Fidelity to Christ

Fidelity to Christ

Secularism and humanism has given birth to a child named hedonism. The demands of the flesh is his rule of law. The use of conscience he has been criminalized and licentiousness has been given sway over intelligence, prudence and wisdom. The world has grown cold and indifferent to the groans of the spirit and the cry of conscience. Individualism has taken center stage and reason is laid to rest. Arrogance is where intelligence and reason should be, and evil is where mercy and compassion should have had sway. God has been placed in the doldrums and the ego of men has become their deity. Civil law has replaced theology and doctrine and courtrooms are the bastions of morality. The kingdom of God has been overthrown and kingdom of man has come. Repentance is treated like folktale, sin has been legalized and conscience is now a prisoner of the law.

Thus, in our present predicament, Christianity has limited movement in our society –its movements is restricted solely to the sanctuary – only for ritual purposes and must not challenge or question the rule of human laws –as irrational as such may seem to be – even when they are detrimental to the survival of the human race, the spirit of secularism and humanism is all that matters in our world today.

Paul in his letter to the Colossians 3:1-11 stands in sharp contrast to this type of philosophy and he challenges us to remember that as Christians we are called to transform the world and not vice-versa (Rom.12:2). However, if we are to live up to such tall challenges the beatitudes must be the foundation of our spirituality. We must be prepared to embrace suffering and imprisonment here on earth before we are able to embrace the kingdom of God as espoused by Christ in today’s gospel (Lk.6:20-26). In the end, only fidelity to Christ will make us heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.

O Lord, grant us the wisdom to know you in all your omnipotence, recognize the spleandour of your kingdom and the understanding to know that all things of the flesh are temporal but your kingdom endures forever. -  Jan St. Rose

PS: I  love this read! the article is a response to today's meditation on The Word Among Us. The article was written by Jan St. Rose and he couldn't have said it any better;

Hope you liked it. Stay Blessed!

The Reward for Those Who Obey God

God has never hidden His desire to abide and bless those who obey Him. To operate and live within the confines of God's commandment is not an easy endeavour. It is an action of constant sacrifice and perseverance.

Living above the standards of the world demands greater courage. We have to contend with a world where our movies and music are almost rated "R", where sodomy and homosexuality are celebrated and protected. Integrity is forsaken, corruption and violent skills are are criteria to attain political and leadership positions. Infidelity and fornication are the new cool.

Nevertheless, we must fight to be worthy of His blessings, which He makes clear in Psalms 128. God's reward for our obedience magnifies His love for us, desire to see us prosper and age gracefully.

God demands our obedience with promises that;

1.  We shall be happy
2. Our hustle will provide for our needs
3. We shall be prosperous
4. Our marriages shall be fruitful with children
5. Our nation will be blessed
6. We shall live to see our grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

May God grace be enough for us to be and remain in the precincts of His commands.

Happy New Month!

A Strategy When Temptation Comes

The initial intention was to title this article as "Fighting Temptations 101" just to reference David's guide to fighting temptations as captured in Psalms 101 and also because I had a deja vu on those introductory courses we had to take in our first year in the university.

Well, like David, we all need to come up with our own list of actions required to fight temptations. Make no mistake about it, temptation to sin is not an "If" but a "When" for each of us. But God in His abounding grace has promised us power to overcome in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Read up!

For there is no testimony if we don't go through the test! So like David, make your list today! I just made mine

Stay Blessed!

Thank God for His Faithfulness and Love

Lord, I'm so grateful for your faithfulness, for never leaving us when we blow it.

I know of nothing else in this world that creates greater security than realizing how faithful God's love is towards us even when (especially when) we make huge mistakes. 

It's true!

We can be confident we are loved regardless if we "get it right" or not because God's love for us is not based on how we perform or behave, but rather, based on who he is. It's his nature to love - and he loves us greatly!

When we understand this, and really let this piece of truth sink in to our hearts it liberates us from all kinds of guilt, shame and condemnation we may feel otherwise.

It also inspires us to love.

It inspires us to love God. It inspires us to love ourselves. It inspires us to love our neighbors. Heck! It even inspires us to love our enemies.

This kind of love is so transformative to our human hearts.

God, I'm so very, very grateful that you love us like you do, and that you never leave us even when we make huge blunders.

Blessings to you,

@NeilVermillion