Contending for the faith

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to CONTEND FOR THE FAITH that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and DENY Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord Jude 3-4


For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But YOU, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2nd Timothy 4:3-5

In recent times, I've been having interesting conversations about faith, religion, God, veritas (truth), The Bible amongst other topics; both with people who share my faith and those that don't. I am aware that there are people who don't believe in the existence of God or Jesus Christ, the Bible or tenets of the Christian faith, whilst I don't agree with them, I believe that we all have the right to either accept or reject GOD for it is within our right to choose, I also believe that all choices have consequences, we weigh what we believe those consequences to be and act accordingly.

However, the reason for this post is not to argue about the existence or in defence of God or truth but to remind and urge believers as Jude did a long time ago to contend for the faith. As I mused on my conversations, I realised how passionate the people I was discussing were in bringing me to their line of reasoning and understanding, I asked myself if I was also this passionate when it came to sharing the gospel, what I believe to be truth. Have I been contending for the faith? But what does it mean to contend for the faith? I believe it is what Peter asked us to do in 1st Peter 3:15

...Always be prepared to give an answer to EVERYONE who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with GENTLENESS and RESPECT.

To be able to do this, we as well need to know what our reason is as Paul encouraged Timothy

"....Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" 2nd Timothy 2:14-16

I want to encourage us to stay in the word, deeply rooted in it, serving God faithfully, living our lives in such a way that we can even preach without words. Please remember that while we are contending for the faith and for what we believe, we are not fighting for God. I'm so grateful to believe in and serve a God who I don't have to fight for, He's very capable at handling things for Himself. I'll also encourage us to study the book of 2nd Timothy and 1,2 and 3rd John. We really need to be building ourselves up, we have been called to be the salt and the light, let's get to stepping.

An important note is that the way of God is the way of love. Ask God for the grace to walk in love, ask God for the strength to walk away from unprofitable arguments. It's not about having the last word but about saying what God has told you to say. He will use the 'foolish' things of this world to confound the wise. Sow your seed and ask the God of the harvest to do the rest.

It is well, keep contending.

Remain blessed and highly favoured. This remains our year of POSSIBILITIES.

Giving thanks to God

16* years ago, on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, God blessed a wonderful couple with their second daughter. Since that day, circumstances in my life have changed, there have been ups and downs, there have been great days and sad days but one thing I can say is that GOD has remained faithful. He has been with me and kept His word.

Today is about giving thanks to God, it's not about unfulfilled dreams and expectations. It's not about how close to hitting the big One (that's how my big sister refers to getting to 30)I am, it's not about issues or problems. It's about lifting up my hands and saying Thank you Jesus because not every one born on the same day as me are still here now.

Thank you Father for life, health and wealth.
Thank you Jesus for the fire that is purifying me and making me shine like gold
Thank you for my family, the way they have taught me about love and forgiveness, the way we pull together during tough times, thank you Lord
Father, I give you thanks for the friends you have given me, the confidants, the 'scaffolding', everyone that has passed through and those that have stayed on, they have all contributed in their own way. I love you people
Thank you for the friends i have made through blogging, thank you for egbons and aburos who by their talents have made me laugh, cry, go wow or just stay silent and think. You guys are so talented, keep stirring up your highest gifts.
Thank you Lord for answered prayers through the years, for "This just has to be God" testimonies
Thank you for the man who loves me, both when I'm good and not, not because he's perfect but because he's perfect for me. Thank you for our commitment to grow in our love for you and for each other
Thank you Father for the future, thank you for the vision, both written and unwritten for though it tarries, I know you'll give me the patience to wait for it for it will surely come to pass
Thank you for people who read this blog, follow, I pray that they are blessed, happy, provoked, I don't mind if they are angry or don't agree but let these words always be a seed in the hearts of people who read

Thank you, thank you, thank you, may this be my new song in this new year I'm going into. A year of gratitude, truly being grateful for all my God does and just growing in love with Him.

Thank you Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His LOVE endures FOREVER Psalm 118:1

* P.S I'm not really 16 but I'm sure you knew that already...lol!!

This pain is necessary...

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the WORLD rejoices. You will grieve, but your GRIEF will be turned to JOY. A woman giving birth to a child has PAIN because her TIME has COME; but when her baby is born she FORGETS the anguish because of her JOY that a child is born into the world. John 17:20-21 NIV

I am in pain and it hurts. I believe I know what I can do to stop it (at least on a temporary basis) but I sense God telling me to stay put. Why? God can't you see me, can't you feel this? Are you sure?

Yes, I am for this pain is necessary to birth your destiny. Just like a woman has no choice for when that baby is ready, there is a necessary pain but that pain turns to joy when she puts all her strength in pushing her baby out. Your pain is necessary for it speaks of the transformation taking place in your life, the butterfly goes through pain as it forces itself out of the pupa but the pain is necessary to get to the next stage. This pain is necessary for you must go out and testify of your experiences that you may comfort those that walk that path without the benefit of knowing Me as you do, they will only relate to someone who understands their pain.

This pain is necessary for like Jacob with his limp it causes you to lean on me even more, to take up the mantle of humility. Look at Jesus, I watched as they put Him through the most excruciating pain, I could have stopped it, but then we wouldn't be having this conversation would we?

Selah

What is truth?

"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him. John 18:38 (NIV)

I received an email from a reader of this blog a while ago, in which he posed the question, I have used as the title of this post, from the verse above I guess he isn't the only one who is asking this, seems not many things have changed from 2,000 years ago! As I reflected on his question, I also asked a few friends as to what their thoughts were, I've added both his email (not exactly in the same format I received it but without changing the meaning I hope) and the responses I received duly referenced. I'll also add my own 2 cents..so this may be a very LONG one.

Hello

I couldn't help but copy what you asked not to copy even though I didn't need it. :) Human nature I guess.... Maybe its just me anyways got a question for you.

WHAT IS TRUTH?
AND HOW DO YOU ARRIVE AT IT?
SHOULD TRUTH BE UNIVERSAL, EXPERIENTIAL, ACQUIRED OR INFERRED? (CONTINUOUSLY REFINED)

I can pretty much make out that you are a christian from your blog hmm...took some brain teasing ( laugh ** :)) seriously

IS IT REVEALED?
HOW INDIVIDUAL IS IT?

Father, help me, what is truth? The simple answer is that TRUTH IS TRUTH. That's exactly what it is, if I'm telling you the truth about something , my story never changes because truth is truth. From dictionary.com, I got some definitions of truth as

1. the true or actual state of a matter: He tried to find out the truth.
2. conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement.
3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.
4. the state or character of being true.
5. actuality or actual existence.
6. an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude.
7. honesty; integrity; truthfulness.
8. (often initial capital letter) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience: the basic truths of life.
9. agreement with a standard or original.
10. accuracy, as of position or adjustment.
11. Archaic. fidelity or constancy. (dictionary.com)

Do we arrive at truth,is it revealed and how individual is it?

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". John 14:6 so Jesus is the truth.

Jesus said He is the truth, I believe this is because He SEES and KNOWS all things. You are only 100% sure of what the truth is when you can see and know all things. Remember the poem about the blind men and the elephant, it was one elephant but while their descriptions of what an elephant was could be said to be true,they all had different descriptions or truths but ONE elephant. After all, they could prove that their description was right based on the evidence before them but was their description true? No, because they couldn't see the whole picture. At the end of this story, we are told to be more tolerant of the beliefs of others because truth can be told in different ways, do I agree? Not necessarily, what about if I asked each or just one of the blind men what would be required to kill the elephant, I would have received various responses and the choice I made on what the truth was would enable me to either kill the elephant or be killed myself! Now if I asked someone who knows all things, the Creator of the elephant this question, what do you think my position would be.

In statistics (I stand to be corrected, I am not a statistician!lol!) there is something called a Type I error where we reject an answer even though it is true and a Type II where we accept an answer even though it is wrong, these errors arise from both known (systematic) and unknown or random (statistical) sources. The basic thing is that I might think that something is true based on the information (or data) that I have and make decisions based on that information but could be making a mistake because what I think is truth is not the actual truth because I don't have all the information. In taking an oath before giving evidence in court, we swear to say the truth, the WHOLE truth and nothing but the truth, this is because lawyers know that sometimes leaving a phrase out of a testimony could render a true account wrong.

All your words are TRUE; all your righteous laws are eternal (Psalm 119:160)

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)


Jesus says He is the truth, the word of God is also truth, in that respect it is universal for He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Truth is acquired by revelation, it could also be acquired by experience and on that basis could be said to be individual for it is the truth that you know that sets you free. I think I will update this as we go along because I don't think enough justice has been done yet.


Jaycee

Truth is FACT. Fact comes in different ways: could be as a result of a proven experiment (scientific) or could be as a result of one's experiences. As a Christian, I look around me and I know for a fact that there has to be God because of the indescribable works behind the creation of living things (mountains, seas, oceans, trees, animals, human beings). From experience also, I have seen miracles done in my life as a result of praying to God (the Creator of the Universe)--and if there is evil (for instance in the occultic powers), then there has to be a God, and this has become my TRUTH. Truth is all of the above (universal, experiential, acquired or inferential) depending on what topic you're talking about. You can acquire truth from an instructor, and then a few years later experience it for yourself (which will then confirm all the truth previously acquired). Truth is universal but not everyone is knowledgeable about it and so some live their lives in ignorance, until maybe one day experience the truth.


AA

These are my thoughts...

Truth is absolute and does not depend on geography, race, creed, economic status or religion. However, we usually perceive the truth differently based on how some of the parameters listed above affects us.It is our perception that we refer to as revealed or individual truth. The truth is like looking at a huge multicoloured ball with us standing at different areas and seeing different colours based on our positions. The fact is that we would all be correct if we insisted that the ball is colour we could see yet the truth is that we would all be wrong because the ball is more than we could see. The truth is from the perspective of the originator not how it is perceived.

This is the reason why the bible says "Let all men be liars and God alone true". We know only in parts and so we cannot claim to truly know. The truth is based on knowledge and can only be complete when knowledge is complete.... The only one who has complete knowledge is God and so he originates the truth. However he will typically reveal the knowledge and hence the truth that is required by different parts to complete their assignment.

A good check for whatever we hold to be true is to compare it to the position of the originator because whatever is revealed can only be sampled from what already is the truth. if it doesn't align then it stands no chance of being true. Secondly the seeker of truth must first seek to know its originator cos it is in the knowledge of the originator that you are able to tell if what you know as truth can truly emanate from the originator and hence really classify what you know as truth.

I hope i made some sense.

So D.S, thank you so much for your email. I don't know if your question has been answered but please this discussion is open to all for their 2 cents.

Remain blessed and highly favoured.