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From: Bayo Afolaranmi
Dearly Beloved,
WOULD YOU ALSO REJECT HIS
WILL?
"This is what the LORD says: Put your house in
order, because you are going to die; you will not recover. Hezekiah turned his
face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, Remember, O LORD, how I have walked
before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good
in your eyes. And Hezekiah wept bitterly" (2 Kings 20:1-3, NIV).
King Hezekiah of Judah was unique out of the other
kings of Judah. While most of the other kings did not have good records in their
relationship with God, he did "what was good and right and faithful before the
LORD his God" (2 Chronicles 31:20, NIV). God in turn gave him success over many
powerful kings of his time. When it was an appropriate time for him to leave the
stage, he was terribly ill to the point of death. At this God sent prophet
Isaiah to him to announce his impending death. That was the absolute will of God
for him. God wanted him to leave the stage when the ovation was loudest.
However, he rejected the absolute will of God. He prayed to God for His
permissive will, and God added another fifteen years to his life. Unfortunately,
the added years became his peril. The Bible says, "But Hezekiah's heart was
proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD's
wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 32:25, NIV). Part of
his pride was the demonstration of his strength to the visiting envoys of a
Babylonian king an act that God intensely condemned (2 Kings 20:16-18; 2
Chronicles 32:31). Even the birth of his wicked son and successor, Manasseh,
took place during these added years. Hezekiah would have had a clean record if
he had accepted the absolute will of God for his life.
Jesus Christ also nearly fell into this trap of
permissive will of God when He faced His suffering and death. In the Garden of
Gethsemane, He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet
not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42, NIV). He accepted the absolute will
of God. He even cried on the cross to demonstrate the agony of that will of God
(Mark 15: 34). However, the absolute will of God for Jesus, and His (i.e.
Jesus) acceptance of it gave Him a name above every other name (Philippians 2:
10-11). This singular action of Jesus Christ has also given every Christian the
hope that is beyond any other hope that if we die today, we are going to reign
with Him.
What is your attitude when God reveals His absolute
will for you and that will is not "good"? Would you also reject the absolute
will of God and request for His permissive will? Are you ready to accept Gods
"negative" response to your heart desire? Remember, "
God causes ALL things
[even death] to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28, NASB).
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
===========================================
From: Bayo Afolaranmi
Dear Beloved,
TAKE HIM AT HIS
WORD
"Jesus replied, You may go. Your son
will live. The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on
the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living" (John
4:50-51, NIV).
The son of a certain nobleman was
sick. The man did not want the son to die, so he went to Jesus Christ so that He
would come and heal the sick son miraculously. Jesus Christ knew that he wanted
a miracle to be performed on his son, but He wanted him to exercise some faith
in Him. Instead of following him to lay His hand on the sick child, Jesus told
him to go and believe that the son would live. This nobleman believed Jesus
Christ. He went back home and found his son well. When he made enquiry about
when the son got well, he found out that it was at the very time that Jesus told
him that the son would live. What an effectual faith!
What is your own problem? In what way
are you or someone dear to you sick? This may not be physical sickness. It may
emotional, financial, or even spiritual sickness. Have you come to Jesus Christ
for a miracle? Will you also take Him at His word today?
Lazarus the brother of Mary and
Martha was very sick. The expectation of the two sisters was that Jesus Christ
would come and heal him. They sent to Jesus but He tarried till Lazarus died.
Martha and Mary accused Jesus of late coming, but He assured them that Lazarus
would live. Even when He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, Martha was
arguing with Jesus. "Then Jesus said, Did I not tell you that if you believed,
you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40, NIV).
If you also can call unto Him today,
as He promised in Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened"
(NIV), and believe in Him, you will see the glory of God (Matthew 18:19; 21:22;
Mark 11:24; John 14:13; 16:24). Take Him at His word!
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi
(Pastor).
=========================================
From: Bayo Afolaranmi
Dearly Beloved,
"O BAAL, ANSWER
US!"
"So they took the bull given them and
prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. O
Baal, answer us! they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And
they danced around the altar they had made" (1 Kings 18:26, NIV).
The story of the contest between
Prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to decide the true God
is a fascinating one. The people of Israel under the leadership of King Ahab and
his wicked wife Jezebel had abandoned the worship of the living God for Baal,
one of the fertility gods of Canaan (see 1 Kings 16:30-33). Jezebel had even
tried to exterminate all the prophets of the living God from the land (see 1
Kings 18:4). After God had proved through Elijah that He is the only one that
can bring fertility, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest to
determine the true God. The contest was that each side would prepare a sacrifice
and call on his god (or God) to send fire to consume the sacrifice. Because of
their large number, the prophets of Baal firstly took their turn. They cried to
Baal, their god, to answer them from morning till evening, but there was no
response. They did all they could do to get response from Baal, but he did not
respond. Even the jests of Elijah could not make him to save his adherents from
the disgrace of their lives. Elijah on his turn did not have to task himself
much after he had repaired his altar and filled it with water before the living
God answered him and consumed his sacrifice by fire.
Many of us are acting like those
prophets of Baal today. We have abandoned the living God for worldly things, and
we are expecting those things to give unto us what only God can give. We look
unto things like money, occupation, time, sports, pleasure, reputation,
position, children, spouse, or even our own self instead of God to give us
enjoyment, protection and security. We have placed more priority on these things
to the extent that God has been relegated to the obscurity. And we can do
anything to get what we want from these "Baals," though most of the time they
disappoint us at the crucial moment of our life.
If you do not want to be
disappointed, stop crying to these "Baals" and turn to God. He is the only
"refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1,
NIV).
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
Appreciation:
I thank God for the life of an
unknown person that sent a sum of money into my bank account to help my email
ministry. I may not know the person, but God who knows him/her will reward
him/her greatly and meet all his/her needs according to His glorious riches in
Christ Jesus.
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