Author: ochimaokereke

The crux of this article is that we have to live a life of obedience here and now in this world in order to be successful at the end of our respective life journeys.

Please, try to read through this writeup and consider the challenge at its end.

This article reviews obedience in both the Old and New Testaments. It considers its application in the conversion of Saul to Paul.  It then wraps up with the Challenge.

We start with obedience in a few verses in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ states in John 10: 27-28: “27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”

His sheep follow Him because they hear His voice and obey Him.  They cannot follow Him if they do not hear His voice and obey Him.

In John 15: 14, The Lord says: “ You are My friends if you do what I command”.

These two passages, and many others, emphasise obedience as pivotal in our walk with the Lord.

Going to the Old testament, starting from Genesis: 17: 9 – 11:  Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 

Genesis 17: 23 – 26 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.

How do you rate this on the scale of obedience, a 99 year old man, getting circumcised because God told him to do so?

The first instruction to Joshua as he succeeded Moses in leading the Israelites was, recorded in Joshua 1: 8:  “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful”.

From passages of both the Old and New Testament, it can be seen that obedience is a common thread running through the Bible. The Lord states clearly that we should walk in obedience to Him.  The Lord has not left us in any doubt of what He wants us to do.  In Proverbs 23:26, he says: “ My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”

Considering the conversion of Saul, I would suggest that we may learn some lessons on the importance of obedience from this review,. Now, let us take a look at Saul who became Paul as we read from Acts, 9: 1- 15:

1 And Saul, yet breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

4. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street, which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Can we see that statement of repentance and surrender by Saul: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

Saul repented of his former zealous but ill-advised ways and completely surrendered to the Lord,  leading to his conversion.

I suggest we can also learn from  the response of Ananias to the Lord’s instruction to go and minster to Saul.

He told the Lord frankly that it was a dangerous journey to make.  Hear him,  from verse 13 “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name”.

Yes, Ananias was correct. But was he telling the Lord what He, the Lord, did not know?  He was not. He knew a little bit of Saul’s situation but the Lord knew the total picture about what had happened to Saul which Ananias did not know and could not have known of. 

Can we see our problem? We know  a bit and build our actions on that bit. But the Lord knows the whole picture and invites us to trust Him and do what He commands us to do but often we refuse; failing the Lord and ourselves by basing our actions on the little we know. Faith in the Word of God is the basis of obedience.

The Lord greatly used Paul and he trusted the Lord through thick and thin and he could say in I Corinthians 9: 27: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway”.  Philippians 1: 21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. Should this statement be strange, it should not. The Lord Jesus warned:

Matthew 7:22-24 (KJV)

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And ever one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

The challenge:

Upon what am I building my life? Are you building your life?  Irrespective of how we answer, the Lord knows how each of us is building our lives.

From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that when someone prays: “ Jesus, I know that no matter what I do, you will still accept me.” This is wrong and does not suggest any repentance, surrender and conversion because a converted person will desire to do what the Lord wants all the time. It should not be a case that “since I am a child of God,” I can do whatever I like and be accepted.” I know a church where some people made this statement at the time, I spoke against it but my view was not considered. Sadly, I am not sure of the attendance at fellowship now of some of the persons who were making the statement. Should this be a surprise? No, when people are led to believe that whatever they do, the Lord will accept them, why should it be worrying that they stop attending church service?

It needs to be clearly spelt out that we cannot be children of God if we choose to do what we like and have not repented of the rule we have over ourselves, and surrendered to obey the Lord completely and unconditionally as Saul confessed at his conversion. The Lord requires this of His sheep, who hear His voice and follow Him.  The Lord Jesus Christ warns: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”, Luke 13:3.

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Abhor evil, even if it appears logical, it has its disastrous consequences

The Jewish religious leaders conspired and got the Romans to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ in 33 AD on trumped-up charges, ostensibly to save their nation from being destroyed. On the third day, He rose up in a glorious Easter!!!

In 70 AD, the Romans demolished Jerusalem such that the magnificent temple was so destroyed that there was no stone left on top of the other. Even today, some 1,950 years after, the temple remains not rebuilt.

Yes, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”.  Romans 12: 9

^“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 2 Timothy 2:19. Happy Easter!!!

The year is ending, it is New Year around the corner. How prepared are we for the new year, 2023?

Being the best that I can be is a mantra, a slogan, a guiding statement worth aspiring to now, in the coming year, and always.

It translates to the following practical statements.

• In my profession, I shall seek to be the best that I can be.
• In my relationships at home, I shall seek to be the best that I can be.
• In my relationships  at work, I shall seek to be the best that I can be.
• In my community, I shall seek to be the best that I can be.
• In my own small world, irrespective of its size, I shall seek to be the best that I can be.
• In trying to earn an income, I do my level best, diligent and determined and work hard with transparent integrity.
• It is convenient and easy to criticise another person, what about me, what about you, are we consciously making efforts to be the best that we can?
• It is the in-thing, the politically correct practice, to criticise and even condemn politicians. No one says that what is bad is good. But what about you?
• Do we make deliberate efforts to do what is right all the time to glorify the Lord, who always watches and sees what we do?

Some Bible verses to consider on this subject, include the following:

1. Matthew 5: 48:  “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect”.
2. Leviticus 11:44:   “Be ye holy even as I am holy.”
3. Titus 2:11-14 : “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works”.

Conclusion: The debate has been on-going, whether a person can be perfect here on earth.  Certainly, it borders on lack of humility for anyone to claim to have arrived. No one is good but God alone, so the Lord says, Mark 10: 18.

This of course does not encourage us to continue in any unwholesome and bad behaviour of which we may be guilty at present, because it is the Lord who also commands: “Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is.” Matthew 5: 48. Therefore, we need to make efforts to discard such undesirable behaviours.

In spite of our personal views on attaining perfection, none of the passages quoted in the foregoing paragraph encourages us to be quarrelsome and always overly negative and critical in almost all our public and private statements.

The challenge is for us to be a reflection of the Lord in seeking by His help to live a life of moral excellence and be a blessing to others.

 A writer suggests that “the basic call to a person in this world is to be a reflection of the character of God. That is what it means to be created in the image of God.”

chima.okereke@thegospelspeakstoday.com

The Bible states that “the fool has said in his own heart that there is no God”. Psalm 14:1. In everyday life, we often find some people who claim that there is no God. This, they presume, gives them the licence and excuse to live by their own rules. Some of them try, as much as convenient, to ensure that they do not contravene any public rules of law and order. They generally live in their comfort zone.

Some are generous in their interactions and spend on charity. Some live normal lives, trying to be gentle and practise fair play in their ways. While there is a third group whose overriding objective is to look for what is in it for them in everything they do and try to get it. For this third group, doing what is fair to all is way down in their behavioural priorities.

It has been said that there is no person who does not believe in anything. He says he does not believe in God but he believes in himself and just lives for himself. He spares himself no indulgences within his chosen areas of conveniences and comfort. He makes himself an island by refusing normal communication with other people, even those who should be in his small world. In doing this, he short-changes himself by living with counterproductive short-term decisions which have no long-term values. He sadly does himself more harm than good, both in time and eternity.

He does not attempt to worship God. He excludes himself from anything that seeks to accord reverence to the Lord. He says and reasons that he has nothing to do with God, therefore God should have nothing to do with him. He tells himself that the Lord should only be concerned with those who worship and revere Him. This of course is self-delusion.

In spite of his head-in-the-sand behaviour, the Bible states clearly that: “The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand” Psalm 14:2. The truth is that all we do, including what the self-deluded person does, are being recorded by the Lord. The Lord not only sees everything each of us does but He also knows our motives. We cannot hide anything from the Lord.

Moreover, if a person does not live in obedience to God, he is living in sin.

John 3:36 states that “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Proverbs 23:26: “My son give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways”. This statement underlines the core of the matter.

From Colossians 1:16, we read that God made each individual for a purpose. It stands to reason that He cannot use the person to carry it out if he chooses not to obey Him. This is why obedience is paramount in man’s relationship with God.

This underscores why the Lord will punish those who do not know Him; “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” 2^nd Thessalonians 1:8.

Knowing the Lord and living in obedience to Him should not just be seen as only when the person is worshipping the Lord. No please, the Lord is interested in the total life of the person. The personal relationship with the Lord should result in getting the best out of the person for the good of his community and mankind, to the glory of God. The person could be a business professional, a scientist, a medical practitioner, indeed whatever professional, the walk with the Lord should elicit the best out of him so that he will be a delight to his society. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven, Matthew 5:16. 

Repentance is not an option; it is the only action to take. Unless you repent, there is no way you will escape, you will perish. Luke 13:5. The Lord does not desire the death of a sinner but for the sinner to arouse himself from his self-delusion and come back to Him in repentance in Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.

God knows that we cannot save ourselves or make ourselves right with Him. This is why he sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to the world. He lived, died to pay for the sins of all who will believe in Him, rose again, and returned to Heaven. As many as receive Him, He accepts by forgiving their sins and giving them the power to live for Him as children of God, John 1:12.

The opportunity to repent will not last forever; for “It is given unto man once to die, after that the judgement”. Hebrews 9:27. Today is the day of salvation, 2^nd Corinthians 6:2: For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Sometimes, a piece of advice is given that one should “sleep on an issue.” This means to wait to decide on the issue until the following day, after you have thought over it at night.

We read from Luke 6: 12- 13 that the Lord prayed all night, it was the next morning that He chose his disciples. The passage: “ ¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God. ¹³ When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.”

It is intriguing that the Lord had been with the disciples for some time. Yet, when he wanted to choose the twelve apostles, He prayed all night before choosing them.

Often when we find ourselves trying to make a decision, we feel under pressure to get it done and over with.

In the sad story of Judas Iscariot, he felt bound by the desire to betray the Lord and earn thirty pieces of silver. He had reasoned it all out and was sure that he had it all wrapped up. He convinced himself that the Lord would slip off as He did in the past. Sadly, the Lord was arrested and was about going to be crucified. It then dawned on Judas, that he had betrayed the Lord. He then went on to hang himself.

One lesson to takeaway here is that we should not rush through a controversial decision. If we do, it may end up blowing up in our faces. Therefore, when the urge to decide knocks, we should learn to slow down or even dismiss it.

We could give ourselves twenty four hours at least to think things through and prayerfully weigh its consequences.

Also, in case of Judas, he was a thief as he helped himself to the apostle’s fund as the treasurer. Judas Iscariot “was a thief and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:6).

It was sad that in spite of all the warnings from the Lord, Judas did not repent. The Lord said:  “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

The Lord also warned that “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

It is sad that in spite of all these warnings, Judas was bent on going on with the Lord’s betrayal blinded by his desire to earn thirty pieces of silver and refusing to repent of his sinful habit of getting money in questionable ways. He ended up committing suicide. “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” Proverbs 29:1

In conclusion, we should not hurry to make decisions, give ourselves time to think on the issues involved. Also, importantly is it morally correct or questionable? We should  not go on with it if it is questionable, we may save our lives if we do not.

I wrote on this subject because I felt a burden to do so. After preparing it, however, I wondered whether I should publish on such a glaringly physical life-and-death subject with all its sensibilities and emotions. I dragged my feet until, I was jolted into the necessity of discussing the subject when on the 10^th March, I saw a billboard at a bus stop at Steyne Road, London, W3 9NU`, with the following inscription:

“UNITED ACTION AGAINST SUICIDE Today and Tomorrow.”

It was posted by the group named Campaign Against Living Miserably.

Therefore, please, here is the article.

Early in February 2023, I was close to tears when I read of two murders and a suicide committed by a man to his family and himself in the UK. There was another case before then in the US. Indeed, there are many cases in different parts of the world. I wish to suggest that the basis for the decision to commit suicide is ignorance and flawed thinking.

It would appear that the driving reason for a suicide is to get everything over and done with as far as the individual’s life is concerned. There lies the foolery.

Taking one’s life is not really the end, it is only a change to another form of existence. Moving to the new existence does not erase the realities and consequences of the current life. What is the authority for this analysis?  It is discussed next.

Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. So, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

This verse emphasises that when the current life ends, judgement follows for the deceased. Therefore, committing suicide is no escape from the problem of the here and now but only moves the problem to the other existence with its consequences.

In effect, the suicidal act has not helped rather it worsens the situation. It is ignorance of the futility of the act that causes someone to embrace it.  If one realises that one’s situation is worsened by the act, then the resort to it should be repulsive and not attractive.

The way out of the dead end that drives and elicits the suicide is to surrender to the Lord Jesus. Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest, Matthew 11:28

Committing one’s life to the Lord Jesus Christ and surrendering to Him is the better way.  His invitation is that we should come to Him irrespective of our burdens and problems. The guarantee is that He cares and shares the problem with you. The solution that you desire may not result immediately or even later but the guarantee is that He will lead you in the way He considers best in your circumstance if you will let Him do so by surrendering and agreeing that He leads you.

The Futility and Folly of Committing a Suicide, there is a Better Way.