I’m so elated that I had the privilege of listening to this message live from you at the ACE General Assembly on Sunday, 4th August 2013. Even though it’s not yet a CD I can play over and over, I thank God I was able to glean as much as I could from the message. As usual, you took a scripture I had read more than once in the past to teach God’s principles and doctrine. I totally agree with Rev. C.N.C. Onyeledo when he said a week ago that God uses Bible stories to teach doctrines. If there is one man I know who lives out the veracity of that statement, it is you Sir. One thing that struck me about this message is the fact that whatever God does whether it appears foolish to man or not automatically becomes wise because it is God who said or did it, that’s why He is called THE ONLY WISE GOD. THE ONLY WISE GOD The message came from Exodus 16; and the word of the Lord came through the man of God saying, “I’m going to rain bread from heaven for you”. I’m holding strongly to that word. From the scripture we read, Elim is a prosperous place while Sin is a place of lack. Now the question is why would God lead you from a place of plenty to a place of lack? When the coach posed this question I remembered how we lived in a big government apartment for twenty six years and then few months after my Mum retired, we faced ejected in a most cruel manner (putting it mildly). Imagine being asleep and getting a knock on the door early hours of the morning by some men in boots and few hours afterwards, your entire load is outside in the open. It can only be imagined! Our things remained outside for some days exposed to anything the weather had to offer because we didn’t see the ejection coming so there was just no plan. My Mum was traumatized, my sister was in tears but my elder brother and I tried to be strong but trust me we were equally devastated. According to the message, what makes a need difficult to handle is because you have been in plenty and enjoyed favour and abundance. I asked God why? “Not even a hint from you that this was coming?” Anyway back to the message, here’s the answer to the question; God is in his wisdom tries his children in the furnace of affliction. Hard to chew but it’s the truth, it is God’s word. The wilderness is God’s training school. It is where he trains his army so as a good soldier of Christ, I must endure hardness. The goal of this is to bring you to a place of total dependence on him and not things. God wants you to depend on him irrespective of what is happening to you. He wants you to learn to walk by faith in him and not by sight for the just shall live by faith. (2 Cori. 5:7). God is God; He hasn’t become better because He blessed you with a car, a house, some millions or a juicy job. You don’t judge God by what is happening in the world’s economy. Abraham understood this and that is why he allowed Lot to choose the apparently better land, Sodom. Think about it for a few seconds: If God places American and Nigerian citizenship between you and your brother, will you be confident enough to allow your brother choose first especially if he is your younger brother? Except you understand that God has the capacity to make rivers in the desert for you, you will always prefer to prove your smartness in your choice making (like we say adding two and two together unfortunately with God, it rarely adds up). When God asked for Isaac, it didn’t add up but He wanted to see whether Abraham had put his faith on the provision and not on the provider. If God takes all from you, He expects you to still love Him and be faithful. All through scriptures, anytime God wants to take a man through the wilderness, He gives an instruction and most times it doesn’t make sense. If you try to walk with God through logic, you will miss him. Why did Jesus ask the blind man to go wash in the pool of Siloam? To see if he would obey, simple. Jesus could have healed him there and then. The miracle wasn’t in Siloam but in the man’s obedience. Mary the mother of Jesus had learned this quite well so she prepared them by saying, “WHATEVER he tells you to do, do it” I emphasized the word ‘whatever’ because she knew that Jesus’ response to their need would be an irrational instruction. I believe if she didn’t prepare those guys, they would probably think Jesus was off when he gave them that instruction. After all, it’s wine they asked for not water. Anything God asks you to do is like a launch pad or meal ticket for you whether it is wise or foolish to you. Learn to walk with God in little instructions; the proof of faith is obedience. Faith is obedience in action. We often blame King Saul for flouting God’s instruction but if you were in Saul’s shoes, you’d probably do the same. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM GOD HAS WITH HIS PEOPLE IS THAT WE KNOW TOO MUCH. We want to teach God wisdom, meanwhile we are all learners. Anything God calls wise is wise, that is why he is called the only wise God. In the movie, Bruce Almighty, Bruce wanted to test God by asking him how many fingers he brought out behind his back, God said six and automatically he had six fingers. The reason is this - God CANNOT lie and therefore wisdom is defined by Him alone. Whatever He calls wise becomes wise, period. If you pass through the wilderness successfully, you will not know dryness. In Exodus 16, God wanted the children of Israel to shift their focus from the manna, the provision, the economy, the environment and just live by every word that proceeds from His mouth per time. The manna didn’t have an expiry date, it expired whenever God wished. But in their logical mind, the instructions just didn’t make sense so they always sought to do it their own way just like we find ourselves doing today. When Elisha told Naaman to go wash in Jordan seven times and be made clean, it just didn’t add up to him. We always have our minds fixed on a preferred solution and once we do that, we miss THE ONLY WISE GOD. According to Rev. C.N.C. Onyeledo, God directs and instructs us through His Word, promptings and ordained leadership. Actions I need to take immediately: • I must endure hardness when it comes as a good soldier of Christ • I must never place my confidence on the provisions of God, but on God, the provider. • I must walk with God beginning with little instructions. • I must quit focusing on what I perceive to be a wise thing to do or a preferred solution to my problem. • I must continue to listen to God’s word daily and do what is say because that is the only to live above natural laws and be sustained by the economy of heaven. • I must never judge God by what has happened or what is happening, He is God, the only wise God. He is a purposeful God and does things for a reason. Changes I must make immediately: • I must change my attitude during hard times; my attitude should be that of praise and thanksgiving. • I must quit walking with God with human logic and diplomacy but I must rely on the wisdom that God’s word teaches. God bless you Sir for being a huge blessing to me.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 06:08:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015