credibility

Not Everyone Who Sits, Chats, and Eats With You Is A Friend

Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21). https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7%3A21&version=KJV
Likewise, not everyone sitting, eating, and chatting with you is your friend.

People in your life are working overtime to bring you down. These people have negative energy rocking your boat; if you do not seek and find them and throw them overboard, your ship will sink.
Sometimes it does not take a lot to bring a person down. Often, all the enemy needs to do is plant one bad seed in your life, and before you know it, your whole world is topsy-turvy.
So, now is the time to offload the source of negative energy-you may be surprised that the culprits are those closest to you. But don’t let that deter you, do what is right for you. It’s either them or destruction.

According to Jonah 1:1-17, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah+1%3A1-17&version=KJV. When Jonah decided he would disobey and refused to go to Ninevah, he boarded a boat heading in the opposite direction, Tarshish. The Bible says the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and a violent storm arose and threatened to break up the ship. The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But that didn’t help. Because the culprit was Jonah, and he was below the deck sleeping. Eventually, the sailors cast Jonah overboard, and the sea calmed.

So, my friends, if you have found the source of the negative energy destroying your life, do not hesitate to get rid of the excess baggage.

Are you a stuck-up Christian?

Fellow Christians and non-Christians, John 8: 7 (“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”), is undoubtedly one of the most powerful yet humbling Scripture in the New Testament. Unfortunately, many Christians either do not think the context of the passage apply to them, or they flatly do not understand it.

I have arrived at this harsh conclusion after observing fellow Christians for many years. I have realized that many of us, especially some who preach from the pulpit, are pompous and stuck-up. Like the Scribes and Pharisees mentioned in John 8, we enjoy pointing out the sins of others but we cover up ours. We even look down on the people we labelled as sinners with disdain.

Naturally, one do not expect a follower of Jesus Christ who truly understand Jesus’ mission and what He meant when He said: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), to exhibit  a repulsive attitude toward the people Jesus came to save. Unfortunately, none of us is blameless in this regard.

But if we are going to talk gospel according to Jesus and the disciples, then we must first come down off our high horses and face the harsh reality. The church cannot grow if we continue to pour water into the faces of those who need Jesus in their lives. Many of these people do not know that they need Jesus. Therefore, it is our solemn duty to tell them why they need Him.

As Christians, we must never forget where we were when we found Jesus. Some of us had been in similar situations as the people we now condemn. But just like Paul, we had an awakening and we turned our life around. Notice, Paul never forgot the life he had lived before he met Christ, but he never returned to it. And most noticeable, he was never Stuck-up, pompous, judgmental, or condemning.

Do you have a credibility problem?

Do you have a credibility problem?
Most people I know would answer no to the above question, but that’s because they have creditability issues, and they think no one notices. Look, we can’t help being disingenuous sometimes. It is part of the legacy we have received from Adam and Eve. If we humans did not have credibility issues, then there would be no need for the cross.

Of course, credibility is a bigger problem for some of us than others. Many of us have managed to disguise the problem from human attention, but Jesus sees and knows everything you do.

In Matthew 23, Jesus called out the Religious leaders and teachers of the day. He referred to them as ‘hypocrites’ which I am sure was a surprise to the people. It seemed the religious leaders of the day had blinded the people with their facade. Here are some of what Jesus had to say, according to Matthew 23:1-7:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms, they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and be called ‘Rabbi.’ by others