Abba, Father, I …

This i a continuation of “What is God doing nowadays?“.

Now that we Christian have the power to move things along or be moved by the Hand of God as He does His work of moving things along, how do we ensure that we do not deviate from the work that He is doing through us?

Here is an illustration i got from somewhere.

Easy battle. Enjoyable work.

I was in this place. Where, i do not know. It was dark all around but there was enough light that you could see shapes in the darkness. All around a battle was raging. But the fighting was with words. Speak the word, and the enemies who you could see coming at you would be pushed back.  The intersting thing is that whether they were many or few, i managed to always push them back. And this went on and on, but i never tired.

In the second scene, the  battle is now done, and the fighters regrouped. Everyone came around to share what their work was all about. Every worker was excited about what he did, and was overly excited when explaining the details of what they did. And each person was eager to recruit more people to go  join them in doing what they ( the worker) was doing. It seemed, each person had the perfect job.

Here is the interpretation of that illustration.

Hard work, yet effortless, untiring

How is that even possible, to do a hard job and not be tired? Because, as we said in the last post, it is not you that is doing the working, but it is the Father ( through His Spirit) who is  working through you, the vessel of his choice.

Therefore, it is impossible to burn out!

³¹ But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. ( Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

Secondly, that work  you are moved to do for the Lord, you want to do it all your life, and you enjoy it so much you would recommend and recruit others to join you. It is not a chore, or like these 9-5 jobs people do, that one gets  paid for. For these type of jobs, most people live for Friday or payday ( Payday is great, of course).

No, it is living, a lifestyle one enjoys.

Apostle Paul had completed his task and given a chance to leave the earth. Paul’s  life on earth was full of hardships and persecution. He  really ought to have jumped at the chance of retirement  and be with the Lord ( after all the Lord had told him that he was done). He instead chose to stay on and assist the new Christians. This is because he enjoyed his assignments.

I have done this
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In the last post, i mentioned three conditions needed for someone to be able to “create” things out of “nothing”, as the Lord God does.

They are:

• You must be born again.
• You must be Spirit filled.
• You must be on speaking terms with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is it possible to cause things to happen outside of those three conditions? Yes. But the worker behind such works is then obvioulsy not Jesus Christ. It is another god. It is in all likelihood the god of this world, the devil.

Today i will offer more passages to expound ( and hopefully convice the doubtful ) on this ability that all children of God have.

Jesus: “As the Father is, so i am”

Some background :

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁹The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” (John 4:46-49 NIV)

Sick and close to death, but Jesus says: “Go your way; your son lives.”  (v50 NKJV)

Why is He capable of this? He explains why it is possible:

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. ( John 5: 20,21 NKJV)

And

²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,

That is, the Father, who creates by  saying “Let there be”, gave to Him-Jesus Christ- while he was on earth as a human ( or the son of man ) the same creative powers and authority.

And He used these powers within the will of His Father :

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. ( John 5:19)

But you probably knew this already.

Me: As Jesus is, so am i

Once you believe in Christ, you have been elevated to the child of God status ( a position, i must add, that is  far greater than that which the angels  of God or Lucifer have!)

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ( John 1:12,13)

Not only that, He also gives you the same powers that He had while He was here on earth:

¹⁹ Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ( Luke 10:19)

So that, you can also say “let this go away!”

²¹ So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. ²² And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:21,22)

So why have i not moved a mountain?

The power is there. The authority is there. So, how comes i have not moved any mountain?

Perhaps it is because you have not matured enough to be able to rightfully wield the power.

Have you ever fantasized about moving a literal mountain “just to see”? Or, thought how cool it would be to be able to teleport yourself to “kenya ,run some errands and be back in a blink”? Or smiled at the thought of getting billions of dollars out of nowhere?

If so, then right there is your answer.

Jesus could move a mountain, but he never did. He could get billions of shekels but only got a “piece of money” for the tax. He could have send fire to punish all those oppressive Romans colonialists [ or oppressors/terrorists/tribalists- add your own bad guy description here], but he did not. He could do a lot of things with His powers, but he did not. At least not “just for the heck of it”, or to avoid hardship.

The power is not to be used “just to see” or to “mersmerize” or to “make them believe” or to “punish the enemies” or  to get yourself some glory and TV face time and celeb status. No.

But once one  is not bothered with such motives,  then one is ready to wield the power and exercise the authority that they have been given, for the kingdom and for God’s glory.

So, if you ever asked, “why am i not able to do this?”, the answer is “you are not yet responsible enough”.

This is what the Lord told me when i thought on these matters.

I will also give him the morning star. Rev 2:28

Is a Hollywood star worth anything if she/he has no star in the Hollywood walk of Fame?

The Hollywood Walk of Fame, if you do not know, is a sidewalk along Hollywood Blvd and Vine Street in Hollywood, CA, USA,  that is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of (mostly) human celebs honored for their contributions to the entertainment industry.

But you already knew that, not so?

These and other types of honor are a sought after commodity in the heart of humans (and non humans). It is perhaps an attempt to make one’s mark in the world. A  desire to outlast our quick and fleeting -70+ passage in time through terra firma. Something that says to us:

“I did something while i was here!”

Who did that?

All over the world, people read books. Who invented the printing press?  My mother does not know which German that was, nor does she care. Do you? Who invented these everyday must have life items:- the  TV, the mobile phone, the digital camera? How about the male suit or the female mini skirt? Who came up with the “arial” font face? Perhaps you do not know, and that is okay. You do not have to know these people.

500 years from now, no one will know or care about the fact that one Bill Gates gave us Office with Windows ,  or that Sergey birthed Google and  Steve Jobs made us very excited with his i* series if electronic magic creating devices or that Mark made it possible for you to digitally live forever on Facebook or that Jack Dorsey made it possible for the Library of Congress to catalog even your idling mundane thoughts, and that Tim Bernes-Lee made it possible for me to very easily share this post with you.

All these people have done things worthy of praise and deserve some measure of honor.

This is honor

While many people may not know who Tim Bernes-Lee is, when i mention the following people, most of us (and many other people in other countries ) immediately  know who i am talking about:  Abraham, Moses,  Rahab the prostitute, Esther, Mary and Joseph, the good Samaritan, the woman who wiped Jesus feet with her tears and hair, the boy with five loaves of bread and two little fish.

And, you bet, that as long as the gospel is being preached, even 1000 years from know, Christians all over will care about these people, but they will be amazed that people in the 21st century ( me and you ) could actually get some work done by the use of rudimentary tools such as the the PC and iphone and Internet 2.

Why is that so?

Whom God honors..

Because, the only honor worth having is that which is spoken from the mouth of God. All else is like the dew of the morning, which flies away as soon as the sun comes into its brightness.

What that means, my friends, is that, even as you do a work or seek to leave a mark or in whatever you desire to be known of, if it did not originate as an act of obedience to the word you heard from the Lord God, it really is a waste of time, for when you stand before the son of God, it shall not be counted on your behalf:

I will also give him the morning star (Rev 2:28 NIV)

Whose star is that at?

Going back to the Hollywood walk of fame, there is actually one star that might shine for generations and generations and will be remembered at the end of time. And that person had initially refused the honor!

So, here is your assignment:

Whose star is at address: 6901 Hollywood Blvd?

Mention praising the Lord, and some people have thoughts about the Lord that are everything but happy. Hopefully you will share in my simpler understanding of praise and not be among those people.

Do you praise people? When? Why? Do you flatter people? Why? Do you praise the Lord? Do you flatter Him? Does it bother you to praise Him?

What is praise? Who deserves to be praised? Why should you praise the Lord, anyway?

Praise re-defined the layman way

Here are some of the ways i heap praise on my 5 year old son.

“Dave, i am really proud of you. You made a touch-down.”

“Dave, you are tough. You can do it!”

Or on Grace, my 9 year old daughter

“Gracie, good job. I am proud of you for making an A in math.”

Or on Juddie

That was really good babe!

So what is praise?

Expression of happiness ( mostly in words ) towards someone for who they are or for what they have done.

Put that way, i am sure you realize that it is not such a difficult concept. Yet,  while you may find it easy to praise ( or do you flatter them ?) your fellow humans, when it comes to praising the Lord God, many Christians find it to be something so hard to do!

In fact, there are many who do not believe that the Lord deserves their praise. They “know” in their heads that it is good to praise Him, but they have no “heart” to express  it. And when they offer praise, they feel “forced” to offer Him praise.  Of course, any such non-heart felt or coerced praise is not a pleasure to Him either and He rejects it. So, if you feel that way about praise, be freed from it. Do not offer it. Do not waste you praise for it does no one any good.

But i hope that at the end of this post you will look at praise differently and find it less of a chore and more of a communication with a good friend.

Who deserves Praise?

If you offer praise to any person who does not deserve the praise, you are engaged in flattery. And, if that person (e.g. your Boss or a friend or your spouse ), seems to demand and enjoy it, you naturally begin to dislike or hate them. Well meaning people reject and do not offer flattery. Because flattery is a lie. But few people have problems with well-earned praise.

Why do you find it okay to praise people who have earned your praise? They probably did something ( either to you or someone) that is worthy of mention and admiration, and you would like them to know it or you would like it be known by others.

Has the Lord God done anything for you worthy of mention? Has He done anything worthy for some people you know ?

In other words, does the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord our God deserve your praise?

If your answer is a no, then perhaps this post is not for you. You need to start at the beginning of the blog.

Who does not love Praise?

Do you love to be praised? I do.

Do i enjoy it when my kids praise me for something i have done for them? You bet i do. Even when it is my duty to them to “do stuff” for them, and i do not expect praise from them or from anybody for my actions, any time i receive any praise, i enjoy it. And it makes me be even more inclined to shower them with goodness and good things.

We are made in the image of God. Our heavenly Father enjoys  it when we praise Him ( in fact, there is something about “HE DWELLS IN THE PRAISES OF HIS PEOPLE”). Whether you consider it His duty or not for Him to be there for you when you need Him- as His child, do still praise Him. I guarantee you, that when you praise Him for the many things He has done and continues to do for you, or just for who He is, He enjoys and receives it gladly.

You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
and wearied me with your offenses. ( Isaiah 43:24 NIV)

Here are some examples

If you want a method or way of how to praise the Lord, just read the Psalms of David. Written thousands of years ago, they are still as fresh as ever.

Their theme is the same:

• Praise the Lord ALWAYS. And again i say, always.
• Praise the Lord for who He is. Who is like Him? Who dare even compare?
• Praise the Lord for what He has done for you. Try counting them..
• Praise the Lord for what He will do for you, and for others who look out for Him.

Does God deserve your praise? Then tell Him so.

My son David turned five last December.

Now i know. Late four and early five is the period of immense complaints:

“Daddy, yesterday we prayed in Gracie’s room, why ..again today?

“Daddy i do not like this…”

“But daddy i do not want to go to bed now..”

“But daddy..”

It can wear you out. Today i had just had enough of it. But as i was busy getting annoyed, the Lord reminded me of my own baseless complaints to Him.

So this post is a reminder to myself whenever i am tempted to open my mouth and opine.

Why complaining is a no no

Why do we complain?

Basically, when things are not as we want them to be.

I will give you just three reasons why you should not make complaining a norm in your life.

1. The Lord knows what you need.

Even before you ask Him, He already knows your needs.

²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear. ( Isaiah 65:24)

And He has taken measures to meet those needs. In fact, it is most likely that He has already met those needs, or is working towards meeting them.

For the  pagans (other people-mine ) run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ( Matthew 6:32)

So if that is the case, from whence cometh the complaints?

Many times it so happens that His solution to our needs and our preferred solutions do not match. And if you happen to  know better than He does, you open your mouth and out comes complaints. I will give you one example.

A couple of years back i sought to work for a certain high flying energy company. After going through a couple of interviews that went well, i failed to land the job. I was distraught. I complained. Soon after, i took a job with a “less glorious” firm instead.

Two years later, the high flying firm went bust. Enron style. My employer is still going strong. The Lord knew the future, i did not. He set my feet on sure footing. Yet i foolishly opened my mouth to opine, craving that which was dying.

2. A sign that you distrust the Lord’s ability
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