Restpiration

The Joy of Salvation

Over these past years, Christianity have been painted into a picture that makes it appear burdensome, condemning and choking. Consequently you have well meaning people walking into church not expecting much but to pacify their conscience of being in church on a Sunday.

This is contrary to the picture that Jesus gave us. He said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). He isn’t the one that lays burdens on us. He’s rather the one relieving us of our burden.

Do you feel like you’re choking in church… always feeling inadequate, condemned and irrelevant? I’ve got some good news for you, God isn’t condemning you. He isn’t disappointed in you neither does He regret giving His life for you. In fact, it pleased the Father to bruise His Son for your sake. (Isaiah 53:10).

Jesus and the Samaritan woman (image in public domain)
During early 2004, Mel Gibbson directed the movie ‘The Passion Of Christ’ that depicted the sufferings, agony and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. However, this movie elicited the wrong response from many.

Instead of people watching the movie to see how much God loves them and that Jesus took all the stripes and beatings to make them whole,they were filled with guilt and hatred. Guilt in that they blamed themselves for the death of an innocent and a good man, Jesus.

They then turned their attention to the Roman soldiers and considered them as ruthless and wicked. That’s the wrong perspective we have here. Jesus didn’t die to make the guilty, guiltier and the sinner more sinful. That’s the opposite; He freed the guilty from their guilt and the sinner from their sin.

We have in Christ the joy of salvation. Salvation isn’t a burden, it’s a joy. Enjoy your salvation and be unapologetic about it.

Time with the Smiths (Parent – Child conflicts)

But I don’t want to, Dad!

You listen to me young man; my roof, my rules!

It’s another day of disagreement and yelling in the home of the Smiths which normally winds up into a cold war by the end of the day. Mrs. Smith although a qualified counsellor herself finds it a little too much to keep a clear head in all this. It wasn’t until recently that Dave, her only son, completed high school. As far as she could remember, Dave had always been her passionate little man. You should have seen how he relished his play time even as a six-year-old. She knew that her little man was growing but even with all her qualifications as a reputable counsellor, she had a hard time accepting it and so did Mr. Smith.

This time around, the cold war between father and son was concerning the programme Dave would pursue in the university. To Mr. Smith, life is life and shouldn’t be handled with the soft gloves of interests and personal preference. Coming from a man who had built everything out of nothing, he surely knew what he was saying. Unfortunately, Dave didn’t think so.
The tension described here is not only confined to the home of the Smiths. If we consider the home of the Smiths as the headquarters of this kind of parent-child conflict, then we can say that the Smiths have thousands of established branches all over the world. Tension of this nature makes homes feel like no home at all; the once little heaven on earth suddenly becomes a devouring dungeon we wish to be free from. I’ve had a glimpse of what it feels like to be in the home of the Smiths but I’ve benefited from my dad’s wisdom. May I share this with you…Why not?

Proverbs 22: 6 (Berean Study Bible)- Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Are you sure that’s the school you want to attend?
Yes Dad.
Have you heard how difficult it is to gain admission to that school without a little ‘push’?
Well, yes Dad
Alright, then go for it.

This was one of the enlightening conversations that I had with my dad as I was ready to take the next step on the educational ladder. You may be wondering…how did it go, man? Did you make it? But that was incredibly the least of my concerns. In this enlightening conversation, all that I heard although not plainly stated was ‘I trust you, son’ and that was all that mattered to me. My dad’s wisdom brought me to a place where I had a richer understanding of Proverbs 22:6.

First, I realized that parents are to train children up in the way they should go. At a glance, one might probably think that the Bible is encouraging parents to live their lives through their children where they get their children to do their every whim and desire but that isn’t exactly what the Bible says. The way they should go is quite different from the way you want them to go. Thinking about this I could come up with two main ways this confusion can be resolved.
The first way is to focus on training children in the ‘hows’ and leaving the ‘whats’ to them. This may sound reckless to some but the recklessness in this is quite similar to that of students left to fend for themselves during examinations after being taught for several months. When children are rightly trained in the ‘hows’, we need not worry because the ‘whats’ only reveal how well they were trained. For example, instead of choosing a particular career path for your children, you can teach them on how to choose a particular career path; the factors to consider. C’mon have a little faith in the children.

The second way is to understand how your children are built. If you ever spot a device with a sharp edge that seems to stand out, then your fast paced mind might suggest that it’s got something to do with cutting, slicing or piercing. The way your child is naturally built has a lot to do with the way he ought to go. Take some time out to understand how your child is built.

Beneath the veil series (Jesus and Sinners- Conclusion)

This is the day that the Lord has made, we’ll rejoice and be glad in it. Each day is specially crafted and orchestrated by God as a gift to us and for that we are thankful to the Lord.

But the real proof of how grateful we are lies in our attitudes towards the day. The psalmist said “I’ll rejoice and be glad in it.” Choose to rejoice and be glad today because this is the day the Lord has made.

If you’ll agree with me, we’ve had a fine journey so far. The Lord is gently leading us into a place of prevailing faith, enduring hope and lavish love.

We looked at Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus in the previous post and saw how the gesture of friendship offered by Jesus revolutionalized his life. We saw in that the secret of change.

Change is what happens to us as we behold Jesus. We could go on and on but that’s why the Holy Spirit is in you to guide you and lead you into all truth. He will take what we’ve learned so far and give you volumes of revelations from them.

So we’ll draw the finish line here in this post for the first part of this series. In case you missed any of my previous posts in this series, you can simply follow my account to view all my posts.

I want us to look at something amazing today. The picture directly above this paragraph is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. If you aren’t so familiar with the Ark of the Covenant, don’t worry I’ll tell you what it is.

The LORD directed Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant as a sign of His presence among the people of Israel. It was made of Acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Inside the Ark of the Covenant we can find a pot of manna, the rod of Aaron and the tablets of the Law. We know this from Hebrews 9:4. Two cherubs facing each other with their wings spread were placed on the lid, which is the Mercy seat.

Why are we looking at all this? Friend, it’s because the Ark of the Covenant is a type and shadow of Christ and it helps us gain a clear understanding of what He did for us.

The peculiar instructions the LORD gave to Moses concerning the Ark of the Covenant was for our benefit. They point us to Christ. For example, the wooden Ark overlaid with gold tells us about the humanity of divinity. The wood here represents the frailty of humanity whereas the gold represents the glory of divinity.

The contents of the Ark signify things that we can easily relate with. Let’s first look at the pot of manna. The manna was a sign of God’s provision for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. They didn’t toil nor spin for it. It rained over their camp everyday.

However, the people soon got tired of this manna and they began to despise the Lord’s provision. So in actual sense, the pot of manna represents the Lord’s provision which the people of Israel despised.

That said, let’s now look at the second item, the rod of Aaron. This is a symbol of the Lord’s leadership over the people of Israel. However, the rod of Aaron was kept in the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a sign against the rebellious Israelites that grumbled against the LORD (Numbers 17:10).

Finally, the tablets of the law is a symbol of the laws that the people transgressed. In summary the contents of the Ark of the Covenant typifies the shortcomings and failings of the Israelites.

But the wonderful thing is that these were kept out of sight by being sealed in the Ark. That is exactly what Jesus did for us. He bore our sins and iniquities. He has forever put our sins away from us, beyond our sight and reach.

That is God’s desire for you. He doesn’t want you focused on your sins and shortcomings; He wants you to come boldly to His mercy seat from where you’ll hear His voice of approval, strength and hope.

This mercy seat is who Jesus is to us today. Therefore come boldly to Jesus knowing that He took all your sins upon Himself. I pray this truth comes alive to you.

I had a wonderful journey and I hope I wasn’t so bad as your escort. Let’s do this again sometime soon. Remember to like, share and comment. Till we meet again….

Beneath the veil (Jesus and Sinners Part 2)

We thank God for yet another day filled with His grace, compassion and love. I’m not so sure what’s going on in your life at the moment but one thing I’m sure of is that the steadfast love that the Lord has for you hasn’t ceased neither has His mercy come to an end.

A new day brings a fresh supply of steadfast love and mercy to you. Open up your heart to receive this daily supply from your Heavenly Father, who loves you beyond your wildest dreams.

In my previous post, we started the Beneath the Veil series by looking at how Jesus revealed God’s heart to us. He showed us that more than anything else, God wants us to know Him on a heart to heart level. This means He wants us to get to the place where we are never in doubt about His character of love, goodness and kindness. In case you missed the first part, you can check it out.

We’ll continue our journey today by looking at Jesus’ remedy for sin. I always like to look at God through the lens of the earthly life of Jesus. We can be confident that how Jesus responded in any given situation is exactly how the Father does. So in Jesus, the darkness and misconceptions surrounding the true nature of God are permanently resolved.

During the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, one of the unholiest of professions one could be in was to be a tax collector. They were seen as traitors who used dubious means to collect the hard earned wages of even the poor. Thus, they became richer at the expense of those around them.

Now that we are culturally on the same page as the Bible days, let us consider an encounter that Jesus had with arguably the most famous among the tax collectors. He was smart, determined and short in stature. Yes, your guess is as good as mine – it’s the man Zaccheus.

Jesus met him under the unlikeliest of circumstances but the Prince of Peace singled him out from the multitude, and offered him a gesture of friendship by dining at his house.

What association has The Light of the World with darkness?
And how can Light and darkness recline at the same table to feast?

This gesture proved to be the turning point in the life of Zaccheus. He had heard about the mighty works of this Rabbi and how He taught with great authority. But on that very day, he experienced a love that he couldn’t fathom. It was so genuine and pure; it was simply out – of – this – world.

His heart burned within him but he did his best to keep his composure while at the table. Each word from the lips of Jesus felt like a sweet breeze that drew him closer and closer to the shores of righteousness, peace and joy. From there, the hills of guilt, condemnation and shame were out of sight.

At that, composure gave him up and almost involuntarily, he rose to his feet and said to Jesus “Rabbi, I’ll give all that I’ve stolen from the people back to them and I’ll even add interest.”

Oh what can turn the sinner pure inside out,
And crown the shunned with an ageless crown

Jesus is perfect in all His ways. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot stand against it. The Light shone in the darkest part of the heart of this tax collector and the then traitor of the state became its helper.

This confirms the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans saying “the goodness of God leads men to repentance.” Zaccheus wasn’t alone in this life changing encounter, he had some good company- we can talk of the woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan woman, the woman who broke the alabaster box among others.

Are you struggling with sin in your life? Or do you know a loved one who seems to be lost in sin? Friend, the answer is in the revelation of the Person of Jesus. Allow Jesus to reveal Himself to you…or better still, reintroduce Himself as the lover of your soul. He gave His all, that you may have it all. Turn on this light and sin will lose its sting.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Beneath the veil (Jesus and Sinners Part 1)

Today, I want to share a simple truth with you that I believe can revolutionize your life if you’d hear it.

During my personal Bible study on the book of Matthew, I came across a passage in Matthew 9 which was one of the several confrontations Our Lord Jesus had with the Pharisees ( the teachers of the Law).

This time around Jesus was dining with sinners. The Message Translation used the phrase ‘disreputable characters’ in place of sinners while The Living Bible uses ‘notorious swindlers’. In short, society frowned on those people.

The Pharisees as expected queried this act of Jesus. As I read this, I knew that at the core, I would have sided with the Pharisees and queried Jesus. Maybe I would have justified my stance with “Blessed is the man…who does not sit in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).

Our Lord Jesus has this way of flinging the gates of our hearts wide open to reveal our innermost beliefs; and He does that with just a Word.

Jesus referred them to a prophecy in the book of Hosea which says “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” I didn’t quite grasp what this meant but I knew it was powerful. So from further study, comparing scriptures here and there, and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I got some insight.

I now know that it was a conflict of desire- what comes first. Jesus who is the visible image of the invisible God placed mercy before sacrifice, or religion if you may. The Pharisees on the other hand placed sacrifice, or religion first.

The desire of God is made clear to us in the person of Jesus. The book of Hebrews also emphasizes this in the eighth chapter when it says “…they shall all know me from the least to the greatest.”

God is more interested in us knowing Him personally on a heart to heart level more than anything else. In fact this is how Jesus defines eternal life (which is a free gift to all who believe in Christ), “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3.

God isn’t hoping to give you more religious observances. He wants to give you something more – Himself.

Thus how you see God matters a great deal. You shouldn’t hide behind religious observances such as prayer, going to church, and giving while you still harbor hard thoughts about God.

For the record, I’m not speaking against prayer, going to church and giving. I do all these and they are wonderful. But how you see God matters even more than all these.

Do you see Him as your Abba Father who loves you unconditionally? Someone you can confidently approach at all times? Or do you see Him as the cause of your misery? Someone with an unquenchable wrath who you must appease to escape destruction?

The real goal of salvation is relationship and the engine of any relationship is knowledge. Just like Moses, if a voice thundered to you that ‘I will destroy all these Israelites’, will you be able to say, ‘this is not you LORD, repent of this evil?’ Moses could dare to say that because he knew the God whom he worshipped. He knew God beyond the acts, He knew God’s ways; and He’s even an Old Testament saint. We in the New Testament have a more advantageous covenant.

I’ll end it here for today. Sorry for leaving you halfway through the journey. I hope you’ll use the time to think on what I just shared. I’ll soon be back to walk you to the end. I’ll appreciate your likes and comments- it brings a lot of comfort to any writer. You can also share this article with family and friends. Till we meet again…