What could have happened?

Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.” – Genesis 20:1-2

Have you ever thought what would have happened regarding the promise (Isaac) if Sarah was intimate with Abimelech?

A Glimpse of God's Heart

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21(KJV)

God’s heart for you is full of love, much more than you can ever imagine.

The scripture recorded that we are what we think, and this truth is what qualifies God to be called LOVE.

Have you ever wondered while you’re still alive, in spite of all  you have been through?

Have you ever asked your-self, why you didn’t drop dead while you lived and behaved contrary to God ways and precept?

The answers is simple, His love for you is stronger than all the forces of the devil asking for your life due to your mistakes.

Many of us struggle in our daily walk with God not because the devil’s devices  against us are too powerful, on the contrary, we struggle because we do not fully comprehend the gravity of God’s love for us. And one of the reasons we do not understand the depth of His love for us can be said to be because of our shallow understanding and interpretation of the word love. Majority of us sees and defines love according to how we feel and that’s why when we’re going through a challenging time, we are quick to conclude that God doesn’t love us or has turned His back on us. But a glimpse into the heart of God shows something totally different.

In Genesis 3: 21, I discover something so amazing about the heart of God. The scripture recorded that, in spite of the fact that Adam and Eve handed over to the devil, by their act of disobedience  that which He had placed under their stewardship, He killed a goat and covered their nakedness. Friend this is so amazing! It’s amazing not because the goat skin  He used to shield their nakedness was any better than the covering they once had while in obedience to Him,  but because it exposed  the state of  His heart toward them, and from this act, we saw that He truly cared.    

Many times we struggle to stay in fellowship and in obedience to Him because we depend too much  on the level and strength of our own love for Him to serve Him. But here is something you need to know; in order to serve Him, you need a complete revelation of His love for you. A revelation of how much He loves you will keep you glued to Him much more than you realize. Peter swore to stand with Him during His time of trial, but he failed. Peter was sincere and was willing to stand by Him, but his love for the Master was not strong enough to aid him to do so. But years later, after Jesus’s death and resurrection, the same Peter was crucified for the sake of the gospel of the same man he denied three times within a very short space of time; Mark 14:29 &31, 54,  Mark 14:66-72. The reason Peter could go ahead and die for the gospel years after denying  Jesus was because he now had a complete revelation of how much He loved him.

                                                      Facts

·         Your understanding Of God’s love for you affects your level of  boldness before Him

·         Your revelation of God’s love for you determines what you would believe Him for

·         Your level of loyalty and obedience towards His word and leadings is affected by your knowledge of His love for you

·         Your attitude towards life and your response towards people are determined by how well you understand His love for you.

Prayer:

Oh God, give me a glimpse of your heart for me, and help me to understand the length, breadth, height and depth of Your love for me, in Jesus name!  

   

The Act of Wrestling with God and the Outcome

Do you ever wonder what it means to wrestle with God?

I’m sure you have heard the phrase “no man can win against God”. I have too, but the scriptures teach something different.

Do you know you can actually wrestle with God and come out victorious?

Friend the truth is, neither devil nor any of his agents can win against God. But as a child of God, you have what it takes to wrestle with Him and come out victorious.

One of the reason I believe this is possible is because of the fact that as children of God, our victory is His victory.

What does it mean to wrestle?

The word wrestle in the Hebrew language is spelt “abaq” and it’s pronounced aw-bak’. It means to bedust .i.e. to grapple.

The word grapple means to engage in a close fight or struggle without any weapon such as knife, gun etc.

Therefore to wrestle with God is to engage in a struggle or a close fight with Him (spiritually) not with the intention of harming Him physically, (of-course that’s not possible because God is Spirit). But to wrestle with Him so as to prevail on Him to overturn His judgement on certain issue He had already passed judgement on. This truth can been seen in the case of King Hezekiah in Isaiah 38 and the story of the woman from Canaan according to Matthew 15:22. They both wrestled with God and prevailed just as Jacob did.

King Hezekiah was sick and the prophet Isaiah was sent to tell him that the LORD said he should put his house together, for he will surely die.  

Friend you need to understand something here. God’s word does not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11, Lamentation 3:37).

For instance, if the devil comes to me and say; Tony you’re going to die tomorrow. Do you know that  I will not panic?  The least I would do is to tell him to keep quit and order him to get out of my sight (rebuke him). The reason I will not panic is simple. Firstly, I know he is lying because that’s his language. Secondly, he doesn’t have such authority over my life, and thirdly God doesn’t   send the devil to go and announce the death of his children to them. But if God were say to me, you are dying tomorrow; O boy, I will do exactly what King Hezekiah did, because He is the author of life and that includes mine. Hezekiah wrestled with Him in prayer. He reminded God of his good deeds and future plans to keep praising and upholding His name. And while he was still on his face, the same prophet Isaiah was sent to bring him a new message;

“Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.  

The next question is, how do we wrestle with God?

By the use of our faith and words, too many times believers give up and quit fighting too quickly. And one of the famous line often used  is; “ it’s the will of God”, Even when it’s obvious that it’s the devil trying to steal from us something, someone God has ordained to be a blessing to us.

God loves it when we wrestle with Him regarding issues we really think should be decided in our favour. But what do we do most of the times?  We pack up and head for home.

I don’t know where you’re  reading this from,  I don’t know exactly what  it is that you‘re facing  But I believe with all my heart that God will want me to tell you this; “If you will wrestle with Me ( God) about it, I will make sure you come out victorious. I can see that it’s the devil that’s coming against you. Don’t bother about him, he doesn’t have the keys of hades and death anymore. I took them away from him when I descended to hell after I gave up Myself on the cross. He is just bluffing. How can he open the gate of death for you when he doesn’t have the keys?

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Rev 1:18

   

Friend do not quit on any issue until you have wrestled with God about it. Your victory is God’s victory, therefore God will not have a problem changing His mind regarding something that seems obvious, I know that the doctors have decided on it and signed it off.  But remember that Lazarus was already dead for four days before Jesus showed up and called him out of the tomb.        

  

 As I meditate on this subject, the picture that comes to mine mind is that of a little boy and his Dad on the long tennis court, competing against each other.

As the game commenced, the Father noticed the desire and desperation in the heart of His child to win and at the same time He realized his advantage over him which makes it impossible for His child to win the game. Then as the game lingers the Father noticed that His child is not giving up on his faith to win the game even with his knowledge of the fact that his Dad is more skilled and stronger than him. And immediately, the Father stopped playing like He would normally play if He were to be playing against a real competitor. And eventually, the child won the game.

This is exactly what happens every time a child of God persists and refuses to give up on any situation, even when God has said no previously.

This is what happens to men and women who decide to wrestle with God rather than quit in the face of danger.

Chose to wrestle with Him today regarding that issue and He will give you the victory

Where are You

Recently I found myself asking so many questions as to why our society is full of men and women who are spiritually dead due to the darkness of their heart.

I mean the frequency of crime seems to be escalating  with each day passing. I know  as a people of faith we should learn to always  speak positively, especially when the situation looks out of our control. But I have come to realize  that positive confessions without  the identification and the dealing of the root cause of a problem would not automatically cause the problem to disappear. Apart from the killings and protesting taking place in almost every part of the word, there’s the issue of  intolerance when it comes to the things of God. 

Sadly as believers, we are not any different from those in the world as our intolerance for the things and ways of God could be seen and even felt by the very people we ‘re supposed to be ministering  the love and saving grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to. Many of us are so pre-occupied with the idea of being successful financially and academically that we have all the excuses in the world as to why we should  be excused from being involved in fellowship with God daily. But sadly to say, this reality has placed us in the same position Adam and Eve once found themselves in according Genesis 3.

The truth is, Adam and Eve didn’t deliberately walked out on God. No, they were deceived by Satan and until they discovered that they’ were naked they didn’t realize that

They were being tricked. Just like most of us today, they thought they were actually trying to improve themselves. After all, the fruit was good to behold, and not only that it was good, it also tasted nice. And to make it even better, it promises to make them have the knowledge of God. Wow, What a temptation!

Friends, the challenges faced in our society today is  as a result of  collective selfishness. And to make it right, we all need to answer this particular question; where are you? The same question God asked the man when He came looking for him after he had disobeyed Him. 

Until we all deliberately  return to God’s presence the issue of crime in our society will not be solved. It doesn’t matter a much awareness we raise on the issues on our social media pages. It’ doesn’t matter how many NGOs we establish to combat these crimes, we will never win the fight unless we return to His presence. The men in our society needs to get back to God’s presence, the women needs to do the same.  Our kids also must be taught how to seek God’ presence above everything else in their lives.

I love the way the author of the 16^th Psalm puts it. “ you make known to me the path of life; in your presence there’s fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore”. (ESV).  This was  God’s reply to me as  I consider the present state of our society. Firstly, He asked me; where are you guys? Any man or woman who live in My presence cannot hurt his or her  fellow man. But a man outside  my presence is as dangerous as a bear robbed of her cub.

To put it plainly; an unsaved soul or a man outside God’s presence is a serious danger to members of his community, notwithstanding how good his / her intentions are. The reason this is so is because outside the presence of God we all are open to the manipulation of the one whose job is to kill, steal and destroy (See John 10:10).   

Unfortunately due to the emphasis on success and the way it’s being defined within the present society. Many of us have left His presence in pursuit for success and this is the reason for the challenges faced today. The only remedy would be for us to go back to His presence. The church needs to start emphasising the need for both men and women to return to fellowship. Every believer should begin to ask themselves; where Am I? because that’s the same question God is asking us today.

Where are you?

The Case For Adoption

Article: Truths Christians Needs To Know About Adoption

Date:  May 28, 2017

When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, woman, behold, your son, then he said to the disciple, behold your mother! And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26-27 (ESV)

Nothing causes doubt to arise in the heart of a prospective parent who is busy contemplating, and waiting for the approval of the people in-charge for his/her request to adopt a child like the phrase “blood is thicker than water”.  Especially among African parents who truly have the desire to adopt a child. Whether due to their own childlessness or because of their hearts for orphans, The idea that an adopted child would never grow up to be like one’s own biological child can be said to be largely responsible for the lay back attitude most people have towards the issue of adoption.  According to research, Africans, whether African Americans, or Africans from the continent of Africa have a very low record of child adoption compare to those from other race. And the blood is thicker than water slogan cannot be divorced from the negative views most Africans have when it comes to the issue of adoption. Prior to the writing of this article on adoption, I have always had my own idea and theory on the subject. Positive ones, I must confess though.  But I have never bothered to investigate my idea as it relate to God’s thought on this very subject until recently while studying the scriptures when my attention was brought to a particular scripture passage that got me thinking about the issue in a different light, and to further my thought in this regard, I asked myself the question, what is God’ take on Adoption?  I must say that my findings on this issue regarding God’ thought on adoption, for lack of better word was humbling. Oh yeah! But could be challenging for the believer who is more cultural than he /she is spiritual.

 One amongst the various articles I read while investigating this subject as it relates to the believer is the response of Rachel GarlingHouse while responding to the question ‘why white people adopts black children, by Denene Milner Aug. 2011.  Out  of all the points given by Rachel as to why white parents adopts black children, the one thought that stuck  with me is the one that reads and I quote; My girls are “my own” despite the questions we are often asked or the stares we encounter. Our motivation to adopt and to accept a child of any race is, despite the complexity of race and adoption in America, quite simple: “I wanted to be a mother to the child God had for us”.  Wow! What an incredible mind set. I wish every human on planet earth could embrace such mind set in regards to the subject of adoption.

     

    God’s Take On Adoption

After investigating God’s thought on the subject of adoption through the lenses of some researchers and of course with the help of the scriptures, here is my submission.

God The First Man To Adopt

This might sound awkward to some people, but it will not take it away from the truth  the fact  that God is an Adoptive parent, and not only that He is an adoptive parent, He is also the first to do so.   

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-6. ESV.( See Romans 9:4 and Ephesians 1:5).

God doesn't have any problem with the act of adoption as you can see through the scriptures the fact that He is an adoptive Father. You and I were not His biological kids; on the contrary we are His adoptive children. And this reality does not make Him love us any less. As a matter of truth, when He looks at us, He sees us just like the way He sees Jesus His only begotten Son, according John 3:16. And that is why the scripture in 1 John 4:17 says; “As He is, so are we in this world. As Jesus is to God, so are we (you and I) to the Father.  The idea that one cannot truly love an adoptive child as he or she would love his/her biological child is more culturally and sentimentally driven than it is a reality. It doesn't matter if the child’ biological parents were (are) criminals.  If God’ love for the children once sold to the devil could cause them to live right and do right by Him, so is your love for that adoptive child. The stability of a parent’ love will cause any child to do right by him/her.  The way an adoptive child turns out is determined by the love and choices of his or her adoptive parent and not necessarily due to his blood line. The same way the future of a biological child depends on the choice of his/her parent to love him/her against all odds. As an adoptive parent, if you relate and treat your adopted children with the attitude of an adoptive parent, they will return the favor to you by acting like adoptive kids when dealing with you. A child’s (adoptive or biological) mind is like soft clay, it will always take the shape the potter designs it to take when it is fully dried. The whole of mankind became slave and children of Satan the very day Adam and Eve gave in, to Satan’s deception. But in spite of this truth God still sent His only begotten Son for our adoption. There’s a myth that most of us have come to believe which states; the child of a prostitute will always become a prostitute or the child of an armed robber will  always become an armed robber’. But I tell you something; the child of an armed robber is only likely to grow up and become an armed robber when there’s no one in the community who cares enough outside his or her biological parents to show him/her a more excellent way different from their life style. And the act of adoption is one excellent way to see to that.

Some myth about adoption

Adoption is a selfish, easy solution – for an unexpected pregnancy – made by expectant parents who don't care about their child.

Myth: No one can love a child as much as a birth mother or birth father does.

Myth: The birth mother will regret her decision for the rest of her life and have serious emotional problems.

Myth: Adoption is a more traumatic experience for a woman than abortion.

Myth: The adoption process is secretive and a birth parent will never know anything about their child and their adoptive parents in the following years.

Myth: A birth family will eventually forget about the child for whom they made an adoption plan.

Myth: Adoption damages the child.

Myth: Open adoption is confusing to children and a form of co-parenting.

Myth: Adoptive parents often break their openness agreements with their child's birth parents.

Myth: Placing a child with a family of another race or ethnicity is bound to cause problems for the child.

Myth About Bad Habits

 One myth about bad habits we must all delete from our minds as quick as possible is the myth that suggest that sin or any type of bad habit is genetically transmitted. If this is correct, we would have all been done from the time we became children of the devil, the day Adam and Eve sold out.  The truth of the matter is; “bad habits are likely to  re-surface within a family line, generations down the line when no one take it upon him/herself to correct  the wrong  and teach the right way to  the descendants of a supposed  ancestor who had supposedly approached life and  certain issue wrongly. Especially when they -re faced with difficulties beyond their comprehension at a time. I.e. The story of Abraham, who told a lie that Sarah was his sister whereas she was his wife due to his fear of been killed because of her beauty before they both entered Egypt (See Genesis 12:11-16, & Genesis 20:2), And that of Isaac’ lie about his wife years than the line is not in any way an indication that bad habits are genetically transmitted. (See Genesis 26:7-11).  

The Reality Of Fear

Most of us do not have the slightest clue as to why the word fear appears so many times in the scriptures and why God had to keep reminding us not to be afraid.  In fact the word fear appears   in 395 verses in the scriptures according to the King James Version of the bible. Fear has the ability to cause people to repeat the same response to a situation over and over again until they are taught a different approach on how to deal with the situation or possibly  remove the elements that causes fear to be present in that particular situation. The reason Isaac responded the same way Abraham did in the same situation was not because he had genetically inherited the habit of telling lies from him. But because he was never taught how to deal with the fear of losing one’s wife to another man, especially the man’ whose nation you have come to take shelter. Same way Abraham never had anyone taught him on what to do in such instance. And this is why God kept telling us not to be afraid after He adopted us. He did not only encourage us not to be afraid. But he also came down in the person of Jesus to show us how to deal with fear in any form.  The Cultural and sentimental idea behind adoption is based on nothing but fear. And fear often times only have   ability to paralyze us from taking a step but does not have the ability to determine the end result when we decide to beat it to it and go ahead to do what we re desire to do as it relates to the subject matter. Fear aside, adoption is one of the greatest miracles God ever wrought. Through adoption His one Son gave way to millions of sons and daughters from all nations, kingdom and status. This same miracle awaits any parent who will take the initiative, put aside the negative myth as made believed by culture and a particular community and go ahead to do like God did and adopt a child or more. Most parents who are looking for the fruit of the womb are by passing the miracle of adoption and are busy asking God for the miracle of a baby.  All children are from God, adopted or biological. The way you perceive them will determine the way you will take care of them and the way you take of them determines how they will respond and take care of you when the time is right.

         

Bibliography

·         Holy Bible (English Standard Version, Compact edition, copy right ©2001 by crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All right reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011.

·         Rachel Garlinghouse’s response to the Article “why white people Adopt black children. By Denene Milner Aug. 2011.

·         what adopting a white girl taught one black family

           BY Tony Dokoupil on 4/22/09

·         The top ten myths about adoption: Subscribe archives adoption guide state laws directory store webinars, 2017.05.27.

·         Churches Adopt Adoption by CARLA BARNHILL| JULY 6, 2010

·         History of Adoption by Cassandra Price, Program Assistant 1

·         The Trouble With the Christian Adoption Movement by BY KATHRYN JOYCE, January 11, 2016