Retaining Your Crown

Rev 4:10-11  The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 

A crown is a reward given for some achievement or that which is worn to signify  a person's position of importance or to announce the office of an individual.

When we have worked hard to attained some great achievement in life, the tendency to look at the mirror and applaud ourselves is only natural. We look at the effort we have put in to get there and feel good that at last, it was all worth-while. This self appreciation that envelops us, is only a natural reaction that humanity has adopted. In fact the lack of recognition of the efforts we put in, leaves us feeling sad. The point remains that men will always desire recognition for every input they made towards the success of a venture. We insist that our names be written, our achievements be heralded, and our efforts noted. 

While this tendency remains human, we have all seen men who take this issue of self recognition to a whole new level. For instance, we all may have met those men, who if you introduce them without their titles are offended. They are loud about their achievements and accomplishments.Note that such men who display all that they have and all that they are are small men!

The error of this way of thinking is that some individuals in the attainment of their goals in life forget God.Nebuchadnezzar was such a man. In the book of Dan 4:30 he uttered a statement that did not acknowledge God's input in his life. Hear him: The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? This statement, expressing the pride in his heart, cost him his throne for a season.

 Several personalities as recorded in the bible, also towed this line, and the result was always the same. Herod did not acknowledge God and was eaten by worms. Lucifer looked at all God had made him and sought even more than his station was, losing sight of  the honor that is due to  the one that made him all that he is. Whatever made them who they were, was lost because they did not know how to lay it all down at the feet of their creator. Nebuchadnezzar who lost his throne for a season only had it restored when he acknowledged the God of heaven. 

In our main scriptural text above, we see a practice around the throne of God that made the 24 elders able to retain their crowns even in the very presence of the King of kings. 

These elders, knew that no matter what they had become, He was the one that made them that! They acknowledged this openly and unashamedly. They took their crowns, they very symbol of their achievements, and cast it at His feet. They knew that without His help, they would not be here in the first place. They knew that even though they had become partakers of His glory, that He and only He, ought to receive all the praise and worship. They cast their crowns and for that act, they became worthy to retain their crowns.

Friends, sometimes our achievements or accomplishments blind us. We feel we got it all by our skill, intelligence, hard-work or self effort. The term self made man is common place in our time because we fail to see a need to lay it down at the feet of God. Many have failed to see how God sustained them through the process and have held on to such titles.  

The thought I would like you to leave this page with is this:

Men who discard their importance before Him are counted worthy of more relevance to the kingdom. John the Baptist who sought to decrease for the increase of Jesus, was regarded as a burning and a shining light. Jesus said of him in Luk 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist..

Lay down your crown before him today. Learn to acknowledge God and praise Him for his help in your life. You can be sure to retain the crown but you must learn to cast it before Him. 

That's the only way to retain your crown. Worship and Praise Him for all He has done for You!

An Unqualified Aaron

Exo 32:23  For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

In continuation of the earlier article, my mind was drawn to the above request of the children of Israel. Make us a gods which shall go before us, was their request to Aaron. In that request I see a strong indictment on the ministry of Aaron. Let me explain.

Aaron was to be second-in-command to Moses and was meant to be the man on ground to provide direction in Moses' absence.  In this regard, he excelled to provide direction(briefly). After all the people came to him to request for a god. However, I am more inclined to believe that the reason why the people came to him for this was that they felt that the main man had left him in charge. He was riding on past recognition or glory conferred on him. The people did not really trust Aaron to be able to provide them with the same level of God-enabled leadership as Moses had. If they did they would have asked him to lead them and not make gods to lead them.

Let's consider that for a minute.

Here is Aaron the high priest. He was not just some ordinary member of the priesthood but the HIGH priest. He was, based on his stature, supposed to have access to the very presence of God. The most Holy place within the tabernacle, containing the ark of God which symbolizes the very presence of God, was where his ministry was to be conducted regularly. He was the man to have fellowship in the place illuminated by the very glory of God. He bore the burden of the people upon the breast plate on his heart. He had the Urim and the Thummim by which he could inquire of the Lord. Surely, he should have been more than able to guide the people in the absence of Moses. Instead he choose to make them gods.

He made the gods ,and when he did, the people thought that what he had fashioned must have been inspired from his experiences in the Holy place. After all he had been there and should by know know what God looked like at the very least (We would be surprised if we knew the source of inspiration for a lot of what we thought men must have received from the Holy place).

However, the people despite all the qualifications of Aaron requested for gods in the place of the man, Moses. They seemed to have judged, rather correctly as we find later,  that he was unable to provide them with the much needed spiritual direction. They saw in him a man who did not have the same relationship with and understanding of God to influence things in their favor should they encounter difficulties. When they came to him for direction, he made them a golden calf! The High priest of the God of Israel was the one that fashioned a golden calf,  allowed the people to declare that the idol he made was the same God that brought them out of Egypt and even declared a feast for the people to dance before this idol.

As I thought on these things I wondered. What came over the high priest of God? Surely for one that had been to the Holy place he should have known something of what God looked like. Why did he continue with the deception when he heard the people attribute to his idol the glory that was due only to God? I mean, when the people declared that the idol he had just produced a few minutes ago, a god that was only a few minutes old, was the same  that  had brought them out of bondage and had led them all this way. That would have been a good place to bring some form of correction to the madness and redirect the people but instead he compounded things by setting in motion a feast. A continuing statute that would have occupied the people even though he knew there was no presence of divinity in the idol he had fashioned.

Are there men like Aaron in our day? Men who occupy people with activities rather than reality. Men who, when the people have lost faith in their leadership credentials, resort to fashioning gods instead of travailing before the true God? Men, who continue deception to keep up with appearances and meet the immediate need of the people. Men, who fashion gods out of gold and expect men to bow before it. Men, who will keep the people happy at all costs? who see the ministry as a customer service affair and the congregation as the king-customer. Do men who are hungry for God, see your ministry as a place they can come to be connected to God?

As you consider these questions, I would like to ask further, Are you like Aaron?or a Moses?

Aaron needed gold to provide an suitable god for the people, Moses needed God at no material cost(even an angel of God's presence will not do for Moses). Aaron would gladly declare a feast, Moses time and again would declare a fast. Aaron can settle for a fraud as long as the people are pleased, Moses would not settle for any less than God even if the people wanted it so. Aaron could function without God, Moses wanted only that which the hand of God prescribes.

May God make us men who like Martin Luther will declare before God and Men 'Here I stand I can do no other'. Men uncompromising in the face of opposition and conflict. Men who pitch their tents with God and seek only that which comes from above. May we be such men indeed!

Who Is On the Lord's Side?

Exodus 32:26  Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 

The Church in the wilderness had come to a time that their patience had been exhausted. They were in the midst of the wilderness, not knowing the ways of the God that had thus far led them. The prophet that had led them was delayed as he sought to receive the ordinances upon which their lives will be guided.  

They turned to their high priest, who was to provide direction in the absence of Moses the man of God, and presented him with a request. They asked for a god that will go before them! Why a God and not a man? It was the man, Moses that led them that was being delayed, so a man should have been requested for and not a god. This request may seem strange to us now but when you consider it, in the light of the experience of these people, then you will understand why they asked for a god to replace a man.

You see these people understood that what made Moses, the man, special was the backing he received from God. They knew that the man was helpless, without the backing of God! They had come to understand that to make it out of the wilderness, given the situations they had faced earlier, they needed more than a man to guarantee their safe passage. Something or some being must accompany them. They needed more than leadership skills to lead them, because when the going gets tough it could only be helped by the god that went with them.

Today, the Church, and to an extent the world around us, are faced with the similar circumstances.

A hunger for reality grips the heart of men, so much so, that many turn to tarot cards, horoscopes, and the occult to offer them the required direction for their lives.

In the light of the hunger in the hearts of men, all platforms that claim to have the ability to inter-phase with the spiritual realm are now prime targets to be overrun by devil. The worst of this is that the church is not exempted from the gaze of the enemy. He sends strong delusions that cause men to believe a lie, sponsors men who are motivated by material gain and empowers some who have come upon the scene with lying wonders (men like the magicians of Egypt who withstood Moses by recreating some of the miracles God did through him) to the work of preaching the gospel. Men who are supposed to stand for truth are now the very ones, who like Aaron, are presenting the idol to replace the true God. 

The word of God is being fragmented to satisfy the itching ears of men and a “Cross-less” Gospel takes the centre stage. A gospel that is full of funfair but no warfare. This gospel makes perpetual babies of believers, never allowing for men to come to maturity.  This other gospel speaks good news without responsibility. It speaks blessings without any commitment to the one that blesses.  It speaks inheritance without any need for loyalty. Hence a prodigal generation is raised. A generation that will embark on a “far” journey away from the Father, as soon as, they collect their own portion of the inheritance.

Under these conditions, a cry rises like it did for the church in the wilderness, ‘who is on the Lord’s side?!’ Who seeks to go against the tide and stand for the true God? Who will pledge allegiance to God in the face of the worse trials or in the greatest prosperity? Who will stand for God in a time such as this.

God seeks for men who will stand by the truth of His word and proclaim it faithfully. These men knowing that their first audience is God will speak to represent all that God has laid in their hearts no matter who else may be offended. Men who have learnt to birth the purposes of God in prayer and whose every waking moment is to live for God’s glory.  Who take sides with the truth of the word of God and now live by its dictates, no matter how painful it may be. God seeks for the men who have learnt to chart the course of their lives by his Spirit and will follow the lamb wherever he goes.

Will Heaven find such men in us?

Who is on the Lord’s side?