And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. (Revelation 21:6 ESV)
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come. ” And let the one who hears say, “Come. ” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17 ESV)
In this vision, I was in the Spirit, telling the Lord how much I love Him. The Lord loves to hear words of love and worship and He had commanded me in the past to keep expressing my love to Him and not be cold towards Him.
As I was pouring out my words of love, worship and adoration to Him, He came upon me and I was filled with joy and exhilaration. A heavenly love enveloped me and I was in ecstasy and great delight. Then I saw His garment and exclaimed to Him, “I saw your garment! I saw your garment!” He was putting on a magnificent white inner garment and an elegant outer garment made of gold. The heavenly garment was beautiful beyond description as I marvelled at the glorious design.
Then I said to Him, “ I love you. What are your likes and dislikes? Tell me what will sustain our relationship.”
Then the Lord replied in a stern voice. “Passion. Passion will sustain our relationship.” Then I came out of the trance.
I guess the Lord’s voice was stern because He had taught me the importance of seeking His presence and desire for His presence but I still fall short of the level of passion and intimacy He desires. He wants hot burning love that will magnetise Him to us not tepidness, lukewarmness and coldness.
The Lord is full of love, passion and fire and He also desires love, passion and fire. Love for Him leads to constant obedience and the command to us in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Holy Spirit is part of obedience. He is constantly waiting for us to embrace Him but we are filled with self effort and self dependence.
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18
The conclusion is that passion is very essential and vital in our relationship with Him. We must desire and hunger for Him and His presence in order to be constantly filled. We should do this in the place of prayer, intimacy, fellowship, worship and constant communion with Him.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with us always. Amen.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Ephesians 1:3 NKJV)
He gave us life, love, forgiveness and eternal blessings. We were once sinners, lost in the world without hope and stumbling around in the dark. God knew from the beginning of time that we would need grace and forgiveness and He gave us grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. He sent His only son to die in our place and He purchased our redemption and delivered us.
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2 Peter 1:9
As redeemed, sanctified children we are free from past errors, mistakes and sins. Death, hell and the grave have been defeated and we have life. Confessed, forsaken sins no longer have power over us.
The only sin that has power over a redeemed child of God is active sins that have not been forsaken and discarded. Praise God there is hope for the hopeless. All we need to do is divorce any active sins that are openings doors of judgement and death into our lives.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11
For all the brethren struggling with afflictions inherited from the womb or suffering for sins they committed when they were in the world or even sins committed as a believer which has been renounced and forsaken there is a good news. The good news is that, that sin has been destroyed by the blood of Jesus and has no legal power over us..
All we need to do is to keep praying with faith, thanksgiving, praise, worship, and persistence until God uses His mighty power to enforce that freedom and deliverance.
The word of God is superior to all the forces of nature because everything was created through the word of God – when Jesus says yes, no one can say no and His word is yes and Amen. The word of God says we are free, cleansed, washed, sanctified, justified, redeemed and delivered. Praise God!
They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10 ESV)
Vengeance or justice is a natural law of nature. The Bible says that we will reap what we sow.
The righteous dead
In today’s Scripture, the righteous dead prayed to God for vengeance just like the blood of innocent Abel cried out for vengeance. Human blood is so precious and dear that it must cry out for justice even when the innocent victim is dead. It is possible that some dead righteous do not pray for vengeance, however, God the avenger revenges even if the dead person does not cry our for justice and vengeance.
Jesus did not cry out for vengeance but Judas was punished. Repentance and the blood of Jesus, however, will save the guilty because mercy triumphs over judgement.
Deep Reflection
It is sad that some people and religions believe that they can destroy the innocent without paying for their spiritual crimes. Some religions and cults including some organisations that pretend to be Christian Churches but are inherently evil commit abominations involving human blood through external symbolic rites and rituals.
All these religions delight in rituals and human sacrifices as part of worship but God is a just God. He is the avenger and will avenge the blood of the innocent even if the innocent do not cry out for vengeance and justice.
The reason is because the foundation of God’s throne is righteousness and justice and human blood is very sacred. He will not be mocked and fooled. He will demonstrate that He is God by fighting for the helpless and sacrificed innocent, regardless of how powerful the religion or organisation that sacrificed them is.
May we all cherish and appreciate human life and blood and avoid all manner of atrocities that harm the human race. God is on His Holy throne and He is a just God who does not accept bribes. Blessed be His Holy name.
To execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 1:15 NKJV)
For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted. Psalm 9:12
I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9 ESV)
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10 ESV)
This Scripture depicts a physically poor man or church, yet spiritually rich. We can therefore see that physical wealth is not always an evidence of God’s approval while physical poverty is not always an evidence of God’s abandonment or lack of approval. Spiritual wealth is superior to physical wealth so any one that is spiritually wealthy yet physically poor must not be angry. God has kept those physical blessings constant in order to grow you spiritually.
Ultimately, God wants everyone to prosper even as their souls prosper but what of when things are not following that sequence and the soul is not prospering. If the soul is not prospering, God in His sovereignty can hold the physical prospering and allow poverty or health challenges as corrective measures which is a form of judgement.
Judgement begins in the house of God. Someone can be judged because of stagnant or impure faith. If we refuse to grow spiritually, God will introduce ways to make us grow and be spiritually rich. Correction is always painful and never joyful or sweet.
However, everyone does not fall under that category. God deals with everyone individually and there should be no generalisation in Christianity. If someone is born with afflictions, born blind or born with the curse of poverty as a result of ancestral idol worship, He must seek the face of God for deliverance instead of using various scriptures to conclude that it is a test or trial or that God is allowing it to grow him spiritually.
If someone is suffering as a result of a particular sin or lifestyle that he indulged in before he became a believer or as a result of repented and forsaken sins even as a believer, the blood of Jesus has cleansed Him of past sins and forsaken sins and he needs to have faith in the blood of Jesus and pray for deliverance because the blood of Jesus has set him free. He must cry out for his birthright like the widow.
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2 Peter 1:9
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think,yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8
A believer can suffer simply because he refuses to grow spiritually. This is what is happening in the Scripture at the top. A believer can also suffer because his faith is being tested. When his faith becomes pure, the test disappears because the purpose of the test has been achieved. Pure faith leads to absolute confidence and dependence on God and also leads to perfect and mature love. Mature faith gives birth to mature purity, love and works.
So that you may be innocent and pure as God’s perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky, Philippians 2:15
Faith is inward and purity, love and works are outward. Love is an expression of faith. What is in the heart will always be proved by the outward actions, behaviours and attitudes. By their fruits you shall know them. Faith is not an isolated variable but expresses itself in a pure lifestyle. Faith is multidimensional and multifaceted. We won’t be perfect like God is perfect but we can become acceptable and blameless in the sight of God the way Job and Paul were.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6 NIV
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. Galatians 5:6 ESV
God has a standard and Paul said imitate me as I imitate Christ. This means he was sure of his walk with God. If we can reach the standard of Paul, we have tried however, if we can reach the standard that Jesus walked in, glory to God! We must also never forget that it is by the grace of God not by our own power.
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8 ESV)
You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 1 Thessalonians 2:9
You worshipped God, and your life was blameless; and so you should have confidence and hope. Job 4:6
There is godly sorrow that leads to repentance and there is sorrow that leads to death. We must never confuse the two and must pray to God for deliverance and healing. Children born with infirmities, children afflicted with deadly illnesses, and other perplexing conditions do not fall under godly sorrow.
Godly sorrow will always be something that does not kill but can make you very uncomfortable to seek God more. A typical example of godly sorrow is Paul’s thorn in the flesh. I have clarified this so that people don’t mix the two up. Any sorrow that can lead to death must be treated medically and with prayer by persistent asking.
The Holy Spirit is the only one that can reveal to you the cause, reason and solution to your suffering or poverty, never conclude on your own that it is godly sorrow without the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and revelation. When I went through afflictions, the Holy Spirit had told me that I would go through serious trials. I remember that I was never afraid that the challenges would kill me even though at the time, I forgot what the Holy Spirit said.
The Holy Spirit is our leader and must be the one that reveals it all. This is the reason that victory in Christ is impossible if you are not led by the Holy Spirit.
The scripture at the top, talks of physical poverty so in that Scripture, physical poverty is the trial and thorn that the believer is experiencing. These believers are those who will be put in prison to be tested. I believe the prison is a spiritual prison of trials and tribulations not physical prisons.
However, the Lord assures them that they are spiritually rich and He also encourages them to be faithful unto death so as to receive the crown of life. May we never give up our faith when we are under trials and may we always ask for the grace to overcome.
