PREDESTINATION

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” Isa 46:9&10.

The word predestination is a union of a prefix and a word:

* PRE- which means before

*DESTINATION – which means the place set for the end of a journey, or to which something is sent, place or point aimed at.
  
  Predestination therefore is to determine the future or fate of a thing in advance i.e to preordain. Nothing captures this line of thought as the scripture above …”I am God who determine the end of a thing from the beginning” (paraphrase). Meaning before they ever was a beginning, they is a God who has captured the end or better still knows the end of it. Such knowledge is enough to baptize us with strength and staying power no matter what we are going through….that before they ever was a beginning ….they was a fixed end. You and I have an end already determined by God. No wonder Jeremiah told us in

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an EXPECTED END.

When we look through life and the things we experience, we are tempted to think our lives are just some form of huge mistake. Some people even think they are the product of an experiment gone wrong between their parents. Why is my life going this way? Why does it seem as if nothing works for me? If am not an accident…tell me….why do i wonder aimlessly? Why does it seem God hates me? These are some of the many common questions people ask. Life challenges has questioned their identity in life and even in Christ.
     But am glad to inform you dear readers that no man or woman or even creature on earth today is an accident. They is an expected end already written in the annals of God’s record. His thoughts and plans no matter what you are going through right now are thoughts of good …His plans are good plans and you will arrive at your destination (expected end).

Remember Jer 1: 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Jeremiah wasn’t an accident sent to wonder aimlessly on earth and just like him, we all have certain purpose where which God wants to accomplish through us…that’s the reason He created us. That purpose would keep yearning for expression all the days of our lives and may I also say this…..God is more than committed to see His predestined plan over your life established here on earth.

Isaiah 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

Friends don’t be discouraged …no matter where you are today or what you are facing, its only a matter of time ….God’s original plans, thoughts and intentions (predestination) will surely come to pass may.

OTHER POINTS TO MEDITATE ON

* Life is not just a journey, but a discovery. Deut 29:29

*Destiny is unique… Its factory fitted. Can’t be changed or altered. Its the sovereignty of God.

*Life has been designed to operate according to purpose and the will of God. Rm 9:11

*The will of God is the purpose of God and vice-versa. Eph 1:11

You will fulfill purpose here on earth in Jesus name …. Baron Eluska
   

FIND THAT COMPASS

Life provides us with several opportunities on a daily basis, so many of them we walk right pass and yet we live in want of them. Many even live in frustration because it seems opportunities arent just available. If only our senses (both inner and outer) can in some way be quickened or activated to identify them, then we all will become successful men and women in our various fields.

If they is something I so long and desire, it is the ability to recognize the opportunities lying fallow around me,ability to maximize them for my advantage and finally teach men also. Success is 70% recognition and 30% perspiration (labour), so if we are to achieve that goal, accomplish that dream….then our focus shouldn’t be doing, but rather IDENTIFYING what is to be done and then work in that direction. Any man with such ability has found the compass that will lead him to the right destination. To live without it, is to shoot without a target. Finding  that compass brings precision to ones life and journey in this very much confused world.

Currently in a phase in life were the question that keeps arising is what’s next? Now that you’ve completed your mandatory one year Nysc service…….have spoken with other corp members and if they is something common in my chat with them, its the fact that many of are blank. Many are confused as to what next to venture into, which direction to pursue their careers, to go further in studies or search out for a job and begin to carry their fair part of the weight of the family (expenses).  At this crossroad, our decisions could make or mar our lives for many years to come hence, the reason why fear, anxiety and cold feet seems to be the other of the day.What is my recommendation? Find that compass which you can use to navigate your way….from confusion to certainty, from fear to faith and from cold feet to absolute confidence.

Some make philosophy their compass, others… trends(what’s the in-thing), while others make the recommendations (advice, suggestion, intuition) of other men their compass for direction. But the real truth is that only one compass is guaranteed not to fail or disapponit , and it is  “The Leading of the Holy Spirit”.

Rm 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”

John 16:13 “However, when the Spirit of truth, has come, He will GUIDE you into ALL truth…”

The Holy Spirit is our sure compass given by God to show us the way we should walk and directions to take. He’s the trusted compass………find Him and you’ll end up in the right destination with fulfilment.

I speak to everyone in a state of confusuin , fear and anxiety …..peace in the name of Jesus, may your steps be ordered by God and your ways clearly revealed to you in Jesus name.

SPIRITUAL FUEL

Behold I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Proverbs 1:23
What fuel is to a car, the Holy Spirit is to the believer.

He energizes us to stay the course. He motivates us in spite of the obstacles. He keeps us going when the road gets rough.

It is the Spirit who comforts us in our distress, who calms us in times of calamity, who becomes our companion in loneliness and grief, who spurs our “intuition” into action, who fills our minds with discernment when we are uneasy about a certain decision.

In short, He is our spiritual fuel. When we attempt to operate without Him or to use some substitute fuel, all systems grind to a halt.

Buffering Through Suffering

God … made Jesus perfect by suffering Hebrews 2:10
The angel of death passed over every home smeared with goat’s blood. Yet that was specific to that particular story in the Bible (find it in Exodus 12). You can decorate your front porch with Dulux’s finest sacrificial blood range today and still not be exempt from suffering. Cancer doesn’t skip your house just because there’s a ‘Shalom’ sign hung on the wall. Debt doesn’t leave you alone just because there is a Christian fish stuck to your car bumper. Alpha attendance doesn’t write suffering an ‘excuse me’ note. The best of us will have our dose of pain. It’s part and parcel of the ride.
Jesus gives Peter a verbal slap on the wrist when he suggests that Christ should not suffer, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block … you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men … If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself … take up His cross’ (Matt. 16:23-24 NIV). Harsh words. But let’s not be surprised when misery knocks on our door. Jesus has promised it. God uses suffering to make us more Christ-like. ‘My troubles turned out for the best – they forced me to learn from God’s textbook’ (Ps. 119:71 TM).
What now?
Read how the writer of Lamentations 3:1-24expresses pain in the face of suffering. It might help to create your own poem as an expression of any hurt you’re keeping inside.

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Higher Cosmos

How much happier you would be, how much more there would be, if the hammer of a higher God could smash your cosmos, scattering the stars like spangles, and leave you in the open, free like other men to look up as well as down!….As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity.

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The Gathering Storm

While Jesus was indeed gentle and kind, He also took a bold stand against sin. In fact, when confronting evil dressed in the garb of religion, His formidable anger took many by surprise. He sharply rebuked the religious leaders in Israel for turning their privileged status into an opportunity to gain wealth and power. And from the example of Jesus, we learn how to stand up for the truth, even as we lose popularity and suffer persecution for doing what is right.

Exposition
1. Jesus Was Not Afraid to Stand for Truth (Matthew 10:34; Luke 12:40-53).
Very often, people portray Jesus as the meek and mild teacher who taught His followers to love others as themselves, to avoid retaliation by turning the other cheek, to pursue peace, and to avoid judging others. While Jesus did indeed possess these qualities and teach these values, the picture is incomplete. These passages reveal that Jesus was more than the pale, languid figure often portrayed in art, on television, and in movies.

2. The Enemies of Jesus Cared More about Pleasing Others Than Living by the Truth
    (Matthew 15:1-9, 12; Luke 19:45-48).
Many centuries before the earthly ministry of Jesus, the Jewish people were conquered by the Babylonians and carried off to Babylon as slaves. With their temple destroyed and their homeland colonized by other cultures, the Jews looked to the Law of Moses to sustain their national identity and to maintain their distinctiveness as God’s chosen people.

In order to help them apply the Law to everyday life in their new and unfamiliar home, teachers of the Hebrew Scriptures wrote very careful, specific instructions for the people to follow. However, what began as a practical aid for Jews became a sacred tradition that took on a life of its own.

The body of sacred traditions developed by “the elders” eventually supplanted the very Law it was intended to uphold. And by the time of Jesus, failure to observe tradition was regarded as disobedience to the Law of God. Furthermore, this man-made religiosity became the means by which many Pharisees maintained the illusion of moral superiority over others. Ironically, their religious zeal put them at odds with God. Not only were they motivated by a lust for power, their traditions often violated the very Law they supposedly cherished.

During the time of Jesus’s earthly ministry, worship in the Jerusalem temple had become big business for religious leaders. The chief priests refused to accept any currency except shekels minted in Israel. Money changers within the temple precincts gladly exchanged any currency for Jewish shekels at an inflated rate and then pocketed the difference. Furthermore, the Law of Moses stated that any animal offered to God had to be flawless; only the best would do. So the men running the temple would inspect the animals brought for sacrifice, ostensibly to verify that the offerings were worthy.

However, this was nothing more than a ruse. They arbitrarily rejected animals so that they could offer a suitable replacement in exchange for a fee. Ironically, the “suitable” animal offered for exchange had, only moments before, been the unsuitable sacrifice of another worshipper!

At the end of His ministry, Jesus publicly condemned the religious system in Jerusalem and exposed the moral bankruptcy of the men who ran it (Read Matthew 23:1-33). Jesus punctuated each count of His indictment with a “woe,” and then He addressed the scribes and Pharisees directly. In the original language, woe is an interjection that expresses the outrage or the sorrow of the speaker upon seeing the suffering of another.

While Jesus had a soft spot in His heart for people who had been trampled by the world’s system, He had little patience for those in religious leadership who neglected or abused others. They had direct access to the truth of God, yet they used their privileged position to hoard wealth and power. Make no mistake; they knew what they were doing. And when Jesus boldly exposed their rebellion, it put Him on a collision course with evil.

Obviously, not every encounter with wrongdoing should be met with such passion. Jesus encountered evil in many different forms, and He often responded with compassion for the sinner. Nevertheless, even when Jesus took a more gentle approach, He was always fearless and direct. God is not impressed by religious fervor or hollow adherence to rules. He wants people to do what is right because they are motivated by love for Him.

Application
As we determine to take our own stand against evil, four principles emerge from the example of Jesus.

1. Remembering your mission helps you navigate through any storm. Stay focused.
It’s not enough to know what’s wrong with a situation; we must also define what is right. Once we have determined the correct course of action, we must then keep our eyes focused on following it, even if others discourage or persecute us.

2. Encountering evil requires sword-like confrontation, not peacekeeping compromise. Stay alert.
One early Christian writer likened God’s Word to a two-edged sword, “able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). In other words, God’s truth has a way of cutting to the heart of a matter. When a clear moral issue is at stake, people-pleasing compromise will tempt us to lay aside the sword of truth. However, we must remember to keep our sword pointed at the issue.

3. Being bold when there’s a principle worth fighting for is worth the risk, even if it offends and results in misunderstanding. Stay strong.
Misunderstanding is the occupational hazard of leadership. Others will certainly misunderstand or even deliberately misconstrue your intentions, cutting to the heart of your (and every person’s) basic desire to be liked. Nevertheless, the moral stand you take will be ultimately worth the sacrifice.

4. Speaking up for what is right is no guarantee you’ll win or gain respect. Stay realistic.
Jesus took a strong stand against the outrageous evil of the religious leaders in Jerusalem and a storm quickly gathered around Him. He understood the risk. In fact, He knew it would lead to His death. He said to the disciples on the eve of His arrest,

“If I hadn’t come and told [the religious leaders] all this in plain language, it wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it’s all the same. If I hadn’t done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn’t be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, ‘They hated me for no good reason.’” (John 15:22-25 MSG)

Sometimes the evil we face is so firmly entrenched that we will not see its defeat in our lifetime. In fact, the fight may even require us to sacrifice everything, including our lives. But the Lord does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful. Success or failure is ultimately His responsibility. Ours is to be sure we stand on the correct side of the issue.

Conclusion
When faced with taking a stand for what is right, our greatest temptation is to remain neutral, to forfeit moral leadership for sake of popularity. Certainly, we should choose our battles wisely and be sure of our motives before we take a stand. But we cannot allow the approval of others to outweigh faithfulness to God and the truth He loves so much. Like Jesus, we must stand up for the truth, even if we lose popularity and suffer persecution for doing what is right.

Adapted from Charles R. Swindoll, Jesus: The Greatest Life of All

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Keep Moving Forward!

We all go through disappointments, setbacks and things that we don’t understand. Maybe you prayed for a loved one, but they didn’t get well. Or maybe you worked hard for a promotion, but you didn’t get it. You stood in faith for a relationship, but it didn’t work out. One of the best things you can do is release it. Let it go. Don’t dwell on it anymore. If you go around wondering why things didn’t work out, all that’s going to do is lead to bitterness, resentment and self-pity. Before long, you’ll be blaming others, blaming yourself, or even God. You may not have understood what happened. It may not have been fair. But when you release it, it’s an act of your faith. You’re saying, “God, I trust You. I know You’re in control. And even though it didn’t work out my way, You said, ‘All things are going to work together for my good.’ So I believe You still have something good in my future.”

There is power in letting go of the past and the frustration of trying to figure everything out. When you release your questions, you are saying, “God, You are in control. I trust You.” And when you put your hope in God, that’s when He can heal your heart and lead you forward into His path of blessing

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