This Easter will you worship him?

John 12 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied."It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." Easter is but a few days away. Many worldwide are anticipating a celebratory, reflective and meaningful period of remembering our Lord Jesus Christ. In the same reflective spirit I write this devotion to help us embrace Christ maybe in a new or more heartfelt way. Come with me as we worship the king. Its roughly 4 AD, Jesus is but a few days away from being crucified. 6-7 days to be exact. We find Jesus in the home of some of his favourite people, Mary and Martha of Bethany. Mary unclear about the ensuing events in the days to follow, is moved to sit at the feet of Jesus. As she stoops down, she breaks open an alabaster vial of perfume. She begins to anoint his feet with the perfume using her hair as towel. This is quite unusual. To top it off, the contents of this jar is valued at a year's salary. She simply empties the contents at the feet of Christ. The onlookers are stunned. "Why would she do such a thing? What a waste." And "why isn't Jesus saying anything?" He finally replies. But to their chagrin, he commends her actions, and calls it preparatory for his burial. I believe her love for Christ, propelled her to this great act of sacrifice, indeed of worship. True worship will require you to sacrifice your precious time, give of your best resources, and devote your talents to Christ. The next day Jesus enters Jerusalem in what we call the triumphal entry. He is worshipped in fervour and zeal, proclaimed the king to come by all of Jerusalem. Incessant chanting practically demanding his immediate coronation would surely count for true worship. Yet he tells us elsewhere that true worship is not just with words, but in spirit and truth. Unfortunately the crowds worship was fleeting, 5 days later, on the the eve of his death, their worship had changed to a death chant, demanding his blood by the hand of Pilate. Our practical question of course is how can we be like Mary who shamelessly worships the king with all she had? It all begins with spending time at the feet of Christ. Spending time with him means elimination of maybe necessary but non vital distractions. Too often are we caught up with balancing our books, shopping for the household, or recuperating after a busy day by the television. These things have their place, but have we prioritized our time with him? In Luke 10:38-42, Mary chose Christ first over all the other important things. Martha her sister chose to cook a meal for Christ, Mary instead was satisfied by the spiritual food Christ's word meant to her. As a friend describes, she was postured towards Christ. Yes, she fixed her gaze upon him. Despite the sure concerns that needed to be attended to, she chose for those few moments to focus all her attention on Christ. This discipline of exclusively spending time with the master, was the foundation of her worship. No wonder, Mary can devote her priceless treasure to Christ. He had captured her attention. Thus her worship moves from sacrificing her time to giving of her treasure. This was no small fortune, it could have been her retirement. Perfumes were something investment worthy in ancient times, and could have enormous value. Yet doling it all out on Christ did not phase her. After all, he owned her heart, her life, and he was her constant obsession. Is this descriptive of your relationship with the master? Is he your constant thought? Do you need to declutter your life, simplify your activities and get back in that closet with him, so that his desires will again become yours? It's a principle, that where your heart is there your treasure lies. Is your heart with Christ, not just positionally but experientially? Do you feel his spirit pulsating through your being? Are you "burning aflame" for him? This is the kind of passion I believe Mary had for Christ, that led her to worship him with her treasure. Jesus said, her worship prepared him for her burial. This I believe was Mary's legacy. Every time the passion and resurrection of Christ is being recounted, we read her narrative and are reminded of the importance of a life spent on Christ. Said her a different way, Mary was faithful with the talents that she was given. The word talent here is of course used as a metaphor, and in relation to the story that Christ told of the noble man who travelled and gave units of money called talents to several of his servants. Several of them were faithful and productive, but one in particular was delinquent. Instead of investing the master's money he hides it and returns it to the matter on his return. This is a picture of the religious rulers of the day who were given a great opportunity to believe in Christ and lead Israel to truth, but instead chose to protect their own interests and deny the reality of Christ's Lordship. Can I ask. What are you doing with your talents? Will your resources, opportunities, influences and so forth achieve something worth glorying God? Or are you too busy building an empire for yourself. Can others see proof of Christ living in you? Do you have a testimony? These are some of the thoughts I want you to reflect on, as you prepare to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection. Let your worship not just be with words, like the masses who welcomed Christ jubilantly so many years ago. But let it be with substance, as you turn your time, talents and treasure towards him once again.

Out with the old

1 Corinthians 5:7 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. In the historic retelling of the first Passover, we are told about the crucial role of the lamb, and it’s saving power rendered to Israel. This lamb we know as New Testament believers points to Christ. Scripture tells us that Christ is our Passover lamb. Through Him we are delivered from sin, and preserved for eternity in Christ our saviour. The Passover story however includes another element that I find intriguing. Exodus 12, reveals that the Israelites were forbidden to put yeast in their bread. This strange injunction is the crux of my thought today. On the eve of their escape from Israel, they would eat flat “pita like” bread. The practical reason for this of course was because yeast took time to work into the dough. Time was a scarcity that evening as in just a little while, the death angel would swoop down on the unsuspecting Egyptians wiping out their entire first born en masse. The Jews were thus instructed to hasten, for surely Pharoah would be on their heels in no time, as they made their escape out of his domain. Thus there was no time to add yeast to their bread. But why the continued emphasis on yeast? After all what does yeast have to do with anything? Well it must have been important to God for he chose to have a 7 day feast called the festival of Unleavened (non yeasted) bread, celebrated annually by Jews since the inception of the first Passover over 3500 years ago. But also here in the New Testament, Paul in his letter to the Corinthians reflects on it. “Get rid of the old yeast” Omitting yeast meant a couple of things. First, that we need to lend an attentive ear to God. Too often we take a step towards a new life change, or maneuver without careful dependence on God’s leading. The Israelite who obeyed God in this detail was one who heard, believed and obeyed. And as we know, the result was a blessing. Their freedom from bondage literally had to do with their ability to simply obey him. No need for lingering around waiting for yeast to rise. Simply eat and run, and thus avoid the hand of judgement via the death angel. A second aspect to excluding yeast is that of being holy. In the same chapter of our text (1 Corinthians 5) yeast is described as the flesh or carnality. Could it be that God was saying adding of yeast to the bread was tantamount to doing things in our own human strength. See, the command to get rid of the yeast would indeed have caught the Israelites off guard. They were probably saying, “God I can’t pack up my baking ingredients just yet. I still need to add yeast” or “Why is God messing with how we always do things. Does it really matter to him”? You bet it does. See, In Matthew 9, Jesus calls for a new way of doing things. Though the Pharisees and John’s disciples wanted Jesus to conform to the normal religious rite of fasting, Jesus emphasized the need to be sensitive to the the Spirit’s leading. Jesus was always confronting religious and popular culture’s way of doing things (even good things) against God’s leading. He prophesied that new wine (representing the spirit, Eph 5:18) is coming, but we must be ready to do things differently. So next time you eat that well yeasted croissant, think of the import of our thought today. Would you obey God in anything he asks you to do, even if it sounded strange? Do you desire His leading more than popular culture’s pull? Will you step out and do something bold and radical if prompted? I pray your answer is a heartfelt yes, and that you find more of God in laying down your ways and taking up His.

Prophet? Who me?

A prophet is one who speaks for God, and many times we see this image as one who is old, bearded, and spews out gloom and doom in preparation for the coming kingdom. While this antique imagery is not without truth, I believe a prophet is much more. IN the scriptures, prophets not only spoke, but acted on behalf of God. There was an active and dynamic aspect of prophecy. Often times, a prophet would not even be allowed to speak but instead would simply mime, dramatize or live out scenarios that had divine and foretelling implications. Prophets as explained so far sound quite heavenly, but indeed are usually ordinary people. In fact sometimes less than ordinary that they may often go unheeded by the people they so seek to counsel. Jesus in Matthew 14, returns to his hometown of Nazareth. While one would have hoped his message and theme would be appropriated accordingly, and would lead to many miracles, it was largely an uneventful experience. His town folk actually took offense at him because they thought he was putting on airs. After all Jesus was one of them. “How did he end up being so gifted and unusual?” They wondered where he got these powers from, and doubted in his ability. Because of this uncertainty in his prophetic identity, he could not do many miracles for some of the people he was most familiar with. A spiritual leader is a prophetic person who need to be aware of his identity. When God calls us in to leadership there is a dynamic, active, living approach to his working in our lives that others are supposed to experience. Whether you lead in the church or in the marketplace God desires to use you as a message to others. Yes friend, you are a prophet as you lead for God. We need to shed the one-dimensional archaic view of prophets that is prevalent, and understand that we as Godly leaders are messages of life and meaning to others around us. Without this knowledge of your prophetic identity you will see limited impact as was the case in Nazareth, where they doubted our Lord’s prophetic nature. Are you a teacher, writer, singer, Sunday school teacher, officer, preacher? Do you see ministry in any of these capacities? Does God use your leadership gifts somehow, even in the littlest way? If so then embrace the prophetic. Get wisdom and understanding. Let it weigh down deep in your heart, that you are a spokesperson for God. God speaks and lives his message through you. Pray for a revelation of this, and act it out. As you step into your day remind yourself that you are a prophet for God, and that you point others to God through something in your being. And as you possess this identify, then maybe others will see you more in this light, and I trust you will be able to see Christ manifest more in your life making miracles for them to see louder and clearer than ever before.

Finishing Well!!!

1 Corinthians 9:27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize

As I approach my 15th year in ministry, I realize how important it is to stick to the basics. The rudimentary principles that often make one passionate in ministry or effective in their endeavors quite often fall by the wayside once “success” is attained. Some of my friends who started out when I did have simply fallen by the wayside. Oh, not necessarily into sin, but they have lost the flame that we all possessed. Gone is the love, passion and self sacrifice that marked our spirits. Instead is spiritual apathy, longing for material satisfaction, and a mediocre faith at best. In our theme scripture the apostle Paul writes on not being comfortable even though you are esteemed as a leader of others in the faith. As I reflect back over the years, and even in my pre-ministry days, I understand where he is coming from. Only the grace of God has kept me consistent in this race of faith. I realize how easy it would have been to succumb to pressures to relax, or indulge in false passions. God’s gentle but firm nudge to keep the prize in view helped me to take Paul’s caution to heart. King Asa reigned over Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Judah for four decades. He sought God in all his affairs, and served him excellently. His leadership career was almost flawless. But in his last remaining years, he wavered in his commitment to God. An imposing enemy unnerved this veteran spiritual champion who had indeed thwarted many similar enemies in his earlier years. King Asa sought an earthly king for help in the form of Ben-Hadad of Aram, instead of focusing on God. He did buy temporary security for his kingdom, but at what cost? The story ends 5 short years later, with the aged king sickly in his feet, and losing his life from an ill timed disease. Recorded on his spiritual epitaph are the words of the Chronicler

though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. 2 Chronicles 16:12b

Can I encourage you to finish strong. This means staying consistent. What are the things you did in your earlier days in Christ, that helped you stay passionate. Some of you were in church every day, or read your scriptures during your lunch break at work. Others attended retreats, conferences, evangelistic exercises and visited soup kitchens. Maybe you won’t be able to do everything, but at least try something. Pray for God’s leading, and pick that one activity that you feel was the key. Whatever you do lean on the grace of God, but remember Paul’s advice, and work really hard. As you do I trust that you will indeed finish the race as good or, even better than you started.

Preparing to build

Solomon was ordained of the Lord to build him a temple. This temple when completed was one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was quite a sight to see. The monumental task was completed after spending countless hours, involving over a hundred thousand workers and the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in today’s currency. In 1 Kings, we see God glory filling this temple. Evidently God was pleased with the building, and the mode of dedication, thereby gracing the whole commemoration affair with his beautiful presence. The Bible describes God’s ordination of the service as so glorious that the priests could not even sustain themselves. They bowed down in awe as God’s spirit enveloped the entire temple atmosphere. As many looked on that day, they would have only considered the finished work of the temple. They would have been unaware of the key facet in the undertaking of such a task. The work of God upon the heart of the builder. David instructed Solomon on the secret to completing this undertaking. A relentless pursuit of God that begins from the heart, and culminates in an active relationship with God. Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God,.. 1 Chr 22:19 Indeed before any undertaking we need to consider David’s words to Solomon as well. Are you about to build a career, a marriage, or a ministry, then devote yourself. Let God constrain you, measure your motives, and be the reason behind your doing. Pursue God in earnest, seeking him daily till you come to that place of affirmation that he undergirds your travail. Then and only then will you have his glory fill the temple that you complete on his behalf.

Consistency

“Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God” Acts 10:4b

Cornelius was a Roman centurion, whose narrative is featured in Acts 10. Though a Gentile he had come to faith in the Jewish God. This faith for him was an authentic one. Scripture indicates that he was devoted to God, offered gifts and prayed regularly. Thus making him consistent in his walk

Webster defines consistency as having integrity and follow through, producing a compactness that complements the whole.

Here in our narrative, Cornelius, though a worshipper of God is unaware of the new birth in Christ, and the spirit baptism. This movement was a revolution that was quickly reforming the Jewish faith as seen in the book of Acts. Thousands were turning to Christ, political and social systems were being challenged, and mighty miracles were being displayed. Yet Cornelius knew nothing about it. He just remained consistent in prayer.

Sometimes, in our walk with God we may be out of alignment with His greater plans for us. Though we are faithful to him, somehow, whether due to timing, sovereignty, sin or some other reason we may have missed God’s dynamic workings in the larger body. Yet a consistent walk with God like Cornelius’ builds up our spiritual reserves, which though may be intangible to us, is very present. This spiritual reserve is the foundation which God uses to move us further in his will.

As the rest of chapter 10 reveals, Cornelius in fact is realigned with God’s current move. Due to his diligence in prayer, father God sees to it that Cornelius does not miss out. In fact, because of his consistency, an angel is commissioned to appear to Cornelius to prepare him for a visit with the apostle Peter. Upon his meeting with Peter, he receives the gospel of the resurrected Christ, and the baptism of the Spirit with his entire household. Because of his actions, Cornelius receives much favor and becomes the first recorded Gentile to receive Christ post the ascension. In fact Cornelius is the prophetic fulfillment of Acts 1:8, where the message had spread from Jerusalem to Samaria, but not beyond. Truly, God’s favour rested on him, due to his faithfulness in serving.

Can I encourage you to be like Cornelius? Don’t be discouraged if it seems like you are missing out on God’s greater them for your life. Truly he is sovereign and as long as you remain faithful will see to it that his blessings abound on your life.

Suffering for the faith?

As a young believer, I was instilled with a doctrine that invariably taught suffering was virtually not a part of the Christian experience. An aspect of this teaching was that if suffering is occurring then you should pray to have it immediately alleviated.

With this prevalent thought in my mind, I have been confronted time and time again with scriptures such as in Acts 16 where Paul suffered for his faith.

In this passage, Paul and Silas were in Macedonia. It was expressly due to God’s will. In fact he had tried travelling to another region but had been restricted by the Spirit. Upon arriving in Macedonia, a powerful ministry experience soon turned sour, as Paul and Silas were accosted by a crowd due to having performed an exorcism on a fortune-teller. Things quickly worsened as the authorities arrive and order Paul and Silas to be stripped and beaten with wooden rods.

Let’s pause to consider what has just happened. A mob of at least several hundred are thronging them, while dealing heavy blows on their naked body. How horrible this experience must have been. Surely Paul and Silas should have been praying for God to deliver them from this experience. I can only imagine how discouraged they would have been when instead of God issuing their deliverance order, they found themselves thrown into the deepest dungeon of the most secure jail cell.

At this point if I were in their shoes I would have questioned whether I was in the will of God. This may have crossed their minds as well. So often when things don’t go our way in our modern day Christianity, many immediately correlate that with the devil, human decision or some other factor.

Questioning the will of God is just one thought that typically comes to mind. Another is that of God’s presence in the immediate situation. Some that I know who encounter great trials of their faith feel like God, has completely abandoned them. Quite possibly Paul and Silas felt the same way. Keep in mind at this moment they would be literally half-dead. Their bodies would be bleeding profusely, suffering from their hemorrhaging wounds and countless pulsating hematomas. To make matters worse they were locked, hands and feet in stocks unable to tend to their wounds, except for the present rats who may have been attending them. Where was their God who they believed had led them to evangelize in Macedonia? Did he not care? Had he forsaken them? Did he even really exist? These thoughts may be just some of the questions that realistically they would have to deal with in their minds.

In trying to explain Paul and Silas’ suffering, some limit this kind of suffering to particular callings. They say, Jesus specifically assigned a ministry of suffering to Paul, “the martyr calling”, and confirms this with the scripture in Acts 16:9. Only a small percentage of believers are called to suffer like this, while.

Yet, we see another scripture where Paul enjoins all believers to suffer for Christ just as he has
11 You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—but the Lord rescued me from all of it. 12 Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:11-12

Here Paul clearly associates suffering with the normal Christian experience. Leaving it a necessity for the astute believer to wrestle with the possibility of God ordained tribulation in their Christian walk just as Paul did.

Paul and Silas did wrestle with suffering, and we should learn from their approach. For while in their deepest darkest moments of affliction they cried out to God. Their prayers could have been cries for salvific deliverance, but more likely it was akin to the prayers of the three Hebrew boys in Daniel who acknowledge God’s power to deliver, but didn’t demand it (Daniel 3:17-18). Paul and Silas simply praised the God of heaven, despite their situation. Eventually they were delivered in a powerful way, and God restored all they had lost, and much more, granting their jailer salvation to boot. The positive experiences at the end of the narrative would surely have helped to ease the pain of their trial and sufferings.

At the end of this blog, I still am unable to fathom the depths of suffering these men, and many others in certain parts of the world experience for their Christian faith. I am keenly aware for many, such as Stephen (Acts 8) the story is not quite positive, and often ends in physical death. Suffering, even unto death, is a scriptural precedent, and a reality that some, maybe even I, will have to consider.

My prayer for you and I is that God will strengthen our faith to seek him, in the good and bad times, not questioning but persevering through – regardless of the outcome.