A mature relationship

 A mature relationship is one in which we can talk, discuss our problems and find a way forward. But in order to have a mature relationship, reason must rule over emotions.

Emotions are good but of we allow emotions to rule our relationships we will destroy them . Emotion has to be under the control of reason . Many people nowdays allow their emotions to rule over them. "If it feels good do it," is the motto of our time.

To live life based on feelings is to be without self control. It would mean if I feel angry, I will act angry. If I feel like eating right now, I will eat right now, whatever I feel at the moment is what I will do. A life based on feeling is a miserable one. A man who live based on how he feels will destroy himself, his relationships and a woman who live based on how she feels will do the same . Our feelings fluctuate, our feelings are inconsistent. One moment you may feel happy and the next moment sad, feelings cannot be trusted, feeling can cloud our judgment.

Imagine you wake one day and feel like you don't to be married to your spouse anymore 👰🏽, what would you do ? Would you get up and go get a divorce or think through the situation and realise you are being irrational and allow reason to prevail? If you are a person who allows feelings to dictate your actions, you will go and get a divorce. This is why it is important not to live based on feelings but based on reason. A mature relationship must be based on reason first.

In Isaiah 1:18 God tells us " come now, and let us reason together." God wants us to reason with Him, to think about things. Our problems is maybe of us don't reason but we make decisions based on feelings and we make disastrous decisions. But God want us to make decisions based on truthful reasoning. God want us to sit down with Him and analyze the facts, analyze why we do the things we do and then He will guide us to make the right decisions. 

Think before you act. Feelings are good but only when under the control of reason. God wants us to have self control and every gift He has given us must be put under the control of reason. The Scriptures are our guide to know how we should have a mature relationship. The Bible teach is to be good listeners, be slow to speak, to do research before we make decisions. A mature relationship requires to listen to the other person, to seek to understand their perspective and to make right decisions based on the Word of God, based on reason.

If you want to have beautiful, long lasting relationships with God and others, then you need to be mature in your approach. Don't act based on emotions but submit your emotions to reason. Learn to have conversation without losing self control, without accusing, without being angry. Learn to express yourself and learn to listen to others without being emotional or defensive. It takes maturity to have reasonable conversations. God wants us to be mature in our dealing with others. Let us pray the Lord for strength to rule over our emotions and to be mature in our relationships 🙏🏾 

Rescue mission: lost in the ocean of sin

 By now many of you have probably heard the plight of a few millionaires who spent about 250 000 each to get into a submersible to visit the wreckage of the Titanic 🚢. The Titanic was a British passenger liner which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her first  voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. There was even a movie made about it. I know many of you probably saw the movie. When I used to watch movies, I saw it and it was how I  learned about it. The wreckage of the Titanic is at 12 000 feet below sea level, 😬 thats deep, very deep. About the length of 10 empire state building.

To get another perspective on how deep the wreckage is at, a giant squid 🦑 goes about about 3000 feet and a sperm whale 🐋 about 4000 feet below sea level. 12 000 feet is very deep. A company named ocean gate offers trip to visit the Titanic for 250 000 thousands dollars a person. The co owner of the company, a millionaire and his son, I think a diver and someone else were in the submersible for this particular trip. The trip was supposed to last 24hrs but they lost contact with the submersible on sunday. The question is where is the submersible?  Where are the people and will they be rescued ? A massive search os currently underway to rescue these people. Multiple governments are involved .

Multiple governments and people are involved in this rescue mission and no expenses are being spared. These guys thought they were going to have a good time, a good experience and lo and behold, disaster has come upon them. I hope they find them before their oxygen run out. Last I heard they said Thursday June 22 would be when they will run out of oxygen. I hope they are found before they run out and are rescued. May the Lord help them in their hour of need. But I am here to tell you today about another rescue mission, a more costly rescue mission by the greatest government in existence. 

God created Adam and Eve, put them in a beautiful garden and told them they could eat everything in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 🌳. Eve was deceived by the Devil using the medium of the serpent 🐍, she ate, her husband ate and humanity fell at a depth deeper than 12 000 feet. Our fall was at an infinite depth  and immediately a rescue mission was sent. The Lord came down from the height of heaven to look for us in the depth of our sins. The Lord asked Adam," where are you ? " Genesis 3:9. Eve thought she was going to have a greater experience by disobeying God, but she found herself drowning in the ocean of sin. God asked ,"Where are you?" 

The Devil, being a master salesman also has an adventure company. It is called " SinGate." And its business logo is, "An unforgettable experience under sin." He promises you to take you deep under to see the beauty of past wreckage. Yes, thats what his company offers. He offers us to go under the water of sin, to see the wretched lives of those who lived in sin before us and then promise us that we will easily come back up, that we are in control of our own lives, masters of our own destiny. And so many of us like Adam and Eve accept his business offer and put our  down payment. Not 250 000 per person, but our own lives and the lives of those we inspire to go down with us into sin 

Soon in our adventures, we realized something is wrong, something is not working. Soon we realized that we have lost control with the world above, with heaven above and we are plunging in the dark ocean of despair. What promised to be a fun night of pleasure has becomed a life time of pain, despair. What promised to be just a one time thing has become a cruel addiction and many of us find ourselves trap in the narrow space of our own mind, sinking down in the ocean of despair,  with the Oxygen of life, the joy of life running out. Adam and Eve were promised to be like God but they found themselves ashamed of their nakedness, hiding from each other and running away from God. 

This is the result of sin, shame, guilt, fear, hiding ourselves from God and others. The difference between those people who are now missing in the submersible and us is that they signed waivers knowing the risks and they also recognized they are in trouble and if they are still alived are probably hoping for a rescue mission or are making peace with their fates. Many of us are blinded by Satan as to the price of sin and we are also ignorant of our dire our situations are, how deep in the ocean of sin we are sinking and how our lives are soon going to be another wreckage on the floor of human history. So many of us have lost hope and have no peace .

But I am here to tell you today my friends, there is hope. Jesus has embarked in the greatest rescue mission in history. His goal is to find me and you sinking deep and fast in the ocean of our own sin. His goal is to rescue us from the submersible of our own foolish mindset, to reestablish contact with us and the world above and to bring us back to safety. This mission has cost heaven all its treasures, the life of Son of God.  Jesus gave up His life, plunged deep in the pit of our misery, of our sins and He is calling to me, to you, saying son, daughter, you are in deep trouble, you are drowning, you are dying, take my hand, let me pull you up above water .

Friends, you are in trouble. You are drowning in your sins and Jesus is looking for you today. All the resources of heaven are being used to rescue you. God the Father has sent His Son, Jesus has given His life, the Holy Spirit is speaking to your conscience, the angels of God are talking to you, God has sent preachers, family, friends, even this writing to ask you the question," where are you?" And God is waiting for you to say the prayer of the publican, " have mercy upon me Lord, a sinner." And to say like the apostle Peter when he was drowning, " Lord save me." Friends, we are drowning in sin, in sorrows, in guilt, in our past and Jesus is looking for you, for me to rescue us. Me and you are lost, hopeless and we cannot rescue ourselves,  but Jesus is able to rescue us. 

Will you allow the Lord Jesus to make contact with you today? To rescue you from the depth of your sins? If so friends, pray to Jesus in your heart right now and save Lord, I have sinned against you, I gone away from you deep into the ocean of sin, forgive me, have mercy on me and rescue me from my sins. Lord, here is my heart ❤, take it for I cannot give it. Lord save me at all cost, because you have spared no cost in coming to rescue me. Save me Lord, for I perish. Keep me Lord or I will fall back again. Life is short friends, we are all running out of oxygen. Let today be the day you allow Jesus to rescue you. Call upon Him and He will rescue you 🙏🏾

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65984176

Health message: A plant based diet is the way to eat

 When God created man, He gave him a plant based diet. The animals are also ceeatures of God and were not meant to be eating. They were meant to be our friends and companions. But because of sin, God allowed us to eat animal flesh after the global flood had destroyed vegetation. God allowed us to eat flesh meat but with limitation. We could only eat clean meat like chicken 🐔, goats , sheeps etc.. check the Book of Leviticus chapter 11 for more details. Animals like pigs , crabs 🦀, shrimp  are not to be eaten according to the word of God. 

Before the flood, man used to live for hundred of years. But after the flood  🌊 , our lifespan started to decrease drastically.  A study by Harvard researchers said " if you want to live longer, trade in some of the red meat in your diet for fish, nuts, whole grains, and other healthier protein sources."  The study was published in the Archives of internal Medicine. "It found that the risk of dying at an early age - from heart disease, cancer, or any other cause- rises in step with red- meat consumption."   

Study : too much red meat may shorten lifespan / Cnn health 

"After the flood the people ate largely of animal food  God saw that the ways of man were corrupt, and that he was disposed to exalt himself proudly against his Creator and to follow the inclinations of his own heart. And He permitted that long lived race to eat animal food to shorten their sinful lives. Soon after the flood the race began to rapidly decrease in size, and in length of years." 

( Spiritual gifts 4a:120,121,1864 (CD 373.3)

God allowed us to eat animal meat to shorten our lifespan 😬. Eating animal food is in some sense a judgment of God. God doesn't want us to eat animal flesh and thats why He gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness but they wanted animal flesh .

"The Lord did not give the Israelites flesh meat in the desert , because He knew that the use of this diet would create disease and insubordination.  In order to modify the disposition,  and bring the higher powers of the mind into active exercise, He removed from them the flesh of dead animals. He gave them angels' food, manna from heaven." ( Manuscript 38,1898) . 

Animal flesh is dangerous to our physical, mental and spiritual health. In these last days God want us to return to our original diet of plant based food. God wants us to be healthy spiritually, physically and mentally.

  But we have an enemy out there who wants our destruction . Satan inspired the Israelites to reject the manna and asked for flesh meat which lead to death of many in a plague from God. But now Satan is going even further, not only are we eating flesh meat, we are eating unclean food like pork 🐷, crabs, shrimp etc.. resulting in numerous diseases. But a new article said the United States government is approving lab grown meat sales to the public for the first time. Meat engineered by scientists using animal cells will soon be sold in restaurants . The company has no plans yet to distribute their products to retailers but eventually we know it will happen. 

In these last days Satan is seeking to destroy lives anyway he can and engineered meat in a lab sounds dangerous to our health. But friends, let us return to God's original plan for the human race, let us return to a plant based diet. A plant based diet will greatly improve your mind, your health etc.. God doesn't want His animals to continued to be slaughtered for our consumptions. Remember these animals can feel pain and suffering. Let us cooperate with God, let us decrease animal suffering in this world, let us protect our health and return to our original diet and you will see a massive difference in your life. A plant based diet is the way to go. May God help us .

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/usda-approves-first-lab-grown-meat-sold-public

Part 2 :The purpose of relationship is to invest in others

 Imagine you are an investor and as you walk by a certain neighborhood you see a messed up house , broken down and rejected . What would you do ? Well an experience investor will examine carefully the property and see if he can make a great profit and if he concludes that it is a valuable property , he will invest his money to purchase it, fix it up and then sell it at a greater price.  The value of something is determine by the price an investor , a buyer is willing to pay for it . Now we know the human race is of infinite value, we know each person , each human being is of infinite value. Why do I say that? The cost the greatest investor in the universe was willing to pay to purchase us, to redeem us was His own life. Jesus paid the price for your salvation with His own blood. You are of infinite value to God.

God is a God of relationship and relationship is about investing. God created us from the dust of the ground, He invested many great things in us. He gave us intelligence, beauty , wealth, health and every single thing we have is a gift from God, an investment. God want us to do the same, He wants us to invest in each other.  

In Proverbs 31 the Bible speaks of  the virtuous woman, the perfect woman. Every Christian man is looking for her and every faithful Christian woman are trying to be her . But there is one thing that is usually overlooked in our search for a virtuous woman, the fact that she is more precious than ruby . A ruby is a gemstone . According to wikipedia.org, Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. To find ruby one has to invest a lot. One has to either dig deep into the ground, in a gemstone mine, spending countless hours, going through all types of difficulty before he can find the ruby . Finding a ruby cost. Finding a ruby is not cheap. One doesn't find rubies on the ground lasting there and waiting for you. You either dig for it or spend a lot of money to get it . What's my point here ? My point is when it comes to romantic relationship you will not find the woman you were looking for, the perfect woman or man standing there and waiting for you. You have to invest in the relationship, you have to work hard, you have to add value to life of the individual.  If you want your spouse to be loving, you must invest love in him or her , you must show her how to love . Investment is like throwing money into something you think is valuable and will pay dividends in the future. You have to invest what you are looking for.

Friendship is no different . If you are looking for good, loving, faithful friends, you must seek to invest these qualities in the person first. You cannot expect to reap what you did not sow and many of us are sitting around looking for someone who will come and show us love while we do nothing. We are a self entitled generation, feeling like we deserve all sorts of things while doing nothing that is deserving . Relationship doesn't work like, you will receive what you invest.  A lot of us are lonely and miserable because we are too focused on our own needs and not the needs of others . Alife focused solely on what can get from others is a selfish life and you will be miserable. You will always feel like other people don't get you, don't understand you etc.. If you want to start living a fulfilling life, start investing in people. Start asking yourself what can I do to make the life of others better? How can I improve the lives of those around me. See friends, God is love, meaning God is always seeking to bless others, to improve the lives of others and to make the life of others a blessing . The Bible says, " Jesus went about doing good." Acts 10:38 . Jesus was never seeking His own good but the good of others. He was always seeking for someone to bless, someone to lift up . The key to relationship is to seek to provide value in the lives of others.  

"Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what can you do for your country." President John F Kennedy. If you are looking for a romantic partner, ask yourself, what am I seeking to do for that person ? How will I add value to the life of this person? Or am I only seeking for what can he/she do for me ?  Even in our relationship with God we can be very selfish, always seeking from the Lord, but never giving back . We don't back to God in our money, praise , efforts to evangelize and glorify His name on the earth. We are always coming into prayer asking God for this and that but not returning love in obedience and lovingkindness. 

All our relationships will drastically change if we have a shift of mindset . If we start seeking to invest in others instead of waiting for others to invest in us. Each and everyday let us seek for ways to make the lives of those around us a blessing, a kind word, a helping hand, encouragement etc.. When the goal is to be of value to others, we will seek to understand them, listen to them and find way to help them become better people than they were before. As we invest and we start to receive dividends we will rejoice and our lives will be fill with joy seeing others being blessed. It is truly "better to give than to receive."

God made us because He is love. He loves to give and He takes great pleasure in seeing His creation respond to His love. Even when we are deep in sin, broken and marred the Lord is seeking to invest in us blood and all the treasures of heaven to restore us to His image . God invest His love, His self sacrifice, His gift in us so that we may learn how to invest them in others. God's goal is to make us beautiful and lovely. Friends the goal of relationship is to be like God in how we treat others. When we see others who are broken, wounded , let us seek to invest in them. Don't just say this person is toxic, hopeless, but let us invest the good things we would like to see in them . Relationship is all about love and love is all about investing. All the things we invest in this world will perish, but if we invest in people and they make it to the kingdom of heaven, our great will be our joy. Relationship is about investing in others, let us therefore daily seek from the Lord so that we may invest in others and they in turn can give thanks back to God and so the whole circle of beneficence and love can go on for time and eternity. What a blessed place will eternity be when all are doing their all to increase the joy and happiness of others. May the Lord help us all to be like Him and to make it there .

Part one link : What is the purpose of relationship ?

 https://thinkabouti.blogspot.com/2023/06/whats-purpose-of-relationship.html

Part 1 : What is the purpose of relationship?

Why do we have relationships ? What is the goal of having a relationship with anyone ? What do you look for in a relationship? These are some of the questions I will look into today and ponder on.  We are living in a day and age when long term relationships can be difficult to maintain . We go from friendship to friendship , from romantic relationship to romantic relationships and we are still dissatisfied , empty and frustrated. Could it be that we for the most part have a wrong understanding of what relationship is about?  Could it that our understanding of what friendship is has been corrupted?

When ask what is friendship about ? The majority of people will say friendship is about having someone who cares for you , who help you in time of needs, some one who loves you for who you are, who can be relied on etc.. While the responses are good and true , they often time reveal a selfish attitude and it is one of the reasons why many people have trouble making or keeping friends. So basically in the minds of many people a friendship is having someone you can get something from and not necessarily someone you can 'add value" to. When relationship is solely what I can get from you, we reduce the other person to an object for our own satisfaction and we set ourselves up for failures. Romantic relationships are failing because of such approach. 

Many people when looking for a romantic partner , someone to marry are only concerned with the value that person can add to their lives. They ask themselves, how will this person help me financially, emotionally , spiritually etc..? Rarely do people ask themselves how can I add value to the life of this individual. So people go into relationship looking for someone who will satisfy them and not necessarily looking to satisfy the person. Many say I need someone who will love me for who I am and not I need to love someone for who they are. As a result relationship are difficult to maintain and people just end up using each other and when the time come when feel like you are not valuable for them, they just cast you off, throw you away like a piece of trash and move on to the next interesting person, target.

We see that all over the place, in all types of human relationship. People value you for what you can give them but the moment you can no longer provide what they need, they throw you away like a used toy. We see it in sports, an athlete has done great things for a team, but the moment he is injured or is not performing at the level expected he is benched or sold to another team. We see in the work place, an employee can be performing at top levels for a long period of time but the moment he is not performing at the same level, his job is threatening. We see in relationships of all types, you can do all sorts of things and sacrifice for someone, but the moment you are relationship to fulfill their needs anymore for whatever reason, many are quick to reject you as a friend. You are only good for what you can provide me , the moment you stop providing me is the moment you stop being useful to me is the attitude of many . Slavery had a similar attitude, the slave is here to serve the master and if the slave is unable to serve , anything can happen , he can be sold to another master etc.. In many modern relationships people treat people like sex ojects, to be used and discarder like trash and these things are reulthing in many people feeling worthless about themselves. We make people feel worthless when our main goal is to get from them and not to give.

Friends, this is not the purpose of relationships and this is one of the true cause of our problems in relationships of all types. We try to get from people , we seek value from others but are not seeking to give, to add value to their lives. The purpose of relationships is to add value to the lives of others, to be a blessing to them. Think about the beginning of relationship . The Bible says God is love and it describe love in John 3:16 as " God so love the world that He gave His only Begotten Son." Love is about giving, relationship is about giving. God created the human race and all other beings not because He needed anything but because He wanted to share His great love with created beings. God has no needs, there is nothing that can be added to His life , but God loves to give and to bless others, to see others happy is His great joy . So relationship is first and foremost about giving to others. How can I make the life of this person better, how can I add value to his or her life ? Can you imagine a friendship in which both person are actively seeking to make the lives of each other better? Can you imagine a romantic relationship in which is person is seeking to be the best husband for his wife and the wife seeking to be the best wife for her husband ? Can you imagine a work place in which the employees is looking for the best of the business and the business is looking out for the best of the employees? Can you imagine a country in which the government is looking out for the best of its citizens and the citizens are looking out for the best of the citizens ? Can you imagine a world in which each person is focus on making the life of the next person better each and every single day ? This sound like heaven and like my friend said in such a world " one would be filled with love." I agreed, in such a world one would be overflown with love and will be sharing love all over the place.  Friends, this is what relationships are about , seeking to love another person and be a blessing to them . 

This is part one, I will follow up with another article entitled, the purpose of relationship : investing in others. 

Part 2 https://thinkabouti.blogspot.com/2023/06/part-2-purpose-of-relationship-is-to.html

A nation in decay : President Biden's gay pride event

America is a nation in rapid moral decline and nowhere is this more evident than this past weekend when President Joe Biden hosted an LGBTQ+  event to celebrate homosexuality 🤦🏾‍♂️. How "a shining city on a hill " has fallen. America once a beacon of light to the rest of the world has become a sewer of moral stench 🤢, of moral corruptions. The president invited moral degenerates to come to the white house and put up the rainbow bow flag next to the American flag.  In inviting homosexuals to the white house, the president is shaking his fist in the face of God and promoting blatant rebellion against His rule. For God declared homosexuality to be an abomination and the sentence eternal death .

One of the homosexual deviants invited by the president to the white house who is "transgender," a deluded man who pretends to be a woman and has spent thousands of dollars on medical procedures to look like a woman took a video of him exposing his fake silicon breasts at the white house. Next to him were two "transgender men", two women who mutilated themselves, cut off their breasts to look like men with the scars visible  on their chests. They exposed themselves om video, with someone saying off camera ," are we topless at the white house 🏛?" Yes, they were topless at the white house. The white house, the seat of government is now a place for degenerates and sexual deviants.

An outcry erupted after the video and image of the topless act started circulating online. The white house then issue a statement condemning the act and banning the individuals who exposed themselves. The  White House called the act " inappropriate." Many people were outraged because the homosexual man exposed his fake silicon breasts and not necessarily becaused president Biden did something that was inappropriate in hosting such a wicked event in the first place. What will the King of the Universe say to President Joe Biden on that grear day of account, the day of judgment? Will he be banned forever from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power ? Well friends, unless he repent.

President Joe Biden is a wicked man. Why is he a wicked man? Because he is promoting wickedness in the face of heaven. He is calling good what God call evil. Is president Joe Biden ignorant of his actions ? No! For the president claim to be a faithful catholic and the catholic church teaches that homosexuality is intrinsically evil. So the president is a wicked man for promoting what he surely knows to be evil and he is influencing many people to follow the LGBTQ  path to destruction. Unless the president repent from his sinful course, he will surely perish. Does God love the president? Of course he does and desire to save him just like He desires to save us. We must pray for the president .

We must pray for the president but we must not excuse his wickedness. Friends, it is dangerous to vote for political candidates for high office in these last days. A lot of these rulers are under the control of Satan and to vote for them is to vote for evil. The last few presidents have done some wicked stuff. Bill Clinton had sexual relationships with an intern. George Bush killed hundred of thousands with his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama championed the homosexual marriage cause and had the white house lighted up with rainbow colors after the supreme court allow homosexuals to " marry each other." Donald Trump is a morally corrupt man with multiple marriages and adulterous affairs.

These last few rulers are clear evidence of a nation in decline and its not getting better. Proverbs 29:2 says," when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the mourn." Wicked people are ruling our nations and sorrows are coming upon us, economic, social and political.  The nation is in a rapid state of decline and I am afraid it is terminally ill. Our only safety is to flee to Jesus and find a shelter in His love. Tougher times are coming, for God is abandoning the nation to a depraved mind, to our own sins and Satan is in control of our leaders. Don't vote for wicked leaders, but preach the gospel of King Jesus. Jesus is coming again to judge the nations and will punish those who refused to repent from their wicked ways .

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-hammer-biden-trans-activists-go-topless-white-house-event-very-disgraceful.amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/topless-photo-at-white-house-sparks-uproar-as-trans-model-banned-224125365.html

In your sufferings, look to the final outcome

 Life is tough, life is difficult and the trials of life can be unbearable at times. Each and every single one of us have something we are  dealing with in this life. Sometimes you overcome one problem just to go to another and for some people life seems to give them no break, just problems after problems, suffering after suffering and sometimes we cry out in despair like the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20:14- 18 and say "cursed be the day I was born, let not the day where in my mother bare me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee, making him very glad. May that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without compassion.

The prophet continues," may he ( the man who bore the news of his birth) hear  an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon, because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother's 🤰🏾might have been my grave 💀." The prophet Jeremiah went to say in verse 18," why did I come out of the womb 🤰🏾 to see only trouble and sorrows, and to the end my days in shame ? ..  You see friends, you are not alone in your sufferings and trials. Life itself is suffering because life in this world is outside of Eden, the garden of pleasure and bliss. Life in this world is a journey back to Eden and it is full of "thorns and thistles. " Life in this world is full of sorrows for us all. 

The sorrows and pain of this world comes to everyone, rich and poor, black or white, male or female. The sorrows of this world reveal to us the reality that sin bring suffering. But the sorrows of this world also have a positive end goal, to teach to rely on God, to trust in Him. The sorrows of life are meant to purify us of pride, self sufficiency, love of this world. Everyone goes through sorrows, but for the person who is seeking to walk with Christ, sorrows will be his/her lot. The Bible called Jesus a " man of sorrows" because of how much sufferings He had to go through to make an escape for us. Isaiah 53 detailed how much sufferings Jesus had to go through to open paradise for us again

If the Master Himself suffered, then we must understand that all who seek to follow Him will go through trials and tribulations. Jesus' whole life was one of sorrow and grief. The people He loved and created rejected and crucified Him. He was under constant attack from the Devil. The Devil tried to kill Him as a child. Jesus was the suffering Servant of the Lord.  God doesn't allow anything to come to us that He Himself has not gone through and the Lord in heaven, on earth has suffered more than we can ever comprehend since the  arrival of sin in His universe. Always remember in your sufferings that God suffers with you and grieves. But if you abide in Him, your suffering has an end goal.

Desire of ages 753.2. "Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour couldn't see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice.  He feared that sin was so offensive to God that their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father's wrath  upon Him as man's substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God. "

Jesus couldn't see the way out of His sufferings, but He grab hold of His Father's hand, submit to His will and overcame the world, the flesh and the Devil. Jesus knew His purpose. Jesus knew then end goal. The plan of salvation was prepared before the foundation of the world and Jesus knew He would have to go through great sufferings to redeem the world from the power of sin and Satan. Therefore Jesus was totally committed to the mission and purpose of His Father and was not concerned with His own life. Sufferings and trials did not deter Him but only revealed His great love for the His Father and the human race . In His darkest hours, Jesus looked to the " joy that was set before Him." 

Friends, it is the same for us. God has already revealed to us that this life is full of sufferings. God has further more reveal that all who will seek to follow Him will go through trials and tribulations. Trials are used by God to purify our characters and to make us like Jesus, beautiful, lovely. Trials reveal whether or not we love and obey God. Trials patiently endure reveal the Spirit of Christ in us. Whatever trial God allow to come upon us is meant for our good, not our destruction. Satan tempt us to sin in our trials, to let go of God but if we endure we will grow stronger. We know the end goal, it is for our salvation, but are we faithful like Jesus is the question 🤔?

Different trials for different people. Your trial may be money problems, for others it may be marital, health 🤒, difficult people, education persecution, family issues, struggles with sin etc.. We all have different trials to face in life but God require obedience and faithfulness from us all. God want us to know that He is with us in our trials and He wants us to look to the end goal, paradise, Eden restored and eternal life of bliss and pleasures with Him forever more. Friends, in our trials, look at Jesus, look to Jesus for strength. Do not look at your sufferings, Satan will tempt you to lose hope, but look to Jesus for strength to carry on another day until we arrived at that great day 

Your trials are specifically designed for you. For God knows this is the best way to humble you, to save you. Though your trials are Specifically designed for you, you are not unique in suffering and you are not alone. Sometimes we may get tired but do not give up, we may become hopeless but do not lose hope. For in your trials you are in good company, the prophets, apostles, people of God of all ages have been through great trials and tribulations and have come out as victors. Plus you have Christ who went through great trials and sufferings but is now sat down at the right hand of God.  Keep your eyes on the final outcome, keep your eyes upon Jesus and He will uphold you in your trials and carry you to the paradise of God 🙏🏾

Do not be silenced by society

 

Tyrants love to silence people and there is no greater tyrant in this world than the Devil himself. Tyrants fear the truth and there is no one more fearful of the truth than the evil one . Tyrants love the darkness of night, the darkness of falsehood and fear the light of day, the light of truth. A society, a church, a workplace,  a home, a friendship controlled by tyrants will be  one in which the truth is not allowed to be spoken. The truth is an enemy to tyrants, for the truth exposes their deceits and for this reason censorship is a major tool of tyrants to stifle the truth, and to promote lies .

The spirit of tyranny is widespread in our world. Human beings by nature are tyrants, we always seek to control situations and even other people. In trying to control situations and other people we become angry at anyone who refuse to submit to our rules  and so we try to silence them. We try to silence those who speak the truth in our lives by throwing tempter tantrums. Getting angry and emotional when they reveal some flaws, some bad things about us. And some of us silenced anyone who is different from us by cutting them off from our friendships. We claim we don't want any negativity in our lives , but in reality we are just little tyrants who are fearful of the truth .

The Devil is the father of all tyrants, of all who hate the truth and his main goal is to silence those who preach the truth of the gospel . For truth exposes the Devil's lies and set his captives free. For the Devil, truth is negativity, truth is negative vibes and the Devil want to silence from his life anyone who dares speak the truth. Our society is under the influence of the Devil and the goal of our society is to silence those who speak the truth. They try to silence the speaker of truth by introducing deceptive philosophies such as "truth is relative." You have your truth, I have my truth nonsense. While me and you can have different perspectives on reality, truth is truth.

Truth is not relative. Truth is reality and Jesus is the truth. Truth is not determined by how me and you view things but is determined by reality established by God. Example: a man cannot become a woman and a woman cannot become a man. You may pretend to become the other gender, but it is only a pretence, a falsehood. And there is concerted effort from our society to accept such falsehoods and to silence those who speak the truth concerning it, we must not allow society to silence us, but must speak the truth in love. Falsehood destroy lives, but the truth set the captives free. A person who believes he can change his gender destroy himself physically, falsehoods has terrible consequences .

Our society promotes every kind of wickedness, but they tell the Christian to keep your faith between the four walls of church 💒. People speak about all types of foolishness but society says we shouldn't discuss politics and religion in certain places. Truth is religion and politics dictate how we live but it is in the interest of tyrants, of those who wants to rule over us to try to silence the examination of things, and to have  intellectual discussions of important matters, so they say don't discuss religion and politics.  Discuss what you ate last night, discuss your favorite outfit but don't discuss what really affect your life, religion and politics.  

So many are silenced in the work place, with their friends, even with their loved one, for fear of offending. And so tyranny is able to spread undeterred.  While they are telling us not to discuss our faith in the workplace, the same work place is promoting LGBTQ lifestyles. While Social media will sensor you for promoting truth, the same social medias are promoting all manner of wickedness. The same people who are telling us not to speak about the Truth are trying to teach us all types of falsehoods.  Friends, we must stand up for Jesus, we must speak the truth, we must speak the truth as the Lord reveal it to us and as we grow in Christ .

No place is off limit to the Gospel. Spread the truth of God everywhere, with wisdom and love but spread it everywhere. Don't allow Satan and society to silence you, don't allow your friends, family or whoever to silence you, spread the truth in love. God is looking for men and women who will be valiant for the truth in these last days, in this post truth era, will you answer His call ? Spread the truth of God at work, at home, at church, on social media, with friends etc.. sow the seeds of truth wherever you can.  God give us a mind to use, to think, if you don't use your mind, if you don't fill your mind with the truth of God, the Devil will surely fill it with all types of falsehoods.

When you truly know what you believe you will not be afraid to share it. Many of us allow ourselves to be silenced because we have no true conviction. I am uttterly convinced that God is with me, that the Lord is good, the Lord is loving, the Lord is merciful, the Lord is just and will soon return to judge the world. And it is because of my absolute conviction of my relationship with God and the truth of His Word that I spread His Word wherever and however I can. The Lord is good, the Lord has been good to me, therefore I will not allow society or anyone for that matter to silence me from sharing His Word. May the Lord help us all to be valiant for the truth and speak "truth to power." 

Pride month 🏳️‍🌈: A celebration of wickedness

 

" Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18. What a time to be alived ! When evil is being celebrated in the open, when evil no longer hide itself in the closet. Evil has come out of it's shameful closet and is now pressing on the doors of every institution. Homosexuality, a wicked and shameful thing is now being celebrated, promoted at the highest levels of our society. A behavior that God hates is now being promoted as a wonderful alternative lifestyle and to make matters worse, the rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 has become the symbol of the LGBTQ movement 😯. 

God set the rainbow in the sky to be reminder for the human race of His covenant with us. God promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood. The Lord had flooded the whole earth with a flood because of the great wickedness of man, saving only 8 people, Noah and his family. The Lord caused it to rain for 40 days and night upon the earth and drowned all those who had refused His call of mercy to enter the ark of safety 🛳. But with rain now being the tool God used to judge the earth, men would be in constant fear when they see rain, so God established His rainbow  as a reminder to mankind of His covenant not to destroy the whole with a flood again. 

But the Devil has inspired evil men to use the rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 to represent the LGBTQ abominations. The Devil is just doing what he has always done, corrupting every good thing the Lord does. No surprises because the whole homosexual movement is a corruption of human nature. A woman having sex with a woman is a wicked thing 🤮. A man with another is a vile abomination 🤮🤮. The Bible says those who refuse to repent from such wickedness will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire 🔥. Matter of fact, God destroyed Sodom and Gomarrah with fire as a result of such evil and the Bible teaches the Lord doesn't change, so we can be sure He is going to destroy nations that celebrate the evil of LGBTQ lifestyles 

Ezekiel 16:49,50. " King James Bible

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 

And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good." 

Notice what the Lord said concerning Sodom! Sodom was proud. Sodom was full of homosexuals and Sodom was proud. Homosexuality in Sodom was proud and aggressive, just as it is now in the land. Trying to break down every door to bring its filthiness in. The Lord also said they committed abominations before Him. Wicked acts and God destroyed it. 

Was Sodom ashamed of their sins or did they parade it ? Is parading homosexuality a new thing or old news ? Isaiah 3:9  International Version"The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves." Sodom used to parade their sins . Sodomites were not ashamed of their evil "alternative lifestyles." They parade their sins and the Lord destroyed them. And so we are seeing in the nations now. Wicked homosexuals are having parade all over the world, parading their sins before the Lord but God doesn't change, sooner or later disaster will strike all godless nations.

So what must we do as Christians? Should we hate homosexuals? No! Homosexuality though vile and disgusting is another sin in Satan's arsenal. We all struggle with different sins and Jesus died to save us all, including those caught up in the homosexual movements.  Our mission is to reach out to those people in love and with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid of homosexuals but share the love of Jesus with them. Don't push them away from your churches, but invite them to come hear the Word of life. They are many people who were stuck in the homosexual lifestyle but have been rescued from it by Jesus Christ.  We must minister to then just like we minister to any other sinner. 

Friends, if you are caught up in the homosexual lifestyle, remember Jesus loves you and want to save you. He want to parade you before the universe as His redeemed child. Come to Him, let Him break the chains that binds you and set you free. If you know anyone who is caught up in that lifestyle, show them the love of Jesus, don't hate them, don't disrespect them, show them love. What our gospel often lack is love. What many homosexuals are looking for is love, genuine love, but Satan has deceived them into seeking it from "strange flesh." Let us point them to Jesus who is love Himself so they can experience true love and be truly "gay" happy in the Lord. 

As homosexuals are celebrating sin during the month of June, let us seek to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, let us show the love of Jesus to the world around us. Homosexuals are bold in celebrating sin, let us be bolder in celebrating the power of the gospel to save from sin. Let us share our testimony with others, to tell them that there is nothing in sin to celebrate, but in Jesus we can truly celebrate freedom from sin. So friends, spread the gospel even morw during this month of June, tell the homosexual Jesus came to save them too and in Him only will they find true joy, true contentment. 

The rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 is a sign of God's sure promises and His faithfulness. God is able to save, God is willing to save all of us no matter how deep in sin we are, you can bet your life on it. But God will also destroy all who remain proud in their sins, celebrate their sins, you can be sure of it . So friends, let us resist pride month, let us resist the LGBTQ movement by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only source of true love and happiness.  Let us resist pride month by showing true love to our homosexual neighbors and invite them to come to know Jesus. Resist pride month, dont be silent but preach the truth in love . May God help to be bold for His gospel 🙏🏾

The source of our fustration in life

 

God is supreme, Sovereign and absolute.  All things are under His control and He is  working all things according to His eternal plans. The Lord does His will in heaven above and on the earth beneath, the heavens are the work of His hands and the earth His footstool.  The Lord is great in power and infinite in wisdom. Who can fight against the Lord 🤔? Who can frustrate His will, His purposes 🤔?  This is where me and you come in, this is where our frustration come in. The earth is in rebellion against God, the all powerful, all wise One and the result is a life of frustration for all who choose to go against their Creator .

All of us have experienced frustration in life. According to the dictionary definition, "frustration is the feeling of being upset or annoyed, especially because of inability to change or achieve something. " This is all of us. Many of us try to make changes in our lives but find ourselves unable to do so. If you never experience frustration then you are not living. Frustration is a part of living on this earth, part of the human experience.  A baby experience frustration when he/she want something and not receiving it. Young children experience all sorts of frustration. Frustration at school, at home, on the playground etc.. and we adults experience constant frustrations. 

Unless we understand the nature of frustration and its true source, many of us will become angry, bitter, violent and hopeless. Many of us are so frustrated that we easily snapped at people who have nothing to do with our frustration. We snap at our kids, spouse, strangers in traffic, family and friends etc. We are angry because of our failures in life , our frustrations.  Maybe as a child you wanted to be an athlete ⛹🏿‍♂️, some injury got in the way and now you working a 9 AM to 5PM job and so you are frustrated. Maybe you wanted to be a doctor and now you work so far from a hospital that its not even funny, you are angry and bitter. 

Maybe you thought you would be married by now 👰🏽, raising  a beautiful family, having a loving spouse, a beautiful house 🏡 with a dog etc.. but here you are single, with no real marital prospects in sight and feel like you have failed in life. So you are angry, bitter and violent in spirit. All of us have different goals and aspirations in life. But many of us find ourselves failing to achieve what we set out to achieve and so we are angry, bitter and full of frustration and so our society is becoming more violent because we have so many frustrated people going around taking their frustrations on others . But what is the true source of our frustrations 🤔?

The true source of our frustrations in life is neglecting or rejecting the fact that God alone is supreme in life and He has a plan for your life. The Bible says in Jeremiah 10:23, " O Lord,  I know that the way of man is not in himself : it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." God alone is supreme and His will alone will triumph in the end. You may have a great plan for your life, good or evil, but if your plans run contrary to the Lord's plan, your plan will be frustrated and you will experience frustration and failure. Sometimes the Lord allow our plans to work but sometimes it frustrate them in order to save us from self confidence, pride and arrogance. 

Let's look two major examples of frustrations. The Bible revealed in the book of  Daniel that the Roman empire would be divided and that it would never be reunited again. This is the Lord's will. But many have tried to go against that will and utter failure has been the result. Napoleon tried to unite Europe and he failed miserably. Adolf Hitler also tried to unite Europe but he encountered absolute failure. And the most frustrated being in the universe is the Devil himself who thought he could overthrow the will of God,  the law of God in heaven but was cast out and lost his place there  and is continuing to experience defeat and frustration. 

All who seek to be independent of the Lord,  to make plans without His counsel, to live life outside of His will, will experience frustration. Some of us in our frustrations blame God as the cause, but the true source of our frustration is our insubordination to His will in our lives .For the Lord may allow some of their plans to flourish but He will frustrate many of their designs. So how do we avoid a life of frustration, anger and bitterness 🤔? We avoid  a life of frustration by submitting to the will of God in all areas of our lives, by saying " your will and not my will be done." It is only when we submit to God's will for our lives that we will begin to experience true peace and joy .

When we submit to the Lord's will, we are no longer in rebellion, then the Lord can begin to work on our behalf . When we submit to God's will, we are no longer in conflict with the Creator of all things, the Most powerful being in the universe, then we find rest for our souls. God's supreme will for all of us is our salvation, the way He does it may vary from person to person. For some it may be by giving them riches, for others poverty. For some it maybe by allowing them to remain sick 🤒, for others to be in health . For some it may be to remain single, for others to be married, for others yet to have no children, for some to lose a child, a loved one etc. God's way of saving us varies.

God's will for each our lives vary but the end goal is our salvation.  To rebel against God's will is to bring frustration upon your life, but to submit to His will in every area of your life is to experience joy and contentment. God is Supreme, God is Sovereign and  I am weak and frail. God is all wise and I am just a child. God knows all things, He knows what's good for me, but i know nothing and even the things i thought were good for me turned out to be bad when i get them. God knows what would satisfy you the most, why don't you submit to His will and allow Him to lead you step by step in the way of life 🤔?  And how do I know God's will? By reading His word daily .

Friends, let us always seek counsel from the Lord before we make plans for our lives. Let us always accept God's leading in our lives, let us seek to do nothing contrary to God's revealed will, for to do so is to bring sure frustration to your life. But let us daily pray," Lord your will and not my will be done." Tell God what you desire in life but always conclude with ," Lord your will and not my will be done." And Lord give me strength to submit to your will in all areas of my life, for thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place 🙏🏾. Ezekiel 3

Be a source of good

 This world is evil ! This world is full of pain and sufferings! I didn't have to tell you the world is evil for you to know. Your own experiences have revealed to you the evils of the world. Everywhere we look 👀, we see brokenness, pain and cruelty. Why is the world so evil ? Is it because of the Devil ? Is it because of terrorists? Is it because of evil politicians? Is it because of evil men and women? Is it because of poverty ? Is it because of greed ? Is it because of lack of money, despair, hatred etc..🤔? While all these play a part in making this world a place of misery, ruin and despair, they are not only the cause. The reason for the widespread evil in the world is me and you 😮? 

Me and you are the reason for the evils in the world. Why you ask? "Ric, how can you say such foolishness 😤? I am not evil, I am a good person." "Ric, I  normally agree with you, but with this one I can't,  I just can't. " I am a good person and not responsible in any way for the evils of this world." And with this statements friends, we reveal our wickedness, pride and arrogance.  Edmond Burke said, " Evil succeeds when good men do nothing." Evil succeeds in this world because those who claim to be good are either participating in evil to stop evil or are indifferent to evils around them. Me and you are guilty as charged. What are you doing to fight against evils around you, in you ? 

Evil spreads in the world when me and you allow the Devil to use us as instruments of evil. Examples: you hear that people are unfaithful and so in order to protect yourself you become unfaithful. You are spreading evil . You hear that people don't want to hear the truth, so in order not to hurt people, you tell them lies. You are spreading evil. You hear that this world is cold, no love. So in order for you not to get hurt, you become cold ,unloving. You hear that people in church are hypocrites,  so you become a hypocrite yourself. People abused you, you go around abusing others. People rob you, you go around robbing others. People speak harsh words to you, you do the same to them .

When we allow our minds, mouths, bodies, talents etc..to be used for evil means we become a source of evil. When we allow our negative experiences in life to dictate our we treat others, we become a source of evil, because we bring evil to the lives of others. No one believes he/she is evil. We believe others are evil when they wrong us, but we also believe when we wrong them in return we are doing what is right. With this twisted logic Satan has corrupted all of us. We condemn evil in others, while justifying evil in ourselves. But God want us to be a source of good,  source of blessing for others. God want us to tell evil," the buck stops here." Friends, we can make a difference in this world by being a source of good to those around us, in our small circles of influence. Beginning in the home 🏡. How do you treat those who live with you ? The way you treat those you live with, parents, spouse, children reveal your true character. Are you a blessing to them?

Be a source of good by being kind to others. When others are angry, speak a sweet Word to them. If people are in need, give them a hand. If you don't like when people treat you a certain way, don't treat them the same. Be honest with others. Be faithful to others. If you don't want people to cut you off when you make a mistake, don't cut them off when they make a mistake.  If you want others to apologize when they are wrong, then apologize when you are wrong. If you want others to reach out to you, then reach out to them. If you want others to make you their friends, then become the friends of others. Lead by example,  be a source of good.

The problem is we are quick to condemn and blame others when we do the same things. If you know better, than do better. Show others the way. But if you claim to know better and do the same as others, you are nothing but a devil 👿. For the Devil knows better but he does evil because he is selfish. If you accuse someone of being selfish, make sure you are showing them by your words and examples how to be selfless. If you think people around you are toxic, then show them by word and example how to be loving. If you think they are deceptive, show them honesty. If they are unloving show them how to love. If they are proud and arrogant, show them how to be humble by your own humble examples. 

It is easy to blame others for evil, accuse others of being evil when we are guilty of the same thing. But we will find ways to justify ourselves while condemning others. Ask anyone who ever had any failed relationship of any type what happened? And most will blame the other person as the cause of the failure and present themselves as the good one.  Friends, the only way to make a true difference in this world is to be a source of goodness to others. To live to be a blessing to others, to go around doing good and only good. To seek to understand  others and to seek to make being around you a joy. Do people enjoy being around you ? Or are they walking  on eggshells in your presence? 

Jesus was the source of good when He walked the earth. The Bible said, "He went around doing good." Even His enemies loved to be around Him, because deep down they knew He desired their good. And it is only when we are truly connected with Christ we will be a source of good for others around us. Jesus never wronged anyone, or does evil to anyone because there is never any reason to wrong anyone or do evil to anyone. Friends, the call today is let us move forward the kingdom of God by being a source of good, blessings to those in our lives. A good work goes a long way. Do good, fight against evil. Do good, make a difference in the life of others . Let us overcome evil with good. May God help us 🙏🏾