A Pathway

The account of the woman with the “issue of blood” in the Scriptures is a story that has never ceased to intrigue me. No matter how many times I read this story I always come away with something fresh. That was a woman with spunk! In her time, a woman who was menstruating was regarded as unclean. According to Lev 15:19-30 anything or anyone she touched in this condition shall be ‘unclean until evening’! This was the reason Laban could not search the tent of his daughter Rachael thoroughly for the household gods he had accused Jacob of stealing. If he had he would have found them because she was the one who stole them. But Rachael sat on these stolen gods and lied that she was menstruating (Gen 31:33-35) No Jewish man in his right mind would go near a woman in her monthly cycle.

As serious as this law was in her time, the woman with the issue of blood was not deterred. She had to see Jesus and that meant stepping out in the midst of people. There was a high probability that she could be stoned to death, but hey, death was already in her body! You cannot threaten a dead man with death! The beckoning of life far out-weighed the threat of death by stoning.

She had bled non-stop for twelve years and she needed a miracle fast or die. All the available medical options had been explored and failed and she progressively got worse. It was at this point that she heard about Jesus Christ and purposed in her heart to see Him for her healing. Life was bleeding out of her body second by second, she was thin and weak but her heart was strong and valiant like a lioness. She stepped out of her sick bed and started on her journey to meet with the great Healer, Jesus.

One problem though, Jesus was always surrounded by large crowds. How would she push her way through? Even some who were strong and healthy were just thronging around Him. But something strange happened. She noticed that every step she took towards the crowd, people drew back because they did not want to be unclean. And that was her breakthrough! Unintentionally, they made a way for her where there seemed to be no way! And suddenly she had a clear path to Jesus, just enough to touch the hem of His garment and she was healed immediately! Whenever divinity comes in contact with faith, there will surely be a miracle!

What is the moral of my narration? That which caused her exclusion from society was what made a way for her to reach the Lord! Do not waste your pain, but ride on it to the Lord. When the people drew away from her they had no idea that their rejection created the pathway for her healing! Many times we are saddened by the mistreatment and snobbery of people, but we fail to see the bright side of the story. We need to understand that man’s rejection is not God’s rejection. Do not try to 'get in' with people who make it a point to exclude you from their circles. Rather invest your time in pleasing God and connecting with Him daily, because when God calls you clean, no man can call you unclean.

Shalom!

Neighbourliness Pt 1

The Watchers

Brother's Keeper

It seems to me that most times people are waiting in hope for our failure than for our success. How do we explain the glee and speed with which they spread our failure stories?

It is common to hear people say “From the beginning, I knew she would fail” or “I knew he was taking a wrong step.” My question is if you knew they were making a mistake, if you knew that the step they were taking would lead to pain and loss why did you not tell them, especially when you were in a position to do so?

Personally, I do not know which is worse to deal with, the failure or people (especially close friends, church members and family) telling me that they knew I was making a mistake or taking a wrong step in the middle of my pain. You knew I was going to fail? You knew I was taking a wrong step? Why didn’t you say something? Why wait until I have failed to share your great wisdom? If you feel so free to tell me now why did you not feel free before?

This needs to change. We have to learn to be our brother’s keeper. Any wisdom you did not share before a person makes a wrong choice should not be shared after the individual fails because the wisdom is useless at that point. You are only making matters worse.

Giving is not all about money. You can give your wisdom. You can share your knowledge. You can give counsel. One strong reason offered by the bible for the destruction of man is ignorance. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6, NIV). Anyone who commits to sharing godly wisdom and counsel is stopping unwarranted and needless pain.

So this season, I implore us to open our spiritual and physical eyes to watch over those in our circle of influence. There are so many shaky emotions out there this end of the year largely due to unmet goals, desires and dreams. Many may want to medicate their pain with casual sex, drugs, alcohol, uncontrolled partying, speed, food etc. Watch out and give gentle counsel and encouragement. I tell you that you would be saving a soul from destruction and needless pain. I am not saying be a busy body. I am not saying we should poke our noses in other people’s private business, but if we feel free to share our great wisdom after the fact, we should actually try to do so before the fact. They may not take our counsel, but at least God would be privy to the fact that you tried. And you too would sleep peacefully knowing that you made an attempt to save.

Open your eyes. Look around you. Many are disturbed and troubled, but wearing Armani and Gucci labels. Do not be deceived by ‘packaging’. Be prepared to save a soul this season and let us stop watching silently on the sidelines waiting for people to fail.

Complements of the Season!

The Family Altar

Dealing with delays

Grateful Heart

Have you ever felt gratitude well up in your heart? Have you in the course of a seemingly ordinary day felt your heart strings pull with inexplicable gratitude to the living God? I had this experience this morning as I gathered with my family in worship to the Lord. I looked around my sitting room and saw nearly every member of my household in the early hours of the morning worshiping and praising the Lord and I was just so grateful to God.

Some of us take going to church for granted, but there are many locations in the world that this is no longer possible. Even in some regions in our country, Nigeria, Christians can no longer hold formal Church services. These locations are fear ridden because of the oppression and bias against Christians. But we can. Any day of the week, we can worship God, formally and informally. This for me is a reason to be grateful to God.

Our children are in private schools where they lift their hands and bless the Lord at their assembly times. Our toddlers come home from school humming songs of praise and worship to the Lord. Songs they learnt at their schools! This for me is true blessing. Too often we take for granted the very important issues of life and get depressed about minor matters. That we know the Lord is a priceless gift to be grateful for.

Have you seen a spiritually lost man lately? Have you noticed how oblivious and dead they are to the things of God? Have you noticed the fact that they have no conscience in the way they treat other people? Have you noticed how unscrupulous some business men are? That they can do just about anything for money? But you are not like that. Do you know that the fact that you have a working and vibrant conscience means that you will not miss God’s ways and His instructions? You, as a believer do not have a reprobate mind, but the mind of Christ. Is this not worthy of praise and worship? When you catch the revelation of what I am talking about you would bow your heart and knees in worship right where you are!

Anyone can buy a car and build a house. You do not need to be a born again Christian to do that. Look around the world, millionaires are one a dozen! Anyone can be a millionaire. But to be saved and heaven bound, to be a co-heir with Jesus Christ, to have a recreated spirit and be in union with God, this my dear friend, is true blessing and true riches. When you have the mind of Christ there is nothing that you cannot create or have in this world, if that is your desire. But those who truly have this blessing at the end of the day do not really want to inherit the earth for their pleasure alone but for the good of mankind. A great man of God once proclaimed, “I have vowed to be a blessing to mankind till I die” This is coming from one of the richest and leading servants of God in our generation. Some of the greatest faith feats in Africa today were done through him, yet his desire is to continue to be a blessing to mankind! The higher we climb in God, the less important material and financial blessings become because at that height we get to see what is truly important in life and to God. May we get there in Jesus name!

So, to see my family gathered together in worship each morning is a reason for me to be grateful to God. You know why, once upon a time we could not do so. It was a major struggle. We had just too many activities and it was not just practicable much as we desired to, but today God has supplied grace and all those so called activities have taken the back burner and we are able to gather daily to worship the only true God who has given us life and gathered us together as a family. It is a dream come true and an answer to prayers. And so joy and gratitude wells in my heart for this living God who reigns forever more! To some this may be trivial, but to me it is a big deal. As a matter of fact it is the deal of all deals!

To teach and establish my children in the fear of God cannot be compared with any car or house that I may acquire now or in the future. Dear friends, let us track our priorities and when we do we would realize that God has been faithful to us. Be grateful! Peace.

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