Andrew and Simon Peter

Andrew was the brother to Simon Peter and Andrew served as an instrument of change in the live of his brother Simon Peter. As we look at their story and receive the blessings and the lessons it has to offer, I will like for you to remember that your instrumentality in the life of another is not always as a result of your direct activity with that person. Meaning, you may not necessarily be the one to bring about change in them, however, you can serve as a tool that leads them to where they can receive change.

John 1:40-42 (NIV)

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Summarily, Andrew found Jesus and embraced him and the very first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Immediately, Simon received a name change from Jesus Christ. Initially, he was called Simon, when he encountered Jesus because of Andrew, his name changed to Peter. This may not seem very significant to you until I mention to you that this Peter is the same Peter mentioned in the book of Acts who preached and about 3000people received salvation. This Peter is the one who authored the book of 1^st and 2^nd Peter as we find in the bible. All these subsequently happened, however, the journey began with a simple introduction to Jesus.

It is noteworthy that many have used scriptures such as Mark 6:4 (ESV) which states that And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” As a prerequisite not to reach out to those closest to them. When you read this scripture in context, you will see that before this statement was made, Jesus made an attempt to reach out in His hometown. So, just before you conclude or give up on your hometown, your household, and your relatives, make an attempt to tell them about Jesus.

Remember, we are examining our instrumentality. I thought one way to start is to begin examining the eternal difference (s) we are making in the lives of others. Who has come to a better understanding of the “Word” (Jesus) because of you? Who has accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord because of you? Who has received a name change because of you?

You may say, it was not in my power to do all these. I can agree with you, however, what are you doing to invest in yourself in order to become that instrument of change? Please do not take the questions lightly. Think through them and become an “Andrew” in your generation.

Examine "Your" Instrumentality

Welcome family to this series titled “Examine Your Instrumentality”. Just like the title states, the goal of this series is to probe you to a place where you physically and spiritually examine your instrumentality. To “examine” is to inspect someone or something in detail, to determine their nature and condition; to investigate thoroughly. “Instrumentality” is the quality of serving as an instrument. This series is a call to examine “your” instrumentality not someone else’s. It is a call to take inventory of your life, not another person’s life. With these understandings, you will agree with me that it is not a casual activity. It has to be done intentionally for the purpose of re-strategizing where needed; improve where needed and introduce excellence in the already successful areas. This series will serve as a tool to help navigate you through the thought processes and the many things you ought to do in order to properly look into the details of your life, your purpose, your vision, your lifestyle.

As you listen, I will like you to begin thinking – how instrumental am I to the Father, the Lord God my creator? How instrumental am I in the lives of the people around me? How instrumental am I to the world I live in and to the situations I encounter? Another way to ask this question is “What am I living for? Whom am I living for? How does my family, my neighborhood, my county or province, my world benefit because I am alive?

Whatever the questions you ask and however you choose to ask them, one thing remains, the goal is to evaluate yourself and begin making the necessary changes. There is always room for improvement when we think we have failed and when we think we are very successful. Please do not live another day idle. Do not live another day doing things that are destructive to you or to your environment. Rather, invest your life, your time, your resources for kingdom advancement.

It all starts with you. How willing are you to invest in yourself to a place where you can begin investing in others. As we all know, heaven and hell are real. My final questions to you today are these; “Who will make heaven because you led them to the saving knowledge of salvation and they accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life? “Whose life has been destroyed by you; be it through your words or your actions.

Together, we will learn from the word of God how people were instrumental in the lives of others and how that changed them forever. We will carefully identify these instruments of change and look at different ways in which we too can become instruments of change in the lives of other people. Stay tuned.

God Gives “Patiently”

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Patience plays a key role in giving and that is very evident in the Father’s giving even up to this moment. To be patient is one’s ability to tolerate delay; to suffer long. When it comes to giving, patience is required. The fact that you have something good and godly to offer is no guarantee that it will always be accepted. Please settle that within you.

-We see patience exercised through love in the Father’s giving. We are told in scripture that love is patient, love kind (1 Corinthians 13:4). When we look at our verse of interest we see that love was the reason why He sacrificed His son. It says “For God so loved the world that He gave…”

The Father exercised patience in the giving process in that man was truly undeserving of the gift yet, He had to look past that aspect and still offer the gift of salvation because He had the future in mind.

Even after the gift has been offered and many have received that gift, many others still need to receive the gift of salvation in order to be redeemed. So, the Father continues to be patient with man. We are told…

2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

So, my encouragement to you is this, do not despair if the great gift or resources you have to offer are not received. It is not unusual. It is constantly being done to the Father. Continue to trust the Father to redirect the paths of those who will and should receive it from you. Amen.

Remain patient in your giving lifestyle. In Jesus Name. Amen.

God Gives “Substantially”

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The Father’s gifts to us are of great quality and quantity. If you evaluate every gift of God the Father in your life, you will attest to the fact that it has been of great worth and value. That is how He gives. His very best, all the time. Amen.

I will like us to take a moment to appreciate the Father’s gift to us. The gift of His son and every other gift we have received from Him. The gift of His son was a seed He sowed. Most often we do not value a seed as we ought to mostly because we do not have a full understanding and picture of the harvest we will get as a result of the seed sown.

God’s gift of His son is a gift that keeps on giving. Have you ever thought about it? Thousands of years ago Jesus was crucified and resurrected for the purpose of salvation and today many who receive this gift are guaranteed a new life. What a seed?

With this understanding, how differently will you sow your seed? How can you ensure that your gift keeps on giving even in your absence? I believe one way we can do so is by speaking into the seed even before we sow it. Any kind of seed. Be it financial; a word of advice; time, and other resources so that those into whom this is being sown will receive their part and begin to improve in the respective areas.

Add value to your seed with your words. Speak into the future of that seed. Give your seed a mission to accomplish. And do so prayerfully. Amen! Then sit back and watch it manifest for the glory of the Lord. Amen.

God Gives “As The Source”

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God is the source and He knows He is the source. This is important to know because when He gives, He does not give with the mindset that He will run out. The source never runs dry. Also, in giving His son Jesus, He did not look up to anyone for that decision to be made. It was His decision to give His only son. When it comes to our giving, we should give with an understanding that He is the source. Sometimes, we need to be reminded about His place as the source in our giving. In your giving lifestyle, get to a place where your focus is on the Father and your understanding is that He is the source. This point cannot be overemphasized.

Your giving attitude will change when you make this truth yours. Most often, when we receive an instruction to give we hold back because it could be the very last thing we have but remember that God gave His only begotten son. And today He has many sons and daughters in return.

Your giving is an act of faith; it is your demonstration of your understanding of the principle of the seed; it is your demonstration of confidence in your source and your giving is also your act of obedience.

God gives as the source. We give as channels in that, we can allow ourselves to become the medium through which kingdom resources pass through to others. When this happens, you can be guaranteed that you will never run dry. Amen.

1) God Gives “In Response To Faith”

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John 3:16 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

We continue to look at John 3:16 as our verse of interest. It says, “whoever” believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Remember we are looking at the attitudes that support the attribute of giving. Faith is one of them. When a word is received and understood, faith comes. That word becomes the foundation upon which the action takes place. In this case, the action will be giving. 

When Jesus was being crucified, the Bible had not been written, however, that was the word in action. We read about it today because we were not there to experience it. Therefore, if you were present right after His crucifixion and resurrection and you believed all that took place then, salvation will be yours. Amen. We are bringing up all these explanations just to say that the written word of God is also God’s word to you, just as His spoken word to you, and if you receive, understand and apply it, that is faith for you.

So, upon the foundation of this faith (the word received), the Father is obligated to respond because He upholds His word and His word will not return to Him void. It will fulfill the purpose for which it was sent.

The question then is, how does God give in response to faith? When you believe or when you have faith in His word that says “that it was for the purpose of everlasting life that He gave His only begotten son and that when you believe, salvation will be yours, then it will be given to you. Other scriptures like Romans 10:9-10 walks you through the process step by step.

So, you believing the word concerning salvation is what grants you access to the gift of salvation.

God gives to us in response to faith because He gives in response to the word. It suffices to say that at any given point, His giving is in response to the word. So too should or giving be in response to the word.

At all times, giving is in response to the word be it the written word or a specific word He speaks to you. Therefore, anyone can and should exercise their faith when it comes to giving. Amen.

God Gives “Generously”

1)     God Gives “Generously”

The impartiality of God’s giving is a reflection of His generosity. If you are impartial, the scope of your interest through giving is beyond your comfort zone and beyond the people you know and are interested in. To be generous is to show readiness to give more of something. We are still looking at John 3:16 as our verse of interest. God was generous with the only gift He had for man’s redemption. He did not hold back. How then do we categorize generosity and the Father’s giving if indeed generosity is to show readiness to give more of something. The Father had one son, Jesus. Who else would He have given? In the kingdom, the quality of your gift is most important than the quantity. There are times when you will have good quality and quantity, however, quality precedes quantity. The Father was so generous with His most priceless gift to a place where He was willing to give up that gift for people who indeed did not qualify. This is a very deep and profound revelation of giving. Most people truly give because they feel that the other person deserves what they have to offer. Others give after private investigations to find out if what they have to offer will be accepted. None of such considerations were made by the Father. He had a priceless gift to offer, He offered it freely to “whosoever”. Whosoever believes in Jesus, will not perish but have eternal life. Meaning the name tag of everyone on earth can be attached to that gift if the individual makes a decision to accept Jesus as Lord of their lives.

Another attitude I will like for us to learn from the Father is that there is a time sensitivity tag and obedience attached to your generosity. Meaning, yes! You should be ready to give more of something, your quality should precede your quantity. However, it should be the thing that God the Father is asking you to give. You should not give more of something just because you have an abundance of it. It is not wrong but that is where obedience comes in. Giving when instructed to and giving what you have been instructed to give as well. Amen.

Let’s look at this example together. The death of a life was the only remedy for our justification. I want you to understand that it wasn’t just the death of any life, but the life of His son, Jesus. What if God decided to sow an animal life first or the life of another human and say you know what, I will show the life of my son later? Think about the risks involved in that thought process. That decision would not have been time sensitive and it would not have been in line with the word. I hope we all agree with that?

Here is the point, God gives generously yet His generosity is guided by time and principles. So, in conclusion, God gives generously, and what we learn from His generosity is that quality precedes quantity, and His generosity is guided by time and principles.

God Gives “Impartially”

God gives impartially. To be impartial is to act just and fair in every situation. When you take a closer look at John 3:16a we are told that “For God So loved the world that He gave His one and only son”. God’s love was for the world meaning it was for everyone, not specific people. It was not reserved for the good people and withheld from the bad people. His love was equally distributed to all that was in the world. And that is still the case today. God the Father saw the need for man to be restored through redemption by His son. And that could not be done if He took sides with specific people.

1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love, meaning, that is who He is, His very essence. He does not only love as we see stated in John 3:16, He is love as well. This is very important to highlight because it takes love to be impartial. If at any time you find yourself showing partiality, check you love walk because partiality is a sign of an affected love walk. Amen.

Where else do we see the impartiality of God demonstrated in this verse? We see the fact that He loved the whole world and was willing to forgive the world despite how far they had drifted from Him. And that is still the case today.

 One thing a sinner is guaranteed when they confess Jesus as Lord over their lives is that they will be forgiven irrespective of how terrible they had lived their lives. As a kingdom citizen, you are also guaranteed forgiveness when you sincerely repent. It is also noteworthy that the justice system of our Father is an expression of His love. We see very clearly that He has made a sacrificial provision for salvation and also stated the outcome for anyone who recognizes and accepts the death of His son as a pathway to redemption. Therefore, if an individual chooses not to accept this sacrifice, there are consequences to that action. Ezekiel 18:20 clearly states that the soul that sins, will die. So, the choice is ours – would you choose eternal life as promised in John 3:16 or will you chose death as promised in Ezekiel 18:20?

So much has been said, however, our emphasis is on the impartial attitude of our Father when it comes to the attribute of giving. We can all become benefactors of this loving attribute in our relationships. A good place to start will be to understand what God’s kind of love is all about. What is it you need to do in order to abound in this love to a place where it is expressed through your giving and other areas of life? I will refer you to 1 Corinthians 13 to study for yourself what love is and what love is not.