Love is an inherent part of God’s nature. The bible says “God is love” (I John 4:8). Even though many unbelievers, including some ignorant Christians, may embrace twisted version(s) of what God’s love means. The truth is that God is loving. It is the love of God that made Him allow His only begotten Son to die for the sin of the world (John 3:16). The Bible makes us know that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and made a way of escape for us (Rom. 5:8).

For those who surrendered their lives to God through Jesus Christ, God further demonstrates His enduring and everlasting love towards them (Psalms 103:11; John 17:9-12). God’s love is aimed at achieving holiness in those who believe in Him (Ephesians 5:25-26), and so to perfect this holiness in believers, God disciplines us in love when we do err (Heb. 12:6).

One aspect of God’s love however that may be difficult to swallow is that He can bestow His love on anyone by special grace using His sovereign will and none can query Him (Rom. 9:10-19; Mal. 1:1-3).

God singled out Saul and appointed him as the first leader of Israel, not because of his pedigree but by His special love of alone (I Sam. 9:19-27; 15:17). Saul however later committed two errors and the love of God upon his life elapsed (I Sam. 16:14). David was afterwards singled out by God as the next leader of Israel by special love, despite his low status (I Sam. 16:1-13). Likewise, David committed two errors as Saul, but the love of God upon his life stayed (2 Sam. 12:13; Psalms 89:20-36); although the state of the heart of the two men differ: Saul had a haughty heart; while David had a humbling heart.

Jesus summarised the whole duty of man into two laws: To love the Lord our God with the whole of our heart, soul, strength and mind; and to love our neighbours as ourselves. In this month of August, God’s promise to us is that the covenant of His unfailing love shall forever abide with us, by His own choice and will. He, however, wants us to equally render our own covenant of unfailing love to Him and to our neighbours as well.

God intended Man to live an easy life at creation, but after Man fell, living became very difficult for Man as he has toil before eating; the ground is to bring forth thorns and thistles and not automatic fruits and herbs anymore. Pains and friction in a  matrimonial relationship are to be common; so also are pains of childbirth. Man that was supposed to live eternally before, was from then on to return to dust where he was taken from and he will always be at war with Satan (Gen. 3:15–20).

As these were not enough, when Men began to multiply over the surface of the earth and daughter were born to them, certain angelic beings polluted the human race, giving birth to giants and men of renown (Gen. 6:1-6). The earth became filled with wickedness and violence. Along the line, God had to wipe off all creation, starting another race with Noah. But not too long, the heart of Man yet became extremely wicked and began to perpetuate evil again.

God later started a special race for Himself through Abraham, He gave them a set of rules to follow, which they still struggle to keep. God eventually sent His only begotten Son to this world to die and save Man once and for all. It was the most costly sacrifice heaven could render for the salvation of Man (John 3:16; Rom. 10:9).

Jesus came into this world, crucified at 33 years and paid the redemptive sacrifice. The way to obtain salvation from then on became ‘simple, cheap and common’. One would think that the whole world will be saved since Jesus had made salvation available to all and simple to obtain. But no, as it takes uncommon faith to obtain that common salvation. Essentially, one will need to ask God in Jesus name to forgive them of their sins to obtain this common salvation, very easy! After salvation, one will still need to demonstrate yet uncommon faith to guard their salvation (Phil. 2:12); and also to perform unusual exploits (Mark 11:23). As common as this salvation is, it’s surprising that Man still prefers to seek salvation from tougher sources: rulers of darkness or wicked spirits through shedding of animal blood or spilling the blood of the innocent.

God is counting on us to highly cherish the common salvation we have been given by Jesus Christ; to exercise uncommon faith to guard our faith and to engage in heroic exploits that will bring glory and honour to God while we live. It is my prayer that this become achievable in our lifetime in Jesus name.

Tarry could mean “Remain or stay as in a place; sojourn. To wait for or await”. Endue could mean to invest or endow with some gifts, quality or faculty. To put on; assume; to clothe. Power can be defined as “Ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something”. Above can be defined as “On high; in heaven; heavenward”.

Therefore, to tarry until one is endued with power from above would mean “To remain or stay as in one place and delay any action, as well as avoid all distractions until one is endowed with necessary ability from heaven to carry out their supposed assignment or intended exercise”.

In Luke 10:1-20, Jesus appointed 72 disciples and gave them the power to perform great signs and wonders and afterwards sent them out in twos. The bible says the 72 returned with joy as demons were subject to them. Jesus further testified that He saw Satan fell from the sky as lightning as the 72 carried out their assignment.

Later, when Jesus was departing the Earth physically; He enjoined His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from above (Luke 24:49-51). Even though Jesus had empowered them before; He promised them this power from the Holy Spirit because of greater assignments awaiting them. The disciples did as Jesus has said, and in ten days after Jesus departure, the promised power came.

God has bestowed certain powers on us before which has helped us in life and ministry thus far; I hear that greater assignments now awaits us in the future, and so we must tarry clothed and fully equipped with power from Him.

It is my prayer that the required power will be bestowed on us and that we will eventually be joyful as our assignments will be adequately executed. May the Lord God commends our deeds and testifies to our success in Jesus name. Amen!

The Sign for the Father’s Promises

A sign can be described as an object, quality or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. It can also be said to be a gesture or action used to convey information or instruction.

The promises of God are sure and His words abide forever. Whatever He says must surely come to pass. God, however, understands that when He makes promises to us His children, being mortals as we are, we tend to seek signs from Him in order to authenticate those promises and also to receive the conviction that they will happen (I Cor. 1:22).

Such that throughout the scripture, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we see how God gave signs to His children, indicating that the promises He had made to them will certainly come to pass (John 3:14-15).

In I Kings 18:1, God asked Prophet Elijah to go and show himself to King Ahab and that afterwards He will send rain upon the earth. The word of God had gone into the supernatural to effect what He has said, and it could not have returned to Him unaccomplished. But after Elijah had shown himself to Ahab, it did not appear yet that rain would fall. So Elijah began to inquire from the Almighty again. For Elijah to be convinced that the promised rain was about to begin, God had to show him a sign (I Kings 18:44).

God had impressed it upon my spirit that there are some promises He had made to us that are still pending; He says these are still in the making and that He has not forgotten. But for us to be convinced that those promises are definitely going to happen; He will give us certain signs we will be able to relate to. It is my prayer that we will be more expectant; be able to recognise such signs; and that we will be eventual partaker of those promises in Jesus name. Amen!