All is Not as it Seems
“Spiritual accountability is the proof-ability against the immorality in this society.
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I will paint you a scenario….
In light of the current health climate, you hear that a regular member in your congregation is taking a sabbatical from church and proceed to assume they have been offended and left the faith. You get upset and procced to tell others the situation, causing discord in the church. All the while, not knowing that they received medical advice and were asked to abstain from large gatherings.
Have you made similar assumptions about another person or group of people? Sometimes we make assumptions based on limited information. These thought patterns or behaviours can result in a myriad of consequences and we decided to focus on 3; Defeat, Attack and Success.
DEFEAT
Looking into the book of Judges, we can observe the constant cycles of apostasy and deliverance. The people of Israel consistently sinned and created idols for themselves, ultimately then leading to oppression. In the years of suffering, they would pray to God for mercy and God usually sent a judge to rescue them.
In Judges 16 vs 16 – 20
Samson was one of the Judges of Israel. He was favoured by the Lord and was gifted with immense strength which came from his long hair. He grew strong and mighty but also started to sin. His enemies wanted to know the secret to his strength and employed the services of Delilah; a woman of ill repute.
Delilah pestered him day by day and Samson eventually disclosed his secret to her. After acquiring this knowledge she then shaved his head as he slept. Samson attempted to face his enemies not knowing that his hair had been cut and the lord had left him. Samson was eventually captured.
In this story, we can see that Samson started to deviate from the statues of God. He didn’t suffer the consequences straightaway, so he continued, and it ultimately led to his demise. How often do we sin because we think that judgement won’t begin right away?
Remember! We cannot overcome sin unless through the power of Jesus Christ.
ATTACK
In Judges chapter four, we learn of Deborah; a prophetess who was judging Israel at the time and the Lord was with her. She raised an army and went against an oppressor by the name of Sisera. Deborah had the upper-hand and Sisera fled away, leaving his men to perish. In verse 15 – 21, we learn that Sisera ran and went into the tent of a woman in hope of refuge.
He didn’t see her as a threat and even asked her to keep watch over him in case any men came. As he slept, this very woman drove a peg deep into his temple, killing him. This story may sound too far-fetched from our own lives. But the little things that we engage in (music, relationships, sex), that we think are harmless, have the potential to become strongholds in our lives.
If we look at music for example. Some music preaches the opposite of God's word, and we may listen because it’s “just music”. Yet, this has the potential to affect our mental health, sanity and can even dampen our ability to hear or see from God.
Truly I say to you, the “subtle” things can open us for attack.
SUCCESS
In the book of Matthews 13 vs 53 - 58, we learn of the many miracles that our lord Jesus Christ performed. His fame grew and many came from far and wide to hear him preach and to see him perform signs and wonders. Yet when he came to his own town; Nazareth, he was dismissed.
They could not see him as any more than the “carpenter’s son” and because of over-familiarity, they did not respect him but instead took offense. Because of their unbelief, Jesus did not perform any miracles amongst them. They missed out. Their lives could have been transformed by the teachings of Jesus Christ, yet, they chose to see him as a child and did not respect his wisdom.
Contrastingly, when you look at the disciples Peter and John. They were unschooled and ordinary men. In Acts 4, they were arrested by the Sadducees for proclaiming the gospel. They were taken before the rulers of law and the high priests to be judged for their actions. Then the Holy spirit came upon Peter and he spoke in such a way that they were marvelled. They had to acknowledge that these two men have been with Jesus.
This goes to show that nobody is “self-made”, many times we block our own success because we assume that the people next to us are not good enough. We don’t know that the person or people around us may be the gateway to our own success. Truly, there is great gain in humility; when we don’t dismiss others because of our assumptions of their ability.
We sometimes assume that it is foolishness to say “I believe in God and I am fine” because it is too little or doesn’t align with the standards and normality of the world. But we achieve greatness when we allow ourselves to be pliable in the hands of God.
God created you and only he knows your true limits and potential; so why not rest in the assurance of the all-knowing God who never fails or disappoints. Alternatively, there also awaits a path for those who believe that they are wise in their own eyes.
-A.
I am sharing 'Faith' with you
“Faith is the mechanism through which we are saved.”
Hebrews 11: 1 teaches that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence (proof) of things not seen. In other words, faith is having complete confidence in the accomplishment of God’s promises, although they are not yet tangible.
But where do we find these promises our faith should be based on? In Romans 10:17, we learn that true faith is based and anchored on scriptural facts. Every single promise given to us is found in the Word of God.
True Faith is a gift from God, it is an unrequested item given to us by God without the expectation of payment or anything in return. How do we treat this gift called faith? Firstly, we must be thankful and appreciative of God, the gift- giver. Secondly, we must keep our gift clean, we shouldn’t allow other sources to corrupt our faith. Finally, we need to protect our gift. As a Christian, our faith will constantly come under attack; when it does, let us defend it.
True faith is a logical and personal choice. No one can force us to believe in God and His promises, it is our personal choice. Faith is a logical decision because it is based on logical factors, evidence, God’s revelations to us, witnesses, testimonies and human history. Your faith in God makes sense, let no one deceive you!
True Faith is not the same as mere belief. In James 2:19-24 we learn that even demons believe in God’s existence. Hence simple belief is equivalent to dead (passive) faith. In this scripture, we also learn from Abraham that true faith is active! It demands a response! Passive faith relies on our five senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste), while active (true) faith relies on the unseen promises of God. Passive faith is dependent on self while active faith is dependent on God. Active faith believes that we are not self- made but rather, we are formed by God, in His image and for His purpose. Passive faith says, ‘I believe’. Meanwhile, active faith says, ‘I believe and I respond’.
What is the correct response in faith? To choose to obey and surrender to the will of God. We see an excellent example in Genesis 22:9-12, where Abraham chooses to obey God’s instructions of using his only legitimate son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. In this scripture, we see Abraham yield ownership of his son to God because he acknowledged that what belonged to him belonged to God first. This included himself (Romans 12:1), his properties, his son, his time and other resources. The same applies to us.
One of the main obstacles to faith is familiarity. As the saying goes, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. Have we grown too familiar with God in our lives? Do you only pray when you need something? Do you only pick up your bible in church? Do you only worship when you are in the mood?
Another obstacle is a lack of knowledge. We have learnt that active faith is believing in God and acting accordingly. How can we believe in a God we haven’t spent enough time with?
-M.
Truth on Trial
“Everything that society deems as the truth is a misappropriation of God’s truth.”
The truth is under attack! We are in a war, in a post-truth world
We have a choice : is it to treasure Jesus as truth or reject Jesus as a liar and false
There is no middle ground!
Many themes have been dealt with in this series. How do we truly differentiate between the ‘good things’ of the world and the actual good things of God?
Here are two things to think about the ‘good things’ of the world/society:
It promotes man and his feelings
It demotes God and his Word
This is a trap that we can often fall into, “I did this because it felt right.” And this is NOT TRUTH. Look at Proverbs 14:12 – things that feel right/seem right are not always good.
Listen – things that feel like the truth that isn’t aligned with God’s word or will – it leads to destruction in the end. Let’s not mince our words here!
We need to go back to Jesus, to God, to His Word. And that’s what we’re going to do.
Bible Time – y’all should totally read these verses
John 18:28-38
Verse 34 – this calls us to honestly, and I mean honestly question the truth
God is not afraid to ask questions (spoiler alert He is not afraid of anything). Just because we don’t want to consider the truth it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We passively park it away; we shouldn’t do this. We have to find the right truth.
Verses 36-37 – we have to objectively, unencumbered by the world’s values, consider the truth
We have to have a robust defence of our faith. So how do we defend our faith? (Hint: Read your Bible – it’s actually really simple, I know! God is not a god of trickery – His thoughts towards us are of good and not evil)
Verse 34 – we have to personally, not through our friends or our Pastor, we have to personally engage with the truth
Having a personal revelation of God ourselves – this truly opens our eyes to the truth.
Two other questions we should think about:
What is the truth?//Who is Jesus? (A book I’d recommend, the Book of John)
I am the bread of life = John 6
I am the light of the world = John 8
I am the door of the sheep = John 10
I am the good Shepherd = John 10
I am the resurrection and the life = John 11
I am the truth = John 14
I am the one true vine = John 15
I know – where are the verses? This is a challenge from me to you! Find them, read them, find out who Jesus is! Happy reading.
Summary:
You must confront the truth. Whether you believe or you don’t. There is no middle ground!
You must treasure truth, keep it close to you, guard with all your being! It is not enough to know or acknowledge the truth.
You must defend the truth - be mastered by truth.
And lastly you must tell the truth.
In The Beginning
From the numerous movies we have watched while growing up, we are sold the narrative that if we stay good long enough, we will surely win. This has now become the template many of us live our lives. ‘If I spend my life doing good things (doing the opposite of evil), then I win in the end’.
However, a great example that quenches this lie can be found in Genesis 3:1-7. Although the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden was forbidden by God, Eve saw that it wasn’t rotten, it was edible, and it was good for food. For this reason, she chose to eat the fruit. We quickly learn from Eve’s mistake that; it is God who defines what is good and evil. Therefore, we require God’s insight to discern what He has defined as good and to choose that option.
Although Eve saw the fruit as good for food, God didn’t see the fruit in this same way. However, like Eve, due to our desire for immediate fleshly satisfaction, we are quick to allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) to be the key factors in our decision-making process. However, in many cases this does not align with God’s will for our lives. Thus, we must be careful with the lens we look through to judge what is good. Our senses need to be sharpened daily to discern what is the good, acceptable and perfect option in God’s sight rather than our own.
Like Eve, we often struggle to be submissive to God’s will for us as our definition of good seems much more pleasing. In the end, Eve’s poor decision making led to catastrophic consequences in Genesis 3:16.
By God’s grace and through the death of Jesus Christ we are not required to be good to receive salvation, we are loved not because of our righteousness but by His grace (Ephesians 2:4-5). Having said that, when we do become born again, we must aim to become like Christ, holy and blameless.
God is what is good and when we begin to use this truth as our daily lens, we will begin to see change.
Yield
“Why settle for a second-hand revelation? Don’t be a spectator, be a partaker.”
Put the baby cap on!
Anything important doesn’t necessarily mean it’s complicated
Human fear is different to Godly fear
God makes his ways known
It’s all about intimacy
We are told to yield, but what does that mean?
Yield (verb):
To hand over possession
To give yourself up to a thing/habit
To relinquish power/control
To surrender
To give up your breath/spirit – to die
We are not in control; God is in the driving seat or at least he should be and we should be dead to the world. We must not forget that whatever we yield to most, usually speaks loudest to us.
Sometimes we want to be liked, to be popular – “like me”
Sometimes it’s our intelligence, to be challenged – “intrigue me”
Sometimes it can be sensual desire, alcohol, drugs, sex – “entice me”
Sometimes it can be social status/clout or money – “pursue me”
It’s not bad to want these things, but it shouldn’t be the main thing. This would be idolatry, all of these things should submit to a greater yes which is Jesus.
Having drawn near, are you ready to yield to God?
God’s voice convicts, corrects – He does not condemn
Does it glorify God or me?
Does it draw me closer to God or away from Him?
Bible Time – y’all should totally read the verses
Isaiah 55
This is an invitation to enjoy the benefits of God because the servant (Jesus) has paid the price (Matthew 5:3-6)
Verses 1-3
If we want to hear in our activity, acknowledge God’s proactivity
God’s voice must be actively sought
A lot of active verbs are used in these verses
Verses 6 and 7
If we want to hear, we have to seek and forsake
Environments, what we listen to, things that we partake in, we have to forsake our ways in order to seek the Lord
Look at Hebrews 12:1 too!
Verses 8 and 9
If we want to hear, switch frequency
We might not understand but we should do this, because in a few days/months/years you’ll see why he did what he did
Look at 1 Corinthians 2:14 too!
Summary:
We should submit to God’s Word – it’s another way that we can hear Him
We should surrender to His ways
We should seek His purposes, pray – allow them to lead us, He will then reveal the things that concern our hearts
We should serve His people
Draw Near
In our second series at KC, we discussed hearing from God. At the start of the sermon, we found that most people find it difficult hearing from God. This is due to several reasons; which we explored in this series.
I hope that even in this short summary, the word of God moves in your life, Amen.
Checkpoint 1
God does not speak in vain. When God speaks, it is for a purpose. It is an invitation for us to draw closer and commune with him as stated in 1 Peter 2 vs 9. The people of the Old Testament were not privy to such luxury because they were subject to the law and had to commune with God through priests. However, we are no longer subject to the law due to the blood of our Lord Jesus, we can now come boldly to the throne of grace and develop an intimate relationship with the Father.
Checkpoint 2
If you turn to Exodus 20 vs 18-21, the scripture describes the scene of God ascending the mountain to meet with Moses. The experience is sensory with thunder and lightning, smoke, fire and this caused the Israelites to fear God. Instead of drawing nearer, they let fear dictate their actions and thoughts. Thus, they stood afar and did not come close.
The behaviours of the Israelites may seem amiss, however having a sensory knowledge of God can produce fear and not the fear of God which is a fruit of the spirit and causes us to draw near. Rather! a fear in the flesh that drives us away from him.
How often do we cling to the secondary revelations of others instead of communing with God ourselves?
I urge you to be partakers in your relationship with God. This does not diminish the roles that friends, mentors and pastors have in our walk however we ought to confront the fear. The revelation of God is more compelling than the darkness and uncertainty facing us. And in the midst of the fear; the voice of God guides and sustains.
Checkpoint 3
God has already made his way known to all of us. From checkpoint 1, we know that the voice of God is an invitation to draw near. But his voice also helps us to recognise that it is indeed God speaking. This will help us to discern his voice above every other noise in our lives.
The voice of God will never be contrary to his word and if you want to hear from God? Get into his word. His word will help us to test everything that is being spoken to us to ensure that we are not being led astray by our own desires. When you hear a voice, ask, does it glorify God? Does it align with the flesh or the spirit?
The voice of God also informs us about thoughts towards us, his desires, his promises, his intentions and his emotions…Psalm 139 vs 17-18 tells us that his thoughts about us outnumber the grains of sand! I hope this gives you hope that you are always in heart.
Checkpoint 4
Hebrew 3 vs 7-9 reminds not to harden our hearts when we hear the voice of God. The Israelites hardened their hearts against God, they followed their desires and even created idols in his place. Let us learn from their lesson. When we hear from God, whether it be through his voice, his word or those around us; let us respond.
The voice of God should steer our hearts, it should cause us to submit and surrender to him at once. Also, savour his voice. In those times of doubt, I encourage you to remember the times you have so clearly heard him and rejoice that you are not alone but instead, there is a God that knows you and is calling you to himself.
-A.
Living My Best Life
“God is the only way of life we can get lost in and find ourselves.”
Put the baby cap on!
When you know who you are, you know what fits = knowing your calling
You have a giftedness cluster = a spectrum of gifts and talents
Everyone has at least one gift!
And our value system should be from God
All others = substandard, there’s a limitation to what we can get from it
For your purpose in life there is a scripture that God can release to you for you to hold onto for the rest of your life = He honours his Word over his name
For real guys, we can literally go to God in our secret place and be like “Hey God, this is your Word, and you will never let your Word go back to you void! God you’ve gotta do this for me thank you.”
We literally have the power (within reason) to ask God for whatever we want! Provided we have faith and it aligns with God’s Plan (NOT OURS!) then it’ll happen.
Don’t get it twisted, many of us have our own plan and want God to jump on board, that’s not how it works! Did you give yourself your purpose or did God? You’ve got to jump on board to God’s plan. He wants the best for us!
We have to be obedient – obey the Holy Spirit on time When you are on course for your purpose, the Holy Spirit gives you an instruction, we have to do it. If you don’t do it = it takes longer to complete it. Something that could have taken a week takes you 6 months! Why are we creating more struggles for ourselves? The world, the enemy gives enough things to deal with, let’s not add to it peeps!
Bible Time – y’all should totally read the verses
Ephesians 3:1 – 11
Paul is telling us that his purpose is to evangelise to all the people and his purpose was tied in with being in prison = he wrote his letters in prison
There is a uniqueness with purpose – it hasn’t been done before
Regardless of what you think of yourself, God has put things in you, remember we each have AT LEAST one gift!
Your purpose is given to you by God (Why? It doesn’t matter.)
It is the glory of God to go conceal the matter (what) not the reason (why)
It is the purpose of kings/queens to reveal it (the what not the why!)
Genesis 45:7 – 8
Once you are shown something once it is completed, God will show you something else, the next phase of our journey – unless it’s time to die
We have to spend time with God to find out more, go back in his Word
Esther 4:14
Esther achieved personal success by becoming the Queen
But her significance was to save the Jews
We should not stop when we achieve personal success, we have to go above and beyond that
God calls us to a group of people - then next level is significance
2 steps to purpose (only given to us by God)
Personal success (for yourself)
Significance (doing it for others)
Summary:
We have our own purpose anchor scripture!
We must be obedient!
There is a uniqueness with purpose!
We do not need to know the why, just the what!
We should not stop at personal success
Location
Send me your location (Lord), we’ll focus on communicatin’, cause… let’s be honest we can’t navigate through life without you as our GoogleMaps, Uber, SatNav and compass! Direct us lawdd! 🎶😅
Our location; where we are can aid or hide our gifts, it is important that we dwell in the secret place to ask God to position us in the right place and at the right time. When it comes to our purpose; it is not a destination, it is a journey. We never arrive, we keep uncovering, till we die.
Think of it this way, just because a light has been shone on a particular aspect of your life, does not mean the light produced what you are seeing, rather it revealed it. Just as you discover your purpose it has always been there, God just reveals pieces of it to you bit by bit. In the same way on a car journey you see buildings, trees, people and many other things before arriving at your final destination. Well, it is almost the same with your purpose except you can’t see the final destination.
Let’s look at perspective; perspective means you're seeing, hearing and believing.
When you change your perspective, you can gain a better understanding, of the different opportunities God has for you. It can take changing your location, to change your perspective and with the right perspective, your gifts and talents can arise or unravel right before your eyes. Sometimes we are placed in different locations to have a different insight or perspective to God’s plans for our lives (Judges 7:9-15).
Yours gifts and talents arise from your perspective, so that’s why it is important have the right perspective and be in the right location so that your gifts will be revealed.The right location presents the right opportunities and as you tackle them you discover your gifts and talents.
On this journey of ‘finding purpose’ do not be discouraged if you find yourself lost or disorientated. God is working everything out for your good - follow His word, His will and His ways.
Discovering our Gifts & Talents 2
God has called us to fulfil a purpose here on earth. He has also blessed us with the tools (our gifts and talents) required to execute that plan, to work the ground and care for it. In Genesis 2:4-5, we learn that even before the fall of man, God had called man to work and had equipped man with the tools to accomplish that task.
Based on Joshua Komolafe’s analogy, our tools metaphorically take on four different physical means. Using your hands to tend the ground symbolizes operating in an area that doesn’t allow your gifts to flourish. You achieve results at a slow rate because you find no fulfilment in that work, hence you are unproductive and frustrated.
On the other hand, working the ground with a trowel signifies working operating in an area that favours your gifts. There is less struggle to achieve good results because you have placed yourself in an environment which allows your gifts to surface.
Thirdly, tending the ground with a shovel implies understanding your gifts and acquiring the relevant skills to sharpen your gifts and talents. This results in a very productive outcome.
The best tool of all four at working the ground is a digger. The digger denotes understanding your gifts and talents, positioning yourself in the right location so that they can surface, acquiring the appropriate skills to improve on them and working together with the Holy Spirit to achieve supernatural results. Note that, a higher level of productivity attracts a greater level of responsibility as explained in Luke 12:48.
In conclusion, we must pray to uncover our gifts and talents, position ourselves in the right location and to attain the necessary skills to enhance them. Most importantly, we must seek direction from the Holy Spirit to be able to execute our talents accurately.
Discovering our Gifts & Talents 1
In discovering our gifts and talents, we need to be aware of where or what we place our value in. Usually, our value systems often stem from ourselves, other people or external sources/beings. Even when we don’t want to admit it, more often than not we look to these things for validation or confirmation. Let’s be real, it usually doesn’t end up good, no matter how much we want it to sometimes.
So ask yourself - where does your validation come from? Is it from your boyfriend/girlfriend? Social media? Friends or family? Let’s take a minute to think about this…
If we see Psalm 139:16-18 as a love letter from a father to his child, we will see a letter saturated in love, validation and confirmation. God has created each and everyone one of us with so much care and intentionality you can’t help but think “wow this is what He thinks of me, I really matter to Him”.
A wise friend once said “How can you worship the creation and not the creator.” You have been created to be set apart from your co-worker, your friend and even your siblings. So be bold, hone in and maximise on the gifts and talents God has placed in you because whether you want to believe it or not - there is NO ONE like you!
So because there is no one like you and with the gifts and talents given to you by the creator of heaven and earth, accepting God as your Lord and Saviour means there will be no fear in asking God show me what gifts and talents you have given me and help me to use them for your glory - *somebody say hallelujah!*
So let’s explore these amazing gifts and talents through our gifted cluster - SNAPE APE (shout out to Joshua Komolafe for this great acronym).
Spiritual gifts - this is our God given unique capacity that has been given to each of us for the purpose of releasing a Holy Spirit empowered ministry
Natural Abilities - these are our innate skills, talents or aptitudes that enable us to accomplish things.
Personality/Emotions - this is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form our character/individuality/temperament
Acquired Skills - these are our learnt skills, talents or aptitudes that enable us to accomplish things
Physical Expressions - our environment, experience and exposure