DECIDE TO BEGIN

If you are reading this post it means that you have crossed into the New Year, 2013. It signifies a new beginning for you.  It is a perfect time for you to act on your long forgotten dream or start a new project. In short, it is a year to take up new challenge(s) in your life.

Remember that Abraham obeyed God’s call to pursue his inheritance (Heb 11:8-10). Likewise, you need to decide to pursue your own dream this novel year. When God gives you a dream, you must prepare to pursue it.

Pursuing your dream or starting a new project is not daydreaming; it is a call to action. You need to exercise your willpower in order for you to make the toughest decision – the decision to get started.

God does not promise to bless us until we start doing something, and that is why you must make that decision to get started soonest.

You need to walk, run, talk, write, launch the project and tell people what you are starting this year!

In all of these things, trust God to enable you to keep moving once you demonstrate enough willpower to get started.

You will succeed because the beginning is often the very hardest part. I have faith in you, and I know that you will make it. This is your year.

Happy New Year

 

THE OTHER SIDE

I looked at the Durban beach this morning and it was very calm. It was 5:30 am. The view  was beautiful and it reminded me of the ministry of Jesus especially today being the last Sunday in the month of December 2012. I was convinced that if Jesus was physically here in Durban, He would probably be at the sea side teaching the people about the kingdom of God, and I would be in His congregation listening attentively.

Christians records shows that major portion of Jesus’ ministry took place around the shores of the sea of Durban in South Africa, oh no! Excuse me, I meant the sea of Galilee, an area widely influenced by Roman and Greek civilisations. This influence was primarily felt on the eastern shores of the sea where the cities were separated culturally, religiously, and geographically from the Jewish cities of Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida, located on the lake’s western shores. According to the book of Mattew, Jesus concentrated His teachings and miracles in these Jewish towns. This area was known by the Jewish population as “our side.”

On occasion Jesus travelled to “the other side” to teach the people. This phrase refers not only to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, but more culturally and religiously to the Gentile region. “The other side” was a specific reference given by the Jewish villagers to the Greek and Roman centres located on the other side of the lake, including the cities of Hippus, Gergesa, and Gadara.

According to the Gospels, thousands of people followed Jesus to the other side. This was no easy task for the Jews. Whether they journeyed by boat or land, they would pay heavy taxes to Rome.

Despite the physical, cultural, and religious obstacles of travel to “the other side,” the Bible records that on two occasions there were crowds of four thousand and five thousand people to hear Jesus. We know that these were mostly Jewish villagers who had travelled a long distance to hear Jesus. Since there were many Gentiles towns nearby, their complaints about having nothing to eat can be interpreted that there was no food available for the Jewish diet. The Gospels say that Jesus, out of compassion, provided fish and bread for the hungry multitudes.

Sometimes people may ridicule us, often it will take time out of our busy schedules, and it will certainly run contrary to the status quo for us to follow Jesus. Yet the reward for doing so remains the same: “He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need for healing... So they all ate and were filled” (Luke 9:11). Jesus filled their spiritual and material needs.

If you are reading this post or you are among those who follow this blog. It is my prayer that you would cross to the other side, i.e. into the New Year with me. I also pray that If you are sick in this year God will heal you as you cross over. I declare that God will also meet with all your needs as you cross with me into 2013. Perhaps you had some negative challenges in 2012, I expect you not to give up on God because He likes to do miracle(s) when you least expect. I believe that your miracle is next on God's list.

Shalom!

SEASONS OF FAITH

Doesn’t the walk of faith appear to be inflicted with paradoxes? Well, I can only speak for myself. I am certain that I did not maintain consistency in my walk of faith this year. My faith advances for a season, then retreats the next. I was ambitious for a season, then relaxed; aggressive, then passive; giving, and then taking.  In a simple word, my faith was inconsistent, yet, God remains faithful to me.

As positive and negative wires generate the power of electricity, so is faith, negatives are used with positives to create mountain-moving energy for the believer, which means that, whenever my faith is weak, God is there to make me strong.

Faith is pacing your progress. The challenges come in knowing: when to push forward, when to hold back; when to dig in; when to yield; when to hold on, and when to let go.

When you walk the walk of faith, you are assured of the divine guidance to make the right move, in the right way, at the right time.

When you kneel before the throne of the Almighty God in humility and cry out, “I need the wisdom of heaven to walk this walk of faith,” you reach the level of faith where contradictions become constructive; paradoxes become truth.

So keep trusting God to give you His sense of timing so that you can change your pace to win the race of life in 2013.

This is the season of faith in Christ and in God Almighty. Seize the moment and turn your paradoxes to reality.

 MERRY CHRISTAMAS

BENIGN PERSON

The story of the Good Samaritan is a powerful illustration of how we should meet the needs of other people. Against the historical background, this parable is even more challenging.

During New Testament times, there was a great division between the Jewish populace and their neighbours, the Samaritans. Their disagreements centred around a religious point. The Samaritans believed the true place of worship was Samaritan on Mount Gerizim; the Jews held that the temple at Jerusalem was the rightful place.

The Jews disliked the Samaritans so much that they chose not to go near their towns. Even when they travelled to Galilee, they avoided the direct route through Samaria and took the longer, more arduous trip through the wilderness, through Jericho, and up the desert Rift Valley.

This road from Jerusalem to Jericho was known as Maale Addumin, meaning, “the ascent of blood.” For here thieves and robbers often attacked the travellers.

It was along this road that Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. A Jewish man was travelling this route when thieves attacked him, beat him, and left him for dead. Shortly thereafter, a Levitical priest travelled by, but upon seeing the man, crossed the road and left him. Soon after, another Jewish man passed by and also offered no assistance. Finally a Samaritan who normally did not journey on this road came upon the beaten man. Not only did he stop, but he carried the Jew to an inn where he paid for the man’s rest and recovery.

Jesus commended the Samaritan for truly having love for his neighbour. Despite his religious, cultural, and ethnic differences, the Samaritan reached out to meet the needs of the Jew.

In the same manner, we must look out for the needs of those around us especially in this festive season. We can put away our prejudices and sacrifice our time, money and energy to help heal the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of both our neighbours and strangers.

Happy Festive Season.

YOUR GREATEST ENEMY

Do I deny the reality of evil? Not at all. I admit that there is an opposite to everything; even when we declare all the positive verses in the holy book we automatically acknowledge the alternative – negative thinking – evil.

So it is normal to run into enemies as we walk the journey of our lives. However, we need to know that God can give us victory over our enemies (2 Chr. 20:27).

What enemies have you encountered, so far, on the journey of your life?

In the journey of life we describe an enemy as anybody who diminishes your faith or confidence in yourself, in your career, in your dream(s), in your beliefs, and in almighty God!

A friend once told me that the people around me are not my enemy as I may have thought, but my strongest enemies are the negative thoughts that come into my mind. He admonished me to change my thoughts from negative to positive.

Your thoughts start with you
Photo: Google images.com

Therefore, who then is your greatest enemy? You may lament the fact that those closest to you do not give the encouragement you think they should. But nobody puts you down more than you do yourself. Nobody has rejected more of your best ideas than you have!

How many good ideas have come into your mind only to be discarded by you?

Feed your positive thoughts with some walk of faith. Believe in yourself and tell yourself that there is nothing impossible to accomplish in life. Fill your mind with beautiful affirmations and powerful promises that are abundant throughout the holy book. As a result, your journey of life will be productive, joyous, and worthwhile!

Think positive as you go into the New Year in the next 23 days.

Cheers 

SCRIPTURES VERSUS HISTORIANS ON THE DATE OF BIRTH OF JESUS

The official date of birth of Jesus Christ worldwide is the 25^th of December, but there is a good chance that he was not born on that day at all. I am not trying to be blasphemous or insult the Christian religion in any way. In my religious studies class I discovered that it was the Catholic Church, which adopted the 25^th of December for symbolic reasons.

In my curiosity for knowledge, I spoke with some pastors in my local worship centre on whether Jesus was actually born on the date mentioned above, but to my amazement, they did not know the real historical date of the birth of Jesus.

Therefore, I had to do historical and scriptural searches for answer. I discovered that December 25^th was chosen as the official date of the messiah’s birth as late as 354 A.D., by Pope Liberus, because it corresponded with the pagan festival of the winter solstice, called Natalis Invicti in Latin, which means “birth of the invincible sun.”

Real image of Pope Liberus who declared 25th December as the official birth date of Jesus Christ
Photo: Google images.com

 

The French word “Noel” comes from the combination of two Celtic words, noio and hel, which means “rebirth of the sun.”

Thus the birth of Christ is compared to the birth of the sun, which plays a very important role in many ancient religious and pre-Christian pagan cults. In places where Christianity was on the rise, church authorities tried to give pagan festivals already being celebrated a Christian connection, in this case the birth of the saviour.

The choice of December 25^th was actually quite logical when you consider that Christianity took hold mainly in the formerly polytheistic Roman Empire. The Roman worshipped many small gods, but their main festival, the Saturnalia, celebrating the god Saturn took place on or around December 25^th.

 

Proof against December 25^th

There are concerning accounts, aside from being chosen in 345 A.D., that raised the question about the date of December 25^th as being the real birth date of Christ.

Many historians rely on accounts of Luke in the Bible which according to them seems to contradict the theory that Jesus was born on December 25^th. For example, the Bible states that Christ was born during a census conducted by the Romans, and for the census to take place, all citizens were ordered to return to the place of their birth. According to historians that time of the year was very cold in the middle of winter. The question is: Why would the Romans have conducted a census in the middle of winter, the coldest time of year?

According to the book of Luke, Jesus was born before the death of King Herod, and history tells us that Herod died in the year 4 B.C. – i.e. 4 years before the official birth of Christ. The facts did not add up.

 For detailed explanations visit the following websites: http://www.comereason.org/bibl_cntr/con100.asp & http:www.christianswers.net/q-aiia/census-luke2.html. 

Augustus Caesar

To return to the account of Luke on the population census carried out the year Jesus was born, there’s more than the climatic problems mentioned earlier to consider in terms of logic. There’s also the question of dates, based on historical documents in the public domain.

 

Above are real images of Augustus Caesar who was born before Jesus Christ but no single record of Jesus is available
Photo: google images.com 

 

Historical document shows that on the wall of a temple in Ankara Turkey dedicated to Augustus Caesar (63 B.C. TO 14 A.D.), who was the Roman emperor at the time, a stone slab was found called the Res Gestae Divi August, which recounts all the exploits of the emperor during his reign.



Photos: Google images.com

The document mentioned the following three censuses: the first in 28 B.C., the second in 8 B.C., and the third 14 years after the death of Christ. If we look at the biblical and historic accounts, it lacked narrative synergy. The historical accounts would make one to conclude that Jesus was not born on 25^th December, and that he was born sometimes in the year 7 B.C.

In any case, the actual date of birth of Jesus was not really an issue to me. What does matter is that he was born into the world to protect me from my sins. All that I need to do is to believe in Him and in the Almighty God who never fails.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

SUCCESS IN FAILURE

Often our willingness and determination meets success at the point of failure. For example, the pole vaulter who runs and then vaults over the bar a little higher each time never really knows how high he can jump until he fails to scale the bar.

He succeeds when he fails! 

For failure isn’t a matter of not reaching your goal! Failure is failing to give your project all that you have!

Photo: Google image

 

Success is achieving the maximum of your potential in the situation you are in. The apostle Paul encouraged his readers to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord’ (1 Cor. 15:58).

Photo:Google image

When you honestly have attempted your ultimate best, then you have been successful, in spite of failure. The people who are really failures are the people who set their standards so low, keep the bar at such a safe level, that they never run the risk of failure.

Success is daring to face an embarrassing failure. It is only after the pole vaulter knocks down the bar raised to its highest level that he knows he’s jumped as high as he can.

Photo:Google image

 

Success comes at the point where we cannot do any better than we are doing at this moment. The applause doesn’t come until you have given all you have to give. Spectators love the winners and they love the losers, as long as both give it their best.

Enjoy