Are you Learning?

Over the last few weeks, in my Walk through the Bible devotional, I have been reading the book of Ezekiel. If you’re like me, I’m just realising there’s more to the book of Ezekiel than the Valley of Dry Bones (Eze. 37). The devotional has systematically walked me through Ezekiel, and there have been times I had to put the Bible down because of how dark it felt. When I say dark, I’m referring to the prophecies God revealed to Ezekiel about the judgments He handed down. This wasn’t limited to the Israelites (Eze. 7, 11:1 - 13), but to other nations as well (Eze. 25, Eze. 35).

While reading these chapters, all I kept thinking was, why weren’t they learning? Surely, if they learnt their lesson, God would have mercy on them and stay His judgment. God is so merciful that Jonah intentionally disobeyed Him (Jonah 4:1 – 2). Jonah knew that if the people of Nineveh repented, God would have mercy on them; and that is exactly what happened (Jonah 3:10). The children of Israel were on numerous occasions recipients of God’s mercy, yet they somehow failed to learn. The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel detail the consequences of this failure to learn.

Then it hit me while I was in church why David is known as a man after God’s heart. Not just because he knew how to worship God but because David also learnt his lessons whenever he made a mistake. When David slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband to keep the affair quiet, he learnt from the error of his way (II Sam. 12:13). We are fortunate to be living in what is commonly referred to as the dispensation of grace. A period in which we are not governed by laws (613 commandments- you can read it here), but by grace (John 3:16, Matt. 10:8).

1. What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] [a]grace may increase and overflow? 2. Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?”- Rom. 6:1 - 2 (AMP)

In Rom. 5:20, Apostle Paul tells us that where there is sin, there is grace. But if you move on to the next chapter (see quote above), he goes on to caution us against living in sin because there is grace. As we mature as Christians, we are expected to learn from our mistakes/sins and strive to not repeat them (Heb. 5:13 – 14). In this new week, leading into a new month, I charge you to take some time to ask yourself: Am I learning from my mistakes? The beauty of this season we are in as Christians is that God is more than willing to step into the miry clay to help you, just ask Him (Heb. 4:16, Ps. 40:1 – 3).

 

Photo cred: iDisciple

Train up a Child

Growing up as a child in a single-parent home, my mum had to put in a lot of effort to ensure I grew up the right way. During the long-term holidays, she would take leave to spend time giving me lessons at night. I can’t forget her telling me on numerous occasions: “If I could open your head and put the book inside, I would”. Unfortunately, she couldn’t so she had to spend the time teaching me. This effort wasn’t just in the academic space but also in my spiritual life. 

She would take me to Sunday school, ensure I went to church- of course, as I got into my later teen years, that became harder. But she would make sure to ask me what I learnt in church, so even if I didn’t want to go, I went just so I could answer the question when it inevitably came. One of my fondest memories was attending Vacation Bible School (VBS), in one of those, I learnt about faith and all through that holiday I couldn’t stop telling my mum “have faith” lol. Looking back, I now understand why I write so much about faith and it has also helped me.

In Prov. 22:6 (NKJV), the Bible says: “Train up a child in the way he should go, [a]And when he is old he will not depart from it”. Joel Osteen, when talking about this verse said something that stuck with me- training them doesn’t mean they won’t deviate from the path, but eventually, they will find their way back to God; so don’t get discouraged when they do, keep praying and trusting God. As I got older and I got more independent, I certainly deviated from the path, but somehow the things my mum taught me stuck. Two of those things that have stuck with me from her training:

1.      Stay close to God and trust in Him (James 4:8, Jer. 29:12-14, Heb. 11:6)

2.      Be diligent in all you do (Prov. 22:29, Col. 3:23-24).

Glory to God, I found my way back to Him and these lessons helped me, even when I wasn’t the best of children to my mum. In typical motherly fashion, she kept praying for me, loving me, and training me (even when I wasn’t interested). If you are a parent or you have children that look up to you, train them. Don’t leave them to their ways like the world would have you do. When they are old, you will be glad you did. As for me, my mum is still training me, and in turn, I am also training my child. If you have a child that has missed their way, keep praying for them, and don’t give up (I Thess. 5:16-18)!

Photo cred: heartlight

Check Your Thoughts

My earliest memory of when I heard Phil. 4:8 was during my secondary school days. I was in either JS 1 or 2 when a school was invited to our and they sang it. 23 years later, I can still hear the tune in my head, along (unfortunately) with how we responded in derision to their choir ministration. If only I had heeded the words of the song back then.

Thoughts are so powerful that if left unchecked can go on a rampage, and as children of God, Paul admonished us to capture every thought and force it to submit to God (II Cor. 10:3-5). How often have we been hindered from taking a leap of faith because of fear? On numerous occasions, I have stopped in my tracks because I was afraid. I recall when I had the dream to pursue an MBA, the fear of not being able to fund it, made me not pursue it. Till I heard my pastor in The Waterbrook Church preach a message that then inspired me to shake off the chains of fear and do it afraid (shameless plug here of a similarly titled post). To God be the glory, not only did I pursue that MBA degree, but I also finished it with a distinction. Imagine if I had let my thought stop me.

Our thoughts can also lead us to sin. One too many times, people have fallen off the straight and narrow path because of an evil thought that initially seemed harmless. In II Sam. 11:2 (NKJV), the Bible says: “Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.” This singular thought led him to commit adultery and murder. That is how powerful a thought is! That thought also resulted in the death of his baby and his son, Absalom, sleeping with David’s concubines on the roof of the palace for the world to see (II Sam. 12:15-19; II Sam.16:22).

This is why Paul warns us to capture every thought and force it into the obedience of God. To help us check our thoughts, the Apostle Paul in Phil. 4:8 (AMP), gave us what we can see as a checklist to audit our thoughts on a continuous basis:

·        whatever is true;

·        whatever is honourable and worthy of respect;

·        whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word;

·        whatever is pure and wholesome;

·        whatever is lovely and brings peace;

·        whatever is admirable and of good repute;

·        if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [centre your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

Every moment of your day, run through this checklist to confirm that your thoughts are in alignment with what God wants you to think. If you find that they aren’t, then immediately ask God for help in realigning them (Heb. 4:16). In this month of August, I charge you to ensure every single thought of yours is captured, audited, and submitted to the obedience of God. Then and only then will you be able to renew your mind and not be conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2).

P.S. Take some time to listen to the YouVersion devotional for August 9.