Tag Archives: David

Can secret remain secret?

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Any situation bordering on sin causes any secret to get revealed consciously or by default including human error as well as by divine revelation to prophets or chosen people. Let us in unison ask a person who is a secret keeper under oath of secrecy as to how the secret the person was entrusted to keep can for ever remain secret. A secret is supposed to be out of public knowledge because of the damage it can do to national image, a company, or highly placed people in the society. Between two rival manufacturing companies, what makes each of them to remain unique has always been securely kept as trade secret. Patent is a legal document securing to an inventor for a term of years exclusive right to his or her invention. One might just surmise that if that status was not granted, others who later find out the component would just go ahead and start manufacturing, especially, such drug thus depriving the inventor from getting maximum benefit from his or her invention. in other words, there is scarcely any secret that can ever remain secret for ever.

Secret can fail to be kept secret because of personal financial benefit or vendetta or it can also arise from human error and in contemporary age of hackers’ of computer sensitive data. Other areas of bursting someone’s personal secret are phishing, presenting fake websites through which unsuspecting users can unknowingly release personal sensitive information to the extent that the hacker would be able to steal from other person’s savings or checking accounts. Government Banks’ and companies’ records have been announced to have been hacked in spite of assumed impregnable security.

Adam and Eve were talked into eating the forbidden fruit without them giving a hint to God. However, guilty conscience made them to hide away from the presence of God  in Genesis 3: 1-10 (NKJV). In the case of Cain and Abel, God queried Cain because the blood of Abel had cried to HIM, revealing a secret Cain did not disclose on his own. Cain answered God’s question with question in Genesis  4: 9: And the Lord said unto Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother? And he said I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain would have been shocked as he was confronted with his crime committed secretly out of jealousy.

Achan never thought that his secret sin could be known by anyone, but by divine revelation he had to confess his sin and had to bear the consequent repercussion on not him alone but also on his family members: Joshua 7:20 (NKJV) No secret is truly secret as Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done”;  for during investigation after the defeat in the war against the small town of Ai, lot was cast and it fell on him. In the old and contemporary christian practice we fail to take heed that no secret sin shall go undiscovered. Think of a well placed person from the royalty who judged others as a ruler. King David coveted Uriah’s wife who he slept with and tried to hide his infidelity by ordering the death of a devotedly loyal defender of his kingdom. Nobody talked about it until God revealed it to Prophet Nathan. It would appear Prophet Nathan could not speak point blank but devised a case study  approach in which David judged the perpetrator only to be told that God said thathe (David) was the character in question.What all men of valor could not reveal God divinely used Prophet Nathan to spill the bean. IISamuel 10:2-10 recorded details of his secret sin.

OUR DESIRES

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Our desires can be godly and can be ungodly. A Christian and indeed a sane person is expected to be able to determine doing what is good and edifying rather than doing that which is unedifying and therefore ungodly. Titus 2: 11-12 says “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.” (KJV). By certain operational definition or usage desire and passion are synonymous like a feeling of sexual desire. When perverted, it becomes ungodly whereas sexual desire between lawfully wedded couple is a way to satisfying each other ‘s legitimate controlled passion. King David was perpetually desiring to please God such that even when he sinned, he never waited to be forced to confess his sins to God and ask for forgiveness as we see in Psalm 51. He had passion for having God to be his guide, strength and armor, and that was what enabled him to defeat the much dreaded Goliath and put the Philistines to shame. Conversely, he desired to have Uriah’s wife who he saw bathing afar off at a time he ought to be at the war front. The desire or passion or love by infatuation that ruled his heart was ungodly as the woman was not his wife. Not that he did not realize it was sinful, the irrational desire led to irresistible action that followed. It earned him the wrath of God that manifested in various calamities that befell his household. These included the death of the child born out of wedlock, Amnon raped his half sister, and was killed by Absalom. Absalom staged a palace coup that forced David into exile for a time. David lost his most dependable confidant or counselor called Ahistophel and Absalom ruined his own chance of possibly becoming king over Israel. 2 Samuel 13: 22- 18: 9 (NIV)

Nabal had passion for for amassing wealth. He only wanted to be getting and not to be giving to benefit others. The Nabal-David encounter reminds us of the consequence of ungodly desire. God blessed Nabal and David helped to care for his sheep in the wilderness; but when David asked for some food for his army, Nabal bluntly refused with disparaging remarks about David. David wanted to avenge the wickedness of Nabal but Abigael, Nabal’s wife prevailed over David. A few days later Nabal died. David had to thank God that saved him from taking revenge, because it is God’s saying that “Vengeance is mine.”

Any action that does not conform with the fruits of the spirit can be classified as evil desires or ungodly passion like lust, covetousness, or gratifying the desires of the flesh. Ephesians: 2: 4-5 is very relevant to this discussion. It is expected of believers to fear the Lord and make every effort to have positive desires and passions to be able to fulfill the admonition in Galatians 5: 16-17 that says: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires (lusts) what is contrary to the Spirit” (NIV) This discourse is aptly summarized in Galatians 5: 19-21 on one part and 22-23 on the other. There is therefore a dichotomous relationship between the acts of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissection, factions and envy, drunkenness orgies and the like, I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.” Samson, the Nazirite, dedicated to the Lord from the womb lost his anointing because of his uncontrollable lust (desire) for Delilah. King Nebuchadnezzar’s desire and lust for power made him berated God that enabled him build an empire and got sentenced to become an inhabitant of the forest for seven seasons interpreted to mean seven years. Daniel 4: 28-32.

CHILDREN:SO DEAR TO GOD

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Children are so dear to God that Jesus had to invite them to him to the surprise of the Priests, rulers of the synagogue, and even the disciples. The feeling that they ought not to come near Jesus was faulted by not only inviting them to himself, He also carried them and divinely blessed them. Matthew 19:13-15 captured the essence of their worth to Christ Jesus:  “Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put his hand on them, and pray, and the disciples rebuked them, But Jesus said suffer and forbad them not,to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven, And He laid His hand on them, and departed thence.”

Fresh lilies and daffodils are good to look at. They are acceptable gift of love as well as fresh roses. If we read through Psalm 127: 3-5 we will appreciate God’s expression of love and ownership. HE only granted them to their parents as precious gift from Him to them. By this, parents should know that they are merely custodians for the children and therefore, are expected to take good care of them. To families, especially believers, the onus of training children in the way of the Lord is incumbent on them. Under our statutory laws,when a parent  is granted custody of a biological child or by court award, the child’s character will be expeted to be moulded by the parents or foster parents.

Do you know that children do enjoy worshipping God and are usually a delight unto Him; Psalm 8: 2. They never feel too big or small to sing, shout, jump or clap for the Lord. This is why in Matthew 21: 15-16. Jesus did not despise the children as they shouted “Hosannah to the son of David” even though the Chief Priest and the Scribes were very uncomfortable. They asked whether Jesus heard the children and he confirmed that He indeed heard them, he further said; “Ye have never read, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise?”

As great and pius as king David was, he sinned and did fast and prayed fervently to prevent the death of the child. The child died but David showed fatherly love for the child as recorded in 2 Samuel 12:18-23. Another angle to appreciating children is found in Psalm 127: 3-5. It says “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate”.

Now I say, were it not for the grace of God on King David, chances are that Jesse would probably have remained irrelevant in the Jewish history. David still mourn the child of his loin in the person of Absalom who exiled him and was later killed in battle. He even pleaded with his warlord to treat his son gently in battle. That is the way in which God loves us and especially children who are innocent of adults’ sinful mind. It was Jesus Christ that raised the horn of Virgin Mary, otherwise, she would have blossomed and florished in the vast desert of life without any mention of her in the Jewish tradition. Therefore, parents train your dhildren in the way of the Lord so that when they grow old they will not caause you (parents) any trouble. Proverb 22: 6 is very relevant. Love begets love.

 

 

 

 

CAN MAN CONQUER FEAR?

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Fear has been described as “an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)”. Fear is caused by some factors like when one is saddled with an assignment one feels one was not adequate to do well. This type of fear is not out of guilt. it is just the fear of inadequacy or of possible failure that one detests. Moses knew his end had come and needed to cede power of the anointing to Joshua. Naturally, Joshua was genuinely afraid though, he had undergone a long period of tutelage under Moses but the heavy anointing that enabled Moses to do the much he did especially confronting Pharoah in the historic “Let my people go” debacle. Not that alone, the way the children of Israel were treating him constituted a load of fear in Joshua. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. At the Red Sea, God used Moses to create pathway for the children of Israel by parting the Red Sea into two creating dry land for crossing over. The host of Egyptian army that was pursuing them perished in the same Red Sea because it closed in on the Egyptians and drowned them one and all. Joshua knew how great the burden of leading the children of Israel in the sense that Moses was for all initially before Jethro (Moses in-law) came to teach him how to delegate responsibility to lighten the burden of governance. There were so many problems that were frightful to Joshua BUT Moses assured him not to fear. He accepted the advice and took the children of Israel to the promised land. He led them in all the battles that were fought before being able to possess the land God had earlier given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Another brand of fear was the fear of polluting his pedigree as Abraham asked “his eldest servant of his house ” to swear to him with a view to going back to Abraham’s father’s house to bring a wife for his son Isaac. in this situation, Abraham feared going against God’s warning that his descendants must not take wife from the Canaanites. Genesis 24: 1-15 (KJV). This type of fear is as a result of ensuring doing God’s will. On the contrary, the fear that gripped David was guilt induced, following Prophet Nathan’s revelation of his covert sin; that is, adultery and consequent murder of innocent Uriah. He felt so much guilt that he penitently confessed his sin to God and begged for forgiveness. Of course, the Almighty God forgave him and did not have to die in accordance to Mosaic Law of “An eye for an eye”. Prophet Jonah treaded the path of disobedience and refused to go to Nineveh. Instead he set out for Tarshish to avoid going to preach repentance at Nineveh. After the deadly storm at sea, the mariners fished him out by lot. He requested to be thrown into the sea for the raging storm to stop and saved the ship from total wreckage. The bible told us that a mammoth fish took him to the port of Nineveh after spending three nights and days in the fish’s belly. During the stay,he reflected on his act of disobedience, repented and was pardoned. He entered Nineveh and preached repentance. Fear arising from the guilt of the people of the prosperous city made them repent by fasting and praying from the King to every citizen including children and even animals. The repentance was total and acceptable to God. this was the fear of reprisal over the guilt of the people. God forgave them and averted the looming disaster. The bible revealed that the city suffered the disaster hundred years later because of grievous sins.

Can man conquer fear? It is not just a rhetorical question. The answer is , it is possible provided man chooses to have “defensive fear” or lives his life in opposition to sinful acts by obeying and worshipping God. David and other notable figures in the bible actually rested their hope on the Lord and the Almighty God did not disappoint them. His killing Goliath with divine weapon without using traditional weapons of war, was due to his declaring that Goliath has defied (insulted) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Only one stone from his catapult was divinely directed to pierce through Goliath’s skull through to his brain. David used Goliath’s sword to cut off the head of the dreaded enemy of Israel. It therefore behoves Christians to trust in God’s faithfully. Peter on one hand , Paul and Silas on the other hand conquered their fear to achieve great feat of carrying the gospel to the heathens as required of them. Instead of skulking in fear, the disciples were praying intensively until the angel of the Lord went and freed Peter from maximum imprisonment. So also, Paul and Silas defied fear and never succumbed, they held a night vigil in maximum prison as well that God honored resulting in all their stocks being broken, occasioned by an earthquake. It was the head of the prison guard that fear nearly made to commit suicide.. in conclusion, trusting and obeying God are both paramount to conquering fear. Interpersonal relationship should be tailored to doing unto others as you would like for others to do to you. Paul believed in Christ after his conversion so much that his life was thenceforth lived for Christ without fear. He so boldly defended himself before the Sanhedrin that they could not collectively carry out what they set out to do for him– “To kill him”. By the same divine boldness, he received enough strength to plead his case so well that he won an appeal unto Caesar. A Christian who is able to learn from past and present true men of faith, all things being equal, would be able to conquer fear convincingly.

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Significance of Number 4 in Creation

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Genuine fighting has God's framework for success

Genuine fighting has God’s framework for success

I am not a numerologist. I never tried to even understand or explore the knowledge because Jesus is all I need and believe. I will not be the only one in this frame of mind. However, it is significant that in certain victorious circumstances number 4 featured prominently.

There are certain events in creation which remained a beacon or a source of guidance towards our understanding of the universal work of God, and more importantly, how we can take cue from there to fashion out a life of obedience to God and doing His holy will. Daniel 11: 32b states “But the people who do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” Revd. Emmanuel Awowole in his ministration on April 4, 2014 wrote: “Today is 4- 4-14. FOUR is the number of creation: signs, seasons, days and years * FOUR regions of the earth: North, South, East and West * FOUR seasons of the year: Spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter * FOUR great elements: Water, earth, fire and air * FOUR divisions of the day: Morning, afternoon, evening and midnight * FOUR spheres of suffering: distress, despair, forsaken and destroyed * FOUR mighty men in the life of David risked their lives to serve him 1Sam 23 and Chronicles 11 (NKJV) * FOUR Philistine giants were defeated by David’s men * FOUR miserable comforters in the life of Job * FOUR friends carried a palsy man to Jesus in Mk 2: 1-14 * ‘Loving, sacrifice, dedicated and rich’ – Whatever good things you have enjoyed in any of these things shall be permanent in your life IJN. Any negativity or manipulation through any of these things is nullified in Jesus Name.” Courtesy of gracedunamis.org

From the above consummated work of God, even from creation time, it is of note that God declared “And God saw everything he has made, and behold, it is good” HE, our God has dominion over everything, it is therefore for us to trust him without any shadow of doubt and on top of it, HE is ever prepared to forgive our sins and iniquities, provided we do not feel too big to confess our sins and with penitent heart ask for forgiveness. Trusting Him is an affirmation of our total dependence in Him through Christ our Savior. Psalm 91: 1 says “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” David played a key role in total dependence on God and the Lord never abandoned him. In conclusion, it is clear that God thrives in orderliness. God is sovereign and has HIS own way of solving our problems for us. The four spheres of suffering applied to Prophet Jeremiah but he endured all and lasted beyond his oppressors.

Gileadites Defeated Ephraimites : Revisited

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The basic background to this situation in the life of the Israelites related to their abandoning the God of Israel that got them out of bondage from Egypt. They all went whoring with the small gods of the people God drove out for them to dwell on the land that was flowing with milk and honey. It was the usual habit of the Israelites that when they were in deep oppression and depression they would always return to God.The Gileadites were under the oppression of the people of Ammon. They lacked a leader who could lead them to war. The Israelites called on God and won HIS favor.

The idea of revisiting an earlier post is to have a critical look into what aided the continued victory of the Gileadites in battles. Judges 11:1-12 gave us the background to the strength of the Gileadites. Jephthah was earlier disowned by his father’s other sons because he was the son of a harlot. They said “You shall have no inheritance in our father;s house, for you are the son of another woman” This forced him to rely on God himself. “Jephthah fled from his brother’s and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him”. In this circumstance, Jephthah showed himself as a good leader for him to have been able to train the so-called “worthless men” to become mighty men of valor who fought with courage and finesse. All Israel had confessed their sin to God and discarded all their strange gods and returned the God of their fathers. God decided to have compassion on them but no group had the strong army to fight for them. Jephthah, the rejected member of his father’s house became the only credible leader to lead Israel to battle their enemies. His prowess was comparable to David’s situation in which he had only about 600 men to King Saul’s “three thousand chosen men” 1Samuel 24: 2. David was a very strong leader who underwent tough circumstances but overcame difficulties that beset him as God was with him all along.

Jephthah had God-given power, might and compliance with priestly advice and directives that made him obey God. As a rejected son in his father’s house he placed emphasis on training and development not only in the physical but also in the spiritual. His followers were great men of valor and faith. He possibly would not have fought the Ephramites if they had not dared him on top of earlier occurrence of breaking the code of kinship cooperation. Jephthah tied his fate to God. He paid his vow in the most sorrowful and regrettable manner to seal his triumph over household and other enemies.

 

 

 

Non-Carnal Love Series # 37

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Be truly true to self and all

Be truly true to self and all

As usual, in consideration of genuine love of God and ones neighbor or loving ones neighbor as oneself “The Fig Tree Phenomenon” calls for our attention to saying one thing and not truly being exactly that which was said or professed, Mark 11: 12-14. Jesus was in a hungry mood and needed food. The fig tree , not in season is not expected to be as richly green as to suggest that fruits abound. Jesus condemned hypocrisy as represented by the fig tree’s deceptive appearance when in fact it had nothing to offer as succor to the needy. it is a common situation among us as it has ever been.

The scenario is that of false or illusionary hope which can only end in anguish. There are people by their sweet words would appear they have answers for all problems whereas they have none, Such people position themselves in conspicuous places as if poised to help whereas they do not have the means. II Sam. 18: 1-29. This was the case of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. He outran Cushite without having news to bear to the king, of course , he was set aside, as against Cushite who brought the true tidings of quelling the palace coup involving Absalom the legitimate heir apparent who failed to comport himself and could have waited for God’s time to crown him as king of Israel. It was clear David loved him but Absalom for unscrupulous reason assumed what he was yet to become. His ambition failed to be realized. We must beware of  “The Fig Tree Phenomenon”.

Non-Carnal Love Series # 29

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There is a gulf of difference between Nabal and his wife. While pride made the tongue of Nabal untamable, humility averted disaster in Abigail’s reaction to David’s request. In Proverb 3: 34 e read ” God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble”. Nabal did not tell his wife about David’s request and his ignoble refusal to help a genuinely needy man of valor. Abigail’s humility determined the cause of her action and actually changed the course of her life thereafter. She had  deep-rooted love of God and her neighbors.

Non-canal lovePractical wisdom dictates that a man who had distinguished himself in battle needed to be honored and respected. From human angle, David did not take Nabal’s insult lightly but God intervened by using Abigail to restrain him from avenging himself on the household of Nabal. Abigail quickly prepared varieties of food and drink irresistible in aroma and hurried to meet David who was already on vengeance mission . David quickly thanked the Lord that sent Abigail to prevent him from bloodshed, 1 Samuel 25: 32-35. When Nabal’s drunkenness cleared and heard about what he did to David, his heart got frozen with fear of the war-lord. He died after about ten days later. Abigail became David’s wife, which status-wise was rewarding for her humility and taking the right action at the right time. Love to live, hate to be harried by hatred.