Showing posts with label withdrawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label withdrawn. Show all posts
Friday 9 October 2015
UNDERSTANDING AUTHORITY 7: AUTHORITY CAN BE WITHDRAWN
MEMORY VERSE: Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.1 Samuel 2:30
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 19-21
As we conclude these series, “Understanding Authority”, I will like to remind you that authority is not force. It is not shouting at people or intimidating people. It is not harassing people or bullying people. It is not issuing threats. Authority is not tangible i.e. it is not something you can hold, touch or feel. There is a difference between authority and power. Authority has tenure. Whatever you do during your tenure is what you will be remembered for. You will not be the vice chancellor of that university forever. You will not be the chief executive of that organization forever. You will not be a manager in that office forever. You will not be the area pastor forever. Even as a parent, one day you are going to return to God. Authority must be exercised. The One who delegated authority to you expects you to exercise it on His behalf.
Authority can be withdrawn temporarily. King Nebuchadnezzar’s authority was temporarily withdrawn because instead of giving glory to God, he attributed all God had done for him to his might. By my might I have achieved this, by my power I have achieved that…. God didn’t argue with him, He just took the kingdom from him. Daniel 4:31 says, “While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.” Within minutes, King Nebuchadnezzar turned into an animal and was driven out of the palace with sticks to live in the forest. The same people who were bowing down to him, drove him out of the palace because his authority had been withdrawn. After several years, Nebuchadnezzar repented. Sir/ ma, when do you intend to repent? After he repented the Lord restored him and he returned to the palace as king again. If your authority has been withdrawn as a result of pride, repent and ask for mercy and the Lord will restore it. Authority can also be withdrawn permanently. For example Eli’s authority was withdrawn permanently. His sons were terrible. These boys slept with women inside the temple. They did not regard God at all. Despite the warnings from God, Eli left his children to carry on with their terrible works. After a while, the Lord withdrew Eli's priestly authority. 1 Samuel 2:30 says, “Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” I pray that your authority will not be withdrawn in Jesus name, amen. If you don’t want God to withdraw your authority, honour Him and teach your children or people under you to honour Him.
PRAYER POINT: Father, as long as i live, help me to honour You daily.
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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world
Monday 24 December 2012
MERCY WITHDRAWN OR RENEWED
Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
God is abundant in mercy. It is His mercy that keeps us alive, Lamentations 3:22. We are saved by His mercy. Romans 5:8 says while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. For every sin we commit there is a death penalty (Romans 6:23), but instead of giving us what we deserve which is death by crucifixion God gave Jesus to die for our sins. God’s mercy over a life can either be renewed or withdrawn. Mercy can be withdrawn if abused or not appreciated. In the case of Uzziah the king of Judah, mercy was withdrawn as a result of abuse, 2 Chronicles 26:1-21. God’s mercy took this sixteen year old boy and made him king. He also prospered him but when he was strong pride set in. Uzziah began to bully the prophets of God and mercy was withdrawn immediately and he became a leper. In the case of Saul, mercy was abused. God’s mercy took this farm boy and made him king. He was giving a simple instruction to wait for Samuel but he decided a king should not be kept waiting so he went ahead to do the sacrifice in the absence of Samuel. Through God’s mercy he received pardon .He graduated to a level whereby he began to pick and choose which of God’s instruction to follow. He was instructed to destroy everything in Amalek; he decided to kill some and spare some and mercy was withdrawn. When David erred by taking a man’s wife and devised a scheme that led to the death of the husband, instead of destroying David God renewed His mercy over him. Why?
Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. The reason why mercy was renewed in the case of David was because David was a merciful man. David had several opportunities to kill Saul but he did not kill him. Out of mercy David gathered vagabonds and those the world had rejected and made them mighty men of valor. When you study the life of Uzziah, there was not even a single act of mercy recorded against his name. Saul on the other hand was wicked and merciless. The first war he fought, three hundred and thirty thousand children of Israel went to war with him, 1 Samuel 11:8. These men left their occupations to join Saul’s army. After winning the war, Saul choose two thousand out of these three hundred and thirty thousand and sent the rest away with nothing, 1 Samuel 13:2 . He had no need for them again so he just dumped them. Any man who will bask in God’s mercy must be ready to show mercy at all times. Anyone who does not forgive or show mercy will suddenly find mercy been withdrawn from him when he errs. If you are the type who does not give second chance or forgive or you are too harsh, please be careful so that God’s mercy will not be withdrawn when you need it most. I think I have shared the story of my traffic warden friend who was stopped by a traffic police for exceeding the speed limit for a particular stretch of road. He explained to this police officer that he exceeded the speed limit because he was late for work. The officer ignored him and began to write a speeding fine .As the officer was about to hand the speeding fine to him, he asked my friend, as a traffic warden do you give second chance( my friend was in his uniform)? And my friend replied that everyone deserves a second chance. The police officer tore the speeding fine and said there you go your second chance.
KEY WORD: The amount of God’s mercy you are entitled to is dependent of the amount of mercy you are willing to show.
God is abundant in mercy. It is His mercy that keeps us alive, Lamentations 3:22. We are saved by His mercy. Romans 5:8 says while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. For every sin we commit there is a death penalty (Romans 6:23), but instead of giving us what we deserve which is death by crucifixion God gave Jesus to die for our sins. God’s mercy over a life can either be renewed or withdrawn. Mercy can be withdrawn if abused or not appreciated. In the case of Uzziah the king of Judah, mercy was withdrawn as a result of abuse, 2 Chronicles 26:1-21. God’s mercy took this sixteen year old boy and made him king. He also prospered him but when he was strong pride set in. Uzziah began to bully the prophets of God and mercy was withdrawn immediately and he became a leper. In the case of Saul, mercy was abused. God’s mercy took this farm boy and made him king. He was giving a simple instruction to wait for Samuel but he decided a king should not be kept waiting so he went ahead to do the sacrifice in the absence of Samuel. Through God’s mercy he received pardon .He graduated to a level whereby he began to pick and choose which of God’s instruction to follow. He was instructed to destroy everything in Amalek; he decided to kill some and spare some and mercy was withdrawn. When David erred by taking a man’s wife and devised a scheme that led to the death of the husband, instead of destroying David God renewed His mercy over him. Why?
Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. The reason why mercy was renewed in the case of David was because David was a merciful man. David had several opportunities to kill Saul but he did not kill him. Out of mercy David gathered vagabonds and those the world had rejected and made them mighty men of valor. When you study the life of Uzziah, there was not even a single act of mercy recorded against his name. Saul on the other hand was wicked and merciless. The first war he fought, three hundred and thirty thousand children of Israel went to war with him, 1 Samuel 11:8. These men left their occupations to join Saul’s army. After winning the war, Saul choose two thousand out of these three hundred and thirty thousand and sent the rest away with nothing, 1 Samuel 13:2 . He had no need for them again so he just dumped them. Any man who will bask in God’s mercy must be ready to show mercy at all times. Anyone who does not forgive or show mercy will suddenly find mercy been withdrawn from him when he errs. If you are the type who does not give second chance or forgive or you are too harsh, please be careful so that God’s mercy will not be withdrawn when you need it most. I think I have shared the story of my traffic warden friend who was stopped by a traffic police for exceeding the speed limit for a particular stretch of road. He explained to this police officer that he exceeded the speed limit because he was late for work. The officer ignored him and began to write a speeding fine .As the officer was about to hand the speeding fine to him, he asked my friend, as a traffic warden do you give second chance( my friend was in his uniform)? And my friend replied that everyone deserves a second chance. The police officer tore the speeding fine and said there you go your second chance.
KEY WORD: The amount of God’s mercy you are entitled to is dependent of the amount of mercy you are willing to show.
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