November 25, 2012 · 3:43 pm

Emmanuel’s Thanksgiving to EMMANUEL!

God stepped in and changed my life after eight years of spending my days in the futility of my own thinking and chasing after cleverly disguised foolishness. No more was He going to standby and allow me to waste all the ability and promise He had placed within me when He molded me. Instead, He used the veiled death trap of pride and fear I had unknowingly built around me to bring me to my knees. He gently and methodically unfolded the straight jacket that had constricted me, kept me in bondage, and restricted all freedom. I thought I was free but I was not; I thought I had the mind of Christ but I did not; any mind that is not the mind of Christ is the mind of bondage. Now that the shackles are gone, all I can do is give Him praise.

I caused death and destruction in my foolishness, but I know my Father who rescued me from myself is more than able to undo to the uttermost all the mess that my foolishness may have created in others.

He is God and so worthy to be praised. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Give it all to Him and He will turn your tragedy into a trajectory towards wholeness, beauty, and victory. He has and is doing it for me and will do it for you. He will not despise a broken and a contrite heart (Psalms 51:17).

My story is that of a Superchump – the state of a man who lives outside of Christ! But now, it has turned into that of living in Christ – thereby allowing Him to daily turn me into a champion for Him. I am not a good man but simply enjoying the goodness of God by daily crucifying myself so He may live in and through me.

The story begins with Diary of a Superchump, but I do not know where it ends! All I know is that the end of a matter is better than its beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8). I am walking a path that leads to nowhere I know but I am determined to walk it nonetheless for I know He who directs my path. I know the end is going to bring fame to my King. To Him belong all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise!  

What is your story? What are you thankful for? What are you thanking Him for?

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November 19, 2012 · 5:04 am

Holding onto Offense – Who made you the ‘Righteous’ Judge?

In life, while being offended is perhaps to some extent inevitable, holding onto offense is definitely avoidable and is a choice! If we are to neglect the fear-based folly of being easily offended, a deep look into why we hold onto offense reveals a prideful mind that thinks the world of ourselves or a mind that thinks the person who offended will get away with what they have done.  So, many times we react in essence because deep down we think God’s justice is not quite just enough; we think that our justice is much more applicable and right, and we truly do not believe that the offender will reap whatever they sow! We tend to hold onto offense and act upon it when we cannot stand the thought of God being merciful to the person who has done us or our loved one’s wrong. Like Jonah, we would rather have the ‘Ninevites’ of our lives be judged and punished by our own measuring stick instead of God’s.

Our tendency to hold onto offense is born out of self-righteousness. When we say ‘I cannot believe this person did this to me; I must punish them by…’ we have become the judge. In becoming the judge, we have unconsciously taken the place of God and have unknowingly entered into pride. And because pride comes before destruction, it turns out that we punish ourselves by holding onto offense.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: While God’s justice spares the innocent while dealing with the guilty; our justice punishes the innocent and the guilty alike. God’s justice is pure; our justice is perverted!

The bible warns of the folly of meting out our own justice in the story of Absalom (the son of David) and his brother Amnon. The scripture tells us that Absalom was bent on exacting the revenge he saw fitting on Amnon after Amnon had wickedly forced himself on Tamar (see 2 Samuel 13:32). Rather than wait on God’s justice to be done on Amnon, he determined after two years that he had waited long enough for the ‘just’ price of death to be paid by Amnon. Absalom simply could not wait on God’s timing nor was he willing to consider that death might not be the right price to pay.

While our human emotion and sentiment may tend to say that what Absalom did served Amnon right, the problem is that what he did also served him (Absalom) wrong. As a result of his justice, he broke the fellowship he had with his father (David), he caused division and turmoil within the family, he lost the good life he was enjoying in Jerusalem, and he had to flee in fear and live in fear of retribution. Yes, Absalom punished Amnon, but he also punished himself.

Conversely, David was a man whose heart was surrendered to God and so relied on God’s justice in God’s timing. Rather than take his opportunity to kill Saul (see 1 Samuel 26), David spared Saul who was a major source of offense to David and instead said in regards to Saul that ‘As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish’ (see 1 Samuel 26:10). Although David’s aide saw the opportunity to kill Saul as God’s diving intervention and blessing, David knew better. He knew exacting justice by his own means and in his own way would profit him nothing. Here is how things turned out: Saul did go out to battle and died as ordained by God – therefore, God’s justice was done in God’s way. Furthermore, David got the kingdom God he was promised by God without fear of retribution for Saul’s murder. Not bad eh?

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Like David, we should not hold onto offense and so miss the mark and pervert justice BUT instead should allow God to have His way and so inherit the Kingdom He has promised us.

Food for Thought: You do not like yourself too much if you hold onto offense

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November 11, 2012 · 11:43 pm

Law Mongering – The deceptive path to hell on earth

Every human being has a decision to make with regards to where he/she is going to live spiritually. We have to decide whether we are going to live in the world, in the law, or in the Spirit. Those that choose to live in the world are those that have chosen not to know about God and so live a life controlled by the river of this world which flows right towards the water fall of emptiness/deep spiritual void while bruising the individual with every inanimate object contained within the river. These are the people that have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For those of us that believe in Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit living in us, two options remain – whether to live in the law or live in the Spirit.

Lightbulb MomentTo live in the law is to know about God; to live in the Spirit is to know God  

Wait you say! I thought that I am now living in the Spirit because I have accepted the Spirit. Not true! Paul tells us that if we have the Spirit, let us also walk (live) in the Spirit (see Galatians 5:25). So there is a difference. Yes, we are given the Spirit upon believing with our hearts and confessing with our mouths (see Romans 10:9-10) but the glorious inheritance of the goodies of the kingdom of heaven which includes a life of love, joy, peace, self-control and much more are reserved for those who live in the Spirit. See, we do not miss the mark (sin) when we are walking in the Spirit for there is no sin in God; hence we only miss the mark when we are walking out of the Spirit. Note: Only Jesus was able to walk in the Spirit perfectly for He had no sin.

Lightbulb MomentThe extent to which we walk in the Spirit determines the extent to which we live heaven on earth

The snag today for too many of us is that we spend most of our time walking out of the Spirit and instead in the law. We think we are alright as long as we do not walk in the world. No! The law only condemns and brings death. We find that the incessant walking in the law results in the church body being very little different from the world – same lack of victory, same divorce rates, same lack of self-control, same fear projection and mongering! No wonder the influence of the church in many places seems to be dwindling. Part of the issue is our law-mongering which produces no tangible fruit for the world to be attracted towards!

Lightbulb MomentLaw mongering is the attempt to fulfill what is written in the perfect law of liberty (the bible) in our own strength and reasoning; our own flesh.

Law mongering causes us to apply the word of God to our situation (most of the time based on our feelings) rather than allow God to speak His word to our circumstance. What is the difference you ask? The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness illustrates the difference: Although Satan and Jesus were both quoting from the scripture (law), only the scripture (law) that was given to Jesus by the Holy Spirit (Word) brought life. Conversely, the word spoken by the devil was obviously not from the Word (Holy Spirit). Thus, we see that the Holy Spirit speaks the ‘word of the law’ that brings life, but the devil speaks the ‘word of the law’ that brings death.

Likewise, we should not apply the word of the law as we ‘think’ it applies, but should allow the Holy Spirit to apply the word of the law that will bring liberty (instead of bondage). For example, we should not decide whether we are going to discipline our children (Proverbs 22:15) or pardon their offense (Colossians 3:21) but allow the Spirit of God to tell us which one we should do. See, both actions are scriptural, but only the one the Holy Spirit directs us to do for the specific situation brings life. If we are not living in the Spirit, we choose the word of the law to apply based on emotions, history, circumstance, and upbringing and so put ourselves into bondage when we invariably get it wrong.

So what is the point of the law? The law is useful for a myriad of reasons including testing of the spirits speaking to us. It lets us prove that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to us, for the Holy Spirit will not contradict what is contained within the bible. This is why Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the law! The law makes the nature of God tangible to us and allows us to choose Him.

In summary, to have life, we must be doers of the word instead of being doers of the law. We must allow the law to speak to us through the Holy Spirit rather than speaking and acting out the law to our circumstance. We must allow the Spirit to guide us through life and so enjoy the benefits of walking in the Spirit.

Food for Thought: Walking in the law is walking in the flesh; walking in the law makes us Pharisees.

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November 4, 2012 · 10:22 pm

Help, I am Distracted! I Just Cannot Focus!

What would a yo-yo say to us if it had a mind and could speak to us? I reckon five things it would say are as follows: (1) I spend all my time being a busy-body (doing one thing or the other) but I never get anywhere for I am bound by my string. (2) I am controlled by other people – mostly a young one who gratifies himself/herself with me and then dumps me as he/she grow up. (3) I am not a subject of interest for older and more mature folks. (4) I never build any long-lasting relationships. (5) I can’t make up my mind – one second I want to be up and the next I want to be down.

It is not good to be a yo-yo

Like a yo-yo, we can operate in indecision – continuing to dilly-dally in our thinking and so have no constancy of purpose in our lives. If we find that “God” continues to flood us with multiple, differing, and seemingly changing ideas that we do not have the time to bring to fruition, BE WARNED! This is not God (for our God is not flaky) but a god (an idol). This god has a name; it is called unbelief!

The scripture tells us that unbelief causes our days to be consumed by the futility of our minds (being bugged by everything, jumping from one idea to another, and relying on our own wisdom) and causes our years to be lived in fear (see Psalm 78:32 – 33). So what does this tell us? It says the following:

Lightbulb MomentUnbelief is the root of our problems. It causes us to live in fear and to lose focus; it causes us to not excel in life

It tells us that instead of saying ‘I just can’t seem to focus’; we really ought to say ‘I just can’t seem to believe’. See, no one truly has a problem of focus. The problem we have is the span (length) of our focus and the number of things on which we tend to focus. Rather than focus on a myriad of things, the only thing God wants us to focus on is Him, for when we focus on Him, He focuses on us.

But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you – Matthew 6:33

When we focus on God, He focuses our mind on the good works to which He has called us; He simplifies our life; He shows us that our problems are miniscule to Him and gives us spiritual eyes to glimpse the future and hope He has for us through His Word. He rubs away our fear and futility

“…Lord, I believe, Help my unbelief…” – Luke 9:24

Lightbulb MomentWhen we focus on God, He is able to help our unbelief and grow us up so that that we become mature in Him.

Challenge: Take a minute to focus on God today, and He will use that minute to change your day. Take a day to focus on God, and He will use that day to change your week. Take a few days to focus on God, and He will use those days to change the course of your life!

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October 27, 2012 · 11:51 pm

Do yourself a favor – Do not remove your own plank

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank the plank in your own eye….” (see Matthew 7:4 – 5).

With good intentions, many of us read this passage of scripture and then start to work on the plank in our eyes. Because we cannot see, we blindly start fumbling and fooling around with our eyes and do more damage to that very part that is often described as the gateway that is able to fill our being with light (see Matthew 6:22). See, since Jesus is the light of the world and we can only see light and fill our being with light through our eyes, it becomes clear that the eye can be used as a metaphor for the mind. Hence, Jesus is the light that brightens (or renews) our eyes (mind) so that our inner being (heart) is filled with light. And when our inner being (heart) is filled with light (Jesus), what comes out of us cannot defile (see Mark 7: 20 – 21) for Jesus is undefiled.

To ensure we do not fool ourselves by thinking we do not have any specks or planks, a good definition for specks and planks are as follows: the plank is any barrier that stops the light (the Word) from reaching and staying in our eyes (mind); anything that takes our focus off God. The speck is anything that stops the Word (Jesus) from reaching and illuminating (or having victory) specific areas of our life. So you see, we all have specks and planks!

Now, should we attempt to fix the problem specks and planks on our own? No! While we can choose to remove them ourselves, we find that we have gouged a huge hole in our eye so that it is now no longer able to receive God’s light. By going solo, we lose parts of our minds to our own devices (ways of thinking) and glory in ourselves for a job well done. What is now blocking the light of God is no longer a problem we know is there (speck or plank), but something we often cannot see – pride. Although our eyes are no longer irritated, the issue is now that our eyes have become dim of the light of God because we are so full of our own ‘light’; we are full of ourselves.

Therefore, the only way we should ever remove that specks and planks in our eyes is by humbly surrendering ourselves to the doctor (the plank remover) who is able to do His job gently, lovingly, and skillfully .

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: The only way we can solve the problems in our lives without creating more problems is by submitting them to God. Anything other than this is sifting out a gnat and then proceeding to swallow a camel (see Matthew 23:24)

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October 22, 2012 · 6:32 am

I think I feel – You could be your own worst enemy!

Oh I think this; Oh I feel that! Just because we think it does not make it the truth, and just because we feel it does not make it real. And just because a friend agrees with it does not confirm it. Since what we feel stems from how we think, it stands to reason that we can change how we feel by changing how we think. The scripture gives credence to this by letting us now that ‘as a man thinks in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 3:27). So what kind of men or women are we? Does what we think line up with the Word? If whatever we are thinking does not line up with truth (the Word), then it is a lie! This lie in turn creates fantasy (untrue) emotions that lead us to speak lie-based words and take lie-based actions. We start living a lie-based life that keeps us in bondage – for only the truth brings freedom.

Since words create worlds and words come from thoughts, it is best to create a world of life and truth by inclining our ears to God’s word instead of creating a world of lies and death by acting on our own thoughts and feelings, even if they are supported by the world – which they most likely will be.

Yes, we all have our own thoughts and feeling and we will always have opinions. Yet, we must scrutinize them against the perfect law of liberty (the Word) when they come. If they do not jive with the Word, we must surrender them to God in humility for they are fear-based lies from the father of lies (Satan) who is most likely plaguing on our past experiences, fears, and insecurities.

Should we find that our thoughts never jive with the Word, it’s a sure sign to us to surrender our hearts, spend more time with Him in Word and prayer, and give up our control for His control. When we do this, our thoughts will begin to reflect more of his thoughts.

Remember, His thoughts towards us are good; always to prosper us and to give us a future and a hope (see Jeremiah 29:11).

Lightbulb MomentWhile our thoughts tend to be motivated by a mixture of good (love, hope) and evil (fear, pride, selfishness) and leads to foolishness at best, God’s thoughts are motivated by agape love and always lead to life.   

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October 20, 2012 · 4:13 pm

Fast-Forward Your Mission – Stay on God’s sling-shot

Our minds can be so focused on achieving the task God has assigned to us that we miss out on the blessings of God on our journey. If we find ourselves having no joy while doing God’s work, it is most likely because we have reverted to doing things in our own power and in our own way rather than relying on God’s power and God’s way. But are we not meant to be partners with God? Do we not have a part to play? Is faith without works not dead? It certainly is! Yet, God wants us to do what he wants us to do, how he wants us to do it – His way. A sure way of critiquing whether we have begun doing things in our own power is to examine the principles we are following. See, the truth is that God will never violate His own principles; therefore God’s way will not violate His principles.

The scripture highlights this in the book of Samuel where David answered God’s voice to take out the Amalekites who had attacked Ziklag and captured his family. Although on a god-sent mission that had deep personal implications, David did not fail to follow the principle of ‘loving your neighbor’. Instead of understandably rushing off to accomplish his mission, he paused to give aid to a distressed man on his journey (see 1 Samuel 30:11-13). As it turned out, this man had valuable information about the Amalekites that helped David achieve his mission faster. Note that David did not know who this man was or the information he had prior to loving him by giving him aid, yet, without this man, David might have spent days in search of his family.  Thus we see that, God honored David by fast-forwarding his mission and reuniting him with his family when David honored God by putting God’s principles first in his life.

Lightbulb MomentIn Christ, the seeming drawbacks to our mission are simply the pullback of the sling-shot that God uses to propel us towards our destiny.

To be successful, we must resist our tendency to get off the sling-shot in its pullback motion but learn to wait for the acceleration that is surely to follow. We must allow God to complete what He has started for He who has promised is faithful!

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October 14, 2012 · 4:22 am

Adversity – Why Me?

Adversity is a bridge we will all have to cross in this life. King David reminds us of this when he says ‘many are the afflictions of the righteous’. Jesus confirms it by saying ‘in this world you will have trials and tribulations. The truth is that we do not have to look for adversity before adversity finds us. As long as we live in this world, we are a target of Satan – the god of this world (see 2 Corinthians 4:4); the god of adversity.

Yet, Jesus prays to God not to take us away from this world. So does that mean He delights in our adversity? No! He died on that cross so as to overcome the god of adversity, thereby overcoming all the adversity we could ever go through. What He wants us to learn is how to overcome the bridge of adversity in Him so we may help others who are in bondage to cross over into freedom. He wants us to be salt and light while triumphing over every conceivable snare of bondage.

So how do we do this? Rather than concentrate on the snares of the bondage and certain death that exists below our feet, we ought to focus our eyes on the freedom and life that awaits us on the other side of the bridge. You see, when we cast our eyes upon Jesus, the trials and tribulations of this world do not much matter, and the seemingly insurmountable issues lose their power and diminish in size in comparison to the glory of God. Our eagerness to claim our prize grows and we begin to sprint past our adversity into safety. When we cast our eyes upon Jesus, love overcomes fear, faith overcomes doubt, and life overcomes death.

Lightbulb MomentAdversity is simply a bridge towards glory and greatness.

So next time you come across that bridge, keep your head up, avoid looking down below at the scary bondage of your circumstance, and run towards the victory that awaits you on the other side. Do not say why me, for you already know why. It is you because the god of this world does not like you. Just remember this:

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all – Psalm 34:19

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world – John 16:33

Lightbulb MomentDo not be overcome by adversity (evil), but overcome adversity with God (good)

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October 9, 2012 · 3:23 am

What Matters Most in Life

What matters most is love. Without it, everything we do is empty and pointless. Even if we can move mountains, without love we are nothing (see 1 Corinthians 13:2). If love is so important, then why do we not show it more often? Its easy to say ‘I love you’, but we are warned to love in deed and in truth rather than in word or in tongue (see 1 John 3:18). See, true love requires action and expects nothing in return.

Failure in life is doing all that you think will make you a success and then realizing none of it mattered. Since what matters most is love, how are you showing it to your loved ones? If the ones you care for passed away today, would they have known your love or would they have only known about your love?

If there is someone you need to call, write, send flowers to, or reconcile with, do it today without delay!

Lightbulb Moment Sow love today like there is no tomorrow, and your tomorrow will be filled with love

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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

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