JESUS WAS SELF-DISCIPLINED AND SACRIFICIAL by Pastor Abel Oyewale Nigeria, West Africa

Pastor Abel with the new Israel t-shirt (IDF) 

and hat sent from Love For His People

JESUS WAS SELF-DISCIPLINED AND SACRIFICIAL

Pastor Abel Oyewale  Nigeria, West Africa

Oct. 30, 2017

A. HIS DISCIPLINED LIFE (JOHN 4:27-42 )

"Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work." (John 4:34 )

Indiscipline is not the character of GOD. It has cut many lives and ministries short. Jesus is the perfect image of GOD. He came to reveal GOD'S manners by leading a life of self-discipline.

Your level of discipline will determine your chances of overcoming temptation. Jesus was subjected to series of tests in the devil's hands. He overcame by the word and through self-discipline. Unlike Adam, Eve and Esau, He did not spoil Himself with what the devil offered. He prioritised the spiritual food above the physical food, and He warned along that line .

Though food is very essential to life, yet that would never make Jesus to misbehave or lose concentration on His life's mission. Today, people are so anxious about what to eat, drink and wear that they lose focus of the real things - souls -winning and GOD'S kingdom.

"And He will give all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the kingdom of GOD your primary concern." (Matthew 6:33)

How many, Christians inclusive, are not being controlled by their bellies, today? Jesus never allowed anything to dominate or control His life. What controls your life? (Romans 6:16)

B. HIS SACRIFICIAL LIFE

"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)

The life of sacrifice is not feasible without self-discipline. Sacrifice is about giving up one's life and rights, and other benefits for others. Jesus followed this path for GOD'S glory and the benefits of mankind. We must resemble Jesus in this regard also.

Jesus talked extensively on shepherding, and declared Himself as the Good Shepherd. What qualified Him as such was His sacrificial life and living. He gave up His life for the sheep. What have you sacrificed for Christ's sake?

No one in heaven or on earth could do what Jesus did for us. Hireling describes the fake shepherds, who prefer to flee to safety, rather than dare to die to safeguard the sheep. Jesus was never like any of these. He laid down His life for the sheep. He came to unify them and present them to Himself and Father. This life of sacrifice is a must for every believer.

God recognised the sacrifice of Jesus. He loved Him, and as a result, exalted Him above all else. God always recognises our sacrifices; our labours of love would not go unrewarded.

Jesus lived a life of self-discipline; He was not under the control of anything that could truncate His destiny. The sacrifices of Jesus were recognised and appreciated by both Heaven and earth.

May our good God of Israel bless you as you are reading this message.

Shalom,

Pastor Abel Oyewale
Abba Father's International Fellowship - Nigeria

For your prayer request: souls4christ2005@yahoo.com
+2348115306866

Pastor Abel and his church members try to help orphans as best they can. Please use the DONATE button on the side columns to help or the tab on our Love For His People website above.

Some of the contents sent to Nigeria in October 2017

Pastor Abel wearing the t-shirt and hat from Israel below.

Bibles provided with funds sent from Love For His People

Below: Ahava Love Letter books sent 

from Love For His People

T-shirt from Israel included in the Pastor's Package from Love For His People

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What if God Really Did Do This One Thing? by ALEX KOCMAN

We like to keep God in our own theological box, but the hardest pill to swallow in the book of Romans is that God is perfectly justified in condemning or saving whomever He pleases. (CreationSwap/Travis Silva)

What if God Really Did Do This One Thing?

5/6/2014 ALEX KOCMAN  CHRISTIAN LIFE NEWS

Whenever I’ve had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with someone, perhaps the biggest regret I have in every conversation ismaking too little of God’s justice.

We pray for help, healing, guidance, and the salvation of others. We thank God for good things, like food in our stomachs and a roof over our heads. When we’re feeling inspired, we give God some holy attention in worship. And, in moments of great clarity, we may even have the wisdom and soberness to thank Him for the cross.

But almost never do we dare let our minds wander to God’s justice—much lest praise Him for it.

What if God _________?

Theologians argue in circles over God’s sovereignty and our own free will, and countless volumes have been written throughout church history with little consensus. And in the name of unity, many young Christians tune the whole thing out.

But as a result, one of Paul’s most frightening verses has been profoundly ignored.

“What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy…?” (Romans 9:22-23a)

Many believers, upon reading this verse, will barge into Scripture to douse the fire of this verse. “Surely God doesn’t create people just to send them to Hell,” we are quick to specify—and rightly so, of course.

But that said, the problem is that Paul’s point isn’t mainly to teach a theological principle about how we get saved. His main point is to ask one question:

What if?

What if God did have full control over who chooses Him and who didn’t?

What if He did have the ability to force everyone into Heaven by trusting the Gospel, but to glorify Himself, He didn’t?

Am I suggesting that God made certain people just for the hell fire? Certainly not. But regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, consider this.

Before You Answer…

How you answer the questions of God’s sovereignty in this passage is not the point. The point is that God has the right to do whatever He wants.

He is not arbitrary, unjust, or egotistical.

He is, simply put, God.

He does nothing that’s inconsistent with His perfect justice and righteousness—even forgiving us required that His wrath be unleashed against a substitute. But His sense of justice is just a wee bit superior to ours.

Are we okay with the possibilities that opens up?

Respectable thinkers can make compelling arguments for both sides of the Calvinism/Arminianism debate. But whoever you are, as soon as you find yourself clinging at all costs to, “God can’t do _______,” you might be thinking in the flesh.

We all must realize already that God would have been perfectly justified not to saveanyone at all; why are we so quick to limit the character and behavior of a God whom we can only access at a blood-bought, great and terrible price?

“Perfect love casts out fear,” we cite over and over again, reminding ourselves that we don’t have to be scared of God. But even this oft-used verse implies that there was some fear to begin with in need of being cast out.

In other words, God is fearsome—yet the sacrificial punishment of Christ grants us the tremendous gift of full access to His love and mercy only, Christ having absorbed all His justice and wrath.

The mercy bought to us at the cross gives us access to the same God who proclaimed against His own chosen people: “Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!” (Isaiah 10:5, ESV)

Regardless of where you stand theologically, do not forget that you—the clay has no right to question the potter (Romans 9:21).

The Right Reaction

Biblical theology has its place. But, to butcher Paul’s words from Romans 11 and 12…

Who can fully understand the depths of the riches of God’s knowledge, planning, and power over the human heart? Who can give God advice? To whom does God owe anything? Answer: no one.

By contrast, everything—from the greatest galaxies to the insects crawling the earth, including you and the person you’re sharing the Gospel with—is all for God, from God, to God, and through God. His glory is chief.

So give Him glory sacrifice yourself to Him, and let Him transform your limited human mind.