Author: Promise

Promise Tewogbola is a Christian writer, behavioral economic researcher and author of several books. He has a master's degree in Public Health and a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology.

Ho-Ho-Ho…I’m Back…Maybe Not Yet!

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FIRST OF ALL…

I want to use this opportunity to give my warmest compliments to all my readers. Wishing you a Merry Christmas (in arrears) and a prosperous New Year in advance.

THAT SAID…

I’d like to sincerely apologize to my readers for keeping away for so long. I guess I’m supposed to be able to update more often after I shake off the Christmas Bug (or the Writer’s Block :-() that got me.

UNFORTUNATELY…that would not be!

As much as I HATE it, you’re ACTUALLY going to be seeing considerably LESS of me this coming year.

Yea. ;-(

2014, especially the FIRST TRIMESTER, is going to be a very IMPORTANT and CRUCIAL period that COULD potentially determine a lot in my LIFE. During this period, I’d be writing the final exams for my Degree.
As a result, I would be NEEDING a lot of my TIME and CONCENTRATION (and your PRAYERS) so as to attain my DESIRED GOAL!

DEAR READERS, do not be DISMAYED. This is not going to be a TOTAL ABSENCE from the world of blogging. I would still come around once in a while to share my THOUGHTS. It’s just NOT going to be as frequent as it was before.

Thanks for your UNDERSTANDING and SUPPORT.

God Bless

The Jacobian Struggle: A Poem

He is the All-knowing, He sees everything coming
But this time, Common Sense is also justified by her children
It’s a night like none before, embedded with as much
that escorts the very moment of a discovery

Under a tree lie three, gallantly flunking the much
anticipated practicals, while
Ahead, a rock beckons, luring His sympathetically
aching knees with its ample space
The moment is near, and He’s a Man, like the rest of us
His heart is filled with heaviness in its profundity
Each beat drawing Him ever closer to the Inevitable
The spirit is willing,
The body is weak,
The soul is wandering undecidedly

For the last time, the Master kneels,
with a macabre mix of
desperation and depression, squeezing
blood from His pores after all the sweat is gone
Instead of oil, His Own Soul is pressed at Gethsemane,
broken and crushed, albeit by His permission

Like a blast from the past, it comes to Him:
the prince initially earmarked to be a supplanter,
who changes his lot by prevailing over The Father

Tough times never last, they first come before the crown
Circumstances and challenges are not forever,
the diamonds at the end of the gloomy tunnel of Despair are

Somewhere, somehow, something clicks!
Like a shining beacon of hope never before found,
the Messenger points out to Him
the ever present Grace He can always tap into

As a tactically-advantaged Field Marshall,
He rises, rejuvenated and renewed!

“Let’s go……..”

How To Command God: Quick Steps

Motivational preacher’d be like:
“And I shouted, “God!” and INSTANTLY He replied me, “Yes, my son!”. Then I told Him, “Move this mountain, Lord!” and He said, “Yes, my son! Would that be all?””

And I’m like: Is that the picture of the Ancient of Days you have in your puny mind…sir ?!!
A talkative God?
A God you can wrap around your little finger?
A God that is waiting on you just to serve all your whims?
An inferior God?

(Before I go on, I must say that the title of this post is a LITTLE bit….er….misleading. You won’t be seeing any tips on how to command God. Sorry to disappoint you, but kindly spare me some minutes. I promise you won’t regret it)

Now, on commanding God, it seems to me that a lot of preachers have taken Isaiah 45 vs 11, a bit out of context. The verse says,

“Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hand, command ye me”

So, they see the phrase, “Command ye me” and then proceed to exercise their “authority” over the LORD Almighty.

Funny, isn’t it?

But to have a better understanding of the contextual meaning of a Biblical text, it pays to read the preceeding and suceeding verses.

Verse 10 says,
” Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? Or to his mother, What hast thou brought forth? ”

Now, this is getting interesting!

From Isaiah 45 vs 10, it is apparent that verse 11 is a QUESTION!!!
In essence, God is saying: Inasmuch as you can’t question your parents about why they gave birth to you or why you have certain features in your physique, you also can’t question His purpose regarding you!
He’s not asking you to command Him.
Instead, God is saying, “You shouldn’t dare to command Me!”

Well, that should settle this issue.

But if you still have doubts, let’s check verses 12 and 13:

“I have made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city and shall ket go my captives, not for price or reward, saith the LORD of hosts”

Regardless of what we declare, decree or command, it is His Will and Purpose for our lives that would stand in the end.

Look, don’t waste your time commanding Jehovah to do your own selfish, lustful desires. We are not meant to command God. We are meant to do His own will and bidding.

Do yourself a favour: Whenever you pray, instead of commanding God, find His perfect will by His Spirit; and pray in that line.

Remember, swimming against the tide causes you to expend a lot of energy while you cover very little ground.
On the other hand, flowing with the tide is both easier and rewarding.

Be wise!!!

Reality Check…1…2…3…!

The following question should help you put some perspective into how you see your walk with God:

“If God, in His infinite power and might, should decide to take His throne and all His glory into the very flames of Hell, would you follow Him there?”

Not like the aforementioned scenario would play itself out, but the question helps to bring into sharp focus the main motivation that drives people to God.

You see, for many people, that motivation is THE FEAR OF HELL!!!

Yes! Trust me.

People have a skewed view of God, which has been sold to them by religion, tradition and the devil. They see God as a taskmaster that seeks 100% adherence to 10, 000 dos and don’ts.
So, they think, “How can we escape the distasteful ending to haters of God? Well, we’d claim to love Him, so we don’t end up in Hell!”

But that’s not the character of the God I worship and serve.

His personality is far from that of a taskmaster. Instead, He is loving and caring. He knows our shortcomings and has our best interests at heart.
He craves for a loving and working relationship with as many that would avail themselves to Him.

God is not looking for those that would worsip Him because they are scared of death and Hell. Neither is He looking for those who just see worshipping Him as a free ticket to Heaven.

God is searching for those who love Him for the sake of Love itself.

In conclusion, the fear of death or Hell should not be what drives you to God.
Your driving force should be a loving heart and a desire for a working, loving relationship with the King!!!

A Phone’s Kind Of Faith

I use a small java phone:

The Nokia C2-05.

It is a slide phone with ‘old-fashioned’ alphanumeric keys.

Over the past couple of years, the phone has been quite indispensible to me.

I make and receive calls on it.
With it, I send and receive text messages.
Since I don’t have a laptop, I surf the net with this same phone.
I check mails and maintain THIS blog with it.
I even upload and download files and ebooks on it.

Now, a couple of months back, I was going through some trying moments. I believe God ministered to me with this analogy:

We pick up our phones and effortlessly expect to send and receive messages, make and receive calls, browse, upload and download files. Instances when this doesn’t happen, we simply check the phone settings (or our airtime balances!) and rectify the issue.

No wires link our phones to the sites we download from.
No ropes join our phones to other phones when we make calls or send messages.

Instead, we believe and unconditionally trust in the unseen microwaves and radiowaves in the air, even though we don’t see them.

Yet, when asked to have faith in the power of God, we fidget and fret!
We ask to see physical manifestations, first!

You see, prior to the discovery of phones, telecommunication towers and satellite dishes, already there were invisible microwaves and radiowaves. Because man was unaware of them then didn’t mean they didn’t exist.

Thankfully, man learnt to harness these invisible waves for his use.

The same goes for faith and the power of the Spirit!

The power of God is available to and for all and sundry. Words can’t even begin to describe the potency and magnitude of the power of the Spirit!

But, until you can have that simple and unwavering belief similar to the one you have in your phone, when you expect it to work the way you want it to, without any doubts, only then, would you begin to be a partaker in the goodies God has in store for you!!!

THE PLATINUM GIFT FEATURE ARTICLE: “GreenLanders, It’s time…” by MAYOWA BABATUNDE

GreenLanders, It’s time.

It is no longer news that our country Nigeria is massively blessed; we are the largest black nation on earth with a population of over 160 million people. Our soil is fully loaded with nature’s most desirable resources ranging from crude oil to the over thirty-four different classes of minerals.

The gospel is simple and true: The Land is green – rich, endowed and fertile, with abundant human and natural resources. However, very awful is the reality that a vast majority of the inhabitants of this globally acclaimed ‘green land’ are just nothing but an epitome of lack and unproductivity, thus making Nigeria earn the title- “The world’s best example of a paradox”- a paradox of the kind of wealth that breeds penury.

Nigeria is ranked as the 6th largest producer of oil in the world, yet 69% of its population (112 million) live below the poverty line of one dollar a day. Our land is indeed green, yet we spend millions of naira a year to import rice and some other foods that we eat. We are so blessed with a wide variety of natural resources yet our currency( which is supposed to be a reflection of our economy) experiences a daily decrease in value against the dollar( $1=N166.6 as at the time of this write up). I can’t help but wonder why our abundance in oil, people and resources haven’t worked favourably and placed us on the top echelons of the global economic ladder by now.

Other developing nations seem to be growing at a very fast rate, for example South Korea of fifty million people has a Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of $1.2 trillion, Brazil of one hundred and ninety-six million people has GDP of $2.4 trillion, Malaysia of twenty-eight million people has GDP of $278.6 billion, Chile of seventeen million people has $248.59 billion, Singapore of five million people has $318.7 billion, while with our population of about one hundred and sixty-five million people, we shamelessly boast of a GDP of $235.92 billion.

While it is very easy to blame it all on bad leadership(past and present) and lack of managerial competence, the aim of this write up is to call the ‘Green Landers’(inhabitants of the green land) to a higher level of responsibility and bring about a positive change to our dear nation.

Truly, we cannot over emphasize the role of leadership in the transformation of a nation, thus, it’s time for the Greenlanders to create a new political interest- to participate actively in the process of electing leaders into office, and to also demand good governance and accountability, thereby compelling those who govern us to persistently make choices that will more likely improve the outcomes of economic management.

Our country is not only blessed with deposits in the ground, we are equally blessed with deposits in the mind. But only a few ever leverage on this deposits. It’s time to turn the search light inward, to nurture and nourish our gifts, talents, strengths and abilities and also to embrace a new mindset- an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset that takes pride in problem-solving. With this, we can change the course of our history and place our nation on a new economic development trajectory.

And while so many Greenlanders can’t wait to grab the slightest opportunity of leaving this country in search of greener pastures, I strongly believe that if we can put in our best efforts as citizens, we can make our own land greener (after all, it’s our land). Have you ever imagined what it would be like, the magnitude of the result we would produce if every Nigerian (about one sixty five million of us) would labour (whether with head or hand) tirelessly, with dignity and integrity, all with the sole purpose of making Nigeria better?

We as citizens can make a huge world of difference in re-positioning our Nation, if only we are willing to take up the responsibility.

This is my message- It’s time for the GREENLANDERS to ARISE!

Babatunde Mayowa October, 2013.

08169796977, lordmayor90@gmail.com

The Return Of The Ark (Part 5)

“Who is this Obed-Edom?”

King David asked the grey haired fully-bearded elders seated along the two flanks of the throne-room.

It had been three months since the king had entrusted the ark into the care of Obed-Edom. The news of the man’s prosperity and all-round blessings had reached Jerusalem.

“Who is he?”, David asked again.

One of the elders on David’s left rose up to speak.

“Your majesty, if my memory serves me well, it has been three months since that tragic incidence at Perez Uzzah occured”

“Yes, yes, when Abinadab’s son touched the ark of God near Nachor’s threshing floor”

“Indeed, your Majesty. But permit me, sir, to remind you, sir, that you left the ark in the care of a certain Levite who lived near the site. That man, your Majesty, is….”

David cut him short. How could he have forgotten? The daily demands of running the nation might have contributed. But even that wasn’t an excuse.

“…Obed-Edom! ”

The ‘uhs’ and ‘ahs’ filled the room, as the elders communed amongst themselves.

David thought: The ark was definitely not an instrument of mass destruction if handled properly. If the ark could transform the life of a man and his household in just three months, how much more would the fortunes of Jerusalem be changed for the better.

David stood up on his feet,
“We are paying Obed-Edom a visit! ”

For the third time in as many months, there was a lot of pompous fanfare and celebrations. David and the people set out to Obed-Edom’s household.
Nobody needed to point out the place to the king. The changes in the man’s house was as clear as day.

Moments later, Obed-Edom came trotting on a large healthy stallion of his own! As soon as he saw the king, he dismounted the horse and prostrated before the king.

“Your majesty, may you live long, sir”

“You may rise up, Obed-Edom. Look how you’ve been favoured of the Lord”, David said, pointing at the visible changes round about Obed-Edom.

“May the Lord be praised forever more, Your majesty! ”

David looked intently at the man. He also loved God deeply. Which worship leader wouldn’t?

However, the images of a dead Uzzah flashed momentarily in David’s mind. He knew he had to be careful this time around.
He cleared his throat authoritatively.

“We have come to take the ark to Jerusalem, but….”

Obed-Edom smiled at the king knowingly,

“Oh king, I understand you more than words can explain. You don’t want another tragedy on a day as this”

David nodded. Then he put a hand on Obed-Edom’s shoulder.

“Obed-Edom, I understand that you are a Levite. Tell us, what must we do to avoid another….uhm….another outburst”

“Your majesty, it is all simple. Only Levites are allowed to carry the ark of the covenant by the poles on its sides. And when they carry it, they are to do so on their shoulders for as long as it takes to move the ark. No shortcuts, your Majesty”

“And how many of these levites would be needed?”, David asked. He was leaving no loose ends.

“Just twelve, your majesty. Three men on each corner of the ark, your Majesty”

“Thank you, Obed-Edom”.

As the king turned, he remembered Abinadab’s request three months later. So, he added,

“Any last requests before the ark is moved? ”

Obed-Edom was shocked. Was this a test? If it was, he was ready to pass with flying colours.

“Oh King, after all these things that the Lord God had done for me, do I dare ask for more? Oh king, I am not of the high priest’s family, I am just a priest. I am not qualified to see this ark. Even the high priest and his descendants from the time of Aaron only saw the ark three times a year. Yet, I and my family have wined, dined and slept with the ark every day for three whole months. Oh king, may the Lord do so and even more if I ask for any other thing! ”

David was spell-bound. His respect for Obed-Edom grew more.

So, David and Obed-Edom arranged for the twelve levites to carry the ark. The men were young and slightly built. Yet David looked in wonder as these young men carried the ark so effortlessly. Compared to his strong men that had carried the ark with all their might three months ago, these young men were not doing badly at all.

The celebrations now begun in earnest. David and the people were overcome with energetic bliss. The joy of the Lord now empowered them with boundless strength. Burnt sacrifices were offered to the Lord for every six steps taken by the Levites who carried the ark. This went on and on till the ark got to Jerusalem. Considering that the sacrifices were completely burnt to ashes, the procession to Jerusalem took a long time.

But king David didn’t bother. Neither did the people, nor the Levites carrying the ark. All that mattered was that the ark of the Lord had returned. The ark of covenant was now at home!!!

(THE END???)

The Return Of The Ark (Part 4)

It was now dusk.

The Ark was still on the cart. The cart was still joined with the two oxen. But the fanfare and joyful progression was all gone. There was no one else in sight apart from a small-statured bald-headed man. He sat down on a rock a couple of metres away from the ark. He stared blankly at nothing in particular. Apparently, he was lost in his thoughts.

Perez Uzzah was the new name king David had given to the site where the ark had stumbled.

The threshing floor of Nachor was renamed not because the ark had nearly stumbled there, but because of what David perceived to be an act of unbridled harshness on the part of God.

Uzzah had died because he had ONLY ventured to prevent the ark from falling.

Prior to the incidence, God had expressly spelt it out in the Law, that absolutely no one was to touch the ark under any circumstance.

But, couldn’t God have relaxed his standards a bit? At least, the circumstances warranted that.

David the king was sad.
What was meant to be the happiest day of his reign had been marred with tragedy.

Obed-Edom’s house happened to be quite close to Perez Uzzah. And the king had ordered the ark to be kept in Obed-Edom’s house while he came to terms with the nation’s grief.

Obed-Edom had naturally been shell-shocked at the king’s decision.

Why should an article that had just killed someone be placed in his custody?

It simply wasn’t fair.
He tried to reason out what sins he or his progenitors had committed in the times past that now warranted his punishment from the Lord.

Obed-Edom had considered appealing to the king to change his mind. However, he promptly dismissed the idea. Why, the voice of the king was as that of an angel.

Now, Obed-Edom shifted on the rock he was seated upon. He tried to reason out what he had to do to avoid ending up like Uzzah. Almost at that instant, the eyes of his understanding were opened.

In carrying the ark, God desired His people to have a burden to worship and serve Him. This burden was not meant to be only heartfelt but also backed up with the right actions too.
There was to be no shortcut.
There was to be no easy way out.
The Law specifically made it clear that the Levites were to carry the ark of covenant on their shoulders, where they would feel the burden of the ark’s weight the most.
There were no provisions for carts to make the movement of the ark easier!
It didn’t matter if the ark was to be moved from Dan to Beersheba, it had to be carried on the shoulders of the priests.

Obed-Edom looked up at the cart again.

God had intended to use that particular stumble to make His people see their error in the way they moved the ark.
And Uzzah might have been killed because his actions tried to cover up God’s attempt at correction!

Again, Obed-Edom realized that not just anybody was qualified to carry the ark. The Levites were the one’s instructed by the Law to carry the ark.

The small-statured man with a bald head smiled at himself. He was a Levite! He served as both a porter and a musician at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.

Instantly, Obed-Edom rose up and danced vigorously to no music. Not a few passersby threw cautionary glances at the older man’s direction. He didn’t even spare them a thought.

Instead, he worshipped God heartily. The God who elected him via His Grace and qualified him to be a custodian of the ark.

Obed-Edom perceived that he and his household were in for a ‘season of refreshing’…

(TO BE CONCLUDED IN THE NEXT AND FINAL PART!)