Fave part of the Bible: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-14

In recent times, this: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-14 has become my favourite part of the bible. 

I read it often to remind myself of the crux of the Word, the purpose of life and Jesus dying on the cross.

I hope it strikes a cord in you as you read it too.

1 Corinthians 10The Message (MSG)

10 1-5 Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

6-10 The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.

11-12 These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

14 So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.

How Often Should We Forgive Someone Who Continually Hurts Us?

It's absurd how often we sin and fall short of God's glory.

Most times, it takes barely twenty hours after repentance before we are right back in our filth; making avoidable mistakes and failing at the same temptations.

After a few trips up and down Salvation Aisle, we (the sinners) get tired of asking for forgiveness and begin to think that God hates us.

Isn't it funny? That we, the sinners, are the ones who get tired of asking for and receiving forgiveness? We judge ourselves more harshly and flippantly than the good Lord does.

God has a different take on forgiveness and empathy than we do. When Jesus said in Matthew 18 that we should forgive others seventy times seven times, he really did mean it.

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, " Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

22 Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. – Matthew 18:21-22: (MSG)

He meant we should never tire of forgiving any particular person, no matter how many times he/she made a mistake.

He meant that He knows that the human flesh is weak. And while mostly good-intentioned, we are not reliable or perfect.

He meant that we should understand that this is the way the flesh is (and thus how everyone is), and treat ourselves and other humans accordingly. 

He was saying that even though we are all pieces of shit who disappoint Him regularly, He still loves us and as long, as we offer forgiveness to the people who hurt us, He will offer forgiveness to us. 

This knowledge is so important that it's included in the Lord's Prayer:

"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." (Matthew 6:9-13)

We can't only forgive certain people, and stay mad at others. We must give forgiveness to all and sundry; and we must give it every single time, no matter how many times.

So the next time you're tempted to hold a grudge against someone, remember that God's forgiveness depends on this. 

Forgive others that God may forgive you too.

New Understanding of God

It's been more than a year since I published on this blog, I'm sorry if I let you down by going AWOL. God has been teaching me a lot, and I had to focus and learn.

The last time I wrote in this blog, I was in my first job after university and national service. I had no idea that the next month I'd move to a new country, start a new job in another industry, and begin an almost brand new life.

I thank God for being kind to me. Though my walk with Him has been inconsistent, His love has been steady as a rock.

I am at a point in my life when I'm very certain of my faith – I love and worship God Almighty, I have accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I have the Holy Spirit living in my heart. Over the past two years, God has answered almost all the questions I had growing up. He's taught me what's truly important and what's not. He's helped me become a self-assured woman, and I'm more than grateful.

Loving Christ brings with it an understanding of self. An understanding that can't be found any other way. Loving Christ teaches you to be okay with who you are. If you're someone who doesn't like to talk much (like me), you learn that that's okay.

Loving Christ gives you peace. You learn that you don't have to be anything other than who you are. You never have to pretend. You never have to try so hard. You're at peace, knowing that as you are, God loves and is pleased with you.

Loving Christ means that you enjoy being in His presence, and you actually stay in it. This has been one of the biggest lessons and changes for me (one I'm still undergoing), because I used to rush through prayers, rush through the Bible, and daydream through church services. But God doesn't care about the rituals we perform. It's never about your outward actions, or going through the motions. It's about your state of mind and what you think inside you – of God, yourself and your fellow humans.

I got an even better understanding of the Grace, which we say so often:

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 

and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit 

rest and abide with us, now and forever more. Amen.

The fellowship of the Holy Spirit... It's funny how we often pray for things we don't fully know about. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit means the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We should be in God's presence all through our days, now and forever more.

Loving Christ teaches you that God is not an idol to be kept aside and worshipped on special days. God should be a part of everyday life, every aspect of our lives. We should be thinking about God every second of the day. We should fellowship with the Holy Spirit throughout the day. God doesn;t have to be separate from the life we live.

I have a lot to share about Christ. I'm growing in Him everyday and often when I read my Bible, I'm moved to write things down. I intend to share them on this blog with everyone who cares about God. Whether you're in a good place with Him, or you're trying to get answers, or build a relationship, I hope that my daily musings help you understand Him more.

Have a good day!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted a new article in a while. I am super busy with a new writing project I've been inspired to start and want to try to complete it before the inspiration dissipates, plus I have a 9-6 job too. Please, forgive me if my long absence has disappointed you. I will be back very soon, maybe even tomorrow, all by God's grace. I love you! And thank you for taking time out of your life to read my articles and comment. If anyone is interested in writing a guest article for this blog, or has a testimony or an opinion on everyday events that affect us Christians or just a random, deeply-felt soliloquy, please contact me- kelechiudoagwu@gmail.com. God bless you.

I had an epiphany! - The summary

As Christians and as humans, we can be really hard on ourselves. We feel like we’re not doing well enough to be called born-again Christians; like we’re constantly disappointing God, because we know we are constantly disappointing ourselves. Every time we tell a lie, or insult somebody, or are reluctant to help mum or a neighbour; we take it to heart, and feel like we can never be “good Christians”.

I can’t count how many times I have gotten so sad and mad at myself for failing, for repeatedly sinning, for repeatedly falling short and doing something I promised myself and God I would not do again. Whenever I get in this mood, I usually separate myself from God; I try to hide myself like Adam and Eve did; I don’t feel worthy, so I do not even want to remain in His sight. I stop praying and just go about my life; feeling downcast, alone, lost.

But moving further away from God after sinning is exactly what the devil wants. And every time we do that, we are letting him (oh that cunning little ******, insert insult here) win. The devil wants to stop us from praying; he wants us to feel like God doesn’t love us anymore, is angry with us and has turned His back. The devil wants us to be weak; he wants to cut us off from our eternal source of power, warmth and reassurance. And he succeeds the moment we stop praying;because then the spirit of God leaves us and we become vulnerable to vices and even worse temptations of the world and the devil. We should never distance ourselves from God; even after sinning. He loves us unconditionally. He understands our weaknesses, our human desires, our insecurities, our addictions; and He will not cast a person who is continually and truly trying away because of one sin. (Not in this world where extreme violence and material worship abound- there are so much worse sinners than us out there *hehehe)

LOVE is the ultimate commandment. LOVE is the most important message God wants us to share with the world. It’s written:

“FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE ABIDE, BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE THREE IS LOVE (1st Cor. 13:13)”

As long as keep our hearts clean, wish everyone even our enemies well, forgive without receiving apologies, spread goodwill not gossip, stay grateful, help less-privileged people to the best of our abilities, and acknowledge God as Lord, I believe that He will continue to forgive us.

He understands that we are only human and that sometimes we will flounder and flicker, but He wants us to keep trying and to be good people with hearts full of love. To LOVE; share love, exude love, be love, have love is to reflect the spirit of God in us. Love is the summary of what being a Christian is. A Christian should have faith, a Christian should have hope, a Christian should adhere to the 10 commandments, a Christian should spread the gospel. Yes a Christian should do all these things, but most importantly a Christian should have the spirit of God and that is LOVE.

“Above all things, be fervent in your love among yourselves; for LOVE COVERETH A MULTITUDE OF SINS” (1st Peter 4:8)

 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart..... And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS, HANGS ALL THE LAWS AND PROPHETS (Matthew 22:37-40)

So don’t be too hard on yourself. God is not sitting down with a register and red marker, ticking every mistake, every flaw and assigning appropriate punishment. He is aware of our limitations, mistakes, our weaknesses and how much we try to overcome.

NIGERIA

I just recently finished a novel by Chimamanda Adichie- Half of a yellow sun. It’s about the cause, effects, and experience of the Nigerian civil war (the Biafran war). The story was so graphically written, and simply told; I felt the pain, hurt, and trials the Igbos of Nigeria went through. The book evoked deep emotions in me, and it took me a while to snap out of it and adjust to the reality of my real life environment (in which there is peace, thank God). The inhumane and insensitive attitude of the then Nigerian government towards the massacre of the Igbos had my blood boiling, and I was so close to developing hatred for the country Nigeria. I wondered how the Igbos could forgive, forget and move on from the deliberate and pointless tragedy inflicted on them; and felt like the Nigerian government and Nigerians in general should have become better for all that happened.
The book made me realise that Nigeria has never been a country to take care of her own. It’s the same now as it was then, you can see what is happening with the missing Chibok girls; it took our government THREE weeks to respond to the cry from the North, and even then they only did because the international community had immense interest in the situation. It’s sad to see that after decades passed, we have not once had a sincere, disciplined, ethical government; and Nigeria and Nigerians live with this exploitation and corruption as a normalcy.
 In a country like Nigeria, belief in a higher power is essential. The short-comings of man makes the mercifulness of God all the more apparent. We need to hold on to God, because He is really all we have. Nigeria needs prayers. We are a sick country, and we need God to help us heal. We have been blessed with abundant resources- mineral/natural resources, human resources, good weather, and a resilient attitude; we should be the Lions of Africa, but we are steadily declining. After years and decades of independence, we have no electricity, no good roads, poor education system; we have made no progress. The dreams our patriotic fathers had for this country have still not been brought to fruition.
It’s so easy to cast all the blame on our failing government, but we are all a part of our problem. If we can start to do things right, we can spearhead a change. If our predecessors have failed us, we can right their wrongs, if we have a dream for this country, we can work hard at it till we see it work out. I want to use this post, this article to inspire and rally us, the young ones to stand up for what is right, put selfish interests aside, and join hands to make Nigeria better than we met it!
God bless us all.

 

Can you call yourself a Christian if you do not like to do Christian things? Can you say you love God but are not bothered to change your little bad habits? Does it matter if you use swear words? Does it matter if you wear clothes that show your figure? What about prayers? How often is a “good Christian” to pray? When you pray, do you ask for specific things, or that His will be done? On the other end of the spectrum, should you neglect your former friends? Or still hang out with them and try to change them? Does saying “no” to people’s requests mean that you’re selfish? Does it matter if you don't take "rubbish" from anyone, and always speak your mind? Where do we draw the line, between having a personality and being a “good Christian”?

I had a conversation with one of the elder ladies in my church about living the Christian way, and she said that as Christians we have to be dead to our feelings, "Dead to the flesh", that's how she explained it. She said that we have to be like Christ was, and have mastery, authority and spiritual dominion over our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. We have to learn to NOT react to situations harshly and rashly, no matter how inconveniencing or just plain rude. She said that's what being a Christian entails; we must be meek, show love and forgive easily. She explained that meekness is not weakness but rather strength, and makes us receptive to our true nature as children of God. We have to have an attitude of mind in which we feel free from the fear of giving up our so-called human rights. As is said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek….”

I’m a very opinionated person. I have very clear boundaries around myself, which I expect people around me to respect, as I respect theirs. I am quite “nice”, but I always speak my mind. I’m not one to let people use and abuse me. And if someone wrongs me, I let them know, because if I don’t, the feelings and words eat at me inside. As a Christian, am I to let them walk all over me?

Sigh

It’s like the second you decide to become a Christian; the devil sends you all kinds of temptations in form of people, testing you to your limit. People expect you to go out of your way for them, while giving nothing in return. They take stuff without asking. They waste your time. They are rude, loud, petty and obnoxious. My list of personal grievances goes on.

I am learning to let go and let God. I am learning to not always have a reply for everyone. I am learning to calmly walk away. I am learning to accept apologies I never got, to forgive others for my own good, rather than theirs. I am learning to always stay positive, regardless of my immediate environment. And I’m finding that the more I do it, the less tough it seems. As a Christian in Progress, I’m finding that it’s an attitude worth imbibing, because when you let go of always wanting to be right, you let peace and serenity in. And as more time passes, and with more practise, you attain a much higher consciousness and spirituality, and your life is so much better for it.