Monday, May 21, 2018

Christian Ways To Reduce Stress

An Angel says, “Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.”
1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You every day.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19 Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favourite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good “Thank you Jesus.”
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33 Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before. God has a way of turning things around for you.
Meditation: Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble. – 2 Peter 1:10
You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Friday, May 18, 2018

Top 12 Offenses Christians Commit in Church

Author Unknown
Below are some offensive things some people do in church. Perhaps, you would find one or more you are guilty of and adjust as appropriate.
  1. Constantly looking at your wristwatch to check the time: Most people are guilty of this. Once the sermon is getting too long, they begin to take glances at the wristwatch, praying the service would come to an end quickly.
  2. Chewing gums: Have you ever sat near someone in church who is chewing gum like a cow chewing cud? You know how annoying that can be. Some even go as far as making silly sounds and blowing bubbles.
  3. Receiving calls, pinging and texting: This is pure disrespect for God! As if it’s not bad enough that your phone rings out during service, you will now go ahead to pick the call. You see some people pinging and texting away during service. This is just so wrong. Would you be pinging if your boss was talking to you? God deserves more respect.
  4. Wearing party clothes to church: There are clothes meant for church. You shouldn’t wear your skimpy and revealing clothes to church. Just because the church allows you the freedom to be comfortable doesn’t mean you have to take it for granted.
  5. Taking selfie during service: This applies mostly to the ladies. They are the ones who like to take photos of peoples outfit and hairstyles for fun or because they also want to make that style.
  6. Sleeping and snoring during sermons: It’s funny when you spot people sleeping, snoring and falling over their neighbours. You might be tired and all, but try and keep your eyes open. It’s just for a little while and you will be in your bed.
  7. Coming late: Some people are in the habit of coming to church when the sermon is about to start or halfway into the service. Some give the excuse of not being able to get their children ready on time. During school days, how do you manage to get them to school before 8a.m.? If you can get them to school early and if you can get to your place of work early, you can also get to church early.
  8. Gisting during service: Most people engage in silly chit-chat while the service is going on, not paying attention to to the pastor and they end up missing out.
  9. Keeping your eyes open during prayers to watch how others are praying: Close your eyes and pray your own so that your miracle doesn’t pass you by. Stop watching others.
  10. Public display of affection: We understand you love your spouse a lot, but can you keep the petting till you are out of the church? It could be distracting to those around you.
  11. Reading newspapers and magazines. Some men do this during sermons and prayers. Why come to church if that can’t wait till you get home!
  12. Jotting the pastor or speaker’s grammatical errors: Some people do this to keep themselves busy. Instead of listening to get the message, they pay attention to get all the errors the pastor will make.
Men and brethren would you blow bubbles or make noise with your gum if you were standing in a court of law, and in front of a judge? Would you pick your calls when your boss is talking to you? If your answer is no, then you shouldn’t do it in God’s presence. God deserves RESPECT and HONOUR.
Spit out your gum, turn off your cell phone, check that you’re appropriately dressed and make the most of the precious little time you have to spend in the presence of God.
Meditation: God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him. – Psalm 89:7
You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Thursday, May 17, 2018

The Prodigal Couple

Author Unknown
A wife joined her husband in the bedroom. Their children were asleep. He was busy reading the newspaper.
She looked at him. “My love, there’s something I need to confess” she began to speak.
“What is it?” he asked without looking at her, his face still glued to the newspaper.
“I have been unfaithful” she said.
He looked at her with fiery eyes. He slapped her. For the first time in their marriage, he slapped her.
“How could you woman?! Seventeen years of marriage, four children and this is what you do to me? You cheat on me? How can you stoop so low?” he shouted.
He got up from the bed. He started pacing as he continued shouting, “You are the one who always tells me to keep off women. Out of respect, I keep females at a distance and you on the other hand do this?”
He was about to pounce on her and beat her. The sting of unfaithfulness enraged him. A knock was heard on the door. Their first born, Maria, a fourteen year old girl walked in their bedroom.
“Mom, dad; is everything OK?” Maria asked.
“Get out! Get out!” he shouted as his daughter.
“It’s OK Maria, dad and I will sort this out. Go to sleep.” She told their daughter.
Maria walked out of the bedroom.
“Who is it? Who have you been unfaithful with? Give me his phone number. He will know today who I am.” he shouted, trying to grab his wife’s phone. She gently took her phone.
“Show me his number. Show me his face. Filthy animal who is snatching my wife,” he shouted some more.
“This is the man I have been unfaithful with, ” she said, handing her husband the phone. He looked at the screen of her phone and saw his own face and phone number.
“Me?!” he asked, puzzled.
“Yes, I have been unfaithful with you. I have been unfaithful to God because I have been so busy loving you. In my effort to be a good wife, I have forgotten God” she said.
He sat down on the bed, confused.
“When you met me, I was so devoted to God. In fact, you used to tell me that the most important reason you chose me as your wife was because of my devotion to God. I loved the godly man you used to be. We would pray and plan on having a godly family together. I remember the days I would fast and pray and tell God that if He blesses me with a good job, I will dedicate my career to Him. God did bless me, God blessed you, God blessed us. We did so well professionally, we got good money, we could afford a good wedding. We got married,” she explained.
He looked at her intently.
She continued, “The first few months of our marriage, we would pray as a family, go to Church, have fellowships, worship and do Bible study. But slowly, we stopped living by that Scripture that says ‘as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.’ We started having children whom we failed to raise in a godly way. With success, we changed our friends. We found the born again friends boring. We started worshiping money, success and materials. Look at us now, we live in a big house but God is absent. You started taking me to ungodly places to have fun, we started drinking too much, our children are ashamed by our drinking.”
He looked away from her.
“In order to please you, I changed too; thinking that being a good wife means tagging along with everything you do. I didn’t confront you when you started going astray, I didn’t pull you back to God, I got lost with you. So lost, that I started becoming proud, shallow, self-centred; all along thinking I am being a good wife. But this is not me. I have changed so much from the woman you found. We both have changed much.”
He looked at her.
“All these; the good house, the good meals we eat, the money we have, the comfortable life; they have made us forget the God who gave them to us. I am nothing without God and I feel ashamed that I have abandoned the God responsible for all I am and have. We have started having troubles in our marriage, because the Lord is no longer building our love, we are doing it on our own and we will fail if we keep on like this.” She reached out and touched his hand.
“I want to go back to the woman I used to be. A woman after God’s own heart. I miss the peace that God gives. I miss worship. I miss reading the Word. I miss going to Church and fellowship. I miss meditating. I miss praying with you. What does it profit me to gain a good marriage yet lose my soul, my God? I am going back to God. Only as a wife submitted to God will I be the best wife to you and the best mother to our children. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from God, but I cannot bring favour to you if I continue being disconnected from God. I want my spiritual life back. I want God back in our home, our marriage, our family.”
He started breaking down in tears. His spirit was convicted. He held her tightly in his arms.
“I am sorry. I am sorry for going astray and taking you with me. You chose to marry me because you thought you are marrying a godly man. I miss being that godly man. Marriage shouldn’t be a stumbling block in our walk with God. The thought of you cheating on me ripped my heart apart; I cannot even begin to imagine how God feels when we are unfaithful to Him. God having blessed us this much and we turn our backs on Him. At the thought of you cheating on me I was filled with rage, yet God patiently looks at us in our unfaithfulness desiring us to go back to Him. I want to go back too. I want more in my life than these earthly things, I want God. I want the God of my youth. I am so sorry for slapping you.”
That night, they knelt, repented and rededicated their lives and marriage to God. The prodigal couple came back to God. The next morning, they prayed together with their children. God returned back to that home, because that couple returned back to God.
Meditation: if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14

You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

The Wings of Burdens

Author Unknown
An old legend relates that long ago God had a great many burdens which He wished to have carried from one place to another on earth, so He asked the animals to lend a hand. But all of them began to make excuses for not helping: the elephant was too dignified; the lion, too proud; and so on. Finally the birds came to God and said, “If you will tie the burdens into small bundles, we’ll be glad to carry them for you. We are small but we would like to help.”
So God fastened upon the back of each one a small bundle, and they all set out walking across the plain to their destination. They sang as they went, and did not seem to feel the weight of their burdens at all. Every day the burdens seemed lighter and lighter, until the loads seems to be lifting the birds, instead of the birds carrying the burdens.
When they arrived at their destination, they discovered that when they removed their loads, there were wings in their place, wings which enabled them to fly to the sky and the tree tops.
They had learned how to carry their burdens, and their loads had become wings to carry them nearer to God. The burdens we carry for others may become wings of the spirit, to lift us into happiness such as we have never known.
Meditation: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:2-4
You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

How to Remain Current and Take Sure Steps

Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
– Proverbs 4:5
We are all products of our environments. And environment is not limited to physical location alone; much more than that, it includes our mental (the places we get the information we feed our mind), spiritual (the place(s) we go to for spiritual nourishment), career (factors affecting our discipline), business (industry and location of our commercial activities), as well as emotional (relationships) factors. All of these constitute our environment.
Being current about happenings and developments in your environments can be very beneficial. Apart from the fact that it portrays you as a smart person who is on top of his game, the information you garner will equally help you to make informed decisions or actions about aspects of your life that the information you have is relevant to, which will, hopefully, yield you good results.
To operate in the more popular environments, we rely on the mass media and informal sources for the information we need to plan our day, week, month, year and future. We source for information on the weather, stock market, investment opportunities, job openings, etc. and we launch into action based on our gleaning. When meteorologists say the weather is going to be foul, we plan to stay indoor; when stock analysts’ predictions are negative, we hold on to our money; when we learn that government is focusing on a particular sector of the economy, bankers and business people invest there; and so on. These tell us the importance of information in keeping us current and helping us to take appropriate steps.
But, our quest for information should not be restricted to functioning in our physical and economic environment alone. Equal attention should be devoted to our mental, emotional and spiritual environments. As our reference Scripture charges, you must consciously seek wisdom and understanding. It is to the extent that we are informed in these other areas of life that we will perform as individuals as well as attain balance.
You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Monday, May 14, 2018

The Old Paths

‘The Old Paths’ was written by a retired minister who lives In Tennessee
I liked the old paths, when
Moms were at home.
Dads were at work.
Brothers went into the army.
And sisters got married BEFORE having children!
Crime did not pay;
Hard work did;
And people knew the difference.
Moms could cook;
Dads would work;
Children would behave.
Husbands were loving;
Wives were supportive;
And children were polite.
Women wore the jewelry;
And Men wore the pants.
Women looked like ladies;
Men looked like gentlemen;
And children looked decent.
People loved the truth,
And hated a lie;
They came to church to get “IN”,
Not to get “OUT”!
Hymns sounded Godly;
Sermons sounded helpful;
Rejoicing sounded normal;
And crying sounded sincere.
Cursing was wicked;
Drugs were for illnesses and nothing more;
And divorce was unthinkable.
The flag was honoured;
Our country was beautiful;
And God was welcome!
We read the Bible in public;
Prayed in school;
And preached from house to house
To be called a Hero of our nation was worth dying for;
To be called a Christian was worth living for;
To be called a Traitor was a shame!
Preachers preached because they had a message;
And Christians rejoiced because they had the VICTORY!
Preachers preached from the Bible;
Singers sang from the heart;
And sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED!
A new birth meant a new life;
Salvation meant a changed life;
Following Christ led to eternal life.
Being a preacher meant you proclaimed the word of God;
Being a deacon meant you would serve the Lord;
Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus;
And being a sinner meant someone was praying for you!
Laws were based on the Bible;
Homes read the Bible;
And churches taught the Bible.
God was worshiped;
Christ was exalted;
And the Holy Spirit was respected..
Church was where you found Christians
On the Lord’s day, rather than in the garden,
On the creek bank, on the golf course,
Or being entertained somewhere else.
I still like the old paths the best!
Meditation: Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. – Revelation 2:4
You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Friday, May 11, 2018

When I Say, “I Am A Christian”

[We had earlier featured a version of this poem which we later learnt is adulterated. After a couple of correspondences with the real author, please read the original version of the poem below and be blessed by it:]

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting, “I’ve been saved!”
I’m whispering, “I get lost sometimes
That’s why I chose this way”

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t speak with human pride
I’m confessing that I stumble
Needing God to be my guide

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak
And pray for strength to carry on

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success
I’m admitting that I’ve failed
And cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t think I know it all
I submit to my confusion
Asking humbly to be taught

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are all too visible
But God believes I’m worth it

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache,
Which is why I seek His name

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I do not wish to judge
I have no authority
I only know I’m loved

Used by Permission
Copyright ©1988 Carol Wimmer
All Rights Reserved
www.whenisayiamachristian.com

Meditation: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, – Ephesians 4:1

You will succeed in Jesus Name!