Why Magufuli administration misses the point on Government splurge

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How to Restore Your Relationships

Hans worked his way up from being a miner to owning a number of mines. His eldest son, Martin, was very intelligent and went to university at the age of seventeen. A respectable career as a lawyer lay ahead of him. Suddenly, to his father’s dismay, he cancelled his registration for the law course and became a monk and then a priest.
Martin wanted to live a righteous life. He fasted for days and spent sleepless nights in prayer, but he was still plagued by his own unrighteousness before a righteous God. Around the age of thirty, as he was studying Romans 1:17, the penny dropped. He later wrote:
‘I began to understand that in this verse the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous man lives by the gift of God, in other words by faith; and that this sentence, “the righteousness of God is revealed”, refers to a passive righteousness, ie, that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “The righteous person lives by faith.” This immediately made me feel as if I had been born again and entered through open gates to paradise itself.’
This experience occurred 500 years ago. It not only changed his life, it altered the course of human history. He became one of the pivotal figures of western civilisation, the founder of the Reformation – the seedbed for social, economic and political thought. His name, of course, was Martin Luther.
In essence, righteousness means a right relationship with God, which leads to right relationships with others. It is a gift made possible through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Here lies the secret of restored relationships – first of restored relationship with God and then all other relationships.


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Psalm 84:1-7

Enjoy the blessings

Dwelling in the presence of God is where the greatest blessings are found. This is one of mine and Pippa’s favourite psalms. We had it read at our wedding. We love it because it describes the blessings of living in a restored relationship with God.

Longing for God’s presence
In every human heart there is a spiritual hunger, which can only be satisfied by living in a right relationship with God. In the presence of God, the soul’s longing (v.1, MSG) is satisfied and the heart’s cry is answered. The psalmist writes, ‘How lovely is your dwelling-place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God’ (vv.1–2).

Blessing of God’s presence
As you spend time praying, listening to God through the Bible and worshipping him, you will find that there is no place you would rather be than in his presence. ‘Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you’ (v.4).

God’s presence is a place of blessing, praise and refreshment. It is like rain on thirsty ground (v.6).

Strength from God’s presence
When our strength is in God (v.5), the difficult places, tough situations and the valleys of life can be turned into springs (v.6). As you draw your strength from God in these times, you will find yourself going from ‘strength to strength’ (v.7).

Having made the tabernacle and temple the place of his presence in the Old Testament, now, through Jesus Christ, God dwells and is present by his Spirit in the church (Ephesians 2:22) and in our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of your presence with me. Thank you for the way in which you strengthen me daily with your presence.



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How to Worship God

In his book, The Vision and The Vow, Pete Greig tells of how a distinguished art critic was studying an exquisite painting by the Italian Renaissance master Filippino Lippi. He stood in London’s National Gallery gazing at the fifteenth-century depiction of Mary holding the infant Jesus on her lap, with saints Dominic and Jerome kneeling nearby. But the painting troubled him. There could be no doubting Lippi’s skill, his use of colour or composition. But the proportions of the picture seemed slightly wrong. The hills in the background seemed exaggerated, as if they might topple out of the frame at any minute onto the gallery’s polished floor. The two kneeling saints looked awkward and uncomfortable.
Art critic Robert Cumming was not the first to criticise Lippi’s work for its poor perspective, but he may well be the last to do so, because at that moment he had a revelation. It suddenly occurred to him that the problem might be his. The painting had never been intended to come anywhere near a gallery. Lippi’s painting had been commissioned to hang in a place of prayer.
The dignified critic dropped to his knees in the public gallery before the painting. He suddenly saw what generations of art critics had missed. From his new vantage point, Robert Cumming found himself gazing up at a perfectly proportioned piece. The foreground had moved naturally to the background, while the saints seemed settled – their awkwardness, like the painting itself, having turned to grace. Mary now looked intently and kindly directly at him as he knelt at her feet between saints Dominic and Jerome.
It was not the perspective of the painting that had been wrong all these years, it was the perspective of the people looking at it. Robert Cumming, on bended knee, found a beauty that Robert Cumming the proud art critic could not. The painting only came alive to those on their knees in prayer. The right perspective is the position of worship.


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Psalm 84:8-12

Discover the blessings of worship

There is nothing in this world that compares to worshipping God, walking in a close relationship with him and enjoying his favour. This is what the psalmist prays: ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty... look with favour on your anointed one’ (vv.8–9).
This psalm is all about the blessings of worshipping God in his dwelling place (during this period, it was the Jerusalem temple). Those who dwell in God’s house are blessed and they ‘are ever praising you’ (v.4).
The psalmist says he would rather spend one day in the presence of God than a thousand elsewhere: ‘One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches. I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honoured as a guest in the palace of sin’ (v.10, MSG).
To worship God is to experience him as ‘sunshine’ (v.11, MSG), bathing us in his light and warmth, and a ‘shield’, defending us from evil (v.11).
He prays for this because he knows how wonderful it is: ‘The Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed are those who trust in you’ (vv.11–12).

Lord, I worship you today. One day in your presence is better than a thousand elsewhere. Help me to keep trusting in you and worshipping you.



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2 Kings 24:8-25:30

Pray for a restoration of worship

When we look around at our society it can sometimes seem as if we are in a kind of exile. It can seem that the church is breaking down.
In this passage, we see that the people of God have been through desperate times in the past. But, we also see hope for the future.
As the book of Kings closes, we read of the terrible consequences of a nation that has done exactly what the apostle Paul describes in our New Testament passage for today. They had turned away from worshipping God to worshipping idols (created things).
As a result, we see the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the people going into exile.
During the reign of Jehoiachin (597 BC), ‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it’ (24:10). The leaders of the people were carried off into exile (v.14).
The next king was appointed by the king of Babylon. Zedekiah (597–587 BC) was no better and things went from bad to worse, as Nebuchadnezzar once again laid siege to Jerusalem (chapter 25). This time the outcome was even more devastating. Nebuchadnezzar ‘set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down’ (25:9). The people were ‘carried into exile’ (v.11), ‘Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land’ (v.21, MSG).
We are told, ‘it was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence’ (24:20).
All of this needs to be read alongside the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel – two prophets who were prophesying at this time. (See especially, Jeremiah 13:18, Jeremiah 39 and 52, Ezekiel 12 and 24.) The greatest loss for the people of God was the destruction of the temple. This was the place where they worshipped God and experienced his presence. Now they were ‘thrust’ from his presence (2 Kings 24:20). This was the worst impact of the exile.
Yet, the book of Kings ends with a small ray of hope. In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, he is released from prison (25:27). He is invited to eat regularly at the king’s table (v.29). The exile is not going to last for ever. Here is a note of anticipation of better things to come. The people of God will return from exile and rebuild the temple and begin to enjoy the presence of God and the worship of God once more.

Lord, I cry out to you for restoration and revival. Would you restore your church in this country. Revive us again. May our nation turn back to you, begin to worship you again, enjoy your presence and, on our knees before you, see things from the right perspective.



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