In His Presence..........

Matthew 20: 1-16 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.   He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.  “About nine in the morning, he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.   He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’   So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.   About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’   “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’   “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the after

  Imagine a scenario where God is doing a work in a man’s life, by giving him counsel, or rebuke so that his life can ultimately change for the better, then someone comes along and frustrates God’s work by telling the man that what God is saying doesn’t really matter, and that he can carry on the way he is because no one is perfect. What this man has just done is scatter what God is doing. God is trying to put the man’s life back in order, but this other man is scattering what God is doing by sowing bad seeds through his advice and words. Brethren, are we gathering? or are we scattering? When we make negative confessions about our nation, we are scattering, when we make negative confessions about ourselves, we are scattering, and when we do not help others fulfill the plan and purpose of God for their lives, we are scattering God’s plan. If we are not in alignment with Jesus, then we are against Him, there is no in-between. Aligning with Him in our words and deeds. For example, in

  Mark 6:8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts but to wear sandals and not to put on 2 tunics . Jesus commissioned his disciples by imparting in them the authority to cast out demons and sending them out in pairs, he told them they were to carry no bag, no bread, no extra tunic, no money in their money belt, but to put on their sandals and carry a staff. I began to wonder why it was necessary for the disciples to carry a staff with them on the journey. The oxford dictionary describes a staff as a long stick used as a support when walking or climbing, as a weapon, or as a symbol of authority. A staff is a symbol of authority and power for example ‘Staff of office’, in Leviticus 26;26 Staff is referred to as supply, a staff is used by shepherds as a weapon to protect the sheep from harm, a staff is also used as a walking stick to support the arms and legs. I began to see the importance of a staff for the d

  Ofcourse, we wouldn’t dare to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. They compare themselves to one another and make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and then they judge themselves by their own standards. What self-delusion . But we are those who choose to limit our boasting to only the measure of the work to which God has appointed us – a measure that by the way has reached as far as you 2 Corinthians 10:12-13 TPT. This was a portion of a letter written by Paul to the Corinthians. God gave us all different talents and abilities because he is the Supreme God and he loves variety. Just imagine if we all looked alike, talked alike, and behaved the same way it would be a boring world. But our diversities make us all uniquely different. God also gave everyone a unique assignment which is our God-given purpose, but what happens is that we get derailed from fulfilling our divine purpose because we begin to compare o

  Matthew 22: 8-14 “ Then He told His servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guest. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled. 11-13  “When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’ 14  “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’” The first time I read this story I thought “aww but why did the King do that?! what if the man didn’t have money to buy new clothes or make nice clothes to come for the wedding,” until I looked at it closel

  Daniel 1:8 ‘ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself .’ In the book of Daniel we see that Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego purposed in their heart that they would not defile themselves. Daniel’s eye was set on this goal, he was not going to eat the King’s delicacies or drink the King’s wine. Daniel knew that God did not want him to eat the king’s food and wine, he knew that it was against God’s rules. Daniel and his friends had their eyes set like a flint, they were determined to please God, they were self-disciplined, not careless, not wishy-washy Christians. Why would this King’s food and wine defile Daniel and his friends? you may ask, it is because the food was unacceptable foods that were forbidden by Jewish laws. Some of the Babylonian dishes consisted of meat from sacrif

  According to Mariam Webster’s dictionary Hosts can be defined as a great number or a multitude. In the bible, hosts and armies are used interchangeably.   For example, A host of angels or an army of angels. Psalm 103:21 Yes, praise the LORD, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will! The host of angels do His pleasure, they are stationed to do God's will all the time and they are mandated to do what pleases God. Psalm 148 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked. Praise the LORD from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire an

  Proverbs 20:24 ‘ A man’s steps are of the Lord, how then can a man understand his own way?’   Jeremiah 10:23 ‘ It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.’   These are very fascinating verses of scripture, it means that we are mere mortals and we do not even understand our own ways. Which brings me to the question, so who is directing your life?   Man doesn’t have the capacity to direct the course of his life by himself without help from the supernatural realm, so it is either the devil is directing one’s life or God is. If we are but mere mortals, and have this great limitation is it not wisdom to hold on tight to the Rock? The eternal Rock of ages, and King of all Kings, Jesus Christ. When we allow God to take control of our lives and yield ourselves to Him, He will direct us but if we are not deliberate about seeking Him and walking with Him fully the devil will be the one directing our lives. Isaiah 64: 7 And there is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself u

  In the book of Jeremiah, the thirteenth chapter God sent prophet Jeremiah to perform a parable. Jeremiah got a linen sash like belt and wore it without putting it in water, then God told him to hide it under a rock in the Euphrates river. After a few days God told Jeremiah to go back and get the sash, but it was totally ruined and profitable for nothing. This is what happens to us when we bury our gifts and talents in the ground. We become just like that linen sash, profitable for nothing. This story also reminds me of the parable of talents Matthew 25:14-30, a master who was travelling far away gave one of his servant 5 talents, another 2 talents and another 1 talent. The one with 5 talents multiplied his by 2 and got 10 talents, the one with 2 talents multiplied his by 2 also and got 4 talents while the one with 1 talent hid his and buried it in the ground. This third servant was profitable for nothing. God has given each and everyone of us gifts to use for His Glory, but we ar

  Luke 12:15 TPT ‘Be alert and guard your heart from greed and always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.’ Human beings have the tendency to keep acquiring and wanting more, no matter how much we have, we must have more, more shoes, more clothes, more bags, more money, more things, more status, more Instagram followers, more education, more ,more and more. Please don’t get me wrong it’s ok to want more, but when we want more to the point where we live in a state of discontentment and envy which is covetousness and greed we have crossed the line. The Oxford dictionary describes covetousness as ‘ the feeling of having a strong desire for the things that other people have’ . Greed on the other hand is described as ‘ a strong desire for more wealth, possessions, power etc than a person needs’. The times that we are in has made it increasingly easy for us to be covetous. Social media is a big and major contributor to

  Imagine this scenario, a woman is very upset with her 16 year old daughter because she left her room very untidy in the morning before leaving the house, her daughter responds ‘mum I am sorry but I was in a hurry, I had a 9am appointment, and besides I don’t like using that broom we have to sweep, it’s too short we need to get a better broom’. The day after her room is left untidy again, this time even worse than the previous day. What do you think happened? Maybe her mum’s rebuke didn’t even make her remorseful, so it didn’t activate any change? but what if she cleaned up the room the next day, but grudgingly? It still didn’t activate any change because the change must come from the heart. If the heart is not right, then the actions will not be right. Isaiah 66: 2 ‘“For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.’ God desires to dwell with pe

  Isaiah 63:3 “ To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified" Ashes are the remains of something that was burnt, for example a book that was burnt to ashes. Ashes represent loss, pain, darkness, disappointments, bitterness, and suffering. Ashes represent a time of lamentation and deep sorrow in the bible. In these trying times, many have lost loved ones, many have had to say goodbye to family and friends too soon, many are struggling to stay alive because of the effects of diseases and pain, many are going through financial crisis, many have lost dreams, many have lost hope, many have lost jobs, many have lost businesses , may have lost investments, many have had to work through the fire and are carrying ashes the ashes of what was before. But God has promised to replace the ashe