IN MY LITTLE CUBICLE: ALL SAID AND DONE

IN MY LITTLE CUBICLE: ALL SAID AND DONE: If we succeed in making the church what it is supposed to be, a house of saints, washed by Jesus blood, holy and righteous but at the same t...

ALL SAID AND DONE

If we succeed in making the church what it is supposed to be, a house of saints, washed by Jesus blood, holy and righteous but at the same time a place of refuge for sinners that are repentant. A place for those who want to get closer to God, if the church became the window through which the world could see God and His Plan.

If we succeed as Nigerians, if we are able to confront it all, stop corruption, provide 24 hours electricity, have better roads, build a great rail network, get it all to work again, be the wealthiest nation in the world by virtue of the wealth of resources that we have, and for the same reason become the land of opportunity, the land where trees flourish. If we are able to fight the oil spills, stop the gas flaring, have leaders who are content. If we are able to eradicate malaria, cure HIV/AIDS; stop the cancer of corruption that destroys us from within. If we are able to bring an end to the reign of terror by our brothers in the south-south and those in the north. if we all get it right and not turn even the simplest thing upside down like calling a 40 year old man a youth minister.

If we succeed together as a world, if we are able to end the battles that rage, and Syria and Egypt and all of the Arab nations find peace within themselves and with every other nation. if North Korea becomes a tourism destination and Russia and USA have the highest trade figure between themselves. If we are able to find an alternative energy sources other than oil or somehow are able to curb the pollution that stems from the use of oil and gas. If America learns that it can’t always be the world power and cannot forever police the world, if every nation or community will be its own police. If we all learn to live together as one and realise that we would not always agree on everything but can live together just a man does with his wife because He loves her.

If Hollywood and Nollywood learn that they are there to teach us lessons and not to promote the very vices that have led to the deterioration of our world, if they begin to teach us contentment and not an insatiable test for more in the wrong areas. If musicians and artist became the eyes and hears with which we listen to and see the world, if they produces music and art that were divine. if from their music and art we see God's message to man. if their music and art honoured God.

If we become successful entrepreneurs, Ceos, managers, and built organisation that met the needs of people, organisations with proper structures not looking at the slightest opportunity to defraud and make money, organisations that place the need of its client at the forefront, organisations that we could and would pass on to the next generation.

If we are able to marry good wives and have lovely children and leave goodly legacies for them and not a chunk of stolen properties accumulated over the years. If we are able to have great family values and every house sees how it is responsible in no small way to the deterioration of our world when those values are neglected.

If we are all able to love and hope and have faith and we live by these three things.

Oh, if, if,if,if……………………………………………………………………………………………

So if all is said and we done and we by some huge miracle are able to achieve all that we set out to do for our generation. Solve all problems, confront our challenges, and defeat everything that seems to bind us now. What’s next?

We all die and our children become us.

We go back to the same place we came from. Remember that man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body; the body returns back to the soil and decays. The spirit and soul go back to its source, its creator – God. We will stand before his son to be judged because he has committed all that to His Son as the Bible says the father judgeth no one.  In front of Him, it’s not a question of whether we have been able to achieve all this; it’s a question of the heart. Are our hearts pure enough to enter into heaven and be in the next heaven and earth He is preparing?

Don’t mistake it there are immense rewards if we are able to achieve these things but what matters most to Him is not whether or not we can achieve these things(someday I’ll write on this). It is the state of our hearts.

The heart of man is wicked the Bible says, it’s all over the news, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, The government of Syria and many other nations. Even the smallest things show it, a child wanting to have his or her way, a man or woman wanting to have pleasure at the cost of another’s. It’s a screwed up world.

So today, He wants to come into our lives, take away that heart of stone and put in us a heart of flesh that looks to please Him. A heart that is Holy. We know how hard this is that is why we all have to turn to God to save us, as we kneel before him every day our prayer should be:

FATHER, after all is said and done today and I am able to achieve all that I should, search me and keep me Holy, Righteous and True. At peace with you.

RIGHTEOUSNESS: TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I often write when I get some light about something. When all of a sudden understanding floods my way and there is a revelation (some people call it Rhema). And then there’s when I write when I find something I’m guilty of, something I’ve got all wrong. I write to give light to myself and I share it so that others may see what I see and maybe in some way be able to apply it in their own lives as well.

These next few words encompass all these. It’s a subject I am passionate about. It’s been at the tip of my mind for many years now and understanding dawned on me today.

What is righteousness?

What is true righteousness?

Is there a false righteousness?

How do you achieve righteousness?

Who is righteous? When can a man say he is truly righteous?

WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Righteousness is to do right. However the world seems to have found a way to turn what is right and wrong to a debate. So I’ll give the best definition I have ever come up with. Righteousness is a lifestyle that rewards you with heaven. How does that happen? By pleasing God, so you can go on to say that Righteousness is pleasing God. So if righteousness has to be taken back to God I know of only one way to know what righteousness is and that is by reading the God’s handbook for life; the BIBLE.

*now there are many other books written by men, some true, some false that point out what righteousness is but I stick with the Bible because it’s the one book that is tried and tested and despite all efforts to kill it. It remains the most widely read book in the entire world. It’s been a best seller for all time.

There are several passages of scripture on righteousness but I will go to one that says:

Except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you shall in no way enter the kingdom of God.

So how could righteousness be false? It is false when the motive for doing right is wrong. RIGHTEOUSNESS STEMS FROM THE INSIDE. It is born out of the desire to please God. Our very thoughts need to be righteous before we can be righteous on the outside.

We are men, created by God. We were made by Him to live in a way. Like it or not that way is to honour Him, have you ever seen someone who created something to hurt himself? A creator creates something in a way to honour him and we are the same. The difference with us is that we are loved and out of love God gave us a soul that gives us the ability to choose, something that no other creation has been given. So our ability to choose is a gift, something given to us because at the end of this world God wants to gather to Himself a people from all nations who have chosen to honour Him.

What’s false righteousness? It looks to please men, it looks to honour itself. It looks to look good in the eyes of men. It is superficial, it is called self-righteousness. It has it all right on the outside but inside its all wrong. Its output is right but the system (mind-set) is all wrong.

Who is righteous? A righteous man is one who looks to please God. Who humbly looks to heaven and forgets every prejudice that he has got for any religion or lifestyle, asks God what he has made him for, lives by God’s laws and commandments. He is that man that chooses to do what is good and right in God’s eyes. This is what righteousness is all about. A man who has given his heart and mind to please the One who created him.

The Bible talks of two men who came to God in the temple and one were on their knees praying, the one said father I thank you that I am not as other men, I pay my tithes, I fast often, I give to the poor and the other said God I am sorry that I am a sinner and asked for forgiveness. The second is justified because He came with the motive to please God.

 

Finally, Solomon said ‘let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God, keep his commandments, this is the whole duty of man’.

So to you my friend let us look in our lives and look to please God because that is the fear of God. I am guilty of the sin of not living righteously because somewhere along the line I have lost the interpretation of what righteousness really is. Let us all go back to God and ask Him what righteousness is really is.

You cannot be righteous on your because to do good is not in man, we are all sinners till we come to the cross, I see it in a child who cries because he wants his way, I see it in the teenager who struggles with his or her emotions and lets the emotions control them, I see it in the adult who knowing his days are numbered still wants to control the times, and maybe you don’t do any of these, look closely and you will see it in the little things you do every day.

Let us be careful that we do not lose the meaning of righteousness to the mere outward practices of going to church, working in the church, praying every day, sometimes five times or more, not doing what every other person does, telling people the truth or preaching, not lying or not stealing. You cannot please God in one part of your life and leave the other out and say you are righteous.

Righteousness is found in Christ, in his blood, in his word, in his power. He is the one man who all His life lived to please God(righteously) this is why he is the sacrifice for our sins.

As it is written God made him that knew no sin to be sin for us that the righteousness of God may be found in us. 

Come join me at the foot of the cross. Ask for forgiveness and for righteousness to be imparted unto us through Christ and find grace to live righteously, to be righteous is to live totally dependent on God in absolute Trust and Faith.

Search me O God, know my heart today, try me, know my thoughts, see if there is some wicked way in me and set me free.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Three things, a Person, A Nation (Nigeria in my case) and God by extension the Church.

Unfortunately, these things are plagued by problems and challenges and this is something that bothers me. A Person, because she/he was born in this system that never works and goes against what the Creator created. Nigeria plagued by corruption, the Church which has let the world influence it.

Have you ever seen a pool of water with a drop of poison in it that is fit for human use?

Have you ever seen Bread eaten with the mould that is in it?

Once they become part of these things they render them useless.

This is what sin is to a person, Corruption to Nigeria and Unrighteousness to the Church.

Until a man is free of sin, he is not free.

Until a nation is free of corruption, it will not progress.

Until the church is free of unrighteousness, God cannot have his way.

So I’m saying to you my friend.

Be Free of your sin through Christ, only then can you be fit for what the creator created you for.

To the leaders of Nigeria, fight the corruption in the land, only then can we go to the heights can we go ahead?

To the church, stop the lies that you tell your members that they don’t need to be holy. Can a Holy one be in agreement with someone who isn’t, can two walk together except they be agreed?

God is Holy, His Word is Holy, His Son is Holy, and The Holy Ghost is Holy. Tell me why God would not demand for the man he loves so much to be holy.

HOLINESS is that’s what God wants from his Church and from us. He’s looking for perfection.

A PERFECTION He provided through the work of Christ on the cross.

DEDICATION

It’s really something that word dedication. I sat down recently while playing FIFA 2012 to listen to a message which talked about excellence in ministry. Now you may ask ‘why would I want to learn that when I don’t have a ministry?’ the answer is in 2 Corinthians 5:19 where Paul tells us that God has given to us the ministry of reconciling men back to God. That is your ministry reconciling your family and friends back to God and for many Christians it extends beyond just them to a larger circle because Jesus himself commanded that we shine before all men(Matthew 5:16). So to be successful in this ministry you need dedication, dedication to obeying God’s word, to doing what is righteous and only, to influencing people’s lives positively, to being an agent of change and not just being one of them.

I must state that I’m guilty, I don’t think I am as dedicated as I can be but I keep trying because I aim at it because it’s what God wants from me.

I am reading the Screwtape letters, it’s a book written by C.S Lewis about a senior devil writing to a Junior devil and in it, the senior devil points something pivotal out that ‘the Enemy’s plan is to bring these beings called men to a state where they do his will without any trouble; a state of absolute dedication where doing his will has become a character so you ought to attack them with the mind-set that they shouldn’t be doing his bidding when they are not feeling like it after all the Enemy said willingly’ (paraphrased). He calls God the Enemy that is who He is to them at least.

Ever wonder why when you start as a Christian you are all fired up then somewhere down the road you lose the hotness, it’s because at that point God is asking for more from you. He’s being driving you all along and he now wants you to take control of the wheels (that’s always been his design, that we be in control within the boundaries of his instruction, remember Adam and Eve). It’s  that dedication He wants.

Dedication is a decision, a decision you make way before you are tempted or in a difficult situation. A decision to stick with what God wants you to do no matter what.

I’ve got two stories. One is of a man and his wife, the other is of a flight instructor and his pupil.

A man or woman married to each other don’t wake up one day and say hey, I don’t feel like I’m married to you today and I don’t see how I can live like that today so forgive me if I do anything contrary to our marriage vows today. They don’t do that because they are dedicated to each other, that’s what being dedicated is about, they made that decision a long time ago and whether they feel like it or not they stick to it because there are days when you will wish you weren’t a Christian when you wish you could take laws into your hands and do things your way. Dedication helps you stick with it.

The second story, a flight instructor and his pupil where flying a single engine airplane, like one of those planes back in the 40s. Suddenly in the middle of the flight the engine stops working, the pupil starts crying ‘what are we going to do?’ the instructor says ‘we are going to land the airplane’. Now the pilot is so dedicated to the airplane that it doesn’t matter what the condition of the plane is he will stick to landing the plane. That is dedication.

Notice that in these two examples, they both made the decision well ahead of time, when they took their marriage vows and when he decided to become a pilot. The same applies to you and me as Christians.

Our road is a rough one, everything in the world works against us (working against the principles of righteousness, holiness, justice and peace), they are happy when we succeed (because we become another success story they can brag about) but they do everything to make us not succeed because our success becomes a testimony against them that you the we don’t require dubious means to succeed. It’s never easy and it takes dedication to do what God’s purpose for us is.

Have you made the decision to read that Bible every day?

Have you made the decision to attend that church service all the time?

Have you made the decision to pray at a particular time?

Have you made the decision not to drink or smoke?

Have you made the decision never to borrow?

Have you made the decision to make God your anchor?

Have you made the decision to be holy and pure?

Have you made the decision to touch lives?

Whatever decision it is, it takes this kind of dedication.

My question to you and myself today is “have you made the decision to be dedicated to God and the ministry he has given you?” if you have congratulations, if you haven’t make that decision and talk to God about it. It is Him that grants the grace, strength and motivation to remain dedicated.

Thanks for reading.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us be glory forever. Amen.

THE THREE ESSENTIALS: GRACE, LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Love of God and The fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen!

2 Corinthians 13:14

I was at church sunday and the title of the message was “YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE LIFE ALONE”. And the focus of the Message was on the Holy Spirit, as you all know (or maybe not) its 40 days after the resurrection and hence the birthday of the church. On this day, some 2013 years ago the church was born with 120 people in an upper room, waiting for God’s promise of the Holy Spirit and when He came, there was an explosion, 3000 people were added to the church in one day by one man’s message that’s a 2400% growth(awesome, that’s what I call that). So the focus was how much we need to form a bond with the Holy Spirit.

GRACE, LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP.

I’ve heard of God a long time. I was born in the church, raised in the Church and that’s a huge opportunity (although sometimes it could be a burden, but it’s the best thing when you eventually find God). But I never really began to know God till one day (6^th July 2007)

On this day, I was having a perfect day (at least that’s what most people will call it), my life was perfect but something was missing. I was in school and life was perfect, my grades were very high, I had need of nothing, I had no reason to be sad or depressed, but there I was depressed and unhappy. Mind you I was born again, and that makes it really puzzling. I went to my friend and I told him what was wrong and he’s like “do you have the Holy Spirit” and I’m wondering “what does that have to do with my state of depression”  and then he said to me to go get the Holy Spirit and explained to me how it works. And on that day, I remember, going into my room and kneeling down saying to the Holy Spirit, come in and within minutes He was there with me and I began to speak in tongues and there was this JOY. Peter calls it and I call it “JOY UNSPEAKABLE FULL OF GLORY”. So I went from being super depressed to being the most joyful person in the world. Now I’ve fallen many times since then but I’ve had Grace to pick me back up on my feet since that day only because God Loves me so much He will never leave me or forsake me.

That story is to point something out, I was born again, had the grace of Jesus and the Love of God, but the fellowship of the Holy Spirit was missing and that put me in a state of despair. The text above prayed for these three things to be present in our lives because of how essential they are to our living as Christians. Grace comes first because it is what makes us acceptable to God and enjoy God’s Love because it is what propels us to do Good and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit because it is what instructs us and helps us along the way( because He is the friend that stays closer than a brother, a perfect gentleman).

To be the Christians we ought to be, we have to have this key ingredients because they nourish us and make us what God sees us as, not one of them should be missing.

Grace is Jesus, it saves us from our despair despite all our imperfections and nails all of them to the cross and makes us free, redeeming us and not condemning us.

Love is God, God is Love, in that while we were still sinners He sent Christ (His Son) to die for us, that’s how much God Loves us.

Fellowship is the Holy Spirit; it’s friendship with the Holy Spirit, this friendship is what we need the most that’s why Jesus needed to leave, He left Earth so we can enjoy this friendship showing to us how important it is. This friendship is born out of talking to the Holy Spirit and listening to Him talk to you too and with time He changes you and transforms you just like every friendship affects our lives.

So my Friend who’s reading

Do you have Grace?

Do you know the Love of God?

Do you Fellowship with the Holy Spirit?

If one of them is missing, go on your Knees and Pray and get those three things and your Life will never remain the same I promise you. It makes you Complete In Him.

Thanks for Reading. God Loves You and God Bless.

LOVE,THE BLOOD AND GRACE

            I am GOD, I am the BEGINNING and the END, so I know the end from the beginning, so when you see what happens in today’s world and you wonder if I see any of it, I see them, I saw them even in the beginning. I am both OMNIPOTENT and OMNIPRESENT  all powerful and present in all places, nothing is hidden from me (even what you did in the dark, the very thoughts of your head, yes I know all about them). THERE IS NONE LIKE ME.

             In the Beginning I decided to create someone special and in other to show my love for that someone I created something. Man and Earth; let me tell you how much I loved Him, I loved Him so much I saw the good and evil that will happen from creating him but I could not stop from creating him, I wanted to enjoy the fellowship I will have with him and let him enjoy the love I have for him. So I created a PLAN; LOVE, THE BLOOD AND GRACE.

LOVE: I created Him just like me(my very own image) so that when you see him you see me and I gave him the earth as a gift and told him to use it, its resources, replenish it, subdue it and be lord over it (have dominion). Oh how much I loved him and for a few days earth was like heaven and everything was good. Then disaster stuck and evil was given birth to when man disobeyed me and obeyed the devil, making the devil his master. So the man I loved so much became a slave to the devil and not a master of himself like I wanted him to be. At that time, even in my wrath, I chastised them out of love and proclaimed the prophecies of my PLAN to save them because I loved them.

THE BLOOD; Man’s life was in his blood, and without blood there is no remission of sins. From time to time I showed him that to get back to me, the blood of an animal needed to be shed. I kept showing this from the sacrifice of Abel to Abraham, to the Passover (exodus) because I am God and of a purer eyes than to behold iniquity. I still wanted to enjoy fellowship with man whom I loved so much so I showed him how he could do just that in my relationship with Israel. So in my PLAN there was the ULTIMATE BLOOD, because of my love I sent MY SON JESUS, Jesus was me in the flesh, he had my spirit and lived on earth the way I wanted man to have always lived with love for me and compassion for all men. However, I sent him to die, to shed his blood, his blood is the way for the remission of sins of every man and the salvation of every man and I made this known to man, by his blood every man will be free from the slavery of the devil when they believe in Jesus and Man can once again enjoy me in the fullness of my love for him. He didn't need to sacrifice blood every time he wanted to speak with me.

GRACE; this very act of mine was grace, man did not need to do anything to save himself but by believing in Jesus, grace was given to man and they could live as I wanted from the beginning. Man was to live with prosperity, in love. However, In this world, some did not accept this and evil still abounds, but not to worry, I am preparing a place for all those who accept Jesus and in that place, there is no tears, no death, no sorrow, no crying, no sickness, no suffering, it’s a MANSION.

If You ever wonder what happens to all this evil in that mansion, well all evil goes to hell(a large lake of fire that burns with unquenchable fire); the devil, demons and every man that has a part in evil and has some evil in Him, All of these I do so that the man I love so much can live in peace and love in the mansion I am preparing for him.

I love man so much and I will do all it takes to ensure that he enjoys all my love and everything I have for him even creating a new heaven and new earth for him.

THAT IS MY PLAN? MY QUESTION TO YOU IS WHAT PART OF MY PLAN ARE YOU IN?

Oh, the love that sought me

Oh, the blood that bought me.

Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold.

Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold.

A MIXED DAY FOR AFRICAN CHAMPIONS

I love Nigeria.
In case You don't know, we are African champions at both the youth and senior level. We played two matches yesterday. The Youths against Congo and the Senior ones against Kenya.
It was a mixed day however,the youths did the job, qualifying for the next round(wining 3-1), the seniors had a had time  with a score draw(1-1) but are still top of the group.
The positives is the drive, you see them play more like they want to win, yes they miss chances but i guess we missed Emenike a lot. Obafemi, welcome back to the fold, there'll be better days.
One thing though is that we need to find a way to create that balance in the midfield that let's Mikel pull the string and allows Onazi be the box to box midfielder he can be(cos He's a great ball player)
Kudos to all of them.
J'aime le Jeu.

God bless Nigeria.
God Bless the Flying and Super Eagles(They've earned the right to be called Eagles)

ABIDING:Our Victory

Some Few years ago, i was going through a torrid time in my christian life where stumbling and falling became a rhythm. I found some answers in what i am about to share:

John 15

Our Victory as Christians lies in Abiding in Christ.

I do not know any other way for a Christian to live victoriously than by abiding. Therein lays our victory.

In my personal Christian Experience, I have seen and found that I triumph most when I am abiding. When I am not abiding, I slip, I fall, and the more time I spend not abiding the more into the miry clay I sink. That’s universal so don’t go thinking it’s not the same for you too because if you sit back and think you will see what I am saying except you don’t really understand what it means to abide.

Abiding is an Art.

Abiding includes a number of things, but in sum it is absolute dependence on the vine (JESUS) for everything that we want and need.

Abiding includes:

• ·         Reading God’s word
• ·         Studying God’s word
• ·         Meditating on God’s word
• ·         Praying God’s word
• ·         Worshipping God
• ·         Praising God
• ·         Adoring God
• ·         Sharing God’s word
• ·         Fellowship with God’s People
• ·         Do God’s word.

As you can see each of these is an art on its own so when we put them all together, we have an ART.

They all work hand in hand.

You cannot study what you do not read, can’t meditate on what you don’t read, can’t pray rightly to someone you don’t know, can’t be moved to worship, praise and adore till you read, meditate and study, can only share what you have read.

They form one big loop of victory that sets us on a rock called Jesus. 

I SING

I don't know about tomorrow

I just live from day to day

I don't borrow from it's sunshine

Cos it's skies might turn to grey.

I don't worry about the future

Cos I know what Jesus Said

And now,i'll walk beside Him

Cos He knows what is ahead

So many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand

But i know who owns tomorrow

And i know He holds my hand.

Sing with me.

Lyrics and Composer: Ira Forest Stanphill

WITH THE REF'S HELP

Well, I love real Madrid and we've just had one of the best 8 days in history. Beating Barcelona twice and Manchester united once, though we got a little bit of help from the referee. What better reward for all the hard work put in.

I got to say though that if I had to be scared of any team in the champions’ league, it was man u, they aren't the most special side but what makes them special is their ability to win when they are not playing well, that was what made me scared. They have the grit that Barcelona don’t have.

And now that they’re out I have to say ‘bring it on’ to all the other teams (maybe not Bayern and Dortmund if we ever play like we did yesterday again).

Thanks referee, though I agree with him because the rule book says Dangerous play-red card. Justifies the sending off, though we hate the sending off in the big games.

Now, away from all the controversy, you've got to love the awesome shot technique from Modric, the creativity of Ozil for the second goal, the vision of Higuain to get the right pass and Ronaldo's athleticism to get to that ball ,how about the defensive tackles by Varane . On the flip side, the pace of Welbeck and oh boy! 39 year old Giggs keeps surprising me, the defensive organisation of Manchester United till the red card.

That's what football is about, that is why it's the best game in all the world.

J’AIME LE JEU.

HALA MADRID!