In search of God

How good it is to sing praises to our God, How pleasant and fitting to praise Him. The Lord is our creator, He does so many wonderful and miraculous things in our lives and not because we deserve them but because of His Grace, unwarranted favor. So what praise songs should we sing to Him?, of all the mighty and wondrous things He has done, of how He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds, of His greatness and mighty power, of His sustenance of the humble, of thanksgiving for all the blessings He showers upon us and of His Amazing Grace through which we have received a gift like no other of eternal life, of salvation from damnation. Our spirit towards praise should be as in Psalm 146:1-2 that says , ´Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.´ Praise be to the Most High.

Our human nature is predisposed to sin and for those that do not know the gift of God´s grace feel like they are doomed to damnation. They live in condemnation both from themselves and from others due to their shortfalls. But do you know that all can be forgiven only if you call upon the Lord and confess your sins. The sinner's cry; being the substance of a sermon, preached at Trinity Chapel, Windmill-Street, Upper Moorfields, on Sunday evening, January the 27th, 1793 by the Rev. Thomas Smith, ... The Lord hears your call and will wash away your sins so that you will no longer be guilt ridden. We can see the sinners cry in Psalms 130:1-4, ´Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord; O lord hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O lord, kept a record of sins, O lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.´ And after making the call and repenting your sins, you are supposed to accept Christ and make Him your Lord a

Our God is a powerful God, He is Almighty, Creator of everything on earth and in the universe and he encourages not to be afraid of anything. When we feel frightened, insecure, powerless, we are encouraged to go to Him for refuge ans respite and he will not fail us. We are supposed to rejoice in the Lord for He is Great and for the world to see. Paul encouraged the new converts in Philippa to this in Philippians 4:6, 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.´ And what will be the outcome; God´s peace and tranquility in Philippians 4:7 (And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.) and abundance in Ephesians 3:20 (Now to him who is able to immeasurably more than we ask, according to his power that is at work within us.) but only if we believe as Jesus told the Synagogue ruler in Mark 5:36.

Philippians 3:9, '...not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.´ We can claim to astute followers of the ten commandments, legalistic righteousness, just as Paul when he was Saul did, he was a Pharisee, well versed in the laws of Moses and a persecutor of Christ believers, whom he saw as blasphemers, yet he was still a sinner until he realized that righteousness does not come from the law but from Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour. It comes from our faith that Jesus Christ died to atone for our sin, that he was a God given sacrifice, and that knowing him and the power of his resurrection is our key to salvation. Understanding and accepting this is the key to our salvation. Like Paul we should acknowledge that everything that drives us away from Christ (including religion) is a loss in our life and that our number one pursuit should be to know Christ Jesus our

1 Timothy 1:8-11, 'We know the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers – and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.' What is the purpose of the law? I think the law is meant to help us know where we go wrong and how to live righteously. Those living righteously are not subject to the law because they are already doing what is required by the same law. For example, the law says, You shall not murder, you will only be subject to judgment if you commit the said transgression. When you believe in Christ, who came to die for sinners, you die to sin and are reborn anew in Him in righteousness. To strengthen our new resolve we need to learn more about Christ and live the example He gave us.

When we grow up we borrow our values from our parents, family, friends and society. We view what is good or bad based on our values. Societal morality though trying to be inherently good, has been taken over by the devil so that he portray something that is evil as being good in society. That is why somethings that are banished in the scriptures is viewed by our society as being good, as the humane thing to do. Our ´enlightenment´ just as Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:20-21, are causing us to wander away from faith. Satan´s guile nature is evident in how he pretends to be the light (that which was taken from him after he fell) by cloaking evil in good so as to deceive those souls genuinely seeking the Lord away from Him. Paul tells us of this and why there are false prophets in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, 'And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their a

we need to take time and be thankful to the Lord for all the things he has done in our life, the blessings he has poured on us, the afflictions he has prevented us from suffering, the courage he has given us to face difficult times, the solace he gave us when we were sorrowful, and the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Our God is a compassionate and gracious God and we need to rejoice and be glad in it. We should honor God with songs of praise for even the angels honor him with song in heaven. It is good that in most churches before they start the service, they honor God with songs of praise and worship. These songs not only honor God but uplift us, they give us hope, they empower us and remind us of our loving Father, Our Saviour, Our redeemer, Our comforter. David put it best in Psalms 103:1-5, ´Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins, and heals all your di

The world today has attempted to bring God to our level, looking upon Him as our buddy, somebody who needs to lighten up and cut us some slack. We have failed to realise the supreme worth of God. Science and scientist have attempted to cast aspersions as to God´s role in creation. We seem to think that our minds are infallible, our thinking sure proof which has lead us to believe in the fallacy that we are the masters of this universe, relegating God from a deity to a superstition. What a pity on us. We do not really grasp what we are doing. We became God´s sons and daughters through Jesus Christ but this should not make us forget who our God is. We should approach His throne with reverence, obedience and gratitude. In Exodus 33:20, ´No man can see my face and live.´ is testimony to the inestimable majesty of our God. Therefore as you approach the true living God, who is the Lord of Lords, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining

The battlefield where the war between good and evil is taking place in our minds and hearts. Your thoughts are the key to determining which side you will choose. Thoughts bring forth action that brings forth habit that results in your character that determines your destiny. So is it possible for us to control what comes in our thoughts, Yes it is. Your thoughts stem from what you see and hear and most of that centers on one´s choice. You choose the programs to watch, the music to listen to, the books to read, the tv/radio channels to watch/listen and this eventually plant seeds of ideas in our brain that influences our principles and value system. If you put in material that promotes selfishness, having unrepentant heart, greed, lust, being two faced, back stabbing, hate, prejudice, strife then is it a wonder that you also live with these ideals at the center of your life. But if you read material that is uplifting, promotes fairness, justice, love, peace, forgiveness then this idea

The human nature is attracted to sin like a moth to the fire. Our flesh is weak and a slave to sin. When you offer yourself to someone to obey him in everything, you are slave to the one whom you obey. There is a constant struggle with us to overcome seen as Paul did in his letter in Romans 7:15-20 ,'I do not understand what I do. For what I want do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin in me that does it.' How could Jesus be sinless as a baby if he took our fallen, sinful nature?: An exploratory essay on an intriguing subject

God wants prayer to be an honest flow of communication. We have many instances of the bible where servants of God complained like Habbakuk complained to Him of net listening and being silent in Habakkuk 1:2, 'How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?' and Habbakuk 1:13, ´...Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?'; and Job accused him of being Missing in Action in Job 23:8-9, ´But if I go the the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.' yet God answered their complaints in Habbakuk 1:5-11 and 2:2-20 and Job 38. God does not want us to pretend happiness and understanding because doing so dishonours our relationship with Him for He can see the depths of our hearts. We should be like Job in Chapter 7:11, ´therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak the anguish of my spirit

Adam was the first man created in the likeness of God. But through him sin entered the world when he rebelled against God and listened to the deceiver. As a consequence humanity bore the cost of the transgression which was death. But God in His divine plan set forth a way to redeem the fallen through the coming of the second man Jesus Christ, who being sinless would bring life to many. Therefore as judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, the gift followed many sins and brought justification. Consequently, just as the result of one sin done by one man was condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness by Jesus Christ was justification that brings life for all men. Through the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, by the same right through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous. Where sin increased, God´s grace increased all the more so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal lif

Given our human nature, we are bound to offend/ be offended, hurt/ be hurt by our friends, family, colleagues at work and other social places. When this occurs we end up being angry and frustrated and makes difficult how we relate to each other. The 'bad blood' between us causes enmity, lack of cooperation, fighting and retaliation creating a vicious cycle. So where does it all end? It ends with forgiveness. In Ephesians 4:32, 'Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.', we encouraged to adopt this attribute of God that was exemplified through Christ´s ministry on earth. When on earth He would forgive the sinners of their sins. He also died so that our sins would be forgiven. Bearing a grudge is a heavy burden on the one bearing it. You spend each day fixated on thinking about the past transgressions poisoning your hurt with hate and vengeful thoughts. You need healing of the soul and the relationship and the

1 Corinthians 6:12, 'Everything is permissible for me – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me – but I will not be mastered by anything. Here Paul was telling the Corinthians as well as us that we have the choice to do anything the human nature wants, our passions and appetites, but not all of it is beneficial for us and we should be masters of our passions and not mastered by them for whoever masters you, you obey. One of the passions that has mastered most of our current society is the passion of sexual desires. We have been deceived to believe that controlling our sexual desires is next to impossible and we just have to give in, no wonder the oldest profession thrives. Prostitution has gone digital with websites offering you access to this illicit pleasure. Now sex was meant to be sacred to unite man and woman but it has been debased with our current 'merry go round' behavior. Paul explains why casual sex is a great sin in 1 Corinthians

Mathew 6:9-15, 'This then is how you should pray, Our father who is in Heaven, Hallowed be His name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, give us today our daily bread, forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' Jesus taught his disciples how to pray to the father the above prayer that is being recited in school by children everyday. Most of us know it by heart but do we understand it. Do we practice what we confess to the father, that is reverence of the Almighty God, acceptance of His divine will as being supreme, acknowledgement that He is the originator of all our blessings, forgiveness of our brothers for their sins against us, acceptance that deliverance from the deceiver and penalty of sin comes only from Him through His Son Jesus Christ.  He also taught them how to pray, that we should not be hypocritical by praying so as to be seen

Some Christians practice the faith under circumstances of persecution where even reading the bible, singing songs of praise for the Lord and prayer are done in hiding, yet they still persevere and willingly lay down their lives for the sake of Christ with the belief that they will eventually be glorified as promised by Christ when He left us. Romans 8:18 exemplifies this well, 'I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.' This glory will come when they are redeemed upon Christ´s return enjoying eternal life. But this redemption comes only by faith. Faith is explained in Hebrews 11:1 as being , 'Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.´ And the faith is belief in this scriptures, John 3:16-18, 'For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world