-WALK AWAY: I once read a book written by Randy Alcorn, ‘The Purity Principle’. He shared a story of a man whose occupation required lodging in hotel rooms because he moved from place to place. He was a devoted man of God. The man said whenever he was in the hotel room, all what they used to show on TV were immoral movies. He said ‘after so many trials i.e. getting filled with the immoral movies, I finally made decision to do something. Whenever I check into a hotel room, I ask them to remove the TV from my room. Invariably, they look at me like I’m crazy’. ‘But sir, you don’t have to turn it on’, but I used to insist. This is how I overcame that temptation’. This man was filled with a particular wisdom. That was ‘It’s always easier to avoid temptation than to resist it’. ‘Flee the evil desire of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith…. of a pure heart’. 2 Timothy 2:22. Walk away now!
-OPTIMISM: God never pushes us beyond our current limit of endurance. The word ‘able’ in 1 Corinthians 10:3 exist so as to know our ability. The word ‘ability’ explains the difference between the phrase ‘I can’ and the phrase ‘I may’. The confidence in the latter phrase experiences staggering but the former phrase experiences confidence. Now, God has let us realise that overcoming the gluey temptation is what we are able to do. This is not a matter of ‘I may’ but a matter of ‘I can’. According to 1 Corinthians 10:3, therefore, the temptation is prescribed by the ingredient that our strength reveals because God says ‘I will not permit you to be tempted above which ye are able…’. In other words, the altitude of our strength is gauged before the synthesis of temptation by the devil. Did you get my point?
-GET YOUR MIND BUSY WITH PURITY: ‘An idle hand is the workshop of the devil’. Devil keeps on looking for a space-hearted man so as to fill up the space with wrong thoughts. So when there is no vacancy in your heart, devil turns back and goes farther to a space-hearted man. Loneliness is also the root of evil. When you are lonely, get your mind busy with purity. When devil sees that your mind is too pure for him to stay, he goes away. So let your heart flaunts no vacant board when the devil comes with the aim of filling your heart with wrong thoughts.
-AFFIRMATION: ‘…and take the helmet of salvation the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God’ Ephesians 6:17 Jesus Christ overcame his first temptation through the word of his father (GOD). A soldier can never go to war front with bible likewise Christians are not expected to go to war front with ammunition. The word of God is our sword, when we fling it, devil flees from our vicinity.
Meditate on the word of God.
-SCREEN YOUR FRIENDS: ‘as iron sharpens iron, so as one man sharpens another’ Proverbs 27:17. Friends are like soil, wherever you go, you see them, but farmers never hesitate on which soil to plant. They know it’s loamy soil that brings out the glory of their seeds’ Author William says ‘A true friend knows your weakness but shows you your strength. Feels your fear but fortifies your faith. Sees your anxiety but frees your spirit. Recognises your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.’
You don’t keep friends for company’s sake. You walk with people who bring the best in you in the way of God. Choose God’s favorite people as your mentor and friends.
FINALLY: ‘Therefore let him who thinks he stands well take heed lest he fall.’ (1 Cor. 10:12).
You are blessed!
A.O.D. Oluwafemi
The Christian church was born in a world that was already old. Great empires such as Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Persia and Greece had risen and fallen. The church was born in the Roman Empire, the greatest of the ancient empires that governed the civilized world. It was almost exclusively in that empire that the Christian church lived the first five centuries of its life.
The roots of the Christian church reach back deeply into the history and religion of Israel. Jesus said, “Salvation is for the Jews” (John 4: 22, Gal 3: 29). The earliest church was wholly Jewish, her saviour was a Jew and Jews probably wrote the entire NT. A brief note of Israel’s history is necessary here.
David founded the Kingdom of Israel around 1090BC. He reigned until about 960 BC. At the death of Solomon his son around 930 BC the kingdom split into two because of the rebellion of Jeroboam (1Kings 11: 26). The northern part called Israel, was taken into Assyrian exile in 721 BC while the southern part called Judah was taken into Babylon exile in 586 BC. In 539 BC Cyprus king of Persia conquered Babylon and allowed any exile who wished to return to Jerusalem to do so. These returnees in time rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem and the temple (Nehemiah 7:1). Ezra led a second set of the returnees and he re-instituted Israel’s observance of the Torah, Israel’s Law (Nehemiah 8). The Pharisees grew out of this movement. Around 334 BC Alexander of Macedonia conquered Greece. When he died in 323 BC his generals divided the empire among themselves. Egypt and Palestine came under the authority of Ptolemy. In 198 BC Palestine came under the authority of the descendants of Seleucid.
The Ptolemy Kings had permitted the Jews to practice their religion but the Seleucid pressed them to surrender their religion. An aged priest named Matthias and his four sons led a rebellion. Of these, Judah was the leader and together they are called the Maccabees i.e. men who fight violently. The Seleucid was subdued in 141 BC and Israel became independent again. In 63 BC, civil war in Palestine gave occasion to Rome to establish her authority there; therefore Israel’s rulers were appointed by Rome. In 37 BC, Herod the Great, during whose reign Jesus Christ was born, became the King with Rome’s approval. After his death, the kingdom was divided among his three sons:-Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Philip. Herod Antipas was the one who killed John the Baptist (Mat 14: 1). In 6 AD Archelaus was deposed and sent to exile, his area became a Roman province and ruled by Procurators. From AD 26 to 36 the procurator of Judea was a Roman named Pontus Pilate.
– gabriel ajibade