April 18, 2014 · 4:11 pm

Why Does God Allow Non-believers to Prosper?

Why is it that God allows those who do not care about Him to prosper?

Right after the fall of man, God told man that the ground was cursed for his sake; that he was going to have to toil, and that all the work of his would bring him thorns and thistles (Gen 3:17). Mankind continued in this vain until after the great flood – which wiped out all humanity except Noah and his family. After this, God made a covenant with all creation. God made a new proclamation with man which made the proclamation of Gen 3:17 null and void. He said that the ground would no longer be cursed for the sake of man even though all that he imagines in his heart is evil (Gen 8:21). He said that there would always be seed time and harvest time for as long as the earth remains (Gen 8:22).

Thus, we see that God gave man a way to prosper from his toil and work irrespective of the state of his heart.

In His mercy, God allows mankind to eat of the fruit of his toil (hard labor) whether we are obedient to Him or not.

Jesus referenced the mercy of God that he pronounced in Gen 8:22 when he mentioned that God makes the sun rise on the evil and good, and sends the rain on the just and unjust (Mat 5:45).

But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who spitefully use you, and persecute you;That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust – Matthew 5:44-45

To paraphrase, Jesus is saying: You need both the sun to shine and the rain to fall for the plants that you have sown to grow. Whether you are good or not good, God makes the sun rise and the rain to pour so that harvest time can continue in the world; so that all humanity can prosper. God, in his love and mercy makes no distinction between those who are good and those who are evil in this respect. Therefore be like him and be make no distinction between those you love and your enemy.

Why should we strive to be obedient to him when there are so many who are disobedient and are doing well?

For those of us who accept Jesus, we not only walk in the continued mercy of God, we also receive the favor of God on our life as well as the Holy Spirit of power. We no longer have to toil and spin for what we need (Matt 6:28). We can simply depend on God to provide those things for us as we walk in loving- obedience to His Spirit. Hence we see that it is no longer hard toil and labor (works) that brings blessings. Rather, it is loving obedience that brings blessings. Though we can continue in the way of all creation, Jesus has shown us the better way – the way of favor and power!

In the way of the world, the extent of your blessing is proportional to the labor of your hand. In the way of the Word, the extent of your blessing is proportional to the extent of your obedience.

A good example of this is the man, Daniel (see book of Daniel). He walked in obedience to God and so became the second in command of the greatest kingdom in the world at that time! Nothing he could have done in his own strength (toil) could have made him attain that position, for he was a foreign slave. No way would he have been given that opportunity outside of God. Thus we see that obedience will get us to a higher position than what toil can. We also see that obedience is faster and easier than toil.

Second, obedience releases power! The man of God that went to King Jeroboam (read 1 Kings 13:1-6) was supernaturally protected from being arrested when he obeyed God. Furthermore, God released His power to break the alter for the sake of the man of God. Likewise, God will always release his power on our behalf as we walk in obedience – His power to save, heal, speak boldly and courageously; His power to achieve all that he has called us to achieve!

Faithful obedience releases the favor and power of God to do the miraculous in our lives.

So why choose God? We choose God because we want more than just the mercy of God. In our appreciation of His love for us, we also want to experience His chain-breaking and life giving favor and power in our lives. When we live in the fullness of His grace (mercy, favor, and power) is when the world will take notice and our influence on it will explode. Then we will start to live heaven on earth and more people would be drawn to God and be saved. In other words, love compels us to be obedient! Obedience in turn will release the abundant life in our lives.

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April 8, 2014 · 6:28 am

Doing What Matters – Say No!

We have 86,400 secs every day to make an impact on our world and in the lives of the people around us. While a second or a minute may seem like a short amount of time, it is not. Life happens in short time bursts. All things – whether good or bad – happens to us in moments. Similarly, life can change in just an instant. Most times, we do not realize or take advantage of the precious moments we have because we are too busy doing things and running around. A life lived this way can be very frustrating and unfulfilling for it is life that is lived by default and not a life that is lived by design.

To get the most out of the moments of our lives requires that we live a life by design.

This means that we have to get rid of the distractions that so easily plague us. It means that we have to stop running around doing what everybody else wants us to do in favor of what we have been called to do. In life, I have realized that while everything can be elevated as being urgent, not all things can be elevated as being important. You will simply have to learn to say no if you are to do what matters most and get the most out of your life.

 

Say ‘No!’

People are good at elevating the importance of what they want you to accomplish for them. Most people will want you to drop everything you are doing to focus on their issue. Do not be surprised if they try to manipulate you with emotions to get their way. They may get angry or teary-eyed; they may give you the silent treatment or call you incessantly. Worse still, Do not be surprised if all of a sudden, the person who you is never sure God is speaking to them tells you that God spoke to them plain as day concerning your life. Do not yield when the person starts to quote scripture to try to guilt-trip you into doing their bidding!

When this happens, ask yourself two key questions: Is what I am about to do moving me towards my purpose. Is this the will of God for my life right now? Is this a godly distraction or is it an ungodly distraction?

Not everybody’s emergency is your priority. Most people’s emergency are fear and impatience driven!

If you do not ponder your ways, you will find that you spend most of your time being other people’s door mat and being a slave to other people’s wishes. This is not only bad, it is idolatrous in that you have put other people’s wishes above God’s wish for you! You are more focused in pleasing man than you are pleasing God!

If you cannot say no, is it because you are afraid of something? If you can’t say no, is it because you have made something an idol in your life above God? Is it because you have misplaced your trust?

Our trust should be in God and no one else! We will learn to say no to the things that is not in God’s plan for our lives – even though those things may be noble.

Example of Jesus: Even Jesus had to say no! When he was told that Lazarus was sick and dying, he followed the will of God and decided to stay an extra 2 days where he was before departing. While he could have taken off immediately and spared many people the agony of mourning Lazarus’ death, Jesus understood that God had better plans through the death of Lazarus. As we know, Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave and people got to see God’s mighty power. If Jesus had not obeyed, it would have robbed the people of seeing the truth that Jesus had power over death. It would have robbed the people of believing! See, Lazarus would have recovered one way or the other since it was the will of God. What was more important was that the people believed.

Are you depriving the people in your life the miracle that God wants to do for them because you are rushing to the rescue all the time? Have you started playing God instead of allowing God to be God because of your inability to say no?

Food for thought: Just because you are doing what seems right, and is right in peoples eyes, does not mean you are being obedient or doing what is right in the sight of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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March 22, 2014 · 8:44 am

Do Not Go Back to the Jail of Your Past – Pass Go and Collect 200

In the book of Hosea, God mentions that there will come a day when we will no longer call Him Master but we will call Him Husband (Hosea 2:16). Friend, that day came over 2000 years ago! It came when Jesus decided to (1) pay the debt that kept us as slaves and (2) marry us to Himself so that we could become royalty just as He is royalty.

What a promotion! Jesus took it upon himself to change our destiny from death (that comes from sin) to life (that comes from His righteousness – not our own). He not only decided to liberate us from bondage, He took it a step further and propelled us into kingship.

Why we go back to jail

Here is what Jesus did in a nutshell: (1) He put down his crown and descended His throne (2) He stripped himself of royalty and put on journeyman’s clothing (3) He traveled from a far country to our jailhouse (4) He sacrificed himself so that we would be released (5) He married us to Himself so that He could take us back with Him and experience what He experiences (6) He picked up his throne again but then gave us crowns of rulership when we got back to His country (See Romans 8:17 and Ephesians 2:4-8).

Since Jesus has done all this, then why is it that too many of us do not live the life Jesus suffered to give us? Is it because we think it is too good to be true? See, many of us are still trying to pay the debt that has already been paid by Jesus! We almost feel bad that we got away scot free! So, we take off our crowns and return back to the jailhouse and attempt to pay off a debt that no longer exists. We put ourselves back in bondage of works – which is the way of the world – so that there is no difference between them and us. We return to our past!

How crazy is this behavior – working to receive nothing since the price has already been given to us as a gift! The jailor (Satan) cannot believe his luck – he keeps his mouth shut and only opens it to repeat to us that we did not deserve what Jesus did. The King (Jesus) cannot believe it either. He calls out to us as we go back to the jailhouse pleading with us to stay with him. In truth, the King should be very angry because we have made his sacrifice of no effect. He set us free but we put ourselves back in chains!

Light-bulb moment: To live the life God intended requires that we stop trying to deserve His love – we do not –  and start accepting it for what it is!

Break out of Jail

Without accepting the truth of the unconditional love of God, we place ourselves back in chains and we attempt to work our way out of debt. This is like saying to a jailor: I know I broke the law to get in here and I have been given the death penalty. Now that I am in here, I am going to keep all the law so that you can let me out!

This does not even work in real life! No matter how much good a person does in jail, it does not negate what he has done before. Only the judge can pardon! God is our righteous judge who has already pardoned. We no longer have to live as slaves – trying to please our master through our good works. We are now married to the Master because of his love for us. All he now wants of us is to be faithful – to be full of trust and belief in Him (who He is and what He has done). If you are not faithful or “full of faith”, you will find yourself going back to the jailhouse!

Food for Thought: Today, I will not go back to jail; I will pass the test of faithfulness and collect on God’s goodness

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February 22, 2014 · 7:18 pm

Stop Working on Your Testimony and Start Living Your Promise

In a recent conversation, a friend of mine said of her daughter, ‘she is working on her testimony’. Knowing the daughter, the first thing that entered my head – right or wrong – was this: Will she ever stop working on her testimony? To give you some context, the friend I am speaking about happens to be roughly twice my age. Her daughter is older than I am and has been working on her testimony for a while. The thing about it is that she is saved and has good knowledge of the word of God. Even so, she has decided to hold onto her pride, which has in turn caused her to walk in outright disobedience to the Lord.

Wilderness ExperienceIn the event you are not familiar with the term ‘working on your testimony’, it refers to the state of a person who does not know the Lord or has backslidden away from the Lord.

While there is no timetable for a person to stop working on their testimony – for the Lord can do wondrous things in anyone’s life at any point in time, and do it quickly – my concern is that some people never come out of their testimony to be able to tell it.

There is no better example of this than the children of Israel who perished in the wilderness. While the journey to the Promised Land was meant to take 3 – 11 days, fear and unbelief led God to send them through the wilderness of the Red Sea.

This is the period that God had in mind for the children of Israel to ‘work on their testimony’. During this time period, God showed them incredible mercy and worked mighty miracles, and even spoke in the hearing of the people. He did this for a period of 2 years so that they would come to know Him, trust Him, and rely on Him.

But no! When it came time to enter into the Promised Land after 2 years – the time God had allotted for them to stay in the wilderness of testimony, the people refused to enter into Canaan. As a result, they ended up spending another 38 years in the wilderness and the original generation that left Egypt died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb.

Note: The Ark of the Covenant was called the Ark of the Testimony when the children of Israel were in the wilderness. All the things that were placed in the Ark – covenant tablet, manna, Aaron’s rod – were placed there during the wilderness years.

God wanted the children of Israel to ‘work on their testimony for 2 years but they decided that they were going to work on their testimony for 40 years! As a result, only 2 of 600,000 men achieved that which God had ordained for them! They rest of them perished while still working on their testimony.

The uncomfortable truth is that too many of us today are still working on our testimony even though God has already made a way to enter into his promise for our lives. We say God is going to do it when He has already done it! We continue to pray to God but refuse to walk in obedience when He answers our prayers and gives us instructions.

If this is you, my plea is that you stop working on your testimony and start living the life of promise God has for you. It’s time to stop eating the manna and start feeding on milk and honey! Aren’t you tired of the snake bite of the wilderness?

Light-bulb moment: Leaving the wilderness will cost you your pride, ego, fears, and unbelief. But your reward for paying this price will be rest, peace, joy, and strength!

Let us do something ‘crazy’ as believers: Let us actually believe what God and move when He tells us to do so!

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February 18, 2014 · 7:00 pm

Tales from The Amazon – The church built on a pond

We walk by faith and not by sight

I have often wondered what first entered the mind of Jesus when the Holy Spirit instructed him to spit on the ground and make mud out of the soil and rub it in the eyes of the blind man! Did He think like me and say, ‘You want me to do what? Surely, there must be another way?‘ Or did He blame the devil for the thought (like some of us would when God asks us to step out of our comfort zone) and say, ‘I rebuke that thought! Devil, I bind you up right now!‘

Being Jesus, He probably just said, right away sir, as you wish! See, it is easy to justify, rationalize, intellectualize our way into why we are not doing what God wants us to do, when He wants us to do it, and how He wants us to do it. But no matter what the excuse, disobedience is disobedience.

Pastor Natalino of Renovation Church in Belterra had the opportunity to walk in disobedience when the Holy Spirit stopped him and told him to declare that he was going to build a church in what was a good sized pond! From a conversation with him, his first thought was, ‘Really God! Of of all the places, you want me to build a church here!’

Unlike many of us,  Pastor Natalino decided not to make the voice of the Holy Spirit of no effect! He went to the city council and informed them of what He wanted to do.

They thought he was crazy and laughed at him!

Do not be surprised if the world laughs at you when you are walking by faith

But Pastor Natalino would not be deterred! Like Nehemiah, he would not listen to the laughs of his detractors but pressed forward towards the mark of his calling. He rented a pump and over a number of days promptly drained the large pond. But would you know it, no sooner had he finished draining the pond, an enormous deluge of rain befell Belterra and filled up the pond once more! Now what was he to do? He did not have any more money to spend to drain the pond a second time! What was he to do?

Though crest-fallen, Pastor Natalino would not stay disheartened! He passed the test of endurance and obedience.

He said to God, ‘God, you are the one that told me to build a church on this land. This is your will. I am being faithful to you, therefore, help me bring to pass what you have ordained.‘ Lo and Behold, the pond which was completely filled up dried up within the next few days! In his testimony, Pastor Natalino said: The first time, I climbed the mountain of draining the lake. The second time around, I spoke to the mountain to be removed

I tell all of you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him

– Mark 11:23

See, the bridge to success is many times filled with trial and tribulation. When they come, what we must not do is fill our minds with doubt of God’s calling on our life. Instead, we must ask God for wisdom while actively waiting patiently for the manifestation of the promises of God. (see James 1:1-8).

Ultimately, Pastor Natalino was able to build the first phase of the church God had promised him. It is his picture that you see in the top left corner of this blog. I am honored to have met and him and to have had fellowship with him and his congregation in Belterra!

Food for Thought: Though the enemy will laugh at me in the beginning, I will have the last laugh in the end if I do not grow faint and weary but continue in faith

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February 15, 2014 · 8:38 pm

Tales from The Amazon – A love Affair with AD Santarem

I had the privilege of visiting the Amazon a few weeks ago during a missions trip to Brazil. The missions trip took our small team of three to Santarem, a large city of approximately 250,000 people located in the Amazon region of Brazil. A few hours after arriving, I met with Rhonaltt Araujo – the pastor of AD Santarem.

Pastor Rhonaltt is an awesome man of God! He is the sort of man you would never know was the pastor of a church unless he declared it to you. I mean this in the most positive of ways in that he is a very humble and unassuming man. He has a gentle spirit and a heart of gold! I sense that he is a father and friend to many in his congregation. Indeed, I am glad to call him friend as well!

You can see the influence of his servant style leadership on the church. The atmosphere of love and togetherness pervaded the church. I felt so comfortable at the church that I instantly adopted them into my heart. In truth, there was an instant love connection between the heart of the church, the pastor, and my heart because love (God) was at the center of it all.

So here is my tribute to AD Santarem: I came to be a blessing to you but you were a much bigger blessing to me. You say I added much to you but I get the sense I took more than I gave! Your family is filled with people who are destined for greatness. The zeal that you have within you will cover you as a cloak (Isaiah 59:17) so that your enemy (Satan) will not even be able to recognize you. May the love of God continue to be your driving force! May your heart continue to reflect the heart of God! May your family members become mighty. Never look to the right or to the left. In times of confusion, choose love! In times of uncertainty, choose destiny! I would say that I miss you but how can I miss what is so close to my heart? You are surrendered to purpose, so you are destined for greatness!

Submit your life to love, and love will take you to places that you have not dreamed about!

I will be sharing a little bit more my experience in the Amazon with you in the common weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Food for Thought: God loves me because of who He is; not because of what I have done, can do, or ever do!

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January 27, 2014 · 8:25 am

Comfirmation is good, but never become a junkie

Today, many people seeks signs to confirm what God has told them. It is not uncommon to hear ‘I need a confirmation from the Lord’ or “I will go for prophesy to confirm what the Lord has told me’. I find this quite interesting and ponder-worthy. Have you ever asked yourself why we would need to confirm what the Lord has spoken to us? The two reasons I can think of are these: (1) We do not really know if the Lord has spoken to us (2) We doubt what the Lord has spoken to us.

Babies R Us

That we do not know if the Lord has spoken to us  reveals that we are still babes in Christ. All of us have to go through this stage in our walk with the Lord. As babes, we lack in-depth knowledge and understanding of the word, therefore our level of discernment is low. Note: The correlation between knowledge of the word of God and discernment can be found in Hebrews 4:12.

As babes, it is easy for the devil to take passages of scripture out of context and try to pass it off as truth. Remember how Satan tried to fool Jesus in the wilderness by quoting scripture out of the context? This is why we need confirmation at this stage!

There is nothing wrong with admitting that you are babe in Christ. Even the great Prophet Samuel started off as a babe in Christ. He did not know that God was calling out to him at night, so He kept on going to Eli. After the third time, Eli realized that it was God calling out to Samuel and so told Samuel to answer (1 Samuel 3:1-10). In essence, Eli confirmed to Samuel that it was the Lord.

It is okay to be a confirmation junkie in the baby stage of our walk with God

But what if Samuel did not grow to know the Lord and know His voice? What if He always needed someone else to confirm the word of God? He wouldn’t have been chosen to be the next great Prophet, for he would have led the people astray. In other words, He would have missed out on fulfilling his calling.

Think about this: What if Moses waited for confirmation and so never moved to mark the door posts for protection before the Angel of death descended down into Egypt? That would have been the end of the story of Israel!

Jesus says that my sheep know my voice. Do you know the voice of Jesus or do you think you know it?  In truth, we cannot follow Jesus closely if we do not know His voice. This is why babes in Christ tend to stray. To remain a confirmation junkie is to remain a babe in Christ!

The reason only a few are chosen out of a great multitude that are called is because too many of us choose to remain babes!

‘Sign’ Me Up

There is no doubt in my mind that doubt has caused too many of us to spend hours in prayer in search of confirmation instead of actually doing what God has called us to do. As we do this, the blessing that the Lord wished to bestow upon us walks right by as we keep our heads buried in our pillows. Then we turn around and wonder why it is that we miss out on God’s blessings. For example, we say to God, ‘that guy that you told me was my husband, how come he married someone else?’. The answer may very well be that you never said a word to him as God commanded you!

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying here. It is always a great idea to pray when in doubt. But the whole point of praying when in doubt is to receive the guidance of the Lord. Once we have received the guidance of the Lord, the next step is to obey the Lord. In the context of which I am speaking, doubt causes us to pray for confirmation instead of simply believing God and moving on with what He wants us to do. Like Gideon, we look for a sign before we make a move.

Gideon was a babe and so needed confirmation –  and so it was granted. Once we move from being babes, any sign seeking reveals unbelief! 

The Pharisees were no babes in having knowledge of the word of God, yet they sought a sign time and again. Here is what Jesus thought of their sign seeking ways:

 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah – Matthew 12:38-39

Ouch! Jesus called then evil and adulterous! He called them this because their asking for confirmation showed that they were filled with doubt and unbelief. Doubt and unbelief is the opposite of trust and faith. Doubt and unbelief is the result of hardening our heart to the truth; it is the result of tolerating fear; fear toleration is from the evil one. Moreover, Satan is also very good at signs and wonders! Hence, it is easy to be led astray if we are looking for signs.

Many of us seek confirmation through prophetic words because we secretly doubt our ability to hear from God or doubt what the Lord has spoken to us. So we would rather base our life on what someone has prophesied – at times still not realizing we have to take action. Instead of hearing from God, we want to hear from God through a 3rd party, and we want that word to be a word of exaltation! Hmm, I suppose we would not like Prophet Jeremiah too much if he was here today!

The best type of prophesy is confirmation of what God has spoken to you; not instruction of what God wants you to do!

Food for Thought: If all prophesy is instruction to me, then it is a ‘sign’ that my walk with the Lord is weak! If I do not hear from God, it is confirmation that I am a babe in Christ.

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January 11, 2014 · 11:07 pm

Faith, Fear and Money: Is your lack of faith stealing your financial freedom?

I am sure some of you clicked on this blog out of curiosity while some of you have clicked on it to crucify me since you have a problem with anyone connecting faith and money! If this is you, then I apologize for my lack of sensitivity for I could have titled this blog faith and blessings. But when I considered that the bible tells us that the blessing of the Lord makes one rich (Proverbs 10:22), I thought it best to avoid wording games. I do submit though that a better title may have been faith and riches or faith and wealth.

But doesn’t the bible say that money is the root of all evil? No, it does not say that! It says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Hence, money becomes evil only when we love it. There are generally two ways to love money:

  1. We can love money so much that it consumes all of our thinking and drives our behavior. When this happens, money ceases to be the vehicle to do good works but becomes the goal itself. When money becomes the goal is when morals, ethics, law, and good judgment go out of the window. This is why God says that we cannot serve two masters – we cannot serve money and God. This love of money is what pushes men people to engage in human trafficking and pushes parents to sell their children into sex slavery.
  2. On the other side, we can love money so much that we do not want to part from it. So we hold it, horde it, and being a miser…instead of investing it so it can be put to greater good for our communities. This love of money is why God was so angry with the servant who hid his money in the ground instead of placing it in a vehicle that could earn interest.

But when we love God, we are obedient to Him. Obedience in turn will always bring blessings…including riches. The question is do we trust and believe God enough to obey his plans and his ways: Work hard and smart, invest hard, and give back hard! Do we have faith to do all He wants us to do?

10 Spies Sent to Canaan

The answer to that question was NO for 10 of the 12 spies sent to Canaan. They saw a land flowing with milk and honey; a land with grape clusters so huge two that people had to carry it on their shoulders. But they did not focus on that; they filled their minds with the size of the people in the land.

Instead of seeing the good future their present could create by faith, they concentrated on the bad of their present circumstance. Instead of seeing the opportunities, they saw the challenges. Instead of focusing on the reward of their march into Canaan, they focused on the cost of the investment. As a result, they ended up staying in the wilderness 40 years longer than what was originally planned. Their lack of faith (trust and believe) cost them the life that God had in store for them. Instead of milk and honey, they died on manna (which no longer had the taste of honey) and water!

Light-bulb moment: We must not be as the 10 spies who wanted the take the less costly trip back to Egypt to continue to live as slaves instead of taking the more costly trip into Canaan to rule the land!

See, we can either focus on what God has asked us to do or we can focus on the obstacles in front of us?

Light-bulb moment: Fear will always focus on the cost of an investment while faith will always look at the return on investment.

Fear causes too many people to park their money in the bank to earn 0.25% interest while paying the same bank 3.5% interest to finance a house! Faith on the other hand gives us boldness and courage to use the same money to start an income generating business in real estate or other avenues that can have a 25% or higher return on investment…if we would only develop our faith!

Light-bulb moment: Fear will always play it safe, but faith always plays it risky according to the world’s standard. To play it safe is to play it scared!

Think about this: God had to have faith in Jesus that He would actually accomplish that task He was given. If He did not have faith in Him, He would never have sent Him! But He had faith in Him and sent Him.

This illustrates that everything worth doing involves a measure of risk. If we truly love, then we will risk it all – just as God did with Jesus for us. If you love your family and your household, then you will take the journey to develop your faith so that you can be bold and courageous to do all God as called you to do.

If you do not like risk, neither do I! Yet, we can rest assured in the truth that there is no risk in God! God defies all statistics and He has never failed! So, the way to eliminate risk is to do all that God tells us to do.

Light-bulb moment: God has already blessed us. It is our job to take hold of the riches of those blessing by faith

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December 24, 2013 · 11:55 am

How Can I Get Doors of Opportunity to Open for Me?

Called and Chosen to Execute – Bezalel

For a minute imagine that you are an architect. What a great honor it would be if the pope asked you to build the next great cathedral or the Queen of England asked you to build her a castle! It would not only be a great honor but it would the opportunity of a lifetime. Your name would be immediately stamped in history and people would read about you and get to know your works long after you were gone. Moreover, you would not have to worry about finding work anymore, and financial worries would be a thing of the past.

This is exactly what happened to Bezalel. Once day, Moses called out to him and told him that God had selected him to build His (God’s) house.

I bet the other skilled architects must have wondered within themselves, why Bezalel and not us; we are just as highly skilled as he is! Not finding a suitable answer to this question, it would not surprise me if many of them simply put it down to luck. But luck had nothing to do with it.

Luck hardly ever has anything to do with being chosen. What may look like luck is usually the hand of God in action.

I reckon many of them were called to be great architects. I would wager that many were filled with the spirit of wisdom, ability, knowledge, understanding, and intelligence in all works of craftsmanship. Yet, only one was called by name (chosen).

If you have been filled with the Spirit of God, then you have been filled with the spirit of wisdom, ability, knowledge, understanding, and intelligence to prosper you in everything you do. It means you have the ability to be called by name just as Bezalel was called by name. Even so, to be chosen you must not just have the ability of Bezalel but you must have the character of Bezalel.

To have ability is to have potential; to be chosen to fulfill potential requires character

Bezalel’s Character

Honesty and Integrity: Large sums of gold, silver, bronze, and clothing were required to build God’s house. Bezalel knew how much of each material was needed to build the house to specifications based on his skill. When the people started to bring more material than was required, he promptly told Moses to tell the people to stop the collection (Exodus 36:5-7).

Bezalel could have stashed away some of the superfluous material for himself. He could have colluded with the other artisans to make a profit. But he did not do this. He did not allow his eyes to become greedy nor did he covet the gold and silver. His thinking did not become selfish. He did not say: what am I getting paid to do this work? He did not convince himself that it was his right to take of some of the collected material. He did not want to defraud the people of their belongings by continuing to collect unneeded supplies.

Would you have done the same if you were Bezalel?

Patience  and Obedience: Moses looked at the work Bezalel did and saw that he had done it just as God commanded, therefore Moses blessed him (Exodus 39:43). Since we know that the children came to the wilderness of Sinai in the 3rd month after the start of the journey out of Egypt (Exodus 19:1) but the tabernacle was not raised until the 2nd year of the exodus (Exodus 40:17), we see that it took a while for Bezalel to be paid for his work. He did not know he was to be paid and was only paid after the work was completed. Thus the honor of doing the work in obedience to the will of God was enough for him.

Can you say the same? Are you focused on what you have been called to do or are you focused on the blessing?

Moreover, he did not doubt the instruction that Moses gave him. He could have said to himself, I know a better way to do this work, let me change this and change that. No! He let God be God, forgot about his own opinion, and did exactly what God commanded through Moses. He would have missed out on his blessing if he had not obeyed without adding or subtracting a thing.

Is this you or do you mix your own way with God’s way?

Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it – Deuteronomy 12:32

Good Steward: Moses only saw what Bezalel made when he brought it to him (Exodus 39:43). Thus the only way Moses knew how much gold and silver was used (Exodus 38:25) is because Bezalel was a good steward of all materials used. Bezalel was an overseer of the work that was being done and ensured that nothing was wasted.

Are you a good steward of everything God as given you? Are you a good steward over your time and resource? Are you disciplined enough in your stewardship?

The way we answer these questions will ultimately determine whether we reach our full potential or if our lives will be summed up by could have, should have, and would have!

Food for Thought: Dedicate yourself to honesty, integrity, patience, unwavering obedience to God, and good stewardship and you will see great doors of opportunity swing wide open for you.

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December 15, 2013 · 9:56 am

Three Questions You Should Ask Before Marriage

I had the privilege of witnessing a friend’s engagement atop the Sugarloaf Mountain. It was a cool and comfortable night. The spectacular city of Rio de Janeiro offered a breath-taking view.  The large statue of Christ was lit in its full glory. The night sky was in its full splendor as it wowed visitors with a wonderful lightning display in the sky.  For my friend, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!

There was a healthy number of people with us on the mountain that night who witnessed his girlfriend’s excitement as she said ‘Yes’ to the man of her dreams.  After a longing look and loving embrace, the unbridled joy etched on the faces of the newly engaged couple was so undeniable evident that it could only be missed if perhaps aliens invaded the city!

We cheered, we laughed, and we sang.

When I returned to Baton Rouge, I was met with the grim reality of the experience of marriage for many. A casual friend I had not seen for a while walked up to me at the end of service with heavy tear-laden eyes. Hardly able to get the words out, he stuttered and whispered his way to telling me that he and his wife were getting a divorce after almost seven years of matrimony.

I could not help but think of the contrasting scene and news in the space of a few days. One, a happy beginning and the other, a sad end.

That roughly 50% of all marriages end in separation is a warning of how quickly dreams can turn into nightmares! Since no one starts with the intention of turning their dream into a nightmare, the divorce statistic is proof that something is amiss in marriages.  While the answer to the conundrum of failing marriages in not clear cut, there are some questions everyone about to enter into marriage should ask and answer honestly to see if they have a good shot at winning in the game of love.

Am I in love?

The word in love suggests that one can be out of love. And truly, many people say they have fallen out of love or are no longer in love with their partner.

The kind of love that one can fall in and out of is that which is based on feelings (emotions), sentiment, and fondness. In the Greek language, it is called phileo love. This kind of love is based on what your partner adds to you. While it may not necessarily be selfish, it has a tendency to be self-centered.

This kind of love is often dismissed in some circles because it can be fleeting, is many times based on circumstances, and is self-centered. But I will not do that here.  If you do not ask yourself if you are in love is to deny that you have needs and wants from a relationship. To avoid this question is to lie to yourself!

It is okay to ask if you have feelings for the person, if you are fond of the person you are with, and if you look at your partner with affection. Here is the crucial part: You must not stop at if but you must ask yourself why.

Why points to the heart of the matter. How you answer the why says a lot about your partner but says a lot more about you. It reveals whether you love yourself or are simply operating out of fear! No one is ever truly fond of a person who mistreats them unless they themselves have been disturbed by something in life or they have no way to escape. If you are fond of the person only for what they can do for you, then you have become selfish!

Fearfulness (lack of trust) and selfishness (unwillingness to compromise or yield) will always ruin a relationship.

When you ask yourself why, look at the content of your partner’s character! Look at who they are and what their life shows you. You can gather a lot of this information by listening to the person’s words, and looking at how they spend their time and their resources. This is because often repeated words, time, and resources always reflect priority and heart.

Having phileo love seldom guarantees the success of a marriage union. There is the need for agapeo love

Do I love My Partner?

The question, do I love my partner is different from am I in love with my partner. While one can fall in and out of phileo love, we either agapeo love or we do not. It is that simple! While phileo love is based on feelings, sentiment, and fondness, agapeo love is all about commitment and dedication and does not consider circumstances!

A rock solid agapeo love is needed to ride the waves of life and the roller-coaster of phileo love. Unfortunately, too many people spend their lives building and developing phileo love – through emotion charged compliments, flowers, gifts – and spend very little time developing agapeo love.  The reason commitment never seems to last these days is because the commitment is based on feelings, sentiment, and fondness (phileo love).

Agapeo love is based on who you are versus who the person is. It is about what you add to the person versus what the person adds to you. This kind of love which is unconditional is always willing to reconcile, forgive, and work at issues unto restoration.

It does not confuse weakness and wickedness in a person. Since it does not seek its own, it does not seek perfection. It recognizes the journey of love and is willing to suffer.

The question agapeo love asks is this: A person will disappoint and hurt me, so who I am willing to suffer for? Jesus (who had agapeo) love for humanity thought is worthwhile and worthy to suffer for humanity though we did not deserve it.

If you are not willing to go through hard times, willing to hurt, willing to suffer, willing to forgive, willing to lay down your life, then you do not love your partner. You only love what your partner can do for you (phileo)!

The question, do I love my partner can only be answered Yes if you truly have love for mankind in your heart.

How Do I See My Partner?

A different way of asking this question is who is my partner to me? Do you see your partner as friend, lover, leader (spiritual and otherwise), powerful, royal, helper, anchor, and asset? Or do you see them as timid, fearful, abdicator, scattered, and double-minded?

It is important to be honest with yourself as your answer will determine whether you can (1) respect your partner (2) whether you will follow your partner’s leadership (3) whether you will be comfortable in yielding.

Your answer will determine if your household with be peaceful, whether there will be secret resentment in your heart, if there will be insecurity in your relationship, and whether the union is more of a battle than it is a partnership.

In the bible, Peter saw Jesus as his Messiah – Lord and Savior – and so was able to stand in relationship and fellowship with him until the end. Judas on the other hand only saw Jesus as a potential king and so betrayed him and left him alone when Jesus would not do what Judas thought He should have done!

So, how do you see your partner?  

Conclusion

Jesus asked Peter the three questions above: Do you phileo love me (John 21:16)? Do you agapeo love me (John 21:17), who do you say I am (Mark 8:29). Being Jesus, he already knew the answers!  

Do you know the answer to these questions? If not, then you are wise to ask yourself about the one who is to become a rock in your life. Your answer may very well determine the future. Do you agree?

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