Today’s Reading:
Psalm 129; Jeremiah 39: 1-18; James 5: 7-12
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD deliver him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” (Psalm 34:19-20)
The above scriptures capture the thrust of today’s message. As Christians we must understand the reality of our existence that we are here to serve the Lord and propagate the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a tea party. Life is not a bed of roses.
Without exception, we all have our challenges, issues like failing health, our finances that need to be improved upon in order to keep our family moving, our relationships that may have gone sour probably because the other partner has in one way or the other breach the trust we have in them forgetting the fact that we are all human and we have our own faults too, our children’s battle with the challenges they face when they are not with us and are faced with peer pressure, our looks that maybe make us feel inadequate forgetting the fact that God created us in his own image and he even assured us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made . Even we worry most times about inanities like what others think or say about us, which tend to keep us on edge and impede our progress in life.
For that reason, the verse ‘Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken’ (Psalm 55:22), reminds us of where the power to stop anxiety from moving in and messing us up our lives reside. So get to know your most common worries and the moment any one surfaces, rather than dwell on it, hand it over to He who has promised to never leave nor forsake us and all will be well with you and yours. In effect we need to worry about what God thinks about us and not what human beings opinion about us is. Whether we like it or not people will talk about us. That they talk about us show that we are very relevant and invariably we are doing things that are pleasing in the eyes of God.
Moving forward we must learn to get close to God everyday by talking to him through reading our Bible and meditating on the Scriptures. We must praise him every day of our lives for the evils that we have escaped from not because we are perfect but because of his mercy and grace upon us. Most importantly forgiveness is key that unlocks God’s blessings upon us. God searches our hearts and not what we do to please him that do not come from our inner recess. Make up your mind today that in good times and not so good times we will trust him. We are reminded by Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in the LORD with all our hearts; and lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways we should acknowledge him, and he shall direct our paths.
OLUKAYODE OLATUNJI
Prayer:
O Lord our Father, give us the strength to overcome afflictions, in the name of Jesus.
O Lord, let us learn to trust in You at all times, in the name of Jesus.
O Lord, lead us in the way of your righteousness and do not let us depart from it, in the name of Jesus.
We cover our children, friends, relatives and the Church with the blood of Jesus.
O Lord, in your mercy Redeem our Nation back to You, in the name of Jesus.
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