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One begins
with a caveat: “Are you satisfied with your current situation?”
Apparently, and from the study of “Man and his Needs” hierarchical or
otherwise, for any one to answer “Yes” to that, he or she MUST of essence
have reached, and attained the "peak" level of Self Actualization.
However, one is aware that there aren’t too many of such people living or
dead. So, here now, d’ou desire a change? To help out, the situation(s)
you may desire to change could include:
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Troubled Relationship or Marriage |
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Troubled Child |
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Failed Marriage |
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Outright Divorce |
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Fruit of the Womb |
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Emotional
Instability |
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Health |
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Coping with Aged Relations |
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Lack of Care or Support |
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Single Parenthood |
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Near Successes |
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Drug Addiction |
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Joblessness |
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Any
form of Abuse, Alcoholism, Pornography, etcetera |
The
list is perhaps, endless
In whatever
situation you’re in, KNOW that you’re NOT alone.
There is nothing you’re
going through right now that is altogether new. There are 5 basic steps
known to effect a change in one's situation for good and we are going to
look at those in a short while. Meanwhile, as you go through and apply
these to your peculiar situation, you are encouraged to understand how
your desired change could come to be. You need to be understand this so
you could recognize without any doubts on your your mind as events begin
to unfold. Here, change can be:
- Instant
- Gradual or
- Come only when or after the situation is dead
What’s
sure is, IT WILL COME
Our first reference is
in the book of Ezekiel 37: 1-14
The Valley of the Dry Bones. The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the
spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of
bones.
2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on
the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
3
He asked me: “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign
Lord, you alone know.”
4Then
he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord!
5This is what the Sovereign Lord
says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to
life.
6I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover
you with skin; I will put breath in you and you will come to life. Then
you will know that I am the Lord.
7So,
I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a
noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8I
looked and tendons and flesh came appeared on them and skin covered them
but there was no breath in them.
9Then
he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to
it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from four winds, O
breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”
10So
I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to
life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.
11Then
he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’
12Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord:
O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them;
I will bring you back to the land
of Israel.
13Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your
graves and bring you up from them.
14I
will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in
your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I
have done it, declares the Lord.’”
In whatever situation
you’re in, KNOW that you’re NOT alone. There is nothing you’re going
through right now that is altogether new. The consoling part of it is
the Lord’s promise to WALK with you ALL of the way. He is a covenant
keeper.
The
5 Way Approach
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Recognize and
identify the situation |
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Desire, Crave
for a change |
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Go to the Lord
in prayers: He is faithful and just to meet your need |
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Believe to
receive:
Faith WITH Work, work and walk in faith |
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Then, and only
then can you RECEIVE |
Go to the Lord
Seek the face of the Lord, ask to hear from Him in your desire to
know the root of the problem; and His will on the matter. ASK WELL, ASK
CORRECTLY
Believe To Receive
- In faith, believe to receive, prophesy over your situation.
- that goes with obedience, doing what you should
- that's also the "work" in faith
Only then can you come to receive PHYSICALLY
Here, change can
be:
- Instant
- Gradual or
- Come only when or after the situation is dead
What’s
sure is, IT WILL COME
In the process of
Believing to Receive (Faith with Work), you must remember that what
you do here, on earth has a part in your rewards in heaven. More on
that later
Meanwhile:
A.
How do you react to your spouse when he or she returns home unusually
late from work? Is it:
- Where
the hell have you been? or
- Where
have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you
B.
What about your children? How are you bringing or have you brought them
up? In the way of the Lord? Let's see
"A Prophet without Honour" Matt 13:53-58
emphasis:
v.55
A Prophet Without Honour
53When
Jesus had finished these parables
(the
Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the
Mustard Seed and the Yeast, the Parable of the Weeds Explained, the
Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl, and the Parable of the
Net) he moved on from there. 54Coming
to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and
they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and
these miraculous powers?” they asked.
55Isn’t this
the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his
mother’s name Mary? And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and
Judas? 56Aren’t all his sisters with us? When then did this man
get all these things?
57And
they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown
and in his own house is a prophet without honour.”
58And
he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Praise God the Bible
hasn't recorded: Isn't this the thief we used to know? Isn’t this the
son of Mary that terrorized his neighbourhood? etc
The
Lesson here is:
we have the responsibility to bring up our
children emulating Christ.
"Bring up your child in the way of the Lord, when he grows up, he shall
not depart from it"
C.
What about your neighbours and your colleagues at work or even at
church! How d'ou relate to them? You like some, you don't others?
D.
Let's look at your language. D'ou have different languages for different
people and at different places? For example, d'ou show as much love and
courtesy to the Danfo Driver out there as you show your Chaplain?
"Let no
corrupt communication come out of your mouth... but of grace"
Of Course,
you should speak against the enemy such as: ... "No weapon fashioned
against me shall prosper" It is proper, biblical and full of POWER
Eph. 4:26-27, 29-32
Living as Children of Light
26In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are
still angry,
27and
do not give the devil a foothold.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
30And do not grieve the holy spirit of God, with whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption.
31Get
rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with
every form of malice.
32Be kind and passionate to one
another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.
"Let no corrupt
communication come out of your mouth... but of grace"
If you need to, then
speak against the enemy this way: ... "No weapon fashioned against me
shall prosper" We all have only one known
enemy, common to all: the evil one
himself, Satan, Lucifer.
Brethren, prophesy
over your situation, make positive proclamations at all times for the
angels are listening and watching. All our proclamations must be
positive as what the Angels hear us say are what they take, as messages
to work on.
On The Last Lap
When the
time comes, the master shall return to take us home. I pray that we all
shall remain worthy. That granted, has it occurred to you that when
"we, the faithful shall meet at the feet of
Christ" some will simply be closer than others to Him? What will
be the criteria? First Come First Served as in the supermarket pay
counter?
Two
Passages: Luke 16:1-13
and
Cor. 5:1-10
Luke
16:1-13 (Essentially, Luke 16:9)
The Parable of the
Shrewd Manager
Jesus told the disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was
accused of wasting his possessions.
2So he called him in and asked him, “What is this I hear about you?
Give an account of your management, because you cannot be Manager any
longer.”
3”The manager said to himself, ‘what shall I do now? My master is
taking away my job. I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to
beg –
4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will
welcome me into their houses.’
5”So
he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How
much do you owe my master?’
6”’800 gallons of olive oil.’ he
replied. “The manager told him, ‘take your bill, sit down quickly and
make it 400.’
7”Then, he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “’A thousand
bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it
eight hundred.’
8”The master commended the
dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this
world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people
of the light.
9I tell you, use worldly
wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will
be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10”Whoever
can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and
whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
11”So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who
will trust you with true riches?
12And
if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will
give you property of your own?
13”No
servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and money.”
Commentaries:
1. Why commend
someone who was dishonest? (Luke 16: 8
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted
shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with
their own kind than are the people of the light.)
This passage is one
of the most difficult in the Gospels to interpret. It’s important to
notice that the manager was not commended for his dishonesty; he was
commended for his shrewdness. Jesus was not urging us to cheat. He was
encouraging his disciples to be savvy (savvy:
knowledgeable, have ability) about the use of money and other
worldly matters. Some think Jesus’ statement in
v8 was originally a question – “would the master commend the dishonest manager because he had acted
shrewdly?” – with “No” as the implied answer. His following
comments, then, would be simply an observation about life – that though
his disciples should live ethically, they could, nonetheless learn to be
more shrewd about using material things to make an impact for eternity.
2. Why use money
to buy friendships? Luke 16:9
This is not the same as bribing people to win recognition or favors on
earth. Jesus was encouraging his disciples to use their money generously
whenever and wherever they could to help others. Good deeds cannot
buy eternal rewards, but those who do good because God has changed them
will be rewarded in heaven.
3.
What do financial abilities have to do with spiritual responsibilities?
Luke 16:10-11
It’s a matter of increasing responsibilities. Mailroom to CEO
promotions don’t happen in one giant step. It’s the same with spiritual
promotions. Since spiritual wealth is far more valuable than worldly
wealth, we will not be trusted to manage heavenly riches if we have
proved ourselves untrustworthy with money on earth. Those who are
selfish and materialistic, failing to honour God with their money and
possessions, demonstrate that they do not value true spiritual wealth.
The primary focus is to use money responsibly and with integrity.
2 Cor. 5:1-10
Our Heavenly Dwelling
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2Meanwhile
we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
3because we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4For
while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not
wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so
that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5Now
it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the
spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6Therefore
we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the
body we are away from the Lord.
7We
live by faith, not by sight.
8We
are confident, I say, and we prefer to be away from the body and at home
with the Lord.
9So
we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or
away from it.
10For
we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one
may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad.
Commentary
1. How will believers be judged? 2Cor. 5:10
v.10For
we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may
receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether
good or bad.
How will believers
be judged?
Some wonder
how believers can be judged at all, since they are justified by faith and
not by works. But this verse simply underscores the responsibility of
believers to live according to what they believe. Though, salvation is a
matter of faith, other eternal rewards depend on faithfulness (ICor.3:8,
12-15)
v8:
“The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will
be rewarded according to his own labour.”
vs12-15: 12If
any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stone, wood,
hay or straw, 13his work will be
shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
14If what he has built survives, he
will receive his reward. 15If it is
burnt up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one
escaping through the flames.
Believers are judged
righteous in Christ. But they will also be rewarded according to the
things they did while in the body, whether good or bad. God expects our
actions after salvation to reflect the glory of God within us. It does
make a difference what we do. We don’t need to know the details of this
judgement. We need only to know that the Judge is fair. Only God can
fairly balance all the variables: individual gifts, cultural conditions,
the uncertainties of life and the opportunities we are given.
The overall lesson:
I appeal to
every one of us to show kindness to the needy and there are only two
categories of them. Those that lack earthly
material things and those that lack
heavenly spiritual attributes. The “kindness” doesn’t therefore
stop at helping to empower people with earthly materials but also, and
more critically leading them to know the Master
and get them heaven-bound. It is our COMMISSION as Christians, the
Lord commanded it.
You will by so earn
yourself not only a closer place at the feet of Jesus but also a dear
place in his heart. May you be richly enlightened and so blessed.
This could simply have been titled: CHANGE as we start looking
at this work with a caveat on
CHANGE. However, “At the feet of Christ”, for various
reasons, you will find out, especially its elements of surprise for some
of us stands suitable.
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