Faith and The Centurion Worldview - Praise & Pray (for others) November 12, 2024

Luke 7 tells us about a Centurion who sought Christ's help for one of his dying servants. Although he was a Roman who believed in a pantheon of gods, he knew Jesus could save his employee.

He asked some Jewish elders to speak with Jesus on his behalf. Luke 7:4-5 - When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

Jesus went with them but soon, the Centurion sent another message. He said he didn't expect Jesus to show up but believed He needed only to issue the command from where He was and that the servant would be healed. He explained his reasoning in Luke 7:8 - For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” This man's understanding of power, based on his worldview, fueled his belief of what Jesus could do.

How does our worldview impact our faith? None of us can ignore the fact that how we perceive the world affects how we perceive the Heavenly Father, His Son, and His Holy Spirit. Does our perspective foster faith in what God is capable of or does it encourage disbelief?

We need to speak like the Centurion - understanding what real power can do. Fortunately, we believers in Christ have a deeper well of experience and knowledge to draw from than the Centurion who didn't know Christ the way we do.

Therefore, we need to be confident in God and His abilities. To grow in this area, we must feed on the testimonies of others and frequently return to our experiences with the Lord - our Jericho Moments. That way, God's capacity remains fresh on our minds. We must increasingly study the Bible to become more familiar with God's miraculous power and quickly silence satan's lie that He cannot come through for us.

God's children will need to consume (and create) more Christian content such as books, films, music, and videos that illustrate God's power so our minds are constantly refreshed by His Spirit and His Word. We also need to turn our prayer points into praise points more often and watch our sacrifice of praise move quicker than our petitions do.

These steps and others will help us strengthen our faith muscles. That way, we see the challenges ahead of us as Goliaths that will drop with a rock or nothing more than a little smoldering firewood, incapable of harming. Though not a Christian in the traditional sense, the Centurion was walking by faith and not by sight, knowing Jesus didn't need to make an appearance to work a miracle. We too must learn to stand firm in faith, knowing that Jesus can do it and our miracle is on the way.

See you at Noon EST for fellowship. God bless you.

To learn more, please read:

1. Believe First

2. Topic: Don't Break Faith with God

3. On Fear & Inexperience

4. Believe What God Said About You

Believe What God Said About You - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) November 8, 2024

The Bible makes it clear in Titus 1:2 that God cannot lie, so why do we have such a hard time believing what He has said about us and the situations we're in?

If we are to be frank, we struggle to believe the Lord's word because we've been conditioned to not believe what we hear, read, see, and think. All around us are liars and we ourselves have participated in the deception of others. How can we then believe what someone says to us? What more a God we've never seen? Plus, having listened to the wrong voices, we've experienced disappointments and broken heartedness. Believing that someone, anyone is telling us the truth is a tall order.

And that inability to trust what we hear translates to our relationship with the Lord. As a result, we struggle to believe what He's said to us about our very selves, talk less of the things we are going through.

Yet, a lot of us are struggling with issues that we no longer need to be burdened by. And one key reason is that we have failed to believe God's word to us on the issue. Many of us are trapped in cycles of insecurity, forgetting Psalm 139:14, which tells us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Before we started walking with the Lord, we were rejected by human beings and expect to be treated that way by Him. Meanwhile, God made us in His own image (Genesis 1:27). And for those who submit to His Son, He placed His very Spirit in them (2 Corinthians 1:22). We don't understand that He has made us the very symbol of might that is why we are called the royal diadem He holds in His hand in Isaiah 62:3.

When we face troubles, His word on the issue has already been spoken from the beginning and will not change. This is why He has said that even if a nursing mother would forget the baby suckling at her breast, He will never forget us (Isaiah 49:15). He reassures us in the scriptures that everything we are going through will surely work out for our good, no matter how it seems or what it looks like (Romans 8:28). We can look at the Bible and how the Lord rescued people from their challenges. Jehoshaphat and his people believed and praised the Lord, and their enemies attacked each other (2 Chronicles 20). When Sennacherib threatened, King Hezekiah didn't create His own solution and God systematically eradicated his enemy (2 Kings 18-19). Paul and Silas worshiped and the prison doors opened (Acts 16).

God is still in the business of doing great things. The issue is that we have to choose to believe His word on every thing we are going through. For that to happen, we have to put our distrusting nature to the side. We have to be vulnerable with God and accept that He might not do things how and when we expect. He might even surprise us. We have to remember that whenever He decides to act is the right time. After all, He is the God who can be 'late' and yet be on time. And we have to ignore the reality around us, just as Jairus did, not allowing fear and disbelief to settle into our hearts so we don't miss the miracle on the way. We have to put our faith to work, knowing that we do not walk by sight as followers of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:7). 

To learn more:

1. GOD Loves You

2. Believe First

3. Topic: Don't Break Faith with God

4. Topic: Be Still in the face of Unfair Treatment

5. Know God's Word & Power

6. For My Own Good?

7. Faith Advances God's Work

8. Stand Firm or Else

9. Who's Afraid Of A Little Smoldering Firewood?

10. You Need A Revelation

11. You Need A Revelation: Beware The Lie

Pray For Godly Leaders - Praise & Pray (for others) November 5, 2024

Good leaders are harder to find nowadays and truly godly leadership seems even rarer. Nevertheless, the more we familiarize ourselves with the word of God, the more we will recognize good leadership and appreciate godly leaders who can bring blessings - instead of curses - upon the land and its people.

Apostle Peter wrote a letter delineating the characteristics a godly leader should have. Although the guidance in his letter was directed to the early church, it frankly, applies to every other area of life. 1 Peter 5:1-3 - To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

The characteristics Peter highlighted are things we should look for in our religious and political leaders. Politicians should be shepherds. Imagine the shepherds of Biblical times. David told King Saul that God regularly delivered him from bears and lions (1 Samuel 17:37). This was because he stayed out in the wilderness taking care of his father's flock. As a result, he was exposed to the same environment that the animals under his care experienced. That is what a shepherd does. He or she must know what it is like for those they lead. No wonder many of the servants God chose to lead were shepherds. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and Elisha were successful servants to the Lord and shepherds to His flock.

This letter also encouraged church elders to prioritize caring for others and not their personal gain. When David's family and the families of his men were kidnapped from Ziklag, his army of 600 gave chase (1 Samuel 30). However, 200 were too tired and remained behind to watch the army's supplies. Once the battle was done and the spoils of war had been collected, David insisted on sharing with those who did not fight. He cautioned it would not be good to deprive them given their role in protecting the supplies. David could have agreed that only the fighters should receive from the bounty. He would have received a larger amount for himself. Knowing that would be wrong and thus dishonest, he chose the opposite option.

Peter also cautioned the elders not to lord their position and responsibility over those they lead. By this, he meant they were not to behave as if they were superior. Instead, they were to stand as examples that others could imitate. Jesus did this masterfully. Although He was the Son of God, He had no airs to Him. Anyone could come close, so much so that the woman with the issue of blood could hold onto His garment and pull power from Him for her healing (Luke 8). He even related with those His community despised, such as prostitutes and tax collectors. And though He didn't like the Pharisees and others who acted pious but were not, He still reached out to them, teaching them so they could become more godly.

As the United States goes to the polls to vote, I encourage us all to pray for leaders who display the qualities Peter wrote about. We need more people like this in positions of power at the White House, state capitals, schools, churches, and workplaces. Plus, doing so is better than being anxious about the impending results. And it is not just this nation that needs such leaders. Indeed the entire world would benefit from godly leadership that genuinely puts God's desires first, treating people with dignity and the love of the Lord. Besides, believers were told to pray for kings that would allow them to live peaceful and quiet lives (1 Timothy 2).

It may seem impossible to ever have the sort of leaders Peter wrote about. But we serve a God who has told His people to ask to receive (Matthew 7:7) . The early church in Jerusalem applied this strategy and God sent an angel to miraculously free Peter from prison and certain death (Acts 12). That same God can hear the cry for this nation and the world at large if His people would just pray.

PS: This message is not an endorsement of any candidate or political party. Also, I will not be able to participate as I normally do today but will be checking in during fellowship. God bless you.

To learn more, please read:

1. Speaking of Leaders

2. Again, On Leaders

3. Beware of Partiality

4. Flee Conspiracies

5. Political Thuggery