Love was one of the most powerful weapons God used in redeeming Mankind back to himself; and that weapon is still very much active today.
The Bible says in John 3 vs 16;
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Jesus was the only Son God ever had, yet, God was willing to sacrifice Him for the salvation of the world.
God gave Jesus out into the cold hands of death just because of you and I and in doing this, put both Heaven and Earth in Great danger.
Great danger?
Yes! Because the fate of both Heaven and earth depended on whether Jesus would fulfil or fail in His mission.
Jesus faced several temptations, yet, He overcame them all. He refused to be distracted in His mission to save mankind. Scriptures tell us that He prayed with so much fervency – not for Himself, but for you and I. (Hebrews 5 vs 7)
He had the power to disappear before even when the soldiers came to arrest Him at Gethsemane.
But He said, “Not my will Lord, but thy will be done”.
His great love for us made Him willing to sacrifice His freedom and dignity.
He even bore our curse;
Galatians 3:13 – “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
Folks, God’s display of love on calvary remains the highest display of love for eternity.
St. John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Even when we fall, He picks us up and wipe the stains of sin and guilt away with His Blood.
This is the incomprehensible love of Christ – the love that passes understanding.
If you ever feel like anyone hates you, remember that two thousand years ago, a Divine Being named ‘Jesus’ made the greatest love sacrifice on the cross.
Are you feeling hopeless or in despair? Look unto the cross and be strengthened.
If you ever feel like an outcast, Remember you have been adopted by God through Christ and you are now a part of God’s Household {Ephesians 2:12-13}
1 Cor 4:15 KJV “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”
Paul says you may have ten thousand instructors, but not many fathers (1 Cor 4:15).
I would that young believers who love the word understand this.
Just as sure as your parents at home were not your teachers in school, and your teachers in school were not your parents at home; so it is in the kingdom and with the church.
Your schoolteachers and university lecturers definitely taught you things your parents didn’t know, but you did not leave home to live with them. You went to class, learnt a lot and went back home.
You will meet anointed wordsmiths and charismatic apostles and prophets; but your shepherd is your shepherd – that is, your pastor.
You do not receive upbringing in the classroom. You receive it at home.
Foundation, fundamentals, Character; even the edge that makes you excel in school, comes from your parents at home. Mine taught me a lot of schoolwork that put me ahead.
Even in the boarding school, teachers are only partly interested in you. It is your parents who think of your 24/7 every aspect of your life.
So, do not go to and fro following this teacher and that apostle because they “have the word”. No. That is how spiritual vagabonds are bred.
Spiritual vagabonds are people going forward very fast to nowhere in particular. They have many so fathers, they do not know who they are.
Be planted somewhere under someone in a church family, whether of 10 or of 10,000.
It takes more than teaching to become a well rounded Christian or minister of Christ. Christ is a Person. And Christianity is a Life. It is found not only in what is written or said, but in men who have believed and who walk with the Lord.
You are living epistles, said an apostle, read of all men (2 Cor 3:2). Disciples aren’t just those who have been taught the teachin, but those who have walked the walk (Mark 3:14 – that they might BE WITH HIM).
Even the general idea that you are a member of a church because you listen to the message every Sunday, is a mistaken one.
Those that be PLANTED in the house of the Lord, the word says, shall flourish in the courts of our God (Psalm 92:13).
Discover your place in the Body. Understand your spiritual identity.
Belong and be connected and fed and mentored somewhere specific whether it is Deeper Life, House of the Rock or Celestial Church.
From there you can follow anyone. Be a planted specific that drinks from one source and sips from several others; rather than a wandering generality who has no distinct identity, a pipe or harp that has no distinct sound.
Have many instructors, if you must; but make sure someone specific is bringing you up in the Lord.
The ‘God-figure’ in this generation, I am afraid, has been diluted and reduced beyond what the Personality of God really entails. We now use sensual images to depict the relation of the Holy Spirit with Saints.
We now have Christians who brag about how they relate with The Holy Spirit as their Lover. They speak ecstatically of how they ‘make love’ with Him, and how He hugs them, and even them pet names.
As fanciful as this sounds, it does not correlate with the fatherhood of God which we are given in scriptures. It only appeals to the sensuality of our human self and is highly inaccurate when weighed by the tenets of scriptures.
Some people do not feel they are close to someone unless they can talk to that person anyhow, and jump on that person’s head. That is not closeness, that is mere childishness. Some even relate with God this way. They think it is okay to address God like He is their mate or sparring partner. They justify this wrong culture, by saying it is because God is their ‘Padi’ (Nigerian colloquial term for ‘buddy’).
Some believers see this as a sign of intimacy. Alas, it is not. It is just the culture of childishness.
The mature ones who truly love God, do not rant. God loves all His children, and that’s what makes us His children; but only those who love Him are mature. Loving Him is what makes for maturity.
Whenever mature believers feel they have a strong case with God, they do not speak to Him anyhow.
Abraham pleaded with God over Sodom and Gomorrah, because of his nephew, Lot who lived there.
The account is in Genesis 18:23-33. He kept saying “Lord, don’t be,angry, if I ask one more question” He was was called God’s friend (James 2:23), yet, never once did he address God casually. He called God, ‘Lord’.
In Exodus 33:11-23, MOSES had a very intimate conversation with God.
He kept saying “Lord, if I’ve found favour in your sight…”. He pleaded with God over the stubborn Israelites in Numbers 14:1-30. He said “Please pardon them”. God said He spoke with Moses as someone speaks with his FRIEND (Exodus 33:11)
David was a man after God’s heart. Read the Psalms and see how he prayed. When he lost everything in 1 Samuel 30, he didn’t speak flippantly to God. He was greatly distressed, but prayed with thanksgiving, making his requests.
Jesus pleaded with the Father concerning the suffering He was to go through. Even though Jesus is the Son of God. The one who dwelt in the bosom of the Father; He did not sit down, cross his legs, and say “Dad, make you sef tink am. We wee drag dis tin o”. No. The Bible says He knelt down (Luke 22:41) and laid face down on the ground (Matthew 26:31), and said “Father, if it is possible, do this thing for Me. I submit to your will”.
That is how intimacy with God works.
Look at how the apostles prayed in Acts 4:24-31. They started with “Lord, you are God”, not “Daddy, come here!”
Paul in Ephesians 3:14 said “For this cause I BOW MY KNEES TO THE FATHER”.
A ‘modern’, ignorant saint, who read such, would say “Do you kneel down to ask things from your Father? Will your son or daughter kneel down to ask things from you? This is as a result of ignorance about the Fatherhood of God!”
Western political correctness has entered the church as perverted grace gospel.
“God is love. God is not angry with anyone. He doesn’t have any anger. God is not bipolar. He just loves everyone and has forgotten all about sins. Do not talk about sins. God’s Spirit never convicts the believer of sin. Do not call it sin. Just preach “love”. God is not to be feared.”
These are sensual opinions that civilization has created in the Body of Christ today. Civilization has corrupted our thinking.
To raise a child now means to allow them do whatever they want including slapping and insulting you whenever they feel like.
Thanks to civilization, any punishment meted out to kids, which is beyond “you are grounded for 2 weeks” and “no more ice cream” is criminal. Pupils can insult their wards and teachers. and it is tolerated.
Unfortunately, this civilization has also negatively influenced African fatherhood.
To African fathers, the Bible says “Do not provoke, or harass, your children by the way you treat them, or be too hard on them to the point that they are discouraged, frustrated, feel inferior, and become resentful and sullen (Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21)”
To American fathers, the Bible says your children MUST NOT be wild, unruly or insubordinate, but must be under control and must be submissive (1 Tim 3:4; Titus 1:6).
Proverbs 22:15: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.”
Despite how plain the Bible is, on approving the meting out of physical discipline to children, we still have Saints in the Body of Christ today, who due to being influenced by the evil civilization prevalent in the society, condemn what the Bible justifies.
Proverbs 23:13-14 New International Version
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. 14 Punish them with the rod and save them from death.
Physical discipline is not always necessary, and we all pray for children who will listen to gentle but firm counsel. Physical discipline is wrong when done in a reactionary way; but when done in love and in good measure, it is good and right.
Dear friends,
God forbid that we look to Africans to know His fatherhood. And God forbids that we look to Americans to understand His fatherhood.
The BIBLE is our standard. And in the end it will be clear Who is right.
1 John 3:1 says the LOVE of the Father makes us God’s children, and Hebrews 12:5-11 tells us that the DISCIPLINE of the Father makes us His children, and that without this discipline, we are like bastards.
Yet, some will still feel that because they are going through a hard time, they can talk to God anyhow. I haven’t met even one who went through a tenth of what Job went through. At a point, he felt he had been wronged, and demanded an explanation from God.
“God, where are you, how could you let this happen to me? How could you do this to me, it is unfair! Where were you when this happened? You are unfair!!” He said to God, repeatedly.
Just an answer from God, and he repented saying, “I’ve been foolish. I have been really foolish. I take it all back. I repent in dust and ashes.”
KOINONIA ART 