By Odon Bulamba
Nehemiah 8:10b “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
What is this joy?
What is its origin?
This joy is from the Lord. It’s a fruit of the Holy Spirit and must be in a believer’s life. There is another source of joy but it is a negative joy. This joy is from the world and should not be confused with the joy that Jesus gives. Joy from the world is only short-lived, whereas joy from God is eternal.
Actions of joy include smiling, being happy etc… Joy helps us to find that things are peaceful whatever situation you are crossing. Joy is a feeling, which comes from the human heart. You will feel able to do what you are supposed to do as a Christian. This is what joy will do – it will push you to really feel in your heart to praise God, to read His Word, to pray and to be serious about the commitment you made to Him.
When you are joyful, the decisions you make will be different to the time when you are sad. Because when you are joyful, you’re more merciful, kind and tolerant. But when you are sad or upset, it’s very different and others should watch out because you might react in a wrong way.
So joy of the Lord is a gift of the Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit which produces joy in your life. If you have the joy of the Lord, it makes you to worship God. And you will be happy to continue to pray etc… People can see the presence of God in their lives when they have the joy of the Lord because this joy pushes them to move on as Christians and God likes this. Joy will push you closer to God.
The life that we are living is it joyful or not? If not, what are the reasons? After finding the reasons, repent and ask God for joy. He is the only one who can give it. And also, we must have this joy for God’s work all the time. It’s not something you can hide. People want to find joy in other things – beer, money, etc... But in these things they will never find eternal joy.
Joy of the Lord is like a spring bubbling up from underneath the ground. The ground that the spring travels up through is brown and dirty but the water that comes forth is clean. The water doesn’t take the colour of the ground from which it came from but remains pure. Our bodies come from the ground and are dirty but this joy that comes out is clean and people will see this. This joy will transform people’s lives and help them to find solutions to problems. This joy will lead people to receive spiritual food from you. People will be attracted to be with you and give a good testimony about you to others.
When you have the joy of the Lord everything will be at the same level in your life. Hard things are only for a time because the joy carries on. It’s eternal. For every situation you cross, you must praise God. This joy will be expressed even in hard times. The joy that you will receive will make you strong and faith will wake up and start to work. When your faith is in action people will see you are strong. The joy of the Spirit will help you to have more strength and this strength is faith.
To be strong in the Lord is to have FAITH. Everything is possible for someone who believes. The main thing that causes us to lose strength is doubt. Satan will come and shake you because he can see you are more loyal to Jesus and he will try and make you doubt so you will lose your strength. When these doubts come, tell them to go away because you don’t accept them and they don’t belong in your life. Satan is trying to stumble your faith in Jesus and if you start to believe them you will lose your faith (which is your strength) and you will fall. Then you will struggle as a Christian because you have become weak. Now is the time to repent of doubting and ask God for your faith back. You will become strong again.
Another point is you must put shame aside For the glory of God you must put shame aside. When the shame is there, that’s the time to decide and tell your faith now’s the time to grow up. When God gives you these opportunities you’re faith will grow up. When we express our joy to people, that joy will give us faith, which is a strength. Through that faith we will act/preach etc…then there will be a transformation on the other side and the feedback will be joy and then we will testify. This is the basis of testifying.
Examples: people who are strong in sport are winners. People who are strong in studying get great marks. To succeed in every situation you must be strong. Strength works with techniques and skills. Our strength must work with the Word of God and this knowledge. A nurse reads, studies and then practices. Some theory must be there and the same applies with the Bible. The Bible will help us to know what to do at what time. Even if you see your situation getting worse, keep your faith and praise God.
Joy that comes from the world gives you some strengths also but not in a good way. Someone who is lying a little today will become a stronger liar later on in life. When you become strong in negative behaviour, it’s not easy to be free or to try and change. It’s a hard process to break free and you may need deliverance. Negative joy transforms people to become slaves of those things. The joy of the world is completely opposite to the Word of God.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Justification
By Odon Bulamba (23 August 2002)
It is true that the love of God is so great towards us. I don’t know anybody who could give his or her life for someone else because it is not easy to suffer for others. When a child makes a mistake they blame it on others to justify their own actions, making themselves look good. Jesus Christ accepted to give His life for us without any justification because His love is so great. He was judged, condemned and bore our sins, but He said nothing. Who do you know that can accept that?
One day my mother was arrested. A man had been drinking and was beaten up by some people outside my mum’s house, and the man was bleeding heavily. The Police made an enquiry to the incident and it happened that my mother had to justify herself as is to why this man had been bleeding outside her house. The Police accused her of being an accomplice and as a punishment she was to be put to death if the drunken man was to die. So my mother said to us, “be at peace in this world and never justify yourself or take revenge for what is going to happen to me”. The justification my mother made didn’t change anything in front of the Police, so the Police put her in jail. They didn’t worry about my mother’s situation at home and that her children needed to be looked after, but all they wanted was revenge for the one who was beaten up.
Sometimes our justifications are useless because the way we get out of trouble doesn’t please God. Often we get out of trouble when God wants to do something (I speak specifically to Christians). When God pushes you to the limit and you know there are tests in front of you; this is the time when justifications come, “this is hard Lord and I won’t be able to do that, please find another solution”. It is at these times where God wants to bless you and talk to you.
As Christians we are like water put on fire (fire being God), so what happens to water on fire? The water changes its temperature and when it is on the fire for some time it starts to boil, and we all know what happens when water boils, it evaporates. As Christians we are compared to this water. When God wants to visit us He puts something in our hearts and the word that we hear becomes alive and we feel that we need to change. When you hear the same message every time telling you to repent and change, you will come to a stage where everything is hot and when someone touches you they will get burnt, “Peter what you are doing is out of God’s will”, Peter then replies, “I don’t care”, and at this stage Peter becomes like vapour, he is losing something without knowing it.
When God pushes us and justifications start, this is the time where we start losing. When God talks, He talks kindly through other people. When someone tells you to change you think that it is just their thoughts and not from God, because you doubt that God can speak through that person, and when God speaks we as Christians have a problem with justification.
Our justification is just a defence but God’s justification is forgiveness, God’s justification is redemption, God’s justification is love and to bear our burdens, but our justifications are the opposite to God’s.
Last time we spoke about Onesimus, which means useful. Philemon threw out something useful for his house because he didn’t care about the meaning of Onesimus. It is the same with us, what is useful for us we just throw outside and neglect it.
So what is useful for your life? Peter what is useful for your life? Meat is useful for Peter’s life, so we are going to look at this example of meat. Peter says that meat is useful for him, what does the Bible say about meat? What would the sacrificed meat in Leviticus do? The priest ate part of the meat and the other part was burnt, so why did the priest eat this meat?
Why do we eat meat? Meat gives us iron and protein. What good is protein for your body? Muscle growth. Meat plays an important part for our lives, and when you look at meat in the Bible you’ll see that it is important for God. When God created animals he knew that they would provide food for mankind, and it is something that God has given us as a blessing.
Jesus Christ also has good meat to eat, He said take My body and eat it. To eat a man in some countries is normal but not in New Zealand. What is the difference between eating Paul’s body and a lamb’s body? It is the same thing with Christians, we reach a certain stage in the Bible where we can’t accept it and don’t take it into account. However Jesus pushes us to eat His body, imagine what His disciples were thinking. Both meats are red and have blood, but when you are asked to eat the meat of someone else justification comes in, but to eat the meat of a sheep is no problem, so why justify yourself? For God’s love as Christians we must accept everything and be tolerate towards other people, what is useful we keep and what is not we reject it, and if you are wrong accept that your are wrong without any justification.
When Peter eats meat he has to know why he is eating meat because you don’t always eat meat when you’re hungry. How many times do we as Christians feel like reading the Bible? When our bodies are thirsty we go to the tap for a drink of water, and when we are sick we go to the doctor. As Christians we must have this feeling or desire to have the word of God in us, but often when we are thirsty we are too lazy to get a drink, and when we are hungry we are too lazy to eat, so are we normal? Are we on a spiritual diet? Many people don’t have the time to put the word of God into practice.
In Africa there is a disease called malnutrition, you find a twelve year old child weighing seven kilos, and his body is just bone, if you look at this child you see death. Many Christians are like this, we are alive physically but spiritually we are dead, and even though God gives us food everyday we refuse to eat it. When Sylvie prepares Nathaniel (her son) a meal but he refuses to eat it, how do you think Sylvie feels? She won’t be happy, and if Nathaniel refuses to eat three meals a day that has to tell Sylvie something; he is sick.
When Michael comes home and finds out Nathaniel hasn’t eaten, Nathaniel has to justify himself as is to why he hasn’t eaten. Every time God gives us something to eat and we don’t take it, He is afraid that our souls might die from malnutrition, and when He comes to us He asks us, what is wrong? What will you answer Him? I don’t have time to read the Bible because I’m going shopping, or I’m tired. From here God finds that He is rejected, sometimes He wants to punish us but because it is a time of grace He leaves us alone.
Meat is useful for our bodies as was Onesimus was useful in Philemon’s house. Before eating meat you have to check your teeth to see if they are in good condition, because you have to chew meat first in order for it to go down your throat. The teeth we have represents meditation, when you chew meat it is transformed to the point you can swallow it, and if you chew a bone your teeth or tongue will tell you there is a bone because you can’t swallow a bone. We have to chew the word of God, it’s not just about knowing that Jesus died at Golgotha, but ask yourself, what does it mean to die? What does the cross mean? What does Golgotha mean? What does Jesus mean?
Find out the definitions; ask yourself, what does it mean for me? Does it have a meaning for my life? We have to chew the word, if it has bones spit it out and the Holy Spirit will provide the proteins for your soul. This will make you grow spiritually.
If you eat artificial or processed meats all the time (the word) your growth will be artificial, and when the devil comes he will break the bones of your faith, but if we eat natural grown meats the devil will attack your flesh but won’t be able to cut through your bones, and this is good because he knows there is a fence.
It is true that the love of God is so great towards us. I don’t know anybody who could give his or her life for someone else because it is not easy to suffer for others. When a child makes a mistake they blame it on others to justify their own actions, making themselves look good. Jesus Christ accepted to give His life for us without any justification because His love is so great. He was judged, condemned and bore our sins, but He said nothing. Who do you know that can accept that?
One day my mother was arrested. A man had been drinking and was beaten up by some people outside my mum’s house, and the man was bleeding heavily. The Police made an enquiry to the incident and it happened that my mother had to justify herself as is to why this man had been bleeding outside her house. The Police accused her of being an accomplice and as a punishment she was to be put to death if the drunken man was to die. So my mother said to us, “be at peace in this world and never justify yourself or take revenge for what is going to happen to me”. The justification my mother made didn’t change anything in front of the Police, so the Police put her in jail. They didn’t worry about my mother’s situation at home and that her children needed to be looked after, but all they wanted was revenge for the one who was beaten up.
Sometimes our justifications are useless because the way we get out of trouble doesn’t please God. Often we get out of trouble when God wants to do something (I speak specifically to Christians). When God pushes you to the limit and you know there are tests in front of you; this is the time when justifications come, “this is hard Lord and I won’t be able to do that, please find another solution”. It is at these times where God wants to bless you and talk to you.
As Christians we are like water put on fire (fire being God), so what happens to water on fire? The water changes its temperature and when it is on the fire for some time it starts to boil, and we all know what happens when water boils, it evaporates. As Christians we are compared to this water. When God wants to visit us He puts something in our hearts and the word that we hear becomes alive and we feel that we need to change. When you hear the same message every time telling you to repent and change, you will come to a stage where everything is hot and when someone touches you they will get burnt, “Peter what you are doing is out of God’s will”, Peter then replies, “I don’t care”, and at this stage Peter becomes like vapour, he is losing something without knowing it.
When God pushes us and justifications start, this is the time where we start losing. When God talks, He talks kindly through other people. When someone tells you to change you think that it is just their thoughts and not from God, because you doubt that God can speak through that person, and when God speaks we as Christians have a problem with justification.
Our justification is just a defence but God’s justification is forgiveness, God’s justification is redemption, God’s justification is love and to bear our burdens, but our justifications are the opposite to God’s.
Last time we spoke about Onesimus, which means useful. Philemon threw out something useful for his house because he didn’t care about the meaning of Onesimus. It is the same with us, what is useful for us we just throw outside and neglect it.
So what is useful for your life? Peter what is useful for your life? Meat is useful for Peter’s life, so we are going to look at this example of meat. Peter says that meat is useful for him, what does the Bible say about meat? What would the sacrificed meat in Leviticus do? The priest ate part of the meat and the other part was burnt, so why did the priest eat this meat?
Why do we eat meat? Meat gives us iron and protein. What good is protein for your body? Muscle growth. Meat plays an important part for our lives, and when you look at meat in the Bible you’ll see that it is important for God. When God created animals he knew that they would provide food for mankind, and it is something that God has given us as a blessing.
Jesus Christ also has good meat to eat, He said take My body and eat it. To eat a man in some countries is normal but not in New Zealand. What is the difference between eating Paul’s body and a lamb’s body? It is the same thing with Christians, we reach a certain stage in the Bible where we can’t accept it and don’t take it into account. However Jesus pushes us to eat His body, imagine what His disciples were thinking. Both meats are red and have blood, but when you are asked to eat the meat of someone else justification comes in, but to eat the meat of a sheep is no problem, so why justify yourself? For God’s love as Christians we must accept everything and be tolerate towards other people, what is useful we keep and what is not we reject it, and if you are wrong accept that your are wrong without any justification.
When Peter eats meat he has to know why he is eating meat because you don’t always eat meat when you’re hungry. How many times do we as Christians feel like reading the Bible? When our bodies are thirsty we go to the tap for a drink of water, and when we are sick we go to the doctor. As Christians we must have this feeling or desire to have the word of God in us, but often when we are thirsty we are too lazy to get a drink, and when we are hungry we are too lazy to eat, so are we normal? Are we on a spiritual diet? Many people don’t have the time to put the word of God into practice.
In Africa there is a disease called malnutrition, you find a twelve year old child weighing seven kilos, and his body is just bone, if you look at this child you see death. Many Christians are like this, we are alive physically but spiritually we are dead, and even though God gives us food everyday we refuse to eat it. When Sylvie prepares Nathaniel (her son) a meal but he refuses to eat it, how do you think Sylvie feels? She won’t be happy, and if Nathaniel refuses to eat three meals a day that has to tell Sylvie something; he is sick.
When Michael comes home and finds out Nathaniel hasn’t eaten, Nathaniel has to justify himself as is to why he hasn’t eaten. Every time God gives us something to eat and we don’t take it, He is afraid that our souls might die from malnutrition, and when He comes to us He asks us, what is wrong? What will you answer Him? I don’t have time to read the Bible because I’m going shopping, or I’m tired. From here God finds that He is rejected, sometimes He wants to punish us but because it is a time of grace He leaves us alone.
Meat is useful for our bodies as was Onesimus was useful in Philemon’s house. Before eating meat you have to check your teeth to see if they are in good condition, because you have to chew meat first in order for it to go down your throat. The teeth we have represents meditation, when you chew meat it is transformed to the point you can swallow it, and if you chew a bone your teeth or tongue will tell you there is a bone because you can’t swallow a bone. We have to chew the word of God, it’s not just about knowing that Jesus died at Golgotha, but ask yourself, what does it mean to die? What does the cross mean? What does Golgotha mean? What does Jesus mean?
Find out the definitions; ask yourself, what does it mean for me? Does it have a meaning for my life? We have to chew the word, if it has bones spit it out and the Holy Spirit will provide the proteins for your soul. This will make you grow spiritually.
If you eat artificial or processed meats all the time (the word) your growth will be artificial, and when the devil comes he will break the bones of your faith, but if we eat natural grown meats the devil will attack your flesh but won’t be able to cut through your bones, and this is good because he knows there is a fence.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
He Who Dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Psalm 91:1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Introductory questions:
What is a shelter for?
When do we need it?
Can you give me examples of shelters? (bus shelter, a shelter in the mountain, a house, under a tree when the sun is heating)
Definition:
According to thefreedictionary.com, a shelter is:
1. a. Something that provides cover or protection, as from the weather.
b. A refuge; a haven.
c. An establishment that provides temporary housing for homeless people.
2. The state of being covered or protected
Synonyms: a cover, a refuge, a retreat, safety, shadow, tower, haven, shield, defence.
Almost all these words are found in psalm 91.
Let us discover the promises of God for those who put their trust and refuge in Him.
Read Psalm 91.
Hebrew words:
‘shelter’ = cether = covering, shelter, hiding or secret place
The Most High = El Elyon
The Almighty = El Shaddai
Explanation
If we follow the conditions in verses 1, we get all the promises written in this psalm.
But what does it mean to dwell in the shelter of the Most High?
There are 3 answers which we find out in the psalm:
1. To call on God’s name (v. 15)
2. To make God our refuge = to be united to Him (v. 2 & 9)
3. To trust in Him & love Him (v. 2 & 14)
Imagine yourself under a shelter and this shelter is the Most High or the Almighty, what can you fear? What or who can withstand his power? If he is the one commanding disasters and plagues to happen, and if you are under his shadow or wings, then, nothing can happen to you.
1. Call on God’s name
It is important to cry out to God and call on His name when we are in trouble, because in this way we show God our dependence on Him, we show Him we need Him and we are weak, without Him, we cannot help or save ourselves (Psalm 107:4-7 The Israelites we hungry and thirsty in the desert, they cried out to God who delivered them from all their trouble).
Pr 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
2. Make God our refuge
That means to include Him in every area of our life, to dwell in Him at all times, to talk to Him regularly, as you talk to a friend. He wants to have a part in our life, He wants to walk with us and He offers us His refuge in His house, or under His wings, or under His shadow.
2 Sam 22: 3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence.
Psalm 61:4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Ps 17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
3. To trust God and love Him
To trust in God is very important, God requires us to trust in Him. Imagine a child, he trusts in his parents to give him every thing he needs, he goes to them when he needs help & he expects them to help him. It is the same with God, we have to trust and wait on Him more than we wait on human beings. God wants us to make Him our delight.
Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart
4. The opposite of dwelling in his shelter or tent is to dwell outside his tent = to do everything on our own strength, or from our own will. There, the Lord will not be with us. It means not talking to Him, ignoring Him, putting Him aside, trying to find solutions to our problem ourselves. It is NOT the place God wants us to be. God wants us to DEPEND on Him; In every thing, to ask Him for Him, to praise Him and acknowledge His name. Take the example of a child; he feels secure with his parents, they are his protector, his provider, his helper. Well, it is the same between God and us.
Conclusion
So today you have a choice: you can choose to dwell under God’s wings, or shelter and be protected from plagues that happen in the world and from diseases or pestilence, or you can live your life on your own and put God aside. You can dwell in the desert, on a dry land, with no hope for your future, or you can dwell in the tent of the wicked, follow those who do evil, or you can say to God ‘You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust’ and receive all his blessings for your life. What do you choose today?
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Introductory questions:
What is a shelter for?
When do we need it?
Can you give me examples of shelters? (bus shelter, a shelter in the mountain, a house, under a tree when the sun is heating)
Definition:
According to thefreedictionary.com, a shelter is:
1. a. Something that provides cover or protection, as from the weather.
b. A refuge; a haven.
c. An establishment that provides temporary housing for homeless people.
2. The state of being covered or protected
Synonyms: a cover, a refuge, a retreat, safety, shadow, tower, haven, shield, defence.
Almost all these words are found in psalm 91.
Let us discover the promises of God for those who put their trust and refuge in Him.
Read Psalm 91.
Hebrew words:
‘shelter’ = cether = covering, shelter, hiding or secret place
The Most High = El Elyon
The Almighty = El Shaddai
Explanation
If we follow the conditions in verses 1, we get all the promises written in this psalm.
But what does it mean to dwell in the shelter of the Most High?
There are 3 answers which we find out in the psalm:
1. To call on God’s name (v. 15)
2. To make God our refuge = to be united to Him (v. 2 & 9)
3. To trust in Him & love Him (v. 2 & 14)
Imagine yourself under a shelter and this shelter is the Most High or the Almighty, what can you fear? What or who can withstand his power? If he is the one commanding disasters and plagues to happen, and if you are under his shadow or wings, then, nothing can happen to you.
1. Call on God’s name
It is important to cry out to God and call on His name when we are in trouble, because in this way we show God our dependence on Him, we show Him we need Him and we are weak, without Him, we cannot help or save ourselves (Psalm 107:4-7 The Israelites we hungry and thirsty in the desert, they cried out to God who delivered them from all their trouble).
Pr 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
2. Make God our refuge
That means to include Him in every area of our life, to dwell in Him at all times, to talk to Him regularly, as you talk to a friend. He wants to have a part in our life, He wants to walk with us and He offers us His refuge in His house, or under His wings, or under His shadow.
2 Sam 22: 3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence.
Psalm 61:4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Ps 17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
3. To trust God and love Him
To trust in God is very important, God requires us to trust in Him. Imagine a child, he trusts in his parents to give him every thing he needs, he goes to them when he needs help & he expects them to help him. It is the same with God, we have to trust and wait on Him more than we wait on human beings. God wants us to make Him our delight.
Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart
4. The opposite of dwelling in his shelter or tent is to dwell outside his tent = to do everything on our own strength, or from our own will. There, the Lord will not be with us. It means not talking to Him, ignoring Him, putting Him aside, trying to find solutions to our problem ourselves. It is NOT the place God wants us to be. God wants us to DEPEND on Him; In every thing, to ask Him for Him, to praise Him and acknowledge His name. Take the example of a child; he feels secure with his parents, they are his protector, his provider, his helper. Well, it is the same between God and us.
Conclusion
So today you have a choice: you can choose to dwell under God’s wings, or shelter and be protected from plagues that happen in the world and from diseases or pestilence, or you can live your life on your own and put God aside. You can dwell in the desert, on a dry land, with no hope for your future, or you can dwell in the tent of the wicked, follow those who do evil, or you can say to God ‘You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust’ and receive all his blessings for your life. What do you choose today?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
God's Grace is Sufficient
By Hayley Boud
2 Corinthians 12:9 (New International Version)
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (King James Version)
9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This is a very encouraging verse. It can encourage us to pray, encourage us to live, encourage us to work, encourage us to persevere....
In the previous verses it says (verse 7-8) that because Paul was given great revelations from God, God allowed him to be attacked by satan in order to keep him from exalting himself. He says he was given a thorn in his flesh (a messenger from satan) and it must have been difficult for Paul because he entreated God three times that it might depart from him. Entreat is a strong word, it means you are begging and you insist and you are very serious which means that you really, really need to find an answer. Have you ever felt that in your life? Have you ever been in a position where you are begging God to answer you and to intervene. If you have.....God answers you with.....
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (King James Version)
9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This is a very encouraging verse. It can encourage us to pray, encourage us to live, encourage us to work, encourage us to persevere....
In the previous verses it says (verse 7-8) that because Paul was given great revelations from God, God allowed him to be attacked by satan in order to keep him from exalting himself. He says he was given a thorn in his flesh (a messenger from satan) and it must have been difficult for Paul because he entreated God three times that it might depart from him. Entreat is a strong word, it means you are begging and you insist and you are very serious which means that you really, really need to find an answer. Have you ever felt that in your life? Have you ever been in a position where you are begging God to answer you and to intervene. If you have.....God answers you with.....
"My grace is sufficient"
Sometimes that is not easy to hear because we will prefer God to change the situation but God wants us to know that His grace is enough and His grace is all that we need. Even if God doesn’t change the situation, His grace is sufficient for us.
So what is grace? Last time I talked about grace, so who can give a quick summary of grace?
“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves but a gift from God. Not as a result of works lest any should boast for we are created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”Eph 2:8-10
Grace as defined by the dictionary is the love and kindness God gives to people. Grace is something we get without deserving it. We don’t deserve God’s love and kindness but because of Grace we receive it. We have to remember this in our lives also. We have to remember that although not every person deserves our love, not every person is kind to us or easy to live with but we must continue to show them love and kindness no matter what and they might come to know God’s grace through our lives.
According to some theologians, God’s grace is “the will of God being fulfilled in our lives”
This means that God has a plan for us. His grace is when that plan or that intention that He has for us is being achieved.
So if I’m sick...it’s God’s grace because through that sickness His plan for me to become more compassionate, to be able to spend more time with Him, to be able to have more time meditating on the Word of God when I take my rests and more time to pray or think of others. Being sick has made me care more about others when I see them sick or with problems which has made me pray more sincerely. This is God’s will for my life...to become a new and better person and so His will is being fulfilled through the sickness which means it’s God’s grace that I have been sick.
Whatever situation I am in....I can praise God and know it’s because of His grace. Also, we can always remember that God’s grace is there for us because we have eyes that see, ears that hear, hands and legs and we are not living on the street eating out of rubbish cans.
So...if you are facing a difficulty...just remember it’s God’s grace because through that He is teaching you something and moulding you into a better person. If you have more than others...just remember it is God’s grace and not because you are better than others. If you have less than others...remember the things you do have and praise God for that (focus more on what you do have) and remember that God’s grace means He will bless you at the right time and He knows what will be a good blessing for your soul. God cares more about your soul than your body because your soul will last for eternity. So He will do everything He can to protect your soul.
Paul is the perfect example of this because God is allowing satan to attack him because God knows if Paul is not given this “thorn in the flesh”, Paul will exalt himself and God doesn’t want Paul to become proud, he wants Paul to remain humble. God is thinking about Paul’s soul above everything else.
So remember God has a plan for your life and everything that He does is done for the good of your soul.
“My grace is sufficient”
Remember that the only one that can help us in any situation is God. It’s His grace that will be sufficient for us. We can’t turn to anyone else but God. We can see professionals in this world (e.g doctors) and God can definitely work through them but we have to remember that God is the first one we must turn to because without God, the professionals won’t be able to help us.
“My grace is sufficient”
God’s grace is enough. God’s grace is all we need. We don’t need more than that. Whatever temptation I am facing, God’s power is enough to get me out - if I believe it. Whatever problem or difficulty I am facing, God’s grace is enough.
“For My power is made perfect in weakness”
Think about physical power for a few minutes. Think about electricity and its importance. What does electricity do? How hard is it when the power goes off? Just recently the power went off down our street and all our neighbours came out onto the street and for the first time we had a meeting of all the neighbours. Every person was affected by the power.... no T.V, no lights, no cooking, no hot water...it was very hard for every person.
We take power for granted but once it is turned off, we understand how much we need it. We forget that we need power for hot water, for cooking, for the alarm system, for lights to see and once the power is off, we feel scared.
This can teach us about spiritual power from God. We usually take God’s power for granted. We forget that God is holding everything together. Everything would fall apart if God turned His power off . We forget that we need God for our spiritual hot water...He heats up the Word of God and makes it alive for us so we can understand it and be transformed through it. He cooks the Word of God for us. If we were to eat it without the power of the Holy Spirit it would be like trying to eat raw meat (tough, and indigestible) but with God’s power we can eat the Word of God spiritually and be strengthened spiritually by it. He is our alarm system warning us of sin and satan. He is our light, revealing the truth to us and showing us what’s in front of us so we don’t stumble and fall. If God were to remove just a small portion of His power from our lives... we would feel it and it would be scary.
We need God’s power in every aspect of our lives...we need God’s power to help us to understand the Bible, to help us to pray, to help us to share the gospel, to protect us and support us.
“For My power is perfected in weakness”
According to the Greek dictionary, “perfected” means to be “accomplished, completed, finished or fulfilled”.
God’s power is accomplished through us only when we are weak. For example, when I am rostered on to be the worship leader, I always have a physical problem that gets in the way. Usually it is allergies so my nose is blocked and my throat is full of mucus which makes it difficult to sing in tune. Last year in October, I was rostered on to be the worship leader but five days before the service, I cut my lip so badly I had to have stitches both on the inside and the outside of my lip. This was a challenge – how will I sing with a swollen lip that’s stitched together?
Because it was a challenge, I was forced to admit, “I can’t sing without your help God”. This is the same with my allergies. If I didn’t have allergies I might not recognise that I need God’s power. It’s only through realizing how weak I am and I need God’s power that God’s power can be accomplished through me. When we acknowledge we are weak....God’s power can accomplish His will for us (grace = God’s will being fulfilled in our lives).
“For My power is perfected in weakness”
God allows us to have weaknesses because these are what draw us near to Him. These are what make us humble (Paul) and God needs humility. He is opposed to the proud and if He opposes the proud, how can He work with the proud. If you want to work with God, you need to be humble.
Sometimes our weaknesses are physical for example sickness. These weaknesses help us because they remind us of our need for God. These weaknesses are also accompanied with God’s grace which is enough to get us through. Through these weaknesses God’s grace is displayed. For example, there was a boy a few years ago on the news who had a serious accident and lost both hands and both feet. While in hospital, he told the news reporters, “I’m praising God because I’m still alive....I could have died.” This is God’s grace on display....on the news! But if there is no grace, then God can’t be glorified. If there is no weakness then there is no need for God’s grace and then God won’t get the glory He likes and deserves. So weakness is necessary.
For example, when I was able to lead the worship just five days after getting stitches in my lip, God’s grace and glory is seen. And I can’t take the glory for myself, I can’t say it’s because I’m such a good singer or because I was so well prepared because I was too affected by the swollen lip to be a good singer or be well prepared. The only person who could be given the glory is God.
Weakness is the vehicle for power. No one is too weak but many are too strong. When we are weak, we are more useful because that is when God can use us efficiently. When we are strong, God might sometimes have to fight with us to get us to go in the right direction and He might have to fight with us for the glory.
There is also spiritual weakness such as spiritual laziness, spiritual tiredness, lack of self-control or joy or love....when we are weak spiritually we have to cry out to God to strengthen us spiritually and this helps us to be humble. If you are not spiritually weak in any area then you are the loser because God’s power is accomplished through weakness therefore it’s better to look for that weakness, admit it and then God’s power may dwell or live in you. But if you want to pretend you are strong spiritually then you will not access God’s power. If you want to be proud, then you won’t receive God’s power.
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me”.
According to the Greek dictionary the “power” that is mentioned in this verse is “marvellous works, glorious works, great ability, authority”. When you admit you are weak and admit your need for God and you accept that you are nothing without God’s help....then God’s glorious and marvellous works and abilities and authority will dwell in you.”
Sometimes that is not easy to hear because we will prefer God to change the situation but God wants us to know that His grace is enough and His grace is all that we need. Even if God doesn’t change the situation, His grace is sufficient for us.
So what is grace? Last time I talked about grace, so who can give a quick summary of grace?
“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves but a gift from God. Not as a result of works lest any should boast for we are created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”Eph 2:8-10
Grace as defined by the dictionary is the love and kindness God gives to people. Grace is something we get without deserving it. We don’t deserve God’s love and kindness but because of Grace we receive it. We have to remember this in our lives also. We have to remember that although not every person deserves our love, not every person is kind to us or easy to live with but we must continue to show them love and kindness no matter what and they might come to know God’s grace through our lives.
According to some theologians, God’s grace is “the will of God being fulfilled in our lives”
This means that God has a plan for us. His grace is when that plan or that intention that He has for us is being achieved.
So if I’m sick...it’s God’s grace because through that sickness His plan for me to become more compassionate, to be able to spend more time with Him, to be able to have more time meditating on the Word of God when I take my rests and more time to pray or think of others. Being sick has made me care more about others when I see them sick or with problems which has made me pray more sincerely. This is God’s will for my life...to become a new and better person and so His will is being fulfilled through the sickness which means it’s God’s grace that I have been sick.
Whatever situation I am in....I can praise God and know it’s because of His grace. Also, we can always remember that God’s grace is there for us because we have eyes that see, ears that hear, hands and legs and we are not living on the street eating out of rubbish cans.
So...if you are facing a difficulty...just remember it’s God’s grace because through that He is teaching you something and moulding you into a better person. If you have more than others...just remember it is God’s grace and not because you are better than others. If you have less than others...remember the things you do have and praise God for that (focus more on what you do have) and remember that God’s grace means He will bless you at the right time and He knows what will be a good blessing for your soul. God cares more about your soul than your body because your soul will last for eternity. So He will do everything He can to protect your soul.
Paul is the perfect example of this because God is allowing satan to attack him because God knows if Paul is not given this “thorn in the flesh”, Paul will exalt himself and God doesn’t want Paul to become proud, he wants Paul to remain humble. God is thinking about Paul’s soul above everything else.
So remember God has a plan for your life and everything that He does is done for the good of your soul.
“My grace is sufficient”
Remember that the only one that can help us in any situation is God. It’s His grace that will be sufficient for us. We can’t turn to anyone else but God. We can see professionals in this world (e.g doctors) and God can definitely work through them but we have to remember that God is the first one we must turn to because without God, the professionals won’t be able to help us.
“My grace is sufficient”
God’s grace is enough. God’s grace is all we need. We don’t need more than that. Whatever temptation I am facing, God’s power is enough to get me out - if I believe it. Whatever problem or difficulty I am facing, God’s grace is enough.
“For My power is made perfect in weakness”
Think about physical power for a few minutes. Think about electricity and its importance. What does electricity do? How hard is it when the power goes off? Just recently the power went off down our street and all our neighbours came out onto the street and for the first time we had a meeting of all the neighbours. Every person was affected by the power.... no T.V, no lights, no cooking, no hot water...it was very hard for every person.
We take power for granted but once it is turned off, we understand how much we need it. We forget that we need power for hot water, for cooking, for the alarm system, for lights to see and once the power is off, we feel scared.
This can teach us about spiritual power from God. We usually take God’s power for granted. We forget that God is holding everything together. Everything would fall apart if God turned His power off . We forget that we need God for our spiritual hot water...He heats up the Word of God and makes it alive for us so we can understand it and be transformed through it. He cooks the Word of God for us. If we were to eat it without the power of the Holy Spirit it would be like trying to eat raw meat (tough, and indigestible) but with God’s power we can eat the Word of God spiritually and be strengthened spiritually by it. He is our alarm system warning us of sin and satan. He is our light, revealing the truth to us and showing us what’s in front of us so we don’t stumble and fall. If God were to remove just a small portion of His power from our lives... we would feel it and it would be scary.
We need God’s power in every aspect of our lives...we need God’s power to help us to understand the Bible, to help us to pray, to help us to share the gospel, to protect us and support us.
“For My power is perfected in weakness”
According to the Greek dictionary, “perfected” means to be “accomplished, completed, finished or fulfilled”.
God’s power is accomplished through us only when we are weak. For example, when I am rostered on to be the worship leader, I always have a physical problem that gets in the way. Usually it is allergies so my nose is blocked and my throat is full of mucus which makes it difficult to sing in tune. Last year in October, I was rostered on to be the worship leader but five days before the service, I cut my lip so badly I had to have stitches both on the inside and the outside of my lip. This was a challenge – how will I sing with a swollen lip that’s stitched together?
Because it was a challenge, I was forced to admit, “I can’t sing without your help God”. This is the same with my allergies. If I didn’t have allergies I might not recognise that I need God’s power. It’s only through realizing how weak I am and I need God’s power that God’s power can be accomplished through me. When we acknowledge we are weak....God’s power can accomplish His will for us (grace = God’s will being fulfilled in our lives).
“For My power is perfected in weakness”
God allows us to have weaknesses because these are what draw us near to Him. These are what make us humble (Paul) and God needs humility. He is opposed to the proud and if He opposes the proud, how can He work with the proud. If you want to work with God, you need to be humble.
Sometimes our weaknesses are physical for example sickness. These weaknesses help us because they remind us of our need for God. These weaknesses are also accompanied with God’s grace which is enough to get us through. Through these weaknesses God’s grace is displayed. For example, there was a boy a few years ago on the news who had a serious accident and lost both hands and both feet. While in hospital, he told the news reporters, “I’m praising God because I’m still alive....I could have died.” This is God’s grace on display....on the news! But if there is no grace, then God can’t be glorified. If there is no weakness then there is no need for God’s grace and then God won’t get the glory He likes and deserves. So weakness is necessary.
For example, when I was able to lead the worship just five days after getting stitches in my lip, God’s grace and glory is seen. And I can’t take the glory for myself, I can’t say it’s because I’m such a good singer or because I was so well prepared because I was too affected by the swollen lip to be a good singer or be well prepared. The only person who could be given the glory is God.
Weakness is the vehicle for power. No one is too weak but many are too strong. When we are weak, we are more useful because that is when God can use us efficiently. When we are strong, God might sometimes have to fight with us to get us to go in the right direction and He might have to fight with us for the glory.
There is also spiritual weakness such as spiritual laziness, spiritual tiredness, lack of self-control or joy or love....when we are weak spiritually we have to cry out to God to strengthen us spiritually and this helps us to be humble. If you are not spiritually weak in any area then you are the loser because God’s power is accomplished through weakness therefore it’s better to look for that weakness, admit it and then God’s power may dwell or live in you. But if you want to pretend you are strong spiritually then you will not access God’s power. If you want to be proud, then you won’t receive God’s power.
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me”.
According to the Greek dictionary the “power” that is mentioned in this verse is “marvellous works, glorious works, great ability, authority”. When you admit you are weak and admit your need for God and you accept that you are nothing without God’s help....then God’s glorious and marvellous works and abilities and authority will dwell in you.”
Monday, April 5, 2010
JUSTIFICATION – (Part IV – Turtle)
By Odon Bulamba (21 March 2003)
The sin in us is like a coffin. When you go to a shop that sells coffins you’ll see some are nice to look at. But if you are told to go inside it, you’ll say, “no this is not for me, I better go to my bed to lie down”. Even if this coffin is worth $5000 and your bed only $200 you’ll think it’s better to go to my bed rather than the coffin. Some Christians don’t know how to control their life. They don’t know what justification is in their life. They are like people put in coffins and they say close the coffin now and bury me. Then you’ll cover my body with the dust. But I’m strong I’ll try to make my way and come out of it. But I tell you my brother and sister it’s not easy to leave a tomb once it’s covered. Even if you are strong you will never be strong enough to push the lid off the coffin and get out of it. After a time you will have no decision and you will die.
So the Christians who don’t think are compared to those people who accept to be buried alive because the coffin looks nice in their eyes. Sin also looks nice. Sometimes our weaknesses look nice. We think if I do this, this is not serious. But maybe some people will cover you up and you will stay there. The Bible says that if you have seven demons reigning in your life and those are cast out, the day they’ll come back (if you accept to receive them) they’ll come seven to the power of two. So you must be careful my brothers and sisters. If you say I have been weak in that area for 10 to 20 years and you think this weakness is normal behaviour for you, you think, “I steal, and it’s my normal behaviour” or “I’m lazy and laziness is my normal behaviour”, you will be told to change your life and you’ll say, “I was born like that”; I tell you be careful because you put yourself in a coffin. The devil will bury you alive, and once buried you will never come back. So it’s now time to wake up, to leave the world of darkness and know that your life is justified.
You know the turtle is a very slow animal. Only if there is a fire it will run, but it is usually very slow. For us too we are often very slow in the gospel. We don’t revise what we learn; we don’t have time to pray. We don’t have time to get closer to God. We are behind in different spiritual things. There is a danger, because the one who is behind is the one who is slow in his decision, he is always the loser. Some people say little by little the bird will make its nest. But this is not true we must be violent in the gospel. The one who is violent never walks slowly. They will be quick to show his violence. But if you are not quick, can you say that you are violent? I don’t think so.
The second thing with the turtle is when danger comes. It will put his head back inside the shell, and his hands and feet and you will only see the shell as if it was saying this is my protection. Many people say their protection is their knowledge. Many people even take the Bible as their protection. My brother do you know the Bible says what you’ve done is not good. So I want to tell you dear brother, dear sister that the Bible is our protection, not for bad things, but only for things that glorify God. So don’t use the Word of God to cover your sins. Don’t use the Holy Gospel to draw the blanket over you, no don’t do that, God is against that. If you are in a wrong way accept it and repent. Put your protection in the Lord Jesus Christ. Call him to protect you. Don’t protect yourself. Assurances we have on this earth never protect us.
Life Insurance, although it’s called “life” insurance, it is not true, it cannot protect your life. One day I tried to play with those people from the insurance. I asked them to insure my life, they said, “Okay, do you need that?” I said, “yes, give me this insurance so death will not come to me”. They said, “No, you are wrong, we just give you insurance that when you die we give your money to your family”. “I’ll say my family is insured, not me. Or maybe those who stay after me, those ones will win something”. This is what the world can offer you. But Insurance or divine protection, protects your soul. This is an insurance of salvation. The one who receives this assurance to the eternity will sing hallelujah. He’ll see joy in his life forever. He’ll never suffer nor fear death. But if your insurance is not in the Lord Jesus Christ and you put your insurance for instance in this house one day this house will stay here and you’ll go alone.
In Africa for instance, when some people die people cry, it’s true and this is hard because they cry for their friends, but when they are alive they never cry for their souls. They never cry because their souls are dead, they just cry for the bodies. Us, we are Christians, how many times do we cry for our brothers and sisters who are spiritually dying? How many times do we feel this bitterness deep in our heart when a brother is lost? When my sister is lost what do I feel in me? Or don’t I feel anything. When I walk here in town and I see the young men with their pants halfway down their thighs at 11pm with beer. They think this is joy. What do I feel deep in my heart? When a friend like Ange dies what do I feel deep in my heart? This is the question we must ask ourselves because one day we’ll judge the earth. If you are not just or fair, you are not a good judge. If you are not fair in the gospel you will never judge the earth.
For instance if I’m a thief and all the newspapers write, ‘Odon is a thief‘, and tomorrow I sit where the judge sits, what will the population of New Zealand think? They will criticize me. This man didn’t respect the law, he was a thief yesterday and now he wants to judge others. People will never accept me as a judge because they cannot trust me. We must know the value of faith. We must also know the value of the soul. If we know that we’ll know how to judge. A judge is not someone who waits for someone to fall into sin and talk to him tomorrow at court. No! A judge when he sees a mistake he will tell you. Don’t let my sister carry on doing evil to say that tomorrow I’m waiting for her and she’ll see.
So for the rest of the animals, the angel and the Holy Spirit go and meditate on that your self. This is my final word for justification. One point was left so try to make an effort. Try to use your spiritual ability to learn what justification is. You can meditate on those 2 or 3 animals. Next time we’ll go through another. If up to now you don’t know about justification it’s now time to go back to your notes. If you have forgotten what you’ve learnt it’s now time to go back to it because one day the gospel will disappear and all your notes will disappear. But what is written deep in your heart is what will endure. I want to say what David says in Psalm 119:11 In my heart I wrote your commandments, so I will not sin against you O God. So in your heart write down all that you learn and you’ll see. When you write justification in your heart you will know exactly who justifies you. You’ll also know how to justify others.
So we are going to pray and we are all going to ask God to help us so we will live like this woman. She lost her life for a long time and in the end she decided to touch Jesus. Tell Jesus today I want to touch you. I want to find healing for all my sicknesses whether it’s physical or spiritual. We are going to stand up, and you can cry for your soul. Feel free to cry to Jesus and tell Jesus I will put into practice justification in my life. After that you can pray for anyone present or absent among us. If you are still weak in some areas pray for those weaknesses.
The sin in us is like a coffin. When you go to a shop that sells coffins you’ll see some are nice to look at. But if you are told to go inside it, you’ll say, “no this is not for me, I better go to my bed to lie down”. Even if this coffin is worth $5000 and your bed only $200 you’ll think it’s better to go to my bed rather than the coffin. Some Christians don’t know how to control their life. They don’t know what justification is in their life. They are like people put in coffins and they say close the coffin now and bury me. Then you’ll cover my body with the dust. But I’m strong I’ll try to make my way and come out of it. But I tell you my brother and sister it’s not easy to leave a tomb once it’s covered. Even if you are strong you will never be strong enough to push the lid off the coffin and get out of it. After a time you will have no decision and you will die.
So the Christians who don’t think are compared to those people who accept to be buried alive because the coffin looks nice in their eyes. Sin also looks nice. Sometimes our weaknesses look nice. We think if I do this, this is not serious. But maybe some people will cover you up and you will stay there. The Bible says that if you have seven demons reigning in your life and those are cast out, the day they’ll come back (if you accept to receive them) they’ll come seven to the power of two. So you must be careful my brothers and sisters. If you say I have been weak in that area for 10 to 20 years and you think this weakness is normal behaviour for you, you think, “I steal, and it’s my normal behaviour” or “I’m lazy and laziness is my normal behaviour”, you will be told to change your life and you’ll say, “I was born like that”; I tell you be careful because you put yourself in a coffin. The devil will bury you alive, and once buried you will never come back. So it’s now time to wake up, to leave the world of darkness and know that your life is justified.
You know the turtle is a very slow animal. Only if there is a fire it will run, but it is usually very slow. For us too we are often very slow in the gospel. We don’t revise what we learn; we don’t have time to pray. We don’t have time to get closer to God. We are behind in different spiritual things. There is a danger, because the one who is behind is the one who is slow in his decision, he is always the loser. Some people say little by little the bird will make its nest. But this is not true we must be violent in the gospel. The one who is violent never walks slowly. They will be quick to show his violence. But if you are not quick, can you say that you are violent? I don’t think so.
The second thing with the turtle is when danger comes. It will put his head back inside the shell, and his hands and feet and you will only see the shell as if it was saying this is my protection. Many people say their protection is their knowledge. Many people even take the Bible as their protection. My brother do you know the Bible says what you’ve done is not good. So I want to tell you dear brother, dear sister that the Bible is our protection, not for bad things, but only for things that glorify God. So don’t use the Word of God to cover your sins. Don’t use the Holy Gospel to draw the blanket over you, no don’t do that, God is against that. If you are in a wrong way accept it and repent. Put your protection in the Lord Jesus Christ. Call him to protect you. Don’t protect yourself. Assurances we have on this earth never protect us.
Life Insurance, although it’s called “life” insurance, it is not true, it cannot protect your life. One day I tried to play with those people from the insurance. I asked them to insure my life, they said, “Okay, do you need that?” I said, “yes, give me this insurance so death will not come to me”. They said, “No, you are wrong, we just give you insurance that when you die we give your money to your family”. “I’ll say my family is insured, not me. Or maybe those who stay after me, those ones will win something”. This is what the world can offer you. But Insurance or divine protection, protects your soul. This is an insurance of salvation. The one who receives this assurance to the eternity will sing hallelujah. He’ll see joy in his life forever. He’ll never suffer nor fear death. But if your insurance is not in the Lord Jesus Christ and you put your insurance for instance in this house one day this house will stay here and you’ll go alone.
In Africa for instance, when some people die people cry, it’s true and this is hard because they cry for their friends, but when they are alive they never cry for their souls. They never cry because their souls are dead, they just cry for the bodies. Us, we are Christians, how many times do we cry for our brothers and sisters who are spiritually dying? How many times do we feel this bitterness deep in our heart when a brother is lost? When my sister is lost what do I feel in me? Or don’t I feel anything. When I walk here in town and I see the young men with their pants halfway down their thighs at 11pm with beer. They think this is joy. What do I feel deep in my heart? When a friend like Ange dies what do I feel deep in my heart? This is the question we must ask ourselves because one day we’ll judge the earth. If you are not just or fair, you are not a good judge. If you are not fair in the gospel you will never judge the earth.
For instance if I’m a thief and all the newspapers write, ‘Odon is a thief‘, and tomorrow I sit where the judge sits, what will the population of New Zealand think? They will criticize me. This man didn’t respect the law, he was a thief yesterday and now he wants to judge others. People will never accept me as a judge because they cannot trust me. We must know the value of faith. We must also know the value of the soul. If we know that we’ll know how to judge. A judge is not someone who waits for someone to fall into sin and talk to him tomorrow at court. No! A judge when he sees a mistake he will tell you. Don’t let my sister carry on doing evil to say that tomorrow I’m waiting for her and she’ll see.
So for the rest of the animals, the angel and the Holy Spirit go and meditate on that your self. This is my final word for justification. One point was left so try to make an effort. Try to use your spiritual ability to learn what justification is. You can meditate on those 2 or 3 animals. Next time we’ll go through another. If up to now you don’t know about justification it’s now time to go back to your notes. If you have forgotten what you’ve learnt it’s now time to go back to it because one day the gospel will disappear and all your notes will disappear. But what is written deep in your heart is what will endure. I want to say what David says in Psalm 119:11 In my heart I wrote your commandments, so I will not sin against you O God. So in your heart write down all that you learn and you’ll see. When you write justification in your heart you will know exactly who justifies you. You’ll also know how to justify others.
So we are going to pray and we are all going to ask God to help us so we will live like this woman. She lost her life for a long time and in the end she decided to touch Jesus. Tell Jesus today I want to touch you. I want to find healing for all my sicknesses whether it’s physical or spiritual. We are going to stand up, and you can cry for your soul. Feel free to cry to Jesus and tell Jesus I will put into practice justification in my life. After that you can pray for anyone present or absent among us. If you are still weak in some areas pray for those weaknesses.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
JUSTIFICATION – (Part III – Dog)
By Odon Bulamba (21 March 2003)
There is another animal, it’s a dog. I have learnt a lot because Steve had a dog. I learnt a lot about this dog whose name was Joy. That dog I saw many times, I loved to observe it; it was a small dog. One day it taught us something. We went to his place, and Guillaume was with us, and he wanted to joke with Joy, Joy said, “no I don’t want your joke leave me alone”, Guillaume said, “come on”. Joy changed her face, “leave me alone”; the situation changed completely. Because Joy accepted and accepted and tried to get the message through but Guillaume didn’t understand it, at some stage Joy got furious. I really thought about God.
As Christians, sometimes we really play with God. God is like our grandfather for us. When God says don’t do that, that’s exactly what we do. When God says, “this is serious don’t touch it”, this is when we say I want to attack. When God says, “no, stop”, and he’s furious, we are the first one to scream help. But who will help you if God attacks you? We must think who will help if God attacks us. If Satan attacks you it’s okay because God will protect you. If a man attacks you God will protect you. Why play with God if you know you cannot be protected.
So this dog was full of life in Steve’s house. One day I talked with Amber and I asked her to tell me about Joy’s life and Amber told me everything. I could write a book about what she said because I learnt a lot, not only physically but spiritually also, it helped me a lot. As we all know, many people love dogs, this animal has a good education - if you teach it well. But if you don’t teach it well, it will behave badly to the point that he might not respect you, his master.
Sometimes after eating or playing the dog can throw up and then it will go back and eat up what it’s thrown up. You are his master and you can say stop doing that. The dog will look at you and say leave me alone. It can eat up everything. If you persist the dog will attack you and forget you are his master. It will be furious. For us, we are Christians and not dogs. We are not people who must go back to our sins all the time. Today you say, “Jesus I’ve sinned, forgive me”, and tomorrow you will go back and eat up your sins again.
We are talking about justification. The same sin you threw up yesterday, you eat up again today. One day it will be before God and everybody, and this sin will justify you. So as Christians we are called to have a good justification. Jesus is the only one who will justify us. It’s better for you if Jesus justifies you than if the world justifies you. It’s better that the fruit of the spirit justifies you, unless you are a Christian like a dark spot on a white sheet, and you will say maybe my life or my money will justify me. You have given your life to Jesus and this life you have received as a present because you said Jesus take my life, take my families lives, take my studies, everything I have I offer it to you, except that. Jesus will justify your life. Give to Jesus the chance to justify your life, because you gave him everything. Don’t say on one side I will justify myself and on the other side Jesus will be with me.
When I worked with the refugees in Mangere, a refugee would come and tell everything to his lawyer that happened in his life. The lawyer would say, ok you can do this and that; ok you cannot do this and that. The refugee would put his trust in the lawyer knowing he can defend him/her. “I’ll tell him all my problems; even if I get a letter I will tell him”. During the interview the lawyer would be there.
Jesus is our lawyer; he will defend you on that day. Who will defend you if Jesus is not there? If you haven’t given Jesus all your burdens, if you haven’t given Jesus all your life, who will defend you on judgment day? Do you want to go on the scale? I think it will be dangerous for you. Maybe you don’t know the secret of the law but Jesus knows that because He is the law, he’s more than the lawyers that we have on the earth. Let’s give him all our lives and he will do something with it.
If you read in the Book of Mark chapter 5, one day Jesus was walking, and there was a woman. She had suffered for a long time. She had been losing blood for 12 years. She saw the crowd and deep in her heart she said I think only this Jesus can give me life. She thought about it, she made her way into the crowd and she could reach Jesus and she could touch him and by touching him she was healed. Jesus felt the strength that had touched Him. Who touched me? Everybody was watching. Who touched me? Peter said, “Oh Lord, have you looked at all these people here, how can you say who touched me?” This woman felt deep in her heart, ‘this man knows that’s it’s me’. She started shaking, she said, “it’s me, and I touched you because of this and that”, Jesus said, “your faith will save you”.
Imagine someone has lost blood for 12 years. Imagine a human being has 5 or 6 litres of blood and if you lose it for 12 years how will you survive? We know blood is life, blood is what keeps life. If you want life then go and find it in the blood. This woman had lost her life little by little for 12 years. You Christians and me altogether, when we accept Jesus today we receive the Holy Spirit. We receive the power of God in us and if we don’t carry on and do Gods will we start losing our life. This is how you see a pig coming in your life, then a peacock and after that a snake, and after that a leopard. So as you lose your life death comes closer. This woman in the Bible she did everything she could. The Bible says she wasted all her money and belongings, but she didn’t find healing.
Today with anger many Christians when they have a problem, they say I want to go and see a psychologist to help me and I want to see this doctor, help me. But their problem is a spiritual problem. Do you think that the psychologist will give you salvation? Do you think that the psychologist will give you the gift of the Holy Spirit? Never! Some psychologists when they see that your problem is a spiritual problem they will ask you to pray with them. That will be the solution. Others will keep giving you appointments and appointments and you’ll keep wasting everything you have. When Jesus is just beside you, it’s just about kneeling down for two minutes, two minutes only and you call Him and He will answer you.
So this lady was losing her blood, she lost her blood and her belongings. How many things have you lost in your spiritual life? Maybe you had joy and this joy turned into anger. Maybe you were someone who welcomed people and now you don’t welcome anymore. Maybe you used to worship with joy and now you don’t worship at all. All those animals come into your soul to get closer to death. Today I tell you my brother and my sister, take courage like this lady, wake up your conscience. Tell your conscience Jesus will come tonight; I want Jesus to justify me only. I lost my time trying to find a solution here and there. I lost my time trying to find some advice that is not good for my spirit, so my conscience wake up I want to see Jesus, I want to touch Jesus. Try to make your way through the gospel and you will get closer to Jesus, you will touch Him.
Get closer to God and God will draw nearer to you. But if you go away from God he will also go away from you. So wake up your conscience and tell your conscience, what do you want? After that be strong in your decision. Say, “I want to go to Jesus and that’s it. Goodbye to the counsellors, goodbye to the doctors, goodbye sickness, goodbye everything that can ruin my soul. Goodbye the suffering. Goodbye the failure in my studies. I am going to the King of kings, the victorious one to find complete healing”. Jesus will welcome you. When you touch Him he’ll never forget. He’ll stop and say who touched me? When you say, “it’s me Lord”, exactly at that moment Jesus will say your life is safe. People around you will never have this free gift. So we must make an effort because Jesus is the one who will justify us one day.
There is another animal, it’s a dog. I have learnt a lot because Steve had a dog. I learnt a lot about this dog whose name was Joy. That dog I saw many times, I loved to observe it; it was a small dog. One day it taught us something. We went to his place, and Guillaume was with us, and he wanted to joke with Joy, Joy said, “no I don’t want your joke leave me alone”, Guillaume said, “come on”. Joy changed her face, “leave me alone”; the situation changed completely. Because Joy accepted and accepted and tried to get the message through but Guillaume didn’t understand it, at some stage Joy got furious. I really thought about God.
As Christians, sometimes we really play with God. God is like our grandfather for us. When God says don’t do that, that’s exactly what we do. When God says, “this is serious don’t touch it”, this is when we say I want to attack. When God says, “no, stop”, and he’s furious, we are the first one to scream help. But who will help you if God attacks you? We must think who will help if God attacks us. If Satan attacks you it’s okay because God will protect you. If a man attacks you God will protect you. Why play with God if you know you cannot be protected.
So this dog was full of life in Steve’s house. One day I talked with Amber and I asked her to tell me about Joy’s life and Amber told me everything. I could write a book about what she said because I learnt a lot, not only physically but spiritually also, it helped me a lot. As we all know, many people love dogs, this animal has a good education - if you teach it well. But if you don’t teach it well, it will behave badly to the point that he might not respect you, his master.
Sometimes after eating or playing the dog can throw up and then it will go back and eat up what it’s thrown up. You are his master and you can say stop doing that. The dog will look at you and say leave me alone. It can eat up everything. If you persist the dog will attack you and forget you are his master. It will be furious. For us, we are Christians and not dogs. We are not people who must go back to our sins all the time. Today you say, “Jesus I’ve sinned, forgive me”, and tomorrow you will go back and eat up your sins again.
We are talking about justification. The same sin you threw up yesterday, you eat up again today. One day it will be before God and everybody, and this sin will justify you. So as Christians we are called to have a good justification. Jesus is the only one who will justify us. It’s better for you if Jesus justifies you than if the world justifies you. It’s better that the fruit of the spirit justifies you, unless you are a Christian like a dark spot on a white sheet, and you will say maybe my life or my money will justify me. You have given your life to Jesus and this life you have received as a present because you said Jesus take my life, take my families lives, take my studies, everything I have I offer it to you, except that. Jesus will justify your life. Give to Jesus the chance to justify your life, because you gave him everything. Don’t say on one side I will justify myself and on the other side Jesus will be with me.
When I worked with the refugees in Mangere, a refugee would come and tell everything to his lawyer that happened in his life. The lawyer would say, ok you can do this and that; ok you cannot do this and that. The refugee would put his trust in the lawyer knowing he can defend him/her. “I’ll tell him all my problems; even if I get a letter I will tell him”. During the interview the lawyer would be there.
Jesus is our lawyer; he will defend you on that day. Who will defend you if Jesus is not there? If you haven’t given Jesus all your burdens, if you haven’t given Jesus all your life, who will defend you on judgment day? Do you want to go on the scale? I think it will be dangerous for you. Maybe you don’t know the secret of the law but Jesus knows that because He is the law, he’s more than the lawyers that we have on the earth. Let’s give him all our lives and he will do something with it.
If you read in the Book of Mark chapter 5, one day Jesus was walking, and there was a woman. She had suffered for a long time. She had been losing blood for 12 years. She saw the crowd and deep in her heart she said I think only this Jesus can give me life. She thought about it, she made her way into the crowd and she could reach Jesus and she could touch him and by touching him she was healed. Jesus felt the strength that had touched Him. Who touched me? Everybody was watching. Who touched me? Peter said, “Oh Lord, have you looked at all these people here, how can you say who touched me?” This woman felt deep in her heart, ‘this man knows that’s it’s me’. She started shaking, she said, “it’s me, and I touched you because of this and that”, Jesus said, “your faith will save you”.
Imagine someone has lost blood for 12 years. Imagine a human being has 5 or 6 litres of blood and if you lose it for 12 years how will you survive? We know blood is life, blood is what keeps life. If you want life then go and find it in the blood. This woman had lost her life little by little for 12 years. You Christians and me altogether, when we accept Jesus today we receive the Holy Spirit. We receive the power of God in us and if we don’t carry on and do Gods will we start losing our life. This is how you see a pig coming in your life, then a peacock and after that a snake, and after that a leopard. So as you lose your life death comes closer. This woman in the Bible she did everything she could. The Bible says she wasted all her money and belongings, but she didn’t find healing.
Today with anger many Christians when they have a problem, they say I want to go and see a psychologist to help me and I want to see this doctor, help me. But their problem is a spiritual problem. Do you think that the psychologist will give you salvation? Do you think that the psychologist will give you the gift of the Holy Spirit? Never! Some psychologists when they see that your problem is a spiritual problem they will ask you to pray with them. That will be the solution. Others will keep giving you appointments and appointments and you’ll keep wasting everything you have. When Jesus is just beside you, it’s just about kneeling down for two minutes, two minutes only and you call Him and He will answer you.
So this lady was losing her blood, she lost her blood and her belongings. How many things have you lost in your spiritual life? Maybe you had joy and this joy turned into anger. Maybe you were someone who welcomed people and now you don’t welcome anymore. Maybe you used to worship with joy and now you don’t worship at all. All those animals come into your soul to get closer to death. Today I tell you my brother and my sister, take courage like this lady, wake up your conscience. Tell your conscience Jesus will come tonight; I want Jesus to justify me only. I lost my time trying to find a solution here and there. I lost my time trying to find some advice that is not good for my spirit, so my conscience wake up I want to see Jesus, I want to touch Jesus. Try to make your way through the gospel and you will get closer to Jesus, you will touch Him.
Get closer to God and God will draw nearer to you. But if you go away from God he will also go away from you. So wake up your conscience and tell your conscience, what do you want? After that be strong in your decision. Say, “I want to go to Jesus and that’s it. Goodbye to the counsellors, goodbye to the doctors, goodbye sickness, goodbye everything that can ruin my soul. Goodbye the suffering. Goodbye the failure in my studies. I am going to the King of kings, the victorious one to find complete healing”. Jesus will welcome you. When you touch Him he’ll never forget. He’ll stop and say who touched me? When you say, “it’s me Lord”, exactly at that moment Jesus will say your life is safe. People around you will never have this free gift. So we must make an effort because Jesus is the one who will justify us one day.
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