In Time like This...

One thing we need to note is that God’s will does not mean absence of challenges. Troubles are universal language. There is no difference between the troubles experienced by the black from that of the white. Your status does not make you immune from afflictions or pains. Children experience pains and adult do go through pain. An adage says, “There is no royal road to comfort, but life comes out of pain.” God allows them to prove His faithfulness and supremacy over all situations. “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,” Deuteronomy 7: 9

God is always consistent and honest to them that are His. He does not change because of any situation but changes the situations. He says, I am the Lord I change not. Friends may change and can be changed because of limitations. God will always do whatever He promises to do. He will never break His covenant with those who trust in Him. In difficult times He is able to deliver and preserve those that cast their burdens on Him. “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Psalm 52: 22

 Individual is faced with different challenges - temptations, persecution and afflictions. They are not meant to destroy us but to draw us closer to God and to brethren for genuine relationship. In time like this, you need divine connection. Joseph was divinely connected for revelations concerning his destiny in this world of darkness. When tribulations, persecution and slander came, the Bible says, “The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master” Genesis 39: 2. Read: Acts 7: 9; Genesis 21: 20; Joshua 6: 27; 1Samuel 3: 19; 18: 14; 2Kings 18: 7.

If you are divinely connected you shall never be disconnected from success. Therefore stay connected with God and your fellow brethren. It is then your struggle will be ‘strangled’ in Jesus name. Amen. The Lord shall increase my greatness, and He shall comfort me on every side. www.abundantgracemi.com

REMEMBER CAIN AND HIS OFFERING

Giving offering to God is as old as man. The offering to be considered here is the ones offered by Cain. There are many interpretations of the action of Cain and God's response to his sacrifice. Some said God rejected Cain's sacrifice because it was from fruit. In other words, farmers cannot offer acceptable offering with their produce. Such prejudgement is a contradiction of the Scripture that commands us to give first fruit to God. Jesus uses both animals and fruit to teach about the kingdom of God. Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:"

Another school of thought believes the sacrifice was bloodless which the reason for rejection was. The implication is that God is bloody. Every sacrifice is an exchange of value; therefore it is not the blood that makes the sacrifice more acceptable. Hebrews 13:15 - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name.

Considering other relevant Bible passage on Cain's offering, it will be discovered that the state of the heart determines God's response rather than substance. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh” ( Hebrew 11:4).

Whatever offering you give without faith is abominable to God. He looks into the heart if you actually honour Him by trusting with all your heart.

An acceptable sacrifice involves the following:

1.     Putting God first in determining what you offer to Him

2.     Giving to God in faith and humility not ostentatiously

3.     The favour of God as supreme over the fatness of offering.

As you offer your sacrifice, remember Cain and his offering. Give your best to God by faith and humility. The Lord shall surely bless you in Jesus name.