Category: Articles

TURN

Leave a comment

The book of Luke chronicles three very famous parables of Jesus in its 15th chapter. These are the parable of the Lost Sheep, the parable of the Lost Coin and the parable of the Prodigal Son. In case you don’t know, a parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels (Oxford Dictionary). These 3 stories were brilliantly arranged by Luke to tell a concise and consistent story. The main message is the subject we will be discussing with some references to the parables but I highly recommend that you read the entire thing in Luke chapter 15.

In the first two parables, Jesus uses a word that is sadly becoming unpopular today: “REPENT”. In the past, the word was associated with the archetype of the angry preacher yelling damnation at people. However, seeing that our Lord used this word Himself, it will do us good to separate the word from this stereotype and understand as Jesus meant for it to be. The Greek transliteration of the word is “metanoeō” which means to change one’s mind. It means that the repeated phrase Jesus made in verses 7 and 10 can be rewritten as “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that changes their mind”

This change of mind is said to be something that Heaven rejoices about. I take this detour from our line of thought to establish a point. The sinner’s repentance or change of mind is something that is not in the control of Heaven or any supernatural force. This is why there is rejoicing. This change of mind is completely controlled by the will of a man. Therefore, Heaven’s best efforts will only present a compelling argument to the man but he or she can reject that argument no matter how convincing. In the event that someone, anyone makes that change of mind, Heaven rejoices. The third parable illustrates this perfectly.

The parable of the Prodigal Son has some odd bits that can help us in understanding this dynamic. For reference, the Father represents God and the prodigal son represents the Sinner. In this parable, the son asks his Father for all of his inheritance and the Father gives him. We know nothing about how the Father feels about this until much later but we do know the Father does not try to stop him. The son squanders his wealth and becomes painfully aware of his need. All through this experience, there is no interruption from the Father. Finally, the son makes a decision. He changes his mind about living on his own dime. In other words, he repents!

How did this happen? What caused repentance? How does a sinner come to change his mind?

The key is in verses 17-19:

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home, even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ (Luke 15:17-19 NLT)

At this point we see a very important action the son took: he said to himself. This is important because the bible tells us that Faith comes by hearing and for that to happen there must be a preacher (Romans 10:14-15). Consequently, 1 Corinthians 1:21 (NLT) says:

Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

This means that the ordinary human cannot just think through repentance; we have to have it preached to our minds – even if the preacher is ourselves. In some supernatural situations, the preacher is supernatural like in the case of Paul before he became an apostle in Acts 9. Somehow, every sinner will hear the word of God, every sinner will have the chance to change their mind, to repent. The prodigal son preached to himself and glory to God, he repented.

In verse 20, we see two important things that bring our discussion to a sweet close. First, a change of mind naturally leads to a change of action. Once the prodigal son was convinced of his state and what he needed to do, the next verse opened with “he went and did it”. Many people in our present day cannot reconcile this transition with their lives because we assume that these steps happened speedily. While I cannot make any inference as to how long each phase lasted, I can say from experience that the “preaching” phase is the longest one. Our minds are not quick learners, it takes persistent and consistent preaching for our minds to change. Think of how long it takes for a child to start speaking fluently – Years! It takes even much more for an adult to learn a new language, yet all these are systems that we are naturally inclined to. For a spiritual lesson, our minds reject it but the key is to keep on preaching. Sometimes, we assimilate things intellectually but our minds do not budge. We agree but we do not believe. This is tricky but from verse 20 we learn that the clearest proof of a change of mind is a natural inclination to want to change your actions.

Secondly, we see that in verse 20, the Father responds early and massively at the instance of his son’s repentance. From His response, we can infer that He had been waiting for this moment. We can now see that He considered His son lost and dead when He left. This cannot be easy for any Father. It is not easy for God either. So when His son made that crucial change, He was overjoyed. As great as this joy is, the best part is that the Father took over the responsibility for His son’s restoration. The son did not have to work for His father’s favour or earn his way into salvation. His Father welcomed him immediately and set up a system for the son to be restored. This is what distinguishes Christianity from every other religion in the world. We believe and God does the heavy lifting. Where every other religion gives you a list of things to do, Christianity gives you a list of things to believe, to be convinced about, to change your mind, …to repent.

I will close this off with a very important lesson. It is our job to preach to ourselves or expose ourselves to the word of God. God will not do that for us. However, what we expose ourselves to is now more crucial than ever. Self-help motivations won’t do. Tips and tricks will not work. Our minds are very hard to convince and it truly takes something out of this world to convince them. This is what Christians say that it is the Holy Spirit that does this work. I agree with this notion but the bible actually tells us that the Holy Spirit convicts us by reminding us of the words of Jesus. On this premise, I can boldly say that the functional element for repentance is the Word of God. The Bible puts it this way:

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews 4:12 NLT)

This means that if you can diligently expose yourself to the preaching of the word of God either by yourself or others. It will only be a matter of time and your mind will cave in. When this glorious event happens, Heaven will rejoice. Even you will notice that something has changed because your desires will switch and what once looked like an unquenchable thirst will be replaced by peaceful satisfaction. The best part is that God, your Father will take responsibility for your restoration. Like the Father in the parable, He will set it all up and you can just rest in His embrace. It really is that simple.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus Chorus by Helen H. Lemmel

Grace and peace family.

Ezeonyeka Godswill
(c) 2023

Called By My Name

1 Comment

Like most Christians in the western world, I find that I am quite fascinated when we sing about the name of Jesus. I do not doubt that the name of Jesus holds a sense of comfort and power, as I have personally experienced the saving power of calling out that name in dire situations. However, this article is about something different, it is about how the name of Jesus holds a sense of belonging for the Christian. It is the character of the name of Jesus that reminds us that we are people bound in fellowship by a name and that name makes all the difference in the world.

The position this article takes might seem a little bit derivative but this use of a name is more common in our daily lives than we acknowledge. Every human that exists currently can be linked to a nation and/or people group who are identified by a name. This form of identification is usually contested by popular culture but when all is said and done, one’s genetic information aligns one with a name that is not their individual identification but tells of where they belong. In essence, we all belong somewhere and that belonging is identified and associated with through the function of a name. For instance, I am a Nigerian man. No matter where I travel to or naturalize to, if all documents were lost and my genetic information harvested, all links will point back to that name – Nigeria. This is the same approach I assume as I refer to the belonging that the name of Jesus affords everyone that believes in Him. When we believe in Jesus we undergo such a spiritual transformation that when our spirits are tested, the information will always point back to Jesus.

The sense of identity and belonging we have in Jesus implies that we are a people, a nation. Therefore, it is not uncommon that we have a name that refers to the connection we have to our heritage. People of Nigeria are referred to as Nigerians, people of Rome are called Romans, so it follows that people of Jesus are called Christians. If you are confused about the disparity in names, Jesus was also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus the Christ. ‘Christ’ is used as a title which means “the anointed one” and is an equivalent to “Messiah”. It is this essential character of Jesus as Christ that was used to identify his followers, hence the title – Christians. This is particularly interesting because we are identified not just by a name but also by the character of the one who bears the name. To be called Christians essentially implies that we belong to a people group that has its identity rooted in our anointed role of saving the world by pointing it to God.

The question of belonging is one that is too complex to tackle in this short piece but I would like to emphasize the point earlier made as regards to how our biological identifiers define where we belong. This implies that we are born into whatever group we belong to. Hence I am Nigerian not by choice or selection but by birth. I was born that way and there is not much I can do to change it. Definitely, I can get citizenship in some other place but my biology does not change. For my essential biological identity to change, I must literally be born again. This goes to explain why the bible uses such drastic imagery when referring to our transformation into Christians. It is not a contract or agreement we undertake, it is rebirth. Our spirits are literally and unironically born again. This is why we can lay claim to the name of Jesus. Without this process, we cannot bear the name of Christians in truth. Jesus said to Nicodemus:

I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:5-7 NLT)

To be called by name, by God’s name is therefore a question of what birth we have gone through. This can sound very confusing and even Jesus acknowledges it in his conversation with Nicodemus but Paul comes through with a beautiful explanation:

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”  Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13 NLT)

The sum of Paul’s and Jesus Christ’s statements clearly makes the argument that by believing that God through Jesus has taken the payment for our sin and declaring that faith in the name of Jesus, you are reborn by the Holy Spirit and you are now a part of a people group called Christians. Ain’t that exciting?! 

Being a Christian for as long as I have been has been all kinds of beautiful. It truly is a salvation. Imagine having a natural immunity to a disease that affects everyone else and then having the capacity to transfer it to anyone that wants it! That is what living as a Christian is like! Yes, there is sin, sickness, shame and pain in this world but it has no power in my life. This means that although I get into those experiences, I always have the option of engaging them from my identity as a Christian and when I do so, they lose effectiveness and I thrive over them even up to the extent of miraculously putting them to an end physically as well. These are rights that are accessible to us only because we belong to the body of Christ. It is similar to how I have certain rights as a Nigerian that I never got to earn. I only got access to them because I was born Nigerian. In the same vein, by believing and confessing the beautiful work of salvation in Jesus, we are born of the Holy Spirit and we have access to certain rights because of that birth.

It is important to note, that regardless of my birth, I can be unaware of my belonging or the benefits of it. Where adequate communication with the source is stifled, a citizen can be alienated from things that are rightfully his primarily because he is ignorant that those rights exist. There are too many Christians that live like this. They have believed and accepted the Lordship of Christ and are born citizens of the Kingdom of God but they live as though they never experienced anything and the primary reason for this anomaly is the lack of communication with the source. The name of this article is culled from God responding to the prayers of Solomon at the dedication of the temple and God makes two things clear;

  1. I have chosen you as my people
  2. To enjoy the benefit of being my people, you need to act accordingly

Belonging to any group of people gives you rights that can be sidelined by your actions. In the same vein, belonging to God’s people gives you rights that can be made ineffective by your actions. God said to Solomon:

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT)

It is important to note that much like citizenry, action does not negate belonging. It rather affects the experience of belonging. This means that there are things that every Christian should enjoy but they miss out on these things because their actions do not align with the principles for those things. These principles are communicated through the Holy Spirit both directly and through the written word which He inspired. When we maintain this communication line, it is akin to reading your country’s constitution and in the same manner that it makes you bolder in your identity, communication with the Holy Spirit makes you bolder in your Christianity. It is one thing to have access to every blessing God has given to His people but it is another thing to know how to use it.

In conclusion, to be called a Christian is an affirmation of citizenship. It is to say that we belong to a LORD – Jesus the Christ. It is to say we bear his name and we have access to all that He has given us. We are not a religion, we are a Kingdom and our King is awesooooooooooome! We got into this Kingdom not by anything we could do but we accepted an invitation to believe that God through Jesus paid our debts and when we believed this and confessed it, the Holy Spirit rebirthed our spirits granting us citizen status among God’s people. Our citizenship is not questionable but our experience can be challenged when we are not familiar with who we are and who we are meant to become. Therefore, communication with the Holy Spirit is paramount for us so that we can learn the ways to maximize all that God has made available for us through Jesus Christ. One thing stays true throughout this process and that is – WE ARE A PEOPLE CALLED BY THE NAME OF GOD.

Ezeonyeka Godswill
(c) 2023

The Fire of God’s Love

Leave a comment

What is God’s love?

A good feeling of acceptance or a strong sense of protection from evil?

God’s love is characterised by a commitment to His creation. A commitment to groom, nurture, provide, care, and sustain. The Word says “For God so loved the world” not Christians. His love will be biased if it was only committed to His followers, His nature is void of segregation. He loves the world, He loves His creation and unlike man, His love for us is not based on how well we reciprocate. His love doesn’t diminish when we walk outside His will, it takes a U-turn and chases after us.

God’s love is patient, fierce and eternal. His love never runs out on us because it doesn’t depend on us to keep it fresh. As a matter of fact, we do not have the ability to nurture or sustain it. Our decision to dismiss or accept it does not affect its intensity.

When we read the Adam story, it is tempting to think that God pushed them out of His love and security because they disobeyed Him. On the flip side, God knew that the genealogy of Adam had to begin for Him to send His son to come and provide a channel through which our acceptance seals us eternally to His love. So no, He didn’t push them out, He drew them closer with forgiveness through the sacrifice of the blood of His son, and since we all were in Adam it applies to us too. It is why He says in Hebrews 8:12 “… I will remember their sins no more” because His blood bought us back eternally.

Let’s look at the concept of fire, it refines and destroys. Fire refines gold but is also capable of destroying life and property. Fire burns but also produces. It is true that after a great famine comes a great harvest, if only you let go of all you lost and work towards all you can produce. The question is, what have you decided to make of the heat you feel?

The beauty of salvation is the freedom of choice. God is always willing to refine us as long as we let Him destroy the insecurity we feel, the habits that do not serve our purpose, the jealousy that eats us up, the immaturity that hinders responsibility, the ignorance that hides us from the truth… The list might be endless but the outcome is sure. If we let Him destroy all that is not of Him in our lives, He refines and produces in us beyond our desires. God’swill Ezeonyeka once shared with me that “When God is with you in the fire, the fire is the safest place to be” it blessed me.

Listen friends, the reconstruction you seek will not happen unless you allow God to do the demolition. You cannot get charcoal until you burn wood and no matter how rich your ingredients are, you do not get a meal until you light up the fire.

Let it burn, let the fire of God’s love permeate your being, it is the only fire that truly refines.

Imani Dokubo
© 2023

ORDINARY JESUS

4 Comments

I have a feeling that any Christian reading the title of this article might be appalled but I really like this title, so we are going to stick with it. Since we are doing things weirdly, I am also going to alter my writing structure for this particular piece and talk first about the purpose of this article.

My sincere hope in writing this article is that you will begin to see more and more that God is interested in the mundane parts of your day. That God sees you struggle with choosing between black or brown shoes for the perfect corporate look and he is very much concerned about your sleeping habits. More than anything, I pray that when you are done reading this, that your daily activities become brighter because you finally see God’s light in all of it. Amen.

A quick summary of my Christian life – born in Nigeria, I am no stranger to religious intensity and that means that I tend to think of Jesus and the gospel in two very distinct ways.

First, Jesus as saviour.

This is the more popular stance of the personality of Jesus in which we see him give his life on the cross for our sins. This Jesus is the one we focus on as we sing songs of love and pour praise like poetry every Sunday and in our daily prayers. I see this Jesus as the one I run to when I am weak or scared or tired. Jesus as saviour is my lifeline and he always comes through.

The second is more unpopular – Jesus as Lord.

This personality of Jesus is where I am reminded that Jesus is no less God than the Father. He is Heavenly Royalty and is deserving of all the worship that we give him. It is this Jesus that comes to mind when I sin or when I forget that I am not surviving on the power of my will. He is also the Jesus I hand over to when the devil comes at me with all his nonsense.

Either way, I am always thinking of Jesus in this light and as I read through the gospels, I unconsciously look out for these. I see loving Jesus in the story of blind Bartimaeus and conquering Lord in his command to raging storms, “Peace be still”.

I see a forgiving saviour in his decision to dine with Zacchaeus and a judge Lord in his fury when the synagogue was used inappropriately. It was always one or the other, but I do believe that God is helping me see through a third and different lens.

This process started as I watched the third episode of a brilliant television series called, “The Chosen”. It is based on the life and times of Jesus but as it is made to be a series, it does something that all the former movies about Jesus could not do – it actually shows glimpses into the ordinariness that Jesus had to deal with it.

As I watched this particular episode, I was drawn to two scenes where Jesus would lay down to sleep and he would pray these words “Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings sleep to my eyes”. This might sound absurd but as I watched this scene played out the second time, I was struck by the fact that Jesus had to sleep while he was on earth. Of course, I subconsciously knew that, but I had never given it much thought till that day.

It is important that we notice the words I used; Jesus didn’t sleep only because he wanted to but because he had to. He was completely human which means he got tired and needed food and rest regularly.

Seeing Jesus, the saviour of my soul and the conquering Lord of all things visible and not visible in a seemingly ordinary position of sleeping was a bit startling for me. I was taken aback that Jesus had to basically go through things I would consider inconsequential so that when the time was right, he would do something I cannot do for myself.

As I thought about this, I realised that the bible addressed this in the book of Hebrews:

For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.

Hebrews 4:15 (AMP)

Jesus knows exactly how it feels to be human. He knows the feeling of sand on your feet and how satisfying it is to wash it off and lay down at the end of the night. He knows how the smile of a child can literally make a day brighter.

He knows that wine tastes good and can get one drunk when you over-indulge. He is 100% human in that he faced every temptation that comes to man and he is 100% God in that he did not give in to any sin.

Why does this make me happy?

To know that Jesus can relate with the ordinariness of life that Monday brings after Sunday means he can walk with me through the lows as much as he can walk with me through the highs.

In simple terms, Jesus is not appalled when I am weak at the knees as my crush walks into the room. Nope, he can walk with me through that. Jesus is not disappointed when I want to over-indulge in eating because I am sad or happy. Nah, he wants to walk with me through that feeling. Like David said so beautifully,

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 24:4 (BSB)

I hope this has brought you much joy as it has brought me. However, I would like to conclude with this analogy I learnt recently. I believe one of the most popular phrases in the Christian faith is what we are to accept Jesus as.

We say almost every day when people are called to salvation that we are to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour. For the longest time, I have considered this ageless description and the words of Saviour and Lord have grown to mean so much to me.

However, I have recently begun to consider the third word there, personal.

Jesus comes into our heart first as personal. He comes first to establish a relationship with us individually.

If I know anything about relationships, I know that both parties have to have some things in common and Jesus does not break that rule. Jesus left his throne to go through the ordinariness of life as a human for 33 YEARS AND SOME MONTHS so that he could have that in common with us.

That is love at divine proportions and it makes me giddy!

I hope that my thoughts were shared clearly. I hope that when you have to deal with something that doesn’t neatly fall into your relationship with Jesus as Saviour or Lord, that you remember there is a third option – Jesus as personal.

Jesus too had to deal with the ordinariness we deal with from day to day and he actually found a fool proof way out of practically every temptation.

This would mean that to navigate life with Jesus as personally as you want means you can lead a victorious Christian life in EVERY facet of your life.

Even in ordinary things.

EZEONYEKA GODSWILL

FRUIT DIAGNOSIS: For the 21st Century Church

1 Comment

Disclaimer: I am not writing this because I fully understand it, but I am compelled by this thought and I hope this essay serves as an invitation to the thinking table.

I like to believe that as we grow in the Christian faith, we are constantly learning. This means we are constantly coming in contact with truth. However, I have found that sometimes, things that struck me as profound still hold that essence even as I learn other new things.

This might be true for just my experience, but it is worthy of mention because it gives us a great rationale to kick-start this thought process. I cannot remember the exact time, but I cannot forget the power behind the truth of the difference between the gifts of the spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Simply, it goes that gifts of the Holy Spirit outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 are manifestations that are instant and sporadic in nature. Thus, the main difference they have with the fruits of the Holy Spirit outlined in Galatians 5:22-23 is that fruits are products of growth and they are consistent in nature.

This difference might seem simple enough, but it has evolved so much in my mind over the years. One thing that has been a hard pill to swallow is what Jesus said about fruits;

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.

Matthew 7:16-20 (NKJV)

I called this a fruit diagnosis.

If you are following this first point, I am sure you can put together that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are in effect of more consequence to the believer because they prove the presence of the Holy Spirit. This applies to many other things in life, and I find that this form of diagnosis is not as novel as I would like to present it.

In hospitals, symptoms are sought out as proof of an ailment or healing, we make sweeping comments about situations and people based on the results they produce and rightfully so. This is because fruits do not exist in a vacuum. If there is smoke, it is proof of fire. If there is a fruit it is proof of work, time, and a seed.

With this in mind, we can move a step further and ask; is there any sense in treating some fruit? By this, I am asking if it makes sense to treat a symptom or put out smoke. The very thought of it seems out of place because we don’t do this for good reason. I believe the reason is that fruit is proof of something else in the background. Thus, if some fruit provides you a diagnosis of an ailment, your response should not be applied to the fruit but to the problem, it is in fact pointing you to.

If you want the smoke to stop, you put out the fire; if you want the symptoms to stop, you treat the sickness. If you want to fix the fruit, you need to go to its source.

I find that in the 21st century Church, we tend to do the exact opposite of this common-sense approach. We see a flaw in our neighbour, but we go ahead to hack at the flaw which is a fruit of something else and we never address the real issues. This has given birth to so many weird laws and doctrines.

These injunctions while made with good intention, are very much harmful in the long run because while they might seem to address the flaw, they lead to long-term hurt, and most importantly, they never solve the problem.

Paul had a little issue with this concept in his day,

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 2:20-23 (NKJV)

I would like to end here but permit me to do a bit of an over-emphasis. Going at people’s actions for the sake of the actions is either going to frustrate the person or imprison the person and it will not deal with the underlying issue. As a church, we need to come to terms with this and humbly undergo a re-orientation.

We must start looking to apply treatment where it matters most – the seed.

I believe that Jesus gave us a great example in doing this. In John 4:4-42 we see the account of the encounter of Jesus and the woman at the well. In their conversation, we learn very quickly that Jesus knew exactly who this woman was. He knew her wrongdoings and told her quite clearly that he did.

The thing that should strike us as odd is that for the rest of their conversation, Jesus never brings it up. In all of his instructions to her, he doesn’t ask her to leave her husband(s). He does something better; he addressed her heart’s questions and typically, transformation followed. It is noteworthy to mention that Jesus never shied away from correction, but it will do you much good to see the kind of instruction he gave. He never corrected actions for the sake of it; he always addressed an underlying mind-set or heart issue.

Thus, his instruction always pointed to solutions that would not only fix the fruit, but will heal the source.

I think we struggle to follow the perfect example of Jesus because seed instructions are not as dramatic or way too dramatic as fruit instructions. Even in a tree, cut off its bad fruit and everybody takes note but give it time and the faulty seed will produce yet another bad fruit. However, if the farmer addresses the root of the issue, it might demand taking down the entire tree or checking the seed before planting.

As a growing Christian, I have troubles with this drama imbalance too. I read the story of the rich young ruler and I can relate with the heaviness of heart in making such a dramatic change.

I also read the story of Naaman and I relate with the scorn that clearly said, “It can’t be that simple”.

I am however convinced that this is too important to give up on. So, I am writing this to other Christians in my century and beyond. We have to learn to leave the fruit and start looking at the seed.

I will end on this note. The further you go into seeking the source of a problem, the more you will find the nature of flesh and it can feel helpless because actions don’t change our nature; Paul told us that much.

However, remember what we said earlier about the fruits of the Holy Spirit? This is where they come in handy. The most important source to fix is the nature from which you are living. There are only two options: the flesh or the Holy Spirit.

If and when you decide to go with the Holy Spirit, you learn very quickly that it is His work that is done in you. Your role in all of it is to surrender to the work and believe that it is for your good.

In the end, if you stay in the process long enough, you will notice your fruit changing and you will take no credit for it because the fruit is proof that the Holy Spirit is at work in you.

EZEONYEKA GODSWILL

THE MOST IMPORTANT EVERYTHING

Leave a comment

Do you ever get the feeling that you have been lied to?

I think many people especially feel this way when they are convinced of the promise in the pursuit of some goal, only to find out that there is more than meets the eye. Let me tell you a story.

The year I would get into secondary school, my parents had a wild idea to put me in boarding schools with my brothers and sisters. I say it was a wild idea because, at the time, that should have been frightening to a boy my age. I think the only reason my parents even considered the idea was because I was going to the same school as my elder brother and sister.

When they asked my opinion, I was absolutely elated to go, which I can imagine was surprising. You see, my brother had done some background work of convincing me with the age-old scam of “you can do whatever you like”.

I say it is a scam because while it had some truth to it, there was definitely more to that story than he let on. So, when the other parts began to unfold, I felt scammed.

In retrospect, I do not think my brother was trying to be malicious in his description of what being in a boarding school would be like. In fact, he was correct because to date, my ability to adapt to any context I have found myself in is largely credited to my boarding school days. So yeah, I did have the freedom to do whatever I liked but this freedom came with varying degrees of expressions and consequences.

The thing my brother was trying to achieve was to point my eyes to the most important thing or most attractive thing about boarding school.

So, while he may have not been trying to swindle me, I made the mistake of misinterpreting his information from the most important thing to the most important everything.

I find this is common with us as humans. As we travel through the most visually driven age of time, we tend to look at those shining bright ahead of us and we spot what we reckon is the most important thing and falsely tell ourselves that it is all we need to be like them. We assume that if this is the focal point of their success, it must be the entirety of what their life entails.

As you read this, you might plead guilty to this crime or not. Still, I want to provide one more important expression of this interesting subject: Marriage.

All you need is love. Popular? True? Or not?

Writing this as a single person, I have come across too many adults that have taken this popular phrase from the most important thing to the most important everything.

Love is essentially the central focus but to think that you can survive a marriage with just love would be setting yourself up for a great disappointment. You are going to need trust, lots of discipline, forgiveness, resourcefulness and so much more.

Someone might argue that love is supposed to encompass these qualities. To that, I would say most people can forgive and be hospitable to people they wouldn’t want to go home to every day. I should mention quite clearly that I do think love is by far the most important thing but without every other thing, it can falter.

My pastor said this quite succinctly; most couples that go through divorce still love each other but they go their separate ways because they don’t know how to live together.

Now that we have explored these examples, here is my suggestion; Get the full information.

Knowing the most important thing is great but knowing that everything is important is better. You are creating a blind spot when you ignore the process of learning.

It is important to note that I do not think you will get all the information you need before any decision or taking any step. In fact, I think you will always have blind spots, but I believe you can be intentional about avoiding as many blind spots as you can. You will be doing yourself a huge favour.

To conclude this article, I would like to highlight one of the saddest expressions of this flaw. Many people have been sold on the idea that our Christian faith is predicated on God’s love. While this is the most important thing, it is not all there is to it. Here is a bible verse to help us.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Many know this verse but they make the mistake of taking note of only the most important thing which is indeed love.

If you read the entire verse you will notice that Paul does not discount the place of faith and hope. These are not love but they are also pivotal to having an effective Christian life.

There is even more to the Christian life, but I hope this example helps you understand that every part of our Christianity is important and should be paid attention to.

This way, when you face persecution, (which is also part of our faith) you can be well prepared.

Pastor Mike Todd said, the blows of life that tend to knock you out are the ones you don’t expect. I hope this article helps you to double back and learn to learn all there is to learn. It is a wise way to live.

EZEONYEKA GODSWILL

Whose Honour Do You Seek?

Leave a comment

In a generation where everyone wants their voice to be heard and their face to be known, you need to determine right at the inception whose honour you are going to be after. Know that in the journey to stardom, so many people and things do vie for the travellers’ attention on the way. Many will also make themselves vulnerable just to be identified with the most famous in the land. They will do everything possible to be seen with them, just to show to the public that they are important too. They will do all possible for acceptance. This is sure selling well in this generation. Highly rampant!

But whose honour do you seek, God’s or man’s? Who are you out to please? Note, trying to gain the approval of a man will only make you compromise in some ways, just that you may be accepted. It will cause you to modify some Christly convictions you’ve held so preciously. The Lord Jesus is asking you to dare to stand out today! In your expedition to stardom, don’t follow the conventional but the primordially set God’s standard. Don’t (for whatever reason) wane in the right things you’ve known of the Lord, even if you look odd. Stay believing rightly by seeking the honour that comes only from God.

“How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?”

John 5:44
Funmi P. Adebayo is a preacher of the gospel of Christ and believes that His gospel covers everything, as God is God of all things without an exemption at all. God has helped him found a ministry by the name, THE SIMPLE LIFE OF CHRIST MINISTRY (AKA THE RESTING PLACE), the platform through which God’s Spirit is helping him to reach out to the world with the simple message of Jesus Christ and by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which is solely for the defense and the confirmation of the same gospel of Christ.
Download Funmi’s maiden e-book

Kindness Versus Love

Leave a comment

Kindness is a display of charitable behavior towards someone, while love means a profound and caring affection towards someone. Clearly, kindness and love don’t mean the same thing. Kindness is what one shows to the outsider, while love is for the insiders. It’s not rightly acceptable to say you are kind to your own children. You simply love them. You are to be kind to someone out there but loving to your own family. Thus, love is certainly of a higher value than kindness.

The prodigal son’s elder brother only knew and lived on their father’s kindness. He never knew nor understood their father’s love. He kept doing many things to please the father who was already pleased with him. On the day his brother returned home, the Scripture apprises to us that he was in the field till quite a later time of the day, whereas the main servants were already at home. One would wonder what he was doing out there all alone. By living only on his dad’s kindness, he only could SOMEDAY expect to receive a kid goat from his dad, when everything, including the fatted calf which was later killed for his brother, was for him to enjoy had he understood his dad’s love.

Hmm, it’s sad to know that many children of God are living exactly like this prodigal son’s older brother. They only know of God’s kindness, never His love all their life. They relate with Papa God as His hired servants when they are actually His beloved children. And mere kindness never gets anybody the best, only love does, always. God is kind toward everybody but especially loves His own children. You may have started on God’s kindness, as we all somehow do, but you don’t remain there. You need to move on to knowing and receiving God’s love that you may experience and enjoy God’s best in life henceforth.


The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3
Funmi P. Adebayo is a preacher of the gospel of Christ and believes that His gospel covers everything, as God is God of all things without an exemption at all. God has helped him found a ministry by the name, THE SIMPLE LIFE OF CHRIST MINISTRY (AKA THE RESTING PLACE), the platform through which God’s Spirit is helping him to reach out to the world with the simple message of Jesus Christ and by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which is solely for the defense and the confirmation of the same gospel of Christ.
Download Funmi’s maiden e-book