Ever Present Help In Times Of Trouble

It is a fact that bad things happen to everyone. "Life happens" is the new "catch phrase" when adversity strikes.
A few days ago, heavy rain showers came down due to the influence of Isaac. Those showers swelled up several rivers in certain areas near to me, making them overflow their banks. Five feet of water covered the roadways. The flood waters caused serious damage to many properties on the same level as the roads. Two people died; one a man who was asleep in his house when a deluge of water came down the hillside where his house was perched and swept it - and him  - into the river. (see link:Flood damage in Diego Martin)
Children were affected by this tragedy. They lost their school books and uniforms, their families lost everything. Up to now, some families still haven't received much needed help from the relevant authorities. Thanks to the kindness of the Christian and secular NGOs that have rallied to their aid, but these entities cannot always give these unfortunate ones the finances so desperately needed to start all over again.
Even though insurance companies, Government agencies or any type of human help may fail us and our children in times of trouble, there is one that never fails. His name is Jesus. He promises that He will be with us, even when the "storm of life" comes against us.

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear fthough the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

3 though hits waters roar and foam." Psalm 46: 1 - 3 (ESV)

What The Olympic Games Can Teach About The Christian Life Pt. 4

As I watched the Olympic Games for the past few days, I saw where many times athletes would be given a red flag for some infraction and would have to be escorted from the event.  Although the majority of times these infractions were not deliberate, the rules still had to be obeyed, the athlete had to leave the event without protest, sometimes even with tears.

In yesterday's Scripture, the Apostle Paul declared that he would rather subject himself to disciplining of body and mind from evil lusts and disobedience. He didn't want to be disqualified from entering into heaven.   

Even in the life of a believer, there are rules that has to be followed.  For example:

• A believer must obey the laws of the land as long as it don't conflict with the laws of God. This includes paying taxes
• You must obey the rules in the place where you work and where you go to school. A young believer must obey what his teacher or the school authority tells him to, and an adult must do the job that his boss gives him to do
• Wherever a believer goes to church, he has placed himself under the authority of the senior pastor and those in leadership there.
• A child is required to obey his parents. This command brings rewards of long life, and things going well with him. He is subject to his parental protection and guidance until he grows up and leaves home.and get married.
• Of course, we must always obey the laws of God as set forth in the Bible.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, and begin a relationship with Him and the other members of the Trinity, we should want to do what the Bible says. If we do, there are rewards now, and after we die. But just as if an athlete does not obeys the rule, he is disqualified, then if we continually disobey God (this is called sin) then we can expect to be disciplined. If we still continue to disobey God, then after a while God leaves us to continuing sinning. In the long run, sin disqualifies us from entering heaven and being with God forever. We end up in a place call hell, which I tell you, no one wants to go. So run the race to life God's wau so that you can finish victoriously and earn the rewards that I mentioned yesterday.

Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.  2  Timothy 2: 5 (NIV)

What The Olympic Games Can Teach Us About The Christian Life Pt 3

 The first official Olympic Games was held in in 776 BC, but many Greeks believed that they started centuries earlier. The early Games consisted only of a running race, but later war chariot races and vigorous resistance  competition and boxing were added.  

 In the time of the Apostle Paul the Games were still alive, though on the decline. He seemed to have a great interest in the Games and in sports on the whole, and so used them to illustrate his sermons and letters about the believer's life in Christ. 

In the games, each athlete competed to win a prize. These days these prizes are medals of gold, silver and bronze. In Paul's time, the crown was made of a olive branch given to the winner of an event. Immediately after an athlete won his event, the herald would announce his name, father's name, and city of origin to the crowd. He was given a palm branch and adorned with red woolen ribbons around his head, arm, and leg as marks of victory as the crowd cheered wildly. Winning at the Olympic Games was an impressive feat. The winner was not only given wreath, a special victory song was written for him and was sung in a feast which lasted until the next day. Money was also given to the person.  At the end of the Games, the senor judge would again crown the winner with wreaths while the onlookers threw petals. An athlete who won an event brought prestige to himself, his family and his city of origin.

Paul tells us that we should run the race of faith that is set before us. We should run to receive the prize of eternal life.  As I said yesterday, all the athletes (both ancient and modern) adhere to strict diet, rigorous training and times of sleep so that they could win perishable prizes. Some give up having a family or other types of work just to compete in different games. So must the believer in Christ. As the verse of Scripture said yesterday, we should lay aside anything that distracts us from serving God, and any sin that will separate us from  Him, and live an effective Christian life. Then at God's right hand, we will get pleasure forevermore and fullness of jou in His presence.

Watch this link  Beating your body under

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (NIV)

What The Olympic Games Can Teach Us About The Christian Life Pt 2

I was so excited when one of our athletes won the first medal in this Olympic Games for my country. I was among the millions of my countrymen, both at home and abroad, that felt a sense of pride for that young man.
A modern stadium holds thousands of people, and the London Stadium has been packed to capacity for the past ten days. Each visitor is from a particular country, and they all come to cheer on their team of athletes. Different athletes have testified to the strength and courage they've received hearing the shouts of their countrymen cheering them on.
There is a scripture that says that a believer is surrounded by a crowd of invisible witnesses.  This scripture is found in Hebrews 12. The preceding chapter speaks about the heroes of faith, the believers from olden and modern times who have died before us and gone to heaven. Paul is implying that they are like the spectators at the London Olympics 2012, looking and cheering on the believers that are still alive on the earth. But these heavenly "spectators" cannot be seen by us. God has revealed this fact to Paul and he in turn relays it to us.
Every runner, swimmer, gymnast, shooter or other type of athlete had to persevere in their training to get them into the Olympics. And they all had to persevere through the qualifying round, the preliminaries,  the semi-finals and the finals to get the gold, silver or bronze medals. So we as believers, have to pray, read God's word, study it, and apply it to our lives for us to achieve the rewards that our Lord has planned for us, both in this present life, and in the world to come.
And we need to teach these things to our children as well.

:"Wherefore that we are also compassed about by a great crowd of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12 verse 1 (KJV)

What The Olympic Games Can Teach About The Christian Life Pt. 1

The topic of interest right now is the Olympic Games.  My aunt and I get up early in the morning to see our sportsmen and women compete in the most prestigious sports event in the world.

What amazes me is the amount of teenagers that have entered - and are actually winning gold and silver medals. For example, the youngest member of the American swimming team, 15-year old Katie Ledecky, won the 800m freestyle on Friday. The champions of this particular Olympic games apparently are getting younger and younger.

Do you know that the Bible has a lot to say about sport, fitness and competition? For the next few days, I will be concentrating on  what the Bible can teach us and our children about living life God's way. 

For today we will talk about exercise. The overwhelming statistics of  child obesity are extremely high in most countries.  Doctors prescribe a healthy diet and exercise as part of the solution to this terrible problem. 

The toned bodies and bulging arms and legs of the athletes testify to the amount of exercise and weight training that they do. Nothing is too much for them in order to win a prize.

God also wants us to win a prize. In His eyes exercise has some benefits to us. He created our bodies in our mother's wombs and of course, He wants us to take care of them. 

But there is something more important to God - godly living. It is said that Jesus grew in stature and in wisdom and in favor with both God and man. Do ing the right thing always and obeying God's word is what He wants us to do, and to teach it and model it to our children. Whether you  choose not to include proper diet and  exercise for your children may just be dangerous for their health in this present  life, but not  living right with God will be detrimental  now and in eternity.

"Training the body helps a little, but godly living helps in every way. Godly living has the promise of life now and in the world to come." 1Timothy 4:8

Absent Fathers And Their Bitter Children

I just watched a movie called "Courageous." Its about a Christian police officer, who, after losing his nine-ear-old daughter, decides to make a covenant with God to rear his son in a godly manner. Some of his police officer friends  joins him in this. A man whose prayer for a job God answered by giving a job in the officer's house (which was supposed to go to a man with the same first name) also became one of the signers. Their lives and the lives of their family and even their jobs are changed because of this covenant.

As a person whose father went abroad when I was very small, I can relate to those whose fathers were absent. Statistics show that fathers are so important to cildren's development. Fathers shows their boys how a man should act, and how to respect women and authority. A father shows girls the way a man should treat them, and that she should have self-respect and self-esteem. But this is not all. A father should teach his children integrity and proper moral values.  And it is even better if that father is a godly man, so that he can teach his children about God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

A father's job is never done, even after his sons and daughters grow up. In the show "Courageous" the five men spoke about the relationships they had with their father when they were young. Most of them were not good, one did not even know his father. But however that relationship affected them personally and the way that they related to their wives and children. One of them had gotten a girl pregnant at high school and had left her to rear the child (who was now four year old) by herself. But aftrer signing this covenant, he contacts the mother of his child and starts the process of building a relationship with her and his daughter.

Fathers, its time to stand up to your responsibly as fathers.

"Fathers, don't make your children bitter about life. Instead, bring them up in Christian discipline and instruction." Ephesians 6:4 (God's Word Translation (c1995)

Light In My Darkest Nigjt

I have read many books of all kinds and topics in my lifetime, before and after I became a Christian. My favorite book, beside the Bible, is Light In My Darkest Night, by Catherine Marshall.
The late Catherine Marshall was the wife of the  Peter Marsha (also deceased), a former Senate Chaplin. She has written many books, both fiction and devotional, including the book Christy, on which the TV series of the same name was based.
Light In My Darkest Night is about one of Catherine Marshall's grandchildren, who was born with"poor muscle tonea and other physical complications. This experience tests her faith in God's healing. Even though God used that situation to heal some of Catherine's friends and family, the baby eventually died.
Why would I recommend that book to others? Well, when I was going through my "dark night of the soul" some years ago, this book helped me so much to keep my faith anchored in God. I realized that God may not answer all my questions; that bad things happen to believers. I'd learned to look at God working in the midst of our sad situations in miraculous ways, even when that sad situation remains the same for a long time.
The biggest thing I started to learn (I confess that I continue to learn this one, for this is a hard thing for me to swallow sometimes), that situations work out eventually, maybe not the way we want, but in God's view, better than we expected.  Catherine Marshall first grandchild die,d but a second grandchild was born to her, so healthy that the doctors remarked
I would recommend this book to anyone who is going through a really diffiult circumstances that they cannot understand, and need encouragement to hold on.

60 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lordis risen upon thee.

² For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

³ And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

⁴ Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

⁵ Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. Isaiah 60: 1 - 5 KJV)