Friday, December 23, 2011

High Speed Vs. High Quality?

I posted this on my facebook page and decided it might be useful to some soul some day some where that God led to this blog so here it is:


Which would you think was more amazing? A healing or a resurrection? Now think of it this way... We may be crying unto God for a quick miracle and find no result yet; but remember he is seeking to touch your life at a time and in a way that gives him more glory... When the world laughs and mocks you for praying despite "unanswered prayers" stay Faithful and expectant... For instead of a quick and potentially inglorious patch up, HE WILL RESURRECT EVERYTHING THAT THE WORLD DEEMED DEAD IN YOUR LIFE IJN! Amen


Be blessed beloved soul of God,
x

Monday, December 19, 2011

What are you doing this December?

There's a lot of controversy surrounding Christmas; many believe it's the day Christ was born and many other believe it's the wrong day and wrong month and that it's a pagan festival and as such Christians shouldn't be celebrating it... Well which group do you belong to?




Whichever group you belong to, lets not forget the fundamental and key important part of being a Christian. It is to be Christ-like; meaning living a life like Christ. There is little point putting up a Christmas Tree if you are not Christ-like well that is if you believe it's a celebration of Christ's birth. If however you are an atheist and still give and take gifts this season then ask yourself this WHY?? 




There are others that despite being born Christians, renounced God and then when Christmas comes around they celebrate, they go to "Christmas Parties", these are parties that take place in a lot of settings especially workplaces and guess what- What is Christ-like about getting once-self in a drunken state and participating in utter debauchery and base behaviour??? 


There is no point standing half way. YOU ARE EITHER CHRISTIAN (Christ-like) or NOT... This mish-mash of in-betweener is not glorifying unto God or yourself for that matter... 




I'm sorry to sound like I'm Judging I'm not... I myself see Christmas time as an over commercialized season for a day like every other where every Christian/every Bible-Believing Christian should reflect and make every effort count towards salvation. I know deep in me that I engage in gross gluttony during Christmas and eat myself into a food coma, then resolve over the new year to be a better person. Question is AM I A BETTER PERSON? Gluttony is wrong in every form... consuming excesses when others starve around the world... I know what I want to do this season... I want to get closer to God while making efforts at salvation, I want to reach out to others who are less well off than I am... I want to remember that getting and giving gifts is secondary if not tertiary to the main point of the season... 
Any way RANT OVER :D 


Stay Blessed x

Monday, December 5, 2011

I think GOD is real now, but What next?

Congrats on your new found belief, I am overjoyed that God has revealed himself to you! This new knowledge is wonderful and needs to be nurtured into a beautiful fountain of peace and joy that will be sustained by our Father in heaven through your growing faith in him.




From my experience, this point is a "toughie" as I remember not knowing what to feel or how to feel. But once I was able to find a fellowship to study the word of God with, I found myself moving from level 0 to previously unattained but  desired heights of peace and happiness, two things that I had felt starved of through the horrible trap of depression and low moods I had been caught in for years. 


I grew to know that God, who I had denied and "hated" for years had many promises and plans for my life, promises that I was unaware of and as such couldn't bring to fruition. The beauty of the word of God - the Bible, is that it contains words pertaining to almost all of life's issues and worries. It is a beautiful Manual to Life and I myself have not fully taken advantage of all it provides. 


The most important thing I believe the bible tells us all is  "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7) Isn't that in itself beautiful? 




A valuable thing I believe we should all do is not just eat up everything that's fed to us in terms of the Word of God... Even the Bible teaches that we should confirm that the Bible contains what we've been told it contains Acts 17:11 "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."


It's vital also to read things in context. When one takes one line and reads it without at least reading a couple of lines before and after, misinterpretations are possible. I always find http://www.biblegateway.com very handy for checking numerous versions (English and other Languages). It aids understanding. 


I believe that this very moment, you reading this blog has a purpose; God wants to use you to do great things for the World... No matter what you think of your life thus far, God has a way of taking the ordinary or down cast and turning it around and making it extra-ordinary and full of wonder. 


I am a living testimony of his goodness, I went through years of gloom and doom and now when darkness threatens, I just quote God's promises and sing his praise and surely as he promised to do, he picks me up and hides me under his wings and keeps me safe from every depressive thought. Believe me life isn't necessarily smooth sailing but with God all things are possible. 


Again feel free to get in touch with me here by leaving a comment and I'll get back to you!
Check out BibleGateway for verses of inspiration.


No matter what you face, REMEMBER! God Loves You



Thursday, December 1, 2011

Here's the ANSWER we've all been waiting for...

A question I have been asked by many friends since I gave my life back to Christ is "If God EXISTS why then are many suffering daily and dying of starvation, why are earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and countless disasters tearing apart lives and tragically ending lives? Why are children being abused and molested? Why are so called men of God committing most of these disgusting acts?"


I could fold my arms and say stubbornly that "God EXISTS and that's that." or I could go into detail and explain what it is about this God, our God that makes me know that he lives. Here's the scoop.


Let's assume there's no God, and no higher power. Let's assume that all the things on earth both good and bad are just there. So here's the question I have. If you and I were created by the Big Bang. Why are many suffering daily and dying of starvation, why are earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and countless disasters tearing apart lives and tragically ending lives? Why are children being abused and molested? Is it that we are just a terrible race altogether? But if we are so intelligent and self sufficient and through our own power we have reached this height that we as a human race have reached in civilization then let me ask why have we LET all these things happen. Do the rules only apply to God?


Take a look at the beauty around and tell me, did some random self-origination chemico-physical phenomenon bring about these:
















ON A SCIENTIFIC LEVEL EVERYTHING MADE HAS A HIGH LEVEL OF ORGANISATION


How did all these come about? 

 Marilyn Adamson gave some very rational points of thought.
The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today. 

  • The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.3 Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life. The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day. And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.
  • Water is colorless, odourless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life: It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees. Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels. Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body. Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees. Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.
  • YOU: Right this very minute you are an amazing testament to how awesome our God is think about  how your brain simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands. The human brain processes more than a million messages a second.7 Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people. YOUR eye can distinguish among seven million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an astounding 1.5 million messages -- simultaneously.8 Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of living organisms from nonliving matter. YOUR skin can change instantaneously to protect you 
  • Does God exist? The universe had a start - what caused it? Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself. Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen." Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousands million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light." The universe has not always existed. It had a start...what caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and matter. 

  • Does God exist? The universe operates by uniform laws of nature. Why does it? Much of life may seem uncertain, but look at what we can count on day after day: gravity remains consistent, a hot cup of coffee left on a counter will get cold, the earth rotates in the same 24 hours, and the speed of light doesn't change -- on earth or in galaxies far from us. How is it that we can identify laws of nature that never change? Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable? "The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence." Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle."
  •  Does God exist? The DNA code informs, programs a cell's behavior. All instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent. Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose. Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of our cells is very similar. It's made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There are three billion of these letters in every human cell!! Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual. Why is this so amazing? One has to ask....how did this information program wind up in each human cell? These are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop. Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot find instruction, precise information like this, without someone intentionally constructing it.
  • Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him. I was an atheist at one time (This is true of the original author and myself quoting her words) . And like many atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those poor, delusional people...to help them realize their hope was completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life. I didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them. I am not the only one who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow, besides questing, I was being pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England." Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. I too had no expectations other than rightfully admitting God's existence. Yet over the following several months, I became amazed by his love for me.


Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing himself to us.

Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.
He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."14 He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me."

What proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people...blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature...walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you're seeing.

Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he first loved us.

Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." This is God, in action.

Does God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We're told that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ. If you need to know more about Jesus and reasons to believe in him, please see: Beyond Blind Faith

NOW Here's the Scoop, I was one who had very weak faith since I was born but I always believed there was a God... Then I had horrible things happen through childhood experiences and teen choices and experiences. I became what I term an atheist, but always consciously thought there was something drawing me back to God... Then I got myself in a massive mess and the first and only name I remember deeply calling was GOD's. I came out of my mess alive which told me that although I'm not perfect and have done terrible things he still cared about me. In my childhood I was been bullied for a certain amount of money... I cried and prayed and the EXACT amount of money just dropped unto my lap (NO LIE)... Many other experiences and encounters with him tell me he lives...  The message Christianity preaches is LOVE... a word that appears in the bible more than 314 times in the Bible


Many of the issues and problems we face here on earth would be eased by a close relationship with God and through faith we can make changes that money and power wouldn't come close to making. You don't have to cut off your arm to get God to show himself to you, neither do you have to cut out any vital organs... You just need to believe... and avoid sin. I can't promise it's easy but believe me it's easier than the life I used to live and brings peace soooo much peace!!! Try Him today, please.


In the words of Jesus who only preaches the message of love and redemption: 
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."


If you, after reading this you want to try and get into a close relationship with God, please no matter how small it is... Let that feeling grow... find me on facebook and mail me and I'll be as supportive as I can be. BUT THIS IS YOUR CHOICE. 
https://www.facebook.com/winifred.obande I can provide info on Jesus and this a relationship with him.


A prayer that I find helpful from time to time is: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."