Nigeria Must Rise!

Good morning Nigeria

May the one chosen to lead Nigeria to fulfil destiny be chosen today.

May there be peace and calm in our land.

Nigeria must rise out of the ashes of corruption, inequity,mediocrity to attain its full potential.

So help us God.

Amen!

Bible mis quotes-part 2

 

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

Luke 2:13-14 | NIV

 

For the moment, I have been examining the idea around this subject and I am continuing my thoughts about bible mis quotes. I have decided that examining the context of scripture will give me more depth and understanding of it. A popular bible teacher called Bill Johnson talks about the need for christians to 'know the tone of God's voice' in one of his videos that I watched. That is a nuance, and a delicate subtle thing- tone. Bill Johnson's assertions corroborate the idea that one should look deeper and wider at scriptures in front of us in order to fully understand/ assimilate what we are supposed to.

 

I have seen countless greeting cards that declare the words in Luke 2:14, but the quote is always cut short after the word peace. I was quite taken aback actually, when i read the second part. It was a 'screech to a halt, woah moment' for me. So the peace on earth we wish everyone at Christmas is actually meant 'for those on whom His favour rests'

What does this mean for you and I?

What does this mean for all the people of our world?

Who are those on whom His favour rests?

 

Please comment on this topic, it would be great to hear your thoughts about it and specifically the questions I have posed here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bible mis quotes

After my devotion this morning, I was thinking over what I had just read and how it applied to me and my life. It occurred to me that several bible passages are quoted out of context, and I have done this on many occassions. I searched 'bible misquotes' and really enjoyed the write up who's link I am posting here. 

This is worth thinking about In order to get a fuller, perhaps more accurate interpretation of scripture. It shows clearly that the contexts in which the original texts were written matter.

Click on the link below.

http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2014/04/01/five-bible-verses-you-need-to-stop-misusing/31534

Happy reading! 

Please read the comments posted by various people as well, there are a series of interesting perspectives which may assist you in moulding your own.

By the skin of our teeth!

Time stood still and raced ahead in alternate pattern on our way to the airport to catch our Delta flight to Miami via Atlanta. We had planned everything to a tee, packed ahead of time, and thought through all sorts of logistics. However, on the day, Lekki Phase one was in gridlock from about 11.30 am. By the time we hurriedly got into the car with our baggage at about 5:15 pm, we were already utterly exhausted. We would have fallen into deep sleep on the journey to the airport, but for the high anxiety of possibly missing our flight. I have never seen so many cars jammed packed on the road, it was like those epic movies where everyone is leaving town because of some impending disaster. 

Our driver Moshood, came into his own weaving through the traffic, never sparing the tiniest opening, and sometimes bullying his way in. He used the horn liberally, and for the first time ever, we remained silent and did nothing to curb his aggressive driving. It was in fact accurate and very skilled.
We could not sleep, as we had planned to because our eyes were pinned on the road as though that would somehow miraculously do something to clear the mayhem.
We tuned our car radio to a channel that had people calling in to report on traffic at various points in Lagos. The reports were not encouraging at all! Someone called in and announced in a very excited voice telling us that Ozumba was free, and he could see all the way to Bonny camp. I tried my best not to resent the man, who advised, we should avoid Osborne. 'Ya! ha-loooo I am stuck on Osborne, so what gives?' One man called in and made a hilarious comment that can only come from a Nigerian. He said "Traffic come tie wrappa!" There was all sorts of dialogue going on in my head ranging from various resentful attitudes towards the free flowing traffic areas to silently whispered prayers for God to help us. Hmmm,it was a challenge, my usual ability to remain calm and patient flew right out of the window. I could hardly think and was totally overcome with emotions such as fear, panic, impatience and all sorts of images flashed through my head. It was quite intense, and thankfully, the high energy of the emotions combined with sheer exhaustion from our prior activities, sent us into a sleepy stupor for a while. It did not last long, and we were soon awake again, and I had a crick in my neck from all the held in tension. 

The most nerve racking part came when we were within sights of the ramp leading up to the departure drop off zone. My eyes flitted between the digital display of time on the dashboard and our position on the ramp and my mind kept calculating and making assumptions based on these as to our estimated time of arrival. It did not feel good at all, I felt so much as though I was in a pressure can about to self combust. So I got into an animated discussion with hubby as to whether or not we should just jump down with our cases and get one of the roaming touts behind trolleys to convey our baggage into the airport building. Moshood kept faith and kept reassuring us that we would make it, all the while inching forward with precision, not letting as much of a hair's width of space go to waste.

At that very moment, I was in fact so agitated that I felt like flying out if the car and sprinting to the Delta airlines desk. We were in front of departure drop off with twenty minutes to when the check in counter closed. On reaching the drop off zone, there was absolutely no where to park, or pull in to drop our bags, so we sort of double parked. The nano second hubby and I got down to offload our bags from the back of the car, a couple of gun toting , pot bellied individuals in uniform ( I honestly don't know which uniform) came forward trying to shoo us off, and stopping us from offloading. I took a split decision there and then, yanking down our two biggest bags in no time flat. I had no idea I had that kind of strength in my arms! It was one of those 'sense of wonder ' moments like the story of a mother who single handedly lifted a car off her child's body. Adrenalin is a fabulous hormone that will deliver a super hero quantum of ' kick ass power' when you need it. Hubby yanked down the hand luggage bags and later on when all sanity had retuned , he asked me why I chose to grab the two bigger bags. I was silent. I cannot explain why, it just happened, and I just saw a difficult situation that I attacked with all the adrenalin pumping gusto I could muster.

If all the preceding stress was not enough, we still had to negotiate entering the airport building's doors, where the airport authorities of MMA1 had cleverly installed one single scanning machine for all passengers coming through to check in. It was one of those daft decisions, which make me wonder what exactly is wrong with us as a people, and why we are incapable of forward planning, rational thought and managing crowds.

It was like Tejuosho, Mushin and Ajegunle on steroids. The ground was wet from the recent rain, there were muddy puddles waiting to be stepped into, and everyone was surging forward towards the doors at the same time with a variety of sizes of luggage. The smell of sweat was thick in the air, I was aware of being far too close to various people's mostly squishy anatomical parts, and I was literally eyeball to eyeball with one lady. Everyone was shouting and pushing, and it was absolute pandemonium, but the super hero adrenalin enablement had not subsided. I shamelessly pushed past them all, elbowing unseen people who had no idea that I was not deranged at all but making sure we got to the check in counter before it closed. There was too much at stake, two connecting flights and a cruise ship at the end of it, and all our friends who were going to be on the same cruise for a destination birthday gathering. We just about poured ourselves in through the crowded door, and made it to the check in counter.

I have never been happier to be at the boarding gate, and it was an enormous relief to get seated on board. Very soon, our bodies caught up to the pace of the recent activity and we fell into a deep sleep, knowing that we had the length of twelve and a half hours ahead to unwind. The chirpy, smiling Delta airways cabin crew's hospitality was so welcome, I could have group hugged them out of sheer relief.

Prayers for the 150 abducted Syrian Christians

Photo- Reuters

It is written in: 

Matthew 18:19-20 (NIV)
Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about
anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in
heaven.
For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

We agree in one accord and pray that these 150 hostages will be delivered from the hands of the cruel according to Jeremiah 15:21 

         "and they  will be saved from the hands of the wicked and delivered from the grasp of the cruel.”

We pray for courage for them, that the God who upholds them and comforts them at this critical time, will fight for them according to Deuteronomy 3:22

We agree and declare that:

No weapon forged against anyone of these 150 will prevail, and we stand in the gap for them and refute every tongue that accuses them. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me, ”declares the Lord.
-Isaiah 54:17 (NIV)

May the Lord be their strength in this time of trouble:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
-Psalms 46:1-3 (NIV)

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
-Psalms 9:9 (NIV)

May the Lord go ahead of them to fight against their captors.
For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
-Deuteronomy 20:4 (NIV)

Our Lord and our God, contend with ISIS and its agents and save these 150

But this is what the Lord says:“Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce;I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.
-Isaiah 49:25 (NIV)

We pray for them to be guided in their thoughts , speech, actions, attitude and demeanour by the power of the Holy Spirit who will:  

instruct them  and teach them in the way they should go; He will
guide them with His eye.Psalms.32:8 KJV

Show us your mighty hand Lord and cause their captors to treat them with kindness, exactly as His word says in Psalm 106:46 NLT

              He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness

Lord, we cry unto you, rescue these 150, save them, show your might, your power, your love and your mercy
Psalms 7:9 (NIV)
Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure—you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts.

Psalms.37:39-40 NLT
39 The Lord rescues the godly;  he is their fortress in times of trouble.


Psalms 37:7 NLT
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don't worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

We thank you Lord for answered prayer concerning these 150 souls belonging to your kingdom.

Deliver them from the hands of the wicked!

In Jesus mighty name!

Amen!

Signs that follow a believer

In reading Matthew 7:16, which I paraphrase here : 'by their fruits you will know them', I looked at the context in which it was written as seen in the preceding verse 16 which outlines a warning against false prophets.
The truth is that 'signs' follow every human being. The signs are an expression of personality, character, belief system and choices made. It is therefore fair to conclude certain things based on the 'signs' someone exhibits. I wonder how this relates to 'judging people' , and if I could run the risk of judging and pigeon holing people when I look at their 'signs'.
I know that what our Saviour did was to acknowledge the person's short comings while at the same time speaking an alternative path into their lives bundled in His forgiveness. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like so I must emulate Christ's behaviours towards ' negative signs' and at the same time beware of false prophets.
The 'signs' that I would , (so help me God ) have evident in my life are described in
Galatians 5:22 New Living Translation (NLT) . This is no easy task, and in my walk I have found that i display some of these signs some of the time. I think it is impossible to display them all of the time as long as I am in this earth suit, and living in a fallen world. I am not talking about passing the buck here, but being honest and forthright enough to acknowledge that ' it ain't easy!'

The great thing is that I can keep coming back, to the source of all the power in heaven and on earth, my creator, my manufacturer has given me access to His power, but I must be in covenant with Him in the first place. It is like a club which has rules that govern membership, and I cannot draw down on benefits without following the cardinal rule of being obedient. Easier said than done, right?

Let's take a look at Galatians 5: 22 

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

I heard from a bible teacher many years back, that this scripture is often slightly misquoted in its use and understanding . I used to think of this list as 'different fruits' almost like a menu list to draw down from but the bible teacher pointed out that it is 'one fruit' and that the list are aspects of it. This is consistent with the concept of multifaceted personality of God, who is one.

The most important thing is that it is evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the essence of God in Christ, and God in the life of a believer. To me Galatians 5:22 is essentially 'the great commission'. 


FURTHER THOUGHTS
The opportunity to develop, strengthen and use this list of the believer's attributes as seen in the fruit of the spirit, present themselves in every sphere of my life, at home, at work, driving my car, at the hair salon,at church, at fellowship, in all my relationships with friends , family, colleagues and people I meet for the briefest moments. What this means in practical terms is that I will be exposed to someone or situations which will get on my last nerve, try my patience until I feel I cannot bear it any longer. It is very uncomfortable, and one might feel inclined to find every means to get even. However, through this kind of experience, under God, patience is being developed.

Patience leads to perseverance which will strengthen your spiritual muscles like an awesome six pack! 

I have learnt that I must not always listen to my feelings. Feelings have their role and are an important aspect of our human experience, but feelings are not Christians! 

So, the message I have received through various trying times, applying the meat of what I've outlined here, is that :

• 1) It is all good
• 2) All the hard knocks of life are defining moments of opportunity

GOD IS THE SAME FOREVER

14 God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

Exodus 3:14  NIV

Often in our prayers, Christians use words from the bible. It is great to affirm His word in this way. When we declare that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, it is not just a matter of quoting scripture, it is consistent with something I have observed in my quiet time this morning.

In the Old Testament , well before Christ came to earth as a human, in Exodus 3:14, God reveals Himself to Moses and says who He is. He simply declares 'I AM' 

In Jesus's time on earth, he makes declarations about who He is using various contextual phrases. He used contextual phrases a lot, and the these were taken from the lived experience of His listeners. This is what made Jesus a great teacher. Neuro scientists have discovered that human beings learn better when they can connect to the material in a way that means something to them. You see, Jesus knew this already because He is God and He was there at the beginning and was part of the creative force that put this beautiful earth and all its creatures together. 

John's gospel is packed with the eight powerful I AM statements of Jesus. As I read through them, I was in awe that they are still relevant today, more than 2000 years later! But then, He is God, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Honouring Nigeria's hero- Ameyo Adadevoh's obituary in BMJ of 7 th Feb2015

Isn't it just wonderful that Ameyo continues to be honoured. Her Obituary appeared in the British Medical Journal of 7 th February 2015. 

Ameyo in the British Medical Journal of 7th Feb 2015

Prayers for our children

Hello there!

These Prayers were inspired by and guided by the reference scriptures quoted here. I have used them again and again and I am sharing them for other parents to use. You may use them to pray for any young people in your life, or for any one for that matter. Praying God's word means the answer is YES! Because His word is His will. 

So Hubby and I pray these with a peaceful calm that our Heavenly Father has heard and will fulfil His word. May you enjoy the knowledge that He has heard you and He will answer YES as well. 

Just substitute name(s) where the blanks are to personalise the prayers.

Enjoy His peace!

Amen

Ref: Psalm 119:9-16

Dear Lord, in the name of Jesus, i commit ----------into your hands to stay on the path of purity and live according to your word. 

-------seeks you with all their hearts and follows you so closely, that he/she do not stray from your commands. 

-----------has  hidden your word in their heart that they might not sin against you.
I declare that ---------gives Praise  to you, Lord, because you teach him/ her your decrees.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, may they with their lips recount all the laws that come from the mouth of God.
--------------rejoices in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 

--------meditates on your precepts and consider your ways, and they also delight in your decrees.

Amen!

             

Ref:Mark 3:27 , Psalm 119: 59-64

Lord ,we read from your word that in fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 

According to this word, we banish and rebuke every stronghold in the life of --------

That they shall engage with your word and keep it in their consciousness at all times. 

That your word, sharper than any double edged sword shall be strong within them. 

The word of truth shall well up like a mighty warrior, and stand firm within --------

 -------- is released from all principalities, powers,spirit of lack, ancestral ties , and from every negative genetic lineage that is in them.

-------- is released from any bonds they may have made themselves through sexual encounters or any other means. 

I cancel and negate every plan of the enemy concerning any attack whatsoever, be it in their physical bodies, psyche, spirit, mind and soul.

That the peace of God which surpasses all understanding shall be the portion of --------
Lord God Almighty, renew the joy of salvation in --------, give them a fresh zeal, a hunger and passion for your word. 

Reveal yourself to --------so clearly that they gain the freedom to choose what is right. 

Give -------- a clear revelation of who they are in Christ Jesus, such that when they are presented with counterfeit spiritualities, they will recognise them and flee. 

May --------consider your ways and turn their steps to your statutes. 

I declare that they hasten and do not delay to obey your commands.
Concerning -------- friendships, Lord, God , Our Father, we affirm according to your word that they are friends to all who fear you,to all who follow your precepts.
Amen!

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE

You gave me a beautiful garment of praise today

And I thank you Lord for your faithfulness

You have answered me in a myriad ways

I cannot begin  to tell how much

I am strong within, and my faith is strengthened

Double portion giver

Restorer of locust eaten places

I bow, I worship you in gratitude.

ABIDE- John 15:5

ABIDE- faithful God, our ever present help

Faithful God, our ever- present help.

By the power of the Holy Spirit
You indwell us all the time
Therefore Lord, you ABIDE with us. 

This is the beauty of who you are!
We ABIDE in you loving Father.
It feels good, it feels right.
We are strong

Food for growth

Faith is a shield

Faith is a shield
That when produced within
Is formed by our thoughts and actions
In deep recesses of our minds
The true lie of our spirit
Faith is the GPS of spiritual perception
The locator and director of our path
Faith is thinking and doing opposites
To what we see, and feel and know
To circumstances, and things that generate fear
Faith is the parchment paper we write on
Faith is a catalyzer
That allows us to perceive
To access and to know His favour

Happy 2015!