Forgotten Sacrifices (II) ? Author: Esther Agbi
King David would not give to God anything that cost him nothing [2Sam 24:24]!
This is in line with giving something special. That is the right attitude. No little wonder
God testified that David was a man after His Heart!
Cornelius was another man whose offering stood out [Acts 10]….. “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God”, an angel of God told him. This is very fascinating! His prayers and offerings were stored up for future blessings. God remembered Cornelius. He and his household were blessed.
There is a Lady I know of who loves offering sacrifices to God even when she does not have. As her story goes, a man of God called for the members to give sacrificially to foreign missions, assisting refugees. She had no money at the time to donate, but somehow, material goods were being accepted. She had this beautiful and costly attire with shoes and jewelry to match. She contemplated for a long time because she really loved the attire. Finally, she decided to give it up as a sacrifice for foreign missions. A prayer was said that day, according to her, she never thought that she would ever be in that situation in her life time because she was very comfortable at the time. The Man of God prayed that no one who has given towards the missions would ever become a refugee in a foreign land.
Somehow, after many years, this lady found herself as a refugee in a foreign land. She remembered that prayer, and I believe that God remembered that prayer too because she was set free from that situation and now a Citizen of that country. That prayer by the Man of God was stored up for a future blessing. God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.
The Lord will remember you and me for greater blessings in Jesus Name.
It is good for us to give to the Lord because we care. Give because you love, give because God demonstrated it by giving his only SON Jesus to die for us. Give because God instructed us to do so [Luke 6:38] and there is a reward. God will remember someday. It may not be in your life time, maybe your children or generations down the line.
Sacrifice may not be monetary only. It could be just a smile, a nice compliment that is sincere, or a phone call to brighten someone else’s day, a quiet prayer for someone you know or don’t know. You could sacrifice your talent or your time even when it is not convenient. That is why it is called a sacrifice. If it were convenient, it would not have been called a sacrifice. When Jesus gave his life for us, it was not convenient. That is love.
Solomon gave a sacrifice, and God asked him what he wanted [1 Kings 3:5]. Has God ever testified of your offering/sacrifice? Has He asked you what you wanted after you gave your offering? The same questions I would ask myself.
It is good to ask from God, but it is better to be asked by God what we want. I believe that the Lord is working on us all and he will grant us wisdom to work in line with HIM in Jesus Name.
My prayer for you is that the Lord remember all your offerings in whatever form you have given to Him in support of His kingdom and that He fulfill all your heart desires in Jesus name [Psalm 20:3, 5], Amen.
Faith
Forgotten Sacrifices?
Forgotten Sacrifices? Author: Esther Agbi
Heb. 11:4b “God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.”
I was reading about Abel’s sacrifice when this title of my write up came up in my mind. I pondered over it for a little while before I finally accepted to put it down in writing. This is a topic people don’t usually like to talk about because whenever it is brought up, everybody gets jittery, saying there must be a great need in the body of Christ that needs to be addressed in other for them to give what is substantial to God. This is not always the case. I believe it is an opportunity to be blessed by God.
Sacrifice, according to Webster’s dictionary means “An act of offering something special to a deity”. Offering, on the other hand means a “sacrifice ceremonially offered as part of a worship. It sounds interesting to me. For the purpose of this article, I will use both words interchangeably.
Deity here refers to God, the creator of the universe. The offering has to be given willingly for it to be a sacrifice, and special too [2 Cor. 8:12]. I believe so many people gave sacrifices to God in the Bible but a few to my knowledge were outstanding. Abel offered not just a great sacrifice, but an excellent one. The best he could ever offer. It did not end there. God had to talk about Abel’s gift. When Abel was dead, his gifts spoke to God. How amazing! I don’t know if I have ever given a gift or offering to God, that the creator of the vast universe is still deliberating on, or has become an item on the agenda of the meeting of the Godhead. That is yet to be revealed. What about yours?
Abraham was ready to offer his only promised child Isaac, whom he loves to God.
How precious was that sacrifice in the eyes of God? In the real sense, he had already sacrificed Isaac in his mind. He had gone past the stage of contemplating, should I do or should I not do it? How do I know this? Heb.11:19. Abraham believed that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead if he was sacrificed. Abraham did not only believe in God, God believed in Abraham, for HE said in [Gen 22:12b], “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” God is not asking us to make human sacrifices. Jesus has made the ultimate sacrifice. It is a good thing to believe in God, it is greater when God believes in you. This shows dependability. I am still a “work” in progress. I don’t know about you.
………….. To be continued.
Faith
THE CREATION
By David Agbi
INTRODUCTION
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That was the first miracle of the bible. Because He made us, we should praise him. He has seen us since we were born and helped us. If God has helped us to survive this earth, we have no reason not to praise God.
OUTLINES:
HOW THE WORLD WAS MADE
FIRST HUMAN BEINGS
HOW THE WORLD WAS MADE
God made the world in 6 days. The first command He said was, “Let there be light” and there was light. Can you believe that! He just said that and it happened. God divided the light from the darkness and called the light “day” and called the darkness “night” [Gen.1:4-5]. Then the second day, he made a firmament which divided the waters from the waters. The third day, He told the waters to gather unto one place and let the dry land appear. He called the dry land earth and the gathered water seas. Next, He told the earth to bring forth grass and trees to bring forth fruit [Gen 1:11-12]. God did all these things from making the stars to making animals and these were all very big events.
FIRST HUMAN BEINGS
On the sixth day, that’s when God created human beings. He said “Let us make man in our own image” [Gen 1:26-27]. God also said that they will rule over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air and all the animals on the earth. The first human being was made out of dust and called Adam. He was in the Garden of Eden. He saw that Adam was alone so he made him to sleep. God took a rib out of Adam and made a woman. God said she would be called woman, because she was taken out of man [Gen.2:21-24]. God named her Eve. God gave them the Garden of Eden. They could eat from any tree except the one in the middle. They got tempted by a serpent and sinned, so the earth was cursed and people had to work if they needed something.
CONCLUSION
Just because the earth was cursed doesn’t mean that you can’t go to heaven. If you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, become a Christian and repent of your sins, you can go to heaven and be blessed. So give your heart to Jesus and repent of your sins and you will be saved.
WHY GOD LOVED DAVID
WHY GOD LOVED DAVID
BY DAVID AGBI
INTRODUCTION
God loved David so, so much because he was a man after God’s heart. God also loved David right back. So there was a lot of bonding between the two. David would do anything God said and God blessed him. This lesson will help you to go after God’s heart in Jesus Name.
OUTLINES:
PRAISES TO GOD
GLORIFIED GOD
GOD CAN LOVE AND BLESS YOU TOO
PRAISES TO GOD
David sang praises to God whenever he could and that’s one reason God loved David. He didn’t just sing when he was in trouble or when something bad was happening. He sang all the time. Also, he praised God so much, it became a habit and God blessed him so much to the extent that he became king over Judah and eventually, over Israel. If he can find time to praise God we can too because He made us in His own image [Gen. 1:26-31].
GLORIFIED GOD
David would glorify God all the time. He built temples for the people of Israel to worship God and made sacrifices to Him. It didn’t end there. He would give glory to God in every situation, even the bad ones. God blessed David for that and gave him strength to take over cities like Zion and Jerusalem and made them to be cities of God, not for himself. He didn’t hesitate if God said something and defeated any people that were in his way to do what God said [1 Sam. 17: 40-58]. God loved him so much for that too.
GOD CAN LOVE AND BLESS YOU TOO
God can bless you too if you praise Him and give glory to Him. God loved David and He can love you too if you did what David did. He praised God, built temples, glorified Him and did whatever God told him to do. If you do what David did, God will give David’s blessings to you and will help you in any thing you need help with.
CONCLUSION
David was a man after God’s heart and that’s what God liked about David. If you do what David did, God will bless you. So don’t just stand there! Go out and let people know there is a God that is alive!
God’s Promises
GOD’S PROMISES AND PROMISES AND PROMISES AND…, AND BLESSINGS
FAITH CONFESSION:
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed” [Joel 2:25-26].
“I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it” [Isaiah. 41:18-20]
Have you made a promise and failed in the past to keep your promise to someone? Some people make promises and try to keep their word. It is a good virtue and you should improve on keeping your promises. However, if you have promised someone in the past and failed the person, maybe a loved one, do not give up trying to be noted as one who is good at fulfilling promises to others. When someone consistently faults in keeping promises, people call him a liar. Human frailty makes us to fault in keeping promises but if you are a person of your words people will consistently believe you [Psalm 15]. So keep trying to keep your promises. [Read more…] about God’s Promises
Rest For Your Soul and Body
Rest For Your Soul and Body
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28, KJV
28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. Matthew 11:28, Amplified
Other References: [Gen 2:2-3; Ex 20:8-11; Ex 23:12; Heb 4:1-11, 1 Peter 5:7]
We have a most revealing statement concerning the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a 7th-day completion cycle which God designed solely as a day of rest. No work was to be done and in Israel, neither animal were to be burdened. The Oxen, Donkeys and Servants were to be rested. The sole purpose was to be refreshed. Note that God detests all forms of laziness, which is a discussion for another day. He worked in 6 days creating the heaven and earth (Genesis chapter 1) and designed the human body to be refreshed by periods of rest. That is why after tedious months of work we must take out time for vacations. It is not only cultural but more importantly of immense spiritual benefit. In the case of the Sabbath, it is a day to be spent in communion with him and rest for your bodies, soul and spirit (Exodus 20:8-11). [Read more…] about Rest For Your Soul and Body