The Ball is back in our Court (3/3).

When there is a crisis in your life, do you know, do you have who, and where to run to? Do you run to, or from God? Is He your last resort or do you have some other option(s) in your back pocket? Is anyone else bigger than God in your life? Or, will you say like Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him?” (Job 13:15a) Though I don’t understand the picture, nor see clearly, yet will I trust Him. He is the only constant in this ever-changing world.

Our reference and definition of things ought to always be in comparison to Him, who changed not. [Malachi 3:6; James 1:17] Changing things cannot, and will never define our God. Rather, our God gives definition and meaning to the changing circumstances and situations. We might not always understand, but we can always trust. That is all He requires of us. That is why He says,

“Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, TLB.

© 2015 Akin Akinbodunse.

Links to Series:

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Five.

The Champion in Elijah (1/3).

The Vision that Makes Whole (2/3).

The Vision that Makes Whole (2/3).

We see a similar disposition in Job. What a man of faith he was? We will probably never fully understand what his wife meant by him cursing God and dying. All glory to God, Job was wiser and much stronger than that. He was dejected, just like Elijah and Cain. Sin had several suggestions for him, just as well. Job, like Elijah, and unlike Cain, understood his source, and held so tightly in faith, irrespective of the beatings of life.

Job saw beyond his immediate pains and saw the glory at the end of the ages. [Job 19:25-27; Psalms 130] Like, Jesus Christ, [Hebrews 12:2] his vision of the end gave him strength in bearing with the immediate, temporal pain. [2 Corinthians 4:17] He knew and did not forget the source of all that is good in him. [James 1:17] He appreciated the fact he might not always understand his ways. He preset his boundary conditions to ALWAYS trust in God. [Job 13:15]

What about you? Do you have boundary conditions for your life? Are there circumstances under which you'll give up on faith? Do you have a desire which is a deal-breaker in your walk with God? Or, are you fully sold out, under and over every kind of condition or wind? I don't know your answer, but this I know beyond the shadow of a doubt, it will be tested. Only those with a clear vision - boundaries, will come out unsoiled.

St. Akin de Great.

#ihearhimcallingmyname

Links to Series:

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Five.

The Champion in Elijah (1/3).

The Ball is back in our Court (3/3).

The Champion in Elijah (1/3).

Elijah had his ups and downs, just like we all do. What made him stand out is at the end of the story; he lived out of his higher nature, rather than his lower nature. He did not allow the temporal interruption of doubt to have full sway in his heart. He doubted, but never forgot his source. He was moved but never forgot where his sustenance comes from. So, rather than all that which befell him take him away from God, he ran to God. He ran to his source.

Aristotle teaches, "it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." Why? The aim of the darkness is to immobilize. It is terror, and as terror does, wants us to think it is all there is. We must not buy into its merchandise. No matter the circumstance of life we find ourselves in, there is always something we can do. We can go to our source, and trust Him for the next step. We can stay faithful in the last word we heard from Him.

Keep trusting. Keep holding on to faith. Keep pressing. It's working. The light is dawning in your direction. Never give up. You are an overcomer.

St. Akin de Great.

Links to Series:

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Five.

The Vision that Makes Whole (2/3).

Through the Eyes of Cain (3/3).

You do realize Cain was in a similar emotional disposition, like Elijah, after God rejected his sacrifice. [Genesis 4:1-16] That was a failure in his life. He felt dejected. He felt rejected. Unlike Elijah, he did not recover. He allowed his emotion to run riot until they were out of his control, and he committed the unthinkable. He killed his brother. 

The funny thing is, God came to him, warned him against the path he was toeing, and how to get off the toe way. [Genesis 4:6-7] Cain did not heed God's counsel. He allowed the little leaven to leaven the whole lump, and produce after its kind. Like Cain, God always comes to each of us on the day of our visitation. He seeks to get us off the highway to hell. 

God seeks to keep us on the "strait and narrow" way to heaven, and all it entails for us, both in this life, and that which is to come. The challenge is, he cannot force us. We have free agency. He gave us free will. He will not take it back. He admonishes, but the choice is ours to make. The continually cries out to us, "choose life." The choice is ours.

St. Akin de Great.

#chooselife

Links to the Series:

Masquerades in the Name of the Lord (2/3).

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Four.

Masquerades in the Name of the Lord (2/3).

The word Nicolaitans is taken from two Greek words, "Nikaō,' meaning ‘conquering the people,’ and "Laos," meaning ‘to conquer.’ The doctrine of the Nicolaitans was one of clerical hierarchy superimposed upon the laity and robbing them of spiritual freedom. These people had no clue who Elijah was. They see themselves better. Their senses have been corrupted. Such are the ones spoken of in Matthew 7:21-23,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Be careful not to model your life after these lost souls. They are not on the way to heaven. Why do you suppose Jesus needed to be identified by Judas Iscariot. Would that have been needed if he masqueraded himself, or carried himself in such a way as to separate himself from his disciples? Not sure where today's masquerades got their wisdom from. Surely not from heaven.

St. Akin de Great.

Links to the Series:

Made from the Same Stock (1/3).

Through the Eyes of Cain (3/3).

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Four.

Made from the Same Stock (1/3).

What comes to mind when you think of the prophets? Do you think of them as some supermen or women? Do you see them as some special breed, specially handcrafted by God (as against every other person coming off the mass production line)? I don’t know what your view is, but the bible tells us, they are no different from you and me. The first part of James 5:17 reads,

“Elijah was as completely human as we are.” (TLB)

No other place in scripture shows the humanness of Elijah as this story, of him running from Jezebel. He had the same challenges and tendencies as we all do. What differentiated him, like any other champion, include, the decisions he made, that is to say, his willpower. "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will." (Vince Lombardi)

Isn't it rather funny, when we see a lot of lost souls trying to differentiate themselves from the laity? They call themselves by various funny names and wear various attires, all trying to show a superhuman status. Fools, they don't realize how pitiable they look. Ignoramuses kicking against the goads. Guess what the Lord has to say about them. Revelations 2:15 reads,

"Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate."

St. Akin de Great.

Links to the Series:

Masquerades in the Name of the Lord (2/3).

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Four.

Grief, But Don't Lose Your Heart (2/2):

So, are you faced with any human experience today that you need to grieve for and over? GRIEF! Don't let anyone talk you into an unnecessary, fake macho appearance. You are human, and there is nothing wrong with that. Be human. Be You! Grief and let your soul come back to reality. "Time heals what reason cannot." (Seneca) Allow time to process what has occurred. In all stay within the boundaries of the Truth (The Word, The Way, and The Life). [John 14:6]

Don't let your sorrow take you away from the way of life. In the face of truth, your sorrow is sheer temporal. It exists only in time, it cannot take precedence over that which is eternal. Your visible loss is nothing in the face of the invisible. Your visible loss is only a daughter of that which is much bigger. Don't be sold out to the daughter that you miss the mother. Don't be too lost in the creation that you miss the creator.

What will make a major prophet of God make this prayer,

“It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” - 1 Kings 19:4b.

Did he really want to die? Was he really ready to die? If he was, why was he then running from Jezebel? Or, is there more to his prayer?

© 2015 Akin Akinbodunse.

Links to Related Articles:
The Neurotic (1/2)

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Three.

Links to Other Resources:
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg.
The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem.

The Neurotic (1/2):

An unsettled past is one of the symptoms of a neurotic person. There is something amiss in the way their brain processes things. It is hampered, hence loses its efficacy. As Dr. Nathaniel Branden, a psychotherapist, describes in his book, "The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem," self-esteem is "the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness."

An unsettled past sickens the mind. Instead of a smooth flow at milliseconds processing speed between the various parts of the brain, our yesterday (past), today (present), and tomorrow (future), the flow is much slower. Its efficacy is diminished. The unresolved yesterday is challenged in providing the information the brain needs in making decisions for today and the future. 

The consonance is lost, or out of sync. This exhibits itself as stress in the physical body, anxiety in the psychological sphere, and sheer disorientation in the total make-up of the person. The remedies to the loss cannot be applied until there is a real and full coming to the realization of the new normal. Only then can they be touched and handled by the remedies.

© 2015 Akin Akinbodunse


Links to Related Articles:
Grief, But Don't Lose Your Heart (2/2)

The Power in You (A Personal Testimony) — Part Three.

Links to Other Resources:

Option B by Sheryl Sandberg.

The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem.