Can I be perfect?

48
ESV:You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

KJV:Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

NIV:Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

NLT:But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.Matthew 5:48

When Jesus said we should be perfect, he knew we could be perfect. Notice, he did not say when you get to heaven, you will be perfect..his statement was made in present continuous tense..right now..Be ye perfect.. not try to be perfect nor keep trying to be perfect..

Our aim as Christians is to be perfect like God, our Father.
It is the joy of every parent, most especially, the Father when his children/offspring are a chip off the shoulder(that is, looks like him, talks like him, thinks like him, walks like him, even laughs like him).
  There is no intelligent parent that would want/be happy having a dull child, not that he discriminates dull children but that the child does not take after him, then, you start hearing statements like, "Are you sure, I am your father?" or "I don't know where you carried your brain from because it's not my own", etc.

Infact, if you check most parents that play favourites with their children, in most cases, you see that the children they love the most are either the ones that have sharp minds/mouth like them or the ones that are their perfect look-a-like.

If all these are applicable to men, talk more of God, our father, who created us in his likeness.. What do you expect?

God expects us, as Christians, to look like him, think like him,react to situations like him, if possible, laugh like him. He expects us to be like him, to carry his nature in every aspect of our lives, including today's topic: Perfection.

Yes, we are humans, we are still in our flesh, we tend to do the things we don't want to do and neglect the ones we are supposed to do, we are mere dust...I know all these factual excuses and Jesus knows them too, and that is why I love the amplified version of theme scripture, which says,

48
You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete [ak]maturity of godliness in mind and character, [al]having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.(N) Matthew 5:48(AMP)

From this passage, we can see that the perfection God expects from us is not a state/position of "no mistakes", rather, its a walk, a growth process into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character.. this just reminds me of Romans 12:1 &2, the MSG translation

1-2
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Infact, Romans 12:1&2 is simply a summary of how we are to attain perfection with God and in God.

*This is a bit comprehensive but I ask that the Holyspirit enlightens the eyes of your understanding and helps you comprehend what "perfection" in God's sight means.

So, the next time, someone tells you or you tell yourself, "Nobody is perfect, only God", remember this,"Yes, Nobody (in some sense) is perfect", but God expects us to be perfect, meaning, we can be perfect and with God's grace and the help from the Holyspirit, we will be perfect, not just in heaven but even here on earth, RIGHT NOW.

Be ye perfect as your father in heaven is.. Shalom!

Things are not always the way they seem

The man is in flowing crystal white robes, with extra dramatic effects. He must be an angel, he's trying to pass across a message..

Angel: Earthly vessel, earthly vessel, wake up and get this message sent from above..

But then, the angel's voice starts to sound distorted, as if there's too much breeze blowing his mouth...

Angel: The mess..sage..is..s.. "Hey John, reduce that fan, shift it to the left small, it's blowing my wig off"..Okay, so where did I stop..?

NIV:Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

NIV:This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

NIV:but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 1 John 4:1-3

Jesus, My Protector (II)

From Jesus, My Protector(I), we learnt that as a christian, we might have certain veils in our hearts that would be hindering God's maximum move, control, love from spreading through our lives; and we said, we are to ask the Lord, give him the permission to work on our hearts.

Telling the Lord to search your heart does not mean you are not a child of God. The presence of veils in your life does not mean you have not given your life to Christ..
  Your acknowledgement of veils in your life and wanting to tear them down speaks Spiritual maturity, it speaks how much you want to let go to get God, and God sees that.

From Philippians 1:6,
"NLT:And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.",

we can see that we are all Work-In-Progress, until Jesus comes,

"NLT:Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."1 Corinthians 13:12,

So, with this, we are to work out Salvation towards perfection, tearing down as many veils and weights that would want to slow us down on our Christian race...

"NLT:Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."Hebrews 12:1,

God expects you to tear as many veils that are obstructing your view,

"NLT: So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."2 Corinthians 3:18

So, from today, start tearing down the veils, the veils of pain, distrust, mistrust, anger, malice, depression, loneliness, sadness, confusion, misunderstandings with the help of the Holy Spirit, and let God be glorified in your life.... Amen.

Happy New Month!!!

Jesus, My Protector (I)

For some days now, running into weeks and definitely months, God has been taking me through several lessons on "Jesus, My Protector"..

You see, I am someone that has always seen people around me as my protectors with the ideology that "at least, I can see them, than God that I can not see"..for example, with my friends, I say, I can't be hurt because they will be there for me, just like I try to be there for them..

With my mom, when I am with her, I have always felt that nothing, NOTHING(bad) can happen to me, I can do odenshi to anybody... but all that changed after a gruesome encounter I had with a bus conductor on a late Monday night..

Actually, the change started a long time ago, in series until the last straw was broken...
  However, on that day, my eyes were opened, and in my own writings, this is what I recorded..

"Today proved me wrong. My mom was there but I still received a stinging blow on my mouth...Although, the guy didn't go without having his own beatings especially on his head from my mom's umbrella...

I have learnt from today's encounter that:
1. It is only God that has my back in all situations
2. My mom is still a human being, just like me, so she also has her limitations.
3. People don't care or notice you, they only care about themselves or what they think is right."

This is my own veil that the Lord has been tearing down, it has not been easy because this is a veil that has been built up through thick and thin, in the cold and hot weather, for many years...
   Infact, I didn't realise this veil was there, until, I laid my life at Jesus's feet and I told him to search my heart and test it, to show me the hidden things there because from the Bible, I learnt that

"NLT:“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jer 17:9, NLT

However, I also discovered this:

"NLT:No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit." 1 Cor 2:11, NLT

But it did not stop there, I saw this too:

"NLT:And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us." 1 Cor 2:12, NLT

With these verses, I made this request to God:

"NLT:Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart." Psalm 26:2,NLT

And it has been a roller coaster of events.

What is your veil? Have you discovered it yet? In other words, what are you struggling with? Have you laid it at the feet of Jesus?

Like Pastor Nathaniel Bassey said, "Little foxes and Secret faults will spring surprises on that final day."

Search your heart, before it's too late!

Knowledge!

Good Morning...
I want to apologise for not writing for some time...At a certain time, I went through two enormous situations that left me thinking and not "feeling" like writing, which is wrong...
   No matter how I feel I should always write because someone always needs that insight, encouragement, admonishing, teaching, etc.
   So, I am sorry...

In time, I would share those enormous situations with you, what I learnt and the testimonies I got from them.

Well, for sometime now, I have been coming across "knowledge" verses in the Bible.. Some look like this:

"A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash."(Proverbs 15:14, NLT)

"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy."(Proverbs 2:10, NLT)

Every time, I came across verses like these, I prayed that God should give me knowledge but one day, I stopped praying..Do you want to know why?

You see: One day, while at church, I saw a picture of myself, looking very old, reading books and regretting why I did not read all these books when I was much younger.. and God said, "In order to avoid this predicament, Start reading now..."

There is a book I have been reading for up to a month now, the Holy Spirit asked me, "What are you reading in a book for one month?", He said, if I was to read every book like that, how many books would I have finished in a year, just 12 books, when I have the goal of 400 books?

What is my point? Child of God, to get knowledge is not a prayer point, it's an action point. You have to take action, by reading.. Get books, Hardcopy is no excuse.
  Now, there are variety of books, audio books, electronic books, hard copy books, video books..You have no excuse.

God expects us as Christians to read, be informed. Apart from your inner circle of family and friends, and your compound, where else do you know? Do you know what is going on in the country? Get a Newspaper.

Finally, The Bible encourages us to: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."(2Timothy 2:15, KJV)

"Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth."(2Timothy 2:15, NLT)

As a Christian, God expects you to correctly explain the word of truth to baby Christians, unbelievers, etc. unashamed and this is only possible if you study the Word of God..

So in all, To get knowledge, Study...You have no excuse.. Have a blessed day today.#Shalom!

I love you...

I just want to let you know that you are not alone in your fight, your struggles, your pains, your unanswered prayers, your tears, your doubts, your anger, your sadness and your fears.

Jesus said, “I will personally go with you, (insert your name)_________, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”(Exodus 33:14, NLT)

He also promised this:
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid."(John 14:27, NLT)

He did not promise that the road would be smooth and would always make sense, however, this is what He promised:

"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."

"When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them."

"Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you."

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you."

Signed:
  Jesus

#Shalom!

Your words carry weight, Use them RIGHT!

4. NLT:Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.

5. NLT:Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.

21.
NIV:With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.

NLT:So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery.

22
NLT:He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap,

26
NLT:For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims.

27
NLT:Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of Death.

Normally, verse 26 & 27 would be attributed to a witch but here it's attributed to an immoral woman.

An immoral woman has the power & skill to ruin and finish many men just with her tongue, her smooth talk.. You can ask Delilah how she finished Samson in Judges 16.

If words have some much weight & power, why can't I(rather,why don't I) use it in the positive light to impact greatness and comfort to many men?
  Shalom!