#thefathersword - Love is the answer

Around 2.40pm yesterday afternoon, Westminster Bridge and Parliament square were the subjects of a terror attack, one of the bloodiest attacks since the 7/7 attacks in 2005.
Amongst the dead was the attacker and also PC Keith Palmer. The scenes were quite horrific as hoards of people were laid out along Westminster Bridge.

As I was digesting all the information with a friend, I felt compassion and love towards each and every person who was caught up in the attack. On my way home, the word 'love' played on my spirit and so I was pointed to a particular passage within the bible - John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The images that I saw and the stories that I heard of people running to help the fallen and also to help the injured police officer really brought that passage to life. People laying down their life in order to help their fellow citizens really showed me that the London is full of love and compassion.

In the aftermath, people have really been divided over the attack but our message today is - Love is the answer.

1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love

After an atrocity like the one we all witnessed yesterday, there will always be the tendency to go and attack the enemy like never before but in reality, the more you attack the enemy, the more he will attack you. We must choose the right response and respond in love.
Stand together with one another, Be united with another and resolve to not let terror grip the hearts of this nation.

This is not a time to fight evil with evil, it is time for us to stand together and love one another. Right now, it may seem like the world is in darkness but the only way to eradicate the darkness is being shining lights, by spreading love all over this nation.

Be blessed, be safe and spread love wherever you go.

#thefathersword - Walking in the Spirit

Within the word, we have the heard the phrase – ‘The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’. 

Matthew 26:41 - Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

This came at the time when Jesus was praying at Gethsemane. He asked the disci-ples to pray along with them but each and every time Jesus returned, the disciples were found to be asleep. 

Their spirit was willing to obey and pray but the flesh took over. If we are to walk in obedience with God and achieve all that he wants pertaining to our life then we must kill our flesh. 

1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.

Galatians 5: 16-25 

16 But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

17 For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.

18 But if you are guided (led) by the [Holy] Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.

19 Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,

20 Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),

21 Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,

23 Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [[f]that can bring a charge].

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.

25 If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit [g]we have our life in God, let us go forward [h]walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]

If one wants to be obedient, then walking is the spirit is a must. Your spirit and your flesh will always be warring with each other. In order to walk in full obedience, you need to be walking in the spirit. 

Amos 3:3 Do two walk together except they make an appointment and have agreed?

Can your spirit and flesh every walk in agreement? Can your spirit and flesh work to-gether. The answer no. It’s either full obedience or total disobedience, you can’t be in between. God requires all of you, he requires your whole heart

When we look back on Abraham, Moses and other great men of God we can see that they were walking with God. Abraham, when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac, his son was in a place where was walking with God and that is one of the reasons why he was able to be obedient. When you walk with God, obedience is easy. 

Many years back, I was going through school and there came a point in my life where I was going to and fro, not knowing where I was going. After giving my life to Christ, I still wasn’t fully submitted so one some occasions I would still slip back into my natu-ral self. 

One day during school, there was this boy who had always troubled me. Now if I wasn’t walking in the spirit, it could have ended very bad for him but the Spirit took over and sent me in a total different direction. I decided to go away and go home. From that day forwards, I never intentionally get into arguments with people. It’s not my nature anymore. When you truly put on the new nature of Christ, you will no long-er want or desire the things of flesh. 

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

God loves people who are fully obedient. People who will love him, people who will walk with him and acknowledge him in all their ways. 

Can you walk with him? Can you be obedient even when others around you are being ignorant? Can you be obedient even though you can’t see what God is telling you? 

#thefathersword - Obedience comes with responsibility

Obedience is very pleasing to God. As you read the bible you will see many disciples who answered the call of God over their lives. As you read on, notice that God also enabled them and equipped to do the job.
Let’s look at this analogy – A young man was offered a job. Before accepting, he had all these reservations about whether he could do it or not. So, he decided to take on the job. Once he accepted the job he was given training and PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and a team around him so he could carry out the job that needed to be done. As of such, he had faith in his boss and began to accept more jobs in the knowledge that his boss would always provide for him.

Obedience births responsibility. When you accept the call of God, God gives you the ability to respond to that call.

Let’s look at Abraham. In Genesis, it tells us that God said to Abraham that he should take his son Isaac and get him ready to be sacrificed. Abraham did just that and when he was about to kill his son, an angel appeared and told him to stop what he was doing.

(Genesis 22:15-18)
The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time. And said, I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, that since you have done this and have not withheld [from Me] or begrudged [giving Me] your son, your only son. In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir). will possess the gate of His enemies. And in your Seed [[e]Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed My voice.
Before God sends you out, he will test you. If God is going to give you instructions, then he has to ensure that you are well equipped to follow them. Giving up his son would have been so painful for Abraham, he could decide to not obey God and do something else but he obeyed immediately and through his Obedience, God blessed him which still transcends right up until today.
The more obedient you are, the more responsibility that God gives you.
Even before one is given a responsibility, he must first listen to what is being said. Without listening to what is said, one will be lost and will have no direction and therefore will naturally be disobedient.
Don’t jeopardise your blessing by being disobedient.

#openthoughts - Obedience and Faithfulness

‘Faithful people are Obedient, they listen to instructions and carry them out knowing that it will work out for their good’

Some time ago, I was undertaking a course in SIA Door Supervision. We were told that in order for us to follow instructions properly and carry them out, we first need to trust the person giving the information to us. It hadn’t quite sunk in until we had an evacuation at work. When I told everyone to head in a certain direction, they followed that path and were out safely. I believe that if they didn’t have faith in me, they would have went in a different direction.
In order for us to follow instructions and be obedient, we must first have faith and believe.

Abraham is someone who had great faith. There are two instances which never cease to amaze the human mind.

Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise

Genesis 12:1-2 Now [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].

Genesis 12 tells us that God told Abraham to leave his father’s land and to go to a place that will be shown to him and after that, God made a covenant with him. Now, if me and you were told to do just that, I would imagine you would want to find out the destination, the route to get there and the name of it. In fact, you would a hundred and one questions for God. Abraham, on the other hand, got up and left and started his journey. Where he was going, that wasn’t revealed but he went along because he had faith in God, the type of faith that will allow you to follow where God takes you.

Abraham then had a son called Isaac and later on, in Genesis 22, we see that God told Isaac to offer up his son as a sacrifice.

Genesis 22:1 [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you.
Being told to give up your only son would be painful. I’d imagine you would question God on this and ask why. I mean looking at it from a full on perspective, it seems like God had an agenda. If someone told you to give up something you truly loved, would you do it? When you look at it through human eyes, it doesn’t add up. I’m sure you would think to yourself, how could I ever do that?
Nevertheless, Abraham took his son Isaac up and got him ready to be sacrificed and was ready to the deed when an angel stopped him.

Genesis 22: 11-12 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am.
And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son

In both these passages we can see two main themes which stick out – Faith and Obedience. Abraham trusted God and had so much faith in him that he was will to forsake his ways and Obey God in all things.

Through his obedience and faith, God made a covenant that he would bless Abraham and make him a father of many nations. Your obedience and faithfulness is linked to a lifetime of blessings not only for you but for your whole generation.

Noah was another man who had great faith and a was a very righteous man. God told him to build an ark because he was going to flood the whole earth.

Genesis 6: 13-22: And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Whilst the ark was built, people mocked him but Noah stood firm and carried on building. God didn’t give Noah a specific time of when the flood will happen so for Noah he only had God’s word to stand on and also the promise that God would flood the earth. Now came a point when the ark was built, the flood finally came, some time after God first told Noah that it would come.
Through faith, Noah built the ark and through his obedience, God established his covenant with Noah.

Your faith is an indication that you are ready and willing to trust God in all things with the knowledge that God will work it out for your good. 

I pray that as you read, God will place a greater desire within you to remain obedient in Jesus name. Amen

#letstalk Depend on God

Have you ever reached breaking point? The point where you feel like everything is falling down around you. If you have, then you are not alone. Nine times out of 10, everyone you speak to or come across is not far away from breaking point.

According to the dictionary, breaking point is - 'the moment of greatest strain at which someone or something gives way'.
I want to look at two sides of breaking point and then why you need to depend on God.

- Moses was given a task to confront Pharaoh and set the captives free. Pharaoh's heart was so hard and stubborn that Moses had to literally break through that stubbornness in order for the captives to be set free. Time after time, whenever Pharaoh resisted and said no, God would then send plagues.
Finally, Pharaoh broke and gave in and the captives were set free.
Whenever we as a people begin to resist God, let's understand that God will literally break us to the point where we have no choice but to rely on God.

- Peter, just after Jesus died, decided enough was enough and went back to what he is accustomed to which was fishing. On this particular night, Peter and the boys decided to go fishing. Time after time, Peter caught nothing. At that point, Peter was at breaking point, nothing he did was going right until Jesus came through. After throwing his net on the right side, he caught so much fish that his net literally broke into pieces.

In order for us to grow past pain and rejection, we must be willing to push through the breaking point. Peter's customary position was his boat but if God needs to use him, then Peter must be taken out of the comfort zone and into the unknown. Let's call it uncharted territory

Joshua 1:9 - Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Ever been told to be strong and get on with it? Ever been told to push past your fears? There comes a point where we will be dealt with a hand that doesn't look too good but we have to make the best of it. There will come a point that we will need to depend on God in all things and when you get to that breaking point, you need to rely on God.

God has promised us that wherever we go he will be with us. In all trials and tribulations, God is always with us. In 2 Corinthians, we see that God said to Paul that his Grace is sufficient for him, his power is enough for when we are weak.
Whenever you get to that breaking point, trust in God, rely on him and you get through it.

Psalm 51:16-17 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Matthew 11:28 -29 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls

In all things, depend on God. It may be rough, it may seem like there is no end to what you are facing but rely on God and he will help you through it. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown in the fire, God was with them. When Daniel was thrown in the Lion's Den, God was with him. 

Have no reason to fear, ask God to help you push past the breaking point. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom, knowledge and understanding. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight

Be blessed. As you read, I pray that God gives you more strength and more grace. 

#letstalk - The Importance of Rememberance

Each and every year in November, the whole nation stands silent in order to remember the soldiers who lost their lives in the war. For a minute or two, everybody's minds are on the wars that have recently gone by and wars in the past.

As this piece was being written, we then had this thought - Do we ever take time to just be silent and remember what God has done for us?

Some of you may be wondering why we should remember what God did for us......... Let's delve into that. One of the reasons is prayer. Prayer is a line of communication between you and God, if you want something you will ask for God it. Often, we sometimes be faint in prayer because we have forgotten what God has done for us. The time he saved you, the time he healed you etc is all forgotten and as such you are hesitant to ask.

Malachi 3:16 says  - "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name"
Just imagine, having your name in the book of remembrance. In that book are all the names who will enter heaven so in essence when you communicate with God he will remember you and all that you did.

Abraham had a relative called Lot and when Abraham parted from Lot, God made a covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 19, we see that Sodom and Gomorrah was about to be destroyed and henceforth because Lot was still in the land of Sodom, God delayed what he was going to do until Lot left.

Genesis 19:29 - "So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived".
So what exactly did Abraham ask God, Let's have a look.

Genesis 18:32 - 33 - And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again only this once. Suppose ten [righteous people] shall be found there". And [the Lord] said, "I will not destroy it for ten’s sake".
And the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

So we can see that whenever you make a covenant with someone you must always remember that covenant. A covenant is an agreement which must be honoured at all times but when that covenant is not remembered or it breaks, all hell will break loose.

Another reason why remembrance is so important is so that we can be obedient. Let's break this down - Someone gives you a job to and also accompanying the job is a set of instructions. It's your duty to not only finish the job but follow the instructions.  Now, you have completed the job but didn't follow the instructions, it is classed as disobedience. Most people would argue that they were obedient but in this case you didn't listen to the instructions which is classed as disobedience.

As you read this, I want you to ask yourself this - How good are you at remembering things and people. This will be key when you are building bonds with people.

So......how can we help ourselves to remember things?
We can make notes, put down reminders. If it helps, put up scriptures in your car, record voice notes to help you remember. In other cases, just ask the Holy Spirit

A reason why people don't remember is because it didn't mean much to them or in other words, call it pride.

It's important to remember. As we enter a week of remembrance take some time out to remember God. Just be silent, bring all those things back into remembrance.

'The Importance of Remembrance'

#thefathersword - Focus

Focus..................... we all need to focus in our life. What happens when you don't focus? You begin to look confused and distressed. Mountain climbers know that to reach to the top of the mountain, they need to focus and not look down, I'm sure that when they climb a fair distance and they look down, the thoughts going through their mind must be one of fear or courage. It's not wise to look down, it's best to look forward.

Let's look at Peter, he was with his fellow disciples in the boat. It was stormy, the tide was strong and they must have feared for their life. Jesus appeared but the disciples didn't recognise Jesus in the midst of the storm but Peter said, 'If it is you, bid me to come' to which Jesus replied 'Come'. It was within that moment Peter learnt a very powerful lesson.

He negotiated the first part which was to get out of the boat and now he had to walk towards Jesus. The bible doesn't tell us how far it was or how many steps Peter took but we do know that Peter was walking on water. Peter's focus was on Jesus, he was like Jesus, walking on water but as soon as he zoomed out, he focused on the storm and how rough it was. It was at this very moment that Peter begin to sink, he began to fall. Jesus immediately lent out his hand and rescued him and asked why he had so little faith. Once they got back in the boat, the wind stopped.

I wonder, have you ever got to a point in life where you've lost your focus and all your problems are now facing you. Why not Focus on the task at hand and see what happens.
We don't know what Jesus said to Peter or whether there was any dialogue involved but I'd imagine it would be things like 'Focus on me', 'keep your eyes', head up'. It's very obvious that when Peter took his eye off Jesus, he was quite terrified and scared.

There are moments in life where if you're focus is not 100%, you will not see correctly. In order to completely focus on something, you need to zoom in and block away all distractions.
It can be difficult but Jesus is right there with you. Focus on him and you will make it, look upwards and you will get to the top.

Focus.......................Focus.........................