Justification (Part II)

By Odon Bulamba (23 August 2002)

There are also Christians who don’t know what they like in life, they live on earth but they don’t know who they are or where they are going, they don’t know if they have faith, they don’t know if they are saved, they don’t know if they are justified by Jesus or not. It is like a dieing fish on the water, the waves move it around from west to east and north to south. We have to ask God, is my faith big of small? Am I saved or not Lord? Help me to know if I belong to You or not Lord. I can assure you that God will help you to know it. But if you don’t ask God these questions, a day might come where God will say to you, “go away I don’t know you”.

It is written in the Word that many people will perform miracles in the name of Jesus, but God said to them, “I don’t know you, depart from Me”, what a shame. There is a strategy for us Christians to know if we are saved or not and that is to ask God who am I before You Lord? When God created Adam He gave Adam the authority and personality to know who God was and He gave him the authority to name all the animals, and even now, we know the difference between a cat and dog.

We need to ask ourselves what is it that we need in our lives, for example, do I need the Word? Do I need life? Do I need the power of God? Do I need the gospel? What does my soul need? These are the questions we must ask ourselves to know what our soul needs.

God called Moses when He was tending sheep, and the Bible says that He called Moses through the burning bush. Moses didn’t hear the Word of God but he saw it, so why do many people say they are waiting for God to talk to them? God showed Moses a burning bush, and Moses became curious so he went closer. However Moses’ curiosity was different to the world’s curiosity, Moses was curious enough to discover God’s will but our curiosity today is just to discover other people’s lives. We can waste 50 minutes talking on the telephone about useless things, but to be curious about knowing God’s Word only takes 5 minutes of your time on the phone.

Moses got closer to the bush and then a voice asked him to take off his sandals (sin), and then God told Moses He was going to send him. God asked Moses what he had in his hand and Moses said he had a staff, and it is the same today, God asks us what do we have?

Many people don’t know what they have got. Moses was honest and told God what he had in his hand and God accepted it, so when God calls us He accepts us the way we are. You may have a big burden on your shoulders but God will accept you the way you are.

With your little faith God can perform big things, and God gave us the example of the mustard seed. A mustard seed is very small but when it grows you won’t believe how big it can grow. God asks us, what have you got? Tell God you have nothing except a sick faith, it is not a time to justify yourself and say that Peter took your faith, because God won’t accept it. God just wants you to show Him what you have got because when Moses showed God what he had, something happened.

God told Moses to throw his staff on the ground and the Bible says that the staff turned into something. This staff that didn’t have life turned into a snake that had life, something that was dry turned into something that was wet, so our faith may be dead but God is able to raise it up again if we present it to Him the way that it is. Who is able to pick up a staff that has changed into a snake?

Fear would come, but God told Moses to pick it up, and if I were Moses I would ask God to forgive me because I cannot pick up a snake. Sometimes our faith needs to be tested, and the more our faith goes through tests the more it grows. The faith that was dead will now be alive and God will say to you, pick up the staff and go to Egypt.

God told Moses to go, but Moses said, “Who are You? What shall I say to the people who you sent me to?” How many times have you asked God who is He? What are you going to tell your soul who your God is? The reason to ask God this question is to discover who God is because without discovering who God is, it will be a shame for your life, so discover who God is for your life. Jesus gave us a warning for the last days; He said that many people will come in My name so be careful not to be mistaken. If you don’t want to be mistaken you have to know who God is.

Before Moses went to Egypt he made a justification to God, he said that he couldn’t talk in front of people. God said to Moses, I am the God who created your mouth, I gave you the power to talk, and I can give you the authority to speak, so why are you justifying yourself Moses? I think Moses wanted to justify himself because he didn’t want to go back to Egypt and not because he couldn’t talk properly.

This is the same with us; sometimes we justify ourselves before God. If we decide to pray every Wednesday, laziness will come 2 hours before praying and you will say in your heart, “I don’t want to pray”, so you ring up Michael and say you are sick, but are you really sick or is it a justification? This justification becomes a lie. You make Michael pray for you but all you are doing at home is watching T.V and God’s servants suffer because of this. This is to play with God.

Moses tried to justify himself by telling God that he couldn’t speak, but you cannot fool God. Justifications don’t please Him. The wages of sin is death. If you justify yourself by going over the speed limit and refuse to take heed, you risk killing yourself. God gives us freedom but He also gives us the law to protect ourselves. In New Zealand you have signs warning people about the dangers on our roads, however people don’t take heed to these warnings and consequently people are still being killed every day on the roads. Every day we are warned about the dangers of driving, you may have a strong car but it won’t prevent you from entering a coffin, and it will never protect you from death. How many good drivers have lost their lives to a car?

We have to be careful with the Word of God, the road we travel on in this world is very dangerous, and each minute God reminds us that there is a risk for ‘one more bro for the road’, and this bro maybe you, so drive with honesty and let your conscience work. Do not slow down only when you are warned there is a speed camera ahead, but obey the law because it is there to keep you safe. The Word of God is the same, you have to apply God’s word in front of non-believers and not just in front of the church on Sunday’s and if you do this God will bless you. So let’s avoid making justifications. May God bless you and be with you always. Amen.