From: "Bayo Afolaranmi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dearly Beloved,
Because of a reason, let me send my weekly message for next week today. Here is it: ANSWER ME, O MY GOD! "Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer" (Psalm 4:1, NASU). The fourth psalm is attributed to King David. It is believed that he composed it, in relation with the third psalm, when he was in a trouble, probably when he fled from his son, Absalom. It is one the psalmist's calls for help. He called on God to hear him. He also asked for the mercy of God. He expressed his confidence in God who has relieved him of his distress in the past, and believed that He can still do it again. He wondered why people that were persecuting him were doing so. However, he expressed once again his confidence in God who has chosen him. He admonished his foes to ponder about this and serve God in the right way and rely on Him instead of engaging themselves in wickedness. In spite his travail, David rejoiced in God because he knew that God had given Him joy that was more than that of his enemies. Therefore, he would have rest of mind even in his sleep because God was there to protect him. What are you passing through at present? Are you been persecuted? Call unto God! He is ready to answer you. He has done it in past, and He can still do it again. Rely on Him, and He will give you rest from all your troubles. He promises, "…call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me" (Psalm 50:15, NIV). "He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him" (Psalm 91:15, NIV). "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3, NIV). In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). ========================================= From: Bayo Afolaranmi Dear Beloved, For the next few weeks, let me go my archive and give some of my prevoius messages. Have this for this week: BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR "Then the LORD said, 'I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son'" (Genesis 18:10, NIV). Wonders never end. Sarah and Abraham seemed to say when God told them that they would have their own child "about this time next year" (Genesis 17:15-16, 19-21; 18:10,13-14). How would a man of hundred years impregnate a woman of ninety years? Naturally, it is impossible! Sarah laughed it off, while Abraham gave God another option to fulfill His promises for his (i.e. Abraham's) life (see Genesis 17:18; 18:12). However, God insisted that His promise of making Abraham the father of many nations would be fulfilled through the son that Sarah would bear to him, "For nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37, NIV. See also Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27). God did fulfill His promise! In Genesis 21:1-2, the Bible says, "Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him" (NIV). I want to emphasize two things in this passage: a. God was gracious to Sarah: it was by the grace (the unmerited favor) of God that made God to remember her and fulfill the promise; b. At the very time: God fulfilled His promise for Abraham and Sarah at the very appointed time, not earlier, not later, but at the very time. What are you also trusting God to do for you? Have you lost hope on it? Are you thinking of another means that God would do it for you? By this time next year, God would have done that thing for you in His own way, and at His very appointed time. God will be gracious to you and remember you for good. It may not even be up to a year. It may be less than a year, a month, a week, or even a day. Remember, the Lord spoke through prophet Elisha, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria" (2 Kings 7:1, NIV). The prophecy did happen less than a day. The officer who did not believe only saw it but never enjoyed it. By this time next year, you also will have one or more things to testify about God's goodness in your life. Do you believe it? In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). ========================================== From: "Bayo Afolaranmi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dearly Beloved, BEWARE OF PRIDE! "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted him and said, 'It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God'" (2 Chronicles 26:16-18, NIV). King Uzziah of Judah was one of the prominent kings of Judah who started well as somebody who sought the Lord in his early years as king. Because of this, God gave him success and he became very powerful and famous (2 Chronicles 26:3-15). However, when he became powerful, he became proud even to God that had helped him. He started to do things that he supposed not to do – burning incense on the altar of incense. The act was the exclusive duty of the priests "who have been consecrated to burn incense." The courageous priests of the Lord confronted him but his pride made him to be adamant in his inappropriate activities. As he was arguing with the priests, the Lord smote him and he became leprous instantly. He remained so till the day of his death, and so he was relieved of his responsibilities as a king and could not associate with even ordinary people in the society. Even he could not be buried properly with the other dead kings of Judah because of the disease. What a great fall for a great king! There have been people today that started well. They were doing the right thing. They worshiped God and serve the humanity. However, when they became great, they allowed pride to ruin them, and they became people of no reputation. The Bible says, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5, NIV). What is your present status? Do you consider yourself as somebody that is too big for God? Are you overstepping your boundary because of your seemingly powerful position? What is your reaction to correction? Beware of pride! It goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18). In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). =============================================== From: Bayo Afolaranmi Dear Beloved, WHO IS YOUR "GOD"? "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, 'Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him'" (Exodus 32:1, NIV). "As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him" (2 Chronicles 13:10, NIV). The nation of Israel that Moses led out of bondage in Egypt was stubborn. Their stubbornness against God's plan started to manifest the day Pharaoh increased their burden for asking for "a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices the LORD" (see Exodus 5). However, their statement in Exodus 32:1 indicates that Moses had become their god. When Moses stayed with the LORD on their behalf and they did not see him, they wanted another "god" that would continue to lead them in their journey. Was Moses really the person that led them out of Egypt or he was just an instrument in the hands of God, the real Deliverer? Was it necessary for the people of Israel to see Moses before they could proceed in their journey to the Promise Land? Should they have any visible "god" that would lead them to their destination? Many at times we also think and behave like the Israelites. We worship a particular person or thing. Knowingly or unknowingly, we idolize such person or thing. Any attempt to lose the person or thing, we would also lose hope and try to find alternative in another person or thing. To some people, pastors and other leaders are "gods." When the pastors or the leaders are in sight, such people would be active in the church activities and in their spiritual lives. Reverse would be the case when the pastor or the leader is not. Who or what is your "god"? In who or what do you put your hope? The writer of the book of Hebrews admonishes, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith?" (12:2, NIV). Fixing your eyes on any other person or thing will land you in the same syndrome as the people of Israel. Let the LORD God be your God. Trust only in Him. He will not let you down. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7, NIV). In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). +234 805 515 9591 http://www.afolabayo.org/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritualdigest2003/ "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. FOR TO ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN" (Philippians 1:20-21, NIV).
