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.

Holiness, Not Loneliness!

For the umpteenth time, I’m going to tell you what you already know:

Nigerians are the most religious people in the whole world!!!

While I’m not averse to spiritual warfare (believe me, there’s more to life than what meets the naked eyes), but most Nigerian Christians are over the top.

I know that sounds like sacrilage, but hear me out.

It’s an open secret that God, by His Spirit, has given Christians an exceedingly unquantifiable amount of power in the Name of Jesus! (Check Eph 1 vs 19 for more details). However, for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume this power can be divided into units. Now, IF every individual, including pastors, is entitled to 10 units each, guess what would happen…
Over 90% of all Nigerian Christians would expend 9.8 units of the power on Spiritual warfare!!!
They’d contend with the evil spirits from their fathers’ side. Then, they concentrate on those from their mothers’ side. When they are done with that, they go on to bind the spirits of the rivers, trees, rocks, sands…….

Imagine being given 10 units of spiritual power and all you can ask for is your enemies’ head! When there are promises to be claimed and lands to be won for the LORD! Hmmn….Nigerians!

It doesn’t even end there. You see, the religious Nigerian’s favorite scripture is Obadiah 1 vs 17. Yet, they quote this verse in a unique manner:

”But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance…and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions”

For some reason, they always seem to omit the phrase ”…and there shall be holiness…”!

God is a Holy God. And He desires His children to be holy like Him (Check Lev 11 vs 45).

It’s never going to be easy to be holy. But the good news is that Holiness comes as a result of cumulative righteousness. And we Christians have received that righteousness as a result of faith in Christ’s redemptive work (Check 1 Cor 5 vs 21).

The Mathematics of God in Obadiah 1 vs 17 is:

God’s Deliverance + Holiness = Possessing Our Possessions!

God is ready to deliver His People. But we want to possess their possessions without going through the pangs of Holiness first. Hence, we allow God to be ‘LONELY’ in His Equation, while at the same time, we want the blessings that follow. C’est dommage!

The Word that is out is: God is not a respecter of persons!!!
He would neither lower His standards nor relax His principles for the sake of anybody.

So, do yourself a favour. Don’t greive the Spirit of God by leaving Him ‘lonely’. Instead, step up and consecrate yourself to be Holy. Only then, would you be surrounded by peace, while simultaenously possessing your possessions!

F***? Not A Chance!

You’re probably wondering whether I just implied the forbidden ‘f-Word’, right?

I sure did. But it all bores down to perspective

But before you unsheath your swords to skin me alive, here’s a reality check for you:
There are probably thousands of words that qualify to be the so-called f-Word. And there are hundreds of 4-letter words that would seamlessly fit into ‘f***’.

If you still have any doubts, you can consult your dictionaries! 😉

Without further ado, my ‘f-Word’ today is…

F A K E !

Seriously, that should be a taboo word amongst the Children of The Light. Especially in our actions!

If only your eyes would be open to see your capabilities for what they really are.
If only you’d enjoy the thrills of your journey towards purpose.
If only you’d stop focusing on what God hasn’t done (or wouldn’t do) for you but has done for your neighbour.
If only you’d stop blending in and pretending to be what you aren’t.
If only you’d realize what a rare specimen you really are and your uniqueness is no mistake.
If only. If only.. If only…

It would be a shame to waste your years being someone other than yourself. You can admire the strengths of others but that shouldn’t be an excuse to copy them, shortcomings and all.

Make up your mind to stand out.
Decide not to be a regular guy off the ‘mass production’ line.
God created you to be much more than a complement to another’s purpose and needs.

God needs you to be you. The World needs you to be you.

Be your God-given self and adopt ‘FAKE’ as your taboo ‘f-Word’, especially in your actions.

Peace!

Life 101: Finding Your Purpose

There’s nobody alive today that is without a reason for existence. Yet, the percentage of people that identify that purpose for their existence is astonishingly infinitessimal. And those that go on to fulfil that purpose are even smaller!

As believers, our general purpose is to please God with our lives. But again, there’s a specific purpose for each individual. And without finding that purpose, one would just be a bundle of untapped potential.

Well, I’ve got some good news for you. You CAN find your purpose for living. NOW!

Yes, there are long questionnaires that could help you with that. But you don’t have to go through all that ‘STRESS’.

Below are 3 tips that can help you locate your purpose, so you can be set on the right path for fulfilment:

1. Look Upwards:

Looking for your purpose? Why not ask your maker, after all, He is the one that created you. As I’ve mentioned before, God is not the author of random and haphazard confusion. He created you for a purpose. Ask Him for that purpose!

2. Look Inwards:

You are unique and specially wired and shaped with specific qualities that make you what you are. Others might be similar to you, but none is the same with you.
You have certain talents and spiritual qualities that make you stand out.
You have a heart for something that no one else gives a thought about.
You have certain abilities and capabilities that others do not possess.
You have a personality that is unique to you.
You have had some experiences that have moulded you into who you are today.
A combination of these qualities I have mentioned to you could be a pointer to where your purpose lies.

3. Look Outwards:

Around you, there are certain issues and challenges that your peculiarities would address satisfactorily. Settle down and carefully be on the look out for what these challenges and issues are. Who knows, you might be on the road to identifying purpose!

What I’ve highlighted might look like fast tips to finding your purpose. But in the real sense, they are anything but that! These steps would take considerable time and must be taken carefully and prayerfully. I wish you God’s best as you step out to please Him by finding and fulfilling your purpose.

Maybe This Is How HE Works

So, you really want to have a feel of how God works, eh?
My advice: Don’t even bother at all. Seriously.

The closest analogy I have for trying to understand how God works would be you trying to explain the beauty and complexities of the Milky Way to an ant. Yeah, and even that comparison is devoid of any form of justice to the Almighty. His Ways and Thoughts are simply not like ours. Even with the help of the Holy Spirit, we still can’t fully grasp how God works. The Holy Spirit would only tell us the deep things of God as it concerns us.

You see, God maintains balance in the World. From the physical principles that makes life on earth possible, to the spiritual laws, such as giving, tithing and positive thinking, that work for all and sundry!
And I’m just talking of life on earth!!!

However, the age-old questions that continue to caress the minds of many are:
If God knows everything, and all things are in His hands, why is there evil in the world?
Why did He allow sin and death enter the earth?
Why do all these things happen, after all, nothing in life is by chance and everything has been planned out by God?

The answer? I really don’t know.
But here is where the ‘fun’ begins.
Based on how ‘much’ you know about God, if you were in His Position, how would you have handled things?

I believe God is the Almighty that knows the end from the beginning since both are contained in Him. However, because of His great love for Mankind, God gave man a very crucial factor called CHOICE! As a result of this ‘Choice’, Man has more than one possible consequence for every action He takes. There are multiple futures for every action we take. And God knows them all. However, one of these multiple futures is known as the PERFECT WILL of God while the others are the PERMISSIVE WILLS of God. Note that ALL are God’s wills! The Holy Spirit’s job is to help believers to KNOW God’s PERFECT WILL.

Sounds complicated? Let me expantiate:

For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume that a man has two alternatives A and B. God already knows all the consequences (futures) of both alternatives. For example, God told Adam not to eat any fruit from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. When Man disobeyed, God sent him out of the Garden clothed in animal skin from the Lamb that had been slain from the ‘before the foundations of the world’. Sin came into the world as a result of Man’s disobedience. But God had already made provisions for that since He knew Man would CHOOSE to opt out of His PERFECT WILL!

Again, all the evil and crises in the world today are as a result of Man’s choices over the course of time. As before, let’s imagine that sometime in the past, a group of people in a region were presented with two choices C and D; the consequence of C leading to an influx of demonic powers and forces of evil into that region; while choice D would lead to blessings untold. Now, if the former was picked by these people, what would happen in that region over the course of time? Evil and reports of evil. I believe this is the case in many regions of the world today. This generation is reaping the results of choices made by previous generations. And in all these things, God is just! Yeah! Because He has given every man (regardless of religion, culture or upbringing) the innate ability to know what right is. I proved this in a previous write up on this blog titled, ‘FR33 TH^T TH¡NG: In A Defence Of God’.

Now, here’s the stupendous awesomeness of God:
At any given point in time, every individual is simultaenously making more than one choice. And each choice has multiple futures that are in turn full of other choices and their own multiple futures. Yet there are over 7 billion humans on earth making choices with multiple futures EVERY DAY. And God already knows them ALL!

How do you think you’d fare as God in just a second???

P.S: I feel this MIGHT be how God works. However, I’m not a final AUTHORITY on this issue. It’s just an opinion.

”We know in part…But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (I Corinthians 13 vs 9 and10)

Possess Process To Progress: Joshua’s Tale

It was now the thirty-second day.

He was lonely, tired, bored and extremely hungry. A screeching eagle had just circled round the clear cloudless sky above. Joshua adjusted his posture so as to be a bit more comfortable on the rock he was lying on. Instantly, he wished he hadn’t. A searing pain jolted through his back…

What was taking his master so long? Joshua’s emotions were now bordering on depression. He cast his mind back to the cold nights and hot afternoons of the past days on the mountain. He knew he had the psychological toughness to survive his current ordeals. Compared to slavery in Egypt, this was paradise! So, to while away time, Joshua closed his eyes again to recount how everything started thirty-two days ago…

“And Moses rose up AND HIS MINISTER JOSHUA, and Moses went up into the mount of God” (Exodus 24 vs 13)
[Exodus 32 vs 17-18 also proves that Joshua too climbed the Mount of God, though, it’s very likely that Moses climbed to a higher level than Joshua].

Life had been hard for Joshua. Yes, he became Israel’s leader. But that was after process had taken place. A lot of it! In fact, many of us today can’t live with what Joshua had to live with:

Psychological and physical turmoil of loneliness while Moses was enjoying God’s Presence on the same mountain. Not for a day or two. But forty whole days! It could have been longer had it not been that Israel rose up ‘to play’.

However, the zeal for God was there, and soon, Joshua also started basking in God’s Presence, having a relationship with Him (Exodus 33 vs 11).

When the time came to spy the Promised Land, Caleb and Joshua were the only spies that brought a positive report. But guess who got most of God’s public accolades? Caleb!
Normally, this should have bred bitterness in Joshua’s heart. But converse was the case. Instead, he served God with even more vigour, winning countless battles for the Lord, under Moses’ leadership.

Finally, it was time to pass the baton of leadership. And God picked Joshua to lead His People. Joshua eventually got due recognition for his patient travails for God. He went on to conqueur and divide the Promised Land.

Tough times don’t last.
Tough people do.
There’s every chance that the bigger your life purpose, the more preparation God allows you to go throuph. That ‘wilderness’ experience would only bring out God’s best in you. The beauty of gold is seen after it has passed through the processing fire of affliction.

Possess your process now and watch how smoothly you’d progress into the next step of fulfiling purpose!

Men’s Talk: Hombre a Hombre (Ladies, We’d Chat Later!)

On a lighter note, my parents sometimes tease me that my mates in other countries are already settled- married with kids and working…while I’m still working on myself!

Based on age and experience, I’m not the best person to counsel others on relationships. But being a guy, I could share some wonderful insights on the topic with my fellow guys. Hombre a hombre!

Before you put a ring on it ;-), consider Adam:

After Adam was created, he didn’t start scouting for Eve. No! No!! No!!! Instead, he got his purpose for living, which was:

* to dress and keep the Garden of Eden.
* to name all the animals.

Today, the case has been totally reversed. Guys without any sense of purpose or direction want to settle down and get married. It’s funny because usually, these guys have not attained emotional, financial and spiritual maturity. They can’t fend for themselves, yet they want to add the responsibilities of another. Mind you, maturity is totally independent of age. Or sideburns and a 6-pack abs!

Embrace your God-given purpose. Unless you find that thing worth dying for, you aren’t fit to live at all. Not to talk of settling down. Find your purpose and set up yourself to fulfil it, then you’d get your own Eve- flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone.

Note that Adam never asked God for a wife. Not once! God Himself knew it was time to get someone who would complement and complete Adam.

As a guy, our lives are relatively straightforward:
Find purpose in God.
And all other things would follow…

P.S: Ladies, we’d have our talk soon. I promise. 😉

Who Needs Idols? We Are Gods!

You know what I consider the most powerful statements in the Bible?

‘So God created man in His own image…’

Do you know the gravity or import of that statement?
It means that you are a product of God’s imagination.
You were created in God’s image.
As a result, you have the ability to exhibit God’s own characteristics too. Another portion of the Bible is more succinct: ‘You are gods…’

All these doesn’t mean that one day, Man would become Omniscient, Omnipresent or Omnipotent. No! Instead, it means we also have the power of creation in us.
We have that ability to call those things that are not, as though they were.
The proof is all around us. The TVs, mobile phones and computers and other inventions you now see, once existed before.
Yeah, as an image in someone’s mind!

Knowledge of this truth is what true power is all about. I’d never forget these quotes:

‘The only way you can predict the future is to create it’
‘The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible’

Nothing is closer to the truth!

How many of us have consigned our destinies to the cold hands of fate? It doesn’t have to be that way. After all, you are a god! You don’t need to have an ‘idol’ as a role model or compete in the ‘American Idol’ before you make things happen.

By faith, God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence.
What is wrong with you that you can’t do the same?
By faith, you too can create your world of possibilities by the words of your mouth.

You are a god.
Act like one!!!

Thank God For Dirty Dishes: A Poem

I didn’t write this poem. I found it in a book I am currently reading. I hope you’d like it:

¤ THANK GOD FOR DIRTY DISHES ¤

Thank God for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell

While other folks go hungry, we’re eating pretty well

With home, and health, and happiness,
We shouldn’t want to fuss; for by this stack of evidence, God’s very good to us.

GL(ory/amour)

I came across a great post here:
www.joaynn510.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/dont-let-your-reality-become-the-death-of-the-gospel-preachers-of-la/

I just felt I should share my comment on that post right here.

This is it:

” I didn’t watch ‘Preachers of LA’. I’m also not condemning anybody, but Dietrick Haddon’s issue brought some truths to my mind. These are:

1. The gifts and calling of God are irrevokable. So, when you want to see how well a man is faring spiritually, we don’t look at the gifts. We look at the FRUITS. Jesus said that we’d all know them by their fruits.

2. God is the author and creator of Glory. The devil and the evil world system can NOT create GLORY. But they can copy it. And the counterfeit can never match the original. So, they call it GLAMOUR. The two are similar but are not quite the same. Unfortunately, the Church cannot tell the difference between the two!

Shall we continue in sin because Grace abounds? No! Because our love for God would restrain us from hurting Him. May God help our generation.

Great post ”