Identify the Distractions

Late last year, I was reminded of the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42.  In this story, Martha welcomed our Lord Jesus and his disciples into her home when they arrived in her village. But it was her sister Mary that sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said.  We were also told that Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing, another translation says that she was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen and she was obviously not happy when her sister did not join her in the preparation. She actually told Jesus to ask Mary to come and help her.  But the Lord said to her that she was worried and upset over many things and that the only thing worth being concerned about is what Mary chose and it will not be taken away from her.

We can see here that there were two women who made two different choices when Jesus was in their house.  The first woman was Mary who chose to sit at the Master feet to learn from Him.  The second woman was Martha who the bible said was distracted or pulled away from learning at the Master’s feet because of the all the preparations that had to be made.  We also learnt that Martha was upset about Mary not helping her and she complained to Jesus who corrected her and said that Mary made the right choice.

I believe God is reminding us to not allow legitimate things or our various duties as women to distract us from sitting at His feet or learning from Him.  He understands that as women especially if we are married or have children that we have many things to do but He is also saying that the only way to have a balance is for us to prioritise our time with Him.  As he said to Martha, that is the main thing that will not be taken away from us.  We need to be in His presence to understand His will, to hear His voice and to know what we ought to do in every season of life.

Are you at a crossroad in your life and you don’t know the next step to take?  Why don’t you pull yourself away from all the distractions and sit at the Master’s feet so that your vision can be clearer.  As you read this write up, please identify any distractions that you need to pull away from in order to spend quality time with the Master.  I pray that the God of all of our Lord Jesus Christ will give onto to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened in Jesus name.  I leave you with Luke 10:41-42:
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41-42).  Have a great week in His presence.

Until next time,

Dupe

Beware of Strange Doctrines (2)

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16).

In the above verses when Jesus asked the disciples who people say he is; Peter gave the right answer as it was revealed by the Father to him.  It’s amazing that the same Peter rebuked Jesus when he said that he was going to suffer, be killed and raised on the third day.  The bible says in verse 22 that Peter called him aside and began to rebuke him.  Our Lord Jesus recognised who was speaking and he rebuked Satan because he said that He was seeing things from a human point of view, not from God’s.  If we do not see things from God’s point of view, we will miss His plan or purpose for our lives. 

We also have to make sure that we listen to advice or opinion that are line with God’s point of view.  In verse 24 of the same chapter, Jesus then went to say that if any man wants to be my disciple or follower, he should deny himself or turn from his selfish ways, take up their cross and follow him.  Following Jesus means not doing your own thing, you can’t be a follower of Christ and be selfish.  It means giving up what you think is right and walking with God says it’s right.  It doesn’t mean that we are robots; it means that we willingly follow his ways and do what He asks us to do. 

The benefit of following Christ is not only in this life but in the life to come.  This is because if you hang onto to your life, you will lose it but if you give up your life for his name sake, you will save it (verse 25). 

I leave you with this verse in Matthew 16:26

 “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul?”

I pray that you will truly be a follower of Jesus Christ.

God’s servant,

Dupe 

Beware of strange doctrines (1)

“Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:11-12)

The above verses tell us to beware of the strange doctrines that are contrary to the true doctrine of Christ. The word ‘beware’ means to be careful, cautious, to look out, to watch out, to take heed and think twice about something.  This verse is reminding us to be careful or watch out for strange doctrines.  The word strange means odd, weird, and abnormal; in this case, we are talking about doctrines or teachings that are not in line with God’s word.  The only way we can identify strange doctrines is if we know the true doctrines of Christ; we should take time to study the word of God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit so that we can grow in the grace of God.

“Like new-born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1Peter2:2).  The only way to grow spiritually is to crave and live on the pure spiritual milk. If you are feeding on strange milk or diluted word of God, you will not grow as you should.  Your spiritual growth is your responsibility.  I pray that you will grow in the grace and knowledge of God as you feed on the true milk of the word.

Shalom,

Dupe

Unhealthy Comparisons

UCB Word for Today devotional recently focused on Unhealthy Comparisons and the series blessed me.  Here are the main points:

1.      Paul didn't measure his progress by the pace of the runner in the lane next to him. He said, in essence, 'I'm running according to the drumbeat I hear on the inside, not the outside. I will support and encourage you, but I will never compete with you. My goal is to recognise and maximise what God has put within me. I'm not chasing you, I'm chasing me”.

2.      There will always be somebody who has more education than you, preaches better than you, or makes more money than you. So shake it off and be yourself! The Bible says, 'He who walks with wise men will be wise”...

3.      The only course you can run and win is the course God has given you.

4.      Others may inspire and instruct you, but you must go to God in order to find out what He’s called you to be and then align yourself with it. God told the prophet Habakkuk, ‘…Write the vision and make it plain…that he may run who reads it’ (Habakkuk 2:2 NKJV).

5.     It is okay to admire somebody else’s vision and be inspired by them, but you must receive your own vision from God and run with it. Only when you do that, can you live to the fullest. God wants you to run according to what He has shown you, not what somebody else says. Stop taking your cues from people. Go to God!

6.       You are the question, God is the answer. And as long as you know who is who, you’ll always make progress in the journey of life.

 

Have a fantastic Christmas break and may your 2013 be far better than this year. 

 

Every blessing,

 

Dupe

 

Have a fantastic Christmas break and may your 2013 be far better than this year.  Enjoy the Turkey and the rest.

 

Every blessing,

 

Dupe

Have a fantastic Christmas break and may your 2013 be far better than this year.  Enjoy the Turkey and the rest.

Have

 

Every blessing,

 

Dupe

 

Have a fantastic Christmas break and may your 2013 be far better than this year.  Enjoy the Turkey and the rest.

 

Every blessing,

 

Dupe

Have a fantastic Christmas break and may your 2013 be far better than this year.  Enjoy the Turkey and the rest.

 

Every blessing,

 

Dupe

...Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.'

Summary of UCB Word for Today:

1.  If you are wise, when God talks you'll listen. And He will talk to you through the Bible.

2.  Your faith grows when you hear God speak, and it works when you do what He says.

3.  If you struggle to lead a victorious Christian life, read these words carefully: 'How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word' (Ps119v. 9 NKJV).

4.  The solution to every problem you face is contained in Scripture.

5.  To be wise you must study it.

6.  To be strong in faith you must believe it.

7.  To be successful in life you must practice it.

Have a fantastic day.

Be devoted to prayer (2)

Be devoted to prayer (2)

Like I said in my previous post, when I was in Hong Kong in June; I had the opportunity to attend the Ambassador International Church on Sunday, 3^rd of June.  The speaker was Henry Craig who spoke on “People at Prayer”.  I was really blessed by the message because I believed it was a balanced message on prayer.  This is the second part of the summary of the message.

A child praying to a Father
When we have needs, we should turn in prayer to our heavenly Father. Sometimes it is our last resort rather than our first.   It should be our natural instincts to pray about our needs, concerns and blessings.  We bring the matter to the Lord and it helps us in our understanding.  Remember that you worship a powerful God when you feel powerless.  No matter what we face, we should always come to your heavenly father in prayer as a child comes to a Father. An example was when Jehoshaphat was in danger in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, he prayed to God saying “We do not know what to do but our eyes are on you” 2 Chronicles 20:12. 

When we sin against God - A prayer of repentance, confession, guilt and repentance 
This is when we bring to God the things we haven’t done and we ask him to forgive us.  A good example is in Psalm 51.  David started off with these words “have mercy on me according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion and wash away my iniquity”.  Don’t run away from God when you sin.  Go to Him and ask him to cleanse you.  David took responsibilities for his actions, let’s do the same.  He claims God’s compassion and abandoned himself to God’s mercies.  He shows even deeper insights when he said, “against you alone have I sinned’.  His sin was a rebellion against God as all sins are; repentance is taking sides with God against ourselves. 

We do not need to appease God or seek his approval.  Biblical Christianity is about acknowledging our helplessness and the sacrifices God requires is a broken and contrite heart.  We cannot save ourselves.  1 John 2:1-2 says that:

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.  He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world”

Persistence in prayer
Paul’s practice was to pray for new Christians.  In Colossians1:9, he said that “We have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you”.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 asks us to pray continually or without ceasing; that is we should not stop praying.  The book of Acts shows us that the early Christians prayed daily in one accord, devoted themselves in prayer and they prayed for deliverance and safety

Call to action
Since prayer is keeping company with God and it is fellowship with the Almighty. I urge you to be devoted in prayer, remain persistence in prayer, and remember to put God at the centre of your prayers.  In conclusion, we ought to live in a way that we believe that praying makes a difference.  I leave you with these verses in Revelation 8: 3-4

“Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.”

Be devoted to prayer.

Blessings,

Dupe

People at Prayer (1)

I was recently in Hong Kong and I had the opportunity to attend the Ambassador International Church on Sunday, 3^rd of June.  The speaker was Henry Craig who spoke on “People at Prayer”.  I was really blessed by the message because I believe it is a balanced message on prayer.  The summary of the message was:

The necessity of a daily prayer live
Jesus is our example, he knew what to pray about, how to pray and he prayed daily.  He taught this valuable principle by example - ‘Prayer is keeping company with God; it is fellowship with the Almighty.  He told his disciples to always pray and never give up.  He prayed constantly, setting time aside to pray.

Every true prayer is a variation of the theme - ‘Your will be done, Thy kingdom come”

The purpose of every prayer should be to pray for the establishment of God’s will to be done on earth whether it is in our lives or in our community or nation.  When God is glorified, the emphasis is on Him, the spotlight is on Him.  Bringing Him glory and having His will is the benchmark for every prayer.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we can see a pattern for prayer.  It shows that we need to pray about God’s concern before we pray for our own concerns.  As we can see in Matthew 6: 9-13 below:

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.   And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”.

 God centred petition

·         God’s name –hallowed by your name

·         His Kingdom – your kingdom come

·         His Will – your will be done

 Man centred petition

·         Provision - Daily bread

·         Pardon - Forgiveness 

·         Grace not to sin

·         Protection

Fellowship in prayer

An example is the story of Daniel; when he had to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams to save lives (Daniel chapter 2).  He went to his mates to pray with them.  He got his friends together and urged them to plead for mercies from God.  He knew the importance of fellowship in prayer.   In Matthew 18:19-20; our Lord Jesus mentioned the power of agreement in prayer:

“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them”

To be continued…..

Blessings,

Dupe