Manna for the Soul

In a world filled with so much injustice, wars, and anguishing hearts, taking time to reflect upon God's goodness and being truly thankful to God can be elusive for most Christians. Yet, as Christians, Paul admonishes us, as we read in Ephesians 5:20, to be thankful at all times:  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; (Eph 5:20 KJV) Before we proceed to examine scriptures on this important topic of thanksgiving, I would like us to reflect on a hymn from the Methodist Hymnal 427 vs 1, which was so strong on my heart when I begun to pen this piece: "Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy, the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue employ." This hymn, written by Nahum Tate, is based on Psalm 34, where the Psalmist saw the need to praise God in the midst of trials. You may ask, how can I praise or thank God in my suffering? The bible provides us with several examples of peopl...

For the believer, asking for forgiveness and forgiving others is not optional but a must, that is, whether they seek our forgiveness or not. It is upon the basis of God's forgiveness that we, who were once alienated from God, have been given the opportunity to be heirs with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Come to think about it, how else could we have paid for our own sins if God had not sent His Son to die in our place? Not that we had done anything to merit God's mercy. How often, in our own lives, have we come across people that seem so unforgivable? That is how we were to God. Our sins cost God the blood of His beloved Son. Indeed, nothing we could ever do will be sufficient to secure our own redemption. Nothing, but the blood of Jesus. It is important for the Christian to understand that God's forgiveness of our sins is conditional. The following scriptures make that clear: Mat 6:12 KJV   And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Luk 6:37 KJV   Judge ...

All of us go through periods in life that seem exactly like being in the waiting room at the hospital. You have prayed and submitted your petition to God, now what next? Often, things may seem to be going wrong even though you are of strong faith and wondering where is God in all of this. Or as a result of disobedience to God you are in a situation requiring God's immediate assistance. I have often heard some Christians ask, 'what do I do while waiting on God in one situation or another?' Personally, I have encountered several episodes in my own life that required long periods of waiting on the Lord and what I have learnt over these periods is what I share below. It is important to bear in mind that while what you do or don't do during the waiting period may not necessarily determine God's response, your attitude over that period will affect your ability to handle God's response. To begin, I would like for us to read about Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkan...

Did you know that the moment you decided to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ you did not only receive the privilege and the right to be heirs with Christ but you were also tasked to carry your cross? In Luke 9:23, Jesus told his followers as we read below: (Luke 9:23 KJV)  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me .  Jesus pointed out to his followers, in the above scripture, that when you choose to bear his identity you must first deny yourself and then take up your cross daily. A lot of times many people profess to be Christians without truly appreciating what it means to be a Christian. Such people cannot be blamed very much because we are increasingly seeing Preachers who put so much emphasis on the benefits of being heirs with Christ with little emphasis on the cross we are tasked to bear, which is equally a critical part of being a Christ-follower. Please don't get me w...

Believe it or not, the Lord God Almighty delights in our true worship.  Our Father in heaven indeed seeks true worshippers to worship Him. We worship God because He is the very reason for our very existence. The following scriptures make it clear: (Deut 30:20 KJV)  That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.  (Psa 100:3 KJV)  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Act 17:28 KJV)  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.  (Col 1:16 KJV)  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and i...

You may be at the point in your life where you probably are asking if it is all over and if you must throw in the towel. If you currently have the breath of life then there is still hope and there is a reason why you are still alive. Being aware of this you need to keep your faith up and know that what is ahead of you is more important than what is behind you. For the believer, the first point of call when in any situation is the scriptures. Often, when I have encountered situations in my own life that seem insurmountable, the first thing I do is to seek God's guidance through His word on how to handle them. God did not promise us problem-free lives. In fact, for as long as the earth remains, the problems of man are far from over. But God promised us beauty for our ashes and joy for our pain . In Isaiah 61:1-3, the Prophet Isaiah said: Isa 61:1  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to...

Forgetting God is very dangerous. In Hosea 4:6, the bible warns that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." KJV   Beloved we are indeed living in the last days and as Christians we must stay focused and not loose our guard. In Genesis, we read of how the serpent, in the garden of Eden, cunningly lured Eve to disobey God which eventually led to the fall of man and necessitated our redemption through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. "(Gen 3:1)  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Gen 3:2)  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (Gen 3:3)  But of the fruit of the tr...