Why are some people naturally stubborn against God's will?
1. Adam and Eve ate the only fruit forbidden by God in the Garden of Eden.
2. God forbids incest ,bestiality and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:
6-23 & 20:10-21 ; Romans 1:26,27 ; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 & 6 :9-11). You
are free to marry from any tribe, race, etc as long as the person is
an unrelated member of the opposite sex (Acts 10:34,35),unlike the
ancient Israelites who were forbidden from marrying people of other
nations. Still, some people go for the forbidden types of sex and
marriage. Why?
3. Only human meat is forbidden by God (Genesis 9 :1-7 ).You can eat
any other type of meat? Why disobey?
If you are "inquisitive by nature", why don't you :
1. dip your hand into acid to be sure that it is corrosive?
2.taste your own urine and faeces?
Some people are so rebellious in nature that they will do thing they
don't normally do once it is forbidden. What moral right have they to
condemn Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit?
Saturday, 15 April 2017
Thursday, 13 April 2017
If you get what you want, will you want what you get?
According to Greek mythology, Midas was a king who lived in Phrygia in
the eighth century B.C. He was very wealthy and had more gold than
anyone else in the world. He stored the yellow coins and bars in huge
vaults underneath his palace and spent many hours each day handling
and counting his treasure.
But no matter how much gold Midas collected and put into his vaults,
it was not enough. He always wanted more, and he spent much of his
time dreaming about how to obtain still more gold.
One day a being dressed in white appeared to Midas and granted him a
wish. The king instantly
wished for the "golden touch"—that everything he touched would turn to gold.
The next morning when Midas woke up, he found that his plain linen
bedcovers had been transformed into finely spun gold! He gasped with
astonishment and jumped out of bed. Then he touched the bedpost, and
it turned to gold. "It's true," he cried. "I have the golden touch!"
He rushed through the palace, brushing against walls and furniture
along the way, all of which turned to gold at his touch.
Out in the garden, he went from bush to bush, touching roses and other
flowers, smiling as they turned to gold.
But the Midas myth doesn't end here with everyone living happily ever after.
Finally, tiring from the excitement of touching various items and
seeing them turn into gold, Midas sat down to read while he waited for
breakfast. But the book he picked up immediately turned to gold. Then
when he tried to eat a peach, a spoonful of porridge, and a piece of
bread, they each turned into hard golden lumps! Even the water in his
cup turned to gold.
The king grew alarmed. "If even my food turns to gold, how will I ever
eat again?" he worried. Just then, Midas' only daughter, Aurelia, came
into the room. She ran to her father, threw her arms around him, and
kissed him. Much to Midas' horror, she grew strangely still and turned
from a loving, laughing little girl into a golden statue.
The king howled in anguish, overcome by the horror of what was
happening before his very eyes. He had gotten what be asked for, but
he suddenly realized he didn't want what he was getting.
The being dressed in white suddenly reappeared and asked, "Well, King
Midas, are you not the happiest of men?"
"Oh, no," moaned the king, "I am the most miserable of all creatures."
"What? Did I not grant your wish for the golden touch?"
"Yes, but it is a curse to me now," Midas wept. "All that I truly
loved is now lost to me."
"Do you mean to say that you would prefer a crust of bread or a cup of
water to the gift of the golden touch?" asked the glowing white being.
"Oh, yes!" Midas exclaimed. "I would give up all the gold in the world
if only my daughter was restored to me."
According to the myth, the being dressed in white told Midas to go
bathe in a certain spring of water that would wash
away his golden touch. He was also to bring back some of the water to
sprinkle on his daughter and any other objects he wished to change
back to their original form.
So the legendary King Midas gladly gave up his golden touch and
rejoiced in the restoration of the simple things of life—
family, food, and natural beauty. Midas realized that these are the
things that have greater value than gold.
The truth is, we do not live in a fairy-tale world. There is no Midas
touch or magical formula for material success. But there are
opportunities for those who are willing to be diligent and faithful in
the work of their mind and hands.
Proverbs 27:20 says: "A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but
he that makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent".
the eighth century B.C. He was very wealthy and had more gold than
anyone else in the world. He stored the yellow coins and bars in huge
vaults underneath his palace and spent many hours each day handling
and counting his treasure.
But no matter how much gold Midas collected and put into his vaults,
it was not enough. He always wanted more, and he spent much of his
time dreaming about how to obtain still more gold.
One day a being dressed in white appeared to Midas and granted him a
wish. The king instantly
wished for the "golden touch"—that everything he touched would turn to gold.
The next morning when Midas woke up, he found that his plain linen
bedcovers had been transformed into finely spun gold! He gasped with
astonishment and jumped out of bed. Then he touched the bedpost, and
it turned to gold. "It's true," he cried. "I have the golden touch!"
He rushed through the palace, brushing against walls and furniture
along the way, all of which turned to gold at his touch.
Out in the garden, he went from bush to bush, touching roses and other
flowers, smiling as they turned to gold.
But the Midas myth doesn't end here with everyone living happily ever after.
Finally, tiring from the excitement of touching various items and
seeing them turn into gold, Midas sat down to read while he waited for
breakfast. But the book he picked up immediately turned to gold. Then
when he tried to eat a peach, a spoonful of porridge, and a piece of
bread, they each turned into hard golden lumps! Even the water in his
cup turned to gold.
The king grew alarmed. "If even my food turns to gold, how will I ever
eat again?" he worried. Just then, Midas' only daughter, Aurelia, came
into the room. She ran to her father, threw her arms around him, and
kissed him. Much to Midas' horror, she grew strangely still and turned
from a loving, laughing little girl into a golden statue.
The king howled in anguish, overcome by the horror of what was
happening before his very eyes. He had gotten what be asked for, but
he suddenly realized he didn't want what he was getting.
The being dressed in white suddenly reappeared and asked, "Well, King
Midas, are you not the happiest of men?"
"Oh, no," moaned the king, "I am the most miserable of all creatures."
"What? Did I not grant your wish for the golden touch?"
"Yes, but it is a curse to me now," Midas wept. "All that I truly
loved is now lost to me."
"Do you mean to say that you would prefer a crust of bread or a cup of
water to the gift of the golden touch?" asked the glowing white being.
"Oh, yes!" Midas exclaimed. "I would give up all the gold in the world
if only my daughter was restored to me."
According to the myth, the being dressed in white told Midas to go
bathe in a certain spring of water that would wash
away his golden touch. He was also to bring back some of the water to
sprinkle on his daughter and any other objects he wished to change
back to their original form.
So the legendary King Midas gladly gave up his golden touch and
rejoiced in the restoration of the simple things of life—
family, food, and natural beauty. Midas realized that these are the
things that have greater value than gold.
The truth is, we do not live in a fairy-tale world. There is no Midas
touch or magical formula for material success. But there are
opportunities for those who are willing to be diligent and faithful in
the work of their mind and hands.
Proverbs 27:20 says: "A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but
he that makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent".
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
It concerns you.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife open a mousetrap package. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse
announced, "There is a mousetrap in the house!There is a mousetrap in
the house!..." The chicken, the pig and the cow expressed their
sympathies for the mouse but said it doesn't concern them personally.
That night, the trap caught the tail of a venomous snake. The farmer's
wife went to check the trap in the darkness and got bitten. She was
rushed to the hospital and returned with a fever. The chicken was
killed to make soup for the woman's fever. When her sickness continued
and more people came to sit with her round the clock, the pig was
butchered to feed them. When she eventually died, the cow was killed
for her funeral.
The mouse survived while the It-doesn't-concern-me animals did not.
===========================
When next you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't
concern you, remember that an injury to one is an injury to all. We
must be our brother's keeper and make an extra effort to encourage one
another.
wife open a mousetrap package. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse
announced, "There is a mousetrap in the house!There is a mousetrap in
the house!..." The chicken, the pig and the cow expressed their
sympathies for the mouse but said it doesn't concern them personally.
That night, the trap caught the tail of a venomous snake. The farmer's
wife went to check the trap in the darkness and got bitten. She was
rushed to the hospital and returned with a fever. The chicken was
killed to make soup for the woman's fever. When her sickness continued
and more people came to sit with her round the clock, the pig was
butchered to feed them. When she eventually died, the cow was killed
for her funeral.
The mouse survived while the It-doesn't-concern-me animals did not.
===========================
When next you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't
concern you, remember that an injury to one is an injury to all. We
must be our brother's keeper and make an extra effort to encourage one
another.
Monday, 22 September 2014
Where to keep your problems
If you keep your problems in your head, you may have a mental problem.
If you keep your problems in your mouth, you may become a talkative.
If you keep your problems to your heart, you may have a heart attack.
If you keep your problems in your house, you may have a broken home.
If you take your problems with you on a trip, you may have an accident.
If you keep your problems to yourself, you may die with them.
If you leave your problems with a friend, you are creating more problems.
If you ignore your problems, you may be postponing the evil day.
But if you leave your problems with Jehovah God and pray incessantly,
your problems will surely be solved.
If you keep your problems in your mouth, you may become a talkative.
If you keep your problems to your heart, you may have a heart attack.
If you keep your problems in your house, you may have a broken home.
If you take your problems with you on a trip, you may have an accident.
If you keep your problems to yourself, you may die with them.
If you leave your problems with a friend, you are creating more problems.
If you ignore your problems, you may be postponing the evil day.
But if you leave your problems with Jehovah God and pray incessantly,
your problems will surely be solved.
A good-for-nothing garden
Contrary to its family's warning, a small mouse squeezed itself
through a small hole to enter a beautiful garden. The garden had no
other entrance or exit.
Greedily consuming sweet food, it gradually got too big to get out
of the garden. So it had to starve itself to get out. It later called
the garden a "good-for-nothing garden".
Like the garden in this story, we have brought nothing into this world
and we will bring nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:6-8).
through a small hole to enter a beautiful garden. The garden had no
other entrance or exit.
Greedily consuming sweet food, it gradually got too big to get out
of the garden. So it had to starve itself to get out. It later called
the garden a "good-for-nothing garden".
Like the garden in this story, we have brought nothing into this world
and we will bring nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:6-8).
Sunday, 24 August 2014
"He who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13)
To gain everlasting life, you have to keep doing God's will for the
rest of your life. Ezekiel 18:21-28 explains that when a wicked person
repents and becomes righteous, "none of the sins he had committed will
be remembered against him". Also, when a righteous person backslides
and becomes wicked, "all the righteousness which he has done shall not
be remembered". In other words, you will be judged on the basis of
your present behaviour, regardless of any glorious or dirty past.
Let's examine a few Bible examples in this regard.
1. Michal, David's first wife, protected him from being killed by her
father Saul (1 Samuel 19:11-18). After David's flight for his life,
Saul married her off to another man (1 Samuel 25:44). When David
became king, he regained her (2 Samuel 3:12-16) but she had changed
for the worse. She despised David to his face for dancing vigorously
before Jehovah. There was no record of her repentance in the Bible and
she died childless, regardless of her initial good deeds (2 Samuel
6:12-23).
2. Reuben started well by dissuading his brothers from killing Joseph
(Genesis 37:19-30). However, he lost his birthright as the first son
by sleeping with Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22;
49:1-4).
3. Rahab the prostitute kept the Israelite spies safe and was rewarded
by being saved with her family when Jericho fell. In addition, she
became an ancestress of our Lord Jesus Christ. She married Salmon and
bore Boaz, David's great-grandfather (Joshua 2:1-21 & 6:22-25;
Matthew 1:5,6). Even if you are no longer a virgin like Mary (Luke
1:26-27), you are still treasured by God if you genuinely repent.
4. David killed Uriah over Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). Because he
genuinely repented when Nathan confronted him, God forgave him (2
Samuel 12: 1-15; Psalm 51) though he suffered some consequences (2
Samuel 13; 15; 16:20-23; 18:9-17).
Other examples are those of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and the prophet
who allowed an older prophet to make him disobey God (1 Kings 13).
*You may now ask: Won't people abuse this privilege by doing evil all
their lives and repenting just before they die?
For one, God reads human hearts (1 Samuel 16:7) and can detect an
insincere repentance. For another, nobody knows when he/she will die
or the Lord will come. After someone dies, he is "conscious of
nothing" and incapable of repentance (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10).
May God help us to remain in the truth. Amen.
rest of your life. Ezekiel 18:21-28 explains that when a wicked person
repents and becomes righteous, "none of the sins he had committed will
be remembered against him". Also, when a righteous person backslides
and becomes wicked, "all the righteousness which he has done shall not
be remembered". In other words, you will be judged on the basis of
your present behaviour, regardless of any glorious or dirty past.
Let's examine a few Bible examples in this regard.
1. Michal, David's first wife, protected him from being killed by her
father Saul (1 Samuel 19:11-18). After David's flight for his life,
Saul married her off to another man (1 Samuel 25:44). When David
became king, he regained her (2 Samuel 3:12-16) but she had changed
for the worse. She despised David to his face for dancing vigorously
before Jehovah. There was no record of her repentance in the Bible and
she died childless, regardless of her initial good deeds (2 Samuel
6:12-23).
2. Reuben started well by dissuading his brothers from killing Joseph
(Genesis 37:19-30). However, he lost his birthright as the first son
by sleeping with Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22;
49:1-4).
3. Rahab the prostitute kept the Israelite spies safe and was rewarded
by being saved with her family when Jericho fell. In addition, she
became an ancestress of our Lord Jesus Christ. She married Salmon and
bore Boaz, David's great-grandfather (Joshua 2:1-21 & 6:22-25;
Matthew 1:5,6). Even if you are no longer a virgin like Mary (Luke
1:26-27), you are still treasured by God if you genuinely repent.
4. David killed Uriah over Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). Because he
genuinely repented when Nathan confronted him, God forgave him (2
Samuel 12: 1-15; Psalm 51) though he suffered some consequences (2
Samuel 13; 15; 16:20-23; 18:9-17).
Other examples are those of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and the prophet
who allowed an older prophet to make him disobey God (1 Kings 13).
*You may now ask: Won't people abuse this privilege by doing evil all
their lives and repenting just before they die?
For one, God reads human hearts (1 Samuel 16:7) and can detect an
insincere repentance. For another, nobody knows when he/she will die
or the Lord will come. After someone dies, he is "conscious of
nothing" and incapable of repentance (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10).
May God help us to remain in the truth. Amen.
Thursday, 21 August 2014
The fastest means of communication
Modern technology keeps bringing increasingly faster means of
communication (like phone calls, text messages, Facebook, email,
Twitter, 2go,BBM,WhatsApp, Skype,etc). Gone are the days of writing a
letter from Nigeria to the US and waiting for a month or more to get
a reply.
But have you heard of a system of communication in which you may get
an answer before the message is sent? God says @ Isaiah 65:24, "It
shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer".
God reads our hearts and always knows our needs even before we ask.(1
Samuel 16:7; Matthew 6:8). Often, even while we are speaking, the
desired blessing is on the way. Daniel was still praying when Gabriel
flew swiftly from God's throne with the answer (Daniel 9:1-6,20-23).
Yes,prayer is faster than any modern means of communication. Let's use it often.
communication (like phone calls, text messages, Facebook, email,
Twitter, 2go,BBM,WhatsApp, Skype,etc). Gone are the days of writing a
letter from Nigeria to the US and waiting for a month or more to get
a reply.
But have you heard of a system of communication in which you may get
an answer before the message is sent? God says @ Isaiah 65:24, "It
shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer".
God reads our hearts and always knows our needs even before we ask.(1
Samuel 16:7; Matthew 6:8). Often, even while we are speaking, the
desired blessing is on the way. Daniel was still praying when Gabriel
flew swiftly from God's throne with the answer (Daniel 9:1-6,20-23).
Yes,prayer is faster than any modern means of communication. Let's use it often.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)