- I was to acknowledge my senior pastor Rev A. Ndlovu
- I want to acknowledge other pastors Rev M. Ndlovu, Pastor G & Pastor S. Ncube
- I want to also acknowledge Rev S. Dube our Overseer (if he is around)
- I want to also acknowledge my wife Chipo without whose support and encouragement, I would not manage to execute my responsibilities as pastor and leader
- I would also like to acknowledge all levels of our leadership
I would like to acknowledge the whole church for your support and your faith in me, and even your listening to me now.
- Have you wondered why many Christians live in defeat?
- Have you wondered why good Christian people, loving God, zealous for God fail and make some terrible mistakes or failures?
- Have you wondered why many leaders and powerful people one way another fail, fall or even backslide?
- Have you wondered why many Christians do not walk in the Word or do not appropriate the Word in their lives?
- Have you wondered why many Christians are weak?
- Have you wondered why probably you yourself are not enjoying the victory and the good life that is promised in scripture?
- Have you wondered why many people live in contrast to what the Word says?
- Does that mean that the Word of God is failing?
- I believe part of reasons for failure is the ignorance of Who God is, Our responsibility to success and failure to realize that we are in war.
- I believe the reason people fail is because they are comfortable in mediocrity, they are comfortable in failure, they settle for substandard lives and claim it is God's will.
- It is high time people get fed up with failure, until you because discontent with your current situation, you will not progress.
- If you are content with renting, walking without a car, the type of house you live in, the type of work you have, the type of life for your children, you will not change
- Some people are living in the old outdated days, do not repeat the kind of life you found your parents living, do not send your children to the schools you attended, make a change. It is not just about sending your children to school, its about exposure!
- Aim for more, aim for better, even some of you send your wives to give birth to clinics & hospitals you should not. Develop, be uncomfortable with less! Do good things for your wives, do not repeat the treatment your father gave your mother. Take your wife out for lunch, super, holiday, etc. We are not in the olden days, be up to date.
- People come to church every Sunday and get ministered to but do not go out and change their lives but instead continue as usual. There is no evident of the impact or change in their lives.
- People fail to realize that we are in war
- Many people or their lives are a junk heap, anything coming, they accept, they do not have doors and controls in their lives.
- Understanding The "Faces" Of God (We need to understand God manifests Himself in different ways) i)Righteous (the state of him who is such as he ought to be"
- 2 Chr 12:6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, The Lord is righteous.
- Neh 9:8 You found his heart faithful before You, and You made the covenant with him to give his descendants the land of the Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Jebusite, and Girgashite. And You have fulfilled Your promise, for You are just {and} righteous.
- Ps 7:11 God is a righteous Judge, yes, a God Who is indignant every day.
- Ps 11:7 For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, {or} He beholds the upright.
- Ps 45:6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
- 1 John 2:29 If you know (perceive and are sure) that He [Christ] is [absolutely] righteous [conforming to the Father's will in purpose, thought, and action], you may also know (be sure) that everyone who does righteously [and is therefore in like manner conformed to the divine will] is born (begotten) of Him [God].
- 2 Pet 1:1 SIMON PETER, a servant and apostle (special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to those who have received (obtained an equal privilege of) like precious faith with ourselves in {and} through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
- 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit,
Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget {or} overlook your labor and the love which you have shown for His name's sake in ministering to the needs of the saints (His own consecrated people), as you still do.
ii)Gracious (to impact special honor, to make accepted, highly favored)
- Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord.
- Ps 84:11 For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace {and} favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
- John 1:16 For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another {and} spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing {and} even favor upon favor {and} gift [heaped] upon gift.
- John 1:17 For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.
- Rom 3:24 [All] are justified {and} made upright {and} in right standing with God, freely {and} gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus
- Rom 5:17 For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
- Titus 2:11 For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin {and} the eternal salvation for all mankind.
- Gen 19:16 But while he lingered, the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, for the Lord was merciful to him; and they brought him forth and set him outside the city and left him there.
- Ex 22:27 For that is his only covering, his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? When he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious {and} merciful.
- Ex 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth,
- Deut 4:31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them.
- Neh 9:17 They refused to obey, nor were they mindful of Your wonders {and} miracles which You did among them; but they stiffened their necks and in their rebellion appointed a captain, that they might return to their bondage [in Egypt]. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great steadfast love; and You did not forsake them.
- Neh 9:31 Yet in Your great mercies You did not utterly consume them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.
- Ps 18:25 With the kind {and} merciful You will show Yourself kind {and} merciful, with an upright man You will show Yourself upright,
- Ps 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy {and} loving-kindness and truth.
- 1 Pet 1:3 Praised (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
- Heb 4:16 Let us then fearlessly {and} confidently {and} boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity {and} mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
iii) Loving
- Deut 10:15 Yet the Lord had a delight in loving your fathers, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
- Deut 7:7 The Lord did not set His love upon you and choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the fewest of all people.
- Deut 7:8 But because the Lord loves you and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt
- Deut 7:13 And He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.
- Hos 11:1 WHEN ISRAEL was a child, then I loved him and called My son out of Egypt.
- Zeph 3:17 The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] {and} in His love He will be silent {and} make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.
- John 16:27 For the Father Himself [tenderly] loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came out from the Father.
- John 17:23 I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one {and} perfectly united, that the world may know {and} [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.
John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me [as Your gift to Me] may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me [Your love gift to Me]; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
iv) Just
- Ps 9:8 And He will judge the world in righteousness (rightness and equity); He will minister justice to the peoples in uprightness.
- Ps 33:5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
- Ps 35:24 Judge {and} vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness (Your rightness and justice); and let [my foes] not rejoice over me!
- Ps 37:28 For the Lord delights in justice and forsakes not His saints; they are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked [in time] shall be cut off.
- Ps 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy {and} loving-kindness and truth go before Your face.
- Rev 16:7 And [from] the altar I heard [the] cry, Yes, Lord God the Omnipotent, Your judgments (sentences, decisions) are true and just {and} righteous!
- 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit,
- Heb 10:30 For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], {says the Lord.} And again, The Lord will judge {and} determine {and} solve {and} settle the cause {and} the cases of His people.
- Rom 9:28 For the Lord will execute His sentence upon the earth [He will conclude and close His account with men completely and without delay], rigorously cutting it short in His justice.
Rom 9:14 What shall we conclude then? Is there injustice upon God's part? Certainly not!
2 Sam 21:1-9, THERE WAS a three-year famine in the days of David, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. The Lord replied, It is on account of Saul and his bloody house, for he put to death the Gibeonites. So the king called the Gibeonites--now the Gibeonites were not Israelites but of the remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah had sought to slay the Gibeonites-- So David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? How can I make atonement that you may bless the Lord's inheritance? The Gibeonites said to him, We will accept no silver or gold of Saul or of his house; neither for us shall you kill any man in Israel. David said, I will do for you what you say. They said to the king, The man who consumed us and planned to prevent us from remaining in any territory of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered to us and we will hang them up before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, [on the mountain] of the Lord. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between David and Jonathan son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of [Merab] daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hung them up on the hill before the Lord, and all seven perished together. They were put to death in the first days of barley harvest.
v) Jealous
- Ps 79:5 How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever? Shall Your jealousy [which cannot endure a divided allegiance] burn like fire?
- Ex 20:5 You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,
- Ex 34:14 For you shall worship no other god; for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God,
- Deut 6:15 For the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and He destroy you from the face of the earth.
- Deut 29:20 The Lord will not pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall settle on him; the Lord will blot out his very name from under the heavens.
- Deut 32:16 They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
Deut 32:21 They have moved Me to jealousy with what is not God; they have angered Me with their idols. So I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will anger them with a foolish nation.
vi) Consuming Fire
- Ex 14:24 And in the morning watch the Lord through the pillar of fire and cloud looked down on the host of the Egyptians and discomfited [them],
- Ex 19:18 Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
- Ex 24:17 And the glory of the Lord appeared to the Israelites like devouring fire on the top of the mountain.
- Num 11:1 AND THE people grumbled {and} deplored their hardships, which was evil in the ears of the Lord, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.
- Num 16:35 And fire came forth from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered the incense.
- Deut 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Deut 33:2 He said, The Lord came from Sinai and beamed upon us from Seir; He flashed forth from Mount Paran, from among ten thousands of holy ones, a flaming fire, a law, at His right hand.
- Ps 21:9 You will make them as if in a blazing oven in the time of Your anger; the Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire will utterly consume them.
- Is 66:15 For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and His chariots will be like the stormy wind, to render His anger with fierceness, and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Is 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the godless ones. [They cry] Who among us can dwell with that devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with those everlasting burnings?
2 Thess 1:7 And to [recompense] you who are so distressed {and} afflicted [by granting you] relief {and} rest along with us [your fellow sufferers] when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire,
vii) Fighter/ Warrior
- Ex 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace {and} remain at rest.
- Deut 1:30 The Lord your God Who goes before you, He will fight for you just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes
- Deut 3:22 You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God shall fight for you.
- Deut 20:4 For the Lord your God is He Who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you.
- Josh 23:10 One man of you shall put to flight a thousand, for it is the Lord your God Who fights for you, as He promised you.
- 2 Chr 20:17 You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.
- 2 Chr 32:8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
- Ps 35:1 CONTEND, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!
- Rev 2:16 Repent [then]! Or else I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Rev 19:11 After that I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse [appeared]! The One Who was riding it is called Faithful (Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady) and True, and He passes judgment and wages war in righteousness (holiness, justice, and uprightness).
viii) Vengeance
- Deut 32:43 Rejoice [with] His people, O you nations, for He avenges the blood of His servants, and vengeance He inflicts on His foes and clears guilt from the land of His people.
- 1 Sam 24:12 May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me upon you, but my hand shall not be upon you.
- Ps 18:47 The God Who avenges me and subdues peoples under me,
- Is 1:24 Therefore says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will appease Myself on My adversaries and avenge Myself on My enemies.
- Jer 5:9 Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord; and shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
- Luke 18:7 And will not [our just] God defend {and} protect {and} avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them {and} delay help on their behalf?
- Rom 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.
- 1 Thess 4:6 That no man transgress and overreach his brother {and} defraud him in this matter {or} defraud his brother in business. For the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we have already warned you solemnly {and} told you plainly.
- Gen 18:30 Then [Abraham] said to Him, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak [again]. Suppose [only] thirty shall be found there. And He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
- Deut 1:37 The Lord was angry with me also for your sakes, and said, You also shall not enter Canaan.
- Deut 3:26 But the Lord was angry with me on your account and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, That is enough! Say no more to Me about it.
- Deut 9:8 Even in Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.
- Deut 9:20 And the Lord was very angry with Aaron, angry enough to have destroyed him, and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
- 2 Sam 22:8 Then the earth reeled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens trembled and shook because He was angry.
- 1 Kin 11:9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord, the God of Israel, Who had appeared to him twice,
- Ps 80:4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will You be angry with Your people's prayers?
- Ps 85:5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger [and disfavor] {and} spread it out to all generations?
- Eccl 5:6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your body to sin, and do not say before the messenger [the priest] that it was an error {or} mistake. Why should God be [made] angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
- Is 57:17 Because of the iniquity of his [Judah's] covetousness {and} unjust gain I was angry and smote him. I hid my face and was angry, and he went on turning away {and} backsliding in the way of his [own willful] heart.
- Ps 2:4 He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].
- Ps 37:13 The Lord laughs at [the wicked], for He sees that their own day [of defeat] is coming.
- Ps 59:8 But You, O Lord, will laugh at them [in scorn]; You will hold all the nations in derision.
- Cries
- Is 42:13 The Lord will go forth like a mighty man, He will rouse up His zealous indignation {and} vengeance like a warrior; He will cry, yes, He will shout aloud, He will do mightily against His enemies.
Is 42:14 [Thus says the Lord] I have for a long time held My peace, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry out like a woman in travail, I will gasp and pant together.
xii) All Powerful
- Ps 29:4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
- Is 66:14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like green {and} tender grass. And the [powerful] hand of the Lord shall be revealed {and} known to be with His servants, but His indignation [shown] to be against His enemies.
- Ex 15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
- Ps 62:11 God has spoken once, twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.
- Ps 63:2 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory.
- Ps 66:3 Say to God, How awesome {and} fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to You [with feigned and reluctant obedience].
- Ps 93:1 THE LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is robed, He has girded Himself with strength {and} power; the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.
- 1 Cor 4:20 For the kingdom of God consists of {and} is based on not talk but power (moral power and excellence of soul).
- Col 2:10 And you are in Him, made full {and} having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
- 1 Pet 1:5 Who are being guarded (garrisoned) by God's power through [your] faith [till you fully inherit that final] salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.
- To understand God, we need to understand that He is not or does not only have one quality, He is all the above and more.
- The bible says God does not change, what He showed Himself as He still is today!
- We are safe when we understand God as with different qualities so that we take advantage of the good and avoid the judgmental qualities
- For example, it is dangerous to provoke God to anger, jealous, etc
- Even so, we, as the children of God, we are to have some of the above qualities except those that are only exclusive to Him like, vengeance, jealousy, etc
- One of the qualities that we have and must develop is the fighting / warring spirit.
- TO BE CONTINUED!
