Don't Do Things Without His Purpose

In 1966, some scientists conducted an experiment where they placed five monkeys in a room. In the room, they set up a ladder and placed some bananas on top. Whenever one of the monkeys climbed the ladder to the bananas, the scientists sprayed the rest of the monkeys with cold water. The monkey would come down and the water would stop.

When another monkey tries to climb the cold water would be sprayed again. Eventually, when any monkey tries to climb the ladder, the others would beat him up to stop him. Then the scientists replaced one of the monkeys with a new one. The new monkey, unaware of the cold water, tries to climb the ladder but is immediately beaten by the other monkeys. He learnt that climbing the ladder led to a beating, though he didn’t know why.

As the experiment continued, the scientists replaced all the original monkeys one by one. Each new monkey was beaten when it tried to climb the ladder. Even though none of them had ever experienced the cold water.

By the end, all the original monkeys were gone. The cold water had stopped, but none of the remaining monkeys would try to climb the ladder, nor would they let any of the other monkeys do so. This behaviour had become a tradition even though none of them knew why.

Similarly, man started doing things we see today as a norm, but many don’t know why. Scarcity of resources, the need to save, sweating to put food on the table and more are the norms we see today, but many don’t know where it all started, let alone know that that lifestyle has come to an end.

The Bible shows us where it all started. The repercussion of the fall of man in Genesis 3:17b-19 says, “[17b] “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil, you shall eat of it All the days of your life. [18] Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. [19] In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.””

Now, man has become self-centred and only thought about himself. But Jesus said this isn’t right as He gave the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. The ground of a man yielded so much that he thought to himself that he would break his barn to build a bigger one to store his crops, and he would say to his soul to relax that he has many goods laid up for years; relax, eat and be merry.

Doesn’t that sound like a good idea? But Jesus continued in Luke 12:20, “[20] But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’”

The reason why he was a fool was because he did everything without the leading of the Holy Spirit.

One thing we must always remember is that everything we do must have a purpose, being led by the Holy Spirit. The food we eat, the car we buy, the contract we sign at work and so on, must be led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, guides us into all truth, the purpose of our existence. He knows why we were born, and He is the only one who knows the right deal to take and for what purpose. The tradition of scarcity is over because we have the Holy Spirit, whom we can always trust a hundred per cent without fear.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

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Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

What Goes In Must Come Out

As humans, we experience things from the time we were born on and on till where we are. It appears experience shapes our very essence and character. All these were absorbed through our senses. And what we take in shapes our thoughts and intent, which is deep. So, we need to be careful what comes in, right?

Jesus talked about a growing seed concerning the kingdom of God. He said it’s like a man who scatters seed on the ground and then goes to sleep by night. Whatever happens to the seed in terms of the growing process, the man has no idea, because the earth does all the work. First, the blade comes up, then the head, and after that, the full grain in the head. And when it ripens, the man brings out a sickle because it is time for harvest (ref.: Mark 4:26-29).

The seed represents the word of God, and the earth represents our heart. We really don’t know what happens to us when we take in things, but if we are observant, we will see the result of what we have been taking into our system. Likewise, the word of God. As we keep on feeding on the word of God, allowing it into our system, it grows and we become fruitful. This is what happens to those who accept Jesus as Lord and feed on His word. Eventually, the fruit of the Spirit is seen in the life of the person. This is because the person allowed the word to be their experience.

So, how is this like the kingdom of God? The reason why this is like the kingdom of God is because the kingdom of God is a process of eternal life, and Jesus said in John 17:3 that eternal life is to know God as the true God, and Jesus whom God sent here, thus knowing the purpose of Jesus’ coming. In other words, knowing God or Jesus is to experience Him. And doing this shapes our lives, and we see the fruit eventually. This is an eternal process that continues till the coming of Jesus, and after we go to be with Him forever.

What we take in is very important Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” The heart is what the devil attacks, through all the distractions around us. It makes it very interesting and entertaining for us to fall prey to. But those who are spiritually sensitive would know when the Holy Spirit is alerting us. And resting on His word in faith, we quench the fiery darts of the devil (ref.: Ephesians 6:16). With this, we don’t fall prey to the devil.

"Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23 AMPC

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

Our Father, and not a Mean Guy

How many times have you repeated a prayer to God, believing you are unworthy to stand before Him and so, you need to repeat it several times so that He would see how serious you are and then grant your request?

You may say you haven’t done this, maybe because I was too direct. Well, many pray this way. They repeat their prayers over and over again to get their prayer answered. They speak of being persistent and misuse Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9, which talks about asking to be given, seeking to find and knocking for the door to be opened. We forget that it is not about the prayer but about who we are praying to. The question is, do you really know who He is?

Jesus asked if anyone would go to a friend at midnight and ask for three loaves of bread for another friend of his who came from a long journey and you have nothing to serve him. Jesus said the friend would tell him that he doesn’t want to be disturbed because he is in bed with his wife and children who are asleep. Now, here is my point: Jesus said the friend will have no other choice but to get up and give to his friend as much as he needs, not because he is a friend, but because of his persistence (ref.: Luke 11:5-8).

Many put a full stop here and do not continue reading. Jesus continued, telling us that is why He is asking us to ask, and it will be given to us; we should seek, and we will find; and we should knock, and the door will be opened unto us. Jesus didn’t tell us to ask, seek and knock in line with His parable, but to make things clear that if evil humans can eventually give due to persistence, how much more our heavenly Father who answers immediately (ref.: Luke 11:9-13).

God, who is our heavenly Father, is called Father for a reason. Remember when you were a child, your parents provided for your needs immediately when they saw the need. If you brought it to their notice, you never repeated it over and over again before they listened, or else, they would have been bad parents. Even parents who could not afford to provide for the specific needs of a child would go all out to ensure that their child’s need was met, even if they had to deny themselves some things.

This was what Jesus said in Luke 11:11-13 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? [12] Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? [13] If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” This shows that our heavenly Father is so loving that He answers our prayer immediately when we ask, seek or knock. There is no need to keep repeating it over and over again. To repeat the prayer would imply that we don’t trust He keeps to His words, which is our ignorance of who He is, because He is not a man that should lie (ref.: Numbers 23:11); and it is also a lack of faith in Him. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (ref.: Hebrews 11:6).

The moment you ask, seek or knock, start giving Him thanks and praise, believing that He has answered it already. He is our God and knows the perfect time for our prayer's manifestation. Ours is to know and believe that it is answered, but the timing of its manifestation is left to God. This is when we have faith in Him (write-up for another day).

God loves us so much that His nature and characteristics are love. He doesn’t choose to love, because love is who He is (ref.: 1 John 4:8), and He loves us so much irrespective of what we do. Coming to Him with our requests brings Him so much joy. Believing that He has answered it after we tell Him, pleases Him. And He is not mute, if we pray amiss, He will let us know by directing to His word for correction and instruction in righteousness, and to be led by His Holy Spirit (ref: 2 Timothy 3:16). So, when we ask next time we ask rightly because most times when we pray amiss, we pray out of selfishness or ignorance.

So, just trust Him always. If He has heard it, then it is done, just give Him thanks and praise continuously over the situation.

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

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Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

Really, Who Is My Neighbour?

When we look at the world with all its chaos, people who stab others on their backs figuratively, and many other things, we then start to select those we can be nice to by creating justifiable criteria in doing so. But are we to have reasons for helping others?

A lawyer once asked Jesus who his neighbour was. In other words, how was he going to identify his neighbour? Even though the lawyer was testing Jesus, this question was and still is a very good question.

The lawyer asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus asked him what the law said about this matter. The lawyer then replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbour as yourself.’” (ref.: Luke 10:25-29).

In trying to justify himself, he then asked Jesus how he was to know his neighbours. This was because the law said he was to love his neighbour as himself.

Now, the funny thing is that to those who are under grace, we are not just to love our neighbours as ourselves, but we are to love our neighbours as Christ Jesus loved us (ref.: John 13:34). But the question still stands, ‘who are our neighbours?’

Jesus answered this question using the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Jews were what I would call, “racist” to the Samaritans. They considered them as half Jews, and to them they were unclean. They could not share the same bathroom with them, neither could they eat or do business with them. In short, they had no dealings with the Samaritans. So, if the Samaritans hated Jews, it would be understandable, based on how they were treated right?

According to Jesus, thieves attacked a man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. They beat him up, took his stuff and left him half dead.

Now, take note. Three people at different times took that road: a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. I am placing an emphasis on the three people.

A priest took that road, saw the man and went his. Another time, a Levite took that road, saw the man and went his way. But when a Samaritan took that road and saw the man, he had compassion on the man and went to treat his wound, placed him on his donkey took him to a clinic and paid for his medical bill. Jesus then asked the lawyer which among the three was the beaten man’s neighbour. And the answer given was the man who had compassion for him.

The Samaritan had every reason to walk away just as the priest and Levite did. In fact, he was the most justified of the three to do so, but he didn’t. He wasn’t selective, neither was he biased. The Samaritan acted out what Jesus said we should do to our enemies, which is “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you” (ref.: Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). He put himself in the beaten-up man’s shoes, to think that he would want someone to come to his aid in time of need. His is a moral code that Jesus expects from everyone.

You may not be able to afford much to come to someone’s aid, but the little you can do to help, do it. Do not look at judge the person before you help. They should be someone you know before you can render help.

The priest and Levite are lessons to the church and the leaders of the church to lead by example because the priest and Levite didn’t lead by example. And whatever the leader does, the followers tend to follow suit.

The parable of the Good Samaritan talks about compassion and mercy irrespective of the person. We should not forget that while we were still sinners Jesus died for us (ref.: Romans 5:8). This is a demonstration of love as we saw the Good Samaritan do. Love and mercy above personality. And remember, do unto others as you would want others to do unto you. Ask God for His strength to live and put love above all things because we know the world we live in.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

The Two Debtors

I have been writing on the parables of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I’ll be writing on the Parable of the Two Debtors which can be found in the Gospel of Luke 7:40-43.

So, a creditor had two debtors. One owed him five hundred denarii, which is about one hundred thousand dollars, and the other owed fifty denarii, which is about ten thousand dollars. Neither of them was able to repay, but the creditor forgave them both on what they owed, which was fantastic. Jesus, telling the parable, then asked who among the two forgiven would love the creditor more? And, of course, the answer given was the one who was forgiven more.

Now, connect the dots when reading the parables Jesus gave; it is necessary to know what made Him give the parable. And this is by reading the events that brought about the parable.

The parable came about the time Jesus was invited to eat at a Pharisee’s place by the name Simon. There was a woman who came to Jesus weeping behind Him and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil she brought.

Now, because Simon the Pharisee spoke to himself that if Jesus were truly a prophet, He shouldn’t have allowed the woman to touch Him because she was a sinner. It was there and then Jesus knowing what Simon said in his heart then replied to him with the parable of the two debtors.

Jesus acknowledged her gratitude towards what Jesus did for her, as some scholars believe the woman to be Mary Magdalene, the one whom Jesus drove out seven demons.

The reason why she was very grateful which we need to pay attention to is that she understood what Jesus had done for her. It was not just that Jesus relieved her of the demons, but that she also understood how her life had changed, that she had to be eternally grateful to Jesus for what He had done for her.

This and even more is the mindset every Son and Daughter of God (Christian) should have because of what Jesus did for the whole world on the cross. We should be eternally grateful to Jesus, because unlike this woman who had demons in her, ours we were not only under the evil one were sentenced to death, and Jesus died in our place and gave us a brand new life.

When we remember and understand this, the way we live our life will be different. This is where the Lord’s supper comes in, as Jesus said we should take the elements (which represents His body and His blood) in remembrance of Him.

His body was broken for us through His death, thus satisfying the wrath of God and bringing it to an end. And then the blood which washed away our sins to establish a new covenant which we receive when we confess the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead (ref.: Romans 10:9).

We should not take Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for granted. We should worship and praise Him, and give Him thanks.

The parable of the two debtors speaks of God's mercy and Grace. As we can see at the end Jesus told the woman to go that her sins are forgiven. This is God’s mercy and Grace playing out here. This was the mercy and Grace we all received at the death of our Lord Jesus. So, worship, praise and give Him thanks always.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

New Wine in an Old Wineskin, and the True Reason to Fast

You know, when you’re talking about not mending new cloth over old cloth, which would get torn more, thus worsening the original state because the old cloth is weak. Also, do not put new wine in an old wineskin. The wineskin, to me, seems to appear as a better illustration of what I am writing today.

So, first of all, before Jesus spoke of the wineskin, the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus why His disciples don’t fast as they and the Pharisees do. Jesus said the friends of the bridegroom don’t mourn when the bridegroom is around. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away, and then there will be the need to fast.

Jesus gave a very simple analogy to why we fast. Before the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Jews fasted. One of the reasons for their fast was to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah. This was under an old covenant. Now, the new covenant came in the person of Jesus Christ, and the disciples see Him every day, so why would they fast when the Messiah was walking with them every day? So, if the disciples were to fast, Jesus would be like, “I don’t get you guys.” Sort of “Who are you fasting to, and who am I”

The essence of fasting before the coming of Jesus Christ is different from the reason for fasting after Christ’s ascension. The reason why we fast now is for communion with the Father, thus spending time to know Him. We don’t have any other business in the fasting order than to know and fix our eyes on Jesus (ref. John 17:3; Hebrews 12:1). This allows us to be soaked into who He is because all of who He is, is who we are.

We have no other business. Since we have been raised with Christ Jesus, continue in Him. As we continue to know Him, we live Him. So, when we fast with the sole purpose of knowing Christ Jesus, we know why we are Sons and Daughters of God. We know our collective and individual purposes as Sons and Daughters of God on the earth.

So, in a summarised form, the reason why Jesus Christ said there was no purpose for His disciples to fast was because He was with them, also elaborating on the fact that the purpose of fasting is to know Him. And He was establishing a new covenant, which was why He said no one puts new wine in an old wineskin. We cannot mix the Law and Grace, you cannot mix the old covenant with the new covenant.

Before Jesus came, no one had the Spirit of Jesus in them, but after His ascension, the Spirit of our Lord Jesus is offered to the whole world as a brand new life.

The essence of fasting is to know Jesus Christ, to dive deeper into the knowledge of Him, and to become and manifest Him because we have Him as our life.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)

Why are You the Light of the World?

Light is something that brings joy to my soul. See it makes me happy. Thinking of this makes me ponder on what Jesus meant when He said we are the light of the world in Matthew 5:14-16.

The first question concerning The light is to know who needs the light? Who made you a source of light? A bulb wouldn’t be a source of light if someone did not make it a source of light. The bulb, which is the source to project light, must connect itself to the light generator itself.

When Jesus said we are the light of the world, it means that we can light up ourselves by being connected to the light generator. If we were living as light, we would know, and there wouldn’t be a need for Jesus to say we are the light of the world. What it means is that we are not using what we were created to be, which Is being the light of the world.

You can’t hide the light when it is on. Light can’t hide, everyone knows. It is like noise that isn’t heard but known. So in your going out, coming in, the way you act should be different. One reason you are called the light and is so important implies that everywhere was in darkness.

The Bible says in Psalms 119:105 that, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Connecting the dots means that your life, by being the light, is an expression of the word of God. The Bible points this out in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” So, when you are a light, you are literally expressing the word of God.

People see the word of God active through you, so it makes more sense to them, just as a movie Is made from a novel; likewise, your life plays out the word of God. Doing this enables people to understand the Lord God better.

You can’t hide, that is why you can’t put a lamp under a bushel.

Jesus said He is the light of the world. Why did He say that? He said it because He was manifesting God right here on earth. So, we know God better by looking at Jesus because He manifested God. Likewise, we are manifesting Christ Jesus here on earth. It is expected that if people want to know who Christ Jesus is, they look at you.

This is why the scriptures say we should let our light shine before men that they may see your good works, and praise God our Father in heaven (ref. Matthew 5:16). The reason they know it is God the Father to praise is that they are seeing Him being expressed through you, and the scriptures are understood better.

We have Jesus living inside of us, this is why we can express Him through us. Remember, Jesus is the light, and there is only one light, and this one light lives inside of you. This is why we can express Him.

Also, when the scriptures say that we should let our light so shine (ref.: Matthew 5:16), it implies we can control how much we can shine. The control of the light is based on our faith in Him and how much rest and trust we have in Him.

The more you get transformed by the renewing of your mind, the more you release His light in you.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

Log on next time.

 

For prayers and comments, send them to the comment section below.

 

GOD BLESS YOU.

 

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

 

                                                                                                                 

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)