ISAIAH 62

For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness,
and all kings thy glory:
and thou shalt be called by a new name,
which the mouth of the Lord shall name.
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken;
neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate:
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah,
and thy land Beulah:
for the Lord delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married.
For as a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall thy sons marry thee:
and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
which shall never hold their peace day nor night:
ye that make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence,
And give him no rest,
till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength,
Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies;
and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:
But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord;
and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people;
cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones;
lift up a standard for the people.
Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world,
Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him.
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord:
and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

– King James Version of the Holy Bible

WWF – UPGRADING YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD

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My heart has seriously been inditing a good matter. The word relationship with God has been coming to my heart. I saw the story of Enoch again in Genesis, and I remembered how as a teenager I’ve clamored to walk with God like Enoch did. There’s a song in my language that is composed in that line: Let me walk with You (referring to God) as worthy and acceptable… I used to sing this song from a very sincere heart then, though I didn’t understand the Word of God then as I do now.

God’s Spirit has been making me see that many in our generation don’t know so much of having a relationship with God. It’s been religion all the way with them. We yell at God always in prayer. We do unbecoming things with God, ‘cos we don’t understand being in a relationship with God.

Let’s try to understand the concept of relationship on human to human level, then we will enjoy God better. In a true relationship, no one is trying to please another per se, all because we felt pleased with each other that’s why we come together in the said relationship. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” This means, except they are pleased with each other they will not even think of walking together to begin with. As a guy, a lady is pleasing to me then I approach her to ask her out. If I am also pleasing to her, she accepts my proposal and then the journey of a life of bliss begins, by each just being themselves and absolutely plain. There will be ups and downs for sure, but because of the mutual understanding between us we will surely walk through it together in victory always.

This is exactly the story with us and God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believed in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, John 3:16. God fell in love with us. He was pleased with us, even with our dirty living and our sinful nature. He walked up to us to tell us of His love for us. Of how He would like to spend His whole life with us. We were like, “Hmm, how on earth would You consider me with all my messes?” But He did anyways and said “It’s no trouble. I’m okay with you. I’m okay with that”. After so much persuasion from Him, we finally gave in, ‘cos we were pleased with His poetic words, and the firmness and sincerity of the tone of His voice.

Now why are we beginning to think we need to be doing lots of things to get His attention? Wait a minute, who is getting whose attention here? Perhaps, we have lost the sense of our relationship with Him. We yell at Him to get things from Him. We are never simple with Him. We shout and scream in prayer until we lose our voice many a time. Sometimes we talk to Him as if talking to an enemy. Can you imagine a wife screaming at her husband to get His attention at home every time? People around will surely know that something must be wrong with their relationship. Actually, we may need yelling once in a while, because we feel Him far from us, and maybe because we are in a deep trouble but what we do after that counts. Jesus Christ also yelled at Him on the cross, ‘cos He felt like God had rejected Him but He finally said, Into Your hands I commend My Spirit. That’s a word borne out of a sincere and deep sense of relationship. Such words always reflects an absolute trust.

My brethren, if we have sincerely and from our heart accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, then we should know that our Father God is pleased with us. We smell good unto God. 2Cor. 2:16 says, “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ…’ I pray God help us with a kind of relationship with Him according to His heart for us. Amen.

God bless
Adebayo Funmi
08060172855