Why you shouldn’t make use of ‘Petrol’, but make use of ‘diesel’ II

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Happy New Month, my lovely readers and visitors. Don’t think you’ve seen everything that can come out of this year. God is done with manufacturing  your outstanding suprises. It’s the manifestation time.  Just sit tight, and let him be God!

This is the part 2 segment of this post. But before I delve into the nitty-gritty of the concluding segment, I will like to mention something that was brought to my attention by my friend.

After I had put up the post, my friend drew my attention to the definition of grace in the post. His opinion was “You quoted that grace is unmerited favour. Is there a merited favour? Us being used to a slogan doesn’t always make the slogan right”. Those were his exact words. I will say the same thing I told him, for any one that shares his view. I do appreciate his opinion. He is right. Favour in itself is not merited, hence its name. However, why I chose to use that definition was to make great emphasis on the fact that ‘this favour in itself is not merited’, so the additional ‘unmerited’ was ‘to take the point home’ [I don’t know if I am making sense]. I know it’s repetition or you may say, that’s an ambigious statement, well, it’s for emphasis sake.

To have a ‘whole’ comprehension of the title and this post, please it is necessary to have a read of the previous one

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GUEST EXCLUSIVE: How do you see him?

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fatherHello Everyone,
I guess it is not out of place, when I say: ‘Welcome to the new Precious Thoughts’.
I had the intention of putting up the continuing post on Why you shouldn’t use ‘petrol’, but make use of ‘diesel’  [I know it is long overdue]. But when I read this article which my friend sent to me for the ‘Friday’s Guest Exclusive’ segment this week, I thought to myself: ‘Someone needs to read this, Friday is too far’.  So enjoy and be blessed.
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OUR FATHER
 
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth…” (Luk 11:1-2)
_______________________________________________

So this earlier this week, I made contact with someone whom I want to classify as a remarkable young man, who shared his testimony in a meeting and whose story I feel urged to tell. Somehow I’ve found myself procrastinating about writing it, lol (did I hear someone say ‘get thee behind me, Satan) but here’s it. 

This young man- let’s call him Dave- a black British with a Caribbean heritage, was born into circumstances which are very common today. He had only a single mum, uneducated who struggled to fend for him and his half-siblings. He did not know his father, and his half-siblings did not know their dads too. They lived rough and in rough neighbourhoods too.


So Dave told me that when he was 3, he moved to a foster care home. The social services deemed his mum incapable to raising him and offered to ‘help’. The foster home was not of much good, as you don’t usually get natural love in such places. At four years, he got moved into a foster parent’s place for a new life; that was an adventure that was short-lived, you see.

The adventure was short-lived because he knew only one style of life- the ghetto life, life on the edge. So he was quite rough and unruly, getting into fights in his foster home, school and with foster parents. He still has the bruises, the injury marks of such fights. Of course he was very poor academically and one day he got into a fight with his school’s principal- whom he slapped. He was thrown out of school and out of his foster parent’s home.

By the time he was in his early teens, he had been thrown out of school a few times and was in his 6th foster parents home. One day, he was in the park and after a fight, badly bruised, on his way home. In his front was a man and his son, apparently a good man (in his words), as the man had his son on his shoulders and just finished a game of football with his son. And at that time, he remembered he could pray and spoke with these words, ‘God if you are really a Father, please treat me like this father here’. Sometimes simple, attenuated, pedestrian-like words make the most effective prayers.

The next few years of his life were a whirlwind, Dave told me. His foster parents became the last he had- and still are; he met some good friends who challenged him to be the best and utilize his skills, especially in sports. Slowly he stopped drugs, parties and immoral living. He reached out to his mother and his half-siblings. And academically, there was marked improvement; what he could not achieve academically became easy for him. He got a scholarship.

He is 23 now, a recent graduate of Cambridge University. Now Cambridge isn’t some ordinary University- pretty high standards of admissions and studies are maintained there. The options for him are much more than he hoped- he’s been offered a couple of jobs with some FTSE 100 companies and his Uni have offered him scholarship for further studies- a MSc and a PhD. Dave looks at me, with faint tears in his eyes and tells me, ‘I believe my life changed the very day, I saw God, not just as God, but as my Father’. I believed him.

So today, I encourage everyone to begin to see God and relate with Him as a ‘Father’ and not just God. That may just be the starting point of a new life. Perhaps that is why the verse of above- a clear guidance from Jesus- doesn’t start with ‘Our Lord’ or ‘Our Master’ or ‘The Big Man up there’, but Our Father.

Author- Okechukwu Okorie
Photo Credit: Google

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What if you never get ‘that’ opportunity again?

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….Katie thought to herself; ‘Now, that’s bold!’…..

 
It was a regular weekday morning for Katie. She had  gotten used to catching two buses to and from work. If there was anything that Katie was well known for, it is her punctuality. There had been times when her friends had said to her that ‘she was too punctual for comfort’. They say this, to hide in their unconcerned habit of not keeping to time.
 
Katie took punctuality to a next level this morning and left home for work, fifteen minutes earlier than her usual time. She wasn’t aware of the time her bus will arrive this day, since it wasn’t her usual departure time. However, the bus arrived just as she walked to the bus stop. 
 
She got on the second bus, and she was amazed at the unoccupied seats in the bus. For an early morning, that was unusual. She sat down, did her general scan of the faces on board. This scan had become a habit, since her interest in drama series that involved the investigation and apprehension of psychopaths. The scan of the faces was a way she assured herself that, she was indeed learning something from her new found interest. Not that the facial scan can ever accurately depict the next actions of a person. Katie thought otherwise, anyway.
 
But there was one person that she kept her gaze on. Thankfully, this lady sat facing the North, while Katie sat facing the West behind her, at the other side of the bus. So, it was so easy for Katie to keep up with the stare without being caught.
 
She was staring at this lady because she had brought out a bible from her bag and was reading. Not a bible App on the phone. A hard copy bible.  Katie thought to herself; ‘Now, that’s bold!’.
And Katie just had that feeling, that she was supposed to meet this lady. Talk to her. Shake her hand, and gleefully say ‘I’m proud of you, Miss!’. Well! this was just going on in Katie’s mind. But something else followed…
 
This lady that Katie had praised within, had a facial expression that spelt ‘ All isn’t well, but God I trust you’. Katie could see this ‘bold’ lady holding the tears from dropping. Katie had a prompting: ‘Go talk to her, I will put my words in your mouth’
 
Katie laughed within. No I didn’t just hear that voice. And all she could think of, was- ‘What if she shuns me?’ ‘the fact that she has a bible doesn’t mean she will give me face’, ‘this is a public transport, what if she flares up?’ and the questions increased by the millisecond.    
 
Then she decided to strike a deal with HIM. 
 
‘Let her get down at my bus stop and I will speak to her’. This unilateral deal didn’t prevent the prompting voice from speaking.
 
While Katie was still forcefully imposing the deal on HIM, the ‘bold’ lady got off the bus. And then it dawned on Katie, she had just been disobedient. In order to redeem the time, Katie asked that God create another opportunity to meet this lady, and she won’t negotiate any more. She will do as she was told. She also requested that He make it possible that she board the same bus the following days, and she will willingly leave fifteen minutes early, to meet up with that bus. 
 
As things turned out, Katie’s boss told her about the three days renovation that will be taking place the following days, therefore, she did not have to come to work for the rest of the week. 
 
No boarding of the bus. No leaving fifteen minutes early. No knowledge of when next Katie will see the ‘bold’ lady. All that’s left, is a heavy heart, that wishes to turn back the hands of time….
 

The concept of obedience is one that is very dear to the heart of God. Personally, I feel

God weeps when he ask us to do certain things, but we disobey because we do not trust him enough to carry out what he has commanded. The hearts that God can make use of, are not just pure and holy hearts; but hearts that are willing to obey him.

 
Abraham’s obedience is one that is very astonishing. His only son that he had waited for, God asked him to sacrifice; he did it because he trusted God enough to know that whatever he was commanding him to do, was good. It didn’t have to logically make sense. So long as He was making the demands, he (Abraham) was ready to do as he said. [Genesis 22]
 
I believe if we obey every time God speaks, there will be manifestation of the wonders of God. But we need to get to the point where we totally give ourselves away in trust in God, and not logically think things through, in order to see if this makes sense. God does not do logical thinking. In Corinthians 1:27, he says he chose foolish things to shame/confound the wise.
 
I can totally relate to the story of Katie, but I’ve come to the realisation that there is no time to allow disobedience or logical thinking to take the place of obedience. So I’m availing myself to be obedient to God even when it does not make sense, and I kindly urge you to do same. God help us all.
                                           
         “If you will be willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land”-                                                                             Isaiah 1:19
Have you had a personal experience that has taught you to obey the Lord? please share in the comments section
 
Chinomnso Precious.
 
For suggestions/contributions: pradake16@gmail.com
You can also find me on twitter: @ChinomnsoP
 
Photo Credit: Google.
 
 
 

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VLOG: Make life beautiful for others!

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Most times, we (Myself) get overwhelmed and carried away with our personal activities, worries, fears; that we get amnesiac to our surroundings, neighbours, friends. 

By God’s grace, I was able to be part of a good cause, this last Saturday [14/06/2014] that benefited and will benefit someone else other than myself; and I made a video just to encourage you, to do something today that will lighten the burdens of another. This is not to show that I do this all the time, No! I’m as selfish as they come, but by his grace and work in me, I am coming out of that. This video is to encourage you to give back to your community and society, and to put a smile on another’s face.

It may not necessarily be a garage sale for Haiti, it could be helping someone that has full hands of shopping bags, when your hands are ‘fresh and free’; it could mean buying that lady/guy a proper lunch, as you keep seeing them buying the same bread daily. It could be giving your time to someone who needs to unburden their heart. Just to mention a few. 

Remember, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well”.-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enjoy 




P.S I have compressed the video as I was told by a friend that the previous sizes have dissuaded some readers from watching/downloading due to their limited MB sizes, I hope this is better. I also hope that the quality is still good. Please let me know. Thank you!

Chinomnso Precious

Our Father’s love letter to us!

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Happy Father’s day to every father, all over the world…


Today, this video was played in church, and throughout my watching it, I was just in tears. The words pierced my heart. No greater love, than the love of God. I assure you that you will be so blessed watching this video.

Enjoy…




Chinomnso Precious


Video Credit: House Church Canada on YouTube

Why you shouldn’t use ‘Petrol’, but make use of ‘Diesel’!!

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Just reading the title of this post alone, has left me ‘awestruck’. Like, what is this? I am the last person that you can say will be accurately knowledgeable in the aspect of cars talk more of an element that keeps it moving. Hold on! Don’t give up on me yet. I may not have the professional insight to these lubricants, but be informed that there is an interesting twist to the title…

 
I did a mini-minute-small research on the advantage diesel has over fuel, and I was able to find quiet a lot; not that there are no disadvantages. But for the purpose of this post, just allow the disadvantages ‘to whisk into thin air’, like they do not exist. One advantage I will like to pinpoint is the fact that diesel sales are rising, and have overtaken petrol models for some manufacturers. Diesel-powered vehicles are on the rise. [Please temper justice with mercy, if my facts are not so accurate]
 
But here is the twist……
 
It was just a good day, when I had this thought of how diesel can be likened to Grace and petrol- Works.
 
Grace is popularly known to be God’s unmerited favour; which it is. A suitable definition, I was drawn to on Works is, the engaging in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a purpose or result. The grace of God is a gift that every child of God is given, but not everyone accepts it. And what you do not have, you cannot give.
 
I have come to understand that the reality of our Christian walk is ‘lubricated’ with the grace of God. And one very vital aspect of the grace of God is its relationship with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit works in and on us, we grow in the grace of God. In Zechariah 4:6-7, we get to see the relationship between the grace of God and the Holy Spirit…
 
[Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, unto it. ASV]
 
Grace is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. But, it is dangerous for a child of God to choose ‘Petrol’ [Works] rather than ‘Diesel’ [Grace/HolySpirit]:
  • When your Christian walk is by works, you cannot yield abiding fruits. A key role that we Christians must partake in, if we say we are children of God is ‘Soul winning’ [Matthew 28: 19-20]. But a ‘fuel engine’ cannot win souls, this is because this person believes that his/her obedience to the word of God and all the spiritual activities has earned him/her a place in God and whoever seeks to come to God has to ‘do the work’ and it is not his/her place, to extend the good news as they are righteous and seek not to be polluted. Did you read about Jesus talking/eating/walking with sinners? 

 

  • When your Christian walk is by works, you will faint very easily. Accepting God into your life, does not make life easy, but it gives God the opportunity to carry the burden with you, build you up, and make you a shinning light for his glory. There are time when things will not be rosy, a ‘fuel engine’ will faint because he/she has the expectation of God making the ‘road’ rosy, because he/she has done XYZ[Works]. That’s why when you find someone who professes Christ, but at the first sign of a storm, they ‘turn back’, if you look closely, you’ll find a ‘fuel engine/worker’. Proverbs 24:10 says ‘if you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place’-MSG version. [You have to love the message version, it goes straight to the heart.lol] The ‘much’ a child of God needs to have is the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit is not working in us, then we cannot say we are living the Christ-like life we are called to live.

 

  • When your Christian walk is by works, you find yourself ‘in and out’ of sin more than constantly. As Christians, we are called to be like Christ. Christ walked on this earth, perfect, without sin. And Matthew 5:48 says this: ‘In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.’ Another version says, ‘be ye perfect, therefore, as they heavenly Father is perfect’. I know there are minds that debate the practicability of this passage, but one thing I’m convinced in my heart is the fact, that God will not ask of us, what is not attainable. But this perfection is not attainable in ‘fuel'[works], it is attainable in walking in the Spirit, in grace. Personally, I desire to get to this stage where I’m working in perfection by the grace of God. It is possible, but not by the works/strength of man.

On the advantage of Diesel over Petrol, I mentioned earlier, this can be related to a Christian whose walk is in grace and not works. Such believer will be a living sacrifice and do more of God’s will- rising, shining brighter and brighter.

 
There are so many other dangers of being a ‘fuel engine’, but I have just mentioned three in order not to make this post longer than this. Hopefully, I will post another continuing post on this.
 
One thing is certain- the grace of God is available for our benefit. Let us subdue ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and watch the glory of God manifest. Because the more we run this Christian race by works, the less manifestation of the children of God. Because God doesn’t dwell in ‘Fuel/Works’, he dwells in ‘Diesel/Grace/HolySpirit’.
 
Choose his grace, let the Spirit of God [Diesel] perform an overhaul in the ‘Petrol engine’!
 
So what other dangers have you come to understand is associated with ‘Petrol/Works’?
 
Chinomnso Precious
 
Photo Credit: Google.
 

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