Monthly Archives: January 2017

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CAN YOU DO IT?

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There is empowerment in the positive attitude of ‘I can’. This is a gift from God. When we understand God’s character, it helps us to understand life and our human nature. God Almighty operates in absolute power, as you know, there is nothing he cannot do. We also know, Jesus is the only one who had the same power.

God has given us a portion of his character, and one of them is, ‘I can do attitude’, a vital ingredient in our personal development. God knows every human being in their right mind, is capable of being obedient to him.  He made it so easy for us, when it comes to gaining salvation through Jesus.  He doesn’t ask us to do things which are humanly impossible.  Jesus said believe the message, for it is good news.

So, his question is, can you do it? Can you cross over from the dry land (no hope) to the promised land? (salvation)  A land flowing with milk and honey.

One of the easiest things God wants us to do, is to believe in his existence and plan. Most of us operate with an attitude of, ‘ I can do it’.  We manage to accomplish our dreams with a positive attitude. Sometimes a challenge may be hard but with a good attitude we get positive results.  The moment we set our mind on ‘I can do it’ we get empowerment.  As you know, we do it in all areas of our lives, e.g. in education, marriages, faith etc. When we are given a task, the first thing that comes to our mind is how to do it.  Anyone who has achieved something good, would say, it wasn’t easy at first, but with a positive attitude I managed to do it.

And when it comes to God’s plan, Jesus would ask, can you do a good thing?  Can you go to church, repent of a sin, be good to someone else, forgive etc.?  And when we check ourselves, some of us would answer, ‘YES WE CAN’.

God has given us the power to be able to change things in our lives. In most cases, our attitude either stops us or helps us to achieve certain goals. Take for example, a person who’s been given many skills or talents naturally, but after a bad reasoning episode, he or she goes, ‘even though I can do that job and see the benefits, I’m not bothered’. That person has assessed all angles of the situation, and has concluded, ‘even though the angle I’m standing on is not very helpful to me but I’ll stand on it any way’.  No one can win with that kind of attitude.  For when you give little you gain little.

As mentioned earlier,’ a can-do attitude’, empowers us and keeps the world going.  As humans, we are good at being copy cats. Many inventions have been established through copying God.  I can explain.  For instance, a person who invented a car, came up with an idea that, it needs different components for it work, i.e. water, oil, lights, engine etc.  A man cannot invent something good without God’s help.

Note: faith comes through hearing the word of God.

GOD

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

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Jesus explained, the world is divided into two parts, ‘the narrow road and the wide road. And he goes on to say, ‘enter through the narrow gate’ Matt. 7:13-14.

Life is a journey –  the journey you take determines your destination.

The world is divided into two parts, according to the scripture above, which means there are two kinds of people. Those on God side and those who aren’t.  In other words, those on the right and those on the left.  Jesus said, when he comes in his glory and all the angels with him he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. And all nations will be gathered before him, and he’ll separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He’ll put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Matt 25:31-33. Jesus explained again in, John 8:12-47, to help us understand this scenario. He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’. ( it means whoever believes and  does what he says, is  in the light – God side)

This is an important decision we must make in life, whether to be on his side or not.  As you know, we are aware of the good and the bad. Every human being has both. Jesus was the only one who was without  sin.

As mentioned from the beginning, Adam and Eve messed it up for us, when they listened to Satan.  So, Jesus wants us to be clear, God is  good and Satan is bad.  Nowadays, most of the games the children play contains this philosophy.  And if you ask kids which side they would want to be on, obviously, they’ll all take the good side. Furthermore, none of us would want to be on the bad side of life.  We all want things to go well for us. (the happy good side)

The scripture says, man was made in God’s image.  It took me a long time to understand this. Thank God now I understand.  It all goes back to the goodness of God.  God is good as mentioned earlier, so, part of us, as you know, is good. Consequently, we act in a good way, but the bad part (sin) of us is connected to Satan.  A scripture says, God is good to everyone and He shows compassion on all creatures. Psalm 145:9 

Recently, I spoke to a gentleman who believed in evolution rather than God. I asked him if he had children, of which he said he had. I asked again, do you want your children to be good or bad? That caught him by surprise. Eventually, he ended up mentioning the good and evil. Our conversation helped him to think about the spiritual side other than evolution, because as you know, the spiritual side of us is connected to the physical side.

So, to be on God side is a personal decision, no one will ever make it for you. What helps us to make that decision? Firstly, we need knowledge, which God has provided through the Bible, and then understanding.  Many of us understand that the Bible was written by men of God, who were led by God’s own Holy Spirit. Once we are clear in our minds on that, we get to understand that there is no single lie in the Bible, for God wanted his word to be delivered in truth, so he had to make sure he uses his power to protect it.

Moving on, when someone is on his side they’re protected in Jesus. The Bible says, sin separates us from God, meaning when we do bad things we get separated.

The Bible says, we all had gone astray from God, meaning we want to do whatever we want despite the consequences. (disobedient to God) But at the same time, God wants to save us from the calamity awaiting us because of disobedience.

Now that we understand, let’s go back to the question, whose side are you on? God side or Satan side. There is no middle  ground, for a day is governed by day and night. You either belong to the day light or the darkness.  As you know, during the day we can see clearly where we are going as opposed to the night where we can’t see clearly,  and when there are no lights, all you see is total darkness . There is something Jesus mentioned, which is, to be born again. John 3:1-21. It is a scripture many of us are familiar with, and try to comprehend but sometimes fail, due to lack of knowledge. However, by God’s grace, I’m going to lay it out here as I have done previously.

We go through the first stage of unawareness of God, until we hear the message.  In my experience, I became aware when I was about six. To cut the story short, I came to a point in my life when it all became clear to me.  And I had to understand that when we are on his side we become children of God. I John 3. Therefore, to be born again, means to become a child of God.

To be on his side or a child of God requires us to have faith in God and Jesus, and focus on doing good, because God is good. Those on his side walk in the light, which means they understand what God says about Jesus, and take obedience seriously. Jesus said, anyone who repents and turn to God through him, there is rejoicing in heaven – it pleases God. Luke 15:7. This means they’ve turned from (Satan)darkness to light (God). Does this mean we don’t make mistakes? Of course not!  When one is on his side, there’re aware of a sin, and take godly guidance to heart. It is impossible, as you know, to be perfect, however much we try. But God wants us to be humble and try our best in living a life that pleases him. 2 Peter 1:5-10.

Sometimes we make mistakes without even being aware, but in most cases, we are aware. For example, as you have noticed in this blog when I make a mistake I correct it. Likewise, in our walk with God, we should get rid of any sin – repentance. Jesus’ message is, avoid the sin as much as you can, for it is for your own good, but if you sin, confess it and keep walking in the light, especially if you want good things to happen to you.  As you are aware, in most cases, when we do bad, bad things happen to us.

Jesus said, walk in the light – in his ways (obedience).  Children of God, take Biblical instructions seriously, and have deep convictions.  As mentioned earlier, they focus on doing good in the eyes of the loving Father in Heaven. They seek his wisdom and apply it. This also helps us to understand that it is important to focus more on the good side of a person.

It is crucial to understand this, because someone may go to church or another religious meeting and are still not on God side, because they ignore the godly guidance. The Bible was written for God’s people, as a training platform – a way of living which produces full blessings.

Furthermore, Yahweh God wants us to understand it’s not about different beliefs people have acquired from different sources, it’s about loving him. We are all aware of different beliefs, passed down from generations, and has caused divisions which has affected us in so many ways.  For example, in Christianity, Protestants and Catholics had serious conflicts – contrary to the message of Christ which is about love and kindness.

Nevertheless, God wants us to understand all his prophets before Jesus, pointed to his beloved Son.  And all of them would say, listen to Jesus and do what he says, for salvation is through him. God didn’t choose any other prophet to be a sacrifice for our sins, he chose his own Son. He chose Jesus, because he had total holiness without blemish – without sin.

So being on his side means loving him, and if you love Almighty God from the heart, you obey Jesus’ commands.  And if you honour God, you honour his Son also. John 5:16-47.

In addition, God wants us to think and understand the truth about him. He wants us to figure things out, for he has given us clues.  For instance, we all experience the good times and the bad times. The good times bring happiness and peace, as opposed to the bad times that carries sadness.

When we make good decisions we reap blessings and when we make bad decisions we get disoriented and unhappy.  As you know, we all want to be in a happy place, or where there is a celebration.  Jesus said, there is a happy place prepared for God’s people, but a sad place for those who are not. Luke 16:19-31.  So, to reap a harvest of happiness, he advises us to focus on being good, and to walk in love.   A scripture says, whoever loves life and wants to see good days, must turn away from evil and do good; must seek peace and pursuit it. I Peter 3:10-12