BOOM.....Goes Life!

I sat down, this night, thinking about Chris, his life and how he is no more on earth but with the Lord. I looked back at how he was always trying to be on top of his game; being the best in his profession; acquiring qualifications, from one certification to the other.

And now, he is no more! Life just stopped! All that achievement, gone! He couldn't take them with him when he passed on to glory. All he acquired and achieved had to be left here on earth. But thank God, he knew Jesus Christ before he left. He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour in this life that he lived. And so, he is in heaven!

Do not get me wrong. It is good and the right thing to be the best that you can be; pour out all that God has put into you, here on earth. Afterall, that was the blessing that was pronounced on to Man by God; "Be fruitful and multiply....", Genesis 1:28. But a life full of riches and wealth and worldy achievement without Jesus Christ is a 'WASTE'. The way we live here on earth determines where we spend eternity, or to use layman's words, where our spirit will go after we give our last breath; either hell or heaven!

But a lot of us live as if there is no end to this life that we live. We hold on to things that are not necessary. We lay up treasures here on earth; the earth that we can only spend maximum of 120 years. But where we are going to spend eternity, as in live forever, we are not bothered about it.

Galatians 6:8
"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

And the amazing this about life is, we can lose it within a second. When death comes, which can happen anytime, we won't have the time to think. BOOM! We are gone!

James 4:13-14
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

This is not the time to say, "I attend church every Sunday and weekly services" or "I am a worker in the church, a deacon or an usher". Outside the church, who are you? Can you confidently say, "I am of the Lord Jesus' and He knows me"? If you cannot, this is the time to make a decision and be a disciple of Jesus Christ and not just a follower.

May God help us all!

How Do You Handle Trials?

I was just checking the programmes on TV, winding down to go to bed when I came across John Bevere's teaching ~ The Messenger on one of the Christian channels. He was 20 minutes or so into the teaching and was more or less rounding up. It was as if God wanted me to hear the bit he was talking about when I tuned in.

The bit John was talking about was encouraging the listeners not to complain during trials and he quoted Malachi 3. I was able to hear some of what he said, but I also read the whole chapter as well. And I was amazed and enlightened from what I read.

Malachi 3: 14 - 15 show how 'God's people' moaned and whinged about their trials, comparing themselves to the world and their judgement was that the world is better than them.

“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry for our sins? From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’”

These are the people that are supposed to be believers, who know and love God. But majority of believers are 'Christians' when all is good, but when the going gets tough, they are ready to look back like Lot's wife did. And we all know what happened to her.

But God has words of encouragement for His own people that choose to stand for Him, even when all is falling apart around them:

Daniel 12:10:
"Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means."


Malachi 3:16 -18:
"Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.  
“They will be my people,” says the Lord Almighty. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”"


Revelation 22: 11-12:
"Let the one who is doing wrong continue to do wrong; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue in holiness.
Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds."

Trials are to make us stronger amongst all other things. Though the devil might want to use these trials to bring us down, but the Lord said He will turn it around for our own good.

I will conclude with a quote from Arthur W. Pink:
"Satan is ever seeking to inject that poison into our hearts to distrust God's goodness - especially in connection with his commandments. That is what really lies behind all evil, lusting and disobedience. A discontent with our position and portion, a craving from something which God has wisely held from us. Reject any suggestion that God is unduly severe with you. Resist with the utmost abhorrence anything that causes you to doubt God's love and his lovingkindness toward you. Allow nothing to make you question the Father's love for his child. "

My Heart Cry, O Lord!

Times like this, it feels as if You are far, though I know You are working behind the scenes. But I feel so alone. The world feels so big and I feel like a tiny speck in it.

Facing the next hour is like a struggle talk less of facing the next day or the future. Everything looks and feels like a burden.

It is hard to articulate, but I know You can hear my heart cry...

Help me Lord!

'RESPECT' to Single Mothers

You cannot fully picture what a single mother's life is like unless you are in her shoes. She is at the same time, the father, the mother, the breadwinner, the cook, the cleaner, the bill payer among all other roles she plays. It is not an easy life but she keeps going. She carries herself well, because every move she makes is being watched by her little ones. So she cannot afford to cry when she feels like, but at calculated times. Like when the children have gone to bed, or run to the kitchen and shed a tear or two and quickly wipe her face and come out smiling, showing the children that all is well.

She stands her ground out there, knowing that people are wondering what her story is. Some even conclude that she must have had a wayward life, that is why she is where she is. But whatever the story is, the fact remains that she is doing a two-man job. She makes sure that her children are dressed well, so that people don't look down at them or stereotype them.

Most times, she is mentally, physically and spiritually tired, but she keeps going. The children have school activities, she would have to be there, nobody to share the burden. She runs out of milk or bread, she will have to put all of them in the car (that is, if she has a car), regardless of what time it is, to buy just bread.

There is nobody to share school runs with, which can be very tiring, but she keeps going. She is under the weather, but she has to get up, because the children need to be attended to. The only time she can get a bit of rest is when she lays her head on the pillow in the night. And even those times, her brain is still working, doing all sorts of calculations.

I can go on and on...the way your children go 'mummy', 'mummy', and you wish they will just keep quiet for some minutes so that you can think. That is how life is for you. But I want to use this opportunity to salute you (and myself) and to encourage you. God watches over you and it is in your weakness that His strength is perfected. As the scripture says in Isaiah 54:13 that all your children will be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children, so shall it be for you. Be encouraged! RESPECT TO YOU!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDPsDtfnk-c

The Purpose of Independence

Nigeria is celebrating her 50th year of independence today. The whole country is jubilating. Even the people in diaspora are not left behind. Afterall, we are Nigerians and proud to be regardless of where we are.

But as I was praying this morning, the Lord laid this on my spirit about independence.

Moses was sent to Pharaoh to ask for the independence of the Israelites. But he did not ask for the sake of it. There was a reason for it: to worship the Lord.
Exodus 3:18: "Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ "

There were blessings that God promised the Israelites in conjunction with independence from Egypt:
Exodus 3:17:  "and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."

And as I was thinking about Nigeria and her revelry of today, these question came to mind: "What does this anniversary mean to us?" The Bible says in Proverbs 29: 18, "¹Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he." The New Living Translation states it this way, "When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild..."

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they forgot the vision; they went after foreign gods and did things their own way. The consequence was for them to be wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. When a nation forgets God, they run wild like an headless chicken, not going forward or backward.

Nigeria needs to come back to God. Though, we have churches 5 minutes away from each other, we are so far from God. Going to church has become more of a religion, seeking supernatural end to our challenges, instead of seeking and knowing the Giver of Life.
50 years is a long time to wander around, it is time to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and give our lives totally to Him. That is when we can say with conviction, that we are independent....to do what He wills!

The Battle of the Voices

There are two paths in life

His way or my way

One voice says, “Do it”

The other says, “Don’t”

One voice says, “Go this way”

The other says, “Come and play”

And the battle gets hotter

As one voice tries to be heard over the other

Even though the other voice is not that loud

But the impression is very strong

The one that strikes the ear with great force

Gives me a short-sighted picture

Enticing and very tempting

Pleasurable to my vision

I know deep within

As the silent voice tells me so

That the other way gives temporary gratification

But the end is death, the way to hell

I still struggle so hard

To make the decision that is right

I hear the laconic voice says,

“My way is narrow “

And I thought, “I cannot go through”

“I will not leave you nor forsake you”

And I am wondering how

“My Grace is sufficient for you”

And I said, “Hmmm”

“And my strength is made perfect in your weakness”

That delighted my heart

“And my peace I give you in abundance

And I said, “Thank You Lord!”

So I chose the narrow way

Knowing that He is holding me by my hand

And I said, “Yes Lord

To Your Will I shall obey”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZZ7nVIGFww

Life Of A Widow

Life was good with the bone of your bone
That God gave you as your own
Then life stopped when he was gone
And you thought, "How can I carry on?"

You started the next day being strong
People are amazed at the way you are holding on
You smile and laugh with no tears
But in your heart you are full of fears

Decisions are there to be made
Nobody there to deliberate
You make the decisions anyway
Hoping that everything will be okay

The world has an expectation of how you should behave
And you are trying to comport yourself
But most of them have never been
In the situation that you are in

All of a sudden, you started feeling lonely
But there is nobody to share your thoughts with
For their perception might be that you are a slattern
For having such a longing or desire

Sometimes, you feel that you have to prove
That you love your husband even after death
But the Bible says, “To death do us part”
Which, shows that you can’t hold on to the past

But you wonder, “How would I meet this Man
That will be like my darl’
Because the standard is so high
That my husband has left behind"

But the Lord says, “The best is yet to come
Better than what you have seen before,
Trust in me and not on your own insight
And I will make everything right!"