Crew members’ expresses their confidence imposed on the flight Captain just as they calmly sit in the plane till their destination is reached.
Despite the fact that the crew members believes in the ability of the Captain, the Captain also at intervals communicate through messages broadcasted in the plane. At such intervals, the passengers build stronger confidence, because they are carried through by the pilot’s messages. “Fasten your seat belt because we are about to take off; ascend a particular height or about to likely encounter a storm”. Such statements show that the pilot is dutifully alert and alerting them.
Would you consider praying that all unnecessary fears be dispersed? It’s only in your communication with God that your confidence in Him can be built by the day. Without any iota of doubt, God communicates with you when you take time out to pray. Take a clue from the experience of the disciples in the early church. While they took out time to pray, the Holy Spirit spoke to them. (Acts 13:2-3)
Or would you also consider one of the numerous experiences of Jesus when he prayed in Luke 9:28-31. He actually had a communion with the heavenly host.
The cares and worries of this life will persist hard and likely send wrong signals to you to the point that you put aside your golden opportunity of communicating with the Father. Just as a passenger is likely to be distracted and unnecessarily deceived by looking through the window of the plane and seeing the different cloud formations. He’s likely to forget that those clouds are nothing but norms. Instead of steadfastly maintaining the confidence in the communication he’s been having with the captain, he raises a false alarm of what can not be.
Are you getting bordered or deceitfully being swept away by the operations of the world system you’ve seen through the ‘window’? Draw back the curtain and “PRAY SOME”. Reassure your heart via your prayer communication with the Father.
“These things have I spoke to you that in me you might have peace. In the world you (shall) have tribulation; but be of good courage: I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, JND).
Instead of looking into the world and pondering over her offers, why not with the word of God at the back of your mind, pray some more. Reassure your heart, strengthen your confidence, he’s still your father. He’s in charge, and you are on course.
After I accepted to post articles in this column, I spent some time thinking of what my first article should be about.
After going back and forth for a while, I decided to talk about Love.
Why Love?
Love never fails… I Cor 13:8.
If any relationship will be successful a fundamental issue is love, both parties need to understand what they mean when they say “I love you”.
Through Wisdom a house is built and by understanding a house is established.
Proverbs 24:3
Being a person that believes in saying only what I mean, I started my journey to understanding what Love really means some years ago. (Note that I started the journey and I am still on it). I had just met my husband then and things were getting kind of serious between us. I noticed sometimes I felt this rush of emotions, very strong and sometimes I was just there. The feeling was not always high as I expected. At those times I questioned my love for him. I got confused, I felt like an insect trapped in a web. I needed to define what I felt. Was this Love? Could this be the feeling Celine Dion and the likes sing, write, and act about? If it was it didn’t feel like it.
My quest for answers to the questions bugging my mind took me to my concordance to check for Bible references to the word Love. I found a number of interesting passages.
Here’s one definition I want to start and end with, Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails….
– lola ezeifeoma
INTRODUCTION:- The first Psalm describes a person who has strength of character, who delights in the Lord and who walks with God as being “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which yields its fruits in due season.”(Ps.1 vs 3). What is it that gives a tree stability? Where is its major source of nourishment? In its roots; those deep tough tentacles which clutch the ground.
Christians who stand firm, who resist the childish tendency of being swept off their feet by the winds of false teachings are those who have strong doctrinal roots. They know what they believe, why they believe and whom they believe. They refuse to be uprooted. So great can be its impact that Jesus Christ compared an understanding of its truths to being set free from slavery (John 8:31-32). Doctrinal ignorance is the breeding ground for fear, prejudice, superstition, failure and spiritual defeat. Paul’s advice to Timothy – II Time 215
SIX BENEFITS OF BEING SPIRITUALLY INFORMED
- Knowledge give substance to faith:- Faith is trust; before we place our trust in something we need to have good reason to believe that it is trustworthy. Nobody will sit on a chair that will collapse. Rom 1017
- Knowledge stabilizes us during times of testing: Feelings fluctuate, moods change, opinions vary but Biblical truth stands forever. Mat. 7:24-25. many times we face situations that only the knowledge of God can give us insight and wisdom to know what to do. Without sound biblical knowledge, we are at a disadvantage in such situations.
- Knowledge Enable us to handle the Biblical accurately:- A sound understanding of Christian doctrine will help us to interpret and apply God’s word intelligently, correctly and wisely, without a good foundation in theological knowledge, we run the risk of being like children Eph. 4:14.
- Knowledge equips us to detect and confront errors: The best way to detect counterfeit money is to learn what real money looks like. If you have never seen the American dollar bill, you cannot detect a fake bill. Knowledge equips us with the ability to identify false teaching because we know what the truth is.
- Knowledge makes us confident in our daily walk with God: the more we sit at God’s table and partake of His food, the stronger we will become in our spiritual lives. Knowledge helps us understand how God relates with us and our eternal position in Him and this helps to build our confidence in Him even in times of trouble.
- Knowledge provides a grid that filters our fears and superstitions: Ignorance is the workshop from which fear, doubt and heresy are manufactured. An understanding of Biblical theology helps us to filter away the flow of false teachings that may threaten to drive us away from divine truth.
DANGERS TO AVOID
- Knowledge can be dangerous when it lacks intelligent Biblical support: Unless we sift all our knowledge through the grid of the scriptures, we run a high risk of mixing error with truth, wrong with right.
- Our knowledge must be a means to Godliness. Knowledge alone tends to puff up our egos but scriptural knowledge helps us become humble, transparent and compassionate. Knowledge is not designed to give us any factor of superiority over others.
- Our knowledge must be balanced with love and grace. Knowledge alone without the fruit of love and grace will make us intolerance, divisive and arrogant.
- Our knowledge must not keep us from becoming preys to false teachers. We need to consistently apply it to our lives if we are to experience genuine spiritual growth and strength.
Conclusion: The Bible commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul and with ALL OUR MIND (Mat. 22:37-38). If we really love the Lord, we will commit ourselves to serving Him. not only with our heart and soul, but with our intellect as well. And that involves discovering, studying and applying sound Christian doctrine. Not only will this help us to grow in our faith, but it will possible for us to aid those who are weaker in the faith to stand firm against the torrents of false teachings and the bombardments of false teachers.
Christ Lifeline is going to provide you with sound doctrinal teaching following the syllabus of renowned theological school. It will be in layman’s language to make you a theologian with small “t” not capital “T”.
The materials you will access include topics like Soteriology, Pneumatology, Anthropology, Christian Ethics etc. We shall begin a survey of the Old Testament in the next study.
Adapted from Growing Deep in the Christian Life by Charles Swindoll
– Gabriel Ajibade
Lesson Number One
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.
A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”
The crow answered: “Sure, why not.”
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson Number Two
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
“I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.
“Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.”
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.
Lesson Number Three
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said,
“I should be Boss because I control the whole body’s responses and functions.”
The feet said, “We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go.”
The hands said, “We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money.”
And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit!
Management Lesson: You don’t need brains to be Boss, any asshole will do!
Lesson Number Four
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold; the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
Management Lessons:
- Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.
- Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
- When you’re in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!
– femi fadumila
What do you think is the difference between a waiter and a lawyer? An answer to this is that one does a menial task while the other, a mental task. The system of the world recognizes this difference and it is evident in their take-home pay. Do you know that in Christianity also, your state of mind goes a long way in determining how you end up in life?
Your mind is the breeding ground for success. Someone once said Jesus never commanded “be it unto you according to my power”; he always said “be it unto you according to your faith”. Why? The power has already been made accessible, but we are yet to make our way of thinking acceptable in order for us to experience our desired success.
A lot of believers claim to be waiting on God for a miracle while in actual sense, God is waiting for them to change their mentality. Most of the things we crave for in life are only a mindset away from us. Consider salvation, it existed over 2000 years ago by the sacrifice of Jesus, you didn’t obtain it by going to the topmost mountain to perform some spiritual gymnastics for 77 days, but by changing your mindset; by believing and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus. Shouldn’t we adopt this principle in all aspects of our life?
Proverbs 4: 23 (NLT) says “above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do”. This entails making sure that only useful information are processed by your mind. Watch what you read & hear, the people you frolic with, the movies you watch, etc. Always expect the best for yourself and others. I see believers utter good requests to God, but expect bad results, and they get it. Their mouth says ‘Lord, I need it’ but their heart yearns ‘It may not work out’. Remember, the expectations of the righteous shall be honoured.
I tell you the truth, for a believer, a conceived success is as potent as one achieved. Birth and breed success in your mind, for they end up becoming the success that the world will see.
– tope aladenusi
A recent survey that was conducted in the country where I live revealed that most people die about two to five years after they stop working (retire). One of the reasons for this is because over the years, they have only been dedicated to their work. In other words, their life has been centred on their work, so when there was no work to do, there was no life to live.
Do you currently have a job; business or something good you do that puts money in your purse? If your answer is positive, I will like you to imagine you stopped doing all such things today. What other events would you have left in your life? If they are very negligible, then you may be heading the way of most of the retirees in my country.
Don’t get too scared yet because this webpage is dedicated to give you useful tips on how to live a ‘balanced life’.
– tope aladenusi
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” – III John 2.
What kind of father do we have? What kind of God is he? Sometimes believers hold an extra-biblical view of God. A view of God that is nothing more than the witty intervention of an active imagination. That’s why they often end up frustrated in their lives.
‘God is love responding to faith’. That’s who God is. When we walk by faith, we experience his love. Now, if love were to have a wish, what do you think will be Love’s highest wish for the loved? The answer is in III John 2.
We don’t have to climb the mountains or sail the seas to discover Love’s highest wish for us. Love’s highest wish is for us to PROSPER and BE IN HEALTH even as our soul prospers.
Some Christians seem not to be clear as to whether it is the will of God for them to enjoy a life of absolute health. Not only is it the will of God, it is his highest wish.
God loves you. God believes in you and God wants the best for you. God doesn’t inflict his children with sickness or ‘bless’ them with disease. No! He heals all their sicknesses and takes away their diseases because his highest wish for them is that they PROSPER and BE IN HEALTH.
– deji oyebamiji
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light – Ephesians 5:8
Something happened at the cross which we cannot deny. We were darkness, but now we’re light. Our nature was changed.
An understanding of this simple reality has changed the attitude of many believers towards sin. When we were darkness, it was natural for us to sin and to love sinning. That was our nature. That was the desire of our hearts.
But now that we’re not just in the light, but actually the light of the world, it is no longer natural for us to sin or to love sinning. That is no longer our nature. Now we have a nature that desires to do right. Now we have a desire to please God.
A man says, “The things I used to do, I do them no more.” That may be true, but the great change in your life since you met Christ is not primarily your actions. Its your nature. The change in nature is the great change we celebrate. Of course, this change in nature should be demonstrated in a change in actions as well.
Another man says, “I’ve been born again for some time now, but I still find myself with a longing for the old life.” Well, get out your Bible and learn about the realities of the New Life. When you come to a realization of the will of God for your life and you discover the truth about your new nature, you’ll find out the longing for the old life will go! In its place will be an unquenchable thirst for progress in living the new life.
Walk as a child of the light!
– jide lawal
“But I am persuaded, my brethren, I myself also, concerning you, that yourselves also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” – Romans 15:14.
“And let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works;
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom is with some; but encouraging one another, and by so much the more as ye see the day drawing near”. – Hebrews 10:14-15
One of the greatest oddities of Christianity in our times is that most believers only hear the Word preached in a church service. For the vast majority, a sermon from their clergyman on Sundays just about does it.
That deviates considerably from the original plan. Thank God for pastors and other preachers in church services, but the intention of God is that all of us would admonish one another. What a world it would be if everyone of us would make the most of every opportunity to preach the Word!
We don’t need too much of eloquence. We don’t need too much oratory, too. We don’t need people with a lot of education. No! Every believer exhorting those around him and pointing them again and again to God and His Word…
You are ABLE to admonish others. Go ahead and do it!
– jide lawal
The story of the Good Samaritan will ever be a source of inspiration to me. It was spoken by the Master and the Lord, the king of glory. It was a story in response to a very pertinent question at the heart of man’s existence. The discreet lawyer enquired “And who is my neighbour? [Luke 10:29]”
To begin with it was a ‘certain man’, Luke 10:30, pointing to the fact that it could be anybody. He was on a journey and was waylaid by thieves; he was robbed, injured, beaten and left half dead; then the moment of truth and the unfolding of the true character of man. This true character is what the Lord wanted to expose by the parable.
Then the Lord begins in his wonderful teaching style to list the groups of people who found this dying man by the road side. The Priest and the Levite who were the so to say religious men whom people will call ‘Rabbi’. The Levite – those involved in the writing of the commandment, those who appeared to know the law inside out. It is ironical that they who seemed to know the commandment most are those who did not keep it. ‘They both passed on by the other side’, Luke 10:31, 32.
So many things could have run through their minds. “He is not my relation”, “This must have been a reward for his sins”, “Those who robbed him might still be lurking around, they might pounce on me too”, “What if he dies in my hands?”, “I can recognize him, he has offended me in the past and this is the time to repay him in his own coin”. Whatever their excuse, it was not a justification for abandoning the man on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Surprisingly it was the so called sinner that showed love. He cared and was genuinely interested in the plight of the injured, battered, wounded and half dead. The word says “He had compassion on him, he bound up his wounds, and he poured oil and wine. . . . He also told the owner of the inn ‘Take care of him, whatsoever thou spendest more I will repay’”,Luke 10:34-35. Oh how great and wonderful when there is true love, the world would have been a better place.
How many times have we met the half dead man between Jericho and Jerusalem but passed on the other side. How many times have we met those with injured emotions, injured feelings, broken dreams, and weird experiences, tortured souls, weighed down spirits? Those whom have been through the rough side of life, those who feel life has been very unfair to them, those in despair, those rattled with conflict within and without. Those who have known war all their lives, those whom have known poverty all their lives, those who have known hostility all their lives, those who lived in the slums all through their lives, those who lived in the Ghettos all through their lives.
Oh, how often are we not willing to identify with the brokenhearted, the poor, the needy, and the afflicted? We are more concerned about what we can make out of life. We are not willing to give a helping hand or a lending hand. Therefore the ‘Certain’ man who was wounded between Jericho and Jerusalem dies for lack of help. He is lost because man has passed to the other side for whatever reason.
My neighbour is anyone that needs help and I can help if even that help means a sacrifice
– lekan adekoya