Coping With Stress

Sometimes, life can become unbearable. So much pressure from all side. You put in your best and yet the result is not what you expect. In such situation what do you do?

The temptation is to throw your hands in the air or throw in the towel. It is quite easy to say, "I quit" but that is the begining of a journey to the land of the defeated folks.

When all goes haywire and you really don't know what to do, then it is time for the Master to step in. Simply turn the troubles over to Jesus. Be rest assured that He knows what to do.

It's been tough for me this past few days. It has been one challenge after the other. All my effort to get things sorted out did not produce the desired result. But after asking some brothers and sisters to pray for me that God will intervene, I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Somebody shout a big halleluyah!

VALENTINE, LOVER’S DAY, SINNER’S DAY OR THE LORD'S DAY?

My bible tells me that this is the day that the Lord God has made, I should rejoice and be glad in it. That statement alone calls for celebration. I made a post yesterday recounting the incident that happened in my home. That post brought the longest single comment I have ever received since I started blogging.

Unfortunately, the commenter decided to remain anonymous. He raised some issues that I am yet to verify. But while I am doing that, I wish to comment on the way a lot of Christians are going about mixing with the multitude today and falling into sins all in the name of celebrating VALENTINE!

While I have no right to tell you what day to celebrate and which one not to celebrate, wisdom demands that we do nothing that jeopardize our fellowship with the Almighty. Committing sexual immorality physically, virtually or even in our imagination is no way to celebrate a day made by God.

If you are planning to do something un-biblical before you stumbled on this post, I plead with you that you stop and repent of such foolishness. God won't understand why you have to sell your birthright just because of February 14th. You know that is true.

So go ahead, make the day what you think it should be, just remember that sometime in the future, you will stand before Him to give account of how you spent today. Shalom

The Blood of Jesus on Trial!

This was emailed to me by one of my friends

One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church.

She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans.

This is when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting.

As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be.

He began to speak and his statement was this:
"My fiancee's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?"

The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters. Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case!!!!

He Showed Me Mercy!

I traveled out of town down to my home-town. It was a trip long overdue. I had a nice time visiting places I have not been to for years. I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent there. However, when the time I scheduled for staying there was over, I was in a big haste to get back to the city.

For one, I missed my family; also I missed the opportunity of browsing and doing my usual stuff online. In my haste to get back as fast as possible. I changed my plan of traveling. Instead of boarding a vehicle in the early hours of the day, I opted out for an earlier trip via night bus! The dreaded night bus! The queen wasn’t in support of the silly idea, but I cunningly cut her off and went ahead with my foolish decision.

All went well at first. The bus started the journey which is over 800km at 6.00p.m. I was happy about the early start. However, around 8p.m, we started having problems. Then it dawned on me that I had made a very stupid decision. The driver stopped on the side of the road and refused to continue the journey because a passenger made a call using his cellphone. Of course before departure, we all were told to switch off our cellphone. The driver insisted that he cannot continue the journey because he doesn’t know who the passenger was calling on the cellphone. After much pleading, he continued.

At that point, I started imagining the hazards lying ahead. Fellow passengers started recounting the terrible incidents of armed robbery attacks that have occurred on this same road in the recent times. Beside this, while travelling down, I had noticed that the road was full of deadly potholes and there were several motor accidents. In my haste to get back to my place of residence, I had ignore all these danger signs.

Some hours later, we had a flat tire and we had to change the tire in the middle of nowhere. While the tire was being changed, a lot of scary thoughts were running through my mind. I knew I had made a very stupid mistake, and I was begging God to grant me safe journey down home base on His mercy alone.

After that, we got to a spot where all vehicles ahead of us had stopped and switched off. Reason, they are afraid of continuing the journey because of the possibility of getting robbed. So we were stuck in the middle of nowhere! Up till now, I can’t explain how we got out of that one. I just woke up (I had to force myself to sleep since we were categorically told that the vehicles ahead of us won’t move until 4a.m in the morning) and discovered that we were moving.

So many other things happened. For example, when the journey was almost completed, we got to another dead-end around 9a.m. Rioters had blocked the expressway and they refused to move. They were protesting against the Nigerian Policemen who had mounted checkpoints along that expressway. After spending about an hour and the confusion was not subsiding, our bus driver decided to use a track-road to bypass the angry rioters.

I eventually got home around 2p.m. I was grateful to be alive and whole! Did I say, grateful, surely that was a slip of tongue, I meant VERY GRATEFUL to God for sparing my life!

Less than Expectation!

When the result is less than expectation, what do you do? There are moments in ones life when grumbling and complaining seems to be the right thing to do. You feel life is not just been fair. The unqualified seems to get the best result while the hard-worker is left with crumbs.
Thank God for life in Christ! That is what makes the difference. My life is priceless. The value of my life is not based on human recognition of my little effort rather it is based on the priceless value of the blood that was shed at the cross of calvary.
It is time for me to shout a bigger halleluya! Yes, because the JOY of the Lord is my strength.
If you are downcasted or feeling gloomy, I will suggest you dial J-E-S-U-S, someone is waiting at the end of the line to attend to you promptly. Shalom.

Three Days to Christmas!

I’m in the office with my faithful friend (my Pentium 4 desktop computer). We are just alone in the department (even though at the click of a button, we can socialize with friends online) . Everyone else (my colleagues) is either out on the field working or back at home resting. Since there are people out working, and they need support service, I have to be in the office to keep track and give whatever support they may need via phone or email.

Having done some little work and gotten bored. I decided to browse for something to cheer my mood up. Nothing I came across was able to get me the desired result. Finally, I fired up my E-Sword, guess what I came across. A little article that touched my heart. After going through it, I felt I should share same with my readers.

Tracing Character to Its Source

During a thunder storm that contained high winds, a giant oak tree was blown down. The tree was thought to be in perfect health; that is, from outward appearance it seemed to be in good health since it was almost perfectly shaped and full of green leaves. However, the massive tree could not withstand the stress of the high wind because of deterioration on the inside. What started as a tiny corruption at the center of the tree had spread until that tremendous tree was so weakened that it was toppled by the wind.

One may reach a point where he forsakes God altogether. It is because he (like the tree) has decayed on the inside. Perhaps the deterioration started with a little lie or one small drink of beer or forsaking the assembly to go fishing or camping. Long before our feet carry us where we ought not to go, and our hands do what they ought not to do, the desire is in our hearts (Psalm 119:9-11). With pure hearts we will be able to stand the stress of temptation and the stress of everyday living.

As you prepare to celebrate this season, keep this in mind. Watch the desires of your heart and ensure they are aligned with God’s will as revealed in the Holy Bible. Shalom

Twelve Days to Christmas!

It is twelve days to Christmas. I can almost smell the change in the air. There is excitement in the air. Even the atheists are happy about the season. While they will argue about the existence of God the Father. Yet in their unguided moment they respond “Same to you” when you greet them with, “Compliments of the season”.

So I ask myself. Who is fooling who? If they don’t subscribe to the Reason for the Season, how come they exchange greetings with those of us that believe. Just another exposure of how humans can be real hypocrites. I am happy for the season, cause I have Him in my heart that is the Reason for the Season. Let the brethren shout a big Halleluyah.

The Crux of the matter

It doesn’t really matter,

What the people that matter says,

Who really, really matter,

Is the creator of matter.

It doesn’t really matter,

What the experts that matter says,

What really, really matter,

Is the Manual for the matter (the Bible)

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Jesus Christ is

the reason for the season,

A life without Christ,

No doubt is full of Crises,

Christmas without Christ,

Will surely be full of Xcesses.

"What Would Jesus Say ... To Me?"

I have been tagged by Mulled Vine with this meme.
Even thought the question is simple, the answer is difficult. But I have to give it a try. So here it is:

What would Jesus say to me?

"Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

I hereby tag the following Life Magazine and Nuggets of Gold.