DOUBT, SATAN'S GOAL IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER

It is normal for one to doubt the authenticity of an information, or business proposals, it is also possible for one to doubt the genuity of one’s intentions; the act of doubting often times have become a vital instrument for reinvestigating matters or issues that is not clear to us. This we do by asking questions (or doubts) about persons, propositions, or objects hoping that at the end, we may find substantiated facts.

a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. 

Doubt therefore has been deemed a valuable element philosophically and epistemologically in honest, rational inquiry. It helps us to avoid reaching hasty conclusions or making commitments to unreliable and untrustworthy sources. Doubt is simply a suspension of judgment until sufficient inquiry is made and adequate evidence presented concerning a matter under considerations. Doubt therefore connotes a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. 

In light of this, doubt could be considered not an enemy of faith. This seems to be the attitude of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so". Questioning or doubting inspires us to search further and deeper in an understanding.

With only rare exceptions, however, doubt in the Scriptures is seen as a negative attitude or action because it is directed toward God by man. The word connotes the idea of weakness in faith or unbelief.

From the typological understanding of Isaiah 14, we discover that doubt actually began in heaven in the heart of Lucifer. Here the object of doubt (and rejection) was the sovereignty and majesty of God, For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:13-14 KJV. Satan in his heart doubted God's sovereignty and majesty by thinking that he could take the place of God; he believed actually that he can be like God. Such beliefs is a prove of his unbelief on the truth of the personality of God and the fact that no one can take His place.

Doubt on the other hand was conceived on earth and given birth in the garden when the serpent cast doubt on God's character and goodness, Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:1-5 KJV.  

Here, the object of doubt is the authenticity of Gods words to Adam and Eve. Satan intended to make them question the genuity of Gods words to them, they were more eager to confirm God's word by eating the forbidden fruit rather than obeying God. Tragically they submitted to Satan's deceptive plan and plunged humankind into the fall (vv. 6-19).

In both instances doubt is clearly an aspect of sin; it is directed toward God and is characterized by rebellion and disobedience.

In the Gospels the word "doubt" consistently carries with it a negative aspect, and the object of doubt again is always the Lord in some sense. Peter doubted Christ's ability to keep him from drowning; And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Matthew 14:31 KJV. Here doubt is small or weak faith. Peter became doubtful as to the Lord's reliability and power to sustain him. I was talking with a Clerk lately and She said. "if I pray to God about an issue in my family and I seem not to get a solution, I will invite my pastor to intervene"

My reply was, will you also inquire of the Lord if he actually wanted you to bring in a third party to that issue. Often times doubt is seen in us when we are impatient with God; when we fail to believe that He whom we have committed our lives to is more than able, we will only be showing Him how much we are unable to trust Him.

The Pharisees doubted Christ's messiahship and asked for another sign (Matt 12:38-42). If we have faith in God and do not doubt, we can move mountains and receive our request through prayer (Matt 21:21; Mark 11:23). Here doubt is the antithesis of faith. In John 14:1 Jesus encourages the disciples not to be troubled (doubting?) in their heart with regards to the future, but to believe in him, to trust him for their future needs. Some of the disciples, including Thomas, doubted the reality of the resurrected Lord (Luke 24:38; John 20:27). Here doubt is not outright denial or unbelief, but an attitude or feeling of uncertainty. Thomas is not severely rebuked, but neither is his skepticism commended. "Stop doubting and believe" is the word of the Lord to his disciple.

Abraham, as a positive example, is said not to have wavered" through unbelief [doubt] regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith" (Rom 4:20). Doubt here is equivalent to unbelief.

James 1:6-8 tells us a doubting man is an unstable or divided man who lacks sufficient faith to lay hold of the promises of God. The doubting one sins against the Lord because he has questioned the character, goodness, and faithfulness of God. Unlike the God who does not change (v. 17), the doubting person is "like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (v. 6). Such an individual "should not think he will receive anything from the Lord" (v. 7).

A different use of the word "doubt" is found in both Romans 14:23 and Jude 22. In the Romans passage doubt is related to one's conscience. Doubt or uncertainty over a questionable action or a "gray area" of the Christian life (here it is eating idol-meat) is condemned because the action does not arise out of faith toward God. At this point the latter part of verse 23 is most instructive: "everything that does not come from faith is sin."

Jude 22 raises the issue of evangelistic apologetics toward the serious doubter who denies Jesus Christ as the only sovereign Lord (v. 4). Here doubt is a settled denial and rejection of both the person (Jesus Christ) and propositions affirmed about him (he is sovereign and Lord). Doubt of this nature is blatant unbelief involving the mind, will, and emotions.

Doubt in Scripture can be seen to be characteristic of both believers and unbelievers. In believers it is usually a weakness of faith, a wavering in the face of God's promises.

Consider the case if Jesus Christ in Matt. 4:3;

If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread  

Looking at the above temptation, one may think that the devil was being nice and caring to Jesus, seeing that He just finished a very long fast and was in a great need of food, It was idle that He find something to eat. Mr. Satan's "kind" gesture could have being considered most appropriate at this time since he proffered a suggestion of an easy way to have food available for Jesus to eat. But more to this gesture of kindness, it is important to note that it seems that Mr. Satan was not actually concerned about Jesus's hunger state but His sonship with the father.

The Clause, If thou be as used by Satan could mean If you are, it is a request for clarity or a demand for one to prove something about himself, e.g. if you can cook Egwusi soup, make this 2cups of Egwusi. The issue here as we note is not that you cannot cook but that your ability to cook is being questioned hence you need to make 2cups of egwusi before we can prove that you can actually cook.

Mr. Satan's interest was not on Jesus's need of food but on His personality as the Son of God...he wanted Jesus to doubt His sonship and prove that he is actually the Son of God by turning stones into bread; if Jesus responded to Satan's trick and turned the stones to bread, he would not have done that because he had need to eat but because he needed to prove that He is the Son of God. That would have been a way of telling God that He did not trust Him enough when He said to Him, you are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. When a believer doubts, it connotes his inability to trust God completely without wavering.

In the unbeliever doubt is virtually synonymous with unbelief. Scripture, as would be expected, does not look at doubt philosophically or epistemologically. Doubt is viewed practically and spiritually as it relates to our trust in the Lord. For this reason, doubt is not deemed as valuable or commendable.

May the Lord help us to develop faith that cannot be wavered in Him. Amen

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A REFLECTION ON 1 PETER 5:6 – 9

1 Peters 5:6 – 9: Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of GOD so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

The above encouragement is one of the apostolic advice given by apostle Peter himself to the believers; though the last advice he rendered in this epistle yet of great importance in the life of every one that wish to live a godly life; it echoed the theme and purpose of this entire epistle which is, to encourage those who persevere in faith while suffering persecution to be full of hope for they will certainly enjoy end-time salvation, since they already enjoy Gods saving promises through Christ’s death and resurrection.

In verse 6 our text today, we see Peter making a call to the believers to humble themselves under Gods mighty hand; Peter here addressed the issue of pride, he knew that there are tendencies of Gods people to think that they can handle their problems without necessarily involving God. 

Many a times, we tend to worry over issues of life instead of rendering them to God in Prayers, even when we pray about them; we still worry over them as if we can actually solve the very problem by being worried. Worry is a form of pride which takes concern upon oneself instead of entrusting them to God, who cares for his people.

In the book of 1 Sam 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

Wonder why God called David the man after his heart? As a king, David could have commanded his army to take care of the men who were planning on stoning him, he could have being having sleepless night planning on how to defend himself and his family, but he realized that without God, he will not be able to make a head forward; as a king whom other people rely on, David relied on God, he humbled himself before God who he believes is superior than Himself.

Peter says here, instead of worrying your head out over that situation which you are facing, why not hand it over to God who cares for you. The act of being worried is a sign of denying the fact that God cares for you; it speaks of your rejection over Gods offer to care for you and your willingness to start caring for yourself. It is like saying; thank you Lord for offering to care for me but I do not need your cares because I can now care for myself. Every time we worry ourselves over issues of life instead over committing them to God, we deny Gods cares and love for us.

In verse 8 of this scripture, Peter pointed out the reason why we must humble/submit ourselves to God; ‘the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour’. There is a man whose duty is to move around seeking who is no longer under the care of God so as to devour/destroy or deceive him. The devil cannot deceive nor devour you when you are under Gods care; worry withdraws a man from Gods care and makes him stand alone, defenseless and vulnerable for the devils attack.

The devil understands this principle very well and that is why he is always on the lookout for people who have being withdrawn from Gods list of care in other to deceive them. Notice that the thought to solve your problem in a wrong way comes in to your mind whenever you give in to worry.

Why did you agree to the arrangement of getting pregnant before he weds you? Why did you agree to the arrangement of swearing false affidavit of age because you need a job? Why did you agree to the thought of getting pregnant for another man because for years, your husband could not impregnate you?  Why did you accept that ungodly arrangement because of the benefit therein? You have lost hope of Gods ability to proffer a solution to that condition you found yourself and the devil who is always on the lookout proffered a solution for you.

Hear the words of Peter in 1 Peter 4:7 “the end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” Worry makes you to be clouded with thoughts in your mind and the outcome is inability to pray; when a man is unable to pray, his soul becomes porous and fit for the devils attack. For this reason, Peter also advised in 1 Peter 1:13 that you should prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. That is to say, instead of being worried over the issues of life, why not set your mind on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ comes, why not ponder on the crown of glory that will be accorded you if you remain faithful to God.

In verse 9, Peter pointed out that, you are not the only one passing through afflictions, it may interest you to know that the same situation that made you jump into prostitution, the same issue that made you yield to a night sex, or to that ungodly act, someone somewhere has passed through them and yet remained steadfast to faith. Afflictions are not peculiar to you; people pass through worse situations than yours yet they still pledge their allegiance to God because they have completely submitted their lives to Jesus.

If you yield to afflictions and accept Satan’s remedy, how will you stand before God on the judgment day when you face a man who had greater afflictions than yours yet he rejected Satan’s remedies?

Beloved of God, know you today that the hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. It is time for us to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. This is a call for you to behave decently, as in the day-time, it is time to get rid of the fleshly orgies and drunkenness, purify yourself from all forms of sexual immoralities and be yea holy for the angels of God are prepared, waiting for an instruction to blow the trump.

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

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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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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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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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THE ATTITUDE OF THE YOUTH THAT WANTS TO BE PURE

Hello and welcome to another blessed day which the Lord has made, we will be glad and rejoice in it. Today’s message is a completion of the topic we started in out last lesson but we will be going into something different though essential for the attainment of a pure life as we saw in our last lesson.

We have looked on the areas of our lives that the word of God must be allowed to rule over and we were able to see that with the word of God in [place in this particular places of our lives], we will be sure to say that we are standing with God.

Today, we want to critically examine what our attitude towards the word of God should be if we must be pure and holy.

In Psalm 119:10, the psalmist gave a principle which has remained the only principle emphasized in several passages of the scripture, it reads; “with my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.”

Consider carefully the phrase ‘with my whole heart’, what does it mean to search for GOD with one’s whole heart? Does that suggest that there are men who actually seek God but not with their whole heart? What could have being the possible reason why the Psalmist desired to seek the Lord with his whole heart and what did he aimed to achieve as he seek for God with his whole heart?

1.   The Psalmist understands very well that in the heart flows the issues of life and if his desire to seek God does not flow from his heart, he will only be wasting his time.

2.   The Psalmist knows that if his heart is not disciplined to completely focus on seeking the Lord; he will face a lot of distractions.

3.   He knew that seeking God with a partial heart will eventually lead to him wandering away from the commandments of God.

Let us have a look at few verses of the book of 2 Chronicles 15; the book of 2 Chronicles records the story of King Asa’s religious reform which was considered to be one of the revivals that took place in the Old Testament, it is embodied with a lot of lessons for us today.

Asa became king following the death of his father Abijah, as a result of his faithful leadership, Judah lived at peace during the first ten years of his reign. The prophet Azariah prophesied concerning Asa, saying “the Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him he will forsake you” (15:2). Asa took the prophets words to heart and immediately embarked on making religious reforms including repair of the altar in the temple; he gathered the people to make a covenant, commanding that anyone who would not seek the Lord would be put to death. Sadly the last five years of his reign were marked by spiritual and physical decline as the king began to trust on human alliances and ability than God.

The story in this chapter looks like the situation which was painted by the question asked by the Psalmist in Psalm 119:9, it portrays the picture of a community that is lacking righteousness. Asa was a King to the people of God who has forgotten about seeking God because their hearts has being far from God ever since priest who will devote their time to teaching the word of God were lacking amongst them. V.3 records that for a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest and without the Law. You will discover that because there was not a priest who will teach the Law (the compass for life) they lost their stand with God, they lost their grip on righteousness resulting in everyone behaving as he would.

One important truth we must establish here is that when people stop hearing the undiluted word of God which alone has the power to convict a sinner, they feel at home in the Church with their sins celebrated as their weaknesses and their unfaithfulness as there character resulting in uncircumcised but confirmed Christians who will preach the word of God and play our pianos, robe in our choir and sing the praise of the God, work for God in various capacities but has no personal contact with God whom they claim to know and work for.

a.    For any son of the Kingdom that desires to remain pure for the Master, he must make sure that he has a teaching priest, one who will always be there to rebuke, instruct exclusively with the word of God and direct him in the decisions of life which he is bound to make.

Our youths today behave the way they do because, our churches has left the teaching ministry which would have subjected these youths to deep revelation of the will and purpose of God for their lives which always comes with lights that the darkness of their lives cannot comprehend and has jumped into the power ministry because ministers feel that they are not announced when they teach as much as they will if they have everyone in the gathering fall under anointing hence we demonstrate the power of God on the youths in the  name of deliverance but fail to subject them to a systematic teaching of how to live a holy spirit lead life thus subjecting them to deliverance experimentation. The implication is this, we end up gathering crowds as members who knows little or nothing on what it is that God demands from us as his Children, hence we have lost grip of the true God and His law is no longer in us.

If we must be right with God, then we must avail ourselves to teach and be taught by seasoned ministers who are disciples, whose business is nothing but teaching you to observe all that the Lord has commanded you, Jesus Christ said, ‘go therefore and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Math 28:19,30 ESV

b.   Any youth that will live a pure life must be a youth who is with the Lord. V.2 says, the Lord is with you while you are with Him; if you seek Him He will be found by you, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

This verse suggest to us that the Lord will not be with you if you do not first of all avail yourself for Him; the Lord will be hidden from you if you don’t look for Him and the Lord will forsake you if you forget about Him; Jesus Christ confirmatively declared in John 15 that any branch that abides not in the Lord will not bear fruit.

The ingredients for bearing fruit is supplied to the branches that are still attached to the tree not the once that has being cut off, in the same vain, the instrument that produces a life of purity in any youth is gotten from the presence of God, for any youth that refuses to seek the Lord, such will not be able to receive from the Lord this instrument that can transform his her life into the divine will of God. You will not be able to bear fruits of holiness and purity while you dislodge yourself from the Lord. It is in affirmation of this, with full knowledge of what will happen if one seeks not the Lord that the Psalmist cried out saying, o Lord I am seeking for You, not just anyhow but with complete seriousness because as for me, I am seeking You with my whole heart. The Message Bible puts it thus, ‘I am single-minded in the pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you have posted:’ this suggest that one can be seeking the Lord but not with full concentration thus being double minded while seeking the Lord and its implication is that he will miss the road signs, a that would have aided him in living a pure life; he would have missed the chance of knowing what it is that the Master desires.

Look at v.8 ‘And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD’

For king Asa to effectively seek God, he had to put away some irrelevant objects that have for long constituted to their not knowing God.

c.    Until our youths realize the need to put off the abominable acts of 21^st century youths, living a life of holiness and purity will almost be an impossible task while some will see it as something meant for only the aged who are no longer interested the youthful displays.

Truth be told, you cannot be fashion conscious, social media driven, entertainment inclined with your head filled with almost all the lyrics of every song of your age and your eyes feed with almost all the movies of your time especially the Korean and Philippines love series , then the home videos and others of such which only feed your mind and thoughts with feelings contrary to the will of God, causing you to live by their cravings and yet you expect those hearts of yours not to think about filthy things but produce righteousness and purity.

For Asa, he got rid of stuff like that which he considered a detriment to him seeking God, for you, a young man. What are you gonna do about it? This is what Mr. Hebrew had to say on this issue, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1 NIV

For you a young man who desires to be pure or is considering being pure a hard nut to crack, you must start now to empty up your mind of all the abominable and idolatrous deeds of this age which has being widely accepted and start printing the word of God daily  in your heart.

Finally consider v.12,13 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; that whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

Asa and his people decided to offer their lives to God, it was actually a covenant they had which says that with all our heart we offer ourselves to you and anyone that will not serve you among us shall be put to death.

What does it actually mean to put someone to death? The Hebrew word used for death here muwth (mooth) comes from a primitive root which speaks of destroying. You will agree with me here that when someone dies, we become separated from that person for life. Hence to be put to death here is a way of saying that they should be completely separated from us since they will not serve the Lord with us.

d.   Any youth that must be pure before God must determine to seek the Lord with all his heart (i.e. with his feelings, emotions, thoughts, minds, desires, will and stuff like that) and should anything within or without that decides not to join him in seeking the Lord, he must completely separate himself from.

The Holy Scripture as Paul wrote it in Romans 12:1 calls every one of us to a life of service which should constitute of our lives being presented at the altar of God daily as a living sacrifice’s, one that must be alive not dead, holy and pleasing to the Lord; a sacrifice’s that can be done by not conforming to the world. Beloved, if you must live a pure life for Jesus Christ then you must get deformed for Him, you must completely separate from the worldly desires and passions that you may be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

May our God enrich your heart as you seek Him every day of your life. Amen

I invite you to join our Whatsapp group where we deliver to you fresh and undiluted teachings from the word of God in audios and written form.

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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PRACTICAL FEATURES OF LOVE

Hello and welcome to yet another time with the Lord on this platform. We want to trust the Lord for His guidance as we go on the study of today, knowing fully well that this topic cannot be exhausted in writing.

          The issue of Love is one of the most preached topics yet the less practiced, it is one of the most neglected when it comes to practicing and yet the most important aspect of the Christian life hence everything that Christian faith teaches are all a part of the Love nature of our God who has loved us.

          To teach love is to teach God and to live love is to live God’s life; sadly, only few have being encapsulated with this nature of God.

It will be important to note here that God will not compromise his standards for any man for he has sent us all to go out and love as he has loved us with the promise that he will come back to reward us all. The question here is when he comes, will you be found as a Christians who has faithfully loved as the Lord has commanded or will you be guilty of living a life of hate instead of love?

          God is demanding from everyone that call the name of Christ to be an embodiment of Love which he has first shown us in His Son Jesus Christ this year, for only the genuine love of Christ, the love called Agape, in the Greek terms, the Gods kind of love will grant us a massive victory in winning the souls of the unbelievers.

Today we will not be defining love but it will be important to note here that love is not just a word but an act; it is a practice which God has enjoined us all to practice without excuse.

Our text today will be the popular love text which Paul the Apostle has written to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 13. Paul had received an Oral report and a letter from the Corinthian Church. These revealed a church struggling with division, immorality, idolatry and theological confusion, he wrote them this letter so that they would become a true dwelling place for God’s Spirit, stay faithful to the gospel of Christ and be guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul has presented the Church to the People as the dwelling place of God’s Spirit thus the people that make up the Church should work for unity by building each other up.  (1:10-4:21, especially 3:10-16; 14:12)

Paul taught that Christians should endeavor to build up the Church in four practical ways which includes which includes:

·         Being sensitive to those with fragile faith (8:1-9:18; 10:28,33)

·         They should win unbelievers to the faith (9:19-23; 10:27, 32-33)

·         They should conduct the service in such a way that unbelievers might come to faith (14:16, 23-25); Gods demand here is that all our services must be aimed at bringing unbelievers to God. You will notice here that God is not concerned with the number of people in your Church but the saints you have made out of them.

Paul’s message of love was brought to its apex in Chapter 13 as he clearly taught that one without love works in vain for no service rendered to God without love will be recognized before God, thus Love is the essential part of the Christian faith.

Today we want to discuss the issue of love from verse 6 and 7 of chapter 13;

V6, 7 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. HCSB

The message bible rendered this verse thus; Doesn't revel (to take great pleasure in something) when others grovel (to indulge in something unworthy), Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

Paul here said that this kind of love I am talking about does not rejoice in iniquity; what does it mean to rejoice in iniquity? Various translations of this very verse rendered this sentence thus;

“Love does not delight in evil NIV” hence this love is not happy when evil is reigning in the land, in the house or in the Church; maybe you are a father in the house of three kids with a maid girl and the mother of the house is ill-treating the maid girl, instead of you to do something about it, you join the cue by calling such a training or believing that the young girl deserves the kind of treatment he is receiving; listen, as long as you have done nothing about the situation, you are pleased with it, you are comfortable with it. Paul says here that the love which he speaks of does not feel comfortable when such is being done.

You are a Christian deep in faith but your children are almost wayward, dressing in a seductive way even in your presence but you don’t see anything wrong it rather you call it that they are expressing themselves; you even buy cloths that you looks ungodly for them to wear and you say that God looks at the heart, you sit down with them and watch home videos that teach nothing but violence, arouse lust, and deep urge for sexual feelings and you even laugh alongside with them while watching the movie, you are just encouraging great evil, Paul said that this love which comes from God does not do such.

Look at what the New American Standard Bible update edition had to say on this same sentence;

“does not rejoice in unrighteousness NASU” What does it mean to be righteous or unrighteous? The word righteousness in its simple understanding is doing things the right way thus this love does not glory in things that are not done in the right way. It means that there is a way that this love seeks to do things and that is the right way; she does not entangle herself with people that do things in the wrong way. And Paul said here in Romans 1:32 “Although they fully know1 God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.” Mark what the Bible says here, those who practice such things shall die, including those who approve of such things.

You may not be guilty of not training up your Children in the right way, but you are gladdened whenever someone you have considered an evil person encounters evil, like death or things like that, you may be involved in reigning down the holy ghost fire on your fellows humans because you have considered them evil, but what does the Bible say about such situations? Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?”

And 18:23 which says, “Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign LORD? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?” The love that God actually desires us to practice is that love that will like what the Lords like and do what he would have done.

In v.7 it writes thus, Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. HCSB

 The message Bible rendered it thus, “Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end”

This love that Paul is speaking off is the Love that can do the following:

1.   Put up with anything

2.   Trust God always

3.   Never looks back but looks for the best

4.   Keeps going to the end

Let us discuss the following now,

What does it mean to put up with anything? The Greek word “στέγω stego” which was translated as put up or beareth as the case may be figuratively means to cover with silence i.e. endure patiently, you will agree with me that one of the greatest problems that has affected us today in the church is lack of endurance, this is the same reason why some marriages today fall off thus you hear people say, for this thing you did, I can never forgive you; what has that man or woman done that you cannot forgive and overlook. Some women are not at peace with their mother inlaws because they have one thing or the other against her, some will say, when her son wanted to marry me, she rejected now that she is sick she want me to be the one bathing her, God forbid! Do you know that God will actually forbid but not the way you want it, he will forbid you entering His kingdom with such kind of unforgiving heart. You have divorced your husband or your wife with the reason that he or she has done something evil, but you have being doing all manners of evil and God is still keeping you hoping that you change. God’s love is one that will do what God will do if He is the one involved.

It is lack of trust on God that makes a man to divorce his wife, what situation have you faced that God cannot solve if you had trust Him? But because you do not trust God to solve that problem, you took actions that you thought is the solution to the problem.

The Love that God has given which Paul speaks of here is the love that puts up with any situation that comes his way trusting that God can make the best out of the ugly situation and not the love that takes decisions that are godless when they face situations of life.

Lastly, this ‘Keeps going to the end’ this sounds like a love that has a direction, a target, a love that has a focus and that is aimed at fulfilling that focus but what could be the focus of this love? 1 Cor. 15:1,2, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain”

This love is the love that has believed in Jesus Christ and is hoping to meet with Him someday thus anything that has the capability of stopping this vision is kicked out. It is the love that has hope of eternal life and will not allow, rejoicing over iniquity, not bearing the issues of life, not believing to rob him of this eternal hope. Thus Paul ends this letter by saying, faith (believing the basis of this love) hopes (the vision of this love) and Love himself (the practice of this faith through the hope that His spirit gives) abides after every other thing has being done away with.

I want to ask you this day, what kind of Love do you practice? In our next topic, we will discuss further into this issue of love and its practical as God helps us.

Remain Blessed as you fix your hearts to love God and man. Amen

I invite you to join our Whatsapp group where we deliver to you fresh and undiluted teachings from the word of God in audios and written form.

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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