WHY AND HOW SHOULD CHRISTMAS BE CELEBRATED

Christmas is a celebration in honor of the [physical] birth of Jesus Christ. Recall that Jesus Christ has been in existence before even the creation of the world. And God said let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness: and let them have dominion over,,,,,,,, (Genesis 1:26). In this verse 26, God the father here is referring to God the son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Ghost. Remember also that in John 1:1,, In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. All things were made by him,,,,, in him was life; and the life was the light of men. Verse 14 says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us,,,,

HUMILITY AND GREATNESS VS PRIDE AND DESTRUCTION (Part II)

Galatians 6:3, "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."

 Jesus Christ is the author and father of humility (Philippians 2: 5- 8) "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Who, being in the form of  God, ,,,,,made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, ,,,,he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.'' ,,,,,,,,,. On the other hand devil is author and father of Pride (Isa. 14:12-14). “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!..… 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 … I will ascend above the heights…I will be like the most High”. 

HUMILITY AND GREATNESS VS PRIDE AND DESTRUCTION (Part 1)

JESUS THE SERVANT LEADER

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of  God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2: 5- 8

Humility equals greatness, the fastest road to greatness is humility. Many like me believes that pride is a sin associated with public bragging to seeing oneself better than others. Little did I know that arrogance goes beyond public bragging, so I was thinking am very humble and devoid of pride, until I understand what it take to be humble. Humility sees ones not in any way better than others, humility sees others weakness as part of life as no man without weakness. Humility goes beyond gentleness.

THE GREATEST LOVE STORY EVER

There was a very powerful king lived in the largest kingdom ever known with many servants. This King has only one child who he loved so much and cared for dearly. The king also has a dog which he also loved dearly, unfortunately for the king, the dog was deceived by an enemy to join the company of wild wolves against the wish of the king and the son. 

BELIEVER'S FULL ARMORS AGAINST THE DEVIL - Ephesians 6:10-18

Believer's are in a warfare against the devil and his demons. The earlier we realize this and put on these weapons the better our chances of winning the heavenly race is sure and guaranteed. The bible admonishes the believer's to put on the whole armor of God in order to withstand the wiles of the devil. 

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Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints{ Ephesians 6:10-18}.

An understanding that whatever negative character anyone around us displayed is influenced by the devil, will help us in the fight against the devil. Notice verse 11 says, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood; our fight is not against the human being we are seeing but rather the spirit behind their actions. When Peter try to rebuke Jesus about his death on the cross , Jesus immediately rebuke the devil in Peter and not Peter, He said get behind me devil, this tells us that our war is not flesh and blood. The illustrates the forces we are fighting as summarized below;

WHY AM I SICK? DOES IT MEAN AM NOT BORN AGAIN?

The question is does being a Christian immune someone from sickness? Does sin leads to sickness? Can God heal all type of sickness? If God can heal all type of sickness; why do some Christian die in sickness?

Sickness is one thing that no one ever wish to experience in life, ironically, it is one thing that no one will escape as far as this life is concerned. Being a Christian does not mean we can't sick. It will come, but how you handle it determines whether it will stay or go immediately. Yes! sickness attacked everyone but it does not stay in everybody, so stop welcoming sickness by your behavior. God perfect plan for man at creation was that we shall not know any form of corruption, but with the fall of Adam man knew corruption that has bedridden us till date. 

So long you are still on earth, you will sick when the enemy attack your health, but the good news is that God is able to heal you and will heal you if you believe. God is still in the business of restoring health to men (Jeremiah 30:17). In fact one of the best way to preach the gospel and to draw men back to God is in the healing ministry. In fact Jesus ministry and the apostle were dominated by healing from sickness (healing of the blinds, lame, fever, raising the death etc.( (Matthew 8:13; 9:29; 15:28; Act 3: 5-7; 5:1656).

KEY TO OVERCOME ANY SIN

Jesus Christ left his very throne to die a shameful death on the cross to redeem us from the bondage of sin. ,,,,In that while we are yet sinner, Christ died for us {Rom. 5:8}.  Sin is one factor that have hindered many Christian from enjoying mutual relationship with God here on earth, leading to loss of glory, hinders God’s work and blessing in their life, and ultimately leading to both spiritual death (Rom. 3:23) and eternal condemnation.

 The issue is that many believers is aware of their sin, the consequences of their sin, and are ever willing to be free from it but often lack ability to overcome the sin. The most dangerous of this sin is fornication and adultery. The spirit behind it is so powerful that it binds it victims to herself, it leads the victims to self pity and destruction. It often leads to addiction and become very hard for the victims to break out of the bondage.

I know of a brother who fasted for two weeks just to be able to overcome the sin of fornication only to end up fornicating with a female friend he was narrating his experience to the preceding day. Another brother fornicated same day he was baptized, even with the same cloth he used in baptism. The most pathetic one was another brother who fasted for one month, and the day he ended the fasting his girlfriend came visiting which he ended up fornicating with her. This brother out of bitter heart use knife to cut-off his manhood and died in the process. The question is, can someone overcome such besetting sin? YES IT IS POSSIBLE.

ARE YOU SOWING TO REAP CORRUPTION OR ETERNAL LIFE

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit” (Galatians 6:7-8, NLT).

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8, NIV).

What does Paul means by this statement? Does he mean that salvation is earned by work of law? Does it mean that the death of Christ is now in vain? Is salvation no longer earned by faith through grace?

Literal interpretation of this verse of the bible will suffice to mean that salvation is earned or merited by simply obeying, or keeping the law. Thus, those who do the work of the law are the ones working in the spirit while those who live in grace now walk in the flesh. Notice that King James Version, put verse 8 as, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6: 8 KJV). 

GUIDELINE AND STEPS TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER

Pray without ceasing. {1 Thessalonians 5: 17}.

The question is, why do we pray? How do we then pray to get expected result?   
Prayer and studying God's word are the two greatest tools for accessing God's purpose for man, in fact you can neither hear or talk to God without prayer. Prayer is art of taking God's words back to him about his promises over our life, it is divine communion between man and God. The essence of prayer is to seek God divine intervention in our problems thereby getting answer to our needs; it show our dependence on God for solution to our problems. 

Unfortunately, most Christian don't like to praying, some don't know how to pray, others don't know when to pray, often pray amiss leading to many unanswered prayers. The manner we approach the throne of grace determines the result we get. The following simple steps will guide you to pray better.

The Ministry of God's Love: Loving like Christ

Love is the greatest message of the gospel. In fact, Christianity is all about love. A righteous Christian is a loving Christian and it takes only a loving Christian to make heaven. He who does not Love does not know God; for God is love. (1 John 4:8). The real definition of God is love don't be deceived. Love is the heart beat of God,, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,,,, John 3:16. Love here come before giving, to be like God is to love like God and to love like God is to love unconditional; ,,,in that while we are yet in sin Christ died for us (Roman 5:8). Go and search your bible from Genesis to Revelation, you will not see where God give condition for loving us.

God's kind of love is the agape love - love without condition. Love to God is not feelings or emotion, it is not about how you feel rather is about your action towards something, it's obedience, it is character reflection . That is why Jesus says, "if you love me keep my commandment" (John14:15). Keeping here means obedience to God's commandment, not confession, neither feeling the presence; obedience is better than sacrifice. The greatest commandment is the commandment of love.

RUNNING TO WIN THE RACE OF LIFE

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. (1 Corinthians 9:24).

What does Paul mean by this verse?  Does Paul mean that there is only one winner in the Christian race?  Does he mean that there are ways to run to win the race?  What exactly is he trying to teach the Christian?

Paul in describing the Christian race uses two illustrations: The runner and the fighter. Two things should come to our mind; both a runner and a fighter aim to win in the game, hence both can be liking to Christianity "fighting the good fight of faith'' (2 Timothy 2:3; 1 Timothy 6:12).

Are You truly Living For Christ?

2 CORINTHIANS 5: 15.... And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

The question is do you believe Christ died for you and for all? Then if you believe, are you serving God or serving yourselves? Christianity, or born again is not about us, but all about Christ, He loved us first and died for us, so we love him back by living for him. It means that our life is not our own. We have been bought with the price of Christ's death and therefore are called to serve not self but Christ (1 Cor 6:19-20). Freedom is an illusion. We like to think along the lines of William Ernest Henley: "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." The fact of the matter is that ours is to serve, not to be served. We can either be serving Christ-making Him Lord of our life or we are serving ourselves and making Christ our servant instead of our Lord. The difference is between treating Christ as a houseguest and serving him as the house owner. Five things can be inferred or summarized from this verse. 

Understanding The Concept of Law And Grace

What do you understand by grace? Do grace nullify law? Does it mean that "grace" has replaced "Law" and the "Law" is discarded? Does Christ death actually abolished the Law, and give people license to continue in sin? What does the Bible really say? What then shall we do and teach others?

The misconception of grace and law has thrown many into confusion, with varying interpretations. Many preachers and teachers of the gospel has erroneously mislead people to believe that grace has abolish the law, thereby giving them licenses to live there life the way they like, without paying attention to moral code of conduct. That is why we have so many unbelieving-believers in churches today. People going to hell from the church.

The meaning of grace: Grace is the undeserving favor of God bestowed on mankind. Grace goes beyond forgiving someone who rob and probably rape your wife in your presence, to include giving the person job in your company with company car and allowance. If someone offend you, and you forgive and forget you are just merciful, that not grace. Grace is going beyond forgiving an offender to favor the person.

Moral Code of Conduct: The new Law

Does the Law still apply only to the Jew? What is the purpose of the law? Does the Law still apply to Christians today? Does Grace abolish the Law

Often there is a misconception by twenty first century Christianity that the law was made for the Jews only and has nothing to do with believers today. There is this believes that, Christ death on the cross has abolished the law and that Christian only live in Grace, Free from the law and its dictates to live as they like so long they believe in the death of Christ.

VIRTUE AND VALUE OF A CHRISTIAN

Christianity is beyond mere going to church, and worshiping with others, as many suppose it to be. The word Christian simply mean Christ-like that is to say, living like Christ. Today people are deceiving themselves and not God, living the way they like, and yet, called themselves Christ-like. Christ has its own values that he expect in us, as displayed in the volume of him. I have identified ten virtues or value of a born again Christian.  These values/virtues are extracted from the seven heavenly virtues: Prudence, justice, temperance, courage; faith, hope and love.

Welcome to our new Community.

It is always great opportunity to serve God, for by grace are we saved. You are all welcome to this blessed community/family where all we know how to do is to please God. It is a community of those that want to discover more about their purpose on earth, those that want to discover more about who they really are in Christ Jesus.