Taken 4

When I woke up this morning, I had high hopes for the day. I thought I would spend time with my wife and children, make them happy especially because I was always busy with work at the office and this opportunity of the bank holiday was just perfect for us to relax and be happy as a family. But when I turned to my wife’s side of the bed and noticed she wasn't there, my mind was partially jolted. She had always been there when I woke up around this time in the mornings, looking beautiful as she flew away in Neverland. But this morning was different, “She must have gone to the rest room or had to attend to the kids” I thought. So, I checked the rest room first but she wasn't there then, I headed to the kids’ room and again she wasn't there. Also, the kids were gone! What’s going on? My thoughts were running a bit wild now: “Did she leave me?” I know I hadn't always been the best husband but she had always stood by me even when I deserved to be pushed away or did she just get tired of it all and decided to take the kids with her? Many questions were going on in my mind so first I decided to check if there had been any forced entry into the house but there was no evidence to support that, everything was just as it was when we all went to bed the previous night. Next, I decided to check if the car was outside, “She would have had to drive away if she took the kids with her” I thought. But the car was there, just as it was when I parked my car beside hers the preceding day. “What’s going on?”

Next, I got on my phone to call her closest friend Francine. If she’s left me suddenly like this, I'm pretty sure she’d have told Francine. The phone rang just once before it was picked up and the voice I heard at the other end of the line was a sad crying voice saying: “Is that you Craig?” “Hello, is that you Craig?” Craig? That’s Francine’s husband, why is she asking me if I was Craig? “It’s Tony” I said, “Janet’s husband. Are you okay? Why do you sound so distressed?” She told me she couldn't find her husband Craig and her three children, they seemed to have just vanished into thin air. My heart received another jolt on hearing that. I wished I could empathise with her but I had my own troubles and worries so immediately, I told her I couldn't find my wife and kids too and I had called to ask if she knew where they were. All I could hear after that question was Francine’s crying and moaning saying: “I think it has happened, He has returned.” What on earth is she talking about I thought. “What has happened and who has returned?” I asked her but she just kept sobbing and repeating: “I think it has happened, He has returned.” I dropped off the call thinking: “What’s going on? Who has returned?” . . .

Am I dreaming or am I in an alternate universe? My wife and kids were missing at 3am in the morning, her best friend’s husband and kids were also missing. What was going on? My mind couldn't fathom all this so, I started looking for clues to understand what was happening. I search all our wardrobe to check for missing items of clothing, Janet's bags and our passports. She would have taken her passport as well as our children’s if she left but everything was perfectly intact as they had always been. I did the same search in my children’s room but everything was again in perfect order as they had always been. It seemed like they had been abducted by aliens or something out of a sci-fi movie.

I knew I needed to speak to the police immediately so I grabbed the phone and just as I was about to dial the emergency number, I heard a loud cry from outside, it was my next door neighbour and their kids were missing too! Both husband and wife were present but their kids had vanished. They must have woken the entire street up with their crying and shouting. They came out to the front porch of their house and kept shouting the names of their three children but no answer came. It was about 4am now so, I hurried out to ask them what had happened. They simply told me their kids had vanished. They had called the emergency service and couldn't get any response. “That’s absurd” I thought, the emergency service always responded to calls immediately. So, with my mobile phone still in my hand, I called the emergency service but as my neighbours had told me, there was no response.

Now, I was getting really impatient and almost paranoid. I ran into the house and turned on the television while I got on my computer to search the internet for what could be going on. All the stations on the TV were reporting stories of missing people, crashed vehicles with missing drivers and it seemed all the children in the county had disappeared. Could this be what Janet had talked about? I remember vaguely how she said some Jesus would appear from the sky and people would be caught up to meet him but I always discarded her beliefs as sci-fi and said that Jesus must be an Alien but right now, my thoughts were running wild, the news wasn't helping and I just wanted to have my family back so I was ready to accept any explanation of what was going on.

In a split second, my thoughts wandered to when Janet and I were high school sweethearts and how we enjoyed our youthful days with partying and everything you could imagine a young person would do behind their parents. So, you can imagine how I was taken aback when 2 years into our marriage, she said she had found Jesus and kept going on and on about how I needed him to transform my life for the better as well. “I'm just fine!” I would say. I always asked her: “Why would I need some Jesus to transform my life? I was a good person and did good things to other people” but she had an idea that my being good wasn't good enough according to God's standards. Janet used to be very fun and outgoing. We were both party animals and we loved it but now, she was like a sobered drunk. She wasn't much fun to be with anymore but I thought to myself, “this must just be a phase, she’ll pass through it and return to my fun-loving Janet again.” But I was wrong because she continued in this “phase” for another 2 years and quite frankly, I was getting sick of living with her like this. She also never let me have a resting moment without bringing up the talk about how I needed Jesus to transform my life and also make me ready for the end of the world.

All these thoughts were still in my head when, suddenly, I heard a loud bang on the door. I looked outside and it was my other next door neighbour Keith. Keith had been my partner in partying and fun since Janet “found” Jesus. “My wife and kids are gone man!” he cried as I opened the door. “It’s happened to Keith as well” I thought. Keith’s wife, like Janet, had also “found” Jesus and had also encouraged him to “find” Jesus just like Janet had always told me to. I wasn't a theologian or researcher but I could put the various information I was receiving together with what the news on the TV and internet were all saying. It seemed like this Jesus had abducted all those who believed in him as well as those who were too young to decide what to believe in (the children). “Could what Janet said about this world coming to an end be real?” What would now happen to me? My family was gone, it seemed the world was in chaos as multiple cases of missing people and children were been reported on the television, was this the end?

TONY! TONY! TONY! WAKE UP! “That’s Janet’s voice” I thought, then everything came crashing down . . . and I woke up.

It was a dream, “IT WAS A DREAM!” I exclaimed. I must have woken the entire neighbourhood with that shout. Janet told me my mumbling and crying woke her up and I seemed to be in great pain hence, she tried to wake me up. She was right, I was in great pain in that dream, I thought I had lost my family, I thought I had come to the end of my rope and I was there because I didn't listen to what my wife had to say about Jesus. The dream felt so real, I could have sworn that it was.

You may be reading this now and think this could just be fiction but the Bible clearly says that those believers who are around at the return of the Jesus would be caught up and would remain with him forever (1 Thess 4:16-17). Also, the Bible records Jesus talking about His return to gather up his own people (John 14:1-4). Various other references are contained in the Bible which speak of the end of the world (Matt24:1-51). Why not take this opportunity to accept Jesus, no one knows the exact time of His return (Matt 24:36-42) and postponing it may be infinitely dangerous.

- Twale

Photo Credit: http://community.eu.playstation.com/

The Analogy of the Bones

Hi Readers & Followers,

I was contemplating on what to post on the blog this week; I was waiting for the Holy Spirit to instruct me on what to publish this week. You won't believe what happened; one of my writers contacted me, he explained how God taught Him about the allegory of the dry bones and God gave him the go ahead to write and also publish it. What an awesome God! God purposely delayed speaking to me because He had prepared Sage to teach us this week. 

I hope you are excited to read this captivating post. My bible knowledge was actually challenged as I read the post. I had always thought the bones became human beings...actually, let me not give everything away.  

A quick introduction...Sage is the author of What Men Really Want and You Are Exceptional.

The Analogy of the Bones...

At the beginning of the year, I decided I was going to start taking practical steps in my goal of educating the minds of others (myself included). So here is my third attempt at digging into the word and writing about it.

This analogy came to me during a Sunday Service in which my pastor preached on dry bones. During the message, I sat there wondering: whatever happened to the dry bones? What happened to the army that was created from those dry bones? They couldn't have simply vanished. Or could they? When you watch Nigerian movies, you watch how people just suddenly disappear only to re-appear in a shrine or in the case of Pirates of the Caribbean, gone to the other world to save Jack Sparrow or retrieve some goblet to drink water and stay forever young. Why did they need those exact goblets! Speaking of bones, I just remembered the Curse of the black pearl and how Barbosa and his crew turned to skeletons under the moonlight. I'm digressing.

While I was thinking of all this, I heard the pastor mention that it was a dream and I went oh, I see! So Ezekiel was dreaming all along and all these years I assumed it was real. Like Ezekiel was walking and actually stumbled on a valley of dry bones and then proceeded to resurrect them as instructed by God. That would be really awkward. How do you start explaining to them that God rose them up from the dead? How do you explain to people that an army that had been dead for so long their bones had dried up? What would you name each individual?

Let me be very honest, before I arrived at this point of revelation, I was actually sleepy and wondering how I would last the length of a sermon that had barely started. Thank God for the gift of revelation. In trying to battle the drowsiness, it hit me (revelation that is). At this moment, let’s flip to Ezekiel 37:1-14. In reading the first two verses, you notice that it was God that led him to that valley. Of all the valleys, it was the one that had dry bones that he was led to not the one overflowing with gold coins or milk and honey; there’s a very good reason. Let’s see:

1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.

One thing we should pick out is not just the fact that the valley was full of bones but of bones that were very dry. Meaning they have been there for a very long time and the sun has done a number on those bones. If this was a pirate movie, it would have been called ‘Bones Valley’ (or some sinister hilarious name). Let’s call it Bones Valley…….power of the pen ☺. Ezekiel was in Bones Valley with the Lord and you can be sure there was going to be a test. Time for Vs.3

3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

When my pastor read this verse, I smiled: sharp guy! He threw the question back to God on a coded level and thought he had scaled the test successfully. As people we like forming sharp or that na Warri sharp pass (Warri no dey carry last), God will always be sharper. Ezekiel didn’t know that was just question 1. So let’s see what question 2 was. God then said:

4 “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Thankfully, as Vs. 7 & 8 showed, he passed the second test and did as he was instructed. Then came the final test question, as if the previous questions had not been testing enough, God then instructed him to prophecy breath into the bones. I’m sure most of us by now would have gone: Breath?! Into these bones! You first asked me if the bones can live, as a sharp guy I said: you alone knows. You then asked me to prophecy life and flesh into the bones, so I don’t seem stubborn or lacking in faith I did as commanded. Now you’re telling me to speak breath into these bones. Na wa for you oooooo! However, Ezekiel had reached the point of revelation and understanding and passed with flying colors (37:10). What is important to note here is that it is very important as Christians to reach the point of understanding and revelation, otherwise we will respond like Ezekiel did in 37:2.

By now, I’m guessing some of you would be wondering like I was in service: what does dry bones have to do with anything. What do dry bones stand for?! I submit to you as my pastor did that dry bones are those issues and problems we face in life on a daily basis. From things like money to buy food to things like being delivered from barrenness or the woman with the issue of blood. Let’s see Matthew 15:22-28. This was a woman with a very dry bone in her life:

22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

She was going through a lot, God been a merciful God, you would think He would have gone: Be Healed! Naaaa. He first tested her, in order to see her level of faith and trust in Him. In vs.23, you’ll realize that despite her pleas, Jesus did not answer her. How would you feel if you went to your parents to ask for something you desperately need, let’s say school fees, and they continue watching TV like you don’t exist? But because the woman knew the bone in her life and been desperate to leave Bones Valley, she didn’t give up. Eventually Jesus responded. You’d think, alas He has answered her and her moment of deliverance is at hand. Wrong! Then came test number two:

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

Imagine that. Just imagine. At this point some of us would have given up or even worse, resorted to insults. What did this giant of faith do? She cried even more and even knelt down (Vs. 25). Then came the final test, test number three:

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Ah Ah. Even in my church when the pastor read this verse, you could hear the gasps in the room. Na wa. At this point most of us would have responded in anger (myself included; I know right). But what happened, this daughter of Zion had before approaching Jesus entered the place of revelation and understanding. Read what she said:

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.

Wow. As in wow. Aunty you try no be small and of course as a result of passing the test, her dry bones were brought to life. Oddly enough as I’m writing this, I just realized that in the cases of these two stories, they were tested three times just to see the level of their faith. Another person that was in Bones Valley was Philip in John 6:4-7. Like John 6:6 tells us, Jesus already knew what he was going to do but he needed to test the faith of those around Him.

What is important to notice is that as children of God, there will be times when we are stuck in Bones Valley. It is not because God does not love us or because He doesn’t care for us but because He wants to build up your faith and trust in Him. The only way out is for you to hold fast, grow in faith and trust and know that no matter how dry the bones or how full your valley is, there is a God who can give flesh to those bones and bring them to life. When next you read the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11), take note of the bones those great men and women of faith had. I can thus submit to you that until you pass the test of faith, you’ll continue to wallow in Bones Valley.

What are those bones (issues or problems) in your marriage? In your relationship? In your career? In your finances? In your health? In your ministry? Trust in God, be steadfast in your faith and see your bones come to life. Stay blessed!


- Sage

 

Sage is a graduate of human resource management and a 24/7 salesman. A clay in the hands of the Potter, he is on a journey to knowing God and becoming the man God has called him to be. He has a passion for football and society at large. In his quest for knowledge, he has recently restarted his passion for reading books. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

 

Photo Credit: http://hubpages.com/

Be Creative With Your Praise To God

Are you alive today? If Yes, you have met the criteria to praise God as the Bible says let everything that has breath praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6).

Psalm 150 describes a wide variety of different musical forms of praise: “Praise the Lord with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, praise Him with the clash of cymbals and praise Him with resounding cymbals. 

Music is a powerful form of expressing our deep feelings from our souls to God.

Consider Praising God...

1a) In the Good time: Declare His Goodness over your life through music. 

1b) Give Him a sacrifice of praise: Hebrews 13:15: “Through Jesus … let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” 

After failing my driving test for the second time, I was encouraged by a friend to give God praise. I was clueless as to why I needed to praise God, after all, He did not answer my request. I remembered the scripture that says "Give thanks in all situations' I humbled myself and I took some time to thank God for safe driving during the test and I said to God that, I looked forward to passing when He felt I was ready to drive independently.

When you give God a sacrifice of praise, you're declaring that you trust God no matter the situations and you believe He is still God. To believe is to have faith, and our faith pleases God. 

2) In the morning: Start your morning by praising God and sing a new song unto Him.

3) In the noon time: Take a quick break in the afternoon to sing a song of worship to God. A song that expresses how your day is going and who God is to you.

4) In the evening: Sing another song unto God.

5) Before bed time: Thank Him for the day. If you can play an instrument; this is an opportunity to play music unto God.

Sing a new song unto God. Incorporate praising God into your lifestyle. 

Watch this video and be blessed as you listen:

- Myss Lafunky

Photo credit: kingsenglish.info

Take It To The Lord

When Jesus encountered a blind man, His disciples immediately began to discuss the reason for the man’s condition. They asked Jesus, ‘Was this man’s blindness the result of his own sins, or the sins of his parents?’ Jesus answered, ‘[He was born blind] so the power of God could be seen in him.’ 

Notice four things: 1) The disciples were eager to attribute the man’s problem to his sin. And Satan will try to convince you that because of your sin you’re disqualified from God’s grace, but you’re not! God doesn't examine your past to decide your future. 

Can you relate with point no 1? When people think of sin, they automatically think of adultery and fornication. Sin consists of slandering others, gossiping, quarrelling, not implementing what God said, etc,

2) When Jesus healed him, the neighbours were more interested in debating than celebrating—and not much has changed! They started asking, ‘“…Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was…others said, “No…”’ (v 8-9 NLT). 

Have you practised no 2? Do you relate with people based on their past? If you think of Person A, do you always make reference to their past? If God is not doing that with you, why are you doing it with others? 

3) His healing failed the ‘religiosity test’ because the Pharisees said, “…This man Jesus is not from God…working on the Sabbath…”’ (v 16 NLT). 

4) Even the man’s parents weren't free to praise God, because ‘…anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue’ (v. 22 NLT). 

To the neighbours he was a misfit, to church leaders he was a topic of debate, to his parents he was a social stigma, so they ‘…threw him out’ (v 34 NIV). 

End of story? Thank God—no! ‘Jesus…went and found him…[and]…said, “I came…so that those who have never seen will see…”’ (v 35, 39 TM). 

So instead of rehashing your problem and listening to other people’s opinions, take it to the Lord in prayer. 

When you share it with others, the best you’ll get is sympathy unless you have a prayer partner , but when you share it with Jesus you’ll get a solution.

Direct telephone number to Jesus: Jeremiah 33:3 (Call Upon Me and I will answer YOU and show YOU Great and MIGHTY things that you do not know). 

Word For Today modified by Myss Lafunky for Myss Lafunky's blogspot.

The Balanced Christian

Happy New Month Readers & Followers, 

This is the month of August, I would term A.U.G.U.S.T as: 

- Ask

-Until

-God

- Unveil

- Something

-Tangible.

Some of you might have noticed that I have been sharing articles written by a friend. She has written another article which I believe Myss Lafunky's readers would learn from it. Below is the article. Happy reading! 

The Balanced Christian...

I and my husband had a wonderful discussion with a couple yesterday and we talked about so many issues affecting Christianity today. Once again, we realized as I have always talked about here the need for balance in Christianity. What we have obtainable in our time, is actually the experience of two extremes. On one side of the divide is the sect that teaches a lot about Christian living, character, godliness, righteousness etc. what we notice in this set of people is that they are so heavenly conscious and their relationship with God has a direct impact on their way of life. They have understood that we are pilgrims on earth and we should have little or no emotional attachment to wordly possessions. However, we notice sadly that they know little or nothing about the power of God that is able to change the circumstances of their lives. So they may be going through difficult situations for years without a change though their faithfulness to God would never wane. Those around them though they commend them, are hardly drawn to their “God” of today who would allow them suffer in penury, sickness etc with the hope of a heavenly promise.

On the other side are the Christians who understand grace, faith, and the power of God etc. They know they have received the dynamic ability of God to cause changes in their lives; they are men of faith who through powerful confessions of the Word, lay hold of the promises of scripture and see it produce results in their lives. They understand new creation realities; dominion etc and miracles are part and parcel of their lives. However, these set knows next to nothing about Christian character and living. Here you see the highest levels of moral decadence, a high abuse of the term grace, people that speak in tongues one minute and the next they are fighting and using abusive words on neighbours and colleagues. Little wonder that Benny Hinn actually preached and said healing evangelists usually backslide so fast and he has come across so many that have fallen from faith.

I’m not condemning anyone. I have been at the two worlds personally but my hearts cry for a long time has been “balance”. I want to be taught about the power of God and see the signs that the scripture said SHALL follow the believer in churches, as well as be a Christian whose life reflects the gospel of Christ.

Later in the evening, during bible study with my Oga Prince, we felt we had made a scientific discovery and we felt like shouting “EUREKA’. God finally opened our eyes to see what we have been searching for and this forms the basis of our devotion.  Can we please open to 2 Peter 1-3:10

”v.3:  According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue”- This verse is very clear. We have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness.

“v.4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”

verse 3 and 4 is very exciting, however, we realize from verse 5 that our enjoyment of verse 3 and 4 is hinged on the verses following it.

“v.5 -And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge”

We are told to add to our faith virtue. Virtue here actually means strength, power, excellence. The power that actually left Jesus when He healed the woman with the issue of blood. Furthermore,we are to add to virtue knowledge. Knowledge of God, His word and our rights as Christians.

From this verse, we find the 2nd set of Christians I described. They understand faith, power, knowledge etc. however, this is not enough.

“v. 6-And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7-And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” 

These two verses now describe the first set of Christians. They have self control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity which is love. But they lack faith, power and knowledge and that’s why though they are good Christians, they don’t understand the miraculous to a large extent.

“v. 8-10- For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9-But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10-Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” 

These verses make us understand that we must have these qualities in TOTALITY if we desire to be fruitful. We do not have the luxury of picking the ones we want at the expense of the other. If we lack even in one of these, our election is not sure and we are therefore blind. If we want to be sure of being fruitful Christians without backsliding or stumbling, we must diligently develop these qualities because verse 10 is very clear. It states that we shall never fall if we have these in our lives.

Don’t be a good, self controlled, patient, godly Christian exhibiting all the gifts of the spirit and be ignorant of God’s word due to lack of knowledge or be deficient in faith or know next to nothing about the resurrection power that is at work in you as stated in Philippians 3:10 and Eph 3:20.

Don’t also be an “I know who I am” Christian that fights with the usher because he directs you to sit in a place you don’t like (This girl has been there hehehe) or be one that cuts corners at work or is involved in some fraudulent and ungodly activities.

We need to seek grace to be balanced Christians. The world is awaiting the manifestation of men of this sort. Men full of power and the word but are still so spirit controlled that everyone aroundthem can testify about the saving grace of Jesus. Men that that their lives alone preach Christ in all His fullness. Disciplined and godly Christians at work that others notice and respect but at the same time so full of the anointing that all the sick people at work know to stop by their desk for a word of prayer and the office management just like Potiphar understands the blessing they have by virtue of his presence in that organization.

Christian lifestyle alone cannot preach the gospel because the scripture is very clear that if the signs are not following you, you do not believe because Mark 16:17 is very clear “These signs SHALL follow those who believe”. However, the miraculous without Christian character, discipline and godliness sends out an offensive odour to those around us. We need the totality of 2 Peter 1:5-7.

HELP US O LORD!!!

- Daughter of Zion