FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING!

 FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING 

Every writer's wish is to connect with the reader. To take the reader on the same journey they have encountered in their imagination or lives. To make them feel the depth of the emotions they hold. This can be limiting because sometimes you do not have the right words to describe the experience. However, not writing will be a disservice to oneself.

My mind and heart have gone through a strong rebirth. I might have mentioned this a couple of times in different words but trust that I will mention it again as long as it keeps happening. Welcome to the collection of my different phases.

I’ll start with a statement that incited all of this:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Genesis 50:20 NIV

I decided to be more intentional with my walk in Christ as I believe before hand I just stumbled upon him. It did not take long to actually realise that living a righteous life is by far the hardest thing I am actually going to do.

I began reading the Bible and began realising a strange pattern of perseverance. 

Take the life of Joseph from Genesis. He was set apart for the will of God. He had a dream that he would be great and he shared it not out of pride but wouldn’t you tell your friends when you receive a great revelation? Those who were closest to him, scoffed at the dream. He waited about 13 years for this dream to be made manifest. In those 13 years he was not in a field of roses, he was preserving. Look at the prophets. Take apostle Paul, writing his letter from prison. Take Jeremiah, isolated for the gospel. Take Ezekiel, his wife dies as a sign to Israel. Take Elijah, overwhelmed with grief to the point of opting for death. Take Job, all stripped away from him. Take John the Baptist, beheaded. Take the greatest of them all, Jesus, crucified.

I wonder, why did all this people keep pushing through so much pain and suffering. Their suffering feels unfair and unnatural. I do not think I have what it takes in me to go through even a fraction of what they went through. So why the fervour. Why did they have so much in them to remain rooted in their faith when it was so much easier to give in. Why are they fighting so hard?

I battled with this because I thought that life in Christ should make my life much easier or atleast richer idk?!

However I began to see something else. These people did not see things as we see them. Go back to the text:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Genesis 50:20 NIV

They saw the GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. The more I learn about God the more I realise, it’s not about the now. Joseph was set up in such a way that he not only could save the lives of countless in Egypt but also of Israel. If he hadn’t been sold to Egypt they would have died of hunger. If he hadn’t been imprisoned he wouldn’t have been placed in such a position of power where he could save God’s people. In as much as He went through all this, God was always with him. He had such great favour that in every position he was placed, first in Potiphar’s house and in prison, he was put in charge. From Jobs suffering, he learnt of God’s greatness. Without his suffering, he lived in a limitation of who God is. His dialogue with God is so profound I suggest you read it but this is one of his closing statements to God:

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”

Job 42:5 NIV

Needless to say, God restored him and gave him twice as much. Did he even know that it was possible to get more than he had? Did he know that what he had in regards to God meant nothing? God can give you an abundance of what you think you want and it may never run dry. You may lose your possessions in a day and God can restore them in a day which so begs the question, why are we placing so much emphasis on that which is like a vapour in the wind. Job chose to honour his relationship with God. So did all these characters in the Bible. David was called a man after God’s own heart because of how he choose to honour his relationship with God. 

All these men kept their eyes on God. Even when they didn’t understand they honoured their relationship with God.

I chose to try and do the same but i discovered something else, YOU WILL NOT REMAIL AS YOU ARE.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Man, I have read this verse so many times before but never has it been this real to me. 

SURRENDER! Death to self. All self-seeking ways in you will be put to death over and over again as long as you will want to maintain that relationship. Now I understand why Joseph was not proud when his brother’s came to him. A refinement had happened. It is not you but Christ lives in you. A Christ-like heart is gained. Almost as if you begin to understand the mind of God. His good and perfect will. Joseph looks back and understands that indeed he brought me up for such a time as this. His good and perfect will.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?””

Esther 4:14 NIV

Israel would still be saved because it was in God’s will whether Joseph was on board or not. How privileged he must have felt to be the one God chose? His eyes was not on himself but on what God was doing. 

You want to know the cost of following Jesus? It will cost you everything:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24 NIV

“He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.”

Luke 9:3 NIV

“Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.””

Luke 9:58 NIV

“Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.””

Luke 9:60 NIV

“Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.””

Luke 9:62 NIV

You can’t look back at where you are from or you will lose focus and be held back.

“On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.”

Luke 17:31, 33 NIV

This my friends, was soo profound to me. 

The mind of Christ reveals what it is that truly should be treasured.

But why go through all of this? What for?

Oh my friend I tell you, you have not tasted joy until you know God. You have not seen wonders until you know God!

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

Psalms 34:8 NIV

You need to ask yourself why would countless of men choose to suffer because of God. What is it that keeps them going?

They are citizens of a different Kingdom. They stopped operating with the laws of the world and take on the laws of the Kingdom. For the kingdom of God is relevancy, ultimate and final relevancy. When you have it and it has you , then you are relevancy itself.

I’ll make a very bold statement:

“ I have never felt this powerful in my life.”

It’s not because of me but because of He, whom I have seen. Indeed unless you experience his faithfulness when he says “do not be afraid , for I am with you” “you will not be humiliated” “I will provide for you” you might not believe it.

He means every word he says!

 For his people, He dropped food from heaven, made clothes, opened eyes, raised the dead, healed diseases, gave riches, showed spouses, sent birds with food, sent angels, defeated armies, shut lions' mouths, saved them from fire, made fertile, forgave and sent His only son to die for them.

What more proof do I need?

What more must he do for me to understand that He loves me?

If He is to do nothing more, I should still be grateful for he has already done more than enough! 

I do not increase or decrease to his Glory yet he pursues me so fervently.

 “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!”

2 Samuel 7:18-19 NIV

I am in awe and I was left on my knees after such a revelation. 

One more discovery I made is that  nothing and I mean absolutely nothing is out of your reach in terms of miracles and promises that the Lord has declared in His word. Every single promise He has made is applicable to you as his Child for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. However, this does not end here YOU MUST BE OBEDIENT. Striving to live a righteous life in Christ through Christ and not by your own works. Hence, these men lived in repentance and obedience to receive that which God had in store for them.

“But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”

Psalms 103:17-18 NIV

Kingdom blessings are not like worldly success that is fleeting but they are fulfilling and eternal. 

“The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”

Proverbs 10:22 NIV

Ah what a God we serve!