“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (ESV) 1 John 2:17

I recently read an article about a Formula One Grand Prix driver from Brazil. It was in Singapore in the month of September 2008. This driver's name was Felipe Massa. He should have won that particular race as he was leading. Since he had a good lead over the other drivers he decided this would be a good time to make a fuel stop. As he drove off from the refueling pit the crew noticed that the fuel hose was still attached to the car’s fuel tank. By the time the hose was finally removed, Felipe had lost too much time. He finished the race number thirteenth. What a lost!

The great Apostle Paul gave a warning to the young preacher named Timothy. Paul wasn’t warning about a fuel hose. He was warning of another kind of attachment that will slow the Christian down from his race. II Tim. 2:4, we read, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life.” He was urging Timothy not to let anything slow him down or distract him from the cause of Jesus Christ. To do so would cause him to lose the battle … spiritual battle!

There are many attractive things that the devil places in the world to distract and lure us away. Now we live in the age of technology where our time is consumed. A great part of our time is lost through such gadgetry. Too much of even a good thing could cause an unrecoverable distraction. Our souls need nourishment just as does our physical bodies. To neglect it is to commit spiritual suicide, make no mistake about this! Paul told Timothy why he ought to keep his eyes on the prize of his calling and election. We don’t want to entangle ourselves in the lures of the devil. We cannot allow worldly things to keep us out of the race. The rewards are much too great. “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (I John 2:17). John knew that we cannot hold allegiance to both the world and to the Lord. We must do as Joshua of old did in making his decision to follow the Lord. (Josh. 24:15-28).

It is our sincere prayer that you make the right choices in life because the wrong ones will bring dire consequences!

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The Bible can do many things for all of us provided we allow it that opportunity. Psalm 119, in particular, tells about the wonderfully great things we can get from reading it. After reading this great book, we must be willing to put into practice the things contained therein.

The Bible is the inspired Word and it contains answers to all of mankind’s important questions. In John 8:31, 32, we read, “Then Jesus said to those Jews which believe on Him, If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” We can depend on the validity of this great book because in II Tim. 3:16, 17 we read, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Then the Apostle Peter through inspiration of the Holy Spirit added this, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (II Peter 1:3).

Are you willing to transform your life today? Then reach for your Bible.

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“…prayed and said, “Lord open his eyes that he may see.” (NKJV) 2 Kings 6:17a

It is natural to make decisions based on what we see. “Seeing is believing” is the succinct expression. The one who accidentally faces danger, by mere sight, will initiate some safety measures without delay. In the mist of hostility we sway towards alertness and in times of approval, we feel secured.

The use of the eyes has however attracted a handful of observations that can be gleaned from the Good Book: God saw that it was good (Gen.1:10b, 12b, 18b, 21b, 25b, 29a), Eve saw that the tree was good for food (Gen.3:6), Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look at a young lady (Job 31:1), Stephen saw the Heavens opened (Acts7:56). Thomas the Twin, that pragmatist, will not accept the testimony of the resurrected Lord till he sees with his own eyes (John 20:25)

Like the Syrians plotting much insecurity by making war against Israel (2 Kings 6:8) in the 580 BCs, so are contemporary times full of intimidations and machinations against us. We see great economies crushing to the ground, the outbreak of deadly infections like Ebola, airplanes getting lost on the high seas, extremists that aim at total annihilation of persons and their counter-perspectives, poverty, the popularization of “I do not need God to be good”, the reign of relativism, etc.

The situation took a different turn when Elisha prayed that his servant may see (2 Kings 6:17). Indeed the young man began to see that fear was not necessary: for those who were with them are more than the Arameans (2 Kings 6:16, emphasis added). That assurance was missing till they committed the situation to the Lord in prayer.

Similarly, Christians must also go beyond the first “seeing”-which can easily elude us. As stated by Winston Churchill during a time of war “Now this is not the end. It is not the beginning. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning”. We can also echo the end of the beginning of what we see by surrendering every threat and fear to the Lord while we avail ourselves to HIM fully. The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man will then couple to produce great end. Yes, our surrender to God proves our confidence that ALL things pertaining to life and godliness has been given to us (2 Pet. 1:3). The Lord is faithful.

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“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me” (NIV) Job 38:3

It appears without a doubt that there are probably more questions in this life than there are answers to. Strangely, however, the engagement of humans in battling profound questions is an age old phenomenon. People from different fields have strived to understand many things while individuals have also probed to have answers to their predicaments. The first recorded question to man was from his creator and it was stated as “Where are you?”(Gen.3:9). Thus the identity of man was immediately connected to his location and/or condition. Therefore the question clearly shows that there was something definitely wrong.

It is always interesting when the Interviewer begins to question the identity of the interviewee. In Job 38, a similar encounter happened between God and Job of old. Having been inundated in throes of pain, Job remained still and later voices out his views. And just at the threshold of Job’s musing, God interrupts Job and immediately invites him for an oral interview (Job 38). About sixty four (64) questions were posed by God back to back. While Adam seem to have deviated from the question in the Garden of Eden, Job in this case turned speechless. Similarly, God’s first question was about the identity of the candidate (Job) and this is how He began: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2).This was followed by series of tough questions from verse 4, “where were you when,.. who did this and who did that,..can you do this and can you do that? ”etc.

As humans who face daily difficulties inevitably, we end up sometimes in much despair. We ask a lot of questions, and even question God’s silence. But are we ready to face the questions of God? And who can win any argument with God? And who can add an hour to his life? (Matt. 6:27) Has God not stated that He will never leave nor forsake us? (Heb. 13:5-6). Let’s not repeat the mistake of Job or Adam for we have the privilege to surrender it all to the LORD. Indeed HE alone knows best!

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