As Christians we recognize the inequality of the worldly society in which we live. The disparity between the rich and poor continues to increase instead of decrease. It is in this competitive and fast paced climate that we are called to be the voice of the marginalized, to measure the effectiveness of social systems in caring for the needs of the poor and vulnerable. We do this in a bid to establish a just society where all are guaranteed care, provision and shelter. This is the ideal, it is what we work towards. In the meantime, God has pledged to care for those who are in need. Today’s Watchword from Isaiah 41: 17 says: When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them.

Out text gives assurance and hope. Assurance is found in the promise that God will provide for them when they seek water and find none. The text must be understood within the context of God showing the difference between Himself and the idols of Israel’s Babylonian captors. While their gods made of wood and stone were powerless to respond, Israel’s God was the God who would never forsake them, who would keep his promise made to them through Abraham, and who had the power to rescue and restore them. It was important for Israel to be aware of the nearness of God. He was right in their midst, having never left them. Today we too can be assured that regardless of what we endure, God will never be far away from us. This nearness of God should be a source of spiritual comfort for us as God will always be on the lookout for us. In Deuteronomy 31: 6, we receive encouragement not to be too confident in ourselves but to trust God: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you”. Jesus assured us in John 14: 18 ‘I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you’. It is because of this assurance that I say to you today, never give up, keep trusting God.

Monday Reflection – February 03, 2020

Look and Live!

All who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed. Isaiah 45:24

As we roam about in this world seeking for purpose in life and how we may achieve success and fulfillment, there is always the tendency to explore a myriad of options to accomplish this. The Israelites were no different and seemed to have mastered this attitude and behaviour. They often turned their backs on God and their covenant agreement and served idol gods. And, they always reaped the consequences of their wayward actions.

Isaiah 45 serves as another of God’s call to Israel to follow him; they should look to him and be saved. In this process God points out the how to do this:

1. Look to the God who chose Cyrus to act on his behalf. God outlines the call and mission for Cyrus (vs. 1-3) and the purpose behind God’s calling and mission for Cyrus (vs. 4-7).

2. Look to the God who created everything. Hear God calling to creation in verse 8: “Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.” So God points out the foolishness of resisting the Creator (vs. 9-10) and this God of all creation will raise up Cyrus and deliver His people (vs. 11-13).

3. Look to the God who is above all gods (vs. 14-17). Here God declares His greatness and the foolishness of idolatry (vs. 18-21). He closes this chapter by calling all to look to him and find salvation, in full surrender (vs. 22-25). It is in this closing section that God warns in today’s Watchword that all who are opposed to God’s governance and laws shall be ashamed. The enemies of God shall see their own folly and they shall be ashamed that they have dared to oppose one so mighty and so glorious as the living God.

Today’s text invites us to submit ourselves to the lordship of the Sovereign God for there is not a better choice to make. As we do so, we should also challenge others to surrender their lives to the Lord. They must be made aware of the joylessness and emptiness that accompany those who live outside of God and the dire consequences of such actions. Yet, there is awesome joy and fulfilment in serving God.

Charles Spurgeon tells his own story: “I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text: ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.’ He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed, except his text. ‘…if he looks, the promise is that he shall live.’ Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, ‘That young man there looks very miserable.’ Then he said, ‘There is no hope for you, young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin, but by looking to Jesus;’ and he shouted… ‘Look! Look, young man! Look now!’ And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home… I am sure I joined in it.”

Today, look to Jesus and live!

Look and Live by Nairobi South Youth SDA Look and Live as sung by the Nairobi South Youth SDA. The Lyrics of the song is as below. Look and Live [William…

Wednesday Reflection, January 22, 2020

A Call to Faith

Brothers and sisters, I greet you well. If we should search for a definition for the word faith, we’d find that like so many other words in the dictionary, this one word has many meanings and applications, however, none of the dictionary meanings mean more to me than the definition given to us in Hebrews 11:1 faith is the assurance of what we hope for (divinely guaranteed) and confidence in that which we do not see…

Tuesday Reflection – January 21, 2020
The Completeness of God’s Action

In Leviticus 26: 1 – 13 God reminds Israel of their promised obedience to the Law and the blessings they will receive for keeping them. The promise to them is that those who walk faithfully with God will be rewarded with peace, prosperity and power. Israel is then reminded through today’s watchword of God’s action of deliverance in their lives which has continued to be a source of blessing to them. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Lev 26: 13

When God freed Israel from slavery he did not leave them in the land of Egypt but led them out of the situation and the place of bondage to a place of freedom and safety. God also reminded them that their yoke was broken. The yoke represented the bondage of slavery. While slaves they could not live like normal people. They could not stand on their own two feet because they were not allowed to do so. The breaking of the yoke allowed Israel to walk upright again, standing as men and women, as people who were free and not as property of the Egyptian slave owners. Egypt represented shame, shackles and suffering, the burdens of which caused them to look down in shame. Freedom meant they could look at each other unashamed, they could hold their heads up and they could square their shoulders and face the world as freed people. God did not just bring them out of slavery, God completely changed their situation of shame and captivity to one of freedom, pride and joy. Such is the completeness of God’s action, giving them full freedom to serve Him as they should. Who the son sets free, is free indeed. Jn 8: 36

Yesterday Martin Luther King Day was celebrated in the United States of America. Dr. King was a Civil Rights leader who fought for the full freedom of the black population in America. Although given freedom from slavery in 1865, 31 years after the English-speaking colonies, Americas black population has been faced with every manner of hardship one can think of as there has been a consistent effort to keep blacks dehumanized. The yoke of the black person has been broken but blacks have not been allowed to walk upright. Dr. King recognized that this was caused by the actions of men standing in opposition to God’s intention. Thus he proclaimed in his dream of 1962 ‘when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we’re free at last!” Lord haste that day.

In today’s society that which spiritually binds and shackles us is sin. God sent Jesus Christ to free us. While sin enslaves us and causes us to stray from God, Jesus offers us forgiveness, freedom from a sinful life and a return to God’s presence. This is accomplished purely through God’s grace. Grace releases us from the bondage of sin, removes us from the presence of sin, makes us cease the practice of sin and protects us from the threat of punishment for sins. Grace gives us the pardon needed to start over and begin living a new life, a life in which we are no longer slaves to sin but can walk uprightly, not as bondsmen but as free. In this new-found freedom we are encouraged to turn fully to God through Jesus and living fully for Him. God in this way brings about a complete change in our lives. May our lives constantly reflect this change as we live for Him, being a visible sign of His grace and His presence in the world. Amen.

Bevon White

Thursday Reflection – January 16, 2020

God’s Love is Sure
“The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes” Psalm 119:64

Greeting Friends!

Where? Tell me where on this earth can we go and not experience the love of God? What? Tell me what situation is too great for God’s love? How? How can we go on living and not accept God’s love? Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the bible and the longest chapter as well, is believed to be written by King David throughout his life. This Psalm is centered on God’s laws and following those laws. The words representing law- statues, judgement, word, testimonies, commandments, precepts- are mentioned in at least 171 of the 176 verses in this psalm. Our verse for reflection is one such verse.

David reflecting on God’s laws desires to know them more intimately. As he reflected he stated, “The earth, O Lord. Is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statues.” David throughout his life would have been on the run, hidden in cave, wandered in the wilderness, driven from his home and experienced death threats, but none of these situations prevented him from experiencing God’s love. He would have experienced the opposite as well where he governed a unified Kingdom, conquered armies and nations and received riches. In these moments good and bad he experienced the love of God.

Friends, there is no situation, or circumstances, or individual that can stop us from experiencing the love of God. God’s love is present in all situations. David says that the earth is full of God’s love. Think about it, whether you are a Christian or not, we would have experienced God’s love and mercy throughout our life. We are alive because of God’s love. We have been pressed on every side, but not crushed, because of God’s love. We have faced times of adversity but we are still here because of God’s love. We cannot hide from it, we cannot run from it; God’s love is everywhere. God’s love has filled this earth. Many might say they cannot see God’s love in such a wicked world, but let’s not look at the world, let us look at our own lives, that way it is easier to see how much God love us.

The Psalmist also makes this declaration, God’s love is steadfast. Steadfast means sure, loyal, faithful and unwavering. God’s love is certain. We might have doubts about many things in life, but one thing we can be certain of and that is God love for us. Hallelujah! We all want love and that is why many of us search after relationships whether intimate or friendship wise. We all want to experience love, but let me tell you something, “There is no love greater or as good as the love of God. No one will love you like God.” God’s love is certain! I guarantee you that neither your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father nor anyone else can love you like God.

When we have experienced such love, we too, like the psalmist must say, “Teach me your statutes.” Teach us your love Lord and show us how to love others.

Until next week, embrace the love of God!

Shalom!

Christopher Euphfa

Tuesday Reflection – January 14, 2020
The Person Behind The Gift

In Genesis 4 Cain and Abel gave their offerings to God. While God was pleased with the offering given by Abel, God was displeased with Cain’s offering. Cain was not happy with God’s displeasure and became angry. Today’s Watchword is God’s response to Cain’s anger. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4: 7

This is described as one of the most difficult biblical texts to understand because of the difficulty with translating it. Many theories have been given as to why God rejected Cain’s offering yet chose Abel’s. Some scholars have concluded that this was God’s prerogative and needed no reason. God chose to accept and reject because He is God. While possible it would be inconsistent with God’s characteristic of being just and fair. Another theory is that Cain’s gift was refused because it was not an animal and did not include blood. This is most unlikely however since it was not a sacrifice that was being made but an offering, and both brothers were expected to give offerings from what they were occupied with. One raised animals and the other planted crops. Still another theory is that while Abel gave of his best to the Lord, Cain did not put out any effort and simply brought a gift that was not the best of his produce. The only reason why a person would not give of their best to the Lord is that they are neither fully committed to nor fully trusting of God. Giving in such cases becomes a routine or a show. When we are not considerate and intentional in our giving to God, we risk our gift being rejected by God. This cautions us to be very careful in our giving because it is possible to be giving the biggest, most attractive gifts, to be giving the heaviest envelopes or writing the biggest checks and not have our gifts accepted by God. The earthly recipients may be very happy, but we receive no blessing because our gifts have not been pleasing to God because we have not given our best. God is more interested in the person behind the gift than in the gift itself.

It behooves us therefore to give the gift that truly pleases God. The way to do this is to be more like Abel in our giving than like Cain. I tend to like the school of thought that says that God’s response to the brother’s giving had nothing to do with the gifts they gave but with the attitude behind their giving. Abel’s gift was given in faith while Cain’s was not. Abel’s gift reflected his gratitude to God while Cain was using his to seek latitude before God. Have you ever thought about what is behind your giving? God challenged Cain even as we are challenged daily, to understand the attitude behind his giving. ‘Do well and your gift will be accepted.’ Not doing well in our giving is therefore a result of sinfulness. Sin is always close, always seeking to overpower us. Like Cain we too are warned not to fall into sin but to overpower it. Our giving should flow from an attitude of gratitude. That way nothing we possess would be considered too great a gift for our Lord who gave us everything in the first place. A final lesson to note friends is that the heart that gives acceptable gifts to God is one that has mastered sin. Let us again examine our giving and learn of our faithfulness and commitment to God. Let us follow the instructions of our teaching text, 1 Timothy 6: 11 ‘pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.’ In so doing we will develop characters that please God, for God values the person behind the gift much more than the gift itself. With the right attitude towards God our gifts will always be accepted by God. Amen

Bevon White

Tuesday Reflection – January 14, 2020
The Person Behind The Gift

In Genesis 4 Cain and Abel gave their offerings to God. While God was pleased with the offering given by Abel, God was displeased with Cain’s offering. Cain was not happy with God’s displeasure and became angry. Today’s Watchword is God’s response to Cain’s anger. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4: 7

This is described as one of the most difficult biblical texts to understand because of the difficulty with translating it. Many theories have been given as to why God rejected Cain’s offering yet chose Abel’s. Some scholars have concluded that this was God’s prerogative and needed no reason. God chose to accept and reject because He is God. While possible it would be inconsistent with God’s characteristic of being just and fair. Another theory is that Cain’s gift was refused because it was not an animal and did not include blood. This is most unlikely however since it was not a sacrifice that was being made but an offering, and both brothers were expected to give offerings from what they were occupied with. One raised animals and the other planted crops. Still another theory is that while Abel gave of his best to the Lord, Cain did not put out any effort and simply brought a gift that was not the best of his produce. The only reason why a person would not give of their best to the Lord is that they are neither fully committed to nor fully trusting of God. Giving in such cases becomes a routine or a show. When we are not considerate and intentional in our giving to God, we risk our gift being rejected by God. This cautions us to be very careful in our giving because it is possible to be giving the biggest, most attractive gifts, to be giving the heaviest envelopes or writing the biggest checks and not have our gifts accepted by God. The earthly recipients may be very happy, but we receive no blessing because our gifts have not been pleasing to God because we have not given our best. God is more interested in the person behind the gift than in the gift itself.

It behooves us therefore to give the gift that truly pleases God. The way to do this is to be more like Abel in our giving than like Cain. I tend to like the school of thought that says that God’s response to the brother’s giving had nothing to do with the gifts they gave but with the attitude behind their giving. Abel’s gift was given in faith while Cain’s was not. Abel’s gift reflected his gratitude to God while Cain was using his to seek latitude before God. Have you ever thought about what is behind your giving? God challenged Cain even as we are challenged daily, to understand the attitude behind his giving. ‘Do well and your gift will be accepted.’ Not doing well in our giving is therefore a result of sinfulness. Sin is always close, always seeking to overpower us. Like Cain we too are warned not to fall into sin but to overpower it. Our giving should flow from an attitude of gratitude. That way nothing we possess would be considered too great a gift for our Lord who gave us everything in the first place. A final lesson to note friends is that the heart that gives acceptable gifts to God is one that has mastered sin. Let us again examine our giving and learn of our faithfulness and commitment to God. Let us follow the instructions of our teaching text, 1 Timothy 6: 11 ‘pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.’ In so doing we will develop characters that please God, for God values the person behind the gift much more than the gift itself. With the right attitude towards God our gifts will always be accepted by God. Amen

Monday Reflection – January 13, 2020
Where is Our Trust?

All who forsake you shall be put to shame; for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord. Jeremiah 17:13

The Prophet Jeremiah outlines in chapter 17 the depth of the sins of Judah, especially the ways in which the people have clearly demonstrated misplaced trust. Rather than trustingly obeying Yahweh who has proven himself time and time again, they have opted to put their trust elsewhere. So deep is their sins that Jeremiah describes it as written with a pen of iron and engraved with the point of a diamond (vs. 1). This emphasizes the hardness and strength of Judah’s rebellion against God. The people’s heart has guilt not only written all over it, but etched into it, engraved beyond erasure.

Firstly, the people trusted in man. Hear the Lord in verse 5: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength.” What a disastrous act to place our trust in failing and fallible humans. Instead, the Lord encourages us to trust in him. Indeed, the one who trusts in the Lord will be like a tree planted by the waters, whose leaf will be green (vs. 8).

Secondly, the people trusted in their own heart. To this the Lord says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (vs. 9-10). Trusting the heart is just another way of trusting in man. We know that our hearts deceive us very often, presenting heart-fulfilment as the key to happiness. What we desire is often not what we need.

Thirdly, the people trusted in riches. To this the Lord says, “Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means. It will leave him in the midst of his days, and in the end he will prove to be a fool” (vs. 11). This is a proverb meant to show the foolishness of trusting in riches. Not all riches are condemned; only those gained by unjust means. It is the pursuit of riches at all cost, irrespective of the methods or effects on others.

In the context of all this, the people failed to trust in God. Jeremiah declares, “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust. For they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord (vs. 13). Yahweh was the true and confident hope of Israel, even if many turned away from him. Those who turned from him would be noted and recorded and would come to shame for foolishly rejecting him. Of note is that the people were previously accused of this same thing in chapter 2:13, “My people have committed a compound sin: they’ve walked out on me, the fountain of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves (The Message).

Today we must ask ourselves, where is our trust? In whom or what have we placed our trust? Like the Psalmist, may our sincere and firm declaration be: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but our trust is in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).

Jermaine Gibson