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THE GREATEST WEAPON !

  “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds…. “ 2 Corinthians 10:4 KJV As christians, we are not improverished of ammunitions with which to withstand the enemy and his wiles. Yet these weapons are variably effective. There is, therefore, the need to look into the nature of each of them and reasonably determine the most productive. According to Paul, in the preceding scripture, our arms are not physical; prayer, praise/worship, faith, obedience and Light, are all rather abstract though results-yielding. Now, which of these does satan fear most? Let us find out from the following paragraphs. Prayer is a good arm. It transforms both on the inside and on the outside of us. But if prayer is a request, then satan can pray too; he got far into God’s presence, requesting of His permission to try Job. He demanded of The Lord to sift Peter like wheat. Thus, prayer is not satan’s most-feared ! Afterall, he too can pray to God. D...

ANNA

MEANING: Grace. SORROW: As a widow, she would probably have been among the most vulnerable members of society, with no one to provide for her financially or to take care of her if her health failed. JOY: That her own eyes beheld the Messiah she had longed to see. STORY IN BRIEF: Anna, a Prophetess from the tribe of Asher, became a widow after seven years of marriage. She spent whole of her widowhood fasting and praying to God. Anna worshipped in Herod's temple. This temple had tour segments - the outer court for Gentiles or non-Jews; the inner court divided into Women's and Israelites'; the Priestly court for the Leviticus Priests which also surrounded the temple. Anna could only access the Women's court yet God was merciful to her - She witnessed the Messiah; while Anna worshipped in the temple one day, Someon came holding the baby Jesus in his laps. REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: Luke 2 : 22 - 38

DORCAS

  HER CHARACTER:  An inhabitant of Joppa, a town on the Mediterranean coast, thirty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem, she belonged to one of the earliest Chris tian congrega-tions. She was a disciple known for her practical works of mercy. HER SORROW:  To have suffered a grave illness. HER JOY: To serve Jesus by serving the poor. STORY IN BRIEF: Dorcas, whose Hebrew is " Tabitha" or " Gazelle", was a disciple of The Lord Jesus - Dorcas learned of The Lord, and followed Him, forsaking her world, previous jobs and lifestyle. Dorcas was a kind - hearted lady who demonstrated her belief in Jesus by her generosity - she sewed to clothe the poor and baked to feed them. One day, she fell sick to death. So Peter's attention had been drawn to this. Peter had just healed a crippled in a city close by. Peter successfully prayed for Tabitha and she was revived.  REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: ACTS 9:36-43

MOSES

  MEANING OF NAME : Drawn forth or taken out of water. PROFILE OR CHARACTER : historian, orator, leader, statesman, legislator and a patriot. REGRET : Moses could not enter the promised land. JOY : Not only did he successfully bring out the Israelites from Egypt, but he had the privilege to be called, " Friend of God."  STORY IN BRIEF:   MOSES, a son of Jechrobe and Amram, and the last of Aeron and Miriam. Moses was born at the time Pharaoh ordered that all Israelites young males be killed. So her mum had to preserve him till she was ordered to go leave him at the bank of a river. Pharaoh's daughter who later found Moses in a basket on the river, cared for him in their palace through his maturity. God would later call Moses by the burning bush and task him to lead out the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses did not only achieve that but also successfully brought his followers out through the red sea. Moses was burried by God in Moab, at the summit of Nebo's mountain whe...

EZEKIEL

  MEANING OF NAME: God is strong or The Man God strengthens STORY IN BRIEF: Ezekiel, son of Buzzi, like Jeremiah, started first as a priest, but later had the calling of a Prophet at age thirty. He served in the Temple of Jerusalem that was later destroyed by the Babylonians. In the midst of events, God warned that the desire of his eye would die. And after his wife died, he was disallowed from publicly wailing - a sign of how Israel would suffer in the hands of their captivators without lamenting.  While in exile ( in Babylon by the River Chebar), the Prophet, also an artist, made a model of Jerusalem city, laid prostate and always prophesied over it. He either used symbols or demonstrations to deliver his messages. Ezekiel acted strangely because of the strange nature of his visions; he would either cut his hair and burn it, or he totally went dumb for a period of time. He had two major metaphorical visions where God - Israel's husband, was betayed by his wife after He had g...

CAIN

 


MEANING OF NAME: 
Acquisition, fabrication or possessed. 

STORY IN BRIEF:

Eldest son of Adam and Eve, the first man to be born naturally, and founder of the family of Kenites (Kenite is called Kain in the Hebrew)

The terrible story of Cain proves how quickly man’s fallen nature developed.
Soon after that, he became desperately wicked; it was by him Polygamy started. 

By calling Cain was an agriculturist, but he was not happy in his calling since he did not fear God. His heart became jealous as he witnessed the happiness of his brother Abel and his favor with God. Ultimately he yielded to his jealous feelings and slew Abel, just as the Jews for envy sought Christ’s death.

Because Cain’s heart was destitute of love, his sacrifice had no heart in it and was therefore miserable, worthless and unacceptable to God. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” Cain was right in his desire to bring an offering but wrong in his doing (Gen. 4:3). He sought to draw near to God with the product of his own labor.

Abel brought the first-born of the flock—a blood-offering—the divine acceptance of which provoked Cain’s evil temper for he “was wroth.” An angry look resulted in an angry deed because in a moment of ungoverned passion Cain lifted up his hand and murdered his brother, and buried his body. But although Cain tried to conceal his dastardly crime the Lord marked the spot and brought home to the murderer his foul deed.

God set a mark on Cain, but what it was Scripture does not say. Evidently it was sufficient to make him feel the wrath of God and the abhorrence of his fellowmen. Yet the punishment of Cain reveals a judgment mingled with mercy.

His brand, perhaps some kind of stigma, made Cain realize the awfulness fo the sin of fratricide, but acted as a protection against the violence of the avenger of blood. The narrative seems to affirm that Cain’s mark was not consigning him to perpetual punishment, but was a token of God’s redemptive compassion.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
Gen. 4; Num. 24:22; Heb. 11:4; I John 3:12; Jude 11).

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