Fruitful Living

Applying God’s promises to your life

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has granted us His very great and precious promises, so that by them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. — 2 Peter 1:3-4

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. – 2 Corinthians 1:20

INTRODUCTION

God’s promises are precious, magnificent, and have extreme value. The author of Hebrews admonishes us with these words:

Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. — Hebrews 10:35-36

Notice that he says: “When you have done the will of God.” Promises are not given without a plan that involves faith and responsibility, though many times we have to wait for them to be revealed. A biblical promise is a declaration of God’s intention to graciously bestow a gift upon an individual or a group of people. For example, Jesus said,

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. — John 14:2-3

He knows that at times we may feel tempted to wonder if He is really coming back for us, and so He gives us the promise of His sure return and also of His personal care to reassure us and calm our fears.

GRATITUDE

In 1 Kings, we read about Solomon’s progress especially his effusive blessings of the Lord for His faithfulness. Then he makes this statement:

Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. — 1 Kings 8:56

God did exactly what He had promised to do, and Solomon honoured the Lord by acknowledging it. He had a grateful heart, and he wanted the people to respond in gratitude also.

How many times have you prayed for something, asking God to meet a need that you have and to speak to you through His Word, and as you read the Bible, He provided assurance that He heard your prayers and will answer?

This is a tremendous gift. But instead of turning to Him with a grateful heart, did you pick up the telephone and call three or four people to tell them the news?

So often we forget to thank the One person who provides the resources we need. I believe God’s heart must hurt over our self-centered actions.

We pray and trust Him and then forget to say, “Lord, thank You for answering my prayers. Thank You for being faithful to the promise You gave me in Your Word. Thank You for meeting my needs perfectly and on time.”

Even those who encountered Jesus during His time here on earth neglected to thank Him:

While [Jesus] was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.

Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine — where are they? — Luke 17:11-17

Nine of these men met the Saviour-Healer (Psalm 103:3), but they never thought to thank God or worship Him for His healing.

PROMISE KEEPING GOD

Hebrews 10:23 reminds us to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” God is not going to give you a promise and then say, “You know, maybe I didn’t mean that.” And when He does answer, He wants us to give Him glory and praise because He truly has worked on our behalf.

By Dr. Joyce Aryee, the author

Fruitful Living

National Chief Imam blesses Muslim Youth in Agriculture project

The National Chief Imam with Mr Mensah at his residence at Fadama

The National Chief Imam, Sheikh (Dr) Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has urged Ghanaian Muslims to venture into agriculture in order to enhanced food security in the country.

The Chief Imam said this when the Managing Director of Sky Dolphin Limited, Wisdom Mensah, paid a courtesy call on him at his residence at Fadama, a suburb of Accra on Monday.

Mr Mensah presented a gift to the National Chief Imam in support of his planned anniversary of the birth of Prophet Muhammad (Maulid) which comes off today October 5 at Fadama.

The National Chief Imam asked for Allah’s blessing for the success of the Muslim Youth in Agriculture project.

Mr Mensah is supervising the Muslim Youth in Agriculture project, a partnership between the Muslim community and the Sky Dolphin Limited, which involves novel aquaponics project, a mixture of fish farming and crop farming, aimed at creating jobs for the teeming unemployed Muslim youth as well as vulnerable rural Muslim women.

The representatives of the Islamic Community on the Muslim Youth in Agriculture, aquaponics projects are Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim, the founder and chairman of the Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services in Ghana (ICODEHS) and Special Advisor to the National Chief Imam, Imam Mohammed Awal Alhassan, the Metropolitan Chief Imam of Takoradi and Greater Accra Chief Imam of the Dagomba Community, Sheikh Yusuf Farouk Alhassan Umar Yussifiya, the Imam of Yussifiya Mosque in Kumasi and Acting Chairman of the National Hilal Committee of Ghana and Alhaji Khuzaima Mohammed Osman, Eminent Member and Chairman of the Greater Accra Regional Peace Council of the National Peace Council of Ghana and Executive Secretary of the Tijjaniya

By Spectator Reporter

Fruitful Living

Dealing with the pressure of time (Final part)

Handle situations patiently to avoid pressure

PLANNING

Planning means we must make decisions – choices that determine our activities and priorities. If we do not, we can be sure that someone else will do our planning for us.

It is amazing to me how many Christians drift through life, making no goals or plans, aimlessly shifting from one place to another.

Emergencies may interrupt their lives for a season, but they soon return to their rudderless ways. All of life and, thus, all of time is a gift from God.

We do not give God a portion of our time; it is all His. We cannot leave God out of any aspect of our existence; we cannot fence Him out of our families or work or play.

SET PRIORITIES

Faithfulness to God begins now in the time dimension. We do not wait until we are with Christ in heaven to become good stewards.

Handling time, therefore, is not so much a matter of time management – finding the right kind of datebook or scheduling format – but of managing ourselves.

That means setting personal priorities. What is more important when you start the day; an extra hour of sleep or an hour alone with the Sovereign Lord of the Universe?

Establishing priorities involves decisions concerning what is most important in light of your relationship to Jesus Christ.

When people are not in church on Sunday, it is not because they do not have transportation. They have prioritised their lives apart from serving and worshipping the living God. Once we consider and arrange our priorities, then we must have the discipline to order our lives according to those guidelines.

DISCIPLINE LIFESTYLE

Discipline is never easy. Time is often wasted because we do not have the discipline to follow our convictions.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you must cultivate a disciplined lifestyle which is a combination of your genuine hunger for God and a dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.

He will persevere through us if we give Him our opportunities and our devotion. Our willingness and obedience along with God’s enabling are essential.

The Lord has settled many of our priorities in His Word. We do not have to decide whether to go to church, minister to our family, or serve others, the scriptures clearly underscore their importance.

Once we base our convictions on God’s Word and His principles, the rest of our priorities will come into place in time.

THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS

Think about the life of Jesus. He lived thirty-three years, but thirty of those years were spent growing up and being in a carpenter’s workshop. Ponder that for a moment.

The Son of God, the King of kings, the Prince of Peace quietly, diligently laboured in a small town, hewing, sanding, and shaping pieces of wood. That was His life until the day He laid down His hammer and chisel to begin shaping lives into the image of His Father. Yet that part of His life lasted only three years. During that brief, incredibly short time, He did all the Father asked of Him.

Jesus taught multitudes, but He also had time to have dinner with various people, spending as much time in homes as He did in crowded villages.

He talked with the poor, blind beggars, and hated tax collectors, He visited women at the well and publicans and sinners at meals. What was His secret?

“And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there” – Mark 1:35. And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray – Mark 6:46. And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God – Luke 6:12. And it came about that while He was praying alone” – Luke 9:18.

TIME ALONE WITH GOD

Jesus had all the pressure of saving a sinful world. He had only three years to fulfill His public ministry; but we never read that Jesus rushed to Bethany or “scurried” to Jerusalem or “dashed” to Nazareth.

His life was always measured to a diving tempo – even in the swirl of a crowd screaming for His crucifixion. The key for Jesus and the key for us to do the will of the Father is spending time alone with Him.

If, for Jesus, prayer could not be substituted, how can we think there will be another route for us? When we get alone with our Father, the peace and quiet of the Holy Spirit settles us and assures us. He saturates our hearts with the Lord’s presence and stills our minds with His calm.

There, in the solitude, God speaks through His Word by His Spirit – changing this attitude, convicting us of that sin, compelling us to this action.

WE HAVE GOD’S WISDOM

As we commit our days and resources to the Lord, we have His sure guidance. As we cast our plans and schedules before Him, we have His wisdom.

We look to Him to order our thoughts and direct our steps, not knowing the twists and turns the day will take. The wisest thing we can do to relieve the pressure of time is to spend time alone with the Lord Jesus Christ.

After all, He is the all-knowing, all-wise One who knows our end from our beginning, who knows all about us and our future, and who can orchestrate our days.

ETERNITY WITH CHRIST

We will all give an account one day of how we invested our time on earth. We will spend eternity in one of two places – heaven or hell. If you have not made that decision to spend eternity with Christ, I encourage you now to trust Him for the forgiveness of your sins, believing in Him as the Son of God who died in your place.

Only then will time take on real meaning. If you are a believer, I encourage you to examine your life and establish godly priorities so that you are ruled by Him, not by others, then commit to spending quality time alone with the Lord Jesus Christ each day.”