Genesis 48: 1-20

²⁰ .... "The people of Israel will use your names when giving a blessing... May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh"...

So when I read this message, I wondered what Jacob meant when he was blessing the children of Joseph. Already in verse 5, Jacob had said ⁵"Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are" 

What !!! sons!!! meaning Jacob should have 14 sons !!! Confused? Yeah I was, because in Genesis 49, Jacob blessed Joseph as his son (including the other 11). There was no mention of the two boys.  Okay, drop the case I thought as I just couldn't get the link. As I continued my Bible studies, I came across this in Numbers 3 : 6-7, 12, the Lord said to Moses, " ⁶ Call forward the tribe of Levi, and present them .... ⁷ they will serve Aaron and the whole community.... ¹², .... I have chosen the Levites from among the Isrealites .... The Levites belong to me. 

Oh No!!!, meaning Jacob has 13 Sons now. Okay that's good. The whole of Numbers mentioned the two sons of Joseph as  tribes in Israel. Today as I complete my studies, I finally understood the puzzle.  God indeed had a plan for Israel - that is Jacob and his twelve sons.  He has promised to give the land of Canaan to his descendants (Genesis 48:3-4). God intended to keep that promise because He is a God who doesn't change his mind. 

Had Jacob known God will claim Levi and his descendants as His and sent Joseph to die in Egypt (Genesis 50:22-26), Jacob will surely have questioned God. I am sure he would have wondered how God was to make a multitude of nations, if he is already claiming some.

 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph knew God had a plan for his people. Israel as a nation was made out of twelve tribes, and not more or less. That was God's plan when he appeared to Jacob in his dream - Genesis 28:10-22. In his plans, the final tribe will include Ephraim and Manasseh for the promised land and not Joseph and Levi as tribes in Israel. As an all- knowing God, He made provisions ahead of Jacob for that.

Beloved brethren, we serve a living God who has lived through all times. And He is all powerful and all knowing. He has a course mapped out for each and everyone that He has called and who has accepted His call in return. Things may not be going as you have planned. Or better still, things are happening that baffles you and you feel, how is God going to achieve his promise in my life. Surely some may take years, months, days etc.

We have been called to HOLY LIFE in Christ. Don't ask "HOW am I going to be perfect and HOLY as God"? He is the one who has called us and He is faithful. All we have to do is submit our wills, actions and ways to him and He will surely produce in us fruits from His Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23. These fruits equip us to live a HOLY LIFE.

SUBMIT YOUR PLANS TO GOD AND TRUST IN GOD'S PLAN AS YOUR ACT OF HOLINESS   

HOLINESS FROM BEING GRATEFUL - John 8:32

Be grateful if your job is a little harder than you like. A razor cannot be sharpened on a piece of velvet.

Be grateful for the doors of opportunity – and for friends who oil the hinges.

If you cannot be content with what you have received, be grateful for what you have escaped.

Be grateful for the children even when they are headache – they are still from the Lord.

Be grateful for the truth even when it stings, for it is the TRUTH that makes you free.

David was a man of gratitude and God recognized him to be a man after his OWN HEART.

Holiness is the heart of God as He says " Be Holy for I am Holy" -- 1 Peter 1:16.

God reigns on His Holy Throne ---- Psalm 47:8 and we cannot but be Holy ourselves.

A Holy heart from a Holy God is our request this day LORD, that we might be grateful in all we do. 

How much are we being grateful to the LORD for ? This  November is a month of Holiness, How do we measure up??  

What gift are we  offering to the LORD today?

And you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free - John 8:32

(adapted from - The Voice of Truth International)

What if the eye that watched over you became that hand holding you?

Matthew 18:20

"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them".

I don't know if you have also given thought to these words of Jesus. I believe like myself, we have held on to the truth that the Lord is present always when we gather, which is the absolute truth that cannot be denied. But beloved, lets turn the other side of the coin and see what is there too.

Our faith in the above passage should cause us to ask the question, whenever we gather as people of God to worship, do we really make room for Jesus?

Have we thought of where Jesus will sit?

What would he say about us?

What would we tell him in return?

How do we dress to meet and dine with him?

Did I hear someone say "are these questions relevant?" What would you do if you knew the person who sat by you last service meeting was Jesus himself?

Psalm 34:15 says " The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help." (see also 1 Peter 3:12)

 Obviously you haven't given a thought to this? What if the eye that watched over you became that hand holding you?

Each day, the LORD promises to be with us even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28: 20) and has assured to dine with us in his Kingdom. You can't afford to give a blind eye  to these statements or take them lightly. Jesus has already been there in our congregational services and as surely as we continue to meet as followers, He will be present each time. The question is, how will you act next time you are in worship with Jesus by your side? What if the eye that watched over you became that hand holding you

Psalm 33:4 - For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything he does. 

The Bible behind closed doors!!!

2 Corinthians 4:7-15 (NLT)

⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. ⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. ¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. ¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”  ¹⁴ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. ¹⁵ All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

So I was inspired by Bobby Dockey’s article on “taking the Bible out of the Church House”, where he talked about applying God’s word in our daily lives, boldly proclaiming God’s word to all as well as confronting the evils of this world with God’s word.  He also expressed how most of the time, the Bible is kept and opened only in church and only on Sundays

The verse 7 of the above passage trucks me and as I read on to the down verses, I discovered something which I can’t but share with others.  I asked myself why we then keep the Bible behind closed doors.  As baptized children of God, there is a light that is shining in our hearts because we have been raised together with the light of the world- Jesus Christ  (John 8:12) unless we were not baptized by immersion as demonstrated in Acts 8:  36-39

 Yes, we may be fragile clays but God’s treasure (Jesus Christ, the Word of God and light of the world) is in us. And this is nothing but the amazing power of God manifested in us. As such whenever we feel like we are pressed, perplexed, hunted down, knocked down and in constant danger of facing death each day, that we try to go out and preach God’s word, make effort to live as prescribed by God’s word or better still attempt to fight worldly desires and evil with God’s word, let us remember in the midst of the discouragement that the world brings us, that: we can’t get crushed, should not be despaired, don’t feel abandoned by God and know we will never be destroyed. You ask why? J Because we serve Jesus himself, the word and treasure of God

 So beloved, if you have the same kind of faith like I do and like all the people of God around the world, then get “out” the Bible behind the closed door of your heart, room, office chamber, church, etc. and freely live God’s word as you proclaim it to all and confront any weakness the world may present with God’s Word (Jesus). The word that you have as your code of ethics- the Bible!!!

For “We were made to be Courageous”!!! – Casting Crows

The Gospel - Mark 16:15-16

15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.

Jesus gave a command to his disciples before he was taken up into heaven. Today, we believers who have benefited from this message and have been immersed in water (Baptism) so that as mentioned in Romans 6:3-4 we have been made new through the burial and resurrection contact we partake with Christ in water baptism (immersion).

In the same manner, we too have an OBLIGATION as Christians (disciples) to give this same message of Good News (Gospel) to others who do not know this TRUTH (Christ - John 14: 6-7). 

The Gospel as it stands and that which we have been tasked to preach is simply :The Death - (Christ, the son of God (also the word of God - John 1:1-5) came to this sinful world and gave up his life for us so we can be justified with God (Romans 3: 21- 22) and accorded son-ship with God the father. The Burial - That Christ was crucified by sinful men (Acts 2:22-24) who saw their own righteousness as against what God salvation brings (Jesus the Messiah) but hallelujah be to God Almighty, his word is eternal. The Resurrection - The word of God (Jesus Christ), didn't rot in the tombs (Acts 2:25-41). He arose on the third day as he promised and lives FOREVER, that anyone who believes in his saving power (Romans 3:25-26), will have ETERNAL LIFE, and although may die (to sin), will resurrect in newness of life spiritually (now and life after) through water baptism (Romans 6:3-14; 8 :1-2). 

This is the message of the cross (the gospel / good news). Today the Lord invites us (as Christians) to preach this word to all (irrespective of color or race). It is a necessary obligation as Paul puts in 1 Corinthians 9:16.  For those of us reading and hearing this either for the first time or not and still haven't given our lives to Christ, the time is but now. Jesus said anyone (he / she) who believes and is baptized will be saved. After Hearing this message (don't harden your heart), Believe, Repent, Confess your sins, and be Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sin and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (our seal through Baptism) 1 Peter 3:21, Colossians 2:12, Acts 2: 38, 41; Romans 10:9-18,  Acts 8:26-39,  Galatians 3:26-29, Titus 3:4-7

God bless you