Don’t Do This in 2014… and Ever Again

Towards the end of last year, I began to wonder when the ‘receive God’s prophecy for your life in 2013’ pop up advert was going to change. I didn’t have to wonder for long. Before the end of December, the date changed to 2014 and right there, sandwiched between the ‘study in Ireland’ advert and the ‘affordable jeans on Jumia’ advert, there is the heavenly call to you to ‘receive God’s prophecy for you for 2014’. As we speak, the advert is still there, it will be there till November when it changes to ‘2015’.

I have no idea of the individual or ministry behind this campaign but here is my two pence: don’t go online receiving prophecy from anyone, regardless of who it is. Many years ago in Nigeria, it became a tradition for people to wait with bated breath to receive prophecies about which celebrity will die in the coming year, the politicians that will win/lose, the national disasters that will come on us as a nation and on the world generally. Except for vendors of trashy tabloids- who I believe made up some of these things, - nobody made any profit from these episodes. Definitely not the Body of Christ. Gradually, people are shunning the annual prophecies and popular men of God seem not to dish the out as much- if they ever did. Note that this is different from the annual scriptural watchword that a local church chooses to focus on for the year/month. What we talk about is the act of seeking signs and experiences and prediction of events that sometimes don’t happen thereby causing the name of God to be ridiculed amongst men.

This hopping about looking for beautiful prophecies for a new year is no more than sorcery and seeking mediums to ‘hear God for you’. It is bad enough that we have created prayer contractors- those who pray and fast on your behalf for a ‘small fee’ aka prophet offering: No sir, you are not paying for services rendered; you are merely giving to God’s servant who has redefined the kindness of Jesus by taking it upon himself to fast and pray on your behalf while you go your merry way. Note again that this is different from having a person intercede on your behalf.

Instead of seeking prophecies and signs, do this: clutch your Bible and read it with all you’ve got. As you will find out, embedded in it are incredible promises of God for your life. You will discover a ‘more sure word of prophecy’ rather than cunningly devised fables. Beyond promises, you will find the Beauty, Grace, Wisdom and Glory of God. You will also realise that being a Christ follower is beyond blessing hunting. Most importantly, you will find that the whole of the Bible is one chapter and one verse and about one person only- Jesus, the Christ. When you see this Jesus as He wants to reveal Himself to you, you will find life eternal. The kind you won’t ever get in an online prophecy dispenser.

(Dan 11:32 [KJV])

And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

Hugging Strangers We Know

It was the dawn of a new year and she was there. Right beside me. I didn’t know her; I didn’t know her name and I didn’t know anything about her except her lovely brown Bible and the fact that right here, right now, she was standing next to me and she was smiling. I smiled too and we did the natural thing when everyone roared ‘happy new year’- we gave ourselves a big warm hug. It was the kind that makes you feel good from your hair to your toe nails. 

We are One Body in Him

This very moment, although she was a stranger, she was also my sister and that fact wiped out every other fact. She is my sister. Period. Why? Because we share the same Brother, the First Born of our family. His name is Jesus, The Christ, and if you believe in Him, you and I are siblings, directly related by the Blood that truly matters.

So the first person I hugged this year was a stranger and the only thing we knew we had in common was our faith. We met at a three day conference in Adebayo, a tiny village near Ibadan, Nigeria. It was my first time there and I had gone on the invitation of a friend who eventually didn’t attend the programme due to an unexpected health issue. So there I was in a sea of people, lost, friendless and lonely- yet I was among family. It was a wonderful conference. The word, worship and prayers were amazing and life transforming and there was no room for pity party.

I initially felt that although it was an interdenominational programme, the organisers were conservative (SU folks) so I expected to be judged. Why was I automatically defensive? Heaven knows. But I also know that a partial reason is because we are usually stuck up in our ways with our pretty little (or mega) churches and our doctrines. Anyone who even barely strays off what we believe is heretic. But dear friend, this divided church isn’t what Christ paid for and it sure isn’t the one He hopes to meet when He returns.

Regular readers may have observed how I tend to harp on unity among local churches. Jesus did too and He spent a lot of His final words on praying that they may be one. Do we need that prayer or what! Thankfully, during the conference, when everything was focused on Christ rather than doctrine, there was almost nothing to argue about. Nothing. Granted, I wore skirts all through, covered my hair during service (a kind sister gave me a scarf), sang more hymns in three days than I had sang January to December but those are very secondary issues that didn’t matter enough to deter me from enjoying a great family time of learning about faith in Jesus.

I encourage us all today to look beyond the things that divide us and look at the Cross of Christ instead. At this Cross, we are the same- no Greek or Jew, man or woman, African or Asian, Baptist or Pentecostal. God sees all His children through Christ and except one of us is none of His, how will you and I not be family?

Go ahead, hug a stranger. You know the kind I talk about. 

Blessings,

Miss August

PS: Happy New Year everyone. Sorry to come on here so late. It is extremely crazy at work January- April. By His grace, we will keep things up.

Why Paul Went To Jail

Thankfully, Paul wrote more than one letter. He had plenty of time you know, being in jail and all. The prison guard must have been impressed. You could say “prison was good for Paul.”  I’m kidding! But really, imagine that He didn’t do time. With his heavily packed schedule pastoring interesting churches like the one at Corinth (where a nice dude was having an affair with his dad’s wife…I know, I can’t get over it too), where would he have found time to write so much? And if he didn’t write so much, where would Miss August find material for today’s post? So from my heart to yours, Dear Apostle Paul, “Thank you. Today’s post exists because of you. I’m pretty sure you never knew the internet would come much less that one random lady would be hare-brained enough to think she could run a blog on Jesus stuff and provide reasonable stuff twice a week (that is Tuesday and Thursday- for those who don’t know).

Apostle Paul working on the next blog post epistle

So the next time you wonder why Paul had to go to jail, know this in your heart, he went  so that we could find two weeks’ worth of blog material. Nice. Worthy Jesus stuff he did there.

We shared prayers from Ephesians in the last post and we continue today with the ones from Philippians. This post contains my top favourite prayer from Paul’s epistles. Here we go:

1.      I pray that my love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement (or discernment); that I may approve of things that are excellent, that I may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

2.      I pray that the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

3.      I pray that my God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

With a little meditation, we will see how powerful these prayers are.

People love this one, we can make it fit into anything. A need is a need even if others consider it 'ridiculous pricey shoes with heels designed to cause pain'.

My top favourite is the first one. Somehow, my ‘Jesus-let-me-marry-the-right-man’ mind realised that the first prayer point listed here is one that every single lady (or man) should pray. That even as we seek to fall in love (don’t like that phrase) and get married, God will empower us to abound in love in all wisdom and in all judgement and that our emotions, will and intellect will approve only of people that are excellent on God’s scale. Now, I do not mean we shouldn’t relate with people that are ‘not excellent’; just that God’s wisdom and sound judgement will guide us in our decision making not only about choosing spouses but in every area of our life. That prayer is not reserved for single people only. It is a blessing for everyone who desires to please God in taking decisions.

PS: Picture from wikipedia

Because Love Is Based On Knowledge

I have been told many times that a Christian who desires new depth of intimacy with God and deeper insight about His person ought to pray Ephesians 1:17. A study of the letters Apostle Paul wrote to the churches revealed a consistent theme and this theme was important enough to get mentioned in the first few verses of the first chapters. It is that Paul never, ever ceased to pray for the churches and he never ceased to tell them so. 

 

That we may see Him and love what we see

Often, the nature of his prayers for them reflected the strengths and weaknesses of each church but regardless of what (or who) they were, he consistently prayed for them.

Indeed, praying Ephesians 1:17 is a good way to go. It talks a lot about the knowledge of God’s will and nature. And we all agree ((I hope) that knowing God accurately is important. Why? Because love is based on knowledge. To the romantics for whom ‘love at first sight’ is ultimate, know that regardless of how intense the attraction and chemistry between two perfect strangers get, the death or survival of that relationship depends on what both parties later come to know about each other.

So, while Paul prayed for them to know God, it could be seen as a means for them to love Him as they ought to. The cause of many warped theology today is the result of a warped image of God. On one spectrum are those who see a God totally full of wrath and dread, seeking to enforce His Omnipotent interests on humanity and not hesitant to punish the insubordinate. On the other end of the spectrum are those who see God as a happy, love struck, spineless, doting grandfather. Now, if God were either of both, ‘believers’ are the most miserable of all men and to be pitied. 

Whatever your knowledge of God is, pray to see Him more as He truly is. Then, you wouldn’t be able to help but love Him, the perfect fusion of Love, Power and Wisdom.

Find in three points the prayers of Paul extracted from the book of Ephesians. The next few posts will share extracted prayers from other epistles.

1.      That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give me the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. That I may know:

·         What is the hope to which He has called me.

·         What are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.

·         What is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward me who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…

2.      That God will grant me according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in my inner man.

3.       That Christ may dwell in my heart by faith; that me, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, THAT I MAY BE FILLED WITH THE FULLNESS OF GOD

May God help us to see Him, to know Him, the Source of all life and as we see Him, may we like love what we see. Amen.

PS: These prayer points have been personalised. You may wish to copy them directly from the Bible, pray them for yourself and for others.

My question for you

What prayer points have you shamelessly dubbed from The Bible?

Blessings,

Miss August

Picture from www.sparkpeople.com