THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (1)

TEXT: MATTHEW 13:44-46

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasures hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought the field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls, when he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it”

 (Matthew 13:44-46).

Treasures are wealth or riches accumulated especially in form of precious metals, money, jewels or plate. Pearl is something of a great worth. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl has become a metaphor for something VERY RARE, fine, admirable, and valuable (www.en.wikipedia.org ).

In the parable, Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to two valuable things, TREASURES and PEARLS. Jesus used this illustration to show how valuable the kingdom of God is. The parable described the kingdom of God as treasures hidden in a field, and the man that found the hidden treasures in the field went and sold ALL that he had to buy the field. A merchant that was looking for fine pearls sold ALL he had to buy the fine pearls that he had been looking for.

The explanation to this parable is that nothing can be as valuable as the kingdom of God. All the assets and the wealth of this world, that is causing people to run helter skelter is not worth comparing to the treasures in the kingdom of heaven.

In fact, the kingdom of heaven is worth forsaken ALL for! It is better to lose all the things that you count as “valuables” so that you would have access to the kingdom of heaven, because wealth and other worldly pleasures if not gotten rid of can debar your access to the kingdom of God. Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:7 that whatever was to his profit he now considers loss for the sake of Christ. In other words, Apostle Paul forsook all he had to be able to gain access to the kingdom of God. Don’t just be amassing wealth that would cause you to lose focus on the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven is of an inestimable value, no treasures can be compared with it. When the merchant found the pearl of great value, he stopped looking for pearls. Eternal life, our inheritance in Christ, and other blessing of redemption amount to the pearls which when found, makes other searching unnecessary. The value of the kingdom of heaven supersedes the whole world and everything in it. Therefore, deny yourself of all the desires of the flesh, let nothing prevent you from obtaining this valuable possession.

HERE I AM OH LORD

Here I am oh Lord, craving to know and do your will,

The flesh and its work are contending, protesting

And wagging war against my decision.

Flesh and blood cannot fight this battle,

Human knowledge and wisdom can do nothing,

By your help and with the Holy Spirit

I can win this battle warring against my soul.

You my God are like refiner of Silver and purifier of Gold.

Refine me lord and purify me for your use.

Here I am oh lord, thirsty for your truth always,

Blessed are those that long and thirst after righteousness,

For they shall be filled your word says.

 Fill me with your truth Lord; so that your truth can set me free

Nowhere else can the truth be found; except in you

Give me the grace to be rooted and grounded in you,

For one thing I ask from the Lord, that I may dwell

In your house all the days of my life, this I desire oh Lord.

Bola Folakemi Praise

copyright 2014

THE SPIRIT IS WILLING BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK

TEXT: ROMANS 7: 19-23

¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

After we have given our lives to God, we vowed and promised to do His will and obey all His commandments. The day we made that call to salvation, we sanctified ourselves unto God, meaning that we separated ourselves from the world unto God.

Consequently, as time goes on, we tend to find ourselves going back to our old way of life unknowingly. This is not because we want to disobey God deliberately, but because we are flesh created from the dust, therefore we are prone to attract dirt.

Apostle Paul lamented in our text that as much as he desired to do good, the evil that he does not want to do anymore was what he kept doing. This shows our level of weakness without the help of the Holy Spirit “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26: 41). Many are struggling to live a life that is pleasing to God, yet they find themselves falling into sin again and again, even against their wish. They kept going in and out of sin.

The only way we can live above sin is when our flesh is put to subjection. This can be achieved only by the help of the Holy Spirit; the scripture says without God we can do nothing. To live above sin, ask for the grace and invite the Holy Spirit to take His dwelling in you. Galatians 5:16-17 says “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.
The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Living in the Spirit purifies you and guards you against falling into sin, your human strength, wisdom and knowledge cannot guard you against sin, only the Spirit of God can do that. In Matthew 26:31-33 Peter swore heaven and earth that he would never deny Jesus, even if he had to die. That was his desire, he desired to be loyal to Jesus to the end, but his flesh took over and he denied Jesus despite all his promises and vows. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in all truth, so that you will be able to live above sin at all times.

Image: Google Image

BE COMPASSIONATE (11)

TEXT: MATTHEW 15:32-37

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “a³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied.

In the part one of this message, we talked about how Jesus empathised with the multitude that had been with him for three days without food. He realised that they must be hungry and he did not send them away to look for what to eat, instead he made provision for them to eat and be satisfied.

We also talked about how church leaders of these days are different from Jesus in the way some of them relate with their congregation. They preach the word, but they don’t live the word. The type of Christianity we practice these days is centered on greed, self-centeredness and lack of genuine love to fellow believers. Shepherds are living in affluence while the sheep are living in abject poverty without the leaders doing something to “be their brother’s keeper.” When Jesus was leaving the earth he told one of his disciples (Simon) to feed his sheep. Unfortunately these days the statement of our lord Jesus has been turned the other way round, it is the sheep that are feeding the shepherds now! They are ready to milk their members dry, all in the name of "sowing".

The scripture recorded that when the disciples started their ministry, they were breaking bread together; they shared things in common, selling their possessions, and gave to EVERYONE as he had needed. The church of the old were doing things in common, nobody was oppressing anybody. It is a different ballgame these days; many believers left their churches because there was no help coming from the so called “family of God.” Many spirit filled believers have gone into the world to seek solace in unbelievers that are ready and willing to help. Instead of love, empathy and compassion, oppression is the order of the day in our churches. Let us learn from Jesus, he did not discard the multitude after preaching to them, he met their physical and spiritual needs. Don’t use and discard your congregation! Always minister to their physical and spiritual needs, be part of their lives.

BE COMPASSIONATE (1)

TEXT:  MATTHEW 15:32-37

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “a³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied.

Compassion is the feeling of empathy for others. It is the emotion that you feel in response to suffering of others, that motivates a desire to help (Wikipedia). When Jesus was going about his ministry, he did not just only preach to the people, but he ministered to their needs in one way or the other. He was able to do this because he was able to empathise, he put himself in their shoes and he was able to feel their pains. Your preaching goes a long way in achieving its purpose when you are compassionate; your message holds water when you are not only ready to preach the gospel but when you are ready to live the gospel (doing what you preach). The text shows how loving Jesus was to the people that were following him. He was not only ready to feed them spiritually, but physically. The lesson here is that as a leader in the church, you should be concerned about the physical and spiritual state of your members. Jesus had interest in what was going on with those that were following him, many preachers of the gospel these days are not in any way like Jesus, they want their church to be filled with members, they want people to follow them, they want people to be part of their ministry, but they are not ready to be part of the people’s life. Whatever any member of the congregation is going through is none of their business. All they want is large congregation with large amount of tithe and offering.

The church is supposed to be a place of comfort and solace for believers, but this is not so any more. Some pastors cannot even come down to the level of their congregation! They are not approachable; they don’t relate with their members, they don’t know what is going on in their lives and families, because they don’t create time to talk to their members. Tell me, how can such pastor give comfort, solace and encouragement to his members? Or is it when you preach comfort and solace from the pulpit? The scripture admonished us to be an example of believer in words and in action (1 Timothy 4:12). Preaching word of comfort from the pulpit is not enough, you need to show what you preach to people by doing it, you need to have compassion for your congregation; feel their pain, minister to their needs, render help when necessary. Your good deeds to your congregation would win more souls to Christ than “anointed” sermon without backing it up with action. Let your priority be on spiritual, physical, emotional and material wellbeing of your congregation rather than placing priority on acquiring private jets, mansions and so on at the expense of your congregation. “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?…” (James 2:14-16). If you want to win people to Christ, you need to be able to convince them with your goodwill. Render help when needed, don’t leave everything to “Divine provision.” Make the move to help and let God take over, Jesus was willing to help though he had small food that won’t be enough for the multitude, but he showed his concern and when God saw his compassion for them, He intervened by multiplying the food. Do your part in meeting the need of your congregation and leave the rest to God to perfect.

HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF ROBBERS?

TEXT: MATTHEW 21:13

"It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.”

The scripture says our body is the temple of God, and we should honour God with our body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Ephesians 2:22 also made it clear that “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Therefore it is no gainsaying to say God created you to be a sacred dwelling for Him.

The question at this juncture is “Are you an instrument in God’s hands or the devil’s instrument? We can put the question like this “As God’s “living temple” are you a house of prayer or a den of robbers? What do you have in your temple? (Heart). What you have in your heart shows if you are a house of prayer or a den of robbers. Are you using your body to glorify God or are you using your body to bring disgrace to the name of God? The scripture says as a man thinks so is he (Proverbs 23:7). No matter how long you stay in the midst of believers, it does not matter the length of time spent in the church, if your heart harbours everything that is against the commandment of God, you are not God’s living temple, and your body is not God’s house of prayer but a den of robbers!
Are you a man of God that habours greed in your heart, and play on the intelligence of your congregation by extortion? The Lord is watching you.

In our text, Jesus entered the Synagogue which was supposed to be a house of God and a place of prayer, but what was being done there was totally different from what it was built for. People were buying and selling and doing all sort of contrary things in the house of God.

Likewise, you are created to honour and serve God with your body, soul and spirit. What you do with your body determines whether you are a house of Prayer or a den of robbers. The scripture says in Proverbs 4:23 “Guide your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” for you to be a house of prayer, you have to purge yourself from every works of the flesh, lust of the eye,  pride of life, slander, greed and so on.

Jesus sent out the people that were doing contrary things in the house of God, you can do the same today by calling on him to purge you of every contrary spirit living in your “TEMPLE” that want to turn your temple (Your body) to a den of robbers instead of the house of prayer that God created it for. Go to God today and cry to Him to renew your heart to be in line with His will.

TRANSFORMED OR CONFORMED? (11)

TEXT: ROMANS 12:2

 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2).

Another set of people in this world are the transformed by Christ and Conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

These sets of people are very few in the world, all their desire is to do the things of God. They are genuinely saved and have been transformed from the terrestrial being to being like celestial beings, in that all they put their minds on are the things above. They have been transformed to be like Jesus, they are broken and not sensitive to the things of the world anymore. They have been able to put their flesh under subjection and disallow their flesh to rule over the spirit of God that is on their inside. These are believers that are fulfilling the scripture in Romans 12:2 with all their body soul and spirit.

If you are transformed by Christ and you are conformed to the image of Christ, you will trivialise all the worldly things and make paramount the things of God. Your reasoning will be like that of Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians 3:7-8 he said “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…”

On this final note, examine yourself, are you transformed by the WORD or are you conforming to the WORLD? The scripture says “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17).