Month: July 2021

““For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots will not cease. Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground, Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.” Job‬ ‭14:7-9‬ ‭

Hello, how was your weekend? If you read the whole of chapter 14, it is the author (Job) who had a moment with himself thinking about the grave and afterlife. This particular verse was in comparison to man’s ending. Job had a limited understanding of the afterlife and claimed trees have hope when they die but when man dies, he is wasted away. That is not scripturally true anyway.

Out of his prose, the hope of a tree stands out for me in today’s post. Job’s observation here was, there is a sort of resurrection in the world of trees and plants; new life can sprout out of an old stump.

Look at all the factors of death against a tree here: it is cut down, the shoots are not growing, old roots, a decaying stump. Yet, once water touches the tree, the appearance of death on it gives way to new life- it grows and brings forth branches… AGAIN!

I don’t know how the first six or seven months may have turned out for you. My encouragement to you is, bounce back and flourish again from whatever setback, pain or disappointment you might have experienced.

A tree will grow again because of what touches it- water. What ‘touches’ you can be a factor to your resuscitation.

Once upon a time, a man who walked on this earth as Jesus had an interaction with a Samaritan woman talking about what Job lacked understanding of; man’s ending. He then gave the lady a clue as to who He truly was and the gift He carried.

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But anyone who drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give people will be like a spring flowing inside them. It will bring them eternal life.”” John‬ ‭4:13-14‬ ‭

When the woman believed in the message of Jesus and saw Him as Lord, it was similar to drinking water. Her life now had found meaning and a purpose to it. That is hope. She then left her water pot and drew a whole city to Jesus. Your life will find meaning again and shoot forth like a tree when you smell the scent of water in Jesus.

With Jesus, you will not only find hope to keep on ticking in life. He also gives great meaning to the afterlife as well. Certainly, we are more than a tree. We will live again after death because of the gift of eternal life.

Today, I present to you Jesus, the living water!

I pray for every reader to keep hope alive! May we bounce back AGAIN! I pray that may Jesus be made real in the hearts and lives of every reader that wants to know Him. May they experience what I have truly experienced- living water. Amen!

Hope you enjoyed today’s read? Please like and share today’s post. I also look forward to your feedback in the comments section below.

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Thanks for reading.

Till, I come your way again…

Peace & Love.

“When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”” Luke‬ ‭14:7-11‬ ‭

I hope we all had a great weekend? This Bible text caught my attention on a great lesson on humility.

Jesus was at a wedding watching the guests picking their places of honor at the table. In my mind’s eye, I can see them probably scrambling for those seats to feel important.

Jesus, being an observer, decided to use a parable to get his point across. A parable is a story, whether fiction or non-fiction, to drive home a spiritual truth. So the point of the story was humility, but used a story of how it is more honorable to be invited to a place of honor than assuming that place only to be unseated by someone more important. He then ends on the note that if one exalts himself, he will be humbled. And the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

From this story, humility is not thinking of yourself less. Humility doesn’t promote inferiority complex. Anybody who has a complex is NOT humble. We shouldn’t mix the two. Humility gives place to believe in our strengths, skills and talents. Humble people are confident.

The second point I draw from this is, humility is thinking less of yourself. The first has to do with self esteem, this point rather emphasizes on us not being the center of attention. Everything should not be “me, myself & I”. When you think more of yourself, you will want to be associated with the high & mighty, occupy chief seats etc. I have also noticed how the craze for titles are a rush for such ilk. People like that are very partial, and will relate with you based on status. How sad!

People who think more of themselves actually think of themselves less. It is because of a poor self esteem, that is why they mask themselves with a false sense of superiority at the expense of relationships to get to the top. Looking at the story critically, the place of honor was not what Jesus was concerned with. It was rather the attitude with which they attach significance to that place of honor that probably caught Jesus’ attention.

Some feel so “important” that not getting the right seat will throw them into a hissy fit. No way, am I also advocating disrespect. But if you attach your worth or significance to a seat of honor or your associations, that is a humility test that needs to be retaken.

Jesus promised, those who live a humble life will be exalted in the end. Living a humble life in this context means thinking of others first before assuming what you think is rightfully yours. So humility here is more of an attitude.

May we choose the path of humility which has a great recompense of a reward.

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Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts.

Till I come your way again…

Peace & Love.

Hello guys, glad to come to your way again. How was your weekend? I followed up on the sports events in that span: COPA America, Wimbledon & Euro 2020. The drama filled with sports is something else… lol

Last week, we stressed on doing things out of self will and discipline is not ALWAYS the key. No matter how resolute you may seem, there are just “some things” that won’t bow to your resolve. We looked at a Bible passage of an apostle- a church leader who battled with certain bad habits. He came to the end of himself. In as much the virtue of self-mastery should be promoted, there are times you are at your wits end with yourself.

Look at the following verse of the same chapter we looked at last week.

“This makes me very sad! My body is leading me to death. I need someone to make me free from the power of sin over my body.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭7:24‬ ‭

The apostle, who was Paul in question, felt wretched over his inability to deal with the power of sin which was the issue at bay. This should teach us to have an empath on “certain people” who tend to give it all, yet don’t seem to overcome in the area of certain vices and addictions they may be personally fighting. Look at a church leader at his wits ends trying hard to save himself! This mirrors the silent cry of many going through it. Today, some of the people under the spotlight who are dealt the harshest of criticism are pastors embroiled in a scandal.

So, did Paul become free? Yes. Look at the evidence in this Bible verse.

“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭7:25‬ ‭

So you see, Paul indeed came to the end of himself and that is where Jesus Christ took over. Some of these fights in trying to conquer personal demons are out of our reach when we rely SOLELY on self will and discipline. The answer is in Jesus Christ who became our Lord by dying for our sins which included all our sinful, wicked and destructive habits that we don’t want people to know. He died so that we can all come to a place of rest by relying on Him.

It is only when people have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ, that they will TRULY come to a place of rest and empowerment to ward off destructive behaviors. As a Christian, I can personally attest to this: there is a certain inward strength and tenacity different from my natural, that sails me through some things. It is comforting at the same time knowing God has got this with me.

God doesn’t force a relationship with man. Man makes a will and a conscious decision to do so, and it is only through Jesus Christ that God ceases becoming a mystery to being very real in your life.

Think about it…

When you make that decision, pray this prayer: “Lord I invite you into my life as my savior. Deliver me from myself and from all my sinful ways. I repent of this and take this step of faith to proclaim you as the Lord of my struggles. Help me to know God as a father. Amen”

Congrats, if you did! This is the first of many steps. Get a Bible or download one- there are many Bible apps now. Look for a church in your area for mentorship and guidance on this walk of faith. Your journey of freedom starts now.

Thank you for making time to read. Let me know your thoughts, ideas, suggestions or questions in the comments section.

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Till, I come your way again…

Peace & Love.

“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” Romans‬ ‭7:18-19‬ ‭

Hello, glad to come your way again. I had a great weekend. Hope yours went well?

This Bible text really speaks to me that I want to share with this community today. I have learnt that, sometimes no matter how strong willed you are, you will still fall flat on your face when it comes to dealing with some bad or addictive habits. Sometimes, it is easy to counsel people and give them “steps” to beat it or “pray away” the situation- which can be a religious way to cop out. And yet, they still struggle.

With little understanding of the situation, we tend to judge those people we have counseled or prayed for that they are not disciplined, lack self governance or they are “not trying hard enough.”

Please listen to me; EVERYBODY has an issue which will let us talk like the scripture I just quoted. You know why? Because if life was that easy where everything can be fixed with resolutions, “mindmatics” & discipline, then we will never need God at all.

This scripture talks about the author’s personal struggle in conquering sinful tendencies. He was a Christian- in fact an apostle. He was a church leader that had people that look up to him in the community, yet he had struggles. Please, even monks do struggle! Understand that! Your “role model” perhaps is going through hell trying to overcome certain habits at the expense of his fame, fortune and reputation.

I wrote this to let you know, it is human and normal that discipline sometimes is not enough. In life, if all that you have is your discipline, I feel sorry for you because at a point, discipline is going to fail you. Keep on living and you’ll discover that.

Yesterday, in this part of our world was Independence Day, and even though people commemorated it with food, fun, celebration and fireworks. You ask yourself, “are people really free?”. So many are fighting serious addictions, bad habits, and the issue of sin which has caused them to throw their hands up in despair wanting to give up. A country can be independent, but the souls of that country NOT.

I want to speak to you through this post that DON’T GIVE UP! The verse of this chapter I quoted ends well on a good note, and we will look at that next week. We should have more empathy and understand difficult situations.

It is okay for people to touch us with their ugly and uncomfortable situations, and we not shooing them away. The truth is, what about if they have really tried their best?! Are we GOD to judge them as failures? What about you having a facade of perfection, yet quietly struggling? We can do better, good people!

SOMETIMES, DISCIPLINE IS NOT ENOUGH!…

May God keep you safe and sound! For those whose self-worth has been crushed due to your personal struggles, I pray for healing and restoration. I truly do!

Please comment, like or share today’s post. Subscribe to this blog too, if you haven’t.

Till, I come your way again…

Peace & Love.