All posts by anjabaxanda

GENERAL

The Promise with a Commandment

Leave a comment

Joshua 1:9 “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Bible is filled with numerous promises of God even to the present day saint. Promises of God’s ever abiding protection and provisions are spread abroad that golden book.

These Promises are real, even more real than the words of man. God ensured they were penned, so generation to Generation would behold it and be strengthened to serve God.

Yet, a saint who just began his journey of faith, might look upon these Promises and even fall into doubt. The same promise which were supposed to produce faith in man, can produce the thickest of confusions in the same.

For the same Lord, who declared that His Saints are surrounded by Angels, can also permit His Saints to be slain by evil forces.

The same Lord who promised to give us everything we ever needed, sometimes, permit us to spend nights with empty stomach.

The same Lord who promises that none among His children shall be barren, for children are His heritage, that same God can also shut the womb of even a devout Hannah.

It is the paradox of the Gospel. That God’s promises of the best, are actually to strengthen us to endure the worst.

Peter called it the testing of our Faith.

In the aforementioned Bible verse, God appears to the servant boy, Joshua, to officially commission Him to serve as a leader.

Among the things that God promised Joshua, are,
i. His ever-abiding presence
ii. Absolute victory

One might imagine, that these promises would spur Joshua to laziness and laxity. Why fret over the battle when it is the Lord’s? Why train for war, when it shall be fought by the Lord’s Angels?

The Promises are too good to be true. The Almighty God has promised to always be with Joshua. The Servant of Moses must have cast his mind back to his master, and the exploits he beheld his master perform.

From the parting of the red Sea, to the manna from heaven, his master wrought so much amongst the Israelites, with only one secret; The Lord was with him.

This same secret what was The Lord was giving to Joshua.

Yet, amidst these enthralling promises, The Lord issues a command.

Be strong and courageous.

What was the need of strength from Joshua, when The Lord had promised to be His strength.

Has the Lord promised you greatness? Has He promised you dominion?
Has He promised you great wealth?
Has He promised you the territories of locality and beyond?

Glory to Him.
But I would that you also know that the Promises of God also come with a command to be strong and courageous.

This strength isn’t that gotten from hours in the gym. It refers to mental and Spiritual strength. It is the inner fortitude required to possess that which the Lord has promised.

This strength is faith. Though God has promised you, you will be the one to do the fighting.

Man fights, God grants the victory.
Though God has promised, you must wage the war.
You must wield the sword of the spirit, and shoot the arrows of prayers towards the camp of the enemy.

Again, I ask. Has God promised you something?

That Promise will never be fulfilled without a brave fight from you.

He promised the Israelites the land of Canaan, but it was already occupied by Giants. It took a brave fight from the Israelites to enter into God’s promise.

Strength is required, to not just fight for your promised Land, but to stand on the word of the Lord.

Strength is required when the Lord has promised you the best, yet, all you see is the worse.

At that moment, if your faith is weak, believing God for the fulfilment of His word will be difficult.

Patience is a form of strength. Patience is very much needed in working with God.

God answers prayers, but He does not answer it at our timing. Sometimes, all it takes is one battle to conquer the land, sometimes, it would take seven days of marching under the scorching sun, around a very wide City wall to conquer it.

Patience is needed to resist the scorning of Penninah and stay pious until the Lord gives the promised Samuel.

It takes strength to stay patient.

I shall proceed to the next command God gave.

Be Courageous, He commanded Joshua.

Courage is needed when facing a visible adversary in the name of an invisible God.

Courage is needed to live comfortably, in spite of the deadly pandemic.

Courage is needed to hold fast unto your faith, even when faced with persecution and threat of death.

Courage is needed to confront Goliath with a sling and a few stones.
Courage is needed to say no, to the carnal desires of the wife of one as great as Potiphar.
Courage is needed to stand for what God has given you.
Divine Health. Prosperity. The Salvation of your Children.

Courage is needed to keep seeking for an answer to these things.

Dearly Beloved Reader, as much as we pray for God’s promises, and His promises alone to come your way, we would be dispensing only a half truth, if we fail to tell you, that the promise of God requires Strength and Courage.

No matter what you are going through, take strength in the awareness of God being with you.

But how come He’s with me and He allowed this sickness to come my way? You might ask.

I do not have a specific answer for that question, but the ways of God are unsearchable and mysterious.

But from scriptures, we can see that there are several men, who faced what you’re facing, even while God was with them.

God was with Joseph when he was thrown into the dry pit and thereafter sold as a slave.
God was with the children of Israel when they were suffering for over 430 years in Egypt.
God was with David when he lived in severe hunger to the point of going to beg for assistance from a rich fool named Nabal.

God was with Daniel when he was being thrown into the Lion’s den.

God was with Jesus when he was being beaten to a pulp in the public.

God was with Stephen when he was being stoned to death.

God was with Paul when he was being flogged for delivering the possessed slave.

The Presence of God does not subtract us from trials, but it strengthens us in the face of it, and guides us through it, into our promised Land, both here, and in Heaven.

I wrap this up with an admonition to you, as the Lord admonished Joshua, be strong. Be strong in the face of these battles.

Hold onto the Promises of God.
Be Courageous. Fear not! No Pandemic shall end your life!

Believe the word of the Lord!

We are praying greatly for you, and we trust that God will surround you with His protection.

Again, I say unto you,

Be Strong.

Amen

GENERAL

Q/A: Do I have Angels assigned to me? If yes, how can I engage them?

Leave a comment

Psalms 91:11: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways”

Psalms 34:7: “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”

From the aforementioned Psalms, we realize that every believer has several angels assigned to him. The Essence of these angels aren’t to provide fantastical dreams and encounters for the believer. Rather, they are to ensure the will of God is carried out in that Believer’s life.

The Bible does not admonish us to pray to Angels. Yet, we can engage their ministry by Praying in the spirit.

When we pray in tongues, we are speaking Mysteries, and there are Angels who ensure these mysteries are brought into light.

Psa 103:20: “Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word”

Angels hearken unto the Word of the Lord. The more you declare God’s word over your life, the more of Angelic ministrations usually unseen that you will have.

Angels are not man’s servants. They are God’s servants. They are not here to carry out our words, they are here to carry out God’s Word which we declare.

Angels are limited to the Will of God. Do not expect an Angel to do a command that is out of the will of God.

Nevertheless, the most important thing to know is that every believer is surrounded by Angels. And the ministry of these angels can only be activated when the believer prays in the spirit and speaks God’s word.

GENERAL

Poetry Today: Yet Again, Can we trust in Him?

Leave a comment

He loves,
He cares,
He is passionate,
He looks beyond our weaknesses,
He sees beyond our condemnation.

He became everything,
So in Him, we lack nothing!

In sickness, His stripes became our solution.
In confusion, He is our ever sure way.
Worried about safety, then He tells us “He never sleeps nor slumbers”

In chains and bondages, we look up to Him and He shows up as The Great Deliverer!

Oh what an insurance we have in the only begotten Son of God.
In Him, we have been given the right to become sons and daughters of the Great King.
Abba! Father!

Yet again, even now,
Strength and Grace will rise,
When we all look unto Him for life.

Yet again, can we trust in Him?
Christ,
The Saviour and King!

*Precious Wilfred*

GENERAL

God’s Building Materials

Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 3:12
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

1 Corinthians 3:13 Their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

It is weight that counts. Wood, hay, stubble are cheap, light, temporary; gold silver, precious stones are costly, weighty, eternal.

Here is the key to value.

The heavy metals, the gold of the divine character and glory, the silver of His redemptive work: these are the materials He prizes.

Not merely what we preach, please note, but what we are, weighs with God; not doctrine, but the character of Christ wrought out in us by God’s orderings, by God’s testings, by the Spirit’s patient workings.

Work that is of God is work that has been to the Cross. When our work has been that way, we can rest assured that it will in the end survive the fire.

Not, “Where is the need most evident? What ideas and resources have I got? How much can I do? How soon can I put that doctrine into practice?” but, “Where is God moving? What is there of Him here? How far does He will for me to go? What is the mind of the Spirit on this?”—these are the questions of the truly crucified servant. He recognizes God’s “Go” and His “Speak,” but also His “Wait,” and His “Go,” but say only so much. Aware of his own weakness and emptiness, the greatest lesson he has to learn is to commit his way to God and wait to see Him move.

The problem lies in our failure to understand that, in God’s work, man in himself is of no use. Wood, hay, stubble, these suggest what is essentially of man and of the flesh.

They imply what is common, ordinary, easily and cheaply acquired—and of course perishable. Grass today may clothe the earth with beauty, but where is it tomorrow?

Human intellect may give us a grasp of Scripture; natural eloquence may have the power to attract; emotion may carry us along; feelings may seem to supply a guiding sense—but to what? God looks for more solid values than these.

Many of us can preach well and accurately enough, but we are wrong. We talk of the flesh but don’t know its perils; we talk of the Spirit, but would we recognize Him were He really to move us?

Too much of our work for God depends not on His will and purpose, but on our feelings—or even, God forgive us! on the weather. Like chaff and stubble, it is carried away by the wind. Given the right mood we may accomplish a lot, but just as easily, in adverse conditions, we may give up entirely. No, as the fire will one day prove, work that is dependent on feelings or on the wind of revival is of little use to God. When God commands, feelings or no feelings, we must learn to do.

The God-prized values are costly. Those unwilling to pay the price will never come by them. Grace is free, but this isn’t. Only a high price buys costly stones.

Many a time we shall want to cry out “This is costing too much!” Yet the things wrought by God through the lessons we learn under His hand, though we be long in learning them—these are the really worthwhile things.

Time is an element in this. In the light of God, some things perish of themselves; there is no need to wait for the fire. It is in what remains, in what has stood God’s test of time, that true worth lies. Here are found the precious stones, formed in what

God graciously gives us of sorrow and trouble, as He puts us “through fire and water” to bring us to His wealthy place. Man sees the outward appearance; God sees the inward cost. Do not wonder that you experience all sorts of trials. Accepted from His hand they are the sure way to a life that is precious to Him.

May God have mercy on the clever people who pass on merely what they have read or received from another. Not even speaking for God can be done without cost.

It is all a question of whether the person’s life is light or weighty, for weight shows the quality of the material. Two men may use the same words, but in the one you meet something you cannot get past; in the other— nothing.

The difference is in the man. You always know when you are in the presence of spiritual worth. No amount of theorizing about the Lord’s return, for example, will take the place of a life that has been daily lived looking for Him.

There is no escaping this difference, and no substitute for the real thing. Alas, some of us are so unlike our words that it might be better if we said less about spiritual things.

Do not wonder, then, at God’s concern for the materials of His house. Imitation jewelry may have a certain beauty, but what woman who has once possessed the real thing would give it another thought?

The apostle Paul leaves us in no doubt of his own valuation. Ten coolie-loads of stubble can never approach the price of one single gemstone.

All flesh, all mere feelings, all that is essentially of man, is grass and must vanish away. What is of Christ, the gold, the silver, the costly stones, these alone are eternal, incorruptible, imperishable.

It is this lasting character of God’s Church that must now claim our attention.



Watchman Nee

GENERAL

Imitators of Christ’s Love

Leave a comment

St. John 8:3
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group

St. John 8:4
And said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

St. John 8:5
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

St. John 8:6
They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

St. John 8:7
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

St. John 8:8
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

St. John 8:9
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

St. John 8:10:
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

St. John 8:11
“No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

It was never really about adultery.
It was beyond immorality.
It was bigger than sin and iniquity.
It was actually a domicile nature.
A state of the heart, the posture of the soul.

Caught in the very act of adultery, she was humiliated, dragged into the public to be stoned, facing shame in the sight of all, but it was much more than falling into a sin.

But her accusers could not see beyond her act. They condemned her from the outside, not knowing that a fruit is only an offspring of the tree.

We have some clergymen who do the same thing today. In their attempt to preach against sin, they address the act, point to the fruit, but neglect the inward cause of it

St. John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In John 8:12, Jesus revealed to us, that the root cause of the sinfulness of mankind was the darkened state of their hearts.

Hence, in order to save them, we must turn on the light, we must do as Jesus did, pretend not to see reasons to condemn the accused, look away from the darkness, search for light, and then rise up to dispel, expel and send darkness into extinction.

So when we preach to sinners, we do not dwell on their sins, rather, we partner with Christ and trust Him to flood their darkened hearts with His divine light.

Once their hearts receives the Light, their acts will reflect the same.

Thus, we ought not to be among the crowd to accuse the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Rather, we imitate the love of Christ, who refused to condemn her, and gave her a chance to live rightly.


Jesus said to her,

GO AND SIN NO MORE.

This was a certification that her nature had been changed, from adultery with men, to adoption with God. She became born again. She became the living testimony of ll Corinthians 5:17.

‘Go and sin no more,’
That was a powerful charge. It was a command, verdict and a law. An inscription upon her soul.

Friends, that woman represent every sinner around each and every one of us, they need help, they need Christ, they know they are wrong but they are confused as to what to do.

Beloved, would you help them?

Doo something before they’re ‘stoned to death,’ I mean the second death, eternal damnation.

Defend them and reveal Christ to them.
(John 8:1-12)

Let us pray.

© Shadrach Iyere