Do you? Have you?

16. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

Matthew 28:16,17

The very first time I read this verse, I was filled with righteous indignation. How could they? How could anyone think of... oh, I shudder to repeat it...

They had been His disciples. They had heard Him teach the multitudes and watched Him heal the sick. They had listened to Him tell them over and over again that He would be killed and then be ressurected. And they has seen Him killed, and had heard angels announce His Ressurection. And when they saw the Man Who had conquered death, some doubted...

And then I paused to think. Do I always choose to believe, every time an opportunity to believe comes my way? Have I always held on to His Word as true, ignoring all contrary circumstances?

Do you? Have you?

Jyde January 9, 2008

The Certainty of These Things...

It seemed good to me also, ..., to write unto thee ..., That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Luke 1:3,4

We live in a world where we're constantly exposed to various challenges, temptations and distractions which cause us to doubt the truth of the Word. Opinions from friends and family, books, magazines, popular music - they all band together to encourage us to wonder if God's Word really is so... That's why He reminds us that this is a Book of facts. Not of fantasies or fiction, not of tales or theories... "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness..." "We know that we have passed from death unto life..." "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding..." "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not..." "We know that we have the petitions that we desired of him..." "We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him..." "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God..." WE KNOW FOR SURE! Jyde 8 January, 2008

Of Dogs and Lions, and Senators and Emperors, and Thieves and Orators, and ...

A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

Life is a precious thing, and in its humblest form it is superior to death. This truth is eminently certain in spiritual things. It is better to be the least in the kingdom of heaven than the greatest out of it. The lowest degree of grace is superior to the noblest development of unregenerate nature. Where the Holy Ghost implants divine life in the soul, there is a precious deposit which none of the refinements of education can equal. The thief on the cross excels Caesar on his throne; Lazarus among the dogs is better than Cicero among the senators; and the most unlettered Christian is in the sight of God superior to Plato. Life is the badge of nobility in the realm of spiritual things, and men without it are only coarser or finer specimens of the same lifeless material, needing to be quickened, for they are dead in trespasses and sins. A living, loving, gospel sermon, however unlearned in matter and uncouth in style, is better than the finest discourse devoid of unction and power. A living dog keeps better watch than a dead lion, and is of more service to his master; and so the poorest spiritual preacher is infinitely to be preferred to the exquisite orator who has no wisdom but that of words, no energy but that of sound. The like holds good of our prayers and other religious exercises; if we are quickened in them by the Holy Spirit, they are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, though we may think them to be worthless things; while our grand performances in which our hearts were absent, like dead lions, are mere carrion in the sight of the living God. O for living groans, living sighs, living despondencies, rather than lifeless songs and dead calms. Better anything than death. The snarlings of the dog of hell will at least keep us awake, but dead faith and dead profession, what greater curses can a man have? Quicken us, quicken us, O Lord! Jide Lawal October 6, 2004 I did not write the words above - would God that I would be so endowed! They are jewels in the treasury of the Church, penned by that prince among preachers known as Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

The Absence of God's Love

God…Separated the Light from the Darkness."

Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

A university professor challenged his class: “Did God create everything?” A student replied, “Yes.” The professor continued: “If God created everything, then He created evil too. And since our works define who we are, then God is evil.” The class became silent. Suddenly another student raised his hand and asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, “Yes.” The student replied, “No, sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is just the absence of light. Light, we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break the white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. But you cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.” Then the young man asked, “Sir, does evil exist?” Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course.” To this the student replied, “No, evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. It is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness, a word that man has created to describe the absence of light. God did not create evil. It is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. Evil is like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.” The professor sat down. The young man’s name was Albert Einstein. Bishop Edward Earl Jenkins February 17 2007

God and angels, and ... and ... and you!

And YOU hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Ephesians 2:1

But now in Christ Jesus YE who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:13

Now therefore YE are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Ephesians 2:19

As far back as I can remember I've always been very interested in the Bible. I remember my first one, red with a hard cover, Revised Standard Version. And what a world of discovery it was! I realized that this was a Book of books that spoke of God and angels, of devils and demons, of kings and kingdoms, of wars and warriors, of prophets and prophecies, of Jews and gentiles, of psalms and proverbs, of apostles and epistles, of talking donkeys and parting seas, and a myriad of riddles, parables and chronicles... I enjoyed it as much as I later enjoyed novels, and found it rather interesting. But the day my attitude to the Bible changed was the day I discovered it was also a Book written about ME. I saw the verses quoted above and saw that they referred to me as surely as any letter addressed to me. I saw that my destiny and my destination in life and in eternity were tightly bound to the way in which I responded to the message of the Book and the invitation it contains. True, the Bible is a Book about the Trinity. But it is also a Book about you! And is this so surprising? You are God's child, planned for before the foundation of the world. He loved you and he knew you and He purposed for you to take your place in His will from eternity past. Beyond the transient nature of physical things is the reality of His love for you. Go through your Bible again, and take special note of the message contained in this Book. It contains a lot of information about you!

Jyde July 19, 2004 N.B. Here's an old article I'm posting here in honour of Funmi Oluyimika... Go girl! Bless your generation with all the ability of God in you...

The King's Companions

... and Hushai the Archite was the king's companion:

1 Chronicles 27:33 (KJV)

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:9 (KJV)

God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9 (CEV)

We are not told what Hushai did to deserve this most noble title, "The King's Companion". The Old Testament is replete with tales of deeds of men who lived and died for David, those who were captains in his army and in his bodyguard, who risked their lives to indulge his whims and stood valiant in battle to slay his enemies, but there is not one mention of anything Hushai the Archite did to deserve David's friendship. This calls to mind the fact that the Father has called us to be companions to His Son. There are many honours God has bestowed upon the New Creature, but surely this is the greatest and the grandest of them all! Oh, He calls us no longer servants, ignorant and uninformed as to the intentions behind their Master's orders and actions, but He calls us friends. He tells us what He wants to do. He tells us why He wants to do them. Where others stumble in darkness, our Friend's Light shines upon us and within us and we see clearly. In all of creation, we are the only ones that share His Nature. We have His Spirit and we can commune with Him. No wonder the Apostle John, in a picturesque to describe this intimacy declared, "He is in us, and we are in Him." We are His Partners! Jyde

When the impossible dares you

The only time you see the word ‘impossible’ in God’s dictionary is when it is used with respect to him changing his nature or engaging in sin e.g. Heb 6:18 says “it is impossible for God to lie”. When we use the word ‘impossible’, we refer to things that we believe are beyond our physical ability and mental capacity. However, we are supposed to see things like God sees them because Jesus has made God’s ability available to us. Has God ever provided $10 for you? Then he can also provide $100 million. It doesn’t cost God an extra strength to go an extra mile with you. The measure of power (if quantifiable) that heals headache heals AIDS. The same gospel that saves a soul can deliver a million lives. If you have ever trusted God for what you call “small” and you got it, you need the same quality of trust for what you label as “big”. God’s power respects no labels. This was the principle David used when Goliath dared the Israelites. He said “the Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine" (I Sam 17:37). When the so called impossible things flashes at you, approach them with the same faith and attitude you used to approach what you called possible, because that is what it is in reality.

When the impossible dares you

The only time you see the word ‘impossible’ in God’s dictionary is when it is used with respect to him changing his nature or engaging in sin e.g. Heb 6:18 says “it is impossible for God to lie”. When we use the word ‘impossible’, we refer to things that we believe are beyond our physical ability and mental capacity. However, we are supposed to see things like God sees them because Jesus has made God’s ability available to us. Has God ever provided $10 for you? Then he can also provide $100 million. It doesn’t cost God an extra strength to go an extra mile with you. The measure of power (if quantifiable) that heals headache heals AIDS. The same gospel that saves a soul can deliver a million lives. If you have ever trusted God for what you call “small” and you got it, you need the same quality of trust for what you label as “big”. God’s power respects no labels. This was the principle David used when Goliath dared the Israelites. He said “the Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine" (I Sam 17:37). When the so called impossible things flashes at you, approach them with the same faith and attitude you used to approach what you called possible, because that is what it is in reality.