THE LIFE THAT DISPELS DARKNESS

Welcome once again to TMP column, today we will be looking into The Life That Dispels Darkness. What kind of Life should it be? How does this life come by? I pray that God will help us to find answers to these questions in Jesus name. Amen.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. God said, “Let there be light.” and there was light! God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Genesis 1:1 – 5b

Often times, the above scripture has being read for reference purposes but in this same scripture is hidden the manual and mysteries of life; let us consider this scripture closely.

Between V. 1 and 2 of this scripture, it seems to me that something went wrong after creation. Could it has being that God intended to create the earth without shape, form and void or is there something that went wrong after creation which God is addressing? I want to submit that something went on after creation which God came back to address in V.2, there was an issue that required Gods intervention, the chaos state, the void nature and the darkness in the earth was not Gods original intention for the earth, this is the reason why God came back to address the situation.

In V.3 we see God responding to the situation of the Earth through the introduction of the light, the light is Gods answer to the darkness that filed the earth. Looking closely to the creation account, you will discover that in V.14 of this same scripture, we see God creating lights aside from the light that we saw him call forth in V.3. You will also discover that V.3 addressed the light and darkness as a person ‘God called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.’ The usage of a capital letter in this scripture suggests to us that the light and the darkness is a personality.

In John 1:1, we see John making use of the same phrase,  “in the beginning”  this suggests that John must have had an understanding of what went on in Genesis 1:1; with that understanding John writes:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
Jn 1:1-8 KJV

From John’s account of the creation, we see that this light, which God called out to solve the problem of the darkness on the earth, was actually God himself. Remember that in Genesis 1:4 God separated the light from the darkness, this suggest that both of them cannot coexist; in John 1:5 we see the light shining on the darkness and the darkness made way for the light because both cannot live together.

We also see in V.8 that the light made mention of in this scripture is a personality, the usage of the phrase in the sentence “He was not THAT LIGHT” suggest a particular light that is being mentioned, a light that is different from the lights of the day that we all know.

Another thing we see in the book of Genesis is that the light responded to the issue of darkness by shinning, by manifesting. The light needed not to ask the darkness to make way for him, he needed not to introduce himself as the light, all he needed was to shine and the darkness will make way.

In Genesis 1:26 – 28 we see God requesting that a man who will take the image and likeness of God be made. A man whose duty on earth is to look after the earth which God has chased the darkness away from; to have dominion over the earth ensuring that the darkness that was sent away returns not.

What exactly did God mean when He said let us make man in our own image? Was God referring this mortal Body as the man in His image? Notice that in Genesis 2:7 God first formed man from the dust before He made it a living soul, this suggest that the actual man that God made in His image is not the body which we can all see but the spirit which is living in that vey body. This also suggests that no man has seen the actual you; all that we have seen is your carcass (the body) which contains the main you.

Notice that when a man dies, we can still see the nose, the ears, the hands and even the nakedness but the only thing that we will no longer see is You. Therefore, the man God made in His image is the spirit that God breathe into man.

God made this man in His likeness to dominate the earth; by dominating, he is to ensure that the darkness returns not into the earth, not by shouting to the darkness or rebuking the darkness but by manifesting, by shinning. This man can shine because in him is the ability (image and likeness of God) to shine like God.

Matt. 5:14 says that man is the light of the world while John 1:4 states that “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” meaning that there is a life that man need to have which when lived will shine as light that dispels darkness. A Life, which reveals the image and likeness of God in man; the same image and likeness that darkness could not comprehend.

Paul writing about this Life in 2 Corinthians 4:2, 5 – 6 states: Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God… For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. NIV.

This life that can shine is a life that has renounced secret and shameful ways of life; it is not the life that presents itself righteous in the public but dirty in the dark; it is not a life that claims to be holy but is full of secret sins inside. It not a life of deceit, deception and lies but a life that has resolved to be pure both secretly and publicly without any form of hypocrisy or compromise found in it; a life that set forth the truth; a life that Christ lives in, an exemplary life.

Notice that Paul said here ‘we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God’. Paul practically invited his audience not to judge his life by wonderful sermons of holiness that he preached but that they should look carefully at the life he Paul lives before them and allow their conscience to judge if his life is cohering with his massages.

John the beloved wrote also about this life in 1 John 1:5 – 6 saying,  “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. NIV

If we claim to be the light but in us are elements of darkness then we lie and have not the truth, God who gave us this Light has no darkness in him; if we truly bear his image and likeness, then we are also expected to be void of darkness.

A life that has in it darkness cannot dispel darkness, such a life is not in fellowship with Christ for where Christ is, there is no darkness at all.

God created man in His image that he will reproduce same image all over the world that everyone in his own corner will shine so that darkness around us will be dispelled. When we live our lives outsides, this purpose of creation, our existence becomes defeated and our mission unachieved.

May God help us to fix our minds back to his purpose and plans for our lives in Jesus name. Amen

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Romans 6:3 - 7

Welcome to yet another time with God in the pages of this paper, we pray that God will grant us the grace to understand His word even as we study together.

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. KJV

In our last publication, we dwelled so much on the issue of grace and what it means to our life in this scripture; today, we want to go deeper into application of what this grace has done. The scripture of discussion today comes with great mysteries of what Christ has done for us on the cross, we are trusting God to help us unveil these mysteries to your understanding as we consider these verses.

In V. 3. Paul asked Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

What does it mean to be baptized into Jesus Christ?  In our Catechism, we do ask, ‘who gave you this name?’ in response we will say, “My God Fathers and God Mothers in MY BAPTISM; wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and inheritor of the Kingdom of heaven.

Baptism as we see here is intended to be that which brings us into union with Christ. i.e. in baptism we are being enrolled into Christ family. To be a member of Christ family is to say that one has being listed to be a member of the body of Christ so that he or she will now be called or recognized as a member.

1 Corinthians 12:13 writes “for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” NIV what this means is this, as many that were baptized no matter where they are in the world, all share the same spirit of Christ which is the sign of our membership in Christ. (cf. Eph 4:30). This implies that whether you are a Hausa man or an Indian, an Igbo or a Yoruba, white skin or black skin; where you come from does not really matter.

The country, town or village you are born into does not matter, neither do the Church you attend matter, what matters is that you have become a member of one body in Christ hence even though you are from Arab; you are my brother because you share one spirit of Christ with everyone born of Christ.

The same way ones biological brother remains his brother even though he travels to another country; so are we all related in Christ. Just as the same blood runs in the veins of one’s biological brother who is living in a strange land far away from home, so do the same spirit of Christ running in all that are truly made His.

This is because; all who were baptized into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ. Gal. 3:27 so that when you see Mr. Churchill of USA and Mr. Ezenduka of Nigeria they will have same resemblance because they have clothed themselves with the life of Jesus who they now bear his image.

However the next verse 4 comes with an expectation which now has become an issue to be looked into, it states “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Since we are now recognized by our new identity which is Christ, since we now belong to a new group and family, is there anyway way of life that is unique to this family of us that we now belong to which we must exhibit? Is there any characteristic that we must manifest as one who has being made part of a new body?

Paul’s answer to this question is like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should we walk in newness of life.

There is a way of life that we were formally known with; a lifestyle, which was not in conformity to the new life that Christ, gives to those that are baptized into Him. This lifestyle is the life of flesh, which is made manifest in different ways in the body. Life that is characterized with the fulfillment of the orgies of sin and drunkenness, in sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy Rom 13:13, life of deceit and lies, life of envy, life that denies Gods righteousness; this kind of life is the type the Bible called living as the gentiles lived in Eph. 4:17.

In the Church today, we have Christians who has being assumed to be heavenly bound; they can preach and pray, they can perform miracles but they are not free from discrimination and tribal segregation. You cannot marry their daughter if you are from a particular part of the world no matter how devoted you are to Christianity. There are some who will never forgive you for a wrong you have done them even if you apologized, Christians who can go as far as telling lies about you just to dent your image, there are some whose character is as bad as devil himself, they are aggressive and hard to associate with, they lack love yet they are assume to have being baptized into Christ, sharing one spirit with all that is in Christ.

Paul stated here that since we have being baptized into Christ death and resurrected in him, we should live the new life which Christ has given us, a life of Grace which teaches us according Eph. 4:22 – 24 with regard to our former way of life, to put off our old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This is because; when God’s grace is released, it opens our eyes to the sinfulness of our soul and the awesomeness of the cross so that we may turn away from our sins to embrace the cross. Grace is therefore abused when we who has being made to know the truth chose to remain in our lives of lie while we still pray for more grace.

Paul argued in verse 5 that if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: that is to say, if you are indeed a Christian why then do you still lie, fight, cheat, fornicate, drink, do things that should not be mentioned among Christians? If indeed you are a Christian why do you place your business above Church activities that you can miss a church appointment but not a business appointment, why do you place your social media life above the church that you can chat while in the church and it matters not to you?

Paul argued here that if indeed we are planted together in Christ likeness during his death then there should be a manifestation of His new life in us because our old man who causes us to sin and live our lives as we would and not as Christ would is crucified with Christ, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Brethren I want to remind us that we have been crucified with Christ and we should no longer live our own lives, for Christ now lives in us. The life we live in the body, we should live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us.
May God grant us the grace to understand this and live by it. Amen

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ROMANS 6:1 - 2

Hello and welcome to yet another time with God in this forum; we pray that you encounter God’s word made alive as we study the scriptures together.

The book of Romans is one of the letter’s Paul the apostle wrote while he was still alive to bring to clear understanding that in the cross of Christ, God judge’s sin and at the same time shows his saving mercy. This letter was written to the Christians in Rome around A.D. 57 in Corinth probably during his third missionary journey.

Let us consider the word of God in the Book of Romans 6:1 – 2
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Paul started this chapter of the letter with a question - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? To understand fully this text, we will need to know what Paul thinks Grace to be in this scripture.

Grace is seen here as that which brings to your understanding what you should do and what you should not do; here is a practical example, ‘you used to live your life in immorality but now you have being convinced that immorality is a sin’ ‘you use to smoke, lie and cheat people but now, you know that these things are sin before God’ that is grace. It is grace that brought you to the point of recognition that what you use to think is right is wrong, it is also grace added to you when you suddenly realize that who you are is not who you are supposed to be.

But here Paul asked a very troubling question, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? That is to say, shall we continue to live like the heathen after we have known the truth through the grace of God and still want grace to be added?

This questions reveals that the people of God who has being called by grace, whose veils has being removed so that they can all see the unworthiness and ugliness of their sinful lives, after receiving such grace to see how sinful their lives were continued to live their lives in the same sin which God’s grace has made known to them that they should no longer live in.

The people of God had grace abounding with them but they continued to live their lives as they would.
In our world today, we see Christians who will boldly say, my only problem is that I am hot tampered, I am just asking for God’s grace to stop it, God has given you the grace to realize that being hot tampered is a problem, it is now required of you to stop living your life in that manner by cueing in to the grace that has brought you to the point of knowing that it is a problem.
The problem that Paul wished to address here as he asked this troubling question is this, being a Christians is not all about knowing and recognizing the works of darkness but deciding to stop living your life in it.

Grace is by no means that which forces us to stop living a life of sin but that which opens our eyes to the sinfulness of our soul, our response to grace as Paul brings to light here is not to continue living in sin but to decide not to live any longer in the sins made known to us; the next questions asked by Paul brought this to bare, How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

What does it mean to be dead? One of the characteristics of a dead person is inability to do the things which he used to do; a man that use to fight, ceases to fight the moment he dies, death brings to an end all activities as the body which use to do those things can no longer do them due to its lifelessness.
Paul here states, you use to live your life in different kinds of sin, you can lie, you can cheat, you can fornicate, you can do fetish things just to raise money for yourself but now God’s grace has brought you to a point whereby you realized and accepted that since Christ died for you, you are now dead and since he resurrected, you have being resurrected with him; how then is it that you continue to do the works of that body which has died? i.e. before your death, you use to steal, you use to lie, you use to fornicate, you use to smoke and drink, you use to do many kinds of sinful acts but now, you are resurrected in Christ hence you have His life in you, you are no longer supposed to be seen doing all those things that belongs to the body which has died.

Paul argued here that if we say that we are now raised with Christ, we should therefore live like Christ who has begotten us, grace therefore becomes that which brings us to the cross to see our sinfulness and shame, that which makes us realize how much we have strayed from Gods way; Paul argued that grace is being abused when we who has received the cross go back into our old ways of life while we think that God’s grace will continue to abound.

Paul sensed a problem in the Roman Church which is reoccurring among our contemporary Christians, a problem associated with our inability to stand against the things that we have being made to know that they are sinful before God.

Can you reexamine yourself as a Christian? How many times have you being exposed to the sinful state of your heart but you still have not done anything about it? As a Christian, you have heard that lying is sinful, you have heard that cheating is sinful, you have heard that the way you live your life is sinful but you still live your life in these sins and many more yet you pray for God to grant you more grace, such attitude towards God’s grace is what Paul called here abuse of Grace.
Grace is abused when we refuse to decide for God over temptations that comes our way, grace is abused when we rely on it to overcome one habit while we continue to live our lives in those sinful habits.

God is reminding us today that His grace has being released to us all to bring us to the knowledge of what His desires are, what his will is for us; we will be abusing God’s grace when we know God’s will for our lives and chose not to do them by continuing to live our lives in a way that pleases us.
May God help us to live our lives in accordance to His will as we await His second coming. Amen.

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Be part of What God is doing in this end time and be prepared for the coming of His dear Son Jesus Christ.

God bless you abundantly.

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THE TRUTH

The concept of Heaven and Hell is one of the religious believes that is being uphold in all religions; with varieties of teachings ranging from one religion to the other, all believes that life on earth is a temporal one which ushers one into the eternal life where he will be judged based on how he lived this temporal life, hence the placement of a soul in the other world (heaven or hell) will be dependent on how well one lived his life here on earth, earth is therefore a preparatory ground for life in the other world.

Some religious believe uphold that one can still be given an opportunity to come back to life on earth as an incarnate being to live his life in other to accomplish the destiny of his past life which was unfulfilled; this believe is predominant among the Indians, and Africans Traditional Religions a teaching that is contrary to the Christian believe. But the entire concept of Heaven and Hell is upheld by every believe system and the primary teaching is that when one dies, he will proceed on the journey into another life where he will be accessed based on what he has done here on earth.

Christianity as a religion is not exempted from teachings of heaven and hell rather it emphasized and elaborated its reality for the purpose of bringing all human to the complete knowledge of what they are to face after death and the solution made available for mankind.

THE UNDENIABLE TRUTH

• Life does not end here on earth
• We all will journey to the world beyond
• Our position in the world beyond will be determined by how we lived our lives here on earth.

These three-point truth are being taught by all religious group, hence these unanimous acceptances in an echoing manner shows the reality and authenticity of Heaven and earth.

If we know that life does not end here on earth and that we will all journey to the world beyond, then it will be necessary that we prepare for this journey which is inevitable.

Hebrews 9:27 categorically states that ‘it is appointed for people to die once — and after this, judgment’ this then disregards the famous claim that one has the opportunity to come back to life to amend his errors but rather affirms that;

• One has only one life to live
• One must account for this life he has lived
• Judgement will be declared on every soul that has lived depending on how he has lived his life

This simply means that as you live your life on earth, you are expected to make one decision that will determine where you will spend your other life.

Among all the religions of the world, there is only one religion that provides one with concrete information regarding what one must do in other to enter into heaven.

In John 3:3 Jesus categorically states that, “Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus’s words point to the fact that man must make a decision to be born again in other for him to be a partaker of life eternal in the other world,

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BORN AGAIN?

The popular scripture John 3:16 states that “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

• To be born again therefore is to believe in Jesus Christ

Believing in Jesus Christ has to do with you acknowledging his birth, death and resurrection; accepting that the reason why he died is because you were a sinner and needed to be saved from your sins Rom. 5:8;

Deciding to further live your life doing His will as His Holy Spirit will direct you, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him in John 8:31 “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples”. while 2 John 1:9 states that "Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it, does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son."

WHY DO WE NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN?

In John 3:5 we saw Jesus Christ specifically stating again that ‘unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God'. The kingdom of God which is also referred to as the kingdom of heaven is the eternal home for all who lived their lives in accordance to the will of God here on earth.

Jesus Christ taught that unless one be born again that he cannot enter this heaven, by implication Jesus is saying that if you are not born again, you will have to enter hell; this brings us to asking this important question, why did Jesus Christ focus so much on the issue of the kingdom of God (heaven)?

The much attention paid to the issues of Heaven and Hell by Jesus Christ reveals the importance of this concept to human existence and the need for one to take the decision to live his life in preparation for this eternal home. 

One fact which you must bear in mind is that no matter how long you live here on earth, you will surely die one day or be transformed but dying does not terminate your life rather it transit you into another life of eternity. 1 Cor. 15:51

The book of Genesis gave us crew to the reason why man must be reborn; Genesis 2:16 – 17 states that, “the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Genesis 3:5 – 7 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So, she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves”.

Man became dead in Spirit the moment he decided to go against the will of God and ate the fruit which he commanded him not to eat. This spiritual death which occurred as the result of eating the forbidden fruit made man unqualified to inherit the kingdom of God instead he became one who is doomed for destruction in hell.

Hell is a place prepared for every soul that lived their lives in gratification of the fleshly desires, Rev. 21:8 States that “the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

• It is a place where fire will be made to burn the unbelieving to the rest of their lives

Matt. 25:46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

• It is a place of eternal punishment for those who chose to live their lives as they will and not as the spirit led.

Rom 8:8 “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” therefore “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from His glorious strength” 2 Thessalonians 1:9

Because man is dead in the Spirit, there is need for Him to be born again, not of the flesh but of the spirit so that he may have part in the kingdom of God John 3:5 – 6 “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit”.

WHY IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO ETERNAL HEAVEN

Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.”

God have made only one provision for the salvation of man; this provision is in Jesus Christ for He is the only son of God who laid down his life for us to live again John 10:18. Eternal life is simply knowing God as the only true God and Jesus Christ as the one whom he has sent for men to be saved John17:3.

This is the decision which man must take here on earth before he journey to the other world, the decision to know Jesus and live in accordance to his will is the only qualification for taking part in the inheritance of the father.

Heaven and Hell is acknowledged in all religions which makes it an inevitable truth but only one religion proffers the solution to it which is Christianity…only those that live their lives as Christ did will take part in the kingdom of God for  “I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work…But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Rev. 22:12; 21:8

May we not walk on the isles of the earth only to end up in the flame of fire. Amen

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CHRIST OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Hello and welcome to yet another time with God, it is my prayer that we will hear God speak to us today again. Amen.

Today, we will be considering the topic, “Christ our Natural Environment” as we study the following scriptures; Gen. 1:11 – 12, 20 – 22, 24 – 25, 26 – 28. 

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PEACE BE STILL

Hello and welcome to yet another time with the Lord in the pages of His word; today, we will be discussing the synod theme. It is my prayer that God will grant us the peace we desire as we go through His word. Let us consider our chosen text Mark 4:35 – 39

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

The story of the storm and the disciples of Jesus Christ happens to be one of the popular stories recorded in the Synoptic Gospels which portrayed the sovereignty of Jesus Christ over nature; it is a story that is being shared by the three Synoptic Gospels with each laying hold on a significant truth about God’s power over creation. However, we will rely on Marks account of this story to discover the mind of Christ.

In V.35 – 36 we were made to understand that Jesus was with the crowd teaching them the gospel truth but at a point, He felt the need to move away from the crowd to be alone with His disciples at the other side. Matthew recorded that Jesus took the decision to go to the other side of the lake because there was a great crowd around Him Matt. 8:18, this decision is therefore made in other to separate Himself from the crowd; a decision that is better explained as an invitation or a call to move away from the crowd for a journey to the other side. Jesus’s call to His disciples was a decisive call which received a prompt response by the disciples. As Christians today, there is need for us to move away from the crowd to the other side with Jesus. It is unfortunate that the Church today is romancing the world, our core values as Christians seems to be forgotten simply because instead of moving away from the crowd, we have pitched our tents with the crowd, living our lives in accordance to the world standards and system at the expense of our relationship with Christ.

The disciples of Jesus who were with Jesus at the point of this call responded promptly to the call and followed Him without looking back. Today this prompt response which characterized the early Christians seems to be lost among us because we do not want to move away from the crowd; we are pleased to be associated with the crowd, unlike Jesus who will always call on the disciples to a separate place where the crowd will not disturb their relationship and communication. The crowd here may be our worldly friends who cannot add value to our Christian life, it could be our addiction to home videos, social media and stuffs like that; it could also be our businesses which has denied us quality time with God, Jesus Christ demanded that they move away from the crowd to a place where the crowd cannot follow them.

In moving away from the crowd, Jesus decided to take the Galilean sea as the escape route, this particular sea is said to be 696 feet (212m) below sea level hence resulting in violent downdraft and sudden storms (windstom). Jesus understood that the sea of Galilee is always saddled with this aggressive storm and the disciples being fishermen also knew this fact about the Galilean sea but that did not stop them from following Jesus on the journey of crossing over to the other side through the stormy sea of Galilee.  From this we see the determination of the disciples to follow Jesus across to a place where they can be alone. But to the crowd, none of them tried to follow them not even one, perhaps their reason for not wanting to follow Jesus and His disciples may be because of the raging nature of the route Jesus Christ has chosen for the journey. Some of us Christians will desire to follow Jesus but not when He is journeying through a stormy path. We will like to identify with Jesus when things a rosy and blooming but the moment we have the slightest glimpse of danger on the route, we tend to draw back and follow another storm free route not minding what is the will of God over the route we have chosen to ply. The disciples of Jesus were ever ready to ply the stormy sea of Galilee as long the master is with them, this unwavering obedience to the call of Jesus from the deciples gave birth to the whole incident of PEACE BE STILL. But thinking about the storm and the obedient disciples, one may want to ask why did Jesus Christ allow them to experience the raging storm after they undoubtedly believed and followed Him?

In our present journey with Christ, at times we tend to ask questions like why me? why did God allow this to fall on me? Why is my issue this serious? Why is God not responding to my issues? This and some other questions saddle our minds whenever we are faced with issues that tends to try our faith. Some people in the midst of these challenges disappoint God; I have heard the story of a man that claimed that he asked God to give him money but he did not and when he asked the devil, the devil gave him. Many a times, the storms that comes our way while we live our lives for Christ move us away from Christ instead of moving us to Christ.

The disciples even though they were obedient in following Jesus, were compelled to face the raging storm. This is an indication that being with Jesus does not prevent storms of life from coming your way. The Neo-Pentecostals who believed that the Pentecostal power has being made available to make them prosperous and free from every ill situation has heretically lead many into believing that by accepting Jesus Christ into your life, you will be completely free and exempted from afflictions. But the reality of life is that these afflictions don’t go like that so when these Christian who believed that accepting Jesus Christ into their lives is a means of escaping odd situations pass through these situations, they tend to believe or think that Christ has departed from them; so they always turn to the another way for a solution to their problem.

The storm which Jesus commanded to be still is as same as the various situations that we face today even though we have a part with Christ, thus it will be important to note here that being in a relationship with Jesus Christ is not an exemption from temptations or trials. John 16:33 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” As long as we live in this world we are bound to face divers kinds of temptations but the questions should be, when we face these temptations, how do we address them? We will look closely at the story of Mark now in other to draw out lessons that will help us even as we conclude.

V. 37 – 38 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

When the Storm arose, the disciples called on Jesus immediately to come to their aid. In our present time, Christians sometimes in the midst of temptations and storms, forget that Jesus Christ is the only one that can quench our storm; sometimes instead of calling on Him, we call on the problem facing us, we call on our family members who may not offer any solution but instead make jest of the situation, we often try to proffer solutions to our problems ourselves and in trying to do so, we go against the will of God. The disciples understood that the master who called them to journey with Him on that route was very much present with them. We will be making the greatest mistake of our lives when we think that Jesus Christ is not with us in the very storms of this life that we face, we will also be making a mistake if we think that Christ is not aware of the problem that is currently facing us. The disciple thought that Jesus was not paying attention to the problem that they were facing when they asked him saying, carest thou not the we perish? But the good thing is that they were with Jesus and they also called on Him.

As we conclude, I want to ask you these questions,

Who are you with in the journey of life?

Who do you call in the time of trouble?

Have you decided to move away from the crowd to the other side with Jesus? The crowd may constitute your secret life that reminds you how miserable a sinner you are whenever you fall into that sinful act, it may be a habit that you have become addicted to which has place you in a pitiful situation, it could be your company of friends which has influenced and is still influencing your life negatively. Jesus is saying to you, leave the crowd and cone with me to the other side.

PEACE BE STILL is Jesus's response to man’s unending suffering here on earth hence when we remain in Christ in our earthly journey, He commands His peace to reign in our lives in the face of storms.

May we never be found outside of Christ so that when He commands His peace upon us, we will be connected to receive it. Amen

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THE HEART, THE CENTRE OF TRUE WORSHIP

^{Matthew 5:8} The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God

The gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded by St. Matthew amongst the other three Gospels uniquely has this portion of Jesus’s message on the mount to himself; additionally, the Gospel as recorded by St. Luke is the only gospel that shares the message of our Lord Jesus which was termed the beatitude. It is interesting to note that the whole message of the beatitude is centred on this singular unique verse of the Gospel as recorded by St. Matthew thus it is important to remember at this time our last lesson on THE HEART, THE ENGINE OF YOUR LIFE as the lesson drawn from that lesson will greatly assist in this present study.

One thing I did not mention about the heart in the last lesson which is very important that I draw our attention to this today is in the Greek usage of the term Heart; the Greek word  “καρδία kardia” apart from been usage to express the thoughts and feelings of the mind figuratively, it is also  analogically used to express the middle, centre, midpoint, core, axis and so on. Thus the heart is visualized as the centre of a man’s deeds.

It will be important to note that there is not any action that has ever been carried out by any man that has not yet been conceived in the heart before then; hence the heart is the warehouse of a man’s thoughts and deeds which subsequently forms his being/personality.

It is this very centre of thoughts that God looks at and demands that a man that must worship Him in truthfulness must be a man who has allowed his worship for God to flow from this very important aspect of his life called the heart.

Several potions of the Bible has talked about the heart in so many ways, the book of ^{Jer. 17:9} says that, ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ^ESV while the NASU translation of this same scripture preferred to use the term ‘bad’. One may want to know why the Bible referred to the heart of man as sick and bad? We will reveal the reason as we proceed on this lesson.

it has been discovered that the selected scriptures of today has one thing in come apart from the fact that they all address the issue of the heart, it is also important to note that they all contains a question either directly or indirectly?

Looking at the text, ^{Psalm 15:1-2} the question directly asked is, ‘LORD, who may be a guest in your home? ​​​​​​Who may live on your holy hill?’ ^NET

Similarly, ^{Ps 24:3} ​​​​​​​asks, ‘Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the LORD? ​​​​​​Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?’ ^NET

Consequently, ^{Ps 119:9a} ​​​​​​​asks, ‘How can a young person maintain a pure life?^NET ​​​​​​

Indirectly, Matthew 5:8 asked a singular question that brings to bare the main message of the above scriptures which is, ‘Who is qualified to see God’?

The primary reason for worship is for God’s people to present themselves as a living sacrifice unto God, been made holy and accepted by God so that they can share a part with Him (God) now and subsequently in heaven.

It is also important to note that the only hindrance to this purpose or reason for worship is the heart of man, on the same hand; it is also the part that determines ones stand with God.

The following questions will aid our understanding of this lesson:

1.   Why is the heart considered to be sick? Jer. 17:9

2.   What does it mean to acknowledge the truth in your heart? Ps 15:2

3.   What does it mean to have a pure heart? Ps 24:4a

4.   How can a one wash away evil from his heart make His heart pure? Jer. 4:14; Ps 119:11a

WHY IS THE HEART CONSIDERED TO BE SICK? JER 17:9

A synonymous question which will aid in understanding the reason why the heart is considered to be sick is this; what does it mean to be sick? The word ‘sick’ means to be suffering from a disease or illness; it is a state of being out of the normal.

God considered the heart to be sick because when he created man, he was whole but from the moment he failed in the garden Genesis 3, his heart (thoughts and feelings) went out of the normal and became sick; sick in the sense that the original heart God gave man became influenced by a virus (SIN) which has made him to function abnormally out of the will of God. Furthermore this speaks of the level of corruption that has crept into the heart of man by the reason of the fall. The effect of this corrupted thought and feelings (the heart) amounted Cain jealousy over his brother Abel which made him to slay Him, it also resulted in the continuous thought of evil that was found in the heart of man which made God to repent  creating man. Genesis 6:5-6.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUTH IN YOUR HEART? PS 15:2

Due to the fall of man in the garden, the thoughts of man, his feelings and desires which are the constitute of his heart became corrupt and completely wicked, thus man became inconsistent in heart. 

The implication of this is:

·         Man can speak a lie easily while hiding the truth in his heart.

·         Man can speak the truth but in his heart, has an evil intention

The second seems to be the most rampart yet unchecked in the community today, Abraham was a man called by God for his purpose but he was a man guilty of this same reoccurring issue in the life of many Christians today. 

Abraham had Sarah as his sister and also as his wife; Abimelech was a King who desired to have Sarah, Abraham on the other was supposed to reveal the relationship between him and the King but instead, he preferred to tell the king the truth of Sarah been his sister in other to cover the truth of her been his wife; even though Abraham was saying the truth but was not truthful in his heart.

So many times, we say the truth over an issue with an intention to cover up another essential truth that may implicate us or favour a person that we are not in good terms with.

Can you remember the last time you slandered your colleague in the office because you want to paint his image black so as be preferred over him even though the things you said about him was the truth but right deep in your heart, your motive for revealing such a truth at that very time is not truthful.

God demands from his people to acknowledge the truth in their heart, men who will stand and speak the truth not with a deceitful mind.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A PURE HEART? PS 24:4A

To have a pure heart is to have a heart that is sincerely true, a heart in which no deceit will be found; A heart that will consist of a pure thought, desire, and feelings; a heart that will be in consistence with the mind of God, and with what the truth that the mouth utters.

HOW CAN A ONE WASH AWAY EVIL FROM HIS HEART MAKE HIS HEART PURE? JER. 4:14; PS 119:11A

In the book of Jeremiah God asked the people of Israel to wash away evil from their hearts, but the book Psalm asked a singular question which is how can one make his way pure; in other words, how can a man cleanse his heart pure, relating this to the question asked by Jeremiah should be how can a man wash away evil from his heart. The psalmist said by hiding the word of God in his heart.

Two things are involved here;

·         The heart

·         The word

For the heart to be pure it must become the dwelling of the word, for the thoughts, feelings, and desire to be pure, the heart must be the dwelling of the word.

          It will be very important to note that the Gospel as recorded by John 1:1 declares that the word of God Himself is Jesus Christ. This is to say that until Jesus Christ is dwelling in the thought of men, desires of men, feelings of men, they will always remain evil.

          The reason why a man can easily settle for Lesbianism and Homosexuality is because his conscience is sick and lacks the presence of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit who alone has the power to heal man’s heart and restore it to the original purpose of God.

I plead today with you my audience to search your heart and make sure that you have received Jesus into your heart and allow His word to search your heart and eradicate every thoughts and inclinations that raises himself against Gods knowledge.

May God bless you as you keep your heart holy for His dwelling.

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I remain your Pastor and Friend

Izuchukwu Onwujiuba

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THE HEART, THE ENGINE OF YOUR LIFE

The heart is the organ that supplies blood and oxygen to all parts of the body. It is about the size of a clenched fist, weighs about 10.5 ounces and is shaped like a cone. The heart is located in the chest cavity just posterior to the breastbone, between the lungs and superior to the diaphragm. The heart is surrounded by a fluid filled sac called the pericardium. Blood is pumped away from the heart through arteries and returns to the heart through veins. The major artery of the body is the aorta and the major veins of the body are the vena cavae.

The heart is not just one of the most important organs that constitutes human life but is also the most important aspect of human life that should be handled with absolute carefulness and watchfulness; biologically, life starts when the heart starts to beat and ends when it stops beating.

The heart therefore is the representation of who a person is; various times in the Bible, God spoke of the heart. In Gen. 6:5, God regarded the heart of man as an extreme wicked member of the human body which habors or conceives evil thoughts, Gen 8:21 gives another perspective of what God says the heart is; God declared that from childhood, the heart has always been over-clouded with negative/evil inclinations.

The friends of Job on the other hand in Job 15:16 refer to the heart as that which drinks up evil like water while Prov. 6:18 regard the heart as being capable of devising evil scheme. Jeremiah in Jer. 17:9 says that the heart is more deceitful than anything else, incurably bad and hard to understand.

Jesus Christ speaking of the heart in the book of Mark 7:21-23 said:

For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

From all indications, it is clear that the Bible holds a uniform understanding of what the heart is. However, the very big question that should be considered this moment as we proceed on this study is:

v  What is the Biblical interpretation of the Heart?

That is to say, when the Bible makes mention of the heart, what exactly do he mean? In the whole of the Bible, the word heart was used about 830 times with the Old Testament recording 725 counts and the New Testament 105.

In the Old Testament, the Bible made use of two Hebrew words  לֵב (leb) and לֵבָב (lebab).

Lebab לֵבָב translated as heart in the English Bible, refers to the heart (as the most interior organ) i.e. the heart of an animal which can be human as the case may be, but the frequent usage of the word heart in the Old Testament is the word, Leb לֵב.

Leb לֵב also translated as heart in the English Bible is an offshoot of the root word Lebab לֵבָב which refers to the heart in a figurative sense, thus used very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; it was also regarded as the centre of anything (anything can also mean everything).

In the New Testament, the Greek word used for heart is καρδία (kardia), hope you know that the Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language, while the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, (oops I should not be saying this).

καρδία (kardia), used in several places in the New Testament has been translated as heart but was used in a figurative sense as well thus, the New Testament when talking about the heart, refers to the thoughts or feelings (mind) habored by one.

Now from the above, we realize that the Old and New Testament hold the same view on what the heart is and thus when they make mention of the heart, they refer to the Feelings, will, intellects and the thoughts of the mind; it speaks of the intentions or motives that runs through your mind.

LET US TRY AND APPLY THIS UNDERSTANDING TO THE TEXTS THAT WE HAVE ABOVE:

^{Jer. 17:9} The heart (Feelings, will, intellects, thoughts of the mind intentions or motives that runs through your mind) is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable — who can understand it…

^{Mark 7:21-23} For from within, out of the human heart (Feelings, will, intellects, thoughts of the mind intentions or motives that runs through your mind), come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

We understand that the human heart as centre of life is also the centre of the existence of thoughts which in its capacity forms the character of any a person.

Who you are is a reflection of whatever is going on in your mind; this explains why God concentrates on the heart.

The heart contains your real Identity and therefore demands to always be put right before God.

In our next study, we will use this understanding to examine what this passage of the Scripture is saying:

Psalm 15:2 …The one who lives honestly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart

Ps 24:4a He who has clean hands and a pure heart

Ps 119:11a I have hidden your word in my heart

Jer 4:14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved

Ps 14:3 He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue

I remain your Pastor and Friend

Izuchukwu Onwujiuba

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