Tag: Holy Spirit

Is ‘COOL’ Really Overated?

When I saw it again this morning, I just knew it was time to chip in my two cents’ worth.

Is it a good thing to be ‘COOL’?
Is ‘COOLNESS’ really overrated?

Well, let’s first identify what ‘COOL’ is.

For some, it could mean being reserved, shy and soft-spoken.
Others would disagree and say it means being smart and trendy.

As a Christian, I believe being ‘COOL’ entails much more.

Yes, I understand that we are different people with different characters, mindsets and ideas. And as a result, our interpretations of ‘COOLNESS’ is a subset of who we are…

But allow me to submit to you, this day, that the height of ‘COOLNESS’ is being totally wrapped up under the control of the Holy Spirit!

Really.

Don’t you know it is possible to be charged up with the FIRE of the Holy Ghost, yet at the same time you are overflowing with living WATERS?

Duh, THAT’s cool!

You can be as BOLD as a lion, and still be GENTLE as a dove? Logically, they just don’t go together. But again, nothing in the Spirit ever makes sense logically.
How much ‘COOLER’ can one get?!

Be sincere now:

If you were just a regular ‘Joe’ and you came across a highly anointed individual, who manifests spiritual gifts and fruits, what would be your response?
I, for one, would go into my closet of prayers and desperately cry out for the Presence of the Spirit in my life, more than ever before!

My point is this:

There is a dearth of genuinely ‘COOL’ individuals out there.

What we have mostly, are individuals who fit into our preconceived notions of what ‘COOL’ should be. And as always, our preconceived notions are usually wrong.

The right kind of ‘COOLNESS’ is like a beautiful masterpiece of the Spirit.
It can never, never be overrated.
And thankfully, it’s meant for all!

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)

A Rare Flower: A poem

Grrriiinnnggg! It’s morning.
I check the mirror and find myself set
Purposefully, I walk into the Garden where Adam once found himself alone
Taking a meditative stroll in the company of the early morning sun,
I see it
Either by coincidence or by Divine providence, I cannot tell
But it’s right there, in the far corner of the Garden
A young bud sprouting,
A rare species, a jewel in any man’s eyes,
So beautiful and natural,
Intoxicatingly delicate, the pick of them all.
Instantly, I’m in tune with it

Zzzuuuuppp! The Indian music in my ears stop and
I find out that I’m in a fix:
Do I leave it to nature, or do I protect it
from the many non-existent wandering predators of my imagination’s creation,
Who have no other agenda than devouring all in their paths.

For a while, I step back from the garden and withdraw into myself,
Only stepping out occassionally to discuss my plight
with the self-proclaimed elders in the perimeter of my consciousness

Yet, the familiar still small voice lovingly warns me
of all the dangers and perils of nipping a rare scion so soon.
Alas, my conceit captains the suggestions of the ‘know-alls’,
and they all urge me to follow my ‘seat of smartness’

I’m back in the Garden, and I tell my Self, ‘Fish out your bud’
I’m excited and carefully become a wee bit careless
However, with crude expertise, I cut it off,
from whence it knew as home.

I saddle myself
with the responsibility of fending for it.
It is resilient, and with a stubborn desire to survive.
It thrives, but only at its normal rate,
Not less, but I’d never know whether it could have been more

So, what was all my fuss about?
I commune with my heart,
during my pillow-talk at night.
And the intuitive, inner, inspirator interferes once more, saying,
‘The Father in His Nature wills the Perfect rather than the Permissive for His own’

I wake up.

Life In Its Simplicity

To me, I’d say that a life lived in simplicity is one that the Holy Spirit controls from the most basic issues to the most crucial life-defining ones.

God talks to us all. In simple ways like dreams and visions and by nature. Still others get direction from The Word and their consciences. Some even hear an audible voice. The important thing is that God directs His people, regardless of the medium used. And yielding to His direction is The Way to The Simple Life.

A life lived in simplicity is one lived in peace. This is because there is a sense of purpose and direction in such an individual’s life. The person’s life is organized and well-orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. Such a life is never cumbersome because only the necessary and important things are done. Indeed, as a result, even unnecessary good habits are dropped if they are not important. Life becomes so simple that no decision is too trivial for the Spirit to decide. All decisions are met with either a ‘Yes’, a ‘No’ or a ‘Not Yet’.

Friend, we’ve been invited to live our lives in the simplicity of the Spirit. In that way, we can cast our cares and worries and troubles on His broad shoulders because they don’t belong to us anymore.

I leave you with this peculiar translation of a popular verse in the Bible:

‘Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you’
– Jesus (Matthew 11:28-29 The Message)

SOS, Songs of Solomon in the Bible?!!

Let’s picture this scenario in our minds’ eye: You pick up your Bible, flip through the pages and then your eyes happen to fall on the this short book of the Old testament. You start reading the 1st Chapter and before you finish the second verse, you see it. You shout ‘Yikes!’ in your mind and you might start wondering out aloud what a book like this is doing in the Word of God. You decide to give yourself a benefit of a doubt and continue the Bible passage. At the end of the entire book, you are awestruck, dumbfounded and spellbound…. And you ask yourself: ‘WHAT IS SONGS OF SOLOMON DOING IN THE BIBLE?’

I’m not a pastor, neither am I so much of a Bible scholar, but I have come across articles that have tried to explain why Songs of Solomon is found in the Bible. Of all the reasons I saw, the ones I felt were most plausible were:
1. God is interested in all facets of our human existence, even up to the love lives of married Christian couples.
2. It is a shadow of the type of love that Christ has for His Church.

However, in my relatively short Christian life, I’ve come to understand that when one’s dealing with God, or His Word (the Bible), one must avoid stereotypes. When dealing with God, or His Word, you have to be ready to drop any religious prejudices, sentiments and personal beliefs and just depend on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Now, the vivid picture I painted in the 1st paragraph was quite similar to my exact feelings when I first came across Songs of Solomon (funny, eh?). I was amused, bemused, ‘ceemused and demused’. But when I dropped my own human thoughts and decided to depend on the Holy Spirit for interpretation, I found ‘platinum’ NUGGETS that were even totally unrelated to love or something of such. The interpretation was so applicable to present day situation. Now, that’s sublime! What’s more, I’m going to share what I saw with you. Huzzah, right?

Well, if you were patient enough the first time you read Songs of Solomon, and you were able to get to the 4th Chapter and the 12th, 15th and 16th verses, you’d come across something poetic as follows:
‘A garden is inclosed in my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed…..
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out…..’

The 1st portion of the passage above shows a case of untapped potentials, a case of what COULD have been but is NOT, a case of unseen glory in an individual. Notice the phrases, ‘a garden inclosed’, ‘a spring shut up’, ‘a fountain sealed’. Can’t you see the sadness and pity oozing out of those words? ‘A garden inclosed’ could imply that the potential available in an individual that the individual has failed to tap into as a result of ignorance. Every person has a hidden treasure embedded within him or her. It would be the highest form of selfishness to deprive humanity of that treasure in you, just because of ignorance! Well, as the Greeks would say, ‘Gnosthiseauthon!’ which means, ‘Search yourself!’. The other phrases in the first portion of the passage, ‘a spring shut up’ and ‘a fountain sealed’ typifies the case of individuals who were initially on the road to maximizing potential but as a result of one mistake or the other (usually sin or delving out of one’s purpose) they become stagnated and are unable to maximize their full potential. All isn’t lost, however.

Now take a look at the life and excitement found in these phrases fron the 2nd portion of the passage: ‘a fountain of gardens’, ‘a well of living waters’, ‘streams from Lebanon’. See the joy and almost touchable happiness that is leaping from each word of these phrases. This is a vivid picture of fulfiled purpose and maximized potential. Also note the God’s ultimate plan for you: OVERFLOW TO IMPART OTHERS. Would a fountain of gardens be meant for just one person to eat all on his own? Or would a well of living waters be used by just one person? No! No!! No!!! Your maximization of potential is meant to lead to an overflow in your life that would impart sporadic impacts in the lives of all you come in contact with. This is the joy of it all- Nurturing others to tread the paths you tread to attain potential.

Finally, in the last portion of the passage, there’s a kind of climax to all the build up of the previous portions of the passage. ‘Awake O North wind……blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out’. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, just knowing what to do isn’t enough. Knowing that you have to give yourself to others without having any fears of losing in the ‘competition’ can only come via the extra nudge from the Holy Spirit. Once that extra force is there, there is the facilitation of events that would leave one with no choice but to joyfully impart lives.

So, do you still have any reservations about Songs of Solomon (SOS)? I didn’t think so too…..