All Nature Speaks

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. (Psalm 19: 2, 3)

I want us to look at communication, especially inanimate communication.

Do you realize that in creation there is no silence?

Let me give an example.

One day my wife and I were walking and birds started chirping noisily.

My wife told me that there must be a cobra nearby. As she was telling me I saw a cobra crossing the road and tried to show her but none was able to inform the other as we were busy passing the information we each had. By the time she heard what I was saying the snake had already disappeared into the grass.

My wife had been taught to listen to birds. She was therefore able to ‘see’ by listening.

Have you noticed that the person closest to nature can access more from nature than the rest of us, from security to medicine?

But I want us to look at inanimate objects to get my point across. I know I have written elsewhere about money speaking and so will not repeat it.

Let me use vehicles to set us off. I am using Kenya as my context.

The Subaru is not the fastest car around. Yet why is it that it is rare to see one not speeding? And why is a Probox always driven badly? And have you ever seen a Mercedes Benz being driven carelessly?

What makes a driver change when he takes a different car?

And I noticed the same in parking lots. Particular vehicles have drivers being impatient and inconsiderate, even rude to attendants, even in church.

I suspect that the makers do ‘something’ in the process of their manufacture to ingrain particular messages in the vehicles they make, whether knowingly or not.

The vehicle will therefore produce the actual vibrations (their language, simplified) once a driver starts their engine. Then the driver’s body responds to those promptings to drive the vehicle as per the instructions.

I recently watched a video of a man who arranges stones in gravity defying ways and the interesting thing is what he said he uses to do so, he listens to gravity. In short, gravity instructs him to do those arrangements.

Of course we hear herbalists talking about listening to plants as they are looking for herbal concoctions to treat diseases.

A friend recently told me why he stopped burning charcoal and left the trade altogether.

He was doing it in Maasai land and a mzee explained and even showed him how that trees curse the one who destroys them.

He then looked at the many people in that trade over the years and realized that none of them make it. Incidentally, even the few who make it have their houses get destroyed by fire.

How does a tree curse someone if it does not speak?

Evidently it speaks. But it takes keen ears to hear.

God created man to have dominion. And that dominion meant issuing orders and hearing responses from the subjects, even if it is a ‘yes, sir’.

We lost it when we decided that nonverbal communication is not communication because we then lost the beauty of the harmony of a cooperative nature.

Beyond that, we become dumbfounded when our bodies and souls respond to those voices as I have mentioned about cars and money.

Of course we know that night clubs and discos speak so loudly in their language that preempts their customers into rioting beyond reason. As I have said elsewhere the sights and sounds are the sources of those voices. And drinking dens have lights that say, drink, drink. And it is confirmed by the fact that they are unable to stand when they get out of those dens. Or do you not realize that people lose control once they get out of the den since the voices stilled?

However, not only does all of nature speak, it also hears.

Remember Joshua placing a rock as a witness of Israel’s vows? Remember Jesus saying that if children kept quiet stones would cry out?

Or don’t you wonder why wickedness condemns a land to barrenness and why a return to God reverses that trend? Remember God Himself talking about a land spewing out its inhabitants for their wickedness?

Walls have ears is a statement we make without realizing that it is actually true.

I remember an experiment I read about two plants in the same environment. One was fed with good words whereas the other was fed with insults. The one fed with good words thrived while the other shriveled.

But nature is not always passive. It was created to harmonise with our dominion if it is in line with all creation.

That is why greed destroys the environment. There is enough for everybody on earth even if we filled it with people as God ordered. But there is not enough for just one man’s greed because he must overreach to ‘finish’ for the rest. And that is something nature resists.

That is why people have lived in forests with trees and animals harmoniously for eons. Yet now everything seems to resist us because once one part of nature is unsafe, nothing is safe. Once hunting was not a problem because people killed an animal for food and clothing. But now a two ton animal can be killed for a 10kg horn or for the fun of it.

Nature will resist that.

People in the past cut trees for wood and timber and nothing was wasted or hoarded. But now we can clear a whole forest to export timber without caring for the other beneficiaries of those trees. There are animals and worms and plants that fed on the shade in that forest that will die, leaving a curse on the tycoons who destroyed their habitat and their accessories.

Greed is a most destructive sin that nature resists in its own way.

But there is another sin that is probably more destructive. It is the sin of acting against nature the way it was created.

I am talking about homosexuality. Homosexuality is not just a sin against God. It is actually a sin against nature. And that is something all of nature vigorously resists. Students of history will tell you that probably the one common trait of most powerful empires prior to their fall was homosexuality in its top echelons.

Homosexuality defiles nature and is one trait that will give a certainty of a fall of a power since all nature will unite to fight it.

Another one is incest and for a similar reason. Nature operates in such a way that the alpha male must be replaced by the time his daughters reach maturity. And the incoming alpha kills all the babies for that reason though their reasoning is different.

Again nature will unite to fight that vice in us.

One other common cause of the fall of kingdoms is oppression, especially of the vulnerable.

But the backdrop of all this abomination is one very frequently touted word, self; or self-love as our generation puts it.

Simply put, a person places themselves at the centre of the universe. Everything and everybody must bend to their slightest whim, especially if they can afford it.

You shall be as God …, is the killer temptation from Eden to this day and age. It is the same desire that drove the devil from God’s presence.

We are not the reason God created us. And nature knows that.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)

That is what we fight when we shift the focus to self.

Why do marriages collapse? The main reason is that there are two gods competing for a very limited space and are unwilling (for the same reason) to cede even an inch of their territory for the institution of marriage or wellbeing of their children.

Nowadays it is common to hear of people who dated for over five years being unable to stay married for a few months, sometimes even a single month. We hear of people getting married and divorced many times. And nobody seems ready to understand why. Even homosexuality is an offshoot of that self-love denomination. One gets burnt by a proper and God-sanctioned marriage and thinks getting married to the same sex is the solution. It is actually an abomination that all of nature will unite to fight against.

Sadly, it not only in the secular that we behave as the centre of focus.

In the past, a singer was good when he could sing with others. A solo singer always sought a group to sing with.

Not anymore. Nowadays people use choirs to expose their ‘gift’ after which they fly off to solo careers.

And it is not only in music. Preachers of all shades are always looking for the break that will catapult their ministry into fame. Then they will become lords of their kingdom with everybody else serving them.

Sadly, many are using the internet for that purpose.

I of course know that there are those with a genuine need to take the Gospel to the nations. But like Paul said, whatever the motives the Gospel is preached though many are just preaching a gospel with no teeth.

Self-love will drive us straight into the enemy’s clutches as its purpose is to maximize our desires as opposed to God’s will’

Very few believers pray with God’s will as their objective. Very few give because God commands it. Few appreciate ‘worship’ unless it makes them feel good.

That explains why a minister can openly turn his back on everything he has been preaching and teaching and openly confesses his marriage to another man after divorcing his wife of decades. His focus in ministry was self.

What is my conclusion?

All nature will unite against us if we take our eyes from God and His Christ.

 

Tapestry

I was thinking about the way God does things, especially things that make no sense to us.

Then He drew my attention to an artist.

Have you ever looked at an artist drawing? Do you sometimes wonder whether anything positive will come out of all that sketching and smattering of colors?

Have you seen stitch pattern makers at their best? Again do you wonder what all those crisscrossing threads are doing?

What about a carver chopping and chipping on a rock or trunk?

That smattering of different paints or lines of different shades and colors make no sense to anyone but the artist. All those confusing strings make no sense. And that chunk of shapeless wood or stone is nothing in your eyes.

But look at the finished product and you will be filled with awe.

Does that have a lesson for our faith?

Yes.

God is at work on us and like the artist will not show us what He is making of our lives because it will make no sense to us.

Like the artist is the only one who knows what he is producing, God is the one who knows the final product that is our lives.

Wanting to understand the product of our training (experiences) is akin to pressuring an artist to share with us the final product before he has produced it. It is simply impossible. There is no way he can make you understand what you cannot see because your mind is unable to conceptualize what his mind is guiding his hands to produce.

That is why this verse is so powerful. And its power is in the fact that it makes no sense to the one who is being commanded.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)

God is declaring the truth that He knows what He is about.

Like this verse we like quoting ‘positively’, we have its context completely opposite what we quote it for.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Its context is the reason Judah wanted to kill the prophet.

I am sending you as captives to Babylon and you will be there for seventy years BECAUSE I have good plans for you.

How can a loving God do such a thing to His chosen people? Aren’t those strings too enmeshed to bring out anything of worth? Isn’t the captivity the display of a vengeful divine?

We are questioning the artist when he is starting to draw. We are looking at the tapestry from the underside. We are want to understand a chunk when the carver has just lifted his chisel.

YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND.

But you can trust because you have a few other incidences where you have seen his artwork.

You therefore choose trust instead of understanding. That is when he will get the green light to produce a masterpiece because he does not need to be responding to our nagging through his process.

When we realize the kind of God we have believed in, it makes sense to leave everything to Him, even our logic, because we not only know what He is capable of but also the kind of heart He has toward us.

This is what will make us excited about obedience and revelation.

You see, the fact that I acknowledge that I won’t understand yet I am completely confident about God and His intentions toward me will kill the questioning and doubtful spirit in me. I will give Him the green light to continue working on me, not because I understand what He is doing but because I know whatever He is doing is perfect.

That is called anticipation.

I cannot envision what is being produced but I am confident in the artist to look forward to his masterpiece. And with God that masterpiece is me.

Due to that, I will be on His beck and call just to be around His work station to enjoy a mass of nothing being converted into pricey stuff.

I am writing this as a father who has witnessed this in my children as I work on ‘insane’ things to produce useful stuff for them.

Their trust in me makes them very obedient.

Isn’t that what our faith should be producing?

You see, faith is not only believing. It is anticipatory cooperation and obedience in the one we believe in.

As an example, in my walk of faith and especially ministry I have never seen God repeat a miracle. And it is the same when you read the Bible.

What do I mean?

God never repeats Himself or does something the same way twice.

As the Creator He is never short of new ways of doing things.

One reason He never repeats Himself is because the enemy is the best in copying and counterfeiting what He does as he has been doing since his fall. It is therefore important that God stands out in everything He does to distinguish Himself from the devil who deceives by copying what God is doing.

It is not only in miracles that He doesn’t repeat. His orders and instructions follow the same path for the same reason.

Repetition is the preserve of copyists.

And this is where God the artist comes in.

His originality and lack of repetition should raise our anticipation index because we really do not know what He is doing yet are excited to be part of it.

My children know more about tools than their mother for that reason.

They surround me and want to be part of me making things and so are in hand to give me whatever I need because they want to be connected to what I am making. They therefore know different kinds of tools because I will be asking them to pass them over. Their anticipation guides their obedience. Remember this?

And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount. (Exodus 25:40)

That anticipation guides obedience, even creativity.

We do everything we are told because we are longing to see the product of that obedience.

Another positive thing with anticipation is that as I am working on a project and the children are all around, we get to really bond. The project becomes a unifying factor because my children are as excited to see what I am making as I am making it.

Of course as we work on more projects, my children will start becoming like me. As an example my children, even the smallest, understands electrical circuits than most adults due to that. Once my daughter’s class was given a project to make a circuit and the teacher was shocked that my daughter went beyond what the teacher had thought consisted a circuit.

Look at Moses on the mount. Not only does his communion with God grow, he also starts glowing when he leaves that presence.

Our problem with obedience stems from our lack of trust that God is about doing great things for us; things that we have no capacity to envision. We therefore lack the anticipation for what He is working at.

That is the reason we have problems embracing unpleasant and painful experiences. We simply do not trust that there is any way the artist (God) can use them to produce something good. Yet we will applaud an artist who uses trash to make works of art.

Let me summarize.

God is the artist of our lives and faith. We do not know the final outcome of what He is working on in our lives or even the world but are confident that something very good will be the outcome.

We will therefore join Him in great anticipation, doing everything He asks without question because we are excitedly hastening the unveiling of the final product. But we will also be very keen not to assume we know what He wants because we could then easily hand Him a hammer when He has asked for a pair of pliers because it will slow the progress and delay the release of the final product.

Let me give my example.

Many times I get into situations when there are extreme needs around me, not just as a minister but also a person. Probably family or neighbor issues requiring my financial input. Sometimes it is people I minister to in dire straits needing just a little input from me. At that time I am completely flat and getting food for my family is a real struggle. I can’t help even if I wanted. At times that happens after a season where money was really flowing to a project or book.

Many people assume that I am stingy or unconcerned when the truth is I can’t sleep from wondering how I could be of help beyond praying.

I many times need a reminder from God who is my source that that is in His plan.

You see, God is not limited in His provision. But He gives according to His program, not mine.

It is imperative that I relax irrespective of whether I will be called stingy or whatever because I have hidden my name in Him.

That is when I will give Him the free hand to complete what He is working on concerning me.

And He does it, again and again.

How much time do we spend with God just because He is God and not for what we expect from Him?

That time is spent in His word and prayer. That is where we will get precise orders about our part in the enterprise.

And that is why I will never tire giving reading plans for anyone interested in going through the Bible and fabricating Audio Bibles when God provides.

Faith is built by spending time in what God has said, and says. That is when we will be able to accurately see what He is doing and my part in it.

 

Authority Explained

Further to my recent post (Authority and Impact), I want us to understand the source of our authority.

You see, demons do not just flee just because we command them. They obey us because we have authority to do so. In short it is our authority they respond to.

And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? (Acts 19:15)

We looked at the centurion explaining his authority and I think it is important to understand how that comes about.

Why do we call the police and army disciplined forces? It is because they are the only team of people who obey without questioning. If they are told to make a line, it would be hard to find any stragglers. If they are told to kill, they kill without ‘thinking’.

I interacted with the police quite a bit when I was working as they were the ones in charge of guarding the stations we worked in. We therefore had great times, from hunting game to watching them dissembling and cleaning rifles I was able to understand the disciplined forces well especially because the bulk of them were young people as I was and enjoyed sharing their stories of everything military from training to operations.

I want to share this to help us understand why they are called disciplined.

The first thing that happens when someone joins the forces is the stripping of their personhood. You are simply expected to stop thinking as an individual (civilian is their word). One reason their training is stringent is for that purpose. One is supposed to start thinking like a soldier, or something like that.

The second is to recognize authority as absolute. You do not think about authority. You do not reason with authority. You do not question authority. Orders are there to be obeyed.

I was told something interesting.

While there you are taught (brainwashed is closer to it) that if your commander orders you to shoot your mother you simply do it. You will understand why later. You do not need to anyway.

Have you ever wondered why no soldier resigns or retreats even when they are dying like flies? The commander has not issued another order.

Running away from war is treated as treason, probably worse as his colleagues are supposed to kill him. You are not supposed to retreat before the order is given, however logical and commonsense doing so is (not seems, by the way).

That is the reason we have of late been hearing bits of a compromised commander literally leading his troops to slaughter and there is nothing they can do about it. But the said commander has to disappear as he must give account of his troops to his superiors.

Recognition of position is very high in military circles.

The spiritual realm operates on military terms, meaning that none of us gets our authority from our person. That is why Christ is the LORD of lords and King of kings. His authority is not subject to question or discussion.

Remember Ephesians 6 about spiritual armor? Our enemy is described in military and kingdom terms.

It means that the dark kingdom operates under the same terms.

What this means is that not all demons have the same power (authority, for our understanding).

Remember Jesus also telling his disciples that a certain demon only responds to fasting and prayer?

A territorial demon can only respond to a territorial commander or higher just like a major cannot be commanded by a sergeant.

BUT, the major will respond to a sergeant if he has been sent by the general. An errand from the general has the general’s authority.

What am I saying?

We have the authority to cast out demons. But it is a delegated authority. It is only when we are following the Lord’s orders that demons will obey our command. That is the only basis of our authority over demons and serpents and poison.

Our obedience is the basis of our authority.

Let me give an example.

Paul is arrested in Jerusalem and the crowd wants to do away with him.

In the process of his case Jesus tells him that he will share the Gospel in Rome.

Many things happen before the journey to Rome begins. But then a terrible storm arises, a storm that distabilised everybody else

But Paul is at peace because his Lord told him that he will bear witness in Rome. The only assurance he seeks is about the rest in the ship since his case was closed when Jesus told him about Rome.

That is why we see him encouraging the others to relax. He knew that the storm was nothing when the Lord has spoken.

That is the same reason an adder could not cause him to panic. Bystanders are the ones who are panicking on his behalf.

He was going where his Lord had said. Everything standing in the way was to be removed.

God stands with what He has said (Jeremiah 1: 12). He backs any orders He issues.

Our obedience is the source of our authority over sicknesses, demons, death and anything else.

But it is not a blank obedience. It is obedience to your specific order.

There is the place for generic obedience. By that I am talking about the plain obedience to God’s word. I do not need a clear order to be faithful to my wife since the Bible already deals with that. I do not need to hear a specific order to return excess change when I am given (and it always happens to me when I am very broke) since the Bible has already dealt with that.

I am talking about the day to day and moment to moment orders.

Sadly, many believers do not believe that God issues such orders as they have been taught that God only speaks to a select few and they must wait for them to give the word.

John 10:27 says that Christ’s sheep hear His voice and obey it.

A sheep must constantly listen to thrive, probably even live.

It is sad that many believers think they are fine without close guidance from the Lord. Then we complain when nothing obeys us!

Our victory is dependent on our obedience. And our obedience is dependent on our clearly hearing our marching orders.

Wouldn’t it be better if we sought clarity from our Lord before venturing out and displaying our authority?

This is because the other side can clearly see the one with authority. They will not therefore obey a lone ranger outside his command.

Pedestal Dynamics

I recently posted on the devil as a hunting lion and want to give us an example or two of that.

A lion must separate a herd to be able to capture and kill any game.

Do you realize that that is the devil’s most successful strategy?

Let me give an analogy.

Several young men are growing in their faith very well. Their ministry thrives wherever they go as God honors that unity and desire to grow.

Then a church picks on one of them and makes him a pastor.

Then a company picks on another and gives him a very good job.

Then a girl in the group gets a good marriage proposal. And so on.

In a short while the group stops meeting as there simply is no time.

In a few years you may start hearing things from most of them, things with no reference at all to their once vibrant faith.

There is nothing wrong with growth or upward mobility. But it is important to realize that extreme wisdom and discernment is needed to distinguish between the world doing the lifting and God doing it.

Now with examples.

Ever realized that very few, if any, musicians start outside church? And I am talking about since very long ago.

The church nurtures music as people thrive when singing and playing instruments in church choirs.

I once heard a young girl wondering why she should pay to go to a media school when she could get those skills and more in church for free.

That is the church for you.

What happens thereafter is the distinction.

As a choirmaster of yore I realize that some songs require a single voice (a soloist).

What happens after a soloist becomes outstanding is that the song becomes theirs. Of course many other people want their songs to feature that soloist.

The soloist is therefore snatched from the choir that nurtured and exposed them, many times looking for backup singers to prop them up. They then become an item not subject to anybody.

Does it take much effort to bring them down to the world and sin?

It is the same with instrumentalists.

Sadly, it happens a lot with good pastors. They are taken from the congregations where their spirituality was honed and taken to churches that boast of having the who is who in society and isolated from those they grew up with.

I know of pastors who blocked their old friends and ministry partners when they ‘arrived’.

Without the herd, whether it is the choir or old friends, there simply cannot be any accountability. The pedestal is a fertile breeding ground for pride that is the most potent temptation for anybody. And the devil will start by whispering to you that you must have been the best to have been picked from that crowd.

It becomes easy to then be captured by irrelevance and secret sin as the ones who isolate you are not interested in your spirituality. They are interested in the opposite whatever they say.

Gospel music has become irrelevant because the herd has been replaced by the star; the choir has been replaced by the soloist; the band has been replaced by individual stars; elders have been replaced by the senior pastor or bishop.

Let me repeat. An effective hunter first separates the prey from the herd. Then when it is alone and outside their vicinity it surrounds and simply and easily kills it.

Think about that in your upward mobility.

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3: 12, 13)

Or do you not wonder how a ‘worship leader’, pastor or other minister can proudly confess to being a homosexual. Do you think it happened overnight?

The pedestal got them out of the accountability growth group first. Then gradually used their ego against them in pride until God and His word become irrelevant in their experience and confession.

Think about this

God bless you.

Authority and Impact

They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen. (Mark 16:20)

What happened to miracles? Why are we not walking on what Christ promised we would walk in? Has God become powerless or are we the blocks to miracles?

I want us to briefly look at what I believe is where the link got broken.

God is not an ATM of anything. We therefore do not need, nor can we use a PIN of any sort to access His power.

He is the LORD of the universe and so is answerable to no one. He calls all the shots and so does not delegate any to even the best of us.

What do I mean?

We can only operate under His Lordship. By this I mean that the only time we can succeed is the time we are following His orders.

For I, myself, am a man under authority, having men under me; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. (Luke 7:8)

This is the principle of authority. It is only those who are under authority who can have authority. We can issue orders only if we are following orders.

Miracles are not created just by believing. They are activated by obedience. And obedience begins with total submission.

Never in the Bible do we see believers looking for miracles to perform. Miracles simply happened when their obedience collided with a need or obstruction.

Nobody in the Bible went looking for demons to cast out. They simply cast out those that sought to obstruct their obedience.

That we will trample on serpents and scorpions is a valid promise from Christ Himself. But we do not go looking for them.

Paul did not go to the bush to look for the adder. His obedience was the one that neutralized that venom. In short the serpent collided with him in his obedience. That was the reason he could shake it off harmlessly.

And it was the same with demons. We only see exorcism when the demon possessed came in the path of the believer. Then they were cast out.

And we see the same with our Lord. He was not on the lookout for miracles to perform. He taught the word and dealt with the situations that arose.

We notice that His opponents’ greatest challenge on Him was His authority. They simply wanted to know where He got His authority.

What was His response? I am about doing the will of My Father. I do what I see My Father doing.

Anything blocking that was removed, be it an illness or demons. That was how He performed miracles.

His agenda was dictated by what His Father wanted.

I hope we get the drift.

Our obedience is the key to our authority.

You want to access miracles? Seek greater obedience. Want to triumph over demons? Seek greater obedience.

The age of miracles did not cease. The problem is our obedience quotient.

We sort that out and we can be sure to start walking in miracles.

But another problem is that we love the display of the miraculous. We think that a miracle is nothing if nobody knows about it. That simply blocks the miracle as it stops being for God’s glory.

Jesus hid from publicity after performing miracles. He forbade people from broadcasting those miracles.

Do we think He will allow us to use miracles to market us and our ministries?

That, I am convinced, is the reason miracles are missing in our Christian experience.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Finally, miracles serve the purpose of making our witness visible. Like John called them, they are signs to point to Christ and His salvation.

I hope you see that we are nowhere in that equation.

Miracles will start flowing when we remove our persona completely from the whole thing and allow God to use them to draw people to Himself. I hope we will start hiding and disappearing from the scene once God has used us to perform a miracle.

Forget those social media shares as they will block the glory that should go to Christ alone.

But that is easy once we sort out the submission and obedience aspects of our faith.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28: 19, 20)

Walking in obedience to what Christ has called us to be and drawing others to that life is the key to walking in victory, not just miracles.

Will you commit to consistently reading God’s word to know better what He wants of you?

Of Satan and Hunters

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1Peter 5:8)

Animal videos are exciting to watch for the most part. In fact I had a horde of them in my library until I realized that they have a very destructive narrative; evolution. That is when I lost interest, especially considering my children.

But today I want us to look at the hunters and their relation to the hunted.

Have you realized that animal hunters look for the most vulnerable animal to attack? That is why you always see them on the prowl for newborns.

You see, three lions can’t successfully kill an adult buffalo easily. It might kill the three of them in the process and escape.

It is therefore imperative that the target is easily killable.

Two things are pivotal, a lone and preferably weak animal.

That is why the hunters hover around a herd so that fear will confuse them to scatter. Then they can pick on the easiest target alone as the others are fleeing for their lives.

But sometimes it backfires when the cowards gathers before the hunters complete their assignment. Then they come with a fury that almost kills a whole pride.

Lions are not invincible. It is their strategy that is genius, in animal terms.

Does it surprise you that the Bible picked on the hunting lion to describe the devil? Can it help us understand temptation?

Why did the serpent approach Eve instead of Adam?

Why did he approach Sarah concerning Ishmael instead of Abraham?

And why did he approach Peter instead of Jesus on the crucifixion?

The strategy is the same. The devil looks at the weakest link and that is where he approaches from. Then once he has broken that link he uses the relationships around it to get to the strong.

You see, Adam could easily beat temptation but couldn’t resist Eve. Abraham could remain resilient on the promise but couldn’t resist Sarah. And he had hoped Jesus would be unable to resist Peter too.

Another thing we learn from lions is that they will normally hunt as a team.

The prey may kill a few lions in the hunt but will eventually be brought down since a whole pride is united in bringing it down as they are persistent and do not look back at how many of them are down.

Sometimes they may leave the prey wounded when they tire to come later when the pain of their first hunt overwhelms the victim. Then their attack will be met with less resistance.

The other strategy they use is surprise, what in military terms is called ambush. Even the fastest land animal, the cheetah, will be unable to catch anything if they gave them notice of their attack. Nothing does not get out to the roots of their strength when faced with death. A cheetah must therefore come within a short range before sprinting after the prey.

The only exception to that is pack animals who do not mind a marathon type hunting where they change places in their pursuit so that the prey eventually gets exhausted.

Ambush means that the hunter is ready and prepared when the prey has no idea what is happening.

Incidentally that is how temptation normally comes. A prostitute will not come to you in your house and introduce herself as such. An adulterer will not come to you offering money for sex. They will package themselves in such a way that by the time you realize what is happening you are deep inside their trap.

The team also works on the same lines. A temptation will come flying from all directions.

You have a need. Then you do not have money. Then your friends cannot help. Then this friend steps in. Then he wants you to become just friends. Then spend time together, of course giving more money. Then, then, then …

The other strategy a hunter uses most effectively is fear.

Like I have said, lions are not the strongest animals around. Neither are they the fastest.

But their presence instils fear. One lion can literally stop thousands of animals from grazing if they catch its scent.

And fear paralyses. You can’t plan when you are afraid. You cannot even think straight when you are afraid.

And that is the purpose of the famous lion’s roar.

It intimidates and completely immobilizes any fight in any animal.

Do you see that it is what the devil is called?

Remember Goliath?

Do you know that there were a few Israelites who had skill and accuracy to kill him from a distance? Do you know that they could have refused his offer?

Yet what do we see? God’s army scatters when this giant appears. And that was the purpose. Why fight when you can get a walkover through roaring? And crowd mechanics amplify that roar a million times.

Is that not what the devil does to us?

Many believers are fixated with what the devil does and can do. Ministries are started to counter the devil.

Yet at no time do we see Christ wasting His time on the devil and his dramatics. He simply took authority.

Incidentally that is the difference David brings into the equation. He has been with God in the wilderness and so a giant’s roar is nothing compared with the God he worshiped.

Where do we stand in relation to the tempter?

How close are we to God? What about His word?

Are we afraid of the devil or do we like Christ trample him underfoot as we walk in obedience?

Grace versus Sin

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Titus 2: 11 – 13)

I have many ministry friends who believe, nay, preach, that addressing sin in a believer is a contradiction of terms. Simply speaking, talking about or against sin in a believer is the greatest sin, like the judging most proponents of a defeated (calling it victorious) Christian life parrot.

They believe addressing sin in a believer means that one has fallen from grace.

But what is grace? It is simply what joins a sinner to God into a relationship.

Is it possible that I can be joined to a holy God and remain in sin?

Grace is my means of accessing not just God’s pardon but also His nature. I therefore MUST start becoming like Him and completely unlike who I was.

The door to grace begins with NO. We cannot access grace before we deal with the issues grace is taking us from. We say NO before we can say YES to God and His call.

Let us start from far.

Abraham had to say NO to all his security to access God’s promise when he responded to His call. Isaac had to say NO to logic and commonsense to harvest a hundredfold in a drought.

And of course we know Moses had to say NO to being a prince in Egypt to be able to be used of God to lead Israel from Egypt.

Why do people fear making any commitment to Christ? Simply because they fear and are not ready to deal with the NOs they will encounter. No wonder they say that salvation will deny them all the fun, and for good reason.

You must deal with NO before you can access the YES. Only after squaring with the NO can you access the power to carry out the YES.

God cannot give you power over something you have not repudiated. And grace is what He released to do that.

That God receives us the way we are is not in doubt. That He does not hold us accountable to change is deceptive theology.

Zacchaeus is one good example.

Jesus invites Himself for lunch in this sinner’s house. It is as they fellowship that he discovers that he had to do something that was the probable reason for his climbing that tree in the first place.

When did he access grace? Was it when he gave half his wealth to the poor? Of course not.

He accessed it when he went seeking Jesus. But the evidence came out when he said NO to his earlier lifestyle. Probably that is why he went out to seek Jesus so desperately.

Grace is allergic to sin just as sin is allergic to grace. We therefore can’t walk and live in sin if God’s grace is in us.

Rahab was a harlot. It was as a harlot that she accessed grace. But she stopped being a harlot once she accessed grace.

And it was the same with all the other worshipers we see in the Bible.

Incidentally, that is what disqualified Ishmael and Esau as they took grace for granted.  

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9: 13, 14)

Grace changes us from inside. That is why sin has no place in a believer’s life, unless they have not accessed grace.

Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: (Matthew 3:8)

We cannot claim grace if the fruit we bear is unable to give the evidence of our repentance.

Otherwise we are simply imposters using grace as our prop. We are feeding off a false grace to make us comfortable in our sin. Or have we forgotten this?

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2Corinthians 5:17)

Things can never remain the same when they are renewed.

Like I have always said you cannot resurrect something that is not dead. You therefore cannot have any trace of death on something that has been revived.

Christ’s salvation, which is what grace offers, gives us life when we were dead in sins.

Is it possible, then, to continue with our past life of sin?

Let me close with these verses

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. (1John 3: 3 – 6)

Of course I know of the battles we wage as grace seeks to make an abode in us like we see in Romans 7. But we are always winning since grace carries with it the power of its source.

I hope we understand each other (direct translation from Swahili)