Read an Excerpt
Building a Relationship with God and with Others
A Book of Devotion and Prayerful Reflections
By John Onu Odihi
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 John Onu Odihi
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-2715-5
Chapter One
How does God Want Us to Live?
He has showed you. O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)
How does God our Maker and Lord want us to live? Although this appears to be a simple question, our understanding of how God wants us to live does not appear so simple when our lives are used as a measure. The gap between our theory of faith and our practice of it is indeed very wide for the average Christian. There is so much confusion in the way the average person lives in an average day. We may be happy now only to become so sad moments later. We may espouse peace and love in our words and live out conflict and indifference in reality. We may praise God in one moment and curse our neighbour in another. Many times our speech and actions depend on the audience. We are obliging before authorities or where we hope for potential benefits and are condemning and harsh when we relate to subordinates or weak people. On the average we are therefore living contradictory lives. The biblical injunction is that we live one life that is in tune with the will of God. As people who confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives we cannot live double lives just as a spring cannot give both fresh and salty water at the same time. Let our tongues be employed to do the highest job it can ever do—praising God and edifying our fellowman. Let us not "[w]ith the tongue ... praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh and salt water come from the same spring? (James 3: 9-11).
The Bible has a lot to say about how we live. As God's spiritual children all our goals in life should sum up to one major goal—the will and glory of God in all we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). The Ten Commandments are a guide to how our loving heavenly Father wants us to live in relation to Him and our fellow human beings. Indeed through these commandments, "He has showed you. O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). As Christians both our words and our lives should please God. We must walk our talk if we claim to know the lordship of Jesus.
Living Out the Will of God
Begin the day with worship (prayer). Pray that God's will be done in your life as well as in the entire world. Recognize that the power to live the will of God is graciously available to you through the Holy Spirit. Nobody, no matter how powerful, can make you live for God if you don't want to. The opposite is also true. No powers in all the universe can make you live against God's will when you choose to live in it. Satan cannot, no tyrant can. This is why you are accountable to God for how you live. God's gift of will, which you have, brings responsibility. That responsibility brings accountability! Commit yourself to living to please God. Praise Him always. Thank Him for His graces. and be merciful to others rather than curse them when they do evil to you. It will not be easy but it is not impossible with God's grace available to you. With grace and practice the old way of living will be broken and the new way of living will become your habit.
Reflection
Today, without doubt, you will have opportunities to praise God and give Him thanks and to demonstrate mercy to people. Everything can bring us to worship and thank God. Don't think vengeance but forgiveness and say kind and helpful words to people not hurting words. You can pray thus: "God, my Father and Helper, kindly help me to praise and worship You today. Help me to be merciful to others as You are to me for Your glory I pray in Jesus' name. Amen."
Suggested Further Further Bible Reading
James 3: 1-11
SURRENDERED TO YOU
Lord Jesus, I want to live my life
Surrendered to You always
Not like a patient unconscious
On a surgeon's surgical table
Dead to the world of pain
Through anesthesia
I want to live surrendered
Like You lived surrendered
To Your Holy Father
When You understood it all
The unspeakable pain
Of body, soul and spirit
And yet could say to Your Father
"Not My will but Your will be done"
Lord I know it's going to hurt
Not sometimes but most times
Because You've told me
I would face trouble in this world
Because I am called by Your name
Because the world hates You
Help me by Your grace
My dear Lord I pray
To live surrendered
To You, to Your holy ways
Not sometimes but always
Like the stream of Your grace
That flows from Your heart
Not sometimes but always
For Your glory now
And forever
Amen
SURRENDERED
I want to live surrendered
Not like one captured
In a battlefield
When overpowered
By the enemy
But I want to surrender
Lord to You like a beloved
Yields to the will of the lover
So that their hearts may beat as one
I want to live surrendered Lord to You
Because I know You have the big picture
Not only of my life but also of the universe
Because You planned it from the long ago
To serve Your purposes and bring You praise
Father, I know that wherever I go with You
Is the best place to go and the best to be
Because where You are is heaven
Help me dear Lord to surrender
To always surrender to You
Silently like darkness to light
Though they are so opposite
Darkness always yields
To light silently, so quickly
Soon light permeates
Dissolves darkness
Into oblivion
Till all around is light
Lord help me
To yield fully
To Your fullness
Giving You my all
So that You may be my All in All
HUMILITY
Humility you are so scarce
In the quarters of the proud
Yet you're the formula of ascent
Hidden from the eyes of the boastful
The braggart scorns humility
Like the rich scorns filthy rags
Yet it's the mark of the truly great
Humility you are the wreath
Around the neck of the humble
You protect them from the sudden fall
That befalls the boastful proud
Your path is grace-strewn
An invisible hand lifts up
Those who have you
A strong force is against
Those who scorn your path
How you are the way up
But how ignorant we are
Of this timeless truth
Those who climb up
Through your path
Have nothing to fear
They are on stable ground
Not so the arrogant
They are always falling
On slippery ground
Living A Life of Worship
Jesus declared, "Believe Me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem ... a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24)
Introduction
Our worship of the Living God is primarily our respect and holy fear of the Awesome Being who is Spirit and Father of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. If worship is a result of status, integrity, holiness or any other good quality, then God alone deserves to be worshipped. He is alone in all the good qualities known and unknown to us human beings. He personifies each and all the good qualities. Also, He made and sustains the universe. He alone should be worshipped because He alone is true Majesty!
How do we or should we worship God? God desires worship from us as His creatures but He has His conditions. Our worship must demonstrate our respect and highest honour for God. It should be in truth (i.e. sincerely done) and in the power of the Spirit through Jesus Who has reconciled us to God and qualifies us to draw near to Him. Worship in spirit is not a matter of place and time. We can worship God continually. We can do this by obeying Him or living in His will. We can remain in worship by accepting whatever God allows to happen to us and thank Him. Our brother and great teacher of God, Selwyn Hughes once said, "Have you ever considered what it is that drives Christians to be angry and impatient? These emotions arise whenever we lose sight of the fact that 'in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His Purpose' (Romans 8:28)". Selwyn Hughes is confident of our patience flowing from our peace if we know that God is in control and He loves us. When we know the fact that we belong to God's family as heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, and that He will never allow anything to happen to us unless He can use it for good, then this conviction becomes the "cosmic loom" on which all of life is woven. "If we do not accept this fact then we respond to life in negative ways, by becoming angry, frustrated and impatient", says Selwyn Hughes.
Living It Out
Yield to God and bless Him in every situation. Determine to bless God even for things that don't look good from your own perspective. Determine to do it as it is usually very difficult to thank God for such things. With the Spirit's power transcend this lower spirit of withholding worship from God and thank Him in all circumstances because He knows and plans the best for you. He can use the seeming "bad" experiences of your life for your good. In His hands everything is a resource for your blessing.
Reflection and Prayer
Take a thoughtful look at your life. What are the hard things to accept? Surrender them to the Lord and worship Him. Ask for His good purpose for you to be fulfilled through these things that bring you pain. You may pray thus: "God my Father, give me a spirit of true worship and help me to live my life worshipping You always, worshipping You alone. Amen.
Suggested Further Bible Reading:
John 4: 19-26; Genesis 4: 1-7; Malachi 1: 1-14;
I WORSHIP YOU
Lord my God I worship You
King of the ages mighty in power
The only true God and Ruler
Of the whole universe You created
Lord I thank You for the grace
That You, God of Glory
And the Holy One of Israel
Accept me and allow me
To come before Your Majesty
To worship You as my God, my King
Though pure beings worship You
Falling down with veiled faces
Lord of glory purify my heart
With Your refining fire
That I may worship You
Always acceptably
In the Lord Jesus Christ
To You be the glory
And the power
And majesty
forever
Amen
Living A Life of Love
Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6: 4)
God has a wish for man. He tells us clearly how He wants us to live in relation to Him as our Maker, Father and Sustainer, and to our fellowman. He wants us to do one thing: LOVE! He wants us to love Him and He wants us to love our fellow human beings. How frequently we need to look into the mirror of life, God's word so that we may know how we look as we see ourselves and see how God wants us to live. The tragedy of our lives is that we have fallen from our first love and we don't know it. We thought serving God is all He needs but the Almighty wants us to be with Him first. "He appointed twelve designating them apostles-that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons" (Mark 3:14-15). Before He sends, He wants us to be with Him. I believe that the reason God does not give us a one-dose-cure-all for all time is because He wants fellowship with us. He knows the prodigal spirit in us will like to have our "inheritance" and set off for a distant country to live wildly. He will rather give us our daily bread so that we can daily go to Him. God wants us to be in His presence. In many cases in natural life, environment influences us. Geography is sometimes destiny. We feel cold in winter or in a cold environment. We are "blind" or without sight in darkness but see in the light. "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Corinthians 15:33) but divine company ennobles character. Our corrupt nature dissolves in God's holy presence as we gaze upon His holy nature. We cry, "Woe unto me, I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips". When we cry thus the God of grace hears our plea and cleanses us from our sin, and accepts us because His Son has paid the price. He desires fellowship with us. The Bible is full of the evidence of this fact. See it from Genesis to Revelation. It is the reason He was visiting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, it was the reason He refused the sacrifices of the Israelites when they ran after and worshipped other gods, and sent them into exile. And, it was the reason why the hard working Church of Ephesus was rebuked (Revelation 2:7). Why does God want fellowship with us? It is because God is love. He loves us and made us for love and to love. Our wrong definition and tainted demonstration of love is because of our inadequate understanding of love. Our poor understanding is a result of our inadequate knowledge of God. Our inadequate knowledge of God is caused by our inadequate fellowship with Him. Love is indeed all we need in the world because love fulfills all of God's requirements. Love will keep us in Him, filling us with His grace to love Him and love our fellowman. That grace will enable us to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. It is no wonder then that love is the fulfillment of the law (see Romans 13: 8-10).
Living It Out
Do you want to love? Draw near to God so that He will draw near to you. When you see God you will know how bad and unacceptable you are. Yet He accepted you though He knows you totally, completely. You will be forever grateful and loving Him because God knew you and yet accepted you. Are you with God, working with him or are you working for Him? Ask God to help you make Him your Only One, your Priority Always.
Reflection
Our substitute for loving God is not always the blatant sin of adultery, murder or jealousy but seemingly good things that we become preoccupied with and find no time to snuggle into the loving arms of our heavenly Father. Pray for the grace to live in your first love.
Suggested Further Bible Readings
Matthew 22: 34-40; Romans 12: 9-21; 13: 8-10
MY HIGHEST GOAL
Not all my silver
Not all my gold
Not my intellect
Not my achievements
Nothing else but my love
Only all my love
Can satisfy my Lord
Who gave me His All
In the One and Only
God's only Son
Jesus Christ
Lord to You
I give my heart
My love, my all
I will love You
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And with all my strength
When I so love You
Then all of me is truly Yours
And You can use me Lord
For Your glory always, forever
Help me Lord to love You
For loving You is my goal
My highest goal
Forgiveness
Forgive us our debts; as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6: 12-13)
I don't know of any other thing more than love and forgiveness that the world needs so badly to make it a place where all can coexist in harmony and fulfillment. Sadly, I don't also know what the world lacks more than love and forgiveness. It is amazing how we all want to be loved and forgiven and find it so hard to love and forgive others. Why is there such a drought of love and forgiveness in the world, even among Christians who bear that name only because they are loved and forgiven by God? It is either because we have not known how God loves us in spite of what we are or we have not experienced God's divine forgiveness. If we know but only a tiny bit of how much God has forgiven us, we will pray to find the grace to forgive those that wrong us no matter what they have done. Any true child of God who lives in "unforgiveness" lives in forgetfulness of the debt of gratitude he owes to God who reconciled him to Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ. He may also be living in the illusion of self-righteousness.
Yes, human's willful inhumanity to fellow humans has been great since Cain and Abel. The human heart is indeed desperately wicked leading many to kill in order to satisfy their sinful desires. Many people's progress in life has been permanently arrested because of wicked lies that painted them darker than Satan. Character assassinations have made devils of angels in the eyes of the ignorant beholding public. What is more, the God who knows all the truth does not always rush to our defence. O how it hurts and how our heart bleeds in brazen injustice!
We are capable of two opposite cries in the face of injustice. We can, like the blood of Abel, cry for vengeance; this is the natural human cry. We can also cry a prayer like the Lord Jesus Christ: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23: 34). Many would say Jesus could do that because He is Jesus. The Bible presents us with the example of Stephen who prayed, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7: 60). Stephen's prayer was not an afterthought; he prayed for the forgiveness of those murdering him during the rain of stones that ended his life!
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Building a Relationship with God and with Others by John Onu Odihi Copyright © 2012 by John Onu Odihi. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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