Lord of the Far Horizons

Lord of the far horizons,
Give us the eyes to see
Over the verge of sundown
The beauty that is to be.
Give us the skill to fashion
The task of thy command,
Eager to follow the pattern
We may not understand.

Masters of ancient wisdom
And the lore lost long ago,
Inspire our foolish reason
With faith to seek and know.
When the skein of truth is tangled
And the lead of sense is blind,
Foster the fire to lighten
Our unillumined mind.

Lord of the lilac ranges
That lift on the flawless blue,
Grant us the heart of raputure
The earlier ages knew--
The spirit glad and ungrudging,
And light as the mountain air,
To walk with the Sons of Morning
Through the glory of Earth the fair.

BEING A VESSEL IN GOD'S HAND

It is quite pathetic today that many people live their lives only for the gains of the world. They pursue physical, material success, leaving the soul and spirit quite famished. To such people, life consists in the abundance of their possessions. Significantly the more money you have, the more clothes you buy, the more material things you possess, the more food you eat, the less of the power and fullness of God you retain. This is because these earthly things havetaken the place of Christ, the source of God’s fullness.

Jesus our Saviour rightly said in John 6:27, “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” As you work everyday to meet material needs, are you a vessel in God’s hands? Is your life transformed through faith in the atoning blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

You need to humbly surrender your life in acknowledgement of His Lordship and Majesty. Fulfilling this condition acquaints you with Christ Jesus and gives you ample privilege to be used of God.

The Lord our God is gracious and faithful to impart into us those virtues possessed by God’s vessels. To be a vessel in God’s hands, we must be a person of: -

a) Secret PrayerTo be successful as a working person and strike a balance in our daily activities as they come, we need to be people of bended knees who know how to contact heaven through prayer.

b) PurityThis implies that our lives must be characterized by holiness. (Isa 52:11) “Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst from her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD.”

c) Supernatural Power We need this quality of power to withstand any situation and to overcome the devil with the authority of our faith in our community and among colleagues.

d) Strong Persuasion We will be stable in doctrine and satisfied with the revelation of God’s word.

e) Biblical PreachingWe must be people of the word of God, able to rightly divide the word of truth as we are taught.

f) Saintly Purpose Our single ambition must be to please God in all things and at all times.

g) Spiritual PerceptionWe must be able to understand what the will of the Lord is and know when to do or say things.

h) Sound PrinciplesOur guiding rules and conduct must be scripturally based.

Beloved saints of the Most High God, vessels in God’s hand are vessels unto honour, sanctified, separated, committed and suitable for the Master’s use. (2 Tim 2:19-21) “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal; ‘The Lord knows those who are His’ and ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel of honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

(1 Chron 29:5) “The gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”

God is looking for such vessels who will be melted and put into circulation. Will you surrender yourself to be used? By the grace of God, you will be enlisted to fight this righteous battle and win lost souls for Christ Jesus our Lord.

May we be vessels of honour in the hands of the Lord!

THE PRECIOUS WORKING WOMAN (Cont’d)

Never neglect your husband’s needs on the pretext of giving attention to your children. This has always proved to be a mistake that tears up marriages today. What did God say? “It is not good that man (not children) should be alone, I will make him (not children) a helpmeet for him. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Gen 2:18, 24) Work out time for togetherness, excluding your kids. An hour or so to talk on things should be mandatory every two days but no hard and fast rule, excluding your kids. Bed talks can relieve a lot of tension.

Even though you are a working woman, your husband expects a decent meal from you from time to time. No food outside or from the restaurant will be more delicious and palatable than the one made by a wife. Learn not to bombard him with the troubles of your children when you are supposed to be resting.

No matter what the problem might be, watch for a convenient time to do so. For all you know, he too might be having burdens in his heart that he wishes to off load to a listening ear. Therefore learn how to care and share.

Generally, women at work are noted for their organizational skills. They know where work materials are placed, where things are put in different compartments, cabinets, etc. You can be sure that these are well arranged and properly tagged for easy identification. Women have the acumen of picking up the thread of a work hurriedly left the previous day with unparalled precision as if there had been no break at all. A godly woman would not arrive to work latewithout a solid reason. She puts in the number of hours expected of her by her employers. She is the efficient and effective worker and has the capacity to manage crisis men would shudder at most times.

Hers is the shoulder upon which other women folks would lean and weep in any emergency. Her work attitude should reprove the lazy and the indolent. It’s good to chip in here that she should find time to present Jesus Christ to her fellow workers, employees and have fellowship time with them. In conclusion, the onus is on you to fulfill your mission as a wife, a mother, a worker, a comforter, a care-taker, homemaker and of course a “help-meet” (Gen 2:18).The grace of God is sufficient for you. (2 Cor 9:8) “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

THE PRECIOUS WORKING WOMAN

A woman indeed is a complex being; so complex are the workings of her mind that men have failed to understand why she behaves the way she does at times. For instance, men have always wondered why most women worry over trivial issues. Biologically, a woman has complex physiological make-up which makes her to view things differently from the men. Moreover, this complex physiology of a woman also makes her delicate and weaker physically. Unfortunatelysome women themselves are even ignorant of this fact. Yet, there are myriads and complex duties to grapple with each day that one wonders if she has more than the energy of a horse to pull through.

(Pro 31:15) “She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household.” She has to take care of the home, prepare her children either for the day care centre or school, has a job to keep and as a Christian woman too. She has assignments in the Lord’s vineyard, not to mention her duties towards her husband. All these compete for her attention in a day. What she needs most is nothing but organization of her activities for the day or week.

Sometimes, one wonders why women globally are regarded as bad time-managers. This attitude of course is manifest among career women and homemakers. It is a ‘disease’ that has eaten deep into some women’s lives and now it calls for urgent cure. One may equally ask, “What exactly is the problem?”

Take a good look at the amount of time some women spend on their looks and appearance. They linger in the bathroom for twenties of minutes; others sit up in front of the mirror for tens of minutes altering their looks with eye shadows, face polish or any other make-up that takes their fancy. It never occurs to such women that their precious time is flying away while indirectly complaining to God for making them the way they are. To fix the hair-dosis another kettle of fish altogether. That adds extra minutes to the time wasted.

Many people exhibit bad time management due to lack of co-ordination, proper organization and misplaced priority. This can be as a result of laziness, procrastination, inefficiency, indecision, talkativeness and entertainment of uninvited guests.

The good managers of time are the very organized women and productive too, regardless of their enormous responsibilities. They employ the ingredients of good time management. They can plan, set achievable goals, device a good and workable time table, focus their efforts on few things at a time. They avoid unproductive decisions, follow their schedule in order of priority. They are prompt at their duties and assignments and also delegate most dutiesto their assistants if need be. In this way, they become better executives, wives and mothers.

To be continued…

CHRISTIAN FAMILIES: THE FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Love is the foundation and motivation for everything the wife does in the family. Matured, Christian love is however not always emotional. There are times you have to love and your emotion is not involved in it. Therefore you do what you ought to do by the will. As a wife do you remember how you went into the kitchen to cook even though your emotion did not feel like doing so? Sometimes you do keep quiet as a matter of will when emotion tells you to talk orargue when there is an atmosphere of trouble. Determination will prevent you from taking advantage of your quiet spouse who probably is not as aggressive as you are. You will keep quiet and give your spouse the privilege, the honour of thinking through the situation before giving you the answer. If you do that, there will be mighty blessings upon your life and family.

Divinely implanted love manifests through the will even when feelings may seem negative. The love of a parent towards his/her children is not always on the basis of emotion. The caring, feeding, cleaning, watching over them, teaching and enduring for them, training, fellowshipping and praying with them is done in the realm of will and determination. The good Lord expects this primary love from the wife towards husband and husband towards wife to endure. If this love is lacking, all the other love they profess to have towards outsiders and the unreached world would amount to nothing.

Sometimes, women ask me this question, “What if my husband is an unbeliever? Because we got married before I became a Christian, shall I rebel against him?” (1 Pet 3:1) answers the question and it says, “Wives, likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives.” Do not forget that we are saved by grace and not by merit. If you are saved and your husband is not saved, that alone should make you humble. Even if your husband does not obey the word, you are not the judge of your husband. Of course that is not an excuse for the unbeliever husband to be mean to the wife and children.

You are not to quote scriptures against your husband. Do not criticize or cut him down to pieces, because that will not help your family but will surely destroy it. What to do is just to live your Christian life, to submit to godly life and marriage ordinances, so that by your lifestyle, the man will see the grace of God working mightily in you. (1 Pet 3:2-4) “when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merelyoutward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Your husband will see the hidden man of the heart, your chaste conversation, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit in your life. You must not talk to your husband the same way you talk to your children or the way you talk to your subordinates at work. You cannot assume a commanding position over your husband. Apostle Paul says the ornament of meekness, gentleness and quietness is of great price in the sight of God.

To be continued…