Daily Meditations from John N. N. Ng'ang'a: 16th - 22nd August 2010 .....Gospel is Bearing Fruit

 

Day 1

Col 1:6-7 All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. NIV

As we have been reading, the gospel offers the same blessedness in everyone who hears it , wherever it reaches.

So if it has blessed me it can also bless the other person. There is nobody who is excluded in this. This should cause me to want to evagelise every one ,small and great, black and white, without exclusion .God is offering the same blessedness to everyone whom I am going to tell. It was owing entirely to the goodness of God that He was using Paul to extend the gospel to others.

There is a person I used to work with immediately I left the university in the seventies. I then worked for a development bank. we were put in the same office as project officers in the bank. The guy used to come drank almost every day. so I tried to preach to him and he was so annoyed by my preaching, he almost ‘ changed my dental formula’ ..if you know what I mean. I kind of gave up…and told God ,’God you know I have tried’.

Finally we went our different ways and both of us left that company . I went to work for a multinational oil company and we didn’t meet each other for a long time. Then in the mid 90’s there was a Pentecostal conference in Kenyatta conference centre . As I was busy running to a meeting, who do I see but that man. I said, ‘eeh what are you doing here?’ .You know there are people you expect in a place like a Christian meeting and others you don’t.. hence my asking him ,’ what are you dong here?’ The man went quiet for a while then he told me, John you mean there are some people not allowed in this meeting. I was so embarrassed. You know I had not spoken out of thinking, I just spoke off head. I now realized ,if there is somebody needed, he is the one I should be asking to be in that meeting but in my mind he cannot come to such a meeting. Do you know he actually got saved and today he is an active Christian who serves his church . Every time I see him I feel condemned. There are some people you feel like, ‘I can preach to this one’, and others ,’I cannot preach to this one’. It is very important to understand this thing is growing without boundary. The guy who stole from you last year may be the one to get saved this year . There is nobody who cannot benefit from God’s gospel. And that’s why it is unlimited.

How am I witnessing? Am I doing it selectively or like God , do I love the whole world?

 

Day 2

Col 1:7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. NIV

Paul now tells us that , although this gospel is growing among you, I need to remind you that , it is a guy called Epaphrus who actually God used to reach you with the gospel. Paul had contracted a strong relationship with this guy who went to these churches. It sounds like Paul never went to Colossae himself . He was relying on a friend called Epaphrus.I it has actually been argued that this church at Colossae had never really met Paul . Epaphrus is the one whom God had used to establish the church.

And Paul’s strong expression of attachment to him would do much to silence any opposition to him. By mentioning how committed he is to the founder and they had heard of Paul as a big man, they are going to feel grateful that their pastor was also know by the great apostle.

What you say about your mentee can either destroy him or build him.

Some time back I went to preaching a school where one of the teachers had taught me in 1960s. When he heard the invited guest was me , he told the people,’ aah Ng’ang’a is your preacher ?, He was my student’. He implied to them ,’ don’t be too excited about what he is saying. I know him as a small boy’.

You know that’s a part of what we normally do. Instead of promoting people we bring them down. So the work of God does not expand. In fact if you see God using somebody much, you tend to say to the admirers , ‘he is not what you think’. A lot of people have this way of talking. ‘You know, what that brother spoke was such a blessing except you know his English is Kikuyu like ‘.You are looking for a way of balancing out..so that admirers do not think he is that great .

That was not Paul way of life . He has not been Colossae but he tells them ,’ Ephaphrus, is a great man. What you as a church are today is because God used a guy called Epaphrus’. Do I do that in my life ?Do I help God’s work by promoting people whom God is actually using. Paul calls him a faithful minister. What a title to be given by an apostle? The guy is just a young man but they are being told, ‘he is a faithful minister for you’. But he gives god the glory by saying that the love he has is ‘ in the Spirit’. The love Epaphrus has is something that has come from the Spirit.

Paul teaches how mentor others by giving them recognition. May the lord help me to be a person who builds others rather than destroy them .

 

Day 3

Col 1:8-9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.NIV

Foe every one there will be things to thank God for but also there are things to pray about. In other words Paul is not cheating himself that the Colossians have it all. He still knows there are things for which they need help. I wish everyone of us became like that. That when you want to be critical of your wife’s ugali, you start by saying, ‘by the way your sukuma is good, although the ugali has room for improvement. I really enjoy your sukuma.’ In other words there is a way of looking at what is good before you say what needs improvement.

Paul is saying, I am grateful this has happened but I also do know there is an area you need to improve. You know a lot of us are either positive or negative . we never tell people where they need to improve because we are so excited about being positive., we never help people to improve. But Paul is not like that. He is grateful to God for what they have achieved but he is also aware that there are areas of need .

When I relate with people, is that the way i relate with them? Ami honest with them. Do I bother to qualify to criticize anyone by earning the right through initial positive comment

How do you earn the right to criticize Ng’ang’a? By seeing what is good in Ng’ang’a first . As soon as you are able to list all the things that are good in Ng’ang’a, I will now know that if you say something negative it is with a good spirit. But if every time you talk to me you are telling me how bad I am, you have lost the right to ever help me. The way to earn the right to help your son is, for every ten good things you now earn the right to say one negative thing. That’s the way you earn the right. The way to criticize your husband is not to tell all that is wrong with him. Your hair is disappearing, etc’. Don’t list all the things that are wrong with him. Look for ten good things about that husband and you earn the right to correct him. That’s what Paul is actually doing in this passage . He is saying, , ‘I thank God for the progress which is already made and the love which you have shown, and the encouragement you have, but you see that what God has accomplished just set me to see God can accomplish even more.

In other words, since God has done so much with you, isn’t it possible that He can do more. what God has done to you should not make you complacent, but should give you the chance to think of bigger things. Things you can accomplish in your professional life, things you can accomplish in your spiritual life, things you can accomplish in your physical life, the fact that something has happened should not make you stop. It should make you see a bigger way. We always feel stimulated and encouraged to pray for those who are doing well.

Instead of being negative we say, if God has done that with him, He can do even more. Success should make us want to pray for the one succeeding. As soon as you start serving God and you are making an impact, you have just made yourself a target of the devil .

And as soon as you are a person whom God is using, you need prayers even more because you are a target of the evil one. Your doing well should cause you to want to pray even more because you are now a target., You should not have what I call arrival mentality where you think you have arrived because that is your undoing

Am I praying both for those of my friends not doing well and those doing well ?

 

Day 4

Col 1:9 asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. NIV

The first thing he is asking God is that they should know God’s will. He is thanking him for all the other things they have, but one of the things you need even more when you become a Christian is the knowledge of God’s will. If you don’t know it, then you will keep struggling. If you don’t know your mission in life, then you will keep struggling. It is Steve Covey , the writer of’ seven habits of highly successful people’ who says, you better be careful which wall you are climbing because you could climb to the top just to discover the other side is not where you are wanted to go . Now you must come down, take your ladder and start looking for the right wall and start the climb all over again.

That’ could even be after twenty years of climbing the wrong wall. How much better to seek God’s will because then even if you are climbing only two ranks per year, you are going the right way … and when you finally reach the top you will be going arrive the right place. And that’s what Paul is saying,’ I desire for you to know God’s will.’ The apostle is praying that they might be fully acquainted with what God wanted for them. The more you do his will, the more of his will He richly shows you.

That the reason why sometimes you don’t know God’s will is because the little He has shown you, you are doing nothing with it. Why do you want more of God’s will and yet what you know you are already you are not doing? a lot of people say, ‘ooh God, I wish I knew your will.’ What have you done with the will He has already shown you? Because the more you see a son who is listening to you the more you want to tell him . Isn’t it?. He is saying, now that you are doing God’s will, I want you to know more of God’s will because the more you do what He wants, the more He is going to give you.

you need to ask yourself, might the fact that I the struggle to know what I should be doing in life, might it be because I have come to where I don’t do what i know?’ you are always trying to ask for more information but you haven’t done anything with the old one . He is insisting that they need spiritual wisdom and understanding. that’s what he is praying that they would have…. spiritual understanding….. understanding things that pertain to the Spirit. To see in the Spirit world. Those things taught by the Holy Spirit and those which He produces at the work of salvation.

You know they say there is an invisible world and a visible one. And the invisible is as real as the visible one. And that’s one of the Christian things that non-Christians don’t understand. That the devil is real but you don’t see him, God is real but you don’t see him. Just like the wind is real but you only see the trees swaying. Why do you say it is the wind? Have you ever seen it?

Of course my computer is connected to electricity. And I think electricity is very useful. Without it there would be difficulties . But have you ever seen electricity? Never seen it. The things you don’t see are as real as the ones you actually see. How much better to start understanding that you need God’s help if you truly are going to know the direction you need to go. There are just too many things that only God knows …

 

Day 5

Col 1:10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. NIV

Paul prays that they might walk worthy of the Lord. He is not only praying for the will of God to be known and acted on, he is saying that their life will be worthy of the Lord. How many of us say we are saved and the non-Christians say, ‘haiya! if to be a Christian is like Ng’ang’a, I would rather not have it'.

The more they know us the less they admire us so that the saying by Gadhi, when he is reported to have said ,’ Christ I love, Christians I don’t admire’. You see Christians are not like Christ. And that is true not of the days of Gandhi, but also today. We should lead the life of Christ. The Bible tells us that everywhere He went He was doing good. Is that what we are?

Some of us ,We are the cause of problems in our places of work. The guy who is mean might be a Christian. He is so mean and he thinks the fact that he is mean makes him a Christian. Now, you need to start understanding the Bible is saying, remember Paul is now looking at the things they need to improve in. It is the ability to live worthy of the Lord that will help the gospel to advance . Paul then lists the things that will make you worthy. One of them is Life that is pleasing. …as to please Him in all things. You cannot live a life worthy of the Lord if what you are doing is not pleasing to God.

Secondly, if it is worthy of the Lord it is going to be fruitful in every good work. In other words you are productive, not lazy .And increasing in the knowledge of God, it is by endeavoring to become better acquainted with the true character of God that way you are going to become more productive. God is pleased with those who desire to understand what He is, who is God, what is He, what does He do, what are his purposes, what are his commands. he not only commands us to study his works but He has made a world so beautiful as to invite us to contemplate on His perfections .

People are often displeased when others attempt to look into their plans but God is saying, ‘look at my plans, I want you to know, come and let us reason together’. He wants to discuss with you. God has no plans which would be embarrassing for you to know. He actually wants you to know his will.

 

 

Day 6

11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully. NIV

Paul desired that they might be strengthened for the performance of duty that God had called them, to beat all temptations and to bear up with the various difficulties in their life. He prays ‘, ooh God strengthen them so that when they meet challenges they can be able to go on .’ And then he is saying that they may do so with his glorious power. In other words they don’t rely on their own strength.

How many times have you felt like, you are good person naturally. Have you ever seen a drunkard moving and trying into enter his car with difficulty and you say,’ surely even if I was a non-Christian I would not be like that.’ You know the truth of the matter is, if you didn’t know the Lord who is able to make you sensible, to give his power , you would just like that. you should be saying, ‘there go I if it were not for the grace of God.’ A lot of times you think that it is you. No, it is the glorious power of Christ.

I still remember one of my classmates who passed very, very well in the days we used to do O levels. But the truth of the matter is, within five or six years after we left university you could hear of him. He is a guy who has a lot of knowledge but until you know Christ, some of the decisions you make are meaningless. I meet one of my friends, we got married with me in the seventies, now he tells you, ‘ooh how is your wife doing? I am on the fifth one now.’ Five wives in thirty years tells you, you can give average of six for every wife. He says, Ng’ang’a I wish you understand. It is not that I enjoy it but everybody I pick is not ‘pickable’, if that’s English’. You need to understand that there is a lot of difficulties in this life when you don’t have God’s wisdom.

Paul is saying that the way you will be able to have what God wants you to have is when you rely on his strength and not on your own strength. When you start realizing anything you have done, you cannot be proud about, it is the gift of God. It is the Lord who has helped you. It is the power which God gives you that is able to make you face the trials. That is what is called the power that is glorious, the power of his glory.

It is manifesting the power of the great and glorious God that tends to promote you in your life rather than your own strength.

 

Day 7

Col 1:11 so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully. NIV

Paul goes on to say that we need patience. How many of us have a problem with patience? I am one of them. Sometimes you just feel like giving up on somebody. The other day I was asking somebody, what does longsuffering mean? He said It means suffering long. In other words, God doesn’t seem to solve the problem quickly so you have to suffer long. That’s a fruit of the Spirit. It is related to patience. Isn’t that something you need to pray that God gives you … how many people would get saved if only you had more patience? How many troubles and quarrels have you had with people because of your lack of patience? And God is saying, when you have his glorious power, He is able to give you that patience so that you may be enabled to bear in all trials suffering long. It is only the power of God that can enable you to reach there so that you are able to suffer long with joyfulness.

Joyfulness, is only possible when you learn to have patience. Joy is lost when you think whatever you are going through will not come to pass. Once you sense the problem is for a short while you are able to bear it joyfully