I can share what little I have with you because I know that the time is very short and soon the Lord will be back. Most people are on the wide road. They are Christians, but they don’t know where they’re going. I am not here to fight your church or your denomination, it’s just an example.

Abraham was attracted by God and he said, “Lord, here I am!” He knew the Lord was coming to him, he didn’t hesitate, he just went straight to his goal, and the Bible says he invited them to his place. When he got home do you know what happened? What did Abraham tell his servants? He asked the servants to prepare a meal for them. He didn’t ask his visitor’s opinion. “Sylvie, do you want to eat?” In my country, if you ask someone, “Do you want to eat?” It means that the quantity of food you have is insufficient and you try to know whether the person will say no. If the person says no you’ll think ‘yes’. If you have something to give, give it, if you don’t have anything to give then just give some water, that’s enough. If you give a glass of water, you’ll get something. The Bible says in Matthew 10: 42.

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

I’m not asking you for chocolate, I’m not asking you for Burger King, just a glass of water is enough and you will be rewarded for that. Abraham said, “Prepare a meal for our guests.” It means that for us, we must have some spiritual food for our guests. It means we must share God’s glory together. Usually, most Christians welcome their visitors with their photo albums and they say, “This is Jamie, he comes from Jamaica and this is his wife with their daughter; they are great friends.” So you are going to lose three hours looking at photos instead of reading the Bible. But the Bible has better photos than your album. Share these photos that are in the Bible. These are spiritual photos, pictures that don’t please the flesh but the spirit. If you don’t have this food, the Bible says just give a glass of water. Jesus Christ is the source of this living water. What did He say to the Samaritan? (John 4) “Give me this water and I’ll give you some living water.” Why don’t you give to your visitors this living water? You have it, but you don’t want to share it with the others.

Once, my brother and me were in a desert and we had a 5 litre container with water in it. To keep it cool, we would put some water outside the container. Drinking normal water is like drinking boiling water, and it is hard to drink. When a friend would come and say, “Give me a drink”, you’ll think, “There’s only enough for me. You have hands; you can also prepare fresh water at your place. When people will come, you’ll hide the ‘fridge’ and say, “We’ll keep our water to ourselves.”

Some Christians are like that, they don’t even want to share this water with others, “If I give this spiritual water you will know more and we will be equal spiritually.” Who told you that? Everything Jesus had, He would give it, and when you give, you receive more. If you never give, you never receive. Abraham gave something to eat and you know the story. When Sarah heard that a child will come, she laughed and also her husband laughed, but when people asked him, he said he didn’t laugh. Many times, God rebukes us through His servants, but we always say no. You can pretend you are saying something to Odon, ‘this is my situation’, but when you meet Michael or Oscar you will change your story, you’ll start using conditional, the things you were so sure of, you’ll change them, things that you have promised me, you don’t accomplish them. Most Christians fall into lie to prove they are good Christians, but God’s eyes see everywhere. Even though Sarah hid behind her tent, God’s eyes were on her. Sometimes people come to us and speak about incredible things and we just laugh. Someone can lie to me and I know he is lying. Sometimes, I can know your situation before you come to me to tell me your situation, and when you come to speak, I just listen and sometimes I feel in my heart that something hurts. Why do we belong to two different ‘Gods’? Why do we have two lovers in the same house? On what bed will you lay down, on the bed of lie or Jesus Christ’s bed? And God, one more time showed leniency about Sarah’s story because God is always slow to anger. Sarah didn’t ask for forgiveness, nor did Abraham, but God carried on with them, this is how merciful God is, this is how God loves us, this is how love can tolerate, but how many times we don’t tolerate?

SUMMARY

- A prophet of God must run to his/her goal
- A prophet must be attracted to Jesus Christ and remove any barriers
- A prophet must share the Word of God with others
- A prophet must not lie or make cover up stories
- A prophet must show forgiveness and tolerance to others

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