One of my favorite activities is to visit our local animal shelter. A bittersweet tug on my heart, as I would love to scoop up and take a bunch of the animals home with me - yet, I know that reality tells me I can not. So, my time spent is mostly conversing with and petting the animals that I can.
There is one large dog there named "Otis", who is NOT up for adoption. I believe the Lord used this dog to teach me a valuable lesson. When I first started coming to the shelter to visit with the animals, Otis would always growl, bark and sometimes lunge at the cage. It didn't matter how much I would try to talk to him, he was still very stand-offish. Soon, I gave up trying and kept my distance, so as to not cause him any additional stress.
Months went by, and even when in the same room with Otis, I would just ignore him and not go by his cage. Although, he wasn't barking or growling at me anymore, I still maintained my distance. I just didn't trust him.
One day a small 4 month old black lab puppy was placed next to Otis. I went up and started talking to this puppy, gently and playfully. Little did I know that the whole time I was talking to the puppy, old Otis thought I was talking to him. Starved for attention and human touch, Otis placed the side of his body up against the cage for me to pet him.
Was I nervous? You bet I was!!! This was the same dog I thought would bite my hand off. I looked in his eyes and all I saw was one of God's creatures wishing only to be loved. Slowly, I started to pet Otis and call him gently by his name. The joy in his eyes was inexpressible.
How many times, I thought, had I treated a person in the same manner as I had treated Otis? Maybe because of their outside exterior, their gruffness, rudeness or maybe even irritability, had I distanced myself or even ignored them. Had I failed to really, really look and see their true inner being? Like Otis, all of us longed to be loved and accepted.
Isn't it wonderful that Jesus accepts us and wants us just as we are? He doesn't say, "Come, when you get your life in order." or "Come, when you stop with that bad habit." or "Come, when all your relationships are mended." NO, when He says, "Come as you are." that's exactly what He means.
Remember a kind soft word, gentle hug or smile may be all that is needed to soften the hearts of the Otis's in this world. And, YES, Otis is still at the shelter and still one of my most favorite dogs to spend time with!
"Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:5-6)
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1:12)
"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Galations 3:26)
God Bless you
Ev. Jesse Mbula
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
God's "Modus Operandi"
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details." Albert Einstein
I don't have many earthly heroes, but Albert Einstein is certainly one of mine. Through a combination of incredible study and persistence and a divine gift of insight and inspiration, God bestowed (for reasons only known to God), the knowledge of the workings of the universe upon this man. Einstein proposed theories of time and space which were completely foreign and incomprehensible to our everyday experience. Yet, these theories are being proven, even today, to be completely true. We would never understand these concepts from our perception of the world as we know it. It is only by taking a scientific "leap of faith" that Einstein was able to postulate these completely new and revolutionary theories of the workings of the cosmos.
The ways of God are the same. They are often very different and contrary to the workings of the world and our everyday experiences. You cannot sit around thinking about God and hope to understand how He works, moves, and operates. God and heaven function in a way only understandable to those who chose to comprehend things on God's terms and not the world's terms.
How do we go about understanding God's "modus operandi", which is so different from our everyday experiences in life? By seeking. Go through the Bible and find how many quotes you can find from God asking man to seek His ways. Hundreds!
It is God's desire that humankind seek His will, His way of doing business, His "modus operandi". It is very different than what we might, by nature or by supposition, perceive. Hebrews 11:6 says, "...He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." You do not need to be Albert Einstein to perceive God's ways and thoughts. Seek Him with your whole heart and you will be rewarded and see the world and the universe anew. Will you not choose to seek Him today?
"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details." Albert Einstein
I don't have many earthly heroes, but Albert Einstein is certainly one of mine. Through a combination of incredible study and persistence and a divine gift of insight and inspiration, God bestowed (for reasons only known to God), the knowledge of the workings of the universe upon this man. Einstein proposed theories of time and space which were completely foreign and incomprehensible to our everyday experience. Yet, these theories are being proven, even today, to be completely true. We would never understand these concepts from our perception of the world as we know it. It is only by taking a scientific "leap of faith" that Einstein was able to postulate these completely new and revolutionary theories of the workings of the cosmos.
The ways of God are the same. They are often very different and contrary to the workings of the world and our everyday experiences. You cannot sit around thinking about God and hope to understand how He works, moves, and operates. God and heaven function in a way only understandable to those who chose to comprehend things on God's terms and not the world's terms.
How do we go about understanding God's "modus operandi", which is so different from our everyday experiences in life? By seeking. Go through the Bible and find how many quotes you can find from God asking man to seek His ways. Hundreds!
It is God's desire that humankind seek His will, His way of doing business, His "modus operandi". It is very different than what we might, by nature or by supposition, perceive. Hebrews 11:6 says, "...He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." You do not need to be Albert Einstein to perceive God's ways and thoughts. Seek Him with your whole heart and you will be rewarded and see the world and the universe anew. Will you not choose to seek Him today?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A Prayer We Should All Pray
Father, I have a problem. It's weighing heavy on me. It's all I can think about, night and day. Before I bring it to you in prayer. I suppose I should pray for those who are less fortunate than me. Those in this world who have hardly enough food for this day, and for those who don't have a roof over their heads at night.
I also pray for families who have lost loved ones in sudden death, for parents whose children have leukemia, for the many people who are dying of brain tumors, for the hundreds of thousands who are laid waste with other terrible cancers, for people whose bodies have been suddenly shattered in car wrecks,
for those who are lying in the hospital with agonizing burns over their bodies, whose faces have been burned beyond recognition.
I pray for people with emphysema, whose eyes fill with terror as they struggle for every breath merely to live, for those who are tormented beyond words by irrational fears, for the elderly who are wracked with the pains of aging, whose only "escape" is death.
I pray for people who are watching their loved ones fade before their eyes through the grief of Alzheimer's disease, for the many thousands who are suffering the agony of AIDS, for those who are in such despair they are about to commit suicide, for people who are tormented by the demons of alcoholism and drug
addiction.
I pray for children who have been abandoned by their parents, for those who are sexually abused, for wives held in quiet despair, beaten and abused by cruel and drunken husbands, for people whose minds have been destroyed by mental disorders, for those who have lost everything in floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
I pray for the blind, who never see the faces of the ones they love, or the beauty of a sunrise, for those whose bodies are horribly deformed by painful arthritis, for the many whose lives will be taken from them today by murderers, for those wasting away on their death beds.
Most of all, I cry out for the millions who don't know the forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ... for those who in a moment of time will be swept into Hell by the cold hand of death, and find to their utter horror the unspeakable vengeance of eternal fire. Oh God, I pray for them.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God; for unto thee will I pray." (Psalm 5:2)
"Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Strange....
I can't seem to remember what my problem was!
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen!
I also pray for families who have lost loved ones in sudden death, for parents whose children have leukemia, for the many people who are dying of brain tumors, for the hundreds of thousands who are laid waste with other terrible cancers, for people whose bodies have been suddenly shattered in car wrecks,
for those who are lying in the hospital with agonizing burns over their bodies, whose faces have been burned beyond recognition.
I pray for people with emphysema, whose eyes fill with terror as they struggle for every breath merely to live, for those who are tormented beyond words by irrational fears, for the elderly who are wracked with the pains of aging, whose only "escape" is death.
I pray for people who are watching their loved ones fade before their eyes through the grief of Alzheimer's disease, for the many thousands who are suffering the agony of AIDS, for those who are in such despair they are about to commit suicide, for people who are tormented by the demons of alcoholism and drug
addiction.
I pray for children who have been abandoned by their parents, for those who are sexually abused, for wives held in quiet despair, beaten and abused by cruel and drunken husbands, for people whose minds have been destroyed by mental disorders, for those who have lost everything in floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
I pray for the blind, who never see the faces of the ones they love, or the beauty of a sunrise, for those whose bodies are horribly deformed by painful arthritis, for the many whose lives will be taken from them today by murderers, for those wasting away on their death beds.
Most of all, I cry out for the millions who don't know the forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ... for those who in a moment of time will be swept into Hell by the cold hand of death, and find to their utter horror the unspeakable vengeance of eternal fire. Oh God, I pray for them.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God; for unto thee will I pray." (Psalm 5:2)
"Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Strange....
I can't seem to remember what my problem was!
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen!
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