February

Prayer life

Written by Alfred Ofori Agyemang.

"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favour on your desolate sanctuary " (NIV) Daniel 6:17

Life under the sun is composed of many facets, some of which are physical and also of the unseen. The visible world was made of the invisible. Prayer forms a very key part of the spiritual life. Jesus the originator of Christianity used prayer as a key pillar in his ministry. Someone rightly said, “What an individual is in secret (on his knees before God) that is who he is and no more.”

One of the pillars of prayerful life in scripture was Daniel. Daniel planned, committed and executed prayers unto the Lord against all odds during his time on foreign land. What can we learn from Daniel? His posture in prayers was so humble and dependent on God even in persecution. Daniel sought God’s presence and prayed three times a day and as his regular custom (Daniel 6:10). He knelt in prayer, appreciated God through giving thanks and his face was set towards the Lord God.

What do you ask in prayers, your interest or God’s interest? Daniel sought God’s glory. God is righteous, great and awesome because He keeps His covenant. Mercy and forgiveness belong to the Lord. The ultimate goal of our prayer must bring a state of glory to God.

Daniel sought for God’s mercy and acknowledged the sin of his people. We have sinned and committed iniquity, done wicked things, and revolted against God’s authority, departing from His precepts and judgments. We plead for mercy and forgiveness but not to give justifications and defence of our sins before God. But this will only be granted if we acknowledge and repent of our sins. (1 John 1:9; Acts 8:22)

Daniel sought God’s will. Heavens respond when we pray according to God's will. Daniel received assurance an answer to his prayer (Daniel 9:20-23). The angel Gabriel appears to Daniel assuring him that his prayer has been heard and that he will be given understanding regarding the subject of his prayer. We can have confidence that if we pray like Daniel, our prayers will also be heard and answered according to God’s will. Keep praying from a faithful and sincere heart to God.

Boast only in Christ || More

Boast only in Christ

Written by Eddy Amihere.

"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord." (NKJV) Jeremiah 9:23-24

Humans often pride themselves after attaining some level of achievement. These achievements may include a higher level of education, wealth, power and a great job. Although these achievements may be of significance in this world, there are incomparable to the spiritual goal of understanding and knowing Christ. In today’s devotional, I wish to remind us of this spiritual goal and the divine command of boasting only in Christ.

In Philippians 4:12, Paul teaches us an important principle in Christianity that we should neither boast in what we have nor despair in what we do not have. Instead, we should strive to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and if we have anything to boast in then it should be in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:10; Galatians 6:14).

There are implications in knowing and not knowing God. Those who know and believe in God and faithfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ are promised of blessings in this life and the life to come; “So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:29-30, NKJV). Likewise, those who do not know God will receive vengeance and judgement from Him; "in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, NKJV).

As we struggle in this life trying to get the best of everything, we should be mindful of what we boast in. If we happen to boast in our achievements, let’s remember that there is nothing we have that we did not obtain from the Lord. God bless you!

Created to be loved || More

Created to be loved

Written by Douglas Agyapong.

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (NIV) I John 4:8

After many years of searching out the meaning of love, it was interesting to finally know that love is God. People assign various reasons why they think God created humans. Why could He not have stayed alone? Some think God needed a dispenser of worship. Others reason out that God needed servants. I believe the answer is found in this scripture. That God, who moved upon the face of the waters (Gen 1:2), was Love and was in dire need of an object of Love. Love could never be complete without an object to be loved. It was quite impossible for Love to have stayed alone forever. He may have suffered from depression or His purpose may have been defeated.

After attempting to stay alone for a while, I can imagine Him cry out in despair, “We cannot do this anymore! We need an object to lavish our Love on extravagantly.” “Let us make man…” He, therefore, created us so that we become the recipients of His ever-weighty love. He foreknew, I am sure, that we would betray Him. But that rather fitted into His plan paradoxically because it was through our betrayal, He got the chance to show us the greatest love of all; “that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Glory unto God for being Love. We can respond by at least attempting to love back.

Justify not || More

Justify not

Written by Derrick Owusu Antwi.

"And He said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." (NKJV) Genesis 3:11-12

The book of Genesis mostly gives an account of creation. It is so marvelous to know how God made everything that exists, thus the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Man was privileged to have been created in God’s own image. (Genesis 1:26).

God had good plans for man. He wanted man to enjoy his awesome works. So, He gave man the best of everything to the extent of blessing man to have dominion over His creatures. (Genesis 1:28). Certainly, man overlooked all these beautiful gifts and disobeyed God. God told man not to eat of the “Fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden”, thus the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). However, man was deceived by the cunning serpent (Genesis 3:1) to disobey God. Even when man was found guilty, he shifted the blame.

So it is today in our everyday lives. We tend to be so inherently proud to justify our wrongs instead of admitting them. It is awful to correct a person who thinks he knows everything but refuses to admit a wrong. Some people have their hearts hardened such that they end up wallowing in their sins. Pharaoh of Egypt was of no exception (Exodus 7).

Beloved, let us be careful how we deal with each other in our daily lives. Let us learn to say sorry, admit our wrongs and refrain from them too. A beloved sister once said, “admit it, even if you think you are right but your opponent proves you wrong”. It is true so as to foster harmony, peace and unity.

May God help us to admit our wrongdoings so as to walk humbly and diligently with Him. Amen.

A foundation of Love || More

A foundation of Love

Written by Myles MacMillan.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (NIV) 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Why do we serve others? There are probably many reasons that could be listed. Some examples might include: “because I like to impress others” or “because I know that I am supposed to” or “because I want others to think that I’m a good person”. Our passage of scripture today focuses on what God says needs to be at the foundation of everything we do.

This section from 1 Corinthians 13 is often read at weddings and is chosen by the bride and groom because it describes very beautifully what love should look like. There is nothing wrong with reading this scripture at a wedding, but we must remember that these words from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth were not written for weddings but to correct some major issues that were going on in the congregation at that time. Evidently, some members in the church were thinking that they were better than others because of the types of gifts that God had blessed them with. Others, with gifts that were viewed as “less impressive”, were jealous and envious of those who had “better gifts”. With this problem at hand, Paul writes these very powerful words in verses 1-3 that must have struck the hearts of those reading the letter and should still strike our hearts today.

Looking at the verses, we can see three things that are applicable to us today. First, we may use our gifts to serve others but if our motivation for using those gifts isn’t love, our efforts are worth nothing. Second, even though we might be incredibly knowledgeable in the scriptures and have an incredibly strong faith in God if we use these tools with a lack of love, it is all for nothing. Third, even if we are the type of people who are very sacrificial with our bodies and possessions, but our sacrifices are without love, we gain nothing from our giving.

These observations should be very sobering to us because they tell us that it’s possible to look like an amazing Christian on the outside, using our gifts, displaying our smarts and faith, and giving away all that we have but yet all of those things can be worth nothing to God if we aren’t doing them for the right reasons. The Bible is saying that the only motivation that counts when we serve God or others is love. Love must be at the root and foundation of everything we do and if we do not have love first, then nothing else really matters. If we need an example of what love-grounded service should look like, we can see it beautifully outlined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

As Christians, the motivation for everything we do should be out of love. If it isn’t, then our efforts are being wasted before God because we are doing it for the wrong reason. As always, Jesus is the perfect example of serving for the right reasons and as Christians, we can look to Him as our role model. May God bless us as we strive to serve Him and others with love as our motivation!

Faith that moves mountain || More

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