Friday, September 28, 2012

I Knew I would Write... (4)

 
 
 
  • With all the many concerns that abound, one would naturally expect that the pillar and the ground of the truth (the church) will be a place of succour.  Instead, it has become a safe haven for perpetrators of all kinds of evil doings. Ear-tingling sermons, feel- good messages, you- can- do/have- it- if -you- want, name-it–and- claim-it schemes and so on now permeate our church walls! As if the ''come as you are'' ought to remain ''stay as you are !" The gospel is being diluted daily to suit the every growing lusts of wicked hearts and they are at ease! One thing is clear, Jesus is the good shepherd and not a goatherd. And as many goats that these corrupt church leaders think they can smuggle into the fold, the more display of folly they exude! God is not mocked...


THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL - Matthew 16: 18 b
 
 
 

I Knew I Would Write... (3)


  •  Recently,  I was privileged to be at one of our General hospitals and some of the things I saw were quite humbling indeed. From the forlorn hope of finding the cure to loved ones' illnesses to the helpless looks on patients' faces, some even looking lifeless with a bleak assurance of their pulling through and at the mercy of the physicians. A little girl of about twelve later died after been involved in an accident. I figured it could have been from where she had gone to hawk stuff -It was just a plain harrowing experience!   I was angry and disappointed at her guardians for asking her to do that and have now put her at such great risk and now, death. As I looked at the mother trying to express in her own way the agony of losing a child, I wondered how fickle, transient- constantly fleeting this life is. I may not fully understand what the family has had to go through that brought about the decision to hawk stuff, but this one thing I do know: LIFE IS VERY HARD!  And the nothingness in and of it ought to daily point us to the need to pursue one that is far better than this one! 
#... all the adversity and suffering in the world is an echo and a witness of the exceedingly great evil of moral depravity in the heart of mankind; and every new day of life is a God- given, merciful reprieve from imminent judgement, pointing to repentance - Romans 8: 35- 36, Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 5:11 Selah#

  • Some of those (GOVERNMENT) hospital workers who lack the sense of urgency, importance and place no value on human lives and in turn, further delay the quick response of accident and emergency victims, ought to be sacked and never made to come near such environments as workers. Plain simple!!
#very miffed!#
  • It was tragic when on our way out of the hospital later that night, to behold ladies and men of easy virtue  parading themselves half naked. Now, without any visible health condition that allow for showing privates without 'consent', these people place their bodies for sale! It wasn't the first time I'll behold night workers but for the rude distraction of coming out from that helpless environment albeit a hospital to this seemingly self -willed destruction!  Phew!  May I submit at this point, that if you have been saved by the Lord Jesus, the gift of salvation is enough to bask in!...
# I know that being dead to sin means that we are morally incapable of submitting to God or to please Him because the pleasures of sin appear greater than the pleasures of God#
  • The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours.”   #self- explanatory?#

I Knew I Would Write... (2)

  • Since we are in the era of committees and sub- committees looking into ''matters of national importance'' of committees.  Pray tell, who or what looks into the committees that looks into the sub- committee?
#of cluelessness and other things!#
Abeg make we talk one thing!
  •  Just when we are (still) trying to figure out how to pay Iya Silifa, Baba Semiu et al by POS, out came the huge distraction of  the  N5,000 note! Some of us understand it was just a lousy attempt to camouflage the failure of the cashless thingy...OK, so now that the N5,000 note dream is truncated, can we return in peace to the confusion of the other that we have since been left with?    
Lest I be accused of, ''the appalling nescience of today's high schoolers concerning international and local affairs. '', I draw no further mention of the matter. What do I even know sef ? After all, I am not an alumni of International University of Africa, The Kennedy School of Government or of Wharton College...         
#"There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people." Thomas Jefferson#

  • I recently watched (again) the miniseries, Roots . My first encounter with it was as a teenager and a non- Christian. Suffice it to say it triggered obvious somber thoughts like man's inhumanity to man, history and its many biases vis- a- vis what the truth is and what it (may) not... Much more, it displays the extent of man's depravity especially when it is not curbed and in all, I reckon that we who have been greatly forgiven are so obliged to deal with the daily failings of others... 
"Everyone says forgiveness is easy until they have something to forgive". Yet, Jesus' words, ''first be reconciled to thy brother". His direction is clear. He says to go the way indicated to (me) you by the conviction given at the altar; have an attitude of mind and a temper of soul to the one who has something against (me) you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing. Noteworthy is the fact that Jesus didn't mention the other person, He says - you  go.  There is no  question of your rights.
The stamp of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus - Matthew 5:23 , John 14:15 , Luke 6:46#selah...#

  • In June 2012, when that air disaster happened in Lagos, Nigeria; it was both a humbling period and a very sad one for me. First off, where that happened was quite close to where I live and on board that ill-fated plane, was one of my office directors that I had seen at his desk just the Friday before that Sunday! Not to mention the many households that will not be the same again because of the colossal loss! Secondly, to think that I was airborne on the said day going to the same direction that plane was coming from?! I have so many reasons to wonder and shudder at God's sovereignty. And how I know for a surety that still being alive (or not)  is totally not the mortal man's brief!  
“Fight for us, O God, that we not drift numb and blind and foolish into vain and empty excitements. Life is too short, too precious, too painful to waste on worldly bubbles that burst. Heaven is too great, hell is too horrible, eternity is too long that we should putter around on the porch of eternity.”― John Piper


  • So I recently read of a particular Pastor's kid (male) and his male partner got married recently and were joined in unholy acrimony by the latter's father! Seriously?... Are the true Christians here reading this still doubt the words from the Good books that reads, ''Because iniquity shall abound, THE LOVE OF MANY SHALL GROW COLD" (Matthew 24:12)''?
#Just so you'll know that Jesus Christ is both the lamb that takes away the sins of the world and He is a lion that will judge sin!#                     










    

I Knew I Would Write...

  • If only phrases like, '' ...condemns in strong terms the killings/ bombings'...'', '' The Police is on top of the situation...'', ''The FG has sympathized with the family of the slain...'',  and other related ones, can BE STOPPED altogether!  Seriously, who cares if all they can do is ''condemn  and sympathize ? You know, the one that really gets at me is ''... is on top'?'' Can they try getting ''under the situation'' for a change! Honestly, we can do with some 'golden silence' and suffer solemnly the loss of lives and property than to be saddled with such monotonous regularities by some lazy speech writer(s)! Haven't we already been through a lot than to be patronised from time to time? These phrases just irritate me and provoke questions like this one, ''whose collective idea was it to vote in leaders whose cluelessality on emerging issues are SO overwhelming and seems like it is a hobby of same to jump in the middle and just spew forth hogwash?''...
     #ho- hum#

  • The Nigerian situation is best described in this quote, "We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done    so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing." Who has bewitched us so? So much begs for our attention to turn from our wicked ways and same points us to the dire need of and for a Saviour but we are too blind, too educated, too uneducated, too stiff-necked to see the errors of our ways. As much as I try not to mention the leadership and follower ship deficiencies, won't it be hypocritical to submit that all is well with us and those who rule us? By the way, is it 2015 yet?  hmmm...  

#I believe that God upholds and governs the movements of nations, and from the public plans of politicians to the solitary persons all in accord with His eternal, all- wise purposes to glorify Himself yet He's sinless , holy and unjust in all His dealings! - Psalm 33:10- 11, Amos 3:6, Deuteronomy 32:4, Romans 1:20, Romans 2: 11-12, Proverbs 21:1, 1 John 1:5#
#I also believe that all persons are corrupt by nature, enslaved to sin, and morally unable to delight in God and overcome their proud preference for the fleeting pleasures of self- rule. Ephesians 2:2-3, Romans 6:16, 20, 1 Corinthians 2:14 #


 

Monday, November 21, 2011

I know now...!

Found out that I read up a lot on history and get so engrossed I forget that time is gone. I pray I get that much enthusiastic about reading the bible! :( ...pray for me, ok? Will be back soon... :-)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

If I had written it...

I visited Port Harcourt in June/ July this year and if I had not killed the muse and gone ahead to write a note about my experiences there, the title of the note would have been, ''Of A Hyped City and Other Things!"

Friday, October 14, 2011

''29 Is Legal But Not Grown''

''We can only live our days wisely when we see God clearly''- Josh Harris


"Every wrinkle is but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well spent life''- Dickens


It's my birthday, so I write...!:-)


This year, I feel entirely different from all the other birthdays I have been privileged to. Good different and bad different all at the same time! I guess I'll give myself away as you read on as to why that is.
I remember some of my low- key birthdays because something went awry and grown ups deemed it was inappropriate to celebrate that much or even at all while my childish excitement was been hampered! Oh, being a child has its own troubles, I tell you!:-D Little selfish me just wouldn’t get it! I recall other times when I actually got a cake and the excitement of carrying it from the vendor’s to the house ruined the thing! Unlit candles fell off/ experimented the edibility of same, icing and decor on cake came off! Lol. Potholes aided the ‘death’ of a particular one...lol! I had insisted I was going to carry MY CAKE on my laps as we journeyed home from the vendor’s and each time the driver manoeuvered albeit tactlessly because of the car holes sorry, potholes, the poor cake was chipped till it looked really ‘cakey’ on arrival! Lol! Talk about literally ''having your cake and eating it too''. Children can be som'thing!






I’ve found spiritual benefit in the timing of my birthday been quite close to the end of the year because it helps me to feel more acutely the passing of time. And that’s very good for my soul because I need to be reminded that I’m getting older and that I have a limited amount of time on this earth.


You had better listen to birthday gal!:-)

...


“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom but fools despise wisdom and discipline."- Proverbs 1:7



If we could take in and remember the teachings of the Good Book, we would be so shrewd! No situation would ever catch us out and no temptation take us by surprise. Seldom would we be deceived or beguiled by subtlety or cunning, because in them, we are prepared for the vicissitudes of life. The Truth sting a little and almost taunt in order to jolt us into recognizing that we are heading in some wrong direction. Most of us young people are completely ignorant of the storms, currents and quicksands that would come from the sea of life.



Thankfully, the timeless Truth of God's word equip us so that we immediately recognize different ‘characters’ or human situations, and are able to categorize them, and know precisely what to expect from them. Incidentally, no one is grounded or prepared for life in this way and everything has to be learned by bitter experience- personal and otherwise. We stumble into harmful situations and down we fall, headlong! And we are still stumbling through life and burning our fingers in our thirties, forties, fifties and sixties. If only we had given more shrewdness and insight into human nature at an early stage!



It is worth noting that the modern world is deeply prejudiced against the kind of character analysis found in the Bible, because it is offensive to human pride. People like to think of their lives as personal voyages of discovery and accomplishment. We like to think of themselves as totally one –off individuals who possess a very unique blend of views and abilities. We shudder at the idea that our character can be predicted accordingly. Human pride wants to think that we are vastly more sophisticated than this. People recoil from the reality – that ‘fallen’ human nature is insubstantial, and dominated by its many flaws.



In the Good Book, God has compressed a vast quantity of profound insights. Talk about the Truth being handy as a bottle of aspirin and we can call them to mind in so many of life’s situations. This present society is cruelly unkind to the young, treating us virtually as experimental laboratory animals. Millions of young people are being thrown to the wolves of drink, drugs, illicit sex and so on and our parents?! Most of them imagine that this is the modern, liberated, reasonable thing to do! Almost the entire younger generation is delivered into the clutches of the millionaire barons of pop, porn and dope, and nobody cares what happens to us. The young are encouraged to accept as legitimate and even necessary, youthful, pre-marital sexual adventures and are taught through magazines techniques for getting maximum satisfaction. The writers of these pieces of junk don’t bother to look into the future and consider the emotional and physical consequences of all these and the untold suffering to be reaped by thousands over many years! Not like they care about the human lives they hurl into the experimental cauldron!!


Here is hope...


God’s love is tender and protective and He has faithfully put instructions for daily living in His word in readiness for this sin- sick and chaotic world. Young people must be aware that whatever gifts and strengths we possess and however knowledgeable we are, there is always a degree of susceptibility connected with the early years of life. When young, we are vulnerable to ambush by false ideas and claims and the Good Book sets out to reveal the morass of deception in this world, and to give shrewdness and discernment.


‘’My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother’’- Solomon in Proverbs 1:8.


These words are intended as a miniature parable in which father and mother represents the human tendency to rebel against God early in life. It applies particularly to younger people, especially up to the age of thirty. The idea is that self determination and rebellion surface in the human character in the early years of life when most people experience a powerful inclination to stop respecting God. This has little to do with the chemistry of adolescence as some people imagine. It is chiefly moral and spiritual! Because we are members of a ‘fallen’ human race, personal rebellion will soon express itself in an urge to consider ‘number one’, and resent all restrictive spiritual and moral values. Rebellion is the ‘model defect’ of human beings brought upon us by guess who ...us! Even non – religious people frequently come to see this as they get older. They come to accept that human beings are by nature cantankerous, rebellious, ambitious, covetous and lustful.


The trouble is that in early life we do not always realise that our strong, rebellious desires for earthly fulfillment arise from the ‘model defect’ of the human race. We do not know ourselves! We begin to want our own way constantly and strongly, and to seek our own gratification. We begin to pursue leisure and pleasure as if they were the greatest essentials of life; and to seek the applause and approval of others. But we do not understand what is happening within us, namely, that this is all part of the process of rebellion against the Creator and His standards. If as a young adult, I fail to understand that I have rebellious nature which is bound to assert itself, I will probably assume that my desires to strike out on my own and abandon the training of childhood are my more mature thoughts! I will foolishly assume that my earlier beliefs were simpler and less sophisticated than my present ideas.


The appeal of acceptance and approval - of liberty from all restrictions -of an easy time- of safety from consequence- of pleasure and wealth up to the appeal of solidarity... phew! I pause here and shudder even as my mind ponders...

We are constantly being lied to by the world about the painlessness of sin, and the absence of consequences –truth be told, its assurances are attractive, but are utterly false. Sin must be paid for! *Lordhavemercy*

...


As I turn 29 , I am aware that most friends are married and more would get married, and er... So will I! ;-) I understand I’ll lose touch with many more of them and our 'circle' gets smaller and our burdens become greater and truth is, what other people think becomes less important to us. But in early years, it can seem so important that we may sacrifice even our morals and our belief in God to keep in with the 'the crowd'. Solidarity or 'fitting in’ is an appealing fraud to which countless people surrender!

...


OK, am done preaching for now...


I solicit for your prayers:

Please pray along that God will save me from naive unawareness of my vulnerability and that I will recognize the stirrings and the tantrums of the fallen human nature within me. Since it is in understanding me and what causes me to be the way I am that aids this, please pray that I will be graced to approach the Lord in the right spirit, and seek forgiveness and conversion as I journey in this life. Also, am aware that our rebellious inner nature does not excuse our sins but draws us down an unbelieving, selfish, sinful pathway and that there is no greater tragedy than a young (wo) man who thinks that those urgings are the product of their free minds!


I have already yielded my life to the Lord Jesus Christ and I walk with Him,I only ask that you pray along that I won't be swept away when the old nature tries to reassert itself. After all, from the foregoing, 29 is legal but not grown!:-)

And talking about that, I honestly do not want to be fully-grown especially if that means a grinding halt on my dire need of a Saviour!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!:-)