Happy New Month!

It is a new month, and you will normally be expecting a ‘Wisdom Nugget’ today, but there has been a swap. The Wisdom Nugget for the month of October will be the next post. I have had this topic being pressed on my heart and I thought I ‘offload’ it today.

Before I get on with today’s post, I will like to set the context of ‘cool’ that will be referred to in the post. The word ‘cool’ can be used to depict different things. From the context of cool being defined as popular to the context of cool being defined as fashionable, trendy, funky; and its meaning is inexhaustive. But the definition I will like to focus on, is the ‘fairly low temperature, laid back, relaxed’ definition.

You see there is nothing wrong with the word ‘cool’. But if someone walked up to me and said; ‘Oh, you are such a cool christian’. Truthfully speaking, I will politely [and with wisdom] ask for more explanation on what he/she means.

I do not know if this is an over flogged issue, but I still want to flog it. Not because I tick all the boxes, but because I want to tick all the boxes with the help of the Holy Spirit; and I do not want you to be left out.

The lights are getting dimmer. The world is getting darker. But we are supposed to expect the darkness. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says that

‘Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God…..’

The lights are not supposed to get dimmer. John 1:5 makes us understand that

‘The life-light BLAZED out of darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out’.

 The word ‘blaze’ means to burn fiercely and brightly. We, Christians are supposed to burn fiercely and brightly, in order for darkness not to put out light. A true child of God cannot be a secret agent in this time and age. Hosea 4:6 says that

‘My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true’ . 

If I may expatiate on this verse, people are perishing because those that know what is right or true are not passing on [through words and actions; lifestyle basically] the knowledge. You see the knowledge and experience of Christ is not a MI6 information, it is BODMAS; everyone needs to know and experience Christ. What He loves and what He hates needs to be known.

But you see, the issue is that, we do not want to be like Daniel. What do I mean?

‘But Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the king’s food or drinking his wine, so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet.’ 

The applauds, the perks of ‘eating the king’s food or drinking his wine’ looks so rewarding that we do not want to miss out on such delicacy. We have forgotten that eternity is the main reward. Colossians 3:1-2 tells us that if we are serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, we are to act like it. We are to pursue the things over which Christ presides. We need to understand that proclaiming that we are children of God is not just about the blessings, it is mainly about the responsibilities.

In Matthew 16: 24-26, Jesus spelt it out by saying; ‘

Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?’ 

Most times, verse 25 is interpreted to be about acquiring wealth and the likes, but it is deeper than that. ‘Gaining the whole world’ as KJV puts it, includes every and all things that isn’t of God; it could be the compromise in order to fit in with a clique, the keeping silent when evil is done, after all, it is not my place to say. LIE! Ephesians 5:11 ASV says

‘and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them.’ 

You say you are a child of God, then this is your calling. Our silence is an indirect approval to evil. We cannot be christians with preference, we need to be christians with convictions. The thing with preference is that it is relative, and God is not relative, neither are His commands. His commands are firm. We are either obeying Him or disobeying Him. There is no middle stand. Revelation 3:16 says

‘ You’re not cold, you’re not hot- far better to be either cold or hot! You are stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit..’ 

You see, where ever God has placed you as a christian, it is your duty to represent Him accurately in deeds and words. Be it, as a doctor, engineer, lawyer, teacher…..you are called to that profession for such a time as this to correct the mishaps. But this cannot happen if we keep silent or be passive or be indifferent because we do not want to stand persecution. The truth is if we never understood before now, that in giving our life to Christ, we signed up for persecution and crucifixion of the worldly pleasures, then we need to realise this truth. You cannot truly love the Lord and the world will love you.

Children of God, we need to stop being cool. Cool is relative. We need to burn fiercely for God. Job 28: 28 says that

‘Fear of the Lord- that’s Wisdom, and Insight means shunning evil.’

 We cannot shun evil silently, we have to speak up for God. Have you ever seen a silent soldier? We are soldiers for Christ. It will not be easy, but the grace of God is sufficient to see us through. We need to trust that God is powerful enough to see us through, our strength will fail us, but not His. We live in this world, but we are not of it. Let us not be scared to say the mind of God. One thing is certain, we cannot serve two masters. It is either God or the devil. We need to re-evaluate our walk. Are we truly Christ’s representative in our family, classes, workplace, on the road, at the supermarket, in the gathering of friends….? Ho will you know how to represent Him? The word of God and the Holy Spirit is available to show us how to represent Him.

Living for God is not just words, it entails big, bold actions.

I pray that we will halt the days of passivity, and that we will boldly stand for God. Amen

Why is being lukewarm, very attractive? [As usual, I do not know it all. I want to hear from you]

All Bible passage are of the Message Version except where it is stated otherwise.

Missed my last post?

P.S: So I read about the 60 day praise challenge, on my friend and fellow blogger, Tosin‘s blog; and I thought it will be a good thing for my Precious Thinkers to embark on. If you ask me, we can never thank God enough for all He does. So if you’ve been looking unto Him for some things and you have prayed a ton, how about trying thanksgiving. It opens the doors [Psalm 100:4]. So I entreat you to give this challenge a thought, then join in.

P.P.S: I have another friend, Oluwatobi, who will be publishing a magazine, Through the Eyes of God [TEG], and all she needs are just testimonies to encourage the readers. You may be a shy person[or may be not] and you find it hard to stand in front of the congregation, then all you have to do is send your testimony to faithcomesbyhearing@hotmail.com. Your testimony can encourage so many people, and in such a time as this, hope is integral to living.

For suggestions/questions on Precious Thoughts- preciousthoughts2013@gmail.com

Have an amazing week! Keep shining.

Chinomnso Precious!