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After my last devotional, one of my dear readers, made the following comment and asked a couple of very good questions:

“Oh wow, that was intense. Could feel the intensity of this devotion, started crying as I read it. Why do some see and others do not? Why do some see when they are further away from the scene than those up close? Why does God burden some who would rather not be burdened and just love on Him, get to see? Is seeing a privilege when it hurts so much to see?

This devotional is my humble attempt to answer some of those questions.

It is a very difficult place to be when you see something that others don’t see especially when it is not a good news about a situation. It requires wisdom and patience to know how to navigate through this delicate situation.

In this devotional, I would like to concentrate on those who see, but are not in authority over people. These could be watchmen in the house, discerning people, prophetic people, or a whole host of other types of people who listen to God speak or see God lead in a certain direction.

Many times we pray for God’s revelation, but we should also think about once God gives revelation or interpretation of something, how do we administer it appropriately? Fortunately for us, the scripture has many examples of this.

In Genesis we read the account of Joseph and how God gave him a couple of big dreams. It wasn’t Joseph’s fault that he had the dream, so he shared what he saw with his father and his brothers. No one took it very well including his own father who loved him more than all the others. The dream wasn’t received well because his family thought he was thinking too highly of himself (Genesis 37)!!

In Esther’s situation, both Esther and Mordecai saw that Haman was the true enemy who is trying to annihilate the Jews, but they couldn’t just go directly and tell that to the king. They fasted, prayed, and  God gave a strategy to Esther on how to present the truth to the king. It wasn’t an emotional reaction to the fear of getting killed by Haman. It was a prayerful, calm, calculated decision that could save her life as well as the other Jews. She still had to risk her life by going to the king uninvited (Esther 4 -6)

^“ Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.  Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”(Ezekiel 3:16-19)

In Ezekiel’s situation God spoke very directly telling him that he expects Ezekiel to speak what the Lord is asking him to speak to the Israelites. If he didn’t their blood would be on his hands, but if he did and they didn’t listen, they would be responsible for what they had heard.

Here are some things we need to think about as the messengers of God:

Have the right expectation as a messenger- If we are going to be successful in our ministry to the Lord and  others, we must let go of the expectation of being heard, appreciated, or having the message implemented. There is no place in the scripture where God gives a guarantee to his people that if they do the right thing, things will change right away. There are times that those who are called to be watchmen will see more than what the Lord wants shared. There is also the possibility that once the message is shared, it doesn’t get a positive response, and may even raise criticism or hostility.

The question is not how many people agree with the message, but does God confirm it? If we truly are going to be followers of Christ, we need to do everything to please Him. It means over time, the fear of rejection of man must decrease, and being content with God’s affirmation alone must increase!!!

The heart of the Messenger must remain pure– Things take time and it is important to stay humble, teachable, and changeable. If we stay in the right place with the Lord, He will show us if there is an adjustment that we need to make. If God has not placed us in the position of authority, then we are not responsible for the message to be heard, received, or implemented. We are responsible to share the message with respect, honor, and love, to deliver it to those who need to hear it. Then we need to wash our hands and walk away from it. We can pray that God would accomplish his purpose through it. Then we go about our business praising God, knowing we have been obedient to the Lord. We also need to keep our hearts pure. This is not a easy thing to do, but it is an important step in our development process.

Recognize God will protect His interests- We need to remind ourselves of Romans 8:28,

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose.  that God will work everything for good of those who love him who are called by His name.”

Joseph learned that his dreams weren’t a mistake while it took years before God fulfilled the dreams He had given him. Esther was able to save the people because of her patience and wisdom on how to go about delivering the message and in the process risking her life. Ezekiel faithfully shared what God had asked him to share without the guarantee that people would listen to him. The Lord cares about the message and the messenger. He will not allow His interests to be trampled on, even when it looks like a defeat for a time period. Just think about the cross and how it looked like a defeat to God’s plan, but the enemy had underestimated God!!

The Messenger grows in his/her calling- There will always be situations that what we see others don’t see yet. There will be times of seemingly defeat, when we feel like quitting, but if we hang on, keep the right attitude, and trust God, the Lord will stretch and grow us in our gifting and calling. That means we don’t run from giving a message even if it isn’t received or appreciated. We don’t back down from what we have seen or heard. We don’t apologize for it. We also can’t take things personally; we’re just a messenger. We must stay humble and keep doing life as we used to, allowing God to use time to bring clarity to what needs attention. This teaches us to be secure in Christ. We must recognize that if we have delivered the message faithfully, whether there is a change or not, we have not compromised in our walk with God. We are not responsible for others doing their part.

God is trusting the messenger- While at times it may not feel that way, it is a privilege when God trusts us by sharing a message. The trust gives us the stewardship of delivering the message faithfully which causes a great burden sometimes. We need to learn how to carry this burden without allowing it to crush us because that is not God’s will for us. I have personally observed that those who have labored through a certain burden over a period of time,  have a greater maturity in their gift and a greater clarity in what they see because they have paid a price for it!! God rewards our faithfulness, and at the end of the day it makes it all worth it!!

Think about a situation that God shared a message that was not easy to deliver. How would you administer the message today?

How do you feel when you do the right thing and you develop opposition against you? The scripture bleow tells us how Elisha dealt with it.

 “And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him. “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said,”Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of young man, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  2Kings 6:15-17

Elisha did what was right in the Lord’s eyes by warning Israel’s king about the plans of the Syrian king. When you do what is right in the Lord’s eyes, the enemy is not happy about it, and as a matter of fact he will try to stop you from doing the right thing. In this case, the Syrian king sends horses and chariots and a great army (v.14) to capture Elisha who prophetically had been speaking to his king. He had not been spying on the Syrian king. When Elisha’s servant saw the great army and the chariots, he was frightened and asked Elisha what they should do. Elisha, as usual, seeing in the realm of the spirit told his servant that there are more with them than there was with the king’s army.

When we are persecuted for doing the right thing, we may be bold momentarily, but as soon as opposition arises against us, we start feeling like Elisha’s servant.  Sometimes the opposition may even come from our own brothers and sisters in Christ. That makes it even more challenging. It gives a greater chance for us to doubt ourselves. Elisha prayed for his servant to see in the spirit realm that there were more with them than those against them. This should be our posture as well. Ask God to open your eyes to see in the spirit and not get stuck with what you see in the natural realm. God opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The Bible tells us that the Lord is a shield for those who trust in Him (Psalm 18:30b). It also says that He contends with those who contend with us (Isaiah 49:25). Those are important scriptures to remember in time of persecution or accusation. We should always allow the Holy Spirit to examine us in case we have committed any willful or ignorant sin. Once that’s settled then we bow in humility and confidently rest in Him. The Lord will fight for His interests in our lives. When we represent Him, He will back us up.

The Syrian army lost because God sent blindness, but Elisha told Israel’s king not to kill them. Instead he asked the king to prepare a great feast for them (v22) which is a reminder of Psalm 23:5, ”He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies…”. Praise God!! His ways are not our ways, and He fights His battles so differently than the way the world does. Even in fighting, He is a redeeming God. His desire is for none to perish but come to repentance. Praise Him!!!!

What battle are you fighting today? Is it a relational battle? Is there a friction between you and a sister or brother in the Lord? Is it a financial difficulty or maybe a health issue?

Pray as Elisha prayed that God would open your eyes that you may see. If we walk obediently with God, we have protection from the enemy and the Lord fights our battles. We need to get our fighting instructions from Him, and then follow the orders. We know that we are on the winning team, and nothing shall separate us from the Love of Christ. “If God is for us who can be against us?” Take courage in your heavenly father today.

Last time we talked about  godly sincerity in 2Corinthians 1:1-14 and specifically about Paul’s life and how he conducted himself. Today we will look at the same scripture but focus on “the testimony of our conscience”.

2 Corinthians 1: 12-14 “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the World in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.  For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

Imagine Paul’s religious peers around the time of the early church, prior to Paul’s conversion. They were loyal to the cause and to their faith. The early church could have been looked threatening to their power base. They would have probably had conversations about the people of “The Way”, who were stirring things up and causing confusion and division in the hearts and minds of their Jewish brothers and sisters. They might have expressed their concern for the people who they felt were being deceived by lies.  Paul and his companions, as the educated, elite and knowledgeable ones, may have felt responsible to protect the Jews from these anti-establishment, wicked, & demon-processed people!! We know Paul defines himself as the persecutor of the church prior to meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

The truth of the matter is that the church as a whole throughout its history has also participated in injustice and atrocities, in this nation as well as around the world. So when we look at Paul and his life, we should think about our own lives and how we conduct ourselves.

Know your associations/group well and be watchful if things change- Whenever a group of people gather together with similar vision and passion, things happen. Sometimes great things happen because the cause and the method used are good and produce good fruit in people’s lives. Organizations  who rally together to feed the poor around the world, build wells for clean water, build homes for the homeless, or missionaries reaching the lost around the world are all great examples of people coming together to help and support a good cause. Many churches have the passion to do similar things in a smaller geographical area. However, there can also be danger in people coming together if they are following a wrong cause, wrong leader, or a wrong method to reach their goals. Sometimes any of those factors change over a period of time, and we need to stay sensitive to be discerning of that. This is why it is so important as people of God to keep a clear conscience, so we can discern change.

Guard your conscience deliberately- God has given each of us a conscience. This conscience needs to be protected from any man touching it, defining it, or redefining it. Our conscience is cleansed with the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:14 & 10:22), and we develop a strong conscience by reading the Word of God and allowing Him to create a great sensitivity to what is right and wrong. This is so important, because each of us can be faced with situations in life where the majority, or those in power, defines a situation a certain way.

We need to examine issues before the Lord with clear conscience, away from any man’s input, pressure, acceptance, or rejection to determine if each situation is assessed appropriately.  If we follow anyone to do assess it for us, get lazy in our evaluation of the situation, or get fearful to go against those we respect, we will cause great damage to our conscience. In turn, we will cause damage to others. Guarding our conscience also applies to the laws established by our government. Just because something is legal, it doesn’t make it moral!! The Lord defines what is moral.

Assess your associations/group objectively from God’s point of view –When Jesus spoke to the seven churches in Revelation, he had some good things to say, but most of them had major issues.  Jesus even warned some of them to repent!! The question is how did those churches perceive themselves? Did they think they were doing pretty well and didn’t really have big problems? Were they comfortable because everybody else in their church valued the same things and had unity?

Take responsibility for your own actions apart from your group- Social scientists tell us that when a group of people gather together, there is less accountability to each person’s behavior because they are part of a group. This is called “herd mentality”. This should not be in Christian circles. Foundationally we are building on the work of Christ and Him crucified. We as believers are connected to the Lord first, before we are connected to one another. Anything we do, or say has to be filtered through the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We cannot give this responsibility over to anyone regardless of how much we trust or respect them.

Be humble to admit God doesn’t show you everything-The church is made up of imperfect people who are growing in Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:9, “for we know in part and we prophesy in part”.  This scripture applies to every believer regardless of their maturity in the Lord, their position in the church, or their knowledge of the Bible. It doesn’t matter if they call you a prophet or a prophetess.  We all should take heed that the most talented, gifted, or prophetic person still only knows in part and prophesies in part. That should keep us slow to speak and slow to anger. Hopefully it will make us less judgmental of others knowing that we don’t know everything, and we can’t see clearly what God is doing. This can eliminate a lot of unnecessary pain or hurt in the hearts of people by not overstepping our boundaries. It will also keep our conscience clear because we have conducted ourselves well before God and before people.

If we do all of the above, it will help our conscience to stay intact by not being forced or pressured to do or say something that is unjustified. If we really respected our conscience and guarded it to keep it sensitive, it will not only allow us to live a more righteous life, but we will also gain a greater respect in the eyes of those who are watching us as believers or unbelievers.

How does Godly sincerity look like? How do we develop Godly sincerity?

“For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the World in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.  For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 2 Corinthians 1: 12-14

Simplicity: Greek definition– singleness, sincerity (without dissimulation or self-seeking), or generosity, bountifulness, liberal, candor, simplicity of heart, frankness, integrity, fidelity

Sincerity: Greek Defintion- judged by sunlight, tested as genuine, clear as light, pure.

But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. James 3:14-15

In 2Corinthians 1:12-14, Paul clearly explains his heart towards the Corinthian church. His conscience was testifying that his life before them and the way he conducted himself was with genuine simplicity and love towards them. His heart was pure. He wasn’t walking in fleshly wisdom. The above scripture in the book of James defines fleshly wisdom as one who has bitter envy and self-seeking in his heart. Paul obviously was not envious of this church neither did he have any self-seeking in his heart toward them.

If Paul had selfish ambitions to be known or any lust for power, he could have stayed in Judaism and played church and phariseetical title games of his day. Paul’s religion in times past, had grabbed his heart and attention to the degree that he was willing to persecute people for it.

After Paul’s conversion, he realized that His religious ambitions had blinded him from the truth. He had become more concerned about protecting his territory by throwing believers in prison rather than hearing the truth that could set him free from his prison of piety!! Paul tells us in Philippians 3:2-11 that “…what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ..”.  Paul had allowed God to strip him of all worldly passions, his cruel activities, and earthy desires because he had found that nothing else satisfied.

Paul became a different man after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. In the above scriptures (2Cor 1:12-14), he tells the church that they are his boast now. He wasn’t boasting in his accomplishments and his success anymore, but he was boasting in the lives of those whom he had led to Christ and shepherded. He is speaking as a father to the church.

When we serve with godly sincerity, it is a lot like being a parent. We continue to give and love without waiting to be applauded or even thanked for that matter. Our joy is to lavish those we shepherd with love and security,  and when we see them growing and thriving, it brings joy to our hearts.

The above definition of sincerity defines it as judged by sunlight. Our sincerity will be tested by the challenges of life, pressure from others, and disappointments with those we love. When those circumstances come, our hearts will be scrutinized to see how genuine and whole we are. Were we really doing our work as unto the Lord or as unto man?  We truly don’t know how sincere we are until we go through some of those tests!!!

In conclusion, Godly sincerity is developed by laying aside our own selfish ambitions and desires. We need to consider everything as a loss that could be an obstacle in following Jesus wholeheartedly. Finally it is essential to develop a heart of parent/shepherd towards others. We should be willing to give of ourselves easily and frequently without expectation of return. That’s godly sincerity.

Lord, help us to become genuine people. Examine our hearts and take out anything that is impure or fake. Help us to be real, simple and sincere people. We desire to live, move and have our being as unto you!!

Last time, I discussed God’s glory and the fact that by walking with Him and letting go of our sins, we can reflect His glory.  Today, I would like to focus on man’s glorious life!

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2Cor 3:18

If you are a born again believer, most likely you have a desire to glorify God with your life. The scripture  tells us that as we behold His glory, we go from glory to glory .What does it mean for us to have glory?

Many times when we think about glory, it is about doing good deeds, serving, leading, or discipleship. If people complement us, we feel good about it. We feel we have glorified God, and God allows us to have a little bit of glory because we represented Him well.  Sometimes while we may use the word glory, in our American mentality, we really are thinking about the glamour of ministering to the people. We like to talk about Christian celebrities, who is the latest and greatest preacher, where is the most exciting Christian concert, and what is the bestselling book lately. We are not called to a glamorous christianity but a glorious one!!

When we look at the Biblical characters, their lives were far from being  glamorous!! There were no Christian concerts. Your life could have been in danger by just worshipping God loudly and bringing attention to yourself. There were no books sold and no bestselling authors for that matter. As a matter of fact, when the author of life came on the scene, most people rejected Him and ignored Him as the Messiah!! So what is true glorious life?

The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression. Proverbs 19:11

While doing good deeds is part of our Christian walk and obviously people are blessed by Christian concerts and books, true glory has a deeper dimension to it. It takes great humility to overlook an offense. When we have been wronged, hurt, or offended, every part of us wants justice and thinks that the other person doesn’t deserve a second chance. We actually think they deserve punishment and  justice; they don’t deserve God’s favor, or His love. They don’t even deserve the position they hold. Isn’t  that scary!? Pride & glory don’t go together!!

The God of universe, the perfect lamb who was willing to rescue us over and over again shows us mercy continually, but we don’t want to show mercy to others. Isn’t that pride at its root? We think we deserve better. We think, “After all that I have done for him or for her, how dare they treat me like that?”.  Jesus didn’t make that comment when He was betrayed by Judas. He actually called him friend just before He was going to be betrayed by Him. He didn’t say that when Peter denied him either. He came back to Peter and asked him if he loved Jesus. He was willing to take the risk of asking that question.  He didn’t assume because of his denial it meant Peter didn’t love him anymore.

Jesus at His most painful moments on the cross asked the Father” “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”  Luke 23:34

This is very interesting. Jesus chose to forgive by asking the father to forgive us. If Jesus had not asked the Father to forgive us do you think we would have the forgiveness of our sins? He had the total power to judge. He was the perfect one, but He chose to forgive us. He wasn’t offended. He said they don’t know what they are doing. Do we think that of people? No. We may think of their offense as this well thought out and well-planned activity to destroy and demolish us. This was actually true about Jesus, but He still considered it that they didn’t know what they were doing. Jesus was so secure about who He was and whose he was, and His mission on the earth that nothing could discourage Him from His mission.

Lord help us to know our mission so well that when people  don’t acknowledge us or don’t value us, that we’re not crushed or devastated. We can just say forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing!!

Overlooking an offense is not glamorous. There is nothing glamorous about kicking and screaming and crying and saying this isn’t fair. There is nothing glamorous to wrestle with God and have puffy eyes from all the crying that we do to get over the pain. There is nothing glamorous about dying to self and taking up the cross on daily basis, but that’s the Bible I’m reading. There is nothing glamorous about telling people we don’t know what God is doing, but still waiting for Him while all along people in the world make their own plans and they even have a plan B and C in case their plan A fails. One may feel foolish and humiliated, but still trust God!!  As the above scripture tells us, overlooking an offense or transgression is glorious!! We go from glory to glory in those painful and agonizing moments!!

Jesus is our hope of Glory! When we have been emptied of ourselves by taking up our cross, we go from glory to glory. You see reading the Bible is good, but if we don’t put it to practice, we start getting puffed up with knowledge. We deceive ourselves by thinking just because we know the scripture, we live it!! Living it is in the quiet moments of our lives when we have been crossed by someone and the way we handle it is our opportunity for glory. We decrease, so He can increase in our lives!!

Lord give us the courage to do what you ask us to do without hesitation, murmuring, or arguing!! We love you too much to allow anything get in the way of our relationship with you.  In Jesus’ name we ask!! Amen!

What is God’s glory? How does it look like? The scripture has much to say about God’s glory. As I looked at the scripture, it blessed me to see God’s glory in its different facets through the ages.

“And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Exodus 24:16-17

The word glory in Hebrew means: honor, glorious, abundance, riches, splendor, reputation, reverence, heaviness.

We see in the above scriptures that the glory of God  had a few characteristics associated with it. First, it looked like a thick cloud. Moses was able to be in the midst of this thick cloud. Next, God’s glory looked like a devouring fire on top of the mountain to the children of Israel. The scripture clearly tells us that God’s glory was seen by the people of Israel. God’s glory will be seen by all the people on the earth (Psalm 97:6).

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

Man was created in God’s image as we know in Genesis 1, but sin marred the image of God in man. As a result, each of us in the state of sin fall short of the glory of God. We cannot represent Him well on the earth.  The glory of God in the Old Testament was seen from a distance, in the form of a cloud, or fire. God’s glory was seen at the Tabernacle of Meeting and on Mt. Sinai. These manifestations showed God’s mercy was with them, but very few could get close to this glory.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

The scripture tells us Jesus came in the glory of His Father. The Father was willing to share His glory with His only begotten son who had no sin. The glory this time came in the form of the flesh and dwelt among them. The glory that resided on Mt Sinai and the Tabernacle of Meeting would come from time to time, but now it came in the form of the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to dwell among the people. God’s glory was not seen from afar anymore. It didn’t need to look like a cloud or fire to people, although He still can show himself that way. The glory took on flesh and lived among them. This glory also came full of grace and truth. Jesus was the complete, perfect example of glory on earth. The weight of glory comes from God’s unique holiness, his complete grace, and the fact that He is full of truth!!

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Romans 9:23-24

God in His great grace and patience allows people, who are on the road of wrath and destruction, to become His vessels of grace, by pouring the riches of His glory through Jesus in them. Jesus redeems us from our fallen state, so we can be His image bearer on this earth again. We no longer have to fall short of the glory of God, but we can reflect His glory because of His blood and His spirit living inside of us. He came to dwell in us, so we can say,

 …as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord. 1Cor 1:31

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:24-26 (KJV)

We no longer should desire vain glory, nor be conceited and proud in our ways!! We don’t need to look for the approval and the applause of man. The glory we reflect will not come from competing, provoking, or envying others. These things might feed the flesh temporarily, but will not glorify God and have no lasting satisfaction for us. We seek His glory by crucifying the flesh, its affections, and lusts. The glory we reflect will come purely by walking in the Spirit and the uniqueness of who God has made us; allowing God to develop the fruit of the Spirit and to show His glory through our lives. We should desire His praise above all else!!

Isn’t it amazing that the God of universe, the holy, omnipotent, excellent God gives us permission to glorify Him on the earth? He has entrusted to us a precious gift and responsibility, and that’s why He desires for us to live a “set apart” and  sanctified life.

Lord, we ask that you would help us to walk worthy of the call we have received. Thank you for dwelling in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask that you would perfect grace and truth in us. We desire to glorify you not ourselves on this earth!!

Life is a series of tests, waiting, breakthrough, and revelation in life. Just when you think you have arrived, another test comes along and makes you realize that for every test, we still have to exercise faith to cross over the crisis.

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Genesis 22:1-2

Finally, after 25 years of waiting, Abraham gets to have Isaac. Praise God!! But the story isn’t over. When Isaac is a young boy, God comes to test Abraham’s faith again. He asks Abraham to sacrifice his promised son. For a moment put yourself in Abraham’s shoes and think about how you would have felt. Our carnal thoughts would have taken us to quite a few questions: “God why did you make me the promises you made? Why did you choose to give me Isaac in the first place? Why does Isaac need to be sacrificed? Is my whole life going to revolve around the drama of a child? What is Isaac going to think of me as a father? Will it hurt him badly? Do I need to watch him go through pain? Why me? Isaac wasn’t my idea!!”

The Scripture doesn’t tell us that Abraham grew bitter or wrestled with God over any of the above questions or any other issue for that matter. It’s as if years of walking with God had taught Abraham that there is no point of trying to figure out what God is doing, or how he is going to do it. Just do as He tells you. There are a few things we can learn from this test:

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Genesis 22: 3-5

1. Abraham obeyed right away- He was very responsive to God. God speaks to him and the next day he packs up and leaves.

2. Abraham went prepared– He was diligent to take everything he needed to get the job done. He wasn’t going halfhearted, hoping that he can make excuses for not having everything with him to make the sacrifice. He wasn’t playing!!

3. Only a few knew about his trip– He didn’t call his friends to get their opinion on it or make sure they knew the kind of sacrifice he is about to make. His focus was to do God’s will and for that you only need a very few people with you. It reminds me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Only three people were with him. Abraham took three people too. He had his son and the two young men!!

4. At some point you have to do it alone– Once it came to actually making the sacrifice he knew even the two young men with him had to stay a little further away from where he needed to take Isaac. The grace that God gives us to do what He asks us to do not everyone around us will have it or can see it. At times, others can become a hindrance to God’s will. Our allegiance to the Lord must be greater than any emotional attachment to those around us!!

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.  But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. Genesis 22: 6-8 5.

5. Abraham trusted God will provide– in the midst of the test, when Isaac asked about a lamb, Abraham used his faith to say that God will provide.

This particular word, “provide” in Hebrew means: to see, perceive, to have vision, to look at, regard, look after, see observe, watch, look upon, look after, give attention to, discern.

Basically, Abraham is saying that God is going to look after this situation. God is seeing and perceiving this situation. He will give attention to this matter. It reminds me of when Naomi encouraged Ruth by saying that knowing the kind of man Boaz was, he was going to look after the matter. Boaz was not going to rest until the matter of kinsman redeemer for Ruth was settled (Ruth 3).

If we have been blessed with people of integrity in our lives, isn’t it interesting how we are so sure they are going to take care of situations in a timely and appropriate manner? However, when it comes to God, we doubt Him, or we want to make sure it’s done right or in our time frame. Lord, forgive us for our doubts. You look after the matter better than we even can!!

6. Abraham put his love for the Lord above his love for his son- In the natural, this did not make sense. Abraham didn’t try to change God’s mind or ask him a few questions. In the past, he had interceded in behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah and had asked God to change the punishment for those cities, but this time it was different. This was not a punishment but a test, and Abraham knew he needed to walk through it.

7. Isaac trusted God through trusting his father– Abraham’s faith allowed Isaac to stay calm and at peace. Isaac was much younger than his old father and he could have easily resisted his father binding him, but he trusted Abraham as Abraham trusted God. In the eye of the storm there is peace because you know you are at the center of God’s will. Where God’s will lead you, He will provide for you. Others are watching you go through the test including your own family. How you respond to God in times of your testing can build faith in those around you. This is the practical application of what you may have taught people around you for years!!

Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”  And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”  Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:9-14

8. When the test is completed, there is provision and revelation- Once God stopped him from Sacrificing Isaac, Abraham looked up and saw the ram behind him. Now he saw in the natural the manifest provision. Faith gives us spiritual eyes to see what is yet invisible to the natural eyes. That’s what allows us to keep going in the right direction until we are on the other side of the test.

When we are going through a test we don’t necessarily see it as a test, or we don’t perceive its value. We don’t know the objective of the test and what we will learn from it. Many times we may see it as a problem or a hindrance and wish/pray it would go away!!

Every test is an opportunity to learn about God’s character and learn about our character. Every test is a test of how well we know God!! We may have all the right scriptures about God  and His character, but a test becomes an opportunity to know how well we know it in our heart not just in our mind/memory. When we navigate through the test well, we will get to have a new revelation of God’s goodness, mercy, and provision. Praise God that He walks with us through the test!!

 “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” Gen. 18:14

This sounds like a rhetorical question, but if we are really honest with ourselves we have wondered the same thing. When we have waited and prayed for so long, and there was nothing on the horizon to give us an indication that the change is on the way, when we look back at our journal and we are still praying the same prayer we prayed years ago, we wonder,” Is this too hard for the Lord?”

Obviously, the truth is, nothing is too difficult for our God. All things are possible with Him. Sarah had waited twenty four years. The faith she had at one time for having a child had changed faces a couple of times. There was a time that she didn’t question God and just believed what He said. Then after waiting for twelve or thirteen years, she started wondering if she heard the Lord right.

The Lord had made the promise to Abraham and not to Sarah. She could have been wondering,  maybe she wasn’t going to be the one to bear this child. This is when she suggested to Abraham to sleep with her concubine, so Abraham can have a child. This was the norm in that period of time and culture.  If a wealthy barren woman could not bear children, she could take the child that her concubine produced to be her own.  Sarah must have justified her decision by looking at herself and finding her body as good as dead.  In her own limited, human reasoning, she must have thought there must be another way the Lord wants to bring this about. Did the Lord ever ask  for her assistance because He couldn’t deliver on the promise!? Did she think it’s time to redefine the promise since it’s not coming to pass in her timetable?

Is it only in times of success that we are hearing the Lord correctly? Why does unbelief and double-mindedness set in when we are waiting? Do we only believe God when we have the strength to accomplish the task in our own strength otherwise we doubt that it was God? Why do we question the character of God and the Word of God? Doesn’t the scripture tell us that “God is not a man that He should lie.” Numbers 23:19

Why would He want to lie anyway? Why would he have a need to lie? Man lies for self-preservation or for selfish gain. The Lord has no need to self-preserve, and there is nothing  He can gain from us. He is the one who is constantly giving and blessing us. The best we can do is to worship Him with fear and trembling, but we can’t give Him anything. He owns the cattle on the thousand hills. He is the giver. So when God makes a promise and He makes a covenant, we’ve got to believe that what He says stands.

In Genesis 17, the scripture tells us that Abraham laughed when God told Him that Sarah was going to have a child. In Genesis 18, Sarah laughs too. The very promise of God that would have moved them and given them hope years ago, at this point of time, it sounds like just a funny joke. It is not believable anymore. The Lord was gracious and He didn’t punish them for their unbelief, but He wasn’t joking!!

This time, in Genesis 17, the Lord was specifically saying this child will come from Sarah and no one else!! The promise of the twenty four years ago suddenly had a definition and specificity that they had never heard before. Sarah was going to carry this child, and she was going to have this child in one year. Is there any room to fill in the gap with the flesh or carnal reasoning? Not anymore. It is finished. The child will be here in a year, and the child will be called Isaac which means “laughter”. The very child that brought a laugh out of unbelief, this time around will bring a laughter out of a promise fulfilled!!

For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 1Cor 1:19 (NIV)

What the Lord has promised, He will accomplish in our lives. When we try to figure out how the Lord is going to work it out in our lives, we start leaning on our own understanding and intelligence. Then when things don’t go the way we imagined, we get frustrated with God, with ourselves , and even with others!! If it is God’s promise, then He will accomplish it. It’s His baby first!!  Realize that the promise will happen in His timing not ours. Many times when God is fulfilling a promise it’s not just for the person, but it’s also for those who will be blessed as a result of this promise being fulfilled. Abraham’s promise to have a child wasn’t just for him and Sarah, but it was for the generations to come which included us!!

If we desire something in our lives but it’s not God’s promise to us, then we need to surrender it to His will. Otherwise it can derail us from what God has for us because we’re too busy seeking/asking for what we want!!  Sometimes our desire is based on what is popular or what others are  doing. That’s not a good reason to desire something, and we should try to get clarity on that issue.

What seems too hard for the Lord to accomplish in your life? Be honest with the Lord.  Ask Him to renew your faith, focus, & obedience.  Make a commitment to the Lord that you will love Him, love His people. and praise Him regardless!!

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2Timothy 1:7

Fear can have a paralyzing effect on us. The scripture clearly tells us that there is a spirit of fear. When situations happen in life, we will be tempted to open the door to it. If we have opened ourselves to the spirit of fear, then we must close it as soon as we recognize it.

If we were to breakdown the above scripture, we can see the three effects of fear; God’s desire is to undo the effect of fear on us. The power to overcome fear is a promise from God.

Fear causes us to feel powerless

The enemy’s tactic is always to steal, kill, and destroy God’s image. In this case he comes to steal the God-given power to deal with life situations or people around us. We have to fight this battle by scriptures such as,

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 We can’t forget whose we are.

The scripture in Psalm 23:6 tells us that “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..”. If we are doing right, we are under His protection. If we’re not doing right, then we need to repent and get right with God because what God directs us to do, He will give us the strength and the grace to do it.

Fear causes us to lose love for individuals 

When fear sets in, people go into self-preservation mode and try to protect and defend themselves. As a result we are more concerned with watching out for #1 rather than being concerned about the welfare of the person who has made us fearful. In those situations it is also easy to gossip or paint a negative picture of the person we feel intimidated by.

The Lord desires for us to trust Him even in those times when we are falsely accused, or we’re faced with a tough situation. We need to stay true to Him, and stay humble allowing God to take care of the situation. If directed by the Lord, we can share our side of the story and bring clarity to the situation.

In times of fearfulness, we need to restrain ourselves from name-calling, labeling people, or gossiping. Jesus called us to love our enemies. At times, that may feel hypocritical to us because revenge, justice, or even anger is in our heart, but we have to be willing to trust God by loving the person!! The more we take that risk and do it as He instructs us, the greater victory we will have over fear!!

Fear causes confusion

When fear sets in, it’s almost as if we don’t know which way is up. We have lost our equilibrium. We perceive things with a certain mindset and angle. We start reading too much into everything because we have become insecure. The more confused we get, the more irrational we will be in our behavior, and the more carnal we become. God is not the author of confusion; we need to ask Him to give us clarify.  We should give time to ourselves to allow the dust settle on our emotions, so we can see things clearly and make decisions that are appropriate to the situation. If you feel in a rush to say something or do something, or your emotions are at a high level, most likely that’s the time you need to restrain yourself from doing anything that can cause harm to a relationship. In most cases, the Lord gives us the opportunity to take our time and hear His heart before we act. We should not feel pressured into doing something that could have long term effects on us as well as others.

2Timothy 1:7 is a good scripture to memorize and allow God to show you that whenever fear sets in, we are going to be challenged. We may feel powerless, lose our love for individuals, or fall into confusion. However, God’s desire for us is to know that He has not given us a spirit of fear. We must deal with the spirit first. Then we need to feed ourselves on His truth.

When we look at the Bible or even some of the nations around the world, the people of God were/are persecuted and excecuted for their faith. That should give us a right perspective to evaluate our fear in the light of what so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ face around the globe!!

God has given us a spirit of power, love, and sound mind. Those are available to God’s children. We must walk it out and not just talk about it. Sometimes you may not feel powerful, loving, or wise. We still need to declare God’s truth by walking it out, allowing our emotions to eventually catch up with the truth. Being afraid does not give us the license to stop doing what the Lord is asking us do. We need to feel the fear and do it right anyway. We must align our emotions and our thoughts to the truth. The spirit of God must be the leader and our soul will follow suit!!

Fear is a wrong view of uncertainty. Anytime, we are faced with a situation or a person that we feel is larger or has more power, fear can set in. The Israelites felt as grasshoppers before the giants in the land (Numbers 13:33). The reality is, as frail human beings we are prone to this condition. We live in a big world, with all kinds of people and circumstances.  Our natural response to things that could harm us can be fear.

As believers, our response to fear needs to be different. We have a covenant relationship with the God of the universe. He’s the one who called us to Himself; not because we deserved it but because He loved us. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation, or have a relationship with our holy father. This should give us security because it wasn’t my performance that caused God to love me or approve me, so my mistakes are not going to cause Him to take His hands off of my life either. There is peace and safety in recognizing this great truth! It doesn’t mean we won’t go through hard times, but we should look expectantly at how God is going to use those hard times for our good because we trust in Him!!

It is not surprising when you look at the scripture the number of times God visits His people and tells them not to be afraid. The only way we can live a life free from fear is to look to the Bible for the answers that He has given when He told His people not to be afraid.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15:1

The Lord is our shield and our great reward. God told Abraham that He was Abraham’s shield. The reality of life is that we really can’t protect ourselves from most things. Unless God and His angelic protection is around us, we can’t do much to guard ourselves from harm. God also told Abraham that He is his great reward. Abraham had refused the wealth that Melchizedek had offered him earlier. He was probably wondering if he missed out on a once in a life time opportunity for wealth, so the Lord came to encourage him. God told him that He Himself will be His reward.  What a grand promise!! Out of all the things that the Lord could reward someone, God is saying I am going to reward you with Me!!

Beloved, the promise that God made to Abraham is also available to all of us if we truly recognize the work of the cross and what Jesus bought us. We have the Holy Spirit in us which means God is with us all the time. He is our reward. He is our shield. He is the one who comforts us and counsels us. We get to have him to ourselves 24/7 and don’t need to get on his schedule to be seen by Him. He is always available to talk to us and fellowship with us.

 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

We are deeply valued by the Lord. Jesus is telling His people not to fear because they are more valuable than the sparrows. Many times fear comes to our hearts because we don’t see ourselves as valuable to God or to others. We fear getting forgotten. We fear if we don’t perform to a certain level or are seen by people, we are not going to be considered valuable. The beauty of Jesus’ statement is that He uses a sparrow as a point of value comparison. Sparrows are fragile, small,  birds. As far as I know they don’t accomplish much except  eating seeds, insects, chirping and reproducing themselves. However, Jesus points out that if he cares for little sparrows, how much more does He value us!!

In our performance oriented culture, many of us have been raised in performance oriented families, and there is a restorative work that God has to do in our souls in two ways. The first one is to really know we are valuable without performing. This doesn’t give us the license to be irresponsible, or not do our job to excellence. We need to recognize what we do is our act of worship before a holy God who gives us the abilities we have. It is for Him we do what we do.  However, we don’t use it as a place of finding value or identity!!

The second issue is that we are guilty of looking at people’s performance and giftings, and treating them with more honor and dignity. That’s completely wrong. That’s not God’s heart for people. Obviously in each organization or family structure, performance is part of life, but it should never be used as a motivating factor to compare one person or one child to another. God has set intrinsic value in each of us because we are created in His image, and we need to ensure that our heart is aligned with that truth!! We can’t deviate from it, otherwise we contribute to the performance oriented mentality in our culture and people around us. It also causes rejection or conformity. We want to raise people and generations who are real, genuine people, and sincerely love God and others!

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

Fear God more than anyone or anything else in life. In life we will always be faced with fearing people and individuals that we highly love or respect, but the above scripture gives us an eye-opening perspective that we must heed!! No one man on this earth should have such a power over us that it causes us to let go of our allegiance to God, or fear man over God! Even if that man is God’s representative!! We have to continually keep the Lord before us so we can keep our souls in the right condition before God.

There needs to be a resolve that we are not willing to compromise our relationship with the Lord in order to please man, be rewarded by man, or even be spared from death by man. That’s a high call, but I am afraid many succumb to this fear because they desire to be part of the in-crowd, part of the powerful group, or just don’t want to be judged by others!!

 If we are going to be men and women of God who are His representative, we need to be willing to withstand adversity.  We must be willing to stand alone sometimes and do what is right. We don’t need to hide behind anyone to be our shield because God says He will be our shield. That’s the place where our faith is tested. When the Lord comes through and He shields us, we have a new revelation of His character. We don’t just talk about Him being our shield, we know it because He has revealed it to us in our walk with Him.

Allow God to examine your heart to see if there is an ungodly fear in your heart towards someone or some situation. Meditate on the above scriptures and allow Him to speak to your fear. Cast it out in the name of Jesus and start walking in the truth you know!! As you become free, you can help set others free!!

I just feel like I need to say for those of you who did not have a father figure in your life or you lost him at an early age, please cry out to the Lord for healing of your heart!! That’s a huge hole in your heart that could cause great fear and anxiety when faced with uncertain situations. The Lord is your heavenly father, and He wants to heal your heart and fill all those empty places with His love, his power, and His strength. Lord heal our hearts in Jesus’ name!!