Word of Life

Preparing for Blessing!

"And he said, “This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches.  For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink." 2 Kings 3:16-17 (NIV)

The armies of Judah and Israel were out in the middle of the desert with no water and they were getting scared.  They were on their way to Moab but now they were concerned that they were not even going to make it to the battle.  They inquired of Elisha the prophet and this was the word passed to them from God through Elisha. Obediently, they dug the trenches and one morning they looked and mysteriously saw water coming from Edom and filling up their trenches such that they and their animals had plenty of water to drink.

And what does this verse have to do our personal issues, you ask?  It’s a verse about “blessings and Supply”. The armies needed to be blessed by God and they were, miraculously.  I would venture that each of us would welcome a blessing from God (I know I would) whether it be in the area of finances or whatever.  At one point or another, we are all so desperate for a blessing from God. Especially when we are in a fix, we cry and call out to God and await to hear from him. At this point, we can do anything that He commands us to do. But the question comes, “are we really ready for the blessings that we ask for?” Let’s examine this passage in more detail.

First we see that the armies were concerned. They had a big problem and didn’t know how to solve it.  Plus this problem was spilling over into other areas of their lives as they were worried they would be unsuccessful in their battle with their enemy.  Their failure/defeat in the battle meant that their families would become slaves to the Moabites and their possessions carried away. At this point in time, one is really confused and wondering where or to whom he/she can turn to. Are they any big problems in your life that you don’t know how to solve? Where do you turn to seek help as the armies of Israel did? Psalms 121:1 says "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? MY help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth" It’s so unfortunate that some of us seek help from the wrong places. When Saul was in battle, instead of inquiring of the Lord, he went to a medium to inquire of the dead spirit of Samuel (1 Samuel 28:3-11). but these guys knew where to go!

Let’s look at the steps they followed in this story:

1. Go to God: Note what they did with their problem – they went down to a prophet of God, Elisha, to find out what God was saying and what He going to do in this situation.  I think that was definitely the correct decision.  If you’re facing a giant of a problem, remember that God is the biggest giant of them all. Jesus said, Come unto me all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Paul repeats and echoes the same words of Jesus in Philippians 4:6 and says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” The problem with us is that we get so anxious and worried for nothing and we seek our own solutions and opinions of other people and at the end of the day, we make the wrong decisions in life and circumstances that are surrounding us.

Some battles that we fight are not ours. The armies of Israel realized that when we leave this battle to God to fight for us, we do not have to worry. Some battles are between God’s. Remember Elijah and the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel? (1 Kings 18:19-40) Elijah knew that he could not prove to the prophets of Baal that Jehovah is God all by himself, and thus, he called upon God to prove himself that He is God – It was a battle of gods (Jehovah God vs. Baal). At times, we need to allow God to show himself strong in our situations. Allow him to fight. All you need to need to do is prepare yourself for victory.

2. Prepare for the blessing: Now the prophet told them to do something strange; he told them to dig a bunch of ditches in the middle of the desert.  This might seem like a pointless exercise to you and it might have seen pointless to them, too… but they did it.  They were obedient to God and dug the ditches.  They had to believe that God was going to give them the victory and they had to put in some hard work to prepare for it. Sometimes God will ask you to do some strange things that you do not even understand yourself, but be obedient.

The armies dug the ditches and thereafter, they were filled with water. There is a bit more to the story though.  When the Moabites woke up they saw reflections off of the water from the early morning sun. It reflected red so they thought they armies of Judah and Israel and Edom had attacked and killed each other. The Moabites then rushed out to take the spoil only to be surprised and quickly defeated by the armies. If you think about it, their biggest concern of having no water and thus losing the battle to Moab actually led to their victory!  They went to God and were obedient. As a result, their immediate need for water was taken care of and their ultimate need for victory was facilitated through the blessing.  Amazing!

So what exactly does this mean for each of us? How exactly should we prepare for the blessing from God? Well, that’s a hard question to answer. I would guess it would be a very individualized answer for each one of us. What I do know is that we need to take our concerns to God with the assurance that he cares for us and will bless us. Peter reminds us that we should cast all our cares and worries to him who cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7). Where do you take your cares and worries? Learn to trust Him (God) who never fails and He will release blessings for you if and only if you are prepared for the same.

God bless (prepare for it! – The Blessing)

Amen!!

November 30th, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 1 Comment

Our God of Restoration!!

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” ¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” John 21:15-17

I am seated in my office desk and there is this one thought that is really disturbing me. If God Loves us, and He truly does, He knows that there are some of us who will love him and others won’t; yet He still loves us unconditionally. I am reminded of this scripture that says “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1. I love the way the Amplified Bible puts it across… it says “SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! I am still in awe of why God would choose to love a disobedient, unfaithful and sinful person like me. Mention of any form of sin and tell me if you and I are not guilty of. It is for this sole reason of Love that He (Jesus) agreed to leave his throne in heaven, come and take a human form just like you and me, identify with us and die on the cross paying the penalty of death that you and I ought to have paid.

Last month, I wrote this devotion that has been popping on my mind each and every day. Will the cock crow was the title of the devotion. [If you missed, click here to read] and every time at the end of the day when I sit down and evaluate my day, I am reminded of this. Will I wait till the cock crows for me to action on something that I have not taken an action on? It may be spiritually related or even in terms of my work – and this has been a great challenge to me. Jesus was speaking to Peter after He had had the last super with the disciples. he turns to Peter and warns him that the devil will sift him but Christ had prayed for him. Peter with his ego, he told Jesus that he wouldn’t deny him… but later we see how it went. He denied him 3 times as Jesus had told him.

In the scripture above, you realize that Jesus is speaking to Peter again after they had finished having breakfast with him at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. This is after Jesus had died and resurrected but Peter hadn’t seen Jesus yet. At this point in time, remember that after denying Jesus three times, he might have thought that Jesus would have no trust in him again and thus, he decided to go back to career that Jesus called him from – Fishing. Apparently, this is the thought line that many of us have. The minute we fall into sin, we think that God is so annoyed with us and He might not take us back and thus, instead of coming back to God and repenting, we delve ourselves deeper into sin. But this is not so; Jesus died so that we could be redeemed from our sins and his blood that was shed on the cross was for our forgiveness of sins. John reminds us that if only we REPENT our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9-10). If the prodigal son was accepted back, you and I can be accepted back too as we are all prodigals in the kingdom of God.

In real sense and putting this in a layman’s language, we can easily conclude that Peter had backslid when he went back fishing and he had his 6 friends alongside him. This is the time that Jesus comes and reveals himself to them. We further know that Peter had backslid by the fact that he was naked and when eh realized that it was Jesus, he dashed to cover himself (John 21:7). Him removing his clothes does not only signify his physical nakedness but also his spiritual nakedness too. You need to discover that once you have fallen back, you do not see any shame of whatever you do; you are not conscious of yourself; simply because the spirit of God departs from you and you are left alone. And this is the state at which Peter was. The bible says it clearly that the flesh and the Spirit are always in conflict to control you (Galatians 5:17) and one cannot be where the other is. If you walk in the flesh, the spirit departs and if you walk in the Spirit, the flesh is suppressed.

Secondly, you will realize that he influenced others to go back fishing with him. With him, he had 6 of the 12 disciples. Thomas, Nathaniel, the two sons of Zebedee and two others not mentioned had gone back fishing with Peter. You need to know that you are an icon of influence wherever you are and there are many people that you influence. The question that you and I need to ask ourselves: – Is the influence that I give others positive or negative? For someone like Peter in this case and scenario, it was negative influence. One thing and I bet Peter knew this is that he knew that he had leadership qualities in him and thus, when he suggested the others that they go back fishing, they agreed with him simply because he was an icon of leadership. Same to you and me. Jesus said that “you are the salt of the earth; … you are the light of the world, a city set on a hill; Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16

You need to realize that in whatever you do, someone is watching you and listening to what you say. In any case, they will do the same simply because they saw you do it – and you will be their reference when they are asked why they did so. Listening to Pastor Oscar Muriu of Nairobi Chapel, he said, and I quote “The higher you rise in leadership, the more mess you make when you fall” This is clearly evident with Peter in this context. The minute we fall, it doesn’t matter how high we had risen in authority or leadership, the people we hurt down the line are many more than we have influenced. You and I have a great calling and a leader leads by influence and not just by knowledge. Jesus called us to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). We are called to be world changers – but once we neglect our calling and go back, we fail in fulfilling our mandate. Imagine, Peter influenced half of the disciples of Jesus to leave the calling that they had for three and half years and go back to the fishing business that they were in earlier on simply because Christ had died.

This is what the devil does to us. He comes and speaks to us and we compromise and go back to our old life of sin and bondage and eternal destruction while we forfeit a life of freedom and eternal life given by God through the death of his son Jesus Christ on the cross. Thank God that He loves us and is willing to restore us back to himself. There is always a second chance and not only a second chance with God to come back – but we are not to take this for granted. Paul asks the Romans whether we shall continue sinning so that the grace of God will abound – and he says No!! (Romans 6:1). Let’s learn not to take the grace of god for granted.

You will realize that when Jesus was speaking to Peter after the breakfast, He asked him three times whether He (Peter) loved Jesus. The bible records that Peter got hurt because he thought that Jesus didn’t believe him because he had earlier denied him; but in the real sense, Jesus asked him three times so that He could counter the three times that he (Peter) had denied him. This is what God did. Jesus became the sacrifice that you and I would have offered for atonement to counter all the sacrifices that we would have made for all the sins that we made and thus paying our ransom for us so that we could be reconciled and restored back to God. What else do we need when Jesus did this for us? All we need to do is trust in him and live a life that will glorify him all the time as Jesus said in Matthew 5:16.

How I pray this day that the Lord will help us to live as per our calling and above all, restore us back to him where we have fallen.

Amen!!

November 24th, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 4 Comments

A Word is Enough!!

⁵Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, ⁶saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” ⁷And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, "Go,’ and he goes, and to another, "Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, "Do this,’ and the slave does it." ¹⁰When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith not even in Israel.… ¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith." And the servant was healed in that hour”. Matthew 8: 5-10, 13

It is 4:30 am and I am contemplating on whether to go for a cold shower before my devotion or warm water and meanwhile, I be reading my bible. At this point in time, am so not ready to do a cold shower so I opt to warm up some water slowly as I get time to read my bible amid some slow calm worship music playing in the background. At this point, I started replaying what I had heard on Thursday at the He’s Conference at NPC Valley Road. My father and Pastor Bishop J.B Masinde was speaking about “Being a Watchman as a Man” and he shared a on a few questions that a watchman needs to ask himself. It made me think how and where I have faltered, slackened and where I need to style up because I a a watchman of my life, my family (coming soon) and even for you who is reading this. I need to be careful of what I write before you read.

Reading the scripture above, it reminded me of our African culture and the many things that we are used to. In one way or another, we guilty of this attitude that is deeply engraved in our diverse cultures. In our earlier days, one would go to the doctor and to believe that he/she was treated, one had to get an injection. Some of us would go to witch doctors and they would do their stuff on us and then, for protection, they would give the said person some charm to carry home as a form of protection. This is the belief that we have grown with and on the other hand, we have come to believe that unless a man of God lays his hands on us; smears us with some anointing oil or does some thing for us, we cannot receive what we need may it be healing, provision or any request that we make unto God.

This is the kind of mentality that Jairus had. In the next chapter, after Jesus had an encounter with the centurion, Jairus comes with the same plea as the centurion had. This time, Jairus’ daughter was sick at the point of death. After Jairus convinces Jesus to go with him to his house, the bible tells us that later, a servant came and told Jairus that his daughter had died. This is what the bible tells us in Matthew 9:18-19 "While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.” In both cases, you will notice that:

• Both had someone sick at home and needed the attention of Jesus.
• They were both men with authority in their respect places.
• They all asked Jesus to come to their houses so that He could heal their sick.

The same way to us in our lives and situations. You will notice that you and someone else have the same need and the situations, circumstances and the surrounding environment is identical, but what matters is the faith that you have. That is what differentiates you from the others. This is what speeds up or slows down the answers that you need in your life. You need to realize that you do not need so much faith so that you can be able to see big things happening in your life; all you need is faith enough to believe. Jesus said to the Centurion “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” Matthew 8:13. Jesus knew the faith that the centurion had to believe that His word would his servant was great and Jesus did act on that word. On the other hand, when Jairus was told that his daughter was dead, Jesus told him “Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36.

Do you see the difference between the two? Jesus acted on the faith of the centurion while on the other hand, Jesus had to give faith to Jairus. In many circumstances, this is how we are and act. Rather than us believing in God and having faith in him, we instead put our faith in the works and actions that we think they will work for us. Many times, I will tell you for sure – You can be laid hands on, anointed with oil, slain by the spirit of God and fall down, but without Faith, you will still remain the same person you were and your situations remain the same. Woe unto this generation that believes in having things done and seeing them; but when it comes to believing, they tend to fray away. It is not about what is done unto you but it is about what you believe in. If the centurion didn’t have faith for Jesus to act on, it would have been totally a different case all together.

Jesus told his disciples and the crowds after they were unable to cast a demon out of a boy and “He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Matthew 17:20. There are issues that are troubling us and we think that all we need is 21 days of prayer & fasting in a retreat center somewhere whereas, but when God looks at them and us, He sees that all we need to do is exercise our faith by Just speaking a Word and we are sorted. The same faith that you exercise when you go to work everyday expecting a pay check at the end of every month; getting into a matatu and trusting that you will get to your destination safely and not anywhere else, is the same faith that you need to apply when it comes to the issues that you are battling with.

I challenge you today. Let us stop overburdening our pastors and ministers with so much of our burdens and issues for them to spend hours praying for us whereas it is us who have failed to exercise our faith. Put your faith into action and see whether God will not act on the basis of your faith. If He did it for the centurion, what will hinder him from acting upon yours? God is not a respecter of persons – he doesn’t show favoritism, He blesses all accordingly and equally. (Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34; James 2:1) Take a step of faith and speak to your mountain and see if He will not act.

Amen!!

November 22nd, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 5 Comments

Benefits of Waiting on God!!

“…And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!” Isaiah 30:18

In one of my previous devotion, I shared about waiting on God and we realized that we ought to persevere and wait on him. One thing about God is that he has promised that whoever waits upon him will never be disappointed. Don’t be in a hurry. We must learn to wait upon the Lord.  You cannot rush God.  He is in no hurry.  Why is He not in a hurry?  Because He has all of eternity ahead of Him; and when you and I get in step with Him, life will be much easier for us down here. He has his plan laid out well and perfectly. His word is perfect and whatever he has planned and set to do will be done to perfection in his own time and pace. He knows us pretty well; what we need, when we need it and the appropriate time we need it. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 6:8 that our father in heaven knows what we need even before we ask for it. Thus we need to have confidence that as we wait on him, He will surely fulfill his word, promises unto us and the prayers that we pray unto him.

We don’t like to wait and when we think of waiting, most of the time we get discouraged. We always put out a sigh and show as an indicator of the weight the word “wait” has. But then these two words, weight and wait are not always unrelated because one of our needs in waiting on the Lord is the need to cast the weighty burdens of life on Him. Even in our modern age of conveniences, waiting is still a big part of life. When we think of waiting, what comes to mind? We might conjure up visions of an airport terminal, a doctor’s waiting room, the line at the supermarket, or being stuck in rush hour traffic, etc. The simple fact is, in spite of our modern age and our dislike for waiting, life is full of waiting. And one of the most challenging exhortations of Scripture is “wait.” But waiting, despite our impatience and our dislike for it, is a vital element in life. I have discovered that we live in an age and generation that needs instant things. We have fast foods everywhere and thus, no need to cook if you do not feel like. In the supermarkets and malls, you will discover that we have almost everything we need in the shelves and thus, all you need to do is get home, warm a little bit and your food is ready.

Indeed, waiting has a number of benefits that we will discover. There are some essential factors in waiting on the Lord that we cannot overlook. Waiting on God:

a)    Waiting necessitates the passage of time – David writes in Psalm 130:5-6 “I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning,” In this, he was comparing waiting expectantly on the Lord to the night guards of the city who watched the passage of time in anticipation of the coming dawn when they would be released from duty. The coming of the dawn was certain, but not without the passage of time. In our “I want it now generation” we must understanding and accept the fact that waiting on the Lord always involves the passage of time just as it does when we are waiting for the news, a special TV program, for a plane to arrive for a play to start in the theater. Waiting on the Lord inevitably means enduring the passage of time, but the returns are more, much better.

b)    Waiting means confident expectation – waiting includes the concept of hope. WAITING and HOPING are wound together like the strands of a rope. This is how they are: When you wait to hear whether or not you have been accepted for the job you’ve applied for, you are not only hoping to get the job, you are hoping your credentials and qualifications are more than sufficient. Compare again Psalm 130:5-6. “I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord…” Waiting involves an expectation of something special. Waiting means anticipation, expectation, confident hope that something that will take place. Ultimately, waiting on the Lord is like waiting on the sun to rise – waiting expectantly for the Lord’s answers to human needs as the sun brings the warmth of the day.

c)     Waiting involves an expectation based on knowledge and trust - Without knowledge and trust, we simply won’t wait – at least not without a great deal of anxiety and usually not without taking matters into our own hands and carrying out our plan B’s. As the watchman waits for the sun because he knows it is reliable, so was David waiting for the Lord even more because he knew the Lord is more reliable than the rising of the sun. In other words, waiting is fundamentally wrapped up with knowing, trusting, and believing in the Lord and His person (His character) and in His promises. The ability to wait on the Lord stems from being confident and focused on who God is and in what God is doing. It means confidence in God’s person: confidence in His wisdom, love, timing; understanding of our situation and that of the world. It means knowing and trusting in God’s principles, promises, purposes, and power. (Refer to: Psalm 52:8-9; Psalm 62:1-12; Psalm 37:7-9; Psalm 39:7)

d)    Waiting involves negatives and positives – When we think of waiting, we might envision just sitting back, not doing much of anything; just waiting for something to happen. But that is not the kind of waiting God is calling for. Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of waiting is learning to hold the negatives and the positives in proper balance. Waiting involves a passivity and an activity—negatives and positives—things we should do and things we should not do. Waiting involves three things:

a.        Things we do—doing the right things.

b.        Things we are not to do—refraining from the wrong things.

c.        Things that happen to us, in us, and for us in the process of biblical waiting.

Read more in Psalm 37:1-9

e)    Waiting Involves Seeking the Lord – waiting always means seeking the Lord. When we enter God’s waiting room we are not to just sit as one might in the doctor’s chair. Rather, we need to spend time seeking Him. This means:

a.        Time in the Word studying, seeking answers, and claiming God’s promises;

b.        Time in prayer praying about the issues, praying for wisdom and discernment;

c.        Time meditating on who God is, what He wants to do in us and through us, and on what we need to do by way of answers and direction. There might be need to examine and evaluate our motives and attitudes, our values and priorities, and our goals and objectives in life.

f)     Waiting involves taking the right action at the right time – There is a time to plow, a time to sow, and a time to reap, but they are never done all together or at the same time. Take an example with a farmer. There is a season for planting and another season for harvesting the crop; but the two seasons are weeks and weeks apart. Take into consideration the time he takes to plough and prepare the land, plant the seeds and then wait for them to grow. From there, there is weeding and maintaining the right atmosphere and condition for the crops to grow well. You will never see the farmer going to plant when it’s time for harvest; no, in every season, he knows what to do. Finally, he harvests his crops. But the whole process involved doing the right thing at the right time. Same for our Christian waiting cycle or process; we need to know the season we are in so that we can do what is expected of us as we wait on God. God is in the business of growing a spiritual harvest in our lives, but this takes time and our cooperation in doing the right things at the right time.

g)    Waiting means trusting in God and his goodness – Psalm 62:5-8 says “My soul, wait sin silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” If you read more in Lamentations 3:25 and Isaiah 8:17, you will realize that these verses and many others in the bible teach us that the essence of waiting is trust or having faith in the nature and character of God. No one can wait on the Lord if he or she does not truly trust in God as the rock of their strength and refuge in all of life. Waiting means claiming God’s promises by faith and resting in what God is doing in our lives so we can faithfully follow God’s principles and keep His values, priorities, and pursuits. The opposite of waiting and resting by faith is turning to our solutions of self-protection because of anger, fear, and jealousy. Out of fear of failure or loss, we may compromise our convictions or what we know is right. But fear, which has displaced faith in the Lord, causes us to lean on the arm of the flesh.

h)    Waiting involves learning to be content with God’s provision and timing – To wait on the Lord means to be content and patient because we are clinging to God and resting in His love and wisdom. This element of waiting, however, is the most difficult aspect of all for two reasons.

a.        Contentment and patience are difficult because they are so contrary to fallen humanity and how we naturally think even after we are regenerated by the Spirit of God. It takes constant renewal in the Word, fellowship with the Lord, and growth through struggle to change.

b.        Contentment and patience fly directly in the face of the cunning and constant delusion that Satan seeks to pass off on the human race, that man does not need God and can find security, satisfaction, and significance away from the Lord through his own solutions and human wisdom.

Read more in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 and Philippians 4:11-13. To wait on the Lord means to learn contentment with His provision and timing in any given situation through fellowship with God—knowing Him, clinging to Him, and trusting Him. 

Once we have known what it takes and involves us to wait on the Lord, we also need know the benefits that we get when we waiting on the Lord. One of the keys to obedience or appropriation of something is motivation. These are just but a few of the great motivations/benefits that we get when we wait on the Lord:

a)    We know who God is and what He is able to do – Waiting on the Lord means learning to have a single and consistent focus on God as the source of life because of all that He is as God – holy, just, sovereign, good, righteous, merciful, gracious, loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, infinite, truth, and eternality. Jeremiah wrote, “Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not Thou, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in Thee, for Thou art the one who hast done all these things” (Jeremiah 14:22).

b)    Waiting Sustains and Satisfies us (or the Lord to do so) – David says in Psalm 145:14-16 that “the LORD sustains all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to Thee, and Thou dost give them their food in due time. 16 Thou dost open Thy hand, and dost satisfy the desire of every living thing.” We may have fallen, bowed down, but we need to look and wait on the Lord to supply and sustain us for in His season and in His time, He does it! Every time we encounter one of the variegated problems of life, we are faced with a very important choice – to look up and wait, or focus on the problem and choose our own strategy – to worry, to run away, throw in the towel, or run ahead of the Lord.

c)     Waiting Strengthens and Enables – Isaiah 40:29-31 is a common verse that we know. It says “He (the Lord) gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah is telling us we often grow weary because we fail to wait on the Lord. When we run around in our own strength and operate by our own insufficient resources we are going to sooner or later run out of steam. The key question is; why don’t we wait on the Lord? Often it’s because we do not believe sufficiently in God and all that He is. For some reason, we begin to think and act like God is simply not involved or doesn’t understand.

d)    Waiting Straightens and Builds Character – when you read the scriptures mentioned below, you will realize that it is more of emphasis on what happens in us and to us as we learn to wait on the Lord. It builds our character because through the process of waiting, we learn to depend on the Lord alone and to find our source of strength, security, and joy in Him. Read Philippians 4:11-13 and Psalm 37:1-11.  In psalms, we get three challenges:

a.        Look Ahead – Vs 2, 9^a, and 10 are absolutely true of everything that is rooted in time and not in eternity. We must learn to wait on God’s time and purposes and turn away from human schemes (vs. 7-9). (Compare with Philippians 3:20.)

b.        Look Up – An obsession with problems, with rivals, with painful circumstances and the consequent harmful attitudes and strategies cannot simply be switched off, but they can be exchanged or removed by a new focus which rests and waits on the Lord (vs. 3-8).

c.        Be Productive - This is put forth both in the positive and in the negative. This is seen in “do good” and “dwell in the land” (verse 3), and in the negatives of verses 1 and 8.

e)    Waiting Lifts Us Out of Despair and Causes Praise to God – When we are in despair or depressed, we moan and groan, whine and complain. But waiting on the Lord gets our eyes focused on Him and our glorious future. It puts a song in our hearts and praise on our lips. Psalm 40:2-3 “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, and will trust in the LORD.” Read more in Psalm 42:5-11, Psalm 43:5, Psalm 145:15-21.

f)     Waiting Encourages Others and Gives Greater Ability to Witness - We must never discount the impact of our lives on others both for bad and for good. It is hard to have a positive word and a positive witness to others when we haven’t been waiting and aren’t resting on the Lord. In Psalm 40:1, 5, 9-10, David gives a testimony of what the Lord has done for him. This is what he says: “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count. … I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, Thou knows. I have not hidden Thy righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation; I have not concealed Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.” Read more in Psalm 119:43-44, 74.

I don’t know what you may be going through at the moment, but whatever it is the challenge of Scripture is to wait on the Lord because, unlike temporal man and the fleeting world in which we live, the sovereign Lord of the universe loves us with a steadfast love and personally cares for us like a father. Read the words David wrote in Psalm 103:13-19. Moreover … “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)

Amen!!

November 18th, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 8 Comments

Will your works Stand?

^“9For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God’s garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God’s building. ¹⁰According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it, ¹¹For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). ¹²But if anyone builds upon the Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done. ¹⁴If the work which any person has built on this Foundation [any product of his efforts whatever] survives [this test], he will get his reward. ¹⁵But if any person’s work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:9-15

Yesterday morning, as I was on the couch reading my bible after my devotion time, my mind reflected back in the days when we used to model articles and things with clay in primary school and we would have them put in one corner and we used to call it “nature corner”. I also remembered that in Art and Craft, we also learnt something called modeling and after the artifacts that we had modeled were dry, we would dig a pit, have some firewood laid down, the artifacts laid down there and then more firewood and grass was put at the top. Then, we would light some fire and burn the artifacts there for two to three hours. According to what we learnt, this process was called “hardening” so that the artifacts that were made could last longer.

During this process, any article which was not well modeled, it would break or have cracks. This made you who was the owner of the model to loose marks and eventually, you would either redo the whole process or just have to fail that exam. This was not so pleasing as most of the pupils we were in the same class with lost marks on this because they did not take the work seriously and they just did shoddy work which cost them later. Many of the pupils we had had to repeat the class as it was the last term of the year. I felt pity on them and it was too bad to leave some of them behind as I advanced to the next class because they were best friends.

Ultimately, Paul is warning us of the same thing when it comes to our faith. As he was speaking to the church in Corinth, he was exalting them to be diligent in all that they did. He reminded them that they were co-workers with him and God in his vineyard. In this, he goes ahead and tells them that each man will be paid according to his work. Each and everyone has been given a different grace and calling as well and thus, the work that is cut out for us and what we are supposed to do is totally different from someone else’s work. Paul tells the Romans that “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Romans 12:4-6a. Thus you need to know where you need to be and thus do what you are meant to be diligently.

The bible clearly tells us “You who are young, make the most of your youth. Relish your youthful vigor. Follow the impulses of your heart. If something looks good to you, pursue it; but know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment.” Ecclesiastes 11: 9. With this kind of warning and words from a wise man like Solomon, what do you decipher? It clearly tells you that nothing that you and I can do/will do that can elopes the eyes of God. And because of this, Paul is warning us in advance regarding what we do. We need to know that ALL the works of our hands will be put to test and see whether they stand or not. As I said earlier regards the clay or ceramic artifacts that we were making in school, they were to be put through fire so that they could be tested and made to last longer; so shall our works. Paul says it clearly that “The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done.”

There are three things that Paul is reminding us this day:

• Our foundation – Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus Christ laid the foundation for us and it is up to us to build on the foundation which He laid for us. It doesn’t matter what material we use to build with, as long as your building is built on the foundation; it will be put to test to prove its worth. It is so unfortunate that many of us have built on their own foundations and it is sure that these foundations are not strong and they will surely fall. Jesus said that a man building a house will sit down and count the cost before embarking on building the house (Luke 14:28-30). Jesus again showing the importance of a stable foundation, he gave the example of the two builders in Matthew 7:24-27, he spoke about foundations as well. What is the foundation on which you have built your works on? have you built your own foundation or you are building on the sand or you have based your works on Christ who is the solid rock and the firm foundation. Take time and review.
• The fire will TEST and REVEAL our works – You need to know that what you do will pass through the fire as earlier said. This will be the absolute litmus test for your works. Paul says that this will be done publicly and it will be made known to all. This will be done to do two things:
• Appraise your Character: – Your Character is what you are. When you are alone and no one is around you, what you find yourself is what you are.  Your works are as per your character and that is what will be tested. This is where your character will either stand or fail you. A wise man said “A gifting will place you before kings, but character will sustain you there.”
• The Worth of your work – As we saw earlier, it is only when a ceramic item has been passed through fire, that’s when you can know whether it will endure the test of time and last. Paul says that it is only fire that will reveal the worth of our work. When Silver or Gold is passed through fire several times and it is refined, it worth can not be compared to the gold that is still in the ore. The refined one costs more expensive than the non-refined one. This is the same to us. Paul goes ahead and says in verse 15 that depending on which foundation one built, he will either survive the test of fire and gain his reward or burn and thus lose his reward.
• Our reward will be determined by our work – When our work is passed though fire; that’s the time we will know whether we have survived the test and gained our reward or our work has burned down and thus we lose our reward. The question will your work stand for you?  

One thing is sure and evident and is sure; no matter what we do, our works have to tested. It is true that God has promised to bless the work of our hands, but He won’t for sure bless some shoddy job done somewhere. This is so clearly shown in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The first and the second servants who had an increase in what the master had left them with, they were welcomed into the master’s happiness but the servant with one talent and he did nothing with the talent, was cast away.  Do you want to be like the one servant or like the two servants who were ushered into their master’s happiness?

Remember, when God created you, he created you and brought you into this world with a purpose. I can not fulfill your purpose and assignment for you and neither can you do the same for me. Each and everyone of us will be held accountable of what we were supposed to accomplish. How I pray that we will all know our purpose here on earth and fulfill our mandate before we are called home to rest!!

Amen!!

November 16th, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 3 Comments

Fight on…

¹Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the LORD said to him, "You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.” Joshua 13:1 (NASB)

It is 12:25 am in the morning and here I am seated in my house this evening and all that I am doing is reflecting on my past life. I am left in awe of what the Lord has done for me. Looking back over the years especially my primary school days, I had so much passion and motivation to work hard so as to excel in my academics and join Starehe boys or Mangu High school. I did all I could and whatever was within my reach. I could burn the midnight oil just to make sure that I had covered most of the syllabus even before the teacher came to teach. Later on, this was paid as I passed my exams quiet well though I didn’t manage to get to either of my dream schools, I did good and my hard work was paid of well. In high school, I thought that life was just the same as it was in primary school and I found myself relaxing day by day and I thought that I would do as I would do during my primary days and excel but I was wrong. I had relaxed and I found myself deteriorating in my grades. I had relaxed and thought that things will be as they had been.

I know this is a story that is so familiar with so many of us. We have been there done it, regretted and made wishes but at the end of the day, we went back, corrected our mistakes and puled out strong. Busking in the victories of yesterday makes us forget that we have more battles to fight and thus we are caught off-guard and unprepared when the enemy strikes. I do believe that from the very first day when we were born and came into this world, we came to a world and an environment that was not friendly nor welcoming at all to us. We had to fight with infections, diseases and to some point, we had to battle for our livelihood as the biology theory tells us that its Survival for the fittest. If you ain’t fit and strong enough to fight on, you will be extinct like some plants and animals have become.

Many times, we are aware of things we ought to do but we intentionally or unknowingly fail to do what we are supposed to. In the long run, we find ourselves in some situations and circumstances that we are not able to get ourselves out of simply because of our negligence. This is what happened to Joshua. After they had crossed river Jordan and Joshua had divided the land between the tribes according to the allotment that Moses had given, the bible in Joshua 12 gives us a list of kings and kingdoms that the children of Israel fought and defeated under the leadership of Joshua. In total, we are told that Joshua fought and defeated 31 kings in the land of Canaan. after that, it is so evident that he relaxed and did not go to the battle anymore. That’s why we see God giving him a wake up call in chapter 13.

God reminds him of the territory that was still supposed to be part of Israel’s inheritance. You will realize that this is the same territory that God had promised his servant Abraham in Genesis 13:14-17 after they had separated with his nephew Lot. At this point in time, God gives a promise to Abraham and he tells him that He, God, will bring it to fulfillment. And now, here are the descendants of Abraham in the promised land but yet, they haven’t inhabited the whole land because there are still some nations are still in the land which ought to be theirs and they are there simply because they have not fought them and chased them out as they were told to do by God. Someone had relaxed and didn’t do what was expected of him.

This is so true of us today. God has given us promises in his word and we are supposed to partake of all these blessings and promises but we haven’t simply because we haven’t done what we are supposed to do. You will realize that in every promise in the word of God, there is a tagged condition that we are supposed to fulfill before we partake of the promise; but it is so unfortunate that most of us are so eager to rush and ask for the blessing before fulfilling the command before the promise. On the other hand, we have issues in our lives, families and even places of work that we ought to deal with but we are reluctant to.There are some habits that we know we need to get rid of and adopt others but day by day, we are procrastinating when we will deal with them. Others, have fought the issues but not to a point where they can say that they have won the battle.

One time in Israel, they were in battle with the philistines, one of the many nations that were inhabiting the land and Joshua was supposed to fight them off but he didn’t. And as you will read in 1 Samuel 17, you will realize that for 40 days, the army of Israel would come early in the morning and line up waiting for the philistines for battle and whenever Goliath would appear, they all would flee. And this became a routine till David came and he fought Goliath and killed him. If David didn’t come, faced Goliath and killed him, I bet the army of Israel would have continued with the same routine for a more days. And did you know that this is how we act with the giant issues in our lives? Instead of facing them off, we keep on looking at them and leaving them unattended. You look at an issue that you seriously need to attend and you say, let me go to bed, relax and then come over and sort it out in the morning… but when morning comes, you procrastinate acting on the issue again. Just like you pile up your laundry saying that I will wash them in the evening when you are back from work and you come when you are tired and you are not able to do anything, and they continue piling and piling up; so does the issues we need to deal with in our lives.

When Joshua didn’t fight the nations and drive them away, they continued to establish themselves in the land till it reached a point that it was hard to drive them away easily and that is the reason why there are constant fights in the middle east today. Once you leave some issues unattended, it will continue to establish themselves and when you come and you are ready to deal with them, you find them established and hard to deal with. That is the bitter truth. If we agree or disagree, that is how things are. It is up to us to know what we need to fight and act upon and then take the necessary actions needed; else we will find ourselves in situations and circumstance that are not favourable. In all the issues that we fight, you will notice that once in a while, we are given a warning but if we do not heed, things go wayward. [Click here to refer this to this devotion “Will the cock Crow?”].

One thing that is sure about this is that; If you do not conquer what you are fighting, it will conquer you instead. It is up to you to choose whether you will be conquer or you will be conquered instead. One thing that I have seen over and over again is that, we are willing to fight our issues but once we start the fight and we seem to be on the winning side, we relax. It is just like chasing a dog out of the compound and then you lock the door/gate and think that the dog won’t find its way back into the compound through the fence. It is up to you and me to totally fight and destroy all the issues and giants that we are fighting. If we just chase them out and think we have won, we are making a big mistake.

Job 14:7-9, the bible says that once a tree is cut and the roots are still intact on the ground, at the scent of water, it will bud and grow again. Once our issues are not dealt with to finality, they are just like a stump of a tree cut down. With a presentation of a small loophole, the issue will creep in back again in your life and this time round, it will be more stronger and resistant than it was. Deal with the issues in your life and cut off the roots as well so that there is no possibility of growing up again. May the Lord God help us to fight these battles of life and win; deal with the issues to the root cause and not to leave them unattended.

Amen!!

November 12th, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 7 Comments

The night never Lasts long – Hold on!!

Psalms 30:5^b

“weeping may last for a night, but Joy comes in the morning” (NIV)

“The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter.” (Message bible)

”At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate.” (CEV)

Many time we have found ourselves in some situations and corners that we wouldn’t want to be. At this point in time, we are fixed, cornered and crushed from every side. There are so many things that we need to do and yet there seems to be a blockage. We meet so many challenges and and at some point, we are at the verge of giving up. For most of us, we have visions, dreams, and plans that we would love to see accomplished but at some point, it seems like a fairy tale; a dream that you wish you had not woken up to the reality of it simply because the prevailing circumstances do not allow you neither do they give any sign of hope. looking ahead all you see is gloom and a dark alley and there is no glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. I encourage you this morning to hold on.

When David was writing this psalm, God had rescued him from his enemies and during the dedication of the temple, he could rise up and give God the praise for what He had done to and for him. If you look at verse 1-3, you will realize that David was recounting the places where God had saved him from. I know, many are the times that God has come through for you and me in incidences and situations that we couldn’t have made it on our own; but soon after, when we find ourselves in a similar situation or different circumstance in all that we are cornered, the devil preaches a different gospel to us all together and we compromise with him, give in and we get discouraged for nothing. There is one thing that is sure – This is what God told Habakkuk to write in Habakkuk 2:3 and God said “For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day.”

You will notice one thing here. As God was speaking to Habakkuk, there is one thing that God is telling Habakkuk; – he is simply telling him be patient my son; I will bring it to pass. This is the problem with us. We are so much in a hurry to get whatever we have asked of  and we are not willing to take NO or WAIT for an answer. We want things instantly; as Kenyans would say… you get it PAP!! we must develop patience in us. God told Habakkuk to wait patiently for the vision and it will surely manifest for itself; – It will not lie. One thing we need to know is that, if whatever the dream, the vision we have is from God, it will stand the test of tome; but if it is otherwise, it won’t stand. One thing I have learnt over time and I have seen it and realized that it is a fact is that – before a vision is fulfilled, it has to be tested. In the testing, patience will have to be there. At times, the going become tough and the challenges so hard to bear! One thing is for sure and it stands is that when God is involved, you will come out strong and with a testimony.

When you look at the issues that you are passing through, the mention of a breakthrough seems not viable at all. You need to realize and know that it is always darkest when it’s almost dawn. The burden become more unbearable when we are almost getting there. The question is; will you give up then? Joseph was at such a point in his life. After he had the two dreams of him becoming a king and a ruler over his brethren and parents, great animosity and hatred arose between him and his brothers to an extent that they wanted to kill him. Better still, when they did not kill him, they sold him into slavery in Egypt. There God gave him favour in the house of Potiphar and I think he thought to himself that he had reached his peak. He didn’t know that he would be thrown into jail for wrongs that he hadn’t committed. I believe, he was asking God questions at that moment when he was thrown in jail. I bet, if I was Joseph I would have asked God such questions too.

One thing that is different with Joseph though is that he was patient unlike many of us who are not. Joseph went through the whole testing period without murmuring or asking God a question till the appointed time came for his dream to be fulfilled. As I have said in my earlier devotions in the previous weeks regarding Waiting on God (Click to read), it is not easy to wait on God especially when things do not seem to work; but the minute we do so, we are the beneficiaries. There is more that we get than just what we had been waiting for. The problem with not waiting on God for his appointed time is that we find ourselves going for the plan ‘B’s which are not always the best. If Abraham was alive today and you asked him how long he would wait for God to fulfill a promise he has made, he will tell you that he will wait even if it’s a lifetime. His failure to wait on God cost him to have Ishmael and his mother Hagar sent away.

Are you in a situation that you are pressed in a corner and you do not know what to do? you do not know which side to go or to whom you will turn to for help. When you look ahead, there is no glimpse of hope or light at the end of the tunnel. One thing that I will tell you… this is your night; your morning is coming. Remember, when something is about to be born, there must be labour pains. The struggle that you are in right now is because you are about to give birth to something great. When a woman is giving birth, she doesn’t mind the pain she feels, she bears all the pain knowing that once she is through, she will have a baby to celebrate and the pain will be a thing of the past. Hold on… do not give up for in due time, God will fulfill what he has promised unto you!

Amen!!

November 8th, 2010 Posted by Mutuma, Dennis | Daily Inspirations | 5 Comments