A friend gave me a story of a man who proceeded to choose a vacation window and paid for all vacation expenses prior to seeking a leave approval from his boss. Contrary to his expectation, his boss refused to approve a leave for him within the vacation window he had chosen and paid for. The young man called the attention of his boss to the fact that he had already picked his vacation destination and all expenses had been paid. Furthermore, he labeled his boss as being insensitive and foolishly flouted his boss’s decision and proceeded on the vacation. This further infuriated his boss who felt slighted at his subordinate’s presumption and gross disrespect of his person, office and the institution. The young man was consequently fired for being absent without a leave approval.
Ideally, the young man should have sought his boss’s approval before making his vacation plans. This is because, as a professional, you’re primarily answerable to your boss or supervisor. To a very large extent, your level of obedience and loyalty go a very long way in determining how much you rise in the professional cadre.
The scenario described above is quite similar to what we sometimes do as Christians. We make up our minds to accomplish a task and we use all our human discretion to make out all the plans we think are necessary, then we go to God for approval. When he doesn’t give the approval we expect, then we begin to doubt His integrity and faithfulness. For instance a person gets set for a journey without initially consulting God for an approval to proceed, then when he is about to commence the journey, he ask God for a safe trip. If something goes wrong while on the journey, we begin to doubt God’s credibility. Another instance is when a person gets wealthy by cutting corners and feels that using such funds to support church events is tantamount to bribing your way through to God. Or a person who consciously and consistently eat a very bad diet and expects to live in divine health. This will all back fire. “God is not mocked, whatever you sow you will reap (Gal.6:7)”.
Ideally, whatever we do as Christians should always start and end with God. He loves us so much that he wants us to take an approval from him before we make every move of our lives, from the least to the greatest (1Cor.10:31 and Col.3:17). As our maker, Lord and savior his integrity is always at stake so he jealously protects it by nature. In other words, He sees his glory in our lives and he’ll want our every step to transmit this glory in return (1Cor.6:19-20).
To be able to effectively seek and take approvals from him we must know the following:
- Know God for who He is (Heb. 11:6, James 1:17, 1Tim.1:17, 1Tim.6:16).
- Know that God Loves you and has a perfect plan for you (John 3:16, Jer.29:11).
- Know yourself exactly as God knows you (Col.2:10, Eph.2:10)
- Know how to love your neighbor. This results as an automatic consequence of loving God and yourself (Eph. 5:1-2, 2Cor.5:14-15)
- Know that every action you take has a consequence, good or bad (Gal.6:7).
“I am God, your God, who teaches you how to live right and well. I show you what to do, where to go. If you had listened all along to what I told you, your life would have flowed full like a river, blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.” Isaiah 48:17b-18 (The Message).
-Emeka Ofia
One key thing to our NEW LIFE is stating from the onset your aspirations and your beliefs. I see this evident in the life of the man, Paul. Whenever they entered a city, they were not so much carried away by the art nor did they necessarily search out a pub or the market square. No!!! They went looking for the church.
If you were to host a friend who on coming to your house asks you when the next church service would be and directions to such a place, it speaks a lot about such an individual. Is it just attending church then? Not really, but his interest makes you draw certain conclusions about him.
Most times people rarely have the time to listen to what you have to say. Few of us might ever make it to the pulpit to say a word or two about our belief(s) but people would have drawn up their conclusions long after you are gone.
It is pertinent to us as Christians to declare our stand from the onset otherwise we might just be drawn into what we did not bargain for. As we exercise ourselves in this regard we would not find it strange or cumbersome to walk in the light of who we have been originally called to be i.e. Christians.
It is important to realize that we might never really get to a ‘religious’ discussion to point out our view but the life we have received in Christ Jesus speaks every moment and it is this we should attest to always in our actions.
-Dr. Bolaji Akanni
In our last edition, I mentioned that there are basically three theories today about how man came into existence. We have already examined the evolution theory.
Another idea that has become more and more popular in recent years is that man owes his existence to UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects from other planets). The UFOLOGISTS believe that intelligent creatures from another planet had something to do with how human life started on this earth. Some of them say that about 40,000 years ago, super-intelligent creatures from outer space visited our planet. These space men found the apes that were then living on earth, and by genetic engineering they caused mutations in the ape population which led to the production of man.
But some questions the UFOLOGISTS have not been able to answer include: Where did the super-intelligent creatures from outer space come from? Who made them? Did other space creatures help them to evolve?
Although the UFO idea seems silly, they appear to come to terms with the idea that man must be the product of a super intelligence, unlike the evolutionists. However, the only true answer as to where man came from is found in the Bible.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness …” Genesis 1:26
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth …” Colossians 1:16
Beloved, one of the greatest excitements of being born-again is that beyond reading in the Bible that man was created by God, you can actually have a personal experience with your creator. You can talk to him while he also talks to you; you daily interact with him to the point that hearing a statement like “God doesn’t exist” may sound similar to someone saying the computer doesn’t exist; because you are probably staring at one right now and you make use of it from time to time.
I’m sure that was the experience of the early disciples of Jesus Christ, that was why Apostle John started his epistle by saying: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” 1John 1:1.
Have you had a similar experience with God? Perhaps you don’t believe in God at all or you have not really had a one-on-one experience with him, we can share more insights to assist you. Please write us on info@christlifeline.org . It will not be wise to discover at the end of your journey in life that you had raced on the wrong road during your entire lifetime.
– tope aladenusi
If you ask some people how they came into existence, they would probably say their parents gave birth to them. But how did our parents, grandparents and great grandparents came to be? Christians who shy away from such critical questions about life are susceptible to wavering in their faith. We have to be really convinced of what we believe and why we believe them.
Today, there are basically three ideas about how man began and only one of these ideas is correct. We will consider one of them today:
- Evolutionary theory – One very popular idea we were taught during our early days in school is that man evolved from lower animals (such as ape-like creatures) in a slowly changing process that has taken millions of years. But the evolutionists have not reasonably eliminate the ensuing heaps of questions such as letting us know where the first set of ape-like creatures came from. Would it be logical to propound a theory that a bicycle became a motorcycle after millions of years? If the idea seems irrational despite the similarities of the two equipments, why should we misplace the similarity between apes and humans? Is it possible to have such wonderful creatures without an intelligent creator? How can life come from non-life by mere chance? How come we have not seen people flying by now even though we have been evolving for some years now?
Take some time to think about the computer in front of you. Imagine the built-in intelligence it has. The way the computer operates also reflects the intelligence of its creator – man. How come the computers did not come by chance? How come many of the objects invented in the world did not just evolve after many years? Why is it that we can trace man’s invention and innovation to him and not to evolution? If we can do all these to mere objects, is it okay to imagine that an amazing creature like man came to being without an intelligent creator?
What’s the only true answer about the origin of man? What do you believe? Why do you believe it?
To be continued …
– tope aladenusi
Now then WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
II Cor5:20
Traditional Christianity teaches that we are poor citizens of the earth hoping to someday somehow qualify to become esteemed citizens of heaven. It paints the Christian race as a hurried escape from a sinful world to a holy heaven and it doesn’t matter how beaten and battered you are along the way, as long as you make it to heaven, that’s O.K.
Brothers and sisters, THAT’S NOT O.K! Its not O.K. for Satan to come dump some cancer on you to speed up your journey to heaven. It’s not O.K. for him to inflict you with Tuberculosis, Liver Cirrhosis, and Diabetes or immobilize you with a stroke. Jesus died and paid not only for your sins but also for your sicknesses. So if it’s not O.K. to sin, then it’s not O.K. to be sick either.
True Christianity does not paint us as the poor citizens of earth trying to make our way to heaven. True Christianity presents us as the esteemed citizens of heaven who have been sent by God to establish his kingdom upon the earth as his ambassadors.
It therefore follows that only spiritually lazy Christians are in a hurry to escape to heaven. Those who know who they are and why they are here are busy establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth in the hearts and lives of men all around.
What kind of Kingdom is it? It is a kingdom of Righteousness , Health, Prosperity, Divine Security, Peace, Joy and all-round Wholeness. When you begin to take your place as an ambassador of this Kingdom, not only will you experience it in your life, but through you many more people will come into the glorious experience of the Kingdom of God in their own lives as well. Hallelujah!
Dr dan oyebamiji
The first man is of the earth, earth: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is THE EARTHY, SUCH ARE THEY ALSO THAT ARE EARTHY: and AS IS THE HEAVENLY, such are they also that are heavenly.
1 Cor15:47-48
There are two races of men on the face of the earth today:
- The Earthy race.
- The Heavenly race.
These two races of men have two different origins, two different destinations and two different sets of principles for living.
The Earthy race originates from the first man, the fallen Adam. They haveSatan as their father, the lake of fire as their destination and living by the senses as their principle for living. You will hear such people say things like: ‘I live my life the way I FEEL’ or ‘I can’t believe anything that I cannot SEE.’ They are slaves of their senses.
The Heavenly race originates from the second man: the risen Christ. They have God Almighty as their father, the new heaven, the new earth and the New Jerusalem as their destination and walking by faith in every word that comes out of the mouth of God as their principle for living.
The question now is: ‘which of these two races do you belong to?’ ‘The Earthly’ or ‘the Heavenly?’ If you belong to the Heavenly, then live like the one whom you resemble. Walk by the heavenly principles of faith and stop being a slave to the testimony of your senses.
When faith sees sickness, faith does not look at what it is; faith declares what it should be and it is so! Walk by faith and live a life above sickness and disease.
Dr dan oyebamiji
HE THAT COMETH FROM ABOVE IS ABOVE ALL AND WHAT HE HATH SEEN AND HEARD THAT HE TESTIFIETH; and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. John3:31-33
A lot of us believers today do not fully appreciate the things that we have in common with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. We often tend to think that though we are the Sons of God, we are not really Sons of God in the same sense in which Jesus is the Son of God.
The Bible however teaches to the contrary. The Bible teaches clearly that we are Sons of God in the same way and to the same degree to which Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 4:17) and it therefore follows that whatever applies to him equally applies to us.
Therefore, the above quoted portion of scripture applies both to Christ and tothe Christian for through the cross, the grave, the empty tomb and now the glorious throne, Christ and the Christian have become one (1 Cor6:17).
So not only is Christ from above, the Christian is from above as well and like Christ he testifies of the things he has seen and heard from above. Like Christ also, men do not receive his testimony, but the few who do declare plainly that God is true irrespective of what they may see, hear, smell, taste or feel in this earth realm.
What am I saying? He that is from above never talk’s sickness for there is no sickness above. He speaks of the things he has seen and heard above and all that can be seen and heard above is THE GLORY OF GOD. And though men do not receive his testimony, the more he testifies to that glory the more that glory begins to manifest in his earthly life. Hallelujah!
– Dr deji oyebamiji
HE THAT COMETH FROM ABOVE IS ABOVE ALL: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. John 3:31 (KJV)
Where do we come from? Wherein lays our root? Who are we and how does that knowledge affect our lives today?
Scripturally speaking, there are only 2 races of men on the face of the earth today.
1. Those who come from above i.e. the citizens of heaven.
2. Those who come from beneath i.e. the citizens of the earth.
Where you come from will determine how you live and the principles by which you live your life. Put an American in any city on the face of the earth and within a short time without announcing himself he’ll betray the fact that he is an American. How? By the way he thinks, by the way he talks, by the way he dresses, by what he eats and so on. Every action of his betrays his origin. So also ought it to be with the citizens of heaven. The way we live our lives must betray who we are and where we come from.
One trait that the above quoted scripture presents as a mark of those who come from above is that THEY ARE ABOVE ALL!
This is the supernatural life of the believer. This is what Jesus brought to us: ‘A life that is ABOVE ALL.’ A life above sickness, Disease, pain, weakness and even death. A life above everything that has a knee and everything that has a name. Embrace this life today and begin to live ABOVE ALL. It’s your life, live it!
– Dr deji oyebamiji
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Mat 18:2-5
Sometime ago I asked children in my Sunday school class the question, “how many of you tell lies?” In response I got several hands up. These ones didn’t care who was watching them or what the person felt, they were just being honest.
In the Bible passage above Jesus is teaching us a great lesson we need to live by. You need to be converted and live like children again to enter the Kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God about? It’s about a domain where God’s rules reign and as a result His Peace, Joy, Love, and Righteousness abound such place. If we are going make our marriage a prototype of God’s kingdom then we need to be converted.
In children’s world except for now that adults are beginning to negatively influence this pure ones, there is innocence, truthfulness, no malice, self expression, trust.
Have you lost your pure thoughts about your marriage?
What are you keeping from your spouse?
What is that hurt, you keep in your heart?
What are those words you have left unsaid to one another?
Who are you looking out to impress at the expense of your marriage?
Humble yourself like the little child and let God lift you up.
It is well with your relationship in Jesus Name.
Shalom
omolola ezeifeoma
| Information/knowledge is power. But in the search for knowledge you will be exposed to so many books, authors, materials, information etc. confusion sets in. Which is correct? Which approach is best? Which do I experiment first? Why so many contradictions? Save your self the hassles. Start from the word.
Thank God we are Christians and therefore custodians of wisdom, for Christ became wisdom for us. Listen friends, all knowledge and wisdom whose foundation is not the word of God might appear to work, but it will fail. “The wisdom of this age (as dynamic as it is) commeth to nothing” 1 Cor 2:6. Don’t get carried away by the wisdom of men. Results you get from their practice are limited and frail.
The Word of God as contained in scriptures still remains supreme. Start from there. Understand that each time you study the word you are “handling the word of life”. I love that. The Word of life. The Word is the creative force of God. By it all things were created, without the Word was nothing made that was made (John 1:3). All things are sustained by the same Word (Heb 1:3). The totality of life is the Word.
It opens us up to unlimited possibilities. There is no limit to what you can create when you handle the word correctly. Ours is an uncertain world from start to finish. Where do I get capital? How do I protect my investment? Suppose I loose all? Thieves? Stock market crash? Depression? So many frightening alternatives.
But with the word, all things are certain. All things and situations answers to the Word. “We learn how to abound and how to be abased…we learn the secret of life, How to remain the same under all conditions”. We are not afraid to start small. We’ve learnt not to despise little beginnings. We are not afraid to launch out. we have the spirit of boldness…we are coordinated and not ruffled…we have a sound mind….we are not afraid of where to get start up capital…we’ve learnt to call those things that are not as though they were. We have evidence of unseen realities. With the word, I have the assurance my business will prosper…and I know I can rise again seven times in seven. Glory!
The word is to sure. It cannot fail. It is consistent, not time barred nor does it become obsolete. It is not a respecter of persons, governments, policies of economic upheavals. I have read so many books on investment but none can compare to the wisdom discovered in scriptures.
So friends “I commend you to God and to the Word of his power which is able to build you up and give you (deliver to you) an inheritance among those that are sanctified…to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest by the prophetic scriptures…” Rom 16:25-26
-emmanuel aladenusi
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