#young&saved

[temwa-cee]

BUSTED HEART

LORD JESUS, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach; help me chastely [purely] to flee it, and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone. –Puritan prayer.

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”

The human heart is the birth place of all human rebellion against God. Our impure words and actions are the echo of the rebellion established in our hearts. Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow (abundance) of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) [NIV]. In all my years on this earth I have never seen a mango tree produce grapes as its fruit. It would simply be unnatural. In this portion of scripture Jesus Christ was talking about recognizing each tree by its fruit for no good tree produces bad fruit and no bad tree produces good fruit. In other words, (believe it or not) our words and our actions are a result of what we have stored up in our hearts.

WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR HEART?

There are sometimes during our Christian walk were we begin to feel content with our stand with God, with this contentment comes compromise; the comfortability of our “little” sins. When we no longer strive for holiness, righteousness, purity, prayer, obedience to Scripture and God Himself; simply because we feel “Christian enough” or “holy enough” may the Lord God open our eyes to our folly. Some people walk around thinking God is pleased with their actions because their lives are good and easy, when a matter of fact is that God is NOT pleased with their actions. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The heart of man is wicked and deceitful even to the man who owns the heart. Therefore, it is easy to fool ourselves that we are of God yet we are living in sin.

WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THIS DECEITFUL HEART?

The Psalmist in Psalm 139 understood that the only One that knows us better than we know ourselves is God the Creator. The surrender to God in these verses is profound. To say, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). This is telling God that our hearts are deceitful and our evil thoughts displease God. O Lord Reveal any evil in us and instruct us in Your ways. I believe that verses should be one of the things believers ought to practice for them to grow.

The Psalmist in Psalm 119:11 says “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

(source: www.evangelicaloutreach.org )

The Psalmist hides God’s word in their heart. It is of paramount importance that we hide the Word of God in our hearts, for it is this Word that purifies us, cleanses us and makes us good trees that bear good fruit.

[temwa-cee]

David's 73

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me – PSALM 23:4 This verse has been read in numerous churches for centuries and it’s been recited at funerals, so that it may bring some sort of hope. BUT…What happens when it seems like the valley of the shadow of death is hunting you down? What happens when you see the prosperity dawn on the unrighteous? What do you do when things are not working in your favour? Pray? Run? Cry? Turn away from God? Lately, I’ve been interested in Psalm 73 and the more I thought about the Psalm the more it become clear to me; about David’s frustration, envy, reassurance and satisfaction. Basically, “What do you do when you are Christian but you are losing in life?” and all those be joyful always verses don’t seem to work with you. “What do you do when all your Christian friends are quoting the Bible to you, but nothing seems to be working in your life?” F R U S T R A T I O N (Analogy) Speaker: I have a testimony. Congregation: TESTIFY! Speaker: I launched a business plan and it has been successful. My business’ profit has tripled!!! Congregation: Praise God! HALLELUJAH!!! You (thoughts): My business plan failed and the bank is repossessing my house as collateral damage. Psalm 73:1 “Surely God is good to Israel, to those pure in heart.” Psalm 73:2 “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.” There are times in life when it may seem like God has blessed all the saints but you. Where it seems all your friends and family that have sought the Lord have been blessed for following God. Leading you to frustration as your trouble starts to take a toll on you and you begin to question your Christian faith as David did in verses 13 and 14. Psalm 73:13 “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.” And v14 “All day I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.” What do you do when your reward for righteousness is pain? Trust God?

E N V Y Psalm 73:3 “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Envy is defined as resentful desire of something owned by or in possession of someone else or others. David throughout verses 4 to 12 expresses his envy and frustration over the wealth, good health and pure prosperity of the wicked. He envied those that dishonoured God. You might be thinking “this is not me and I would never do such a thing.” A practical example is when we envy celebrities that have publicly denounced God and His ways, when we envy their wealth, fame and even beauty because they seem to be perfect. Sometimes when people become envious and bitter they are blinded to God’s wisdom and plan. Then, they tend to blame God for all their pain. Psalm 73:21-22 “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.” R E A S S U R A N C E Psalm 73:16-17 “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” Our reassurance is not that we will escape hell because we choose to follow Jesus Christ. Our reassurance is that we will get to spend eternity with the Creator. At this point it’s self explanatory in the sense that when God is our desire and our satisfaction He is our greatest treasure. S A T I S F A C T I O N Psalm 73:25-26 “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is my portion for ever.” In the good, the bad and the ugly times in life, choose God for He alone can satisfy. When you prosper in all you do, forget not the Lord. For the times when all else fails you including your own body let the Lord be your portion and strength. I just want to quickly clarify something, at this point it’s not about whether David’s problems went away or not. What I have derived is that through it all he chose to trust God and by doing so, God opened his eyes to “…in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Rom8:28) .

[temwa-cee]

UNDER THE CAN

“First [sin] startles him, then it becomes pleasing, then easy, then delightful, the frequent, then habitual, then confirmed! Then the man is impenitent, then obstinate; then resolves never to repent, and then he is damned.” –Jeremy Taylor Have you ever done an experiment whether in a science class or simply at home; that involved a burning candle and a tin can? If you haven’t that’s alright, let me explain. When a burning candle is placed under a tin can the burning candle goes off. The reason is that a burning candle uses oxygen and produces carbon dioxide; and under the can there’s a limited amount of oxygen and soon enough the burning candle turns off (keep in mind I'm not a scientist, so my explanation might not be 100%). Now, take the burning candle as your spiritual life and the tin can as conformity, compromise, fear, sin and all things that murder Christians spiritually. Let me describe two types of individuals who are under the can. There are those whose candle is still burning and there are those whose candle is no longer burning. The difference here is that individual A has recently gotten under the can and the individual B has been under the can long enough to kill their fire. The honest truth about the two individuals is that none is better than the other and they both need to escape the can so as to escape eternal condemnation by God. HOW TO ESCAPE THE CAN 1. CALL UPON THE LORD “...Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” -Romans 10:13 God is faithful and just to forgive our sins when we confess them. Let me clarify something the tin can in your life does not have to be a big dark secret. It can be something that you knowingly do and have become accustomed to. The little areas of compromise that seem harmless are the can in your life and you need to escape them. 2. PRAY, READ, MEDITATE “Pray continually” –1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it...” –Joshua 1:8 When we are in the presence of God continuously, we will learn about God and what He expects from us this is done through prayer and reading the Word. Put on the armour of God which He provides for us through His Word. His grace is sufficient for us all especially when we are weak He is strong and will provide a way out for us when we are tempted. 3. DELIBERATE OBEDIENCE Just to be candid with you God can rescue from the can when you ask Him but He cannot forcibly keep you from being under it. WHAT AM I SAYING? Being outside the can is ultimately your choice and your choice alone, God cannot force you into being a saint. You have to take deliberate action into obeying God’s Word. I like to call it “deliberate obedience”. For instance, you struggle with lust then take deliberate action and do not watch movies that will provoke you to sin. Don’t use “God is still working on me” as an excuse to sin. Flee all unrighteousness and ungodliness; take deliberate action into obeying God’s Word.

[yourfavoritechurchgirl-blog]

Only Jesus can turn...

a mess to a message,

a test into a testimony,

a trial into a triumph,

a victim into a victory.

[yourfavoritechurchgirl-blog]

Day One

Living saved might seem hard at first. Actually to retract that statement it is hard at first, but it does get easier. Although at first it’s an adjustment the dos and don’ts list is extremely long. Do always take Jesus with you everywhere you go but don’t project your views on others. Saved isn’t some restriction where you can’t live life as a regular person. Saved just simply says I’ve taken a stand for God and I want my life to be an example to others.

[temwa-cee]

ROCK OF AGES

SINGING: “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee…” I have been thinking about this hymn lately and there’s something so powerful about the LORD GOD being the Rock of Ages. Personally, I believe that having God as the Rock of Ages implies that HE is a timeless GOD, a GOD that is strong and whom is NOT subject to circumstances. I particularly took a liking to the third verse of the hymn Rock of Ages, which says: Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling, Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace, Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Savior, or I die.

Now, I want to put it out there for everyone who is reading this, to know that when God is your Rock of Ages your life will be filled with joy. When God is the foundation of your life and all that you do, He will bless you and you will find favor before man and God.

• Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. When we look at the first and second line of the third verse of the hymn we see that there is nothing of worth we can bring to God except our surrender and repentance. In Psalms it says the earth and all that is in it belongs to God. I want you to understand that God is our provider whether or not we feel that we need His provision. When we cling to His cross and embrace all its “terms and conditions” He sets us free because of His glorious mercies.

• Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace,

These lines are stating that the Rock of Ages is provider of all our needs whether physical or spiritual needs. The other Sunday, the Senior Pastor for the local church I attend pointed out something that blew my mind. He read out 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”[NIV] Note: “they” implies the people of Israel that wandered the desert. When the pastor read this is was like what… that was there all along? And funny enough I have read this book before. The mind blowing thing about this scripture is that rocks do not give water or provide food. You never see people going on rocky lands and digging a well for water, and definitely we don’t see farmers planting seeds on rocky ground because we all know that the ground is too hard for the seeds to take root. But, from 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 we see that Christ the Rock of Ages indeed takes care of us. If you are going through a time of need put your trust in the Lord for He alone can provide all things according to His riches and glory. Psalm 84:12 “O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in You.” [NIV]

• Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Savior, or I die. As bizarre as it may sound the Rock of Ages is the only Rock that will cleanse us of our unrighteousness and make us whole.

[temwa-cee]

ARE YOU...

Quick questions… “What makes a man or woman great? Are you are great person? If you are great…what makes you great?” (I’m guessing you have these questions)

I want to be candid with you today, 2015 has been the year that has changed my life, from the way I think to the way I interact with others. 2015 has been a “game changer” as some would call it. I have achieved beautiful goals and experienced the wonderful nature of God’s mercy. However, at the same time I have made grave mistakes that I regret (wishing for a time machine) but what I have learned from all this is that my hope should only be built on CHRIST THE MESSIAH. Now, back to the questions above… “What makes a man or woman great? Are you are great person? If you are great…what makes you great?” Is it your ability to command a crowd? Is it your ability to attract attention when you are in a room?

For the purpose of this blog the term “great person” will not particularly refer to a person who has the most money, fame or power but rather the person with most charisma, who is the most positively influential and courageous.

HOW TO BE THIS “GREAT PERSON” 1. HUMILITY Are you the most humble person you know? If your answer was yes then there is a problem. There is no true humble person that parades themselves as humble. As a man or woman who is actively seeking God, humility is a great characteristic to have. Lately, I read Jeremiah 38 which is about the time when Israel had deserted God and they had angered God so much that He was sending some of them into exile and others death by the sword, famine or plague. Now in this chapter Zedekiah King of Judah has a conversation with Jeremiah the prophet and he asks Jeremiah to be honest with him about what God is saying. So, Jeremiah tells him that if he surrenders to the King of Babylon, he and his family will live but if not they all die. 2 Chronicles 36:12 “He [Zedekiah] did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord.”

The result was… Jeremiah 39:5-7 “…the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon at Riblah where he pronounced sentence on him. 6 there at Riblah the King of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. Then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.” If you want to be a “great person” then learn to be humble, listen and learn from those around you. What distinguishes Zedekiah from his father Josiah, a man of positive influence (2 Kings 22 and 23) is humility. In other words, if you want to more than survive and thrive then humble yourself first before God then man.

2. LOVE There is great vulnerability in loving someone or anything. To be able to love is courageous because you risk getting hurt. Do you remember the following men from any story in the bible Shammau, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel and Gaddi? Do you recognize Joshua and Caleb? I bet you do! The former five men and the latter two men have one important thing in common, they were all part of a spy team Moses had assembled to spy on the land of Canaan. Why do most of us remember Joshua and Caleb and not the other ten? It’s because they loved God and trusted God’s abilities. If you want to be a great person trust the Lord. David is good example of a King who loved and trusted God. Nelson Mandela was a charismatic and courageous leader. What made Nelson Mandela a great person was the ability to love those who inflicted pain on him and have the courage to bind two conflicting groups and be triumphant.

3. GRACE Luke 2:40 “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him.” Here the passage is talking about Jesus Christ and the grace in this text is referring to the word “charis” in which the words charisma or charismatic are derived. To be a great person you have to realize that it all comes from God. God is a God that provides according to His will and glory. The foundation of true greatness is a relationship with God and the manual is simply God’s word which comes with the endless pursuit of maturity and knowledge.

Are you a great person?

-Humble yourself and seek the LORD…you will touch the sky with your knees to the ground.

[temwa-cee]

MISSED CALLS

A few years ago I remember I received more than 10 missed calls from my mother. When I saw the missed calls I freaked out because I was sure hell was going to break loose (ha-ha… I’m kidding) on a serious note it wasn’t a good thing, I KNEW that my mother would be mad at me and that I was in trouble.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TODAY’S BLOG?

Well, it has a lot to do with today’s blog. In Sunday school we were taught all these bible stories about people who were called by God. Stories of people like Samuel, Moses, Jonah, Ruth, Timothy, Paul and Abraham. Missing my mother’s calls was bad but the worst thing would be to miss God’s calling. When you miss God’s calling your life will never be the same and not in the good kind of way. In Matthew 22:1-14 “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” [NET]

I love this parable because it provides an analysis of people who are called. From this parable we can learn numerous things. However, in today’s blog we will focus on the following:

1. ANYONE CAN BE CALLED Throughout the bible we see that the people GOD called were of different times, classes, age, tribes and gender. From the parable we draw that anyone who is available can be called by God, according to v10 “…those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good…” We observe that Moses at the age of 80 was called through the burning bush (Exodus 3 & Acts 7:30), Ruth a Moabite was called through association with Naomi (Ruth 1:16-18), Rahab the prostitute was called through faith (Joshua 2:9-12), Samuel the young boy was directly called by God (1 Samuel 3) and many other people. Let me be clear, you cannot expect to be called like Samuel or Moses or any other man of God because you are not them and they are not you.

2. DUTY OF THE CALLED Those who are called have a choice. The beautiful thing about a calling is that we are at liberty to choose whether or not to respond. However, we have to be aware of the consequences of ignoring the call and the reward of responding to it. Using the parable we note that the people called from the streets had the responsibility of attending the banquet in their wedding clothes. From the scriptures we see that when Samuel realized that God was calling him, he responded by saying “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:9) and after this Samuel told Eli everything the Lord had said although he was afraid (v18). When we are called and when we have responded to the call, we have a duty to fulfill. If we ignore the call of God we will be subject to God’s wrath as the initial guests were subject to the king’s wrath in the parable. We ought to do the work God has called us to do…it’s time to RISE UP and take a STAND.

3. DISTINGUISHED PEOPLE When you are called, you are required to separate yourself from the crowd. Let’s be clear, I am not advocating segregation or anything like that. In Deuteronomy 18:5 God called the Levites “For the LORD your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently” and Numbers 8:14 “And so you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.” According to the parable those who were called to the banquet had to dress in a certain manner and if they failed to do so they we were cast out. (Matt 22:11-13) “But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’” If you have been called by God, separate yourself from sin and seek God’s righteousness.

2 Peter 1:3 “I can pray this because His divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the One who called us by his own glory and excellence.”

“To be called by a king is a great privilege but to be called by GOD is the greatest honor of all time.” – Temwa_Cee