Category Archives: Relationship
Paid
Gen. 22:8 “Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
Isaac was a type of Jesus and in today’s scripture reference, Abraham was speaking prophetically when he said, God will provide a lamb for Himself. And that was exactly what happened; even in the time of Abraham, God provided a lamb for Himself. In humanity’s case, it is not the blood of bulls and goats that can make a difference to our sin. It is the spotless Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, that makes a difference. Totally beautiful! Hesed begins to make a lot more sense; ‘when the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.’ “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” When the person from whom I expect to receive nothing gives me everything!
Let us shift our emphasis to what the Lamb has come to do. John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (NRSV emphasis added). The word “Sin” in this scripture is singular, not plural. It is sin – past, present, and future lumped together, nailed to the cross. Unbelievable! It means that the sin ‘from Adam till rapture’ is nailed to the cross, lumped up in one sacrifice. If this does not get you excited, I do not know what else will. ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus.’ In the Old Testament, the concept of ‘atonement’ is the concept of ‘Covering’. In the Old Testament, an atoning sacrifice refers to a sacrifice to cover the sin. But when Jesus came, He became the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, not the Lamb of God that covers the sin of the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
In the New Testament, atonement has the underlining foundation of propitiation. Jesus became the propitiation of our sin. Propitiation is a complex word, complex not in understanding but complex in meaning. Propitiation, on one hand, means to appease the wrath of someone that has been offended. And on the other hand, to restore in fellowship with the person that has been offended. Read the rest of this entry
Character & Charisma
1 Cor. 13:2 “What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others.”(CEV)
It is so amazing that the Holy Spirit is so involved. Sadly, sometimes we just run off without engaging Him. If we do not engage the Holy Spirit, we cannot get the best that God has to offer. The quality of our lives here on earth as believers, is directly proportional to our relationship with the Holy Spirit, to how much of Him we allow in our lives, to how open we are to Him, to how open we are to His leading, to His direction, to His guidance. Read the rest of this entry
Walk & Talk
Jer. 33:3 “Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don’t know and can’t find out.” (CEV)
You have to learn to communicate with the Holy Spirit. You have to talk to Him and actually expect Him to talk back to you. Do you think it is spooky or maybe even scary to expect the Holy Spirit to talk back to you? Guess what? The Holy Spirit is already talking to you, you just have not realized it. Ask Him questions and expect His answers. I do not do it as often these days maybe I need to begin to do it again as often as I used to. But years ago, when I meet someone for the first time, as I shake the person’s hand I ask, “Who is this, Holy Spirit?” and He always responds – always! It is so exciting and interactive.
I met a lady back in the day and when I asked the Holy Spirit about her, He said, “She is brutish.” I had never heard the word brutish before. So, I checked the dictionary, there was no Google at the time. The dictionary defined brutish as ‘He that causes pain.’ I understood the Holy Spirit was saying that she will cause me pain. My response? This one cannot hurt a fly. She was so sweet, so gentle, and so beautiful. How can You say she is brutish? I convinced myself that I did not get what the Holy Spirit was saying this time. The truth is that you have to give yourself some bandwidth, sometimes you will not get it right and it is fine. So, I pushed it aside, but it kept coming back to my remembrance. Fast forward two years later, the girl showed me. I could have saved myself all that drama.
With the people you employ, you can save yourself a lot of drama by just asking. The people you bring into your business; you think because somebody just has a bright idea you should partner with the person? You do not know the things that are going on behind the scene. Trust me, you have no clue. But if you ask, God will show you, God will tell you. Years ago, I was travelling, and sitting beside me was an old white frail lady. I put her age at eighty, eighty-five. If I am going to be sitting beside someone for six to eight hours, I want to know who the person is. So, I did not shake her hand or anything, I just said to the Holy Spirit, “Who is this person?” And He said, “She is a missionary.” I looked at her, “This one? How can this old frail woman be a missionary? It is a tough thing to be a missionary. So, I dismissed it.
She was struggling with her seatbelt, I helped her. I wanted to sleep but she would not let me. She kept telling me stories and I ended up not sleeping. Then, she told me that she had been a missionary in Calabar since she was eighteen. She had dedicated her life to the gospel and was now going back home at eighty-five. I was shocked. By now the plane had landed; then she held my hands and she began to pray and prophesy at the top of her voice. I was embarrassed but people that know God sometimes don’t care who is staring. Everything she prophesied has come to pass. The point is this, we need to learn to communicate with the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please tell me things that I do not know and cannot find out, in Jesus Name. Amen!
The Old, The New
Col.1:16-17 “for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth… Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together”
Jesus holds all creation together! Everything is held together by Him including the demons, the angels, and the forces. If Jesus says, “Stop!”, everything stops. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we command every affliction in your life to stop. Read the rest of this entry
Just Do it!
Isa.7:3 “Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub and go out to meet King Ahaz…” (emphasis added).
Everyone that walks with God understands this. Everyone that has a tangible relationship with God understands that every time God asks you to do something that is huge for you, you are about to God see action! You are about to see God do something huge for you. Read the rest of this entry
Influencer
Gen.18:17& 19 “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked… I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”
Please send some time studying Genesis 18:17-33. The first thing from our study today is, did you know that the righteous and those who are outside of Christ should not be treated the same way? Read the rest of this entry
Pure Strength
Prov. 13:7 (MSG) “A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.”
F. Schumacker says, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.” Read the rest of this entry
Simplify
Matt.18:3 “Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
How would you describe your life at the moment – simple, complex, or simply complicated? Some people have simple careers, while others have complicated relationships and vice versa. Read the rest of this entry
Just Like Jesus I
Mark 1:35 (TPT) “The next morning, Jesus got up long before daylight, left the house while it was dark, and made his way to a secluded place to give himself to prayer.”
Jesus depended on prayer. He took refuge in prayer. He drew strength and guidance from prayer. Mark 1:35 “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Read the rest of this entry
