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If You Are Given The Same Opportunity As King Solomon, Will You Follow His Steps / In His Steps (comments Section) / IMER Who Denounced God Recounts His Ordeal And How He Retraced His Steps (2) (3) (4)
In His Steps by ChristianLiving: 5:47am On Jul 23, 2017 |
Hello there, We are very pleased that you have stopped by. We hope you find our messages and teachings inspiring! Our intention is simple – build up men for Christ! We are aware that there is a dearth of young committed Christians in the world today who are eager to excel here in life righteously, evangelise the world for Christ and make heaven. Pressures of life have put a strain on us, focus has been lost and our convictions gone! However, there is always hope. That is why Christ died and we are happy for another opportunity to share with you Christ’s provision for excellent Christian living here on earth with great heavenly reward. In tackling the need for committed Christians, we address two critical structures – Leadership and Character. The “He is almost here series!” aims at creating in us the urgency to take our spiritual life seriously and make great use of the Holy Spirit while the “Excellent leadership series!” aims at building capacity among Christians for exploits here on earth. We hope to release a sub-series weekly (Sundays) alternating between both series and trust God that you will be enriched and blessed. For the first release, we would be releasing a sub-series for each category! Our prayer is to see you become a shining light in your sphere of influence attracting people to Christ. We always love to hear from you – comments, testimonies, questions, prayer points etc. Please feel free to contact us via our email – ihs.christianliving@gmail.com Please feel free to comment on this platform on the link provided to assist other users in easily keeping track of subsequent releases and users comments on separate pages. God bless you and happy reading! Sincerely, The Christian Living Team Comment here: https://www.nairaland.com/3940228/steps-comments-section |
Re: In His Steps by ChristianLiving: 5:48am On Jul 23, 2017 |
He is almost here series! Subseries 1: Living with eternity in view Bible text: Romans 13: 11-14 Introduction We begin this series by defining certain terms. Eternity is simply defined as time without end, living in this context means having life while view for this series is construed to mean prospect. Our text opens with an injunction from brother Paul on end time Christian living. In the early verses of chapter 13, brother Paul had been admonishing the Roman Christians on their attitude to government and their neighbours. The concluding verses which form the crux of our discuss balance the chapter by harping on eternity. The world we live in today is in a sordid state. Nigeria as a country is in recession with the quality of governance at an all-time low. Nigeria has been faced within a very short time with killings from the boko haram sect and the Fulani herdsmen. We can’t also deny the increased spate of kidnappings for ransom and ritual purposes. Cultism, robbery, rape, accidents etc. have also been on the rise. There has been an increase also in frauds (credit cards, obtaining by pretence etc.) and illicit drugs (cocaine, heroin etc.) export. This has seen a lot of young Nigerians being incarcerated and executed (especially in foreign countries). On the global scene, it has been cases of fire outbreaks in the UK and earthquakes in other parts of Europe, heightened temperature and other unusual phenomena. The tendency of people in the chaotic world is to either become scared or strive to overcome setbacks by working harder to earn more money to either move to more favourable places or guarantee some level of comfort and security in their countries of domicile. With the resounding effect of recession, jobs have been lost pushing more families into poverty. What makes it more frustrating is the obviously lopsided reward system in Nigeria that seems to reward crooks and fraudulent people while those who do things by the books seem to be glossed over or even penalized. It is thus not uncommon for Christians to begin to cut corners – give/receive bribes, cheat, falsify documents/figures/claims, deliberately lie, become tale bearers just to malign someone, become sycophants etc. all in the name of survival. In doing these things, we immediately lose focus of heaven and join in the rat race. The admonition In Matthew 6:31-32, Jesus aptly classifies our normal life pursuit into feeding, clothing and comfort (housing, pleasure etc.). While their possession is not condemned, their sole pursuit to the detriment of our primary goal (adding value to humanity and making heaven) is condemned. Solomon likens our wrong pursuit to vanity and grasping for the wind (Eccl. 2:11b). Ever wondered how many dead great men were buried with their houses, wealth or fame? In Matthew 7:24, Jesus likens an obedient Christian to a wise person. As wise people, we are expected to be able to discern and understand the times. This ability is necessary to create in us the need for urgency as we see the day of the Lord approaching. Brother Paul’s admonition to believers is an urgent wake up call. As Christians, we have been sleeping – compromising and neglecting spiritual pursuit. Brother Paul admonishes us “to awake out of our sleep” because our salvation is nearer than when we became Christians. Brother Paul goes further in his cry by sounding the alarm that we have run out of time (“The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”). All works of darkness in our lives must immediately be put off – lying, immorality, stealing, hypocrisy, wickedness, witchcraft, disobedience etc. while we are expected to put on the armour of light. In putting on the armour of light, we must approach Calvary with a penitent (repentant) heart and in humility. Having light means we now have life (John 1:4; Ps. 119:130). Forget title sir, if you miss the rapture, you missed it. We must come like the tax collector to Jesus and tell Him to have mercy on us sinners (Lk 18: 13). God is no respecter of persons and will not cast out anyone who comes in humility for mercy (Acts 10:34; John 6:37). We must confess and forsake our sins (Provb. 28:13) and turn a new leaf (2Cor. 5:17). We must now walk circumspectly (properly) seeing we now have the armour of light. There must be a deliberate and consistent effort to live right with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12; Romans 8:14). No careless talking or acts capable of robbing us of our citizenship in heaven. When we realise that we are pilgrims here on earth (1 Peter 2: 11) it enables us to have a clearer perspective in prioritizing our pursuits. As we become singularly minded (John 18:37), we begin to realise that our earthly possessions are servants and not masters. This helps us to put them where they belong. We become more engaged in serious battles with eternal consequences and begin to take on more responsibility in spiritual activities (evangelism, follow-up on converts, intercessory prayers etc.) There is the need to realise that this world would be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:10b) with all our earthly possessions! What would matter would be our conversation (conduct/living) here on earth and the lives we have touched. “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” 2 Peter 3:11-12. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and is coming back to take us there (John 14:1-3). Let us not be weary in doing good. Let’s get on with our daily lives with a renewed fervour to not only exhibit godliness but also tell others about Christ! That He is coming doesn’t mean we get idle, No! We must occupy till He comes. When He comes, will He find us faithful? The prayer of salvation: Please say these words sincerely for Jesus to come into your life. Dear Jesus, I thank you for your death on Calvary. I thank you for making provision for my salvation. I am a sinner. I steal, fight, I’m fraudulent and immoral. I believe your blood can wash my sins. Please wash me with your blood. Come into my life. I accept you as my Lord and personal saviour in Jesus’ Name – Amen! Wow! Congrats. You are now a new creature – 2 Cor. 5:17. You are justified and all your past sins are forgiven. Please do look around and join a bible believing church to grow spiritually. Hope you have a bible? Never fail to study His Word and pray regularly. We would like to hear from you. Please feel free to share your thoughts, comments, prayers etc. on this platform or via email ihs.christianliving@gmail.com. God bless you. Comment here: https://www.nairaland.com/3940228/steps-comments-section |
Re: In His Steps by ChristianLiving: 5:49am On Jul 23, 2017 |
Excellent leadership series! Subseries 1: Diligence for exploits Bible text: 1 Cor. 15:9-11 Introduction We introduce diligence and define it simply as hard work. Yes, hard work! while exploits is defined to mean a notable act. As we begin this leadership series, we are constrained to briefly reiterate the fact that leadership is a grossly misconstrued concept. In fact, it is not wrong to say that leadership has been muddled up with ruling or holding an office and so everyone who strives to be a leader is striving for an office to assert some authority. Leadership is [simply] influence! (J. Oswald Sanders) The popular sayings go thus – no pain no gain; no guts, no glory, no cross, no crown. Behind these sayings is the subtle message that some work must be put into something to get results out. The making of garri always comes to mind. After harvesting the cassava, there’s peeling, then washing, then soaking, then squeezing, drying and then frying. I hope I got the process right. I’ve been privileged to witness garri frying and it’s an arduous task. The skill and knack involved just to prevent the garri from burning and achieve that toned colour always gives me a wide smile. I can still see the hands of someone moving dexterously and bouncing the garri around the pan (on a tripod with firewood producing heat) while trying to avoid the smoke and sparks from the heat source. Fast forward to evening time and here we are enjoying a sumptuous meal of eba and egusi soup garnished with bitter leaf, ogunfe, okporoko and some diced kpomo. Oh, did I tell you, there’s cold water to down the whole mixture. Before I lose you or make you fall into a trance, serious work has been put into that meal with painstaking diligence. The melon had to be blended, the ingredients mixed and added at the right time and in the proper quantity and of course patient stirring of the soup just to achieve that nice blend that we all are going to have for dinner. Our text presents us with strong words from brother Paul about hard work. He was never numbered among the twelve apostles, he didn’t see Master Jesus, was never at the mountain of transfiguration, wasn’t there to see Master Jesus feed thousands, didn’t witness Master Jesus walk on the sea or calm the ocean, never saw Master Jesus being baptised or perform His first miracle. He admitted he was the least of the apostles. He could never write like uncle John, words like “…that which we have seen with our eyes, have looked upon and our hands have handled…”, he could never talk about his walk with Master Jesus on the way to Decapolis or reminisce about Master Jesus reprimanding him for wanting to call down fire on certain people. Yet, with all the abundant excuses, brother Paul achieved such phenomenal feat that elder Peter acknowledged brother Paul’s writings when he said “…in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction…” 2 Pt. 3:16 Brother Paul was a diligent worker. When he encouraged us to work (Eph. 4:28), he exemplified it (Acts 20:34, 1 Thess. 2:9, 2 Thess. 3:8-9, 1 Cor. 4:12). When he was instructing Timothy to be studious (2 Tim. 2:15), he provided an example (2 Tim.1:13, 2 Tim.4:13b)! What was the result – about 50% of the new testament epistles were written by brother Paul! From being the least among the apostles, brother Paul earned himself a place in the history of Christianity especially for we gentiles! Who would have reached out to the non-Jews from Ephesus to Colossae to Corinth if not brother Paul? Who would have exposed to gentiles their deliverance from the ordinances and the law if not brother Paul? Who would have reminded us that the just shall live by faith and not works, if not brother Paul? Who would have provided more exposition on the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s Supper, marriage, grace for gentiles, the rapture, if not brother Paul? He was diligent in the little assignment given to him by Master Jesus and within a short time had the world upside down. He imparted disciples who in turn went out and did exploits – Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Onesimus, Apphia, Archippus, Epaphroditus are a few of his many associates and disciples who were thoroughly transformed by the diligent life of brother Paul. We are reminded by Master Jesus in Lk.16:10-12 to be faithful in little so more can be committed into our hands. Even Master Jesus was diligent. Remember His fast at the beginning of His ministry, His travail at Gethsemane, His suffering at His death (Phil. 2:5-eight), His utterances (John 9:4; 4:34) etc. Remember old man Moses, warrior Joshua and wise one Daniel? They were diligent folks who found excellence through hard work. What noble cause do you aspire for? As a student, how diligent are you in studies? Do you belong to the folks who cheat and commit malpractice during exams or the folks who aspire to earn their marks by dint of hard work? We are faced today with a dwindling culture of hard work? Nobody seems to be interested in honest labour again. Parents conspire to cheat for their kids through high school and universities. Students learn to bribe their way through exams in tertiary institutions. Candidates are eager to gratify employers or pull strings for employment purposes. It seems only the lazy or those with “long legs” are the most successful. Not true. David reminds us that God has set them in slippery places Psa. 73:18-19. The hardworking and diligent are still very much rewarded. They have built a sustainable foundation and are guaranteed safety and recognition – Provb. 22:29. As we conclude, we are reminded that our acts today are seeds and harvest is always a continuous process (Gen. 8:22). Our today is a product of certain actions yesterday. Our actions today will obviously lay the foundation for tomorrow. We must thus be careful to build solid foundations that will stand the test of time. Never take short-cuts, that’s what they are! “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will reap.” Gal. 6:17. So therefore, sow for yourselves hard work today to avoid labouring at old age, for it is good that a man bear his yoke in his youth. Lam. 3:27 While diligence would always produce results, being a diligent Christian guarantees one good success. For a life of good successes, one must be a child of God. If you aren’t born again, here’s another privilege to receive Jesus into your life. Please say these words sincerely for Jesus to come into your life. Dear Jesus, I thank you for your death on Calvary. I thank you for making provision for my salvation. I am a sinner. I steal, fight, I’m fraudulent and immoral. I believe your blood can wash my sins. Please wash me with your blood. Come into my life. I accept you as my Lord and personal saviour in Jesus’ Name – Amen! Wow! Congrats. You are now a new creature – 2 Cor. 5:17. You are justified and all your past sins are forgiven. Please do look around and join a bible believing church to grow spiritually. Hope you have a bible? Never fail to study His Word and pray regularly. We would like to hear from you. Please feel free to share your thoughts, comments, prayers etc. on this platform or via email ihs.christianliving@gmail.com. God bless you. Comment here: https://www.nairaland.com/3940228/steps-comments-section |
Re: In His Steps by ChristianLiving: 6:52am On Jul 30, 2017 |
He is almost here series! Subseries 2: The beauty of a singular pursuit Bible text: John 18:37, Phil. 3:7-14 Introduction We provide perspective by defining associated terms. Singular is defined to mean no more than one thing while pursuit denotes pursing something. Our first text presents us with Master Jesus intimating Pilate of the singular purpose He came to pursue on earth. Jesus in one verse aptly summarized His entire mission on earth. He was no doubt buttressing Luke 12:49-50 which was an expression of how consumed He was in fulfilling this singular purpose. With all His anointing and the prophecies that had gone before His coming, Jesus only came for a singular reason! The second text presents us with an exceptional new testament Christian and mentor – brother Paul. “… I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection… I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” He shows us how consumed he has been in pursuing his search for Christ. Oh, what difference brother Paul has made in Christianity! The increasing rate of technology and growing cross disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research while being praised is no doubt raising a lot of “jack of all trades” experts. Gone are the days of master craftsmen in Nigeria and times when the City and Guilds certification held sway. With deteriorating vocational institutes and the growing disdain to vocational studies, a growing skills shortage is gradually being witnessed. We are short of space to begin mentioning names of distinguished craftsmen who have made their marks from architecture to watches to combustion engines to clothing to footwear etc. Furthermore, we have seen men who have pursued their dreams making history in the process. Henry Ford, Abraham Lincoln, Graham Bell, Michael Faraday etc. are notable inventors whose persistence paid off. They pursued singular and notable marks and today they have made history. Contemporary times are seeing us spread our resources thinly among competing options leading to the under-development of capacity in an area of advantage. Spiritually, it is not any different. Rather than focusing on developing men for Christ, we are pursuing followership and denomination thus deviating from Christ’s injunction. The admonition Master Jesus, in intimating Pilate of His singular pursuit culminated all His prior statements which were partial revelations of His pursuit. Remember – “I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work”, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work”, “I can of my own self do nothing…” One might wonder how wise it would be to have only one pursuit here on earth. Look no further – “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Two thousand years after the resurrection and ascension of Master Jesus, the world is yet to recover from His impact. In following through with His singular pursuit, He ended up transferring Himself into His disciples. The death of the early disciples is a testament to how consumed they were of Christ. Little wonder brother Paul screamed in Gala. 6:17 “…let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Brother Paul’s pursuit of Christ had led to Christ imprinting in brother Paul, His mark. With all of brother Paul’s earthly achievements, he was still able to ditch them for a more noble pursuit. Oh, that Christ may be formed in us. Oh, that we may have the mind of Christ to be single minded for “…when [our] eyes are single, then [our] whole body would be full of light.” We must lay hold on eternal values and ditch carnal pursuits with no eternal benefits. We must begin to be single minded. Rather than investing in monstrous worship centres and wanton display of opulence, we must begin to act like Master Jesus. Our neighbours must see our singular pursuit in the way we relate with them. Co-workers must know that we are single-minded persons in our daily interactions. The quality of our output in our work places must show our bosses that we are indeed single-minded persons. We must become odd to stand out from the crowd. Time and effort must be spent in building spiritual capacity. We mustn’t relent or rest on our oars. Our pursuit would strain us, it would drain us and make us look foolish. We can ask Master Jesus and brother Paul how they are faring now? We have brother Paul to thank for the numerous epistles in the new testament and Master Jesus for the provision of reconciliation with God. Athletes and sportsmen expend great diligence with the singular aim of victory. In aiming for the trophy, they subject themselves to extremities to be fully ready. All these are done for corruptible crowns, how much more we that are aiming for an incorruptible crown. 1 Cor. 9:24-27 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher if our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-3 Every race has rules and the rules for our enlistment in this most noble pursuit begins with repentance. If we have not received Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, then we can never be enlisted. While you are still alive today, harden not your hearts, say these simple words and see light and strength permeate your life. The prayer of salvation: Please say these words sincerely for Jesus to come into your life. Dear Jesus, I thank you for your death on Calvary. I thank you for making provision for my salvation. I am a sinner. I steal, fight, I’m fraudulent and immoral. I believe your blood can wash my sins. Please wash me with your blood. Come into my life. I accept you as my Lord and personal saviour in Jesus’ Name – Amen! Wow! Congrats. You are now a new creature – 2 Cor. 5:17. You are justified and all your past sins are forgiven. Please do look around and join a bible believing church to grow spiritually. Hope you have a bible? Never fail to study His Word and pray regularly. We would like to hear from you. Please feel free to share your thoughts, comments, prayers etc. on this platform or via email ihs.christianliving@gmail.com. God bless you. Comment here: https://www.nairaland.com/3940228/steps-comments-section |
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