Answer to Why did Bob Marley refuse treatment for cancer? by Rocci Disopa https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Bob-Marley-refuse-treatment-for-cancer/answer/Rocci-Disopa?ch=15&oid=244551021&share=6c2b95cc&srid=jIiwj&target_type=answer
Category: Religion Beliefs
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True Contentment: Our Searches in the Wrong Places
This is a contribution to Marcel's post. Unfortunately, I could not post a comment.
True contentment can not be found in wealth, not even in affectionate relationships.
Our hearts will remain empty, hollow, and wanting until true contentment is attained.
Doing God's will brings true contentment. The thing is that our body can never be contented, it is always asking for more.
We can only achieve true contentment when our soul is contented.
Therefore, our focus should be on God through whom we can achieve true contentment. -
Something Most People don’t Understand
What’s something most people don’t understand?
It will amaze you to know that most people don’t understand how to fill a form.
Another thing most asks a lot of questions about is the payment of tithe.
When it comes to the payment of tithe people find it difficult to calculate 10% again.
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THE CHURCH AND THE POLITICAL STEPPING-UP
If you are Young or Old and a Christian then we belong to the same constituency THE CHURCH which is the body of Christ, please spare some minutes to reason with me.I conceived an Idea and thought it’s harmless to share it amongst my online constituents. The idea is premised on a Promise of scripture Joel 2:28:
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ….. your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: [KJV].
I foresee this promise is being fulfilled, I Interprete ‘all men’ here to mean believers and unbelievers alike: market men and women, professionals, Technocrats, entrepreneurs, Captains of industries, Academias, Security agents, Clergymen, the army of unemployed and underemployed graduates, teeming numbers of oppressed and repressed pensioners, everyone in distress, in debt and discontented because of the polity, politicking and the State of the Nation I perceive are catching in on this promise of scriptures: the outpouring of the Spirit.
I began to sense this move of God’s spirit on the nation just immediately after the conclusion of the party primaries of both the left and right parties which was riddled with ‘a gale of Step-downs and then the audacious Step-up narrative’ this move is evident on the nation in the sudden surge of interest of the citizens of Nigeria from all works of life, ethnic and religious groups in getting registered with INEC and getting their PVCs in preparation for the 2023 elections.
If you deny this then tell me how do one explain it when Igbo men and women willingly lock up their shops at Alaba international market to go for voters registration, believe me there must be fire on the mountain for that to happen but I choose to recognize it as the move of God or what do you make of it when a group of celebrities partners together with the European Union and INEC to organize concerts across major cities of Nigeria where the pass is your PVC or TVC (temporary voters card) meaning registration started five days before the concert.
The Lagos edition of the concert held on Saturday June 11 2022 and the result was nothing less than 11,000 new registrants just within 6 days you can confirm that, and if you think that is just a bunch of people getting together to groove, I call it the move of God’s Spirit or what do you call it when worshippers from a particular denomination went to worship on democracy day, Sunday June 12 2022 only to be sent back for not bearing their PVCs you think that also is coincidence? NO!!!!
I think our democratic rebirth and National redemption is imminent upon us in this country, but it is up to us whether this God’s gracious outpouring of his Spirit will achieve it’s intended purpose before it wanes off.
The October 2020 ENDSARS MOVEMENT was a similar outpouring of God’s Spirit intended to achieve some 5 major reforms in our polity, you will remember how it was hijacked by the political elite. That move became a near-success because of lack of ownership and leadership.
Nobody owned it, nobody gave it a sense of direction so like Brownian motion it went everywhere until it exploded in all our faces. It is going to be in our collective and enlightened national interest that the Church step-up and own this new but yet time-bound move of God.
The Church has been stepping-down for the political elite for too long by believing their lies first of which is that Church folks don’t need to get involved in politics, second by allowing their narrative of our votes don’t count sell to the masses for too long, can you justify vote buying if really votes doesn’t count?
Third which is that they: the political elite from both the left and right parties has the political structure to dominate the political landscape, the reality of scripture is that the function of dominance belongs to the body of Christ but because we have been stepping-down for the political elites for too long in this country and have believed their lies to the point that the Government that’s supposed to be on our shoulders had slipped off, but thank God for this new outpouring which I perceive is aimed at recovering government and governance structures, truth is structure does not lie with the political elites but with the political masses of which THE CHURCH is the major broker.
This outpouring of God’s Spirit is ours to take advantage of. Where are the old men with the Nigeria Dream(s), the visionary and prophetic young men behold yet the fulfillment of Joel 2:28 let us Step-up and own this crusade by providing leadership and tactical deployment of strategies that will ensure that every people group within this geographic space called Nigeria catch-up on this godly frenzy.
This is not a campaign for any political party, I am not unaware of our political preferences rather it is a crusade against voter apathy within our own constituency.
I commend the efforts of the denominations that have been making great efforts before, but now it’s a call for us to do more, utilizing our existing denominational structures and good workforce to serve this country within and around our host communities.
Imagine this interesting statistics of the 2019 presidential election Source (INEC)
APC – 15,191,847
PDP – 11,262,978
Total votes cast for other Parties – 272,011
Total Number of registered voters – 82,344,107
Total vote cast for APC, PDP and other parties – 26,726,836
Meaning about 55,617,271 registered voters did not vote.The above data speaks to voter apathy and I know the church can do something about it in compliment to what INEC and other civil society organisations are already doing I wish strongly that by the effort of the Church and other well meaning organisations that the total number of registered voters would rise from 82,344,107 to at least about 150,000,000 out of our estimated 200,000,000 population within the window of time left and considering a possible extension of registration time.
If you consider yourself as one of the old men with the Nigerian Dream or the Visionary and Prophetic Youth the least you could do is to share this until every church leader sees it.
You could embark on voter registration campaigns within your circle of influence, and if you have great ideas on how you think this crusade can be better achieved you can comment below or reach out.
My name is Victor Asa.
I just want a better Nigeria and I believe my constituency THE CHURCH can do much more than praying
08035212415 [email protected] -
How To Live A Life Of Fruitfulness
A fruitful youth By their fruit, you will recognize them.
“….. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
Matthew 7: 20 (NIV) New International VersionsJust as you cannot hide a light in the darkness, you cannot hide your fruitfulness. You do not have to say it for people to see it.
Jesus says in John 15:5 that: “I am the vine and ye are the branches: He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (KJV) King James Version
Therefore, the secret of fruitfulness is to become a Born-again Christian. You are to abide in the True Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus, to be fruitful, you must have an intimate relationship with God. Your spiritual journey to become a youth of substance; started by first bearing the fruit of repentance.
God is interested in your spiritual fruitfulness, in your physical fruitfulness and in your material fruitfulness. God in Jeremiah 17: 8 says:
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters…her leaf shall be green…neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” (KJV) King James Version
In Psalm 92: 12, God also says that “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon,”
A youth of Substance is a fruit bearing youth. You are not just a young person, but also a youth full of zeal to bear the fruit of souls. You are in this world to make a difference.
“I ‘am the true vine, and my father is Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more FRUITFUL.”
John 15: 1-2 (NIV) New International Version.You are to win souls for God. You are alive today because Jesus is hoping to see you bear fruit. A youth that bears no fruit and has no godly substance is not part of the True Vine.
You are a fruit-yielding branch of the True VINE. A youth of substance bears fruit by leading others unto God.
Another fruit you need to bear is the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit include, according to Galatians 5: 22-23, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
Many youths are not bearing fruit because they are disobedience; they refuse to obey God’s command. Jesus says in John 15: 7-8 that,
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciple.”
Jesus again says in John 8: 31 that, “…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.”
Thus, your fruitfulness simply lies in living a life of obedience to the word of God.
To become a fruit-bearing youth, you need to be part of the True Vine. You need to be rooted in Christ alone.When a branch is not fulfilling its purpose of bearing fruit, the branch is be cut and another will take its place. John the Baptist told the Jewish religious leader of his days that,
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Luke 3; 9 (KJV) King James Version.When you begin to bear fruit, God will continue to prune you by purging you of all impurities so that you can bear more fruits.
You will discover that according to Romans 8: 28 that “All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.”
I have a question for you, have you been living a life of fruitfulness? If your answer is yes, leave a comment below.
If your answer is No, leave a comment below.
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8 Shocking Signs That You Are Backsliding #8 Will Amaze You
A person who continues in his sinful lifestyle is a sinner. Then he one day heard the word of God. His conscience was pricked. He hated his lifestyle. He felt sorry for himself. He was remorseful. He prayed for forgiveness of his sins.
He chose to forsake his sinful lifestyle. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He chose righteousness as his lifestyle. He became born again. He became a new creature.
Then along the way, he found himself back living the lifestyle he had forsaken!Backsliding is an act of going back to your sinful way of doing things.
8 Shocking And Hidden Signs That You Are Backsliding
1. When you suddenly realized that you have lost your Joy of Salvation.
The way you used to bubble with joy is no longer there. It is a sign that you are backsliding.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even they God, hath anointed there with oil if gladness above thy fellows. – Hebrews 1:9
If you go back to sins you have forsaken, you would lose the joy of your salvation, and sorrow will come.
Do you still radiate the same joy you once felt when you got born again?Righteousness and joy are linked, they are interrelated. The moment sin comes into your life, joy leaves and sorrow takes its place. If you notice the absence of joy in your life, you need to check your salvation.
2. When you notice that you do not have peace again in your life.
The moment you give your life to Jesus Christ, you begin to experience the peace of God. Do you still experience the peace of God that passes all understanding?
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:7
Even though the sea is roaring and the storm is raging and the people around you are trembling, you will experience the peace of God, as long as you are connected to the Prince of Peace.
The moment you begin to backslide, this divine peace leaves, been though when things around you look all right.
3. When you discovered that your mind is constantly filled with immoral thoughts and sinful thoughts.
When King David discovered that his mind was now filled with immoral thoughts, he said in Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
When you begin to harbor immoral thoughts or you suddenly become comfortable in revealing clothes, it is a sign that your heart is far from God.
4. When you are no longer intimate with God.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; purify your hearts, ye double-minded. – James 4:8
When you are no longer intimate with God, he will move away from you because God can not behold sin. Holy Spirit can not stay with someone who is frolicking with sin.
Are any signs of backsliding evident in your life? Address them today.
5. You are already backsliding when you discovered that you are finding it difficult to pray.
Prayer means talking to God or having a conversation with God.
When your lifestyle has come to the point that you are no longer interested in having conversations with God, you are backsliding.
Eli heard that God was going to cut off lineage, all he had to say was “He is God, let Him do whatever He pleases”.
And Samuel told him, every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, it is the LORD; let him do what seemeth him good. – 1 Samuel 3:18
Eli would have gone on his knees and cried to God for mercy. This is a sign that Eli hardly prays anymore.
When someone who used to hear from God no longer hears from Him, that may be a sign that he has started backsliding.Do you get bored after praying for five minutes? Then something is wrong.
6. When you discovered that spending one hour to fellowship with God now become a burden, you have started backsliding.
When we love someone, we enjoy spending quality time with that person. How much quality time are you spending with God?
How fervent is your prayer life? How eager are you to fellowship with God? Your answer would tell if you have started drifting away from God.
7. When you discovered that you are reluctant to win souls, you already backsliding.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted into thee. – Psalm 51:13
The Bible passage quoted above was David’s prayer after he backslid.
8. When praising God becomes casual to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. – Psalm 51:14-15
David said in the passage above that if God restore him, he would praise Him. When you had fallen into sin, even singing became a problem.
When was the last time you praise God from the depth of your heart? When was the last time you won a soul for God?
Why Do People Backslide?
Though the conscience of such people was awakened and pricked, their minds had not changed. As soon as they heard the words of God, they felt guilty, and there and then, they decided to restitute their ways.
But when the power of guilty wore off, and the thing which provoked them to repentance ceased; they naturally turned back to their sinful ways of doing things.
4 Amazing Insights into Backsliding You Need To Know
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Like a dog Who Return To Its Vomit:
The dog is sick of what it has eaten. It vomits and casts it all up. The dog does not cast it all up willingly, but because the food troubles its stomach.
When its sickness is over and its stomach is eased, because its desire is not at all separated from its vomit, it turns itself about and licks its vomit all up!
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Like A Felon Who Stands Before The Judge:
The felon shakes and trembles and seems to repent very assuringly. Yet, he is not shaken nor remorseful for the crime. He is shaking because of his fear of the hangman’s rope.
If this man is set free, he will still be a thief and a rascal. The felon will still go back to his old lifestyle because his mind has not changed.
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Like A Stubborn He-goat:
The he-goat once beaten, runs away fearfully from the scene of the offense. It runs away not because it feels bad for having caused so much trouble! It just wants to escape the angry man’s rod.
As soon as the angry man is no more looking, the he-goat shakes its two ears and finds its way back to where it has been beaten. The he-goat keeps going back because its mind has not changed about the angry man’s food.
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Like A Seed On The Rock:
The sower scatters the seeds, some fall on the rock. They grow up, but the plants wither because they have no roots. The seed is the word of God, and the rock is the condition of the hearers’ hearts.
The hearers receive the words with joy but the words do not have root in their stony hearts. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
In Conclusion
Sins can be very sweet and pleasant to sinners’ sinful nature, and they are unwilling to leave it. Once in a while, they look back over their shoulders. Their mind is not made up yet.
To keep a dog from going back to its vomit, it has to be made new in the attitude of its mind and therefore sees its vomit as something that does not worth going back to!
To keep you from going back to sin, you need to be renewed in your mind.
When you are no longer reading your Bible; you have stopped praying and witnessing, you have reduced your attendance of fellowship, you are drawing far away from God.
Are there other signs or hints that a Christian might be backsliding? Please do share with us.
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What is God’s purpose for Sex?
I have often wonder, why is sexual relationship pleasurable! Is it because God wants to encourage us all to indulge in sexual intercourse? Probably, it is NO!
Sexual Intimacy
If it is a YES, it would not have been a sin to fornicate, nor would it have been a sin to commit adultery. Right?The sexual union was planned by God in the beginning, to be between married couples. That has not changed.
You know God always do something with a purpose in His mind, right? Okay, let glimpse at the mind of God through the scriptures. What is God’s purpose for sex?
Sex is meant to be pleasurable in marriage
God made sexual intercourse pleasurable because it is His gift for married couples.All gifts of God are meant to be pleasurable and enjoyable. God’s purpose for sex is for couples to enjoy it.
No wonder sex is referred to as love-making! Love in the making. It is a pleasurable act, which is only ordained by God to be done in marriage.
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. Proverbs 5: 18 – 19.
When the marriage bed is defiled, dissatisfaction is inevitable. You need to maintain the sexual purity of your marriage to enjoy God’s commandment of fruitfulness and multiplication.
Sex is a seed when sown in marriage, it bears fruits of love. When it is sown outside of marriage, it bears fruits of misery.Sex is an element of love in marriage
The more of sex that you have in your marriage, the more united you become.
You find yourself growing into one another in love! Eventually, you become two hearts beating as one! That is growing into oneness.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2: 24
The man shall leave his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, that is oneness.
The more of yourself that you give each other in lovemaking, the more like yourself you will become.
God initiated sex to bring married couples into a unique oneness.
Outside of marriage, sex does the opposite, it poisons relationships. Why not?
Sex in marriage is like a medicine. Whereas, sex outside of marriage is like a poison.
The devil always attempt to deceive us that sex brings intimacy to our relationship! Of course, he does not want anyone to enjoy sexual purity before marriage!
Sex does not bring intimacy. There are several non-sexual ways to be intimate in your relationship: admiring, appreciating, touching, kissing, caressing, holding, hugging.
Sex is an element of communication in marriage
Sex involves the total surrender of your soul, spirit and body to one another.
You surrender all of yourself to your spouse without fear.
When your spirit, soul and body get connected at lovemaking, there is usually an exchange, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
You communicate trust, pain, joy, sorrow, fear, concern, love and lots more. You grow into one another, you empathized.
Outside of marriage, it is a big risk to have sex. No matter how casual the sex is, there is always an exchange.
You don’t know the kind of spiritual problems, the emotional distress, nor the physical diseases your sexual partner is about to share with you!
God is only trying to protect us from these uncertainties when he commanded us to abstain from sexual immorality.
Sex as protection in marriage
Not every one of us can abstain from sex forever. Such categories of people are expected to get married, to protect them from sexual temptation.
Fornicating and committing adultery is as if you are giving parts of yourself away to a stranger, and those parts became lost forever.
But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his wife, and each woman with her husband.
Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7: 2 and 5
Jesus Christ knows how our body works. He had been once housed in a body like our own. He knows our strength and our weakness.
When He says couples should not deprive each other of sex unless it is mutually consented to. He has our interest at heart.
Sex must not be seen as a weapon in marriage. It could backfire and exposes your spouse to sexual temptation.
God does not intend sex to be an arsenal of war, rather it is meant to be an instrument of peace.
Sex as an entity of comfort
A friend was worried about his incessant sexual dreams and early morning hard-ons! He was afraid that his mind would be corrupted by these sexual thoughts.
When such things begin to happen in your life too, it means it is time for you to get a wife, your own woman or to get a husband, your own man!
Do not be afraid, just work on getting married. You will be comforted.
Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. Genesis 24: 67
Sexual drives are not an avenue for you to fornicate, nor to indulge yourself in extramarital affairs.
Your sexual drives is just an indication that you are human and normal. It means you are full of sexual hormones like everyone else.
Sex as a mean of procreation
If sex is not meant to be enjoyable and pleasurable, I wonder how many couples will endeavour to do it!
Of course, God designed sex so that we can always look forward to it.
We all incline to crave for something that we truly found pleasurable and enjoyable.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1: 28
God wants us to increase in population, through the procreation of course. His purpose for us is to dominate the earth and subdue it. To fill the earth by been fruitful and multiply in number.
Sex brings about loving children when it is done in the ordinance of marriage.
In Conclusion
God has procreation in mind when He designs sex for couples. And He wants them to have the pleasure of enjoying His gift.
God also wants married couples to be comforted through sex.
Many domestic misunderstandings have been settled on matrimonial beds!
God’s gift of sex is meant for couples to communicate in nonverbal ways. And to protect the couples from sexual sins.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
You were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6: 19 – 20.Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. We must not indulge it in sexual immoralities.
According to Matthew 15: 19 – 20, what defile a man (man and woman) is sexual immorality.
Will God judges sexual immorality? Yes, God will judge sexual sins.
Sexual union outside of marriage is never God’s purpose for sex.
What do you think of God’s purpose for sex? Leave your comment. -
The Priest and the Sinner
God had continued to whisper softly in his ears but his anger was too profound to make him hear a word. ‘The man who raped someone'sdaughter could kill someone!’he was reasoning. He had made a decision and nothing would change his mind about what to do. His sleep had been robbed by this unfortunate incident.The incident even sometimes made him forget what he wanted to do or what to eat. He was obsessed withthe progressive plans on his mind. Each time he looksupon his daughter, he seesthemanand feels the pain hisdaughter has felt. The more he felt the pain, the more he knew, he had to revenge the wrong to smile back on his daughter's face.
He was tossing and turning on his bed, rain was hitting hard on the roof and knocking on the windows. The winds were roaring outside. It had been like that all night. It was a storming night. The Priest got out of bed. The light was on in his daughter'sroom.Maybe she could not sleep either.
The Priest‘s heart was shattered into a million pieces to see his family this way. He reasoned that if he had done something worthwhile about it, this would not have happened. And the memory would have gone away like a bad dream.
He walked back to his room like a strangled man. The worst of the world was written on his face like a ruin. He was waiting for the day to break so that he could put his house in order and bring smiles and laughter back to his home. There would be peace again.
He began by making plans in his heart: he would call his daughter to show him the man. He could not imagine what the devil would look like. Of course, he would be handsome, soft-spoken, and friendly.
The world has often made the mistake of imagination that makes evil men look like a creature that has claws and horns. How else would a rapist look like, if not like the rest of us!
He decided to kill the man, his mind was finally made up.
He would turn deaf ears to his gentle inner voice and listen to his anger and disgrace instead. Otherwise, he won’t do anything about it, and worst of all, he would allow the evil to walk about free. Soon he would rape another man'sdaughter!His priesthood had often denied him of his human right to avenge a wrong. He stopped listening altogether, and there was indeed a knock on the door!‘Who could be calling so early at this hour?’ he wondered, ‘why had the caller chosen the church?’ It wasaduty call.Priesthood took over in that instant. He walked briskly to the church without a second thoughtnor a glance at his worries. At the church entrance stood a man in his late twenties. He was drenched and shivering. His worries were written all over him like a gigantic billboard.
THE END.
Also, read
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![“The Second Coming of Jesus Christ Life Hack
[The Ten Virgins as Case Study]”](https://oracle69.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/images-1.jpg)
“The Second Coming of Jesus Christ Life Hack [The Ten Virgins as Case Study]”
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ Life Hack
Second Coming of Jesus Christ [The Ten Virgins as Case Study]
Ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom to come. They were waiting to go with the bridegroom to the wedding banquet. It took a long time for the bridegroom to come. All the virgins fell asleep!
Virgins signify purity, sanctification, holiness and love. The virgins represent the chosen and expectant Christians, who are waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. They are pure, sanctified, holy and loving.
All the ten virgins had the above qualifications. They all reasonably assumed that with all the qualifications, it would be automatic for them to welcome the bridegroom.
Yet, of the ten virgins, five virgins were wise and five virgins were foolish.
The wise virgins eventually made it with the bridegroom to the wedding banquet. The foolish virgins did not make it. They failed, despite their qualifications.
Lessons from the five wise Virgins:
• They were ready:
They have all the qualifications: Purity, sanctification, holiness and love. They were qualified and ready to welcome the bridegroom. Thus, they were qualification-wise ready.
• They were expectant:
They were waiting anxiously for the bridegroom. They were very sure that the bridegroom would come.
• They were alive Spiritually:
They kept their lamp burning. They kept themselves in the light while they were waiting.
• They prepared themselves for any eventuality while waiting:
They kept extra oil! The extra oil would keep them from burning out. The oil of anointing would sustain their fire of Holy Spirit and therefore keep them in perpetual divine light.
• They were focused on their expectation:
Their expectation was the coming of the bridegroom. They were so wedding-banquet conscious. The bridegroom was the only way through whom they could get there. His coming was life and eternal joy for them.
• They readily prepared to avoid hindrances:
They had seen the end from the beginning. Thus, they considered all the likely hindrances and prepared to avoid them.
• Though they slept, they were alert spiritually:
They could hear the announcement that the bridegroom had come, though they were sleeping. Their bodies were sleeping, but their spirits were alive!
• They planned from the beginning to welcome the bridegroom:
They had studied about waiting and they understood the importance of preparation. They were knowledgeable that fire won’t burn forever. The oil needed to be renewed to keep the fire burning.
Lessons from the five foolish Virgins:
• They were also ready:
They had all it takes to welcome the bridegroom and therefore go with him to the wedding banquet.
• They were careless while waiting:
They did not prepare for eventualities. They were not with extra oil. They take necessary things lightly.
• They were expectant:
They were also sure that the bridegroom would come. They too were expecting him anxiously.
• They were alive spiritually:
They too kept their lamps burning. They were also in the light while they were waiting.
• They eventually slept spiritually:
Though they trimmed their lamps as soon as they woke up, their lamps were already going out! The fire of the Holy Spirit in them was waning and there was no extra oil of anointing to sustain the fire.
• They became distracted by the absence of oil and light:
They needed oil to lit their lamps. They knew that they could not welcome the bridegroom in a state of lamplessness.
• Their focus was changed:
They became shifted from where they were watching and waiting. They went out to look for oil to buy. At that moment, their focus was shifted from the bridegroom to we-must-get-oil-to-buy!
• They put hindrances on their own path:
They also saw the end from the beginning. But they did not prepare for any eventuality. They were very okay with their qualifications.
They were ignorant of hindrances, and they eventually perish in their ignorance.
• They planned to fail from the beginning:
They had no plan. They were careless of their lamps. They were clueless of the importance of preparation.
The Life Hack:
While we are waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us to Keep watch, because we do not know the day or the hour.
Thus, while we watch and wait steadfastly in holiness, love, sanctification and purity:
• We should renew our anointing constantly through daily fellowship with God.
• We should sustain the Holy Spirit in us through holy living.
Reference: Matthew 25: 1-13.
Also read
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5 Reasons You need to Speak in Tongues
Why do you have to speak in tongues?
Speaking in tongues
• Speaking in tongues is one of the evidence of Holy Spirit baptism. (Acts 2: 1-4)
• It is a sign to the unbelievers. (Acts 2: 8, 1 Corinthians 14: 22)
• It is one of the signs that will accompany those who believe. (Mark 16: 17)
The most important evidence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the change that occurs in men and women. We all experience a change when we receive Holy Spirit baptism.
• Saul became a new person and began to prophecy. (1 Samuel 10: 6)
• Fearful Peter became bold. He courageously preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Acts 2: 14-41)
5 reasons some people are baptized in the Holy Spirit: though they bear fruit of the Holy Spirit, they don’t speak in tongues.
Speaking In Tongues
• Some are afraid to receive the Holy Spirit baptism.
• Some don’t even ask for it.
• Some don’t want the stigma that is often attached to people who are known to speak in tongues.
• Some listen to Satan. Satan tells them they’re making up the words that come out of their mouth!
• Some don’t believe in it to receive it.
• Some have been taught that it is not biblical.
Satan has chosen Speaking in tongues of all other gifts to discredit it. And some people seem to get all upset when they see others speaking in tongues.
Act 2:4: Says: “All spoke in tongues. “It means that God purposely sent the gift and made them available to us because He wants us to have it!
This point out that there must be something very valuable in speaking in tongues.
12 Values of Speaking in Tongues:
• When we speak in tongues, we speak secrets and mysteries unto God. Speaking in tongues is a spiritual language that Satan cannot understand. (1Corinthians 14:2)
• When we pray in tongues, we edify ourselves and build ourselves up spiritually and also build up our faith. (Jude :20, 21)
• When we speak in tongues, we are conscious of the fact that God lives in us. (1 Corinthians 14: 4)
• When we speak in tongues, we are prophesying great things over our own lives. It is a great way to “Call things that be not as if they are.” (Roman 14: 17)
• When we pray in tongues, it is a way to pray accurately when we don’t know how to pray as we ought. (Roman 8: 26,27)
• When we pray in tongues, it enables us to pray much, even when our minds are tired. (1 Thessalonica 5: 17, Ephesians 6: 18)
• Speaking in tongues allows us to pray for things an situations we don’t know about. And people we don’t know about and certainly don’t know how to pray for.
• Speaking in tongues strengthens our relationship with God.
• Speaking in tongues helps us to train our Spirits to hear the voice of God and to operate in the other gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• Speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift to help others and edifies others when translated.
• Speaking in tongues refreshes our Spirits and our minds. And we can receive power from God.
• Speaking in tongues helps God get control of our tongues.We should encourage people to speak in tongues and not forbid them through our actions and teachings. (1 Corinthians 14: 39)
Holy Spirit gives ability to speak out. (Acts 2: 4)Also, read