Love is patient Week 40, 2012

How can you say I don’t love him? I give him money... I know you give but love is not equal to giving you know. What! Let me hear. Have you not read: For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son Jn 3:16(MKJV)? But you speak to him as if he were a child, nay as if he were a parasite. How do you mean? Let’s look at this giving of yours. Was it in this ministry you started giving this year. You know the answer to that already. I was giving in EPN ministry before but we had a disappointment so I switched over. What kind of disappointment? I felt the funds were being misappropriated. In what way; was the minister converting the money to his pocket? It was not that kind of misappropriation. You see I was led to believe there was a certain project on hand which needed funds and after 3 months of sacrificial giving, having seen nothing, I gave up on them and started sowing elsewhere. “Started sowing elsewhere”... what do you mean? Well, when I give I have 2 expectations: one is that the project for which I am buying into begins to manifest immediately (You know the saying “ego ji oru” i.e. it is money that holds up the project), and two that I begin to see the effect of the giving on my finances pretty soon. And so when after 3 months you saw nothing of the two you decided the money was being misappropriated? Of course if it was not being diverted to some other assignment how come within 3 months that “urgent project” had not taken off? And why couldn’t you wait to find out if after a while the project would start? Perhaps enough funds hadn’t come in; perhaps it was still in the gestational phase. You could have waited longer. "For three years I have come looking for figs on this tree, and I haven't found any yet. Chop it down! Why should it take up space?" The gardener answered, "Master, leave it for another year. I'll dig around it and put some manure on it to make it grow. Maybe it will have figs on it next year Lk 13:7-9(CEV). And perhaps that was not a fertile field to sow my money into! Is it not you who shared the testimony of giving in church and God doubling the amount back to you within two weeks? I distinctly remember you saying the minister said all those who give will receive double in two weeks and that it was happening. And in this minister I am seeing the same delay despite my sowing precious seed. My brother the Lord of the harvest has long patience when He sows Jas 5:7. You give all right, but are yet to manifest true love: Even if I give away all that I have…but have no love, I get nothing out of it. Love is always patient, Love is always kind 1Cor 13:4(ISV). Walk in love.

Lessons from the virus week 39, 2012

The virus is an inter-phase between living and non living. On its own it cannot reproduce; it only does so inside living tissue. How does it enter the host? Much the same way sin enters into a man. It has a coat which has receptors that interact with the host cell membrane. Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it Jas 1:14(ISV). If there are no receptors on the host cell the virus cannot enter. The virus presents the coat with the receptors which is attractive to the host. It doesn’t present the enslaving poison inside it. How deceptive! For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me Rom 7:11(ESV). Many people say, “I could never do that! How could someone commit such heinous crimes?” When a cell has been infected by a virus, it takes over the manufacturing arm of the cell. This makes the cell behave like the virus wishes, producing more and more virus cells. But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness Rom 7:8 (ESV). In some cases, as in the cervix, it results in the cell becoming disobedient to controlling signals, multiplying uncontrollably and becoming cancerous. Is a virus the personification of evil? Not at all! Like the virus does not force its way into any cell, so God will not force Himself on anyone. Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together Rev 3:20(CEV). If you have never let Him in He remains outside. When He does come in there is an interaction between His word and our wills which leads to a transformation of our lives: just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him Phil 2:12, 13(ISV). It is by the Spirit He puts inside us we begin to reproduce His kind of life. No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God's seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God 1Jn 3:9(ISV). The greater the viral load the faster the transformation; the more of His Word in you the faster your renewal to be like Jesus Col3:16. Unlike in biology, something controls people always. It could be the Spirit, or the lower nature of sin. So which virus is infecting your life- the seed of God or sin? The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives. Gal 5:25 (GNB) Note: This analogy does not mean God and sin behave alike or are equal in any way

True love waits week 38,2012

We love each other and my parents know we intend to marry. In fact my mum supports the engagement. I’m not sure we can wait much longer. Did you not hear yourself just now? It is engagement not marriage. But what can be wrong with it at this level? No one is using or cheating the other and very soon we shall be married. The desire we have for each other is an expression of the true love we feel inside. If you truly loved each other you would wait and not sin. Why?
Was it not Ruth’s mother-in-law that encouraged her to get married to Boaz? Naomi said to Ruth, "I must find a husband for you, so that you will have a home of your own. Remember that this man Boaz, whose women you have been working with, is our relative Ruth 3:1, 2 (GNB). Yet Boaz wouldn’t take advantage of Ruth though they were alone: she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor."Ruth 3:14(ESV) and... Aunty that was an arranged marriage; there may have been no passion between them. It was just a sense of duty he felt towards her. See how he repeatedly calls her “my daughter”! Is that what you think? Live as though Jesus will return before your wedding lest you be ashamed at His coming. Besides what will you do if (God forbid) one of you is called home to the Lord before this wedding? Where will the dead spend eternity? What kind of embarrassment will it be for the other? Don’t wish us bad o!
What of Jacob and Rachel? They were in love. Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, "I will work seven years for you, if you will let me marry Rachel." Laban answered, "I would rather give her to you than to anyone else; stay here with me."Gen 29:18(GNB). Rachel’s family knew and approved of Jacob, they lived and worked near each other yet true love kept them from seeking intercourse for seven whole years. In fact those years looked very short to Jacob. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her Gen 29:20 (ESV). These few days and months that is looking very long to you such that you want to break bounds; can it be the same love between Jacob and Rachel? Jacob explicitly desired her in bed, for Jacob said to Laban, "The time is up; give me my wife! I want to sleep with her." Gen 29:21(GW) it is natural for such desires to arise when love is there in intending couples... Now you understand me! I don’t. Even though Jacob desired her, had parental approval, saw her regularly for seven years, and was paying his dowry dutifully, he never demanded sex from her. Love exercises self control. It is lust that can’t wait.

Noise makers Week 37, 2012

You’re just jealous you can’t pray in tongues as much as they do. Spirituality is not about the length of your prayers, And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words Mat 6:7(ESV). God hears you even when you are brief. I don’t like empty words. Empty words, how can you call speaking in tongues for hours empty words? Have you never read For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit 1Cor 14:2(ESV)? Praying with tongues builds up, and they are simply building themselves up. It is love that builds up. These ones aren’t walking in love: insisting on your rights to people’s detriment isn’t wise. You know, would it be appropriate for instance to pray loudly in a room where everyone is trying to get much needed sleep? What’s wrong with that? Why do you think Jesus went out to solitary places to pray? And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed Mk 1:35(ESV). Well I just feel it is praying fervently as the scripture asked. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much Jas 5:16(KJV). And is earnestness or fervency measured in decibels?
I don’t quite understand. Have you considered Hannah’s prayer? Was it not fervent? But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD 1Sam 1:15(ESV). Well it was... Yet it is clear her voice was not heard: Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. 1Sam 1:13(ESV). Wait, does not even scripture tell us shout to the Lord? Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! Ps 47:1(ESV). Of course it does. I fully believe in speaking with other tongues for hours on end and I speak with tongues myself. I am not teaching people should never lift up their voices in praise or prayer and cannot do that. But when we deliberately do things without due consideration for other people’s needs we are not acting in love, and therefore are noise makers no matter how fierce our tongues. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.1Cor 13:1(ESV). Unrepentant self centeredness converts tongues to noise.

Delivered from smoking week 36, 2012

Praise the Lord. It was sometime last year, I do not remember exactly when, but this patient came to our medical centre for treatment. I came across him and as I interacted with him it appeared his problems were not exactly organic but tended to be psychological. In the course of my discussions with him he admitted he was in a bondage to tobacco. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate Rom 7:15(ESV). He had started smoking and now could not stop, consuming so many sticks in a day. This fact made him sad and he wondered if there was any power which could make him stop. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out Rom 7:18(ESV). All previous attempts had been met with failure. It was so bad he could not go to toilet without smoking. But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Rom 7:23, 24(ESV). I ministered the gospel to him and assured him Jesus could set him free. We prayed and he invited Jesus into his heart. After a while he was discharged and he left the medical centre. I did not see him again for a while but prayed for him.
Two weeks later he came back to the medical centre looking for me. No, he was not ill again, he was well: healthier than he had been in a very long time. He had continued in the faith. In fact he had started fellowshipping with other believers. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers Act 2:42(ESV). He was attending the Evangelical Fellowship of the Anglican Communion which meets at the Chapel of Redemption Enugu campus.
What about the addiction to smoking cigarettes? He reported the addiction to tobacco had been broken. He testified that after the prayer he does not know exactly what happened to him; the very smell of tobacco would make him feel like vomiting. Hallelujah!
Jesus said to them, "I am telling you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever. If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free Jn 8:34-36(GNB).
Helen is a nurse at UNEC medical centre.