INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK: Let Us Lift Our Hearts And Hands

"Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven."

- Lamentations 3:41

We have heard it so many times that when one door closes, another door opens. What if one door closes and the next door does not open? When you lose your job you often have the hope that another door will soon open and soon seems to be eternity. When you lose that business opportunity you always hope that another one will come and it seems like you will wait forever. When you are heartbroken because of a failed relationship it seems like all the good people are taken and you will not have another chance to love again.

What do you do when you find yourself stuck between a door that was closed behind you and the one that is locked before you? That place is usually dark and your days are dark as well. You know what they say, "when days are dark friends are few!' That place, that moment, is usually lonely. What do you do?

I have learnt through my few experiences and I have believed in the words of the psalmist, "It is good for me to draw near to God" (Psalm 73:28). When you are alone in that lonely and dark place of your life, God is there with you. The things that continue to distract you, and keep you from seeing His face are gone. It is you and God. The people who will want to spend time with you and keep you occupied are no where in sight. It is you and God. The people or things you normally turn to when you are in need are out of reach. It is you and God. The voices that continually disturb you from hearing God's voice are dead. It is you and God.

This is the perfect time for you to sit back and examine your position with God. This is the perfect time to do what some like to call soul searching. This is the time when you allow God to take over your life and mould you to be what He wants you to be. This is the time for purification. This is the time for clarity. This is the time to turn your eyes to Jesus. This is the time to lift up your heart and and hands to our Father in heaven.

I have come to realize that sometimes the hard knocks in life are a way God draws us closer to Him. I have learnt that through the moments when I lost what I thought were the most important things in life, God revealed Himself as the most important being in my life. His grace is sufficient for me. I have learnt that God used the low moments in my life to reveal His greatness in my life.

When I was caught between closed doors, I was in the right position to listen to God as He redirected my life. It was during this moment that God reminded me what He has assigned me to do before I depart from this planet. It was during this moment that I was endowed with the ability to hear His voice with so much clarity that I had to obey to His calling. Amazingly, when I said yes, things are starting to fall into place again.

This was the time when I began to look into my life with  a refreshing perspective. I did not ask myself "Where did I go wrong?" but I began to ask God, "What is it that the Lord is teaching me now?" I began to ask myself about God to reveal His plan. I began to cherish the moments I spent with Him. I began to enjoy to be in His presence. I began to pour my heart out to Him. Suddenly, I realized that I was not alone but He was there with me. I realized that losing the valuable things in life was preparing my heart to trust Him in everything.

My dear friend, when you find yourself in that place where it feels like a wilderness, you cannot tell where to go from here, just call upon the Lord. Jeremiah wrote, "I called on Your name, O LORD, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice; "Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry of help." You drew near on the day I called on You and said, "Do not fear!" (Lamentations 3:55-57).

This is the opportune time to lift your heart to God. Lifting your heart simply means desiring or longing for God. It means exalting the Almighty God in your heart. It means preparing your heart to seek God. It means allowing the Spirit of the Lord to move your heart to give worship to the loving God. When the glory of the Lord fills your heart, it is manifested in the lifting of hands which symbolizes worshipping the God who sits upon His throne in heaven.

My dear friend, whilst we are waiting for God to open the next door, let us lift our hearts and and hand to God in heaven. Believe me, joy will fill your heart and you will be transformed from glory to glory!

The Worth of Knowing Christ - Part 2

Standing Firm in the Lord


(Philippians 3: 12 -21)


1) Pressing on towards the goal

My call is to receive the glory of God, to attain my portion of the glory – that is the biggest prize. “I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Pressing on means you have the faith that you will reach the end of the race. You are not prepared to give up. You have the courage to go on. You do not fear the path you need to go through. No matter what comes you just press on.

“For God did not give us the spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1: 7). If you want to know Jesus you need to remember that the Spirit you have is powerful and not faint-hearted. You press on because you have the love for what you are doing. You press on because you have the passion for what you are doing and nothing is going to stand on your way. Jesus is love. If you love him you would not allow anything to stand on your way to get to him.

Self-discipline is an important element when you press on. You ensure that you avoid things that will distract you from reaching your goal. There will be challenges along the way to distract you but you need to have the discipline to overcome the challenges. “Blessed is the man who preservers under trial, because he has stood the test, he will receive the Crown of life that God has promised to those who love him,” (James 1:12). Press on (persevere) even when you face trials.

2) Forget the Past

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do is forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” (Philippians 3:13). Paul knows very well that he was persecuting the people of God but he never allowed his past to haunt him. He forgot about his past and pressed on.

Sometimes we allow our past mistakes, failures and backgrounds to hold us back. We forget that our faith in Jesus Christ has made us a new creation and the past is gone. Jesus Christ has qualified us to inherit God’s glory. We are born again – rooted and built up in him. Therefore the past has nothing to do with us. We need to forget the past and press on.

3) Mature

“All of us who are mature should take such view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have attained,” (Philippians 3: 15 -16).

Forgetting what is behind and pressing on requires one to look at things from a mature stand point. Those who are matured are those who are led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God has the power to reveal or clarify what may not be clear.

Paul says let us live up to what we have already attained. Being led by the Holy Spirit is a gift for the matured. “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God that we may understand what God has freely given us,” (1 Corinthians 3:12).

The Spirit teaches us everything and reminds us everything that Jesus said whilst he was on his mission here on earth. Therefore we should live up to the Spirit so that we may know who Jesus is. If we live up to the Spirit we will forget the past and remember what Jesus taught us. We will press on to what God has promised us through Jesus Christ.


4) Fellowship

“I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly,” (Psalm 111:1).

The Psalmist demonstrates the importance of praising God, not just on your own but with other people. He talks about praising the Lord in the company of people that live according to God’s will (council of the upright and in the assembly).

Paul also encouraged us to worship the Lord with others. Because Paul knew he was righteous and living according to the will of God, he encourages us to follow his example as we join others in our quest to know Jesus. Joining with others comes with a caution: “take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

This means that we should be careful of the people we associate with when worshipping God, are they led by the Spirit of God? This basically cautions us to discern the nature of the spirit leading the people we worship with “for sinful nature (spirit of the world) desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want to do,” (Galatians 5:17).

This warning guard us against losing track of our goal, i.e. losing the Spirit that teaches us God’s way. Take note of those who live according to the pattern that was given to us so that we “do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19)


5) Set your mind in heaven

Our citizenship is not here on earth but in heaven. This is where Jesus is seated on the right hand of God. Our focus therefore should be where Jesus is – heaven. If we focus on earthly things then our destiny is destruction.

Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and here thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be,” (Matthew 6:20-21).

We can have everything on earth but these things are temporary and we may lose them anytime. The things of this world may defer us from our quest for the truth (Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life).

Paul says, “What is more I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ,” (Philippians 3:8).

In order to know Christ you do not have to spend time thinking about earthly riches, but think about Christ. We have to be like-minded with him because we have the mind of Christ.

Conclusion

When all has been done, ran a good race, we get a better understanding and knowledge of Jesus and he will crown us. He will transform us from our earthly bodies and we will be like him (glorious bodies). “That is how you should stand firm in the Lord,” (Philippians 4:1).