I was studying the book of Luke and my eyes were open to many interesting things l have seen in our Christian lifestyle and it’s very confusing. If you are a practising Christian you will be able to identify with what l am talking about. How many times do you remember what your pastor preach about in your service? I was asking one of my family friend about his church and the teaching of his pastor and l was shocked because he did not even remember and he asked his wife the same question, she did not remember either and then she texts another member of the church and the response was uuuuuuhhh! Meaning l had no idea. This proves my point that many times we wasted our time sitting at the church hearing hot sermon prepared by well-meaning pastor and we do absolutely nothing about it. The question is how can you applied the word to your life if you can not remember.
In the book of Luke 24. It was the account of two disciples discussing on the road to Emmaus about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I want you to begin to see yourself in this story, Jesus was with them for three and the half years and he never changes his message. He spent all his time talking about his suffering, his death and how he will be resurrected on the 3rd day and yet these two disciples are confused about how Jesus died and his body disappeared. The bibles say ” Their faces were downcast and if you listened to what they are saying about the coming of Jesus and his death. It’s a cause for concern. When Cleopas replied to Jesus about his troubled heart, He said he had hoped that Jesus was the one to redeem Israel. The prophecy was fulfilled right in their eyes and they did not see it. How many times Christians will be involved in chatting and discussing what is going on in the world and yet the bible did not hide the signs of end time from you. The prophecy is being fulfilled right in our very eyes and we are busy conversing and sound as confused like the world. How many times God has spoken to you concerning your life and you are still confused. Every time you hear the prophecy about your life from the pulpit or from the bible, you are excited about a bit and as time goes on, you completely have forgotten. I often wonder what our life will be like if we ever apply the sermon we hear every Sunday at least once to our lives. The women are the first to wake up early in the morning of the third day and they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. When they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, they are confused. Please help, which part of l will rise up on the third day that these women did not understand? Do the angels have to ask them ” why are you looking for the dead among the living” what are you listening to? Most of us are like Martha in the Bible. Do you remember the story of Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus? They all hear the same story from Jesus, but Mary always sat at the feet of Jesus to really listened to him, it gets to a stage that Martha was upset with Jesus for allowing Mary to sit with him, instead of helping her in the kitchen. There is nothing wrong in helping and serving in hospitality in the house of God, but don’t forget there is time for everything , why will you be disturbing other people that want to hear the message because you are not there on time to prepare for the service and you are doing the right thing but at the wrong time and you get offended if your team rather listen to the message just like Mary . Jesus said to Martha, Mary has chosen the right thing to do. Sit and listen to the master. If you read the story properly, you will see the way Mary and Martha responded to Jesus when their brother died. When you faced a challenge in your life, it’s the word inside of you that will help you. Martha knows about Jesus, but Mary has a relationship and a deep understanding of the power of Jesus because she spent time and listened to him.
What are you been listening to? Is not about how long you have been in the church and you have listened to all preacher in town? The question is when was the last time that you really really listen to the heart of Jesus? When did you last obey him? Have you turned the church to social gathering and we had a collection of the word for today, but we are so familiar that the word of God has lost his power in our lives.
Why will this women still rise up to go and see a dead body, when he has risen. Why will this two men depressed and confused about the death of Jesus, when they should be rejoicing but instead they are so sad and they are even rebuking Jesus who they taught he has to be a stranger for him not to know what was happening at that time? Imagine Jesus was an unbeliever and they are meant to know the truth and used that opportunity to win soul, but mostly we get so carried away talking at the same level with an unbeliever that they can’t see the difference of you sitting for hours in church. I remember when President Trump became the president of America. I was in shocked like many other people and l was carried away with talking and upset about the whole thing just like the disciples until when l suddenly remember that my duty is to pray for the land, not to be the judge and jury. I need to pray for the will of God to be done and not my will. I can’t be at the same level as an unbeliever. They are many signs of the end time in the bible for me to know and then educate them and used it to win the soul. How can a book written Thousands of years ago be very relevant now? That is a good starting point to show the word of God is true and real. If you ever read the birth of John the Baptist. When the angel appeared to Zechariah and gave him the prophecy concerning the life of John. He clearly did not believe the prophecy. How many times do we pray and when the answer comes we don’t believe? Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have been praying for years and probably given up like most of us. We may give up on God but God will never give up on us. If you see the enormous purpose of this baby, there is no way John will just come without proper preparation. His purpose is to prepare the coming of Jesus our saviour. How can that not take time? Do you know why your answers are taking long to come? To whom a lot is given a lot is required. Why will the angel stop him from speaking until the birth of his son? A lot is riding on this, negative words and unbelief will stop the plans and a lot of life is attached to the coming of this precious child. When you read the account of the same angel visiting Mary about her giving birth to Jesus Christ. Mary asked the same question Zechariah asked ” How will this be ” The angel did not silence her mouth but reassured her and even told her about Elizabeth pregnancy. Do you see the difference, what the angel told Mary has never happened before and never will it happen again? A virgin getting pregnant! It looks impossible and unbelievable. So the Angel understand that this young girl will pay a big price to let the prophecy come to pass, but in the case of Zechariah, barrenness is not new, it happened to Sarah and Abraham. You must have heard about the story and yet you don’t believe. Some of us need our mouth to be silent. We can be our own worst enemy by the negative word that comes out of our mouth. If the angel did not take that action, l am not sure if we will be reading about John, this makes you wonder why they’ve waited for that long? Could it be that they prayed without the word of God concerning their situation? Some of us need God to take some drastic action to get our attention.
I was in a relationship that is not where God wants me. The father of my boyfriend at the time brought a girl all the way from Nigeria to London to marry him. That was a drastic action to get my attention. I wasn’t even a born again Christian at the time, but l definitely did not need a Prophet to know it’s very usual and that gets my attention because God knows l can be set in my own way and He has a plan for my life. You should be glad that God cares even when we don’t even know him. He said l knew you before you are formed in your mother’s womb. He deals with us based on our purpose. I will not be where l am now if l married my ex-boyfriend. It will definitely destroy my purpose. Are you listening to God as you are reading this or is another message or blog? The fact that you are reading this tell me that God is talking to you. Our life has brought so much reproach to his name because we hear but we don’t listen. God will give you a warning concerning certain thing in your life and you will not listen and when something happens, you will be like those two disciples on the road to Emmaus when they say” were not our heart burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened scriptures to us( Luke 24 vs 32) l have a sister that will ignore the sign from Holy Spirit and then later realised that she misses it and her reaction was always like this two disciples . Take time out and listen to what the spirit of God is saying to you. Too many words on our pulpit, radio, tv preachers and yet we are still a mess. John followers after hearing his message over and over about his purpose to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, and still, they are complaining about how Jesus was doing what John told them already. This clearly shows that people will hear what you are saying, are they really listening. You share your vision over and over with your team, they still miss it. Pastor stay up all night to give a message and people still carry on as before. So many examples in the bible to let us know there is nothing new under the sun. I know it’s frustrating, it’s like telling your child one thing over and over again. That’s exactly how some of the Christians are. Noise without power. We declared the bible but we don’t believe or even understand what is inside the bible we carried every day if not just on Sundays. We have to be serious with God. You are either in or out. There is no in between when comes to our relationship with Christ. In the book of Revelation 3, vs16 God says” so because you are lukewarm neither hot nor cold – l am about to spit you out of my mouth. It’s so frustrating when you don’t know where you stand in a relationship with your spouse or even with a friend, now imagine with your maker, one minute you are very hot and the next minute you are cold. I have heard people shared testimonies in church about the goodness of God in their lives and a slight sign of trouble, they disappeared and you can not even see the brake light. The question is ” why are you in the church? Are you truly saved or you need to rededicate your life? Jesus is coming very soon and you don’t want to be left behind. Don’t get caught in all the noise and propaganda right now. Jesus wants a personal relationship with you. Don’t base your Christianity just on what you hear your pastor say to you. You are responsible for your salvation. There are no excuses in heaven. If your name is not written in the book of life, you are doomed to hell. There is no excuse for your lack of understanding of the word of God. Bible is written in different languages and can be downloaded on your phone and if you are living in the part of the world that there’s no persecution or anyone stopping you from serving God and yet you still struggle, you definitely need to repent. I have seen a video of how people have been burned to death because of their faith and l always asked God ” are we all going to the same heaven. Please don’t ignore this message, Jesus is closer than we think and He is not happy about the state of the church right now. Who is the church? It’s not the building. It’s me and you. Remember when Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there.
Jesus says” my house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers( Matthew 21 vs 12-13)
Too many buying and selling are going on in our churches right now. All we talk about is prosperity and most pastors want a big crowd and they are telling you what you want to hear. Jesus message is never about bread and butter. It’s about the kingdom of God.
The bible says ” so do not worry saying ” what shall we eat or shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. We have so many unbelieving believers in our churches. If you are in this category, you are still a pagan. As l am writing this blog, l am also praying that l will not be reading this blog after the rapture. We are all on this journey together. Dying is not the issue, it’s your final destination you need to worry about. Ever since l was young, my mother always talked about going to heaven to see Jesus. She was never afraid of dying, in fact, she always envied people that died in the lord because she knows they are with the lord. I always say to her to stop talking about dying, but l realised that she knows the world is nothing. I remember when she was about to die, she told me “daughter lam packing and ready to go” l thought she was talking about dying again and l say to her jokingly that ” mum you don’t need anything in heaven so what are you packing. My mother passed away four years ago and l know without a shadow of a doubt that she is now in glory with God.
I pray every day to make it to heaven so l can see my mother again. My father dreamt of her in heaven all the time. Heaven is real people. Don’t gain the whole world and lose your soul. This earth is temporary .heaven is our permanent home. How can you be scared of dying if death is a messenger to take you to heaven? It’s like saying, you love travelling and want to go on a holiday of a lifetime but you don’t like the aeroplane. In the book of Ecclesiastes 7 vs 2, Solomon the richest and wisdom man wrote” it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man, the living should take this to heart. If you keep this in mind, it will help you to always humble and be true in your walk with God knowing one day you will give account to God. I prayed you will accomplish your goals and purpose before your departure. As for me, this little light of mine that God has given me, l will let it shine and l will complete my assignment before l leave this sinful world.
Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Jesus is coming very very soon. Are you ready?
The bible says ‘ flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, l tell you a mystery ‘ we will not all sleep, but we will be changed. In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The dead will be raised with the body that can’t be decay. The stings of death are sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So now the comforting news my brothers and sisters
Stand firm let nothing move you. Always giving yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the lord is not in vain( 1 Corinthians 15 vs 50-58)
A word is enough for the wise