STOP LIMITING THE LORD.

JUST THINKING

God blesses people in different ways. The way He blessed, healed, delivered and rescued you last time may be different from the way He will do the same for you today. Many times, some people miss it because they think that He will use the same pattern, platform, method and people to do His will. God is progressive but the results are still the same. It is the same holiness, same righteousness, same healing, same heaven and the same Jesus. He deals with us differently but having the same goal in mind. 

Joshua 4:23 NIV says, "For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over".

Exodus 14:15-16 NIV says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground".

Joshua 3: 15 -16 NIV says, “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,  the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho”.

The Lord parted the Red Sea and the River Jordan for the Israelites to walk through but He used different ways or method to path both of them. He told Moses to lift his staff and stretch his hands over the river (Red Sea) and the Red Sea parted ways. But with the River Jordan, He told Joshua to order the priests to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord into the river.  And when they did, the River Jordan also parted ways. In both occasions, the Israelites walked through the Red Sea and the River Jordan on dry lands. This shows that our God is mighty. So, do not limit Him in your mind concerning His promises towards you. 

To avoid limiting God, you need to realize that He is not like us who think that the blessings will always come in the same way. If He used someone to favour you yesterday, he may not use the same person to favour you today. God does not work that way.  

WHEN THE BLACK SHEEP BECOMES THE SOURCE OF BLESSING(S).

JUST THINKING 

Have you ever been called the black sheep of your family? Have your actions brought shame, pain and disgrace to your family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, and yourselves? If you have made some mistakes which have dented your family name, reputation and pride, you don't have to give up and write yourself off.
Being a thief or a prostitute was a thing of shame in the past to the families of the person involved in stealing, prostitution and so on. But today, people, family and parents celebrate their kids who are involved in those things because of the money their children bring home. This shows how decadent our generation has become.
Being a harlot could have brought shame to Rahab's family. Did you know how her siblings felt when people said to them that their sister was a prostitute? Did you know how her parents felt seeing their daughter being talked about because she was sleeping with men to make money. I can't imagine how they felt but I can say that they must have been embarrassed by it. No one can stand it when their child is called a thief or a prostitute.
Wow, she too must have felt bad once or twice having thought about the embarrassment, the shame, the disgrace and the pain she must have brought to her family and herself. However, there is good in the lives of everyone and even in the lives of the wicked, the useless, the black sheep and that person who has brought so much shame, pain, regrets and insults to his family.
Joshua 2: 12 &13  says, "Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord , since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death".
Rahab being called useless, stupid, black sheep, a harlot and other names was able to negotiate the safety and protection of her family and their properties with the two Israelites (whom she saved) who were sent to spy the land of Jericho. She hid them in her house and protected them when the soldiers came to look for them. What or who could have given her that wisdom to do that and later negotiated with them and made them commit themselves to it with an oath. Her decisions and actions saved the posterity of her family and brought her into a different lineage of grace.
This shows that there is no useless person in life. Everyone has a form of good in them. You might have done some stupid things but God can still change you and make you a world changer. The prostitute called Rahab later became a part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Who could have imagined that that would have happened?
God can turn your shame around for good if you will turn to Jesus today. Rahab embraced God and His people and her life was transformed for the better. He can do the same for you today, if you turn to and embrace Him.

UNDERSTANDING THE MERCY OF THE LORD

JUST THINKING:

We talk about the mercy/mercies of the lord daily but many of us do not really know what it is and what it is meant for. Many people have defined it based on their head knowledge of it, through the dictionary and through their personal revelation of it. To define something outwardly may not give you the correct definition of it. Let the scriptures define scriptures and let it reveal to us what the mercy of God is and what it does.

 1. Lamentation 3:22 says, “Through the Lords mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not”.

In the above scripture, it is stated that we are not consumed because of the mercies of the lord. We wake up daily, go out and come back in one peace without any hurts. The things that could have consumed us did not come our way. Despite the overwhelming challenges we are faced with and the situations that seem impossible, we were not destroyed, consumed and conquered. 

2. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”.

In the above scripture, the mercy of the lord can be seen contextually in the time of need. It speaks of obtaining mercy in the time of need, help, weakness and vulnerability. Also, it can be seen that mercy stands and speaks on our behalf. Instead of Judgment as a result of the wrong things we have done, the mercy of the Lord stood in our place.

3. Ezra 9: 9 says “ For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem”.

The above scripture says that the mercy of the Lord revives, repairs, rebuilds, restores and protects. This shows that no matter how far a person has gone from God, he can be restored. No matter what you have done, God can still change you. His mercy will find you, revive, rebuild, and repair you since you are supposed to be the temple of God. The mercy of the lord also builds a wall in and around you. In other words, it protects.

With the above scriptures, one can understand what the mercy of the lord is and what it does.