End of Days.

This is a song by Hillsong's young & free. Its a beautiful one. God is The God of everlasting wonders and His Love outlasts the end of days! 

My Princess....

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Being a people pleaser, The Achilles heel of Saul.

Ist Samuel chapter 15 chronicles the story of Saul and his rebellion against God. He was been instructed to completely and utterly destroy the Amalekites but he hearkened  unto the voice of the people and had taken for himself the good rams, lambs etc and had even spared Agag the Amalekite king as well. When Samuel came and saw him in Gilgal, he told him what God had said already concerning him and the kingdom and all Saul cared about was his honour before the people of Israel. He had decided to gain favour from then permitting them to go on and keep the good spoils that God had told them to destroy. He was a people pleaser. The favour of men meant more to him than pleasing God. This is one characteristic that David didn't have and its no wonder that he was chosen by God to take Saul's place.

The Bible tells us that we ought not to please men. Galatians 1:10 says "Am I now seeking the favour of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ"  Beloved, we cannot please men and God at the same time. We are to seek to please God first in everything. People pleasing will bring a Christian in direct conflict with God and his perfect will. When we are more concerned with pleasing Jesus Christ, then it doesn't matter who gets upset because of that. The people who will be upset are those who aren't interested in pleasing Him.

Salome, The mother who wanted the best for her sons.

Salome, the mother of James and John was an ardent follower of Jesus Christ. She was one of the women who had followed the procession to the mount Golgotha where our Lord was crucified. Matthew 27:55&56 says that she was amongst the women that had ministered unto Jesus and followed him all the way to Galilee. 
  
Her sons had been fishermen just like their father Zebedee before Jesus Christ called them to follow him. They would later go on to be a part of the Lord's inner circle alongside Peter. This must have made Salome a very honoured and proud mother to see her own two sons close to The Lord. Everywhere Jesus went, he took these three along. Even when he went up the mount of transfiguration, they tagged along. In his moment of deep and profound agony in the garden of Gethsemane, they were there as well. We must also remember the raising up of Jarius's daughter, they had been present. All of this must have brought immense joy to Salome.

Now in Matthew 20:20, Salome went with her sons before The Lord as he was going to Jerusalem. She knelt down and asked Him to command that each of her sons be given the seats at either sides of Jesus in His Kingdom. This was a mother who was being ambitious for her  children. She wanted what she believed was best for her two boys and she was determined to do all she could to see that her desire would be fulfilled. I wonder what was going on in the minds of those who has heard her say these things. "Who does she think she is?" *How dare she do this?" What a nerve to ask such of Jesus"  some of them may have said in their hearts but the bible never gives a record of this however what we are told is how Jesus Christ reacts to her demand.

The Lord replied by asking them "Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall I drink of and to be baptised of the baptism that I am baptised with? Then they replied "we will" He then told them surely that would be the case but the decision about who would be allowed to sit at his right or left side was God the Father's own to make. Is it a mere coincidence that eventually James would be the first disciple to be killed and his brother John the last to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ?

I know Jesus Christ knew that Salome only wanted the best for her sons but the motives behind this drive wasn't right. It came from maternal pride and love and not the leading of The Spirit. The Lord corrected that approach and did not get angry with her at all.  Ambitions are necessary in life but they must be in God's perfect will at all times. When our ambitions are outside the will of The Lord they will bring us disappointment, heartache and sorrows. Some people we can learn from in The bible include Absalom and King Nebuchadnezzar. Their ambitions drove them in doing things that they shouldnt have done and they both paid a serious price as a result. 

Beloved, all our goals, desires, wants and ideas should be aligned with the will of Jehovah. It is important and as parents, we must be careful when driving our children to make certain decisions such as "Whom to marry, where to work or live and career choices. We are to help order their steps in the Lord by bringing them up in The Way, loving, cherishing and providing for them. We must not let our own personal and selfish desires get in the way of God's will.  There are so many people today in the world whose lives have been destroyed by the ambitions of their parents. How many marriages have ended up in disaster because parents wouldn't let God"s perfect will prevail over their children's lives? How many young people are in the wrong profession because their parents wanted them to be doctors or engineers to rather than painters or singers. I can go on and on.

It is very necessary for us to know and accept that the ways of God is higher than ours and His thoughts as well. He has a plan and purpose for every soul on the face of the earth and it is important that we as parents do our best to see that His own purposes and plans for our children are fulfilled.

Jesus at the centre of it all.

This song has been playing over and over again in my head all morning. Sweet Jesus be the centre of our lives now and forever more amen! 

Welcome August!!

Happy new month everyone! It's the 8th month of the year! The month of new beginnings. Oh what a Merciful God we serve who has given us the privilege to be amongst the living! Glory be to His Holy Name now and forever more! May all things be made new on our lives this month in Jesus Christ. Amen!