“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker., Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.” Acts 14:11-13.
Human beings by nature are created to worship. The vacuum cannot be filled by another thing or another activity. Hence, worshiping has become the part and parcel of our lifestyle. The devil knows this and ceases that opportunity to exploit man and give a distorted perspective to whom people should worship.
Many worship in the firmament, cosmos and the things in them. Others worship ancestors, past and present saints, either holy or unholy angels, while many youths worship celebrities because of their so-called outstanding achievements.
In my research many years ago, I discovered that a particular nation had more than three hundred million idols the citizens worship. What an aberration. Could all these gods be able to save their worshippers? You can read this in my book “What to know about God, Christ and Religion.”
The challenge is not in worshiping, rather, it is in whom we worship. If one is not well informed, there is a tendency to run into errors of superstition.
Superstition can cause people to worship negatively. In a crave to worship, people could be influenced, misdirected and misguided by friends, neighbours and tradition.
The Athens was a classical example. “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,,, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” Acts 17:22-23.
Ignorance and pressure are no excuses to leave the living God to worship the creation.
In our major text in Jeremiah 8:2, these people left the Almighty and began to worship the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven. This brought the wrath of God upon them wholly.
For those of us who achieved some things people think are extraordinary, we must be careful lest we take the glory meant to the Giver of such divine success. If Herod has another opportunity to come to the planet Earth, though it is not possible, he would reject such praises and worship. Acts 12:21-23. Margot ate him alive.
In either way, never incur the wrath of God on yourself or others. When a challenge to digress in worshipping comes calling, may you and I say like the Lord Jesus Christ “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve?” Matthew 4:10.
What is it we are looking for that is not in God, which makes us want to worship the creation rather than the CREATOR? “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:17.
Whatever God cannot give or has not given to me when I asked Him in prayers, it is either I don’t need it, or it is not yet time for me to have it or it is not mine or it could endanger my life if I should have it or jeopardize the lives of my loved ones.
He loves me so much that when I abide in His will, many things I never requested, He gave them to me. How much more when I place my request before Him?
Prayer:
Father, by Your grace, I will not worship any other and I shall never be worshipped in Jesus’ name. When the down is cast, may I stand for you only in Jesus’ name? Destroy every seed of hero worship in my system in Jesus’ name.
To enlarge means to make it bigger, implying that anytime there is enlargement, there must be two important factors involved – the object to be enlarged and the fellow who is going to be the enlarger.
You are the one to be enlarged and the enlarger is the One spoken about in Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
The Scripture above didn’t say, “Be fruitful and increase”, but rather, “Be fruitful and multiply”. This implies that if you are truly fruitful, then you will multiply; that is the true meaning of fruitfulness. God is not interested in addition, but rather, in multiplication. You must seek to multiply over and over again. We have a mandate that is to multiply whatever is in our possession.
Why then are many people, including Christians satisfied with the status quo? Some are satisfied with getting a little increase in their salary every two years, some pastors are satisfied with just sitting over one parish of their Church with the same number of people for several years. This is as good as a taboo, especially when you consider the status of the Person who said, “Be fruitful and multiply”. There is a popular saying that goes thus: “Garbage in, garbage out”.
If you really want to multiply, then you must multiply your efforts too; you must multiply everything you have been doing, in order to get the desired results. If you do this, you would soon realise that your results have also multiplied.
Multiplication is in levels; some people will multiply thirty-fold, some sixty-fold and some a hundred-fold and so on. Multiply your input in proportion to how much increase you desire in your output. Multiply your input in prayers, in work, in study, in giving and so on. We have a God who promised to multipy us in every area of our lives .
Law 1: The harvest is limited to the planting.
You can only harvest what you plant. In other words, if you haven’t sown it, God can’t multiply it. One of the clearest pictures of multiplication occurs in John 6, where Jesus is standing before 5,000 hungry people (more like 15,000 if you include the women and children). He takes a little boy’s lunch, five loaves and two fish—a Hebrew Happy Meal. You know the story: After Jesus takes the loaves and fish and blesses the food, he distributes it to his disciples until everyone is fed and there are 12 basketfuls leftover.
This miracle demonstrates the pattern of multiplication. It’s only as you put what you have in the hands of Jesus that it’s multiplied. We tend to reverse that. Well, if God multiplies what I have, then I’ll give it away. But God says, “Give it away, and it will multiply!”
Law 2: The harvest comes later than the planting.
The hard part about harvesting is that it takes time to see your efforts pay off. That’s why many people never see the harvest. They start off well, but they give up too soon.
We live in a generation of instant gratification. I know I’m like that. When I diet, I want to see the results right away. I want to eat salad one time and see the difference the next morning. But life doesn’t work like that. Real change takes time to grow.When I fast and pray I want instant results.
This is even truer in agriculture. One of our campus pastors told me about a practical joke he played on his neighbors when he was a kid. He grew up on a farm, so he al
Results take time. What you sow today, you won’t see the return of until the next season in life. Sowing is all about the future. And while it’s worth the wait, we often don’t act like it.
Law 3: The harvest is greater than the planting.
In the harvest, what comes back to you is always greater than what you sowed. If you plant a wheat seed, it will turn into a wheat stalk that can produce hundreds of wheat seeds. The law of greater says that what starts small multiplies into something much bigger than what you began with. What you reap will always come back greater than what you sow. Jesus talked about a harvest of 30, 60, and 100 fold (Mark 4:20).
When Scripture applies this to money, it teaches us that the harvest is greater than the planting in both the magnitude of what you reap and the kind of fruit you reap. Paul says in Galatians 6:8 that we reap eternal life from the Spirit by our sowing; in 2 Corinthians he calls this the “harvest of righteousness.” God often uses generosity to give us gifts far greater than money.
Think of it this way: Which would you rather have—a lot of money or the ability to be truly happy and satisfied with what you have? Only a fool would say, “Give me the money.” Why? Because the reason you want more money is to be happier and more satisfied.
What if there was a better way to get to that end? In Matthew 6:21, Jesus challenges his disciples to be generous with their money because “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s the same principle. Invest your treasure in heaven, and watch your heart follow it. Having your heart set on heaven is a far greater gift than having more cash.
Luke 23:45 [45]And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Life can often feel like a battlefield, with both apparent and hidden enemies fighting against you for unclear reasons. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that victory is always within reach, no matter how great the challenges we face may seem. Success is simply a matter of overcoming these challenges and achieving a positive outcome inspite of terrifying opposition.
Problems or challenges are a necessity for growth. Growth is winning against pressing limitations. The bigger the limitation the bigger the testimony when overcome. The scripture I pasted above is taken from a story of Jesus’ death when the veil was torn from top to bottom which is very significant in our Christian walk.
In ancient times, a veil was used to cover the Holy of Holies in the temple. This was a sacred place that only the High Priest could access. To ensure his safety, a bell would ring to signal that he was still alive. Furthermore, it was believed that only those who were pure and clean could enter this sacred place. Holiness was and still is a must to have an encounter with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy of Holies was a highly revered place where the High Priest acted as an intermediary between God and the Jewish people. By offering sacrifices, the priest facilitated communication between God and the Israelites. It serves as a reminder that we can also connect with the divine directly through prayer. Prayer connects you to the divine source of everything.
Throughout ancient religions, we can observe a recurring pattern showing that human beings have always craved security for the future. A life without any guarantee of a future feels like being imprisoned. When the future is uncertain, the present loses its meaning. Hope for the future is what motivates people to strive for more. Your attitude towards life is largely determined by where you place your hopes. It is always imperative to place your hopes in God.
The Hope of Israelites lay solely on the High Priest, the sacrificial lambs had to be accepted. The High Priest connected them to God. From sin offerings, the first fruit offering the High Priests had to be involved. Jesus Christ became our High Priest and then he encouraged us to intercede for people around us. We are the high priests in our communities, messengers of God to this generation. As God is light, thus we are to reflect the glory of God in these trying times.
At Golgotha, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies, from the masses was torn apart. This revealed what was hidden behind the veil to everyone. The veil was a symbol of limitation, and only those who had the authority to go beyond it and communicate with God were allowed access. To protect the veil and the mysteries it contained, systems were put in place to keep it hidden from the general populace and instil fear in those who even thought of touching it. The veil was a no-go area for most people. Only the righteous and those who followed the law had the privilege of accessing this wonder.
It was a mystery how people communicated with the almighty beyond the veil. The only information we had access to, was what the High Priest would tell us. Consequently, people were required to follow the High Priest’s orders without question. The High Priest’s words were likened to a law and everyone had to abide for the growth and security of the nation. Similarly, in these times, those who can hear God’s voice have an advantage in life. God communicates with those who approach him in the right way. The moment you nurture your communication with God, you become a man or a woman of influence.
In him there is light, and everyone who knows God can attest to this light. The light of God can’t be hidden.. after Prophet Moses had spent 40 days and nights on the mountains in a private meeting with the Almighty his face was glowing this light, and his peers could not understand the light that was glowing on Moses.
The veil was a significant obstacle for those who did not have access to the Holy of Holies. It limited the imagination of spectators and even the prayer life of believers. If you are still waiting for someone to approach God on your behalf, it can harm your faith. The veil made the population rely more on the High Priest, Sadducees, and Pharisees instead of honouring God. It fostered a dependent spirit on human perfection, enabling Sadducees and Pharisees to claim righteousness through works, and everyone could buy the idea because they had access to this veil.
The veil promoted laziness… a despondency spirit. (Why bother, when you could beg the High Priest to inquire for you) .This system encouraged corruption, the rich could bribe people with the cloth, to bless or curse anyone… A corrupt priest could claim that God said something to steal from the poor… By building a hedge around the wisdom of communicating with God, they created a demand for their service to the masses.
Living a life full of understanding and wisdom is akin to walking in the light. Seeking wisdom is encouraged in the Bible and helps us navigate through life’s challenges. Ignorance can often lead to unpleasant consequences, and the devil tries to keep people in the dark. The more we know, the less vulnerable we become to the challenges of this world. Walking in the light brings real freedom and clarity to our lives. It allows us to make informed decisions and repels guesswork. On the contrary, stumbling in the dark can be slow and confusing, causing us to lose sight of our goals.
I pray that every veil limiting our nations is removed so we can be prosperous in everything we do. Jesus on the cross, when that veil was torn open… that means a new way of life was introduced to those who believe. New life, rebirth and better vision. A whole new world was introduced and Jews could not fathom this thus due to a dependency spirit they still chose the old way.
In the past, people used to experience fear due to certain beliefs. However, it is important to overcome this fear and strive for success in life. Jesus Christ showed us the way to do this by breaking apart that veil and demonstrating that he is the ultimate truth and the source of life. By focusing on Jesus Christ alone, anyone who comes in his name can be considered sent from above. To benefit from his teachings, it is essential to keep our focus on Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was an exceptional and inspirational figure who courageously stood up against the oppressive authorities of his time, particularly the Pharisees and Sadducees. His teachings and message still inspire us today, urging us to challenge conventional beliefs and strive for truth and fairness in every aspect of our lives. The fact that Jesus existed serves as a powerful reminder that we should always aim to be more empathetic, kind, and fair to ourselves and others.
Living in the light of Jesus Christ means confidently embracing the Supreme wisdom of the creative power of God. It involves embodying the personality of the Godhead, which enables you to dominate and create a harmonious environment under God’s will.
May you find alignment with the incredible power that lies within the unity of yourself and Jesus Christ. Through the unbreakable bond with our Saviour Jesus Christ, I pray that any limitations holding you back are removed, and you are set free from bondage. Amen.
Apostolic Life 