God's Word 2 U ...

Life-inspiring articles from various writers

SEEKING GOD
Abraham Oludolapo

TEXT: 1Chr 28:9; 2Chr 15: 2, Deut 4: 29

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut 4: 29

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 1Chr 28:9

...He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 2Chr 15: 2

From the above scriptures it is clear that if a man makes effort to seek God he will surely find Him, but it may not be easy to do this properly if one does not know what it means to seek and know who God is. We will briefly look at this and some other issues by God’s special grace.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SEEK?

According to the dictionary it means the following:

Search or Inquire (for/after),

Try or want to find or get to reach (this suggests an effort on the part of the seeker)

Seek out: a) Search for and find.  b) Single out as a friend.

The bible speaks of seeking as:

Deut 4: 29; inquire for and require as necessity. This suggests that in seeking God, we must realize that we can not do without Him and must go out of our way to ensure we don’t trivialize this at all.

1 Chronicles 28: 9. Searching for Him, requiring Him as your first and vital necessity, this talks about our looking out for Him and seeing Him as our all in all and indispensable source of help.

Amos 5: 4. Inquire for and of Him and require Him as you require food. Food is a vital thing in the life of every man and we are enjoined here to look for God as we look for food. To me this has a special meaning because during my growing up years, any time we finished preparing the meal, my mother would insist we tidy up the kitchen before we eat. And as a kid who finds pleasure in eating, I didn’t like cleaning up after food because I want the food first then all other things can follow. This shows how important food is and we should also make God an indispensable companion.

WHO IS GOD?

Ps 90: 2 says God is God from everlasting to everlasting. This means He is God outside of whatever happens on earth or to us as individuals. This should make us seek Him because we cannot exist without Him, but He does not need us to exist because He has been before the earth and is sufficient in Himself.

Num 23 : 19; says God is not man hence he is not bound by the frailty and failings of man, with this in mind we should know that He will do whatever He says and will stand by every word of His, so seek Him.

Ps 65:2; God is the one that hears prayers, no man and no other so called deities can, so whatever the situation we should seek God.

Jeremiah 32 : 17,27; God is the one with whom nothing shall be impossible, no other being has that ability or attribute because they are limited in various ways, so it is just very proper that I should seek Him.

Gen 1:1; John 1:1; God is the creator and preserver of the universe; He is the inexhaustible source of blessing.

1Jn1:5b; 4:16, God is light and love and He will lighten our paths and show us love even when it seems nobody care Ps 27:10.

God is eternal, infinite, supreme, awesome, a defender, preserver, healer, provider, and all in all; God is above all, almighty, higher than the highest, greater than the greatest, mightier than the mightiest, glorious and all knowing.

WHY DO I NEED TO SEEK GOD?

Aside all the attributes of God, He is indispensable He is the God of heaven and earth. If you have been wondering about life or if you need direction in life,  Then you need to seek God for He alone knows the way and He has promised to give you direction, you only have to obey (Isaiah 30:21). There is an assurance that when we seek Him we’ll find Him (1Chr 28:9, 2Chr 15:2)

Job 5:8; I need to seek God because I need His help and because He will not walk out on me Ps 9:10. 

HOW AND WHEN SHOULD I SEEK HIM?

Songs Of Solomon 3:2a, Ps 63:1, I need to seek God at all times and in a way that shows I am serious about my desire to seek Him, I must go out of my way to seek Him because He is ever there waiting for me.

Dan 9:2; I need to seek God in prayer and fasting humbling myself before Him.

Gen 39:9b, my character must show that I seek God and by this I must live a holy and blameless life.

Seeking God goes beyond asking for our needs but beholding His glory (2Cor 3:18), to get to know His likes and dislikes as individuals and what He expects of us. We must realize that what others do even though it may not be sinful God may not allow for us because of His purpose for our lives, so don’t copy any man except in righteousness.

HERE IS A SHORT LIST OF PEOPLE WHO SOUGHT GOD IN THE BIBLE.

  • Enoch Gen 5:24.
  • Abraham Gen 18:22-23a.
  • Moses Deut 34: 10-11.
  • David Ps 89:20-29.
  • Jesus Lk3:21, Heb 1:8-9.

IT IS OUR TURN TO SEEK GOD AND WE SHALL FIND HIM.    
 

RE-WRITING THE BIBLE
Abraham Oludolapo

Several times I had thought of what it would look like if we have to re-write the bible in our days. At times I ask myself if there would have been among us an Abel who though did not see God still gave a bountiful sacrifice to Him as. I do ask myself whether Noah would have been able to carry through his assignment, looking at how the Christian faith is being handled in our days. What about Abraham who left home without knowing his destination, his story leaves me wondering over and over if I would have done same, that is leave my house in Ibadan, Nigeria with my family and belongings without a destination in mind. I am sure our answer collectively would have been that we love God in our days and obey Him to the extent that we will do whatever He asks us to do.

Well, my intention today is not to dispute this but to let us do just that.

Psalm 136

   1O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   2O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   3O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   4To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   5To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   6To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   7To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   8The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   9The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   10To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   11And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   12With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

  

 13To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   14And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   15But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   16To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   17To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   18And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   19Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   20And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   21And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   22Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   23Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:

   24And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   25Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

   26O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

The scripture above is one that brings to mind God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel; the Psalmist here captures how God showed mercy to the people of Israel. I if we decide to chronicle God’s faithfulness towards us we would write up to 100 verses. I think this is an exercise worth doing because most times we overlook the greatness of God to us just because of some experiences we have had or are having presently. I did not take this seriously until God opened my eyes to it, I must confess that there were times that to recount the goodness of God becomes difficult just by looking at the immediate but I must confess that GOD IS GOOD AND EVER FAITHFUL.

Verse four of this chapter touches the heart, this is so because if a man will do anything for us they will expect us to play a part or contribute something no matter how little. There is even a saying in my place that it is the owner of a load that initiates the lifting process before he is helped to lift it. But here the bible says God alone does great wonders without requesting any thing from us, indeed HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOR EVER.

Moving down to verse twenty three I see a statement that humbles me any day I read it;   

 23Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:

It is imperative for us to appreciate the fact that God picked all of us from our low estate; some of from drug addiction, some from harlotry while some were wasting away yet HE picked us and made a glory out of us. I want us to know that irrespective of who you are and your background God still picked you from your low estate. Even if you are the child of the world’s richest man you were born by that person because God decided it to be so, there is no man who had a say in where he or she will be born for the bible says it is God that puts us in families, indeed HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOR EVER.

Verse twenty five talks of something very important without which we won’t be alive, and it is easy to take it for granted believing you eat because your freezer is stocked or because you are working and you have money. Ask the people of Samaria of old and they will tell you there can be times when though you have money you can still go hungry as a result of famine but God had not allowed you to go permanently hungry even if you do at times. Another dimension to it is that it is because you have the food you eat digested that has not made you to really appreciate God in issues such as food, for if you have ever suffered indigestion you will appreciate that indeed HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOR EVER.

All I will want you to do is to please sit back and write at least twenty six things that God has done for you before now. I believe God that by the time you are dropping your pen that is if you are able to, you must be full of praises to God for HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOR EVER.

PILLARS AND CORNERSTONES
Abraham Oludolapo

TEXT: Ps 144: 11-13

Dearly beloved, I want to share with you something I think is very crucial to our existence as believers and to encourage you to be the best you can be for God, despite the prevailing circumstances around. There is no doubt that the present situation in our world leaves much to be desired and that to remain a Christian takes more than wishful thinking but a serious determination and readiness to go the whole length with God.

 In verse 11 of our text there is a strong cry to God to bring help: “rid me of evil children” The evil children are the works of the flesh that though we claim to be God’s children still ourselves walking in. The writer of this Psalm probably like Paul had had a running battle with habits that are not God-glorifying like many of us have been experiencing.  I think it will be a good thing if you and I can look into our lives and cry out once we discover any of such as listed in the book Gal 5:19-21. One statement that has always haunted me in this passage is that those who do such things will not enter the kingdom of God, This is food for thought.

            Moving away from this heart cry of the Psalmist we found what we can call the standard of God or His expectation of us as His children. That our sons may be as plants and daughters as cornerstone which goes to show that nobody is exempted and that your gender is not what determines whether God will use you or not. Pillars and cornerstones are two important components of a normal house and they cannot be compromised or else the whole structure will just collapse at the slightest trouble. Let us look together at the meanings of these two words and the implications it has for our individual lives as God’s children

PILLAR The dictionary gives the following meaning,

An upright structure: God expects that we should be upright in our dealings with all men, we should be sincere, honest and straightforward, Psalms 49:14b says victory is assured for the upright.

A Solid Structure: Jeremiah 1:18; we need to be strong and solid to resist the evil of our days.

A Stable/Enduring structure: Be a person of single mind and focus, be immovable 1Cor15:58, you should not be somebody who is tossed about by every wind of doctrine.

A Monument/Memorial/Trophy: Gen 28:22; we are to be the reward of the labour of Christ and God’s investment.

 CORNERSTONE:

The stone upon which others are laid: Can others depend on you and be sustained, what type of example are you?

Isaiah 28:16; a stone, a sure foundation, an established one: Can we say you will still be holding on to the truths you already possess in the coming years, Revelation 3:11(Hold on), 2:25(Hold unto).

Let’s have it at the back of our minds that the house being talked about here is not an ordinary one, it is God’s house hence, not just any material can be used in building it (no person in his right senses will use a sub-standard material to build his house and if man won’t then we should know that God would not).

Are you known to heaven or you are just an occasional visitor to God’s throne? God doesn’t gamble so you must develop an intimate relationship with God. Some of us cry to heaven only when a pressing need arises and this will not augur well for our journey with God.

 Beyond having a relationship with God you need an understanding of God and by this I mean the “under” on which you are standing (that is your understanding of God) is what will sustain you in the day of trouble.

THE STANDARD: Ps 144:11; To be qualified for use in the construction of God’s house you need to be rid of all evil because God will not use unholy people, Matt 5: 48 says God is holy and so must we.

The preparation is not always convenient but it pays off at the end, Luke 1:80. Wait on God to build you before jumping out and please don’t presume, allow the Spirit of God to assess your life from time to time as this will help you to keep right with God and prepare you for His return Ps 139: 23-24.

REMAIN RAPTURERABLE.

ABRAHAM OLUDOLAPO

CROSS IT OUT

The cross is an important issue in the Christian faith because it was at the cross that the work of salvation was done and completed, it is an emblem of suffering and pain and a reminder of what our Lord and Saviour went through to give us salvation. In this discourse I want to look at something very important for our Christian living and that is about our character. Someone said and I quite agree that ‘Christianity is a religion of character’ by this he was referring to the fact that character transformation is an evidence of a life that has encountered Jesus. Unfortunately, in our days good character seem to have departed from many of us believers

CHARACTER, WHAT IS IT?

Character can be referred to as nature, quality, temperament, disposition, spirit, moral fiber or make up. Let us look closely at each of this meaning believing that the Spirit of grace will grant us insight into the heart of our father.

The Nature of man has a lot to do with his class, value, worth and feature. Many times you find people making reference to something as being their nature they say it is my nature, and it is surprising that they say that when they have done something wrong.

Worse still many Christian are in the habit of attributing their misbehavior to their nature, beloved if your claim to being born again is to be taken seriously then you need to take on the nature of Christ and bury your so called nature, Col 3:1-3, makes it clear that the legitimacy of our claim to sonship is hinged on dealing with our (earthly) nature and taking on the nature of Christ.

When you talk about temperament many saints are defaulting just because they have no control over their personality and some do glory in the fact that certain negative traits run in their family or that they are better now. The standard of measuring their improvement lies with them not the scripture but I found in Gal 5 the fact that anger which is a lack of control over one’s temperament is a work of the flesh and that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. A simple interpretation to disposition is outlook; may I ask what your outlook to life is? Does it tally with that of God?

So many of us have the same outlook with God on many issues but on some issues of life it is what our friends, partners, relatives or culture says that we hold on to, even when it runs contrary to scriptures.

That should not be the case as the word of God should be the final arbiter in every issue of life because of its absolute truth, 2Tim 3:16-17.  Job 32:8 says there is a spirit in man…, this confirms the fact that we are tripartite being made up of a spirit living in a body and having a soul. Bearing this in mind, our spirit man needs to be renewed from time to time until it comes to the level of Christ’s spirit and this must be a continual exercise which we must give our attention to and make our number one priority.

This is extremely important because it is our spirit that will remain in eternity and when it does not fit into God’s spirit as a result of our inability to renew it God will reject it eternally. The make up or moral fibre of a man tells us all about the man, a man may be laughing and smiling while deep down  he is a wicked being. The bible says the heart of man is desperately wicked who can know it. There is a need to make a conscious effort to deal with our make up and conform our moral  fibre to that of Christ as this is the only way to be assured a place on that Day, (Mk 7:23).

 A WAY OUT                   

It is not enough to itemize problems without proffering solutions or else it will become an exercise in futility. So then what do we do about bad characters that many of us are labouring under, CROSS IT OUT. Whenever we write something and we don’t want it again what we do is to cross it out, even in an exam once something is crossed out it becomes irrelevant and do not count again.

In crossing out bad characters however, only the power released at the cross through the atoning death of Jesus Christ can help. Many had tried in their own power to do so but have failed woefully, some are just moralists and they shut out themselves from everybody just because they don’t want to misbehave. Friends, the only solution lies in Jesus if only you can cry out to Him today and be really tired of your bad character then He will help you but it you still glory in the fact that you are trying or that you are not alone in this act or way of life then you are missing it and may eventually miss the glorious appearing of the Lord.

Finally I beseech you to critically examine your life and character as I pray the Holy Spirit to grant you understanding, if you find anything not God glorifying or that you are trying to keep away from people especially believers please CROSS IT OUT.

SHALOM.

ABRAHAM OLUDOLAPO