Indeed, the Christian walk is all about service, a life long commitment to the cause of Jesus. Scriptures reveal a resultant effect of the ultimate price paid by Jesus
“He died for all that they that live should not henceforth, live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again”2 Cor 5:15
The singular purpose of Christ’s presence on earth was to bring unto himself, a people with an electrifying zeal for divine initiatives. In other words, God’s utmost desire was to populate the earth with men who are totally sold out to selfless service. You might be wont to say “hey he didn’t have to die to get me committed”. Well, his death was not supposed to whip out some emotional sentiments in you to serve him but rather impact upon you His very life, nature and divine abilities. The Christian has been qualified to offer up to God quality service. Not as of His natural endowments but rather as enabled by God.
No doubt there are benefits for doing your part in service. But the Lord spoke of a satisfaction which is derived in just doing service-“my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work” John 4:34.
Let your service unto him be your desire all day long.
Lots of love.
-gideon gbeja
“Before you invest, investigate“. This has been the major rule of most investors. The human mind was originally & naturally configured by God to be a success, so it is not surprising to see much investigation before an investment is made. People want to know how lucrative a business is before they venture into it. Companies & organizations are critically analyzed before their shares are bought. No one wants to invest in a company that will soon experience a decline in profit margin or asset base, not to talk of liquidation.
Not too long ago, a popular bank folded up. I also know of a company whose profit dropped drastically because a doctor claimed that their product was harmful to human health. Such things cause some investors to weep. One major characteristic of almost all investments is Uncertainty – no one knows what could come up tomorrow. Some people in an attempt to solve this problem have concluded that the only investment you can have a high degree of certainty about is when you invest in your children. Their belief is that, in future, they get to pay back in many ways. This is true, but in some cases, the children becomes prodigal and in some other cases, the parents die even before their children are equipped enough to yield returns.
Amidst all these, there is only one investment in which you can be 100% sure that you will have a steady return. Jesus revealed it in Matt 6:19-20 … “Don’t store up treasure here on earth, where they can be eaten by moth and get rusty, and where thieves can break in and steal. Store up treasure in heaven where they will never be moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves”.
This doesn’t mean you should not trade or have earthly investments. Rather, it means that you should not see earthly investments as the best and most valuable. Don’t confide in them for futurity and security because they are liable to loss, rust & corruption. Moreover, they yield returns infinitely lower than kingdom investment.
Kingdom investment has unparallel advantages: it is the only way to make perishable goods/money eternal, because it yields steady returns in this life and in the life to come. It cannot experience liquidation or distress because God manages it. It has no iota of uncertainty because you can be dead sure that God cannot play games with you. It is a treasure that brings steady pleasure without any pressure. The good news is that you can participate in kingdom investment wherever you are and at any time you want. Contribute your time, money & life to God’s work. Support the church and missionaries. Give to other believers. Help the poor always. Whenever you receive your pay cheque or pay envelope, before you venture into earthly investments, go for the bigger one —KINGDOM INVESTMENT!
– tope aladenusi
“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