JESUS IS COMING

 

             JESUS IS COMING

Mat 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Mat 24:7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

 Mat 24:9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

Mat 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

 Mat 24:11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

 Mat 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

Mat 24:13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

         These are the words of Christ corroborating that his coming is nearer than  never before. Believers don't loose faith, there is no other time to put on the whole armour rather than now. Be strong in the power of God, Purge yourselves from every besetting sin and engage in soul winning. The key to the coming of Christ with us, if we want Christ to come, the church need to engage more in evangelism at all times. The gospel of Christ must be preached at all places so that no one can have an excuse that he did not hear. Our duty as believers is to tell people about Christ,lead them to Christ and Holy Spirit will do the conversion. Our kingdom is not of this world, let us arise whatever the price and launch out to tell others that Christ is coming.

Abolanle Oladipupo

©️  February 2022

MAY "NIGERIA" NEVER HAPPEN TO YOU

        May  "Nigeria"  never happen to you

           May Nigeria never happen to you. This is a deep prayer. Nigeria as at today is one of the counties that have the highest number of prayer mountains, prayer houses and churches. Nigeria is a religious country no doubt about that but it is gradually becoming an  headquarter for any kind of evil you can think of. Poverty, money rituals, insurgencies have ravaged the nation. Karl Marx defined religion as the opium of the Masses. We have more churches, mosques than industries. Religion is the answer to everything and there lies the problem and battle confronting Nigeria. The problem of Nigeria is simply bad leadership and corruption. God will not come down from heaven and put right leaders there. It is our decision to come together as a country and fix this nation together or else Nigeria may be a history. The ruling political class are expert at dividing the nation along religion and ethnic lines which makes it difficult to reason together and challenge our common enemy. 

            Our common enemy is not the devil but bad leaders and corruption. If Nigeria economy revives and the country becomes great, so many churches and prayer houses will close down because there is nothing to pray about again.An average religious leader is a prayer merchant, prayers that are not theologically sound but rooted in philosophically and psychologically siphoning people's pockets.Unfortunately majority of these victims are struggling low income earners who want a better living. I am sure so many of these prayers are already disturbing God. Why should you pray intensively before embarking on a trip in Nigeria? Why should you pray so much for your daily bread and clothes to wear? Why should you pray for electric distribution company to bring power? Why should you pray and pray before you can build a house or ride a car?  Why should you pray and fast before you get a job? Why should you pray and pray over untimely death? Why praying for protection and security before you sleep? Why must you pray and pray for divine healing? The religious leaders have made people believed that Battles of their father's house , curses, evil covenants, satanic yokes were responsible for all these? And the question comes what is the essence of the blood of Jesus, his death and his resurrection? Is the blood of Jesus and power not enough to wipe off curses, covenants and protect us? Do they pray such prayers in Europe, America and other developed countries of the world? Certainly No. Why? They have a working government and are committed to make the economy work for all and sundry. The religious leader have made people believed that African is cursed. Some are even of the theory that their fore father's and ancestors did not serve God which makes life to be difficult for the present generation. All these theories and claims are not biblically true. Probably they didn't know that the whites also have gods and idols that they worshipped. Whites are also involve in voodoo , witchcraft, and rituals. Even at that, these set of religious people will claim even if they have witchcraft, it is white witchcraft which they used in invention of aircrafts, automobiles, phones etc. If there is any part of the world that should be backward and redundant economically, it should be Europe and America. Necessity is the mother of invention. The part of the world where they found themselves is inhabitable yet they think constructively and come up with inventions and research that can make their world habitable and comfortable.

       Nigeria itself is a battle...it have made us prey to prayer merchants and prophets. We have been made to believe that Devil, demons, witches and wizard are responsible for our problems. The truth is we have no problem but our problem is being a Nigerian. Till today people visit prayer mountains before they can get visa to travel out of the country. Such prayers are unnecessary if  Nigeria is working. If you are a citizen of Australia, you can travel to about one hundred countries without visa. Nigerian international passport can also becomes strong if we decide to make Nigeria work. Who is our enemy? Our common enemy is bad leaders and corruption. We have the resources to make us one of the G.7 countries in the world. It is high time we came together as one and fight our common enemy by flushing out the bad leaders and political system that is behind it. Let's come up with a system that will be difficult for corruption to thrives, a system that the right people with the interest of the Masses will always govern. Corruption can be a thing of the past if we see it as a virus that is threatening our existence as a country. If we don't end corruption, corruption will end the country. And the story will be " There was a country" The enemy will rejoice and the surrounding nations will say " May Nigeria never happen to you.

© February  2022, Oladipupo Abolanle

GOD IS NOT YOUR CLASSMATE.

 GOD IS NOT YOUR CLASSMATE

              Our understanding of God is based on what he revealed to us and our understanding of him will determine how far we will go with him in the journey of life.The ultimate purpose of a Christian is to know him. Knowing God will save us from asking God unnecessary questions when face with troubles. Paul's aim was to know God and the resurrection power. He left all for the sole purpose of knowing God. Knowledge is power. Power is not in ability to perform miracles,signs, wonders or healing. The real power is in how much of God you know and put into practical use. All will fail but the word of God endures forever.

           Twelve years ago, a young boy of about eleven years came to the church with his family. Her mom was sick and scheduled for an operation. My duty in the church then was to receive, welcome, pray and visit new members. Immediately after meeting with his family who joined the church together with other new comers, the young boy called me aside and asked me a question. He said " why do bad things happen to good people especially Christians?" I was dumbfounded for few seconds. I knew the boy was talking from his personal experience. He was at the verge of losing his mom who had served God all her days on earth and he kept wondering why should such happened to her. I opened the scripture to John 16: 33

 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

            Jesus did not promise a trouble free life, he never said we will not have sickness,debt and all the bad things of life. He only assure us of victory in the midst of it. The victory lies in Christ overcoming  the world. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, even in pains Jesus is Lord. Faith in God does not mean you always get what you want. It is simply trusting God in whatever situation you find yourself. The three Hebrews said  "But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." That is the practical definition of faith. John the Baptist was in prison for righteousness sake while in prison he sent his disciples to Jesus if actually he was the messiah.why? He was expecting Jesus to miraculously delivered him but he did not.  John was eventually beheaded by Herod and Jesus was told. He responded by going about his ministry. 

                John was doubtful just like any other  believer will do today when passing through difficult times. John had questions for Jesus Christ but Jesus did not answer his question. We have  many atheists today because from their human experiences God at one time or the other failed them and he could not answer their questions. Hence they conclude that there is no God. At times if God wills, he healed believers from sickness and at times he did not. Sometimes he saved believers from auto crash or aircrash and at times he did not. At times believers also died young and at times he delivered from premature death. He is sovereign God.  God is not our classmate, we cannot question him. All we have to do is to simply trust and obey him. Knowing fully well that his thoughts for us are of peace, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.

AbolanleOladipupo(BSc(OOU),Bth(NBTS) 

3rd February,2022