Author: powerofgrace

I believe all men have this in common: that they want to be happy. They do not all agree on what brings the greatest happiness, but they do all long to have it. And this longing is not bad. It is good. Evil consists in trying to find happiness in ways that displease and dishonor God. Goodness consists in finding happiness in ways that please and honor God. We can conceive of a world in which we might be called upon to do right at the expense of our ultimate happiness. But that is not the world in which we live. God has established this world in such a way that doing good through faith in Christ always leads to greater happiness eventually. We do not live in a world where we must choose between our eternal happiness and God’s glory! God has created this world and its moral laws in such a way that the more we choose to glorify God, the happier we will be.

Of course this does not mean that there is no discipline, no self-denial. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34, 35). But it is clear from Jesus’ words that self-denial is a means to saving our lives. This means simply that we must stop seeking our happiness in one way and start seeking it in another. Therefore what sets Christians off from the world is not that we have given up on the universal quest for happiness, but that we now seek our happiness from a different source and in different ways. We have learned from Jesus, who “for the joy set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2), that the joy we seek may require that we choose to suffer for Christ’s sake. Yet we must never become self-pitying because “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Nor can we ever become proud since we know that “suffering produces patience, and patience produces approvedness, and approvedness produces hope” (Romans 5:3, 4)—hope that God will restore our happiness one hundredfold (Mark 10:30). So you can’t boast in your sufferings since they are all bringing about our greater happiness in God.

So I take it to be a great and wonderful and liberating truth that God made us to be eternally happy. And I find great help in viewing the Bible as God’s guidebook to joy. We ought to view the Bible as a divine prescription for how to be cured of all unhappiness. The medicine it prescribes is not always sweet, but the cure it brings is infinite and eternal joy at God’s right hand (Psalm 16:11).

God has Called us to Witness for him, it is a very unique and special gift that God has given to us and not just to a special set of individuals as some would have it. We are to be a light of the world, ambassadors for Christ. As We consecrate ourselves to God and dedicate our lives to his service,our our possibilities to serve are endless.We all have different talents but we all play a unique role in the church, we all need each other, as the scripture in 1 Corinthians 12:12,13 that our bodies have different members but each member, has a special task, and one member cannot do without the other . It is the same in the christian realm.God Delights in taking people of different backgrounds with different talents and abilities imparting to them gifts for service.God has a special assignment for each one of us in sharing the gospel with others.God gives us spiritual gifts to us accomplish his task, a divine task.When we surrender our lives to God and through baptism the Holy Spirit imparts to us gifts for the benefit of service.We too are anointed with the Holy Spirit,just as how Jesus was anointed at his baptism and this was done to fully equip him for ministry. When God has given us our gifts and we should use that gift to be a blessing to others._Elder Micheal Stewart

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I was again overcome by the story of David’s sin against Uriah (murder) and Bathsheba (adultery) and God’s response in 2 Samuel 11-12. David acknowledges that the one who has done such a thing deserves to die (12:5). But in the end Nathan says, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die” (12:13).But though the sin is taken away and the death sentence removed, Nathan says, “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die” (12:14). In spite of forgiveness some “penalty” for the sin remains. I put “penalty” in quotes because I think we must distinguish consequences of forgiven sin (v. 13) from consequences of unforgiving sin. The latter are properly called penalties. The former we should probably call “disciplinary consequences.”That is, they are related to the sin, and they reflect the displeasure of God for the sin, but their aim is not retributive justice. They are not part of condemnation. The aim of the consequences of forgiven sin is not to settle the accounts demanded by retributive justice.That’s what hell is for. There is a judgment whose purpose is to vindicate the right by paying back the wrong thus establishing equity in God’s kingdom of righteousness. This is done on the cross for those who are in Christ and it is done in hell for those who are not.

But the aim of God-sent consequences of forgiven sin is not to settle accounts demanded by retributive justice. The aim of the God-sent consequences of forgiven sin are (1) to demonstrate the exceeding evil of sin, (2) to show that God does not take sin lightly even when he lays aside his punishment, (3) to humble and sanctify the forgiven sinner.

Thus Hebrews 12:6 teaches that “the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

This is immensely important to teach in a day when there is an imbalance of emphasis on the Father’s forgiving tenderness to the exclusion of the Father’s forgiving toughness. Thus many people have no categories to handle the consequences of the sins in their lives except to become less biblical and God-centered in their interpretation of life.

By the power of truth and the Spirit we must learn to revel in the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, the hope of glory, the joy of the Lord at the very same time that we may be suffering from the consequences of forgiven sin. We must not equate forgiveness with absence of painful impact. David’s life is a vivid illustration of this truth. May God give us the grace to learn it and live it.

Cherishing with you the tough and tender truth of God-Elder Micheal Stewart

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, thus saith the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live (Isaiah 38:1)
These are heavy tidings. You get sick and a prophet of God comes and say set your house in order for you will die and not live. Many of us would have died from we heard this. These are things you must do. In preparation for death is to make your relationship with God right, and that is really what it meant by set thy house in order.
So Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the lord Remember now O thy God, I beseech thee, how I have walked before you in truth and with a complete heart, and have done that which is good in his sight. And Hezekiah wept then came the word of God that saith thou hast heard thy cry and thou will add fifteen years to your life.

In the name of Jesus who has removed death’s sting and defeated death for us, so changing the nature of death for the Christian, that we can even safely say with Paul.; I desire to depart and be with Jesus, which is better by far(Philippians 1:23)
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take. Many of us may remember these familiar lines. Many people don’t think about death very much because we’re so busy with life. Day to day activities, a rushed schedule, and heavily committed lifestyles that leave little or no time to think about life, death and beyond. Yet in spite of the joy we have in carrying out our daily activities, we also live in realization that some day we have to face death. In other words some day we will die.

Brothers and sisters the reality we face today is that death is sure. Romans 6:23 says for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our lord. what this saying to us because we are all sinners we need to face death. But if we remain faithful we shall have eternal life. I am encouraging us to claim the gift and not the wage. the wages come with consequences but the gift is a reward from God which is eternal life.We will not take anything with us but if we die with Christ we will have eternal life. Many of us think that when God tells us to put our house in order it is to refurnish our house but it is not so it is to renew a relationship with God. God will have to say to us before we die set your house in order for you shall die and not live. Many of us today knows that our house is not in order and it needs to get in order now. Many of us think that we have time, so we say we will set our houses in order a few years from now, but God is saying to us today to set thy house in order today. God is constantly telling us to set our houses, fix your houses in order for you will not live but die. My brothers and sisters I want to let you know that death will come for us at anytime, whether we like it yes or no but when it does come, if our houses are in order it is quite fine, but if it is not the result that hezekiah got will be ours as well. Death does not have the victory if we set our house in order. The song writer says” no grave can hold my body down no grave can hold my body down, when the trumpet of the lord shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise no grave can hold my body down” No grave cannot hold your body down when you have set your house in order. My brothers and sisters we must cry out to God when we are going to die and long before we die. Not to say to him don’t let death pass my way but for him to let you set your house in order in the right way. When we know that our house is set in order we wont worry if death comes our way but we know that our house would have been in order. Have you ever read a book and it’s a good story and you’re enjoying it, and then you get to the ending and you’re so disappointed and heart rending because the ending was no good? You finish the book and say, what a bad way for the story to end. What if our life has a bad ending? What if our whole life is good and then ends up horribly. What would be a bad ending to life? Dying with regrets? So to avoid this set your house in order. I implore each and every one of you to SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER,FOR YOU WILL DIE.God Bless You.-Elder Micheal Stewart

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

— Romans 14:13 (NKJV)

There are many things you can’t do, but there are also a lot of things you can do, and do well. You don’t have to compare yourself or your abilities and accomplishments with others’—you are free to follow God’s plan for your life.

Each of us need to live in the liberty of being led by the Holy Spirit, knowing that we have the right to make our own mistakes and learn from them. If you allow other people to become like a law to you, thinking you have to be like them, you’re robbing yourself of your God-given freedom. In the same way, you must not judge others or expect them to be like you.

Decide today to enjoy the liberty of living in God’s will, and allow those around you to live in that freedom, too.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for giving me the freedom to make mistakes, to learn, and to grow. Help me to live in that freedom more and more every day, and to give those around me that same freedom. In Jesus’ Name, amen.