Take My Hand Inspirations: February 2018

Monday 26 February 2018

22: GOD’S REFLECTION & GOD’S HANDS: The Sixth Fruit – GOODNESS— (Part 2) in Dedication to Evangelist Billy Graham

Take My Hand Inspirations

Fruit of the Spirit Series

GOD’S REFLECTION & GOD’S HANDS: The Sixth Fruit – GOODNESS—in Dedication to Evangelist Billy Graham

PART 2: GOD’S HANDS

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

Please take time to read the previous Blog #21; for in it we shared what goodness was as an adjective and noun. This Blog describes a version of goodness that takes action as a verb, a doing word; that is to do good.

From Blog #20, KINDNESS is defined as generous, helpful and caring about other people’s feelings. Goodness is linked to kindness in this way: To do good is to give kindness without expecting anything in return to yourself. To do good is to share your fruit of kindness to make others feel better or become better. A kind word backed with a genuine smile can make the down-trodden or depressed feel better. A generous scholarship given to a bright but financially weak student makes him or her become better.

What does every person that comes in contact with you take away with them after they have left your presence? Did you make that person—small or big, young or old, Black or White, rich or poor, etc.—feel or become better? If yes, your Fruit of Goodness is singing a song of sunshine.

If a person feels worse after leaving your presence, take a time out! Forgive yourself for troubling their soul with your personal trauma or insulting or ignoring them or violating their integrity or rights in some way. Forgive yourself and try again with the next person. Oh, learn this lesson quickly Dear Christian. Christ is coming soon!

When I learned that Evangelist Billy Graham died on Wednesday, 21^st February, I took a big gulp of breath and said, “Wow! What a servant of the Lord!” I could envision our Lord saying to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21a,c). Do you notice how the Fruit of Goodness is followed by the Fruit of Faithfulness? Stay tuned for the next Blog.

I didn’t grow up in Evangelist Graham’s generation. And honestly, I never heard him preach until Friday morning over the radio; neither have I seen him on television, but his name, just like Knox, Moody, Wesley or Spurgeon, Luther, and Luther King, Jr., even Mother Theresa, rings that big Christian bell: “This is one of the Lord’s good and faithful servants!” After reading about his life, I was in awe. And I said to myself, “I want to be remembered like that, as a good and faithful servant of the Lord even up to my transition into the joy of my Lord.”

He called himself Evangelist, even though he was an ordained Southern Baptist minister. At age 16, he fully committed his heart to the Lord and got the fire to preach the message of salvation—the gospel of Jesus Christ—to over 215 million people in live audiences in over 185 countries around the world. He reached millions more by his television and radio broadcasts, printed magazines and books; and modern digital ICT media. What really touched me most was discovering how the goodness of his hand reached my own children’s hands in Ghana.

He founded the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (BGEA) which is now run by his son Franklin Graham who also runs Samaritan’s Purse (founded by Bob Pierce in 1970). Every year Samaritan’s Purse sends its Operation Christmas Child Gift Boxes through my church; and with their evangelical discipleship course—The Greatest Journey—I have used my own hands to do good by distributing the boxes and preaching the gospel to and graduating well over 2000 children disciples in my rural district comprising about 30 different villages.

The Graham Fruit of Goodness has reached to the far corners of this globe; and I am so thrilled to be part of it! Goodness! What a surprise! And it feels so good when I look at the smiling faces of the graduates of The Greatest Journey Discipleship Course as they hold their Bibles and Certificates in gracious hands.

Thank you so much Evangelist Billy Graham. You forced me to take stock of how I am working for the Lord. As I was meditating on this question: “Lord, am I making an impact on the children with Your Word and message of salvation?”, I entered a taxi heading home. The driver happened to be a parent of a child who used to attend our private Christian school, of which I am headmistress. I asked, “How is my girl, Charity?” He was so relieved that I still cared about her welfare (I love my children no matter what decisions their parents make). He said to me, “Are you still having Bible Studies after school with the children? I want you to call me when you start again, so Charity can join them.” God gave me the answer I needed.

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him [to fill him out with more of His Fruit of Goodness]! (Psalm 34:8).

© 2018 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a division of PepParadise Society Ltd Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Photos of Evangelist Billy Graham, Patheos, by Andy Gill Tylor Standley

Most of the paintings selected is retrieved from “Black Art” search engine.

Take My Hand Inspirations

Sunday 25 February 2018

21: GOD’S REFLECTION & GOD’S HANDS: The Sixth Fruit -- GOODNESS (Part 1)

Take My Hand Inspirations

Fruit of the Spirit Series

GOD’S REFLECTION & GOD’S HANDS: The Sixth Fruit -- GOODNESS

PART 1: GOD’S REFLECTION

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

Creation is an action propelled (fueled) by vision using the tools of mind (thought), word (Let there be), and hands (picking, sewing, nailing, molding, and shaping). Our Creator God used all these tools—His mind, His word, even His hands—to bring forth you and me and everything natural we see.

When Jesus expressed that He was not good (Matthew 19:16-17), He was addressing that part of goodness which has to do with being morally right. In human flesh, He could feel that struggle (or more like outright war) we all feel between either producing fruits of the flesh or the Fruits of the Spirit.

And up to this day many of us, especially those of us with the melancholy-choleric temperament (stay tuned for the upcoming blogs on temperaments) have interpreted that “Since Christ himself said He’s not good, then I am definitely far from being good at all.” What a misconception!

Good and goodness, its derivative, have so many different definitions in their forms as noun and adjective. It can describe a condition of the quality of something (very satisfactory, of high quality, pleasant, interesting). It can also be used to express how morally right a person is by religious principles (i.e., setting a good example for children). It also conveys the status of our health (to be in good health). It can also emphasis a large number, amount or level of something (a good-sized crowd, a good chance of something happening, or having a good day).

Lastly, goodness can be an exclamation of graciousness (thankfulness) or surprise at how well something has turned out. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.

Have you realized yet that you are God’s creation; and therefore, are very good—of high quality, of excellent physical stature, and most importantly, when you accept Him into your heart, you become the likeness and image of God as was His original vision of you in Genesis 1:26-27 and 2:7?

That is why Jesus, His Son, referred to His Father: No one is good, but One, that is, God (Matthew 19:17a). So breathe out dear skeptical one who believes he or she must be “perfect” to please God. You are good just by the great truth that God made you. And when you take Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour, you become and reflect all the fullness (every definition) of His goodness—shocking and surprising, pleasant, righteous and interesting to everyone witnessing your transformation.

You are no longer who you used to be. You become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)—Jesus Christ cures all your negative thoughts about yourself and He forces you to accept yourself made as you are and to believe in the goodness which lives in you. God said: YOU ARE VERY GOOD. So let His goodness shine all around your home, work place, church, and everywhere you go . . . let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

The Fruit of Goodness is brought forth by your words. What you think about yourself are your silent words privately talking to you. And Satan goes to war in the silent zone. Be careful! What you say about yourself are your spoken words talking about you, describing who you are. And the principalities (Satanic elements) in the air will snatch those words and make them a reality in your life. Be careful!

So right now proclaim in a loud voice: I am the reflection of God and gorgeous! I am a very good creation of Almighty God. As the Trinity God is alive in me—I hold in my heart the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—and we are bold and beautiful! Watch out world, I am coming out. Satan, move out of my way! My Fruit of Goodness is busting loose and bounding out! It shall follow me all the days of my life. And it tastes so good!

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him [to fill him out with more of this fruit]! (Psalm 34:8).

Most of the paintings selected is retrieved from “Black Art” search engine.

Take My Hand Inspirations

Sunday 18 February 2018

20: GOD’S HEARTBEAT: The Fifth Fruit -- KINDNESS

Take My Hand Inspirations

Fruit of the Spirit Series

GOD’S HEARTBEAT: The Fifth Fruit -- KINDNESS

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).

KINDNESS is defined in most dictionaries as generous, helpful and caring about other people’s feelings. Feelings are our emotional buttons that are pressed like keys on a piano emanating various melodies ranging from murderous anger to hilarious laughter. Which key you press yourself or allow others to press in you is dependent on how you develop your Fruit of Kindness.

Kindness is the heartbeat, the consistent rhythm, of God. When Adam and Eve sinned against Him, He did not destroy His beloved creation—mankind. Instead, He moved them out of the holy place into a “pretty” place where they’d have to toil for survival. That toiling—farming and child bearing—were to be reminders to generations today, that there are consequences to sin, even unto death (Romans 6:23). Yet, you and I are still alive.

You and I can hug humanity through Diana Ross’ lyrics: “reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place, if we can” . . . . through our acts of KINDNESS. Applied practically, kindness is that quality in you that takes time to listen to how others feel, care about what problems or challenges, or joys and expectancies they are experiencing; and to give whatever help you can, be it comfort, or encouraging words, or financial assistance, or forgiveness. And to give it generously (without asking or demanding or expecting anything in return).

The Fruit of Kindness can flourish and grow lavishly in your life if your good soil is nourished with gratefulness. It was his nature of gratitude that made one of the ten lepers turn around, run to Jesus and thank him with all sincerity for his healing from leprosy. It was from her nature of gratitude that she washed His feet with her tears and expensive oil and dried them with her hair as a sign of thanksgiving for being forgiven her terrible sins.

Gratitude, being thankful for the “small” and for the “big” things God does for you, is what accelerates the growth of the Fruit of Kindness and allows you to fill the lives of others with your melodies of caring, encouraging, giving hope, opening a door, feeding the poor, caring for the sick, and preaching to lost souls for their salvation. Tenderheartedness is God’s heart. If the Holy Spirit lives in you, then you, too, possess the heart of God.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice (Ephesians 4:31). Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:11, 18-19).

For some of us, our hearts are so cold and bitter, we have no more compassion or any feeling to be kind to others, not even to our wife (or husband) or children. Every word that comes out of your mouth is so full of hostility, don’t you see your destroying the lives of others around you? What happened to you that makes you spit revenge on the people who want to love you?

Perhaps someone else destroyed the natural tendencies in you for showing and giving kindness? If your parents hurt you, or your heart was broken by someone you loved dearly, or if someone just publicly disregarded, shamed, demoted or insulted you, does that justify your reasons for bathing others in your pool of poison?

Beloved Brother, Sweet Sister, maybe the natural has been damaged in ways unbearable to your emotions, but let the Supernatural, let the Love of Jesus, heal you right now. Bearing the first four fruits—love (read blog #16), joy (read blog #17), peace (read blog #18), and patience (read blog #19)—prepares you to produce the Fruit of Kindness. But, it is a choice to want to be healed and to want to enjoy these fruits.

Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Read Luke 17:11-19).

Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same love little. (Read Luke 7:36-50).

This woman was overloaded with all kinds of sin. You and I may be in that same situation in our embittered hearts. But when she opened her heart to demonstrate kindness with her tears, her hair, her financial fragrance, she was telling us all how grateful she was. Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

The other nine lepers were healed of leprosy, but for the tenth one, Jesus ensured that every aspect of his life would be blessed and prosperous which would allow him to do more acts of kindness to others. Jesus sat in the house of a rich man, but that woman who bathed Him in tears and oil gained complete salvation, total forgiveness for every evil act she ever committed; and to top that, she lived out the rest of her days in peace allowing her to do more acts of kindness to others.

Gratitude gets the attention of Christ. An outpouring of thanksgiving opens doors to perfect peace, blessings and supernatural provision. All this comes from every act of kindness which beats from a tender heart and a forgiving nature.

What do you need right now? Tell God, show God what you are thankful for. Be kind—do something to another person today that will press his or her emotional buttons that play a song full of laughter. Then both of you enjoy the melodies of praise! You can do it. Force that fifth Fruit of Kindness on somebody else today. And thank God for the help and care and generosity He’s going to reward you with.

Most of the paintings selected is retrieved from “Black Art” search engine.

Take My Hand Inspirations