ASSUMPTIONS

Gen 16:2  And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it MAY BE that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. (KJV)

Rom 14:5  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. 

The first time I noticed the phrase MAY BE in Genesis 16: 2 it struck me instantly as a word filled with probability and therefore void of Faith i.e an absence of God's word. This is a family of Faith who have left their home and relatives and so on to pursue God's promise to them. They were living in Faith until this moment. There are always moments like this in a Believer's life, when his or her Faith in God's word is pressurized by situations, circumstances, friends, comments, social, economic, physical and cultural realities. Friends, family and very close confidants will question what God has convinced you of. Paul said we must be fully persuaded. The heroes of Hebrews 11 were also fully persuaded. And you too must be. You must revisit and solidify the belief you have in the teachings, instructions and promises God has made to you. Never make a decision with a "MAY BE". It is a doubt based word and not a faith based word. Never execute an action not knowing if it is within God's will and plan for you.

Don't change location, jobs, church, ministry, etc with a "maybe" it is God's will mindset. Please be sure. God has spoken to you about His will for your life in marriage and simply because he has not approached you about it you begin to have doubts and you begin to move away. Who told you God Has not spoken to him too. Who told you it is not you that he is thinking about even though it SEEMS to you that it is another he is watching. God is true to His word. Relax. He has shown you a vision of tomorrow yet you doubt it because of what today looks like. Dont worry. Please dont take a wrong step out of doubt.

Sarai made an ASSUMPTION! "MAY BE this is the way God will do it" "MAY BE this is the guy i will marry, he SEEMS a nice person". "MAY BE i should go into this business or that". ASSUMPTIONS are not of Faith elements and consequently any action taken throught it is a SIN! Romans 14: 23.
Assumptions are always in the direction of the easiest or most sensible or obvious options. The Faith option is the God ordained way for us. Revisit what He said and stay on it. If only Abram and Sarai did that, there wont be Ishmael and consequently none of the issues and wars in the middle east.
What is the consequence of your "MAY BE" going to be in the future? That action you are taking via assumption, what will it result in? That business, that relationship, that marriage, that change of job or location, what will it lead to in the future? It will certainly take mercy for it not to result in an unpleasant end. Let's be wise friends.

Never again assume God's will. Be sure of it. Don't agree with an assumption of God's will like Abram did when Sarai came up with it.
BE FULLY PERSUADED BEFORE YOU ACT.
Shalom.

FIREBRANDS

Judges 15:3  And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 
4  And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 
5  And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. 




The post today is for people like me who desire continually to carry something of God with which they can be effective, extraordinary and outstanding in their lives. I will not publicize this post through social media platforms because it is for a few. A few like the 300 men of Gideon, or the 315 servants born and trained in Abraham's house, or the 300 foxes caught by Samson, or yet like the 120 disciples who tarried for fire in the upper room. If you find yourself reading this post today you might just be one of those few that Heaven is calling.

Are you like me who thinks that the supernatural and the extraordinary move of God's Spirit is now scarce? Unbelievable, jaw dropping and unfathomable miracles and manifestation of the Spirit are clearly scarce, few and far between. All we see now is talk and more talk. And the talks and messages are regrettably void of the supernatural. They are void of Unction and the saving grace of God. That was not what we saw in Acts Of The Apostle and the Gospels. We saw power, we saw extraordinary things, we saw the demonstration of the Spirit. That is how Paul came into the cities he won, that is how the Apostles turned the world upside down and that is how we will fulfill our callings too.

Looking at the story of Samson here, i began to pray that God will place firebrands on me that i will run with. I began to pray daily that His presence, power, Spirit, unction, fire and grace be so strong on my life that as i run through this world, the crops, vineyards and plantations of God's enemies will be burnt down. That as i go about my work, studies, ministry, marriage and so on, His fire will continually flow through my life to cause healing, salvation, deliverance and miracles.
I went out to a friend's house carrying a measure of God's presence, it was evident, it wasn't imaginary, He was there with me. You can sometimes tell if He is on your right, left, front, back or all over you. I got to my friend's house a sat down in the palour, he greeted me from his bedroom and stayed there for awhile. Within a few minutes he started sobbing and crying, when i heard i walked to meet him in the bedroom, there he was completely overwhelmed by God such that He began to confess his sins. I didnt preach to him, i was just privileged to bring in God's presence into his house and God did the rest. That is a measure of what we are talking about. Charles G. Finney will walk into CITIES and everyone will be arrested by God's presence. This is a greater measure. I do not know how you desire to be used of God, but if it is not at the same level with Jesus or more, you are still very far behind. Greater works than what Jesus did is what He promised us, how can we settle for a measure that does not supercede the wisdom of men. 
I want to see singers who minister and men are slain in the spirit, healings and miracles breakout every time they minister, i want to see drama ministers who will do one act that will bring hundreds of thousands to their needs before Jesus. I want to see producers, directors, script writers, media personnel, doctors, bloggers, Facebook, google+ and twitter users who carry such an unusual Unction of God's Spirit that they bring supernatural endowments to bear in our physical day to day lives and thereby show the Glory Of God to our world. Will you be that individual?

The foxes knew they carried something and that fire is what kept them running. They knew they carried fire. My prayer is that God will pour so much of Himself in my life and yours that it will be tangible, feel-able, manifest and evident. I pray that God will place a fire in our hearts and lives that will make us continually go about doing His will. You cant rest with so much of Him in and on you. You will always want to pray, fast and study. You will not be bored or lazy in the place of prayer when you receive His fire.

4  And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,
 
It is my prayer that God will catch me. Samson had to Catch the 300 foxes. God needs to arrest some of us from other pursuits that are not His will for us. May He interrupt us from pursuits that do not have eternal value. May He constrain us to the path of destiny and purpose in the name of Jesus. I hope that brothers and sisters reading this will pray this prayer, because any pursuit outside His will is void of reward, provision and grace. May God grant us all understanding.

I hope i have been able to share the burden of prayer that is in my heart with you. I pray that God will grant increase to His word in your hearts. Please do pray.

Finally Samson said  
Judges 15:3  And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 

I will leave you to interpret that.

God Bless You. Shalom! 

Regurgitation

Psalm 23:1  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23:2  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:3  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:5  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psalm 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. 

Psalm 23 is one of the most important psalms in the Bible. I bet a lot of us even know it by heart. As kids we learnt to memorize it. Psalm 23 gives a detailed list of the responsibilities of God our Shepherd towards us His sheep.

About a year ago i started looking at the sheep. It is not enough to look at the responsibilities of the Shepherd, because we are not that Shepherd here, indeed none of us has the capacity to carry the task listed in Psalm 23 but we are the sheep. One important characteristic of the sheep that i remembered really quickly is REGURGITATION. And this is what today's post is about.

We learnt that while sheep eat, they simply swallow and not totally chew food, they then store what they eat in one of the four compartments in their stomach. Then later when they have a quiet place to lie down they will start to regurgitate, i.e they will begin to bring all they have eaten back to their mouths and now properly chew it and digest it. I think i did well with that layman's definition, but i believe you get the idea of it all.

Psalm 23:2  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

Every now and then, the Lord (SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS) makes us lie down to eat of His good Word and He leads us to be washed by His Word. We attend Churches, seminars, listen to messages on TV, internet, etc, we share the word with friends and all of that. We do a lot of attending, listening and sharing. We don't do the lying down just as often. Note that this is when a sheep regurgitates. After you have heard all the different sermons, principles and doctrines, there is need to lie down and revisit them, re-chew them, ruminate over them and re-think over them. Test all! When you lie down with the Shepherd, you should re-study all you heard and read that was presented to you as the word of your Shepherd.
John 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 

The Berean Christians exemplified this issue. Despite the efficacy and credibility of Apostle Paul's message, they still sought to lie down and check with the Shepherd after they have being taught. 
Do you regurgitate? It has become so important these days because of a lot of errors, deceit and false doctrines are being thrown around. Did you recheck all that the writer wrote in the last book you read? The bible says "Test ALL spirits". Test all books, sermons and every source of knowledge. Guard your heart with all diligence. (Pro 4:23)

Have you ever wandered why we fall for some doctrines in the past and even now? It is because they are very similar to the truth, very identical but probably 1% different from it. That difference is huge and significant to the marking scheme of Heaven but usually unnoticed by the earthly. There are many books and messages out there that have 1% or more deviation from the truth. It might produce the desired result but Heaven marks it wrong in eternal value. How do you identify the difference? God told Moses "speak" to the rock but he "struck" it with his rod instead, yet the result was the desired result......water but how many noticed he failed the marking scheme of the examiner. Everyone rejoiced at the sight of water and the miracle. May we not be carried away by results and miracles in Jesus name. Lets always check. If you are a Preacher always check, if you are the listener do so too.

A lot of Christians will not check because they seldom LIE DOWN. A sheep won't regurgitate until He has found a quiet place to lie still. Learn to have a quiet time each day to check your values and principles you want to live by in the light of God's word for you. Regularly have retreats to re-chew those things you hurriedly picked up during the week in this our fast-paced world.

And do regurgitate on this post too. God bless you.
SHALOM!