Stop your ADDICTION to suffering

Paul travelled the length and breadth of the New Testament world on foot and sea in very precarious and dangerous proportions, escaping death by a whisker on far more occasions than most people experience in their entire life time. So painful is his account of what he went through. Imagine, he had no Twitter, Facebook, cellphone or internet to reach his audience but he could dial his 911, Jesus Christ.

Read this account in 2nd Corinthians 11v22: ‘Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. v23: Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. v24: Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. v25: Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep.’ He even forgets the venomous snake bite.

For me, 2010 was ‘low gear’ year. It was like travelling 1200 miles on gear one, the whole year. So much joy was taken off me by the devil, especially my finances. The determination to 2011 a better year is even greater. I wish my revolt would infect you as well. The Apostle Paul suffered more for the cause of Christ and never gave up once.

v26: ‘In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; v27: In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.’

Do not be addicted to suffering. There is an answer for all your problems. Jesus died and rose again. So then, what is being broke? What is disease? What are family or marital problems? They are not greater than He. No. Dial Him and give Him your story. Jesus is on-line ready for a live chat with you.

Be blessed!

Moses to God, ‘Hey dude, wanna see your face my man’

I would have loved to start with the Old Testament issues to maintain a chronological order of things, and because of the very fascinating characters and events that always blow my mind with every read. Nonetheless, Christianity as we know it now, and the Church, are of the New Testament.

From both historical evidence and writings, as well as spiritually inspired prophesies, the Gospels carry Jesus Christ's ministry, which I will spare you for now, as you may know them by heart, and start with Luke’s writing of the Acts of the Apostles. Like Solomon, in the Old Testament, his writing inspires me to great levels.

Luke was a Gentile (non-Jew), a medical doctor by profession and had an esteemed friend called ‘Excellent’ Theophilus, (Luke 1v1: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us.

v2: Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; v3: It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, v4: That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.) to whom he writes both The Gospel according to Luke and The Acts of the Apostles.

Luke wrote his books with a great details and marvel of the experiences of people that had been with Jesus Christ, Son of God, from the beginning of his birth to his crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension, i.e in the Gospel, especially the healing and resurrection of the dead.

In The Acts, he also wrote witnesses accounts and even more so from first had experiences as he actually travelled with the Apostle Paul in the some of the major journeys. (Acts :21:1: ‘And it came to pass, that after WE were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara’. This is just one one several ‘WE’s by Luke).

In the Old Testament, there is no doubt how much important people like Abraham, Gideon, Joshua, Samson, and David, among others, shape the faith.  The most charismatic for me was Moses. This is the only man in the Bible to have talked to God face to face – no ‘in-betweens’ nor dreams. God called him ‘friend’ and for his part, Moses had the audacity to say, ‘Hey Dude, we always chat and I wish to see you live my man.’

God was so moved by this and told him that no man sees his face and live. God compromised for his pal, made an appointment and told his to close his eyes. God actually came, covered Moses’s face with his hand and walked past and had Moses open his eyes to see his back.

He is the only man to have physically seen God while on this earth. I know that despite this, for a different reason, God forbid him to reach the promised land.

My point is that, Paul for me, was the Moses of the New Testament, i.e as an instrument of King Jesus Christ. Of course there was John the Baptist and the disciples.

Teachings of Paul in The Acts and Epistles

These days, new churches and TV programs teach chiefly about prosperity, and I think the message of the early church has been made to lose sting. I like these churches and their message and I am a member of one. I have managed to steer my thinking in a way of giving and I surely receive. If that could be then, end of things, then many are doomed.

Like the Epistles written by John and Peter, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the key. Rom:3:27: ‘Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. v28: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.’ Jews wanted the law thing to be paramount, primarily circumcision. If you cut a fore skin you would be saved. Sad.

Faith is to believe in the ability of God to give you anything you want without doubting. That is Biblical. The early church preaching, days, weeks or months after the Lord Jesus Christ defeated death and ascended, was that as in 1 Cor :2:5: ‘That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.’ Paul went on to say in 1 Cor :13:13: ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.’

A line after that, he explains that faith should be based on the resurrection of the Lord, because if Christ never rose, then everybody is wasting time. Historically and otherwise, the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection and ascension is every where. Many people would fancy it being easier to believe in those days.

After going through scriptures earnestly several times, I found two options to deal with matters of time. Either I took and placed myself in the shoes of people of ancient times and then ask myself what would make me different from them. Most of these guys went about their sinful lives as if there was no tomorrow. Somebody pops up and tell you someone was born and then died and then rose.

Or I would take the times and bring them forward to the time I started to be a man, say of 18, and I knew all the details of what Simon Peter and Paul of Tarsus were preaching. With all archaeological and historical evidence we see on the History, National Geographical and BBC Channels and the like, it would be folly to ignore them.

Now with all we have, we have to believe these things happened and that, as says in Gal:3:25: ‘But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. v26: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.’ The faith in Jesus is something one has to confess by their own mouth and truly believing that whatever they confess is honestly true, that Jesus is Christ and Lord. This, Paul and others mention at all times.

You can do that right here, right now. God loves you.