Why separating Christ?

15. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.” (Philippians 1:18)

From the day I began to understand what life is all about until now, I’ve heard lots and lots of stories regarding churches; I’ve heard the positive and negative ones. Stories of men of God (as they are called) embezzling church monies, indulging in sexual immorality, mixing up juju magic to perform false miracles, and many more.

Likewise I’ve heard stories of other men of God helping their church members, comforting them, remaining firm on the truth of gospel of Christ without any dilution.

When you look at these two different group of men of God; the good and the bad ones, you’ll get to a point when you won’t be able to find better words to justify their actions.

However one thing these two have in common is that they are preaching Christ!

Alleluia! Praise God for this!

You read the verses above this post and you’ll agree with Apostle Paul that these two group of men of God, are at liberty to preaching Christ. Their motives may be different but what is important is Christ is being preached by them.

Do you know that sinner gets saved through the preaching of a false preacher who is preaching Christ based on his own interior motive?

I am not the one to judge any man. Only God has the power and the authority to declare judgement on any one. This is not to say that we should not condemn evil acts but we must simply continue to rejoice, just like Apostle Paul, with all our hearts that Christ is being preacher all over the world.

Whatever the motives behind every man of God for preacher, it is God who has the final say. May the name of the Lord be praised forever and ever, amen. May Christ live on for eternity in our lives, in Jesus mighty name, amen.

Peace.

Not Just You

‘After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.’ (Job 42:10)

In verse 7 of the same verse, the Lord was angry with Job’s friends for not speaking right about God and He revealed this to them. It wasn’t until after Job interceded on their behalf that God pardoned them.

Apart from this, Job became richer than he used to be before the affliction.

When you studied Job thoroughly, you will come to discover that throughout his affliction. Job did not curse God. Well…that will be another discussion for another day.

What I would like to bring yo your notice in this post is about being your friends’ shepherd.

Job would have gotten out of his problem and just leave his friends to sort out their own problems with God. In fact Job would have let God punish his friends BUT the bible says that Job PRAYED for his friends.

Job showed love and compassion. Through his intercession, he told God to have mercy on his friends. And God heard Job. Not only that, because he prayed for his friends, Job demonstrated true love as well as true friendship. He showed he was not a selfish man.

And to compensate Job’s love for his friends, God blessed him more that before, I mean more than he used to be to such extent that Job recovered more than he’d lost, previously.

It cost you more than you imagine when you see your friends in need and just pretend not to see anything. God does not give you your friends in order for you to just look at them.

God gives them to you because He wants you to be a tremendous blessing to them. You need not forget the real definition of friendship.

The more you take up the duty of seeing to the welfare of your friends during their needs, the bigger you become and of course, the richer you will be.

I want you to be like Job. I want you to love your friends with complete sincerity and compassion. I want you to be an uncommon blessing for them.

And lastly, I want you not to always be self-centered because when it comes to being blessed and prosperity, it is not just you.

Peace

THROW IT AT ME!

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (St John 8:7)

 

One important thing I’ve noticed among people is that they are very fast in condemning others. When they hear the news of bad events, murder, embezzlement, divorce, suicide or whatever, they don’t take out the time to know what exactly happened before they jump into conclusion. And you might wonder if these people wouldn’t have been better off if they were naturally born to be judges.

 

Sin is not what just began yesterday or today or what will start tomorrow. Since the time of creation, sin is already known and established. And if there is anyone who claims to be holy and has never sin, there is no doubt that this person is more or less a hypocrite.

 

It is clear that we all are able to distinguish the good from the bad but it is very important that we should not let our sense of humanity overpass our sense of wisdom. We have our lives to live. We have the choices to decide what we want. We want to be different. We want to make things happen. So also are our neighbours who want the same things as well though in many different ways. The truth is everybody wants to make things happen but everybody does not have the same level of understanding of how things should be or not to be.

 

Many people, in their quests, have mistakenly cause harms to other people. They probably have no intention of these hurts, or injuries or whatever but because in one way or the other, they have either been provoked or foolishly did not think twice and thus they ended up finding themselves in trouble.

 

And instead of moving out to help these people, there are these ‘so-called judges’ among us whose hearts are no longer as it supposed to be but rather they suddenly wake up to condemn.

 

There is no doubt you, too have been involved in this. I am not here to remind you of how you’ve joined the group of the ‘so-called judges’. I’m writing you this to reawaken you to the word of God and His commandments. Take a look at the above verse and reread it again. You’ll understand the depth of the love of our Lord.

 

You must not judge, you must not condemn, you must not hate, you must not criticise others, you must not… and so the lists go on, endlessly.

 

God is love. He does not look at you and at your sins to determine how He should treat you. He looks at you everyday with compassion because He loves you and He cherishes everything pertaining to you.

 

This is why you must STOP condemning others. If you find this difficult to do, then please look for me, pick up the stone and throw it directly at ME!

 

Peace!

 

Simple but COMPULSORY principles for long life

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2

Pride comes before destruction. It does not come so suddenly or in a hurry. It slips in gradually without any invitation. And a man who permits pride to rule his life should be very careful. There is no profit in it. There are no positive results in pride. All that comes out of it brings in lots and lots of headaches.

Whereas being humble, having that large dose of humility can creates brighter world for you even beyond your imagination. I don’t want you to confuse humility with foolishness. That you are humbled does not mean you should give free chances to nonsense. Being humble will not give you that space to put up ‘show offs’ or derive enormous delight in pride.

Jesus Christ humbled himself throughout His life on earth. And for this, many failed to understand whom He is until after He left them. Today, He keeps telling us through His Word that we must be like Him. Our world becomes better when we apply these simple principles, which are clearly written in the above verse.

Let me quickly break down the remaining,

—   Gentle – It does not say you should let loose your guard. It just wants you to have compassion. Without this, you won’t understand the rudiment of the gospel. Compassion brings out the positive sides inside you. I mean ‘GENUINE’ compassion for life, for people, and for whatever is going on around you. When your heart is stoned cold, how can God dwells in you?

—   Patient – A length of time is nothing in the eyes of God. He sees you. He knows what you want and He knows the best time, the appropriate time for that. So do not be in a hurry. You won’t get far when you are always in haste with life. Don’t lose focus. Don’t lose hope. Just stay calm, take it easy and never cease to pray. I mean – RELAX!

—   Love – The greatest of all commandments and the best of all. Unfortunately, many have taken advantaged of this in bad ways. Love of God is agape love and if you sincerely have this in your life and apply it daily, then you are surely pronouncing the gospel of our Lord. Love people with extreme genuineness even when it is too hard for you to do this. Love people for whom they are. Love people because you truly love them and not because you want to gain something out of them. Love and never stop loving.

Peace!

The Distance between You and God

“The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” 1 Corinthians 8:2-3

You may think this is crazy but I am going to tell you many times without stopping that without God in your life, then you are NOTHING!

When a man believes he has it all without God, he is simply saying that he owns his life and that he created himself. And this man is ignorant. He may be reacting deliberately or out of event that happens to him but then, must he get to that point where he should condemn God?

If you reach the stage whereby life does not have any value to you, then you should watch out. Knowledge rotates everyday. It does not belong to anyone. God alone has all authorities over the wisdom, the knowledge and the understanding of life. It is to Him you are to go to when you need to clarify issues in your life. If you say you are capable of knowing everything in life, then where is the space you leave for God to rule in this world? Where is that big space in your heart that you give to God to live?

A man who loves God has nothing to lose. He has only secured his life and his future. Without God in a man’s life, that person is emptied. He is like a shell without its owner and in the days when the waves come, it will just carry the shell (him) away without any help coming to him.

And it is the positive side for a man who acknowledges God in his life. He shows he has respect for divinity, for spiritual values and for everything pertaining to God. There is no way God will not make Himself known to this man.

I don’t have to boast to you here. I am a living testimony, I mean, a woman who has gone through it all, tested it all and finally come to that realisation that God; only Him alone has all the power and authority of my life. I did not just accept God overnight to preside over my life. I passed the storms, the waves and of course the troubles seas. That I am telling you all the time about God is because I know where you can find the everlasting peace, love and happiness you are looking for. You can find them all in God.

Wait, if you are not convinced, I want you to take this bold step, put aside all that you rely on, all those gods or materials you focused on, and come to God for a while. I bet you are not going to go back. God does not need your money before He can allow you into His presence. He needs you to acknowledge the price paid on your behalf; Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.

Everything is done for you. All you need is come to Him, the author and the finisher of your Faith. You may have diverted or wavered in your faith, I am here to tell you that it is not too late. God is a God of many chances who spreads His love everywhere and forever waiting for you to come back.

Remember, there is no distance between you and God. It is your imagination. He is right there by your side. He hears you. He sees what you are doing.  He knows what you are after, and what you are going through. He knows when you go to bed and when you wake up. He knows all your movements for that day even before you know them. He is waiting for you to break that imaginary gap you create between you and Him, and come to Him.

Peace!

A Day with God

“The Lord says; “These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” Isaiah 29:13

You change your life positively when you ‘sincerely’ worship God. I mean ‘sincerely’ when you go to God in truth. It is one thing to worship God with your hymns and songs but your heart is emptied. And it is exactly another thing to worship God with the same hymns and songs that comes out of extreme genuineness.

There is no doubt that for the sake of money making rituals, many new-founded churches have developed worship in their own styles, which are contrary to God’s foundation. As long as church members can donate huge sum of money, these so-called men of God don’t care about God.  They want the money. And for them to get it, they can go extra length pretending to be on God’s side.

Let me remind you here — God is not to be mocked. It may take time but that moment will come when you realise that you cannot mix God and false worship together. No one may see through your mind to know if you are truly worshipping God BUT remember, GOD SEES THROUGH EVERY HUMAN’S HEART!

It is a shame to the gospel of Christ when you cannot stand for what you call yourself. If you are a Christian, then make sure you are. If you are a false Christian, then ensure you remain like that. You reproach God when your lifestyle is not in accordance with the image of Christ.

Only God can judge. He alone has the power to give you many chances of coming back to Him. He loves you. He cares for you even more than you ever imagine. He does not want you to keep living your life carelessly as if you are the owner of it.

And that’s why He is sending you this message. He wants you to be sincere in your worship of Him. He cares about the hymns and songs of love you sing to Him. He wants to experience the genuineness of your love for Him. Flee from the rules of worship that ordinary men set out.

You alone stand before God when you open your mouth to worship Him. You alone have one heart that God sees as you praise Him. And for this reason, you must rearrange your life and be honest with your Maker.

What are you looking for elsewhere that you cannot find in God? What happened to the love you confessed, tearfully to God that you have for Him? How far have your gone from your honesty with God? Have you lost your true Christian Faith?

Please set a day with God and reconcile with Him. It is never too late. He is not just God of second chance. He is God of many chances.

Peace!

Why not fend for yourself?

“And because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.” Acts 18:3

That one is a man of God does not mean that one is free from working to fend for oneself. God commands us to work and earn our living. By depending on someone else totally to feed us, clothe us, and pay for all of our needs is extremely wrong.

Many so-called men of God prefer to wait on the offerings giving by their members in the church before they can survive.

The question is — What stops a man of God from working?

Apostle Paul worked throughout his ministry. Take a clear look at the above verse.  He did not depend on any of his brethrens to feed him. If you read thoroughly the bible from Acts until Revelations, you will see many verses where Apostle Paul emphasised on the need to work.

You will grow more in the grace of God and you have more confidence in your personal being when you use the talented skills God gives you. It is to the glory of God when you can use your own hands to earn a living for you and your family.

Why should opt out of fending for yourself when you are not disable? Even the disables are working!  You do not have any excuses at all from not working.  Get up and flee from laziness!

Are you a man of God? I implore you to stop depending on your church members to feed you and your family. You are not blind and you are not handicap in any way. So rise up and work!

Do not incur the wrath of God upon your life by refusing to work, embracing laziness and remaining useless. Rather let the name of God be glorified as you step out and look for job and work with your two hands in Jesus name, amen.

Peace!

The Simplest Thing You Ignored

“Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord, and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not enquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.” 1 Chronicles 10:13-14

Saul did not need to die the way he ended his life. God anointed Saul but at the end, Saul messed up big time. This was clear evidence that the end justifies the means.

What you don’t think is important to God is actually what He treasures so much. For instance, you don’t need to spend the next eight hours on your kneels before you think God can hear or will hear you. Just your five minutes prayer to God can create amazing wonders you can ever imagine.

Saul disobeyed God. When he needed help against his adversaries, he turned to God through the prophets but there was no answer, and that’s when Saul concluded God has left him.  Often, God keeps silent not because He doesn’t want to hear you but because He waits to see your reaction, your sincere love for Him, and most importantly— YOUR FAITH IN HIM!

And because he heard nothing from God, Saul ran to consult the medium. The bible says, thou shall not worship other god and thou must not bow to them but Saul forgot all these commandments. Out of desperation, he ran to a medium that helped him to wake up Prophet Samuel from the dead in order to ask for counselling.

Are you like Saul or are you gradually moving into his steps? I would like you to take a pause and think thoroughly before you incur the wrath of God upon your life.  This is what you will get when you stand firm in God without shaking,

  • Your faith will save you.
  • Your faith will deliver you.
  • Your faith will create abundant ways for you.
  • Your faith will makes you live longer.
  • Your faith will take you higher than your expectation.
  • Finally, your faith will increase tremendously.

Do not compromise your faith. Don’t be a Christian today and then turn your back against God tomorrow. What do you gain by this? How far can you go while doing this?

Rest your hope, your faith, and your entire life in God even when you think there is no answer from Him, just believe and wait.  Flee from being like Saul so that you won’t end up losing your life.

Peace!

The Pain of Forgiveness

“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your fallings and shortcomings.” Mark 11: 26

Forgiveness heals the broken-hearted. It restores the missing peace of mind. It creates a new world to those who embrace it.

We live in a world where many things are going wrong. We don’t ask for people to offend us but it happens a lot. In fact, you might just find out someone is set to harm you in your place of work and you begin to wonder why.

The world is filled with the good and the bad. You may try to change the bad sides many times but you can only get this done temporarily because after some times, it will return again.

You may begin to wonder why this and that is not accurate. Or why someone so close to you should be the one in charge of hurting you.

I don’t want to know how far people in your life had committed serious crimes against you. I am writing this post to you to let you know that you have the ability to forgive.

You must not live your entire life in grudge or hatred. You have to forgive. God gives you the rest of your life to live in complete harmony with people and not mess it up.

With the divine help of the Holy Spirit residing in you, you will find it very easy to forgive.

I implore you, do not live on with the pain of forgiveness. Live on the sincere life of a Christian, a child of God carrying the image of Jesus Christ.

Peace!

Without Being Ashamed

“For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous (unfaithfully) and [pre-eminently] sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory (splendour and majesty) of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38 (Amplified Bible)

When a man lacks confidence, believe me, anything can go wrong. He is subjected to making more mistakes than a man with confidence.

Confidence can be gain from various means- from fellow human being, from jobs, from life experiences, and most importantly from God.

And where there is confidence, surely there will be no shame. You will live your life without any complexes, and you will speak of your source of confidence without being ashamed.

In a point where God who is your source of life becomes a lose interest in your life then you must watch out. Watch out, I repeat!

You must not personally destroy your relationship with God. He is never ashamed of your offences. He never condemn your for messing up your life. He never refuses to help you whenever you call upon Him. He never mock you nor make jest of you.

So why should you be ashamed of God? If you keep treating Him like your dog, then He will be ashamed of you too and in every way.

Don’t even pray to fall in the hands of God. He is your Father. He cares for your life and He wants to share eternal life with you.

It will be catastrophic if you gain everything you desire in this world and end up losing your place in heaven with God.

I pray for you that you will in no wise be ashamed of God throughout your sojourn here on earth in Jesus name, amen

Peace!

God or no one else

“They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, and gods he had not given them.” Deuteronomy 29:26

We have ONE life. We have ONE God. For this revelation, our lives are not given to us by ourselves. We are created by God and in His own image. He has the right to create us the way He wants. He could have designed us like the chimpanzee and we would have live our lives in the forest, eating away the grass.

God knows why He chooses to create us like him and gives us the dominion over all the animals in the air, the sea and on the earth.

Therefore why must you become so stubborn as to abandon your maker and instead go for the gods who are nothing but mere waste? There is nowhere in the bible that God ordered us to mix up our salvation with serving other gods.

He created us so that we can live with freedom and love for one another. God does not authorise us to worship other gods. He does not force any impurity on us. God wants us to acknowledge Him and Him alone.

If your life is not deeply rooted in God’s divine love, then you must be ready to change and do away with all the gods. Imagine you bowing down to a carved idol? How do you feel?

It is easy to be forgiven but it is more dangerous when you have to be keep doing the same thing over and over again. Keep off from any barbaric acts. Worship God only. And DO not BOW to any false image, rather, BOW to the KING of kings!

Peace

In Your Ignorance

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30

Jesus Christ is everything we need. He is Lord. He is our help in all moments. He is our deliverer. He is our saviour. He is our intercessor. He is our healer. He is EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

God gives us His son not just as mere gift but to stop us from continuing in our ignorant. In the past, and before Jesus Christ, every one can sacrifice unto God with blood of the animal, and through many means. Then God overlooked lots and lots of our ignorant.

Out of His patience, he waited until the right time when He sent us His beloved son and since then, we knew there is no more space for stupidity. When someone tends to overlook your ways of life, it will get to a point when that person will openly tell you that enough is enough.

Now, God wants you to repent. The days of ignorance are over. He overlooked so much because He loves you. He cares for you. He watches you all these years without any impatient so that you can freely come to Him.

So, what are you waiting for?

Peace!

Do You Know Love?

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life….” Proverbs 15:4a

There are many passages of the bible that emphasis on the usage of tongue and how Christians should speak. The bible is not just a dictionary nor is it an encyclopaedia. It is the word of God given for the development of our spiritual lives.

You know what? Your tongue is very small and of course, as small as it is, it plays many vital roles for your survival. You can taste and mix your food with your tongue but it does not end there.

You can equally talk comfortably with your tongue. I bet that without it, you will be speaking roughly and with difficulty. God created your tongue so that you will have the power to express yourself.  For this reason, please note that it is not a mistake that your tongue is part of your body components.

Your tongue is so powerful and so fast in making you react to situation around you that often you may not realise its potential. Yes, you can talk BUT it is not your strength that is doing the talking. If your notice, you will discover that many times, you have found yourself jumping into a discussion without you controlling yourself.

That is your tongue! It is small but it is capable of either keeping you alive or directing you to your doom.

For this reason, you must start controlling your tongue. What you say to yourself or to those around you has the power to make it happen. If you are the type who keeps talking about the bad issues in your life, believe me, you will keep reaping these bad things.  And if you have been a speaker of peace, definitely, this peace will not cease from your doorstep.

You may be having problem controlling your tongue. Speak to the Holy Spirit. He is not just in your life for nothing. He is there to help you, to teach you, to admonish you, to control you and of course, to change your life.

Whatsoever you say affects you or people in your life. Look at the second part of this verse of Proverbs, it says,

“…But a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4b

It is not by hazard; I mean the word of God.  It tells you exactly the situations of your life such as your tongue.

Careful! I say, careful, my friend! Life is not given to you for you to toy with it. Life is bestowed upon you so that you will be a blessing to the kingdom of God by your ways of life, your conduct, and your speech.  Watch your tongue, teach yourself to control your mouth and you shall live longer than your expectation.

Peace!

Ichabod

“She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”-because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.” 1 Samuel 4:21

The story of Eli and his two sons— Hophni and Phinehas is very interesting because it teaches not only about proper parenting but equally the need to separate the chaff from the wheat.

Eli lacked the ‘strong’ paternal ability to discipline his sons. Hophni and Phinehas were priests and they supposed to follow the footstep of their father by obeying God but they rebelled. They collected briberies, committed lots of atrocities and deliberately sins against God.

When people get to the point where God is not their priority then these people have lot the touch and the glory of God in their lives. And where the glory of God is missing, there will be no peace.

God replaced Eli by anointing Samuel as the priest and this He (God) did long before the war that took Eli and his sons. Even God warned Eli through Samuel’s prophecy but Eli did nothing to avert the danger ahead. He just told Samuel that God is God and let Him (God) do as He said (1 Samuel 3:18).

Eli and his sons died the same day at war not just because they lost but also because they paid for their sins. Eli paid because the ark of God was captured at war and because he did not control his sons, and their debaucheries.

Phinehas’ wife died as she gave birth out of pain and loss of her husband, and she named the child Ichabod. This woman should not have died. There is nowhere mentioned that she too sins but then when a family is paying for their sins, the innocent ones would pay too.

The Glory of God is very needful in the life of every Christian. It protects, provides and uplifts. This is why YOU as God’s child need to be careful the way you are with God. Avoid messing up your life as if God is nothing. Follow His instruction. Obey Him. Live your life for Him and let Him the Lord of your life.

May His Glory not depart from you in Jesus name, amen.

Peace!

Your Major Gateway

“Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.” Genesis 25:21

Prayer is very important. It is one of the major gateways to God. Prayer is not what you should take lightly, I mean what you should ignore as if it does not matter.

As a Christian fills with the Holy Spirit of God, you need to embrace prayer throughout your life. There is no way you can get directly access to God daily without you talking to Him and you do this through Prayer.

It is true that by worshipping you still have access to God but Prayer should not be an alien to you. Your faith increases in God when you pray daily and without ceasing.

You don’t have to get on your kneel all the time of the day to pray. You can pray within you while in a bus, in a train, while driving, while at work, while eating, while discussing with your colleagues or family.

Do not toy with the idea of praying. Do not keep postponing your moments of prayer until you get weary. I repeat, your life as a Christian is not complete without prayer.

Be ready to pray every day and remember, you don’t just pray to God for your need, but you pray to keep 100% relationship with Him.

So are you going to embrace your major gateway— Prayer?

Peace!