Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 November 2014

TODAY’S NUGGET: the FIRST DAY of the ELEVENTH MONTH… (Deut 1:3~)



Deuteronomy 1:3,6-8,11,21,33

“And it came to pass in the fortieth year, IN THE ELEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST [DAY] OF THE MONTH, [that] … The LORD our God spake … saying, YE HAVE DWELT LONG ENOUGH IN THIS MOUNT: … take your journey, and GO … TO THE LAND OF THE CANAANITES … Behold, I have set the land before you: GO IN AND POSSESS THE LAND … (The LORD God of your fathers make you A THOUSAND TIMES SO MANY MORE as ye [are], and BLESS YOU, as he hath promised you!) Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: GO UP [AND] POSSESS [IT] … FEAR NOT, neither be discouraged. (For GOD HAS GONE) … IN THE WAY BEFORE YOU, to search you out a place to pitch your tents [in], … to shew you by what way ye should go …

The message is clear, right?

You’ve dwelt long enough at this juncture. Embrace God’s fulfillment season by stepping into your promised land!

~Take the leap!
~Start the trade.
~Record the single.
~Publish the book.
~Join that assembly.
~Say yes to that brother.
~Attend Daystar’s 2014 ELC.

Do whatever it takes to step into your promised land. And while you are at it, embrace these two advantages:

1.      GO WITH GOD. When you carry His presence, the red sea will flee and even Jordan will be driven back (Psalm 114:3).
2.      DO NOT REJECT THE COMFORT OFFERED. Don’t be another stupid entity like that Pharaoh … His whole land had been covered with frogs—their cooking pots and beds were not spared—yet, when offered to fix the date of relief, he prefers to spend ONE MORE NIGHT with the frogs!

Don’t be dense. If there’s any such frogs that need be evacuated from your life, tonight is a good time. In fact, NOW is the best time. Sorry for sounding urgent, but why not deal with those frogs NOW, before you scroll on?

Don’t know how? I’ll help you. Let’s pray. You and me. I’ll show you the way; you fill in the blanks.

Precious Father, I praise your name. You have reclaimed so much in my life. I was lost, and you found me. I was confused, and you guided me. I had nothing to offer, but still you loved me.

I confess that I still need help. My life needs your touch. Satan has brought frogs to saturate a room in my heart with discomfort … and the morbidity is fast spreading. Don’t let him win. Make my heart come alive again! I’ll give you the glory.

Father, specifically, here are the frogs I need you to evacuate from my life TONIGHT __________________.

(And this is the place where I step out. I’ll leave you and God to talk over the details).

Where there is pain, I wish you peace and mercy.
Where there is self-doubting, I wish you a renewed confidence in your ability to walk through it.
Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I wish you understanding, patience, and renewed strength.
Where there is fear, I wish you love and courage.


Welcome to your month of #Fulfillment.

Friday, 31 October 2014

The EVER-PRESENTNESS of God



***Not less than ten people had invited me to a Praise/Gratitude challenge at different times in the last couple of months. Even though I hadn’t responded to any of the challenge the way the invitees expected, this post seeks to fulfill a part of the Praise Challenge.

Chief on my #ReasonsForPraise list is the “ever-presentness” of God!

The psalmist chanted it… God is … a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
I discovered it two mornings ago as I stood in a cemetery, flanked on either sides by countless tombs…

“God, in all of these, where are You”, I asked. “I AM!” He responded. Just two words “I AM!” Moses heard it first… “tell them that I AM sent you” (Exodus 3:14).

What a response! Think about it. When we say “I am,” we always add another word.

“I am clean.”
“I am happy.”
“I am strong.”
“I am Joseph.” 

God, however, starkly states, “I am” and adds nothing else. Jesus came and continued the mystery. "Before Abraham was born, 'I AM'." (John 8:58 GNB).

“You are what?” we want to ask. “I am,” He replies. God needs no descriptive word because He never changes. Yet, Jesus offered few descriptions for our simile-programmed minds:

·“I am God’s Son.” — John 10:36
·“I am the resurrection and the life.” — John 11:25
·“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” — John 14:6
·“I am the true vine.” — John 15:1

He is what He has always been. He speaks of Himself ONLY in the PRESENT TENSE! The “present-tense” God. He NEVER says, "I was." Never. His immutability motivated the psalmist to declare, “But thou art THE SAME” (Psalm 102:27 KJV).

Unlike us. We WERE younger, faster and prettier. We WERE less indebted and more innocent. We are proned to be a people of the past tense.

Not God. Health changes. The weather changes. Relationship status changes. But the Yahweh who ruled the earth last night is the same Yahweh who rules it today.

Same love.
Same plan.
Same mood.
Same convictions.

He never changes—a still point in a turning world.

He sleeps through storms and calms the winds with a word. Cancer does not trouble Him, and cemeteries—yes—cemeteries do not disturb Him. He’s here before they came. He’ll be here after they are gone.


From the center of each storm, the unwavering Jesus shouts, "I Am!" He’s bold against the Galilean waves…why not invite Him into yours?

ICU.
Ebola.
Debts.
UTME.
Battlefield.
Prison cell.
Boardroom.
Heartbreak.
Post UTME.
Boko Haram.
2015 elections.
Maternity ward—

…whatever your storms, He remains the "I am!"

Give Him praise—for there is His address!


***Your turn: what’s topmost on your #ReasonsForPraise list? (Drop it as a comment…let’s saturate this page with His praise!)