THE MEAL OF LIFE

By Angela O. Musa

The word of God in the heart is the source of strength for the Christian race. The level of understanding of God’s word (the truth in our heart)  will determine how far we can go in overcoming obstacles on our ways.

If we read the word with a shallow mind,  we will have a shallow understanding but when we study the word deeply, we will have an in-depth understanding and ability to live a holy life. It also gives us the power to resist the devil.

It is not possible to live above sin if we do not know the scripture. The bible says  'you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free' John 8:32. It is when we know the truth about God and his word that we will be free from sin, oppressions and  all kinds of bondage. 

In the bible, there are ‘bless me verses’ also  there are ‘correct me verses’.  we need both in our lives. some people  only apply ‘correct me verses’ while other apply only ‘bless me verses’. If all you do is to live on the ‘bless me verses’, you will become weak and wimpy. If all you do is to live only on the correct me verses, you will become hard and mean. But  If we combine them, we will grow up in the right structure of God.

The word of God is a light to our path, it gives life, health and strength to those who have it in their heart. We can never be able to do what is right nor reach the height of our calling in life  if we do not  put the word of God into our spirit.

'I keep your law in my heart , so that I will not sin against you' psalm 119: 11 (Good news bible)

Many times in our lives, we pass through temptations, it is at this time that our human nature try to manifest itself but If have the word of God in our heart it will manifest and guide us to overcome temptations.

Sin is obeying the devil, when we commit sin, we bow to Satan, when we bow to Satan,  he gives us inferior things and collect eternity from us.

The word renews, regenerates, cleans, builds and strengthens us even in difficult times. Please remember  the word of God is not just the bible we carry, but the truth in our hearts.

Youthful lust and relationship

By Nwonumaru c. Joshua

 As a youth, you may have had the experience whereby you  thought you have found  love only to discover at the end that the love you thought to have found was not really love but lust. This experience usually come to us in our adolescent period, when we are first attracted to the opposite sex. At this time, you could have this strange tingling exciting feeling, whenever you see the person you have this feeling for,  it would be as if you have seen a shooting star. When you are in such relationship, you feel like you are flying over the moon. Even when your parents try to warn you about the dangers of such ‘puppy love’ and the feeling of infatuation you ignore them thinking that you have found the love of your life.

Some of us have had this experience a number of times, each time thinking that the new feeling would be the ultimate but only to found out at the end that those relationships were never made to be.

Love is more that emotions and it is deeper than affection, but unfortunately thousands of people make terrible mistakes because of not knowing how to handle adolescent emotion. This adolescent emotion often leads to premarital sex which in turn leads to unwanted pregnancy and veneral disease

Some people have misinterpreted this feeling of lust and went into premature marriage and now they are living in perpetually regrets. They may stay in the marriage because of their children or religion but when you look at their lives properly, it is full of regrets.

To avoid these mistakes therefore, every youth must endeavour to live his or her live according to the dictates of the word of God. God given formular for happiness and success in relationship is total abstinence from sex before marriage,  then after marriage you can build a sound healthy sexual relationship. See 1 Corinthians 6:18.  There is big deferent between lust and love, lust will always lead to sin but True love does not thrive in iniquity. Therefore, ‘Don’t be led astray by your own great folly so you don’t die for lack of discipline’ (Proverb 5:23) rather take hold of the word of God and run with it for it your surest way to success in marriage.

FACTS AND ISSUES ABOUT MARRIAGE (Lessons for the Singles)

Sam Akhigbe.

‘Every woman was taken out of a man, and as such there is a right woman for every man. But the challenge is how to locate her’. This submission was made by one the guest speakers; Deacon Francis Abiodun  at the marriage seminar held by PRAISE FAMILY on Sunday, 27th May, 2012. In view of this, can it be said that for every man there is a particular woman? The answer is emphatic NO! What it simply means is that, if you can seek God earnestly he will lead you to the right person for marriage. The will of God in marriage is critical because, the consequences of choosing a wrong partner could last for a life time.

Other distinguished speakers at the seminar were Mrs. Uchenna Nduaguibe; our very senior brother, Mr. Tony Uleh; and one of our fathers, Elder John Nduaguibe. It was said that nothing is wrong with a sister setting a standard for herself, as to the kind of man she would like to settle down with. However, there was a note of caution, that when such standard is too high brothers may not come. This is why today, many ladies who have passed the age of marriage are still singles.

To this end, Mrs. Nduaguibe therefore strongly admonished that sisters should not always put emphasis on material things, that when one is married in the will of God His blessings will certainly come with time. She further advised, “When a young man talks to you as a lady, please look beyond his present status and see if he has a vision and how serious he is about life. Then you must seek God in prayers to direct you because, the brother you see as nothing today could become somebody tomorrow”. She then stated that most successful people around us today started from very humble beginning.

As a follow on that, bro. Tony Uleh encouraged sisters to always be polite about the way they say no to brothers. According to him, “So long as you are a lady, potential suitors will always come, including those you do not like at all. But the manner in which you turn them off speaks volume of your character and how much of a child of God you are.” He went further to admonish the brothers to stop putting emphasis on outward looks alone, that the real beauty of a woman lies within her; and through prayer, they can locate their right partners and settle for a fulfilled married life.

While reacting to questions from the audience, Elder John Nduaguibe in his fatherly advice, stated emphatically that, the first thing to consider in choosing a life partner is to find out whether the person is really a child of God, that the will of God for every believer is to marry somebody who is also a believer. Once this is settled other things can follow, but the most fundamental thing is love. He then said, “Every disappointment in relationship gives us the opportunity to choose a better partner.”

SOME HARD FACTS:

·         It has been observed that most ladies turn off brothers because they have someone in mind they believe would talk to them. But in the actual sense, such brother might only be interested in friendship and nothing more, hence, they get disappointed when the brother eventually hooks up with someone else.

·         It has also been observed that most ladies want “ready-made” brothers who’ve got the money. While the brothers get carried away by beauty, education and rich family background, even though the parties involved here are not spiritually grounded, to these folks it does not matter.

A NOTE OF CAUTION:

To the brothers, education or beauty is good, but without character marriage is can be miserable, full of pains and regrets. And to the sisters, if you put yourself in a class, be rest assured that no responsible man will come. But when you make yourself approachable, the right man is out there waiting for you.

 …to your success in marriage!

THE FISH IN THE RIVER

By Favour Ezuma

I had a little talk with a friend who kept insisting that it was not easy being a Christian in this world. She made seemingly good point ranging from academics to business, instigating that the good guys either end up on the track or finish last. Giving the insight to a colloquial talk about ‘a fish in the river,’ she said ‘how can a fish be in a river and not drink from that river? In the same vein, how can one be in the world and not do the things of the world? Things are changing if you don’t flow with it, you will be regarded as old school.’

I nearly fell for her trick, but then I remembered I heard a man of God describing the fighting character of the fish. He said, ‘you will never see a fish being carried aimlessly along with the current of the waves. if you ever saw a fish riding on the waves, flowing in the same direction as the wave, then what you are looking at is a DEAD FISH’

Yes!!! A live fish always swims against the current. So if you share the same school of thought as my friend did, then… yes!! Exactly what it - you are a ‘dead fish’, a dead Christian.

The bible gives a warning ‘beware of the last days, the love of many will wax old, men shall be lovers themselves and haters of God. The man of God continued, saying that as the central bone of the fish grows stronger, the harder it has to swim against the current.

Akin to this, we as living Christians are to grow stronger in the faith in the midst of the very obvious moral decadence in the world today. No matter how strong that temptation might be, stand! Hold on to your position in Christ, hold on to the word of God and run with it. Swim against the immoral current of perverse world. God is your strength!