INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK: "...you shall glorify Me."

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me," (Psalm 50:15).

The past few weeks have taught me not to depend on my feelings but to trust in God's word. I have been stretched, tried and tested but there is peace and joy in my heart knowing that God has chosen me in the furnace of affliction.

Sometimes it is easy to tell someone to hold on and have faith in God. The most challenging part is when you have to practice what you preach. That is when you realize that you cannot do it on your own. That is when you realize that at the time when you are weak, the grace of the Lord gives you strength. That is when you realize that   Jesus sustains you through it all. That is when you realize that Him alone will keep your head up when you do not even have the energy to do that.

Something then registered in my heart. So many times when we are in trouble or in need we ask the Lord to rescue us. He is a faithful God and He helps us when we need Him. But really, why do we ask Him to save us when we are in trouble? So that we can have a better life? So that we are commended for our faith in God? So that we can be revered as prayerful children of God? 

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me," (Psalm 50:15).

When you are in trouble it is easy to think of yourself, nobody else but you. When you have no money you always think how you are going to get money. When you have no food you think of where you are going to get food. When you are in pain you think of when the pain will go away. When you are being ridiculed you think of why you have to be subjected to such... then you ask the Lord to come to your rescue. 

When God delivers you from whatever you are going through, is He glorified? Last year I posted an article discussing the fact that when God blesses us or do great things for us it is not for our own good but for His name to be glorified. My dear friend, it is time to take a moment, consider how God is glorified when He takes you through difficult situations. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said you are the light of the world and let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Your faith in God should be witnessed by everyone and see God working in you. The focus should be in giving glory where it is due.

Even though I had come to a point where I felt like I can lock myself in the room but God has kept me going and continues to do His work. It does not matter what you are going through, continue to do what God has sent you to do and His name shall be glorified. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord," (1 Corinthians 15:58).

INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK: Where Are You?

"Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9)

Everyday we are supposed to walk with the Lord, we are supposed to be in the presence of the Lord, we are supposed to rejoice in the Lord. We have the privilege of having direct access to the Lord. Although He is our Father in heaven, He is always near us. He has promised that He will never leave us. He is always taking care of us regardless of what is happening in our world. 

Because God loves us so much He doesn't want us to go astray. He delights in walking with us all the time. He is happy to see us trusting in Him. He derives pleasure in using us as instruments of His glory. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them," (Ephesians 2:10). 

God is concerned about our well being. God is concerned about our present and future. That is why he is concerned when we lose His way and go our own way. His way leads to life and if our way is not His way then it leads to death. It saddens the Lord to see us transgressing from His way.  

That is why He says, "...repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourself a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

Even when we have fallen, He doesn't give up on us. He wants to give us another chance. He wants us to return to Him so that He can restore us. When we hear His voice we should not try and hide from Him just like Adam and Eve did when they had fallen into sin. The Word of God tells us that when they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, they hid from the presence of the Lord. "Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). 

My dear friend, when you are not with God where are you? When you are not walking in His love  where are you? When you are not walking in His light where are you? When you are not walking in His wisdom where are you? When you are lost where are you? When God is calling your name, where are you? 

Mind you, God knows everything and He knew where Adam and his wife were, but He asked him, "Where are you?" This was an opportunity for Adam to examine himself, consider his position, confess his transgression and repent. Today God is asking the same question to us, "Where are you?" 

He is Lord!

There is a popular song that says, "…He is Lord, He is Lord, He has risen from the dead, He is Lord..." This song has been going on repeatedly in my heart today. I began to focus on the phrase 'HE IS LORD'. I choose to fix my eyes on Him because He is Lord. The Jesus in whom I live is Lord. The Jesus who lives in me is Lord.

Whatever is happening around you just believe that Jesus is Lord. Fix your eyes on Him and you will be able to run with endurance the race that is set before you. You cannot run this race unless you believe that Jesus is Lord.

When you are facing challenges in your life know that you are not cursed, you are just walking in His footsteps. He despised the shame of the cross; He conquered death because He is Lord. He is our living hope because He is Lord. He is sitting at the right hand of God interceding us because He is Lord. He humbled himself and was obedient even in His death and was given the name that is above every other name. Every knee shall bow and every tongue must confess that indeed Jesus is Lord.

You may be hitting rock bottom now but you are not cursed if Jesus lives in you and you live in Him. By his Spirit we are transformed to His image, his royalty is rubbed in us that is why Peter writes and says we are a 'Royal Priesthood.' When they say you are cursed tell them that Jesus who is in me is not cursed and therefore I am not cursed!

"Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit." (1 Cor 12:3 AMP).

My dear friend, if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord you will be saved. Everything, in heaven, on earth and even under the earth must bow to His name. He is the Lord and He reigns forever, He conquers everything, we just need to call upon His name. Everything we say and do, we should do it in the name of Jesus. Yes, in the name of Jesus we have our victory because He is Lord!