TT 183

UNFAITHFULNESS TO GRACE

Must reads:

ACK will not bless gay couples.. Pg 5

Desiring God: Faith in the Wilderness of Waiting

Pg 7-8

King’s Inspiration: Wrongs that lead to rights

Pg 9

Entrepreneur: Trust, Hustle and Rest

Pg 10

My Pulpit Message Notes

UNFAITHFULNESS TO GRACE

Sadly the society we live in today, people do as they please, regardless of where they are, and of course not having any perspective whatsoever of integrity. That could be your classical definition of unfaithfulness.

The book of Hosea puts the children of Israel on one side where they are unfaithful to God and on the other side, a God who is so faithful. God is so faithful in pursuing us to the extent the Bible says even when we are still faithless, God still remains faithful.

The book of Hosea and the study of this book is relevant even to us today. The condition in our society is similar to that of Israel in the middle of the eighth century BC. Israel had conformed to her cultural environment and after that, they had adulterated their worship of God. They adulterated the worship of God with the worship practices of the religion of the Canaanites hoping to secure a blessing of fertility and sometimes even productivity.

The details may be different from our current context, but the reality of what had taken place in our society today and sadly to say even sometimes in the church is similar. The Church of God globally, today, you find that the centre is shifting, so sometimes you find there is a lot of materialism, name it and call it, or name it and have it.

The book of Hosea has two unequal sections; one is chapter one to three, which uses an analogy of unfaithful wife and God tells Hosea to go and marry Gomer. This analogy is symbolism of where the children of God\Israel were in terms of their relationship with God.

The tragedy which Hosea experienced in his own marriage becomes a paradigm of the national experience of Israel and as a paradigm it must not be allowed to overshadow deeper tragedy of the faithless people forsaking a loving God.

I pray that as we look at today’s message God will cause us to look at ourselves to do an introspection which needs to be something we do consistently so that by the grace of God, every single day we try to be in the place that is pleasing to God.

Hosea, son of Beeri prophesied approximately in the middle of the 8th Century BC and his ministry beginning shortly after that of Amos.

- Amos talked of the judgement of Israel at the hands of an unnamed enemy. Hosea 7:11, 8:9, 10:6, 11:11, names that enemy as Assyria. That comes as a punishment / consequence of what the children of Israel had done with regards to their worship of God. Unfaithfulness.

- Judging from the kings mentioned in Hosea 1:1 Hosea must have prophesied for at least 38 years even though most of his life is not known, but the message is so profound and that message is very much relevant to us today.

1. Position of Israel - Hosea 4:1; 6:3

2. Punishment for Israel - Hosea 6:4- 7:16

3. Pronounced judgement for Israel - Hosea 8

Position of Israel - Hosea 4:1; 6:3

- This is a position of unfaithfulness. Hosea 4:1 “Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge (accusation) to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.” - That is the position that you find against the children of Israel. Remem-

ber these are a people that had seen God, rescued by God several times, called the children of God and what a contraction to find this reference to the same people.

- There is that accusation that the people of God are not faithful to God. Those that were called by God, that had seen miracles done by God, somehow they ran away from the things God.

- Hosea 4:19 “But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. 5 You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”

- This lack of knowledge is a knowledge of God that goes into our hearts and the hearts of the people of God and therefore is expected to cause a change/ transformation in the people of God.

- In the absence of that, the description and accusation is, yes they will be destroyed/perish.

- In Hosea 5 there is a special message for the people, the leaders. Even the leaders were not spared. Hosea 5:1-3 “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor. 2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them. 3 I know all about Ephraim;”

- (Ephraim here was the largest tribe and was generally referred to as the northern kingdom, and was known for the idol worship of the golden calf they had made.) So you can see that their position was that of worshipping idols.

- Hosea 6:1-3 here we see a sorrowful plea. “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

- This please is taking into consideration of where they are and telling them to please come out from that position. I wonder how that applies to me/us today.

- Today may be in a place where we do not have a symbol of worship as it were, but could it be that we have something in your/our lives that has taken the place of God so that when we want to make full commitment to God we are not able to? If that be the case then Hosea is talking to us as individuals and as a church. The warning that Hosea wants to give us is to watch out the spirit of unfaithfulness. Look at your position. We look at our position, where we are. Unfaithfulness on one side as man and the other side God who is so faithful.

- But even when we wander away from Him, He does not give up on us / you. What is your position today? Could God be calling us/ you to make amends in one way or another in our lives and even the life of the church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

Punishment of Israel - Hosea 6:4 - 7:16

- Punishment is an infliction, or imposition of a penalty as a retribution i.e. a cause and effect. Somethings that we go through because of where we have been and what we have done.

- Hosea 6:4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth— then my judgments go forth like the sun. 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice…”

My Pulpit Message Notes are transcribed from the sermon preached at the Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC) Ngong Road on Sunday 12th February, 2023. Preacher - Reverend Majid Ochieng’ Deputy Senior Pastor NBC. Scripture: Hosea 4-8. Topic: Unfaithfulness to Grace

My Pulpit Message Notes

- It is not what we bring or the faces that we make, it is not looking good, but it is in the heart so that it is a sacrifice that is made also consistent with the state of the heart. In the absence of that, Hosea writes to the children of Israel, there will definitely be a punishment. The repentance like he says is like a morning cloud that passes away and in verse 5 there is a consequence.

- Israel cannot meet God’s demands. V6 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Because of them being in that state, there will definitely be a consequence.

- The spirit of unfaithfulness controls Israel’s conduct and so we see there were a lot of murders, prostitution on the land. There will be the depravity of the children of Israel. Restoration was prevented because of the position where there were in. The larger consequence is the moral depravity in their context.

- That moral depravity we see it today, so that the things that were unheard of are becoming more normal and we can now entertain even listening to them. Those come as a consequence and punishment because of the deliberate choice that the children of God had made.

- The great old evangelist, D. L Moody was at one time in the southern city in the US preaching about the value of God in a person’s life. And as he was preaching, suddenly he was interrupted by the loud voice of a man in the audience saying, “Mr. Moody, I do not believe a single word in that collection of old tales your call your Bible.” “My dear man, Mr. Moody replied. “There is one verse in this Bible that you are forced to believe, and that verse says, “Whatsoever a man south, that shall he also reap. If man sows wheat, he does not reap potatoes, or peanuts. Take the owner of a bar for example, he sows drunkards and he will reap drunkards.” At that particular point the crowd burst into loud laughter, and of course Mr. Moody did not know the man. That man happened to be a bar owner, and all his children both sons and daughters were serious alcoholics and drunkards.

- There are certain things that happen to us just because of what we have done. Sad to say there some things that we experience in our nation, of course we appreciate that there is famine in the land, for example, but imagine that with our good policies, if we implemented those policies well, if we took matters of integrity and implemented those policies, yes drought will come, but there will be sufficient food to feed the land.

- There are things that happen to us because of what we have done and if that be the case, it does not matter how much we pray unless those prayers are of repentance so that we come back to the place that God wants us to be.

- A judgement is largely a fair statement of what is to be done to someone looking at all the things that have happened and in this particular case, what is to be done to Israel, because of their unfaithfulness to God. What really they deserve and we find that largely in Hosea 8.

- Hosea 8:1-4 “Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the Lord because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law. 2 Israel cries out to me, ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’ 3 But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. 4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.”

- There will be a judgement. While still on earth, they will be pursued by the enemy and for Hosea and that enemy was Assyria and the benefit of hindsight we know that they were taken over into captivity.

- Hosea 8:10 “Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.”

- The judgement that was to be felt now as you see He will remember their wickedness. Hosea 8:13 “Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me, and though they eat the meat, the Lord is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt. 14 Israel has forgotten their Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns, But I will send fire on their cities that will consume their fortresses.” And we know that that is what happened.

- That is the judgement while we are here on earth, but there is an ultimate judgement where if we are so persistent and consistent in our unfaithfulness, basically means that we will not have the beauty of being in the presence of God. God by His grace makes that possible by sending His Son so that we can identify with Him and when we do so, then there is hope for each one of us so that we escape that ultimate judgement.

Pronounced judgement for Israel - Hosea 8

The picture that comes so mind is that of a pendulum. It swings from one side to the other. And if one side is unfaithfulness, the other is faithfulness. Take note that the one that holds it together is God. And God is a gracious God that we need to identify with. God who holds it together does not want us to waste away and that is why He is still holding, perhaps as Peter says, that He is giving us time.

- My prayer sometimes is that time will not run out. Sometimes time runs out. Why? because I/we do not know what tomorrow holds. I know that what I have today are the decision that I can make today, whether I make it tomorrow I do not know. If I don’t make it tomorrow time runs out.

- Imagine if I was enjoying and still I am in my unfaithfulness, not knowing that I will be there tomorrow and tomorrow comes and I am no more. May the LORD help us to always be found to be faithful to Him.

- Senator Mark Hatfield at some point visited Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visited this famous house that was called the House of the Dying where sick children were cared for in the last days and there was a dispensary there where the door line there were so many people to receive many medical attention. Watching Mother Teresa attending to these people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was so overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of those suffering that was being seen and what Mother Teresa was going through. So he asked, “How can you bear the load without being crashed?” Mother Teresa’s answer was classical. She said, “I am not looking for success, but I am looking for faithfulness.”

- Where God is, He is looking for faithfulness. For one thing that I know is that faithfulness begets success. Success as defined by man today does not necessarily come out of faithfulness, but if you have success that is based on faithfulness, then that leads you to a place that you are at peace with God and with everyone, so that you don’t have to be hiding, but you can walk freely without the fear of being chased or that someone is watching and is after you.

- Jesus talks of the parable of the field manager and the summary of that parable is that he who is faithful in little will also be faithful in much. Where you / I are, God wants you to be faithful to Him.

- Paul writing to the Colossians says, “Everything that you do, work at it with all your heart as though working for God and not for man”, because our God who is heaven sees and He will reward you.

- When Joshua was taking the leadership of the children of Israel (Joshua 1), for some reason God had to remind him that Moses My servant is dead, and he was a little bit timid / afraid. And God told him several times, “be courageous, have I not told you to be courageous.” Then he was told, “Do not let this book of the law depart from you, meditate on it, observe everything that is written in it. Never move either to the left or the right. It is only then that you will be prosperous. Faithfulness.

- This year NBC is talking about strong. And I have a confession that there is no strength in me If I am not faithful to my Maker, and there will be no strength in you, or us as a church if we are not faithful to God.

Application

- If we are children of God, this faithfulness that God is looking for is not just some big, far removed ideology that we do in church, but our faithfulness to God means that we are totally committed to God, we are transformed by God, and every single thing that we do comes out of our relationship and commitment to that God, so that if I am a husband to my dear wife, I am a husband, but first I am a child of God. And, if I am faithful to God, then my being a good husband will toe the line follow. If you are a wife, if you are faithful to God and committed to the principles of God, your being a wife / mother will just follow the line. If you are a businessman your faithfulness and commitment to God then your business principles and every single thing that you do will be guided by the fact that you are a child of God. He who is faithful in little will also be faithful in much.

- May the LORD help us as we go strong in this year 2023 and may we do that which we are able to do so that after all is said and done, we will say, yes we are strong and our strength comes from the fact we are faithful to the LORD Who is our Maker in the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

February 13th | 2023

ACK WILL NOT BLESS GAY COUPLES, DISTANCES IT-

SELF FROM CHURCH OF ENGLAND’S NEW LGBTQ+ RESOLUTION

By Mike Njoroge | mikenjoroge21@gmail.com | image courtesy: Pulse Ghana

The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) says the Church of England’s recent resolution to allow priests to bless same-sex civil unions does not apply to the Anglican communion in Kenya and that it is “extra-biblical and contrary to the teachings of the Bible.”

In a statement on February 10, the Archbishop of Kenya, Rev. Dr. Jackson Ole Sapit also said ACK stands in solidarity with those in the Church of England who are resolved to stay true to the traditional teachings of marriage as per the Holy Scriptures.

“We pray for them that they will not surrender their light of Christ to the powerful secular voices that have captured the church,” Ole Sapit said.

ACK is not within the jurisdiction of resolutions arrived at during the General Synod of the Church of England, with the Archbishop of Kenya saying, “The General Synod of the Church of England makes legislations for the Church of England, and their resolutions only apply to the Church of England.”

On February 9, the Church of England’s General Synod voted to permit Anglican priests to make prayers of blessings for same sex couples. According to a BBC report, the move does not affect the Church’s stand on homosexual marriage as same sex couples still cannot be married in church.

The General Synod’s resolution mentioned that priests can bless gay couples, but can also opt out. For that, individual churches in England would have to state clearly whether they would allow for prayers of blessings for same-sex unions in their churches, so as to avoid “disappointment and confusion.”

The General Synod is the national assembly of the Church of England and according to its website it “considers and approves legislation affecting the whole of the Church of England, formulates new forms of worship, debates matters of national and international importance, and approves the annual budget for the work of the Church at national level.”

Currently, it is comprised of 483 members under three houses --- House of Bishops, House of Clergy and House of Laity. The resolution, which passed in all three houses, saw a vote of 250 to 181 in favour of the resolution.

The General Synod also stated that it will seek to apologise for the harm it has caused to LGBTQ+ people.

Civil partnerships and civil marriages are allowed across the United Kingdom for same sex couples, but the same does not apply in Kenyan law.

Archbishop Ole Sapit sided with what has been the traditional teachings of marriage when his statement reads, “We affirm that marriage, as taught in the Holy Scriptures is between one man and one woman, monogamous and heterosexual.”

“Any deviation from this God designed covenant relationship is sinful and unacceptable,” the Archbishop of ACK added.

For a number of years, the LBTQ+ question has been discussed at the Church of England’s General Synod, stemming from ordination of homosexual practicing priests to gay couples.

The move by the Church of England has received laudment and criticism in equal measure, meaning the debate is set to rage on.

According to The Guardian, the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which represents churches in 24 countries and provinces including Kenya, has said the Church of England’s new stance “goes against the overwhelming mind of the Anglican Communion”.

GSFA is also calling into question the fitness to lead of the Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Welby is the head of the global Anglican communion and was present at the Church of England General Synod by virtue of being the Bishop of the Church of England.

Other discussions being considered during the General Synod of the Church of England included considering whether to start using gender neutral pronouns when referring to God.

Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit (left) of Kenya when he visited Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace in 2016. Ole Sapit has said Kenya is not subject to the recent resolution by the Church of England allowing priests to bless same sex unions. [Photo credit: Lambeth Palace].

My Life

How to get saved and spend eternity with God

His Love

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (NASB)

My response

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)

My prayer

Lord God Almighty, thank You for Your love for me. Thank You that You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. Please forgive me for all the sins I have committed against You. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died on the cross and You raised Him from the dead on the third day. Please write my name in the Lamb’s book of life. Help me to live a life that is holy and pleasing unto You. In Jesus’ Name I pray and believe. Amen

FAITH IN THE WILDERNESS OF WAITING

|By Scott Hubbard

Twenty-five years. Three hundred months. One thousand three hundred weeks. Nine thousand one hundred twenty-five days. That’s how long Abraham waited between hearing God’s promise and holding his son (Genesis 12:4; 21:5).

We can read Genesis 12–21 in one sitting. Abraham and Sarah lived it day by day, nine thousand mornings and more. Three times we’re told God appeared to Abraham to reaffirm his word (Genesis 15:5; 17:16; 18:10). Otherwise, he and Sarah carried the past promise in a land of present silence, waiting with open hands and an empty womb.

Abraham, “the father of us all” (Romans 4:16), was a waiting man; his faith, a waiting faith. As his seventies turned to eighties turned to nineties, he waited. As he moved through Haran to Canaan to Egypt and back, he waited. As his body weakened and his wife grew gray, he waited.

God could have brought Isaac sooner, or he could have given the promise later. Instead, he sent Abraham into the wilderness of waiting for twenty-five years. Waiting was part of God’s good plan for Abraham. And so it is with us.

Wait for the Lord

Like father, like sons: the children of Abraham have always been, and are still, a waiting people. We often walk with empty hands, the womb of our hopes still aching for life.

“Like father, like sons: the children of Abraham have always been, and are still, a waiting people.”

Perhaps, with David, we sit in some spiritual or relational pit, waiting for God to draw us out (Psalm 40:1–2). Or maybe, with Jeremiah, we lie in a ruin of our own making, waiting for God to rescue and redeem (Lamentations 3:25–26). Or possibly, with Isaiah, we walk before the hidden face of God, waiting to see him again (Isaiah 8:17). Either way, we have asked but not yet received, sought but not yet found, knocked but not yet been answered (Matthew 7:7–8). God has promised; we have prayed; still we wait.

Meanwhile, the questions can multiply, captured in the words of waiting Asaph:

Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?

Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his promises at an end for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion? (Psalm 77:7–9)

When the hours roll by and the sun refuses to rise, the waiting heart can nearly break. And yet, break it does not — at least not when held by God’s own

hand. For as so many saints have discovered, God knows how to make rivers run through the wilderness of waiting, daily refreshing our driest hopes. We read that Abraham “grew strong in his faith” as the childless years unfolded (Romans 4:20). And so may we, if we know where to look in our waiting: not only at our own barren life, but up to God, back to his faithfulness, forward to his promise, and down to his path.

Look Up to God

For many, the deepest pain of waiting lies in the sense that God, who once seemed so near, now feels so far away. We may find ourselves saying with David, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). The heavens were once a window; now they seem more like a wall.

Remarkably, however, Israel’s psalmists and prophets did not take God’s felt absence as reason to turn away from him. In their waiting, they kept a fundamentally Godward posture, their eyes lifted and prayers ascending to the God they could not see. The prophet Micah speaks for many:

As for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7)

Though the skies look black as lead, and the heavens seem silent as the grave, yet I will pray to God, my only hope. I will lift my hands to him. I will pour out my heart before him (Psalm 62:8). And though I cannot see his face, yet still I will show him mine.

Look Back to His Faithfulness

After looking up to the God they cannot see, the waiting then routinely look back to God’s former faithfulness. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord,” Asaph tells himself (Psalm 77:11). Similarly, Jeremiah answers his own anguish by saying, “But this I call to mind” (Lamentations 3:21). When the present seemed a desolate land, they plundered the past for hope.

Psalm 89 may offer the most remarkable example of letting the past be heard. Ethan, the psalmist, finds himself in a desperate present, reflected in the outpoured grief of verses 38–51. Yet even as that sorrow churns within, he spends the first 37 verses of the psalm patiently walking the paths of past redemption. Before he laments, he remembers:

FAITH IN THE WILDERNESS OF WAITING

I Look Back to His Faithfulness

After looking up to the God they cannot see, the waiting then routinely look back to God’s former faithfulness. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord,” Asaph tells himself (Psalm 77:11). Similarly, Jeremiah answers his own anguish by saying, “But this I call to mind” (Lamentations 3:21). When the present seemed a desolate land, they plundered the past for hope.

Psalm 89 may offer the most remarkable example of letting the past be heard. Ethan, the psalmist, finds himself in a desperate present, reflected in the outpoured grief of verses 38–51. Yet even as that sorrow churns within, he spends the first 37 verses of the psalm patiently walking the paths of past redemption. Before he laments, he remembers:

will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 89:1)

“When the present seemed a desolate land, they plundered the past for hope.” Back then he goes: to the exodus, to the promised land, to the covenant with David (Psalm 89:9–10, 15–16, 19–37), each an immovable monument to God’s unchanging faithfulness. Given Ethan’s knife-edge agony, Derek Kidner rightly calls these first 37 verses “a miracle of self-discipline” (Psalms 73–150, 356).

God still gives that miracle today. He still takes people like us, bowed down and barely able to lift our heads, and bids us look back. With Ethan, then, trace the ancient paths. Remember again God’s wonders of old. Sit beside miraculous pregnancies and split seas, a Christ born and a cross carried. And in it all, refuse to allow present pain to set the boundaries of your future hopes.

Look Forward to His Promise

With God’s past faithfulness fresh in our minds, we can dare to the look toward the future with hope. We can take our stand like a watchman on the walls, and say with defiant faith, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (Psalm 130:5). God’s promise now no longer seems like an empty word, a fragile wish: it will come as surely as the dawn (Psalm 130:6).

Abraham shows us the same orientation toward God’s promise in his own long wait:

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20–21)

A vague sense of God’s faithfulness was not enough to sustain Abraham’s faith: he clung to a particular promise. He remembered how God had lifted his eyes toward the starry sky and said, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). Abraham treasured every letter of that pledge as the years marched on. He carried the promise in his coat pocket like a soldier far from home, stealing glances through the day, sure that his children would one day rival the skies.

Do the promises of God find such a welcome home in your waiting heart? Whatever your need, God has spoken. He may not have promised a particular gift you long for — a son like Abraham’s, perhaps — but he has not left you promise-less. Comfort for the comfortless (Isaiah 40:1), help for the helpless (Isaiah 41:10), provision for the needy (Philippians 4:19), an answer to our knocking (Matthew 7:7–8) — all these and more he pledges to his waiting people. With Abraham, then, turn away from your own frailty, and fix your eyes on God’s promise.

Look Down to His Path

We have looked up, we have looked back, and we have looked forward. Still, however, we find ourselves in the wilderness of waiting. Maybe quiet years still stretch before us, or maybe our wait is nearly over. Either way, we have today to live. And today, we wait.

We might be tempted on a day like today to see life as somewhere in the future, waiting for us at the end of this wait. But then we hear a prayer like waiting David’s:

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. (Psalm 25:4–5)

David looked not only up, back, and forward, but down to the path God had set before him today. “Lord, teach me today, lead me today, help me today. Let today be marked by present obedience, joyful submission, even as I wait for you.”

Today may feel like a wasteland and a blank, a parenthesis between a lost past and a longed-for future. But today, even today, the God of waiting has good works for you to walk in. So rehearse his promises and say your prayers. Do your work and serve your family. Love your neighbors and share the gospel. And trust that one day soon, you will join Abraham and Sarah, Moses and David, Ethan and Jeremiah to sing, “None who wait for you shall be put to shame” (Psalm 25:3).

Scott Hubbard is an editor for Desiring God, a pastor at All Peoples Church, and a graduate of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He and his wife, Bethany, live with their two sons in Minneapolis.

King’s Inspiration

WRONGS THAT LEAD TO RIGHTS

By William King

We all have times in life when what happens to us is wrong. A coworker leaves you out. It’s easy to get discouraged and think we must have missed it because it didn’t work out. But God uses the wrongs to move us to our purpose. What looks like a setback is really a divine detour.

If you don’t understand this, you’ll fight everything that goes wrong. But if you understand that the wrongs are a part of God’s plan to get to the rights you’ll stay in peace, trusting that God is ordering your steps. When Jesus was on Mount of Olives, the officers of the temple guard approached him.

Peter said, “This is wrong,” and struck one of them with his sword. It was wrong. Peter was right that it was wrong and the other disciples were about to draw their swords, but Jesus said to them, “Don’t resist anymore!” (Luke 22:51). He was saying, “Quit fighting these wrongs.”

The disciples couldn’t see that all these wrongs against Jesus were leading to a

right. They were necessary to get Jesus on the cross. It wasn’t the enemy leading Him to the wrongs; it was the hand of God. Too many people get stuck in the wrongs - delays.

As Peter did, you’ll be tempted to fight, get upset, live frustrated and say, “God, why did this happen? Where are You?” No, God is saying, “I am in complete control. Quit resisting. You have to get through the wrongs to become who you were created to be. The enemy will bring wrongs.

It’s a divine detour. Every wrong is not the enemy. Sometimes it’s God working out. How you handle the wrongs will depend on whether you see the right. If you see the wrong as an enemy and if you get upset and try to pay people back, you’ll get stuck. When you understand that God has divine detours, you’ll flow with it.

www.biblicalleadership.com

Entrepreneur

TRUST, HUSTLE AND REST

| By Jordan Daynor | Image courtesy:

You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today (Deuteronomy 8:17-18 NIV).

“Hustle” has got to be one of the most popular buzzwords in startup culture today. Shark Tank investors press entrepreneurs to “hustle” harder to generate sales. Everyone seems to be working on their “side-hustle” while keeping their 9-to-5 job. But

what does the Bible have to say about

our hustle?

On the one hand, Scripture clearly celebrates hard work. Colossians 3:23 commands “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.” But while Christians can join in culture’s celebration of hard work, we must also wrestle with the biblical truth that it is God, not us or our hustle, that produces results (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

As Christians, we must embrace the tension between hard work and trusting God in order to find true rest.

Joshua 6 provides an excellent case study for what it looks like to embrace this tension well. While the Israelites were being led by Joshua to the Promised Land, they came upon a major impasse: the seemingly impenetrable city of Jericho.

As Joshua 6:2 records, “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands,’” but instead of giving Joshua and the Israelites superhuman strength and agility to take Jericho on their own, God required them to place an inordinate amount of trust in Him.

God instructed Joshua to lead the Israelites in a seven day march around Jericho, concluding with an ear-splitting shout at the city’s walls.

Like so many other times in history, God chose to use “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” Rather than allowing Joshua and the Israelites to win the battle on their own strength, God laid out a plan to ensure that He alone would get the glory. Before giving the Israelites victory, God asked them to trust Him to provide.

Without blinking, Joshua did just that. The Israelites trusted in God’s plan. Then, they hustled: marching, blowing their trumpets, and shouting until Jericho’s walls collapsed.

Of course, it wasn’t the Israelites’ marching, shouting, and hustling that brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down. It was God. And that’s exactly what I think God wanted the Israelites and us to see.

Our hard work is a good thing! But believing that our hustle is what is responsible for producing results in our work would be like the Israelites believing that shouting brought an impenetrable fortress crumbling to the ground.

As Joshua and the Israelites show us, we shouldn’t seek to resolve the tension between trusting and hustling; instead, we should embrace it. These ideas aren’t in conflict with one another, they are meant to be married together.

My Health

HAVING A SENSE OF PURPOSE MAY HELP YOU LIVE LONGER, RESEARCH SHOWS

A sense of purpose can drive healthy behavior and make a person more resilient to stress.

Prior research has shown that having a sense of purpose is associated with living longer.

A new study shows this association is true for older adults across race, ethnicity, and gender.

According to the findings, the link between a strong sense of purpose and longevity is also slightly more significant for women.

A growing body of evidence suggests that living with purpose may help you live longer.

Recently, researchers wondered whether this effect would apply equally across genders, ethnicities, and races.

This was the focus of a new study led by Dr. Koichiro Shiba, assistant professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health in Massachusetts.

According to the results, having a purpose lowers the risk of all causes of mortality, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, but the effects were more pronounced among women.

The study was recently published in Preventative Medicine.

Living longer and healthier with purpose

Previous research has found strong associations between having a sense of purpose in life and greater longevity.

For the present study, the researchers analyzed a diverse, large, and nationwide sample of older adults in the United States, looking for associations between a sense of purpose and mortality across gender, race, and ethnicity.

The data came from 13,159 adults over the age of 50 who had participated in the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration. After an 8-year follow-up period, 3,253 of the participants, 24.7%, had died.

The analysis revealed that those with the strongest sense of purpose lowered their risk of death by 15.2% compared to people with the least sense of purpose. The results showed no significant differences in this association regardless of the participants’ race or ethnicity.

The findings also showed that purpose was more strongly associated with longevity in women than men, although it provided a significant benefit for both.

The researchers found that women lowered their risk of all-cause mortality by 34%, compared to men, whose risk was reduced by 20%.

By Robby Berman on November 21, 2022 — Fact checked by Patricia Weiser, PharmD

My Health

Defining purposeful living

Dr. Stephanie Hooker, a research investigator at Health Partners Institute in Bloomington, MN, not involved in the study, explained to Medical News Today:

“A sense of purpose in life is the extent to which someone feels that their life has direction and has ultimate goals. A strong sense of purpose in life will look different across different people. Some people may want to contribute to their community, for others, it would be to be successful in their career, and for others, it may be to take care of their families.”

But for the purposes of the new study, a more technical definition of purpose was required.

According to Dr. Shiba, the researchers used a submodule of Ryff’s Psychological Wellbeing Scale to measure purpose in their study.

“Specifically, this submodule consists of 7 items such as, ‘I have a sense of direction and purpose in life,’ ‘My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me,’ [and] ‘I don’t have a good sense of what it is I’m trying to accomplish in life,’” Dr. Shiba told MNT.

How purpose may lead to better health

It’s well-documented that stress can negatively affect a range of body systems, which means being able to manage stress is a key skill in maintaining overall health.

Dr. Patrick L. Hill, a researcher specializing in healthy aging and an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, not involved in the study, told MNT:

“Our [own] work has shown that individuals higher on sense of purpose report less reactivity to their daily stressors and seem less likely to be stressful or anxious in the face of ambiguous events in their lives. Presumably, these effects occur because individuals are able to focus on the big picture rather than get distressed by everyday issues.”

Dr. Hooker added that prior research has shown that people with greater purpose also engage in more health-promoting behaviors.

“For example, they engage in physical activity, are less likely to smoke, and use more preventive care services (e.g., seeing a doctor for annual screening),” Dr. Hill explained.

Still, it is not yet known whether these traits can help a person live longer, but it is likely some combination of them.

Considering the stronger benefits among females who live with purpose, Dr. Shiba noted:

“Our speculation is that the result might be attributable to gender difference in the use of healthcare services, which is one of the postulated pathways linking purpose and health.”

Another theory could be that other research shows that males are more reluctant to consult doctors and other healthcare professionals regarding their health issues compared to females.

Encouraging a sense of purpose

Dr. Hill explained that his prior research has shown that caregivers may view their loved ones or aging family members as less purposeful and directed, which may shape how they care for and interact with them.

“A primary point from our research is that caregivers should avoid underestimating how purposeful their [loved ones] are,” Dr. Hill said.

Dr. Hill recommended that caregivers ask their loved ones about their life direction and encourage them to consider how they might maintain a sense of purpose, particularly in the face of potential health concerns.

“Caregivers can help [their loved ones] find something to live for,” Dr. Hooker said. “That may be contributing to the family, household, or community in a meaningful way.”

“However, it doesn’t need to be a big task. For example, as described in Atul Gawande’s book ‘Being Mortal,’ nursing home patients lived longer if they were given a plant to care for,” Dr. Hooker added.

My Kitchen SEEDY ALMOND CAKE

www.delicious.com.au/recipes/seedy-almond-cake-recipe

INGREDIENTS

125g unsalted butter, softened

70g soft light brown sugar or light muscovado

Finely grated zest of 1 orange or lemon (optional)

100g wholemeal cake flour or fine plain wholemeal flour

2 tsp baking powder

100g ground almonds

25g sunflower seeds

25g poppy seeds (optional)

3 eggs

1/4 cup (60ml) milk or water

20g flaked almonds or pumpkin seeds (or a mix)

METHOD

1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

2.Place butter and sugar, and the orange or lemon zest if using, into a large bowl or a free-standing electric mixer. Use an electric hand whisk or the mixer to beat for a couple of minutes, until light and fluffy.

3.In a second bowl, thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, ground almonds, sunflower seeds and poppy seeds, if using.

4.Add an egg and a spoonful of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mix and beat until evenly blended. Repeat to incorporate the remaining eggs. Tip in the remaining dry ingredients and fold together gently but thoroughly, finishing by folding in the milk or water to loosen the batter a little.

5.Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread it gently and evenly. Scatter with the flaked almonds and/or pumpkin seeds. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool, at least a little, on a wire rack.

6.Remove the cake from the tin and cut into slices to serve. It will keep in an airtight tin for up to 5 days, but you’ll most likely finish it well before then.

Super Bowl magic: Mahomes, Chiefs beat Eagles

38-35

www.skysports.com/nfl/new | image courtesy: Sky Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time, with Patrick Mahomes defying injury to win his second title.

The Chiefs trailed by 10 at half-time, with Mahomes limping his way into the locker room after aggravating the ankle injury he picked up earlier in the playoffs. But, after the break, Mahomes - named Super Bowl MVP - led his team on four-consecutive scoring drives to stun the Eagles.

Mahomes threw three touchdowns, but his stat line was otherwise a modest one, completing 21 of 27 passes for 182 yards, with Kansas City’s offense kept off the field for large chunks of the game.

Philadelphia dominated time of possession, while quarterback Jalen Hurts himself enjoyed an incredible outing on the game’s biggest stage - throwing for over 300 yards and running in three TDs - but the game swung in the second half as Mahomes carried Kansas City on his back.

The Chiefs nudged in front for the first time with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter as Mahomes found a wide-open Kadarius Toney for the go-ahead score and, after a badly timed three-and-out on offense from the Eagles, KC swiftly found the end zone for a second time inside three minutes.

Toney had a say in proceedings again, with a Super Bowl-record 65-yard punt return to set the Chiefs up at the Philadelphia five-yard line, before another blown coverage allowed Mahomes to find Skyy Moore all alone this time for the TD.

But back came the Eagles, with an unruffled Hurts finding DeVonta Smith deep down the left sideline for 45 yards to set up his third rushing score of the game. Hurts then hurled himself over the goal line for the game-tying two-point conversion too, with five minutes and 15 seconds left.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Mahomes’ performance was his ability to scramble despite his banged up ankle, as he rushed for 44 yards on six carries, and it was one such run - this one for 26 yards - that helped set Kansas City up at the Eagles 17-yard line just before the two-minute warning.

With time running out, Eagles fans will point to a questionable ‘pass interference’ call on James Bradberry against JuJu Smith-Schuster that granted the Chiefs a fresh set of downs and allowed them to run off more of the clock before Harrison Butker ultimately booted the game-winning field goal with eight seconds left.

There was time left for one last play, but Hurts’ desperate deep heave down the field fell incomplete to end a Super Bowl classic.

The game exploded into life early in the first quarter, hinting at the entertainment to come, as the Eagles scored on their opening drive for the 11th time this season (leading the NFL), with the Chiefs answering back almost immediately.

Mahomes, untroubled by his ankle issue in the early exchanges, hooked up with his favourite target, Travis Kelce, for an 18-yard score to tie things up at 7-7 and move the pair to within one of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski’s record 15 postseason TDs.

The Chiefs missed the chance to take the lead later in the first quarter as Butker doinked his first field goal attempt off the upright, and Philadelphia nudged ahead again to start the second as Hurts, with all day to throw, found AJ Brown for a massive 44-yard touchdown.

A Hurts error on their next series, however - Nick Bolton forcing a fumbling and running it back for the 36-yard scoop and score - again levelled things up, but the Eagles QB swiftly made amends with his second rushing touchdown of the first half.

Philadelphia added to that lead, with a Jake Elliott field goal to end the first half, but not before Mahomes’ ankle got banged up when being chased down by TJ Edwards on a scramble.

He limped, grimacing into the locker room, only to return after Rihanna’s halftime spectacular in inspired form, firing the Chiefs to a memorable victory.