Grow in His Grace or you will be Disgraced

‘And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ (Luke 5:39)

‘People haven’t liked change for a couple thousand years. Willingness to embrace change is a key difference between great organizations (including churches) and those that are willing to settle for mediocrity and eventually become obsolete. You may think you’re doing people a favor by keeping things the same to keep people happy, but many times, what’s comfortable isn’t what’s healthy. Organizations need to change. Relationships need to change. People need to change. We hate change, but we need to change’ (Tony Morgan - Why We Need Change). This lesson is focused on two essential components of growth, which are change and productivity.

There cannot be life without growth and the average person desires to see growth in every endeavor. Even for Jesus the son of God to fulfill His purpose in life He had to grow, not only in stature but also in wisdom (Luke 2:52). However, as painful as change might be, there cannot be growth without change. Many interpretations have been given to Jesus’ parable in Luke 5:39 and one of them is that, people usually hold unto what they are used to. After they developed a taste for a particular type of ‘wine’, when they taste something different, they don’t like it initially. Because they think that the former, or familiar, ‘wine’ is better. However, if they continue to drink it, they may later realize that the newer ‘wine’ truly is better and they can be brought round to new ‘wine’, given time.

Another important aspect of growth is productivity. True growth can only be measured by development, or increase in productivity. Without increase in productivity or improvement, growth can be deceptive. In John 15 Jesus taught His disciples that He is the vine and they are the branches and any branch that is physically grown but remains unproductive will be destroyed. One of the challenges of the church today is discipleship. There are many ‘mega churches’ but the billion dollar question is, are the members of the mega churches real disciples whose lives are been transformed through God’s word, and are they been productive? Rick warren once said that, ‘you cannot build a healthy church fast. You can get a crowd fast, but a crowd is not a church. A crowd can be turned into a church if you have a process. The key to a healthy church is disciples not just a crowd. Rome was not built in a day and a healthy church is never built in a day’. His testimony was that in 4 years his church – Saddleback, had sent 8,000 of its members into 68 countries as missionaries. It takes discipleship to achieve that level of productivity in a church.

It is God’s will for every child of His to grow, develop and be productive in all life’s endeavors. The sad reality is that most people settle for the little achievements, without maximizing their God given potential. As a Christian, God wants you to grow in your knowledge of Him, in character and in productivity, as you yearn to know Him more every day. Be inspired the words of Paul, ‘I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’ (Phil 3:14). Grow in God’s grace or you will be disgraced. The next lesson of study is Knowing God’.

The Benefits of Knowing Him

‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue’ (2 Pet 1:2, 3).

Through our knowledge of God we become like Him and partake in His divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). So Jesus said, ‘And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called gods why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God? …’ (John 10:35, 36). Jesus made this statement in reference to Psalm 82:5-7 when God rebuked the Judges that they are gods and sons of the most high, but because of lack of knowledge and understanding they will die like mere men. Clearly we realize that by knowing God, one seizes to be a mere man, his original position as one created in the image of God to have dominion and rule over all of God’s creation is restored. Today, may you seize to live like a mere man, as you are transformed from one level of glory to another through God’s Word.

Heb 2:10 says that ‘In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered’. In essence we are restored to glory, in the order of Christ when we know God. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, He was the only begotten son, but by His death, resurrection and ascension He became the first born among many sons of God who have been restored unto glory. When Christ was raised up, Christians were raised up together with Him. We are joint heirs with Him, reigning in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers (Eph 1:21).

Through our knowledge of God our eternal life is assured, but our life on earth is also glorified. So Peter said that ‘grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord’ (2 Pet 1:3). As we get to know God more; fellowshipping with Him in prayer and His word, we become more sensitive to the promptings of His Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, long suffering, etc which are the nature of God is revealed in our daily lives. We begin to walk in God’s communicable attributes. The sinful nature of self begins to die and we are taken over by the love of God. Like Christ, we become selfless and do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in lowliness of mind esteem others better than ourselves. We don’t look out only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. We become a river of living waters from which life flows to multitudes. When one dies to self many are brought to life abundance.

‘His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him’ (2 Pet 1:3). Through our knowledge of God and by His divine power we receive everything that we need on earth for a good life and godliness. God takes care of us and supplies all our needs from His glorious riches (Phil 4:19). Through His word we receive good health and also gain wisdom to make wealth to become a blessing. In Acts 4:34 as the disciples yearned for God, they received the outpouring of God’s spirit and became selfless, giving to each other, and there was no needy person amongst them.

Love for God which is revealed in the unwavering pursuit of God, is the key to knowing God. Psalm 25:14 says ‘the secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant’. Your Passion determines your position and your position determines your possession. Seek God with all your heart, you will know Him and become strong doing exploits.

Knowing God

‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ (John 17:3).

God is not a myth that was created by man, but he is the author of life who created man, and both the seen and unseen world (for man’s benefit). He is more real than the word real. His greatest passion is to reveal Himself to man and commune with him. In the first sentence in the Bible He reveals himself to man; ‘In the beginning God’ (Gen 1:1). Knowing Him goes beyond intellectual knowledge; it is a personal spiritual journey. To Know Him is to understand His ways or character, how He thinks, His acts, His principles and His requirements for man (Psalm 103:7). He is a Spirit and the natural mind cannot comprehend His ways, it takes love for Him, revealed in a pursuit of Him, to know Him. As an individual who loves God, hungers for Him and pursues Him with all his heart, his spirit man is quickened and enlightened about God.

God can be known in a personal way. Enoch walked with Him until he was taken up (Gen 5:24). Moses was declared to be a friend of God. He prayed that he wanted to know God more, even after God spoke with him face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. David was so hungry for God that his prayer was, ‘Oh God you are my God and earnestly I seek you’ (Psalm 63:1), he also said ‘my soul is consumed with a longing for your law’ (Psalm 119:20), no wonder he was a man after God’s own heart. God has revealed Himself to men all throughout history; today He is still revealing himself to men.

The critical question is how can one know God? In Exodus 33:13 Moses said this prayer to God, ‘If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you’. From this scripture the Clear lesson is that, we know God through the teaching of His word. Secondly, we know God through a desperate desire and a pursuit of Him through prayer. Paul the Apostle prayed, that he may ‘know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death’ (Phil 3:10). Those who seek Him and search for Him with all their hearts find Him, so your greatest desire should be to know Him. Jesus said that, ‘blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. In essence He was saying that there are some mysteries or hidden Keys in the Kingdom of God that lead to eternal life, which every believer needs to Know, and it is your duty as an individual to Search for understanding into those issues. ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings to search out a matter (Prov 25:2). Also, God reveals Himself through all His creation, especially through man who is created in His image (Psalm 19:1).

Paul taught in 2 Cor 3:18 that as we seek God, we see and reflect His glory. And the Lord who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image, from one level of glory to another level of glory. Some of us have stayed at one level of glory for far too long and Spiritual complacency is killing us. If there has ever been a time that you should be hungry for God’s word, it is now. The dangers of not knowing God are countless. In Hosea 4:6, God said to the people of Israel, ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge’; this was the indictment or condemnation delivered by Hosea the prophet of mercy to the people of God, that they were ignorant of the things of God. He meant that the thing that is going to let the people of God perish was not the strength of the philistines, Syrians or the Babylonians but their ignorance of the WORD of God. May you not perish for not knowing God. Knowing God in a personal relationship is the only way to a fulfilled and eternal life. The way to eternal life is to know Him through Jesus His son. The next lesson of study is ‘The benefits of Knowing God’.

The Most High Rules in The Affairs of Men

‘You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses’ (Dan 4:25).

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned 605 BC – 562 BC. He conqueredJudah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile and is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and also known for the destruction of the First Temple (Wikipedia). However, as a result of his sin and pride, this ruler of this Neo-Babylonian world empire was driven from human society and was made to live in the fields with wild animals and to eat grass with them as a cow, and was drenched with the dew of heaven. It is believed that his form was not changed into that of a beast but he was stricken mad and he avoided man’s company and was cast out because of his tyranny. He remained in this state for ‘seven years’ until he acknowledged and learnt that the Most High God rules in the affairs of men and that He gives them to anyone He chooses. Before the incident occurred it was prophesied by Daniel and it all happened just as he prophesied (Dan 4).

At the end of the seven year period, Nebuchadnezzar looked up to heaven and thanked the Most High, and praised and honored Him as the one who lives forever, that his power lasts forever and His kingdom lasts from one generation to the next. And he also declared that, ‘everyone who lives on earth is nothing compared to God. He does whatever He wishes with the army of heaven and with those who live on earth, and that there is no one who can oppose Him or ask Him, “what are you doing?” (Dan 4:35). Just as he was making those declarations, his mind came back to him. His royal honor and glory were also given back to him. His advisers and nobles wanted to meet with him again. He was given back his kingdom and made extraordinarily great. Then he said, ‘now I, Nebuchadnezzar, will praise, honor, and give glory to the King of Heaven. Everything He does is true, His ways are right, and He can humiliate those who act arrogantly’ (Dan 4:37).

The main lesson here is that the Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, reigns on high and is sovereign; He has the power to do anything and everything, in accordance with His purpose, and for man’s benefit. He even changes human governments in favor of His children. God’s word translation renders Dan 4:25 as, ‘the Most High has power over human kingdoms and that he gives them to whomever he wishes’. Sometimes in our times of trials we tend to limit God and his ability to do all things. But the truth is God can do anything and everything. With men some things are impossible but with God all things are possible to them that believe (Mark 9:23).

Today, take those limits off God, He reigns in the affairs of all men. If you will acknowledge Him as the God of all creation and the savior and master of your life, He will deliver and restore you like He did for King Nebuchadnezzar, believe in Jesus and you shall be saved together with your household (Acts 16:31). 

Waiting Patiently for the Lord

‘I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps’ (Psalm 40:1). 

"Patience is the willingness to respond to irritating circumstances with love, grace and kindness as you wait on the Lord to guide you in how to handle a situation" (James Merritt). Also, patience is what God gives you when bad things remain unchanged. Faith comes by hearing, but sometimes, patience comes by silence. Psalm 40:1 is a Messianic Psalm and it foretold Christ’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross, and how He responded in patience, trusting the Father to help and deliver him. Like Christ, all men have their periods of Gethsemane and Calvary. It is the place where the pains of our troubles seem unbearable and throwing in the towel and giving up on one’s faith in God, sometimes seems like the best option. However, in periods like that, holding unto one’s faith in God a little bit longer and staying faithful to Him always leads to victory.

Waiting for the Lord, involves patient endurance. Abraham was already 75 years old when God promised that he will be the father of many nations, but it was after Abraham was 99 and his wife was 90, that they finally had Isaac (Genesis 21:1-2). So Heb 6:15 says ‘after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise’ . ‘Those that wait patiently for God do not wait in vain’ (Matthew Henry). So, apart from faith you also need patience to fulfill your destiny. Also, it is impossible to wait on the Lord without prayer. It is the strength we receive from the Lord through prayer that makes waiting possible. In Psalm 40:1, the psalmist said that God listened and heard his cry, meaning he cried unto God in prayer.

As we wait for God, it is important to trust his goodness and faithfulness. Knowing that God is good and He has allowed your troubled times for a purpose, gives one strength to hold on. Secondly, reminding yourself of God’s faithfulness also brings strength in troubled times to remain faithful to him. ‘Christ is the Rock on which a poor soul can alone stand fast. Where God has given steadfast hope, He expects there should be a steady, regular walk and conduct’ (Matthew Henry). Finally, after God has delivered you out of the ‘horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set your feet upon a rock, and established your steps, it is important to sing his praise, so that many will hear of the glorious things He has done, stand in awe of him and put their trust in him. ‘We overcome the enemy not only by the blood of the Lamb but also, by the word of our testimony (Rev 12:11).

Do you feel like giving up? Have the faith to wait a little bit longer. ‘There is power enough in God to help the weakest, and grace enough to help the unworthiest of all that trust in him’. ‘Those who trust in the LORD Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever’ (Psalm 125:1). Trust in God through prayer, hold unto his word and endure the present storm. As you wait on him remember He is a good and faithful God.

The Pressure of the People

‘When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” (Exodus 32:1-2)

Aaron is quickly associated with a number of historical events in Israeli history. What are some of the events that you think of when Aaron’s name is mentioned? It could be his going to Pharaoh with Moses to demand the release of Israeli slaves; being the founder of the Priesthood; he and Hur holding up Moses arms in battle; the gold calf incident; etc. What is the one incident with which Aaron is typically identified? It will be the gold calf worship at Sinai (Ex 32) - John L. Kachelman, Jr.

A contemplative analysis of Exodus 32 will reveal that Aaron acted under pressure. Like Aaron, many of us fail God and make the wrong choices when we are under pressure from the Church, family, friends, school mates or work associates. However, the real test of a person’s character comes when the person is in an environment that is very supportive of wrong choices. Many people have behaved in ways that destroyed their future, because of Mob psychology or Herd mentality - where people do things because of the influence of their peers, adopting certain behaviors and following trends that they wouldn’t, if it were left to them alone.

Seneca, the Roman philosopher once said, ‘it is dangerous to attach one's self to the crowd in front, and so long as each one of us is more willing to trust another than to judge for himself, we never show any judgment in the matter of living, but always a blind trust, and a mistake that has been passed on from hand to hand finally involves us and works our destruction. It is the example of other people that is our undoing; let us merely separate ourselves from the crowd…’

Unlike Aaron, Moses’ reaction to this particular situation is an example to every believer. Instead of pleasing the crowd he pleased God and showed spiritual leadership. ‘Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him (Exodus 32:25-26). Moses was able to hold unto his convictions and faith in God when the whole of the nation of Israel was moving in a totally opposite direction. Christians don’t live their lives based upon the feelings of the moment or popular opinion, but by the instruction and guidance of God’s word.

Are you under pressure to make some wrong choices or disobey God? Remember the words of Apostle Paul, ‘don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you’ (Rom 12:2- MSG). Remember, ‘each of us will give a personal account to God’ (Romans 14:12- NLT).

Being Planted in His House

‘Those who are planted in the house of the LORD…Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, (Psalm 92:13, 14). 

The Bible in Basic English translates Psalm 92:13 as ‘Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will come up tall and strong in His gardens,’ and this translation paints a magnificent picture about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. ‘The word Eden in the Hebrew language and in scriptures refers to the place of God’s presence’ (Isaiah 51:3, Ezek 28:13 - Dr Myles Munroe). God planted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden - His very presence, and because they were in His presence, they were continually empowered to reign in life. In His presence the only option they had was to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and exercise dominion over all of God’s creation.

Moses understood the power of being planted in the presence of God. So he said to God, if Your presence does not go with us, do not send us out of here’ (Exodus 33:15). In the presence of God there is peace, joy, liberty, rest and all that one needs for life and godliness. Like a planted tree gets its nourishment from the nutrients in the soil, so does man get his strength from his relationship with God. The woes of Adam and Eve began immediately after they sinned. Now when God was drawing close to them, they were running from His presence. Finally they had to be banished from the Garden of Eden (the presence of God) because of their sins (Gen 3:8, 23, 24).  

Now, through Christ all men have been reconciled to God, but each one has an individual responsibility. You can either choose to be planted in the house of the Lord or not. You can be restored by believing in Christ, repenting of your sins and beginning a relationship with Him, or keep running away from Him to your own detriment. Today, many are still running away from God, even though God is running to them.  They have magnified the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and pride of life above God. They are chasing after the wind and seeking for some joy and fulfillment they never find. The truth is only Christ can fill the emptiness in man.

Others have also become frequent visitors to the house of the Lord. But ‘God is interested in those who are planted in His house, not just visitors who only come to His house or presence when they are in need’ (E. A. Adeboye). The truth is, no one can fool God. God cannot be mocked; a man reaps what he sows. God’s promise to you is, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!’ (John 15:5-7)

Regardless of your sex, age or race; fruitfulness in life is a must, as long as you remain in God by seeking Him with all your heart and obeying Him. Do you think that it is too late to be used of God?  ‘The last days of the saints are sometimes their best days, and their last work their best work’ (Matthew Henry). All you need to do is to be planted in His house and your fruitfulness will be a surety.