If you are not obeying God, you are obeying the devil

Sept 22, 2013

To obey is better than sacrifice

1 Samuel 15:13-23

13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”  14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”  15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”  16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”  And he said to him, “Speak on.”  17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”  20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”  22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,  As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,  And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,  He also has rejected you from being king.”

God had commanded Saul to kill all the Amalekites.  However, Saul did not obey the Lord.  He kept back the best of the  oxen and sheep to sacrifice to the Lord and he spared King Agag.  When Samuel confronted Saul, Saul lied, justified himself for his disobedience and blamed the people.  He then wanted honor from Samuel so that he would not lose his image.    

As a result, because Saul disobeyed God, God rejected him as king.  In the end, Saul committed suicide.  

Partial obedience or delayed obedience equals disobedience.  God desires obedience more than sacrifice.  

A king or leader who sets his own will above the command of the Lord ceases to be an instrument of the Lord.   (Miyagi)

God is not interested in our independence apart from Him.  He expects and demands complete dependence on Him and obedience to Him.  When a leader makes himself a god and thinks that his own ways and thinking is good enough,  God can and many times will remove this person from his position.  God will humble him because he refuses to humble himself.  That is what happened to Saul and that is what is happening to many pastors and church leaders in America.  

Many believers think that if they will just give enough tithes to the church, or serve in one more ministry or be faithful to going to church, that this so-called sacrificial acts will somehow make up for their disobedience to the Lord.   These deceived believers seem to think that they can sin against God and still be okay because they are doing all these so-called “holy services” for the Lord.  Thus, they feel that they can do as they please, and obedience to the Almighty God is really optional. Little do they know that they are really serving the devil when they do that.  How foolish to think like that.   Either you are serving God or you are serving the devil (by default). The choice is yours. There is no neutral ground. If you are not serving God, you are probably just doing your own thing. When you are just doing your own thing (like many so-called Christians do), you are in reality serving the devil. The choice is yours. Serve God or serve the devil (by serving self, sin, or the world).

The life application for us (Miyagi and me) is that we are to continue to obey the Lord in what He has called us to do.  

Miyagi’s identity is that he is a business consultant.  He has a BBA in accounting, UH Manoa, 1978.  He is also a minister of the Word.  He is finishing his BA in Theology with emphasis on pastoral care and counseling at Life Pacific Bible College.  

Miyagi’s purpose is to fulfill God’s high calling in his life which is Isaiah 61:1-3, Acts 2:42, and Matthew 28:19-20.

Miyagi’s function as a business consultant is to give professional advice on business matters and to help people stay in the business of life.  As a minister of the Word, he holds Bible studies and prayer meetings like a pastor / teacher,  gives spiritual advice like a prophet,  sets up house churches like an apostle, and passes out tracts like an evangelist.

My identity is wife and helpmate.

My purpose is to support my husband and to cover his back.

My function is to take care of all the details..  

Conclusion:

Obedience pleases God more than sacrifice.  Not only is obedience to God commanded by God, it will save our life from danger and the snares of our enemies which is satan, sin, self and the world.  A true believer will obey God.  A false believer will obey his flesh, every time.  

Poem:

When I was young and in the church

I thought that all church goers were holy

But I was wrong and so deceived.

They were not what they appeared to be

They sang the songs, they gave their tithes

They would lift up holy hands in praise

But they submitted to their carnal desires

And they operated in fleshly ways

A true believer will love the Lord,

will honor God and follow Him to the end

Those who just go to church to have their fun

is only following a trend

So get serious with God and learn of his ways

be faithful to Him every day

Love Him, serve Him, worship Him often

The key word is obey, obey, obey

Byword:  A true believer obeys God.  A false believer obeys his flesh and pretends to be a Christian.   

Aldwin and Wendy Naruse

The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship

Makaha, HI USA

Work Cited

Miyagi, Miyagi’s Commentary, The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship, Makaha, HI 2013

God's Grace Among the Thorn in the Flesh

Sept 20, 2013

God’s grace among the thorn in the flesh

2 Cor 12:1-10, v. 9

It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. 6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

The Thorn in the Flesh

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Grace of God defined:

The Greek word for grace is caris. Its basic idea is simply “non-meritorious or unearned favor, an unearned gift, a favor or blessings bestowed as a gift, freely and never as merit for work performed.” (taken from the article Grace and Peace)

Grace is “that which God does for mankind through His Son, which mankind cannot earn, does not deserve, and will never merit.” (taken from the article Grace and Peace)

Paul talks about the thorn in the flesh.  What is the thorn in the flesh?  It can be a number of things.  The thorn in the flesh is the strongman, the troubles, the trials and tribulations, the disrespect for other people, the arrogance, the physical suffering, the abnormality, the disturbances, and the irritation.

The purpose of the thorn in the flesh is to deal with pain, trouble and suffering.  The thorn in the flesh is the situations that we face daily, the temptations, the attacks, the test of faith, and the sin issues.  The thorns in the flesh is used to reveal God’s plan and purpose.  Paul’s thorns could be demonic activities and permitted by God to keep him humble so he won’t be puffed up by the revelations that he was receiving.  (Miyagi)

God gives us grace for many reasons.  One of the reasons is to accomplish His will.  Our weakness, our trials and tribulations and our strength comes from the grace of God.  Our strength in ourselves is relying on self instead of trusting in God.  We are foolish to think that we can take care of our own problems without God.  We must trust in the Christ to call out for help to get victory over every challenge from the devil, his demons, the flesh, the lust of it and the world system.    As long as we call out to Christ moment by moment, God will bestow His heavenly strength upon us.  His grace is His strength, power, and authority.  The operation of God’s grace is the Christ in you.  (Miyagi)

We are to see virtue in our weakness because in our weakness, we see HIs grace.  We will see God’s glory who overturns our negative situations which is the valley of death.  So the grace that is bestowed upon us is God’s strength.   God’s grace is all sufficient to help us with our daily lives, carrying out the mission of our lives, enduring the suffering and the thorn in the flesh.    (Miyagi)

In Paul’s case, the thorn in the flesh kept him humble and it will do the same for us.  The thorn in the flesh will also strengthen our faith, test our faith, teach us how to fight, to trust in the Lord and to build confidence in Him.  It will help us to gain deeper understanding regarding the ways of God.  (Miyagi)

Romans 8:28

New King James Version (NKJV)

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

The thorns in the flesh, our weakness, and even our shortcomings are all part of God’s plan in working for the good.  So when we face challenges, God will release and bestow heavenly power and authority which is His grace.  It will manifest within us and we will see God’s glory through His grace.  When we learn how to apply God’s grace to every situation, we will master what it means to be the stronger man in Christ. How we fight the strongman is by calling on God’s grace.  (Miyagi)

In our situation, we have a thorn in the flesh.  It is someone we are regularly in association with.  This person is manipulative and wicked.  This person calls himself a believer but his ways are clearly of the devil.  (Miyagi)

We had to learn to call upon God’s grace, which is divine love, wisdom, power and authority to come and supersede and override the works of this strongman.  We need not react nor respond to this person anymore.  God showed us to just live in peace.  We no longer need to yield to this person’s manipulative ways nor meet his unrealistic expectation.  God showed us how to be the head and not the tail.  We shall have headship over this strongman.  And with God’s grace, He will spoil this strongman.  God uses testings in our lives to teach us purity and strengthens us.  (Miyagi)

Conclusion:

If your life is without troubles or hardships, you probably will never see the glory of God at work.  But if you are facing some difficult situations in your life, and you have relied on God’s grace to overcome it, you will surely see God’s glory come shining through.  His grace is sufficient for us and His strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9, NKJV)  So the next time you find yourself facing a difficult situation,  praise the Lord!.  

Poem:

When you find yourself in a situation

that you feel is too tough to take

And you have nowhere to turn

And you make mistakes upon mistakes

And you try everything you know

to solve the problems you face

But you are getting increasingly tired

for it seems like an endless race

Please know that it’s not the end

For God’s grace is sufficient for you

He will help you fight the evil,

the trials and the tribulations too

So trust in the Word of God

and not in your self-sufficiency

Be sure to cry out to Him all the more

and be ready for the victory

  

Byword:  The more we face trials and tribulation with God’s grace, the more we will see God’s glory.   

Work Cited

God and Peace, https://bible.org/article/grace-and-peace

Miyagi, Miyagi’s Commentary, The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship, Makaha, HI, 2013

Aldwin and Wendy Naruse

The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship

Makaha, HI USA

The Rich Fool

August 27, 2013      

Be rich in God, not in goods

Luke 12:13-21     

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’  21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Commentary:

In the above parable, the rich fool had accumulated much crops (wealth). In fact, he had so much crops that he had to build bigger barns to store those crops.  Then he told himself that he is set for life.  He can stop working, and just eat, drink and be happy for he has enough crops to last for life.    But little did he know that his life will end on that very night.  Who then will get all the wealth that he has accumulate over the years?  How foolish of him who lays up treasure for himself but is not rich towards God?  

Do you know people who are always buying stuff?  They buy things and accumulate things in their homes.  Others work two jobs, maybe three jobs so that they can make more money so that they can buy more stuff.  America has a need to get more and more.  They are never satisfied with what they have.  Malls are packed with people all the time.  It has become a global phenomenon.  People will camp out overnight right outside the department store just before Black Friday so that they can be the first ones in the store the next day and get the stuff they want.  A number of years ago, a man who worked in Walmart got ran over by masses of people running into the store for deals and he died.  And all for what?  Stuff.     

In America, instead of we owning our things, our things own us.    And the devil is having a heyday when he can get you and me to take our eyes off of what is truly important in life and put it on “stuff.”    

And what is truly important to you?  

Money? Status?  Power? Pleasure?  Stuff?

Or is it the Lord Jesus Christ?

It is amazing to see the things that man will do for money that they will never do for God.  

People will work 12 hours a day at their business to make money.  But seldom do we find people who will work 12 hours a day to do God’s work.  

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, NKJV)

The reason why people value money and stuff more than God is that they simply love money more than God.   Money and stuff makes people (their flesh) happy.  For these people, their money is their god.  And that is why they cannot let go of it.  It is what they worship.  

Things like wisdom, holiness and righteousness, love, humility are things that makes God happy because He values these things.  As true believers, we ought to love and value these things also because God values them.   Therefore, we seek to be more humble, to love more, to seek for more wisdom and to give more.

If God has blessed you with a lot of money and you are well-to-do, what are you doing with your wealth?  Are you putting your resources to use for the extension of God’s kingdom or are you hoping to just eat, drink and be merry the rest of your life?   Are you helping a widow in need or are you more interested in buying the next new car?  

What does it mean to be rich towards God?

The emphasis is on the emptying of our “storehouses,” which God promises to fill to overflowing. Isaiah 58:10 promises, “If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in darkness, and your night will become like the noonday . . . he will satisfy your need in a sun-scorched land.” You will be made complete and satisfied—not by running after and hoarding what you believe is wealth, but in being rich toward God, holding all you have as funds available for Kingdom work. (Godby)

You may be someone with gifts and talents such as singing, playing an instrument, speaking, encouraging, teaching or bringing edification to others. What are you doing with these gifts and talents?   If you have any of these gifts, being rich towards God would mean that you use these gifts to further God’s kingdom.  Some would just sit on these gifts and do nothing with it.  Others will make a living using these gifts and talents.  However, when you use these gifts and talent for God, you are being rich towards God.  When you empty yourself by giving to God all of the gifts and talents that He has blessed you with, you are RICH…..towards God.

So having alot of money and stuff in itself is not wrong.  It is what you do with it that counts.  Help the poor.  Feed the hungry.  Minister to the least one of these.  Dedicate all these things for godly usage.  

If you have to accumulate wealth, do it for God, not for self. I have a ministry where I collect bags of clothes and I distribute it to people who really need it. I accumulate these clothes for the purpose of helping the least one of these.

Amazing when you think about it.  We are rich in God when we give away things ( money, stuff, gifts, talents, skills)  The world says get more and more and more so you can be rich.  God says give, give and give and then you will be rich in ME.  

Luke 16:13, NKJV

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.  

Choose your master.  You can serve your God or you can serve your money.  But you can’t serve both.

Conclusion:

The way to be rich towards God is to use all your resources, gifts and talents for God.    So give yourself away completely to God.  Share your resources with the poor.  Feed the needy.  Help the least one of these -- the widows and the orphans.  Encourage your brother.  Sing for the seniors at the nursing home.  Teach little children Bible stories.  Give! Give! Give!  

Poem:

A person who values the things of this world

like money and cars and all of that stuff

is really in bondage to the devil himself

because he can never say, “enough is enough.”

He works and works so he can be rich

Accumulating more is what fills his time

Putting all of his energy in earthly treasures

for greediness is what consumes his mind

But the person who shares his goods with others

refuses to hoard for he knows his part

to further God’s kingdom with all of his goods

for Jesus Christ is Lord of his heart

So may we remember the lesson today

that when we are blessed, its because of God’s love

to be good stewards of all that we have

for the good things are given to us straight from above

Byword:   Either you own your stuff or your stuff owns you.   

Aldwin Naruse

The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship

Makaha, HI USA

Work Cited

Godby, Beverly, Rich Towards God, http://www.thehighcalling.org/work/rich-toward-god#.Uh5NWdL2aDo