October 31
Gracious God, we are grateful to You for the month of October. You made the rough paths smooth, in the midst of our trials, You stood by us and kept nudging us forward, in our weakness You became our strength. You scaled us over to the Promised Land and enlarge our coast. Thank You for the various ways You lifted us up in various capacity, what a wonderful God You are!
Beloved, as we round up the month, let us wear our dancing shoes to celebrate the goodness of God upon us. Someone is complaining about a failed project, thank God it is not a failed health. Once there is life; God purpose for you must be achieved. Take it easy, come over and sing songs of praise to the Most High God:
“I will praise Thee, O Lord.” Psalm 9:1
Praise should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of earth’s gratitude rises when the sun of heaven’s love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined His ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise Him as long as thou livest. Let the ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its life.
Deny not a song to Him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart. To be silent over God’s mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude; it is to act as basely as the nine lepers, who after they had been cured of their leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the healing Lord. To forget to praise God is to refuse to benefit ourselves; for praise, like prayer, is one great means of promoting the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove our burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith. It is a healthful and invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of the believer, and nerves him for fresh enterprises in his Master’s service.
To bless God for mercies received is also the way to benefit our fellow-men; “the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.” Others who have been in like circumstances shall take comfort if we can say, “Oh! magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together; this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” Weak hearts will be strengthened, and drooping saints will be revived as they listen to our “songs of deliverance.” Their doubts and fears will be rebuked, as we teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They too shall “sing in the ways of the Lord,” when they hear us magnify His holy name.
Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of singing the new song, “Worthy is the Lamb.”
Before we sign off in this month of welfare, I want you to have a look at the next message and give an honest evaluation of your investments:
Just How Lasting Are Your Investments?
As an old man, Solomon agonized over the futility of his investments:
“When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun… So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me… A chasing after the wind… “ (Ecclesiastes 2:11, 17)
Do your investments parallel Solomon’s? Or are you making the kind of investments that will outlive you, lasting for eternity? If you want:
A one year return on your investment, plant grain.
A ten year return on your investment, plant a tree.
An eternal return on your investment, plant people.
It is God’s intention to destroy everything physical, including your earthly investments:
“The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away… and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.“ (2 Peter 3:10)
Can we therefore grasp the fact that only God, His Word, and people are eternal?
God: “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.“ (2 Peter 3:8) (See Psalm 102:12; Ephesians 3:21)
His Word: “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.“ (Psalm 119:89) (See Psalm 119:152, 160; Matthew 5:18; 24:34; 1 Peter 1:25)
People: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.“ (Daniel 12:2) (See Matthew 25:46; Romans 2:7, 8; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-9)
Consequently, the only investments that will withstand the coming holocaust will be those made in the lives of people. Thus, God regularly places individuals in our path with whom He desires our investment: The person at the club. That neighbor across the street, A business associate, A relative, Someone in distress.
QUESTIONS: As you encounter these people, are you blithely brushing past them to fulfill your agenda? Or are you viewing each one as a divine appointment? Are you responding to the prompting of the Spirit by graciously and determinedly investing in their lives for the purpose of bringing Christ to them? Or building Christ in them? Even when it means altering your predetermined schedule?
I suppose the answers to these questions are determined by whether we are living for the temporal, or investing in the eternal. It surprising to know that some people don’t like it when the issue of blessing others with their substances but they forgot that the very life they living is not theirs; what if the owner decides to come for it, what excuse can you give him? Deut. 8 :18
Am signing off now. See you by God’s grace next month as our faithful Father move us closer through the guidance of the Holy Spirit daily to His will in our life.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Evang. Ifeoma Ohondu
