Vanquished, not Destroyed

I had a dream in which I was in a very brutal confrontation with a foe.

And the war was very bloody, to say the least.

But the battle was very unusual in that I would batter the enemy so conclusively to the point that I would leave him dead and bloodied all over.

Interestingly, in a very short while, the same (probably a similar) enemy would be up and ready for war and I would need to urgently, not only to get new strength, but readiness for combat.

The same repeated for several times before the dream ended.

Does this not indicate what spiritual warfare is all about?

Does it not show how life in the spirit is like most of the time?

But I want us to look at what I feel is the main message in this dream.

And it is the fact that, though we will at all times have complete victory over the battles God allows to grow our relationship with Him, we will never completely finish fighting for our faith. We will all the time be on the warfront.

But there is another reality we must look at.

And it is that once we defeat one enemy, we will graduate into another level of warfare.

In short, we will earn a promotion in the spiritual realm.

Which means that our next enemy will be of a higher rank and have better ability and skill than the one we have vanquished because our status has been elevated.

This directly means that the more spiritual battles God will send our way, the higher our spiritual rank becomes and the more powerful the enemies we must deal with.

At the start we will be dealing with personal temptations, then personal issues until our spiritual rank grows to the point that we will be dealing with kingdoms and empires.

It is comic to see people called (or calling themselves) spiritual generals hiring physical bodyguards as if the spiritual is subject to the worldly.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

This is the reason the Bible looks at our faith in a military way.

You may remember Jesus commending the faith of a military commander seeking the healing of his servant because he applied military dynamics to his faith.

Authority goes with ranks. And ranks are not given; they are earned. Like is said someone must earn their stars.

That is why princes must join the military so that they would be able commanders in chief when they take over their kingdoms.

Like I have said severally, kings in the past led from the front.

This means that they must have the knowledge of war as well as earn the respect of the armed forces as they are knowledgeable in their leadership.

I hope you realise I am still dealing with spiritual realities. I am dealing with our faith.

Being knowledgeable in all the arts of war without any exposure to actual warfare might appear very useful. But a gun is never fired in a classroom.

This means I cannot gain any spiritual promotion in that classroom. I must get those stripes and stars on the warfront. I earn them through conflict. I earn them through the bruises and bumps I receive as I confront a world at war with her creator.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

Is a gate the only fortification someone puts up against intruders?

Of course not.

A gate is meant to give someone time to organise his defences against attack. You might call them the first line of defence.

The actual defence lies behind those gates. The gate is the activating factor in their release.

Someone attempting to get past those gates must be ready to deal with a more formidable defence, a defence they could not see due to those gates, from booby traps to hidden weaponry.

But the gate will many times say what kind of defence someone should anticipate just as a gate will indicate the kind of treasure it is protecting.

As an example, how many people are killed in their compounds if it was not an inside job? How many banks are robbed without insider involvement?

Someone thinking of breaching the gate must therefore have infinitely superior arsenal than the simple ability of breaching that gate.

I hope you now understand the implication of Christ’s statement to Peter.

It was a promise of a victory so complete against the powers of darkness that the gates of hell would more or less open on their own accord at our advance. That because the power entrusted to us would render those gates a minor obstruction against our advance.

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. (Jude 1:23)

Our goal is not just blasting those gates. It is snatching people from hell.

The gates are there for the purpose of keeping those imprisoned from any rescue whereas the Gospel and its ministers’ responsibility is to get into hell through breaking those gates and snatching some out of hell itself.

I know there are innumerable arguments that can be made for or against this statement and so will refuse to add fodder to them.

But the bottom line is that God has given His obedient servants power and authority to break through the gates of hell and rescue some.

I am sure some of you have looked at someone and almost seen the fire of hell in their eyes and desperation.

The drug addict, the alcoholic, the sex maniac, the corrupt.

Their bravado is completely impotent to hide the helplessness in their spirits.

Though they may use everything in their power to shield them from the Gospel, they are unable to resist their craving for a better life, a God-ordered life.

I am saying this as someone God has at times sent to the dumps where the most hopeless side of humanity can be found. And their cry for help is always heartrending.

But they are in prison with forbidding gates.

However, God has always broken through for some to experience the rescue that the Gospel is.

Very few hearts are like Jezebel’s whose response to a revival is a murder threat to the tool God used.

Remember that even that legion of demons could not stop that character in Mark 5 from running to Jesus?

But this is a warfare post, the part of the Gospel in it being essential.

God will not send you to breach gates for which you have not been sufficiently trained and armed to breach.

This means that victory is assured only when we go to the gates we have the capacity to breach through our training and equipping.

It is essential that we clearly hear God’s orders before venturing out for those missions. Otherwise, we could become victims instead of the victors we had thought we were.

There are pastors and evangelists who have sent themselves to the gate called harlotry and ended up becoming customers instead of rescuers. Ther are pastors who have gone to rescue people from drinking dens and ended up becoming drunkards.

Yet we have others who are very successful in those ministries.

And we have many ministers who have sought to deal with corruption by joining politics and ended up becoming as corrupt, if not worse.

It is therefore supremely important that we know our capacity before approaching those gates.

I remember once leading a team to visit some Hindu temples and after the exercise we were so exhausted we did not think we could continue with the rest of the week’s program. Some of the team actually became sick and stopped. But God strengthened us.

Later visits were not like that because I had prior spiritual preparation.

Our spiritual capacity determines whether we will become victors or victims.

Going to the gate God sends you will give you victory just as going to a gate you have not been prepared for will bring disaster.

Do you know your spiritual capacity?

Purpose of Enduement

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

I was recently asked to explain the Biblical position on the filling of the Holy Spirit.

I though it is important to get to the basics of the same of the same.

You see, that topic has been made complicated to the point that it has created controversy to whoever touches it.

So you will allow me to deal with the purpose to help us to navigate the other aspects.

See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, (Exodus 31:2)

I want to start with the first place the Bible says that someone has been filled with the Holy Spirit to set our ball rolling.

Why was Bezaleel filled with the Holy Spirit?

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

God had a building project that required great attention to detail so that only someone possessed with His Spirit could supervise it.

You may also remember that even the sharing of the blueprints required someone even more filled, Moses.

It is clear from this single point that we are filled with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of doing God’s work exactly as He requires it; meaning that it has very little to do with us and everything to do with God.

God does not fill us with His Spirit for our purpose, fulfilment or whatever.

It is His assignment that is the focus of the filling as was with Bezaleel.

Before you start shouting about the New Testament, allow me to rush there, starting with a favourite verse.

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)

We are given power not to build great edifices or grow mammoth organisations. We are given to BECOME His witnesses. We are empowered to direct the lost world to Him.

Let us also go to the anthem and most misunderstood verse of the charismatic movement.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2: 4 – 6)

This was the immediate manifestation of our previous verse.

They were able to reach people they had no capacity of reaching apart from that gift of tongues. No wonder three thousand responded from that witness even as the locals thought the believers were blabbering since they did not understand those foreign tongues.

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, ... And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4: 29, 31)

Here the need was for God’s power against force and threats and the filling resulted in a boldness to give their witness power against the powerful forces ganged against them.

As you continue reading Acts, you will see the power of that filling responding to the various challenges besetting its witness.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16: 13, 14)

The Holy Spirit is our link to heaven and its discourses.

What I mean is that He is the One who clearly has the heavenly pattern and can transfer it to us, that being the reason I started with the statement from the Lord’s prayer about God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

That is the primary, possibly the only purpose God sent His Spirit to fill us.

What about joy? What about peace? What about fulfilment?

Can you starve when working in a food joint?

Can you become penniless when managing money?

Can you be trudging to work when managing a transport company?

The Holy Spirit not only reveals heaven to us, but through Him filling us releases heaven to us.

No wonder God’s attributes are slowly transferred to us as we continue being filled.

It is a travesty to hear someone claiming being filled with the Spirit yet unable to control their base cravings.

God’s filling (through the Holy Spirit) transfers God’s nature to us.

No wonder we have these verses

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5: 22 – 25)

Before these verses is a demonstration of what someone who is not filled with the Spirit is like. No wonder they are called the works of the flesh!

The purpose of the filling of the Spirit is simply to make us conformed to Christ’s image

Allow me to close with this verse

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32)

We are filled with the Holy Spirit to enhance our witness.

I hope this settles the dust for most of us though I know some will continue arguing using their denominational or experiential education 

Scatterbrains

I though to challenge us concerning a very interesting topic, investments, though I will still look for spiritual parallels.

I once read a book I think everybody should read, though I do not know where I can get it.

It was called Victory at the Supermarket.

It explains the strategies they employ to make someone buy what they do not need as they are looking for what they need.

Have you realised that essential items like food are always hidden from sight and placed as far away as possible so that you will walk through so much enticing stuff to access them?

Have you also realised that the things you do not need (must not have) are placed so strategically that you cannot fail to see them if you tried?

Why do hawkers always fight to stay on the streets and on visible places? And why is there an influx at the end of the month.

Impulse purchases are the prime reason for that.

The closest we get to it in the scriptures is the lust of the eyes.

That display will drive us to make impulse decisions against better judgment.

But this message is pointing at something beyond a splurge after receiving a salary though it also deals with it.

Allow me to give a sad aside.

How many are in horrible marriages because the packaging was irresistible at first ‘sight’?

That is what advertisement is all about, using sights and sounds to market something someone may not need, at least at that point in time.

I want us to think about land because, at least in our country, owning it gives you a higher status than most.

Yet do you realise that there is an influx of real estate charlatans who are playing the hawker game to simply take your money?

And I am not talking about those who will take your money and flee.

I am talking about those ‘genuine’ ones who will give you a title deed for your property.

But your property is so removed from anywhere that it may take the next fifty years for your investment to be barely feasible.

These characters will go to a place so remote that they can buy a huge chunk of land for a song because no normal person will buy it.

They will then subdivide it into very many plots and use the power of advertisement to market their ‘prime’ property selling for a very affordable price. And with very flexible payment terms.

Their ruse could make them the upwards of 1000% profit. Leaving you with a property even your grandchildren may be unable to profit from.

All because someone convinced you that there was an investment that was irresistible.

Yet it was made irresistible because you refused to give yourself time to think through the whole thing before committing, many times because they do not require you to make any deposit because doing so will allow you time to look at the illogical nature of buying land more remote than land in a foreign country.

And the same applies to car loans that will entice you to buy a car you not only do not need but that will completely mess your economics.

In our time there was the check off system mode of higher purchase where the same principle applied.

Come with a payslip and get whatever furniture item you need (or do not need). And you will probably pay three or more times the market value, just because you did not think to save first.

You do not need any discipline. Discipline is touted as a weakness if one has a stable income because to those practitioners saving before spending will kill their businesses.

This is because one who has saved will apply due diligence before spending those earnings just as he applied discipline and self denial to save.

There is nothing wrong with buying land. There is nothing wrong with raising our real estate portfolio.

But having a million acres of land in the Sahara Desert without the ability to use it borders on folly. Unless I have some strategic partners ready to invest in my dream (if it is one)

It is funny when you see some low and mid level civil servants buy plots in places where the marketers will take them using aeroplanes, hired vehicles and motor bike taxis to see the land, some needing two days to complete the seeing.

How do they get there once they purchase those properties? How will they develop or even use those lands using their measly earnings? And how will they access them when they retire as that seems to be the end goal of most?

Thinking long term before making those pivotal decisions is key to making them.

Praying through those offers could very quickly kill that irresistible bait.

That is why they will want someone to commit immediately after their sales pitch.

Refuse that bait.

God has rescued me from many such because I established long ago that I will not rush through anything before getting adequate time to pray over the irresistibility of whatever.

And I have burnt fingers when I decided that the world would end if I do not commit immediately as is always forcefully pushed.

Sadly, most of those con games are run by believers, some even getting solid footing in churches, even being touted from pulpits. That is what makes them so destructive.

Remember in the not so long past when church leaders pushed those pyramid schemes that fleeced multitudes?

This could be a repackaging of a similar thing where a pastor is paid the advertisement fee or is foolish enough to market something he does not understand.

But the flock being fleeced are not innocent as well since they are supposed to also have a relationship with the Chief Shepherd.

A similar thing happens in church all the time.

I have written of preachers who preach partial sermons to encourage their hearers to buy their books to get the full message.

There are those preachers who make giving them the do or die decision, sometimes above salvation.

And the planting of seed and tithe doctrine peddlers fit flush in this corruption.

What am I saying?

Stop being played.

Pray before investing.

Pray before buying that book or ‘gift’.

Pray before giving.

You will not die if you delay your giving by a few days. You will not die if you do not buy that property or make that investment.

But you could very easily die from stress when you realise that you have been fleeced by that pastor or brother or sister.

You could die from depression when you realise that your prime plot is a swamp.

You could die from hypertension when you realise that you created a crisis for yourself when you were enticed to satisfy another’s greed.

Pray until God clearly gives you direction. Then make a sober decision, a decision you can coherently explain to your children since they are many times the reason for that investment.

There will always be land. In fact, there is more unoccupied land than occupied, at least in our part of the world.

Stop the rush

Of Obedience and War

Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; (Judges 3:2)

From studying God’s word, you will realise that from the perspective of a loving God, the opposite of obedience is not punishment, but war.

I am not talking about rebellion, though disobedience may lead to rebellion.

Rebellion leads to trashing like we see with the generation that refused to cross over to the Promised Land.

Sin opens us up to war.

Allow me to give us another verse. Whether you think it is related or not is your problem.

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. (2Samuel 12:10)

David’s sin opened him up for unending war in his generations.

And that is what we see with the verse in Judges.

But why war? I know someone is wondering.

War creates uncertainty. War raises anxiety. War opens us to fear.

You can’t build or develop anything worthwhile in a state of war because war always unsettles.

Getting married is a risk because you know that any day may be the last.

Even farming is a big challenge because you are not sure you may live to reap what you have sown, or whether your enemy will enjoy your bounty.

The book of judges demonstrates that.

That state creates in someone a yearning for rest. It creates a reaching out for anything or anybody who may offer security.

That is where God aims for us to get to; a point at which we will reach out to Him for rest.

God does not release war on us when we sin to punish us as He trashes those who rebel. He does it so that we may seek and reconcile with Him so that He may offer us rest.

He does it so that the discontent it creates will spur our spirits to seek Him.

When you look at the panorama of the Bible, you will see a clear correlation between repentance and rest as you will see between sin and war.

Sadly, many times that unrest and war spurs the sinner to rebellion through seeking rest the wrong way or in the wrong places.

Many, instead of turning to God in repentance turned to the gods their oppressors served.

Others turned to their own inventiveness, thus furthering their sin, graduating it into rebellion.

Asa is a case in point.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (2Chronicles 16: 9, 10)

By inventiveness I mean what he had done before God had sent the messenger to confront his sin. Yet this king had been a very good king, full of faith in his earlier encounters.

The same happened with Uzziah, Hezekiah and several other kings who had had sterling testimonies before their fall (pride?)

Sadly, there are very few instances of repentance like David’s after their sin was confronted, probably because they had become too successful to care for God’s solution. Or they had sunk too deep in their sin to care for God’s simple solutions. Or they actually knew God’s solution but were not ready to go the full hog in taking it.

When we look at Jonah, we see a very clear case of rebellion, simply going exactly opposite God’s order.

But looking at the book’s conclusion we can see that he really was so much like us; He just didn’t want God dealing with his prejudices. The fact that he wrote the book tells us that he finally agreed with God, completely. And it happened because God put him in a very uncomfortable situation.

As I have said, war creates discomfort; a yearning for rest.

That is our faith

It is interesting to note that most profound faith experiences are products of crises, whether in the scriptures or in our histories.

Most of our explosive testimonies were also borne of impossibly difficult situations.

I hope you are getting what God wants you to understand.

But the conclusion of this is that sin invites war in its many forms; war whose purpose is to draw us back to God in repentance.

It is sad that many fight to end those wars by looking elsewhere for rest.

Some deal with remorse instead of repenting. They seek to correct their sin instead of abandoning it. They want to rectify their sin instead of asking for pardon and the requirements for reconciliation from the offended.

They refuse John the Baptist’s instruction concerning repentance, allowing it to bear fruit.

What state are you in?

Are you in any kind of war?

Is the war against the forces of evil or is it originating from God to draw you to seek Him?

The Challenge of Faith

Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)

I have thought to share something that I know troubles probably all believers, obedient believers for that matter. Though I wonder how a believer can be disobedient.

And it is the fact that God releases just enough for our consumption; whether it is revelation or provision.

As a result, there is much uncertainty around our lives because many times we will not have a coherent explanation of where we are or even why we are there.

A case in point is Jacob.

God has told him to go back home after twenty years out there.

That was just enough revelation to set him off on his journey.

He protects him from Laban and even the Canaanites whose tribe his sons had killed for their sister’s rape.

But why did He not tell him about Esau with his army of four hundred? Why did He not even hint about it yet the main reason Jacob ran was because Esau had vowed to kill him?

And why did He not give him any strategy on how to handle that situation?

Why had he to depend on his ingenuity when God had promised to be with him?

His prayer in the situation is a prayer most of us have prayed more times than we care to remember when our paths of obedience meet brick walls of opposition.

Why did God not tell him to relax? That He had the situation under control?

That is what I mean.

Even in provision that is how God operates with us.

He will release just enough for the moment.

A case in point is one time I was in rent arrears (over two months) to the point that I was issued with an eviction notice.

The eleventh hour passed. Then the twelfth. Then the eviction day eventually came and still no breakthrough.

That is when I received a message from a friend to go and see him.

When I thought to sneak early to see whether it was the provision I needed, God ordered me to wait for the landlord and his action. And that guy was a no-nonsense character.

I remember God asking me what I was scared of since I had surrendered to Him.

I remember praying something like this as the situation had seemed to become more desperate.

If You have a way of gaining glory by having my things thrown to the streets, I surrender.

But the guy did not come. Until I could have told him that I left because he had not come.

And it was the provision for more than the rent.

I came to learn that God had literally confused him by pushing the day ahead despite the fact that the guy was learned.

God operates that way all the time.

That is the challenge we have with obedience.

God releases just enough for our obedience.

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)

We struggle with our faith because we need the smallest sneak preview of what is ahead of our obedience that God purposely refuses to release.

Remember Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread just like He used to release manna every morning.

Just trust Me, is what God always says when He issues His command.

And we will please Him if we will just launch out on that word without asking for a route map of the journey.

Then He will release just enough provision to aid our obedience.

God owns everything.

He does not limit our provision because of lack or ill will.

He does it to enrich our relationship with Him.

He does it to deepen our love for Him.

He does it to strengthen our faith.

You see, over the years, those last gasp interventions in either provision or guidance have made me more settled. I can now relax in situations where had they happened before those experiences I could have fallen apart.

I used to wonder how Peter could have slept when he was awaiting his certain death from Herod that the angel had to awake him.

I used to wonder why Paul and Silas could have not only sung when fixed on the stocks but have refused to be released until certain demands were met.

Now I understand.

They had been with Christ

Their faith was such that they did not have issues with the uncertainties of their situations.

The only certainty is the constancy of God.

And that puts all the other uncertainties at an almost irrelevant position.

But beyond that aspect of uncertainty is an even worse lurking threat; what will people say about our uncertainties?

How do we explain our very almost non-existent revelation? And I say non-existent because for the most part nobody apart from us has heard the order we may be seeking to explain. In fact we may also be having serious issues about it.

And it is probably worse because we have to explain to our loved ones things that we possess the barest revelation, many times only an order, an order we are also struggling to understand.

I actually gave up trying to explain my obedience to anybody because I cannot even explain the same to myself, the only certain thing being the order I have received.

We are not called mad men for nothing.

It is that madness that pleases God because it takes Him at His word without even comprehending it.

Clarity is the only thing we pursue. But we seek it with an intensity so extreme because our life literally hangs on it.

That is the purpose of fleeces. That is the purpose of asking for signs.

They are simply to help us ascertain the order we have received, many times because it is extremely idiotic and insane when logically looked at.

It was with such clarity that Gideon was able to trim an army of thirty-two thousand to just three hundred.

Imagine diminishing our disadvantage in war from four against one to over four hundred against one?

But he had established his orders and their source.

His insanity was therefore guided by Someone who had the capacity to do the impossible.

That is our faith.

What insane order have you recently received?

When was the last time you received such an order?

Did you follow through with it?

Or must you always understand God’s orders enough to explain your peers?

Why Judgment Tarries

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? (Jonah 4:11)

I have for some time been burdened about a community I am connected with.

The level of sin and wickedness is saddening.

It seems as if sin is a foreign concept for most, even church people, yet it has been the bedrock of some serious Christian sects for a long time.

You listen to conversations and wonder whether anybody has ever encountered even a fragment of scripture because their arguments bear no connection with anything Christian.

Interestingly, many are in ‘Christian’ garb from top to bottom.

My observation over the years is that there is an almost zero awareness of sin, the rampant ones being theft and greed, harlotry and witchcraft.

As we continued praying with a pastor friend, it became abundantly clear that there is a huge problem because the community is teetering towards Sodom.

What should we be praying about?

At one time we were thinking that what the community needs is an awakening; an Elijah or John the Baptist type awakening because nothing in the community has anything close to the kind of change (forget about transformation) that would do any good.

Though there are so many ‘evangelistic crusades’, there is simply no hint of their efficacy, something I have noticed in a few other places over the years.

But as we went on praying, we saw that even that may not offer any solution since sin appears so entrenched.

Of course, the next thing is calling for judgment.

But even that does not seem to offer much of a solution. And that because the majority of the community does not even seem aware that what they are pursuing is sin.

That took us to Jonah’s scenario.

If God should judge the community (and He is justified to do so), many people would die for sins they were not even aware were sins.

That crushed me and put me in a dilemma, a bad one.

I can’t pray that they be forgiven since sin must be judged. And I can’t pray that they be judged since a majority of them are not awakened about their sin.

So I prayed that God shows me how to pray for the community.

God answered that in a very interesting way.

I went to a new stage and boarded a matatu home. And the signs clearly indicated where it was headed.

Along the way, it started behaving suspiciously.

But I didn’t mind because I was confident it was going to the destination indicated at the stage.

Then it left the highway. But even then, I didn’t panic. And it was raining very heavily as well.

Until the rough road became too much. By then we had left the highway far behind.

That is when I thought to ask why we were out of the highway and the conductors gazed at me in amazement since they were not going where I was going.

I had to alight in the rain, look for another matatu to take me back to the highway and then look for transport to take me where I was going.

I left Nairobi during the day and arrived home late at night and spent double the fare.

Then God told me why that happened.

Guides! Signposts! Signals!

I remembered another sad incident involving matatus some years ago.

Many matatus will on retiring take passengers on the route where the owner or driver lives

There was this PSV that ferries people to an upscale estate a few minutes drive from the city centre whose many vehicles closed their days by taking our route. And the stages are near each other.

One time, an old lady boarded such a vehicle. And she couldn’t be faulted because it was the one that ferried them all the time.

I do not know whether she slept as most people do at night, but as we were almost getting to the end of the journey, over an hour later, she blurted.

Why is it taking so long to get to Kileleshwa?

And to imagine it was close to ten o’clock at night!               

Our hearts sank.

Here is an old lady in Kiambu county, so far from the city which is so close to her estate.

All because of a wrong signal, or wrong signage.

That is the problem with the community we have been praying for.

God then started opening our eyes to that, showing us the spiritual leadership and the reason they could not be relied on to guide their people to God.

We have been able to see sin and wickedness in that spiritual leadership that is shameful and completely abhorrent.

And that spiritual leadership does not seem to care. They are as content in their wickedness as the ignorant sheep they are leading.

Of course, the prayer got a very clear direction.

Praying that God deals with the leaders in such a way that everybody will understand that God hates sin, worse still, sin involving the guides representing Him. And that is whether He has called them or they called themselves.

Or what would you do if you found a signpost showing the wrong direction?

And from observation I am not talking about this community alone.

As a minister I get to hear about a lot that happens in churches far and wide.

I can therefore accurately affirm that this problem is in most churches, especially ‘successful’ ones.

The clearest indicator of this is a question I have always posed, when was the last time you heard sin being preached against in church?

This is the clearest indicator that there are blurred lines as far as sin is concerned, meaning that congregations have no clear understanding of what sin is. And that because their guides do not care.

For many ‘successful’ churches, sin is opposing the revelations or conduct of their superstar, something I have observed more times that I care to remember.

So as I pray for this community, I also want to challenge you to pray for your community and church concerning these faulty and misguiding guides.

And I would want us to pray as God has shown me; that He will deal with those faulty (probably false) guides in such a way that it will be clear to all that it is God who has done it.

The Bible talks about judgment beginning in God’s house (you may call it household).

Where better then but with us leaders?

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (James 3:1)

Because leadership is a trust answerable to God.

Revival and judgment are two sides of the same coin.

And Jonah’s story is the clearest indicator of the same.

This means that before God can revive our generation, He must deal with the prevailing sin that is blocking His move in it.

Will we be part of it?

Obedience, the Conclusion of Everything

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)

I want us to examine our faith with the view of establishing the essentials of the same.

Have you ever wondered what is the only thing that will take a believer to heaven?

Has it ever occurred to you that the many things and activities we get involved with in the name of ministry and church have no capacity at all of leading us heavenward?

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Have you ever wondered why obedience is never taught in church circles? That only a mention here and there is adequate to fulfil righteousness?

We teach discipleship and prophecy and eschatology and all those other logys.

We teach giving and fellowship and sacrifice for the church.

We teach deep doctrines of this or the other subject. We teach counselling and psychology and family therapy to ensure our relationships are perfect.

We teach Greek and Hebrew to help believers understand the Bible in depth.

We have age relevant ministries to reach out to people where they are.

We even have strategies to reach the outcasts and rejects appropriately.

But has it ever occurred to you that there is literally no school of obedience in all this mix?

Have you like me realised that there is literally nowhere in church circles where obedience is emphasised?

I know someone will shout about grace and the fact that Christ paid it all.

If it is as simple as that, why then will there be people in hell?

Salvation is a choice we make. It is a decision we make to agree with God’s diagnosis of our condition.

Agreeing that I am sick does not automatically make me well. I must be willing and ready to take the medication for my condition.

Remember John the Baptist saying this?

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

Though repentance is good, it is not the complete package. It is the start of a journey; the journey John the Baptist was painting here.

Leaving everything at repentance and reception of grace falls way short of God’s requirement.

Otherwise explain some consistently appearing verses in the scriptures.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7: 22, 23)

Where had grace disappeared to?

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. (Matthew 25: 11, 12)

Had anything happened to grace between their invitation with the five other virgins and this time He tells them that He did not know them?

What I am saying is that grace is a door we go through and not the destination.

It is impossible to get into that path without grace. Meaning that it is impossible to get to the destination without grace. It is impossible to keep on that path without grace as well.

But on the other hand, we are required to walk the road if we were to get to the destination that door opens us to.

I have written very widely about Saul and Balaam as indicators that grace is not the end game of our faith.

You see the two tearfully repented, repeatedly, yet were unable to access grace (call it forgiveness) because they were not willing to walk the road repentance indicated. Esau is also looked at alike.

And we see the same with Judas for those who will argue about me dwelling on the Old Testament.

Obedience is the only qualification for a walk with God.

And by obedience I am not talking about a set of rules set by whoever and from wherever.

I am talking about a walk with God where I am constantly pursuing the knowledge of His will so that I can walk in it.

But let me get to definitions first.

What do I mean by obedience?

My most basic definition of obedience is the moment by moment walk in the revelation God releases to me.

This in a way ties with my last post about hearing God’s voice.

I am unable to walk in obedience if I am disconnected with that moment-by-moment guidance.

What about the commandments? I know someone is shouting.

The commandments are the framework, the foundation on which that obedience is built.

I can’t talk about walking with God if my passions are not under control.

For example, I know ministers who are very good liars. Good because they would rather lie than offend. They would rather lie that leave their parishioner with terrible dreams truth may open them to.

There are prophets whose greed is on another level. There are pastors and bishops whose pride and entitlement crushes everything and everybody who stands in their way.

There are evangelists and apostles who must sample any new sister who joins their team.

Incidentally, they continue being ‘used’ of God, some of them tremendously.

These are the characters being addressed by my most quoted verses, Matthew 7: 22, 23.

Their ministry overshot the commandments. Their powerful revelations nullified the basics.

You therefore cannot speak about obedience outside the commandments.

However, obedience makes the commandments almost invisible since their observance is automatic.

You see, I cannot receive a higher order before I have effectively and conclusively fulfilled a lower one.  I cannot be given a promotion before I have excelled in my present position.

At no time do we read about Samuel dealing with commandments or temptations. We do not see him in the nitty gritties of his faith

We only know him as someone who walked with God and followed His voice faithfully.

But we are able to clearly see his relationship with the commandments when he was getting out of the scene because he challenged the whole nation to stand in judgment of him for any breach of the same. And none could.

I hope you are getting at what I am saying.

Obedience does not speak about commandments because it surpasses them.

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

This means that looking at the observance of the commandments is way off the mark of obedience.

We look at the observance of the commandments because we are not really seeking to walk in obedience.

We can almost say that a pursuit of obedience means that we have outgrown the observance of the commandments, more like what happens in our studies.

No one pursuing further studies ever remembers counting one to ten or reciting the alphabet. Nor is he asked whether he can write his name.

They have become part of his makeup so that he will do them without thinking.

... touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:6)

This means that in dealing with obedience we are not dealing with the observance of the commandments, not because we are overlooking them, but because we have observed them to the point that we do not even notice it.

I therefore cannot be talking about obedience when I am dealing with exaggeration in my preaching. Or when I have issues with relationships with women and girls surrounding me or the moneys passing through my hands.

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5: 3, 4)

I hope you can grasp what I am saying.

Simply that obedience is the product of walking with God. We can comfortably say that obedience is the actual walking with God. It is the fellowship someone has with the divine.

That is why it is beyond rules. Because rules do not enrich relationships.

But it directly implies intimate knowledge of what the divine wants us to be because we have consistently sought to know what He is like through the already existing revelation (the Bible)

As an example, if a king should visit you or you are invited to visit his palace, it is essential that you intricately know protocols and etiquette required for such visit because a breach could be catastrophic for that relationship.

But once you are in fellowship, you will be able to talk about anything without restraint.

Yet that does not minimise those protocols and etiquette. It just surpasses them.

It means that you are rightly and justly in the presence of the king.

What I am trying to emphasise is that obedience is not about commandments, though that is because it has flown higher than their requirements.

Talking about fellowship and obedience, it is important to say that fellowship indicates a uniting of hearts. Or simply hearts that are growing into a likeness.

Anybody can tell you that people in love not only start behaving alike, they also start looking alike.

That is what communion with God creates, hearts that start beating in synch with His.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

You may realise that Saul tried to do God’s will and was rejected whereas David sought to do God’s will and was accepted.

In fact, David was called someone in pursuit of God’s heart. And his life demonstrated that.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)

One main disconnect between God’s heart and ours is in our relationship with the vulnerable.

That is the point at which most disconnect from His heart in obedience.

Yet from this verse it seems to be the whole purpose of His anointing, meaning that His assignment was pivoted on that.

I suspect that prophet was sent to hell because he decided to take his prophecies to more fruitful fields, the exorcist decided that the poor did not have adequate returns for his ministry and the miracle worker thought the vulnerable were below his radar in Matthew 7: 22, 23.

And we see the same thing in Matthew 25 when Christ is separating us like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Where do the vulnerable rate in your heart?

Obedience means that my heart slowly becomes like God’s, my thoughts slowly starting becoming like God’s and my character slowly becomes like God’s.

Saul was finally rejected because he refused to carry God’s anger (heart) against the Amalekites, choosing instead to use the spoil to give God a sacrifice.

Phinehas was commended for rescuing Israel because he employed God’s wrath (heart) on blatant sin in Numbers 25.

It simply means that the more aligned and alike my heart is to God’s, the more able am I to do God’s will.

Conversely, it means that the more obedient I am growing to be, the more my heart starts becoming like God’s.

To some I think this sounds confusing, way higher than the clouds.

I will therefore seek to bring it down to a way we can easily grasp it.

What is God’s will? Where is God’s will? How can we access God’s will.

I have talked about the fact that obedience does not deal with commandments because it is beyond them.

But there are those who do not even know those commands.

I will therefore get us to the basics of our faith since someone does not just start walking and talking.

Most birds do not just fly. They will need a runway, however short.

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (1Peter 2:2)

It is only the person who started his journey in the faith right who can be able to grow to clearly understand God’s will.

It is only the person who is immersed in the word of God who will be able to graduate into the person who has God’s heart. It is only the person who is sold out to God’s word who is able to walk according to God’s will.

You see, no revelation surpasses the one already written. No word nullifies the word already spoken.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5: 17 – 19)

Knowing what is written is therefore pivotal to knowing the intricacies of God’s will. Walking according to what is written will shape us not only to behave as God has prescribed, but to also become as He has intended.

Incidentally, that is what sets David apart.

You also remember that the same thing happened when Josiah discovered God’s word and aligned himself with it?

Allow me to summarise, though as usual I do not intend to close this post for the purposes of you digging deeper in the topic for greater enrichment.

Ther are two building blocks to the kind of obedience that pleases God.

The first is a complete and unwavering commitment to God’s word.

You must know who He is before seeking to know what He wills.

You can’t be obedient if you are casual with God’s word.

And this goes beyond knowledge.

That is why I am talking about being immersed into the scriptures so that they then shape everything you are, not only do.

The second is a reverential relationship with God guided by the same word.

I must at the personal level seek to know Him beyond what I read in the scriptures, again guided by the same word.

I must develop habits that will align me with His word ‘effortlessly’.

My prayer and relationships must be guided by His revelation, among all other aspects of my life.

We can call this a sold-out life, meaning a life completely sold out to God and His agenda.

I hope I have challenged someone to aim higher in their relationship with God.