Tag Archives: Christianity

They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing – Psalm 92:14

Just because we age does not mean we have to decay. Stress, struggle, sleeplessness, and sorrow are things that accelerate decay and cause us to look and feel much older than we are. When we live under these conditions for a long time, they cause long-term damage and can heighten the risk of dementia and other types of diseases. Corrie Ten Boom, who is known for her work helping people during World War II said: Look down and be oppressed, look around and be depressed, look up and be at rest! When we purpose in our heart to trust in God and listen to Him, we are less stressed and have a more positive outlook life. Some may say that is simply not being realistic about the way things are. Our retort is what does faith and being realistic have to do with each other. We shall live by faith in the vision of what God has promised and not live by sight in the things that are present today. Only by looking up can you live by faith. So, don’t live by news headlines, don’t live worrying about deadlines, but only choose to live by the redlines of the word of Christ. You will be much fresher and flourish for it.

My best days are still ahead of me

When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever – Psalm 92:7

Some people’s heart are set on doing evil because the judgement for sin and wickedness is not swift. They forget that God forbearance and longsuffering are attributes of God which He chooses to exhibit towards us so that we turn away from our wicked ways. Instead of turning towards God in the time when He may be found, some continue in iniquity and wickedness until the judgement of God is meted out. Now, it is easy to think about it with regards to others, but the same is true for things we know we shouldn’t do like eating badly, working overtime without resting, or only getting a couple of hours of sleep overtime. Ultimately, no one gets away with anything forever. Think about that the next time you want to emulate the wicked ways of others, because you see them flourishing. Consider that you may not be privy to the hidden and private consequences of their action on their marriage, their children, their mental health and emotional well-being. Remember, the grass may only be greener on the side because the other side is filled with sewage.

I will not take Gods forbearance for his forfeiture of judgement

O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep – Psalm 92:5

Thoughts precede works (actions). Hence, the level of our works depends on the depth of our thoughts. Before God decides anything, He thinks through every permutation of the decision He is making and knows what the future holds. For example, the bible tells us that the Lamb (Christ) was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelations 13:8). By this, we see that God had already thought about the possibility of mankind sinning and what He would do to rectify the situation. See, God does nothing by happenstance but thinks things through. I wonder how our lives would look if we thought things though as deeply as God? If we did, we would have plans upon plans and nothing much would phase us. How wonderful it would be if His thoughts became our thoughts, and if His works become our works. The more we learn about God, the more we can get insights into His thoughts. The more insights we get into how He thinks, the more we can align our actions towards His thoughts. The result is that we get to accomplish great things!

The deeper I know God, the greater my works become

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name – Psalm 91:14

The greatest commandment is to love God. Now, loving God is not about going to church, raising our hands up in worship, or spending hours on end in prayer, though all these things are good. Jesus says that those who love Him keep His commandments. To keep his commandments means we listen intently to what God tells us with the intention of acting on it. Why listen to God and do what He says? We should because our life is better off for it. Only God has our best intentions at heart. In fact, his intentions for us are better than our intentions for ourselves. This is because He loves us more than we love ourselves. Furthermore, only God knows the best path for us to take. When you consider all the benefits of listening to God, it becomes clear that love for God translates into love for ourselves

The more I love God, the more I love myself

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot – Psalm 91:13

The bible talks of the devil walking around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The bible also likens the devil to a serpent. So, when the bible talks about treading upon lions and serpents, it has nothing to do showing how brave we with animals around us. Rather, it is speaking about us having dominion over the enemy just as Jesus had victory over the enemy on the cross – a victory that was spoken about in Genesis 3:15 when God declared that Jesus would crush the head of the serpent. How wonderful to know that we have victory over the enemy. How wonderful it is to know we do not have to be afraid of the devil. How wonderful it is to know we have power over him. The devil is not as powerful as you think. And even though he may derive power through lies and deception, his power is little compared to the power that is working in us, which is the power of the Spirit of God. With God working in and through you, you don’t have to be concerned about the devil.

I have the power in Christ to defeat the enemy of my soul

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler – Psalm 91:4

We know from the writings of Apostle Paul that faith is a shield (as part of the armor of God). Yet, this verse shows us that faith is not the only shield. Truth is also a shield that keeps us safe. It keeps us from believing the lies of the enemy and keeps us walking in freedom by not straying away from the path of God. Additionally, truth is a bucker that helps us repel away the cutting words of the enemy. When we have hidden the truth of the word of God in our heart, we find that words that are contrary to truth no longer affects us. We don’t have to live according to what some teacher, classmate, parent, friend, family member, boss, or stranger said to you or about you. By meditating on the word of God, we can live according to the truth of His word. It is up to each of us to guard our hearts with God’s truth so that we can be safe and secure. Failure to do this leads to us to live according to lies and experience many issues in life.

I choose to guard my heart with your truth today

So, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom – Psalm 90:12

Time is our most scarce and precious resource. It is the only resource that everyone gets in the same quantity. It is impossible to get more than twenty-four hours in a day. Moreover, we don’t get a choice of whether to keep it or spend it; we must spend every day. The choice we do have is how we spend our time. Lastly, we can never get the time we spend back. Despite this being the case with time, we tend to treat it as if it is wholly abundant. We waste it as if we can always call on more of it. We don’t do the things we know we should do. We procrastinate on calling our loved ones and on spending time with friends and family. We waste time fighting each other instead of cherishing the time we have with each other. We do this until one day we find that we are out of time! Then we start to live in regret and wonder what could have been. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can treat time as precious commodity and live wisely. We can redeem our time to the glory of God.

I will do what God is telling me to do without delay. I will do what is important

My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips – Psalm 89:34

God has made a covenant with us through Jesus who brokered it and sealed it by His blood on the cross. We are safe and secure because of that covenant because the nature of the covenant is that it can never fail as it is a covenant that was brokered between the God and God – God the Father and God the Son who came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ. Since the promise of the covenant does not depend on our faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness, God will always do what He has promised to do. This is good news for us in that we are guaranteed success if we align ourselves with the words God has already spoken. We know we are guaranteed success because His words do not return to Him void but accomplish everything they were sent to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). It is up to us to make sure that we act on the words that have gone out of His lips, knowing that the result when we operate in obedience to Him is guaranteed.

Whatever God says to me is done in the spirit realm. My obedience brings it forward in the physical realm

I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him – Psalm 89:20

God looked for someone with the right heart in the form of David. And when He found David, He took him out of obscurity and anointed him as king. Then he propelled him to greatness and ensured that He would never be forgotten (through the star of David, which can be found on the flag of the nation of Israel). God desires to do what He did for David for us. God has already searched us out with His love and found us. God has anointed us with His Holy Spirit, and we become royalty in identity. If we wait for the appointed time and follow in the statutes of God (like David), then we too can be propelled to greatness in God’s eyes no matter what we are doing. It is this last part that is difficult for us. When we become like David, there is always a Saul that we need to overcome before we can be propelled to greatness. What or who is your Saul – the enemy that wants to keep you from ascending to the greatest heights? How is the Lord leading you to deal with your Saul? Don’t yield to the urge to achieve greatness in your own way but wait on God’s timing and he will exalt you.

Greatness comes when we overcome our Saul the godly way

In Your name they rejoice all day long, and in Your righteousness, they are exalted – Psalm 89:16

When the bible says, ‘In Your name’, it means in many place ‘in according to the will of God’. We will always have cause to rejoice when we are walking in the will of God. The will of God is simple: It is to love God by being obedient to Him, and to love our fellow men by serving them with our gifts to meet their needs. Thus, the will of God is both vertical towards God and horizontal towards man, just like the cross is both vertical and horizontal. Next time you think of the cross, consider that God wants us to love Him and to love our fellow man just like Jesus showed on the cross. No one operating in the will of God to love will be sad or downcast for long. And when we make the right-choice of operating in love, we find that we are exalted by God. Do you want things to change? Do you want to get and feel better? Then focus your life on one thing: Love.

The degree to which I love is the degree to which I will experience joy and exaltation