Topic: The Genesis Story: Part 155- “Live Right; Reap Right!”
Bible Reading: Genesis 49
Verses of the day: - Genesis 49: 3-7
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! How are you doing? How was your morning? I pray that everyone is safe and doing well! During this quarantine/ lockdown period, how are you spending time with God? Have you made any resolutions this past few weeks on your walk with Christ? If you have, let us know! We would love to know how you are spending time at God’s Feet.
In today’s message, the Holy Spirit wants to let us know that our actions never go unpunished. He wants everyone to take a step back and assess the lifestyle. Are you living a life holy and pleasing to God? What are your character traits? Is your life making a difference? These are very important questions we must all answer! As you answer these questions, be very truthful to yourself. Identify your shortcomings/ weaknesses and tackle them.
Take a few minutes (before you continue to read the message), to answer the questions listed above truthfully. Take as much time as you need! Now, write down all the various lifestyles or character traits you know are not pleasing to God.
There are many people who claim to be Christian and proclaim Christ; however, their ways of life are very suspicious. I have seen many of such people. They are all around you- at church, at school, at the work place, etc. They are quick to say, “It is by God’s Grace!” at the end of every statement, however, they are the same people who speak fowl languages against others, steal, lie, quick-to-anger, violent, amongst many others. This makes me very sad.
This means that the haven’t spent a lot of time growing in Faith. Growing in faith means spending a lot of time reading and mediating on the Word; as well as prayer. As you spend more time at God’s feet, His Word moves into your heart and it begins to transform you- your thoughts, your words, your way-of-life.
Living a life that is not full of Christ is very dangerous. It means you are a “lukewarm Christian.” You easily can become a prey of the enemy. You no longer can distinguish what is right from what is wrong. Living as a “lukewarm Christian” means that you have not decided to bury the worldly pleasure; dedicating your whole life to God. God does not like that! He is a very jealous God! You seem to try to challenge God- that’s sin. Sin never goes unpunished.
Let us look at Genesis 49, from that chapter, we see that Jacob is about to die. Before that, he gathered all his sons and blessed them. Reuben, Simeon and Levi were not blessed by their father. Instead, he gave them what they deserved for their lifestyle (verses 3 to 7, highlights this). What did they do? Well, they things that you may take for granted- anger, disobedience, violence. These are things you sometimes brush off!
This is a very important lesson to all of us! Be careful how you live your life. Do think that because you have a sovereign Father in Heaven, you can live your life the way you want to! That is not the case! God is our father, he would discipline us and punish us when we go wrong (just like Jacob did to his sons). In fact, our earthly fathers treat us the same way; when we do something wrong, they punish us.
Do not reap the wrong outcomes; do the right thing. Live a righteous life! Live a Christ-like life, so that God may reward you abundantly with so many blessings. Assess your life today! The time to change is now! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in Christ! Coupled with the Holy Sprit’s help is your willingness and desire to change. Thirst for this change and see the wonderful things that would happen in your life!
Do not feel left out! Do not allow negative thoughts into my mind- telling you that it is too late to change! It is not! God is a very forgiving God. Go to Him and place each and every flaw (you have written/ identified) to Him. He