17 Oct ARE YOU A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE/CHOICE OR A VICTOR WITH CHRIST
Victim of circumstance:
Prophet Elijah was a mighty man of God who did great exploits for the Kingdom of God, yet the Bible graciously informs us that he was also a man subject to like passion like we are (James 5:17). He was bold and fearless and could call down fire from heaven to destroy his adversaries (2 Kings 1:9-14) He slew all the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18: 17-40) He was so close to God that he got to that spiritual height where he could declare and decree by the Authority of Heaven, “As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word”(1 Kings 17:1) He was a spiritual giant and has learnt the mystery of the Kingdom of God for he had been ‘commanding the morning since his days and caused the dayspring to know his place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it’(Job 38:12-13)
He could make prophetic declaration with boldness and confidence for he knew that according to the principles of prophetic covenant that God, “confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers” (Isaiah 44:26)
Yet with all his knowledge, wisdom and understanding, exploits and boldness he became a victim of circumstance. Let us go back to Bible history,
“AND Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers”(1 Kings 19:1-4)
It did not occur to him that if Jezebel actually wanted to kill him she would not have sent a warning directly to him for as the saying goes to ‘forewarned is to be forearmed’.
He was a victim of circumstance for he gave way to deep despondency and despair. Jezebel threat to kill him overcame his courageous spirit for a moment and he had to flee for his life but God in His infinite love cared for him for the Angel of God fed him twice with a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water (1 Kings 19:4-8) because God knew that the journey was too great for him. In 1 kings chapter 21:17-24, he overcame his circumstance and fears.
What about you? Are you a victim of circumstance? Some Christian ministers who go exclusively by the name ‘deliverance minister’, are busy making money out of some people who do not ‘know the Scriptures nor the power of God’ through breaking of generational curses, ancestral curses, maternal/paternal curses, and anti-marriage curses. You must understand that just as God did not call any one to preach salvation, healing or prosperity doctrines alone but the ‘whole counsel’ of God, so also the Anointing of the Holy Ghost is, ‘ to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of the vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified’
Do not be a victim of circumstance, the fact that in your family or village nobody lives above forty-five years does not mean that you will not exceed that age. It is written,
“The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying what mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth ,shall die”(Ezekiel 18:1-4)
You need to be born again(John3:3) and be born of water and of the Spirit’ (John 3:5) As a believer you must understand that, ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree’. God has decreed that, “The soul that sinneth it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him”(Ezekiel 18:20)
Why then do you allow yourself to be deceived by those who make merchandise of you? Why are you a victim of circumstance?
If you spend time daily studying the word of God you will know that it is written that, “He (God Almighty) sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction”(Psalm 107:20) and again it written, “If the Son therefore shall make you free ,ye shall be free indeed”(John 8:36).Give your life to Jesus Christ.
The Scripture says, ‘Draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: and purify your hearts, ye double minded and let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity, for bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days’ .
If you are a daughter of God and walking with God then don’t be alarmed about ‘your bone of bone and flesh of flesh’, He will come at the appointed time when God sees that you are ready and everyone involved is ready for, ‘ The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it’. Don’t ever marry in the dark without instruction, guidance and counselling from God for whatever reason because it will be an unprofitable union. The Bible records that Abigail was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance but yet she married Nabal, a man that was churlish and evil in his doing. What a sad example of an unprofitable union in marriage and who knows if Abigail was a victim of circumstance?
Back to KadeshBarnea, these ten spies – Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gadiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi and Guel (Numbers 13:1-16) had no strong conviction in the word of God, nor in their commitment to God, they were not strong in their love for their wives, children and the whole tribes of Israel and though these ‘men were heads of the children of Israel’ they lived by the convenience of the circumstance around them and not by the convictions of the word of God. They allowed the center, circle and circumference of their life to be controlled by the circumstance around them and they told all the congregation of Israel, ‘the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan…. And we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight’. They concluded, that the land eats up the inhabitants and all the people in the land were men of great stature, “We be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:31). They looked on things after the outward appearance (2 Corinthians 10:7) For contrary to the book of 2 Corinthians 5:7 they walked by sight and not by faith
Years later Joshua had to deal with this question of ‘victim of circumstance’ syndrome.
“And the children of Joseph said, the hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph even to Ephraim and to Manasseh , saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shall not have one lot only: But the mountain shall be thine; for it is wood and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong”. (Joshua 17:16-18)
Victim By Choice:
Abram (Abraham) and Lot stand out in sharp contrast. Abraham walked by faith, Lot by sight. Abraham was generous, as Lot was greedy. Why? Because he should have refused and asked Abraham to rather chose first since he was not only his uncle but also the elder when with true magnanimity, Abraham told Lot to make his choice. And what a choice, “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan ,that was well watered every where ,before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah ,even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest to Zoar. Then lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other”(Genesis 13:10-11) The lust of the eyes conquered and ultimately brought ruin to Lot and his family. His choice resulted in misery and loss, he ended his days in a cave, with all his cattles, servants and married daughters consumed in the iniquity of Sodom, his wife turned to a pillar of salt and his drinking to the state of drunkenness to comfort himself, “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”(Proverbs 31:6-7). You will recall the terrible sins of his two daughters with him resulted in pregnancy and two children for their father Lot. What a great abomination. Lot was a victim by choice.
Let us take a look again at what happened at KadeshBarnea, ten of the twelve spies had brought an evil report to the whole congregation of the Children of Israel and two of the spies brought a good report. Here was a matter and question of choice. Which report were they to believe? Sadly and strangely enough they choose rather to believe the evil report. They listened and believed a one-sided testimony of failure and defeat and became discouraged and discontented, ‘and they said to one another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt’. Instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb, ‘all the congregation bade stone them with stones’ and at that moment had not , ‘the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation of the children of Israel’, it would have been the end for this two faithful, loyal, believing and trustworthy servants of God. Thank God for the LORD will always protects His own, ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him’.
The people wanted to go back to Egypt just like the mixed multitude among them lusted and wept in the book of Numbers chapter eleven verses four to five, “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” Egypt where they sat by the flesh pots and were they did eat bread to the full (Exodus 16:3) yet a land of oppression and house of bondage, where the taskmasters afflicted them with hard burdens and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. Egypt a land where they served with rigour and ‘their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field’. A land where Pharaoh commanded his people that every son that is born to the Israelites should be cast into the river. Egypt a land where ‘the of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by the reason of the bondage’ and God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them and the ‘LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household and delivered them and brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
“For I brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed the out of the house of servants and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron and Miriam”.(Micah 6:4)
All the Children of Israel that talked about going back to Egypt were all victims by choice
There are some believers who have gone back to Egypt and some are thinking of going back because when they face a little hardship they remember the riches and treasures of Egypt, they think back to when they use to sell their body for money, or was living a life of crime. Spiritually Egypt is a land of sin and iniquity, of lust and sensual pleasure, of Satanic bondage and oppression, of murder, a land of idol and idolatry. No matter what you are facing today if you go back to Egypt you are finished, “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor” (Galatians 2:18) again it is written, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning” (2 Peter 2:20).
Let me warn you daughters Zion reading this October 2020 publication, please don’t go to bed with any man before marriage and regardless of how much you love him or what he promises to give you, if you do you have gone back to Egypt, ‘Woe to them that go down to Egypt..’.
Do not be a victim by choice but be a Victor with Christ.
Victor With Christ
They were professional fishermen with their ships and nets, that was the only means of livelihood they had, after selling their catch they were able with the proceeds to take care of their household. They had toiled all night this particular day and had caught nothing and was busy washing their nets and here comes the one they call, ‘Master’ and entered into the ship of one of the fisherman whose name was Simon and, ‘prayed that he would thrust a little from the land’ and he obeyed. Here is where very many people miss it in life. If you were Simon you might have protested and said no on the grounds that you have been awake all night working and despite your ill-fortune and instead of going back to your wife and children you are asked to use your ship for a non-commercial venture. Some of you would have looked straight at the person making that request and told him all what you have faced throughout the night and the shameful prospect of facing your wife and children without any provision, and if he still insists then you would have called him ‘heartless’ and walked away. But Simon did not protest but obeyed and the Lord Jesus sat down and taught the people out of the ship.
“Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said to him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: but nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had done this they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees Saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful Man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken”. (Luke 5:4-9)
Someone said that, ‘When God wants to turn a situation from despair to delight, all He has to do is to breathe into it”. Though I have toiled all night yet I will not give up like others who have no hope but Lord Jesus at your word I will launch out into the deep like Simon. Simon knew that the Word of Jesus was not subject to his circumstance but his circumstance was subject to His Word and let down his net in obedience. Jesus Christ said to Simon, ‘Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they (Simon, James and John, the sons of Zebedee his partners) had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him’.
Have you forsaken all to follow Jesus? or are you waiting until the ships, the nets and all the fish are sold and you provide for you your household before you follow him?. Whether in prosperity or penury, in riches or rags you must be totally obedient to His word, forsaking all and follow Him for only in doing so can you be Victor with Christ.
Joshua and Caleb were Victors with Christ at KadeshBarnea they disregarded what they saw during their mission into the land of Canaan and believed only on the word of God, they knew that God had made provisions for the fulfilment of the promise and though the all the congregation wanted to stone them with stones and they were in the minority, they were not ready to follow a multitude to do evil for it is written, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; …”(Exodus 23:2a).
According to Bible record, it is written:
“And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land ,rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying ,The land which we passed through to search it ,is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel ye not against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us : fear not”( Numbers 14:6-9)
Those two were indeed victors with Christ and God preserved and led them into the promised land after all the generation of the men of war were wasted from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them”(Deuteronomy 2:14b).
“Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD”(Numbers 32:11-12)
After Moses’s death Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land and divided for an inheritance the land among the people (Joshua 1:1-6) and years later He gathered all the tribes of Israel in Shechem, both the elders, heads ,judges and officers and presented to the LORD (Joshua 21:1). He told them
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15)
It was a matter of choice and he choose to be a victor with Christ. Why do you stand?
At the age of eighty five Caleb was still as strong as when he was forty five years old and was one of the twelve spies from Kadeshbarnea to spy the land of Canaan. He still remembered all the promises God made to him through Moses (Joshua 14:6-11) and He said to Joshua in Gilgal
“ Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there ,and that there cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said” (Joshua 14:12)
Caleb refused and rejected to be a victim of circumstance or choice but choose to be a victor with Christ and was victorious for the LORD was with him and he got Hebron for an inheritance (Joshua 14:13-15)
YOUR DECISION
You have to decide today to surrender your life to Jesus Christ if you are not born again so that you also like Simon, Joshua and Caleb can be a victor with Christ and you can then begin to cast down imaginations and, every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought in your mind to the obedience of Christ.(2 Cor.10:5). For in Christ and with Christ it is written, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”(Philippians 4:13)
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