...how a city buried its self.
Pastor E.O.Adeboye
Posted by
Ambassador T. Brikins
Nigeria is still a country because of the grace of God. People
should not take the grace of God for granted. The General Overseer of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God [R.C.C.G.], Pastor Enoch O. Adeboye, said at the
13th edition of the Abuja Special Holy Ghost Service of the Church
on November 15, 2014.
Similarly, Roselyn Oduyemi,
the Founder of Roselyn Oduyemi Global Outreach [R.O.G.O] is calling Nigerians
to a concentrated prayer for one month in January 2015 to dislodge the
stronghold of the enemy’s plan for Nigeria. She is mobilizing
Nigerians in a prayer campaign tagged “1-1-1 Prayer Movement”.
Rev. Mrs. Roselyn Oduyemi leading positive action for change through "1-1-1PRAYER MOVEMENT come January 2015
Citing among other things the
horrendous realities of war she said, “When there is war on the streets, you
will not enjoy the luxury of free movement, free association or free religion
that we take so much for granted”.
She also cited Ukraine, Russia
and Chechen as examples “for those
who think that breaking Nigeria
up into little sectional pieces may not be a bad idea, and no country in the
world has successfully broken up without countless loss of lives, even in cases
where the breakup started out peacefully by agreements.
Adeboye said Nigerians should
not have the impression that God is not hearing prayers, as a result of the
current security problems in Nigeria.
He also warned citizens not
to overstretch the grace of God on the land, adding that any country that
wallows in wickedness would have itself to blame.
Grace in the Christian
context is God’s kindness and love shown to man, though he may not have
deserved it. It is God’s free and unmerited favor.
Unfortunately, grace can be
misused. “What shall we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin in order
that God’s grace [favor and mercy] may multiply and overflow? [Romans 6:1]
Amplified.
Since we can only be what we are and
have been what we are already by grace,”
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor [grace]
on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than all the other
apostles, yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” NLT
[1 Corinthian 15:10],
and can indeed fall away from grace.” For if you
are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been
cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
NLT [Galatians 5:4],
we
can stand in grace, “Because of our
faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now
stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory”, [Romans 5:2] NLT
by
approaching God’s throne of grace,” So
let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his
mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it”.
NLT. [Hebrew 4:16].
These dangerous and wicked
require that we live before the throne
of grace.
The dark places of the earth are full of cruelty
The
word wicked simply means a sinful person.
Two
characteristics of the wicked are shown below from the Bible.
“My enemies cannot speak one
truthful word.
Their deepest desire is to
destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the
stench from an open grave.
Their speech is filled with
flattery”.
Psalm 5:9 .NLT, and “They
will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no
self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good . . .
They will betray their
friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God
. . .
They will act as if they are
religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must
stay away from people like that”.
2 Timothy 3-5.NLT
One of the consequences of the wicked is that they die
before their time. “But Er was a wicked man in the Lord’s sight, so the LORD
took his life.
”
Genesis 38:7. NLT. The King
James Version said, the Lord slew him.
Corporate wickedness has its
place too. In Luke 17:29, “… until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained
down from heaven and destroyed them all.”
NLT
Adeboye who condemned the
recent attacks by insurgents on schools in the north of Nigeria, said, he was tempted to cancel the Holy Ghost
Service, as a mark of honor to the bereaved parents.
Helpless?
“I said to myself, how I can
continue with the service when innocent children are being murdered, but the
Lord encouraged me to go ahead with a promise that He will answer prayers
speedily tonight”.
Monday November 11, 52
students died and 79 injured in Potiskum
school blast when a suicide bomber dressed in a school uniform, burst onto the
student’s assembly ground of Government Science Secondary School[GSSS]],Potiskum,
Yobe State, Nigeria.
Adeboye said the greatest
gift of God to mankind is the gift of Jesus Christ, noting that Nigeria
would do itself a lot of good by accepting this gift and desisting from acts
that could incur divine wrath.
As a manager of news on a
national scale for many years, I have come to realize that bearing our
journalistic emphasis on the exciting and somewhat delirious way we scramble
and define news, it has always been the same thing only tinted by time,
environment, and culture and perhaps repacking in today’s language and way of
doing things-just a new swag. The author behind these “news” is the same old
time adversary.
How did a city bury itself? It is here in Paul’s painful and intellectual
description of the downward spiral of pagan humanity.
“18. But God shows his anger
from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves.
19. For the truth about God is known to them
instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts.
20 .From the time the world was created, people have
seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his
invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse
whatsoever for not knowing God.
21 .Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him
as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of
what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused.
22 .Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead.
23 .And instead of worshiping the glorious,
ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds
and animals and snakes.
24 .So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful
things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things
with each other’s bodies.
25 .Instead of believing what they knew was the truth
about God; they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things
God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen.
26 .That is why God abandoned them to their shameful
desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead
indulged in sex with each other.
27 .And the men, instead of having normal sexual
relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful
things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty
they so richly deserved.
28 .When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned
them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done.
29 .Their lives became full of every kind of
wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious
behavior, and gossip.
30 .They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent,
proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are
disobedient to their parents.
31 .They refuse to understand, break their promises,
and are heartless and unforgiving.
32 .They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for
those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And,
worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Romans 1:18-32 NLT
Bible History tells us that Paul
did not exaggerate the gross immorality and decadence of the Roman world. It is
illustrated in contemporary writing- and in the remains of Pompeii. Soon after Paul wrote this letter, a
violent eruption of the volcano
Mt. Vesuvius buried the
city in lava. Like Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament, it was utterly
destroyed…wickedness has a weighty content.
What are you doing in your
unique space or intend to do to resist
the wickedness in the land so that the grace of God in your life will not be in
vain?
“As God’s fellow workers we
urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” 2Corinthians 6:1.NIV.
When you do something with
God’s grace in you , you grow in grace.
“But grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ…” 2Peter 3:18. NIV.
Please share here[Commentary/weightiermatter@gmail.com]
with the world your work of grace or intended work of grace so that we grow
together to the glory of God.
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