Letter to the Church: Is It well?

This was pulled from the faith column on 234Next.com, please enjoy.


The scripture declares it is well, but is it really? The prophet (Jeremiah I think) said of the priests of his day, and I paraphrase; the Lord says “my people are full of sores, yet the priests rub them with ointment and tell them it is well”. What does this mean? Straightforward really; Israel was infested with sin, yet the priest told the people that all was well. Today the pastors tell us the same thing; it is well, the Lord will bless you. Yet God who does not change is still saying, “if only the people who are called by name will turn and repent, I will heal them of their sins”.

Today, certain words have become archaic, forgotten, discarded, and mentioned only as infrequently as possible. These words? Sin and repent. Sin is mentioned in passing at the time a person becomes ‘born-again’, and repentance is sometimes attached at the end of the sermon, during the alter call. Following this, we are fine, supposedly, and on our merry way to heaven. Washed by the blood, and led by the spirit. But I remember a story that Jesus told of two men who came to the temple to pray. One, a religious Jew, prayed thus; “Father, thank God I am not a sinner like that other man”. And the ‘other man’ prayed thus; “Father forgive me for I am a sinner”. Who did Jesus say went home a righteous man? The ‘other man’. Today, we are the righteous Jew, the sons of Abraham, bought by the blood and led by the spirit, deceiving ourselves that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us of our sin and we thus on the highway to heaven. Care is required and scrutiny of our ways, necessary.

Sin is real and present, and repentance is a state of being. Jesus defines sin at the level of the heart and therefore ensures that we are almost all in a state of perpetual sin. His evidence of fornication, murder, covetousness and greed is always at the level of the heart and mind. Most are struggling, many are falling, plenty live in self-deceit and denial, and for the very religious, we are like the righteous Jew in Jesus’ story who don’t even know that Jesus regards us as sinners.

Ask a Christian, “are you sure that you will make heaven”? And they’re sure to reply, by the grace of God or, through the blood of Jesus. As for carrying our own cross, that’s not necessary as Jesus has done it all. We forget that he was the same man who said, “except a man carry his own cross, he cannot be my disciple”. Most do not even realize that Jesus redefined sin. So a Christian, man or woman, is most likely to believe that they have never committed the sin of fornication since they became ‘born-again’ simply because they have not physically indulged in the act. But at the level of the heart; the rest is best left unsaid. As for covetousness, our hearts know almost nothing else as our prayers tell the story of ‘give me this and give me that’. We want to gain everything even though Jesus asks us to lose our lives. Is it really well with us? Is it really? Who declares that it is well? The self-styled men of god who are more interested in successful ministries (as defined by numbers, size of church building and monetary collections) or our heavenly father who is only interested in the riches of holiness and the glory of righteousness.

I don’t remember any testimonies about overcoming a long fought battle with a particular sin, or someone finally repenting from lying and thanking God that he had remained 100% truthful for the last one year. The church would be irritated at such testimonies and ask people to keep their victory over sin to themselves. But business success, house building, promotion at work, long-awaited marriage, fruit of the womb, and of course that luxury car, of these we testify daily. Is it really well with us?

When will turn again to the days of old, when John cried in the wilderness, REPENT! When will we take our place and watch like Habakkuk? When will we like Abraham leave everything we know behind and look towards our promised land in God? When will we listen to Jesus, when will we agree with him, when will we truly follow him. Is there not a prophet in the land!?

-Kola Lawal, 234Next.com.

Clarity

Often times in life we hear people saying they need more clarity. In most cases, we've been the one telling someone how we need to hear from the Lord to get clarity. You'll hear someone say something like, "I really feel like doing this but I need more clarity." What is clarity? Clarity is defined as the quality or state of being clear. So basically when we desire more clarity concerning a matter, we want to be sure and clear about the choices we're faced with. Having clarity to me is having the courage of my conviction that I'm making the right decision; it is saying the mist is gone, the dust is settled and now I can see clearly.

There are many ways to get clarity concerning a matter. One way is to not act until the dust settles. You may ask, how do I know when the dust has settled? To allow the dust to settle you need to step away from the situation before you. For example, a male friend of yours comes to you and tells you he sees you as a potential mate. You've known each other for quite some time and you also think that you like him. Now your emotions are aroused and you just want to jump into the love boat. That's where you should stop. Take a few days apart from one another and really seek God. The Bible says, "He will keep in perfect peace, he whose mind is stayed on Him." And we know that it is the peace of God that guides our hearts, so then if we're abiding in His peace we'll know exactly what to do. We'll see clearly.

Another way of looking at the example above is to think of our natural senses. When a person loses one sense, the other senses are increased. For example if you closed your eyes, you would probably hear better. So if you closed your eyes to the "mountains" before you, it will be easier to hear the voice of God and know the heart of God concerning a matter.

Hoping you're all having clarity in every decision you're making. God bless!

A Year Ago...

How could I have forgotten my blogiversary! Happy Blogiversary to "Becoming Jeshurun"!!!

Frustration

I am frustrated at many things right now.
Frustrated that my job is not as satisfying as I expected.
Frustrated that answers are a bit slow in coming.
Frustrated that the one I call lover is so hard headed.
Frustrated that I have no outlet for all the songs and screams that are bottled up.

But as I think on my frustrations, I remember Calvary

I remember a God whose glory supersedes all

I remember that it is only when I'm in His presence that I can be renewed

I remember that He has loving arms in which He wants to wrap me in

I remember that His love is never ending

And so remembering this I make a decision
I choose to go to that place where I'm safe
I choose to stay and remain in The Presence
I choose to let the overflow of Glory flow out of me
I choose to love
And be loved.

Sow your tears.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. (Psalm 126:5)

I know that the title of this post is a little depressing. However, I do want to discuss sowing our tears. This past Sunday this scripture just began to run through my mind. Sowing my tears and reaping in joy. I just had to meditate on that. How do we sow in tears? Is it just crying over our misfortunes? Is it mourning and being in grief? First of all what does sowing mean?

Sowing is when we take something that has potential to grow and put it into an environment where it first dies and then multiplies itself. A farmer takes a seed, goes out to his field, puts the seed into the ground and in the coming months, the farmer reaps a bountiful harvest. Just like the farmer, we also have to sow. We have heard of the law of sowing and reaping as it partains to finances. But what about this verse? It's not just talking about sowing seed (money or acts of kindness) but it is talking about sowing tears. How then do we sow in tears?

Sowing in tears means to sacrifice and in my time of meditation I have realized it can be done in these two ways:

-Prayer

-Dying to my flesh.

Sowing in tears through prayers means fervent and passionate prayer. You know the kind of prayer that involves your heart. The kind of prayer that moves you beyond your self. The kind of prayer that keeps you up at night, the one that keeps you at the altar after the pastor has said the benediction. It is the kind of prayer that as you're praying streams of water are flowing from your eyes. Those tears reflect the passion in your prayer.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds (John 12:24)

Here Jesus was telling his disciples a principle of the Kingdom. The principle of how to reap a good harvest in our spiritual life. Dying to ourselves is sowing in tears. The reason why it can be considered sowing in tears is because it will be very difficult. Your flesh will war against you and protest such denial and betrayal. But like a good farmer, you have to look into the future and make preparations for your future. A good farmer doesn't eat all his seeds. Neither should you spend all your life satisfying your flesh because the end of it is destruction. If you are courting someone this is the season to sow purity into your relationship so that you can reap God's blessings in your marriage. If you've been put in a place of leadership this is the time to sow integrity because he is faithful over little shall be put over much. And above all, die to yourself because this is the highest sacrifice you can make to God. After all it will require your tears.

An Unselfish Love.

Love Is...

Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Sin Nature

The other day I was reading John 8 : 1-11 during my study time. Below is the text:

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

There are some things that just stood out to me when I read this passage. Not that I have never read it before, but as you know, the more we read the Scripture, the more things we discover and rediscover. First, Jesus did not address the woman in front of the Pharisees. Like the fact that they just brought a woman caught in the act of adultery did not bother Him. He ignores their accusations and begins to write on the ground. Some have said that it was each of them's sins that He was writing. This made me to pause, why didn't he even ask the woman to tell her side of the story in front of her accusers. But of course He is not interested in the story of her sin, He already knows it.

When we come into the presence of God, He is not looking at us as sinful. Yes we have sinned, but that sin nature is not who we are. God is more interested in us shedding our sin nature and living in the Spirit nature that He has pre-ordained for us. Yes He knows your past, but He doesn't get stuck there. Neither should you. When you get in His presence, your accusers vanish. Even He doesn't condemn you. One thing that He asks is that you turn away from the sin and embrace Him. Basically, shed your sin nature.