You Have God's Hedge Over Your Life

Job 1:9-10 (NIV)
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 

There are some hidden truths in the Bible that only takes the revelation of God to bring them to the open, and of such hidden truth is the passage above. We have read a lot about the protection of God in the Bible, but what I understand about the passage above gladdens my heart.

I am most certain that Job was not aware of the conversation that the Lord had with satan concerning his life, but the Lord will have this recorded in the Bible for the benefits of us in this lifetime so that we might have a glimpse of what goes on there sometimes.

The statement satan made about God’s cover of protection over the life of Job is something worth considering. By virtue of Job’s righteous walk with the Lord, he had the hedge of God over his life, his household and everything he has. Satan attested to the fact that God blessed him and all that he had. 

This is not a truth restricted to Job alone. This is the revelation of God to those who have diligently walked with Him. The Lord God Almighty has placed a hedge over the life of the righteous, over their household and everything they have. And so the Bible says that “say to the righteous that it shall be well with him.”

It does not  matter that you might not see the hedge, but the prince of the world and the powers of darkness know and understand that as a child of God walking righteously before the Lord they cannot mess with your life; you are a no-go area for them. The Lord is certain about what he has placed around your life when He said in Isaiah 41:10-12 that “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.” 

This passage is so because just like Job you have a hedge around your life, there is the protection of God around you and all that is your. The beautiful things is that the Lord did not forget your flocks and even the works of your hands He is mindful enough to bless. 

A lot of times we go through life’s struggles, challenges come and the testing of faith occurs every once in a while, but that has not nullified the truth of the word of God that your have God’s hedge round you and all that is yours. If you do not have a peculiar case like that of God, then the only other thing that can remove God’s hedge off your life is sin. But for as long as you remain a man that fears the Lord, the hedge of God is around you and all that is yours. Please always rest in this confidence. That is why the Bible tells us that when the enemy comes at us like a flood, the Lord God Almighty raises a standard against them. So be of good cheer because in truth you have the hedge of God around your life. 

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Worship

Job 1:20-21

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

In my walk with the Lord, I have come to understand that there is a difference between worship and rejoicing, just as there is a difference between happiness and joy. It took me having a personal experience with God and the challenges of life to come to the knowledge of this truth. 

What it was that made Job fall to the ground to worship God in the face of the very many and heavy calamities that befall him is what finding out, this for sure will definitely help us in our upright walk with the Lord. When we look through the personality of the man Job from Job 1:1-8, we will see a very upright man who has walked diligently with the Lord all of his life. His wealth and busy schedule never took the place of God in his life. He walked with the Lord so well that God Himself made a proud declaration over the life of this man called Job.

Another thing that we need to be mindful of is that, Job was not aware of all that was going on in heaven over his life. He didn't know that satan was on an evil mission over his life. But what I have learnt about this man Job is that no matter the level of calamity that befell him, He didn't hold God responsible for his misfortunes. We are all away that nothing happens without the knowledge of God, but how Job was able to worship God in the middle of all that happened to him is a factor that builds around a strong relationship and love that had developed between Job and God over a period of time. 

The strong and unwavering relationship that existed between Job and God was one characterized by TRUST. Job trusted God enough to understand that God will not allow this calamity to befall him if it was leading to nowhere. The calamity was painful no doubt; the Bible records that Job tore his cloths and shaved his head, but still he fell face down and worshiped.

The act of worship is not one characterized by our circumstances, it is not determined by the good or bad experiences we have, it is not subject to our ability. It is not just about the songs we sing in church or at home. But true worship is brought to play by the knowledge of Who we know God to be in our lives. You are able to worship God in all circumstances whether good or bad when you have developed a strong relationship with Him. Your walk with God determines how well you are able to worship God even when things are not working favourably for you.

The Bible says those who worship God, worship Him in truth and in spirit, this is so because worship to God is not determined by issues of the physical. But it is the bonding in the Spirit between God and His children that is expressed in worship. 

Job had learnt to bond with God over time, he had learnt to connect with God as he walked uprightly with Him diligently. And when those calamities befell him, it was easy to run to God to bond again with Him irrespective of what he was going through or whether or not God could have averted the situation. The initial focus for Job was not to know who was behind his problem or what could have caused the problem, but the dear need to bond with God even at that very dear time and the Bible said he worshiped. 

The test of true worship is when you have learnt to worship God in truth and in spirit irrespective of the situation you find yourself. Then you look beyond the challenges and struggles you are facing and you look to Jesus and just the knowledge of God in your life brings you to the point of worship. When you have grace the grace to truly worship God in all circumstances, your challenges are getting close to their expiry date because God will not allow you to trust Him in vain.

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God Loves Me

John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to be called sons of God - children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

This is one of my best Bible passages. For me this passage more than shows the grace of God offered for free. To have the whole world at your beck and call, being a child of the most high King, the Maker of the heaven and earth, simply through faith in Jesus is something that beats the best imagination of satan himself. 

First to think that God in His love will bring down His one and only son, who without sin heaped the sins of the whole world on Himself and then put them all to death by the shedding of His own blood is really a deep thing to consider. Too awesome to comprehend and too good not to appreciate.  

In recent times, the Lord has done so much to rebuild my marriage and restoring my husband's love to me. We've been having a very great time as husband and wife and I really do love to be loved by him. But this is just a shadow of the love of God for me. It is as though the Lord is trying to show me a bit of what his love is like with a vivid example through my husband.

But the love of my husband is just a vague example of the love God has for me and for many who truly are His sons and daughters through their faith in Jesus. God's love is far deeper and weightier than the love of my husband that has so swelled my heart. The Lord loves me enough to give His son to die for me, He loves me enough to forgive all of my sins, He loves me enough take away my cares, He love me enough to clear my diseases and sicknesses, He loves me enough to provide for all of my needs and wants, He loves me enough to protect me. And even the battles that I don't even know exist, He fights and wins them all for me. The Lord loves not just me, but He loves my husband and loves my children too. And then in the same manner, He loves my parents and siblings. And He loves YOU. All at a simple price of faith in Him, receiving and believing in His son. He has asked nothing else of me but just to receive and believe in Jesus. 

God does not love me alone like this, He loves all who just like me have received and believed in His son, obeying the His commands and requirements which also is made possible just through my receiving and believing in Jesus Christ. Is there anything more I can say to this than just to appreciate this God who has loved me so. I can't love God half as much as He loves me, I just pray daily that I will not fall out of His love for me. I need His love for my daily existence.  

Have You Learnt The Secret of Giving?

Exodus 34:20b (NIV)
No-one is to appear before me empty-handed.

Exodus 35:4-9, 21, 29 (NIV)
Moses said to the whole Israelites community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skin dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrance incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 

And everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its services, and for the sacred garments.

All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do. 

Exodus 36:3-7 (NIV)
They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”
Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. 

I am not sure the people of God in our generation understand well enough the secret behind giving unto the Lord. When we go through the passages above we will notice some things that I will like to highlight. 1) The offering requested by the Lord was a freewill offering, it was not one of the compulsive prescribed offering under the law; 2) The offering was only made by those whose heart moved them to and who were willing, and so there was no cajoling of any kind. An instruction was made and people responded willingly. 3) The people gave continuously until they were eventually restrained from giving.
One question I will want us to ponder on in these passages is: “Why is it that the people never stopped giving even after all that was needed for the construction work had been adequately provided for until Moses restrained them from giving more?” I suppose these people knows more about the secret of giving that we need to discover.

Malachi 2:10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

One of the secret of giving is found in the passage above. You can never give unto God without receiving back in multiple fold of what you have given. Some may argue that this passage only applies to tithing and not freewill offering as in the case in the book of Exodus, so we will take a look at another Bible passage.  

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

The secret of giving lies in your ability to honour God with what you have. Giving to God is a tangible reflection of what you feel in your heart for God. The weight of your offering is directly proportion to who God is to you. The widow in the book of Luke 21:1-4 gave all she had to live on because that was how much God meant to her. If you say to love the Lord, then show it by what you have to give up in reflection of that love.
When you honour the Lord with your wealth, you are making an investment with God that must surely yield returns because God never owes. That is the secret the children of Israel in the book of Exodus knew that moved them to keep giving. They were making their investment in God that was sure to yield returns to them in multiple folds of what they had given.
Luke 6:38 says “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This is the secret of giving, and when you give to the Lord this principle will surely not fail over your seed. You can never trade with the Lord and loose, the Lord will personally watch over your investment to ensure it yields returns to you in a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over manner.
When you are tired of living in lack, then learn to make your investment with God. The widow of Zarephath made such an investment and she and her household were well fed and taken care of all through the drought period. Don't wait till you have a big seed to sow, saw the little that you have. The widow in the book of Luke gave all she had to live on even though it was small and so did the widow of Zarephath. The children of Israel didn’t stop giving and they never lacked. Learn the secret of giving today, sow your seed of love in God today, when you cast your bread upon the waters, after many days it will return to you.

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The Presence of God

Exodus 33:10-11, 12-19 (NIV)
Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 

Exodus 34:29
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.

There is something about the Presence of God that requires us giving it a major attention as Christians. A lot of times we get so familiar with God that we totally forget to seek His presence in our lives daily. One thing that caught my attention in the passages above is Moses attitude towards the Presence of God. True the Lord had directed him to continue on the journey and lead the children of Israel to the Promised Land, but that was just not enough for Moses. He understood that he needed God with him on that assignment.
When we read through the beginning of Exodus 33, from verses 1-9, we will see God giving an instruction to Moses to move on and that He the Lord will send an angel to go with them and He will destroy the occupants of the land that He swore to their fathers. When Moses was going to respond, he spoke as though the Lord had to mentioned to him who will go on the journey with him. The presence of the angels were good no doubt, but not good enough for Moses and definitely not good enough for me.
Moses in vs 16 said “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” That goes a long way to show us that the presence of God in our lives makes all the difference. It is the Presence of God in your life that shows the world that indeed the Lord is pleased with you. It is the Presence of God in your life that distinguishes you from others and makes you stand out in the crowd. Not the presence of angels but the Presence of God. I so dearly seek for the Presence of God in my life today and always.
When your way pleases the Lord, He fills you with His Presence. No matter what the devil holds up for you, it can’t stand or withhold the Presence of God that you carry. In Genesis 28:10-15, the Lord visited Jacob in the dream and in verse 15, promised that He the Lord will be with him and watch over him wherever he went. And so we see Jacob carrying with him the Presence of God everywhere he went. By the virtue of the Presence of God in his life, he was a very blessed man. He was so much of a blessed man that he became a blessing to others. His master Laban prospered so much just because of Jacob and the Presence of God in the life of Jacob.
Genesis 39:2 reads “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.” Genesis 39:21 reads “The Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder.” Joseph was one man that moved around with the Presence of God in his life. He was sold to slavery yet he carried in him the Presence of God, and his prospered. He prospered so much that he poured out prosperity to his Egyptian master. Again to the prison, Joseph still carried in him the Presence of God. Joseph was not limited by his circumstances and his situation did not hinder the fact that he carried the Presence of God in him. That Presence of God in his life was faithful enough to lead him to the palace.
 1 Samuel 16:18 reads, “One of the servants answered, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and he is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.’” This is how David was classified by one of the servants of Saul. The classification that I like the most is the one that reads “and the Lord is with him.” David was identified by the Presence of God in his life. He was distinguished and he stood out from the crowd by virtue of the Presence of God in his life. He stood bold to confront Goliath not because he had the ability or strength, but because he carried the Presence of God in him; thus he was able to make his boast in the strength of the Lord. No wonder Moses will say that “how will the people know that you are pleased with us unless you go with us, what else will distinguish us from all the people on the face of the earth?” Now David stood out by virtue of the Presence of God and nothing else. Can you see why God will say of David, “I have found a man after my heart.” God was so pleased with David that He filled him with His Presence.  
 Above all else, you need to seek the Presence of God in your life, that presence that guarantees peace, joy, blessings, success, pleasures forever more, victory in all life’s battles, healing and good health. There is no match for the Presence of God in the life of a child of God. That is what stands you out among all the other people. That is what shows the world that indeed the Lord is pleased with you.
When you have been given an assignment to do by God, please do not stay content with the angel going with, seek the Presence of God to see you through it. When you carry in you the Presence of God you radiate the glory of God in your life. And even though you don’t see it, all those around you will see and know that indeed you carry in you the Presence of God. I just seek your ever glowing Presence in my life daily my faithful Father and God.

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Gratitude to God

Genesis 6-8 and Genesis 19 are two Bible passages that shows us so well the importance of showing God gratitude. Our ability to say Thank You to God for mercies received and grace untold shows God our readiness to receive more grace from Him.
First I want us to consider the story of the man named Noah, whose story is found in Genesis 6-8. Because of the length of the passage in consideration, I will not be able to write it out, but will encourage that we all take a little time out to know a little more about Noah from this passage.
Genesis 6:9 tells us that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and so he found favour in the sight of God. His character as a man who feared God endeared him to the heart of God and so the Lord decided to spare Noah from the great destruction coming to earth and through him repopulated the earth.
But what I want us to focus on was Noah’s attitude or rather response to the grace of God on his live. The Bible records in Genesis 8:13-22 that immediately Noah got out of the ark, he got some clean animals, built an altar and sacrificed to God. The aroma of the sacrifice pleased the Lord to the point that God entered into a covenant with Noah, his household and the entire world. This covenant was a covenant of provision, increase, multiplication.
On another note, Genesis 19 tells us the story of how God spared Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. When the angels of the Lord arrived at Sodom, it was Lot who met them and took them into his home. He took care of them, shielded them from the attacks of the villagers and even offered his daughters for molestation in place of the visiting angels.
This act made the angels spare Lot from the impending destruction. Lot and his household were literarily hulled to safety by the angels when he hesitated to leave the city. Except for the wife of Lot who disobeyed and looked back at the city, Lot’s household left the city of Sodom safe and sound. But unlike Noah, Lot did not remember to show appreciate for what God did for him. Lot took the grace of God for his life for granted. He just went on with his life as though nothing spectacular had happened to him. No record in the Bible shows that Lot gave thanks to God after that incidence.
Other than the fact that Lot’s daughter got him drunk and had sex with him in turn thereby committing a detestable offence before God, nothing else was said about that man called Lot again. I just try to imagine if Lot had remembered to show gratitude to God for the kind deliverance shown to him and his family?
Many of us take the grace of God for our lives for granted. The Bible says “the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but time and chance happens to them all.” Your intellect really didn’t get you this far in life; Steve Jobs in all his achievements is dead and gone. It’s not your ability that has helped you; there are a lot of people with better ability and more hardworking than you, yet they are still wallowing in poverty. It is just the grace of God and nothing but the grace of God.
When you learn to appreciate God for the ASSUMED little things He is doing in your life, you show Him your readiness for greater and better things. Whatever you have, you have received from God. Even the breathe that you breath really does not belong to you and it is worth thanking God for. When you have mastered the act of appreciation, then like Noah you show God a man worthy to receive an everlasting covenant from Him.  

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The Ripple Effects of Your Actions.

It’s been a few days since my last post, about 5 days to be precise and I must say that I miss writing on my blog. But I had some network issues with my internet and was also held down preparing a daily devotional guide for my children, but I am really glad to be back. 

As the Lord will help me pen down today’s post, I want to call our attention to the ripple effects of our actions or in-actions on our children and our descendants after us. In one of my previous post I wrote about the covenant of God, and one truth of the covenant of God is that it does not start and end with the particular person whom the Lord actually made the covenant with. Their descendants and further generations after them, people they will never know will also benefit from that covenant. Deuteronomy 7:9 speaks of God as the faithful God Who keeps His covenant of love to a thousand generation of those who love Him and keep His commands. So we see God not just limiting His love to those who love Him alone, but also their children and children’s children after them.

David in Psalm 37:25 says “He was young  and now old, yet he has not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.” What I want us to focus on in this post is the fact that whatever we do good or bad has an effect or impact on our children. The realization of this is sort of a wake up call for all parents. And the thought I want us to hold dear is this: “Is it really right to put the future of our children at risk due to what we are doing wrong and the things we are not doing right?”   

One fact about God that really calls for caution in the lives of we the Christians is what I found in the story of David and Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. David committed a sin by sending a man to an early grave and taking his wife for himself. He committed a grievous sin before the Lord for which we all know he should be punished. But in 2 Samuel 12:13, we see David realizing his mistakes, and immediately Nathan the prophet told him the Lord has taken away his sin and he was not going to die. But because by what he did he had caused the enemies of God to show utter contempt, the son born to him will die.

This son that was been punished for the sins of his father never knew anything about the sin. He was not even in existence when the sin took place yet he died for the sin of his father. And still in this judgement we cannot say God is unjust. If we continue to read through to 2 Samuel 13, we will see the children of David operating under the curse brought about by the sin of their father doing very wrong things that eventually led to their death. God didn’t punish David directly; David never stopped to be a man after God’s heart, but the punishment of his sins were borne by his children. The knowledge of this truth calls for parents to be on the alert with their lives and the things they do, your sins may seem to go unnoticed or unpunished yet your children will have to reap the punishment of a sin they didn’t commit. 

Numbers 14:18 reads, “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and forth generation.”  When we know the God that is merciful, loving, forgiving, gracious and caring, we should also be mindful of the fact that this same loving God is the God that punishes the children for the sins of the father. This is exactly the God we see in the story of David in 2 Samuel 11-13. The God that punishes the children for the sins of the father. But the truth is that this has not made God unjust, it has not made Him unfair, unloving, ungracious, uncaring, or unmerciful. It has only called for caution on our own part to live right not just for our own sake, but also for the sake of the children He has given into our lives and that we love and care for.

You and I who are true children of God, born of God through our faith in Jesus Christ are also called the seed of Abraham, heirs to the promise of God to Abraham just because Abraham kept the laws, commands and requirements of God (Genesis 26:5). One thought I want us to bear at the back of our minds is that “What if Abraham didn’t not keep the requirements, commands, decrees and laws of God?” I am sure you will agree with me that their will be no promise for you and I to inherit and enjoy. Now, such is the case when you refuse or fail to keep the requirements, commands, decrees and laws of the Lord. You not only forfeit the benefit of a promise for your life, you leave your children and descendants after with no promise from God to inherit. 

We all know that in order to inherit and retain the promises of God for our lives we need to walk before the Lord and be blameless (Genesis 17:1) But our blameless walk also guarantees for our children a promise from God that will not go unfulfilled. 

Numbers 25:12  reads “Therefore tell him I am making a covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honour of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”  This is the promise of God to Phinehas the grandchild of Aaron for appeasing God on behalf of the Israelites and removing the accursed one from the camp of the Israelites. But the content of the covenant is what caught my attention. God did not just make a covenant of priesthood with Phinehas, He made an everlasting covenant with Phinehas and his descendants after him. Those he never will know will benefit from the actions of Phinehas that pleased God to the point of making a covenant with him. 

The Lord is still in the business of making covenants with men in our generation who have distinguished themselves in righteousness before Him. This attribute of God is not limited to Bible days. What are the things you are doing that pleases God? In what way have you been able to make a mark of excellence in your walk with the Lord that will move Him not just to enter a covenant with you but also with your descendants after you? Now is the time to start to build lasting treasures in heaven for your descendants to inherit. A covenant that guarantees God’s grace for your descendants as an everlasting covenant. 

Proverbs 13:22 says “A righteous man leaves and inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.” If you have not been able to build mansions and buy luxurious cars or get impressive share certificates  as inheritance for your children’s children. Please ensure you leave a covenant of God for them to inherit. That is a better guarantee than all the worldly stuff I have just highlighted. The Lord will help us as we walk with Him.  

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