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

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

How To Kill Off a Good Relationship

Every Wednesday, I try to share something inspiring that I have read online within the last week. This week is more like a cocktail of articles that I believe can enhance our relationships with people who question our belief in Jesus, The Christ, our friends and our family- in that order:

When you are asked if  Jesus is God?

Wednesday Weekly Rounds: Good Stuff You found online this week

So does the New Testament really teach that Jesus is God? The NT often uses “God” (Greek: theos) as synonymous with “God the Father”— and Jesus is not the Father. But the NT also frequently uses “God” as the more generic term for the divine nature. So “God” is not always a reference to the Son in particular, but the Son is always God.

There are several examples where Jesus is explicitly called God. Here are the clearest ones:

John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 20:28,”Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

Romans 9:5,”To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”

Titus 2:13, “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ”

Hebrews 1:8,”But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom.’”

2 Peter 1:1,”To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ”

But the evidence for Jesus’ divinity is hardly limited to these examples where he is explicitly identified as God. You can read the complete article here

How to Destroy a Relationship

Pete Wilson really nailed it here with how jealousy and making assumptions can kill off the best friendship. Who hasn’t been there- either at the giving or receiving end?  He said:

                How do you destroy a relationship?

Step One: Make Assumptions.

I recently received an email from an old friend who was upset with me. I’m not really at liberty to talk details, but it turned out to all be one BIG misunderstanding. In fact, he had made a series of assumptions which turned out to be completely false. At the end of the day I was just relieved we were able to work through the conflict, but it got me thinking.

Assumptions are the silent deadly bombs that do nothing but destroy healthy relationships. An assumption is one person’s IDEA of what someone else is thinking, feeling or doing.

Parents often assume they know exactly what their children feel, think or want. Bosses may assume employees know exactly what they want when they ask for something. Church attendees assume they know exactly what the pastor’s motives are. All of this is mind-reading or assuming and it is dangerous.

While you may be right from time to time, more often your assumptions lead to unnecessary conflict, worry, and broken relationships.

So today I just want to encourage you to stop and think. Instead of making assumptions how about asking questions?

Few days later, he dropped another piece that is definitely worth a look: the green eyed monster.

So, if you have a really good relationship you just want to destroy:

1.       Make Assumptions

2.       Get Jealous- it will guarantee you to do stupid stuff.

If the relationship is worth keeping, see that you avoid number 1 and 2.

Marriage is Heart Work

Apart our relationship with God, the next most important one would be our relationships with our spouse. Especially for the singles, this piece helps us to put marriage preparation in focus before scurrying down the aisle:

It’s that time of year again. People seem to be marrying off like rabbits (at least from my news feed). Facebook has been lighting up with pictures of brides and bridal parties, and it is fun to see all the smiles and happy celebrations. Occasionally, an engagement announcement will pop up, and my first thought is, I wonder if they’re ready? I don’t mean it in a judgmental or even critical way. I just wonder what makes a couple ready for marriage.

Certainly, no one enters marriage with complete confidence that they are ready for all that awaits. There are all sorts of unknown variables that even the most calculating person couldn’t possibly anticipate. One of the great mysteries of marriage is that it’s a commitment made in trust. You must trust yourself, your new spouse, and God — the giver of marriage. But are we left to only trust and take the leap? Or is there a way of knowing if we are really ready for marriage?

Andrew Hess of The boundless blog cracked me up on “people marrying off like rabbits…” but the rest is really informative and relevant to both single and married people.

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

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Picture from: christpinoy.blogspot.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