JUBILATE - NEW LIFE IN CHRIST: RETURN TO GOD WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART
DEUTERONOMY 4:27-29
27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
As we are observing 500 years of the Lutheran Church in the world, this message cannot be more than relevant to us Lutherans in gauging our faithfulness to our God and His Christ. Just as the Israelites then, as they were poised to enter the promised land, so it is with us now, as we wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ, coming for His Church; we fall under the same covenant as those then in that desert, because we chose to believe in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:7,13-14).
The Word says, " And the Lord will scatter you among the people....you will be left few...among the nations....you will serve gods....but from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul"
To be able to walk in a covenant relationship with God, where there is continual flow of God's Covenant promises being fulfilled in our lives, there is a condition that we, the Church, as individual Christians, or collectively have to meet. Moses prophesied to the nation of Israel concerning the day of RESTORATION, that was coming, when God promised to restore their "fortunes" (Deuteronomy 30:5-10). The Church is living in that day of RESTORATION! But there is a price to pay so that "the Lord would again delight in prospering us, as He took delight in our fathers" (verse 9)
All the blessings God poured out upon Israel, He plans to pour upon us, under the New Covenant. But we have to satisfy the requirements:
- We must OBEY. God will prosper us , "if we obey the voice of the Lord ....to keep His commandments and His statutes "(10)
- We must serve God with our WHOLE heart (faculty of thought and moral understanding) "...if you turn to the Lord your God with all your (mind and)heart, and with all your being"(10)
God never intended the Church to know any limits, even financial limits. God planned to set the Church apart (Mathew 16:18-19) and literary pour out His blessings upon it. The Church is to be marked by His Name and to prosper in the midst of the adversity of the world. That is why Jesus at the beginning of His Ministry he clarioned "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel." He told the Church to install Gods Kingdom on earth as it all belonged to him and the Church is the heir apparent. But the Church has so far failed to inherit what it has been endowed because we have not met the criterion to inherit. We do not walk in obedience, and we try to serve the Lord with divided hearts. For many our priority is living our life to please ourself and whatever time and effort that is left, is given to pleasing God.
If God through Jeremiah pledged Himself to us with HIS WHOLE HERAT AND SOUL....his entire being, why should He accept half measures? "...I will rejoice over them to do the good...I will plant them....with my whole heart and with my whole soul" (Jeremiah 32:41). Our wills must be in 100% unity with God for Him to pour His blessings on the Church until it overflows.
He will pour onto us
- The spirit of the Lord
- The spirit of Wisdom and Understanding
- The spirit of Counsel and Might
- The spirit of Knowledge and Fear of the Lord
And that is when the Church will assume it's rightful place on earth of leading the world back to God.
The restoration God promised, where His blessings are pursuing and overtaking us, will not come until we return to Him with our whole hearts! Problem is now the Church lives according to the wills of the community, not according to the Word of God. It fears to preach the truth, the Gospel is aimed at pleasing congregations, rather than healing them, our youth are lost and we hardly know how to bring them back to the fold.
We are trying to to serve God with a heart that is divided...with part of our heart and mind set on pleasing ourselves and doing our will? It will never work. God will have all or nothing, there is no middle ground.
Receive the word of the Lord, we don't have another 500 years! Let's turn back now, before He comes!
MSHANGILIE BWANA - MAISHA MAPYA NDANI YA KRISTO: MRUDIE MUNGU KWA MOYO WAKO WOTE
KUMBUKUMBU LA TORATI 4:27-29
27 Na Bwana atawatawanya kati ya mataifa, nanyi mtasalia watu kidogo hesabu yenu kati ya makabila, mtakakopelekwa mbali na Bwana.
28 Na huko mtatumikia miungu, kazi za mikono ya watu, miti na mawe, ambao hawaoni, wala hawasikii, hawali, wala hawanusi.
29 Lakini huko, kama mkimtafuta Bwana, Mungu wako, utampata, ukimtafuta kwa moyo wako wote, na roho yako yote.
Tunapoadhimisha miaka 500 ya Kanisa la Kilutheri duniani, ujumbe huu unafaa kutukumbusha kupima uaminifu wetu kwa Mungu na Kristo wake! Kwa kuwa, kama vile ilivyokuwa kwa Wana-Israeli wakati ule wakijipanga kuingia nchi ya ahadi, ndivyo ilivyo kwetu sasa, tukijipanga kumpokea Yesu Kristo ajapo mara ya pili kulichukua Kanisa lake. Basi tunapimwa vile vile kama wale wakiwa jangwani, kwa kuwa tumechagua kuweka tumaini letu kwa Yesu, kwa imani (Wagalatia 3:7,13-14)
Neno linatuambia, " Na Bwana atawatawanya kati ya mataifa, nanyi mtasalia kidogo...huko mtatumikia miungu....lakini huko, kama mkimtafuta Bwana, Mungu wako, utampata, ukimtafuta kwa moyo wake wote, na roho yako yote"
Ili kutembea katika mahusiano ya kiagano na Mungu, na kudhirihishiwa mfululizo wa ahadi za agano katika maisha yako, kuna masharti ambayo lazima Kanisa tuyatimize, mmoja mmoja, au kwa ujumla wetu. Musa akiwa jangwani aliwatabiria Wana-Israeli juu ya kurejeshewa neema yao (Kumbukumbu 30:5-10). Kanisa liko katika siku za KUREJESHEWA neema ile ambayo Mungu amewaahidi watu wake, Ila kuna masharti ya kutimiza ili "Bwana afurahi tena juu yako kwa wema, kama alivyofurahi juu ya baba zako " (mstari wa 9).
Baraka zote alizowaahidi Israeli, ana mpango wa kuzimimina kwa Kanisa chini ya Agano Jipya. Ila lazima tukidhi viwango vya masharti,
- Lazima kutii - "ukiwa utaifuata sauti ya Bwana, Mungu wako, kwa kuyashika maagizo yake, na amri zake...katika torati "(10)
- Lazima umwelekee Mungu kwa moyo wako wote - "ukimwelekea Bwana, Mungu wako, kwa moyo wako wote, na kwa roho yako yote"(10)
Mungu hakupanga Kanisa liwe na ukomo wa mali au wa kifedha, ni mrithi wa ufalme wake hapa duniani. Bali alipanga kulitenga (Mathayo 16:18-19) na kumimina baraka zake juu ya Kanisa. Akilipa chapa ya JINA LAKE, ili lifanikiwe katikati ya mtikisiko wa uchumi, ulioko duniani. Ndio maana "Kauli Mbiu" ya Yesu alipoanza huduma yake (Marko 1:15 "...wakati umetimia, na ufalme wa Mungu umekaribia; tubuni, na kuiamini Injili) alilishinikiza Kanisa kuusimika ufalme wa Mungu hapa duniani, akijua kuwa "dunia na vote viijazavyo ni mali ya Bwana". Hakuishia hapo bali alilinunua Kanisa kwa damu yake na kuwafanya waaminio kuwa ufalme na makuhani kwa Mungu wetu, wanaomiliki juu ya nchi (ardhi ambayo tuna hati miliki kwani ni ya Baba).
Lakini Kanisa katika Umoja wake limeshindwa kuumiliki urithi huu kwa kuwa hatutembei katika utii kwa Bwana Mungu wetu, na hatumwelekei wala kumtumikia kwa moyo na roho zetu zote, bali kwanza hujitumikia wenyewe kwanza,
na muda uliobaki humpa Mungu.
Ikiwa Mungu alijitoa kwa moyo na roho yake yote kwa ajili ya Kanisa, (Jeremiah 32:41...nitafurahi juu yao niwatendee mema..nitawapanda katika nchi...kwa moyo wangu wote, na kwa roho yangu yote) hatakubali kiwango kilicho pungufu toka kwa Kanisa. Anataka nasi tumgeukie na nafsi yetu yote ili atimize ahadi ya agano, ndipo atatufungulia Hazina yake hata tukose mahali pa kuweka. Atatumwagia
- Roho ya Bwana
- Roho ya Hekima na Ufahamu,
- Roho ya Ushauri na Uweza
- Roho ya Maarifa na ya Kumcha Bwana
Na hapo ndipo Kanisa litachukua nafasi inayostahili duniani la kuuongoza ulimwengu umrejee Bwana wa mbingu na nchi.
Ahadi ya Mungu ya kulijenga Kanisa, na baraka zake zipo tena zile za kutufuata nyuma na kutupita, na hazitakuja kwa Kanisa, mpaka Kanisa limrejee Mungu. Kwa sasa Kanisa linaishi maisha ya kujipendeza, ya kufuata mtazamo wa ulimwengu, ya kuogopa kusimamia kweli likiogopa kupoteza waumini, mahubiri ni ya kuwapendeza wasikiao badala ya kuwaponya, tunabembeleza badala ya kuonya, na jeshi kubwa na vijana wetu hatujui lilipo. Tuko mbali sana na Mungu. Bila kumpa mioyo yetu na roho zetu zote, yaani kumwabudu kwa akili zeta zote na kumcha kwa hekima yote hatupati kitu.
Pokea neno la Bwana! Tubadilike na kurejea kwake sasa! Hatuna miaka mwingine 500 kabla hajarudi kulichukua Kanisa!
