YOU WILL BEAR FRUIT!

My friend,

What is your condition? Are you in a state of barrenness like Rebekah, Isaac’s wife? Or maybe your case is not physical barrenness. It may be that you’re emotionally drained, financially busted and exhausted, spiritually dry and or socially uninterested. If the state that you are in is similar to any of these, I believe you’ll agree that to some extent it is a state of unfruitfulness.

Rebekah was likewise unfruitful. Genesis 25:20 highlights that she became Isaac’s wife when he was forty years old. Later on in verse 26 we learn that Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah eventually gave birth to Essau and Jacob. Essentially, Rebekah waited twenty years (!) before she was able to conceive - twenty years! That’s a long time to wait for a child or on any promise for that matter. We see though that the posture of Rebekah’s husband, Isaac, was remarkable during her state of barrenness . He intreated (sought) the Lord concerning the matter. I can imagine that over the twenty year period of Rebekah’s barrenness, he would have prayed many times. Finally, there came a point when the Lord answered his prayers and opened Rebekah’s womb. Isaac’s posture of prayer while waiting reminds us that we need others who can help us to pray to the Lord for us to be fruitful. It is good when we can pray for ourselves but it is even more powerful when we can stand with one another in prayer.

God came through for Rebekah and allowed her to bring forth children. He had done the same thing for Isaac’s mother Sarah and the same thing for Rachel, the wife of Isaac’s son Jacob. Be reminded today that you serve a Living God who came through for you before and who will deliver you again.

I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, that your life will be fruitful. No matter how dry or barren things may seem now. I pray for you, that God will open up the womb of your life, your ministry, your friendships, your education, your finances, your career and will cause you to become fruitful, even after many years of barrenness and drought. God who promised is indeed faithful (Hebrews 10:23) to come through for you.

God bless you. Please share this word of encouragement with someone and always remember - God can.

Every blessing,

Tenneil

Your sister in Christ Jesus

The Power of the Church

Our lives are made up of connections. Those connections reveal the truth of the adage ‘no man is an island’. Indeed, we are far greater and stronger together than we are individually. One of the greatest connections we can have, especially as believers in Jesus Christ, is with the Church. Surely, the Covid-19 pandemic has truly proven that to us.

If you are like me and several other believers, you would have experienced the blessing of online church – the virtual Saturday or Sunday morning worship, the technologically advanced Bible Studies, the ‘big screen’ preaching of the Word – But also, you may have been struggling and frustrated with not fellowshipping with others in the same physical space. Let’s be honest, although some persons have found online church to be a good alternative for face-to-face fellowship, it has left many of us longing for greater togetherness with those who are our family in Christ. In August 2020, a representative of Religion News Service, noted that “…the reality is without our pastors helping us, without leaders in our churches helping us to stay connected, people struggle” (christiancentury.org). Now, isn’t that the truth?! I believe it is. Just over a year ago the American Bible Society revealed that from a Bible survey that was done during the pandemic, 13 million people in America were not engaging meaningfully with scripture as before the pandemic. It is reasonable to say that the fall in meaningful Bible engagement is associated with factors such as greater demands that parents have with home schooling and work but also with the fact that church attendance has been tremendously limited. As a result, we see clearly and can honestly confess that the Church is necessary. The community of believers that gather frequently helps to provide a significant degree of accountability that too many of us have taken for granted. Admittedly, there are structural issues and accountability challenges that have come to the fore in recent times, especially in relation to charismatic churches and leaders. Nonetheless, we must recognize the power that has been given to the family of Christian believers to directly and indirectly help each other to walk out our Christian journey. Though it is a personal, individual journey that we are each responsible for, the church plays a fundamental role in pushing us along this path as we run this race for the prize of eternity with our Lord.

The Church has always been a part of my life, so resorting to online church to maintain this fellowship with believers is something I was committed to doing to help preserve my connection with the body of Christ and the Lord. I must admit though, I missed the real church. I missed the gathering of the believers – the worship together, the prayer sessions, the actual smiles and hugs – all of it. In many countries, including my own, Covid-19 restrictions have been put in place in a number of churches to help slow the spread of the virus. I understand the need for them but I dislike them. Never did I imagine that I would see the day when Christians have to register to worship in God’s house. However, for the sake of fellowship and not forsaking our assembling as scripture warns us, I have made sure to call my Church office and register my attendance. I recommend that you do the same and stay connected with the family of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every blessing,

Tenneil

Your sister in Christ Jesus

Love Is A Serious Thing...

Love is a serious thing to God. Throughout scripture we see God's love towards His people, demonstrated in His mercy, deliverance, provision and protection, especially when they called upon Him. Many believers recognize this love that the Lord has for us which was ultimately demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son. We often forget though that a part of God's nature is His justice or fairness, which is the basis of His expectation that we will love Him in return. Even before Jesus came to earth, died and rose again, God gave the first commandment to His servant Moses (Exodus 20:3) that the children of Israel should have no other gods before Him. Jesus reminds us of this too in Matthew 22:37-38 and Mark 12:29-30. Our worship/love should be extended only to Him. To this extent we understand that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) and He is expecting that we reciprocate love toward Him. That's why it is not good enough for us to just do His work; we must first sincerely love Him with all our heart (Matthew 22:37-38).

Remember Mary and Martha? In Luke 10:38-42, the Bible account of these two sisters and Jesus' interaction with them tells us much about what He expects from even us today. Martha was consumed by all the work that she had to do and requested that Jesus would commission her sister Mary to assist her. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet and was listening to Him teach, a very uncommon thing within Jewish culture where the role of women was specific to hospitality and other homely activities. That is why Martha asked Jesus the question that she did "Lord, dost though not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me." [Luke 10:40 KJV]. Martha's question and statement afterwards tells us that there was grounds on which Jesus should have instructed Mary to help her sister carry out the homely duties. However, Jesus' response to Martha does two critical things:

1. It tells us how Jesus regards labour in comparison to worship or us sitting before Him. Jesus brought to the fore, God's priority that the good (or better) part of what we can do for God is not work but is actually worship. Jesus also specifically stated that He would not take that away from Mary. In other words, Jesus was declaring that He valued Mary's offering of worship and being at His feet to learn from Him more than the hospitality that she could offer. God's word tells us of this too in Revelation 2:1-7 where Jesus, through the Apostle John, gives a word of warning to the Church at Ephesus. This particular Church had been doing the work of God and was noted by Jesus as hating the things that He hates but they had a big problem - they had left their first love, God. Jesus noted that they needed to repent and do the first works which was to love God.

2. It breaks down cultural and spiritual walls that serve as limitations for women so that they can advance freely to the position that God desires them to be in. Mary was bold, she had already chosen to be at the feet of Jesus. She was already listening to Him. She did not wait for the approval of anyone to do that. She chose to be before the Lord. She had already defied the normal way of operating as a woman within her society; but when Jesus spoke in her defence, those cultural and spiritual obstacles were majorly adjusted.

Will you choose to be at Jesus' feet today? It is easy to get caught up in the business of life, ministry and family, taking care of everything and everyone. However, the Lord is seeking daughters (and sons) who, like Mary, are willing to sit at His feet and learn from Him.

I pray that whatever our responsibilities are, no matter how great, we will make time to worship and sit at the feet of our King. It is a demonstration of our love for Him.

Shalom...