Stay in love

Jesus said we are the branches and He is the vine, and anyone that is attached to the branch will live and be fruitful.  We learnt yesterday that David kept hooked to the tree and ended up being called the man after God's heart.

We are living in a generation where it is popular to follow the crowd, do what everybody does and if you dare to be different you become an outcast; you suddenly become unpopular and even the church will persecute you for daring to be different.  But God says he is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.  The true worshippers who will choose to stand out and be His arms and feet.

2 Corinthians 12 talks about the body of Christ and how each member is important to the body.  We are all called for a purpose and a cause, nobody is born an accident or a mistake, God has a plan for every being created.  But because we have lost our sense of purpose we don’t seem to see the need to be part of the body.

Christ is the body and we are all members of His body and as members, we have a responsibility to stay glued to His body.  Remember, when Paul talked about the gifts of the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 12, he said that the gifts are given by the Spirit of God to profit others or the church, but when he talked about the fruits as talked about in Galatians 5 , he let us know that the fruits are what we get when we walk with the Spirit.  Love, patience, humility, peace, longsuffering etc. The fruit benefit us and makes us grow and expand as Christians.  I believe it’s the fruits that keeps us on track in the lord and keeps us faithful to him.  Because when we bear fruits it shows that we are still hooked to the wine, the tree or the body.

As children of God, as believers and end time warriors in the kingdom of God, God's advice is simple, stay in the body.  Don’t think that you can stand on your own or you can do things on your own. Stay in Christ!

 The body that God was talking about here wasn’t the church, because the church are members of the body - the body is Christ himself.  We have to learn to live in Him, worship Him and love Him and keep our eyes focused on Him only.

The church is not our standard, but Christ is and anyone who does not stay in the body will end up being vain and chasing after vain glory, and will put anyone else down who will dare to stay glued to the body.

Galatians 5:25-26 advices that we should stay in the spirit and walk in Christ so we don’t chase after the norm.  Living in the spirit is simple, worship Him, listen to Him, and follow Him only.  Be a worshipper like David and stay glued in Christ.

God bless you all

Written by Aba Dadson

WHAT IS NEXT?

Love and Worship – David

As stated yesterday, both David and Solomon started out with so much promise. They both loved and worshipped God, but both of them did not end the same way.  Yesterday we looked at Solomon and why he failed at the end of his life and today we will look at David and how he stood till the end.

David in 2 Samuel 6 had won battles and conquered Jerusalem and now thought he had to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, so he gathered a delegation and went to Abinadab’s  house, brought out the Ark and put it on a cart.  God gave Israel specific instructions on how to carry the Ark and in Numbers 4:15 He clearly told them that anyone one who touches the Holy things will die.

Uzzah, David and the entire congregation that went for the Ark, in their zeal broke a lot of the laws in relation to the Ark.  Zeal in the Kingdom of God is good, but without knowledge and/or wisdom, is deadly. It is like giving a fully loaded gun to a toddler or a fool. You can never be careless with the things of God, and neither is favour a reason to take God or His laws for granted.

When Uzzah died, David was afraid and angry so he took the Ark to the house of Obed –Edom, the Gittite.   Here’s the thing I find interesting, Obed-Edom, was not a Jew and definitely not a Levite.  He was an alien, a Gittite. Yet David decided to give the Ark that just killed a covenant child to an alien that had no right what so ever to the ark.

David knew what the ark did to the people of Dagon when the ark was sent there, so why take the ark to an alien when he knew he was practically sentencing the man to death?  Yet that was exactly what he did, he took the ark to Obed-Edom’s house.

David was a man who had many faults, he was a smart man who knew how to use his head and calculate his steps.  He sent a death trap to an alien living in Israel, he killed a man and took his wife, when he conducted a census that God was angry about, he told God ‘you punish me, because with you I can negotiate, with an angel, there would be no room for negotiation’.  Yet despite everything he was a man that God loved and favoured ridiculously.

When he sinned with Bathsheba and killed Uriah, God told him in 2 Sam 12:7-10 that He anointed him and gave him everything and if it wasn’t enough He would have given him more.  This was a man that already had over four wives and a kingdom with concubines and never lost a battle! And God said I would have given you more if only you had asked.  What did David do that was so great that God loved him so much?

As much as David had failures, I believe David had amazing love and reverence for God.  Because of this love that he had for God, Michal, Saul’s daughter became barren  when she dared question David's worship lifestyle.  When God took away his son, after so much fasting and prayer, any other man would have questioned God, but David got up, took a bath, put oils and perfume on his body and went to God's house to worship.  His reason, God is God and who is he to question Him.

If there is one thing that moves the hand of God, it is faith. Faith in God will cause Him to do things He never planned to do. It was faith in God that shut the lion’s mouth and kept the three Hebrew boys alive.  And this Sunday I learnt something else, it's faith that God looks on to move.  And you can never have faith in someone you don’t trust (love is trusting).

David never touched Saul, not because he didn’t have the opportunity, God gave him chance over and over again to kill Saul but he never touched Saul, because he knew that what is God's is holy, and he couldn’t touch.  Remember Numbers 4:15? Don’t touch God's holy things.  God anointed Saul.

David was a man who lived in obedience and total reliance on God.  Even when he went wrong he didn’t give excuses, he accepted his mistakes and surrendered himself to God's decision.  In my opinion Abraham and David were similar.  They both trusted God unconditionally.

If as Christians we can stand this battle of the end time that we are in, then we need to learn from these people in the bible, who learnt to love and depend on God unconditionally.  As I stated yesterday, God's love is great, I do want it more than anything, in fact am nothing without it, but this love will not keep me from falling if I don’t recognise what this love means to me and how I can hold on to it to stand.

Tomorrow we will conclude our series on love with how we can stand, don’t miss it!

 Written by Aba Dadson




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Love and worship - Solomon

David and Solomon were two of the most powerful kings in Israel’s history.  Their reign was marked with peace and prosperity.  Both men were chosen by God and loved by God greatly, yet at the end of their lives here on earth, one ended having strayed away from God.

Both of these kings were worshippers and had a reverent fear of God.  In 2 Chronicles 1 it is said that Solomon organised a nationwide worship service for God and offered a sacrifice that had never before been seen in Israel.  In fact the sacrifice was so great that it caused God to come and ask Solomon to ask for anything and it would be his.

He believed in God so much so that when he built the temple of God in Jerusalem, in 2 chronicles 6, he prayed that anyone who turned to the direction of Jerusalem and prayed, the lord God should hear and answer their prayer.


He had zeal and he lived to serve.  He was determined to follow in the foot prints of his father and build on the legacy his father David left him.  He knew who chose him to sit on the throne.  He knew that by legal right he shouldn’t have inherited the throne, and he also knew that it was the love that God had for him and his father that gave him the throne.

This was a man that had all the ingredients of a worshipper.  If Solomon was born today, he probably would been raised in the house of God by a father who was a man of God. He had no reason to fail as a child of God. He had no excuse to backslide.  But at the end of his life, he looked at all that he had achieved and he called it all vanity.


I have asked myself several times why Solomon who had it all, money, beauty, prestige, God on his side and above all, had a personal contact and relationship with God could end up the way he did.


Solomon had fame and with the fame came praise and women.  There was one thing that God told the Israelites not to do, He told them not to intermarry with their neighbours lest they be led astray by their strange gods. Deuteronomy 7:2-4


Solomon had one weakness, the same one his father David had, women.  He loved them and they came to him in their numbers.  The bible says that he made alliances with foreign countries by marrying their daughters and each of those daughters brought in their own gods and Solomon allowed them to set up altars for those gods in Jerusalem.  Eventually the bible says the women and their gods led Solomon astray.  The man who started out with all the right ingredients ended following other gods because he compromised.


I guess Solomon didn’t see anything wrong with allowing his wives to bring in their gods, after all he was not going to worship them, but like the Asians say, the first step is the most important one.  All it takes is one compromise and the rest won’t be so difficult to make.


The love that God had for Solomon was not enough to keep him from straying.  God’s love keeps Him faithful to us, but it won’t keep us faithful to Him until we love him back and take a hold of that love. God’s love as it was available to Solomon is also available to us and just us it did not keep Solomon from straying, it won’t keep us from straying either.


God’s love is always there for us but we have to hold on to that love.  We have to choose to stay connected with that love like David did.  God expects us to love and trust him enough to choose him daily as David.

Written by Aba Dadson


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Benefits of sacrifice

Benefits and how to sacrifice

Having said all these, let’s now look at the benefits of sacrifice. I will try and summarize it all into five points

1.  We achieve purpose. Finding purpose is a reason for sacrifice, right?  Again using that example of the runner.  What do you think will happen to that runner who trains religiously?  He will end up realising his dream.  When you sacrifice your time, efforts, money for your dream and vision, what do you think happens?  You achieve your goal.
Thanks
2. We achieve our objectives.  Like Elisha, his objective was to follow Elijah and learn from him.  Did you know that the bible says in II kings 2 that Elisha ended up getting a double portion of Elisha’s anointing and ended doing twice the miracles Elijah did? What was his objective to begin with? Follow Elijah and he followed the guy until his last day on earth. He was the only one who saw Elijah taken up.  All the prophets knew Elijah would be taken up that day but only Elisha saw it happen.

3. We gain trust: not just from people but also with God.   He will have the confidence to give more to us. Remember Abraham, it was said that God saw Abraham as a righteous man and he ended saying that would I do anything on earth without first consulting with Abraham?  We are all so quick to say God I want to have this kind of relationship with you but can you give what Abraham gave?

4. We gain a closer and more intimate relationship with God. What do you give to a king who has everything? Truth be told, God does not have to chase you for anything. Everything you have , he gave it to you and if you don’t want to use it for him, he can equally call somebody else to give him what he wants.  He just wants to have a relationship with you. Giving up what you have, what you hold dear is what he needs to know that you trust him enough to take care of everything that concerns you. That is the only way you can move God to having a closer intimate relationship with you.

5. He will equip you for the task ahead; he gave Solomon wisdom. He will give you people you need and giftings you need for the fulfilment of your purpose.   Moses gained confidence and boldness.  Remember how he used to stammer and hide and be afraid of public speaking?  Do you need connections, he will connect you.  If you need mentoring, he will send you people and situations that will mould and shape you.  Moses had Pharaoh’s daughter, Elisha had Elijah, and Joseph had Potiphar, his brothers and the cup bearer.  Joshua had Moses, David had Samuel and Saul.  Etc.

I guess you are now wondering how you sacrifice? Don’t worry, I am not going to give you another five pointer. Instead , I will ask you some questions :  What do you think you have that God wants?  What do you want to achieve most for God? And I will ask you what you have sacrificed to develop the talents God has given you?

Your answers is your key!








WHAT IS NEXT?

Why Sacrifice?

Why then do you think Elisha forsook everything and followed Elijah? Five reasons why:

1. Because of purpose:  Example, if you want to be a heat (100m) runner, what do you do? You get up every day, go to the field and you train.  You get a coach that you will pay to train you until you are ready to go pro. Even after going pro, you still continue to train because your objective now becomes winning a medal at every race.  Suppose you don’t want to be a runner would you go pay a coach to train you? No. Why? Because you have no reason to sacrifice your time and your money.   Purpose gives us the desire to sacrifice.  Why because you want to see that dream, that purpose, that vision fulfilled.

2. Because we have an objective to reach: Again taking our example from Elisha, when he received the Mantle he could have still stayed at home. Did you think there were no prophets where he came from? But he recognised Elijah and knew that if he wanted to succeed Elijah his objective would be to follow.

3. We want something:  In II chron. 1, we are told that Solomon had ruled for some time and the bible even said that God had strengthened his kingdom. But he realised that if he was to outdo his father or even maintain his father’s legacy he needed to look for God quickly and ask for help.  So what did he do? The bible said he slaughtered an obscene amounts of cattle, sheep etc and burnt a sacrifice never seen before in all of Israel, and that sacrifice moved God to the point where he said, ask whatever you want and I will give it to you .  Sacrifice moves the hand of God to give us whatever we desire.  If you want something from God, you better give something.  Remember Jacob? Did you think when his hip was breaking he didn’t feel it? Did you think when his eyes was burning with lack of sleep he did not feel the sting? But he wanted something so even though it hurt and burnt, he held on, he kept holding on till dawn.  You think sacrificing your time for a month and not seeing anything is enough? The widow gave everything to Elijah, she gave the last meal that she was going to eat with her son before they die to the man of God.  What are you willing to give and for how long are you willing to hold on?

4. I know this point may disturb some of you as it will make you angry but am going to say it anyway.  We sacrifice because we trust God.   You are angry aren’t you? You are probably thinking is she trying to say I don’t trust God?   When God told Abraham, give me your son Isaac as a sacrifice. What did he do? He woke up in the morning, picked his knife, charcoal, wood, oil, water and he woke up his son and said, son, come with me, we are going to sacrifice to God.  When his son noticed that they had no animal his father said, God would provide.

Abraham trusted God to that point.  He didn’t question, he didn’t reason out God's intention on God's behalf, he just followed.  Even if the waves are contrary, when you trust, you will still step off the ship into the sea simply because he said come.

5. The fifth and most important reason of all is love:  the greatest commandment of all love the lord God with all you heart and with all your might.  When you love someone that much you don’t think twice about giving up everything for that person. God demonstrated it most when he gave up Jesus for us. Jesus demonstrated that love when he also gave up heaven and his life here on earth for us. Do you then think it unreasonable if God is asking same of us? That we give 100%?

Written by Aba Dadson


WHAT IS NEXT?

Sacrifice

This month is supposed to be a month about love. Love is about giving . We have established this already and there is no higher form of giving than sacrifice.  There is no worship without sacrifice. Whether it’s your time or your substance or your life, there is always sacrifice. So now let’s have a look at sacrifice.

According to the Miriam Web dictionary, sacrifice is an act of offering to a deity something precious or the destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else.

Four things to consider when talking about sacrifice;

1. What is sacrifice?

2. why do we have to sacrifice?

3. Benefits of sacrifice, are there any?

4. How do we sacrifice?

Why?

Before we look at why, let’s look at one man’s sacrifice from the bible.

I king 19-19-21

We meet Elisha who is saddled with a 12 yoke  oxen plugging the field, busy trying to make for himself a fortune, while minding his own business.  Elijah happened to be passing by and upon seeing Elisha; he removes his mantle and places it on him. This causes Elisha to leave everything and follow Elijah, but on their way, he realises that he has left in a rush, so he asks Elijah permission to go home and say good bye to his parents.  Elijah’s response was simple, what has that got to do with me.  If you want to go, go, if you want to stay, stay, the decision is yours.

When sacrificing, you don’t wait for someone to come tell you to sacrifice.  Elijah knew one basic principle about sacrifice, it is not something someone tells you to do, it is something you choose to do.   You make the decision, it is the only way God respects that decision. Remember Saul, he disobeyed God because people put pressure on him to sacrifice. We will come back to that in more detail later.

When Elisha heard Elijah’s response he went on home broke the yoke of the oxen, sacrificed the animals, gave it as an offering, and followed Elijah never looking back.

To be continued....
Written by Aba Dadson

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Recreating destiny through love - Pt 2

Judah being protective of Benjamin, told Joseph that his father will die without his last son.  According to Judah, his father's beloved wife had two children, one is no more and this one is the one that the father cherishes most.  Judah said, ‘our fathers life is wrapped up in this boy’s life. Take the boy away from our aging father and he will die.

Then Judah said, take my life instead, I will give up my life for this boy, let me be your slave instead and spare him’.  In other words, Judah said, for the salvation of my family, I am willing to trade my life.  That moment when he looked at someone other himself was the moment that God said, ‘that is it - he is ready to rule!’.

That was the seed he sowed for his line, and this seed changed his destiny.  He set the pace for the messiah's coming, by the seed of love he showed that day.  That is why Jacob said the sceptre will not depart from Judah until Shiloh or the messiah comes!

See I will follow the cliché one more time and say ‘how you begin is not as important as how you end’. Judah began abysmally, but his end was glorious because he chose love instead of cowardice, he chose to step up instead of stand afraid to do something.

You see, the path to your destiny lies more with you than what the devil will do or what anybody or any  situation will push you to.  Today, we don’t have to be like Judah and literally give up our lives for our brothers because the messiah is already here.  He has already sacrificed his life on your behalf, and so all you have to do is to say Lord, I accept what you did for me and am willing to turn my life around, do with me as you did with Judah.  Make me the ruler that you have said I can be.

You have already been given freely what Judah had to do to change his destiny, and that freedom can be found in Jesus Christ.  So today, I am introducing to you the messiah that Jacob talked about when he blessed Judah, the child that shouldn’t have been blessed.

The same opportunity God created for Judah is available to you today.  What will you do?  Will you turn and like the rest of the brothers, simply watch , or today, will you be that Judah and say, Lord please forgive me for the harm I have caused my fellow brothers and please let me take advantage of the exchange that Jesus has already made for me so I can be all that you want me to be.

If you choose to go the Judah way then pray this prayer.

‘Lord Jesus I recognise that I am a sinner and I have wronged you, myself and my fellow brothers.  Lord forgive me, wash me and cleanse me.  Come into my life, heal my life and be saviour, lord and king over my life and heart and turn my life around and set me on the path of destiny that you came to give me.   Thank you Lord Jesus.’

If you prayed this prayer and you are not going to church, then find a good bible believing church near you and go introduce yourself to your pastor and tell him you just gave your life to Jesus and so they should help you grow and stay on the path of destiny.  If you don’t have a bible, buy one and start reading.

Congratulations, you just started your journey to destiny and purpose in Jesus Christ Amen.





WHAT IS NEXT?

Recreating destiny through love - Pt 1

Judah is the only child among the twelve that the father blessed with kingship. You would have thought that the sceptre would have stayed with Joseph as he was already a ruler. But let us go back and see what Jacob said about Judah when he was blessing his children.

Genesis 49:8-12 (GW)

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down to you. 9 Judah, you are a lion cub. You have come back from the kill, my son. He lies down and rests like a lion. He is like a lioness. Who dares to disturb him? 10 A scepter will never depart from Judah nor a ruler's staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes and the people obey him. 11 He will tie his donkey to a grapevine, his colt to the best vine. He will wash his clothes in wine, his garments in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine. His teeth are whiter than milk’

Before we can understand why Judah received this blessing let us go back to Genesis 37:20-26 when Joseph was sold.

Now the bible said that all the brothers hated Joseph and they all planned to kill him including Judah.  Reuben was the only one who had the desire to save his brother.  But Judah said that instead of killing Joseph they should sell him into slavery . So the brothers all agreed minus Reuben and sold Joseph.  I sometimes wonder why Reuben who wanted to save his brother and the first born didn’t receive that kind of blessing that Judah did.

But when I read Genesis 44:20-28 I finally understood. Judah had many sins; he sold his brother, refused to give his son to Tamar his daughter in law to keep the family line alive, he had sex with his daughter in law and got her pregnant.  And to top it off, he had double standards, he was willing to have Tamar killed for adultery when he didn’t know the prostitute he visited was his own daughter in law. But in spite of Judah’s sins, he made a crucial decision that saved not just him, but his line.  It was because of that one defining moment in his life that caused his destiny change.

 Joseph trapped Benjamin for theft, and decided to keep Benjamin with him.  Why Joseph did what he did beats me, but what I learnt from it is that every opportunity is a chance to redefine a person’s destiny if we make the right choices.

Joseph insisted on keeping Benjamin, and the brothers pleaded for mercy, but none of them were willing to let the love of a family/neighbour move them to sacrifice.  Judah may not have seen the opportunity but he was moved my compassion and that compassion or love changed his destiny forever.

To be continued...






WHAT IS NEXT?

Love and Siblings - part 3

Joseph had forgiven his brothers, he had given them the best of the land in Egypt and had settled them with jobs as well, but the brothers still were not satisfied.  They thought to themselves as long as Jacob is alive we are not safe. 

The bible says in Genesis 50:15-21, that as soon as Jacob died and they came back to Goshen after burying their father, the brothers met and they started plotting, ‘how will we get Joseph to not harm us?’  I am guessing if Joseph had been 17 again and powerless, they would have sold him again. But because they knew power had exchanged hands and they were now powerless, they used deception instead.   They sent a message to Joseph, Genesis 50:16-17 ‘your father left these instructions before he died..........forgive your brothers.....’ When the message reached Joseph he cried again. 

Were the brothers so used to mischief and causing pain to others that the thought of someone forgiving them was inconceivable? Or was it that because they sought revenge no matter what, they expected Joseph to do same?  I mean these were people who killed all the men in one city because their prince raped their sister and dared to want her for a wife!

But Joseph showed the ultimate in all, forgiveness through love.  He told them, what they meant for harm, God purposed it for good.  It was the Lord who allowed it, so Jacob and his seed would be preserved.  Joseph said, they helped him accomplish his purpose.

What more can I add to this?  God has a way of using situations including siblings to bring out the best in us for his plans ahead.  At the time that we were being hurt we would not like it and we would be afraid. 

I keep wondering how Joseph might have felt being a teenager who was sheltered and loved the most at home, now sold to strangers and shackled into slavery by his own brothers. 

That Joseph did not come out a bitter, angry man shows what God can do to a life that is yielded to him. Joseph had two standards in life. God's standard and all other standards and he purposed in his heart to measure his life by God's standard. 

Let us follow Joseph's example, let us love and forgive our families and siblings especially; for the pain they cause us, for who knows what God can do with us if we let go and let God be in control like Joseph did. 

But if you are like the brothers of Joseph then I hope that you will learn to forgive yourself and know that no matter what, you can still tap into God’s blessings and plans for yourself like Judah did. So come back tomorrow for I have a word for you too. 

Written by Aba Dadson








WHAT IS NEXT?

Love and siblings - part 2

Two things happened when pharaoh dreamt;

1.  God created an opportunity for Joseph to be freed from slavery

2. God paved the way for Joseph to rule.  

We sometimes have the tendency of thinking that success God's way happens in an instant.  But that is not the case at all; Joseph had about 17 years of preparation.  He had to learn to put off his ‘daddy’s little boy’ attitude because leadership is for the matured and independent minded.

God had to fortify him and make him strong. He had to learn that favour comes with responsibility and so does leadership.  People will seek to hurt you simply because you are favoured. Joseph had to learn to be wise in all his ways.  I bet after the accusation he learnt to measure his steps and always had a witness with him. 

Now it came the time of the fulfilment of prophesy, for his family to come and bow to him.   News of Egypt having food had spread far and wide and the news got to Jacob who was running out on food supplies, so he sent his sons to go buy food from Egypt. 

Upon appearing in Egypt, Joseph immediately recognised his brothers but they didn’t recognise him.  I keep wondering if Joseph had changed so drastically facially or the brothers had really forgotten about him.  I believe when Joseph left to go cry by himself, it was not just because of the pain he felt or the joy thereof, but also because of the fact that his brothers did not think of him, and had forgotten him. 

If I was Joseph, I’d probably be convinced there and then that my brothers really hated me that much, and I was not wanted. If you miss someone and think of them, you remember them.  Joseph was 17 when they sold him. He was practically a man; he was in his mid thirties when his brothers met him again, how much could he have changed that they did not recognise him?  

When his father went to meet him in Goshen, he must have gone with his aids and servants to meet his Father. Remember, Joseph was an important man and he would not have travelled alone.  Yet Jacob recognised his son when he saw him, Jacob was old and his eyes were failing but he recognised Joseph, yet the brothers did not recognise him.  How much pain Joseph would have suffered that day, I can’t begin to imagine.

I wonder how Joseph must have felt when he finally revealed himself to his brothers.  In Genesis 45, we see Joseph weeping so loudly that the Egyptians heard him.  Joseph finally couldn’t contain the rejection anymore.  He wanted his brothers to recognise him, he deliberately created opportunities for them to come face to face with him on several occasions just so they could have a really good look at him and recognise him.  

He ate with them and favoured Benjamin his blood brother yet they did not recognise him.  He sat the brothers according to their age and yet still they did not recognise him!  Eventually Joseph couldn’t take it anymore and he had to break down and cry.  I believe the weeping he wept that day was out of hurt, he was hurting that still he was of little significance to his brothers. 

After they kissed and made up and all was forgiven, the brothers went and brought their father to Joseph.  The family was reunited again, and prophesy had been fulfilled and it was time for Jacob to die.  Jacob pronounces blessings on his children and then calls Joseph again and blesses his sons specially.  It was not enough that Jacob favoured Joseph, now he is favouring his sons too!   I bet his brothers watched and bile rose in their throats again.  To be continued....

WHAT IS NEXT?

Love and siblings

I have two sisters, growing up, we used to have squabbles, especially with my younger sister.  But we also had each other and I don’t know what I’d do without my sisters - I love them very much.  When it comes to my sisters, I become very protective because we have been through a lot together. 

When I read about Joseph and his brothers, I couldn’t imagine what in the world would make siblings hate each other so much that they would want to cause physical harm to each other.  Then I remembered of a family I knew growing up. 

The parents were constantly comparing the children against each other. The mother would call child A and tell him to be careful of child B, and then call the rest of the children and tell them A is the hope of the family so they better not do anything to hurt  A.  I saw the family get divided and the fights that went on in that family were fierce. There were times the police had to be called in because the fights had become bloody.

Jacob’s first mistake was picking Joseph out and making him his favourite and making sure that the rest of the children knew.  It made the rest of the brothers become united in their hatred against David.

So after selling Joseph into slavery, they lied to their father that Joseph had been killed by an animal.  They saw the  pain their actions caused their Father and I personally believe that caused them to reflect on their actions, and thus made them very protective of their younger brother Benjamin when later Joseph demanded that Benjamin stay behind in Egypt.

Joseph's stay in Egypt was bitter sweet. In Potiphar's house he was put in charge of everything that Potiphar owned but his wife.  Even though Joseph had control over that house hold he was still a slave.  Then Potiphar's wife accused him of rape and was sent to jail simply because he refused to sleep with Mrs Potiphar.  In jail, he was yet again put in charge of the prisons, but yet still he was a slave.  He stayed in that prison for over two years and nobody remembered him until Pharaoh dreamt.

Pharaoh had a dream he couldn’t understand and none of his advisors and wizards could interpret it, except Joseph.  He explained the great famine that was to come, and how Egypt was to survive it.  In my opinion, the king dreamed that dream for Joseph to interpret and for God to fulfil what he had planned to do for Israel.  Joseph wasn’t fortunate to be in Egypt, it was Egypt that was fortunate to have Joseph.  

Wherever Joseph was, that land could have received the blessing that was tied to Joseph’s life and because Joseph caught that revelation, he understood that if he messed up, his blessing would be cut short and that is why he was able to stand his ground and hold on to God's promise.  God’s blessings are tied to people not locations.  When God says he will bless you, he will bless you no matter where you are, God will bless the land for your sake. 

But you have a responsibility to place yourself in a position that will allow for those blessings to be accomplished in its time.  In waiting, don’t mess up; stay in God and in his standard through his word as Joseph did.

To be continued.....


Written by Aba Dadson

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A Father's Love

A father’s love

Jacob had twelve sons with four women.  His favourite sons were the one’s born to him by the woman he loved the most, his wife Rachel.  Rachel had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin.  The bible calls Joseph his father’s favourite son in Genesis 27:3.  He was the one his father sent to spy on his brothers and to come and report back to him what they did.  He made a special coat of many colours for Joseph and did not even try to hide the fact that he loved Joseph more than the other eleven.

But God had plans for Joseph and he started showing those plans to Joseph; Joseph being the spoilt and pampered son he was, came and told everyone that in his dreams, his father, mother and brothers were bowing to him.  The bible said in Genesis 37:11 that his father kept all these dreams in his heart even though he rebuked his son for being so bold. 

His brothers got angry and jealous of Joseph and decided to kill him, but by the intervention of Judah, they ended up selling Joseph instead.  They then took the coat his father had made for him, killed an animal and smeared the blood of the animal on the coat and took it home to their father and told him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. The father wept and wept and nothing anybody did or said would comfort him.  

Years went by and Joseph ended up in Egypt and became a ruler there.  Then came a great famine, and by God's intervention through Joseph, Egypt had food, so Jacob sent his sons to go buy food from Egypt. 

The brothers went, and Joseph recognised them but they didn’t recognise their brother because almost 17 years had passed. Joseph pretended not to know them.  A series of events happened that I will talk about tomorrow but eventually Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and asked that his father be brought to him.

Here is the part that I find interesting.  Jacob knew the dreams that Joseph had, he kept them in his heart and he cried when his son died.  But when the brothers went back to him and told him Joseph was alive in Genesis 45:25-28, the bible says at first he did not believe them, but when they told him everything that had happened and how Joseph was now ruler over Egypt, the bible said, Jacob said, ‘now I am convinced that Joseph is alive.’

In my opinion, Jacob still remembered the dream and it was the dream and its fulfilment that convinced him that his son was still alive.  A father will do that for a son, he will watch over a son’s dream and keep it in his heart and believe in them even when it sounds absurd.

Genesis 46 says that when Jacob heard that his son was alive, he did not get angry with the rest of the sons when they told him what happened, he did not go back and query the sons on why they sold their brother; instead he got ready to meet his lost son. 

Jesus said a parable that a shepherd will leave the rest of the 99 sheep just to look for the one that was missing.  A father is a shepherd, his heart was beating for the one sheep that was missing and now found.  Father’s heart will never leave a son that is lost; he will keep watching and waiting till the son comes home.  

He hurried to Egypt and when the father and son met, Genesis 46:28-30, I cried and thought, that is how a father should be.  The rest of the 10 that sold their brother were there, but the father did not hate them or punish them, he was just happy that the lost one had come back.  He was grateful and content.  He said now ‘I can die since I can see for myself that you are alive’

Children make mistakes and act wickedly but a father will be patient and forgiving as Jacob did with his son’s.  I believe it was that same heart that Joseph learnt from, for if his father hadn’t been a forgiving man, Joseph wouldn’t have known how to forgive either.

A father will never give up on his children and will wait for them even if it takes 17 years to be reunited with their sons again.

As parents, it’s my prayer that we don’t give up on our children that we encourage, forgive and love them unconditionally. Remember, love has a long spirit and is patient.

Written by Aba Dadson

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True love in friendship

Day 16

Love and friendship

Back to David, I just love that man; he had his strengths and his weakness but through it all, he stood in God and the love and fear of God kept him standing.

In 1 Samuel 20, we find a story about two people that shouldn’t have stayed in the same space without killing each other.  David and Jonathan were people who were both contenders for the throne of Israel.  David was a contender by anointing and Jonathan by birth.  Jonathan's father Saul was king, so by right, Jonathan was to inherit.  David was the man God anointed to be the next king and the whole of Israel was aware of that.

These two men met in the palace when David came to work for Saul. The bible says in 1 Samuel 19 that Jonathan was very fond of David and even protected David against his own Father.

David was born a shepherd, whiles Jonathan was a prince.  David was Saul’s servant whiles Jonathan was Saul’s son, yet their bond and love for each other grew. The bible says that they went into an oath of love; they swore to love each other and protect each other.

Now Saul, the king of Israel, saw the exploits of David and knew that David would one day be king. But being human that he was, he was intent on making sure that his son would inherit the throne so he set out to kill David.  He knew that as long as David was alive, nothing would keep him from the throne because Samuel the prophet had already told him that his throne had been taken away from him and given to another.  And so to protect his throne, he set out to kill David. 

 David, having escaped a few attempts by Saul to kill him, went to Jonathan and asked for help, and the bible says, Saul got angry at Jonathan's intervention and threw his spear to kill him.  Anybody  would have been afraid and backed off after nearly facing death because of a friend.  Any son would have apologised to his father and turned their back on David.  Any son knowing his father was protecting his throne for his sake would have cut off all ties with David so as to protect his own interest, and yet Jonathan, knowing what the Lord had said concerning his father’s throne and David, chose to walk in the path of love and not follow blindly the evil that his father was plotting. 


Not much was said about Jonathan’s spirituality in the bible, but the story recounted here lets me know that Jonathan must have been a very godly and spiritual man.  He probably, had heard over and over since his father became king that he would inherit the throne.  I bet that from the day his father was crowned and he became the crown prince; he was tutored on how to behave as king and on all the protocol of kingship. Yet this man, choose to accept what God had said and allied himself with God’s chosen ruler.  He saw where God was going and he followed.

 A true friend would not envy when God is leading someone where he or she would rather be, and would not join forces with the enemy to destroy their friend even if that enemy was their family.

Here was a friendship of love, two men who should have been at each other’s throat, were bound together by love.  Jonathan was aware that David was going to be king; he even made David swear to protect his family when he became king.  Because of the friendship they had, when Saul’s house rebelled against David when he became king, the bible says, David still looked for any of Jonathan's survivors so he could protect them.

This is the kind of friendship that the bible encourages us to have.  Jonathan and David were human just like us, yet they let love lead their friendship.  When we are bound together in love as friends, we won’t back bite, we won’t be selfish and mean to each other and we will protect each other from harm.

As Christians, let us look at the example these two men set for us, and like the early church in Acts, let us learn and practice what true friendship is.

Written by Aba Dadson





























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Lust verses Love

Lust?

A man married a woman he felt he couldn’t live without, five years into the marriage and all they had was routine and nothing else.  Two more years and they were divorcing citing they had irreconcilable differences as the cause.  After a bit of nosing around, it become apparent they did not love each other anymore.   They both wanted a fresh start.

These two were inseparable, couldn’t keep their hands off each other but they said, the passion wasn’t there anymore; they just did not want each other again.  Was it love that motivated them to get married or was it lust? I leave that for you to decide.   

 

Back to 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, it says, ‘Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away....... For we know in part, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.......... But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love’

 

Love is complete and perfect, the bible says, and it says above everything else love is the greatest of all.  We all know in part and we sometimes also love in part.

Love is not passion either is it lust.  We can’t fall in passion and lust and hope to sustain the relationship.  Lust will consume and so will passion.  Love will keep you sturdy and selfless.  Whiles lust will make you take and take, love will make you give and give and find joy in giving.

The bible says in 2 Samuel 11 that when it was the time that kings went for battle, David stayed behind and  one day decided to look down his window at a woman taking a bath.  The bible says David found the woman to be beautiful and he wanted her so he sent someone to go and find out who she was.  It was reported back to him that the woman was someone’s wife but David still wanted her nonetheless , so he sent word to bring the woman and he slept with her and later sent her home.  The woman became pregnant so David had the woman’s husband killed, and took her as his.

David was one of the greatest kings of Israel and a worshipper of God.  He wrote most of the psalms.  He was a man that had a deep relationship with God to the point where God called him a man after His heart, yet when it came to women, David had a big appetite.  As close as he was with God, he still couldn’t control his lust for women. An intense desire for more and more women had its grip on him and he couldn’t shake it off. 

Love did not move David to take a woman that was someone’s wife.  The bible says that love does not seek its own, it protects and preserves.    Love did not push David to kill a man so he could have his wife because the bible says love does not think evil or plot someone’s hurt. 

I believe that as great as David was, we ought to know that greatness will not stop you from falling into lustful sins with someone.  David was supposed to go to war, but he stayed behind and that decision caused him to do something he shouldn’t have.  The battles you put off fighting will cause you to fall.  We all know in part and so we can only see in part, it is only when we stay in God and in love his way that we will stand and fight a good fight. 

It is my prayer that in this battle against lust; we will all stand in love so we can conquer lust.  The bible says in Ephesians 6 12 -13 we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers.  And having done all the wrestling and fighting we should stand, stand our ground against sin and everything that will make us fall, including lust.

Let us therefore take our lessons from David today and I pray that the Lord will keep us standing in him always in Jesus’ name.



WRITTEN BY ABA DADSON

 

 

 

WHAT IS NEXT?

A true love story

It’s Valentine’s Day! I hope you have said I love you to that special someone and bought them chocolate.  Today I am not going to write about Valentine’s Day, but I will tell you about a beautiful love story that happened in the bible.

Genesis 24.

Abraham was old and about to die, Sarah was already dead and Abraham was apprehensive about leaving Isaac alone so he calls his servant and makes him put his hand under his thigh and swear that he will go look for a wife for his son.  Abraham charges his servant, to go back to his (Abraham) father’s house and find a wife for Isaac.

The servant leaves and prays to God to help him find a woman for Isaac.  He tells God to give him a sign and God does.  So the servant finds Rebecca and follows her to Nahor, Abraham’s brother’s house.  When Rebecca’s brother saw the jewels and the wealth of the servant he immediately took to him, the bible actually says in Genesis 24:30-31

  And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me. That he came unto the man. And, behold, he was standing by the camels at the fountain.

  And he said, Come in, thou blessed of Jehovah. Wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.

Laban saw money, he saw wealth and it attracted him to Abraham’s servant.  So when the servant insisted on taking Rebecca with him, they agreed.  Rebecca was excited, she was going to marry and the man had money! What girl wouldn’t be excited, I mean, diamonds are a girl’s best friend right?

So Rebecca received her family’s blessings and got on the camel and went with Abraham’s servant.  Now it says in genesis verse 24:63—67 that Isaac was going out to the open fields to go pray, and he saw the camels approaching, and Rebecca sitting on the camel noticed  Isaac and asked the servant who Isaac was.  When she was told it was Isaac, bible says she dismounted and covered her face. She noticed the man, and she covered herself up.  The servant then went to Isaac and told him about Rebecca, Isaac also took to Rebecca immediately. He led her to his mother's tent and the bible says they became man and wife and Isaac loved Rebecca.

Rebecca noticed Isaac without being told who he was, Isaac was going to pray but when he saw Rebecca he forgot about prayer and took her to his mother’s tent.  Isaac had his own tent, but he took her to his mother's because he was his mother’s heart and joy and he loved his mother very much so when Rebecca came, he found comfort again.

Love is pure.  Rebecca didn’t have to expose herself, bible says Rebecca was very beautiful, she could have used her beauty to attract Isaac, but she covered herself up.  Love is not about physical appearance, nor is it about sexual experience because the bible equally made us aware that Rebecca was a virgin.

It's valentine’s day today, let us cover ourselves up, let us honor each other like Isaac did Rebecca.  Let us go back to love, as God showed us in Rebecca and Isaac’s story.  Love will respect you, love will honour you and love will not depend on how beautiful, trendy, slim or fat. Love will recognise you just as Rebecca recognised Isaac.

I am sure Rebecca wasn’t expecting to fall in love, she had married well, that was enough, but God had other plans.  Money and wealth is good, but because there was love and honour the bible says Isaac found comfort in his wife.

It’s my prayer that today; we will find comfort in love, covering in love and honour.

Written by Aba Dadson

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Eros love

Ephesians 5:1- 3 

‘Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; 

and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a 

sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell. 

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints’

Eros love is love that is shared between lovers. A man and a woman; a husband and a wife.  It is simply put, sexual love.

This kind of love is what most of us are used to as love.  This kind of love exhibits itself in various forms,

1. Attraction : A strong emotional or physical pull to another

2. Lust; An intense desire or appetite, usually sexual towards another

3. Fondness :  A subtle yet potent liking towards another

4. Like:  this word is commonly used today to replace love.  Today people would rather say I like this person rather than I love this person.  Perhaps it is less committing than love but the bottom line is that like is not the same as love.  The dictionary definition of like and love are not the same and thus should not be confused or interchanged casually.  Like means to take pleasure in someone.

Solomon’s beloved said, ‘don’t awaken love before its time, for it is as strong as death’. Obviously the kind of love Solomon was writing about was eros love.  Attraction, lust, like, all these emotions have the potential to overwhelm and consume a person. It has the tendency to steal a person’s breath, and like Amnon make you feel physically ill because that feeling is not returned.

Solomon wrote that if only his beloved were his sister he would have kissed her in public. This kind of love makes you want to forget conventions and norms, it has overthrown kingdoms and destroyed men.  Samson fell because of this kind of love, a man that killed thousands of men and lifted city gates, was destroyed because of the love of a woman.  Bible says that Solomon forgot his God because of the strange women he loved.  David killed a man so he could have his wife.  Love is as strong as death and it can sweep a person up and consume him/her.

Truth be told what distinguishes this kind of love from any other is the element of attraction and lust, and as Christians we cannot hide from the fact that you cannot marry someone and be physically intimate with them if you don’t lust after and are attracted to them.  Lust like any other emotion can lead us to sin if we don’t master it.  If lust becomes the master of us, then when it says go kill, we will.  Lust is strong, it has destroyed many stronger and more dignified than you and me, it is my prayer that as we learn about love this month, we will learn to not confuse love with lust.

We shouldn’t forget that we can lust after someone and not actually love them.  To check if what you feel is the real deal, check your feelings by 1 cor 13.  Are you able to be all that it says you should be when you love?  Remember, love will not fade but everything else eventually will.  In loving, let us be patient and not rush in being consumed by lust. Let us like Paul advised, be imitators of Christ as we love and not give in to lust that leads to all manner of sexual sin.

WHAT IS NEXT?

Philia and Storge

Let’s now look at the various categories of love. I am not going to look at Agape because I believe 10 days of talking about it has left us all itching to move on to something else.

So let’s look at the other kinds of love;  Philia and Storge.

Philia comes from the Greek word Phiia which refers to familiar or friendship.  It is used to describe the kind of love that is mainly expressed between friends and neighbours. Where there is fondness and like.  In 1 Sam 19:1, the bible says that Jonathan was fond of David and protected David from his father’s plan to kill him.

Fondness is a feeling of affection or caring towards someone that has no sexual connotations whatsoever to it.   When the bible told us to love our neighbours as ourselves, it was talking about philia.  It was asking us to have affection for each other and not to mistreat each other.  When you have affection for someone, you don’t gossip about them or scorn them or maltreat them. Instead you delight in their company.

Neighbour is not limited to the person whose geographical address is next to your door, but to that friend or brother and sister you are familiar with.

God expects us to love ourselves and our neighbours.  Jesus said if you can’t love your neighbour that you see, how then can you love a God you cannot see?  Why he said that is simple, if God is love and He lives in us, then it means that love lives in us and thus God expects us to express it to our neighbours and family.

Storge refers to love that is shared between children and parents.  Paul in Ephesians 6:1-4 advices parents and children, he tells children to honour and obey their parents. A Child's place is to honour their parents by obeying them  and that will be their act of love to their parents. Parents are advised to not provoke their children just because they are parents and they can.

The parents are supposed to nurture and bring up children in the love of God.  What that means is that parents are supposed to bring up their children by providing a protective environment where their children can grow well balanced and confident.  Parents are not supposed to insult, physically and verbally abuse their children.  Love as taught in 1 cor 13 is reiterated by Paul again in this verse when he put it simply ‘don’t exasperate your children instead bring them up in the training and instructions of the Lord’.  Children will rebel when they have no confidence and trust in their parents.  When they feel their best interest is not the priority of their parents.  But remember, what love is in 1 cor 13?  It nurtures, it is patient and it brings out the best in others.

The love of parents towards their children may differ from that of friends or lovers. Their relationship is supposed to be that of leadership, nurturing, protection, guidance and responsibility. I believe a best example of that can be found in the potter’s house.

When a potter is moulding an object with clay, the potter takes his time with it.  He can’t apply force or the clay will fold and the shape won’t come out. He lovingly and carefully removes all stones and objects and makes sure that there is no air trapped in the clay when he is moulding his masterpiece. It takes time; patience and lots of love from a potter to come out with a priceless piece of pottery.  That is what a parent's love is supposed to be.

In this month of love, let us go that extra mile for our friends, parents and children, because love will go that extra mile.







WHAT IS NEXT?

The hues of love

The world today says that love can be categorised in many different ways, but the four major ones are ‘Agape’, ‘Storge’, ‘Eros’ and ‘Philia’.  Don’t worry; all those words are just Greek phrases which mean very simple things really.  The study and category of love all has its roots in Greek.

Agape means the purest kind of love that is found in the love that God has for mankind

Storge mean the love that exists between parents and children

Philia means the love that exists between friends and relatives

Eros means the love that exists between lovers.

Expects say that human love can be understood in these forms and that how we express that love is different depending on who that love is targeting. For example, you can’t love your mum the same way you love your wife or your brother the same way you love your friend.  Those kinds of love are different.

The bible talks about love, one way.  Isaac never met his Rebecca before they married, but bible tells us that on sight they took to each other.  Jacob took one look at Rachel and wanted her.

Amnon took one look at Tamah and wanted her, but after he had her he hated her with the same intensity he loved her.

If love is what the bible says it is, then why did Solomon advise us not to awaken love before its time, for it's as strong as death.  It takes a hold of you and there is nothing you can do about it.

That is why I think that Songs of Solomon is an equally important part of the bible as all the other books.  God wanted us to know something important about love.

All kinds of love starts with Agape and ends with Agape because without God's love, love won’t exist because let’s face it, Satan wouldn’t know what to do with love if you gifted it to him so that tells me that love is of God.  But God also needed us to know that love has many different dimensions to it and Songs of Solomon was just one of the ways God used to show us.

Love is a beautiful thing, whichever way or dimension you express it, and it can be all consuming and very potent.  Songs of Solomon 8:6-7, warns about how powerful and potent love is.  It can take over a person and consume them like death, sweeping everything in its wake and leaving us powerless to it.  God does not scorn love that takes your breath away just because that person just walked into the room.  He enjoys it as much as when a child gives her daddy butterfly kisses and says ‘I love you daddy’ or like David and Jonathan, a love friendship that is just as deep. Love, all kinds, is pure because God is in it all, and the guideline he gave us to conducting love is found in 1 Corinthians 13.

He gave us that guideline because he knows, like Solomon discovered that love as powerful as it is, can lead men astray when not conducted properly, for it is as strong as death.  Love has the potential of evoking strong jealousy and obsession just as much as it has the tendency of evoking a sense of duty, responsibility and protectiveness.

So as lovers, lets us love as God wants us to love his way - the first 1 Corinthians 13 way.



WHAT IS NEXT?

Unfailing love!

Love never fails. 1 Cor. 13:8-9

Love never fails, it means love never fades, it never ends.

This verse is perhaps the one statement that conflicts the most with so many of the beliefs and theories that are out there about love today.  Experts believe that when you love someone, that love can end someday and give way for a new love to start or not. They say, you can love today and tomorrow not love them anymore.  I find myself wondering how it is that the bible says love is eternal yet studies show that love fades.

Going back to what we learnt two days ago, that evidence and truth aren’t always the same.  I believe truth to be Gods word. That is my belief.  But I will leave the final say to you.

Bible says that everything in life will end, including prophecies, tongues, miracles and even humanity itself, but love will never end.

From John 1 we learn that in the beginning God created it all, and everything exists in him.  We find that God is love and he God is eternity itself.  Love never fails, as long as God is God and God is love, then love, (all kinds of love) will never end.  It means that when you love someone, that love has come to stay and it will not go anywhere because love itself exists in a being that will not cease.

Love (all kinds of love) has its roots in what we have talked about from day one till now.  But humanity has chosen to categorise love and package it attractively for our easy consumption and digestion.

The love we feel for friends

The love we feel for lovers

The love we feel for family but to mention a few.

I choose not to mention the love of God (Agape) because I believe that is the roots of all love.  If then the roots is missing, then what ever you feel, no matter how strong is not love and would most definitely fade.

The foundation of love is simple; it is kind, it is patient. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud and does not envy.  It is not rude, nor is it self seeking.  It is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrong, does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth. It always protects and always trusts. It always hopes and perseveres.

If love exhibits all these traits, it will automatically be preserved because love has a long spirit and never gives up.

However because humanity has repackaged love and broken it down, let's also see if we can see how love can fade as the experts say and why families break up and hate instead of love.  The next few days we will look at love - its rebranding and packaging.


Written by Aba Dadson


WHAT IS NEXT?

Love perseveres!

It always hopes, it always perseveres. 1 Cor 13:7b

What it means is that love has a long spirit; it will not give up on you.  It will keep expecting the best from you and will always put their best foot forward and keep expecting same.  It will not easily turn away because it always hopes and perseveres.

Remember the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15?  He took his share of inheritance and left his father’s house to make a life for himself.  For years he was gone, and his father was worried and wondered if his son was doing well.  He didn’t think ‘ my son has taken his property away so I am washing my hands off him’, or think ‘ my useless son is gone and I hope he gets and tastes of the real world’, instead, his heart beat for his son’s welfare and hoped his son would come back home. The father, probably, when he woke up every morning, lifted up his bedroom curtain to see if perhaps his son was back home and at night before he went to bed, would go stand by the gate and watch the road one last time in earnest expectation in the hope that that day would be the day the son would return.   The father hoped, he persevered for years without fail, never giving up on his son’s return.  It takes perseverance to stand at the gate every night to wait for someone. Summer through winter, the man never gave up, because he had hope. 

That is the story of love.  It keeps coming back even when people call it all kinds of names for not turning away and not giving up.  When the servants had forgotten and given up, the father still kept going, when the brother was angry and bitter, the father forgave and kept going to the gate.  Love does not turn its back simply because you did wrong.  It holds on even when it hurts to hold on. 

Love will believe the best because it hopes for the best.   Children or trusting people are the most difficult to hurt and disappoint because they are so filled with hope and persistence.  They don’t know yet the pain of disappointment and somehow because of that hope, people tend to meet their expectation; why? Because what you hope for, you attract.  That is what love does, when love hopes, you can’t help but meet that hope. 

Romans 5:5 such hope (love) never disappoints or deludes or shames, for God’s love has been poured in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.   Because love hopes, love will not disappoint you.  

In Philippians 4:12-13, Paul says, he knows of a way to keep hope alive and gain strength and that way is to persevere. To keep going. 

Love keeps going; it keeps getting up one more time. It keeps hoping one more time. Love will keep you pressing on when even those you love have given up on themselves.

I have a friend whose silent love and perseverance kept me strong and gave me hope at a time when I thought nobody loved me or wanted me.  She stood by me even when I was rude, she kept coming, she held on to me and today I can hope and trust because she showed me how.  Love will never give up on you. It will stand by you unconditionally because love is not conditional.  It gives freely, hopes and perseveres



WHAT IS NEXT?

Trusting love that protects

It’s always protects, always trust.  1 cor. 13:7

Ephesians 5:25-28 -30

‘For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.’

Here , the writer was talking about Christ and the church and using it as an example for marriages.  He advises that husbands should love and nurture their wives as Christ would the church and goes on to say that no man will hate his own flesh and not take care of it.  The church is of the same body as Christ, and so is the wife, her husband.  The husband is supposed to protect his body, how? By cherishing it, taking good care of it, nurturing it and nourishing it.  What does this mean?

What the writer was saying is simple, value you body so much so that you will buy the best products to make sure that your skin looks its best.  Treat it when it gets hurt, don’t leave any wound unattended.  Nurse it back to health.  Your body is your treasure, so what do you  have to do? You nourish it.  You feed it healthy foods and ointments that will not make you sick but will give you good health and vitality.  You exercise that body so it won’t be lazy or hypertensive. You will make sure your body is not plagued with high blood cholesterol, so you will start counting cholesterol just to make sure your body is healthy.  We do all this so at the end of the day when we stand in the mirror and look at ourselves, we will feel proud and say at last, ' I love myself’.

The catch here is the body that writer was talking about is not just your own body but the body of the one you love.  You are supposed to treat him/her as you would want to be treated.  You will want to protect that person.  This is what the bible talks about in 1 cor. 13:7 when it says love protects.

It means love will cherish you, won’t let any harm come to you, will nourish and nurture you so you won’t be a harm to yourself and so you will improve and be the best you can be.  Love protects does not mean that love will control or manipulate you, it does not mean that love will insist on its way, it does not mean that love will dominate you, it means that it will shelter you and not over protect you.  Sheltering means that you will provide protection and safety and not a prison.

Remember what you treasure, you will protect.

Trust and faith go hand in hand, you can’t separate the two. When you have faith in something, your trust follows and vice versa.  We are Christians because we trust that what the bible says is true so we have faith to believe that everything it says will come to pass or has already happened.  Nobody alive today saw the bible happen, none of us saw Jesus die, yet we believe because we trust the words written.

Love holds on even when others give up.  Trust is Daniel refusing to quit praying in the face of death. Even when he was getting thrown in the lion’s den, he still wouldn’t give up because he knew dead or alive, his God is still God.  Most often we see that verse and we think it was a battle to prove God can deliver, but I think not.  That was a battle to prove faith and trust.  Would Daniel trust God even when he faced death? God delivered because Daniel remained faithful.  Trust does not give you a benefit of doubt, doubt does not come in at all. Love will not shake or waver and wonder ‘what if’. It stands on its feet and it says dead or alive, I am convinced and nothing can change the truth I know.

Jesus’ truth was that he will bring the message that men will believe onto salvation; the evidence was that, he was beaten, mocked, crowned with thorns and eventually killed. Yet on the cross, he cried father forgive them for they don’t know what they do.  In the face of death, he did not change his mind, because his truth was simple, he trusted that his message will do its work.  Thank God he trusted! Where would you and I have been otherwise? So let us trust in love, it will give the strength someone precious needs to live.


Written by Aba Dadson
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Love is pure and true.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. 1 cor. 13:6

When evil is mentioned, automatically we think wickedness; we think really bad things like murder, drug abuse, armed robbery etc.  But the evil here does not only mean these mentioned, but anything contrary to the word of God and hurts our neighbours.

That means love does not focus on the negative of others by highlighting their mistakes to make a public display of them.   In Genesis 9, Noah planted grapes and harvested his grapes in its season, pressed it and drunk the wine from it till he was drunk and passed out naked.  Ham came and saw his father naked and passed out.   He run out and told his brothers, ‘father is drunk and naked, come see for yourself’.  The bible says that because Ham made a public display of his father’s weakness, he was cursed by the father. But the other two sons who covered their father’s mistake were blessed.

Am sure Ham didn’t think much of what he did, after all, a little fun won’t harm anyone.  But most often our little fun is what destroys people and kills their spirit.  Love will not delight in ‘a little fun’ at the expense of others.

Love does not delight in evil means not giving in to gossip.  I know a little gossip feels good especially if it’s that person that everyone thought was above sin. Think how it will feel if the shoe was on the other foot, and let us try and not give in to gossip.

It means not putting others down so you can feel good about yourself.  Don’t make a habit of it.

Of course all the really bad things mentioned above should not be neglected as well, because love won’t murder, love won't covert the neighbour's wife or fornicate or act wickedly towards others etc and not think much of it.

Taking pleasure in wrong does not only mean you are happy about it, but it also means that doing evil has become a habit and you have grown accustomed to it.

Love rejoices in truth means that love honours with the truth. Does not hide things from others and pretend.  It means that love will not smile at you when it is thinking ‘I can’t stand him! Oh how I hate him!’

It means love is teachable.  Will correct in love and would want to be corrected too.  Love will not hide the painful truth from you but will find a good way of sugar coating things to soften the blow.  It means it will not insist on its way when it knows it’s wrong, but will gladly accept wrong and take responsibility for it.

It means it will honour you with its true self, not hiding or holding back from you from fear of rejection.  It means that love will not lie to you and tell you that it’s AB when it’s Only A or B.

What this verse encourages in a nutshell is that we learn to respect each other and accept each other and rejoice in goodness and truth.


Written by Aba Dadson







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Love is patient and forgiving.

Love is not easily angered, keeps no record of sin
 1 Cor 13:5b

Love is not easily angered, means, love has a very long rope that it extends and is even tempered.  It means, it does not snap at others, it does not raise its voice easily, it is patient with people and would not raise its hand at because it is provoked.  If love was a man, it would be a gentleman and if a woman, it would be a lady.

It means that love is not hot tempered.  It means that others wouldn’t have to walk on eggs around you.  There are people that you are always careful around, always choosing your words carefully with because you know they are easily angered.  Makes people tired being around them all the time because they always have to put a measuring tape on their words and actions around them all the time.  Nobody can be free to be themselves around them.

 Love is not easily angered means you are accommodating and understanding of others even when they are always stepping on your toes.  You don’t jump to conclusions and you give people the benefit of a doubt.

Love keeps no record of sin means it does not put a marker on the number of times it has been hurt to keep a reminder that it can’t trust.   As long as we are alive people will offend and hurt us, yet Jesus knowing that told us to forgive as much as    70 x 7 times in a day to each  person.

It means that it’s not vindictive. It does not plot and plan to sabotage because of wrongs done it.  It is not vengeful, it does not pay back wrong with wrong, or good with wrong. Instead it pays back evil with good.

It does not hold grudges.  It means it does not say in its heart, I'm never going to forgive that person, either am I going to forget the hurt they bestowed on me.  It does not lie in wait for the day it will have the opportunity to payback.  It means that when offended, it forgives and forgets. It doesn’t say I will forgive but I will never forget.

Joy, who is a born again Christian became seriously sick and went to a healing service believing for a miracle, but for months, she was not healed.  Then Joy's neighbour Lydia, who wasn’t born again, got sick as well but when the prayer of faith was said for Lydia, she got her healing instantly.  Joy was disappointed and went to see the minister to ask why she as a believer didn’t receive her healing. As she spoke, the lord ministered to the minister and the minister asked Joy if the neighbour was a forgiving person.  Joy replied yes, she said Lydia and her family are the most forgiving people she has ever met.  That family, according to Joy would easily let go, never hold grudges and forgive as if they were not offended to begin with.

The minister then said that is why Lydia was healed.   Joy broke down and said ‘Pastor, my family and I don’t know how to forgive; we hold grudges and never let go!’

 Being unforgiving and holding of grudges hold back your good health and your healing.  It pollutes your body and mind and places you at a place where you are unable to receive any good thing; including love and healing.

In the end, it only poisons you and stands in your way of living in divine health.

Remember, Love forgives, and love is not easily angered.


Written by Aba Dadson




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Love is selfless and not rude.

Love is not rude, it does not seek its own. 1 cor 13:14a

It is not selfish or demanding. When you love someone, you will offer, you may ask, but you will never force your way or demand anything.

Not self seeking means love is not selfish - it is selfless.  It does not focus on ‘me’.

Love seeks to give; it is giving and generous.  As stated earlier, it will never force its way or demand.  Do you think that if Jesus had put conditions on his death, demanded that we gave him love before he gave up his life, do you think any of us would have qualified?  He gave freely without asking for anything back , with only the hope that his sacrifice would touch us and change us.  That is what being selfless means.  You simply give.

Someone once told me that ‘let me love you, I won’t ask anything back, allow me to love you’ I never took that person seriously because love does not seek or ask for permission, it shows. Love is not talk, it is an exhibition.  Jesus exhibited his love by giving up everything for us.  He never came to ask for permission, he just gave.

It thinks of others first.  It puts itself in the other person’s shoes. It is considerate.

Love is not rude. Psalm 12:3-5 ‘we will triumph with our tongues....... I will now arise; I will protect them from those who malign them’

Rudeness is like a sharp sword that is plunged into a person’s heart.  It kills and destroys and messes up a person’s life. James 3:6.  Think about it for a moment.  How many people subjected to verbal abuse are happy people?

A rude word maligns people and puts them at a disadvantage. It oppresses the weak.  The psalmist says God will not be silent forever; he will rise up on behalf of the weak and protect them.  And he is a God who protects his people by drowning their enemies in the red sea!

Rudeness brings conflicts and destroys relationships.  When you do not have any control over your tongue, people gradually drift away from you, because nobody would like to be around a person who makes them feel like ‘crap’.  People naturally go where they are celebrated and not cursed or tolerated.

James 3:10 advices that the same tongue or mouth we praise God with, cursing or rude words shouldn’t be heard from it.  Remember, a sweet word will build and protect people and relationships.

Written by Aba Dadson




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