God is not an ATM

Good morning friends, I trust our weekend went well. I just want to remind you of the fact that you can do much more than you’re giving yourself credit for. There is a dynamic might working within you that can put you over every situation. You were not born to be stressed out or fatigued, but make no mistake, you were born to work! The Grace of God only flows in the direction of activity. If you are not doing anything, God is quiet and is waiting on you to take a move so He can empower you. With Grace comes more responsibility to get results. Don’t be a mediocre always abandoning his/her own responsibility on the Grace of God. Be a Grace Maximiser, and trust me in the final analysis of your testimony, you would be able to say like Apostle Paul “…Yet not I, but the Grace of God that worketh within me”. So going into the subject of the day; God Is Not An ATM! As much as it is difficult to judge intentions and motives by actions, actions are about the only way recommended by scriptures to judge motives. Maybe not a one-time action, but a consistent pattern of actions will definitely point to a motive of some sort. The Bible says that by their fruits, you shall know them. The fruit of a tree doesn’t change every once in a while. It is consistent over a long period of time. A mango tree will NEVER grow and produce fruits to the point of yielding coconut. So people cannot just be judged by a one-time action, it has got to be consistent over a long period of time and then we can conclude on the manner of person they are. It is terribly difficult to pretend for a long time, what is really in you will come out. I have observed a pattern in our Churches that begs correction and reproof. Much of the gatherings we call Christian gatherings are full of selfish ambitions and the “gimme” schemes. People come to Church primarily because of what they can get from God… what a shame! Now don’t get me wrong, the Church has been designed by God to supply the needs of her members, primarily spiritually, and secondarily in terms of welfare. However, there is something largely wrong with a bunch of people who simply gather so they could gain access to one “blessing” or the other.

Acts 20:35 (KJV) I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

The Word of God makes it clear, that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The Church of Christ is predominantly a “Giving Arena”. Even in Worship, God expects us to come with a Psalm, a hymn, spiritual song, a revelation, a Word to share with other members. We don’t come ONLY for the things we can get, but ultimately for the things we can give, for freely have we received (From Christ), we are obliged to freely give as well. God is not an ATM that you visit only when you run out of cash and need some supplies to gratify your fleshly cravings. That you prayed for something and got it while praying for that need doesn’t mean it was God who gave you. If your motive for getting that need met was to consume it on your lust, then God couldn’t have given you. If you want a car so people can know you have arrived, or you want more money so your social class will be upgraded, then if you ever get that need met, it was not God who supplied it. Anyone can get a car or an increased salary without God, but that seems to be the daily mantra on the lips of believers today. In the book of Acts, the Church was a place you sold your land and brought the proceeds to, the Church was a place where people sold all they had and brought it to the apostles’ feet, it was a place of reckless service and devotion to the things of God. People risked everything to be Christians in those days, so they had to be serious Christians if they were at all. In these days however, because it has become remarkably easy to simply confess and believe without an Emperor Ceaser asking for heads afterwards, we have come to cheapen the power of the gospel to an Automated Teller Machine. God needs for Himself, especially in these last days, an army of people, whose last needs are theirs and first needs are others’. Those who don’t see God only as an economic solution to their country’s devalued state. God will MOVE in ways beyond what our minds can ever capture if we can just put our focus on Him and seek His face for instructions per time. God wants to bless us more than any bank is willing to keep, but He wants to be sure that that money will carry the emblem; KINGDOM wherever it is spent. God wants to give us nations, but we’re too busy asking for our children’s school fees, and our rent to remember that God is much more than we could ever think or imagine. Some of the “gospels” we preach will not survive outside the shore of Africa in some really prospered nations who have no obvious economic need.

Eph 3:20 (KJV) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us

People would not come for services that put responsibilities on them but will drive in their droves to venues where they are sure to receive a miracle. Don’t be petty! God is bigger than what we have “reduced” Him to. The last time I checked, He is still the creator of the Universe, The One whose nostril blast parted the red sea, the One who in few weeks, blessed Obed Edom with the National Treasury, the One whose limit is boundless and whose bound is limitless, that same One that tabernacles on our inside… Yeah, that One. He also never changes! Let’s go to Him with Kingdom needs and watch our personal needs fall into place. If He is ever an ATM, He has got to be the Ageless Timeless Master who dispenses Grace and more Grace. Have a great week ahead.