Category Archives: Commitment
Corner Stones
Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” Judg.6:26 [emphasis added]
“…laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood…”. In raising an altar there are three things we must pay attention to.
The Stone: In obedience, by faith, Jerub-baal [that is Gideon] gathered the stones for the altar as instructed by God. So what do the stones represent when it comes to building an altar? Does this mean you and I need to need to start gathering stones? How does this apply to present day altar building? “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1Pet.2:5 [emphasis added]. The stones represent you and I, so the stone you need to build an altar for God is yourself. God says, you, come yourself. And when you and I come together, we become lively stones and this becomes an altar to the Most High God.
The Wood: The wood represents the fuel and the fuel is the Holy Spirit. The wood can come from anywhere but the fuel is the Holy Spirit.
The Sacrifice: The sacrifice represents your body, your time, and your substance. Mathematically speaking, Sacrifice = Body + Time + Substance. In fact, your sacrifice is your life and that is what must be consistently present for the fire to burn and to keep burning. “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him” Rom.12:1 [emphasis added]. We are to give God our bodies as a living and a holy sacrifice, the kind He will find acceptable, because of all He has done for us. This is truly the way to worship Him. Some people erroneously say that when you get born again, it is your spirit that gets born again. So you can do anything with your body but just worship God in your spirit. And they will support it with this scripture, God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. While it is true that God is a spirit, it is not true that God does not care about your body. God wants your body as is clearly stated in scripture. And that is in the New Testament for those who want to differentiate New Testament from Old Testament. Give your body. If you have given God your body, it is difficult to allow the same body to be defiled. If your body belongs to God, no rascal should be able to touch it because your body belongs to God.
Prayer: Jesus, my body belongs to You and I present it to You today afresh as a living and holy sacrifice; may it always be pleasing to You, in Jesus Name.
Hot Or Cold?
“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” Rev.3:15-16 [emphasis added]
The problem with a lot of believers is indifference. God’s Word is clear on the direction, God’s mind on every subject is clear but some believers are just indifferent. Jesus says, “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference” Rev.3:17-19 [emphasis added]. Read the rest of this entry
Where Is He?
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” Rev.3:20.
#4. Jesus is waiting to fellowship with you and I. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me” Rev.3:20 [KJV]. This passage is very popular with evangelistic crusades and people give their lives to Jesus. That’s fantastic! However, with scripture, there are many levels of interpretation but primarily, Read the rest of this entry
No Time Like Now
“Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you” 1Kings 19:20.
#3. Jesus is waiting for you and I to respond to His call. Jesus is waiting for you to respond. “A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again” Acts 24:24-25 [emphasis added]. Read the rest of this entry
Necessary vs. Convenient
“When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. All that time I have eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed” Dan.10:2-3.
There are a lot of things that are necessary but not all of these things are convenient. The difference between the great man and the ordinary man is the great man does what is necessary and the ordinary man does what is convenient. The common man is about his convenience and he will resist everything that tries to pull him out of the Read the rest of this entry
Enough With The Excuses!
“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” 2 Cor.3: 17
The reason you are still battling with that sin which is keeping you bound, is the excuse you are giving. The more you excuse it, the more you are incapacitated by it. Academically, the reason you have not passed your examinations is because you are giving excuses. Who says nobody in your family ever succeeds in math? Read the rest of this entry
What Will It Be?
“So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant” 1 Kings 19:21.
The third category of excuses is the pride of life – pride in our achievements and possessions. “Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out” Luke 14:19. The question to you and I is, what exactly is your excuse? If you follow the story in Luke 14:15-24 [Please read], immediately the Master Read the rest of this entry
The Church
“For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all” Eph.4:4-6.
The church is a body and this is how God intends for it to be. This is why everybody must be actively involved in what goes on in his or her local church. You need to get uncomfortable with watching other people do God’s work because it is not just for a certain group of people. In the past, it was assigned to the Levites but the Bible tells Read the rest of this entry
What Works?
“Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work” John 4:34
If you look at the life of the older son and the life of the younger son in Luke 15, one thing is consistent – work! The older son was working in his father’s vineyard, the younger son was applying for work. But one’s works is good works and the others’ works is dead works. It’s possible to be serving God with dead works but it’s also Read the rest of this entry
Your Business
‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them…’ Luke 2:8-9 [KJV].
My grandmother would say, “You cannot be looking at another person’s wristwatch to determine the timing of your own life”. Everybody has his or her own timing. Which brings us to the third thing that you and I have to reinforce or learn. Your job is to mind your own business. It is wisdom to mind your own business. God is going to be doing amazing things around you. Thank God for what He is doing but focus on your own because Read the rest of this entry
