Strength and Courage

Psalm 105:19 "until what he had said came to pass,the word of the Lord tested him." It is commonly reported that when a predator overwhelms a peacock, it buries its head in the sand. It believes that because it is not seeing itself, the enemy does not see it. This way, it makes itself a cheap prey. Foolish you may say...but many people face life in a similar way. They feign ignorance of the challenges they need to face in order to move ahead; believing that somehow, anyhow, they might escape without any struggle. There is no point in avoiding what one would have to confront. Life was programmed to overcome trial before success.  Canaan had such great resources that those who benefited from it grew up as giants. While the ten spies saw them as obstacles and preferred to return to Egypt , Joshua and Caleb saw them as specks that must be cleared on the way to the promise. David needed the reward; on getting the king's promise of a wife and tax-exemption for his family, Go...

  Luke 14:28 “ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it?” Introduction Anyone that fails to plan has actually planned to fail. No concrete achievement can be attained without proper planning. Putting down the steps or things one needs to do in order to achieve one’s purpose not only ensure success but additionally, safeguards one from engaging in unproductive ventures. This stage involves getting your psyche to the point that you assume capability to solve a problem. It involves reading, listening to and speaking back to oneself in the light of the problem necessitating the goal. It realistically faces the problem as it is. It calculates the magnitude with intention to determine action plans. It looks at the available resources, and or finds complementary sources in the light of the divine mandate. Texts: Judges 6:11-27; Numbers 13:27-33 1. Brainstorming(thinking) Wishful thinking is usef...

John 9:4 “ We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” The words above, spoken by Jesus showed the goal-directed pursuit he lived while in the world physically. Time waits for no man. We should not live as though time would wait till we have done our lot in this life. The Bible teaches that there is Time for every purpose and a season for everything under the sun. If we live to do everything that demands our attention, we would discover towards the evening of our lives that we have only survived and watched other people perform in life. May God give us wisdom to be participants rather than spectators. We begin the journey by defining our destination. Only then can we measure our progress and eventual success. 1.        Examples of goals: i.                      Matt 1:21-Jesus ii.    ...

It is a true statement the fact that if you aim at nothing, you hit something; and that is, Nothing.  It is a factual lie that the good things that happen to us do so by chance. Even miracles happen to people that show disposition for them. For fear of not being described as failures, many people prefer to continue “sheepishly” in life, allowing the theology of “whatever will be will be” , shunning away from drawing out plans for their lives. Whether we set goals or not, it is certain that we are inbuilt with appetites to succeed and be celebrated. There are several people that play soccer, but the most celebrated person is the one that gets the ball into the goalpost. Anyone you see in the present world that is making concerted progress and being celebrated is doing so on a pedestal of set and pursued goals. Most of the Bible is a literature of goals, approaches to fulfilling them and advice on how to live out goals. There is no better example for us to use than that of Jesus (Heb...

England is a highly intellectual society in nature (disposes itself to be). Anything short of reasonable communication might make little meaning to some segments of the society. We know that human wisdom adds very little in establishing faith. It however, has a place in appealing to certain segments of the society. This intellectual intercourse is only a means to lay the foundation for the Holy Spirit to complete the salvation process. It does not aim at winning an argument, but rather to reason through with your hearers, perhaps they might be saved. Texts: Matt 22:17-22; Luke 2:46,47; Acts 17:2-4; 21-22;   Acts 18:4,19; Acts 26:26-29 1.        Discuss how Jesus spoke with the elders and faced the critics during His earthly ministry. 2.        How did Paul and other disciples handle the well-read of their time? 3.        What principles must we follow in order to avoid unpleasant arguments?...

We have recently been studying persuasive, gentle as well as aggressive means by which we can win people to the Lord. As we all have noticed, there is not one formula that works better than the other. The patterns vary significantly in the scripture. There is however, a recurring event that attracts people towards giving the early bearers of the good news a platform to be listened to. Human beings are constituted to be drawn to those who display good works (with some left wingers!) We have a mandate to sell this invaluable stuff. As salesmen, we need baits/tactics to get people to listen to what we’ve got (in the literal sense). We know however, that it is in the nature of God to do good works even if the people would remain unfaithful. As His children, we have no option than to display this important character of maintaining good works (see Eph 2:10). Text/memory verse: Acts 10:38 1                  ...