To gain everlasting life, you have to keep doing God's will for the
rest of your life. Ezekiel 18:21-28 explains that when a wicked person
repents and becomes righteous, "none of the sins he had committed will
be remembered against him". Also, when a righteous person backslides
and becomes wicked, "all the righteousness which he has done shall not
be remembered". In other words, you will be judged on the basis of
your present behaviour, regardless of any glorious or dirty past.
Let's examine a few Bible examples in this regard.
1. Michal, David's first wife, protected him from being killed by her
father Saul (1 Samuel 19:11-18). After David's flight for his life,
Saul married her off to another man (1 Samuel 25:44). When David
became king, he regained her (2 Samuel 3:12-16) but she had changed
for the worse. She despised David to his face for dancing vigorously
before Jehovah. There was no record of her repentance in the Bible and
she died childless, regardless of her initial good deeds (2 Samuel
6:12-23).
2. Reuben started well by dissuading his brothers from killing Joseph
(Genesis 37:19-30). However, he lost his birthright as the first son
by sleeping with Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22;
49:1-4).
3. Rahab the prostitute kept the Israelite spies safe and was rewarded
by being saved with her family when Jericho fell. In addition, she
became an ancestress of our Lord Jesus Christ. She married Salmon and
bore Boaz, David's great-grandfather (Joshua 2:1-21 & 6:22-25;
Matthew 1:5,6). Even if you are no longer a virgin like Mary (Luke
1:26-27), you are still treasured by God if you genuinely repent.
4. David killed Uriah over Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). Because he
genuinely repented when Nathan confronted him, God forgave him (2
Samuel 12: 1-15; Psalm 51) though he suffered some consequences (2
Samuel 13; 15; 16:20-23; 18:9-17).
Other examples are those of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and the prophet
who allowed an older prophet to make him disobey God (1 Kings 13).
*You may now ask: Won't people abuse this privilege by doing evil all
their lives and repenting just before they die?
For one, God reads human hearts (1 Samuel 16:7) and can detect an
insincere repentance. For another, nobody knows when he/she will die
or the Lord will come. After someone dies, he is "conscious of
nothing" and incapable of repentance (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10).
May God help us to remain in the truth. Amen.
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Thursday, 21 August 2014
The fastest means of communication
Modern technology keeps bringing increasingly faster means of
communication (like phone calls, text messages, Facebook, email,
Twitter, 2go,BBM,WhatsApp, Skype,etc). Gone are the days of writing a
letter from Nigeria to the US and waiting for a month or more to get
a reply.
But have you heard of a system of communication in which you may get
an answer before the message is sent? God says @ Isaiah 65:24, "It
shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer".
God reads our hearts and always knows our needs even before we ask.(1
Samuel 16:7; Matthew 6:8). Often, even while we are speaking, the
desired blessing is on the way. Daniel was still praying when Gabriel
flew swiftly from God's throne with the answer (Daniel 9:1-6,20-23).
Yes,prayer is faster than any modern means of communication. Let's use it often.
communication (like phone calls, text messages, Facebook, email,
Twitter, 2go,BBM,WhatsApp, Skype,etc). Gone are the days of writing a
letter from Nigeria to the US and waiting for a month or more to get
a reply.
But have you heard of a system of communication in which you may get
an answer before the message is sent? God says @ Isaiah 65:24, "It
shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer".
God reads our hearts and always knows our needs even before we ask.(1
Samuel 16:7; Matthew 6:8). Often, even while we are speaking, the
desired blessing is on the way. Daniel was still praying when Gabriel
flew swiftly from God's throne with the answer (Daniel 9:1-6,20-23).
Yes,prayer is faster than any modern means of communication. Let's use it often.
Sunday, 10 August 2014
Where did Cain find his wife?
The Bible says that all human beings descended from Adam and Eve
(Genesis 3:20). "If that is so", skeptics ask, "where did Cain find
his wife?"
The Bible mentioned Cain, Abel and Seth as Adam's and Eve's children.
But they also had daughters as well.(Genesis 5:4). Hence, Cain must
have married a sister or niece, who also descended from Adam and Eve.
Since there was only one family then, God couldn't have condemned
intra-family marriage as incest. Later in human history,Abraham
married his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:10-12) and Jacob married two
sisters, Rachel and Leah (Genesis 29:16).
As humans continued to reproduce, God prohibited incest. It is now a
sin to sleep with your relative, your relative's former/current sex
partner, or your former/current sex partner's relative. (Leviticus
18:6-18; 1 Corinthians 5:1). Modern science has shown that children
whose parents are closely related are likelier than others to have
serious genetic defects. Also, with so many families from all
countries and races available to pick from, nobody has any excuse to
marry a close relative.
Back to our discussion on Cain's wife, some people point to Genesis
4:16-17, which says Cain fled to the land of Nod, where he "knew his
wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch". "Knew" in this context means
"have sexual intercourse with", not "meet for the first time". Compare
with "Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain"
(Genesis 4:1). Eve had been created and presented to Adam earlier @
Genesis 2:21-25, so they were not meeting for the first time.
Obviously, Cain went on self-exile to Nod with his wife and slept with
her there.
(Genesis 3:20). "If that is so", skeptics ask, "where did Cain find
his wife?"
The Bible mentioned Cain, Abel and Seth as Adam's and Eve's children.
But they also had daughters as well.(Genesis 5:4). Hence, Cain must
have married a sister or niece, who also descended from Adam and Eve.
Since there was only one family then, God couldn't have condemned
intra-family marriage as incest. Later in human history,Abraham
married his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:10-12) and Jacob married two
sisters, Rachel and Leah (Genesis 29:16).
As humans continued to reproduce, God prohibited incest. It is now a
sin to sleep with your relative, your relative's former/current sex
partner, or your former/current sex partner's relative. (Leviticus
18:6-18; 1 Corinthians 5:1). Modern science has shown that children
whose parents are closely related are likelier than others to have
serious genetic defects. Also, with so many families from all
countries and races available to pick from, nobody has any excuse to
marry a close relative.
Back to our discussion on Cain's wife, some people point to Genesis
4:16-17, which says Cain fled to the land of Nod, where he "knew his
wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch". "Knew" in this context means
"have sexual intercourse with", not "meet for the first time". Compare
with "Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain"
(Genesis 4:1). Eve had been created and presented to Adam earlier @
Genesis 2:21-25, so they were not meeting for the first time.
Obviously, Cain went on self-exile to Nod with his wife and slept with
her there.
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Control your tongue
in every other way" (James 3:2).
A saying goes," We are like cats; we lick ourselves with our tongues!"
When someone spreads gossip, mark that person carefully. Why? Because
if they talk to you about others,they'll talk to others about you.
The Bible warns us about 3 things:
(1) A HASTY TONGUE. "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is
more hope for a fool than for him"(Proverbs 29:20). If you take time
to get the facts, much of the time you'll speak differently. Hannah
prayed so passionately for a child that Eli the high priest thought
she was drunk. When the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them on the
Sea of Galilee, they thought He was a ghost. So think or, better yet,
pray before you jump to conclusions.
(2) A FLATTERING TONGUE: "... There is no faithfulness in their
mouth...they flatter with their tongues" (Psalm 5:9). Say what you
mean and mean what you say. Be genuine. When you flatter people, you
manipulate them for your own ends. Don't do that. Give it to them
straight. If you love them, be truthful with them. God has made each
of us a watchman, who will be held responsible if we fail to deliver
God's message to those around us (Ezekiel 33: 7-9 ; Acts 20: 25-27)
(3) A JUDGEMENTAL TONGUE. Jesus said," Judge not, that you be not
judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and
with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Matthew
7:1-2). If you live long enough,you'll be guilty of many of the same
things you're so quick to condemn in others. Besides, you don't have
all the facts; only God does (1 Samuel 16:7). How you deal with other
people determines how God deals with you.
Cool thoughts for hotheads
"A hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin" - Proverbs 29:22.
A hot temper :
(1)drives a wedge between you and your loved ones. Esau's resentment
of Jacob led to the latter's exile in Haran (Genesis 27:41-43). As a
result,the family was separated. (2) can drive you into murder,like
Cain and Lamech((Genesis 4:1-24).
Here's how to control your anger:
(1) Think before you react. Our reactions are often based more on
feelings than facts . Someone says or does something and we suddenly
feel angry and assume they "made" us feel that way. No, you made
yourself angry by telling yourself,"Who do they think they are?", "I
don't have to take that","I'll show them who's in charge",etc. James
1:19 says," Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become
angry". To break anger's negative cycle, practise saying to
yourself,"Stop!" Then don't react until you ask the person to clarify
their words or actions. By stopping and listening to understand, you
interrupt your anger build-up and gain self-control. (2) Don't "speak
your mind" when you're angry. An old Irish poem says: 'We're
constantly hearing O'Flannagan say,"I gave him a piece of my mind" And
it isn't surprising with so much gone, that so little remains behind!'
Read Proverbs 15:1. (3) Avoid angry people. Like a bad virus, they
infect you, especially if you have a problem with anger (Proverbs
22:24-25). If you are in a conflict with someone who is currently
inplacable, take your leave (Proverbs 17:14). You can talk things over
later.
A hot temper :
(1)drives a wedge between you and your loved ones. Esau's resentment
of Jacob led to the latter's exile in Haran (Genesis 27:41-43). As a
result,the family was separated. (2) can drive you into murder,like
Cain and Lamech((Genesis 4:1-24).
Here's how to control your anger:
(1) Think before you react. Our reactions are often based more on
feelings than facts . Someone says or does something and we suddenly
feel angry and assume they "made" us feel that way. No, you made
yourself angry by telling yourself,"Who do they think they are?", "I
don't have to take that","I'll show them who's in charge",etc. James
1:19 says," Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become
angry". To break anger's negative cycle, practise saying to
yourself,"Stop!" Then don't react until you ask the person to clarify
their words or actions. By stopping and listening to understand, you
interrupt your anger build-up and gain self-control. (2) Don't "speak
your mind" when you're angry. An old Irish poem says: 'We're
constantly hearing O'Flannagan say,"I gave him a piece of my mind" And
it isn't surprising with so much gone, that so little remains behind!'
Read Proverbs 15:1. (3) Avoid angry people. Like a bad virus, they
infect you, especially if you have a problem with anger (Proverbs
22:24-25). If you are in a conflict with someone who is currently
inplacable, take your leave (Proverbs 17:14). You can talk things over
later.
The sin of omission
We tend to focus on sins of commission - the wrong we do. But what
about the sins of omission - the good we fail to do?
At Matthew 25:41-45, some people were judged righteous for the good
they did to others, and others condemned to eternal damnation for
refusing to do good. So when you've a chance (and the resources) to do
good - do it.
"If anyone knows how to do good, but refuses to do it, it is a sin for
him" (James 4:17).
about the sins of omission - the good we fail to do?
At Matthew 25:41-45, some people were judged righteous for the good
they did to others, and others condemned to eternal damnation for
refusing to do good. So when you've a chance (and the resources) to do
good - do it.
"If anyone knows how to do good, but refuses to do it, it is a sin for
him" (James 4:17).
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