GOOD TIMES AWAITS YOU
By Rev.Michael Benson
Ajayi
1 Peter 4:17-18 NKJV
“ For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and
if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the
gospel of God?”
This scripture underscores God’s approach
to the issue of societal reforms; it is a process that begins with the church.
There can be no true governance outside the perimeter of God’s elect. The need
for societal reforms is necessitated by the fact that our prosperity
individually is inter-wound with our collective prosperity. It is against this
backdrop that the church should pursue a vigorous and holistic approach towards
social justice and equity in the wider society. The scriptures says in Jer 29:7
“ And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into
exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your
welfare."
We are
inter related directly or indirectly therefore our collective good should be
the concern of all. Unfortunately, the modern church lays much emphasis building of personal empires at
the detriment of our commonwealth. History has shown that such ventures are
nothing but vapour that soon fade away.
The church
is meant to be a pool from where tested and genuine leadership is sourced from(Acts
6:1-7), therefore when the church is morally bankrupt, society is for the
worse. In acts 6:7 we are told that the word of God spread as a result of good
governance brought about by sound wholesome family
oriented teachings.It lead to a healthy increase in the number of disciples unlike what is witnessed today where people change church at will to avoid a long term commitments to a divine course.Such persons
have an ‘abandonment’ mentality and it leads to an increase in quantity not quality in our churches with diminishing returns in the
sanctity of the society. This is the reason for the rise in marital crisis; a person's commitment to God's word determines how he or she relates with family members.
It took a church of four persons: Daniel and
his three faithful friends to change Babylon for the better and yet with the
countless numbers of followers in our churches society buckles under the weight
of social injustice and gross inequality while promoting religiosity.
It is against
this backdrop, that the process of societal reform must start from God’s
people, they are the righteous by grace and there’s need for the character of
righteousness to be revealed through the highest level of transparency and
accountability. The world does not understand spiritual
language but they do know how to identify integrity wherever it is found. This
is why we must of necessity go through trials and temptation, through temporary
deprivation (Eccl 3:1-8), through this we come to understand that God wants
us to learn how to value human relationship and our relationship with Him more
than we do with things (Rom 14:14-16,1 Thes5:22). Our faith fails when our joy
is determined by the possession material wealth.( Mk 4:7,19) this leads to temptations.
During
trying times we learn to identify and refrain from desires which bring dishonour to our families and God's name (2cor 6:3) it helps us identify
true believers (Deut 8:2, exodus 20:20) as such periods draws them closer to
the Word of God. Sometimes battles are set by the lord to test our
resilience and love for His word (Judges2:21-22).
Through trials
we also learn to be better resource managers and invest wiser (Jn 15:2) thus
making us more useful to the community (2Tim 2:21,) this sometimes requires the
total destruction of our old plans for
prosperity for something new and better
( Jer 18:4) in preparation for a glorious future ( Deut 8:16) and give Him all the
glory , Deut 8:17-18 says “He did all this so you would
never say to yourself, 'I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and
energy.' Receive grace for recovery as you read this now in Jesus name.
Prayer /counseling +2348098536911,+2348035536911
Email : michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
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