Devotions

Note:

Material that is posted here is not solely my work. A good bunch of the devotions here have been inspired by articles online and great writers like Phillip Yancey. I hope you enjoy them.

Risk of being forgotten

He took the Risk of being forgotten, but through that Risk, you and i
have a future worth waiting for.

" But God's own descent
Into flesh was meant
As a demonstration
Spirit enters into flesh and for all it's worth
Charges into the earth in birth and after birth
Ever fresh and fresh."

Again and again am glad to that Jesus in his glory took the risk of
being forgotten. During his ascension into heaven, He asks the
disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait there. A follow up on that
command leads you to the day of Pentecost.

Now the irony of the present day church is that the beauty of
pentecostal, that in history drew people from all corners of the earth
to Jesus, has now turned people away. The holy-spirit has been seen as
a image of spiritual maturity or immaturity depending on what lenses
you are looking at.

One of my friends shared to me what they thought when the word holy
spirit was said to them, " I first learned of about the holy spirit
from childhood like flannel graph lessons. They portrayed him as a
miniature human being, a kind of homunculus, living deep inside our
bodies. I still carry that image with me. The spirit lives somewhere
inside me, in my brain perhaps, or my heart. Like a janitor trapped
inside a building, He gets my attention by banging on the pipes of my
conscious and sub-conscious. If I ignore him, He shrinks. If I attend
to Him, He grows larger until He fills me."

Mention of the holy spirit has had the tendency to sum up a lot of
confusion. Ever heard of statements like, " The spirit told me," " The
spirit whispered to me in my sleep." Before I go on I want to make it
clear that up to this day, I have not fully put my hands on this kind
of statements. From where I am spiritually, they come of as
intimidating and often remind me of my spiritual weakness, which is a
good thing, but I cannot explain this kinds of statements with my
spiritual lameness.

What happened after Jesus left challenges faith and in all honesty
drives many people away from God. Phillip Yancey says, " In Jesus, God
deliberately joined a world infected with evil and sickness and fell
victim to it. With the Spirit, a Holy God risked his reputation on the
evil-infected persons themselves, by expanding the Incarnation to
encompass all of Jesus followers. The God who took on human flesh so
we could experience him in our material world still takes on human
flesh-our flesh."

The reactions to Jehovah of the Old Testament and the indwelling holy
spirit are quite different; one provokes awe, while the other provides
nurture. A committed friend once shared, " Frankly, I see more
evidence of the spirit than for other two members of the Trinity. The
hunger for God I feel- that is the sign of the spirit in my life. My
fitful battles with lust, my conviction of pride, the strong sense of
when I need to apologize, and when to forgive- these signs of God are
to me every bit of impressive as a burning bush. They let me know that
God is still at work inside me."

Now I know several people who are into humanitarian aid, mission
trips, building houses for the homeless-Habitat for humanity, Dorkomoi
Ergatai with their service trips to disadvantaged places, people
adopting unwanted babies, RED Cross workers in war devastated regions
in the world…you name it! Yet I wrestle with accepting the kind of
holy-spirit that my friend speaks of. I find myself inclining on the
holy spirit who will take me on mission fields, help me feed the
hungry and do all those monumental things.

If you asked Paul about the spirit, his answer would be centered on
the qualities that come with having the holy spirit. Compassion, love,
patience etc. When I look around I find this kinds of qualities in
people I mentioned above. But yet I realize that in assuming the
previous depiction of the Spirit will be devaluing the spirit. A verse
come in mind that His ways are not our ways and surely the spirit has
all the above qualities but that's not the end of the story.

I wrestled to understand what my spiritual mindset would be if I was
spirit filled, a modern terminology in the 21rst century church. But
no I realize what it means to be under the influence of the spirit.
Being spirit led is a births a sign of hope, it gives me something to
long for. It's love unconditional.

Before i did this devotional I talked to friend online and asked them
what the Holy spirit means or rather has brought to their lives and
they responded with this poem.

It was the fear of God that led me to you
And it's the fear of you that takes getting used to
I've never been one to hang my heart on a thread
But you spun me around and you loved me instead

I know I could turn to something other than you
'cause I don't understand you and why you're after me
I've never been the saint you wanted me to turn to
And I can't see the view from the eyes you look at me through, oh no

But I'm alright, I'm alright, I'm alright, I'm alright
I'm alright, I'm alright, I'm alright

So cut below the surface and try hard not to notice
That I could be so foolish thinkin' I'm alright
I've got no one to hold me, I've got no one to carry
Everything inside of me that I won't let you see

My prayer then is that He may search me and use me. That he may lead
me and guide me,That he may humble my proud me to say sorry when i
wrong someone, that i may be compassionate enough, that i may love
more, that i may give more freely, that i may live every day to the
Glory of the trinity.

I hope that' s your prayer.Blessings as you search and wrestle with
this walk. Run the race and keep the faith!!!

Note: Phillip Yancey, I forget in what book, presents some of the views here.

What we ask of God

Make sure you realize what you are saying at church when you sing
words like Refiners fire, my hearts one desire is to be holy. I hum
the song. Let me tell you why.

We may think that we are asking God for the warm fuzzies, but the
refining fire is what Job went through, and God may just give you your
hearts one desire if you keep asking Him. After the service, you find
that someone has just crashed into your new car. That week you
discover that God has let the devil get at you and your house has
burned to the ground, your spouse and children have been killed, and
someone forgot to pay the insurance premium.

The loss of your family, car, and home and financial collapse give you
a complete nervous breakdown. Well, rejoice because you are getting
your hearts one desire. Read the Book of Job. Ive been through the
Refiners fire and I never want to go through it again. My prayer is,
If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Jesus had to suffer;
there was no alternative for Him. But there is an alternative for us.
If we chasten ourselves, perhaps we will not be chastened by God.
Instead of praying that God will break me, I say, Please, Lord, be
gentle on your servant. Neither chasten me in your hot displeasure
[Psalm 38.11]. Help me to see areas that I need to change.

If we discipline ourselves to pray and read the Word, we may avoid the
Refiners fire. If we draw close to Him, we wont need a lions den to
bring us to our knees. If we scatter abroad, preaching the Word
everywhere, we may not need a Saul of Tarsus to breathe out slaughter
against us. If we cut off unfruitful branches, we wont feel the pain
of the Husbandmans sharp pruning sheers. Read the last chapters of Job
and learn the lesson, so that you wont have to go through the earlier
chapters. Scripture was written for our instruction. Lay your hand on
your mouth and quickly bow to the sovereignty of God.

Graciousness of Uncertainty
Hi there

I thought i should share this thoughts with you.Am sure we are living
in a time where we are so uncertain of what's gonna happen....Well
here goes

Naturally we are inclined to be very mathematical and calculating that
we more often than not look at uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine
that we have to reach some end but that is not the spiritual life. The
nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our
uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests everywhere.Common
sense says-"Well, supposing i were in that condition......." We cannot
suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in.'

Certainly there is a mark of common sense in life:Gracious
uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God
means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day
may bring forth. This is generally said wit a sigh of sadness. It
should rather be an expression of breathless expectation. We are
uncertain of the next step but we are certain about God.Immediately we
abandon God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He parks our lives with
surprises all the time. We become advocates of the creed, Something
dies:We don't believe God, but we believe our belief about Him. Jesus
said, "Expect ye...become as little children." Spiritual life is the
life of a child. We are not Uncertain about God, but we are uncertain
of what he can do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we are
dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but
when we are rightly to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful
uncertainty and expectancy(Am sure this has crowned this friendship).

"Believe also in me," said Jesus, not- "Believe certain things about
me." Leave the whole thing to Him, it is the glorious Uncertainty how
he will come in, But he will come.Be royal to him.

Am sure the Lord will meet as at our points of need.I know we are
buried in uncertainty but am sure in being certain about what he can
do he sure will meet as at our points of need.

Oh! I feel like this is one huge revelation and the best part is that
i get to share it with you

In the meantime, Keep smiling, Keep praying, And run the race with faith.