RETURN TO THE ALMIGHTY 3C

“If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity from far from thy tabernacles.”

Job 22:23, KJV

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Matthew 11:28-29, KJV

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take water of life freely.”

Revelation 22:17, KJV

If the almighty says, Come, should you have an opinion? One of the characteristics of very powerful people is that they don’t waste words. I can recall back then when I was still into doing contracts and I was connected to someone who gave me a note to the person that I needed to see. He gave me his complimentary card to hand over to the person and all he wrote at the back of the card was – ‘please, help!’ That card worked magic. We, the children of God have access to the most high.

Jesus said, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give your rest. He said take my yoke upon you for I am meek and lowly in heart. Learn of me! That is the whole essence of discipleship – becoming like Christ. Can you really and truly say that you are becoming like Christ in this journey? Can people around you, people who are close to you, those with whom you relate regularly attest to the fact that you are becoming more and more like Christ? This scripture introduces another powerful word – meekness. If you study the lives of Christians who go to Church and get involved in other religious activities today, can you really say that they are like Christ?

There was something special about the apostles of old; they spent just three and half years with Jesus and they became like him. That was why they were called Christians in Antioch, they were real disciples. A disciple is a disciplined follower of the mentor, a protégée that is, a disciplined follower of the mentor, a mentee that is a disciplined follower of the mentor. God, the Father says, Come! Jesus says, Come! The Holy Spirit says, Come! The Spirit and the Bride say, Come! So, what are you waiting for? Jesus even went a step further to say, I will give you rest. No Christ, no rest!

Those who reject the Prince of peace will never know peace no matter how far they think they can go without him. It would be a journey in futility.

The worst tragedy in life is to face eternity without Christ. How much of him can you say you have today? What are the characteristics, or nature of Christ in you? I do frown at the lion and eagle model that a lot of preachers are using in the Church today. You cannot produce a disciple with that model. I don’t understand how that error invaded the Church.

When we gave our lives to Christ in the early 1970s, you can tell a child of God when you see one. A child of God will not tell lies. A child of God will not steal from you. These are basic things. There was something about the Christianity of those days; Christianity that went the extra mile to do the will of God. Money was not the essence then. No airconditioned cathedrals, in fact, we hold services in open space.

Whenever it rains, it pours upon us profusely and we were always very happy. As it is raining, we sing – ‘even in the rains, we will follow Jesus’. We were very happy to serve God and there was love amongst the brethren. There was sacrifice; we go the extra mile to do the things of God with joy. What happened?

TO BE CONTINUED.