OUR LORD WHO IS SPIRIT

In the book of John chapter 4 verse 24, our God is described in this way:

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

What does this mean? What does it mean to be Spirit?

We humans are structured to be physical beings,  souls and spirits.

Our physical selves are our bodies and it is these bodies that provide the framework on which life in this coporeal realm can be readily inhabited.

Our souls are not physical but are instead like software that is uploaded into the facilities provided for in our physical bodies.

Our souls are vast and complex structures of labyrinths, chambers and processing engines that interface with the physical world via our bodies and also share sensory information and physical experience  with our spirits.

Our souls are beings unto themselves but our spirits are the highest expression of ourselves. If we were to live our lives with fully expressed spirits, we would be incredibly varied and fascinating entities brimming with the attributes of God.

If we lived our lives with our souls doing most or all of the expression, we would be closer to animals in our demeanor and manners. 

Whereas our spirits yearn for a moral and ascendant existence, our souls, though very able to  run the affairs of our lives, are base and inclined to an existence of  grasping selfishness.

To some degree, our souls can be taught to improve our behaviour but if left to their own devices, our souls will create gradually degenerating societies that would eventually be indistinguishable from the lives of wild hyenas on the Savanah.

Our spirit lives began in this way. When we accepted  the Lordship of Jesus Christ and believed on His death on a cross to save us, God revived our dead spirits so that we could be born again and begin expressing the life of the spirit.

This means that as we grow in our spiritual capacities, we must increasingly suppress the life of our souls. Our souls, in cooperation with our bodies, will fight our spirits' attempts to control our lives but over time, we must engage in activities that increase the strength of our spirits so that they are not pushed around by our souls. 

To gain strength in the spirit, we must:

a) Pray in the spirit often

b) Practice being led by the Spirit of God.

c) Dwell often in a place of worship of God

d) Study the bible.

The part of us that we are strengthening is the part of us that is born of God. That part of us is  spirit in the same way that God is Spirit.

Doing these exercises will nourish our spirits and with healthy spirits, we can compel our bodies and souls to worship God in Spirit and in truth and we can squelch the works and influences of the flesh that are contrary to the will of God.

Praise God.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S KINGDOM AND CHILDREN

In the book of Mark chapter 10 verse 13 - 16, Jesus was teaching when He found out that the disciples were hindering people from bringing little children to him for blessings. This is how the passage describes the events;

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

The words of Jesus potently laid out the generally unknown fact that entering the kingdom of God is predicated on receiving it as  little children. 

Whereas we understand the Kingdom of God to be gained by seniority and maturity, Jesus asserts the opposite where ascension to the kingdom of God is gained by returning to innocence and trust.

May we become like little children before our God and thrive in His kingdom.

Amen.

O LORD, LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION 

In Mathew chapter 6 verse 13, Jesus concludes the lesson in prayer for His disciples with these words;

‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  - Mathew 6 verse 13.

Many people have asked whether this means that God tempts His people and if we need to pray for God not to tempt us.

However, a more careful reading of that verse would account for the word 'lead' which implies instead that God will guide (lead) our steps  to places and situations where we could be tempted rather than He himself tempting us.

The Lord could let a situation arise where  for example, we were in a position of authority and  were offered a bribe. The temptation to take the bribe is not from God but the situation was permitted by Him so that we can demonstrate mastery over the particular form of temptation. 

If we fare well in this temptation, we are  candidates in God's Kingdom to be trusted with finances and weightier matters. 

When we are asking God not to lead us into temptation, we are at the same time saying, 'not our will but the will of God be done."

This is roughly parallel to the narrative where Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane and He  asked His Father if there was a way to avoid the cup of the cross but not His will but rather the will of the Father be done.

If the Lord brings us to points of temptation in our lives, he always provides a way out of it as indicated in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

 But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Our Lord, lead us not into temptation but not our will but yours.

Our God, deliver us from evil.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO FORGIVES OUR DEBTS

The Lord's prayer lesson continues to the profound maxim in Mathew chapter 6 verse 12.

"And forgive us our tresspasses, As we forgive those who trespasses against us."

This indelible phrase is a reminder to forgive other people who have sinned against us in order to have our own sins forgiven.

This principle of the Kingdom of God is a mechanism by which we subjects of the Kingdom are kept perpetually free of the incumberances of aggrievance  by requiring that each person be obligated to cancel the trespasses of other people in order that our own trespasses may be cancelled.

This way, the ledger amoung believers carries no balances and no score-settling will be part of any equation of an eternal existence.

Forgive us Lord as we forgive others.

Amen.

OUR LORD GIVES US OUR DAILY BREAD

Give us this day our daily bread. - Mathew 6 verse 11.

Jesus continued teaching His disciples how to pray in Mathew 6 verse 11 where He showed them how to ask for provisions from the Father.

Markedly, they are guided to pray for the provisions of that day and not for the days ahead. As well, they are shown to pray for the whole of their daily bread and not for a supplementary ration  to augment the supplies they had gained on their own.

This verse parallels the verses in Luke Chapter 9 verse 2 - 4 when Jesus was teaching His disciples how to take the news of the Kingdom of God to all the surrounding country.

'and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town." 

Here, our Lord reinforces the idea that His follower's must trust in the provision of God and let each day take care of itself.

In an interesting side note, in Luke 10 verse 7, the Lord also instructs His disciples to eat what ever is put before them. 

“Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ - Luke 7 verse 8 - 9.

If a host provides a meal, the disciples are instructed to eat whatever is put before them. This is likely an extension of the proviso that God will provide our daily bread and whatever form that provision comes as, we should gratefully accept it.

May we learn the lesson taught by our Lord so that we give no thought to tomorrow but rather trust that the Lord knows what we have need of and He gladly provides for us.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE KINGDOM IS AT HAND

In the book of Mathew 6 verse 10, Jesus continues in teaching His disciples to pray.

‘Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. - Mathew 6 verse 10.

At this point, Jesus teaches the principle of God's Kingdom as being on earth and that it is subject to the will of God here as it is in heaven.

This Kingdom is an amazing Kingdom. It is a Kingdom that is ruled in the midst of God's enemies. The subjects of this kingdom are voluntary and they exist scattered throughout the kingdom of darkness. 

The Lord governs His people as subjects of His Kingdom by His wonderful Holy Spirit who is embedded in the hearts of all those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and the efficacy of the sacrifice of His life on the cross for our salvation.

The Kingdom of God is at hand. Believe and be saved.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE NAME IS HALLOWED

“Pray, then, in this way:  ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  - Mathew 6 verse 9 - 10.

Our great God of heaven is mighty and holy. His name is held in the highest esteem and observance.

His identity, signified by His name that was revealed to the ancient forefathers of Israel, points to the greatest possible being above whom there is none and never will be.

Our Lord's name encodes the deep mysteries from unfathomable time past and into the unsearchable depths of eternity.  

Our Lord's name carries  the full authority and might of His awesome stature and against Him, none can stand and none can thwart His will.

Our God's name is indeed hallowed.

Praise His holy  name.

Amen.

 OUR LORD WHO ART IN HEAVEN

The Lord our God makes his dwelling place in heaven and rules His great Kingdom from there.

In Psalm 102 verses 1 - 2 it says: 

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

In other words, Jesus, in His ascension to heaven, was seated at the right hand of God the Father.  From the headquarters of the kingdom of God  called Zion, Jesus administrates the affairs of His Kingdom and it from there that allocations and  commands and decrees of the Kingdom are issued.

In Psalm 115 verses 2 - 4, God's place is also defined.

Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven he does whatever pleases him.  

Bless the name of the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO PROVIDES 

Jesus said in the Book of Mathew 6 verse 25 - 34,

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? 

You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Amen.

THE LORD WHO KNOWS US

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.  - Psalm 19 verse 14.

The Lord knows the words of our mouths and even more deeply, He knows the meditation of our hearts.

Our Lord knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and by this, He knows our strengths, our weaknesses and our attitudes. He then  calibrates the circumstances that surround us so that we are not tested beyond what we can bear.

With every hair on our heads numbered, we know that our Lord knows us more than we know ourselves.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S WORD

The Lord's word is at the pinnacle of all existence.

As the Psalmist said, the Lord elevates His word above His own name.

The Lord's name is a strong fortress and the righteous shall run into it and and are safe meaning that the name of the Lord can turn away any power in the universe in the protection of God's people.

Yet, the Lord places His word even higher than His name. 

Here is how the passage goes in Psalm 138 verse 1 - 2.

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. -Psalm 138  verse 1- 2.

The word of the Lord is so exalted that God has made even Himself subject to His own word. How much more should we revere and heed every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO NEVER FORSAKES US.

How you have loved me Lord

Always loved and never forsaken

Through the desert and the thorns

You have carried me

How you have loved me Lord

With your love  I can never be shaken

Through the fires and the storms

You delivered me . X2

OUR LORD WHO RULES FROM ZION

As the Lord was dying on the cross, He gave up His Spirit and then hung his head and died. 

The whole of creation was in a suspended state as the clocked ticked off the hours after the Lord's passing.

All those who had hoped in Him were in shock as they came to terms with the reality that all their hopes were crushed with the death and burial of Jesus.

What was not visible to them was that Jesus had descended into hell where they accommodated Him even though He was innocent.  The princes of darkness mounted a trial in the spirit to find fault with him. 

Nothing was found in Him and His righteousness exonerated him from the condemnation of hell. Jesus suddenly was imbued with the Spirit of God and He exploded in a light show that left the spirits of darkness scrambling in a humiliating panic as the Lord Jesus demonstrated that He was the light of the world. 

He went to the gates of hell, acquired the keys and freed those who had sat in darkness waiting for His appearing and He emerged from hell leading out  the first fruits of His salvation. 

He rose from the dead bodily and when He ascended into heaven, He was coronated and sat at the right hand of God the father as the king and  administrative head of the kingdom of God which is called Zion.

From that throne, Jesus rules His  Kingdom of which there shall be no end.

Amen.

OUR LORD FREES US FROM SLAVERY

In the book of Exodus, the account of Moses being sent by God to redeem the children of Israel is told. 

Our Lord had heard the cries of His people as they travailled under the yoke of oppression and slavery and He prepared Moses to be the one who went into Egypt to carry God's power for the deliverance of Israel. 

As the children of Israel were getting to the last stages of their deliverance, their enemies wanted to recapture them and destroy them. A terrifying display of God's power in protecting His people is described in Exodus  15 verse 3 - 11.

The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea.

The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power.

Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you.

You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of your nostrils  the waters piled up.

The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy boasted,  ‘I will pursue,  I will overtake them.

I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’

But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory,

The Lord's power is demonstrated in the defence of His people in this passage.

There is none too strong that can defeat Him so His people are safe in Him. 

Any oppression that the enemy place on God's people is subject to the authority and power of our Lord and He supersedes His enemies with power and knowledge and we, His people, are freed from enslavement by our God.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO RESCUES HIS PEOPLE

In the book of Genesis, an account is given of some war lords ransacking the house of Abraham's Nephew Lot. They took Lot and the people in his household and his belongings. 

When Abraham heard the news, He quickly mounted up an army and pursued the raiders. When he caught up with them, he planned an attack on the war lord's camp. He defeated them and then returned home with  His family members.

This is how the story unfolds in Genesis 10 verses 10 - 16 :

Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country. 

Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. 

They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.

 Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram. 

When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 

He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.

The story of a daring rescue is a picture and a foreshadowing of the rescue that the Lord Jesus would undertake to save His people.

Whereas His people had been ransacked and taken by the kings of this world, the Lord Jesus mounted a rescue effort to redeem His people who had been taken into bondage. 

The Lord fought against the powers of darkness and won. He triumphantly returned home with those He had saved from both His own people and  people from other families. 

What a wonderful image of our Lord as saviour.

Amen.

OUR LORD FREELY GIVES WISDOM

In the book of James, Chapter 1 verse 5, an unconditional offer is made whereby if a person who lacks wisdom asks the Lord for it, He will give that person wisdom generously and no fault shall be held to that person's account.

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him".  - James 1 verse 5

An exposition on the means of getting wisdom and the value of receiving it  from God is found in Proverbs chapter 2 verse 2 - 9:

 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;

For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;

If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. 

Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course.

To acquire wisdom, the first step is to listen and to incline our ear. Step 2 is to cry and raise our voices calling for it. Step 3 is to diligently look for it as one would seek a precious treasure.

The Lord, who stores up wisdom for us before hand,  dispenses wisdom by either speaking it or by making it discernable to our spirits through the fear of the Lord.

If we follow the prescription of wisdom that is given to us,  our paths are guarded and our ways are preserved. We can sense the righteous course and accurately weigh justice and equity.  

Bless the Lord who lavishes us with the  benefits of wisdom on the strength of our  asking for it earnestly.

Amen.

OUR LORD DOES ALL THINGS WELL

In Mark Chapter 7 verse 32 to 37, Jesus was presented with a man who could not hear and who had trouble talking. Jesus undertook to heal the man and people were amazed at what they were seeing with their own eyes. 

They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

Jesus, taking him aside by himself, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, He touched the man’s tongue [with the saliva]; and looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which [in Aramaic] means, “Be opened and released!” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly.  

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.  They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, “He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

The people who were witnessing these things were beside themselves and were unable to heed His instructions to keep things quiet. The works Jesus did were blared on all news channels to send word of His miracles rapidly through the countryside.

Jesus does all things  well and those who are His  people are astonished by what He does and how gracious He is. If any of us are incapacitated or have problems in our lives, Jesus will sometimes take us aside from the crowd and help us person to person. He will speak healing and life into us and our infirmities are made whole by His direct attention.

Praise His blessed name.

Amen.

OUR LORD CALLED US OUT OF DARKNESS

The Lord watched the human race rushing toward utter darkness and sinful destruction. 

We had chosen a path of independence from God our creator but our endeavour made us partners in rebellion with the prince of darkness.

Because we had joined ourselves to kingdom of darkness, the human race was facing the fearsome  judgement of eternal separation from God that was designed for fallen angels. 

We, a less hardy species, are not beings that thrive in those conditions in the same way that an unassuming accountant would struggle with an incarceration term on Rikers Island Supermax prison.

The Lord, in His mercy, determined a course of action to save us but the method of salvation He chose was one where each individual person is presented with the option of accepting the offer of salvation of God or rejecting it.

Accepting the offer is simple: Believe that we are sinful as evidenced by the sins we have committed in our lives then renouncing our sinful ways. Then we believe that Jesus has the power to save us from the darkness we are facing and translate us into the kingdom of light.

Rejecting the offer is also simple: Refuse to accept that we have any sin and thus no need of salvation or refuse to accept  that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

The offer is a free gift but it cost the Son of God His life by dying a horrifying death on a cross for us.

This is what it cost for God to be able to call us "out of darkness and into His marvelous light".  - 1 Peter 2 verse 9

A wise person would accept the offer of salvation.

Amen.

 OUR LORD WHO DIRECTS OUR STEPS

Our Lord's purposes are His motivation to act in our lives. He has intentions and goals that His will achieve and He will involve anyone in His purposes who makes themselves available to be directed by Him. 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. -  Psalm 37 verse 23

In His grace, our Lord makes it possible for us to share in the work of His kingdom. He will take a willing heart and provide everything else that is needed to complete that work. 

He will provide the resources, the anointing, the protection and the instructions to achieve what is needed.

The Lord, providing all these things, will reward us for participating in the work of His kingdom and so we turn out to be the beneficiaries of God's grace from the salvation that He provides to the exaltation He gives to His people who share in the work of the Kingdom of God.

Having been saved by our Lord, let us give our lives to be directed by our Lord and join in on the labour of His kingdom . 

As the Lord Jesus Christ  says in Mathew 11 verse 30: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light".

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO IS PATIENT WITH US

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  -   2 Peter 3 verse 9

The Lord is patient with us as He guides us through the pilgrimage of life. 

He waits for us to catch up and encourages us along. 

Bless His holy name.

Amen.

 THE LORD OUR COUNSELOR 

The LORD gives His people counsel. If we incline our ear to Him, He will offer  us guidance on the matters of our lives that confound us.

In the great Messianic chapter of Isaiah, our Lord is described as the "Wonderful Counselor". The verse says this:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.                             - Isaiah 9 verse 6.

The Lord will give wisdom to whomever asks as part of His portfolio under His Messianic title.

In Psalm 32 verse 8 it says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." 

This discloses the fact that the Lord's customized counsel to us is formulated with close observation and keen understanding of each of us personally.

Let us always ask the Lord for His guidance and wait patiently for Him to issue it. There is no counsel like the counsel of Him who knows the end from the beginning.

The Alpha and the Omega.

Amen.

OUR LORD IS MIGHTY

The LORD our God made all things by His awesome might and power. With great wisdom and understanding, He made the earth to be inhabited.

There is absolutely none who can stand against Him. His enemies are scattered but to His people, He is a mighty fortress.

He is strong and mighty to save them.

Praise the Lord.

Amen.

 OUR GOD OF WONDERS

Ngai wakwa, Ngai wakwa-ĩ

Ngai wakwa wĩ wa magegania

Ngai wakwa, Ngai wakwa-ĩ

Ngai wakwa wĩ wa magegania

Wambarario, wambarario-ĩ

Wambarario wĩ wa magegania

Wambarario, wambarario-ĩ

Wambarario wĩ wa magegania

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO WAITS FOR US

And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him.  - Isaiah 30 verse 18.

This extraordinary verse describes the Lord our God waiting for us so that He would be able to give us grace and mercy.

In the same way that the Lord waits for us, we must wait for Him and we are blessed for doing so.

Wait on the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO SANCTIFIES US

When we come to the point where we believe in the salvation provided by our Lord Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit and we are then given the power to walk in the spirit and participate in the spiritual  things of the kingdom of God.

Our newly revived spirits are eager to plunge into the enterprise of following the will of God and immersing us in kingdom business. However, our earthly selves  remain fallen and there is no part of our flesh that can be redeemed. 

The scriptures plainly say that the flesh profiteth nothing in John 6 verse 63. This means that there is no undertaking that originates in our souls and bodies that will have any eternal merit. 

The only part of us that is spiritually profitable  is our spirit. Our spirits are connected with the Spirit of God and together, will work to  train our fleshly selves to cooperate with the things of the Spirit. 

The flesh will not want to do this. Spiritual activities like praying for other people, deferring to other people, serving other people and other pursuits of the kingdom of God are vigorously rebelled against by the flesh.

Sanctification is the process of bringing the soul and body into subjection of the Spirit and putting to death the works of the flesh.

Any success by our spirit in making the flesh follow the will of God is a step towards sanctification. This process is a long systematic procedure of narrowing down the options that the flesh has available. This restricts what our fallen selves can do so that our spirits can have greater and greater control over our flesh. This sometimes takes years of struggle, setbacks, stumbles and despair but in the end, our spirits run our lives and the result is that we more closely resemble the character and nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Peter explains it like this in the book of 2 Peter verse 5 - 8. "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bless the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO BREATHS LIFE UPON US

In the beginning, when God initiated the human race, He made Adam out of the dust of the earth.

To bring His creation to life, God breathed the breath of life into him and Adam became a living soul.

Genesis 2 verse 7 says it like this:  "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being".

This mechanism was how God conferred life into a being in order for that physical being to be able to relate with God.

This narrative is wonderfully  mirrored in the new testament in the book of John 20 verse 21 - 22 when Jesus was meeting with His disciples after His resurrection. In this part of the narrative, Jesus breathed on them to confer upon them the Breath of Life who is the Holy Spirit.

The scriptures put it like this : "So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit."

By having the Spirit of God, the disciples (and indeed all who receive Him), were able to relate to God and participate in the things of the kingdom of God.

In the same way that Adam was able to undertake the work that  God gave Him to tend the garden, the disciples, having received the Spirit of God, were then charged with tending to the fields of the Lord by sowing seeds of the word of God and harvesting those who were being saved. They changed the world with the message of redemption through the death and ressurection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of God takes us in our  deficient condition and becomes our sufficiency in the prosecution of the will of God on earth.

We can then fulfill the destiny on earth that our Lord set for us from the foundation of the world.

Bless the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO HOLDS OUR HANDS

The Lord has each individual who trusts in Him  in His direct care. He holds each one of us  by the hand to comfort us and assure us and to keep us from falling.

Isaiah writes of God holding our hands  to calm our fears.  “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.              -  Isaiah 41 verse 13.

His strength holds us from falling as the Psalmist assures us. “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”  Psalm 37 verse 23 - 24.

Bless the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO DIRECTS OUR STEPS

The Lord our God sees all things and knows all things. Having a counselor and an advisor who know every possible scenario we can face is truly a great advantage. If we trust in Jesus to be our saviour and then surrender our  lives to Him to be our Lord,  we are subscribing to His sovereign rulership over our lives. 

Even though we sense that we are making our own decisions pertaining to our lives, the Lord directs our steps.

As it says in Psalm 16 verse 9,   "A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps".

This concept is backed up by Proverbs 19 verse 21 - “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

He takes great pleasure is the moment-by-moment events in the lives of those who are subject to Him and though we sometimes stumble, He holds our hands and sets us on our feet.

This dynamic is described in Psalm 37 verse 23 - 24 - “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”

In the book of Isaiah chapter 48 verse 17  the scriptures confirm again,  'This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you who directs you in the way you should go."'

Bless the Lord who teaches us and guides us.

Amen.

OUR LORD AS OUR FRIEND

John 15 verse15 -  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

In this passage, Jesus promotes His disciples from servants to friends. The proof of this friendship is that He made known to them all that He had from His Father. He brought them into the loop.

John 15 verse 13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Here, the Lord  defines the highest form of love as the act where a man lays down His life for His friends. This is in fact what Jesus was about to do when He surrendered Himself to be crucified. 

However, this sacrifice was for His friends that love was involved. Jesus was also going to the cross for people who were His enemies and who were calling for His death. This is well beyond  love and into the state of absolute obedience of Jesus  to His Father.

John 15 verse 14 - Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 

In this verse, Jesus conflates friendship with him as obedience to His commandments. This is the same obedience that He demonstrated toward His Father. To have friendship with Jesus, we must be ready to obey Him. 

James 2 verse 23 - And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

This verse in the book of  James describes friendship with God as being the effect  of faith in God that results in righteousness.

Proverbs 18 verse 24 - A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

This verse in the book of proverbs speaks of a type of friend that sticks closer than any brother. There are regular friends but there is a singular person who is a lifelong  friend who  outlasts our own brothers in His loyalty to us.

This friend is the Lord Jesus who died for us to redeem us and then sticks with us through thick and thin throughout our lives with Him.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO DRAWS US TO HIMSELF

The predicament facing the human race is that we are in a state of  falleness and heading toward eternal damnation. Even though we know we do things that are wicked and participate in shameful things, we don't know that our wicked deeds have conjoined us to a fate of  the horror of living under the rulership of the kingdom of  evil forever.

Each one of us would have gone through life trying to figure our why we felt lost and pointless and then only at the end, realise that our fate was to permanently remain in a kingdom of darkness that was hateful and hostile to us humans.

The only hope we had was that there was saviour somewhere who cared about us and was willing to undertake the unimaginable price to redeem us out of the kingdom of darkness to which we were eternally consigned.

It turns out that there was such a saviour. He, having paid the price of allowing himself to be scurged  and crucified in our place, now had the monumental task of persuading us to believe in what had been done for our sake. He would have to draw human beings to Himself so that we would reach the point where we could consider His offer of salvation. Otherwise, we humans,  being what we are, would instantly dismiss the notion.

As Jesus said in John 12 verse 31 - 32, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

Those who internally  feel drawn to Him, are brought to a fork in the road.  Here,  we can chose  either to believe in what is claimed He did for us or to reject the claim.

Rejecting the  claim is, essentially declaring that we want to be left to our own devices to figure our own way to save ourselves or, that we did not think we were in imminent danger to begin with.

On the other hand, believing in Him for what He had done for us becomes the passport out of the kingdom of darkness to which, hithertofore, we belonged as participating citizens. This passport of belief in this saviour becomes the entry visa into His kingdom of light where we are transformed into citizens of the kingdom of light.

If you are drawn to Jesus and find yourself at the fork in the road, chose the road that leads towards belief in Jesus for this path was paved at the high cost of the saviour's blood and death on a cross. This road leads to life and life everlasting.

The other road has had no price paid. It is a broad path upon which anyone  can freely  travel with no constraints or caution. It, however, though otherwise advertised, leads to certain destruction.

Choose life.

Amen.