Truth

How do you deliver on your promise to follow Jesus?

Every person who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior pledged to follow Him for the rest of life. But many of us soon realize that Jesus doesn’t always take the smooth path to get to His next stop. Sometimes His journey takes Him through winding roads, hills, and valleys, peaks, and mountains. Other times He travels through thorns and thistle.

Thus, following Jesus comes with challenges, but you do not have to be a victim of your circumstances. Jesus never allowed His circumstances to get the better of Him. He carried out His father’s Will despite facing many challenges. And the beauty of it is, Jesus never faltered, or wavered. He kept His promise to the father until the end.

Likewise, you and I can keep our promise to follow Jesus. But first, we have to stay focus on the path His footsteps lead us. We cannot allow ourselves to get trapped with the sideshows. For as you know quite well, Jesus has encountered more that enough sideshows in His time. But He never allowed any of them to distract Him.

For example, in John 8:3-7 He gave us a perfect demonstration of how not get distracted by sideshows. “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, we found this woman committing adultery. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such offense is punishable by stoning. But what do You say?” They were hoping He would err, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So, they continue to press Him. Then He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” That was all it took to silence those who seek to distract Jesus.

Some of us may not be able to do all the great works Jesus did, but we sure can replicate His examples for our benefits.

Why? Why me, Lord?

Every time something bad happened to us our knee jerk reaction is always the question ‘Why me Lord?’ Nobody ever asked; ‘Why not me, Lord?’ We have trained ourselves to believe the fallacy that life must be good all the time. And if you are a Christian you expect God to shield you from every hardship, big and small. But life does not work like that.

Sometimes the hardship is a result of our poor judgment. We took the wide road instead of the narrow one. Other times, it’s negligence or blatant refusal to follow God’s instructions. (We read what happened to the prophet, Jonah when he ignored God’s instruction to go to Nineveh).

So friends, wherever you are today. Whatever your hardship, before you start dumping blame on God, look at yourself in the mirror first. You will find that 99% of your problems are self-induced. Do not question God. And most of all, do not doubt Him. He had and still have a great plan for you.  Jeremiah 29:11 says it best; “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope.” (NLT) Use your trials as catalysts to strengthen your resolve in Christ Jesus. Do not be bitter. Instead, of asking, ‘Why me, Lord?’ Ask, Why not me, Lord?’ Be like Apostle Paul when he said; 

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate me from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (“Romans 8:31-39

Does God bless Non Christians?

 

Does God bless Non-Christians?

You have heard fellow Christians, especially preachers; tell you that God only blesses those who keep His Commandments. But that is a myth. God do not withhold blessing from His Children. So whether you are a Christian or not, we are all God’s children. Furthermore, God is impartial; He does not distribute blessings like humans do. For example, when the rain falls, it does not fall on one man’s land. Neither does the sun shines on one man’s house.

I take my cue from Jesus. He never turned anyone away. Matthew 9:18-26 and Mark 5:21-43 solidify this fact. Both Mark and Matthew narrated the same gripping story. Both of which dispels the myth mentioned above.

The story tells us about a prominent Jewish leader named Jairus whose young daughter was ill. Now, it is important to note, Jairus did not subscribe to Jesus’s teachings. He was a member of a religious sect that opposed everything Jesus did. One could go further and say Jairus was a member of the group that plotted to kill Jesus.

But when everything Jairus tried to get his daughter well failed, Jairus came to Jesus for help. While making his way through a large crowd that had come to see Jesus as well. He received further disturbing news. His daughter was dead. The Bible says Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and worshiped Him. Then he said, “My daughter has just died, but even though she is dead if you come and lay Your hand on her she will live.”

Without putting him on the mercy seat, Jesus granted Jairus’s wish. And his daughter lived.

Still, like the woman with the issue of blood, Jairus had faith that could move a mountain. That is something many of us lack. Thus, if we wish to have showers of blessing in our lives we need to work on our faith.

Serve Your Valentine Breakfast in Bed With These 20 Brunch Recipes

Valentine’s Day is upon us and even though many of us declared in public that we do not observe the day, secretly we do. None of us, especially men, wants to be the one who forgot to send a gift or a Valentine’s card to his special someone.

So, if you had forgotten to do something special last year you still have time to spring a surprise this year. Here is a link with some tasty recipes I grabbed off the internet. Enjoy. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day happens to fall on a Sunday this year, so, if you’re not plotting an elaborate dinner for your special someone, brunch together is another great option. But, just as with dinner, we counsel against going out to eat on the holiday—especially since serving your partner breakfast in bed is about as romantic as it gets. Here are 20 breakfast and brunch recipes to help you win the Valentine of the Year Award.

Source: Serve Your Valentine Breakfast in Bed With These 20 Brunch Recipes | Serious Eats

Do you lack humility?

As Christians, we never talked about humility. Perhaps, because it’s not cool, or maybe because the world sees humility as a sign of weakness. Everybody wants the next person to see him or her as having a strong or exaggerated sense of power. Anything less is unacceptable to the world.

But Christians cannot live their lives according to the world’s standard. Of course, we are not going to ignore its laws, but our morals and principles should be God-centered. Frankly, Jesus demands Humility from His followers. It is an essential characteristic of the authentic Christian.jesusfeeds5000story[1]

So, one day, while hanging out with friends, Jesus’ disciples came to Him, and asked: ““Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 18:1-4).

No one can enter the kingdom of heaven without having and displaying humility here on earth. So, if you lack humility, start practicing. There is no place for the proud in heaven. James 4:6 says: “The Lord opposes the proud and gives mercy to the humble.”