Category Archives: Spiritual Growth
Established Value
‘For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago’ Eph.2:10.
Clay really is just worthless dust. Its value is the value that the Creator, the Maker gives to it. One potter can decide to sell his work for five million that is the value he has placed on the work. While another other potter can choose to sell his work for five hundred that is the value he has placed on it. Our value is established in the hands of the Living God.
‘So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel’ Jer.18:3. The potter’s wheel in this story can be likened to life. Life just seems to go in cycles. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and so on then it starts all over. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and so on then it starts all over. Then the fashion of the 90’s is the fashion of the 70’s. Things just seem to go in cycles and at times it seems like you have seen it all before. For us, as clay in the hands of the Potter, it is not about time passing or the cycles. It is about who you become, what you become, the experiences, the things you should learn as God is taking you through life, and how you respond. Plus how you mature irrespective of the fact that certain things in life are in cycles. Every potter has a wheel and the wheel does not have a mind of its own. The wheel is controlled by the potter – its rotation, the speed, everything. Just as seasons and time are in the Almighty God’s hand, so also are our lives in God’s hand. The wheel’s job is just to go round and around like life. Life seems endless sometimes and the older you get, the more things seem to repeat themselves. We don’t always like the way life turns out and we want to have deep endless conversations with God about life. But He is the One who is molding us as we go through life. He is the One who is creating something of excellent value as we go through life. So my advice is to stay on the wheel. Many times the experiences we have had in life want to take us away from God, make us feel like there is nothing new. The reality is that God is using your experiences, He is using the time, He is using the things that you think don’t matter, to mold you into something beautiful. Read the rest of this entry
Introduction 101
‘Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!’ Matt.10:8.
You can introduce people to Jesus directly or indirectly; let me explain. Imagine there is a program in your life group and you bring someone to the meeting. If the person receives Christ at that meeting, it is credited to your spiritual account. If you give someone a book and the book leads the person to accept Christ, it is credited to your spiritual account. So evangelism is not only about Read the rest of this entry
Retention Capacity II
‘…Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar”, she… “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing’ 2 kings 4:5-6.
You need to realize that it is your capacity that is limiting God not God’s ability. It is your capacity – your capacity to believe. You need to increase your capacity to belong. Some of us cannot keep relationships. Some people do not know how to value relationships. You need to increase your capacity to work. ‘…Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled’. That is a lot of work. If she had stopped at vessel number three and said she was tired, her Read the rest of this entry
Retention Capacity I
‘…Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar”, she… “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing’ 2 kings 4:5-6.
Principle #8 is the capacity principle. The capacity principle simply states that a container cannot retain more than its capacity. For instance, someone has a two-liter container. Then the contents of a hundred liter tank are emptied into the two-liter container. At the end of the day that container will only retain two-liters. So capacity is more important than anything else. You and I need to invest in our capacity. We need to read, stretch our minds, and stretch our capacity. ‘So she Read the rest of this entry
Anti-Seduction Strategy III
‘Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman’ Prov.7:4-5
Anti-seduction strategy four: Know Who You Are. ‘The sayings of King Lemuel-an inspired utterance his mother taught him. Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers! Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings’ Prov.31:1-3. This is a woman telling her son who he is – the son of her womb, the answer to her prayer, a king. Don’t destroy yourself by walking on a certain path just because Read the rest of this entry
Anti-Seduction Strategy II
‘The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart… She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look…’ Prov.7:10 & 13
Anti-seduction strategy two: Access Control. For instance, everybody can log into a network but not everybody has the same access control. Some people can access some files while some people cannot. Some people can get to some certain servers while some others cannot. Some servers are even demi-literalized zones [DMZ]; you do not even know they exist. You need to have access control in your life. There are certain people that you should not hug because they Read the rest of this entry
Where Have You Been?
‘I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip’ Prov.7:17-19.
The third lesson from Proverbs 7 is ,she promised secrecy. Every seduction works because secrecy is promised. Like I say, you are not a thief until you are able to steal and no one will find out; but you still refuse to steal. A lot of people will steal if they are sure that no one will find out. A lot of people will commit adultery if they are 100% sure that no one will find out. That was what the lady promised ‘no one would know my husband has Read the rest of this entry
Dress Sense
‘The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart. She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home’ Prov.7:10-11
The second lesson from Proverbs 7 is she dressed seductively. The King James version of the same scripture says she dressed like a prostitute. How does a prostitute dress? How do people around you dress? Unfortunately, it is difficult to differentiate between a prostitute and a normal person these days. Prostitutes know that men are visual and if they show him a little something, he will be interested. Sadly, even some Read the rest of this entry
A Plan
‘You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are!’ Prov.7:15
If a man is deceived it is largely based on seduction. When he has been seduced then he can be deceived. The problem with flirting and seduction is that it always starts innocently. Some men actually tell their wives that they have nothing to do with other women but they just like flirting with them. You have to stop it. Flirting Read the rest of this entry
Man
‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ Gen.1:26 [KJV].
As a loving father, God goes ahead of us to prepare a place for us. And like He did in the beginning, God will put you in that place to dominate and to crown it. Getting into the prepared place ahead of God’s timing is a choice to settle for a lower position. Moreover, God will not share His glory with anyone. If Adam had been there with God during creation and perhaps God asked Him to bring a bucket of water, Adam would probably Read the rest of this entry
