Day 33 (2nd June)

I think this is the first day of my ideal day during this period, spending time in the morning in the Word. Anytime I read the bible, I get so much insight into the heart of God, about principles for living, about leadership principles and so much more.

Before I went into the Word, I continued watching a film which I started yesterday night but fell asleep in the process. This was not because it was boring, rather because I was tired. The film was titled’ Tribulation Night’ by Mt Zion films. It tells the story of those left behind after the rapture (when Jesus Christ came back for the Saints). There was the Choir leader in the midst of fornication, the TV Evangelist who was living a proud and adulterous life and so on. Hm, the agony and sorrow of those Christian who did not make it. Many that would be left behind would not be able to persevere and would take the mark. What sorrow! What will I be doing when the rapture happens? What will you be doing when the rapture happens? Incidentally, I also hit on a site showing a video that asks the question; ‘Will you be taken by God or be left behind? Eternity should always be in the forefront of all believers. If Jesus were to come right now, will I make it? It is worth constantly thinking about.

I think that my life in SA would probably not be as exciting as in Nigeria. I have to catch up on a lot of things which means going out less and doing more activities that would help me to achieve my objectives. This would mean I would have to be tougher on taking on projects or tasks that people ask me to do or I give myself to do. This is putting into practice some of my leadership training on prioritization.

I was reading the book of Luke today. I started some weeks ago but keep reading the first few chapters. I was fascinated by the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. We know their story as the parent of John the Baptist and also Elizabeth is one of the examples we use to encourage women waiting for the fruit of the womb. The dimension that God opened my eyes to as I was reading Luke was their faith and complete submission to the will of God. They must have prayed so much for the fruit of the womb and eventually gave up since they are now old, yet their faith and obedience was unwavering. There is so much learning in their story and I would be exploring this in my spiritual journey write up.

The other person that I got engrossed with was Mary, the mother of Jesus. You know, this woman did not doubt the word of God, tough she was curious how it would come to pass as she was a virgin. Yet, she accepted it. What faith. The reason why the faith of these three people fascinated me was that this was the first time that God would speak to His people after 400 years. I’m not even sure there were any miracles, signs and wonders during these 400 silent years. The only thing that the Jews had, to communicate with God was the Old Testament scriptures. There was no prophecies, no dream nothing, nothing. Yet, this three kept their faith in God based on the stories of what He has done for their ancestors. Incredible! In our dispensation, we love hearing prophecies, seeing visions and so on. In fact, whenever there is a programme where there would be prophecies, miracles etc there would be a large gathering of crowd than in a normal Sunday service or Bible study. We need to see signs, actions to keep our faith glowing. Zechariah, Elizabeth and Mary only depended on the word of God, and boy did they receive the favour of God.

I have always wondered if Jesus was able to live a sinless life because he did not carry the Adamic sin nature t(hat is being born without the seed of man). I kept asking God to open my eyes of understanding. God said that those who seek Him shall find Him, and He responded to my wondering in this same book of Luke. Jesus was both divine and human in nature when he was on earth. He was born holy reflecting his divine nature and born of a woman reflecting his human nature. Being born holy also paves the way for him to be the sacrificial lamb (and he has to remain holy). He bore similarity with the first Adam who was also born holy (without sin) but this is where the similarity ends. Jesus maintained his holiness by complete obedience to God but the first Adam failed here when he disobeyed God. Because Jesus was human he also had freewill and he used his to do the will of God the father. As human he relates with human feelings and emotions. We see a lot of this in his compassion to people and most illuminating was his cry in the garden of Gethsemane for God to take the cup away from him (this is definitely human emotion). There is nothing that we can go through as humans that Jesus won’t understand; he knows the human nature first hand. His holiness at birth was not the reason he was able to live a sinless live, rather his complete submission to the Will of God and in complete obedience. That is the perfect example for us believers. If we submit to the perfect Will of the Father and in complete obedience, we would live in God’s perfect purpose for our lives as Jesus did, and with the Holy Spirit, live a holy life as Jesus did. I thank you Father for this understanding.

I’m behind in my reading. I managed to read a couple of chapters from the Screwtape letters. As usual I’m amazed how C.S. Lewis got the insight into the machinations of the devil and his cohorts. I try to share any inspirational insights from the books I read on my twitter (@aakintoye or @WeCANLI). I firmly believe that knowledge is for sharing. This is part of God’s purpose for my life; to share knowledge. Anytime I learn something, I have this compulsion to share with others. I guess one of the reasons I’m writing and sharing my journey. The learning might not be relevant for many people but for the very few that it does impact; all glory is given to God.

An insight I got from the Screwtape letters this morning was that many of us use faith as a means to a worldly end (material possessions, wealth) when it should be a means to an eternal end. We don’t have faith to gain possessions, to live a good life but we have faith to make it to heaven. We might not show our intention for being a believer but God sees our heart and our intentions. My sister and I were discussing something similar when I was in Nigeria but more on what some people ascribe to God which should not be. We said that there are some things that happen which you don’t even need to have faith to get or be a believer to have or achieve because it has been set from time immemorial by God as part of nature. And example was that there are so many wealthy people who are not Believers. There is the principle of sowing and harvesting, principle of working in your area of gift or talent, principle of diligence and hard work and so many others. Some people use these principles to gain wealth (examples Bill Gates, Richard Bronson and many others), and we see some become believers after becoming wealthy. There is no need for believers to use their faith as a means of getting wealth; rather their faith should be to make eternity. Our focus should be on holiness rather than acquiring material possession. Not that wealth is bad, no we need money to expand the gospel to the four corners of the earth but wealth is secondary. After all, Jesus said we should seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and every other thing shall be added unto you. The Screwtape letters mentioned that the devil uses the Christians’ focus on material things to keep them away from the Will of God. This is worth reflecting upon.

I got the final version for the new We CAN website today from my brother. I’m so excited but unfortunately could not open it. I’m looking forward to the revamped site. Fabulous.

Father, help me to keep my focus on You, always on You. For an enriching day like this, I bless your name.