AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE GOD OF MISSIONS

“He that watereth shall be watered also himself” Prov 11:25

A lesson that must forever be fresh in our minds is that to get, we must give; to accumulate, we must scatter; to be happy, we must make others happy; our attempts at being useful to others bring out the power of usefulness lying dormant in us.

When I embarked on a missionary trip with some brethren a couple of days ago to a remote island, it was with the understanding that we were going only to tell the people about the Gospel of Christ. Little did we know that it was an opportunity for us to encounter the God of missions. We never knew that He was already waiting to do missions in us.

Though God gave us victory in the land and there was a mighty demonstration of His power among the inhabitants but the height of the trip was that we ourselves encountered Him. During one of the prayer sessions, people broke down in tears before Him; the Spirit of prophecy was heavy and was literally almost on everyone present; yokes were broken; and many lives were rededicated to Him. For many of us, that land became our Bethel.

Many times in life, we may not see God’s move until we move. We may not see the answers to our prayers until we pray for those around us. The Scriptures can never be broken; a person who waters others SHALL also be watered. At this point, the question we need to ask ourselves is “Am I watering lives for God?”  

Don’t allow your insufficiency to be the focus of your decision. They will only rob you of your blessings. There are many ways you can affect people. Until you take a step of faith to impart a life, you may never know the blessings that await you. Remember it was not until the widow of Zarephath gave out of her meagre supply that the problem of lack was addressed in her life.

DEALING WITH GUILT

Read 2 Sam. 11: 1 – 12:24

David was an adulterer who had a man killed because he wanted to marry his wife. This action brought God’s judgment upon him and he was told by Prophet Nathan that the product of that sinful union would die. He fasted and prayed for forgiveness so that the child could be spared. His servants and aides became worried because of his refusal to eat. 

At the end, the child died. When the news was broken to him, David washed and anointed himself and asked to be given food which he ate. He did not stop at that: the Scriptures say in 2 Sam. 12:24 “And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him”. This Solomon grew up to be the wisest and wealthiest man to have ever lived. Christ was a descendant of Solomon - a product of adultery.

David was far from being perfect. Yet, he enjoyed a wonderful relationship with his Maker. God loved him so much that He promised to establish his dynasty for ever. How could God love and use this man that was full of faults? The answer is because he had a repentant heart. We could see the condition of his heart in Psalm 57 which he wrote after his sin with Bathsheba. He even went further to make a vow that he would never set his eyes upon anything sinful (Ps. 101:3).

Guilt is a subject that many young Christians are yet to have a grip on. They feel that the sins and mistakes they have made before encountering Christ can never be corrected. This is very untrue. The moment a person has genuinely confessed his sins and asked for forgiveness, God has forgotten about that sin and blotted it away from His record (Heb. 8:12).

After that, the individual ought to be filled with peace from within. If he is still feeling guilty after genuinely repenting, then he ought to know that such feeling is not from God but the devil who must be rebuked according to the word “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony... (Rev 12:11).

God does not want us to continue living with guilt because it will limit and make us cower where we ought to exercise boldness. It will deny us the opportunity of being used mightily by God. As David was able to forgive himself knowing that God had forgiven him, we also must not sit down brooding over our past mistakes. Rather, we should commit them to God who knows how to turn around our shortcomings to promotion.

A NEW DOCTRINE

A man once told the testimony of how he got his deliverance. His problem was that he ate in his sleep every night. He had fasted and prayed about it severally but the problem persisted.

One day, he was privileged to be in a Bible study which gave him an illumination about his case and what Christ has done for him. He went home, prayed a simple prayer and went to bed.

That same night in his sleep, food was brought to him as usual. But instead of eating it, found himself telling the bearer of the food that the person who used to eat their food was dead and he, a new person, was not interested. That was how he got his deliverance.

When Jesus cast out the demon in the possessed man in the Mk. 1:23-27, the people did not ask about the power which was in play. Rather, they asked about the new kind of doctrine (teaching) that was at work (Mk. 1:27). Many times, we don’t need special deliverance or the laying on of hands to receive our freedom. What we need is an understanding of what Christ has achieved for us.

Luke 4:18 says “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”.

It did not say perform deliverance but preach deliverance. When we come to the realization of our place in God as Christians, and the authority He has bestowed upon us, it will shock us to know that those mountains which appear insurmountable in our lives are really nothing to fret about.

The question is how much of the Scripture do you know? How often do you make yourself available for personal and group Bible study? Your victory in life is connected to the word of God. Don’t deny yourself of this and have a wonderful day.

CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND BUSINESS

Christian ethics is the application of Christian values to decision-making process. An approach of Christian ethics is to use the Bible as a book of rules. This involves applying the rules stated in the Bible to business situations. This approach will work well in simple situations like theft, cheating or lying. However, when we are confronted with complex issues like hacking or copyright infringement that the Bible says nothing about, what are we to do?

Some people are of the opinion that the concept of Christian ethics in business is a total illusion that will ultimately lead to shipwreck in business. They argue that the Bible was written a long time ago in the context of an economy that was largely agrarian. As a result, the Bible is not very useful as a business rules book in this age of telecommunication, mobile money and internet. Their conclusion is that using the Bible as a business guide book is like using ancient scholars like Galen and Hippocrates to train modern doctors.

Christian ethics is not rooted in the rules spelt out in the Scripture but on the unchanging character of God. We are created in His image and are supposed to emulate Him in all aspects of our lives, including business. In view of this, any behavior that is consistent with the character of God is ethical – that which is not is unethical. 

In order words, being ethical in business as Christians means reflecting the character of God. The critical question then is “What is God like?” There are three divine characteristics of God repeatedly mentioned in the Bible that have direct bearing on ethical decision-making. They are:

1.    Holiness

2.    Justice

3.    Love

It suffices to say that a business is ethical if it reflects God’s Holy-Just-Loving character.

These three attributes are intertwined and are of equal importance and must be taken into account when making decisions. Like the legs on a three-legged stool, each one balances the other two.

While holiness removes “dirt” in our decisions and helps to promote purity in business, justice promotes fairness and support an approach that is balanced. Love on its part provides the framework on which business relationships exist. In other words, holiness focuses primarily on purity, justice on rights, and love concentrates on relationship. 

Succeeding in business as Christians in this corrupt and perverse world require conscious effort on our part. This success is largely dependent on the quality of our decisions. These three attributes of God must be evident in our lives as business people.

May the Lord help us to remain as the salt which will hinder corruption and every form of decay in the business arena.

For more, read Just Business by Alexander Hill

LEARNING FROM THE BEST

I have greater wisdom than old men, because I obey your commands 

 Psalm 119:100 (Today’s English Version)

Understanding is a vital key in learning. The human mind can receive unlimited amount of knowledge. Whether this knowledge would be useful or not depends largely on understanding.

Sometime ago, I heard the story of some men who were trying to push out a truck that got stuck under a bridge because of its height. They did everything they could but no headway was made. At the end, they concluded that part of the bridge had to be broken.

A young boy walked to the spot and looked at everything that was happening. He approached a policeman standing nearby and asked why it was taking the men so long to move the truck.

The policeman explained to him that the men have tried everything  and that the only option left was for them to break part of the bridge. The boy looked at the men again and asked why they did not deflate the tyres to create a little gap between the bridge and the top of the truck so that the can push it away. That innocent question eventually saved the day.

According to the Psalmist, it is possible to know more than the revered gurus in any profession. Are you planning to start a business, you can know more about it than those who have started it several decades before you. How? Simple obedience to His word.

The Holy Spirit is the best teacher one can ever have. He is ready to reveal to you that which still confounds wise men if you are ready to obey. Are you ready to obey Him today?