GOD USES THE FOOLISH THING OF THIS WORLD TO CONFOUND THE WISE.

TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 1: 25, JUDGES 6: 11- 16

The dictionary defines foolishness as having or showing a lack of good sense, judgement, or discretion. Foolishness entails acting in a way that does not portray someone as being sensible. Foolishness is acting, thinking, or doing things at a lower standard or percentage when compared to others.

When God is set to make use of a vessel, He empties you of “yourself” and fills you with “Himself.” Therefore, it does not matter your level of intelligence, it is God that qualifies the chosen ones. He is not looking for the qualified, eloquent, neither is He looking for supper intelligent ones. The scripture says, “He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty, so that their hands cannot attain success or achieve anything of [lasting] worth” (Job 5: 12).

For God to use you, you need to rely on His wisdom and acknowledge that without Him, you can do nothing. All God wants from us is our availability and He will equip us for every good work, even beyond our expectation. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying wisdom is not necessary, neither am I saying being intelligent is a waste of time. What I am saying is, peradventure life thew you lemon and you had no opportunity to go to college, or not that intellectually sound, do not write off yourself. God can still use you even in the capacity that people that are wiser than you will be wondering how you are doing it.

In the same vein, if you are blessed with wisdom and intellectual abilities, trust not only in your intelligence and wisdom, because it does not cause God anything to render a proud heart redundant if he fails to acknowledge him.

There are Bible characters that wrote themselves off because they felt they are not worthy to do great exploits- example are, Moses, Jephthah, and Gideon. Moses gave God an excuse that he could not be used to deliver the Israelites because he stammers (Exodus 4: 10). Gideon told God that he was from the smallest clan of Manasseh and could not be used (Judges 6: 14- 16).

God saw strength were Gideon saw weakness! God saw a great man full of strength- God saw Gideon as a mighty man of valour, not as he saw himself. Jephthah was the child of a prostitute, and his siblings sent him away so that he would not share from their inheritance. However, they came looking for him to help them fight the Ammonite and they promised to make him their head- This was someone that was once rejected!

In a nutshell, please do not write yourself off, neither should you look down on yourself- with God, you can do great and mighty things. Let me finish with this scripture, “but the people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits” (Daniel 11: 32b).

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DO NOT LEAVE GOD OUT OF YOUR PLAN

 

TEXT: JOHN 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

At the beginning of every New Year, we come up with new year plans, visions, and goal (short, medium, and long term). We propose in her hearts to be more effective and productive- we focus on making the most of the new year without wasting and time or day on any endeavour that would not add value to us.

We want to strive to turn a new leaf in any areas of our lives that we feel we need to improve on, and what we are doing well, we want to be at the best of our game in that regard. There is nothing wrong in planning and setting achievable goals to guide us through the year and our entire lives. In fact, we all know that whoever that fails to plan is planning to fail. Therefore, planning beforehand is a very vital tool to achieving success.

When people make plans, goals, and their vision for the new year, it may be in written form so that they will be ticking the boxes as they year progresses, and some keep their plans and goals in their hearts, and they follow it throughout the years. Whichever way we choose to document our plans and goals, we should not leave God our of our plans and goals.

It is good to have the mindset to start the year with great desires and expectations. People have high hope and aspiration to make their lives better as they journey through every calendar year. However, by the first quarter of the year, the aspiration, and the zeal we brought to the new year may start to dwindle or decline. The reason for this is that people tend to relax and go back to their old ways of life. This is normal as human beings. That is why the scripture admonishes us in Matthew 26: 41 that we should watch and pray, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. There are things we really want to do, but our flesh may debar us from achieving them. let us look at what Apostle Paul said in Romans 7: 14- 16… “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.”

The verse above is mostly used in the context of living in sin and struggling to put the flesh into subjection. In the same vein, we can use it to explain how our flesh through procrastination or complacency hinder us from fulfilling all the goals and aspiration we planned to achieve. Therefore, we need the help, the support and the leading of God through the Holy Spirit during the planning and implementation of our set goals and vision.

You may be wondering, what about unbelievers? Do they not achieve their goals without God? Yes, they did, but I am talking of good success here- the one that God gives without adding sorrow. Many of the rich and successful unbelievers are depressed and frustrated because the “God factor” is missing in their lives.

Our anchor scripture says we should abide in God for without Him we can do nothing because He is the vine, and we are the branches. When a branch falls from the vine, it dries off because it lacks the source of nourishment. This verse has just summed up all the explanations I have been talking about.  As believers, without God we can do nothing spectacular. To avoid frustration, never leave God out of your plan.

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