Category Archives: Teaching

May 1, 2013 · 4:14 am

The Waters of Noah

“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you – Isaiah 54:9 – 10

In the time of Noah, God used mighty flood waters to wipe away the sin of this world. Unfortunately, the only way sin could be wiped away at that time (since we did not yet have a redeemer) was to wipe away man. Why? It is because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Hence without a redeemer, the only way for God to get rid of sin was to get rid of man; it was justice being done!

After the flood when God promised never to flood the whole earth again, He was really saying that He would never again use natural waters (death) to cleanse the world; He was saying that we would never again have to pay the price of death for our sins. Though we gave ourselves over to the nothingness of sin, He was never again going to require the wages (payment) of our sins from our hands.

For thus says the LORD, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money

 – Isaiah 52:3

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Instead of using natural waters to purge the world of sin as in the days of Noah, God decided to use supernatural waters.

God proclaimed this when He said that He shall sprinkle clean water on us and so we shall be clean (Ezekiel 36:25). Jesus explains this further when He said to the disciples that they were clean because of the words that He spoke to them (John 15:3).

So we see that it is the supernatural water of the life-giving word of God that cleanses us from our sins.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: It is the water of the word that enables us to receive the Holy Spirit or to be born of the Holy Spirit – who can only inhabit a clean and in-corrupt vessel for He is holy.

This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that man must be born of water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). Simply put, Jesus is saying that we must first be cleansed of our sins and then receive the Holy Spirit who seals us (Ephesians 1:13 – 14) onto salvation. Jesus was simply describing what truly happens when we believe and confess:  (1) our sins get eradicated and (2) we receive the Holy Spirit.

How is it that the word washes us? Here is how: The words that God speaks to us produce faith – for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word (Romans 10:17). It is this faith (trust and believe) that Jesus is Lord and that Christ raised Him from death that produces salvation (Romans 10:9-10) by giving us access to grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Hence, it is faith (which comes from words) that helps us tap into the forgiveness of sins – which was accomplished over two millennia ago.

How wonderful it is that God considers the sacrifice of Jesus for us (our transgressions and iniquity) as the waters of Noah! It is a one and done deal that required nothing from us! Instead of being angry with us or rebuking us (see Isaiah 54:9-10), God poured out the cup of His wrath on Jesus (Himself). What a loving Father! What a loving Son to accept His fate!

Leave a comment

Filed under Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 6, 2013 · 2:06 pm

Breathe In God (Part I) – Old Testament

Sever yourselves from such a man whose breath is in his nostrils for of what account is he? – Isaiah 2:22

Prior to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man was spiritually alive for the breath of life was breathed in by God into his nostrils (see Gen 2:7). Hence, prior to the fall, it was perfectly alright for man to breathe from his nostrils.

To digress a little, prior to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, man’s spirit could be corrupted and die for his spirit was not yet sealed with the blood of Jesus. It is because Adam’s spirit was not yet sealed that his spirit was able to die when he was disobedient to God. But hallelujah, because of the blood of Jesus, our spirit no longer dies when we are disobedient. What a loving God!

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: The blood protects our spirit-being from corruption. Just as the blood protected the Children of Israel from the angel of destruction in Egypt, the blood protects our spirit-being from being touched by evil. It is the blood that keeps us clean and so guarantees our entry into heaven.

Once Adam’s spirit died, the breath he was drawing from his nostril was no longer the breath of life or the breath that leads to a life of abundance, goodness, and greatness. Because his spirit had died, his breath had become the breath of death – a useless breath that produces only those things that come from death – things that cuts down rather than builds up, destroys relationships, and produces all manner of ungodly things. Prior to Christ, many men were not living but simply existed!

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Without being born again of the Spirit of God, the only thing we draw from within us is the breath of death.

But God is not cruel. Prior to Jesus, he made a way for man to experience life. Although the Holy Spirit could not reside within man, the life of God could be experienced when the Holy Spirit breathed His power into man from the outside. Since man could not breathe life from within, the Holy Spirit became the respirator that sustained man as he waited for Doc Jesus to perform spiritual surgery. Hence, prior to Christ, real life was only experienced by allowing the Holy Spirit to breathe into man’s nostrils.

It was this external breath of God (and not the breath of man) the prophets and men of God in the Old Testament relied upon. It was the breath of God that propelled Abraham to wealth, Isaac to become prosperous, and catapulted Joseph from the pits to the palace. Conversely, those who relied on their own breath such as King Nebuchadnezzar were relegated from the palace to the wilderness. Hence it is clear why Prophet Isaiah warns us to not to keep company with people whose breath is in their nostrils. The ungodly things that come out of them will corrupt our good character.

Food for Thought: When we choose Christ, we choose the ability to live every second of every day. We do not have to go through periods of merely existing.

Leave a comment

Filed under Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 4, 2013 · 2:44 am

3 Reasons Why Prophesies Fail! (Reason 2) – Unpredictable Response

I dont know why my prophesy is not coming to passThe instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it – Jeremiah 18:7-10

Did you know that it is possible to change God’s mind about the word that He has already spoken? The passage of scripture quoted above certainly proves that it is possible. How do we do it? God tells us that our disobedience or obedience is one way for us to change His mind about what He has already spoken. Another way to do is through the petition of a righteous man.

Reason 2: We cannot predict people’s response to prophesy

We have to be careful about judging a person a prophe-liar when what they have prophesied has not come true. Why? This is because the fulfillment of prophesy is in part due to disobedience or obedience of the person, people, or nation to which the word applies. Remember that prophesy is the word of the Lord.  At times, this word from God is simply a warning aimed to get a change of behavior or heart so that God may relent. At times, the word is an unchangeable proclamation! Either way, both of these are words from God.

In essence, prophetic words are words that foretell what God has planned for us. But just like when Abraham intervened on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah, we may be able to petition God to change his mind on what he has pronounced. Remember that God was going to destroy these cities for their unrighteousness, but Abraham was able to talk God down to looking for a few righteous men. Sadly, even this was too much to ask.

Now, if the example of Sodom and Gomorrah does not grab you, for God destroyed the city anyway, what of that of King Hezekiah? Prophet Isaiah brought the word of God to Hezekiah that he was going to die (Isaiah 20:1) from his illness. Not wanting to die, Hezekiah petitioned the Lord for His life and lo and behold, the Lord changed what He had planned. We see in 2 Kings 20:5 that the Lord extended Hezekiah’s life because of His prayer.

This shows us that God puts loving mercy and grace above prophesy. He wants us to give Him an occasion to relent and speak new words of life over us. What a loving Father! This is why Paul tells us that while prophesies might fail, love never fails!

Even Jesus had to take obedient action to fulfill prophesies about Him – He had to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit. See, God will never take away the free-will He gave us just so that prophesy is fulfilled. No! He is more in the business in convincing us that His prophetic words are profitable for us to act upon. This action may be confessing our faults, petitioning him, or acting in obedience.

For every word of prophesy from an individual to be fulfilled regardless of obedience requires God to disregard justice, mercy, and his other attributes. He will not do that! Furthermore, He loves us too much to take away our free-will so that every word of His would be fulfilled. If He did that, He would be a tyrant and not a loving-King.

Food for Thought: We have to move a muscle to enter into the good things God has already spoken over us.

Leave a comment

Filed under Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 30, 2013 · 5:21 am

3 Reasons Why Prophesies Fail! (Part I) – It was a Prophe-lie

I dont careLove never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

– 1 Corinthians 13: 8 – 10

What do you think when prophetic words do not come to pass? Do you automatically think that someone has prophe-lied to you? If you say to yourself that ‘real prophetic words must come to pass no matter what’, then you may want to read 1 Corinthians 13:8 – 10! Now, why does this passage say that we know in part and we prophesy in part especially now that we have the Holy Spirit within us who reveals things to us? What should we do with prophesy? How do I know if what I am hearing is a prophe-lie? Hopefully your questions are addressed as we examine the reasons why prophesies fail.

Reason 1: The prophetic ‘word’ was really a prophetic ‘dream’

Not all words that come out of the mouth of prophets are words from God. The scriptures put it this way in Jeremiah 23:28:  The prophet, who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.

Note: If you ever wondered where ‘in your dreams’ came from, wonder no more!

Just like the prophet who prophe-lied that the congregation of Israel was only going to spend 2 years in captivity or the false prophets who told King Ahab that he was going to be victorious in battle, we too can become dreamers if we are not careful.

But can we deduce if a prophetic word is a dream? Absolutely!

The story of the man of God in 2 Kings 13 who was sent to Jeroboam will shed light on this. See, this man had heard from God that he should return back to his home a certain way, but decided to turn another way because of the lying words of another prophet who simply wanted some company.

Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

16 And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’”

18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (He was lying to him.)

19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

Unfortunately, this man of God decided to listen to the lying prophet and followed him. As a result, the man of God paid the price of death for his disobedience. The irony of it is that true prophetic announcement of the man of God’s death came by the same prophet who had first lied to him (see 2 Kings 13:20 – 23!

Here are a few things this story relates to us regarding prophesy:

  1. We should never doubt what the Lord has told even if another  ‘prophet’ tells us different
  2. Our obedience to what the Lord tells us is critical to life; disobedience blocks out the blessings of God
  3. Even true prophets fall prey to dreaming. Hence, no amount of prophesy from anyone beats listening to the direct command of the Holy Spirit
  4. If we are hearing contradictory prophesy about a specific situation, then one of the prophecy is not of God, as God will NEVER contradict Himself. Also, God will never contradict the scripture.
  5. The best kind of prophesy is confirmation of what the Lord has already told us. Yes! We can now hear from God who longs to speak to us directly.  Therefore, all prophesy really ought to be confirmation. If it’s not, we need to check the health of our relationship with God.
  6. We become prophe-liars the moment we take our eyes off God to entertain ourselves, our circumstance, or others.

1 Comment

Filed under Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 10, 2012 · 3:39 am

5 Steps Towards Greatness (Part III) – Preparation

The pyramid of Khephren (Khafre)If we want to be great, we have to follow the example of the great One; we have to follow in the footsteps of the one who was chosen to be great. I am careful to use the word ‘chosen to be great’ because although Jesus was called to be great, as a man, He had to show Himself worthy to be chosen! It was not until He had proven Himself worthy that everything was given into His hands (see John 13:3). Although God called Jesus to save humanity (see John 3:16) and then proceeded to equip Him with the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 3:16), God had to test Jesus before releasing Him unto His ministry. If you do not believe me, just read what the scripture tells us in the fourth chapter of Matthew.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” – Matthew 4:1

See, it was the Spirit of God that Jesus the man was equipped with that led Jesus into the wilderness (into hardship) to be tested by the devil for the express purpose of seeing whether Jesus was ready for the mammoth task that was before Him. I love that Jesus did not shirk away from this challenge. Jesus did not complain, moan, and groan at the difficulty that He was going to face like some of us do when any difficulty come our way. Instead of complaining and perhaps ‘justifiably’ deciding not to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in going into hardship in the wilderness, Jesus simply yielded Himself to obedience.

Lightbulb MomentJust because things are hard does not mean it is NOT God. God never promised it would be easy, He has promised there will be victory.

But Jesus did not simply say ‘Oh, well! God is sending me into hardship! He sanctioned this and it is all down to Him to save me.’ Rather than simply throw His hands up in fatalistic surrender, Jesus embarked upon a period incredible preparation. The bible tells us that He fasted forty days and nights. He did this so He would be prepared for the test that was to come. Yes, the preparation took a lot out of Jesus, but it was the same preparation that made Him ready to combat the test the devil threw at Him.Without this preparation, would Jesus have failed the test in the wilderness? We will never know! Likewise, when we adequately prepare for our God-given mission, we will not have to undergo failure. We may undergo setbacks, but we will not fail!

Lightbulb MomentPreparation is vital if we are to enter into greatness; this part of the journey is solely our responsibility.

It is in preparation that most of us who are called miss the boat so that we are not chosen. Most of us are looking for favor; we want to be noticed by someone and be elevated without putting in the work to be noticed. Without preparing, we are found wanting when the test, which is simply an opportunity to show what we are made of, comes.

See, Jeremy Lin understood the importance of being prepared (being ready and staying ready). When he finally got His opportunity with the New York Knicks, He was ready to pass the test! He was worthy of what He wanted. Would he have been granted another opportunity? We will never know!

Lightbulb MomentPreparation is what makes us worthy of the greatness we aspire towards, therefore, we should stay ready for we never know when God says to us ‘it is your turn to be great’

2 Comments

Filed under Purposeful Living, Teaching, Victorious Living

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 8, 2012 · 12:59 am

Food for Thought – The Excellence of Knowledge

The excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it (see Ecclesiastes 7:12). Lets face it, there is no shortage of info out there. Simply click a button and voila, knowledge at our fingertips! And since knowledge is power, the more we have of it and can apply, the better off we are right? Not necessarily, for knowledge when misapplied is power misused!

Just as a buttering knife in the hands of a nutter becomes a destructive weapon, so does knowledge in the hands of a person devoid of wisdom. And since the bible tells us that Jesus became our wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:30), we can say that the application of knowledge without the help of God (wisdom) is foolishness (the opposite of wisdom) and leads to death (the opposite of life).

Therefore, it is possible to be extremely knowledgeable and still be extremely foolish; to know much scripture without it ever yielding fruit. This is why knowledge alone should not impress us much!

Lightbulb Moment Without God, all Knowledge is misapplied. Thus, Knowledge – God = Foolishness

Leave a comment

Filed under Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

April 5, 2012 · 1:42 am

Growing Up Elisha – Old School versus New Skool

Change your heart; change your life

Elisha was undoubtedly one of the greatest biblical prophets. He had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and thus performed twice as many miracles; he did not fall prey to fear like Elijah (when he hid in a cave from Jezebel and asked God to take his life); and the final miracle performed through him was after his death. In the fanfare of Elisha’s greatness, it is easy for us to overlook the truth that God had to grow him up at the start of his tenure as prophet of Israel. The proof of Elisha’s growth (as evidenced by a change in his thinking and behavior) is this: Elisha went from killing forty-two kids because they ridiculed him about his baldness (2 Kings 2:23 – 24), to sparing and treating to a feast an army that was sent specifically to kill him (2 Kings 6:14 – 22).  Something happened to Elisha to change him from his old way of thinking (old school) to a new way of thinking (new skool).

We can infer that old school Elisha was intolerant, quick to anger, swift to pronounce judgment, and hence meted out harsh (if not criminal) justice. Power in the hands of such a man as old school Elisha is dangerous as the kids who survived the mauling by the two bears can attest. I mean, Elisha was out of control! He did not pause to think to himself that kids sometimes will behave like kids. Yes the kids were wrong for what they did, but they were not “dead” wrong – they did not deserve death. Even if he was upset, a sensible fellow would have chastised the children and moved on. But no, to him the ‘sin’ of ridicule was punishable by death. Old school Elisha was a child himself who was not grown up in the Lord. He simply focused on “what” the kids were doing (mocking him) rather than “why” the kids were doing what they were doing (possibly to have some fun).

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: When we simply focus only on what was done to us (from a selfish point of view) rather than try to understand why it was done; we tend to over-react and throw the baby out with the bath water.

Note: Taking our eyes off Elisha for a moment, the story of what happened to the youths teaches us that we have to be careful who we mess with for we can never be sure how they will react. It is better to avoid trouble by not messing with anyone in the first place.

When we look for parallels between old school Elisha and other people in the bible, we find something interesting. We find that the Pharisees were the ones that concentrated on the “what” (action) rather than the “why” (heart). They chose to focus on what Jesus was doing only from their own selfish point of view and so acted solely based on that point of view. They could not see beyond themselves and so made a decision that is even crazier than the decision Elisha made. They decided to crucify a man who did nothing morally reprehensible but was healing, teaching, feeding , and caring for people and instead released a man who was a violent thief.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Old school Elisha was similar to the Pharisees (self-focused) and so acted like them; much like we are and do before we truly come to know Jesus (God).

New skool Elisha on the other hand was a different man. He not only showed mercy to the men that were sent to kill him but threw them a party. What new skool Elisha did can be paralleled with what Jesus did. Jesus was merciful to us by paying the price for all our sins and then threw us a party by making available to us all the covenant blessing of God through the Holy Spirit with whom He sealed us.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: New skool Elisha morphed into a man who behaved like Jesus; much like we do when we are conformed to the image of Christ after we come to know Him.

So what changed Elisha? Simply put……God. As he continued walking with God, his heart started to resemble the heart of God. And the heart of God is this: that people do not perish but come to repentance.

“For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!” – Ezekiel 18:32

While old school Elisha would probably have called down lightning to set the Syrian army ablaze, new skool Elisha simply blinded them temporarily and escorted them to the King so they may be thrown a party. He did not destroy the men but showed them mercy. As a result, the men sent to kill Elisha turned back from their old ways of raiding Israel for the bible says that the raiders no longer entered Israel (see 2 Kings 6:23) – they did not perish but repented.

Just as God remains long-suffering towards us and extends His loving kindness to us through Jesus (who sacrificed Himself for us), we are to extend the same courtesy to others.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment:  As new skooler’s, we no longer live for ourselves but rather throw parties for our enemies in love so that they may be changed and live!

God wants us to be transformed from old school to new skool by dumping the ruler of this world (Satan) and allowing Jesus to live within us and walk with Him. He wants us to truly know Him by studying His Word. As we do this, we build our knowledge of Him and build our faith in Him. In time, we are able to act out of a heart of love rather than act out of our own selfishness. When we do this, we find that we are no longer instruments of calamity in our own lives and other people’s lives but rather become bridge builders and vessels of positive change in the world.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: When saved, we become Elisha’s as we become empowered by the Holy Spirit. Yet, our old school must be transformed to a new skool. When we choose to grow in God by renewing our minds (see Romans 12:2), the impact of our life grows.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” – Galatians 5:25

3 Comments

Filed under Growth, Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

March 17, 2012 · 3:11 am

Superman’s Kryptonite – How did Jesus Stay Perfect?

We are all undergraduates in the school of righteousness. The moment we think we have graduated is when we become a menace to anyone we come across and society at large. If we fail to admit our weaknesses, it is because we are wearing a mask to hide our true identity, except it is more like a balaclava (what robbers wear in movies) rather than a super-hero’s mask. Many of us try to mask our weaknesses because we are uncomfortable with who we are and so are uncomfortable allowing others to see how we truly are. Unfortunately, this mask wearing is rampant amongst those of us that have convinced ourselves that being conformed to Jesus’s image is to be conformed to the image of perfection. While this is correct, what we get wrong is our definition of perfection. We wrongly convince ourselves that perfection means that we have no chinks in our armor – no fears, no wavering, and no weakness! Therefore, we wear the mask of false fortitude because we want to show ourselves “strong” for we do not want to be counted as a weakling!

But I have not yet found where in the bible being perfect is equated with having no weaknesses. What we find instead about being weak and being perfect is that we should rather boast in our weakness, for God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness through His grace (see 2 Corinthians 12:5,9). It is important to say here that this is not a license to sin. Rather the passage is telling us that we can only achieve perfection (not sin) through His grace and by His strength when we are weak (susceptible to temptation).

This is exactly what Jesus did – rely on God’s grace when He was weak! If you are asking yourself if I am saying that Jesus in his humanity had moments of weakness, then I am guilty as charged. Yes He did. The reason He is such a wonderful intercessor for us is because He himself had weak moments – times when he had chinks in His armor. Here is what the bible has to say about it.

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” – Hebrews 4:15

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Weaknesses are areas in our lives where we are susceptible to succumb to temptation (disobedience); this may be different for different people. Perfection for man is found in resisting temptation (not sinning) despite our weakness.

Now, we know that the devil tempts us at times and in areas we are weak – that is why we at times have crazy and unspeakable thoughts. It is not surprising that we are tempted for this earth is Satan’s domain (see Revelations 12:9). Likewise, it is not surprising that superman (Jesus) was tempted when He walked the earth as a man. Note that Jesus as God (not in his humanity) has no weaknesses and hence is not tempted.

“…for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” – James 1:13

The question then is:  How was He able to overcome His kryptonitic (weak) periods to remain perfect (sinless) as a man.

Here is how He did it.

How Jesus Stayed Perfect   

The scripture tells us that Jesus asks that God pass the cup from Him (see Matthew 26:39). WHAT! Pass the what? The whole purpose of Him becoming flesh in the first place was so that He would drink from the cup; that he would pay the wages for the sin of mankind and thus redeem us to God (Himself). Jesus knew this, He said it many times, and he had no doubt that it was coming. Yet, when the hour was upon Him, He buckled as Satan unleashed an unfathomable spiritual attack upon Him. Satan did this because the stakes were extremely high – the souls of man. This attack was so intense that it brought Jesus to the cusp of disobedience (sin). It took all that Jesus had to resist that attack. The bible puts it this way:

“You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” – Hebrews 12:4

The author of Hebrews here is referring back to when Jesus prayed three separate times in the garden and his sweat became like blood (see Luke 22:44). But  glory to God that when his “star” disciples deserted Jesus by sleeping and thereby leaving Him to fight this battle alone, He stayed dogged in doing the will of God (being obedient) and got on His knees in prayer. When He did this, God showered His grace on Him by sending an angel to strengthen Him in His time of weakness (see Luke 22:43).

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: In our weakness, God shows Himself strong when we purpose in our mind and heart to do His will and pray. Thus, a consecrated mind and fervent prayer are keys in warding off temptation and remaining perfect.

Second, Jesus shows some weakness when He screams out ““My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me””. Here too, Jesus being God knew exactly why, but that did not stop Him as a man who had weak moments from crying out all the same. Superman was still after all man with some chinks in His armor until He went back to heaven to take His rightful place as God (without the humanity)

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: With Christ in us, we can be supermen too, but that does not mean we have no weaknesses. We all have our kryptonite, but we can overcome it by the blood of the lamb; by God’s grace

Lastly, the gospels describe Jesus coming under attack when He was tempted in the wilderness. This time, the keys to remaining perfect were fasting, rebuking the devil with the Word of God, applying the Word of God correctly, and acting on what the Word says.

Thus, Jesus warded off temptation and remained perfect by doing the following:

  • Relying on the grace of God (to help Him out)
  • Having a determined and consecrated mindset (to resist to the point of bloodshed)
  • Fasting and praying
  • Rebuking the enemy with the Word of God
  • Knowing the Word and always doing what it says to do and refusing to do what it tells not to do

If we are to be Christ-like, then we have to do what Jesus did. We have to rely on the grace that God has already granted us rather than receive it in vain (through non-reliance). Like Paul asked, we should also ask God to take away our weaknesses (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-8). He can do it! For the ones He chooses not take away, it is because He does not want us in pride and so we become our own gods (which leads to destruction). He wants us reliant on Him so He can bless us beyond all measure when we have resisted and stayed obedient. So what’s stopping us?

Food for Thought: If we are superman because He lives in us, we should stop pretending and acting like Clark Kent

3 Comments

Filed under Success, Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

March 9, 2012 · 3:30 am

Temptation – Oh the Forbidden Fruit

The bible says that God does not tempt anyone (see James 1:13). Yet, Jesus includes “lead us not into temptation” when teaching His disciples how to pray to God (see Matthew 6:9 – 13). So what then is Jesus saying? Is He saying that God allows us to undergo temptation…or leads us into temptation? While it is certainly implied in The Lord’s Prayer, the proof can be found in the gospel of Matthew where it states:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” – Matthew 4:1

Jesus being specifically led into the wilderness to be tempted tells us that God (the Holy Spirit) does allow us to be tempted. It sounds crazy until we take a look at what the temptation that God allows looks like.

First, the temptation did not occur till Jesus was well prepared. See, Jesus had just undergone spiritual calisthenics (fasting) and so was buff and ready to swat away any temptations the devil would levy against Him. Likewise, God does not allow us to be tempted without readying us and giving us the tools to handle the temptations that come our way. So does that then mean that God allows us to be tempted to test our spiritual maturity and our readiness to handle what He has for us? Absolutely! Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted to gauge His level of readiness for the ministry to which God called Him. We know this because the temptation occurred before He ever started preaching.

“From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” – Matthew 4:17

Jesus passed the test in the wilderness and so moved on to the ministry which eventually led to salvation for all humanity and His glorification.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Many are called but few are indeed chosen because we keep failing the test that God levies on us to see if we are ready. In the process, we miss out on the glory (honor, distinction, prosperity) that God wants to shower on us.

Thus, while all temptation comes from Satan, God allows us to be led into some temptations to test our readiness for His goodness.

Second, the temptation that God allows will not be more than we can withstand.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13

Therefore, God makes a way out for the temptations He allows through His grace; we just need to follow it. When Jesus foiled Satan’s plan, the angels ministered to Him, and He left the wilderness. He was ready!

Temptation we allow

But now, there are those temptations into which we lead ourselves. These are not of God and these are no good for us. This is what happened in the garden! What I have always wondered is this: Why of all the places to hang-out in the garden were Adam and Eve anywhere close to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; why were they hanging about the forbidden fruit in the first place?

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: In the story of Adam and Eve, the bible teaches us its first lesson – stay away from temptation. Thousands of years later, we are still having a hard time learning it.

Just like Adam and Eve, we tend to willingly put ourselves in situations God would not have us be a part, all the while using every reason, excuse, and rationale to justify our behavior. To illustrate this, imagine a recovering alcoholic who deliberately steps into a wine bar to get away from the rain outside. When asked why he stepped into the bar, the excuse is instant – to get away from the rain. When asked why not choose an adjacent store, again the justification is instant – the bar was the closest. All the while, Satan is laughing all the way to the bank to deposit a “slip” into the account of the man who ended up having a few too many harmless “samples” from which he ought to have stayed away.

For the man described, the act of going into the bar iteself was an act of disobedience because the man did not abstain from every appearance of evil (see 1 Thessalonians 5:22) – for the bar was his evil. He was disobedient to the word of God, and so it was not God that led him to be tempted…he led himself. In this situation, we are simply reliant on God’s mercy to pull us through.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment:  We set up a snare for ourselves when we disobey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and lead ourselves into situations where we are likely to compromise God.

In summary, we have to be prepared to swat away the devil by keeping ourselves battle ready through renewing our minds, our fasting, and our prayer.  We also have to make sure we are being obedient and so do not lead ourselves into temptation.

When we do the above, we find that what the bible says holds true:

“…he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” – 1 John 5:18

Food for thought: If you look too long at the apple, you will eventually take a bite.

2 Comments

Filed under Growth, Teaching

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,