As a hungry person, what you need is not bread

 When you work in the name of the Lord, knowing your goal or having a clear vision is important. This is because if you do not know where you are going, any road can take you there! As a result, you will go around being lost in the middle of nowhere like a lost child who does not know how to go forward or how to go back home. Beyond vision, you need a good appraisal of your reality, as you need to understand from where you are starting. Then you need a strategy that can guide you from your starting point to your goal.

 

Jews have a Jewish dream, Ethiopians have an Ethiopian dream and Americans have an American dream. Yet our dream is not from this earth, it is heavenly. Gospel is not about making Ethiopia great again, it is not about making America the greatest in the world or making the Jews center of this world, it is about making the mountain of God to be the highest among all mountains of this world. Lord did pick many of his disciplines from Nazareth but their mission was not about Nazareth or to make Nazareth great again. Even if the lord picks many Asians, Americans, or Latin Americans to be his servants, their mission is not about making any country or region great, it is about making the lord the greatest lord in the heart and mind of every faithful and to collect the lost sheep of the lord from all corners of this world.

 

What we have to ask is: is the government of the lord or kingdom of God the highest form of government on earth? Is Jesus the most admired and the most loved ruler of this world? Does the mountain of the lord rise high above all mountains and all the world flocks to the mountain of the lord for salvation? This is beyond growth, but quality growth of the church. Not only does the number of faithful have to increase but their character, manner, and thinking have to grow to be more and more like Jesus. When we preach the good news of the lord and when people can see the nature of Jesus in our manner and behavior, the kingdom of the lord will expand in both size and depth to be the highest mountain there is on earth. So our goal is to build the kingdom of heaven on earth, which is dominated and ruled by the lord himself through his Holy Spirit. This is the goal of every faithful and we are nothing but worthless servants who have to do what we are supposed to do, which is serve the lord as a servant.

 

Where do we start? What is the status of the churches, what is the status of the world and what is the fruit of churches? The world is the world as expected in the bible, it is the world as it has always been and nothing is surprising about it. It is a sinful world and it is not surprising if the sick is sick, the world is always sick. Let us focus on the doctors. What kind of fruit are churches producing? Is the fruit right? If the fruit is not right, the churches are not right. That is why churches need to redirect themselves to their mission of saving souls and building the faithful in the image of Jesus. Jesus is not a thief but we have “faithful” who are thieves, Jesus is not a liar but we have “faithful” who are liars, Jesus was not a killer but we have killers for “faithful” and the faithful are in every sin of this world while claiming to worship the man who was without sin. This is not right. We are not doing a good job at all. It is not that we sin, nobody can be free of sin as humans except Jesus, but people should see us as holy people, for human beings, not as an example of sinners of this world.

 

Massaging churches to preserve the status quo, therefore, is not going to get us there. We should push them, guide them, help them, pressure them, and direct them toward the right path. This is because the alternative is worse for them as the lord will destroy those who destroy his temple. It is even visible that recently the churches are moving in the right direction in some lines, though not on all lines. The change, however, is good but not adequate. My understanding is that the old wine skins have to hold the old wine of Jesus and the new wine skins, I am hoping, could hold the good one from the new wine. Those new wines have to be good wine if not as good as the old wine of Jesus. They may not be the arrow tip of the lord but they should be part of the arrow but not the shield of the devil that is fighting Jesus or part of the arrow of the devil that is attacking Jesus.

 

Even though what is impossible to man is not impossible to God, as we all were impossible things but not to God, for a man I do not think those new wineskins have the mindset to live by the old wine of the lord. I do know that what is impossible for a man like me, it is easy in the hand of the lord; but still, for man that I am, I do not see them moving in the right place. I hope that they can be better versions of themselves. The faithful of Jerusalem cannot master Paul, I am not even sure if Paul himself masters Paul as Paul himself often is observed to follow the law of Moses for the Jews’ sake or for his promise to cleanse himself in the temple, but many Jews were better version of themselves, while many become tool of the devil. That is why my advice to you is to “be a better version of yourself”, and try to imitate Jesus from your perspective. From your mind set do what you think is pleasing in the sight of the lord as you understand it. Do not do what is a blessing to you but to the lord, as you see it fit. That is the start.

 

For those who are old wine. I do not mean old people, but old spirit people. I mean people who do not share the spirit of this age but the old good spirit of all good people, the top crown belonging to Jesus himself. People who think virtue is good. People who think truth, justice, fairness, love, honesty, holiness, service, tolerance, being humble, and everything preached and lived by our lord is the right foundation of life, build your house in the cornerstone and spiritually grow toward the lord. Have a good foundation and keep building yourself toward Jesus. Make ready yourself not only to preach the word of God but to live by it. So people can see the image of Jesus in your life and they can easily accept Jesus as lord.

 

If the lord picks you for service, you will be a solder with adequate training and adequate armor of the gospel of peace, truth, salvation, faith, and the word of God to wage the spiritual fight for the lord. If the lord does not pick you for service, you have a family to raise in the image of Jesus. Can you imagine the value of granting salvation to your kids? How much worth is it for you? So, now you are shepherd of your house and your children and your wife are lucky enough to have such a servant of the lord as a shepherd. Besides, you can also be light and salt to people around you to guide those in darkness toward the light of the lord. You will never lose by trying to walk in the footsteps of the lord because, in the Lord's light, there is no trace of darkness.

 

Now we know where to start and we know where to go, the next issue is the way. The foundation of your life is Jesus or your starting point is Jesus. Your end point is Jesus and the way is also Jesus. People say you need wisdom, no you do not need wisdom. People say you need spiritual gifts, no you don’t need spiritual gifts. People say you need connection and money, no you don’t need especially those. What you need is the presence of the spirit of the lord, the spirit of comfort, and the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, in your life and you need to be obedient to the will of the Holy Spirit. Obedience is important. Since your foundation is well-built, you will not be easily deceived by the dark spirits. Yet once you know you have the spirit of truth in you, be obedient. It is up to God to give you his spirit, and it is up to you to be perfectly obedient. Don’t try to do your will but the will of the heavenly father, and everything you think is important is a gift from God. Wisdom is a gift, material support is a gift, people are a gift, spiritual powers are a gift, and knowing your way is a gift from God. Lord did say not by power or might but by my spirit. So, be obedient to the will of the lord. Jesus was obedient as far as the cross, though he prayed against it. As Jesus built the house of the heavenly father with full obedience, the heavenly father was building the glorious house of the lord for eternity. So be obedient.  

 

In this process, you may have economic problems, and you may wish better things for your family, region, and nation. You may find it hard to survive in this economy. You may have sickness or a sick family member. You may have all the problems that are in this world. Ignore them and focus on building a better you and on building the house of the lord. A poor teenage girl who dreams 24/7 about glamorous things now is going to end up as being prostitute officially or unofficially. A smart poor girl will focus all her energy on her development, ignoring the poverty which is around her, and will end up having the life that is dreamed of by the bad girl in vain. So do not sleep on your problem, just focus on what you have. Glorify the lord for what you have not for what you do not have and focus on building the house of the lord.

 

If the above is not good economics wisdom for you, let me give you some bible economics 101. What you need is easy in the sight of the lord, and what you can give is precious in the sight of the lord. Your faith, your holy life, your service, and your obedience are very precious and very scarce commodities in the sight of the lord. With that, the lord can save you and millions like you using you. Now you cannot change your situation by yourself but the lord can. Yet the lord needs your faith, holy life, service, and obedience. Give those things to the lord to build the house of the lord and the lord will build your house. What you need may be marvelous in your sight but it is not in the sight of the lord. What is marvelous in the sight of the lord is your faith, holy life, service, and obedience and I advise you to specialize in your comparative advantage. If you build the house of the lord and keep praying about your needs and the lord does not allow it, believe the lord is right and thank him for knowing about you better than you. He does know better.

 

By speaking day in and day out about material things, health, and wealth that you cannot create or build by yourself for you or your nation, don’t create worthless idols in your life. When you think and speak all the time about them, they are your idols. They are your sin! Don’t worship prosperity, health, and wealth, worship the lord and seek the kingdom of heaven and everything else will be added to you as the lord sees it fit. The whole world is fed by the hand of the lord, lord is not small for your needs. God is almighty and nothing is big in his sight, but seek the lord not what the lord can do for you. Focus on the lord and his kingdom, not on your desires. Otherwise, your idols will destroy you. Jesus was obedient to death before his glory. Be obedient, faithful, and holy in good or bad times, in bad times the lord is your hope and in good times the lord is your restrain from self-destruction.

 

To go back to where we started, have a clear vision in your life. When people were starting churches and ministries, they used to have very childish visions that the lord loved to grant them, because the lord loved them. Like building an international church, preaching the gospel in all nations, to be the top person of God in the generation and soon. What is important is not whether you go to the whole world or not, what is important is what you did with that opportunity. Does the world learn something that they will never learn otherwise about God? This is why those are childish dreams because they are dreams for your achievement not for the achievement of the lord. Since the lord loves you, I do know the lord does grant you too. Your vision and your dream, however, should be what service you will give to the lord not what achievement you will have to yourself. When you were a child, you were thinking like a child; but now it is time to mature up, so leave those childish things behind you. This is the time to grow up, children!

 

This is why I do think if the lord has a plan in this age to use some of you for his glory, have a better mindset to serve the needs of the lord to the end of the world. It is not about Ethiopia, it is not about Africa, it is not about black and white, it is not about America or Israel, it is about the kingdom of God. Have a kingdom mindset, where your first identity is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, and every faithful in every part of this world is your brother and sister in Jesus Christ. He may support Republican, and you may support Democrat; she may support Manchester United, and you may support Arsenal; she may like it green, and you may like horsepower; he may support TPLF, and you may support Fano; She may support Prosperity party and you may support OLF. Yet, all those are secondary to your faith and the love you have in Christ. You don’t have to be the same in earthly things but heaven should be your priority. You may disagree but with love, you may debate but with love, you may think your brother is supporting sin but you can teach him better with love, and there is nothing that hate can achieve that love cannot achieve. So let us put aside all idols that we are worshiping day in and day out, let us focus on worshiping the lord and on building his home.