IN HIS LOVE – No Rules, No Limits!

Everyday of our lives, God wants to have a very personal relationship with us – very personal. You know the way you relate with your sisters who are your besties (like how Komi, Fiyin and I relate)? God wants a 100 times more personal, more intimate relationship than that with us. It may seem strange because we have often dealt with God as that Big Guy up there that we must not offend if we don’t want to have his big stick whacking our heads. That’s what we have been taught, that’s how we have related with God all our lives.

Yes! We call Him Father. We sing His beautiful songs; get in the motions; preach of His love, tell people that He wants a personal relationship with us; many times, even think that we have a personal relationship with Him. But truly looking at it, we realize that many of us still see God as a manager – a manager of life, of the good book, of the evil book, of accidents and safety, of the roads, of those who go to heaven and those destined to hell. Seeing Him as a manager, we become managers of God ourselves. We deal with Him too “softly” so He doesn’t hurt (or get angry) – like an egg, we treat Him like He is so vulnerable. So we ask Him for the big things only, pray mechanized prayers (using ten or so rules of highly effective prayers), study the Bible because we’re told that God expects us to. We mechanically deal with a God who is so versatile, mysterious, and oftentimes unpredictable in His working. This is a thousand miles from how God intends our relationship with Him should be. God desires a love relationship – one that isn’t boxed by rules.

When I first got married (only 3 months ago), I wanted to begin to act by the “rules”.  You know how we constantly hear of roles of the man and the wife, what is expected of the man, what is expected of the woman, etc. I wanted to be the “good wife”, flawlessly playing my duties right. Thankfully, my husband kept ringing it in my head with love that our own marriage should not be defined by rules. I gradually relaxed and praise God, I enjoy a love marriage – not a “rules” marriage. I have come to realize that it is the love we share that makes us do the things we do for each other, not out of obligation, but out of love. God expects even better.

A love relationship with God is not controlled by rules. No! It is intimate, dynamic, full of life, and liberating. That’s how God wants us to be with Him this year and every day of our lives.

First Corinthians Two is one of the over a thousand passages I really love in the Bible. It talks about the Spirit of God knowing perfectly the mind of God just like the spirit of man knows the things of man. But because we have the Spirit of God in us, we can also know the things of God. In fact, verse sixteen tells us that we have the mind of Christ. That thrills me! 

However, I’ve thought about this, “If this is indeed true for every believer, why do we still struggle to know God’s will concerning situations of life? Why do we feel a need to consult several people before we make decisions on critical issues? And having done that, why do we still make grave mistakes for making the wrong choices?” I mean if I have the mind of Christ, I should be undoubtedly sure about what is right and best all the time. So why do I often struggle? I believe this has a loooot to do with the relationship we share with God. A love relationship is what makes spouses of many years to begin to look alike, talk alike and complete each other’s sentences. The more we treat God like a manager and manage Him alike, the farther from Him we get.

The kind of relationship God wants from us is that where because we are in constant commune with Him, we know the exact route to take to avoid traffic or dangers while driving, the exact clothes to put on that will endear interviewers to us when we go job seeking, the exact words to say that will bring comfort to a troubled heart. Since we have the mind of Christ, it means that we know His will as regards any and every decision we have to make. You won’t need to go around asking other people’s opinions; you won’t need to ask for a sign or seek confirmation from anywhere. You just know what to do because He tells it to you.

Imagine how amazing our Christian walk will be if we indeed related with God in love and intimacy – like He desires. Of course, we can never attain this without constant fellowship with Him in worship, prayers, Word study, and testifying of Him. So yeah, the rules are good, but our relationship with Him should not be controlled by them. It should be controlled by love.

I look forward to a new level of intimacy with the LORD this year 2017. How about you?

Happy New Year 2017

Servants Don't Deserve Special Thanks

Several years ago, I came across some of Jesus’ words in Luke 17:7-10. The passage talked about how servants were required to do their duty and not expect any thanks… something like that…

“⁷ If your servant comes in from plowing or from taking care of the sheep, would you say, “Welcome! Come on in and have something to eat”?
⁸ No, you wouldn’t say that. You would say, “Fix me something to eat. Get ready to serve me, so I can have my meal. Then later on you can eat and drink.”
⁹ Servants don’t deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do.
¹⁰ And that’s how it should be with you. When you’ve done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.” (CEV)

This was a surprise to me because it was different from the “pay-back” messages I was used to hearing. Things like, “Pay attention to God’s matters and things of the Kingdom, so that He can pay attention to yours.” Or “Give a financial seed of promotion or fruitfulness or whatever, so that God can give back to you.” Or “You should be involved in sanctuary cleaning, so that God can clean up every mess in your life.”

While it is true that God rewards great service (Galatians 6:9), it is not right to serve God only because you want to reap from Him. That is not love. That is selfishness. Many of us believers are actually selfish. We do things for the Kingdom from a heart of “getting-back”. Despite knowing that God gave us His Son without reserve and has promised to give us all things freely (Romans 8:32), we are not ready to give Him or His anything for free. “After all, He’s a wealthy God and has all things to give,” we say.

Isn’t it surprising to learn that Jesus (God Himself) does not agree with our kind of thinking? You don’t praise a servant for doing the job he was employed to do. Why should we be patted on our backs for every single act of kindness we extend to a fellow human being? Isn’t that our duty? Aren’t we supposed to love others freely just as God has loved us? Aren’t we supposed to serve God without expecting anything?

A few years back, I was given an award in an organization I belong to. The award was for “paying all my dues on time and supporting the vision.” I was so excited about the award only because it came with a gift that I really liked. Days later however, I reflected and realized that I did not deserve the award. Nobody did. As a member of the organization, I was required to pay my dues and support the vision. I had not done anything extraordinary. I had not done anything special. I’m guessing the leadership probably thought it was important to give that award to encourage payment of dues. But the fact that others did not do what they were expected to do doesn’t make it special that I did.

Let’s think about it, are we praised for delivering our daily duties at work every day? I don’t think so. So why do we expect to be commended for every act of love and service we give on behalf of our Heavenly Father.

Dearly beloved, no matter how hard you work for God’s kingdom, don’t do it out of a heart of selfishness. Do not do it because you hope to receive a reward. God is a righteous God; you will never miss your reward (Hebrews 6:10). However, remember that in God’s vineyard, you are a servant doing the Master’s will. Like Jesus said in Luke 17:9, servants don’t deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do.

Even more, we are actually God’s children, not merely servants. If you had a child that asked you to pay him for being a child to you, how would you feel? Imagine that you did some laundry and had your clothes out on the clothesline, and you had a child who saw the clouds gather and then took initiative to bring your clothes in. Imagine that you got back home at night and he handed you a bill because he brought your clothes in, how would you feel? I’m sure not great.

So think about it… when you serve selfishly, have you behaved like a true child to your Heavenly Father? Why do you want to be specially encouraged before you go out and evangelize Christ to sinners? Why is it so important to you to be reminded that when you sow bountifully you reap bountifully before you can give financially to the church building project or the feed-the-hungry cause going on in your church? Why can’t you serve from a heart of love, selflessness and gratitude?

In our daily Christian walk, we should always remember that servants and children do not deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do. In fact, no one does. When you’ve done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.” (Luke 17:10_b)

TODAY I SAY I DO

I started this year 2016 deeply in prayers. I remember sharing with you that I learned some great truths about prayer from Pastor Chris Onayinka which really did transform my prayer life. I still pray and I still thank God that I stumbled on those audio messages (click here for that article). It was in one of my prayer times that the LORD placed it in my heart to choose September as the month in which I’d get married. Yes, September 2016! At first, making that prayer was easy, and I saw it as a good thing from the LORD (I still do). However, later, thinking about it and the impossibility of it made it a little bit more difficult to pray. But I chose to hold on to prayers. My head doubted a lot; but as Dad Hagin advised, I ensured my heart didn’t doubt. I remember my best friend, Simi, calling me on my birthday and when I told her what I’d been praying about, she asked, “Oh is there somebody yet?” I said, “No, but that’s what is going to happen.” She said, “I admire your faith.”

I didn’t admire my faith, because it seemed impossible. Little did I know that I’d already met my husband and God had already placed it in his heart so that He could accomplish what He had purposed in our lives. We’re not getting wedded in September exactly (’cos today is October 1^st), but we fulfilled our traditional marital demands yesterday, September 30^th. 

It has been a … I-don’t-know-how-to-describe-it heck of a journey for Deji and I. I read somewhere that the fact that something is the will of God doesn’t mean it is going to be easy and doesn’t mean there will never be challenges. Indeed, readjusting yourself to fit God’s plan isn’t necessarily a pleasant transition. We both learned that truth early in our relationship and it has helped us get to where we are today – each day we are more than grateful to God for His faithfulness. We would never have it any other way.

And that’s why today I say ‘I do’…

Today I say ‘I do’ confirming that what He promises, He also will perform (Romans 4:21).

Today I say ‘I do’ to the will of God concerning marriage; trusting that He who has begun a good work is able also to complete it. (Philippians 1:6).

Today I say ‘I do’ proving true that no one was made to live for him/herself. Now, I have a daily reminder that I need not look out for my own things alone, but also on the things of others (Philippians 2:4).

Today I say ‘I do’ to the things I already know and the ones I don’t even know. (Joshua 1:9).

Today I say ‘I do’ to God’s choice for me. I get to become one with him who is whole and complete in Christ. (Ephesians 5:31; Colossians 2:10)

Today I say ‘I do’ to the love of my life, my prince charming; knowing that the storms will rage sometimes and the fires will burn, but God will never fail. (Isaiah 43:2; Hebrews 13:5).

So, I say ‘I do’ till death do us part.