'...Occupy till I come...'             

 

 

Dear friends, we’re already in the second quarter of the year 2003. How quickly the days go by before our eyes. I have never found myself so busy, as I have been in recent times. Nevertheless, God’s work must continue, in Jesus’ Name. I’m delighted to be able to send you the first issue of the Millennium Echo in 2003. I believe we have been experiencing God’s divine favour and intervention in every area of our lives, thus far. May glory, honour, adoration and praise be to Him who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever. Amen!

 

Beloved, I’d like to crave your indulgence as I write this issue of the Millennium Echo. As a matter of fact, I set out to do something else this morning but the Holy Spirit would not release me until I had yielded in obedience to writing this matter that the Lord has laid strongly on my heart; and that is this issue of Christians being apologetic and shying away from preaching the gospel.

 

Burdened

The other day, at a cell meeting where we were praying, I found that my heart was heavy and burdened. I was in tears as I interceded for my sons; my heart was almost breaking apart.

 

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit started to speak to me. The Lord said to me “do you know how you feel about your sons right now? That is exactly how my heart aches after my sons and daughters in the world. If there was anything else to be done to save them, beyond the death of my Son on the cross, I would have done it”. The Holy Spirit ministered to me that if only we Christians cared enough for lost souls as we cared for our own children, then we would do everything within our ability; use every opportunity we have, to reach them for Christ.

 

Compartmentalized lives

It would appear to me that one of the reasons why many of us do not freely witness for Christ is because we live compartmentalized lives. In other words, we’re Christians in church, or amongst our Christian friends, but when we’re in a non-Christian environment, it’s as if we have to put our Christian principles and values aside.

 

However, if I realize that I have been placed in my current place of employment to reach out to the people there, then everything I do will have that focus. And outside of work, I’d also arrange my daily activities and order my life in such a way as to seek opportunities to win the lost.

 

This reminds me of my church in Nigeria years back when we lived in Nigeria (I don’t know if things are still the same, but I don’t expect it to be different). Every meeting or gathering was an opportunity to see souls saved. I recall that even at the Tuesday Bible teaching sessions, there were altar calls made to give people the opportunity to be saved. As for weddings and funerals, those were exceptional.

 

What better opportunity do you have to preach the gospel than at such events, where people who would normally never enter a church building do so?

 

Jesus Our Example

This is one thing I love about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, which I have been studying for quite sometime in the gospels. My goal in life is to be like Him, to walk in His footsteps, and to do exactly what He would do in every situation. Jesus never missed an opportunity to show His love and compassion. And the thing about Him was the fact that He was very practical in fulfilling the words prophesied about Him in Isaiah 61:1-4:

 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified”.

 

 

The compassion of Jesus moved Him to go the extra mile always. What a difference it would make if all Christians walked in the footsteps of Our Lord. The best thing we can truly do for those we love is to tell them the “good news” that Jesus died to save them from their sins and from God’s eternal judgement. It is nothing to be ashamed or intimidated about.

 

The Devil is a Liar!

One of the tricks of the devil in these last days is to make it unsociable to talk about God in social circles. It will be construed as offensive. I believe that is a lie from the pit of hell. Yet it is not offensive for them to bombard us everyday with obscene pictures and to profane the name of our God in their blatant immorality and lack of value judgement.

 

Because Christians have kept quiet for so long in the pretext of not wanting to be unsociable, iniquity is multiplying everyday before our eyes. Yes, we are to be sensitive, wise and tactful in presenting the gospel. That is why the Bible says we are to speak the truth in love. This is not to say that the “truth” is not sometimes bitter.

 

A Mother’s Love

How many mothers out there would see their toddler holding on to a knife or a sharp object and would not tactfully take the object from the child?

 

Yes, the child may cry and throw temper tantrums, yet the mother knows she has to take any harmful object from her child because of her love for her child.

 

Easter season

Dear friends, the best thing we can ever do for our unsaved friends or others that come across our path as we go about our daily business is to tell them that God truly loves them and has a special plan for their lives.

 

With Easter just around the corner, what better time could there be? This is our opportunity to tell them the essence of Christ’s dying on the cross to save them from their sins.

 

May we in our celebrations remember to share His love with those who will cross our path this Easter. The power that raised Christ from the dead is able to quicken us to be effective and bold witnesses for Him. Hence, we are admonished to be bold and strong, for the Lord our God is with us. We are also reminded to ‘occupy’ (be engaged in the work of the Lord) until He comes again. When we are ‘fervent in spirit’, we are spiritually alert and conscious of our responsibilities to those around us.  The Lord will help us, in Jesus’ Name.

 

May I seize this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Easter and God’s super-abundant resurrection power and blessings in the remaining months of the year.

 

Go tell them that Christ is Risen Indeed.

 

Halleluyah!!!