Exodus 3:1-6: 

Reading and truly understanding the bible can be challenging. An older version of the bible such as the King James version can be difficult to understand. So how does one learn about the bible if they’re struggling with understanding the text? Here are some pointers listed below on how to better understand and learn the word of God.

Reading: Daniel 1-6.

 Introduction

Image courtesy CreationSwap

Matthew 26:36-46
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”  NKJV

Have you ever visited a man or a woman in deep sorrow? The first thing that happens to you is that you become part of his/her sorrow. You find yourself unable to utter a word. I now understand why the friends of Job who went to see him, sat with him for seven days and seven nights without saying one word. They were, using the words of my American friend, “empathizing with him” Sorrow is very infectious.

My wife and I had a very recent experience. We went to empathize with a friend who lost one very dear to him. We saw ourselves unable to say what we had wanted to say. We were rather filled with the sorrow we knew filled his heart. When we left his home after nearly two hours of sitting, talking and praying, we noticed we had a very heavy burden on our hearts for this man and for many others who are sorrowful.

Discussing science and religion in the same conversation is often a controversial issue, but scientific research supports the notion that attending church on a regular basis is good for your short-term and long-term health.

Several studies have found that going to church promotes a stronger immune system, decreases blood pressure, and may even extend a person’s life by two to three years. Although the reasons for this aren't clearly defined, many believe having strong social support network that is often found in churches is a contributing factor.

“You talk so much about God as if He exists and you know Him intimately. If you can show me conclusive evidence that God exists, then I will immediately become a Christian!”

“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,  “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.   And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” (Jonah 3:1-10) NKJV

Isaiah 59:1-15:
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places. We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them: In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.” NKJV

In the wake of Nigeria's independence day, I would like to reflect on the state of the nation. I wrote this message as a Newspaper article between 1984 and 1990 but I believe the message is still relevant to our situation today.

Welcome to the October 2013 edition of Christian Carnival and Happy Independence day Nigeria! For those of you who don't know, Nigeria turned 53 yesterday, October 1. Hail to the Green-White-Green!

This month’s blog carnival is brought to you by 7 bloggers: 4 in the Devotional Category, 2 in the Theology category, and 1 in the Apologetics Category.

Happy Independence Day, Nigeria!

If you’re a blogger with something unique to share, consider submitting a September 2013 post by tomorrow, Tuesday, October 1, 5 p.m. We accept devotionals, testimonies, apologetic essays, and more. There's no denominational affiliation, but the moderator and hosts will only consider posts that appear to promote a Christian perspective. Also, we’re always in need of hosts, so please take a look at the Hosting page for more information about volunteering. Thanks for participating, and look this Wednesday for the next edition of the Christian Carnival.

The link to the submission form can be found at http://christiancarnival.blogspot.com/p/submit-post.html
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Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” (NKJV)

This is undoubtedly the most famous prayer of all time with the possible exception of the so-called “Our Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13. The first five words easily constitute four complete Sermons if each word was given its proper due.

Romans 6:15-23
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJV)

We have in the first fourteen verses been considering the fact that the believer is dead to the principle of sin. In principle we are dead and buried to sin but raised unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is one half of the story. We now turn our attention to the practice of sin. Paul in the next few verses wants to prove that the believer is also dead to the practice of sin.

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This message is part of a sermon series. For the rest of the sermon series go to Dead to Sin

Image @CreationSwap/Jeff Miller

Romans 6:1-14
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (NKJV)

In our two previous posts we started to consider the question in verse 1 –”Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Paul in attempt to answer this question said “God forbid! Or certainly not! How can we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” So he began in verse 3 to give the Christian his reasons why the Christian cannot continue in sin. He said that the thorough understanding of these reasons is hidden in a thorough understanding of THREE Key WORDS – KNOW, RECKON and YIELD. In our last talk we considered KNOW – What are we to Know? – That we were baptized symbolizing death into Christ. We were buried with Him in baptism. Secondly we should know that we have died and that dead people do not sin. Thirdly, our old nature which is symbolic of the sin nature has been crucified, dead and buried and fourthly that we have been raised in a new nature. “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.” Just as the raised Christ cannot die again, so we that have been raised with Him can no longer live in sin which is death. What a great truth we are called upon to know.

Today, we look at the last two key words –RECKON and YIELD.

Ephesians 6:10-19

The strength of the devil is found in the following sixteen deadly “D’s” of the devil. Along with the deadly “D” we shall try to give an antidote!

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Luke 19:1-10: 
“Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business, and he had become very rich.  He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowds. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree beside the road, so he could watch from there.  When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! for I must be a guest in your home today.”   Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.  But the crowds were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.  Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”  Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham.   And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost.”

Many no doubt, were converted to the faith of Christ of whom no account is kept in the Gospels; but the extraordinary conversion of some, as that of Zacchaeus, is recorded. The name Zacchaeus means pure or justified. He is the man who overcame obstacles.

Image Source: Andrew Larsen

Image Source: Andrew Larsen

In many cultures, naming a newborn child is not a thing to be taken lightly for they believe that the name shapes the future of the child. Some parents consult their gods before they give their children names. In my village there is this saying "when you get a son, or a daughter, be careful to select a name for your child, for whatever you call him/her, that is what he/she will be in the future". Name is not just a mark of identification; it is a summation of the personality of and expectations from the bearer.

This is in no place as true as it is in the case of the devil. The Bible records a total of twenty-two names for the devil and these names reveal the various faces of this vicious creature. Like a friend once said in answer to a question: - who is this devil? His answer: - "look at his names and you will never ask the question again".

Today I want to present to you, the names of the devil.

“And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13) 

Photo by Dyanna Hyde [CC BY-ND 2.0]

Matthew 5:33-37
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’   But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ for whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

Exodus 20:16
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour”. 

Many people use the word ‘salvation’, or ‘saved’, however, some choose these words, but do not fully understand the meaning.

By Peter Klashorst [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo taken by Jan Smith [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons