In search of God

Mathew 18:15-17, ‘If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two brothers along, so that ‘so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them tell the church, if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.’ When we are wronged by another, the tendency we have is to go and expose them to others so that they may be shamed and vilified while we may gain pity from others. This results in grudges between us that create a never ending cycle of revenge. If we are wronged, Jesus told us that we ought to confront the offender in private, bringing the offense to his attention. In so doing, a true believer when confronted in such a manner will realize his mistakes and repent for his sins and transgressions against you. You will end up in finding

Mathew 5:14-16, ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’ Jesus Christ is the Light of the World and He lives in us that have believed in Him, placing all our hopes in Him. As a believer, we are commanded by our Lord to live a life of obedience and love, loving our God above everything else, subordinating our will to His and allowing Him to work in and eventually through us. We are to allow Him to renew and transform every area of our life so that when we live our life; all glory goes to Him who is in us. If Jesus is in us, then our actions, words, our plans will be a revelation of this truth, but if not then our duplicity and pretentiousness will also be evident. Let the light of the Lord shine through you in

Mathew 5:13, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.’ Believers are the seasoning of this life that we are living in this earth. This life is full of trouble, strife, hate, anger, tribulations, persecutions and heart aches but we as Christians are able to rise above all these and exhibit peace, joy and love in spite of the circumstances we are faced with, the opposition coming against us, we are supposed to give out hope to the world by living as Jesus, helping the less fortunate, caring for the needy, loving even those that persecute us. A believer’s life is one full of love, joy and power and if you do not live your life in love and power as an ambassador of the heavenly Kingdom that is lead by a loving and powerful Father, then you are no better than the lost of this world. You need to know who you are in Christ and stop living a carnal, defe

Titus 2:9-11, ‘Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.’ As a believer, every aspect of your life should be lived as an ambassador, modeling the life of a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. As servants we are required to live in humility, doing our work diligently so as to please our employers/ bosses with the quality of our work, being respectful and not arguing with them, being a person of integrity and not stealing from them their time, their resources, so that we can be trustworthy and gain their trust. This is living worthy of a believer of Christ as it demonstrates love for your fellow man which is in accordance with His teachings.

1 Peter 3:1, ‘Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.’ Believers that are living life with unbelieving spouses have a transformative force that lies not in our words but our action, where we inspire transformation in our spouses by the life that we live that reflects the unconditional and selfless love of God that we receive on a daily basis and share with them. Let us not nag them constantly and endlessly but live a life that models peace, joy and love that they may longingly aspire to attain it.

Titus 3:4-8, ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.’ Salvation comes to us as a gift of God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. No one can claim to have earned his salvation because none of us is worthy; we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Through Jesus the Christ, we are credited with righteousness before God and we therefore have the confidence to stand before Him in prayer. At baptism

Isaiah 9:6,7, ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. The reign of the prince of deceit and lies, the prince of darkness is coming to an end and the everlasting reign of the Son of God is about to begin. When Jesus comes back, and He will, He will bring everlasting peace and purge sin from the presence of the saints. He has shown that He has the zeal to accomplish the will of the Father in Heaven. All the saints will live in harmony and justice and righteousness, worshipping and praising the Glorious God forever.

Isaiah 11:1-5, ‘A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of Wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and the Spirit of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears; but with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the world with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around the waist.’ Jesus came and gave us an example of how we should relate to our Father in heaven. We should delight in the fear of the Lord, walking in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus came for the needy and the poor, those that needed renewal and rebirth of the spirit and were broken and poor

Isaiah 12:4-6, ‘In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for the great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”’ Knowing the good news, I rejoice and shout at the top of my lungs so that others may know and be partakers in the inheritance given to us through Jesus Christ. Give glory to God, exalt His Holy name for He has forgiven us and given us life in Jesus Christ. The time has come, repent and believe the good news.

Isaiah 12:1-3, ‘In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ We were sinners, facing a hopeless and miserable end, but the Lord God, even when we were His enemies; He came down and died for us, to give us salvation. In His great mercy He has forgiven and forgotten our numerous iniquities. He has become our Savior, comforting us, encouraging us, building us up, so that we may become complete, mature in Him. He strengthens us in our times of weakness; he is our only hope of salvation and life. Rejoice as you draw the water of eternal life from Him and quench your thirst.

Isaiah 25:4,5, ‘You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert.’ Lord when I am in distress, I will always run to you for shelter. I will hide myself in thee from the distress of this world. Hide me and give me respite from the ceaseless scorching heat of hate from my enemies. Be a barrier in my life to the storm of strife brought to my door step by those that wish harm upon me. Even though they are numerous, I will not fear, I will remain calm because I know that my refuge is secure. In the Lord will I always place my trust and hope.

Isaiah 25:1, ‘O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.’ Praise and exalt the name of your God, for in His wisdom He has done a great and marvelous thing, planned since the beginning of time. He has crafted a plan to redeem man from the shackles of sin to Himself. He has given man the chance to be clothed in righteousness and to enjoy His presence again. He has showered us with His mercy and abounding grace, our sins He will remember no more. We that have been called into him are now to be called His sons, and all this not because of our own right standing but because of Jesus the Christ who has died our death and given us His life. Praise God indeed, rejoice in His faithfulness, exalt His Holy name.

Isaiah 40:8, ‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever.” The word of God has life and imparts life to whomever hears it. It is eternal and it is the light of men. The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. To those who receive Him and believe in His name, He has given the right to be children of God, born of God. Believe and obey the word of God and you will receive life.

Isaiah 42:5-7, ‘This is what God the Lord says – He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breadth to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness…”’ This is the good news to the world, that we are no longer slaves to sin, we are no longer captives to Satan, sitting in the darkness of sin but have been called to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He calls out to us, asking us to place our hand in His in trust and let Him guide our steps, to be the master of our lives. Jesus Christ is our light, lighting the path for us so that we may be credited in righteousness for His name’s sake. Through Him we have access to the th

Isaiah 44:9-20, ‘All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame; craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them come together and take their stand; they will be brought down in terror and infamy. The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures the line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of a man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in shrine. He cuts down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the tress of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man’s fuel for b

Isaiah 43:1-3, ‘But now, this is what the Lord says – He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Savior…”’ In this dying and corrupt world, we who are ambassadors of Jesus are hated by this world and we will face persecution on top of the troubles of this world. But we must remain steadfast because our God has not and will not forsake us. He bought us and redeemed us with the blood of His Son Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. We are now His Sons through Jesus Christ. When we pass through murky waters or are threatened to be engulfed and overwhelmed by the sin in this world, we shall not be swept away becau

Titus 2:3-5, ‘Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no-one will malign the word of God.’ The old are the shapers of a society and in as much as they are living in the right way, the young who are the next generation will learn from them this right way of living. In order to influence a change in the society, we need to start with the old who are the sages and seers of this society. Young women learn how to be wives and mothers from their own mothers and this places a great responsibility on our old women in how they carry themselves out in marriages, homes, social places because what they say and do will inform what the young ladies will eventually say and do when they get married and start families.

James 4:7, ‘Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ The only way that you can effectively resist the devil is by submitting yourself to God in total obedience. When we submit ourselves to God, His Holy Spirit dwells in us, He ministers to us and teaches us the way to live pleasing God. His laws are then written in our hearts and therein lies our power to defeat and chase away the devil. He cannot and accuse and condemn us to guilt because we know that in Christ we are credited with righteousness and our sins are remembered no more. He cannot deceive us because we know what the will of God for our lives is. He cannot tempt us with sin because in Christ we are dead to sin and are no longer its slaves and we now have the power to overcome sin. Without the Holy Spirit, living in you, you will not have the power to overcome and resist the great tempter, deceiver and accuser that is the devil.

Psalm 32:3-5, ‘When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.’ Sin is such a heavy burden and has a great toll on our life; it makes us feel guilty and condemned. Our conscience is grieved by our knowledge of our transgression and this might even affect our health as we become miserable and our spirit is crushed. The accuser, that is Satan, takes advantage of this and keeps on reminding us of our sins, yoking our souls with guilt and condemnation. This guilt and condemnation that we carry around our necks, saps our energy, our willpower, our commitment and we live miserable condemned lives. But all we have to do to free ourselves and be released from this bondage is to acknowledge this sin to the Fath

Psalm 32:1-2, ‘Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Under the throne of grace, God promises to not only forgive us for our sins but to also blot them out from memory. Our slate is wiped clean as though we had never sinned. Isn’t that a great blessing my friends? This now gives us the confidence to approach God’s throne because we are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ and we can ask for anything from God and expect to receive it.

Psalm 30:4,5, ‘Sing to the Lord, you saints of His; praise His Holy Name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.’ We need to rejoice in the Lord because of His great mercy. When we were His enemies, he sent His Son to die in our place so that He could forgive our sins in Him. We are now credited to be righteous in His Son Jesus – a gift from God – and also gifted with eternal life. Even though we may suffer because of our faith in Jesus, we should not despair and be crestfallen but rejoice in the Lord because it only for a short while and then it will be over and we shall be with our Lord and Savior Jesus in Heaven. Look at the suffering as birth pains that we must endure, to be transformed and renewed, and soon we will be enjoying the coming of our Christ.

Psalm 27:13,14, ‘I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ We are by nature impatient expecting what we want when we want it, but God in His divine wisdom, having seen the beginning from the end knows what is good for us and when it is good for us. Therefore our time might not be God’s time. For some of us, we allow doubts and worry to creep into our minds, making us sad and miserable. We stop believing in the promises we have received from God and then try to make it on our own, do things our own way, often leading to pain and suffering. Abraham and Sarah had to wait for years to receive the promised son, but somewhere down the line, they got tired and tried to do things their own way that brought suffering for them. Let us learn to be patient and faithfully wait for God to fulfill His promises to us.

Proverbs 27:17, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ The society, and by extent the church today is short of men and women of character and that is why the next generation might not have real men and women because it take one to nurture one. This is the essence of mentorship, that one can only give another what he possess himself. If you as a young person want to have the qualities of integrity, maturity, kindness, courtesy, humility and peace then you cannot attain them if your mentor or role model is one who is dishonest, rude, immature, prideful and unruly, it cannot just happen. Friends also mould and shape us because we spend most of our social time with them, we ask for their input when we are faced with the dilemmas of life and so we also need to choose them wisely. If you want to know the character of a man, look at his friends.

Proverbs 27:1, ‘Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.’ Most of us take the future for granted, believing that what we plan will happen. We procrastinate, putting off what we know we ought to do today, thinking that we have all the time in the world. But God is the only one who knows what tomorrow will bring. We are convicted to repent and be saved today but we put it off to tomorrow saying, ‘Let me enjoy today and then I will get saved tomorrow.’ But are you sure if you will still have the chance tomorrow, if tomorrow, your heart will be convicted as it was today, if you will be alive tomorrow. Don’t push off for tomorrow what you can do today, mend your relationship with God now, surrender to Him now and enjoy His boundless love and grace.

Proverbs 27:19, ‘As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.’ What is in a man’s heart determines the his character. If evil rules his heart then his plans, actions and words will be full of evil, deceit, hate and strife but if good rules his heart then he will be rules by joy, peace, truth and love. Therefore to really know a man, you need to know what he carries in his heart. This requires wisdom because what a man stores in his heart may not be easily discernible but through wisdom, you can draw him out even if he attempts to hide his true self and motives.

Jeremiah 18:5-11, ‘Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, “This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.”’ God is just and merciful. His justice demands punishment when we stray to disobedience and rebellion,

Jeremiah 18: 3,4, ‘So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as it seemed best to him.’ Those that are in Christ having allowed the great potter to do His work in our lives, to transform our minds and mould us to be what He wants us to be in Him. Before we are His we are marred, blemished, wrinkled but when we accept Him, He re-moulds us, shaping us into what is worthy to be called His church. He knows what is best for us so let Him be the master of your life; allow Him to be in control, to order your steps and you will not fall. He will guide you in the right paths, enriching you in the knowledge of the truth. Let Him be the light of your life.

Isaiah 42:1-4, ‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on earth…’ Jesus will come again, but this time it will not be to save but to bring the Justice of God to the world to both men and angels. He is righteous and He is calling you to come unto His righteousness so that on that Day, you will not be with those weeping and gnashing their teeth but with those that are called to enjoy their inheritance promised them by God. Therefore surrender your life to the faithful one of God, and He will clothe you with His righteousness.

Habakkuk 3:19, ‘The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.’ Place all your trust and hope in the Lord and He will help you overcome any mountain that is coming across your path. He will renew your strength, uplift you, redeem you so that the enemy cannot overtake and overrun you. He should be your reservoir of life, your fountain of fresh living water, the rock of your foundation and you shall never lack the strength to do what He has called you to do.

Habakkuk 3:17,18, ‘Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. Our current circumstances might be dire, we might be facing imminent death, destruction might be upon us but at that moment, we should not be overcome by fear or despair but we should rejoice in the Lord. Why? Because He lives and He is our Savior and it does not matter what the situation is, He is going to save us. When the world seems to against you, your friends betray you; your enemies surround you, rejoice in God, shout and sing songs of praise. Do not allow yourself to cower into a corner in despair and self pity but rejoice in the Lord for your salvation is at hand. Just like Paul and Silas who were in prison in chains, in pain, when they rejoiced in the Lord, their chains fell off, the chief ja