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TAMAR

Tamar was David's daughter whom King David so protected from evil till the unexpected happened. Amnon, David's eldest son that was about inheriting the throne suddenly began to show strange demeanor every morning. Now, a cousin of His ( Amnon ) advised him to consciously lay sick under his cloth in order to lure Tamar. David, his father, who was successfully tricked by this scheme allowed Tamar to serve her eldest; Amnon forcefully slept with Tamar. When Absalom later chanced upon a crying Tamar he consoled her. Their father too heard the news yet never served Amnon any punishment; Absalom's hatred for Amnon grew more and more over the years.Two years after, Absalom killed Amnon.  SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: 2 Sam uel 13:1 – 22, 

UNDERSTANDING THE WILL OF GOD !

" Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's WILL is." Ephesians 5:17. The WILL of God is basically WHAT God wants us to do or say at a point in time. It is also HOW He likes us to do or say WHAT He wants us to do or say. The WHAT refers to the OPTION He wants us to pick out of the lot; the HOW stands for the WAY or METHOD by which we carry out His recommended OPTION. The Lord Jesus, God's Living WILL , did not say He is The WAY and The TRUTH only. He actually said,  " I am the WAY, and the TRUTH, and THE LIFE..." John 14:6. So you see, God's WILL is beyond WHAT and HOW. It includes THE LIFE as well. God's WILL also shows us the lifestyle He wants us to live. And that, definitely must be His Life as lived by The Lord, Jesus , during His earthly Ministry ! Immediately following are explanations on the two classifications of God's WILL - His GENERAL WILL and SPECIFIC WILL: God's GENERAL WILL is God's plan or purpose recorde...

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...

THE GREATEST WEAPON ( Part 2))


And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22 KJV .

Our preliminary article has established that of all the weapons, including prayer, praise/worship, knowledge and faith, obedience is the greatest. Faith is proved by obedience. As the popular adage is, ” practice makes perfect.”, so knowledge itself is also not complete without obedience. Prayer, praise and worship are all forms of sacrifices, yet God says obedience is better than them all. Today’s piece reveals why Obedience is God’s number one !

As quiet as obedience is, it remains the loudest tone of faith amongst prayer, praise and worship. The three Hebrew boys had not even the slightest hint of deliverance from God if they disobeyed the king’s orders.But their faith-oriented obedience was voiceferous in the ears of God ! How about Daniel, Job and Joseph? They equally had no tangible sign of God’s presence yet their continued obedience saved them ! Beloved, faith is expressive but obedience is not because it is powerful in itself; what fast or prayers could not offer, obedience would. However, the extent to which we obey God determines the amount of POWER we wield !

Now, obedience is not only powerful but also fiery – it is a good servant but a bad master. Same Power that enthroned Saul dethroned him when he disobeyed ! If Ananias and his wife obeyed they would enjoy. But for disobedience, they were killed by God’s Power contained in Peter. Prophet Isaiah says, ” If ye be willing and obedient,you shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 1:19-20(KJV). Apparently, obedience serves right but when we do not obey, it ( our disobedience) becomes a troubling master !

By strength no man prevails – 1 Samuel 2:9; God does not expect us to excel in obedience by our physical strength. He rather suggests that we constantly ponder over His Words. Then, His Spirit whom He has already deposited in us would help us live them out. And to keep obeying, there is the need for a prayerful, praiseful life as well; prayer and praise are preservatives of obedience. They require purity, and as such serve as checks to obedience. Remember Daniel? His prayerfulness helped him obey God to the end ! Likewise Jesus ! – Joshua 1:8, 1 Timothy 4:15, Ezekiel 36:27 & Matthew 26:41.

Moses would overcome his fear of being attacked for murdering, obeying God’s instructions to go back and lead His people out of Egypt. Naman, a proud military officer, decided to rather humbly obey so he could be healed of leprosy. Isaac shunned his starving belly to obey God when he was asked never to step in Egypt during the farmine. Beloved, like these elders, let us chose obedience over the quests of the flesh. what great honour await us who follow these elders ! Glory to God ! ( 1 Samuel 2:30 ).

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