FOR WHO?

 

“Father, we are here…
Jesus, we are here…
Holy Ghost, we are here…
We are here FOR YOU…”

This song most often than not made the playlist in any Christian gathering I attended when I was growing up. Beautiful song, especially when there is a melodic syncopation between the vocals and the instruments.

I sang this song innocently and I want to believe that in the days of my ignorance, God overlooked. I have stopped singing this song because I have come to realize that my intent is not in tandem with the message portrayed by the lyrics.

In my little study of Parts of Speech in English language, I learnt that the preposition “FOR” finds functionality in variety of ways. In the context of the lyrics of this song, it is used as a function word to indicate the object or recipient of a perception, desire, or activity.

If that is true, it then means that our coming together will benefit God more than it will benefit us.

Hmmm, I want to think that I can hear what is going on in your head right now. It’s a hard pill to swallow but not to worry, I have a glass of juice to help you out.

God is all sufficient. He does not need our coming together to be any more or any less God than He is. Our gathering is not FOR him, it is for us.

We are the ones that need healing, breakthrough, provision, protection, elevation and all other things that will help us fulfill purpose.

This is the reason a lot of people develop an unruly attitude and sense of entitlement towards the gathering of brethren. They think they are doing God some favour. After all, it must be important to Him if He commands us never to neglect the gathering of believers.

Sorry to burst your bubble, your gathering is NOT FOR HIM, IT IS FOR YOU!

CHURCH SERVICE

 

I’m a Pastor’s Kid and boy have I seen and experienced a great deal of religion. Trust me, I have no qualms with it. Again, this is not an affront on Christianity, I’m a die-hard believer. However, there are times when I just bring some things I’ve held on to and beam lasers of relevance and time on them. I put them in what a friend of mine choose to call TRUTHOSCOPE.

One of such is the way I was taught to pray. I was taught that my voice must be really loud to show my seriousness with the prayer. My problem was not what it did for me, but what it did to me. It made me see anyone who does not shout while praying as not being serious with prayer. Growing up, I had to learn that my prayers are as effective in a shout as they are in a whisper. The common denominator for effectiveness is Faith in the one who hears my loud cries as well as my silent muses when the words are heavy to let out.

However, that is not the crux of my dilemma in this short series. I want to really address a matter that has given me concern, as well as a few believers out there. The matter is this; what really is church service?

This is going to be challenging, but some people will be delivered when we are done. I will try neither to be heretical nor defame theology. Also, the opinions I express here should not in anyway be misconstrued as absolute. I’m also in search of answers as you are.

Follow me patiently on this one, you’ll be glad you did.

SEASONED WITH SALT

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how you ought to answer every man” Col. 4:6 (KJV).

 

For better expounding, I’ll love to look at three (3) attributes of salt and we can draw analogies from them as regards the way our speeches should be.

First, salt adds a sweet taste to food.

In my experience hanging around soldiers, I observed that a good number of them derive pleasure in spilling curse words out of their mouths. In some other spaces, I’ve seen people who would not make one sentence without a touch of vulgarity.

This is not what is expected of a man who is desirous of manifesting all that God has domiciled in him. The things you say should be able to put smiles on the faces of other people. When you come into a bad situation, or in the midst of people throwing tantrums at each other, you should be able to say things that will turn the bad situation to good. Let your words add sweetness, and not bitterness to life.

Secondly, salt is indispensable.

I’m yet to see a cooked delicacy that comes out good without salt in it. A great Cook once told me that she can make a nice meal without any other seasoning apart from salt. That is how important it is to season with salt.

Have you ever been in a forum where no conclusion is made on any deliberation without hearing what a particular person or group of persons have to say? This is so because those people have so seasoned their words with salt that it becomes expedient to hear from them before drawing conclusions.

Thirdly, salt heals.

What do you say to a grieving soul? How do you talk to someone who is heartbroken? What words to you release to a depressed person? These are a few situations where your words can heal or make things worse.

Alongside washing and sanctification, God’s word heals. The manifestation that creation is waiting for is that of the Sons of God, I believe. A Son must therefore have some attributes of the Father. If your Father’s words heal, then yours should to.

 

***

 

We were designed for impact and the things we say has a role to play in actualizing that.

 

 

MANIFEST!

 

 

LACED WITH GRACE

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how you ought to answer every man” Col. 4:6 (KJV).

 

I read an ancient myth of how archers lace their arrows with poisonous substances to ensure their victims stands no chance of survival. It got me wondering and I asked myself this question; the arrow with the projected momentum is lethal enough, while lace it with poison?

This actually took me back to something I read in Robert Green’s 48 Laws of Power. It reads and I quote, “if you want to kill an enemy, kill him well”. Whether or not I believe it is irrelevant to this discourse.

I quoted all of these to say that there are people whose words in the natural estate is like an arrow. However, when they shoot it at people, they still lace it with poison. They do not just hurt people with their words, they go further to kill them with the things that come out of their mouth.

 

Apostle Paul admonishes us to release our speeches with grace. What does that mean?

Out of many applications that I could find, one stood out for me in driving home my point. Grace is the ability God gives us to make positive impact. It then implies that the things we say should push someone to greater heights and to becoming better. Our words are meant to edify not defy others.

If you will become and manifest all that God has deposited in you, then you have to lace your words with grace to the end that someone is positively impacted by the things you say.

 

 

MANIFEST!

 

 

THE FRUIT OF THE MOUTH

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how you ought to answer every man” Col. 4:6 (KJV).

A very popular cliche used by policemen during the arrest of a suspect is; “You have the right to remain silent. For whatever you SAY or do could be used against you in the court of law”. This statement is in tandem with what the scriptures say about what we say.

Great, wise men don’t talk a lot, and when they do, they spill wisdom out of their mouth. They articulate their words before letting them out. They don’t jump on any passing discussion and start blabbing, they are intentional in their verbal communications.

I’ve had issues with a lot of people because I don’t talk when they expect me to talk. I try to make sure everything I say has an element of wisdom in it.

Going back to that cliche, the truth is that you must not always talk. You can say so much in silence. There are situations that may be orchestrated to indict you. At those times, the wise thing to do is keep quiet.

It is a travesty to give your opinion when it is not asked for. When you find yourself in the midst of nobles, don’t be in a hurry to let out the fruit of your lips. A lot of people have used their mouth to shut doors that have been opened for them by God.

The anchor scripture encapsulates all we need to know about the things that comes out of our mouth. In the next installment, I’d expound on that.

 

 

MANIFEST!

 

 

SURVIVAL AGAINST IMPACT!

“Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?” Matt. 6:25 (AMP).

There is an inherent ability in man to do what is required in order to achieve the results that he desires. God has wired us in such a way that we are able to beat the odds when push comes to shove. We will do what it takes to survive.

I remember when I was a kid and some other mischievous kids sent a dog after me. I scaled a wall I never thought I could scale. This was possible because my survival potential aroused the adrenaline in me and I was able to do that.

This is the lot of so many people in the world today. Their lives are about surviving. This is why selfishness is on a great high. No one cares about the other, we all just want to survive, regardless of how that leaves the people around us.

I don’t mean to say that survival is a bad thing. However, survival is not the reason God made us, it is only a means to an end. We were created to live and show forth God’s glory.

When our focus is on what we would eat, the clothes we would wear or the kind of houses we would live in etc, we are merely surviving. Our lives are worth much more than those. Our lives are designed to make impact in our world.

We may not necessarily change the world, but we can make it a better place. All the things that we crave for have been designed to aid us in accomplishing our divine mandate of impact. The world most likely will not remember what you always had for breakfast, nor the number of cars you used, nor the apparels you graced functions with. You will only be remembered for the impact you made and the significant marks you left in the sands of time.

So, stop thinking of SURVIVING and start thinking of IMPACTING!

 

 

MANIFEST!

 

 

A LITTLE EXTRA SLEEP!

“But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber” Prov. 6:9-11 (NLT).

Health experts say that an adult require an average of 7 to 8 hours of sleep to stay healthy. When I sat down and did the math, I was alarmed. If we assume that adulthood starts at 20 and old age creeps in at 70, it means we have about 50 active years. If we sleep at this rate, we would have slept away about 16 active years.

Sincerely, I am not faulting this. However, I think that will work well with people who are satisfied with average and mediocre results.

One of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made in my life was to cut down on the hours I spend sleeping daily. This was because I wouldn’t just see myself making excuses for my inability to manifest the things God has put in me.

I work, I run my personal business with my clients and I still have to make out time to write and also read to be empowered. Realistically, it would be very difficult achieving these things on daily basis, sleeping 8 hours a day.

Now there’s a caveat: STAYING AWAKE FOR AN UNPRODUCTIVE BUSINESS IS WORSE THAN SLEEPING FOR 8 HOURS.

If you are like me that craves for supernormal results, then you need to cut down on the time you spend sleeping and channel it to productive business.

 

MANIFEST!

 

 

THE DEMAND

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me” Matt. 16:24 (NLT).

A lot of people have asked me to mentor them in the area of inspirational and motivational writing, and most often that not, those requests gets broken down after the first hang out. By the time I begin to share the price I had to pay to get to where I am and the ones I’m willing to pay to get better, it scares most of them away.

Unfortunately, I don’t really do well in sugar-coating issues. The few times I’ve tried, it didn’t pan out well.

One of the things that anyone who aspires great and excellent results should have at the back of his mind is that EXCELLENCE PLACES A DEMAND ON YOU! There’s no going around it, you have a price to pay to be excellent at what you do.

One of the demands that excellence places on you is SELF DENIAL.

Truth is, nothing of great worth comes on a platter of gold. For Jesus to attain the level of glory that He is operating at now, He had to pay the price. He denied Himself a lot to purchase the salvation that we enjoy today.

What height do you wish to attain? What kind of results do you anticipate in your career, business, academics, marriage, ministry, etc? They are attainable. Howbeit, they come at a price. Know and understand the demand it places on you and give it all it takes.

MANIFEST!

 

 

MONUMENTS OF NOTHINGNESS

“The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!” Prov. 22:13 (NLT).

I remember my first foray into professional writing. I had visited a friend who wrote articles for clients and gets paid for them. He asked me to help him out with one of the articles, as he had a lot of them to do. Prior to that moment, I have been writing just inspirationals and motivationals (still my forte).

When he made the request, I obliged, totally oblivious of what makes a professional article. Within the next 30 minutes, I had done a little research on professional writing. I had also researched on works done on the topic of interest. Within an hour, 30 minutes or so, I came up with an article.

Obviously, my friend was elated and decided to take me through the rudiments of professional writing. Today, professional writing has become one of my alternative sources of income.

Rewind to that day when my friend asked me to help out. The easiest thing I could’ve done would’ve been to tell him “bro, I am not a professional Writer, I only write inspirationals and motivationals”. Just maybe, I would have never improved on my writing skills nor enlarged my writing territories. When my opportunity came, instead of giving excuses, I took responsibility.

My local church has this mantra and I repeat it to myself anytime I try to give excuse for my laziness and mediocrity: “EXCUSES ARE TOOLS FOR THE INCOMPETENT, USED TO BUILD MONUMENTS OF NOTHINGNESS. THOSE WHO USE THEM ARE NOT WISE”.

If you are going to excellently manifest all that God has designed you to manifest, then you need to part ways with excuses. They will never help you attain great heights, rather they will continually send you down the drain of mediocrity.

Today, subdue every laziness and mediocrity by not making excuses for them.

 

MANIFEST!

 

 

WHO’S FAULT?

““Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”. The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Gen 3:11-12 (NLT).

 

Whenever you ask a question, there are a number of possible answers that you expect to get from your respondent. When you ask a question like “how are you?”, you expect the respondent to either answer “I am fine” or “I am not fine”.

Sometimes, the answers do not come as straight forward as the question. In some cases, you could even get a question as a reply. Well, I’ve come to realize that they are all dynamics of being human. Most people usually try to present themselves as faultless and inerrant. But for all I know, fautlessness and inerrancy is an exclusive attribute of God.

As I come to my thoughts today, I’d take a trip down memory lane. I used to work as a salesman for an IT and gadgets outfit. Everytime The Boss comes to the office and notices something that is out of place, he’d ask “who did this?”. Interestingly, whoever that is close to him begins to scamper to find the culprit. In the end, he will call the person back and ask him to fix it. That taught me a life lesson about taking responsibility.

It is mediocre to always look for who to blame when something goes wrong, especially when you have the capacity to fix the problem.

Adam was a culprit of this. He resorted to playing the blame game when he was confronted with his actions. It was irresponsible and mediocre of him to blame the wife for a decision he took.

A good number of young men that are frustrated today is because they refused to take responsibility for their outcomes in life. They blame their parents, society, government etc. for their misfortune. Unfortunately, blaming anyone has not and will never change their predicament.

Away with the blame game! Take responsibility for the things that concern you. Only then will you be able to manifest the potentials God has domiciled in you.

 

MANIFEST!