Category: Faith

Quit battling in the Flesh

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Social Issues, Walk of Faith

WarfareAre you fighting battles in the flesh? Are you trying to resolve stuff with in your own strength? Put on your armor and take it to the LORD in prayer. Worship him for who HE is and what HE has been doing for you Trust in HIM for the Victory!

There  are times that I have found myself  in tough situations that seemed to appear from nowhere – well not nowhere, I realized that the signs  were evident but ignored them as they seemed harmless to the point of  insignificance. When these ignored signs later caused full blown turmoil I was thrown in disarray. Feeling unprepared and disenfranchised I resulted to fighting in the flesh. This quickly led to frustration and it was only after I went down on my knees to seek the LORD when  I realized how wrong I was.

Red Flags / Signs

Before we get to the warfare  part ,let me point out the signs  the red flags to watch out for. These tend to creep in slowly  but surely and before you know it, you fall flat on your face!

1. Too busy to pray
Does the day find you awake or does the day wake you up? These covid times have been trying for all people ,all nations, and all colours regardless of one’s social status. It should however not be an excuse for one to fail to pray nor to I have found that best way to start one’s day is to start it with the LORD in prayer ,preferably before the day breaks.

2. Too busy to study the word
Individual bible study is crucial for the survival of any child of God who wants to spend eternity with the LORD. How can one be in a relationship if there is no communication? The Word of God is Alive and active! No other text in this universe is alive, or Sharper than any double-edged sword,able to penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

3. Too busy to worship
Worship is what we were created to do. If mankind does not worship God they tend to find something else to worship. This of course leads down the slippery slope of idolatry. We worship out of our delight in Him.
CS. Lewis a famous author and theologian noted in his book  Reflection on the Psalms that  praise not only expresses our enjoyment but also completes our enjoyment.

4. Too grumpy to be grateful
Have you ever felt that someone was literally stealing your joy? Going about minding your own business and being joyful then suddenly ,you get robbed. Robbed off your Joy! One may be overwhelmed by challenges of life that it seems there is nothing to be grateful for. This is a tactic of the enemy to get you too grumpy to be grateful. The enemy only comes to steal kill and destroy .That includes stealing your joy. We are urged to “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

5. Harboring sin instead of confessing it
This is the stealthiest of all. Un-confessed sin lies low in one’s heart  when one has past wounds that have never been cleansed and healed by the blood of Jesus. The sin is harbored as the “victim” feels that they were treated unjustly and thus have a right to complain and hold on to the pain.
In other cases the sin could also be a flaw in one’s character  – stuff you know you are doing that you shouldn’t be doing but keep on doing anyway coz  you think no one knows about it, or that you got a grip on it. Harboring these sins can make one wither while still abiding in the vine and wondering why no spiritual fruit is forthcoming.

6. Misinterpreted warning dream
I truly believe that the LORD does speak to us in dreams and visions. There has been evidence of this in the bible even for non- believers. Take Pharaoh in Joseph’s time. He had a warning dream that occurred thrice, the same message in different scenarios. The Lord  allowed Joseph to be in prison  so that he would be the one to interpret Pharaohs dream at the right time. This way the people of two nations were preserved.
God does still speak to us this way, but most often than not we are too busy to take note or quickly run to horoscopes, false teachings and other worldly ways to try and interpret dreams hence running into the issue of misinterpreting the dream altogether. A misdiagnosed condition would not get the right medical attention and  treatment it deserves.

Weapons of our warfare

This topic has been exhaustively covered by experts in the field, hence this is just a summary of my findings.The word also tells us that “though we live in the world ,we do not wage war as the world does.The weapons we fight with are not of this world.On the contrary,they have divine power to demolish strongholds.We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ Jesus.”2 Corinthians 10:3-5

  1. Prayer & The Armor of God
    As described in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6: 10- 18 .The children of God need to put on this armor, the Belt  of Truth ,Breastplate of righteousness ,Shoes of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation ,Sword of the Spirit and to Pray in the Spirit.
  2. The Blood of Jesus
    The bible tells us that We shall overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our Testimony .The Lamb here refers to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world, Jesus Christ .His precious blood paid the price for our ransom.
  3. The Name of Jesus
    Jesus before his crucifixion prayed for his disciples and all believers.” I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me” This name is Jesus Christ. John 17:11
  4. Worship and Praise
    Most may think that praise and worship is done only when everything is hunky-dory. On the contrary, when the going  gets rough get your praise on! Switch to a channel that’s got some serious praise going and  sing along ,or simply sing hymns that you sang as a child in school or those you heard old folk singing(yeah especially those that you didn’t fancy coz it was Old English).Bottom line is sing with your whole heart and dance.

    Psalms 8:2 “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of Thane adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. (NAS)”

    Let me explain this further by quoting  a renowned Bible teacher ,Pastor and Author Derek Prince in his book Spiritual Warfare.
    “We see here that God has provided strength for His people against their enemies. Two words are used for the enemy. First, “adversaries,” in the plural. I believe this means Satan’s kingdom, in general. These are the principalities and powers, the rulers and authorities that are spoken of in Ephesians 6:12. The second word is “enemy,” in the singular. I believe that refers to Satan himself.”

  5. Weapon of Preaching
    I was astounded to discover this from Derek Prince’s book on Spiritual warfare as I had never heard anyone explain it like he did. He puts it this way ;
    “    It is solely and exclusively the preaching of God’s Word. It in no way applies to the preaching of other things, such as human philosophy, political ideologies, or even elaborate theology.”
    To  expound on this he highlighted various scriptures but that which stood out for me was Acts 19:8 -10
    “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. (NIV)”

    He then described this kind of preaching from Paul as intense ,continuous and extensive and the end result  was that “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” Acts 19:11

    6.Weapon of Testimony
    According to Google Testimony refers to a public recounting of a religious conversion or experience ,evidence or proof of something, a demonstration, a witness.
    By sharing our own personal testimonies of what the LORD has done for us is another way of triumphing over the enemy.
    Revelation 12:1 “They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
    they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.”

    7.Fasting
    The very same verse above ,the second part  “they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”  This verse is often interpreted as fasting. A dying of self, crucifying one’s flesh, denying oneself in order to grow the spirit man and focus on prayer.Jesus also taught his disciples the same. They had been unable to drive out an impure spirit that had possessed a boy .Jesus told them – “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting” Mark:9:29

    It is my sincere hope that next time you are tempted to battle in the flesh, you will be wiser and apply what you have learnt here and all that the LORD reveals to you in His infinite wisdom.
    Shalom.

 

The Storm

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Covid 19, Faith, Freedom, Inspiration

Where is your faith_He is with you even in the stormBefore the storm, the sky was beautifully clear. Clear blue skies, thin clouds way up there, sun shining bright. Its warmth making even the flowers smile, a gentle breeze could be felt every now and then, the trees swaying as in a slow dance. Planes flying overhead, preparing to land as they approached the airport. They flew low enough that one could easily identify the airline from the brightly painted tail fins.

Life was normal. Well at least this was the norm; exciting weekends, fun and laughter with family and friends planning for the next get together with absolute certainty and parting ways with hugs, kisses and high fives. Work, school, church, seminars, conferences, fellowships, eating out, movies, theatres,  rush hour traffic, shopping, errands, impromptu trips. Meticulously laying out plans for the rest of the year, for family, work, hobbies interests ensuring that none of them clash.

It all seemed normal, and was not perturbed even when I saw some ominous clouds gathering in the distance. The looming storm seemed so far away, too far that it would never reach me and my loved ones. The storm’s epicenter was in the middle of a far, far away continent, in a town we had never heard of, the city of Wuhan.

Barely four months since the pandemic broke out in China, the ravaging storm has traversed all continents wreaking havoc, leaving thousands upon thousands dead, and over a million others infected, spreading like wildfire .The pandemic is now in my very own city, Nairobi. Major cities in the world are now on lockdown. Normal life is not normal anymore as we had known it.

This storm is not only taking the lives of many has also gripped the world with fear.
Most companies are laying off staff; others closing shop unable to bear the financial strain, those with jobs are urged to work from home.

The majority in my country live from hand to mouth and work in informal settings, bills still accruing, even having running water and soap to keep the vicious virus at bay is a challenge let alone setting a meal on the table.

Everything seems to have come to a standstill all around the world, the storm rages on striking the nations with fear .This virus does not discriminate; it affects people of all social status, all races and all religions. We are all in the same boat facing the same storm.

I recently came across a different kind of storm in the New Testament, a monstrous storm that threatened the lives of the disciples.

They were on a boat when this storm hit. The waves of the lake plummeted against the boat and swamped it, threatening to drown all the passengers. They however weren’t alone in the storm; Jesus was with them, his head on a pillow asleep. They woke him up.

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith? He asked the disciples.” The disciples were amazed and asked one another “Who is this?” He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him. Luke 9: 22-25

At this point in time, the disciples had seen Jesus in action before .They knew that he had done the miraculous before their very eyes .They had seen him heal the sick, even from diseases that were known to be incurable! He drove out evil spirits from people and had even raised a young boy from death to life! They knew that he wielded great power and authority.

It then suddenly hit me ,the storm that we all face today – the storm of the covid 19 pandemic that is trying to crush the entire boat and drown all occupants i.e. the entire world; it dawned on me  We are not alone in this storm ,the Lord is with us.

Just as he was with his disciples on the boat, he is still present. Only that most of us do not acknowledge him, let alone believe in him. Some may also think that he is too far removed from our realities, or too busy to make time for us or perhaps that we are too far gone from him and wouldn’t know where to start the conversation.

He said that he would never leave us nor forsake us.
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13: 5

He said that he would forgive us and cleanse us from our sins.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”1 John 1:9

He also said that everyone who calls upon his name would be saved.
“…whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” Joel 2:32

Anyone who comes to him must first of all believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

He is with us even in this storm, we need only call out to him, he rebuked winds and waves in the past, he can surely rebuke this invisible wind and the Covid 19 storm will surely come to a sudden end.

#storm #covid19 #africa #asia  #europe #americas #oceania
#Jesus #Savior #hope # life #covid19willend

Half way through the year 2019

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Hope

rendered

This morning, the twenty fourth of June 2019 I happened to be looking back and reviewing my year so far asking myself “what have I accomplished this year?”

Then came across some verses in Haggai talking about this very day…but years ago

I have pasted them right here for easy reference;

Haggai 1:9-10

“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.”

Haggai 1:12 -14

“Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.

So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.”

Haggai 2:18 – 19

“From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.

“‘From this day on I will bless you.’”

Three key takeaway  points

  1. Quit focusing too much on my house, this I interpreted as my selfish ambitions, my plans

 

  1. Focus on what the Lord desires for me obey and do it

 

  1. The Lord promises his blessings if I obey him

 

Be blessed may we all deliberately seek his Kingdom and His righteousness as he continues to guide us on this second half of 2019.

 

#goals  #Midyear #review  #smart #strategy #life

Righteousness

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Grace, Inspiration, Walk of Faith

The Righteous

Definition of Righteousness of an individual

  • According to Google – it’s the quality of being morally right or justifiable.
  • Ethicalness, saintliness ,purity ,noble – mindedness, piousness
  • In worldly sense you are judged righteous by your deeds, hence it can be earned. One may seem as “righteous” to the world but in God’s eyes they are far from it.

Definition of Righteousness of an individual in God’s word

  • Believing God and in his son Jesus Christ
  • Having Faith In the Lord and trusting him ,despite the obstacles we face
  • Abraham believed God when he promised him descendants as numerous as the stars. He simply believed without doubt and it was credited to him as righteousness
  • It cannot be earned by work or effort ,it is given by the Lord .Hence when He declares a person righteous , they really are ,despite what the world thinks

Genesis 15: 5-6

“And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He declared, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the LORD, credited to as righteousness.”

Abraham was in a strange predicament; He was in his 70’s, his wife in her 60’s at the time when God gave them this promise. It was a well-known fact that she was barren, and the likelihood of bearing healthy children in menopause was actually not biologically possible, to this day it isn’t. On top of that, God tells him that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars! To bring it into perspective , I checked out the number of stars in the  Milky way galaxy  (that’s  a tiny part of the universe where the earth floats about) ,turns out there are approximately 100 – 400 Billion stars according to google ! There’s no way Abraham would have been able to count them, let alone sire that many a population. Oh and by the way, the 400 B stars are only in our galaxy and there are a total of approximately 100 Billion galaxies…..you can do the math.

Now, that we see the full picture of the promise given to Abraham, no amount of technology or pseudoscience or law of attraction can make that possible, only the LORD Almighty! And He promises, no matter the known facts of your situation, if you simply believe in him, then you are righteous in his sight!

Romans 1:17

17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith”

Romans 3: 20 -24

“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The Gospel refers to the teachings and revelation of Christ Jesus. This reveals something totally new to the people that righteousness comes from God. One no longer had to do works to tick out check boxes to prove that they are righteous ,this instead came from the Lord Almighty land it is HE who decides if one is righteous or not. This righteousness was given to one who believes that Jesus died on the cross to saves souls of men and through.

Benefits of Righteousness

This understanding now allows us to fully claim all the promises that were given to the righteous .There are many instances where the bible speaks about this attribute and those who have it and the blessings that have been given to them.

The LORD has given promises to those who pursue righteousness. One can claim them boldly  in speech and in prayer. He has promised to deliver them and to strengthen them.

He promises that though they go through trials ,and when they cry out to  him ,he will hear and deliver them.Here are a few examples of this;

“The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD he is their stronghold in times of trouble .The Lord helps them and delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in him”. Psalms 37: 39

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower the righteous run to it and are safe”  
Proverbs 18:10

Psalms 34: 15 – 17 & 19 – 20

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to blot out their name from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.

The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
    not one of them will be broken”

Psalms 97:11

“Light shines on the righteous
    and joy on the upright in heart.”

How to develop an attitude of Righteousness –pursuing righteousness

Now that we can see clearly that it is not earned, but rather it is given by the Lord most high, the bible tells we should seek it out and pursue it even!


Timothy 2:22
“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

“Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
    and praise his holy name.” Psalms 97 :12

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” 2 Timothy 6:9 -10

 “But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness”
2 Timothy 6:11     

These reveal to us that to pursue righteousness we need to cultivate an attitude of praise and worship of the Most High .We need not praise only when things are going great for us but also during challenges and when facing obstacles.

It also urges us not to pursue evil or harmful desires that will make us wander from the faith ,but rather to righteousness and a godly life that is pleasing to the LORD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consecration and Sanctification

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Walk of Faith

These two words ; I have been hearing about them for a while now since I begun taking my  spiritual walk with the seriousness it deserves .Then I  realized that I  didn’t really quite grasp them fully . So,  did some research and voila !Thought I’d share  my findings here and dropped in a section that talks about how to apply it in this day and age.

consecration & sanctification

Definition

  • Consecration is the solemn  dedication to a special purpose or service. Persons, places, or things can be consecrated.
  • Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy

Definition of Consecration and sanctification in God’s word

  • Leviticus 20:7 “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy”

Exodus 29:42-49

  • “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you;43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God”

  • Jesus prayed for his disciples before his arrest so that God would protect them and strengthen them as he sent them out the world.

John 17: 17 “Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth.”

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.”

  • Colossians 3:1-8

“Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, above Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life but now you must rid yourselves of such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

  • Genesis 35:1-5 Where God commanded Jacob to go to Bethel to build an altar to him there ,he then told his household  “…. Get rid of your foreign gods you have with you and purify yourselves and change your clothes .Then come ,let us go up to Bethel ,where I will build an alter to God who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
  • Philippians 4: 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

We can thus summaries this as follows

  • Consecration is setting oneself apart to be used of God
  • Its purifying one self from the stuff that distracts us from truly worshiping God, getting rid of all the earthly desire that easily trip one up from following Christ
  • God sanctifies us with his word

Application for 21st Century

  • Getting rid of toxic relationships – quit following those “bff’s” who always lead you to sin – such as though not limited to- drunkenness ,orgies ,gossiping ,stealing ,murder ,porn, prostitution ,multiple partners, swinging partners, idolatry
  • Getting rid of toxic behavior in ones life – alcoholism, addictions such as (drug ,sex, internet, shopping…yes shopping, gambling ,binge eating/food, plastic surgery ,video game )   https://www.everydayhealth.com/
  • Getting rid of those seemingly harmless habits that eventually turn to be monsters …. Watching extremely violent movies or with heavy sexual content ,and reading books and listening to music of similar genre. Flirting, sexting and exhibitionism .Acquiring multiple tattoos and body piercings
  • Getting more down time ,and spending that time to study God’s word and talking to him
  • Spending more time in prayer and worshiping God
  • Spending more time in healthy relationships ,that encourage you to be a better person
  • Spending more time in building ones character ,through helping others ,through the literature one reads or music listened to or experiences in one’s life