“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us”- Romans 8:34
The expression “friends in high places” is common to most. Those who enjoy such normally are seen as advantaged over others. Indeed, certain privileged individuals can be accused of certain crimes but because they have “friends in high places” nothing comes of those accusations. Their “friends” intervene for them.
For believers in Christ we also have a “friend in high place” and that is the most important court there in life. No believer in Christ is spared of enemies after all there is always the “accuser of the brethren” who moves “to and fro seeking who to devour”! Satan, and his minions, have mastered the strategy of coming up with trumped up charges to convict those who dare express faith in Christ!
Fortunately for us who believe in Christ we are not alone. As the enemy conjures up all kinds of nonsensical charges against us which, might even seem to carry the day, there is that friend of ours, seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us. For “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them”- Hebrews 7:25
This should bring comfort to any of us, especially the one who finds himself facing false accusations. But there is also a caveat here. For that “friend in high place” to intercede for us, he must know our needs too. To intervene in a matter on behalf of someone the important friend must first hear the contents of the case to dismantle them before the throne of the living God.
Hence, being the case, believers must ever be in the business of taking their pleas and laying all their burdens before the Chief intercessor, Christ Jesus our Lord! This is why prayers matter, the route to our Chief intercessor!
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, because of our faith in you the enemy is ever at work conjuring up all sorts of false accusations against those that believe, but thank God we have a friend who is ever interceding for us, through whom we lay all our needs and burdens to bring to you for victory, this we we pray in Jesus’s name!
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09/05/2024 - 10/05/2024 All day“The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them” (Deuteronomy 28:2 NIV)
For some reason very often some Christians are found despising the importance of being enterprising. To some being enterprising
can be equated to the love of money and it’s pitfalls (1 Tim 6:10). There are some Christian communities where running enterprises is frowned upon as being overtly worldly. On the contrary, far from it, being enterprising is clearly an avenue God has given believers to raise resources for their well being and promotion of the rich Gospel.The Bible is full of enterprising characters who were used mightily of God. Abraham was apparently a good rancher that he “became very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold” (Gen 13:2). Job was hated by Satan who sought to destroy him because “He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area” (Job 1:3). The Lord Jesus Christ was born and raised in the house of Joseph, the carpenter (Mathew 13:55). Carpenters do not create works of beauty to donate for free. To prosper they must run sustainable enterprises which pay taxes and make profit.
The Apostle Paul would often rely on enterprising people to support him in his ministry. One of his worthy converts “was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house” (Acts 16:14).
Though Paul was a ranked Jewish legal scholar once he went to the mission field, other than cling to his titles by burdening his hosts he often dabbled in tent making to support himself. In Corinth he teamed up with an amazing couple, Priscilla and Aquila, and “because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them” (Acts 18:3). This couple run a successful tent making business that enabled them support mission work.
And then of course, there is the noble woman of character, as told in Proverbs 31, who “selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings.. She sees that her trading is profitable...She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes (vv 13-25). What better illustration is there to emulate being enterprising.
When the body of believers is filled with enterprising people it generates resources important for church upkeep. Further, the work of God is then supported without being dependent on sources that might compromise the mission, as sometimes we see!
Prayer for today: Lord father God of creation, as we see in scripture you have given us the gift of enterprise, and so, I pray to use this gift such that you bless me as you did to our father Abraham and all other great saints before for the glory and expansion of your kingdom, this I pray in Jesus’s name!
