Tag: Jesus

THE LORD’S CHURCH-BY STEVE FINNELL

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What are the things that do not make you a member of the body of Christ?

What are the requirements for membership in the Lord’s church?

THINGS THAT DO NOT MAKE YOU A MEMBER OF THE LORD’S CHURCH.
1. Simply believing that Jesus is the Son of God does not grant you membership in the Lord’s church.
Mark 5:1-12 …..7…“What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?….12 The demons implored Him….
Demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God, however, that does not give them membership in the Lord’s church. Legion was not part of the body of Christ.
2. Sprinkling infants with water does not make them part of the body of Christ. Sprinkling unbelieving babies is not an act that adds them to the Lord’s church.

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EVERYDAY JESUS

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T’was a cool night sometime towards the end of the year 2013 when I received the WhatsApp message that I was going to spend an extra year in school because I had failed a course!

Now many people may beg to differ but I still think that is the worst way to give bad news to almost anyone. As I read the message on my phone, I could feel the blood rush to my head. I sincerely didn’t want to believe it but it had to be true because my dear friend who sent me the message knew very well how important my final results were to me and definitely wouldn’t make light of the issue. For the first time since I could remember, I had the sudden need for some really cold, fresh air. I thought I would cry, Continue reading →

MY JESUS

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Jesus

Art by Akiane Kramarik

Trying to describe my Jesus is like an attempt to go bonkers
Cos no bunker could ever hope to contain Him
His glory is ever lasting, totally outstanding
You can’t wish to keep Him in a box
He’s a beast
I mean a Lion
I mean a Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb
A description so contradictory and yet so
accurate
For in Him is Love and Mercy
Where I live, move and have my being
Full of a fiery passion as He chased out the
merchants from me
With immense confidence as He commanded the
storm to cease.

My Jesus is big! Even I can’t quantify Him
Is it His goodness or protection? No one can
defy Him
Just make an attempt and try Him
Don’t put Him to test though, the devil couldn’t
fail Him
Let me tell you something about my Jesus then
The Lion
The Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb
The lover and the fighter
The beast and the tamer
The Judge and the advocate
My very own big brother
Not just watching through lenses
He sees my heart and can finish all my
sentences

He is Jesus
The Lion and the Lamb
The mighty man in battle, His alias
same as prince of peace, Son of God, the
Messiah
The word spoken in days of old
The material form of the spoken word
The justification of all of mankinds existence
My Lord and Saviour
He personally died for me
And of course you too can make this claim
You just gotta believe
I mean really believe
Put your heart, mind body and soul into it
Accept Him so that finally,
Your Spirit will live

Onubogu Somtochukwu

STRANGER

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Sometimes it’s so much easier to talk to a total stranger.
To tell someone you’ve never known,
Someone who has never known you or the things you may be going through…
It’s easier to tell your sad, compromised and totally one sided story to someone who has no clue about the real you.
Then again why do you always get surprised,
When the stranger gives you the exact advice you gave yourself?
Funny enough the stranger has only one point of view when it comes to your issue…. Yours!

A stranger will tell you exactly what you heard within you, A mirror of your own SELF.
A prism that bounces back the sharp light of deception that got you into this conversation in the first place.
And the one who cares is watching over you,
Praying that sooner or later you realize that you are sitting in front of a stranger.

He will condemn every one who put you in the misery of contemplating a change for the better,
Sear your conscience to all rebukes and reprimands that left you teary eyed
And tear you away from the warm embrace of correction into his arms of cold and empty…Comfort.

A father chastises the ones he loves, but you’d rather be a bastard than a son,
Because the level of reprimand didn’t equal what you had done,
Trading your birthright for a plate of steaming hot lies that constantly advice you to give this so called “unconditional Love” a think through,
But if only you knew it was a stranger you are talking to.

If you really know that destruction is the end of a path that seemeth right to a man, Then take the costly treasures of correction and move on, Not minding how many tears and falls it took to mould you, The potters perfectionist bid to shape you,
So remain low and endure the process,
The result is always golden and the end product priceless.

– Abokhai Osione

The Queen

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It’s past 3am in the morning
Coffee’s mouldy
Food is cold
His queen sits on the couch waiting.
Worried sick all morning.
Her knight in shining armour is yet to return.
Where could he be?
What could he be doing?
This time of the night or is it day.
The thoughts in her mind refusing to stay at bay.
Her train of thought is broken just like the silence.
She hears keys jangling somewhere in the darkness.
Relief and anger, joy and bitterness; flood her all at once, in that very instant.
She stands to her feet, prepared for his entrance.
He walks through the door, face riddled with exhaustion.
She begins to question, with fear in her voice
“Where have you been?!”, her voice all torn up.
He stands all the while staring, waiting for her to stop, the shudder in his chest with every word that dropped.
She stops to swallow and he sees his chance.
He pulls her close and hugs her tight.
He closes his eyes and hugs her tighter, the thoughts on his mind brought so much laughter.
The walk down the aisle.
The courtship that lasted for more than a while.
The oath of chastity they both took.
The moment he tapped her shoulder, and she turned to look.
The prayer he made before he could ask her.
The thanksgiving he gave when he finally married her.
And he also remembers…
The sigh of relief as he left that hotel.
The memories of last night he didn’t want to tell.
The wrong group of friends.
The wrong boys and girls.
The wrong kind of drinks.
The clock seemed to not tick.
Next thing he knew, he was with a strange woman.
About to maybe fornicate, sin that very moment.
But he called to remembrance…
In a microsecond, he saw the sacrifice of Jesus.
Cos he saw the wine and it cut like a knife.
“What am I doing?!” as he staggered to the door.
He ran out the door and next to his car
He thought of his ribs and remembered one more.
The love of his life, his one and only wife.
“I thank you O God for saving my life?”.
He ran to his house and opened the door.
His queen in sight, all teary and hurt.
He held her so tight and wouldn’t let her go.
He had touched the fire and was able to go.
His queen looked at him with love in her eyes.
She asked him again, “what happened last night?”.
He held her and smiled.
“God saved me last night”.
He wiped the tear in eyes and told her the truth.
She listened and heard and knew it was true.
He begged her forgiveness,”I wouldn’t do it again”.
But it was too late, her mind was made up.
Whatever he had done, she had already forgiven.
When he unlocked the door and confessed his dealings.

Just like my Jesus did.
He was willing to listen
As I begged on my knees, to cleanse me of all my sinning.

-Onubogu Somto

tHE REPLY

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My Dearest,
How are you, it’s been a while…I have been reading your love letters and I decided to also write to you, to tell you how it was for me.
Well at the time you came I was in a relationship with someone. He was the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. His face shone like polished pearl, his voice like a melodious song played in the morning, swaying me with words that dripped with honey from his sugar coated tongue. He told me he could give me anything I wanted, He told me his name was Lucifer and he was my world prince charming and I was too happy at the thought of being his sleeping beauty princess. Finally he won me over and I gave him my heart, He gave me everything I wanted cars, houses, cloths, jewellery, anything I could think of, boy did he spoil me rotten. I thought I was in heaven, but now I realize it was actually hell with him.
Then you came around telling me about how much you loved me. To say the truth, I didn’t really understand the whole “LOVE” issue it kinda freaked the HELL out of me, the whole talk of loving and knowing me before I was even conceived, giving everything you loved that you might gain my love, your telling “my thoughts toward you are as countless as the sand on the sea shore” (I was beginning to think you were a stalker) I could not comprehend the love, most especially when you told me you love me with an everlasting LOVE. It was really crazy. The truth is that the kind of love you brought my way, wasn’t the kind I was used to and it was strange not having to follow a list of things to do in order to feel the love I needed or to feel clean. You see I always felt dirty and lonely with him that’s my ex but there you came with a whole different story of love, telling me I didn’t need to do anything or follow a whole set of rules to be clean that I just had to accept you, I guess I didn’t understand what love meant.
I started falling for you. You made me realize the love I was deprived of and why I needed you. But you see my ex wasn’t the kind of person to give up on one whose heart he owns (he is kind of possessive). He got angry and tried keeping me away from you, especially when you started knocking at my door. At my door you stayed and all you ever asked for was to come in and dine with me but my ex, he called you a crazy crook set out to manipulate me. He said if I let him go it was I who would lose all the good things only he could give me. Oh the lies I had to deal with!
When you told me you could die for me I thought it was a joke. But here we are you actually did it! I was quite scared I had lost you but you came back for me… Now that is romantic, imagine a man fighting for me. Well I accepted your love, though I don’t understand it yet and the enormity of it all still baffles me. Even the fact that you forgave my hurting you (all those years I stuck with my EX) without wanting anything in return, except to love you. Truth is, with my EX, it was different, it was all about what he wanted, he never forgave my wrongs, and he was a psycho. Now I’m off the chains and free to love you. I am learning to love and trust you completely. And nothing is going to keep me away from your love… You’re now my true Prince Charming you can call me Snow White because I know you will always come for me and find me. I LOVE YOU
Yours lovingly
Bethel
P.s your love letter rocks. Reading, believing, and speaking it sends my ex on his heels.

HOME-COMING!

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Let me tell you my story
I let my father down, leaving his mission for my pleasures.
abstract_landscape_by_faith_lv-d51r5tz.jpgTaking up my own mission, I decided to take a trip away from home.
I took it all as a game, thinking I could get the whole world sealed, signed, stamped and delivered to my doorstep all in my name.
Yea to tell the truth, I enjoyed those days,
Where all I did went well, I was enjoying the fun and all.
You see I got everything I wanted without anyone to tell me no or yes.
I could say I was winning it all, I got so good at the game.
But with time, I realized it was all lame!
With time they all faded away, the happiness, enjoyment, pleasure.
I was left with an empty heart that wasn’t satisfied at all even with all the pleasure I had…

You see my father loved me more than anything.
And did I tell you he is a KING?
Yes my father is a king I longed for home, for that joy that could satisfy, and only father had it.
Being in his presence alone was satisfaction beyond anything else in this world.
You see, at home I bathed in my father’s glory.
But how could I go back home now? Would he take me back? Would he cast me out?
These questions played across my mind.
I decided to go back home, but there was a problem…
Yes I didn’t know my way back. I was lost and felt like indeed I was going to die.

Nevertheless I tried to find my way back home.
I tried different ways but they didn’t lead to my father.
I was about giving up when I saw my big brother on the way,
I didn’t quite understand what he was doing there, I was beginning to think he left home too.
But he told me father sent him to search for me,
That father had been searching for me!
He had sent servants to find me but none could.
So He offered to come himself, he told me he had given all he had just to find me.
At last I found my way home!
Walking home, I told my Brother I was scared to meet father,
He told me he had paid my own price so I need not be scared.
Along the way I saw someone running towards me…
I realized it was father!
Father ran at my home coming…

-Bethel