The Hand Of God

We often take for granted that all we do is by our power or how briliant we are.
Even our brilliance we attribute to nurture.
You hear some say things along the lines of owing their brilliance or rather success to how smart they are and the way they were raised.
We mostly forget about the invisible hand, the hand of God that made all that possible.
The hand that formed us and set our path before our parents conceived us.
The word of God said in the book of Jer 1:5...'before i formed you in the womb, i knew you'. That shows that you didnt get your brilliance all by yourself but from God almighty who knew you and purposed that you will turn out the way you are.
You were sanctified, you were equipped with all you will need before you came out of your mother's womb.
God already knows what you will become and was even aware of those rough patches, he was aware of all the good and bad things.......

Isaiah 45:1-3 is an interesting one....
45
 1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

² I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

³ And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

Only the hand of God could have perfected and done the above.

 Did you notice the hand of God at work in the three verses.....awesome.

Now back to the book of Jeremiah 1:9...."Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, i have put my words in thy mouth".

Can you see what his hand did again and keeps doing again and again?

There are so many bible passages about the hand of God, the finger of God...search and do more reading, digest and run with the revelations/rhema you receive from them

Shalom.....

Volkswagen Body, Cadillac Spirit

I remember being a toddler and cant remember how i was as a baby except what i was told by my parents.
 I wasnt the sort of baby that is easy to feed as i didnt have much appetite for food and it was quite a challenge to keep me healthy or rather within the normal growth weight as each time i go to see the Pediatrician for follow ups and immunization there was always a sort of concern around my growth or lack of it.

I was taken round the missionary hospitals then in the northern part of Nigeria, as i wasnt feeding well.
 I was on Lactogen and breast milk, mom later decided to leave me on breast milk to see if my appetite will pick up, it didnt till they tried Abidec, a multi-vitamin after several others.
Abidec then became the magic formula to redirecting my development.
The scrawny baby later became healthy robust looking and could eat up a house.

I told the above story as a prequel to what i want to discuss or rather open our eyes to today.
 I remember when i was a new believer and what you will call a baby Christian, everything seemed attractive to me and i was sucking up all materials that i could lay my hands on.
Anything written by Psts Billy Graham , Kenneth Copeland, Joyce etc was it for me, and then locally Psts Enoch Adejare Adeboye, Dr Olukoya, Pst  Nuhu Kure and a host of others till i started loosing my baby fat.

I realised that the older i became in God's Vineyard the lighter my spirit got, but then it's so easy to get carried away by an expected outcome. You could go from lighter back to heavy, fluctuating, growing cold and back to hot again but better progressive than retrogressive. ...Rev 3:16, "so because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, i will spit you out of my mouth.".

I feel old at 50+ physically but lighter in my thinking and what i want to do, it's the creaks that reminds me that am too old for some of the things i venture out or attempt to do...i.e go kayaking or leap through several  flight of stairs rather than one at a time, back flips or dance the twist.

 I've got a Volkswagen body and  daily aspire towards a Cadillac spirit. I dont know if you've heard how both vehicles rev?
You need to listen to the sound to know that the difference is clear.

Are you still a baby Christian inspite of haven known the Lord for several years or you've grown and so into him that you find yourself in his presence within secs....if not, about time you do a bit of house-cleaning to get you to where you should be.
You need to feed your spirit with the word of God that will prepare you to soar higher.

Honor and majesty are found in his presence; strength and joy are found in his sanctuary...1 Chronicles 16:27.

You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore..Psalm 16:11.

 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth...Psalm 97:5.




About time you focus on higher grounds.

The Vow...Marriage Vow

The title look simple but the topic is not that simple.

Marriage like we often hear is honorable and some will add ....and the bed undefiled.
How many people actually meditate on the marriage vows before making it official before man and God?

Definition:
: a solemn promise or assertion; specifically : one by which a person is bound to an act, service, or condition

1. The bride and groom exchanged vows.

Marriage vows are promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ceremony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_vows

Couples wedding in the Roman Catholic Church essentially make the same pledge to one another. According to the Rite of Marriage (#25) the customary text in English is:^[1]

I, ____, take you, ____, to be my (husband/wife). I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.

In the United States, Catholic wedding vows may also take the following form:^[1]

I, ____, take you, ____, to be my lawfully wedded(husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

The priest will then say aloud "You have declared your consent before the Church. May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with his blessings. What God has joined, men must not divide. Amen.

If married, did you meditate on the vow you took? 

Do you now know or knew then that it was taken in the presence of God and men?

 You had a cloud of witnesses.

Have you since broken the vow?

 Let's take a closer look at some of the wordings..something like" For better for worse"

Are you still in the for better stage? Do you know that for better can also be interpreted to mean make the life of your partner better by supporting his or her chosen career? Or is it improvement in terms of upgrading educational qualifications.

And now for worse. Is your partner misbehaving and you have given up on him or her as you only want to be around when the relationship is  going smoothly as you have no time for foolishness.

Has your marriage gone south and you're now left with very sour grapes?

Are you busy complaining to everyone and everybody instead of telling your partner what's gwan?

About time you take a step back and take a closer look at what is causiing friction or the source of sourness.

How old is your marriage?

Did you marry just for the sake of it, to get your family off your back? If you did, then the vows you took were in vain.

Why make a vow that you dont intend to keep?

Some get married so they can have children in a legitimate marriage or have someone just to keep their bed warm, and perhaps to show they also have a family and home. But do they step up the plate in terms of actually loving their partner?

http://www.brides.com/wedding-style/photos

If you are yet to take the marriage vow or preparing to, there's real need for you to meditate on it before going ahead. Dont make a selfish vow. 

Marriage is honorable but not for everyone. It is for grownups. It is for people who are spiritually, mentally and physically ready for a future with someone who has same vision with them. It is not for opposites.

It is for people who are ready to honor and protect their partner come what may.

 It is for people who are trustworthy and ready to be submissive.

 It is not for sluggards....