Parents have a responsibility to groom their sons into men, and their young girls into women who are adequately equipped to take on the unceasing challenges life throws at everybody. The story of Eleanor and Ernest as narrated below are pointers to the kind of gaps that are becoming quite rampant in young homes where men still behave like boys, expecting to be nursed and provided for….

Eleanor was barely 26 years old when she met Ernest at a friend’s birthday party 6 years ago. They hit it off immediately. Ernest was handsome, charming and trendy. He was nothing like the hungry looking ‘church brothers’ that often hung around her emitting nearly choking smells from their buccal cavity or underarms. Thinking back, Eleanor wondered again what gave them the impetus to approach her in the first place. Had she looked desperate for a life partner back then? Right now, she wasn’t sure if any of those ‘unpleasant brothers’ wouldn’t have made a better husband than Ernest.

Ernest was born into a Nigerian middle class home. His parents were both medical doctors who excelled in their different specialties through dedicated studying and hard-work over the years. Due to his parents’ very busy schedule and absence from home most days, Ernest and his siblings were practically raised by maids who were frequently absent themselves…..avoiding the huge responsibility of running the home and raising 3 highly energetic boys. The children lacked proper discipline as the maids were quite young, needing care and attention themselves and lacking the authority to enforce good conduct in the home!

Ernest parents provided everything he and his 2 younger brothers wanted and ensured they attended the best schools in town. Their schools never ranked lower than 5^th among the best paying schools.  But as it turned out none of them made it past a 2-2 upon graduation from college.

As things are now, all attempts by Ernest to secure another job has proved abortive. Although his previous employer related his being laid off to the slump in global economy, rumor has it that his replacement was hired almost immediately.  Ernest had started his own real estate business with its very seasonal income but things aren’t moving as smoothly as he expects. His frustration has become so much that he spends a lot of time hanging out with friends at the club, or taking complete possession of the TV and video remotes, allowing little or no time for his kids to see their favorite cartoons.

The last time Eleanor received housekeeping money from Ernest was 4 years ago, exactly a year after their marriage. She has had to pay all their bills from her menial job, with some support from her own family to sort out tuition fees for their 3 kids. Ernest has basically exhibited no sense of responsibility to his duty as a husband or father.

Many times, Eleanor has come very close to quitting her marriage and moving out with her kids. Not only is Ernest not concerned with providing for the home, but he comes home drunk and drenched in sweats most nights, without proper explanation of his activities. Her friends have more than once insinuated that he may be having extra-marital affairs…..

 

 

Ernest’s lack of sense of responsibility to his family can be easily traced to failure on the part of his parents to cultivate in him core home making skills. Eleanor can claim that Ernest is being mean and heartless, but the truth is Ernest does not know how to act differently.

Proverbs 22:6 says;

“train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”. NKJV

Parents must realize that the little boys they have today are future husbands (and fathers) and commit resources to equipping them for those roles. If all your son does all day is play games and watch TVs, you are only creating an outlook to life that will be followed through.

I have often been saddened seeing fathers shout, scream and even get physical with their sons for acts they themselves are guilty of, forgetting that children are highly observant and learn a lot by example.

Training a child demands a parent’s time, attention and energy. A parent needs to be physically available to train a child. If you leave your children solely in the care of maids, I am afraid they may grow up with a servant mentality, constantly delivering below your expectations and depending on you for their livelihood.

Boys should be brought up with a consciousness that they have a duty to provide for their families. They must understand that being a man means responsibility more than respect, and a responsible husband/father would seldom demand respect! It flows naturally.

And if you are reading this and you are a man struggling with challenges similar to Ernest’s, you can start over again. It is never too late to learn.

Shalom!

 

 

 

We often hear about humans rescued alive after being trapped for many days underneath split rocks from volcanic eruptions or collapsed buildings. Details of these kind of occurrences are often on display on TV or social media platforms.

I have also heard of great prophets who perform great feats of raising dead people to life!

So as I read the Bible’s account of Peter’s reaction to the testimony of the resurrection of a man he watched killed and buried as narrated by Joanna, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and the ‘other women’ in Luke 24: 1-12, I can identify with Peter’s confusion. (I am careful not to call it Peter’s unbelief!).

The other disciples didn’t exercise as much control as Peter, …no, they didn’t. And I have to agree with their judgment of the women’s display of excitement or ‘madness’

Let’s paint a rather practical picture here… Imagine that you witnessed the gruesome murder of your spiritual leader. And while you and other of his followers were still making efforts to come to terms with his death, someone storms into your mourning room and announces that your leader is alive and has been seen!

I bet you, 3 kinds of feelings will rush through your entire frame at once; fear (that a ghost may be lurking around), some uncertain and cautious excitement (while you ascertain the mental state of the news bearer), and confusion (if you ever had the slightest inclination he may not have actually died). The disciples of Jesus displayed all 3 reactions. Those that felt the women had lost it, were right. It all seemed like an idle tale and only a self-righteous being would fault their unbelief.

Jesus died, was buried and they saw it! Period!

But I cannot stop wondering why the 2 Marys and Joanna were easily convinced of a resurrection. Did they remember Lazarus’s resurrection or did the sight of the angels help their acceptance of a resurrected Christ?….

In his confusion, Peter made his way to the tomb. Was he hoping to see the angels too? Likely! But he got to the tomb too late; the angels were gone! The only link he could make to Jesus’ body and the empty tomb he stared at was a familiar linen. He’d seen his master wrapped and buried in it, yet, Peter still walked away marveling and wondering at the same time.

Something that stood out for me as I read the Bible’s account of this event…

The tomb was empty when the women got there, and remained empty till Peter got his peep of it. So all the display of bewilderment, confusion, unbelief or excitement by the apostles did NOT change the reality that the tomb was empty!

“Our belief or unbelief does not change the reality of God, but determines our experience of Him“-Grace Obomanu

And just like the 2 Marys, Joanna and the ‘other women’, I bring you glad tidings…..

He is Risen! The Tomb is Still empty….

Do you believe or does it still seem like an idle tale?

Held a one-agenda brief meeting with one of my staff. All I wanted was a feedback on his perception about me.

Needless to say that this was a very exciting meeting….

I chose this particular staff for this task because he is eloquent, focused (most times) and fearless (almost to a fault!).  He wasted no time in reeling out the areas of my life he considered inconsistent with his preconceived notions about how a boss should behave.

I was all ears….

He said ‘people’ think I am snobbish, controlling and arrogant! He quickly added that he does not necessarily share their perception of me because he thinks I am nice! Hmmm….  Amazing! Smart guy.I looked at him in awe. I thanked him profusely for the feedback.

Of the three issues he mentioned, only one was coming to me new; being arrogant! Throughout my university days and years beyond, my ears ‘leaked’ with talks of me presenting a snobbish appearance. The interesting part though is that I always received this feedback after sharing pleasant moments with the complainants, who always quickly added that I am a lot nicer close up than from afar. I’d usually just smile.  Then I’ll most times share with them how I spent months before my wedding practicing how to keep a smiling face. All my wedding photos came out with most of all of my 32 showing!

The issue of being controlling, I explained to my staff is a common and recurring decimal with people of excellence (*wink). Perfectionists tend to be controlling and most times end up micro managing people. I was not oblivious of my weakness in this area and I trust that the Holy Spirit is working on me. Amen.  One way he can help me become less controlling would be to always give every task the importance and urgency it demands/deserves, trying as much as possible to put distractions at bay  🙂

As I got home later that day, I narrated this meeting to my husband and asked if he’d describe me as arrogant? He responded with another question; ‘what is the difference between being snobbish and arrogant?’….

I spent the days that followed meditating on the outcome of my meeting with this young lad and on my husband’s response.The more I thought about their feedback, the more I wanted to burst out in laughter. Yes laughter, because these people don’t really know me. Looks can be deceptive… A few things I know about myself include that I am God fearing, sincere, and have integrity (being fair and just in all situations by God’s grace). I am true to myself.

But is life all about our perceptions about ourselves? Is there no room for what other people think about us?

I find that not many people are bold enough to tell others exactly what they think about them. I am learning to become one of such people! But I cannot promise to spare you if you share a very close relationship with me. My friends will always say; ‘when you want the truth, call Grace’. That’s something I am not very convinced I should let go of just like that… 🙂

Through my thinking sessions on these 3 issues recounted to me by my staff, the Holy Spirit reminded of Jesus’ question to his disciples at some point in His ministry;

“Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”  (Matthew 16:13) KJV.

We may not go about asking everyone we meet what they think about us. But a good, sincere and genuine feedback can be a pointer to areas of weaknesses that we can partner with the Holy Spirit for improvement.

Hope you find that one person you can confidently listen to. But more importantly, hope you find your ‘Simon’ as Jesus did, that can say among other things, that you are truly God’s child.

But no matter what people say about you, the mirror of God’s word remains the truest reflection of who you truly are.

You only have to be constantly looking into that mirror….. and your transformation into a Christ-like nature is guaranteed!

Love Always

Grace Obomanu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The description of Jehovah, given by John in Revelations 4:3, paints a picture of His magnificence, splendor and greatness.

“And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald”.

Honestly,…. I don’t even get a full grasp of John’s description of God and his choice of qualifying adjectives….

So I decided to consult my dictionary 🙂  …

This is all so awesome, fascinating and precious…awww

It leaves me with a picture of a God that is beautiful and who lives in the midst of beauty!!!

Little wonder then, all His creation speaks beauty…

 

In Psalm 139:14 David describes himself as marvelous; having being made fearfully and wonderfully.

And I say same of myself; that I am beautiful, having being carefully and beautifully crafted and knit together by the hands of a beautiful God who dwells and reigns in beauty!

And where the light of His beauty shines, only beauty shows forth as a reflection His splendor, His magnificence and His grandeur.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines light as;

“the form of energy that makes it possible to see things…”

The Lord Himself is Light (John 1), that cannot be comprehended by darkness. Simply meaning that; when God shines as the Light that He is, darkness becomes confused, consumed and dissipates swiftly…….giving way for God’s beauty and glory to be seen by all. Halleluyah!

The light of His beauty shines through me, my home,  my children and through everything that concerns me. All around me is a reflection of His beauty!

I am Beautiful without apology!

 

 

 

Knelt down by my bedside and prayed;

‘Father, I have been working very hard for you; sharing your word,  bringing counsel and hope to so many. And now,  faithful father, bless me in return. You said in your word that a laborer is worthy of his wages, You said it Father, so fulfill your word. Pay me for my labors of love. I pray in Jesus name, Amen.’

 

That’s it! I thought to myself as I got up from praying and dressed up for work. Great expectations filled my heart most of that day….

But as days passed and nothing happened,…. no alert on my phone neither did I receive a confirmation email from my bank of a credit transaction on my account, my countenance began to change…

So I decided that one kneeling at the bedside was just enough, ……I will  not go down on my knees to say that prayer a second time!! naaaa.

So instead of kneeling down, I chose to mutter my prayers under my breath. I reminded Him of my request o’er the past few days for which He’s yet to give a response…But still no response.

As my expectations almost turned into desperation, I could hear Him laughing……I wondered why He’d be laughing at such a serious issue (I was getting somewhat annoyed at this point).

I listened day after day for a response.

Then one day, I heard Him ask; ‘do you get paid for working in your father’s house? Are you not an heir to your father’s inheritance?

I was completely disarmed!!

‘No please father, pay me, please don’t talk about working in my Father’s house or inheritance’, I cried……. Just pay me Father.

But instead of responding, He brought to my remembrance Jesus’ answer to His parents in Luke 2:49

“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s Business? ”

It dawned on me in that moment; ……….Its my Father’s Business!

And like Jesus said in Luke 4:18;

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed”

This is Kingdom Business. And all that my father has is mine. I am an heir of the kingdom.

C’mon brethren, get busy with the Kingdom Business, and do that with an ownership mindset and attitude!….

 

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version ( NKJV).

The Pentecostal cliché’ ‘God is in control’, no doubt provides some sort of comfort and succor for its users.

But is God really in Control? Does God even want to be in control? 🙂

We’ll try to give a balanced view to this…..

We learn in the early chapters of Genesis that after God spent some days creating the Heaven and the Earth and everything in it, He created Man.

Why did God create Man?

For 3 main reasons in my opinion;

1. To take charge of everything He’d created
2. To populate the earth, and
3. To fellowship with God

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over everything that creeps on the earth”  Genesis 1:26

This was a kind of discussion between the Godhead {‘Us’} in the above text. God the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost agreed to create man to have dominion.

And because this was, ..call it; ‘a private family discussion’, God handed man his job description post creation;

“Be fruitful and multiply,

Fill the earth and subdue it,

“Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over everything that moves on the earth”.   Genesis 1:28.

So far, I don’t see a picture of a God that wants to be in control of everything! Do you?

I think that if God desperately wanted to be in control, He would not create man in the first place. I mean why create someone to contend powers with?

You know, it is true that the Bible tells us, that Satan practically asked God’s permission to tempt Job’s faith for a while (please note that the whole drama between Satan and Job was targeted at getting Job to curse God, to forsake God, to say; ‘Oh, this thing is not working’, or ‘why have I wasted my time serving an unseen God who cannot even save’ etc).

But I see a picture of a Job who was in total control of his faith. His faith was well guarded and he was in control of his speech, his actions and his reactions!  And the Bible records in Job 2:22;

“In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong”

Job’s faith in God did not fail.

A few days ago while studying my Bible, I came across this scripture;
“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan asked to for you, that he may sift you as wheat” Luke 22:31

Again, we see Satan asking for permission to deal with Peter!

And as Jesus continued, once again, Satan’s target is made clear;

“But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren”. Luke 22:32.

My heart sank as I read that scripture and the reason is pretty obvious….

I expected Jesus to say, ‘Peter, look I have told Satan to steer clear of you, that you are my disciple,…the rock!, etc. But the Lord said nothing of sort…. Did you see Jesus plan for Peter’s temptation by Satan? Please did you see it with me?

Jesus is just gonna pray for Peter that his faith fail not!!!!

This was really saddening…..

But from that scripture alone, we can learn the following

1. Satan targets a Christian’s faith (doesn’t matter the depth, or type of temptation or trouble)
2. Jesus advocates and prays for us constantly
3. Jesus would not fight the fight of faith on our behalf (He already conquered Satan and gave us all authority).
4. Jesus expects us to win the fight of our faith.
5. When we win our fight of faith and come back to Jesus (when we don’t forsake Him, or curse Him, or leave Him), our faith becomes strengthened, and we are expected to strengthen our brethren.

God does not abandon us when tempted or troubled by Satan, no He doesn’t. He is with us and in us, and He constantly prays that our faith fail not.

“…I will not leave nor forsake you”    Joshua 1:5

He is with us always, through the waters and through the fire. Halleluyah!

So I ask again, friends; Is God really in control of everything? Is there no role for man to play?
Come to think of it; would any parent really want to have a son that they fully control? Wouldn’t that mean building up disaster for a future daughter in-law and the world? I think I want to raise children with some level of independence, but again, with some ‘check’ system in place.

Consider again; when God said in Deuteronomy 30:19;

“…that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live”

Again, God allows man to make his choices, but quickly advises him to choose Life. That’s what we call crunje’ in Nigeria….

It seems to me that this ‘God is in control’ disposition of most Christians is borne out of ignorance and sheer laziness. The undertone or bad side to this is that Christians are not exercising their faith, are not growing and cannot strengthen any other brethren.

Imagine if at the time David faced the Bear, that he folded His hands and just responded with a ‘God is in control’ thing, he’d not have been alive to kill the lion, and then to deliver the Israelite from Goliath the terror! David’s confidence, grew through his experience, but he had to make the decision to put his faith to work. He took control of the situation through faith in God.

We certainly cannot control the many challenges life throws at us daily, but we can choose and control our reactions (actions and speech).

 

Thank You Father,

Because You have made us ‘more than conquerors’ through Christ. We can do all things through Christ. We walk in victory through Christ, we overcome sickness and disease through Christ. Our faith is secured, unshaken in your ability to deliver, provide and protect. We take control as you’ve commanded us by faith in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

 

This article was originally published on my Facebook Page “Talk with Grace Obomanu” on 19/01/2016.

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).

 

 

 

 

 

Because the quotation; “be anxious for nothing…” emanates from the Bible, I can categorically assert that anxiety is not from God.

God is not schizophrenic to command us not to be anxious, and then turn around and bathe us with fear and trembling at life’s issues.

This then begs the question; what’s the source of anxiety?

If I could be honored with a one-on-one discussion with you, you’d most likely identify the sources of your worries as; ‘what to eat, what to wear, school fees, children, etc…

So is God unaware of these sources of worry and anxiety?

No He’s not, and we see in Luke 12:29, that God has us fully covered!

“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind”.

So why doesn’t God give us everything we need all at once?

The Bible records that the Israelites failed to learn the simple lesson of trusting God for each day’s need. God supplied their daily meals (meat at twilight and bread for the morning). And God specifically commanded them not to take more than was necessary for each day (Exodus 16:19).

No left overs!  Those that refused to listen to the word of the Lord were greeted by worms by the next morning.

I believe that God is committed to providing all our daily needs.

Jesus directs us to pray thus; “give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11) or “give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).

To successfully live as God desires of us, Psalm 3:5 is highly recommended 🙂 ;

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding”.

Little wonder then that in Philippians 4:6, apostle Paul provides the antidote to anxiety and worry;

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God”.

And in Psalm 112:7, we see the man who will not be afraid or anxious of evil tidings coming to him;

“he will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord”.

Let me just note at this point, that God is not against savings or planning, neither is He against against us having more than enough.

Proverbs 13:22 tells us that;

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…”

And also, Paul tells Timothy (and us) in 1 Timothy 5:8 that;

“…if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever“.

So God expects us to save, and to have more than enough to give to others. Therefore, the principle we should walk away with, reading this article is that;  we need to learn to trust God and not be anxious. When we trust Him to provide every day’s need, we display our assurance in His sufficiency for all times.

But you know, honestly, it can be pretty difficult  to live a ‘worry-less’ life as Christians. It’s almost as if we’re lazy and irresponsible, so we try to figure out everything, and this gets us really worked up!

Living a worry-free life is learnt

Sometime, not too long ago, the Lord started teaching me how not to be anxious. Having stayed out of work for almost a month because of ill-health, I decided to just ask for my annual leave since I still required more time to fully recuperate. But my boss wouldn’t hear of it. A few days after putting in my annual leave request for approval, a memo appeared from somewhere stating that leave requests must be turned in at least a month before the due date.  I was more upset than disappointed for more than one reason…..

As you can imagine, I thought my boss incited that memo, so I spent hours wondering and worrying over why he’d do such. But God didn’t want me losing sleep over that.

At some point, I heard clearly in my spirit; ‘Grace, what exactly do you want?  I realized then, that I hadn’t even said any word of prayer about the issue…..

Immediately I responded that I just needed approval for my leave. Then I heard again; ‘you’ll get your letter’.

I stopped myself from wondering how that would work out.

The next morning, I managed to get to the office, and headed for the head of administration’s office to ask about my letter. The officer in charge confirmed my fears; my boss refused to approve my leave request.

My file was called for just to confirm to me that my boss hadn’t appended his signature. And truly, he didn’t.

The interesting part though, is that somehow, to everyone’s surprise, my leave letter had been typed, signed and kept safely in my file!!! It fell out as we searched for the page my boss was supposed to have signed. The head of administration simply handed it to me, saying she’ll pretend she didn’t see it.

I got my letter without sweat as the spirit of God had spoken to me. Praise God.

I refused to respond to flesh and didn’t go flash the letter at my boss! I didn’t even discuss it. He was served a copy by the administration department.

 

We ask today, that you teach us Lord to trust you fully each day. Anxiety and worry will have no place in our lives. Amen.

 

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parable of The Sower in Luke 8, as narrated by Jesus Christ, was to teach His disciples how possible it is for the word of God to be preached by one man (the Sower) to a group of persons at the same time and yet have different impact depending on the state of the heart of the recipient (the soil).
So, Jesus described 4 kinds of recipients; a rock, thorns, ‘way side’ soil and good ground.

Is it okay to assume that the Sower went out on a particular day as usual, with some seeds in his hands which he dropped as he walked along? So the seeds dropped on different kinds of soil as he walked along….right?

I believe a similar thing occurs when we all sit under a bible teaching in church; different people walk away with different revelations determined by the current state of their minds!

In this write-up, I want to draw attention to what Jesus said in Luke 8:11;

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God”.

Jesus clearly described God’s word as seed.

I got some dictionary definitions of ‘seed’…

• “the fertilized ripened ovule of a flowering plant containing an embryo and capable normally of germination to produce a new plant”.
• “an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering known as the seed coat”.

A striking and not to be missed commonality between these different definitions is the ability of a seed to reproduce independently.  That is to say that a seed has an intrinsic ability to transform into a full plant of its own kind (given the right soil).

Some people still grapple with the fact that Jesus derived no genetic contribution from an earthly being (man or woman) as a zygote, like I posited in an earlier article; ‘Could it Have Been A surrogate Birth?’

But today, we learn differently.

The word of God as seed has the ability to reproduce and intrinsically grow (on its own) when founded on a good receiving soil.

Considering Jesus’ birth again, I believe Mary’s heart was a good soil, and from the moment she said; “…let it be to me according to your word…” (Luke 1:38),  she became conceived by the Holy Spirit, which took the form of flesh and grew in her (1 John 1:14).

Jesus is the word of God in human form, sent down from Heaven (John 1; 1 Corinthians 15:47).

John 1:3 reads;

“…all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…”.

If God made all things through the word, does that not suggest that as God’s children, even we can make anything we want through His word? 🙂
Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).

Can there possibly be any blessing from the Law?

Romans 4:15 says;

“because the law brings wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression“.

The only reason the law breeds wrath is because no man has been able, or can successfully keep it! Meaning that the law inadvertently introduces sin and Paul reiterated this much in Romans 7:7;

“what shall we say then? is the law sin? certainly not! on the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said; ‘you shall not covet‘.”

In Timothy 1:8; we find out that the law is good!

“But we know the law is good if one uses it lawfully“.

Quickly, let me draw your attention to Deuteronomy 28:1-14.                 The ONLY law we see all through that reading is in verse 1;

“if you Diligently Obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe all His commandments…..”

Wouldn’t you say this is a rather tricky singular law?   I mean it is all encompassing, and to ‘diligently obey the voice of the Lord’ implies doing everything He commands!!

This brings to mind, Jesus’ Two Commandments;

1. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…..
2. …You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”          Matthew 22:37-39

Deuteronomy 28: 3-14, gives a picture of a bumper harvest of blessings emanating from obeying the law, while in Galatians 3:13,  every curse of the law in Deuteronomy 28: 15-68, seems to have been rendered null and void for every believer in Christ Jesus, while the Blessings of the law are preserved (selah).

Praise God that His promises of blessings endures forever and they are mine to enjoy for always because I believe that Jesus Christ paid the eternal price for every sin (Hebrews 9:12).

I declare today that every blessing of the law is mine through Christ Jesus and I receive them by faith.

Amen.

 

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV). 

 

 

 

Can there possibly be any blessing from the Law?

Romans 4:15 says;

“because the law brings wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression“.

The only reason the law breeds wrath is because no man has been able, or can successfully keep it! Meaning that the law inadvertently introduces sin and Paul reiterated this much in Romans 7:7;

“what shall we say then? is the law sin? certainly not! on the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said; ‘you shall not covet‘.”

In Timothy 1:8; we find out that the law is good!

“But we know the law is good if one uses it lawfully“.

Quickly, let me draw your attention to Deuteronomy 28:1-14.                 The ONLY law we see all through that reading is in verse 1;

“if you Diligently Obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe all His commandments…..”

Wouldn’t you say this is a rather tricky singular law?   I mean it is all encompassing, and to ‘diligently obey the voice of the Lord’ implies doing everything He commands!!

This brings to mind, Jesus’ Two Commandments;

1. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…..
2. …You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”          Matthew 22:37-39

Deuteronomy 28: 3-14, gives a picture of a bumper harvest of blessings emanating from obeying the law, while in Galatians 3:13,  every curse of the law in Deuteronomy 28: 15-68, seems to have been rendered null and void for every believer in Christ Jesus, while the Blessings of the law are preserved (selah).

Praise God that His promises of blessings endures forever and they are mine to enjoy for always because I believe that Jesus Christ paid the eternal price for every sin (Hebrews 9:12).

I declare today that every blessing of the law is mine through Christ Jesus and I receive them by faith.

Amen.

 

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).