Sharing Jesus for the sake of Jesus

Most evangelism sucks!

Ok, that may be sound a little bit harsh generalization, but I believe it’s true! Most evangelism sucks because they are therapeutically good but theologically not sound. They are man-centered not God-centered. They are so superficial not incarnational. Evangelism day is a kick-off event for so many than a life style. William Temple the late Archbishop of Canterbury wrote: ‘To evangelize is so to present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to put their trust in God through him, to accept him as their Savior, and serve him as their king in the fellowship of his Church’. We have to face it; the message of the gospel is more than “God is doing something huge” kind of sermon. I don’t think the New Testament God is vague on this. He sent His Son to die.  R. C. Sproul said, “The Gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.” The message of the gospel is serious!

Evangelism is not an option. In fact, it’s a mandate. It is not a system that we adopt but it’s a truth that we should live out. The motive should not be winning people for the sake of church membership but for a God-honoring and purpose driven life. And the purpose is not to enjoy the darkness but to reveal God’s glory as the light of the world. Evangelism will never get easier because we adopt, change or focus on various techniques. Evangelism is a grace-based passion and caring for people. Passion and caring has nothing to do with technique but a heart. God doesn’t concern about our “evangelism techniques” but our availability and passion. I think we have gotten far away from what evangelism is all about. Personal opinion but I believe it’s true!

Why most evangelism sucks?

I will tell you why. We know what people want to hear, so customize the gospel according to the interest and characteristics of the people we want to address. We assume what works and what not. As the result we have a gospel-plus-something evangelism and our “techniques” make sense to us than the gospel. However, Paul and many others did evangelism in a very straight kind of preaching. They just go out and proclaim. They were concerned much about bringing the glory of God through their preaching than methodology. But, the way we do evangelism often times is superficial not radical. Our evangelism is not properly planned and it’s poorly delivered. We urge “unbelievers” to love Jesus, to follow Jesus, to accept Jesus, and to worship Jesus but we don’t even live out these truths in our lives. There is no power in our messages because there is less truth in our lives.

Evangelism is how to share Jesus with Passion and Compassion!

I know there are so many kinds of evangelism ideas in the modern Christianity. Not all of them are bad but most of them are sucks. Our evangelism is more about how to entertain people through popular music, drama, so-called spiritual dancing and various arts, self-help and non-confrontational preaching, and very superficial not scriptural teaching. The concern is more about the people’s felt needs than what God wants from people. The concern is not whether God will be glorified but will people be satisfied. Let’s forget about our customized innovations and be concerned about the gospel. The gospel is not for sale, it doesn’t need our advertisement.

Evangelism is about sharing Jesus with passion and compassion. What you share is a person not a product. The gospel is about a person. Evangelism begins and ends with this person, Jesus Christ. And, He is the content and object of the gospel.  Disciples, not converts, are the goal of evangelism. We need to be operating with passion and motivated by compassion. This is not to doubt the effect of our approach in evangelism. But, we should not be focused on our mechanisms but His grace. Our words, and actions will take us half-step in the process but it is totally the work of the Holy Spirit. The goal in evangelism is to bring a person closer to the person of Jesus Christ who is already drawing by the work of the Holy Spirit.  “Evangelism is the discipleship of the pre-converted man” as some one said. God doesn’t reach the Jews through signs and wonders and the Greeks through wisdom. “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-24 ESV)

God doesn’t give us what we want in order to save us. He doesn’t give us “toys” to save us through the gospel. That is the modern day church gospel; the gospel of ME! The gospel of ME is basically man-centered and it is about how YOU can be the best person you can be, it’s about your bolster self-esteem, it’s about your dynamic relationships, it’s about solving your financial crisis, it’s about you and your needs.

However, God is passionate about His glory and He is taking the gospel seriously. The true gospel is about our total helplessness and need. We are sinners. We are God’s enemies. And we are need of a savior. God gives us what we need and what we need is the gospel. The gospel is about the person and the gospel is a person. We need this person, Jesus Christ, above all for satisfaction and justification. And evangelism is nothing but sharing this Jesus for the sake of Jesus. Don’t try to find ways to succeed in evangelism just share the person of Jesus Christ. Praise be His name!

Eyob B Kassa

July 26, 2012

Developing The Spiritual Gift of Discernment

There are lots of things in life that needs clarity. Just because it looks “right” in any of your “measurement”, doesn’t mean every thing is just right. I am not minimizing the ability to reason or think through. But there are things that are way beyond our ability to look or think through, especially when we come to spiritual things. How do we know we are on the right path? How do we know it is the will of God? How do we know we are doing the will of God? How do we know? Where do we get the confirmation? from our senses? People? Or what else? These are not just easy questions. In order to approve all things and hold fast, that which is good or right, we need to develop the ability to discern.

Often times, making a right choice is more than doing something smart. The ability to discern is more than having a good skill. Discernment is a spiritual gift, according to the scripture, and that is  to be able to distinguish whether a saying, teaching, doctrine, written word, or event is right or wrong, or it is from the good or the evil one. But the question also is, how do we know that? How do we know whether the saying, teaching, doctrine or any word or experience is from God or the devil? Here are few hints for you.

1.     You need to know your Bible. Sounds simple, right! It sounds simple but unless you know the scripture, not the head the knowledge, but having intimate relationship with the word, there is no way that you discern what is from God and what is from the devil. It is through the scripture that you discern the source. Not knowing the scripture leads to error and destruction. “If I were the devil,” writes J. I. Packer, “one of my first aims would be to stop folks from digging into the Bible…I should do all I could to surround it with the spiritual equivalent of pits, thorns, hedges and mantraps…” why? Because it is through the word that you come to the knowledge and understanding of what God’s will is.

2.     Don not accepts anything that you read or listens on face value. “The fool believes everything,” says the scripture in Proverbs 14: 15 but, “the prudent takes heed to his step.” The greatest mistake that we can make is when we receive and believe everything that we heard and ignore to discern. No matter what you heard, or whom you listen to, you need to carefully test and examine it in the light of the Bible. We are instructed to test, prove, examine everything in I Thessalonians 5:21. Remember, everything means everything!

3.     Listen to God’s voice and seek His precence diligently. Most people want to hear from God what they want to hear and when they want to hear,  but not what He wants to tell them. Because our lives filled with a bunch of hyper-stimulated and meaningless activities, we don’t have the patience to listen to His voice and seek His precence diligently. But seeking God must be our diligent work, because those who seek will find Him. When you have the gift of discernment it motivates you to seek God’s will and purpose and apply that with understanding. The bible says in Prov 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Just your way looks right, feels right, sounds right doesn’t mean it is right. Not all the way is God’s way. There are “things”, “voices” or “ways” sounds or looks identical to God’s will, but how do you discern if you don’t develop the spirit of discernment? Don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. Don’t pray just for the sake of prayer, but develop a hunger to be in His presence. God doesn’t want your list, but your heart. The greatness of prayer is not on the length, or the quality of your words but the humbleness of your heart the ultimate desire to be in His presence more than anything else.

4.      Ask God for the gift of discernment. God gives gifts. The gift of discernment is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gift of Discernment is the ability to perceive whether such things as people, events, or beliefs are from God or the devil. People with the gift of discernment know that Satan and his demons disguise themselves as holy (1 Cor. 11:14-15), empowers counterfeit miracles (Ex. 7:11-22; 8:7; Matt. 7:21-23; 2 Tim. 3:8) deceive people (2 Thess. 2:9), and empowers false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1), false prophets (Matt. 7:15), false apostles (2 Cor. 11:13), and false doctrines (1 Tim. 1:3; 6:3).

5.     It is one thing to desire the gift of discernment – and it is quite another to use it properly in a right way. We should not act like children concerning spiritual gifts as Corinthians did in 1 Corinthians. Spiritual gifts are not given for entertainment or any kind of personal gain. They should not also be treated as any kind of natural talents.  There is a distinction between a natural talent and a supernatural or spiritual gift. Both comes from God, but spiritual gifts are supernatural. And the Holy Spirit or God gives gifts for three general purposes:

1.     To glorify God (1 Pt 4:11) and Christ (John 16:14).

2.     To edify the body of Christ (Ep 4:12-13; 1 Cr 14:26).

3.     To lead souls to Christ (1 Cr 14:16; Ep 4:11).

The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to serve others, to bless others and to benefit others. So that the whole church, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, may be edified or  the whole church may be built up. You are using the gift that you receive from the Holy Spirit for your benefit but it is NOT given to make you “special,” “glorify” or cute in any way in the church. It is one thing to desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit but it is quite another to submit to the giver, and use it to edify ourselves and others in a biblical manner.

The need for spiritual discernment among God’s people is greater today than it ever has been! And I think we all need to ask God, the giver of all gifts, through prayer, according to His will, in a manner that glorify Him and for the benefit of His church.

Eyob B Kassa

April, 12, 2012

Rest In His Hands

It is only in the hands of God, you will find rest.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find hope.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find peace.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find meaning.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find healing.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find purpose.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find forgiveness.

It is only in the hands of God, you will find life.

When you face trials of every kind,

When your peace disturbed,

And when you lost your hope,

Just come to Him, and rest.

All you need to know is His plan is good and wastes nothing!

Behold, His promises are true!

And His love is everlasting!

He said,

Can a woman forget her nursing child?

That she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

Yet I will not forget you.

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

Your walls are continually before me.

Rest in God today,

Sink into stillness.

Let Him work in you and through you

Let Him to heal your soul

Let Him to restore your hope

Cast your cares and He will sustain you

Don’t be despair

Don’t be overwhelmed

Let your soul rest in His hand

Let His mercy and grace deal with your soul

Rest in His hands!

Rest in His hands!

 

(Rest is not about doing nothing or taking “day off” but it is about finding God and found by God)

 

My thoughts for today….

 

Eyob B Kassa

4/6/2012

Resting in God’s Peace

Have you ever felt like the whole world is on your shoulders? Restless, unsure, fearful, hopeless, helpless, etc? You are trying to do you best to stay positive and not lose perspective. You are trying to remain calm and stay focused. But still struggling with anxiety, uncertainty, insecurity, and so on. You don’t like the feeling but you are going through it anyway. Even if you don’t want to, you still hear the sound in your head; even you smell it like it is real.

God knows our circumstances. He knows our nature. His eye’s are on every man’s business. He sees the big or small. And I think that is very comforting. But when you are going through what you are going through, it is hard sometimes to stay calm or focused. It is not easy to grip such a powerful stand and not lose perspective about your life.

When you experience anxiety, or when you are going through such a difficult time in your life, God doesn’t want you running from Him but to Him. That is why He said ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.’ The burden, which Jesus is talking about, is not just about this worldly struggle that you have. Yes, God cares and knows about that. But it is about your soul. It is about your inner peace. It is about His invitation to draw to Him and find rest. He wants us to trust Him and go forward with the heart of seeking Him and wanting to know His heart. God doesn’t want us to be anxious about anything. By being anxious, we cannot add “one cubit to our span of life”. God does not want us to worry needlessly. Our lives are in His hand. Even, the length of our lives is determined by Himself (Job 14:5). We can’t add to that. He is in control. We are not. So, what we can do is “…in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Phil 4: 6-9 and when we do that “ the peace of God, (not any kind of peace, but the peace of God) which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God wants us not to worry about anything but pray about everything. When we do that we start experiencing the peace that transcends all understanding, the peace that will guard our hearts, and the peace that will guard our minds in Christ.

Eyob B Kassa

4/5/12

Seeking God

If you examine your heart today, what do you think you will find? A lot of things right? I know!  When David examined himself by the word of God you know what he found once? A hunger, a strong desire for God. Read what he says in Psalm 42: 1-2 “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God When shall I come and appear before God?” What about you my friends? What do you long for today? For many it was God! How about you? God is never found accidentally. He said in Jeremiah 29 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” If you seek God and if that is your only desire in your heart God will satisfy you by His presence as He promised in Psalm 107: “He satisfy the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” What about those who don’t seek Him? The answer is simple, they will not find Him. Because seeking God is honoring Him, magnifying Him and satisfying in Him and He  will give honor to those by whom He is  honored, and those who have no respect for Him will be of small value in His eyes according to 1 Samuel 2: 30.

However, seeking God is not about making our possession. It is not about making Him something that needs to be added on as any kind of property. Seeking God is a diligent pursuit, a passionate hunger for Him and without Him everything is meaningless and empty.

God is looking for seekers! He is seeking those who have such intense passion or a deeper hunger for His presence, and who want to know him more, desiring Him more, glorifying Him more, and  satisfied in Him more. “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.”  (Psalm 14: 2).

What do you long for today? you know God is never found accidentally, but He will be found to those who seek Him passionately, earnestly, and consistently. Those who seek him will live (1 Chronicles 16:11) and the search should be done with all your heart, mind and soul (Deuteronomy 4: 29).

We need to seek God all the time not just when we are in trouble. Seeking God is more than a joyful admiration or praise, but it is about being satisfied in Him, acknowledging Him, and glorifying Him in everything and above any other things.

Seeking God or desiring God has a cost. But the question is how much of God do you want today?

Eyob B Kassa

4/4/2012

Life isn’t worth living unless you’re living your life with divine-purpose

Sitting in my car, waiting for a call, watching everybody driving like someone is chasing them …this morning; I was thinking: everyday people are just like this. Get up, dressed up, grab something to eat or drink, drive, drive…. Come home, exhausted, beat up…then go to sleep…then comes another day.  Life is like an endless waltz, we dance through our life till we can’t dance no more. But, is this what life is all about? There must be something more to life or everything is vanity of vanities as the scripture says. So let’s think for a while. What’s the deal with this thing called “life”? It seems like everything has been set up NOT satisfy us no matter what we get or how much we get. You can have anything you want but we are created with endless desires and wants. But why? Or how so? I tell you one thing. Everything that we want is in this world but something that we need is not in this world and until we know or get that we will never be satisfied.

We need God to satisfy us ultimately. We need Him so bad because without Him life is meaningless. Here is the word from Saint Augustine, “Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in thee.” We cannot live a satisfied life until we fully satisfied in Him alone first.

My advice to you today: avoid destruction. Slow down! Just pause for a while! Ask some serious questions, where are you going? What are you run after? What makes you want to really live? Put an end to this endless and crazy running! Because there more to life than sleeping, eating, graduating, career, marriage, etc.

You are created in God’s image to have an intimate relationship and to glorify Him by being fully rest in Him and satisfied in Him. Our greatest desire is to know God, to glorify him. Why? Because that’s how we’ve been designed. But the question is, are you living your life for Him?

Eyob B Kassa

4/2/12

My thoughts for today: The road to SIN starts in YOUR MIND…!

The horrifying death of Christ on the cross demonstrates the righteousness of God; it reveals the horrible nature and reality of our sinfulness, and the glorious God who refuses to settle for anything less other than being glorious through His son’s terrible death.

But the question is, if God takes His glory so serious, shouldn’t we?

Sin may look desirable at first, test good at first but no matter who much we fantasize it, how pleasurable it be, it drags us down, brings us shame and finally death.

Sin must be defined according to God’s view and must be seen through God’s eyes. Sin is not doing something wrong, it is not! Sin is an attack on the infinite worth of God’s glory. And God takes sin seriously!

Sin must be seen as your enemy not a friend. You cannot take sin lightly because our sin cost God the death of his only begotten Son.

God is not a passive observer when you sinned. When we sin God grieves. Because He loves you so much He wants you to hate sin but follow righteousness.

Today, avoid those sinful cravings by live according to the Spirit. Romans 8:5, says “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit Desires.”

Avoid situations, connections, or any attractions that may lead you to making a sinful act. Remember Joseph? He did not only refuse to sin but also run away from it.

Stop playing around sin/temptation like Samson did. Some associations or relations may look harmless but they are the simple step to disobedience. In other words, stop playing with fire. Eventually, either you get burned or you get someone burned.

Avoid being vulnerable. Remember, an empty mind is the devil’s playground.

Meditate on the word of God. As Pastor John Piper beautifully defined it, “The word “meditation” in Hebrew means basically to speak or to mutter. When this is done in the heart it is called musing or meditation. So meditating on the Word of God day and night means to speak to yourself the Word of God day and night and to speak to yourself about it.”

Sin is a “me-first”, and flesh-centered life style and attitude. You can only defeat sin by being governed and controlled by the Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:17). You need to deliberately put the word into your mind and set your mind on the “things of the Spirit.” But this is not a one time action. It must be diligently worked out each and every day.

Eyob B Kassa

November 29, 2011

DON’T LISTEN TO THE DEVIL

Don’t listen to the Devil – he is a liar!

The devil is a master of deception, and he is also known as the accuser of brethren (Rev. 12:10). He wants you to pay for something that Jesus has already paid for. He is the father of lies; his goal is to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). He loves to embarrassing you with your past sin, beat you down with guilt and shame of what you did, and he loves to show how gross your sin looks and how filthy you are. He tries to do this not to help you but destroy you. He is doing this to take your peace, to take your freedom and to dominate and rule your sound mind. But here is the good news, YOU ARE FORGIVEN! YOU ARE ACCEPTED! GOD in His mercy and grace gives you a new life, a new day, a new year, a new purpose and a new path. Don’t allow the devil to bind you up or beat you down with your past. God has a plan for their future and it is awesome.

Don’t listen to the Devil-he is a murderer!

Satan is known in the Scripture as the accuser, the slanderer, the father of lies, the murderer, the deceiver, and the adversary. There is no truth in him whatsoever. He hates truth and does all he can to create doubt upon it (read Gen 3:1). It is the devil who wants you to dwell in your failure and sins, not God. He (the devil) doesn’t want you to understand and acknowledge your God-given purpose in life. As a matter of fact he (the devil) specializes in planting doubt, fear, accusation, despair, intimidation, condemnation, shame, guilt, and regret in out hearts and minds. By doing that he to tries to keep us away from God as much as possible, to show you how much unworthy you are to receive his mercy, and to magnify your past sins and failures and says, “look, Your sin is too big for God to forgive and too much to forget.”

Don’t listen to the Devil – you are forgiven!

My friend, if you confess and repent your sins, no matter how bad they looks, no matter how great your sins, God will fully forgive all of your sins! He says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds NO more” (Hebrews 10:17). And the scripture is also says, there is now “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1. You are now a NEW creation in Christ Jesus, and old things have passed away, and all things become NEW according to 2 Cor. 5:17. God doesn’t look at what you’ve done in the past, he already forgiven you. He doesn’t look back now on your sins or your failures with condemnation, and neither should you. God, your wise and loving Father, holds nothing more against you. God doesn’t want you to be constantly ashamed and regret of your past. God is more concerned about your future than your past. He wants to raise you up, so rise up!

Enjoy your freedom in Christ!

Today, tell the devil that you’ve already been accepted, forgiven and received a new heart and a new mind. Tell him that you are now a new person, a new creation, has a new purpose, peace and sound mind. Tell him you are not going to walk according to the flesh; you are not going to walk in anger, despair, resentment, impurity, bitterness, envy and fear NO MORE!!!

In Jesus Christ, in Him ALONE, you are justified freely Romans 3:24, you are forgiven of all your sins and washed in His Blood Eph 1:7; Heb 9:14; Col 1:14; I John 2:12, I John 1:9, you have passed from death into life John 5:24, you are God’s child for you are born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God which lives and abides forever I Peter 1:23, Jesus Christ is in you (John 14: 20), His peace is yours wholly John 14:27, you are no longer need to be a slave to sin, because God has given you His power in Christ to became a vessel to holiness and obedience Romans 6:6, you qualify to be given wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I Cor. 1:30, you are a temple of God in which the Spirit of God dwells I Cor. 3:16; Ephesians 4:30, you are holy and blameless in God’s sight.  Eph. 1:4, you have been saved from your sins by grace through faith Eph. 2:8, you have been purified from your former sins and you are now a child of God 1 John 3:2! Amen!!!

My friend, a Christian life is a life of freedom, freedom from any guilt, shame and condemnation. Don’t listen to the devil. Don’t waste your time listening to his lies, because he is the father of lies according to John 8:44. Enjoy your freedom that you have in Christ. You are free, and “If the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8: 36).

Eyob B Kassa

October 6, 2011

Be Encouraged in the Lord

“David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” 1st Samuel 30:6

Sometimes in life, God doesn’t give you people; instead He gives you a challenge. You go through what you are going through, but you will grow. 

When things go wrong, when everything doesn’t make sense, when the unexpected hits and blows you like a tornado, when your situation gets worse and worse, when you are going through challenge after challenge, …etc what are you going to do at that moment? What do you hold on to? What keeps you sane? Positive? Determined? Peaceful? Joyful?  Etc etc.,

Life is not about surviving, but finding your path and most importantly yourself and your purpose.

A human heart is prone to trouble and the mind is easily discouraged, depressed, and stressed when confronted by a difficult and uncomfortable situation. At that moment our mindset got usually into a negative state, hope start breaking down, peace shuttered, and life start losing its balance, purpose and meaning.

Unless you redirect your focus and reframe your perception about yourself and your situation you will be discouraged and frustrated. At that moment what you are focusing on makes a huge difference. Where your focus is, so are you.

Consider the scenario!

While David and his men had been away from their camp, Amalekites, a longtime enemies of Israel, had swept in, burned everything, and taken the women, children and everything captive. When David and his men came back all that remained was heap of smoking ruins. Everything was gone! Everything was destroyed! It was a terrible loss. As we read in verse four, “David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” Some of the men also spoke of stoning him out of their distress over their families. And at that point, as the scripture says “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (verse 6b).

It is always easy to blame someone when tragedy took place. As someone said, “misrey loves company.” When we are on the edge of despair, we tend to blame on someone or something, and that was what these men did. David not only had to deal with his own personal loss (I Samuel 30:5,6a), but he also had to deal with six hundred angry, grief-stricken men.

Everything he had was taken and the rest was burning down. What a loss! But, how did he respond to his situation? Think about that for a moment. As he stood before his burning house what was going on through his mind? How did he handle it? Was there a choice for him at that moment? Of course! 

Friends, life’s circumstances can either make you bitter or better, it’s your choice. Your choice determines the outcome. In the midst of discouragement, David encouraged himself in the Lord. He chose not to be bitter, discouraged, and hopeless. Rather, he took courage and strengthened himself in the Lord His God. When you start looking your situation from a different perspective, when you start encouraging yourself in the Lord, and when you say “NO” to fear, tragedy, loss, disappointment, etc., you see the same situation more precisely and clearly.

Be realistic but keep your focus beyond your situation

Nothing has changed. David’s situation was terrible. Everything he had was gone. His situation looked beyond repair, beyond hope and beyond his strength. His situation was discouraging. He was also surrounded by angry warriors. David had more than a bad that day. The Amalekites had taken everything. But, there was one thing that the Amalekites could not destroy and could not take. There was one thing that they couldn’t stole: his faith in God. The scripture says, “he encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” He didn’t turn to no one but God. His focus was on the Lord.

No matter what you are going through, no one can take your faith from you unless you surrender it. You have an option not to convinced otherwise. But does this mean we deny the reality? Faith is not denial. To deny circumstantial reality in order to maintain a positive faith confession is always has a bad result. But, faith acknowledges and recognizes. True faith courageously faces the reality of any circumstances, situations, problems, giants, mountains, etc., but chooses to see them contrasted to the power and greatness of God.

You cannot deny the reality and say I have faith. Biblical faith isn’t denying the reality, it is the ability to see beyond the reality. Faith is knowledge in action. It is an active trust and confidence NOT on anything but the Lord himself. The scripture commanded us to be strong only in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10). As the matter of fact, “He is the One who gives power and strength to his people.” (Psalm 68:35).

Focus on God’s Promise, Not Your Problems!

Whenever obstacles appear in your life, redirect your focus on God and His promises. When you focus on your problems you will be discouraged but when you focus on God you will be encouraged. In Hebrews 12:1-3 we are encouraged to keep our eyes on Jesus. Then we will not become weary and faint. Ephesians 6:10 urges us “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”.  One of the best ways you can encourage yourself during a difficult time is remembering who your God is. If you keep on focusing on the situation you will be discouraged, intimidated, fearful, and finally defeated, but when you switch your perspective to God and His ability you will become strong, determined, powerful, and focused. When God is the only source of hope you have, you got all you need. It is not what you see matter but how you see. In a time of adversity, keep your focus on God not your problem because God will bring light out of darkness, peace out of trouble, and all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).

Ziklag is not your final destination but it’s a place of transition

Discouragement is inevitable. Every now and then we collide with a difficult situation that test our strength and faith. Yes, Ziklag may be a place of desperation, tears, and pain but it is also a place of restoration, transition and preparation to get your victory. It is a place where you repositioning yourself to jump into another level. All the disappointments, failures, pain, and struggles you’ve experienced right now will equip you to fulfill your destiny. Ziklag is not a place of rejection but it is a place of transition. Your situation is not your destination. Ziklag is not your final place where you give up all your hope and dream. It must be a place of preparation. It should be a place where you reorganize yourself, your energy, and your thoughts and prepare yourself to go to the next level.

Discouragement doesn’t come from Lord but from the devil. And discouragement can also be a sign that we are walking by sight not by faith. But this doesn’t mean when you walk in faith you will not experience discouraging situations and conditions. There are seasons you experience discouragement, there are times you are facing countless obstacles, and there are levels of challenges that you will experience in this life. But as long as you fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of your faith…” Hebrews 12:2a no matter how much trouble you face, no matter how much you lost, no matter how bad your situation looks, God will restore you and He surely renew your strength.

No matter what you are going through you will never be placed in a situation God cannot handle. God isn’t at work producing the circumstances I want. God is at work in bad circumstances to produce the me he wants. John Ortberg

 Eyob B Kassa

September 30, 2011

 

Lord, teach us to pray

Ever since our first son was born, my wife and I have always talking about having a family devotion each evening. We just knew the importance of teaching our child the Word of God and keep that tradition as much as we could consistently. Thank God we can keep that commitment till this day. However, keeping that “togetherness” before the Lord, and preparing simple, clear and exciting materials was my responsibility. But I tell you this; that was not easy. Teaching the word of God to little kids requires a different creative approach so that they understand the truth on their level of understanding.

I remember this incident one night for example…

“Settle down boys,” I said,

“We are going to talk to God.”

“Talking to God?” asked my youngest son, his little hazel eyes wide open.

“We are talking to God?” asked the oldest one.

“Yes we do.”

They were surprised, with a good reason of course! I know what was in their mind at that moment, “How can we talk to God, we don’t even know if he can hear us.” That was a long time ago when we started our “family devotion,” which become a habit since then.

Prayer is a great privilege not an obligation

I am not sure how many of us do realize that prayer is actually means having intimate, personal, and passionate relationship with God. Mark; in his gospel tell us that Jesus went off by Himself, early in the morning to spend time in prayer with His heavenly father (Mk. 1:35). Luke 22:39 suggest that a place called the “Mount of Olives” was a favorite quiet time spot for Jesus. Do you have a quiet time with God? Do you have a special place that you want to be with God? Prayer is not about location or time. It is about having intimate and personal relationship with God. And intimacy cannot be hurried and cannot be confined with time and place. Yes sometimes we need a specific location and time to have fellowship with God, but the purpose of prayer is not about location but interaction with the living God. Some people think that as long as they go to church once a week, sing a few songs, and pay their tithe, that they are “in relationship” with God. But God doesn’t want your one-day in a week church attendance, your money, and your Bible study time, none of your religious list. What He wants is you! Walter A. Mueller said, “Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude.” This doesn’t mean we will pray without a pause all day every day. Don’t relegate the idea of prayer to just when you are on your knees. Make prayer a habit. Develop a constant communion with God.

We need to be taught to pray, because we are chronically prone to pray wrong, said Edward H. SchroederLord in his article, Teach us to Pray, printed in Nexus, Vol. 2:1 (Nov. 1961)1. When the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him “…‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1) His answer was very clear “when you pray, say: …” in (Luke 11:2-4) or in the gospel of Matthew He states, “In this manner, therefore, pray.” (Matthew 6:9). Now let’s pause here for a while and look what Jesus was trying to show them.

Prayer is about relationship

Prayer [Gk: “proseuche”] is “communion with God”. It means “intently engaged in; attend constantly to; persist in adherence to; constantly devoted to.” True prayer is not a mantra. Prayer is having intimate conversation with God. Through prayer we actually experience a relationship with God. The quality of our prayer life then determines the quality of our relationship with God. Prayer is talking with God. So, don’t make prayer a lecture. Prayer is neither to inform nor to impress. Prayer is having conversation with God. Remember: conversation is talking “with” not just “to”.

So, why the disciples came and asked Jesus? Even though there is no clear indication, they must have seen the way Jesus was praying every day in front of their own eyes, because He had been praying at certain times and places. Or “they had been struck with the Excellency and fervor of his prayers, and, recollecting that “John” had taught his disciples to pray, they asked him also to teach “them.”2 Whatever their reason was, Jesus’ response was direct and revolutionary. Surely the disciples of Jesus being Jews they recite the Shema, pray the psalms, offer spontaneous petitions to God and had some “idea” of prayer like their pious leaders and rabbis of their time. But now things about to change radically and there will be no more bigotry, prejudice, social elitism or religious arrogance about prayer or God.3 As Philip Yancey mentions in his book, Prayer, does it make any difference? “No one in the Old Testament addressed God as Father. But Jesus did it 170 times”4. In the patriarchal period, when people began to call upon the name of the Lord’ (Gen 4:26; compare Gen 12:8; Gen 21:33), prayer is naive, familiar and direct (Gen 15:2 ff; Gen 17:18; Gen 18:23 ff; Gen 24:12). It is evidently associated with sacrifice (Gen 12:8; Gen 13:4; Gen 26:25). As Joachim Jeremias has noted “this represents a radical departure from Jewish custom and tradition. Though Jewish people were given a lengthy number of appropriate titles for God in personal prayer, significantly absent from the approved list was the title “Father.””5

Prayer is not about words, but where our hearts should be

We have made prayer a ritual. We tend to think prayer is exercising a religious custom in a public assembly. Even when we pray, we sometimes do it in a way we talk to some “distant relative” who live far, far away. But if we could understand God’s main purpose for us is about fellowship or “koinania” according to 1 Cor. 1:9 and our God is a “relationship oriented,” and God’s desire is to have close and intimate fellowship with His children, then the whole idea of prayer would be clear. That was what Jesus trying to show the disciples in the first place.

Prayer is having intimate communication or relationship between the heavenly father and His children. Prayer is the outgoing of the heart. Beyond the content of discourse, prayer is “an overflow from the encounter between the living God and the living person.” In other words, prayer should come from a humble heart. C. H. Spurgeon said, “How many, too, have found a prayer upon their lips! It is a very common thing with those who pray in prayer-meetings, and those of us who pray in public, for our lips to run much faster than our hearts move, and it is one of the things we need to cry to God to keep us from, lest we should be run away with by our own tongues, as men are, sometimes, run away with by their horses, which they cannot restrain; and you know, the horse never goes faster than when he has very little to carry. And, sometimes, words will come at a very rapid rate when there is very little real prayer conveyed by them. This is not as it ought to be with us, and we must look into our hearts for the desire to pray, and if we do not find it in our hearts to pray a prayer, let us rest assured that we shall not be accepted before the throne of God.”6

Prayer is not a way to manipulate God into doing things OUR way

Often times we confuse “praying earnestly/diligently “ with “persuading God”. But there is a difference between “bringing our requests to God” and “trying to persuading God to do our will.” The New Bible Commentary aptly states, “…prayer is not an attempt to persuade God to do our will; rather it is an activity in which believing children approach their heavenly Father in a sincere endeavor to place themselves in the line of His will.”7When you switch the focus from you to God, you will experience His grace. Because what changes through prayer is not the “mind” of God but what changes through prayer is our mind and heart. Most of the time we get into disappointment and confusion when we don’t want to be change but We want God to change his mind about our situation. There is a prayer quote that I like very much, which says; “Our prayers must mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God” I think that is absolutely true. Prayer is not “God, you have to do this” or “God, you better do this before my life ruined” but it is acknowledging that He is in control and we trusting Him that He knows and do what is best according to His will (Romans 8:26-27, NIV). However, when a believer prays for help, that help will be given. This is absolutely true. But not rely on mystical powers of our words as the Word of Faith Movement teachers think. “Effective prayer is, as John said, asking in God’s will (John 15:7). Prayer is not a means by which we get our will done in heaven. Rather, it is a means by which God gets his will done on earth.”8

Prayer doesn’t require a certain formula

Prayer is exciting and powerful when it comes from within. Don’t make prayer a lecture. Prayer is neither to inform nor to impress. Prayer is having conversation with God. He doesn’t care about the words; He cares about your sincerity and the motive in your heart. God is not into making “things” complicated. He doesn’t lay down a complicated set of criteria before he’ll listen to us. He is eagerly awaited to hear us and to have conversation with us. Through prayer our job is not to impress or persuade God. We are not lawyers in courtrooms. As some one said, “God is bigger than you, so don’t go bossing God around.” Prayer is having an intimate relationship or communication with God who loves you and wants to have fellowship with you. Prayer is simple. Don’t make it complicated.

Eyob B Kassa

July 17, 2011

End Notes:

1 Edward H. SchroederLord. Teach us to Pray, printed in Nexus, Vol. 2:1 (Nov. 1961).

2 Barnes’ Notes on the Bible. Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes [1834]. Luke 11

3 Morries, Derek. Walking with Jesus- part 6. The disciple’s prayer

4 Philip Yancey. Prayer, does it make any difference?

5 R. C. Sproul. Praying to Our Father. Renewing Your Mind

6 C. H. Spurgeon: Prayer Found in the Heart. January 16th, 1876

7 New Bible Commentary. G. J. Wenham, J. A. Motyer, D. A. Carson and R. T. France. 21^st century edition. 1994. Inter-Varsity Press

8 Norman L. Geisler, Creating God in the Image of Man? (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1997) 86