Faith in action Archives - Thrive by The Word

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020

Praying with the Psalmist, David

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the skies. You have loved us not because we are lovely, but to make us lovely. May we love you in return.

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, and your justice is like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. Amidst troubles, calamities and the current Coronavirus pandemic, we see your kindness and graciousness towards mankind, and we are full of gratitude to you for those you have placed over us in authority and government, tirelessly bringing counsel and care for the preservation and sustenance of lives; for numerous health care workers who risk their lives on behalf of the weak, the sick and the vulnerable; for scientists, economists and other experts who are offering their skills despite mitigating circumstances; for those who are offering help in one form or another; for our pastors and spiritual leaders who continue to labour over us and seek out ways to encourage us; for healing for those who have recovered; for technologies that have come quite handy these days; for warmer and drier weather; and many more of your blessings that we don’t even know of, talk less of recounting them. Indeed, we can testify to your help and kindness, and we thank you.

Father, we don’t want to ignore areas in our world that have been perennially plagued by diseases, civil unrest and scarcity – please bring lasting peace and provision to such areas. We rest in you because we know that you care about every soul. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings, you have been our dwelling place through all generations.

We long for a foretaste of that heavenly banquet that you have promised us. Father, we do not want a heaven that is devoid of Christ, but we beg you for immeasurable abundance in Christ. May we drink from the river of your delights, the river whose streams make glad the city of God. Please give us from that fountain to drink and bring healing in its wings, as we plead for you to mercifully stay the hand of this virus. As we physically wash and sanitise our hands, please wash our hearts with hyssop so we are truly made clean.

Father, it is in your light that we see light. Please don’t let our light become darkness; instead cause the brilliance of your holiness to shine upon our hearts that we may no longer grope in darkness, but that our paths may shine brighter and brighter till the full light of day.

Lord Jesus, please open the eyes of our hearts that we may know you better and experience the power of your resurrection. Please fill us with the knowledge of your will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Holy Spirit gives, so we may live lives that are worthy of Jesus and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work.

Amen.

*Inspired by the Psalmist’s prayer in Psalm 36.

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020

Living for the long haul

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

Looking past the absurdity of a cat talking, there is great wisdom in the above excerpt from the novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Chapter 6, Pig and Pepper). The Cheshire cat – a fictional character known for its distinctive mischievous grin, delivers in this exchange with Alice, a punch-line that speaks so accurately and timely into our lives.

Your intended destination determines the direction you take. It goes without saying, I guess, moreso as we see this notion at play in the dynamics of our everyday lives. Extending this thought into the reality of our Christian experience, believers are, in the gospel, armed with both the motivation and vision to live brazen Christ-centred lives.

This idea flies in the face of the misleading notion that it is possible to be so heavenly focused that we’re of little or no earthly good. Quite the contrary, the Bible argues, as it calls for single-minded devotion to God alongside love for neighbour that compares only with self-love. If ever we think of ourselves or others as so preoccupied with eternal things that we have no time for temporal good, then there is the odd chance that it’s anything else but heaven that’s on our mind.

A more plausible pitfall, and hence one to be wary of, is the reverse, where we get so tangled up in the affairs of this world that we rarely get up to much eternal good. In a frenzied, media saturated world, there is no shortage of distractions, legitimate and spurious ones alike. As such, it takes a good dose of intentionality and self-discipline to keep in step with the Spirit in order to steer the course of a maturing life of Christian discipleship.

It bears saying again that my goal isn’t so much to write of novel ideas that you’ve never heard of, as it is to remind us of things we must not forget. In that vein, as we navigate the unchartered territories of a new day or year, let us be diligent to examine and orient our choices in line with the end to which we have been called – to show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light! 1 Peter 2:9. For, the clearer we behold the glories of the eternal, the more zealous we become of good works, done to the glory of God and for the good of others.

May we be those who attend to things temporal with eyes intent on the eternal. Amen!

Thanks for reading!

Sike Osinuga.

May 27, 2019May 27, 2019

Flying on gospel wings

“Run, John, run, the law commands, but gives us neither feet nor hands,
Far better news the gospel brings: It bids us fly and gives us wings”

Whilst there’s some uncertainty as to whether the quote above originated from John Bunyan, it is indeed a profound summary of the gospel that rightly deserves our attention.

Our earlier introductory post concluded on the highpoint of the comfort that we do not war alone or in our strength, rather through the help of the Spirit. We follow that up today with a word on how we may profit from the Spirit’s help made readily available to us.

Two sides of a coin

Quite apart from works-based faith systems, Christianity offers salvation primarily on the basis of faith in Jesus’ finished work on our behalf; that faith however manifests in good works, as James concludes – “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” James 2:17.

Believers are, on one hand, called to actively put to death (mortify) works of the flesh, and on the other, fan to flames (vivify) a new spiritual life. These two aspects go hand in hand, and involve us consciously keeping in step with The Spirit.

Rarely does the Holy Spirit work in a one-off manner to bring about sustained spiritual growth in a believer’s life; what we see instead, in Scriptures, is a complementary interplay, where the believer has the personal responsibility to pursue holiness faithfully, carefully and earnestly. Spiritual maturity largely depends on how the gifts and resources at our disposal are put to use.

The Domino effect

Giving in to a moment’s worth of guilt or shame may lead us to impulsively embrace new patterns of behaviours, but as we know, quick fixes aren’t always lasting. Tony Reinke in his book – 12 ways your phone is changing you – cautiously warns against quick but ineffective change; and even though his focus is on battling social media addictions, his identification of what we really need holds true across board – “new life disciplines birthed from a new set of life priorities and empowered by our new life in Jesus Christ.” In other words, our new life in Christ empowers us with new life priorities that, in turn, birth new life disciplines. Anything short of that God-given order is unlikely to yield lasting change.

Maturity through habit

Surely there’s a marked difference between a maturing Christian and one who is not, all thanks to everyday choices that slowly, but surely, morph into habits! At the risk of overgeneralising, humans are, by and large, creatures of habit, be they habits we have willingly cultivated or ones we’ve had imposed on us. Nevertheless, we do well to orient our choices and habits for our temporal good and even more so for our eternal good.

Oh that we would fly on the wings of the gospel!

Thanks for reading!

Sike Osinuga

February 18, 2019February 18, 2019

Faith in action

In our last post, we identified a ‘different’ kind of faith. I guess a natural follow up to that would be exploring what that kind of faith looks like. Quite apart from our everyday run-of-the-mill faith, what does faith in God look like?

The book of Psalms is chock-full of many heartfelt expressions of lament and joy, each one a tangible expression of its writer’s faith. One of such is Psalm 130, a song of Ascents, i.e., one of those sung by pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem. Whilst it by no means offers an exhaustive list of dos (and perhaps implicitly, don’ts), it does offer a framework that is broad enough to spur us on to an active lifestyle of faith.

Looking in the right place

Simba, in the movie The Lion King, face to face alone with his father, Mufasa’s lifeless body lets out a gut-wrenching cry for help: “Help!! Somebody… Anybody… help!” he soon realised disappointedly, with tears trickling down his little face, that there was no help in sight.

Not so the Psalmist, whose cry wasn’t an aimless shot fired into the dark, rather, a well-targeted cry out of the depths to God who really is there. Surely the ears of the Lord are as attentive to the prayers of His children as to the psalmist’s cry. What great comfort then for us to be assured that our prayers, cries, and even sighs don’t go unheard.

Thinking rightly

In recalling the goodness and faithfulness of God from of old, the psalmist brings to light the character and identity of the One who is indeed trustworthy. The Christian faith gives us so much to think about and meditate on, particularly in the midst of trying circumstances.

Rightly so does author, J.I Packer admonish in his book, Knowing God;

“Think of what you know of God… and apply it. Think against your feelings; argue yourself out of the gloom they have spread; unmask the unbelief they have nourished; take yourself in hand, talk to yourself, make yourself look up from your problems to the God of the gospel; let evangelical thinking correct emotional thinking.”

Without doubt, pondering great truths about God helps keep our fears and troubles in perspective.

Patiently waiting

The kind of waiting the Psalmist models is one of patience in hope and confidence in God to do what is best. This involves actively tuning out the surrounding noise and chatter for the greater goal of laying hold of God’s promises.

Far from the notion of a gateway to a plain sailing experience of life, we see faith in the trenches – desperately crying out, thinking and waiting patiently for the Lord. In much similar fashion, there is a sense in which the summary of our walk by faith is ‘crying out’, ‘thinking’, ‘waiting’, ‘acting’… Repeat. Even so, we wait by hoping in God’s Word.

Thanks for reading!

Sike Osinuga

January 28, 2019January 28, 2019

Stepping out in faith

It’s still early days and perhaps too soon to tell how well (or not) we will fare with our New Year resolutions. For some, a bright and enthusiastic start is already showing signs of bountiful year end results. Yet for others, it’s been a rather gloomy start, and the temptation to quit is looming.

Whatever side of the scale you tilt towards, it’s worth keeping an eye on your game plan.

For us believers, a crucial part of our journey is faith – faith, not in and of itself, but in the God who is trustworthy and faithful.

Run-of-the-mill ‘faith’

The idea of faith is not exclusive to religious circles, but features implicitly in our day to day living. For example, buying a ticket to board a passenger plane shows trust in the pilot’s ability to safely fly and land the plane at the port of destination. Or dashing through the door in a rush to catch an early morning bus shows a measure of faith in the bus driver that he hasn’t overslept or altogether forgotten that he does have a job!

Generally speaking then, we all encounter life with varying degrees of faith.

Yet as vitally important and pervasive as faith is, it is the object of faith that is of greater significance. In other words, in whom or what are you investing your trust?

A different kind of faith

There is an aspect of faith shown at the level of awareness – this faith says ‘yes, I know the information’, but this doesn’t necessarily translate to a persuasion of the truthfulness and reliability of that information. Biblical faith on the other hand goes beyond mere intellectual assent; it reaches for the heart and will in such a way that faith becomes a ‘whole of life’ experience. In other words, faith and action become intertwined.

Pleasing God

Equally as important as producing good works, faith is essential in pleasing God. In fact, the Bible asserts that without faith, it is impossible to please God.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

Whatever step of faith you’re taking – from the humdrum to the exciting, remember it’s not so much about your faith in faith, rather in the reliable and worthy One. And oh how comforting it is to know that even those of little faith have the same trustworthy and faithful God as those with much.

How then shall we live? Simply by faith!

Thanks for reading!

Sike Osinuga.

December 31, 2018December 31, 2018

A precious thing

My pastor recently narrated how over the Christmas holidays, his family had a near miss experience of losing a precious little item. Buried under the pile of torn wrappings from all their Christmas presents sat a treasured gift. They had gathered up all the rubbish and stuffed it away in the bin only for them to later discover that something was missing… and so the search began. It was quite a tasking search, thankfully, not a futile one, as the lost item was found right at the bottom of the bin and rescued just in time!

As we look forward to a new year, it is important to remind ourselves of what truly matters, and give ourselves to the pursuit of such matters. There’s so much clamouring for our time, energy and resources; yet some things are more valuable than others. See how Jesus helps us make a striking value judgement:

²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever would save his life^[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matthew 16:24–26 (ESV).

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
– Jim Elliot

So, as 2018 draws to a close, if there’s a charge to be given, it is this – don’t lose a precious thing!

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading.

Sike Osinuga.

September 17, 2018October 8, 2018

What soil type are you?

Growing up, I remember my father having handy proverbs to precisely drive home just about any point. He would effortlessly reach into his repertoire of Nigerian (Yoruba), English and French sayings and come up with the perfect expression that gave weight to the message he was trying to pass across. Never mind that some of those sayings were lost on me back in the day, but the older I got, the better I appreciated his penchant for good ol’ wisdom expressed in pithy little sayings. To a far greater degree, much more can be said of Jesus, who skilfully used parables to teach great truths.

One of such parables is the focus of today’s blog post. An account so familiar, one could easily miss its import – yes, you guessed right – it’s The parable of the sower! Continue reading “What soil type are you?”

August 13, 2018August 19, 2018

Purposeful Faith

Religious preference, baseless belief, credulity, stepping out in the dark… What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘faith’?

“Different strokes for different folks”, it is said. Admittedly, faith is multi-faceted, but that doesn’t confine it to the realm of subjectivity as many often suggest. Going by Hebrews 11, faith does have a pivotal purpose, and that probably explains why it features prominently in the Christian narrative. Not only do we start our journey with and by faith, we continue on that journey by faith.

In the earlier referenced passage – Hebrews 11, we see believing faith as substantial, reasonable and recognisable. Continue reading “Purposeful Faith”

July 2, 2018July 7, 2018

Living from identity

A disclaimer is great in as much as it does its job well, but what do you make of one that actually betrays the one who offers it? So for example, someone self identifies as a Christian, and then quickly goes on to add ‘not the over-spiritual type… but I love God’. Sounds almost like a lady who is, but not really, pregnant. Interesting, isn’t it?

Continue reading “Living from identity”

June 18, 2018June 25, 2018

Get it? Sweat it!

Listening to one of Colin Buchanan’s album on repeat, I had these particular lines from the track, Invisible Believer, lodged in my memory – “If you know it, show it. If you get it, sweat it. If you see it, be it”. In that particular track, the song writer debunks the paradox of a believer who shows no fruit of genuine faith. In other words, there’s no such thing as an invisible believer! Continue reading “Get it? Sweat it!”