FEB 2020 – REALITIES MINISTRIES

Title: Oaths or Reputation – February 26, 2020

Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 2, No. 41

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matt 5:33-37NIV)

One of our customers came to our shop one day to buy certain things. While she was being attended to, she started lodging complaints about certain items she had bought from the shop and how they did not serve her purpose. Then I said to her, “Don’t worry – we will do something about what you just said.” And in response to that, she said, “Walahi (I swear to God), I am speaking the truth.” So, I was like, “Come on, I already said we will take care of your complaints. Why did you still have to swear to strengthen your statement? That was totally unnecessary.” And she said something like, “I just want you to believe me.”

Now that reminds me of what our Lord Jesus says about making and breaking oaths. He says you don’t need to swear about anything, just because you want to sound truthful; just let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’, ‘No’. In other words, build a reputation for honesty and truthfulness. Don’t carelessly make commitments. Learn not to be in a hurry to give your word about things you have not adequately thought about or considered. Otherwise you will constantly find yourself disappointing people and creating a feeling of distrust in them concerning you. Then you may have to start making vows or seeking others that would put in a word for you before you are taken seriously in any matter by anybody.

But God does not want any of us to be that way. He does not want us to be twisted in conduct or unreliable. He does not want us to rely on the power of oaths or on the reputation of others in order to be taken seriously in life. In fact, He says that relying on the power of oaths to strengthen our words, especially if we are not in a court of law, is of the evil one, for it is manipulative in character. It is like you are forcing or manipulating people to take your words as true, instead of allowing them to judge the trueness of what you have said on the basis of your reputation. And that is horribly wrong.

Therefore, what you should be doing is building your reputation on honesty. Look, if people, as in a court of law, have to first make us swear by God or any other thing before they believe us, it means that something is wrong with our reputation before them. And we need to do all that we can to correct that impression. So, going forward, mean what you say, and say only what you mean. If people won’t believe you, then, they won’t believe you. In fact, most of the people in our lives take our words seriously not because of the way we sound or look; rather, they take them seriously because we have over the time built before them a reputation for honesty. And that is what you should work on in your life. Once you give your word about something, make sure you do your best to make it good, even if doing so hurts you. That way, not only will you be building a reputation for honesty before others, you will also be training yourself not to be careless in making commitments.

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Title: Receive His comfort – February 02, 2020

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you into the second month of this year, the month of February. And I pray that the comfort of God will overflow your life in all ways all through the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now I offered that prayer for you because unless God Himself comforts you and fills your life with His comfort, there is nothing you or others do or acquire that will give you comfort in life. And who does not need comfort in his life? Why do people run up and down every day, laboring with all their intelligence, power, might and resources? It is largely because they want to be comfortable in life. Why do people even steal, embezzle public funds, get involved in prostitution and do all kinds of horrible things? Is it not because they want some measure of comfort for themselves and perhaps their loved ones? And why do some people seek to insert themselves into certain rich, popular or influential individuals’ lives? Is it not because of the hope of comfort?

However, nothing we do on our own can give us true comfort in life. Truly, money, position, power or fame may make us comfortable. But how comfortable can they really make us? What degree of comfort can they really make available to us? As we know, there are many today who have these things but who are still troubled and disturbed in many ways and are in need of comfort. What I am saying is that there are many that their money, fame, power and influence cannot comfort in their trouble. And they themselves know that these things are ineffective and insufficient in providing for them the kind of comfort their hearts desire.

So, if you want real comfort in your life, beyond what money, fame, power and influence can make available, you need to turn to God. Paul, in a letter to the Corinthians, says this of God: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2Cor 1:3-4NIV) Did you see that? Paul, here, describes God as the God of all comfort. That means if you are enjoying any kind of comfort in your life at all, whether through your money, position, influence or relationship, it is because God has made it possible.

Now, of course, you don’t have to know God or believe in Him in order to enjoy His comfort. That is because, as a good, compassionate and loving Father, He makes His comfort available to all, regardless of whether they are good or bad (Matt 5:45; Acts 14:16-17). And if God is kind enough to comfort even those who are bad and who don’t believe in Him, then, imagine what measure of comfort He is able to make available to those who believe in Him and continually look up to Him for comfort in life. In fact, one of the reasons He has given those who believe in Him His Holy Spirit is that He may be an ever present Comforter to them (John 14:16).

So, as you go through this month and the remaining part of the year, learn to function with the consciousness that you have the Holy Spirit of God in you as your comforter and the source of whatever form of comfort you may need in your life. And as you receive His comfort, be kind enough to let it flow from you to as many in your life who are also in need of God’s comfort.

Do have a great February 2020.