Monday 22 February 2010

Shake Off The Slothfulness!!




I went past the field of the sluggard,
past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
thorns had come up everywhere, the ground
was
covered with weeds,and the stone wall was in ruins.
Proverbs 24: 30 - 31


Sluggard is defined as: a person who is habitually inactive; an idle or indolent person.

Inactive is defined as: the condition of dead matter, with no inherent power of motion or action;unmoving, immobile and inoperative.

In Mathew 25 (please read for completeness), Jesus called the lazy servant "wicked" in verse 26, and it reads “But his lord answered and said to him,You wicked and lazy servant..." and also calls the servant "unprofitable" in verse 30, it reads "And cast the unprofitable servant ..." .


This admonition by Jesus tells us that He disapproves of a slothful person. It is understood from the definition above, that to be slothful means to be lazy and inactive, however, when we look closer into God's word, we see more of what it means to be slothful.


Amongst other things, to be slothful is to:

  • Be wasteful: God gives us numerous gifts that are to help us do certain jobs He has tasked us with. It is our responsibility to use these gifts for His glory and honor and for common good as commanded in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 .


  • Be selfish: People who are lazy are not concerned with the need of others, only theirs. Selfish people usually like to take advantage of others to get what they want instead of working for it. This is the exact opposite behaviour we are encouraged to develop according to Philippians 2: 3-4 which reads 3Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves]. 4Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. To honor God we must be concerned about the needs of others.

  • In opposition to God's word: In 2 Thessalonians 3: 10-12, Paul encourages us to work for our keep as thus: "10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. Apart from giving us the means for God to bless us so we eat the fruit of our labour, work allows us to stay away from developing sinful which thrive on laziness, such as gossiping.


So how do we avoid or shake off Slothfulness?


Well, we can start by looking at the life of a hard working man in the bible, his name is Paul. Paul the apostle, gives us a good work ethic example. In Acts 20:34-35 he encourages us as thus "34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive."



Paul showed himself as a good role model through his good attitude to work. Wherever he went to preach the gospel, he found work to do with his hands. He did not sponge of people, he worked for his keep.

 Another way to avoid or shake off slothfulness is to remind ourselves of what the bible says what will become of a slothful person; the end which includes oppression, lack and poverty.


Proverbs 12:24, reads "The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slothful will be put to forced labor.", In Proverbs 20:4, we are told that "Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest." and in Proverbs 13:4, it explain that "Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper."

As children of God, slothfulness should have no room in our lives. We must bind and shake this spirit off. We must remember we have been created to do 'GOOD WORKS' for God as declared in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." To do good works means to be active doing something, that is good.



We must also remember that we show our faith in God's word through the works that we do. This means being active 'working' on or at whatever God has given us to do. James 2:26 reminds us that "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Our willingness to active doing 'Good Works' should come from the love we have for God. We work as he commanded and encourages because we love Him.


Finally, we must remember that the work we do is ultimately for God's glory. We are commanded to do our work well, in excellence so that men will see our good work and the result them seeing it, will be to GLORIFY GOD. Mathew 5:16 tells us "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."


So as we start another week by God's grace and power, I encourage us all to shake off the spirit of slothfulness - laziness and inactivity. I encourage us all to put our spirit, minds and hand to doing 'good work', in excellence and in diligence.


I encourage us to make use of the time wisely and work diligently with the gifts and abilities we have been freely given; whilst making the Gift, and ability giver famous along our way.




Much Love, Remi
***picture by photobucket***
Further Reading - Poem - BREAK FREE

Sunday 14 February 2010

THE 'TRUSTING IN GOD' KEY



Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD,
is the Rock eternal
Isaiah 26:4


  • To trust means to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something

  • Rock is defined as a firm foundation or support

  • Eternal is defined as without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing


With the above definitions it is safe to say that trusting God with our desires hopes and dreams, means we are sure that what He stands for and what He has promised, will be manifested in our lives.

To explain further, here is the opening verse in a combination of Bible translations: “Trust in the Lord forever, commit yourself to Him and lean on Him, Hope confidently in him. Depend on Him and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing” Makes it just that much clearer doesn't it?


To trust in God is a good thing, but it is one of the hardest things for a believer to do. Even though we believe that God is able and faithful, it is still a tremendous journey to get to the point of absolute dependency on and in God.

I did a bit of research and according to wikipedia and google, in the bible, TRUST is mentioned 147 times. It is mentioned 134 times in the old testament and 13 times a new testament.

This tells us that 'TRUST' is a very important aspect of our spiritual lives, but at most times our faith is weak in this area.

To trust in God means to exercise faith in who He is and in His proven abilities. It means to continuously depend on Him until the thing which He has challenged us to believe in, is manifested.

God can and will do tremendous things to and for us, if we simply place our trust in Him. We will experience more of Him, physically and spiritually by trusting Him.

I believe trusting is sometimes difficult because we don't see the result of that which we are hoping for, manifested straight away. When this happens, discouragement and doubt sets in.

We must remember that God does not always meet our needs or give us our desires when we want them or in the way we think or dream it to be delivered. The life of Joseph in the bible
(Genesis 37-50), gives a good example of this. During his lifetime, Joseph had various desperate needs, amongst them are: to be released from a Deep Pit, to be release from a Dark Prison, and even to be remembered and rescued whilst he was in prison. Yet, despite all the delay and naturally looking bleak future, He still trusted in God, doing what he was created to do, using His gifts and abilities still.


For some of us, our needs are not that great, yet despair has or is threatening to set in. Remember God has proven time and time again that He is able.


Sometimes God delays the manifestation of our prayers because He wants a greater purpose to be accomplished when He does. In the case of Joseph, the greater need was to meet the needs of the Joseph’s family and secure the future generation.

Proverbs 3: 5-10 tells us to trust God with all our heart. The very essence of our trusting in God will help us find God’s best for our lives.

To place our trust in God, we declaring that:
  • We rely on Him only, and not our own wisdom or understanding. We rely on Him to make our path straight. To guide us and make our lives easier. This does not mean we won’t have obstacles, rather it means that God will either remove them or enable us to overcome them.

  • We respect Him as our God. We respect His wisdom and authority. We fear Him as he is the only one who has authority over every area of our lives.

  • We are rejecting evil. God will not necessarily eliminate temptations or trials, but our trust in Him will help us free from evil.

  • Giving Him room to bless us. You see we think we have a problem of not being blessed. However, the problem is that most times in our dis-obedience and lack of trust in God, we are actually hindering God to bless us.


As you step into a new week by God's grace, I encourage you to be purposeful in your 'TRUSTING' in God. Trust Him with every fibre of your being. Trust Him with every area of your live. When you feel like you have established your trust in Him, trust HIM SOME MORE. Don't simply trust Him for the most simple things, the mundane things, but also trust Him with the ‘seemingly’ impossible things!/


Trust Him for that home you desire to have, but don’t have money for it. Trust Him for that new position you want, but don’t have the right connections or qualifications for it. Trust Him for that child you long to hold in your arms, but the medical reports are telling you otherwise. Trust Him for a year that you will experience the true manifestation of Ephesians 3:20.



Think about it for a moment: Our God is the same one who created the heavens and the earth, who parted the red sea, and made them like walls, on each sides, so that the children of Israel can walk through, who feed the 5,000 with two loaves of bread and 5 fishes, who healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind and whose FAITHFULNESS has been tested through time.

This is the same God who can do more than anything you could ever conjure up, BUT the key is to ‘CHOOSE'... 'TO TRUST IN HIM COMPLETELY’


Have a great week of living out the realities of your trust in the only one who is able and faithful; and in so doing letting your faith make Him famous along your way.




Much love, Remi
***pictures by Photobucket***
Further reading - Poem - Will To Trust

Sunday 7 February 2010

The Obedience Key

If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land
Isaiah 1:19

It is the second month of the year and I know most will have been confessing the goodness that God will do for them this year. Most will be confessing that God will do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond that which we could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) And yes He can and He will.

However, when I look at the opening verse of this post, Isaiah 1:19, it is evident to me that there will be some blessings that I will not receive, unless I am willing and obedient to do God's will.
  • Willing is to: have desire or the power of choosing one's own actions

  • Obedience is defined as: the quality or condition of being obedient

  • Obedient is defined as: dutifully complying with the commands, orders, or instructions of one in authority


From the definitions above, it shows that willingness is a decision we must. We much chose to be or not willing to God's commandments. It also shows that it is not enough to be obedient, but the quality of that obedience is important. For example, if God tells me "Remi, go and walk the dog now at 1:00 this afternoon, and then walk him with his blue collar" I hear this loud and clear and then I "go and walk the dog at 6:00 in the evening and then walk him with a green collar". This is disobedience. It means I have not followed the instructions as I have been given them. Firstly, I did what I was told to do, but at the wrong time (delayed obedience is disobedience) and then I did what I was told, but not How I was told to do it. (The quality of my obedience was not as it should be).


When God tells us to do something, He is very specific with His instructions. We might not get the fully understand, but doing the little He asks of us, unlocks understanding, insight and wisdom.
A great man in the bible, who amplifies the intricacies of obedience is Noah. He was a man who did exactly what God asked of him, even when it did not make sense. When we read Genesis 6, we see the specific instructions God gave to Noah about building an Arc. To confirm the nature of Noah's obedience, the bible says in Genesis 6:22 that "Noah did everything God commanded him to do". To do EVERYTHING, means Noah did not leave anything out. He did the tasks at hand, in the exact time, with the exact materials and tools, as God commanded...even though it did not make sense. Remember as of that time, man had not seen rain!
Can God say that we have done everything He has commanded us to do? Selah


Noah's obedience to God led him to experience God's blessing and reward (his life and that of his family was spared from the flood). The disobedience of his contemporaries led to their destruction.

Noah's obedience was the cornerstone of his faith in God. His building of the ark did not bring him any closer to God, however his obedience and faith in God did. The same should applies to us. We obey because we believe and have faith in God,. that He knows what He is doing.
In 2010, I know we believe that God will do tremendous things in our lives, but our willingness and obedience to His word is fervently required. I always say to myself "Remi if you are not obedient in the little things, when the blessings come, will you be obedient in that greater capacity? " Selah

A few ways to become a more obedient child of God is by:

  • knowing that all obedience begins with our faith in the sovereign God. If we don't believe in God's sovereignty, it will be difficult to obey Him. The reason why Abraham is called the father of faith is because he believed and had confidence in God, that He would do what He says He would do. This moved Him to be obedient to whatever God told him to do.


  • Growing the obedience we currently have by waiting on God's timing. God is very time conscious, but not as we count time. He is conscious of time in regard to our acting in obedience according to His schedule; He moves in the fullness of time as declared in Galatians 4:4-5 Delayed obedience is disobedience.

  • Not subjecting God's plan to man's "common sense". Like Noah, some things God will tell us to do this year, will seem and look down right difficult. However, obey we must, for we must have confidence that He knows what He is doing as He declares in Jeremiah 29:11 "...I know what I am doing..."

  • Being prompt in Obedience. This is what I like to call 'instant obedience'. If we are willing, that is having made the choice to obey God, then we cannot be hesitant or dwell in the land of procrastination. Many time (pointing finger at self), we fail to obey God because we dwell on what He tells us to do for so long, turning it all upside down, in fear of the consequences. When we eventually move to do what He says, the timing is all wrong and the vision or instructions sometimes has become unclear or faded.

In this year 2010, God IS going to manifest the reality of Ephesians 3:20 in our lives - you must believe, for it is an absolute promise from Him. However, we must increase our sensitivity to His will, we must affirm our choice and desire to be willing and obedient to His instructions. Through willingness, we show our love for Him and through obedience, we gain further understanding and insight to His will for our lives.

When we Obey God, we will indeed eat (have, be established and revel in) the best of this land. To disobey God means that we live under the course of the enemy. The choice is ours to make.

As you make your way through this year, I encourage you to wear the very essence of obedience like skin. I encourage you to be obedient to God's will for your life and watch Him manifest all your heart's desires this year; giving Him the glory and making Him famous along your way.


Much Love , Remi
***pictures by photobucket***