Apart from seeing words as a gift, music definitely takes the second position after words. Like, can you imagine a world with no music?

This world would have been so dull. There’s so much life in music. That should not be a surprise as, one of the primary components of music are words.

James 3: 5 MSG says:

A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything- or destroy it!

Need I reiterate that the above scripture is definitely the truth. We should definitely take the words we speak and muse over, very seriously.

Talking about musing, do you muse over the lyrics of songs? Just before you answer in the comment section,*hint* I will answer. I can muse over things all day if I had my way. I do not joke with the lyrics of music. Once, I get the tug in my heart and understanding of a song and it does not go well with my spirit, I do away with such musics.

I remember the day I properly listened to John Legend’s All of Me, the first thing I said to my friend was; ‘this will make such a beautiful worship song’. And that thought has not changed till this day, the lyrics of that song is just amazing.

So, I am not here to tell you what you should listen to and not listen to. As expected, as you grow in the Lord, things that grieve the Lord will not be something that you will delight in. The Holy Spirit specialises in communicating such to us.

However, in the course of this year, I have been musing over the words of the chorus of this popular hymn- Trust and obey:

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus; but to trust and obey.

Deep!

A person can get away with singing songs to man and not meaning it, but this year, please do not be found singing any song to God with just your lips and not from your heart. For example, singing a song of promise to God should not be sang nonchalantly. If you do not mean it, please do not sing it.

The lyrics of the above chorus is centred around the words; ‘Trust and Obey’. Trust is being displayed when the truth of a statement is accepted without evidence or investigation. To obey is to carry out instructions or commands; submitting to the authority of the commander.

The song says for us to be happy in Jesus, we are to trust and obey. The two words have a common denominator- FAITH. You cannot trust without faith; neither can you submit to a commander you do not have faith in [well, let’s keep it in the spiritual/biblical context; leave the corporate world out. lol]

But you see, trusting God is not a child’s play. Trusting God is not logical; and not easily explainable. But still, Proverbs 3:5 MSG says;

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Can you imagine waking up and telling your parents that, ‘Mum, Dad, God has told me to quit working for Dad and open up a kiosk and sell biscuit’. The first question, your parents will ask is; ‘Which God?’, ‘after the money we spent sending you to Cambridge’…. Trusting God never makes sense to the ‘normal’ mind. In trusting God, sanity is lost. You don’t trust God and have command of your life. No! When you say; ‘I trust God’, you are basically saying- gone are the times when I have to figure everything out. I am dedicating myself to be called: Mad-Unreasonable-Senseless by the world, because I have giving charge/authority of my life to a Superior authority.

We are commanded to trust God, but some of us cannot. Why?

Captain Sin: one thing is sure, God cannot dwell in a temple fraternizing with iniquity. He is just too pure for sin. Habakkuk 1:13. And where God cannot dwell, He cannot speak. And with captain sin in your ship, you cannot decipher if the flesh is speaking or God. Looking at the story of Abraham, before he stepped of Ur, there was a word from God to leave. If Abraham was dwelling in sin, he would not have been able to tell if this was God or just his flesh speaking. And if that was the case, we would definitely not be proclaiming to be from the lineage of Abraham or grabbing the blessings that comes from his act of trust [faith].

Captain Mindset: if there is anything that can keep a man captive from walking in purpose and trusting God, it is the mind of a man. That is why constantly feeding on the Word of God is the antidote to an unbelieving mindset, because your mind will be transformed to thinking like Christ. Romans 12:2 says [I love the NLT Version of this passage]

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

An unrenewed mind cannot trust God. It cannot grasp the competence of trusting God. Trusting God is an alien language to an unrenewed mind.

Captain Distraction: have you ever thought of why the loudest things mostly get our attention more than the calm/quiet things? Well, that’s life. The opinions of people, the logical reasoning of the elite, the experiences of people seem to be tagged ‘accurate’ over the Word of God. Musing over Matthew 14: 28-31, the story of Peter walking on water, I like to think that waves that got Peter distracted from focusing on Jesus can be likened to the opinions, logical reasoning and experiences of people. Some of us are very people conscious that when God commands us to do certain things, our feet are quick to ask person A or B’s opinion of if it makes sense. The focus is no longer on God, it is now what will people say or think?

As a child of God, we are to trust God to the point that even when the promise has not manifested, we still believe him and obey. John 20: 29 says;

…Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.

I have deliberated more on trust than obedience because, you cannot trust God and not obey Him. When you trust God, obedience is a subsequent action. They are intertwined. Obedience is very dear to God’s heart. A heart that cannot obey God cannot be used by God. The story of Saul in 1 Samuel 15 shows how God hates disobedience. Verse 22 says;

…He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult….

If you read down into life of Saul after this disobedience, God never spoke to him again or used him. The truth is many of us are crying to God- ‘Speak to me Lord’, ‘Use me Lord’…But the truth is God has told us some things to do, but we are still dragging our feet and we are expecting Him to tell us another thing when we have not carried out step 1. God doesn’t work like that.

In this year, God will drop certain things in your heart to do or to say. You have to trust Him. Let the times of lip service to Him be a thing of the past. You won’t experience the fullness of God, if you do not trust and obey Him. The opinions of people around will make sense more than what God will drop in your heart, but you need to know your God, to do exploits. God doesn’t do comfort zones, He is too mighty for that. If we say we are His heirs, comfort zones should not be our zones.

You may say: Well, it is easy for you to say. It is not that easy to do, you know?. You are damn right. Absolutely right. Two weeks ago when God told me to quit my job, it did not make sense. It did not seem logical at all. Even telling another won’t even make sense. Like I will say: ‘God said it’s time for me to leave my place of work’ and person B will say: ‘Oh wow! I am sure you have another job lined up?’ and my response would have been: ‘Ermmm not really’ …. But I cannot dare God by living in disobedience. I cannot risk trying to see what could happen if I do not listen. [I can only boast in His grace made available to obey]

The latter part of last year, I kept musing over these lines from the Hillsong’s Ocean:

..Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander. And my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.

You want to be happy in Jesus? Quit the lip service to God. Let your worship be true and sincere. There is no time to live in disobedience. He is coming soon.

May our hearts yield desperately to God that our words will be reflections of our hearts. Amen

P.S: As for the quitting of my job, God has got this. He is on it. Watch this space….. Full gist to come, at the right time!

Why do you think it is difficult to trust and obey God? I deliberately leave out something, so that I can learn from you. Teach me…

Stay strong!

PT TIP OF THE DAY

Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words are going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation. Matthew 12:37

Missed my last post?

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Princess Okechukwu!