Face it!

Take back your God-giving power!

When are you going to stop holding others accountable for your life?

If it was not your spouse, it is the fault of your children. If it was not your boss, it is the fault of your government. If it were not your friends who were responsible, it would be probably your neighbours.

Learn to take charge of your life and STOP blaming others. Indeed, any of these people in your life may have been authors to many things that have happened to you. But do they still hold any powers to what happens next in your life?

At one time or the other, you, too, had contributed to many occurrences of your life either voluntarily or carelessly. Well, that was then. Your pasts do not define the present you.

You only continue to give powers to people when you keep on blaming them. Therefore, I urge you to take back that power by facing it, be responsible and move on.

The People You Cannot Fix

I have someone in my life who is capable of keeping for years everything you did to her. Growing up, myself and other members of our family usually joked about how she could recall lots of things. Unfortunately, her remembrance of our offences to her outweighed the good things we did for her.

She is just like that, and I believe there are lots of people worldwide who are exactly like her. No one can succeed in fixing them. They are like time bombs because when you offend them again, they take care to ensure you don’t forget what you did to them the previous time.

Here is where Jehovah is and will not be like us. Once He forgives us, He forgives us. No more recollection of what we did or how bad we acted in the past. Isn’t that wonderful? We only need to be honest when we come to Him for forgiveness. However, once forgiven, it is not a renewed passport to confining sinning. Do not think anything is permitted.

Shalom!

What They See When They See You

Respect is one of these. A follower of Christ must teach him/herself the rudiments of respect. It comes with knowing who you are in Christ and living accordingly to ensure anyone who has encounters with you will see the power of the resurrection in you.

Being a believer in the redeemed works of our Lord Jesus Christ comprises of packages of regulations to follow. These are not burdensome but, they are given to us for the benefits of our wellbeing.

Respect is when you learn to mind your business, where you let others live, and to focus on your personal affairs instead than being in places or positions where you should not be.

Respect, all in all, safeguards your life from unexpected, embarrassing circumstances that any child of the Almighty ought not to be.

Shalom

My pastor, my saviour

Learn to pray for yourself, and by yourself. The pastors to whom you are running during your crises, are human beings just like you. That means they have personal problems, too. The bottom line is that these are not your saviour.

Often, private prayers help you draw closer to Jehovah than what you refer to as corporate prayers. Besides, the more you run to these so-called pastors, the more you exposed your personal life, and anything spoken out cannot be taken aback. People will respect you if they do not know who you are.

Therefore, be disciplined and learn to talk to God in prayers. Avoid going to any pastors or whoever to pray for you. Pray on your own, and God will answer you.

Can You Stop Trying?

Are you going to spend the rest of your life trying to change people?

Learn to read the Bible in context! Samuel was once a boy who could not convince Eli to address the latter’s son. What Samuel may not know is that Eli tried for so long until he stopped attempting. Hophni and Phinehas were not ready for changes. Then, Samuel’s turn came as a father to Joel and Abijah , and he was faced with a similar dilemma as that of Eli. Did these men make any efforts to straighten their sons? Absolutely!

But the question is, can you change people? Think of Pharaoh, or think of Judas Iscariot who was surnamed the son of destruction. Some are destined to be as chaotic as they are and no matter how hard you try, they are not going to turn a new leaf. You can pray from now until eternity; they will never change.

Rather than trying, why not focus on yourself and move on. Change your life first, change everything you don’t want to be, and you will see that all your efforts on you will not be in vain. God alone, can turn people’s lives around, and not you.

Don’t waste your time trying to change people who are not willing to change. It’s useless. Let Jehovah handle them.

In God’s Time

Jehovah is neither slow nor forgetful as many thinks. His time is unpredictable, consequently making people think that the Lord is no longer responding to prayers.

When He steps in, everything changed. Those who think they can continue to damage others often discovered their powers are useless because God makes a mockery of them. Likewise, those who are with Jehovah are honoured beyond their wildest expectations.

Indeed, in God’s time is the best, and that’s why waiting is important rather than doing it your way.

Balaam of our Time

Balak, the king of Moab, knew the kind of a prophet Balaam was. The latter loves money and fame. For Balaam, It was all about belly for the food, food for the belly. The more Balak increased the payroll, the more intense Balaam’s desire to became to go and curse the Israelites. So, Balaam kept going to God to ask whether he should go with messengers from Balak.

In similar patterns, we have so-called men or women of God who claim to be pastors or prophets but, whose conducts are ungodly. They love money to the extent that they will manipulate their church members to extort money from them.

Discipline is a lifeline to the enablement of finding profound meaning in Christ.

Has anything changed?

What is it like being in someone else’s shoes?

I guess the time has now come for many to see how privileged they are and how others around them are not. The pandemic may be over for some. However, this is the moment that majority of people are going to bear the brunt.

Can we now discuss the problem of the so-called White-privileged, racism, unemployment, job losses, street violence, burglaries, death of the breadwinners, the upsurge of domestic violence and incest, the inequality gaps between the modest and the affluent population? All of these and many more reared in their heads before -during- and after the confinement.

The question is, how has your perspective about others and life been altered in some ways as a result of the global health crisis?

Those Who Hurts Others

When people hurt others, they are not aware that there is always a paybac day. The story of Joseph is a perfect example. Despite living in wealth, his brothers were afraid of him. There is no doubt they did keep their guard even when he assured them, as mentioned in the above verse.

Is there anywhere in the Bible where Joseph’s brothers’ death was mentioned? None! It depicts their irrelevance that was so glaring as a result of their past sin. Those who deliberately inflict pain on their fellow humans often finish their lives in a pitiable state, unless of course they repent and desist from their wrongdoings.

No matter what anyone sows, they will reap their harvest.

Shalom

Christians Who Know Too Much

The government of all respective nations seems to have enough information about the ongoing health crisis than we do. This is why they imposed lockdowns and the continuing imposition on everyone to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

But it bothers me when I see people failing to obey these instructions. At the stores, on the streets, and everywhere; many do not care at all. Some live with the mentality that this is just like any winter flu. However, winter is long gone, but the virus is still active — simply because it’s humanmade.

We all want to live without all these compelled rules, but, this time does not permit negligence. Any acts of deviance have their repercussions. Rather than putting oneself in grave danger by getting infected and afterwards calling Jesus Christ to help, why not merely heed to requirements of safety measures? God will not listen to any Christians who violate their authorities.

It is for such a time like this that Jesus instructs us to give to Caesar what belongs to him, and Jehovah what belongs to Him.

Shalom.

How Not to be a Parent

In Human Nature and the Social Order (1902:80), Charles Horton Cooley asserts, “It is not at all uncommon to wrong one person out of affection for another.”

Being a parent is one thing, and being a good parent is another. Rebekah was both. Her actions cause total disasters in the lives of her children. Loving one child more than the other, is absolutely a gateway to catastrophic loss.

Jacob (Israel) was another example. But it seemed that losing Joseph, his son, was an act of indirect divine revenge for what he (Jacob) himself did to Esau, his brother. What goes around comes around. Although Joseph’s story ended well, Jacob has to endure years of torment before he reconciled with his son in Egypt.

As parents, be careful about exhibiting your parental affection for one child in front of your other children unless you want to create lasting troubles.

Shalom.

Who is my neighbour?

We had the sun today. At least, for the past few days, the weather has been generous to the extent that the talk of switching off the heaters seems to be on everybody’s lips.

With the sunshine comes out the decisive question about how to continue using the masks. Anyone wearing an N95 or the KN95 and walking on the streets in the middle of a sunny day will tell of how unbearable the cover and uncomfortable they feel with it on them.

I went to a drugstore to get the face shield and ended up getting in a short conversation with the saleswoman. We reflected on how we ended up in this situation. This time last year, it is likely the majority of people are not expecting what is happening now. The last five months have shown how man is capable of destroying his fellow human beings. Today, countries are pointing fingers to blame one another.

However, the question is, who is responsible for all those innocent lives wasted away via deliberate abuse perpetrated by those in the place of authority? Can you still trust any leaders enough to place your faith in them? Or would you rather shift your focus away from the chaos of world and place your faith onto Jehovah?

Shalom

Why Christ is All You Need

Many times I heard some people say, “if people were like God, this world would have been a mess.” They are not far from the truth. Already, the world is unhealthy, and for humans to take the place of the Almighty would be a further disaster. The current pandemic has shown the heart of man is destructive.

Before that, there are and still the trolls of the internet who fill they have the rights to destroy the reputation of others.

Among these are political leaders whose attitudes are called into questions; church leaders whose behaviour is far from the beautiful image of Christ; family members or friends with full hidden bad intentions.

All of these and many more have revealed Jesus Christ is the only way out. Psalms 27:1 sums it up correctly. Christ is the escape route amid any problems. He does not deceive, and he has no hidden agendas with the intent to hurt. Above all, He is the best friend ever!

When you let Him have His way in your life, things will fall into places for you.