Saturday 13 June 2015

BEWARE OF SECOND BEST

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. - Matthew 13:22
If you have ever planted flowers and cared for them, you have probably noticed that weeds come up over a period of time.
You don't see the soil start moving and then a weed suddenly shoots up and grab a flower. Weeds don't appear overnight. They show up gradually.
That is what Jesus was referring to in the Parable of the Sower when He talked about the seed that fell among thorns: "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful."
Notice that Jesus did not say that sinful things choked out the seed of God's Word. Rather, it was "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches."
This is not someone who deliberately refuses to pray or read the Bible or go to church.
In fact, this person will think these are good things. They will go out and buy a Bible. They have every intention of going to church unless something more interesting comes along.
It is not that they hate the Bible or are against its teachings. They believe the Bible is the Word of God. They will talk about it. But they never will open it up. They are just too busy.
Gradually, the physical becomes more important than the spiritual. Things on earth become more important than treasures in heaven. The fact is that good things can occupy a person's time as well as the bad.
They may not be bad things to begin with, but they become bad things because they get in the way of spiritual growth. It has been said that more have been killed by food than by poison. The second best is often the worst enemy of the best.
Prayer: Ask the Lord for the grace to seek His best and give Him Your best.
Scriptural Reading: Matthew 13:18-23

Friday 12 June 2015

IT’S HOW YOU FINISH

Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing His work." - John 4:34
If someone says they have tried Christianity and it didn't work for them, it is because they never had a true encounter with the living God. I believe any person who has really met Jesus Christ will continue to grow spiritually.
Sometimes, we wonder about people who seem to have responded to the gospel but then fall away. I would suggest that if they truly were believers, they never would have left. Having said that, it is possible to be a true believer and go astray.
If you are a believer, you always will come home again. But if you never were a believer, you won't.
The Bible says, "A pig returns to its sloth and a dog returns to its own vomit." A pig goes back to his element; he never changes.
But if you are a prodigal, then you will always return home again.
Sometimes people start off with great enthusiasm and don’t finish what they have begun. And sometimes people start off weak, but they get stronger with the passing of time.
We see this in the life of Nicodemus, who was a religious leader and national celebrity in Jesus' day. John 3 tells us that he came to Jesus at night, asking questions. We don't know whether he believed at that point. But when Jesus was crucified, it was Nicodemus who stepped forward, along with Joseph of Arimathea, to claim the body of Jesus.
The point is that Nicodemus ended well. Some have a feeble beginning, but a strong finish. But that is better than having a strong beginning and no finish at all. So it is not how you start - it is how you end!
Prayer: By faith, I receive the anointing to start and finish what the Lord has set before me.
Scriptural Reading: John 4:27-38

Thursday 11 June 2015

Relationship: 3 Things Your Children Should Know About Gender Identity

You are the sun, shining down light on everyone . . . I am the moon with no light of my own," singer and songwriter Sara Groves croons to the God of the Universe in her song "You Are the Sun." She calls herself a "cold, dark, stone." And so we are.
You illuminate who God is when you embrace the role of womanhood.
And yet, take a walk on the night of a full moon in all its brilliant glory. Better yet, take your kids for a walk, and present to them the world's largest object lesson. As you look to the sky, remind them that the moon is just a cold, dark stone with no light of its own. Yet, it makes the sun known by "glorifying" it. Theology even a five year old can grasp. And well they should in light of the gender revolution I mentioned in yesterday's blog post. As promised, here are the three truths children must know about their bodies in order for moral truth to survive and for their faith to survive the gender revolution.
1. Your primary purpose is to glorify God.
God made you for Himself and has jealously protected His treasure by sacrificing His Son. It is this sacrifice that motivates us to glorify Him. And make no mistake, it takes our bodies to do this. "You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:20).
Our children do not need self-esteem. They need God-esteem. If they esteem God, they will understand their value, but not make too much of themselves. It's time to remember who gives light to this dark world, and to train our children that to glorify God is to make Him known and visible. This is our primary purpose—not a great career, not a family, not fame, not wealth—worshiping God.
2. Your primary practice must be to look like Him.
We do that best in His defined roles of maleness and femaleness. We find this truth solidly planted in Genesis. The pinnacle of God's design was Adam and Eve. One man. One woman. They were more than just a unique creation. They were a representation. "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.' . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:26–27).
There are so many God-like qualities that humanity possesses. Why doesn't God mention the traits of being intelligent or worshipful or creative when He says we were created in His image? Why doesn't He commend our language proficiency or our ability to compose sonnets? Apparently these are not the things that make us most like a representation of God. It is our maleness and our femaleness that makes us like Him. This places authentic humanity and sexuality in the context of male and female distinctiveness. Our ability to look like Him mandates that we embrace those differences, not erase them.
3. Our bodies must be a living sacrifice to God.
In Romans, the apostle Paul also begs for us to lay down our own plans for our bodies, and to make them daily, living, breathing sacrifices to our purpose of glorifying God. This includes how we work, live, give, spend, and even who we have sex with, no matter what gender "preference" might be tempting to us. Those verses read: "I beg you to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12: 1–2).
Why did God make you a woman? Or a man?
Because you were created to contribute to humanity's purpose of glorifying and enjoying God, and God chose for you to do that as a woman. You illuminate who God is when you embrace the role of womanhood because it is in male and female distinctions that we are the image of God. And let's be honest, there will be times when this is a sacrifice for you. Obedience to God and now our own desires can be deeply painful.
Maybe even for you.
How are YOU called to sacrifice? Will you give of yourself (as Christ did), renew your mind, and become a discerning woman of God so that your body may be a beautiful living sacrifice? Will you prepare your children to be countercultural and worship God as opposed to worshiping self? source: charismamag.com

BE STILL

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. - Psalm 46:10
We live in a noisy world. Everyday and everywhere our lives are swallowed in noise.
From the start of the day, we are bombarded with noise from the radio, television, car horns blaring and the shouts of frustrated people rushing to work.
As the day wears on, the noise steadily increases. After a while, you adjust to all the noise and move on with your life without being aware of it. It isn't until you are able to move into a quiet place that you realize how loud the noise has been.
In the silence, everything seems to change. Your nerves calm down, your body relaxes and your mind becomes uncluttered.
Noise provides us with a place to hide, where we don't have to face ourselves. Heavy schedules block honest reflection and renewal.
The noise of our busy world keeps us from hearing the still small voice of our Lord. God comes to us in silence. We have lost the art of being still. Not just physical silence but silence at a higher level.
We hear His voice clearer when the noises of our own words are replaced with the power of His word.
We hear His voice when the sound of fear is replaced by the spirit of faith in our hearts. We hear His voice when the anxiety of the world is overshadowed by the breath of His presence.
Don't turn your life into a permanent rush, rush, rush. Take time to be still. Only through the still times in our lives can we hope for God to break through to help us make sense of our lives. Be still, and know that God is there.
Prayer: Lord, help me keep away the noise so I can hear Your voice.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 46:1-11

How To Bake Nigerian popular bread- Agege bread At Home

This video will show you the hidden secret of Nigerian popular bread- Agege bread. A Nigerian food that is loved by many. The secret of this thick Nigerian Agege bread eaten with Ewa agooyin is not known to many people as it s contains dangerous additives such as EDC, Potassium bromate and many others. In this video, I will show you an alternative Agege bread improver called- ASCORBIC ACID ( Vitamin C). I am sure you have vitamic C at home somewhere. It's good in making this bread serving as a natural bread improver. By Nigeriacuisine


LET GO YOUR DOUBTS

And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? - Luke 24:38
All of us struggle with doubt. We struggle with the promises of God when the going gets tough and the future seems uncertain.
Some of our doubts appear in moments of weakness and disappear, or during times of prayer.
Other doubts stay with us so long that they become a part of our lives. Over time, we become used to them and even fail to notice them anymore. Just because they are unnoticed, however, does not mean they do not impact us.
Crises have a way of revealing our uncertainties and adding to our emotional distress.
• Doubt impacts on our relationship with the Lord. Every relationship thrives on trust. We cannot have intimacy with God or please Him when we doubt what He says.
To benefit from our relationship with Him, we must trust what He says and have full confidence that He will honour His promises. Without sure belief, our relationship with God suffers.
• Doubt hinders our prayer life. It short-circuits our faith and renders our prayers weak and ineffective. If we believe God and do not doubt Him, we will have the privilege of experiencing His power to do things that are considered unattainable in the natural.
When we walk in faith; we open ourselves up to a life of miracles, signs and wonders.
• Doubt also hinders our service to God. How many of us have neglected to answer God's call because we questioned our ability?
How often have we hesitated to share the Gospel because we were unsure of having the right words?
Spend time feeding on the word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the surety of God's truth to you.
Prayer: I praise You O Lord, because Your word is my sure foundation.
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36-43

Friday 5 June 2015

HOME SICK

For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. - Philippians 1:23
There is a story of a little dog named Jack, who was walking across the street one day and, tragically, was hit by a car.
His sad owners took Jack to some bush nearby and buried him. They were so grieved they would never see their precious little dog again.
But three days later, they heard some scratching at the gate. Much to their surprise, they found Jack at the gate. They could hardly believe their eyes. They opened the gate and let little him in.
He was covered with dirt but alive. It turns out their little dog wasn't dead after all. They had buried him alive, but the industrious little dog clawed his way out and found his way home.
There is no place like home. And it is important you keep in mind that there is a home waiting for every child of God, a future destination for all believers. It's called heaven.
We all need to long for heaven. Though we have never been there, we still have something God has built within us that gives us a certain homesickness, a desire to be there.
It is fascinating the way the apostle Paul put it when he said, "For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ. . . . Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you" (Philippians 1:23-24).
God has put a homing instinct inside every man and woman, a sense that there is something more to life.
In fact, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has put eternity in their hearts." Because of this, we will never be fully content in this life. The Lord is preparing a glorious city for us.
Prayer: Thank You Lord, for making me a citizen of heaven.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:23
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