Friday 16 August 2013

When You Need a Song-and a Prayer


Sometimes, life boxes us into a corner. Sometimes, we help life to do just that. With our ‘interesting’ decision making process, we make choices that are at best, irrational and at worst, life damaging. The senses clear when the repercussions come knocking and then we go “what in the world did I do!”
When in situations like that, a believer calls for mercy. It is one of the things we do and should do best, since it is the very basis of our relationship with God. King David was very good at this.
When you need a song-and a prayer
Apart from this, we also need to consistently and consciously repeat God’s word to ourselves- especially to reassure ourselves not only of God’s grace and forgiveness but also of His infallible promises to go through life with us- self-inflicted horrors and all.
Personally, I find that during these times, songs that are ‘shamelessly’ lifted from The Bible work a lot. You know how the Word is for correction, reproof, edification, instruction, you name it (2Timothy 3:16). Like the worship leader said on Wednesday, when you sing these types of songs, you are worshipping, confessing, praying and praising all at the same time!
At this very point in my life, the word I’m trying desperately to clutch on to is found in Isaiah 54, especially the 10th verse. It goes:
“For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”
Apart from memorising it, I have been trying to check if there is a song that is based on that verse, or preferably that lifts it word for word. It would do me a world of good. I am yet to find one and I am not one of those musically extremely talented people who can compose a song on a whim.
However, I thank God for Christian song writers who have given us a wide range of scripture based song. This is not to say that only scripture quoting songs are edifying, but they have their times and place and use, like now.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Wednesday Cocktail: Should I Say Something?


Every Wednesday, I try to share something inspiring that I have read online within the last week. This week I got unusually spammed with mails offering me curiously dubious pills- which I assumed were for men. I also got requests from ‘my bank’ asking for my login details. When I let the cursor hover over the bank’s name in the address section, I found the real address to be make@big.com or something like that. Does
Wednesday Cocktail: This is healthy stuff!
that mean they want to ‘make it big’ off me? I don’t know.

In the last one week, most of the things I read online are related to my career- especially as it affects my current job description. I have been feeling especially nudged to up my game in that area.  Meanwhile, in the process of stepping up my game, I realised that I got swindled (through a funny variant of falsehood)- 7 years ago! I wonder why it took so long for me to see it. Next Monday, I will share the details in the falsehood series.


Now to business, the favourite thing I read online this week is a Facebook post by a friend, Ademola Williams. First of all, (‘Demola does not know it), but his posts usually inspire me. Apart from the fact that he posts his devotional-everyday, I am yet to see the first slightly unwholesome update from him. This particular post is very similar to a topic we considered here in June.
Should I Say Something...?

'... Speaking the truth in love...' Ephesians 4:15 NKJ

Your loose-tongued best friend has spent the last ten minutes laying out every bit of dirt on the love life of someone you both know. It was embarrassing, hilarious, and just a little bit malicious. This isn't the first time it's happened, and the gossip is starting to leave an ugly taste in your mouth...
Over to you. Is it time to wade in, or hold off?
Your mate's unlimited broadband means he's getting the newest films in the comfort of his bedroom before they're even showing at the cinema. Not to mention any music his iPod desires. All without paying a cent. Even though he says it's not hurting anyone, your conscience is beginning to differ...
And back to you. Is it time to wade in, or hold off?
We need to be careful to choose the right time to do this, but sometimes loving someone requires confronting them for their own good. If it involves a destructive habit, something that's illegal or a situation that could hurt them, it's important not to turn a blind eye. The Bible offers amazing wisdom on how to tackle this.
Here are two examples: (1) 'Love is not rude.' It doesn't use an aggressive, heavy-handed approach. What is said is spoken with kindness. (2) 'Love is not self-seeking.' It forgets about needing to be accepted and liked, or to score 'holy points' off the other person. Instead it makes sure their wellbeing is the main priority. If you're in this sort of situation today, pray for God's Holy Spirit to speak through you with wisdom and tact, so that the truth comes out in love.
SoulFood: Exodus 16:1-18, John 6:1-15,John 6:25-40, 1 Cor 11:23-24
Check here for a similar article that treats this issue.
Here is a reminder about something I shared in July. I remember sending a warning that I will continue to post it till I get tired. So here it is again, for the third-and definitely not the last time.  One day, I’ll explain why it ranks so high with me.
                when you should stop reading your Bible:
                Go on reading it until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible anymore, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture, you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you forever to His eternal home." - Geoffrey Thomas, Reading the Bible
Beautiful, isn’t it? And very true too. I really do love this quote. Very much. Very very much. I’ll probably share it every week till someone protests- but what kind of person says he doesn’t want to hear about the Bible? I will ‘Jesus juke’ you J
Here are the links to other things I read that I think you may find useful:
·         If communication breaks down in a marriage: I have always known that communication is a big deal in marriage, and even in ALL our relationships. I just didn’t know the specific things to pray for to make it better.
·         Tips for writers: I read a backlog of articles from here and here and found them quite helpful. I didn’t find a major earth-shaking writing tip but I found tiny details that differentiate a well done job from a poorly done one.
What have you found inspiring online this week? Please drop a note in the comments section.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Ms. August.

Picture from blog.leaderpost.com 

PS: The aim of Wednesday weekly rounds is to share with you things I came across online and found useful. It could also be a way of saying that “if I can’t share it on this platform”, I should rethink reading it.
Would you be able to freely share what you have been reading online in the past week? If you consider it inappropriate to be shared amongst believers, maybe you shouldn’t be reading it to start with.
PPS: The usual disclaimer: I am not affiliated or endorsing the people mentioned in this post. As you know, they are waaaayyyy out of my league J



Monday 12 August 2013

THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF FALSEHOOD

Last week Monday, we considered falsehood that is usually prompted by the need to impress (Nnamdi) and the one that is prompted by being excessively loose-tongued. Like we established from scriptures, none of these is justified, and so, none should be found in us.
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
This post would deal with another two variants of falsehood. They appear to be the most common types. First, there is the lie that is a desperate attempt to shield one from the repercussion of a wrong. Second is the one that is also an attempt to withhold a piece of information that we are reluctant to share. They could get inter-twined.
Lying to Cover Up a Wrong: when I think of this type of falsehood, many Bible characters come to mind but top on my list would be Gehazi (Check here for the tragedy of Gehazi.) Gehazi was the guy who missed the opportunity to get a quadruple portion of the anointing of Prophet Elijah. His boss, Prophet Elisha had won double portion from Elijah, and perhaps, Gehazi would have gotten a fair cut of that anointing- if only he didn’t get greedy and lie to cover up his sins. That is the issue with this type of falsehood- it hardly ever happens by itself; rather it is an attempt to prevent someone who has done something wrong from getting the rewards of his wrong doing- picture Adam trying to think up a justifiable fib for why he ate the forbidden fruit.
Western countries have their opinions about spanking but thank God for my mother’s spanking- it ‘delivered’ me from ending up a Gehazi. This was how it happened- while growing up, my sisters and I (I believe I was not the only thief in that house) took special delight in stealing milk. This was not the funny caught with your hand in the cookie jar stuff. It was the strategically sneak around till no one is watching and down out the diary product in sight. We didn’t stop there- we went all the way to meat in the pot, stuff in the fridge, and baby sister’s Cerelac. I am not proud of these things. What annoyed my mother most was not really the things we took but the haste and vehemence with which we denied ever setting our eyes on the missing stuff. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she showed our backside the way of truth. Before and after spanking our brains out, she would make us read or read to us (if we lost our voice in the spanking process) Revelations 22:15 where they lumped ‘ordinary’ liars together with serious sinners: murderers, sorcerers, whoremongers, and dogs who will never make it inside Heaven. Reading any portion of Revelations is not exactly fun but that verse just made it worse. Between my mother’s switch, the golden Book of Revelations and the mercy of God, we got born again and ‘renounced hidden works of shame (2 Corinthians 4:2).
As I grew older, I stumbled severally- not in stealing stuff, but in thinking up lies to cover up a wrong. You know how you took the time to craft a story that can wriggle you out of the Principal’s hard knocks, your boss’ queries and your friends’ disappointment. While lies may grant us temporal reprieve, we consistently burden our souls with more debris. What God requires from us is the truth in inward places Psalm 51:6). Owning up to our failings and repenting instantly is what David had that Saul did not. I am always inspired when I read how David responded immediately, reflexively when Nathan told him how he had messed up with Bathsheba. Immediately, he said: “I have sinned against the Lord! (2Samuel 12:13)”  No excuses. No fibs. No crafty speech.
My Pastor once told us that “when you steal something, you know what you are ‘gaining’, but you can never know what you are losing (Proverbs 28:13). How true! The same applies here.
Perhaps this will help:
·         If you know that you will have to lie about it, avoid doing it. This applies to many scenarios including having a physical or emotional extra- marital affair, double dating while single, siphoning money that isn’t yours and signing the attendance register at work or first timers’ slip in a church. State on the slip that you do not wish to be contacted rather than put false contact information. Try to be punctual so you don’t sign with the time-zone of another country
·         When you go wrong, own up and ask for forgiveness. You may not be able to get out of the painful repercussions of your sins/ mistake but paying the price is much better than covering it up. And if people do not forgive you, take humble solace in the fact that once you confess and repent, God forgives you.
Lying to Withhold Personal Information: The media use some words loosely – saying “almost 300 lives were lost”, when 226 died, about 300 gallons of urine found, when 210 was found. I refuse to talk about why any gallon of urine was found at all but you get the idea. Although it comes close, the media’s use of word is not what this type of falsehood is about. It is the one that extremely nosey people drive us into committing. I am making an excuse here.
I hate it when people poke into my stuff especially when I don’t think that they have that kind of relationship with me. Sometimes it is funny how a random acquaintance wants to know exactly how much I earn (about so so amount isn’t good enough for them).
Nosey people can be irritating but let no one drive you into iniquity. Sometimes, I have to tell people that I don’t want to talk about ‘it’. They may not like it but that’s much better. Plus now that I think about it, if you cannot respect my decision to keep my privacy, what kind of relationship do we have here?
On this note, I implore you to also become conscious of poking people for personal information. You may be bullying them emotionally or pushing them into the sin of falsehood. Study to mind your own business.
Either way, may The God of all Grace keep us from error and falsehood in speech, in thought and in actions Keep these words in mind, and become more like Him- one blog post at a time.
I leave you in God’s care,
Ms. August

Is there anything i left out in this post as regards these variants of falsehood. Is there anything you know others can learn from you? Please feel free to share with us in the comments section. 

Picture through Google search- juanitajean.com 

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Wednesday Cocktail: How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian?


Every Wednesday, I try to share something inspiring that I have read online within the last week. 
Today, i take a break from the series on falsehood to present the weekly round-up. Personally, if I had the right, I would have reprinted the lead article word-for-word. This is because I believe that the topic is one that many Christians encounter from time to time, either personally or in answering other people’s questions.

Justin Taylor of the gospel coalition ‘reprinted’ a post that I am glad to reprint-albeit in an abridged version. Please try to read the details here. It is very important that you do.
1. Assurance of Salvation—Is It Possible?
Enjoy Wednesday Cocktail- Spread the love, share the post!
Cocktail
It is possible, for the Christian to experience assurance of salvation.
It is possible, for a non-Christian to have a false assurance of salvation.
2. Having Doubts about Your Salvation
It is possible, indeed normal, for Christians to have occasional doubts about their salvation. The causes of doubt are many:
·         Spiritual immaturity may contribute to doubts about assurance.
·         Sensitivity to sin may cause confusion about assurance.
·         Comparison with other Christians may cloud assurance.
·         Childhood conversion affects the assurance of some.
3. The Basis of Assurance
The assurance of salvation rests primarily on
·         the character of God 
·         the works of Jesus Christ
·         the truth of God’s promises
4. An Inner Confirmation
Assurance may be experienced partly through the inner confirmation of the Holy Spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit give Christians this assurance?
·         He opens our minds to understand the Bible in ways that give us assurance.
·         He guides our thinking about the biblical marks of salvation in our lives.
·         He brings Scripture and its truths to our minds in various ways that assure us.
·         He causes an inner sense of assurance without words.
5. Signs of Eternal Life
Assurance may be experienced partly through the presence of the attitudes and actions the Bible says will accompany salvation [1 John].
·         Do you share the intimacies of the Christian life with other believers?
·         Do you have a deep awareness of your sin against the word and love of God?
·         Do you live in conscious obedience to the word of God?
·         Do you despise the world and its ways?
·         Do you long for the return of Jesus Christ and to be made like him?
·         Do you habitually do what is right more and sin less?
·         Do you love other Christians sacrificially and want to be with them?
·         Do you discern the presence of the Holy Spirit within you?
·         Do you enjoy listening to the doctrines the apostles of Jesus taught?
·         Do you believe what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ?
6. A Spiritual Mind-set
Only those who are spiritually minded are Christians.
You are spiritual minded when you think about the things of God:
You are not spiritually minded if “God is not in all [your] thoughts.”
7. Things That Erode Our Assurance
A true Christian may lose a sense of assurance of salvation because . . .
·         he or she refuses to deal with known sin
·         of spiritual laziness
·         of satanic attacks
·         of trials or harsh circumstances
·         of illness or temperament
·         God seems to withdraw a sense of his presence and blessing.
8. Common Problems with Uncertainty
Those converted as children, without adult or dramatic conversions do not.
Stay-at-home mothers of young children may experience special difficulties with assurance.- I am wondering why this is true.
Those worried about the unforgivable sin have not committed it- Boy, am I glad to hear this!
9. False Assurance of Salvation
Sources of a false assurance of salvation
·         A public commitment or outward response to the gospel
·         Baptism
·         Involvement with church
·         A strong Christian family heritage
·         An abundance of good deeds
·         An extraordinary experience
·         A dramatic personal or lifestyle change
·         Material blessing and financial security
·         A false understanding of God
·         A false understanding of sin and hell
Characteristics of the falsely assured
·         They are either unconcerned or angry when warned about false assurance.
·         They are either legalistic or loose with spiritual disciplines and duties.
·         They are either very weak in or very confident of their Bible knowledge.
·         They have either a vicarious Christianity or an overly independent spirit.
·         They may be constantly resisting the truth or never able to come to the truth.
10. What to Do If You’re Still Not Sure
Don’t take for granted that you understand the gospel.
Think deeply about the gospel.
Repent of all known sin.
Submit everything to the Lordship of Christ.
Meditate much on 1 John.
Don’t doubt the promises of God.
Believe as best you can and pray for greater faith.
Practice the spiritual disciplines.
If you really love God, take assurance because non-Christians don’t love God passionately.
If you hate your sin, take assurance because non-Christians don’t hate sin deeply.
If you’ve never been baptized, present yourself as a candidate in obedience to Christ.
Seek godly counsel if the doubts persist.
Pray for assurance.
Wait patiently upon God to give you a fuller experience of assurance.
Here are other posts worth considering
·         Where Did The Bible come from: This post gives a general overview of the origin of our Faith manual. I like how it combines faith with history. This post helps us to know that ‘For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty- 2Peter 1:16
·         Expecting a marriage to complete you: This is a post many singles ought to read. We sometimes set ourselves up for huge disappointments by ‘over-expecting’ things from other people. I sincerely think that many of us have our hopes on a marriage that will make all the pain go away. Dear friend, except you are thinking of the marriage of the lamb; where you and I are the bride and Jesus is the groom, you are about to be disappointed. No marriage to any human will make life completely perfect. Life will be brighter, fuller and happier (with the right spouse), but never perfect.
·         I stumbled on another Nigerian Christian blog and I think it is very good. Here is the link: http://www.samadelspeaks.blogspot.com/

What have you found inspiring online this week? Please drop a note in the comments section.
Enjoy the rest of your week.

PS: The aim of Wednesday weekly rounds is to share with you things I came across online and found useful. It could also be a way of saying that “if I can’t share it on this platform”, I should rethink reading it.
Would you be able to freely share what you have been reading online in the past week? If you consider it inappropriate to be shared amongst believers, maybe you shouldn’t be reading it to start with.
PPS: The usual disclaimer: I am not affiliated or endorsing the people mentioned in this post. As you know, they are waaaayyyy out of my league J


Picture from dazzlejunction.com