Accepting God’s Word without restraint

In the beginning paragraphs of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as told by Luke, the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, the father of John the prophet, and to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Both of them received news of a conception that would take place outside the realms of biology: Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were both old, and Mary was a virgin as yet.

Zechariah doubts what the angel of the Lord tells him and because of this, he is struck mute until the time the prophesy comes true. Mary, on the other hand, asks how the prophesy will come to pass. Once the angel explains,  readily accepts the words of the angel and says “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done to me according to your word”. Both the prophesies come true, but in the case of Zechariah, he remained mute until the circumcision of his foretold son.

The presence of the Lord is overwhelming, and troubling when unexpected. Zechariah had been praying for a child for a long time and the Lord showed up and answered him. Probably after waiting for a long time for an answer, Zechariah had given up hope and expectations, since the time line of his miracle had passed a long time ago. He probably had even stopped praying about it and accepted it as God’s will, as many are in the habit of doing. However, God shows up, and not subtly I might add. The angel tells Zecharia of his answered prayer, and the best he could come up with is “How can I be sure of this?…” An honest response for someone who has lost hope of the miracle. But this is not how we should receive God’s word…

Mary was dutifully minding her own business, planning for a wedding, when the angel of the Lord appears to her with startling splendour, addressing her with so much favour.  She was distressed. “What have I done to deserver this”, I presume could have been thought that crossed her mind. And how can I be pregnant since I have not been with any man is the question she asks the angel. Once the angel of the Lord explains how the Spirit of the Lord will come upon her, she instantly believes and accepts the will of the Lord, putting aside any fears and repercussions of the pregnancy on her wedding and social status.

Mary’s attitude is one that should be emulated. Accepting God’s word without a grain of salt. God’s word will never fail, and what he said he will do, he will do. The Bible is full of God’s promises and all we need to do is to read and accept the Word. We should not give up hope on what we have trusted in God and has not happened, neither should be put aside the word of the Lord for anything we think we should be doing or accomplishing. No. We should humbly accept God’s word, and let God have his way in our lives for therein lies the great reward.

The tongue

A recent Facebook “like” from a friend of friend confirmed to me what God has been teaching me lately, the taming of the tongue. In this “like”, facebook reported “Abcd likes “vitriol about ex” and “Jesus is Lord” (of course the vitriol has been cleaned up for this post). What James talked about in James 3:1-11 came alive, how we praise God and curse men all with the same tongue, and I am no saint in this regard.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue“. With the tongue we can proclaim blessings from the Lord, declare the promises of God and with it we are able to preach the good news of the Liberty found in the Lord Jesus to the ones in bondage. Indeed the tongue is a small part of the body, but with it lies the power to heal the broken hearted and give hope to the hopeless. With the tongue we can inspire confidence and influence peace among the nations. Its no wonder that politicians are able influnce multitudes not with works but with words full of promises.  A word spoken has the power to change attitudes and situations. This is immense power that has been accorded to this one part of our bodies.

Yet with the same tongue lies the power to destroy. With it we break relationships and tarnish characters, engaging in well intended gossip and misinformed character analysis. We instigate violence and hatred, disregarding the well being of our brethren. With sweet words we lie and cheat, ignoring the follies of our ways. We have placed a confidence in our tongues, knowing that are able to get away with anything, so long as we say the right things.

But the tongue is simply a tool for communication, spreading what lies deep in our hearts. If we are to control the tongue, we need a transformation of the heart. Jesus stated that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks“. It is not possible to use our will power to control what we say, but it is through the transforming power of knowing Jesus, and keeping his command that shall we be able to gourd the gateways of out hearts. The Spirit of God is Power! Power to pull down the strong holds of deception and malice in our hearts to planting fruits of love and peace and understanding.

Exercising our faith is therefore the only hope that we have at taming the tongue,by daily meditating on the Word of God. Then shall we be able to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, approaching with confidence the throne room of Grace. Jesus came to the world to teach us the way, the only way, that transforms the heart, enabling us to communicate love and liberty.

Fight the good fight

A small church in the USA has declared that it will burn copies of the Koran on 9/11, the memorial day for the worst terrorist attacks against the US. This, the church claims, is a stand against terrorism and is fueled by the stance that Islam is of the devil. This action has the whole world enraged and there are fears that it may actually escalate terrorism and put the lives of peace soldiers at higher risk due to backlashes from the Muslim world

The action by this group is questionable. Whereas it is well within everyones rights to believe what they believe regarding any religion, I think there is a place for common courtesy, especially when lives are at stake. I also know that we are in a spiritual battle that can never be won carnally.

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul cautions that we are not in battle with flesh and blood, but against rulers of the dark world. It is spiritual warfare and we cannot overcome with tactics of the world. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Paul also reminds us that we do not wage war as the world does, but the weapons of our warfare are divine, demolishing strongholds and every thought that sets itself against the Knowledge of God.

As Christians, we should rely on God to be effective in spreading the message of love and redemption, the message of hope that stems from obedience to the Word of the Lord and submission His commands. I believe that it is not our effort that will bring hearts back to Christ, but it is the message of love and repentance that we preach; and faith. Faith that the word of God is not null and void, but will accomplish all that it is meant to accomplish; to open peoples hearts to the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord is the power behind every message that is preached and it is the Spirit of God that enables the word of God to grow in peoples hearts.

Such radical actions are somewhat a testament that good old fashioned prayer and faith does not work. Yet this is what Christ called us to do to pray and spread the good news to the ends of the earth. Carnal means will win carnal battles, but can never be used to win Spiritual battles. Our enemy is deceptive, dragging the Christian into his territory of operation where the Christian is laid bare, not knowing where to go next. But we must be much more cunning and fight the good fight of faith, the fight of righteousness and truth.

God is mighty to save and in that we must believe.